Quilt

I finally finished an easy quilt for my friends who supported me so much when I was going through my divorce. Lived in their house multiple times, cried on their shoulders multiple times...etc.


Since it was thanking them, I sewed various words around the border of the quilt. Like love, caring, etc. Here's one, though I don't know which one since I can't see it when it's small.


One level of quilting was trees


And another leaves. You may be able to see, but I had a different fabric for each brown. I had linen, courderoy, cotton, etc. It was kind of fun.

So, now I have to tackle my brother's. I owe him it from like 5 years ago, and I have him again this year so I'd better get it done, dammit...

Light as a feather

My head is not floating away from my body, but it does have all the weight of the hair gone. Short short short (rather than below shoulder length). It was time, and when it's time, you gotta have it done. I had my hair cut end December and I really didn't like it and all that crap on my neck was just too annoying... so got it done.

This time, however, I didn't just read the yelp review and go with the person. She had a consultation available so I went in. And she said the right things and was very calm and comforting, so I went back. At the time I met her I thought she looked familiar, but that can happen with almost anyone.. then it turns out she was in What Not To Wear about 4 years ago! And I think I saw that episode.

I loved it when she took off the first 5-6 inches in one snip before I even got my hair washed. The women next to me just gasped. Unfortunately it was not quite long enough to donate, but I just didn't want to wait for it to grow.

So the new old me has emerged! I had this cut about 20 years ago (!!! so long ago!). And it still looks decent. But now I have to think about earrings... gotta show off the ones I have.

I went to a store later in the day and an Asian woman thought that she knew me. Really, I didn't but we had a little conversation - do you know xxx? Finally I said that I had just gotten my hair cut a few hours before, so likely it wasn't the same person. 'Oh, yes, it must be the hair cut.' So, I said that we all look alike, which was a little bit of an off-color joke, but she just agreed.

OH! Also saw two free movies last night: The 1988 remake of The Blob, and Swamp Volcano. Although I must admit I only fully watched the Blob, because the Swamp Volcano was so not interesting at all. The Blob was scary both in that it had the shoulder pads, high hair, and big huge eye glasses, but it was just plain scary! And a little gross. A good bad movie. As opposed to a bad bad movie.

Time for tea and a crumpet. (boy I wish I had a crumpet)

This is kinda like it. I'm not as cute as her though. And my 'combover' is longer.

Please explain

Can anyone explain the fascination that people have with the image below? I just don't get it. I know a number of people who have that, and I just don't get it.



BTW, I learned a new word yesterday: marquetry. This site shows some amazing examples.
http://www.marquetry.org/three_veneers_gallery.htm

woo hoo!

Got the temporary part time position! After the interview today I thought it was likely, but it was funny that I called M as I was driving away, and the temp agency called when I was on the phone with him to tell me that I got it. Guess they liked me :-) It's only 10-20 hours a week, but it's something. And good connections.

BTW, read Girls in Trucks. Don't bother.

computer history

A couple of times now a group of people including me has gone out to a nearby coffee shop to hang out and talk about things other than work search, though sometimes that creeps in. It seems so far to be older people - like over 40. Today I was in between a 65 year old and a 50 year old and part of the discussion was computer history - your computer experiences over time. So here's mine.

In high school I did punch card programming in Fortran and Basic. Freshman year in college I did a term paper on a typewriter. Senior year I did my thesis on the mainframe. Somewhere in there I started doing temp work at companies that used Wordperfect, which had a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface but you could also see the programming behind the scenes if there was something you couldn't fix in WYSIWYG. My first year of graduate school I bought a PC, windows-based, but then was scared by it (when you turned it on it didn't automatically work) so I brought it back and got a Mac (with a black and white screen). Sometime after I got my first job I got an AOL account - I'm sure before then I was using some sort of internet at the jobs I worked for, but don't remember it. So that's my first internet memory. And then, the rest is history.

