Patricia Sands

Author

Indie Reader Discovery Awards Finalist 2012

Your Date Coach is here … got questions?

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Apart from my love of writing and hearing from readers, I thrive on the connections that are constantly occurring in this literary world. Through social media, conferences, writing groups, there are always new and interesting people to get to know … and, of course, everyone has a story.

The fabulous Christine Hart is visiting with me here today. She’s a Date Coach! Whoops, no pushing now! Please line up in an orderly fashion if you have a question or two you would like to run by her about a relationship in your life.

As a Dating & Relationship Coach for over 12 years, Christine is the founder of Your Date Coach Inc., and an industry leader in navigating the world of effective male/female communication. Her guidance and techniques have led to more than 65 lasting marriages. Author of The Art of Living a Flirtatious Life – a book dedicated to helping women connect with the power of their femininity. Find out more about this book and others by Christine by clicking here.
Christine has appeared on various media including interviews with The Huffington Post, The Financial Post, CTV National, CityTV, CTV, CBC, Much Music, GlobalTV, CP24, Elle Magazine, Flare Magazine, Canadian Living, Globe & Mail, National Post and The Toronto Star. She is also one of the regular Dating Experts on CosmoTV’s hit show, “LoveTrap”. She holds a BA in Communication Studies, is a Certified Coach through CCF and a graduate of the PAX Mastery Program in California. PAX is dedicated to transforming the way men and women relate to each other.
Christine is always the best company! You’re going to enjoy getting to know her here. One thing she doesn’t mention in her bio above, is the fact that she is also a talented jazz singer. How cool is that? Read on!

PS – Your choice of career is unique and intriguing. How did it come about?

CH – It really was a natural evolution. It began with getting a degree in Communication Studies and then shortly after, I owned a casting facility for film and television. What I loved most about my job was talking with the actors about their love lives. Then I heard about this concept of speed-dating and it hadn’t really come to Canada yet. I decided to start a business in Calgary and it was very successful. I was always giving dating advice based on the books I was reading and the conversations I was having with my guests. I did a lot of work (and still do) as a Dating Expert on television and then heard there was a career description of  a “Dating Coach”.  Realizing I was actually doing that but not charging,  I formed YourDateCoach in 2007 and have worked full time in that capacity ever since. 

PS – You’ve branched out in several directions with a television show and a published book as well as working individually and in workshops with clients. Whew! You are a busy lady. Would you mind elaborating on those different aspects of your work?

 CH – Yes, the one-to-one coaching is the largest part of my business and from that several wonderful opportunities have come my way. I am often hired to speak to groups of women or co-ed groups. My extensive training with PAX Programs gives me a unique set of skills where I can advise anyone at any point in their dating life whether they’ve been in a relationship for 10 years or just getting themselves out there. My book came from a workshop I taught on helping women connect with their femininity. I felt that many women saw femininity as being a weakness and didn’t know how to connect with that side of themselves. Since their work required them to be masculine, they wanted to learn to be more feminine in their interactions with men. 

PS – What brings you the greatest satisfaction in your career?

CH – I love it when I get a call or email from a client saying, “I just don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t found you”. I have helped hundreds of women and men get better results in their interactions with the opposite sex. I love clearing up misconceptions and helping people relate on a whole new level they didn’t know existed prior to working with me. 

PS – When you take time off from this business, what do you like to do? Travel, sports, theatre?

CH – I’m an experiential traveler and love visiting new places all over the world. I love riding my bike and going to hot yoga classes. As a hobby, I sing jazz. I have an EP that I am beginning to market. www.christinehartmusic.com and I’ve sung all over North America and in Central Mexico.  

PS – Moving forward with your career, do you see any major changes in the future to what you are doing?

CH – My business is transitioning to being mainly online and via phone. I am building programs and products to further help my clients. I believe that you are best able to help your clients when you yourself, are living an authentic lifestyle that keeps you very happy. Having more of an online business allows me to travel more. 

PS – Is there one particular generic piece of advice that you might offer to everyone as a basic guideline in handling relationships?

