Could this mean a future ABBA reunion?

Anyone who has known me since childhood knows that I've long been a massive ABBA fan. Wait, no that would actually be an understatement.  

Anyway, when Agnetha decided she had enough, and went into seclusion in her native Sweden the band ended. For decades, I've dreamed of the day when Agnetha would be tempted to return to the studio, perhaps for a full ABBA album. It's not like any of them need the money. The music of ABBA continues to be popular to this day, through original albums, but also in thanks to the West End London play and NY Broadway play Mama Mia...and then the film of the same name. Despite rumors of offers of a billion US dollars, the members of ABBA have, as yet declined to do a reunion tour.

My hopes have been raised with the new album from Agnetha Fältskog. She was the one member who wanted nothing to do with being back in the limelight. I've pre-ordered her new album on iTunes, and downloaded the single When You Really Love Someone. I love the song and can hardly wait until the rest of the album is released.

I'm in London at the moment, and as it turns out, Agnetha was here doing some promotional visits for her album. WOW. Life is but a dream at times.

If you are an ABBA fan, visit her website and check her out on Facebook too. Holy Smokes. If ABBA ever did reunite, I might have to become a groupie and travel the world to attend every concert. You have no idea what a huge ABBA fan I am...I'm seriously happy to hear from Agnetha again.

The Good Life

They say happiness is a state of mind, and I have always believed this to be true. There are lots of things that can bring happiness or feelings of contentment, one just needs to look to the things around oneself. I saw this t-shirt design the other day and it made me smile. The notion of a dog wearing a cap and driving a golf cart seemed just perfect. Below the image were the words "The Good Life, Palm Springs".

This shirt captured my state of mind on a few levels. My dogs are a source of continuous happiness each day, they are good pals and have so much energy. Living in Palm Springs is also good for my soul. In particular our beautiful San Jacino mountains are so peaceful and serene. The warm sunshine and clear blue skies most days also give me reason so smile. Just seeing this simple t-shirt reminded me of how happy I am. The secret to a happy life is to always find things around you to celebrate and embrace. I consider myself fortunate that this t-shirt was all it took to remind me of it all.

Lucky Chinese Cat

To bring Luck and Money to those who need it...

Looking Back on Things...

Not long ago, in a far, far away land, I met with a Buddhist monk in a temple high up in a mountain. After a long discussion and some meditation, he had me write a bunch of information on a piece of paper, and hung it from one of those colorful rows you see in this photo. He offered to pray for a year, which amazed me. I stumbled on this image and it reminded me of that kind monk. Looking back on things, a great amount of good fortune has come to me since that day. Who knows the reason, but I am indeed grateful. Today I can close my eyes and find myself back at the top of that mountain, and almost smell the incense burning at the temple. Yes, part of me is still there. Looking back, it was one of those days that ended up being more special that I could have ever imagined.

How much is too much?

Throughout my life, entertaining at home has been a cherished tradition, for dear friends and new acquaintances. From London, Boston, New York, Chicago, San Diego to Palm Springs, I've always enjoyed hosting parties, dinners and intimate cocktail parties. Despite over 25 years of experience at it, I still struggle at one key component: how much food to serve. 

I suffer from what I call Italian Guilt. I loosely define it as the shame of running out of food, or even worse--what would someone say if I didn't have enough of a spread. Of course, in truth, noone in my social circle would truly be that judgmental, but being of Italian heritage, even the thought of embarrassment is enough to motivate me to bring out more food than can be consumed. 

But how much is too much? Take for instance, a normal dinner party. Before dinner, I usually serve cocktails, and have some snacky things on the coffee table. Cashews. Pistachios. Almonds. Cheese. Crackers. Salami. Is that enough? Well maybe some grapes for good measure. Oh and how about some sliced veggies? A few hot hors d'oeuvres as well? What if someone can't make it until dinner is served? The realization that I've gone too far usually happens sometime between when I squeeze it all on the table, and when my guests protest at the thought of anything further.

I truly enjoy entertaining, I just wish I could shed this Italian Guilt, even after 25 years of doing it.

Happy St Patrick's Day

I'm not Irish, but I enjoy celebrating St Patrick's Day every year. Mind you when I say "celebrate" it doesn't quite have the same meaning as when I was in college. Now those were celebrations....but that's another day's blog post I'm afraid. I recently had a guest on my radio show who claimed he was a leprechaun. Technically I suppose he meant he was a descendent of a leprechaun, but either way one doesn't often meet a leprechaun. I'm not an investigative journalist, my radio program is purely for light entertainment, so I went along with it.

