March 25, 2015
Being Thankful in Federal Prison
First off thanks to David Greenwald, Cathie Pass and Gala Struthers for sending books and to Gala for the fabulous St. Patty's Day card (which actually arrived on March 17th!). And thanks to all my friends who have signed up and sent me emails on JPay! I used to complain about all the email I used to get. Not any more! One of the things that really makes the time fly is getting and responding to letters and emails!
I know some of you may find this hard to believe - especially those of you who mostly know me from 10 or 20 years ago - but I have really beat myself up a lot over the past few years. When the Federal Government tells you repeatedly what a horrible person you are, some part of you starts to believe it. So I cannot begin to tell you how therapeutic it has been to have so many of you writing me to tell me about some nice thing I did that helped you out years ago or that I am still the same David you have always known. I love and value my friends and I just want to say a big thank you for thinking of me and sticking by me.
I finally had my audition for "Those Outspoken" which is the group of inmates who go out into the community to speak - primarily to at risk youth. Each of us had 5-7 minutes to present our "stories" to the current members of the group including how we can help our audiences make the right choices and not end up like us! I was actually pretty nervous about it as I can't remember the last time I presented in front of a group without a PowerPoint presentation, or at least notes!
I practiced a lot. You would have thought I was presenting to 100+ sales reps at a national sales meeting (ah I miss those days!). It actually went well. I hit all the key points I wanted to hit and the feedback was very positive. So hopefully I will be selected to be part of the group!
And finally, I decided to download some music that I can play on my JPay device. Songs are $1.99 each (if you think back to Econ 101, this is the pricing you get in a MONOPOLY!) so I think I'll stick to albums. The first one I downloaded was the Best of Frank Sinatra. This CD occupies the #1 slot in our 400 CD carousel at home. It's so nice to listen to in the evening before bed. Frank can make any place - even prison - better!
"The record shows, I took the blows, and did it My Way."
Until next time,
David
