Weed Feed
Aug
31
Ellen and Oxygen
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Last night I spoke in New York City to the staff at Oxygen Media. (Oh!) What a great bunch of ladies. It’s always very cool for me to speak in workplaces that already have a hefty dose of girl power. On my way out of the studio, I noticed a life sized, cardboard cut-out of Ellen DeGeneres, who is my favorite celebrity ever. I love how she can just find everyday things in life and make them hysterical. I also like how she makes extremely famous people come on her show and do ridiculous things. (Such as Mandy Moore driving a ride-on lawnmower while wearing a very tiny dress.) Even better, it’s cool how she makes ordinary people famous, such as the old woman who slept on the same mattress for 63 years! Ellen flew this woman (and the mattress) out to Los Angeles to honor her for this lifetime achievement. Anyway, it’s my life’s goal to make a stop at the Ellen show next March on my book tour. I want to teach her self-defense against her production assistant, Houston, while he’s wearing a mugger suit. I think it will be awesome.
Aug
27
OK to the OC
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This past week took me on a trip to Oklahoma City to speak at the University of Central Oklahoma for the third year in a row. People from Oklahoma are so enthusiastic and fun. (Photo includes me and the event organizers, Emily and Brooke-great gals!) I had about 100 girls in attendance Tuesday night, and man, they were what I call a WWF kind of crowd. They’re the women who collectively love doing moves like head-butts and elbow strikes to the back of the head. You know the type. Anyway, I had a great male assistant named Clint, who early on stated he had no fear of me. (Sometimes the guys are terrified…but they usually just want to be assured that I’m not going to haul into a spontaneous groin strike.) After I finished presenting, I scanned the room to look for him to publicly say thank you, but he had vanished! I later found out that he desperately needed a cigarette. So wherever you are Clint, thanks for helping to teach the ladies at UCOK to fight back. While in Oklahoma, I made a discovery that has changed my life as I know it. Whataburger! Have you ever had a cheeseburger from Whataburger? They are amazing! I’d say the only better fast food burger I’ve ever partaken in would have to be In-and-Out Burger, mostly found out West. Speaking of the West, I jetted off to the O.C. (Orange County, California) on Wednesday for the annual conference of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Sounds like fun, huh? For me, it was. It’s not everyday that I have the opportunity to hang out with other intense people like me who spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about how to prevent rape, murder, stalking and violence. Most people who attended the conference belonged to some sector of law enforcement or professional security…which is why I found it to be a bit odd for this particular conference to be held at the Disneyland Hotel. Go figure.
Aug
20
Kofi for a Day
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Recently I made a visit to the United Nations in New York City. (Well, technically it’s neutral international territory, but I digress. My tour guide would have wanted me to mention that.) I went to the UN to visit a good friend of mine who works in security there. First I went on the typical tour. But then my security pal took me on the REAL tour, and I got to sit in Kofi Annan’s chair in the General Assembly! Even better, I got to sit in the delegate seats and put those funny plastic interpreter ear pieces on. It was awesome. I thought it would be hilarious to stand up at Kofi’s podium and pretend to give a speech. Meanwhile, confused foreigners looked on from the tourist area. They must have wondered to themselves who the dimwitted woman in the obnoxious green shirt was. And why was she giving a speech to a completely empty General Assembly? If only the microphone had been on, it would have been a fantastic venue for karaoke.
