Community Food Packing Day … this Saturday!

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Too cute

I took Boomer-doodle for a mid-day walk (on his leash) and now he’s completely tuckered out!

Trust everyone … but cut the cards yourself

Finley Peter Dunne is the one who gets the attribution for the phrase “Trust everyone, but cut the cards.” But it’s an axiom I’ve adopted for myself for a long time now. I’ve just always added the “yourself” part to further clarify that the only trust that matters is the trust you have in yourself.

Ergo, have friends, be happy, fall in love, take that job … but don’t let anybody else cut the cards you’ll be playing with. Or else — in all likelihood, and all evidence supports — you’ll be short a few cards when you need them most.

People play to win. They protect themselves at all costs to get what they want when they want it. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing — as long as they’re honest about their pursuits and interests — but am most definitely saying understanding that truth should change the way we think and talk and act about trust and love and faith, in our families, our lovers, our friends, our elected officials.

And, in light of all the crap that passes for human interaction these days — name calling at the highest levels of government, people like Glenn Beck being given a platform — and the idiocy of the unthinking yokels who actually give him the time of day, Tiger Woods, JNadel, Madoff, even our own local Kathy Dent who couldn’t be bothered to audit properly, and yes, maybe even our own president and his minions who while they may have accomplished a great thing with health care reform, their behind-the-scenes turning of the screws didn’t exactly leave those of us who care about ends and their means with a happy afterglow — I’m fairly certain, in fact, I’m precisely certain, that while I may keep my cards on the table, while I may stay in the game … nobody’s every going to be cutting or dealing the cards of my life but me.

When Sandra Bullock stood up and gave her Academy award acceptance speech and ended it by giving props to her husband Jesse for “having my back” — sheesh, I almost faltered for a second. I almost thought, hey, maybe it is possible to find someone who will have your back unequivocally and in a stand-up, rock-solid way. She didn’t say he was her savior, or the love of her life or any bullshit like that. She just said he had her back. That simple. And that important. To know that come hell or high water, the person you sleep with is going to be careful and protective with your heart and your life, even if it costs them something in the process.

Well, by all appearances, looks like Sandra was wrong. He didn’t have her back at all … in fact, he was busy getting in back with another woman, possibly more than one. I have no problem with the guy if he wants to get laid elsewhere — but be a man and tell your wife first, so she can have the opportunity to protect herself and/or get out. Or at the very least, have the cajones to tell her what’s happened within hours of it happening. Don’t wait until she’s reached the pinnacle of professional success to let her learn about your dirty deeds done dirt cheap.

The thing about having someone’s back is that it’s not about love and promises and weddings and pre-nups. It’s about 100%, 24/7/365 — never, ever — screwing that person over. You don’t have to love them eternally. You don’t have to fake orgasms. You don’t have to lie to get them to do something you want them to do, or cover up something you want to do but think they won’t approve of.

You just have to be honest. Every time. Ahead of time. Behind time. All the time.

Bravo to the boys — local biz journalists snag awards

I’ve got to hand it to the boys* at the local daily — Sarasota Herald Tribune Business Section — they’ve raked in several well-deserved awards for investigative pieces they dug into and reported on over the past year. The reporting the team of reporters did on suspicious property flips and real estate fraud was fantastic. That team won “Best of the Best” business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and also picked up a national Scripps Howard award. Another team of reporters at the H-T was recognized for its coverage of the Nadel Ponzi scheme and saga as it unfolded (and continues to unfold). And, yet another reporter snagged a first-place shout-out for his story-telling on the Chinese drywall fiasco. (*pretty sure there are no females on the Biz staff)

A lot of people in this town (including me occasionally) bitch about our local daily — it should be more this, less that, yada, yada. But the Biz reporters really took center stage over the past year and reported in meaningful and very illuminating ways about the unfortunate sh*tstorm that was raining down on our little piece of normally sunny Paradise. Bravo and congrats … and actually, thanks, too.

Sideways in Sarasota … back on Main Street!

You all know how much I appreciated and miss (even still) our wonderful Sarasota News & Books (if you missed my column lamenting its departure, you can read it here at “Life Without Books is Death“. I miss SN&B not just as a bookstore, but as a community meeting place, and well, just a place where I felt super comfortable, surrounded by the sounds of newspaper pages rustling, being flipped and folded over, espresso steaming, people murmuring. I also loved SN&B because it was the first bookstore ever to have a book of mine on its shelves, and was also the first place I ever gave a reading and book talk.

Now, Media on Main has sprung up at the same spot and once again my books are on the bookshelves of a downtown Sarasota shop (it’s long been available at the ever-gracious Circle Books on St. Armands Circle, as well).

