New family member

OK, time to woman up.

This blog is definitely breaking news to just about everyone who knows me so if that includes you, take a deep breath.

First I need to let you know that: 1) I'm not losing my mind, nor am I 2) becoming one of those women who ages ungracefully, filling their homes with all sorts of cats and dogs who happen to wander through the door.

Take a look at this little 6-pound, 7-month old guy and tell me you could resist! Look at those eyes. Even in photos, his eyes look into your soul. In person, it's eery but exciting.

Temperamentally he is an angel. In fact, that's his name. Angel.

His right hind leg was operated on and looks a little crippled now, but it will be completely healed and normal in about 3 months.

And it's not my fault I had to have him. At all.


My "friend" Julie Clemen, who runs the modest but champion-filled Rise N Shine Poms in Washington state let me know she was looking for a great home for him. Just take a peek.

Just take a peek, right. Sigh. He's now the newest member of the family.

I have to tell you I'm not a fan of people who let unneutered or unspayed animals procreate without a plan to place or care for them.

Or irresponsible breeders of any dog or cat; too many don't care enough about the puppies or kittens they create and too often their "purebred" dogs or cats have serious health and psychological problems.

Puppy mills and backyard breeders who only breed to sell dogs - forcing females to have litter after litter until they die - should be shut down.

On the other hand, Julie is exceedingly conscientious about the care of each dog and pays plenty to keep them healthy, happy and housebroken and to find excellent homes for her pet Poms.

To support her "habit," the love of Pomeranians, she and her family built a boarding kennel for small dogs so if anyone needs to leave their small breed pup (20 pounds or less), they can be roomed, fed, medicated, exercised, petted and spoiled- er, I mean cared for at The Little Paws Boarding kennel!

















My pups have stayed at places supposedly for small breeds and IMO there has been too little protection or supervision, so Little Paws comes at the right time and for the right price.

One of the Little Paws exercise pens---->

Julie, while not a veterinarian herself, certainly knows about medically caring for dogs with any condition or problem and works closely with a veterinarian she considers "superb."

I'm totally against irresponsible backyard breeders and I think people who operate them and puppy mills should be charged with felony animal abuse, receiving very long sentences when convicted. One of my actors got a "purebreed" bulldog puppy from a backyard breeder recently who was sold as a healthy pet, but in fact suffers from serious health problems. The "breeder" won't take any responsibility for the dog's diagnosed congenital condition(s) or even answer my actor's phone calls.

A woman in the Seattle area was recently arrested after running a backyard breeding operation that produced unhealthy "purebred dogs," sold them for a lot of money and took no responsibility for their conditions or care.

If you have had this experience, please report it to your local sheriff, animal control officer or police. If you paid more than $500, it's felony territory! You won't have to relinquish your puppy if you want to keep him or her, but you can help build a case against irresponsible "breeders" who need to be put out of business.

Likewise sick people who steal dogs for ransom or to sell for drug money or whatever need to know that it is a felony offense if the dog is worth more than $500 and most actual pure breeds are these days.

And believe me, responsible breeders who love the dogs they raise want these animal abusers out of business because they actually care about the animals and feel these bad breeders are a poor reflection on all breeders.

When looking for a pure breed and you're new to choosing? Speak with several breeders and the great ones will become apparent immediately.

Julie also works with Pom rescuers, so Poms who need rescuing and new homes for whatever reasons (often people have died and not left proper instructions for the care of their canine companion left behind) can be helped. You can look under "rescue" and fill in the breed you may want to find pups that need rescuing in your search engine.

Note: people who work in rescue operations finding new homes for pups are generally extremely careful about placing rescued pups to make sure their new home will be healthy, happy and permanent.

I don't consider Pomeranians or any small breeds "lap dogs." They are dogs who need to be trained just like any Doberman, Pit bull or breed of any size or temperament to be good citizens, appropriately social and well-behaved.

Too many people who adopt social breeds like Labradors or lab mixes somehow think they will become automatically trained, but unless they have lots of care - as much as a young child - and socialization? They can get out of control and ignorantly destructive as they grow larger.

I know because I was a volunteer for two years at the Seattle Animal Shelter and worked with probably hundreds of them. By that I mean I took a few minutes to train them and they were *wonderful.* I made it clear to potential owners what it would take - time and training - to keep them sweet and well-behaved so they could have a great experience with the dog.

So many people have told me how much they want a Pomeranian after meeting mine. Well, let me tell you, these dogs are not born this way (although I think Julie has a special gene in her pups with which they can instinctively wrap us around their little paws ... ;-). They need time, attention, training and lots of patience and love.

My Allie Cat?

Same thing. So many people have commented on what a wonderful kitten she was and cat she has grown to be. Once again, what makes her that way? Time, patience, training, affection.

She's a fabulous little cat with her own personality, but needed direction and redirection and praise and affection to make her "happen" as she grew into a full grown cat.

Since we have taken dogs and cats, who used to be wild, self-sufficient animals, out of their natural habitat and domesticated them, I believe we have a responsibility to protect and care for them.

And, I'm pleased to say that I have become a better person for having these little non-people in my life.

Fair weather flip flopper fan

OK!

The Mariners won all 3 games with the Red Sox, and I got to see the third game in person Wednesday afternoon!

Before they came to Seattle, Boston was the leading team in both National and American leagues. Today it's the Dodgers (National) by 1 game.

















It was great fun watching such wonderful baseball - I think all other sports consider a high score the reflection of a "good, well played" game.

Not baseball.

Wednesday's game was 2-1, Seattle.

Thing is, I appreciate and love teams that play well and consistently. The M's have been up and down - but the Mariners team playing those three winning games was reliable and consistent and extremely professional. Totally impressive.

So whereas before the series I was favoring Boston with my fan hat, now I'm flip flopping and wearing my Mariners cap since they seem to have pulled it together.

To me, this isn't like supporting the Cubs. I mean, I support them no matter what because .. well, because they're the Cubs. Even when I root for the Chicago White Sox, I still support the Cubs because .. well, because they're the Cubs.

The problem I've had with modern baseball teams is that I believe they need to be as loyal to fans as they want us to be to them. Seems to me that today's teams tend to lean more toward impersonal corporate thinking and make too many decisions that favor making money rather than the love of the game and respect for certain players.

Every team must make money to survive. But with ticket prices as excessive as they are (with some exceptions at The Safe) and outrageous food costs, it seems that the least we can ask for is team managements who respect the fan, the players and the bottom line.

I think, overall (and please correct me if I'm wrong) Red Sox management considers the fans their 10th team member, and have a staunch loyalty to them when they make decisions that affect the team.

The Mariners? Not so much. With exceptions, there have been notable disappointments in the handling of great players and player/staff/announcer hiring practices. It feels like that impersonal "corporate team" spirit.

Despite that, I can't dismiss how well they played in this series with Boston - consistently, with impressive teamwork and extra effort every play?

I honestly don't care if any team wins or loses as long as they are giving their greatest effort and playing well.

So here I go - rooting for the Mariners again because they're working together as a team; everyone is contributing and making that extra effort.

I'm going to another game this coming weekend.

Fans could use a couple of tips as well: smoker fans who puff away outside the stadium should realize their smoke does not magically disappear. As I waited for my friends to arrive, standing outside The SAFE, the second hand smoke was so thick as to be nearly intolerable. And there were lots of kids (now that school's out!), pregnant women, and people like me who are not only cancer survivors but allergic to smoke.

And the number of fans who march up and down the aisles is pretty shocking. These games are apparently considered more a social activity for them - an expensive social activity - rather than a sporting event because they didn't seem too focused on what was transpiring on the field.

Some fans were a kick in the pants - so much fun to watch, too. A group of young Japanese women - Ichiro fans - had signs "hearting" him, and got some TV camera time, which thrilled them! Our guy Ichiro came through - he was the "2" in the 2-1 score.

A small slice-size of pizza my friend Jarrod bought was $6.50; a bottle of water, $4.00. I ate before the game to avoid costly and caloric indulgences.

