Blog

Posted on

Rainy Day Kitchen Adventures

It was a cold and rainy day. I decided to combat the gloominess with some kitchen adventures.

First up was scones.  I had never made scones before (they seemed complicated for some reason), but I discovered a Martha Stewart recipe that seemed pretty straightforward and I was feeling ready to try it.  The recipe called for some sort of dried fruit (cranberries!) that I didn’t have, but I did have just a bit of candied ginger in the cupboard that seemed ready to meet its destiny.

I discovered the great things about making scones: 1) you don’t wind up with a huge batch of something (at least not with this recipe); and 2) there isn’t a bunch of rolling out, cookie cutter nonsense, you just flatten the dough into a round-ish blob and cut it into wedges.

I’m going to guess that the thing that makes scones so scrumptious is that they are made with half-and-half. Probably most important is brushing the tops with half-and-half and sprinkling them with sugar before baking.

After I had munched a warm scone (or two), I was ready to move on to something a bit more savory.  Of course, cold and rainy day kitchen adventures wouldn’t be complete without soup!

Mr. Man had made chicken tacos the night before and there was enough leftover chicken for a week’s worth of tacos. Or … chicken tortilla soup!

For the soup, I strictly adhered to the just throw a bunch of stuff in the crockpot and let it cook for as long as possible technique.

First, I chopped an onion, some celery, and carrots.  Those went in the crockpot with the box of chicken broth and can of diced green chilis.

After a couple of hours, I went to check on my veggies and started to get nervous.  I started to question why I wouldn’t have sautéed them up in a pan before throwing them in the crockpot?  What was I going to do now?  Those onions did not look like they were anywhere near melting into the broth the way that I wanted them to.  Oh well, at least I had another solid 5-6 hours for this to hang out in the crockpot.  Better keep it on high. 

I did go ahead and throw the chicken in at this point as if the pre-cooked chicken would set an example for the vegetables of what they should inspire to be. Because the chicken was already very seasoned, I didn’t really worry about adding any spices.

A few hours later I checked on it again.  Maybe it was starting to try to come together?  The carrots weren’t crunchy anymore so that must be progress.  At this point I tore up about six corn tortillas and added them to the crock to dissolve.

I just love the way that a few corn tortillas can add so much body to a really simple soup. They not only thicken the broth but add a dimension of flavor and subtle sweetness. Its one of those great uses for stale bread kind of kitchen tricks.

Not much to look at, I know. At least it tasted yummy!

After all day, we had soup!  I served it with some homemade taco chips (oven-baked of course) a sprinkle of cheese, a bit of diced avocado, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.  Mr. Man approved.

Posted on

Cat Tube

No, I’m not talking about YouTube just for cats (although that might be a brilliant idea, can someone get on that please?). I’m talking about one of Anabel’s favorite toys, the cat tube.

Even though cats don’t need a lot of fancy toys, there is some great satisfaction in buying fancy things for them.  Even more so when it’s a toy that can maintain kitty’s interest for longer than a few days (and doesn’t require batteries).  One cat toy that had retained its charm in our home is the cat tube.

I don’t know what else to call it.  It is a length of fabric-covered tube.  That’s it.

As I was scrolling back through the kitten’s baby album, I did find that at one point it had a little dangling fluff ball. Other than that, it has held up pretty well.

It also was clear that Anabel has always had a greater appreciation for this particular piece of equipment than her brother, Sally.

Currently, the cat tube is one of Anabel’s favorite games.  She will cry and holler, then dash off to hide out in the tube when you come looking for her. She will lay in wait and pounce out to swat at you, then dash back inside.  When she and Sally play, he will pounce on top of the tube, smashing it on top of his poor, helpless sister (who instigated the whole game in the first place).

The cardinal rule of cat toys is change it up.  You don’t have to really have that many things for them to play with as long as you move them around and switch them out from time to time.  For a while, the cat tube lived in the front room, blissfully forgotten by everyone except yours truly who seemed to be the only one living here who found it to be in the way.

