Den of Thieves

This season I want to expand my den of thieves.

By their very nature and genetic makeup, all writers are thieves. We steal snatches of conversations everywhere we go.  In our minds eye, we paint a tapestry of scenarios happening all around us and store them in our memory bank or imagination vault. We grasp fleeting emotions that we have seen, felt, heard or observed. We peruse life around us with a relish and create our own life stories for people we don’t even know. We abscond with the memories of our relatives, parents, friends, lovers, associates and all kinds of fleeting friendships. Then we lock them away in our memory vault to be retrieved later on in life in some supposedly fictional world.

My den of thieves are a colorful cast of characters although they would probably not like to be called characters but rather a more mature crowd still searching for ways to find more life in life. Together we’re all still wondering ‘what is our life story’ and then examining others about theirs.

 

It’s different from the Paris crowd that gathered around Hemingway’s table for drinks and song. It’s different from Ginsberg’s eccentric group that gathered most San Francisco evenings for a salon laced along the ragged edges of drugs, sex and booze. Or my own Snow White and the Seven Seekers all gathered around a breakfast table in Brussels, exchanging cigarettes, small talk and grand expectations for the life ahead.

This is a more subtle crowd that does most of its exploration alone or in small hunter-gatherer packs. But it’s still a group of literary-bound wanderers seeking answers instead of redemption.

                                  Palm Springs Writers' Guild Facebook Page

Cat is one of them. No one calls him David or Mr. Cohen…just Cat. It’s kind of like those hard-core hikers of the AT (Appalachian Trail) who all have trail names instead of their real ones.  Cat has his loveable Stella. Everywhere the Cat goes his pit-bull is sure to follow.

Carol is a blogger and her husband at 92 is the reigning chocolate king of the valley and has several cookbooks to prove it.

Judy is the Hope Mother and its author.

Bob still teaching and learning. I hope he’ll be my mentor for screenwriting. I know he is a great class facilitator.

Sunny has a disposition that matches her name.

Jim has a novel about cyber-crime that seems to have hit its timing mark exquisitely.

Lynn is another woman whose focus is mid-life changes for women. Her novel seems to have hit a cord with a lot of readers.

Ed, whose third book will show readers How to Survive Your Vacation.

John…ad man from the east coast…is heading up the Desert Writers Expo again this year.

Paramount in my quest for their secrets to success will be the Palm Springs Writers Guild and the Desert Writers Expo this March. There are a ton of very talented folks in town. Not just retirees from the coast or ex-pats from the East Coast. There are also a lot of skill wordsmiths and artistic craftsmen from all over the country who have found a safe and comfortable haven in our community here. There are playwrights to stage a meeting and songwriters to share a chorus with. There are screen writers whom I need to share plot structure and dialogue with.

They’re all this wonderful diverse eclectic crowd of artists who might be seen as a bit strange anyplace else but are right at home here in the desert. Musicians, song-writers, novelists, screen writers and playwrights that I want to hang out with.

They are true artists of any and every ilk. Each and every one of them is very talented. I hope we can share ideas and steal a few if need be. You can’t copyright an idea and I’ll grab every thought, action, pause or whiff of anything that catches my fancy. Then attempt to craft those parts into a storyline of my own.

It’s stealing, sharing, and gleaning the best from the best.  There’s a lot going on in this city. I need to stay on top of it and perhaps add my own two cents once in a while.

A Woman's Place

Not that long ago, a woman’s place used to be in the home raising children and making meals. But that was in another galaxy a long long time ago. Things have changed rapidly and radically. Women are no longer relegated to the sidelines or backrooms of businesses and organizations anymore.

I recently attended a banquet to celebrate the accomplishments of a very remarkable group of women in Dakota County, Minnesota. Each of these leaders has carved out an enviable track record in the worlds of business and industry, education and community involvement.

It was the annual banquet for the Dakota County Exceptional Businesswomen of the year awards. The nominations were reviewed in December by a panel of judges assembled by the Dakota County Tribune and This week newspapers.

These twelve accomplished women have demolished the old stereotype of the docile little woman ever eager to please her man. They come from a wide variety of occupations. But what they all have in common is a thirst for success and, more importantly, a willingness to help others. These women represent the very best of the best in their respective fields.

Anyone familiar with the pecking order of organizations today knows that the old 80/20 rule is passé. It’s long since become a statistic of the past. The new equation is now 90/10. Ninety percent of the members allow the top ten percent to do most, if not all, of the work. Leadership resides in that top ten percent. These women represent the top one percent of that 10 percent.

