Community Spotlight Leveled UP (Unlimited Potential)
One reason I look forward to updating my website is because I love exercising my bragging rights. I am grateful I get to do that when I feature extremely talented people doing cool stuff. These beings – all members of this community – are examples of how Spirit doesn’t place limits on how high It can fly. This section is about community. It is about celebrating each other and recognizing all lives do matter. The purpose of Community Leveling UP is to update you on the progress being made by the stars shining in our Community Spotlight. UP is purposely capitalized because it stands for Unlimited Potential, which is what each of us has an opportunity to experience when we allow ourselves to march to our own beats.
Ode to Fluffy the Sweetest Terrorist on the Planet
In February, I introduced you to Fluffy, an expert on the physical issues of aging. She charmed her way into hearts by terrorizing the neighborhood with a few scratches and a lot of hissing.
It was a little more than 15 years ago when this 20-year-old, long-haired feline adopted a small apartment complex in a Southern California beach community. Fluffy laid claims to the alley and the courtyard. The residents in the eight units just allowed her to be.
Rumor has it, the humans didn’t have much choice because this 7-pound, semi-stray creature loved to terrorize others – such as birds, butterflies and other cats.
Had I not heard the legendary tales from reliable sources, I never would have accepted the truth. This sweet, loveable cat was a bully. She also could manipulate the most resistant human and set up housekeeping in that person’s heart. That’s how Fluffy charmed her way into semi-permanent residency in my roommate’s condo.
Since I moved onto the scene about two years ago, my norm has been to greet the day hearing the neighbors proclaim: “Hi, Fluffy! How are you, Girlfriend? Have a great day, Fluffy.”
Well, today – Tuesday, June 27, 2023 – is a great day. It’s also a tad sad. Fluffy’s eight lives as a terrorist and the ninth as a sweetheart came to an end. It was sad because we had to say goodbye to our friend. It’s great because this creature who gave us so much joy and love is no longer suffering with lung cancer, neurological disabilities and blindness in one eye.
We knew Fluffy’s days were numbered. We just didn’t know how ill she actually was. We just knew that in the past few weeks, she became more and more fragile as 20-year-old cats are prone to do.
She looked scrawny and old. But none of our days grew old with Fluffy in them While she was physically blind, she taught us to see what’s important – love never dies. It just goes away and comes back formless. You don’t need to see it. When it’s genuine, you can feel it in your heart.
Leveling UP with Tax Expert and Author Karen Connell
We first introduced you to Karen Connell in October. That was Domestic Violence month, and we decided to honor people who are making a difference in the lives of women who found themselves on the receiving end of domestic violence.
That is just one taxing issue Karen takes to heart and decides to tackle. She especially loves the taxing issue of income tax preparation. In addition to being an author who writes about domestic violence, Karen spends much of her professional life crunching numbers and filing tax forms for clients. In fact, she never intended to take on the domestic violence issue. Her love was accounting.
Now that we’re in the midst of tax season, Karen is offering to help our community members prepare and file their 2022 tax forms. With 45 years of experience, she specializes in assisting artists, writers and other folks with non-traditional jobs that result in multiple sources of income and forms. She said she wants people to keep as much of their money as possible.
If you need help, she said all you need to do is contact her for information, and she’ll share details. She said in addition to your 2022 paperwork, she will need you to supply your 2021 tax forms to help her assist you.
The best way to contact Karen is through her website, kaconnellauthor.com. Leave her an email message with your contact information, including a phone number so she will get back to you as soon as possible.
After you’ve left your inquiry about taxes, feel free to take some time to explore Karen’s website where you can learn more about her work as an author who released her first book in October. Beyond Surviving. . .Take Back Your Life Using the Power of Choice offers hope as she captivates readers with her own personal story that led to her becoming a victim’s advocate.
Karen became an expert after she married the man of her dreams. Without a clue, her dreams turned into nightmares as she became her ex- husband’s human punching bag. The physical and verbal abuse resulted in limited use of her vocal cords, but she refused to be silenced. In fact, she made it her mission to rid the world of domestic violence. For this accountant, that involved becoming a hypnotherapist and working with law enforcement and social agencies to develop programs that help people involved in volatile relationships.
“I’d love for you to check out my book to see how widespread this crime is. Readers will also get some life saving lessons. I also included some resources that are available for those still struggling and caught up in the daily roller coaster of living around violence. Let’s work together to end domestic violence in our lifetime,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, she contends her heart still enjoys accounting and assisting clients in keeping as much money in their pockets as possible come tax time.
Leveling UP with Actor, Director, Designer and Illustrator Jeff Vernon
When Jeff Vernon puts his spin on a project, excellence is the outcome. In this case, it took “Minutes” for Jeff’s work to net award nominations at the Cannes Shorts film festival.
