October 2012 - The Culture Mom

31Oct

No Power But Keeping the Faith and Loving NYC

I became a New Yorker on 9/11. Born and bred in the south, I had new roots after witnessing the most tragic event to impact a nation. Then I endured the Tri-State black-out and that qualified as a bonafide citizen of the city. I have always felt rooted here. I love NYC. I've explored every inch of the five boroughs and look forward to finding new parts to investigate. I also love the people of New York. They are the most interesting people in the world and they share a love for this amazing city. It may not be the easiest place to live but we all Read More

27Oct

When There Are No Words

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It's taken me a few days to write about the "nanny murder" as it's so horrible, and there are really no words to describe the pain that has been inflicted on an innocent family. The murder of the two children was a pointless act, so senseless, one that has left a family completely broken. They are a family like every other who has made the same decision all families have to make everyday about hiring a babysitter to care for their children. Whether a mother works or doesn't, we all need help. For a mother to get anything done, whether working or not, Read More

24Oct

Giveaway: Four (4) Tickets to the Harry Potter Exhibition in NYC Times Square

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

I started reading the Harry Potter books with my 7 year old this year and I understand the significance of this series. I'm enjoying them as much as he is, perhaps even more. It's pure fantasy, a treasure of words for any child. Since I write about culture and travel, I bring you an opportunity for you and three others to step inside the famous wizard’s magical world with Harry Potter: The Exhibition, returning to Discovery Times Square on November 3 in New York City. Since its hugely successful run in 2011, Harry Potter: The Exhibition has been Read More

22Oct

Thoughts on “The Girl” – Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren

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On Saturday night I watched HBO's The Girl, based on the real-life relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren. A long time, huge Hitchcock fan, I was intrigued and had been eagerly awaiting this film. I've seen all of his movies, starting in high school when I rented every single one from the local video store in Atlanta, where I grew up. When you look at the films Hitchcock made in his lifetime, it's clear he had eccentricities, and I was curious what one of his main ingenues had to say. Well, clearly Hedren had a lot to say and has been Read More

20Oct

Sitting Down with Merle Hoffman, Abortion Rights Pioneer

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The other night I had the incredible opportunity to interview Merle Hoffman, the woman who brought abortion from the back alley to the boardroom. This was the art we produced to promote the discussion prepared by Amy Wilson, the brilliant producer of The Best of Everything, which has been playing at the Here Arts Center and is finishing its run tonight: To prepare for our discussion, I read her new book: Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Boardroom. Hoffman has lived her life devoted to Read More

18Oct

Stumbling into Something You Love

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I fell in love with theatre at a very young age. My mother used to take me to see productions at the Civic Center in Atlanta, GA, where I grew up. We saw "Annie". We saw "Oklahoma". We saw "Annie Get Your Gun". I loved and watched everything about these productions - the actors, the sets, the lighting, the costumes. Then in high school I left a very academic institution to attend a high school of performing arts. I thought my life would be like the show "Fame" - kids would dance and sing on the tables in the lunch room and my life would be one Read More

16Oct

Feeding the World on World Food Day

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Did you know that one in eight people goes to sleep hungry? Hunger is not an issue I take lightly. Last year my good friend, Jill Smokler, over at ScaryMommy.com, involved me in media coverage of a campaign that she led on her site to raise money to provide 400 needy families with Thanksgiving dinner. During this process, I discovered that last year, 17.2 million households in the United States were food insecure, the highest level on record, as the Great Recession continued to wreak havoc on families across the country. Of those 17.2 million Read More

14Oct

Meaningful Fun on 42nd Street w/ the New Victory Theater & Dave and Busters

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Last night was a great night for me and for the MamaDrama network. We recently teamed up with the New Victory Theater, a theater that you've seen me mention many times on this blog to bring a group of writers with their children to their premier 2012-2013 production, URBAN. It was a night to remember in more ways than I can describe. First of all, I brought my son with me. He has sensory issues so I often bring my daughter instead to avoid conflict, but he loved everything from start to finish. He held his focus on all of the activities at hand at Read More

13Oct

A Little Kvetching After a Long Week

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Life as a mother is a juggle and I'm not always successful. Everyone wants to know how I do it all...work, parenting, juggling a million things at a time. Well, I do it all the best way I can, but things don't always go according to plan, just like the following few episodes from the week we've just left behind: - I loved it (not really) when the piano teacher showed up unexpected at 4:15 on Thursday. (Well, she was expected on my calendar but I neglected to look). The woman's a saint, she must think I'm the most disorganized person in the world. Read More

12Oct

A Week of Kvelling and Changes

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This week was a week full of ups and downs. It started with a true high when the play I've been working on, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING based on the book by Rona Jaffe, got a 4 star rating and was the "critic's pick" in the New York Times and my name was mentioned. I'm not kidding, scroll down to the bottom of the piece and there is my name in lights! This play is so deserving and I can't tell you how honored I am to have my name attached. The writing, the casting, the direction, the set, the costumes and the fact that the story is utterly timeless make Read More