To Secure or Not To Secure . . . That is The Question
By Ilyse August
“When the hysteria dies down, it will all be back to normal and people won’t be worrying as much.” This is the response from the front desk employee at our local high school here in Palm Beach County, FL when I question her about her preference to be a school with “high security access measures” or to be an employee in a school with no changes moving into 2013.In all actuality, her response was that she would NOT want any change to all the windows she has to obscure her views of the outside world.Needless to say, there are many who are not visibly shaken or concerned with our schools lackadaisical approach to maximizing campus security from the preschool levels through the College University level.Without a question of doubt, from the many incidents of mass shootings within our past year, one thing is quite evident to all: we do need plausible security measures instituted at not only schools for the protection of our children, teachers, administrators, and visitors for safety, but also we ultimately need protection for places of worship, workplaces, sporting arenas, malls, etc.Yet there exists among us much dissention as to how these so called security measures should be adopted and implemented.Pertaining to schools with the very recent massacre of 20 kids and 6 adults in the town of Newtown, Connecticut, with all the re-evaluations our school boards are currently scrutinizing and discussing, the omnipotent factor throughout the U.S. is that coming to some sort of agreement is going to take time.
One of the many voices for the National Rifle Association (NRA) vehemently stated after this carnage in Connecticut that it is incomprehensible for teachers to NOT be armed– urgently advocating for teachers and ALL school administration to be in the position of safety whereby each school employee possesses a gun and know how to shoot it.Now I understand there will be many strong differing opinions on this, however, in all reality, whether we deem putting weapons into the hands of our country’s teachers as a good idea or not, again, we do realize SOMETHING – some kind of idea must be introduced immediately.It is clear that we all want to feel better protected in the face of the next potential threat, which inevitably seems bound to occur with violent and deviant individuals who will always breathe among us and continue to scheme their plans to decimate others.
Invariably this leads us to delve into the discussion of whether or not it is prudent to authorize and allow guns to each of our teachers.This would mean we are possibly empowering the very individuals we worry about!After all, teachers and administration are people too, and seem to have disorders just like ‘regular’ people do.Case in point: this past year, right here in beautiful Wellington, FL, home of the “Equestrian Capital of the World” one of our very own good (?) Principals was arrested for online solicitation of young boys.He was in fact ‘our leader’ in both elementary and middle school over the years.I had three of my very own young boys under his “watch,” ages 13-16.In fact, only the day before his arrest, two out of my three boys said he was standing right next to them during school hours! I actually thought he was one of the better principals the local school had!Not that I’m one to judge another on their sexual orientation, but I do think this sexual deviance is potentially dangerous when it comes to our children, and with the descriptive detail of the things being done between this man and his potential suitors, I have to say I wouldn’t feel comfortable with this principal having access to a pistol.
I ask, “How can the NRA emphasize how important it is for our teachers to carry weapons to protect our children” when these very deviant behaviors exist within our school administration infrastructures?In South Florida alone, there have been a multitude of incidences with improper behaviors among our very own teachers and administrators which have made National news.From coaches to teachers, there are numerous stories on sexual misconduct with teens.This is just one subject area of teachers gone wrong.Another is teachers stealing from funds that are supposed to be for their own schools.According to the arrest affidavit of a Miami school Treasurer, 29-year-old Juanita Olivera of Homestead had forged signatures, created fictitious documents and transferred money between accounts to give the appearance of positive balances only a few years ago. The list goes on.
My point is – can we really entrust teachers with guns? ….I think NOT, Mr. NRA man!Empowering our teachers and administrators with pistols when we can’t even trust them all 100% in their respective positions, let alone ‘protect’ our kids is in my opinion an incomprehensible suggestion!With the NYC Empire State Building shooting where two NYPD officers, two of New York’s “finest,” had a target of an assailant, but the bullets shot ricocheted off flower pots and other objects present in this line of fire wounding 9 bystanders, how can we feel ‘good’ about our teachers having the opportunity to hit their intended targets?Here we have law enforcement officials who are in the trenches daily with pistol target practice missing their intended target, and the NRA is making a suggestion that teachers would be able to do better, WITH THEIR BYSTANDERS BEING OUR CHILDREN.Again, I think NOT Mr. NRA.We cannot justify the ability for our teachers to maintain the utmost of accuracy that is required around children and young adults.However, in the same breath, won’t perhaps some of these planned rampages decrease with the knowledge that teachers and administration officials at schools throughout our country are armed for safety and protection? Talk about a serious conundrum!
The second amendment does indeed allow for individuals to protect themselves with the power of a pistol, and I’m not necessarily against that right, but at the same time I am cognizant of the fact that the mass availability of assault weapon rifles is way too lenient and needs to be re-considered for tighter ownership laws.Background checks and security measures on just regular guns need more rigorous laws implemented – IMMEDIATELY.My own sister-in-law took her life with the use of her husband’s gun.We never learned if he was negligent in locking it up, but on this note, laws for locking guns up need to be improved upon; they need to be more stringently enforced, and if not adhered to strict penalties need to be followed through on.How many cases in the U. S are there where children get their hands on their parents’ guns and accidental deaths are the end results? Too many is ultimately the answer.Gun show banner advertisements throughout S. Florida need to stop – where crime is already out of control.Get a gun, rob somebody and run down the street to a local pawn shop to get money.The South Florida way- sunniest place with the shadiest people!It doesn’t help that Miami International Airport is ranked as one of the top entry points in the United States for the horrible crime of human trafficking.Why do these same people who are kidnapping our children and adults have such easy access to weapons to help in their pursuit of modern day slavery?The statistics on the numbers of high powered assault rifles currently on the market at any given time is astonishing.Access to these kinds of assault weapons that can create such decimating carnage in such a short span of time need to incur new laws, so as not to be readily available to anybody trying to obtain them.The NRA definitely tries to obfuscate these truths.
As a victim in a horrible jewelry robbery with my family, my boys at the time of the robbery ranged in age from four to age seven.The ‘event’ happened in Emerald Hills/Hollywood, FL, a beautiful neighborhood, in broad daylight on a Saturday (10-13-2003.) I can tell you that I want to climb up on a ladder high into the sky and personally damage each and every gun banner billboard I see advertising the latest gun show here in South Florida.The eight masked men who came running into the jewelry store had large axes (and they weren’t acting as tin men in a rendition of The Wizard of Oz as I first thought,) but also had sledge hammers and the one at the door did have a gun with a silencer on it.Guns once again in the hands of the wrong people.Perhaps if the background checks could be tighter, maybe these bad guys wouldn’t be burglarizing as often and with such ease.There was NO armed guard outside of this store, but if there had been, maybe this would have thwarted these bad guys.Maybe not, but I’m under the impression that if an armed guard with an attack dog had been employed for security purposes, my family and I would have never been the victims of a potential tragedy.Thank G-d all we went through (besides near heart attacks) was shattered glass, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the sheer need to shop online for any future jewelry needs!