What he didn't know before he reads this blog is that his pizza fell out of the box onto the ground under his seat when he was off getting me a small ice cream snack. The box had been tenuously placed when he left; when we tried to catch it before hitting the floor, our hands weren't fast enough!

Uh-oh.

Another friend, Tom, and I quickly snapped it up and put it back in the box pretty much the way it came.

Fortunately we kept tabs on you, J, and there have been neither germ nor bacteria ramifications. It's too late for psychosomatic symptoms now. And you'll feel good to know we followed the 5 second rule (in this case it was more like 2) and figured there was no need for you to spend all that money on another! :-)

I had a blast ... dancing and singing to the music, making suggestions for plays, pitches and manager decisions, cheering, interacting with other fans, laughing and chatting with J and Tom. I tried to get a photo of Ichiro "waving at me." I figured if I caught him at just the right angle as he leaped with his glove high overhead to catch a fly ball, it would appear that he was waving to me. But, sadly my camera doesn't have a strong enough zoom lens, so you wouldn't have been able to see who it was and it just looked like someone catching a ball.



















OK we had a great social time, too. But we didn't march up and down the aisles all afternoon interrupting other people's view of the game! ;-)

And there never is a dull moment for a baseball fan when a great game is being played!

Thanks, Boston and Seattle for giving us a superb game that was fantastic to experience!

This coming Saturday night's game between Toronto (which has been coming on *strong!*) and Seattle should also be fantastic!

WTF?! How to *legally* NOT hire US workers?

You have to see this Youtube video to believe it.

A US law firm, Pittsburgh-based Cohen & Grisby, instructs US-based multinational corporations how to avoid hiring US employees so they can outsource jobs to foreign nationals.

One person estimated the difference between the pay of a foreign national in India - with a master's degree in engineering - and an American: about $10-20K compared to $150K.

The guidelines include interactions that appear to consider an American worker, when in fact the corporation is actually looking for "legitimate" ways to disqualify that worker.

The resume submission, cover letter, test and even an interview that the potential employee believes is an attempt to find reasons to hire him or her is actually an exercise to find anything that will legally disqualify the individual.

So if you've gone through this hiring maze and believed you've scored high points all along the way, including the interview - and then didn't get the job? They never intended to hire you in the first place. They were just mining everything you put on your resume, your experience and what you said for anything that would be an excuse not to put you on their payroll.

Ouch.

Couple pieces of advice if you want to avoid hiring Americans: advertise in places that "shouldn't" reach qualified workers so the company can "prove" they made an "honest" effort to find US employees.

So if you're looking for a job as a graphics designer? Look for help wanted ads in Lifeguard Magazine. Got it?

There are lots more great suggestions to help your company avoid American workers just like this one!

Aren't they clever?

Aren't they special? And I mean that in the Special Olympics way.

These are the very people who will scream bloody murder when they are replaced with attorneys who will work for food and visas from all sorts of other countries.

By the way - those outsourcing nations, like India, would never permit this sort of transaction. They protect their workers with tough and enforced laws. Just ask Wal-Mart. India won't permit a conglomorate like that to establish itself because it would put family and middle class businesses out of work.

Quaint. Even odd to US lawmakers and multinational corporations. Protecting their citizens like that.

Just like Mexico protects its citizenships. It's not easy to immigrate to Mexico, did you know that? They protect their borders from foreigners entering illegally with strong and enforced laws!

See, they don't want Americans coming down there to take the few jobs they have available away from their own citizens. More, they don't allow Americans to purchase or own land.

If that sounds funny .. it's no joke. It makes a lot of Americans angry that illegal, undocumented workers receive free education, medical and other social services in the US - but IMO the real anger should be directed at the Mexican government - a government that can't create a healthy economy in order to provide for its own people and--

Oh, wait. That's what's going on here, too.

Hmmm. I guess that's a little pot and kettle, isn't it.

OK, let's look at our good "ally" China, who is providing a lot of the money we borrowed to pay for the war with Iraq.

China charges $20,000/US for a worker's visa.

Coming to the US to work if you're a foreign national from any country? Costs only 10% of that - $2,000 to have a company sponsor you to work here.

Which means that the Chinese protect their businesses by making Chinese employers accountable and responsible for extraordinary costs if they want to bring in a foreign national to perform a job there that could be performed by a qualified Chinese worker.

But in the US? The laws and regulations in place to make certain a foreign national can get an American company job fairly (cough-sneeze) is a joke.

Conservative thinking goes this way: a free market will determine the competitive corporate winner, no rules or regulations need apply. Problem is, when you're the only country who practices that sort of discrimination against its own people? Your country is going to lose - it's a short term win, long term loss situation.

So, hmmmm.

I guess when the US economy goes straight to multinational corporate hell in the proverbial handbasket of greed without passing go and then makes us pay $200 to get there?

We won't have anyone to blame but ourselves because these are Americans f*&%ing Americans for the almighty dollar. Or yen. Or peso. Or-- actually, it doesn't matter. Because the deal is - when you're a multinational corporation, you don't exist to serve or protect or have allegiance to anyone, you only exist to make money.

Anyone's money, from anywhere.

While simultaneously creating advertisements and expensive media campaigns to convince you how devoted they are to serving you, your family and what a happy group of employees are there to make that all happen. Employees become sort of Stepford Workers.

It sounds like what vice president Dick Cheney, closely associated with multinational Halliburton (which moved it's headquarters to Dubai to avoid paying US taxes), has been doing to our country all along, according to a brilliant series reported by the Washington Post.

Did you know Halliburton imported workers from Indonesia and other nations to rebuild Iraq (paid for with US dollars) rather than hire Iraqi workers to rebuild their own country? Because the imported workers are cheap labor.

Who in the world can possibly wonder why so many Iraqis now hate the US? Unemployment, along with the virtual assassination of thousands of innocent Iraqi children, women and men create the bedrock of Iraqi furor. And thanks to US hired and paid for without a single bid Halliburton, they can't get jobs in their own country.

Do you understand now why people become so irate when Bush and his administrative henchmen sell the pile 'o crap they have about "helping" the Iraqis?

Give me a break.

Meanwhile, back in the good old red-white-'n-blue US of A:

Apparently there are no laws to protect the remaining US businesses that care about American citizens and bottom line, that protect US workers and a right to get employment in their own country.

And our laws and regulations - or the enforcement of those on the books - or the lack of them - are responsible.

Believe me, if employers were not offering jobs to 12 milion illegal, undocumented workers? They wouldn't be in the US - they would be fighting for jobs in Mexico. At least - that sounds pretty reasonable to me.

So Bush, Cheney and cronies in multinational US-based corporations make it possible for everyone who owns them or stock in them to lie, cheat and manipulate us in order to worship the church of gold.

And practice not the Golden Rule, but the Green Rule: "Hey, it's nothing personal, it's strictly business."

Actually, it's not. It's lying, cheating and manipulating. Good, honorable business people are the salt of the earth because they care about their customers *and* the people who work with them.

And the Oscar goes to ...

I feel as if I've witnessed an artistic miracle - in biblical proportions - with the performance of French actress Marion Cotillard as she assumes the character of the legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf in the film titled La Môme (The Kid) in France and La Vie En Rose in the US.

Visceral, feral, amazing and pure genius don't begin to adequately describe her transformation into the the internationally renowned singer, who would today be proclaimed a "superstar."

The tough streets of Paris was her bassinet; prostitutes, drug addicts, predators and drunks her babysitters and role models.


Anyone she ever loved or who cared for her as a child was cruelly torn from her as she screamed and wept helplessly; her famous singing stance with open hands held out - as if begging for them to either stay if they were being dragged from her, or to come with her as she was being wrenched from their hands - was the story of her life.

Like any youngster whose world is out of control, Piaf ("Sparrow") sought to control everything in her life as she grew up. Addicts and alcoholics are frequently raised in environments experienced by them as out of control and find an immature sense of control by abusing alcohol, drugs, sex, food, gambling and/or people.

