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In my piece, MANIFESTATION, a woman’s desperate attempts to sell a haunted, dilapidated house bring her face-to-face with the demon she fears. Directed by June Carryl. Starring Shaela Cook and Sascha Rosemann.

The evening also includes:

DEATH BECOMES US by R.J. Colleary: Ted and Emma are cosmically doomed to spend eternity trapped in the bedroom where they once lived, loved – and died. But when Myles and Heather, current occupants of the house, get life-changing news, it opens old, long- buried wounds for Ted and Emma.

BOYS’ NIGHT by Michael Shaw Fisher: Thursday night is boys’ night – the night when Scott and Derek can forget the rest of the world and just be themselves. Only, when Scott accidentally hits a dog on the way to work, it releases a flood of nightmarish childhood memories best forgotten and Scott learns that you can trust your best friend anything…Or can you?

MOURNING STORY by June Carryl: In the days following the Fukushima disaster, an old couple combs the beach for valuables and finds a young man mourning his lost daughter.

CALL THIS A DATE by Julie Cain: Forced to remain in the restaurant during a holdup, Liz and Jason who met online find common ground through their abuse of the waitress and other patrons. Finally they leave and meet their just deserves.

FAMILY PENALTY by Katie Letien: Even distance can’t keep us away from who we are. Sissy makes the mistake of returning home for her uncle’s execution to face exactly what she feared and more.

DEATH UNIT by Robert Gardner: Two men transporting a prisoner recently executed by the state find themselves trapped in the basement of the Texas Prisons Death Unit.

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1) Facebook. Need I say more?

2) Twitter. I’m continually surprised at how reluctant my friends and colleagues are about getting on Twitter. Though I personally don’t spend as much time there sharing and engaging as I should, Twitter is a goldmine for building networks with people from all over the world who you would otherwise never be able to meet and ultimately build relationships of mutual support. It’s not about tweeting meaningless mundane things. In fact, I find Twitter users to be far more likely to share and engage about newsworthy stories than their Facebook counterparts. And if you are a public figure, or have a product you’d like to see hit the mainstream, securing your Twitter name is imperative before someone else does!

3) YouTube. This is the number two search engine in the world, second only to Google. So if you don’t think your business is conducive to video-worthy content, think again! Know the keywords relevant to your product or service and get creative with it.

4) Google+. When I talk to people about this one, they moan and they groan. “Really, another social media site I need to update on a regular basis?” Uh, yeah! This is GOOGLE‘s social media site, so it’s no shocker that Google favors it in the search engine results. It really is easy to use, quick to update and well-worth the time and effort.

5) Tumblr. Of all the micro-blogging platforms, this is the big one and is poised to grow even bigger. It’s easy and fun to use, not only as a blogger but as a re-blogger (i.e., post interesting content and re-blog others, and chances are good they’ll re-blog you).

Read full article at FlutteringIvyMedia.com.

Last year I joined the Los Angeles Playwrights Lab and am humbled to see my first play take the stage at the Theatre Asylum Lab.

The Disconnect is the story of a recently-widowed woman who tries to rewrite the history of her 35-year marriage through the social media-saturated love lives of her three grown daughters. Directed by Lisa Pelikan, and starring Ann Bronston, Heather Long, Jennifer Pollono, and Joy Darash.

Mine is one of five shorts in the Los Angeles Playwrights Lab’s first production – Beginnings.

WHEN: March 14-April 12, 2012 (Wed/Thurs at 8 p.m.)

WHERE: Theatre Asylum Lab, 1078 Lillian Way (at Santa Monica Blvd), Hollywood, 90038

For more details and ticket info, please visit LosAngelesPlaywrightsLab.com.

Lab Art Gallery is the largest gallery in the nation dedicated to street art, all in an amazing 6,500-square-foot space.

As I blogged a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been taking a collaging class at Barnsdall Art Center in Hollywood. I’ve been intending to find local art shows for inspiration but before I could seek anything out, the art found me.

A mutual friend introduced me to Carlos Ulloa at Hollywood’s Yamashiro’s Farmers’ Market a couple of weeks ago. He’s the Designer and Project Manager of Yamashiro’s restaurant, but also a talented artist – collage, in fact. I saw a sampling of his work at the market, and he referred me to his show at Lab Art in L.A. – the largest art gallery in the nation dedicated to street art. I visited last week and fell in love with Carlos’ “Anchored Down,” as well as a number of other pieces by the incredibly talented group of street artists represented there.

