“Interview with Fam” Series – Uncle Bobby Vennes

Posted on December 26, 2009 by MAL

My Uncle is one of the most generous men I know.

Once I moved to California, he was the only blood relative closer than a few hours away and so in my adult years, we became very close. His house in Las Vegas was a much needed escape, and a welcome warm place to stay when going there for the weekend with friends or Thanksgiving when I couldn’t make the trek back to the east coast. He would often take me to restaurants and shows I could have only dreamt of going to whilst studying. Indulgent dinners at the kitchen table with Emeril Lagasse greeting us and tasting the bottle of wine he brought, Country Club meals, Cirque du Soleil shows with VIP treatment, and gorgeous sceneries at Zion National Park and Red Rock State Park.

A few years after, when I was living in Paris, we met up in Munich for Oktoberfest, Prague and Dachau. Me, being a poor college student got my trip paid for by my amazing Uncle. He also bought me the much-needed backpack that every young American needs whilst traveling around Europe.

I’m sure he would hate the fact that I’m boasting about him right now. He remains humble and remembers where he comes from. He’s my Uncle Bobbers – Meet Bobby Vennes!

1. Tell us five characteristics of yourself for an introduction.

I am a 52 year old single, professional business man and have been living in Las Vegas for almost 14 years. I enjoy golf, food and wine, fishing, travel, and a variety of other things. I feel blessed in many ways with great family and friends.

2. What are your plans for Christmas and the New Year?

This year I will be spending Christmas at home. I have been invited to numerous family’s dinners and will visit a few. I will golf a little and catch up on some things around the house, exercise and watch some football. While we have some of the best fireworks in the world (I am told) I am not a big New Year’s Eve person. I will go to the Country Club early, visit with friends and come home by 8 or so.

3. The general opinion of living in Las Vegas is one of chaos, late nights, and lots of tourists. How do you keep a level head while living and working there? Has that changed over the years?

Las Vegas certainly has all you have said and lots more I am sure. I came to Vegas unexpectedly. I have worked for Boston Scientific Corporation for over 20 years. It is a manufacturer and developer of Minimally Invasive medical devices and has grown tremendously over the years. Part of that growth has required consolidation of acquired companies. In 1995 I had to interview to keep my job in San Diego. Good news- I still had a job, bad news- no longer in San Diego. I was offered Las Vegas and said yes.

Las Vegas had a reputation for many things including Mafia, Buffets, Shows, Unions, Gambling Sex and much more. Just before I moved here, the city was in a transformation. The city needed to change its image and started to become more geared toward a family vacation destination. The mafia presence disappeared on the surface. Water Parks were built and the shows and restaurants started going to another level. With this growth were jobs, many jobs. It became the fastest growing city in the US. Previously it was San Diego in the mid 80′s and early 90′s. This is a sales persons dream. It is easier to grow the business in a growing town.

The great restaurants and shows allowed me to entertain my clients often getting special treatment. Living here is no different that anywhere else, except the Strip is only 10 minutes away. The truth is I don’t go much unless someone is visiting or I am entertaining. I am glad I never had an inclination to gamble. I am the worst ( I didn’t get Mommy’s good luck!) so I am not one to do it except for the NFL football wagers. Work and a relatively busy personal life have helped me keep a level head.

4. Seems our family has a few people who enjoy traveling and learning about other cultures. What is your fascination with traveling? Why have you continued to do it?

I took my first flight as a Senior in college. I represented our school at an academic competition at Harvard University which we won. It was exciting! I took a year off after graduating to see the United States. I spent a ski season in Vail, Colorado then went west to Wyoming and California. I knew I wanted to travel abroad but decided to see our country first. I ended up traveling with my career jobs and earned lots of miles. Through out the years I have used those miles to get free airline tickets. I started to travel somewhere once or twice a year, usually abroad. I found it fascinating visiting different cultures, histories and experiencing different religions and cuisines. I continue to do it because I enjoy it. I have learned people are all very similar underneath. We all want to be comfortable, loved and feel a sense of accomplishment.

