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Showing posts with label things I love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label things I love. Show all posts

Monday, August 25, 2014

Lunch with 10 Awesome People

Here's my list of 10 Awesome People
  1. President and First Lady Obama
  2.  Kenneth Branagh, writer, actor, director, producer
  3. Pam Grier, actress
  4. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves
  5. Gala Darling, blogger, Radical Self Love guru
  6. Andy Serkis, actor, known for his motion capture work
  7. Fran Walsh, co-writer and producer of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies
  8. Robert Shaye, the founder of New Line Cinema
  9. Mel Brooks, comedian, actor, director
  10. Gloria Steinem, activist, feminist
Now that I've found addresses for them all, I need to figure out how to get to their various locales! And when! After all, it's not a real invitation to lunch if I don't include an actual date.

These awesome people range from LA to New Zealand to New York to London.  Looks like I have some fun traveling ahead. :)

Ah, scheduling. The hardest part of any endeavor.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Ten people I'd like to buy lunch for before I die

Aren't they the coolest couple ever?

Writers love writing games. They keep your brain fresh, fun, and stimulated. The other day, I played the 10 People I'd Like to buy Lunch for Before I Die.

I also learned that if you write down what you want to do, you are 42% more likely to actually do it.

I want to pick his writer's brain.



Therefore! Here are my 10 People.
  1. President and First Lady Obama
  2.  Kenneth Branagh, writer, actor, director, producer
  3. Pam Grier, actress
  4. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves
  5. Gala Darling, blogger, Radical Self Love guru
  6. Andy Serkis, actor, known for his motion capture work
  7. Fran Walsh, co-writer and producer of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies
  8. Robert Shaye, the founder of New Line Cinema
  9. Mel Brooks, comedian, actor, director
  10. Gloria Steinem, activist, feminist
So, hey, you awesome people! Let me know if I can buy you a yummy lunch! I promise we will have a fun conversation. :)
    Why is she NOT in every movie ever made??


Robert Shaye

Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Cool stuff at my desk: Part Seven

I am so ready if I need to bring a mini disco ball to a party!

Monday, August 19, 2013

Cool stuff at my desk, part six.

For the days I need an extra brain.  

I had to correct its grammar. Think original? Really???

 


Thursday, August 15, 2013

The rise of cool stuff at my desk.

  My jade magnifying glass and a beautiful statement for my nervous mind.
Tranquility has no boundaries.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Cool stuff at my desk rides again!

The text reads:
This creature is a performance organist. Recently he feels that he has exhausted his repertoire of Romantic compositions. He would like to be adopted into an American home in order to properly learn the culture of jazz. He feels the jazz organ is a highly neglected genre and nees some filling out. His favorite classical composer if Bromanavich.

Ain't he a cutie!
 



Monday, April 15, 2013

A very important update.

Summer is a'coming, and it is  time to talk about getting ourselves ready for the beach - including that all important Bikini Body. Follow Melissa Fabello's easy three step rules for summer fun.

(Warning, some bad language at the end)




Dracula's Secret, Blood Wings #1
Dracula's Desires, Blood Wings #2
Dracula Unleashed, Blood Wings #3,

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Working for a Living: Women in the Arts III

Today's Woman in the Arts is Master Dancer, Saqra of Kent, Washington.


Voted "Best Kept Secret of 2005" and "Instructor of the Year 2008" by Zaghareet Magazine, Saqra has over thirty years of experience as a teacher, choreographer, and festival producer. The depth and breadth of her knowledge on Middle Easter dance history and folklore is unmatched.

1.    What is the name of your business and what do you tell other people you do? (such as author, teacher, designer)

Saqra -- Bellydance Performer & Instructor
2.    When did you know it was time to stop treating your art as a hobby and start it as a career?
I treated it like a career from the beginning, but I found it necessary to run two full-time businesses at the same time to be able to afford to do it.
3. What are some of the aspects of your job that people don’t see? For example, most people don’t understand how much marketing is done by the authors themselves instead of a publisher, and most audience members don’t see how costumes and props are designed/chosen.
The constant networking, glad handing, playing nice, and doing your best to be friendly to absolutely everyone no matter your mood or beliefs ... people definitely don't see that. They can guess at the practice... creating performances from costuming to execution... junk like accounting, but they never realize how important it is to network.

