Leap Year Friday Fives

It's Leap Day!! Whether you're one of the special few who have a birthday only once every four years, or simply confused by the extra day on the calendar, everyone is welcome to join in and play our Leap Year Friday Five.

Tell us about a time you:
1. Leapt before looked:
In recent memory – deciding about 24 hours before-the-fact to head to NashVegas for MLK, Jr. weekend. It was a good decision :)

2. Leapt to a conclusion:
Honestly, there was this one audition last year that I NAILED and thought for sure I was going to get the part for which I auditioned. I mean…really…there were so many factors pointing me towards that conclusion. And after all was said and done – I didn’t get the role, which was disappointing. And I felt even stupider for being ‘so sure’ of it. I guess it’s a fine line between self-confidence and being cocky . . . But I got over it.

3. Took a Leap of Faith:
Every day . . .

4. Took a literal Leap:
This one time caving in CO with my youth group (many years ago now), I leapt into nothingness and ended up hanging upside-down there for a while, suspended by my boot which had wedged *just so* in a crevasse. And let me tell you how awesome that was. I owe my life/sanity/etc. to Ty’s brother (and P’s cousin) M for getting me outta that situation.

5. And finally, what might you be faced with leaping in the coming year?
I feel like this year might bring several life hurdles my way. I’ll be entering the last year of my 20s, so perhaps that has something to do with said feeling. I’m not sure yet what all that entails . . . we’ll see!

where she stops . . . nobody knows!

so...

I'm feeling much better now than I was a few short hours ago.
I still feel a little bit like crawling out of my own skin - but, I am more at peace now than I was.

--

P's flight leaves at 8am Friday and he'll spend about 22 hours in flight getting back to the desert. I can't even imagine spending that much time in flight - Wow. What I do know is that his reading material for the voyage is Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot." You know, nice *light* reading.

Wishing you well P - and sending lots of prayers your way . . .

round and round and round she goes

trying to get a grip on things, folks. there are just those days/weeks/seasons where everything seems to converge into one big, hot, emotional wreck of a mess.

*good* times for all.

i mean, for the most part, i 'keep it together'. work is fine. home is fine. blah blah blah. but hear a certain song on the radio - hell, even read a seemingly 'random' clue in today's crossword puzzle - and here come the tears.

wtf, mate?

i feel sick to my stomach and i know it's not anything i've eaten - because i haven't eaten much. it's nerves, tension, stress, emotional upheaval, my brain and my body completely out of sync with my heart and soul. this is why the good Lord gave me a piano to play on and music in which i can cocoon myself.

the strangest thing about all of this is my seeming lack of panic attacks. now THAT is a huge praise - because that was the torture i was experiencing a year ago.


as my friend Jen said to me earlier - "don't you just want to blame the whole month on pms sometimes?"

indeed. ;)

really?

Why *IS* it that when you - okay, when I - find myself in conversation with someone I really *like*, that all intelligent conversation FLIES OUT THE WINDOW on my part?
And it doesn't matter the venue...if it's someone I am really attracted to, it happens in person, over the phone, whatever.

Seriously.

It goes something a little like this:
1. Strike up a conversation
2. An invisible gnome sneaks up behind me
3. Said gnome whacks me in the back of the head with a stupid brick
4. My cheeks flush and I start saying "I don't know...uh...grusoviejsfoieoieuoru".

Rinse, repeat as necessary.

ack. I love being a woman, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I feel like *such* a little girl, you know?

Okay. I'm going to watch La Vie en Rose now.

Chip off the old block

Now, this has been floating around on the interwebs for a while - but I just saw it. And it's freakin' hilarious.

WARNING: contains grown-up language.

the letter

Her right leg dangling off the edge of the bed, she slowly loses circulation in her foot: the numbness of her awkwardly hanging extremity but a pale mirror of the numbing she feels creeping into and over her emotions and spirit.

In her lap, the letter sits halfway open now, beckoning to be read and reread for the 48th time . . . the words never change, and yet, they never cease to surprise her, either. How just a few scribbles on the back of a thin piece of celluloid can be so powerful is almost impossible to wrap her mind around. Ideas, concepts, words: everything melting together to create meaningful sentences. Or perhaps she is the one adding the meaning. Reading between the lines. Decoding what she hopes - what she wishes - is thus encrypted.

