SOUL SAUCE: FUNKIER AND GREASIER

The day before the heatwave started, I told Mike about a memory I had of a blind Osmond brother who used to play the vibraphone on the Donny and Marie show, or at least on their holiday specials. Does anyone else remember this guy or am I imagining that he existed?

The next day, when the heat wave first started, I passed by a small porch sale in Park Slope. Something brightly-colored caught my eye. I stopped to take a look; it was a child-size, 8-note rainbow xylophone. Better than a xylophone, really, because it was metal instead of wood. So the sound was richer, more like that of a vibraphone. The Park Slope mom offered it to me for a mere dollar. I snatched it up in a hearbeat.

This is a small instrument that brings a big joy to our small apartment. I play it when I get up in the morning and at night before I go to bed. There's something about the light-heartedness of the sound that brings my attention right to the present. I always tell Mike that I have to come home for xylophone practice.

After we'd had the xylophone for about a week, Mike handed it to me to play while he put on a CD called Soul Sauce (say it five times, fast). He ordered me to play the rainbow xylophone to accompany the late great Cal Tjader on the vibraphone. The best number is the rough mix of Soul Sauce (Guachi Guaro!), the song.

The text on the back of the CD reads: [...] as the years wore on and band personnel came and went, [the song Guachi Guaro!] got funkier and greasier - so that by the time it was recorded for Verve in 1964, producer Creed Taylor dubbed it Soul Sauce. The single was a bigger hit than it had ever been and the LP became an instant classic.

So I played along with Cal and danced around the livingroom. You can't help but grin when you're playing a rainbow xylophone.

BE A LOVER OF STAMPS

'Til lately, I never quite realized that I've loved stamps for my whole life. When I was little, I took used stamps off of family mail and put them in my scrapbook. Now, I get a big kick out of going to the post office and choosing stamps -- rainbow-candled menorahs, children's book characters, Jim Henson and the Muppets, whatever suits my fancy or the occasion at hand. Check out all the great stamps the US Postal Service has to offer online.

What is so great about stamps? They are small but mighty, with the power to carry an important message anywhere in the world for mere cents. Stamps are tiny pieces of art. Like children's picture books, they must capture the essence of a story or an idea in a small amount of space.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
If you say "stamp collector," this is what I picture: a man in a rust-colored jumpsuit sitting in a dark room. He is hunched over a rickety card table under the light of a brown, scratched goose-neck lamp. With magnifying glass in hand, he peers peevishly down at stamps in a dusty, 20-pound album that he's had for 20 years. He's surrounded by lots of cats and house spiders and he never shares anything with anyone.

Halt. Wait a sec. Something is askew in the land of stamp appreciation. I love stamps and this description does not fit me! What's up with that? Could I be the only one with an outdated image of stamp-collectors and collecting? According the United Nations, the average age of stamp collectors is increasing. So my guess is, whole generations of folks aren't being exposed enough to the joys of stamps.

UNITED NATIONS = STAMP MECCA
I guess there is no quick fix for the lackofstampappreciation epidemic. Wait, yes there is. If you want to get pumped up about stamps, get thee to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. I went there during my folks' recent visit from California. I know you're supposed to be contemplating world peace when you land at the UN, but all I could think about is how badly I wanted to visit their post office.

Before I could reach the UN post office, I saw something interesting out of the corner of my eye. Upon closer inspection, I discovered the UN's version of a photo booth. Let them take a picture of you or you with your friend and they will incorporate the photo into a sheet of stamps featuring different images of the United Nations. If you use these stamps, you must send the mail right there from the UN Headquarters. The best thing to do is to keep the sheet as a souvenir. I may make a postcard out of my sheet.

Once I got my personalized stamp sheet, I proceeded onto the UN post office. Holy smokes, talk about a collection of stamps to choose from! They've been producing their own stamps since 1951, so you can imagine the selection. There’s more than 1,000. I decided to get the Vienna Souvenir Collection because it included a stamp by Peter Max. I also got a set of 12 with a flying postman whose red mail satchel is overflowing with hearts as he holds an olive branch in one hand.

Here are a few fun facts about the UN Postal Administration taken from their website:

* The idea of the UN issuing its own stamps was first proposed in Argentina in 1947.

* An agreement with the US postal authorities was reached in 1951 and stipulated that the stamps be used only at UN Headquarters.

* The first UN stamps issued in US dollar denominations on UN Day - October 24 - in 1951. The stamps, an immediate success, were sold out within days.

* Other artists whose work is featured on the UN stamps include.....

Marc Chagall, France

Friedensreich Hundertwasswer, Austria

Vincent Van Gogh, Netherlands

Paul Klee, Germany

Peter Max, North America

IN CONCLUSION
Email is great; snail mail is better, especially personal letters. What makes the intimate exchange of lofty thoughts and tender sentiments possible? Stamps do! Let's face it: stamps go around the world AND they make the world go 'round! So appreciate and enjoy the magic of stamps.

