Wonderful Film

I saw Slum Dog Millionaire at Bellevue's Lincoln Square this evening and really loved it.  It's getting a lot of Oscar buzz right now, but not too much publicity otherwise.

It's the tale of 2 brothers from the slums of Mumbai, who scratch and claw to stay alive as little boys, and how their destinies are cemented by an early experience.  The show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" plays a significant part in the film too.

And what I take from it, without giving anything away, is that all the pain, suffering and stuff you go through will one day come back to help you find your way to truth.  

It was great!  Go see it!

Rick-Rolled at the Macy's Parade!

A true highlight. Thank you, Macy's parade producers for being YouTube savvy enough to give us the gag!

And thank YOU, Rick Astly, for playing along!

Thanksgiving Traditions

I'm just a sentimental old fool when it comes to holidays.  Especially Thanksgiving.

I am weepy the week before, and on Thanksgiving Day, my mind wanders to Thanksgivings past.

I've never been to New York City for Thanksgiving, but every year, including this year, I enjoy watching the big Macy's Parade on TV.  I love the balloons, the bands, the special floats, the especially cheezy scripts Today Show anchors have to read to introduce the floats, and the introductions to the performances by Broadway shows, pop stars and has-beens.

An anticipated delight this year, an appearance by Rick Astley!!!  Will we all be Rick-Rolled in the middle of Herald Square?  Does some parade producer have a real updated sense of humor?  I can't wait!!!

The Rockettes just kick-lined their way onto the screen, and I found myself yelling at the control-room director for staying with the shot of legs that was breaking up digitally.  It was so clear to me the camera was bad.  A wide shot would have covered the mistake and saved the day!

.....I used to love  line-producing live TV.  Anyway, I'm working in a few hours, and am thankful for the nice dinner they will bring in for us.

I miss miss MISS big Thanksgiving Day dinners with a big, non-dysfunctional family.

Maybe some other year. For now, I am thankful for friends, co-workers, employment, my cute little house, my pooches, my health, and of course, my sisters and Mother.

Open Sesame!

Well, I'm taking the plunge and buying a brand-new belt-drive garage door opener.  It's being installed at this very moment by a very nice man named Tito.

When my 20-year-old opener broke a couple of weeks ago, I learned there are several different replacement operations.   The chain-drive, which is what I have, sounds like a freight train going by.  No big deal if the garage is separate from the house.  But when your bedroom is directly over the garage, it can be very disconcerting in the middle of the night.  

Another popular type of opener is called a screw-drive, which is a bit quieter, and more efficent.  But if it breaks, it's more expensive to replace.

The higher end is known as a belt-drive.  Belts are much much quieter, therefore cost about $50 more per unit.  Installation, I'm hoping, is pretty much the same all the way around.

The things you learn when you own a home.  The first guy who came out, quoted me $750 to install a new opener.  That didn't sound right.  I priced them on Home Depot and Sears' websites, and found the openers themselves cost about $200-$250.   

Another company I found through "The Homeowners Club" (which I HIGHLY recommend) quoted $350 plus tax, which includes installation.  MUCH easier to live with.

So, with any luck, I'll be sailing into my garage without getting out to walk around the house, through the mine-field of dog poo, get into the house and open the door to let my car inside anymore.  I am looking forward to effortlessly pressing a button, having the door rise, and driving inside, with a smile on my face!!!

The Year of Technology

A friend of mine used to say "Lisa, even if it feels like NOTHING is happening, SOMETHING is happening. "

And as I begin to reflect on 2008, I find that to be true.

This has been an incredibly eventful year for myself and for my sisters.  The most profound event, of course, was my twin sister's diagnosis of a failing aortic valve and its' subsequent replacement and her recovery.  This brought up all kinds of emotions, fears, thoughts about the past and of course, the future.  We are all so blessed that the surgery, though extraordinarily complicated, was successful and that my sister is doing so very well.  

My personal journey in 2008 has also been the most-documented year of my life.  This year alone, I purchased an iPod Nano, a Flip video camera, a Cannon still/video camera, actual speakers for my laptop, and have investigated several options for recording and e-mail audio files of my voice. 

Now, I realize that for many of you, these small purchases are nothing.  But for me, they are HUGE. 

I am not an "early adopter".  I want to wait until they're FINISHED refining a device before I commit.  But the nature of technology today is that obsolescence is the rule, rather than the exception.   So, with the encouragement of my friends Eric, Colleen, Travis, Kristin and Daniel, I took the plunge.   

Heck, I took several plunges. 

The outcome is what you are reading today.  I now blog.  I include video I have taken myself on one of my wizzy new devices.  I have my own channel on YouTube.  I take chances and snap photos of interesting moments because since my camera is digital, I no longer worry about wasting film.  I also have a Facebook account.  Heck, I have 2 of them, having even opened one for my dog Dudley--who leads a much more interesting life than I do.

