Holidaze

This post was inspired by The 12 Daze of Christmas. Go see, I'll wait.

It's almost a cliche, this hustle-bustle of the holidays. I look around at the mad-dash of people securing STUFF. Ex-XM Radio Guy has always said that he doesn't like the mandate of gift giving. His family got rid of it years ago. Nobody needs anything, and if they do, they can buy it themselves. We just get together and eat. I always liked Thanksgiving, not just for the yummy yams, but because it was a fun family gathering without the gift pressure. Every family has traditions and rules. Here are some rules I've observed for the Holidaze:

1. Matriarchs who insist her entire set of children, grandchildren, etc. MUST be at their homes ON Christmas Day. Followed by:
2. Nothing starts until the entire family is there. Just eat the chips on the side board & watch TV for 3 hours until Sister-brother-so-and-so can get there.
3. Mandatory Gift Giving for everyone in the family.
4. Assigned seating for gift-opening. (I am not making this up).
5. Opening one gift at a time with 50 people wedged into a room. Sweater in the wrong size & colour that I won't wear? Returnable. 3 hours of my life: priceless.
6. Co-workers who insist you eat the shortening-icing store bought cake because "it's Christmas." [side note here: for some hilarious cake mistakes, check out Cakewrecks]
7. Anyone who uses the excuse Because it's Christmas.
8. More stuff = more love
9. Expensive gift = more love

In my family, Christmas has evolved. These days we keep it pretty simple. We all do something homemade. We go for funny or smart or delicious. We have Christmas the weekend before or after Christmas. That way all the nieces and nephews can spend Christmas morning in their own home in their jammies. When my stepsons were growing up, we had the 3 Gifts Rule. That's how many Jesus got, so that's how many they got. They still got lots of other stuff from all the rellies.

Here's the beauty of being an adult: we get to choose how we want to celebrate. Just because "that's the way we've always done it" doesn't mean you have to continue that way. You can turn the holidaze back into happy holidays. Or in the case of our family, from Hollidaze to Hollidays.

Rula Lenska is in the House

When I was growing up, I would get laryngitis every once in a while. Apparently, I still do. I woke up in the airplane somewhere between Burbank & Dallas at 32,000 feet with a cold. Or something. My alter-ego when I have laryngitis is Rula Lalenska. She was a "famous English actress" back in the 70's because the Alberto VO5 commercial said she was. She has this deep, husky voice and she says:

Iiiiiiiii'm Rula LENska. Friends are here from Ameri-CA, and I'm going to show them LONdon.

And then you see her navigating the drippy-wet streets of London with this Helmut Hair that doesn't budge. I looked for the commercial on Youtube, but they only have this one.

But I found this other one that is equally entertaining.



Not stiff or sticky???

Helmut Hair: Ozone Layer

Connection?

Touristy Stuff

Yesterday my friend Henny came & picked me up and we did some touristy stuff. So we went to the mecca of cement hand & footprints. Here's Henny with John Travolta:

*sigh*

It's a WONDERFUL life!

I love this. She wrote "hand & foot prints" with her initials in case there was any doubt. Thanks for breaking it down for us, Gloria.

Sunset.

Blogger shuffled the pix. Anyway, after the handprints, we went to an art gallery. It was an odd experience, mostly because we were followed around by the guards. I think Henny's one-year-old made them nervous. Plus, I imagine there's not really that much for them to DO except tell me I can't use a flash with my camera. And no pix of things not on permanent display. Oh, and not to touch the art piece that had a knob on it. Oops. It was really cool. Of course you're supposed to OPEN it, that was the whole point! Why else did the artist put an knob on it? And the inside was this awesome display of intricate lines. . . . Here's a shot of Ganesh, hundreds of years old:

You're not allowed to touch this one either, but you can see the patina where centuries of hands have rubbed him. For luck, in worship. It was odd walking around this particular room with Indian deities--it all seemed so sterile and dead. Not like that sense of the sacred that you would feel in a temple. After the gallery, we went out for Indian food. I had the BEST chai! The BEST, Jerry!

Today I am heading back to VA. A day of travel, woo hoo. Back tomorrow. :-) H.

Creativity

I received a HARO query about Creativity from Gary Unger. He was requesting thoughts on creativity from both experts & laypeople, and to list which one you are in the subject line. Hmmm . . . what are his qualifications for an "expert?" I consider myself an expert, would he? I was thinking about how creativity to me is like breathing. I NEED IT. The best creative endeavors come from stepping aside and allowing creativity to flow through you.

