No, here's to you Barbra...
AVAILABLE MAY 4TH 2010
AVAILABLE MAY 4TH 2010
April 20, 2010
April 18, 2010
April 16, 2010
April 15, 2010
April 14, 2010
TEN-FOUR, GOOD BUDDY
Cell phones, email, Facebook. Linkedin, Twitter, texting, and chatrooms. I won't mention Myspace because, well, who does Myspace anymore?
Born under the sign of Gemini, I should be the greatest of all communicators. Yet I am afraid that all of this pressure to communicate, almost constantly, is bringing me down. Lately the sound of a phone ringing makes me cringe. Sometimes my cell and the land-line at the shop are ringing simultaneously. I get home and inevitbly within a minute, that phone is ringing.
There are emails to reply to, and Facebook messages to respond to.
There are always voice-mails to return.
"Dude. I've been blowing up your phone, why aren't you answering?!"
Because I turned it OFF. Sorry if I don't get back to you right away. After a long day of being on the phone, on the computer, (hopefully) talking to customers, and perhaps maybe not having the best of days, the last thing I want to do is talk about it. I love you. Get over it. The caller ID on my phone was broken for 4 months. It was torture.
I'll admit it. Facebook has been a Godsend. I'm grateful to be able to log in, and in 20 minutes know how 219 people are doing today, and in as much time as it takes to muster something relatively clever, I can let them know I'm still breathing. Now if only I could limit myself to one login per diem.
I have disabled the chat feature.
Texting. I have no time for it. I don't have a fancy phone with an easy to navigate keyboard to send you quick replies, and I don't really want one either. In the time it takes me to PAINFULLY execute a response, I could have had a conversation with you. Besides, I see people getting pissy about other people's texts all the time. It's usually a perception issue due to the fact that you can almost never read someones intonation. This can be easily remedied by actually SPEAKING to someone. Providing they answer their phone.
Someone informed me the other day that when you're in a chatroom, if YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS, THAT MEANS YOU'RE YELLING! Wow. I had no idea there was such a thing as chatroom etiquette. And why should it surprise me that at grade schools across the country they've stopped teaching children cursive writing? People don't send thank you notes anymore, so why should they ever learn? However I guarantee you that every 12 year old in America knows how to LOL with their BFF. I mean OMG, GTFO! Are we really living in the greatest age of communications advancement , or are we careening toward a huge breakdown in how we interact as a society, a people?
Really, that's the point in this little rant. With all of the technological advances in interpersonal communication, we're certainly communicating more, but is it better? I know for myself personally, that would be a big no, and maybe that's been a subconscious choice. Because I honestly can't think of a thing much more dreadful than being tethered to an electronic device. I say this of course as I compose at my computer.
Throughout human history we have longed for better, faster communication. We invented the written word, and just kept going. Messages in a bottle, carrier pigeons, telegrams, morse code, the telephone. I think we would be wise to remember that the reason we once strove for better communication, was to get a message to someone that was perhaps more meaningful. 30 years ago when long distance cost 50 cents a minute, if you called someone out of town, it was because you had something to say!
I owed about 6 people phone calls when I got home tonight. I made 2, then decided to sit down and write. To be quiet, with just myself. To take time to work on a solitary project. I'll get back to everyone eventually, one at a time, when I have time to actually have a conversation with them. Because when I do talk to you, what I want to know is how you really are. TTFN.
April 12, 2010
READY FOR THEIR CLOSE-UPS!
My dear friends and interior designers Ken Ludwig and Marijo Gordon recently got the chance to host a great segment on LXTV Openhouse... How did Ken make it to television before me? HA!
Michael is so very proud of both of you!
ALL THAT SIZZLES
THE WAIT IS OVER, IT'S FINALLY HERE!
Check out the newly relaunched magazine style format... and all that sizzles!
- THE NEW SERIES, "COOKING FOR THE SINGLE MAN"
- FABULOUS COOKING VIDEOS FEATURING STACEY
- THE RETURN OF "CULINARY INSPIRATION of THE MONTH"
- A MONTHLY COLUMN PENNED BY MOIS, CALLED POTLUCK
POTLUCK
I was so excited when Stacey asked me if I would contribute a monthly column to Stacey's Hot Dish!
