Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Traditions, new and old
Our Christmas Eve and Day were quite unconventional.Christmas day, we decided to start a brand new tradition with our friend Rachel. We decided we'd go see two movies, Dreamgirls and Casino Real. We thoroughly enjoyed them both actually.
I was kinda surprised I liked the new James Bond. Altho I'm not really a fan of a scruffy, weathered, tired-looking Bond. But, in short, the plot and characters were engaging enough that they didn't need a lot of car chases, scantily clad loosey-goosey girls, fancy cars and gadgets to make it appealing and interesting.
We also saw Dreamgirls at ArcLight Cinemas (it was playing in The Dome). A lot of fun. And as they often do, ArcLight had costumes from the movie on display!
Dreamgirls ** NO PLOT SPOILERS ** Loved it. A movie musical rarely manages to pull off stunt-casting and still achieve a solid and faithful take on the original (Chicago suffered from stunt-casting... also known as "star turns" where they cast someone for star quality rather than because they're a singer who deserves the part and can handle the songs).
Wow. Dreamgirls is a story that engages you. It's a parody of the rise and fall of Diana Ross & The Supremes as well as the birth of R&B and Disco, but focused through the lives of a small family of friends and coworkers. I always cared about these characters (even when they did questionable things). I'd see it again!
Jennifer Hudson (of American Idol fame) was perfect. She not only sings the pants off those songs, she can act as well and really made the part of Effie White... well, sing! Beyonce surprised me by not being the center of the film, a real feather in the integrity cap of director Bill Condon. In fact, this film is about the lives of a core group of characters, with no one character being the absolute center. I loved that!
Eddie Murphy was well cast as the likable James Brown funky philandering soon-to-be hasbeen. Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, Danny Glover, and Anika Noni Rose were all strong and up to the task. Keith Robinson, altho not as vocally strong, worked really nicely as Effie's younger brother. There is some miscasting based on voice quality, sadly. But not much.
All things considered, THIS is a great example of how to transfer a Broadway musical to the big screen. Go see it! The music, singing and acting make it a triple threat. A footnote: there are some fun cameos in the movie too!
The Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration!
Christmas Eve we went to a free concert (more like a 6 hour city talent show) at The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (present home of the Los Angeles Opera, former home of The Academy Awards/Oscars). It was so festive and fun, even if the talent ranged from solid to refreshing to moderate and painful. This 47 year Christmas tradition is sponsored by the county, free to the public (even parking! gasp!!). And we could tell by the sheer number of families lined up waiting to get into this 3300 seat (approx) theatre, that many must do this year after year. 
Inside the lobby of the "frozen in 1964" Dorothy Chandler 
Looking out across the plaza of The Music Center from Dorothy's outdoor terrace (at least 3 stories up). You can see in this photo The Mark Taper (another theatre), and behind that is an even larger theatre, The Ahmanson, and not far away, the amazing feat of architecture known as The W*lt D*sn*y Concert Hall. B and I have been to all four repeatedly in the last 3 years. 
Huge Christmas tree with some typical Los Angeles type hills in the background. In fact the area of Downtown Los Angeles containing The Music Center is known as Bunker Hill.
The edge of *The W*lt D*sn*y Concert Hall* (click that link if you want to see the whole hall... it's amazing) and a piece of the Los Angeles skyline (and a tiny sliver of moon). Our new tradition of seeing 2 movies on Christmas was given a slight twist as we sat eating Chinese food at one of the only restaurants open on Christmas night. We laughed about how different the two movies, Casino Real & Dreamgirls are from one another. So, we decided our two-movies-on-Christmas tradition must include two wildly different movies, diametrically opposed.
Looking forward to next year's traditions, old and new alike.
~Shephard :)
posted by Shephard @ 
Friday, December 22, 2006
Ho Ho HO!
" MY CANDY CANE!! STAY AWAY!!" 
"I love my job." 
This Santa is just scary. Period.
Sensitive Santas join in the crying.
The love just overflows, doesn't it?
Little Sally Field visits Santa: "Why?? WHY, Santa??? WHY!??"
I can't quite figure out the anatomical structure here.
