Martin Luther King Day and My Dream for America

Christine feeding Mama Cat and Romeo

On this important date in history I am reminded how conflicts spark leading to violence and wars due to prejudice. Basically due to ignorance.

We know the stories in history of people belittled, degraded, attacked, unfairly treated in social, commercial, political and legislative aspects just because of the color of their skin or their religion or country of origin.

As a white, highly-educated female born and raised in the United States, I never imagined I would be a target of prejudice. And yet it has happened in recent years. Yes, I've been the subject of awkward glances, snickering, and verbal assault.  Why? Because I have a dream. I am a cat woman. In other words, I care for homeless, outdoor cats. But mostly because I have chosen to EDUCATE the mass public about the plight of homeless pets, especially the soaring number of cats.  To use my voice for the voiceless. Had I quietly gone about just feeding cats, my life would remain the same. Pets are a man's best friend and cats are the most common pet, outnumbering dogs in the U.S. Yet when they are abandoned, dumped in the street, multiplying, suffering, they are viewed as rodents.  This is far from the truth.

I soon learned that educating people about a concept riddled with misconceptions launched me into the battle of my life.

Thankfully, today came along, and I'm reminded how Martin Luther King fought against racism with powerful words, public marches-- both peaceful means.  Then I glanced at binders of books lined on my bookshelf of other heroes or rather heroines who fought also with the power of speech for their causes.  One was a little old lady, a widow, with no political connection or any measurable wealth who single handedly fought against deep-pocket developers, went to  Congress and in 1979 and saved the Art Deco buildings in South Beach from being demolished. The are artistic and have history.  Her name was Barbara Capitman. Today I honor that through my own business of offering Art Deco Walking Tours.  Then there is Marjory Stoneman Douglas, another little old lady who became an activist at the age of 70+ and fought to save the Florida Panthers and the Everglades.  These were women of vision and conviction.  Sure Barbara Capitman was called the Crazy Art Deco Lady and I can only imagine what they must have called Marjory Stoneman Douglas.  These figures, heroes remind of the phrase "One person can make a difference".  While my goal remains undeterred I pray others will join me sooner than later to make a difference and save lives. To lessen the suffering of animals and humans.

As Robin Roberts on Good Morning America so eloquently said this morning, "today is a reminder to use our voice, a day of service". So I will.

If you care to join me or learn about homeless pets, visit www.riverfrontcats.com

Deborah Barnes--mother, author, hero!

It is said that the best movies of the year are released in December, to top off all other movies of the previous eleven months. Well the same can be said of books. I had the privilege to read and write a review before the official release of The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey.

In today's gloomy world beset by a beleaguered economy, one is uplifted through the dark clouds to the radiant sun by the ordinary. Deborah Barnes is an extra-ordinary person, well almost. She's not a Nobel winning scientist, a war hero, or a reality-series celebrity. Deb is a divorced mother of two sons, in her fifties, who like many of us, lost her job but unlike many, she fought her way back thanks to the lessons of her furry children-- her two, three, seven cats!

She is like many unknown, unsung heroes, everyday people,  who clawed her way back to the top.  By leveraging her knowledge, her hard work ethic and an inner strength, Deb regained steady footing and reached her long-ago dream--becoming an author.  What I admire most about Deb is that during her darkest moments, she did not despair, thanks to her cats.  In this rough economy, some pet owners first relinquish their pets, anything to lessen a financial burden. Deb Barnes instead watched and learned from her cats, pets that were content with a little food and affection. Their world was complete and happy.

This is a valuable lesson that we can learn from others less fortunate and that we should give what we need.

Deb inspires me. In reading her book, The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey, I felt we were kindred spirits. Committed cat ladies with a greater cause--to overturn the misperceptions of cats through education. Deb accomplished this with her book. But it's the journey to her goal that makes her a heroine in my eyes. I love stories of ordinary people who are really extraordinary.

This holiday season and New Year, if you're looking for a good book to read, one that combines real life challenges and uplifting humor and hope with a happy ending, then here it is! Thank you for supporting a budding author!

Merry Christmas & Happy, Blessed New Year
Christine

Halloween 2011

Christine and Johnny Walker

Creativity, fun, camaraderie, sweet treats--those spell out my favorite holiday--Halloween!

Yes how I love dressing in costume and not be myself. This time the opposite happened. I exposed myself, took off my mask of Christine Michaels and showed my true colors, my inner essence and unleashed the animal in me.

Ok so much buildup when you probably guessed my not-so-secret secret. I was Sexy Cat Lady the honorary title bestowed on me by the neighborhood. So if you guessed Cat Woman--you were heading in wrong direction--she was one of the villains in the Batman series. I'm a heroine--or hope to be!