One day, in great frustration, I tossed it back into the den (the cat’s playroom) and they took to it with a fresh novelty. Anabel has been very committed to the tube being part of her daily play routine ever since.

Another time, it found its way onto the futon (there is a great degree of rearranging that is necessitated when trying to vacuum the cat’s room).  Now it was Anabel’s favorite place to sleep! I couldn’t find her anywhere. I looked in all of the places and there was no sign of her until I noticed the little bit of white peaking out from the tube.

Even though I am consistently tickled by the cats playing in the tube, one of my most felicitous memories was when my friend and her two-year-old daughter came to visit.  Apparently, they make the same thing for baby humans too. It was particularly hilarious watching this small person trying to fit herself into the cat-sized version of a toy that she had at home and Anabel’s reaction to this person trying to play with her favorite toy.

Posted on

New Year, Same Suggestions

After the lukewarm success of last year’s new year suggestion categories, I decided to retain the format and keep the same list (for the most part). I’m calling it a lukewarm success because I didn’t really feel any huge sense of accomplishment, but I did feel like it provided a gentle reinforcement for the habits that I wanted to cultivate.  So even though it’s a new year, I’m mostly sticking with the same suggestions because most of what I want to do this year are all the same things that I wanted to do last year.

I still like the keep doing, do more, do better, do less/don’t do paradigm. I think that it works well for continuing productive habits. One category that I think that I have underutilized is do less/don’t do.  There are a few things that have sort of naturally fallen into this category – things like shopping and drinking that don’t necessarily need to go on a new year suggestions list. But I do feel like I need to think about how I can utilize this category better (do better: utilize don’t do category).

I was pleasantly surprised to notice the do better category. I think that I completely forgot about it.  That is a motivating way to keep a lot of my keep doing things in the mix.

2019 Suggestion 2020 Version
Keep getting to the gym 5+ times a week Keep doing – getting to the gym 5+ times a week (it’s not like I’m in good shape, but enough is enough)
Keep working on my writing Keep doing/do more/do better – writing; specifically: blog 2x/week, write 6+ short stories/flash fiction, continue daily morning pages, find new writing exercises and challenges
Do more – get my steps in Do better – meet 10k daily step goal
Do more – call people Keep doing – call people
Do better – use my time more effectively Do better – use my time more effectively (I wish I could move this to keep doing, but I’m not there yet)
   

New for 2020

Do better: thinking about what I eat.  Before I eat it. Not in that obsessive, what’s for lunch as soon as breakfast is finished way, but in a thoughtful, is this really what I want to put in my body right now way.

Do less: keeping things that I don’t need.  I’m talking to you, collection of espadrilles that I haven’t worn since 2018.  Sometimes it is just hard to get rid of something nice, that you like, that is in perfectly good condition, just because it no longer serves you. I don’t think I’m ready for a complete don’t do in terms of keeping things, but if I can let go of a few of these types of things throughout the course of the year, it will feel like a win.

And then, just to be contrary, since everyone is on the intention train, I do have a one silly arbitrary resolution that I want to throw in the mix:

I would like to be able to fold in half again (face to shins with my legs straight out in front of me).

Anything new for your keep doing, do more, do better, do less/don’t do list?  Any old-fashioned arbitrary resolutions?

Posted on

2019 in Review

Can you believe that 2019 is over? We just got ourselves a bright, shiny new year and a bright, shiny new decade. But before it’s too far gone, I thought I should take a look back on 2019.

My first feeling was disappointment.  It didn’t seem like I had accomplished the things that I had set out to do. As I was preparing to throw myself a little pity party, I wondered what DID I do all year after all? I mean, I was pretty busy, it couldn’t have all been goofing off, could it?

After I thought about it, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that even though I didn’t necessarily accomplish my 2019 Suggestions, I did accomplish quite a few things.  Including some that I would have never even imagined.

One thing that I was getting down on myself about is how much I have slowed down with my blogging.  I was disappointed because working on my writing was one of my keep doing suggestions.  But then I realized that I have been writing. A lot. In a bunch of new-to-me genres, not just creative non-fiction.

