my montage soundtrack

If memory serves, most music montages are only long enough to warrant the use of one song (edited for flow, even). However, I do like the idea of a soundtrack, because in real life...the montage does last a long time, doesn't it?

Therefore, I will list below several songs I know are on the soundtrack...even though there are others that will inevitably be added as time goes on.

• "This is Your Life" - Switchfoot (The Beautiful Letdown)
• "Where Will I Be" - Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball)
• "Hope to Carry On" - Caedmon's Call (Caedmon's Call)
• "She Must and Shall Go Free" - Derek Webb (title track)
• "I'm Alright" - Kenny Loggins (various albums)
• "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" - Michael Buble (It's Time)
• "I Like the Way You Move" - Bodyrockers (Bodyrockers)
• "Oh Eh" - Gipsy Kings (The Very Best of the Gipsy Kings)
• "Springtime Indiana" - Sandra McCracken (Gypsy Flat Road)
• "All That You Have is Your Soul" - Tracy Chapman (Crossroads '89)

music montage

you know how in the movies you'll see some dramatic scene followed by a music montage that shows you all sorts of bits and pieces of "life after the scene" during which the person in the dramatic situation gets her stuff together, recovers from the drama, or goes into a really productive time in life that's not really all that fabulously exciting but is full of that 'good life stuff that just needs to be done'?

yeah, well...i think i'm about to enter a music montage.

i like these moments...er, montages.

in fact, when people ask me how things are going when i'm in one of these seasons, i think i'm going to start saying "i'm in a montage" instead of saying "oh, nothing terribly exciting" because although the bits of the montage aren't exciting in and of themselves - i mean, there's a reason they put all that stuff to music and just show you the highlights - the fact that i'm in a montage actually is exciting.

friday funnies - or not

I know I've just totally plagiarized the "friday funnies" title from Laurie, but she inspired me...and she's way funnier than me, so I don't think I'm stealing any thunder here or anything.

I started this post on Tuesday thinking the list would create itself. In the end, I only came up with three things to include, which I happen to think are funny...but also happen to have been said by ME.

• "These guys are NOT Pennsylvania Dutch." (okay, well, this was me quoting something I read on the Internet, but still...)
• "Let's review the technical definition of homelessness, shall we?"
• "I'm reading this book that keeps making me think of you; it's called 'Don't Waste Your Life'."
  

I'm not even sure if they're funny. I mean...I think they were at the time...but when you look back on the funniest moments of the week, that you can actually remember (by the way, how DO you do that Laurie?), shouldn't there be some sort of warning light that goes off when they're all quotes of yourself?

side note

For those of you who may have heard my nightmare haircut story recently...just a clarification: NO...this is NOT where I got my hair cut. I would have taken one look at that sign and kept on walkin'.



(Thanks for the pic, Todd)

sad day

My office friend, described in this post back in July, is wearing a short-sleeve button up shirt with a tie today.

He does get points for the button up shirt, rather than button down - and if you want to know about that, maybe I'll write about it tomorrow - but gets complete disqualifiation for today's ensemble thanks to the short sleeves.

Guys...please pay attention...don't EVER wear a tie with ANY short sleeve shirt. In fact, you shouldn't even OWN a short-sleeve button up in a solid colored "wear this to the office" kind of material.

When I saw it, I sighed "Oh NO" (very Phoebe-esque) audibly. He didn't hear. Thank God for small blessings.

For the record, it's not an eternal deal-breaker...the boy can be taught (I mean, he went to Oxford and all...so surely he's a fast learner), but it's still a sad day.

quotable seuss

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”
  - Dr. Seuss

don't use your brain

I think this is what the TSA folks tell all their bag-checkers at the airports. I mean, if they were to let people judge for themselves what is safe and what isn't safe to carry on a plane...they might let the wrong person through the line. That's the only way I can reconcile what happened to me on Sunday.

I flew back to the UK from Houston on Sunday night. I dutifully checked online to see what I was now allowed to carry on the aircraft, and it looked like there was nothing in my purse that would be considered contraband. Yay!

I made it through the first security screening without any problems. I did a little shopping and got to the gate with a new book ("This is NOT Chick Lit", more on that after I've actually read it) and a few magazines to enjoy.

When they called our flight for boarding, I passed through the gate and into the hallway leading to the plane...and here's where things went dreadfully wrong.

I saw that we were being put through a secondary security screening after the gate...no problem. I'm a happily compliant traveler. I waited to be called forward, and AS I WAS STEPPING UP TO THE TABLE I hear one of the TSA staff members say "If we haven't called you to the side, please keep moving forward". I immdiately think "Grr...I wouldn't have to wait for this if I'd been here the last time he said that", but in reality I don't mind...I've got nothing to hide.

Then the guy searching my purse says, "Oh...I can't let you take this with you" and pulls out a small almost-empty tube of lip gloss. BLAST! Then he spots the replacement tube for the soon-to-be-discarded one..."Oh...not this one either"...rummage...rummage...then, "What's this one?" My reply: "Well, it's not lip gloss, but it's not a solid lipstick either." TSA guy: "Oh, sorry...that one's out too."

Walking away, I'm thinking "DAMMIT...I just lost at least $25 worth of lip stuff because I didn't hear or realize they were only doing spot checks at the gate!"

Normally, this wouldn't irritate me that much, because, well...maybe I didn't read Continental's website closely enough...and maybe it still says (or implies) that lip gloss isn't ok. So...I decided about 2 minutes after the lip-stuff-confiscation that I was over it.

