Fulfilling Tour of Newport, RI

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Posted on May 24, 2013

“Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.” ~ Frank Borman

My travelogue of Newport, Rhode Island continues today. I had the opportunity to tour the Marble House, one of the mansions. High up on the Cliff Walk, overlooking Rhode Island sound and the Atlantic Ocean, it was home to the Vanderbilts who made their fortune as venture capitalists in the NY Central Railroad and steamships. Their investments and other wealthy families foresight in our country’s future, brought more prosperity through expanding commerce.

The opulent stone palace, now a National Historic Landmark, was designed by Richard Morris Hunt and was constructed during the years 1888-1892. Once complete, it was a 39th birthday present to William K Vanderbilt’s wife, Alva. How do you wrap a present like that? In gold, of course, inside, rather than out. She loved to entertain and saw the Marble House as “her temple to the Arts in America.”

Husband and wife, had separate private reading rooms filled with books, on opposite sides of the mid-level landing of the enormous, two story marble stair case. It is where they went to get away, relax from all their social entertaining. They also built a Chinese teahouse on the property with a magnificent view where guests could go for peace and solitude away from the hustle and bustle of the Marble House activities.

Alva and William K Vanderbilt had three children. Their son, William K, Jr. was a pioneer in auto racing. Their son, Harold pursued his passion of yachting and sailed in the America’s Cup three times. Their daughter Consuelo became the 9th Duchess of Marlborough.

Photos are not allowed to be taken inside the mansion. To read more about the Marble House and to see a photo of the gold room in the Marble House, please visit this link. http://www.newportmansions.org/explore/marble-house.

It was a fulfilling weekend in New England, exploring art, history and architecture.

Return on Monday to www.AllThingsFulfilling.com where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business. This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Another “summer cottage” along Belleview Road

Above: Marble House, the Vanderbilt’s Summer Cottage by the Sea.

Chinese Teahouse on the property of Marble House

The Backside of Marble House – facing the sea

Above: Me with the Babcocks, my niece Kara & Her husband Joe – two architects!

Above: Gates of Salve Regina Univ in Newport, RI – it was graduation day!

Above & Below Images: Stopped by the International Tennis Hall of Fame – it was neat!

Newport Harbor

Goodbye, Newport! Can’t believe we saw all these sites in Newport in one day. Well worth the stop!

Signed, Grateful, that I returned to this area once again. Loved every minute!

Paving the Way for Commerce Westward

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Posted on May 23, 2013

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” ~Warren Buffett

A stroll along The Cliff Walk and Bellevue Avenue was a beautiful place to be last Saturday. Sunny skies and flowering trees added to the charm of Newport, RI, a city filled with mansions from The Guilded Age.

Many of the homes were built with embellishments found in European castles and cathedrals. The structures, fit for kings and royalty, are now museums because they are so expensive to maintain, and they are open to the public for touring. The mansions were once “seaside cottages” for wealthy families who came to Newport, RI, their summer playground. Life by the sea for the Vanderbilt’s, Astor’s, Webb’s and Dupont’s was more glitzy than it is today for most ocean resort dwellers. The families came with a full staff of servants, and house help who helped orchestrate the entertainment of other notables of great wealth and social standing. These prominent society people can be thanked for paving the way for prosperity in the United States. Through their investment in the railroads and steamships, commerce spread westward across America. They were the same individuals who were great patrons of the arts, and invested in magnificent paintings and other art installations, such as sculpture, in their mansions.

Enjoy your tour of Newport, through my photos:

Photo above & below: At the start of Cliff Walk in Newport, RI

with my twin sister

The Breakers, Newport, RI

Another summer cottage by the sea on Cliff Walk

Graduation Day at Salve Regina University, Newport, RI http://www.salve.edu/

Tree on Campus of Salve Regina University – Rooted in two different places!

Another of the Mansions along Cliff Walk

Dogwoods, Azaleas, and other flowering trees were in bloom

Sue, Jan and my niece, Kara in the middle

Return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views is all part of the business. I will show you a few more of the sites in Newport, RI from my travels. My trip to Rhode Island was not my first, but I found plenty of fulfilling things I had never seen before. Come back to see the mansion we toured.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. A Company Specializing in e-Commerce and e-Marketing for Independent Publishers.

Celebrating A Blogging Life

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Posted on May 14, 2013

Photographic Design and Photo Credit © Sue Batton Leonard

Whew – Yesterday’s blog was kind of wild and crazy, today will be more of a quiet, subdued celebration!

When I began this blog All Things Fulfilling three years ago, I thought, “I’ll just float a few of my independent thoughts, words and views over the internet from the Boat. You never know what will become of it. I’ll give it a shot.”