At my office, I went solo and used the occasion to elevate, celebrate and educate the ignorant about the beauty, grace and intelligence of Black Cats. Yes my goal is to turn around the misperceptions of the black cat. So I furiously worked on creating posters of stunning black cats to cover and grace my wall and cubicle "windows". For effect--I brought Johnny Walker, a foster black cat. Was he scared? Of course not! Johnny welcomes humans greeting him like a king. He behaved well and walked around with his striking diamond collar and leash. For the rest of the day he napped on his cat bed under my desk and woke up a few times to ensure I was working diligently (guess who's the new boss?) and turned around for a different sleeping position.

The good news is that more and more retailers are NOT making "scary black cat" fixtures, decor as America is learning that black cats and dogs are the least adopted and the most euthanized. Halloween hurts their image and chances for a furrever home. We still have a long way to go.

Black cats are graceful, elegant and intelligent!



Poster 1




Poster 2



Poster 3



Desk display--diamond frame requesting donations. Video: myths about black cats,
and book about Homer





Statue of Egyptian Goddess Bast--a Black female cat
Adorned with encircle 5 diamonds (yes these are from my home)




Posters covering cubicle windows



Signed photo of Christopher Coppola and Biker Cat



Gypsy--one of the cat models that strutted down catwalk of Black Cat Gala



My new vanity license plate!



Homer is famous black BLIND cat from Miami
Now resides in NYC. Survived 9/11 after 3 days without food




Christine Cat Lady with Calex, the Matador!



Today's my Birthday, a New Stage Begins

It's my birthday!  So what celebratory fanfare marked this special day? Well today the weather was atypical and intermittent rain showers kept me indoors--a welcoming change. Often on the run, juggling three jobs and a semblance of a social life, I decided to stay in and just do nothing. Breakfast in bed, feet up (could use a foot massage), reading birthday emails and answering birthday phone calls absorbed my morning and early afternoon.  Aah, to be remembered and feel loved. Too bad there aren't more days celebrating a single person.

So October 9, 2011 was a day of relaxation, reflection and gratitude.  Gazing through my glass doors and beyond my balcony, the city of Miami lay there before me.  What an incredible view.

Today I give thanks for my health, my job, my family and friends and the ability to balance it all. I also gave thanks for the opportunity to give. Does that sound silly? My volunteer work for helping homeless cats (and dogs) has been the most rewarding experience of my life. I knew this was the beginning of new stage in my life.

Then I begin to reflect on goals for the coming year. Or am I suppose to do that on New Year's Eve?
Doesn't matter.  I'm in charge of my life! (The advantage of being single). So I made a big decision at the unmemorable age of 43. While it's not cemented and I'm in the research phase, I've decided to create a 501c3 nonprofit organization, to expand on my efforts in raising awareness of the plight of homeless cats and reverse the trend.

There are several wonderful nonprofit organizations focused on rescuing cats and dogs from the streets and from euthanasia at the overcrowded shelter and conducting TNR (trap-neuter-return). We are at war and a small army of dedicated volunteers are in the trenches doing their part.

Something is missing. I recall the book Three Cups of Tea. In the US war against Afghanistan, author Greg Mortenson leads us to the powerful solution--education. After a mountain climbing accident in Pakistan, a group of villagers nurse him back to health. In his recovery he learns of the customs and challenges of the remote village.  The children, all the girls, have no education. They are forgotten. The young boys are targets for recruits of the Taliban.  Greg vows to return and build a school and he does. The village people are grateful and an average US resident becomes their hero. He becomes a change agent in the war against terrorism. Education was his weapon of choice.

In my daily routine and speaking to strangers, the average person does not know about  the epidemic of homeless pets (approximately 400,00 in Miami Dade county), the number of low-cost clinics to spay/neuter pet and stray cats and dogs ($25), and how to recognize the universal sign of a sterilized cat. Imagine if  one in every five people did? What would that mean to half of the stray kittens that die every day under the age of 8 weeks. It would reverse the cruelty and suffering of strays and homeless animal population.

So I begin my homework of the endless legal paperwork to file, the fees (amounting to at least $2,000), and the list goes on. I begin a new stage in my life! Obstacles, more hard work, sweat, tears and joy, all await me.

Steve Jobs a Legend

My heart is heavy today in learning of the passing of a great American figure, Steve Jobs, the driving force behind one of the greatest American brands and business models, Apple.

