Up the Sunbeam

-- After three unexpected hours of standing in the parking lot of Oakland's Oracle Arena, it was finally time to go inside. My spirits lifted immeasurably as I exchanged the bone-burning ache of standing indefinitely on concrete to at least putting one foot in front of the other up the ramp toward the entrance. Drummer Boy, She So Sweet and I moved quickly into the darkened interior of the arena and made our way down the lighted stairway to our seats where we waited with relieved anticipation for the show to start. One session of the taped-for-TV auditions for Simon Cowell's singing competition show, XFactor, was about to begin! We watched with interest and listened to the preliminary instructions given to us about our role as the audience, and played along with the people whose job it was to warm us up for our role in the show; they especially wanted to get us prepared for the grand entrance of the judges. Comedian, Frank Nicotero, who acted as a sort of master of cerem...

-- Up and down the neatly laid out streets of our little Iowa town were big old wonderful houses that stood stately and dignified  where they'd stood for decades. Almost all of them were white. Ours was white too, until . . . Daddy painted the front door bright red! What did people think, I wonder?  These tried and true traditional Iowans--what did they make of the young basketball coach and his strange door-painting ideas!?  Didn't he know the rules?  Was he a rebel?  Red wasn't even one of the school colors!  What did it mean??? To him it meant "pizzazz!"  After all it was his favorite color!!  It was vivid and bright and positive--all things that he is.  The red door was his way of making it OUR house, distinct and memorable.  Painting the door red was the smile he put on our house to match the one he always wears! I was 5 and I was delighted!  How deliciously scandalous it felt to have that flashy red door on our big whit...