Jane Fonda is eighty-four TODAY! Happy Birthday, Jane! I've written about her here before, mainly to tell you how much I admire her and that I consider her my exercise muse, role model, and guru. It's all because of Jane that I'm a fit and strong and youthful eighty-one year old. Way back in the seventies, I began working out with her when she came out with her first workout tape. And as a result I haven't stopped working out since. Of course my routines have changed. I don’t take aerobics anymore not even step aerobics. But I bet Jane does. Instead, today, I walked an hour and a quarter accumulating ten thousand steps. Tomorrow I'll add some weights. No matter what, I walk everyday. For someone eighty-one that’s quite enough. Here is Jane at age eighty-four: I love her gray hair. Mine is gray too but not so short. Since there have been several articles out about Jane and her birthday, I found this one in Vogue which gives us a list of her best movies - the ones that made … [Read more...]
Quarantini, anyone?
I first heard of the quarantini from Jane Fonda a couple of days ago. She’s stuck at home just like the rest of us in California (the governor’s orders) and suggested we try one. Derek Brown, author of “Spirits, Sugar, Water, Bitters: How the Cocktail Conquered the World” and owner of the Washington, DC, cocktail bar Columbia Room, says, “It’s the drink you make with what you’ve got in your cabinets or freezer, and is best enjoyed with whomever you’re cooped up with — or perhaps a neighbor in need.” And if you do have the ingredients, here’s Brown’s recipe: A Quarantini that can be made with common at-home drink ingredients. 1½ to 2 ounces of a not-necessarily-sweet base spirit, like vodka or gin — or another of your choice ¾ ounce of citrus (such as lemon or lime juice), whose vitamin C is great for immunity ½ to ¾ ounce of simple syrup to sweeten things up. (Simple syrup, as its name suggests, is simple to make. Just boil equal parts sugar and water until they … [Read more...]
What I read in 2019
2019 This is my journey in books for 2019! TOTALS I read 7,023 pages across 27 books SHORTEST BOOK: 64 pages The Love Poems of Rumi by Rumi LONGEST BOOK: 624 pages My Life So Far by Jane Fonda AVERAGE LENGTH: 260 pages MOST POPULAR: 602,483 people also read Educated by Tara Westover LEAST POPULAR: 0 people also read When We Almost Drowned by Jessica Barksdale MY AVERAGE RATING FOR 2019: 4.7 HIGHEST RATED ON GOODREADS: Mindful Dementia Care: Lost and Found in the Alzheimer's Forest by Ruth Dennis it was amazing 5.00 average MY 2019 BOOKS MY LAST REVIEW OF THE YEAR Saving Papa’s Tales by Richard Ebner is an extremely strong example of good memoir writing. His story of a father son relationship that includes conversations about their past history and events of the present times – including the … [Read more...]
I’ve read a couple of great books lately
I'm sure you've heard me say from time-to-time that I am very compulsive. Once I set my mind to do something, I have to go all the way. Reading is one of those somethings. I signed up on Goodreads to read at least twenty-five books this year. That's really not a lot, but with my writing regimen, it's not easy. I did it in 2018, and so far this year, I've read eleven book - two ahead of schedule according to Goodreads. Right now I'm reading Jane Fonda's autobiography, My Life So Far. Please don't give me a hard time about Jane. Since she became my exercise guru way back in the day, she's been my hero. And she writes about and apologizes a lot about her visit to Vietnam during the war. Besides she's a great actor. So here's a bit about two books I've recently read. The Boston stories in Don’t Mess with Tanya, by Ken Tangvik, are beautifully and expertly portrayed. I liked every one – especially the story about Tanya, the young black woman, who gets back at a store keeper … [Read more...]
Yes, seventy is fabulous!
I’ve been seeing in the news that “seventy is the new fabulous.” For example this article in the Los Angeles Times on February 5, names so many over seventy women who are still with it and productive and in a word, fabulous. Nancy Pelosi, Glenn Close, Judi Dench, Betty Buckley, Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Bette Midler to name a few. And we mustn’t leave out eighty-five-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsberg who is still on the Supreme Court bench even after recent cancer surgery. She is my all-time hero. That gets me to my success after the age of seventy. I had lunch with a cousin yesterday who congratulated me on writing a novel Papa's Shoes that will come out this spring by Aberdeen Bay publishers. Look what you did and at your age, she commented. Yes, that’s right. Though I don’t work a full-time job anymore I still work every day in my home office, beginning to market my novel and writing my new memoir (coincidentally about healthy aging), blog posts, poems, and … [Read more...]
Some stuff about me
With a birthday coming up next month I've been doing a lot of reflecting and a lot of thinking about the future. However, since my suggestion of a book everyone should read is Ram Dass' Be Here Now, I thought I'd share a recent interview that tells about me right now. 1. What is one book everyone should read? Be Here Now by Ram Dass 2. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Peanut butter and blueberries 3. Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book, Leaving the Hall Light On. My book has much to share with anyone grieving the loss of a loved one or suffering any kind of loss. 4. Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects? I'm currently working on a historical fiction book based a bit on my family's history, yet with a twist. I also want to have a book of poetry published. And I'm almost through producing, with the help of an expert recording technician, a CD made of my son's jazz music. I hope to have it out in … [Read more...]
