...half full....half empty....deep sigh.....

.....been in a blah mood lately, not quite sure why.  had a wonderful vacation, but it did get long.  since i got back i'm not sure what it is that is hitting me, perhaps the whole wrap up the old year and ring in the new.  i'm not a huge resolution person.  i mean, i make them in a sense, but in a round about way.  i always feel the new year is a time of new beginnings so that is when i set my goals for the year, pick a "theme" for my year, something to move toward......

.....guess it's cause i just don't feel any direction right now that i'm kind of blah-ed out.  the tears seem to always be right at the edge and i'm not sure what is going to tip them over.  i don't think i was made to be alone.  i feel bad griping about it because i have friends who are alone and have been for years but it's something that i ache over.  i mean,  can do it just fine and have.  i just seem to be a better me with someone....someone to love, care for, sink into and disappear inside when it gets too much.  i want to be someone's priority.  i want to create a nest of coziness and love to hibernate in.....

.....two days left to work on budget and those goals for the new year and when they are done, the goals will appear here.....too many sighs lately.....

Vacation....all I ever dreamed of

Sitting in the San Jose Airport, through security and only set off the beepers cause of the new necklace I'm sporting, courtesy of my niece Lisa.  Actually have free WiFi, unlike Austin where all I could find was Tmobile for 7.99 for a day pass.  Can't wait to get home.  Reading through Becca and Melissa's facebook pages and sitting here crying.  I miss them.

Vacation was great....at times absolutely awesome, beyond my dreams.  But it got long.  I need to learn to schedule less time and leave while things are at a peak.  Probably the best part of a vacation, for me anyway, is that it really instills in me a love of my home, where ever that may be.  My little place, fixed up so that anyone that knows me knows this is mine.  My comforts, my loves.  And yes, my daughters' messy messy rooms.  I long to open Becca's door and see her clothes all over the floor....sounds silly maybe but it's comforting.

Highlights of this vacation?  Monday, hands down.  Christmas Eve.  I love you all.

Glory

My sweet Glory - in the front.  She was born Its J Sirius on April 21, 2000.....sire Its Aclevercatch dam KC Dark Star.  Came to us in April 2004 as a foster and by the end of an hour it was clear I had failed fostering.  Died today....December 18, 2010.  She was almost 11 years old, good for a greyhound.

When she arrived, she was very afraid, growling if we tried to get near her on her bed.  We used to say that she thought we were going to cook her up and eat her, she was so growly.  We called her our girrrrrrl.  After about two years she relaxed and eventually lost all her reservations.  She'd come nudge me and run back and forth to her bed, not relaxing til I came and lay down and snuggled her.  Far cry from the girl she used to be.

She's a true rescue story....coming from what I believe was not the best situation, bounced a couple of homes til she found us....she was being saved for us I truly believe.  Today she joins her brother Blaze at the rainbow bridge where they can run together, pain free .

Grinch here

Ok, so all you well meaning people celebrating Christmas, I'm tired of hearing about all the decorations, how difficult it was getting them up....baking cookies and candies....all the excitement.  I have none of it and you have no idea how old it gets to sit here and smile and go along with everything acting like everything is ok when your entire world has fallen apart.  When there is no one to care about you and make you number one, their priority....ever.  When there is no physical touch of kindness and concern.  When your tears scare people away and there is no one to hold you.

I want what you have, at least a part of it.  A reason to be, to live, to celebrate.  This season just slams home the lack of anything.  What is it all for?  There's no one to share it with, no one who cares.

Stop wishing me merry christmas.  I'm not even sure I believe in christ so I'm not celebrating.

....and over a week later, i still feel the same way.  sorry.....

.....and don't you DARE  come back with "I care about you."  Yes, you do.  But there's not one person out there that cares enough to put me first, make me a priority.  Ever.  For anything.

So emotional.....

My sister Sally is left and two of her kids, Lisa and Trevor.  I'm going to hop a plane in two days and head out to see them.  Just thinking about it starts me crying.  I'm such an emotional wreck any more.  People are all that matter and to see her kids all grown up is so amazingly exciting.  I'm looking forward to meeting the people they've become.  It's been way too long, but I'm not going to let that happen again.  More frequent travel is in my future.

Hometown

Definition of HOMETOWN

: the city or town where one was born or grew up; also : the place of one's principal residence 

Facebook has me thinking.  I was born in Germany.  From about 2 - 11 lived in Alexandria, Virginia.  From 11 - 18 lived in Kailua, Hawaii.  BUT - lived in the SF Bay are longer than anywhere I've ever lived in my life and that's where I'd go back if the world spit me out, my family lives in California (except one sister). 

