Multiculti Mama: Musings on Embracing Life and Diversity

One Wee World's Award-Winning DVD Series

2006-11-21T19:42:00.000-08:00

Whooooo-wheeeeeee!!! How cool is it to be able to say that?!?!

In the past month, we've won four major media awards, the iParenting Media Award, the National Parenting Center Award, the Dove Foundation Seal of Approval, and the Film Advisory Board Tribute of Excellence!

I have to admit, I am especially proud of the Film Advisory Board's Review, and I'd like to share it...

"What a delight! The multifaceted mission of One Wee World is admirable. The comprehensive historical and modern day Mexican culture depicted in “One Wee World Celebrates Mexico” DVD is breathtaking. Scenes of tribal and modern day Mariachi music and dance, culture beliefs, art, architecture, and exotic scenery, are vivid and rich in texture. Children at play, Mexican food, language and number sequences that add to the mix are valuable tools in understanding diversity. The film helps kids to become acquainted with people from other cultures who share our magnificent world, and make their life richer for the experience. “One Wee World Celebrates Mexico” is wonderful entertainment for all ages.

““One Wee World Celebrates Mexico” is the perfect addition for the family DVD library. A fabulous journey that will be hard to forget.”

I'm just so happy with that because it so perfectly captures everything we set out to do.

Right now, as a company, we've got two lovely prospects before us... because I'm new to business, I don't know how much to disclose or if I even should, so I'm not going to go into specifics just to be on the safe side. Suffice it to say, either partnership seems as if it would really help our DVDs get out there! Send us all your good vibes, prayers, juju, and wishes. And know we're sending them right back at you with gratitude!

This is Tracy Douglas, award-winning producer, signing off! : )

Dancing with the Stars (And Shakin' in My Boots)

2006-10-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Shelli and I went to a live taping of Dancing with the Stars, courtesy of her friend, Donna, who knows the executive producer.

We'd never seen the show before last week, when Donna invited us to come and see if we could make any connections to help us with One Wee World. We ended up going last Tuesday and had a great time, but unfortunately didn't get to speak with the person we had hoped to meet.

So, we were back again this week, in hopes of getting another chance to meet him, but, alas, we missed our elusive person yet again. However, we did get a couple of other great opportunities.

Down on the floor some of the celebrity guests tonight included George Lopez, Eva Longoria, and Oscar de la Hoya... can you imagine?

Shelli and I looked at them and then looked at each other.

I started fumbling with my purse to get the DVDs we'd brought just in case an opportunity exactly like this came up. But, I was still wasn't committed to doing it. I asked Shelli if she thought we should give them to them and, of course, she said, "Yes." (Thanks, Shelli, for not saying, "Duh!")

Then, I bought myself time by dithering about debating whether or not I should give the programs to them before or after the show.

At this point I felt an incapacitating wave of nervousness engulf me. Whenever I feel this certain feeling of nervousness, I know that I have to do whatever it is that has made me so nervous, if for no other reason than to conquer the fear I'm experiencing.

So, I rocketed off my seat ( I was glad I'd bought a pretty, new dress earlier that day... it helped that I felt cute) and barreled on down to their table.

As a quick aside, this has got to be an awkward position that celebrities must constantly face, a stranger in close proximity to them, obviously wanting their attention and the celebrities' having no earthly idea as to what's about to happen.

Once they were all warily looking at me, I explained, "I created a children's DVD about celebrating diversity, and I'd like you all to have one," while I pushed DVDs across the table to each of them.

Not wanting to be a bother, I bolted on back to my seat.

Shelli and I spent the next ten minutes craning our necks to see if they were actually looking at the DVDs or not. We thought we saw George Lopez looking his over and felt hopeful. Then we saw Eva checking it out and felt even better.

Then, we realized we should have included a note asking what we'd hoped they might do if they liked the DVD, like endorse us, or give us a testimonial, spread the word and talk about us on talk shows, or even introduce us to others who might be able to get our project off the ground.

Oh well, ever since starting this project the learning curves on a number of subjects has been precipitously steep.

The whole rest of the show I worried that they'd just leave the DVDs behind on the table, but when they got up and left, the table was clear. So... who knows? It'd be so great to hear something from them.

