The 1/2 Century Mark

2012-02-07T22:57:00.003-05:00

I've been struggling with getting correct exposures and perfect focus. So, inspired by my latest read: Freeman Patterson's Photography and the Art of Seeing, I decided to go outside and play. I jumped up and down and fiddled around a bit and loved for shapes and lines and beauty and this is what i came up with right outside my door:

N o r t h

S o u t h

E a s t

W e s t waiting for the sun to play.

more winged beauty

2012-01-23T19:21:00.001-05:00

I love creating magic with people. This was one of my favorite portrait sessions.

I brought the wings.

We had such fun.

And then it was done.

More Winged Beauty

2012-01-23T18:59:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday, my quarter century, girl!!! xoxox

honoring eagles

2012-01-12T18:07:00.003-05:00

Eagle Poem
BY JOY HARJO

To pray you open your whole self

To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon

To one whole voice that is you.

And know there is more

That you can’t see, can’t hear;

Can’t know except in moments

Steadly growing, and in languages

That aren’t always sound but other

Circles of motion.

Like eagle that Sunday morning

Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky

In wind, swept our hearts clean

With sacred wings.

We see you, see ourselves and know

That we must take the utmost care

And kindness in all things.

Breathe in, knowing we are made of

All this, and breathe, knowing

We are truly blessed because we

Were born, and die soon within a

True circle of motion,

Like eagle rounding out the morning

Inside us.

We pray that it will be done

In beauty.

Joy Harjo, “Eagle Poem” from In Mad Love and War. Copyright © 1990 by Joy Harjo. Reprinted with the permission of Wesleyan University Press,
www.wesleyan.edu/wespress .

Source: In Mad Love and War (Wesleyan University Press, 1990)

2012-01-12T17:46:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! The kids and i have seen Bald Eagles on Caz Lake.

Here he is...isn't he beautiful? I want to meet his wife.

In Syracuse, there are 20 bald eagles along Onondaga Lake.

“He’s the leader of all birds,” said Lickers, 63. Lickers, a Seneca Indian, is environmental science officer for the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne. “ We say that the eagle can see the farthest; he can see not only enemies, but he can also see the things you’re doing to work for the peace. He is the one who will call out when something is amiss.”

“We’ve reached a point where we separate our spirit from our symbols and our symbols from ourselves,” Lickers said. “We’re sort of frightened or embarrassed in this world to talk about the signs and symbols the Haudenosaunee hold dear. But when you stand there and watch that eagle soar, in that instant you’re linked spiritually with that bird, and no one can ever take that away from you.”

2011-09-26T17:26:00.004-04:00

Everyone’s Got Her Basket

-- a poem by Colleen Wainwright [a poem about grace]

Everyone has her basket.

And in that basket
are all the things
a body gets
in a lifetime:

The long legs
the natural grace

The way with words
or people
or numbers
or animals

The force field that makes money
or love
or ideas
or children
come to them first

The gene soup
that makes eyes blue
stomachs sturdy
loins fruitful
brains prodigious

Even the luck,
the ponies
the Kojak parking
the pair of pants on sale
or the person of their dreams available
at the exact moment
where need and want meet,
even that
is in the basket.

There will be days
when you look down at your basket and marvel
at the wonderful
wonderful
things inside

And there will be days
when you cannot bring yourself to look
at all
or rather
where the only place you can look
is at the basket next to you
and with longing.

But every day
someone is looking at your basket
with longing

Every day
someone would trade baskets with yours
sight unseen

I have been
in all of those places
and mostly
I am grateful
for the grace
that forgave my foolishness

This is my basket
to carry
and uncover
layer by layer
day by day
year by year

And sometimes
story by story.

