tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85718071106215099172024-03-13T15:02:40.379-07:00Karen's Corner of the WebKaren Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.comBlogger558125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-37905686506563525722023-06-06T19:51:00.007-07:002023-06-13T20:27:47.277-07:00My continuing dating saga<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDa7FsFNz-BY-kTLCHoj63xGJN1Gd9Al4AzSaDaOGAtnnrNbcts78HOGWB9g_Ubd08CWvadz9hGDLIrDcOod60P9O5rKcllEypqJdhp-MhPcsB76fHFLpQu2stu649YI6MjAHNwg82rggqwhAXk030As_jRecWmbdgue581wA9qhp2oaLNELAVqB_/s1024/DALL%C2%B7E%202023-06-06%2021.03.08%20-%20A%20graphic%20design%20of%20a%20middle-aged%20white%20woman%20with%20long%20dark%20hair%20with%20blonde%20and%20pink%20hair%20extensions%20at%20a%20computer%20in%20her%20home%20perplexed%20by%20messages.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDa7FsFNz-BY-kTLCHoj63xGJN1Gd9Al4AzSaDaOGAtnnrNbcts78HOGWB9g_Ubd08CWvadz9hGDLIrDcOod60P9O5rKcllEypqJdhp-MhPcsB76fHFLpQu2stu649YI6MjAHNwg82rggqwhAXk030As_jRecWmbdgue581wA9qhp2oaLNELAVqB_/s320/DALL%C2%B7E%202023-06-06%2021.03.08%20-%20A%20graphic%20design%20of%20a%20middle-aged%20white%20woman%20with%20long%20dark%20hair%20with%20blonde%20and%20pink%20hair%20extensions%20at%20a%20computer%20in%20her%20home%20perplexed%20by%20messages.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> This morning, I criticized a supposed professional for lousy spelling when replying to a brief text message on a dating site. If grammatically challenged, please write “2 meet” not “too meet” on your post. You don’t sound professional, and I assume I’m being catfished. I’m likely in too snarly a mood to keep at this dating game if I’m picky about spelling, but I have standards for initial impressions. Sigh!<div><br /><div>So, how’s dating going, you may ask? Many people look at a pretty face and don’t read one’s profile. They live too far away for a decent connection, join Match or eHarmony when where they belong is Tinder, or don’t say anything original - “You can’t be age 73,” as if I had never heard that before. In fairness to the guys wanting a short-term connection, a man I dated who only wanted short-term dating or hook-ups told me that for men over 50, their matches on Tinder were often high-priced hookers. Maybe trolling in the waters of sites designed for relationships seems safer. Perhaps they’ll catch a few fish, but for those of us trying to connect with someone, it creates a massive waste of time. No, I haven’t tried “Plenty of Fish.” I wonder if they have, it would fit my metaphor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then there are cats. Cats are excellent, but hanging around with cats requires me to be on high-dose steroids to survive. That’s not a healthful lifestyle. I’m allergic to all animals but particularly susceptible to cats. A definite stumbling block to otherwise promising relationships.</div><div><br /></div><div>My dating life has featured a few flirtations, and you know about my other challenges in dating from previous posts. I did manage a nine-month situation-ship with an adorable, friendly guy. That is likely why I have yet to post since September. I liked his intelligence, looks, and life experience. However, the clinician in me has assessed him as having a “dismissive avoidant attachment style.” I adored him, but he was deeply uncomfortable with someone in touch with their emotions who wanted a real connection.</div><div><br /></div><div>The good thing is that the guy I was fond of helped me figure out much financial stuff, as my late husband left me in a financial predicament. I’m all squared away now and very confident about my future security. Well, as much as anyone can be with the economy, our crazy, illogical government, and climate change, among other challenges.</div><div><br /></div><div>Still, I have a comfortable life and am rich in things like family, friends, and pursuits. Still looking for love, though.</div><div><br /></div><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-53185251826006072152022-09-18T09:39:00.004-07:002022-10-21T19:28:59.852-07:00I'm Learning<div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3b0Xn2TNF9AJwzFKgpVgQR2F5Ch7j550JxyPH9Xg4kMck4qPsg6Nk0Mb94k1kXoHxKM5w892m60dTWnR_by74pe6ulyruwpgpqz8AbMO57duff_405ientYFga5izBUdVl_KNn6JN2fEII2NXhzptsNg6iWl5AXd_uTU8aN-sNCl_q8-6VF3BF4u/s5184/shutterstock_2134441021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv3b0Xn2TNF9AJwzFKgpVgQR2F5Ch7j550JxyPH9Xg4kMck4qPsg6Nk0Mb94k1kXoHxKM5w892m60dTWnR_by74pe6ulyruwpgpqz8AbMO57duff_405ientYFga5izBUdVl_KNn6JN2fEII2NXhzptsNg6iWl5AXd_uTU8aN-sNCl_q8-6VF3BF4u/s320/shutterstock_2134441021.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Thanks to those following my dating saga.</div><div>I find it helpful to write things down as I stumble through this new and very foreign territory. As I figure this out, I may need to prepare a "how to" book for widows who are planning on dating again.</div><div>One rule I've found is to listen to your children. If they are adults, they have opinions, and no one knows you better. Close friends are valuable, too.</div><div>I am not good at listening immediately. However, it's time to listen when the people close to you prove to be correct.</div><div>My loved ones say to pick a man with geographic proximity and free time. The guy needs to be healthy and financially and emotionally stable. I need a "partner in crime." While very independent, I love to do things with others, not everything, but a lot of sharing time is good for me.</div><div>It's hard to find guys my age without baggage. The universe knows I have too much of my own. The key is that the strong, stoic type who doesn't share will resent my openness and possibly feel I don't care about them. I do and can scale it back, but please let me know if you think that way. </div><div>If they don't have baggage, I guess the question is, "Have they lived, or are they just terminally dull?"</div><div>The problem with dating apps is that sometimes you feel like you have a bunch of interesting people and who is the suitable possibility? In real life versus the virtual, one likely meets fewer men, and there's less of a feeling that you are gathering them in a sieve and shaking out the lumps.</div><div>(I think I've been baking too much.) </div><div>That seems like a terrible place to end this essay, but I need to get to my gym, or the effects of the baking will not make me happy!</div><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-90453305914698582022-09-04T16:37:00.002-07:002022-09-04T16:37:45.785-07:00More reflections on online datingI wonder how I'll feel when I look back at these blog posts in one year or five?<div>This new dating experience has been fascinating.</div><div>I have found a friend that I care for a great deal. Are we a match? I'm not sure. It's so early I'm trying to keep myself distant enough to not be hurt, but it may be too late. We'll see.</div><div>I've had some casual coffee/lunch dates to evaluate some other guys who've been interested. It hasn't been a great experience. One guy started with a tale about a woman I think he had thought was the one until he faced her unmitigated racism towards a nonwhite race. He was so disappointed he wanted to bring that up immediately. I share that reaction to this woman's comments, but it didn't seem the best start to our date. He also made a big deal about my comments in my profile about not wanting a controlling partner. He brought that up immediately and gave me a detailed list of the strong professional women in his family and how he wouldn't want to be controlling. I thought again he may have protested too much, likely based on prior experience. This came home when he told the wait staff that we were not interested in dessert without asking me. I don't need dessert, let's be clear, but it did seem arbitrary. He had strongly suggested an entrée that I did not want earlier, but I'd taken that to indicate the price point since he had started the lunch and insisted that he would pay this time. However, "this time" suggests that any "next time" would be a Dutch treat or be on me. I think there are red flags!</div><div>He never once offered me his surname nor asked mine, either. In fact, other than asking me about the last concert I attended before the pandemic onset, he didn't want to know much. I wonder if he thought my profile on the site was everything to know about me. Yes, I figured out who he is on the internet. Maybe he's done the same. Then again, perhaps another red flag.</div><div>And chemistry, so few guys seem ready to cultivate emotion. A lot of dates can be summed up as "boring." I am willing to see a person twice in many cases because I understand nerves can affect behavior. You can bring out laundry lists and insecurities as barriers because most of us are not professional daters or actors, and dating is very anxiety-provoking. </div><div>Some guys tell me they've been at this for years without finding someone and limit themselves to one date. I am not surprised they have not found the right woman.</div><div>I hoped if I didn't find "the one," I'd at least make friends. Not so sure about that.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-78632830452945695002022-08-16T19:17:00.002-07:002022-09-04T16:44:32.899-07:00The continuing dating saga<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xcICby5q_HuEibFsn_aLHLEcFkNMLdhI_jlCkHDhnYiI61CwhkPNI78flw_NtX8puu9Fw8Tb6ZaS4oYsCxF_Y8BFBDIh2Qv-4783jpARAQfmHedh7BEHIKYDu0e_qgPsuaIQoy5Sn7K6WfWYGT6NJXemzFdxpKXbq8hXRJC5Z6zgnu3d9qv1u8om/s4032/Karen%20at%20Zoo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xcICby5q_HuEibFsn_aLHLEcFkNMLdhI_jlCkHDhnYiI61CwhkPNI78flw_NtX8puu9Fw8Tb6ZaS4oYsCxF_Y8BFBDIh2Qv-4783jpARAQfmHedh7BEHIKYDu0e_qgPsuaIQoy5Sn7K6WfWYGT6NJXemzFdxpKXbq8hXRJC5Z6zgnu3d9qv1u8om/s320/Karen%20at%20Zoo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Life goes on. I'm dating a bit. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Most of my match.com connections seem pretty random. The algorithm does not consider a person's essay, and even essential criteria, like smoking, are ignored. Note that I'm highly allergic to cigarettes, wood fires, etc. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Several conversations on the phone or at lunch have been missing chemistry. I need to laugh or feel very comfortable to want to continue to get to know a person.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Still, there are a couple of possibilities on both e-harmony and match.com. We'll see what comes of the connections.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I started this dating adventure, unsure where I wanted things to go.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm starting to be a bit clearer about what I want. I'm confident I want a relationship. That is more than friends, though starting as friends seems fine. Friends with benefits is a tricky one. If you want that closeness, you must be ready to explore a real relationship. I'm not talking prepared to tie the knot, but we want to spend time together, share experiences and care about each other. It's beyond casual dating.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">One can "just have fun," but for me, it gets tricky.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I appreciate the insights into my personality on e-harmony. No real surprises. It noted my empathy and my strong desire for sharing activities. I like the summary comments like "a diplomat on the fence," "as pragmatic as necessary as open as possible," and " a thoughtful go-getter." I think the excellent qualities outweigh my not-so-desirable ones - the analysis did point out I can be stubborn. But, I naturally want to get to know people and generally have a sunny disposition. I appreciate that the compatibility quiz noted a partner should consider himself lucky that I <span style="background-color: white;"> have an intriguing combination of comfort and drive.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">The site didn't mention one aspect of my personality: I'm an extroverted introvert. My late husband used to comment on this. A friend recently commented on this quirk. I believe it was telling stories about others to reveal something about myself. Hmmm...</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">The compliments I get on these sites have boosted my self-confidence. I know I don't look my age, but I'm very aware of ageism and have insecurities about my age and not being skinny. Some men like curvy, though.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Today I was a bit down about the dating experience, but my usual sunny disposition has kicked in, and I am feeling more positive.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">I'd love to hear what others think about dating as a senior citizen. Comments are welcome. </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div></div></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-7103507185382186562022-07-25T09:55:00.003-07:002022-07-25T09:55:50.839-07:00Learning about Love<div><div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEislfo-8lTK2W9JJH-KnSCANXY__xZKj76QJGym0WuPsnciCLLG47jcxF9qpy8zvvkZFvENG7ejCH_R37iMM09RvZqekfCefap4Xr470VXorEAzRwt4HQD4r8xlBkE4atT8jfzfD-h8y2GNNk4FCaO7qXFzty9tWL3Pi2P0xhbNz_CH07JJOSW9DGFb/s1390/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-25%20at%209.51.53%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="1390" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEislfo-8lTK2W9JJH-KnSCANXY__xZKj76QJGym0WuPsnciCLLG47jcxF9qpy8zvvkZFvENG7ejCH_R37iMM09RvZqekfCefap4Xr470VXorEAzRwt4HQD4r8xlBkE4atT8jfzfD-h8y2GNNk4FCaO7qXFzty9tWL3Pi2P0xhbNz_CH07JJOSW9DGFb/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-25%20at%209.51.53%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Hi! I think my last couple of posts may have been a bit negative.</div><div>Two weeks in, I'm still using eharmony and Match.com. I was steered first to eharmony and then to Match.com by my younger friends and relatives. When I asked them which they met their significant other, they replied Tinder and Bumble. Hah! They want me to get introduced to the world of dating slowly. Very protective and sweet of them, I think. Match.com is one of the most popular sites.