The Other J & J

By that I mean, not me and Joanne, my business partner at VisionFirst. We are known by our clients as J & J - or sometimes even as "The Js" as in "Call the Js and see if they can help us figure out how to do something innovative around here." No, not those Js. Here, I'm talking about Julie and Julia - two great foodies, one great movie, and a knock it out of the park performance from Meryl Streep. (Is there anything this woman cannot do???)

See the movie and then invite a friend over and make baked cucumbers and potato leek soup as I did with my friend Jane (another J!) a few years back after we read Julie Powell's memoir on cooking 524 recipes of Julia Child's in 365 days. You'll trip over the lessons here:

1. Start now. Whatever passion is percolating inside, give it a shot. Julia was 50 when "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" was published, arguably the beginning of her career.


2. Seek collaboration. Whether it's with your business partner, friends or significant other. Nothing worth doing can be done alone.


3. Press on. Failure and rejection were day to day experiences here. Did you know, for example, that Julia failed her first exam at Le Cordon Bleu because it was...too simple?
   
4. Don't temper your enthusiasm. No hiding your light under a bushel.


5. Eat butter. Enough said.

Got Carousel?

I had the occasion to ride a carousel a few days ago with my adventurous friend, Roseann. We messed up at first sitting on the horses that don't go up and down. We quickly calibrated and got side by side stallions of rather magnificent proportions. The cheesy carousel music played and round and round we went, up and down, up and down. It wasn't tedious like beating a three year old at Candyland can be. It was downright fun. Exhilirating even. (And the backdrop of Central Park didn't hurt either.)

I'm no evolutionary biologist, but I'll just bet there's some biochemical thing that happens when you find yourself doing that thing you did as a half-awake kid, you know, your version of Proust's madeleines. Don't let the summer get away from you before you fly a kite, play hopscotch with a bored first grader, or read Nancy Drew and see if you can figure out the Hidden Staircase thing before she does.

Read This Book

Compelling and graceful, provocative yet spare: Kate Walbert's A Short History of Women. Ever wonder what became of all that feminist energy - you know, the energy that delivered us the vote less than 100 years ago, or the impulse to demand choices beyond playpens and Garden Club? It's all here in the five generations of women in this linked narrative noteworthy for all it doesn't say or do, including preach or Pretend To Be An Epic. Get your hands on this ASAP and why not help a great woman writer - maybe even buy the book.
Check out Kate Walbert.

If the play is my thing...

...then I might be in for some real trouble.

Good news: Had my first one-act read last week; received huge positive feedback.

Not So Good News: Today's Times tells of a year long study that definitively proves gender bias in getting women's plays produced. Particularly disheartening was the experiment in which identical scripts with different names (Michael vs. Mary, e.g.) showed that women playwrights received "significantly worse ratings in terms of quality, economic prospect and audience response than Michael's." You can read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/theater/24play.html?emc=eta1

So, what are the chances I can get "Do Us Part" produced? Oh, now I'm determined to do it and I'll - well - keep you posted. Here's a picture from the Playwright's Group reading (I'm in the middle) with the luminous team of Albert Dabah, Paul Mantell, Gloria Falzer and Kristine Zbornick.

$107 of Bliss

What to do with all that life history - you know, the file on the fundraiser, the notebook you organized for the big project, every performance review ever written about you (especially by people who did not appreciate your unique charms). I have a compressed experience of personal joy that I'd like to recommend: Get a shredder truck to your house and let it all go.

Let go of the work files with confidential revenue plans that never worked out and spiffy organization charts designed to transform your workplace into a fast-moving idea machine. (Good luck with that.) That poetry prompted by your difficult relationship with your mother? Shred it so your own sired ones don't get any ideas. Do you really need the phone numbers of every parent in your child's third grade class? I had to think about that one for a moment but since my son's 21 now, I think The Law of Improbable Connections to your Children's Friend's Parents is officialy sunset, effective today.

Today I shredded 880 pounds of such stuff. Go ahead, I dare you to do more.

http://www.njshred.com/

The Woman from 30,000 Tags

Roseann told me about it first and she was right. The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD, that's right) is charming, beautifully housed and features some works that are not only artistically satisfying but food for the soul as well.

One such is Terese Agnew's Portrait of a Textile Worker crafted from 30,000 clothing tags. The combination of its beauty, ingenuity and deeper meaning leave the observer breathless, head tilted to the side realizing where her clever t-shirt and comfy jeans came from. Don't deprive yourself of this great moment. It will haunt you and yet, somehow it celebrates these unknown faces too.

You can learn more about Terese's work at http://www.tardart.com/html/ptw.php or visit the Museum of Arts and Design to learn more http://www.madmuseum.org/

Television Worth Watching

Occasionally, a television experience is like a well-made cup of tea on a rainy day: there is no other choice but to surrender and accept it as a simple gift of endless proportions.

Don't miss HBO's Precious Ramotswe of the The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, a literary gem perfected by Alexander McCall Smith and beautifully transferred to the screen by the late Anthony Minghella. As I watched the two hour show, I wished it never to end for I found my health improving with each viewing moment.

This would be a very good reason to subscribe to HBO or, barring that, make nice with your friend who already has it.

http://www.hbo.com/no1ladiesdetectiveagency/