Ooh, I love this ...
I drank too much red wine one night ... and flickering through the many windows and doors of flickr, I found this one ... and I suddenly felt quite sober and aware and knew I needed to look at this again.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Saturday, March 25, 2006
What I HAVEN'T posted about ... YET!
Dragon Mood? -- oops!
.... And I just realized that I haven't posted about my fun, wonderful, crazy weekend with my fun, wonderful, crazy kids ... YET!
I WILL do this!
.... And I just realized that I haven't posted about my fun, wonderful, crazy weekend with my fun, wonderful, crazy kids ... YET!
I WILL do this!
The odd Saturday afternoon
Dragon Mood? -- where am I???
I probably have so many postings entitled, "Saturday morning" or some derivation of that, it's not even funny. I could have posted this morning; I dillyed and I dallyed until now, and so it's afternoon.
S and I are both feeling rather quiet. Maybe needing to feel quiet. There are potentially big events waiting off in the wings. Most likely, my temporary job is coming to an end this next Friday. While I have been looking at job postings, I really haven't seen anything that I just gotta apply for. I'll be kicking myself for my procrastination once the paychecks stop coming and the bills keep rolling in. Arrgh!
And for S, she's awaiting Black Tuesday, as it's being called by the Detroit media. Supposedly, potentially one in every three employees at the Tech Center could be laid off. That number doesn't jive with the projected 1200 people that will supposedly be pink-slipped, but rationality and logic are poor competitors to fear and anxiety. We've had innumerable conversations about any and all of the many possible permutations to this event, some with a clear head, others swinging our arms wildly as we creep up to the precipice of both of us being unemployed and peer over the edge. Scary, scary things to look at!
And meanwhile, life goes on, laundry needs doing, taxes need filing, errands hovering, the dog begging for walking. It never ends.
As for me, I'm going to post this little post, take a nice, long hot shower, download a couple of digital pix off the camera, perhaps even play in Photoshop a bit. I can postpone the work a little bit longer(!)
I probably have so many postings entitled, "Saturday morning" or some derivation of that, it's not even funny. I could have posted this morning; I dillyed and I dallyed until now, and so it's afternoon.
S and I are both feeling rather quiet. Maybe needing to feel quiet. There are potentially big events waiting off in the wings. Most likely, my temporary job is coming to an end this next Friday. While I have been looking at job postings, I really haven't seen anything that I just gotta apply for. I'll be kicking myself for my procrastination once the paychecks stop coming and the bills keep rolling in. Arrgh!
And for S, she's awaiting Black Tuesday, as it's being called by the Detroit media. Supposedly, potentially one in every three employees at the Tech Center could be laid off. That number doesn't jive with the projected 1200 people that will supposedly be pink-slipped, but rationality and logic are poor competitors to fear and anxiety. We've had innumerable conversations about any and all of the many possible permutations to this event, some with a clear head, others swinging our arms wildly as we creep up to the precipice of both of us being unemployed and peer over the edge. Scary, scary things to look at!
And meanwhile, life goes on, laundry needs doing, taxes need filing, errands hovering, the dog begging for walking. It never ends.
As for me, I'm going to post this little post, take a nice, long hot shower, download a couple of digital pix off the camera, perhaps even play in Photoshop a bit. I can postpone the work a little bit longer(!)
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Tuesday, Tuesday
It's March 21st .... is today the first day of spring? I gotta go check ... hang on.
Evidently, yesterday ... Monday, March 20th was the FIRST day of spring. Okay, so I hit the SECOND day of spring! Can't hit 'em all, huh?
I'm sitting in the living room of our pied-a-terre, taking a quick break from work. There is a plump brown sparrow who has landed on an old, dried-up grapevine from last year. He/she is looking at the window. Ahh, fly away, little sparrow. Spring has arrived. Find some food, make some babies, make a nest. It is wonderful to hear the sounds of birds again. Truly a rite of spring.
For whatever reason, I'm feeling hopeful today. Thank you, God. Hopefulness is a wonderful thing!
Monday, March 13, 2006
Google acquires Writely!
Dragon Mood? -- dragons acquire glittery things
You know, I honestly don't remember how I learned about Writely. But, as soon as I tried it, I liked it! And now, I learn that they have been bought up by Google. Imagine that!
And .... I had no idea that Writely has a Blogspot blog. Duh! Here's what the folks at Writely have to say:
So, I want to continue to use Writely. Maybe you'd like to give it a try?
You know, I honestly don't remember how I learned about Writely. But, as soon as I tried it, I liked it! And now, I learn that they have been bought up by Google. Imagine that!
And .... I had no idea that Writely has a Blogspot blog. Duh! Here's what the folks at Writely have to say:
Here are our "top 10" reasons why being part of Google is fantastic for Writely and the Writely team:
10. Writely is like a caterpillar that we hope to make into a beautiful butterfly at Google!
9. We love Google's philosophy and values -- especially "Focus on the user."
8. We're as passionate as Google is about respecting users' privacy.
7. Many of our users are already Google fans using other Google services.
6. Being at Google will help us do more great things faster.
5. Some people didn't feel comfortable trusting a tiny startup with their documents...and we're no longer a tiny startup.
