10/20/2011

My book to be released; TV show to air

Hey everyone. Sorry it's taken so long for me to write a new blog: I've just been soooo busy! Anyway, the last few months I've been bouncing around the country like a pinball. It's been fun and draining all at the same time. I've been doing interviews and finishing up last minute book stuff. It's been interesting to say the least.

It's finally done! My book, "No Turning Back" hits stores Nov. 1! Hey, and that's not all. I have also been working on a TV show out of Chicago called "Reporting for Service with Bryan Anderson." Holy cow, I'm now a TV show host! It's an awesome show about people giving back to their community. The show premieres at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10 on WTTW Channel 11 in Chicago. Who knows what will come next?

In the middle of all that, I'm working events for Pride and Quantum. Last week, I was at Baptist East in Louisville. I met some really great people there and love visiting Louisville. Our big trade show, Medtrade, is next week in Atlanta. I like that show and I'm doing a pre-release of the book there. Maybe it will give me an idea of how it might do. Anyway, I hope you're all chugging along and living life.

04/26/2011

Medtrade Spring 2011 Proves To Be a Rewarding Experience

Las Vegas! Don't you love Vegas? Well, I sure do. If you can't have fun in Vegas, you're doing something wrong.

I was recently in Las Vegas for an HME industry trade show called Medtrade Spring. There's also a Medtrade show in Atlanta in the fall and that one is much bigger, but that doesn't mean Medtrade Spring is any less important.

The show itself went well. The booth looked great and we had some new things to show, so all in all it was good. As far as working the show, that was draining. To give you an idea of what we go through, we have booth set up two days before. Meanwhile, all of our clients are coming in and meeting up with us. Then they are always looking to go have dinner and a good time so you're out �til the early morning and sometimes are back to the booth by 8:30 a.m. We work the booth all day then do it all over again for the next two days.

Most people would ask, "Why do all of that?" Well, it's actually a lot of fun. It can be tiring, but most of us who have done this show a few times know what to expect and know how to prepare for it.

Another reason I like the shows are because of the people you meet. I met this girl - let's call her "Lauren." She works for a friend who is a client. We seemed to click when I said I wanted to jump off the Stratosphere (a building in Vegas) and she said she wanted to, too! I thought, "Awesome!" It just goes to show you never know who you're going to meet.

You meet and make so many connections that it's hard not to feel like you're a part of something much bigger than yourself. With that feeling also comes a feeling of accomplishment, and that is what drives me. I strive for that, for something to make me feel like it's not about me but everyone else; to feel like you're making an impact on the world not just for you in your world, but for everybody in their worlds.

I was always taught to make your area where you live a better place. Always making it better, right? Well, that goes as big as your mind goes. So for me my area is this earth. I go everywhere, see everything and absorb every aspect I can. So why would I not try to make it better for people after me? That's all I'm trying to do. Want to help?

09/28/2010

Hey! Ok, so... I went skydiving and it was awesome! The first five seconds was such a rush. Like, Holy Cow, I really just jumped out of an airplane! Most people close their eyes for that part, but not me. I was looking for the plane even though it was moving so fast that it was already out of the picture. Then, floating down is one of the most peaceful things I have ever experienced. I suggest you all try it!

I also met Lou from Operation Repo. Have you ever seen that show? If not, watch it! He is hilarious. He tried to repo my chair! It's cool because I fought him off and got a picture of the whole thing. We met while I was out in LA, at the LA County Fair, doing an event for USA Cares. It was a lot of fun. I was there with Steve Wilkos, too, which was really cool. He's funny and we have started to build a friendship which I hope works to both of our advantage.

My book is coming along nicely. I've read the rough draft and it just needs some minor adjustments and then off to the publisher for a whole lot more adjustments I'm sure! Haha! It's an adventure.

We all need to make our own adventures; that's what makes life so interesting! So, until next time... Live it up!