It scares me. I'd be screaming too.
lol
Oh the joy.
Sheer terror.
How could anyone be scared of this fluffy, kindly face?
(only years of therapy can reveal this)
"For the love of God, get me OUT of HERE!"
Most Adorable.
And for some GORGEOUS decorations in the beautiful city of San Francisco, go *here* to my friend Charles, to see the pics he took a couple days ago. Just WoW.
~Shephard :)
Thursday, December 21, 2006
A Pleasant Horizon
(view: the island of Molokai, from Lahaina on Maui) I think.... therefore I have too much time on my hands.
I have always been prone to worrying. My childhood taught me to fend for myself. In my family, if you wanted something or needed anything to happen, you had to MAKE it happen yourself. The Disappointment Merry-Go-Round was a hard one to get off of and taught me a lot. Thus today, I'm a pretty resourceful problem solver and I think on my feet. And I wouldn't trade that for the world. But even as resourceful as I am, and as "take charge" a personality as I tend to be, it only goes so far when dealing with what life throws at you. I definitely have had my challenges at keeping from being cynical (not my nature) or a control freak. Neither are solutions and both are ways of avoiding responsibility.
I wouldn't repeat this year for all the chocolate at Cadburry.
The stress was not the kind associated with tragedy or physical challenges or illness or hardship. And I'm certainly in tune with gratitude enough in my life to know how difficult life can really be. No, the stress this year has come from a continuous source of manageable but irritating and exhausting challenges. We all hear problems come in three's. But when three turns to ten, and then fifteen, I just stop counting and create something more pleasant on the horizon: Hawaii.
There's been something unpleasant (manageable but unpleasant) on the horizon now since at least February. Most of them having nothing to do with each other. Being a problem solver, I do tend to attack and solve things through sheer will-power. But by December, I was feeling so tired of this year. I was looking forward to Hawaii to take a break, relax, replenish.
Three days into Hawaii, we find out B's work situation has collapsed and people are scrambling to save the film he's been working on. They replaced the director because of a conflict of "vision" just one day after the company laid off 166 people (stressful even if it's not your own head on the block). Heads rolled, and our peaceful vacation was invaded by the drama and phone calls and plots and plans and worrying, not to mention placing another unpleasant thing on the horizon (which I won't go into). There was no way to prevent this. And we certainly wouldn't have wanted to be out of the loop and unaware of what was going on. That would have been more stressful. Sometimes, you're just at the mercy of the bad choices of others. That sums this situation up in a nutshell. Just part of life. (I hope that karma is swift and appropriate. And as I look at things, it does certainly seem to be).
We enjoyed Hawaii thoroughly. How can you not? So beautiful. And peaceful. But I couldn't shake that lingering, hovering feeling of unpleasant that looms on the horizon. My mind was not clear of it, always distracted by it. Still is.
Well, I'm not one to let my inner child just throw a tantrum. I look for silver linings. I look for potential and for what I can learn from the experiences in my life. But no matter how grateful and fortunate, and thankful for all my blessings and the reality of knowing there is so much worse that can befall someone.... sometimes, I'm just tired of that parade of problems and the poor and inconsiderate choices made by others that side-swipe us. We even saw this coming. But when ego's and jobs are involved, there's not much you can do about it. Things happened to fall the way they did this month. So, no looking back, only forward.
I'm not a whiner. When you have friends who can't afford to buy a house in this ridiculous, ludicrous Los Angeles market, you try not to complain about house problems/challenges. When you have friends who don't have a spouse, you try not to complain about in-laws and other inherent issues. When you have friends who lose/lost their jobs, you try not to complain about the stress of work. When you have friends with deeply dysfunctional family, you try not to complain about having needy, manipulative, selfish and insensitive family. What's left? (crickets chirping) Just gratitude.
Am I out of my mind to be thinking of another vacation?
Time to place something pleasant on the horizon.
Maybe Mexico. It's close by and inexpensive. A 4 day cruise maybe. Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Cabo. May or June. Or July, or August, or September. I can make it til then.
