Taos, NM

If you see a guy over 50 who doesn't have a long grey ponytail, then it's a sure bet he doesn't live in Taos. All the great artistes from this place sport one. I love this town!

There's historic Ledoux Street (where arts and style come to live). In the winter, Taos Ski Valley offers lots of activity. Some extol it as "the Soul of the Southwest."

We stayed at The Historic Taos Inn. Every room is decorated differently. All with so much charm. It was such a welcome relief after the usual motor inn chains at which we had been staying the past two weeks. Although we were only there one afternoon and evening, we made good use of our time. Visited quite a few shops with wonderful art and gifts. But, clearly, with 600 businesses and lots of sites we didn't see in Taos, we need to schedule more time and come back.

In the lobby of the Inn, for the cocktail hour, there was a terrific trio, playing western music: a lady bass player who also sang, and two fellows who played guitar, one also playing the mandolin. I wish I gotten their names. They were from another part of the state but drop by for an occasional gig here. Usually I like to hear recognizable songs...but there was probably one one song out of the hour-plus set that I knew. It didn't matter...they were thoroughly entertaining.

Since we had gotten up and wanted to leave early before the dining room was open, we asked some locals for breakfast recommendations. Michael's Kitchen provided a great morning walk. Oh my, if we hadn't been eating cinnamon rolls almost every day at the breakfast buffets provided at all of our stays, we could have partaken of the wonderful bakery items they had on display. Couldn't even apply them directly to the hips. There was no room. They have over 250 menu items to choose from for breakfast and lunch.

If you love Santa Fe, you should check out this enchanted town too.

Cowboys and Indians

I had never heard of Cowboys and Indians, The Premiere Magazine of the West, until my friend, who lives in Big Horn, WY, called to say there was an article about the polo field near their home in the current issue. They had built this beautiful home there several years ago, and we were fortunate to finally visit them when we flew our small plane there a few years ago.

So, I promptly picked up a copy with Tom Selleck At Home on His Ranch on the cover and much to my surprise found the entire issue thoroughly entertaining and interesting.

The teasers on the cover of this Special 15th Anniversary issue are:

-Cowboys: Men Who Made the West
-Boots: Envy-Worthy Kickers
-National Parks: The West's Best.

How apropros since we just returned from visiting two National Parks: Mesa Verde in Colorado and Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Shay) in Arizona, where we had taken tours to learn how the Indians lived 300 AD. It was interesting to note that we had actually visited over the years nine of the 15 listed as the best . We had stayed in two of the four "Lodge Envy" resorts listed in the parks: The Ahwahnee at Yosemite Nat'l Park (where two deer walked right past me as I was headed to my cabin from the main lodge). We actually never stayed at Old Faithful Inn, but we watched the rain come down and ate lunch there once. El Tovar, at the Grand Canyon, which hosted Zane Grey, Albert Einstein, and Teddy Roosevelt, among others, underwent a $4.5 million facelift shortly after their centennial.

In 1995, Sharon Stone called and cowgirled her way onto the first celebrity cover of C&I to promote her movie, The Quick and the Dead, about a female gunslinger. That changed everything for the Western-lifestyle magazine. Movie-star covers became a staple for C&I, allowing them to find a niche where celebrities and the West melded into Americana. Consider John Wayne, Robert Duvall, Sam Shepherd, Sam Elliott, Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford and Tom Selleck (again) and Tommy Lee Jones as appealing cover cowboys.

I, who have never really been in to cowboy/cowgirl gear, was even fascinated to see the selection of great boots. Check it out: Star Boots Jolly Roger, inspired by the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean.
Cool features: Skull-and-crossbones inlay on toe and heel.
Best worn with: A leather motorcycle jacket, big loop earrings, and lots of chunky bracelets that jingle.
Why cowgirls like them: They're Nancy Sinatra-tough.
Sheryl Crow wears a pair of the Old Gringo Cowgirl boots with pink inlay breast-cancer-awareness ribbons on the toe, shaft and heel of the boot.