A decent dancer with a great network will stomp the heck out of a magnificent dancer without one, career-wise.

4. Who inspired/inspires you on those inevitable rough days?
Jim Beam. Totally KIDDING!

I really just dig deep.... I know I made this bed so I better get my butt out of it and do something. I CHOSE this. But my family was in business and I've been around small businesses all my life. You can waste a little bit of time whining, but then you have to go do something about what you are complaining about.

It would be nice to have someone to look up to and be inspired, but most of the people I know have eventually given up. My stubbornness makes me get up and look at what other are doing and try and out-think them.
  This question is a chance to meander or talk in greater depth if you’d like. Here you can talk about what hobbies you pursue, how you refresh your well of ideas, what you would recommend to other women interested in a career in the arts, or just anything you'd like other people to know.
If you want a career in the arts you better be ready to not be constantly praised, appreciated, considered the best, or wealthy. You better be ready to be criticized because the value of the arts are subjective. And around the corner is someone with a chip on their shoulder and the belief that only their way is the right one.

A career in the arts is not a place for sissies... or for people who are just feeling compelled to express themselves. A career is a BUSINESS.

Monday, October 29, 2012

And the winner is....

Many thanks go to Beth Gordon of Oregon, a super-fantastic person who shared the news of my latest blog giveaway!

Beth receives this wonderful dragon necklace for spreading the word. :)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Yet another trip to the Chinese Garden.




I love going to the Garden of Awakening Orchids in downtown Portland. It is the perfect place to gather my thoughts, look at the dizzying array of plants and buildings, and then drink tea and eat moon cakes at the Tao of Tea, also known as the Tower of Cosmic Reflections.

I like to go there when my brain has been reduced to a blithering ball of mush. I then take quick snapshots on my cell phone to jolt my creative side to see things from a different angle. Last week, I visited the second floor of the tea house for the first time.

*Above left - I really loved my cranberry-orange tea and tarot root moon cake. They were the perfect accompaniments for contemplation on a rainy day.

*Above right - the Garden was putting up decorations for the Chinese New Year.

*Left- It's hard to see, but I really loved this little dragon's, "Oh, hai!" face. It was adorable.

The rest of my pictures turned out fuzzy, but that was ok. I wasn't taking them for any other reason than to re-fill my word well. :)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

How to start the day right.

I recommend listening to Elvis Presley while eating a bagel covered with sunflower seed butter and bananas. And for that Pacific Northwest flavor, add a nice hot mug of Insomnia Coffee Chai.

Then you will rock out all day long!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Things I love

Our luxurious hand-made silk Turkish rug. Everyday I look at it and every time it makes me smile.

It's easy to forget how we need both break and roses. This over the top luxury good always brings great joy.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Things I love.

I love the Mona Lisa. The mystical background, her soft skin, and her long neck have always brought me a sense of wonder.

It's one of those pieces of 'great' art that actually do live up to their hype.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Things I love

The Moroccan-style lamp that hangs by my desk makes me smile every time I see it. It was a gift from a former co-worker and reminds me of the good times at my former job.

What makes you smile every time?

Monday, October 17, 2011

Things I love: Part IV

Fresh, sweet, juicy peaches.

They taste like love. :)

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Things I love: Part III

I love Nike of Samothrace. Even with no head and no arms, she is the very image of a powerful woman. In postcards and pictures on the Internet, she is eye-catching. In person, she is life changing.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Things I love: II

The most important love object in my life:

The Charming Man, here with my Charming Mother in Law.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Things I love.

The first year after a big loss is not the most pleasant time of one's life. But there are things that can make getting through the day much easier.

For me, that involves looking around at the world and seeing things I love. And in honor of today, here is the first thing I love.

This is the back of my National Coming Out Day t-shirt. Check that date out!





I love National Coming Out Day. Today is the day to celebrate who you really are. It's doesn't matter if you are a nervous heterosexual, today you can accept that it's ok that you are straight and and maybe realize that GLBTQ people aren't scary at all! 

Come out of the closet. There is a lovely big world out there.