08/25/2010

Hi. So I just realized that it has been a long time since I’ve written a blog so let me tell you what’s been going on.

First thing is I’ve been working on a new Q6000Z show chair which will be black chrome. Oooohhh I can’t wait! Also I’m trying to get a new van - it’s going to be slick. The problem I’m having, though, is getting rid of my old one. The dealer only wants to give me so much money for it but with the adaptations it’s worth a lot more. So I’m dealing with that. Not fun.

My favorite activity is skateboarding so I just built a manual chair I can do so in. I have grinded rails, dropped in half pipes and got 6 inches of air off a quarter pipe. Now all I need to do is experiment to find new cool things/tricks to do. But that’s the fun part!

Also, the first draft of my book is done. It’s really coming along now and getting exciting. The plan is to have it out - I believe - on Veteran’s Day next year, so about a year from now. Make sure you watch out for it. It has a working title of "No Turning Back."

I hope you all out there are having fun in your lives. Check back in soon.

03/29/2010

So, I got to spend St. Patrick's Day in Nashville, TN. Let me tell you, that is a great city to spend that holiday in. Although, I did have quite the adventure there - I actually had to have minor surgery on my mouth! My saliva gland produced a stone in my mouth and that caused me all kinds of problems. Don't worry though, I'm all good now. You always have to remember that pain is only temporary and things always get better. Always!

I also got to spend this past week at Pride Corporate and got a bunch done. I spoke in Danbury, CT, at Ability Beyond Disability which is a great nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities pursue lives that most people take for granted. It was such an honor to be there and learn more about all of the resources they have to offer! I also spoke at Curtis Instruments in Mount Kisco, NY, which was awesome. Curtis Instruments actually make our Q-Logic Drive Control System and while I was there they treated me extremely well which I totally appreciated.

My next adventure is to move to PA so I can get more involved with everything that happens at Pride and Quantum. April 5th is the big day and I'm really excited about that.

Get ready, because I'm going to shake things up!

03/01/2010

Ok so in January I spent a couple weeks at Pride Corporate in PA testing some new motors and working with the Marketing Department on new ads. A lot of the ads focus on living a normal, happy life. Speaking of happy, for fun when I'm in PA I like to go riding on my quad with buddies. It's fun as hell and an amazing rush! I’m actually getting ready to move out to PA to be closer to work at Pride and can't wait to just be out there already!

In February I gave a speech in Charlotte, NC, as part of the Quantum National Seminar Tour which was cool. I'd never been to North Carolina before and really liked it. Then it was off to the BARS Ski Bash in McHenry, MD. I got to go snowboarding and meet up with old friends that I’ve made at the Bash in years past. The powder was fresh and the slopes were great! I also met up with a group of Iraq war vets from The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center in Johnstown, PA. They were really awesome people and I’m glad I got to know them.

I'm at home now packing for my move and next trip. The next few weeks are going to be busy! I hope you all out there are living as much as me! Take care!

02/09/2010

So. Happy New Year!! Wow.

So I gotta tell ya, I’m real excited about this year. These are a lot of cool great things happening!! There are things working on both sides of the fence! I’ve got good things going on, also, Pride/Quantum have some good stuff coming out too! My schedule is filling up fast, which makes me feel great! I love doing the things I do and getting to just be me!

12/02/2009

So, within the last few weeks I’ve done some really interesting things.

First off, we had our largest tradeshow of the year, Medtrade. It was held in Atlanta and I spent about a week there. I gave a speech and then worked the show floor. All in all it was a great show! Also, Atlanta is where Paul Jenkins lives (He’s the guy who wrote the Captain America comic.). My LT in the army, Frank, lives there too. So, I got to hang with them both and catch up. Paul is writing a movie called Wing Man. It’s all about picking up girls, so we all went to Hooters to see what we could do and get some research. It was a lot of fun.

