Schaefer's Millennium 3

Frogs and Fresh Faces: Around and about South Florida

2012-01-16T15:23:00.007-05:00

Large Tree Frog at Boca Town Center Art Fair

Each year around this time the Art Fair circuit begins in South Florida. I enjoy these events for their free entertainment value. There is always great people watching and of course, interesting arts and crafts to behold. This past Saturday, after my early morning outing to Pompano’s Green Market (see entry above), my friend Nitza and I headed to the infamous, Boca Raton, a city that is a destination for many Northern East Coast Jewish individuals, popularized in an 80s television sitcom, The Nanny. As is the case with many affluent enclaves, there are expressions such, “Achieving Boca.” I enjoy Boca Raton for many reasons: the Boca Museum of Art is top of the list, and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has a sprawling, intriguing campus there, too, complete with the iconic Living Room Theater featuring top notch foreign and art films and a great little cafe that serves you in your cushy, overstuffed leather seat during the film, if you so choose.

Mizner Park is Boca’s true ‘town’s center’ fashioned after a Spanish Plaza and home to countless retail shops and upscale restaurants, not to forget its amphitheater which features live outdoor concerts, many free, all season long.

However, the Art Fair is held in the parking lot of a refurbished shopping mall just a stone throw from its grown-up, indoor upscale galleria cousin, Boca Town Center with anchor department stores like Nordstrom’s and Saks Fifth Avenue. Of all the art fairs I’ve attended in South Florida since moving here, this one is the least stressful. Set in a parking lot, it’s highly navigable, with wider lanes between the art booth stalls, and it is less frantic, somehow, than others which typically line existing retail streets such as the one on Las Olas Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale that is extremely difficult to explore.

I purchased a very small curved photo frame in silver with ceramic details to hold a newly found photo of the 16-year-old me. But my favorite object of this fair was the large tree frog shown above just waiting to hop onto someone’s garden wall. I’ve got a thing for frogs.

The evening was still young so Nitza and I headed over to the Boca Town Center where we happily munched on falafel sandwiches in pita bread from Maoz, a food chain founded in Amsterdam (go figure) featuring Israeli tidbits. From there we meandered through the mall coming upon an Aveda Store where I needed a product. There we met the charming Samantha who gleefully offered to doll us up at her make-up counter.

Samantha from Aveda dabs Nitza

Nitza, Samantha and Susan ready for a night on the town

We were game and had a great time as Samantha transformed us. I have an affinity for Aveda products having spent 16 years in the Twin Cities where its founder, Horst, held court. Aveda stores always offer an oasis of calm in the frenetic shopping world.

Well, glowing with new glamour that we agreed we couldn’t waste, we headed on the Boca Blue Martini for totally free drinks thanks to my “VIP” membership and an old coupon! There, as we sipped our traditional and Pomegranate Martinis, we were regaled by a live Frank Sinatra sound-alike, enjoyed a happy hour snack and figured out that our whole day out cost each of us less than $15 apiece! Not bad for a whole day’s entertainment.

Okay, so next comes the book, South Florida on $15 a day!

Pompano Beach Green Market

2012-01-14T12:41:00.005-05:00

FUN

Even on a chilly morning by Florida standards, with clouds and temps hovering in the mid-60s, the Pompano Beach Green Market was a happening place. Even the Italian Ice stand had customers!

The market’s proper name is GreenMarket Pompano Beach, and it began its ninth season in October 2011, continuing until April. Located in the city's historic downtown, at Flagler Avenue and NE First Street, the Market is open every Saturday from 8AM to 1PM. It is a collaboration between the Pompano Beach Historical Society and the Pompano Beach CRA (Community Redevelopment Authority) which is busy with a few ambitious projects to make Pompano Beach a more vibrant place to live, work, play and vacation in.

FOOD

Here are from L to R: Natasha and Nicolle , the 27 year-old twins of Nina Minnerly who runs Inika foods, a local catering business that features a healthy menu. Inika means "little earth" in Sanskrit, and their website explains that while we live in a ‘small world’, by trying new types of foods and experiences we open ourselves for a vaster experience. Nice philosophy and tasty food. I like their Japanese Udon noodles, Samosas and Spinach pies. Plus the twins couldn’t be better ‘global’ representatives.

Hi, I’m no stinker! Skunk in his cozy human’s pouch

WILDLIFE!

Well, each Saturday the Green Market tries to host a special event. Today, the special guests were adorable skunks who are up for adoption. No kidding. These cuddly critters and their human friends were there to explain that skunks do indeed make good, albeit high maintenance, pets. The Florida Skunk Rescue has more information about these four footed furry friends.

I’m trying to explore my ‘new’ community more deeply. There is a lot to see and do here in sunny South Florida, and as I continue to emerge from the fog of my former trauma of losing Martijn and uprooting myself to an entirely new region, I’m enjoying the bounty here.

Hugo film falls flat

2011-12-17T13:45:00.003-05:00

For all the attention to dimension Hugo falls flat
A review by Susan Schaefer

Award winning book: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

I love fantasy and fairy tales – I’m one of those adults who borrows my friends’ children to see the likes of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Disney remakes on the big screen. I write children’s books, poems and stories, and have an abiding respect for the genre.

So the release of Martin Scorsese’s holiday blockbuster, Hugo, found me ready to be transported to the wondrous world of suspended disbelief, magic and three-dimensionality.

Even from the eye-popping opening scene, resplendent with its animated, cinematic sweep through the streets of 1931 Paris and into the heart and mechanics of the train station clone of the magnificent Gare du Nord, I sensed a mental ‘white noise’ – perhaps an overstimulation of the visual cortex that instantly interfered with the essential heart of this story. And it is story that desperately strives to touch our hearts – should touch them.

New Jersey native and author of Hugo, Brian Selznick

Scorsese’s Hugo does not render the true dimensionality evoked by The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the source of this film, written and illustrated by New Jersey native, Brian Selznick. While his five hundred plus page book is impossible to classify, told as it is in words with nearly three hundred pages of illustration, the illuminated epic releases the imagination by slowly and dazzlingly unfolding in true storytelling style. Scorsese kowtows to technology.

Storytelling on film is always a challenge. Who thought that Peter Jackson would be able to take Tolkien’s epic and translate just the right elements to arouse the wonder of Middle Earth? But he did. And even with various directors, the Harry Potter series shares the same critical accolades. Storytelling hinges on character development and identification. For Hugo to succeed at its most elemental level – engaging our hearts – we need all of our senses working in tandem. Although each of the film’s disparate parts are fascinating, even excellent, the film story just never gels. Wiz bang 3D effects, stunning camera work, great story line, and excellent acting simply don’t combine as one cohesive, charmed movie confection. Our hearts are never fully engaged.

As is proper for a fable released at a season known for productions of redemption, such as A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, or the ever popular, It’s a Wonderful Life, Hugo simply doesn’t evoke the requisite passion. Instead of magic Hugo verges on maudlin.

It is hard to pinpoint what renders the film so flat – filled as it is with such revolutionary visual effects, and themes of love and friendship between individuals and across generations, redemption, purpose, and a tantalizing fascination with the history of film. But Hugo remains a clever special effects film populated by “A” list actors and interesting historical references.

In another childhood classic tale, Pinocchio, the little woodenheaded puppet is touched by Blue Fairy’s star-tipped wand and turned into a real boy. In Hugo, the “real” boy is touched by Martin Scorsese’s wand and rendered as much an automaton as his mechanical movie friend. Ironically, a key to this tale is a heart shaped key and the connections it unlocks. Scorsese needed a better locksmith for Hugo.

Bob Ingram’s Visit: A former husband is an enduring friend

2011-12-06T14:57:00.007-05:00

Suze and Bob rejoin on Pompano Beach at Light House Cove, 11/28/11

Bob takes in the sea breezes and salt air with Light House Point in distance

I guess we’re making a winter visit a tradition as my dear ex-husband, Bob Ingram, and I now mark his second annual visit to my Pompano Beach home. We planned this one to include a long, four-night trip to Bob’s old haunt in Key West. Bob stayed there off and on for a few years and a long time ago, during our time as a couple, we had a stay there as well. This trip, though, Bob had hoped to find his friends, Suzie and Martha DePoo of the famous Key West DePoos, but no such luck. Suzie, well into her 90s had recently passed, and Martha no longer made the Keys her home. They are both part of a famous art family. Martha’s work is really lovely.

Bob gives a thumb’s up to the great Mile Marker 88 Restaurant, a fantastic recommendation from my neighbor Allan.

We left for Key West on Tuesday, the 29th, with perfect, albeit breezy weather and great traffic. I drove. This is a big deal. Since Martijn died I developed a sort of phobia, along with my grief and depression, about driving. This is the longest drive I’ve ever made, and with Bob’s boisterous but welcome banter I found the trip effortless.

We had a great mid-way destination, Marker 88 Islamorada’s gourmet restaurant with it’s killer views and friendly wait staff. We made it from my door - exactly 200.5 miles on the nose - to the Herron House, booked through Expedia, in about 5 hours.

Poolside, Heron House B & B

Poolside looked great but it was the old bait and switch for us! The first room they offered, I guess the Expedia penalty room, was dark, dank and dismal. My heart sank. Eventually we got the little hovel room in the back, one click up from a motel room and with a horrible odor! We made the most of our situation, but I knew there was no way I would last there for four nights.

That first afternoon we walked everywhere, searching for the Bob’s old haunts. After a pretty ambitious loop, we discovered The Gardens Hotel, literally one street away from our B & B, and across the street from one of Bob’s treasured haunts, his friend Chris’ old house where Bob used to stay. Now this is THE SPOT. We tried to change but knew we were unable to get out of our reservation. Alas. As a consolation, we were invited to wander the brilliant gardens, ergo the name, and as our tour guide had a rather affable drunk who claimed to be JRR Tolkein’s cousin. Never mind. We loved this place and if I go back, it’s the spot for me. We happened to find, quite by accident a remarkable Italian restaurant for dinner, La Trattoria, and we were transported from our ‘housing’ misery by an exquisite dinner worthy of Italy herself. Thereafter, accidental tourists that we were, we came upon the newly refurbished Tropic Cinema, an extraordinary homage to real theaters, where we saw the creepy film, "martha marcy may marlene,” which I could have done without.

The next day we jam packed with walking, more great eating, and a ride on the cute Conch [pronounced konk, as in konk on the head] bus which gave us a great hour-an-a-half downtown to the Southern Most Point tour. We were drawn back to The Gardens Hotel where by chance we had drinks with Kate Miano, the wonderful owner. She referred us to a local eatery where we had yet another fabulous meal.

Bob and I had agreed that two nights were reasonable for this trip, so we pulled out of Key West on Thursday, hoping that Herron House management would let Expedia know they agreed to let us out of the contract. We’ll see... fingers crossed.

Spidey Man on Sitar, Duval Street, Key West

Conch Republic Headquarters, Simonton Street, Key West

Errick Johnson at Blue Jean Blues

Our trip back was quick, with good weather, some nice pit stops, and we went for an early dinner and show at my favorite local watering hole here, Blue Jean Blues, where the young and extremely talented Errick Johnson counted as Bob and my favorite part of our week together. Check our Errick’s website and if you can, catch him.

Friday found us at the Boca Art Museum and an exhibit of Federico Uribe. Wild creativity. For this exhibition, Uribe constructed most of his works from shoe laces, and various Puma sneaker parts, from insoles to soles to grommets.

Puma Palm

Sneaker Gazelle

Book Tree

Saturday we had a grand tour of Miami’s Lincoln Road and South Beach courtesy of our next door neighbors, Sharon and Allan Schatten with yet another fabulous dinner at YUCA, Young Urban Cuban American right on Lincoln Road.

Sunday I was busy preparing for my first official party, hosting a bevy of my neighbors for a backyard evening. Everyone brought a dish to share, the weather was perfect and the party was a success.

L to R: Cindy, Barbara, Allan, Sharon and Bob

The week drew to too soon a close with Monday evening bringing us to the Hard Rock Cafe and a concert by Philadelphia’s own, Hall & Oats. Bob is now en route back to his Wildwood by the Sea home, and I’m headed off to a Holiday Party from my Master Gardener Group.

Remembering Mickey Specter Farley

2011-11-19T09:18:00.006-05:00

Susan, Bobby Rydell, Mickey Specter

Scioli’s Nightclub, November 1964

Mickey’s 15th birthday

Remembering Mickey Specter Farley

(on her birthday)

by Susan Schaefer

Pint sized pal

First friend

You scooped me up

into your heart

While movers heaved

Daddy’s Jacobean dining room set

Up concrete steps

Into my new life -

Strawberry Mansion to

7726 Gilbert Street, Mt. Airy

Philadelphia Gothic to marvelously modern.