CH – Men are not versions of women. They are the opposite of women in many ways. What I mean by that is sometimes we look at men and think “Gosh, I would never do that or think that way, what the heck is his problem?!” Both men and women can create an opportunity to gain a lot more peace in their lives through understanding the WHY behind each other’s behaviors. It can be both fascinating (really!) and healing at the same time. 

Christine, thanks so much for stopping by! It’s always great fun to chat with you. When I start to work on the revisions for my upcoming new novel (the editor has promised he will have it to me soon), I may have to send a couple of the characters to you for counselling!

For all of you dear readers who want to know more about Christine, here’s a link to her newsletter that’s always bursting with great information and helpful tips!

She’s also waiting to hear from you at her website www.yourdatecoach.com.
Among other things Christine is a perfect example of people in “The Wireless Generation”, able to work from anywhere in the world. When you have a minute, take a look at this site about a young couple who are putting together a documentary about this new generation of people who are taking their careers online so they can travel the world. I’m one of their supporters as they work to raise enough money to present their documentary to the Sundance Film Festival. If you know others who may be interested in this, please pass it on! Thanks!

How do you capture the colour?

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Well it’s actually a little bit of France, Spain and Italy today.

Do you like to take photos? I’ve been snapping away since I excitedly unwrapped … alright, I know that was a very, very long time ago but I’m positive I was extremely excited to get it …  a Kodak Brownie Camera on my 6th birthday. Much to the dismay of my long-suffering family, I’ve just never stopped! If you want to know what my kids were doing on any given day when they were youngsters, I’m positive I’ve got a photo … okay … lots of them.

I loved working as a portrait photographer for several years but, apart from torturing snapping my family, travel photography is my passion. The possibilities are endless, aren’t they? I’m always fascinated when I meet people who just don’t bother to take pictures and several friends of mine are in that category.  It’s just not their ‘thang’. How about you?

Years ago, photography could get complicated with the constant changing of lenses and understanding settings, etc. Today, I often see fabulous photos that have simply been taken with an iPhone! And the beat goes on …

I’m supposed to tag five people to join the contest, but I’ll leave that up to you. The instructions are simple: just enter five photos that represent the colours I show below. If you’re interested, it’s a great contest that has been underway for a while and entries have to be in by August 29th. You still have time! Here’s the website to check out  the Capture The Colour Photoblogging Travel Competition .

For the fun of it, here are the entries I chose.

RED

Pomegranates just picked – Valle de Lecrin, Espagne

WHITE

La Plage – Baie Des Anges, Côte D’Azur

YELLOW

Fleurs de Courgette – Antibes Marché

GREEN

Off season on the Italian Riviera

BLUE

Blue in Saint Tropez

Christopher Plummer – still hot at 82!

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On Saturday we drove to Stratford, Ontario, home of the renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival.  A quick hour and a half from Toronto through rolling farmland, once you leave the craziness of Highway 401,  the summer schedule offered each year never fails to please. There is always something for everyone and on many occasions a production has carried on to Broadway.

Stage and screen actor (and academy award winner!) Christopher Plummer has performed in Stratford most seasons since his first big role as Henry V in 1956. When we know he is confirmed for a play there, we dash to get tickets before they sell out.

This year he is appearing for a limited number of dates in a fantastic one-man performance, “A Word Or Two”, which he describes as a celebration of language and the words that have influenced him from childhood throughout his life. Plummer worries that language  is “fast vanishing from our midst”.

In an interview Plummer said, “Each decade there are poets and prose writers who have influenced me.”

As he takes us on a fascinating literary journey through his 82 years, his superb theatrical talents carry us along on a magical ride. I couldn’t begin to write about it as well as the well-known (and my favourite) Toronto theatre critic, Richard Ouzounian and I repost below his review from The Toronto Star.