The story about best-selling author, Robert B. Parker, provided more education. Fans of Parker's 2005 Western novel, Appaloosa, are eagerly awaiting the film adaptation, starring Viggo Mortensen as Everett Hitch and Ed Harris (who also directed the movie) as Virgil Cole. Appaloosa--which costars Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons--is slated for a fall release.

I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this July, 2008, issue (try Border's), while it's still on the newstands.

Beware of Ethanol

Proponents of ethanol tell us that it can significantly reduce our dependence on oil for transportation fuel. Truthfully, I never gave it much thought one way or the other.

Since our experience with it on our recent road trip, I have paid more attention to what I read, and in a recent "Parade" magazine article, it states: Since 2005, U.S. energy policy has mandated that billions of gallons of corn-based ethanol be mixed into gas every year. Last year, more than $3 billion of taxpayer money was spent on subsidies to achieve that goal, and 20% of the corn crop went into making the biofuel. Now, a new U.N. report cites our emphasis on ethanol as a contributor to high food prices. Scientists also believe than an expanding "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, which is killing aquatic life, is caused by increased fertilizer runoff from Corn Belt states."

Now...my only purpose here is to warn you that it's important to know if you are getting ethanol in your gasoline and/or how much. We had been averaging about 28-29mpg in my new Honda CRV. Not great, but we can live with that. One time, 32 mpg, another 34. Not bad. So, on one long stretch through Northwestern Oklahoma, off the interstate highways, we had 340 miles to cover that day before reaching our destination. No problem. However, this just happened to be an area where there were few tiny towns and NO gas stops, and no cell phone reception. We were becoming increasingly concerned as the gas gauge headed for empty. We made it to our destination with about one-half gallon to spare (22.5mpg).

When we later mentioned to people we met along the way, they quickly added, "Oh yeah, you get 30% less mileage." This effectively adds $1.25/gallon for the mileage traveled.

While I'm a rather adventurous person, that's one scenario I'm glad we didn't have to play out.

Tombstone, AZ

Remember the scene in High Noon when the streets are empty, waiting for the gunfight at twelve o'clock sharp?

Well, we started our trip early on in Tombstone. What an interesting and fun town, which was established in 1877. Billed as "The Town Too Tough to Die," it is truly a Historical American Landmark. Tombstone is America's best example of our early western heritage. It is well preserved in Tombstone's original 1880's buildings (not a stage-prop town) and artifacts featured in numerous museums.

We were there the end of May, before the kids get out of school, so there was hardly a soul on the street, except the usual suspects: stagecoach driver, dance hall girls at the Bird Cage Theatre, roaming the streets, looking for customers, etc. It reminded me of the scene portenting doom.

We took the Tombstone Trolley tour around the city to hear all the interesting facts. In its heyday, this mining town brought in $22 million a day! Home of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson, it was famous for the Gunfight at the OK Corral. At the trolley site, we met a gentleman, in his 80's, who retired here after traveling the country, playing Abe Lincoln in a one-man show. He did resemble the President.

We asked where the locals ate and ended up at the Depot Restaurant, four blocks from the tourist area. We can vouch for the beer on tap, the chili and the patti melt and onion rings. Remember, this is the start of our three-week vacation. So, we ate whatever we wanted. Met another couple who was on the trolley and overheard us asking the driver about a good restaurant. The first question this Florida couple asked us was, "What's the price of gasoline in California." At that time, it was under $4 here, over $4 there. More on gasoline in my next post.

Vacations

Oh my...been back a week from a three-week road trip. Almost forgot how to blog. But I must get back to it, because I have so much I want to say about our trip. I would not call this a relaxing vacation by any stretch of the imagination, but it was interesting.

Seeing aging family members was the main reason we planned this trip to the Midwest, and now that we're home, we realize how important it was that we did spend the time with family.

We knew that this time of year is not the best weatherwise, since there were tornado warnings all over the place. Early on in our trip to White Sands, NM, as it looked threatening, I said, "I don't mind if it rains, but I don't want it to hail on my car." Of course, the words had no sooner left my tongue than nickel-sized hail fell with a large clunk. I couldn't imagine that there would be no damage to the car, but for some reason, not a mark on it when we arrived at our destination.

