Move Over, Resolutions. 2017 is the Year of Monthly Themes.
Amidst all the shopping, wrapping, baking and holiday hustle and bustle, you may also be thinking about what you resolve to change or enhance next year. January 1st tends to start out with a fresh approach to eating healthy foods, working out, saving money, and so on. Come spring, many of those best intentions have gone by the wayside. You can avoid the guilt in 2017 says Coach Colene Elridge, who wants to change your perspective.
Coach Colene
Kentucky-based Coach Colene is a results-oriented success coach with nearly 15 years of experience in human resources, training, government and entrepreneurship. Coach
Colene’s impressive background includes serving as the Executive Staff Advisor with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as well as an HR Business Partner with Sterling Yoga Inc.
Coach Colene’s personal philosophy, as well as her opinion after years of working with clients, is
that resolutions are overrated. “Resolutions are often accompanied by feelings of failure, being overwhelmed and not knowing where to start,” says Coach Colene, M.B.A. “Instead, I started making monthly themes. This practice has made such a difference because I spend an entire month focusing on one thing instead of going in several different directions.”
Coach Colene gives great examples of monthly themes:
• January theme: Joy - “What can you do to feel more joy? Set the intention to find and experience joy by saying an affirmation about joy every morning this month,” suggests Coach Colene.
• February theme: Learning - Is there a skill or hobby you really want to learn? Do it. For Coach Colene, February will bring signing up for a hip-hop dance class!
• March theme: Family - How can you be more intentional in the time spent with family? “This is the time to put away the iPhone and really talk with your family. Play board games, go bowling, or make dinner together. Make March the month for real, lasting connections,” urges Coach Colene.
More great theme advice from Coach Colene:
• There’s no time like the present! Coach Colene suggests setting 12 months of themes at the end of 2016 or beginning of 2017 in order to have a road-map for the year.
• Put it in writing. “To remind me of my theme, I'll write it on the top of my planner each week. Sometimes, I’ll set an alarm to go off in my phone that says, ‘What are you doing to experience joy today?’ These are easy ways to remind yourself that don’t overwhelm,” adds Coach Colene.
I love this idea for 2017. Who’s with me?
If you’d like more inspiration from Coach Colene, she e-mails Monday Morning Pep Talks. The advice is free and may be accessed by signing up here: http://bit.ly/1UggnY2. Visit Coach Colene on the web at www.coachcolene.com.
Ten Things You Probably Didn't Know About George Clooney
Ten things you probably didn't know about Kentucky native and actor George Clooney.
On May 6, 1961, George Timothy Clooney was born in Lexington, KY, the younger child of journalist Nick Clooney and his wife, Nina. George, the nephew of singer and actress Rosemary Clooney, made his TV debut at age 5 on his father's Cincinnati-based talk show, and grew up in the Bracken County, KY town of Augusta. He was clearly a charm from a young age.
Young George with his older sister, Ada.
In honor of everybody's favorite Kentucky-born birthday boy, I thought it would be fun to do a little trivia this morning. Here are 10 things you probably didn't know about George Clooney.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt dance at a 2013 Oscars after-party.
- George was a high school athlete; he tried out for the Cincinnati Reds, but he didn't make the team.
- He is the only person ever to be nominated for an Academy Award in six categories.
- Although George rose to fame playing Dr. Doug Ross in the NBC medical drama ER, he previously had a supporting role in the similarly-named Elliot Gould sitcom E/R, which ran on CBS for one season.
- He was arrested in 2012 for a planned protest at the Sudanese embassy in Washington, DC.
- George attended classes at Northern Kentucky University, the University of Cincinnati, and the Beverly Hills Playhouse. He dropped out of NKU to to make a low-budget movie with his cousin Miguel Ferrer.
- George has been married twice: first to actress Talia Balsam (Mona on Mad Men) and currently to attorney Amal Alamuddin.
- George is a distant relative to perhaps the most famous Kentuckian of all: His maternal great-great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Sparrow, was a half-sister to Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln.
- For years, George had a pet potbellied pig named Max. He credits Max with saving his life, by waking him up before the 1994 Northridge, California earthquake.
- He guest-starred on classic 1980s TV shows including The Golden Girls and Murder, She Wrote, as well as his parts on The Facts of Life and Roseanne.
- George is the co-owner of a premium tequila label, Casamigo. One of his partners in the Casamigo brand is his friend and neighbor Rande Gerber (Cindy Crawford's husband.)
George with his mother, Nina.
From all of us here at HerKentucky, Happy Birthday, George!!
Abraham Lincoln, Kentuckian.
When we first started HerKentucky, it was for the purpose of celebrating the Bluegrass State, not to tear down other states. For nearly five years, I've tried to stick to that plan. Buuutttt....
I've got a little bone to pick with Illinois.
Illinois is a perfectly lovely state. It's the home of the "world's most beautiful drive." It's the home of Superman. And Ronald Reagan. But you know what it's not? The Land of Lincoln. I don't care what their license plates say.