I am so grateful the gallery allows photographs so I can share these amazing pieces with you (though nothing compares to seeing them up close and personal).

"Anchored Down" by Carlos Ulloa

Read full article at FlutteringIvy.com…

Colorful murals decorate the exterior walls of the Barnsdall Art Center building at Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood.

If you’ve read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, you may have tried the collaging exercises, piecing together random images into a cohesive map of what you want your life to look like. I loved it – as an exercise and as an art – so in recent months I’ve been looking around for a collaging class to take it to the next level.  But after Google turned up nothing in my area, I let it go, consciously turning it over to the universe. It was just a few weeks later when a seemingly random invite from a friend led me to the Barnsdall Art Park where I discovered the Barnsdall Art Center and where, low-and-behold, a new collaging class was starting up soon.

It’s been years since I sat in a classroom; I forgot how comfortably humbling it is – surrendering my time and attention to someone whose direction I accept without judgment.

I cannot speak highly enough of our instructor, Naomi. I could sit in her presence for hours, watching her play with different collaging techniques. She may have demonstrated them a thousand times, but she still seems struck by the process, as though it’s a new discovery for her too. That’s art, I guess – we can all use the same techniques over and over again, but the expression is different every time.

Read full article at FlutteringIvy.com….

My dancin' shoes.

“I want to do that!” said the sassy, sexy, confident me after being blown away by Cherry Boom Boom‘s rock ‘n roll a go-go show, “The Rendezvous,” last fall at the King King Hollywood. Little did the shy, awkward, introverted me know that in just a few short months I’d be doing just that with Cherry Boom Boom creator and original Pussycat Doll Lindsley Allen.

Though completely out-of-character for me, I signed up for Lindsley Allen’s STRUT FIT class, a “one of a kind 6-week dance/workout series fusing the strength and grace of yoga with the sensuality of burlesque and the fun of rock n roll IN HIGH HEELS!”

I’m not gonna lie, it was the shy, awkward, introverted me dancing in STRUT FIT class much of the time. But Lindsley’s teaching style is so patient and encouraging that the sassy, sexy, confident me eventually took over. Then all it took was seeing video of me dancing in class to convince me:  I looked pretty damn good!

Full disclosure, I provide social media services for both Cherry Boom Boom and Lindsley Allen’s STRUT FIT class. But I’m not getting paid to write this blog post. My affection for STRUT FIT is genuine. Just ask my boyfriend for whom I actually performed the burlesque routine I’d learned in class! Nothing short of complete confidence in myself could have convinced me to do that.

I’m looking forward to the next STRUT FIT series May 3 through June 7. For any more incentive you need to join us, check out the second run of Cherry Boom Boom’s “The Rendezvous” at the King King Hollywood April 26, 27 and 28. Granted, the women on stage are professional dancers with advanced moves that take years to perfect, but Lindsley’s STRUT FIT class is not about perfection; it’s about empowerment. No matter your dance background, STRUT FIT will get you in touch with your fun, flirty, feminine side that you (and your honey) will love.

The first Rising Lotus Yoga SEVA Project Fundraiser is this Saturday, March 26, from 5 to 10 pm.  Proceeds from the event go to the House of Ruth, helping families victimized by domestic violence, and CAST LA, the Coalition Abolishing Slavery and Human Trafficking.

I signed up for the whole evening, including yoga, the silent auction and kirtan (call-and-response chanting). However, you may sign up for each event separately if you prefer:

• 5pm Yoga Class $20/$30 for all events
• 8pm Kirtan $20/$30 for all events
• 6-8pm Silent Auction $10 if only attending auction

Food and refreshments will be provided (no doubt veg-friendly) at the lovely Rising Lotus Yoga studio at 13557 Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks.

This is just one of many ways the Rising Lotus SEVA Project helps the community, including the provision of pro bono yoga classes taught by volunteer instructors for organizations that serve people in need.

For any more inspiration you need to support the Rising Lotus SEVA Project, consider its mission:

“To move forward with the deep intention of bringing consciousness, freedom and the open-heart practice we cultivate on the mat out into our world.”

