Today seems to have been one of laughs for me.  I can share a little bit, the rest not so much.

Photo by Patricia Fortes

So one of my close friends “Joe” has been taking a ceramics class with his daughter “Josie” (names changed to protect the innocent).  Josie’s a high school senior, with a very wise soul and a wonderful abundance of creative talent.  She writes, she draws, she paints, and she’s awesome at sculpting and ceramics and stuff.

Joe is great too, a straightahead kind of guy, with high standards, also very creative but in a more practical and linear way.

Joe says to Josie, how come you keep making stuff and then smashing it all? How come you don’t just use it to cut feet (ceramics term!) and test out glazes or something?

Long pause, Josie looks over the top of her glasses at him and says, That’s right, you came out of the GFD School didn’t you?  Huh? says Joe.  Yup, the Get it Fr**kin Done school.

Real life S**t my (almost) daughter says!

OK, this second one’s purely visual! (and reeaaallly cute).

Have a great weekend everybody, last day of UBC April tomorrow.

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

Lisa left a great response to my post yesterday, which triggered more thoughts on my part. And it’s got me thinking yet more about why we do the things we do and the boundaries we operate within.

Scaredy-pant Girl

This dog – Blue(bell) – is my scaredy-pant girl, the Chicken-Little type.  But guess what, when she’s doing something she believes she’s supposed to, following the rules if you will, she is noticeably more relaxed, more confident: her tail wags higher.  I feel that in her and it makes *me* feel good watching her.  There’s a spot on our walk to the Little League field where we walk in the middle of the street.  It’s the paved side road into the park and most of the time the main gate is shut, so no traffic, but there is a curb on the right hand side.  Blue always pulls towards the curb because, in her book of rules, that’s where she’s supposed to walk and therefore that’s the safe place to be. Sometimes I let her go there, sometimes I don’t.  I mess with her a little, but only a little because I’m pretty sure the concept of her becoming braver is in my head, not hers.

As much of an adventurer as I have been at times, I mostly follow the rules.  I like following the rules and I’m good at following the rules, and as a result I feel strong when I follow the rules. The irony is I then become strong enough to break them once in a while if I need to.  I think it’s something to do with being fully-informed or fully aware. Maybe that’s what I mean when I say I take calculated risks?

And I think what I really mean by “rules” here is boundaries. How often have you heard phrases like “know your limits” or “Know your boundaries”?  Important words indeed.

Does any of this make sense to you??

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

In the human world we tend to shy away from the unknown.  If we perceive something as scary, we usually run away and hide from it.

In the animal world, it is the most fearful who are the most curious. This seems completely counter-intuitive doesn’t it? After all, in our minds, surely the most timid animal would be the last to approach something unknown/scary?

But it is in fact not the ape, but the lowly antelope who goes to investigate the monolith. The more timid the animal is, the more likely it is to investigate.  This is all about need-to-know.  The lower you are on the feeding chain, the more things are liable to eat you, and therefore the more you need to know if you’re gonna survive.   Fear and curiosity go together.
[Exerpted and adapted from Temple Grandin’s Animals in Translation].

I think running your own business involves a heck of a lot of courage.  Are you the kind of entrepreneurial animal who feels the fear and does it anyway?

How brave are you?

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Mondays are pretty much my friend these days.  Even Mondays when I’m pretty wiped from the weekend are OK (see my last post for Sunday’s activities!!).

Yesterday I had a ton of stuff to do, primarily a new project which involved that lovely learning curve.  Funny thing, when I found myself at the point where too much non-productive time was happening and I reached out for help, that little extra something in my brain kicked in.  Lo and behold, as I’m posing the questions to another, so I am answering them myself.

I notice that happens a lot with me. What it that?  Is it an adrenaline push triggered by my competitive nature?  So far it’s not something I can invoke at will, but who knows in the future…

Photo: Clara Natoli

Additional analysis welcome.

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

7am-ish Easter Sunday morning it is raining, just a light, steady drizzle.  More than just the moisture of our ubiquitous marine layer.

I thought… cool!  I always like the rain here.  It drove me away from the UK (among other things), because too much of a good thing is, well, not a good thing. I see in the news that Missouri is flooding and I know there are many, many other places worldwide that feel the powerfully negative effects of too much rain.  However, if I can remain on the positive here, this particular rain evaporated into thin air and out popped our beautiful Cali sun.

Here’s an approximate schedule and a little rating on how the rest of the day went.  Somewhere in the midst of it all, Sunday lunch/supper got prepared and cooked.

The scale is:  Wishy-Washy, Moderate, Very Excellent Good, Too Much

9:00am – long walk with dogs = V.E.G.
10:30am – pancake b/fast with son = Too Much
11:30am – recovery nap = Moderate
12:30p – BFF arrived w/laundry, the pace quickens = Moderate
1:30pm – drank sparkling wine, chatted and had the giggles = V.E.G.
3:30pm – tried to set up BFF’s Wii Fit thing = Wishy, Washy
4:30pm – got the frickin’ thing going but B&W, weird = Wishy, Washy
5:00pm – ok, we have color and intermittent Wii pointers = Moderate
6:00pm – time for Easter lupper = V.E.G., borderline Too Much
6:30pm – Wi Fit with bulging stomachs = Moderate
7:00pm – getting in the groove = V.E.G.
7:30pm – time for BFF’s Tiramisu = off the scale!!
8:00pm – another hour of bowling, tennis, golf, balancing, chicken flying, ski slalom, ski jump, obstacle course, hula-hoops = V.E.G.
9:30pm – a teensy bit more tiramisu (just me: others still doing the Wii thing) = Moderate
10:00pm –  start clearing kitchen, BFF gathers stuff = Wishy, Washy
11:00pm – farewells, more clean-up = Moderate
12n?? – bed and fast asleep in a second = V.E.G.

