It’s been a few weeks since I’ve gotten back from Las Vegas which played host to THREE major jewelry market shows (My first adventure as a “buyer” at market).  I’m just now writing about it because I was enjoying keeping that little experience all to myself.  The thing is I keep seeing things I want to comment on from “Market” and you guys know nothing about it.  Here’s an example.

Tonight, I’m watching “America’s Got Talent.”  It’s not a must-see TV event, I just have nothing better to do.  What caught my eye…Sharon Osbourne‘s EARRINGS!!  Seriously, I’m like, those look just like the little ditties I tried on in Vegas, (and took pictures of!) I LOVED them, but can’t remember how much they are.  I don’t think we bought them but I wish we would have.  They had another super cool pair that had black and chocolate diamonds too, but I must admit the all diamond had more ZIP.  They were three dimensional which really made them stand out.  Dang, might have to find me a pair after all, I mean if Sharon’s rocking them, the rest of us should be too, RIGHT?!

Did I mention I saw Candy Spelling at one of the shows?  I didn’t want to be too “stalkerish” so I took a picture from like….WAY FAR AWAY, but I thought I’d share it with you anyway.  Can you see her?  Trust me, it’s Tori’s Mom.  She’s the one with her back to us, shopping.  I know it could be anyone!

Here’s a really good picture…..It’s jewelry designer, Steven Lagos. He was one of the nicest designers we met, and I picked out a few of his new collection  for myself!  I’m dying for them to come in I want to see if the jewelry was that good that I had to have it, or whether Lagos was so nice I wanted  to support him.  Either way, I’m going to sporting his stuff like a billboard soon, and chances are you will too.  Oh and I found other stuff for you too, more when it all comes in!!

I kind of forgot I could blog from the Iphone, so as the title suggests this is a test to see if my one finger typing skills are up to the challenge! Then again travelling through Oklahoma may challenge AT&T enough that this will never go through.

I hate car trips, so to get through it….I chomp sunflower seeds, Twitter and Facebook. (all the while the driving husband sits and rolls his eyes.). Then he could be shooting disapproving looks because I like to sit with my feet on his dash (and occasionally that leaves toe prints on the windshield!). More later getting cramp in my typing finger.

When the idea of taking in “Walking with Dinosaurs” first came up, I admit, I thought…..that might be fun.  I just am not THAT into dinosaurs, so it wasn’t like I had the date sprawled all over the calendar for the big events arrival in our fair city.    Turns out, I didn’t know anything about Dinosaurs.  No wonder I didn’t like them.

Opening night of the exhibit in at Wichita’s Intrust Arena, turned out to be fun, and sorry to spoil it for you, EDUCATIONAL.  I learned a lot, and I am a middle age former newscaster who was supposed to know everything.

I was actually a little worried that my 9 and 13-year old GIRLS wouldn’t really be interested.  Dinosaurs have a sort of “macho” feel to them.  So it was especially fun to watch their faces when the creatures crawled onto the arena floor.  In fact the first thing out of my little ones mouth was, “Mom, are there people in there??”  I hate to tell her that I really don’t know.  (Okay, I’m sure  the raptors were human puppets because their legs were showing, but I really don’t know if T-Rex was remote controlled or  some dudes were in there hamming it up for us. We fought over it on the way home, so as not to spoil it for anyone,  I’ll leave that up to you to google.)  But seriously look at these Dinosaurs….it really was as close as we’ll probably ever come to knowing what it might have been like millions of years ago.

I sat there enjoyed myself and haven’t heard one person who went say a bad thing about those darn dinosaurs so I have to give this little gig a big thumbs up.  The sad part is, NOT that the dinosaurs are extinct….but that this kind of production couldn’t be used to teach our kids the HISTORY that I learned last night.  It made all those “era’s” we learned about in school make so much SENSE.  Sadder yet, both the husband and I admitted we had forgotten how the Dinosaurs died.  (6 mile wide comet that carved out the Gulf of Mexico) I hope if that part is fiction no one tells me, cause it was a great way for the story to end.