           

Young people today, especially young women, would be wise to observe and emulate the work and life goals of these women if they want to know the secret to their success. One common trait among them is a willingness to give back to the community and a readiness to go beyond the norm to accomplish their goals. They have all failed at one point or another in their lives. But they have never let failure define them.

All of them are passionate about their community, their careers and helping others. They all share a willingness to mentor and shepherd others in their chosen field. Together and individually they have made a significant impact on their community through their involvement.

One woman admitted that when she started out in business she wanted to emulate the men…until another woman took her aside and said she could do it all…as a woman and still be true to herself.

Whether they’re alpha females or not they are one formidable group of women.  One of them was sitting next to me at our table. She was Vice President of Dakota County Technical College for more than twenty-five years. She raised over a million dollars as an endowment for student scholarships. She was heavily involved in Rotary projects as well as many other educational and community organizations.

It didn’t take an award to recognize just how hard the woman has worked all of her life in education, business, the community and politics.  She’s one heck of a leader, a mother, a grandmother …and a wonderful life partner too.

Hip Strip

In its heyday, L.A. had its Sunset Strip and Chicago had its miracle mile. Minneapolis still has its Nicollet Mall and Eat Street. Many cities across the country have their own branded tentacles of food, drink, lodging and entertainment. Now Palm Springs has done them one better with its own ‘Hip Strip’ of food, drink, lodging and plenty of skin in the name of entertainment. Throw in a splash party or two and it’s a poor man’s version of ‘Caligula’ for the masses…as long as they’re all under thirty years of age.

Back when Palm Springs was basking in its glory days, the city was a classic example of heighten expectations clashing with the reality of desert star gazing. But in reality it was only the well-heeled or coastal connected that got to hang out with the stars. For the average visitor Palm Canyon Drive was just a welcome respite from the normalcy back home even while it harbored high hopes for seeing one of their favorite stars on the sidewalk instead of in the sky.

 

Over the last several years Palm Springs has slowly regained its panache. The town is now a happening place once again. After years of economic stagnation and entertainment limbo Palm Springs has risen like a Phoenix once again. But it’s no longer your parents or grandparents vacation spot.

Palm Springs is fast becoming just about the hippest hot spot this side of Brooklyn, Silver Lake and West Hollywood. West Coast hipsters, designers, remodelers, artists, musicians and actors are all rediscovering what their forefathers knew all along. That washing the warm sun over blue pools with a healthy shot of alcohol can bring out a hedonistic nature in the best of us.

The city is even carving up areas of the town and giving them distinct labels such as SOPS (South of Palm Springs) and the Uptown Art and Design District. While the hint of change had been in the air for a long time, it took the turnover of an old motel to kick-start the entire process. Most observers would agree that it was the conversion of an old Howard Johnson motel on Palm Canyon Drive into the new hip ACE hotel that became the catalyst for the hipsters to start coming to town. Now there is a whole cache of hotels and motels changing hands and branding themselves as ‘hip.’

The Hacienda Pool and Swim Club claims to be a sun lover’s paradise during the day and a posh Vegas-style lounge act at night. The Curve just changed hands after years as a tired old Ramada Inn. Their new owners are promising big changes.

                                               

The ACE comes replete with its well-earned reputation as a hipster hangout.

The Saguaro is distinguished by its colorful paint schemes throughout the building and its grounds.

The Purple Room is considered by locals to be one of Palm Springs ‘original’ Rat Pack hangouts where Frank Sinatra would bring friends to eat, drink and carry-on.

The Parker covers thirteen lush acres and has become ‘the place’ where Hollywood hangs out during the International Palm Springs Film Festival and the rest of the year.

In the heart of downtown a new Klimpton Hotel will be the central showcase for a brand new downtown Palm Springs. The Palm Springs Art Museum continues to draw large crowds to its special exhibits.

The Uptown Design District continues to draw designers, artisans and other enthusiasts of modern style with shops that reflect this growing interest in Mid-Century Modern furnishings, clothing, art, lighting and accessories.

There is still something magical about the surrounding mountains, desert scape, warm winter months, and hip happenings all over town. Palm Springs is now a virtual cornucopia of cultural, artistic, sexual, musical and intellectual stirrings for just about everyone from the most ballsy art culture-types to the more modest of minds. It all seems to be happening here.

It’s a new era for Palm Springs and I’m lucky enough to be ‘stuck in the middle’ of it.