You stood only to my chin

Even at age seven,

But you ‘played’ like a giant

Your stature reflecting

The size of your heart.

Yup, we called you Mickey Mouse

And you spelled your name

M-I-C-K-E-Y, not the Miki

You adopted post-Japan.

And that sultry summer day in 1957

You took me into

Your Mighty Mickey giant heart

And never let me go.

First best friend

Magical Mickey

Your steadfast love

Transformed me from

Only child to sister.

I remember you

and rejoice.

November 19, 2011

Hilary Hahn: A feast for the senses

2011-11-08T15:01:00.007-05:00

Hilary Hahn

I don’t often get to sit front row center at a concert. But to see Hilary Hahn perform for the second time in my life there was no other choice. Not only was I able to witness her delicate yet powerful hands with those wrists of rope-like quality, but I was equally entranced to observe the shadows of her eye lashes skate upon her cheeks, keeping time with her sublime strokes and powerful plucks.

And oh, her spectacular gown. A shimmery pumpkin color silk resplendent with huge bursts of appliqué maroon/magenta chrysanthemums interlaced with vine twines fashioned of shimmering crystals. The magnificent flow of this strapless gown regally silhouetted the still waif-like Hahn, who at 31 could pass for 13. With her translucent alabaster skin, regal posture and chignon, Hahn seemed like she stepped from an 18th century Dutch Masters' painting.

Directly prior to the concert, my friend Richard and I attended a lecture by Wine News senior editor, Lyn Farmer, entitled Engaging the Senses: How our senses shape our perception of the world. Farmer is a masterful speaker who reminded us, the audience, to use all of our senses to enhance the experience of the music. From my front row perch this task was easy.

Hilary Hahn herself was as much a feast for the eye as was her music an aural banquet.

Most poignant for me, however, was that I first saw Hilary Hahn 20 years ago at her debut at the age of 12 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. My dear life long friends, David Meyers and Roberta Strickler, took me to this performance where I was transported with the virtuosity of this then child prodigy. So Sunday evening’s concert was not only a banquet for my senses, but a bouquet for my soul as I reflected with gratitude my long-term friendship with David and Roberta.

For a more musical commentary of this excellent albeit challenging (for audience and performer) concert, please click on David Fleshler's review in the South Florida Classical Review. By chance, I had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Fleshler during intermission, and his review captures in delightful detail the nuances of this difficult performance. There was an otherworldly quality to several of the pieces that Hahn commissioned for her ‘Encore’ series, and Flesher agreed with me that the ghostly quality of some seemed an almost ‘sad’ reflection of our unsettled contemporary climate.

Returning to Dutch Masters, I strongly encourage my Dutch friends to make an effort to see Hahn's upcoming concert this Saturday, November 12th, at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw for the Higdon Concerto: Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra with Jaap van Zweden. She is sure to please and enrapture all your senses.

Maastricht Revisited4:Visiting vs. vacation

2011-09-12T10:37:00.006-04:00

Visiting friends implies being present with them – having intent to connect, converse and hopefully deepen relations. My relationships are oxygen – my lifeblood, my center.

Moving into my third and fourth weeks here the theme for me is truly about connecting and deepening.

A few things have become apparent to me during this return trip. Surely they may have already been apparent to my many friends and family earlier. Martijn’s illness caused a major disruption in the very fabric of my soul that shattered everything and left me only enough presence to dedicate myself to him during his final months.

My European relationships were so critical to my day-to-day healing. I cocooned here in Maastricht. My family and friends here allowed stark authenticity in my grief. I now see how comfortable and valuable these relationships are.

And the place itself – Maastricht. Magical, medieval Maastricht. Where the bones of Martijn’s body lie peacefully under a verdant, Zen-like, even whimsical grave. My name and photo are linked on that reverent site. I am linked to this place as much, or more than to my other homes. And this trip has sealed that consciousness.

Trip to Amsterdam/Rotterdam

One reason for timing of my trip to the Netherlands was to catch the ninth annual free Sporenburg performance of my dear friend, Herman Rouw. Each year Herman and Ton finance this outdoor concert at the tip of the Sporenburg ‘island’ 10 minutes east of central Amsterdam as a gift to the neighborhood. This year Herman selected a number of Dutch composers for his piano recital. I asked Ingrid Regout to accompany me to Amsterdam for the performance and we made a nice weekend tour.

Ingrid and I hop a train from Maastricht to Amsterdam Central

Murder at the Lloyd! We book a room at the Lloyd Hotel located in the “eastern Docklands” where Herman will be performing on Saturday evening, September 3rd. The Hotel is tauted as incredibly forward design, but we found our room a bit over-priced and oppressive. Here’s the designer rug serving as a murder scene!

Happily we took Saturday’s summery weather and made an extensive walking tour of Amsterdam Centrum. This is Bloemengracht, where my dear friends the Soeters have moved.

Merle and Sjoerd Soeters new pad! Note the whimsical whale details at the top!

Later that evening we arrive early for Herman’s concert. Around 300+ people attended!

Herman Rouw, post concert party!

Where’s my bike? The congestion of bike parking at Amsterdam’s Central station bespeaks the dominance of the ‘fiets’ over the auto!!!

Sunday we visit the famous central library designed by my dear friend, architect Jo Coenen.

Ingrid: youth section - that way<<

Rotterdam: A visit with the Frank Family

There was yet another reason for the timing of my trip to Holland - to see Martijn’s long time, best friends from university days, Rob and Therese Frank and their family. However, the visit was bittersweet. In a terrible irony Therese has the precise cancer, anal, as Martijn had. I had spoken and corresponded often with Rob about Therese’s condition. After undergoing the same chemotherapy and radiation treatment as Martijn had, doctors recommend the same serious surgery. Rob asked if I would come visit. They were the friends Martijn asked to see just prior to his surgery, and both came often during his recovery, then decline. I spent a most wonderful day with the Frank family, catching up on our own 16-year history, and learning news from the children. The surgery has gone well and Therese is now recovering.

The Frank family in Rotterdam

Back in Maastricht
More reconnecting and deepening
My sweet Swee
Nadia at Cut Above
Jacques & Pia at Cafe Zondag
Marcel & Geri at OLV Plein
Cheers!
Friday night films outside. Oh Brother where art thou? by the Coen Brothers.
Yet another EPA reunion: Domink, me, Lyse, Lorna and Damian visit from Brussels.
My Maastricht gang: L: Bonnie, Jacques, Ursula, Bob; R: Piet, Pia, me!
Corner games at gelato shop

911: Mississippi River Remembrance

2011-09-12T03:39:00.003-04:00

This article origianlly appeared in the Op-Ed section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune on September 16, 2001. I wrote it on 9/11/01, directly after Martijn and I returned from a most unusual yet reassuring afternoon and evening of sharing our friendship, astonishment and grief with our dear friends, Mame Osteen, Tony Moses and Claudia Chaves.

We boarded Tony’s small boat in St. Paul to drift down the mighty Mississippi River on the mint blue day our country was attacked by terrorists in New York and Washington, D.C. Half a continent away, we tried to restore a sense of normalcy while we reflected upon what had happened and what was to come.

Old Man River: the mighty Mississippi rolls through the Twin Cities

Commentary: Old Man River knows the truth: Terrorists won't win Susan T. Schaefer

Published Sep 16 2001

After watching details of the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedy for hours, someone in our group suggested we unglue from the television. He offered a boat ride down the Mississippi. Not in disrespect, but in honor.

Four Seward neighbors and St. Louis Park friend headed out an a righteous old Sea Ray from the Highland Park marina. The day was as beautiful as it was sad. Neither God nor nature could have gifted a more perfect pre-autumn day.

Here we were, cruising straight down the middle of America. Down the Mississippi on the day America was attacked. If they thought they’d end life as we know it in this magnificent country, they wouldn’t succeed. Won’t succeed. We rode the waterway that defines America’s fourth coast – old man river, Mark Twain’s immortal icon.

No sooner had we eased out of the slip, a blue heron alighted on the nearby shore. Relative of the crane, a symbol of peace for many cultures, the heron became a symbol for this ride, our freedom ride. We needed a sign to assure us that this gesture, this freedom ride, was appropriate.

We passed the barges, flanking the north shore like giant tombs. We passed the infamous old house boats, which this night seemed to glow eerily with the blue haze flickers of television images.

At times we twittered endlessly, making nervous jokes as human tend to do when overwhelmed by uncharacteristic emotions.

At times no one spoke a word. Each gazing out at this rare and untamed urban landscape, lost in private reverie.

We seemed to be the only traffic anywhere – land, air or water – excepting the tugs whose lumbering procession appeared to mimic the dirges that are soon to roll down the streets of America.

The silence itself was shattering. Not a ripple of sound above as the sky pushed out her stars. And then, a sound we’d never heard – Americans accustomed to cluttered airways, unaccustomed to a breach in our way of life. High above. Military jets. On a mission. To protect the Mississippi. The sandstone cliffs. The wild-flowered shores.

At this time we should each take a personal freedom ride to honor the lives of those who cherished this majestic land, to defy those who think they’ve defiled it.

Susan T. Schaefer, a communications consultant, is an adjunct faculty member University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business, a member of Seward Neighborhood Group’s executive board and past president the Minnesota Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

Maastricht Revisited3

2011-09-01T10:55:00.009-04:00

Around the City

My second week begins by tending to administration. I must see to my old health care policy, renew my NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) national train card (now also good on the buses), see about my Dutch status and telephone contract! Still, a nice walking tour of my old city.

Ubiquitous fiets (bikes) at the Central Station Maastricht.

Onze Lieve Vrouw (our beloved lady), the goddess of Maastricht. She shed a light of light in the dark days of Martijn’s illness.

Here I am with my dear friend, Ingrid Regout, who was the administrator in charge of our Master’s Program back in my ‘student’ days in 2004-2005.

Jens, my knight in shining armor. Dear friend and fellow student from my EPA Masters, now living in Aachen, Germany took me to a favorite tapas bar for great food and conversation.

As Jens walked me back to Ursula’s we got a great laugh: the butcher across the street places these cute penguins for an evening display! Brrrr! Cold meat inside.

Tuesday night I take a night walk, remembering the cozy terraces - here at Onze Lieve Vrouw Plein, lit for the evening.

Also on OLV Plein is my old academy for staying European Public Affairs and Administration, EIPA!

I worked for a year at ECDPM, the European Centre for Development Policy Management, working on their strategic communications plan and writing their Annual Report.

Behind OLV Cathedral springs what? A gelateria with a very red interior!!!

Ice Cream Catacombs anyone?

The old wall with battlements.

An interesting view of the pedestrian bridge arch.

A Late Summer Day at Pia’s

Pia lives in a small village just above Maastricht on the way to Valkenburg, Berg en Terblijt, is hilly and comfortable. We enjoy a sunny, warm day, good food, great conversation, a trip to the vet with the bunnies, and nice time with her sons Sebastian and Pieter.

The sun bath. Soft and welcoming we fall upon the pink and laze the day away!

Uh oh, bunny shots!

Pia prepares a Jamie Oliver crispy chicken feast.

Pia and Pieter

Off to the school the Dutch way

Pia comes to my aid helping uproot an Red Maple that didn’t survive. In its place we plant Salix caprea (Goat Willow, also known as the Pussy Willow or Great Sallow), a common species of willow native to Europeand western and central Asia , Martijn would love the fuzzy pussy willow buds.

Frogs forever frolicking.

Maastricht Revisited2

2011-08-30T11:39:00.004-04:00

What greater luxury is there than to have time? Time to think, time to be, time to be present, time to truly converse, to be present with another/others. I am indulging in this luxury for now. My return to my ‘other’ city on the River Maas has been flowing at a leisurely pace. Unhurried, unhurried. How much of my former life was spent rushing from ‘pillar to post’! Like so many, I valued myself over how busy I was, how many appointments and duties I had. Thus, I am cherishing the liquidly unreality of simply being back in this medieval town where so much of my present life has unfolded.

The quality of my time is here is rich. My friends and family here converse about ‘charged’ topics. Politics and poverty, immigration and discrimination, finance and food are typically discussed with rich nuances. People here consider art and culture - full stop. The word consider is the loaded verb of the last sentence. The shape of that or the color of this. Its placement and so on are customary topics. The value of things are not talked about with a focus on what a thing costs, but what it contributes, either to life or well-being. Okay, not all the time, but I love the worldliness and interest in the world that my friends here illicit. The word civilized comes to mind.

And so I happily meet, greet, eat and talk with dear friends, family and acquaintances, easily falling into one of the multiple side walk cafes or restaurants. And so it goes.