Despite my skepticism, it turned out to be a decent segment, just in time for St Patrick's Day. During the interview we had a live caller from Ireland who happened to see the "on air" tweet for Blog Talk Radio and actually phoned in to speak with a real life leprechaun. She just wanted to be able to say she "spoke" with a leprechaun, and didn't have much to say. Apparently he has his share of photo ops with folks wherever he goes. I was disappointed that he couldn't produce any magic, nor could he produce any tales of finding s pot of gold. But he was full of funny stories, none the less. It may come as a complete surprise to you, but he also sells t-shirts and buttons about his magical Irish heritage.

After the interview, my magical guest with the brogue sent me a lucky four leaf clover charm as a way of saying thanks. I'll carry it around in my pocket this St Patrick's Day and see what good luck comes my way. Well that and maybe some green beer too. 

An Evening at Palm Springs Air Museum

I love living in Palm Springs. There is so much to see and plenty to do. One hidden gem is the Palm Springs Air Museum, located adjacent to the Palm Springs International Airport. I was there to attend a private dinner party held in the museum hangar, in the midst of the most beautiful warbird aircraft, light dramatically in the desert night. The San Jacinto Mountainscape was the perfect backdrop for these works of art that once liberated Europe. The air museum boasts one of the world's largest collections of flyable WWII aircraft and Warbirds. Their mission is "to educate and honor World War II combat aircraft and the role the pilots and American citizens had in achieving this great victory."

If you have the opportunity to visit this museum, do so--it is quite impressive. It's a great place to take your dad, uncle or any veteran. Last night I toured the Bob Hope war exhibit within the air museum, which was really cool. Learn more about this fun museum from their website.

Life in the Wild West...sort of

I've lived in Palm Springs so long now that I've grown accustomed to the surroundings. Cactus plants, aloe, palm trees, tumbleweeds, olive trees, and smoke trees, all used to seem foreign to me. When I would see these things they never phased me. Until recently...I was visiting Smoke Tree Ranch and came across this old wagon. It made me feel like I was living in the Wild Wild West. Well at an historic ranch anyway. Smoke Tree Ranch dates back to the 1930's and has operated as a resort now for more than 60 years. I love places like this. They still have the old wild west charm, character that makes you feel as though you are living in the wild west. I didn't set out to write a plug post for the Smoke Tree Ranch, but I have to admit, I am smitten with the place. I've driven past it for well over a decade and never thought much about it, but I'm happy that spending time there brought a smile to my face.

I'll take it...

I just saw this week's weather forecast for Palm Springs. The nice warm weather is returning after a few days of a cold snap. It sure is nice to see mid 80's in the forecast...although it looks like it will be climbing as high as 96 on Friday...wow, March sure is early to hit high 90's. Mind you, there is a 10% chance of rain, so that means a wispy cloud will float overhead and dry up before any precipitation could even think to sprinkle on our fair desert sands. We'll see how it shakes out but I'm just glad I can re-pack my sweaters again until next January.

Miss Piggy and Kermit

Since I was a kid, I've loved Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. Their on again, off again relationship was always such fun. Miss Piggy, aggressive and pushy is always pursuing poor shy Kermit. It's not easy being green. Both are lovable and memorable. Maybe that's why I was so excited to see these collectable figures at Memento Gift Shop the other day. I don't normally buy things like this but they are so cute...and they made me smile. Which one do you prefer, Kermit or Miss Piggy?

Are you a Wine Aux?

Are you a ‘Wine Aux’?
The definition is: “A lover of wine who uses a glass”.  Well, that’s the definition according to this popular t-shirt at Memento Gift Shop in Palm Springs. I do love wine...so much so that we have not one but two wine cellars, both of which are brimming with wine. So I suppose that means I should buy one of these t-shirts!

My solution for dry hands...Crabtree & Evenlyn

OK I admit it. I have dry hands. In fact super dry hands. It's my own fault. Party because I'm germaphobic, and partly because I don't want to catch a cold or some stomach flu. So I wash my hands many times throughout the day. Right or wrong it is what I do. I don't use those alcohol-based hand sanitizers much, just regular hot water and soap. The next result is my hands dry out. However I found a great skin care lotion that works a charm on my dry hands. 

