Two years ago, I had the privilege to meet Major Scott Southworth and a young Iraqi boy named Ala'a.  The pair visited Dolphin Research Center, where I work, to do a DolphinSplash.

Scott had done a tour of duty in Iraq.  He and his troops frequently visited an orphanage to play with the children.  On the first visit, a 9 year old boy with cerebral palsy literally crawled across the floor to meet him.  That boy was Ala'a.  The two became good friends.  Shortly before his time in Iraq ended, Scott learned that Ala'a was soon going to be transferred to an adult home for the disabled.  The people who ran the orphanage were greatly concerned for the boy's future and asked if Scott could help.

Even though Scott was a single man, an American, he knew he could not turn his back on Ala'a, who had come to mean so much to him.  You can imagine the political and bureaucratic challenges he faced to get permission to bring an Iraqi orphan out of the war-torn country to America.  Scott never gave up.  He persevered and was successful two years ago.  This past June, his adoption of Ala'a was finalized and the pair are now officially father and son -- although their hearts made them so from the beginning.

Meeting them two years ago greatly touched my heart and I've kept up with their progress.  Ala'a has grown and therapy is helping him get stronger and learn to walk.  He's doing well in school, too!

I learned today that Scott is nominated as a CNN Hero.  If he wins, I believe he'll be awarded $25,000 which I'm sure will go a long way toward Ala's therapy and education.  Scott needs our votes before November 5th!

Please click this link for CNN Heroes.  You can see a video about this special father and son and vote online.

Please help!  Vote and spread the word to others.

Thank you!

I just saw a television commercial with a series of male sports stars talking about how much weight they've lost by following the plan, and eating the pre-prepared food of a well-known diet company.  (A plan redesigned specifically for men.  This means they'll probably get to eat a lot more than women because, as we all know, men already have a faster metabolism than us.)

I love this ad!  Nothing like seeing retired football and baseball stars showing off pudgy bellies. Yep, guys.  When you aren't in arduous training 12 months a year for a pro sport, but eat as if you were, those pounds really pack on.

I can't imagine what the company paid them for the endorsements, but I salute the intent.  I've noticed that most men don't seem to talk about going on diets and losing weight.  At least not the way that we women do on a regular basis.  Guys talk about "getting into shape", or "trying a new workout", or "starting a new fitness plan".  Some will say that they're "in the Zone".  The Zone diet just sounds more macho, doesn't it?  (Zone Diet, AutoZone -- not so far apart.)

It's okay for guys to admit that they're cutting back on carbs or watching their cholesterol for their health, but I rarely hear any male gab about counting calories and admit he's on a diet because he wants to look or feel better. 

This television campaign is sharp, smart marketing.  Advertising gurus have successfully used sports heroes as pitchmen for decades.  Makes sense.  If Dan Marino likes that car company or that deodorant, it must be good.  Joe Namath sold a ton of shave cream. 

What better way to inspire men to try a particular diet than to get star quarterbacks, running backs, outfielders or pitchers to give it their seal of approval -- and show how it helped them drop those pounds and regain the physique of their glory days?  (Although if I'd written the copy, I'd have had Cris Carter make a joke about retirement turning him from a wide receiver to a wider receiver.)

These guys are doing it, so it's officially now a manly activity.

You go, guys!

I'm enjoying a quiet, relaxing 4th of July.  Slept later.  Ate a leisurely breakfast on the new diet plan.  Read through the newspaper.  I always read the comics last before I do the puzzles.  One in particular, Pearls Before Swine, caught my eye and touched my heart this morning.

In the first frame a little pig sits behind a desk with a sign that reads, Hold me.  Make my probblims (sic) go away.

A mouse appears in the second frame and says, "You dumb pig.  Problems don't go away just because someone holds you.  Problems never go away."

In the third frame, the pig has scribbled over part of his sign so it now reads, Hold me anyways.

Let's enjoy a group Awwwwwwwwww.

How true is that?  A warm embrace won't eradicate problems, but it can make us feel better.  All that little pig wants is some comfort and I can't think of a single person who doesn't share that need at some point -- sometimes many points -- in our lives.

I'm often a caretaker in my friendships, but I've learned over the years that it is not my role to jump in and try to fix other people's problems -- no matter how much I want to make things better for people I love.

The best thing that I can do is listen, be an objective 'ear' that might be able to help them define their options, and then support them in whatever choice they make. 

I can also, always, hug them.  There's a lot of rich body language in a hug.  It says, "I'm glad to see you" or "I know things are tough right now, but they'll get better".  A hug reminds us that, no matter what, we have people in our lives who care about our welfare.

