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Recently I was a guest on the fabulous podcast show, “What Really Matters” with Vicky & Jen.  We talked for about 45 minutes on topics ranging from how I started GFB, making peace with your destiny or mission and some safety advice for scary scenarios.  We had some great laughs, and I was pretty candid about the ups and downs of my life on the road teaching women to kick ass.  Click here to listen.

This week has been great, since I haven’t had to fly on an airplane since Sunday.  What a treat!  Last night I spoke to some wonderful students, most of them in grad school pursuing a medical degree.  There were many international students as well, many of them whose cultures do not likely embrace women who kick ass!  So we had a great time, as you can see in the pictures.  Since we had a smaller crowd it allowed us to throw down and do some ground fighting!

On February 14, 2008 most people were making plans for Valentine’s Day. But the students at NIU were reeling from the latest act of campus violence – a shooting which took the lives of 5 people and injured 18. My staff had been working with the Greek community there to book a GFB event, so we were especially concerned. Our contact e-mailed us that evening informing us that several members of their community had been killed or shot. This confirmed our worst fears. I remember sitting in my office and watching the news on CNN.com, thinking just how this violence is starting to seem “normal” in America. Just another shooting on a college campus…

So last night I spoke at NIU to a packed auditorium of sorority women. I have been in this situation before, when I speak at a school/college in the aftermath of a violent incident. Sometimes the women are still grieving, sometimes they are angry, sometimes they are numb. Really, it’s all about timing. I mean, you don’t want to be giving self-defense seminars two days after a tragedy. People aren’t ready to fight yet…they are still feeling vulnerable. But a few weeks later…well, bring it on. And this was the case last night. These girls were ready to whoop some ass, and they were tired of crying and feeling small. I taught the crowd how to set a double boundary, by getting into a strong stance and using the phrase: Stop. Leave me Alone. I don’t want any problems. The SBG (scary bad guy Josh) then grabbed my wrist. I asked the crowd what this meant, and some girl in the back shouted, “He has a death wish!” See? These girls are no shrinkin’ violets. They were ready for battle. It was inspiring to see their spirits come alive. Thank you, my new friends at NIU. As I said last night, never back down. Never accept violence as status quo. And never make choices stemming from fear…because then the bad guys win.

At three different schools this week, people included feedback saying I was the female version of Dane Cook.  I’m not overly appreciative when people compare me to famous people, especially ones I find somewhat unflattering.  (Like the time when someone referred to me as Rosie O’Donnell.) Sometimes when I go through the trouble of straightening my hair, people say I look like Jennifer Aniston, to which I say, “What the hell do you want from me?”  Clearly some buttering up is taking place.  Just recently my friend Jen told me that I remind her of Kathy Griffin. I think she’s hilarious, so I liked that one. This gave me the idea ask Kathy to be a guest on my radio show, so that Jen could enjoy the side-by-side, on-air comparison.  Apparently Kathy’s fame is creeping north from her initial D-list status, as her publicist told us that Kathy is too busy to come on Women on Top Radio.  Bullocks! Has anyone ever told you that you look/act like someone famous?

Click here to read the E-Newsletter.

Pictured at left is my friend Viviana, who has been shooting film for the GFB documentary.  She recently took a trip to New Zealand and is proudly sporting the Spring ‘08 Tour T-shirt…we’re totally international!  Tomorrow these shirts will be for sale to the general public when the March e-newsletter is sent.  Stay tuned…

Do you have words you like to say, just because they sound funny? I’ve noticed lately that I’ve been partaking in the word “satchel” almost daily. It makes me feel British. And it’s crept into all my speaking gigs too, and the audiences seem to really enjoy it. Lately I’ve been craving to start a movement of re-launching “satchel” into daily American dialect. I’d also like to revive or introduce several other words/phrases into everyday vernacular including:

