I have several friends who post updates all day long, mostly from their phones. These are people are who close friends, yet when I mention something I’ve been talking about for MONTHS, they’re surprised that they’re just hearing about it.

Now, I don’t really care about the GenPop of friends/followers on my Social Media accounts. But my friends? I pay attention, and expect them to, too. They are also the people who actually know how many friends/followers they have, and get upset when they lose someone. My guess? They got deleted for not paying attention to those who pay attention to them. It’s a give-give world out there.

I’m not sure if narcissistic is the word I’m looking for. Maybe self-absorbed? No idea. What I DO know is that those people I’ve always paid so much attention to have been removed from my lists/circles on Twitter and Facebook. It may seem petty, but I’d rather pay attention to those who do the same.

So, if you’re doing Me!Me!Me!dia and losing friends, and followers, it couldn’t hurt if you occasionally actually go to your “home” screen and like/comment on what others are saying.

For the first 45 minutes, it was me telling my story. Things blew up, though, when we started to get callers. Grab your Kleenex and have a listen!

Positively Speaking 3/14/12

So, once you know what the hashtag is, you can search the hashtag and jump in. What I prefer, though, is to go to tweetchat.com. You log in with Twitter, enter the hashtag of the chat, and see what everyone is saying. Every tweet you send out while using tweetchat.com will automatically include the hashtag.

If you use Tweetdeck (not sure how other third-party apps work), you can add a column with the hashtag.

Always remember (except for when you use tweetchat.com) to add the hashtag into your tweet for others to see.

I tweeted my frustration at the lack of the point-of-view from a donor. I often use Twitter to do so, and my words were taken out of context. That breaks my heart, because I wasn’t targeting any one person or organization. I remember crying as I left the conference, because I had just left a presentation that included people on dialysis speaking about their illness.

Kidney disease is an epidemic. I don’t think enough people talk about it, which is why I do. I’ll die before I ever stop telling people our story, about my donation, and the problem right now in the USA. (I just don’t know much about other countries and kidney disease.)

There are almost 100,000 people on a list, waiting for an organ. Roughly 94,000 of those sick people are waiting for a kidney. 94%. It truly breaks my heart.

I just wish everyone could work together to spread the gospel.

I just wish I hadn’t seen those sick people, but it gave me more fuel on my journey.

I just wish my words didn’t offend anyone.

I just wish my tweet hadn’t been taken out of context, and that I explained myself better.

I just wish that 94,000 people will come forward to donate.

Is that so much to ask?

Here’s what 5000 people means to me. Think of that Humane Society poster from many years ago, with how many cats come from one coupling of unspayed/neutered cats.

That’s 5000 people who may be hearing about kidney donation for the first time.

That’s 5000 people who may know their own TinyMom.

That’s 5000 who may change their driver’s license to be a donor when they die.

That’s 5000 people who will tell everyone they know. Even if it’s just a few, that’s still 5007 more people.

That’s 5000 people who will know, through all the interviews in the film, living kidney donors. They will feel with us. They will laugh and cry with us in this film. They will see that we are just normal people.

We are not heroes. We are people who saw a dire need and responded. We are people that truly believe in love for others. We are people that would do anything we could to help. We are people who did something that everyone SHOULD be doing.

What happened to society? What happened to people simply caring for their fellow man? Why have we become so selfish? I had a long conversation about this last night. I don’t like being called a hero. It makes me uncomfortable. If you could see what I got in return, you’d understand. Well, you’ll see it in the film.

(Oh, and change your driver’s license!)

To most people, it’s having and raising amazing children that go on to be amazing people. I don’t have kids. I will be 42 next week, and it’s not likely I will ever have them. It just wasn’t in the cards for me. So, this film will be my legacy.

I’m angry. Anger sparks my passion. I’m angry at the lack of awareness of live organ donation. But what I’m lacking in even more is the failure of awareness of donors. I don’t mean we need a trophy. I mean nobody talks about the donors.

There’s no foundation to mentor donors. There is nothing out there as an organization of donors to help raise awareness. To educate the public on what it’s like to donate. To give more attention to something that is so easy and will cut the number of people on dialysis. Yes, dialysis is there, and it works. But how about ending it for more people with a kidney?

I’m angry that I didn’t know how easy this was, or I would have done it long ago. Of course, I’m quite happy with my kidney being inside TinyMom, because I adore her. It’s an unbelievable connection!

I’ve always been the “Well, if it’s gonna get done right, I’d better do it” person. That’s why I’m making this film. I’ll never shut up about it, either. I’m going to get emails from around the world from people who are testing to donate. Or already have. Because of a movie. Because of all these donors who have agreed to be in the movie. They’re agreed to talk about something so personal, but we love to talk about it.

