Tag Archives: DVD fulfillment

Second Encounters

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“ We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon”         ~ Konrad Adenauer

Arts in the Parks was one of the featured events this past weekend in Steamboat Springs, CO.  Judging by the attendance, I would say it was a great success. I enjoyed it all! 

I was so happy to see the return of photographer, Kenny Tong! http://www.kennytong.com/ Once again, in my opinion, his photography was a real standout! It seems to me, his images are of places in China, where no ordinary man walks. It is no wonder that his forays into the hidden paradises of China, to capture exquisite scenery, last 2-3 months each year. 

This year at Arts in the Park, I had my son Marc, a recent film student graduate by my side.  Kenny’s professional life started in the film industry. He was able to share some of his experiences with my son, and some of the reasons why he traded in his craft of filmmaking for a career in still photography, which he finds so fulfilling. 

Keep up the great work, Kenny. I was glad to see on the Events calendar of your website www.kennytong.com that you will be sharing your art with the communities of Boulder and Carbondale, Colorado over the next few weeks. 

Thanks for the well wishes to Marc, as he ponders what is ahead on the horizon for him and as he establishes his life as a filmmaker.

 

 Photo – Marc in Ireland.

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Tender is the Night

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“The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind can not understand.” ~ Robert Valett

Tender is the night for tiny, premature babies and those who carefully and delicately nurse them through to another day.  I know all about that, firsthand. 

Premiering this week on Discovery Channel at 10 PM (ET/PT) is a 10-episode docu-drama series that visits behind the scenes of leading neo-natal intensive care units in Baltimore, San Diego and Cleveland. The Discovery Channel’s show NICU Diaries http://health.discovery.com/tv/nicu/   follows the lives of real families as they experience the rollercoaster than comes with giving birth to a premature baby. Watch doctors and nurses, as they work around the clock to serve the needs of their newborn, fragile patients. 

Without these dedicated professionals, neo-natal nurses and doctors, so many children’s lives would be lost and the dreams of parents seeing their child grow into adulthood could not be fulfilled. 

I am so grateful and appreciative of the extraordinary care that was given to me as a newborn many, many years ago, at a time when NICU units, as they are known today, were primitive at best. And for the blessings of God, without which I could never have survived. 

P.S. I am hoping to see my niece at work as a NICU nurse, in this upcoming docu-drama series! She works in the San Diego hospital featured. Thanks, E!! for dedicating your talents and expertise to the lives of teeny, tiny tots!

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Weekend Indie Publishing News

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Looking to submit your manuscript to book award contests this summer? Poets and Writers Magazine www.pw.org has put together a calendar of contests for all months of the year. To keep informed, please visit http://www.pw.org/submission_calendar/2010/7/all.

 Submit your independent short film into a contest! Submissions are now being accepted for the 4th International Indie Short Film Competition. All submissions must be received by November 15, 2010. This is an on-line short film and short script competition. The ISFC is looking to identify a new generation of talented filmmakers and screenwriters and to create exciting opportunities for outstanding talent. For more information on this contest, please visit http://www.indieshortfilms.net.

Winning awards adds value to your work, and creditability to you as writer, screenwriter or filmmaker. Don’t miss out on these opportunities and more! There are lots of contests and competitions to be found, hunt them down!

Journalistically Speaking

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“I like putting my thoughts out there. Sometimes it is just a relief to get things out.” ~ Sarah Whitfield

Have you ever used a personal shopper? I haven’t, I am a good decision maker and I like to be in control of my own destiny! Besides, I know all that I like and all that I don’t like – usually.

The other day, I began browsing the shelves for a new journal. It’s time, my other one is filled with oh so brilliant ideas! But, gone are the days when a simple diary, with lock and key, will do!  Before I even start my search, I had better decide what kind of journal toting person I am!

First, I need to decide whether it will be leather(english bridle, croc, italian, suede), hand-tooled, silk covered, canvas for the rough and tough, hardbound, envelope wrap, softbound, lockable, a zero carbon notebook, a mini or a maxi or somewhere in between!

Secondly, how about the paper inside it? Lined, blank, recycled, tibetan paper, rice paper, replaceable/refillable, handmade, colored, white?

Not to be esthetically incorrect,I had better match my genre of writing style with my choice of journal style. Shouldn’t a person who writes about cowboy adventures carry real leather? Someone who writes about the arts certainly does not want to tote anything too serious and business like – what would people think?

Next, what are my reasons for keeping a journal? To capture my life story? Enhance my creativity? Help me focus? Gain better organizational skills, help me get in touch with my feelings? Reduce stress? Improve my health?

Not any old journal will do – I had better think long and hard. My choice  could effect the way I am able to come up with so many of those oh so brilliant thoughts! I don’t know, I don’t know!  Shopping for a journal these days is enough to drive you mad! It could consume a whole day! This whole process of selecting a journal has me in a tizzy! I think I will, for the first time ever, call on a personal shopper – perhaps she can tell me what to write too!

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Meaningful Morning Menu

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“All people should spend one third of their time in recreation which is rebuilding, voluntary activity, never idleness” ~ Brigham Young

Morning is my cup of tea! As far as I am concerned, it is the most fulfilling time of day. My energy is at it’s peak, and before the world even begins to stir, I walk and ponder.

What glory nature provides in the dawn’s early light. The grass glistens with dew, the wildflowers stand at attention, birds cry out their excitement, the sun rises up from it’s night sleep, and the world comes alive before my very eyes.

Breakfast of nature’s most beautiful provisions feeds my soul, during the hush of the day,when I can appreciate the unfolding of the new dawn. The menu put before me, as I walk and observe, is there to celebrate and enjoy each and every day, as long as I rise to greet it.