My question is....where is my hometown?  If people ask that or where I'm from....I get tired of the "oh, well I've lived all over the world......" then it becomes this big thing.  I wish it was simple....

Look what I got for Christmas....

Well look at that....it's a nook under my tree.  Jumping on a plane, have a layover, return trip, been contemplating one.  As someone said to me....."so, how many books are you going to have to carry on your trip in your ONE SUITCASE???"  Point taken.  Result to right.

Looking for Alaska book trailer created for TWU course

Made it to the big screen

So, the bank the library does business with calls, wanting to do a print ad with a picture talking about why it's easy doing business with them.  Fine.  I hate pictures of myself, but little Liberty Hill, small newspaper that half the town doesn't read, what's the harm, right?

Well, picture taken, THEN they tell us that not only will it be in the local paper, BUT....and a big BUT this is.....it will be on the CityLights Theater screens for the month of December during the promo/ad time before all the movies.  BIG SCREEN....UGH!  Up side?  Send my kids to the movies and mortify them when they see my picture up there ..... BIG!

Oh well, such is life.  I, for one, won't be in Georgetown at the theaters in the month of December.

*in picture:  Steve Stinson, LH Library Trustee and First Texas Bank Manager; April Hoffmann Library Assitant; Sandy Schultz Library Director; Alma Jellison, First Texas Bank Branch Manager*

Watching Avatar for the.....fourth (?) time

Avatar is my fav movie at this time, obviously.  I love the message, but for some reason, the movie appeals a LOT.  I got the three disk special release and am watching the extended version.  Dying to see the other two discs too.

ALSO....have wanted TrueBlood for ages, but at $54 for the season, was out of my budget UNTIL....da da da dum.....Best Buy put it on sale for $14.99 for Black Friday and today (Saturday).  Ran to get it today.  YAY!

Good for a laugh

First try at Animoto

A true friend....

Yes, Michele, this is about you.  I'm still sitting here sniffling, good sniffles....about you and what you have done so selflessly.  Having read that it's my daddy's birthday, and living near where he is buried, Michele just picks herself up, goes on over, finds his grave and sets to work.  She cleans, oils, shines it all up, placing beautiful flowers....snaps some pictures and sends them off to me.  Just because.  That is who she is.

I met Michele in 1992 when I went to work at the Red Lion Hotel in San Jose.  She was my assistant and her husband was a colleague of mine.  Michele soon became more than someone I worked with and our relationship soared to friends....the kind of friends that you declare shall take care of your children if something should happen to you someday.  Time would fly by, distance come between, but no matter how rarely we'd speak, it was always as if it was just yesterday.

Michele has that rare quality of always putting others first, true true selflessness.  Something I've admired in her since day one.  Only recently have I realized that I failed to tell her how much she truly meant to me and how much I have admired her all these years.  Someone to emulate.  Each day in the world is much better simply because of her.  I love you dearly Michele and your random act of kindness and love is appreciated by my entire family.  I love that you said "I had a nice visit with him" in talking about it.  The tears just keep coming and I'll welcome them.  Thank you for being in my life.

Daddy

Col. Robert LeRoy Hall
b:  November 18, 1921
d:  June 1991

Happy birthday Daddy.

The most important things in life.....are people.

The longer I live, the more I embrace the thought that people are all that matter.  It's so easy to get caught up in the material world, however is that what truly makes you happy?  From personal experience, I've witnessed people who gain those possessions they want, only to take a breath and say "now I want an XYZ." They are never satisfied, always needing to move on to the next possession, certain that IT will bring them happiness.  What void is it they are trying to fill?

I have no clue, but I do know that I'm not going to lay on my deathbed and whisper that I wish I'd spent more time at work, or that I had owned a Hummer or the like.  Its the people that make my life, that bring happiness and laughter, that I want more time with.  My family, friends, online friends.

What I find intriguing is this entire cyberworld that has opened up.  16 years ago when I first touched a computer, I was so fearful.  Today, I am fearful when my computer is not working!  To be able to make one post on Facebook and know my four siblings are all updated is comforting.  To read their activities so easily has made a difference.  Phone wasn't cutting it, computers do.