In addition to being a victim of a jewelry robbery involving guns, I have also unfortunately through default, been a victim of our mental health system.In 2011 while driving in downtown West Palm Beach, FL traveling with my then 12-year-old son, from behind an electric box on a corner of a main street, a very tall man literally dove with all of his force onto the windshield of my car shattering the glass into a million pieces.My first reaction as my mind was racing was that it was a set up because the man had every intention to throw himself at my car.This lunatic had to be strung out on drugs I assumed.In addition to my having to foot the $300 dollar bill to fix the windshield, this man – after police officers spoke to him – simply waltzed away.Not a scratch on him, no sign of blood, no apology, no ticket, just walked away down the street in the opposite direction of the “accident.”The officers got extremely testy with ME when I complained they were not giving him any citation. There I was with a broken windshield, a son who was absolutely traumatized by this man diving onto my car, and officers saying the man was a documented mental health patient from the nearby hospital and had recently paid a visit to the hospital where he had been released.His diagnosis was schizophrenia and bipolar disorder – one or the other, possibly both.I was told by the officers that there is absolutely NOTHING they can do about mental patients running rampant throughout our communities inflicting harm not only upon themselves, but upon others as well.
It is all too clear to me from a direct involvement that our system for those who have mental disabilities needs to be overhauled.I do feel for all the mothers, fathers, and various family members of those mentally ill people out there who KNOW their relatives are sick, but have no power to help them stay safe, and keep others from harm’s way.I take note that one out of five kids in our country have some type of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and we all know from those parents (again, myself included,) that these parents have been fighting for years for assistance for their kids with all types of disorders ranging from Full on Autism to the myriad of Pervasive Development Disorders including, but not limited to: Oppositional Defiance Disorder, sensory issue disorders, anger management, ADHD/ADD, the list goes on and on.That brick walls are abundantly universal forces all over our country for these parents of children with these disorders, and adults as well who struggle with cognitive and neuro disabilities, mental illnesses, breakdowns, whatever you want to label it as, is it any wonder the schools, workplaces, houses of worship, etc. experience shootings and atrocities in general that continue to repeat themselves each time resulting in horrific outcomes?This is not to infer that Autism, as a whole, results in malicious crimes.I’m just pointing to the overall neglect of the mentally ill, and that this neglect helps facilitate a greater possibility for Sandy Hook type catastrophic events.
Surely we all realize as a society that measures need to quickly and deftly begin as we do re-evaluate our safety measures or lack thereof for our children who are students, for our members of families who may be teachers and/or administration of schools, for everybody in general REALLY!Perhaps we can contemplate helping our country’s veterans who come back from wars or various assignments around the world and find it impossible to obtain jobs.They are trained marksmen, our countries militia – they represent soldiers who protect our country, and so why not help them to help us? We would also be providing a landscape for additional jobs helping to reduce the unemployment rates nationally.For all those who do not wish their children attend schools with armed security guards, allow these folks the freedom of choice to attend some select schools with no armed security guards.
Safety drills should be incorporated into all school levels, and as a local Wellington Kindergarten teacher at Panther Run Elementary recently did, backhandedly she was able to orchestrate a safety drill with her entire class without them knowing it was actually a safety drill.All parents of her class did not tell their five-year-olds about the Sandy Hook elementary school tragedy in Connecticut, but the parents were all for this teacher’s idea to hold a ‘hide and seek’ plan to get them all into the class safe room, location not to be mentioned here.She told the class that her friend says the best hide and seek place is – ______ (blank, location not to be mentioned), but she didn’t think the kids could fit.So this Wellington teacher said, “Let’s all hide in this location, and I’ll take a picture and show it to my friend and prove her wrong because we made a bet and I say you can all fit.”So in this safe room all the kids went, and the teacher snapped a photograph to show her other teacher friend! These are the kinds of ideas from creative and compassionate people that we need to start listening to. Times have changed, and we need to beef up our security systems in all areas because, unfortunately, what happened in Newtown, Connecticut can very well happen again and again.
Significant changes in the U.S. healthcare system will occur in 2013 and 2014 under the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (which some call “Obamacare”). These changes are made by the law with the stated goals of:
Improving quality of care and lowering costs of care;
Increasing access to affordable care; and
Implementing new Consumer Protections;
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), which is charged with implementing and administering the law, provides detailed information about the law, its provisions, the timeline for implementing the new provisions, and how the law benefits you. This information is found on the HHS website HealthCare.gov.
Following is a portion of the Timeline provided on HealthCare.gov, showing some of the principal changes that will go into effect under the Health Care Law in 2013 and 2014:
2013
IMPROVING QUALITY AND LOWERING COSTS
“Improving Preventive Health Coverage. To expand the number of Americans receiving preventive care, the law provides new funding to state Medicaid programs that choose to cover preventive services for patients at little or no cost. Effective January 1, 2013.Learn more about the law and preventive care.
Expanding Authority to Bundle Payments. The law establishes a national pilot program to encourage hospitals, doctors, and other providers to work together to improve the coordination and quality of patient care. Under payment “bundling,” hospitals, doctors, and providers are paid a flat rate for an episode of care rather than the current fragmented system where each service or test or bundles of items or services are billed separately to Medicare. For example, instead of a surgical procedure generating multiple claims from multiple providers, the entire team is compensated with a “bundled” payment that provides incentives to deliver health care services more efficiently while maintaining or improving quality of care. It aligns the incentives of those delivering care, and savings are shared between providers and the Medicare program. Effective no later than January 1, 2013.
INCREASING ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE CARE
Increasing Medicaid Payments for Primary Care Doctors. As Medicaid programs and providers prepare to cover more patients in 2014, the Act requires states to pay primary care physicians no less than 100% of Medicare payment rates in 2013 and 2014 for primary care services. The increase is fully funded by the federal government. Effective January 1, 2013.Learn how the law supports and strengthens primary care providers.
Providing Additional Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Under the law, states will receive two more years of funding to continue coverage for children not eligible for Medicaid. Effective October 1, 2013.Learn more about CHIP.
2014
NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
Prohibiting Discrimination Due to Pre-Existing Conditions or Gender. The law implements strong reforms that prohibit insurance companies from refusing to sell coverage or renew policies because of an individual’s pre-existing conditions. Also, in the individual and small group market, the law eliminates the ability of insurance companies to charge higher rates due to gender or health status. Effective January 1, 2014.Learn more about protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions.
Eliminating Annual Limits on Insurance Coverage. The law prohibits new plans and existing group plans from imposing annual dollar limits on the amount of coverage an individual may receive. Effective January 1, 2014.Learn how the law will phase out annual limits by 2014.
Ensuring Coverage for Individuals Participating in Clinical Trials. Insurers will be prohibited from dropping or limiting coverage because an individual chooses to participate in a clinical trial. Applies to all clinical trials that treat cancer or other life-threatening diseases. Effective January 1, 2014.
IMPROVING QUALITY AND LOWERING COSTS
Making Care More Affordable. Tax credits to make it easier for the middle class to afford insurance will become available for people with income between 100% and 400% of the poverty line who are not eligible for other affordable coverage. (In 2010, 400% of the poverty line comes out to about $43,000 for an individual or $88,000 for a family of four.) The tax credit is advanceable, so it can lower your premium payments each month, rather than making you wait for tax time. It’s also refundable, so even moderate-income families can receive the full benefit of the credit. These individuals may also qualify for reduced cost-sharing (copayments, co-insurance, and deductibles). Effective January 1, 2014. Learn how the law will make care more affordable in 2014.