I started writing fiction (flash fiction and short stories so far).  I’ve published a few here like the tale of the wacky antiques dealer, the Real Housewives Triad, and the legend of Headless Mike.  One of my stories was published in an actual book (more on that in a bit).

Writing for my neighborhood newsletter gave me an opportunity to venture into journalism.

And I started a habit of morning pages – three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing, longhand, done daily (one of the cornerstone practices of The Artists Way).

Even with all of that and The In-Between Things, I didn’t feel that I had been generating the volume of work that I would have liked.  Why not, where was my time going?  Oh, that’s right! The Rough Writers Anthology!  Because I was not only a contributor, I was the editor and project manager for the book.

By virtue of my work as editor on the Rough Writers Anthology, I was approached to edit another book. And that makes three things that had never even occurred to me that I would do in 2019: become a published author and edit two books!

In addition to my foray into editing (which I LOVE and hope to do more of), I also started to find my niche with my freelancing – brand platforms. I know how hard it can be to figure out how to talk about what you do, and it has been beyond edifying to be able to help other individuals and small businesses get clear and get comfortable with their stories.

So instead of beating myself up for the things that I didn’t do, I’m going to take this opportunity to celebrate a few little victories.  When I look back on 2019, I can see that it was a year of experimentation – I said yes to almost every opportunity that came my way and those opportunities opened new doors to unexpected paths.

Before you get too busy in this new year, take a moment to look back on 2019. It probably didn’t go the way that you had anticipated either.  But I bet that you also accomplished some things as the result of happy accidents.  What were your surprise wins?

As I get ready to think about my goals for 2020, I’m going to try to remember to give myself some latitude for happy accidents. I hope that you will too.

Posted on

Anabel Street Style

Aside from cats, one of my other favorite things is clothes. I just love the new version on Project Runway on Bravo. Sometimes those designers come up with really innovative outfits!  Of course, I play the armchair quarterback version of Project Runway and try to think of what I would make for any given challenge.  Last week they had a tie-in with the new movie version of Cats that is coming out soon (yes, I am very excited to see it) and I had the winning design (in my head). I call my look Anabel Street Style. 

The designers were tasked to come up with a new, street-style take on animal prints.  There were some cute looks and this guy who did a mixed-print top combined with a really well-made half-skirt/half-shorts (it wasn’t really a skort because the skirt was only on one side) won. I spent the whole episode thinking about what I would make for this challenge.  What would my innovative take on animal prints be?  It would be a take on Anabel’s gorgeous markings. What could be more animal print than that?

My look would have a crisp, white shirt dress kind of thing with a ruffled collar front to mimic her lovely, fluffy white chest.  The sleeves would have big, oversized ruffled cuffs too and near the wrist of the right sleeve, I would applique a little, black heart.  Then over that there would be a grey and black vest/over dress type thing.  I was thinking this would be really neat in a tweed or some other sort-of men’s wear suiting fabric to approximate her ticked-tabby coat.  But I might get in trouble with Nina for not using actual animal print, so I would have to find a grey and black tiger stripe or something.  The skirt of the vest dress would also have tons of volume and movement. 

The coolest part of my look would be this leather shoulder-harness/holster/arm gauntlet thing. It would be just a strap over the left shoulder, but a shoulder/arm shield-type contraption would cover the right shoulder/upper arm and then the whole thing would come together in some sort of belt/corset-type thing. This piece might have some cool pockets and other features for the woman on the go. Like maybe there is a cellphone pocket in the shoulder gauntlet.

I would style it with white, high-top sneakers because a cat has got to be comfortable and ready for action after all.

And trust me, my imaginary look would have beaten all of them.  Karlie Kloss would want to wear it, and it would spawn a whole trend of interpreting cat markings in fashion.  Trust me folks, Anabel Street Style is how you take animal prints to the next level.

Anabel, the fashion super-star and my attempt to draw my idea.