</div><div>In further research, I discovered that meeting someone online is somewhat better during the pandemic than meeting someone in shared activities or via friend introduction.</div><div>Whatever app one chooses has the possibility of a good relationship. </div><div>I had thought Tinder was strictly for hookups/one-night-stands, but people find meaningful relationships there. However, I did get the warning that it can be something of a "S**t-show" there.</div><div>I've learned a few things while dipping my toes into the dating sea. I'm sure I'll learn more and refine these points as I go along.</div><div>First, if someone does not use their actual first name, they are likely too self-absorbed for a relationship. You may think it's caution on their part, but I've not found that so.</div><div>Second, if something doesn't feel right, it isn't. I spoke about "T" from New Jersey before. I never heard back after telling him I wanted a video call but did not close the conversation window on the app. A week later, while scrolling, I found his image blurred on the message board; the site had blocked him because he violated rules.</div><div>I'm learning about myself, too. I like flirting; I like funny people. It's not surprising; the best relationships and all my husbands were highly witty.</div><div>I knew I did not want to be a nurse or a purse. However, I'm finding it is what many men seek from a woman my age. </div><div>I appreciate younger men who have ingrained lessons from the "me too" movement. They ask permission, even about the words they use like, "sexy",and are respectful, though they are likelier to want photos of one in yoga pants or a swimsuit, LOL!</div><div>I'd love to hear stories about your online dating experiences in the comments!</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><br /></div><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-87072451554370252782022-07-04T17:24:00.000-07:002022-07-04T17:24:00.703-07:00Sex, Lies and No Video Tapes<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-aJQcl3hmrD1Sbfd8dBisxw3DLBiiZ0IwF84_8Y-l0uqZsZQMTKC8Q3EZCRy9YPpVGd24GaxGv39V7luIbLsxEMXLHfS4pOAE69x1is3fD1ZvcSCGICWLUQ_OSTHVYC5LF7bAYdQkxsEDvAI0RCghejdFmhSJVBkqBTfRD6kEpApwU7XtyM4kxkH/s806/Karen%20for%20Blog%20today.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-aJQcl3hmrD1Sbfd8dBisxw3DLBiiZ0IwF84_8Y-l0uqZsZQMTKC8Q3EZCRy9YPpVGd24GaxGv39V7luIbLsxEMXLHfS4pOAE69x1is3fD1ZvcSCGICWLUQ_OSTHVYC5LF7bAYdQkxsEDvAI0RCghejdFmhSJVBkqBTfRD6kEpApwU7XtyM4kxkH/s320/Karen%20for%20Blog%20today.jpg" width="202" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />Photo was taken tonight as I write this blog entry.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;">Hair is a mess but proving my point my image is honest.</div><br /> <div><br /></div><div>OK, the title says lies, and it says sex, and while there are plenty of lies, there is no sex ... well, not yet.<div>There may be none ever, as this online dating is very discouraging. I have not been at it very long, but there seem to be a lot of lies.</div><div> </div><div>"T" from New Jersey might be a "bot." Very brief communications on messages and refuses to give his name or have a video conversation. (My video tape reference.) I told him, "I'm not really happy with doing the conversational heavy lifting and I need more identification before I go further in any communication."</div><div><br /></div><div>I wondered if anyone would question my age. I told a guy I was really 72, and he disappeared. The photos are accurate (I look much younger than my stated age), and so is the information. Unfortunately, the guys I have been "matched" to are not as truthful as I am. In my last post, you read about Kenneth from Utah, who used internet photos to pose as a fellow named Mark from San Francisco.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm debating contacting a guy who is out of my age range. He's 5 years older than I am. I hate to be picky, but my limit is a couple of years older. It's just that guys seem to age faster than most women. Men much younger have checked me out, but no contact. I honestly do not know how I'd react to someone younger than 57.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-35306991067938318832022-07-01T21:23:00.000-07:002022-07-01T21:23:09.964-07:00The continuing saga of finding dates <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwHGzNS69zce14g1fksgKkqybO__BlTdMscuKPpgAf19SvI9tF8onlXqTA1luJBk7_XGvVW5NnjzFIl7WmRM7dV3ZNMS2c_cV7yb_Irq8HJJo7aAbxXb49FjFNPzPhYC1a9o8dczGQBkhMy8hN2WLg6-MOPWPhx50kEhvNQaNVZjaotRua8tWTFaw/s600/emojime.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="600" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwHGzNS69zce14g1fksgKkqybO__BlTdMscuKPpgAf19SvI9tF8onlXqTA1luJBk7_XGvVW5NnjzFIl7WmRM7dV3ZNMS2c_cV7yb_Irq8HJJo7aAbxXb49FjFNPzPhYC1a9o8dczGQBkhMy8hN2WLg6-MOPWPhx50kEhvNQaNVZjaotRua8tWTFaw/s320/emojime.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not going well! I got contacted by the amiable Mr. T on the East Coast. However, I'm not sure he is an actual person. The messages are incredibly brief. If he is for real, he ought to be available for a video visit and give me his full name. I think I'll drop the contact if I do not get more information. I don't need imaginary friends, LOL!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The matches on the site are not great. I was advised by e-harmony to check out a guy today that its algorithm thought would be compatible with me. Unfortunately, way off the mark! The profile-listed movie faves were Sound<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> of Music, You've Got Mail, Ghost, Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, and The Shack. Way too many "chick flicks" for me! And I think he was "too old" and moody for me, too!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">At least he had a name and enough info to know he was real. He might be perfect for a sensitive 75-year-old woman, just not ideal for me. I have a much younger outlook on life.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">I am tempted to try a different dating site. However, I promised myself I'd give this a couple of months; I just wanted to meet some interesting people. I'm not looking to fall in love immediately.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">I was hoping for men with equivalent education and career history to mine. A guy who takes care of their teeth would be nice. A good match would be a kind, comfortable person who likes to travel and is funny and someone who'd tolerate my impatience and sometimes blunt speech. Also, he should be someone my kids would not find boring!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />
<p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-28784002771246600572022-06-29T13:32:00.001-07:002022-06-29T13:32:52.316-07:00The EHARMONY Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVXVDgT-1pJPt2wRrLwOXZF2NdpDy_P-Im3nkyQunEhBWFbuIp6ux4wGnHYg417XvrE4adttwCT27fjM3E6fcVLV_4nWzLyATRssXk3Ryi9kNpd7NG3P9uU7RXThU-K4G5MWIMhoLVXO0aS_kzvqpJYekh3tUu3t5cWjgXE2rRHPGtPF8whMgHupS/s600/emojime.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="600" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVXVDgT-1pJPt2wRrLwOXZF2NdpDy_P-Im3nkyQunEhBWFbuIp6ux4wGnHYg417XvrE4adttwCT27fjM3E6fcVLV_4nWzLyATRssXk3Ryi9kNpd7NG3P9uU7RXThU-K4G5MWIMhoLVXO0aS_kzvqpJYekh3tUu3t5cWjgXE2rRHPGtPF8whMgHupS/s320/emojime.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>I showed some of my eharmony matches to friends who commented, "The guys look too old for you." I remind my friends of my age. <div>However, that remark is partly true. Some men look like they'd have the energy to keep up with me, but many look like they need the "nurse." I've been warned to avoid being a "nurse" or a "purse" prospect for the guys I connect with in real life or online.<div><div>The experience has been bizarre. After a few exchanges, I found what seemed like an amiable guy on the East Coast who said he was interested. He then has not returned to the eharmony site. Maybe he's just busy or has found someone he likes better. Who knows? A pleasant diversion for a few messages, and we'll see if he ever returns to the site.<div>Next was someone with more promise as he was closer, but "B" from San Mateo proved to be a very controlling individual in just a couple of messages. Goodbye!</div><div>Yesterday, I had a brief exchange with a guy to whom I gave my cell number. I got a message from the guy with what looks like a studio photo. The phone message said he was kenneth from e-harmony, and the # was from Utah. Since I'd chatted online with a Mark from San Francisco whose photos looked like the guy named kenneth in the image attached to the message (I've not matched with a kenneth), this seemed very fishy!</div><div>I've had a couple of other brief conversations, but nothing seems to be developing.</div><div>I've been researching online dating sites, and one's chances at finding people are judged to be equivalent to real-life; of course, real life is not yet providing enough social situations to meet anyone! I hope that finding "no one" is not the result of this online effort.</div><div>At least it's blog material, LOL!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div></div></div></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-40518700960237177572022-06-19T13:23:00.000-07:002022-06-19T13:23:08.321-07:00So, online dating!<span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4aw-XT0lEaAq9tntjEO3K06y_YoESOUPJzC25PhwhsIGhtOIAkYBqml7Om-mys7MnOW3fDE2b30Q8IoTCe5UnX69AGQtJJVuZX79ac6O1Z_X3ii6fabMOQxBurvc9LrjQNwUzDmcEnaMGi6x8KOcu9MO5hCY1WD3dz-EPjXlQnYY9rX66Eatlame/s2896/Karen%20National%20C%20in%20Dixon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2896" data-original-width="2015" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4aw-XT0lEaAq9tntjEO3K06y_YoESOUPJzC25PhwhsIGhtOIAkYBqml7Om-mys7MnOW3fDE2b30Q8IoTCe5UnX69AGQtJJVuZX79ac6O1Z_X3ii6fabMOQxBurvc9LrjQNwUzDmcEnaMGi6x8KOcu9MO5hCY1WD3dz-EPjXlQnYY9rX66Eatlame/s320/Karen%20National%20C%20in%20Dixon.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><br /> </span>Hello, blog world. I'm embarking on something new. It will seem too soon for some of you, but I have had time to prepare for Cal's death, and he wanted me to move on with my life. It's not as if I'm closing the door on my past. I miss him and likely always will, but the world is trying to sort itself out, even with CoVid still hovering. I'm trying to sort myself out, too. Life is short.<div><span> So, online dating! I said new, but a few moments ago, 1983 flashed back, and I remember trying online dating then. It was definitely weird. I do not recall how one got into that scene. Lots of geeky people, I recall. It was pure DOS. I write too much - that is not surprising to anyone; I have a blog! I don't write here often, but how many people periodically write down their thoughts on a personal blog?</span></div><div>At any rate, I was spending too much time entering data, as I still am only a two-finger typist. The space was monitored, and the host interrupted and had me call him. He suggested I write my posts in another program and then import them into the program to let others onto the chat platform. Only one person could enter data at a time. He and I had a few conversations. I think he was some kind of entertaining voyeur. He probably hosted the site to get material for a comedy routine? I met a few guys and had a couple of personal meetings but no romances from that experience. It has been filed away in my mind until a few minutes ago.</div><div>So, my organizer and friend, Tara, recommended EHARMONY to me. I went on the site Monday and signed up. Since then, I've met a few friendly people, but only one has intrigued me. I've been chatting, verbosely, of course! Funny how I can be so quiet in person with people I do not know, but here I am on my blogs, podcasts, and social media, and now eharmony just putting it all out there.</div><div>It's the introverted extrovert that I am, I suppose.</div><div>It's rather fun getting to know another person this way. I miss the days when I'd catch a guy's eye from across a room and see him smile. Nowadays, there's a mask in the way, and who gets out much anyways? I think it could happen as the world opens up. I look a lot younger than my age, have always felt attractive, and have an energetic attitude. All this exercise I do to stay healthy keeps me active and fit. So even if online does not work out, I do not think I'm destined for a lonely life nor required to be a "nurse" or a "purse" to find a partner. I will not regret the online dating experience, even if it doesn't end up with a lasting relationship. So far, people seem very pleasant even though I've felt that many would not be the best match for me.</div><div>I'm waiting for guys to put themselves forward. I'm not bold enough, at least not yet, to make the first move.</div><div>The site is pretty flexible and easy to use. So, if you have been considering trying the online dating option in your life, keep an open mind and try it out.</div><div>I'm not always great about following up on the blog, but I'll probably make a few comments on social media.</div><div>It's a new chapter in my life. Maybe I'll be blogging more?