Today I celebrate a blogging landmark of 1,111 blogs written. It occurs to me that I have penned as many pages as some of the most well-known classic novels. Like Gone With the Wind click for info & ordering, Atlas Shrugged Click for info & ordering, War and Peace Click for info & ordering, just to name a few, they all have more than 1,000 pages in them. And as I look at the significance of the number 1,111, it has relevance in many ways to what I write about. http://bit.ly/13Mhip5.

In each post, I’ve tried to provide our readers with something of value about independent publishing and other fulfilling viewpoints. In my book, Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, there is insightful information about why each of my life experiences are so appreciated.Click here for info & ordering.

Let’s be realistic. There are blogs out there with larger audiences. But, the purpose of All Things Fulfilling is to inspire our readers to explore and discover all kinds of things that are satisfying in life. Today, I thank each of our readers who have ever stopped by this website. You are the motivating force that encourages me to keep on communicating.

Return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views is all part of the business. This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

All Things Fulfilling News

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Posted on May 13, 2013

I hope you will return on Tuesday. It will be celebration worth writing about. Readers, I hope you will help me spread the word, through social media about tomorrow’s monumental day.

Some people say they don’t have time to fool with social media and “all that nonsense.” But, someone once said ” everyone has same number of days that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, etc…” And look what they made of their days – a name for themselves!

You, readers, have found the time to visit All Things Fulfilling for your own reasons. Whatever has struck your fancy, whether it is information on the independent publishing industry or the other subjects we regularly blog about, it is has kept you coming back. I greatly appreciate that. You have given me incentive to keep on writing. “A true artist is not someone who is inspired, but someone who inspires others.”

Click on the link below and join me at the space below for a little pre-celebration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN2_ydMMeG8

See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling, the space where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business from www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Writing Ambitions

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Posted on May 9, 2013

“I want to write a book like Walk Two Moons,” my twin sister declared the other day. “Did you ever read it?”

“No, I haven’t,” I said, “Go ahead, what’s stopping you?” Frankly, she took me by surprise. It was the first I’d ever heard of her having any ambitions to write. For many years decorative painting was her “thing.” I would have expected a return to that craft, after abandoning it when her life got too busy with raising children and a career in project accounting for a prominent architectural firm that designs healthcare facilities. http://www.wilmot.com/.

“It’s the best book,” she said. “We read and discussed it in our mother-daughter book club many years ago when the girls were little.”

“So, what’s stopping you from writing?” I asked again.

“I don’t know where to start.” My sister replied.

“No one ever does. Just begin, and see what happens, and where the story goes.”

“I never thought of that.” She said. “I thought I needed to have a beginning and an end, in the first place.”

“Nope, how can you determine it, if you haven’t met the characters yet?” I said.

“What is it that was so good about the story?” I asked, turning the conversation back to her comment about Walk Two Moons.

“It taught the best lessons!” She replied.

“Then keep that in mind, as you write.” I said.

“Well, I didn’t say I was going to write! You’re assuming that I will.”

“Why not? I asked again. “Just start and see how it turns out. You might find the experience of creating a story, in and of itself, fulfilling.” I said, thinking of the joy I have gotten over the past year or so in writing my soon-to-be published narrative.

“I might,” she said. “I just might.”

After our talk about writing, I came across this adage. Is it not true that values determine how all stories, our own and others, end up?

See you next time on All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business. This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Stimulating Writing Ideas

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Posted on May 7, 2013

Is this all it takes to write books? Smokin’ hot jamoke?

The hours I have spent pondering a good storyline, laboring over the computer, staying up late, getting up early, it’s all been for naught? Muggy thoughts have come because I prefer a cuppa tea over coffee?

Henry Fielding once said “love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.” I’ve taken his word as sacred and read heaps of romance novels, all in hopes of providing readers with a delightfully saccharine love story of my own. Creative non-fiction, in the form of a memoir, does that substitution work?

Had I known the key to prolific writing requires being a java jiving connoisseur, I could have saved myself a lot of heartache and hard work. A tall carafe of coffee and I could have been turning out “happily ever afters” faster than breeding rabbits? Really? No joke? Today, I’ll take a large order of smokin’ hot jamoke.

Youth Learns about Publishing

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Posted on April 30, 2013

“Go confidently in your dreams, live the life you have imagined.” ~ David Henry Thoreau

Have you heard the inspiring story of Dallas Clayton? The author who is being touted as the next Dr. Seuss?

From his interview on the Jeff Probst show the other day, he revealed that he was a person without direction in his life until he became a father and decided to write a book for his son. The rest is history. He wrote an outstanding narrative that children could well relate to, and he discovered he had art talent and could do his own illustrations, also.