Media on Main is looking like it might hit — sure was busy when I swung by there last week to snap photos of my book — and I very much appreciate the prominent, facing out, exposure they gave me.

If you haven’t stopped by Media on Main, give it a chance … I’m thinking of taking my laptop there and trying it (the scene) out on a slow afternoon.

Little boy (cat) lost … found himself a home!

I’m super happy to report that the stray little kitty who has been living in my carport for weeks on end has been adopted!! (more…)

A Girl with a Guinness ….

Every St. Patty’s since 2006, I think, I’ve dragged out this favorite column of mine which has appeared in print in the Tampa Tribune, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Pelican Press newspapers … hope you enjoy it — whether you’ve read it before or not — and that it inspires you to go get a Guinness tonight in honor of the Irish, poets everywhere, and women who are not Irish, but think they could be at any given moment.

A Girl with a Guinness … or how to live life instead of just writing about it (um, I need to follow my own advice!)

The Irish have been known to knock out a poem or two (think Seamus, Oscar, Van). Poetry, which for me is just another form of philosophy, is in their blood it seems, and while I’ve been known to wax poetic, I’m neither Irish nor poet.

But I know poetry when I see it – a flock of geese flying over my head at dawn; feel it – rain on my skin when everyone else has run for cover; hear it – anything Beethoven; and smell it – a kitchen full of cooking.

But it wasn’t until recently that I learned you can even taste poetry – in a pint of beer, no less. Irish beer. Guinness beer to be exact. (more…)

Yes, I voted … and oh, no, I dit’nt

Yes, I voted … but not the way most of my friends, colleagues, clients, etc., would have thought I did.

As a woman, a writer, a sentient individual human being (I hope), I wouldn’t be a smidgen of who I am today if it had not been for the teachers who influenced and nurtured me from grade school on up. My greatest respect is reserved for teachers of all types and mediums through which they arrive at my experience.

And, um, of course I think children are great, need to be cared for and educated. And, no, I’m not a scrooge or some tightfisted cheapskate.

I voted in opposition of continuing the school tax in yesterday’s referendum …

for reasons I’d elucidate here in this blog if only I had somebody out there paying a special tax (that I’d already been receiving for a number of years and that I’d promised would only be a one-time thing — um, isn’t teaching children to “keep their word” one of the first lessons taught?) so that I could keep doing what I”m passionate about doing at a pay scale at which I’ve become accustomed and which is among the highest in the state — all this despite a recession that has many of the people I’d be taxing on the verge of losing their homes and jobs and pride.

This referendum was about teacher pay … not truly about the education — intellectual and cultural — of children.

All those parents who talked about how important it is for their kids to have a great education? I’m just curious … how many of them play Chopin on the radio during the afternoon so their children are infused with musicality? How many go on a nightly walk after dinner with their child to ensure they’re getting enough exercise? How many read Shakespeare or biographies of presidents, discuss reason and logic and morality, explain how the family budget works, or teach a foreign language to their children at night — instead of watching American Idol or its current equivalent — en famille, only speaking during commercials?

Sarasota Observer “Slice of the City” Column Helps Stray Kitty

The local newspaper, Sarasota Observer runs a weekly column titled “Slice of the City” with snippets and highlights about Sarasota and its residents. The paper’s Community Editor Loren Mayo took note of my Stray Kitty story and ran a brief article and photo about the adorable stray kitten who has been living in my carport.

Read the story on the Observer’s site (see link below) — and if you’re so motivated, leave a reader comment on the Observer’s site letting them know you appreciate their attention to this story — which will only help those 60,000 some-odd stray cats in Sarasota County! The paper must hear about a gazillion stories of the city every week and I really appreciate them noticing this one and trying to help the little guy!

Here’s the article on the Sarasota Observer website — or check it out in today’s issue of the paper on newsstands now (page 16).

He's famous now!!!

Sarasotans Support ShelterBox USA

We’ve all seen, read, heard the news reports on the situations in Haiti and Chile … but if you want to get a snippet of what it’s like to be a Sarasotan who makes hands-on sacrifices to be on the ground as a volunteer responding to disaster events around the globe … read my piece on ShelterBox USA — online here at Creative Loafing’s website, or in print in the CL newspaper on Wednesday, March 10.

I interviewed three local ShelterBox volunteers — and couldn’t get over the commitment these Sarasotans have made and continue to make to helping disaster victims throughout the world.

John Freeman traveled to the Congo.

Beverly Hill (wearing headband) traveled to England for intensive training.

Alan Monroe (left) unloading ShelterBoxes in Taiwan last year.

To make a donation or learn more about volunteering with ShelterBox, visit shelterboxusa.com, or follow on Facebook (Shelter Box.) and on Twitter (ShelterBoxUS).