1. The t-shirt I bought during the VDay Charlotte preview party/marketplace in the Atrium @ Amelie’s French Bakery! (I’ll add web site for the shirt later.)

2. Hipster pups. Hat tip to Lesa Kastanas for sharing this on Facebook.

3. The Vagina Monologues! It was so much fun to rehearse. I can’t wait to get back onstage Saturday night and do ‘em one more time! What’s that? You haven’t bought tickets yet? Here’s the link! Trust me, it’ll be worth the drive to Winthrop.  Good luck to the VDay Charlotte crew on their sold-out shows!

4. OPI’s Purple-opolis nail color.

5. Sade finally released a new CD. Finally. Here’s the vid!

1. Raging grannies My feminist fore-mothers let loose on CBS for allowing anti-abortion ad. (Hat tip to @MeckCharlotte for tweeting this one because I don’t read Perez Hilton.) FYI: Upon reflection, I changed “raging grannies” because it was disrespectful. I know these women made it possible for me to have the life I do today.)

2. Publishing will never die. A three-act play explains why. (Hat tip to former Charlottean Dan Hutson for posting on Facebook. Dan, I miss Newsstand International to this day!)

3. Thanks to Andria Krewson (@underoak) and Helen Schwab (@helenschwab) for reminding me about the “Incomplete Manifesto for Growth.”

4. Photographer James Willamor never ceases to amaze me. Here’s his “2009 in Photos” on his blog via CLTBlog… and I’m thrilled that he used some of his Crossroads Charlotte photos .

5. I love when smart people rant. Check out this one by Mark Morford on SFGate.com. Thanks to the newly shorn Jason Silverstein for sharing.

You work with or befriend someone and she (or he) reminds you so much of how you were at that age.

The you in your mid-20s. The teenage you. The thirtysomething you.

Most of the time, I’ll meet my younger self and say nothing.

Every so often, though, someone will do something or be going through a situation and  I’ll flash back to younger me and want to yell “Danger, Will Robinson, danger!”

Imitating a robot doesn’t work. Trust me. It just makes people who didn’t watch “Lost In Space” look at you kinda funny.

What I will do, if younger me wants to talk, is listen.

Most people know the answer. They usually need someone to listen as they work it out. I gleaned that from my Yodas, senseis, therapists and Oprah.

I’ve also learned that sometimes you simply have to go through something to get to the other side. It may or may not be easy but you don’t know until you move forward.

That’s when I want to whisper to younger me: “You can do this. It’ll work out.”

But not in a robotic voice.

James Willamor took this photo during the MLK celebration at the Levine Museum of the New South.

This photo by James Willamor and his post for Crossroads Charlotte were two of the highlights of my week. James is a wonderful photographer. Another of his Crossroads photos was featured on Kenneth Cole’s Awearness blog this week.

Mo'Nique keeps it real on the Golden Globes red carpet.

Mo’Nique legs are hairy. Get over it! This is the one time I truly missed doing fashion slide shows at the Observer. Go, Mo’Nique, go!

And last by not least, even amidst the devastation in Haiti, there is new life. And hope. Jae C. Hong captured this image as a mother and her new baby were being taken to a helicopter to leave Haiti.

Photo by Jae C. Hong for the Associated Press

2. By its very definition, glee is opening yourself up to joy. If you’re not watching “Glee,” you’re missing great music, laughs and some astute social commentary. This is my favorite scene from this season for more reasons than the song. You have to watch the whole episode. I’m not spoiling it.

"The Firebird." Photo by Paul Williams III

3. Disco Chicken, meet Techno Chicken. For those of you who don’t live in Charlotte, The Disco Chicken (above) is the nickname (trademarked by Meck Charlotte) of “The Firebird,” the glorious mirrored sculpture in front of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. It’s my favorite piece of art at the moment. I had hoped someone would have made a Disco Chicken video. Nyet. Instead, I found the Techno Chicken. I apologize in advance for 1:47 minutes of your life that you’re about to lose.

"V" IS FOR...: I have met Eve Ensler a few times. In 2007, she visited Charlotte, and I got to host a talk-back during one of her shows.

If you’re not used to that word, you need to get over it. I’m going to be saying it a lot.

Wait! I’ll be saying it a lot… again.

I got the news last night from actor/director Sheila Snow Proctor that I would be in the Feb. 13 production of “The Vagina Monologues” at Winthrop University. Tickets are $5-$10 and are available through CarolinaTix. (The Edge Theatre Company is helping with this performance.)

My Facebook page exploded when I posted the news in my status update. Some folks may not realize this but me and “The Vagina Monologues,” we go way back.

During a 2001 visit to San Francisco, my friend Kathie and I scored front row tickets for a performance by Eve Ensler. Yep, I sat front row, center, and Eve rocked my world. Seriously, the next week, I got my nose pierced. The following, I had my hair dyed red. The hair color remains but not the piercing.