Hey, at least I didn't say that I had just watched Short Circuit last week and got a good lesson out of it. That was the 65 year old and we made BIG fun of him.

But I also wasn't the guy that bet his friend that he could be the first of the two to get the Mac which just came out in 1984. In the end, his friend won because he got #91, and the guy I know #92.

The other thing you do

Is watch movies.

Saw for 'free': Taxi Driver. I had never seen it before, and boy is it trippy watching it now! And interesting to see the classic 'you talkin' to me?'.

Into the Wild: really amazing actually. As long as you don't think too much that he really did it all to himself and was an idiot overall. Very well done and some amazing actors too.

I'm feeling much better, but at this point I'm trying to figure out how to get over the hump of being ok to do all, yet not hurt myself. So I feel I should be 'exercising' but don't want to do too much. I haven't driven since last Wednesday (manual transmission) and I had to give up doing my first 4 hour radio shift. I guess it's a good thing I have no job...

We'll see!

What to do when you should do nothing

Go through your magazines. Problem is, if I don't do all this at once, I may have repeats. Oh well...

Movies
- Another Year [middle age to...]
- Exit through the Gift shop
- Poetry [Korean, poetry, Alzheimer's]

Books
- The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obreht [Yugoslavia]
- The Information - James Gleick [digital world -nonfiction]
- C Tom McCarthy [morse code, connections]
- Bossypants - Tina Fey
- The Preacher - Camilla Lackerg [swedish, mystery]

Knock your rocks off

Last weekend one day we went to the ocean to hike, supposedly, but we got there late so oh damn we had to see the sun set.

As we were walking on the beach, I stopped myself from taking home rocks by taking photos of them. See the examples.




I also found this really cool weathered wood.


And finally, some wildlife:


M remarked that he had never seen ducks at the ocean, and I thought about it, and neither had I. Have you?

(PS_phone interview went well and will meet people in person next Wednesday! woo hoo!)

Where did the week go?

It's Thursday people! Amazing. I guess it's gone by so quickly since life's been a little up/down/round and round.

It's a constant struggle to maintain some sense of what I should do with my professional life, as you saw earlier this week. It was looking down, and now it's looking up. I may get a part time temp job at a place I would love to work, I think, so hopefully I'll get the position.

Then on top of that, things are moving forward with an entrepreurial adventure. Not my idea, but I would help implement. The whole concept of entreprenuer stuff freaks me out a bit, but I'm also excited by it.

And then in a 6 degree of separation, I asked a friend if she knew anyone in the area related to the industry in which I had recently applied for a job (because her husband is in that field). She connected me with someone she was connected to in LinkedIn, who had a whole bunch of second degree connections to the organization. So I chose a person I wanted to speak with (at the same level I would be, which was likely a mistake as I could have been in contact with the CEO) and he connected me to the person who was directly connected to her. He contacted her for me, and she is the one who actually left the organization, it turns out, and connected me with someone who still works there. I did write to him but have not heard back. How's that??

And then, last week I did a yoga class and the next day my back twinged. Then it got worse. Then it got better. Then it's gotten really worse such that Tuesday I could barely stand after sitting for likely what was too long. It's into my hips and sometimes down my legs to my feet. Sitting really hurts, and too much standing too. So, hopefully I'll get better. I came to my senses yesterday and did not go climbing. Aren't you proud of me?

OK. Lunch.

From a comment on MSNBC article

A guy named David Walker wrote this comment on an article about the debates. I and a bunch of other people thought it was well done. Tongue in cheek and hopefully does not offend too much!
----------

No one has ever seen God. No one has ever touched God. But he sure is a chatty sort of Guy. Billions of people say they have heard Him. I personally know hundreds of people who say they have heard Him. I never did, even when I stood right next to people who said they did, but I sure have heard about Him.

He loves sports, but He seems to have a special fondness for football. Football players talk about Him all the time, and coaches ask for His help. I don't know how He decides which team to help though, especially after He sent Tim Tebow home for the rest of the year, and Tim really likes Him. It's got to be tough to keep from having favorites.