BUT...somewhere along the way on the flight, I reached into my purse to get my pen (oh, yes...to fill out my landing card) and what did I find? Are you ready for it?

• one remaining tube of lip gloss
• one pointed-tip metal fingernail file

SO many more thoughts on the subject...but I'll just end with this:

SERIOUSLY????

keeping it real

I got some new body lotion. It's from Kiehl's. They make really good stuff. I've liked every single product I've ever had with their label on it.

Their product labels are very old-world apothecary-like (well, that's how they look to me), and just beg to be read (I mean, there's a whole lot of text there, compared to the average label). As I read the label on my new bottle of lotion, I was amused by the claims that it makes...apparently, the marketing folks at Kiehl's belive this particular it's so good that this is what they say about it ON THE BOTTLE: "Continued use for 10 days will provide a skin texture heretofore unattainable."

I think it takes a lot of confidence (to put it lightly) to make that sort of statement.

However, I've had (and have been using) the lotion for 6 days, and I think the good folks at Kiehl's are just keeping it real...I haven't even made it to day 10 yet and I'm already impressed with my new and improved skin texture. No wonder this lotion is one of the best-selling things in their shops.

Now I don't want to hear a peep from all you people out there who are thinking "yeah...sure...10 consecutive days of ANY lotion would probably yield a skin texture heretofore unattainable". I'm not interested in your naysaying. Just let me be with my over-priced lotion. It's the closest to posh I'm ever going to get, so I'd like to enjoy my pseudo-poshness in peace and tranquility...as I smile silently to myself over my soft and supple skin. I deserve to enjoy it - I paid good money for it!

6 random facts

1. The first movie I remember seeing in a theater was Xanadu, and I still sing the theme song in the shower sometimes.
2. I can make a very weird shape with my tongue.
3. I played the flute in middle school, and still regret ever giving it up.
4. I had my first boyfriend in kindergarten.
5. My dad helped build the Astrodome.
6. I can say the Pledge of Allegience in French.

bugger

Has anyone ever noticed that after the first person makes a comment on a blog entry (on the blogspot platform) that the page thereafter reads "1 comments" until another comment is made and all is right in the subject/verb agreement universe again.

Man...that bugs!!

in julia's shoes

Thanks to my good friend Mike, I have some really sweet friends in London that invited me to the BBC Proms on Friday night.



The BBC Proms is a classical concert series that runs for several weeks and features various conductors and orchestras. This year the Proms is celebrating Mozart's 250th birthday, and quite a few performances are of his various works, but we saw a SPECTACULAR performance of Symphony Fantastique by Berlioz.

I felt like I was in Julia Roberts' shoes for two reasons:

1. TOTAL "Pretty Woman" scene - all dressed up, sitting in box seats at the very fancy Royal Albert Hall and sipping champagne.
2. The same piece of music is prominant in another of Julia's movies, "Sleeping with the Enemy".

For the record, the entirety of the piece is much less ominous than the bits that are played in that film.

the irony of it all

So, I have a good friend (we'll call her Heather) who totally goes gaga over the South African accent. I myself am partial to the Scottish accent (as has been well documented).

Now...there's a South African guy at MY office...and a Scottish guy at HER office. And by "at MY/HER office" I mean to say that we both have to speak to these guys daily...it's not like either of them is some random guy at the other end of the floor that we maybe talk to once every few weeks.

What's up with that?!

wasted time?

I fell in love with all things Scottish about 9 years ago...but recently my eyes were opened to a related group of people - the Irish - who have given the Scots a run for their money to occupy that special place in my heart.

Now I've discovered that I may have been misdirected in my affection all this time...because apparently, I would settle well in the land of St. Patrick.

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

sigh

I went to my first-ever salsa lesson last night with a friend from work. Two words: GOOD TIMES!

Dancing is one of many times in life when I'm so thankful to be a girl. It's so nice to just be able to feel the vibe and be LED by the man. I don't envy you guys for having to think of the beat, the moves, directing the woman's moves, etc.

I think it's especially hard for a man to lead those of us who have a tendency to "get it" and try and anticipate where you're going, etc. Hmm...life lesson there? Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

Ladies, what IS IT about a man who's got rhythm, can dance and leads well? I mean, I totally fell in crush with the instructor last night...just because he was a fabulous dancer.

Don't get me wrong. You don't need to win "Dancing with the Stars" for me to want to dance with you...but guys, take a note here. Even if you think you're not very good, take some lessons...you're probably not as white as you think you are (in the rhythm department), and the ladies will swoon.

mr. yuck is mean...

...mr. yuck is GREEN!

brilliant marketing

Many thanks to my good friend Basim for pointing me to this brilliant piece of marketing.

I hope the person that thought up this campaign got a raise.

i'm not a stalker...

...but I feel like one some days!

See, I have an acquaintance at work that needs to become my friend, but he could NOT be more quiet, introverted and a generally keeps-to-himself kind of guy. He's actually quite chatty when you get him to talk, but otherwise you wouldn't even hear him make a peep! I'm not making him out to seem very interesting, am I?

Well, let's just trust my judgment, kids. He's good people, and we'll become friends if we ever get to talk for more than 2-minute increments in the kitchen/copy room. However, since that's our only current social interaction at the office...this is how it goes down (here's where I start to feel stalker-ish):

I can see the door to the kitchen/copy room from my office. Therefore, I can see when my coworker/friend enters said room (mostly to pick up copies, if you must know), so in order to facilitate little chats here and there, I have developed a tendency to print stuff and leave it to be picked up whenever it strikes my fancy, which usually coincides with my friend visiting the copy room to pick up his own printing.