The imminent threat of tears starts as a rumbling somewhere deep down behind the place in her heart where the fondest memories of those long gone - but still dear - are kept. Slowly, but steadily, her throat starts to close up, the rational part of her still trying to keep it together lest she fall apart in front of her....what - ancient dolls and teddy bears? Even alone, she holds it back. If she can delude herself for just one minute more, keep the dam from bursting, then perhaps the curtain will rise and the studio audience will jump to its feet, applauding and commending her on a 'wonderful and realistic' portrayal of the triumph of human will over emotion.

But no. This is not film. This is not reality TV. This is real time; a slice of life worthy of note only in the heart and mind of one. One that is indeed wishing she were not sitting there, alone in the dark, on the edge of the bed, tears flowing softly and freely down her cheeks.

feedback

The concert went well last night. Our audience was smaller than we had hoped, due to the craptastic rainstorm we were having. But, even though they were small(er), they were mighty and very receptive.

When I got to the venue, I started thinking about how long it had been since I'd performed in this kind of situation - that is . . . singing an opera excerpt without actually being in the opera. Shoot - it's been months since I've even had to audition for anything. That being the case, I was starting to think "well, crap...hopefully I'm not boring and don't just stand up there like a moron, etc etc". So, I took a quick few minutes to sit and think through my piece, again - getting in touch with the emotional viewpoint of Demetrius (the character).

So. I get up there, do my thing, actively lowering my center of gravity to walk and project more manly than not. But mostly - I think about my attitude, my eyes, my sense of defiance. How, despite being incarcerated (as it were), none of that matters..."the man" can't bring me down. Basically, my thought process was "*uck you and your little dog too - you can't quelch me." And - shoot - I am in love, so all things are possible, right? Right!

I guess it worked, because a man came up to me later and said "You know - even though you didn't move around a lot or anything during your song . . . you were believable. I could read everything in your face & sound. I know you must've been working hard, but it looked easy."

And that - well, that was probably the highest compliment I could have received. I was humbled and just smiled and said "thank you....".

The clothes make the woman

I am singing tonight as part of a fundraising concert benefiting the Life After Exoneration Project and the Unrepresented Death Row Prisoner Project. I became involved in the concert because I have performed with the woman whose pet project this is. And she is formidable: a death row lawyer, clergywoman AND dramatic soprano. Unusual combination, eh?

All of the music being performed tonight is either sung by characters in prision, enslaved, or otherwise held against their will. We've excerpts from Aida, the prisonners chorus from Nabucco, etc etc etc.

I myself will be singing a lively Handelian piece. As is often the case for us mezzo-soprani, the character singing is male. He's been imprisioned for plotting the overthrow of his beloved's sister, the Queen of Egypt. However, jail does not get him down - if anything, it makes him that much more cocksure and determined:

Yes, even in chains and bonds
my faith will shine.
No, not even death itself
will extinguish my fire!

And now to the title of this post . . . as this is a fairly formal event, I've been debating what to wear. Since we'll have an emcee announcing a little about each of our arias, the audience will know that this is a "pants role" for me. In other words, it would be weird for me to waltz out in a long formal gown, breasts a-heaving as it were, hair defying gravity and rain with unnatural poofiness and the aid of much hairspray. Nope...instead, it'll be black formal pants, a red shantung button-down and keeping the hair back in a low, less-poofy ponytail.

I'm not conceeding my diva jewelry though . . . hell no! A woman's got to do what a woman's got to do!

Friday Saturday Fives: Heaven

A little late on this one ... sorry!

Anyways - taking this one from Wyldth1ng.

So how about we share five "heavenly" things? These can be serious or funny or a combination of the two. What is your idea of a heavenly (i.e. wonderful and perfect):

1. Family Get-together?
Anything where my entire family - I'm talking aunts, uncles, cousins, etc - can be there. I love visiting all of them in their natural habitat (The South) but every now and then we'll all end up in Rocky Mountain National Park, which is also a great time. My extended family is pretty small, so we can all easily fit in one place. And I miss seeing them!!!

2. Song or musical piece?
This is a hard question for me to answer...ack. So, I'm going to list a few different things (in random order): Barber's Adagio for Strings but scored for voices with the Agnus Dei text; Chopin's Nocturnes; Lensky's 2nd act aria in Eugene Onegin; Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones; In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel; and anything by U2.

