June 2012 - The Culture Mom

28Jun

Atlanta with Kids: Geyser Towers at Stone Mountain (and more)

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On our current visit to Atlanta, I am trying to take my kids to places we have yet to explore, so when I received an invitation to check out the new Geyser Towers at Stone Mountain, I was thrilled. Born and raised in Atlanta, I am always eager to revisit places and attractions that I loved as a child, and Stone Mountain was one of them. I have vivid memories of climbing the mountain to the summit, watching the dazzling lazer show at night, picnics with my family on park benches, heading to the park's beach and water slides. I was eager to visit this Read More

28Jun

Summer Camp Away From Home

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A few months I made a decision to send my kids to the camp I grew up at this summer. It is still possible to visit my mother who is still living in the house I grew up in, which may or may not be for much longer. I have very vivid, happy memories of my time at this one camp and I wanted to give the same experience to both my kids: singing on the yellow bus that took me back and forth to camp, canoeing, archery, horseback riding, cooking, camping out in the woods, being a good enough swimmer to make swim team. Most of all, I remember the Jewish Read More

26Jun

Remembering Nora Ephron

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Nora Ephron, the celebrated screenwriter and director, died of leukemia tonight in New York. And I, for one, am so sad. She shepherded me through my youth into adulthood with films like "When Harry Met Sally," "Sleepless in Seattle," "You've Got Mail," "Heart Burn," "Cookie," "This is My Life," "Silkwood" and "Julie and Julia". As a Journalism/Film major, we talked about her writing in University and I have read her many prolific books over the years like Crazy Salad . In that book in her short essay "A Few Words About Breasts," she wrote: "If I had Read More

25Jun

How to Be A Mother of All Seasons

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Many years ago, approximately 20, my grandparents were killed in an accident. It was one of the worst moments of my life when I got the news. It was late at night. I was visiting home during my last year of University. I was in a room in the back of the house I grew up in when I heard the scream. The scream that would ring in my memory for many years after. It was my mother's scream. My mother, the love of my life, lost both of her beloved parents in a split second. My uncle had been driving the car but had done nothing wrong. He was Read More

22Jun

Brave: A Film with Girl Power

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Last night I went to a preview of the new Disney Pixar film, BRAVE. The event was graciously hosted by Visit Scotland. I didn't take my nine year-old daughter. It was a busy day in the city and I didn't have time to get home to bring her into the city. But this is a film that I want her to see, that she has to see, and you had better believe I will be back in the cinema this weekend, with her in tow. Why? Because the character in the film is someone I hope my own daughter to resemble - a strong heroine with a mind of her own. She's Read More

22Jun

Review: The Columnist at the Manhattan Theatre Club

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"Power...influence...changing the course of history. It's all in a day's work." This is a line stated by the main character of THE COLUMNIST. I love when theater merges history and fiction to tell a story that I never heard before about a fascinating life. THE COLUMNIST, playing at the Manhattan Theatre Club is one such play. It's about a real journalist named Joseph Alsop who upon a visit to Moscow in 1957 picked up a young man at a party and brought him back to his hotel. This is the first scene in the play. When you're watching Read More

19Jun

Visiting Storm King Art Center with Kids

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Last weekend I finally managed to visit a place I had been longing to explore: Storm King Art Center, located at Old Pleasant Hill Road in Mountainville, NY. It's a short ride from NYC (1-1/2 hours) and makes a day trip from the city or from other parts of the Tri-State region. If you're a modern art fan, you've probably been to the Dia in Beacon. It's an equally satisfying visit and we met many NYC natives up for a visit. Storm King is a 500-acre sculpture garden that includes works from very famous sculptors and artists such as Henry Moore, Roy Read More

18Jun

Mesmerized by the Australian Ballet’s Swan Lake

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“My favourite she-dies-he-lives [production of Swan Lake] is that of The Australian Ballet … This version, choreographed by Graeme Murphy, will be performed by the Australian company in New York, at the David H. Koch Theater, next June. I’ll be there.” Joan Acocella, The New Yorker When I was offered a pair of tickets to experience The Australian Ballet’s “Swan Lake”, I didn’t hesitate. A big fan of ballet and of this one, in particular, and a huge Lincoln Center goer, it definitely caught my interest. And as my husband reminded me on our way to the Read More

18Jun

“LIKE” Playwright Horizons on Facebook and Help Them Get 10K

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One of the highlights of my year (there have been many - from visiting the patients at St. Jude Hospital to Associate Producing my first NYC show, Listen to Your Mother), has been working with Playwright Horizons on a six-month social media campaign. Playwrights Horizons is one of the country’s most important incubators of new plays and musicals and to say that I am fortunate to call them a client is AMAZING. This is the reason that I am writing this post. Without Playwright Horizons, so many important productions would not have come to NYC including Read More