She died at the young age of 47, suffering the ravages of alcohol, morphine addiction, cancer and the remnants of her rough life. She looked 87.

La Vie En Rose was her signature song. Literally its translation is "life in pink," but its meaning is seeing life through "rose colored glasses." The song essentially says that though the world may be pretty wretched outside, when I'm with you, it's beautiful.

She was all about love. Seeking it, begging for it, finding it, cherishing it, losing it, needing it, wanting it- it's one of the qualities that made her such an international star. She had no qualms about openly telling the world how much she suffered for it, with it - and without it. We tend to keep those feelings hidden, locked away, ashamed or frightened to admit it.

And it wasn't that she was always lovable. The most memorable line in the film for me comes as she starts reworking a show which was set to perform in a matter of hours; a show already "completely prepared."

The irate producer insists she could not make any major changes that late in the day. Unheard of! He kept screaming, "You can't do this! You simply can't do this!"

To which she blithely responded, "If I can't, then what's the point of being Edith Piaf?"

This is the role of a lifetime - of several lifetimes - for Cotillard. As Hilary Swank's was for Boys Don't Cry. As Monster was for Charlize Theron. As Gia was for Angelina Jolie. Interesting they're all biopics.

Despite Harry Potter and other fantasy films coming out this year, my bet is that make-up, hair and costumes awards will go to La Vie.

Marit Allen's costumes are flawless - and since I think every actor in France wanted to be in the film (and succeeded-the cast list is formidable), there are *dozens.* Key makeup artist Gabriela Polakova and her crew are brilliant, as is prosthetic makeup artist Ivo Strangmüller. Key hair stylist Jan Archibald and staff deserve kudos for their amazing work. And a standing ovation.

Director Olivier Dahan also co-wrote the script.

There are some scenes - one in particular that I won't mention because everyone "oooo's" and "aaaah's" when they see it in the theater - that are divinely created. It's clear this is a labor of love by everyone involved because, although snippets of her life have been captured on screen, some en rose, this is the first attempt to show her full life.

But -- you were expecting the "but," right? But, being an ardent Piaf fan myself, I thought the film took on too much. Attempting to portray her extraordinary life from birth to death turns out to be too herculean a feat for Dahan. Even though it's a short 2 hours and 15 minutes long, many critical, crucial and admirable highlights of Piaf's time on earth are glaring in their absence.

La Vie dwells so much on the boozing, addicted, dysfunctional, obnoxious, whoring, self-indulgent Piaf that it neglects the courageous work she did for the French Resistance during World War II as well as other acts of generosity, bravery and kindness - not to mention her sense of humor when she was sober.

I found that disappointing. I was also disheartened they didn't feature more of her songs. There are musical bridges referencing them, but not the songs themselves.

Those that are sung, however, are recordings by Piaf, with very few exceptions.

The reason to watch this film, no matter script, directing and story issues with the overall production, is Marion Cotillard. If you want to know and understand what supreme camera acting looks like, and how une artiste brings genuine humanity and intimate life to a character whose being took on immense proportions - please see this film.

I shall. Again and again.

Here's the French version of the trailer - it's different than the US trailer (the intro is the trailer - don't skip it):

Here's the US trailer (again, the intro is the trailer):

Now, beloved reader, if you've never heard or seen her before, or if you're a fan, I present --Edith Piaf singing La Vie En Rose.

And this is my one of my favorite Piaf songs, Les Trois Cloches.

Just in case you're curious and not familiar with Piaf's vocal heir apparent, here is Mireille Mathieu's version of Les Trois Cloches.

Consequences of speaking up...

OK, so Friday I was sent to the hospital lab for blood samples.

It was just a checkup.

I was very proud of my timing. Normally the joint is jumping with patients so there's a wait.

But today? There was only one other person in the waiting room, and he had been sitting there awhile, reading. Who knows? He might have been someone's ride and not there to be sampled himself.

So I walked up to the medic behind the desk, tried to hand him my paperwork and he asked, "did you take a number?"

"Excuse me?"

"A number. Did you take one. Across the room."

I looked around again to make certain I was really the only person needing their service. There was nearly an echo when we spoke, the place was so unpopulated.

"A number?"

"A number."

OK, he actually wanted me to walk across the empty room and pull a number from the little machine.

So I stared at him and asked, "Seriously, you want me to walk across the room and get a number."

He stared back.

As I walked across the room, excusing myself for possibly stepping on the feet of any ghosts that might be on hand, I asked, "Seriously, am I in a Saturday Night Live sketch or something? Where are the hidden cameras, huh?"

And dutifully brought my number, 33, back to the desk and stood there.

"Thirty three," he called.

Since I was standing directly in front of him, I handed him the small numbered paper.

Very businesslike, he took it from me along with my paperwork.

"Can I see some photo ID?" he asked.

"It's in the car. Don't have any on me, just my medical ID," I responded and showed it to him. It doesn't have my picture on it. The new ones do, I just haven't gotten mine yet.

I showed him other ID I had on me - business card, credit card....

"I need photo ID."

Now, I've never been asked for photo ID at the lab before, because I have paperwork accompanying me and they receive a computerized notification that I'm coming.

If it's a new policy, I'll be sure to bring some next time I'm in the hospital. I figured it was really all about that mouth thing.

About how I made a verbal point of declaring how really stupid it was to have me walk across the room to get a number when I'm the only person "in line." Or I guess New Yorkers say, "on line."

I could have just thought how stupid it was.

But, nooooooo, I had to make fun of the situation and there was really no audience except the offender. That's where I went wrong. Next time, I'll be sure and deliver those pithy observations when there are people around to appreciate them.

Mr. Medical Man with his tiny little .. bit of power .. finally decided I actually was who I claimed to be and I got drawn and sampled.

Lesson learned. And it's one more thing to talk about at the ball game tomorrow.

Batter up!

I'm very excited.

I'm going to a Mariners-Red Sox day game Wednesday afternoon with a couple friends.

I love to watch Ichiro play. He's an inspiration to anyone who wants to pursue anything seriously. He's superbly disciplined and constantly preparing himself for his next move.

If you are able to watch him play at Seattle's Safeco Field (known as The Safe here), you'll see something you don't see in just about any other baseball field come the end of the season. Because he moves around so much, the grass is still full and green and growing there.

Most other players in their home ball parks tend not to move as much, so where they play their outfield positions, the grass is beaten down and the area worn.

One summer day I was walking my little Pomeranian Oscar around a three mile path at a place here called Green Lake. He was a perfect little gentleman when he walked with me, never paying attention to anyone or anything else but me.

A group of Japanese tourists were chatting away, coming from the opposite direction, when they saw Oscar, who was, if I do say so myself, a very cute little dog. They were absolutely fascinated with him and how well he behaved. I even got down to show them how he would sit and shake hands.

They "ooooooed" and "aaaahed" at my little guy, talking (I imagine) about what a great little dog he was.

I only know how to say "thank you" in Japanese, and did so. But I wanted to say more. After all they were snapping Oscar's picture and fussing over him so much.

So I spread my arms and declared, "ICHIRO!"

They stopped, sort of stunned, were silent a moment, then spread their arms and echoed in unison, "ICHIRO!"

To which I anwered, "ICHIRO!"

To which they responded, "ICHIRO!"

And we simultaneously bowed a number of times as we parted.

Seattle Times columnist (and now Seattle City Counsel member) Jean Godden declared "Ichiro" a "universal language!"

Meanwhile, the Mariners have had a pretty up and down season. It's always disappointing when one's hometown team isn't consistent. A couple of players are, like Ichiro, but the pitching has been, as Randy says, "pitchy." Inconsistent.

And one of my favorite teams has always been the Red Sox. So while I'll be happy if the Mariners win, I have to say the Red Sox are having a spectacular year and deserve the winning season they're enjoying. David Ortiz is someone I love to watch play as well.

