Listen to Billy Tuggle talk about Empathy, Forgiveness and a Lot of Chocolate on Lounging with LannaLee #podcast

Listen to Billy Tuggle talk about Empathy, Forgiveness and a Lot of Chocolate on Lounging with LannaLee #podcast


Billy Lounged with LannaLee and got a couch!

Billy Lounged with LannaLee and got a couch!

A few weeks ago a I was fortunate enough to chat with poet Billy Tuggle.

Here is what I said about the episode:

In a swanky hotel, Billy and Lanna talk about slam poetry, being true to yourself, the fun of competition, and how to make the world a better place. Lanna struggles to make her point. Billy talks about his start in performance poetry via Hip Hop and Graffiti, Slam Bingo Topics, and why he usually doesn’t go political in his poetry. Billy gives a call to action! And he answers 10 questions.

The week after this ran I went away to West Virgina and didn’t blag all weekend. I was intending on sending you all over then to listen to the show. Better late than never, eh?

And guess what? If you’re too lazy to click the link, you can listen to it here. Look up by Billy’s shining face, a button of awesome!

Productive. Plus a Lounging with LannaLee ProTip (Latest Lounge)

Productive. Plus a Lounging with LannaLee ProTip (Latest Lounge)

I have had a productive evening with the working from home and the getting the podcast ready. Which means I am inclined to punk out on my blag post.

But not before I give you a little Lounging with LannaLee ProTip:

In the side bar of this site, off to the right, is a podcast player. It’s under the heading “Latest Lounge,” and it has the audio of the most recent Lounging with LannaLee episode.

Right now, as you can see below (and to the right), I have tomorrow’s lounge showing. It won’t be publishing on Lounging with LannaLee until after midnight. But it is available for you to listen to right now on Musings of Lanna Lee Maheux.
Latest Lounge

This happens every week, every time I have a podcast that is ready before midnight. So if you are a great Fan of Lounging with LannaLee you don’t have to wait for your next fix!

Enter Title Here

Write your thoughts here. Congratulations, you’re writing a blag post!

Write some more thoughts (and hope against hope that someone, anyone, will make a nice comment.)

Check email. Check Facebook. Check Twitter.

Lose train of thought.

Come back to blag post. Valiantly remember what you were writing about. Try to stay on track.

Realize what you are writing is insipid and trite, and think of another topic.

Writing the other topic will take too much time (and may make you upset or angry), so punk out and look up a YouTube video to include in your blag post.

Write self-consciously about how you are punking out.

Check Facebook.

Call Husband. Leave message for Husband.

Realize you need to touch base with people on Facebook. Do it.

Search (again) YouTube for cool video. Fail.

Think that the “totally Amazing” things that will “blow your mind” hardly ever do. And be sad.

Want to see something totally amazing that will blow your mind. Compose Tweet about it in your head. Don’t tweet it.

Text with Husband.

Search YouTube Videos.

Chat with Mom on Facebook. She posts something schmaltzy about daughters on your wall, and in spite of yourself you tear up.

Realize that the internet is made of cats and everything will be okay.

Egg Explodes in Westbrook, Maine

Westbrook – In the course of boiling 6 seemingly benign (albeit out-of-date) eggs on Sunday evening, Lanna Lee Maheux-Quinn was shocked to her core when one of the eggs explodes in her face. “I was standing there, waiting for the water to boil for a minute, while reading a Jennifer Crusie novel on my Kindle, when pop! and then a drop of hot water hit my face”, said apartment-dweller Maheux-Quinn. “I knew right away one of the eggs exploded, but I didn’t understand why. Why did this have to happen to me?”

When asked what she did in the face of such danger, Maheux-Quinn replied, “I quickly covered the pot, turned off the heat and went back to reading my book. Later I put the 5 eggs that did not explode in the refrigerator. I threw the explodey egg away.”

Some experts say that exploding eggs are caused by tiny cracks in the shell, controversial expert Coach says, “the exploding eggs come from crazy chickens”.

“Some people say that it might have been a bad egg,” says Maheux-Quinn, “but it looked like a good one to me. Just goes to show, you never can tell.”

New from the Lounge: LLL070 Sydney Mackey Haggerty – Breathe Deep in the Belly

New from the Lounge: LLL070 Sydney Mackey Haggerty – Breathe Deep in the Belly

Sydney Lounged with LannaLee and got a Couch!

Sydney Lounged with LannaLee and got a Couch!

Going along with Lounging with LannaLee’s New Direction, here is my conversation with Sydney Mackey Haggerty, Breath Deep in the Belly.

This is the first episode in which I explicitly ask the following questions:

  1. How can we as a society make the world a better place?
  2. How do you make the world a better place? (Can you? Will you?)

