A little bit of country comes to Oakland

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: January 14, 2011

The three guitars resting on her living room couch tell the story. “These are the girls” says Oakland hills singer/songwriter Caren Armstrong — each instrument poised to be played by an artist who can make the strings sing.

Mention the name to any local guitarist and you’ll find Armstrong has a big following. The free-spirited redhead with hair the color of warm cherry wood teaches as many as 25 lessons a week in her cozy hills apartment and is a regular in acoustic clubs around the Bay. But her monthly songwriter’s showcase may well be her signature event. Continue reading →

Town Crier: Butterfly habitat coming to Montclair

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MONTCLARION: January 14, 2011

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The world is another story — but here in Montclair, things are rather rosy. Kindhearted neighbors are planting a butterfly habitat in Shepherd Canyon Park, folks are sprinkling wildflower seeds about town and five local Girl Scouts are getting their Gold Awards. Continue reading →

Enjoying winter’s touch in Yosemite

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: January 7, 2011

It’s one of the most popular national parks in the country, ranked only behind the Grand Canyon and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Yet Yosemite in winter offers such solitude, you feel virtually alone. This is the season of opportunity to bond silently with nature, to take in the awesome splendor that John Muir and Ansel Adams breathed into their very souls.

It’s also a time for great adventure, as I found when I signed up for a 10.5 mile cross country ski trip from Badger Pass to Glacier Point. It was a test of endurance — in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Continue reading →

Boy plays piano to help children around the world

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OAKLAND TRIBUNE: January 6, 2011

For many kids, playing the piano is a rite of passage that ranks somewhere between breaking a bone and getting braces. But for 13-year-old Omar Abdul-Rahim, the piano holds the key to helping other children.

On Sunday, this eighth-grader at Corpus Christi School in Piedmont will play a benefit concert for the George Mark Children’s House in San Leandro, a hospice for terminally ill children. It’s his second fundraising performance in a year, and it underscores how even a child can make an important contribution in the world.

Omar’s epiphany came after hearing a speaker in church make a plea for donations for children living in the slums of Calcutta. After Mass, he went up to the representative and said, “I don’t have any money, but I can play the piano.” Continue reading →

The Six Questions

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OAKLAND MAGAZINE: January/February 2011

Who: Terry Sendgraff, 77, Oakland

What: She’s a retired performer who pioneered a type of aerial dance called Motivity using trapeze bars, hoops, harnesses and slings. She’s also the founder of the first women’s trapeze dancing troupe in the nation, Fly By Nite, and the first women’s stilting troupe called Women Walking Tall. Continue reading →

‘Tis the season for road rage

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MONTCLARION: December 10, 2010

There’s something about the holidays that’s both sweet – and sour. Sweet is the sound of trumpets and carolers and choirs and bells. Sour is the sound of horns blaring in traffic and motorists jawing about parking.

I take this time, each year, to recount the memory of a man who gave me the middle figure salute one Christmas Eve in the parking lot of Lucky’s. He was a senior, but his arthritic finger drove home the point that his time was too valuable to be spent waiting for me to pull out.

Okay, I get it. We’re all really busy – especially at holiday time. But there is no excuse on earth for this next bit of news, which involves a local dad and a hit and run Prius driver. Continue reading →

Commercials are Al Attles’ new `game’

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MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL: December 3, 2010

He’s the voice of experience. Mature and confident. You get the sense that his mettle has been tested in every arena.

Meet Al Attles, the voice behind a new series of Toyota truck commercials. It’s the same Al Attles who played 11 seasons for the Warriors, then coached them to an NBA title in 1975. In the world of advertising, as in basketball, he’s still got game. Continue reading →

Town Crier: Holidays officially in full swing

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MONTCLARION: December 3, 2010

Now that we’ve survived Black Friday and the gluttonous feast that is Thanksgiving, let the countdown for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa (or fill-in-the-blank) begin. In our house, the tree is up, and it’s Day 3 of little chocolates on the Advent calendar. Meanwhile, I’m exercising furiously to fit into my red velvet leggings and sequin-studded top. I’ll be retiring my dancing cat Christmas sweater this year, after finding out my daughter wore it to the Tacky Holiday Garment Party at her college sorority. It hurts, but it’s time to move on. Continue reading →

The Six Questions

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OAKLAND MAGAZINE: December 1, 2010

Who: Jules Bruff, 37, a Montclair native living in Los Angeles

What: Bruff is a Hollywood actress who has worked in more than 40 commercials, network television shows and feature films including David Fincher’s Zodiac. She recently finished writing and producing an indie film on depression (in which she also acts) called Part Time Fabulous. Continue reading →