And just to name drop, we saw Bruce Haertl, Jemelle Holopirek, Brett Harris and their families.  I felt like part of the “Old Gang” again.  Okay, I really didn’t but it was great to see them.

Oh, and if you want to go there are shows through Sunday.

I’m sort of stunned how much fun events can be when you just go to ATTEND.  After 20 years of emceeing and judging and what-have-you, I’m no longer on the “A-list” of  ”Let’s Get Her To Attend”, which means I go to whatever I WANT to.  Woofstock was a FOR SURE.

The pictures tell the story.  Melissa and I took our girls, some of their friends, and our three dogs.  Hershey couldn’t stand it, at McDonald’s on the way, he was barking at every dog he would soon run into.  We saw everything from Pink Painted Pooches to those dressed to the nines to Melissa’s favorite the Crested something or other that’s shaved almost bald with just a little patch on it’s head.  We have since learned those puppies are HIGH MAINTENANCE and have skin problems, she no longer wants one.  I’m still in the “Wish I had a Shitzu” mode but I’m also leaning toward a cocker spaniel type.  Granted Kent said NO MORE DOGS, but I’m gonna have a back-up plan just in case he changes his mind!

  Honored to serve as a date for Go Wichita’s Shakila Saifullah (she’s the new Marketing Director), I attended my first Celebrity & Chef Cook-off this week at Wichita’s Marriott Hotel.    

Wow!  Yes the food was nummy but can you say power crowd?  (Say it with real feeling and it will be ever more impressive.)  The best part of that, is a lot of those people, are some of my favorite people in Wichita.   We gave the chick from Splurge a run for her money, taking advantage of as many photo ops as we possibly could without attracting too much attention to ourselves!  (I did afterall at this point, have food stains on my Paris-bought suit! ) If you must know it was the Right one…and it was chocolate icing!

  I hate to be a name dropper, but really, there’s just no other way to do it.  In no particular order we must start with my very first “vacation” sweetheart.

  Devin Hansen and I met on a trip to Hawaii when we were like 10 years old (YES, our parents were with us).   He’s taken over the family business Sunflower Travel, is obviously a Wichita Wagon Master by his get-up here, and I learned on this night,  he’s also Chairman of the Go Wichita Board, Go Devin.  

Then I think this might be the first picture Spangle’s Spokeswoman Rene Steven and I have ever taken together, though we’ve been to about a bazillion events together.  We also go to the same church and have an idea to “hook” up in the future.  I’ll leave it at that, cause that sounds SEXY.  Might I add, I could eat a Strawberry Sundae from Spangles ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.

   WSU’s Don and Shirley Beggs are perhaps the nicest people in our city, probably the state, and perhaps even the planet.  Shirley is battling breast cancer and finishes chemo this week.  Hers is the only story I wish I had been able to tell before my TV career was over.  Heck, Shirley can I just write your book?

I couldn’t NOT post this picture just because Shakila’s finger is the most prominent part of the scene!  I love KWCH’s Bruce Haertl, who was there as a judge.  Competitive son-of-a-gun that he is won the past three years.  He tells me though his chefs worked his butt off, which makes me glad I was never a big enough name to be asked to “cook” for the Orpheum.     

    I have no idea which Celebrity won this years contest, but I do know I didn’t get the bike I was bidding on in the Silent Auction.  I also know that we were all there to raise money for the Orpheum Theatre.  Oh how I love that building.  Funny how I love just about anything old, the older I get.  If you haven’t been to this event, put it on the list for next year.  Good eats, good people, good cause.  (Oh, and there’s going to be a lot more pictures over on Facebook! – Since this is getting long the rest will show up over there.)

   Here’s something I’ve never done before.  I was honored to toss the coin to determine the start of the Wichita Wild versus Omaha Beef indoor football game Saturday night.  It was Komen Breast Cancer night, that’s why I was there, and of course, my crew was sporting the pink(even though the Wild is ORANGE).

  Outside we got a chance to check out Cornejo’s new Komen For The Cure trucks.  When you see them, women you must think, “Have I had my mammogram this year? Self, did I do my monthly Self Breast Exam?  Am I taking care of my breasts?” 