After that, I went to Idaho which was nice. I visited the NORCO facilities and was impressed with how nice the people were and how spread out it was. I visited two rehab hospitals while in Boise and got a chance to speak to staff. I also met a young mother who lost her left leg as a result of a hunting accident. Her 12-year-old son’s weapon accidently discharged and the result was the amputation. Her concern was much more for her son, than her leg!

Then it was on to Dallas for an American Airlines sponsored event called Skyball. It’s all about supporting soldiers. Gary Sinise invited me personally. It was a great event. I met the coolest people including a bunch of American Airlines employees like pilot Neal Roaz, and his wife. I also meet Tony Orlando and a lot of soldiers too.

American Airlines puts on another event called Snowball that I’d like to be a part of. But I’ll give you more on that another time. Till then…

…Live life!

08/25/2009

Did you ever have an experience that was just so cool, and so weird at the same time, that you had a hard time finding the right words to describe it? That’s me right now, after reading the latest Captain America comic.

See, there’s this character in the comic, who joins the Army, goes over to Iraq, gets hit by IED, and winds up losing both his legs and one hand. Sound familiar? Oh, yeah…the character’s name is Bryan Anderson.

That’s right, I am a comic book character! How weird is that?

Here’s what happened: Last year, at the CUSP conference in Chicago, I met this guy named Paul Jenkins. I was never a big comic book guy, so I had never heard of him, but he’s a pretty famous writer for Marvel Comics. We got to be friends and he came up with the idea of putting me into a Captain America comic. Paul wrote the story, based on my experience, and it was published just the other day.

I never saw it until the finished product was on the shelves, so my first look at it was the same day as everyone else. I was absolutely amazed! There I am, drawn right on the pages, with Captain America! Unbelievable! The best part is that I survive the whole issue. Paul’s friends show up in his comics all the time, but they usually get killed. He offered to kill me off, if I wanted. I think I’d rather live, you know?

Seriously, I want to publicly thank Paul, and everyone at Marvel, for doing such a great job with this. It’s something that will always mean a lot to me.

If you want to get a copy (and you know you do!), here's what you need to know: It’s called “Theater of War: To Soldier On” and you can get it from pretty much any comic store. If you don’t know here to find a comic store near you, click here: http://www.comicshoplocator.com/

Go check it out.

08/17/2009

Wow it's been a busy time for me. I've been all over the place the last few weeks.

At the end of June I was at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH for the announcement of the winner of the Lennox Home Town Heroes contest. My uncle Rick was one of the finalists, for all the work he did to make my mom's house accessible. He didn't win, but this was one of those deals where it really was an honor just to be nominated. And he knows he'll always be my hero for everything he's done for me and my family.

After that, I joined the Pride Seminar Tour in South Bend, Indiana, home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, on July 14 and 15. The Seminar Tour is a pretty cool operation. They take a bunch of experts on everything from power wheelchair electronics to government regulations, and they all spend the summer on the road, holding classes all over the country. They're literally bringing the providers and therapists the information they need, practically right to their front door. I'm always glad to help them out when I can.

I went straight from South Bend to Detroit, for a black tie USA Cares dinner. I spoke at this one, but instead of my usual presentation where I tell my story, I focused more on talking about how important it is to keep supporting veterans and their families. I have plenty of experience on that subject too, but I tried to keep it more general, so it applied to anyone who served and is facing some tough times now. So that was a little different, but it went very well. Don't forget to stop by www.USACares.org and see how you can help.

Before July was over, I was down in Texas for the Texas Rehab Providers Council in San Antonio. It's a big meeting of rehab industry professionals and I gave my more standard speech this time, which also went over pretty well. By the way, another great group of dedicated, smart, professionals who work really, really hard to help people get the most out of their lives.