Unfortunately, my remedial sewing skills are not anywhere near able to execute my vision, leaving me with my mouth writing a big check that my ability can’t cash.  So, cat-wear will have to stay in the land of make-believe for a while longer.  But if anyone reading this has the mad sewing skills, I have the vision – let’s talk.

Posted on

I Published a Book!

Rough Writers Anthology 2019:
Moments in Space & Time

Guys, something cool happened … I published a book!  Crazy right? Full disclosure, I didn’t WRITE a whole book, I published a book with my writing club. I did however write many parts of a book.  First, I contributed a story and then I somehow got tricked into being the editor. 

  • rough writers anthology 2019
    beautiful cover art courtesy of Ben Horak
This is the proof of the book, hense the “not for resale” stripe.

Once I had agreed, I found out that being the editor didn’t mean just working with the other authors on their stories and/or editing the manuscript, it also happened to include project managing the whole shebang and creating the other bits of text that go into a book (which I learned is called the front matter and back matter).

Since I have been on a bit of a hiatus from project managing, I may have taken a few things for granted and not kept as tight reigns on things as I used to.  Fortunately, I had a talented and motivated team working with me and we finally crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s and now we have a book!

The book is a collection of stories contributed by members of the Rough Writers Toastmasters club.  We named it the Rough Writers Anthology 2019 because we have some delusion (at least I do) that we will do this annually. Moments in Space & Time is a nod to the writing prompt.

Everyone wrote their story using the same photo as a prompt (I don’t have permission to publish the photo here, but it is in the back matter of the book).  One of the benefits of being the editor was that I had early access to read everyone’s work.  I was so entertained by the range of perspectives. Even the stories that sort-of took the same tack are very different. Some folks had a specific message that they wanted to get across.  I let the photo take me for a ride (it was a strange ride, don’t ask me how I got there).

Here is a little snippet from my story:

As Bill approached the clipboard girl, she eyed him up and down and shot a look to the man standing next to her who was roughly the size of a refrigerator. This girl could tell Bill was trouble from 50 yards. The refrigerator nodded. Bill was used to being aggressive and intimidating to girls to get his way, but her disdainful gaze and pet refrigerator made him feel very small as he approached. Clipboard girl was already on to his game.

from Carl’s Green Galaxy by Cynthia Gellis

Our book, the Rough Writers Anthology 2019: Moments in Space & Time is available on Amazon!  Mr. Man says that it is the perfect size for a stocking stuffer (wink, wink).  If you want me to get you a signed copy, comment below or message me and we can make that happen.

I hope you’ll check it out!

Posted on

Practicing Gratitude

rainbow

How was your Thanksgiving?  I hope that in addition to enjoying food, friends, and family, you also took a moment to be thankful for the nice things in your life.

For example, I am thankful for you reading, commenting, and sharing this blog.

Gratitude has become a big topic in the zeitgeist these days.  I don’t remember it being such a “thing” when I was younger.  Of course, you were supposed to practice gratitude on Thanksgiving, but it wasn’t a trendy, daily practice type thing. When I stopped to think about it, it is something that seems like it has been building over maybe the past ten years into something that is now ubiquitous.

Maybe seven years ago, I met a neuroscientist who was doing research on the health impacts of gratitude.  I don’t remember all of the methodologies, but the punchline was that there was some sort of measurable, physical benefit.  Apparently, it was a big up-and-coming area of study because now it seems like there is all sorts of scientific research about the positive impacts of practicing gratitude.

I was recently in charge of the impromptu speaking portion of my Toastmasters meeting.  The theme for the meeting was gratitude.  I did a quick google search of gratitude practices and came across the practice of a gratitude jar.  I’m not sure how you’re really supposed to do it, but for my purposes, I cut a bunch of scraps of paper and wrote random things that I would be grateful for.  Then, everyone had to draw a scrap from the jar and speak for one minute about how they are grateful for whatever it was.

sometimes I’m grateful that I have a habit of saving jelly jars

I’ll tell you what, I did not expect it to be such a challenge!  I mean there were things like “books,” and “friends,” and “vacation” in the jar.  Two things that really got recipients flummoxed were “apples,” and “cats.” 

