The Candle Card

Here's a picture of the birthday candle card I made last weekend. The best part of the experience is opening it to the interlacing candles. I learned a lot with this exercise and would definitely be able to improve on the next one. Because I didn't really have a plan and had not done one before, I ended up having to overlap and add a few small candles to get to the desired number. It worked out and gave it a somewhat avant garde look. The double color paper (one side hot pink; one side orange) was a nice touch and gave it more flair (flare:)

Now that I understand how the interlacing idea works (when you glue a candle to one side of the peak, it lays one direction; gluing to the other side, then, lays the opposite direction, the idea being to alternate spots on the peak to get the interlacing), I know to determine the number of candles per peak and plan the number of peaks accordingly. This card was about 4 inches tall.

Those Seven Words

Okay, have you Googled George Carlin for the 7 words? I remembered five of them and half of a sixth. Now I know them all -- for all the good it does me.

I read an article this morning about a band whose name had one of "those" words in it and in reviews, unless they were online reviews, the name of the band couldn't be printed. The policy of the New York Times is not to print the word "fuck" unless they are quoting an American president or someone similar. Doesn't seem too smart for the band.

I've been surprised so many times by some of the language on prime time sit-com TV. Not the seven words, but still words that I wouldn't want to hear my grandson using. What are they thinking?

My List

I spent most of Sunday afternoon working at my table cutting out paper birthday candles and getting my head around the vision I'd had for a birthday card for my daughter. It actually came together and is going in the mail today. Yay! a completed project! It's been a long time since I've done anything like that and it felt so good to work with paper and colors and glue. It's almost like exercising. Feels so good, you wonder why you don't do it all the time.

My challenge for the next two weeks is to spend at least 30 minutes a day at my table.

My family used to have a saying "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach" and I think that applies to me and my weekend lists. No way could I check off everything on my list this weekend. My lists tend to be more of a possibility list than an actual "to do" list anyway. Things that seem like they'd be so simple turn into an all day adventure. Like looking for size 2 big girl panties that turns into looking at 2T dresses with a $129 price tag and finding out that panties without Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are rare. It made me think I need to get my sewing machine out -- not for the panties but for the dresses.

Something else to add to my list.

10 Things for the Weekend

Usually by Thursday I'm starting to think about the weekend-- what has to get done, what I want to get done. By Friday, I feel as though it has arrived even though I still have one more day of work. I at least start my mental list of what the weekend will look like. Here's this weekend.

1. Go to Whole Foods
2. Wrap birthday gift to mail
3. Make card to go with gift
4. Dinner at friend's house Sat. p.m.
5. Do my eyebrows
6. Look for "cute" big girl panties for Lucy
7. Church
8. Work in flower beds, cleaning up, etc.
9. Transplant striped monkey grass
10. Bike ride or long walk

What's On Your iPod?

Talk about revealing yourself. Today at Tim Russert's funeral, what music did they play? His ipod. I thought that was very cool; a very ingenious way to say who someone was. You can know a lot about someone without knowing anything about the music they listen to when they're alone. I love putting my iPod on Shuffle Songs and taking whatever comes up. Sometimes it's exactly the right mix. Today, for instance, at the gym, the first song was a Caribbean beat, perfect for getting me started; John Mayer was next, then Jack Johnson, Chris Isak, and so on. It was just right.

So, baring my soul, here's my iPod list, by genre.

Alternative: Ditty Bops
Blues: Amos Lee, John Mayer, Keb Mo
Classical: English Ladymass, Chant, Yo Yo Ma, Joshua Bell
Country: Alison Kraus, Brooks & Dunn, Dixie Chicks, Lyle Lovett, Rascal Flatts
Easy Listening: Paolo Conte (Italian jazz)
Folk: Ray LaMontagne
Jazz Diana Krall, Herbie Hancock & guest artists
Latin: Buena Vista Social Club
New Age: Ramon Bermudez jr.
Pop: Carol King, Jack Johnson, Madeleine Peyroux, Norah Jones, Van Morrison, Yusuf
R&B: Alicia keys, Corinne Bailey Rae, Destiny's Child, India Arie, Mary J. Blige, Michael McDonald
Rock: Chris Isack, James Taylor, Los Lonely Boys, Santana, Sting
World: Edith Piaf, Malaysian beats, French Caribbean
Soundtracks: Big Night, Boys on the Side, Bridget Jones Diary, I Still Love this Game, Love Actually, Notting Hill, Sleepless in Seattle, Smokey Joe's Cafe

Wide Open World

I recently advertised for a new employee and have received about 50 resumes. Interesting thing is as I started reviewing them and asked a co-worker (young) to go through them with me, her approach was to see if they had a myspace page and determine what that said about them that we might never know.

