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Yearly Archives: 2016

Sweet (20)16 Coming Out Party!

Did you ever have a Sweet Sixteen “Coming Out” Party? I never did. Both my daughters were Bas Mitzvah’d — which entailed huge parties for families and friends.  In the Jewish tradition, the event signifies the transition of a child becoming an adult at age thirteen.  I remember also attending a Christian friend’s Sweet Sixteen party for their daughter.  The family made a similarly mammoth gathering, presenting a pair of high heels ceremoniously to their daughter who had now become a full-fledged woman upon reaching the age of sixteen. So why would I be viewing this year of 2016 at …

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Creative Synergy

What we do for love . . . (A Chorus Line, music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban).  I cry every time I hear that song — and I never even did the show! My husband and I lived the show (“Al” and “Kristine”).  We continue, 30+ years later, to live for the high that comes when the passionate creativity of artists — writers, directors, actors, scenic designers, lighting designers, visionary producers — come together to create an evening of theater.  Sprinkle in a receptive audience and everyone experiences magic.  That happened last night. My girlfriend, Joanne Dorian, was …

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Finding Your Ikigai

  Ikigai: Something one lives for;  purpose in life Dharma:  Duty Over the past seven years, I’ve been teaching a weekly “Mind/Body/Spirit” class at the Jewish Guild for the Blind.  This is the organization I was originally introduced to by our theatrical union, AFTRA (prior to SAG-AFTRA merger), which gave their membership the ability to learn broadcasting skills as a volunteer reader for the visually-impaired at InTouch Networks supported and housed for 30 years at The Guild.  Shortly after I came on board in 2008, however, the Guild stopped funding, closing down the 5 soundproof studios used daily by a rotating …

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