Now, if that's tough, it has to be almost impossible when countries get involved in wars. There just doesn't seem to be anything like a godless nation; well, maybe the U.S.S.R., but look what happened to them. This may not bode well for the Chinese, not a lot of religion going on there either.

However, most other nations do have a God. During WWII, German soldiers swore allegiance to God, and their belt buckles even said, "Gott mit uns." (That means God with us.) Their allies, the Italians had a very close relationship with the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. You're thinking, "They had an inside track, for sure." Nope. On the other side - the British, Americans, and many more - also had God on their side. How does God pick a winner in these wars?

Fast forward. Jews say they've always been God's favorites. Not true, say Muslims. Christians, which includes Catholics, disagree with both. Someone is wrong, because it's the same God and Jesus says He loves everybody, although he's a bit skeptical about rich people. Meantime, they kill each other. We must give God some serious headaches.

However, through it all, He seems to have kept a sense of humor. He told Rick Perry to run for President. He told George W. Bush to run for President. He told Michelle Bachmann to run. He was a big fan of Sarah Palin. Even if you break his rules, if you're in politics, you get a pass. Newt Gingrich says so. Still don't believe he has a sense of humor? OK! Rick Santorum.

Now, this weekend, a bunch of evangelicals got together. They hate Mormons. (It's a cult they say, not something serious like Holy Rollers, or Pentecostal snake handlers.) Must have been a bad apple in the evangelical barrel, because it looks like someone fiddled around with the voting there. Imagine that! God-fearing Christians tampering with votes.

Here in Kansas, the House Speaker, a Republican named Mike O'Neal, is a real friend of God and can quote His holy book, The Bible. He sent an e-mail to his fellow God-lovers in the House saying, "At last -- I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up -- it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!"

Well, I looked up that verse - Psalm 109:8. It says, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office." Politicians are all the time complaining about having their words taken out of context. God probably feels the same way, so I looked up the next verse, 109:9. It says, "May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow." Like I said, God doesn't talk to me, but I've heard that His Golden Rule is to "Love Thy Neighbor". I think Mr. O'Neal isn't feeling the love. I'm going out on a limb on this, but I just can't imagine God likes it when someone comes and asks Him to kill the President for no good reason. The President loves God, too.

What with humans being such a fickle bunch, it's a really great idea the founders of this country had when they said we shouldn't mix religion into our government. We should try really, really hard to stop asking God to get involved.. God didn't make the mess. We did. There's a whole lot of other things that need His attention. For starters, He really needs to have a chat with Mr. O'Neal.

Cut and run

So, I reacted and responded in a 'that's not my strength' answer. I feel kinda sick to my stomach. About the same amount as when I was pushing myself. So, between a rock and a hard place? Don't know.

I called the guy last night to touch base and he was quite gracious and has not cut me out of his will, so to speak. But still I read into our conversation, about my decision, etc. I have to let it all go, but am having a hard time.

I keep hearing my friend's voice in my head - don't think so much. Erg.

I did talk to my sister yesterday. It's an interesting question in this world. Where do you stay? What is your job to you? Are you comfortable where you are? If you are good and you get pressure to keep going up the ladder, can you say no if you just don't want to go? How important is work/life balance in the short run? In the long run?

I've pursued several different paths since I started my job search full force. And rejected one, and then another, and now this? Where the hell do I want to be? Am I 'doomed' to not be happy whereever I am (I create that, I know)? How long do I have this luxury? Not too long I don't think. Can't I change my responses to 'yes indeed' from 'I don't know. I'm not sure.' Some say it's simple - just make up your mind to do it... kinda like those people who are able to quit smoking cold turkey. Do I just hold myself back? The answer is yes. Erg.

Sometimes things work out

The way they do.

For the best? Who knows.

