No one ever would’ve called me political before. I didn’t worry about our world, it seemed like it was going well enough. But well enough seems like a long long time ago… Now I feel like I’ve got to pay attention or the whole world might go POOF!

So on this solemn eve of the historic impeachment public hearings, the only way I can counteract my anxiety is to think about a joyous eve… the one that happens every December 24^th.

Counteract Doomy-Gloomy with Festive & Bright!

Interestingly, this morning my bff Rachel,  knowing me as well as she does, texted me a link on this very subject. A sign? Maybe – I was planning to write this post for awhile…

24 LITTLE GIFTS EXTEND THE HOLIDAY SEASON

There are so many AMAZING ADVENT CALENDARS available this season — I’ve listed a few below. You’ll have fun researching them too. With a little help from Google, you’ll find Sock Advent Calendars, Wine Advent Calendars, Beauty Advent Calendars… If you can think of it, there’s probably an Advent Calendar out there. SUGARFINA has a super-cute one, but they’re sold-out online. SUGARFINA stores will get them, so if you’re in their neighborhood watch for them.

Hotel Chocolate UK has Advent Calendars in every Chocolate Flavor: White, Milk, Dark and more. Prices start at L12.50. Delivery is fast and reliable.

Meri Meri products put me in a good mood, even when I don’t get a callback. Their little house of hair accessories will get any little party animal into the holiday spirit. Priced at $42. (less if you’re a MOMA member.)

Check out the OPI Hello Kitty Nail Polish Collection @$49.90 — Purr-Fect!

What about the TEA LOVERS on your list? They can sip a cuppa something different every day in December. $32.00 from Palais Des Thes PARIS.

And the pièce de ré·sis·tance… DIPTIQUE PARIS has the most luxurious Advent Calendar of all, featuring candles, fragrances and skincare products with a lucky charm theme this year. I know I’d feel lucky to get this gift, hint-hint! Pricey at $425.00 but there’s a lot of product in this special gift. (Dream on, Evie…)

The NEWS is BUMMING ME OUT. Big shock. It’s bumming everyone out. Divisiveness, name-calling, blame-gaming – it’s happening every day, obnoxiously… sooooo obnoxiously!

What happened to —

• “Live and Let Live”
• “Agreeing to disagree”
• “Doing onto others…   ???

Why can’t our government work more like a hospital?

One of the things I really like about Volunteering in the ER is that it’s an equalizer. Old, young, rich, poor, black, white, brown, yellow, educated, uneducated, males, females, gays, lesbians, gender non-specifics… everyone gets sick. Everyone has accidents. Everyone needs medical assistance at one time or another.  Doctors, Nurses, Surgeons, Anesthesiologists, EMTs, Clinical Partners, Radiologists, Environmental Service People come in all colors, all ethnicities, all religions, all economic groups, and guess what – everyone manages to successfully work together. Go figure. 

As a volunteer I always try to find the common ground. It’s always bonding in some way. Finding the common ground immediately helps the other person relax. It’s easier to solve problems when we’re not biting each other’s heads off.

Let’s bring back civility. Let’s listen to each other, learn from each other and find the common ground.

Wish someone would help us relax on a national basis, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon.

We need to reclaim our humanity and make America kinder again…

Enuff said. 

VOLUNTEERING in the ER is sometimes the BEST, sometimes the WORST. Sometimes it gives me a lump in my throat.  Experiences unexpectedly stay with me, depending…

Life-and-death, happy-sad, love-hate: I’m emotionally all over the map.

VOLUNTEERING PUTS PROBLEMS INTO PERSPECTIVE

I always flashback to Orientation when my supervisor Charlayne scolded: “If y’all can’t focus on the patients, get your poor-me selves outta my department”

THE ER IS THE UNIVERSAL EQUALIZER

Patients with chest pains, symptoms of strokes, or difficulty breathing are all treated exactly the same in the ER. It doesn’t matter if you’ve donated a gazillion dollars to the hospital, or if you’re super famous, or homeless and can’t afford to pay your bill. Life-threatening symptoms get priority. Period.