Establishing Affordable Insurance Exchanges. Starting in 2014 if your employer doesn’t offer insurance, you will be able to buy it directly in an Affordable Insurance Exchange. An Exchange is a new transparent and competitive insurance marketplace where individuals and small businesses can buy affordable and qualified health benefit plans. Exchanges will offer you a choice of health plans that meet certain benefits and cost standards. Starting in 2014, Members of Congress will be getting their health care insurance through Exchanges, and you will be able buy your insurance through Exchanges too. Effective January 1, 2014.Learn more about Exchanges.
Increasing the Small Business Tax Credit. The law implements the second phase of the small business tax credit for qualified small businesses and small non-profit organizations. In this phase, the credit is up to 50% of the employer’s contribution to provide health insurance for employees. There is also up to a 35% credit for small non-profit organizations. Effective January 1, 2014.Learn more about the small business tax credit.
INCREASING ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE CARE
Increasing Access to Medicaid. Americans who earn less than 133% of the poverty level (approximately $14,000 for an individual and $29,000 for a family of four) will be eligible to enroll in Medicaid. States will receive 100% federal funding for the first three years to support this expanded coverage, phasing to 90% federal funding in subsequent years. Effective January 1, 2014.Learn more about Medicaid.
Promoting Individual Responsibility. Under the law, most individuals who can afford it will be required to obtain basic health insurance coverage or pay a fee to help offset the costs of caring for uninsured Americans. If affordable coverage is not available to an individual, he or she will be eligible for an exemption. Effective January 1, 2014.Learn more about individual responsibility and the law.
IMPROVING QUALITY AND LOWERING COSTS
Paying Physicians Based on Value Not Volume. Effective January 1, 2015, a new provision will tie physician payments to the quality of care they provide. Physicians will see their payments modified so that those who provide higher value care will receive higher payments than those who provide lower quality care.” Read on . . .
New for 2013 Joey’s Outback Adventures will be offering fun and exciting classes for Children 12 months to 12 years old. Our classes and lessons will include:
* Mommy & Me Classes * Music & Instrumental Lessons * Reading & Writing Classes * Math & Science Classes * Intro to Art & Watercolors Classes
Classes will start on Monday, January 28th and will end the session Friday, March 22nd.
Each class will be for 1 hour each week for 8 weeks. $160 class fee includes all materials for class and play time in the jumps and bounce houses.
Purchase an Annual Family Membership for $55 and receive 20% off entry and cafe items anytime they visit, all year long (not to be combined with any other offer).
Pre-registration and prepayment required. We must have a minimum of 6 children enrolled for class to take place.
January, 2013 – Art Basel Miami Beach . . . A Spectacular Show
By Marla E. Schwartz
Art Basel Miami Beach is hands down one of the most spectacular art shows in the world and is considered the most prestigious art show in the Americas. Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) was founded in 2002 under the leadership of Sam Keller as a sister fair to Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland. Its growth and reputation is awe-inspiring.
This year was the 11th edition of ABMB and it had its usual early VIP status reserved for art aficionados and celebrity sightings, attracting more than 50,000 visitors. Headquartered at the Miami Beach Convention Center, it displayed 257 of the world’s top galleries showcasing $2.5 billion of art from an international array of artists. Exhibiting galleries included 99 from the United States; 34 from Germany, 19 from Great Britain; 18 from France; 14 from Brazil; 11 from Italy; 10 from Switzerland; 9 from Spain; 4 each from Austria, Belgium and Mexico; 3 each from Argentina and China; 2 each from Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Japan, Portugal, Turkey and South Africa; 1 each from Greece, Ireland, Israel, India, Iceland, Korea, Norway, Peru, Russian, Sweden and Uruguay.
And even more amazing, this fair has given birth to twenty-two satellite fairs based in South Beach to Wynwood (Miami’s Design District), to downtown Miami to Fairchild Tropical Gardens. Some of these fairs are new and some have been around for awhile. If you’re unable to get a hotel room (please … book far in advance if you want one) and stay for a few days in order to see as much as possible and you only have one day to visit Miami it’s a good idea to have a plan in mind before you head to any of the fairs.
Because the traffic is so heavy and it literally took me an hour and ten minutes to get from South Beach to Wynwood (normally, about a 15-20 minute drive), including finding a parking place (got lucky), it’s best to cover South Beach one day, Wynwood another day and as many of the other places split between one or two more days. Since I only had one day available to me I checked out ABMB, Design Miami, Aqua Art Miami, a stroll down Lincoln Road to see artwork on display by artist Marc Rubin and the Red Dot Art Fair. There were many other places on my list to visit and if I were able to spend a few more days (which was my original plan – but life got in the way) I could’ve seen so much more. So don’t let life get in the way for you as I’ll list all the fairs at the end of this article – giving you an idea of how to map out your Art Basel experience for next year. But for now, I’m going to breakdown each art fair based solely on my personal experiences at each one.
For photo collages to accompany each section of this story, see “Art Basel Photo Collages,” also posted under “Cultural Corner.”
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH
Miami Beach Convention Center
$42 one day ticket; $24 Students with ID, Senior Citizens aged 62 and above; $29 evening ticket at 4 PM; $10 students through grade twelve with chaperone with group of ten; FREE children under 16 accompanied by an adult; $90 permanent pass (valid for all official show days) ; $55 combination Art Basel Miami Beach/Design Miami fairs.
Entrances:Convention Center Drive (Hall D) and Washington Avenue (Hall B)
First of all, if you arrive early, which is a good idea if you want a good parking spot, you have to stand in line to get in; you have to stand in another line to have your ticket swiped and then you enter … paradise! It’s worth the price, worth the line – worth everything you can ever imagine to see this fair! You’llbe handed a booklet with a map and list of galleries – but if you’re looking for something specific, say a certain genre, the really nice customer service reps sitting behind desks on both sides of the entrance (and exit) will be glad to help you out; otherwise, go in and wander, explore and have a great time. Or, you can purchase a catalog for $70 (the online version is available yearly from November til January). If you’d like a more personal touch AXA Art, the globally active specialty art and collectibles insurance company, provides VIP guided tours of Art Basel. For reservations for next year or information contact Amanda Rowley at: axaartcommunications@axa-art-usa.com. Also, ArtNexus guided tours in English and Spanish are available daily during show hours with general tours of the show and special tours of Art Kabinett. For reservations and information for next year’s fair email: tours@artnexus.com. Their information desk it located in Zone D.
Upon entering ABMB one of the main exhibits you’ll see on the left includes Alexander Calder’s(1898-1976) Tableau noir (The Blackboard), 1970, signed with initials and dated ‘CA 70’ (on the blue element) stabile–painted sheet metal; Estimated value: $2,500,000 – $3,500,000; Property from the Collection of Max Palevsky on exhibit by the Helly Nahmad Gallery. It caused quite a stir and many people were photographing this monumental and joyous sculpture, forms a cornerstone of Max Palevsky’s collection and stands as a lasting monument to an artist who dedicated his life to redefining the status quo and forging new ways of solving very modern problems. The Blackboard contains many of Alexander Calder’s signature motifs – his embrace of color, his intense interest in structure and an added touch of whimsy, all combined into an outstanding work. One of the earliest sculptures Calder created in France, his new environment inspired him to embark on a radical change of direction, and Tableau Noir succinctly demonstrates his versatility and helps to explain his enduring appeal to modern art connoisseurs.
