Vaboomer -- Baby Boomer Views & News

NEW! Nancy Drew Inspired Boomer Mystery Series--NOW on Kindle

Now Available -- Kindle copy:

 

Art Theft & Sex Trafficking

The Mystery of the Ming Connection is a light-hearted and riveting page turner with two serious themes: international art theft and sex trafficking.

Boomer retirees become Sleuths

 The story opens with the theft of a valuable Ming Dynasty jar from the New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dr. Sandra Troux and her life long friends, Bobbi Power and Lizbet Sheridan, are quickly engaged in pursuing the elusive Gold Scarf Man, the probable art thief, across Korea and China. Two additional thefts of Ming porcelains from Seoul and Beijing threaten to set off an international scandal that is overshadowed only by a series of scurrilous kidnappings of local and foreign girls and young women—the closest to home being Bobbi’s college-student daughter Sophie Rose, adopted from China as an infant.

Taina Ziping

At the site of each theft and kidnapping is left a curious coin on which is engrave

d the words in Chinese characters — "Taina Ziping" and a right-facing swastika, the hideous sign of the Nazis. Two of the words on the coin hark back to the Taiping Rebellion of 1800s China. But what do the other two words mean and why is the Nazi symbol engraved on it as well? Is the coin left as a clue, an arrogant calling card, or a threat? And what does the Taiping Rebellion, the Nazi swastika, the desire for a valuable gold and diamond bracelet, art thefts and kidnapping all have to do with each other?

Chased on the Great Wall of China

In a series of thrilling chases and adventures—by horseback on the Great Wall, through the streets of Beijing in a blinding blizzard, and underground in a secret Xian tunnel system filled with cells of trafficked girls, Sandy and her sister sleuths pursue the heinous criminals to unravel the mystery of the Ming connection. The book’s climatic chapter brings the super shero trio face to face with the surprising and heart-stopping solution of The Mystery of the Ming Connection.

NOW here is another mystery: WHO IS CRYSTAL SHARPE? AND WHY IS HER BOOK FEATURED ON VABOOMER?

To Find Out:  Buy this exciting new mystery on Amazon Kindle:  

Order Kindle copy here:

 

 

Dropping Your Old Baggage: Your Best Transformative Gift to Yourself

by Virginia Cornue

I wrote about Mummenshantz a post ago. Mummenshantz, a non-verbal theatrical production, is all about taking the mundane and transforming it into something amazing that speaks to the human condition--a black box with bits of colored tape becomes a means of intimate communication when the tape bits mark out a face on one side of the box. A huge red balloon and an equally huge yellow tube play together and then involve the audience as playmates in their game of communication.

I've thought a lot about transformation in the past 5 or so years. And worked to bring about many transformations in myself. Time has added others. But at this moment of seasonal transformation--just on the other side of winter Solstice--I have determined to undergo another and deeper transformation. I am setting my baggage down--all the old emotional baggage--all the old baggage that has weighed me down--and weighed me down in my body weight, my spirit, my productivity as well. I am setting down the baggage that has been dragging me down, holding me back , sapping my energy, filling up lots of space, blocking off the abundance, the riches of life I deserve --that we all deserve. That everyone deserves. That is possible if there is room in your life and heart

I've done massive amounts of healing over the past few years. and done that healing well. I've created many new channels in my life, many new pathways to travel. to explore, to create, through which to meet potential new partners of every sort. I need a new lighter set of luggage, pared down, sleek, trim and ready to move--into my burgenouing new life. So now is the time to set the old baggage down--maybe with a thump, maybe just gently, maybe just give it away to some one else.

Whenever some of the old baggage is found lurking, I'm going to think of what Mummenschantz would do.

Mummenshantz would stick some tape on the side of my baggage: some bits for eyes, a curved bit for a mouth, a looped bit for a nose, two loops for ears. All of a sudden, my old baggage would be smiling face, maybe even laughing with a big open mouthed belly laugh at the wonder of it all, at the silliness of it all and the possibilities of it all. Yes, indeed their transformative creativity would make my old rock filled dragging me down baggage into a HUGE smiling face encccouraging me onward. And would make us all  laugh. SO--here's the the mummenshantz of it all. Here's to the mummenshantz in all of us! The best gift possible this year.

 

Happy Holidays, everyone! Go mummenshantz yourself, Virginia

 

Mummenshanz—Still Amazing in Its Fourth Decade!

Mummenschanz fans--go as fast as you can to get your tickets for this limited run Dec.23-Jan.8. At the NYU Scirball Center 566 LaGuardia Place at the corner of LaGuardia and Washington Sq South. And if you are not yet a fan, you will be after the GIANT HANDS welcome you to the delights of this innovative, unique, funny, touching and utterly marvelous production. Sit in the front rows and you may get a hug.

For nearly four decades, “Mummenshanz has captivated audiences”—especially American and doubly so for NYC theatre goers—“with its pioneering non-verbal theater of movement, and transformation.” I took my 15 year old and was a bit concerned that she would find the performance un-cool. But a few seconds into it, she was loving everything. Her favorites were the HUGE HANDS—you’ll have to go to understand. Mine was the long yellow tube and its playmate the big red balloon.

As the press copy states, “in the surreal, comic, (and I would add touching) wordless universe everyday objects such as toilet paper, wires, boxes, tubes (and tape—another fave of my daughter) spring to life to become fantastical characters, and abstract forms and ordinary shapes interact in surprising ways to reveal timeless truths about human connections and relationships.” I remember when Mummenshanz was a smash hit on Broadway at the Bijou theater—many years ago. It has not lost its freshness or ability to tell its audiences something wonderful, funny, heartful and entirely unique about the human condition. Treat yourself, treat your family.

Take a friend, go alone, but don’t miss Mummenshanz. And if you are not in NYC, check www.mummenshanz.com for the national touring schedule and tickets. You can get NYC tickets at the Skirball Center in the lobby, on-line at www.skirballcenter.nyu.com or mummenschanzNYC.com. For performances in other parts of the country go to www.mummenschanz.com. And bring a flyswatter—the mosquito is a really BIG one!