Ichiro may leave the team after this season if they're not in contention. Can't say I blame him. He's such a reliable, winning component of the team, but unless all his team members are just as reliable? Especially the starting pitchers? It will be a sorry sorry day in Seattle if the Mariners lost our champion.

In short, I'll be happy if either team wins. But I have to keep that to myself. My mother is a diehard Mariners' fan, and I'd never live it down if she saw me on TV (she watches the games all the time) cheering for the Bosox. And it would be just my luck that I'd get caught on camera the nanosecond I cheered for the Bosox.

It's always fun to go to a game with friends. One of the things I like most about baseball is that it's a game that can be enjoyed along with a great conversation or two.

Awhile back I worked as the news director and morning news anchor for a rock radio station in Seattle - the short lived KSPL FM. The morning disc jockey, Joe Michaels, and I were given Mariners' shirts with our names on the back and we'd go to games and hand out free Mariners tickets to listeners who came up to us during the game and asked us if we were Colleen Patrick and Joe Michaels from KSPL.

PA's (public appearances) like that were always enjoyable for me.

The station arranged for several of them to boost ratings.

One of which was an elephant race. Several stations in town participated - each with its morning team (DJ/Newsie) riding a contending elephant.

Let me tell you - elephants are *very* large and tall and sitting on the neck of an elephant makes one feel as if one will fall over and plunge a couple stories unless one maintains one's balance. Joe sat behind me, sort of hanging on to me and the slightest pressure from him made me feel like I would topple over on the pavement below.

"Get back! Sit back!" I thought I commanded as I was sure he was so close I could feel his breath against the back of my neck. Until I realized I was too scared to speak, and what I felt on my neck was my flop sweat dripping.

I've always believed that those poor elephants wished we would have fallen so they could laugh at us doing such ridiculous things for attention. I bet they wished we would have instead brought attention to the need for them not to participate in such silly activities and be sent home where they belong, to roam freely.

Lessons learned.

Oh - and as I recall our elephant won the race. Probably in a rush to get the crazy woman off its neck who kept screaming - in her own mind - "Get back, Joe! Sit back!"

Took me a week to stop shaking.

Yep. One more thing to talk about at the game. Think I'll have some kettle corn, too.

DIY food..

Fed up with high priced and tasteless raspberries and tomatoes at grocery stores, I decided to grow my own.

Mind you, I am no foodie nor am I a gardener, so it's going to be a learning experience that hopefully will result in spectacular fruit (remember tomatoes are a fruit, not a vegetable).

My friend Steve, a remarkable gardener of all things - flowers, fruit, veggies, whatever - was kind enough to give me starter raspberry bushes, and I planted the tomatoes from seeds.

The raspberry bushes went through a transplanting wilting phase but suddenly show all sorts of new sprouts. The process is very exciting. They won't bear fruit until next year, but I shall tend the berry bushes with dedicated diligence since I'm totally insanely crazy about *good* raspberries.


The tomatoes popped through the earth this morning for the first time -- in a few weeks, I'll have to thin the plants so each has enough space to grow independently and then flourish.

<-- wishful thinking!

I'm actually considering growing more of my food so I can figure out how to create great veggies and fruit that are out of this world delicious and oh, so reasonably priced.

But, as every athlete says in his or her interview, I'm taking it one plant at a time. I've just got what I have to grow in front of me and I'll do everything I can to have a winning crop!

Another British invasion-- UK TV hosts are the best!

Brit Denise van Outen did a fantastic job on the BBC-produced US reality talent TV program Grease: You're The One That I Want. It was a search for new American lead performers for the revival of the Broadway musical Grease.

If you watch the piping hot Cat Deely on So You Think You Can Dance, who obviously loves her gig, music, dance and the people with whom she works - or any of the other reality programs in the US now hosted by British talent, the first thing you might wonder is why American hosting talents aren't nearly as good. They come across as blah. White bread. Shallow. Self-involved rather than sounding knowledgable and making a warm connection with those on their show or the audience.

When Ryan Seacrest was criticized so roundly in the first years of his hosting chores for American Idol by judge Simon Cowell, I'm sure US audiences thought he was too tough on him.

Then when I was in the UK last year, I watched some reality shows with British hosts and thought, "No wonder Simon was so harsh with Ryan. These British hosts are absolutely dynamite." A complete cut or two - or even three - above their US counterparts.

The difference to me is clear. The Brits just present more genuine personality, more humanity, more connection with the people on the program as well as their audience. It's not about them at all, it's about the contestants, talent, judges and audiences. It's about moving the show forward and recognizing who or what we want to hear more about - or less, for that matter.

I saw Kate Thornton host a celebrity talent show in the UK called The X Factor, another Simon Cowell show. While she was criticized by some in her home country? She blew me away compared to so many American humanoid hosts.

I'm sure it's the reason US television producers are looking more closely at stand-up comics with recognizable personalities, who tend to be already beloved by audiences such as Jeff Foxworthy to helm reality programs such as his new hit, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

After seeing such superb real people who happen to be British hosting programs, watching someone like Adrianna Costa rep the Steven Speilberg/Mark Burnett produced On the Lot hurts.

California/Hollywood-produced hosts seem to have had all their grit and humanity MIA; they appear to be unable to think on their feet as quickly as they need to, express an original thought or reveal any sort of substance or real knowledge. Or for that matter actually relate like real people with the people they host or their audiences.

It's true of a lot of American actors as well. They seem to have had their "juice," their humanity, trained out of them so they come across as empty, bland and flat as cardboard. Perhaps those American hosts went to the same schools.

I don't know. What I do know is that as long as the Brits continue to be as good as they are? They'll be hosting more and more shows in the US - and only because they deserve the jobs.

What's in a name?

Several years ago when I was a television and radio reporter, my photographer and I happened to be close to a bank robbery that was underway. The police radio in the car alerted everyone.

We parked the car and ran toward the bank, hoping to capture pictures of the robbers fleeing and possibly their arrest, since the gen d'arms were also on their way.

As I rushed down the street a girl about eight years old ran up to me.

"Colleen Patrick! Can I have your autograph?"

It hit me as both of us huffed our way toward the bank.

While few robbers have ever been filmed dashing out of the bank and/or being captured ... what difference would it really make to the lives of viewers to see this?

And how many kids want the autograph of a journalist? Especially a woman journalist? Especially .. me?

Aren't kids her age usually more interested in rock stars and movie actors?

More, the closer we got to the bank the riskier it was to have her there.

So I stopped.

My photographer yelled at me, angry. I don't blame him.

But there are thousands of bank robberies in the nation every year and one eight year old girl who might someday want to be a journalist and for whatever reason, on that day, think that being a smart, assertive woman is a cool thing.

"What's your name?" I asked as I took her pen and paper, writing a thoughtful note.

As soon as I finished, I ran double time to catch up with my photographer. "Gotta go! Good luck!"

I caught hell from my boss that afternoon, as I should have. He had every right to be upset that I trailed off a story, letting my photographer go it alone.

I think what made him angrier was the little smirk I had on my face as he scolded me. But I couldn't help thinking of the little girl who absolutely glowed just because I took a moment to write something I hope she found inspiring and scrawled my name.

Oh - by the time my photographer arrived at the bank, the robbers had escaped. No one was hurt during the heist and they were arrested later that day.

The winner: Paul Potts! .... wait...who?

The pop UK talent competition show "Britain's Got Talent" found a superstar in a most unlikely package.

As BGT judge Amanda Holden put it, "Here's a piece of coal who is becoming a diamond." Judge Simon Cowell called his performances, "magic."

He's an unassuming, quiet, humble cell phone salesman who for *years* has pursued his passion, studying voice to sing opera as a tenor. An ordinary man with an extraordinary talent - he is the very type of person Simon and these shows fervently seek out and seldom find.

Here he sings Nessun Dorma ("Let no one sleep") from Puccini's opera Turandot in his last performance for the show. This is the song that got him into the competition, bringing audiences to their feet as they wept openly, then go on to win the whole bloody thing as he reprised it in his finals performance!