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> <br /><div><span> </span><br /><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-38787025754254485382022-01-30T09:47:00.006-08:002022-02-02T13:03:41.183-08:00Calvin Edward Barwick 1933-2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDE2ETWCw_qoT1chvFJOtAqPi3PTVozAZhF-CkKDgI1IGqsNIq-5YOo6AOXlVUwPn3rNPkb_LWVuokrxKnO2mEp7fVYxDdciSBrtq3y_5kGjxrggyrvz1Kf_YGUwGighIn5pNTlzQ9XFdkCYS7iiFzJ0NzHL8iwQUZplXku74Teg4hVKt7kusVyOtD=s1647" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1647" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDE2ETWCw_qoT1chvFJOtAqPi3PTVozAZhF-CkKDgI1IGqsNIq-5YOo6AOXlVUwPn3rNPkb_LWVuokrxKnO2mEp7fVYxDdciSBrtq3y_5kGjxrggyrvz1Kf_YGUwGighIn5pNTlzQ9XFdkCYS7iiFzJ0NzHL8iwQUZplXku74Teg4hVKt7kusVyOtD=s320" width="233" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiz7ddV-j4KQiQgcAkjv7i2gs-b40ixVjHvCr9uaouEOc2YCZGRlbAlQgginM7zX5uUJzhvepqwRJfFa9kXTFh8rDmKD5oVnIyXiHO1WfLxIZxMgTDJorWM636pQy_G_xzm5z4w6KEMubH28EhWAAs6-5t27tZP-tqKwujsnEOPmMrNuiqL0SfWDhnB=s1600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiz7ddV-j4KQiQgcAkjv7i2gs-b40ixVjHvCr9uaouEOc2YCZGRlbAlQgginM7zX5uUJzhvepqwRJfFa9kXTFh8rDmKD5oVnIyXiHO1WfLxIZxMgTDJorWM636pQy_G_xzm5z4w6KEMubH28EhWAAs6-5t27tZP-tqKwujsnEOPmMrNuiqL0SfWDhnB=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNFz5QK4c1H1XJPioc5JscbiTRIMQgMIGkxH3YZmHaJSRA3E5L0JMLmN_9YFPbga3lAjLD_cuyTP0z5QJAhZyMFnuk4AyYRdq5MdUUytSqYdoxYO1v_hWRkh9HSDhmesL5tdujtIriuuNYVtEW5J4Px3rCe9AntlsATYFF6ZLk4VL_EkwiKi1eeYO9=s1590" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1590" data-original-width="1037" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNFz5QK4c1H1XJPioc5JscbiTRIMQgMIGkxH3YZmHaJSRA3E5L0JMLmN_9YFPbga3lAjLD_cuyTP0z5QJAhZyMFnuk4AyYRdq5MdUUytSqYdoxYO1v_hWRkh9HSDhmesL5tdujtIriuuNYVtEW5J4Px3rCe9AntlsATYFF6ZLk4VL_EkwiKi1eeYO9=s320" width="209" /></a></div><br /> <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">Calvin Edward Barwick, age 88, of Sacramento, died quietly at home in his sleep on January 23, 2022, of advanced prostate cancer.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;"> </span>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal was born in Louisville, KY, the son of the late John Calvin and Mary B Lewis Barwick. He attended Male High School and, during that time, developed his tennis game, winning many tournaments and championships, including the 1951 KHSAA state championship in team tennis. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">His good friend, college roommate, and fraternity brother, Dave Thomas, remembers several enjoyable years with Cal as a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">After graduation, Cal proudly joined the US Navy to serve during the Korean conflict. He ended his service as a submariner on the training boat, the USS Sarda. He remained a life-long tinkerer of diesel engines.</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal attended the University of Kentucky on a tennis scholarship and the GI bill to graduate with a commerce degree in 1960. Cal had a sense of humor and wry wit. He'd love to joke that he graduated in the top 99% of his class and see if people "got it."</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal was very proud to have been designated by the Governor of Kentucky with the honorable title of Kentucky Colonel.</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Once his education was complete, Cal followed a boyhood and life-long friend, Tom Porter, to Sacramento. His boyhood buddies - Tom, Charlie Davis, and "Cig" Allen remained friends through their lives. We heard the many semi-notorious stories of Cal and Tom's youth, which they blamed on the faulty memory of Tom's mother. Mrs. Porter was a sharp-minded woman, so we all know those tales were true, and Cal did confess to many. </p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal began his work career at Aerojet, then worked for Standard Oil in San Francisco. Cal's primary career was with Kaiser Permanente. He started at the Oakland Regional Offices and then moved to Sacramento as a Kaiser Regional Business Office manager for most of his working years.</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal continued playing tennis several times a week at many local tennis clubs until age 77. When Cal gave up tennis, he focused on golf which he played until his early 80's. His last tennis club was Del Norte, where he enjoyed his "tennis mafia" friends. A small group of those friends made a couple of Saturday morning coffee visits a month with Cal until the end of his life. He treasured those male bonding times with Smokey Murphy, Steve Fong, and Bill Fanning. </p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal's love for fruit and vegetable gardening almost matched his love of tennis. He became a Master Food Preserver through the UC Davis program. Abundant harvests not only became preserves but gifts to friends and family; community groups also benefited from his bounty.</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">He was a frugal and handy person, a true child of the depression. </p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We remember his passion for ice cream, tomatoes, peaches, corn, and savory snacks. </p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal loved to travel in Canada and Europe with his wife of 32 years, Karen Poirier-Brode, MD, who he has left to mourn. Karen says, "We rubbed along in life, sometimes like sandpaper, but forgiveness, optimism, Cal's patience and ultimately our love made it work."</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">He adored his family and delighted in the young ones - doing magic tricks, teaching kids to cheat at Rummy, and going fishing. </p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A large and wonderful blended family remembers him with love - sons: Mike Barwick (Patty), Redding, Joe Barwick (Cathy), Folsom, Paul Barwick (Haily), Folsom, Bob Barwick (Angie), Aptos, Ryan Evans, Taipei, Taiwan, and stepsons, Chris Brode (Laurel) and Joe Heffernan, Jr. of Sacramento. His loving family included grandchildren Austin (Christine), Amanda, Taylor, Bridgett, Madison, Donovan, Brandon, Dylan, great-grandson Joseph, niece "like a daughter" Danielle Poirier, and sister-in-law Joan Barwick.</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal was preceded in death by his brother, John Lewis Barwick (Joan), and the half-brother he discovered late in life, John Calvin Barwick.</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Calvin will be interred with honors at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon at a future date.</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cal is gone to be with his beloved MawMaw and play golf for quarters with his good friend, Del Skaggs.</p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"> </p><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-17146063341892671392021-06-15T23:57:00.000-07:002021-06-15T23:57:44.880-07:00I'm so very fond of telling stories in Scrapbook pages I have taken a renewed interest in my personal passions. I'm working on my podcast, but that is going slowly.<div>I've organized my craft room and have space to scrapbook and do painting and drawing.</div><div>I'm planning on more book-making in August if all goes well.</div><div>Recently, I'm not just scrapbooking but doing scrap challenges. For example, I did the layout-s-day challenge with <a href="http://Scraphappy.org" target="_blank">ScrapHappy</a> in May.</div><div>I put together a scrapbook kit for <a href="http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Counterfeit Kit Challenge</a> and used it to make several pages and cards. There was one last page that I did not complete but got started to work on another time.</div><div>The May Counterfeit Kit Challenge was based on <a href="https://www.closetomyheart.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=14767&ci=20513" target="_blank">Eat, Play, Love</a> by Close to My Heart.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's my version of the kit:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5u8HRvbw88A/YMmWdPiG4dI/AAAAAAAC6ms/TMmX-rPjP08JbvTwp5tUaf33iYUypDckACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/May_Kit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1876" data-original-width="2048" height="366" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5u8HRvbw88A/YMmWdPiG4dI/AAAAAAAC6ms/TMmX-rPjP08JbvTwp5tUaf33iYUypDckACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h366/May_Kit.jpg" title="May CKC Kit" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also, here is LO's and cards I created from the kit:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sihAYcjJQEM/YMmc3FRU_eI/AAAAAAAC6m0/GjePZj8Xqtgy0BHGKBfDdoWXW_B1l5MJACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Card%2B8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1418" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sihAYcjJQEM/YMmc3FRU_eI/AAAAAAAC6m0/GjePZj8Xqtgy0BHGKBfDdoWXW_B1l5MJACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Card%2B8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRaytCPXUPo/YMmc6HwGCII/AAAAAAAC6nU/PVNXTjDSR3kOB9T9IcMENtLcMzSuizAAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Layout3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRaytCPXUPo/YMmc6HwGCII/AAAAAAAC6nU/PVNXTjDSR3kOB9T9IcMENtLcMzSuizAAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout3.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e7ooV71W6ok/YMmc6Mp8daI/AAAAAAAC6nY/LmtACNGixpwFjIfLuYJNZMagvOQ4XXXpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Layout4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e7ooV71W6ok/YMmc6Mp8daI/AAAAAAAC6nY/LmtACNGixpwFjIfLuYJNZMagvOQ4XXXpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout4.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PC-cesl7yvo/YMmc3PyNiGI/AAAAAAAC6m4/ekI08pZZOOoOMiYv_e4W5K2uuqEUev7hACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Layout%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PC-cesl7yvo/YMmc3PyNiGI/AAAAAAAC6m4/ekI08pZZOOoOMiYv_e4W5K2uuqEUev7hACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout%2B2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYvyaeilqyI/YMmc3EMINJI/AAAAAAAC6m8/JoTqB6iQNtcUN8GgkSd0HPpF42pPU1NLACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Layout%2B5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYvyaeilqyI/YMmc3EMINJI/AAAAAAAC6m8/JoTqB6iQNtcUN8GgkSd0HPpF42pPU1NLACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout%2B5.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wg0rJCVoEYg/YMmc3n6ZWwI/AAAAAAAC6nA/LRBSs8befb0lSj3FH7d_smmfK446ANKaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Layout%2B6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wg0rJCVoEYg/YMmc3n6ZWwI/AAAAAAAC6nA/LRBSs8befb0lSj3FH7d_smmfK446ANKaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout%2B6.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8j6gfciuOfI/YMmc4PouHFI/AAAAAAAC6nE/XGjOjuyN7vwrtZ2_EBN136pVrIIv_kZTACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Layout%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1931" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8j6gfciuOfI/YMmc4PouHFI/AAAAAAAC6nE/XGjOjuyN7vwrtZ2_EBN136pVrIIv_kZTACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout%2B7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4vBvIIDcOO4/YMmc4mevYxI/AAAAAAAC6nI/fwiCct7MdYQufboSte8dBYwNm5xRADnXACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Layout%2B8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1760" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4vBvIIDcOO4/YMmc4mevYxI/AAAAAAAC6nI/fwiCct7MdYQufboSte8dBYwNm5xRADnXACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout%2B8.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Twg67Z5XMuc/YMmc5KE1QRI/AAAAAAAC6nM/n5SWUQ7Zrf0XRF4z9EqlyjEgTOH5Eh4mgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Layout%2B9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1870" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Twg67Z5XMuc/YMmc5KE1QRI/AAAAAAAC6nM/n5SWUQ7Zrf0XRF4z9EqlyjEgTOH5Eh4mgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout%2B9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WhjbzYi_jB0/YMmc584RXoI/AAAAAAAC6nQ/LEJaWaz4d_AIVAMzPEllXNJ7iKyj3Kz2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2508/Layout%2BDP%2B01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="2508" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WhjbzYi_jB0/YMmc584RXoI/AAAAAAAC6nQ/LEJaWaz4d_AIVAMzPEllXNJ7iKyj3Kz2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Layout%2BDP%2B01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now, CKC encourages making some elements of the page by hand. I did some mixed media backgrounds on two pages and did some hand stitching on a couple. I did not add much from my stash to augment my kit to make these pages. I definitely used up the paper from the kit and made a significant dent in the embellishment collection I compiled in it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At some point, I'll put together a collage of my May LOAD pages. I feel so proud of myself for completing all 31 LOAD pages. And, I made several more pages last month "just for fun!"</div><br /><div><br /></div><div><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-74778178885439586422021-05-24T20:11:00.005-07:002021-05-24T20:11:59.231-07:00<div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8dXJKAxis4/YKxqfrBhT4I/AAAAAAAC6kQ/G-pl04xt80IAzwB1h1aVOjHwce8zP5LMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Selfie%2Bin%2Bmy%2Bcraft%2Broom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8dXJKAxis4/YKxqfrBhT4I/AAAAAAAC6kQ/G-pl04xt80IAzwB1h1aVOjHwce8zP5LMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Selfie%2Bin%2Bmy%2Bcraft%2Broom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Spring is rushing into summer here in NorCal this mid-May. Not very hot yet, but the roses came out in a flurry right on time for Mother's Day and have now settled into a steady blooming pattern.</div><div>I mentioned in the last post that I love Scrapbooking, and I've been at it this month. ScrapHappy.org has the yearly May LOAD going, and I'm keeping up. I was late posting one day, but I have an acute ruptured disc in my back, so doing anything is pretty amazing.</div><div>It's a setback as it is in a pretty tricky spot and my doctor checks on me. I'm doing the usual - prednisone and physical therapy - stretching. Avoiding much impact, etc. Lying down and standing a while were giving me the most grief before the steroids. </div><div>As I take up this post again, last day for steroids and feeling pretty good.</div><div>My life is so quiet these days. Being at home has made me understand the power of the goddess Hestia.</div><div>Jean Shinoda Bolen talks about archetypes and how we can use them. Hestia, the goddess of the household, heals with tasks and routines, and rituals. All very important. I think cleaning up and trying to do a scrapbook page a day connects me inside of myself. </div><div>I'm working on a podcast interview I did over a year ago to get it ready to put on my site. I have another fascinating discussion to review, too. Several ideas for guests are in my mind as well. As the stress of this past year ebbs, developing ideas takes shape, and I look to being very productive with things I love.