April 29, 2010: Another Totally Unbiased Aunt Daryn Moment

So many of you got a kick out of seeing my nephew Jack's first home run when I posted the video back on April 19th, so I'm sharing another Aunt Daryn moment.

Let me explain a bit. I'm blessed to have a lot of kids in my life.  Some are nephews by blood, like Jack Kagan. Some are nephews and nieces by love.  I've got oodles of them.  That's the case with my next-door neighbor, Eleanor.  I can honestly tell her that I've known her since long before she was a sparkle in her mom and dad's eye.   We do stuff like grow lima beans (her favorite,) color, and play beauty parlor.  You can guess who gets to be the stylist and who gets to be the victim, er, I mean customer.

Anyhow I have a huge grin on my face today because Eleanor invited me to her church play last night.  It was so cute.  A modern take on Moses and the Israelites exodus from Egypt. You know the part when they get stuck in the desert? That explains the play's title.  It's called, "Are We There Yet?" Very clever telling a bible story with humor and modern references.

The big time 5th graders got the big parts like Moses and the Pharaoh.  Eleanor's one of the younger kids, so she was in the ensemble. A finer frog (one of 7 plagues) and roaming Israelite has never graced a stage, I'm sure of it. I loved it.

Since we Aunts have among our duties teaching traditions to our kids, I made sure to bring along a bouquet of roses for the budding star.  Color choice easy on this one: pink.  Everything in El's world is pink.

Here's a pic of us neighbors from right after the big performance.

Thanks, Els, for a great evening!

April 22, 2010: Here's A Cool Thing You Might Not Know About The NFL Draft

Thursday night begins the NFL high holy days.  The NFL Draft where teams line up to take their dibs on the top college football players in the nation.

Sports fans and non-sports fans alike--I have something you can cheer for.

The NFL is making some big changes in the draft this year.  Most football fans will point out that for the first time the league is kicking off the event mid-week in prime time instead of weekend afternoon as it has done for years.

While that's true, that's not the coolest change.

The coolest thing is WHO gets to announce the draft picks. 

Us sports fans are used to seeing the NFL commissioner, in this case, Roger Goodell, stand up at the podium and announce, "With the first pick in the NFL draft, the St. Louis Rams select...." (probably Oklahoma's Sam Bradford)

You can expect Goodell to get things flowing, then the cool new stuff is going to happen. According to Sports Illustrated's Peter King, for the first time ever, an NFL commissioner is going to hand over the podium and the honor to a few select individuals.  You'll see a Make-A-Wish kid, some military veterans, Hall of Fame stars, and even a few contestant winners get to make the announcement.

How cool will that be?!

I got some additional information via Twitter from NFL PR guy, Brian McCarthy. He tweeted, "DarynKagan should be neat. nflcommish met Make-A-Wish kid youth clinic today. Huge Steelers fan. 18th pick unless there's a trade."

I'm looking forward to that.

A big part of the fun of watching the draft has always been to see dreams coming true for young men who have dedicated their lives to the sport.  That feel good experience is only going to be intensified.  I, for one, can't wait. 

And you, my non-sports fan friends, now have a little nugget you can drop to impress the NFL fanatic in your life.  You also have a reason to watch the draft even if you don't care who picks first, trades up, or drops like a stone.

Have fun!

By the way, you can follow the NFL's Brian McCarthy on Twitter here.  And you can follow me by clicking right here.

April 21, 2010: A Fine Taste Of Spring

I thought you just might like to see what a gorgeous Spring we are enjoying here in Atlanta.  (Gorgeous, as long as you're not an allergy sufferer.)

That's the beauty of the internet.  Checking out this pretty picture won't induce a single sniffle.

Enjoy!  And yes, that is DarlaDog sneaking into the pic in the lower right section.

By the way, I'm constantly sharing different pictures like this one on Twitter.  Would love to have you follow me there.

April 19, 2010: Indulge Aunt Daryn For a Moment, Please

At the risk of looking like I'm about to show you some Kagan home movies, well, I'm about to show you a Kagan home movie.

Here is my oldest nephew, 12-year-old Jack, hitting his first Little League home run! Just happened on Saturday.

Maybe it's an aunt thing, but my heart totally soars.

From my brother, Jack's dad, "The  count: 0 balls, 2 strikes- clutch!  FYI- that was the 1st hit with his new bat, which we bought 2 hours earlier.  He went 2 for 3 for the day with 3 RBI's!"

Feel free to leave congrats for Jack over on my Facebook page.