07/20/2009

I love speaking at colleges, and not just because colleges are filled with really smart, interesting women. (That's one reason, it's just not the ONLY reason). College students are a great audience. They think creatively, and they ask some of the best questions. So I was pretty pumped to get the chance to speak at St. Francis University, near Altoona, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, June 17. I spoke to a group of about 75 or 80 students, who are all going to school to be therapists. Everyone on campus treated me great and the speech went well, and a bunch of us went out later that night. I had a great time. St. Francis is someplace I'd definitely go back to.

While I was in the area, the next day I gave a speech at the grand opening of Laurel Medical's new facility. There was an even bigger group there, between customers and employees and therapists. The people at Laurel were great. John Letizia and his staff treated me like family and I thought the whole thing went really well.

06/30/2009

Usually, when I visit a place, I don't get the chance to return for quite a while. So it was a little different that I got back to Louisville so quick, and pretty cool too, since I had an awesome time when I was there in April (if you don't know what I'm talking about, scroll down the blog a little).

This time, I was in town for a USA Cares event and open house at Gould's Discount Medical. Gould's held a Red Shirt Friday for USA Cares, which helped raise money and awareness. I gave interviews to the local TV and newspapers and we got a lot of coverage, which was great for a couple reasons. First, it introduced people to USA Cares, and the more people who know about our mission the better. It also helped get some exposure for Gould's, and the rest of their open house was a big success. I met a ton of people, signed a bunch of autographs, took pictures with people and just generally had a good time.

I spoke to groups twice. The first was for about 70 people (customers, workers, general public, whoever wanted to listen) at Gould's. Then, while we were in the area, I also visited Frazier Rehab Hospital and spoke to a couple dozen therapists other health care workers. They were having training on the Quantum Litestream, which is my manual chair.

Speaking of manual chairs…I use mine a lot, and I'm always tearing up the “skin” on my prosthetic hand. I kind of use the back of the hand to push the wheel along, and that constant wear just peels the outer layer right off. It looks bad and it kind of freaks some people out, so I've been looking for a way to avoid it. Well, a company called Bionic is working on gloves for exactly that purpose. So I met with some people from that company, and I'm going to test out their stuff. This is a brand new product, made to fix for a pretty specific problem, so it's going to be a lot of fun putting it through my own personal testing procedures.

I'll let you know how it works out.

06/22/2009

The first part of May was coast-to-coast travel for me. I'm racking up serious frequent-flyer miles.

A couple of days after we finished up in Tennessee, I flew out west to California, to meet up with the Pride Mobility Seminar Tour. That's a group of techs and government regulation experts who travel around the country and teach classes to Providers and therapists. I gave the keynote address to a crowd of about 100 people and everyone seemed to respond to it really well. I got a lot of great comments from people later.

My good friend Haley made the trip too. She introduced me before my speech and told everyone about Quantum Speak Out, which is a program where schools and businesses and other groups can have me, Mark Smith, or Madonna Long give a presentation about living with disabilities. I should mention that Mark and Madonna are real pros at this. I'm pretty good at telling my story, but those two have tons of knowledge about a lot of different legal and technology issues. I'm working hard to learn as much as I can to match them.

Anyway, later on, Haley and I met with Laurie Watanabe, the editor of Mobility Management, one of the biggest “trade magazines” in the wheelchair industry. I've gotten to know Laurie over the past couple years and she's great. She brought Art Dudley, the art director for Mobility Management and he took some pictures of me giving my presentation, so maybe those will show up in print some time. I'll keep you posted.

When we got back to the East Coast, I headed to New York City for a return trip to Esquire Magazine. Remember, I was on the cover of Esquire about two and a half years ago. Back then, I got to talk to a lot of the people in the newsroom, reporters, photographers, editors, people like that. This time, I stopped by the publishing offices and met the business people. They were all happy to finally meet me and we had a really good time.

That was all just the beginning of a super busy couple of weeks, that had me going back to some places I'd visited before. More details later.

06/10/2009

Hey everyone! Just a couple updates, for those of you who are tracking my movements.

