San Diegans In The House...Switchfoot

The Padres Fans: Drew, Jen, Jon

I can remember when Switchfoot was a local San Diegan band (and Christian for that matter) Then they hit it big with Dare You To Move and off into the land chart toppers.

Yesterday they came in for a little station appearance and I gotta say - these guys are as down to earth as can be! They walked into the room of staffers and introduced themselves to the 10 or so of us there - as if we didn't know who they were. That was refreshing.

In a little Q & A session we had a little baseball sound off between the Yankee and Boston fans, and without skipping a beat Jon and Drew asked if there were any Padres fans in the room! Finally I was in the majority!

Among some of the other little trivia bits that came out in the session - Drew was telling us about his little obsession with guitars. For every stop on their tour map he checks the craigslist for new ones. Can you imagine responding to an ad and finding out who's on the other end of that? Chuh!

I know it's like this everywhere, but So Cal kids are a club of our own - not that we're exclusive, but we're defiantly the odd kids on the East Coast. Granted I've been here for 8 years, so I've embraced the awkward but it was nice to see that these guys still have their 619 area code sheen. Despite their success - they still reek of home, and, in my head at least, it seemed like they were just the guys I grew up with. Oh, not like I'm an expert or authority on anything (other than my self-indulgent bubble of 'momma-like') but did I mention how talented they were! Here's a couple clips of the performance.


***Two corrections from a fellow fan (and good friend, thanks for keeping me honest!)

1) They’re still Christians, they just don’t beat people up with it.

2) Drew is the Craigslist guitar hunter.

Put Your Thanks Where Your Mouth Is!

The idea is simple - to honor, remember, recognize and above all - appreciate our service members. There is nothing political about that. I don't care what your stand on the war is. These are our people. My step-brother Jeff just got home over the weekend from his 15th trip to the middle east, it was his 12th time in Iraq.

For 11 years a small but determined group of volunteers in San Diego sought more than just three-day weekends, that often celebrate no more than vacation time. They demanded a month of recognition for our troops…… and in 1999 The United States Senate designated May as National Military Appreciation Month. This is the second year we at the station have participated in that effort.

Sam and I created this video to continue that mission, to remember those who have served and to honor those who continue to protect us. Please pass it on.

Rolled Tacos or Bust

A week ago – Kim made the call we were all dreading. Grandma Pat had passed away. She had been bed ridden for going on seven months now, while the cancer attacked her bones, brain and breasts. She was a fighter but this battle she couldn’t win.

My sister and I flew in from our respective corners of the country, Carly from Hawaii and I from DC. Dad and Kim were so excited to have the family back together he even made his 6 hour round trip to Los Angeles a day earlier! Oops.

The trip from DC wasn’t much smoother. After a 7 hour delay at JFK (the co-pilots window had a crack and rather than switch out the planes and get us home in time for the Mexican dinner I had planned, we sat while we waited for the glue to dry. After 7 hours they decided to switch the planes. Harrumph.)

No worries, Carly drove me through the Taco Fiesta on the way up the hill. Thank you Taco Fiesy for serving rolled tacos with guacamole at even the most heinous hours of the night, bringing the upper echelon together with drunk high-schoolers. That’s love.

The next day we spent remember grandma pat. Below are the notes I read to the 100 that had gathered graveside. Wearing a new sundress, I underestimated its coverage and my sister-in-law graciously tugged my ear to pull up my dress. Unfortunately I had already taken my place in front of the crowd. So while I made my introduction I crassly adjusted myself. While most would be appalled it seemed to break the ice. What an easy crowd ;-) Kim, Dad, and Carly on behalf of Aunt Pat delivered very moving speeches.

Among the many new faces that were touched by Grandma Pat – it was great to see some old friendly ones, like Uncle Bill, Aunt MeeMee and Dads lifelong friend Sue. We spent the rest of the bouncing between receptions hosted by their church in Ocean Beach and the family at Grandpa Dwayne’s.

It was a relief to finish the night watching AUSTRALIA. In case you were wondering…fantastic movie. A little long but worth the time.