USING YOUR HANDS

Just before Valentine’s Day, my mom would cover the kitchen table with a bunch of supplies – sequins, beads, glitter, glue, doilies, markers, crayons, and colored construction paper. She never gave instructions; instead, she’d let me and my brother dive into the pile of goods. To this day, I remember the pleasure of the process, the satisfaction of handling all the different textures. I even remember the great feeling of putting little patches of Elmer’s glue on my hands so that I could peel it off after it had dried.

Looking back at my days as a young person, I realize that the most meaningful and gratifying experiences were those of the “hands-on” sort, the ones where I got to be physically connected to a task. Now, as an adult who lives in an age where speed, efficiency, and convenience rule, I find it challenging but important to stay involved in the world through activities that require use of my physical self, namely the use of my hands.

When I use my hands in a project, I slow down. I connect in a deeper way to the experience, to my other senses, and, if I am working collaboratively, to the people or person I am with. When I prepare a meal with my boyfriend, Mike, I often feel the same way I did when I was making Valentine cards at my childhood kitchen table – totally immersed in the project, relishing the experience of using my hands to implement choices, taking pride in the results of those choices.

STUFF YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR HANDS

Give a massage
Knit a scarf
Bake bread
Chop vegetables
String beads
Sew a costume
Make a pot
Finger-paint
Plant seeds
Weed a garden
Play the tambourine
Cut paper dolls
Hand-write a thank you note
Illustrate a card
Crochet a baby blanket
Fish
Paint someone’s face
Plaster a wall
Hammer nails
Saw or whittle wood
Hand-wash clothes
Scrub a floor
Arrange flowers
Place photos in an album
Build a fire
Flip pancakes
Braid someone’s hair
Pet a dog
Sandpaper a rough surface
Fry matzoh
Dye eggs
Build a fort or a sand castle
Knead bread dough

TOP 10 NAUGHTY THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A CENTRAL PARK SQUIRREL

1. Lick the ice sculptures at Tavern on the Green.
2. Ride the carousel for free.
3. Throw acorns into expensive handbags.
4. Take the Zambone for a spin on Wollman Ice Rink
when no one is looking.
5. Waterski in the Bethesda Fountain.
6. Sip leftover soda at the Loeb Boathouse.
7. Ride on the back of a turtle by Belvedere Castle.
8. Heckle the actors in Shakespeare in the Park.
9. Jump into a miniature model boat at Conservatory Lake.
10. Scuba dive in the Harlem Meer and take fish off of people's hooks.

A GEM OF A BOOK

The other day, I wanted portable, light-weight reading material for my subway commute. I tossed The Writer's Life: Insights from The Right to Write into my bag. The book is yellow, postcard-sized, and chock-full of pearly wisdom from Julia Cameron. You may know her from her time-honored classic, The Artist's Way.

Each page features a thought about writing, and as I read each thought, I think "Whoa, that's deep!" I am pulled to earmark almost every page. Here's what Julia sez on p.3:

Most of us try to write too carefully. We try to do it "right." We try to sound smart. We try, period. Writing goes much better when we don't work at it so much. When we give ourselves permission to just hang out on the page. For me, writing is like a good pair of pajamas - comfortable. In our culture, writing is more often costumed up in a military outfit. We want our sentences to march in neat little rows, like well-behaved boarding school children. Burn down the school. Save the books, perhaps, but get the teacher to tell you the real secrets: What does she write and read as a guilty pleasure? Guilty pleasure is what writing is all about. It is about attractions, words you can't resist using to describe things too interesting to pass up.

DUDE, WHERE'S YOUR CARD?

One thing I love about my life is all the interesting, smart, fun, creative people I meet on a daily basis. One thing that surprises me in these encounters is the number of folks who walk without business cards.Yes, we live in sophisticated times: we can get almost anyone's contact information from the internet. Still, there is something worthwhile in the old-fashioned exchange of cards. It's like giving someone an official reminder of the connection you've made, a little piece of you that they can take back to home or office. It's satisfying to empty out my wallet, find so-and-so's card, and think "Gee, what good fortune that our paths crossed." I then find a home for them in my Rolodex and can easily contact them down the road. So much better than copying information from a crumpled piece of paper which has floated down to the bottom of my bag.

And here's a little bit you may not know about Rolodexes: you can buy the slotted index cards with plastic covers. So all you have to do is slide the biz card right inside.

Now, about getting the cards themselves: expense is no longer a barrier. You can go to websites like Vistaprints and get a batch for free. If you need to make a stronger, more professional image, you may wish to hire a graphic designer.

A business card can be a ticket to a fabulous work-related connection, whether your work is finding romance, making friends with other parents, running a corporation or building a home-based business.

Business cards: don't leave home without them.

CANDY GRAM

Here's three facts about my late Grandma, Matilda Jane Daugherty Linn (1904-1999):

1. She was a flapper in the 1920s, which meant that she wore her hair bobbed, frequented speakeasies, and smoked cigarettes. I still have the beaded tassels which hung from the bottom of her dress.