Joe coined it POTLUCK, and you can read my first piece on Molasses Ice Cream ( and my inevitable foray into ice cream sandwiches...they're hard!) now, by visiting the all new STACEY'S HOT DISH!
STRUT
2 of The Killer Bees will be strutting their stuff on this up-coming Gallery Night/Day in Milwaukee!
Cherrie Hanson will be presenting a new series in her extraordinary, award winning bubble photography, called SPHERES OF LIGHT. Where? Moda Salon 151 North Water Street Friday 5-9 & Saturday Noon to 4.
I will be showing my paintings at The Hotel Metro, in the ballroom.
411 East Mason / FRIDAY NIGHT ONLY!
April 11, 2010
THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA
DIXIE CARTER 1939-2010
20 years ago when I lived in Los Angeles, I worked for Tower Records. Let me rephrase that. I worked at thee Tower Records. Located at the intersection of Sunset and Holloway in West Hollywood. A block from Beverly Hills and across the street from Spagos. You get the picture. My constant bliss-out from being surrounded by so much great music was star-kissed daily, by the sheer convenience of geographic location.
I swear this place was the size of a football field, but man I knew that joint like the back of my hand. I worked customer service right smack in the middle- it was my JOB to know it! Over the 2 years I worked there I met and or waited on just about everyone. David Bowie, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, Grace Slick, Steven Spielberg, Bette Midler, Michael Jackson, and George Michael. Whoopi Goldberg used to have me paged to help her personally. It was a super cool gig that netted me about $40 a day, if I could refrain from using my 15% employee discount.
One day Dixie Carter's assistant came in armed with a stack of promotional materials. Dixie had just released an album called "Dixie Carter sings John Wallowitch Live at The Carlyle", and her gal was looking for someone to go around and distribute the materials which were promoting both the album, and an upcoming cabaret show in L.A. Naturally she gravitated toward the little gay boy with orange hair and top-stitched clogs. Just as naturally I agreed to help her out. I approached the assignment with fervor and made sure that the "half-sheets" for the live performance made it onto the walls of every boy's bar in West Hollywood.
I mean it was 1990. Who wasn't watching Designing Women?
I was too broke to go to her show at The Roosevelt, but I got my reward. About a month afterward I received a thank you card at the store. It was from Dixie herself, personally thanking me for helping her sell out the show. I was charmed by her thoughtfulness for sure, though I seriously doubt that I had anything to do with her selling out. I mean it was 1990. Wasn't everyone watching Designing Women?
By the way. That album is AMAZING, if you can find a copy. Thanks Dixie. For turning me on to John Wallowitch. For bringing music to our ears, and smiles to our faces.
April 8, 2010
April 2, 2010
IF YOU DON'T PLAY, YOU CAN'T WIN
Whenever she pulled her Chevy Nova into the parking lot of of the 7-11 on Blosser Road to pick up a lottery ticket, my Mother would say "If you don't play, you can't win." Of course we all know what the chances of actually winning the lottery are, but she had a point.
I won't pretend to be the first person to use this old saying as a metaphor for life, but I would like to examine it a little closer for just a minute...
First, you have to decide what kind of player you are, and what the objective of the game is.
Pragmatics: The pragmatic person often seeks higher education, and follows the rule book their handed to a T. They tend to excel at the game because they play by the rules. Unfortunately, whether they believe they've won it or not ,is often colored by the level of "success" or perceived success they achieve along the way. Like trading in your 4 houses for a hotel in Monopoly. Less aggressive pragmatics will sit back and let the game run its course if they don't believe they have "the stuff" it takes to win, or do what it is they really want to do.
Dreamers: Pragmatics may grease the wheels that make the world spin round, however it's the dreamers who set them in motion. Dreamers eschew the rule book their handed, and write their own. They catalyst change and invention. But there are 2 kinds of dreamers as well. The dreamer who is content to play architect, but not do the work necessary to build the dream, will be continuously disappointed in life because dreaming alone does not make a life lived. Unwilling to make sacrifice, they are likely to end up just as bitter as the person who got the good grades and went to the right schools... only to find out later the rule book never mentioned that her husband could leave her for his secretary, or that his daughter might end up a pothead!
