Monday, October 6, 2008

Maya's poem revisited

I've probably posted this poem 2 or 3 times on a blog. Today the poem was forwarded to me by one of my best friends in Toronto. And it came through the wire at a moment when my heart was clenched and my head was pained with confusion and unfinished to-dos. So I am posting it here to remind myself of the simple wisdom contained in the poem's stanza. Simple, honest and full of a plain strength:

'MAYA ANGELOU'S'

BEST POEM EVER


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
enough
money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a youth she's content to leave behind....


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy
enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
one friend who always makes her laugh.. and one who lets her cry...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a feeling of control over her destiny..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .
whom she can trust, whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods....
when her soul needs soothing...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sun Salutation











Candyland Time

If I lose enough weight I will exchange my wardrobe for fantasy land (Betsy Johnson style).

















Amazing glamour shots





























I'm slightly obsessed...

with Muse, they rock!

P!nk, "So What?"

How great is this video??

Decor ideas for my house

I am collecting pictures of household decor that I like, in order to fully remodel my house within my budget. Here are today's picks.



This recycled fence is adorable:



I like interior colors and lighting of this building:



I love these dishes:



I love these french doors and the side windows, perhaps in my kitchen:



I like the bed linens and the headboard:



I like the sectional sofa:



I like the green bookshelf:



I like headboard and the oversized picture on the wall:



I think this picture is awesome!



Love the random picture assortment and the wall color:



That's all for today!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The Badlands

Six photos from our trip to the Badlands August 2008.











Clair Voyant's Photo Stream

Clar Voyant has a beautiful Flickr gallery with an unusual collection of photographs.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Yahoo Pipes

Sunday, September 14, 2008

On friends, wine, careers, and blessings

Friday night I met 2 old coworkers for chips, salsa, beer and pool at Baja Bean, and, later, dinner and wine at Avalon. Vivian charmingly gauked at the fru-fru entrees, chilled watermelon soup, duck confit with pesto, cuban corn with ancho aioli...not sure what that is...and I nearly licked the tomato base off a plate of roasted risotto. Karen, full of gracious energy that she portrays as tough and honest, but is more accurately described as beautiful and radiant, turns and says to me "I am happy now, because I am with you." And I am happy too, as we gush over a bottle of merlot/shiraz blend poured in white wine glasses, clanking against platters of fru-fru tapas. There are so many things to catch up on, a status update of an old workplace that hasn't changed, a campaign of tricks and celebrities, men who arn't man enough, and men we can not resist.

I drove home giddy, full of nostalgia of friends forgotten and then found. I have become an entirely different person in the 4 months since starting a new career. I am more thoughtful, careful, slower, happier. I am a professional, I have hope. Everything is sweeter, these last days of summer when the leaves on the tree are ripened green with maximum degree of verdigris before exploding into the red and oranges of fall; the soft humming of Chloe as she colors a Tinkerbell book laying on the carpet in the living room, her feet kicking up in the air; I am happy, extraordinarily happy. And the more satisfied I am with this house, this job, this family, the more satisfied I am, the more I am given...so that I don't understand it anymore. Why am I so blessed? What have I done to deserve such a wonderful life?

And the only way I know to give thanks is to give what I have to others. To smile at the clerk who sends me through the car wash, to add an extra $10 to the church where my daughter goes to daycare, to make mini lemon tarts for the guys at work (even if the tarts go untouched).

Sunday night creeps up quickly. I am drinking whats left in the bottle of Smoking Loon. I am closer to finishing one of the few websites I still have in my queue, and thinking about what assignment to accept next. I have become selective about what I will create, and while this seems arrogant, it provides me with a sense of control and artistic specificity that can only come from a job that is not a necessity.

Now the children are snuggled up, Payton with her American Doll named Josephina, and Chloe with her blanket tied in a knot under her arm as she sleeps in my bed on my pillow. I can still hear crickets chirp. I think I will miss the sound of crickets when winter comes.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Greetings From Point Pleasant

I'm siiting in Jersey Mikes, the lunch establishment choice of the day. They are playing "Tequila Love Me" as I stare into a faded postcard sign of 1950s bikini model "Greetings from Point Pleasant New Jersey!" Diet Coke bubbles up my throat, the radio begins playing James Taylor and a pretty black girl drops her entire sandwich on the floor at my feet. I bend down to help her, as the deli guy starts preparing her a new meal.