It’s on, people.

Here is the description from the episode:

On beautiful Sebec Lake, Sydney and Lanna talk about staying positive, how Americans work too hard, martial arts, Qigong, and breathing deep in the belly. Sydney tells us how to make the world a better place. Sydney reveals that people are her passion, that her art is in her body, and what she does to keep going. And she answers 10 questions.

So why don’t you click on over there and take a listen.

You know you wanna.

TweetUps and Doctors and Whatnot

Had a fabulous time at the tweet up tonight. Gave out close to 50 pens. Talked with a few people. Drank in the energy of the crowd (not in a vampire way, mind you, but in a I’m-an-extrovert-and-I-love-to-hang-out-with-people kind of way.)

Had a doctor’s appointment today. All good on the Lanna front. I did sneak out before she remembered we should do a tetanus shot. (Felt like I was getting away with something. Ha Ha!)

My damned temporary Crown is wiggly again. I have an appointment for next Wednesday, I think I am going to try to stick it out until then. I am sick of going to the dentist. (Heck, I was ALREADY the mayor on 4square.) Sigh. All he can do is glue the temp crown back in (again). If it stays, I’ll be fine. And let’s hope that, if it doesn’t, it falls out on a weekday. Before noon. (so I can hightail it to the dentist before the end of the day.)

I am sorry, but I did not see a blue box, so I won’t be talking about THE Doctor. (I did see a dapper dude wearing a bow tie – bow ties are cool – but he did not have a sonic anything.)

I had an awesome blag post to write for you today, I wrote part of it during my lunch. But it might make me cry to write it, so I am saving it for another day. (Yay, you!)

So. The Lounge has a New Direction (I started talking about it on the blag here.) Tried out my new elevator speech for Lounging with LannaLee tonight. I think it’s a winner:

I talk to interesting people about making the world a better place.

What do you think?

Hey Now, Geraldo! OR Geraldo Rivera is a Saucy lil Biscuit!

Hey Now, Geraldo! OR Geraldo Rivera is a Saucy lil Biscuit!

Geraldo Rivera sez "70 is the new 50"!

Geraldo Rivera sez “70 is the new 50”! Thanks to the Q Morning Show for the heads up!

This picture fascinates and delights me all at the same time.

It is of journalist Geraldo Rivera, who posted it on his twitter account over the weekend with the caption “70 is the new 50”. A kerfuffle ensued.

I missed most of the hoopla, because I was upta camp; I first saw the pic posted on the Q Morning Show Facebook Page first thing this morning.

I shared the post on my Facebook page, and it performed very well, inciting a bit of consternation amongst my Facebook pals. My friend Brenna said “nope. 70 is 70.” Rosemary said “My issue is: why do we know HOW he looks? People, keep your clothes on when you take selfies!” My Mom said “TMI Oh My.” And Jeffry piped in with: “He needs to trim that damn mustache…”. All very interesting.

I had several thoughts going through my mind all at the same time:

  • Whoa. Did he really post that?
  • Looking good, Geraldo.
  • He looks naked. Is he naked?
  • Why is he naked?
  • He really does look good for 70.
  • I’d do him.
  • Why can’t I see his junk?
  • I want to see his junk.
  • This is not fair. Why can’t I see his junk?
  • Why did he post himself naked?
  • Shit, he looks good for 50!

Here is a problem we didn’t have twenty years ago, a (mostly) respected journalist and public personality publishing a naked picture of himself. And it’s kinda socially acceptable. Not really, obviously, because he did take it down, but it’s no different from some of the pictures millions of non-public personalities are publishing. It’s fascinating to see the reactions people are having to the picture.

Why did he post it? I think it’s because he thinks he looks great for a 70-year-old; that shows a healthy degree of self-love. Why not feel great about how you look? He looks very fit, but only because he looks relatively thin. What if he were 50 pounds heavier? Would the picture seem to be as amusing (sexy) or would people be even more offended? Like: how dare he love himself when he’s all fat and shit. I don’t know.

What if he were a 70-year-old female, and was posting a picture in a tiny bikini. How would the reaction be different? Would it only be a series of “you go girl” comments or would the backlash be the same? I think if the female was as fit-looking as Geraldo, she’d be lauded for her hot bod AND her bravery. Think about that for a second. If a 70-year-old female looked “hot” in a picture she posted on Twitter, she would be illustrating that she is still performing for the male gaze, and doing what women are “supposed” to do: be attractive.

Geraldo doesn’t have to be attractive, he’s a man. His attractiveness is a boon, for sure, but he would still be respected if he weren’t attractive. He would be judged on his past successes (and mistakes), and even this little snafu will not do much to harm his reputation.

