Expecting

When is Christmas over? Is it when the last present is unwrapped? The last relative has gone home? The last Christmas candy has been eaten? Maybe when the ball drops in Times Square?

I know Christmas is over when I stop expecting something new.

During the weeks before Christmas I enjoy lots of fun little surprises. I'm often surprised by an old carol I'd forgotten and childhood memories come flooding back. Relatives surprise me with quick calls to double check someone's size or compare travel plans and recipes. This year we were surprised to spend Christmas Day at the home of my daughter and son-in-law instead of having them come to our place because they'd been sick and weren't up to driving over. We packed up Christmas dinner and took it to them and had a great time opening presents and playing with their cats.

Somehow, no matter how much planning goes into the season it’s never quite what you expected.

Today we said goodbye to another soap opera as One Life To Live aired its last original episode on ABC. For close to twenty-five years I've tuned in to life in Llanview expecting to see a new story unfold every Monday through Friday. Sometimes I predicted the way a story might play out, guessing which good guy was really the bad guy, which DNA test wasn't necessarily conclusive or which character might be recast next. More than once I've seen good writers fix a bad story and brilliant actors shine when handed a less than brilliant script.

But I always saw something new. No repeats, except for an occasional holiday re-run.

Next Monday there will be nothing new in Llanview. And I'm still grieving the loss of All My Children. More than just entertainment, these shows have been a gathering place for families and friends from one generation to the next for as long as I can remember. Even when characters and stories changed, we could tune into Llanview or Pine Valley and find something familiar and remember the foundational stories that we loved so much as we watched new stories develop. I could always pick up a novel or go see a movie but the never ending story format of soap operas is something unique.

The sense of expectation is what I will miss on Monday when the time comes and there's no One Life To Live to watch. I felt that loss when All My Children went off the air but at the time we thought we'd be seeing it online so I could tell myself it wasn't really goodbye and I took comfort in the last few months of life in Llanview. I am very grateful for Frank Vallentini and Ron Carlivati and all the cast and crew of OLTL who brought this wonderful show to a very satisfying close. The last two shows in particular were brilliantly written and brought me to tears several times. Special thanks go to The View for their Tribute to One Life to Live show for packing so many memories into an hour that flew by, also accompanied by tears.

It's not just the anticipation of what my favorite characters will do next that I'll miss, though, it's sharing that with other viewers. Year by year new friends have become dear friends as we've talked about our favorite stories in person and online. This week plans are underway for the next fan luncheon for Jessica Leccia in New York City and I've been thinking of people I might see there if I'm able to attend. Some I've never met, some I met only briefly at last year's luncheon, but dear friends I chat with every day.

While bracing myself for this last week of OLTL I thought of how Guiding Light led the way for us. As GL was going off the air, many of the actors, writers & crew members made themselves available to the fans on Twitter and Facebook. We saw life go on for them as they shared their new dreams with us and allowed us to encourage and support them. In many cases new and life-changing friendships formed and once again I was caught by surprise. Somehow we felt like we didn't have to really let them go as we followed them to new shows and projects. I’m glad so many from AMC & OLTL are staying in touch with us the same way now.

I’m sure I’ll see some of my favorite actors from OLTL go on to other TV shows or movies. Some may be seen on stage in towns all around the country or even on Broadway. Some may be signing their latest book at my local bookstore.

I certainly expect to watch some of them in webseries like my favorite new soap, Venice. These are the ones reinventing the entertainment industry and interacting with the audience in new and different ways. Emmy-winning Venice is in its third season now and when new episodes are released every Wednesday I gather with other viewers to talk about the latest developments just like I have with other soaps I’ve watched for years. 

I expect new stories will be shared online as long as there is an audience to watch them.

I know I’ll be staying tuned to see what they do next. 

I hope you'll leave a comment and tell me about your favorite new webseries. Feel free to share your memories of OLTL or thoughts on the this week's shows. 

Stars & Strikes Donations

My Life is a Soap Opera Blake Mug by donnapool
Browse more Soap Mugs

Last year I donated a couple of my mugs to be included in  the Daytime Stars & Strikes auction to benefit the American Cancer Society. I bought the mugs for around $15 each. At auction, they went for $50 each. I wasn't able to be there myself but I felt like I'd had a little part in this wonderful charity event.

