International Dance Day 2022

Dancing at Cake, NYC, 1995

Happy International Dance Day!

Even if you’re not that great of a dancer (I’m not!) you can’t deny how good it feels to move your body to music. Don’t feel insecure if you don’t have rhythm or the moves like Jagger, just get out there and do it! It’s not only great exercise, but it’s good for your soul.

I got the moves like jaguar, I got the moves like jaguar,
I got the moooo-ves…..

If you liked this blog, buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/maryannechristianomistretta

Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta can be reached at: maryannechristiano@gmail.com.

She is the author of the following books:

“Be (Extra)Ordinary: 10 Ways to Become Your Own Hero” is available on Amazon. To get your paperback or Kindle version, visit:Be (Extra)Ordinary

“I Don’t Want to Be Like You” is available on Amazon. To get your paperback, Kindle or audio copy, go here: I Don’t Want To Be Like You

Her fiction book “Love Cats” second printing is now available, under the pen name Krystianna Mercury, from Pink Flamingo. You can purchase it here: https://eroticbooknetwork.com/product/love-cats/

Maryanne is also available for book editing and coaching. Rates are competitive.

And for positive messages, visit Be YOUnique, the Anti-Bullying You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLq6J9MSvcjd-haQ30ycLWA/videos

Bloganuary Challenge – Day 24 – Write About A Dream You Remember

Image by Sharon McCutcheon

How can I forget the dream I had last night? It had to do with something very cool that happened TODAY.

I can’t say it enough, because I’m so grateful I get to write for a living. One of the publications I write for is NY Clips. A recent story I pitched was about a DJ who has a segment on his radio show where he interviews homeless people on the streets of NYC.

The publisher of NY Clips okayed the story. And this morning I interviewed the DJ on the phone prior to writing the article.

As writers, even when we know we’re good at what we do, there’s often a bit of anxiety. And that anxiety is obvious via your dreams. Last night I dreamed I was all set to do the interview, then my computer broke. I needed a part to fix the computer and what was supposed to be a 20 to 40 minute interview turned into an all day extravaganza!

This morning I said to myself, “I hope that wasn’t a prophecy dream” as I have them from time to time.

Fortunately, my computer was fine. And the article turned out great! You can view it here: https://www.nyclips.com/blogs/ny-stories/wfmu-dj-gives-a-voice-to-nyc-s-homeless

Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta can be reached at: maryannechristiano@gmail.com.

She is the author of the following books:

“Be (Extra)Ordinary: 10 Ways to Become Your Own Hero” is available on Amazon. To get your paperback or Kindle version, visit:Be (Extra)Ordinary

“I Don’t Want to Be Like You” is available on Amazon. To get your paperback, Kindle or audio copy, go here: I Don’t Want To Be Like You

Her fiction book “Love Cats” second printing is now available, under the pen name Krystianna Mercury, from Pink Flamingo. You can purchase it here: https://eroticbooknetwork.com/product/love-cats/

Maryanne is also available for book editing and coaching. Rates are competitive.

Bloganuary Challenge – Day 20 – What is a Favorite Photo I’ve Taken?

NYC Skyline by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta

I love this photo because I love NYC. I was lucky to have worked there as a writer for a few years. I’ve stayed overnight in friends’ apartments. I even cat sat for a month, living in the Tudor City section of Manhattan, located on the east side between 40th and 43rd streets. That gave me a real taste of living in NYC. (And all that said, I still favor New Jersey, which only people who live here, including former New Yorkers will get).

When I took this photograph a couple years ago, I was coming home from a meeting with the publisher of Dining Out Magazine. I was their lead market editor for several months. Their office was in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The publisher also owned a yogurt shop in Edgewater, New Jersey. We’d sometimes have meetings there. I snapped this photo while stopped at a traffic light, in the Weehawken, New Jersey area.

It was one of those rare moments in life where everything was just perfect. I got along great with the publisher. We had many laughs and many fine meals in restaurants all over Bergen County. And thanks to that gig, I was guest listed for a Duran Duran show, which was amazing.

I’m not the best photographer, but as a professional journalist, I didn’t always have the luxury of having a photographer assist me on gigs. I often had to take my own shots, and developed a good eye. Publishers are impressed that I use a real camera, not a phone to take pictures.

Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta can be reached at: maryannechristiano@gmail.com.

She is the author of the following books:

“Be (Extra)Ordinary: 10 Ways to Become Your Own Hero” is available on Amazon. To get your paperback or Kindle version, visit:Be (Extra)Ordinary

“I Don’t Want to Be Like You” is available on Amazon. To get your paperback, Kindle or audio copy, go here: I Don’t Want To Be Like You

Her fiction book “Love Cats” second printing is now available, under the pen name Krystianna Mercury, from Pink Flamingo. You can purchase it here: https://eroticbooknetwork.com/product/love-cats/

Happy National DJ Day!

