 Brenda if you’re reading this and haven’t yet received my letter, don’t read take No. 7. 1.I’ve been getting a little soft around my belly. I’m not complaining. I know if I get big, it’s A. my own doing and B. been a long time coming. I hate working out. I used to have a 3-5 times a week work out buddy that made working out tolerable. If you throw in socializing and someone to share the misery with, I’m all about it! Yesterday, I stuffed my face at a churrascaria and a few hours later, had a midnight phone date with my college roommate while I ate warm chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies at midnight. I need to put on my big girl pants and start working out regularly again. Even if I have to do it without a buddy. (The horror!) 2.That midnight phone date was wonderful. With the majority of my closest friends being long distance, I try to schedule at least quarterly phone dates with them. It rejuvenates me to catch up with a friend who lives in a different city. Grounds me. I love that we’re off busy in our own life and daily routines, and yet they can recognize that I’m still essentially the same person they met 10 years ago and I can see they too are essentially the same. So comforting to know that despite time, growing pains, life’s dramas, we are basically still who we are. That’s some good shit. 3.Facebook has been suggesting friends I might know on the sidebar when I log in. Under the name of suggested possible friend is a tally of how many mutual friends we have. It tickles me when they suggest people with greater than 10 mutual acquaintances/friends. Right now I have Erica and Stephanie suggested to me and we have 23 and 20 mutual acquaintances. 23 and 20! I wonder if I ever rubbed elbows with some of these people and not know it. I love stumbling /finding these kind of coincidences on my own without the help of Facebook. For instance, I once had a class buddy in college in my Medical Terminology class. We sat next to each other for almost a full semester before somehow figuring out that we literally sat by each other at a dinner party 2 years prior. Then there’s the story of Cindy. We didn’t meet til 2005. It wasn’t til maybe a year or two ago when it clicked that she was the lucky bitch who sat way on the other side of the auditorium of a class who got flowers delivered to her on Valentine’s day in 2002 while class was going on. Within in the last couple of years, I had a flashback to a time when we hadn’t even met, of her surprised face and flowers being delivered to her. Oi. Crazy! Doesn’t it make you wonder how many times the people in your life have crossed paths with you before establishing significant presences? Do you have any relevant stories to share?Blows my mind. 4.Another thing that blows my mind is this flower about to bloom in Houston. It’s called a corpse flower and only 28 have been known to bloom in the United States. Houston is about to give way to the 29th bloom. From my understanding, it stands at 10 ft tall, is in bloom for 12 hours? and finally, it smells like rotting flesh! If I didn’t have plans in Austin, I’d totally make a drive down to Houston and drag a Houston friend to go see it with me. Cindy? Kim? Go anyway? Here’s the link. 5.I love me some cheesy jokes. I have about 20 jokes I cycle through for years now. All stolen from friends (Thanks Cindy! Thanks Kim!). Well, I’ve run out of new people to share the same tired jokes and my amigos literally want to crawl into a hole when they see that I’m about to share a joke they’ve heard from me at least 10 times already. This means, I need more material to share. Will you tell me a joke? You can leave it as a voicemail. I’ve recorded one of my favorite jokes to greet you when you call in. It’s a trade! My friends will appreciate the new material. Use the widget below to leave a voicemail. You need a phone. Google gives you an option to be anonymous. So go ahead. It’s safe. Tell me a joke. Also, if you’re reading in a reader you won’t see the widget. :) 6.Life is good. I am happy. 7.I sent a letter out to France this week. Brenda‘ s off traveling Europe and I’m in Texas envious. It’s been over ten years since I’ve been overseas. Here’s a cellphone picture of the quote I scribbled on the back of the envelope.  |
Linda | 
7 Quick Takes (Fridays), Houston, lists, pursuit of happiness, quotations | 
07 9th, 2010| 
10 Comments »I had a wonderful weekend in Houston. On my way back to Austin, I was stuck in traffic on 71 due to a car accident. By the time I passed the accident, all the cars were gone and all that was left was a gigantic overturn boat. How did that happen? During the slow traffic, I took the time to admire the wildflowers on the side of the road. I decided to snap some pictures to share :) Tacked on some quotations for you too.
P.S. I saw at least 4 families pull over on the shoulder to take photos with the bluebonnets. It was touching to witness.
From Bob Marley to Boys/Men
| “You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before, she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect- you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together, but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break- her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there” |
And other places you can find me: (all links open new windows)
Cell phone photo of the batch of cards I sent out today.