Abraham Lincoln was born 207 years ago today in Hodgenville, Kentucky. He married a Lexington girl.
And, he never forgot how important the Commonwealth was to his political strategy.
Here's to the birthday boy, Abraham Lincoln, the original hipster.
And don't be sad, Illinois. "Reagan's still pretty good" would look nice on a license plate.
More HerKentucky posts about Abe:
Five Things You Probably Don't Know About Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam was born on October 23, 1956 in Pikeville, KY, to keypunch operator Ruth Ann Tibbs Yoakam and gas station owner David Yoakam. Soon after, his family moved from their Floyd County home to Columbus Ohio. Dwight remained fiercely proud of his Kentucky roots, and he sang of the trip North up U.S. Highway 23 that many Eastern Kentuckians -- like his own parents -- were forced to take in order to find factory jobs.
In honor of Dwight Yoakam's birthday, here are five facts you probably didn't know about the singer and actor:
- Dwight was briefly enrolled at the Ohio State University, but dropped out in order to move to Los Angeles and pursue a career in entertainment. He was later awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Ohio Valley University in Parkersburg, WV.
- He has released four albums that were comprised solely of cover songs, including one album of Buck Owens songs.
- Dwight's acting career includes roles in Slingblade, Panic Room, Wedding Crashers, and Bandidas.
- He owns a food brand known as Bakersfield Biscuits.
- Johnny Cash once said that Yoakam was his favorite country singer.
Happy Birthday, Dwight!
Ten Things You Probably Didn't Know About Johnny Depp
Ten things you may not know about Kentucky-born actor Johnny Depp.
Today is Johnny Depp's birthday, y'all! In honor of the fascinating, handsome, quirky actor and Kentucky native, here are 10 things you probably don't know about Johnny Depp!
1. On June 9, 1963, John Christopher Depp II was born in Owensboro, the youngest of four children. His mother, Betty, was a waitress and his father was a civil engineer.
2. He dropped out of high school at 16. When he tried to return to school two weeks later, his principal advised him to follow his dreams of becoming a musician.
“Awards are not as important to me as when I meet a 10-year-old kid who says, “I love Captain Jack Sparrow.””
3. In 2012, the Guinness Book of World Records named Johnny the Highest Paid Actor in the World.
“I`m an old-fashioned guy . . . I want to be an old man with a beer belly sitting on a porch, looking at a lake or something.”
4. Johnny lived in Frankfort from the ages of 3 to 10, where his mother worked at the Holiday Inn.
5. Depp has been married twice, briefly to makeup artist Lori Anne Allison, and, since earlier this year, to actress Amber Heard. He had a 14 year relationship with Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his children Lily-Rose and Jack. Over the years, he was engaged to Sherilyn Fenn, Kate Moss, Jennifer Grey, and Winona Ryder.
“The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants.”
6. He once co-owned a Parisian bar and restaurant, along with Sean Penn and John Malkovich. Located in a former cinema, the bar was named for avant-garde artist Man Ray.
Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Johnny Depp
7. In the early 1990s, Depp was co-owner of the famous Los Angeles nightclub The Viper Room. Johnny Cash's 1993 solo performance at the Viper Room is credited with introducing Cash's music to a new generation.
8. Johnny Depp famously plays his Pirates of the Caribbean character Captain Jack Sparrow as "a mix of Keith Richards and Pepe Le Pew." When asked about the Pirates franchise, he once said "I only wanted to be in a movie that my kids could see."
“Hunter decided that since we were both brothers from “the dark and bloody ground,” as Kentucky is known, there were several fish to fry in Louisville. We were going back there to clear his name—they were going to celebrate him, and his mother was going to be there, and she would be proud. He said he wanted to make me a Kentucky Colonel—which almost anyone can be. There’s a society of Kentucky Colonels. Hunter was one and he made me one. You don’t need to do anything—you just write in and ask for it, and they give it to you. From then on, he always referred to me as the Colonel.”
Colonel Depp and Dr Thompson
9. Johnny is a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. His close friend, Louisville native Hunter S. Thompson, nominated him for the honor and frequently called him "Colonel Depp." Johny Depp starred in two films based on Dr Thompson's works, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Rum Diary.
10. He was once in a band called P along with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea. The band's eponymous studio album included a cover of Abba's Dancing Queen.
Happy birthday, Johnny!!
Honoring a Family Hero on Memorial Day
Remembering a family hero.
Yesterday, my family laid to rest a true hero.