I suspect my late father, Stu, shot this video while hiding in the bushes since his heart never did leave the Little League field.

And thanks for indulging proud Aunt Daryn!

April 9, 2010: Why I Feel Sorry For Tiger's Success

Boy, did I get a treat yesterday.  I was invited to go down to Augusta National Country Club and experience Round 1 of the Masters golf tournament.

I've been lucky enough to go many times before and it really is a sports experience unlike any other.  The tradition, the beauty of the grounds, the proximity to the best golfers in the world.  It all makes for an amazing day.

This year, of course, is marked by the return of Tiger Woods--super human golfer.  Beyond belief serial cheater.

Tiger received a warm welcome from the crowd as he teed off at 1:42 pm.  That crowd love only grew as Tiger's game heated up.  He started by hitting par on the first couple holes. Then came the birdies and eagles.  By the time I saw him almost nail a hole-in-one on the 12th hole, it was back to the old love affair golf fans have with the man who is indeed among the greatest to ever play the game.  Huge cheers. Standing ovations.

When Round 1 was over, Tiger was in the clubhouse with something he had never done before--a 4-under par 68 for the first day of play.  His best ever first round at the Masters.  Not good enough for first place.  He starts the day tied for 7th.  But the only first that matters in this world is who is first as the sun sets on the azaleas Sunday afternoon.  And for that, Tiger is in an amazing place 5 months after stepping away from this game.

As a golf fan, it was a true privilege to get to see him play in person again and witness his magnificence.  As a person, I'm kind of sad for this success.

Yeah, sad.

Tiger has been open during his recent interviews and Mondays press conference that his aim now is to become a better man.  To focus on what really matters.

Truth is that's going to be much harder to do with his easy success on the golf course.  Even when it appears his wife is very unhappy with him, sponsors drop him, the media rakes him over the coals, his lover named Golf is still totally committed to keep right on loving him.  Love and success like that can be a wonderful thing.  It can also be its own blinding and addicting drug.

Tiger appears very afraid of losing his family, but he hasn't come close to losing it all because he still has that loving mistress of Golf.  That means he can continue to self-medicate and self-delude himself on the greens.

I bet anyone who has lost something big and gone onto survive and perhaps thrive knows what I'm talking about.  Until you've lost that big job, that great love, that whatever that you think defines you, you don't have the opportunity to find out you're just a person. That's it.  You're not the big time CEO, you're not someone's mother, you're not someone's spouse.  You're just a person.  Don't get me wrong--it's wonderful to have blessings and great experiences in your life.  But you are not those things.  They are just labels that most of us cloak ourselves in to feel like we belong somewhere.

You'll fight like hell to keep them and protect them because the thought of being without a label that defines us feels downright naked and scary.

And then it happens, for some of us anyway.  The thing or the person you think you can't live without goes away.  It's just you.  It's awful, gut-wrenching, and in the end wonderful.  Wonderful to realize how lucky you were to have those things and those people in  your life.  Wonderful to realize you are a person of value, if you choose to be, even without those labels.  Wonderful because you get to realize that all these people walking around with self-importance because of whatever label they choose to hide behind are not "all that" either.  They, too, are just a step away from figuring out they are just a person.

So, that's why I'm sad for Tiger.  With Mistress Golf and public love pouring over him he gets to live in that light rather than doing the big work of just being a man.  No labels.  No self-medication.  No escape.  If you've lost and gone onto live, you know that would be worth more to him than his billions in his bank account.  That self-realization might come.  Just like true fidelity to his wife might come, as well.  But we all know it's a lot harder to keep that focus on what's important while the seductress of golf and public adulation is nakedly dancing before him.  Where do you think his eyes will be focused?

So, here's to you, Tiger.  To the remote chance that you are able to focus on a hole that really matters.  No, not the one on the golf course.  The hole in your heart.  Golf and fans are filling it up today.  But it's not who you really are and what will fix things in the end.  Not until it goes away will you ever really understand.

April 5, 2010: A Beautiful Day!

I'll be the first to admit sometimes I'm late to the party.  So, please excuse me if my big tip of the day is someone you've already heard of before.

Bianca Merckley.

Have you heard of her?

I only recently came across her while surfing around checking out upbeat stories.

She's a singer with the most infectious sound.  Incredibly positive and wonderful lyrics.

This is my suggestion--to start your week--take in a little dose of a Beautiful Day.

Take a listen and let me know what you think.

Click over to my Facebook page give your two cents and let me know what song gets you in the right mood to take on the week with a great attitude.