Sunrise is the appetizer! The main course of the day for those who reside, work, live and play in Steamboat Springs, Colorado is what God has created for us – the river, the mountains and the scenic vistas. We can recreate till our hearts are content in this wonderous place!

Let’s see – what shall I do today, after the work is done? What ever it is, it is bound to be good!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

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Summer Screens

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“There’s a certain drive in me that won’t allow me to do certain things the easy way.” ~ Johnny Depp

Drive-in movie theatres were at the height of popularity in the 1950s. Since then, almost all have slowly disappeared. Movie goers have traded in their Chevy or Ford bench seat viewing posts for singular, cushy, indoor theatre seats complete with 3D glasses and air conditioning.

Thanks to jumbotron screens, outdoor movies are making a resurgence. There is also a New York non-profit organization www.rooftopfilms.com that is helping to advance this resurgence in their own way. This non-profit’s claim to fame is to screen feature and short “underground” movies outdoors. They also provide youth media education and rent film equipment at low cost to artists.

Interested? You had better be quick! Their summer season runs every weekend from May 14 to August 14. The films screened are as diverse as those shown in movie theatres – everything from documentaries, to fiction to drama, comedy and more!

For more information on outdoor screening locations, the history of the non-profit and films they will be showing during the summer of 2010, please visit www.rooftopfilms.com.

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Play it Again, Sam!

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“Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Have you ever wished you could have a “do over” – a repeat of a day, an hour,  a moment? I’d like our country’s citizens to have a “do over” of yesterday, for one moment, each and every day.  America was hard at work celebrating all things patriotic. We waved our flags, pledged our allegiance and sang “America the Beautiful.” We celebrated with baseball games, parades, barbeques and fireworks. Forgotten were the woes of stock market statistics, the high price of living, and the lackluster economy. Instead we had fun celebrating the liberties and freedoms that we so enjoy. The American spirit reigned supreme!

Don’t let the 4th of July be the only day of the year that you show your appreciation for this country of ours. Play it again, Sam, for each and everyday you are alive in this fabulous country, The United States of America – the land of independence! Every time you hear the words of our National  Anthem “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” put your hand over your heart, cause that’s where it belongs, in remembrance of our honorable countrymen who have fought the battles for us. We continue to live the dream, in a land relatively free of strife and struggle, compared to many countries around the globe. Thank, God.

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History Revisited

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“Most things in life require effort even if, years later, they seem easy” ~ Unknown

I slept all the way through American History. Every time those two words were uttered during my Junior and Senior High School years, I hit the snooze control button and off I would go into La La Land.

Recently, I had a second chance to learn about the battle of Gettysburg. I visited, for the second time since childhood, the battlefields where the three day war, that forever changed our country, raged. This time I learned!

I learned about “Pickett’s Charge” in a way that drew me in, rather than turned me off. I was able to observe from the largest canvas painting in this country, about the Battle of Gettysburg. The circular painting, which measures 400 ft X 80 ft, is enhanced by lights and an audio recounting of the battle, complete with battle sounds. I even got a glimpse of artist Paul Philippoteaux, himself. He painted himself onto the canvas, and into the scene, positioned in the middle of the battle. For more information on this artist, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Cyclorama. Thanks to the painting of artist Paul Philippoteaux, I have a greater understanding this 4th of July, of how our country and it’s citizens fought to gain it’s independence.

I am off to join the United Methodist Women, in cutting up strawberries for the Strawberry Festival being hosted by the Pioneers of Tred Museum, take in the nordic combined ski jumping and roller ski racing competition and the parade down Lincoln Avenue, in scenic Steamboat Springs, CO. far from the battlefields of Gettysburg. Happy Independence Day!

 

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Authors, Build your Whuffie!

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“Friendships are fragile things, and require as much handling as any other fragile and precious thing.” ~ Unknown

What’s your whuffie, you say? Why, it is the way of the world, these days! Something that all authors and business people need to include in their marketing plans.

Whuffie is built through forming relationships with communities of people on-line. By developing an audience and customer base on-line, you will build support and increase visibility for your products. That means sales of  your independently published books, cds and DVDs.

One of the best resources I have stumbled upon is “The Power of Social Networking” by Tara Hunt. www.threeriverspress.com. This book provides great stories of on-line business successes through building whuffies!

Make no mistake, building your whuffie on-line takes time. But, building a business does not happen overnight. Even after reading this book, the concept is still very foreign to many. Where do you start? Call on an expert, a company who specializes in e-marketing for independent publishers. While you are at it, you had better ask whether they handle order fulfillment for independent publishers too ! You will be needing that !

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Smell a Blog

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“All glory comes from daring to begin.” ~ Unknown

The day of independence is almost upon us! In honor of this holiday, one of the things I have decided that I am going to do is to strike out, be bold, and add more herbs to my diet. Today, I thought I would cook up a batch of flavorful gazpacho soup in readiness for the holiday weekend.

I will begin with tomatoes, not common beefsteak tomatoes, but some juicy, ripe off the vine, heirloom tomatoes! May as well start out right and stew them up! Now comes the good part – I’ll add some of those herbs that the Indians used to keep their bodies in tune with nature and helped them maintain proper balance. Into the pot will go:

  • Basil for a little Love
  • Chives to make myself more Useful
  • Parsley for some Merriment on this 4th of July
  • Thyme – why not? I said I was going to become more independent minded and daring in my cooking!
  • Rosemary – to help me Remember the loved ones
  • Chervil – to add Serenity, and just because!
  • Garlic – I don’t think so! That won’t make me any friends!

Umm – Smells good! Can you smell it? Of course you can’t, silly me! Until some entrepreneurial soul decides to spice up the blogging world by adding smell a blog as a new feature, you won’t be able to! Rest assured, that entrepreneurial soul will not be me! I am too busy trying to make my life more fulfilling! How about you?

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