"November 2003"

Hello Fellow Sunset Admirers, & Drummers!

It sure has been a while since I’ve made any kind of entry on the website or answered any emails so I am Happy to announce that I am back and Comporting Roadwise is completed! Signed, sealed, and delivered! I only focused on three things these past several weeks
1.) Finishing the book
2.) Training to run a marathon
& 3.) The daily 9 – 5.

So first I apologize to everyone who felt neglected or could not figure out why I was not answering your emails even from my very best friends. I had to finish the book in time for Marc to publish what we hope to be a bestseller!!!!! www.comportingroadwise.com

I’ve been training very hard for the upcoming APLA Marathon in Hawaii Dec 14, 2003! I ran 26 miles last Saturday in Griffith Park with my team mates and the entire Santa Monica & Griffith Park APLA participants in training. WOW! We had a blast! We celebrated, ate pizza, and danced afterward with complete glee! Thank you to all the volunteers who keep us motivated, hydrated, fed and entertained along the way. What an amazing day that was! Pictures will be posted later...promise. I can tell you that running 26 miles up and down those hills in Griffith Park is not easy on the feet! All of us felt the 26 miles in our feet and every other muscle in our bodies too (for that matter) the entire next week while we proudly wore our medals! Picture below taken at Santa Monica High School weeks before the Griffith Park Run so medals around our necks there.

We are saving the remaining .2 for Hawaii!

This Sunday it's a short run only 8 miles ;-) and back on the Boardwalk with our favorite cheering sections of people along the way. Thank you each and every one of you! Your cheers to my team mates and I mean a lot and your donations to the APLA have and will continue to help those in need. Keep it up! We Love You All!

There is still time left to donate to the APLA! So come on let’s all give a little, because a little goes a long way when a bunch give a little…
don't ya know? ;-) http://www.aidsmarathon.com/participant.asp?runner=LA-3526&Year=2003

And you can watch my progress on Marathon Day in Hawaii online too. How cool is that!

Pictures, pictures, and pictures! I will post the Sunset Pictures bring the calendars all up to date and post other pictures sent to me for posting by others and send pictures to those who have requested them from me for one reason or another. It will take me some time to catch up with my emails even after I deleted all the junk email, jokes and spam I still have over 100 emails in my in box to take action on! YIKES! Be patient my Grandma always said things will happen.

Thank you to everyone who came to the Ranch for my Birthday Party APLA Fund Raiser Weekend, I had a BLAST! Your generous donations were certainly appreciated! Jamal out bid everyone on the Beautiful Carved Djembi Drum, donated by Sageman Drums, and is a very happy drummer these days with his new Djembi. I will definitely be posting some of those pictures from my Birthday Party …that night the Saloon was alive with the sounds of some of the Griffith Park All Stars & more!!! You guys SALSA! (& ROCK too ;-)

The sunsets from up here have been amazing! You will be seeing them soon along with the other sunset pictures I’ve been taking from Venice and other Beaches too. Everyday I stopped (if I was working) to take a walk, watch and photograph the sunsets. It is my favorite time of the day. I also take this time to stop to think about many things, reflect, or just watch the sun set and not think at all ...with and without the company of others I love, I always take the pictures, it is a beautiful part of my life now. ...And I have been posting Sunset Pictures since November 2000!

Happy 3rd Anniversary Sunset Page!!!

Love, Peace, Hugs, Marathon Runs & Drums!

Sondra

November 2003

"Sept 2003"

I've been so "out-of-site" lately...so sorry, so many things were/are going on all at once
so let this serve as an update on recent activities.

I have a GREAT NEW JOB !$!$!$ (yippee ;-)
Lot's of heavy responsibilities in managing/training a sales team but lot's of fun too!
I was unemployed for 9 very long months.

Believe it or not! I'm training to run a marathon! My first!
I'm running for APLA in Hawaii on Dec 14th, 2003.
You will be able to track my progress "online" in real time
with a chip I will be wearing as I run the marathon. How cool is that???
I'll let you know more as I understand more details.
You know, that I know ...if everyone I knew, donated only $1.00 per mile toward my running efforts it would only be a one time $26.00 donation for a very worth while cause that could save a life! 
How about $2.00 per mile, $3.00, $4.00 or $5.00...you decide.
It will help me reach my fund raising goals, and not only that ... your kind donations will go a long way in helping many men, women and children in need.  
Your kind donations are tax deductible and you get to help people in need
...it doesn't get any easier than that.
So how 'bout if folks? Feeling a little generous today???
Donate to runner # 3526 Here  << That's Me ;-)
I am now proud to say I am one of the many runners who train in the sometimes too early AM hours on the Venice Beach Boardwalk...There was a very short time when I didn't like getting woke up by a "bunch of noisy runners" in the early weekend AM hours but today I understand it much better by running 26.2 miles in their shoes (if you will;-) And besides all that, who in their "right mind" would actually move to the ever popular and always high volume Venice Beach Boardwalk for peace and quiet in the first place?
For goodness sakes! Certainly not a lover of drumming!
Many Thanx to everyone, every week on the Venice Beach Boardwalk for your donations and cheers of support, for me it feels extra special to have the support of my family as I train on those long miles, and on behalf my fellow marathon running team members the "E Z's " We feel your love and look forward to seeing ya'all again this weekend while we train more miles! Your cheers of support makes us all smile a little bigger along the way
(and the short energy boosting tiny hug breaks are kinda' nice too ;-) Thanxoxoxo!