May your basket overflow
with beautiful things
of incomparable joy
and wonder

And when it does not
may you be visited
by the same grace that sat down beside me
to show me the beauty
and the joy
and the wonder
I could not see
-- Colleen Wainwright

So the photo you see above is my photo basket. I had been collecting my photo shoot props (wings, feathers, a tennis ball or two) in a non-descript paper bag. But inspired by Colleen's poem, I decided they needed a more worthy container. I so love my props because they remind of the joy and wonder that is within all of us and what I so want to reveal when I have the privledge of photographing someone. I want to know, and maybe show, my subject's layers, find out what's in their basket. We may never use my basket's feathers or wings or other delights but I know they are there and present everytime i click.

Colleen Wainwright: Tissues Suggested

2011-09-14T16:08:00.000-04:00

For some reason I decided to pop over and see how Colleen Wainwright and her WriteGirls 50 for 50 project was going. The answer begins 1.20 minutes into this video. Warning: You will need tissues.

I was fortunate to be able to contribe to this worthy project. One of my rewards will be a poem written by a WriteGirl. I was asked to send a topic and some words. I asked that the poem be dedicated to The Hotel. My chosen words were half-century mark', imagination, women, friends, hotel..i might have added magic.

I find something magic about someone marking an occasion, a 50th, no less, with an offering to the world. Maybe someday I'll produce something valuable within these imaginary walls. I promised my daughter I won't shave my head.

Also on Colleen's site I found a wonderous poem about baskets. I will share with you all soon.

Colleen Wainwright and her 50 for 50 for WriteGirl

2011-09-03T21:09:00.001-04:00

Here at the hotel we are drawn to stories of women turning 50 and their brilliant ways of celebration. So when the Front Desk (thanks to Lisa at Zen at Play ) stumbled upon Colleen Wainwright and her 50 for 50 for WriteGirl! campaign we were in.

Watch the video and let me know what you think...I think you'll want to contribute. Click here to learn more.

As a bonus, Colleen the birthday girl and soon to be Half Century Marker, will send gifts your way if you donote. My gift is a personal poem written by one of the WriteGirls! I get to send them my topic and a few details and one of the girls will send me back a poem...How cool is that?

Perhaps I'll ask for a poem for the Hotel?! Not sure teenagers can imagine this Place. I know many adults have trouble grasping it. On second thought, a teenager's perspective of life at the Half Century Mark Hotel might be just right.

Facing Summer

2011-09-02T10:22:00.002-04:00

I took this photo late afternoon on September 1. This pretty pink anemone reminds me to soak up the remaining rays of summer.

2011-08-28T22:41:00.002-04:00

so my son finally let me do a photo shoot with him. But it all took way too long for him...

but I did get a shot or two:

It's so nice to have a teenager around getting impatient with me. Teenagers with Rolling Eyes will need to be included in the hotel decor. Portraits kinda like Dorian Gray meets Harry Potter meets somebody else.

So a good half-century mark daily goal could be to make Teenager with Rolling Eyes roll their eyes...try dancing. That is usually good for an eye roll or two.

Treasure Hunting at Bouckville

2011-08-19T07:02:00.096-04:00

I went to our summer antiques fair.

and pretended I was a photojournalist.

Got my share of funny looks.

But I didn't care. I was there to play.

with dolls

and monkeys

and just when things could have turned a little creepy.

i found sunshine

and met grace.

Then the windmills called me home.

but I'll return.

there are more stories in these fields.

Kellish Hill Farms Music Barn

2011-08-18T08:26:00.006-04:00

Last weekend my husband, Sparky and I had a musical treat: Dar Williams performed down the street and over a few hills and valleys from us. Here is a quick video I made as a tribute to a magical place.

The video's music is Dar William's rendition of Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, with Marshall Crenshaw (vocals and guitar). The photo of Kathy and Rick was lifted from the Post Standard, Michelle Gabel, photographer. The Red House helped to bring Dar to Central New York.

As for seeing Dar Williams, let me remind all you Half Centurions how important it is to seek out your favorite musicians and watch them do their thing. Live music is so rejuvenating on so many levels. But that's a post for another day. I once bejeweled a paint brush for my friend in honor of a Dar Williams song. But that, too, is a post or two for another day.

