Children's Book: Rhoda's Ocean by Betty Abbott Sheinis

Great story in the Boston Globe by David Filipov: From the shadows, a dream and a book emerge:

In March, Arnold Sheinis, 84, a retired psychiatrist who has dedicated the last 25 years to painting, asked the owners of Gallery 55 in Natick to come to his house to see his work. They found a modest split-level Cape where watercolors, drawings, photographs, and sketches covered walls, hallways, desks, and tables from the basement to the bedrooms on the second floor. It was in one of those rooms that Anet James and John Mottern, co-owners of the gallery, found a colorful drawing of anthropomorphized woodland creatures, evocative of “Frog and Toad” or pre-Disney Winnie-the-Pooh.

“Under a pile of laundry that was on a bed there was a beautiful illustration of the cover of a children’s book that was just kind of peeking back at us,” Mottern recalled recently. “We moved the laundry, and we looked at it, and we asked Arnold, and he said ‘Oh, that’s Betty’s book.’”

Sheinis introduced the gallery owners to his wife, Betty Abbott Sheinis, a painter, an illustrator, and a dreamer, who had started working on the book decades ago. But she was suffering from dementia and did not recognize her own work. Nor could she say where she kept it.

Image from Rhoda's Ocean courtesy Gallery 55 via Boston Globe video

It's hard for me to image why the Boston Globe does not link out the the main subject of hte story, Betty's book, to make it easier for readers to find and buy it.

Here are the Amazon.com links to buy the book (affiliate links):



Buy Rhoda's Ocean at Amazon.com

You can also stop by Gallery 55 at 55 South Main St, Natick MA to get your copy, order online at www.rhodasocean.com, or call for a gift Certificate to be emailed to you 508-740-0260.

I'm not sure why the Boston Globe does not allow embedding of Dina Rudick's beautiful video that's online with the article.

There is embed code on the Boston.com Video page, but you can't choose a size, and the video auto plays. Two good reasons why no one is going to embed it. :-(

Derek Sanderson on his demons

Boston Globe Magazine has an article about Derek Sanderson. One of my favorite players.

Former Bruin Derek Sanderson on his demons:

In this selection from his new autobiography, the onetime hockey star reveals how, after his fabulous Bruins success, his life spiraled out of control.

This excerpt from Crossing the Line is printed with the permission of Triumph Books, triumphbooks.com/dereksanderson.

HOW DID I SCREW UP MY LIFE SO BADLY? My only dream was to become a professional hockey player. Everything I did, I did to play in the National Hockey League. Now I was 31 years old. I should have been in the prime of my life. I should still have been playing hockey. A few years earlier, in 1972, I was the highest-paid athlete in the world, and yet there I was, being quickly escorted into the bottomless pit of alcoholism and drug addiction.

Orr to Sanderson to Orr, and what could be better than that?


Image: Crossing the Line cover courtesy of Triumph Books

Derek Sanderson’s story readied for the big screen

Derek Sanderson Didn’t Always Smoke and Pray at the Same Time

Greatest Hockey Legends: Derek Sanderson

[Video] Amazing Things Happened: Interview with CC Chapman

My good friend CC Chapman asked me if I'd help him with a video shoot for his new book, Amazing Things Will Happen: A Real-World Guide on Achieving Success and Happiness (Affiliate Link)

Of course I would.

CC came over this afternoon and we shot an interview about the book, what inspired him to write it, and what's in the book.

We had a great talk.

Here's the video:



Note: I think the soft focus setting was turned on. Oops. Makes our skin look smooth. Ha ha! ;-)

Afterwards we got a few shots of the interview set up.


Image: Camera set up

I used my Panasonic SD100 HD videocamera, a Tota light, and an LED light, along with a couple of backlights. I wanted to use a lot of lighting to make the video look good.

For audio I used my Sennheiser shotgun mic.

LED Light:


Tota Light:


Mic:


Camera:



Image: Interview Action Shot


Image: Another Two Shot

You can buy the Kindle Version:


You can order the Hardcover:



Image: Instagram Shot

I always enjoy hanging out with CC and talking. I'm also looking forward to reading the book.

[Video Book Review by Keith Nerdin] The Impact Equation by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

This is a very creative and entertaining review, by Keith Nerdin, of Chris Brogan and Julien Smith's new book, The Impact Equation: Are You Making Things Happen or Just Making Noise? (Affiliate Link)



He used Prezi, Garage Band, QuickTime, and iMovie to put it together.


Image: Keith Nerdin

There's so much that's great about this:

- Evokes an emotion
- Makes you want to talk about it and share
- Makes just two points
- Takes the right amount of time to tell a story 4:56

It's very cool that this review is the first post on Keith's blog.

I'm also impressed that Keith decided to start blogging. He's well on his way to getting his first 100 subscribers.