There are too few tables here, a line of students and suits creates a U on the wooden floor. It's chilly in here and my nose threatens to start dripping. Philly Steak hisses on the grill. Two men debate the negative aspects of owning a Prius. One says its worse that you have to wait 8 years to recoup the savings on gas versus the extra expense of owning a hybrid. "No no whats worse is what happens to all the hybrid batteries, when they are no longer useable." They conclude that biodeisel in heavens solution. I'd like to get more foot power technology in my life.

My mind wonders into future seas: What will become of me when I am too old to be a hip young designer? how do I become Betsy Johnson, Anne Lebowitz, or Barbara Berry?

Can my waistline afford that cookie I want so badly? I suppose I better get up and share this table for four.

The speakers are playing Jimmy Buffett's "Last Mango in Paris", one of my top 10 songs of all time: "I ate the last mango in Paris, took the last plane out of Saigon, i took a first class boat to china and jimmy there's still so much to be done."

I'm packing up and staring intentionally at a blond across the restaurant because she looks like my cousing Katie, and I think she might be, so if I stare at her maybe it is Katie and she will recognize me and wave....or maybe she'll think I have no manners.

"Greeting from Point Pleasant"

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Tuesday Lunch Time Rambling-Ons

Im sitting in Harrison Street café, I love this place, so inspirational so motivational hmm not sure motivational is the proper word here….I am thinking, first, about Stephanie Meyer and her Twilight series, thinking, hey that could be me, I can write, I could come up with a sappy plot about teenage Romeo vampire meets normal Juliet human girl. But I didn’t come up with this. Stephanie did. I read she is 34 and suddenly I have a clock ticking in my head as though all good ideas, inspirations and will-to-finish will evaporate at a certain point. As though my time and ability in that time to create is limited. I am rushed and panicked. Or am I procrastinating, wandering until I stumble on the perfect conditions for writing. Perfect conditions such as the Harrison Street Café? Vegan menu, delicious ice tea, mild conversation from 20 somethings, and a dark booth staring out the enormous row house front. This place is marvelous. And how great would it be for Harrison Street Café to say “Tiffany wrote that big novel here in booth 24”. I could make this place world famous. Or perhaps their delicious tofu barbeque will do that for them before my fame.

Secondly I am thinking Sarah Palin. She has pulled a lot of thoughts into my head lately. Thoughts that I like McCain, I like his integrity and his war heroism. I like less taxes and smaller government. I like that Palin is a working mom, just like me. But I also feel tremendous pressure to cast my vote carefully for the good of all women. And her pro-life agenda does not support women. It shames them and puts them in situations of desperation. Because the facts are, whether abortion is legal or not, women will be seeking to terminate unwanted pregnancies as they have since the beginning of time. We women have such a burden in motherhood, one that society judges us constantly. I don’t know Sarah, I just can’t take the future from women across our country. I just can’t deny them the right to succeed in life. As if our population wasn’t robust enough without unwanted children raised by unwilling, or poor, or young mothers. I just can’t condone any belief that would limit women’s ability to have choices.

This place is dark, dimly lit, and I just heard the word “creativity” and “your making choices when your creating even if your imitating it will always have a different voice”, the top parts of the wall are painted terra cota, low hanging lights, dark wood paneling up to a chair rail, and the blissful light shining in the warehouse tall windows from Harrison Street. Magazines and books for review. Hooks for bags. Low harmonic music. My fullness overcomes me. And it is officially time to return to work.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Twilight

I just finished reading "New Moon" the second book in the Twilight series. Even though the book is written about teenagers I can't help but love the characters. It's a Romeo and Juliet story. Juliet is a normal girl like we all are, and Romeo is a hotty vampire. I like the book a lot and I think it's well written (slow in parts) but thoroughly enjoyable. This is the actress who plays the main character, Bella Swan. I like her hair color in this picture.


And the vampire, Edward is played by the cute guy from Harry Potter, he is British and apparently had to dumb down his accent to sound like a yank. yeehaw.

But what excites me most is the typography on the logo (yes, always the geek).


Can't wait to see movie. 12.12.08

Sunday, August 17, 2008