Not far from Calder’s sculpture is another piece that attracted a great deal of attention which was Joan Miró’s surrealistic masterpiece (1893-1983) Oiseaux en Fete pour le lever du Jour, 21 Mars 1968, Oil on Canvas.Miró was born on 1893 in Spain and he was a Spanish artist for the twentieth century. When he moved to Spain in 1919 after the World War I he met other struggling artist including Pablo Picasso who is also a Spaniard like Miró. Most of the artists there were Surrealist which is working with dreams, memory, and abstract. Miró was a surrealist who created abstract art of people. He would use simple lines and flat, bright colored shapes to create his work. He also pursued other genres ranging from automatic drawing, expressionism, Lyrical Abstraction and Color Field painting. Four-dimensional painting was a theoretical type of painting Miró proposed in which painting would transcend its two-dimensionality and even the three-dimensionality of sculpture.He is recognized as one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. His Surrealist masterpieces hang in every major museum in the world and you can view many of his paintings online at joanmiro.com,(Joan Miró Art).
After wandering around the fair taking in so much outstanding artwork another piece that was causing a stir was Katharine Fritsch’sHeiligenfigur (St. Michael)/Figure of a Saint (St. Michael), 2009 – 2012, Polyester, paint, 66 1/2 x 26 x 22 inches. Fritsch is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery in NY, matthewmarks.com. Fritsch was born in Essen, West Germany and is a contemporary sculptor. Fritsch trained at the Kunstakademie and currently lives and works in Düsseldorf. Fritsch roots her work in the personal, often drawing from childhood memories of familiar circumstances or chance encounters. Her references engage broad aspects of folklore and culture through meticulous reproductions of everyday objects, which she formally manipulates with shifts in scale and color. Her sculptures and installations take familiar objects and transform them into unsettling yet fascinating pieces. She begins her process with sketches and scale models. Molded by hand, worked and reworked, each object is subjected to multiple processes of casting or layering. The forms are then painted in bold, highly saturated colors with matte, non-reflective surfaces, creating a sense of otherworldliness. In Fritsch’s words, “Often my sculptures have a matte surface so that there is no reflection whatsoever from the surroundings. That increases the impression of a vision that one cannot grasp.”
Then I came across Yiorgos Kordakis’s display of photographs shot in Instant Film from the Galerie Karsten Greve Ag St. Moritz, represented by Galerie Karsten Greve, Switzerland. Born in Athens in 1973, Kordakis studied Automotive Design in Torino and Media Management in London and soon became a professional photographer currently based in New York. In a recent interview with eternal-optimist he spoke about the state of photography, “the multitude of techniques utilized and the broadening of ways to produce photographs is a dimension of the medium that is becoming harder to dismiss. Photography has become as overwhelmingly varied as the digital turn that has taken over the last years forms the current trajectory. The boom in digital technology has impacted the popularity of photography. But the idea for a democratic art form is remarkable in its own right. There is openness to all personal expressions and digital technology has phenomenal advantages. Challenge nowadays is much greater as talented photographers will need to prove their differentiation, to persuade upon new customized techniques, to inspire by their personal touch. This is the end of an era. The rules of the game change.” He’s currently working on a project “10,000 American Movies” and plans on producing a short films and a new photography series about Greek Identity, concerning the impact of Hellenism upon aesthetics.
And one of the most popular exhibits this year was from the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York, Ivan Navarro’s site-specific installationImpenetrables, created specifically for Art Kabinett. It consists of five new $65,000 sculpture/canisters containing the artist’s trademark eternal mirrors with the words “shout,” “scream,” “call,” “whisper,” or “mouth”. The place was so crowded with onlookers because everyone was truly fascinated with it. In fact, a Berlin-based collector purchased a few of them leaving only two of the 15 versions available.Each of the sculptures has a ladder rising from the floor, and inside the individual works, words such as whisper, shout, and call invite a response from the viewer. The artist placed a mirror at the bottom of the sculpture’s base, fluorescent lights above the mirror, and a one-way mirror on top of the lights to create an endless reflection. He began using light in his sculptures as a symbol of hope and truth. His inspiration comes from everyday objects, such as shopping carts, ladders, doors, and chairs. At first glance, his pieces look fun, with bright colors and common shapes. If you look deeper into the images, you get a glimpse of Navarro’s own psychological anxiety he felt growing up in a country with a great deal of political corruption.
I also discovered artist Isa Genzken who sculpture ‘U.S. Boots, 2004’ intertwines atop a white plinth such as varied materials as fur, plastic straps, toy figures, cups, a metal chain and US fabricated wellingtons, to which the work alludes. It’s staged in front of a photograph that depicts the face of a clock; one seems to be reminded of the time-dependent perish-ability of artificial consumer goods. Genzken was born in Bad Oldesloe, Schleswig-Holstein and currently lives and works in Berlin.Although her primary focus is sculpture, she uses various media including photography, film, video, works on paper and canvas, collages and books in her work. Her diverse practice draws on the legacies of Constructivism and Minimalism and often involves a critical, open dialogue with Modernist architecture and contemporary visual and material culture. Using plaster, cement, building samples, photographs, and bric-a-brac, Genzken creates architectonic structures that have been described as contemporary ruins.
Another artist causing a stir was Jon Pylypchuk’s ‘I Won’t Give Up On You, 2012’ series of cigarette wielding sculptures each selling for $5,000 with a variety of placards offering up such sayings as, “if jealousy was an Olympic sport I’d be pretty good at it,” and the one P. Diddy purchased said, ‘I’m sorry I got you pregnant.” No judgment here! Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and currently living in Los Angeles, Pylypchuk says, “Each butt is like a person who livestheir full life starting off with great promise doing what they are meant to do,and finally resting crushed out and useless. I have a friend who used to takethose butts extract the remaining tobacco and roll butt smokes because hewas so poor – the cherry at the end of the butt smoke was a faint ember of lifewhen things were desperate.” Gallery owner Frederic Snitzer, celebrating its 35th anniversary, is the only gallery in Miami to be shown at ABMB this year. He teaches at New World School of the Arts, and has mentored the careers of some the industry’s top talent.
Another stand out was at Galleria AlfonsoArtiacowith its Gilbert & George, Youth (2011). GilbertProusch born was born in San Martino in Badia, Italy and George Passmore was born in Plymouth, England and they both live and work in London, England. The duo met while studying at St. Martin’s School of Art and embarked on what has now become a forty-five-year collaboration, an eccentric, independent perpetual ‘happening,’ exploring what art historian and curator Robert Rosenblum called, “the singularity of their duality.” Together known as one Gilbert & George, they’ve produced an enormous body of visceral, often provocative photography-based work—art independent of any school or movement, art of everyday modern urban life, as they deem with their slogan, “Art for All.” Contrary to the work of many contemporary blockbuster artists, their aim is “to speak across the barriers of knowledge directly to the people about their life and not about the knowledge of art.” They manipulate images of architecture, lurid graffiti, shop windows and most often themselves on exceptionally powerful computers in their home studio and print on massive, mural-sized panels. In their time together, Gilbert & George have taken tens of thousands of photographs virtually all within walking distance of their East London flat for their art of everyday life. As they often claim, “Nothing happens in the world that doesn’t happen in the East End.” Galleria AlfonsoArtiaco is located in Napoli, Italy.