Now, I realize this might seem a bit scary. Honestly, I happen to think it's VERY funny as well...and the bottom line is that we actually usually have a decent chat or two every week thanks to my planning efforts. Someday if we really become good friends, I'll tell him about this and we'll have a good laugh.

For now, I just laugh at myself, especially when I miss him (he's quite a fast walker) and wonder how many other people do this sort of thing around the office...especially when there's a crush involved (which is not what I'm saying is involved here...but the social scene at the office is a bit dry, so give me a break).

I mean, don't get me wrong...it's not like this is a completely one-sided friendship development plan. We met for drinks one afternoon a couple of weekends ago, at his suggestion, and we chatted for 2 hours. I'm just sayin'...

Besides, I'm the marketing girl. And it's part of my JOB to make sure people are enjoying their job, getting the support they need...and building relationships among coworkers is all part of that.

But go ahead...let me have it...I'm a strong girl...I can take it!

Oh, one other thing: I tend to think this is very much a girly behavior...but I'm curious to know if the male population of my readers has/would ever demonstrate such antics.

Discuss.

giggle

I'm composing a letter to a someone called Nguyen Quoc Thang...so I've just written the phrase "Dear Mr. Thang".

That cracks me up.

i suffer from etc

I think the reflexologist at my gym is trying to drum up some business. I first noticed a few home-made ads around the locker room and workout floors a couple of weeks ago, but never paid them much attention.

This weekend, while queuing at the fountain to fill up my water bottle, I actually read one of the ads. I've recreated the part that struck me below:



Now, although I occasionally do suffer from stress (I mean, who doesn't?), it's not often a part of my daily life. Thankfully, the reflexologist made it clear what other ailments I might have that she could address, namely: etcetera. If she hadn't included that one in the list, I might have thought she couldn't do anything to help me.

a new word for the OED?

Don't you hate it when you know several people who know this person you've never met...and they all think he (or she) is really cool...and you know you'd be friends if fate hadn't somehow kept your paths from crossing before one of you moved away from ALL of the people involved?

Yeah...I call that being "pre-friends" with someone.

Troy and I are pre-friends (although I'm not sure he's aware of this status or the name of it).

Troy is friends with Todd and Laurie and all sorts of other cool people in Houston. And we'll be friends if he still lives in Houston when I get back. But for now, I am getting to know him through bits and pieces on several blogs, including his own. But since there's a degree of separation between our blogs, I forget to read it for days at a time...so I've remedied that today by adding him to my links.

Some might call this stalking, but as I established above, I call it being pre-friends, and I'm considering a letter to the OED editors requesting credit when they add it.

Wimbledon is a tough act to follow, but...

...how about this:

I'm MOVING!



After much debate I have decided that, although I have *loved* this last year (aka "The Year of Decompression"), I miss the buzz of city life. So, I'm heading in to settle myself somewhere inside the Big Smoke.

So, if you want to take advantage of the current spacious and luxurious accomodation I've landed in the suburbs, I suggest you get here before mid-August. I'll be happily settled in (probably much) smaller and more modest quarters from September forward.

wimbledon!

I spent the day at Wimbledon today...it was months in coming, but it totally snuck up on me! Months ago, I sent in the public lottery form, opting to take whatever tickets I could get (you do have the option to say I want this particular day on this particular court...but I don't follow tennis closely enough to care who I saw or when I went).

A few months later I got a letter telling me I had been chosen in the lottery...and now had the option to purchase tickets for Court No 1. WOOHOO!

I went for it, but have been so busy the last few months that it feels like the last time I thought about it was 2 months ago, and then suddenly last week I realized it was almost time to party with the rest of the tennis-loving world!

So...here are a few pictures from today's festivities!

iPod...don't leave home without it

On Saturday, I trained in to London for a day of neighborhood exploration (I'm considering a move closer in to the Big Smoke). Because I was carrying around my handy-dandy A to Z guide, I wasn't up for any additional and unnecessary paraphernalia to weigh me down, so I left my iPod at home (and any consideration of a second book for reading material was certainly out of the question).

Bad move.

On the train home, we left Waterloo station right on time (as usual), but stopped about 8 minutes into our journey for a 10-minute delay due to 'faulty tracks in the area'. No problem. Minor delay.

In about 10 minutes, we were again merrily on our way. And then we slowed to a second stop just before reaching Wimbledon. This time, the train guard made an announcement that there was a signal failure further down the line, and there were NO TRAINS moving anywhere in the area and the expected delay was approximately 40 minutes.

Nice.

At this point, the sum total of my entertainment consisted of trying to count the leaves on the tress outside the window of my train compartment. About 15 minutes later, we pulled in to the Wimbledon station, where there was plenty of people-watching to be done, thankfully. But even that bit of mental stimulus would have best been accompanied by some fresh tunes.

I arrived home approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes after my train departed Waterloo station. Normally, this journey would have taken 30 minutes (including the walk from the Woking train station to my flat). Certainly, it could have been a lot worse, but...