2. David Letterman bagged her groceries when he was a teenager.

3. She adored See's Candy. At holiday time, she ordered so many boxes as gifts that See's delivered it all for free.

Here's a great story about my gram and See's Candy: For a number of years, my gramma had a tough combo of being mentally sharp but dealing with a number of physical ailments. During that stretch of time, my mom flew out to Indiana to visit Matilda. She found that my gramma was depressed and feeling that life wasn't worth living. She told my mom that she would stop eating and drinking. "Well," said my mom, "that's going to put a damper on our visit."

That night, as my mom and gramma were chatting, my mom brought out a box of See's Candy. My gramma saw it and decided to break her "no eating, no drinking" rule. She started to eat pieces of candy and then moved on to regular food. She decided that life was worth living after all.

After that visit, my mom wrote to See's Candy and thanked them for saving Matilda. See's wrote the story up in their corporate newsletter and gifted my gramma a box of treats for every month that she lived. Matilda passed away a few years later.

Between you and me, I think it was my mom's company that perked my gramma up. Still, God Bless her, I hope my gramma is up in Heaven right now, doing the Charleston and enjoying a big box of See's.

THE JOY OF GRACIAS

Gracias: Part One

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
- William A. Ward

For a lot of months now, I've been wanting to let Ethel know how special she is. Ethel works at my office. She is in her 80s and runs a program where she gets volunteers to lead book discussion groups with students in New York's public elementary schools. Ethel is sharp: she's up on art and culture, dresses to the nines, and knows children's literature like nobody's business. Simply put, Ethal is Da Bomb when it comes to living life to the fullest.

The thing is, like most folks, Ethel does not know what a prize she is. I needed to let her know.So today, I brought a dozen hot pink roses into the office and left them in a vase on her desk, along with a thank-you note. Needless to say, Ethel loved the flowers and the hand-written message.

Gracias: Part Two

I have a fantasy and it goes like this: In my home, there is a room just for writing cards and wrapping presents. Since our home office is multi-purpose, I figured I could take a step in the direction of my dream. On lunch break last Friday, I went to American Greetings. I got a great box of rainbow thank-you notes (see pic above) and a book called Thank-U-Grams: thank you postcards for all ages and all occasions. Marianne Richmond, the artist of the impossibly cheerful cards, has a way of inspiring me to want to send as many thank-yous as possible.

The way I figure, the more thank-you cards I have around the office, the more I will recognize all the reasons I have to show my gratitude. And, as Tom Peters advises, "Celebrate what you want to see more of."

PS................I like Mike Robbins' Appreciation in Action. In this monthly e-zine, Mike offers "new perspectives on how to experience greater appreciation." Sez Mike: "Each issue offers insightful tips for acknowledging yourself and others effectively, and for creating positive environments of appreciation around you."

Who would you like to appreciate this week?

LETTER TO MY HAIR

Dear Hair,

I bet you can't believe the number of different cutters you've had over the years, including Yours Truly. Remember all those times the stylist would ask me with an arched, quizical eyebrow "Who cut your hair last?" and I had to sheepishly admit to the deed? Don't be mad, Hair. I used those tiny pelican-shaped sewing scissors to keep your unruly strands in place. I can't run to the salon every time a new layer shows up that throws off the whole schema. Sometimes I have to take matters into my own hands. Just think of me as a Vigilante Stylist.

Wasn't it weird when you went from straight to wavy when I was in college? Wasn't it tortuous when I slept in pink foam 'n' plastic rollers at night to create smooth curls for school or a party? I can't imagine folding myself around foam and plastic for eight hours straight. Ouch!

I'm sorry, Hair. I do owe you an apology for that one.

The worst now will be getting highlights once a year, an occasional 30-second blow-dry, maybe a few styling products on humid days like this one. Thanks for being there for me over the years, Hair. I appreciate how steadfast you've been.

Love,
Your Owner

ANDREA'S SHOES

When I was five and six, I used to go next door to Andrea's house. She was a rebellious teenager in the early 70s. She had her own huge bedroom and the central thing I remember was a wood vanity table with a mirror. When Andrea opened up the vanity drawer, I would look in and see Heaven - tube after tube of lipstick, little plastic cases of eyeshadow, mascara, blush, bottles of perfume. As someone who played beauty parlor 24/7 in my own home, this was Nirvana, and a big step up because it was the real deal: Andrea got to wear this stuff outside the house.

Andrea would spend time putting makeup and perfume on me. All the while, we'd be listening to a Rod Stewart album. The music sounded dangerous: that raspy voice, that hard driving beat.

Then she'd slide open the door to her closet. It was stuffed with clothes and the whole bottom of it was lined with shoes. Shoes. Surveying the selection, I picked a pair to try on. They were Candie's. You may not know this, but Candie's did not originate with Jenny McCarthy's trashy ads. They came from the 70s. Andrea had a pair made of light, laminated, fake wood. They had a clear plastic strap that went across the toes. The piece de resistance was the bunch of brightly-colored plastic fruit that perched atop the clear toe strap. It was 3-D fruit, the kind a dog might mistake for the real thing.