I went to the PAMS conference near State College. For those who might not know, PAMS is the Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers, and State College is the town where Penn State is. I gave my presentation at the conference and it went really well; there was a good turnout of industry professionals. I hope they gain something from hearing me, ‘cause I definitely gain a lot from meeting and talking to them.

After that, I went down to Tennessee for a couple days in early May. I started at Vanderbilt Hospital, and meet Ethan Bibb, an 8-year-old kid who's in treatment for cancer. He's a super-cool kid. I got to spend a little over an hour with him and we had a good time. I think Ethan gets a little tired of all the therapy and treatments and everything else involved with being sick. I can't say I blame him. I think (I hope) I was able to encourage him a little and keep him motivated to work hard on his rehab. Kerri Apple, from Apple Mobility, gave him a Litestream XF wheelchair, like mine. He seemed to dig that, and it made him smile, which was highly cool.

I also gave a speech at Cookeville Rehab Center, where I got the chance to meet and talk to a lot of therapists and clinicians. These people are smart and they work hard and they are really good at what they do, which is to help people lead better lives. They tell me they admire me all the time, but the truth is, I admire them a lot.

I finished up the Tennessee trip at Apple Independence Mobility in Cookeville, TN, (that's near Nashville) for an open house. I had an excellent day and met a lot of really cool people. And the staff at Apple were awesome. It was a pleasure working with them and getting to know them for the day.

04/23/2009

Wow! What a weekend! I just had a couple of the coolest days of my life. No kidding. I'm still pumped!

Okay, wait a second here. Let me take a breath and start at the beginning, so I can make all this make sense.

Last Thursday, I left Pennsylvania and flew down to Tallahassee, Florida, to speak at the FDOA's SportsAbility event. It's a pretty cool thing, because it encourages kids to get active and try new things and not just stay at home. It gets them to challenge themselves. So I got to the hotel on Friday, and the girls at the desk knew me instantly and said they'd been getting a ton of calls from people who wanted to meet me. I thought that was pretty cool, but I hadn't seen anything yet.

From Florida, we went to Louisville, for the start of the Kentucky Derby Festival, which is basically a huge two-week party leading up to the Derby. It all starts with the Thunder Over Louisville, a giant fireworks display over the Ohio River. This is the biggest fireworks show in North America, and it's like nothing you've ever seen. They launch fireworks from the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, and from two barges out on the river. It's all synchronized to music, and it's just non-stop craziness. They say that maybe 700,000 people come to see the Thunder Over Louisville. That's five times more than actually go to the Kentucky Derby!

And I haven't even got to the best part yet! So check this out. Every year, they pick a person to be the “Thundernator” which means they flip the switch to start the fireworks. Last year, it was the astronauts from the International Space Station. This year, it was me! I got to lead the countdown and set that puppy off!

Let me tell you something. In the last couple years, I've done some pretty cool things. This was like nothing else. I can promise you, if it's up to me, I will be back in Louisville every year for this show. I can't even describe how cool it was. And to be the guy that set it off...just, wow!

And that wasn't all! I visited the Louisville Slugger factory, and got a personal tour from the President of the company. I also got my own personalized Slugger, with my signature etched into the barrel. Then I threw out the first pitch at a Louisville Bats baseball game. They're a Triple-A team for the Reds, and they play at Louisville Slugger Field, which is a beautiful ballpark. Remember, I'm from Chicago, so I know a thing or two about good baseball stadiums. Everyone there treated me great, and we had an awesome time, so I just wanted to make sure I mentioned the Bats.

Overall, one of the best weekends of my life! If you ever get the chance to visit Louisville during the Derby Festival, do it. You'll never forget it. I know I won't.

Oh, by the way, here's a few stats I looked up about what goes into Thunder Over Louisville:

• Eight tractor trailers filled with nearly 52 tons of fireworks shells (56,215 shells)
• 250 tons of launching tubes
• 2 million pounds of sand
• About 700 miles of wire cable

How sweet is that?!