I will never ever again be without my iPod on a train. Never.

happy birthday to basim!

music recommendation

I don't do this very often, because frankly I'm more of a follower than a leader on the music scene. However, for those of you who like Norah and haven't discovered this album, go to the store RIGHT NOW and get it.

and there was much rejoicing

It's going to be a good week. I could sense it when I got up this morning. All my laundry is done (if you ever live in England you'll understand why that's actually noteworthy), my flat is clean, I had a very productive weekend, I have new clothes hanging in the closet anxiously awaiting their first outing, and...

...STARBUCKS OPENED TODAY!

As I was approaching the shop on my way to the office, I spotted a guy sporting that familiar green apron tying balloons to a few of the outdoor chairs. I slowed, smiled and steered closer to the target. I asked if they were open yet, and he informed me that they would be open at 9:00 this morning.

Ten minutes after 9:00, I was walking out of the office with that silly "I'm so excited I can't stop smiling" grin on my face (which lasted all the way through my round-trip journey). At 9:15, I was queuing (yes, I was IN LINE in their first hour of business on opening day) for my first ever grande two-pump mocha in the great and thriving metropolis of Woking, England.

Ah, the beauty of consistent recipes and naming conventions worldwide. There IS a place where I speak the same language as the locals...it's called Starbucks. And in that place, life is good.

Everyone at the office thinks I'm off my rocker, but they don't understand, do they?

sometimes what's "right" just doesn't feel good

I'm sending an email to my boss and Word is telling me that my first attempt at is grammatically incorrect.



Fair point. When I noticed the green squiggly lines and thought about it, I realized that, technically, "there's" is a subject/verb agreement error (and that I regularly make this mistake in speech due to inattentiveness). And even though I don't think I'd ever say it, I thought I'd try what would be technically correct.



Apparently, Bill's grammar police are OK with this approach, but that just doesn't look right to me. So I went "long hand" and wrote it out.



Now, not only have I sent a grammatically correct email, but I have been made aware of my own regular carelessness with my speech.

Sometimes I wonder how people get by in life without (or without deference to) the red and blue squiggle lines. I think they're a God-send (and a source of much enjoyment)!

overheard in italy

So, I'm sitting in Piazza San Marco in Venice with my friend Laura. We're enjoying the scenery, people watching and beautiful weather. The two girls sitting to our right are busily sketching the facade of the Basilica in their drawing pads. The pigeons are scurrying about begging for hand-outs. Two little kids are playing chase with their dad around the square while another little boy traces the pattern laid out by the the stones that make up the square. The scene is perfect.

And then this guy shows up.



(Warning to the reader: some difficult or potentially offensive language / subject matter ahead)

His opening line: "I'm not helping you carry all that crap."

And it contined from there:

"I sat here for THREE HOURS while you two did all that shopping, so you're going to have to carry it all yourself...blah, blah, blah...

...I mean, I was sitting here on my a$$ for three hours, with nothing to do...blah, blah, blah...

...I even had to take a dump in those crappy toilets over there...[this comment was met with stifled giggles from Laura and me and the two sketching girls]...

...three hours...blah, blah, blah...

...What the hell did you buy for three hours anyway? Do you realize you were gone for three hours?

...I'm not carrying anything for you. Which water taxi do we take back to the hotel?"

This 'conversation' went on for about 15 minutes (which probably doesn't seem like very long to those of you who weren't there), and then one of the sketching girls leaned over to her friend and said "Hey...how long were they gone again? Was it three hours?"

I guffawed.

By the way...the two women who had been shopping for 3 hours were each carrying one bag each, and the bags looked to be not quite large enough for two normal-sized shoe boxes. How much help did he think they needed?

i'm stumpted

For the life of me, I can't figure out what this sign means.

reason # 27 to take voice lessons

I'm so jealous of Steven.

First, because he's a faster on-your-feet thinker than I am (I would have just blushed at being told my "singing was enough", and never thought to ask for a freebie until the opportunity had passed).

Second, because he actually DID get a freebie...just for singing!

It reminds me of some college friends who used to go to a music festival every summer, and they instituted a "sing for a pancake" breakfast at their campsite. By the 3rd year, they were taking LOTS of extra pancake-making-stuff with them, because they would actually have people LINING UP at their campsite, waiting to sing a tune for a free flapjack. Some people were actually GOOD.

I never sang, primarily because the sing-for-a-pancake breakfast was instituted after the summers I went to the festival (if any C-Stone pancake breakfast peeps are reading, correct me if I'm getting any bits of the story wrong). But if we're honest (and that's what we try to be around these parts), it's because I'm confident I have a horrific singing voice and would NEVER sing a solo in PUBLIC.

I'm sure this is something that can be helped (not necessarily cured) by voice lessons...which is one of the things on my 99-things-to-do-before-I-die list.

ALL THAT to say...you go with your bad free-cigar-getting-singer self, Steven. I salute you.

i LOVE my church!!

italy...an overview

Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice. Wow...good times!

Since there are a few folks chomping at the bits for pictures, I'll get that part out of the way, and save the good stories for the next few days.

First...Rome.
Rome is wonderful...truly amazing that so much has survived. But every step you take feels like you're walking past some amazing bit of history, and you just don't know it. I've already forgotten a large percentage of the things I learned while I was there (as is evident by my sparse commentary to the pictures). It's so full of history that it overwhelms me...and amazingly, you actually tire of seeing "another really old something". Strange, that. I definitely recommend going, but any trip (at any part of the year) needs to be planned well, as it's ALWAYS full of tourists, and lines can be so long it's just silly.

