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mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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Ambiance Boutique, Oakmont, PA

August 31, 2013 — 4 Comments

I do not need to shop again for the rest of my life, but there are times that I am inspired to do so. While visiting my childhood home town of Oakmont, PA I found not only the inspiration, but also very high quality goods at rock bottom prices. Ambiance Boutique is run for the benefit of an organization called Bethlehem Haven.  The upscale consignment retail store carefully selects and curates a collection of very high-end clothing and household goods.  The system in place progressively discounts the item as it stays on the rack or shelf, so if it does not sell it becomes more affordable.  I went in out of curiosity and was hooked.  I scored such fabulous deals the first day, and was given a coupon for 10% off my next purchase.  When I returned with the coupon and found the 75% off rack the next day, they almost paid me to take two stylin’ blouses off their hands.  I thought I was done until I saw that black purse that was just too much of a bargain to leave on the mannequin.

If you live in Pittsburgh, and particularly if you have not been thrift shopping in the past, I urge you to go to Ambiance.  The store is elegant, the staff is much more professional than the other retail stores I visited here.  This is the kind of town where good customer service is reserved for people who live here, and the stranger is treated as an annoyance.    This will NOT happen in Ambiance. You will be greeted and served as if you are the most important shopper on earth.  Alexandra acts like a personal shopper at Nordstrom, but she is working for the betterment of homeless women in the Pittsburgh area.  If I were ever going to use the phrase win-win, it would be to convince you to try Ambiance.  Since I don’t use that phrase let me just encourage you to see if there might be something very special and very well priced in this store for you.  Tell them Pam sent you and you want to see the 75% off rack.

How I Became so Bossy

August 30, 2013 — 6 Comments

I was the youngest in all the groups in my childhood.  I was never considered for the key roles such as Davy Crockett, or his wife, when we dramatized that story. I would be lucky to be a horse. The kids in my immediate neighborhood just happened to be older. I played and hung out with a couple of girls who were in the class above me, but our games included the kids who were several years older. Every kid knows that the oldest person gets to choose first..at least that was the standard in our neighborhood.  Like all oppressed people, the youngest one just waits for the tables to turn, and they eventually do.

I know that I am bossy from my career as a fitness instructor; that is exactly what people are paying you to do..boss them around.  What I have never analyzed is the way my youth had an effect on my commanding nature.  I left my neighborhood and school to move to Venezuela where I was the daughter of the boss of all my friends’ parents.  He was even the boss of my teachers in school because the oil company hired the teachers and ran the school. Suddenly my relative underdog position was reversed in a big way.  Much older guys wanted to date me because that was culturally normal in South America.  Virtually everyone I knew sucked up to me with gifts and every privilege I could never have imagined.  I was the capitalist imperialist teenager with everything…and way more than anyone I knew in the states could have dreamed.  Servants, yacht, DC3 with private living room configuration and pilots who let me “land the plane” in Caracas……. I thought it was all just dandy.  I had a large sense of entitlement that came with the territory.

Once you have lived in another country the United States can never be the same.  Once you have been immersed in another culture, you can no longer stay completely within the old cultural bounds.  When I returned to life in the US I never lived east of the Mississippi or north of the line  (Mason/Dixon, that is) ever again.  There is something very powerful about being bilingual, but it is even more empowering to be bicultural.  My life developed from a tight and limited beginning to a progressively wider and higher view of the world.  I crossed more international borders before I was 15 than most Americans do in a lifetime.  I was fully fluent in colloquial Spanish, never missing a beat.  This short lesson in international diplomacy took place when I was 13-15; My confidence and self awareness significantly changed forever.  I took command.

I do not try to convince others to think like I do because I honestly appreciate diverse points of view.  I would not waste my persuasive talents to change anyone’s mind for any reason.  However, when any group lacks leadership I instinctively boss the group around…sort of like a sheepdog.  I sense the inertia and take the situation as a call to action.  Giving orders is an interesting experiment.  I find that people obey me, not so much because they respect my authority as because they know I am not going to stop…sort of like a sheepdog.  I see this model very clearly as I herd my elementary classmates into a video chat with each other.  I am sure that I did not have this nature as a young child, although I do want to ask my class if they remember me as a bossy kid.  I believe that I developed a certain ability to seek and destroy inertia.  We all know that in the end inertia wins, but my life is a symbolic effort to create action from inaction.  Some of us are simply born to herd.

Recipe for Nostalgia

August 29, 2013 — 8 Comments

Take one elementary school class, add 49 years.  Shake; don’t stir.  Meet in the building where you attended elementary school and Jr. high, and sip slowly.

