Hey all,

Well, as I did for the trip to San Francisco years ago, I’m blogging day by day. There are 2 reasons for this. One, I love to share information, and two, this helps ME remember all the tidbits about the trip.

So, let’s start with the flight in. I’m sitting next to a guy who was flying to NYC to see family, he looks out the window and points out Rikers Island to me. This is the first NY thing I see…the prison. Oh well. Now at least I know what area they’re talking about when they mention it on Law & Order.

Cut to me meeting friends at the airport, and we go stand in line for a taxi to get to Midtown where my hotel is. The taxi driver of the car we were getting into was distracted because another taxi driver was yelling at him. The two of them mouthed off to each other for several moments, as I’m standing there with jaw dropped wondering if there will be a fist fight before our cab ride. My friend points out to me, “Welcome to New York.” Apparently that’s the way cabbies do it here, so no biggie.

Moments later we’re riding though various areas and crossing gorgeous bridges. I know NY is an island, I’ve certainly heard of the Brooklyn Bridge, but I never knew how many bridges were in NYC. Beautiful architecture on every one. That’s one surprise I’m experiencing here…I had no idea how beautiful the ornate architecture was.

I get to the hotel and apparently “the lipstick building” which basically looks like a large reddish purple cake in its shape, is right out my window view. I don’t really think much of this until my buddy points out that it was where Bernie Madoff worked. Oh! Lovely. But seriously, the view and the area of Midtown East is wonderful.

Everything is within walking distance – and when people say it’s 6 blocks, what the rest of us not living in NYC don’t realize is – it’s a really short 6 blocks. It would be like walking through my subdivision which is small. So we walk to dinner, which winds up being an incredible steak place called Smith & Willensky (the grill side, so we didn’t have to dress up). Great service, great people, and I begin to wonder why New Yorkers have such an abrasive reputation down South because all I’m seeing is some really nice people.

After dinner we walk up Broadway, see the lights. WOW. It’s like these New Yorkers have found a way to capture daylight in a bottle. It was 9pm, but the lights are bright on Broadway. There’s a large and crowded area (along w/bleachers) for tourists to sit and watch all the bright and neon signs. Then we walk up to Times Square.

Hmmm…Times Square. While this will be where I eventually stay for the conference, I must say this is not my main cup of tea. It’s packed with people, everyone walking in one big glob from one corner to the next, and it was hot and humid. The lights were great, I’m glad I saw it, and I’m sure once I’m in the conference hotel, in air conditioning, and LOOKING at the lights out the window, things may seem nicer. But for now, Times Square is my least favorite part.

Moving on to a great area this morning – Greenwich Village. Or more specifically, the West Village. To a fabulous little restaurant that serves amazing omelets and has an eclectic group of people as their clientele and for their staff. This is where I look around and realize the local life and its flavor. So many characters, so many different kinds of people. We walk around for a bit after and then go to Central Park. We get off the city bus at 73rd and Broadway, and there is the most beautiful and ornate building there. I stare up for about 5 minutes.

Want to know something odd? Even the post office is beautiful here. How many cities can you say that about? It has majestic pillars, ornate sculptured designs, and the mission of mail carriers inscribed in big letters across the top.

Central Park is beautiful, though my feet were so tired by that point that we went in, saw the Strawberry Fields area and the John Lennon memorial mosaic, then we went to Bethesda Fountain which I’d seen in Godspell. I have pics, I hope to share them soon. It was beautiful. Oh, and another interesting tidbit – Central Park has tons of Bedrock throughout. Bedrock. I expected Fred Flintstone to pop out at any moment, but no, no old style cars, just lots of pretty gray rocks everywhere.

Then it was lunch in a cool pizza joint in the Village and back to Midtown to rest. And I’m so pumped up that I can’t rest. I have to blog. I want to write down and remember all this so I come back with all these rich and vibrant images in my mind :)

Tonight is dinner and a show. Not sure which one, my friends are surprising me. Stay tuned for the next 24 hours…

thx!
Elaine

I recently posted this on my guest blogging group, Petit Fours & Hot Tamales, and thought it would be applicable here as well. Hope you enjoy! And yes, I will try to do better with blogging on a more regular basis!

In reviewing my recent blog posts, I’ve noticed how many subjects relate to writing, tips on writing, etc. It occurred to me there’s a life tip I wanted to share, one that resonated with me and seems a good reminder for us all.

In short, “You’ve got to enjoy your life, cher.”