Ursula with friend Tom on his terrace in Huegem.

Ursula along the Maas River by the Province House.

Pia’s home in Berg en Terblijt, just outside Maastricht.

Pia and friends cooking it up for her 50th birthday celebration.

Indira and Rob with me at Selexyz Bookstore for our mini-EPA Masters reunion.

Indira, Rob and I in front of our old faculty at Grote Gracht 82.

My sister-in-law, Irma, at an exhibit at the Timmerfabric in Maastricht. Big cups!

Irma and Jan, a moment of marital bliss.

De familie: Irma, Jan and nephew Tjeiu, on a terrace in Maastricht.

Maastricht Revisited

2011-08-22T11:12:00.007-04:00

Ten months ago I left Maastricht to settle into a new home in Pompano Beach, Florida in the extreme south of the US. Now I've returned to this medieval town that takes its name from the Maas River which it straddles to reconnect with friends, family and surroundings. My first days have rolled like the river - simply flowing organically.

Bob W. kindly made the almost three-hour drive to meet me at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

Why have a clock when St. Maarten's Steeple shines into your window? Night time view from Ursula's window.

Just down the block from Ursula's is the luscious La Luna gelato bar.

Magical Maastricht at twilight, looking westward from Wyck, across the River Muese (Maas).

My dear friend Pia Brand, an angel masquerading as a human.

I settled in nicely at my dear friend Ursula's flat located so conveniently on Maastricht's Wyckerbrugstraat that rolls down the center of city from the train station to the old St. Servaas Brugge that crosses the Maas River and leads to the city's heart. My beginning days have been spent reorienting, leisurely shopping and greeting well-known shop-keepers, and spending time with dear friends and family.

Bob arranged a Saturday auto excursion in the scenic Limburg rolling landscape from Maastricht, NL to Limbourg, BE, on through Eupen, BE, with a stop in historic Monschau, DE a city Martijn so wanted to take me to, continuing on to the mouth of the Rur River in the Effiel Mountains, descending through Aachen, DE and on to Vals, where we dined at a gourmet Florentine Restaurant to cap a perfect day. Vals is home of the spot called Three Points, where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany all meet.

The following day I spent in a cozy family way with Geri and Marcel, first paying a visit to Martijn's lush and dynamic graveside, so alive in this yard of final repose. Then we visited Martijn's Aunt Sybil in the little scenic village of Guelle. My cousins were around and it was a really wonderful afternoon. We stopped for dinner in Eisden, BE, at another Italian restaurant, with excellent food. Geri is just beginning to show signs of Alzheimer's which made me a bit sad.

An archaic pissoir (yes, what you think) in the French-speaking town of Limbourg, Belgium. There are three provinces of Limburg: Dutch, Belgian and German

The gate of the ancient old walled city of Limbourg, BE

The requisite Castle!

We journeyed from the Netherlands, through Belgium right on to Germany, here stopping in the ancient town of Monschau with it's timbered houses.

A Monschau street scene.

The mouth of the Rur River in the Ardenne, or Eiffel mountains.

Martijn's lush and blooming graveside.

The ever beautiful mother, Geri.

Marcel's favorite passtime, an ice cream at an open air cafe in Guelle.

From the left, Aunt Sybil, Geri, a family friend, Ivan with his mamma, Karla, Robert Jan and Marcel's torso, in the farmhouse of Aunt Sybil.

Importance of Spiritual Healing

2011-07-25T08:12:00.002-04:00

Martijn recovered miraculously from radical surgery performed to save his life in September 2007. In this very brief message taped while he was just a week out of surgery, he explains in his own distinct way, how important the messages, wishes, thoughts and prayers of all of our dear friends, family and colleagues were in aiding his recovery. Today marks three years since he left this realm, yet his indomitable spirit lives on.

Three Year Memoriam

2011-07-24T10:44:00.006-04:00

Our Parisian Honeymoon, July 1996

photo D. Sippel

Martijn died on July 25, 2008, three years ago. During these three years I have deeply and fully experienced the shock of my significant loss. Now, on the eve of this anniversary, I can say that I have passed the cocoon stage of grief's depression, emerging like a butterfly to taste the nectar of life. Previously I mused about the relationship of deep rest to depressed. Though my body has been in physical motion during this last year, relocating from my cherished Maastricht to my new home in sub-tropical Pompano Beach, my emotions continued in deep rest - allowing time to process. Now I am resurfacing. I gulp the moist air, plant gardens in Martijn's honor, create nurseries for Monarchs and Gulf Fritillary caterpillars who soar as butterflies to remind me that this is what he wanted for me.

It is time to organize and perhaps memorialize in a different way. I hope to write books, stories of loss and regeneration that at once capture the uniqueness of our love yet speak to the universality of all love.

Granted the creativity, I hope to distill and transmit to many, the quiet wisdom and profound generosity that defined Martijn's life and even his death. He managed in dying to help others feel alive and unafraid of that which we undeniably each shall experience.

Dear friends and readers, I want most of all that you know I move on a stronger, deeper, more fulfilled individual because the "Usness" Martijn so believed in is REAL. All you need do is to take quiet times, meditative moments, allowing yourself to understand that there is no life without death, no joy without sorrow, no movement without stillness. And should your life be graced with a love so transforming to be called an Usness, rejoice even when life parts you, cleaves you in twain, for the resulting pain is nothing more than a gift of memoriam. If you are in balance and can find your center, the pain will melt leaving you even more Whole as a Two in One.

I repeat here (please see: http://schaefermillennium3.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-usness.html) the translation of the final note Martijn left for me. It is a passage from his beloved philosopher, Ludwig Binswanger from which he was intending to use to complete his thesis about art and love beyond time and space. Read it slowly and rest assured love lasts:

But how are things when death does not meet

You but Me?

Even then, as your You, I am not dying;

even then the Usness in love does not decay.

I can only die as an individual, but not as the You of an I.

When I die as an individual, then yet in dying,

I am more than ever Yours, part of our Usness.

As I received “my life” from your hands anew –

from yours as the hands of the lover

as much as only through you,

the being in Usness “opened up” for me –

I put it back into your hands when dying.

I do not die the “heavy” death of an isolated “I”,

but say goodbye to you knowing

that even in this parting is still presence

because the lover as someone who was here

is still here in the sense of the existence of the Usness,

a Here that rips open the depths and abysses of existence even more;

that calls it even more into the eternal presence of love

and allows it to exist within that love.

Black Bird Song

2011-07-21T16:07:00.003-04:00

Black Birds, actually, Boat-tailed Grackles, serenade on Hillsboro Inlet Pier,

Pompano Beach, July 20,2011

Pompano Beach Blackbird Song

Wednesday morning July 20, 2011, came as a gift. While the rest of the US literally sweltered in a murderous heat wave, our Pompano Beach early morning was crystal clear with a light sea breeze, perfect for my daily three-mile roundtrip walk to the Hillsboro Lighthouse Inlet Park.

It was a special morning, the anniversary of the birthday of my beloved late husband, Martijn, who had died exactly three-years earlier surrounded by friends and family in his native town, Maastricht, the Netherlands, far from this sultry sub-tropical city I now call home.

But we had both always intended that Pompano Beach would be our home, staying year after year from our honeymoon through 13 anniversaries at our beloved Light House Cove. Martijn found this corner of the world simply perfect and for the most part, so do I, now a resident for just over a year.

A prime benefit of living directly off the 14^th Street Causeway is the miracle of walking straight to the beach and ultimately to the fishing pier at the Hillsboro Inlet, strolling through verdant neighborhoods along the intercoastal and then to the sea.

As a regular walker I now know and greet the other ‘regulars’ – runners, cyclists, dog walkers and other strollers – content to take in the natural beauty of this almost secret pocket of South Florida, with it’s unspoiled stretch of natural beach and dense landscaping. Those of us savvy enough not to plug into headphones get to hear nature’s sounds along the way, from cheeps to peeps to jeeps.

So, when I arrived at the Inlet pier without another soul in sight except a lone fisherman, I soaked in the welcomed solitude, thinking about how my late husband assured me that if he could, he would always manifest as a black bird, letting me know I was never truly alone.

Imagine, then, when a solitary black bird flew into my solitude, perching a few feet from my nose on the railing of the pier. This proud-feathered friend was most likely a Boat-tailed Grackle who is a permanent resident of our southeastern coasts, preferring coastal saltwater marshes and here in Florida, also inland waters. My iridescent black Grackle messenger came unusually close this special morning, and in a rare display he threw back his head, puffed out his chest and jeeped what I imagined was a heavenly birthday song! Within a minute his partner joined for a riotous chorus. Like Paul McCartney once sang, “Black birds singing….”

–The End –

Harry Potter reprise

2011-07-13T23:51:00.002-04:00

Gentle readers, with the final installment of Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows due to hit the big screen at midnight tomorrow, July 14th, I thought I'd reprint an Op/Ed piece I did shortly after the book was released. Forgive me for repeating myself, but as I look at the headlines that were flying like broomsticks in February 2008, when I first posted this, alas, the world is still in crisis and there is still an admirable, if not noble lesson to be found in J.K. Rowling's brave hero, our now long-time literary friend, Harry Potter and his endearing mates:

Whatever prior literary borrowing was committed, whatever J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series lacks in sheer literary merit, the seventh installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, warranted its intense exposure this summer. Claiming readership across generations, gender and geography, the book’s detractors, like its “Dementors,” simply suck happiness from life.

Real world “Muggle” headlines of war, famine, floods and random violence returned soon enough. Since sensation sells news, hurrah that the stir of a book had the power to whisk the war in Iraq, the primary election campaigns in America, the floods in Britain, the fires in southern Europe, and global terrorism off our minds, albeit for a brief summer respite.

In fact, real world leaders can learn a lesson from the boy wizard…

While multiple themes thread throughout the Potter series, this final volume touches on a topic more often found in the business or political press: Harry’s ultimate feat is attainment of collaborative, reflective leadership. The boy wizard wields soft power.

Western mythology has focused on solitary heroes attaining supreme power: Divine right backed by divine might; one absolute hero vanquishing or vanquished by one clear villain. From Beowulf to Batman, heroes act alone and conquer evil with reciprocal violence. The message is and always has been – an eye for an eye, dominate or be dominated.

As a scholar of European Union public affairs and politics I have observed firsthand the EU’s efforts for multilateral cooperation. Speaking at European University Institute seminar in Fiesole, Italy a few years ago, Harvard University scholar Joseph Nye defined and defended his soft power concept “as the ability to get what you want by attracting and persuading others to adopt your goals.” Years before I had heard Mssrs. Fisher, Ury and Susskind, the authors of Getting to Yes and Breaking the Impasse, respectively, similarly extol the benefits of “shared leadership” and collaboration at the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Institute.

Joseph Nye

More to the point, last March, Riane Eisler, author of the stunning Chalice and the Blade, and the recently released, The Real Wealth of Nations, urged a group of women leaders, “to replace stories that perpetuate the domination legends with partnership myths.” Knowingly or not, J.K. Rowling has taken an influential step in this direction.

Although Lord Voldermort is the prototypical arch villain, Rowling counterpoints this caricature by crafting Harry’s development as a reflective, indeed reluctant leader. Harry emerges in the mold of leader defined by Barbara Crosby of the Reflective Leadership Center at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute. Such leadership inspires and mobilizes “others to undertake collective action in pursuit of the common good.”

Flying like broomsticks throughout the Potter opus are themes of love, friendship, trust and loyalty, but in the end, the “pursuit of the common good” premise emerges prominently. And, the conceit isn’t overly simplified. Harry and other characters struggle to comprehend what constitutes “common good.” Teenage Harry’s reflective abilities are toughened as he learns that his mentor and hero, Dumbledore, had a youthful misunderstanding of the concept. Harry must not only grasp the nuances of Dumbledore’s transgressions, but also forgive them.

This ability to expose Harry’s fallibility and forgiveness renders Deathly Hallows a cut above the retributive pap of so many hero fantasies. Rowling encourages readers to think critically about what makes Harry a hero, what influences his choices. And since literally millions of these readers are juveniles, perhaps some will mature to consider soft power before obliteration as an option.

The parting 17-year-old Harry Potter is imbued with a finer capacity than sword or wand play or sheer magical attainment. Throughout the series he has fiercely sought truth; in this final quest he gains the valuable characteristics of understanding and self-knowledge.

In 1997, business writers Begley and Jacobs defined leadership as “the process of maximizing the capability of people to fulfill purpose through the development of character.” J.K. Rowling has penned an extended bildungsroman: Harry Potter the boy undergoes the requisite conflicts between his needs and those of the society around him, rising like Dumbledore’s phoenix as a more modern hero.