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /><p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p></div></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-61653596211914528022021-05-01T21:57:00.000-07:002021-05-01T21:57:16.024-07:00I love Scrapbooking <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4fZ1Cp45a4/YI4rIBfqEYI/AAAAAAAC6dA/NhyUw7mmJ3cz-ppZiiCk0T6SVvzUm_y6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Day_1_Friends%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4fZ1Cp45a4/YI4rIBfqEYI/AAAAAAAC6dA/NhyUw7mmJ3cz-ppZiiCk0T6SVvzUm_y6QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h400/Day_1_Friends%2Bcopy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); color: #1d2839; font-family: "SF Pro Text", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); color: #1d2839; font-family: "SF Pro Text", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px; text-align: start;">Today is iNSD, international National Scrapbook Day, and the start of a month-long challenge at ScrapHappy.org, where members try to create and post a new layout every day. I love the challenges. Scrapbooking is basically a collage way of telling stories. In this challenge, I use sketches and templates (like this one from Fiddle-Dee-Dee.) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); color: #1d2839; font-family: "SF Pro Text", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); color: #1d2839; font-family: "SF Pro Text", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">I change them up a lot, and while I may use kits of design elements, they are rarely one kit. The kit elements I used here are all from Lynn Grieveson Designs, as this is a Digi page.</div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); color: #1d2839; font-family: "SF Pro Text", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); color: #1d2839; font-family: "SF Pro Text", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px; text-align: start;">I like both Digi and "lumpy" scrapbooking. I used to call it paper, but a friend, George, inspired this term. As I like to pile on embellishments, it seemed an appropriate description. </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); color: #1d2839; font-family: "SF Pro Text", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px; text-align: start;">It's not fine art. It is storytelling, and I find it a lot of fun.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); color: #1d2839; font-family: "SF Pro Text", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;">There are many methods of storytelling, scrapbook pages in various sizes, pocket style, illustrated journals, mini-books, and just using social media, like FB and blogging. I tend to do 12x12 scrapbook pages and use this site and Facebook for my stories.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;">I try to use art principles on my pages and check my pages for Leah Dickenson's page rules - color, texture, pattern and shine. I think it hones my collage skills to scrapbook.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;">My albums are a combination of digital and "lumpy" pages, and pages get assigned to albums depending on the subjects of the pages - like this one will be put in the Karen & friends album.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;">I like the social aspect of this hobby, too. These days it's mostly online. I am considering an in-person crop next week. I believe there will be proper precautions with distancing and limited numbers. I have a personal HEPA filter, will wear two masks, and take frequent outdoor breaks. I do not plan to eat or drink around others. (A shame, snacks are a usual part of an in-person crop).</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2839; font-family: SF Pro Text, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Fira Sans, Droid Sans, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 40, 57); letter-spacing: 0.10000000149011612px;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<p><img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" /></p>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-16120649840842302692021-04-26T11:43:00.001-07:002021-04-26T11:43:41.952-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AVoaesjMIXw" width="320" youtube-src-id="AVoaesjMIXw"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Good morning, world!<div><br /><div>It's almost been one year since I last made an entry on this page. I had often started documenting my thoughts this past year. Still, my voice showed fear and depression in written words and voice recordings. I could not bring myself to reveal that vulnerability at the outset.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not just CoVid19 and all the other world chaos; my elderly husband is very ill with cancer.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, CoVid19, despite vaccines, remains worrisome, and my husband's illness is progressing. However, I'm pretty resilient; I'm finding my way through. I think I knew that I'd eventually find a way to strength and peace. I believe that almost all of us will, which is a message I think people in emotional and physical pain need to hear. There is a lot of help out there. If these thoughts have been a trigger to anyone, please know that you need not find it all in yourself. There are people available to help. I include the suicide prevention line number right here - 800-273-8255. We all need help sometimes.</div><div><br /></div><div>I found my art to be a great resource. I faced challenges as the artist-in-residence for the American Medical Women's Association 2020-2021. Still, I produced a lot, and I am proud of the work I did. You can find out more about that experience here in this YouTube video I made - https://youtu.be/NZ3t6V6sulA.</div><div><br /></div><div> The remodel I mentioned in one of my last posts is one final inspection away from being done. Now, a major remodel during a pandemic, that's a story! I'm thinking the remodel deserves its own blog post. By the way, I love the results.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other signs of getting my world in order - I plan to return to podcasting soon, and I am scrapbooking again. I am almost done with my taxes; do you find that a painful process, too? It's a good thing the deadline was extended; it will be the first time in a long time that they are completed on time. I certainly did not make this progress on my own. My family has been fantastic, and I hired an excellent organizer, Tara Dodson of Bee Organized, to help guide the process.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sring is a time for new beginnings. In this part of the world, the first blooms of the season have faded. However, May brings roses to us, usually in their glory on Mother's Day. We have an abundance out front of our home. I love to look out my kitchen window and see their vibrance. That mix of thorniness and beauty, especially in the shape of one's spirit, is a character inspiration from others and an aspiration for me.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #ffd966; font-family: 'M PLUS 1p'; font-size: x-large;"> love, </span><span style="color: #93c47d; font-family: 'M PLUS 1p'; font-size: x-large;">karen</span></h3><div><span style="font-family: 'M PLUS 1p'; font-size: x-large;">........................................</span></div><div><span style="color: #93c47d; font-family: 'M PLUS 1p'; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'M PLUS 1p'; font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: white; font-family: 'M PLUS 1p'; font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div></div>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-66774007389319070112020-05-17T16:43:00.000-07:002020-05-17T16:43:26.347-07:00Montreal - A Girdled Porcupine (reflections on a reunion in 2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Forty years, unbelievable and yet, a reality; that it's been that long since I graduated from <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/" target="_blank">McGill</a> with my M.D.;C.M. and a little B.Sc. tucked in as well for my six-year experience. Annie Foyle, you said some of the time at school felt ethereal. Medicine not necessarily what you might have chosen, either, had you been given more time to think about it. You have had a rewarding career, nonetheless, as have I, and yet I understand entirely. One finds oneself in high school with only a vague sense of the future, a glimpse of purpose, some inkling of direction. Poof! You are there, and somehow you make it through a fantastic experience. Now, forty years later, there is perspective and time to reflect. Before this time, it's the demands of the job that comes with this challenging career choice, the intense needs of spouse and family, and just a little time with friends and creativity. Not enough sand in the hourglass for more. Reflection and introspection become needs and indulgences of maturity.<br />
I noticed how many of us reflected on the subject, "Will we be there for future reunions?" Our aches and pains, cancer, angina, hypertension, and arthritis and just the feeling of fatigue at the end of a day all force us to look ahead to the reality of mortality. (As I edit this in 2020 the spectre of Co-Vid 19 also looms.) Some of our classmates are no longer with us already. Some lost far too soon.<br />
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I enjoyed the reunion, despite my feeling that it was much too short. Not the medicine reunion, that was about right; but, those events conflicted with general reunion events that I would like to have attended on campus. I did visit and thoroughly enjoyed the Leacock luncheon; <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Dan-Needles-ebook/dp/B004SOQ0Z8/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=dan+needles&qid=1589758478&sr=8-6" target="_blank">Dan Needles</a> was the speaker. I enjoyed his talk enough that I'm planning to buy a book or two. I believe some of my former Lutheran Collegiate Bible Institute classmates might enjoy these stories, too. The humor rings genuine in the telling. Maybe, copies will make their way back north. Warm and folksy humor tickles my fancy.<br />
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I am an inadvertent object of humor too often, which maybe is why I like the fun of a gentle nature at other's expense. It happened one night when walking back to my hotel, where a statement of mine was taken to mean something entirely not innocent. While Ms. Manners might suggest responding with humor, I shook my head. I was silent, reflecting on how men's minds tend to bring sexual innuendo to any comment. Maybe women's, too, though I do not find that personally, is my style. My husband reflects that I am perpetually naive, I think he's right.<br />
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Annie arranged a lecture about the history of the architecture of the McGill campus by <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/architecture/people-0/faculty/covo" target="_blank">Professor David Covo</a> at our reunion dinner. I was fascinated! Montreal is an island with a beautiful mountaintop park, designed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Law_Olmsted" target="_blank">Olmsted</a>, at its center. Treasured vistas are preserved by the architects as they plan the city. Maintaining the view, preservation of history, and a push for green architecture are restraints.<br />
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The title of this essay is not a reference to the beautiful quill beading done by that tiny fraction of my ancestry, the Metis, and First Nation people. This is the feeling I have when I look about me on the streets of Montreal and as I walk through campus. It's an unsettling architecture where things fit in where they may, edgy and contemporary. There is not the soaring verticality of New York City. There are no broad sweeps of Parisian boulevards, nor the feeling I get here in Sacramento, where buildings seem to flow with the rivers. While Montreal is a mountain, there are not the seesaw vistas of San Francisco, but an entirely different mood. I notice a feeling of constraint and of angles. A sprinkle doughnut on a spindle, an image I considered when I reflected on how I felt about the city, was a picture quickly discarded. That description did not give me the disquiet I feel about Montreal, nor has the city any feeling of roundness or bloat. Somehow, an image of a cute porcupine its head and quills upright and its nethers constrained by a too-tight girdle seems right. Montreal is not a town of comfort, and I'm not sure it aspires to be. The city does not comfortably accommodate the handicapped. Historical preservation even dictates the exclusion of service to those citizens in need, denying modifications for that purpose. I learned, within the grey walls of the structures of McGill, contemporary architects include bits of color and cozy coffee spots. They see these as a necessary requirement in a world where the environment is often grey and white. In the city itself, here are sidewalk cafes and cozy little sandwich shops with a good smattering of hipster fashion and classic design. The buildings mix the very old and the new in the same edgy way as the campus. Like most North American urban areas, vacant and blighted buildings are not a strong aspect of the city; activity and construction are more dominant features.<br />
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Politics and controversy colored reunion conversations and elicited passionate discourse. It was a delight to hear speeches where the rights of all to health care was assumed, championed not argued. The passion for making the care and system better was the focus of the speeches. How Americans can tolerate the healthcare we live with, truly mystifies many who live in Canada. Yet, many classmates, like me, have found their way to the USA. Weather is a significant factor, and so is the opportunity the USA affords. Canada may be a vast land, yet it has a population less than California. That's a significant factor in a people-focused business.<br />