My legacy? Opening up people’s minds, which will open their hearts, and then their guts. To donate a kidney.

So, We were sitting on a bench outside the show and I started telling him about it. I don’t think I even got through the whole explanation when he said “I’ll do it!”

That conversation was in August. Since then, we’ve met at least once a month, but usually it’s twice, to get the wheels in motion. We had to come up with not only a name for the film, but a name for us as a company. I then had to come up with an itinerary.

That was the tough part: Choosing which donors I would visit. Since this whole kidney crusade started with a tweet, Social Media played a big part in it. I’m in a couple living donor groups on Facebook. I’ve become friends with some of them and some are even on Twitter. I’ve spoken to a few on the phone. They are my friends. My kidney sisters. (there aren’t a lot of men who are active in the groups for some reason.)

We finally started to raise funds at the beginning of the year. We had comedy shows. We had shirts made. (http://socialmediastolemykidney.wordpress.com/donatebuy-a-shirt/) I’ve made a trip to the post office every day this week! They are really awesome and you should buy one, too. Everyone loves them and I wore mine every day last week. I wear it everywhere, because I need to spread the word!

It’s coming together. It’s becoming real. I just wish it were May 1st already! I’m working 20 hours a week on this, plus running my own business and attempting to have a life. I’m so glad, though, that we started everything 6 months ago. I like that I can have the time to think things through while working on it. I’m getting a LOT of help from a couple of people. I’m posting this page EVERYWHERE.

It’s happening. Soon!!!

Billy Flores. He was my student back in the late 90s, at the first school where I ever taught. Billy had the charm and charisma that was almost too much. He always reminded me of myself, especially at that age. He spoke Spanish fluently, but he took my classes. He’d help out with extra work, like grading, because the class was just easy for him.

Billy ALWAYS had a crush on me. We had a great professional relationship when he was my student, but he always talked about me being on his bucket list. He had the most amazing sense of humor, too, a lot like mine. Basically, if there were my male twin out there, it would have been Billy.

We have always kept in touch since he graduated and I left to go teach elsewhere. Even before Facebook, though once we connected on there, our communication has been constant. I helped him with the Facebook page for his Crossfit business. I gave him pointers on doing Social Media.

When I went out to LA in the summer of 2011 for a gig, Billy came to see me. We had dinner, he saw me do my act, and we chatted for hours. We spent that night together, and I came back home the next day. We’ve kept in touch ever since. He was so happy that he got to “cross me off his bucket list” and he even claimed that I was on his dream board. I’m laughing thinking about it, because he just told you how he felt and never held back. He was honest to a fault. Just like me.

Ever since the first time I heard this song, I’ve thought of Billy. He used to say he wanted me to have his baby. Hahaha. That kid. RIP, Billy. Te quiero con toda mi corazon.

My parents were already at my sister’s house in Orange County, and I was to drive there the 23rd or 24th. It never happened, as the flu got worse. I felt like I had been run over by a steam roller. I was just exhausted and my neck hurt for a day. I took really good care of myself by sleeping a lot. I had an appetite, so I just kept eating. I used my neti pot every day and gargled with warm salt water. I think all of that is what helped me. Though I was sick for 7 days, I didn’t feel like I was on death’s door. I was just SO tired and a little weak. I missed Xmas with my family, which sucked. I love my niece, Olivia, so much! She’s almost 10 now and she stayed with me for a week this past summer. It’s the first time she’s ever flown here by herself and came to stay with me. We had a blast and it just broke my heart that I couldn’t be there. The drive would have killed me.

I woke up the other day to a comment on one of my posts here. Someone else is offering us a place to stay on our trip. I do not know this person, and she is the second one to offer. I’m so touched! Every day I see more and more likes on the Facebook page  (https://www.facebook.com/SocialMediaStoleMyKidney) and I got messages the past few days from people I don’t even know. The other donors are incredibly supportive and they comment and share some of my posts. As a Social Media person, this page is doing what it’s supposed to!

Some time this week, I get to talk to firemen in NYC. A friend of mine told me about a kidney donation between them and knows a couple of the guys. How cool would it be to sneak in some NYC firemen???!!! That’s America right there! My father was a volunteer firemen, so it will be pretty cool to see them. I will, of course, get pics with them because we all know how sexy they are. Hahaha!

Tomorrow, Jimmy and I work on the script. I’ve got a meeting on Wednesday with Dr. Jean Robey. She is TinyMom’s doctor and has given me a lot of advice, feedback, and motivation the past few weeks. I definitely need it!

I’m a bit overwhelmed, but I’m ok.

I’m a bit nervous, but I’m ok.

I’m excited, too, to share all of these stories with everyone.

Most of all, though, I’m humbled beyond words at the help and support I am getting.