Goodbye George, Hello Hope

2009-01-20 | Filed Under 1 |

I am hopeful.

Not just that Barack will be able to help us out of this economic mess that we’re in, or that he’ll get us out of a war that we never should have been in, or that, just maybe, there will be affordable healthcare for everyone in the not-too-distant future.

I’m hopeful that the majority of US citizens have finally figured out that we need to work together to accomplish the things that we want. The things that need to be done.

Yup, I think it’s a hopeful kind of day. Enjoy!

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Poor Neglected Blog

2008-12-20 | Filed Under Musings |

With apologies to Max L Lucado:

Go to the effort. Invest the time. Write the letter blog. Make the apology. Take the trip. Purchase the gift. Do it. The seized opportunity renders joy. The neglected brings regret.

It’s been a busy month so I haven’t posted very often here. Well, it is December, after all :-)

You know, the month of holiday parties and family get-togethers. The month of reviewing this year and making plans for next year. The month of shopping (if you’re not a grinch like me) and decorating (again, the grinch thing). And here in Wisconsin, the month of watching the snow fall. And fall. And fall some more.

I’ve done a little better on my Virtual Assistant blog so stop over if you want to read 7 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me, how my Butt Wiggle Diet is a Success or about my announcement of StS Scientific. All really exciting stuff! :-)

I hope you enjoy this festive holiday season…and the snow. What’s your favorite part of December?

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iGoogle Rocks

2008-12-11 | Filed Under Enjoy the Journey, Inspiration |

Who would have thought that I have something in common with Pablo Picasso? I certainly didn’t. But iGoogle has proven me wrong!

A good friend of mine (thanks Kelti Grace!) introduced me to iGoogle. I’ve been Googling forever. Oh, I’ve tried other search engines, looking for that new, on-the-edge way to get 20 billion hits for “neutrino”, but it never took me long to go back to my ole reliable. Google worked great but it was a bit, dare I say, borrrrring.

Ah, but iGoogle is a whole ‘nother story! It has Gadgets! Lots and lots of really FUN Gadgets! And themes!

My iGoogle page now has a beautiful Holiday theme with flickering candles. And I have a “How To of the Day” gadget which provides an unending source of trivia I can use to dazzle my friends, a “Weather” gadget so I can keep track of those winter storms heading for Wisconsin, and a “Things to Ponder” gadget to provide a workout for my brain (such as, If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi? Hmmmmm.) And that’s just the few gadgets that I found doing a quick search. I can’t wait to look through the hundreds of gadgets that are just waiting behind the “Add stuff” button!

Which leads me to my “Quotes of the Day” gadget and Picasso. Today’s quote is:

I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.   - Pablo Picasso

If I had to describe myself in one sentence, that would be it.

So, if you haven’t discovered iGoogle yet, give it a try. And let me know what YOUR favorite gadget is. :-)

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Holiday Cards for Yourself or for Gifts

2008-11-24 | Filed Under Creative juices, Renaissance Babes |

I have an amazing friend in Dixie Lang. She has a wonderful mixture of talents that continually astound me. I mean, how can you be an IT guru, a writer, a software trainer AND be creative enough to design your own cards?

Dixie and I are the Renaissance Babes. No, really. That’s the name of the group that we’ve started. Maybe it can’t be called a “group” yet, since there’s only the two of us, but we’re always on the lookout for other women who just can’t stop learning about wonderously diverse subjects. (Personally, if you want to discuss neutrinos, metagenomics, or the “Secret”, I’m your gal.)

Anyway, the reason I’m discussing Dixie’s many talents, is that she has a website where you can purchase most beautiful cards! Check them out - you can send them out for the holidays, or give a pack as a gift. They are beautiful photographs of nature taken by Dixie. You will love them!

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The Glad Game

2008-11-23 | Filed Under Enjoy the Journey, Inspiration |

My sister called me a “Pollyanna” last week because I wouldn’t join her in a depressive rant about the current economy. I was honored. And I admit that I’m an expert player of the “Glad Game”.

If you’ve seen or read Pollyanna, you know that she would play the Glad Game to remind her of the “gladful” possibilities in every situation. When everyone else was talking about how awful Sundays were at her aunt’s house, Pollyanna said that they could be glad because it would be another 7 days before Sunday arrived again :-) Pollyanna was really good at the Glad Game!

I often put myself to sleep thinking about the great things that had happened to me that day. Not that that is always easy. I’ve definitely had some lousy things happen to me. But, when considering what COULD have happened, I think I’m a pretty lucky lady!

In fact, I think playing the Glad Game is a great way to hone your imagination and your logical thinking skills. That could help your mind stay sharp as you age. How glad would you be of that?!

I’m glad that I have a roof over my head and food on the table. I’m glad that I have an amazing career with interesting work to do. I’m glad that my mind and body are healthy and strong. I’m glad that I have a wonderful and supportive family. I’m glad that I have a son that is the light of my life. And I’m glad that it doesn’t take money to listen to a friend, or to compliment a colleague, or to hug a sister.

What are you glad about?

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It’s a hopeful new day

2008-11-05 | Filed Under Uncategorized |

This is the only political post that you will ever see on my blog.(Promise.)

I’m not a political person. In fact, I didn’t even stay up last night to see who won the Presidential race. OK, I was pretty sure that it was going to be my guy Barack, but still…

Watching his acceptance speech on YouTube this morning, I must say I am now very hopeful for all of us in the United States. And I think having hope is huge!

I’m proud to be a small part (one vote) of this paradigm shift.

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Is it time to hunker down?

2008-10-19 | Filed Under Musings |

I was on vacation last week (read all about the fascinating [?] time I had on my VA blog) and realized that I’m getting the urge to hunker down because of the current economic situation.