Choosing collaboration over his former preferred isolation to guide his choices, Harry advances his goals. He comes to understand and accept his own and others’ limitations, and overcomes his wavering mistrust of others. In this final episode, Rowling masterfully releases Potter to his potential as “a first among equals” – a prima inter pares – thereby producing the ripple effect of allowing others to lead. In fact, another ultimately wields the hero’s sword – it is an ally, not a solitary hero who literally slays the dragon, (well, snake). This real power of Potter is his triumph through partnership.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-18T09:23:00.004-04:00

Susan, Dad & Mom, c. 1955, Philadelphia

Jack Schaefer was a true Urban Cowboy, well before the term was in popular use. Ever optimistic, even in the face of incredible hardships, my father was born at the turn of the 20th century, spending his early years in a walk-up, cold-water flat, one-room tenement in Brooklyn, N.Y., the last of 13 children, and the only one born in this country. At various times six or seven family members lived in this one room.

Street smart with a quick wit and agile brain and body, dad was hired by one of the infamous Rothschild's, Louis Rothschild Brokers, as a courier in the days before faxes and internet, literally running messages and trades across his beloved Brooklyn Bridge. He was so valued a worker that Rothschild provided him a rare recommendation:

With this invaluable letter in hand, dad joined his brothers and a sister who had migrated for a better life in Philadelphia. He married his first wife, Reba, had a son, my half-brother, Allen Schaefer, 23 years my senior, and lost his first wife to tuberculosis, forcing dad to raise Allen as a single father, no mean feat in those post-depression days. Allen, who passed away last year, told me that even then, dad focused his life on him, working three jobs in order to keep Allen healthy and well-educated.

Along the way, dad met my mother, Emma, who was then a supervisor at Philly's famous Frankford Arsenal, the munitions factory. Mom wanted a family, but I think dad was reluctant. Yet, after five miscarriages, I miraculously came along, and his innate fatherly predisposition once again ignited. Dad treated me as a treasure, imbuing me with the values of unconditional love, hard work, and a sense of adventure that at varying times has served and thwarted me. Though he was almost 50 by the time I came along, his stamina and energy easily equalled or surpassed that of my friends' much younger fathers.

Dad awoke each day with a twinkle in his eye and a steely determination to not just survive but to thrive. Without a doubt, Jack Schaefer was the most popular dad on our block in Mt. Airy, in my neighborhood, in our immediate family, and beyond. He was easy going and 100% engaging. Perhaps because of his age, he took the time to be fully paticipate in my life, and to encourage my independence.

Later in his life, in spite of meagre means, dad fulfilled his dream, buying a home in Central Florida, transplanting mom and reluctantly, his sister Rose, and planting a quarter acre of fruit trees in his own backyard - not to mention a luxurious 'victory' vegetable garden. Plucking a golden juicy pink grapefruit from one of his many citrus trees and savoring the tangy, tart pulp, was one of our favorite later-day activities, and remains one of my fondest memories of my dad. Somewhere I have a photo of him, though by then his body was cancer-riddled, climbing a ladder and packing a heavy carton with his own grapefruits to send home with me.

Though he's gone now 28 years, I miss him. I can still conjure his unique aroma of Old Spice and cigar smoke, and feel the ever tender touch of his hand on mine.

Here's a tribute poem I wrote to him on his 79th birthday, a few years before his death to colon cancer:

To Dad at Seventy-nine

Born at the dawn of the auto age,

you’ve always been car-bitten.

High priest of the highway,

patron of motion,

your office a Chevy or Ford

rolling on Ridge or Columbia Avenue.

Our best times –

you, me and mom –

on Sunday sojourns

Brooklyn and back,

Baltimore and back

in time to get me in bed for school.

We’d do “The Schaefer Theater”,

off-key and crazy renditions of:

“Heart of my Heart”, “Sweet Rosie O’Grady”,

“Sidewalks of New York”.

We were the best family we were en route.

Thanks for your drive, your joy for journey

of body and mind,

my fatherfriend.

Shepherd’s Bush Press

Babylon Backyard:Master Gardener Practices

2011-05-25T12:19:00.008-04:00

In a wee three weeks time I will graduate from the Florida Master Gardener Program, Broward County. To gain our official certification, in addition to our 150 classroom hours, we must complete 75 more hours volunteering for approved garden/park/horticultural projects. I'm not sure yet what I'll choose (we must do 40 hours at the University of Florida-Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences (IFAS) center itself, but I was itching to ply my newfound skills by creating a Florida Friendly magical Babylonian Backyard. I would like to specialize in creating 'small space' gardens for individuals who live in townhomes or condos. Where better to practice than on my space? Here's how the garden is evolving:

This is the south facing back fence which must double as my bike storage. I found a small trellis at Lowe's that could easily 'slip' in between the staggered planks of my fence. The hanging baskets came from our local nursery, NuTurf, and are lined with pressed coconut coir liners, which are natural, organic, and environmentally safe, making them light yet providing a sustainable planting bed. To the right I planted Pandora Vine, Pandorea jasminoides, as a privacy feature. You can see the building behind my yard will now be beautifully obscured! To the left I've planted a hanging herb garden.

L to R: Sage, basil, cilantro, arugula, basil, sage.

Along the back fence my acacia palms are beginning to fill in nicely, providing a privacy barrier as well as wonderful structure with their pinnate leaves. Between them, alternating and nestled against the fence are Purple fountain grasses to provide rhythm, color and shape.

Toward the north side, directly in front of the Sable Palm, which is nearly 50' tall, I have set my lovely bubbling waterfall, now surrounded by butterfly plants: milkweed for laying eggs and feeding larvae, and a butterfly weed to provide nectar. A passion vine under the hanging herb garden basket is also a butterfly 'magnet'!

Allowing a walkway, I've selected potted palms and Hamelin, drawf fountain grasses to hide my neighbor's air conditioning unit and provide more depth and rhythm to my green fence.

Uplighting at night provides wonderful shadows and shapes.

This garden is a magical place for me to meditate, to muse, to heal, to enjoy the small, quiet moments. Now I can actually use my herbs to cook and create sage smudge sticks for friends to use. I typically have my breakfast and lunch there, and I do my writing and consulting work in the early morning hours. Designing this space feeds my creativity; being in it feeds my soul. Like my life, it is a work in progress. Best of all, you don't need a lot of space to this yourself, merely a lot of inspiration!

Mothers, Moving, Minnesota

2011-05-09T00:14:00.006-04:00

It has been seven years since Martijn and I moved from Minneapolis to Maastricht for what was supposed to be a few years of study, work and family reunion. But my beloved husband was not destined to return to the US. He discovered a small lump which grew into the cancer that reclaimed him to that place from where we all come and all go. How symbolic that his family, mother, Geri, step-father, Marcel, brother, Janus came to stay with me for a fortnight in Florida almost three years since Martijn's death. It was a poignant visit since Geri has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I tried my best to make their visit safe and sound in the brutal tropical sun and mostly succeeded. It was highly symbolic that they choose to fly Ft. Lauderdale-Minneapolis-Amsterdam and that after seven years, I had to finally fetch the belongings Martijn and I had left anticipating a US return. So, together I flew with his family heading to goodbyes and hellos. I bid his family goodbye at the airport, rented a car and began a bittersweet journey of collecting boxes ripe with memories of our life in the Twin Cities. With friends at each location offering succor and support I have made this a mission of endings and beginnings. I thank everyone for their love.

After two and a half weeks of adventures, my Dutch family heads back to the Netherlands. Marcel, Janus and Geri at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. I accompany them to Minneapolis where I begin the task of gathering the possessions Martijn and I left behind seven years ago.

First stop at Suzanne and Rich's. From our former home on Lake Minnetonka I head to our final Twin Cities home in the Seward neighborhood.

Next stop at Monica and John's who themselves are leaving Seward. My day was fraught with symbolism.

My lovely host, the Lady Diane

Last stop after two more along the way at a non-descript storage facility in St. Paul until I am able to sort and sift and make decisions.

The evening featured a gathering of 16 friends at Moscow on the Hill in historic St. Paul. Here are Kelson, dik and Carmen enjoying the feast.

The wonderful Carney family, Jules and Pat, host Heinz, Diane and me for the orphan's Mother's Day Brunch!

My "son" Daniel pays me a wonderful Mother's Day visit at Diane's who is hosting me this trip!

April is National Poetry Month

2011-04-02T12:05:00.004-04:00

Ode To April

Trickster month

begins with

a fool’s day,

ends with

the greatest passion play

of a cross on Calvary

the parting of the Red Sea.

Cruelest month?

when buds and babes

push up and out

and rain falls,

and breezes beckon,

and renewal calls.

Here,

in the Northern Hemisphere,

April brings

the hope of spring.

National Poetry Month

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April. It is a time when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.

Our neighbors in Miami-Dade country are going all out this April with their O, Miami poetry festival. O, Miami is a countywide, month-long series of events and projects with the simple goal of every person in Miami-Dade County finding a poem. Mixing traditional readings with innovative poetry-in-public-places projects, the festival will weave poetry into the fabric of the city’s existing infrastructure and cultural life. Events will be conducted in multiple languages, sometimes simultaneously, often in collaboration with other cultural organizations. O, Miami culminates in a four-day series of readings from April 27-30, 2011 at the Frank Gehry-designed New World Symphony Hall on Miami Beach.

Of all things said about writers, perhaps the single greatest compliment would be that: “she or he writes like a poet.” Why? Because there is simply no other written form that is based chiefly upon the economy of language that distinguishes good from great writing. The language of a poem should be like an energy saving appliance: good for the ‘written’ environment.

Of course, there are plenty of bad poets and poems, but by its essential nature, a poem should be tightly constructed, using few but well chosen words to convey a powerful feeling or moment in time. A great poem should transport the reader to experience an intense or pleasurable emotion, like great music does, or being in love, or the sight of a lovely flower unfolding.

Many of us naturally assume that a poem must rhyme simply because from childhood we have been entertained with rhymed verse. Think of Mother Goose rhymes, like the childhood classic: “Jack and Jill went up the hill….” This type of poem is called “closed: it is subject to a fixed structure and pattern.” However, legitimate poetry can be “free verse, with no prescribed pattern or structure.”

Please take a minute to read a favorite poem. Try reading it aloud. Share it with a child, a friend, or an elder who might enjoy being read to. Attend a reading or buy a volume of poems. In these days of daunting economics and news, what could be better than simply messing about with a written verse?

Anniversaries and beginnings

2011-03-25T16:33:00.001-04:00

Mom and Friend, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Today marks the 101st anniversary of my mother, Emma Schaefer's birth. I lit a candle and fondly remembered her life.

Welcome to Sun Harbor

Today also marks the one year anniversary of closing on my Pompano Beach home. One year ago today I officially became a resident of the Sunshine State.

And today also marks my first appearance in Pompano Beach's own, The Pelican weekly newspaper with a feature on artist Tim Yankosky. Click here to read:

California artist transplant finds Wilton Manors measures up - Hometown News and Views

Former hubby and great friend, Bob Ingram, is visiting again, and we had a peek at The Treasures of the Vatican exhibit at the Ft. Lauderdale Art Museum, and we'll join my super next-door neighbors, Allen and Sharon for a dinner at the historic Key Lime House.

All in all it has been a pretty good day!

Remembering Shelley Picker

2011-03-03T14:49:00.003-05:00

It was my privilege to be Shelley Picker's friend and partner. We met, joined forces, and magic happened. Together we evolved not only one of Philadelphia's truly independent Public Relations firms, but we merged styles and values to create an authentic 'tour de force' back in the early 1980's. But that is not what I want to say here. I remember a woman who loved life and family. Her love for husband Ben is one of the great love stories of modern times. Their love and tenderness for each other was palpable. Anyone in their proximity could feel it and all who came near were enveloped in its glow. Shelley also was a nurturing and caring mother, and I imagine grandmother, though I was away from her during that part of her life. And a most incredible artist. That is what she already was when Phil Goldsmith introduced us in the early 80s, and after her incredible public relations career, that is what she returned to in sublime joy even as she courageously battled cancer. Shelley was a role model for me, her love for Ben was a poem I tried to emulate and finally found in my love for my beloved Martijn. My heart goes out to all who have lost this wondrous wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, friend and colleague.

Valentine Wedding Anniversary Remembrances

2011-02-12T18:23:00.003-05:00

The Two of Us, Maastricht, the Netherlands, 2004

I’m on a major Ferris wheel these days as what would have been my and Martijn’s 15^th wedding anniversary on Valentine’s Day, February 14^th approaches. I am feeling isolated and very under utilized. I often feel lost and what I imagine is depressed, needing to pull myself into any meaningful activity.