Inside, I have to admit this former Head Cheerleader had no clue as to the rules of indoor football.    It was completely foreign to me, and a tad bit cuter than the type I’m used to.  I mean that itty bitty field.  I’m thinking, dude, I could kick it that far.  (Okay, I’m totally talking big right now for the sake of my blog, indoor football players,- you FUDGE, it’s a joke!)  For those of you who don’t follow the Wild, Fudge is actually the name of one of the players, and he won my “best name ever” contest last night.  (I hold these any time I feel like it, and with a name like FUDGE how could I not last night!!)

I know you’ve got to be wondering, just like I was, when it comes to the coin toss, do they use a plain ole quarter or is it a special coin.   It was a special coin.  I tossed it like a pro and it landed on heads.  My darling husband made me practice at home, it landed on heads everytime for him (with a real quarter.)  While I realize you have a 50/50 chance of getting that result, I think it’s a bit odd that 35 minutes before I tossed it, one of my twitter friends predicted heads.  My first thought, maybe this whole thing was FIXED.    Since I wasn’t in on the whole thing, I refuse to believe I was part of a huge cheating conspiracy, so instead I think it just means @codyks is psychic.  Wow, that’s either really frightening or gonna come in mighty handy in the future.

    Oh what a night.  Band Together 2009 brought three local bands to the Cotillion to raise money for the Mental Health Association (and all of US who need their help!)  WE rocked the place.  Okay the bands rocked the place, but we were right there with them.

    My former co-worker, Sierra Scott, served as Emcee…..and posed for many pictures with me trying to get the perfect one.   We finally settled for good enough!    It’s been fun getting to know Sierra outside the “confines” of KSN.  We have a lot in common, and even more so, now that we’re both living a new lifestyle.  Most of all, once I start borrowing her clothes, I’ll never need to pay for my own again!  I’ve heard about this girls closet, and since we have the same taste, I’ll just suck it in and sport her already worns.  Sierra if you are reading this, I’m not kidding.  

    I made a brief stage appearance on behalf of one of the sponsors, “Naked City.”   You may know I am a free-lance writer for the Wichita magazine and was thrilled to be able to say NAKED, over and over again.  Good news.  Sierra quizzed me on mental health while I was up there (not my own!) and I got all the answers right.  I knew some of the answers, and when in doubt guessed “C” (it was multiple choice.)  Damn, wish I would have done that well on my ACT.

    My date for the night, was my FIRST real friend.  My college roommate, Pamela Woodside, taught me what friendship is really all about and reminded me again why there are only a handful who will always be there.    We laughed out loud when we pulled up and found we were wearing the same color and same hairstyle. 

    Sometimes you love in others all the things you love about yourself.   When it comes to Pamela, I love all that about her, and the things I will never be that she embodies.  She’s nicer than me, a better wife, more loyal and rarely waivers from her beliefs.  (Yes, Sainthood is possible for HER).   Besides that, she doesn’t mind dancing with a big group of girls, which is exactly what we did.

  As for the music, “The Grateful (not to be) Dead” kicked things off.  This group of  parents of Collegiate School students are pretty darn EXCELLENT.   Then, a real shocker, our long-time favorite, “Lotus” included a female lead singer  that turned out to be Pamela’s assistant at ImageQuest.  Carrie didn’t even tell Pamela she sang with Lotus or that she would be at the big event Pamela was attending that night.   To get her back, we didn’t tell her we would post a snippet of her performance on anitacochran.tv.

  The Fabulous Shirtheads rounded out the night, but by then the pre-teen was calling to be picked up.  

  So Girls night ended peacefully, at home, with me finishing off the box of  Cero’s Creme Brulee Chocolates that they gave me as a Thank You for attending.  Luckily, I had only had popcorn for dinner so I don’t think it was even considered a diet-buster.   BEST GIFT EVER.

WSU COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS – 2009-05-15

After googling every commencement address known to mankind, I think I have come up with the perfect speech.

CLASS OF 2009,   GOOD JOB!!  GOOD LUCK, AND GOOD NIGHT.