And they weren't the only ones we got to give our DVD to. We got to visit the green room where we saw Leeza Gibbons and gave her a copy, too.

I have to say, she was WAY cool! We were very gratified that she really listened, engaged us in a brief conversation, and complimented us on what we were trying to do. I was really impressed by her graciousness and sincerity.

And, a shout out to Connie, who we also met tonight. Connie worked on one of the segments on the show and she was a pleasure to talk with in line and later on in the green room.

Boy, I just want One Wee World to be everything I know it can be, a movement for peace and unity and a joyful celebration of diversity. And I'd love to see everyone be a part of it.

I am an optimist, so I shall fall asleep tonight hoping, hoping, hoping.

Raison D'Etre

2006-10-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

I mean, honestly... HONESTLY!!! Could he be any more beautiful?

I just had to take a moment and post this... we took it when we went camping with Shelli and Aaron and some other friends a week and a half ago.

It was a such a great time and, not the least because of the nights. (My close friends know I bemoan the fact that Max is not the cuddliest guy in the world... sure, he'll pop on over for a quick, distracted kiss, and a tight, sincere hug, but then he'll tear off on one of his pressing toddler missions to destroy our house)

Anyways, at night, when we'd build the fire, Max would nestle cozily into my lap and stay there for hours!!! I was never more content in my life! Gazing from him to the stars to the fire, smelling the woodsmoke and the top of his sweet little head, I kept my arms in a tight embrace around him, giving extra-special squeezes to savor his sturdy little, healthy little body and let him know his mama loves him more than she could ever, ever express. Those were among the best moments of my life.

We need to go camping every night!

Rounding out the Wee Team

2006-10-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

This post applauds the efforts of three artists who have left their own indelible marks on the birth and future of One Wee World.

First, Angela Roberson, an animator whose considerable beauty is equaled by her talent and enthusiasm. This year, Angela made history by being the first contestant of African-American descent to compete in the Miss Los Angeles Chinatown AND winning the Third Princess crown!

We met Angela by way of Bruce (good people know good people!) who suggested her as a possible artist to sketch out Ambassador Kiki for us. We'd put the call out to several people we knew who all submitted ideas to us. But as soon as we saw Angela's rendition, we knew she was the one to go with. Angela has been such a pleasure to work with. I couldn't imagine a better "mom" for Kiki!

And if Kiki's "mom" is Angela, then Kiki's "dad" would be Ben Bardens of Bark Animation. Ben is a friend and former neighbor of the Taylors who teaches animation here in Los Angeles and currently works for the L.A. Lakers doing graphics for their games at the Staples Center. So in addition to animating Kiki wonderfully for us, he's also responsible for creating our beautiful title and vocabulary slides. Ben's really been there for us throughout our journey, giving generously of his talent, support, and willingness to help. We really look forward to Ben's future with us, as soon as we can afford to snag him as an art director, HE'S OURS!!!

Last, but far, far from least, Lance Landiak of Ditty Base and the Decibel Collective. I spent a lot of time looking for the right partner to help us with our music. Days and days and days of listening to music production libraries and submissions from various sources. I was starting to get pretty worried because either I didn't like the music, or the sources were out of our budget.

All the research on the internet paid off though when I stumbled across the treasure that is Lance. From the very first conversation I had with him, Lance has been acommodating, supportive, and gracious. And the music they create ROCKS!!!

I just love what they've done for us. And what really tickles me is both that we've never met in person and also the truly global scale upon which we're working together. Lance lives in B.C. in Canada. The artist, Ged, who wrote the music to our theme song and sang it is an Irish man who lives in London. And the artist, Mo Shang, who has just written the Japanese version of our theme song lives in Singapore. How amazing is that?

We seriously could NOT have produced our first DVD to our exacting standards in so short a time without Lance's help. I am thrilled to think of all of the fantastic music we'll be working on together for our next programs.

Angela, Lance, and Ben, good times behind us, good times before us! We're so happy to be working with all of you!

Ace in our pockets

2006-07-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

I would be deeply remiss if I didn't include a member of the One Wee World team who stepped in when we most needed help. Mr. Aaron Strongoni, true blue friend and lifesaver.