*You rock like Spock – I just really like Dr. Spock, mostly because of his robot-like zen and his cool ears. I think he rocks. Therefore, if you also rock, then you can be easily compared to Spock.
*I’m out like trout – A great phrase for setting time limits or announcing exits. My college friend named Sliv and I used to make up a slew of these phrases. Only thing they all had in common was that they all rhymed….and they were all bizarre.
*Duh – Why go to great lengths to explain your mistakes, when you can just summarize by saying “duh?” I mean, at that point we all know you did something stupid. I vote you just cut to the chase, own your mishap, and just say “duh.”
*Ridiculous – Every grammatical form of the word “ridiculous” should be used at least 10 times per day. Examples include:
-Ridic (abbreviated version) “Dude, that’s totally ridic.” (usually used when “that” is a negative thing, not a positive.)
-Ridiculousness: (noun) “That latest Britney escapade was sheer ridiculousness!”
-Ridiculously: (adjective) “Man, I am ridiculously happy for you.”

Tell me what words you want to bring back!

I started out my lucky St. Pat’s Day by hitting the gym, which is one of the things I miss the most when I’m touring.  Hotel gyms are fine, but I need my space and the gyms are usually tiny rooms with workout equipment packed in.  Anyways, I work out at my local community recreation center, and lately it’s been a little uninspiring.  Now there’s no way to say this without offending my elders, so I’m just gonna come right out with it.  There’s a program at the rec center called “Silver Sneakers.”  Translation = old people sweatin’ it out.  Now pumping iron alongside an 85 year old grandma is starting to wear on me.  It’s like staring at the inevitable aging process.  And you may be aware that I’m training for a marathon now, so nothing is worse than running around the track behind people using walkers.  Even worse, the sight of sweatpants with bunchy underwear underneath. (or are they Depends?)  Regardless, it’s disturbing.  I need some hot people with ripped abs and a tight ass to look at while exercising.  My husband disagrees…he likes being the most ripped guy in the gym. So today I saw an elderly woman donning a lavender sweat suit (with a turtleneck underneath) and she was sporting some supa-fly shamrock shaped, green sunglasses and leprechaun earrings.  Wow.  I should let her know about the costume at left…maybe next year she’ll whip it out.  Now that would be a sight at the gym!

I was recently having a conversation with my husband Peter, who owns an Interactive Marketing firm. He helps people design websites, both creatively and technologically, so they will be seen by others on the Internet. I was telling him that I’ve been blogging since 2005, yet rarely have any comments. We investigated further, and my stats are good…meaning that you ARE reading. But it seems you don’t holla back much, which has begged the question…Is it me? Is it you? Is it not you, it’s me? I just want to see other people. Huh? What? This is all starting to sound like an awkward teen break-up. But it turns out it’s not me OR you. My blog settings were forcing people to go through a registration process before commenting, which is a pain in the ass. So its’ either that…or my blog is boring. (gasp!) My typical blog posts: “I flew from Detroit to Pennsylvania today.” Yippee ki yay. “The crowd at University of Iowa was awesome.” As if I’d ever call a client anything BUT awesome? Lame-o. Now I’m going to take a guess here. I think most of my readers fall into one of the categories below:

1. You somehow found yourself here accidentally, or you recently saw me speak at your school, college or business. Lucky you! Please fasten your seatbelts low and tight across your lap.
2. You’re my friend. You want to see what I’m doing, because you care. You also want to know everything that’s going on with me, so that next time we have coffee and “catch up,” you already know my daily existence. Not fair!
3. You are my mom. You need to know my exact coordinates at all times so that you may effectively (and obsessively) worry about me. And I love you for it.
4. You are my hater. Many people are surprised to hear that Girls Fight Back has spineless, invisible trolls who love destroying ratings and leaving mean and inappropriate comments. Of course, they never reveal their true identity. (i.e., cowards) But thankfully we have a policy to enjoy a collective staff laugh (Think Austin Powers – Mu ha ha ha!) at the tool sheds who choose to do this.

