Well, we've reached the end of 2021. Here's how the rest of my year concluded.

The podcast is still alive. Just giving you updates on what's been going on since January. Enjoy!

Hi, everyone. I'm back. This is it. The end of 2020. And I'm here to share how my year went and what I've experienced and learned. Enjoy, share and Happy New Year.

Welcome to episode #69. Today we address something that some of us creatives may not want to deal with or talk about. Money and personal finance. I thought this would be helpful considering we all use money. Whether it’s to finance a business, sell your art, get headshots, sell a script. Money is part of our lives. And I felt it was important for you to hear from someone who had massive debt and was able to get debt-free. And know you can too. His name is Brain Brandow. We attended a TV/Video production course in our senior year at Brentwood High School. He would later come back to work as an assistant for that same course. He eventually went to work for Cablevision and actually helped me get a job there as well.Brian started a family and of course, expenses increased. So did the debt. Before long, that debt swelled to $109,000. Brian and his family took action; reading books, changing their spending habits and their lifestyle. And in about 4 years, they were debt-free. From all this, Brian was inspired to create Debt Discipline.com. Here he shares his story, personal finance tips and much more. He also decided to share his story and wisdom at various libraries and schools. Through collaboration, he was able to set up some financial literacy programs in various schools, classes K-12, throughout Long Island. Not only that, his story was featured on Good Morning America. Brian also gives some tips on holiday shopping, since that season is fast approaching. It was great connecting with him again and I know this will be of great value to you. So, enjoy my chat with Brian Brandow.

Welcome to Episode 68. And Halloween continues with a guest who has been one year in the making. We connected just after Halloween, so I wanted to wait to get her on the show until the season was back. And she’s here. Welcome Halloween art collector and podcaster, Kristen Stafford.Kristen has been a “Halloweenist” for as long as she can remember. She celebrates it all-year round. Collecting Halloween art started with the Dept 56 Halloween Village sets and grew from there. She started going to Halloween art shows and became fascinated with original art. Meeting the artists and hearing their stories inspired her to try her hand at podcasting. And The Halloween Art & Travel Podcast was born. Season 1 debuted August 2018. The focus is solely on Halloween art and artists. Kristen also volunteers as a tour guide for a local cemetery and has passion for the history surrounding cemeteries and tombstone art.She has traveled to many notable places that tie into Halloween, such as: Anoka, MN, Sleepy Hollow, Hell, MI, New Orleans and Salem. There’s much more, so enjoy my chat with Kristen Stafford.

Welcome to episode 67. It’s the month of Halloween and time for some guests who love the holiday. Today, we have our first ever returning guest, Robert Ottone. Last year, around this time, he came out with his horror anthology called PEOPLE : A HORROR ANTHOLOGY ABOUT LOVE, LOSS & THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT. Well, this year, just in time for Halloween, he’s released his second anthology called HER INFERNAL NAME AND OTHER NIGHTMARES. In between that time, his publishing company, Spooky House Press, released a collection from a previous guest, Michael Jess Alexander called BOARDED WINDOWS, DEAD LEAVES. He has been keeping busy, to say the least.Now, last year I read the first anthology after our interview. This time, I was able to read this new collection before our conversation. So, we’ll talk a lot more about specific stories that I liked and get some behind the scenes details about their origins and meanings. I was so excited to reconnect with Robert again and it was such a blast.Enjoy my second chat with Robert Ottone.

Welcome to episode 66. Today we have Racquel Keller. Her art is found in many forms, including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and assemblage. She constructs imagery inspired by her collection of natural specimens and vintage objects, with an eye toward putting these seemingly disparate pieces together to tell a story that captures the feeling of nostalgia these objects evoke. Racquel earned her B.S. in Graphic Design, with a concentration in Fine Arts, from The American University and also holds a Certificate of Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University. After over a decade as a Law Firm Manager, Racquel decided to focus on her first love of making art. Presently, in addition to doing her art, she works as an Art Instructor at the Greenbelt Community Center, the College Park Arts Exchange and for select workshops at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. She regularly offers classes and workshops in a variety of mediums and subjects. She actively exhibits her work in the DC Metropolitan area and is a current Artist in Residence at The Greenbelt Community Center (Maryland, USA) and was an Artist in Residence at Chateau d'Orquevaux (Orquevaux, France). And if that's not enough, she also hosts the podcast, Pure Fire Creatives, sharing the stories of women in the arts. Many thanks to previous guest, Sam Kimberle for connecting us. Enjoy!

Welcome to episode 65. Today we have Steve Belanger. He is a writer, actor, comedian and podcaster. It wasn’t until he left his “soul-crushing” as a corporate executive that his creative journey began. This includes writing a memoir entitled My Penthouse Past : Failing My Way Up the Corporate Ladder of an Empire Built on Skin. An award-winning one-man show called It’s About Time. Acting in shows like: Rescue Me, Damages, The Americans and All My Children. Stand up at clubs like Caroline’s. He also co-hosts the podcast Long Island Explained with a previous guest, Chris Roach. Steve had many stories to tell of taking the plunge into show biz. One of my favorites is the time he played golf with William Hurt. He has found a way to expand his creative talents and not limit himself to just one art. And this helped him spend time with his sons and see them grow up. What more could you ask for?This is a memorable and entertaining conversation. Enjoy my chat with Steve Belanger.

