Books, music, movies, reading, writing, Yoga, bellydancing, skiing, swimming, laughing, eating, breathing, saving the planet. Those are the basics.
Specific obsessions: The Wizard of Oz, Freaks (the movie and the real thing), Atlantic City (pre-casino), Lucy The Margate Elephant, old New York City and new New York City, Florida's Weeki Wachee mermaids, San Francisco, hot bread and real butter, chocolate, coffee, trains, black and white movies about trains, pirates, fairies, blizzards and other extreme weather, the molasses flood in Boston, ghosts, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas (the soundtrack and the show), Halloween, learning to surf, skiing without breaking any bones, any beach or ocean, the moon over any ocean, carousel horses, old amusement parks, drive-in movie theatres that look like skeletons, art that touches my heart, antique circus posters, cuckoo clocks, snow domes, cool cars from the '50s and '60s, giants and midgets, vintage advertising, cowgirls, the Roller Derby of the 1970s in Philadelphia, Tastykakes (yay, Philly!), off-Broadway, on-Broadway, old guitars, black and white photography.
Music
So much music, so little time:
Mazzy Star, Harry Chapin, Jen Chapin, Steve Chapin, Tom Chapin, (am I little obsessed with the Chapins?!), Ken Shane, Donna Upson, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Mary Gauthier, Son Volt, Springsteen,Counting Crows, Stevie Nicks & old Fleetwood Mac, Innocence Mission, old ELO, Antigone Rising, Maybe Pete, old Matchbox 20, Goo-Goo Dolls, Yo La Tengo, George Wirth, Days Awake (now re-formed as Paperback Radio), Sons of Ivy, Gram Parsons, Jay Farrar, Whiskeytown, Cowboy Junkies, and a billion others.
Movies
The Green Mile, Somewhere In Time (sigh), At First Sight, Dead Man Walking, Jesus's Son, Before Sunset, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, When Harry Met Sally, The Wizard of Oz, Little Miss Sunshine, Freaks, Mermaids, A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, Harold and Maude, Just Like Heaven, and zillions of others.
Television
Girlmore Girls (best-written show ever thanks to The Goddess Amy Sherman Palladino), Six Feet Under, Sex And The City, Charlie Brown holiday specials, Seinfeld, old classics like Petticoat Junction and That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore. I wanted to throw my hat in the air like Mary. Someday I will.
Books
Anne Tyler, Elizabeth Berg, Chuck Pahlaniuk, Scott Spencer, Jack Kerouac, Laurie Halse Anderson (I knew her BEFORE she was nominated for the National Book Award!), Betty Smith, Alice Hoffman, Aimee Bender, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Raymond Carver, John Updike, Ray Bradbury, Vonnegut, Francesca Lia Block, Lolly Winston, Elizabeth Gilbert, Abigail Thomas, and trillions of others.
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Heroes
My grandmothers Minnie and Emma, Harry Chapin, John Lennon, Mrs. Severs (the wacky teacher who told me that I should think about writing), my 1st grade teacher Mr. Overly, Sally Starr, Catwoman, Kent Brown (Highlights For Children/Boyds Mills Press guy who believed in me from the beginning), my agent Deborah Warren, Nancy Drew, the chicks from the Gilmore Girls, John F. Kennedy and other assorted dead presidents, my cuz Karen The Hippie (now resting in peace), my friends in Heaven: Clarkie, Patty, Billy, Russell, Regina, the lifeguard who saved my life at the Morgantown Pool in 1969.
I'm a novelist/poet/journalist/author of books for children & teens. Currently writing a book based on the songs of Ken Shane. See Ken's profile/website on my friends section.
Gilbert Associates: A Nuclear Power Plant Engineering Firm (YIKES! I hated that job.) Reading, PA US I worked in the hellhole Accounting Department. People I'd like to find from that time: Helen Pulliam. Helen was the first black person I ever met! She called me The Ivory Girl. I called her Helen. I've lost her somewhere in the world. Are you out there, Helen??
1976-1979
Power Pro Equipment Company New Holland, PA US Everything Girl at the Front Desk: I typed; I filed; I made coffee for the boss. Becky Buchan, where are you?