5. How did you come up with the idea for the traveling Santa Claus postcard you send out every year? How long have you been doing it now?

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The idea for the annual Santa Christmas card started when I first moved to San Diego. Sometime in the fall of 1983, I was talked into skydiving. The plane snapped a photo of the leap of faith for each of us. I happened to be in an all red jumpsuit with a red helmet with a white V on the front. I thought I would send that photo to my parents at Christmas that year to show their son had moved to California and completely lost it. I took it to the photo shop and the girl told me it would make a great holiday greeting card. I took her up on it and have continued the tradition for 26 years now. It has been a lot of fun.

6. You’ve already accomplished so much in your life – including making it to the Olympics, working for Fortune 500 companies, being named Director of the Las Vegas Country Club, traveling the world, mingling with the famous (and I’m sure many more things I don’t know about…) Is there another obstacle you’d still like to tackle? Do you have future goals for yourself?

Actually I did not make it to the Olympics due to getting injured practicing with the team in 1984 a month before the games. Also I am not the Director of the Board at LVCC but rather a member of the Board of Directors. Regardless, I feel fortunate to have accomplished these and other things. I am currently in the process of becoming a winemaker for the 3rd year. The first 2 years turned out pretty good. I wanted great!

This next year we are bottling what I think will be great wine. I am really not sure what I will try to tackle next.

7. Getting even close to the Olympics is what every competitive athlete aims for, and working for Fortune 500 companies is what every business person hopes to achieve. What kind of mentality do you need to have in order to make it to the top? How would you compare it to life?

I love the story I once read published by a Rabbi. He wondered why some young people who are highly successful in their high school years (athletically, academically…) . Their success seemed to come easy. For some unknown reason they never went on to become anything more that average. (I am sure you all know one of those people.) Others who were only average in high school went on to achieve great things. The common thread with the successful high school folks that never went on was how they first faced adversity. Seems that some of those who are a big fish in a small pond encounter a fish just as big or bigger decide to run. Others decide to win.

For me I was fortunate enough to have powerful role models in my Mother and Father which gave me the values to be a fighter, even against seemingly impossible odds. For me sports taught me so many valuable lessons for life. I was told by my coach of my Division 3 school I would never be anything but a big fish in a small pond when I announced I was going to a Division 1 collage. That is when I decided I would show him. It gave me a drive to go on to a level I never dreamed of achieving. I encountered a similar situation when I interviewed with Mobil Oil Corp.(#2 on Fortune 500 at the time). I was told I was fortunate to be granted an interview as they are very selective. I was told they hired 1 out of 500 interviewed. I got the job!! So that is the mentality it takes to get to the top. It has a very good correlation to life I think. Well enough about me.

8. Finally, tell us your favorite joke!

What did the Doe say as she came staggering out of the woods? I’ll never do that for 2 Bucks again!!

“Interview with Fam” Series – My Sister, Amanda Lee Lopez

Posted on December 24, 2009 by MAL

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Amanda Lopez is the much much MUCH older sister of mine. OK, she’s not that much older. Plus, I have to put that in in case you are like many other people who assume I’m older. So annoying!

Not Much Has Changed

: Seriously, Don’t Ask

Amanda now lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her five-year old son Brayden who is probably the coolest five year old I’ve ever met. He seriously makes me look like Martha Stewart. Watch out ladies because he will be a heartbreaker!

She went to high school at a British International School in Mexico City called Greengates International while I stayed in Baltimore to study theatre. It’s there that she became fluent in Spanish (whereas I never learned), and developed her love for fashion and culture.

She now runs her own green realty company called style|house realty, and also delights every once in a while in the social media tool that is twitter. She goes by @style_house

She’s vivacious, driven and always makes me laugh. She’s my gorgeous older sister, it’s A-MAN…DUH!

1. What was it like to move to Mexico at the age of 15? How did you adapt to another culture? Did you find it difficult or easy? Do you feel it was easier being so much younger?

