art

this is making me want to get out my watercolors, clean up my sewing room, make pots and write more... 

letter writing & pen pals

hi every body

if you're reading this, i probably have your address or can find it easily enough. but i've been thinking about how i used to write letters all the time and want to get back into the ritual.  it's a lost art.  something is lost in all of this internet chatter.  so little depth and heartfelt conversation.  email me your address and i'll send you a letter.

love. 

p.s. i do know how to push the caps button but for some reason i just like writing in lower case.

sister

I have a sister, who despite her flaws (we all have them), is pretty amazing.  She may not know how amazing I really think she is and how proud I am of her, so today I am dedicating this blog post to her... 

Let's start out with a few pictures from back in the day... along with some appropriate adjectives...

undoubtedly one of the single most creative people i know

I mean let's be honest... what three year old decides they want a picture of an Annie-esk character on their Birthday cake with the words "Happy Birthday Sandy Pumpkin" on it?  Who the hell is Sandy Pumpkin?

stylish... enough said...

fun... party hats...

loveable/teasable

now, for some more recent photos and more adjectives...

ummm... did someone say fairy-like hippy?? dreamer

unique/interesting/funny

charming

attractive

silly

doer/entrepreneur

Three years ago she opened her own business.  I was proud and envious.  Now, her business has grown so much that she has to move to a bigger place.  Again, I am proud and envious.  She has no idea.  She knows what she wants and she's not afraid to take risks.  I love her for that and am proud of her.  Please click this article, which was recently written about her and her business.

ashley marie noxon... i love you... and am proud of you...

i believe in fortune cookies... [soul searching]

So i was eating some beef ball soup the other day with one of my favorite co-workers, at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant and when I cracked the fortune cookie, I found this little message.

I would like to believe this is true, just as much as I would like to believe that the last fortune cookie promise I received was true.  I have bedhead.  I'm one click away from dropping all of my classes and taking a creative writing class instead this semester.  It just sounds more fun and desirable than continuing to take classes and pay for a degree I'm not sure I want.

a better way... [thoughts from a dissilusioned social worker]

Feliz Dia de Los Reyes Everyone!

So anyways, I was having coffee with a friend last night.  We talked about a lot of things like confusion, sex, buying new jeans, immigration reform, dumb people, refugees and vandalism on Wealthy Street before brushing the snow off our cars and heading home three hours later. At one point he asks me what I think about the recent things happening on Wealthy Street.  I respond by asking him how we're supposed to do community development in a way that it actually brings positive change.  We talk about it for a while and come up with few concrete ideas about how to actually do it in a way that doesn't create more segregation and division.  We only agree that bringing in fancy hip businesses is not necessarily the best way to combat poverty.  Then I get home and remember something I forgot to tell him, so I send him a g-chat message and in that conversation I find the answer to all of our questions.  Music.  Discipline.  Empowerment.  El Sistema.  Check it out.  I've decided to write a letter to the the United States.  It goes like this:

Querido Estados Unidos, 


Venezuela should be an example of how to combat poverty.  Welfare and establishing fancy businesses in the ghetto are obviously not working too well for us... just saying.


sincerely yours,
a disillusioned social worker

I love this Gustavo Dudamel Fellow

"si amas algo, tienes tiempo, tienes mucho tiempo..."

See him this weekend at Celebration Cinema North.  Sunday 5pm.

being ridiculous & saying nothing... [coffee & rodents]

sometimes
     when i want
  what's in my 
head to come out 
    of my mouth

         all i end up saying
    is

absolutely    nothing
    and 
 that
       is 
         ridiculous
other people
are better 
at it than me

out loud articulation


all i can do is write ridiculous
    blog posts
that sometimes make
  people                     laugh 
      mientrastanto sounds better
than coffee

staying home and forgetting things... and falling in love...[blissfulness]

So a couple of months ago when I realized I had accumulated a sufficient number of vacation hours, I promised myself to take one whole week off from work during the infamous holiday season.  At first I dreamed of getting away and escaping the madness of my everyday life.  Those dreams went sour and I quickly discovered the beauty in staying home.  And this is what I did...

i slept angelically, buried deep in a cozy mess of fluffy blankets and pillows

i cleaned the pantry

  my dear beloved pantry,

i am sorry i let that nasty mouse

     poop on your shelves

and die on your floor

         and rot in the trap

   and smell up your chamber

forgive me

     hold me

                love me

  let the weight of my groceries,

pots and pans...

            be like a warm embrace

on a cold winter night

                        i love u

then i went back to sleep or at least pretended to

i painted a shelf

    this took several days.  i mean between napping and sitting around and falling in love with geeky sothern men (next photo) i had to do each project in stages.

liz introduced me to the new love of my life

 and the rest of my vacation was spent dreaming of him & loving my pantry & my shelf & my fluffy blankets...

who wouldn't?  i mean really...

i also called a plumber who fixed a leaky pipe, 

which cost all of 23 dollars and 61 cents

 & i watched some more 30 rock

& i hung out with sara

& laughed with sara while peter laughed at us.

& i slept.