4. We like lava lamps and they're pretty much standard decor at Google.
3. Three words: Free Googleplex lunches ;)
2. As fun as it's been to launch a popular, global, 24x7 Web service, it'll be nice to take a vacation once in a while!
...and the number one reason???
1. We'll be able to bring Writely to not just thousands but millions of users -- the more, the merrier :-)
So, I want to continue to use Writely. Maybe you'd like to give it a try?
about cubicles, the corporate world and Dilbert
Dragon Mood? -- dragonly aghast-ness
Lina sent this to me. Wow!-- it's about design and design gone wrong and corporate bottomlines and money over people and .... well, just read it:
Lina sent this to me. Wow!-- it's about design and design gone wrong and corporate bottomlines and money over people and .... well, just read it:
The Great Escape
Forty million American employees toil in soulless cubicles. How did they get there -- and can business ever break out of the box?
By Julie Schlosser, FORTUNE Magazine
NEW YORK (FORTUNE Magazine) - Robert Oppenheimer agonized over building the A-bomb. Alfred Nobel got queasy about creating dynamite. Robert Propst invented nothing so destructive. Yet before he died in 2000, he lamented his unwitting contribution to what he called "monolithic insanity."
Propst is the father of the cubicle. More than 30 years after he unleashed it on the world, we are still trying to get out of the box. The cubicle has been called many things in its long and terrible reign. But what it has lacked in beauty and amenity, it has made up for in crabgrass-like persistence.
Reviled by workers, demonized by designers, disowned by its very creator, it still claims the largest share of office furniture sales--$3 billion or so a year--and has outlived every "office of the future" meant to replace it. It is the Fidel Castro of office furniture.
So will the cubicle always be with us? Probably yes, though in recent years individuals and organizations have finally started to chart productive and economical ways to escape its tyranny.
The cubicle was not born evil, or even square. It began, in fact, as a beautiful vision. The year was 1968. Nixon won the presidency. The Beatles released The White Album. And home-furnishings company Herman Miller in Zeeland, Mich., launched the Action Office. It was the brainchild of Bob Propst, a Coloradan who had joined the company as director of research.
After years of prototyping and studying how people work, and vowing to improve on the open-bullpen office that dominated much of the 20th century, Propst designed a system he thought would increase productivity (hence the name Action Office). The young designer, who also worked on projects as varied as heart pumps and tree harvesters, theorized that productivity would rise if people could see more of their work spread out in front of them, not just stacked in an in-box.
The new system included plenty of work surfaces and display shelves; partitions were a part of it, intended to provide privacy and places to pin up works in process (see photo, above left). The Action Office even included varying desk levels to enable employees to work part of the time standing up, thereby encouraging blood flow and staving off exhaustion.
But inventions seldom obey the creator's intent. "The Action Office wasn't conceived to cram a lot of people into little space," says Joe Schwartz, Herman Miller's former marketing chief, who helped launch the system in 1968. "It was driven that way by economics."
Economics was the one thing Propst had failed to take into account. But it was also what triggered the cubicle's runaway success. Around the time the Action Office was born, a growing breed of white-collar workers, whose job titles fell between secretary and boss, was swelling the workforce. Also, real estate prices were rising, as was the cost of reconfiguring office buildings, making the physical office a drag on the corporate budget. Cubicles, or "systems furniture," as they are euphemistically called, offered a cheaper alternative for redoing the floorplan.
Another critical factor in the cubicle's rapid ascent was Uncle Sam. During the 1960s, to stimulate business spending, the Treasury created new rules for depreciating assets. The changes specified clearer ranges for depreciation and established a shorter life for furniture and equipment, vs. longer ranges assigned to buildings or leasehold improvements. (Today companies can depreciate office furniture in seven years, whereas permanent structures--that is, offices with walls--are assigned a 39.5-year rate.)
The upshot: A company could recover its costs quicker if it purchased cubes. When clients told Herman Miller of that unexpected benefit, it became a new selling point for the Action Office. After only two years on the market, sales soared. Competitors took notice.
That's when Propst's original vision began to fade. "They kept shrinking the Action Office until it became a cubicle," says Schwartz, now 80. As Steelcase, Knoll, and Haworth brought their versions to market, they figured out that what businesses wanted wasn't to give employees a holistic experience. The customers wanted a cheap way to pack workers in.
Propst's workstations were designed to be flexible, but in practice they were seldom altered or moved at all. Lined up in identical rows, they became the dystopian world that three academics described as "bright satanic offices" in a 1998 book, Workplaces of the Future.
Designer Douglas Ball, for instance, remembers the first installation of cubicles he created for a Canadian company in 1972. "I thought I'd be excited, but I came out depressed," says Ball, now 70. "It was Dilbertville. I'd failed to visualize what it would look like when there were so many of them."
Having taken over the world, the cubicle defeated several attempts to dethrone it. One of the most ambitious assaults came in 1993, when Jay Chiat, chairman of ad agency Chiat/Day, declared a sort of Bolshevik revolution when he moved his employees into newly renovated space in Venice, Calif. The design "was loungy, like Starbucks," remembers Stevan Alburty, then head of technology. "It was 20 years ahead of its time."
But it had a fatal flaw: No one had a fixed place to work. Employees were expected to park their belongings in lockers and check out laptops every morning as if renting a movie at Blockbuster. It quickly sparked a counter-rebellion--many employees simply stopped coming to the office, preferring to work at home. After the firm was acquired by an advertising conglomerate, employees got workspaces again.