INCLUSIVENESS IS PART OF THE MAKE-UP

The Hospital is the one place where diversity is a given: staff-wise, patient-wise and family-wise. Everyone is there to help or be helped. Tolerance is the normal state. If only the world would follow suit.

IT’S NOT ALWAYS A HAPPY ENDING

When someone dies and the family hasn’t been told yet, holding back the tears is a major challenge, even for an Actress.

I’M CHALLENGED BY LUMP IN MY THROAT MOMENTS

When a mommy and child come in, memories flood. I have to step away to compose myself because I identify so closely. In some ways it’s good because I can be compassionate. In other ways, not so much, because I’m on the verge of behaving like a basket-case.

THE SIGHTS, THE SMELLS, THE SOUNDS ARE DISGUSTING

Gotta be honest, the ER can get pretty gross fast. That’s when we page “Environmental to Triage, STAT!” I don’t know how they do it (but thank God they do!)

Otis and Maeve – mixed messages

SEX EDUCATION, a bawdy, bold and big-hearted British comedy series on NETFLIX, is about a 16-year old boy (Otis) with a Sex Therapist Mom (Jean) who gets talked into going into business with a badass cool girl (Maeve.) Maeve spreads the word that Otis is a sex therapist for high-schoolers. BUT Otis is totally inexperienced and in fact can’t deal with his own sexuality… yet he’s surprisingly intuitive when it comes to dealing with the problems of other teens.

awkward and awesome!

Otis and his Mom – love/hate

It’s a little bit of a parallel universe for me, since I’m someone who hates hospitals (especially the one my Mom frequented when she was dying)… yet now I’ve ironically extended my community service sentence voluntarily because (spoiler alert) I’m actually pretty good at helping others deal with being at the hospital. Go figure.

SEX EDUCATION’s outstanding cast is led by Asa Butterfield, as the nerdy inexperienced sex-pert. Gillian Anderson plays his frank, ff-ingly free and boundary-less mother.  Emma Mackey is brilliantly tender and tough in a break-out role that I would’ve loved to have gone out for before I aged-out of hottie-in-high-school parts. So sad…

I laughed and cringed as I binge-watched all eight episodes. It definitely left me wanting more… much more.

scene from a sex manual

True story. A couple of weeks ago…

I’m in Santa Monica, parked on Wilshire Blvd near 3^rd Street Promenade on the far-far right by the curb, facing the Ocean.  The sun is super bright, blinding me.  So I lean over the steering wheel to block out the sun and read/answer an email. Okay, yeah, I admit, it’s a long email.

SUDDENLY I hear a slow siren, then a Man’s DEEP VOICE over a LOUDSPEAKER.  My head pops up. Whaa?!

OMG! An enormous FIRE TRUCK is heading directly toward me! In my parking lane! On the wrong side of the street! Y I K E S!

My eyes dart from side-to-side. Where’s the fire?!

The bellowing VOICE:

Is everything all right?

What did I do wrong? Keep Reading»

Happy Holidays a la Dover Street Market

Japan style is SUPER COOL, SUPER STYLISH, UNIQUE AND A.MAZ.ING!

I’ve always dreamed of going to Japan, but the next best thing is discovering websites where I can bring a little Japanese Style home for the holidays.

Christmas and Hanukkah bring out the sleuth in me. I love, love, love finding finds no one I know knows about. Like searching for shells, you hunt and hunt and suddenly you discover a treasure! And there are so may treasures to find in these international shopping sites.

Here are my favorite 2018 JAPANESE WEBSITE FINDS for gift-giving, wish-listing or self-treating. Priced from less than $10 to more than $100, you’ll find a little something for everyone and every budget.

Gifts-By-The-Month

KiraKiraCrate — (A monthly surprise of awesome beauty products like masks, make-up, lotions and sponges, along with beauty tools you never knew you needed, in colorful packaging.)