  Seriously, if I thought I could get away with that, We’d call that good and tap the keg…..but after 20 years in the TV news business, and standing here before you UNEMPLOYED….I think we have so much in common, that we should share.

  Okay I’ll share, you nod off and twitter to the folks back home.   Tell them I look really cute, because they’re not here they’ll never know!

   Having lived and worked my entire life in Kansas there are so many stories I could share, and believe it or not, that’s all life comes down to, the stories you can tell.  Whether it’s sitting at Starbucks with your best friend, cuddling in bed at night watching tv with the hubby, or gathering with family over the holidays, all we really get out of life are the stories we tell to each other, sometimes over and over again.  (Oh, and the pictures we post on Facebook.) 

   I think for most of us, we can separate our life story into two chapters, our careers and our families.  Let’s start with the career, because when I graduated from college, that’s ALL I focused on.

   I was raised in an age where women were rejoicing in their newfound freedom to enter the workforce, and do whatever they wanted to do.  I applaud them.  I would have never gotten where I did, without the road they paved, but NO one ever told me, I might want to have a family too.   So we’ll come back to that, cause I’m going to tell you right now, the number one thing that will most determine your happiness, is not what you DO…but WHO you decide to spend your time with.  Who will your family be?  And make no mistake, the people you work with are not your family.  Family doesn’t get rid of you when the ratings aren’t what they hoped for.

    When I graduated from WSU some 20 odd years ago, I had already written my career story.  I had every goal for the next ten years written down and figured out.    I didn’t hit one of those goals.  Not one.  I didn’t figure into the equation, among other things, that I’m a late bloomer .  I looked 15 when I graduated college.  (Yes, we can blame those extra 20 pounds on some of that.)  In the TV business, you need to look 25 on camera.  So until I was almost 25, I couldn’t get the experience on-camera to even get my career going.   I had failed from the get go, or at least that’s how it seemed on paper.

    My goal for my next life, can be summed up in three words. Be Happy NOW.  I’m not going to wait for the next job, the next pay raise, until I have a baby, or in my case, a grandchild.  I’m going to enjoy NOW.   Because don’t happy people just make you want to STRANGLE them?  Really that’s all any of us wants is to be happy, and that’s a decision you make.

    I’m gonna recommend you read the “Secret” and the “Prayer of Jabez” and the “Dream Giver” ….What I find in these books is that they ask you to have a vision, and that you trust a higher power to help you get there.  I’m not saying make a wish, and go watch TV till it comes true, we all know that ain’t gonna happen, RIGHT???  Okay, let me be the first to say, that ain’t gonna happen.  I’m saying find something to believe in, other than yourself, and see what happens when you work hard, and have faith.   I know it works, because that’s what I’ve been doing lately, and magic is happening.  There is something magical in life about not knowing what is ahead.  Some call it magical, others call it gall stones, but you’re in for it no matter what so let’s think MAGIC.

     Back to TV news, looking back there was a reason my career took me where it did.  I started on-air in Hays, Kansas.  That’s where I learned my career was really going to be all about my hair.  The one comment I could never get out of my head, came to me one afternoon in Arby’s.  I was on dinner break, and a fragile old man came up to me as I was ordering a beef and cheddar and he said, “ Hey Anita, I saw you on TV last night, and you had your hair back.  Don’t do that again.  You look really ugly like that.”  Yeah, Yuck it up, it didn’t happen to you.

     What I learned from that…Okay I didn’t learn anything from that, other than the world is CRUEL.  I apologize in advance for the all the cruel things that will happen to you, because they will happen.

     In Garden City, I covered southwest Kansas, that’s where I decided I had to be a News Goddess, or I could never beat my competition (Old Candice Pyle was after all a former Miss Kansas).  She taught me the news business, was about more than just the HAIR, it was also about the CLOTHES.

    I was whipping her butt, covering a prairie dog infestation in Liberal. (Don’t laugh, it was a big story.)  I was getting great video when a cop car pulls up and the police escorted Candice to a spot where she could get all the video she needed.  Me I found it the old fashioned way, but Candice, in her mini skirt, had found a short cut.  She ran off with a Bull rider a short time later, and I took over wearing the shortest skirts in southwest Kansas.  Honey the take away here is easy, when something works steal it.