I just sent out a batch of Valentine’s Day cards and packages. Every year I pick a handful of single friends and send a little festive note. When I send out any letters or cards I always pick out quotations that are apt to write on the back of the envelopes. I’ve been doing that for years and cannot remember when I started.
I want to share some of the quotations I transcribed this year onto the envelopes.
(It’s all I can do not to inundate this blog entry and all blog entries I’ve written about Valentine’s day with exclamation marks. To do so would sincerely reflect my GLEE!!! The glee that I experience every year around this time.)
Some Valentine Quotations
Age does not protect you from love, but love to some extent protects you from age.
- Jeanne Moreau
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Elie Wiesel
- Edgar Allen Poe
- Amy Tan
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Then I read, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” I could count the number of people I have beef with on one hand. As I think about them individually, I cannot say I ever want to be friends with any of them. I have eventually in all cases let go of my desire for retaliation or aggression. I’ve even managed friendly waves from afar. But friendship? I just cannot imagine sitting down for coffee or sharing a donut. At best, I may donate a pint of blood or two if they’re dying but only as a last resort. For now, due to feasibility and lack of desire, I think I’ll carry on carrying on without them in my corner. But the thought of being a friend to those I’m not fond of did strike a chord. I’m curious. If you stretch your mind a little, can you imagine yourself being friends with your enemies? |
It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I was surfing around reading MLK quotations to honor his day. I figured reflecting about what he’s done for us was the least I could do out of gratitude for my day off. (I still have my night time job though, so bugger that.) I found this quotation that struck me on a more personal note. The quote suggests that love is the power to transform your enemies into friends. I’m willing to wager that everyone has heard the biblical adage, “Love thy enemies.” I’m also willing to bet that most of us let it go through one ear and the other. I’ve never myself, reflected on the idea of loving my enemies.Another coblog with Mary Ellen. Read her version here.
Last and first coblog we did: 10 more rules to live by (me) | 10 Rules to Live By (her)
1. Have something to wake up for
Lynn Johnston
Having something to look forward to helps with maintaining happiness. Even when you’re in the throes of deadlines and sickness and other life stresses, having a rainbow waiting after the rain will put our problems into perspective, that is, it lets us realize that the bad will pass and something good is coming.
2. Be curious
Albert Einstein
Let your curiosity do some leading and you’ll make wonderful discoveries that are both little and grand. There’s something fun about following your curiosities as there’s no telling where they may lead you.
3. Be hungry
Thomas A. Edison
Hunger, like curiosity is a force of motion. Having a dangling carrot ahead of you tempting you with desire is quite motivating in terms of setting you into action. It’s not enough to just simply want success, life experiences, happiness; be hungry for it. There is an urgency in hunger that is important not to lose; our time here on earth and with our people is very limited.
4. Have friends
William Penn
Who else are you to have joyful belly laughs with, if not with your friends? Friends make great partners in crime in your pursuit for joy.
5. Let bygones be bygones
Henry Ellis
This is especially helpful to me in terms of relationships. Most trespasses cannot be taken back so why mull and suffer over something that cannot be undone? Growing up, my dad always asked me whenever I’d cry about a broken friendship or relationship, “Are they crying over you right now? …No? Then why are you crying over them?” In the spirit of Richard Fish from Ally McBeal, “Bygones!”
6. Appreciate the ridiculous
Thomas Hobbes
Another way of putting this, find the humor in life’s absurdities. Something hilarious about life’s difficulties. Sometimes things are so absurd or so bad that it’s just downright funny. A good movie to watch about appreciating the absurdities of life is Little Miss Sunshine.
7. Be present
Albert Camus
Life happens fast. If you don’t consciously open your eyes and savour it, you might miss out on the joy. An easy way of doing this is concentrate on your body and its five senses. Instead of worrying about your to do list while listening to your child talk about her day in school, focus on the feel of her small hand in yours, the lightness of her voice, the music in her laugh and enjoy how small and innocent she is now. Be present.
8. Be deliberate
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
This can be achieved simply by being aware of the consequences of your actions.
9. Celebrate
Oprah Winfrey
There are infinite things to celebrate: Health, accomplishments, love, youth, wisdom, the color purple. Possibilities are endless. The act of celebrating and honoring something forces us to step back and appreciate. Blowing out the candles, shooting the fireworks, clinking champagne glasses, dancing to a good beat, these actions in themselves are joyful. Make your life a party.
10. Be thankful
- H. L. Mencken
When we reflect back on what we have as opposed to what we don’t have, it’s really hard not to be happy and see that we’re all very blessed.
So tell me, how do you find joy in your life?
