Life Slogan

Greetings from the Club Lounge of the Ritz Carlton Doha!  It is located high up on the 23rd floor, and I am looking at the beautiful blue Arabian Sea.  In my memoir, I repeatedly say "Everything works out for the best!" and describe how things worked in my life.  It has become my life slogan, and my friends hear me say it over and over again.  What is it that you believe and therefore live by? As corporations have a slogan for their product and/or for who they are, why don’t we each come up with our own life slogan? It should represent who you are or your philosophy of life. So mine is “Everything works out for the best!”  What is yours?  It will be great if you would post your thoughts.  Mickie

The Strawberry Cake

I talk about a strawberry cake from my childhood in the book. My artist grandfather used to take me to museums in Japan, and it was our routine to have a cup of tea and a slice of strawberry cake. Years later, I was reintroduced to the same strawberry cake in the U.S. through my friends Brenda and Ted Jones. It was made by Chef Luc Beaudet of Douceur de France in Georgia, USA, and it brought the memories of my childhood. I have been in the U.S. since Feb. 4, and I had an opportunity to meet Chef Luc and tasted his cake again on Feb. 11. You will read about the huge surprise that day in the book.

Prior to my departure for the U.S. on Feb. 3, Jen, Murat, Shell, and Marc joined me for dinner at Il Teatro to celebrate my finishing the manuscript. They have heard about the strawberry cake from my childhood. I was going to surprise them by serving a strawberry cake, made by Pastry Chef Laurent at Four Seasons Doha. It turned out that Chef and Maxime, the manager of Il Teato, gave me a bigger surprise instead. Not only the chef made a beautiful strawberry cake, he also created a beautiful edible book, called “Mickie’s Memoir”. Inside the book were rows of fresh raspberries. Wow…… it was incredible!

I am still in the U.S.  On Feb. 17, I ended up in the emergency room at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta and am still there. If you have a special food you remember from your childhood, please post in the blog. I look forward to learning about your childhood memory. Mickie

My own deadline is coming up!

As I was working on the manuscript at my writing table in the Tea Lounge of Four Seasons Doha recently, I ran into Andy Smart with Bloomsbury Publisher from London. He came by and asked if I was maintaining the word count of no more than 60,000. I have been editing like crazy since it was 67,000 at one time. It is about 52,000 now, and I am working on my last chapter.


Several years ago, I watched Something Got to Give, a wonderful movie played by Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. One scene that stuck in my head was the joy and satisfaction which was expressed by the character Nina, a writer (played by Diane Keaton). When she finished her play script, she screamed! My own deadline is Feb. 3, prior to departing for the U.S. for meetings on Feb. 4. Writing a memoir has been so different than working on my normal academic papers and accreditation reports at work. It is just a few days away, and I can’t wait to type the last word on my laptop and scream like Nina did! Please give me your word of encouragement in the comment section or write what you are currently trying to finish. I hope we can all complete our projects!  Mickie

Writing a Memoir

On November 4, 2009, an article in the International Herald Tribune caught my eyes, as I sipped my regular latte in the Lobby Lounge of the Ritz Carlton Doha, Qatar, in the Middle East. It was titled “Happy ending” with a caption “Death grants us the possibility of a meaning life even as it takes it away”, written by Todd May, a philosophy professor from Clemson University. The point of the article was that one tends to put things off thinking that there is enough time later. No one knows how many days or years he/she has; therefore we must make each day beautiful.


Writing a memoir on and off for the last two years was exactly an example of what Todd May was talking about. I had all the time in the world, so why bother when I was busy with other things? No more. The original diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of small intestine, rare cancer, was given to me in July 2008, followed by its reoccurrence in 2009. A possibility of death had granted me an opportunity to reflect on my life, and I had to get serious about finishing the manuscript. The book is about the gift of life which was given to me and all the people and events that led me to become who I am today.


I am very grateful that I already have a publisher that is interested in my manuscript and encouraged me to begin a blog. You will read about my life in Doha, Qatar, and the journey of finishing the manuscript and getting it published in the coming months. Please share my blog address to the people you know around the world.


I will be delighted if you would write a comment below.  Thank you for visiting my site today.


Mickie