I wish I'd been able to donate more items but that was all I could afford to give at the time. This year I'd like to see if I can get more people to donate some of the soap opera themed merchandise from my shops on Zazzle and CafePress. I've been in touch with the organizers of the event and they would love to have more items to auction. (Several of my designs are now in the official ABC stores for All My Children, One Life To Live and General hospital in the fan-made section.)

You can buy any soap opera related merchandise from my Zazzle shop or any of my CafePress shops (something that can be autographed by the stars at the event would be best).  Just use the address below as the "ship to" address when placing  your order and know that the item will be auctioned off at Daytime Stars and Strikes event, October 9, 2011 in New York City. Then email Wendy at wmadore@aol.com to let her know about your donation.

Sundi McCormick
385 South End Avenue #7E
New York, NY 10280

You can buy from the Venice shop, too and have it shipped to that address! 


If you're favorite character isn't here, just leave a comment for me... I take requests!

My Zazzle shop's soap opera products can be found here: http://bit.ly/oFHSDA

And here is a list of my shops on CafePress : 

Guiding Light:
I Want To Live In Springfield  
http://www.cafepress.com/donnapool
The Afterglow Lives On  
http://www.cafepress.com/ddpoolAfterglow
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Olivia Do? 
http://www.cafepress.com/GLOliviaDo

One Life To Live:
I Want My OLTL http://www.cafepress.com/IWantMyOLTL
My Life Is a Soap Opera... What Would Inez Do? 
http://www.cafepress.com/OLTLInezDo
My Life Is a Soap Opera... What Would Nora Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/OLTLNoraDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Dorian Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/OLTLDorianDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Blair Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/OLTLBlairDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Clint Do? 
http://www.cafepress.com/OLTLClintDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would the Cramer Women Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/OLTLCramerWomenDo

All My Children:
I Want My AMC  
http://www.cafepress.com/IWantMyAMC
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Erica Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/AMCEricaDo
My Life Is a Soap Opera... What Would Kendall Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/AMCKendallDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Bianca Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/AMCBiancaDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Greenlee Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/AMCGreenleeDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would the Kane Women Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/AMCKaneWomenDo

General Hospital:
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Sonny Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/GHSonnyDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Jason Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/GHJasonDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would Brenda Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/GHBrendaDo
My Life Is A Soap Opera... What Would the Davis Girls Do?  
http://www.cafepress.com/GHDavisGirlsDo

Miscellaneous:
My Life Is A Soap Opera... I Need An Evil Twin  
http://www.cafepress.com/NeedEvilTwin

Soapy Surprises

People say soap operas are so predictable. Love triangles, babies stolen and switched, custody battles, mysterious doppelgangers and who-gets-resurrected-from-the-dead-this-time storylines.

Unfortunately the cancellation of soaps was all too predictable the past year or so as we saw the plug pulled first on Guiding Light and then As The World Turns. With so much at stake I hate to see the quality of the writing deteriorate on my favorite shows.

All My Children has been in a slump for quite a while now, and that’s putting it kindly. I was one voice in a chorus of thousands who rejoiced when the last headwriter was fired (I don’t even want to mention his name). I’ve been pleased to see characters beginning to sound more like themselves and stories starting to hold my interest more.

Some things about the episode featuring Palmer Cortlandt’s memorial last week were predictable. The soap press had already announced the returns of key veteran actors and there were sure to be flashbacks. I’ve seen memorial tributes on soaps before so I had an idea of what to expect.

But what surprised me was that AMC got it right. Every beat of the story was right on the money. I couldn’t look away. I don’t usually get teary-eyed when I watch these things but when Nina looked up from her candle and said “I love you, Father” I just about lost it. I grabbed a tissue and thought I’d coast on through the last few seconds and then they did it to me again.

Dixie welcomed Palmer into heaven.

I confess that I love reading soap spoilers and I know all the best places to find them online, but I don’t think I’d heard any hints about Dixie making an appearance in this episode. What a perfect ending to a perfect memorial for an extraordinary character and actor. Thank you, James Mitchell for being Palmer Cortlandt all these years.

This was a week steeped in the heritage of soaps as we also saw David Canary winding down his long career on AMC. Again, the writing was good, the performances stellar and how wonderful it was to watch Brooke and Adam together again. And thank you, AMC for giving us one last tender/snarky scene with Brooke and Erica!