And that’s all folks!

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

Been having one of those really awesome Saturdays.

Was awake pretty early but didn’t get up, or rather got up just to make tea and then slid back under the covers.  I listened to my NPR – they really do have some very interesting stuff.  Once the programming started to repeat, that was my cue to get moving.

Had one early phone call but other that than I’ve had one of those excellent days when I’m completely on my own schedule, doing little errands, Easter lunch shopping, super meal worms for Oliver the box turtle, you know, the usual.

Don’t have to worry about Easter egg hunts any more (although I did get these Lindt chocolate bunnies for the teenagers – they’re quite small really, in case you were wondering!).  Instead, one of my best friends is coming for the day tomorrow (she’s making and bringing Tiramisu – yummmm! – I’m baking a ham).  Other best gfs are most welcome, but I didn’t officially invite anyone else – I think that’s OK.  I’m picturing another nice day, not too much to do, good food, great conversation and laughs, and of course sunshine.

Should add up to Happy Sunday in my book.  Hope yours is wonderful too!

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

I’m not much of a royal wedding fan.  I don’t remember Diana and Charles’ wedding too well, probably because I was newly here in California and caught up in my own adventures.  But I do most certainly remember Princess Diana’s funeral.

I was down near San Diego for the weekend.  My beau and I were staying in a little motel in Encinitas.  It was a hot September night.  The Santa Ana winds were blowing and there was no air conditioning in the room.  My partner slept, but I stayed up til the wee hours and sat crying silently on the end of the bed as I watched the service.  Besides the awful loss, it was such a romantic tragedy.

I wish Miss Kate and Prince William all the best.  From what I’ve seen, they seem charming, confident and comfortable with each other, and, so far, with their other constant partners: the public and the press.

Sure would be nice if the divorce rate started going down for a change, royals and all….  Yes, I wish them well.

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

I am always bummed when things don’t go the way I want them to.  Life being what it is, of course, shit happens.

Every now and then my dear PC computer starts misbehaving.  I am nothing if not tenacious with this kind of trouble-shooting as you may have gathered, but right now I’m tired and teetering on the edge of throwing up my hands and saying “I quit.”  The problem is, what I mean by “I quit” is really “I quit but just for a little while” because the computer is a Virtual business’s spinal cord, its lifeline.  The problems have to be resolved.

For some inexplicable reason I’m having software issues and wouldn’t you know, I have a big project urgently requiring some smooth computing.  At this point I’m scratching my head.  What’s happening seems so bizarre to me that I’m leaning towards intentional sabotage by our friend Microsoft (I heard they have new stuff out again).  I guess I have a hard time accepting that things can just up and arbitrarily malfunction.

I am, however, always optimistic and definitely a believer in stuff magically resetting, because I’ve seen it happen time and again.  So for now, I’m saying goodnight and good luck to my machine.

Most likely I’ll lay still for a while and mull over whether PC vs. Mac might be similar to my always being a dog person and suddenly getting a cat, and how wonderfully surprising that was.

Hmmm… wonder if Microsoft is listening to me?

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

Didn’t get to blog last night because I frankly ran out of steam.  I’m a disaster service volunteer and there was a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) drill last night.  I enlisted the help of my son and my (almost) daughter – both seniors in high school (helps with their community service requirement plus good exposure for them).

Every time I go through a drill, I come away noting the chaos but realizing that it’s so important that people have someone even slightly knowledgeable to look to for help.  In these situations practice can’t make perfect, but it sure makes better.

Do you know where and what your area disaster center (ADC) is?  It’s your local library.  The library staff have specific training in order to fulfill this role – drills like last night’s help them and help us.  It’s always chaotic, but we always learn new things.  Some of us just did the role-playing part, taking various scenarios and doing our best to be as high anxiety and distressed as we could. The pesky teenagers were awesome.  I am very proud.

My (almost) daughter mentioned to me jokingly that the participants were mostly senior citizens and no cute young guys.  I said we’re working on the cute young guy thing, but as for the seniors, they’re all very feisty and engaged senior citizens. The point about community service is that everyone has a part to play, limitations in physical ability do not exclude you, they are taken into account and you are put to work where you can do the most good.  Everyone has something they can contribute.  I’d really encourage you all to look into joining your own CERT.

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.

Sorry to say the old computer my client and I spent so much time on a few posts back, truly was on its last legs.  Not being one to give up easily, we spent hours today again coaxing, cajoling and finally calling it quits by reformatting the hard drive (thanks to an excellent old article by Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani) and wiping the data clear.  We have put the old Dell out to pasture.  It was the ripe old age of 6-1/2.

Having done some new computer research already, he mostly in store, me mostly on line, we found an excellent deal on eBay and “Bought It Now!”  The basic specs on the new custom PC are: 4gb ram,500 gb hard drive, 3.0 ghz processor, AMD Athlon II, DVI/HDMI, Windows 7 Ultimate, Microsoft Office 7 Ultimate, and more, plus 1-year warranty on the hardware. Price tag under $400.

I must confess to a twinge of envy that it won’t be my new toy!

Although my heart is always in my mouth a little purchasing like this, I have personally had great experiences buying thru eBay, and even when things didn’t turn out perfectly item-wise, eBay has always done the right thing in my book in terms of customer service and full refunds, especially in conjunction with PayPal and their protective policies.

I haven’t been an eBay Seller yet, just a Buyer, but I imagine I will be in the future.  Anybody else like eBay much?

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.