February Article is Up
February 3rd, 2009Your Growing Edge is about your assumptions and how they affect the choices you make, and thereby your future. Check it out.
On the Go
January 29th, 2009Been busy — guest entertaining, vortex hopping, movie-going (”Slumdog Millionaire”), website-transferring. Tomorrow may involve jury-duty but I’ll catch up this weekend.
Takin’ a Ride
January 25th, 2009
traveling north to Flagstaff
Sometimes you just gotta take a ride. We drove up to Flagstaff today even though the weather looked kind of iffy. The off-road to our favorite overlook was closed due to remainders of snow and ice from the December storms so we just headed into town to Barnes & Noble. We didn’t buy anything (amazing self-control there, but I already have more than my share of books to read), just drifted around the store to see what was new. It reminded me of Sunday afternoons as a kid, when the family would pile into the car and we’d head out on a Sunday Drive. I’m not sure if my dad had a destination in mind, but we’d usually end up somewhere out in the country, counting the station wagons we passed (for some strange reason I think that game was called “Beaver”) and looking for white horses to wish on. When we got older we would visit various art exhibits but we never did go to any stores because they were all closed on Sunday back then. At any rate, the Sunday Drive is a pleasant tradition to keep alive.
Envy Pure and Simple
January 21st, 2009Donna Downey is giving a sneak peek at her new fabric scrapbooking line. Fabric has never really been my friend, starting in junior high sewing class. But man do I love Donna’s paint colors and textures and embroidered canvas tags and quilted elements and the list goes on. Envy may not be strong enough a word…perhaps LUST? I don’t know other than I must get me some and then learn how to play with it.
Maybe old junior high school dogs can learn new tricks?
There Are No Words
January 20th, 2009Obama’s Inauguration Day was as close to perfection as any I’ve known in my lifetime. I feel so fortunate to have been a witness.
Creating a Playlist
January 16th, 2009
Courtesy of nao-cha
I’m listening to more music these days and have been ready to hear some new artists. Problem was, I wasn’t sure how to find them. I could randomly select from itunes, try to catch names on the radio, or wait for recommendations from friends, but I came up with another idea.
I had a playlist of “Sunny” songs I enjoy (e.g., “When Sunny Gets Blue”, “On the Sunny Side of the Street”, “Warmth of the Sun”, “You Are My Sunshine”) but it was small. I decided to go to itunes and search for songs with “sun”, “sunshine” and “sunny” in the title. I hit the mother lode. Dozens of selections, most by artists I have never heard of. I took my time going through them, and in the process discovered a half dozen singer/songwriters whose music is wonderful. I’m not sure that I ever would have found them if I hadn’t tried this method.
What kind of playlists would you create?
A Job for the Organizer
January 14th, 2009
Remember slide trays?
I have 25 of them, with around 150 slides in each. That’s a lot of slides. Not only do they take up an entire closet shelf of otherwise-usable space, but their quality is deteriorating as we speak. Last year I decided to use the services of Scan Cafe to transfer them to DVD and I’ve been pleased with the results thus far.
I’m up to the last tray, however I just discovered a plastic bag of loose slides that were taken out to print over the years, and now they need to be returned to their original homes. It wouldn’t be such a big job if I only had a memory. Some of the dates on the slides are legible which makes it easier, but determining where the rest go is like figuring out a giant jig-saw puzzle. (What year did we first go to the Bronx Zoo? When did I get that crazy perm? Who are these other people??)
I’m so glad that I’m finally getting this done. Of course, the day will undoubtedly come when we’ll be told that we have to get our data out of disc-form and into some new kind of technology before we lose it. *sigh*
Your Life in Lists
January 12th, 2009The past few days I’ve been enjoying Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists by Lisa Nola. She writes, “…I believe everyone should have an autobiography, if only for their loved ones to read and even in the simplest form: a list.”
A few of the lists she provides space for:
- Favorite toys you played with as a child
- Things you’re glad you did
- Things you’d save if your home was on fire
- Bad things you did as a kid
- The most memorable friends from your past
- Your biggest acts of kindness
I was intrigued by “bad things you did as a kid” because I’ve never thought about myself along those lines. But memory starts the wheels turning and darned if I didn’t come up with a list. (Apologies to Sue M. for the time I convinced her to throw some of her toys down the sewer so we could listen to the splash they made.)
Pick one list from those above. I guarantee you’ll be surprised by what you come up with.
Recipe for Simplicity
January 11th, 2009
courtesy of njk1951
“Simplicity means to be free of desires and attachments, and supremely happy within…It entails neither hardship nor deprivation, but the wisdom to work for and be content with what you truly need.”
– Paramahansa Yogananda