04/20/2009

Hey, how is everyone? I’m great and I just had my 28th birthday. Wow, 28. I’m starting to get old.

So anyway, a few weeks ago, I was out in Vegas for Medtrade Spring. I know I say this every time I go to one of these trade shows, but I’m still amazed at how fast technology advances and all the things that can be done for people with disabilities. It’s a whole new world. We had a great time, met a ton of cool people and had a great show.

After that, I was in Hershey, PA, giving a speech for PASAE, which is a group of business management consultants. Hershey is a pretty cool place. It's the home of Hershey Chocolate and the whole town is all about chocolate. Even the street lights are shaped like Hershey Kisses. How cool is that?

That's it for now. We'll catch up soon.

03/10/2009

Ok… so back to work. On February 18th I took my roommate and my twin brother to West Virginia, to go snow boarding for the B.A.R.S Ski Bash. It had been one year exactly since I had been snowboarding. I really wasn't sure how well I would do. It turns out that I have actually gotten better! I started turning, and now weaving in and out of people flying down the mountain. It is starting to get really fun and less like work. After that, I left my roommate and my brother (they went back to Chicago) and I jumped in a van for the 7 hour ride back to Exeter, Pa.

While being at corporate I did some photo shoots, I built a tradeshow booth, snowboarded some more, skate boarded and went quad riding. Talk about some fun stuff. For the photo shoots, we did one in the studio, one at a Starbucks, one at Underwood Skate Park and one snowboarding. We went snow boarding in the Pocono Mountains and I got to hone my skills a little more with a bunch of friends this time. We had a blast! We then went to Underwood Skate Park which was really cool, had some real people, and I like the graffiti on the walls. I want to get a wall in my house like that. I have also been making a new snowboarding and skate boarding video that will be up in my “Media Center” shortly so check it out.

So I am in Pennsylvania for another week or so, then home for a week before heading out to Vegas for a week. This year is really going to be something else for me, but I am looking forward to tackling each and every opportunity that I can. I hope I find you all well.

01/23/2009

Happy New Year. Hope everyone had fun in 2008. I know I did. And it's looking like a busy 2009. Check out where I've been and you'll see what I mean.

I finished up 2008 the same way I started it, by trying to be everywhere at once. Early in December, I went with a Pride group to the Fuller Rehab End-of-Year get together in Georgia. If you're not aware, Fuller is one of the major mobility providers in the South. Even though they're big (something like 18 stores in six states), they're very much a family business. They seem to know every single employee by name and they are very serious about their mission. They're also very friendly people…easy to get along with and I had an excellent time hanging out with them for a couple days.

So a couple weeks after that was the official premier of the movie “The Wrestler” starring Mickey Rourke. As you may know, I have a small role in the film, which was shot earlier in the year. Because my part was so small, and there was so much “buzz” around this movie, I didn't really think much about attending the Los Angeles red carpet event. Those are for Hollywood big shots. So I was happy just hanging around Pennsylvania in between speaking gigs.

But then, the day before the opening, my phone rings and it's people from LA saying, “Hey Bryan, Mickey wants you out here for the premier. Can you make it?” I could make it all right! So, opening night, I'm rolling on the red carpet, surrounded by photographers and reporters and fans and stuff, for the big opening night bash. Insane! I checked all the entertainment magazines and websites over the next couple weeks to see if I made it into any of the “trade press.” Nope. Oh well. Pretty soon.

Have a great 2009 everyone. Go do something crazy!

11/11/2008

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. What was scary for me was how busy I was in October, especially the last week or so.

