End o' week musings

It's been crazy, so I'll just jump right in.

Last Saturday I went with my friend and movie reviewer Vernor Rodgers (www.insidesocal.com/vernorsticket) to Son of Monsterpalooza, horror film convention, in Burbank. We has a great time and you can read about it and see photos at
http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_21882527/scaring-up-fun-at-son-monsterpalooza?IADID=Search-www.sgvtribune.com-www.sgvtribune.com


But to sum it up, I'd go again. It was fun to see all the creature makeup, masks, art and more.


Tuesday night found me dancing on cable television again. I was invited to perform at the beginning and ending of "Media Mashup," but the director liked what I was doing and had me dance every time they went to and came back from a commercial-- it was pretty cool!


Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. This year, I had decided to go to work in a Day of the Dead look using my Renaissance Faire outfit and doing makeup. I asked my artist friend Manny for some ideas and he asked if he could do my makeup for me. What a treat! He did a fantastic job, much more detailed than I expected, and I was ready to take on the day.


Work was fun. We had pizza and salad for lunch and there was a pumpkin carving contest, costume contest and guess the amount of candy corn in the jar contest. I didn't win a thing! But that's OK. It was cool just to dress up different for the office.

In the evening I met my friend Dean. We were going to go to a party in Sierra Madre, but first he wanted to show me Halloween street. There's one street in the town that decks out like some places do for Christmas and it was amazing- hundreds of carved pumpkins, lights, ghosts that moved and more.  We walked all over and there were lots of people doing the same, plus kids trick-or-treating. Dean wanted to take some photos, so I sat on a low wall at the end of one property so he could find me when he finished. People walked down the front of the house taking photos of every decoration and when they got to me-- they took a photo! Apparently they thought I was part of the decor! It was pretty funny.


During the week I had some good interviews. I spoke with the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten about her new cookbook, Leigh Adams at the Arboretum and Dana Dunn at the Arcadia History Museum about their new exhibits and Geoff Elliott from A Noise Within about its production of "A Christmas Carol."

Tomorrow I will be dancing with my friends Joanne, Joyce and Fred during the opening reception for an art show:

 “The Cornucopia - Favorite Fall Foods, From Fields to Market to Home”
11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 29
 Colonnade Art Gallery and Studio, 2421 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
 Free
626-239-3153
www.colartgallery.com

The reception is 5-8:30 p.m. and we will perform 7-8 p.m. Feel free to say hello if you come by.


In rotation this week: Van Helsing's Curse and Sunflower Dead.

 Photos we got 'em:  My friend Beverly vacationed in Alaska and sent me this cool mush dog photo she took- they want to run!, also a peacock that posed when I visited the Arboretum this week and two of Dean's Halloween photos.


Thought o' the week: Cool down before you react. I got a little bad news last night and it made me angry at first, but thank goodness I know better than to pick up the phone. I thought about the situation and tried to see the different angles so I could better understand it. I'm still upset, but it is something I can deal with and everything will be OK.

In short, some of us have fiery tempers and we must learn to reign them in. I used to be very hot tempered and I still have my moments now. But I know to take a breath and separate myself from the situation, whether its trying to see it from another point of view or letting it go to deal with it another time when I'm calm. You don't accomplish much with anger. Yelling and also complaining or whining are all big turnoffs to people's ears, you do much better asking what you can do to make things better or stating your case calmly. There's no need to fight and argue and there's already too much of that in the world.


Keep it cool boy-- it was sung in "West Side Story" and it's still good advice.

Keep on rockin'
Mickie