Coming up for air

This week feels like a blur. I've been in head-down mode all week. It's dangerous to stay that way for too long because I risk suffocating. And that's not good for my creativity or my mental health. Nonetheless, every so often I just need to burrow through to get ahead. Now that it's Friday, it's time to catch my breath because next week is more of the same.

Feeling a little revved because I'll be hitting the road the last week of July, in Austin on July 25-26 and in New York on July 29-30. I'll be spending the morning of the 26th with Thurmond Woodard, chief diversity officer of Dell. And I'll be spending the 30th with Ana Mollinedo, diversity officer at Starwood Hotels. Although I'm looking forward to chatting with two interesting business leaders, I'm disappointed that I won't have time to explore the cities I'll be visiting. New York can wait until September.

Received some exciting news this week from the world of golf. I'll be covering the NEC Invitational Golf Tourney for NOGA Fairways magazine. My father (affectionately known to my sister and I as "Charlie")—the avid golfer, PGA member and volunteer at this annual event at Firestone Country Club—is thrilled! A friend had sent me this story and I forwarded it on to dad. His response: "Hey – the lady had a point then which is still valid today! I have always said that America wasted a lot of talent along the way to equality of the sexes! Remember when you and Jen were kids I told you both there was nothing you couldn’t do if you really wanted it badly enough. Being a female shouldn’t keep brain power, desire and talent hidden behind a history of male chest pounding and ego! Love Ya, Dad." (My family has this affinity for the word, ya, as in "love ya" and "how ya been?")

And speaking of women in nontraditional roles, I received this comment from the publisher of Fairways: "Wendy, In the application I am making myself your assistant. You gotta love equality in the workplace.DC." Very cool...

Bay Village is getting some press this week thanks to Kate Voegele. She's a senior at Bay High School and is getting gobs of local press as a singer/songwriter. You can listen to her acoustic-style music on her Web site. I plugged in last night and found her sound had a nice groove. There's an article in today's Plain Dealer about her.

I picked up on her story through the viral e-mail that circulated through Bay Village yesterday. Jim Cahoon, Bay High's principal, was encouraging residents to visit her site and vote for her in the Pantene Pro-Voice competition. Kate is a national finalist along with two other singers. MTV will begin airing 60-second commercials beginning today on each candidate. You can vote for your favorite through July 25.

She'll be performing tomorrow night at the Local Artist Showcase at Scene Pavilion in the Flats. Although she's being compared to teen troubadour, Michelle Branch, Kate identifies more with Joni Mitchell. She seems to be clear about her future and is planning to study visual arts in college, despite the hype from record label execs. "I don't think you can major in trying to get on 'TRL' in college," she says, laughing. Smart girl.