Love and kisses

Couldn't resist buying a book of stamps that's bright red, has a big heart in the background and a candy kiss in the foreground.

Sure couldn't hurt to bring a little more love in ...

In memory

From a news report:

"Sidney Sheldon, who won awards in three careers, Broadway theater, movies and television, and who at age 50 turned to writing best- selling novels about stalwart women who triumph in a hostile world of ruthless men, has died. He was 89."

Wow. The man who wrote Rage of Angels has died. That book made such an impact on me. At a time before I discovered "literature," when Nancy Drew and then Danielle Steele books were mostly what kept me engrossed, along came Sidney Sheldon's smart, classy heroine and powerful storytelling skills. I even fantasized about being a lawyer after reading that book, so compelling was Jennifer Parker, his main character.

It's amazing that that one book was just a tip of the iceberg in his distinguished career. Thanks, Sidney.

Art matters

Sometimes I wonder why in life coaching and in life I am so drawn to creatives or wanna-be creatives. Today I am not wondering.

Oprah showed a segment on 14 families in Charlotte, North Carolina who adopted children from Liberia. Interesting in and of itself, but the fascinating part is how it happened -- music. A group of orphan boys was giving a concert in their town. One woman there, a mother of two, heard what she called a message from God telling her she should adopt two of those boys. Everyone, including her husband, thought she was crazy at first. But then her friends went to see the boys perform and were similarly touched. It set off a chain reaction of adoptions.

Yes, I cried.

Later I read Anna Quindlen's wonderful piece in Newsweek about the movie Freedom Writers and how a teacher used writing to release a world inside of troubled teen-agers who seemed unreachable. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16608254/site/newsweek/) It was so touching and inspiring and it certainly convinced me to see the movie.

Art can do wondrous things.

Connection

Today I spent three hours talking to someone I just met. I'm confident we could have spent another three.

It is so special to make that kind of connection. Makes me wonder what it is exactly that sets the stage for that kind of comfort level. A vibe? Chemistry?

My gut tells me to stop analyzing it and know that life brings us things for good reason. Love that.

Warm thoughts

My apartment is cozy again. What never ceases to amaze me after having no heat is how absolutely fabulous it feels when things are back to normal.

Pure joy.

Paper wisdom

My fortune cookie message today:

The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

Yep. I've always been a big fan of that one.

The big chill

Coldest night of the year.

No heat.

'Nuff said.

Yes, Virginia

From Virginia Woolf, An Inner Life by Julia Briggs:

" ... A Room [of One's Own] was drafted in a single month (March 1929), and then heavily revised: 'It made itself up & forced itself upon me ... as I lay in bed after Berlin ... at such a rate that when I got pen & paper I was like a water bottle turned upside down. The writing was as quick as my hand could write.'"

Hail Olympia

A weathered, creased print of Manet's Olympia has lived on my bedroom wall for nearly eight years. I found her in an antique store in Hoboken called Fat Cat which no longer exists. I fell in love with her immediately and bought her for under $20, she in her non-descript frame and worn cardboard.

Well, a few months ago she fell off the wall because the cardboard couldn't hold any longer. There was nowhere to affix the hardware to hang her on the wall. I brought her to a framer and started asking myself questions about whether this battered print was worth the investment of a mat and new frame.

I told this story to a man in a cafe, explaining how I loved the print and how it was a highlight of my recent trip to Paris that I saw the real, breathtaking Olympia at the Musee D'Orsay. She is a high level prostitute known for her frank gaze and and Manet captured her in beautiful detail. She is also one of several pieces of art in my bedroom that features a lounging woman, I recounted to the man.

The more I spoke to him, the more I realized I had my answer. Of course I should make the investment. If I can spend 20 minutes talking about a piece of art, if it means that much to me, it's worth preserving in a nice frame. Duh.

So Olympia went back on the bedroom wall last night. She is shown off perfectly in a light mat and black frame. She's home.

She's home!

Job well done

I have been working so hard on a grant application this month that I think I should reward myself somehow. It's what I would tell my life coaching clients to do. Hmmmmmm.

A massage?
A new book?
A dinner splurge?
Shoes?

Ah, the possibilities ...

Warm and fuzzy

My mother gave me these pink fleece slipper socks for Christmas. I appreciated the thought, but figured they'd sit in a drawer since I prefer to be barefoot when I'm around my apartment.

Well, the cold weather has managed to invade a few nooks and crannies of my toasty apartment and I am so down with these slipper socks. They are cushiony and dreamy.

Leave it to Mom to give the gift of warmth.

Gratify me

Someone thanked me for my kindness today.

How good does that feel?

Makes me a little breathless.

Margaret Fuller

Started reading Their Other Side, Six American Women & The Lure of Italy by Helen Barolini. I'm enjoying it immensely.