Designers since then have mostly limited themselves to trying to offset the cubicle's most glaring defects. A recent Steelcase offering, the Personal Harbor, can be fitted with its own lighting system, fan, door, and window. Knoll offers the A3 (or anticube), a colony of rounded, podlike structures with translucent mesh coverings for privacy.
Herman Miller, now a $1.5-billion-a-year company, will launch two concepts in June that are the work of designer Ball. He says the new designs are the culmination of more than 30 years of trying to undo his early mistakes. The company won't release many details, but the systems will emphasize color and privacy; Ball says the workstations will be "more capsule-like, or cockpit-like." In all, more than 100 cubicle-variant office systems have come to market over the past three decades.
When openly challenged, the cubicle still gets the last laugh. In California state-employed attorneys obtained relief from the cube through Title 13.3 of their union contract: "The State agrees to make a reasonable effort to provide private enclosed office space to each permanent full-time attorney who has confidentiality needs." Should an attorney be assigned to "other than enclosed private offices," the union must be notified. Rather than violate the rule, says union president Holly Wilkens, the state sticks some young attorneys in airless closets.
Is that really where we're headed? No, says Stewart Brand, co-founder of the Global Business Network, an Emeryville, Calif., consulting firm that helps companies make long-range plans. Back in the '60s, right around the time Propst unveiled the cubicle, Brand created The Whole Earth Catalog, which became the bible of environmentally aware living and arguably had a much more benevolent effect on American culture.
He says that the most productive people he knows have developed ways to work outside offices, not in them. Brand himself worked out of a converted shipping container in Sausalito for seven years and now commutes to a beached fishing boat a few yards from his house. He sees two workspaces rising up to compete with the modern office: homes and what might be called the third space--i.e., Starbucks.
A living example of work in the third space is Diego Guevara, a 23-year-old appraiser for a large mortgage and insurance company. He camped out on a recent winter afternoon in a Manhattan Starbucks; before him on the counter were his ruggedized computer, a calculator, a Wi-Fi card, a yellow pad, and a grande.
As he used a PDA-cellphone to check on a property, Guevara typed details of the morning's appraisals into the laptop, which would sync the records with a database back at the office in West Orange, N.J. He usually goes to the office only when he needs supplies. And the last time he saw his boss? "Before Christmas," said Guevara, adding that his boss mostly works at home.
If working at home is now part of the zeitgeist, one very large employer that seems increasingly tapped in is the U.S. government. Congressman Frank Wolf, a Republican whose Virginia district is home to many federal worker bees, has made telecommuting his pet project. "There is nothing magic in strapping ourselves into a metal box every day only to drive to an office where we sit behind a desk working on a computer," he told a congressional committee.
Wolf sees telecommuting as a way to decrease traffic, reduce air pollution, increase productivity, and frustrate terrorists. In 2004 he launched a campaign to penalize government agencies by docking funds if they fail to support telecommuting. Now the SEC, the State Department, the Department of Justice, and four other big agencies are required to offer every eligible worker the opportunity to telecommute.
A 2005 survey by Milwaukee's Dieringer Research Group reported that 26 million Americans use broadband to do work from home. Sales reps and consultants have always worked remotely; now finance people, lawyers, administrators, researchers, and creative types can too. Just as infotech has enabled companies to offshore white-collar functions, it also untethers Stateside employees from their cubes.
Coming to the office for meetings and in-person collaboration is still important, of course, but as Brand points out, "People are realizing they don't need face-to-face time all the time."
Remember how economics helped turn the cube into a plague? Now giants like Cisco Systems see "workforce mobility" as a way to cut real estate costs. Thanks to heavy use of mobile technology by employees, says real estate VP Mark Golan, "we discovered that Cisco offices and cubicles went vacant 35% of the time."
By switching to what it calls the Connected Workspace--employees set up work areas wherever they are needed in the building--Cisco says it has raised satisfaction while boosting density. Now 140 employees are able to work comfortably where 88 would work in a traditional workspace.
Hewlett-Packard, which has introduced a similar scheme, expects to cut $230 million out of annual occupancy expenses by mid 2007. The new economics of the office won't actually kill the cube. In fact, U.S. sales of office systems rose 11% in 2005. But as the office occupies a smaller part of companies' budgets, cubes will claim a smaller share of employees' lives.
FEEDBACK: jschlosser@fortunemail.com
REPORTER ASSOCIATES Doris Burke and Abrahm Lustgarten contributed to this article.
From the March 20, 2006 issue
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Workday Sunday
Dragon Mood? -- frustrated
It's another workday Sunday for me ... yecch! It's the price paid for me to have a short workweek -- I leave Wednesday afternoon to head to the mad city in Wisconsin to madly watch hours and hours of March madness basketball with those kids I'm madly in love with, Lina and Yosh.
It's actually a lovely, lovely day here in Motown. I would love to be sitting out on the front porch, in the sun, enjoying the temperate air, drinking a beer, rather than fifteen feet inside, working, longing, yearning.
It's another workday Sunday for me ... yecch! It's the price paid for me to have a short workweek -- I leave Wednesday afternoon to head to the mad city in Wisconsin to madly watch hours and hours of March madness basketball with those kids I'm madly in love with, Lina and Yosh.
