Happy Holly-Daze, 2011

We want to wish every one of our friends and family a wonderful holiday season and new year.

Grant yourself time to enjoy moments with YOUR friends and family as much as possible. May you laugh often and acknowledge your gratitude of the bounties we all enjoy, simply by being alive.

As an abbreviated overview of the past year -- Mark and I have visited Mother Nature as often as possible. This has been the one major constant in our lives since the day we met (2-14-82). Oh, by the way, we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary this coming year, on Valentine's Day.

UCSD enjoyed their 50th anniversary and Mark and I attended several fun and amazing events, including one at the Scripps Aquarium, where this photo was taken.

2011 is the year when I finally shared the idea of "Lamp Hats" with the world. This is me wearing a "lamp hat" (a few umbrellas substituting as actual lamp.) [Photo by Mark Schulze]

This is Mark in a lamp hat. [Photo by Patty Mooney]

Mark and I adhere to our schedule of riding every Saturday (and when we can, on a weekday) in the mountains on our mountain bikes. That's how we recharge our "batteries" and encounter Nature in all Her Glory.

Dancin', dancin', dancin'!!! [Photo by Mark Schulze]

We stayed rather busy this year, producing, shooting and editing video productions for our discerning clients. This is a still of a video interview with the programmers of Call of Duty - Modern Warfare video game.

Buncha clowns!

This is a brief excerpt from my latest avocation/passion/obsession - Air Poetry. It's the gathering/ capturing of phrases, ideas, conversations, historical moments which hover "in the air" long enough to be received, considered, recorded, and shared with readers from around the world. I started an off-shoot site on Facebook where people may post their conception of what Air Poetry is... But Air Poetry, in its purest form, as I conceived it, is the documentation of verbatim conversation.

Here I am, ecstatically recording some Air Poetry in the San Diego outback.

Mark and I hope that you enjoy every moment as it comes, with the conviction that you can manifest fabulous times with the power of your mind.

Leaving you with a private concert given by Jefferson Starship the night the lights went out in San Diego and people thought the concert would not go on, so they didn't attend, but there was a generator and the concert indeed went on.

Happy Holidays!

Love,

Patty & Mark

Marking the First Anniversary of the Death of My Brother

It was on December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) of 2010 when we learned that my brother, Joe, had passed away on the 6th. Of course this immediately threw a wrench into the well-oiled workings of my family. We were still reeling from the loss of Dad (in April 2010). But at least with Dad, we could all see it coming for years. Joe's death was a blow to us all, as it was unexpected. Joe seemed the epitome of good health. I would have thought that he'd die in a fiery motorcycle accident, as he was a buff Harley guy.

In the woulda-shoulda-coulda category: If Joe had enjoyed the status of Americans who have health insurance, and if he had paid regular visits to a general practitioner, then MAYBE his arterial coronary disease would have been detected, and MAYBE he would still be with us. We could have all celebrated his 54th birthday with him. He would have come over on Autumn weekends to watch the Charger games with us. He would have been over on Friday nights singing Karaoke with us. We would have attended more cook-outs at his beloved Ranch that he named "Valhalla."

But no, Obama's plan for health insurance for all has met with such resistance from the opposing party, it is so deflating. Why is it considered a Socialist notion - and therefore bad - to funnel some of our tax dollars into a healthcare fund for all Americans? Why can the Canadians, New Zealanders, Aussies and Europeans make this concept work, and not us? And why are we allowing our tax dollars to go into the coffers of the defense industry and let's not kid ourselves, toward killing people on the side of the planet? The idea of my hard-earned money going towards murder has never sat well with me. But it would stress and then probably kill me if I actively thought about it every minute of every day. So I think about other things.

But every now and again a nasty grenade gets lobbed your way - i.e., the untimely demise of your little brother - and those thoughts creep up again. In countless conversations I have heard, "The Democrats are just as bad as the Republicans." Well, not really. If you look at any Congressional "report card" it's the Republicans who are always voting down legislation that is supposed to protect We the People, and our beautiful America. It's Republicans who vote to "Drill, baby, Drill!" in the pristine Alaskan wilderness. It's Republicans who vote against a woman's right to choose whether to have a child or not. It's Republicans who vote to shoot nearly-extinct timber wolves in Idaho. It's Republicans who bought up the media and the Supreme Court, and who convince gullible Americans that "The Patriot Act" is only for their own protection (and not a handy way to squelch civil liberties).

I could go on, but I really think you ought to go and do your own homework on scalliwags like Rupert Murdoch (who ostensibly sanctioned phone tapping at his "News of the World" agency) and the Koch Brothers who are spending their millions on their Tea Party shills. Go and do your homework and let's turn our "Titanic" away from the iceberg.

Let's make sure all Americans can enjoy healthcare. Don't we work hard for our dollars? Don't we deserve healthcare benefits? Please don't get duped by the people who are trying to take our liberties away. Do your homework.

I miss you, Joe.