Wednesday, January 31, 2007

The Undertaker - Another Gothic Curler



What? My favorite WWE Wrestler curls too?

The Undertaker has been through many transformations but this one makes him UBER COOL. The photo is Titled, The UnderCurler. Thank you for sending it, Patrick.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

PHOTOS



HERE WE ARE!!!

This photo was taken the day after we won the Mountain Pacific Championship and an opportunity to compete in the 2007 US Curling Assn Women's Club Nationals.



Barry (our coach), me, and Lyle relaxing after League Night in Fremont. Lyle's mixed team is heading to Nationals, too!



Curling is physically demanding so I stay cool wearing my HOT MOONSPELL girly-Tee and knit cap!

Monday, January 22, 2007

CURLING-Mountain Pacific Champs!

Indeed! Team Coleman (San Francisco) has won the Mountain Pacific Play-downs and will be traveling to St. Paul, MN for the Women's Club Nationals from March 4 - 10, 2007.

We are humbled by our experience as we are the first women's team from the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club, and the first from California to win this honor. It is truly a dream of a lifetime. Now I just have to convince myself that it's not a dream. :)

Personally, I want to thank my teammates: Gabrielle Coleman, JoDee Dike-Johnson, and Karen Officer. I have never known a group of women who were more brave or had such beautiful hearts as these ladies of curling. You have changed my life in so many ways.

Then there's our coach Barry Ivy. Your leadership, experience, and friendship are invaluable to us. We hope that we are somehow able to repay you by making you proud.

Brent Halpenny, who sees opportunities before everyone else, thank you for your tireless work preparing JoDee and Karen for the Deaflypics. You recognize the important things and helped to create our team. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club and it's fabulous and supportive members who cheered us on. We felt your love!

Grandma Glennis who came to support us. I love you so much!

And too our many friends everywhere - thank you for your wishes of Luck.

So all I can say now is -- CURLING IS FOREVER!

B.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

BRUCE CAMPBELL



Well, I just saw Bruce Campbell in a FABULOUS commercial for OLD SPICE. Bravo, Bruce! Sophisticated Humor is startlingly appropriate in your capable hands.

If you haven't seen it, it will undoubtedly be on YouTube momentarily.

I gotta go out to buy some OLD SPICE now.

B.

Monday, January 08, 2007

THE TRAINING BEGINS AGAIN - 01/08/2006

LET'S START WITH CURLING

As the MoPac Women's Club National Play-downs approach, and after the constant eating, entertaining, and gift-grabbing, I am finally am to concentrate on once again training for Curling.

* It began with water. I have been considerably dehydrated as of late and thus must forego the Champagne for that which is more cleansing

* The gym work-out. I am fortunate to be able to dedicate 45 minutes (occasionally more) to the gym five days per week. While I had Physical Therapy, there were few movements that I could achieve but now I am excited to be able to use the treadmill, weight machines, and free weights

* Head in the game. I bought the book, BETWEEN THE SHEETS. It's about building a championship Curling team - and a primary component seems to the role each member plays and the related team dynamics

* Choices, choices. It's time that I get serious. I need to purchase an appropriate "uniform-style" outfit. As well, I need to purchase replacements slider disks and consider my next evolution of curling shoes

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MAGAZINE ARTICLES LOOMING

I've been working on several magazine articles and am finally making good progress. So what is the problem? Well, communication for one thing. Two of these publishers have been slow in communicating -- and that is a distraction for me.

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EPISODES AND PODCASTS

Immediately after the Play-downs on the weekend of Jan 20-21, 2007 in Seattle, the plan is that I will promptly begin filming new episodes of THE GOTHIC GOURMET and soon after THE GOTHIC GOURMET PODCAST. The Podcast is a new venture that has long been in the works. I'm excited by the prospect and will soon write more about it.

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SCREENPLAYS

I have so many projects going at once and it always seems that my Screenplays are the last on the list since the deadlines of of my on device - yet I do make progress even here. My Action-Adventure is... well... it's the true love of my writing life. It is just a fact of my imagination that it is taking so long to complete. It's High Concept Action-Adventure. Go figure!

Easier, and yet another long in coming screeplay is a short inspired by the great Fellini. I will finish this at month's end, and may possibly begin filming before summertime.

Two other projects are in progress at the request of clients.

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AND THE COOKBOOK

Major setback. A primary contributor/chef is experiencing a medical crisis and is unable to continue in our work. And just as I was putting together the plan for the test kitchen.

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Alright. That's alot going on with changes happening fast.

More to come...

B.

Friday, January 05, 2007

GOTHIC GOURMET UPDATE-01/05/2007

On August 8, 2006, The Gothic Gourmet was enjoying an evening out on the ice at the Logitech Ice Arena in San Jose, California. Goths on Ice - heh, sounds like a poor title for a Broadway Musical. Anyhow, I was out there throwing stones, sweeping, and more sweeping. My team was down one person and it was a nice change of pace to throw extra stones. In the last end, while sweeping a stone at the far left quadrant outside of the house, I hit a slick spot in the drop-off. There's no telling now how far I slid but it was far enough and long enough for me to through up my left arm to protect my head.

The impact was instant and the pain intense. My arm was stuck in its position next to my head so I grabbed it with my right hand and gave a yank! I stood to my feet, then sat back down on the ice as I realized there was not a little pain but an explosion of numbness overcoming me. There was no thought necessary. As I regained my resolve, I headed back into the game to finish the end. Why? you ask? If there was a time to sweep two more stones, it was while I was numb. That, and the fact that I'm insane for the Curling.

Turns out I tore my Rotator Cuff and received an Impaction Fracture to my left humerus. These injuries resulted in four months of intensive Physical Therapy and almost certainly an additional 6 to 12 months of work to regain my strength in that arm.

While I spent some three months time adjusting to my inability to do normal things such as laundry, dishes, showering, or clasping my bra, the remarkable reality was that I was able to Curl since curling does not require one to lift that arm. The Curling Gods were indeed with me.

A few days ago, it was confirmed that my Curling Rink (Team Coleman) will be competing in the Mountain Pacific Women's Club National Play-downs (play-offs) in Seattle, WA on January 20-21, 2007.

I am thrilled and honored to be on this team but I find myself marveling at the fact that I have come this far.

By the way, now I can lift my arm, swing it around, and reach. But lifting a 2 pound weight is still beyond me.

More soon...

B.