So much can be said and is being said by the media and bloggers and users of Apple products from the young to senior citizens...I imagine a new record may be set in tributes to this icon who was a visionary leader and humble at the same time. Everyone admired Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs exemplified numerous qualities. What inspired me the  most is a rare personal moment that he shared during a commencement speech at Stanford University. In referring to his ousting at Apple "When I was rejected, I was still in love".  Even though the Apple computer company pushed him out at its pinnacle (the first wave), Steve still had a passion and followed it. He still had ideas and no one, no company, nothing would stop him from following his true love. In continuing to prove his incredible talents and vision at Pixar and other companies, Apple brought him back and Apple rose to meteoric highs.

For some, coming from a lower middle class family, money is a motivator. For Steve, not lacking in basic necessities, technology occupied his fascination and motivation. At the age of 17, he even picked up the phone and called the President of Intel for computer parts.

Steve became rich not at the expense of shareholders, but with shareholders. So when he returned to Apple, he did not earn a typical six or seven figure CEO salary with gross bonuses. He was content with $1 a year. ONE DOLLAR.

Steve Jobs provided "jobs". A technology that broke new ground and found users in all age groups  demanded a premium and customers were willing to pay. He went against the grain that Internet content should be free and charged a dollar or two. But $1.99 x  the number of people who downloaded an iTune translates into HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars. Genius.

Greatness like Steve Jobs come once in a lifetime. There is DaVinci, Thomas Edison, Sam Walton, and in my adult lifetime, Steve Jobs. I am honored and will remember his words during times when I feel alone and defeated in my quest to follow my heart and make a difference.

Below is a video from ABC News recapping his life. To quote Jobs about death, as life's "single best invention of life", as a change agent, to clear out the old and bring in the new, "You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart".

Christine's Hurricane Preparation--It's Exhaustive

Well you're probably wondering why I'm writing about hurricanes when my blog is meant to be joyous. Well to that point, PREVENTION is  my middle name. As one of my strengths I want to share valuable lessons.

After listening to all the various news reports post Hurricane Irene and residents in states like Vermont that never experienced a hurricane, I decided to share my list and it's more than your usual canned food, batteries and flashlights. As a native Floridian and having lived in Miami since 1997, I have learned from experience.  It's exhausting preparing for a hurricane but I fared better than most after Hurricane Wilma. It was disturbing to learn of residents struggling without power for three weeks.  Imagine taking cold showers or worse, not having a hair dryer or curling iron? Horrors. Yours truly invested in a battery powered generator for small appliances.  While most neighbors looked like something the cat dragged in, they would stare at me "You looked like you walked out of a salon!".  I say "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best".

1. Select a shelter that is above ground but does not require you to take an elevator or kill your knees descending 20+ flight of stairs. WHY? During hurricane Wilma that impacted Miami, it hit hardest in downtown Miami, my home.  While many buildings in Miami are supposed to have one elevator working on a generator, the fact is after Wilma, many of the NEW buildings failed when it came to functioning generator/elevator or even running water. Residents in condo highrises were forced to climb down the stairs and stay with friends or in hotels. Currently I live in a new highrise on the 39th floor. Trust me, I will be seeking refuge in my OLD condo building on the 4th floor.

2. On that note if you don't want your home smelling like a sewer, fill your bathtub with water.   You will need that water to flush your toilet and for other urgencies if there is no running water in your home or condo or apartment.

3. Unplug all devices and move any furniture or items you don't want damaged should the windows shatter. A false sense of security are hurricane shutters.  They do NOT prevent windows from shattering. They DO protect your windows from projectiles. During Hurricane Andrew, we learned that houses with shutters saw their windows explodes. Now in new buildings with hurricane "windows", don't count on them staying intact. 

4. In a condo building, camp out in the hallway corridor. That's what we always do as it's the most secure interior. In an apartment building, stay in the most interior room with no windows. Keep your cell phone with you at all times. Or bring in regular phone with long extension.

5. Invest in a regular land phone line and have old fashion phone with push buttons that don't require plugging into a wall. Who would have thought that old-fashioned technology "the land phone line" would be the only source of connection and to ask for help. Even before any hurricane strikes, cell phone usage is nonexistent. Naturally during the hurricane forget it. Cable service was also down for both television viewing and internet. Our cable service was down for a week post hurricane. Recently I made my elderly mother get a land phone line from AT&T. Yes it costs more money than the new internet based phone services but this way we can stay in touch easily. The downside, AT&T is horrific with operations. They never came out after my mother took a day off of work. It was a nightmare getting them to come out.  We are anti AT&T but they are only company that offers land line.

6. Ensure you have enough clothing, food, water for a week. This is NOT the way to lose weight.
7. Fill your gas tank! So many gasoline stations were closed after Hurricane Wilma, cars were running on fumes and fading in the middle of the road.

8. STOP AT NONFUNCTIONING TRAFFIC LIGHTS. It's amazing how many people forget the traffic laws. If you approach a traffic light that's nonfunctioning, you have to treat it as a stop sign.