The missing of Martijn’s human presence is visceral, cutting deep into my stomach where it feels as though there is a gapping hungry hole never never to be filled again. I miss the balance, love and perspective he gave me, the unconditional love that I’d searched a lifetime for, found and lost. It is never enough for me to acknowledge that ‘at least I had such a love’ when ‘so many others never experience it’ – the mantra of good friends with good intentions.

Yet, I know that is all I can do, accept where I am now, and try to make sense of what I have and what I’ve lost, and move forward in this life with dignity.

I do need to find a place for me to contribute to the ‘greater good’. That desire burns too brightly and consistently for me to ignore. And so I’m thrashing about trying to do so, trying to not let the sadness and hurt get the better of me, and to practice the Zen art of stepping back from the torrent of thoughts produced by my restless mind until I can see the joke of this deluge, see it for all its ‘tricksiness’ as Gollum in Lord of the Rings would say, and to instead find my inner peace. For without that peace I will not be good to anyone else, let alone myself.

If there is way/place/act that I’m meant to fulfill to help make this planet a better place for the seven generations out, as the Native Americans and other indigenous peoples realize is our task as stewards of the earth, I hope it finds me or I find it. I honestly invite my destiny and hopefully assume that when the student is ready the teacher will indeed come. He did before and his name was Martijn.

Dutch newspaper profiles Susan and the book

2010-12-13T11:35:00.004-05:00

Here is a profile written by Vikkie Bartholomeus appearing on Monday, December 13, 2010 in the Maastricht area's daily newspaper, De Limburger.

I was interviewed at Selexyz bookstore the week after our spectacular debut there with Dutch Immigration Minister, Gerd Leers reading the Dutch responsively with me reading the English.

The article explains the main motivation for writing the book eleven years ago: My beloved late husband, Martijn Antonius Anna Hermse, and I met and married later in life, and since we had no children of our own, our adored cats, Yin, Yang and baby Snoepje, became our alternative family. I wrote the book in one evening as a father's Day Gift for him after we'd adopted our first kitten together, the indomitable Miss Snoepje, to whom he gave a true Dutch name.

Vikkie Bartholomeus, the interviewer, also highlights the fact that I believe children are channels through which meaningful large-scale change can occur, and that by introducing them in future versions of the book, to themes of love, tolerance and understanding, we can create a saner global view.

She mentions that future versions will introduce more cross-cultural and inter-racial characters, couples who are gay or individuals with disabilities (such as in wheelchairs), other wild and companion animals including some who are trained to help others, and so on, in the hopes that children grow up with a healthy sense of how our differences can link, rather than divide us. Adults can help create a world without wars by allowing children to create respectful links with all creatures. What better way than writing children's books that reinforce a peaceful, respectful world view?

The article mentions that the next book will be set in Maastricht, and will hopefully feature bilingual editions in many other languages such as Dutch, German, French and even the Maastrichts' dialect language, in order to stimulate children (of all ages) to learn new languages.

Dutch Minister Leers teams with American Author Schaefer

2010-11-24T11:26:00.000-05:00

Yin, Yang & Snoepje please the people

2010-11-21T12:31:00.002-05:00

On Sunday, November 21, 2010 "The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box" was formally debuted at the Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore in Maastricht the Netherlands. Guido Wevers, Director of Vrijthof Theatre and Maastricht Cultural Capital 2018 initiative made the introductions, Dutch Immigration Minister and former Mayor of Maastricht, Gerd Leers, read the Dutch text. Susan was accompanied on guitar by Piet Bongaarts for the poetry introduction and the audience loved the story and illustrations. There were about 100 people in attendance.

Piet Bongaarts and Susan listen to Guido Wevers introduction with the young ones lined up cozy in the front of the audience

Dutch Immigration Minister, Gerd Leers, reads the Dutch text while Susan follows

Susan reads the English while the children listen attentively

A warm and welcoming response for all

A Ministerial Kiss!

Book Presentation Promotion

2010-11-20T18:19:00.002-05:00

The Kitties assuming center stage at the world's fairest bookstore

Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht

"The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box" premieres tomorrow. The stage is set, I'm excited, a bit nervous, but thrilled. And Martijn's wings are spread over and around this event. I dedicate this book, again, to him and the love and light he created for our family, a family that included these four-footed heroes who will emerge for the first time for a 'public' tomorrow. "A cat becomes the soul of home."

The Adventures of Yin & Yang is PurrFectly on its way

2010-11-09T22:13:00.010-05:00

Wow. The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box, is live and ready to be ordered, so please consider it for you holiday gift giving. You can buy it directly from our publishers, Dog Ear Publishing, online.

Dutch Minister Gerd Leers

And here's some really big news: My friend, Dutch Cabinet Minister Gerd Leers,

is teaming with me with to debut the book in Maastricht!

Here's the News Release we've posted:

From America’s Cradle of Liberty to Europe’s: The Maastricht Dutch Connection

What do the Liberty Bell, the Twin Cities of Minnesota, the Treaty of Maastricht and three, four-footed furry felines have in common? The answer: former Philadelphia and Twin Cities business and community leader, and self-proclaimed global citizen, Susan Hermse Schaefer, whose just released bilingual illustrated book, The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box, has won the hearts of her third home, Maastricht, the Netherlands, bringing her from one cradle of liberty to another.

The book, a venture with collaborator, long-time friend, and Minnesotan-based illustrator, Michael Bower Putman, is set in Minnesota, populated with a Dutch husband, two charming middle aged cats, one quirky kitten, and a wife who, let’s say... resembles its author. Translation newcomer, Juliëtte van der Aa, a resident of Amsterdam, charmingly rendered the English to Dutch.

In mid-November the book, which is the first of an intended twelve small volumes, will be introduced to the Dutch public in her third home, Maastricht, host of the Treaty of Maastricht.

The Treaty of Maastricht, non-European audiences might ask? Yes, Maastricht is the southernmost major Dutch city, sharing borders with Belgium and Germany, where in 1991 perhaps the best known and most controversial of the European treaties was signed, officially known as the Treaty of the European Union. With this treaty the European Union, or EU, came into existence, which might qualify Maastricht as modern Europe’s “Cradle of Liberty”.

And, it was in Maastricht that Schaefer met and came to admire, Gerd Leers, who was then the city’s mayor.

Mayor Leers stepped down from that post due to a political conflict of interest, but Schaefer, along with the majority of Maastricht’s citizens, continued to support and respect this political leader. “I watched with great admiration how Mr. Leers ran the city, and then handled himself during a time of crisis. I offered my respect and support throughout,” admits Schaefer.

In October 2010 a new cabinet position was created in the Dutch government, and Mr. Leers was appointed as Minister of Immigration, a position with significant weight and profile, not to mention difficulty. “I am delighted that Mr. Leers will return to his beloved city to jointly read with me a marvelously illustrated children’s book dedicated to my late husband, Martijn Hermse, a Maastricht citizen. This book, written in English and Dutch and presented at the Dutch holiday season of Sinterklaas is my gift to my second country, the Netherlands and Maastricht, the city I adore,” says Schaefer.

A debut and reading in a bookstore ‘made in heaven’

Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore Maastricht

Thus, on November 21, 2010, the Maastricht branch of the prestigious Dutch national book chain, Selexyz, (comparable to Barnes & Noble) has invited Schaefer to present The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box to Dutch audiences for its debut, and Minister Leers will read the Dutch text.

Selexyz Dominicanen, as this Maastricht branch of the book chain is known, has been named “the fairest bookstore in the world,” by the UK’s esteemed The Guardian. This ‘store’ must be seen to be believed, housed as it is in a 13th century former friary, which has been restored with breathtaking care and creativity.

“Having Selexyz choose this book is an tribute in itself,” states Schaefer. “Furthermore, being asked to present the book for its Dutch debut, with all images beamed on a large screen for the children to see, is a dream. Most meaningful, is that I have been honored to do so in Maastricht, the hometown of my late husband, Martijn, who inspired this book and my life.”

The book presentation will consist of a reading in both languages and a book signing. Guido Wevers, head of Maastricht’s Cultural Capital initiative and the city’s prestigious Vrijthof Theatre, will introduce the presentation.

Book back story: Lake Minnetonka, Minneapolis, Minnesota to Maastricht, Limburg, the Netherlands

Schaefer wrote and self-illustrated The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box in 1999 in one night, as a father’s day gift for her beloved Dutch husband. Using handmade paper and primitive illustrations, Schaefer explains that she awoke during the night with the story fully developed, and while her husband slept, she wrote and drew it for him. They were then living on Minnesota’s famed Lake Minnetonka in the western suburbs of Minneapolis.
Martijn, the model for Antoine, and his Yin

“Martijn considered this life in Minnesota’s undeniable natural beauty as near to heaven as possible,” Schaefer quietly muses. “And he was so contemplative a soul; our cats were perfect companions for a true philosopher, they seemed to posses the wisdom of the ages, like most cats.”

It was Schaefer who suggested that the couple take an extended sabbatical – a few years to live, study and relax in Martijn’s native Limburg Province, also noted for its astounding beauty and quality of life. In 2004, the University of Maastricht accepted Schaefer for a mid-career Master’s Program in European Public Affairs; she graduated with honors in 2005 and began working in diverse capacities for various departments at the university. Martijn had begun exploring options to complete his doctoral dissertation at Maastricht’s Jan van Eyck Academy. Soon the pair settled into the gentle flow of the “Burgundian lifestyle”. Enjoying their Maastricht experience, the two decided to extend their stay. Then tragedy struck. In early 2007 Martijn was diagnosed with cancer and within 18 months he had passed away. Schaefer was devastated, but she promised her soul mate that she would tell their love story – a story that included their much-adored cats.

“Bringing this tale to life in Martijn’s own city, surrounded by his family and friends, is truly the realization of a dream,” she admits. “And doing this in a store that has been named ‘a bookstore made in heaven’, one that he adored, has a moving symmetry.”

The Adventures of Yin and Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box: Debut reading with slide show and book signing, 21 Nov 11:30 at Selexyz Book Store Maastricht

2010-10-31T18:30:00.002-04:00

Written over ten years ago as a private gift for my beloved Martijn and our cuddly cat family, The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box is now only days away from being a professionally published reality (estimated due date tomorrow, November 1st!).
Thanks to the absolutely astounding illustrations of my friend, 'spirit brother', and collaborator, Michael Putman of Putman Illustration & Design, the book has already captured the hearts and minds of those who've previewed it.

Our website www. adventuresyinyang.com is up and running and publicity is beginning. In the Netherlands, my dear friend, editor Sueli Brodin has given the critters a prominent publicity spot in Crossroads online expat magazine for November.

Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht, the Netherlands

And Selexyz' own website has posted this promotion in Dutch:

Boekpresentatie Susan Schaefer

21 november 2010 - 11:30

Zondag 21 november om 11.30 uur vindt bij selexyz dominicanen de boekpresentatie plaats van het tweetalige prentenboek The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box van Susan Schaefer. Het boek wordt geïntroduceerd door Jan Nauta, en vervolgens voorgelezen door Jo Coenen.

The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box
Te midden van alle tragedie en crises die onze wereld momenteel kenmerken, verschijnt er een boek over gelukzalige overwinningen en de liefde tussen mensen en viervoeters. The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box slaat een brug tussen continenten en soorten en staat bol van mogelijkheden in plaats van de kommer en kwel van de 21e eeuw. Het boek introduceert Antoine en Sara, een stel van middelbare leeftijd, elk afkomstig van een ander continent. Centraal staan de twee charmante oudere katers,Yin en Yang en het innemende titelpersonage Snoepje, een van de kittens van een nestje dat werd gered. The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje & the Pizza Box is een authentieke en onafhankelijke samenwerking waarin het beste van het huidige internationale, virtuele en digitale leven tot uiting komt. Het boek is geschreven en geproduceerd door Susan Hermse Schaefer, een Amerikaanse die deels in Nederland woont. Susan ziet zichzelf als een wereldburger, ze maakt in haar verhalen gebruik van de talenten en passies van individuen uit veel verschillende culturen en ontketent een visueel en auditief feest voor lezers in de leeftijd van 5 tot 105!