So this is my official post to convert this blog from a giddy and surface travel journal to a real conversation. We can talk about anything. Stuff in the news, women’s issues, safety & self-defense, my insane (and oh-so unglamourous) life on the road. So holla back at me, and post a comment now and then.  Let’s start out with this question:  What topics would you like to see more of on my bloggy?  Or which topics are you really enjoying thus far?

So just when I think I’ve had my sole encounter with opera music on this trip, I quickly realize my hotel room is next door to some opera singer. And lets just say the walls were VERY thin at this Comfort Inn in Bethlehem. No offense to her, but it was doing nothing for me, so I cranked up CNN on the TV. At 7pm, I spoke during the Women’s Wellness Week at LeHigh. I was on this campus several years ago, and it’s so gorgeous. It was kinda funny, because ALL of the buildings are old and made from stone. So I parked my car and got out, and was trying to find the building with no success. I called my contact, Nicole, and asked her which building it was…and I told her, “Please don’t tell me it’s the stone one.” I whipped out the GFB program, and we had an excellent time. It was good taking this message to LeHigh, as it’s the source of one of the most proactive organizations about campus safety in America. In 1987 a gorgeous co-ed at LeHigh named Jeannie Cleary was raped and murdered in a residence hall at LeHigh. The Clery family sued the university and used the large settlement to start a national non-profit called Security on Campus. It’s a great resource, because you can log onto their website and find college crime statistics at any funded university. Check it out: www.securityoncampus.org

Last night I spoke to about 800 sorority women at Clemson.  It was so great to be back on campus since my last visit during my book tour in Fall 2006.  Nothing had changed in regards to their energy, as I busted out the Spring Break program.  I actually did something in the seminar that I’ve never done before.  I broke out my video camera, and shot everyone in the audience doing the Palm-Knee-Knee.  It was awesome. (Video coming soon – still learning iMovie!)  After driving back to my hotel, I decided I was hungry and went to the Macaroni Grill nearby.  Tasty carbs!  This is probably my fave chain restaurant when I’m on the road, besides Chili’s and Subway.  Literally I have Subway every day for lunch.  You can call me Jarod, thank you very much.  But anywho, I had this waitress who was apparently an opera singer.  You wouldn’t know this just by looking at her, as she was this teeny tiny blond girl.  Some people at another table asked her to sing for them.  She belted out a wicked rendition of some Ave Maria kind of tune, and she totally wailed.  Who knew that Macaroni Grill had such a star-studded cast?

My travels yesterday brought me back to the Chicago area to speak at Elmhurst College. These past few weeks have been great personally, just because I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to hang out with friends and family during my jaunts in the Chicago area. I arrived at Elmhurst and get prepped to do the Stayin’ Alive on Spring Break program, and these students absolutely cracked me up. And many of them are taking part in Alternative Spring Break, which is donating your time on spring break to go to a community in need and provide volunteer service. Really impressive students. I met an impressive chapter of Alpha Phi women, and we busted out some of our favorite self-defense moves for your viewing pleasure. (pic coming soon)

First I have to start out by sending a huge thank you to Laurie Austin (pictured far left), the police chief at Salem College. My staff has been talking to her for almost a year trying to make last night’s event a reality! Due to her perseverance, it finally happened. And it was good…very good. I arrived on campus at 5pm, so that I could have dinner with athletes and international students to give a short talk about spring break safety and travel security. Then we headed over to the auditorium where I spoke to a very enthusiastic audience, giving the Girls Fight Back program. Afterwards I did a book signing, and answered many questions. As so many violent incidents against women have occurred in the South lately, these young women had specific concerns. An idea I plan to implement going forward was brought up at Salem. At the conclusion of the program, the women had the option of signing a sheet that expresses their interest in taking a full-contact self-defense class. Laurie took the list and is going to arrange this. I love this concept, because one organizer can already have a strong list of women interested in learning more about their safety. It was a real honor to be in Salem, and I hope to make it back soon. On a side note, I was informed Salem College is known for having many ghosts. I’m actually quite frightened of spirits, so I was excited to depart Salem without any “encounters.”

