What would you do if you could do anything in the world, and money was no object? First, you'd make a list; that's what I did, anyway. And while money is definitely an object, sometimes as big as an elephant in a room, you find a way to get what you want without being trampled. This blog is about my Bucket List and yours, too. My list ranges from baking a souffle for my husband Sarge, to sitting atop a tortoise in the Galapagos. While contemplating your own list, enjoy some of my adventures.
On Free Fall Fridays, I go with the flow, and this time the tide took me to a woman after my own heart. Read this short piece and compare her adventure in London and Paris to my own, or your own. She could be me, I could be her we could be we...Oh. We are we.
Occasionally on Manic Mondays, instead of talking about my own adventures, I highlight the journey of others. This week in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am thrilled to introduce you to Denise Roberts, the founder of The Denise Roberts Breast Cancer Foundation, the only foundation that I'm aware of that caters to women AND men of color who are typically underserved.
I sat down with her recently here at Adventure Salon (AS) to chat about what she considers her mission in life.
AS - Welcome Denise. Let's get right to it. What made you decide to become a warrior for breast cancer awareness?
DR - Well, I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 at the age of 35.
AS - Wow. That's kind of young.
DR - Yes, but I had a successful surgery to remove the cancer, then vowed to become a warrior to spread the word of early detection.
AS - So, there are a lot of cancer foundations out there; what makes yours unique?
DR - We provide mammogram resources for women and men who are underinsured or have no health insurance at all. TDRBCF.org will pay for the procedure. I know of no other foundation that does that. We also provide support to the women and their families through our established programs, a 24-hour toll free hotline and our website which provides access to healthier food options, access to pap exams. We encourage people to be more proactive about their total health.
AS - Sounds like you cover all bases. What's your hope for the future?
DR - Well, a cure of course, but in the meantime, access to early detection breast screenings in EVERY community. I want to educate the underprivileged and replace their fear with knowledge, and therefore gain empowerment.
AS - With your passion, I am sure you will do just that. On a lighter note: What's your favorite word?
DR - "FABULOUS," darling. Makes me feel good just to say it, which gives me the energy to keep fighting for others.
AS -Fabulous!
DR - (Laughs)
AS - And last but not least. . . What's on your bucket list?
DR - A talk show and a gossip magazine, Diva Speaks.
AS - I'd read it! You have such a zest for life, Denise. Thank you for being here.
*** I wrote today's post as part of the WOW-Women on Writing Blanket Tour for Healing with Words: A Writer's Cancer Journey by Diana M. Raab, MFA, RN (www.dianaraab.com). The book includes Diana's experiences, reflections, poetry and journal entries, in addition to writing prompts for readers to express their own personal stories. A survivor of both breast cancer and multitple myeloma, Raab views journaling to be like a daily vitamin -- in that it heals, detoxifies and is essential for optimal health. Diana, the author of eight books, spent 25 years as a medical and self-help writer before turning to poetry and memoir. She teaches creative journaling and memoir in UCLA Extension Writers' Program.
If you comment on today's post you'll be entered to win a copy of Healing with Words: A Writer's Cancer Journey. To read Diana's post about breast cancer and a list of other blogs participating in Diana's Blanket Tour, visit The muffin.
*** Also, if you comment on today's post, you'll be entered into Adventure Salon's Comment Contest. It's a win/win situation!
Adventure Salon is holding a contest to reward one of its loyal readers with a $25 Amazon Gift Card, and it's easy to win! So simple, a cat could do it.
There are two, count them TWO ways to win. All you have to do is leave a comment on any post you choose here at Adventure Salon. The more you comment, the higher your chances of winning. You could be Christmas shopping at Amazon.com before you know it!
But wait . . . there's more!
If you become one of my followers on Twitter, @MsALWalker, your name will be entered yet again. Just leave a comment on Adventure Salon letting me know you are now a follower, and you'll have two entries, and therefore, two more chances to win! If you already follow me on Twitter, your work here is almost done; just let me know that in a comment on the blog.
To show my camaraderie with my readers, I had a contest with myself to see just how many times I could use the word "comment" in the Comment Contest post . . . AND I WON with just eleven entries. You, too, can be a winner just that easily!
I know you're out there; my stat counter tells me that, even though my list of subscribers/followers is woefully inaccurate. I thought about getting rid of it, but I like looking at your lovely faces.