Grab a hanky before you click the link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jNOXvboRnWQ

Congratulations, Paul Potts!

Due to popular demand, another finalist, Connie Talbot, also stole the hearts of BGT viewers and my readers want her to have her fair share of CP blog attention.

Grab another hanky...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWNoiVrJDsE

ABC's Brian Ross reports suicide bombers coming here

Ross says that a video said to be photographed by a Pakistani journalist (possibly in Afghanistan or Pakistan) showed some of the 300 people, represented as suicide bombers as young as 12 trained by Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

According to Ross's story, they are broken into teams supposedly assigned to destroy targets in the US, Canada, UK and Germany.

A man represented as a Taliban military commander, whose brother was killed by US forces, says that the teams are themselves actually citizens of the US, Germany, the UK and Canada.

American Intelligence officials scoff at the report, saying it's just part of an aggressive propaganda campaign by the terrorists; others take the report seriously.

Yep.

See?

The Bush administration has been so adamant - insisting the reason US soldiers are fighting and dying in Iraq is to prevent the terrorists from coming over here. Because, you know - we're fighting them over there so they won't come here.

I believe there are actually few terrorists Iraq because the Iraqis are too busy fighting each other and US forces, keeping our military busy and distracted while wearing down our economy, military and national morale.

They know how to manipulate president Bush; it's simple because they know how he thinks, what he thinks and what he can be counted to say and do day after day. No surprises. Bush's answer to everything going on and going wrong in Iraq is to send more soldiers. Which only results in more US military and innocent Iraqi deaths.

His obsession of concentrating so many of our resources in Iraq frees the terrorists to go anywhere they wish to do their deadly, idiotic, hateful work.

The Taliban are re-emerging in Afghanistan because of a lessened US military presence.

I have to wonder what could have happened if we had maintained a noteable presence in Afghanistan rather than pulled our forces and diverted them to Iraq. The possibility of capturing Al Qaeda's leaders? Decimating their ranks? Crippling the Taliban? Reducing the heroin trade from Afghanistan to the US instead of allowing it to increase (by some estimates) 80%?

Renewable resources: the key to a healthy economy and life!

A renewable resource continues to create something new rather than simply be used up or destroyed.

For example, education is a renewable resource because it helps people create work, art, skills and ideas that not only help the students, but the workforce, society and culture.

It gives a great return on the investment. People go deeply in debt for an education expecting to make many times over that amount when they graduate.

War is not a renewable resource. Its machinery and weapons are intended to destroy and are expected to be destroyed. More, the machinery are intended to destroy the resources of the enemy - their economy, natural resources, infrastructure, populations, animals and plant life.

The breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) is attributed to that government investing so much money in war machinery and military - spreading their fighting forces so thinly - that there was no money left to run the country.

There has to be some sort of balance or the economy of a nation suffers - or can be completely destroyed.

When we invest so much money in war machinery and armies, that is money paid out with no money coming back in, even when politicians insist there will be.

One of the reasons the Bush administration said that invading Iraq would not harm our economy is that Iraqi oil would pay for the war and rebuilding the destruction there.

Well, the war has crippled Iraqi oil production so the war has cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars - which we've had to borrow from other countries (China is a major source).

So after promising that the war would in effect create a new renewable resource for the US because it would bring oil to America? It turns out to not only be a *non*-renewable resource but a huge drain on our national resources.

People are a renewable resource. If they are killed in war, they cease to be a renewable resource and a need is created for replacing them.

Another reason war is a source of economic depletion: our wounded, maimed and traumatized veterans need expensive medical, dental and psychological care when they return and the government doesn't want to pay for it. The military really is a cheap workforce - the pay is deplorable. Medical and psychological care is not cheap. The payment to survivors of US veterans killed in war is also deplorably low.

Think of the renewable resources that surround us: animals who produce milk we drink. They not only provide the milk we drink - but babies who grow up to give us more milk. It's important to protect these animals from abuse or overuse so they can continue to be a renewable resource without having their lives cut short.

Egg-laying chickens? Renewable resource - again, as long as they are not stressed and abused to overproduce, cutting miserable lives short.

Imported goods? Renewable if exported goods are exchanged in kind.

This economic philosophy is known as guns and butter.

And it's pretty simple. If there's not some sort of balance? There's too much money going out with no promise of sufficient income? The drain on an economy laden with debt can be brutal.

You or I would be tossed out on the street if we lived this way.

The government just borrows money from other nations. In the case of Iraq, which is costing us more money than we generate in the US, it's many billions of dollars from China.

Larry Johnson, a former CIA agent who used to be a conservative Republican, now writing and speaking about the insanity created by the Bush administration in Iraq, says that this issue of the US being mislead into a war is not a matter of "left" or "right," Republican or Democrat.

It's a matter of right or wrong.

Oil companies, the Bush family bread and butter, are cleaning up at the gas pump as prices skyrocket - and will continue to through his presidency (remember he promised to keep gas prices down when he ran for election?).

His family will, as usual, enjoy fabulous Christmas celebrations for centuries to come while we try to figure out how to dig our way out of the sickening debt and recover from the unnecessary deaths created by his war.

The unlimited tax money and massive debt used to pay Halliburton (vice-president Cheney's former employer) to "rebuild" Iraq without a single bid or even a plan will certainly keep the Cheney family warm at night for centuries to come while other Americans freeze to death.

New government reports declare that attempts to rebuild the majority of warring Iraq are fruitless. As soon as something is built, it's blown up. But Halliburton is paid still more money to re-rebuild or re-re-rebuild ad infinitim, while it moves its main headquarters to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to avoid paying US taxes.

Guns and butter.

War and peace.

The people making money off the war are the cronies of Bush and Cheney - including private armies like Blackwater hired by them.

The losers are our honorable military men and women who with good conscience and courageous hearts put their lives on the line to carry out the orders of a president who can't be bothered to attend one of their funerals - even symbolically.

I wish on July 4, Americans would fly their flags at half mast in memory of all those American military men and women and innocent Iraqis who have given their lives over the past five years in a war that was entered by president Bush cavalierly, without integrity, honor or honorable purpose.

A US-instigated war which has fomented old wounds among all the warring factions of Iraq to the point that there is not one, but several civil wars being fought, while our soldiers become cannon fodder as they try to quell some of the killing.

Leave or stay, the Bush administration has fomented a bloodbath in Iraq that will not end until the Iraqis decide they want to stop killing one another.

What motivates too much of the killing now is one group pointing to the other, accusing the US of "taking sides."

That is the argument for the US getting out of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Bush and Cheney have plans to keep US forces in Iraq - a nation that was no threat to the US - for the foreseeable future, incorporating a policy similar to establishing a presence in south Korea.

And there is more talk of the US invading Iran, a nation which may well develop into a threat. One day.

That day is moving up more quickly because the most powerful nation in the world invaded its neighbor, Iraq.

Call them crazy, but they see invading their sovereign neighboring nation as a threat to their country.

Imagine that.

Imagine Russia invading and starting a war in Canada - think the US would consider that a threat?

Guns and butter can co-exist as long as the gun expenditure doesn't swamp the butter boat.

The situation gets dangerous when we have to start asking, as we become more and more deeply in debt because of war and money becomes scarce -- which we need more: guns or butter.

Depletion or restoration.

Some politicians know which side of their lives is buttered, because they continue to make a few people who are manufacturing war machinery -- who don't care who's buying their goods and services -- wealthy.

Very, very, very wealthy.

And the hits keep coming ....

Wow.

This month my website is on track to receive more than 100,000 hits.

From the stats kept my my web host, you're reading the blog in some 68 nations, some of which I've never heard of before, but I'm learning more about them.

FYI, I'm asking my webmaster to attach a translator to the page so you can click it to translate the blog into your primary language if it's not English. Much of the credit for this website goes to him. John Beresford (himself a novelist, lyricist, poet and singer) has been working hard and valiantly on this website to help inform, inspire and empower you for many years.

