Thoughts about favorites. . .

The Today Show this morning had a discussion as to whether parents are genetically disposed to favor one child over the others in a family. Since I am the mother of an only child, and grandmother of an only grandchild,there was never any question who was the favorite in my family. Andrea and Adam won, hands down.

But I am the younger daughter in a two child family, and the question of which of us was my Dad's favorite did come up once. Both my sister and I were adults with children and grandchildren of our own when I found myself sitting on a therapist's couch one day. I was in the midst of a divorce and had been advised that a visit to a therapist might be helpful. In her efforts to find out more about me, she asked about my relationship with my father, and did I think he had a favorite between his two daughters.

My response was immediate. "I was his favorite. I always knew Dad favored me."

The therapist suggested that I ask my sister the same question, and I called her up as soon as I returned home. "Did Dad have a favorite between you and me" I queried, quite sure that she would agree that it was me. Her response was as immediate as mine had been. "Absolutely. I was always his favorite," she said.

Well, what do you know. My father, who never attended a child psychology class or was probably even aware of how he managed to do it,had somehow convinced both his daughters that they were his absolute favorite. Probably the best gift a parent could offer a child.

My "children" these days are named Wasabi and Ginger, and I'm feeling a little guilty. I'm afraid I've been showing favoritism. I'll have to work on that.

On a more serious note, gives you something to think about, doesn't it????
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Photo caption: The Sisters. . .then and now.

A walk in the park. . .

Saturday mornings I walk off our island with my friend Virginia Jacko and her dog, Kieran. When I show up at 7:30 in the morning at Virginia's apartment, I truly believe that Kieran sees a cartoon balloon over my head that says "WALK TO THE PARK!!! GOODIE, GOODIE!" As a result, I get lots of kisses and doggie-style expressions of happiness.

Then Virginia puts Kieran's harness on and he immediately becomes all business. That's because this beautiful yellow Lab spent two years training to be a service dog and Virginia, his mistress, is blind. Most days of the week he accompanies her to the Miami Lighthouse for The Blind where she serves as that organization's dynamic President and CEO. Under Virginia's guidance,the Miami facility has emerged as one of the most vibrant and technically advanced in the nation. But that's another story and this blog is about a dog.

Virginia likes to say that our Saturday morning walks over the years have qualified me to be an OMN. That stands for Orientation Mobility Instructor. But in truth, the instructors have been the dogs, whose intelligence and uncanny ability never fail to astound me.

Kieran knows that the safest place to walk is the sidewalk, or at the least, close to the curb. Our route to the park takes us through some very quiet side streets where I prefer to walk in the middle of the road. Forgeddaboutit. He simply nudges both of us over to the sidewalk and is obviously not happy until we do as he wishes. The look on his face says "Don't argue with me! I know what I'm doing."

Once in the park, I marvel at his ability to keep his focus when we walk past the fenced in dog area, with dozens of dogs running free and barking up a storm. Kieren takes his job seriously. He also knows that once we get to our favorite bench, Virginia will take off his harness and give him the opportunity to do some serious sniffing of all the interesting new smells that the park offers.

It's no wonder that these remarkable dogs are only allowed to work for seven years before they must retire. Virginia's much loved first dog, Tracker, is spending his retirement at her family's home in Indiana after serving her well for many years. Tracker was my first instructor. If you can describe a dog as "dignified", that would apply to dear sweet Tracker. Kieran, on the other hand, is a "lover", and it takes all my resolve not to sneak him some kisses and a bite of a bagel when he's in working mode.

I'm not sure who is more remarkable in this duo . .Kieran or his mistress. I only know that all three of us enjoy our walks together on Saturday morning. If you see us on the street,Virginia and I will wave and say hello. Don't expect Kieran to pay you any notice. He'll be attending to business.
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Photo caption: From the cover of Virginia's biography, "The Blind Visionary". For more information go to www.theblindvisionary.com.


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"A" is for alligator. . . .

It's been several decades since I read a Dr. Seuss book to a small child. The last time was to my grandson Adam, who shortly will be reading one to his own son, my great grandson Grayson.

I got to read the venerable Dr.'s "ABC Book" this morning,to 12 pre-K kids, and believe me, it's an interesting experience. My friend Sheila and I answered United Way's call for volunteers in their pilot "Love To Read" literacy program for pre-schoolers. The idea is to prepare four year olds to love reading prior to entering kindergarten. Believe me, it's a challenge, but a very worthwhile one.

