2009 in Review

I've never actually written a year in review before, so this should be interesting. I didn't even have anything in particular I wanted to say before starting to write. 

Overall, I would say 2009 has been a remarkable year for me. It had its crappy moments, but it had far more wonderful, inspirational and glorious moments, which are the only ones I will talk about here. A few months from this year stand out for me:

February - I traveled with a friend to Gainesville for a networking meeting and got to meet many, many wonderful, vibrant and intelligent people, and network and brainstorm ideas with them. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know my then relatively new friend a lot better. She's a great southern gal with quite a gift for gab (she calls it storytelling), and she's also got one of the biggest hearts around. I am proud to call her a friend and mentor.

March - My baby cousin gave birth to her first child, a boy, on March 30. She is loving motherhood, and because her husband is a photographer and web page designer, their son's life is well-documented on the family website.

June - During the month of June, PBS introduced me (and millions of others) to David Garrett, a phenomenal violin virtuoso from Germany. I was hooked immediately and have a been a huge fan ever since. I had never seen anyone play the violin the way he did and with such passion! If you've ever seen him perform, you know what I mean. He has truly been an inspirational person for me this year! David's mission is to bring classical music to the younger generations. He was classically trained from the age of 4 until he was about 19 when he left Germany and his wildly successful classical music career, to move to New York to study at the Juilliard School. He also wanted to use this time to find himself and have some semblance of a "normal" life, since his entire childhood had been spent in training/studying the violin, and performing, and not too much else.

While at Juilliard, David was exposed to rock and roll and other genres of music for pretty much the first time. For awhile he lost himself in absorbing all of the new sounds he was hearing and the violin was put aside. He did eventually resume playing the violin, and those other music genres had not only broadened his musical horizons and made him a more well-rounded musician, they had also changed his playing style and repertoire (somewhat,) but I think for the better. 

Through playing classic rock and roll pieces on his violin (such as Kashmir, Smooth Criminal, Thunderstruck, Nothing Else Matters, etc), he has been able to not only show to a lot of people, for perhaps the first time, that a violin can actually be a rock and roll instrument, but, most importantly for him, he has also been able to reach a younger audience and introduce them to his first love, classical music. Not bait and switch, mind you, but just show them what else is out there.

July/August - These two months were kind of bittersweet for me. Several colleagues left us for new horizons and opportunities (of their own accord, not victims of the economy), but all the same, we all got together for two last hurrah's (one party was simply not enough) and to celebrate our friendships, even though we were all going to be "scattered to the four winds" geography-wise. It's a beautiful thing to be so moved by a singular colleague's departure, let alone seven of them.

October - I had the opportunity to see David Garrett perform in person and was blown away all over again! He is a very generous performer and gives 1000% of himself in concert and the audience just goes wild! I also got to meet several of David's fans. We have stayed in touch since then, and I now consider them my friends. David will be back in April 2010 and I will get to see him twice more then! I cannot wait! Here are a few pictures I took at his concert:

 

 

November - My brother lost his job due to a "workforce reduction" on November 4. Interesting day. Yes, my brother lost his job, and he was a little upset at the loss of income, but he was not devastated. He was, in fact, kind of relieved because that was no longer the place for him to be, career-wise. He is now free to pursue another path that he might not have pursued if he had not been "pushed" out of the nest, as it were. It was interesting that it happened on the 4th, because that would have been our father's birthday. My brother felt like maybe it was somehow dad's gift from beyond the grave, to free him from that job since he was afraid to take that step himself. So, not happy per se, but still a new beginning and worthy of being mentioned here.

Other happy occasions: My mom and I both celebrated birthdays in November!

December - The best thing to happen to me in December has been the vacation I am currently enjoying. I return to work on Monday, but much more refreshed and focused than I had been before I took the break. I am looking forward to 2010 and all of its possibilities. I want to stretch myself more and pursue things that interest me much more so than I did this year, but more on that in another post. 

Thank you for reading! Hope to see you back again!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Desiderata

I received this in an email recently and thought it very appropriate for this time of year, or anytime, actually. Please enjoy these very wise words from Max Ehrmann.

Desirderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

~ Max Ehrmann

Increments

Increments
by Me

It started so small, so innocuously.

There was something I wanted badly,

And I knew it was bad for me.

For days I struggled to decide whether I should pursue it.

What would I have to give up in order to have this?

I would have to sacrifice something dear to me.

But I really wanted it.

Could taste it.

And it wouldn't be around forever.

It was fickle, and fleeting,

And could be gone before my next thought.

The thought of not having it was too much to bear,

So I caved and accepted what I told myself was a very small sacrifice.

I could live with it this one time.

But, as is often the case with things like this,

Once was not enough.

I gave in again, telling myself that twice wouldn't hurt me,

But it did.

There were no immediate repurcussions from my choices,

So of course I did it again, and again, and again.

Just a little white lie here,

And a small compromise of my beliefs there...

Those were nothing, I told myself,

In comparison to the immediate gratification that I had become addicted to.

A part of me still knew that I was wrong

And wanted to turn back before it was too late.