Part of the appeal of having a blog is being able to write as if no one is reading -- you don't really write for "approval" -- it serves the purpose of getting rid of things that clutter up your head. Although I admit I haven't been as honest as I might have been if I really thought no one was looking.

We do live in a transparent world these days. Someone told me they googled Leslie Stahl's lipstick and my blog post was number one. That was crazy to me.

I've always kept things pretty close and not blabbed a whole lot. And yet, if anyone were to ask me a question, I'd probably tell them just about anything they wanted to know.

I'm open. Is the world ready?

Young at Heart

Young at Heart is a documentary about a senior citizen chorus directed by hottie Bob Cilman. The film documents the group as they rehearse, learn new songs and get ready for a concert. What makes the chorus unique is they don't sing what you might expect a senior citizen group to sing -- the "golden oldies" -- they sing punk, rock, blues, etc. They sometimes say the words instead of singing them so for the first time you're really aware of the words in the song which gives it a completely fresh meaning. For some reason, this movie was so strong for me. I laughed and cried more than I have in a long time. Don't really know why -- their struggles with learning/remembering two lines, their love and concern for each other, determination, tenacity, the reward of applause and completion -- there's so much in it. And Bob doesn't coddle them. He's tough and frustrated and has the most beautiful mouth. Well worth catching if it comes to your theater.

Wide Open Spaces

A few days ago I was getting a manicure and the young woman sitting beside me said she was in town for a while and wondered what she should "see." I had no idea what to tell her. Every time someone asks me a question like that, I realize how little I know about my city. I told her I hoped she got to see a rain storm. She hoped so too. The one thing that had amazed her on her drive from Manhattan (NY) was in Ohio "where the sky met the grass. Just blue and green -- and nothing in between." The joy in her face made me realize how much we take landscape and space for granted here in the midwest.

I should have told her about our sunsets.

Neighborhood Coalition

I just returned from a neighborhood meeting with the purpose of exploring the formation of a coalition for eliminating (retarding?) the tear-downs of older houses and replacing them with what are called "McMansions." This is a cottage-type house neighborhood with nice setbacks and space between the houses. What's filling in are houses with 3-car garages, huge roofs and tiny yards. I have to admit that I was a little distracted at the meeting because one of the speakers was a woman who could pass in a minute as Dana Carvey and I was half-way thinking she would go into her church-lady act at any moment.

I've never been much of a joiner. This is new for me. But I so feel so strongly about this. These are older houses, well maintained, are being deemed worthless except for the land. Very sad -- especially when there's a For Sale sign across the street from me! This is not unique to my neighborhood - -it's a nation wide problem. But pieces of Tulsa are trying to do something. You can click here for more info.

Lingo

I'm at work. I just spent 2+ hours in a meeting about web site design, navigation and so forth. I have to say I love knowing the lingo of these groups -- sub-nav, spider the site, there are so many, way too many to list. What fascinates me is the little buzz I get when they use a lingo-kind of phrase and I understand it but know it's nothing that I would ever use myself. It's that little bit of special knowledge for an "in" crowd.

Again, probably says something about my ego.

Giving without Expectation

I think of myself as a giver. I like to do things for people--bake something, make something, just for the sake of doing it. Sometimes my "need" to make something is the focus and then I have to find someone to give it to. It's not necessarily the recipient that's the focus, it's me and my need to give. Even then, it feels good. The success of this revolves around giving without expecting something in return. The minute I expect the recipient to return the favor, the ecstasy of the moment is lost and disappointment takes over. When my intention isn't pure, i.e. giving for the sake of giving, it feels more like a barter or a trading for something in return. I wrestle with whether a "thank you" is an okay expectation. I've decided that's not really giving back, it's basic manners.

I've always found it difficult to ask for what I wanted, especially in a relationship. Deep down I wanted that person to know me well enough, think of me enough, to want to do something for me, remember me, etc. I'm past that now. I don't know how to explain it, but maybe it's not requiring that recognition from someone else to make me complete. My daughter would say something about the ego here, but I'm not sure how it all fits together. It's just a gut feeling for me.

One part of the New Earth book is about giving what you don't have. Give out whatever you think people are withholding from you. And soon after you start giving, you will start receiving.

This can be hard, Tolle acknowledges. So simply acknowledge the abundance that is already in your life. See the fullness of life all around you. Be grateful for it. The warmth of the sun on your skin, the magnificent display of flowers. The rain drenching you from the skies. Nature is abundant, we just have to open our eyes to see it.

Build your inner mind in this fashion, and let your life change to match.

Enough now. I'm going to give myself a break.