Hi guys!

I hope all is well and that you and your families are all as happy and healthy as possible! Sometimes, with all the stress and craziness of daily life, it’s hard to remember what matters most. So I’m here to tell you to just take a moment to chill, give yourself a hug (yes, seriously!), and be proud of the wonderful person that you are and all the things that you have been through and overcome.

And just in case an inspiring song would help right about now, here’s a video of my September performance of “Searching for the Light” at the Human Experience Open Mic in Las Vegas. It’s a very “interesting” performance/video for many reasons (not all of them good ha!), but it just goes to show that even when things don’t go as planned (and even when you have an unexpected 4 min. buzzer threat hanging over your head), the best thing to do is just make the best of it and keep going! :-)

Ok, now that we’re all a little more relaxed, I wanted to share some stuff that’s been on my mind lately. These past few weeks have been more than a little overwhelming (at least for me), what with the midterm elections as well as multiple mass shootings, including those at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Shabbat and a California bar on country night. Honestly, I am so tired and angry about all of these tragic deaths that continue to occur with no tangible gun control action in Congress. The way I see it, mental health is definitely an important issue to consider and help with (both in the context of gun violence and in American life in general), but mental health is not what ultimately took all of these peoples’ lives. Guns did that…  Which brings us to another question: how (soon) can we enact laws that prohibit access to guns for people who are suffering from debilitating mental illness? (both for their own safety and for that of others)

And often, the guns used in mass shootings have large capacity magazines (or have been modified to have such magazines), and this is something else that we could certainly take tangible action against. Little, concrete actions matter, and I hope with all my heart that we can all find a compromise regarding small gun control actions that can save many lives. And you never know if the next life saved might be yours…

Now, to completely change the subject, Halloween in Las Vegas was pretty cool! Nothing like seeing a lot of skeleton body suits (both kids and adults), pirates, Batman, Catwoman, many sets of red Devil’s horns and even one tail, a gladiator, etc. There were also some scary (and a little bit funny) creatures down on the Linq promenade, including this one that appeared to be considering capturing a lady for lunch (though she, of course, was on her cell phone and completely unaware of the danger so close at hand):

Luckily though, after taking this picture, I made sure that my own picture would be far away from any gigantic monsters — and as luck would have it, I even had a posse of undercover bodyguards behind me. They did a wonderful job, and you can see that each is looking in a different direction to keep us all safe from the monsters :P

Take care and hugs for everyone!

Tara