It's actually a lovely, lovely day here in Motown. I would love to be sitting out on the front porch, in the sun, enjoying the temperate air, drinking a beer, rather than fifteen feet inside, working, longing, yearning.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Pick a date, any date ...
Dragon Mood? -- humming to myself; and who the heck is Joni James???
Here's a cool and fun website someone brought to my attention (ahem, Mr. Sushi!).
https://home.comcast.net/~josh.hosler/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm
Check it out. I promise you, you'll have a little bit of fun with it.
Here's a cool and fun website someone brought to my attention (ahem, Mr. Sushi!).
https://home.comcast.net/~josh.hosler/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm
Check it out. I promise you, you'll have a little bit of fun with it.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Another Saturday morning
Dragon Mood? -- in a sunny mood
This week has been a busy one ... and an unnecessarily stressful one.
I wrote on Monday about being in a funk. From that low state of mind, I managed to make some errors at my stay-at-home job that shadowed me and perpetuated my stressful state for another three or four days. ArrrghHH!
So ... that is behind me ... it's the weekend ... and a SUNNY one at that! I heard from my good friend, Trice, yesterday about putting another iron in the possible employment fire ... in Martha's words, "that is a good thing." I hope to send out a couple more resumes this weekend. That would be even more of a good thing! It's sunny today! I got some extremely positive feedback from my project lead on the error-free work that I did this past week -- another positive thing that I need to hold onto and remind myself of when I have these dark "moments of the soul." Did I mention that the sun is shining today! Love it! Matt and Sarah are coming over this evening for a belated celebration of S's birthday. That will be fun. We may even get to play some fast-and-furious rounds of euchre. The Spartoonis are about to play the Fighting Illini in less than a half an hour. I'm hopeful they can finish out their regular season play with another win! AND ... guess what? The sun is shining BRIGHTLY today!
All together ... A VERY GOOD DAY!!
This week has been a busy one ... and an unnecessarily stressful one.
I wrote on Monday about being in a funk. From that low state of mind, I managed to make some errors at my stay-at-home job that shadowed me and perpetuated my stressful state for another three or four days. ArrrghHH!
So ... that is behind me ... it's the weekend ... and a SUNNY one at that! I heard from my good friend, Trice, yesterday about putting another iron in the possible employment fire ... in Martha's words, "that is a good thing." I hope to send out a couple more resumes this weekend. That would be even more of a good thing! It's sunny today! I got some extremely positive feedback from my project lead on the error-free work that I did this past week -- another positive thing that I need to hold onto and remind myself of when I have these dark "moments of the soul." Did I mention that the sun is shining today! Love it! Matt and Sarah are coming over this evening for a belated celebration of S's birthday. That will be fun. We may even get to play some fast-and-furious rounds of euchre. The Spartoonis are about to play the Fighting Illini in less than a half an hour. I'm hopeful they can finish out their regular season play with another win! AND ... guess what? The sun is shining BRIGHTLY today!
All together ... A VERY GOOD DAY!!
Oops --- a missed anniversary
Dragon Mood? -- forgetful
My last posting, I was so busy being in a funk, that I forgot to recognize calypsoDragon13's SECOND ANNIVERSARY! Yup, two years ago, on February 27th, I started this blog.
I'm still enjoying this blog ... very much!
My last posting, I was so busy being in a funk, that I forgot to recognize calypsoDragon13's SECOND ANNIVERSARY! Yup, two years ago, on February 27th, I started this blog.
I'm still enjoying this blog ... very much!
Monday, February 27, 2006
There's funk and then there's FUNK
Dragon Mood? -- nervous ... and this Dragon doesn't do well feeling nervous!
Over the past several postings, I used the adjective "funky" numerous times to describe an environment I thought was fun and quaint/retro/dated and really quite charming.
Well ... there's funky and then there's FUNK ... as in, how I'm feeling this morning.
While I should be working, I feel the need to jump "over" to this little computer and take a few minutes to write about my feelings. I'm feeling anxious about getting a job and the long-term prospects.
I made the mistake (thinking I was being proactive) of logging onto monster.com and perusing the current listings. Pretty slim pickin's, if you know what I mean. Arrgh! Scary.
S and I had a pretty frank, straight-talking conversation (as straight as two lesbians can have, ha-ha) about our near-term prospects. S is anticipating (as only a far-sighted Aquarian can) that she will be asked (or mandated) to take a paycut in the very near future -- like the end of April and in the neighborhood of a 5 to 6% cut. If that happens (and I still don't have a secure job), we will definitely have to take some actions. Like selling a house. Yeah ... scary stuff.
At the same time, to her credit, S is encouraging me to get a job that I like, not just a get-by job. Which, given that my work for the last 16 years(!) has been to "get by" is a tremendously appealing prospect. And, need I mention, frightening at the same time?
Oh, I was feeling so calm and at peace yesterday. How could that have evaporated so quickly in so brief a time? ArrghhH!
Over the past several postings, I used the adjective "funky" numerous times to describe an environment I thought was fun and quaint/retro/dated and really quite charming.
Well ... there's funky and then there's FUNK ... as in, how I'm feeling this morning.