3. Gift?
Friendships - old and new.

4. You choose whatever you like-food, pair of shoes, vacation, house, or something else. Just tell us what it is and what a heavenly version of it would be.
The perfect blanket for cuddling, napping, what-have-you is the "nap" brand of blankets from Sharper Image. Expensive and totally worth it - they are the softest blankets EVER.

5. And for a serious moment, or what would you like your entrance into the next life to be like? What, from your vantage point now, would make Heaven "heavenly?"
I would like my entrance to be without fuss on this end, but with great rejoicing on the far end. Being reunited with loved ones long gone would make Heaven "heavenly" for me.

30 November 1981

Dear Grandaughter -

Wish you were here to drink coffee with NaNa & PaPa. The men come to work by the time we get up and stay all day. What a mess, but you'd love it.

We have rain but no snow.

Aunt Fran was off all week and she worked some on Hewitt's room. We went to Shreveport one day. Is [Santa] Claus coming to see you?

We love you
NaNa & PaPa

From the mouths of babes . . .

One of the things mom & I discovered over the weekend was my elementary school's "Renaissance Poetry of 1985" book. Each class had poems published and 1985 happened to be my kindergarten year. I was in Miss Lessig's A.M. Kindergarden class.

Our first entry is by: Yours Truly, Dan, Jamie, Katy T. and Trevor.:

Once upon a time there was a magic garden and there was a king. There was a unicorn. The magic garden could make anything. There was a magic cloud and a rainbow and a magic book. There was a magic king and he could make anything just like that - that fast. And the book, when you read it, the story comes true. The garden made the first thing it ever made. It made one big cloud come up in the sky so it would be scarey and stuff. There was a live purse. The unicorn could fly and it was magic. Once there was a real queen and the live purse - the queen didn't know it was alive. And there was a magic school. It had little kids in it that could fly.

This next entry is by: Yours Truly, Katie C., Dan D., and Traci B.:

I saw a Snoopy up in the sky
Pinocchio in the clouds
a white rabbit
an eagle flying up high
a shiny diamond necklace and a ring up in the sky
Robin Hood shooting a bow and arrow at the sheriff of Nottingham
a pink unicorn flying on a cloud
a Pegasus with red and white stripes flying around the clouds
Snake Mountain

Candyhouse pics

Pictures from our Candyhouse making on Sunday night. We even listened to Christmas music!

My house (featuring "Bob" the alien Marshmallow blob):


P's cabin (featuring a kick-ass porch):

The artistes themselves (with only a minor chopping-off-of-the-foreheads):

good stuff

My mom pulled a box of my old Kindergarten (I know!) papers out and we went through them. I saved a couple of gems . . . and we threw out the rest. Also tucked among them were letters to me and my brother from our grandmothers & grandfathers and great-grandmother. Reading one of them made me cry - I really do miss them.

Anyways....I'll post some more stuff later.

[edited: I started this post late afternoon on Tuesday - but got interrupted & didn't post until after midnight...alas. However, seeing as I haven't gone to bed yet, I'm counting this as Tuesday's post - so HaHA! lolll]

FFFFFFFff

Last night, when I was finishing my blog, I fell asleep typing (seriously - my parent's have this AMAZING leather couch - it sucks you in and doesn't let go).

Anyways. I woke up and tagged onto the end of my blog entry was (approximately):
ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll . . .

It went on and on and on for lines and lines. I was so confused. Funny stuff.

just making it . . .

I started writing this just before midnight - so even if I don't finish it on time, it will be marked on the right date! whew!

Today was a really good day. We went to church and saw everyone, really, including P, which was nice. I forget his hair is all "high and tight" now - but he carries it off well.

Our group (about 15) went to lunch...it started snowing and snowing. Very pretty and very cold.

At 4:30, P and his parents came to our house to:
1. Eat dinner together
2. Make Candyhouses!
3. Celebrate P's dad's birthday.

I made lasagna, and P told us a stories from his deployment. He likes his job (can't go into details) and I was happy to hear that. Around 8, his cousins called and we met them for an 8:30 movie (to which we were 20 minutes late!) We saw Jumper. It was HORRIBLE and hilariously so! I mean, it was an awful movie, but a fun time. P and I returned to my parents house, because we hadn't finished our candyhouses yet - and so we finished them up. They are very cute & I'll post pictures when I return to SF. Now I just have this image of P returning from leave & when his fellow Soldier's ask him what he did during his time off . . . he can say he made a candyhouse. :)

Good times had by all.