The online friends I've made (and yes I'm very very cautious, thinking everyone I meet online is an online predator) have become precious to me.  Believe it or not, I have actually been to one girlfriends house that I met online.  You see, we met in the virtual world of SecondLife, became friends, slowly shared real life details, find we live near each other and have talked in voice and on the phone.  So.....off I go and meet her and her family.  Yes, Skylar/Wendy - YOU!  My sweet Texas friend that I'd never have in my life if I wasn't open to the new methods of finding relationships that are available today.

Studies/reports vary widely, but it is generally agreed that the number of relationships (friendships and romantic) starting online has increased greatly in recent years.  One article I read stated that as many as 1 out of 3 relationships (this is relationships....friends, acquaintances, romantic) start online.  The dating world says that approximately 30 percent of the population has tried or knows someone who has tried internet dating sites.  What a change, and if we haven't changed, I guess it's time to wrap our minds around that idea.  It's here and happening.

Yes, I have many friends I've met online, male and female, yes we talk in voice wearing our headsets and yes, I suppose we are nerds if that's what you want to call us.  Will I end up in a real life romantic relationship that is a result of one of those online friendships?  Perhaps.  I'm definitely not opposed to it. I love technology and the doors it has opened to us, doors I never thought existed.  Bring it on!

black bbw
the new atlantis
Wikipedia

Blast from the past.

The girls and I visited my dad's grave in Mount Vernon Cemetary in Citrus Heights, CA back in .... hmmmm I'm guessing 1999....Melissa (middle) would be three and Becca on right would be five.  My beloved (cough) brother, Steve has been digging through pictures and scanning.  I'm going to join him, feeding him the old pics I have of family, if he organizes and shares with us.  This is just the start.

Alton Brown

My friend Cindi with Alton Brown.  I had to finally commemorate this.  Unfortunately in the pic Alton's assistant took of me with AB, my eyes were closed and mouth open, and Alton's mouth was open, commenting on my insanely pink camera.  *sigh* 

You gotta admit Cindi's pic is awfully good tho.

WoW

Yea, yea, yea, nerd I know.  Meet Triia and her dragonhawk.  I've been exploring World of Warcraft (WoW) recently as I have a bunch of WoWhead friends, some librarians and yes, we have a Librarians of Warcraft group. Nerd.  Yea, you don't have to laugh so much.

7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable

7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable is worth a read.  WARNING.....this is one of the posts that will make my blog R rated.  It can be viewed as crass, crude, outright offensive.  Reality?  That is life and what we are witnessing as a result of what this article talks about.  Maybe this kind of in your face will wake some people up.

Schultz Girls....

Today was Becca's 16th birthday, and in keeping with tradition we went to Tokyo Steakhouse to celebrate.  Our waitress took a picture of us.  Nice day, no uglies, everyone was civil.  Glad we got a pic of it.

ooohhhmmmm......

I need to take up meditation or something and gain some zen moments in my life.  Peace, simplicity, basics.  I get so overwhelmed running around, trying to be everything to everybody and still falling way short and being on the receiving end of undeserved blame, anger, ugliness.  The nasty words constantly take a toll and I just can't take it.  THUS....I hide in my room.  Read, play online games, talk to friends on voice chat.  BLOG.

Stephen Hopson says "do what makes YOU happy FIRST and then if people want to adjust, accept or reject you, that’s their business.   Our job is to take care of ourselves.   Yes, you have to balance it out and compromise along the way, of course.  But if you consistently go out of your way to make others happy,  allowing your wants and desires to fall by the wayside, guess what will happen?

You’ll experience a range of emotions from depression, sadness, anger, resentment or bitterness.  And the funny thing is you’re the one that put yourself in that position!   It has nothing to do with the other person.  All the other person did was to say what he/she wants and you went along with it."

OMG do I relate.  Click on the link in his name and read more.  I need to dig my heels in and live by this.  I've let the opinion and hurt of others sway me in this many times and no more.  I can not be what I need to be if I don't take care of me.  I'll have nothing to give.  Help me stick to this.

My Storytime Kids

So, how can you NOT love your job when you have little ones like these screaming your name out, running to you and jumping into your arms with a big ole hug? This phenomenal brother and sister, along with their mom, come to storytime religiously. They are so appreciative of what we do and offer, constantly bringing cards, flowers, and most of all....love.

I've watched them blossom...from very quiet and shy, barely able to look at me....to these joyous children, singing, dancing, laughing, chattering, hugging.