Pragmatic or Dreamer, you have to have to play the game in order to win. In other words you gotta do the work, and have faith in the outcome- WHATEVER it is. More importantly, you must be willing to accept [and be okay with] the fact that things don't always go the way we want. In playing any game you have to realize that you're not going to win every hand you're dealt. Sometimes you even need to skip a turn, or sit-out a round to replenish your stamina.
Or lick your wounds. It's cool.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm the Dreamer type. But I also PLAY. Over the years I've had more creative endeavors than Meryl Streep's had Oscar nominations. Do they always work out? No. Would I like to be financially secure and have dental insurance as I careen towards 40? Yes, just ask my tooth that needs a root canal. But I'm an artist, and I'm writing my own rule book as I go along. To the pragmatic, there could be no riskier or irresponsible behavior. To the player intent on carving his or her own path, there is no other option.
Mom never did win the lottery, but she did spark a fire inside her son that refuses to be extinguished. I'm writing my own rule book AND I'm playing the game. Will I win? Well the beauty of writing your own rules means that when the game is over, you will be the only one who can define whether or not you've won.
What's my objective? It's very simple. TO PLAY, always to play.
For the love of life, the game itself.
I won't pretend to be the first person to use this old saying as a metaphor for life, but I would like to examine it a little closer for just a minute...
First, you have to decide what kind of player you are, and what the objective of the game is.
Pragmatics: The pragmatic person often seeks higher education, and follows the rule book their handed to a T. They tend to excel at the game because they play by the rules. Unfortunately, whether they believe they've won it or not ,is often colored by the level of "success" or perceived success they achieve along the way. Like trading in your 4 houses for a hotel in Monopoly. Less aggressive pragmatics will sit back and let the game run its course if they don't believe they have "the stuff" it takes to win, or do what it is they really want to do.
Dreamers: Pragmatics may grease the wheels that make the world spin round, however it's the dreamers who set them in motion. Dreamers eschew the rule book their handed, and write their own. They catalyst change and invention. But there are 2 kinds of dreamers as well. The dreamer who is content to play architect, but not do the work necessary to build the dream, will be continuously disappointed in life because dreaming alone does not make a life lived. Unwilling to make sacrifice, they are likely to end up just as bitter as the person who got the good grades and went to the right schools... only to find out later the rule book never mentioned that her husband could leave her for his secretary, or that his daughter might end up a pothead!
Pragmatic or Dreamer, you have to have to play the game in order to win. In other words you gotta do the work, and have faith in the outcome- WHATEVER it is. More importantly, you must be willing to accept [and be okay with] the fact that things don't always go the way we want. In playing any game you have to realize that you're not going to win every hand you're dealt. Sometimes you even need to skip a turn, or sit-out a round to replenish your stamina.
Or lick your wounds. It's cool.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm the Dreamer type. But I also PLAY. Over the years I've had more creative endeavors than Meryl Streep's had Oscar nominations. Do they always work out? No. Would I like to be financially secure and have dental insurance as I careen towards 40? Yes, just ask my tooth that needs a root canal. But I'm an artist, and I'm writing my own rule book as I go along. To the pragmatic, there could be no riskier or irresponsible behavior. To the player intent on carving his or her own path, there is no other option.
Mom never did win the lottery, but she did spark a fire inside her son that refuses to be extinguished. I'm writing my own rule book AND I'm playing the game. Will I win? Well the beauty of writing your own rules means that when the game is over, you will be the only one who can define whether or not you've won.
What's my objective? It's very simple. TO PLAY, always to play.
For the love of life, the game itself.
April 1, 2010
OBJETS d' EGGS
OBJETS d' EGGS
EGG WASH
EGG FUND
EGG NEST
EGG REST
EGG & DART
EGG SHELL 
EGG WHITESEggs. They're not just for breakfast anymore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Buzz Out!
