envy, giving thanks, & perfection

i have noticed a few themes waltzing thru my life lately and had to add to the blog. the first is envy. wishing you had what someone else has...not so much their material stuff but maybe it is their seemingly perfect happiness, success or self confidence. it is not what it seems. we are all going thru something and it seems like a mountain to us, even if it is a mole hill to everyone else. the next is gratitude. on this day of american thanksgiving i just want to thank the universe for all the goodness in my life. it hasn't been an easy year by any measure but many silver linings have aligned in my favour and i just thank the lucky stars for that. third is perfection. i see people striving for it all the time, in big ways and small. maybe it is the human condition. to try and control the uncontrollable with a measure of exactness that can be no accident. i think we can all look around and see darkness and storm clouds if we like. the greater challenge is to choose to dwell on the good, the opportunity in the face of that steep climb ahead. not to be swayed by the occasional stumble. sometimes we arrive in style, other times we just barely arrive. it is just enough to keep trying, to keep fighting the good fight in whatever shape it takes in our lives today. grace.

clear minds.full hearts.can't lose

been addicted to friday night lights lately. just finished season two. the characters are well drawn. who knew football could be this good? watch it.

change

CHANGE. he rocks. inspire.

yam i am

yams. who knew they were a natural source of estrogen and helpful to us ladies. reduces the pms symptoms yadda yadda. cracks me up for some strange reason. yam i am.

ctrl.alt.delete

this is a wish that control freaks would alternate and delete that behaviour from our lives. not worth the stress and angst. life is out of control and not perfect, and far too short for petty. it can be beautifully messy. patience. understanding. why is it that the people that inflict these tendencies, in the next breath tell us not to worry, they didn't mean it, it was nothing. words can hurt. they are not nothing. think twice before you speak. please.

hope instead of fear

where we have breath, we have hope. it is so uplifting to side with light instead of darkness. we.will.get.there. i could listen to that speech for days and not tire of it. i was also really proud of the way his campaign brought together people using the web and mobile, proof that all those that said the internet was a fad, a flavour of the week, and dead -- were wrong. we keep seeing it grow and change and evolve for the people, by the people. the new way to get things done. the power of words to inspire us to be better people. fitting. yes we can.

beli(e)ve

belief. on a week where make-believe, costumes and jack-o-lanterns are in style i just thought i would take a moment on the beauty and sheer force required behind a seemingly innocent word: belief. sometimes it is so hard to believe and keep going. believe in what is good, believe that everything really will work out and that the people we love and the people we are really do deserve their inner most dreams, hopes, and wishes. believing in happiness and secret sauce and all things deluxe. believing in the face of nay sayers and at times logic or common sense. i find that not only do i have to believe but so do the people i love and the friends around me. like the circle of believing just helps make it so. be-lieve. almost be. live. this song speaks to me, the music and the feeling behind it rather than the lyrics per say. belief. believe. join the circle.

full moon

the cold wind howls, the trees shush all around. the last of the golden leaves float to the grey below. last week there was snow in the air, it looked like confetti at an italian wedding. a celebration. the november stage is set. sometimes the sky looks so full of expression. like it is drama, waiting to happen. a character actor with an unforgettable smirk. a movie that is both full of meaning and yet full of wonder. a completely different personality to summer or spring. the temptation is to hibernate or wish it away but yet there is so much beauty. the calendar promises a full moon tonight, hopefully it brings unusual dreams and characters with it. sweet dreams.

fortunes: dreams revealed

so sally's gift continues to delight. awakened in the wee hours and then quickly looked up the symbols in my dreams. i was in a vintage bookstore that was having a closing out sale, the movie section of course. but lots of fascinating classic finds. there were clothes there too, my friend k and i were hunting for a tshirt or a badge with sudbury on it. then i was searching the prints section, hunting for art deco calendar prints of san francisco to surprize dn with.

books
to dream of books is a sign of an increasingly happy, contented life.

clothes
someone fancies you if you are a woman and you dream of buying clothes.

art
if you look at art or discuss it, it portends advancement in your career.

all this on the eve when i picked up my secrets of happiness book before bed to start reading it.