While I should be working, I feel the need to jump "over" to this little computer and take a few minutes to write about my feelings. I'm feeling anxious about getting a job and the long-term prospects.
I made the mistake (thinking I was being proactive) of logging onto monster.com and perusing the current listings. Pretty slim pickin's, if you know what I mean. Arrgh! Scary.
S and I had a pretty frank, straight-talking conversation (as straight as two lesbians can have, ha-ha) about our near-term prospects. S is anticipating (as only a far-sighted Aquarian can) that she will be asked (or mandated) to take a paycut in the very near future -- like the end of April and in the neighborhood of a 5 to 6% cut. If that happens (and I still don't have a secure job), we will definitely have to take some actions. Like selling a house. Yeah ... scary stuff.
At the same time, to her credit, S is encouraging me to get a job that I like, not just a get-by job. Which, given that my work for the last 16 years(!) has been to "get by" is a tremendously appealing prospect. And, need I mention, frightening at the same time?
Oh, I was feeling so calm and at peace yesterday. How could that have evaporated so quickly in so brief a time? ArrghhH!
Sunday, February 26, 2006
A lovely quiet Sunday
Dragon Mood? -- relaxed and pensive
S and I are winding down on a lovely quiet Sunday. No trees falling, no working on Sunday, no snowstorm, no locusts and plagues. Just a quiet Sunday. Lovely.
We watched, rather I watched the Spartans lose another game. S couldn't bear to watch. I don't know exactly what's going on with the men's team, but they seem to have lost their heart, their fire for the game and for the win. Especially Paul Davis. He had several lightning passes come his way, through his hands and continue on, out of bounds. What's with that? He did end up fouling out with 3:30 to go in the second half. This is his last season as a Spartan. What's going on with him?
After the game, S and I mosied over to J & J's for a quick introduction to their newly-rescued Spanish water dog, named Allie or (C)allie, depending on if it's Joanne who's naming her. Joanne is in a permanent love affair with any and all things remotely related to California, hence the name, Callie.
Allie/Callie is a sweet, mellow four-year old Spanish water dog with a beautiful hypoallergenic, apricot & white coat. I sat on the floor to get acquainted with her. After a couple of minutes, she came over and literally flopped in my lap. "Hello, are you my mom?" What a sweetie-pie! While Jeanne and Joanne brought her back to Michigan, possibly for Jeanne's sister, Mary, methinks Allie/Callie is going nowhere but has captured both of their hearts (mine too!).
Meanwhile, our dog, lovely snarly yellow-dog Cisco was waiting patiently in the back of my hatchback. Little did she know that we had been unloyally fraternizing with a dog she would happily have eaten for a Sunday happy hour appetizer(!)
When we got home, I put on David and Steven Gordon's Drum Medicine CD, snuggled up on the couch and promptly fell asleep. Have I said anything recently about how much I love afternoon naps??? I DO! I love them.
Upon slo-o-owly waking up, I got up, warmed a cup of coffee au lait, took a hot, hot, long hot shower, washed my hair, shaved my legs and enjoyed the heat on some pesky tense back muscles. It felt wonderful.
S and I remade our bed with freshly laundered sheets (compliments of moi) and now I'm sitting here, at the computer, posting my life to the internet and for millions to see.
Oh yes ... and I'm drinking some, what I would call, Kool-aid wine, brought over by an elderly neighbor some months back. It's Blackberry Merlot (pronounced mer-LOT) like all good Warda Texans do.
Cheers!
S and I are winding down on a lovely quiet Sunday. No trees falling, no working on Sunday, no snowstorm, no locusts and plagues. Just a quiet Sunday. Lovely.
We watched, rather I watched the Spartans lose another game. S couldn't bear to watch. I don't know exactly what's going on with the men's team, but they seem to have lost their heart, their fire for the game and for the win. Especially Paul Davis. He had several lightning passes come his way, through his hands and continue on, out of bounds. What's with that? He did end up fouling out with 3:30 to go in the second half. This is his last season as a Spartan. What's going on with him?
After the game, S and I mosied over to J & J's for a quick introduction to their newly-rescued Spanish water dog, named Allie or (C)allie, depending on if it's Joanne who's naming her. Joanne is in a permanent love affair with any and all things remotely related to California, hence the name, Callie.
Allie/Callie is a sweet, mellow four-year old Spanish water dog with a beautiful hypoallergenic, apricot & white coat. I sat on the floor to get acquainted with her. After a couple of minutes, she came over and literally flopped in my lap. "Hello, are you my mom?" What a sweetie-pie! While Jeanne and Joanne brought her back to Michigan, possibly for Jeanne's sister, Mary, methinks Allie/Callie is going nowhere but has captured both of their hearts (mine too!).
Meanwhile, our dog, lovely snarly yellow-dog Cisco was waiting patiently in the back of my hatchback. Little did she know that we had been unloyally fraternizing with a dog she would happily have eaten for a Sunday happy hour appetizer(!)
When we got home, I put on David and Steven Gordon's Drum Medicine CD, snuggled up on the couch and promptly fell asleep. Have I said anything recently about how much I love afternoon naps??? I DO! I love them.
Upon slo-o-owly waking up, I got up, warmed a cup of coffee au lait, took a hot, hot, long hot shower, washed my hair, shaved my legs and enjoyed the heat on some pesky tense back muscles. It felt wonderful.