It's very exciting, and I'm thrilled to think you're interested in what I'm thinking or writing or doing or how I write or-- why ever it is you tune in.

Thanks for your kind attention. The stats also say you download many of the photos I use, especially of my pets.

Here's a snapshot of JR at my Master Writers' retreat recently. I had him trimmed to keep him cool for the summer, but when temperatures drop he needs a little shirt to keep him warm.

I'm not into the whole put clothes on your dog so they'll look cute thing. It's just a practical matter and to keep him warm and healthy.

He got his white shirt filthy and wet playing for hours with his BFF Winston, a French Bulldog puppy; I took it off to pull on his clean red shirt so he wouldn't get cold.

Everyone was blown away at what a terrific, well-behaved, quiet and snugly little guy he is.

Here's Allie Cat being regal. For a moment there is peace and tranquility. Then, suddenly:





Allie Cat attacks JR and they wrestle. This happens at least twice a day. They chase each other back and forth, in and out of the house to slap a half nelson on each other.

Mistletoe referees.

<-Here, Allie and an untrimmed JR wrestle. They remind me of Inspector Clouseau and his manservant in Blake Edwards' A Shot in the Dark, surprising each other when they least expect to be assaulted.

For some reason, Allie never extends her claws or bites, and JR never gets rough with her. Such happy little souls. I just wish they'd learn to take out the garbage or wash dishes or dust or at least re-make the bed after they've been wrestling on it...

Thank you again for reading my blog and checking out my website - feel free to comment!

Official information released when they don't want you to read it

The scathing report on our elected representatives not reading or heeding the National Intelligence Evaluation of the potential disaster of the Iraqi war no matter what the president said was released on a Friday.

I posted the story here on a Monday, knowing that weekday news is always considered a little more significant, because after all, "nothing happens on the weekend," right?

Friday is when we normally think of going away for the weekend, or partying or meeting with friends and family or just hanging out.

We don't think of significant news breaking, unless it's a weather crisis, but that's exactly when "news" is released that those in charge of the release don't want it read by all that many people. They want to say they've released the important information, but it's not their fault if you're not aware of it or if you didn't read it.

I've asked so many people I've met (who don't know about or read my blog) about the NIE report and to a person, they were not aware of it. They went home to do their homework, however, because they cared.

Interestingly, the most watched local TV news program is usually Sunday night because everyone's home, getting ready for the week and sitting around the television set together.

But local TV newsrooms ordinarily have skeleton crews on over the weekend because their sense is that "nothing's going on." Heck, CNN, MSNBC and other cable news station seem to reflect that same sensibility. To which I say, "huh?"

Well, yeah. Most government and business offices are closed - you know, the ones that that spoon feed the media most of the news they carry, for sure. But the issues don't go away; problems don't subside, malfeasance and stories worth an investigation or a little extra air time don't take the weekend off.

Um, in fact, wouldn't that be the best time to present a feature, in-depth story that there's no time to air during the week?

TV stations may point to generally lower ratings on Fridays and Saturdays, sure - but my hunch is that if there were a real kick-ass news program, people would watch. Like, lots of people. As it is, if it bleeds it leads or the news reported is just the stuff that falls in front of them like truck and car crashes, fires, shootings, vandalism, etc.

Yes it's "news," but those things can be reported by media of record such as newspapers, leaving television to dig in and get their hands dirty looking at everything from organized crime to corporate fraud to real news. Like, say, a politician who is actually working on behalf of us voters and who is getting something done!

In fact, 60 Minutes counted on the idea that they could get a huge audience of people interested in more complex and in-depth stories for decades. News stories that covered subjects the audience had never heard of before!

And for much, if not most of that time? That program drew more viewers than any other program on television. Rated #1, week after week.

While it's still highly rated, I'm sorry to say I feel as if it's lost most of its fire in the belly urgency to kick a tires and take names and bring significant matters to our attention.

I only know real news - information we should know and knowledge we should have instead of meaningless "information" - is going on all the time and I would much rather see it instead of all the white noise that is reported.

It's just a matter of being aware of where it's happening and how it affects us, that it needs to be reported and making certain staff reporters are there to cover it instead of another shooting, car crash, fire, and other news that is only news because there happens to be a picture to show.

Interestingly, there are a number of ways news organizations now invite you to tell them what's going on because they don't know. Proof of that is local news ratings across the board and across the US are universally as low as they've ever been.

I hope people take advantage of that opportunity because their priorities may not be yours, so we need to let them know. I'll never forget hearing about a story that took the nation by storm three days after it occurred because the reporters initially hearing about it were too young to remember its initial event, so they didn't understand its significance. If a 40 year-old producer for ABC hadn't been there, we still would not have known about it.

Younger staffs are less experienced and knowledgeable, yes, but they're also way cheaper. And today is definitely the day of news according to the bottom line.

As for news those in power want to have certain important news get by us ... be on the lookout for significant stories that are released Friday or over the weekend in hopes they will either be overlooked by media or that stations won't have the weekend staff to investigate them or whether they are reported in such a way that their importance will be neither understood nor perceived by media's already ill-informed American audiences.

What this means is that you can't expect to be spoon fed real knowledge by the commercial or "public" media, you have to be willing to seek it out. It is out there, you just need to be responsible for finding it - or at least letting media know what's going on so others can discover it as well.

Spill happens

I have an exercise for the folks I coach to help give them the courage to be fearless - to take risks and not be afraid to make mistakes.

I put a little milk in a plastic glass.

Then tell them to knock it over.

Spill the milk.

Visibly shaken, terrified, and afraid of what their mothers and fathers will say or do to them, they break through their fears and muster all their will to push the glass over.

Spill milk. On purpose.

Deal is, as soon as the milk is spilled, I give them paper towels and a sponge to clean up the little bit of liquid that has rolled out.

Spill the milk, clean it up.

You spill milk, you clean it up.

That's pretty much life.

Some people are terrified to even touch the glass, let alone tip it over.

But as I explain to them, our bodies are changing all the time. As little kids we're not only uncoordinated, but one day our arms are 12 inches long, the next day they're 13, and we're still used to reaching just 12 inches, so chances are we're going to bang into whatever is beyond 12 inches.

If that's our glass of milk? It's spilled.

No big deal. We just have to clean it up.

Sometimes parents overreact to the results of normal changes. That overreaction is what we recall and that's what scares us.

But when we understand that physiological changes are normal, that spill happens, we don't have to overreact, we can simply clean it up.

It helps our attitude when we're around our own - or other kids when they grow up as well.

If people are not understanding when we accidentally spill milk in a relationship and refuse to let us clean it up? It's a sign that the relationship couldn't hold water to begin with, let alone survive a little spilled milk. And that's unfortunate, but it's better to find that out earlier than later.

Spill happens.

In almost all situations, you can clean it up.

Don't be afraid to risk a little spilled milk when you explore something in which you believe, an emotion you feel you must express, or go after something you want, something you want to do, love to do, wish to do or for which you have a passion.

It's the little things ..

For work reasons I can't disclose yet, but that I shall share with you in the coming months, I visited a pygmy goat farm. They are the miniature goats we see at county and state fairs every year. They originated in Africa, but are now seen throughout the world as show animals and pets. European pygmy goats tend to have broad midriffs, American pygmy goats have a more slender midriff.

Oh, it wasn't just any pygmy goat farm I dropped by, it's the pygmy goat farm run by Dori Lowell, president of the





National Pygmy Goat Association, which just happens to be located in Washington State.

Who knew?

Pygmy goat milk is so extra rich in nutrients - more than regular-sized goats' milk, which is said to be healthier for us than cow's milk - that it can actually be used to heal certain medical conditions. Getting that milk can be tricky, however, because these characters are small, feisty and wiggly.