I would never make it as a daily newspaper reporter. Takes me way too long to produce anything.

Enjoy this glimpse of the Kellish's world. However the real heart of the place is the music and people inside the barn. You gotta go. This is so Somewhere!

Kellish Hill Farm Music Barn from Patricia Christakos on Vimeo.

Bouckville

2011-08-17T22:05:00.001-04:00

17. bouckville, a photo by stakos on Flickr.

Our annual summer antiques fair. More pics to come

2011-08-16T22:55:00.000-04:00

16. heaven x 2

2011-08-16T17:18:00.004-04:00

16. heaven, a photo by stakos on Flickr.

Everywhere you look in central new york, you see heaven...aug. 16, 2011

summer gift

2011-08-13T16:06:00.004-04:00

my first portrait session with someone other than family! what a beauty she is. we had a wonderful time together. She even wore feathers for me.

Telling My Story

2011-08-11T22:57:00.006-04:00

16 petals begins, a photo by stakos on Flickr.

I'm creating a photo essay about all the places I've called home. A really interesting exercise for all 1/2 century markers. My children don't really know my story and I thought this would be a good way to share my life with them. But as with all Art, the thing planned has a (wise) mind of its own. I'm the one who needs to learn my story.

I thought there were to be 16 homes/petals in this story but I just learned I wasn't born in the house I thought I was and my mother's middle name was Anna, not Anne. I have so much to learn. Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it. --Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Home is a name, a word,

it is a strong one; stronger

than magician ever spoke,

or spirit ever answered to,

in the strongest conjuration.

-- Charles Dickens

Desktop Inspiration

2011-08-11T19:20:00.008-04:00

I keep some of my favorite photos by some of my favorite photographers next to my desk.

Left to right:

Julia Margaret Cameron

Rodney Smith

Julia Margaret Cameron's Beatrice

Phillip Toledano: Introduced to me by Tampa photographer and teacher: Deb Schwedhelm. I'm taking her Breaking the Mold workshop this month.

and yes, I am represented here as well...

That's 'Me', far right! a photo I took for Vivienne McMaster's class, You are Your Own Muse...fondly know as YAYOM. I will be taking Viv's Swan Dive workshop next month.

Lots of name dropping going on here, I realize but I think it's important to honor your teachers. Sounds like a good beginning for a future post. Also at the 1/2 century mark, if I don't write stuff down, i tends to fly away... oops...[it] tends to fly away! Freudian slip perhaps showing my true add self?

Remembering: The Thinker

2011-08-11T19:12:00.001-04:00

sparky doing some heavy thinking in heavenly Abaco.

I am creating a portfolio for a photoworkshop I am taking with Tampa photographer Deb Schwedhelm. This photo didn't quite make my cut but I so love it and hope you do too.

cleome nights

2011-08-10T21:56:00.004-04:00

cleome nights, a photo by stakos on Flickr.

Out light hunting prior to august sunset...look what I found! Sent to Susannah Conway's The august break, 2011. great way to celebrate summer.

Duck Dance and Twyla Tharp

2011-08-07T21:01:00.009-04:00

I am reading Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life. I see dancers everywhere I look!

The title doesn't do the book justice. It's so much more than a how-to. It's more of a peak into Tharp's creative mind and her daily practices. Her writing style is lovely.

She writes about her life; her love of dance, literature, classical music and opera. she loves Greek tragedies, billy joel and Buster Keaton. She's one diverse, smart, disciplined beyond the Half Century Mark muse.

But it's her discipline that shines through the most in this book. she uses rituals throughout her day. Every morning at 5:30 she takes a cab to her gym. That is her ritual, her way of keeping her body and mind in shape.

And no, no matter how much i admire her dedication, this will not become my creative habit.

I may, instead, every evening at 5:30, head to the lake to photograph dancing ducks and the setting sun. Actually i do head to the lake every evening...don't always get the dancing ducks but at least i show up.