My week had one more soapy surprise. I found out my cousin is a big soap fan, too!

I’d been reading reports and seeing photos of friends of mine who attended a Days of Our Lives fan event in Dallas last weekend and enjoying the show through their eyes. So when my aunt phoned me and mentioned during our conversation that Elizabeth was in Dallas for a soap event last weekend, I knew just what event she was talking about. Knowing that she’d won an auction for one of the stars directors chairs I knew I’d find a photo posted online, and I did.


Soap operas are all about relationships, love and family. Somehow it seems fitting that I'd reconnect with my cousin because of a soap opera since generations of women in our family have watched them together, starting with The Guiding Light on radio.


I wonder what our daughters will watch with their daughters….?

It's Only a Soap Opera ...for Haiti

I have a friend, a doctor, who has been working with the relief efforts in Haiti the past few weeks. I've actually never met her in person. We met on Twitter because of our common interest in a soap opera. Over the past few months we've shared laughs and observations on parenting and seen each other through the illness and death of loved ones. If anyone says that online friends aren't real friends, I beg to differ.

My friend will be leaving Haiti in a matter of hours and others will take up the work there as it will surely continue for the foreseeable future. I was thinking of what I could possibly do to help the cause. I’m not a doctor and I’m never going to have much spare cash to give to relief efforts, either. But I think I’ve come up with something that could make a difference and at the same time honor my friend and the work she’s been doing with Doctors Without Borders.

I came up with a series of designs a few months ago that I’ve expanded into a full line of products in my Zazzle shop. It started with the phrase “My life is a soap opera…What would Erica Do?” That’s referring, of course, to Erica Kane, the character on All My Children, played so beautifully by Susan Lucci for the past 40 years. I came up with some other phrases, all beginning with “My life is a soap opera…”, adding other characters from Guiding Light, One Life to Live, General Hospital, and the Young & the Restless.

Recently when Crystal Chappell (Carly Manning/DOOL, Olivia Spencer/GL) was on The Bonnie Hunt Show, Bonnie did a comedy bit during the opening of the show, playing her own evil twin who was aghast at the awful things Crystal’s character had done on Days of Our Lives. Crystal picked up on that during her interview, too, and they had a good laugh. (You can see a clip of the interview here.)

The next day when Crystal was on Twitter I sent her the link to this mug:

My Life is a Soap Opera #2 Mug by donnapool

Crystal saw it and tweeted back, “Hilarious! I love it!” Apparently quite a few people took a look at my Twitter profile page to see what I’d said to her that was so hilarious and clicked on that link, too, because that mug was among the Top 10 Most Viewed Mugs on Zazzle that day!

My conclusions... you can reach a lot of people through Twitter and there are a lot of soap opera fans out there.

So, here’s what I’ve decided to do. From now through the end of February, I will be tweeting links to all my Zazzle products in the “My Life Is A Soap Opera…” line and hopefully my fellow soap opera fans will be retweeting them. I will keep track of all the sales of those items and send all my proceeds to Doctors Without Borders to be used in their relief efforts in Haiti.

I know that every dollar makes a difference in Haiti right now. Using these designs for a fund-raising project like this makes sense because so many soap opera stars go out of their way to get involved in charity projects. For example, recently, Nancy Lee Grahn got on the phone and gathered several of her soap star friends on very short notice to meet fans in person at the Rose Bowl and take donations for Haiti. (I have a “…What Would Alexis Do?” design in my Zazzle shop for the character she plays on General Hospital.)

And who knows, maybe I’ll find some other soap fans out there who will offer to match the amount I bring in and Doctors Without Borders will benefit even more.

So look for me on Twitter… I’m DonnaDPool …and if you see my tweets with these links, please take a look, and if you like what you see and want to buy it, know that all of my earnings from each sale (above Zazzle’s cost for producing the item) will be going to help the people of Haiti. I’ll be adding new items throughout the month. Oh, and I do take requests so if your favorite soap character isn’t represented, just leave a comment here.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated here on this blog.

Thank you.

It's Just a Soap Opera

My history with soaps began back in the days when they were a half hour in black and white. There were only three channels on my TV and there was a pretty good chance that whatever you were watching was the same thing almost everybody else was watching. Some TV shows became a part of our collective consciousness, like watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show.