Curly Gurl

Curls....I have fought them for years.  The last six years or so I've given up the fight, raised the white flag of surrender.  My hair gets curlier the longer it gets, kind of ornery in that way, opposite what most curls do, altho there are number of us out there.  I fought with my bangs, always drying them straight, started seeing the hair damaged and stopped.....trimmed it let it get curly.  SIGH.  Sometimes I wonder why I didn't do it earlier.

And the skills keep improving....

There it is.....the faucet I just put in.  Slowly, I'm acquiring skills I never thought I'd have.  Plumbing 101 this time.  So....what happened is....leaky bad faucet.  Went to the store to get replacement stems...turns out they were $14 each and needed two, so I'd be out the door at $28.  Hmmmm not a chance when an entirely new faucet, more modern, starts at $24.  Sure, I have a double vanity, but it is soooo dated with the old acrylic handle balls.....I decided to go for it.  The lady (yes lady again) at Lowe's promised me it'd take 10 - 15 minutes. 

Fast forward to home.  Hmmmm, the cabinets in the bathroom are single openings, gotta wedge my body in there, my upper half needs to be manhandled to make it inside.  VERY squishy in that small space so my arm movement is restricted....but I made it work.  Due to sticking old stuff under the handles, it took me a bit longer than 15 minutes, but not long and not hard at all.  I have a second to do so that they match.

AND....now that I'm realizing....I have a leaky faucet at work.  I should go get one more and replace the work faucet.  Now that is a full service librarian.

Sunday Bloody Sunday.....

Well, that sentiment isn't right, its just when I thought about it being Sunday that song by U2 popped into my head simply because the word Sunday is in the title.  I'm pondering my day.....I was planning on going to see Sam Harris (Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape) at 4 pm down by the state capital, but it's going to take such a big chunk of my day.  The fact that I'm debating going to see him tells me that it's not a priority to me, so I'll take on my gardening and home chores instead.

As I type this I notice my bathroom faucet is dripping nonstop so there is my answer.  I've got to take care of this.  Sigh.  Homeownership.  Also expecting my garage door to give up the ghost soon.  The kitchen appliances could all use replacing soon.....the dishwasher in particular doesn't seem to work well, my oven runs about 75 degrees high.....and my loveseats are about 11 years old and ripped due to dogs sneaking on them when I"m not home.  First things first.  The faucet.....to Lowe's to Lowe's.....its off to Lowe's I go.....

Looking forward to a busy Saturday

So, the girls are with their dad this weekend, it is usually very quiet for me.  HOWEVER, this weekend seems to have a lot happening.  Saturday morning, I'm going to hit the first craft festival in LH for the holiday season, distributing to each vendor a registration form for the LH Christmas Festival.  Huskers vs. Longhorns in the afternoon then the evening.....ooo--la--la!  Cindi Jones and I are going to pick up a little dinner at Central Market then go see Alton Brown.  Yea, kind of a nerdy fun day.

....exposing myself.....

Random, written when I was going through the divorce....I just realized last night that I will be completely alone this Christmas, the very first time ever in my life.  I've always been near family and when not, I had MY family.  Even last year I had the girls.  This year, no one and I'm terrified.  Every time I think about it I break down in tears.  Made me think of this......

ache, deep within

changes, unknown

fear and exhilaration conflicting in my body

release?

crimson tears bring pure joy

My First Tat.....revisited

 My first tattoo....revisited.  I still love my first tattoo.  I had a design picked out for almost a year that I kept coming back to, so when I decided to actually get one, it was a simple process to modify the horizontal design to a vertical.  To this day I get stopped in the stores with ppl commenting on it and how much they love it, how unusual it is.  Sometimes you just know something is right or you and this is one that there was no doubt about in my mind.

What surprised me so much?   It didn't hurt.  Honestly.  In fact it kind of tickled.  Jessie (tat artist) thought I was nuts.  About 15 minutes into it, I was planning my second.  That is what a great experience it was.

Desk shot

I always find my snapshot of my desk interesting in what it tells about me that I don't even realize.  Little tidbits in this one no one would realize.

Sticky  note on my computer reminding me that we have no copy of Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein *OMG how can that be*, Smokey Mo's cup....yes one of the absolute best BBQ spots out there in all of Texas.  PERSONAL business cards at the front of my card holder since I happen to meet so many ppl at work that I take out of the work environment into my personal life.  Trade Journals open to the tech page.  Books of traditional tales and poetry for children (can you tell what I'm working with in school?).  File standing by the computer holding the latest grant information that I've since completed and submitted.  Fork for eating lunch at my desk while working on grants. 