So I had all these thoughts about creativity and then I hopped over to check out this a.m.'s Grasshopper Note . . . about creativity. Brilliant. Here's a quote:

The main purpose I see in life is to co-create with the life force that lives you. This creative force is with you your whole life. It doesn't sleep, take sick days or vacations. The only way to stop its flow is to believe it's not necessary, not in abundant supply, or not available to you.

I couldn't have said it better. So today is my last day in Burbank . . . and I'm wondering what FUN I can create today . . . .

Day of Rest

I've been thinking about luck, because I consider myself a v. lucky person. It's really just a belief that gets reinforced by evidence in my daily life. I could easily ignore all the great stuff and reinterpret myself as unlucky. But that wouldn't be as much FUN, would it?

Greetings from Sunny CA

Well. Here I am again in Burbank. How was Ellen? you say. Lemme tell ya! AWESOME, of course, what else? The show airs on this Mon. Guests were:

James Spader~ post Boston Legal visit.
Brian Williams~hysterically funny AND a dog-lover; literally tongue-kissing his dog. You'll see. She's 15 so you know she's not around much longer. It made me think of Barkley & Remi, of course. *sigh* Ellen's theme song does, anyway because Remi would trot into the living room when he heard the show starting because that was his massage time. Sweet memories...
Beyonce~OK, so she wasn't actually on the show. They just announced her & we had to cheer. Then they drop in her segment in post. See, those are industry technical terms in the biz. ;-)

During a commercial break I look over at Ellen and--she's waving at me! Wow. So I wave back. She was waving at me except she wasn't. She was waving to a woman near me. Has that ever happened to you? What do you do? So then I pretended not to be waving? How can you take a wave back? Hahahaha BTW, if you're facing the audience, I'm one in from the far left wearing a red shirt & black jacket, about 4 or 5 rows up. That's Jennifer on the far far left next to me.

No, no, what I want to know is what kinda Christmas loot did you get?

Oh...right. That. Well. An XBox 360. 380? What? Anyway, it goes to XM Radio Guy. How could I choose which family member it goes to? So now they can all just seethe at him. Stoopid XM Radio Guy, they'll say. So I Fed-exed the XBox to (ex)XM Radio Guy. Hahahaha I also got a new Canon camera, Netflix for a year with some gadgety-gizmo that I can download movies onto (cool!) and an Amex $100 gift card.

That's all the STUFF. So what was cool was getting to hang with my Ellen friends from San Diego. We were at the later taping because there's 2 on Thurs. so we went for Mexican. What a bunch of great gals! Unfortunately no pix to upload now.

I met a v. sweet young woman with fibromyalgia at the show. 3 months ago she was in a wheelchair. Of course I was all Blah Blah Blah Brimhall. This has almost become a cliche, but she said, " I think I came here to meet you." It happens on airplanes, seminars, everywhere. 4 years ago I would not have even thought it possible to be here. It would take me 2 hours just to get out of bed. So when I meet someone who is in a similar boat, I'm inviting her to switch to a different boat. Things that get worse can get better. And when you feel better, you do better.

Today is a day of Reiki, so I'll sign off here. Sending out SMILES & good vibes . . . .

December, already?

I would say that I'm temporally challenged. I lose track of time. It's a characteristic of being left-handed/right-brained. Still. Sometimes I look up at the clock or the calendar & think, "Woah! What year is this?" Hahaha No, I don't. Yes, I do.

Tomorrow I head out to Calif. again. Already! There was so much I was going to DO before I went--oh, the hazards of living in the present moment! I'll prolly blog from out there, altho, not everyday. Just sayin'.

I'll be at the Ellen show on Thurs. (don't know when it's airing yet). And I'm going to be teaching a one-day beginner Reiki class this Sat. in the Burbank area. Email me with REIKI in the subject if you'd like to come . Here's the info:

"Reiki" means healing energy. Learn this Japanese healing art to learn healing techniques for you and your loved ones. Included in this one-day seminar:

*Reiki Meditation
*Connecting to you intuitive guidance
*Pain alleviation techniques
*Toning, tuning forks & other healing tools
*Energy exercises
*FREE* Reiki handbook:
History of Reiki~ Myths & Fact
Reiki Journal

SATURDAY Dec. 6th 10 a.m.~5 p.m. in Burbank
Class investment: $108