Babies are near tiny; their fur is very soft and before they've established their individual personalities - which runs from affectionate to impish to obstinate - they can be quite cuddly. The babies love to be held and hugged and petted and fussed over as any kid would. ;-)


Some pygmy goats have even been trained by cat siblings living with them to use kitty litter boxes when they are kept inside as pets. As cute as that sounds, goats are outdoor animals and need plenty of fresh air, frolicking and running space! And of course they find lots of furniture yummy...

These little guys play on kiddie playground equipment: they actually walk up the stairs and take a ride down the slide! Here's as much of a slide sequence as I could catch with my simple digital camera:





















"Cah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahn I go again, please?"


This little girl adopted me.

After carrying her around, nuzzling and snuggling her for a long time, she showed how much she loves me by ... chewing my clothes. Isn't that swee-

Huh?

No-

Wait! ;-)



Yep, it's a tough job, mine. But someone has to do it ..

I love talking about the craft

Yesterday I had the privilege of interviewing one of the best American actors today - David Morse - for my new movieScope Acting for the Camera column.

A down to earth family man and topnotch professional, constantly and consistently working in quality TV programs, commercial and indie films, the popular and award-winning thespian will not disappoint actors and other artists who read the column. He has some great advice using analogies that can be visualized when assuming a character - and staying there.

He credits his success to working with acting coach Bill Esper, who told David, already successful in theater, to quit acting for two years and just study with him. David says the suggestion by another actor to "study with Bill is the best advice I've ever been given."

Esper has a new book coming out this year, Esper on Meisner.

In Disturbia, David doesn't ever break character, but he did break a finger in a fight scene, and went on to perform in the scene as if he wasn't injured. When I asked him about his digital wound, he told me in his genuinely humble way that breaking a finger was pretty much nothing for him at that point, considering he broke his hand shortly before working on another project, and performed the entire film with a broken hand - which was *mighty* painful. "I couldn't see the character wearing a cast," he said.

Let me say it for him: ouch.

Way to man up, David (who says actors are pansies?!) - and of course turn in another memorable performance!

Our conversation about the craft of acting was also memorable, as I hope my column will be.

Support

It is so important for artists to be supported in their quest to find themselves, their artistic voice and have the time to learn and perfect their craft.

The US is unique in that it generally does not support its artists financially nearly as much as other nations do. I think it's probably because the attitude toward the arts formed in American schools is that they are "extra curricular" activities rather than substantial subjects to be pursued.

At least until they hit the University level.

The arts are reflections of culture, and they are considered a serious, respected professions in most nations.

Those supporting the competitive US practice of seeking what money is available to support artists and the arts say that the financial and other support made to artists in other countries doesn't necessarily equate to exquisite work, believing that the US still produces great work despite the disparity.

And the fact is, every nation - even those who revere artists - is tightening its arts support budgets because of the crucial demands made by a world economy.

But that's not what this blog is about.

This blog is about the personal support we all need for any art we undertake - especially if we want to establish a career in that art or craft.

Families should be our first line of support, but frequently families are our first detractors. I've found that few families understand or support the relative who decides to become a professional writer, actor, musician, painter, dancer, singer - let alone want to contribute their money or good will.

Mind you, they say they are only thinking of what's best for the deluded brother, sister, mother, father, son, daughter, yanga yanga yanga when they do their damndest to discourage them from making a decision that comes with no guarantees, no certain future, that requires so much passion, dedication, persistence, training, practice and money for materials, training, as well as the time it takes to pull it all together in your own inimitable way.

The arts are not for the faint of heart to be sure - and our support teams can't be either.

Many a yearning artist is dissuaded from following his or her dream because they believe they can't afford to. They believe they "should" follow a more practical route - and lots of those who make that decision live lives of quiet desperation, always wishing they had instead followed their hearts; pursued their passion and lived their dream.

Not of being rich and famous, but simply of doing what they genuinely love; what makes them feel more alive and on fire than anything else they've ever done.

I've coached hundreds of people who realize that what they *really* wanted to do was become an artist and regret the years that have passed since they listened to those - including their own inner demon - who said that they shouldn't.

Some who try to re-discover their art get caught up in the carousel of classes. They become seminar junkies, not artists because few of the classes actually help them do the real work of the art.

This is perfect and plenty for the individual who is happy being the amateur and wants to hang out in classes and that is his or her goal.

But many kid themselves into believing they are creating a future in the arts without actually seeking ways to make a living working in their art.

On the other hand, people who work with me have decided they want to make this work a career, or already have a career and want to enhance it.

And therein lies the rub.

In my experience, partners and spouses support taking those classes as long as he or she remains an amateur, but *fuh-reak out* when their partners and spouses start pursuing their artistic passion as a career. In-laws and relatives also try to dissuade the budding successful artist from becoming professional, even on a part-time basis.

I don't recommend people become stars (though it's fine with me if they want to become a beam of light), but making a living as a working artist can be a very rewarding and great life. And my goodness, after seeing how many really bad camera actors are working now in cable television, there's got to be plenty of room for people who are talented, skilled and properly trained!

I'll never forget one young fantastically talented actress I coached. As I was helping her create a modified career, she told me her in-laws, who were fundamentalist Christian, told her not to continue her work with me because she was "too serious" about it. They told her she should be at home being a wife and mother.

Meanwhile, she was the co-lead in a classic play - her first venture onstage - and stole the show. She was like a little Tinker Bell light we couldn't take our eyes off as she moved onstage.

Her first audition, she was cast in a commercial. A paid job. If memory serves me correctly, she got a few more in a short time as well.

But her husband and in-laws insisted she cut out acting and get pregnant.

I met them all and I was, for some reason I didn't understand, frightened for my fledgling and felt a little protective (I tend to be a little protective of folks I coach anyway, but I *try* to mind my own beeswax). I felt they were trying to control her. She was so happy, free and having so much fun pursuing her passion for acting. Her attitude changed drastically when she was around her husband and his parents.

Sure enough, a couple months later, she was pregnant. With twins. And had to spend several weeks in the hospital to protect her pregnancy. I visited her a couple times in the hospital, where she made clear that any plans she may have had for herself as an actor were now permanently derailed, and was nearly in tears.

She said she was looking forward to having her children. I told her lots of actors have kids.

I never heard from - or about - her again.

Husbands, wives and boyfriends tend to support those amateur classes - just not the careers. The only people who work with me want - or already have - careers they want to enhance.

The most interesting cases unfold when boyfriends and husbands who say they support their wives/girlfriends' careers - but in reality (and secretly) do not. Wives are very outspoken about not wanting their husbands to pursue a career in the arts, especially if the couple has children.

The relationship issue is among the first questions I ask new coachees: how does your husband/wife/boyfriend/partner feel about you doing this work and making it a career.

My coachees guarantee me their husbands/boyfriends/wives/partners are totally behind their decision, that everything is terrific on the relationship front. One person told me she and her husband had actually been in counseling about it to make sure they were on the same page, enthusiastic about her work. She worked hard and was making her way up the career food chain when ....

I have no idea what she's doing today.

Heterosexual men I've coached haven't had to deal with those pressures with girlfriends, but I've coached some gay men who had similar problems with their partners.

If you're married or are in a relationship, the only thing you can do is try to work it out with your partner. Hopefully they'll be truthful and you'll be realistic about the time and commitment involved; communicate as much as possible about what you're doing and the artistic, creative process.

I think the real problem is that pursuing one's art makes us happy; because it's an intense relationship between us and what we create (I also consider it a spiritual experience) - by definition they can feel excluded from the process.

Perhaps they resent the fact that their partner has found his or her passion and they haven't; or that the happiness of their spouse or partner regarding their art feels greater than the happiness expressed in the relationship.

Whatever it is, I wish these partners could just be happy and proud of their partners pursuing their passion, as we should be when they pursue their own passion and do something of which they're proud.

I coach a couple who are both artists - and they are near fans for one another, as artists and individuals. Lots of growth - personal and professional - is experienced by both and they're fantastic folks with whom to work. Because they are dedicated to a passion, they seem to bring another layer of passion to their relationship.