Next...Florence, Pisa and Venice.
Florence is my favorite, but that's only because I like spending money there. Venice would be my favorite if I had been travelling with a boy I get to kiss. Pisa is just a quick day-trip from Florence, and you can see all you need to see in less than 4 hours. But it's worth going just to get that obligatory "I'm-holding-up-the-tower" picture.

Um...do I sound like I want to be Rick Steve's next personal assistant, or is it just me?

when in Rome...

I'm keenly aware of the fact that, shortly after SWM gave me (and my good friend Laurie) props for having good blogs, I promplty dropped the proverbial blogging ball.

Before anyone else (namely SWM) has a chance to point out that fact, and in my defense, I'd like to offer a few pre-emptive points:

1. Good blogging takes time and energy, which are two things I have been short on since the aforementioned SWM prop-giving, partly because
2. I had a visitor last week, and
3. I was out of town for a few days. However,
4. it's not going to get much better for at least another week because
5. I'm leaving tomorrow to traipse around a few Italian towns for the next 10 days, and
6. even though I'm sure they have Internet Cafes readily available, they are (shockingly) not at the top of my "must see" list, and
7. if I should happen to experience any earth-shattering events while I'm there (such as falling in love with a fabulous Italian man),
8. I won't be taking the necessary time out of that whole thing just to tell YOU people about it, when
9. we ALL know the first thing I'll do is blog about it when I get home.

Yeah...so it's clearly not as eternally significant as the group of folks heading off to Cuba on Saturday (my prayers are with you guys)...but it IS Italy.

better late than never!

The irony is that when Danny and Steff and Basim were here, I laughed harder than I have in AGES...and it's taken me way too long to get these pictures posted.

Good times were had by all!

oh happy day

My little London suburbian town (Woking) is officially ON THE MAP.

best friends

I'm blessed. I feel like one of the fortunate souls running around this world that knows there are more people than I can count on my fingers and toes that truly love me. Family, friends, even co-workers. I don't think there are many people that can say that with confidence. I know it's none of my own doing...it's a blessing of God. Each of these loves is so very different...even one family member's love is different from another. And friends are the same.

Most of us probably have close friends that are in our current, immediate and daily life. Most of us also have life-long, or historical friends, that may not live nearby, but will never be far from our hearts. Somewhere, among one of those kinds of friends, is your best friend. I'm jealous of those of you whose best friend is still a pat of your immediate and daily life...in the same city, knowing the rest of your current circle.

I was never really big on that "best friend" label...or the whole BFF thing. But somewhere along the way I realized that I was going to be friends with my best friend for life, really. Nobody will ever be able to replace or match the history we have together...years of inside jokes, tears shed, and laughing so hard you can't breathe anymore. A few come close, and you bring them into the fold of life-long friends...but I think there's only ever one best friend.

My best friend lives something like 6 time zones away from me. Short of seeing each other almost daily, I'll always maintain that we don't get enough time together...but for being on two different continents, we do a pretty good job. It was one of those friendships that you just know was ordained before the dawn of time (well, let's not get into the theology of that)...it was at least one of the reasons I ended up at the University of Houston (instead of Austin or College Station), part of the reason I mustered the courage to spend 6 months studying in France with a bunch of people I never met (including the Americans), and so many other things. We've known each other long enough to know each other's habits, patterns of thought, and points of utter stupidity when it comes to certain points of our logic...and yet we sharpen each other every time we talk or get to spend time together. When she has moments of chaos, I'm the rock...and vice versa. She tells me when I'm a b*tch (and frankly, few others have been willing to do the same), and vice versa.

She's the first person I want to call when I've got fabulous news or when I think I might be about to lose my mind with worry or frustration or any number of life's quandaries. She doesn't get a lot of press in this forum, not that many do by name...but neither does my spine...and it's a hugely important part of my life. Without it, I'd be a limp noodle. Without Steff, I'd be the same.

I hope that you have a best friend too. They're, well...the best.

is love enough?

Two recent 'daily thoughts' from John Stott's ministry:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 1 - Faith and Love.
"Faith and love are signs of new birth (1 Jn. 5:1; 4:7). They are also commands. Some people object that faith and love are not amenable to discipline and are beyond the reach of any command. How can you tell me, they ask, to believe what I do not believe or love whom I do not love? The answer to this question lies in the nature of Christian faith and love. It is when faith is regarded as an intuition and love as an emotion that they appear to lie beyond the sphere of duty. But Christian faith is an obedient response to God's self-revelation in Christ. This revelation has a moral content. If people hate the light, it is because their deeds are evil (Jn. 3:19-21)...Similarly, Christian love belongs rather to the sphere of action than of emotion. It is not an involuntary, uncontrollable passion, but unselfish service undertaken by deliberate choice."

May 2 - A Sign of Authenticity.
"Love is as much a sign of Christian authenticity as is righteousness."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the proper definition of love, the May 2 statement becomes rather thought-provoking.

I'm not sure I'm ready to jump on board 100%, but it does speak to the frustration that many Christians feel with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who do not share either the same personal convictions or non-essential doctrinal beliefs.



Quotes taken from "The Letters of John" (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries" rev. edn. Leicester: IVP, 1988), p. 164, 209. Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity", p. 219, by permission of InterVarsity Press.

maybe i should take a modeling class

In the last few years, I have embraced the fact that I have been "blessed" with the "Vaughan Family Curse" (shout out to all my mom's ancestors). This means, of course, that I have to also admit that I wasn't adopted (which is what I like to tease my mom about, but that's a whole other story).