My great-uncle, Warren G. Watson, was born in a holler in Knott County in 1923. From those humble roots, he'd go on to lead a big, big life. At the age of 19, he began a career in education. Soon after, he was called to serve his country in European Theater of World War II. At the Battle of the Bulge, Uncle Warren caught sniper fire in the throat, and was left for dead. A member of his battalion disobeyed orders and rescued him; upon returning home to the mountains, he had to re-learn to talk and eat. For his bravery in battle, my uncle was awarded the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Validi Milites, and the Croix de guerre, although he'd always humbly shrug and say "yeah, I got some medals in The War." This Memorial Day, I mourn my uncle the World War II soldier, a heroic man who made unbelievable sacrifices for the sake of worldwide freedom. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like for him -- barely more than a boy himself and having never left the remote corners of Eastern Kentucky -- being sent to the European battlefields to liberate France. Even for the most patriotic and fair-minded, it must have been terrifying and surreal and invigorating. And, even for someone who believed as strongly in God, and freedom, and a general sense of what's right as my uncle did, I can't imagine how hard the road to recovery must have been, both physically and emotionally.
As a native Appalachian, with the strong sense of family as tribe that my heritage entails, I mourn my uncle as the last of my grandfather's siblings. With his passing, our family loses so many ties to the old-time mountain culture that once defined us. My granddaddy and his brother were incredibly talented musicians who played what they called "mountain music." There was a distinct regional variation that separated their genre from traditional bluegrass, they'd argue. Bill Monroe's sound was a musical dialect of Western Kentucky, while our family made the music of Kentucky's Appalachian towns. It's a distinction that, two generations removed and totally devoid of my family's signature musical gift, I can't begin to understand. My uncle loved music; he carved his own elaborate fiddles and he possessed the rare gift of perfect pitch.
In passing, my uncle takes with him his time-tested recipe for white corn liquor (Any Appalachian-American who claims to not have moonshiners in their family tree is, quite frankly, lying...) and the method his own father (a WWI veteran and fellow educator) taught him for extracting cube roots by hand.
This Decoration Day, as we mourn my family's loss, I also think of Uncle Warren's contemporaries among America's World War II veterans -- those often known as the Greatest Generation. I think not only of their sacrifices of safety, well-being and even their own lives; I think of the way that, as the last few members of this generation pass on, they take with them knowledge and insights from a pre-digital world. Like Uncle Warren, they possessed knowledge of a world we can't begin to imagine.
To my uncle and all who sacrificed health, comfort, safety, and their lives fighting for freedom and justice, there aren't sufficient words to express my gratitude and respect. I hope we all pause to remember the veterans in our own lives today.
A Thank You to Kentucky Teachers
Kentucky teachers who've made a tremendous impact on the Commonwealth.
Here in Kentucky, we don't always get the best reputation for our educational system. A lot of persistent (and pernicious!) stereotypes about our collective intellect and education. Now, I personally grew up in a family of educators, and I can tell you so many stories about the amazing job that Kentucky teachers undertake. So many teachers I know freely spend their own time and money to fill in the gaps that public school funding may have missed. It's impossible to individually thank all the teachers who've worked to improve the quality of education in Kentucky, but here are a few of the most unique stories.
The First School House in Kentucky was built in 1783, near the site of the present-day Old Fayette County Courthouse. The school's teacher, the story goes, was attacked by a wildcat.
Interior of First School House in Kentucky
The Science Hill School was founded in 1825 by Julia Tevis, the wife of a Methodist minister. When Julia and her husband John were transferred from their Virginia home to a Louisville parish, they settled in nearby Shelbyville, where Julia worked on her vision of a boarding school for local girls. Science Hill was so named because the curriculum was far more intensive than the traditional finishing schools of the time, and because the campus sat upon a hill.
The Hindman Settlement School was founded in 1902 by May Stone and Katherine Pettit; it was the first rural settlement school in America. The school's principal during the 1940s, Fred Williams, was a Methodist missionary who'd spent time working to abolish the caste system in India; he considered Mahatma Ghandi an ally and personal friend.
Rowan County teacher and School Superintendent Cora Wilson Stewart was a pioneer of Adult Literacy Education. In 1911, she instituted a program known as "Moonlight Schools" in Rowan County; the schools were open in the evenings for adults who wanted to learn basic skills, especially reading. The movement soon spread throughout the Commonwealth and into other states. Mrs. Wilson soon published a local newspaper and reader to address the vocabulary that everyday adults would need to learn. You can learn more about Mrs. Wilson in Yvonne Honeycutt Baldwin's biography. It seems that, in addition to being a maverick in her professional life, Mrs. Wilson led an interesting personal life -- she was thrice-married, twice to the same gentleman!
A Kentucky moonlight school, led by teacher Gladys Thompson.
Greenup County native Jesse Stuart is perhaps the most celebrated of all Kentucky educators; his book of poetry, Man with a Bull-Tongue Plow, remained continuously in print for over 50 years, and his autobiographical novel The Thread that Runs So True is considered the definitive source of the teaching profession in 20th century Kentucky. Lest y'all think that the late Kentucky Poet Laureate was one-dimensional, we have it on good authority from our friends at Kentucky from Kentucky that "the Stuart family—male and female alike—was known as one of the toughest in the holler, and Jesse described himself as a 'first-class fighting man.'"
Here's to all the fascinating, colorful, brilliant and brave teachers who make Kentucky an infinitely better place! Thank y'all so very, very much!!