De illustraties zijn afkomstig van Michael Bower Putman uit Minneapolis, Minnesota, VS. Michael ontwierp jarenlang prachtige illustraties, advertenties en grafische ontwerpen voor bedrijven en non-profitorganisaties. Nu werkt hij voor zichzelf en creëert gedenkwaardige personages en beelden met een briljante structuur en kleur die boeien en betoveren. Hij geeft daarmee een nieuwe wending aan geïllustreerde verhalen. Schaefer en Putman zijn al jarenlang vrienden en collega's. Susan, Michael en ook vertaalster Juliëtte van de Aa uit Amsterdam zijn het unaniem met elkaar eens: katten en mensen die van katten houden, delen universele karaktertrekken en kwaliteiten. Dit boek en de boeken die zullen volgen beloven die universaliteit levend te houden.
www.adventuresyinyang.com

The book will be available to purchase any day now, so please consider buying one, two or more for your holiday gift giving for children of all ages, cat lovers, and lovers, period. The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and Pizza Box is an aural and visual treat we hope you will partake of. And, it's 100% fat free!

Maastricht Visit September 2010, Friends

2010-09-10T10:54:00.004-04:00

My Pia at Selexyz Dominicanen Book Store

Suze & Jens at the Beaumont Hotel Bar

Ursula's cozy Roost

Swee at her Beauty Lover's Salon

Ans & Rob at Plein 1992

The magnificent Sueli also at the Plein

Maastricht Visit September 2010, Family and Scenes

2010-09-10T10:28:00.010-04:00

The lovely Limburg Landscape

Brother-in-Law, Janus, Marcel and Geri

My nephews, Tjeu and Lieven

Geri and Me

Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore, where I'll read my book in November

De Swaan Op De Maas!

Maastricht City Hall on Market Morning

Bike Path along the Hiway

Our Beloved Lady Chapel (Onze Lieve Vrouw Kerk)

New Back Side of Maastricht Centraal Station

View from Maurice's room

Rosh Hashanah Redeaux

2010-09-10T04:51:00.004-04:00

A birthday apple for the world: Reflections of a Maastricht Jewish American on Rosh Hashanah and “The Days of Awe”

September 20, 2009

Faith is much better than belief. Belief is when someone else does the thinking for us.

-R. Buckminster Fuller

The advent of the autumn new moon marks Rosh Hashanah, which this year is 5770 of the Jewish calendar, and began at sundown on Friday, September 18, 2009, in the common era calendar. Rosh Hashanah starts the “the Days of Awe,” the most sacred ten day period in the Jewish year, ending with “the Day of Atonement”, Yom Kippur, a day of prayer, fasting and solemn contemplation. The period is a time when Jews reflect on the activities and behavior of the past year, questing to continuously develop as better individuals in the future, and seeking forgiveness for transgressions, not only from God, but also from one another, and not solely for ourselves, but also for the collective sins of our community.

Like so much of the Jewish culture – this idea of community is essential. Prayer and reflection are typically practiced in community in a temple or synagogue. I was raised in more secular household where Jewish traditions, rites and rituals were principally practiced in the home. The need to attend ‘services’ in a synagogue was not a cornerstone of my upbringing. Yet, like many modern Christians who only attend church for their high holidays of Easter and Christmas, I, too, enjoyed the rituals of these High Holidays as practiced in a synagogue.

Unfortunately, in Maastricht there isn’t a liberal or reform synagogue to attend. Here, the small Jewish community is rooted in an orthodox practice with which I don’t identify. Given the devastation of all European Jewry in the Holocaust, having even a small congregation of Jews is significant.

Synagogue in Maastricht, photo by Herman Pijpers

Nevertheless, I personally find it more comfortable to keep my faith in my own way. And so, I offer this reflection for others who also find themselves without the fellowship of their particular community at this sweet time of year so that they remember that faith can always be found within oneself, can be accessed at will, anytime and anywhere.

***

Rosh Hashanah is also referred to as “the birthday of the world,” a time when we ask to be inscribed in “the book of life”. In general, food and music are the arteries for the heart of a Jew, and the apple is deeply associated with our New Year. It is a tradition to dip the apple in honey to remind us of the sweetness of life at this time of year.

When I miss the opportunity to be with community to celebrate, I choose a few alternatives that encompass the spirit of the occasion. First, I listen to an incredible CD recording entitled, “The Birthday of the World: The Liturgy and Music of Rosh Hashanah”, narrated by Leonard Nimoy with astounding music. (Yes, Star Trek’s own Mr. Spock is a Jewish Vulcan, oh vey!)

After listening to the liturgy and music, I typically try to commune with nature. Nature is my concept of God’s cathedral, and in nature I am better able to think about my Judaism, my life and my wishes for the new year to come. One year, I found this nature in my own front yard – in my apple tree.

This apple tree had rarely been appreciated or eaten of. A city girl by upbringing, having a yard and trees was an entirely new experience. However, I found myself deeply drawn to touch my tree, to take from it the sweet burden of its fruit. And in the act of tending my tree I came to myself. Relieving the tree of its offering – apple by apple – I also found myself growing lighter. This act of quiet, deliberateness drained from me the weight of the day-to-day burdens we all carry. Both the tree and I grew lighter and this “mindful” activity seemed in keeping with the spirit of Rosh Hashanah – a time to stop normal activity, to reflect.

Another remarkable thing happened while I pulled and twisted the ripe, meaty fruit from its source. I found myself harmoniously in the midst of something I otherwise fear – bees. Dozens of bees had discovered the sweet sustenance of decaying fruit that had already fallen. In order for me to harvest my share, I had to work in their company. Typically, I am afraid of these honey-making, stinging creatures. Yet, for no reason at all, I felt quite safe, somehow knowing that they were merely going about their business and would leave me to mine. So, a second miracle accompanied the act of picking my tree – I worked securely with my own fear.

The third small grace to befall me, for surely all holy enlightenments happen in threes, was my sudden ability to tend only what needed to be tended at the moment. By nature, I am a bit of an overachiever. My desk is littered with five to twelve projects and in my profession as a communications consultant, I’m frequently interrupted, even when I do manage to be working on only one project. Phone calls, e-mails, colleagues, and my own thoughts are constant barriers to “being here now”. Suddenly, picking these “lowly” apples, I felt no need to do anything else. I was content quietly circling the tree, methodically finishing one area before moving to the next. It felt like a clear metaphor for beginning my new year in more balance and contentment.

And so, I came to my new year with a sermon of self, spun from the branches of a tree of life.

Now, at this time of year, I remember to perform a mindful act each day, fully aware of the moment, and in so doing, relieve a burden or two from this hectic life of hyper-drive. I try to acknowledge and honor my fears and learn to work with them, rather than waging hopeless battles against them. And, finally, I attempt to see the beauty and necessity of performing one thing at a time, leaving juggling to the talented acrobats of those charming European circuses that have gained such recent popularity.

Vaeshartelt Castle, photo by Herman Pijpers

Maastricht offers astounding nature almost within her city boundaries. Limburg is graced with a contemplative beauty that allows one to find sustenance in God’s outdoor sanctuary. Community, indeed is where we create it. If each of us carries the spirit of our faith every day, practicing it year-round, we can find sanctuary in the heart of each human being, each element of nature, remembering that it is not where you are, but who you are that inscribes us in the book of life. I wish for everyone everywhere in the world, a sweet “New Year”.

by Susan Schaefer
Schaefer Communications, LLC

In Memory of Peter Tasch, beloved mentor and friend

2010-08-08T13:30:00.006-04:00

Peter A. Tasch, scholar, mentor, friend

I can almost see The Scriblerian Office on Berks Mall at Temple University. It was a third floor walk up and our desk was toward the back where a door opened onto an authentic fire escape. It was nice having a door in those old brick offices to catch some small breeze in the days before air conditioning. I can still see Peter sort of bumbling about the cramped space, eyeglasses propped atop his head, turning to me to ask if I’d seen them anywhere. I had found my own absent-minded professor and I loved his gentle, quirky genius.

In 1968 I was a work-study student at Temple. My first assignment had been working as a Spanish-speaking caseworker at Temple University Hospital where I worked with a predominantly Puerto Rican pre-teen pre-natal population. That had been a good job but as a serious English literature major, I had wanted something more in my field. I applied for a position as the ‘office manager’ at an 18th Century Scholarly publication of Temple, The Scriblerian, and was interviewed by a most temperate and shy editor, Professor Peter Tasch, who hired me on the spot. This position was the beginning of more than a job but a lifelong friendship and mentorship that continues. Peter passed on July 24th, 2010, but my relationship with his wife, Alison, daughters Kate and Alex, son Jeremy and their extended families is a great blessing in my life.

My childhood in Mt. Airy, then a developing brick row home ‘enclave’ that sprawled across the northeastern border of the city of Philadelphia on what used to be farmland, was devoid of what one would call intellectual stimulation. I was born to an older father who had only a third grade education, coming as he did from an immigrant family that was raised, as he liked to say, in the ‘school of hard knocks’ in a turn-of-the-twentieth century Brooklyn ghetto. My dad was
super smart but under-educated. And my mother, who delivered me as her only live birth at the advanced age of 40, had suffered what was then undiagnosed post- partum depression. As was common in that era of evolving mental health, she was treated with a regime that included uppers and downers and even electric shock therapy, resulting in irreparable damage to her physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. She, like my dad, had been incredibly bright, having had a brief career as a supervisor during World War II at Philadelphia’s war munitions’ plant, the Frankfort Arsenal, but having been raised in an orphanage, she too had only attained a third grade education. This left me an inheritor of great intellectual potential but limited experience.

And then I met Peter.

As an 18 year-old I entered university life with a boundless academic appetite sans scholarly discipline. That Peter hired me to work at his most scholarly journal still mystifies me, but from our initial contact we clicked and thus began a most unlikely friendship that has lasted over time and distance.

As office manager of The Scriblerian I was responsible for maintaining the journal’s vast database of libraries which back then even included universities behind the iron curtain. Part of my job was to literally address, package, and send each issue of the journal insuring that it made it to each university library possible. Contact with scholarly contributors was another part of my responsibility and Peter praised and appreciated my organizational skills and cogent and professional communications. These skills were honed and rewarded by his generous guidance.

Peter never wielded his intellectual prowess but rather gently wooed me, and countless others who came to adore his gentle wisdom and quirky humor, by example. While I never became one of his students, preferring the Chaucerian and Shakespearean eras to his beloved 18th century, I nevertheless considered myself Peter’s protégé. In more general terms I was very much a baby duckling imprinted by his calm manner and sheer intellect: his qualities that shaped me for life. Peter took on an informal role as my protector from his somewhat crusty ‘business’ colleague whose abruptness could be quite abrasive and intimidating. The verbal onslaught often brought me to tears but Peter was always there afterwards to explain in calm and clear terms how to rectify any mistakes I may have made. Such patience and professionalism influenced me for life.

Additionally, in those days Peter’s wife, Alison, worked at Temple and through observing their relationship I came to understand and admire what I considered an educated and refined family life. I venerated their relationship and their family.

Always an industrious if not quite brilliant student, Peter found many extra- curricula tasks for me at Temple, including appointing me as the graduate student head of tutors for Temple’s maverick English Language Enrichment Center (ELECT) that helped disadvantaged students to improve their language skills in order to matriculate. Peter so trusted me that eventually the Tasch family allowed my good friends to become their summer home sitters whilst they vacationed at their upstate New York farmhouse retreat.

Thereafter, I simply adopted and was adopted by the entire family. I have become life-long friends with each Tasch child, and in what became a full circle from my apprenticeship with Peter, the youngest daughter Alex came to work an intern for my public relations firm.

At home with the Tasch clan and chef, my friend, Nancy Carolan, Thanksgiving 2008

The Tasch family has been a constant in my life for over 40 years, and I feel the loss of Peter deeply alongside each member. I was blessed by having a mentor with the qualities and charisma of Peter Tasch and attest that his influence has helped me become the person I am today. A light has gone out among us.

The Purr of a Cat

2010-08-01T14:56:00.003-04:00

Here's short film, actually a moving poem entitled, The Purr of a Cat that I wrote (and here narrated) as the preface quote for the upcoming book: The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box scheduled to be released this coming autumn, 2010. I hope you like it!

A New Venture and a new web page

2010-07-30T19:19:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone. Something creative is afoot. I'm working again, and I'm loving it. My dear friend Michael Putman , Putman Illustration & Design is the wind beneath the wings of my joy as through his incredible talents in the collaboration of a book - MuseRiverProductions is born!

Please check out our new web page and look for further information on The Adventures of Yin & Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box which will be available this fall! I am so happy. And I know Martijn's spirit is too.