One old-fashioned idea I cling to;  Reading an actual newspaper made out of paper.  The reasons for this are many, and are maybe worth their own blog posting at some point.  But I must admit to being a modern Luddite.    (If I knew more about the Blogger site, I would post a link to the Wikepedia entry explaining Luddite--but the short definition is that it was a group of people that routinely destroyed automatic loom machinery in the 1880's because they disapproved of the technology taking jobs from the people.)---THANKS COLLEEN!!!!  I just learned to link because of YOU!---  There's something very personal about the ritual of the paper, a cup of fresh, hot, coffee and time in the morning to reflect.  

So, no matter what else the remaining 5 weeks or so brings in 2008, there will be documentation.  

As a working journalist, it's strange that I have spent so much of my life documenting the activities of others, but not my own.

And what amazes me more than anything is that there are people that are actually willing to be distracted, if for a moment, to read or watch these tiny portions of my relatively solitary and dull life.

Thank you.  

Salsa Steps

I'm taking a Level 2 Salsa Class with the Northwest Dance Network.  Some of the combinations are easy, and others are more difficult.

The video shows 2 combinations.  The first is a very easy one with a pass behind the back as well as a kind of "jump rope" outside turn, which is a little difficult to communicate for the lead, because it is different from the standard outside turn.  It's also kind of tricky for the follow to accept, because it feels, for an instant, as if your arm is being yanked from the socket.

The second combination actually came in an earlier class and I'm having a really tough time learning it. The hard part for me is the drape move, followed by the inside turn within the confines of the closed position followed by walking into his extended arm, which almost cuts you in the throat, to be led into a turn that is cued by a shoulder pull.

If I can figure this out, I will be Salsa Queen!!!

The excellent teachers, by the way, are Jodi Fleischman and Jim D'apiece.  I've had many classes with these two, and they do an excellent job.   It was nice of them to share these moves on video.

Wear the Fox Hat

Sunday Ritual

Rituals, I think, are important on Sunday Mornings.

And even though church is usually a part of those rituals, it is not as consistent as Will Shortz Sunday Puzzle on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday.

When I lived in Cleveland and first listened to the local NPR stations, WCPN and WKSU, (because commercial radio was abysmal) I became a fan of the puzzle.

I enjoyed calling my sister Anne in Seattle, and since her NPR station was airing the identical program 3 hours earlier, we would do the puzzle together.

It's a simple mind-teaser that I look forward to all week long.  And there's something strangely satisfying about getting Shortz' word pairs or common phrases right.  I take a strange pleasure from scooping host Lianne Hanson on the correct answer, when the contestant is stumped.

But rarely do I get the challenge to qualify the contestant for next week's show.  

I think I got the challenge this time!  Here it is.  See if you get it:

"Name a famous singer from the past, male or female, whose first name has six letters and last name has seven letters.  Rearrange the letters of the last name, and add a letter from the first name to get a place the singer famously performed".  

I think it's Maria Callas at La Scala.  

But sometimes there's more than one correct answer.  We'll have to wait until next week to see if I got it right.

I don't know why "playing puzzle" brings me such delight. But it does.  Perhaps it's a little challenge as I sip my coffee and the dogs beg for bites of my breakfast.  Maybe it's a ritual that links me to something thousands of others are doing.  Or maybe it's something to help me forget I am, once again, waking up alone with only begging dogs as my companions.

Let's have another cup of coffee, shall we?

Colorful Rain

The maturity of the brushstrokes.   The vibrant colors that take you to the center, where the sun is shining.  The way you can see flowers growing through this colorful rain.

This is stunning and inspiring.  It gets me in the gut and makes me sigh.

The artist?  It's Marla Olmstead and she painted it when she was four years old.

Four years old.  Did she have help?  That is the controversy.  

"60 Minutes" brought in a psychologist who called the child a normal kid, not a "prodigy" who was probably coached by her father.

A documentary, "My Kid Could Paint That" explored Marla's journey from her discovery by the art world and the swirl surrounding her after the response to the "60 Minutes" piece.  And the filmmaker also began to have doubts after watching her paint a work from beginning to end.

But I choose to believe this work is indeed done by the little girl.  A quote from her mother sums it up to me.  

"When you measure something, you change it".  

Sailors Take Warning

This was the stunning sunrise that greeted me on Thursday morning.  

I never would have noticed it had I not installed the new bedroom blinds that lower from the top-down.  The sky was spectacular!!!   It took my breath away, and I thought...."I have my digital camera, why not try to capture this".  

This is a major deal for me, because I've always been terrified of wasting film.