If creativity is a habit, then the best creativity is the result of good work habits. They are the nuts and bolts of dreaming. (Twyla Tharp)

You Are Beautiful

2011-07-07T22:15:00.001-04:00

Found this video treasure by Allison Tyler on Roots of She

Love the soundtrack by Michael Franti, 'sometimes'.

a new lens

2011-07-07T21:41:00.001-04:00

I have a new lens...So instead of having a glass (or two or three) of wine in the evenings, I've been soaking in light.

Look what I stumbled upon tonight:

new lens, new perspective.

I'm in love.

to be a tulip

2011-04-08T23:04:00.003-04:00

abaco oleander

I love this quote posted by my amazing friend Deb Taylor: http://diddebdoit.blogspot.com/ :

A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone.
It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose.
It doesn’t have to. It is different...there’s room in the garden for every flower..

--Marianne Williamson

Deb writes haiku on friday, she also is an multi-media artist in the fullest sense of the word, a photographer, chef, business owner, apron maker...and who knows what else....she's a tulip, that one.

Flowers, Thorns and the High Seas

2011-04-06T11:02:00.010-04:00

My flower is the Bougainvillea. What's Yours?

Upon check-in, all hotel guests will receive a complimentary bouquet of flowers containing

 a magnolia

 a sprig of bougainvillea

 and a promise for a third blossom of your choice.

That's right. We promise you a blossom from any flower in the

world. What will you choose?

We suggest you think about it for awhile. Take a walk. Sniff the air. Ask the Universe what flower you may need on this particular journey.

There’s power in those petals.

M a g n o l i a
The Hotel chose a magnolia as the first flower in your bouquet because of this nugget of wisdom about aging from poet Maya Angelou: “The most important thing I can tell you about aging is this: If you really feel that you want to have an off-the-shoulder blouse and some big beads and thong sandals and a dirndl skirt and a magnolia in your hair, do it. Even if you're wrinkled.” -- Maya Angelou

B o u g a i n v i l l e a

I choose Bougainvillea because I like to say it: (boo-gain-VIL-ee-a) and because it’s a beautiful plant: colorful, complex and thorny like most of the women I know at the One Half Century Mark. The brilliantly-colored leaves (or bracts) are really its petals; the flowers are so small that you need to look very closely to even notice them. The thorns can draw blood. So much more there than first meets the eye, and so like life at the Hotel.

J e a n n e & t h e H i g h S e a s
I first chose B as my flower on a journey with my dearest friends and family in Feb. 2010. In addition to liking the sight and sound of the plant, I liked its history or what I thought was its history. I thought B was named by a French naturalist Dr. Philibert Commerson after his close friend and admiral Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, who commanded the ship that sailed around the world between 1766-1769, in which Commerson was a passenger. A friendship naming, according to my friend Wikipedia.

This morning, however, my little bougainvillea world was turned upside down when I discovered Glynis Ridley’s new book, The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe.

Ready for this? Dr. Phil did not ‘discover’ my beloved bougainvillea, Jeanne Baret did. Jeanne, a French peasant, who, disguised as a man, accompanied Dr. Phil on his voyage, and became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. Diaries from the crew state that she was gang-raped by the crew. Some describe Jeanne as Phil’s student and lover, but Ridley believes she was more than that:

“She was an herb woman: one schooled in the largely oral tradition of the curative properties of plants. Herb women were for centuries the source of all raw materials to be prepared, mixed, and sold by male medical practitioners, and as botany crystallized as a science in the eighteenth century, a handful of male botanists did not think it beneath them to learn from these specialists. In this light, Baret was not Commerson's pupil, but his teacher.” – excerpt from The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe, by Glynis Ridley.

Who Cares?

Who cares that a beautiful French peasant girl lived a real-life Cinderella tale, grew up to become a brilliant knower of plants, a world traveler, a teacher, a lover, forgotten and rediscovered? Who cares that our real-life Cinderalla was raped by the ship's crew? Who cares that contradictions live within tropical plants or midlife women? Who cares how our thorns protect or our flowers can be so subtle? Who cares that beauty can lead you to seek knowledge and truth?