1979 until I had a baby
Gateway Restaurant (now the Windmill) Morgantown, PA US Rowdy Waitress I was the Queen of Free Banana Splits, and a member of The Yellow Car Club. Danny Hamm, Tim Berg, & other yellow car people: my 1969 Mustang has gone to that place that good old cars go.
1976-1977
Ephrata Rec Center Ephrata, PA US Lifeguard Who Never Saved Any Lives The Boring Chair Over The Pool
1988-1990
Slender You New Holland, PA US Helper of Really Large Women: Heave-Ho! I helped the ladies to get on and off motorized exercise equipment that did all the exercising while the ladies just laid there. They sweated anyway.
Off and on; on and off
Linda Oatman High is in your extended network view more
About me: Once upon a time, there was me . . . just one of a kazillion people put on Planet Earth for god-only-knows what reason. 90% of those kazillion people are apparently on MySpace, and now so am I. My blog however is somewhere else, and this is where you can read it:
Toilet Shoes in Paradise: Days of a Writer's Life
I'm an author of books for children and teens, as well as a journalist/poet/songwriter/playwright. I teach writing workshops and offer presentations to schools, libraries, conferences, and other venues.
Please see Linda Oatman High for info! Tell your librarians. Tell your teachers. Tell your principal, if you dare. My workshops are cool and non-boring. Creativity guaranteed!
My teen book is "Sister Slam and the Poetic Motormouth Road Trip."
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I'll be teaching a workshop in Italy in 2009. Date will be announced, and info may be found on the home page of my website: Linda Oatman High
Some scenes from the last workshop that I taught in Italy. This was one of the BEST trips ever, and I hope that you'll consider joining us on the Italian Riviera for the next writing workshop on March 29th-April 5th! Check out the photos and imagine yourself under the Italian Riviera sun! Register early!
Read all about the last trip at Ocean View Press | View | Add Favorite ..Create Your Own
THE HIP GRANDMA'S HANDBOOK and . . .
THE HIP GRANDMA'S CLUB!! (Way cooler than the Red Hat Society) Keep checking www.hipgrandma.com for info on free club membership.
Who I'd like to meet: Louisa May Alcott, JM Barrie, Jerry Garcia, Sylvia Plath, Elvis, John Lennon, Harry Chapin, JFK, Abe Lincoln, Jackie Kennedy. Hey, wait a minute, they're all DEAD! Maybe I'll meet them someday, somewhere over the rainbow.
In the meanwhile, here on Planet Earth, I'd like to meet writers, readers, teachers, librarians, publishers, musicians, Nice People, and my First Love, David Cassidy:
Check out all my buddies & campout w/ us next weekend. We've got
Michael Kang (String Cheese) Ray White (Frank Zappa) Steve Molitz
(Particle, Phil Lesh) John Molo (Phil Lesh) Tony Franklin (Pink Floyd,
David Gilmour, The Firm) playing w/ my boy Willie Waldman on Friday
along w/ Mr. Blotto & many other fine guests. We've got Los Lobos
headlining Saturday. Please come out and support a good cause &
have a great time w/ me and my friends.
As you may (or may not) know Phish tour, etc. took a bit of a toll on me - please
help me get out of the hole by buying some really cool stuff.Â
Obviously I have a lot more than what's listed here, but its a start.Â
Check back & I'll have many updates.
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It is a great day to be alive! What Question can I ask to empower myself and others? How can I improve the experience of those I encounter today? What can I do to facilitate your Gift?
Yesterday Is History Tomorrow is a Mystery Today is a Gift... That's why we call it the Present
MyHotCommentsLinda thank you so much for adding me. I also want to say thank you for spending the time emailing me. You made me feel so much better. I know I don't personally know you but you are an amazing person. You've accomplish so much in you life which proves to me that you surely put your past behind. I need to do the same. I hope this may not sound weird to you but I am looking up to you. I need to put my past behind me and accomplish my goals. I mean wow you are back in school to accomplish more. linda, once again thank you. Hopefully one day I can meet you some time but I'm not rushing it because I for sure can contact you if I ever need words of encouragement. Ok linda have a wonderful week ahead of you and God bless,
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I'll be teaching a workshop in Italy in 2009. Date will be announced, and info may be found on the home page of my website: 