After a wake up time rivaling that of my collegiate years, the four Richer kids bombarded Dad and Kim to recap the day. Then it was down the hill to spend some time with Mom and Goose. Running a hair late, I snuck into Church with Goose. And what is Church without a meal following. So we rallied the troops and overtook the back room at El Toritos. Goose, KB, Sina, Mom, Tony, Carly, Ben, Danielle, and I thoroughly terrified the waiter but had a great time nonetheless. Topic of conversation: Grandmas new patio.

The one thing my family is really fantastic at? Follow though. So we all piled into our respective trucks and headed over to check out the new patio. We even had uncle jeff come join us at the hot new venue. I love San Diego. It’s like the country only with a beach.

In celebration of Grandma’s new patio – and because my feet desperately needed it – I kidnapped Goose to get our feet done.

Then it was back to the Richer clan. The Richer four were meeting Dad, Kim, Grandpa Dwayne, Aunt Pat, and Krista for dinner on the embarcadero at the Elephant and Castle. Somehow the four of us have a tendency to make an entrance and tonight was no different. As dad called to check up on where we were (we were running a few minutes late) we answered him not over the phone but by shouting at him from across the street. After a few beers and fish and chips, we toasted grandma with a box of Milk chocolate chocolate Sees truffles. I bet that made her smile.

Now for the hour trip back to Ramona. Piling into dads 68 convertible Pony (Mustang) the radio is dead at best. So Carly and I created the classic rock station – belting anything from Journey to the entire Top Gun Soundtrack. We finished the night off in the big Dad/Kim bed watching Twilight.

I Love My Job

No big secret: I love my job. Aside from wading waste deep news waters every day, I am the digital alchemist for the station, meaning, I get to try out all the new web tools and see what works. 

Plus, the proximity factor is a huge perk; working out of DC, if its a top story, more than likely it happened or is being reacted to here. 

But the best part of my job is the people I meet and work with. Now to be honest, I could not identify half to the people on E! Talk Soup or OK magazine, but as a self-proclaimed wonk, when a journo or politico passes by you'd think I just discovered Egyptian cotton or the electric can opener.


About twice a week, the Morning Joe crowd hits the MAL studio to broadcast their radio program, and afterward, they do a little post-game down time in the newsroom. (let's be honest, next to Cork downtown, we are the new 'it' spot right?). But today, Tucker Carlson, former bow tie wearing conservative pundit from Crossfire (filmed at GW), is filling in for Joe and Mika. Holler! And it turns out, he's a San Diego kid too! Who knew! So of course my reaction...."shut up!"

There you have it, I told Tucker Carlson to "shut up!" I love my job!

Disclaimer: Don't try this at home kids.

Starting It off With A Bang - ish

Sorry for the MIA status folks, lots happening this week. With Inauguration just around the corner, all my attention has been diverted to 1600 Penn updates. But a few fun updates, Angela and I have taken the 2009 Discovery Channel Health Challenge. 

We've been milking the free month of Bally's membership. I'm on Day 7 and kicking butt ya'll.

Don't want to jinx myself though. With a gazillion other New Years Resolutions I've made over the years (ie: washing off the night's mascara masterpiece before bed ha!) I actually want to keep this one! I've noticed if you tack an appointment at Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door spa for good behavior to the end, it becomes much easier to keep! I'll let you know in May how that works out.

I thought I would kick start the year off with a few other improvements, like cleaning out the ole closet and either donating the clothes I didn't wear any more or getting the busted ones hemmed to reenergize the wardrobe a little. I was off to a good start, but in the process I racked up $60 at the dry cleaners (the mending pile was a year old) and in the process of donating my clothes, I also donated my house keys. Woops! (Fear not I tracked them down last night!)

But the best Jen Richer update is the star appearance of Nick Murphree, one of my all time best friends since we were like 8. No, really we were instant best friends starting in 3rd grade. (I moved to a new school and he was one of the first new friends I made. I mean, who can resist the charms of a kid noticing that you and Jenny Craig share the same first name? I was serenaded in the hallways for years with her latest ad jingles, not in a taunting bully sort of way, totally endearing I swear. (Well, that’s how I remember it anyway.)

Well Nick has taken a long weekend and a long flight to elude his studies and hit up the DMV (well D and V mostly). First, stop, Caps game tonight. (He's a huge hockey wonk.)

Transcontinental Immunity Boost

I have to apologize for the delayed postings, after the fabulous albeit brief San Diego run, I seem to have contracted a little cold from the tin can petri dish that is modern air jet. But this trip was just what I needed.