I study history, but my own personal past has not been investigated.  I only have so much time to find all the facts about my ancestors, so biographical content has never crossed my mind.  This week I am digging into it.  I am on a quest to remember/discover my childhood, which was pretty idyllic.  I grew up walking a block and a half to my school, playing in giant gangs of kids in my neighborhood.  We went to swimming pools at country clubs in the summer, but we had a neighborhood of full time sports (wiffle ball) , games, dramatic productions, and parties..not unlike Spanky and Our Gang,  I looked at the hill in my old side yard where we went sledding.  It is much smaller that I could have imagined.. the entire yard has shrunk.  It doesn’t look like it would hold big games of red rover, but I know that it did.  I also had an archery target and a basketball backboard in the back yard.  The prop we used most often was the player piano.

Both my next door neighbors and our family had player pianos in the basement.  Our basement playroom was huge with the piano and a big bar.  My parents partied heavily down there.  Most of the time it was used for my piano practice or my play room.  My mom supplied a giant box of dress up clothing of all kinds behind the bar in the laundry room.  The kids would put on shows for each other, and sometimes for the parents, by dressing in the costumes and singing.  The parents sat down at a lower level in the yard, and we would enter from stage right, behind the house.  We had sort of an Ed Sullivan variety approach, with someone announcing the acts.  One of our favorites (and very popular with the adults) was “Heart of My Heart”.  We had a pantomime that was very corny.  We did it all the time, so I can still do it after more than 50 years.  I called my childhood neighbor, Peggy Jo, and sang it to her on the phone.  It made me cry because the song sums up the whole deal.  “Friends were dearer then”

Respecting Religion

August 19, 2013 — 1 Comment

In 1469 in what is now Pakistan, the Sikh religion was born in the form of a teacher, Guru Nanak.  He was exceptional as a student, grasping deep meaning at an early age.  At this time in history Muslims and Hindus were close and friendly in that part of the world.  His ministry was as a poet and musician, a travelling troubadour.  He began a line of 10 gurus who passed the hymns and stories along to the future generations.  Today Sikhs keep these  traditions alive by teaching their children the ancient shabads.  They welcome visitors to take part if they like, but there is no attempt to convert.  Most Sikhs were born in India to Sikh parents.  Understanding some history and philosophy fosters respect for the religious beliefs and practices of others. The group gathers for a meal after the ceremony, which is social and friendly.

Sikh Gurdwara in Tucson

August 19, 2013 — 1 Comment

I attended the services of the Sikh gurdwara to see and hear my friend Nirviar Kaur Khalsa play her instrument, the taus.  She showed me the beautifully carved string instrument a few weeks ago after the services had concluded.  She practices on the taus about two hours daily to create the background ragas for the shabads she chants for the ceremony.  Her voice is very well practiced to paint these musical pictures of the one, the friend, the eternal guru. The message reminded me of the Sufis, but the service reminded me a lot of  Jews and Catholics.   The music is all in minor keys  (like Jewish music) , and there is no written vocal music. This technique is passed down in person in the same way the Torah is taught in person.  The music itself is the prayer and the meditation for the congregation, not unlike chanting in Latin or Hebrew.  Her vocation to study and revive some of the most ancient shabads is now her passion.  She shares this talent and hard work because she wants to embody inner peace in the Sikh tradition.  Although I am not a Sikh I can appreciate her historical preservation efforts as well as the ideas she promotes in her practice.

I asked some of the congregation how they feel about her dedication to master this ancient art and religious practice from India.  She is very highly praised by everyone.  One lady I had met on my previous visit told Nirvair as she left she wished she could leave a tip for the music, which is a common practice in India.  It is remarkable that she is so committed to her vocation to preserve this tradition here in the United States.  I learned that professional ragis from Phoenix charge $500 a visit to come to your gurdwara and do the music.  Since the entire service is sung the importance of the musical accompaniment is central to the experience.

#AlQaeda Reaches Out for Media Ideas

August 16, 2013 — 2 Comments

Exodus, a Novel by Geoff Livingston

August 13, 2013 — 4 Comments

I had the pleasure of interviewing Geoff about his process writing his new novel, Exodus.  My brand new Skype recording software may have been the reason our call was frozen a couple of times.  We then proceeded without the recording since the new software has not been tested and it seemed the likely culprit.

