Six days until I start training. Lucky for me, my friends Connie & Mark are training for a metric century bike race. How far's that; you ask? Calculates out to 63 miles. Have plans to meet-up with them Sunday somewhere along their training course. More than likely, it will be near the end, because it's all about where we go to breakfast afterward.

So, since I'll be cycling with them on Sunday, this means I'll start my swimming on Saturday.

Best thing to look forward to as I train. Eating. The more miles and distance I cover the more I gotta eat!

On another subject, posted this in the "Note's" section of my Facebook page so thought I'd post it here too:

Over the past several days, I've tried to stay away from a majority of the Michael Jackson media blitz currently taking place; however, if you're anything at all like me, this is a tough thing to do.

Checking my email, playing around on Facebook or flipping the channels on the TV, inevitably connects me to the newest and latest tidbit of MJ information hidden in, around and behind seemingly endless, storyline repetition.

At home, my TV reception is one of those new, digital boxes and whatever I can scare-up on Hulu. That's it. No Dish, no Direct TV; no cable.

Given the amount of exposure I've had to Michael Jackson's life along with my own, the shining individual of the moment, for me, is Lisa Marie Presley. If you haven't yet read what she posted on her MySpace blog, you'll find it below.

Recently, a friend of 20 years, accused me of being the biggest narcissist she knows. Having been in this skin nearing 51 years, I'm well aware of how my ability to care for my mental and emotional health and well-being can appear narcissistic; however, I stand by the belief that in order to truly take care of others, we must first take care of ourselves.

In sharing her thoughts about MJ, Ms. Presley is honest and to the point without damage and pure in her own heart knowing what she had to do and ultimately did do for her own survival.

It's a beautiful tribute and walk-through, I believe, to the human condition.


In regard to a conversation she had with Michael during the course of their marriage, Lisa Marie Presley wrote:

"At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, 'I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did.' I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that."

"A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened. The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his Autopsy. All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted. I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once. Our relationship was not 'a sham' as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a "Normal life" found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much. I wanted to 'save him.' I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened. His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then. At that time, in trying to save him, I almost lost myself. He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated. When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad. Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions. I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him. I was in over my head while trying. I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision. The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.

"After the divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret. Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation. At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now. As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play."The exact scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted. Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him. He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together. I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now. He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be. I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is. The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right. I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening."