Happy Birthday

Today is my sister's birthday and she's currently in Hawaii celebrating. What a place (paradise) to bring in your birthday?! Way to go sis! Also, a happy birthday shout-out to an old friend of mine, David. Happy BD buddy, wherever you may be.
On another note. Life is full of surprises. Just when you think you've gotten a handle on things, whump! there it goes! You've been thrown a curve ball, life overturns the apple cart. I know change is natural and inevitable. A part of life. That the 'best laid plans of mice and men' --- yada, yada, yah. It doesn't make it any easier to deal with, to accept. But you must. Life goes on...

Pursuit of happiness...

Listen to this: Claremont Graduate University is establishing the world's first psychology doctoral program on "What makes people happy?" Oh, wow-age!! Now, there's a concept! They say it isn't "New Age" but a program in the emerging field of positive psychology. And that it marks an advance for serious research into human happiness and related quality-of-life concerns. I'd say the time certainly has come! (article from the Chron) 'Altho the desire to live a better life is fundamental for ordinary folks -- think pursuit of happiness -- researchers long have devoted their energies elsewhere.' "Most research on human behavior has focused on what goes wrong in human affairs: aggression, mental disease, failure and so on," said Claremont prof Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. "We don't know enough about what makes life worth living, what gives people hope and energy and enjoyment" he added.
Robert Emmons, a Univ of California at Davis psych prof said "Everyone has talked about happiness from the beginning of time, but now psychology is adding to a field previously the domain of philosophers, theologians and poets." How cool is that??!! And for the record, here's my list of the top 5 (things that make me happy). And yes, it's very difficult to narrow it down to just five. But here goes:
1. loving and being loved
2. family & friends
3. pets
4. nature (communing w/, i.e. camping, going to the beach)
5. doing what you love to do -- for a living

Interesting...

According to Marilyn vos Savant's readers' survey in the Chronicle's Parade mag, The Ten Most Unwanted Inventions are:
1. high heels
2. jet skis
3. leaf-blowers
4. automated telephone assistance
5. television
6. video games
7. bass amplifiers
8. neckties
9. car alarms
10. cell phones
Well, I can definitely relate to 1, 3, 4 and 9. Let me elaborate. High heels look great/sexy, but ruin your feet. Leaf blowers are nothing but noise pollution. All they do is make your problem(leaves and cut grass) someone else's problem by simply blowing it all away. Useless, totally useless. Get a broom, sweep it up, put it on the compost heap or put it in the trash already! Otherwise it becomes your neighbor's problem or if blown into the gutters, ends up in Galveston bay, cutting off oxygen in the water and killing fish and other critters that make the Bay their home. As for automated phone assistance, there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one! Assistance, my foot! By the time you get through the twenty options (none of which you want), and finally get to your option, you have to be on-hold hell for God knows how long!!! And car alarms. Another in the category of useless, totally useless. All these are good for is noise pollution! Well, enough of my rants and raves for now. I'll leave it on a funny if not rather sad commentary on our world today. In the Sunday Chronicle travel section there was an ad for a "Go wild with 'Britney Breakdown' package".
It was for 4 hotels in San Fran offering accomodations plus extras that include: a $50 hair salon gift cert, "Hanky Panky" lace thongs, a Marc Jacobs mirror (perfect for "I am fabulous" affirmations), bottled water in lieu of alcohol and a $25 clothing store gift cert. By the way, I think they forgot panty hose in that survey!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

"The Lives of Others"

Last night the shows weren't on (preempted by basketball), so Mom and I decided to go see a movie. We met at La Madeleine's for supper, then on to the River Oaks Theatre. Mom had suggested "The Lives of Others"; granted, the title doesn't do much, but I knew it had won (Oscar) for best foreign film and besides I trust Mom's judgement (she'd already seen it and raved). It was one of the best films I've ever seen. I would recommend it to all artists (literary, visual, performing). It is about creative/artistic freedom, or rather the lack thereof. If you see no other film this year, see this one!!!

wet, wet, wet morning

Wet, wet, wet morning
everything's saturated, soaked
moisture drips like rain
from the boughs and leaves
of the trees overhead
glistening and shimmering
as the sun shines thru...

Zip, Zilch, Zero, Nada, Nothing

Ever have one of those days where ya just wanna give up? Quit trying anymore? Where you just want to run home, jump in bed, pull the covers over your head and pretend the day never happened. You feel unappreciated, taken for granted, taken advantage of, unrecognized, unrewarded, unloved. Even tho you realize rationally that you have lots of blessings, sometimes it just sux. Maybe it's hormonal, maybe it's the BP, but whatever it is, it stinks!

Oh my goodness, gracious, golly, jeepers, gee...