When I tried on Fruity Candie's - again, Heaven. I felt big, glamorous, showy, and a bit shy. I walked around the room, listening to Rod Stewart. I was hot stuff; my beauty parlor pals would be jealous.

I remember feeling sad and empty when it was time to leave Andrea's room. When I put the shoes back in the closet and she slid the door shut, I felt sadder still. I could have looked at those shoes forever.

When I got home, my mom complained about the stench of the perfume I was wearing. The magic of Andrea's was wearing off. Still, the spirit of the Fruity Candie's shoes stayed in my heart.

I LOVE LISTS

I love making lists and I'll tell you who's Queen of them: Barbara Ann Kipfer. This amazing woman has advanced degrees in linguistics, archaeology, Buddhist studies, and physical education. For more than 30 years, she's been writing and editing dictionaries, thesauri and other word books. Here are some of her gems:

• 14,000 Things to be Happy About
• 5,001 Things for Kids to Do
• The Wish List
• 8,789 Words of Wisdom
• 4,000 Questions to Ask Anyone and Everyone
• 201 Little Buddhist Reminders: Gathas for Your Daily Life
• Instant Karma: 8,879 ways to give yourself and others good fortune right now

I'm also a big fan of Jeffrey Yamaguchi's 52 Projects: Random Acts of Everyday Creativity.

Project #3: "Get your camera. Get on the train. Take the train to the end of the line. Take photos."

To view more projects and submit your own, go to What's Your Project?

Here's Project #100, submitted by Jeffrey himself:

"Make a list of 100 things. It can be a list about anything, but it should be personal. 100 books you'd like to read. 100 things you'd like to do before you are 40. 100 things that define who you are as a person. 100 people in your life. 100 things to do before the summer ends. 100 places you'd like to visit. 100 loose ends you'd like to wrap up. 100 questions about your family history you'd like to find the answers for. 100 ways to make your life better. When you first start out making your list, it will seem like it's going to be very easy to get to 100. About halfway through, though, you'll wonder if you are actually going to make it. As you get closer to 100, you will start to get very selective and contemplative with your choices, realizing you only have so many more spaces to fill on your list. Reaching 100 is a celebratory milestone, but of course, doing everything on your list is the time to really break out the champagne."

There's also the fun 'n' funky website 43 Things, where you can list your goals, find other folks who share those goals, and publicly chart your progress. Goals include: learn how to drive stick shift, visit China, play the piano, learn the Thriller dance, and sleep under a palm tree.

Finally, there's David Silberkleit's A New Adventure Every Day: 541 simple ways to live with Pizzazz.

Adventure #390: "Randomly give small anonymous gifts to strangers, simply to loosen up the hold that money has on youf life. Pay the highway toll of the car behind you. Leave one dollar inside a returned library book. [...] You mights even find that more money comes back to you than what you gave away."

RIZE UP TO MEET TOMMY THE CLOWN

Tommy the Clown is the Father of Krumping and Clowning and the subject of the 2005 docunentary, Rize. Krumping, which Tommy describes as "the raw, natural and expressive freedom of the body," is fast becoming an international movement with Tommy at its helm.

ET: What are three great things about being Tommy the Clown right now?

TTC: (1) Being able to make a difference in the lives of young people, especially those at risk. (2) Travelling throughout the world, spreading the freestyle dance movement and encouraging people to dance. (3) Connecting to my fans through my website Tommytheclown.com and my MYSPACE page. I enjoy speaking to the young people!

ET: What's challenging about being Tommy the Clown?

TTC: Getting corporate sponsors to understand the movement.

ET: What are a few projects and goals you are working on right now?

TTC: Tommy the Clown and the Hip Hop Clowns live stage shows is my immediate project. I am working on taking it nationally and abroad. Also, we are in the process of hosting The Battle Zone in Japan this summer.

ET: Who are three people who have inspired and supported you along the way and can you say a bit about each of these folks?

TTC: (1) THE KIDS. I wouldn't be Tommy the Clown if it wasn't for them. They inspire me to keep the movement going. They were the reason I started clowning. (2) Snoop Dogg has been an inspiration and he encourages everything that I do. He has come out to The Battle Zone to perform, not as a paid artist but as a supporter of what I am doing. He understands Tommy the Clown. (3) Anie Dizon, my manager, has been a constant support and believes in my vision of impacting the lives of young people throughout the world. She has been relentless in the pursuit to make it happen!

ET: What would you like your own life to look like 5 years from now?

TTC: I would like to move into film/television, not to focus on my own life but on the lives of others.

ET: Where do you think the Krumping Movement will be 5 years from now? What would you like it to look like in terms of scope and content?