You can see the Cascades in the lower part of the photo, which was taken from the corner of the 2nd story deck of my house.

And, appropriately enough it brings to mind that old saying "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.  Red sky at night, sailors delight"!

True to form, the red sky led to a morning and afternoon of heavy, cold rainfall.

Strange Times

REALLY basic cable

Maybe it's because winter is setting in, and maybe because I am hungry for stimulation.

But I am getting the urge to expand my cable television package.

DANGER!  DANGER!  DANGER!

Please stop me from this longing.

Cable TV can suck the lifeblood out of me, leave me unconscious on the couch for days on end.  It is the unraveling of civilization.

Find me another stimulating activity with which I can waste my time.

Sure, I have cable TV now.  It's not just "Basic" cable.  It's "Incredibly Basic".  My premium channels are these:  "The Weather Channel", "CBC-Vancouver", "Northwest Cable News","The Discovery Channel"  about 4 shopping channels and, "The Hallmark Channel".  

I think the Cable company does this to torture people.  Do you know what is on "The Hallmark Channel"?  Why would you, unless you had no other channels to watch?  It's re-runs of "Walker, Texas Ranger", "Murder She Wrote", and "Matlock".  That's about it.  Over and over and over.

Oh, to bathe in the luxury of plain-old "Basic" cable.  Imagine.  My nights would be filled with "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report".  I would understand the world better with CNN and CNBC.  

And on weekends!  Oh, the fun I would have learning new cooking techniques on "The Food Network".  I would travel to Tahiti on "The Travel Channel"and learn about great people on "The Biography Channel".  

But this pleasure would set me back another hundred bucks a month.  $1200 a year, for the luxury of spending more time on my butt on the couch.  

Not worth it.  Please forgive my momentary lapse into material longing land.  

I know!  Maybe I'll upgrade my 2-movies-at-a-time Netflix package to THREE!!!!

This film looks SCARIER!!!!

Turns out there's a whole genre of this on YouTube. I'm having a blast watching my favorite films re-cut as horror trailers.

Screw Twilight. THIS is the Horror Film to See!

For you, Travis...and the rest of the gang. Enjoy! :)

Illicit Acts

I caught them. Red-pawed. Never again will I be fooled by their staged fights and mock arguments! They love each other. I KNEW it!!

Found Poetry

I was walking Dudley down Greenwood toward the Mud Bay Granery pet store Saturday, and there, on the tiny parking strip was a pretty little basket with a sign reading "Free Poetry".  I picked up one of the neatly-rolled scrolls and went on my way.

Today, I found it in my coat pocket and unrolled it.  Here is what it read:

Coming Up Into the Light

by Julie Williams

You can only hunker down so long & then the wind dies

or rushes on to some other place to do its damage

& all that time you've been huddled there 

together

holding your breath, hoping against

wildest hope that aboveground

nothing  you love has been

blown away

hoping with a deep longing

the wind has cleared

the air &

the new

light

shining

is 

there

to 

stay

I thought it was just beautiful.  Sharing poetry is usually Eric's realm, but this one just came to me, on a chance, and it was too pretty not to share.

Churchin' at the Temple of Jason Mraz

It was a religious experience at the Jason Mraz concert at the Paramount Theater last night.  Literally.

When the gospel choir joined him on stage, and started singing "Oh Happy Day", I stood and put my hands in the air, palms facing upward, and let that spirit rain in.  Wow.  Good thing too, since I just couldn't make it to church yesterday morning.  So, it became prayer at the Church of Mraz.  

Amen!  What a great show.  That man is a true performer and a very old soul.  He channeled some of the greats.  Mel Torme, Elvis, Sammy Davis Jr, Al Jolsen, Tony Bennett, and even Jack Jones.  He would growl at one moment, scat at the next. throw in a little dance move, and his voice would soar above his version of the "Tower of Power" horn section.

I picked a good one to love.

Jason Mraz has a message too.  Love, laugh, enjoy, and above all else, don't worry.  He even started his show with a remark right out of "The Secret".  He asked us to visualize our love, hope or dream right in front of us, and embrace it.  That's classic visualization and the basis of new-thought religions worldwide.

You get the sense the guy doesn't take anything too seriously.   Even the music.  He loves improvisation and taking his hits like "TheRemedy" in new directions.  He scatted with his fine sax player, asking the audience to scat in a call-and-response segment that reminded me of Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher" routine.  

Almost all the songs were his own, but he made some exceptions, such as "Build Me Up Buttercup".  Fun chances were taken for no other reason than as an excuse to have a great time.

This guy was one with the vibe of the greats.  He'll be around for a long time, and I feel so lucky to be in step with the vibe, and glow in the music.

Taking Stock of the Rain

I'm sitting at my dining room table, listening to the rain pound against the skylights, and I am suddenly possessed with a need to make STOCK!  