UPDATE: Kenju makes a good point that I should clarify, and I couldn't agree more. Running from problems does not solve them, and I'm a solver, so I don't hide or run. When I create pleasant things on the horizon, it's to balance out the negative, to defeat my perception of continuous problems and to reward myself for getting from point A to point B.
Shephard :)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Rainbow Eucalyptus
(you should be able to click and expand each photo)There was no way I was leaving Maui without seeing these incredible trees.
And we only had some hints as to where to find them. We knew they were on The Road To Hana (hawn-uh).
It was raining as we started The Road to Hana. And the people at the road-side fruit & crepes stand were in none-too-friendly a mood. They were not Hawaiians, I might add, and definitely lacking the Aloha Spirit ...but maybe it was their off day or a dozen other good reasons for not being friendly on a rainy morning out in the middle of a rainforest. The chocolate crepe was over-cooked (quel surprise), but the $5 was worth the information.
They told us we'd see the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees a mile or so ahead.
We came upon a rather unimpressive grouping of them behind a fence. Tall and majestic, for sure, but not the dazzling color I expected from photos. And we couldn't get anywhere near them to take photos. I was so disappointed.
Things got a little more foresty, and we rounded a corner and there they were! Wet and raining, we didn't care, we pulled over and snapped a couple dozen photos.
They're very tall! In fact, it is reported that they are THE fastest growing trees, and can reach 100 feet in just seven years. Holy Chlorophyl, Batman!
And then we spotted him. Wow. He looked like he'd been splashed in florescent paint. The glare and the rain made it hard to get photos, but we did our best. The light in Hawaii is so glaringly bright. Brilliant in fact, making everything seem more vivid. 
Here is another tree, more shaded. A good example of the range of color. 
And 3 hours later, on the way back, there was some nice filtered light, and we took more photos of him(and watched how many cars zoomed by, not even noticing these trees).
The younger trees seemed to have less oranges and reds. 
Here's a medium sized tree.... just getting its orange. (I'm totally guessing at this... there weren't that many trees to tell if that's a correct assumption).
My favorite photo. B took it, and I just love the color and composition. These trees were said to be planted in the 1940's. They're not really indigenous to Hawaii. They originated in Papua New Guinea.
The last two photos show you the difference between full sunlight and filtered shade. 
This was definitely a highlight of Maui for us. If you're going to Maui, and you're going on The Road to Hana, which starts shortly after the little town of Pai'i (Pie-ee-uh), you'll find these trees almost exactly 7 miles into the drive (there are mile markers that begin at the start of the 360). The trees are on the left, and the turnout to pull over is just beyond them on the right.
A friend of mine told me about "The Rainbow Trail" on Kauai that has lots of these trees. If we ever get to Kauai, we're definitely going to look for them again.
~Shephard :)
Monday, December 18, 2006
Where Do I Begin?
Impressions of Maui. (told so by many locals).
I'm going to have to do a post about the food as well.
It's easy to save money and portion out your special meals and supplement with local fruit and food stands, if you do your homework. But generally, we found you do get what you pay for. The best meals are costly and can be extraordinary. We had the best meal of our lives on this little island. That will be a whole post in itself
(care to guess which restaurant, Tutu?)
Another post will be devoted to the surprises and breath-taking views on
The Road to Hana.
This Rainbow Eucalyptus was something we'll never forget.
We had a comfortable condo with a big partially covered lanai facing the blue-green ocean and the smaller islands of Molokai and Lanai. Ka'anapali was a much quieter area and a great launching point for everything we did.
Our lanai was a mere 15 feet from the waves. I remember it like it was yesterday (oh wait... it was yesterday... yet it feels like several days ago). We're back, and still adjusting to things due to some dramatic events we returned to (work related, tho not affecting B fatally). Returning to 45* weather, bills to pay, 900 photos to sort, and a few Christmas events to enjoy and navigate, so I'm slow catching up.
But I won't rush sharing the pix and stories. More fun that way. Mele Kalikimaka, More soon,
~Shephard :)
Monday, December 11, 2006
Making a Parade of Every Moment
Photos & stories when we return.