After actually making my flight and flying into San Diego at a decent hour, I had some quality catch up time with Carly, whom I hadn't seen in over 8 months.

The next morning I had set aside for cleaning out the garage. Instead we coerced mom into a family trip down to the sprint store. My Winston had decided to start dialing whomever he pleased. My siblings apparently had been under similar direst. With my heart set on the i-phone however, I was hesitant to resign with Sprint. Luckily my roomie Linds alerted me to the Intuition (Instinct, but because it was introduced to my by that name, I am having a hard time using the correct one.) Wow this really is the i-phone killer! The biggest perk is the double battery system - it wont help me to answer the phone, but at least its not because the battery is dead!

That evening we had my Aunt's 50th birthday and retirement party. Oh lordie. When I was asked to be a speaker, I assumed it was a casual grab-the-mike-and-say-a-few words type deal. By now if you haven't reached this conclusion yet ...I can hold my own in the impromptu department. After comparing notes with her best friend Valerie however, I quickly discovered, this was a bit more detailed. Woops.

With 5 minutes to spare I finished! You can see the speech in it's entirety here.

After a very thoughtful and researched  introduction by her partner Sina (she downloaded my bio off my work website) she was ready to hook me off the stage as if this were an acceptance speech at the Oscars - cue the music, dim the lights. But speaking on behalf of the family, I wanted to make my point. KB kicks ass and I had a five minute floor to declare that!

Having lost my place after Sina's third "one minute" call I went off page and finished. Looking out at the 150 + attendance I saw KB rolling in fits of laughter, my family chuckling and, what I thought, a generally positive reception of the speech. Hello - I was looking right at them, while they laughed with me (or at me) and KB's tales from our family!

The reason I describe in defense is afterward, I was approached by at least five non-relatives to say "your speech was hilarious...no matter what anyone says." The fact that each comment included that secondary clause leads me to believe one of two things: my remarks bombed, or half of those people in attendance don't know the real KB. Woops...now they do!


My key-note speaking debut aside, the party was amazing. Done as a luau theme, the stage show included hula dancers. There is nothing more entertaining than watching my 40 year uncles and my 90 year-old great uncle try to hula on stage with the pros! Watch those hips fellas!

To continue with the culture immersion of the evening, we all headed to in-cahoots. A country-western bar smack dab in the middle of the sleepy beach town of San Diego. A few G & T's and an Irish Car bomb later we we're demonstrating our superior country dancing skills on the dance floor. Must have been intimidating because my cousins, our two exchange students, Aly, Matt and I were the only ones left by the time the songs changed.

Time to go home kids! A Mexican taco shop, two winks, and three hours later, Carly and I were off to meet her friend Kevin's parents for a little surfing action, before the crowds hit the sands.

The waves were body-whompers (shore breaks so your body gets whomped) but there was light at the end of the tunnel with Mexican breakfast included. Delicious. Then an hour trek up to Ramona to visit Dad, steal the bro, and take a nap.

On the agenda for the evening: drive in movies - red neck style. We've got this down to a science. Two trucks, two foam mattresses, four sleeping bags, eight pillows, tons of candy and jumper cables (two movies over the car radio tends to drain the battery.)

Kyle was dying to see Star Wars: Clone Wars, followed by Batman: Dark Knight. The plan was to sleep through the first and watch the second, but both Kyle and I (as he puts it) "were just going to rest until the good parts" of Batman. Thank goodness, I really needed some sleep anyway!

Sunday is church day with Granny Goose. I am not particularly religious, but this is a little tradition for both of us to go to church together, early. After dropping Carly off at the airport, a little God, it was back to the house for some sunday circular stealing, breakfast, and the treat of waking up mom on the weekend: futile for those over 10 years old. Thank God for Kyle!

Then I decided we should rearrange moms living room, six hours before my flight. I was mostly packed and had lunch plans (Mexican of course!) so I could surely squeeze it in. For once my timing was dead on. With just enough time to make it through security, now with my luggage (screw you US Air - I WILL get that bag on the plane sans surcharge) and benadryl - for ensured sleepage it was back to the Right coast.

Everything was perfect - except for that little cold - which like my tan, had subsided. Until we meet again San Diego (Christmas baby).