Left Coast
So, California …
The terrific Erin and Roger playing host. I found out I have very good taste in friends — in case there was ever a doubt. What a diverse five days it was. Manhattan Beach, Redondo, Hermosa.
Then, after a spectacular drive, Santa Barbara. Shopping, a delightful rose garden, delicious dinner at The Hungry Cat (Oh my God, the shrimp cocktail!). Then, as if that wasn’t enough beauty, Laguna Beach. Not even the fog could mar the strolling, the galleries, Las Brisas (guacamole, chocolate strawberries — need I say more?). Well, it was a bit of a bummer to miss this view.
The journey continued with the J. Paul Getty Museum — check out this wonderful piece of art: A Young Girl Defending Herself against Eros – and its lustrous gardens. Overheard from a woman talking to a guy next to me, “You know what I think of Renoir. His work should be on the side of a box of cheap chocolates. Or in a heap and burned.” Seriously?
And then, for some contrast, the West Hollywood Book Festival. Within a span of 10 minutes I bought a book called Barbie Loves L.A. (She’s in Pucci at Pink’s!) and a hot pink t-shirt from the Ms. Foundation that says, “This is What a Feminist Looks Like.” Also stopped by the booth of the Bodhi Tree bookstore.
And I topped things off with an In-N-Out Burger, animal style. Look it up if you’re wondering just how wild I am.
Over and out.
Fresh start?
Home sweet home. Back in Hoboken after a great getaway to California.
Didn’t get a chance to talk about my Game Plan column last Friday. Career consultant Maggie Mistal, who has a show on Martha Stewart Living Radio, explained how she handled her layoff from Arthur Andersen in 2002 in Making Lemonade Out of a Layoff.
More on the West Coast trip when I unwind tomorrow …
Trippin’
Off to California …
That’s all.
The art of professional chemistry
In today’s Game Plan column, I feature the coming together of author Tim Wendel and publisher Shana Yarborough of Writer’s Lair Books. Wendel’s latest novel, Red Rain, was released this week through Yarborough’s up-and-coming indie press and it made for a good vibrational match. Don’t you love when those marginal relationships in your life just feel right?
Check out The Importance of Incidental Relationships and then see if chapter one of Wendel’s book about a female Japanese-American spy and fire balloons in World War II lures you in.
Getaway
In that zone of producing lots of work so I can go away with peace of mind. Happily writing my butt off. Making sure my clients are taken care of, emails answered, columns filed.
Take me away …
Reader’s choice
One of the best things about embarking on a getaway is deciding what reading material will accompany me. For my impending trip to Southern California, I’m starting with my own bookshelves, looking for something I’ve not read or would like to reread.
A friend suggested Atlas Shrugged because Angelie Jolie is in the forthcoming movie. With all due respect to the talented Ms. Jolie, I am more intrigued by the possibility of rereading my worn paperback edition because the back cover says this:
The astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world — and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is unlike any other book you have ever read. It is a mystery story, not about the murder of a man’s body, but about the murder — and rebirth — of man’s spirit.
Oh yeah, I’ll be reading this from a whole different place than I did the dozen or so years ago when I first read it. Looks like a winner.
A favorite cinematic moment
From Under The Tuscan Sun:
Marcello and Francesca (Diane Lane) are kissing passionately when Marcello stops.
Marcello: Francesca
Francesca (dazed): Yes?
Marcello: I am going to make love all over you.
Francesca: OK …
Putting it out there
I gave a pollster 20 minutes of my time this evening. Most of it was about presidential election politics and some about the American Red Cross. But then, this:
Pollster: If you could receive anything this Christmas, what would it be?
Me: Does it have to be material?
Pollster: Whatever you want to answer.
Me: Romance.
Pollster: Is that what you want to put?
Me: Yes. As a matter of fact, it is.
To spend or not to spend
As a life coach, I wonder what’s beneath the spending when my clients express concern about debt. Getting to that is the key to really solving it.
In today’s Game Plan column, I ask, Are You Living Within Your Means? After all, the current economic crisis has been made considerably worse by that fact that most Americans are not. True freedom means being able to say yes to that question.
Message from a reader
Had a bit of lively feedback to yesterday’s Game Plan column regarding Our Call to Service in Times of Need. In one email, the gentleman said the piece brought to mind the Bible passage Jeremiah 29:11 and he suggested I check it out. Here it is:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
