# 85 File radio story

Radio is pure storytelling. Or the theater of the mind, as a great professor once told me.

This piece was so fun to report for radio. (The Miami Herald and WLRN have a partnership, which rocks.)

The piece is about a group of artists and writers in South Florida - the Foryoucansee collective. They're trying to break Latin stereotypes and celebrate the Miami they know – 17 syllables at a time.

So, here’s some Hialeah Haiku to go with your rice and beans.

(This aired on Aug. 4 on WLRN-Miami Herald News. I created the video in order to post online.)

#21 Swim in ocean

The sea is beautiful - Pacific, Atlantic and even my beloved Gulf of Mexico, where the water is always brown, sandy and warm.

Is there anything more relaxing than swimming in the ocean?

It’s like a massage, for free. And there must be some fish in my genes. My grandmother, even in her 90's, loves to go in the surf. Her father would row out on the Gulf and swim in the deep.

In South Florida, I am always amazed by how clear the water is. (This time I took a dip in the Ft. Lauderdale beach at dusk.)

# 100 Go blonde

This is as blonde as it gets.


(Thanks to out-of-control summer highlights.)


I can't go more blonde, unless it's a wig.

# 46 Hear Latin jazz & #83 Watch show at Arsht Center

This was a show I didn’t want to miss back in the spring.

Eddie Palmieri and his band – including sax, bongos and timbalis – headlined at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

The show, dubbed Piano Latino, was part of the Jazz Roots series.

I was really curious to hear the debut of Alfredo Rodriguez, a 23-year-old virtuoso who was discovered by Quincy Jones and recently left Cuba. His music was interesting - a step beyond jazz into almost complete post-modern musical deconstruction. He even plucked the strings from the open piano.

Some of my favorite music at the concert ended up being Michel Camilo, a Dominican pianist and Grammy winner. His piano playing was so smooth, emotional and playful at the same time.

And I was glad I was up in the paraíso, near a big group of high school students on a field trip, I think. They ratcheted up the energy vibes from the music a few notches.

Yes, people danced in the aisles.