My husband met Aaron when they both worked at a restaurant here in L.A. It really isn't a stretch for me to imagine how they got to be friends. Their wry, sarcastic senses of humor and unique way of looking at things must have made them gravitate toward one another.

Not much is known about "Strongoni" as our son, Max, calls him... He is nocturnal. He is desired by all my single (and some married) girlfriends. And he writes horror films.

Hailing from Idaho, the Split Pea Capitol of the World as he would proudly tell you, Aaron is, and this will indeed make him cringe, just adorable and wildly talented.

We've been working a lot together the past couple of weeks, and it's been so much fun! It's beyond gratifying to have been given the gift of this idea, and then to see the idea manfiested exactly as I envisioned. And Aaron has had a huge role in that, with his generosity in helping us film and entirely handling the editing on his own.

Out of respect to him because I can imagine he wouldn't want a very long piece, I am going to keep this short. Strongoni, you are brilliant.

Robert Jarzen, Husband Extraordinaire

2006-07-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

My husband and I joke that our entire relationship is based on lies. I'm afraid to admit how true that is... you see, we met almost 16 years ago on a set of a commercial. During the casting session, he lied and claimed expert skateboarding skills. And during my interview, I lied and said I knew how to drive stick shift. (Hey, we were young, broke actors, we NEEDED the work!) : )

We both got the jobs, for a cheapie Italian shoe company named Koro, and our destinies were cemented. Luckily for me, the car I drove around ended up being an automatic, but Robert fared not so well, they had to cast a stunt-double for him.

I will never forget our first day of shooting. During the morning, I was definitely checking him out... he had, and still does have, a cute, cocky walk, so I enjoyed resting my eyes on his bum. I just thought we might have a little fun flirt.

Fate had other ideas in mind, when we sat down to lunch, it was the strangest thing. I remember looking into his eyes and then my mind got very quiet. From the very base of my brain, this thought swam up to my consciousness ( I can still feel the exact place where it originated) and I remember hearing, "This is the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with."

Well, that was it for me. But, you know how men can be a little slow sometime, it took him a bit longer to figure it out. As a matter of fact, it took him FIVE WHOLE DAYS to propose to me! : ) And I imagine you can guess my answer.

Robert and I consider ourselves married a month later. We made our vows to each other under the stars by ourselves, but since we were paying our own way for any wedding celebration, it took us two years to have a civil ceremony. So although in the books, it's 14 years, in our hearts it'll be 16 on July 11th.

I am so deeply proud of my husband. He is a spectacular father, my greatest friend, and an immensely talented human being.

When we first started this project we had a couple of other partners who ended up not being able to stay with One Wee World due to other personal obligations. This couple was a director friend of ours and his wife who has worked in production coordination. They were suppposed to be responsible for scheduling, filming, and editing.

After they dropped out, we realized what a good turn of events it actually was for us. (Although initially, since we were given almost no notice before they dropped out, we really had to scramble to cover for their absence) We discovered that, truthfully, Robert was perfectly capable of directing our program to our specific requirements.

It was very empowering and also deeply gratifying for Robert to get this opportunity. He is a wildly creative person and this project very nicely brings all of his talents into great use. No one more than him knows exactly what my vision is for this, and how spectacular that he also happens to be my husband! He's thrown himself body, mind, and soul into this project and I could ask for no better partner. It's a dream come true for us to work together.

I hope we get the opportunity to do this for the next 16 lifetimes let alone the next 16 years. Robert, I love you and I know we can do this together. If it doesn't turn out the way we hope... baby, we gave it our all and I'm proud of us. As long as our family is together, we will be okay.

Our Good Ole Boy

2006-07-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine a soul on this earth meeting Aaron Taylor and not feeling like they've been friends with him all their lives within a couple minutes of meeting him. Aaron's got a real gift for connecting with people. I'm not sure if it's his great sense of humor, his genuine interest in what a person's got to say, or him just being an all around great guy, but what I can tell you is that you want Aaron Taylor to be your friend.

Aaron fills the role of Musical Director for One Wee World. He's the one responsible for helping us find music that authentically represents the countries we're focusing on.