Aug
16
700 Women
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Every day, 700 women are assaulted or raped by their partners. In my line of work, the questions and concerns I constantly hear from women is about the stranger in the bushes. The fact remains that we are more likely to be assaulted by someone we know than by the faceless stranger. In 1994, The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was created. It gave funding to end crimes including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. VAWA was reauthorized in 2000, incorporating new programs including funding for important services for immigrant, rural, disabled and older women. Next month Congress will debate the reauthorization of VAWA with the opportunity to make further improvements to continue its programs. Because of the VAWA, rates of domestic violence incidents have dropped by almost 50% and incidents of rape are down by 60%. Intimate partners committed fewer murders in each of the 3 years (1996, 1997, and 1998) than in any other year since 1976. Clearly this is something American women need, and you can help keep the VAWA by signing a simple petition showing your support. Please take 2 minutes to do this! Thanks. Sign the petition to save VAWA
Aug
12
Albina Rock
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I love rocker chicks. I’m always the person in the concert crowd who whoops it up when I see chick drummers or the like. I guess I just think of female rock stars as the ultimate example of girl power. Too bad my music career ended with honking “Jingle Bells” on a french horn in high school before my band teacher threw me out for being “too social.” Whatever. So I’d like to introduce you all to my friend and fave female musician, Brooke Fox. While there’s lots of singer/songwriters out there (especially here in the NYC area), sometimes I see a performer whose got more than just mad music skills. They also have passion. I think her passion comes partly from her struggle. You see, Brooke is an albino, and also legally blind. She’s been a fighter her whole life dealing with obstacles that most of us with full sight never even think about. She’s doing her music on her own terms, which I admire. The writing, the producing, the whole she-bang. She temps in New York to get by, which is exactly how I started up Girls Fight Back. It’s a struggle, but it makes the reward all the more sweet! So check out her site at http://www.brookefox.com/ and support her by buying the CD if you can.
Aug
9
Key West
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So you might be wondering where the hell I’ve been…and the answer is on a much needed vacation in Key West, Florida! I had a great excuse to jet off to the Keys since my good friends, Mark Sterner and Krista Jones, got married there on Saturday. Mark is part of my speaker’s agency, CAMPUSPEAK. He has been voted Speaker of the Year for two years running by giving his extremely powerful and moving program called DUI: A powerful lesson. Now let me just tell you, there’s no rowdier crowd than a bunch of professional speakers at a social event, especially one that takes place on an island. So let me give you the down low on my peeps pictured at right with the killer sunset in the background. Let’s start at the left side of the photo with Shawn Decker. Shawn contracted HIV at age 11 after receiving a contaminated blood transfusion. Standing next to him is his amazing wife, Gwenn Barringer. Together, the two of them travel the country educating college students on healthy relationships and safe sex. Next to Gwenn is me, finally with some hint of a tan. Next to me is the hilarious T.J. Sullivan, who does a program at colleges called “Confronting the Idiot in Your Chapter.” What a great title. Next to T.J. is David Stollman, who is the Greek God of fraternity and sorority programming. He eats deadbeat Greeks for breakfast. And finally we have Judge Mitch Crane, who is part speaker, part lawyer, former judge and most likely to win in a verbal confrontation of any sort. These aren’t your everyday comrades…but I love ‘em all! So the wedding and the vacation were a blast, but the highlight was singing my official Karaoke song, Diana Ross’s “Upside Down.” And yes, we’ve got video of my stellar performance. (But I’m still trying to figure out why the crowd was shrieking and plugging their ears…hmmm.)
Aug
1
I saw 12 year old McKenzie on the Today Show this morning talking about her encounter with a kidnapper. Last Tuesday she was approached by a man in her hometown of West Haven, Utah. He fed her a common line used by child abductors saying, “Help me find my puppy.” McKenzie just didn’t buy it. According to her, “Something just didn’t feel right,” which is a perfect example of human intuition at work. While many 12 year olds might have been paralyzed with fear, she trusted her gut and got busy trying to escape this guy. After he threw her head-first into his car, she starting screaming at him that he was a “jerk” and a “loser.” She eventually had to physically defend herself, by scratching, kicking and yelling at him simultaneously. Eventually she became such a bad victim that this guy didn’t want to deal with her anymore. He told her to get out of the car, so she climbed over the seat, ran out of the car and got away safely. What a kick-ass girl. But here’s the thing that makes me nuts. We hear this amazing story of a brave little girl who saved her own life by using her intuition, her body and her mind. But then Matt Lauer proceeds to ask John Walsh (founder of America’s Most Wanted and also on the Today Show this morning) if she did the right thing by using “violence.” What?! Violence is what the abductor used, not McKenzie. She merely defended herself physically, which based on her victorious outcome was clearly the best thing to do. My homeboy John Walsh did a great job setting it straight, though. He emphasized that McKenzie was brave and a heroine whose escape should be an example to all other girls. You go, John Walsh!
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