Posts tagged father
May 29, 2011 · Filed under Personal · Tagged abuse, alcoholism, career, dancing, diabetes, father, fearless, happiness, healing, inspiration, Marisa Russo, mother, pedophilia, rape, therapy
For years, I hid it, never spoke about it. Until finally, it pushed up out of me like a beach ball you press down in the water – it pops out. Has to.
And, one day, the gift of that childhood trauma becomes apparent.
First, the damage and danger twists synapses, neural pathways, belief systems, trust, whom you love and who you run from. What does a four-and-a-half year old girl learn from being raped by her mother’s new husband? Handsome guy, her mother head over heels in love with him, her cutting the little girl’s real father out of every photo, changing the girl’s name, and silencing her when she tries to speak it. Mother, an alcoholic, suicidal, schizophrenic. Real father, gone, after the little girl reaches age six, because the stepfather beat him up and told him to never come back. She never saw her dad again.
Little girl escapes Read the rest of this entry »
May 6, 2011 · Filed under Personal · Tagged abuse, career, father, fearless, film, healing, inspiration, mother, movie, optimism, pedophilia, positive thinking, rape, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, storytelling, The Kings Speech, therapy
It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. And, this is, in part, an apology for not having checked in. I’ve been making my own art, and making a living. I’ve been interviewing and reading – just haven’t written here.
I decided to take tonight “off,” and not produce the 30-minute podcastor, not prep for my next appearance on KOIN-TV’s Studio 6, not rework the last two chapters of my memoir. Instead, my housemate, who is leading me into learning how to “play,” watched with me the Academy Award winning movie, The King’s Speech.
The film struck me deep. Read the rest of this entry »
October 17, 2010 · Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, beautiful, diet, fashion models, father, fearless, goals, happiness, healing, healthy diet, inspiration, media industry, positive thinking, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, trauma, workout
Rock What You’ve Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty From Someone Who’s Been There and Back
By Katherine Schwarzenegger
Published September 14, 2010 (Hardcover) Voice
“When did life turn into a constant beauty pageant?” Katherine Schwarzenegger asks in her book Rock What You’ve Got. Smart book. Substantive. So before you start hearing her father’s voice saying “I’ll be back,” in your head, listen up. If you’ve got a daughter – maybe even if you just are a daughter – you’ll relate to a lot in her hot pink and purple book. I’m interviewing Katherine tomorrow about her book at my home studio.
Only two percent of women describe themselves as beautiful. Which may mean that those women are the models you see in fashion magazines. The average fashion model is over six feet tall and weighs far less than 120 pounds. The average American woman is five feet four inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. Less than five-percent of all women have the body they see in those mags. Read the rest of this entry »
September 12, 2010 · Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged adoption, cruelty, divorce, father, fiction, happiness, healing, marriage, mother, pedophilia, rape, relationships, self awareness, storytelling, writing
Chosen: A Novel
By Chandra Hoffman
Published August 24, 2010 (Hardcover) Harper
Seems I’ve been attracted lately to novels that, in some way, address babies and children. In a word – family! Chandra Hoffman’s novel, Chosen, seduced me instantly with the topic.
There’s a sweet tone to the book – Chloe’s mostly – even though Hoffman also tells the story in the voices of Penny, Paul, and Jason. A pregnant woman, the husband whose wife finally gives birth, and Penny’s difficult boyfriend. We also see Francie’s posts on the adoption site – Francie, a woman who has not been able to have a child of her own.