The winner of the Comment Contest will be chosen by Random.org and announced on Monday, November 22, 2010, so you'll have one full month from today to leave more comments and increase your chances of winning.
Chickens and roosters run rampant on the island of Kauai, and they're pretty, too. Those are two facts I'm surprised to learn on my visit to the colorful island.
What Sarge and I don't see on the island is the iron hatch with the DHARMA Initiative logo on it, the Black Rock pirate ship, or any of the "Others" from the TV series Lost. Nor do we hear the steel-grating sound of the Smoke Monster, even though episodes were filmed on these very shores.
Okay, that's enough reminiscences for us Lost buffs and our bent towards unsolved mysteries. (Why DID the Smoke Monster make mechanical sounds?)
Flashsideways. What we do see in Kauai is very lush greenery, the most vivid horizon, and the bluest ocean I've ever seen; more vibrant even than the Caribbean, in my humble opinion. Maybe it just seems that way because we got our trip at half-price; the catch being -- and this is a plot twist -- we have to listen to a 90-minute timeshare pitch. Spoiler Alert! We end up buying the timeshare. Who knew, she said, throwing up her hands in wonderment.
Anyway, Kauai is a great place for lovers, so you'd better love the one you're with if you decide to come here because there's not much else to do. More than half the island remains uninhabited so visitors mostly lay on the beach and go to restaurants. We are not bowled over by the island's cuisine, though, except for Gaylord's Plantation restaurant. Worth every penny.
Also worth the price of admission is the Movie Island Tour where we see the film sites of Jurassic Park, SouthPacific and some of the Elvis movies.
We didn't do any filming ourselves, but we did take photos. Check out the slide show in the sidebar. Sarge got some well-deserved rest, and I was able to cross off number "4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 32..." er I mean Number 78 off of my Bucket List. (That's one last parting gift for you Losties)
I struggle to keep you -- my precious flowers . . . I mean followers -- entertained, but I'm not going to get naked and chain myself in a coffin just so you can have a good laugh. Instead, I came across something I found interesting and I hope you do, too, for I know you like to live a varied life.
It is otherwise known as the art of writing. For the first time in my life, I wrote for a week straight, Number 113 on my Bucket List -- me and my writer pal Pamela Samuels Young.
If you're a writer trying to focus, sometimes you need to get out of your own way. Los Angeles is a great place to be if you're a mogul with your own movie studio or the governator of your own state, but if you're a writer trying to hone in on her story, you need to get away from distractions of Kardashian proportions.
So Pamela and I drove to Palm Springs, writing from the moment we arrived at the house, breaking only for meals, which we never took together. Pamela worked on her fifth legal thriller, while I pecked away at my debut novel, Sput Louie, Cherokee Freedwoman.
It's historical fiction about a freed black woman, Sput Louie, who is chasing the American dream of owning her own land when she suddenly finds herself back at the mercy of her former owner, a Cherokee Indian, himself in the throes of fighting for his own dream. But love, lies and a vicious murder stand in both their ways. When a third party arrives, it becomes a nightmare of a struggle between the land-rich, the land-poor and the land-greedy.
I said we wrote from the moment we hit the door, but that's not entirely true. Ah, the unreliable narrator rears her ugly head, and she didn't even comb it first. While Pamela was writing in the living room, I did my usual writing routine: first, I spread all of my research out on the dining room table, put it in alphabetical order chronologically, from smallest to largest according to color, height and weight. Only after that bit of procrastination did I begin to write. I wrote and wrote and wrote some more, and the story began to bleed out of me.
It was such an invigorating experience, I'm determined not to let the momentum subside. I know that my work is less than a fourth of the way done, so I've added a word-meter widget at the bottom of my blog to showcase the pace of my WIP. I just hope it whips me in line when I'm slacking.
Strike through Number 113 on my Bucket List. I wrote for a week straight and lived to blog about it. Next time, maybe a month?
A winery would be a perfect place to carry out a Bucket List Maneuver AND have an I Love Lucy moment with your BFF, your daughter, your mother or your sister just like this fun-loving bunch did.
Occasionally on Manic Mondays, instead of talking about my own adventures, I highlight the journey of others. This week in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am thrilled to introduce you to Denise Roberts, the founder of The Denise Roberts Breast Cancer Foundation, the only foundation that I'm aware of that caters to women AND men of color who are typically underserved.
WARPED WEDNESDAY