S and I remade our bed with freshly laundered sheets (compliments of moi) and now I'm sitting here, at the computer, posting my life to the internet and for millions to see.
Oh yes ... and I'm drinking some, what I would call, Kool-aid wine, brought over by an elderly neighbor some months back. It's Blackberry Merlot (pronounced mer-LOT) like all good Warda Texans do.
Cheers!
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Our funky Florida hideaway
Dragon Mood? -- let's see; we'll put yellow in the main area; shall we hang some beaded macrame curtains in the loggia???
We stayed in unit #10. It used to be a beach motel. Now it's a co-op of owner-occupied and rental condos. It's totally 1950's, funky and completely charming. I loved it from the moment I stepped in.
But, being a rental, it was a mite too bland for my dragonish tastes. So, Wednesday I went to the local dollar store, bought bright yellow crepe paper, a paper pinata that said "Happy Birthday!" and went to town decorating.
Did I mention the open-air inner atrium? Did I mention that it's two stories high? I love the columns that surround the atrium, their clean lines, their "orderliness" and predictability. If I could design a space for myself, it would have the feel of our funky Florida hideaway.
It was perfect for my tastes. I loved it!
We stayed in unit #10. It used to be a beach motel. Now it's a co-op of owner-occupied and rental condos. It's totally 1950's, funky and completely charming. I loved it from the moment I stepped in.
But, being a rental, it was a mite too bland for my dragonish tastes. So, Wednesday I went to the local dollar store, bought bright yellow crepe paper, a paper pinata that said "Happy Birthday!" and went to town decorating.
Did I mention the open-air inner atrium? Did I mention that it's two stories high? I love the columns that surround the atrium, their clean lines, their "orderliness" and predictability. If I could design a space for myself, it would have the feel of our funky Florida hideaway.
It was perfect for my tastes. I loved it!
So many posts, so little time
Dragon Mood? -- excited and romantic?
Where to start, where to start??
Let's start at 35,000 feet. That was our cruising altitude, wending our way to Florida -- at night. It was Valentine's Day night and I had the window seat on the left (and east) side of the plane. We had left the twinkling megalopolis that is Chicago behind with another one quickly approaching (Indianapolis). I looked to the east and saw this golden elliptical bulb low in the sky -- what is that? It's the moon. The moon rising, actually. S and I were exclaiming over it when the pilot announced the dramatic moon sighting over the PA. There were sharp "Ohs!" and exclamations all around us.
Now ... to that elliptical shape. S and I had quite the logical-cum-scientific conversation about it. I was discombobulated over its elliptical shape. S announced fairly quickly on that it was due to distortion from the Earth's atmosphere. I wondered, could it be our angle of view? Now, think about holding a ball in your outstretched hand; is there any way that you can twist your hand or your arm that will make that sphere *look* like an ellipse. Is there? No ... no, of course not. So, I answered my own question that it certainly couldn't be our angle of view.
So, back to S's hypothesis about the atmosphere. I questioned her about it. She said that due to our position in the plane and the moon rising up over the Earth's horizon, we were actually viewing the moon through the atmosphere and the atmosphere was distorting its spherical shape to look elliptical. Something like that, anyway. Sure enough, as we flew further south, the moon rose higher in the sky relative to our vantage point; the higher it rose, the more spherical it became. Brighter, less golden, too.
But don't let my pseudo-scientific ramblings distort the fact that it was a stunning sight, wondrous in its beauty and most personally, an especially romantic accompaniment to our Valentine's night flight to tropical Florida.
Where to start, where to start??
Let's start at 35,000 feet. That was our cruising altitude, wending our way to Florida -- at night. It was Valentine's Day night and I had the window seat on the left (and east) side of the plane. We had left the twinkling megalopolis that is Chicago behind with another one quickly approaching (Indianapolis). I looked to the east and saw this golden elliptical bulb low in the sky -- what is that? It's the moon. The moon rising, actually. S and I were exclaiming over it when the pilot announced the dramatic moon sighting over the PA. There were sharp "Ohs!" and exclamations all around us.
Now ... to that elliptical shape. S and I had quite the logical-cum-scientific conversation about it. I was discombobulated over its elliptical shape. S announced fairly quickly on that it was due to distortion from the Earth's atmosphere. I wondered, could it be our angle of view? Now, think about holding a ball in your outstretched hand; is there any way that you can twist your hand or your arm that will make that sphere *look* like an ellipse. Is there? No ... no, of course not. So, I answered my own question that it certainly couldn't be our angle of view.
So, back to S's hypothesis about the atmosphere. I questioned her about it. She said that due to our position in the plane and the moon rising up over the Earth's horizon, we were actually viewing the moon through the atmosphere and the atmosphere was distorting its spherical shape to look elliptical. Something like that, anyway. Sure enough, as we flew further south, the moon rose higher in the sky relative to our vantage point; the higher it rose, the more spherical it became. Brighter, less golden, too.
But don't let my pseudo-scientific ramblings distort the fact that it was a stunning sight, wondrous in its beauty and most personally, an especially romantic accompaniment to our Valentine's night flight to tropical Florida.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
... to my hundreds of readers ...
... I want to wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day.