Who cares? This morning, I do. I may forget tomorrow; that’s why I write this blog. The natural world is like a giant Sudoku book. It helps me stay awake and curious. Two essential states of being at the Half Century Mark….

so what’s your flower gonna be?

blessings

2011-03-24T12:30:00.003-04:00

The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog

by Alicia Ostriker

To be blessed

said the old woman
is to live and work
so hard
God’s love
washes right through you
like milk through a cow

To be blessed

said the dark red tulip

is to knock their eyes out
with the slug of lust
implied by
your up-ended skirt

To be blessed
said the dog
is to have a pinch
of God
inside you
and all the other
dogs can smell it

“The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog” by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, 2009.

sunset applause

2011-03-23T16:35:00.002-04:00

view from the new house...This sunset was so pretty, that as the sun was setting people on the beach offered a round of applause. nice.

Boca Grande Adventure

2011-03-23T09:39:00.000-04:00

We're hatching another travel destination adventure beginning in Boca Grande, Florida.

And yes, this one (like cedar cove, caz and abaco) is real. house and cottage on the beach, facing west and pretty darn magical. stay tuned for more pics.

16 Petals and the Worm Moon

2011-03-20T16:47:00.008-04:00

In honor of last night's full moon, the fullest moon is 20 years btw, I created my second jamie ridler-inspired dreamboard. jamie asks us to ask ourselves what is brewing within and what needs sharing with the world...what do i wish for....?

I wish to do 'something' with my photographs.

Now that i look at the board again, i realize that all the images are my photos, wishes really do come true around us.

I have a specific photography / multi-media project i would like to work on. That wish is represented by the little booklet in the upper left corner. The flower has the number 16 in its center; that's how many houses i've lived in throughout my life. There is a photo essay here wanting to be born. My kids don't know 'my story'--the places I've lived, the challenges my mother faced and overcame, the magic in my young adult life and I want to show it to them in photographs. That's what i wanted this board to be about but I got side-tracked with angels and wings and beauty and garden dirt.

The We Agree: i'm not searching for approval, more like accountibility. I want people to inquire about the 16 Petal project. hey, now it even has a name. thanks, friends!

"Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it. --Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

2011-03-19T11:49:00.007-04:00

the Greatest Love

by anna swir

She is sixty. She lives

the greatest love of her life.

She walks arm-in-arm with her dear one,

her hair streams in the wind.
Her dear one says:
“You have hair like pearls.”

Her children say:
“Old fool.”

Reprinted from Talking to My Body (1996) by Anna Swir, translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan. Used by permission of Copper Canyon Press, http://www.coppercanyonpress.org/.

find more about the poet anna swir @ poetry foundation

Blue Eggs and Nia

2011-03-18T20:23:00.006-04:00

Here's to spring dreaming:

Nia has been on my springtime mind. Here's hoping two of my creative buddies will take the leap to teach and / or create their nia dreams.

happy st. paddy's day

2011-03-17T17:30:00.005-04:00

Bells of Ireland always remind me of my mother. The bells are like sea shells. If you get really close you can hear the laughter of the angels. We must have bells of all kinds at the hotel.

My two most Irish friends gave a St. Patrick's day brunch this morning. It was heavenly as are they. We wore hats.

Learning

2011-03-15T19:46:00.003-04:00

To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees. -- Paul Valery

Hope i never learn so much that i forget to delight in mistakes.

Following the Light

2011-03-13T21:04:00.003-04:00

Just two weeks to go in my YAYOM (You Are Your Own Muse ) workshop with the amazing photographer Vivienne McMaster. Really, really don't want the class to end. Vivienne and my fellow students/muses have been so inspiring; such talented, beautiful photographers. I feel so honored to have met them. I feel their presence everywhere I go. Here is a bit of beach flora that reminded me of the eyelashes of one of my fellow students...the light was a double bonus.