TTC: Though I have been dubbed the Father of Krumping, I really encourage freestyle dancing. My vision is that young people will be empowered and will have discovered a new way to channel that energy, rage, or passion onto the dance floor.

JUNE BIRTHDAYS

1. Marilyn Monroe, actress
2. Dana Carvey, actor and comedian
3. Josephine Baker, dancer and actress
4. Bruce Dern, actor
5. Bill Moyers, TV journalist
6. Diego Velazquez, artist
7. The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, singer and songwriter
8. Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
9. Johnny Depp, actor
10. Judy Garland, actress and singer
11. Jacques Yves Cousteau, oceanographer
12. Anne Frank, diarist
13. William Butler Yeats, poet
14. Margaret Bourke-White, photographer
15. Helen Hunt, actress
16. Tupak Shakur, rapper
17. Venus Williams, tennis champ
18. Isabella Rossellini, actress
19. Paula Abdul, singer and dancer
20. Lionel Richie, singer, songwriter, musician
21. Juliette Lewis, actress
22. Cyndi Lauper, songwriter, singer, actress
23. Wilma Rudolph, Olympic runner
24. Fred Hoyle, astrophysic and astronomer
25. Carly Simon, singer and songwriter
26. Pearl S. Buck, writer
27. Hellen Keller, radical educator and writer
28. John Cusack, actor
29. Claude Montana, fashion designer
30. Lena Horne, actress and singer

HOW I MET SARK

Fourteen summers ago, I was browsing in the art section of a bookstore. A book fell off the shelf, begging me to read it. It was called A Creative Companion: How to Free Your Creative Spirit, written by a woman named SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy). I read it that night and promptly wrote a letter to SARK asking if we could meet up in person. I wanted to talk to her about my creative goals and dreams. She called me a few days later and said "I'm driving to Santa Barbara to do a book signing for my second book, Inspiration Sandwich. Want to meet for lunch?"

So I did. Shortly after that, SARK asked me if I would be her assistant at her first-ever workshop, to be held in New York City. Not long after, I assisted her with her second workshop. SARK and I kept in touch and she became a world-famous writer and speaker about the topic of creativity. One cool thing is that she'd often thank me in the back of her books.

SARK likes to say "Make friends with freedom and uncertainty." Glad I did just that.

A SESAME STREET MOMENT

I was waiting for my boyfriend, Mike, outside of the Housing Works Bookstore in SoHo. I saw some guys walk up the street carrying human-size orange letters. They slipped into a warehouse space next door. I got up the nerve to go over and if I could photograph one of them with a letter so that I could put the photo in a book I was was making for my nephew. "It's a book about New York City," I explained, "because my nephew lives out west."

One of the guys said "How about if we pose with all of the letters? We could make them spell out RAT!"

I countered with the idea that they could also spell out ART.

While I was taking the first picture, a taxi driver who was watching from the curb yelled "Hey! There's not enough [skin] color in that picture!" And the other three guys shouted "Okay, then get over here!"

A little later on, Mike and I were walking by an antique store a few blocks from the bookstore and I did a double take. There, in the window, were the same letters, only smaller and yellow, spelling out the word ART. I couldn't believe it! So I went in the shop and asked the owners if they knew anything about the larger orange letters. Turns out they had just sold the orange ones to a guy who wanted them mounted to spell out ART on his livingroom wall.

PINK ICE CREAM TRUCK

How cool is this? Leyla Safai (http://www.heartschallenger.com/) drives a pink truck around Los Angeles, selling ice cream, candy, and toys from all around the world. Very cool, indeed.

I called Leyla after reading about her in Paper Magazine and got the scoop on her life story. Here's what I learned: Leyla was born in LA. As a young person, she thought that ice cream trucks looked like jail cells. Their tiny windows with big metal bars did not cut the mustard. One day, Leyla saw a mint green ice cream truck drive by and thought it was beautiful. Why, she wondered, did she never see that truck again? What happened to the old man who was driving it?

As a teenager, Leyla was at a rave in the desert. Again, she wondered why there couldn't be a beautiful ice cream truck filled with all kinds of treats. Wanting to create something that would give hope to both herself and to other people, Leyla started to more actively entertain the idea that she could make her dream a reality.

As luck would have it, Leyla met Ben, a calm man who loved to make music. He would become her partner in the creation of the pink ice cream truck and the recorded music which would be part of their appearances about town.

Leyla drives her truck on a regular route around the city so people know where and when they can stop by for a treat. She also makes appearances at parties and concerts. Her treats come from countries such as Mexico, Jamaica, Iran, China, and Italy. She even carries a Kosher version of Bazooka Joe.

Some other interesting bits about Leyla: As a teenager, she dropped out of school. It was hard for her to sit still for long periods of time. So she spent her hours in used book stores and thrift stores. "My education came from The Salvation Army," shares Leyla. "I read a lot of books and was always figuring out how different objects from the store were made." She also took the bus to different parts of Los Angeles, making friends of all different nationalities.