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Reflections are often a bit rambling, and I've taken you on quite a meandering path with this essay. I'm happy I found this amidst the drafts in my Blogger file. Only three short years until our 50th!<br />
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<br />Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-72908293436863994442020-05-17T09:08:00.002-07:002020-05-18T07:17:34.103-07:00Slow kitchen progress after 6 months<br />
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Northeast view of Kitchen on left, Southeast view of Kitchen on right<br />
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I've not done a follow up on the kitchen remodel until now. It is the most hellish process. I think I'd hoped to be finished at the end of 2019. Nope!<br />
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We had errors in our cabinet delivery that postponed installation. Then, I forgot to report a mistake in that order and needed to put in a late correction. Home Depot initially ordered in the wrong color, and I did not catch it until late in February.<br />
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Co-Vid 19 has delayed that delivery. For now, our contractor is working around that, but first, we needed to be sure the work was done safely with little viral danger for us. The contractor has had to scale back his business because of the virus. Smaller crews mean more delays.<br />
We have 95% of the cupboards installed. The over-the-fridge cabinet from Thomasville () is now 4 weeks delayed from the promised delivery time. Likely the virus is a factor in that.<br />
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The quartz countertops and apron front sink are in and look gorgeous.<br />
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We do have our beautiful new windows installed, and the roof where the once contentious window lights were installed is now fixed. We did not have a soffit in that room, and the contractor has convinced me it is better to have one to keep the walls consistent in adjoining rooms. I just hate that "1980's" look. But, we cannot remove the soffits in the dining room and breakfast area because of structural and ducting issues. I'm sure I'll learn to live with it. I suppose if I hate it enough, we can take it out and redo that drywall.<br />
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Repairs to the walls and ceiling have been made, and I believe the next step is painting.<br />
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I'm so anxious to see the dining room chandelier and the kitchen pendant light hung and the cork floors in.<br />
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I've made disastrous design decisions in the past; while so far is so good, I'm biting my nails hoping I've made wise choices this time.<br />
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All kinds of white kitchens are featured on T.V. and in print. I know that white would not suit the style of this home. Still, I worry that it may look too dark, though we have lots of ceiling cans, undercabinet lighting, and I'm getting a quote on drawer lighting. Having two-toned cabinets may date this kitchen down the road, but I love the colors so much. So lovely to see how the veining in the countertop works with both colors.<br />
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While it is a mystery as to when this will all be done, I'm hoping I'll have photos of the finished product by summer.<br />
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P.S. We need to have repairs and painting done on the exterior of the home. I hired a designer to pick colors. That decision just proved too stressful. All I know is that it has to be another color than it is now.<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" />Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-27114593875553860732019-12-08T00:45:00.001-08:002019-12-09T06:57:55.119-08:0052: Building a Multi-Faceted Creative Career with Pat Wood<br />
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Welcome to today's show! We have Patricia Wood, Karen's friend, and teacher, with us today. Pat is a professor of art at American River College, where she is currently teaching printmaking and drawing. She is also the director of the Kaneko Gallery, which is the campus art gallery. Today, Pat tells us about what she's doing at American River College- the fabulous art shows she's put together for the Kaneko Gallery, and the fun projects she's coordinated with her students. She also talks to us about her background and the kind of art that she creates. Listen in today, to hear all about Pat's creative approach to her life, her art, and her stimulating and multi-faceted job.<br />
The Kaneko Gallery is situated at the American River College in Sacramento, California. Pat has been the Kaneko Gallery Director since 2016, and she coordinates and produces all the shows that are held there. Pat is also part of the Permanent Collection Committee for American River College, which oversees the college art collections for the 200 campuses in America that have part of the Andy Warhol estate. Tune in now, for more. <br />
<strong>Show highlights:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Pat discusses the various art shows she coordinates for the Kaneko Gallery every year. These are massive undertakings.</li>
<li>This year, Barbara Range, the curator, and director of the Brickhouse Gallery will be the juror for the annual student art competition.</li>
<li>Pat explains why her bookings run way into the future.</li>
<li>Coordinating art shows has been a lot of fun!</li>
<li>Building an entire room within the gallery.</li>
<li>American River College now owns an Elizabeth Catlin linoleum cut print, a Jacob Lawrence silkscreen, and a Simela Lewis woodcut.</li>
<li>American River College has some beautiful art.</li>
<li>The Warhol Collection, consisting of photographs and silkscreens, was gifted to American River College.</li>
<li>Finding the best way to create a map for the art collections.</li>
<li>Teaching art appreciation and an introduction to art history.</li>
<li>Making a public art piece was an interesting assignment.</li>
<li>Pat talks to us about the art that she creates.</li>
<li>Pat has been focused on drawing, with a bit of mixed media, for the past couple of years.</li>
<li>Pat had some sketches in the recent SMD (Sacramento Municipal District) show.</li>
<li>Pat got her MFA from the University of Arizona in 1997 and she later became a double major.</li>
<li>Pat talks about the time at the University of Arizona.</li>
<li>What Pat has noticed about children and art.</li>
<li>Why everyone should create some kind of art.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Links:</strong><br />
Pat Wood link <a href="https://www.patriciawoodart.com/">Patricia Wood Art</a><br />
Pat Wood is correct, American River College is not the only community college that received grants from the Warhol Foundation, but most recipients are universities. For a complete list of recipients, you can go to <a href="https://warholfoundation.org/legacy/photographic/recipients.html">Photographic Legacy</a>.<br />
<strong>Links to individuals and places mentioned by Pat Wood in the podcast:</strong><br />
<a href="https://hookerj.com/home.html">Jodie Hooker </a><br />
<a href="https://micksheldon.com/">Mick Sheldon</a><br />
<a href="https://www.arc.losrios.edu/about-us/our-facilities/kaneko-gallery"> Kaneko Gallery </a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ARCKanekoGallery/">ARC Kaneko Gallery</a><br />
<a href="https://www.arcurrent.com/arts-culture/2019/04/25/arts-and-culture-schedule-of-events/"> Student Show submissions </a><br />
<a href="http://thebrickhouseartgallery.com/index.php">Barbara Range, Brickhouse Gallery </a><br />
<a href="https://www.shennycruces.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Shenny Cruces</a><br />
<a href="http://www.angelacasagrande.com/bio">Angela Casagrandes </a><br />
<a href="http://www.rachelclarke.net/index.html">Rachel Clarke </a><br />
<a href="https://www.arcurrent.com/arts-culture/2019/04/25/arts-and-culture-schedule-of-events/"> art new media link to photo at the Rachel Clarke show </a><br />
<a href="http://www.fanleewarren.net/">Fan Lee Warren </a><br />
<a href="https://www.arcurrent.com/arts-culture/2017/03/22/29927/">Unity Lewis </a><br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/unityakayp/?hl=en">Instagram</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEKBlNwDG5E">Unity and Samela Lewis </a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samella_Lewis">Samela Lewis</a><br />
<a href="https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/samella-lewis-39">The History Makers: Samella Lewis 39</a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Arts_Movement">Black Arts Movement </a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Lawrence" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Jacob Lawrence </a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Catlett">Elizabeth Catlett </a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betye_Saar">Betye Saar </a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_White_(artist)">Charles White </a><br />
<a href="http://www.caareviews.org/reviews/2687#.Xdlxry2ZNaM">Charles White migration series </a><br />
<a href="https://www.crockerart.org/">Crocker Art Museum </a><br />
<a href="https://www.artguidemag.com/artist-directory/solis-mattson-sarah-california"> Sarah Mattson </a><br />
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-magri-34aa3243/">Ken Magri </a><br />
<a href="http://acreativeapproachpodcast.com/ep-44-finding-beauty-in-the-imperfections-with-linda-gelfman/"> Linda Gelfman </a><br />
<a href="http://www.garrugalde.com/index.html">Garr Ugalde </a><br />
<a href="https://www.arcurrent.com/news/2017/04/05/agoras-light-figurative-angel-sculptures-on-campus-revealed/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Figurative Angel Sculptures</a><br />
<a href="http://www.rubychacon.com/">Ruby Chacon </a><br />
<a href="https://www.arcurrent.com/arts-culture/2018/09/13/a-campus-connected-muralist-draws-los-rios-together/"> ARC campus painted mural </a><br />
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-schuster-4b7a0918/">Randy Schuster</a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayfinder">Wayfinder’s map </a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/dolores.white.96">Dolores White</a><br />
<a href="http://www.sacmetroarts.org/Programs/Gallery-Program/SMUD-Gallery"> SMUD Gallery </a><br />
<a href="https://www.arcurrent.com/arts-culture/2018/09/10/symbols-of-objects-kaneko-show-almost-a-year-in-the-making/"> Craig Smith </a><br />
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorrie-kempf-333b8850/">Lorrie Kempf </a><br />
<a href="https://metalobsession.com/">Laura Parker </a><br />
<a href="https://sahcwrites.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/sacramento-art-history-consortiums-featured-artist-joy-burtinuson/"> Joy Burtinuson </a><br />
<a href="https://www.arc.losrios.edu/academics/programs-and-majors/art">American River College (ARC) </a><br />
<a href="https://art.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona, Tucson</a><br />
<a href="https://www.scc.losrios.edu/artandarthistory/">Sacramento City College </a><br />
<a href="https://arts.ucdavis.edu/art-studio">University of California Davis </a><br />
<a href="https://www.halehniazmand.info/">Haleh Niazmand </a><br />
<a href="https://www.stephanie-j-ryan-artist.com/">Stephanie Ryan </a><br />
<a href="https://www.pima.edu/">Pima Community College </a><br />
<a href="https://artsfoundtucson.org/">Tucson Arts Foundation </a><br />
<a href="https://www.sierracollege.edu/">Sierra Community College </a><br />
<a href="https://www.deltacollege.edu/">San Joaquin Delta College </a><br />
<a href="https://www.traillink.com/trail/rillito-river-park-trail/">Rillito River </a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lemmon">Mount Lemmon </a><br />
<a href="https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232284">Rose Canyon </a><br />
<a href="https://ddso.org/project/alan-short-center/">Alan Short Center </a><br />
<a href="https://www.fairytaletown.org/">Fairytale Town </a><br />
<a href="https://webtrac.folsom.ca.us/wbwsc/webtrac.wsc/iteminfo.html?SessionID=012342ac3e36b4081b85c2924d7caff84c93dfdc517377c553d04a0212df84118a4ae5343844698c1addacf6d300bc08d0c29223eea0255e252e744db29bcae4&Module=AR&FMID=51962770"> Art Folsom prison </a><br />
<a href="https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/news/2017/07/10/rehabilitative-arts-programs-expand-to-all-state-prisons/"> Rehabilitative Arts CA State Prisons </a><br />
<a href="http://www.davisartscenter.org/">Davis Art Center </a><br />
<a href="http://rachelot.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/2/6/392646/mural_arts_reference.pdf"> California Youth Authority Arts Programs </a><br />
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<a href="http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/12318944/tdest_id/616174" target="_blank">Check out this episode!</a>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-11347659672894321792019-11-05T15:17:00.001-08:002019-11-05T15:17:20.253-08:00The beginning of a Kitchen Remodel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Kitchen remodel, do those two words make you start shaking? I am feeling some anxiety as we finally, after 30 years of living here, are going ahead with this long-overdue project.<br />
We did make a few fixes along the way. Sadly, now, even the fixes need fixing!<br />
The flooring is tired and some loose by the pantry. The microwave, stovetop, and fridge have challenges. The lighting is awful, the cabinets are worn. The countertop tile is that ugly white stuff with the wide dark grout, and it is loose in places too. The water pressure needs improvement and there is a too wide gap by the pipes that lead outside. On occasion, a small creature like a frog or rat has appeared. Yuck!<br />