     Then it was on to Wichita, where I would finally make headway, get a chance to work with my Dad Larry Steckline, and eventually become the cities only Solo female main anchor.   It’s also where I coined my signature phrase.  Paris Hilton has HOT!  I have RUN!

  Believe it or not, in almost every instance, RUN works.   Example, any time Dave Freeman cuts in for severe weather, in your head just say RUN…..and does it matter which direction that storm is moving? 

     At this point in my career, when I’m screaming RUN on set, just to make the audio man go beserk, it felt like the hometown girl had made good.  Problem was we were finding no ratings success, so when my contract came up recently just as I was celebrating 20 years on air in Kansas…..Management told me they wanted to “shuffle the deck”.   My destiny would not be to change the game of local news in Wichita, and propel KSN to number one.  So instead, I decided to fold,  or as I would say RUN.

     Donald Trump would thrash me for that.  Apprentice fans know he has no mercy for quitters, but I think he’s dead wrong.  When you are surrounded by people you dislike or dislike YOU, work you hate or circumstances that are NOT in your best interest, RUNNNN.  I’m giving you permission to cut your losses.  I’ve only done it a few times in my life, but every time I have, I came out better on the other side. 

  I left the TV game because I had figured out at that point, we weren’t family….and by this time I had a family at home, who was more than happy to take up more of my time.

      Which brings me to my family, I met my husband right here at WSU.  He dated my best friend in the sorority, but he married me.  In fact, we sat together at our Graduation, and I don’t have the slightest idea who the speaker was! So it’s okay when you forget me.

   Kent Cochran was the most important decision I ever made.    He wouldn’t allow me to give up on my dream until he knew I had enough success to satisfy my soul…and until he knew I couldn’t live with the circumstances they asked me to take on.  He also fathered my two children (really Kent, they are yours!) And took care of them while I played TV.  I was most of afraid of letting him down when the new contract wasn’t panning out.

     One night I said, honey we might have to live in a Van down by the River if I don’t have this job, he said, yeah but I bet we’ll be able to afford satellite TV in that van, because I still DO have a job.  So last month I walked away from the only job I ever wanted to have…into the only one that really matters.  I am an unemployed wife and mother……trying to figure out what I will be when I grow up.

       Spending more time with my girls, Lexy is 12 and Tanza is 8…..I have already found a new purpose in life, one much bigger than bringing you the news.  I’m now going to learn how to raise a family and with no job in sight…. on one-fourth the income that we’re used to.  We are downsizing financially thanks in part to the fix this country is in.  There’s no one to bail me out or you….so I’m gonna live within my means, without any debt.  I challenge you to do the same.  And if you wonder what that looks like, check out my website anitacochran.tv…..I’m working on a book, and let me tell you the stories this experience is providing are already every bit as exciting as the stories I covered in my news career along the way.

   20 years after my college graduation, my story is just beginning and class of 2009, so is yours.   I used to think that everything was NOT possible, that we were limited by who we were, what we looked like even, how smart we were….but after living in the real world, I have learned EVERYTHING is possible, if you’re willing to let go of what you think you SHOULD do…..and find out what you were MEANT to do.  Go Find It class of 2009, RUN towards it,  and everything else will fall in place.  And if it doesn’t hunt me down and tell me I look ugly with my hair back.  With that Graduates. Good job! Good Luck!   And Good Night. 

I had some fun down by the River at the Senseney Music Corporate Battle of the Bands.  LSI, Via Christi Family Docs and Bombardier got bands together and put on a show.  As one of the judges, I helped decide who would spend a $1,000 gift certificate at Senseney!  All the magic of Riverfest was found here, including a girl in green dancing her arse off.  I couldn’t take my eyes off her, might have been the scarf.

  Thanks to my friend Joe from “3 Ring Circus” for recommending for the role as Paula Abdul I did my best, but then again, I’m no Paula.