That little pig isn't dumb.  Maybe nobody can make his problems go away, but the embrace of a friend will make him feel better and help him go on so he can find his own solutions.

Tonight, I'm joining friends and co-workers to watch the city fireworks.  We're a pretty huggy bunch by nature.  What about you?  Hanging out with family and friends on this fine Independence Day?  Hug each other a lot and enjoy the holiday! 

Starting yet another diet is always an adventure.  I made up my shopping list Sunday so I wouldn't forget anything vitally important, thus torpedoing my success before I'd begun.

How was it possible to spend 35% more on this supermarket trip than on weeks when I'm not dieting? 

This new plan is incredibly exact.  Eat six times a day.  Lots of protein, balance of veggies and fruits, low on starch, low on fat and processed sugar.  Supplements, vitamins and carb blockers, oh my!  Don't mix the types of proteins at any one meal, red meat only twice a week and never two days in a row. 

My intense loathing of seafood really hampers me on a diet.  If you see me in a few weeks and I'm thinner but sporting a beak and feathers, it's because of the amount of chicken and turkey I've consumed.

The problem with this plan is that I think about food all of the time.  How can I not?  With six eating times a day and guidelines on what to eat when... or what not to eat if it's too late... and keeping track in a food diary, it's always on my mind.  I consult the book 15 times a day to make sure that I'm doing it right.

It's only the second day, so I'm sure this will become routine.  Eventually.  For now, I feel like it takes me less time to pack for a weekend getaway than it did to put together the proper lunch and snack items for the work day.

Then there's the water.  80 oz a day.  Minimum.  Not counting morning tea, non-cola soda, or other fluids.   I'm all for staying hydrated and "flushing the body's system", but we're still under water restrictions in South Florida.  At this rate, I might be solely responsible for Lake Okeechobee losing a few more inches of depth. 

All right, all right, I can hear you wondering if this is the right positive attitude to bring to the battle of my bulge.  I didn't say I wasn't going to do it, I just feel the need to gripe a little.  I'm sure that when I see the first dramatic weight loss (Yes, I know it will largely be that water weight gushing from my body) I'll be pumping my fists like a champ.

Until then, don't you think it's fundamentally unfair that losing weight should be so complicated and difficult when packing on excess pounds is so darned easy??

Let's discuss.   

The long lines of people camped out on beach chairs, enduring hot sun or soaking rain.  The fervor, the drive, the desperate determination to be one of the fortunate people to shell out money and, in exchange, be able to clutch our prize in our hands and rejoice.

Sounds like my friends and me 20-plus years ago the night before Springsteen tickets went on sale.  The experience was worth every soggy, take-turns-running-to-the-digusting-gas-station-bathroom, junk food moment.  We scored our tickets and had a blast at the concert.

Would I go through that now?  Probably not to the same extent.

Would I do it to be one of the first to buy an i-Phone?  Oh, hell no.  I'm amazed that anybody camped out three days ahead of the sales debut for this gadget.  It's.  A.  Phone.  So what if it's also a web browser, MP3 player and let's you download television shows?   Do we really need to be that plugged in?  Judging from the number of folks who impatiently waited their chance to fork over $500 when the doors opened, I guess there are some people who'd say, "Yes."

Those people would be the first to remind me that I thought Springsteen tickets were worth all the physical discomfort and sleep deprivation in the world.  Let me explain the basic difference.  The Springsteen tix were a one shot deal.  Once the 50,000 seats per show were sold, they were gone.  Out of reach.  An unfulfilled dream.

Apple's going to keep making the i-Phone, so if someone didn't get one yesterday, they can pick one up today, tomorrow, next week, next month.  Whenever.  Most likely after a good night's sleep and a shower.

Nothing and nobody on America's Got Talent was ringing my bell tonight.  I despaired of mining any material from the show for a good blog post.  Not even the return of Leonid from last season and the ensuing Hasselhoff hissy fit woke up my interest.

Then, mere minutes from the end of the show, enter The Glamazons!

This singing group of four plus-sized women dressed in tight satin and lace bustiers, garters, stockings and heels, hit all the right notes with on-the-money harmonies in their performance of Lady Marmalade.

They brought down the house and brought people to their feet.

I'm in awe.  The women are beautiful, sexy, and talented -- and they demonstrated that with their voices and every inch of their plump, curvy bodies. 

The judges unanimously passed them through to the next round with enthusiasm.