& ran. & cut my hair.

i made soup & bread that failed to rise.

all the while, i forgot i even had a job...

then sunday came & i did the following...

i covered my windows in plastic

and realized

that having a week 

where the world

revolved

completely

around

me

was     exactly      the     most    perfect     week

and then on monday in the car i spilled 

coffee and had a temper tantrum... 

i actually pouted.  

out loud. 

i am 30.  

how ridiculous.

retrospectivation... [positivity]

So today I had yet. another. awesome. SUNDAY.  They tend to be that way when I spend time with a few particular individuals, namely Lindsey M., Sarah S. and Libby S.  And if you're wondering, yes, I only drink tea on Sundays with women whose names start with either L or S and all have the same debit card as me.  Because of the 'holidays' we haven't been able to unofficially have our cup of tea on Sundays for a few weeks, but today I was lucky enough to hang with la lins.  Anyways, our friend Dave the photo man posted on fb a picture of an enormous ham he was putting into his oven, so we decided to invite ourselves to partake in its piggilishishness.

little piggy

We also ate goat cheese mac and drank wine and had a scintillating conversation about 2010, which Lindsay decided was a necessary topic to discuss and got me to thinking retrospectively about 2010's greatness.  I also promised the dog I'd take her for a walk one of these days.  Ghani is charming and a lovely little thing I must say.

she isn't even annoying when she begs

So here are a few of the things that made 2010 noteworthy, exceptional and great... in no particular order...

11. I bought a house.  Today I decided it should be called "the lucky house" because I'm obsessed with Tom Petty's song Something Good Coming and I'm convinced good things will continue to happen in this big barn shaped house of love.

2. I've found beauty and profound significance in building intimate friendships with people who don't believe the same things I do.


9. I discovered a new sense of freedom to be me... whoever that is or is not... and started learning that I should be ok with who I am no matter what sex, race or nationality... 

1. I realized more how great it is to be friends with my mother.

6. I turned 30 with some of the most cherished women in my life.


3. I saw a porcupine.


10. I began to understand how important it is to not think everything is so black and white.  It's ok that things are grey.


4. I spent 3 blissful weeks in the Dominican Republic with old friends and got to ride on motorcycles again... not to mention I got one taken away by the AMET for not wearing a helmet.  That. was. a pain. in. the. butt.


8. I began loving my job.

5. I ran a 25k and a half marathon.

7. I've made some really great new friends.

12. I played on a teeter totter, and ate ice cream and made dinner with my sister.

smells & good lies... some tips for the fellows... [Panamerican Dating Tour]

Let me just clarify that I wasn't trying to date anyone last night while visiting the salsa bar but I'm sure there were some men who would have liked to leave with a phone number or two.  Let me also say that a good night to go out and see only about 9 human beings is January 1.  Apparently even though it was Saturday night, everyone thought the seven flakes that fell from the sky were reason enough to stay in.  Or maybe they all just had really bad hang-overs.

Anyways, to my point.  I was sorely disappointed last night, not only with the fact that only 9 people were at the salsa bar but mostly because it seems men have no idea how strong a sense of smell women have.  I was also slightly annoyed by the presence of a certain individual mentioned in previous posts, who farts and might have expressed an interest in fathering my first child and doesn't seem to know how to delete my number from his cell phone.  Ok back to the smells.  I would like to give the gentlemen some inside information on how to NOT impress the ladies.  First, let me explain something I learned in one of my master's level college courses.  Women have a much stronger sense of smell than men.

So here are 3 easy ways to NOT get a second dance, phone number or date with a girl...

1. Wear perfume so strong she nearly gags.
2. Fail to apply deodorant and also cause her to nearly gag by the smell of your body odor.  P.S. Covering this up with strong perfume is definitely a no no.
3. Have bad raunchy breath.

Now let me at least give some of you credit by saying that if you have a great and genuinely charming personality or some highly attractive feature (ie. good sense of humor, nice smile, etc.), one of the above mentioned flaws could be overlooked. 


A Good Lesson Learned... Lying about your Relationship Status
In some circumstances lying is more than acceptable.  I'm not one for lying but last night I discovered the beauty in it.  After years and years of responding honestly about inquiries of my relationship status, I tried lying about it.  It came so easy I don't know why I hadn't tried it before...  


bad breath boy: so are you married? 
me: no
bad breath boy: do you have a boyfriend?
me: yes
bad breath boy: so why isn't he out with you tonight?
me: he's sick
bad breath boy: oh, ok

This response made the whole relationship status conversation so much shorter and less awkward.  Usually they go like this...

some guy: so are you married?
me: no
some guy: do you have a boyfriend?
me: no
some guy: oh why not?
me: umm, i dunno because i don't know any i am interested in dating
some guy: i could be that guy
me: umm, ya i don't think so
some guy: go home with me
me: ya right
some guy: have my babies
me: whaaatttt??  did you just say?!?!?!?!
some guy: you are beautiful
me: um ya thanks
some guy: you have beautiful eyes
me: um ya thank you


ok you get the point...

just over the hill... happy new year...

HOPE FOR THE NEW YEAR, THANKS TO MY FRIEND TOM
let's all just try to believe...

that there's something good coming...

that there's something lucky about this place...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSvlJe1mwlw&feature=channel