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I want this blog to reflect how important it is for a loving married couple to work as a team. I won’t do it justice but I’ll report what I witnessed.  I have what could be the smartest, kindest, and talented wife on the planet.  And I don’t say that lightly.  Here are some reasons why.

We can all work toward this kind of interaction skills that show love, way beyond mouthing the words “I Love You” which we all know how to do.  This is real.  It can be for everybody if they want it.  We’ve spent 7 years working and playing on our relationship and 6 of it has been in marriage.  We’ve grown, changed, and are growing up.  I like that. Always wanted it.  So did Lee.

So much self-discovery has gone into the past 5 years.  I learned the importance of veganism, not just learning to mouth the words but taking action and doing the right thing.  It was not as difficult as it seemed.

Lee and I had been hiking in Hot Springs National Park, the most beautiful forest I’ve ever seen, abundant with plenty of wildlife, birds, etc.  Many have gotten to know our names. Squirrels and rabbits  don’t run from us.  Mocking birds make a special trip over to land at arm’s length and sing with us.  They know who we are. They don’t do so with everyone (as odd as that sounds).  We talk to the trees. Not all of them but the ones who like to listen “and talk back”.  🙂

Then I used to go home and make some kind of chicken or fish stir fry staying in complete denial I was eating my friends, literally.  Lee had figured it out a year before and was busy putting together new recipes for her new life.  She did not know if I would transition or not, but finally I did.

Two things helped facilitate that.  One: Watching Paul McCartney’s “Glass Houses” video on YouTube.  Paul is a former carnivore who, with Linda McCartney had a sheep ranch.  They were busy eating their lamb chops and watching the sheep gaze out of their window. Some of them they named, and each animal would come running to them upon hearing it.  It occurred to him they were eating their friends.

Linda came close to becoming a vegan but stayed vegetarian eating some vegan dishes. At the risk of angering some, best tell the truth. Vegetarianism is not a whole lot healthier than meat-eating.  Veganism is what clears the body of it’s horrendous toxins over the years from animal proteins.

cow cartoons by ltcartoons ltcartoons.com

Also watching Lee in her vegan regimen and watching her skin clear up; her scowl turn into a smile, her weight dropping off like nothing I’d ever seen. I said to myself, “I want what she has”.  She told me how to get it, and she was right.  Lee is 58 years old. She does not mind that fact being known. Some women do. Lee wears no makeup. Her face is natural beauty like I never knew existed.  She does tai chi, has taught it to me, and together we are learning to take care of our bodies.  This is a lot better than the old destructive ways which were handed us from a prior generation.  Again, I am very blessed.  She is the best, by far.

Also, upon discovery of my autism and lifetime punishment for being born with it, Lee declared 2016 (in our home), the “Year Of Rick”.  She said I have helped her (not sure if that is true) but now she was/is going to make sure I get through this.  She is (doing so).

I had to go to the hospital yesterday due to an undiagnosed severe kidney infection.  My pain level was past a ten.  I didn’t take any opiates but I took about 20 more per month of my vagus nerve medicine. This is not enough to kill me, but create a vicious cycle in which it seems it would never end.

They now have my meds straight. I am fine; and am driving to the grocery tomorrow.  They thought it was be 2-3 weeks.  They thought wrong. Not to worry. It was never enough to kill me, but it was enough to add to the toxins of the untreated kidney (antiobiotics and herbal tinctures are healing that).  I will be most likely hiking with Lee again next week.

One funny thing.  The hospital, as they do most patients, attempted to manhandle me in and out. Not this time.  Lee stood by my side and put her elbow up in front of her when they tried to push her out of the way to get to me to drag me away. She let them know she was/is in charge and nothing is going to happen here without her knowledge or permission.  Talk about patient advocacy. It was something out of a very good movie. We both smiled and the hospital had a change of heart taking as much time as I needed, with Lee by my side. She left them with a cold stare (all of them) that clearly stated, “You are treating Rick in a dignified manner or not treating him at all”.  (They seemed to get the message.  I wanted to applaud her.  Everyone and I mean everyone deserves that kind of medical advocacy whether from a wife, significant other or family member.  Otherwise, treatment might be less than par (at best).  It was good.  Very good.

Lee told me anyone can do that, take charge of their medical rather than leaving the whole thing to hospital staff.  And they hopped to it.  We heard one young nurse outside our door near the x-ray room yell, “Dam she is GOOD, Brilliant”.  LOL.  🙂  And she is.

I have learned a lot, a whole lot.  I don’t think I would have learned much of any of it with Lee’s assistance.  She is magnificent.  I am the most blessed man in the world, to hell with the “most interesting”; I’d rather be blessed any day, and I know I am.

I am no guru, but please take care of yourself.  Eat right to the best of your knowledge.  Find doctors you trust and follow their orders.  If you don’t trust your doctors, find others. There’s plenty of good ones out there.

Don’t scapegoat people.  Don’t isolate them and make them feel different.  Karma often comes knocking one day along that dreary path.

Be good. Be good to yourself and others.  Laugh a little. Do something good for someone who cannot (at this time) do anything or much back.  Maybe they never will be able to do so.  God smiles upon that kind of thing you know.