When she was in school, Leyla was known as The Candy Lady. Her mom took her to warehouses to buy sweets in bulk. She's take the candy to school and make $40 to $50 a day in quarters from selling the goodies to her friends.

Leyla went on to become an in-house designer at The Standard Hotel. Fortunately for the folks in LA, she left that job to launch her mobile mecca of magic, Heartschallenger. She and Ben are currently working full-time on their music group, Heartsrevolution, which is part of that magic. They spend much of their time in the studio recording a full-lenth album of dance tracks and, in Leyla's own words, "neverending storyish-type songs."

Glad you followed your heart, Leyla!

A LETTER TO NIKO

As a young person, writing and receiving letters via snail mail was how I stayed connected to friends and family who lived far away. When I heard the mailman drop letters into the slot, I'd leap down the basement stairs to see what paper treasures had come my way. I owe special thanks to mentors, grandmas, and favorite camp counselors and bunkmates for keeping in touch.

Since my nephew, Niko (person on the right), and I have always lived far apart, I've written books and letters to stay in touch and to communicate what life is like here in New York. The first book I made for him was called Niko, You Are Loved. In it, I used text and photographs to document the love and delight that friends and family felt when we first got to hold Niko in our arms.

The second book I make for Niko was about life in New York City. First, I asked Niko to send me a list of questions about NYC. Based on those questions, I went around Manhattan taking photographs of everything from fountains to taxicabs. Next, I photocopied and enlarged the pictures, added text, laminated the front and back covers, spiral bound everything, and mailed the final result to him.

Lately, I've focused more on writing letters to my nephew. Here's a recent one:

April 21, 2006

Dear Niko,

I am having breakfast in my favorite café in my neighborhood. They are playing a Jack Johnson CD, which makes me think of you because I remember listening to Jack J. for the first time when I was riding in a car with you in San Diego.

What I like about this café is the homemade cooking, the cozy atmosphere and the friendly waiters. They call their customers things like “Honey” and “Sugar.”

Here is what I see around me:

1. People talking happily while they eat their breakfast together
2. A Heinz Ketchup bottle
3. Four different cakes protected by clear glass cake covers
4. Three chalkboards with the menu written in white, blue, pink, and green chalk
5. Two bumpy glass salt and pepper shakers with metal lids
6. A brown empty chair with a piece of wood chipped off of the leg
7. A skinny fridge filled with soda, water, and a cake
8. Red milk cartons that say “Marcus Half and Half”
(That’s the first time I saw the brand “Marcus”)

What do you see in front of you right now? When you feel like it, jot a few things down or draw what you see and send it back to me in the envelope I sent to you.

You are good.
You are smart.
You are powerful.

I love you!

Aunt Eleanor

TITHING: IT'S NOT (EXACTLY) WHAT YOU THINK IT IS

Last summer, I decided to do some exploratory work around money. In short, I always felt like I didn't have enough of it and that I needed to cling dearly to every penny. While it's true that I've never had a big salary, I knew that there was something more to the chronic "glass is half empty" feeling that seemed to pervade many areas of my life.

So I did a couple of things. I took a seminar called The Fiscally Fit Female led by Galia Gichon, founder of Down to Earth Finance (http://www.downtoearthfinance.comng/). With Galia's help, I was able to re-evaluate and modify external habits around money. The best part was walking away with a monthly spending and savings plan.

I knew I also had to go deeper to look at the internal habit of perceiving and thus perpetuating scarcity. I turned to Paula Langguth Ryan's book Giving Thanks: The Art of Tithing (http://theartoftithing.com/). Here's some great stuff I picked up from Paula's book:

1. Tithe means "tenth." The act of tithing a tenth of one's income "at the point or points where one is being inspired [...] predates the Bible by centuries and has been practiced in various forms by all cultures." In fact, tithing stems from Jewish law!

2. Tithing is about giving a percentage of everything that comes your way to the people and places which inspire you. It's not limited to giving to a religious institution. Ideally, it's given out of a sense of thanksgiving, not charity.

3. "Practicing the art of tithing allows you to give up the emotional struggle that surrounds financial issues. Tithing teaches you how to release your attachments to the abundance in your life. When you release your attachment to the prosperity that flows in and out of your life, you allow that abundance to glow more freely."

4. "Stagnation is death. Circulation is life."

This last point really hit home with me: Stagnation is death. Circulation is life. As a professional organizer, I had been teaching people to let go of belongings - papers, books, clothing - to make room for new people, opportunities, sources of joy and pleasure. I never thought about how the same principle could apply to letting go of money.

Excited by the book, I decided to start tithing in the form of flowers. Using a flower delivery service, I sent bouquets of flowers to people who had been inspirational or supportive. Some of these folks included Cheryl Henson, children's book authors Maira Kalman and Faith Ringgold, my great aunt Rene, my friend Cecilia.

Next, I began to support places and organizations which inspired me - the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and The Project for Public Spaces.

