Quotes ...

1. Worry is not a preparation. - Cheri Huber
2. Reach for the stars even if you have to stand on a cactus. -Susan Longacre
3. It's not what you look at that matters ... it's what you see. -Henry David Thoreau
4. Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. -E.L. Doctorow
5. One who is not taught by his or her mother will be taught by the world. -Kiswahili saying
6. I'm so good I'll put clean thoughts in your head. - ad for shampoo
7. Three or four threads may be agitated, like telegraph wires, at the same time, and if I were to tap them all I would reveal such a mixture of innocence and duplicity, generosity and calculation, fear and courage, I cannot tell the whole truth simply because I would have to write four journals at once. -Anais Nin, Journals 1932
8. A moment can be anything. -Candoor
9. I don't think the human mind can comprehend the past and the future. They are both illusions that can manipulate you into thinking there's some kind of change. -Bob Dylan
10. To write is to locate my own address inside my head. -E.M. Broner
11. If you want people's approval for what you are doing with your life, you are their prisoner. -Richard Kirsten Darensai
12. All my life I've wanted to be someone; I guess I should have been more specific. -Jane Wagner/Lily Tomlin
13. Stop searching for happiness, it's just under your left foot. -anonymous
14. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were? -Satchel Paige
15. Life is intrinsically, well, boring and dangerous at the same time. At any given moment the floor may open up. Of course, it almost never does; that's what makes it so boring.
    -Edward Gorey
16. Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. - anonymous
17. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. -Oscar Wilde
18. Speech is our second possession, after the soul--and perhaps we have no other possession in this world. -Gabriela Mistral
19. Live your questions now, and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers. -Rainer Maria Rilke
20. What would you do if you knew you could not fail? - unknown
21. No one can drive us crazy unless with given them the keys. - Doug Horton
22. Be happy; it's one way of being wise. -Sidonie Gabrielle
23. Don't wait. The time will never be just right. -Napoleon Hill
24. The truth is rarely pure and never simple. -Oscar Wilde
25. The first reaction to truth is hatred. -unknown
26. Dreams are illustration ... from the book your soul is writing about you. -Marsha Norman
27. Be your own wind ... (offered by Candor)
28. Too much caution can be a big mistake. - candor
29. You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. - Buckminster Fuller
30. Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. - George Bernard Shaw
31. You live in a world that you alone create. - anonymous
32. All the world is a stage and we are not merely players - but the authors of our stories
33. Stop being background noise in your own life - Candor
34. If you only knew, you might understand. - Candor
35. The story never told is the story that never ends. - Candor
36. 
    

Grace in Small Things

See for yourself:

Day One (02-27-2009): 1. Keri Noble's If No One Will Listen 2. a tiny taste of Spring rain this morning 3. Enjoying Hotel for Dogs with Stef 4. finding $5 in my jacket pocket 5. unexpected laughter

Day Two: 1. Time to write 2. A warm just out of bed snuggle with Stef 3. squeaky clean bathroom 4. my black yoga pants are clean (yeah!) 5. a warm white hoodie

I do have great ideas sometimes ... just haven't found the "key" to unlocking any kind of self-discipline to follow through on anything that has to do about me ... but there's an old cliche that goes "if at first you don't succeed ... try, try again" ... so here we go ...

Day Three: 1. Discovered "new" words so beautiful they've taken my words away 2. it's not as cold as yesterday 3. a morning to myself 4. Stef has a call-back voice audition today 5. finished "Summer House" by Nancy Thayer ... still feeling warm from a wonderful read

Day Four: 1. Soleil razors 2. Fluffly snowflakes 3. hot coffee 4. an extra hug 5. "squeaky" snow

Day Five: 1. Band Hero 2. Timmies 3. preheated car on an icy cold day 4. family 5. the smell of clean laundry

Day Six: 1. Cheese pizza 2. Belly laughs 3. Speed dial 4. warm boots 5. mittens

Day Seven: 1. Goggle chat 2. wild berry yogurt 3. scarves 4. sunshine on a cold day 5. Peanut Butter

Photography 101

Okay ... so I finally bit the bullet and signed up for a class ... for beginner's like me. Guess I like the structure of someone else telling me how best to learn ...

So ... I've got to choose a colour and a thing to photograph daily for the next month. Since I've already played this game before ... I'll stick to "skies" because I've had fun looking at clouds and seeing what's up there ... and .... (drum roll please) ... I'll choose red (I know I went for something easy ... so sue me) ...

Hmmm ... maybe I should start another blog dedicated to this newest pursuit ... (what? another blog???)

Lists, lists, lists ...

To think that I used to laugh at people who kept lists and data ... couldn't quite figure out why. Still don't really know the whys and wherefores ... but I'm slowly getting addicted to my own stockpile of lists.

I've got a yellow caution light popping up ... reminding me that at some point there will be too many lists ... and the ensuing frustration will be of my own making ...

Time will tell ... won't it? (giggle)

Whatever ... consider this the birth announcement of my movie list ...

Update on 101 things ... January 2010

So this is where I stand ...