I guess the initial decision was pretty easy. without much thought, i kind of figured that ‘sure, why not?’ i mean i could always come home. actually getting there though and trying to fit in was a whole other issue in itself. i remember getting there and arriving to school and the instant icy looks from all of the girls who were instantly jealous that an attractive american girl was now their competition for the boys attention… needless to say, i HATED it when i got there. i couldn’t wait to come home. so that Christmas was my first chance at coming back to the states and that is when everything changed. I remember going back and seeing all of my friends and realizing at that moment that everyone was still doing the exact same things and here I was living in another country. So that is when i decided to come back to Mexico and make the most of it and I ended up staying for another 2 years. Perhaps it was easier being younger although i think i could do it again, have the same problems, realizations and really be fine with it again.

2. Once you moved back to the states, you decided to go to University. Did you find the reverse culture shock any harder or easier? Were Americans all of a sudden strange creatures? Explain.

yes, coming back was a huge shock! being in Mexico, i had gotten used to people dressing up for every occasion and wearing nice clothes. and then coming back here i was seeing people grocery shopping in their pjs! and wearing old flip flops, hair messy and just plain bad fashion all the way around! it took me awhile to stop judging people on their overall sloppy appearance but that was probably one of the most noticeable things. i guess too the overweight issues and just people not really caring about their health and well being and the clothing was ultimately a reflection of this. i did however enjoy coming back to a place where the mail was delivered daily, people showed up for their work when they said they were going to and the much more high intensity at which expectations of the work life were made. i did greatly miss all the social aspects though like parties, mariachi’s, going to clubs at the ripe old age of 18 too!

3. You’ve mentioned that you’d like to continue to travel a little bit every year. (As we did with you this past February going to Spain.) However, now you have a five year old son, and many people would say it’s much harder to travel with children, and especially as a single mom. Do you agree or disagree? How did you do it and how will you continue to? Any advice for other single moms out there with an interest to travel.

of course it is going to be different, but i guess it’s what you get used to also. no, you can’t sight-see the nightlife, bar hop around town or things like that. but you can still have nice meals, as long as you don’t give in to your child only eating pizza, but that is another blog entirely! i tried not to cater completely to him and everything that he wanted to do because afterall, it was me paying for this trip and i wanted to do things that both of us would enjoy. you also realize that being in the same place, children experience things that perhaps you would never had paid attention too. like every playground that was passed, or the colors on the walls of buildings.

so it is also interesting to see the world through the eyes of the children and they make you go slower as to where you HAVE to pay more attention to your surroundings.

i will surely continue to travel. we went to Washington DC a few weeks ago and are spending Christmas in NYC just the 2 of us. We plan on seeing the Rockettes show on Christmas day, ice skating in central park, the natural history museum with the dinosaurs, FAO Schwartz, Rockefeller center and much more!

Advice? just do it. be prepared with some games for the travel time, but you are the adult, make the decision to travel and your child will learn. that that is the way of life and that’s just what you do.

4. You run your own business now as a realtor. (You can see style|house here!) Explain the challenges (good and bad) you face as a business owner. Do you prefer it over working for someone else?

i love working for myself! not because it’s any less work, and often times it’s more, but i had too many ideas swirling around in my head as to what i wanted a company to be like and maybe it’s a control thing i have going on but I had nothing and everything to lose and well… i decided to jump ship and go out on my own. time will tell as to whether or not i am crazy but in the meantime, i am super happy!

5. Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?

in five years…i plan to grow my business up to a point where i am mostly managing and opening up new offices and attracting awesome people to come work for the company. i want to franchise my brokerage firm and have style house realties all over the country. ie style house nyc, style house dc, etc.

in ten years… i plan to have several offices that i have either sold off and am recieving residual checks from or a much larger company will see my vision and buy me out and i can enjoy my life and continue to travel the world and provide the best education for my son.