An Illustrated Book to Honor Martijn

2010-07-24T08:26:00.003-04:00

The Adventures of Yin and Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box

Written by Susan Hermse Schaefer

Illustrated by Michael Bower Putman

Translated into Dutch by Juliette Van de Aa

Martijn slipped his human coils two years ago on July 25, 2008 but his spirit still fills me and many others with the joy he created. In 1999 I penned a simple story for Martijn as a gift for father's day - a tale of three tails - the story of how we became a family via loving our precious furry critters, Yin, Yang and the saucy kitten Snoepje. Now my friend, brother-in-spirit, and collaborator, Michael Bower Putman has breathed new life into my amateur drawings. The Adventures of Yin and Yang: Snoepje and the Pizza Box will soon become a published book with Michael's vivid illustrations. And, the text will be in English and Dutch, Martijn's mother tongue. Martijn adored the original book as he adored life itself. And the Adventures of Yin and Yang honors that lifeforce - quiet yet dynamic. If all goes well, this will be the first of a series of tales of tails. A portion of profits will support animal rescue, something Martijn truly would have appreciated. So on this second anniversary of Martijn's passing I'm finding the light and love and support to transform my sorrow into creativity.

On Martijn's 58th Birthday

2010-07-21T07:19:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, my love. Today Martijn would be 58. This photo taken by our dear friend, David F, at one of the many good bye parties hosted for out leave-taking from Minneapolis when we headed to Maastricht in the summer of 2004. David resent me the photo with this lovely thought: "This picture always fills me with the joy of Martijn's playful, easy presence. It is one of life's great mysteries that I feel it still, as I know you do, my dear Suze. On this day of days, let us bask and be grateful that we were - and are - so blessed." Let us raise a glass to all of of our dear ones whose presence continues to evoke so much joy.

Days of Future Past

2010-05-21T16:15:00.004-04:00

Meet me on South Street, hurry on down...

South Street Royalty: Susan with then husband Bob Ingram

As I settle into life back in the US of A, I'm able to spend more time reestablishing contacts and context. For one brief shining period that was known as Camelot, my husband Bob Ingram and I owned an amazing bi-weekly newspaper, the SouthStreet Star. Those were wild and wooly times in the early eighties when the buzz and fumes of the late sixties and seventies were fresh. Alternative newspapers provided a critical link between the corporate and sometimes monolithic coverage of what was then the hay day of corporate news, whether it was print or media. There were basically three daily newspapers in Philadelphia at that time: the morning paper - The Philadelphia Inquirer, it's more 'earthy' or more 'blue collar' sister - The Philadelphia Daily News, and the grand old dame of Market Street - The Philadelphia Bulletin. Papers like ours were the blogs of the time. We had barely any funds but we had buckets of fun. And chutzpah! We had loads of that too. We checked our facts and went for the stories that dailies and weeklies didn't have the luxury of covering.

Long interviews with South Street Rockers, for example, including guest rockers like George Thorogood were par for our course. In October Ruth Snyderman, Julia Zagar and some other formidable South Street nobility are planning a reunion. I'll post more when I know more. In the meanwhile, hurry on down, meet me on South Street, the hippest street in town.

Pompano Beach Renovation

2010-05-14T22:28:00.005-04:00

It has been a wild and wooly 10 days. Rob McMahon and his excellent team from Island Remodeling have literally ripped the house from under me. I found them through a referral from Annette, the lovely woman I bought the house from. They began demolition a few days before I arrived, ripping up the old carpet, pulling out fixtures and appliances, removing a rotted entire downstairs front wall, scrapping off the outdated 'popcorn' ceiling spray, and finally riveting up the downstairs tile. All that remains of any original portion of this casita are the concrete side walls and the foundation. There is a spanky new "European" water heater that provides instant hot water and doesn't needlessly heat an entire tank. There will be new tile floors downstairs and in the master bath, new bamboo wood floors throughout upstairs and on the steps. Recessed lighting throughout was installed today. The kitchen is beech with lots of storage and deep drawers from Ikea. All appliances are the highest energy efficiency available including a small European Bosch washer and dryer. Basically, this will be as 21st century a home as one can make on a moderate budget. Here's a photo essay to date:

Look at the biker's babe - goggles on the pup. Cindy and I caught them and I couldn't resist snapping the big guy on his big bike and the little lady!

Appliances gone; closet door moved; ceiling fans gone

Kitchen stripped; front wall demolished - rot exposed

Hard step!

Closets stripped in Master Bedroom

Master Bath to the pipes

Guest bath spared the pillage!

Guestroom/Susan's office view

Ikea Kitchen Cabinets, beech; sample granite counter

Ikea haul - Rob and Chris speed pull!

Rob and Chris - the Ikea "A" team - they pulled faster than Ikea's own guys!!

Rob loads the Island Remodeling van - I got to ride shotgun.

To Floor and Decor - the downstairs and master bath selection: Italian ceramic.

Downstairs old tile gone!!!

Today, May 14th, Floor and Decor deliver!

My hero, Wayne takes on the heavy task of moving the tiles inside!

My Brother, Allen Schaefer, 1928-2010

2010-04-29T06:11:00.003-04:00

My brother, Allen Schaefer, passed quietly last night. During the past years we had shared much affection and attention. His son, Roy, was with him much in the last days. He is also survived by his daughter, Jill, and his wife of over a half century, Beryl. I will miss his humor and his poetry, but most of all his deep wisdom.

Almost Moving Day

2010-04-28T07:45:00.004-04:00

A Poem In Remembrance and Anticipation

Almost Moving Day

I unplugged the fountain
its reassuring gurgle now silenced.

The plants take up residence
at the mother-in-law’s later -
my leafy children off to foster.

Knickknacks and tchotchkes
pruned, scattered to friends -
small memory gifts of going.

The purge is painful
yet therapeutic -
a peek at the waste of want.

But your precious items -
notes written in that wise hand,
the letters clear as a mountain spring;
the eyeglasses that framed your
noble nose, sat upon your chiseled cheeks,
the comb that slid through your graying hair,
your toothbrush, dear,
that touched those teeth
that my tongue oft lapped
when we lay in deep embrace;
your silk royal blue boxers - so sensual,
the ‘bumblebee’ stripped cotton ones -
so humorous;
these, dear, I’ve placed like treasures
in one small drawer to accompany
me to the new world.

©Susan Schaefer 2010

Yesterday was the birthday of playwright August Wilson, who said: "Confront the dark parts of yourself. ... Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing."

The love continues

2010-04-23T18:30:00.001-04:00

A visit to Martijn's grave on this sun lit sping morning, the 79th birthday of his mother whom I brought a lovely bouquet earlier. A meditative break from non-stop preparations for my upcoming move next Thursday.

Communications Ethics

2010-04-10T05:12:00.003-04:00

Communications Ethics

Public or Private:

Institutions Need Communications Ethics

Author's Note: This article was written on July 29, 2001 prior to the key events that have defined personal and professional life in the subsequent decade: 9-11 and the current fiscal debacle. At that time I was an adjunct faculty member University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and the past president Public Relations Society of America, Minnesota Chapter. The company referenced was a major health care system, providing relevance in light of America's current bold health care initiative. I have added it to my Schaefer Communications website as well.

Allina Health System responded to the investigation of its operations by hiring outside communications consultants. Articles in the Star Tribune raised issues about the merits of this practice; a subsequent commentary piece struck an apologist chord for communications consulting.

Both parties miss the point. The real consideration is not whether organizations hire external expertise, the issue is about ethics, the role of professional communications, and the public’s right to know. Imbedded here is a sublime irony in the intense scrutiny of public organizations and relative disregard of private companies.

Professional communicators are in a unique position to guide overall decision-making at all levels of organizations, whether as insiders or outside counsel. A practitioner’s purest role is to track and analyze global and local issues, attitudes and trends, aligning the policies and procedures of an organization accordingly.

How do they do this? As was the case with Allina’s outside counsel, they use internal and external research, analyze the data, make recommendations that detail the impact of actions on the organization, and design communications programs to implement these recommendations, including how to respond to the media.

However, if Allina had and/or used a qualified senior communications officer in an executive management position of equal power and standing with its legal, financial, and operations executives, it could have avoided the problems that sparked the controversy to begin with. Hiring outside counsel to help in a crisis isn’t wrong. Allina’s seeming lack of dependence on ongoing ethical executive-level public relations practice is.

Lack of full and open disclosure about their operational practices, failure to cooperate with authorities, the arrogance of top management, are all aspects of the organization’s poor public relations. And least your reading public think that Mr. Quimby’s commentary speaks for our profession, it is never our role to “push the bounds” in any direction that is outside that of the public interest!

Many communications professionals, particularly those who choose the voluntary public relations accreditation (APR) offered by such national organizations as the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), are committed to a professional Code of Ethics that includes such precepts as: “conducting their professional life in accord with the public interest; never intentionally communicating false or misleading information; and never engaging in any practice which corrupts the integrity of the channels of communications or the process of government.” It is their role to insure that the organizations they serve follow suit.

Unfortunately, it seems that Allina and many organizations use their professional communicators as mere order takers rather than the reputation managers they are trained to be. Worse, many practitioners aren’t trained or don’t adhere to these standards.

Professional communicators use methodology and theory from such social sciences as sociology, anthropology and psychology, to determine human behavior. They study journalism, economics and organizational development. The best and brightest are trained to think and anticipate. It is their job to help organizations link and apply their findings to the legal, operational and economic aspects of the organization. This advice and counsel provides the ultimate vehicle for organizational success because it directs its gaze outside the organization and holds high an ethical perspective.

Yet, what makes the news are the misuses or transgressions of the profession. As in any field, there are good and bad public relations practitioners and good and bad public relations practice.

This gets us back to the question about public vs. private disclosure. It is naïve to demand less from private institutions than from public ones. How outdated this mindset seems. The very technology that many private organizations use to their marketing advantage holds the equal and opposite disadvantage (their view) for full and open disclosure of operations. Only the most proprietary data need be protected in our information-driven world.

Forward thinking CEOs understand that reasonable maximum disclosure creates trust with their multiple constituencies. Trust leads to credibility. And credibility builds a positive reputation or image. Nothing sells their products, services or stock better than a positive reputation. Communication professionals are uniquely trained and qualified to serve the role of reputation manager within an organization. Bringing such counsel into the mix as part of business as usual will keep organizations more in the favorable court of public opinion and less in the expensive courts of law.

Reflections on Turning 60

2010-04-06T05:11:00.005-04:00

Suze and Pia at Ipanema Party, April 3, 2010

Suze and Sandra celebrate in Limburg's mellow countryside

April 5, 2010

Privileged to be with Sandra and Maurice's family, Levi, 11 and Britt, 10

It has been a monumental birthday, beginning with my trip to Florida, buying a new home there, reconnecting with friends and family, to returning to my home for the past almost six years here in Maastricht, Limburg, the Netherlands.

Transitions ideally should be made with great intentionality; some, of course, overtake us, like Martijn's illness and death. But even then if we prepare ourselves we can and should develop the awareness necessary to experience/feel the changes, integrate the feelings (sorrow, joy, fear, even neutrality), and hopefully transcend them. It is said that those who cannot feel deep sorrow can also not experience great joy. And so, I admit freely the depth of my continued sorrow at simply not having Martijn's joyous being by my side for this historic birthday anniversary. However, please don't mistake this sadness for depression; I am embracing the next phases of my life; I am sensing how much happier I would be if I could share it with Martijn; and, I nevertheless also am grateful for all the blessings I have.

Incorporate and transcend: I now will work with great intent to build on all I have in order to create a solid and wise next foundation. Thank you to all my dear friends and family for your amazing and continued love and support.

An afternoon with Jacques Ogg: Maastricht’s early music maestro returns to his roots

2010-04-05T03:23:00.003-04:00

Back Story: Here is article I wrote for Crossroads Magazine last July 21, 2009, about my dear friend, Jacques Ogg, who performed for my 60th birthday. I am blessed.

An afternoon with Jacques Ogg: Maastricht’s early music maestro returns to his roots

Posted using ShareThis

Hitting the 60s in style

2010-04-04T18:19:00.002-04:00

April 3, 2010 Susan celebrates her 60th birthday

at the Ipanema Cafe on the River Muese

in Maastricht.

Susan accepts a birthday toast offered by Bob while family and friends look on.

My dear friend, Sueli Brodin, kindly captured the evening (click to see photo album) which featured a concert by Jacques Ogg, Pia Brand and La Rosa, as well as duos by Bonnie and Piet and Sandra and Maurice, followed by dancing to Mowtown Sounds into the wee hours.

Entering the Seventh Decade in Style

2010-04-03T07:49:00.001-04:00

Tonight here in Maastricht I'll celebrate 60 years of life in a wonderful cafe situated along the River Maas with about 60 people. There is a certain symmetry in this. We will enjoy each other's company, conversation, performances, good food and drink, and dancing, dancing, dancing.

Finding Family

2010-04-02T11:20:00.002-04:00

In this short video, my brother, Allen Schaefer, waxes eloquent over a snippet of our dad's history. This was shot in August 2008 at Allen's home in Allentown (a big joke of his that they named an entire city after him) Pennsylvania. Now Allen is critically ill so join me in however way you feel comfortable to send healing his way.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered!!!