attack of the killer flem

a new movie, starring me! ok, not quite killer but the idea of one of those vintage movie posters kept crossing my mind. if there is a world where tomatoes can be killer why not flem? obvious there are more important things to dwell on. just a fun way to laugh at myself i guess. happy sunday!

sheesh!

yesterday: hit with a miserable cold. felt awful. the word cold doesn't do it justice. it seemed to hit me like a tornado. today, changed my password, locked my computer for lunch, misspelled the new password...one character off i instead of e. then paid for it, with almost 6 hours of tech support. sheesh! i hope an upswing is in sight.

grace

happy thanksgiving to all the canucks round the table. today was the perfect indian summer day, crisp, bright and sunny. the leaves, tiny bits of golden yellow. hints of red and orange, dancing in the wind. lots to be grateful for. making the future we want, happen. keep an eye on the prize and a fire in the heart. take nothing for granted. love. peace. happiness.

in the dark

have you noticed that baby boomers have issues with lights? both my father and my inlaws seem to be light obsessed, deprived. preferring the darkness. a friend of ours says her parents carry flashlights with them in the house so they won't have to turn hallway lights on. part of it seems a green effort, lower electricity bills and the like. for me. someone who has fallen down a dark set of stairs and then it took crutches and months, maybe even years to get over the twisted ankle, pulled muscles and resulting lack of exercise..it seems insane. that whole tumble could have been avoided with a night light so i could see the last step properly. i just want to see and not fall, is that so wrong? the irony is that for my father, the lights obsession is selective. when it is show and tell time...the tour of neighbours thru the house for a brag fest of the latest project...no expense spared. lights, camera, action. every possible light is on.

the end of a chapter, the start of a new one

regrets for the pause in posts. there is a lot happening outside the lines of the blog at the moment. i did want to pay tribute though to one small corner. we moved out of our crash pad this week. good bye crazy chinese sneezing lady from next door and all her antics. the water, the salt, the moth balls, the loud music, the drama...chapter closed. i am at my inlaws for the next while, while dN camps out at our work.in.progress house. don't ask me when we are moving in, it happens when it happens. i will be happy to write that post someday. deluxe-ness. i have had plenty of things i mentally blogged about but have not had a chance to get fingers to keys. stay tuned...

fortunes

my friend Sally got me a fortune telling book of dreams for my birthday. she knows me well!

anyhow, i had a dream about ants and the book said that it would be a steady march of annoying distractions during the day. and it was!

even better i had a dream about the perfect farmer's market with a deluxe bright pink fruit i had never seen before that was so sweet and delish. turns out...

To dream of ripe fruit fortells good health.

A copious outdoor market augurs great prosperity.

I'll take it! have a good weekend folks.

crankola

pretty soon you will have a full lexicon of work.in.progress phrases.

crankola: the state of supreme crankiness.

had one of those days today. even a teen burger couldn't make it right. tomorrow is another day.

note to self: horoscope

one to remember...

LEO
I'm not so interested in predicting the future as I am creating the future. Why waste even a minute worrying about how things will turn out when you can devote your energy to making things turn out the way you want? It's true in the horoscopes I offer you, I speculate about what may be coming. But my purpose in doing so is to describe favourable scenarios that you can use your willpower to manifest. Right now for instance, I won't prophesy, "You will soon be blessed with a valuable new resource." Rather, I'll say, "Get out there Leo and acquire a tool or fuel or asset that will help you become more practical about fulfilling one of your dreams."

good shop: redENVELOPE.com

my sister moved to LA LA land and her birthday is next week so I thought i would send a gift. had so much fun browsing redENVELOPE.com last night. worth a peek. i found the perfect wedding gift for two cousins too. even though the design is sublime and minimalist, i still had to call support twice to get the gift processed. overall though, highly recommended.

the last long weekend

...couldn't have come soon enough i tell you. so ready for three full days of calm, last rays of summer days with dn. savour the deluxeness.

3 expressions

here are three coined phrases i've come up with of late. thought you might like the friday chuckle.

a) "Put it on Pause.""
a new take on the old favourite, "give it a rest already!"

b) "Re-guilting"
like re-gifting only guilty-er. when some one tries to guilt someone else to do something, thru you.

c) "Speaker-phone voice"
someone who speaks as though they are on speaker phone in every day life. loudly. amplify. annoying.