6. As a fellow Lopez sister, what would you say the best thing about being a Lopez is? And, you can’t say being related to me because that’s too obvious!

damn meagan, you stole the words right out of my mouth!! haha. best thing about being a lopez? well, it’s really just about being me. and whether i was a lopez or a jones or whatever, i think i’ve always found my place because i have a strong sense of me. and you do realize that lopez is really the ‘smith’ of the latin last names don’t you? i mean the only thing that makes us different is that we are PALE and lopez!

Rage Fills Me With Excitement

Posted on December 21, 2009 by MAL

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The billboard charts normally don’t faze me. But this week, I became so enthralled by what was happening on the UK’s #1 Radio Station – the people were speaking. They were sick of corporations and big money dictating to them what they should be listening to. An actual grass root’s campaign was working, and could possibly beat out the mindless pop chatter.

Jock and I were headed to dinner with Radio 1 playing in the background. We drove around and around waiting to hear the result. We both agreed that there was really no way the people could win. After all, if Simon Cowell wanted his song to be number 1, surely he would just buy the singles himself…

This was the situation – for the last four years, the week before Christmas, the single to reach #1 on the billboard charts in the UK has been a song sung by the winner of the X-Factor (UK’s American Idol). A pop ballad usually written by some American artist. This year was Miley Cyrus’ The Climb sung by a northern lad named Joe McElderry.

2009 was going to be no different. In fact, no other artist even bothered to release a song this past week because they figured Why bother? Simon Cowell would win, and that would be that.

Until a young couple started a facebook campaign against Simon Cowell urging people to buy Rage Against the Machine’s Killing in The Name from 1992. Over 300,000 joined the group within a week. Rage’s single downloads were competing with a hard copy compact disc. Never has a single won a top spot in the charts simply by downloads alone.

This year it all changed. After Jock and I readied ourselves for a people’s loss once again, democracy took over and won! I can’t tell you why this affected me in such a way other than I had become so used to the underdog losing out. The 2000′s as a decade have been decadent, indulgent and mindless. This felt like a real victory for the voices of England – at the very least.

The cynics say that both artists who were competing for the top spot were from Sony Music, and so either way, Sony got the money. They also said it didn’t matter and there were more important things to spend energy on – i.e. climate change, war in Iraq, etc. Finally, they argued that Rage Against the Machine aren’t exactly as hardcore as perhaps they were when the song was released in the early 90′s, and therefore don’t really represent the opposite of Joe McElderry. (Here’s an article for this mindset from NME.)

I say, none of that matters.

I disagree. Success breeds success. Every small victory for the small people means that energy can gain momentum and other things can begin to change. I say, it’s freaking exciting and I haven’t felt that energy for a movement in a long time. When we exited the car to head to dinner, our jaws were still running behind us. We were so sure in our diagnosis of the outcome. After that, we smiled from ear to ear, fist pumping in air and kept repeating “God, I love an underdog. I love an underdog!”

Not quite the Vietnamese protests of the 1970′s, but it’s a start to awakening something in this sleeping generation…

Rage is donating their unexpected residuals to charity, and promise to come to the UK for a free concert in honor of the win.

I still don’t yet know entirely why this was so powerful to me…but I have a feeling there will be many meetings about this in Sony’s headquarters…

Festivities

Posted on December 21, 2009 by MAL

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3:33PM began festive day of birthday celebrations for Jocko’s 33rd. Cold had set in bones and shivering took good part of hour to drown out. Pint of Foster’s shandy helped soothe muscles and convulsions. Two work buddies and one television accountant joined in the first point of pub crawl once sun began to set over the Avon Gorge. One work buddy finished plate of steaming overly cheesy Nachos that I had left to the side unfinished.

Second pub was true gentleman’s hole in the wall. Fire barely making a dent in the frozen air, and small dog hogging any warmth that may have oozed out. Big sign reads “Don’t Feed Dog.” Conversation over meaning of the term “Catalan” takes quarter of hour to complete. Mate forces Jock to drink Moonshine for his seconds. I stay on beer.

Purple polo shirt enters and takes his seat next to Jock’s. Greetings are manly and jovial.

