I’ve been blogging about a happy journey I’d like to take, living my life as though I’d already won the lottery.
You can find the previous blogs HERE and HERE. The first is about the initial spending frenzy that would accompany that kind of large windfall, including photos of the house and car I’d buy. Not exactly the Beverly Hillbillies’ mansion or Prince’s “Little Red Corvette”, but still, they’re exactly what I’d want.
The second blog deals more with how I’d start living my life, as I start to attempt to take better care of myself. Not much point in having that kind of money if I weren’t going to be around long enough to enjoy it, right?
One of the first things I’d really like to do, and I hope I really would make it one of the first things, is to put my money where my mouth is, and lend a hand to some of those causes I believe in.
These days I do what I can, and if I had a sudden influx of ludicrous amounts of cash, it would be very easy to whip out my checkbook or my Amex Plutonium card and make donations with scarcely a second thought.
I think that would be missing the point a bit, though. Granted, the one thing most charitable organizations need is money, but I also think many of them could also use actual personal involvement. Time. And even without the wealth, I still manage to, as Pink Floyd said, “Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way.” With money to burn, literally, I can see that getting easier and easier to do.
I’ve long been a fan of William Shatner. A few years ago, I read his autobiography “Up Till Now” and was really taken with the story of his Hollywood Charity Horseshow. For those who don’t know, Shatner came to be involved with this when he learned how severely handicapped children could somehow be reached by horses, even when no other kind of physical therapy worked. Children who couldn’t even hold their heads up would ride the horse, taking them through intricate exercises, and this animal therapy seemed to make a difference, where all others had failed.
You can find the previous blogs HERE and HERE. The first is about the initial spending frenzy that would accompany that kind of large windfall, including photos of the house and car I’d buy. Not exactly the Beverly Hillbillies’ mansion or Prince’s “Little Red Corvette”, but still, they’re exactly what I’d want.
The second blog deals more with how I’d start living my life, as I start to attempt to take better care of myself. Not much point in having that kind of money if I weren’t going to be around long enough to enjoy it, right?
One of the first things I’d really like to do, and I hope I really would make it one of the first things, is to put my money where my mouth is, and lend a hand to some of those causes I believe in.
These days I do what I can, and if I had a sudden influx of ludicrous amounts of cash, it would be very easy to whip out my checkbook or my Amex Plutonium card and make donations with scarcely a second thought.
I think that would be missing the point a bit, though. Granted, the one thing most charitable organizations need is money, but I also think many of them could also use actual personal involvement. Time. And even without the wealth, I still manage to, as Pink Floyd said, “Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way.” With money to burn, literally, I can see that getting easier and easier to do.
I’ve long been a fan of William Shatner. A few years ago, I read his autobiography “Up Till Now” and was really taken with the story of his Hollywood Charity Horseshow. For those who don’t know, Shatner came to be involved with this when he learned how severely handicapped children could somehow be reached by horses, even when no other kind of physical therapy worked. Children who couldn’t even hold their heads up would ride the horse, taking them through intricate exercises, and this animal therapy seemed to make a difference, where all others had failed.
I was really moved by this, and the way William Shatner became involved. He didn’t just throw money at this problem. Instead, he worked to build it into an annual event that raises money and awareness, featuring major sponsors and a long list of musical guests who donate their time and talent to the proceedings (including Sheryl Crow, Randy Travis and Ben Folds to name a few). Joe Walsh of the Eagles is this year’s musical guest. I don’t sing. Unless I’m in my car. Alone. Driving very fast. I imagine a grateful public is breathing a sigh of relief at that, particularly if you’ve been unlucky enough to hear me croak out a line or two of “White Christmas”. Or Elvis’ “Blue Christmas”, for that matter.
However, William Shatner does sing (though some may wish to debate that). And because I also run a Christmas station and love Christmas music, I knew that he had recorded a version of “Good King Wenceslas” for KROQ in L.A. some twenty years ago. I thought it would be a great idea, and a way to make some money for his charity, to finally release that song to the public.
He was fine with that idea, and I was amazed at the array of talent that also agreed to lend songs to the effort (including previously unreleased tunes from Huey Lewis, Richard Marx and Stephen Bishop)!
The album made a bit of a splash, but being new to this, I wasn’t able to bring about the publicity needed to really make it as big as I’d hoped. I’m still trying, of course, but as difficult as the music biz is, it’s even harder to sell Christmas music in April.