Within Reason
Peace, Hope and Faith
The history of winter celebrations that fall on or near December is a long one. The islamic tradition of Ramadan, the Celtic celebration of The Winter Solstice, and even Roman and Greek celebrations in tribute to parts of their pantheon. Fall and Winter have always been times of preparation for the future, and of focusing on future hopes. Winter used to be a bleak and hard time, and it is a long-standing tradition to remember and be grateful during this time, and know that everything is temporary. Wars, battles, and squabbles would stop at this time, halted by extreme weather, and people would reflect on higher priorities in the future year. Peace and goodwill toward men in the deep of winter is a traditional hope dating farther back than organized Christianity.
Christmas Trees
Romans, Greeks, Celts and Druids all have histories of decorating trees and evergreen boughs in and outside the home that scholars say stretches as far back as 700 years before the birth of any Christian-based religion. Traditions vary, but include putting pieces of shiny metal decorations and candles and even presents/offerings tied to boughs and branches. This time was a time of renewal and hope, and the evergreen was a symbol of that hope. As was the yule log.
Gratitude
For me, the Spirit of this season reminds me to stop the hectic pace of my life, the day to day routine I'm so numbed to. I step outside myself and am reminded of all that is truly Universally important and relevant: kindness, generosity, compassion, hope, faith, and gratitude. Gratitude for all there is around me, the people in my life, the country I live in, the belief that underneath it all, we are all the same despite all the blaming and shaming and pointing of fingers, despite all the violence and greed and selfishness. We're all the same.
Lifting My Spirits Above the Routine
I love how this time of year stops the routine, and we're reminded to think about appreciating those we love. What little bauble or gift can I give to make their eyes sparkle and light up? What gesture or kindness can I offer them? Oh sure, the commercial pressure to buy and spend and not leave anyone we know out of the gift loop is there. But to me, that pressure is just an annoying fly I can swat at and it will leave me alone. And I revel in making my world just that much more beautiful at this time of year. Lifting my spirits above the routine. Slowing down and actually looking at the world. Your eyes don't glance over the landscape as often when they are stopped by decorations and lights and smiling faces.
Should's and Shouldn't 's
There are plenty:
You should buy buy buy.
You should spend this time with family.
You should observe this date assigned as Jesus' birthday.
You shouldn't be different than everyone else.
But I know The Truth. And The Truth is, no religion owns this time of year and how we each choose to celebrate and reconnect. So I choose to observe a time-honored, holy and universal perspective beyond organized western doctrines. The values of this season have been around long before Christianity: gratitude, compassion, hope, faith and peace.
Winter Priorities
What originally inspired this post was me being tired of the ignorance that masquerades as religious indignation. Jesus is not the reason for the season. The values and focus of the season were around long before. His teachings underscore the wisdom of compassion. It's no coincidence that this time of year became the observed time of Jesus' birth. But the message is often overshadowed by the messenger in this country.
Historically, The reason for the season is to disengage from our routine lives and reconnect with our humanity: Compassion, Gratitude, Hope, Peace and Faith (whatever you have faith in is valid for you). No matter what you label the holiday, that reason has been tied to this time of year long before the story of Jesus. I count on this yearly reminder of those sacred and holy priorities to wake me up before I get caught up in a brand new year. And I'm grateful for every belief system, religion and tradition, old and new alike, that jog our collective memory of what really matters. What would Jesus do, indeed.
~Shephard :)
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Rockin' Christmas
I love this photo of our living room tree.(click on any of the pix to view them larger)
Below are some fun pix of the ornaments taken as I rock the camera.
Rippled 
Seeing Stars
Down the Drain
An entire Universe with a golden sun and shooting stars. (no, I didn't have any alcohol)
Merry Merry :)
~S
MORE Christmas photos in posts below!
Friday, December 08, 2006
So This is Christmas
The news may say it's 73* out, but it feels more like 63*--my hands are cold as I type this!
I've been soooo busy this year, I've barely had a moment to get in touch with the spirit of Christmas. But I'm getting there. It's here, hovering about. I just need to focus. Making Christmas CD's helped a lot.
This year, I didn't put all the ornaments on the living room tree. Just the red and gold ones, with a few of the silver mylar for some sparkle.