I love apples.  I am very grateful for the delicious taste sensation of sliced apple with cheese. But there are so many delightful apple applications to be grateful for – not the least of which is apple pie.  Don’t you agree?  Somehow, this was a stumper.

And cats goes without saying.  If you can’t even pretend to be grateful for cats, I’m not sure what to tell you.

My favorite thanksgiving gratitude practice is taking a yoga class and I have a favorite memory from a few years ago.  It was a usual, beautiful southern California day and I rode my bike down to yoga on the bluff.  I was just telling Mr. Man about how the memory of that day reminds me of so many things that I am grateful for: my pink bike, beautiful California weather, and practicing yoga outside with a whole mess of characters from every walk of life while looking out at the Pacific Ocean.

Like everything else, it is important not to overdo it on gratitude on Thanksgiving and then neglect to practice it for the rest of the year. A moderate amount of gratitude on a regular basis is what is recommended for optimum results.  Try to find one little thing every day, see if you feel a difference.

Posted on

Happy Bar-versary Bar Method Long Beach!

This November marks the eight-year anniversary (or, as I like to call it bar-versary) of the Bar Method Long Beach (BMLB).  Coincidentally, the studio’s anniversary happens right around the same time as the owner, Joanna West’s birthday. So, today’s post is dedicated to celebrating both BMLB and Jo.  Who doesn’t love a two-for-one celebration?

There are those times when I just feel a little squirmy about my workout. I need to get moving, but I don’t want to do the usual things. When I get that feeling, the best thing for me to do is head to BMLB. The week of the studio’s anniversary coincided with that squirmy feeling convincing me that I needed to “get back to the bar” as they say and subsequently having my butt kicked by Jo in her Monday morning, take-no-prisoners Bar Move class.

There is something about a bar method workout.  I’ve said before how civilized it is – the lovely studio, the smooth and controlled movements, the calm-yet-authoritative manner of the instructor – it all combines to put you in a very serene and centered frame of mind, even while your thighs are quivering uncontrollably and your buns are on fire. I come out of those classes standing taller and feeling more confident in myself every time.  It is just a great experience.

Jo, the owner, is a lovely spirit; she is sweet, and kind, and generous, and tough. I always laugh at myself when I take Jo’s class because I’m always surprised at how extra hard it is.  Her classes are surprisingly tough because she is so sweet and has such a nice way about her that when you’re dying you are surprised to realize that she is kicking your butt with her soft voice and friendly smile.

She has brought the same sweetness and toughness to her business. She is a hard-working businesswoman in a highly competitive niche. What she has done that sets her studio apart from the competition is foster a sense of community. Jo makes a point of supporting other women, as clients, as employees, and as fellow businesswomen. When a regular recently launched a handbag line, Jo hosted a trunk show for her.  She’s been similarly generous to so many of us.

Jo knows what it means to be a successful woman – it means that you support other women and celebrate their successes. She sets an example for everyone at the studio to be supportive, kind, and generous to each other. Everyone celebrates each other’s triumphs (a new job, a new baby, a new haircut) and has each other’s back when times are hard (a lost job, a bad breakup, an injury). I’m not a regular anymore, but every time I’m there, I get to catch up with old friends.  Some of my bar friends are my soul sisters and I’m so thankful that BMLB brought us together.

I’m so proud of Jo for all of the hard work that she puts in to creating such a special place for women in Long Beach to come together in a very quietly understated, yet powerful way.  Thank you, Jo!

Posted on

The Nicholl Fellowships

My neighbor works for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.  Yeah, that’s pretty cool.  What’s even cooler is that she invited me to attend an event at the Academy last week!  And even though I generally try to avoid the mid-Wilshire are for any reason, I couldn’t turn down such a special invitation.

The event was the celebration of the 2019 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.  This is an international screenwriting competition that was established in 1985 to identify and encourage talented new screenwriters. The first year of the competition, 99 entrants – all California college students, submitted work. This year, the competition received over 7,000 submissions from all over the world.