Welcome to episode 64. Everybody needs a buddy. Well, today you get one. A dancer, choreographer, photographer - today’s guest is Buddy Casimano. He has been a performer with 30 years of working experience in all mediums of show business.  Before tumbling into show business, Buddy was a competitive ELITE level gymnast as well as a 3 time Jr. Olympic swim champion.
 In the (late) 80's, he attended high school with teen pop sensation Debbie Gibson. After he beat her in the talent show, she hired him and as her back-up dancer for her concert tours.While on tour, Buddy performed at Royal Albert Hall for Princess Diana & Prince Charles, as well as Wembley Stadium in London, the Buddokhan in Tokyo, MoviStar Arena in Santiago Chile', the State Street Theatre in Sydney Australia and the legendary Madison Square Garden in NYC. But it was the Rockin Rio II performance in Rio De Janeiro (1991) that would go into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest paying audience for a concert ever. On the bill were A-HA & Debbie Gibson. And they performed for 198,000 fans.After his 3rd world tour with Deb, Buddy pursued my dream of dancing on Broadway and landed a part in Miss Saigon. He offers many outrageous tales including being kicked by Madonna and having his nose broken by Sandy Duncan, plus many more.His great advice on rejection is “I guess they weren’t looking for fabulous that day.”And I know you’ll get a lot of fabulous from this episode. Enjoy my chat with Buddy Casimano.

Welcome to episode 63. I felt a bit nervous getting ready for this one. That’s because this guy has performed on stage with so many big names as a drummer. His name is Chuck D. Tilley.He has been a studio and touring musician for the past 32 years . He was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, AL and is a graduate of the Univ. of Alabama with a degree in Music Administration. He also studied orchestral percussion and big band drumming at the Eastman School of Music in New York . Although based in Nashville, he has also worked in Los Angeles in multiple genres of music and has performed in over 40 countries and in all 50 states. He also helped form the band, Sixwire. Chuck has recorded with, performed on TV with, and / or toured with over 100 major artists , including such diverse acts as: Dolly Parton , Al Jareau, Richard Marx , Alabama, Joe Bonamassa, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Alex Lifeson (RUSH), Hugh Jackman, Carrie Underwood , Johnny Depp, Vince Gill, Keith Urban , Don Felder ( Eagles ) , Alice Cooper, Kenny Rogers , Olivia Newton-John, Billy Squire , Stephen Stills, Michael Bolton , Steve Cropper, Chris Isaak, Lee Greenwood, Sir Cliff Richard, Felix Cavaliere (the Rascals) Robby Kreiger (the Doors), Trisha Yearwood, Huey Lewis , Delbert McClinton, Charlie Daniels, John Hiatt, Tommy Shaw (STYX) , Cleveland Eaton , Kim Carnes, Edgar Winter, Fee Waybill (the Tubes), Ace Frehley (KISS), Jewell , Peter Frampton, Mickey Thomas ( Starship) , Lou Gramm ( Foreigner ) Uncle Kracker , Jonathon Cain & Neal Schon ( Journey) , Wynonna , Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean , Jamey Johnson, Brad Paisley , Steve Wariner ,Sara Evans , Hank Williams Jr. , Brenda Lee , Porter Wagoner, Trace Adkins , Darius Rucker , Scott Stapp (Creed), Matt Scannell (Vertical Horizon) , Englebert Humperdinck , Ronnie Dunn, Emerson Hart (Tonic) , Deana Carter, Gin Blossoms, Gretchen Wilson, Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon) , Martina McBride , Chris Daughtry, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (Steely Dan/ Doobie Bro’s.) , Mark McGrath ( Sugar Ray) , Jason Scheff ( Chicago) , James Burton ( Elvis ), B. J. Thomas , Big & Rich , Phil Vassar, Chris Young , Kasey Musgraves , Clint Black , Rascal Flatts , Toby Keith , Tom T. Hall , Tony Joe White , and many others. Chuck has performed on many numerous national TV shows such as: “ the Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “Today show”, “The Voice”, “Ellen”, “Good Morning America”, “the CMA Awards” , “ A Capitol Fourth “ on PBS , “Hee Haw” and many others. He has been in the House Band for many different network TV shows such as: USA Network’s “Nashville Star” (3 seasons), CMT’s “Next Superstar”, and “Can You Duet” (2 seasons) and CMT’s “Video Music Awards Show” ( 2 years ). What a career in music. See. It can be done. Thanks again to Laurie Ann Davis for connecting us. Enjoy my chat with Chuck.