Personal / self-improvement
1. Take at least one photograph every day of the 1001 days. (225/1001)
5. Experiment with cooking by trying two new dishes a month. (14/66)
6.Learn 50 new words and use them. (20/50)

8. Plan every meal for two weeks and follow through. (completed December 28, 2009)
9. Make a list of 101 things that bring me pleasure. Display it. Remember. (completed October 11, 2008)
10. Avoid being sarcastic or biting for a full twenty-four hours per month. (if that is possible, do it again). (6/33)

14. Make my own Christmas cards. (completed December 2009)
20. Organize quotes I love into a quote book. Add at least one a week. (15/143)

21. Watch all the available seasons of Boston Legal (watched 3)
22. Read 150 books. (31/150)

Cultural / New

48. Have a picnic outside in a park or near a lake, stream, river. (completed August 14, 2009)

Fun
55. Dress up for Halloween.(completed October 31, 2008)

67. Go to 4 live concerts (1 /4 - David Cook)

Giving spirit
72. Donate or toss 101 items. (101/101 - Completed September 2009 ... all donated)
73. Donate 50,000 grains of rice through freerice.com (5,100/50,000)

Financial / Savings
76. Put $50 a week into savings or a cookie jar. ($1,400/$7,050)

Work / Business
83. For one work day a month, do nothing but work all work-day. (8/33)

House / Home / Family
85. Bake puula 4 times (2/4)

86. Set up indoor/outdoor herb garden. (completed July 2009)

87. Surprise my husband once a week. (29/143)

90. Make fondue (completed December 2009)

96. Prepare nice Sunday dinner every week (33 /143)

97. Have a backyard perennial garden (50%)

50 new words

1. LORGNETTE : eyeglasses with handle
2. SINISTRAL: left-handed
3. FUNICULAR: cable railways
4. CURRISH: snarling
5. CERUMEN: earwax
6. BACCIFEROUS: berry-producing
7. HELVE: tool handle
8. UNGULATE: hoofed
9. COPRA: dried coconut meat
10. COSSET: pamper
11. ROSTRUM: dais
12. BANSHEE: Gaelic death spirit
13. RAMATE: branched
14. TONSURE: shaved head
15. ANOXIA: lack of air
16. SOPHISM: fallacy
17. EXEGIS: explanation
18. PILOSE: hairy
19. ENATION: outgrowth
20. CHIMERA: illusion

101 Things that bring me Pleasure

101 things that bring me pleasure:

1- the smell of the ocean
2- sandcastles and sand between by toes
3- rosy-cheeked children
4- velvety dark chocolate mousse melting on my tongue
5- eating Thai noodles with chopsticks
6- the lingering scent of lavender
7- the scent of clothes-line-dried clothes
8- wind-burned cheeks
9- sunkissed skin
10- slipping between clean, white, crisp sheets
11- washing my face with Dove cucumber soap
12- Koala Lou
13- The sound a well struck golf club makes when it hits the ball in its “sweet spot”
14- The first 3 minutes of chewing a new piece of gum
15- Funky clouds
16- Jingling, jangling silver bracelets
17- Ginga
18- Knowing that I’m stronger than I think
19- Hot rye bread toast with peanut butter
20- getting a postcard in the mail
21- carpets covered in vacuum tracks
22- sun-drenched berries of any kind
23- squeeze-you-until-you-can’t-breathe hugs from my children
24- the smell of freshly cut grass
25- wit
26- second chances
27- bubble baths
28- fonts
29- the smell of fall
30- big fluffy snowflakes
31- the crunch of autumn leaves under my shoes
32- splashing through puddles ... in my shoes, rubber boots, barefoot or even with my car
33- the hush of sunrise
34- the sight of a foggy mist suspended over a field in the early morning light
35- flamingos
36- penguins
37- black and white photographs
38- art
39- music
40- the violin
41- twisted beauty
42- snowballs
43- a really good cup of coffee
44- beautiful handwriting
45- eloquence
46- intelligence
47- that specific moment when I find myself understanding something I wasn't grasping before
48- floating away on the chords of a guitar
49- my "family" ... both genetic and chosen
50- the Cat in the Hat
51- the magic of Harry Potter
52- water ... splashing, swimming, drinking, spraying, playing
53- a frozen marguerita
54- a big wine glass filled with a dry red wine I've never tasted before ... anticipation
55- creativity
56- photography ... looking at ordinary things with open eyes
57- looking at the sky
58- counting stars
59- the smell of a northern forest
60- bumble bees on flowers
61- the shimmer of dragonfly wings in the sunlight
62- a wood fire ... snap, crackle, pop
63- random acts of kindness
64- belly laughs
65- doggie breath
66- giggles
67- abandon and silliness
68- curiosity
69- cuddles
70- the unexpected
71- making memories
72- giving
73- feeling spent tired
74- the French language
75- exploring new places, new things
76- feeling needed
77- standing on top of a mountain
78- the sounds of happy chatter
79- holding hands
80- intricacy
81- flavors ... of food, of love, of life, of people
82- this moment
83- the perfect pen
84- writing that first word on a sheet of untouched paper
85- ribbons and bows and decorations
86- my red raincoat
87- umbrellas
88- scarves ... of any kind, any colour, any shape, any texture
89- discovering my next favorite song
90- daydreams
91- the sound of ice cubes clinking
92- slow dancing
93- the sound of ice skates on ice
94- canoeing on a quiet lake in the early morning or just before sunset
95- hidden treasures
96- the perfect shade of denim
97- crisp white cotton blouses
98- to-do lists
99- driving fast in a convertible
100- spontaneity
101- the promise of tomorrow ...