Glory

Prism over Sleepy Hollow.

In which we leave Laguna Beach to eavesdrop at a movie theater

Maybe "eavesdrop" is too strong a word. The public was invited to "listen in"at Corona del Mar's Port Theater on Thursday night as three fascinating people shared thoughts on overcoming obstacles with an audience of residents from Friendship Shelter. This resilient, well-managed nonprofit provides services and shelter to homeless adults and is celebrating its 25th year. Not content to simply have a party, its innovative staff came up with a constructive, educational element. "Speaking of..." is the theme for a speaker series aimed at giving shelter residents food for thought; this one was called "Speaking of Conquering Mountains." 

The first speaker, Santina Davies, made a misstep while hiking on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, and tumbled 160 feet. Athletic and trim, she spent the next six years in painful rehabilitation, after suffering lacerations to her head and face, a collapsed lung, broken wrists and–worse–a severed spinal column. She was airlifted, unconscious, her lungs filling with blood, and spent seven weeks in a Cape Town hospital before she was allowed to fly home to the U.S. Doctors told her she would likely never walk again. Determined not to spend life in a wheelchair, Santina gritted it out, promising herself she would do all she could to walk again. Her message to the rapt audience: "Never give up on yourself. Never."Through intense pain, dark moods, and innumerable hours of relearning movement, she walked confidently – in a beautiful pair of black Tod's high-heels – to and from the chair at the front of the room for her interview with Mark Miller, director of programs at Friendship Shelter. In closing, Mark asked her about her new challenge she learned about just this week. Santina disclosed that she is battling breast cancer; surgery is set for a few weeks from now.

When she walked back to her seat, she received a standing ovation.

Santina Davies and Paola Porrini-Bisson in 2009. 

Next up was Santina's close friend, another strong, Italian-born woman, Paola Porrini-Bisson, a Laguna Beach realtor turned film producer. In introducing her short film, The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars, she reminded guests to set a goal and reach it, "Whatever you want to do, work toward it. I did it, even with a strong accent." Her 30-minute film, based on a story by famed Italian writer Erri DeLuca, chronicled a nuanced victory of two heart surgery patients who vowed in the hospital to meet again and go rock climbing together in the Dolomites to celebrate their recovery. The film itself is a victory; starring Nastassja Kinski, Julian Sands, and Enrico Lo Verso, with an appearance by DeLuca, it was short-listed for an Academy Award, and two weeks ago won at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Julian Sands and Nastassja Kinski in Nightshift

Capping the evening was more physical mountain climbing as Dr. James Doti, president of Chapman University, shared his other life - that of an adventurer who has climbed six of the world's peaks, including the South Pole's Mt. Vinson in 2009. He showed photos of the ascent to the top of the 16,067 peak, and advised listeners that "When it's easy, mistakes are made. If you let your guard down when the path seems less arduous, that's when you are most at risk." He related the story of one of his climbing partners, Suzanna Derby, who was completely prepared for the challenging Mt.Vinson expedition, but lost two fingers to frostbite on what should have been like a walk in the park on a domestic mountain because she did not adequately prepare for low temperatures. 

Dr. Jim Doti and Suzanna Derby plant the Chapman flag on Mt. Vinson

Stay tuned as more "Speaking of..." talks will be announced by Friendship Shelter later this year. You'll want to eavesdrop....er, listen in.

Move it or lose it: How Sandy Weiss turned 80 wearing Lycra and a feather boa

Three times a week at 8:30 a.m., Dr. Sandy Weiss can be found moving to the beat of Beyonce, Devo, and One Direction in Karen Hogenauer's Jazzercise class. The Lagunan caught up with her to get the story of how an 80-year-old can look somehow so appropriately attired in snug black Lycra and, on this day, a tiara and purple feather boa.

As soon as she speaks, you know that Sandy was born and raised in Brooklyn, attending high school and college within a three-block radius. She earned her bachelor's degree in education from Brooklyn College, and at 33, her master's at Long Beach State and, at 59, her Ph.D. in psychology from California Graduate Institute. The gaps between college degrees can be attributed to her marriage at 18 to her first husband and subsequently raising four children who share the surname Cohn. Sons Bruce and Alan  are both doctors in northern California; daughter Susan, a licensed clinical social worker and marriage and family therapist, has an office in Laguna Beach, and Steve is an attorney who lives in Laguna Beach with wife Jacquie and two of Sandy's seven grandchildren, their daughters Molly and Abby.

Sandy works with cancer patients at Mission Hospital's Cancer Support Community twice a month, a change from the 20 hours a week she used to put in there. It is the largest psycho-social support network internationally. Shanti Orange County is another of Sandy's professional passions. Her therapist daughter had worked with a group there, and soon after she left, Sandy began facilitating support groups for HIV patients. In addition, Sandy can be found at the Laguna Beach Community Clinic holding a group session for men with AIDS/HIV every Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.