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So now the challenge is making the most of one's money. It's not that easy though. Plans must be done by a professional for a permit and there are always a dozen things to consider. You cannot change only two of the three front windows on the front of the house and have it look right, so all three must be updated. It does go on and on.<br />
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The advantage though is that this 40-year-old kitchen will be up-to-date and the badly needed repairs and repainting of the house exterior will be done at last.<br />
I must admit that until the past couple of years I had little interest in the kitchen. Learning to cook has changed my thought process a lot, as has an organizer who has helped me get control of my home. When things are tidy the underlying deficiencies are a lot more obvious.<br />
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I am a bit nervous about how it will all turn out. I purchased the cabinets and appliances before we hired the designer to draw up the formal plans and that may have been rash. I did love the colors ( slate blue lower cabinets and wood with an orange tint finish for the upper) and trust that the brand names, Thomasville and KitchenAid, mean a decent product. I want a dark cork floor. I'm so looking forward to the floor I've often thought of having. I was at a gallery in San Francisco (Crown Point Press) this week which had cork floors. I really liked walking on that surface. That made me very certain that was a good decision. (BTW - the current show at <a href="https://crownpoint.com/" target="_blank">Crown Point</a> of Gay Outlaw's prints, and ones she curated to hang with them in the gallery, is terrific.)<br />
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I want things to be simple and efficient. My husband likes an excess of gadgets and clutter in the kitchen, so it may be a challenge to keep the look. Fingers are crossed!<br />
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I'm posting a "before" photo now and hope that I'll have some wonderful "after" shots before the end of 2019.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Karen🐞</span></div>
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<img align="left" src="https://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0px;" />Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-60931826802116062562019-10-02T13:33:00.001-07:002019-10-04T15:40:54.295-07:0051: How Your Health Can Impact Your Creativity with David Cornish<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="90" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/11488814/height/90/theme/standard/thumbnail/no/menu//direction/forward/tdest_id/616174/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Are you bursting with creativity or are you perhaps feeling a little under the weather right now? Have you noticed how much your state of health impacts on your levels of creativity? Today, we're starting season three of the podcast with an interview with Dr. David Cornish. David is Karen's friend and he's the author of two terrific novels, <em>1918: The Great Pandemic</em>, and <em>1980: The Emergence of HIV</em>. With the current escalation of viral illnesses in the world, this is a really good time for reading these topical novels, so tune in, to learn more about David Cornish and his books. <br />
David practiced gastro-neurology for thirty-three years before retiring last year. He still works part-time, though, to keep his hand in the craft. He has always loved writing and even took some writing courses while studying Medicine at the University of California. About ten years ago, David wrote two non-fiction books about service in medicine. (Evidence In-Service and The Essential 20.) Then, about three years later, he decided to try his hand at writing a novel, and this was followed by a sequel a few years later. In today's episode, David talks about his two novels. He discusses his process of writing and he explores the reasons for reading and writing stories. He also reflects on the seriousness of viral illness, and the emotion behind human stories that are associated with diseases like influenza and HIV. Listen in today, to hear about David's creative approach to writing.<br />
<strong>Show highlights:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>David explains how he got into writing books and why he chose these specific topics to write about.</li>
<li>The influenza pandemic in 1918 was the worst natural disaster in human history.</li>
<li>The main characters in David's books are fictional, but the events are all accurate.</li>
<li>David talks about some of the projects he's taken on since retiring.</li>
<li>David explains why he likes writing historical fiction.</li>
<li>The difference between writing fiction, and writing about something technical, related to medicine.</li>
<li>David found fiction a lot harder to write than non-fiction.</li>
<li>David's approach to writing historical fiction.</li>
<li>David talks about why people read novels rather than non-fiction.</li>
<li>The influence that David's mother had on his creativity and his writing.</li>
<li>Writing from what you like, and about what you know.</li>
<li>David talks about the teachers who inspired him to write.</li>
<li>Why you need to keep re-reading and revising what you have written.</li>
<li>David explains why you need to have someone edit your work.</li>
<li>David shares some observations about the difficulties associated with publishing a book, currently.</li>
<li>Why ebooks are here to stay.</li>
<li>David shares his thoughts about creativity, and about where his writing comes from.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Links:</strong><br />
Karen's website: <a href="http://www.acreativeapproachpodcast.com/">A Creative Approach Podcast</a><br />
David's website: <a href="https://www.davidcornishbooks.com/">David Cornish Books</a>. This is where you will find his bio and information about his books. All David's books, including the non-fiction ones, have links to Amazon and Barnes and Noble.<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/David-Cornish-MD-414121802037027/photos/?ref=page_internal"> David's Facebook Page</a><br />
The link to Ursula Le Guin: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin">Wikipedia: Ursula K. Le Guin</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/11488814/tdest_id/616174" target="_blank">Check out this episode!</a>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-33504899186682323762019-05-08T03:03:00.001-07:002019-10-04T15:42:56.487-07:0050: Creating Art with Deep and Meaningful Connections with Catherine Rains<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="90" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/9696203/height/90/theme/standard/thumbnail/no/menu//direction/forward/tdest_id/616174/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Would you like to know what inspires an artist to create a meaningful piece of work? Today's guest is Catherine Rains. Catherine is an artist and she is an excellent example of how evolution works in collage, her chosen medium of art. Catherine has had a really intriguing art career. In today's episode, she talks to us about her skills, and about her certification in evaluating personalities. She also explains how she lets her art speak to her over time a period of time as she creates it, and how she brings a deep and meaningful spiritual connection to her pieces. Listen in today, to learn more about Catherine and her work.<br />
Until age 33, Catherine often said that she didn't have an artistic bone in her body. Catherine discovered her life calling in the middle of an overwhelming day job, where she created her first collage just to relieve stress. This simple beginning eventually led to quitting her day gig to manage a thriving art business. Then her journey took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This led her back to a day job for the next 10 years, traveling across the US, creating almost no art. Three years ago she decided to integrate the day job she loved with the art she could not live without, by setting up an art studio in every hotel she visited and following a structured schedule to fit art back into her life. As a result of this self-commitment, she returned to her greatest passion – art – on January 1, 2018. Tune in, to find out about Catherine's creative approach to her life and her work.<br />
<strong>Show Highlights:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Catherine talks about what she does as a collage painter.</li>
<li>Catherine's art is mixed media collage infused with spirituality, meaning, and inspiration.</li>
<li>Finding relief from a job she did not enjoy with collage.</li>
<li>Figuring out how to make a living from art.</li>
<li>Quitting her job and focusing on expanding her skills.</li>
<li>Coming to realizing that she really loved doing collage and that it gives her incredible joy.</li>
<li>What Catherine has discovered about making money from art.</li>
<li>What the business of art looks like for Catherine.</li>
<li>How posting on Instagram teaches her to be real and authentic.</li>
<li>Inspiring people with her art.</li>
<li>Speaking to people on a deeper level with her art.</li>
<li>The spiritual aspect of Catherine's art.</li>
<li>Communicating with her art piece as if it is a living being.</li>
<li>Looking for a title that will draw people in.</li>
<li>The unique way that Catherine blesses her art.</li>
<li>Catherine believes that there is an art to marketing art.</li>
<li>Asking for guidance as she creates a piece. in order to allow the magic to happen.</li>
<li>Certifying people with Myers-Briggs for the moment, in order to take the pressure off having to make money from art.</li>
<li>How Catherine's creative process is set in motion.</li>
<li>Catherine really loves teaching. She would like to teach Soul Collage in the next year or two.</li>
<li>Catherine has been a breast cancer survivor since 2004. It has transformed her life and only produced good things for her and caused her to grow.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Links:</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.catherinerains.com/">Catherine Rains</a><br />
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/catrains.artist/">Instagram: Catrains Artist</a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyersBriggs_Type_Indicator">Wikipedia: Myers Briggs Type Indicator</a><br />
<a href="https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/home.htm?bhcp=1"> The Myers Briggs</a><br />
<a href="https://www.emilyjeffords.com/">Emily Jeffords</a><br />
<a href="https://www.kellyraeroberts.com/blog/">Kelly Raero Berts</a><br />
<a href="https://bethkirby.com/">Beth Kirby</a><br />
<a href="https://www.soulcollage.com/">Soul Collage</a><br />
<a href="https://artofkarenpoirierbrode.blogspot.com/">Art Of Karen Poirier Brode</a><br />
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<a href="http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/9696203/tdest_id/616174" target="_blank">Check out this episode!</a>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-70346909182100365022019-03-06T05:19:00.001-08:002019-10-04T15:41:46.990-07:0049: Creating Visual Art in Your Local Community with April Bey<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="90" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/8895038/height/90/theme/standard/thumbnail/no/menu//direction/forward/tdest_id/616174/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Are you dedicated to creating wonderful art? If so you are really in for a treat! Today's guest is April Bey, an exciting visual artist, and teacher. April teaches art at a community college in California. She loves drawing and using her art to explore contemporary themes about current events. In today's episode, April talks to us about her life, her studies, her art, and her career. Tune in now to find out more.<br />
April grew up in the Bahamas, and for all her life she's been passionately creating. Art is a very prominent subject in schools in the Bahamas, yet April realized during high school that there were no careers in art to be had there. So she moved to the United States. She did her undergrad in the Midwest, obtaining a BFA in drawing from Ball State University. She then went to LA, to do her master's in interdisciplinary painting at California State University in Northridge, Los Angeles. Listen in today, to find out about April's creative approach to her art and teaching.<br />
<strong>Show highlights:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>At the moment, April is doing a lot of sewing that's acting as drawing.</li>
<li>April explains how she got to where she is right now with her art.</li>
<li>She is currently making art about West Africa and textiles, how women run the trade there, and how their labor is often exploited.</li>
<li>The materials and techniques that she uses.</li>
<li>Why April loved the freedom of teaching at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena so much.</li>
<li>Having overbearing foreign parents is something that April has in common with many of the students at the community colleges.</li>
<li>What led April to explore the textiles of Africa.</li>
<li>A lot of the fabric in Ghana is imported.</li>
<li>All the places in Africa that April went to on her research trip.</li>
<li>April's textile works also act as portraits.</li>
<li>You can go to April's website to take a look at her awesome art. Go to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.aprilbey.com">April Bey</a>.</li>
<li>What you can expect to find on April's website.</li>
<li>She does a lot of work with feminist themes.</li>
<li>Some of the advice that April gives to her art students.</li>
<li>April had some really wonderful mentors.</li>
<li>Some of the shows that are coming up for April.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Links:</strong><br />
