Lana Nieves's Blog
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Apr.24.2012
Some of you know that I like to make lunchboxes. I've been doing this for years, and for years I've had this idea of The Superhero Lunchbox. The idea sprung from the whole concept of superheroes - who they are, what they do, what makes them so special. The superhero lunchbox of my dreams -...
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Feb.03.2012
A couple of nights ago, I received a phone call from an old friend...a woman who's been a school teacher in the public school system for over 20 yrs. As soon as I heard the crack in Sue's voice, I knew something was wrong.
"I've had a terrible day," she said, "One of my former...
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Nov.08.2011
My blogging over the years has been a bit of verbal jambalaya. I'm just as interested in the human condition as I am in the week's tv listings. I might blog one day about human rights, and the next about this week's episode of Boardwalk Empire. And why not? Pop culture speaks volumes about who...
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Aug.21.2011
A friend recently told me how much she hated Sundays when she was a child. They were long, drawn-out days of nothingness, she said, and she couldn't have imagined a time when she was in her mid-30s, and nothing would be as attractive to her after a long week of hard work than an entire Sunday spent...
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Aug.03.2011
Today would have been the birthday of a sweet, old friend of mine - a lovely man who, in my mind's eye, will always be a long-haired, beautiful 19 year old hippie boy tinkering with his VW Bug. I say "would have" because, a couple of years ago, on Father's Day, K decided that the weight of the...
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Jul.26.2011
I grew up surrounded by books. My parents both read to me, and they both encouraged me to learn to read and write, myself. My mother, who had a long subway ride to work, always took a book with her and read during her commute. She read all sorts of things; trashy novels by Harold Robbins,...
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Jul.05.2011
What could be more patriotic than being an outspoken American and taking part in the democratic process?
When Rosa Parks got sick of being treated like a second class citizen…when she got good and tired of waiting for people to do the right thing, she didn’t stop and file legal papers,...
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Jun.22.2011
Jennifer Gibbons mentioned my recent Facebook thread about the lack of happy endings in LGBT film aimed at a general audience. This whole discussion came about when a Facebook friend - a somewhat well-known gay man - posted a piece of art inspired by the film version of Brokeback Mountain and...
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Feb.03.2011
January, 2010: "You've severed your bicep," the doctor said to me, "A clean and complete rupture. It won't heal. It's unfortunate, and I rarely see this sort of injury in women, but you've really done a number on your arm. I don't reccommend surgery: it would be very painful, very...
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Oct.15.2010
My grandfather could grow anything in the little 9x12 plot of earth in the back yard of our Brooklyn brownstone. He didn't believe in gardening books or fancy tools. This is what he believed in:
Never, ever throw away an old broom or mop: the wooden sticks make great tomato stakes
Tomato cages are...
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Aug.14.2010
It happened at a dance. A girl - my mother - and 6 of her brothers and sisters were treating their mother to a night out for her birthday. The year was 1963. The place they chose had a live band - Latin music. My mother was 18, but still lorded over by her old-school, Caribbean parents the way...
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Jul.16.2010
What Normal Used To be
The mother who raised me was an active, vibrant woman. She didn't believe in taxis. During the 11-day NYC subway strike of 1980, she walked to work every day: from Park Slope, Brooklyn to Park Ave and 50th street...and back home every evening. She loved to dance. She was a...
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Aug.25.2009
Viewers of Guiding Light first saw Grant Aleksander when, in 1982, he took over the role of Phillip Spaulding. Aleksander's Phillip was a spoiled, bratty 17-year-old, freshly kicked out of prep school, and ready for adventure - and trouble. Enter Freddie "Rick" Bauer, Melinda "Mindy...
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Aug.06.2009
When Maeve Kinkead joined the Guiding Light cast in 1980, her character, Vanessa Chamberlain, was an over-indulged, wealthy daddy's girl. Over time, Vanessa has become Springfield's dignified voice of reason; a savvy business woman who never compromises her ethics, a loving mother who puts her...
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Jul.19.2009
Since 1992, fans of Guiding Light have enjoyed Elizabeth Keifer in the role of Blake Thorpe Marler. With the shooting schedule on GL incredibly tight as the show winds down its run on CBS, Liz was generous enough to set aside time to talk to me me on a Sunday afternoon. We talked about the unique...
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About Lana
Originally from NYC, I've spent the last six years in San Francisco, and the six years before that in Wellington, New Zealand. A bit of a floater, right now, but the Sirens of Brooklyn seem to be calling me home.
I'm a published writer of short fiction,...
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Lana’s Favorite Books
The Grass Harp, Sula, The Kingdom of This World, Absalom, Absalom
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