But a childish heart wants what it wants when it wants it,

And the tantrums of the flesh are often more than a match for the wisdom of the soul.

And so the soul is beaten into submission once again

Until at last one day in the future,

I look into the mirror and don't know who I am anymore.

Spooky pics!

Just playing around with my photo editing software and decided to make some spooky pics using the "negative" option. Enjoy!

This is the oak tree near my place. It's really a beautiful tree and I love it, but the negative feature really makes it look spooky! Below are some more pictures of the same tree from different angles.

 

 

 

 

A spooky arch awaiting a tragic heroine, or slasher movie victim on the run from her attacker...

Okay, these poinsettias are not very spooky, but it still looks pretty cool!

 

I Can't Concentr...Look! A Blue Jay!

Multitasking. Dictionary.com defines multitasking as "the concurrent or interleaved execution of two or more jobs by a single CPU." Given the business world's requirement that employees be able to multitask, it would seem, we are all computers, or at least expected to work like a computer.

It struck me today as I was trying to focus on reading an article from start to finish, that I really hate the effect the requirement to be able to multitask at work has had on both my professional and personal life. I could not concentrate  long enough to finish the article, and it wasn't even a long article! I got about four paragraphs in and my brain immediately started jumping around to the next task and the one after that. It was a good article, and I would have liked to have been able to read it through slowly and savor its meaning, but nooo, my monkey brain had to take off for the races and send me scurrying off to the next two tasks on my list. I did eventually finish the article, but it just wasn't the same.

Now I understand that there are times in life when you have to handle more than one thing at a time, I really do, but having to do it so much professionally has left me occasionally scatterbrained in my personal life. I make lists of things I need to do that I have every intention of completing, only to find myself jumping from one thing to the next without having completed anything  by the end of the day because I'm trying to figure out which item is the highest priority, even though I had already determined that when I made the list in the first place. Am I the Lone Ranger here?

I remember a beautiful time when I could focus on one thing and one thing only, and complete it to perfection. I was supremely detail-oriented. No error ever got by me. I was sharp as a tack and quick on my feet. Now my eye for detail has been somewhat compromised by having to divide my attention between several tasks and I'm exhausted from trying to keep up with my regular workload, plus retain all of the new data being thrown at me from various sources at work. 

My workplace loves to have training meetings, which is fine, except that what we're being trained for doesn't actually get implemented until some distant point in the future when we've long since forgotten the training. Then, when we ask questions later when we have to actually use the training, we get yelled at because we had the training x-number of months ago and we should know the answer. Look it up, they say. Grr!!!

Now, where was I going with all of this? I totally forget. As I've been writing this post, I've been distracted by my dog, a burning candle that I should probably extinguish now, a television show, and my body telling me I need to sleep. I think I was going to take a stand and begin to do only one thing at a time from now on...unless I forget.

IKEA

Had my first experience at IKEA today, and while I may never be a hardcore fan of that store, I must say I am pleasantly surprised. I didn't think I would see much that I liked, based on what I had seen in their catalogs. I'm just not a fan of the modern look for furniture, but I did see a couple of pieces that were more traditional-looking that I did like. I also saw a couple of lamps that I really liked and a lovely pitcher that I am planning to go back and get.

Any IKEA fans out there?

Slow News Day

Nothing to see here today. Writer's block is winning. Maybe I'll have an interesting dream tonight...

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Well, here we are..almost at the end of Thanksgiving Day. My day got off to an early start at about 5:45 a.m. I'm a morning person, but I was still a bit sluggish getting going this morning. My dog thought it was a normal workday until I started moving the travel bags around, and then she knew we were going to go for a ride in the car. Then there was no living with her.

Coxie cannot bear the thought that I might go somewhere and have fun without her, so when the travel bags come out, she works extra hard to make sure she goes with me. She's underfoot, or virtually stuck to my leg, or standing right next to the front door so I'm sure to see her. Silly girl. The longest I've ever been away without her was for about 7 days when I went to New Orleans last year. When I got back she was practically an extra appendage for the first few days. It's nice to be missed, though.

I finally made it out the door at about 8:30 and began the process of loading the car. My bags, the pets' bag, the pets and myself. The ride to my mom's was fairly uneventful for a holiday. There were several police cars about to catch the speeders and any impaired drivers. There were a couple of pick-up trucks that raced by me, zig zagging in and out of lanes, that I was happy to see pulled over by the police further on down the road. I couldn't resist a mental "HA! HA!" as I cruised by at the speed limit.

During the drive over I listened to a learn German CD series. I'm coming along, but I can't quite get the speed of speech down, or comprehend it as well if it's spoken to me quickly. I suppose once I'm fluent I'll be able to talk as fast as I do with English, but for now, I stumble through slowly. Note to my German friends: remedial speed when you speak, (please.) Today I was learning how to order drinks, so if I want beer or wine, I'm set! Haven't learned the words for water, milk, tea, lemonade, or soda yet, but perhaps in good time...or I can use a translator...

