I'm Just Sayin'

“I'm inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.” — President Obama You know I have done my very best to NOT be political this year on any social networks or blogs or anything because honestly people are idiots and they just want a reason to fight and I am all about being positive these days. I suffered two major losses this year with my dog of almost 14 years suddenly dying of Westie Lung Disease in January and then my father passing away in June. I was out of work for some of that time and the days were dark a lot of the time. That said, I was always hopeful about my future and one of the reasons is this man right here. PRESIDENT OBAMA He doesn't just stand for the left side, he stands for everything that is right in this world and it blows me away that everyone can't see that. He is all about family. He is about peace-but not such a wuss tha...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/capitol-hill-grieves-for-homeless-man-who-was-neighborhood-fixture/2012/08/21/1395b668-ebc8-11e1-b811-09036bcb182b_story.html?socialreader_check=0&denied=1 This is a great story that will warm your heart. Here is a bit of it below, but click on the link for the full story in the Washington Post. Capitol Hill grieves for homeless man who was a neighborhood fixture. By  Steve Hendrix  and  J. Freedom du Lac ,  Published: August 21 Peter Bis may have been the most rootless savant on Capitol Hill. He lived most of the past decade on the streets near Union Station without an address, a phone, a job or even a reliable connection to reality (unless the former law student with the uncanny memory really  was  Princess Diana’s former lover and a onetime aerospace magnate). But in the week since Bis died of an apparent heart attack near his favorite corner at Second Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE,...

Whoooo-hoooo viva Italiano!!! Are you afraid of gluten? Or grains? Or beans? Come on! This is from the Mayo Clinic AND the guy, Ancel Keys, who named this diet lived to be 100. So there. Here is a great article!! I didn't write it, but I am sharing it.  Mediterranean diet: Choose this heart-healthy diet option The Mediterranean diet is a heart-healthy eating plan combining elements of Mediterranean-style cooking. Here's how to adopt the Mediterranean diet. By Mayo Clinic staff If you're looking for a heart-healthy eating plan, the Mediterranean diet might be right for you. The Mediterranean diet incorporates the basics of healthy eating — plus a splash of flavorful olive oil and perhaps a glass of red wine — among other components characterizing the traditional cooking style of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Most healthy diets include fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains, and limit unhealthy fats. While these parts of a healthy diet remai...

Many of my close friends and anyone who has ever been around me for about 2 seconds knows that being healthy, not skinny, is part of who I am. I drink tons of water, my diet is mostly plant based and I don't eat sweets that often, so I am all for wellness blogs and such. That said, everyone thinks that they can tell others what to do. So as a blog reader, you really need to be careful. Recently someone who I know personally who isn't that healthy, but is obsessed with trend diets is now claiming herself to be a fitness, wellbeing and health expert. This person knows nothing and unless you can get a degree in nutrition in a month, then, well you know. She didn't even work out until last summer. She ate terribly and was just a pain to be around. So now all of a sudden she is telling people what to do. One of her blogs is telling people that 8 glasses of water is excessive? WHAT?  I mean how can you take someone serious who doesn't even practice what they ...

I have been wanting to get out of the hot weather for so long, but as things happen I go with them. I am very excited to say that I found a great apartment without even looking in my old neighborhood-that I left because the rents went up to crazy high rents and thus my move 25 miles north to "Agrestic". I have been looking in Santa Monica and San Francisco, but looks like I'll be a "Valley girl" a bit longer. And before you think it's too good to be true for me? There is no central air-but I am excited, my closest friends all live in that area, so YIPPEE!! I actually said to the universe, "okay, if and only if there is a great place for under X amount on these four streets, I'll stay in the Valley, otherwise, find me something great on the west side." So in tune with my last post, I did put this out there and the universe delivered. I am so excited to decorate a new place! Things I like about the Valley: *Tons of industry people everywher...

As many of your know I have been working contract/freelance for many years and not entirely by choice. Freelance in the animation world used to mean more money and less hours, now it means way less money and way more hours. The studios are cutting corners and so it is what it is. I love to draw and I love writing, so working freelance was a great way for many years to do both. Also the studios are hiring less and less in house people, so it just sort of happened. I have also been working as a freelance script reader for a few companies around town and even offering up my own services, and it's been great. I am very lucky to do what I love. If you read my last post you will see that I am taking that full time-I will still freelance in animation-I mean after 17 years it is part of who I am, but I am excited to be getting more and more clients for Script Concierge,   www.stephanieolivieri.com and more and more people interested in my class on dialogue. Now the dreaming begins. I...

http://scriptconcierge.wordpress.com/ Script Concierge is up and running! As many of you know, I have been doing a lot of script reading and coverage lately and I love it. I really love the feeling of helping a writer get their script into the best shape it can be in. I also love telling new writers about great coaches and workshops such as: Ellen Sandler. True story I was doing coverage last week for a fellow writer who wants to work in television, and she had never heard of Ellen!! I was shocked-but then I remember 5 years ago when I was trying to get my first show on the air, I hadn't either. I told this writer to go buy Ellen's book and she did and her pilot is already stronger. Yay! I know that stuff. The last five years have been intense for me, in the scriptwriting world. I have taken so many classes and workshops and online classes and attended many panels that now I have this wealth of information that took me five years to collect-almost like going to university ful...

Funny how the universe seems to know what's going on. Lately I have been feeling "off" maybe because my father died in June and or my doggie died in January, the fact that work is unpredictable and or that I am - EEEEK - middle aged, although it does NOT feel that way. In any case, I am not sure why, but my usually strong self has been having a lot of questions and the biggest. WHAT THE F*@K AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE? I know what I am doing, following my dreams and working in entertainment. But that comes with always being rejected, ALWAYS, and then getting a job and then it ends early, or doesn't start, or is great and then you are out of work, AGAIN. Sigh.. but in any case, I have been trying to make a new plan of action to support myself while I am pursuing my dream-writing. I got this in my inbox today and thought I would share because it's perfect. If you aren't already signed up on the Daily Om, you should, it's great. Here is the link and the...