In the case of my dentist, being fired was apparently a good thing. I went to the other dentist Friday. Showed up, very very anxious, and she was very nice. Very blunt in a nice way. When I mentioned I have psychological issues as a way to explain why I was so anxious, she said "well, you should have your medication checked then." I have no idea why I was so bad, but I was, even though I thought I was fine all the rest of the day. In any event, she went in, found the rough spot, realized that there was also a little cavity, filled that, and voila! no rough spot.

In the case of work, well, I'm not sure yet, even now. I'm running up against stuff that makes me really uncomfortable, and I have to figure out what to do. Uncomfortable only because it's way outside my comfort zone in terms of risk - in fact it pushes that button BIG time. Meaning I have to believe in the difficult and carry others along with conviction. So NOT me. So the ANTITHESIS of me. So what I would like to be but am not. So, do I try to change and feel like shit if I can't do it (which I've already been doing, but that's another story) or do I accept who I am? Is it caving to acknowledge and go with it, or is it smart to be aware and respond to it?

Sigh...

Coffee with a prophet

Someone on Facebook said that they guess they should be offended, but I don't see why. Is it blasphemous to put him in a comic strip format?

Dice

So, rolling the dice may be paying off. Even just the couple meetings I was able to attend in the past week really made my decision ok. Today I had a networking event, and afterwards 5 of us went out for coffee/lunch, which was great. There are some really interesting people who are out of work! Including me, I suppose. The networking event had a recruiter panel, and I likely will do an information interview with one of them. I love connecting people, so maybe that should be my next profession! I'm not sure how I'd get into it though, realistically.

As for this past weekend/Monday, here are a few photos. Gorgeousness abounds. I am lucky.

Recent movies and books

Just finished watching Friends with Benefits. Realllly liked it. Funny - the NY/NJ vibe I can relate to. The usual romance thing that you always love to watch. It's well done. I think Mila Kunis had a body double though.

Driving up to Seattle, after a long day of driving stayed in a motel. I bascially flopped on the bed and happened upon Hangover. It was free so I watched it. Not sure if it was because I was brain dead, but I really liked it. Likely a good percentage was due to brain-deaded-ness, but I still think it was well done. No reason for a sequel though.

Ghost Protocol in a semi-real imax theater. Very cool. Great to see in such a theater. One explosion I felt in my legs. One scene on the skyscraper my palms started sweating. It was well done.

Book: Shaghai Girls. Fine. Maybe I was just not in the mood. I thought it was going to be more mellow than it was, when in fact it was chaos after chaos (revolution, chaos, violence, immigration, etc.). Like it was kind of trying to hard to create drama.

Alice Hoffman - Probable Future. I really liked this - family of women each of whom has a special power they receive on their 13th birthday, the interpretation of the power, and results. Read it in a day which was WAY too fast. I wanted to leave it for my sister in law. Stupid me. I don't like re-reading books so I've blown it. I'll try another of her books.

Lessons

Pearls Before Swine Blog

I should have ducked. Since I may be ducked. I went to sign up for temporary secretarial work and it is definitely not the days of yore. I will have to push to get any work it seems, though I am pleased to hear that if I do get it, it's a fairly decent hourly wage.

In any event, my lesson learned from this whole adventure is to think about what I need and not be afraid to ask for it. One would have thought I had already learned this lesson, but it seems I have not. I should have asked for the entire weekend to think about the decision since it impacted my life so much. Because I was worried about their needs (wanting someone to start that Tuesday) I gave myself only 3 hours, then realized I needed at least 24 hours. But really, I needed the weekend. Because by the end of the weekend I was thinking about all the things the job would have given me despite the low salary.

I'm in a different place now. I don't have the luxury of networking. I have to make money. Welcome to the real world!

A few photos

Frost on a rock


75 pound lap dog


Holiday lights


New Year's flight

My new year's resolution

To start regretting.

Ha, not really, though I'm tempted with the occasion of me turning down a job. But, I have to believe I made the right decision.

So, on goes 2012.