Geoff grew up with two journalist parents writing in different styles.  He said the only criticism he has heard so far on his novel came from his dad, who was the editor of the Philadelphia Enquirer.  I wanted to know how he came up with a drama set in Kansas, USA, starring  Jason of the Argonuat fame, in a post apocalyptic world dominated by fundamentalist religious persons.  It must be said that he is a sci fi fan as well as a justice freak.  His use of an historical character from Greek literature is part of a story that was in his head.  He studied European history as a minor in college, so his knowledge of the various forms of fundamentalism that swept through Europe (Inquisition, Crusades, etc) is extensive.  His story is not about race, but about religious fanaticism.  Setting it 300 years into the future makes it clear that the story is fiction.  Using themes that have filled human history with war and drama, Geoff examines how society could totally break bad if the intolerance is not contained.  I am not a fiction reader, but I like Geoff both in print and in person, so I might break the 30 year fiction fast to read Exodus when it comes out August 26 .  Those of you who like steampunk and fiction with a side of political ethics will probably love this book:

Tribal Leadership

August 13, 2013 — 4 Comments

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The first invitation I received to join Triberr was from a group of bloggers known as Renaissance Roundtable.  The introduction to bloggers in Europe, Canada, and all over the US was an eye- opener for me.  Our chief retired completely from blogging about a year after I joined.  What was amazing was that the tribe continued to function and amplify each others’ blogs long after the chief retired.  This was a strong testament to the systems built by the Triberr big chiefs.  I had never tried to build a tribe or join others, but decided that a tribe with no chief was not the only place I needed to be. I went to New York last September on the equinox to meet and greet the Triberr creators and learn more about how to use the system.

The Tribeup NYC meetup was everything I had hoped for and more.  I met, in person, some friends I had known only on line for some time.  I was given excellent instruction by several professional bloggers with deep experience in the art and science.  We had a chance to schmooze with each other over some crazy good Haitian food after the educational component.  In retrospect, the social hour was a high point to connect in real life with New Yorkers I will not see again any time soon.  The speakers all gave superb presentations that stuck with me as I went home to build my own tribes.

I am now working to create and join active enthusiastic tribes.  I see that bloggers come and go, sometimes active, sometimes quiet.  Some tribes have few bloggers and many followers( whose work is not shared by the tribe), indicating a one way expectation.  Other tribes show members who have not done anything in months.  While there is nothing evil about being dormant within a tribe or as a chief, I have come to appreciate the active and interactive tribal brothers and sisters much more than the one way broadcasters.  My new strategy is to follow tribes that look interesting, and request a membership. I study the member list and see if any members are active.  If the chief does not give me a membership after a few weeks of sharing the tribal posts, I quit and invite all the interesting and active sharing bloggers to my tribe.  As in real life, it only makes sense to go where your peeps are.  Triberr makes this simple, but not automatic.  My next important role to fill in life is that of an inspiring and uplifting chief, leading my tribe to blogging mastery.  The sky is now the limit.

Oil and Vinegar

August 9, 2013 — 10 Comments

The classic oil and vinegar combination, used for salad and other dishes, has taken on new epic proportions in Tucson.  Alfonso Gourmet Oil and Balsamics offers a wide variety of super high quality olive oils and balsamic vinegars.  I have used them for over a year and have virtually stopped buying any dressing in a bottle.  I have found additional ways to use both the oils and vinegars,seasoning roasted veggies and even love the vinegars on ice cream and in cocktails.  My list of favorites expands every time I go back to the store.

Tom Alfonso, the gracious owner, recently completed a course followed by a certification exam to become a professional olive oil taster.  He said it was intense, with three days of learning and savoring.  He just found out that he did pass the exam and is now a certified olive oil professional.  I am very pleased he and his wife decided to carry these extraordinary products right next to my bank drive through window, very near my home. It is a fun extravagance that improves our meals every day.  The bottles last for a very long time since  a very small amount produces big flavor results.

The recycle punch card bonus system reminds you to bring the bottle back..then you try a few new items, check out the sales, leaving with a whole new culinary profile with which to play.  Today my new item is a grassy, very green, high note olive oil from Australia.  It is both delicious and unlike any other oil I have tasted.  It is not flavored, but I have recently received a lovely gift of special Australian herbs in a combo box from a friend down under.  This will be an exciting paring with greens, tomatoes and avocado. Freshness spikes the flavor in the olive oil that reduces the need for other seasonings.  I will sauté with it as well as dressing salads.

The ginger blackberry balsamic I refilled today is an ingredient in a cocktail I love to make and drink, the Gas Streak.  The example calls for ginger rice wine vinegar, which I am sure is nice, but the blackberry adds punch and the balsamic is fabulous with the burned sugar taste.  Enjoy!

Manning Brothers Bring It

August 8, 2013 — 2 Comments


I am neutral about football. I only know about the Manning brothers because of the other commercials they do on TV. I have a whole new level of respect for Peyton and Eli now that I have seen them bling it up in this music video. I know this is an ad for Direct TV, and I am not endorsing that network. I just think this is the highest and best use of the Mannings’ obvious talent.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.