Resolution 2013 - Just Do!

I am a little famous for making resolutions. I like large ones that are pretty much impossible to keep, but I still like to try.  I can usually get a couple months out of them and learn a lot.

This year I am stumped.

I told myself that I would make them after I've had time to reflect on the past year. After the kids went back to school, especially after I put that last child on a plane, then I would have time to really think about what I want.

This past year has been a whopper in a lot of ways, some great--some not so great. I don't know if I am fortified enough to do something difficult. I jokingly told my niece at a New Years Brunch that my resolution was "More Bling in 2013," it kind of rhymes and it is easy. Just wear more jewelry--maybe get some thick gold necklaces with a dollar sign on them, or just wear some dangling, sparkly earrings.

Is that what has become of me--did I throw in the towel in 2012.

Well, not no, but heck no! There is stuff to do and by golly we are going to do it.

I am a big talker, but I am not always a big doer! I want to talk less and do more. This year I put a quote on my refrigerator that I love and I want to live by in 2013, "When we argue for our limitations, we get to keep them," Evelyn Waugh (who is a man, by the way, just in case you wanted to know). No more arguing for why I can't do things. That's just silly.

I went to a local artists open house this December.  His name is Ben Behunin and you can learn more about him at  potteryboy.com. All the pictures in this blog were taken at his home (with the permission of his wife). All of the pictures are of things he created. It was inspiring and I've never seen anything like it. Every nook and cranny of his home was filled with beautiful, personal creations that he shared with us. We walked into his closet, his bathrooms, his workshop, his yard, his kitchen and ate cookies. I couldn't imagine the work they (he and his wife) had done in planning, creating and cleaning! We could buy some of his art at the end, but we didn't have to. I left feeling uplifted. What a nice way to make a living and to share your gifts.

So for 2013:

Love
Help
Save
Give
Experience
Move
Write
Support
Inspire
MORE

Talk
TV
Sleep
Eat
TV
Whine
Excuse
TV
Criticize
LESS

How's that for non-specific goals for 2013.

Cheers to people who. . .Dollar Shave Club

I know, I know, I've been a terrible blogger. My excuse is we've moved, or I've been doing a boot camp style fitness camp and I'm pooped!  Actually, I've just been a little preoccupied with the thing we all call life, anyway this is definitely good for a laugh.

All of you have probably seen this magnificent video (it's had about 4,000,000 views), but I had to put it on my blog. I love America!  If you want to see the actual website here's the link.  Happy April Fools Day.

What if I lived here. . .

One of the main reason I like to write stories is that I like to imagine what life is like in different settings with different people. I can't pass a house for sale or even rent without wondering what would it be like to live there. I can see possibilities in grand mansions and little apartments. So the other day I drove through the avenues and I saw this house.

When I was little and lived just a few blocks away I loved to walk by this house. I think it was yellow back then and I imagined that this was a good witch's house. There are a lot of witchy houses in the avenues, one in particular I would cross the street to avoid. I'll post a picture of that later. It was black with turrets and I thought it was very scary (now it's baby blue and really well maintained--disappointingly un-scary!).

Send a picture if you have a "What if I lived here house too."

This is your brain--No, this is your brain on drugs!

Maybe it's because this building is in Vegas, or maybe it is because I've read too many post apocalyptic and dystopian society books lately, but does this look like a building or the aftermath of some catastrophe.

Maybe this angle is better,

or this one,

maybe here,

Nope--still disturbing. It makes my heart palpitate a bit just to look at the pictures!

Are you wondering what this building houses--something like a casino, a trendy restaurant, or maybe art, well, you would be wrong because this is a brain institute--a brain institute.  It is the Cleveland Clinic and The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute in Las Vegas.


The clinic has incredible goals:

". . . the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, have collaborated to create a highly specialized clinical center to advance the research, early detection and treatment of neurological diseases including Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

The goal of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health is to prevent the disabling symptoms of chronic brain diseases and to prolong healthy, vital aging in people at risk for dementia or cognitive disorders." 

Hopefully the quirky nature of the building helps raise awareness. Go brain team!


I am actually a fan of Frank Gehry--I think his architecture is interesting, fun and thought provoking. With the brain institute he definitely succeeded on the thought provoking!

Here are some Gehry buildings I love:

Disney Concert Hall in California

Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain

and look at the amazing Star Wood Hotel in Spain

But a brain institute--that looks like a very, very disturbed brain--is well, disturbing!


Hopefully those goals are achieved--and people can actually think in there.

There's No Place Like Vegas!

As you already know two of my daughters and I went to Vegas last weekend for the Vegas Valley Book Festival. It was an eye opener for me, because the Festival was downtown--which is so much different from the Strip. I can sum up what we saw in one word --kitsch! Kitsch, kitsch everywhere--there is nothing more beautiful than kitsch against a bright blue sky.

Where else in the world can you see a red pumps floating in the sky that have the added benefit of glowing at night.

Or,  star spangled bikini women against a backdrop of a patriotic parking garage.

Or, bare bones casinos that advertise everything they've got.  Coffee Shop--CHECK, Bar--CHECK, Gambling--CHECK, and what else, Free Parking of course.

We ate at The Beat coffee house. The food was okay, but the atmosphere was very hip. My husband would have loved their record collection.

We also ventured out of downtown and off the Strip to the Komex restaurant for dinner. Yes, you know Komex food, it's everywhere. Everyone loves their Korean Mexican fusion restaurants. We all had the Bulgogi Burrito which is a type of Korean Barbecue style meat (in our case beef) in a classic Mexican style burrito.  It was super yum--on my scale of yum, super yum is the yummiest. I wish I had been brave enough to order the kim chee with it.

Every restaurant has to have Chinese placemats with their chips, salsa and guacamole.

Vegas makes multicultural work baby!!!