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Rick London is an author, songwriter, designer and cartoonist.  He is best known for his launch of Londons Times Offbeat Cartoons & Funny Gifts from a tin shed in rural Ms in 1997.  It has lured nearly 9 million visitors since that time and has been Google’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoon since that time.  He is married to the love of his life Lee Hiller London founder of nature gift store LeeHillerDesigns.com and popular nature blog Hike Our Planet.

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I Miss David Bowie And My Brush With Fame, Fame, Fame, Fame…..

By Rick London

As the years go by, we all have stories of our favorite artists; and our occasional brushes with fame. One of my favorites in my life is that of whom I considered one of the greatest recording artists of my lifetime, David Bowie.

I was in Los Angeles taking screenwriting courses and selling magazine advertising.  I had written two screenplays and gotten my foot in the door of a few large studios but no luck yet.

I got out early in the day and spent most of it pounding the pavement.  I stopped at a little restaurant (cedar wood) but can’t remember the name of it. It was mainly for breakfast and was just north of Beverly Hills and Studio City on Santa Monica Blvd.  My guess is it is still there as it was one of those old “local family establishments” when I was there for breakfast that morning in 1994.

It was several months after the Rodney King Riots, and several months before the Northridge Earthquake.

I walked in with a few friends and to my left at a large table full of people was David Bowie. There was no mistaking him.  I had run into numerous “stars” while living out there, so that was not a big deal. I can remember though the only other time I started shaking was when I met Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo).

I found myself staring at David Bowie as was everyone else in the restaurant.  He suddenly blew out a lot of candles atop a birthday cake in front of him and his table all applauded.  I said to myself, “You’re either going to meet my favorite artist now, or probably never.  I walked over and wished him happy birthday.  The rumors I’d always heard was that he was cold and aloof. Not the case at all. He smiled a big smile and said, “Have a seat. It’s my birthday. Here, have some cake”.  I took the slice and found myself not saying a word.

He said, “I’m 51…and we’re celebrating and now you are too.  Welcome to our celebration.”  He asked my name and I told him “Rick” and he introduced me to his friends.

I finally conjured enough courage to ask him about his 51 years and he started talking (from as far back as he could remember); mostly stories of concerts and being on the road.

I told him that though I love most of his songs if not all, “Ziggy Stardust” probably was my all-time favorite.  There was a slight pause. I thought he was angry.  Not so. He smiled and said, “Mine too”.

I tried to think of something funny to say and I blurted out, “Bet you’ve been through a lot of ch-ch-ch-ch changes.”

He laughed aloud and asked me to sit down and have breakfast.  I did.

For the first few minutes I was quiet for the most part, just to see what kind of group of friends this was. They clearly were not his band members and it had been years since he’d had his “Spiders From Mars” band; and had been working with studio bands when he recorded.

They were just regular guys (and women) who were his friends.  No big Hollywood glam, just regular everyday people.  That felt comfortable.  All were very friendly to me as was David.

I was truly curious and wondered “what drove” David and asked (not as a journalist but as a curious fan.  He expressed that he’d wanted to “do something different” since he was a little kid, and the more crystalized vision of what different was manifested when he was about 14 or 15.  He was not sure if that drove him, but he constantly wanted to do better and loved anything to do with the arts; in fact acting in films was every bit as fun to him as music.

I got him to talk about his travels and concerts. Well actually I didn’t get him to do anything.  I asked and he was generously open and told me a lot of “his oddities” (No pun intended) that had occurred on the road.  It had all been exciting but he didn’t truly enjoy it until he cleaned up his personal life.  That made sense to me.

About an hour later they all decided it was time to leave.  The waitress left us all separate checks.  Before I could look down to pick it up, David had grabbed it and by the time I could put my hand out to take it back, he’d already taken it to the register to pay it.

We all convened in the parking lot (which was a big spread of gravel) and stood there a few minutes talking about the weather, music, and such. He patted me on the back and shook my hand and told me how wonderful it was to meet me.  Aside from The Beatles, he probably was my favorite original musician I’d remembered for many years.

I went home and told a few friends what had happened.  My Los Angeles friends were not very shocked given that running into such fame was fairly common there, and David had been known to be very caring and nurturing.  But when I told friends and/or relatives back home nobody believed it.

I wrote that incident down and put it in my “creative box”.  My creative box was a large shoebox that had literally thousands of ideas that I would one day put into a film, a cartoon, or whatever it was I was going to do later in my life.  I was/am a late bloomer.

When I sat down 5 years later to begin creating Londons Times Cartoons, I did a series called “Panel Hollywood” which included my brushes with fame.

I realized I had looked at David as one who helped “keep us afloat” no matter what.  He was not about money or fame or all the trappings he had.  He was about helping those struggling to make it.

Hence my cartoon, “David Buoy” came to be.    RIP David Bowie. I’ll never forget your music and films; and most importantly the morning we had breakfast on Santa Monica Blvd.

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Rick London is a writer, cartoonist, songwriter and designer.  He is best known for his offbeat cartoons and funny gifts, Londons Times Cartoons which have been Google #1 ranked since 2005. London launched the project from a tin shed in 1997.  London has designed cartoon David Bowie tees and gifts that make wonderful collectibles.