The decorations look even nicer with the new wood mantle. I found these ball wreaths last year at an great place called Stats. 
A new decoration this year.... his name is Dasher, and he was sent to me by a big sneak who likes pink. I think he's lonely, and I need to order the other reindeer and the fat guy and sleigh. 
I have never understood how Noah's Ark ended up being a traditional decoration at Christmas. This piece, like the reindeer, is by Jim Shore. Love his stuff, very affordable and whimsical, even tho it strays into the religious themes a little too much for my tastes (his snowmen are cute, Marianna!). But I have many of his secular pieces and this ark. My favorite part of the ark? The 2 cats. 
Second tree, dining room. In our previous house, we had 4 trees and lighted fur boughs outlining everything. We used to have to have friends over just to get the house all decorated. Took an entire day.
Simpler times, now.
I've discovered over the last few years that over-sized ornaments often make trees look more complete and whimsical. So both trees have them. This lime green mylar tree is perfect for our dining room.
These ornaments came from World Market(CA's know it as Cost Plus World Market),
and the ornament tree, Pottery Barn.
And yes, the kitties leave them all alone, not interested (see *this* photo).
Hawaii is just 4 days away.
I'm not even close to ready.
But the holiday shopping is half done.
Family members taken care of.
Just have to buy for a handful of cherished friends, and I'm done.
Which, I thought might be fun to do while we're IN Maui.
I think I'll go heat some home-made chicken soup that B made me (love our new crockpot), and finally get around to reading some blogs.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza,
Peace on Earth.
~Shephard
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Palm Springs Eternal
This definitely gets your attention. As would any 70 foot dinosaur along the freeway. It's just west of Palm Springs. Look closely, that's B by it's leg. Naturally, I call this photo "B-Rex." (hee hee)
This attraction was bought and is now run by anti-evolutionists/uber-creationists, and they hand you literature that attempts to explain away evolution completely. Creepy. If you want to go up inside the two dinosaurs, you have to listen to their creationist propogranda. No thanks. If you ask me, they're right at home out there in the middle of the "god-forsaken" desert.
Palm Springs. It's an oasis, alright.Shopping galore for the genteel (lol, thanks Naomi!) vacationer who simply wants to soak up the rays, eat, shop, golf and play. A really lovely and unique city (with summer temperatures getting up to 118*).
We stayed at this Mid-Century charmer. It's inner pool courtyard is hidden from view from the outside, so in its heyday, such celebs as Marilyn Monroe and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. would stay here when they wanted to get-away unnoticed while all the paparazzi crowded the swank hotels.
Each room is themed. Movie Men, Movie Women, Jasper Johns, Hawaiian Surf, Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, etc. Ours was the uh.... The Musicals Suite. lol Pictured above. 
I loved the louvered windows. 50's decor everywhere ~pilfered from garage sales and estate sales, no doubt. The bedding and TV's always matched. 
B was there w/7 others for a retreat to work on the film. So I stayed in the room, rested, read, wrote, played with my new cel phone and in general relaxed. It was wonderful. 
I took this laying on the bed reading, as the sun came streaming in.I like this photo. I may use this image on my green cel phone. :) It looked good when I sent it to Charles.
There are rooms that are less colorful for weaker constitutions. 
And then there's the Marilyn suite. lol"Pretty in Pink" it's called. I knew Wendy would likey.
The kitchen in the Pretty in Pink suite (note the PINK TV). 
French 50's. Tiffany blue, bright orange. Fun. Tiffany blue TV.
Hawaiian Surf room was one of my faves. 
The public meeting area where we ate lunch. 
I snapped this at 5:30am. The light was stunning.What the room lacked in comfortable pillows and modern plumbing, it made up for in charm and kitch.
Of course Palm Springs is decked out for the holidays.We went to dinner, but didn't go out shopping too much, tempting tho it was. So, you'll have to take my word that the shopping area along Palm Canyon is one of the nicest shopping streets I've been to. Palm Springs has tons of atmosphere.