It was a no-brainer for Robert and I to ask Aaron to fill this role. From zydeco to rock to punk, Aaron is a music FREAK!!! In college, he studied sound. It's been a real boon for us since we are filming so many performances where we're using the live sound recording deftly captured by Aaron.

There are so many great things to say about Aaron, but I'm just going to mention two of the skills he possesses that I admire immensely. One, he is a terrific father. When Shelli had to return to work, Aaron elected to become a stay at home dad.

Rory could simply not have asked for a better father. I spent a lot of time with Aaron because I was a stay at home mom, and Rory is a terrific little guy in great part thanks to his father's wonderful parenting. Those two have a lot of fun together and I'm grateful they shared their infectious good times with me and Max.

The second skill Aaron has mastered is cooking. Let me tell you, Aaron makes such good food that I'm compelled to have conversations with it. Ask him, he'll tell you about the time I cradled a bowl of chili lovingly and crooned to it, oblivious of everyone and everything around me. If my tastebuds have dreams, I am sure they have recurring ones about a southwestern-style meal Aaron made for us with a coffee-rubbed filet mignon with pasilla chile sauce and corn relish that was the best meal I ate that year. That man RULES in the kitchen.

And speaking of men who rule, my next post will be about another man. But this particular man is the one who rules my heart, my husband, Robert Jarzen, co-founder, director, and executive producer of One Wee World.

One Swell Shell

2006-06-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

I first met Shelli, her husband, Aaron, and their son, Rory at the pediatricians office. Their son was two months old at the time (he's now two and a half) and mine was 8 months.

They had that exhausted, just been hit by a Mack truck air that new parents have about them, but they were very cheerful and seemed way cool. In the course the conversation we struck up, they suggested, " We should exchange numbers and get together sometime." "Yeah, we should," I replied just before heading into the doctor's office with my husband, Robert, and my son Max.

Here I admit for the first time my initial thought when I meet someone here in Los Angeles and they say "We should exchange numbers and get together" which is... I don't believe them. I've encountered many insincere people here, and to me, "we should exchange numbers" seems to be a polite way of saying, "Hey, it was nice talking with you. We will never talk again, but here's an easy way to end our conversation." And I'm sure there's also an element of just plain forgetting. As parents we get so busy that if something's not staring us in the face, it just won't get addressed.

So when we came out of our appointment, I was surprised to see Aaron come smiling towards us holding a little slip of paper with their contact info.

Wanting to call them on their "bluff" right away, I phoned up the next afternoon and said, "So, would you like to get together in the next couple of days?" That way it wouldn't be on me if nothing came of our conversation.

Shelli called back right away, a good sign, but I didn't have the opportunity to call her back right away.

I should digress for one moment and say here that Max was a severely poor sleeper and the first two years of his life were a real challenge for my husband and me... No lie, no exaggeration, from the time he was born till just a couple of months ago, Max would wake up screaming, and I do mean screaming, anywhere from between 10 to 30 times a night. My husband had a history of night terrors, and Max appears to have inherited this gene.

We tried everything, EVERYTHING, but all to no avail.

I thank God for a dear friend of mine whose son went through the exact same thing. She told me I needed to hang on until Max was about 2 and a half to 3 years old before I would start to get relief. And she was spot on. I am positively relishing getting 6 hours of sleep in a row now.

But back when I met Shelli, I was still mired in the excrutiating hell of exhaustion from Max's sleep problem. So, I didn't return her call right away.

She called me a couple of days later to ostensibly find out how we were (now she admits she was hormonal and just plain wanted to find out why we weren't calling her back) but I was really impressed that she persisted, so we agreed to get together the next evening.

We went to their house, right down the street from ours, for dinner.

In that getting to know you phase, I mentioned to Shelli that my husband and I were very excited about a job of his. We'd just read the CEO's book and were all jazzed by what he'd written and we were looking forward to seeing how Robert was going to progress in the company. He was starting out as an assistant manager.

Shelli asked me where he was working, and I said, "He's with Starbucks."

Shelli called Aaron on in to the living room and asked, "Do you know where Robert's working?"

