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New York City Opera's Fall Gala at The Waldorf Astoria.
This past Monday night, the New York City Opera held its Fall Gala dinner dance at the Waldorf=Astoria, welcoming Charles R. Wall as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
The evening began with cocktails in the newly-renovated Vanderbilt Room, followed by dinner in the Empire Room. The program featured performances by Rod Gilfry, Laquita Mitchell, Melody Moore, and Taylor Stayton from next season’s productions of La traviata, Così fan tutte, and Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna. Champagne, dessert, and dancing to the music of Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks immediately followed the performance.
Rod Gilfry, Melody Moore, George Steel, Laquita Mitchell, and Taylor Stayton
Harrison Morgan, Joan Granlund, Mark Newhouse, and Guy Clark
Mark Newhouse, Alison Levasseur, and Laurent Levasseur
Cindy Phelps, Dean Phelps, Jon Firester, and Anika Altmann
Bill Ohoemeyer, Bridgid Ohoemeyer, Matthew Arpano, and Courtney Arpano
Alla Akimova, Ana Gordeeda, Maya Letrlavec, Claude Arpels, and Winsome Brown
All proceeds from the Fall Gala support City Opera’s mission to create innovative productions of new and classic work, reach a wide audience with affordable ticket prices, to bring music into the lives of thousands of students each year through its education programs in New York City public schools.
Co-Chairs for the evening were Winsome Brown and Claude Arpels, Susan L. Baker, Emilie Roy Corey, Caroline Cronson, Mary Sharp Cronson, Edmée Firth, Joan Granlund, James Marlas, Mark and Lorry Newhouse.
Charles R. Wall and HRH Alexandra of Greece
Robert Verdi and Kelly Bensimon
Dana Gluck and Kim Hastie
Linette and Matt Semino
Rob and Julia Kao
Mark Newhouse, Paloa Rosenshein, and Arnie Rosenshein
Edmee Firth and Robert Meya
Elizabeth Taberas, Emily Carey, and Kim Hastie
Louise and Teige Carrol
Luziah Hennessy, Diana Picaso, and Korn Weisbrodt
Kim Hastie and Collin Quam
Sarah Fels Steel and Tom Gold
Lorry Newhouse and Yung Hee Kim
Aneesa Sheikh and Eric Cheng
Gadi Behar and Lauren Imperial
George Steel, Stephanie Newhouse, and Jesse Newhouse
Bonnie and Tom Strauss
Joan Granlund, Bill Walsh, and Mary Walsh
Laura Pozbolska
Peter Lee, Luziah Hennessy, and Jean Christoph Laizau
Wendy Goldstein
Teresa Mitsy, Guy Clark, and Francesca Beale
Austin Scarlett
Lauren Imperial and Gadi Behar
Erin Gibbs, Antoin Ohannessian, and Alexandra von Winterfeldt
George Steel and Nicolas Mirzayantz
SueAnn Weinberg and Marie Nugent-Fheld
Tracey Fitzpatrick and Sabrina Martin
Nicolas Mirzayantz and HRH Alexandra of Greece
Susan Baker, Michael Lynch, and Ann McNulty
Jane O'Hara and Edward O'Hara
Robert Verdi, Kelly Bensimon, and McKenzie Liautaud
Oises Kaufman, Heather Randell, and Mary Sharp Cronson
Jorn Weisbrodt and Diana Picaso
Lisa Lori, Alexis Blais, and Joanna Scholtz
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) honored music industry icon Stevie Wonder with the MMRF Spirit of Hope Award at the 15th annual MMRF Fall Gala, at the Hyatt Regency, Greenwich Connecticut. The Spirit of Hope Award is presented annually to individuals who inspire hope with their perseverance in overcoming personal obstacles. Michael McDonald, Darius Rucker and Javier Colon performed a tribute concert celebrating Stevie Wonder.
Dennis Gillings, CBE, Chairman and Chief executive of Quintiles, was honored with the MMRF Corporate Leadership Award. Deborah Norville, member of MMRF’s Honorary Board of Directors, was the MC. The $2.1 million raised support the development of next-generation treatments for multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer.
Javier Colon, Deborah Norville, Michael McDonald, Kathy Giusti, and Darius Rucker
Kathy Giusti, CEO - One of Time Magazine’s 2011 most influential people in the world, founded the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) in 1998 with her twin sister Karen Andrews soon after Kathy's diagnosis with multiple myeloma. Today, 165 million research dollars, four new approved drugs and 13 years later, Kathy is in remission but still pressing scientists and the FDA to work together efficiently.