2002, I was known as DJ Mare Idol

Happy National DJ Day! The photo above is my head shot from my DJ days, 2002/2003 at NYC’s Pyramid Club, Raven, and Knitting Factory. I was known as DJ Mare Idol.

I lugged cases of vinyl records from New Jersey to NYC — real records, not computerized canned music.

I usually opened my sets with “Plus One” by Coyote Shivers; or The Theme from Mighty Mouse by The Sandpipers, and did a little Andy Kaufman imitation. (Or as Andy would say, as Foreign Man, “emitation.”)

Some of the other groups artists I played included: Iggy Pop, Lords of the New Church, Modern Lovers, Neurotic Outsiders, Generation X, Blondie, Johnny Thunders, Tenpole Tudor, Sylvain Sylvain, Alice Cooper, KISS, The Runaways, The Dead Boys, NY Dolls, Patti Smith, and so much more.

These times were AMAZING! Anyone who was there knows it! I love those who followed me and came to my gigs religiously, even if they are no longer talking to me (because we all drank way too much back then) I still cherish the fun–and always will!

September 11, 2001 – My Words From That Day

9/11/01

Twelve years later, I went back to my old journal and found the words I wrote on the day [Note: at the time I was working as a self-employed journalist and just became a certified legal proofreader.]

September 11, 2001

This is the worst I’ve felt since my grandmother died. I don’t even know I’m living.

I’m still waiting to hear from some MIA NYC friends. I’m afraid to go to sleep. My friend Ed took me to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in Upper Montclair. I got all dressed up, hoping to feel a little bit better. We passed the Montclair Art Museum and saw a crowd of people taking pictures of the dark cloud over the NYC skyline.

I’m sick to my stomach.

I received phone calls from people concerned about me since I work so much in NYC, yet I’m the one worrying about everyone else.

I’m confused, wondering if I should continue my career in New York. I don’t think I have the strength to go back for awhile. I can’t just can’t imagine it. Diane was talking about the San Gennaro Feast this weekend, but I can’t see me going there. Ute Lemper, Nick Cave, Jane’s Addiction, Jonathan Richman and all the other shows I planned on seeing during the next few weeks are just fantasies that will give way to dust.

Soooo far away in my little New Jersey town, yet so close. New York City meant so much to me, all of my life. I can direct a stranger to almost anywhere in the city, but a stranger in my hometown will get lost asking me for directions in Little Falls, for I’m never here except to sleep. I’m always in my beloved New York City, working, playing and wandering aimlessly.

A friend made an interesting comment. He said that we think about our lost loved ones and feel sad, but at least they don’t have to deal with this insanity! For once, I can say I am glad my grandmother is not alive.

I pray that everyone is dealing with this the best they could. My heart goes out to all, and to all your loved ones. My friends, my enemies, I wish the best for everyone.

My soul has been ripped out from under me.

I will never be the same again.

Art in the Park … or My Doodles

Me with my artwork in Union Square, September 2005

I’ve been following a blogger, True Love Junkie, who posts a lot of her AMAZING drawings, that she calls “doodles” — check her out: http://truelovejunkie.com/2012/07/22/doodles-week-2/

Inspired by True Love Junkie, I decided to post this old photo of me in Union Square, NYC, accompanied by my very own “doodles.”

What got me drawing was baby sitting a little girl named Claire in 2004.

At the time she was 8-years-old and we did a lot of drawing together. She actually told me that I was “good!”

The summer of 2005 I had a lot of free time on my hands, working just one 35-hour job at a local newspaper, so I tried my hand at art and went public with it.

My work is very child-like and witty and quite a few people brought my prints and referred to it as “punk art.”

My best seller was a parody on commercialism. It was a drawing of Hello Kitty’s face on Buddha’s body, with the saying, “Hello Buddha!”

Another big seller was a picture of a little girl romping in the sunshine — on the other side of the fence it was dark and Van Gogh-ish. The caption said, “The Grass is Always Greener on MY Side of the Fence.”

But my personal favorite was a drawing of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, with the word “TEMPTATION” in the background, alongside the McDonald’s arch.

Or, the one of a girl flying on a magic carpet over a burning bridge with the saying, “No matter how many bridges I burn, I always end up somewhere!”

Eventually I put my art aside for other things in life, but who knows … someday I will pick up my colored pencils and markers again and do more.

I was also considering selling on Esty … but we shall see!