She’s baaaack! Reality Chick is back — in the Sarasota Herald Tribune
What a way to end a year … and start a new one!!
When the announcement came earlier this month that the Creative Loafing newspaper publication was closing up shop and the Sarasota Herald Tribune was taking over its branding rights, I smelled opportunity … opportunity to return to my roots and get back to writing in a style more akin to my old “Reality Chick” days at the Pelican Press.
Reality Chick is back!!
I’ve enjoyed the last month or so of writing the After Hours column for the TICKET section of the H-T — heck, I finally forced myself to get out and have some fun –but my interest, and I think my strength, lies in writing observational essays — columns — about what’s going on around my town. People, places, events, the zeitgeist of our little corner of the world. Luckily for me, when I pitched the idea to the editors — they agreed!
That new column starts today — it’s called Sense and the City and it will be my weekly “reality” take on whatever’s topical or at the top of my admittedly sometimes “Sideways in Sarasota” perspective.
In this week’s column I touch on Sarasota Mayor Kelly Kirschner, the Second Line street gang, and Sarasota’s semi-obsession with dirty dancers. I hope you’ll check it out at Sense and the City.
This is all actually a huge deal for me personally. I haven’t had a regular, weekly opinion column in a newspaper since May 2008 and I’m thrilled to be back writing the beat I know best.
If you like what you see in Sense and the City, don’t hesitate to let the editors know — it’s always helpful for them to know whether writers have a healthy readership or not — you can send an electronic LTE by clicking here.
Thanks for sticking with me as readers — whether I was in print or online — and I hope you enjoy this new column!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, INDEED!
Don’t Whisper … JUST YELL!!!
FINALLY!!!!
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — finally repealed.
President Obama just signed it into law. That stupid policy had ended the careers of over 14,000 military personnel — people who just wanted to serve our country — that policy now dead and done. (more…)
Girls gone wild — Sarasota Style
In my After Hours column in today’s TICKET section in the Sarasota Herald Tribune — I offer my opinion on what one thing you must do tonight — if you want to have fun — check out the girls (and boys) gone wild members of the Lazy Fairy Improv group —
Girls Gone Wild -- a few members of the Lazy Fairy Improv
I also dish the dirt about the mousy martinis at Hyde Park; and I take a swipe at Sarah Palin.
You can read my column on page 7E in print; or click here: MC’s Must-Scene
Being here now … yoga with Gary Halperin — special offer for Reality Readers
When I got the green light from my doctor a few months ago to ease slowly back into exercise, taking classes with certified professional-level Kripalu Yoga teacher Gary Halperin in his beginner yoga class was the first thing I did — and am still doing … .
Boomerang demonstrates the Back-Sprawled, Paws Akimbo Cat Pose.
As a little gift for readers of this blog, throughout the rest of December, new visitors to any of Gary’s classes pay only $5 for the first class visit — if you mention MC Reality Online when you sign up or show up. This is a great way to try out yoga — especially with Gary who has a fantastic reputation in Sarasota; and it’s also a great way to give yourself a treat during the month of December, which can way too often feel way too harried and hurried.
Classes are normally $12 each, and he offers day and evening classes Monday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday nights — centrally located and easy to get to, at the corner of Tuttle and Ringling. You can contact Gary to sign up for a class, or visit www.feelbetternowyoga.com to learn more. Read more about Halperin in this magazine article — Being Here Now. In the classes I’ve been taking, there are men and women — all ages.
I’m way too often an all-work, no play/no relax kind of gal, but Gary’s classes are teaching me (despite the fact that I’m a slow learner), that I can make and take the time — in fact I deserve to do it — in my life to feel mentally more clear, emotionally more satisfied, psychologically more calm, and physically more comfortable. I find that by doing the simple yoga stretches and poses, combined with the act of just “being here now” in class and listening to my body and being aware of how it feels — has reaped rewards not just physically, but personally and professionally.
I have more energy, more clarity, and more energy throughout my work days in general, even on the days that I’m not taking his class. And more importantly — I’ve been sleeping dramatically better since I started the yoga earlier this fall.
But one of my favorite parts of the class is simply listening to the calm, focused, nonjudgmental “instruction” from Gary. In a way that’s almost uncanny, at the very moments in class where I feel most challenged or conflicted about being there (because I feel I should be working or doing something on my “to-do” list) or even when I’m just feeling insecure about how my body looks while holding some “let it all hang out” pose — Gary inevitably speaks to the class in a way that seems to address precisely what’s going on in my head. And he brings me back to what matters. Just being and accepting the “here” — right where I am at that moment — right now.
It’s a valuable lesson for the rest of my life outside of yoga.
Get your holiday groove on
My Sarasota Herald Tribune TICKET column today gives some fun outdoor stuff to do this weekend — starting with some very cool reggae at O’Leary’s tomorrow night. Might be brisk weather, but we can always generate some body heat by dancing!
You can read the column online here Get Your Holiday Groove On or by flipping to page 7E of today’s TICKET.
I LOVE this weather!!!
Later, Gators!
Glad my pick for today’s big Florida game won … as a matter of fact three out of four of my picks played out as I’d predicted in my Thursday TICKET column — ‘Noles Trounce the Gators!
Must be all that hanging around with bookies back in the day in the North End of Boston.
Siesta steals the scene last weekend
Last Thursday, my “After Hours” column in Sarasota Herald Tribune’s TICKET section chatted up the goings on for the upcoming weekend … my take? Siesta was stealin’ the scene.
You can read the column here if you like: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101118/COLUMNIST/11181004?p=all&tc=pgall
Come as you are … leave different … and save 20% at Sarasota Symphony’s Masterworks this weekend!
This weekend, November 12, 13, and 14, the Sarasota Orchestra is presenting a unique “Masterworks” concert that seems designed for someone like me — who is open to, but sometimes uncertain about, classical music … at least beyond my immortal beloved. 
What makes this weekend’s concerts different is that they offer a rare opportunity — a kind of “sampling” of the masterpiece works of several masters — from Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and more. (more…)
Safe sex is better than scary sex …
I’ve never been to Planned Parenthood’s annual Safe Sex Halloween Bash. (more…)
Too many boobs, too little balls
So … parents were upset because of Katy Perry’s cleavage in a dress she was wearing while prancing around Sesame Street
.
Just curious — are these the same parents who lined up in droves to take their kids to see or buy the DVDs for The Little Mermaid? 
Personally, I do think Katy could have covered up a bit more for her appearance for young children. I also think the producers at Sesame Street could have suggested more coverage before shooting began.
But the boobs in question here shouldn’t be those of Katy — they should be those boob-headed boobs who actually got their knickers in a twist over this — of all things that their kids could be watching, I have a feeling this is pretty tame, and oh, I’m sure the kids never hear their parents scream at each other and call each other names, by the way. I also think the Sesame Street boobs who pulled the segment because of this boobish protest are probably a little lacking in the balls department.
