Last night I made my way to Harlem for Amateur Night at the Apollo. Talented young men and women belted out everything from gospel hymns to pop anthems like Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. The performers touched the Tree of Hope (a good luck charm on stage) and then went on to do their thing. As a valued audience member, I was asked to either "show the love" by clapping or to boo and bring out the Executioner, who would ring an alarm and escort the act off stage similar to the Gong Show. While all this was very exciting, the warm-up act had me the most entertained.

This was one of the recipes published in today's food section of the local newspaper. The article was about a cookbook being produced that includes ECU (East Carolina University) tailgating recipes. I'm not sure what to think of it. On one hand, I like each of the ingredients individually, but I'm a little grossed out by putting them all together and calling it a "salad".

I don’t have a television. I spent much of my youth watching one and I wonder if I might have become a touch more focused had that not been the case. These days, I find that I get slightly depressed when I splurge on more than a few minutes in front of the boob tube. On a recent trip to Vermont I challenged this predisposition. I had access to satellite TV - hundreds of channels at my unsuspecting disposal.

And as quickly as it started Summer has begun to wane. Many apologies for not providing a Digest in too long a time. Perhaps the lazy days of Summer were a little too relaxed. No matter, much has been collected on GUTSY since you last heard from us.

Our newest contributor Joanna Smith introduced us to "shavasana" and "kabobs" while Heather Manske knows a man who can really cook. Sandie Maxa happily rediscovered a classic while Paul Pereira decided he would rather rent this Meryl Streep performance. Mark Sanders saw no need to relive the World Trade Center disaster, also had good and bad weather on vacation and knew where to find a llama, emu, camel and seagull. Ann Whitehurst was victimized by some clever product placement at Target.

As part of the first GUTSY group project, several of our contributors introduced us to their workplaces. Have a look at Paul Pereira's, Sandie Maxa's, Rusty Mitchell's, Alice Marie's and Ann Whitehurst's.

Have a great weekend and tell a friend about GUTSY.

Living in Manhattan, I would love to be able to eschew Yoga and all those chic lithe ladies toting their mats around town. Instead, I have taken to it. Running elicits strange pains and disconcerting ennui. I get ear infections, distressing lane possessiveness, and really dry hair from swimming. And I am not always good at structuring my time to allow for regular workouts. I’ve come to find that routinely going to Yoga classes with particularly good instructors has helped my strength and flexibility. It has enhanced my mind-body awareness and overall focus and composure. At the risk of sounding cliché, I even manage to have an occasional transformative experience which permeates my perspective ever so slightly.