Michael Reinert, Merril Wasserman-Serling, and Joe Serling
Traver Hutchins with Anne and David Ogilvy
Dennis Gillings and Mireille Gingras
Michael Reinert, Lori Alf, Darius Rucker, and Michael McDonald
Randy Phelps with Peter and Debby Weinberg
Stevie Wonder
Chris and Julie Church
Chris and Lori Melancon
Lauren Stein, David and Christine Zadik, and Traver Hutchins
Marilyn Chinitz and Deborah Norville
Jeanine Getz and Anne Ogilvy
Charley Zahringer, Kimberly and Chris Clarke, with Lynne Wheat
Nada and John Krediet
Darius Rucker and Ann Curry
A group of Iraq, Afghanistan and Viet Nam Veterans & their families enjoyed a birds-eye view of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from a prime perch overlooking Times Square at a special brunch hosted by Los Angeles philanthropist, arts patron and injured veterans activist Patricia Kennedy, founder of Step Up 4 Vets.
For several of the families it was the first Thanksgiving together in several years due to deployments and their first time at the parade. A highlight for the kids was the annual balloon toss when Santa arrived. The children had written messages to Santa on hundreds of balloons and pushed them out the windows as he passed by.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
living a great life
Life is Hard, Life is Difficult
My message today is titled Life is hard” and it’s about how to live a great life despite the fact that life is difficult.
Everybody wants to be happy in life. We all want to live a perfect life. We want that great job or a successful business. We want to be married to Mr. Right or Mrs Perfect. We want to have great kids. We want to have friends that stick by us come rain or shine. We want to be able to have all the material things life has to offer and have all our problems just disappear.
Everybody wishes for good life. It may be at different levels. One person may define a good life one way and another may describe it another way. For one person a good life may be just having three meals a day and a roof over their head. For another it may be having a huge mansion and a couple of million dollars in the bank.
There are different levels and meanings to what a good life is. But whatever you definition of it, there is perhaps one thing that you may have in common with many other people. You might want that good life stress free. You would like to have it without having to work so hard or struggle so much for it. That is a normal human expectation. Nobody likes to struggle through life.
Unfortunately, that is also what may be stopping you from having that great life. The thought of all that work, all that planning, overcoming hurdles and resistance is enough to make a lot of people give up before they even start. It can all seem too overwhelming, and for many it all just doesn’t seem be worth it. It’s like being drained of energy just at the thought of running a marathon. Before you are even at the starting line the thought of all that running just scares you and tires you so much mentally you just decide not to go for it. It’s just too hard.
One of my favourite books is titled “The Road Less Travelled” by M. Scott Peck. The first sentence in the book is:
“Life is difficult.”
Now, if you pick up a book and the first thing it tells you is “life is difficult” you may just think “is this book going to get reassuring and encouraging after such a start?
But, as Peck goes on to explain, once you accept that life is hard, it no longer becomes an issue that it’s difficult. He says:
“Once we know that life is difficult- once we truly understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult.”
In life you will have difficulties getting anything you want. It is very rare to get anything in life without some degree of effort. Only if you win the lottery will you have everything without effort, and even then you would have had to go out and buy the lottery ticket anyway so it’s not free at all.
Life is hard – your boss will not always be the nicest person in the world. Your job will have challenges that you did not foresee. Your workmates will sometimes be a pain. You won’t always get the salary and recognition that you want and deserve at work. Your clients may not be the nicest people in the world.
Life is hard – your kids won’t always be the ideal kids you want them to be. Your wife or husband may not be as perfect as you thought they were when you married them – in fact I can guarantee you they are not. Your home may not be the ideal place you would want it to be. You may not the perfect wife or husband that you once thought you were.
Life is hard – running a business is not as easy as you thought it would be. No one is lining up to bring money to your business, even though you are a really nice person and your business has great products to offer.
I could go on and on with these examples, but the bottom line is that “Life is hard.”
I don’t mean to say in all this that you don’t deserve a break. I am not saying that you are not justified in thinking that you deserve more than what you have gotten from life and the world to this point.
I am not saying that you are not justified in feeling the way that you feel. I know you have had it tough at times. I know that at times you feel that it’s all very confusing and just too hard. I mean you have worked very hard. You’ve done all that you possibly could in your life whether it is at work or at home. But things just don’t seem to have worked out as well as you had planned or hoped. It all just seems to have gone wrong and you don’t know or understand how or why.
But that’s okay. It’s normal. That’s what being human is all about. That’s what life is all about. Life is hard. Accept that.