And Aaron just replied, "I just heard from Robert." (Apparently they were doing the same getting to know you thing, while Aaron prepared dinner)

Then Shelli turned to me and Robert who'd followed Aaron into the room and said," That's my store!" Turns out Shelli was the regional director for Starbucks and was one of Robert's superiors. He'd heard of one of the directors being out for maternity leave, and here we were right in her house.

I was really intrigued to know more about her. I've never had much contact with anyone who'd had a corporate career and I thought it was really impressive that she'd been with the company for fourteen years and risen through the ranks to her current position.

As our relationship with the Taylors deepened, I found myself getting more and more impressed. When Shelli returned to work after her leave, I got to hear what her career was like and what some of her accomplishments were... again, we'll have a bio up at One Wee World for her, and everything she shared with me spoke to me of how much integrity, drive, and commitment she pours into her work.

Being around her, I could see that she brought all of those attributes to how she parents as well. It's clear that in everything she does, Rory is the light of her life. Her commitment to growth as a parent was as much a priority to her as mine is to me, and I gravitated toward that.

Shelli's no-nonsense attitude, her sharp intellect, and her desire to really impact the world in a positive way creates this presence about her that lets you know that if you've got her on your team, you are well on your way to success.

And getting Shelli onto the Wee team as our advisor was an incredible stroke of good fortune. I got the idea for One Wee World just two weeks before Shelli was scheduled to take a sabbatical to focus on spending time with Rory.

When I approached her and Aaron to ask for their help, I was greeted with a wonderfully enthusiastic response to my idea. They thought it was great.

But I wasn't in the clear yet. Shelli was committed to spending the year with her son, so she felt very conflicted about getting involved in our start-up project in any capacity. Luckily for me, Shelli decided that she'd like to be a part of the company in the role of advisor. We could come to her for help in creating our business plan and crafting a marketing strategy.

Whoo-hooo!!!!!!! JACKPOT!

Her advice has been just invaluable, and I'm grateful to the core for her generosity in sharing her expertise with us. SHELLI ROCKS!

But maybe not as much as her husband, Aaron. : ) On any given day you can walk up to their house and hear some rockin' rockabilly music blaring through the windows. So Aaron "rocks" in his own unique way, which has already helped ensure One Wee World's future success.

My next post'll be about our belovedest friend and business partner, the one, the only, Aaron Taylor.

Measure of a Person

2006-06-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

I have always fully believed that if you want to know a person, really, really know who they are and what they believe, you take a look at their friends. What are they like, what do they hold dear, how do they behave?

As I'm writing this, I realize that I'm actually going to be giving myself some pretty lovely compliments because my friends are among some of the most stellar human beings on this planet.

And speaking of stellar leads me to my friend, Bruce Locke. Bruce, Bruce, Bruce, my spiritual big brother, Bruce. I first heard of Bruce when my husband walked into our cheap hotel room in Orlando and said, "I met one of your co-stars. He's outside trying to open a couple of bottles by hooking the caps on the edge of the curb. Then he's stomping them with his foot. I think he's coming over in a couple of minutes."

A few moments later, a polite knock sounded at the door. I opened it and there was Bruce. I asked him, "Are you the one that's going to smack me tomorrow?" and our friendship was born.

We were brought together by a tv show called Mortal Kombat Conquest. On our very first day, he had to "hit" me, and if you want to talk about an instant trust builder, think about walking up to a stranger and ask them to pretend to belt you, but that they must miss your face by mere millimeters.

If you'd like to see pictures of us, throw our names into a search engine along with the name of the show. I would post them myself, but I actually feel kind of shy about posting how I looked in my costume. I cannot believe I had the body, and quite frankly, the audacity, to run around in that piece of green dental floss!!! Ahhh, youth...

Both Bruce and I were villains, which always strikes me as hi-lar-i-ous with respect to Bruce, not because he's a bad actor. On the contrary, he's great, but because as a person, he is the complete opposite of villain. My husband's family has this phrase about "art, class, and perfection" and to me, Bruce is all that, most especially, pure class.

I have a lot to thank Bruce for. One of the greatest things is the very home our family is living in. He advised me and my husband to buy a house here in L.A. six years ago when real estate in this area was still relatively affordable. Thanks to his encouragement, we purchased a home whose equity has helped us to finance three of my dreams. One, to have a lovely, cozy home we consider our own personal Shangri-La. Two, to stay home with my son for the first two years of his life, and three, to invest in One Wee World.

