Northern Exposure in a Southern Town

Lately, I've been missing the TV show, "Northern Exposure."  For those of you not familiar with the show, it was the story of a transplanted New York doctor assigned to handle a remote, Alaskan town's health care.  While the central character was the doctor, I found the strength of this show sat squarely in the laps of the supporting actors.

 There was the wealthy, Texas bred entrepreneur who flexed his influential muscle when confronted, the elderly grocery store owner who was no-nonsense with a penchant for being blunt, yet was one of the softest and kindest characters of the show.  There were many characters I liked and the two who I just mentioned were just a couple of examples.

I have to say the characters that I resonated the most with was Ed, the part Native American twenty-something and Chris, the Radio DJ.  It occurs to me that there are a little of both of these characters within me.  I loved watching Ed.  He struggled with social situations as well as wisdom with regard to his heritage.  He was later groomed to be a Shaman and it proved to be quite the challenge.  He was sweet, kind and unassuming.  A bumbling wunderkind if you will.  Where a Shaman is supposed to lead with wisdom and grace, Ed fumbles with these concepts and ideas.  He is oh so human and I love that about him.  Those who he is supposed to counsel, instead counsel to him in an unorthodox manner.  If Ed were real, he would be my best friend.

Then, there is Chris, the DJ.  He is a long drink of water who sees the philosophical tint to most any situation.  In a town where the usual is surviving, Chris gazes through the glass window of the radio station and pontificates on air, the wonders of life lessons that citizens of this town might be struggling to understand while they hide away any evidence of angst from neighbors in this tiny, rugged northern town.  He is a poet, a thinker and voracious reader of matters that plague the heart and man's psyche.  His existence is meager, yet his understanding is massive.  Chris is the sort of friend you want to either share a bottle of Chianti and discuss the matters of the world or belly up to the nearest sports bar to throw back a few beers and revel in the simplicity of rooting for the home team. 

As I sit in my home snowbound from getting out; I find myself needing a little Northern Exposure in my southern town.

More Musings Later-

Suze Orman - Livin' in a Van Down by the River!

You heard me. Suze Orman, financial guru and multi-millionaire television host actually used to live in a VW van in her younger years.

No, she didn't live down by the river, that is actually my homage to Chris Farley's hilarious skit about the motivational speaker gone wrong. Anyway, I caught a PBS show where Orman was discussing her meager beginnings and I was just amazed. I would have thought that she went to an Ivy league college and walk all the usual steps to becoming wealthy. Not so. If this gal can do it, we all can. And, she'll tell you that, too. That's one of the reasons I like her so much. She is a bit strange in her communication style, but that is her quirky way.

It turns out that when she was in her 20's, she was a Californian trying to find herself. She didn't have any money and she borrowed enough money from her brother to buy a beat up, VW van and she drove it to San Francisco. She became a waitress at a breakfast diner and lived in her van.

Chris Farley doing his skit as Matt Foley, "Living in a Van Down By the River"

After living life this way for quite some time, she began quizzing one of her regular customers about business and how to make money. Her regular gave her some money to invest in the stock market and he instructed her to have a broker from a well-known brokerage company assist her. That is exactly what she did and became fascinated with the industry. She lost all the money that her regular gave her because the broker invested her money in funds she knew nothing about and didn't take the time to explain the risks involved and so forth.

To him, she was just another "little lady" trying to make a buck or two. Well, she decided to break the "Good ole boy" barrier and apply for a job with this same brokerage. After much determination and selling herself to the interviewer, she was hired and began learning all she could about investments. She learned she could sue the brokerage for not investing her funds based upon her knowledge level at the time. So, she sued her employer WHILE she worked for them.

She won millions of dollars in a lawsuit. She paid her regular back for loaning the money and the rest is history.

One interesting story from a "little lady living in a van down by the river".

More Musings Later-