Also during the drive over, my parakeet, Lime, seranaded us with a range of vocalizations from soft, sweet and melodic, to screeching his head off because he thought we'd forgotten about him in the back seat. I'm actually waiting for him to order beer or wine (he heard it enough ;-)  )

We arrived safely at my mom's around 11 or so and settled in to relax and watch TV for awhile. My brother came over a couple of hours later and then we watched a couple of movies while dinner was cooking. The meal was turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, salad, olives, stuffing and bread, and for dessert we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Delish!

The rest of the day was a typical holiday for us so I won't bore you with all that. It's been a very good day, and I am grateful that we were all able to be together and enjoy such a fine meal. The leftovers await us for lunch (and probably dinner) tomorrow, and we will all sleep well tonight with gratefully full bellies and a roof over our heads. I hope everyone has enjoyed their holiday as well.

Peace for your day...

Preparing to Travel

Tomorrow is turkey day! Happy Thanksgiving where applicable, and for everyone else, well, have a great day! I'll be heading a couple of hours across the state to visit my mom and brother for the holiday and weekend. We're having our usual holiday feast of turkey, salad, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and maybe stuffing. I'm not into stuffing, so I try not to pay much attention to it if it's served. Sorry, stuffing (and mom.)

In preparation for the trip, I have already packed what essentials I can, emptied all of the garbage cans (I have a thing about leaving garbage to sit while I'm traveling. I'm weird that way.), plus I've washed the small amount of dirty laundry there was for the same reason I can't stand to have garbage sitting while I'm away. I know, I know, but you should decide to find it charming. Your life will be easier that way. Besides, it's more hygienic this way! :-)

That's about it for today. It's been a very long day, and I need to be up early tomorrow. Safe travels, everyone! Below are a couple of pictures I took this week of some Sandhill Cranes that were in the parking lot where I work.

There are several Sandhill Cranes in the area where I work. This gang of four was holding up traffic in the parking lot the other day. They're cool birds, though, when they're not blocking your way out.

New Orleans - 3

Okay, here are the last of the pictures from New Orleans. Enjoy!

This juggler was one of the folks entertaining us at the Mardi Gras party we attended that week.

                                         

A local artist draws caricatures of the guests at the party.

This girl on stilts had us all impressed with her ability to navigate through the party crowd without tripping over someone and falling down.

 

                                       

A New Orleans landmark: St. Louis Cathedral

 

Another popular building in New Orleans. It houses the Rivers Edge Restaurant and is across the street from the Cafe du Monde.

 

The aforementioned and world famous Cafe du Monde. The beignets are to die for! 

 

A freighter hard at work on the Mighty Mississippi River.

 

                                       

Tourists wait by the balcony of the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street for revelers to earn the Mardi Gras beads that they hold.

Hope you enjoyed the mini tour of New Orleans! Be sure to tune in tomorrow!

New Orleans - 2

Just a few more pics from my trip to New Orleans last year. Enjoy!

Aboard the Creole Queen

 

                                    

"Mother's Restaurant" is world famous for their Po Boy sandwiches.

 
                                      

A yellow banner advertises Satchmo Summerfest. Satchmo, also known as Louie Armstrong, was one of New Orleans' favorite sons.

                                         

Headed to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? You can rent a balcony to watch the festivities!

 

                                          

New Orleans has some of the prettiest ironwork I have ever seen. Here is a sample of what I saw while I was there.

 

                                             

New Orleans is also known as a haunted city, with zombies, vampires, etc. Above are two of the characters I saw in this particular store.

                 

Street performers are common around the city. I have no idea what the silver guy was supposed to be, but the street band was playing a tourist favorite, "When the Saints Go Marching In."

                                     

"Death" hanging out on Decatur Street.

 

       

A wizard musician and street dancers entertain the crowd on Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street and St. Ann

                                        

Saw this sign along Bourbon Street: "Female Impersonators. Men Prettier Than Girls." Scary, but probably true. 

                                        

Also seen along Bourbon Street: "Jazz Funeral: Where People Are Dying To Come In." The group I was with had the opportunity to hear a local high school band from the St. Bernard parish play the Jazz Funeral. It was a very moving experience.

I will wrap up tomorrow with a few more shots of New Orleans. Be sure to come back!

 

New Orleans - 1

I had the great opportunity to visit New Orleans in July of 2008. Here are a few pictures I took around town. The people were very, very nice and appreciative of the help the city was receiving from any number of groups who are assisting in the rebuilding of the Crescent City, and for the tourists that were returning to spend their vacations there. All were most welcome!

I saw this sign in several places around New Orleans and could indeed feel it being lived out by the citizens of the city. 

                                         

Winston Churchill

 

                                           

Riverwalk Marketplace, located right by the banks of the Mighty Mississippi!

                                           

The Creole Queen. I was fortunate to be able to take a jazz dinner cruise on the Creole Queen during my visit!

 

                                           

Just had to take a picture of this restaurant in New Orleans called "Fat Tuesday!"

 

    

Fountain and one of the plaques on the wall surrounding the fountain. Click the picture for a larger version.

That's all for today. Part 2 tomorrow!