All that accumulated wisdom is also available to clients that Sandy sees in her home as part of her private clinical practice.

"I call it kitchen table therapy," she grins.

At age 65, Sandy had been separated from her first husband for two months when she met Leon Weiss, a dermatologist who is now a 77-year-old retiree. They married seven years later. Together they recently attended Leon's 50th medical school reunion at USC. Sandy jokes, "I had to marry a younger man who could keep up with me." 

How does Sandy do it? What's her secret to being such a vibrant, busy, strong, healthy person with enviable abs at age 80?

"Obviously diet and exercise are an important part of staying energetic and healthy," Sandy said, noting that she is mostly a vegetarian, uses 5-lb. weights in the Jazzercise class she takes three times a week, and faithfully attends Carl Brown's free outdoor yoga class in the park at Treasure Island. She swears by her qi gong class, a Chinese regimen of movement, sustained stretching, acupressure and meditation.

"Oh, and I have a group of friends I get together with to play mah-jongg," Sandy adds. "Most important is having an attitude of gratitude. When I start feeling down, I do what I teach other people to do – to tap into the left brain and think about one's blessings in order to stay on an even keel."

Jazzercise teacher Karen Hogenauer honored her star student, Dr. Sandy Weiss.

Positive thinking, staying physically and intellectually active, maintaining friendships and family ties, and involvement in her community have helped Sandy remain a vivacious, energetic person. The newly minted octogenarian moved to the beat and was celebrated by her adoring Jazzercise classmates and teacher early one recent Tuesday (video below).

Fiesta Autentico at the Woman's Club for the Crosscultural Council

There are at least three fundraisers happening in town on Sunday, May 5. It's an easy day to remember and a festive entertaining theme, even if few are convinced of its true importance in Mexican history.  This one caught my eye because it's authentic – Mexican families in a partying mood will be out in force at one of the few social events where various levels of Laguna's demographic strata can mix and mingle, eat and drink–and support an important cause for little outlay. Just $10 gets you in at the Woman's Club of Laguna Beach, kids free. (Amazing) tacos, beer, and wine will be available for purchase. 

"Our Cinco de Mayo party is usually very fun in a midwestern-church-basement-party way.  Very eclectic and homespun," noted Crosscultural Council member and artist Sheryl Seltzer.

The  South County Crosscultural Council was started 20 years ago to help Laguna Beach residents bridge their cultural differences to form a more cohesive community. The Council's two projects are La Playa, an English-as-a-Second-Language school with free childcare housed at the Boys and Girls Club of Laguna Beach, and the Laguna Day Worker Center on Laguna Canyon Road, where contractors and homeowners can find reliable, honest, and hardworking employees. Although a portion of its budget comes from the City of Laguna Beach, the council's members must fundraise to meet the other half of its annual budget. 

There are bigger, fancier, higher-ticket parties for equally wonderful causes on Sunday; this one's the real deal for a group that does specific, important work in our town. Please support it. 

An Unhealthy Obsession

Americans have an unhealthy obsession with their cell phones, according to the National Safety Council. Don't we know it. If you are a curious driver, as I am, you just have to get a peek at the driver of that weaving, slowing, sporadically braking vehicle ahead of you on the road. Almost without fail, the driver is preoccupied with a little device, sending or receiving a message that must be far more important than road safety.

The Laguna Beach Police Department has announced it will be ticketing people who are texting or holding a cell phone while driving on April 3 and 16 as part of April's Distracted Driving Awareness Month campaign.

When was that again? APRIL 3 AND 16 - but - don't please do it anytime! You're four times more likely to get into a wreck, and your reaction time is slower than a driver with a .08 blood alcohol level, the legal intoxication limit.

I predict the NSC isn't going to let it rest there. If I'm correctly reading between the lines on their poster below, they are not just targeting texting drivers. Driving while talking on a mobile device - even hands-free - seems to be next up for a crackdown.

So be ultra careful out there, and remember that when you're driving you are the sole captain of a large, heavy, powerful, metal, plastic, and glass machine moving at a rate through space that can cause irreparable damage while you're searching for the right emoticon.

And we're back!

Music, art, dance, culture, film, people, issues, politics, food, community activities and events. I'll be posting about these topics and more on The Lagunan.

The Lagunan is about the cross-pollination of ideas, an invitation to consider, open up to, participate in, be surprised by and drink in the area's many offerings and the people with whom you share it.

Relevant comments and photos taken at events are welcome.  If you send me a tip, I may post about it.

Let the interplay begin.

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