Theatre Review: Bow gratefully to Christopher Plummer in A Word or Two

Published on Thursday August 02, 2012

DAVID HOU PHOTO/DAVID HOU PHOTOChristopher Plummer loves to entertain and there is charm and laughter a-plenty in A Word or Two.
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By Ouzounian, RichardTheatre Critic

A WORD OR TWO

 (out of 4)

Written, arranged and performed by Christopher Plummer. Directed by Des McAnuff. Until Aug. 26 at the Avon Theatre. 1-800-567-1600

STRATFORD, ONT.—You don’t review a show like Christopher Plummer’s A Word or Two, which opened Thursday night at the Stratford Festival. You simply bow gratefully, say “Thank you, Mr. Plummer,” and urge everyone reading this to buy tickets as rapidly as possible.

Have you ever wanted to know what it would be like to spend 90 minutes in the company of the finest actor of his time, hearing a dazzling store of literary gems while gaining an insight into the man? Well, that is what’s in store for you in this silky smooth, yet deceptively moving piece.

The premise is simple. Plummer will tell us about his life through the books, plays and poems he has loved and performed during his life.

Against a gravity-defying stack of books, courtesy of Robert Brill, lit with care by Michael Walton and accompanied by wonderfully subtle music by Michael Roth, this 82-year-old national treasure starts as Louis Carroll’s “Aged, Aged Man” and proceeds to take us on a whirlwind tour of his fascinating existence and the authors who have accompanied it.

The miracle is watching the dexterity with which Plummer shifts accents, postures, aged and moods in the flickering of an eye.

W.H. Auden’s Herod, presented here as the epicene brother of Truman Capote? Check. The “Song of Solomon,” rendered with the full-blooded passion of a Renaissance lover? Got it.

But then there’s his more subtle, almost invisible transformations. He’s well into Robert Frost’s amazing “Birches,” before you realize that he’s truly turned into a New England farmer, crusty yet friendly all at once.

He gives us a simple selection from Shakespeare, but makes sure it’s memorable. A Hamlet blazing with the need to act, but frustrated his inability to commit and an Othello who suddenly sees the dazzling downward spiral his jealousy has taken him on.

Plummer loves to entertain and there is charm and laughter a-plenty in this piece, but there’s an interesting thing to note near the top.

He performs speeches by both the devil and Don Juan from Shaw’s epic Man and Superman. While the “good” Don Juan is persuasive, Plummer is even more convincing as the devil. You come to realize, in fact, that he’s most comfortable on the dark side.

And I wouldn’t trade a single moment of the final sequences where Plummer looks at death with curiosity, apprehension and — finally — acceptance.

All of this is in the final speech from Cyrano de Bergerac, where Plummer dances with the devil, fences with the dark master, defies Lucifer and stands up for the graces he believes in, doing all of this with elegance, grace and a joyous bilingual delivery of the lines.

You owe it to yourself to see A Word or Two, just for the experience of that speech, a great artist with great material still at the height of his powers.

“When comes such another?” asks Marc Antony of Caesar. I would say the same about Christopher Plummer. This only runs until Aug. 26. See it while you can.

What live theatre have you attended lately? Or maybe you have performed in something yourself … like our talented  friend, writer and blogger, Amy Shojai! Have you ever seen any live performances by Christopher Plummer? If you have the opportunity, grab it!

À la plage … to the beach!

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Pour yourself a favourite summertime beverage and cool off with a visit to a few of my favourite beaches in the south of France .

Going to the beach on the Côte D’Azur is as much about the setting and scenery as anything else … and …bien sûr … food, of course … scrumptious seafood at the beach restaurants and super yummy baguette sandwiches and frites served from Le Truck or Le Snack or Le Whatever at the public beaches. Maybe it was the sea air or we were just lucky but we were never disappointed!

The beaches to the east of Antibes are pebble and take some getting used to. To the west, they are sand. Everywhere the beautiful Mediterranean cools you down. Although the beaches in my photos may look busy, there are countless secluded coves offering peaceful escape. I’ll save those for another post.

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Where is your favourite beach? Is it nearby or a bit of a hike? On a hot day would the beach or an ice cream be your first choice to cool down? Here’s to finding a pleasing way to stay cool in this long hot summer!