My earliest memory of watching soap operas was during my preschool years when my mother turned on As the World Turns during lunch every day. We were watching that day in November when Nancy Hughes was interrupted by Walter Cronkite telling us that the president has been shot in Dallas. I lived in Dallas. I could climb up on the swingset in my backyard and see the skyscrapers downtown where it had just happened. I watched my mother cry and wonder why anyone would want to do that to that nice man I’d seen on TV. For the next three days the only thing that we saw on TV - all three channels – was news of the assassination.

It was something we faced together as we all watched it unfold.

Years later I only watched soaps during the summer or those few special days I’d stay home from school with a cold or stomach ache. And it was like coming home again. Lisa was still there, Nancy was still serving tea or washing dishes, and there was Dr. Bob, at the hospital. All was right with the world. Then one summer I started watching All My Children with my sister (who I suspect had a crush on Phil Brent). After that I tuned in to see that Erica was still getting herself in trouble and Grandma Kate was still baking cookies and Dr. Joe was still running Pine Valley Hospital. Now and then I’d take a peek at the Young and the Restless or Days of Our Lives or the Doctors for a few weeks but the one I stuck with was All My Children. One Life to Live came later.

Fast forward a decade or two. I’d been stuck at home with a bad sinus infection for weeks, feeling very isolated from the rest of the world. I got on the internet and looked up some information about my soap, the current storylines, and my two favorite actors. I found a message board for Bianca & Maggie, the characters played by Eden Riegel and Elizabeth Hendrickson. I discovered that many of the members of this online community were lesbians, hoping that the show would make the two best friends a couple. As the wife of a Baptist minister I was an odd fit for a group like that. I was sure many of these women had been hurt and judged by church people before and I wasn’t sure how I would be received. What I found was a wonderfully diverse and accepting group and many have become great friends of mine in “real life” as I’ve attended special events with them and some have stopped by my town for visits when on vacation. We’ve been there for each other during the ups and downs of our favorite storylines and through very real job losses and tragedies. When my mother died these friends helped me cope, popping up online to ask me how I was doing or to give me a laugh or a virtual hug when I needed it most.

When some of my BAM friends told me that I should be watching Guiding Light, I listened and I’m glad I did. They told me about an old fashioned love story, the slow-building kind soaps had forgotten how to tell. They told me the acting was wonderfully subtle, not over-the-top the way too many soaps had become. And they told me one of the actresses involved was Crystal Chappell who had been a favorite of mine when she played Maggie Carpenter on One Life To Live.

So I watched Guiding Light one day back in February. Did I mention the romance that was slowly building involved two women? That didn’t matter to me. Love is love and these two were magic together on screen. The style of the show was very different from other soaps I’d watched. They used handheld cameras and small sets, making me feel like I was right in the room with the characters. The actors were so compelling I forgot they were acting and I wanted to tune in tomorrow to see what happened to them next.
And isn’t that what a soap opera is supposed to do?

I joined the Big Purple Dreams message board for "Otalia" and plunged headlong into another online community along with many of my BAM friends and few thousand others from all over the world. I even wrote postcards and letters and made t-shirts and buttons to try to save Guiding Light from cancellation or find it a new home on another network. I thought it ironic when I found out that my grandmother, also the wife of a Baptist minister, used to listen to Guiding Light on the radio.

Today no actors will be going to work at Guiding Light because the last scenes were taped yesterday. Some of them have been on Twitter staying in touch with the fans, letting us share in their experiences as this American institution comes to a close. It has been a difficult, emotional journey for all who are associated with the show, many of whom have given it their all for decades. I am grateful to them, more than I can say, for opening their hearts to us and letting us share in that journey with them.

There are those who say the soap genre is dying and they may be right. The world is changing and there may not be a place for soap operas anymore. All My Children is headed for LA but when I tune in next year, will Erica still be there? Will anybody?

So many things have changed during the 45+ years that I’ve been watching soap operas. But as I’ve watched the many ups and downs of my favorite characters I see that some things never change.

We can still learn from our mistakes and try to do better.

We can forgive and find healing when hearts are broken. And we must learn to do this because…

We still need each other…

…to laugh together
…to cry together
…to hope together
…to make a better future for all our children.