9. Park your car inside an elevated concrete garage like bank building.  Plan ahead. Talk to your local building owners and ask if they would allow it for hurricanes. Too many cars are damaged  or destroyed with fallen trees or damaged from flooded rains. 

10. Make copies of important documents. Photocopy or Scan documents and store them in digital warehouse. This should be done during nonhurricane season.

11.  Never leave your pets at home. Bring them with you or drop off at secure shelter for pets. If they accompany you, bring plenty of pet food, water, and paper towels, disinfectant spray and plastic bags to clean up after their bathroom business while indoors during the hurricane.

12. No matter where you are staying, even in your home, have a small luggage ready with clothes and essentials in case you have to evacuate suddenly.

13. BUY RAIN BOOTS and raincoat! Most hurricanes leave behind a trail of streets converted to rivers.

14. Have playing cards and poker chips and other board games handy for long nights with no television or Internet. The silver lining in hurricane, it brought together families and neighbors and every evening was one big barbecue or dinner party! Oh yes, bottles of wine bring levity post hurricane during cleanup and recovery and the wait for power to return.

15. Invest in sternos and aluminum pans with frames to warm up foods.  Many party stores sell portable sternos. Another option is little habachi grill and charcoal with lighter fluid. Be sure to buy LONG stem matches. If you have meats in freezer or fridge, cook those first. Save dry food for later.

16. Have one or several coolers filled with ice. Even if the ice melts, you may be able to buy ice nearby and refill the cooler to keep water and drinks cool.

17. Buy battery operated radio to keep up with news.


One of the most important lessons I learned during Hurricane Wilma, while it was only a category 1, the damage and destruction was similar to a hurricane 3. Why? We are facing a double natural disaster. Microbursts or mini tornadoes spun out after Wilma.  This explained why there was no drop of rain on the streets but many windows were blown out of buildings and automobiles! This is why it's extremely important to stay away from windows, stay in interior room, stay on low floor but not ground level.

Be prepared! Be Safe!

Rob Zuckerman, Photography Exhibit at the Betsy Hotel

Robert Zuckerman, photographer and Christine Michaels, blogger

Last Sunday was a dual celebration. The exhibit of famed celebrity photographer Rob Zuckerman, and the appearance of two cast members from Charlie's Angels at the Betsy Ross Hotel in South Beach.  Which one won most attention? The exhibit! The photos that hung in the lobby, the downstairs bar/lounge and in the guestroom corridor pulled you in and one is mesmerized, addicted, reading.

The black and white photos were my favorite. Why is it they seem to tell a deeper story than a photo in color? The shades of black and grey and shadows of light all tell the story. Photographers amaze me. Robert Zuckerman has spent 20 years photographing Hollywood celebrities on film sets. His interest in his subjects later included average people.


According to Lydia Martin, Miami Herald:

Whether he’s training his lens on megawatt movie stars or taking impromptu shots of regular folks he encounters on elevators and street corners, in car rental joints and hotel corridors, photographer Robert Zuckerman is after the same thing: that fleeting, unguarded moment when the camera disappears, artifice drops and subject and shooter really start talking.

The one photo that captured this caption and also my favorite was a black and white of Morgan Freeman. Quiet, pensive, a million miles away. What occupies is mind?

Zuckerman’s presence behind the lens won’t be denied in the low-light portrait of Will Smith, caught in a wistful, weary moment at the end of a gray day spent shooting a new album cover.

So how does he do it? Is it practice perfected? Is it Science?

Zuckerman learned early on that a mild-mannered style always trumps an in-your-face stance when you’re trying to get people to drop their guard in front of a contraption that can come across as obtrusive, impolite, even thieving. That low-key approach is critical for a photographer who values emotional content above anything else he might be able to capture with his cameras.

“I think with anything you do, the intention you put behind it resonates in the results. It’s not something you can easily put into words, or teach to someone else, but if you have the intention of finding a glimpse of someone’s true character, that somehow comes through. It’s like magic. Or alchemy. It’s about a connection you can make, even for a moment, with another human being.” [Miami Herald, August 22, 2011]

How does a photographer capture that look, that mystery, the essence? I have to agree, it's alchemy.  Probably a little practice too. His subjects are treated the same, both celebrities and average Joes.

Robert Zuckerman's series Hindsight is on exhibition throughout the Betsy Hotel on Ocean Drive--the colonial building at the end of a row of Art Deco Hotels.

Downstairs lounge Betsy Hotel

Christine sits and drinks champagne on velvet sofa in downstairs lounge

When asked which celebrity was surpisingly cooperative and which was difficult, Zuckerman actually names names! Read the complete article in the Miami Herald.