Three weeks is a long time to be away, but I doubt that we could have done it in less time since we spent several long days in the car. Covering barren landscapes, particularly in Texas, with no cell reception made me particularly uncomfortable. Unbelievable how we could have lived without that convenient communication just a few short years ago. XM Satellite was a godsend, although we were gone so long, I swear they repeated the same songs over and over.

More tomorrow...just needed to keep in touch!

Lars and the Real Girl

I don't imagine I would have gotten around to seeing Lars and the Real Girl had I not been given a scene to do in my acting workshop. Anytime I get to watch Patricia Clarkson, I consider it time well spent. She's such a good actor. No acting...that's why she's so interesting to watch.

I loved the movie. I thought it started out slowly, and I wasn't sure about it. About half way thru, I started really getting into it. You can tell it was written by a female. Boy, do we need more female screenwriters. This is such a sweet story. I can't imagine a town being so taken in (without giving away the plot), nevertheless, you want to believe it. I hope you get a chance to see it.

By the way, I had the rare opportunity to get to pick my scene partner. We usually just show up and rehearse briefly before we film it. Ky Evans is such a strong actor that I knew it would be fun to do. And I love playing a therapist. Oh, and did I mention that I thought Ryan Gosling gave an award-winning performance.

Nobody does parties like PartyCharlie

As I recall, one of the rules, if you will, to being an optimist, is to be as happy about others' success as you are about your own.

That certainly is the case with my friend, Charlie Scola. Charlie is a renowned party planning authority, columnist, author, as well as an actor. We met in an acting workshop about eleven years ago. After the class was over, I wasn't sure I'd ever see or talk to Charlie again, even though I thought he was very nice. He called me a few months later to tell me about a class on the "business of acting" that he thought I would like. I was pleased to hear from him...and as it turns out, he has been a friend of the family ever since. One we've flown to Catalina for lunch, one who has come to support me at my cabaret performances, plays, etc. I've always cherished our friendship.

This past week we were privileged to attend Charlie's book signing at Borders in Century City. His book, the culimination of one of his dreams, Party Planning Secrets, is full of great ideas for creating an outrageously exciting party! It was no small feat to get a Borders book store to turn over their whole store for his party! But, this he accomplished, and party we did.

There was a tarot card reader, numerologist, astrologist and magician at the party, as well as entertainment by Franki Love, Jason Farnham, and David Williams.
Free flowing champagne, vodka martini's (the pear was especially good!), and a fabulous buffet of delicious food. Asian salad served in mini-take-out cartons, sandwiches on delicious buns with turkey or veggies (yum...peppers, zucchini), a wonderful array of cheese (I loved the goat cheese covered in herbs), slices of great-looking fruit, cookies, and brownies. All top notch!

Charlie generously donated all net proceeds from the book sales to Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. Charlie was told by Borders a few days later that his event was the most exciting they've had and had the most people attending since Martha Stewart's book signing.

I always loved hearing about all the wonderful parties Charlie was planning for celebrities. We actually attended one in Malibu a few years ago that was nothing short of fantastic. It was a benefit. We tennis enthusiasts were excited to see Pete Sampras there with his then fiancee, soon-to-be wife...an actress whose name escapes me now. Bob Sagat was there with his small children. Charlie catered a thanksgiving bbq one year for Jen and Brad, when they were married.

My friend, Denise, and I were pleased to see Barbara Rush, who looked great. Denise went up to say, "Hello." She was very gracious. Thirty years in the business has given Charlie a long list of satisfied customers.

I would recommend that you get his book, even if you have small gatherings once in a while.
He walks you through every detail of planning a successful party from ambiance to vendors, including how to create the perfect invitation, menu and theme, plus expert advice on budgeting, entertaining, safety and more.

In addition, I recommend you get on his email list for his newsletter, where he shares great recipes, and gives away tickets to some of his fabulous parties. Check it out at http://www.partycharlie.com/.

What especially made the evening fun was to meet Charlie's mom, who happened to be celebrating her birthday that day, and his brother and sister who all flew out from back East to be with Charlie. I'm proud to call this eternal optimist, Charlie, my friend.