Lounging with LannaLee’s New Mission. Just like the old mission, just explicated. And better.

Lounging with LannaLee’s New Mission. Just like the old mission, just explicated. And better.

Lounging with LannaLeeI think I’ve got it. I’ve really got it.

Note: I’m an extrovert and I think out loud. Here is me, thinking out loud on my blag.

That’s what the blag is for, isn’t it?

As you all know, I’ve been going through some shit around here: death, illness, depression, wah wah wah, woe is me. Add to that the current newsy things going on in the world, like the Zimmerman trial, the attacks all over on women’s rights. Sure we have some good things going on (gay marriage for one), but marriage equality is still lacking in many states.

I want to do something about it. But what? I want to make the world a better place. But how?

It came to me the other day, I’m ALREADY doing something. Through the Lounge! I am:

Making a Difference through adventurous conversations.

.

Here are but a few examples:

  • LLL063 published on 5/30/2013: me and my pal Ida talk about Love and Loss and Life and Death – a heart to heart conversation full of fantastic belly laughter. That conversation with Ida encouraged me to Walk my Walk.
  • LLL054 published on 3/28/2013: my friend Elizabeth talks about her work with families who have children with autism, and her passion for helping women find their power, and she wonders “What in the Hell was I Thinking!” Again, there were belly laughs.
  • LLL003 published on 3/15/2012: lest you think only recent lounges make a difference, you should take a listen to my conversation with Julie Woods – who will be achieving world domination through love. (Don’t doubt her, people). When I was done with that conversation, I thought I could do ANYTHING. And: Belly Laughs!
  • LLL024 published on 08/30/2012: My conversation with Steve Trombulak we talk about how he and his partner helped a village in Ghana make their drums speak again. We also discussed how to help the ecology: it’s not just about hugging the earth hard enough. (We laughed too.)
  • LLL067 published on 07/05/2013: When I saw Angela Shelton speak at the #140You conference about how she healed herself after a traumatic childhood, I laughed so hard, I knew I had to get her for the show. She and I had a fantastic conversation on the streets of New York City about her journey and how doing a documentary (where she went around the country meeting a bunch of women named Angela Shelton) changed her life.

I am Making a Difference through adventurous conversations.

Of course I want to do more. But what?

Last night it hit me. Like a brick. A brain brick. You know, one of those clue bricks you get once and a while.

Interject to say: this whole clue brick was precipitated by a blog post by my pal Alex Steed, where he talks to musician Samuel James about the Zimmerman case, entitled: No, We are Not “Making it about Race” (And “they” weren’t – the Zimmerman case IS about race. Even this white girl can see it.)

Anyway. I had already established I was Making a Difference through adventurous conversations. My clue brick was the HOW.

Starting now, every Lounging with LannaLee episode will have, as part of it, the following two questions:

  1. How can we as a society make the world a better place?
  2. How do you make the world a better place? (Can you? Will you?)

The agenda will still be to have a great conversation, of course.

But now we are gearing up to rule the world.

Become a Blogger (Blagger) in 1 Day! TM Just 3 steps to Blogging Success!

I got an email from a company I will not name offering to make me a blogger (blagger) in 4 weeks. I got to thinking. Hey, I could show people how to become a blogger in ONE Day. Heck, for the especially speedy person, they could be blogging (blagging) in a couple of hours!

I am missing out on a gold mine, I tell you.

So here it is, I am laying it all out on the line, here is how you, yes YOU! can become a blogger (blagger) in just ONE Day!

If you want to learn how, all you have to do is READ THIS BLAG POST. It’s just that simple.

Are you ready?

You might want to take notes.

1. Set up a blog (blag)
2. Write a blog (blag) post
3. Publish your blog (blag) post

There. Done. You’re a blogger! You’re starting out just like millions of other bloggers (blaggers) have started out: by blogging!

You need a bit more information? My instructions are a too simplistic, you say. Well, let me flesh it out for you

1. Set up

You can use free services like blogger.com or WordPress.com. If you want to control how your blog looks and acts you can host your own blog by purchasing your own domain with a hosting plan (I use GoDaddy.com, right now they are offering a free domain when you purchase a year of hosting in advance), and then installing WordPress from WordPress.org) on it.

You can also purchase a domain and have it forward to your free hosted account.

There are instructions online on how to do ALL of these things.

2. Write Post

Okay. Sign into the program, click New Post, write post. Read it over, check your grammar.

3. Publish

When the post is ready hit the Publish button.

SUCCESS! You are now a Blogger (blagger).

I am so proud of you.

And since I have been so helpful to you, feel free to paypal any amount of money you’d like to lannalee@gmail.com. I really appreciate it.