To be truly radical is to make hope possible, rather than despair convincing.
--Raymond Williams

well, since i haven't posted since jan 29th --- guess i gotta let all the good folks out there in bloggersland know i'm still kickin. not that they know i even exist or give a flip. it's all good tho.
i have a great job, great boss, great mother, great girlfriends, a great boyfriend and a great cat!
what more could anyone ask for??!!

Love, Janis

last thur i got a real thrill! a dear friend of my mom's had won 2 tix to the new play at the Alley: Love, Janis. at the last minute, Cherie couldn't go, so she gave the tix to my mom. and since mom knew i was dyin to go, she invited me. it was AWESOME!!! more like a concert than a play. at the end, the whole audience was standing up and we were all singing along to "oh Lord, won't you buy me, a mercedes benz." it totally ROCKED!!! thanks again Cherie!

LISTEN UP Ya'll! the Houston Parks and Recreation Dept with TX DOT, the Apache Fdn and Trees for Houston will celebrate Arbor Day 2008 by planting more than 3,000 trees THIS SATURDAY, rain or shine!
Five Hundred volunteers are needed to plant the trees on medians along North Shepherd between I-45 and Northew Street.
so, if ya'll aren't doing anything Sat this would be a great thing to do! I'm going!

to VOLUNTEER, call 713.845.1117 or email vanessa.wade@cityofhouston.net.
parking will be available at the Metro N. Shepherd park & ride, 7821 N. Shepherd and Veterans Memorial Dr. shuttle service from the lot will be provided.
the planting will begin at 8:00am and is scheduled to take 4 hours.

well, went to the dentist yesterday for part I of my crown procedure. not fun! but at least i'm half-way done. i had put it off for 3 yrs. mostly due to the fact i have no health insurance. and it's rather expensive, over $600.00!!! but, i've been saving $36 from my paycheck for the past 2 mos, plus my Christmas bonus and the money from my part-time job with the florists (which was just Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend in Dec). the crown's going to be $716. altogether. oh, WOW-age! but my nice dentist gave me a discount of $179. the normal price is $895. she asked me if i wanted gold or porcelaine. i didn't know. the price was the same. i guess the deciding factor was, in order to have the porcelaine done, more of the original tooth would have to be "deducted." that pretty much decided it for me. hope i made the right decision. if nothing else, now my mouth has some bling! woo hoo! LOL

i had gone to get my hair cut and colored by my great "magician" of a hairdresser Mark Stevens. he is so incredible!! and since he's located in Clear Lake (right on the lake, next to the Hilton), i decided since i was so close, might as well do a "beach run." necessity dictates i do that from time to time, just to maintain my sanity. and what beautiful weather!!! absolutely gorgeous! on top of everything else, i found a bunch of sharksteeth! and one really huge one! there is just something about the beach. it's effects are so restorative, rejuvenating, renewing, relaxing, refreshing, soothing balm to the world-weary soul. just out there communing with nature! the sun, warm and comforting on your back, the water cool and refreshing beneath your bare feet. nothing else compares. i usually like to get some pho for breakfast on the way down. but since i had an early appt, that wasn't in the cards. no worries. i grabbed a quick bite at Taco Cabana on the way to West Beach. on the return trip home, i was rewarded with one of the most spectacular sunsets! i had to be careful, because i kept glancing at it and didn't want to wreck. it was just so breathtaking! deep purple (almost black) clouds, back-lit from behind by a brillant, blinding, white-hot glowing light. then it went gradient to the horizon with fiery oranges, blushing pinks, golden yellows -- culminating in the burning, liquid-gold, flaming, molten-lava fire of the luminescent globe of sun, in all it's shining glory! upon arriving home, i felt a little tired so decided to lie down for a nap. next thing i know, i awake at 2AM. it's a God-forsaken hour, but one thing i will say, it is the ONLY time it is QUIET around here! what a blessing, what a God-send!!! and here i am, three and a half hours later -- typing on my blog like a bloody fool. like anyone reads this anymore??!! ha! NOT! oh well, it satisfies my creative urgings/yearnings/longings and at the moment is a heck of a lot easier than getting all messy with oil painting! even if no one reads it, and how could they? i'm just a speck in the world-wide sand of blog-land. but even so, i still get enjoyment from purging. and who knows? maybe there's still a chance that someone, somewhere might read this and possibly enjoy, relate and/or benefit? more chance than if i just write in the journal....
p.s. i'm trying to figure out an alternate route for pho since the Chevron Houston Marathon has a LOT of streets blocked off. but it's not looking good. darn! because since it's so cold out there this morning, it'd be the perfect breakfast!

What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?
--Anonymous

Those of you who are scattered, simplify your worrying lives: there is one righteousness: water the fruit trees, and don't water the thorns.

--Rumi


Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.

--Rumi

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

--Anne Bradstreet

There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. If one could but recall his vision by some sort of sign. It was in this hope that the arts were invented. Sign-posts on the way to what may be. Sign posts toward greater knowledge.

-- Robert Henri