Tag Archives: life

Dec9

happy birthday with notes from my heart

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happy birthday to my eldest daughter who lives in a very different time zone and place and across the seas and over the lands and on the other side of the international date line and below the equator and in another hemisphere. as far away as we physically are from each other, our letters – long and flowery, on beautiful papers,  or short and scribbled on scraps, or captions made on things to note, using pens and pencils and markers and paint and crayons and cut-outs and news, are one of the things that keep us so close.

today, i think of you and picture you opening the letter that i have written for you to celebrate this very special day. and who knows? one day, you may even look into your rolling ocean and see a bottle bobbing there, or look to your blue sky and see a balloon tied to a note, or turn to a colorful bird, sitting atop a lovely flower in your front yard, holding an envelope in its bill, or watch a kangaroo jump towards you with a packet emerging from its pouch, and know there is a message in there, from me to you, just waiting for you to open –

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More than kisses, letters mingle souls. – John Donne

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Dec8

shhhhh….

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being a great lover of people, and the human story, and most all that is life, and even though i have always been a bit on the shy side, i have never thought of myself as an introvert. that is, until i heard susan cain speaking about her book on npr. in her book, ‘quiet’, she describes the differences between introverts and extroverts, and the challenges that come with being an introvert and living in a world that celebrates the latter. 

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what really hit home for me were  some of the many examples she gave: feeling most comfortable with just a few close people rather than in large groups, making things happen behind the scenes rather than in front, in a quiet way, and most of all – the need to recharge oneself by spending some time in solitary pursuits after being a part of the goings-on of the world around us. in all of her research and all of her descriptions of both types of people, i found myself to clearly be an introvert.

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as children, parents are told to help their child to overcome these traits, and children are told them need to speak up and be ‘like the others’  in this area. why not accept that some people are quiet and some are more vocal, and that both are okay and are needed in the world?  to exhibit introverted traits, goes against most teachings about how to be ‘successful’ in the world, in pursuits such as business or politics, among many others, and it takes a bit of time for some to accept that things can be done in other ways.

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 introverts tend to be very adept at reading people and situations, as they most-often stand back and take it all in, listening to their intuition, and become very attuned to the small details of humanity. they spend time reflecting, pondering and considering things. they learn that huge things can be accomplished in small, quiet ways. i am always learning, about the world, about the people within it, and about myself, and will spend quiet time today reflecting upon all of this. 

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Dec7

be the wonder

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with my class, discovering a small bit of the world, so huge and all new to them, on a beautiful fall day

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The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder. – Albert Einstein

 

Dec4

as it is written

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even now, at not yet age 2, it is easy to see that baby j is born to be a lover and not a fighter

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Every dance is a kind of fever chart, a graph of the heart.

Martha Graham

 

 

 

 

Dec2

it’s monday. it’s cold outside. i’m ready. bring it.

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alaláw (Quechua) – an exclamation that people say when they feel cold (it is pretty close to “brrr!” though it’s more fun to say and more expressive); also, people say it when they hear someone describe a cold place, even if they are not cold at that moment themselves.

 

Nov30

the message is clear

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out with baby b on a shopping adventure. there is love in those eyes. 

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“To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die.” —Thomas Campbell

Nov28

looking back at the thanksgiving parade as it keeps marching on ahead

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back in my advertising days, america’s thanksgiving parade in detroit was one of our clients. as i watch it this morning, i have many memories, both fond, and some, not so much:

– spending all night on thanksgiving eve, in the parade warehouse and in the cold out on woodward avenue as the floats rolled out and news affiliates wanted live shots

– media fighting for best position for the event

– driving golf carts down our usually packed busy roads, no cars allowed during set up, surveying the situation, and getting such a very cool and different view

– chasing a news anchor through a scary neighborhood the night before, as he sped his way towards the scene with his cameraman, drunk and angry he had to work, got a flat tire and i just kept going, local homeless guy kindly helped me with my tire and i jumped out , ran to the street and got the live shot just in time

– having the 4 tops as a float attraction, though only 3 were still alive and hoping no one would notice, then 1 of the 3 went on a bender, was lost somewhere in detroit and pulled up in a limo, in his clothes from the night before, just as the parade was about to begin

– cinderella got the flu just as she was getting in her costume to ride in her carriage, had to have an intern fill in

– giant balloon untethering itself and flying across the border to our friends in canada

– communication source, walkie talkies and radios going out, trying to make decisions based on a ‘best guess’ approach

– volunteers getting ‘fired’ by an ego-driven person at the top, for not being ‘camera-worthy,’ having to put a positive p.r. spin on this 

–  celebrities, bands, clowns, animals, law enforcement, athletes, characters, charity events, music, lost children, artists, contests, security, parking, coaches, costumes, twirlers, technology, floats, marchers, bad weather, live tv, and the crowd – somehow it all went off no matter what did or didn’t happen behind the scenes. as crazy and sleep depriving and dizzying as it was, i loved it all (now that i am looking back and watching it from the warmth of a living room, drinking coffee, and just taking it all in from a cozy couch.) happy thanksgiving to all.

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   If you’re not in the parade, you watch the parade. That’s life.  – Mike Ditka

 

 

 

 

Nov27

look out, it’s coming!

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in honor of american thanksgiving day, due to hit the states tomorrow, i offer you the ‘thanksgiving drinking game,’ courtesy of buzz feed, in hopes this will keep a smile on your face, no matter how challenging the day may be. happy holiday to all – enjoy )

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http://www.buzzfeed.com/joannaborns/thanksgiving-drinking-game

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“She who has no fools, knaves, or beggars in her family was begot by a flash of lightning.” —Old English Proverb

Nov26

family tree-oh!

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photo i love of my great great grandfather (right), his ‘man friday’ (left), and an unaccounted for cousin of some sort (center). taken in glasgow, scotland many years ago. wondering what the story of this photo is, and which of the 3 i most resemble? 

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“Why waste your time and money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you!” —Mark Twain

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“The family. We were a strange little band of characters drudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms … and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.” —Erma Bombeck

Nov23

breakfast jam

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looking back at my week and remembering how it started out, with a literal standstill. almost to work, just a few miles away, and traffic ground to a dead halt. all lanes full, no one moving an inch. switched from cd to radio and heard power lines were down across this busy road due to overnight storm, and that the road was closed less than one mile ahead. numerous warnings to avoid this road at any cost. too late. stuck in the middle of it all. any traffic trying to go through would be diverted to do a u-turn and headed back in the opposite direction. nowhere for me to turn off as just offices and businesses on my side, until i could get to the next mile road. 

settled in for a bit of a wait, texted my teaching partners, and just watched it unfold around me. the diverted traffic began to back up going in the other direction, emergency vehicles tried to get through, to rescue people somehow getting into accidents going 3 mph. perhaps not letting each other into their lane? watched people in other cars, most on cells, out of cars trying to see what was going on ahead, listening to music, coming up with strategies, calling into work and wherever they needed to be, trying to move to the ‘best lane.’ people walked by, moving faster than the traffic. 

saw a helicopter arrive overhead, people jockeyed for position, cars continued to crawl ahead and up and over. finally got close to the next mile road where i could turn, saw a firetruck pulled all the way across the road ahead of me. 1 mile of distance had equaled 1 hour of time. made my move, made my turn, oops – that road was closed for construction. determined. followed a rogue line of cars through a neighborhood, somehow emerged on the other side of it all, back on my original busy road i needed to be on, got back on track to where i was going, looked to my left, saw a full moon. 

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Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn’t block traffic. – Dan Rather