Piers Morgan, the Brit judge who most closely resembles a man in need of having the stick yanked out of his bum, freely admitted that he was attracted to them because of their curves even before they sang.  Piers, you're a chubby chaser!  Way to go.  More men should admit that on national television. 

I make no secret of my plus-plus size, so maybe I'm predisposed to enjoying a triumph by other women of size . . . but judging from the audience reaction, The Glamazons won the approval of a lot of other people, too.

Clearly, they were the most remarkable act of the evening!

They have my vote.  If you missed the show, hopefully someone will put their bit up on YouTube so you can see for yourself.

I drove off the rock this weekend and hit two bookstores.  That makes me sound like a bankrobber, but I paid for every book I purchased, honest.

Actually, me going into a full service bricks and mortar bookstore is much like a junkie strolling through a field of pot.  I love the whole experience -- the colorful rows of covers, the obstacle course of special displays and end dumps, the air scented with paper and whatever flavor of coffee is spotlighted from the corner cafe.  Let me run my fingers over the foil embossing and other raised lettering, or the slickness of the jacket around a hardcover.  Ahh.  Book lover Nirvana.

I scored big time because several favorite authors have recent releases.  Janet Evanovich's Lean Mean Thirteen was a top prize, but I also bagged Robert B. Parker's Spare Change and JA Konrath's Dirty Martini.  In the paperback aisle I found the second in Silhouette Nocturne's Raintree trilogy -- Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones, and the Harlequin Blaze anthology  Men at Work in which my friend, and fellow Babe in Bookland, Karen Kendall is the lead author.  On the way out of the romance section, I couldn't resist an impulse buy of The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge.  Why, you ask?  Simple.  I'm half-Sicilian and I've never seen a Siclian featured on a book that wasn't The Godfather.   

On my bedside table at home, I also have Michael Connolly's The Lincoln Lawyer that I'm reading for the next book club meeting.  There's also the thick Walt Disney biography that is also scheduled for book club but we keep pushing back the month because the book is huge and expensive so we're reading and passing it around.

I have several weeks of excellent reading stretching out before me like a vacation.  Best of all, by the time that I finish these recent purchases, there will be others waiting for me to buy them and enjoy.  My friend Beth Ciotta has a new historical western romantic comedy out in limited release called Romancing the West.  (World wide release to come!)  Then there's The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes by Jenny Crusie, Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart; Agnes and the Hitman by Jenny Crusie and Bob Mayer; Lost Girls by Robert Doherty (who is also Bob Mayer); one, two or three new books by Nora Roberts/JD Robb . . . you get the picture.

What's on your summer reading list?

Last weekend I went a little crazy with my QVC shopping.  I bought several products of my favorite line of cosmetics -- all of which are touted to be all natural, pure minerals, etc. etc., yada yada yada.

Today I feel like I need to apologize to the environment.  Even though I placed one order, it appears like QVC separately packaged and shipped many of the products.  A few days ago, I received a small cardboard box.  Inside was a single bottle of product in bubble wrap.  Friday, a single eyeshadow brush in a small padded envelope was tucked inside a larger padded envelope.  Another single bubble-wrapped bottle in another cardboard box waited on my steps.

In each of the packages, a small catalogue accompanied the order/shipping paperwork.  That's the entire reason they needed that additional padded envelope. 

I'm aghast.  Why not find one slightly larger box to hold all of the items in my order plus a single catalogue?  Surely that's more efficient in terms of time, energy, packing supplies, shipping costs -- you know, all those things that add to consumer and company prices.  God knows it's better for the environment in terms of waste.  I can recycle the cardboard and mixed paper, but it would be even better to reduce the amount of product before we get that far.

So, what can I do about it?  For one thing, I can write letters to QVC and the cosmetic company and urge them to change their practice.  You'd think we wouldn't have to tell them that this ought to save them money.  My next move is to resist the urge to order the products from afar.  I get up to the mainland often enough to make my purchases from a store, consolidating the shopping excursion with other things so that I don't waste gas. 

In one of those life coincidences, CBS Sunday Morning aired a story on plastics.  San Francisco gets props for their incredible recycling program, pledge to stop buying water in bottles, and move to ban plastic grocery bags.  They estimated that the plastic shopping bag that costs a store one penny costs the city 17 cents to dispose of.  Apparently the bags are too difficult to recycle!  There are biodegradable bags made from corn starch that can be used instead.

After years of attending writers conferences, I have quite a collection of canvas tote bags.  I think it's time to press them into service at the supermarket every week.

Actually, it's past time.