This same short film also captured three awards in the prestigious Vegas Movie Awards. Jeff and Tom Phelan won for Best Acting Duo in addition to the film, which is also being honored for Best Narrative Short and Best Original Score. Jeff gives a moving performance as a father trying to prevent his son from making a fatal mistake in this touching short film focusing on the crisis of suicide. Tom Phelan is cast as the son.
Friday, Feb. 25, you will have a chance to celebrate these victories and view the film as part of the Golden State Film Festival. The screening is slated for 2 pm at TCL 4 Block Q at Hollywood’s famous Chinese Theater. Jeff and Director Chris Flint will be on hand. For tickets, click here.
We first introduced you to Jeff last November. If you missed that in our Community Spotlight section, Jeff was born into a show business family. His father, Glen Vernon, was an actor under contract at RKO Studios in the 1940s. Jeff began seriously studying the craft while spending much of the 1980s and 1990s earning a paycheck as a designer for several advertising agencies. You’ve unknowingly seen his work. For example, Jeff designed the packaging for the ATARI Pac Man video game.
Jeff studied acting with Stella Adler Studio and with many other independent Hollywood acting coaches. In 2004, he was cast in the lead role in the indie film “Sunday School Pants”. Since then, Jeff has played what he calls “quirky” characters in film, TV and theater.
When Jeff isn’t busy writing, directing and starring in award-winning films, he hangs his hat in Pasadena and gets drawing inspiration from his calico cat named Blondie. In fact, the fabulous feline is his latest muse for a picture book he is illustrating. Jeff has illustrated more than 35 children's books. Many are available through what I call the monopoly monster. You can check out his fun work on his website, www.JeffVernon.com. You can also google Jeff Vernon books to get to the site I’m no longer mentioning in public.
Meanwhile, we hope to see you Feb. 25 at the Chinese Theater. I’ve already purchased tickets to the film festival. You should do the same, and we’ll see you there.
It’s now possible to get close and personal with VENUS at the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art.
That is because one of internationally acclaimed artist Sumi Foley’s art pieces, VENUS, is now part of the museum’s collection. The museum’s new acquisition marks a milestone for Sumi, who has been creating art for 30 years from near where she lives in the Claremont area.
“I believe that art can help our human condition from an individual level to a wider level,” Sumi said. “This is a big motivation for me to keep doing my art.”
Born in Osaka, Japan, Sumi describes the theme of her art as expressing the human relationship with nature. She is famous for creating work with snippets of silk kimonos to create art that looks like a painting until the viewer gets a closeup view of the silk.
VENUS is among the work Sumi created with inspiration from the Bristle Cone Pine, one of the oldest trees standing on the planet.
Click here to see the tree’s beauty through the art of Sumi Foley and the music of her rockstar husband, John York of The Byrds fame. Go ahead, click the link and scroll down to the video about the Bristle Cone Pine. While you’re listening to a pretty song, you can look closely at the art and declare that you can’t believe it’s not paint.
Meanwhile, this YouTube video captures Sumi’s rich culture and her love for her grandmother in Japan, who inspired the artist to express herself and her imagination through art.
Sumi’s work has been on exhibit throughout Southern California and Japan. For some of her latest pieces, Sumi has been co-creating with nature. She uses natural materials she collects from nature to weave such things as large bird’s nests.
“Nature teaches me how to live life: wait, be patient and take action when the time is right, she said. “There is a powerful reverence for nature in Japan. We are part of it. Co-creating with nature is an artistic way to show that we can all be helpers in healing our shared planet. I hope that my art will move people to feel more connected to nature and each other as vital participants and caretakers of the world around us.” And check out other cool things on her website: www.sumifoleyart.com
Leveling UP with Internationally Acclaimed Textile and Nature Artist Sumi Foley
Leveling UP with Award-winning Fanfiction Author D.T. Powell
We met D.T. Powell last October and learned she has loved stories since before she can remember, and it was love for one of those many stories that prompted her to start writing.
Now you can read her just released short story, These Eternal Tides, which is being published in Cadence Writing’s first fantasy anthology: Hope in the Darkness. D.T. and other authors provide good examples of exhibiting courage in the face of danger and doing the right thing when that appears to be impossible. Learn how to order this anthology, by clicking here to connect with D.T.’s website.
D.T. has written for the fanfiction community for 10 years. Her current fiction projects include Children of the Storm, a music-centric young adult fantasy that discusses facing personal trauma, and Once, I Met a Story, a young adult urban fantasy that illustrates the enduring power of sacrificial love.
Her fanfiction endeavors are publicly accessible on fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org under the username dtill359.
In addition to discovering more about D.T., you can get exclusive speculative fiction content by signing up for her quarterly newsletter on her website mentioned above. And don’t forget to follower her on Facebook and Instagram.