Don't get me wrong - I still have my struggles around money, as most folks do. I still worry and pinch and number crunch. Still, it must be said: tithing in the form of both funds and flowers has resulted in a heightened sense of joy, pleasure, abundance, generosity, and appreciation for all the sources of inspiration which surround me. It's a practice I plan to keep in place for life.

I'M BACK: REPORT ON A 7-MONTH SABBATICAL

The other day, I got off the 2/3 train at 96th and Broadway and saw my old doorman, Mike, walking up the street. He said, "Hey, I haven't gotten your newsletter in a long time." (This blog originated as an email newsletter.) I felt kinda sheepish. It's been 7 months since I last wrote for Creative Times. Other folks have commented, too: "I thought maybe I got dropped from your list." Not so.

I've been on a 7-month sabbatical from writing Creative Times. I was climbing Mount Everest and decided to swing off onto a side path that allowed a little more time to explore and smell the flowers. Here's some of the stuff I've done:

1. Read a ton of great books about writing and the creative process. Gems included:

• What A Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher
• The Sound of Paper: Starting From Scratch by Julia Cameron
• Letters to a Young Artist by Anna Deavere Smith
• Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• This Time I Dance: Trusting the Journey of Creating the Work You Love by Tama J.Kieves
• Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life by Natalie Goldberg
• Creating a Life Worth Living: A practical course in career design for artists, innovators, and others aspiring to a creative life byCarol Lloyd
• The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: a portable mentor by Gail McMeekin

Admittedly, I also bought and read a second hand copy of Florascope: discover your flower sign written by Helen Brown Gentry and photographed by Sally Tagg. Evidently, as a Scorpio, I fall into the category of Cactus Flower. This means that I am "eager to delve into life's hidden corridors." So true!

2. Taught public school parents how to make reading and writing more integral to their families' lives. Thanks, Ralph Fletcher, for the idea of having parents write stories about their first names. Incredibly revealing exercise!

3. Wrote journal entries about my immediate surroundings (e.g. a description of my favorite neighborhood cafe) and mailed them to my eight-year-old nephew, Niko, who lives in Hawaii.

4. Rented, for dirt-cheap, a subsidized loft studio space from arts center Spoke the Hub to listen to music and dance. A highlight was bringing my 11-year-old friend Lizzy into the space to co-choreograph a dance to a Mariah Carey song.

5. Co-choreographed a dance to a 70s song with colleagues at my office and performed it at our holiday party.

5. Started a Dream Binder. It's a place where I stick 3 by 5 cards or pictures which reflect the stuff I want to bring into my life.

6. Found pennies most days on the street or the subway. Taped individual pennies to sheets of paper with a note asking the finder of the paper to make a wish, take a step toward making the wish come true, then email the wish to me. I never heard back from anyone, but still enjoyed planting the notes around my neighborhood.

7. Explored many branches of the New York Public Library and took the office staff to tour Donnell, the best branch of them all, which resides across the street from MOMA.

8. Joined MOMA mostly to have access to their awesome loft-like cafe and visit Picasso's She-Goat in the sculpture garden.

9. Got inspired by the music of British MC (rapper) Lady Sovereign. Check out her website: www.ladysovereign.com/

10. Interviewed a woman who drives a pink ice cream truck in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for a report back from the interview in an upcoming entry.

So, you can see, I haven't been totally idle. But it has been hard to not write. There's a huge backlog of things I want to put to paper.

Here's what brought me back to writing for Creative Times: I found Louise Crawford's blog, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn -http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.typepad.com/ and through it found out about the upcoming First Annual Brooklyn Blog Festival in June. I emailed Louise and we ended up having a great phone conversation about blogging. In connecting with Louise, I realized that I am not a lone star floating around the atmosphere; I'm part of this great collection of folks who, like me, collect odd bits of information and life experience and string all of it together through words.

I'm excited about attending the Blog Festival and meeting up with kindred spirits.

Funny thing: after chatting with Louise, I opened Carol Lloyd's Creating a Life Worth Living to the chapter called "Building a Bridge You Can Jump On: Support Structures." Carol sez:

Like a bridge that needs to be anchored to the ocean floor and connected by great iron cables to the shore, creative people need multiple support structures so they don't float away to some distant professional reef [...] Your will alone cannot keep you in place. You need support structures to help you.
[...]
Creativity springs from a ferment of connections and ideas. So, in addition to your private vision, your vigorous creative habits, and your practical day job, don't forget that you need fellowship connecting you to the world.

I think this was the missing piece for me, the fellowship piece. I thank Carol and Louise for pointing out that truth, thus helping me return to the drawing board.

It feels good to be back.

A TRIBUTE TO JIM HENSON AND THE MUPPETS

WHAT'S GREAT ABOUT JIM AND THE MUPPETS

I’ve always loved the Muppets. Like many of you, I grew up with them. I saw them on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and all the Muppet movies. One of my favorite rituals during trips home from college was to rent the first three Muppet movies (The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan), get into my pajamas, and spend a whole day glued to the television. How can you not love a world where rats are bellhops, frogs and pigs fall in love, vegetables sing from a pushcart, and penguins surf in the shower?