This is something for which Bruce will always have my gratitude. His complete support of One Wee World. He has thrown himself, body, mind, and soul into this project and it has meant so much to me. Bruce is one of the members of the Wee team who will be handling the "business" end of things, while pitching in on the "creative" side. Our website will be up soon and you'll be able to view his bio there. You'll see why I'm so excited to be partnered with him on this, our contribution to the nourishment of hope and peace in the world.

My next post'll be about the business advisor to the Wee Team. Through an incredible stroke of synchronicity, One Wee World will reap untold benefits from a woman whose business acumen has won her many awards and whose personal attributes have made her a cherished friend.

The Idea

2006-06-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

So, one day my husband and I were tossing around ideas about how we could generate some extra income. We've made some money as freelance writers and have really liked flexing our creative muscles while earning a paycheck at the same time.

We'd received some literature about writing children's books and thought that the field seemed like a good fit for us.

I made a suggestion about some cookbooks for toddlers I thought I'd like to see. My husband was less than thrilled with the idea and said, "You know what I'd like to do? I'd like to do some kid's books about other countries. There aren't any picture books for young kids about other cultures and I think that'd be cool."

I thought for a moment and realized he was right. (I should explain here that I am a children's book hound. Since Max was about 6 months old, we've checked out 20 books every two weeks from the library, and since he is 3 years old now, that's over 1000 books! Public Libraries Rock!!! And I am always on the hunt at thrift stores for great kids' books. So when I say I realized he was right, I just want you to know that I know what I'm talking about.) Save for the errant book here or there, usually done in the late 70s or early 80s, no picture books about other cultures exist for babies or toddlers.

That idea was good enough, but then lightning struck.

"No!" I told him, "We're not just going to do just children's books... we're going to do children's books and DVD's. A baby's first travel show!"

From that moment on the ideas for our program content flew fast and furious. We would share certain elements from each country like their music, folklore, gorgeous footage of the landscape, nursery rhymes, artwork, and dance to name just a few.

The name even came to me easily, "One Wee World." And our invitation to parents, teachers, and caregivers, to "Globe-Trot with Your Tot" followed within minutes.

Even now, just writing this, I get so filled with energy and excitement and passion. I've never felt this way before about anything and I feel like I've been given a real gift to try and bring this idea to life.

And equally valuable gifts I've been given to make this happen are my friends, who are now my friends and business partners. My next post will be about my incredible friends who have already done incredible work to manifest our dreams.

In the Beginning

2006-06-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

The reason I am starting this blog is very simple. I'm starting a new adventure in life, and I think it'd be fun to document it.

I've founded a company called "One Wee World" and our mission is to end racism, ignorance, and fear of others. We'd like to help each and every child cultivate a deep appreciation and respect for cultures different than their own. We will celebrate diversity.

The way we're going to do this is through a series of DVDs. The concept is very simple. One DVD, one country.

Right this moment we are in production on our first program, "One Wee World Celebrates Mexico." The reason I am saying "celebrates" instead of "presents" is that I understand that I do possess an inherent Western filter through which I learn about life. So instead of claiming to represent the country, I am saying that we are doing the best we can to celebrate its rich heritage, culture, and history.

My husband's in Mexico right now, as a matter of fact, just left this morning. He's going to be shooting footage for us starting in Teotihuacan and then moving on to Jalapa, the flower garden of Mexico, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Campeche, Merida, and ending up in Cancun and Tulum. Lucky son of a gun.... how is it that I was the one that got the idea and he's the one that gets to pop on over to Mexico for a drive through the Yucatan?

...oh yeah, our three year old, Max, who would implode if he had to spend more than an hour a day strapped into what he seems to perceive to be a torture device expressly created to enslave his soul, otherwise known as his carseat.

But I can't get too angry at him. After all, if it weren't for Max, I wouldn't have come up with the idea at all, and then, where would I be? (Quite frankly, I really don't know since I feel like One Wee World is what I was put on this earth to do)

But, it's 11:oopm and I've got to hit the hay for now. More later on how this all came about and what we hope to do. I've got a really good feeling about this...