Working Boy

Recently, I decided to take some time off Twitter and Instagram in order to concentrate on an important task: reading books I have had pending for some time.

Today I had a quick glance at those and I realized that a co-worker stopped following me on Twitter.

Some of you might be wondering: why am I telling you all this?

Some time ago, I caught that person passing my work as his own and not giving me any credit at all. I never had the chance of speaking to him, since we work in different locations for the same company. Nonetheless, I told my manager, but I never knew anything else about it. Sometimes my team and I would laugh about the matter; we even coined an expression with the employee's surname.

I guess I could have told him directly, but I didn't want to risk certain consequences. He belongs to a much higher area and I was afraid I could be sacked for it. Indeed, I have seen people get fired for being honest.

My dear Tairrie B says that honesty is the holiest disease. And I'm proud to affirm that now I'm blessed to be infected with it.

Trust

You know you cannot make anxiety disappear. You just learn to live with it and have it under control.

You know you are achieving it when:

• You accept it and welcome it into your life. Anxiety is normal. Admitting to it plays a big part in recovery.
• You learn to be comfortable in situations in which you are not in control. The more you demand yourself, the higher your anxiety levels will creep up.
• You are not looking to rely on alcohol/drugs/herbs/medicines/food/other stuff to calm down and worry less.
• You feel you can accomplish things and choose to have positive views on them. Otherwise, anxiety eventually makes the body shut down; that has a name: depression.

My goal is not to eliminate anxiety, but to have it under control so it does not run my life. Some of the strategies I use are: sleep enough, eat healthily, reduce caffeine, exercise and meditate.

Stella Castellucci

In the book "Diving Deep for Sea Shells," which was co-written with Edgar Amaya, Stella Castellucci tells the story of her remarkable life in music. 

Published for the first time a year ago through Balboa Press, the second edition –which includes a new cover photo by Phil Fewsmith,– has now come via LitFire.

Born in Los Angeles in 1930 to musician father Louis Castellucci, Stella would go on to continue and further his legacy. She joined Peggy Lee's touring jazz group in 1953. They would form a close friendship that would endure past Peggy's life. Stella witnessed and took part in a very creative time for Peggy Lee in the 1950s. They would closely collaborate on the 1958 Decca release Sea Shells. Stella would also appear on the following Peggy Lee albums:

• Songs in an Intimate Style (Decca, 1954)
• Black Coffee (Decca, 1956)
• Dream Street (Decca, 1957)
• The Man I Love (Capitol, 1957)
• Jump for Joy (Capitol, 1958)
• Pretty Eyes (Capitol, 1960)
• Christmas Carousel (Capitol, 1960)