It will take several hours, and there's nothing better on a day like today than a hot bowl of fresh veggie soup with homemade stock.  It smells like warmth and tastes like a comforting hug.  

If I venture out later, I'll buy some crusty bread and fresh butter to serve alongside.  

Maybe some different veggies in the soup today.  Let's see.  Fennel would be nice, and lima beans , carrots, and a can of diced tomatoes.  Oh, and fresh rosemary from the neighbor's plant is a good idea. 

And this time, what about egg noodles, cooked separately, and added at the last minute, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top?

OK, better get to work!

Dance Classes

This blog is actually called "Dancing Through Life",  so it's about time I post something new about dancing!

I had my first Waltz-3 class tonight, and it was so much fun to be with advanced-level waltzers who know what they're doing!

For some reason (perhaps my German heritage?) I immediately took to this dance when I first learned it in high school.  I even took it upon myself to teach the cast of a musical senior year how to waltz for a particular scene.  After that, I promptly forgot, and didn't waltz again until my mid 30's.  And then, it wasn't so good.

But when I returned to Seattle in 2002 I started taking lots of dance classes.  It let me hold men without getting too close, you know?  

I also learned a lot about waltzing, swing dancing, salsa, blues one-step, rhumba, cha cha, and a few other assorted dance steps.  

These aren't competition-style dance steps.  But I know enough to get by in a social situation, which was my goal.

Back to the waltz.  I took to it like a duck to water.  I've done several day and weekend-long waltz seminars, focusing on different aspects of the dance.  And when the music sweeps me away, and my partner knows what he is doing, the magic is like no other I have experienced.  I am transported to Vienna in the 1700's.  

Did YOU?

I just came back from the polls.  It was pretty crowded, but I didn't have to wait in line.

And, since I haven't been to the polls in years, things were pretty different.  I had the option of voting on a paper ballot (fill-in the circles, like on an absentee ballot) or a voting machine.

I picked the paper ballot.  The poll workers were pretty young.  In fact, the girls who told me where my precinct was were probably younger than 16.  

In fact, there were many enthusiastic people there to help, and it was a lot of fun.  And, I got my sticker!  Now I'm going to go to Ben & Jerry's for free ice cream and Starbucks for a free cup of coffee.

It was a lot more fun than absentee ballots.  I'll miss it when the polls are closed for good.  It's the ritual, the community and, of course, the free stickers!

Hope you voted too!

What Every Cook Needs...

Seriously, what IS this?  

I was killing time in The Mrs. Cooks store in University Village, looking at fun  cooking toys and this just about leapt off the shelf at me.  Had to share it with you.

Don't eat too much Spatzel or you'll get a "Spatzel-Ass"!!

Aw Shucks!!!

Tonight was the Oyster New Year event at Elliott's Oyster House on the Seattle Waterfront, and once again I was honored to be asked to be one of the judges in the "Most Beautiful Oyster" contest.

And therein lies the joke. Most Beautiful Oyster???

But it was a lot of fun. Public Relations Goddess Katie Wilkinson ran the whole shebang, and made sure we silly media types knew what we were doing.


Fortunately, we didn't have to do any oyster shucking. That was left to the pros, who made it all look so EASY!!


Part of the admission price went to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund, which is helping to bring back oyster habitat. They do great work.

There were dozens of seafood companies with all the raw oysters you could eat, plus Elliott's had a great spread of cooked seafood and veggie options.

And the dessert table looked lovely, although I was so full I didn't even try them!

Also there were many Washington wineries and a few breweries with samples to go along with the seafood. I stuck very close to the nice men handing out the Pear Cider.

Very fun event!!!

Halloween Dancing

For the last time ever, there was dancing at the Mountaineers Club on Lower Queen Anne in Seattle last night.  

The Mountaineers have sold the building and the whole place is going to be torn down to make room for.....CONDOS!  What a novel idea!

Anyway, it was a huge blow-out, with hundreds of costumed dancers, crazy DJ Ron Bolin, and prizes.  I waited in line about 30 minutes, just to get a ticket to get inside.

And then I sat.....and walked around the dance floor, and sat again, and smiled, and made small talk, and sat.  The only dances I had were during a "mixer" when the women line up on one side of the room and the men line up on the other.  you walk up, meet in the middle, and that is who you dance with.  So everybody dances.

Junior High School returned.  I blame myself.....I was all in black, pants, long sleeves, with a shot glass worn around my neck.  My costume?....."a shot in the dark"....   OK, it was a theme thing at the last minute.  

And work was stressful, so I probably brought that into the ballroom with me, although I tried not to.

I will not take it personally.  I will not take it personally.  I am a good dancer and a fun partner....really.  I will not take it personally.