All Half Century Mark visitors will be encouraged to learn new things, follow the light, and make new friends. YAYOM!

Treasure Hunting

2011-03-12T02:24:00.012-05:00

i so miss my morning gifts in treasure cay.

The delicate shells lay on the shore;

The bubbles of the latest wave

Fresh pearls to their enamel gave;

And the bellowing of the savage sea

Greeted their safe escape to me.

I wiped away the weeds and foam,

I fetched my sea-born treasures home;

But the poor, unsightly, noisome things

Had left their beauty on the shore,

With the sun, and the sand, and the wild uproar.

-- from Each and All, a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Treasure hunting must be encouraged at the Hotel.

Subtlety by Tanya Davis

2011-03-11T00:16:00.003-05:00

Amazing video recommended by the amazing Vivienne McMasters

10 days alone

2011-03-10T21:33:00.020-05:00

Between the sun

and moon

there is a field an inch square

which is the heavenly heart

the dwelling of light,

the golden flower. Liao Dynasty (China 907-1125)

I just returned home from the most glorious time in Abaco.

10 days alone. 5 days with family.

I learned to get up with the Sun.

Mr Moon was amused.

Sun Worship

2011-02-22T00:16:00.010-05:00

To honor the arrival of the sun each morning is an important ritual at the Hotel. But the great news is that you can schedule it whenever it suits your body clock. Our roosters are well-trained and will awaken you when you've received enough sleep. Let the sun shine in...

Revolution 2.0 and Change

2011-02-11T14:59:00.013-05:00

An amazing day for Egypt and the world: The 2.0 Revolution. The hotel is a buzz. You may wonder why a news video was hung in the hotel's lobby. You may wonder why a virtual hotel has a lobby. you may wonder what is a virtual hotel....all stories for other days.

The video (made and posted on You tube by NikkiCourtney)tells the story of Google exec Wael Ghonim and his place in Egyptian history. His story challenges us to open our hearts, to change, to youth, to freedom, to engagement with the world, through technology, love and peaceful revolutions everywhere. Not sure about the heart and love part, I threw those in. But i do feel love for the people of Egypt. I was so worried for the families, so many parents brought their children to tahrir square. I prayed they would witness freedom and not pain.

Ghonim calls this The People's Revolution; he does not want it to be about him. None the less, I am still following him on Twitter. You can too. BTW: You can also follow the Dali Lami. He has 1,341,871 followers. He follows, ready for this ... no one. don't you just love that?

tweet on !!

Romping through the Forest of You

2011-02-07T22:53:00.002-05:00

So in order to receive hefty discounts on room service, we're encouraging all Hotel guests to join photographer/magician Vivienne Mcmaster in her quest to beautify the world one brave soul at a time. Vivienne will dance us through the wild forests of self portraiture. Does the idea of sharing you and your story produce feelings of Joy? Wonder? Terror? Tears? Could be time for some mid-century reframing. I've signed up to play with Vivienne. Won't you join me? You are Your Own Muse! starts on Feb. 14. xoxoxox

Sky inspired

2011-02-04T09:47:00.003-05:00

we woke to a Rothko sky and now it's gone.
prayers for Egypt.

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.--emerson.

Muses: Maddie and Olive

2011-01-30T20:11:00.006-05:00

the nine muses: Clio, Thalia, Erato, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Calliope, Terpsichore, Urania, and Melpomene ..who's # 10?!

Some people who float by or through or around the Hotel leave little breadcrumbs of energy. The curtains flutter, the palm fronds flitter, you just know that creativity and goodness is about. The management loves following these trails to discover what these brilliant artists are up to. Read Maddie's 'Conversation' with Amanda and meet two amazing artists/photographers/writers. Maddie is Madelyn Mulvaney and Amanda is Amanda Ford , also known as Olive. The Hotel hopes to have both artists exhibiting here soon.