Feeling happy, warmer and excited for what will come.

Wife of work mate is about to leave from where she is with baby – the Royal Oak pub down the street. He asks if we want to see the new 8 week old. We leave hole in wall, briskly and effervescently pump through city ten minutes to find next stop. Crawling is not what we’re doing. Pub leap is more like it. Baby is fast asleep in corner of steamed up boozer. Five percent of drinking population in this one equals women. I am becoming less and less of a minority believe it or not.

Carolers enter outside scene in gloves, hats and scarves singing songs I never knew existed and in angelic tones, and I am thrown into English romanticized version of what it is like for Christmas. Mulled wine must be next drink of choice to complete idolized dream. It is warm, fruity, smoky and everything I hoped this drink would be. Will definitely be having more. No one can bring me down from this festive spirit that has taken over. I kiss Jock to make sure this is all real.

Pubs start blending into one. Friends of Jock’s enter and exit throughout night graciously kissing on cheeks and commenting on my new hair. Jock gets more and more cards to put into my small purse. Night ends in kebab take away joint – after all, we hadn’t had a thing since the Nachos at 3:33PM.

To top off the Christmas feeling, after the rest of England has been hit by snowstorm after snowstorm, Bristol has remained dry. That is, until midnight last night. The view from our yard this morning:

“Interview with Fam” Series – Judy Vennes (aka Momma)

Posted on December 16, 2009 by MAL

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My mom.

She is an incredible woman who has taken many different paths, sometimes the hard way and sometimes the easy way, but she always seems to come back stronger than ever. She raised my sister and I in Baltimore, MD (amongst a few other places), and did an unbelievable job. We were never uncertain as to whether she loved us or would be there for us.

She is a searcher, and whenever she finds inspiration, she makes sure to send it our way.

She’s the best woman I know. But I’m a bit biased. She’s my mommy.

Here is her version. Enjoy!

1. Where did you grow up and when?

“I grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore in a middle/upper middle class area in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It was an era of “baby boomers,” kids who were born of parents who had lived through World War II and the Korean War. It was the beginning of suburban living in neighborhoods of mostly tract housing. I lived in the town of Timonium for the first 8 years of my life and then we moved to Lutherville into a home that my father and grandfather built together on the corner of York Road and Haddington Road. My father was a professional photographer and he built the home on York Road because it is a major thoroughfare and the intention was that it would be good for his business to have a commercial location on the edge of a residential neighborhood so that we could have the best of both worlds, a combination business/home building . I don’t think he or my mother thought about the constant noise of traffic or the dirt it would produce inside the home, but it was home to my parents, two brothers, sister, me and my paternal grandparents during the summer months as they escaped the Florida heat for the summer.”

2. You’ve had many careers in your lifetime. What spurs you on to keep recreating yourself in business as you do?

“Great question! One that I have asked myself many times. I think because my father was an entrepreneur for as long as I can remember and always had his own business, he modeled for me the concept of being my own boss. I guess the bottom line is that I keep searching for a career where I feel that I can not only make a contribution but also be able to pursue something that I am passionate about. Ah, my life quandary, I believe! When I began working after high school, I fell into the insurance industry. I went to work for a local insurance agency and within the first year I had studied for and passed my property and casualty insurance license so that I could be promoted within the agency. I stayed in the insurance industry with several other agencies over the course of the next five years. It was mundane work and I knew that I would not stay in this industry for very long. The predominant portion of my working years has been office/administrative even though I was never really happy with any of those jobs. Secretarial skills are what I learned in high school, so it was what I did.

When I decided to become a custom picture framer, it was at a time of my life when I knew I would have to become independent again because my marriage at the time was failing and I knew I didn’t want to go back to office work. So, I found a custom picture framing school, learned how to frame and then opened my own business which I ran for about 10 years. It was fulfilling because I was able to take a piece of art and enhance its beauty by matting and framing it. I used my hands and my creativity which made me happy.”