Sheila and I show up every Thursday morning at the Coral Gables Congregational Church's pre-school. The kids, many of them dropped off by working moms, are all out on the playground. When we arrive they enter the classroom for a half hour of reading before lunch. The kids sit on the floor in front of us as we read. (That's Miss Sheila reading to her group this morning in a photo taken with my cell phone.In kid talk,I'm Miss Joan.))

The idea is not to just read but to interact with the youngsters in a positive manner. Not as easy as it sounds. Try keeping the attention of a bunch of four year olds some time. My method this morning was to make each kid "own" the letter of the alphabet that matched his or her name. . we have three "As" (Alex, Alessandra and Alli) and two "Rs", (Robbie & Robert) but not a lot of Qs, Us and Vs. Not surprisingly, since most of the kids are Hispanic, they all have someone in the family whose name starts with X, and anxious to tell me about it.

I'm trying hard ot remember everyone's name in my group. . .Frankie, Alex,Alli and the two Rs, talk up a storm. . it's hard to shut them up. Sophia, Judi-Jo and Mia are the "girlie girlie" group. . . .and Jacob and Michael are the quiet ones that have to be drawn into the conversation.

When you've got their attention, it's very rewarding. That's Sheila's and my post-morning assessment after our second week on the job. United Way is taking the program nationwide if it works well in Miami. They are hoping to have a million readers, so if it shows up in your city, I urge you to volunteer. One look at those excited little faces and I promise you, you'll find it rewarding as well.

Dr. Seus, by the way, is still a good read. I recommend it, as well.


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Bright lights and video cameras. . .

I'm back from New York City and my 15 minutes of celebrity fame! Hurricane Irene tried to interfere, but by Monday morning American Airlines gave the all-clear signal and off I went, First Class, I'll have you know. With a limo waiting for me at LaGuardia to take me to my hotel. So this is how the stars live.

What an incredible, slightly unbelievable and definitely lucrative experience this whole Fancy Feast "Grand Prize Win" has been. (The $10,000 check arrived last week and promptly went into the bank after first photographing it for posterity.)

After checking into our super chic boutique hotel on Monday afternoon, Purina's terrific pr girl, Julie, took me and my suitcase over to the film studio so that a covey of female executives, and one male creative director, could survey the four different outfits I had brought for their approval. I was getting ready to offer to run to the nearest department store and buy something new when they unanimously selected the coral-colored sweater set and beige trousers you see in the accompanying photo. Phew! That was a relief.

Tuesday was "shoot day" and at 8am I got to meet Celebrity Chef Carla Hall, the wonder woman who selected our "Purrfect Sushi" recipe for the big win. I brought her Ginger & Wasabi's deepest thanks via videos on my cell phone.

Carla is sensational, all six feet of her! She has her own TV show, "The Chew", debuting later this month on ABC. The director took one look at us standing next to each other and decided it would be best to shoot us sitting down. A wise choice although they ended up having to put a board under my part of the couch and stacking pillows behind me to keep all 4' 11" of me on a reasonable level with statuesque Carla.

We'll see the finished webisode on Fancy Feast's website and on their Facebook page some time in September after all the editing is completed. I think I did good, guys. I know that Carla was great fun to work with and the whole crew, from the Purina execs to the makeup woman who curled my eyelashes,treated me as if I was someone very special. Not a bad feeling. . and I owe it all to my cats!

Fancy Feast's version of my "Purrrfect Sushi" recipe will be on food market shelves around the country in May of 2012. All my cat owner friends out there, I expect you to buy a can or two. I'm planning to frame the first one I buy.
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Phoro caption: Celebrity Chef Carla Hall and your friendly blogger, on the set of the Fancy Feast webisode shoot in New York City. OMG! What a fun experience!

You are not going to believe this. . . .

Remember back in May when I blogged about entering Fancy Feast's "Tastemakers' Contest" with a "recipe" for a new cat food called "Purrrfect Sushi"? I also had to write my "inspiration story" about how my cats love Fancy Feast. I asked you to vote for us and many of you did. I can't thank you enough.

At the time I entered I did it on a lark, hoping to win a can or two of free cat food at the very most. I didn't even notice that the Grand Prize Winner would receive $10,000 and a trip to New York. Recipes and Joan in the same sentence? Not something you hear very often.

OK, GUYS. . WHAT CAN I TELL YOU. I WON. I ACTUALLY WON THE WHOLE DAMNED THING. $10,000. 1080 cans of cat food. And in May of 2012, my "recipe" for PURRRFECT SUSHI will be on the shelves of your local food market!!! Is this not unbelievable???? Benard can't stop laughing.