My Valentine and I are getting ready to jump on a plane and leave for Florida ... imminently! I am EXCITED!
What a treat for an unemployed, fifty-something person who, to mention it, has been under a bit of stress!
I think S and I are going to enjoy lazy days of sunning, reading, lazing around, drinking, sunning, wiggling our toes in the sand, drinking, walking on the beach, lazing around, drinking, well ... you get the picture, yes?
So ... Happy Valentine's Day everybody ... I'll remember you on the beach! Margaritas, everybody!
My Valentine and I are getting ready to jump on a plane and leave for Florida ... imminently! I am EXCITED!
What a treat for an unemployed, fifty-something person who, to mention it, has been under a bit of stress!
I think S and I are going to enjoy lazy days of sunning, reading, lazing around, drinking, sunning, wiggling our toes in the sand, drinking, walking on the beach, lazing around, drinking, well ... you get the picture, yes?
So ... Happy Valentine's Day everybody ... I'll remember you on the beach! Margaritas, everybody!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Workin' with smooth jazz in the background ...
It's Sunday, a sunny but cold February afternoon. I'm at the pied-a-terre, working today, trying to get some work done before I leave for our week in Florida.
I'm struggling to stay focused ... (can you tell?).
One of the side benefits of this working-at-home thing is listening to streaming audio from Yahoo's LaunchCast radio. What a treat, especially for someone who likes lots of music and also dislikes lots of music. LaunchCast gives you the ability to select a station with a specific type of music --OR-- create your own radio station, rating the songs you like highly and dissing the songs you don't. I'm getting to hear lots of music that I otherwise wouldn't hear. And I'm finding that I do enjoying listening to smooth jazz when I'm working. It's "easy on the ears." My biggest apologies to my son, Yosh ... who, as far as I can tell ... CAN'T STAND smooth jazz. I think all it conjures for him is Kenny G and his wailing sax.
But I like this. I plan on rating more smooth jazz with two, three, maybe even four stars! Sorry, Yosh!
Now ... back to work!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Fleeting Saturday morning
Dragon Mood? -- feeling good
Since my job lay-off, I have had intermittent bouts of insomnia. I think it goes with the territory. Last night was another one. I went to bed around 11:30 or midnight; by 4:30, I was awake. I laid in bed until 5:30, gave up on falling asleep again and got up. I made myself some hot tea, played the piano in the early morning darkness (something which I love) and simply 'existed' in the moment. I didn't think about tomorrow or yesterday or money. No mean feat when you're out of a job.
Around 7, I got online and began doing my taxes with Turbo Tax Online. This is probably the fourth, fifth, maybe even sixth year (?) I've used their software. I have no complaints with it, and it's certainly cheaper and easier than seeing a person to do my taxes. I really like the fact that it "remembers" data from the previous year and references it as I work my way through the process. For some reason, the software "remembering" is oddly comforting.
After a couple of hours (and a couple of wrong paths -- duh!) I've completed an initial pass through the software. I forgot one document at the pied-a-terre that I really need -- so I'll complete my taxes two weeks from now, after we get back from Florida.
Which brings me to the enjoyable part of this post; we leave for St. Pete's Beach on Valentine's Day and we'll be there for a whole, lovely, entire WEEK! That's something we have talked about for a number of years, but never made the commitment before to really do it. This year, thanks to Joann's great internet condo-rental sleuthing, we can afford to stay for seven days and seven nights. I say "afford" with tongue in cheek. As I'm unemployed, we can't really afford to do anything like this, but, what the hell, we're doing it!
An additional incentive for taking the week-in-Florida plunge is that S turns 50 this week, an event any 49-year-old-plus woman will agree deserves lots of hooplah. Jeanne and Joanne will be joining us for four of our seven days there. We plan to go out on S's birthday for a big grouper dinner and many drinks! I think it will be great!
Today, now that I've leaped over the taxes hurdle, only two things remain to do: watch the Michigan State vs. Minnesota basketball game (men's) at 2:30 p.m. and ... pack my suitcase. I've already pulled it out and piled a bunch of brightly colored, short-sleeved tops in there. Now I need to get serious and really figure out what I'm taking and not taking.
Oh, I can imagine the sun's warmth and the ocean breezes already! Mmmm!
Since my job lay-off, I have had intermittent bouts of insomnia. I think it goes with the territory. Last night was another one. I went to bed around 11:30 or midnight; by 4:30, I was awake. I laid in bed until 5:30, gave up on falling asleep again and got up. I made myself some hot tea, played the piano in the early morning darkness (something which I love) and simply 'existed' in the moment. I didn't think about tomorrow or yesterday or money. No mean feat when you're out of a job.
Around 7, I got online and began doing my taxes with Turbo Tax Online. This is probably the fourth, fifth, maybe even sixth year (?) I've used their software. I have no complaints with it, and it's certainly cheaper and easier than seeing a person to do my taxes. I really like the fact that it "remembers" data from the previous year and references it as I work my way through the process. For some reason, the software "remembering" is oddly comforting.
After a couple of hours (and a couple of wrong paths -- duh!) I've completed an initial pass through the software. I forgot one document at the pied-a-terre that I really need -- so I'll complete my taxes two weeks from now, after we get back from Florida.