We toured the neighborhoods before we left, and I took about 15 photos of an entire neighborhood with nothing but Mid-Century homes (very distinct). I'll save those for my Saturday Parade of Homes. :)
Glad to be back.
We'll definitely be returning to Palm Springs.
~Shephard :)
Thursday in My World
Returned home from a lovely two days in Palm Springs. It was a work retreat for B, and I tagged along. We stayed at a very kitchy mid-century motel, themed up the wazoo. This was the veiw from our room's doorway.
It was a nice two days, but honestly, we were both exhausted after a very busy week and a half, and now I have a chest cold with Hawaii 5 days away. Sigh. Oh, and we returned home to a flat tire, our phones don't work, tons of stuff to do but stuck here waiting for the repair guy to show up some time between 8am and 6pm ("We're the phone company. We don't care, cuz we don't have to."). And then there's that thing that we normally deal with at this time of year. Christmas. :)
But hell or high water, at the very least, I'm going to nurse my cold in Hawaii. B is home today making me chicken soup (and fixing the flat tire). Was Palm Springs worth it? Yeah. For a number of reasons.
I'm going to take it easy today, do some Maui research, order Christmas presents from catalogs, drink grapefruit juice, and listen to 2 CD's full of Christmas music Wendy sent me. If you're going to be sick, that's not a bad gig.
Fab photos to post, hopefully later today.
~Shephard :)
Monday, December 04, 2006
Medicine Monday: Mountain Lion
Mountain LionLeadership
Be your own leader
When we say "leader" we all think of those holding important roles and positions in our careers or countries or even churches. But that's such a tiny aspect of leadership.
You are a leader, right this very minute, to someone.
If not by job status, most likely someone you care about or love. A sister. A brother. A close friend, a child or a neighbor. Someone who's down and out. Someone to whom you are mentoring. Always, you are a leader by the very life you live, the choices you make.
We forget that we're always being watched. Our friends, relatives, neighbors, workmates and community see our every move and choice. Whether we realize it or not, we are leading. So leadership is part of each and every one of us.
As far as those who take on very public roles as leaders.... true leaders don't insist that others follow (or force them through shame and tyranny). Those who know their own hearts don't require the validation of followers. Leaders also know that pleasing yourself and pleasing everybody else is often mutually exclusive. Makes for hard choices. Being a leader is about setting a good example, and if you're trying to please everyone else, you're following, not leading.
As you "lead" your life as a parent, worker, boss, friend, child, brother, sister, neighbor, etc, you will inevitably find yourself the targets for the finger-pointing and disappointment of others. It comes with the territory. They will project their insecurity and blame onto you. Some people would rather blame than take responsibility for "leading" their own lives.
We robotically adopt the beliefs, morals and ideals handed down to us, often without question, and then point our blaming fingers at the government, etc. You know what they say: One finger accusing them, three fingers pointing backwards to the real problem. We're not really encouraged to think for ourselves. And this is what keeps the dysfunctional mechanism of society chugging along at full steam.
To me, the authors nailed the most important thing about leadership in our lives. Always question authority. Or as they put it, "Ask questions of anyone to whom you have given authority." Don't be a sheep, following along blindly. We all have a responsibility to know exactly what it is we are supporting, where are money is going, and what people are doing with our support. It's always a good idea to look at where our beliefs come from that we are subscribing to, and how they affect the world. I think most people would never forgive themselves if they opened their eyes wide and saw what they were actually supporting. If everyone opened their eyes and recognized love as love and hate as hate, the world wouldn't be in so much trouble. This is why I refuse to be a fence-straddler. This is why I speak up.
Leadership is just like mountain lion in another respect. Mountain lion is also known as Florida Panther (related species), Puma and Cougar. But whatever you call it, a cat is a cat. Likewise, whatever you want to call your role in your life, you're still a leader.
~Shephard :) * * *
Medicine Monday Banner Artwork owned by me. "Medicine" is a Native American term meaning wisdom and value. The Medicine Cards are used for introspection, not fortune-telling. Card and Concept copyrights belong to the authors, Jamie Sams & David Carson, and the artist, Angela Werneke. I share this as a unique resource for reflection.
Labels: Medicine Monday