Tic Tac Toe dinner

Mom, Dad and I went to Opus, a very SF-like restaurant here in the 'burbs. It was very yummy - and my appetizer is pictured below (Beet & Goat cheese salad...mmm).

Friday five

A little late with the Friday Fives today - oops! Oh well!
I Love the 80s - Slumber Party Edition
If you were throwing an 80s themed slumber party...

1. What movies would you show?
All the Molly Ringwald films; Howard the Duck; Princess Bride & Ghostbusters

2. What kind of food would you serve?
Popcorn, slice & bake cookies, salsa & chips probably

3. Which childhood friends and crushes would you reminisce about?
Ralph Macchio! And probably all the people from CCVE, as well as our corrupt Youth Group...still a miracle any of us turned out normal!.

4. Which trends and fads would you lament most?
Neon.

5. What board or card games would you incorporate?
The Game of Life; Uno; Sorry

Definitely, maybe

Went and saw Definitely, maybe tonight with AZ. It was a sweet movie - not just your average "chick flick."

I highly recommend it!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

bezerkeley

Seems the Berkeley City Council has somewhat come to their senses.

I'm all for freedom of speech. It's one of the best things about America. But - as AZ noted - remember where those freedoms come from, how they are defended, and at what price...

NOW I get it . . .

One of my mom's favorite sayings when we were growing up was:

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine."

A sign with those words hung over the computer in our house. I hated that expression. It made me so made. Especially when I had waited to the last minute to finish a paper . . . and then we ran out of printer paper. Or some such thing.


But. Now. As an adult? In an office? I totally get it - and, there are many times when I am tempted to hang a sign of my own . . .

and the love/hate continues

The love/hate relationship with Bezerkeley continues. Although, this is more hate (on my end) than love this week...

Berekley takes on the United States Marine Corps.

My money's on the USMC.

Forget year of the rat - try year of the baby

I was doing a mental count today of all the people I know having babies this year, or who just had one at the tail end of last year. The number - quite frankly - is startling (at least to me)! I guess this is what comes with getting older :)

Geographical location of the babies in question:

California: 7
Florida: 2
Italy: 1
Texas: 1
Virginia: 1

All this being said, I am sooo thrilled for all of these families!!!

Beginnings

I usually think of Sunday as being the end of the week. However, tonight it struck me that really, Sunday can be (should be?) thought of as the beginning of the week. That one slight change can make a big difference in my perception.

As the first day of the week, it can be a time to rest before diving into the work-week; a time to spend with family and friends (old & new), just 'being'. A time to focus on God and not let the weekly worries get to me yet....

Today was a day like that. After church, I spent several hours in GG Park - with old and new friends - enjoying the sunshine, looking at the flowers, and enjoying the day. Later, after dinner with a couple more friends, participated in an amazing time of worship and fellowship which set the tone for the days ahead.

It was a great beginning to my week.

MacGyver

Armed with nothing but an old pair of cuticle trimmers and my stubbornness steely resolve, I set upon the task at hand.

Not a few years ago, after a trip to Scotland, my dad gave me this beautiful purple-blue atomizer. It has sat for the longest time - unused - on my bathroom shelf. Nothing but a pretty objet d'art taking up space.

Perhaps it was the cold-induced fog, or the fact that I was just itching for something to do having been cooped up in the house for so long, but I decided I would make use of this pretty bit of glass TODAY without delay. It's not that I hadn't tried to use it before. No...the problem had been I could never open up the bottle of my perfume in order to pour it into the atomizer.

Until this morning.

So...armed with nothing but an old pair of cuticle trimmers ( . . . etc, etc) I managed to pry off the bit of hard plastic on the top of my perfume. It only took a couple of minutes, thus allowing me to unscrew the rest of it and pour it into the beautiful "new" bottle.

Success!

I even managed *not* to pour perfume all over the place - truly a miracle in and of itself. Now, who's ready for a nap?

Friday five

This is a particularly a propos Friday Fiver...

Chicken Soup
1. How often do you get sick with a cold? The flu? Something else?
Well, I have a cold right now. A mild one. Every few months...though I'm more prone to them when I don't sleep enough.