I was at Atlanta Motor Speedway on the 25th and 26th, with the crew from Accessible Racing. They're a group that provides real life stock car racing experience for people with disabilities. I first met them at the New York Metro Abilities Expo, back in March. They were showing off their car, giving people a chance to see a real NASCAR up close and even sit behind the wheel. It was pretty cool, so naturally I got into a conversation with them. It's what I do! Anyway, they invited me down to Atlanta at the end of October, the weekend of the Pep Boys 500, to drive their car in the parade lap before the race.

If you never heard of Accessible Racing, it's a really cool group. It was started by a couple guys with years and years of experience in modifying cars. They got ahold of a car that was driven by Terry Labonte, and installed hand controls, a swivel seat, and some other things to make it accessible. They take the car all over the country and give people with disabilities a chance to drive a real race car. Sweet.

Once that was done, it was just down the road to the Georgia World Congress Center, for Medtrade 2008. Medtrade, if you don't know, is the big event of the year for everyone in the home medical equipment industry. Pride and Quantum Rehab always have a major presence there, and I first went to the show last year. Going back this year was great. I got to see and hang out with a lot of people I met last year, and all the places I've been speaking on the road since. Plus I made about a thousand new friends.

Events like Medtrade still amaze me. It's really impressive, all the new technology and products that companies from all over the world come up with to help make people's lives easier. How does someone think of this stuff and then know how to build it? There are some brilliant, brilliant minds out there working on solving a lot of the everyday problems that people face. People call me inspiring, and that's fine, but when you see all these new solutions, under one roof… Man that's inspiring.

10/06/2008

The last couple months have just been flat-out crazy. I'm pretty sure I've been to about a thousand places. Maybe not quite a thousand, but it kind of feels that way.

On 9-11, I spoke at the CUSP Conference in Chicago, which is a gathering of presentations from 20 of the most forward thinking people in the world. It was my first shot at motivational speaking and it went really well. Plus, I got to meet a lot of very intelligent, successful people. All in all, it was one of the coolest things I've done.

That night, I did a celebrity bartending thing for the Wounded Heroes Foundation. We raised $200,000 in six hours! And, we gave away five handicapped-accessible vans. Very cool.

I spent a few days in Pennsylvania, at Pride's Headquarters, taking care of a little bit of business. Always a good time in PA.

From there, I was off to New York City, to screen test for a role in a soap opera (“daytime drama” I guess they like to call them). I didn't get the part (they were looking for someone a little older) but it was a great experience, and will definitely help me when the next opportunity comes along. The actress I was going to be working with, Beth Ehlers, was super cool and it would have been awesome to work with her. Man, it turns out there is rejection in show biz.

No time to mope, though, as I was off to Washington, D.C. for the Paralyzed Veterans of America dinner, a serious black tie affair, and then to Cleveland for a Spinal Cord Injury seminar.

Oh, here's a funny Cleveland story: After spending a night at the hotel, I was at the front desk and I said to the guy “You have the best beds in the world. That was the best night's sleep I've ever had in my life.” I asked where I could get one, and the guys said the mattress company makes them special for the hotel. Bummer, right? Wrong! They're sending me one of the beds made for the hotel chain…delivering it right to my condo in Chicago. How sweet is that? I just wish I had told the guy how much I liked the big screen plasma TV in the hotel bar.

Wait a minute - I'm not done yet. After Cleveland, I was off to Albany and Rochester, New York, to speak at a couple rehab seating clinics. I'm getting better and better at this public speaking stuff. I've got my standard speech pretty well down, and now I have some motivational-type-stuff to throw in there from the CUSP Conference.

We're almost up-to-date now, I promise. This past weekend, I was in Detroit for a Chili Cook-Off that benefitted the Karmanos Cancer Institute, in Michigan, one of the major cancer care centers in the country.

It's been kind of a roller-coaster trip for me, I admit. Some ups and some downs, personally and professionally. And I still have a full calendar through October, up through Medtrade, the big medical supply show, at the end of the month.

I'm still having fun though. Not to worry. And it's good to stay busy.

Speaking of busy, I gotta go. Catch ya later.