positive thinking!

Every year I post New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day Superstitions but enough with the scary!  2015 has been depressing and difficult enough with long wars, wicked winds and long-winded wicked politicians. Let’s focus on super simple superstitions that are POSITIVE and bring GOOD LUCK only.

Now break out the kale, coins and cash because…

GOOD LUCK will come to you if you  —

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etsy.com to the rescue

It’s a weird holiday season. Instead of wrapping presents to the sound of Christmas carols, I’m listening to CNN. In this happy/sad time, feeling joyous is a challenge with so much uncertainty in the world. But it’s the middle of December and if we’re lucky we’re making or buying presents for those we love.

For your own WISH LIST —

express your feelings

One-Click Shopping — 

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“DEM-A-GOGUE — political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.”

Usually I don’t post about politics, but we’re headed for a DYSTOPIAN DISASTER now that Donald Trump’s showing up worldwide as a face of our nation. What the f@#k are Republicans thinking when they cheer for this clown who has no filters? As Mr. Obnoxious blabs loudly on screens everywhere, we should all feel EMBARRASSED… and WORRIED if he ever gains power.

Early in Trump’s campaign I overheard two guys my age in a parking lot —

“I’m going to vote for him, I think it’ll be funny —

and they both burst out laughing.

NOT funny guys–

Trump is Ticking-Time-Bomb SCARY.

Imagine a “commander-in-chief” who belittles, sexualizes and stereotypes women, calling them “fat pigs”, “dogs”, “slobs” and “disgusting animals.” A potential “role model” who describes Mexican immigrants as “rapists.”

How can anyone with common sense vote for an insensitive “leader” who says he doesn’t “have the time for political correctness?” Or a loose-cannon who spouts memories he can’t back up with facts? Or a bully who in front of the world of cameras makes fun of someone’s disability?

How can we stand for a presidential candidate who says a Black Lives Matter Protestor “deserved to be roughed up?” OMG! This potential “leader” thinks all people of a particular faith should register! Doesn’t this remind you of Adolf Hitler?

The leader of our country is not a joke, people. It’s time to get serious.

Deadly serious…

Drama, the good kind, is where it’s at in film right now. Some of the best new DRAMAS focus on strong, resourceful, complicated WOMEN characters,  driven by PURPOSE. Couldn’t happen at a better time — just as Hillary Clinton forges ahead in the Presidential campaign. Go Hillary!

Amazing Actresses like CAREY MULLIGAN, BRIE LARSON and CATE BLANCHETT haunt and inspire us in powerful performances that make a difference. These women and the characters they portray challenge us to do better and be better in our own lives.

Carey Mulligan is a Standout in Suffragette

Carey Mulligan’s passionate “Maud Watts,” a political innocent, factory-working wife/mother is radicalized by events and moved by real-life feminist activist, Emmeline Pankhurst, as she sacrifices what most of us never could, in order to make the world a fairer place for women. Parts of Mulligan’s performance are almost too painful to watch, as she experiences torture and tragedy in her sacrifice for Women’s Rights. The list of dates at the end, displaying where and when Women have won the right to vote is shocking because in our country we take this right so for granted.

I Predict An Oscar in Brie Larson’s Future —

Brie Larson’s “Ma” is the ultimate survivor as she protects her son’s innocence after hers has been stolen. Five-year-old Jack’s entire world is an eleven-foot shed where he lives with his mom, yet he has no idea that it’s a bad place or that he and his mom are being held captive by his father who’s his mother’s rapist. I saw the film over two weeks ago, yet the trailer still brings tears to my eyes. Keep Reading»

Labor & Delivery… interesting…

Hospital Stories —

Wednesday afternoon on my ER Shift, a British woman, “preggers with twins,” comes in to deliver. As I wheel her upstairs, I ask if she’s nervous and she says — with out-stretched arms —

I’m a little scared about being strapped to the gurney during my C-Section!

Whaaaaa?!

Apparently her friend who had twins (at another hospital) told her that she had to be restrained during her procedure. So I say —

Uh, no – not in this hospital – unless you’re a mental patient.

She laughs —

Well that explains it!

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badass! beyond hot!

Courage is something I think about a lot. As I’ve often said, we don’t know if we have it till we need it. So I’m in total awe of the fearless few who stand up for the rest of us in the face of enormous danger — like Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler who tackled and disarmed a suspected Islamist militant shooting an AK-47 on a packed, high speed train bound for Paris on Friday.

Averting a massacre —

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My body is in L.A. but my heart and soul (and the last of my euros) are stuck in Tuscany.

It’s impossible to “A to Z” all of the amazing memories. They simply can’t all fit into this post.

Arrivederci Tuscany — sigh…

A — Antinori Winery: a family business for 6 centuries

B — Bistrot: where fashionistas and families dine in stylish Forte dei Marmi

C — Cinque Terre: MANAROLA – tiny but mighty in charm

D — Danilo, my cute guide in Florence

E — Emilio, my hot date at Metamorfosi, Roma

F — Falerio Sarti — for out-of-the world SCARVES

G — Ginger Roma for healthy sandwiches, salads and smoothies

H — Hot, sweaty record-breaking temps throughout Italy (joking, I don’t really miss that!)

I — Italian hospitality

J — Just about everything at Fabriano (affordable gifts – like the mini “password and logline” notebooks) Keep Reading»