I love what I do.  The biggest negative is there is so much to learn, so much to do, so much to research and investigate, that I'm tempted to sneak a cot into the back room so I can basically hibernate here and accomplish it all.  Oh, that's what the sunglasses are for....reminder that there is a lovely world outside the door to go live and play in.

.....can i adopt this.....

Pooh Bear is so wise.....

"Because Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things that get you. And all you can do is go where they can find you." Pooh Bear from The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne 

Jack didn't know jack......

Jack T. Colton, eat your words......"Damn it man, the Doobie Brothers broke up! Shit! When did that happen?".  I'm enjoying a beautiful cool morning with the new Doobie Brothers playing......Their new World Gone Crazy album.  Yes, it took what, 10 years, but they are still awesome.  High around 77, what could be better?

Check it out......Doobie Brothers Official Site

Sandy & Alton :)

I have a date with Alton Brown the Food Network star.  On Saturday, October 16, 7:30 pm he will talk about and sign his new book Good Eats 2: The Middle Years.

Ok, humor me, it’s a Saturday night and I’ll be at a talk he’s doing at Central Market’s Special Event Center.  At least that is my plan.  I just have to luck out and get one of the tickets. 

Alton will be in town for the Texas Book Festival, check it out.  Should be a fun day, all held in downtown Austin.  Join me?

Fini

This is one of my favorite pictures that Melissa took of herself.  Not sure how she did it, but apparently propped a camera up.

A few of my favorite quotes.......

‘the characteristic that most differentiates librarians from all the other occupational groups I worked with is a very weird and shockingly offbeat sense of humor. Librarians are very funny in some dark, devious and totally unexpected ways’ — Will Manley

When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you. – Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones (who know he had it in him or that he had a secret longing to be a librarian)

Your lack of planning is not my emergency.

"I really didn't realize the librarians were, you know, such a dangerous group.  They are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man. I wouldn't mess with them. You know, they've had their budgets cut. They're paid nothing. Books are falling apart. The libraries are just like the ass end of everything, right?"

— Michael Francis Moore

I am woman, give me POWER TOOLS!

Today I bought a circular skillsaw.  WHY?  The simple little garden bed for beyond my back porch needed only a miter saw, right?  Well the cheapy one wasn't worth it so I was going for the 50 buck model.  The girl (yes girl) at Lowe's showed me the skillsaw was less than the miter and much easier.  She also told me about the Lowe's Ladys Builders group she's putting together for monthly classes and skill training.  SIGN ME UP!  I'm scaring myself by becoming competent in a number of things involving power tools.  Being single and owning a home does that to you.  Yes, that is MY WORKBENCH in MY GARAGE.  (insert Tim Taylor's argh argh argh).

I STILL want to run away and join the circus....

I fell in love with Cirque du Soleil back in 1988 or so when some of the execs stayed at the hotel I worked in and I coordinated their stay.  They rewarded me with tickets to the show in San Jose.  I have to say that I almost did not go....my thinking being 'French Canadian circus, no animals, what's the draw?'   LUCKILY I conned my friend Dona to leave husband for the afternoon and come with me.  Done.  Hooked. Addicted.  Part way through the show Dona looked at me and said "what are we tripping on?'

The most incredible complete sensory experience I've ever had, the music is very distinct, loud and all the way into your bones.  Every single minuscule move is choreographed to a degree you wouldn't believe until you saw it.  Equipment appears on stage by costumed, choreography, not by stagehands running it on.  So much is happening at once that you have to just let go and lose yourself in the event.....for me it is all consuming, an experience like no other I've ever had.

I've seen a number of their shows, spending obscene amounts of money on tickets and merchandise.  I've read as much as I can find.  I've dreamt of joining them if I could only find my special talent.  When the girls were little, their dad and I would say things like "hey, now THAT is a family talent that will get us all into Cirque."  

The other day I was getting ready for work when I heard on my local radio station that Cirque was coming to the Cedar Park Center.  As soon as payday hits.....cha-CHING!  Purchase those tickets.  Think we're planning on Sunday March 13 at 1 pm.  See you there?

This made my day......

Last semester I had a Master's class that started as a real struggle.  I didn't think some of the grading was fair and the inconsistencies on the part of the professor played into that.  In spite of challenging the first project grade, my partner and I couldn't get anything changed.  We ended up with a B in the class but if we could have gotten some consideration, would have walked with an A.  Fine.  Move on.

Today I got the following email from that instructor....