The artist known as Ben has his work ‘ART’ 1971 Acrylic on Canvas represented by Galerie 1900 Paris. Ben, who was born Ben Vautier in Naples, Italy lives and works in Nice and has long defended the rights of minorities in all countries and has defended the Occitan language (south of France). He discovered Yves Klein and the Nouveau Réalisme in the 1950s, but he became quickly interested in the French dada artist Marcel Duchamp, the music of John Cage and joined the Fluxus artistic movement in the 1960s. In 1959, he founded the journal Ben Dieu. In 1960, he had his first one-man show, Rien et tout in Laboratoire 32. He is also active in Mail-Art and is mostly known for his text-based paintings. Marcel and and his son David Fleiss of Galerie 1900-2000 in Paris, France have organized more than 200 exhibitions devoted to major artists or rediscoveries, and published more than 150 catalogs, some of which are considered sources of rare and important primary documentation.n They devote themselves primarily to Surrealism (paintings, drawings, and photographs), while continuing to champion the art of the 20th century and the emerging art of the 21st century.
Finally, another eye-catching banner was that of Jack Pierson’s‘The World is Yours’, which was purchased on the first day for $450,000. Pierson enjoys the possibilities of language and how powerful a word can be. A prolific American photographer, abstract sculptor and draftsman he’s openly gay and his photographs are images of men in casual, erotic fashion. He was born in Plymouth, MA and currently lives between Southern California and New York. He’s also known for photographingSnoop Dogg, Brad Pitt and Naomi Campbell. He’s represented by represented by Cheim & Read.
ABMB has plenty of places to eat with a high-quality culinary selection reflecting the multicultural flair of Miami Beach. Whether the cuisine is American, Caribbean, Latin-American, European, Asian or South Seas, for stone crabs, seafood, salad, sushi and maki, pasta della nonna or a juicy T-bone steak, Miami Beach offers everything a gourmet could wish for. There’s also an every-day plastic meadow for people to relax upon, taking a breath, before continuing to explore this treasure-trove of art. It offers so much for and for all of the information go to: miamibeach.artbasel.com/. The date’s for next year’s affair has been set for December 4-7, 2014.
DESIGN MIAMI
Back on the Beach
Meridian Avenue & 19th Street
Adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center
Admission is $25 for a one-day pass, $15 for students and senior citizens.
If you love design and architecture, this is the place to be as it has been dubbed the dynamic destination for design, art, luxury and culture. This spectacular fair highlights 20th and 21st century furniture, lighting, and objets d’art, with a renewed focus on American design, all in a striking home base just outside the convention center. The standard vinyl tent has been replaced by a suspended, tubular landscape described as Drift, created by NY-based collaborative practice Snarkitecture. It resembles a topographical landscape in suspension: an ascending mountain above and an excavated cavern below. The design features a courtyard seating installation, which will serve as a place for visitors to relax, socialize and enjoy the view. Aesthetes head to Miami just to attend this meticulously curated wonderland of high-end furnishings and fixtures from thirty-six international galleries.
Design Miami is the global forum for design. It brings together the most influential collectors, gallerists, designers, curators and critics from around the world in celebration of design culture and commerce. A special section was set-up for visitors to enjoy presentations by such luminaries as design pioneer Diane von Furstenberg and furniture pioneer Wendell Castle.
Design Miami this year simply blew my mind. Each December, the Design Miami/ Designer of the Year Award recognizes an internationally renowned designer or studio that has made a mark on design history, pushing the boundaries of the discipline through a singularly innovative and influential vision. This year’s Designer of the Year is Vito Hannibal Acconciwho brought to life Brooklyn, New York’s Dumbo neighborhood, is a man who publicly stated once-upon-a-time that he can’t stand art. Blasphemous – no, calm down. Everyone else disagrees. He decided to create works that people can interact with and devoted his Acconci Studio to this concept. At 72-years-old he’s working just as hard as ever – with projects taking him to an apartment building in Washington, D.C., an airport passageway in Austin, and a parking garage tunnel in Indianapolis.
Perhaps it’s because he began his career as a poet, earning an M.F.A. in literature and poetry from the University of Iowa, became an accomplished performance and video artist using his own body for photography, film, video and performance that when he expanded into the world of audio/visual installations, eventually inviting viewers to create artwork by activating machinery that erected shelters and signs, turning to the creation of furniture and prototypes of house and gardens – designing for the United Bamboo store in Tokyo that he became the man we know today. He currently focuses on architecture and landscape design that integrates public and private space. One example of this is “Walkways through the Wall,” which flow through structural boundaries of the Midwest Airlines Centerin Milwaukee, Wisconsin and provide seating at both ends.
The Acconci Studio has been commissioned, as winner of Design Miami/Designer of the Year Award, to create a large-scale installation to be permanently installed in the Design District by 2014.It will be the first public area in the neighborhood dedicated to children with the installation of the Klein-Bottle Playground, experimental recreational equipment and toys in which there is no identifiable inside of outside as one surface flows into the other.
His work, “HERE/THERE, NOW/LATER” was on display at the Buena Vista Building in the Design District during the fair.
Other work within the Design Miami banner that stood out to me (it’s really hard to name just a few – because the entire fair is fascinating) were Le Corbusier & Pierre Jeanneret’s (India) 20th Century Furniture & Architecture represented by Galerie Patrick Seguin; Gaetano Pesce’s (Italy) ‘American Table and Jefferson Chair’, represented by Erastudio Apartment – Gallery/Milan; Galerie Downtown, Paris, Francois Laffanour – Dog Coffee Table (very popular – lots of people taking pictures of it); METAMORPHOSIS by Pieke Bergmans, Street Lights: a series of street lamp typologies. drawing on the lights which are seen illuminating the walkways of Venice by night, the Dutch designer transforms their iron bodies, twisting them into whimsical configurations, working together with glassblowers to form bulbs which push through and droop out of their metal framework and shades – like giant bubbles ready to pop at any moment; Studio Job TOUR EIFFEL 2012 Bronze Light Fitting; Carpenters Workshop Gallery/London & Paris; Gallery SEOMI Contemporary Design/Art; Richard Woods & Sebastian Wrong’s Bent WOOD Table, Galerie VIVID edition 2012 and Glithero Silverware Vases porcelain 2012.
AQUA ART MIAMI
Aqua Hotel
1530 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33139 (two blocks south of Lincoln Road)
Admission is $10. (Good for re-entry for the duration of the fair.)
Aqua Art Miami’s 8th Installment designated as “Destination Super Eight” – is recognized for presenting vibrant and noteworthy international art programs with a particular interest in supporting young dealers and galleries with strong emerging and early-mid career artists. It features innovative special programming, performance art (Livers: REMIX — a performance by Atlanta-based artist Lauri Stallings and her performance art troupe Glo) along with 47 exhibiting galleries from North and South America, as well as Japan.