April's website: <a href="http://www.aprilbey.com/">April Bey</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/8895038/tdest_id/616174" target="_blank">Check out this episode!</a>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-89343829215241920932019-01-31T03:05:00.001-08:002019-01-31T06:49:15.061-08:0048: Approaching Art Mindfully for Greater Inspiration with Mou Saha<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Are you looking for some inspiration? If so, you will really enjoy listening to the interview with our guest for today, the very creative and naturally talented artist, Mou Saha. Mou was born and raised in India. She is an unassuming teacher with a bold spirit of exploration and she uses her mindful approach art to really inspire people to experiment with art media and color. Listen in today, to find out about what Mou, what she does, and how she got to do what she's doing. <br />
Mou, a mixed-media artist, and a storyteller is an intelligent and very courageous woman. Her passionate and straightforward manner is reflected in the easy and pleasurable expression of her work. Despite the number of setbacks and complications she's experienced in her life, she has produced some really meaningful work. Listen in to find out more about Mou's really creative approach to life.<br />
<strong>Show Highlights:</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>The way that Mou's art classes have evolved over time.</li>
<li>Mou's work has been published in a number of different publications.</li>
<li>What inspired Mou to start teaching.</li>
<li>Faber Castell launched a new brand for the crafting community and they reached out to Mou to do some projects for their launch. After seeing her work, they asked her to join the design team they were putting together.</li>
<li>Mou, as a child, really loved to draw- and she would draw everything!</li>
<li>Mou was an only child and her really artful family treated as a small adult. This really inspired her!</li>
<li>Although Mou was not very good at drawing accurately as a child, she used her drawing to express herself. She won a competition due to this.</li>
<li>In sixth grade, Mou was awarded a national scholarship for drawing. And after receiving the scholarship, she began to take her art more seriously.</li>
<li>Mou was already interested in doing counseling and psychology in the eighth grade, so she found out what she needed to do in order to do that.</li>
<li>How Mou discovered that she could move beyond what her parents had taught her about what was safe, and about what she could and could not do.</li>
<li>Everything came full circle for Mou when she moved to Tampa, Florida, after getting married.</li>
<li>Mou almost lost everything about herself in the process of coming to America, and she felt really lost.</li>
<li>How taking a course really helped her to gain a real perspective.</li>
<li>How Mou discovered scrapbooking.</li>
<li>How Mou coped with the devastating discovery of a lump in her breast.</li>
<li>How winning the grand prize for a scrapbooking competition really helped Mou.</li>
<li>Teaching people about what really matters with art.</li>
<li>You will receive a free gift from Mou for signing up for her newsletter.</li>
<li>Creating the time to do something for yourself that you really love to do.</li>
</ul>
<strong>Links:</strong><br />
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Mou's website: <a href="https://mousaha.com/?v=7516fd43adaahttps://www.creativebug.com/search/results?query=mou%20saha"> Mou Saha</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR4D-SPDU5eVDKiur9fAzLA">Mou's Youtube</a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MouSahaStudio/">Mou on Facebook</a><br />
<a href="http://bit.ly/MSStudio_InsiderScoop">Mou's gift for signing up to her newsletter</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/index.html">Shingles</a><br />
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<a href="http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/8467307/tdest_id/616174" target="_blank">Check out this episode!</a>Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-50006853503774859162018-11-21T06:05:00.001-08:002018-12-11T12:15:47.467-08:00Ep 47: A Creative Approach to Solving Environmental Issues With Molly Morse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="s1">She is one of the bright and innovative people who is bringing new technologies to work for a sustainable planet, and I am intrigued to learn more. Join me now in my conversation with Molly Morse, to learn more about her passion for positive-impact plastics, the health of the environment and her creative approach.</span></div>
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Dr. Molly Morse is the CEO and co-founder of Mango Materials, a San Francisco Bay Area-based startup company, that uses wastewater treatment plant methane gas to manufacture biodegradable materials. Her vision of the future involves the proliferation of anaerobic digestion so that methane can be used to make electricity, fuels, and materials – creating local regions of economic resiliency.</div>
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Molly received her Ph.D. from Stanford University and her B.S. from Cornell University. Dr. Morse has contributed to multiple patents, publications, and presentations. Along with other Mango Materials team members, she is currently working to upscale the biomanufacturing technology of using methane gas to produce biodegradable materials. Their current focus is on the production of waste-derived biopolymers that can be used as fibers for the textile and fashion industry.</div>
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<strong>More in this episode</strong></div>
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●<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Dr. Molly Morse discusses what Mango Materials does to create a new product that is a substitute for conventional plastics that can go into fibers to be made into clothing and other uses.</div>
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<span class="s1">●<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The material that is produced can be used for cosmetic packaging, plastic bags, fibers for clothing and more, that can break down rather than remain in the environment.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">●<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> In the conversation, we discuss the various applications that the product can be used for and how the product could break down after use.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">●<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> We learn more about how Dr. Morse shares her passion for a better environment and bio-composites that would be able to be used within environmentally friendly construction applications through her processes.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">●<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Dr. Morse shared her journey to becoming a business owner and how her educational path leads her to the present.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">●<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> She discussed how the company is transitioning out of R & D and into application development.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">●<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Molly shares how she came up with the company name and creativity was significant in that process.</span></div>
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Molly Morse says, “How we encourage our children to solve problems, it isn’t something that can’t be undervalued. Those key moments can stick with kids for a really long time. Challenges can lead to lots of solutions. Fostering creativity from a very young age and encouraging it is important.”</div>
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Molly identifies with this quote, "The creative adult is the child who has survived."– Julian F. Fleron</div>
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One of the quotes to add to that is Einstein when he said, "Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.”</div>
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<strong>Links</strong></div>
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The Green Biz Conference: <a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/"><span class="s2">https://www.Greenbiz.com</span></a></div>
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<span class="s3"><a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/events/verge-conference/oakland/2018">https://www.greenbiz.com/events/verge-conference/oakland/2018</a></span></div>
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The Red Cross:</div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="https://www.redcross.org/">https://www.redcross.org</a></span></div>
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Other ways to help victims of Camp Fire:</div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/better/news/how-help-victims-california-wildfires-ncna936911"> https://www.nbcnews.com/better/news/how-help-victims-california-wildfires-ncna936911</a></span></div>
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Articles about forest fire management:</div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060106627">https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060106627</a></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="https://climatecrocks.com/2018/11/19/forests-need-more-than-raking/"> https://climatecrocks.com/2018/11/19/forests-need-more-than-raking/</a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MangoMaterials/"><span class="s2">https://www.facebook.com/MangoMaterials/</span></a></div>
<div class="p2">
Linked In: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/mango-materials/"><span class="s2">https://www.linkedin.com/company/mango-materials/</span></a></div>
<div class="p2">
Twitter:</div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="https://twitter.com/MolMorse">https://twitter.com/MolMorse</a></span> <span class="s4">& <a href="https://twitter.com/MangoMaterials"><span class="s2">https://twitter.com/MangoMaterials</span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mangomaterials/"><span class="s2">https://www.Instagram.com/mangomaterials/</span></a> & <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mollycmorse/"><span class="s2">https://www.instagram.com/mollycmorse/</span></a></div>
<div class="p2">
Website:</div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="https://www.mangomaterials.com/">https://www.mangomaterials.com</a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
Subscribe to Our Mailing List: <a href="http://www.acreativeapproachpodcast.com/"><span class="s2">www.acreativeapproachpodcast.com</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/7637156/tdest_id/616174" target="_blank">Check out this episode!</a><br />
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Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-51035578948245685142018-11-12T12:27:00.002-08:002018-11-13T10:23:00.254-08:00Karen's Fruit and Croissant French Toast<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K_mCdq7B1RA/W-nfy458NHI/AAAAAAACceE/ymVfGLMA63IZkml-zVQJFVR97u_cbu_qwCLcBGAs/s1600/Karen%2527sFrenchToast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K_mCdq7B1RA/W-nfy458NHI/AAAAAAACceE/ymVfGLMA63IZkml-zVQJFVR97u_cbu_qwCLcBGAs/s400/Karen%2527sFrenchToast.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The other day I gave a talk to the Sacramento Bloggers group. I brought goodies which included wonderful buttery croissants from Estelle's Bakery and a couple were left over. Two-day-old croissants are not the best things to eat, but I did not want to waste these expensive treats. I also drink my coffee black, so the leftover cream from the Starbuck's coffee order was just sitting in the fridge. </div>
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I am a good Canadian and always keep maple syrup in my fridge, I'd been to the market yesterday and had bought my usual fresh market berries and while the oranges on our tree are not quite ripe the zest is orange, fresh and tangy. A few pantry basics and a tasty dish emerged.</div>
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Cal liked his Veteran's Day treat and wanted to be sure I wrote the recipe down.</div>
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I thought a blog post could do that and I could share this with everyone.</div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Karen’s Baked Fruit Croissant French Toast Casserole</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>2 servings</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Ingredients</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"> 2 large (Jumbo) one- to two-day-old croissant</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 large eggs, beaten</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/2 cup cream</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon orange zest</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 teaspoons maple syrup</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"> dash Kosher salt</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"> 1/3 cup each of fresh washed blueberries and raspberries</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"> Optional - substitute/add strawberries</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #343434; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Toppings, if you wish - confectioners’ sugar, or maple syrup</span></li>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Instructions:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, place rack in the middle of the oven.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Grease a 3-4 cup casserole dish with 1/2 Tablespoon butter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Slice croissants and arrange to fill the bottom of casserole.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Mix beaten eggs, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest and maple syrup in a bowl. Pour just over half over croissant layer. Arrange remaining slices and pour remainder of mixture over slices. Add fruit over the top.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 25 minutes. Enjoy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Calories: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">525 per serving</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Estimated Nutritional values: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">carbs 58g, fat 27g, protein 4g, fiber 5g, K 81mg, Na 500mg, Cholesterol 245mg, folate 4% daily value, iron 6% daily value, vit C 25% daily value, Mg 4% daily value, Ca 8% daily value</span><br />