RSVP on Facebook and make your donation online.

On Saturday, March 12, 2011, Daniel Overberger led the 2nd Annual Yoga Stops Traffic Benefit at Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles.

As 96 of my fellow Runyon Canyon yogis would probably agree, holding a yoga pose feels a whole lot better when it’s for a cause greater than you. Yesterday morning I was honored to be a part of the 2nd Annual Yoga Stops Traffick Benefit at Runyon Canyon led by Daniel Overberger. All proceeds from this donation-based class went to Odanadi, a non-profit organization devoted to ending human trafficking in India.

In its 21 years, Odanadi has rescued more than 1,850 women and children from human trafficking. Together the 97 yogis at Runyon Canyon raised $721 in support of the cause. No doubt the international total was many times greater than that, as similar benefits were held on the same day all over the world.

The music of Aeb Byrne, Joshua Komer and Dar Larizadeh made for a lovely soundtrack to yoga practice for a good cause.

There’s nothing like practicing yoga in the Great Outdoors set to music. Aeb Byrne, Joshua Komer and Dar Larizadeh made for a lovely soundtrack to yoga practice for a good cause.

If you missed the Runyon Canyon yoga event on Saturday morning, you can still get involved.

You can support Odanadi online. And you can do Runyon Canyon Yoga any day of the week. See scheduled class times on the Runyon Canyon Yoga Facebook page. And learn more about the class and the teachers in Yoga Is a Walk In the Park at Runyon Canyon in L.A.

Founded in 1981, this is The Actors' Gang 30th Anniversary season.

I was warned. Though I don’t remember her exact words, the woman introducing “Satiristas Live: March Into Anarchy” at The Actors’ Gang Theatre last Tuesday night suggested those of us who may be uncomfortable with all that a “march into anarchy” implies should leave the building. I remember feeling only a tinge of amused discomfort because nothing within my realm of live theater experience could have informed the fear I felt for the next 90 minutes (a guesstimate, as the last thing on my mind was keeping an eye on the time).

Involving the audience is one thing. Scaring the hell out of them is another. Granted, I’m probably not representative of the masses. I hate being the center of just about any attention. Honestly, it was my worst nightmare – this march of bizarre characters milling, mingling, marching, crouching, running and jumping through the audience, expecting us to react and interact. Thank goodness my boyfriend was with me, seated on an aisle and comfortably deflecting as much attention from me as possible.

I thought I was going to a play, the ultimate observer’s experience. Instead I was involved in what seemed an eternal assault on my normal, my comfort, my personal space — at any moment, from any direction, from any walk of life. And that, my friends, is why “March Into Anarchy” is so f’ing brilliant.

Read full story at Fluttering Ivy Media….

Elliot Shoenman's "AfterMath" at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble is a haunting comedic drama starring the brilliant Annie Potts.

I’ve never been so close to acting so good as I was at L.A.’s Odyssey Theatre Ensemble for “AfterMath” starring Annie Potts. I sat in the front row just a few feet from the stage, and was blown away by the effortless authenticity of her every expression, movement and word. This Elliot Shoenman play — directed by Mark L. Taylor, and produced by Gary Guidinger and Linda Toliver — runs through March 13th, so there’s still time for you to witness the brilliance that is Annie Potts.

“AfterMath” is a comedic drama about a family coping with the suicide of the father. Annie Potts plays his widow and the mother of their two grown children, played by Meredith Bishop and Daniel Taylor. A family friend rounds out the cast, played by Michael Mantell. Together they make for a well-balanced supporting cast, all with impressive resumes of their own.

The story stays with you for a number of reasons, not the least of which is its basis on the playwrite’s father’s suicide when Elliot Shoenman was 18 and his younger sister was 11.

On stage, the real-life suicide note haunts the family via its larger-than-life projection on an interior wall.

It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate venue for this intimate story. I didn’t count the seats, but the Odyssey Theatre doesn’t seat many. I’m the worst at guesstimates of this sort, so I’ll keep the range large and say 50 to 100. In the best possible way, it feels like sitting on your couch watching a play performed in your very own living room, starring one of the finest comedic actresses in the world.

Read full story at Fluttering Ivy Media….