The curse - which affects the lower lip - is present only in the women of the clan, and some are more affected than others. For example, there are some women who have been given the life-long enjoyment of a quirky (yet clearly cute) and slightly crooked bottom lip at all times. Others of us, myself included, only have fleeting moments of evidence. For example, the curse is most evident in me when I smile too big, which I seem to have a habit of doing quite a lot.

I'd like to think it's because I'm such a happy person (which I am), but I really think I just need professional help. I'm sure there's some modeling-world genius out there who can teach me to smile well, without looking like I just had a stroke! Note example below (click on the picture for a better view).



I mean, honestly...if anyone in this picture showed it to someone who doesn't know me, I think the first comment would be "Who's the stroke victim?" And, if, because this is a public site, somebody did a Google image search for "stroke victim", I'm sure this would be one of the photos that came up, and some random stranger would be thinking "How sweet for all those beautiful people to take that stroke victim girl out for dinner."

Mind you, I think it's a little bit endearing and cute, but I'd prefer that it didn't show up in 90% of the pictures that are ever taken of me. Management...that's what I need...management skills. All I want is to be able to "dial it down" without the assistance of a mirror...and that requires some training. You know, like that Friends episode where Joey tries to teach Chandler how to smile for his engagement pictures with Monica - "Look down...look down...look up!"

ah, the joys of home

LB. catha. paige. brandi. mom. dad. heather. micah. kristen. chad. greg. susan. tiff. michael. mike. carol. susannah. steven. todd. laurie. beth. dinah. robb. erika.

murray easter. reasonably-priced massages. nails and toes. mike's car. buying in dollars. the galleria. tj maxx. DSW. the saucer. section 108. lance. morgan. craig. adam.

central market. jose's dip. cheese enchiladas. american beef. free ice cream at jason's deli. the chocolate bar.

and last, but DEFINITELY not least:

he's off the hook

Since, in His infinite Wisdom, God ordained that some sweet soul would invent my beloved night-time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so-I-can-rest medicine (aka NyQuil)...I think Mr. 44 is off the hook.

I'm by no means ready for a marathon (or a half-marathon for that matter), but I am feeling better.

Now, what's funny (strange and a little haha) is that I'm a little bit miffed that I don't have this excuse to be mad at my neighbor. I guess I wanted a 'legitimate' excuse to think meanly about him (actually, I think it's technically 'them', but I freely assume that the man is the one who pulled the parking faux pas). How horrible is THAT? [Yes, I know the "freely assume...man" bit is a whole other can of worms.]

Maybe what I should do is bake them some cookies when I come back from Houston and take them over and introduce myself. I'm sure all the door slamming and general loudness would be a lot less annoying (and frequent, even) if we had some sort of neighborly relationship which actually made them stop and think "Hey, I bet Dovie is asleep...we should be quiet in the hall!" or opened the door, so to speak, to a friendly "Hey...could you try and not slam the door at 2am on a Saturday night?" or "Hey...would you mind moving your car into its parking spot so I can get mine out?"

This is where I prove all of you who think I'm an extrovert wrong. The only reason I haven't done this before is that THEY ARE STRANGERS! The idea of proactive relationship development with strangers I'm not even sure I want to know TOTALLY WEARS ME OUT...and it even STRESSES ME OUT. See...told you I'm an introvert!

grr!!

I'm feeling slightly less than fabulous today, and if I DO catch a cold just in time to be MISERABLE on the flight back to Houston, I'm going to...just...well, I'm going to have REALLY MEAN THOUGHTS about Mr. 44.

So, I'm about as loaded up on OTC meds as one can be without being in danger of over-dosing, and I'm going to take it e-a-s-y today...I think if someone gave me an indian name today it would be "wanders in a daze" because I just feel so loopy!

Or maybe it would be "prays for a strong immune system", but somehow I don't think that one quite has the right ring to it.

parking garage mores

Normally, I drive to the gym. This is mostly due to realizing that I seem to be particularly susceptible to weather-related colds and such. In the winter months, even the 10 minute walk home is like running the gauntlet of poor health (especially when I’ve just spent the last hour or so working up a pretty good ‘glisten’).

On Sunday afternoon, when I went down to the basement to hop in the car and point it in the direction of Peak Fitness, I was greeted with a fairly annoying sight – my neighbour, who lives in flat #44, had blocked me in (#45) with his car! See Figure 1.



The first thing I thought of (no, it wasn’t to key his car!) was to wait around and see how long it took for him to come back and have a little chat with him about parking garage mores. But, after 2 minutes of waiting, I thought, “Forget this. It's nice out today...I’m going to walk to the gym,” so off I went, and 12 minutes later was happily installed on my favorite treadmill.

A little over an hour later, I emerged from the gym to POURING DOWN RAIN. So there really is something to that whole “April Showers…” thing. Lovely.

After waiting around for 5 minutes, I thought “Forget this…I’ll just jog to the train station, walk through the subway, and jog the rest of the way home. It will be over in less than 10 minutes.” And so it went. Only, once I emerged from the pedestrian subway on the other side of the train station, I realized it was now SLEET that I was being pelted with as I scurried home. Seriously! And it’s APRIL!

The next time Mr. 44 blocks me in…it’s going to get ugly.

just when you think you've seen it all...

...somebody proves you wrong with something like this.