Aqua’s curatorial commitment is complemented by the unique art fair setting of a classic South Beach hotel with spacious exhibition rooms that open onto a breezy, intimate courtyard. The surroundings have become a favorite gathering spot not only for relaxation during the busy Art Basel Week, but also as a place to exchange and disseminate new contemporary art ideas. And with its close proximity to the main Art Basel fair, Aqua has consistently been ranked among the top satellite art events by collectors, artists, curators, critics and the art loving public alike. What is so cool about this fair is it utilized each hotel room (you know – where guests usually sleep) into a separate gallery.
It’s important to point out that the highlight of this year’s special programming is the Babel Shield Installation by Jen Pack, made from Ripstop Nylon. Not only is it a sound deflector but is very colorful and gives one a comforting feeling by walking around, under, while looking up, down and sideways – no matter your point of interaction – it’ll make you feel good.
The fact of the matter is that every exhibitor in Aqua Art Miami is worth your time. But in order to break it down – these are my personal highlights: Alida Anderson Art Projects – Room 116 – (alidaanderson.com); Washington, D.C., Dulce Pinzon’s ‘Superheroes’ series, Limited Edition of five signed and numbered C-print photographs, $1,500 framed, $1,200 unmounted (dulcepinzon.com/en_projects_superhero.htm); Judith Peck’s Oil and Plaster on Linen series, including, “Enlightenment” (judithpeck.net); Lyons Wier Gallery – Room 119, (lyonswiergallery.com), New York, everything created by Greg Haberny in this ‘trashed’ hotel room, from the Smashed Piano, to “Look Mickey!”, Mixed Media on wood; whitespace gallery – Room 122, Atlanta, Georgia, (whitespace814.com); Sarah Emerson, “Darkness Falls”, acrylic and rhinestones on canvas; William Baczek Fine Arts – Room 115,(wbfinearts.com); Travis Louie, Kruger and His Attack Rabbit, Acrylic on board; K. Imperial Fine Art – Room 203, (kimperialfineart.com);San Francisco, CA, Daniel Brice, Untitled A6, Charcoal, Pastel, and oil on Paper; Kathryn Markel Fine Arts – Room 227,(markelfinearts.com);NY, Sanchez, Wanderings #2 2012, Oil on Canvas, 41 X 29 inches, $4,500; and The Tappan Collective – Room 225,(TheTappanCollective.com); Los Angeles, CA, Michael Gittes, Chief Massachusetts Acrylic on Paper 20 x 24 inches, 2012.
MARC RUBIN
Multi-Space Exhibition on Lincoln Road Original oil and acrylic paintings, works in varied styles of Modern Art and Impressionism.
On my way to the Design District I decided to take a walk down Lincoln Road and see what kind of artistic masterpieces I could find on my stroll. This is where I discovered Palm Beach artist Marc Rubin. A protégé of Salvador Dali’s, Rubin, creates pieces in pop cubism, expressionism, synchronism, surreal cubism realism and in 1996 he invented minimalist pointillism. What was this genius doing on Lincoln Road? He was exhibiting his work in conjunction with Art Basel which was dubbed “A Walking Tour – Lincoln Road – Miami Beach”.
His work was prominently displayed in three of the major anchor stores on Lincoln Road: “The Gap” – 1001 Lincoln Road, “Cubavera”– 934 Lincoln Road, and “French Connection” – 643 Lincoln Road. They each requested that this international artist exhibit major works from his private collection in their windows during the week of Art Basel. Rubin, A recent Chicago transplant was very honored when each of these stores allowed him an opportunity to give Art Basel/Miami Beach visitors a taste of his exquisite creations. The exhibition spanned 70 feet of window space and included interior retail design space utilizing Fine Art inside of French Connection. Receptions were held at both the French Connection and Cubavera. Additionally, by request, he will be exhibiting selected paintings at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. You can schedule a visit to his studio in E. Boca Raton via appointment by calling his Curator and representative Jeffrey Rose at (561) 221-5170. Also, go to Rubin’s website to find out more about his work: marcrubin.com.
RED DOT ART FAIR
Wynwood Art District
3011 NE 1st Avenue at 31st Street
Miami Beach, FL 33137
Admission is $15 for a day pass; Opening Reception & Week Pass is $25.
After a long-ish (proximity – not that long; but with people, traffic – it’s loooong) journey I finally made it to the Design District and entered the Red Dot Art Fair (reddotfair.com) and it was worth the wait. It’s located across the street from Art Miami/Context, Scope, Art Asia, Miami Project and is well-regarded within this art fair Mecca. Over 90 national and international dealers exhibit work at Red Dot, including photography, painting, sculpture, glass work and works on paper in a luxurious 60,000 square foot venue – with yes – and thankfully – a porta pottie outback. Under the direction of George Bills, Red Dot features galleries specializing in representing emerging, mid-career and established artists that seek to present their work of lasting value beyond current trends. Where to start? Enter, wander, enjoy, meet artists and enjoy a delicious sandwich or a baked good from the nice people at the 18th Street Café (located at 210 NE 18th Street, Miami, 33132, (18thstreetcafe.com) nestled at the far end of the fair – as you’ll need the energy to linger longer – something you’ll want to do, trust me.
If you happened to attend the last day of the fair, Jane Seymour was at Booth #114, Coral Canyon Publishing, where her ‘Portrait of an Orange Red Rose’, Oil on Canvas, 2004 was on exhibit. I don’t think her appearance was widely publicized and I’m not sure why. She has made many visits to South Florida and hopefully there will be many more to follow. Her work as an artist is sublime whether it’s in her Open Hearts Gallery, Sculpture Gallery or Giclee Gallery. You can see her work at janeseymour.com.
I took my time and browsed around the Jane Sauer Gallery to see the work of Toland Sand, an innovator in the use of dichroic glass and polished crystal beginning his career in stained glass, moving to glass blowing and then to constructed glass sculpture;Jacques Soussana Fine Art Gallery, Duane Reed Gallery, Mecenavie where I met visual artist Idan Wizen, who is based in Paris, France and has created www.nude-in-the-living-room-com images which are fascinating; at Artisan Direct, Ltd., I discovered the work of so many amazing artists, including George “SEN One” Morillo’s “SEN the Mad Mugsy” spray paint and other oil-base inks and paints, as well as the generous and kind Christa Azzola who was watching me admire the work of other artists – happily giving me a tour of all their work – then she brought me to her sculptures on exhibit made from materials such as clay, sandstone, limestone, wood and marble. So, I decided to ask her a few questions:
Marla E. Schwartz (AW.COM): How did you get involved with RED DOT?
Christa Azzola: The Temporary Gallery Berlin, Germany invited me to take part at the Red Dot Art Fair.
MES: Tell me a little bit about what inspires you?
CA: What inspires me is the dialogue between the stone, clay and I. The dialogue with the people I meet on my trips (I travel a lot). Beyond that, I really think that stones have a soul, they talk to you and use your hands to express themselves. I just make possible that they can tell their own story. Sometimes I want to tell my own story and the stone and I we figure out a solution. I also would like to encourage people to be more emotional, to live their feelings, to celebrate them, to open up, to trust them. When, if not now?Sometimes I feel like a fountain: ideas come and I just have to listen to them and take action.
MES: Where do you live and work and how can people view and/or purchase your work?
CA: I live and work in Berlin, Germany. The art lovers can view my art work and contact me on my website: glipta.de. They can buy my art work directly from me, if they contact me via my website.
