Musings
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Wonderful Weekend
Our weekend started with a dinner to celebrate Juneteenth, including bbq chicken, potato salad, a tex mex salad that I found at Scribbit, and a wonderful nectarine and raspberry crisp. Very nice. Saturday I got up and out the door, and went to my first of 6 weekly horseback riding lessons. Yay! This was the assessment lesson, where the instructor found out more about me and my previous experience, and watched me ride a bit, so she could correct my seat, my feet, etc. I have to say, I really, really liked it. The lesson is more than just riding, you also learn about caring for the horse. So I…
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Happy Father’s Day
Several years ago (look how young Maya is in this picture?), Ted got free tickets through the station to go up to Six Flags Marine World, and we went. While there, some photographer guy snapped a photo of us, and ever since then, I keep getting emails asking me if I want to buy a product with the picture on it. Really, I don’t. I’m not sure how many times I have to tell them this, but I don’t. Or at least, not yet. Maybe in a few years, when I look back and say, “Gosh, look how young I am!”, I’ll be more tempted. But if I were to…
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Juneteenth
On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, word of their freedom came to the slaves of Texas. Major General Gordon Granger brought the news via General Order Number 3, which began: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.” This is clearly a truly American holiday, as it marks the end of slavery in the United…
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Great American Food & Music Debacle
One advantage of Ted’s job is that we sometimes get free tickets to local events. One such event was yesterday’s Great American Food & Music Festival, held in Mountain View. This was the first (perhaps last) year for this event. The idea was to take iconic dishes from around the country and bring them all to one venue, bring in some big names from the Food Network, and pair it up with some good music and make a day of it. Sounds good on paper, right? Unfortunately, something fell apart in the execution. I’d be interested to read a newspaper account of what all actually went wrong, but one major…
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I think I forgot to tell you…
That Grandma came home from the assisted living facility on Tuesday, is home watching her soaps and smoking the occasional cig. Though I frown on cigs in general, she’s 86 and entitled to do what she wants, I think. Yay Grandma! Glad you’re home. Enjoy your soap operas. 🙂 I love you. You rock.
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Friday Randomness ~ 5 Things
We’re going to the Great American Food & Music Festival tomorrow. The idea behind the food part is to bring authentic samples of iconic American dishes to one festival. This is the first year for the festival, and they readily admit that there are quite a few classic American cuisines sorely lacking. This is mainly due to the fact that they want small restaurants to participate, and few of them are equipped to fly all of the way to CA and then serve up 5,000 servings of their dish. So there will be no pizza, no Chicago hot dogs, no southern cooking. But there will be hot dogs from Pinks…
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Earth Day ~ A Day Late and a Dollar Short
I heard this poem read on NPR the other day, and it really struck me. It struck me of the beauty of our world, of the importance of our caring for it. Of our stewardship of this Earth. I know I’m late, and that Earth Day was April 22nd. But still, our Earth does not deserve just a day. But a lifetime. An eternity. It’s not just some fruity tree hugger thing I’m talking about here…save the Earth, save the world. Meaning….us. ‘The Well Rising’ by William Stafford The well rising without sound, the spring on a hillside, the plowshare brimming through the deep ground everywhere in the field —…
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Friday Wrap Up
It’s been a busy week…I didn’t do much posting this week, did I? The Thursday 13 took me forever, because I couldn’t find the time to scan pictures. And even then, I had some pictures for some of the places that I didn’t post, because I couldn’t be bothered. OK, I could be bothered, but not much. More interested in napping and cooking dinner in my free time. And I didn’t have a lot of free time this week…Monday is exercise day…long walk, then video work out, then yoga, and by the time I get home at noon, I’m ready for a nap, and then it’s time to pick up…
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Friday Post…
Casey from Live Your Art has a post of things that are making her happy right now. They’re good things, simple and true. I’m taking the idea and using it here, though I’m too lazy to take pictures. Sorry. 1. My book, which I’ve been sort of ignoring for a few weeks now, though I have had this niggling feeling that I would really get into it once I started…well, I’m finally starting, and yes, I’m finally getting into it. Yay! 2. Spring is in full bloom, though the worst of the allergies have passed for now. So it’s about baby ducks in our swimming pool (sorry, they never seem…
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Dang
Thanks everyone, for your wishes and crossed fingers. Didn’t get the job. Sigh.
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Since You Asked…
The interview went…so-so. I did my best, I tried my best to convey my passion for this job, for the idea of it all. I think they heard me. But in the end it’s a sales job, and I don’t know sales. I have zero experience in it. But I think I could do it, and do it well, if I believe in the product, which in this case I very much do. We’ll see if they value enthusiasm over experience, or not. Word comes early next week. Sigh. (I used to read Cary Tennis’ column, Since You Asked, in Salon. Loved it. I think I should get back to…
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Happy Friday!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syqOKjQiOsU[/youtube] Who likes to rock the party? I like to rock the party! OK, I’m a bit giddy right now because I just had a rockin’ good interview for a job that I REALLY want. At one point, I told the recruiter that she was making me drool, that’s how much I like the idea of this job. And you know what? It’s nothing I would have ever seen myself doing before, nothing I had ever thought about, and I have no real-life experience in it. So what? I’m totally qualified for the job, and I would go out and make it my OWN. I’m excited by the idea of…
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Sooner or Later, it starts to look like real money…
(picture found here) I heard an interesting podcast the other day on Planet Money, where a school teacher gave the broadcasters an idea on how to get your head around huge numbers. Really huge numbers, like billions and trillions. It’s true, it’s sometimes difficult to get our heads around how big really big numbers are. So I started thinking about when money starts getting confusing for me, ignoring the tens and hundreds and going straight for the thousands. For example, if I have $1, that’s easy to get my head around. I would have no problem spending $1. That’s not even enough to pay for a diet coke at 7-11.…
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The Other End (Of the Telescope)
Where does our responsibility as bloggers sit, with regards to one another? Is it enough to be polite, to not insult or slam those whose blogs we visit? Should we be honest above all else? If a blogger that we like starts another venture, be it an online magazine or an etsy shop, or a real, brick and mortar store, should we support them in their endeavors, with clicks or cash or both? Are we obliged to support them by putting a link to their other endeavors on our sidebar, if that will help them? Does it depend on how well we feel we know them? On if we feel…
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Mom Yoga
I have two mothers who are yoga teachers. My mother-in-law right here in town, and my step-mother in Portland. I used to joke that Maya would be confused by my mom, her only Grandma who didn’t take or teach yoga. Since I’ve been unemployed, my mother-in-law (“Ma”) has invited me to attend her yoga classes for free (the perfect price for the unemployed…thanks, Ma!). I aim for twice a week, but of course life sometimes gets in the way. Since losing my mom last June, yoga classes sometimes get me crying. Something about slowing down and spending time focused on my body seems to send my thoughts that way, and…