Chloe is an adoption worker who handles both the desperate parents wanting a child, willing to do anything to have a child, and the frantic parents-to-be, who are not sure whether to (1) end it, (2) have it and adopt it out, and (3) have it and keep it. The waters keep getting muddied. A lot. Especially when you blend in meth mothers and the violent cons who get them pregnant. Especially when one baby goes missing. Read the rest of this entry »
September 5, 2010 · Filed under Author Interviews · Tagged abuse, angels, Church, damnation, father, fearless, God, happiness, healing, heaven, hell, inspiration, love, mother, passion, pedophilia, rape, relationships, religion, self awareness, spirituality, stepfather, trauma, writing
Time for Truth: A New Beginning
By Nick Bunick
Published September 1, 2010 (Paperback) Hay House
Angels abound! If you’re reading this, the odds are extremely high that you, too, believe in angels. Most of us do. I’ve seen angels most of my life. After a couple of years in the same writing group where I worked on my memoir, New York Times bestselling author Chelsea Cain signed one of her books to me: For Diana, who (almost) makes me believe in angels.
There are angels, but there is no hell. Nick Bunick told me in an interview recorded a few days ago Read the rest of this entry »
August 30, 2010 · Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged career, father, fearless, fiction, friendship, happiness, healing, inspiration, love, mother, motherhood, novel, optimism, passion, relationships, self awareness, storytelling, writing
The Atlas of Love
By Laurie Frankel
Published August 17, 2010 (Hardcover) St. Martin’s Press
Maybe I loved The Atlas of Love because it felt like a friend’s journal I’d picked up and accidentally opened to the first page. And couldn’t stop reading it until page 35 or so, still standing, and then it was too late. So I read the whole thing, feeling guilty, as if I’d eaten a carton of Ben and Jerry’s at one sitting. Not that I’ve ever done that. But I also felt pleased, because of the light humor laced in with the literary configurations.
Maybe I loved The Atlas of Love because Read the rest of this entry »
July 14, 2010 · Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, father, fearless, mother, optimism, self awareness, stepfather, storytelling, trauma, writing
Sh*t My Dad Says
By Justin Halpern
Published May 4, 2010 (Hardcover) It Books
I didn’t laugh as a kid. My daddy had been divorced out of the family, and he was replaced by a sadistic stepfather. I always wondered what it would have been like to have a fun father. And now Justin Halpern’s father comes along to show me. Sh*t My Dad Says is a short book that’s long on laughs. And there’s sh*t on every page. Funny funny sh*t. Read the rest of this entry »
July 7, 2010 · Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged artistic, career, fashion, father, gay, genius, goals, inspiration, mother, sagging, self awareness
Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation
By Kristin Knox
Published July 1, 2010 (Paperback) A&C Black
Jaw-dropping photos of fashion – with lines that stun, darkness that trips sensibilities, twists that bring a smile.
The fashion of Alexander McQueen evolved from an artistic eye that defied competition. From a British lad who at three Read the rest of this entry »
June 24, 2010 · Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, career, dancing, father, fearless, goals, gratitude, happiness, healing, inspiration, optimism, passion, positive thinking, rape, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, writing
A Little Book of Thank Yous: Letters, Notes & Quotes
By Addie Johnson
Published August 1, 2010 (Hardcover) Conari Press
For five days, I was flat-on-my-back sick. Translation: dreams and meditation. Clever body. How else was it going to make me re-focus on what is good and pure in life? I actually was praying for a vacation, but obviously this was the better answer. I am actually grateful.
That full-hearted feeling led me to Addie Johnson’s book – I have an advance copy. A Little Book of Thank Yous fits sweetly in most purses and backpacks. From the book, there are quotations of genuine gratitude like Cicero’s Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. And, the humorous, Read the rest of this entry »
June 22, 2010 · Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, career, father, fearless, goals, happiness, healing, inspiration, manifest, optimism, physical health, positive thinking, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, trauma, writing
Happy: Simple Steps to Get the Most Out of Life
By Ian K. Smith, MD
Published April 27, 2010 (Hardcover) St Martin’s Press
Here’s my secret for knowing which book to read at any point in time. I send up a sense of gratitude while holding the book, and ask “What do I most need to know from this book?” And I open it on that beat.
You need the backstory to appreciate this. Read the rest of this entry »