I’m back from Houston and am EXHAUSTED. I’m running on 4-5 hours sleep a night. I work both jobs today but soon enough I shall explain this picture (and relive some really good meals with you).
- Stephen Wright
In chronological order, here are all the elevator shots of Halloween going up and down Bill’s high rise condo building.
I perused Kim’s neat library last weekend when visiting Houston. She has her books organized by color like I’ve seen on a lot of interior design blogs. Pretty huh? I’d do that to my books too but I buy a lot of really old brownish books from secondhand bookstores. As I was sifting through, she pulled a couple of books for me to borrow. One of which was The Alchemist. I’ve heard about this book for years now, just never was enticed to read it. I was kind of excited to finally see why it’s so popular. I took my time with it and finished it in about 3 days but you can easily read it in one sitting.
Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a fable whose moral is basically, “Follow your dreams despite setback and despite love, and listen and pay attention to the omens as they will help you achieve your dreams.” I can see myself reading this to the five year old boy I sometimes babysit; the writing and storyline is very simple. A young shepherd sets off to find the Pyramids of Egypt because his treasure is allegedly there. He meets a handful of people along the way including the love of his life, who contribute to his “Personal Legend” in someway or another. A recurring message throughout the story is whatever it is you want, the universe will conspire to give you. (Doesn’t this remind you of The Secret?)
Whether or not someone can appreciate this story really depends on where they are in life. If you’re currently of a cynical, disbelieving disposition, this story may just feel really hokey. That was my reaction to The Secret. I have a hard time in general stomaching fantasy and so I struggled a little with the alchemy. I think I read this book just in time though. Things have felt uncertain in my neck of the woods lately and reading about following your dreams was encouraging. I really recommend reading Coelho’s introduction.
This isn’t really my genre so I appreciate Kim expanding my horizons a bit. It was enjoyable and I’m still digesting the message.
Excerpts
“The boy knew a lot of people in the city. That was what made traveling appeal to him – he always made new friends, and he didn’t need to spend all of his time with them. When someone sees the same people everyday, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person’s life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn’t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”
“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”
I’m about done reading The Art of Loving, a philosophy/psych book recommended by Dave last week over bubble tea and tofu. Quick read. Erich Fromme. The one thing that intrigued me was his idea that our parents are our models for conditional and unconditional love. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that parents are our models in life and love. I know in love, I have a horrible atrocious habit of being over-accommodating and I know this is from years of programming from my momma. This is how she shows her love, catering to people hand and foot. Course this made her an easy target for Takers. Luckily, I recognize this in her now and in myself so I get to work on it. But Fromme takes it somewhere I’ve never thought.
He said our moms are our models for unconditional love. Mothers love us just for being. Just for breathing. Just for existing. Dads are our models for conditional love. They are the ones who discipline, set codes of behaviors and so forth. He said if we develop healthily, we learn to be our own “moms” and our own “dads”. We learn to love ourselves just for being ourselves and we learn to set conditions for ourselves to help guides us through life. I just found that SO interesting.
I shared this with Mary Ellen and she said she liked the idea but pointed out it was a bit dated with the gender specific roles. Nowadays it could be 2 dads, or a grandma, etc who serve as our model of conditional and unconditional love. She also pointed out that she can imagine girls getting the unconditional model from their dads and vice versa.
Neat right? I don’t really know how I feel about it, but it struck me. Mary Ellen said it was probably the universe trying to tell me something. Me reading that, my talking to Mary Ellen’s mom last night and how she ended the conversation telling me to “love yourself.” Finally, talking to my daddy yesterday and how we’re keeping a secret from mom right now. She almost inadvertently tricked me into outing myself.
Speaking of mom and love. A couple of weeks ago I was in Houston for Dad’s birthday. Mom made me bánh cuốn. It’s so fricking good, especially in the summer. It’s basically a rice flour thin crepe filled with minced pork and various other ingredients. Usually served with bean sprouts, cucumbers, and a dipping sauce that’s made out of lime, fish sauce, sugar and water. Just trust me, it’s good. I’m craving it. Here’s a picture of my momma’s….
The brown things are caramelized onions. Mmmm.
I leave you with some quotations from Art of Loving.
“Love is the active concern for the life and the growth of that which we love.”
“One loves that for which one labors, and one labors for that which one loves.”
“One neglects to see an important factor in erotic love, that of will. To love somebody is not just a strong feeling. It is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise. If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever. A feeling comes and it may go. How can I judge that it will stay forever, when my act does not involve judgment and decision?”
Texas native. Living and working in Austin, TX. Twenty something. In hot pursuit of good food, adventure, and laughter. Dreams of owning her own place with a big giant library.
