louise on the left (coast)

Courtesy of the uber talented, patient and multifaceted, Em Sinick.

I'm a huge Hopper fan. Always was. I had the dubious distinction once of actually telling him this in an elevator in Century City, along with the quirky fact that he and I actually shared the same landlady, once. I told him where we were living and who my landlady (and geriatric GF) was and how she still wore this crazy wig (backwards). But, most of all I told him how polite she said Hopper was about taking her for rides up and down Appian Way on the back of his bike.   This was one cool landlady.  She was so great I'm digressing from a Hopper story to tell you how cool this landlady was. She turned down Marilyn Monroe to live in her carriage house (which my BF and I were at the time holed up in) because my landlady knew she'd be "bad news." (Anyhow, we were talking about Hopper, even though this is my Hopper moment.) Hopper's response? "Holy shit, is she still ALIVE?" "Yep," I concurred warmly.   (I w

This will be my quickest blog post, ever. Everything you've learned in life in just five words. Oldest daughter: Photoshop can fix almost everything Vampires are just really sparkly I will always be great When Hair Gets Greasy Wash Deodorant Really Does Dry White Arm Farts Are Really Funny Youngest daughter: Never Give Up In Life Me: Live Give Love Laugh Peace Always choose love over snark.

Pressure. Overwork. Test scores. Stress related illness. Lack of sleep. Suicide rates. -- Just what do we consider "successful" children to be, anyway? Time for people to comprehend all that is lost when don't make our children and their emotional health a top priority in our society. Looking forward to seeing more than just the trailer to this timely film. Here's what the film's website,  ReelLinkFilms ,  says about the documentary: "Director Vicki Abeles turns the personal political by igniting a national conversation in this groundbreaking documentary about the pressures American schoolchildren and their teachers face moving into the 21st century What started as a private family matter widened into a cogent examination of systemic pressures faced by youth and teachers today an increased focused on test scores, a shrinking global economy and increasingly unrealistic expectations of parents, universities, school districts and soci

If you are a dog-lover, then you will "get" this video,  even if it means patiently waiting till the end it for it's message. Okay, I was so busy today that I was convinced I had no time for blogging. Then I saw this clip online and I suddenly knew I had to post something about it right away.  It's so close to our own experience with "Buddy" that I just had to write about it. The truth is, what happens in the above clip is almost exactly what happened to me in my own life about three years ago. The Tale of How We Got Buddy. One day, while dropping my kids off at school I noticed a dog rushing frantically through busy traffic. He was shivering, and kind of limping and I had no idea who's dog he was.  Or if he was sick or injured, or what this animal's story was.  I was just driving by.  I had kids to drop off.  This was not the day I planned. It was about 5 minutes before the elementary school bell was going to ring, and if you h