I am teaching LS 1234 Youth Programs again this semester. I would like to provide students with an example of a completed program proposal which includes all of the elements required of this assignment.

Would you be willing to allow me to share the program proposal that you developed for LS 1234 Youth Programs this summer, and if so, can I credit you for developing it (or would you prefer to remain anonymous)? If I do have permission, I will use the original proposal that you submitted.

Thank you for your consideration on this matter.

I can NOT express how wonderful this made me feel.  Those example  papers I've received in classes are like the unattainable, everything you strive for to be.  To be asked for permission to be one?  Absolutely blows my mind and has me on the edge of crying out of pure joy, especially after how the semester ran. 

OK let's just top that all off with a cherry.  The next email was from my current professor.  We've recently started a new semester and have been waiting for grades and feedback on the group participation and our book review blogs.  Being I'm working on an entirely new set of book reviews, I've been very tentative, not knowing if I was on the right track.  HUGE SIGH.  Full points for all and lots of praise. I can not emphasize the relief and the tears just waiting to spill (out of happiness).

Sandy is a Traitor.....

I'm working on my Master's degree in Library Science so that I can officially be called a Librarian.  Yes, that is the requirement.  Believe it or not, everyone working in a library is NOT a librarian.  So.....my current course is Children and Youth Literature.  In addition to our text, we have to read 18 books, some simple picture books, some young adult novels.  From our choice list my little bitty library had all but one.

Having moved into the city limits of Leander over the summer, I have a library other than mine, at my disposal and is just over 1 mile from my house.  Did I ever think I'd use it?  C'mon I'm in my library 8 hours a day, if there is something I don't have it can be purchased or requested through ILL.  UNTIL.....it came to a children's book that is needed SOON.

This morning I left my house to be at my local Leander Public Library at opening.  Wandered in, requested a library card, let them know who I was and that they didn't have to do their new to libraries spiel on me.  Pop into the children's room, grab THE book, self checkout and poof!  Out the door.  Why did I have to take a picture of the sign to commemorate that?  Not sure, just the oddity of it, something I didn't think I'd be doing for some reason.  It just had to be recorded, word and picture.  Never say never.

Technology Heaven

My library is part of the Central Texas Library System (CTLS) which is like an extension agency for libraries.  They are the most incredible resource a librarian could want and the most phenomenal people personally.  I just received the most recent newsletter on Monday, noticed a little blurb saying that the professional collection we can borrow from, now contains a couple iPads and Nooks.  Guess who jumped on those items?

Today's mail brought me tech heaven in the form of a brown box....which contained the gems in the picture.  For three weeks, they are mine to play with.  Information science....technology.  Who'da thunk I'd get involved?

These are a few of my favorite things.....

Sitting at my desk today, the window is just to my left offering me a glimpse of grey sky and wet.  The air has been much cooler here in Texas lately, something that I have enjoyed immensely.  Looking back toward the scene I'd been part of, I saw it with fresh eyes.  My desk is a very good reflection of what I enjoy most.  So.....rummage around and find my iPhone in this clutter, slip it out from beneath a book and *click* a photo, a little snapshot of my life.  The result is above.

Highlighters to emphasize things I find in my reading that I love and want to remember or refer back to.  Source of caffeine.  Lotions.....fragrant lotion.  Post it notes, again to refer back to things and make notes about what really hit me about something I read, or simply to be a bookmark, placing the edge exactly where I left off.  Electronics, specifically a computer with a headset (way to the left) for talking to friends all around the world......my iPhone which was actually in my hands but prior had been just under the front cover of the book.  Rolodex, representative of my friends and contacts, which are now mainly in my phone.....but also representing all those wondrous places on the internet that I frequent and all those passwords and variations of that you need to remember.  One number, multiple numbers, numbers and an uppercase letter, add a symbol.  Finally…BOOKS!  Ideas far and wide, accepted or controversial, opening doors and imagination.  No one can take what you put inside your head and books are one of my favorite methods of transport.  This one happens to be The Arrival by Shaun Tan.  You should go find it at your local library and enjoy.

A new beginning.....again

A while back I had a new beginning in life and created a blog, using wordpress, another new to me. I have had troubles doing what I want to in wordpress so I'm going to try to create what I want here. The bad? That my old blog postings aren't in this, but rather located HERE.  I think I'm going to slowly move things over tho, much easier to have ONE record of things than multiple.  Funny, tried wordpress, like lots about it but ran into the inability to add some things I wanted to.  Back to my standard.