3. What made you decide to enter healing as a profession?

“After so many years in the corporate/business arena and feeling unfulfilled, I knew I needed another story. Then I attended the Hoffman Process in 2003. Everything changed for me after that experience. I reconnected with Spirit, remembered why I was here and knew that whatever my chosen field was going to be, it would be helping people. I began seeing an acupuncturist, who is also a Hoffman graduate, and I had great experiences during our sessions and I loved the whole process of our sessions.

“I decided that I would finally declare a college major since I had begun taking a few classes in 2001 and accelerate my studies by becoming a full-time student so that I could more quickly become an acupuncturist because I needed to complete my bachelor’s degree and then on to acupuncture school. Along the way, I realized that I could incorporate a massage therapy degree and begin to practice sooner rather than later in the healing arts as a massage therapist while continuing on towards my master’s in acupuncture. But somewhere along the way, I decided that if I loved massage that I would give myself permission to stop and pursue that career. And that is exactly what happened.

“I loved massage and am now beginning to pursue a full-time career in that field. Again, I am using my hands in this career, and also my intuition and knowledge of the body and creating a style that is my own.”

4. You decided to go back and get a University degree recently. What made you decide to do that and since receiving it, does it feel any different?

“It was a lifelong dream of mine to be able to go to college and obtain my bachelor’s degree because I was told that the only reason to go to college was to find a husband, so I wasn’t exactly groomed to head in that direction after high school. Once both of my daughters were raised and attending college themselves, I thought that that would be the time for me to get the rust out of my mind and head off to college and take some classes, still not knowing what I wanted to study. I knew I liked art and had always wanted to see what medium of art would resonate with me so I decided to take one general studies class and one art class each semester.

“After a few years of attending college on a part-time basis, I then had the goal of fulfilling my bachelor requirements much more quickly as I stated above. Since receiving my double AA degree this past May, one of which was my massage therapy degree, I have stopped attending classes but expect to finish sometime in the future. It feels really good to have finished at least my AA degree but I now do not feel compelled at this point to go and finish my bachelor’s degree; although I know I will graduate with that degree sometime in the future.

“I now know that I can complete anything I set out to do and that is the biggest, most fulfilling lesson that I learned. I had never really completed anything like that before in my life and the fact that it had been something I had wanted to do all my life and then was able to realize that dream was an amazing feeling.”

5. You’ve had both your children move out of the country at some point. Was this something you’ve ever considered doing?

“No, it isn’t. I have never considered moving out of the country as a conscious thought, but I have always believed that if the opportunity presented itself, anything is possible. As much as I love to travel and explore different countries and cultures, I have never thought about moving to another country, other than maybe Canada some day since it was just brought to me attention that I qualify to be a Canadian citizen since my father was born in Montreal, Canada. So, I am pursuing that option at the moment but have no concrete plans to move there. I think what would ultimately keep me from moving to Canada would be the winters. BRRRRRRR!!!”

6. What’s it like to be single and in your 50′s? Any advice you’d like to give other women who are single and your age?

“I truly believe that the 50’s are the best years of my life so far. These years have been about knowing myself, trusting myself and not depending on a man to take care of me for the first time in my life. That is not to diminish however for even one minute the years of childbirth and raising my two beautiful daughters!! The only advice I can offer to other single women in their 50’s would be to not settle for less than you deserve, not to take yourself seriously and not to take anything personally. When you can let go of expectations and outcomes, life is so much easier and less stressful.”

But then, that could be advice for anyone at any age!

7. If you could leave one legacy or lesson about life, what would it be?

“To love unconditionally, live from your heart and to be joyful as often as possible. To live in the present moment as often as you can remember to and remember that when you are present, everything is perfect. I have been very blessed with many lessons throughout my journey and as the years pass I realize there is not too much we need to be happy.

The other lesson I have learned is that if we can remember that we are one – one with each other, one with nature, one with Great Spirit – it is that connectedness that allows us to love unconditionally.”

Thanks, Meggers, for allowing me the forum to express this to you and anyone else who wishes to read this. Namaste.