Which brings me to the enjoyable part of this post; we leave for St. Pete's Beach on Valentine's Day and we'll be there for a whole, lovely, entire WEEK! That's something we have talked about for a number of years, but never made the commitment before to really do it. This year, thanks to Joann's great internet condo-rental sleuthing, we can afford to stay for seven days and seven nights. I say "afford" with tongue in cheek. As I'm unemployed, we can't really afford to do anything like this, but, what the hell, we're doing it!
An additional incentive for taking the week-in-Florida plunge is that S turns 50 this week, an event any 49-year-old-plus woman will agree deserves lots of hooplah. Jeanne and Joanne will be joining us for four of our seven days there. We plan to go out on S's birthday for a big grouper dinner and many drinks! I think it will be great!
Today, now that I've leaped over the taxes hurdle, only two things remain to do: watch the Michigan State vs. Minnesota basketball game (men's) at 2:30 p.m. and ... pack my suitcase. I've already pulled it out and piled a bunch of brightly colored, short-sleeved tops in there. Now I need to get serious and really figure out what I'm taking and not taking.
Oh, I can imagine the sun's warmth and the ocean breezes already! Mmmm!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Year of the Dog -- Happy New Year!
I opened Google this morning and found that it's the Chinese New Year. Wow! Year of the Dog!
Happy New Year (again), everybody!
Saturday, January 21, 2006
January Saturday morning
Dragon Mood? -- dragons love glittery things!
Crazy weather in the past 24 hours. We had low 40-degree weather yesterday, then rain last night which turned to ice rain and then turned to snow. This morning all the tree limbs are covered with a thin topping of snow. Now the sun is out, the temperature is rising and I'm seeing little glittering diamonds on all the pine boughs dripping their crystals everywhere. Michigan weather is without a doubt the craziest you'll find!
I have good news as of Thursday afternoon. I HAVE A JOB(!), a temporary job that is, for the next eleven weeks, working from home, actually from the pied-a-terre, on a laptop, doing development work for a company located out in Colorado. I have a former boss to thank for this job. He wrote a letter recommending me along with four of my former co-workers for this temporary, pilot program. So, as of Monday, I will once again be working with Bonnie, Carolyn, Dennis and Rod. The Colorado company will be using us as 'guinea pigs' of a sort, measuring our performance and delivery for future projects like this.
So ... Sunday night I will accompany S to the pied-a-terre. Monday morning we have a teleconference scheduled. Also, as of Monday, S and I will now have a real land-line phone at the pied-a-terre(!). My laptop should be arriving Monday or Tuesday, via FedEx. (Oh, I feel so 21st-century, you know?) A phone modem, compliments of SBC, should also be arriving via UPS. That will entail some putting-it-all-together which I'm a bit nervous about, but let's be hopeful, shall we? Our new DSL line should be installed by Thursday.
There are still lots of variables and unknowns, many of which I probably haven't even thought of yet. But, as earlier, I'm trying to relax and trust this process, this process which I have no control over, but of which God certainly does. And I trust God on this process. It's all gonna work out okay, one way or another.
And, did I mention, that there is a possibility, not a guarantee, but a possibility that this could morph into a permanent position? How cool would that be, huh?
Crazy weather in the past 24 hours. We had low 40-degree weather yesterday, then rain last night which turned to ice rain and then turned to snow. This morning all the tree limbs are covered with a thin topping of snow. Now the sun is out, the temperature is rising and I'm seeing little glittering diamonds on all the pine boughs dripping their crystals everywhere. Michigan weather is without a doubt the craziest you'll find!
I have good news as of Thursday afternoon. I HAVE A JOB(!), a temporary job that is, for the next eleven weeks, working from home, actually from the pied-a-terre, on a laptop, doing development work for a company located out in Colorado. I have a former boss to thank for this job. He wrote a letter recommending me along with four of my former co-workers for this temporary, pilot program. So, as of Monday, I will once again be working with Bonnie, Carolyn, Dennis and Rod. The Colorado company will be using us as 'guinea pigs' of a sort, measuring our performance and delivery for future projects like this.
So ... Sunday night I will accompany S to the pied-a-terre. Monday morning we have a teleconference scheduled. Also, as of Monday, S and I will now have a real land-line phone at the pied-a-terre(!). My laptop should be arriving Monday or Tuesday, via FedEx. (Oh, I feel so 21st-century, you know?) A phone modem, compliments of SBC, should also be arriving via UPS. That will entail some putting-it-all-together which I'm a bit nervous about, but let's be hopeful, shall we? Our new DSL line should be installed by Thursday.
There are still lots of variables and unknowns, many of which I probably haven't even thought of yet. But, as earlier, I'm trying to relax and trust this process, this process which I have no control over, but of which God certainly does. And I trust God on this process. It's all gonna work out okay, one way or another.
And, did I mention, that there is a possibility, not a guarantee, but a possibility that this could morph into a permanent position? How cool would that be, huh?
Thursday, January 19, 2006
quotes to live by ...
I found these quotes in a temp file I created over a year ago. I'll think I'll post them now ...
"Faith involves patience. Accept that you may have to wait for results--and when they come, they may not be what you hoped or prayed for.
Faith is nothing but a living, wide-awake consciousness of God within." -- Gandhi
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
-- William Arthur Ward
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