Laurie Sandell's Blog, page 375

My first box o' books has arrived!

[image error]They were dumped (rather unceremoniously) on my front stoop, so I lugged them up three flights of stairs and opened the box….books. A lovely pile of them. And I must say, my publisher did an unbelievable job: They're colorful and heavy, and the paper smells nice. They even bothered to print the "cloud" motif from the front cover on the cardboard jacket. That's just not done these days. Little, Brown, you rock! Now I just need to get them into the right hands…hmm, I'm thinking Madonna, so she can

Meditation Nation

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photo by SpiritMama

Last night I went to my weekly meditation class, which consists of twenty minutes of meditation followed by an hour-long lecture on a Buddhist topic. This is all the meditation I do all week, even though I invested in a comfy meditation pillow and a large stone Buddha, which I cannot move a single inch without assistance. I love my teacher. He's tattooed from head to toe and a nice Jewish guy (at least I think so, from his name), and exudes friendliness and humility. People so

My book is suddenly "In Stock" on Amazon

[image error]Oh my God oh my God oh my God. So anyone can buy it, now. You know, it's funny, putting a memoir out into the world. On the one hand, you feel a huge sense of accomplishment. On the other, you worry you have rendered yourself a family pariah, not to mention undateable. And then you wait for the reviews. (I've gotten a number already, which you can find on the right-hand side of my homepage.) And as much as I've been waiting, and tapping my foot, and chewing my nails, it's not like anything is re

My reality show addiction

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ABC/CRAIG SJODIN

Just got off the phone with Mike Fleiss, creator of The Bachelor, my favorite show of all time. There, I said it. I'm a slave to the franchise: I know the names (and special talents–I'm talking to you, backflip guy!) of all the participants; I become increasingly invested as the season progresses (don't even think about asking me for plans on a Monday night); and I truly believe that these people fall in love with each other, at least during filming. I interviewed Mr. Fleiss for

Meet Violet

<>[image error] This is my dog, Violet. She's a three or four-year-old Rat Terrier/Chihuahua mix who was originally a stray in the Bronx, taken to Animal Care & Control and pegged for euthanasia. Thankfully, my friend Alison Smith, who wrote the fantastic memoir, Name All the Animals, rescued her while on the lookout for a large dog at that selfsame pound. Then she sent me an e-mail saying, "I know this isn't the dog you had in mind, but she has never barked–would you like to at least meet her?" Violet immedia</>

Tap…tap…tap…is this on?

<>This is my first foray into the blogosphere, and I am feeling a lot of pressure about this initial post. I even Googled phrases like, "best first blog post," but far from leading to the best first blog post I've ever read, it led to a bland instructional that suggested I keep a typical post to 181 words. (I'm only at 63!) I'm planning to post at least once a day, about lots of things: my new book, The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir; my phobia of cooking anything other than chicken breast and</>