Who BUYS stuff like that??

i loathe me

At one of his weekly tea-parties somebody asked Simeon:(1) 'What, Sir, do you consider the principal mark of regeneration?' It was a probing question. With the current popularity of the 'born-again movement', one wonders how the average evangelical believer would reply today. This was Simeon's answer: 'the very first and indispensable sign is self-loathing and abhorrence. Nothing short of this can be admitted as an evidence of a real change ... I want to see more of this humble, contrite, broken spirit amongst us. It is the very spirit that belongs to self-condemned sinners ... This sitting in the dust is most pleasing to God ... give me to be with a broken-hearted Christian, and I prefer his society to that of all the rest ... Were I now addressing to you my dying words, I should say nothing else but what I have just said. Try to live in this spirit of self-abhorrence, and let it habitually mark your life and conduct.'(2)

'Self-loathing', 'self-condemnation', 'self-abhorrence'. The words grate on modem ears. The contemporary craze is for a bigger and better self-image. We are exhorted on all sides to love ourselves, forgive ourselves, respect ourselves, assert ourselves. And to be sure, as in all heresies, there are a few grains of truth in this one. For we should gratefully affirm ourselves as creatures made in the image of God, and as children of God redeemed by Christ and indwelt by his Spirit. In this mercy of God our Creator and Saviour we are to rejoice greatly, and there is much exhortation to such joy in Simeon's sermons.

But to rejoice in God is one thing; to rejoice in ourselves is another. Self-congratulation and the worship of God are mutually incompatible. Those who have a high view of themselves always have a correspondingly low view of God.

Notes:

1. Charles Simeon (1758-1836) Minister of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, 1783-1836.
2. Quoted in William Carus (editor), "Memoirs of the Life of the Reverend Charles Simeon", London 1848. pp. 651f.

--From Introduction to "Evangelical Preaching" (Sermons of Charles Simeon) (Portland: Multnomah, 1986), p. xxxix.

Go 'Stros!

My boys started the season off well, and I'm beaming with joy this morning. You can read Alyson Footer's story here. I still have major episodes of jealousy about her job.

I have no joint ownership agreement with Drayton, but still lovingly refer to the team collectively as "my boys", although most who have ever attended a game with me know that, in singular reference, only Lance is really "my boy" and the only one for whom I whoop and holler like a proper redneck...because he LOVES baseball, and (oh, by the way) he's REALLY GOOD AT IT!

eat-walking...

...not to be confused with sleep-walking. Also nothing like "whistling while you work", because that would be complicated and would just get messy.

Eat-walking is a phenomenon I have see elsewhere, but it seems quite prevalent here in the UK. I see it everywhere I go, not just in London. And this weekend, it happened to me.

I went in to do a little shopping, and was trying to hit as many shops as possible before they all started closing down. There's this great little Mediterranean food walk-up vendor about halfway down Oxford Street from Oxford Circus to Marble Arch...so I knew all day where I was going to grub, but then I realized that the streets were packed as much as (if not more so than) at Christmas...and if I wasn't going to take a load off and have a seat, why stand around just eating?

So I'm outing myself...I did it. I went eat-walking. And somehow it made me feel a little bit like a real local, rather than a temporary local. Mind you, it's not my preferred eating style, but when the food is eat-walking-friendly, why not?

why can't we all just get along?

So, it was "Spring Forward Sunday" this past weekend in the UK. The time change doesn't occur in the States until this coming weekend.

Now, it wouldn't be much of an issue for me if that were all I had to worry about, but (during working hours, at least) I'm going to need to consult this site almost daily through April to be sure I've got the right time noted for people around the world.

Seriously...I think we just need to drop the whole thing. Can't we all just pick a time and stick with it!??

i got caught

So...the lift in my block of flats that takes me down to the basement is lined on one full wall with mirrors. I have no idea why this is the case. However, it often affords me one last check on how the cute factor is rating when I'm headed out to greet the public.

Yesterday, I had to run an errand that required transport via Stella...so I was heading down, doing my normal check...and was feeling pretty cute, actually. So I gave myself a little wink. And then I thought "Hey...I'm better at the wink than I thought I was" (it used to involve my whole face, now it's really a lot more like a wink). So I did it again, and was cracking myself up in there...and then it happened.

I had reached the basement a lot more quickly than I realized, and as the door opened, some unknown and totally HOT guy was standing there watching me. NIGHTMARE!

Now, why, I ask, does Providence allow for things like this to happen? I mean...I NEVER see anyone in the lifts, so why, on this particular day when I'm being a complete idiot, do I have to "meet" the hottest guy who lives in my building and want to curl up in the fetal position in horror? It just ain't right, people!

heehaw

Through the ever-educational medium of "spell-check", I learned today that "heehaw" is much more than my grandparents' favorite 80s television show.

It is, in fact, a legitimate word:

hee·haw (n.)

1. The braying sound made by a donkey.
2. Informal. A noisy laugh; a guffaw.
   
   

hee·haw (intr.v.) hee·hawed, hee·haw·ing, hee·haws

1. To bray.
2. Informal. To guffaw.

How fun is THAT?

on record in Paris and Dublin

Another round of friends visiting...another trip full of "trip phrases" and inside jokes that only the ones who were here will ever fully "get"! Oh, the hardships of expatriate (thanks, Mike!) living!