After a wonderful time admiring Christa and her work I wandered around a bit more and discovered so many other thrilling artists that it seemed to turn more into a party where one makes new friends – than a professional art fair. I went to the Kips Gallery booth and enjoyed Sunnjoo Chung’s “Boeties” – mixed media, different sizes; Giuseppe Palumbo,a sculptor and designer of contemporary furniture,where he spoke to many admirers in front of his sculpture “All Together Now”, 3 Dancing Sheep in a chorus line available in small and medium sizes at www.palumbosculpture.com. Then there’s Morgan Ervin whose
Judy Garland #1 ‘If I am a Legend …’ 2012 oil and epoxy on wood – finish the thought … why am I so alone? He also had similar pieces of John Lennon and Elvis Presley on display. Ervin believes that good design is unraveling a riddle, solving a puzzle by the most efficient and effective means possible.
The Studio 26 Gallery at booth D124 featured such extraordinary artists as Emma Goodman O’Rourke, Fahar al Salih, Henry Gallucio, James C. Matthews Jr., Jessica Hartley, Karen Robb, Kimberly Willcox, Leon Applebaum, Marina Reiter, Marsha Steiger, Mel Smothers, Sophia Yw, Tariq Rafiq, Todd Alexander and Vhilo Artist. Applebaum’s glass blown art is beautiful. “The process of blowing glass has been my teacher for the past 30 years. I have developed glass blowing techniques for my work that captivate the fluid energy of hot glass, using fire, air centrifugal force, gravity, and tools to push and pull the glass,” he states on his website. Go to: studio26nyc.orgor leonapplebaum.com/Glass/Home.htmlfor more information.
There was also ArtSpot/Intrepid Art Gallery from Vero Beach, displaying a mesmerizing electronic installation entitled “STUDIO b. Light Impressions” by 40 fair artists whose work was showcased on a wall framed with iPads emphasizing current ideas concepts, and new trends. This two-year old gallery also exhibited the painting and photography by thirteen other artists presented by The Art Marketing Mind: Barbara Rosenzweig, Jenny Bennett, Elena Bulotova, Gaby Grobo, Alejandro Leyva, Clara Berta, Belina Sierraalta, Dora Abbo, Sheila Elias, Maria Fernanda Lairet, Stephanie Bloom, Jean Pierre Dodel, Magaly Barnola-Otaola and featured artist Luis Valenzuela. For more information go to: studiobthebeach.com.
If it wasn’t for closing time and for the fact that everyone has packed up and left … I’d still be wandering around Red Dot. But have no fear because none of us have to wait an entire year for ABMB to take place for Red Dot to set up again because Red Dot recently announced a second edition in Miami on February 14-18. The fair will coincide with Art Wynwood and the Miami International Yacht & Brokerage Show. The fair will take place on NW 23rd St, and NW 5th Ave. Red Dot will host 60 galleries exhibiting painting, sculpture, photograph, and fine-art pieces. Another Red Dot will take place in Miami from December 3-8, 2013.
In order to keep track of all the fairs that took place this year in order to figure out your trip for next year (this doesn’t include what wonderful new fairs may pop up for next year, though), here’s a list of all the fairs:
The best bet is to spend one day in Miami Beach, another in Miami and another going to the additional fairs; this way you only have to park your car once (it’s not a good idea to have to move your car – it’s very difficult finding parking) and either walk or take a taxi or a shuttle to get around.
If you take a shuttle, make sure you get on the very last one, otherwise you’ll get stranded in one section of town – without a way to get back – unless, of course – you take a taxi – and drivers are very willing to accommodate your needs.
Shuttle Service Design Miami operates a twice-hourly, complimentary shuttle bus to transport passengers between the Design Miami/ fairground and bustling Miami Design District.
Shuttle service hours:
11:30 am–10:30pm Tuesday
11:30 am–8:30pm Wednesday to Saturday
11:30 am–6:30pm Sunday
*****
Marla E. Schwartz is a Senior Writer for Miami Living magazine and a freelance writer for Lighthouse Point magazine and AroundWellington.com. Her photographs have appeared in these publications as well as the Miami Herald, the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post. Her play, HOLD ONTO YOUR DREAMS was recently produced in Miami at New Theatre’s 1-Acts Festival Winter Session. Her short play BRUNCH SOON will be produced will be co-produced by White Rose Miami/Performing Arts Exchange on Fri. Feb 15 and Sat. 16 at 7:00pm, Doors open at 6:30pm. Her play, America’s Working? was produced in Los Angeles at the First Stage and Lone Star Ensemble theater companies, in Florida at Lynn University and then Off-Broadway. Her script, The Lunch Time Café, was a Heideman Award Finalist, Actors Theatre of Louisville. She’s a member of The Dramatist’s Guild of American and the South Florida Theatre League. You can contact her via email at: marlaschwartz@att.net. You can also please follow her on twitter @MarParLa
My book’s launch party felt a little like a wedding. Well, one where my five children had already been born, and were racing around jacked up on chocolate-dipped strawberries.The bash was in an old brownstone in Boston. There was a long brass bar and passed hors d’oeuvres, a few speeches, some roasting. I read a bit from the first chapter in front of friends who appreciated the efforts it had taken to get there, and wore teetery yellow shoes more than a few inches beyond my comfort zone. (My fear and secret thrill: I’ll never be able to chase the kids in these.)In the past 10 years of my writing life, I’d gone from being a magazine journalist/mother of one to being a sometime-freelancer/mother of five. That evening of the launch party felt like another line of demarcation down my life: before kids, after kids, and kicking it back into gear. Here I was, burning rubber out of my Sienna minivan cocoon. Just look at that S car go.
Shortly after the launch party we got an au pair for the summer, and I started traveling for readings at bookstores. It was both heady and humbling: One night an audience of 75 and the next just a few people, including several who had to, because they worked there. Mornings, I’d get in a rental car and drive to bookstores that weren’t stocking my book in hopes they might give it, and me, a chance. My father asked in an email what it felt like to be on book tour. I told him that while one person did squeal excitedly to meet me (I’m pretty sure she mistook me for someone else), a lot of the time it felt like being a Fuller Brush salesman, hawking your wares door to door. Brushes you’d made yourself. One split-ended bloody-rooted hair at a time.
The truth is, I love it. Just about every single bit. After a pretty intense diaper decade there is a sense of settling back into myself, with the miscellaneous scattered parts — personally, maternally, creatively, professionally — coming into alignment. I feel incredibly fortunate that all the years of being the crazy woman writing in the attic have resulted in something I can hold in my hand, and share.
But with the sharing came traveling, time away from the kids and from a household that operated, on the best of days, like a catamaran flying a hull. I created this travel schedule myself, and had anticipated it for forever – three months. The bigger trips shimmered on the calendar like tinsel and Easter grass. Why was I so excited? Did I think I was going to shed my momma skin and slip back into my 20s professional self, the travel and independence, the adult stimulation and striving? The shoes?
But to be honest, I had dreaded it, too. I imagined reading in a Chicago bookstore and receiving a call from a hospital back home. Or almost as bad, a simple text message that I’d failed to call in time before bed, and small people were sad. (Which happened.) My husband was able to come on several trips — my parents gave us babysitting as a Christmas present — which was wonderful. He’s my best supporter and critic, and things are just plain more fun with him around. It reminded me of the early years of marriage, zipping around at the top of our games.
