Awakening

Who’s to say the effort to be real isn’t the beginning of wings?

I love these lines that I read this morning in The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. I know some will scoff — but that’s my desire — to be unmitigatedly real. Is that possible? I think so — despite the unreality of our world — the ubiquitous reality shows, the faux-politicians, the obsessive acquisitiveness — I think there’s a movement in our culture to become awake, to rouse from our slumber and realize ourselves and each other. Well, it’s a bit early in the day for all that, isn’t it?

There are a few books that have profoundly influenced my interior — and exterior — life and how I live. Walden, of course. Letters to a Young Poet. The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha. Machiavelli’s Prince. And, I’m beginning to think (and I’m only 78 pages into this nearly 500-page tome), Nepo’s book is going to infiltrate my system just as those others did. I highly recommend it.

Love Books? Buy ‘Em Local at Circle Books

Watch this great “City Business” (from Sarasota government) clip about Circle Books on St. Armands Circle. I was there just a few weeks ago, looking for a specific book but couldn’t remember the author’s name and of course, with just a couple of words from me about what the book was about … the booksellers knew what I wanted and led me to it (The Art of Fielding, by the way).

But watch this video for a GAZILLION reasons why you should buy your books at local bookshops as opposed to over the Internet or at the big boxes.

http://sarasota.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=68&clip_id=4671

Ringling’s Town Hall: Inspirations in Creativity

In today’s Sense and the City column in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune I write about what I learned by going to the Ringling College Library Association’s Town Hall lecture with General Stanley McChrystal. And I give a shout out to Ringling alumnus Brandon Oldenburg whose short film “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” has been nominated for an Academy Award. The film is a “love letter to books” — sounds like my kinda flick.

Click here to read my column or look for it in today’s TICKET section. Town Hall: Inspirations in Creativity.

Click on the image below to watch The Fantastic Flying Books …

Funny Feminist & Author Gina Barreca in Sarasota on Thursday

Gina Barreca,author of It’s Not That I’m Bitter: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World, will be speaking — and making the audience laugh out loud — on Thursday, Feb. 23 at Michael’s on East. The event, which is sort of a lead-up to the “big” 2012 Renaissance Luncheon: The Reinvention of Self, is a luncheon/fun-fest in support of the Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota County.

Barreca has appeared on 20/20, the Today Show and Oprah and, a woman after my own heart, she’s a weekly columnist for The Hartford Courant. She’s currently a Professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut.

For ticket information — visit www.thewomensresourcecenter.org.

Raccoony kind of afternoon

.There’s a family of about four or five raccoons who live near me. A while back, they came into my carport, with about three or four additional friends or extended family members, and pretty much threw a party in the ‘port.

As I looked out the kitchen window at them, one of them came right up to the door and stood on his hind legs and kind of waved his front paws at me beseechingly — I guess wanting food.

They start walking around the backyard most nights just before dusk. And I recently caught this one raccoon on camera as she – I think it’s the mother of the brood of youngsters – climbed up a tree.

Speaking & Workshop at Longboat Key Ed Center

Speaking and facilitating workshop at the Longboat Key Education Center.
February 17 11 a.m.

Longboat Key, Florida. Visit http://www.lbkeducationcenter.org/

Things to do in Sarasota over the next few weeks

Lots of interesting people to see and learn about over the next several weeks, and this week’s Sense and the City column gives my top picks. From the Author’s Luncheon put on by the Literary Council of Sarasota to the Sarasota County Democratic Party’s annual Kennedy-King Dinner to learning about African-American Sarasotans … just click here to read Fascinating People of — and in — Sarasota

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Need a Video of your Business or Organization?

Working with a fabulous Sarasota video videography team (if you would like their name, just let me know!), I managed a video development project for one of my Sarasota clients — the Church of the Redeemer. Click on the blue hyperlink above or here to watch the video — and if you’d like to talk about making one for your business or organization … just let me know!

My Pics for Sarasota’s Sexiest

Today’s Sense and the City column in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune rocks my picks for Sarasota’s sexiest six people and six sexy/romantic/love-and-lust-inducing activities. I cover people like David Baas, Kerry Kirschner of the Argus Foundation, the former Scenestress Veronica Pastore, the Sarasota Film Festival, funny-woman Christine Alexander, and more!

Click on the hyperlink above to read Sarasota’s Sexy Six!

I ♥ Hart’s Landing

Honesty and integrity are the only things we leave behind when we die. Work on it today.”

I’d like to have met the man who thought like that. But Hart seems to have left one more thing behind: A much-needed legacy of a simpler time – and a place where the heart of Sarasota lives on.

That’s an excerpt from this week’s Sense and the City column in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Hope you’ll take a moment to read it in its entirety either in the paper (Feb. 3 TICKET section) or online by clicking here: I ♥ Hart’s Landing