2. Are you the sort of person who goes to work or school no matter how sick you are or are you willing to stay at home when it gets bad?
No - I stay home if I can. I don't like being that person who goes to work sick, and then gets everyone else sick. That happens a lot in our office.

3. How do you like to treat a cold? What remedies do you like and why?
Rest, water, tea, soup, nighttime cold meds so I can sleep.

4. What do you do to keep from getting sick in the winter?
um...well. Not sure on that one.

5. What is your favorite thing to do when you stay home from work or school?
Sleep. Watch a dvd. Today I stayed in bed with my laptop and watched Ugly Betty.

wonderings

- I'm wondering if for Lent I can give up something along the lines of "going to bed too late". That would be sacrificial. I think even if I aim for 11 pm . . . that would be a start.

- Holy crap - what is happening on L O S T!? WHAT? Is anyone else watching this?!?

- I have a mild cold. blech. Trying to keep it from turning into a major one. I got home from work and slept for a few hours. And I'm going to go back to bed soon.

- The email I had from P on Sunday said he'd be headed home yesterday from Kuwait. As of this morning CA time, he had spoken to his parents & was still in country, waiting for his orders to head on out. I wonder what those flight paths are? Just interesting to think about.

- I wonder who's going to win the democratic candidacy? And, similarly, how long do is Huckabee going to stay in the race?

- I hope my rehearsal on Saturday is not rescheduled for early in the morning. That would be no good.

- SERIOUSLY wtf? Is this Miles guy (back to L O S T) a ghostbuster or a psychic or something? OMG I think he is??? Seriously...WHAT is going on? He's also some kind of conman?? He communicates with the dead, I think.

I'm done musing for the moment. Talk amongst yourselves.

figure of speech

Today's word-of-the-day is asshat.

Enjoy.

Happy Mardi Gras

Hope ya'll have all lived it up tonight! It was A's last night in town, and his actual birthday, so we had a small potluck dinner chez moi: lasagna, salad, garlic bread, vino and "chocolate decadence' cake. We even had party favors!

The theme: "You don't look a day over 30 (let's keep it that way!)" it has been a lovely few days with A in town. Busy! But lots of fun, to be sure!!

Weekend!

It was a great weekend (minus the shin-incident).
A good chunk of the weekend was spent with A, in town for his 30th bday. We saw Cloverfield (meh - interesting story, dizzying camerawork) and rented Stardust (excellent), had lunch at his favorite SF joint (Flippers) and went to the beach. Sunday night, A's West Coast Fan club hit up The Mint for a karaoke birthday spectacular!! And spectacular it was!

Other highlites: experiencing Glide with two friends from outside of the states; catching up with B; thai food with AZ and A and hanging out with sibling. Good times had by all!

good news

It's been a great day thus far - and it's only just half over....I've a lot to write about, but no time. BUT, I am happy because I got an email from P today (haven't heard from him since he was deployed). So, he does get to take an 18-day leave starting Feb. 6th, which means I'll get to see him when I'm home in Denver over President's Day weekend. Hooray!

I think we're going to make Candyhouses. Random but fun. More later . . .

adventures in klutz

Yesterday, when I got home from work, i walked over to my windows in the living room to read through the mail. I turned suddenly to go get something from the other room and walked straight into my coffee table. I hit my right shin on the corner of the metal and glass table and pitched - hands first - onto the glass table. I thought I was going to crash through the table and slice up my arms, face, head...everything.

But praise the LORD, for I did not crash through! I guess my hands were far enough apart, and mostly over the metal frame of the table, to keep me from crashing through the table.

Today my wrists are *very* sore. I've been icing them. And I have a huge, nasty bruise forming on my leg, along with a cut. It is very sore, too.

*sigh* Madame Grace strikes again.

Friday Fiver - Thinking Warm Thoughts

1. What is your favorite hot beverage?
Almost any kind of tea. Really good French or Italian coffee.

2. Describe your favorite hot food?
Mom's gumbo...mmmmmmmmm

3. What piece of clothing makes you feel warm and snuggly the moment you put it on?
Fuzzy, thick socks; Sibling's fleece pull-over; my SF Giants hoodie.

4. Do you warm up your car on cold days? Do you run the heat all the time or just enough to defrost the windows?
It doesn't get cold enough here to have to warm up the car, really. I run the heat until I'm warm & the windows get defrosted and then adjust as necessary.

5. What is your ideal warm-weather vacation spot?
The Mediterranean