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<img align="left" src="https://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0;" />Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571807110621509917.post-84240630302706243462018-11-03T15:58:00.000-07:002018-11-03T16:01:09.651-07:00The East River District of NYC and recent BlogHer meeting<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
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This story starts in August 2018 with me in NYC relaxing after a very full day at BlogHer18. I’m enjoying the luxury of the three-week-old Mr. C Seaport Hotel near the Brooklyn Bridge and Pier 17. This is a comfy contemporary hotel in a neighborhood that is undergoing revitalization. Trendy, touristy and gentrified but historic and exciting. I love the old cobblestone streets and the old buildings.<br />
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It’s a long journey across the country to New York from California. Even though a short trip in duration, it’s been so worth it. There’s been fantastic energy here with a lot of first time #BlogHer attendees.<br />
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I was so happy to get out of California, where I would in most summers love to be. The smoke in the air and my asthma have kept me mostly housebound. Nonetheless, this trip pushed my exhausted self to its limits. I was not yet recovered from surgery and with my neck problems never easy. Sure, I use a wheelchair at the airport to avoid a lot of standing and walking. Even with minimal carry-on items, it can be a bit much. I bring a neck pillow and blanket, and while I balk at the expense of first class or business class, I do sometimes opt for extra room. Still, I was already tired and was adding insult to injury.</div>
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Despite the physical challenges, my spirit was energized by attending a meeting with inspiring speakers and enthusiastic and friendly attendees. </div>
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I did mention it was a trip to New York City? I love New York. I'd not stayed in the East River District before. I found out this area of town is one that my friend Lena, a shipping industry podcaster from Sweden, had recently visited and raved about. It was just chance that I headed there, too. I have to echo her raves.<br />
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I include some photos of the neighborhood. It's on the East River edge of the financial district just next to Two Bridges and Chinatown. My hotel was two blocks from the venue, well within easy walking distance for me. The Mr. C Seaport had a few growing pains with my shower not draining well the first day and the room thermostat not able to regulate the temperature well. The staff seemed concerned and attentive to repairs. From the workmen in the halls and elevators, it was apparent that while the hotel was open, it was not yet completed. It is very attractively appointed and the bed very comfortable. The bathroom sported two sinks and a separate generous sized shower and a separate toilet. The robes were delightful. I'm thinking of ordering one from them. The logo is cute, and they do sell a T-shirt and ball cap. There are a generous bar and an assortment of snacks. However, I think a hotel room should have a Keurig coffee maker and complimentary tea and coffee, which this did not. I also love hotels that provide a small fridge and even better a microwave, too. Unfortunately, none of these amenities were provided. However, the Bellini restaurant that is attached to the hotel and offers the room service was delightful. I know I'd have used it even if the room had the amenities I listed. My eggs Benedict Florentine breakfast was perfect with fresh squeezed orange juice and delicious and plentiful coffee, a great start to my last day. The evening before I had tea and dessert in my room. The water was not quite as hot as I'd have liked by the time it got to me and while the berry sorbet was delicious the lemon pie that actually was a lemon tart, was not quite perfect. The short pastry was a little overly firm and thick.<br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The neighborhood sports a small grassy park with a geodesic metal structure adding charm and whimsy to the area. I love how an artist created a trompe l'oeil painting on a broad blank wall. The art features a building of similar architecture to the surrounding structures. An archway in the painted building offers a scene of the Brooklyn Bridge just beyond.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The lavender color of the metal work under the FDR freeway made me smile as I made my way to </span><a href="https://www.pier17ny.com/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;" target="_blank">Pier 17</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">. There is a museum ship at the pier, and I noted a </span><a href="https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;" target="_blank">South Street Seaport Museum</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> and a </span><a href="https://nycpm.org/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;" target="_blank">New York City Police Museum</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> in the neighborhood, though I did not have time to visit. A water taxi service is busy there, as is a water tour service.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The meeting venue was in a new 4- story building with good elevator service; however, I recommend the escalator. A continually changing lighted-advertising display in an atrium well adds a bit of entertainment to the ride. I noted the construction of several restaurants in this structure.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The conference was located on the fourth floor. Registration was a bit of a crush, but the wait not prolonged. From there swag bags, then on to the central meeting area. Large windows that looked out on the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Financial District made the environment inviting. In the main conference room, circular cloth covered tables were surrounded by chairs. Small banks of extra chairs provided ample seating. Several large monitors around the room allowed for excellent views of what was happening onstage.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Once seated we attendees explored our goodies. I particularly liked the </span><a href="https://www.moroccanmagicbeauty.com/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Moroccan Magic</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> lip balm. The flight had made me dehydrated despite my best efforts, and it was a godsend for my dry lips. I did not use the John Frieda </span><a href="https://www.ulta.com/secret-weapon-touch-up-creme?productId=prod6041628" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: blue;">John Frieda Secret Weapon Touch Up Creme</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> until I got home, but I love it. I have straight hair, but it often sticks out at an angle after washing, and the ends get brittle. I use a small dab of this product, and it works wonders.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Croissants and cold brew coffee were available from Pret A Manger. Delicious. They provided snacks and lunch, too. A vendor,<a href="https://www.freshdirect.com/" target="_blank"> FreshDirect</a> had coldbrew and flavored water, fresh fruits and vegetables, and iced doughnuts to supplement the primary offerings. It's too bad that the company is only based on the East Coast; their offerings are terrific. I recommend them to any reader in their delivery area.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Memorable moments from the speakers include an opening </span><span style="background-color: white;">guided meditation with </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Agapi Stassinopoulos</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> author of <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Wake-Joy-You-Meditations-Practices-ebook/dp/B01DRXCPPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538678077&sr=8-1&keywords=Agapi+Stassinopoulos"><span style="color: blue;">Wake Up to the Joy of You</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white;">. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Gabrielle </span><span style="background-color: white;">Union talked about her new book, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Were-Going-Need-More-Wine-ebook/dp/B01ND1HP5I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538677508&sr=8-1&keywords=gabrielle+Union+book"><span style="color: blue;">We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated and True</span></a>.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Amy Schumer introduced the Voices of the Year Awards and spoke about the importance of the #MeToo movement. Maria Menounos discussed her mother's brain cancer and her own brain tumor diagnosis and stressed the importance of being your own and your family's health advocate. I enjoyed the live <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/betch-slapped/id1156258047?mt=2"><span style="color: blue;">Betch Slapped</span></a> podcast with Jordana Abraham and Aleen Kuperman, of Betches, especially learning both of their mothers were OBGYN doctors! Kristen Meinzer of WNYC, who I'd just heard at <a href="https://podcastmovement.com/" target="_blank">Podcast Movement</a>, joined them to discuss starting a podcast. </span><span style="background-color: white;">A</span><span style="background-color: white;"> candid and lively discussion with New York</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">S</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">enator Kirsten Gillibrand</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">Christy Turlington Burns</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"> about women's reproductive health, maternal policies, and the state of women's health care found a very receptive audience.</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Breaks allowed us to visit vendor booths. The LG booth was even more cramped than the last time I visited blogger, and while I wanted to post their Twitter challenge video about the feature fridge, it was just too difficult to accomplish with so little space and instructions that did not work well with my iPad. I did take a video, and I must say that the fridge is incredible. My phone might have been useful in that booth. However, at that moment the battery was low, and it was getting recharged. BlogHer is very aware of our phone dependence, and a sponsored phone charging station was available. It seems BlogHer attendees are partial to I-phones. Connections spots were at times challenging to locate for Apple devices while Android users could always find a connection.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The health-related booths got a quick visit from me. I loved the Susan Komen t-shirts. I do like that organization's mission, which is not just researching for a cure as some social media posts insist it ought to be. The Susan B. Komen Foundation has a balanced approach to attacking breast cancer with a focus on services for patients as well as clinical research support. The Crisis Text Line was another health-related booth. Crisis Text Line provides a needed service, I encourage folk to volunteer. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Vagisil and Dr. Ladydoc provided female health information. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Humanscale promoted the ergonomic office, and their swag of a portable metal straw with carrying bag and brush has been handy. (It also is increasing my environmental concern street cred.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I liked the Worth booth for a line of professional clothing. Much of the fall collection was more suited to a New York-Northern East Coast climate, but, some outfits could work in California.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Surprise treats were in store for us during the conference. Tiny cupcakes with decorative frosting spelled out Blogher 18 and were not only lovely but a sweet tasty treat. The party Wednesday had delicious hors-d'oeuvres, and the environment provided a great opportunity to network.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">This was my third BlogHer event, two general audience BlogHer meetings and one BlogHer Health. It would be hardpressed to find much difference between the two types of meetings and I will consider attending BlogHer in the future. The exposure to new products is an integral part of the business design. It is an excellent opportunity for influencers to discover new goods and services and for some to form business partnerships such as affiliate programs. Who could resist the powerful women Barbie dolls swag? (Some readers are familiar with my Barbie collection and share the interest, I know.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I'd recommend a BlogHer conference for influencers who are interested in brands and for those who want to hear fascinating discussions on topics of significant interest to women. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">For me, the best part of attending BlogHer is the networking I mentioned above. I've learned so much from my fellow attendees. BlogHer has always been inspiring and energizing.</span></div>
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<img align="left" src="https://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/af319/laralheis/664aa466.png" style="border: 0;" />Karen Poirier-Brodehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01265929755568776545noreply@blogger.com0