That fall, Angelina Corbet asked me to be in a community-wide performance of “The Vagina Monologues.” The diverse cast was a mix of power-brokers, media types and professional actors. IT WAS AMAZING.  I met some of my dearest friends, including Sheila, during that show. And to this day, if I see one of my fellow “Vagina Queens” (my nickname for us), I get mushy.

This year, I am lucky enough to get a double dose of VDay, the organization that coordinates the productions and efforts to help women and girls.

I am working with VDay Charlotte on the Feb. 11 preview party in the Atrium at Amelie’s French Bakery. And on Feb. 13, I’ll head to Winthrop University in Rock Hill to read one of my favorite monologues with some old friends and what I’m sure will be new friends.

Hope to see you at one of the events. Or both.

I am 45.

45 1/2, to be exact.

I love getting older. As the saying goes: “Growing old is better than the alternative.”

Facing birthdays got much easier when I finally realized quality of life is about the choices you make.

You can be strong, smart and powerful. Make a series of wrong choices or even one big one, and boom… you walk away thinking you’re weak, stupid and powerless.

Which brings me to one of my favorite Anne Taintor Vintage Revisited pieces:

Anne Taintor rocks! (Note to my nieces: Despite how cool this woman looks, smoking will kill you. All it takes is one cigarette.)

The biggest lesson I’ve learned as the birthdays have breezed by: Life is best when you use your power for good.

It’s true. Try it.

The choice really is up to you.

Bryce curls up with the second Harry Potter book.

1. I loved to read when I was a kid. My brother didn’t. I hoped my nieces would share my passion for books. No such luck. But I got great news this fall: My 9-year-old nephew, Bryce, a video game fanatic, has fallen in love with reading. For Christmas, he asked for all of the Harry Potter books. I joyfully got them for him. He carried the box set around when he wasn’t on the Wii. At night, Bryce would slide the box under his bed. I hope this lasts. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without my love of reading and writing. By the way, my brother reads now. At age 43, he’s fond of Lee Child’s books.

2. In November, I went on the Social Fresh social media cruise to Cozumel with a who’s who of social media… and my pal, Amy, who appreciates social media but was along for the sun. I’ve always yearned to swim with dolphins. I got my chance during our day in port. Here’s a very quick look at my dolphin frolick:

3. Remember the Shiba Nu puppies? There’s a whole new litter of happiness to watch.

And here it is, 10:31 pm on Jan. 3, and I’m just now doing it.

Matthew Vincent, aka @MinimumFailure and MiniFail, is one of my favorite Charlotte bloggers. He examines what’s going on in the margins of the city, the news and life. Last month, he asked me why I didn’t blog more. “I’ve been a little busy,” I replied.

I told people that I was micro-blogging via Facebook and Twitter for the second half of 2009. That’s mostly true. Really, I was trying to wrap my head and my arms around my new work life at Amelie’s French Bakery and From The Hip Communications (click this link for even more info and see the PS below on FTH).

Yet I realized, as the dust settled on the craziest (in a good way) year of my life, I miss writing.

Sure, being informative, witty, snarky or irritating, depending on how you perceive me, in 140 characters or less challenges and entertains me. And posting great content to Facebook and providing informative, witty, snarky or irritating, again depending on your perception, status updates challenges and entertains me… but it’s not the same as writing.

Plus, I figured if one of my heroes, Meck Charlotte of Keeping Up With The Belks, could take a hiatus, I could, too.

I do hope to write more… in this very spot… in 2010. I’m not going to make any promises. Feel free to nudge me if I don’t. I do succumb to peer pressure at times.

After all, this a goal – not a resolution.

ps: Yes, I’ll be updating the FTH Communications blog soon, too… after I do marketing reports for two clients, plan a major event with another, write a magazine article, conduct a programming retreat and blah, blah, blah… you get the picture.

I met with a financial planner to roll over my 401K and with an accountant to get things rolling for From The Hip Communications, my new biz.

If you know me at all, you know that I hate dealing with money unless I’m giving to charity.

The most important investment I made last week, though, was to a girl I haven’t even met yet. All I know is that she will graduate in 2015.

I made a six-year pledge to Circle de Luz, a giving circle that helps Latinas get through a vulnerable time in their life: 7th grade through high school graduation.

Here’s the group’s mission statement:

Circle De Luz radically empowers young Latinas by supporting and inspiring them in the pursuit of their possibilities through extensive mentoring, programming, and scholarship funds for further education.

“Radically empowers” sealed the deal for me.

Rosie Molinary, my dear friend and fellow fierce woman, created the circle after the 2007 tour for her book, Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image, and Growing Up Latina. Rosie was asked repeatedly:  “But what I can I do to help?”

I joined because the young women in Circle de Luz’s Class of 2015 may become doctors, lawyers, teachers, mothers, nurses, journalists, artists, etc.  And they might be inspired to create giving circles to help others.

Call it paying it forward. Call it investing. I call it money well spent.