Let's Dance

2011-01-27T17:19:00.006-05:00

Time to Dance at the Hotel. Inspiration from Antwerp. Favorite of the hotel staff. makes them cry everytime they watch...it's so delightful. future flash mob on the horizon for the hotel?

salon: "The dancers are presenting the purest form of art imaginable: art simply and truly for the sake of art...They managed to punch right through my cynicism and show me that good things are still out there and there are good people in the world...In a small way, I have a deeper understanding of what it is to be human because of the actions of 200 fellow humans in a train station in Belgium."

Williams, Baez and Stanfield to Appear

2011-01-26T23:18:00.005-05:00

After over a year of low occupancy, the Hotel is bursting with activity. Thanks to mondo beyondo's dream lab.!!

Movie Night at the Hotel

2011-01-26T19:17:00.008-05:00

A Must See!!!
Validation" is a magical fable about life and love...Starring TJ Thyne & Vicki Davis. Writer/Director/Composer - Kurt Kuenne. Winner - Best Narrative Short, Cleveland Int'l Film Festival, Winner - Jury Award, Gen Art Chicago Film Festival, Winner - Audience Award, Hawaii Int'l Film Festival, Winner - Best Short Comedy, Breckenridge Festival of Film, Winner - Crystal Heart Award, Best Short Film & Audience Award, Heartland Film Festival, Winner - Christopher & Dana Reeve Audience Award, Williamstown Film Festival, Winner - Best Comedy, Dam Short Film Festival, Winner - Best Short Film, Sedona Int'l Film Festival.

VIP's

2011-01-23T12:12:00.007-05:00

Brene Brown (left) has joined forces with Mondo Beyondo founders, Andrea Scher and Jen Lemen (on right) for a very special course based on Brene's book, The Gifts of Imperfection. These gals have been given the penthouse suite!

hotel theme song?

2011-01-22T21:29:00.006-05:00

You're Aging Well

Lyrics by Joan Baez / Dar Williams

Why is it that as we grow older and stronger

The road signs point us adrift and make us afraid

Saying "You never can win," "Watch your back," "Where's your husband?"

Oh I don't like the signs that the signmakers made.

So I'm going to steal out with my paint and my brushes

I'll change the directions, I'll hit every street

It's the Tinseltown scandal, the Robin Hood vandal

She goes out and steals the King's English

And in the morning you wake up and the signs point to you

They say

"I'm so glad that you finally made it here,"

"You thought nobody cared, but I did, I could tell,"

And "This is your year," and "It always starts here,"

And oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh, "You're aging well."

well I know a woman with a collection of sticks

She could fight back the hundreds of voices she heard

And she could poke at the greed, she could fend off her need

And with anger she found she could pound every word.

But one voice got through, caught her up by surprise

It said, "Don't hold us back we're the story you tell,"

And no sooner than spoken, a spell had been broken

And the voices before her were trumpets and tympani

Violins, basses and woodwinds and cellos, singing

"We're so glad that you finally made it here

You thought nobody cared, but we did, we could tell

And now you'll dance through the days while the orchestra plays

And oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh, you're aging well."

Now when I was fifteen, oh I knew it was over

The road to enchantment was not mine to take

Cause lower calf, upper arm should be half what they are

I was breaking the laws that the signmakers made.

And all I could eat was the poisonous apple

And that's not a story I was meant to survive

I was all out of choices, but the woman of voices

She turned round the corner with music around her,

She gave me the language that keeps me alive, she said:

"I'm so glad that you finally made it here"

With the things you know now, that only time could tell

Looking back, seeing far, landing right where we are

And oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh, you're aging, oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh and I am aging,

oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh, aren't we aging well?"

If You Were Brave

2011-01-22T14:27:00.011-05:00

What would you do if you were brave????????????

I would create an imaginary hotel and hired myself as concierge and chief photographer!

Bell Hops Needed

2009-10-12T23:47:00.003-04:00

We have had staff challenges as of late. Bell hop positions are still open. Those with wings preferred. No phone calls, please.

