Can we talk?

It's easy to take cheap shots at Joan Rivers. What with all the plastic surgeries that've gone both right and wrong, the raspy voice, the machine gun delivery of her material and the tacky red carpet shows, she practically invites it.

Plus she's been known to take a few cheap shots of her own (if you don't believe me, Google "Elizabeth Taylor fat jokes Joan Rivers"). All of that makes it easy to forget what Joan Rivers really is.

A pioneer woman.

Without her, there's no Sarah Silverman, Roseanne, Kathy Griffin or dozens of other female comics. Women like her, along with Phyllis Diller, broke through a comedy barrier by doing three things. Having great material, persistence and ignoring the fact there was a barrier at all.

There's no doubt that she's a polarizing figure. Her jokes seem to have gotten more pointed as she's gotten older. Or maybe she just continues to prove what a genuinely unfrightened comedian she really is.

And if she goes off the rails or crosses the line occasionally, she's earned the right to be forgiven for it.

Yesterday, during a routine procedure on her vocal chords, she stopped breathing and was rushed to an ER a mile away. On the way she went into full cardiac arrest, but the EMT's were able to bring her back. As of this writing, she's in serious but stable condition, and in a medically induced coma.

Love her or hate her, Joan Rivers legacy is every comedian who came after her, every woman (and man) she inspired to stand up at a mic and make people laugh.

She's also, like Don Rickles, the last of a breed of comedian from the golden age.

The night before her surgery scare, she joked to an audience, "I'm 81. I could go at any minute."

Let's hope not.

Wrapper wisdom

As many of you know, and as I've written about here, I've been battling the cough from hell for about three weeks now. In that time, I've consumed my fair share of Chestal homeopathic (not that there's anything wrong with that) cough syrup, prescription hydrocodone cough syrup, hot tea, cups of lemon and honey, and bags and bags of Hall's Cough Drops.

Now, the cough drops are supposed to sooth the cough. But upon closer examination, they actually do so much more.

While I've been hacking up a lung, I've had time to read the inspirational messages found on each Hall's wrapper. They're so proud of the good these messages are doing, they've printed "A PEP TALK IN EVERY DROP™" right there on the wrapper. And yes, they trademarked the line.

Now, if you happened to catch this post, you know I've always been one who believes that inspiration is where you find it. But after reading the lines on the Hall's wrapper, I may have to re-evaluate that opinion.

In addition to the lines shown here, additional lines like "Turn 'can do' into can did!'", "Hi-five yourself.", and the ever popular, "Don't wait to get started." are also waiting to inspire the sick and hacking masses.

Somewhere a fortune cookie company is laughing and saying things like, "Damn, we're a lot better than I thought!"

The truly scary thing to me about these lines is that I know a copywriter wrote them. Either a $25 an hr. junior writer they found on Creative Circle, or, even sadder, a $25 an hr. ex-group creative director who couldn't get hired at McCann an is willing to write cough drop wrappers. It's a cautionary tale either way.

I think I've probably seen all the lines I need to see from Hall's.

It's time to stop being so inspired, and start thinking deeper thoughts.

Inspiration is where you find it

Even though I explain it right there under the title, many people still ask me where I got the name for my blog.

You're looking at the answer.

Each time I get asked the question, it makes me think about how inspiration is lurking all around us.

It's like the joke about the guy who's on the roof during a flood. A helicopter comes to rescue him and he says no, God is going to save him. Then a boat comes by to rescue him, but he refuses saying God is going to save him. Of course, the floodwaters rise and he dies. When he gets to heaven he asks God why he didn't save him. God says, "What do you mean? I sent you a helicopter and a boat!"

Inspiration is like that. Even though it's right in front of us, sometimes we have trouble recognizing it for what it is. I run up against this each time I sit down and think about what I want to write. But then, I open my eyes and suddenly there's no shortage of subjects to write about.

Another great thing about inspiration is that it can spur us on to accomplish things we wouldn't normally think we could. For example, this morning I saw lots of thin, healthy people out walking and jogging. And I was inspired. So I went to Starbuck's, had a large Mighty Mango smoothie and a thick slice of banana walnut bread, and thought for a long time about how tired all those thin, healthy people were going to be when they finished.

Couldn't help myself, I was inspired.

Here's another example. Just yesterday morning I saw people leaving their homes and going to work. It made me think about what it'd be like to have a full time job to go to everyday. The same office day in and day out. The same people. The same conversations, same meetings and same fights day after day, year after year. After a while, I did more than think about it. I was inspired, so I immediately changed my job title from freelance copywriter to Free Time Management Engineer, and just like that (snaps fingers) I had a full time job.

And, not bragging here, I'm damn good at it.

I hope this post has inspired you to look around, take in what you see, create ideas and then put them into action through words and deeds. I know just writing it has inspired me.

I'm going to take a nap.