I appreciate the man behind the Muppets as much as I admire the furry creatures themselves. Here’s a list of some of the things I treasure most about Jim Henson:

• His patience, kindness, and optimism


• His endorsement of creative anarchy


• His inclusive style of leadership - he collaborated well in creative partnerships and teams


• The theme in all his movies of going after your dreams, supporting your friends to do the same, and being true to yourself


• The way he saw no limits on what he could achieve on artistic and technological fronts The way he created work that was playful and kind in its tone while still having an edge


• His dedication to promoting laughter in front of and behind the screen

WHO WAS JIM HENSON?

In 1993, I went to The Museum of Television and Radio to check out an exhibit featuring Jim Henson. At this exhibit, which featured mostly screenings, I learned that Jim was about much more than the Muppets. A technical and conceptual wizard, he was a pioneer in the worlds of television and puppetry. Here are some interesting bits from his personal and professional history which I found in the new book It’s Not Easy Being Green and Other Things to Consider.

1936 – Jim Henson is born in Mississippi.

1947 – Jim moves to Maryland with his family and forms strong interest in the new visual medium of television.

1954 – Still in high school, Jim launches career in television by performing puppets on a Saturday morning program. Soon after, he is given his own show, Sam and Friends, which he produced with fellow student Jane Nebel.

1959 – Jim and Jane marry and have five children together.

1964 -1969 – Jim produces several experimental films, including award-winning Time Piece, Youth ’68, and the The Cube.

1966 – Joan Ganz Cooney begins work on Sesame Street and asks Jim to create a family of characters for it.

1975(ish) – The world is introduced to the Muppets through The Muppet Show.

1980s – Jim and friends make Muppet movies. In addition, they make fantasy films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, both of which feature three-dimensional characters “with advanced movement abilities”. The staff of the later two films form basis for what is now known as Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

1990 – Jim dies in New York City after a brief illness. The world mourns his passing and celebrated the joy, humanity, and artistic vision that he brought to this world. His memorial services take place at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, where Big Bird sang It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green. His family, friends and colleagues continue and expand his vision through the Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop, and The Muppets Holding Company, and The Jim Henson Foundation.

GREAT QUOTATIONS

It’s Not Easy Being Green and Other Things to Consider also features quotations by and about Jim Henson. Here are some of my favorites:

“I feel that almost everyone maintains a childlike quality throughout their adulthood. One of the nice things about the puppet form is that it has the ability to communicate with this childlike side of the audience. The personalities of the Muppet characters are really quite innocent and everyone, in some way or another, seems to be able to relate to this innocence.”
-- Jim Henson

"From Kermit the Frog, literally an extension of Jim, comes a life-affirming decency, a passionate belief that there are stories to tell which don’t exclude children and don’t insult adults, which don’t exclude adults but which don’t insult children, which can be outrageous and innovative without being arch or misanthropic. There’s anarchy here, but it’s anarchy that celebrates rather than destroys.”
-- Anthony Minghella, Writer of “Jim Henson’s The Storyteller”

“Jim inspired people to be better than they thought they could be. To be more creative, more daring, more outrageous, and ultimately more successful. And he did it all without raising his voice.”
-- Bernie Brillstein, Jim’s friend and agent since 1961

"I don’t know exactly where ideas come from, but when I’m working well, ideas just appear. I’ve heard other people say similar things – so it’s one of the ways I know there’s help and guidance out there. It’s just a matter of our figuring out how to receive the ideas or information that are waiting to be heard.”
-- Jim Henson

RESOURCES FOR FANS OF JIM AND THE MUPPETS

Websites
http://www.jimhensonlegacy.org/ – good place to order books and DVDs
http://www.henson.com/ – the website of the company has lots of good insider info, esp. about the 50th Anniversary of the company
http://www.toughpigs.com/ – for Muppet fans who are now adults
http://www.hensonfoundation.org/ – is dedicated to keeping the art of puppetry alive
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/ – self-explanatory!
http://www.muppetcentral.com/ – inside scoop on all that is happening with the Muppets
http://www.kermitage.com/ – great spot to reminisce about The Muppet Show
http://www.mtr.org/ – site of the Museum of Television and Radio.
Note: New York’s Museum of Television and Radio is the premier spot for viewing works by and about Jim Henson. By making a reservation to use the library, you are privy to the many program titles which appear under “Jim Henson’s World of Television,” including special episodes of Sesame Street like “Maria and Luis’ Wedding”.

You can also find these titles in the museum’s screening library:
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
The Jim Henson Hour: The Secrets of the Muppets
The Muppet Show, Featuring Paul Simon

Other Cool Stuff

* 50th Anniversary Commemorative Stamps, starring – who else! – the Muppets, are now available at the US Post Office.

* A book I recommend is Jim Henson: The Works - The Art, the Magic, the Imagination by Christopher Finch