Sometimes I want to write more than just journalistically about my experiences as a reporter. That is why I started to write down my thoughts, observations and emotions beyond scripts for radio, print and TV. This experiment is a lot of fun and scary at the same time. But, as they say, you have to get out of your comfort zone.
I would have never thought to ever encounter the music of Fanny Mendelssohn in a Culver City home, but here I was, at Angela Thompson's house listening to the swelling piano notes in her living room with concert pianist Violeta Petrova at the piano and soprano Elif Savas singing Fanny's lieder. I am a novice regarding classical music, but even I can tell: this woman was a musical genius. And so it is rather upsetting ...
First there is the call: your books have arrived and are ready for pick up. Then there is the walk towards the library's book shelves looking for my name. Sometimes I have forgotten what I ordered. Most of the times, I am really excited because I know what is waiting for me: a poet I want to discover, a first time female novelist I hope to learn from, a self improvement book to finally teach me how to find my real inner voice. And use it.
Today FOUR books were waiting for me! I picked up one more on the way out....
"Coyotes Active In This Area" warns a sign at the side of the path close to our neighborhood. I came to stretch my legs and get my blood pumping after too many hours in front of a computer.
Are coyotes cowering behind bushes watching me walk by? Are solitary animals howling from these hills at night? If the traffic noise rising from the streets below would stop, would I hear woofs and growls, huffs, barks, yelps and whines? I look around ...
I could not believe what I was experiencing when I discovered the Mar Vista ArtWalk about two years ago: artists on every sidewalk, open businesses until 10 PM, a furious tapdancer interpreting music from a fierce guitar while a painter created a new piece of art with colorful brush strokes next to them. Most of all I felt a sense of community. It was all a bit funky and super fun.
I fell in love on the spot.
Now I am part of the glorious team that puts this event together every three months.
One of our main tasks: keeping it fun and funky. Hear what the neighbors have to say:
please send your comments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Among the avocado stands, falafel samples and activists hoping to reverse bike friendly lane changes on a major thoroughfare her cards stand out: dream like visions of women in splendid colors.
"Want to pick a card?" the artist dares me with a warm smile and sparkle in her blue eyes. She is ready to play. Am I? Sure!
I pick a card from her set. Fire red is the first thing I see. Or is it bood red? Eyes looking right at me. Is that the setting sun behind her or a rising moon? An underwater bubble? Winter fields in Eastern Europe? Full lips. A butterfly at the throat.
"Find Your Voice", the card encourages me.
Well, you would think that as a radio journalist that's what I do all day: find and use my voice. Speaking into a microphone. Heard through speakers. So what about my voice?