Besides, this isn’t really about me. Sure, if I did win the lottery, I’d pump money into my record label. But what could I be doing now to support the causes I want to support without that kind of capital?
I can try to raise some awareness about it. I can let people know how they can help, even if they aren’t able to attend this year’s show. That’s something I’d be doing if my bank account balance had six or seven extra zeroes (to the left of the decimal). And it’s something I can do right now, even when my account balance is tiny enough that I can’t withdraw anything from an ATM.
This year’s Hollywood Charity Horse Show is coming up this weekend, Saturday April 28. It’s at the L.A. Equestrian Center in Burbank. Tickets are $300 (and there are VIP tickets that include Meet-and-Greet with William Shatner for $400).
If you think it’s a worthwhile cause, you can still help, even without buying tickets. I don’t know about you, but $300-$400 is a little steep for me at the moment.
The event starts at 5:00pm with a silent auction, and you don’t have to have a ticket to go to that. At 5:30pm, there’s an arena show, which is also free. That’s followed by the dinner and performance by Joe Walsh, and you do need tickets for those. Still, if you live in or near the area, you can check out the auction and the arena show for free.
If you want to make a donation, even as little as $1, you can do that here. That’s also where you can buy tickets. If you just want to find out more about the Horseshow, you can do that HERE.
There are other causes I’d like to help if I had the money, like SWEET RELIEF and DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS, among other, Since I’m trying to live like I already won the lottery, I’m going to try and figure out some other ways I can help them, too.
I’d be glad to hear your ideas, both about causes you’d like to support (or already do), and ways to do that when you can’t just whip out your checkbook!
Ken
P.S. - Hi Marvin! It's all there - the happy journey, Pink Floyd and color songs ("Little Red Corvette", "White Christmas" and "Blue Christmas")!
However, William Shatner does sing (though some may wish to debate that). And because I also run a Christmas station and love Christmas music, I knew that he had recorded a version of “Good King Wenceslas” for KROQ in L.A. some twenty years ago. I thought it would be a great idea, and a way to make some money for his charity, to finally release that song to the public.
He was fine with that idea, and I was amazed at the array of talent that also agreed to lend songs to the effort (including previously unreleased tunes from Huey Lewis, Richard Marx and Stephen Bishop)!
The album made a bit of a splash, but being new to this, I wasn’t able to bring about the publicity needed to really make it as big as I’d hoped. I’m still trying, of course, but as difficult as the music biz is, it’s even harder to sell Christmas music in April.
Besides, this isn’t really about me. Sure, if I did win the lottery, I’d pump money into my record label. But what could I be doing now to support the causes I want to support without that kind of capital?
I can try to raise some awareness about it. I can let people know how they can help, even if they aren’t able to attend this year’s show. That’s something I’d be doing if my bank account balance had six or seven extra zeroes (to the left of the decimal). And it’s something I can do right now, even when my account balance is tiny enough that I can’t withdraw anything from an ATM.
This year’s Hollywood Charity Horse Show is coming up this weekend, Saturday April 28. It’s at the L.A. Equestrian Center in Burbank. Tickets are $300 (and there are VIP tickets that include Meet-and-Greet with William Shatner for $400).
If you think it’s a worthwhile cause, you can still help, even without buying tickets. I don’t know about you, but $300-$400 is a little steep for me at the moment.
The event starts at 5:00pm with a silent auction, and you don’t have to have a ticket to go to that. At 5:30pm, there’s an arena show, which is also free. That’s followed by the dinner and performance by Joe Walsh, and you do need tickets for those. Still, if you live in or near the area, you can check out the auction and the arena show for free.
If you want to make a donation, even as little as $1, you can do that here. That’s also where you can buy tickets. If you just want to find out more about the Horseshow, you can do that HERE.
There are other causes I’d like to help if I had the money, like SWEET RELIEF and DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS, among other, Since I’m trying to live like I already won the lottery, I’m going to try and figure out some other ways I can help them, too.
I’d be glad to hear your ideas, both about causes you’d like to support (or already do), and ways to do that when you can’t just whip out your checkbook!
Ken
P.S. - Hi Marvin! It's all there - the happy journey, Pink Floyd and color songs ("Little Red Corvette", "White Christmas" and "Blue Christmas")!
RSS Feed