His first book, An Awesome Book of Love, which came out of wanting to communicate his love for his child, sold like wildfire. This print-on-demand title kept selling out. Eventually, he was contacted by large, mainstream publishing house, and they offered him 10%. His response to that was “Why should I sign a deal like that? I am already making 100%.” Long and short of the story – he was eventually offered a “sweet deal,” which allowed him to start a foundation for literacy “The Awesome World Foundation.” http://www.veryawesomeworld.com/.

Clayton said, in his interview with Jeff Probst,one of the biggest benefits that came with writing the book for his son, who was five when the first book was published, is that “his son saw what it takes to author and publish a book.” He saw his Dad involved in the entire process of the business – writing, illustrating, making mock-up books and even shipping the books from their living room when he needed a fulfillment company. Clearly, an eye-opening experience for a child who probably thinks books magically appear on library bookshelves. And it all began with independent publishing and taking a leap of faith.

I love these kinds of success stories!

Return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business. This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

The Song of Hope

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Posted on April 25, 2013

The other day when I was participating in World Book Night, I read the full list of books that were being distributed as part the event. Most were previous years best sellers. Some I had read, but not too many. My nose is usually between the covers of one my clients independently published books, where there’s plenty of fulfilling reading. There are not enough hours in the day to hit all the NY Times best sellers.

Reading the list led me to wonder how many books do you have to sell to be considered a best selling author? Research tells me 5,000 copies or more. Clearly, most authors write because they love the process of creating a satisfying story.

But, for every writer out there, there is an element of hope among us. Hope that our books will do much better than we ever anticipated. Some of us allow ourselves to dream beyond our wildest imaginations.

Don’t we all dream of better tomorrows? That’s what inspires writers to get up every morning.

I hope you’ll return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling. A LIVELY Friday is planned. We will be sharing independent thoughts, words and views that are all part of the business. This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Living and Learning

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Posted on April 15, 2013

“Writing and learning and thinking are the same process.” ~ William Zinsser

I had a lovely afternoon on Friday with a woman who fully embraces the concept of “life long learner.” I met her two years ago at a retreat sponsored by the United Methodist Women. Right away I was inspired by the interesting contributions she was making to our group discussions and wanted to know more about her. I’ve since learned she is an artist and a writer who is still avidly interested in the world and learning at eighty-three years of age. So young at heart, she still is in command of her own life. She swims at our local hot springs pool, volunteers weeding gardens and has a fulfilling spiritual life.

Last week, it was fun to finally see her contemporary paintings and discuss the thought process that she put into each composition. She interestingly explained the symbolism she incorporated into each of her paintings and how it related to where she was along her life path when she created them.

I took along an independently published art DVD to share with her that I knew she’d appreciate, a portrait painting demonstration, called “The Captain’s Portrait” by master painter Richard Schmid
http://bit.ly/103RYtr. For me watching it brought back wonderful memories of 2001. I was in the audience the day the video was filmed and was attending my first live painting demonstration of a world-renown artist.

From our back and forth exchange of discussion as we watched the film together, it was evident that this woman has been a life-long art student. Although her works of art may not hang in top galleries throughout the country, she has won “Best in Show” awards. She seems to have a wonderful grasp of the concepts that were discussed in the film such as shape, form, values of light and dark, line, textures and color harmony. I shouldn’t be surprised, from the moment I met her she seemed very astute.

Just before we parted company , she told me how she has a void in her heart. Some years ago, the group of local painters who used to gather regularly at the Steamboat “Art Depot” and paint together, disbanded. She said “its much harder these days to find motivation to paint, and she misses the camaraderie greatly.”

I was reminded, once again, why art matters to young and old alike and to myself! This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected

Return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views is all part of the business. This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Film Friday: Funny Retirement Movies

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Posted on April 12, 2013

“If one has no sense of humor, one is in trouble.” ~ actress Betty White & author of If You Ask Me

One of the secrets to a long life is humor. Being able to laugh at ourselves as we age takes the sting out of the loss of our capacities. Everyone ages at different rates, and thankfully, there are things we can do to forestall the aging process.

Watching funny films is good for people’s spirits at any age. On this Film Friday, here are a few suggestions for comedy movies about retirement.

• Gran Torino Click for Info & Ordering

• The Bucket List Click for Info & Ordering

• Up Click for Info & Ordering

• The ArtistClick for Info & Ordering

• About Schmidt Click for Info & Ordering

• The Notebook Click for Info & Ordering

• Something’s Got to Give Click for Info & Ordering

Actress Betty White at 91, still actively working

A Grande Dame of Living with Humor and a Fulfilling Life

Have a fun weekend everyone. Return on Monday to All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views is all part of the business. This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. and Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Click for Info about Sue’s memoir

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