And I've found that couples who communicate and have a healthy relationship tend to continue that healthy relationship as the artist becomes a professional.

Personal support and nurturing is so important to the blossoming artist - and some classes do provide that nurturing. It's always good to investigate how the teacher works and stimulates his or her students.

You can start your own support group for artists seeking support and nurturing when your families and/or friends won't. Speak with others in your craft or art (or who wish to be) and find out how they find personal support for their work.

Books you find personally fulfilling and supportive can also help; activities that have nothing to do with your art also help a lot; perhaps seeing a counselor or coach might be a good move; learning to love and support yourself is most important, for sure.

An outstanding design artist I know says that what it really takes to be an artist is confidence. Confidence to do what it takes, as long as it takes, and deal with everyone along the way in a manner that allows you to do what you must.

For in the end, the artist doesn't do his or her art because they simply "want" to, or for a lark. They do it because they know they must or feel as if they will die. I know for myself, I simply can't *not* write and direct. I have to do it, no matter the risks or costs. I can't help it.

I know other artists - whether professional or not - who feel the same way. It's something they believe in their heart they must do. So in the end it's up to us to decide whether we are, indeed, artists, and if we are, figure out what sort of support we need and then how to find it. And not let anything stop us from doing what we know we must.

Not to the exclusion of anything else in life, but in addition. For isn't it all about making the most of our lives and who we are as we live it?

Mustn't overdo...

I don't know if you do this, but when I try to push myself to do too much, nothing gets done.

I'm a big "to do" list maker.

However, if I jot down every miniscule thing I believe needs to be finished or accomplished? The list gets so long it looks like ancient scrolls of infinite tasks that become humanly impossible. It ends up feeling too overwhelming. I think, "Who am I kidding? I'll never get all this done!"

Then I tend to bag it and do something I enjoy instead.

Success comes when I write down only the very important - few - things that need my attention. With a short but crucial (and realistic) list of tasks, I tend to not only complete those items but every little thing that comes to my mind along the way and still have time to pursue activities I love.

I'm sure there's an insightful, psychological reason for sabotaging myself when I write those ridiculously long "to do" lists, but I don't want to take the time to figure it out because 1) it's not on my short list and 2) there are more enjoyable ways I prefer to spend my time.

Instincts and intuition

I maintain that humans don't have instincts, animals do.

We homo sapiens have intuition.

Instinct is built in an organism the moment it's born.

Intuition is learned, so we can make logical, reasonable decisions in order to take logical, reasonable actions to survive or thrive.

The first place this difference becomes apparent is at birth. We humans are completely helpless at birth. In fact, we even have to be taught to suck our mother's milk to survive. More, we're in need of constant care and protection for several years after birth. We also have to be "potty trained," which doesn't really resonate with the animal kingdom - except for the very few pets who have been trained to use the potty by their humans.

Think of mammals other than humans. They're either standing up and walking within minutes of being born and know where to find mama's milk and how to drink it, or their eyes are closed (this is what I call blind faith) and they still know how to find the milk spigot to survive, even if they have to crawl over their brothers and sisters to get there.

As they grow, they instinctively understand they need to chase and catch or find and graze or capture food. They understand how to relate to each other in their groups - normally there is a chain of command that is well respected and tolerated in the group until a change in leadership becomes necessary.



Animals understand naturally how to deal with and protect themselves from hazardous weather by which we feel victimized. They do all sorts of things to survive that we normally either can't or won't. Like live on bugs and berries.

Animals we've domesticated and made pets, that we've removed from their natural habitat, still instinctively love dark, cave-like portals like their crates - because they're similar to the caves in which they lived tens of thousands of years ago.

Seriously, as you look at the animals on this blog, compare how they deal with life -- all its threats and relationships -- and how we humans are not naturally equipped to handle similar threats from nature and predators if we were left out in the middle of nowhere, and you'll understand what *real* instincts are.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Eggs need the warmth of mama chicken to hatch; let's say the egg can hatch on its own if it's hot enough? Baby chicks still need the warmth, nurturing and imprinting of mama chicken to learn the ropes of life, but they instinctively know how and what to eat on their own from the getgo. I say it's the chicken, 'cause it seems only reasonable to me!

It doesn't mean we're "less than" animals because they're instinctual and we're intuitive. In fact, despite their amazing instincts they tend to have very few reasoning powers.

Like the penguins who make the great march in the film "March of the Penguins." They don't understand that because of changing weather patterns (the "rumored" global warming) they could make other wiser decisions these days about making the march and its route.
This lack of reasoning contributes to the inability to adjust to changes in environment and loss of habitat, which can result in their extinction.

Human extinction is caused by humans killing one another or allowing the environment to wipe us out if our air and water are allowed to be increasingly poisoned with pollution.

Anyone who trains animals knows that even the smartest still need extraordinary patience, repetition and rewards because their reasoning powers are limited.

Our differences are extraordinary, but all worth respecting and admiring.

Again, human babies are totally helpless to survive on their own from the moment they're born. More, they're incapable of caring for themselves or even being "potty trained" for many months or even years. A baby's speaking language communication skills with adults comes slowly; animals communicate with their elders almost immediately. And vice versa.

How do fish automatically know how to swim, eat and survive at birth? Of course, they stay in schools. (rim shot!) What about insects automatically knowing how to do their thing?

All of which means that whatever intuition we have as individual humans we are taught or must be curious enough to want to learn. I believe animals are fine with what they already know unless they are taught by humans to work with them, do tricks for them or in some way enhance human lives, education or pocket books.

I doubt if animals think of themselves as owning one another. They're more into a pecking order of roles.

This is not to say that animals don't have emotions or experience pain. Elephants come together to care for an ailing comrade by holding him or her up, standing beside the sickly elephant, knowing that if he or she falls to the side, death is certain.

Anthropomorphism (attributing human emotions and characteristics to something non-human) continues to be studied. Anyone who lives with a beloved pet knows the belief in a mutual, unconditional love is very real. Who knows if we're deluding ourselves - what they're really thinking? But it is reassuring to share our lives with our creature comforts.

Now there is something we humans have called the "sixth sense." That's the extra one that can show up after taste, smell, touch, hearing and seeing if we're open to it.

It comes from allowing our psychic and psychological senses to open and receive information, feelings and visions from what is called the Spiritual Universe, spiritual energy, God, and more. Most people tend to try to close off these uber-human experiences to "protect" ourselves from the unknown.

It's part of our spiritual experience that can be learned and expanded with practice, or closed down, depending on the individual.

I find the question of spirituality and animals captivating. I believe that animals are not afraid of death. As much as they are wired to stay alive, survive, protect their young and procreate the species, they don't appear to fear death.

Do they know what's on the other side? It's said that cats can see angels. So when they're sitting there, staring for hours at "nothing?" Some think they're being entertained by the angels they can see and we can't.

At any rate, the reason I talk about this is that so many actors I've worked with refer to instinct when they mean intuition. They expect themselves to do something they can't because they don't have instincts.

But! If we understand that we're capable of creating a phenomenal athenaeum of information to build an extraordinary intuitive sense, we can understand that we must compile it consistently, constantly, that we must learn everything we need to make us increasingly intuitive, while still mixing in good old emotion and reason. Once we comprehend how to learn in a way that contributes to trusting our perceptions, senses, actions and intuition? Amazing things happen for any artist. (Merci, M. Monet!)

It's just a matter of continually inputting information we need, just as we feed information to our inner personal computers, which already have individual emotion and sense or reasoning built in, created by our experiences and education in life. Only humans have the capability of including emotion and reason to engage the intuitable information positively or negatively.

For example, two people may have identical educations and information, but one views the situation in a negative way, the other the (same) situation in a positive way-both based on how they feel, both based on a "hunch," or their "intuition."

Animals don't go there.

Instinct means they're wired to do certain things in certain ways with certain stimulation or motivation.

Still, not one is like the other. Individual personalities abound, no matter if it's a penguin or lizard or...