Today was quite the early journey to lovely Ann Arbor. Woke up around 3:30am to drive five hours from Chicago to Michigan since the program time was scheduled for 11:30 am. I got there finally, albeit a tad bleary eyed. Nothing a swift shot of espresso can’t fix! I gotta say, these people take their sports pretty seriously. I actually met a fellow road warrior in the Detroit Airport recently, who was telling me how she can’t wait to get home. I assumed she was rushing home to her man or her dog. But no, she wanted to see some Michigan sports. And she was from Allentown, PA of all places. Interesting. They must put something in the water. Anyways, it was a great program. Thanks for getting out of bed on a Sunday for Girls Fight Back!

Check out the April 2008 issue of Cosmopolitan, page 171 to be exact. There is a feature about Girls Fight Back, in the real-life stories section.  A big thanks to Jane, who wrote it.  And I have to admit, I’m not a regular Cosmo reader.  But damn, there’s some hot-n-steamy stuff in there.  Note to self: prevent still unconceived teen daughter from reading it ’till she’s older!

All I can say is WOW. What an incredible fundraiser last night in Chicago! When it comes to keeping a message and a girl’s memory alive, it’s pretty remarkable that after 7 years of this event we are still going strong. For the first time we asked the outstanding band, The Charleston Sound Machine, to play the entire event. They totally rocked it, and my husband Peter played guitar on several songs. The CSM is of particular significance, because they were my and Shannon’s fave band in college. We raised a whole bunch of money for the sole purpose of providing safety and self-defense education to teens in middle and high schools. I also had the chance to hang out with Angela Rose, a sexual assault prevention activist based in Chicago. A big thanks to the following people for making this such a huge success: Kate Lotz, Angie DeMuth, Tom Jenrette, Jeff Pahati & the Charleston Sound Machine, Pete Lacis, and Cindy & Bob McNamara. Thanks to everyone for coming out!

Yesterday morning I met with a major book publisher about some upcoming GFB projects…more to come on that soon. It was so nice to be back in New York City, and his building was right down the street from one of my former jobs at Miramax Films. After my meeting, I shot over to Hoboken to visit with some old friends from the block. One thing I’ve learned about non-stop travel is that you have to make time to visit with friends and family when you’re away from home…it’s one aspect of normalcy while roaming the nation. Last night I spoke to a crowd of 200 women and men in sororities and fraternities about how to have a safe spring break at SUNY Oneonta, and we had a blast. I end all these programs with a demo of self-defense techniques men and women could use if violently confronted on Spring Break.  Not sure what me and my Scary Bad Guy are doing in the photo above, but clearly we’re having a good time doing it!

Yesterday I drove about 5 hours from Pennsylvania to Staten Island.  I have to say, it’s been a nice treat for me not having to deal with airports every day this week.  I definitely prefer driving given the choice…at least I can listen to the radio and stop for a snack at my own free will.  Today I was driving and cursing the fact I couldn’t find a radio station that would come through.  I looked at the dash and felt like a complete moron when I saw that I’ve had SATTELITE radio all week, and didn’t know it.  Duh.  But anyway, I got to Staten Island and spoke for the second time at Wagner College.  I think I was there last in 2005, and these students are so fun and spirited.  See our post-program pic at left.  Don’t we look like a big improv comedy troupe?

Nancy Colasurdo writes the Life Coaching column for FoxBusiness.com, and today published a truly excellent article about my journey with Girls Fight Back. Click here to read it.

Last night I spoke at the lovely Penn State, and it was my second time at this campus. Apparently I’m quite the Weather Woman when it comes to this place. Last time I spoke there in 2004, I was accompanied by a horrendous snowstorm. (and drove through the entire thing.) This time I brought major flooding on…hooray for me! I gave the How to be a Bad Victim program for an audience of Greek men and women. Can ya dig our new posters?

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