Once you do, you will feel better about your circumstances. Then you won’t think of your situation as anything but what is common to every human being. Then you will think of your situation as a part of life. You will no longer beat yourself up about how bad things are or how you are not doing so well in one area or another. You will realise that you are only human. You make mistakes just like everybody else. You are not perfect just like everybody else.
But don’t stop there. Accepting that life is hard does not mean that you accept every circumstance and simply go with the flow.
You see, there are two sides to this story. There is another side to this coin. On the one side of the coin is where you have the words “life is hard” inscribed, but if you turn that coin over you will five very small but powerful words. They read:
“You can make it better”
That is one of the beautiful things about life. You can make your life better. You have total responsibility for what you do and how you respond to the fact that life is hard. As the now cliché saying goes:
“If life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”
Accepting that life is hard comes with accepting that you have the responsibility to make it better. Not only do you have the responsibility to make it better, you have the ability and the power to make it better.
You can make it better – become a better employee and someone worth giving more responsibilities at work. The promotions and the better pay are sure to follow one way or another.
You can make it better – learn how to raise better kids and have a happier home. Become the good husband or wife you would like your spouse to be.
You can make it better – learn how to turn that business around. Gain the extra skills you need to run a successful business.
You see, the only person you have any control over is yourself. You cannot change other people. Let’s take the example of marriage for moment. Notice that I did not say you should turn your husband or spouse into an ideal spouse. I said you should become the ideal husband or wife you want your spouse to be. Then, once you become such a person you may have several choices as to how to relate to your spouse.
Firstly, once you are as near perfect a spouse as anyone can be your husband or wife might see the difference and also decide to change for the better or they may just change naturally as a response to your new attitude. Secondly, if they don’t change, perhaps you will have reached a level of maturity where you are content and satisfied with who they are and their faults no longer bother you. Or thirdly, in some cases, such as in abusive relationships or in relationships that are a risk to your health, you may reach a level of self acceptance and courage where you are able to leave that abusive or unfaithful partner.
Whatever the case may be, this example illustrates one other important fact about teh fact that life is hard and taking responsibility. That is:
“You always have choices”
No matter what situation you are in, you have a choice. No matter how bad things are, you have a choice. No matter what you think you can or cannot do, you have a choice.
Now it may not be an easy choice, by any means. It may be a very difficult choice and the road you decide to take may be a tough one. It may push you way out of your comfort zone. It may mean that in the initial period your life may get even harder than it already is. But it is a choice nonetheless.
A lot of times you will actually find that the choices are not as hard as you thought they were. You may just have shut off your mind from seeing those choices and possibilities because you thought you had no choice. Once you become open to the idea that you are responsible for your life and that you have choices, you will find that you are no longer stuck just because life is hard.
At that point, life is still hard, but you have the final say. Your life becomes more meaningful and purposeful.
My message today is titled Life is hard” and it’s about how to live a great life despite the fact that life is difficult.
Everybody wants to be happy in life. We all want to live a perfect life. We want that great job or a successful business. We want to be married to Mr. Right or Mrs Perfect. We want to have great kids. We want to have friends that stick by us come rain or shine. We want to be able to have all the material things life has to offer and have all our problems just disappear.
Everybody wishes for good life. It may be at different levels. One person may define a good life one way and another may describe it another way. For one person a good life may be just having three meals a day and a roof over their head. For another it may be having a huge mansion and a couple of million dollars in the bank.
There are different levels and meanings to what a good life is. But whatever you definition of it, there is perhaps one thing that you may have in common with many other people. You might want that good life stress free. You would like to have it without having to work so hard or struggle so much for it. That is a normal human expectation. Nobody likes to struggle through life.
Unfortunately, that is also what may be stopping you from having that great life. The thought of all that work, all that planning, overcoming hurdles and resistance is enough to make a lot of people give up before they even start. It can all seem too overwhelming, and for many it all just doesn’t seem be worth it. It’s like being drained of energy just at the thought of running a marathon. Before you are even at the starting line the thought of all that running just scares you and tires you so much mentally you just decide not to go for it. It’s just too hard.
One of my favourite books is titled “The Road Less Travelled” by M. Scott Peck. The first sentence in the book is:
“Life is difficult.”
Now, if you pick up a book and the first thing it tells you is “life is difficult” you may just think “is this book going to get reassuring and encouraging after such a start?
But, as Peck goes on to explain, once you accept that life is hard, it no longer becomes an issue that it’s difficult. He says:
“Once we know that life is difficult- once we truly understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult.”
In life you will have difficulties getting anything you want. It is very rare to get anything in life without some degree of effort. Only if you win the lottery will you have everything without effort, and even then you would have had to go out and buy the lottery ticket anyway so it’s not free at all.