I am off to NYC on the 29th to stay at The Strand Hotel, all compliments of Fancy Feast, and spend the 30th videoing "webisodes" with Celebrity Chef Carla Hall. OK, I didn't know what a "webisode" was either, but I'm learning, and Andrea filled me in on Carla Hall, a winning contestant on "Top Chef" and famous in her own right. Don't tell the Fancy Feast people, but I don't watch many cooking shows.

I promise you a blog on my return from my 15 minutes of celebrity fame. It's gotta be a hoot and I can't wait.

By the way, they asked me if Wasabi and Ginger oould possibly make the trip as well. The very thought sent Wasabi into the closet to hide. Ginger is trying to decide what to wear.
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Photo caption: The Winners! Me and the kids

I love a new experience. . . .

My sister Fran and I spent Saturday afternoon with a forensic artist.

For those of you who watch CSI on television, I don't have to explain what a forensic artist does. For the rest of you, in the simplest of terms, he or she helps the victim or viewer of some type of crime to recall the image of the bad guy so the police can go about their work of catching him.

Hopefully, you've never met a forensic artist for that type of reason. Thankfully, that wasn't the reason why Fran and I were there.

"There" was the Miami Art Museum,in downtown Miami, where we had a 12:30pm appointment to meet an incredibly talented artist named Paul Moody. Paul and I exchanged business cards. His read "Forensic Artist, Violent Crimes Division, Sheriff's Office, Palm Beach County." That, alone, could give you pause.

OK, time for the back story. The Miami Herald ran a recent article about a traveling interactive art exhibition titled "First Love". The idea was for a forensic artist to help you recall what your "first love" looked like by utilizing the same methods they do for recalling criminals. At the end of the article there was an e-mail address inviting you to write in and request one of a limited number of appointments.

You know me. I'm game for anything. I decided to sign up, and when I told my sister Fran about it, she decided to request an appointment as well.

Bottom line. . .what an absolutely fascinating experience! Fran chose to "recall" her late husband Harold when she met him in college at age 19. I opted for the cute guy I met at my girlfriend's Sweet Sixteen party (I was 15 1/2 at the time), who actually became my first husband 3 1/2 years later.

Initially,each of us spent time filling out a form with the Sheriff's Dept. heading that listed items like Shape of head / Hairline / Eyes / Nose. We each were given a thick book of photos of actual "perps". Each page of about 20 photos was listed under headings like Hooked Nose /Straight Nose /Upturned Nose/Close Set Eyes/Droopy Eyes. . .etc. etc. You get the picture and we got it, literally. We had to pick and choose to the best of our ability the facial characteristics that best identified the person we were trying to to recall at a much younger age.

There is something a little creepy about seeing a familiar face start to emerge from the fast moving pencil of this amazing artist. Since this was part of an interactive art exhibit, we were often surrounded by visitors to the Museum as Paul worked first on Fran's and then on my "memory" portraits. The finished original portraits will both go up on the wall of the exhibition and remain there until mid-October when the exhibition will travel to Ireland. There, a different forensic artist will produce "First Love" memories of that country's museum visitors.

Pictured is the artist working from the "perp book" on Fran's "memory" and my finished portrait of a very young "first love". I'm waiting to hear if any of his three daughters recognize what their Dad looked like before they were born.

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This has been a crazy summer. . .

My luck knows no bounds.

In addition to being one of five finalists in the Fancy Feast Tastemakers contest (and by the way, thanks for all your votes. . we'll know the results in mid-August) this week I was informed, via e-mail, that I have won the UK/BBC National Lottery! And I didn't even know I had entered.

According to the initial e-mail I received from a gentleman named David Brown,my e-mail address was magically plucked from millions to come up with the numbers 16 - 20-21 - 24 and 06 for something called Thunderball on July 28th, resulting in my winning ONE MILLION GREAT BRITISH POUNDS. (I have a feeling that's the way they say it in Nigeria.) Anyway, I have a very gorgeous and colorful "Winning Certificate" that came attached to the e-mail to prove my rare good luck. (see photo in b&w.)It came along with urgent instructions to contact their bank immediately to arrange for payment. I'm thinking of having it framed, along with one of those Great British Pounds, but I'm not holding my breath.

There's a wonderful joke about the man who looks to the heavens and pleads "God. . help me win the lottery." God thunders back. "How about helping me and buy a ticket." I do venture a dollar for a Quck Pick on the Florida lottery when I find myself in Publix every once in a while, but so far the message seems only to be getting through to a God in Great Britian.

I've turned it over to the lawyer in our family, my grandson Adam. Told him he could have a half million of those Great British Pounds if he could figure out a way to outcon these con artists. I sense a lack of urgency on his part. Can't imagine why.
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