But a funny thing happened once I got home and started doing the regional events this summer: I wanted my kids around, too.
I started feeling this way when some health issues hit my parents and father-in-law, and all three needed surgeries. Home didn’t feel like something that was functioning just fine back there. Home felt like something that needed to be in my back pocket, my tote bag, the train seat beside me.
I adjusted my travel plans, put rollaway beds in small spaces. Reading in New York was more fun with my two oldest along; they were wide-eyed at the hotel mini-bar candy, the Empire State Building, Greenwich Village street vendors, Amtrak’s café. Likewise, on Cape Cod, the highlight of a reading was my dinner date afterward — my four year old so giddy about the high patio over the dunes, that he dropped the ketchup bottle down into them. Ooops.
Back to the launch party, which I’d both hoped and feared would represent a thick yellow line down the middle of my life. Toward the end of the evening, as I sat signing books, my oldest child walked up. My 11 year old, my mature one. He interrupted my conversation with the publisher of a magazine where I’d once worked to hand me his stained napkin and empty kebab stick. “Here, Mom, I can’t find the garbage.”
Here Mom, I can’t find the garbage.
And that — along with the fact that after the party, I was squatting in those vertiginous yellow shoes to change a diaper — perfectly summed up the line of demarcation. Sure, there was stimulation and striving, but mostly, the change to my life was invisible. Because of course there’s no going back to that person in her 20s, and nothing had substantively changed in the watchworks of my daily mamma world. Nor did I want it to. Except every so often, the shoes.
*****
Nichole Bernier
Nichole Bernier is author of the novel THE UNFINISHED WORK OF ELIZABETH D. (Crown/Random House), a finalist for the 2012 New England Independent Booksellers Association fiction award. A Contributing Editor for Conde Nast Traveler for 14 years, she has also written for publications including Psychology Today, Salon, Elle, Self, Health, and Men’s Journal. She is a founder of the literary blog Beyond the Margins, and can be found online at nicholebernier.com and on Twitter @nicholebernier.
A brand new year begins, a time of hope and growth and ditching the debris of the past. It’s a time of renewal and redemption and salvation. (A time to lose those extra 15 pounds I’ve been lugging around like a recycle bin full of beer bottles.)
Here’s how I’m planning to recycle my life and make 2013 my best year ever.
·Resolution # 1: I will become utterly absorbed in a new and greater reality while still maintaining my availability to participate in happy hours, barbecues, card games and other traditional, old-reality activities.
·Resolution # 2: I will take the initiative to reach out and call people to keep in touch. I will pick up the phone and call distant family members, past and present friends, and people I went to school with. If no one on my A-list is available, I will dial numbers at random until I connect with someone, somewhere and find out how their week is going and what their weather is like.
·Resolution # 3: I will take more pictures and capture more memories in 2013 then I ever have before. Since my previous record for taking pictures in one year is four, the pressure is on to snap off at least one shot per quarter and then squeeze in another one sometime during the holiday season. Note to myself: buy a good camera, perhaps a Polaroid so I can pull the picture out, shake it while I count to 60, and see the results sooner rather than later.
·Resolution # 4: I will write, produce and star in a theatrical tribute to Mahatma Gandhi entitled “Dinner with Gandhi: Nothing for Me, Thanks.” In contrast to the title, the show will have something for everyone: partial nudity, intense nonviolent disobedience, and a raise-the-roof, wake-the-dead soundtrack alive with ambient chanting and melodic humming.
·Resolution # 5: To make the work week seem shorter and less of a grind, I will lead a historic petition of the Federal government to officially rename Thursday “Friday Eve.” While I’m at it, I will also formally request that Tuesday be renamed to reflect what it actually feels like, which is “Monday, Part 2.”
·Resolution # 6: I will strive to meet people that I have disagreements with half way. At my discretion, as a show of good faith, I will meet them as much as 51% of the way and buy them a complimentary cinnamon bun or multigrain muffin, subject to availability. If that doesn’t work, screw ‘em – I don’t see anyone buying me a complimentary multigrain muffin.
·Resolution # 7: I will rekindle my personal pursuit of cultural enrichment by reading more books and watching less TV. First book on my list: “How to Read More Books and Watch Less TV.” Second book: “Paradise Unplugged: The Hidden Perils of Reading Too Many Books and Watching Too Little TV.” Third Book: “No Reading Required: A Guilt-free Guide to Watching the Shows You Love and Loving the Shows You Watch.”
·Resolution # 8: I will reunite with the original members of my 1980s punk band “Chronic Caucasians” and launch a nationwide tour of second-rate amphitheaters, dilapidated band shells and flea market food courts. I plan on calling it the “No Refunds Tour” to convey our commitment to delivering a crowd-pleasing performance and to head off any frivolous lawsuits that would require my appearance in small claims court.
·Resolution # 9: I will finally fulfill my potential as a highly-paid public speaker by training myself to talk eloquently in front of large crowds at business functions without prior knowledge of the functions’ purpose or the makeup of the audience. With a preparation approach based on working smarter, not harder, I will win over audiences by addressing them frequently as “a fine group of buckaroos” and by limiting my speeches to exactly 11 minutes. I will also give away small, hotel-size samples of soap and shampoo.
·Resolution # 10: All kidding aside, I will strive each day to live fully and spontaneously in the moment with gratitude, passion and a spirit of adventure.
Happy New Year everyone. May you live fully, love deeply, share generously and laugh often. (Just remember to pace yourself and take time now and then to be selfish and small-minded.)
Significant changes in the U.S. healthcare system will occur in 2013 and 2014 under the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (which some call “Obamacare”). These changes are made by the law with the stated goals of: 
companies from refusing to sell coverage or renew policies because of an individual’s pre-existing conditions. Also, in the individual and small group market, the law eliminates the ability of insurance companies to charge higher rates due to gender or health status. Effective January 1, 2014. Learn more about protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions. 
middle class to afford insurance will become available for people with income between 100% and 400% of the poverty line who are not eligible for other affordable coverage. (In 2010, 400% of the poverty line comes out to about $43,000 for an individual or $88,000 for a family of four.) The tax credit is advanceable, so it can lower your premium payments each month, rather than making you wait for tax time. It’s also refundable, so even moderate-income families can receive the full benefit of the credit. These individuals may also qualify for reduced cost-sharing (copayments, co-insurance, and deductibles). Effective January 1, 2014. Learn how the law will make care more affordable in 2014. 
The bash was in an old brownstone in Boston. There was a long brass bar and passed hors d’oeuvres, a few speeches, some roasting. I read a bit from the first chapter in front of friends who appreciated the efforts it had taken to get there, and wore teetery yellow shoes more than a few inches beyond my comfort zone. (My fear and secret thrill: I’ll never be able to chase the kids in these.)In the past 10 years of my writing life, I’d gone from being a magazine journalist/mother of one to being a sometime-freelancer/mother of five. That evening of the launch party felt like another line of demarcation down my life: before kids, after kids, and kicking it back into gear. Here I was, burning rubber out of my Sienna minivan cocoon. Just look at that S car go.