Hey kids! Well, I missed 3 days of writing again. My boss let us go early on Fri (noon), so I got a wild hair and called Mumsie to see if she wanted to go on a beach run. She was delighted! So off we went to Bolivar. We ran into some heavy traffic on I-45 and when we got to the ferry landing, they were only running 2 of the 4 ferries. Once on the ferry, there were several delays due to our vessel having to give the right of way to larger ones. We eventually made it, but by the time we did (had to stop and get some beer), we only had a hour or so of daylight. I'm so glad this Sun is daylight's savings time!! It was cooler by this time and breezy, but no worries, at least we made it. Better late than never. We had the whole beach to ourselves and it was pretty to see the full moon rise into view. On our return through Galveston we stopped and had supper at Shrimp n' Stuff (our usual -- fried shrimp and Negro Modello). So yummy!! The next day (Sat) I was supposed to help TPWD plant some trees on Goat Island near the San Jac battleship. But mom and I went on the Azalea Trail. We'd never been before, had always wanted to go and my boss had given me 2 tix. We went to her home first, then to the other 3 homes on the tour. The last one we went to on Inwood was spectacular!! Even though it was just the grounds, not inside the home. The home had been designed by Ralph Cram, the architect who designed Rice Univ. The grounds were quite expansive; consisting of numerous gardens, a terraced swimming pool, lots of large moss-draped trees, sculptures (one of them a Chihuly!!) , fountains, and a huge koi pond. We got to peek into some of the garages which housed some fine vehicles such as an Astin Martin, an XKE Jag and a Ferrari. You couldn't have asked for better weather. I ran into my boss's architect and her former landscaper there. The only disappointment was I wanted to go to the Yale St Arts Mkt afterward. When I got home it was 4pm. I called Masoud but he didn't arrive till after 5:30pm and by then it was too late (it closes at 6pm). Hopefully we can make it next time. And I really wanted to see the 3 other places on the Trail (Bayou Bend - I've been before but it's been a while, ROCG because there were floral arrangements inside and the ladies do a fab job and Rienzi - a fine home bequethed to the MFA, full of great art with beautiful gardens. Maybe next yr...
On a different note, I just read in Paper City where Teuscher's Chocolates will open a kiosk in the Galleria between Neiman's, Tiffany's and Chanel. They're going to have chocolates shipped in weekly from Zurich, including the famed dark chocolate champagne truffles made with Dom Perignon. Omigod!!!

Noise pollution

Good morning folks! TGIF!! I hate to start out on a sour note, but there is a problem. It's not enough that SEVEN homes are being built in front of my house and 3 behind it. But now the neighbor directly behind me has decided to get into the act. Wed night he was doing "home improvement" (hammering, electric saw, etc) until after 11 pm! Not in a garage, but in his driveway which is only a few feet from my bedroom windows. I went online and according to Houston's noise ordinance all electrical sawing is supposed to be done between the hrs of 7am-8pm. Last night I went over there at 9:20pm. There were 2 men. As soon as I started talking, the younger man (homeowner) turned on his heel and strode away. The older man (father-in-law) was nice and listened. I politely explained my situation. The older man assured me no more sawing that night. And there wasn't; but the hammering and loud conversation ensued after I left. I don't know what to do -- I don't want to cause trouble, I really don't want to call the law, but this isn't the first time these people have disturbed my peace. They always slam their car and house doors, their young children run around screaming at the top of their lungs, there's racous(sp) parties with loud music, their car alarm is always going off, they come and go at all hours of the day and night. All I want is to be left alone in peace and quiet. Is that too much to ask for? The only bright side is the neighbor who shares my duplex. He is the best neighbor anyone could ever hope for. For instance, last night he brought me over some homemade chocolate chip cookies he had just baked. They were still warm.
Switching gears. Yesterday, Elaine came by after work. She picked me up and we went and had supper at Mission Burritos. A young man who works there has befriended us. He is such a sweetheart! He's always giving us extras, discounts, goodies, etc. Then it was off the Whole Foods. We love to go there! It's a feast for the eyes (and nose)! Elaine to shop, me mostly to look because I can't afford it these days. But the interesting thing last night was ALL the birds in the parking lot and surrounding area. The trees were literally black with them, there were so many! All the power lines on Alabama, Kirby and side streets were SOLID, bird to bird. Even the Borders parking lot across the street was the same; all the trees, power lines, signs and tops of the buildings were covered solid with birds. And there were hundreds and hundreds circling around in the sky above. It was amazing, I've never seen anything quite like it. And the funny part was; whenever a new bird flew onto the wire, the whole line of birds would scoot down. And they were doing it on all the lines simataneously(sp). It was hilarious to watch!

90-nothing, balls-to-the-wall, pell-mell, mach-1, hair on fire!

That pretty much sums up my day yesterday as the countdown to Azalea Trail nears.
In yesterday's NY Times there was an article on one of my fav tv personalities Paula Deen, the Southern "chef" from Georgia. I can't watch her at home because I don't have cable. But every day at work at lunchtime we watch her as we eat our lunch. She is so entertaining! And I admire her. She started out with next to nothing and parlayed it into a vast empire. She was married at 18, pregnant at 19, orphaned at 23, became depressed and then severely agoraphobic for the next 20 years. She got divorced and in order to support her 2 young sons she started selling bagged lunches to office workers in downtown Savannah. Since she was suffering from agoraphobia, she had to send her sons out to sell the sack lunches consisting of ham salad, chicken salad or pork sandwiches and a cup of custard or banana pudding. She developed a loyal customer base and opened a small restaurant. Then a larger one near the Savannah waterfront, The Lady and Sons. Today her empire includes 2 restaurants, 2 tv shows, 5 cookbooks, a cooking/decorating magazine and a line of baking mixes and seasonings. She is referred to as "the Queen of Southern Cooking." But some purists disagree simply because she sometimes uses some shortcuts such as cake mixes and instant pudding. She makes all the popular Southern, downhome, country, stick-to-your-ribs, comfort food such as fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes & gravy, collard greens, gumbo, macaroni & cheese casseroale, ham hock & beans and many, many mouth-watering more! And desserts out of this world!