Life is hard – your boss will not always be the nicest person in the world. Your job will have challenges that you did not foresee. Your workmates will sometimes be a pain. You won’t always get the salary and recognition that you want and deserve at work. Your clients may not be the nicest people in the world.
Life is hard – your kids won’t always be the ideal kids you want them to be. Your wife or husband may not be as perfect as you thought they were when you married them – in fact I can guarantee you they are not. Your home may not be the ideal place you would want it to be. You may not the perfect wife or husband that you once thought you were.
Life is hard – running a business is not as easy as you thought it would be. No one is lining up to bring money to your business, even though you are a really nice person and your business has great products to offer.
I could go on and on with these examples, but the bottom line is that “Life is hard.”
I don’t mean to say in all this that you don’t deserve a break. I am not saying that you are not justified in thinking that you deserve more than what you have gotten from life and the world to this point.
I am not saying that you are not justified in feeling the way that you feel. I know you have had it tough at times. I know that at times you feel that it’s all very confusing and just too hard. I mean you have worked very hard. You’ve done all that you possibly could in your life whether it is at work or at home. But things just don’t seem to have worked out as well as you had planned or hoped. It all just seems to have gone wrong and you don’t know or understand how or why.
But that’s okay. It’s normal. That’s what being human is all about. That’s what life is all about. Life is hard. Accept that.
Once you do, you will feel better about your circumstances. Then you won’t think of your situation as anything but what is common to every human being. Then you will think of your situation as a part of life. You will no longer beat yourself up about how bad things are or how you are not doing so well in one area or another. You will realise that you are only human. You make mistakes just like everybody else. You are not perfect just like everybody else.
But don’t stop there. Accepting that life is hard does not mean that you accept every circumstance and simply go with the flow.
You see, there are two sides to this story. There is another side to this coin. On the one side of the coin is where you have the words “life is hard” inscribed, but if you turn that coin over you will five very small but powerful words. They read:
“You can make it better”
That is one of the beautiful things about life. You can make your life better. You have total responsibility for what you do and how you respond to the fact that life is hard. As the now cliché saying goes:
“If life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”
Accepting that life is hard comes with accepting that you have the responsibility to make it better. Not only do you have the responsibility to make it better, you have the ability and the power to make it better.
You can make it better – become a better employee and someone worth giving more responsibilities at work. The promotions and the better pay are sure to follow one way or another.
You can make it better – learn how to raise better kids and have a happier home. Become the good husband or wife you would like your spouse to be.
You can make it better – learn how to turn that business around. Gain the extra skills you need to run a successful business.
You see, the only person you have any control over is yourself. You cannot change other people. Let’s take the example of marriage for moment. Notice that I did not say you should turn your husband or spouse into an ideal spouse. I said you should become the ideal husband or wife you want your spouse to be. Then, once you become such a person you may have several choices as to how to relate to your spouse.
Firstly, once you are as near perfect a spouse as anyone can be your husband or wife might see the difference and also decide to change for the better or they may just change naturally as a response to your new attitude. Secondly, if they don’t change, perhaps you will have reached a level of maturity where you are content and satisfied with who they are and their faults no longer bother you. Or thirdly, in some cases, such as in abusive relationships or in relationships that are a risk to your health, you may reach a level of self acceptance and courage where you are able to leave that abusive or unfaithful partner.
Whatever the case may be, this example illustrates one other important fact about teh fact that life is hard and taking responsibility. That is:
“You always have choices”
No matter what situation you are in, you have a choice. No matter how bad things are, you have a choice. No matter what you think you can or cannot do, you have a choice.
Now it may not be an easy choice, by any means. It may be a very difficult choice and the road you decide to take may be a tough one. It may push you way out of your comfort zone. It may mean that in the initial period your life may get even harder than it already is. But it is a choice nonetheless.
A lot of times you will actually find that the choices are not as hard as you thought they were. You may just have shut off your mind from seeing those choices and possibilities because you thought you had no choice. Once you become open to the idea that you are responsible for your life and that you have choices, you will find that you are no longer stuck just because life is hard.
At that point, life is still hard, but you have the final say. Your life becomes more meaningful and purposeful.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
our political redneck...
i am baffled by the verbal subtility of our political instructors...
they come in thousands like the armageddon destructors,
they pose in on our political mindset like conductors,
...forming the ideal instructors,
these detractors are errors,except a few eligible competitors,
the wild menance they romance,form the ruptors,
contours on the scheme of our independence detour,
the rednecks like lizard on the tour...
i call them the worst naija actors...
FORTUNE DE EXCEL"
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