"Crystal" has agreed to "out" herself. Her name is Christine. Thank goodness...I was getting tired of the extra energy I was exerting with the "Shift" "Quotes" keystroke. Having said that, Christine and I have been very busy the last two days working on the Julian Castro for mayor campaign. We both had the day off yesterday in celebration of Good Friday. We arrived at headquarters early and began inputting data into the system (sounds very vague doesn't it?). We also subjected the entire room to our 80's music preferences. Sorry....we heartily apologize. But we were having a grand time waxing nostalgic and dancing in our chairs! A special thank you to Ben for answering all our questions and getting us "hooked up" to "the system!" Below is a photo of Christine and Ben working through the kinks of connecting wirelessly.
This morning we were up bright and early to attend a breakfast held in Julian's honor. Immediately following that we attended a VERY entertaining mayoral forum held by the NAACP and Panhellenic Council. We were also graciously invited to the Fireman's Association for burgers and hot dogs and spent some time laughing with Rowland, Ben, Milagro and George!
My next daily celebration is transition. I promised myself I wouldn't get terribly personal on this blog but I feel so strongly about my current transitional period I can't help but share. Sometimes transition is not welcome. Sometimes it is. In my case, transition was not only not welcome, it slapped me upside my head from out of nowhere. Transition came up and pushed me off a cliff into a huge body of water and then yelled out after me, "Sink or swim." Sinking seemed so easy. But swimming is what I have chosen to do. I refuse to be a helpless victim of my imposed transition and instead I am trying to embrace it. My friend, Kris, said "sometimes you just have to pull your oars in and let the river of life take you where it intends to take you." So, today, I celebrate transition. Even the transition you never saw coming, the transition you never hoped would make it's presence known. Because here's the beauty....transition is consistent. (I love that.) You can count on it. (I love that, too.) And if you refuse to be a slave to it really beautiful things can unfold. In the last few weeks I have met some fantastic new people, I have found my voice, I have given serious thought to some old habits, I have sat down to tea with some of my demons and I really feel like I am taking it one day at a time. Sure, surrendering my mental calendars and timelines has been uncomfortable for me. However there has been real beauty in not knowing what day it is, what my plans are for tomorrow and how many hours/minutes before I get to leave work. I love what this transitional phase has forced me to face. And in staring this transition straight in the face I have felt a sense of calmness and have been able to be open to the grace of others. The ladies from Steel Magnolias said it best, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger!"
The next few photos are a tad racy. Let's say it takes this blog from PG-13 to R! But all in the name of art.....so it's okay! I purchased this nude sketch in Round Top. I had been looking for a nude sketch for a while but had not found any....anywhere! I have a nude painting in my downstairs bathroom and picked up a tiny nude sketch last time I was in Austin. But I was looking for something pretty old and weathered. I found this in a SEA of framed art. My friends immediately looked at her with disdain. They said she freaked them out and she looked like a hairy monster. Now.....a 10 week class at Southwest School of Art and Craft does not an expert make...but I learned enough to know the artist was using "line" to create "form" and "mass." Thus all the lines....but I in no way think they represent hair in the "Bigfoot" sense. I have taken a close up as well as a photo of the entire piece framed. It has suffered some water damage. For now I am going to leave it as is. But I might try to have it re-framed and restored at some point. It is dated 1966 and signed but I can not make out the name of the artist. I hung her in the bathroom with the rest of my nudes. And yes, another collection has been born.
I love the expression on her face. This woman has seen 40-50 years of life and has loved it. It hasn't always been easy but she is proud of herself. She is comfortable with her aging body and values each wrinkle as a sign that she has lived. She isn't American. She is French or Italian. She lives in a small village and she drinks wine with every meal. Her flat is eclectic and she has books all over her apartment and none of her furniture matches. She isn't married and she never has been. But she has loved many men and they have all fallen to their knees before her. I love that she is living in my home now! She is an inspiration.
Rory: That's crazy.