Maybe it’s not just a soap opera after all.

Must Read for Parents Whose Kids Have Ipods

I've got a friend with a new blog and if you've got a kid with an ipod...heck, even if you don't...you really ought to read this:

http://madstepmother.blogspot.com/2009/02/ipods-are-not-essential-for-life-unless.html

For you it may be a Nintendo DS or a another electronic device of some sort, but I'm sure every parent knows how this feels!

I've Been Tagged...again....

Somehow I keep getting tagged by other bloggers! I know these questions can be fun, but I have a tendency to procrastinate and forget to do them (I think I still owe a couple of Blog Awards...I have note I wrote myself about them somewhere around here...). So this time I decided I'd better take care of this right now, before I forget.

This time I'm supposed to name five addictions, then name five more people to tag, so here goes:

1. I'm addicted to "All My Children". I've been watching it since the first year it came on the air, with breaks for school and jobs in the days before vcr's, of course. It's a nice break from reality in the middle of my day and it's turned into a nice way to make new friends online, too. By the way, you can find some of the actors from "All My Children" in a new web series called "Imaginary Bitches". It's written by Andrew Miller and starring Eden Riegel, Elizabeth Hendrickson and some other familiar faces from TV. It's gotten some great attention from the press, including raves from People Magazine and TV Guide. Better yet, go to their YouTube channel and watch all the webisodes for yourself and if you enjoy it as much as I do, subscribe and share it with your friends.

2. Apparently, I'm addicted to staying up late. We moved to Maryland almost ten years ago but I think my body is still on Texas time.

3. I think I'm addicted to Sprite. I used to be addicted to Dr. Pepper but I kicked that during my last pregnancy. But a couple of years ago I started drinking Sprite and it's become a habit.

4. I guess I'm addicted to the internet, too, because I sure do feel disconnected when our broadband connection goes down.

5. I'm addicted to TV, too. I keep it on all day, though it's usually just background noise while I'm making things for my Etsy Shop.


Now, here are the lucky people I'm tagging this time:

Star Walker Boutique

CrazySocks830

Magnifique

Ms Angie's Place

Skyline Candle Company

Taking Pictures Part 2: Reflections

I've written before about my creative solution to taking pictures of small products, like the buttons and small crafts I sell from my Etsy shop. I know a lot of Etsy sellers use a light tent for this, like this home made one. But anything I do has to fit in my tiny townhouse so setting up a light tent and finding a place to keep the equipment when not in use didn't seem to be a viable option for me.

Instead, I use a couple of foamboards, scored and folded and set up as both backdrop and reflector. When not in use, these are folded flat and stored behind a bookshelf, conveniently out of the way. I made another makeshift reflector out of half of a large can, too, which works very well for small objects.

It's all about the light...where it's coming from...and where you want to put it.

One challenge for me was controlling reflections, since the buttons I make have a shiny surface. A little maneuvering, a slight change of angle and a healthy dose of trial and error can make all the difference.

But pocket mirrors were a particular challenge not only because of the shiny surface of the button, but also because of the image reflected by the mirror. After all, you want to show the mirror, not what the mirror sees. In this photo the reflection of my reflector (a foil-covered piece of foamboard) can clearly be seen:



That's not a photo I'd want to post in my Etsy shop, even after cropping out the edge of my background and the reflector set up on the left side.

Sometimes the best solution is the simplest. Here's what I did to fix that:



By tilting the angle of the folded piece of foamboard that was serving as my background, I made sure that the only thing reflected in my pocket mirror was the white surface of the foamboard.

Since I'm using window light, which can vary according to the time of day or weather, I usually tweak the brightness and contrast of these product shots with graphics software. (I use an old version of Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop Elements to do this, although free programs like Gimp or Picasa are favored by many Etsy crafters.)

Here's the final result:



By the way, the pocket mirror I've used in this example isn't available in my Etsy shop. It's a personal project for some friends of mine. But you can check out the Imaginary Bitches website and a very funny new web series written by Andrew Miller and starring Eden Riegel, Elizabeth Hendrickson and some other familiar faces from TV. It's getting some great attention from the press., including raves from People Magazine and TV Guide. Better yet, go to their YouTube channel and watch all the webisodes for yourself and if you enjoy it as much as I do, subscribe and share it with your friends.