2010-03-27T16:26:00.002-04:00

Susan signs the new home contract while Stacy from the title company looks on.

Annette and Suze shake.

Nitza Ramos, my fabulous realtor, and Suze celebrate at the beach!

My lovely friend and host, Cindy and Missy Cuda relax at home.

Signed, sealed, almost delivered

2010-03-20T11:01:00.004-04:00

On the right, with the lovely palm in front, my future home in Sun Harbor.

The back yard is roomy and inviting.

Can you picture a small koi pond with waterfall under the palms?

Soft lights, fire torches, great meals await!

After a rather shocking reveal at the previous property's home inspection, karma led me to a rather new listing at Sun Harbor. The house is located in the same quadrant where Cindy lives, the section closest to the Atlantic Ocean where the back yard faces. It was love at first sight and we made an offer on the spot. As fate would have it, this is the home of a friend of Cindy whom I met last year. She has lovingly maintained this Bahamian like cottage and I assured her I will do likewise. The inspection is set for Tuesday, and closing on Friday!

Family, Friends and Real Estate

2010-03-14T11:35:00.005-04:00

FAMILY

Life's events converge and flare out again. During the past difficult years my brother, Allen Schaefer, has been a great comfort to me. We've spoken once or twice a week and since Allen is 23 years older than I, he's provided the kind of wisdom, love and support that I imagine our dad would have. Now Allen is ailing and I'm very sad. Since I'm making a sudden trip back to the States for business, I hope to see him.

My brother, Allen Schaefer, at 80, 2008.

FRIENDS AND REAL ESTATE

A year ago I began to search for a home to own back in the States. I stayed a few weeks with my friend Cindy and decided that Pompano Beach, where Martijn and I always spent our wedding anniversary was a good place to sink roots. My parents moved to Central Florida in 1973, while I was on a spiritual journey throughout India. Since then I've flirted with Florida. Martijn spoke longingly of Pompano, and now, it seems, I'm about to own one of their cozy townhomes, a fifteen minute walk to the beach. I plan to stay based in Maastricht a while longer, but will gradually customize my little place in the sun for longer stays.

Sun Harbor Townhomes sit just north of 844 and west of the Intercostal Waterway.

Cindy and friend, on Cindy's dock, Sun Harbor Townhomes, Pompano Beach, Florida, April 2009

The welcoming sign.

Sun Harbor's Pool

Long view of Sun Harbor's Marina

Sueli's gift

2010-02-28T07:35:00.003-05:00

Sueli Brodin and Suze, January 2010

It takes a lot to make me blush. But my dear friend, Sueli Brodin, managed. She totally surprised me with a lovely 'tribute' in her weekly blog about the Maastricht region. I am hushed and honored by her thoughts, feelings and friendship. She entitled it: Susan's gift. Please click the link if you'd like to read.

Poetry at Pecha Kucha Maastricht

2010-02-24T04:04:00.005-05:00

Susan kick starts Pecha Kucha evening in Maastricht, Saturday, February 20, 2010, at AINSI Performance Theater. Photo © Bert Janssen

On Saturday evening, February 20, 2010, encouraged by my dear friend Sueli Brodin, newly appointed to Maastricht's Pecha Kucha working board, I stepped from behind the curtains of grief and back upon a stage. Many Pecha Kucha performers must conquer a number of fears - performance anxiety is a well-known obstacle. But for me that was not the case, I have been a performer, at ease in front of audiences, for years. Rather, my courage in taking up the gauntlet was about being in the spotlight without my greatest fan being in the audience. Seeing Martijn's wide and loving smile always lit me into 'being'. The challenge was in fact to heed my own words - to take up the mantle of intentional transition - to move forward from my loss and continue to evolve and to make a difference for humanity.

Click here to watch Susan's Performance

In this poetic homage to change, I weave my own poetry with established theories of human development hoping to inspire the audience to consider their extra ordinary qualities to embark on self-transformation. The poems are: The Tendrils, Contradictory Me, Cat Struttin', and the long final piece, ExtraOrdinary.

R to L: Sueli Brodin, (Crossroads), Martijn Kagenaar (Zuiderlicht), one of the talented technicians, Nathalie Dirks, Maastricht University and Pierre Buijs (Creovate) confer behind the complex console used to stream each of the 12 slide shows and to record the entire evening's performances. PKN Maastricht is known to be one of the most professionally managed within the PKN family of cities - now approaching almost 300 spots around the globe!!

PKN Maastricht has been playing to sold out audiences since its inception, January 20, 2009

At AINSI Performance Centre the audiences can reach over 350.

PKN Maastricht features one intermission and an after party with music and dancing.

20x20 What is PechaKucha?
PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.

It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

Amazing Amsterdam

2010-02-07T13:15:00.004-05:00

In the foreground the fabled gabled Amsterdam rooftops looking along

Leidsestraat towards Leidseplein. I came to this city where I fell in love in Martijn for a weekend of meetings, a conference, a speech and hanging out with good friends.

An evening interrupted: I arrived in the city on Thursday evening, February 4th to meet with the energetic vice-chair of Democrats Abroad, Netherlands, Claire Taylor. After an animated dinner meeting at the Jo Coenen Central Library, Claire offered me "the Dutch-back-bumper-bike ride" to the home of Sjoerd and Merle Soeters on the Prinsengraat, my hosts for the weekend. Oops, we tumbled hard enough that Claire crushed her ankle. Sjoerd came to our rescue transporting us to the emergency clinic. Claire had her broken ankle cast and we got her safely home. Ouch. She'll be 4 - 6 weeks recovering!

It was Claire who originally notified me that the Reverend Jesse Jackson was to speak at the last event in a series hosted by the John Adams Institute, an American cultural forum based in Amsterdam. The Reverend Jackson delivered a fiery and inspiring speech to a sold-out crowd. I had invited my friend Merle along, and we both found the event very worthwhile.

Saturday Merle took me to the market just across from their incredible canal house. As the blizzard raged on the United States east coast, I purchased this cute hat, scarf ensemble in wintery solidarity.

It was great fun cooking in Sjoerd and Merle's wonderful kitchen that afternoon in anticipation of the arrival of Ton Schaap and partner, Herman Rouw, above tasting a fine wine with Sjoerd. We feasted and I got to practice active Dutch language listening.

Back home in Maastricht I had the bittersweet task of saying goodbye to my housemate of the past 6 months, Carmen Echávarri Zalba, pictured here second from right, as she left this evening for her new adventures in Amsterdam where she is trying to secure a grant for her PhD work in neurology, specializing in disorders of dementia. I will miss her sorely. We've developed a warm friendship over these past months and I wish her well. This is a photo from the welcome party at my home some months ago. That's my dear friend, Bob Wilkinson, left, Anna, Pilar and Marie, Carmen's friends from Spain, Pia Brand, next and Sueli Brodin to the right of Carmen. Yours truly is kneeling at foreground.

Liege Opera Royal de Wallonie

2010-01-28T18:26:00.003-05:00

Palais Opéra de Liège

Tonight my dear friend Jacques Ogg whisked me to the nearby city of Liege for an opera that for me was a true tour de force:

I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI: a TRAGEDIA LIRICA IN TWO ACTS. Music by Vincenzo BELLINI. Libretto by Felice ROMANI.

First performed at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, on 11 March 1830. Editions Ricordi.

From their website:

The story is that of Romeo and Juliet, drawn from the work by Shakespeare, which has been the subject of many musical versions since the Renaissance. However, Bellini and his librettist Romani were inspired by the great English playwright only indirectly, basing their work instead on some Italian texts from the 15^th century. The result, however, can be considered as one of the masterpieces of the Sicilian composer, who died prematurely at the age of thirty-four.
In this work, melody reaches perfection, offering pages of sublime music that is unparalleled in the entire history of song. The orchestration is simple and serves as a back-drop for the voices.
Liège welcomes two bel canto stars for this opera: Patrizia Ciofi, Giulietta, and Laura Polverelli, Roméo. After her magnificent performance of Maria Stuarda here, Patrizia Ciofi moved on to the role of Giulietta at the Opéra Bastille. She will soon be at La Scala for Il Viaggio a Reims and will sing the title role in La Traviata at the Chorégies d'Orange in summer 2009 and at La Fenice in September. Her schedule is unbelievably busy…
Alongside her, we will welcome Laura Polverelli for the first time. This pair of exceptional performers will undoubtedly lift this essentially beautiful music to its peak. To direct a work of such sensitivity, we can rely on the delicate, flowing direction of Luciano Acocella. We will also experience for the first time the work of Cristina Muti, founder and leading light of the prestigious Ravenna Festival. In parallel with this important role, the artist is currently pursuing a very successful career as a director.

Pecha Kucha Maastricht

2010-01-25T10:17:00.004-05:00

Susan Schaefer performs

The Poetry of Change @

PechaKucha Night Maastricht

Sat 20 Feb 2010 @ 20:20

Location: AINSI, Kanaaldijk 112-113, 6212 NA Maastricht
Start: 20.20 hours, be in early!
Door: €5

20x20 What is PechaKucha?

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.

It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide.

Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

Needless to say I'm nervous and excited to be one of the 12 presenters. What a great opportunity to get back on stage after so long an absence. Years ago I was ringleader of a group of poets known as 'The Star Bards' taking our name from the alternative newspaper that i ran with my then-hubby, Bob Ingram, The South Street Star of Philadelphia.

In this poetic homage to change, I will weave my own and other’s poetry along with established theories of human development hoping to inspire the audience to consider their extra ordinary qualities to embark on self-transformation.

Pecha Kucha Maastricht is managed by a really cool group of local creatives who professionally video tape each presentation and post it to their incredibly professional website. Check out who and what has come before.

I will miss not having my far-flung friends in the audience, but at least you'll be able to catch the 'act'.

Green Card!

2010-01-15T14:50:00.002-05:00

Mother-in-Law Geri, Marcel and I at Dutch Immigration seconds after receiving my permanent resident card. Martijn would have been so pleased.

We all agreed that Martijn is smiling upon and with us on this big event.

Today Geri and Marcel took me to the city of Eindhoven, an hour north of Maastricht, where the officials of Dutch immigration (IND) handed me my official permanent residency permit. Still a U.S. citizen, but now I can come and go from my second home, the Netherlands, freely and have full permission to work. As you can see I was very happy and so lucky that my family decided to come along for this big event. Tonight I sorely missed not having my dear 'frog' to wrap his arms around me, but truthfully his love is shining all around and deep within.

The Life That's Waiting For Us

2009-12-30T16:59:00.004-05:00

We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

- Joseph Campbell

Susan & Martijn woven photo portrait

- D. Sippel

Two steps forward, one back. Time has a new quality, difficult to define.

I work at ‘discovering’ the life that is ‘waiting’ for me.

The year has been the best of times, the worst of times -

I struggle to find my identity, my sense of place.

Always mindful of my many blessings, family, friends and friendship,

I come to understand for the first time the ‘true’ meaning of process.

It has been a year of outward and inward journey.

Soul Lodging: A Magical Mystery Tour

Awareness - the first step toward healing. Awareness of how encircled I am. Grateful for continued contact with dear ex-hubby Bob Ingram, for renewed relations with brother Allen Schaefer, for the love and support of countless friends, colleagues and family.

Now I seek ‘soul lodging’. So thoroughly entwined was I within my marriage nest, bathed in belonging - all else seemed safe. I adored and was beloved. Martijn was my life’s witness.

I am unsettled. My quest now - to locate a new settled sense of soul. The half regenerated. The soul having been unraveled, untwined by the uncoupling.

Family, friends, colleagues weave around me a warp and weft - a thick, soft protective cocoon: The remaining toil is a solitary assignment.

Unsettled. I now craft a new consciousness awash in the gratitude of your countless contributions.

Happy Healthy Prosperous Sane New Year.

The Jewish outlook on Christmas

2009-12-28T09:19:00.002-05:00

Maastricht Christmas Market

I couldn't resist posting this video link here. I love Christmas (even though I'm Jewish) helps explain how it felt growing up as a middle class Philadelphia Jewish kid living in Mt. Airy amongst my good friends, who were Catholic and Protestant. I just knew we all wanted the joy and warmth of this holiday.

Holiday Glimpses

2009-12-26T15:21:00.003-05:00

My Dutch (Martijn's) family this afternoon gathered at a cozy restaurant nearby Maastricht in Kanne, Belgium. Being together this year was a warm and cozy experience.

In case you don't know the real Kris Kringle is alive and well masquerading as Erik Reise keeping the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis amused!