Laughing at God

2009-09-15T21:23:00.007-04:00

The entertainment committee is busy assembling a multi-talented coterie of artists and musicans for opening night. (as you might have guessed, all nights are opening night). Lissa and our other Pink friends over at the Owning Pink luxury resort asked their readers to probe their relationship with the divine. and we will do the same. Are you a "fair weather friend" or a spiritually shifting get-down-on-your-knees in gratitude type. That reminds me of a Jewel song I once loved. Here is Regina Spektor performing her song, No One Laughs at God. Regina gets to stay in the penthouse suite. Jewel, too. Thank you to our Pink friends for introducing us to Regina and this evocative and compelling message.

Regina Sektor's "No One Laughs at God" lyrics:

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one’s laughing at God when they’re starving or freezing or so very poor
No one laughs at God when the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God when it’s gotten real late and their kid’s not back from that party yet
No one laughs at God when their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God when they see the one they love hand in hand with someone else and they hope that they’re mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door and they say “We’ve got some bad new, sir,”
No one’s laughing at God when there’s a famine, fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way

And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one’s laughing at God when they’ve lost all they got and they don’t know what for
No one laughs at God on the day they realize that the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God when they’re saying their goodbyes

No one’s laughing at God
We’re all laughing with God.

Play: Explore the Possibles

2009-09-13T10:32:00.005-04:00

The writings and workshops of Creative Traveler/artist/blogger/coach Jennifer Lee have inspired a new addition to the staff, 'required reading' department. (staff meeting: saturday 9. 19. at 3).

Using Stuart Brown's book, "Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul" guests will be encouraged to take their play history upon arrival. Not a test, Dr. Brown compares your play history as a "time machine, a screen that will show you things you may never have seen clearly, or remind you of things you have long forgotten."

Here is Dr. Brown describing the power of play. Thank you to our California friends for bringing Ted: Ideas Worth Spreading into our lives.

Who was the favorite childhood you? (Jennifer was Pippi. Cat Woman and a gypsy Fortune Teller, immediately come to this mind). and you?

The Big View

2009-09-10T13:47:00.003-04:00

Been thinking about past lives...the hotel is full of them. Click here the big view to find out who you were in a past incarnation.

I was a male astrologer, in the year 775
I was an "Artistic personality, always transforming the ugly into the beautiful, gray into bright colors. I will always find an opportunity of creative self-expression in any situation." [sounds good.]
lesson from my past life: I need to develop magnanimity and a feeling of brotherhood. [I did just mention to someone that I really don't like people. They were surprised! ] I also need to " try to become less adhered to material property and learn to take only as much, as you can give back." [No...I'm not taking my new camera lens back. It has brought my pear-loving friend much joy.]

Fruit Trees

2009-09-07T14:00:00.001-04:00

There has been a request for fruit trees in each room of the hotel. Let it be so.

Tools for Transformation

2009-09-05T23:00:00.006-04:00

The concierge staff is busy reviewing protocols and procedures at the hotel. Although we always aim to please, comfort and accommodate, we also endeavor to stretch and strengthen the wingspans of all our visitors, expanding whatever may need expanding, lightening up whatever may be holding them down.

We hope our friends depart with their hearts and minds more open, ready to mire through the muck of daily living. In order to do this we will equip each room with several Tools for Transformation, including music, poetry, art, crayons, paint, feathers, river rocks, angel wings, comfy pillows, and a page or two from a spiritual text. (All the spiritual works ever written can be found in the Hotel; however each guests might only have a page or two of text. Guests will need to travel from room to room and introduce themselves to their fellow travelers and search through their sock drawers in order to piece together the Answers to Life’s biggest questions. Kindles may be necessary.)

Please note: Tools for Transformation will also be available via 24 hour Room Service. Our Menu will change with the seasons; however, angel wings are not seasonal items and are available throughout the year. We are currently redesigning our fall menu. Please post your comments and suggestions for Transformational Tools here: Your opinions matter to us.