Previous fellows include Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich), Doug Atchison (Akeelah and the Bee), and Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One).

This year’s fellows were Aaron Chung, a recent college graduate from Florida; Karen McDermott, a former attorney who now teaches at Cal State LA; Renee Pillai from Malaysia – who, when she was notified that she had won, had to find someone to drive her the two hours to Kuala Lumpur so that she could apply for a passport; Sean Malcolm, who certainly gets the tenacity award for submitting screenplays to this competition for something like 20 years; and Walker McKnight.

The formal awards presentation included a live read of scenes from each winning screenplay. Amandla Stenberg (Rue in The Hunger Games), Rosa Salazar (Parenthood, American Horror Story), Wes Studi (Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Avatar) and Tyrese Gibson (The Fast and the Furious franchise) performed the live read, which was directed by 2016 Nicholl fellow Geeta Malik.

I had never been to a live read before and it was very fun.  I loved watching the actors sitting on stools, with the scripts in front of them and then jumping into their parts. I felt like I could really see the acting, if that makes any sense.  They were going from regular person to performer just right in front of our eyes. Rosa Salazar was especially act-y and I mean that as a big compliment.  She really used her voice and her physicality (even though she was perched on a barstool) for all of her different characters.

The scene from Karen McDermott’s screenplay gave me an idea for a short story and I was so glad that I had brought a little notebook with me so that I could jot down some quick notes.  I roughed out a first draft the next day and yikes!  It is going to need a lot of work. I will be sure to let you know when I manage to get it pulled together.

It is so exciting to get to see up-and-comers succeeding in their field. The Nicholl Fellowships are the kind of thing that really makes a huge difference in someone’s life and it was a treat to have the opportunity to share in the celebration of their creative success. I am so proud of all of the winners and of the Academy for having a great program like this to encourage new talent. It was a great evening.

Posted on

The Spirit Moves Me Elsewhere

Long story short: I participated in an Apache, Two-Spirit, all women sweat lodge ceremony last weekend.  It was very cool (actually it was very hot) – there was singing songs and what I would call dharma sharing and lots and lots of sweating.  So much sweating.

The woman leading the lodge was very easy going. She instructed us as to the proper way to do something (entering the lodge for example) and they she would say that if we felt that we needed to do that thing another way, that was okay.

One of the instructions was that if we ever felt like we were over heated and wanted to get out of the lodge before the end of the ceremony, all we had to say was that, “the spirit moves me elsewhere.”

Some of the women participating in the lodge did decide to step out at different points of the ceremony. They all said the phrase as they exited the lodge.

After the ceremony, I was talking with the friends who I had gone with (they always know where to find the fun woo woo things to do) and we started talking about the phrase, “the spirit moves me elsewhere.”

It seems to me that this phrase may have terrific application in all sorts of life situations, not just sweat lodge ceremonies.

Think about it: anytime you find yourself in an unpleasant situation or even just can’t find an easy way to wrap up a conversation, you can deploy this phrase and leave.  Maybe you’re at a cocktail party and you’re just done talking to someone, use this phrase to extract yourself.  You don’t even have to actually leave, just move to a different part of the room.  Whatever it is you could just say, “the spirit moves me elsewhere,” and move.  No more awkward goodbyes.  It’s brilliant.

Think about it. I really don’t see any situation where anyone can challenge that statement.

As I write this, it reminds me about an old story from this place where I used to work.  There was this gal who had worked there before me (this is one of those old, workplace legends), and one day it was either freezing cold (it was often freezing cold in that office) or the air conditioning wasn’t working … something like that.  At one point, this gal just gets up, states, “I can’t work under these conditions,” grabs her bag and leaves. Like really leaves.  Like goes home for the day.  It still makes me giggle just thinking about it now.

What makes this story even more delightful is the fact that we were subject to a very strict time-keeping policy in that office and the idea that someone would just get up and leave is beyond the pale.  I’ll tell you what, there were more than a few times when I wished I could have said, “I can’t work under these conditions,” and left.

Sometimes, you just have to go. 

The spirit moves me elsewhere.