Crabtree & Evelyn has a line of "Ultra-Moisturising Hand Therapy" in a tube. They have lots of scents, but I like the Avocado, Olive & Basil variety. According to their website, it is infused with macadamia nut oil, shea butter, avocado butter, and basil and olive extracts. Lucky for me, I know just the place to get some. Memento Gift Shop in the heart of downtown Palm Springs is the exclusive retailer in downtown Palm Springs for the entire Crabtree & Evelyn line. If you have dry hands, check out their hand therapy lotion. They have lots of other scents, like Orange, Lavendar, etc. Your hands will thank you.
This isn't a paid post, just my own opinion and experience in solving dry hand issues.

Another Modernism Week Wraps Up

Here in Palm Springs, our annual Modernism Week is about to draw to a close; after a very busy calendar of events. All accounts estimate that this year's activities drew record crowds to our fair desert community. The website for Modernism Week describes it as: "...the only such event in the country, is an exciting 11-day celebration of mid-century modern design, architecture and culture. This design aesthetic, originated in the 1950s and 60s, was typified by clean, simple lines and celebrated elegant informality which came to define desert modernism."

Modernism is alive and well, it would seem. In particular, folks around the globe seem to have a fascination and appreciation for Mid-Century Modern style, and in particular architecture. According to our friends at Wikipedia, Mid-Century Modern is defined as follows: "an architectural, interior, product and graphic design that generally describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965".

This year's events were much more than just home tours and bus tours of historical architecture throughout the city of Palm Springs. Car shows, fashion shows, concerts, lectures, films, trailer shows, and a dizzying array of fabulous cocktail parties. The Modernism Week blog was well written, too with great content.

Retailers-- purveyors of both vintage and new goods carried a marvelous variety of goods, from authentic vintage clothes, classic home decor accessories, to fridge magnets. It was, a modernism bonanza for fans of the Modernism style. The Uptown Design District, in particular did a brilliant job hosting events, featuring goods and services and consulting for inquisitive minds. There is even a handy app for your mobile device.

A special thanks to everyone who hosted, organized, lectured, sponsored, volunteered and most importantly--attended the events here in Palm Springs these past days. It has been a fantastic experience once again.  

Wouldn't You Rather Be a Left Handed Flea?

Wouldn't you rather be a left handed flea
A crab on a slab on the bottom of the sea
A newt on the root of a banyan tree
Or a fig on a twig in Galilee
Than a man who never learns how to be free
Not til the day
Not til the day 
Not til the day 
Not til the day he dies.

It's easy to free your mind, if you allow it to happen and savor life

There are some really good lessons embedded within the the Broadway musical 'Pippin'. Take these lyrics above, from the song 'Simple Joys', or consider these next lyrics from another song in Pippin "No Time at All"

When you are as old as I, my dear
And I hope that you never are
You will woefully wonder why, my dear 
Through your cataracts and catarrh
 
You could squander away or sequester
A drop of a precious year
For when your best days are yester
The rest'er twice as dear....
 
What good is a field on a fine summer night
When you sit all alone with the weeds?
Or a succulent pear if with each juicy bite
You spit out your teeth with the seeds?
 
Before it's too late stop trying to wait
For fortune and fame you're secure of
For there's one thing to be sure of, mate:
There's nothing to be sure of!
 
Oh, it's time to start livin'
Time to take a little from this world we're given
Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall
In just no time at all....
 
I've never wondered if I was afraid
When there was a challenge to take
I never thought about how much I weighed
When there was still one piece of cake
 
Maybe it's meant the hours I've spent
Feeling broken and bent and unwell
But there's still no cure more heaven-sent
As the chance to raise some hell
 
Oh, it's time to start livin'
Time to take a little from this world we're given
Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall
In just no time at all....

So my message today is don't let life pass you by. Savor every single day. Don't be a slave to things that really don't matter, and free your mind of the trivial matters while you are young enough to still enjoy life.  Otherwise you might as well just be a left handed flea. Or a crab on a slab on the bottom of the sea...
 

Gong Xi Fa Cai

To my friends in Asia celebrating Chinese New Year:

Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭禧發財

In the Chinese Lunar Zodiac calendar, 2013 is the year of the snake. Read more about it from our friends at Wikipdia.