My first daily celebration is my old friend Todd. Todd and I go way, way, way back to college days. Todd loves a party. He loves a reason to celebrate and he loves a reason to stand just a tad bit outside the proverbial "box." As a result he has an entire family of pink, plastic flamingos living in his front yard. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary about that. I myself have three on my back patio. However, Todd's flamingos have outfits for each major holiday. Yesterday I received a photo of his flamingos dressed in their Easter bunny outfits. Thank you Todd. Your email made my day and also made my flamingos very jealous!
My next daily celebration is transition. I promised myself I wouldn't get terribly personal on this blog but I feel so strongly about my current transitional period I can't help but share. Sometimes transition is not welcome. Sometimes it is. In my case, transition was not only not welcome, it slapped me upside my head from out of nowhere. Transition came up and pushed me off a cliff into a huge body of water and then yelled out after me, "Sink or swim." Sinking seemed so easy. But swimming is what I have chosen to do. I refuse to be a helpless victim of my imposed transition and instead I am trying to embrace it. My friend, Kris, said "sometimes you just have to pull your oars in and let the river of life take you where it intends to take you." So, today, I celebrate transition. Even the transition you never saw coming, the transition you never hoped would make it's presence known. Because here's the beauty....transition is consistent. (I love that.) You can count on it. (I love that, too.) And if you refuse to be a slave to it really beautiful things can unfold. In the last few weeks I have met some fantastic new people, I have found my voice, I have given serious thought to some old habits, I have sat down to tea with some of my demons and I really feel like I am taking it one day at a time. Sure, surrendering my mental calendars and timelines has been uncomfortable for me. However there has been real beauty in not knowing what day it is, what my plans are for tomorrow and how many hours/minutes before I get to leave work. I love what this transitional phase has forced me to face. And in staring this transition straight in the face I have felt a sense of calmness and have been able to be open to the grace of others. The ladies from Steel Magnolias said it best, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger!"The next few photos are a tad racy. Let's say it takes this blog from PG-13 to R! But all in the name of art.....so it's okay! I purchased this nude sketch in Round Top. I had been looking for a nude sketch for a while but had not found any....anywhere! I have a nude painting in my downstairs bathroom and picked up a tiny nude sketch last time I was in Austin. But I was looking for something pretty old and weathered. I found this in a SEA of framed art. My friends immediately looked at her with disdain. They said she freaked them out and she looked like a hairy monster. Now.....a 10 week class at Southwest School of Art and Craft does not an expert make...but I learned enough to know the artist was using "line" to create "form" and "mass." Thus all the lines....but I in no way think they represent hair in the "Bigfoot" sense. I have taken a close up as well as a photo of the entire piece framed. It has suffered some water damage. For now I am going to leave it as is. But I might try to have it re-framed and restored at some point. It is dated 1966 and signed but I can not make out the name of the artist. I hung her in the bathroom with the rest of my nudes. And yes, another collection has been born.I love the expression on her face. This woman has seen 40-50 years of life and has loved it. It hasn't always been easy but she is proud of herself. She is comfortable with her aging body and values each wrinkle as a sign that she has lived. She isn't American. She is French or Italian. She lives in a small village and she drinks wine with every meal. Her flat is eclectic and she has books all over her apartment and none of her furniture matches. She isn't married and she never has been. But she has loved many men and they have all fallen to their knees before her. I love that she is living in my home now! She is an inspiration.Rory: That's crazy.
Lorelai: Well, that depends on your definition of crazy. I, for one, found the Mariah Carey's phone messages to her fans just refreshingly imaginative.
Happy Easter, friends.......
i have not seen an office quote yet. thought i would help you out.
ReplyDeletedwight: "don't you want to earn shrute bucks?"
stanley: "no. in fact, i'll give you a billion stanely nickels if you never talk to me again."
dwight: "what's the ratio of stanley nickels to shrute bucks?"
stanely: "the same as the ration of unicorns to leprechauns."