MyFacestory –(Korean masks galore from chocolate to champagne — order 4 per box or 7 per box with a 6-month or 12-month subscription.)

Accessories and Handbags

KiwandaKiwanda — (Check out Kiki’s world of glitter socks, sheer socks, motif socks, sparkle socks for women and men + they have shoes, clothing, umbrellas and more.)

SouSou — (you’ll say sou-sou “yes yes” to a wide range of fun, well-priced accessories for men and women and the home. Check out the Eco Bags and Totes.

Sou-Sou’s Origami Tote @$43.90 in solids and prints

Tembea – (Beautifully constructed totes  — every type you can think of: book totes, school totes, baguette totes — pricey but worth it.)

Merippa  –(Cheery, snuggly reversible slippers in size S-M-L for kids and adults. Wear one inside in and one inside out for a good morning surprise statement. )

Hot Fashion Japan-Style

Uniqlo – (You’ll get a bang for your buck, especially if you buy puffy jackets — they come in every color for every age — best value ever!)

Dover Street Market – (Comme des Garcons’ department store in Tokyo, London, NYC and a new one in L.A. — in every city a Fashionista Must!)

Blue Roses Boredom Tee by Ed Meadham from Dover Street Ginza

(There are so many fab finds in these websites that I’d love for myself. I just hope my Dad and my friends read this post, hint, hint!)

I love films. Love being in them, working on them, watching them and hearing about them in Q&As. I try to see EVERYTHING.

Summer is usually a challenge because I’m not into blockbusters. But this summer’s smaller films have touched me deeply… and have left me thinking about them long after I’ve left the theatre. Yeah, I still like seeing films on the big screen. I prefer watching movies with big audiences. Laughter’s contagious and more intense in a crowd, like the higher connection you feel when you’re at sitting in an outdoor amphitheater listening to a concert under the stars where the music’s really loud. It takes you to another place…

These three films took me to another place…

CIVIL RIGHTS infused with humor

BlackkKlansman –

Spike Lee couldn’t have picked a more important time to release this sly and chilling black-and-white expose.

With our country divided in such an ugly way right now, I wish everyone could see this film, In this true story, John David Washington (Denzel’s son) plays passionate undercover cop, Ron Stallworth who infiltrates the KKK on the phone, then drags an unlikely partner played by Adam Driver, into a courageous and crazy caper fooling members of the Klan and leader David Duke deliciously. Spike Lee’s film about racism, rebellion and working within the system forces us to face the realities of our past, present and future. Horrific scenes from Charlottesville remind us Ron Stallworth’s fight is far from over. BlackkKlansman is an important film to see. Really important.

Blindspotting —

Daveed Digs and Rafael Casal opening weekend in L.A.

Two life-long friends, convicted felon Collin (Daveed Diggs) and troublemaker Miles (Rafael Casal), try to get through the last three days of Collin’s year-long probation, when Collin witnesses a white cop shoot an innocent black man in cold blood and then ends up with a gun while he can’t stop thinking about what he has seen. Stars and Writers, Diggs and Casal, explore new and old worlds, racial biases, and the push-pull of an intense and complicated friendship set in the gentrification of modern day Oakland.  Loyalty and self-preservation clash in frightening situations with sweet moments. Blindspotting is unlike any film I’ve seen before. Worth seeing.  

COMEDY infused with anxiety

Eighth Grade –

Elsie Fisher and Bo Burnham in a Q&A at the Landmark in West L.A.

OMG! If I hadn’t already gotten through that grade in school, this film would’ve scared the s—t out of me! I’m sure I would’ve begged to be home schooled, ahaha!

Awkward with a capital “A,” Bo Burnham’s sensitive portrait of a shy middle schooler is stressful yet refreshing, lonely yet universal and depressing yet hopeful.  It’s like a real life horror movie that we can laugh at because we’ve been through it and survived. Eighth Grade is really good and btw, Elsie Fisher is the real deal, breaking out in more ways than one, ahaha.