I've been traveling on business! Oh what fun Chicago was! I may post some fun pictures someday. I've been sick with the flu since returning from Chicago. Yuck!
Finally after 2 weeks I am on the mend. I'm busy meeting a deadline for the first ebook published in Desk Top Author. A top notch program developed in Australia, Thanx guys for all your support! I'm actually doing the very first Desk Top Author ebook!!! Produced by Marc Madow & Medicine Bow Gallery.
WOW Pretty Exciting!!! Thanx Marc!
click here for more details >> www.comportingroadwise.com << be sure to check it out!
I've left Venice for a while and have moved into a private cabin hidden in the beautiful Malibu Hills to finish my marathon training for Hawaii and it provides me a quiet place nestled in nature to finish the work on this fabulous book in time for it's release date!
I see and hear only nature from my cabin. No neighbors, no traffic, no street lights just me and nature in what it must feel like to be in heaven. You can only just imagine how sweet a Drumcircle sounds from my deck and the views off my deck of the ocean
from up here are spectacular! Running on the private trails will add flavor to the sunset pictures for sure. You will see a new twist to the Sunset Calendar coming soon! I will still be posting Venice Sunsets as I am still extremely active with my family of friends there but there will also be a mix many different places for the sunset pictures as well. I have been taking pictures all along sometimes even when sick and storing them for when I had/have the strength and more time to post them. Depending on the progress of book I will possibly update the Sunset Calendar a little this week with some new, some old but all good Sunset Pictures. It will serve as my reward during breaks I take as I finish blocks of chapters in the book!  Fact: This book weighs in at 500+ pages Talk about War and Peace!
I finished a new Boardwalk picture and included in it this time many of my friends, neighbors, performers, artists, the local Police and Fire men and women who are familiar faces to you. I'm sure you will recognize many of them. Be sure to look for me I'm the one hanging out of my old apt window on the boardwalk ;-) I'm holding a peace sign found by and given to me by one of my very dearest friend Nir
who now lives in the deadly turmoil in Israel with his beautiful wife Ophira
and their amazing dog Echo. (The Soccer Rock Playing Dog ;-)
Know that you are in our prayers, as we all pray for real peace.
...know that the entire Boardwalk misses you all very much
and can not wait for your speedy and safe return to Venice Beach!
Echo and I have a lot of  "Soccer Rock"  games to catch up on! Don't ya' know!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all feel a great loss these days without JoJo and Betty White on the Boardwalk. Their antics will not be forgotten any time soon. I have many pictures of JoJo and will post a page in his memory when I finish the book. May they Rest in Peace.
As we say a little prayer for them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I will have more time to update everyone and everything as soon as
I come out from my self imposed hibernation in what it must feel like to be in heaven while working to finish the book.
...."What's New" ...to be continued sometime in October, 2003!
With Love TA!
~

"July 2003"

!!!Happy 4th of July!!!

Click on this link \/ you will be happy you did...I Promise!!!

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1503173131 
I recommend turning up the volume on your speakers,  pressing F11 on your keyboard
...then just sit back, relax, dim the lights, (or light a candle for someone you love ;-) and enjoy!!!
Thanx!
much Love, Peace, Hugs, & Drums!!!
be Safe this 4th of July
Sondra

sondra@venicebeachdrumcircle.com

Happy 23rd Birthday Jamal!
~
"June 21, 2003"
SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!!!
(if only the "June Gloom" would lift everything would be perfect ;-)
***See you @ Sponto's  - 7 Dudley -  tonight 4pm - 10pm***
for the annual Summer Solstice Art Show and Music Fest!
Pictures to follow...later.

~
"May 2003"

Check out the
"April 2003" Sunset Calendar!
...and vote on your favorite!
I have finished going through many thousands of images
and narrowed the field down to 30 of my favorite Sunsets.
Let me know which ones are your top ten picks!
top-ten_picks@venicebeachdrumcircle.com
(Psst...I will have the May calendar caught up soon as well. Keep checking ;-)
~
March 17th, 2003
Not a very happy St. Patrick's Day around here.

Pictures from the fire on the Boardwalk!
They are images we will not soon forget, it looked like a
war zone around here!
It was a horrible scene watching the fire knowing what our friends
and neighbors were experiencing. At least everyone got out
OK and are alive! The Boardwalk neighborhood pulled together
and supported those who needed shelter,
...I offered my apt to friends as did many others.
By the time the Red Cross was ready to load the bus
with those who needed shelter ...there was no one to go!!
Many THANX! to the firefighters who fought and put out the fire! Our prayers go out to everyone who was displaced ...and to the brave firefighters who were injured while putting out the fire. I am delivering treats to the fire station tomorrow on behalf of everyone on the Boardwalk that's when the firefighters will be back.
click on images to enlarge....


                                                                                                  photos by: Sondra Tatum
...Message from BRAD...
He wants everyone to know that he will be rebuilding and preserving the integrity of the bldg that was built in the 1920s!
His biggest message was... "WE WILL BE BACK!!!!"
I believe it to be so!
                                                                Thanx Brad!
~
February 2003
In February everyone is reminded of love everywhere you look you see love.
Yet now we are feeling sadness too...
May the 7 Brave Astronauts of
Space Shuttle Columbia
...rest in peace
...you and your families are in our prayers
...may God Bless.

~
!!!January 2003!!!
!!!Happy New Year!!!

!All Good in the Neighborhood!
...this will be an incredible year!
I can feel it!!! 
...can you?