Wait. Don’t panic. I’m not yanking out reruns of The Sonny & Cher Show (heaven forbid). For those who don’t know, “cher” is a Cajun slang term for friend.

During a recent visit to New Orleans to see family, I met up with a friend at a local hangout. I love local hangouts, the kinds of places where fascinating people converge. I’ve met all sorts of folk: an FBI agent who rescued people from roofs during Hurricane Katrina, a blacksmith who travels across South Louisiana to shoe horses I used to admire and pet at the farms when I was younger, restaurant owners who claim they know the right way to cook crawfish.

But one man in particular struck me. During heavy rains in 1995 when most of the city flooded, he lost everything. His life turned upside down, but he chose to rebuild. Ten years later, Hurricane Katrina happened. He lost everything again. He rebuilt once more, taking the scattered pieces of his life and somehow molding them into a reason to keep going. Stunned by his persistence, even his choice to not relocate elsewhere, I asked how he managed to survive 2 such major losses and what kept him going.

He offered a wide grin, and there was a gleam in his eye as he said, “You’ve got to enjoy your life, cher.”

He proceeded to tell me how much he loved the region, how sitting at the edge of a pier and fishing under a crimson sunset made all the hassle of rebuilding worthwhile. He spoke of living each day, and more importantly, enjoying each day.

I’m the poster girl for stress, but when things get too overwhelming, I try to think back to interesting souls I’ve encountered, particularly the one who said, “You’ve got to enjoy your life, cher.”

Hey all,

Ah! Elaine is finally posting a blog! Yes, it’s true. I’m finally coming out of the woodwork – I feel I must because there are issues which need to be brought to light.

So today’s post is…Wake Up, America! Start using some common sense!

Someone I know put the line, “People are getting stupider and stupider” into his writing on several occasions. And it was funny in its context and on the right occasion, true. But now I think we’ve moved past humorous and we’re into scary.

I had to jump on the bandwagon of writers because this is something that needed to be said. News around the writer world is that a high school English teacher in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, is now under public scrutiny and condemnation (Scarlet Letter, anyone?) because she is a published author in her spare time.

HELLO? Unless the teacher is doing something illegal, she is allowed to do whatever she wants in her spare time. This one teacher writes some steamy edgy romances. They may not be to everyone’s liking (in reality, the more erotic genre is not my favorite either) BUT it’s not illegal. She uses a pen name and has never mentioned her books or her writing career to her students.

What happened? The wrong parents found out. You know the kind. They’re the parents who keep lawyers in business because they want to sue the school because little Johnny didn’t get to use the swings first at recess. They claim he suffered mental trauma. These types of parents then blossom into ones like now, trying to get this English teacher fired because she writes in her spare time. And then enter in the mob mentality, throw in a little Puritan ethics, and there you go.

I did want to share a couple of things. One is a link to my fellow buddy and writer Anna DeStefano, who wrote a blog post on this topic. Another is the video below of one of her former students created in response to this craziness, because I think he’s right-on accurate about how people are behaving.

Please, America. Wake up. If we turn everything into a one-size-fits-all world, shove-each-other-thru-the-Happy-Meal lane, we’ll all wind up like walking zombies. Being different is not necessarily a bad thing. Fear gets people behaving in crazy ways. Please. Stop the madness.

And let those of us who love to write continue to do so, no matter what the subject and no matter where we work!

Hello all,

Yes *hangs head in shame* I have not blogged in quite a while. In fact, I was distraught to notice just how LONG of a while it had been. Sorry and hoping 2011 will be a better year!

And I’m even going to cheat a bit and post some links here to recent guest blogs I’ve made. Yanno, when I wasn’t blogging here. *hangs head in shame again*

So enjoy and do keep coming back to check on my blog! Thanks!

Welcoming the Unexpected

What do Symbols Say About You?

Fresh Perspectives/Fresh Beginnings

See Challenges as Opportunities

Manageable Bites

For those of you who don’t know, I’m originally from New Orleans. Grew up there and then moved away for college, but it’s still what I consider “my hometown” even though I don’t live there anymore.

August 29 will mark the 5-year anniversary of Katrina. The storm changed everything, and I’ve done poetry and other posts to remember the 8/29 date in the past, but this year, I’m doing something different.

Someone posted this link on Facebook and I watched it. It’s Vince Vance doing a talking-song while showing footage of the city. There’s such a duality to New Orleans. People love it, hate it, it’s one thing or it’s the other. But the truth is, New Orleans is both. It’s so many things, wrapped into one. That’s what makes it so rich.

So watch this clip. Very worthwhile.