The first of the six women is Margaret Fuller. So fascinating. She lived from 1810 to 1850. A writer. A woman before her time.

Some favorite lines:

Or was it another instance of the dilemma of gifted women who, the more they cherish their independence, the more prone they are to become dependent in a relationship?

... She had the gift of drawing out unsuspected qualities from those she befriended, she stimulated their interior growth, she gave them a higher self.

Love these. They resonate with me so.

Little boy

Today my nephew turned five. I love hearing his little voice say big words. I love that he knows Mozart when he hears it and I don't. I love that, as I sang Happy Birthday to him on the phone, I could tell he was smiling.

He's a light.

Body care

Today it was either a nap or the gym. Sleep or exercise. Rest or movement.

I chose gym, exercise, movement.

Bought some new vitamins, too.

Good for me.

Good as gold

This is the thing about watching awards shows like The Golden Globes. You get to see appreciation.

How often in life do we get to see that?

Rewards for work well done. Just as it should be.

And dreams coming true. That too.

Theories

I found myself channel surfing this evening after a day of writing. Where do I wind up but The History Channel, watching a show about JFK assassination conspiracy theories. How completely fascinating.

I consider myself pretty well informed on this topic overall. When in Dallas over a decade ago, I made the trip to the book depository and saw the grassy knoll and the whole scenario.

But watching a carefully laid out program with interviews of people who were there or who have since studied the assassination, plus seeing film footage pulled apart and analyzed is so compelling.

Still don't know where I stand ...

Health matters

I'm getting in a workout groove. The kind where it becomes less of a chore and more of a welcome nurturing for my body. Movement is easier. Stiffness is dissipating. Energy is increasing. I stand up straighter. I'm eating better.

What a difference some effort makes.

Good book

Finally finished Umbertina. Had 40 pages left and just had to settle into a secluded seat in a cafe and knock it out. So good. Nice to get absorbed in a story about Italian-Americans. Learned more about myself reading that book than any self-help book I've ever read.

Onto another Helen Barolini book ...

Beckoning

Italy is calling me. Not sure where or when or how I'll answer, but it is calling me by name. First and last.

Come.

Clients on the rise

From a life coaching perspective, emails don't get much better than what I received today.

A friend and former client who has begun to conceive of writing a children's book. Dreamy.

A former client who just landed a heckuva job in her field. Score.

A potential client being open about her life issues and desires. Gratifying.

A current client who feels she's on the brink of something fabulous happening in her career. Inspiring.

Is this a great job or what?

Creep

At about 1 a.m. I was awakened by a cockroach on my face. People who know me well find it remarkable I didn't have a heart attack. Instead, I freaked, turned on lights, put on shoes and grabbed a can of Raid. Eventually it showed itself again and I Raid-ed it to extinction.

That is the condensed version. In between, I froze, panicked, talked to myself, froze some more, chided myself for being a ninny. At some point I told myself that there were soldiers fighting in Iraq and people with major problems and that I needed to buck up. Duh.

There is one lingering issue. I couldn't get back into that bed last night. I was too jittery. So I slept a whopping hour on the couch after taking in Pride and Prejudice on HBO.

Today I did some research on the "meaning" of the cockroach. The website I found said seeing one meant it was time for a major life change. OK. I hear you.

The first step is a restful night's sleep in my bed ...

Kiss the cook

Got a grill pan for Christmas. A red one. Have been breaking it in with chicken and salmon and pineapple.

Suddenly I'm getting a little adventurous with food. Made a garlic broth yesterday that became a heckuva good soup today. Can do a hundred things with it.

Mmmmmm. Mmmmmmm. Good.

A fix

Today I realized writing is like my crack. Makes me high, high, high as a kite.

Can you beat that?

Mild

Seventy degrees. No socks. It's January.

Bless us everyone.

Shopping extraordinaire

Let's just say I had lots of gift card dollars to spend in Macy's and I didn't quite know where to begin. That is one overwhelming store.

I walked out with a tres cool pair of Michael Kors jeans and a Tahari v-neck top that was basically a steal.

And then, yes, I joined the 21st century and bought an MP3 player.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Duets

Received Tony Bennett's Duets CD from a friend last week. I'm diggin' it. It's a throwback to growing up with classics in the house, only with a new twist. My favorites on the CD:

Smile (with Barbra Streisand)
The Best Is Yet To Come (with Diana Krall)
Just In Time (with Michael Buble)

And who can resist the one solo on there?

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Terrific.

Writer thinking

From a writer character in Umbertina, the novel I'm reading:

To write seriously, to take one's self as a writer seriously is a vice, a sickness, like an itching that takes all your attention. Anti-life.

There are those days ...

January edition

Got inspired to write my life coaching newsletter for January. Check it out:

http://nancola.com/pages/newsletter.html

The first day

A day for working out, relaxing and thinking, a little bit of cooking. A rainy backdrop seems just about right.