Check out my first radio interview tomorrow!

Hey Cotton Candy Kids! I'm elated to announce my first radio interview for my book will be conducted tomorrow, September 1! Check out the following website if you don't live near Uniontown, PA. I'll be on the Jack Evans Show at 4:15 central time. This is WMBS - CBS 590 AM, or click on this link to listen to the streaming live broadcast! I can't wait to talk about my book and all the great news about Conneaut Lake Park and the Blue Streak refurbishment!!!

http://www.wmbs590.com/

Take an historic step...

in the refurbishment of Conneaut Lake Park by purchasing a plank on their boardwalk. My Christmas gift to myself will be buying a plank to help restore this historic boardwalk which graces a beautiful area near the Hotel Conneaut.

Conneaut Lake Park, the Hotel Conneaut, and the entire resort area so deserve your support.

Just a few more days to vote!!

Cotton Candy Kiddies -- just a few more days to vote for the refurbishment of the Blue Streak rollercoaster at Conneaut Lake Park through the Pepsi Refresh Everything challenge!! Go to the following link and vote away! Right now the Blue Streak is in 1st Place to receive a $50,000 grant! Let's get her rolling!!

http://www.refresheverything.com/conneautlakeparkbluestreak

A love story.

Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were the most famous married stage actors of the 20th century. They were so popular they even had a Broadway theatre named after them -- imagine! When they weren't onstage (always together -- it was part of their contract. That's star power!), they summered at their charming estate, Ten Chimneys, located in Genessee Depot, WI.

While traveling from Milwaukee to Madison yesterday, after a morning voice-over job and a swell coffee and Italian cookie-filled visit with my friend Connie, I came upon the exit for Ten Chimneys and had a "What the heck? When will I be out here next?" moment and drove 10 miles or so out of my way to visit the Chimneys, where Alfred & Lynn entertained the likes of Helen Hayes, Katherine Hepburn and Lawrence Olivier ("Larry" ahd his own guest room, masculine-yet-elegant, much like its occupant).

What struck me most about the property was its sense of creative play, it's spirit of unbridled creativity and possibility -- and its deeply emotional energy. Never took an historical walking tour before where I left misty-eyed. The couple were married for over fifty years. Soulmates and playmates. (And I know what that feels like, thanks to my wonderful Ben).

Alfred & Lynn -- thank you for being the catalysts for so much possibility -- and for reminding us all that life is truly open to our own design.

On the itinerary: a weekend in Brooklyn

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Samantha_Brown/Episodes_Travel_Guides/Episode_Brooklyn

I rarely get bold-faced jealous of anyone, but I do have my moments regarding Samantha Brown, the plucky Travel Channel star who travels all over the world, stays at the best inns and otels, eats the local specialties, shops 'til she drop, and has even had a private audience with Mickey Mouse when she visited Disney World. This week, Samantha took you on a "Great Weekend Getaway" to her hometown, Brooklyn, New York. Part of that getaway included a visit to Coney Island and a performance of the Coney Island Freak Show.

Obviously, there's no way I can have my Cotton Candying NOT include a ride on the Wonder Wheel or the Cyclone, so I'll definitely be hitting Coney. And a nathan's Hot Dog (or as the locals say, a hawt dawg) will round out my visit.

Great article on the World's Weirdest Theme Parks!

http://myamazingfact.blogspot.com/2009/08/weirdest-theme-parks.html

The things I come across while researching my Road Trip. Oh, to have the funds to stretch the scope of my book to include a world-wide journey into the bizarre and confounding!

Visit the link above and learn about the world's weirdest theme parks, including Denmark's Bon Bon Land which boasts a farting rollercoaster. Then there's Love Land... I really can't show you the pictures...and if you clikc on the link to look at the pictures, you shouldn't be doing so at work.

Into the Old Mill...

Well, actually, it's now the Garfield ride. And that's fine. But I would've loved visiting this ride when it was a spooky dark ride, and not-too-frightening tunnel of love ride. Still, it exists as the oldest ride at Kennywood and that's something to ballyhoo.

Kennywood Park, Pittsburgh, PA, August 2009.

Monday on the Blog with a Really Cool Photo!!

Ever wonder what's inside a carousel? I mean, inside, like the gears and cogs and secret cubbyholes? The ancient parts, some no longer operable but kept, just because? Perhaps items used for the repair and maintenance of the ride?

The ride operator of the grand carousel at Seabreeze Park allowed me the rare opportunity to take a peek inside the core of the carousel -- and to photograph his cabinet of paints he uses for touch-ups.

He couldn't figure out why I was essentially jumping up and down in a gleeful dance. He actually shot me a bemused look; this is his everyday world, so why should anyone become so worked up?

For me, it was Wonderland.

Sunday on the Blog with Photos!!

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil... have no fun at Arnold's Park!

Yours truly, enjoying a refreshing Coca-Cola while commiserating with the chimpanzees in the shade.

Contemplating the next park...or getting all loony on ya and making that "parks".

It's been almost two months since my last park visit. Since then, a lot of stuff got in the way, some good, some gnarly. But now, while a desert's worth of dust settles, it's time to contemplate and plan for future visits.

At the end of this month, I'll either be planning a trip up north to the Green Bay area and Bay Beach Park, along with a dear friend -- it was her childhood park. It's truly a magical thing to attend a park with someone whose childhood memories come into play. Or, depending upon monies and timing and such, the end of the month may hold in store a trip to the East Coast. Or the Northwest. It's rather up in the air at this juncture.

After I'm done with my play, "The Drowsy Chaperone", Ben and I will be traipsing out to the San Fran area and the plan is to tackle the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and take in their refurbished dark ride.

And then, closer to the holidays, we'll take a long weekend's trip to Silver Dollar City. Can I have a "Yee" and a "Haw"?

I'll let you know more when I know more...

Back and just a little snarly...

http://www.refresheverything.com/conneautlakeparkbluestreak

Okay, I've been away for a while, but I've had some very sound reasons. However, before I go into all that, please copy and paste the address above and go vote for the Blue Streak to be funded 50K!! Right now they're in 2nd place but they have to stay in the Top 10 by the end of this month. Go vote! Now! Chop, chop!!

So, the reasons I've been away? Okay then - it has to do with no time to get me to a coffee house and cozy up and plunk down some blogstuff. But beyond that, I had me a spill, or as my character, The Drowsy Chaperone would call it, a "plumble." On August 2, I fell down the stairs, in slow-mo, like Lee Majors in the "Six Million Dollar Man." Really strained my knee. So I'm keeping off of it, focusing on the happy acronym R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Well, maybe more like R.I.E. But I'm doing it. Also taking my fish oil and an enzyme called Repair Gold.)

I won't be felled by this thing. I'm on the attack like a wolverine. Look -- here's a photo of a slightly snarling wolverine to get you in the spirit! Plus he's playing in the snow, which should give you a refreshed, chilly feeling in the middle of the hottest summer we've had since 1897. See? I give.