That made me wonder just where the expression “hunker down” came from. Whoo hoo - research time!

Michael Quinion of World Wide Words says that the origin of the phrase might be linked to an Old Norse word, huka, which means “to squat”. The connotation that I’m referring to, though - to go into hiding or take shelter - Michael says was actually popularized by President Johnson in the mid 1960s. Having lived through those years filled with nuclear war talk, it doesn’t surprise me a bit!

There’s actually a board game called HunkerDown - The Hurricane Game. Apparently, as you play, you need to try to get ready for an approaching hurricane before it blows you over! The majority of websites that I found in my research had to do with hurricanes, or the economy. Maybe we should start naming our recessions like we do our hurricanes. I think this recession should be called “Bailout”.

To me, hunker down means working on cutting out expenses and increasing income. I’m hoping to do both this winter while watching the snow fall and the temperatures drop. I’m also hoping that I can do both while staying warm and cozy in my home office :-)

Are you getting the urge to hunker down?

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A Simpler Way

2008-09-14 | Filed Under Books, Enjoy the Journey |

Do you have articles from magazines that you’ve saved because they really struck a chord when you read them?

I have a book excerpt that I had photocopied from a Weight Watchers magazine. The book is called “A Simpler Way” by Margaret Wheatley & Myron Kellner_Rogers. It was published in 1996 so I think the photocopy is at least 10 years old, but I keep going back to it time and time again.

I finally got a copy of the book from the library and read it last week. There’s only 103 pages of text, and not much text per page, so I figured I could get it done in a couple of days, but I was way wrong about that.

It’s a book about diversity - of life, behaviors, culture, companies - and about the organization of diversity. It is a difficult book to read in the sense that almost every sentence is a complete thought unto itself. The whole book provokes more introspection than any other book that I’ve read (which is saying a lot!).

Margaret and Myron look at our obsession to control every part of our life. Our to-do lists and goals and plans. And then they look at how nature proceeds. Its experiments and tinkering and discovering. Nature doesn’t stop when it thinks it has produced something that we would consider “perfect”. It keeps going and creates a whole variety of things that are “perfect” at what they are, not at what we perceive them to be.

Life uses what is at hand and creates from that. It is a tinkerer at heart, trying this, then that, but always trying something new. It has no “plan” that keeps it from seeing the multitude of possibilities available to it. It has no boundaries to confine it.

Organization is a given. Life (and non-life) will organize itself without any help from us. Human beings are constantly organizing ourselves into groups, religions, companies, families, and any other type of organization which will help us feel that we “belong”. Unfortunately, we tend to take these organizations too far, trying to control what they are becoming rather than just allowing them to become what we first wanted them to be. We try too hard. We organize too hard. And then we become disillusioned, and start or move to another group.

Life is change. Everything changes. We hate that. We want life to stay the same at least long enough for us to catch up to it! But, of course, it ignores us and flows on.

I think Margaret and Myron are telling us to blur our schedules, just a bit. To allow room for testing new ideas. To enjoy the journey :-)

That’s what I try to do. What about you?

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Eat, Pray, Love - or not

2008-09-11 | Filed Under Books |

I just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love about her personal spiritual journey. (Yes, I know, everyone else in the civilized world read it months ago!)

Actually, I only read two thirds of the book. I read the first third where she travels to Italy and gains 23 pounds eating pasta. This was one of the few parts of the book that I could relate to. Not the traveling to Italy part - the gaining weight eating pasta part.

The second third of the book describes her adventures in an Indian Ashram, which is apparently where the followers of a particular Guru go to meditate and take care of the Guru’s rustic property while she is in the United States doing important Guru work.

The last third of the book was about her relationship with a medicine man in Indonesia. It is supposedly very deep spiritually and contains some sex (not with the medicine man) but I got so bored after 10 pages or so, I skimmed over the rest of the book hoping to see something of interest, but never found it.

I did find some interesting facts and quotes, though:

I’m happy that Elizabeth was able to have her year of travel and enlightenment. (And her mega-million dollar endorsement from Oprah.)

Did that sound cynical? I guess I better get out my japa mala and start meditating away my jealousy. :-)

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A Book Lover’s Graduation Party

2008-08-31 | Filed Under Books |

As I wrote a couple of posts ago, I finally graduated from college and I decided that I deserved a Graduation Party, so I held one for myself! But, as in all things that I do, it had a bit of a twist.

I’m not sure how they party in other parts of the country, but in Wisconsin, the attendees usually brings a dish to pass so the host (or hostess) doesn’t need to try to feed everyone. For my party, I asked that those who were able to come could being a dish to pass OR a (cheap, used) book that they thought I might enjoy.

Those of you who know me know I’m all about books! I love the feel of books, the smell of books, and the anticipation of reading that first page, knowing that I’m about to learn something I’ve never known before.

Then, I went to my favorite used bookstores in Madison, Frugal Muse and Half-Priced Books, and proceeded to buy books that I love, and that have meant something to me. Books like “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder series, a “Recombinant DNA” textbook, “Wishcraft”, “Dragonflight”, “I Could do Anything if I Only Knew What It Was”, “Frankenstein” (surprisingly NOT like the movies), and on and on…

I placed a few of these books on each table with a sign that said “Take a Book!”. It was so much fun to see which books people chose for themselves. It started some interesting conversations, also.

And I ended up with about 25 books on about as many different subjects: Queen Elizabeth, emerging viruses, the beginnings of the computer revolution, murder and mayhem, keeping your brain young even when you’re old - none of which I had read before. I had a great time! Thanks to all who attended and made it a day to remember for me :-)

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