Susan, Debbie and Paige were here for an extended weekend in London, and then we left for a few days in Paris, followed by a few days in Dublin to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

As much as we all know I love Scotland, I have to admit that St. Patty's in Dublin was full of a lot more "local flavor" than New Year's Eve in Edinburgh. It's now abundantly clear to me that everyone should visit Ireland at least once in their life, and I'm already considering booking for next year's festivities!

If you're into the pictures, check these out. (They look best when viewed as a "Slideshow".)

and now for a word from our sponsor

We here at The Proverbial Record do sincerely apologize for any disruption to your preferred leisure reading activities caused by the Record Keeper's recent (and unannounced) vacation.

We would like to report that the Record Keeper has returned to headquarters and will resume her stated duties effective immediately.

A proper posting to this service is expected to occur within 24 hours, but we reserve the right to allow the Record Keeper to ease back into her role comfortably, and do not wish to cause her any undue stress (although we are sure her readers are a bit more than impatient to hear about her recent adventures in Paris and Dublin).

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,

The Management

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #5

Today's topic: legacy

legacy (n): Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past.

I guess we all leave a legacy one way or another, so the thing in question is what kind of legacy we will leave. There are some people whose life work is to leave a legacy of their name or fame. Others a legacy of riches for their family or even their favorite charity or academic society. The list is endless.

Me? I want to leave a legacy of love. I don't care if people remember my name, or if they know who I loved, or even that I was bent on leaving such a legacy. I just want to leave a greater sense of love impressed in the lives of those I've known, such that their lives are more full of it, and it overflows from them onto others.

I had the humbling opportunity to speak at my grandfather's funeral a few years ago, and the only thing I could really say about him was that this is exactly what he did. I talked about a few different areas of his life where love was most evident...and how that love had been passed on to those he'd left behind. I'm SURE that most people have long forgotten the specifics of any stories I told, but my hope was that they would walk away thinking about what kind of legacy they want to leave...and that's what happened to me in the process. Many people will never know the love my grandfather had, they won't know his name or what he did for a living. But if anyone sees love in me...they've seen a little bit of him.

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #4

Today's topic: sincerity

sincere (adj)

1. Not feigned or affected; genuine: sincere indignation.
2. Being without hypocrisy or pretense; true: a sincere friend.
3. Archaic. Pure; unadulterated.

It may seem like this one 'goes without saying', but I think it's important to call to notice. None of the qualities I've pointed out over the week really matter if they're not coupled with sincerity. There are far too many people in this world who recognize that others value these sort of characteristics...and the world is FULL of actors (they're not just confined to Hollywood or NYC). Sure, most of the time, you can recognize the 'actors' from the real thing, but this usually comes with time.

I won't elaborate, as I think it's sufficient to point it out for the sake of pause...and all I'm really saying is that whatever you are, do, say, think: just mean it.

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #3

Today's topic: Thankfulness

thankful (adj.)

1. Aware and appreciative of a benefit; grateful.
2. Expressive of gratitude: a thankful smile.

Now, this might seem a trite quality, put next to the humility and diplomacy I've been talking about over the last two days. However, I think it is vitally important!

Obviously, the key here is to EXPRESS our gratitude. To FEEL thankful is not necessarily to BE thankful. When people express their gratitude, it breaks down walls (whether they be between strangers or friends or even family members), it opens up communication. Thankfulness builds relationship.

If I'm thankful only in my heart, the person who washed my coffee cup at the office will never know...and I may have stifled all sorts of unrealized possibilities for that relationship. Maybe she will think I'm assumptive, and decide to wash it again to see if I just missed her gesture, or if I'm really that much of a snob. And then, when I keep my thankful feeling to myself, I have confirmed her suspicion. Now she'll never wash my coffee cup again, and that relationship is (possibly) in a questionable state. Well, maybe I didn't know who washed my cup. Sure. That's fair, but I can chat it up in the kitchen with others..."Somebody keeps washing my coffee cup for me...that is just so nice!" and possibly the do-gooder will come forward or be named by someone else, and can then be properly thanked. That means a lot to people. More than they even realize, I'd bet.

This may seem like a ridiculous example, but I don't think so. I believe it's all about the details...the little things in life really do matter. And I'm sure we can all apply the same idea to all sorts of other daily situations.

Incidentally, I find that my joy or delight over something isn't really complete until it's been expressed...another major argument for getting that thankfulness out there!

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #2

Today's topic: humility

humility (n) - a disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride.

humble (adj) -

1. Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.
2. Showing deferential or submissive respect: a humble apology.
3. Low in rank, quality, or station; unpretentious or lowly: a humble cottage.

"I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." -Helen Keller

(Now, there's a great advertisement for pursuing excellence in everything we do...for "working as unto the Lord" as Paul says.)

The reason a humble spirit is so striking is because it takes effort to achieve it...it's not a natural state for the human condition. To truly put off pride also requires that we embrace, or put on humility.

I love the way Spurgeon says it...he defined humility as, "(making) a right estimate of one’s self." And let's be honest, shall we? If it weren't for God's involvement in my life, I'd NEVER have a right estimate of myself!

sidebar: "bad rap"

Now, is it:

"bad rap", "bad rep", or "bad wrap" ?

I can see an argument for all of the above, actually...but I'm wondering what the proper saying is, colloquially speaking.

(And I'm almost certain it's not "bad wrap".)

top 5 things people are/have/leave: #1

I've been thinking a lot about what I value in my fellow peoplekind...thought I'd write a bit about a few things that have struck me in days/weeks/months gone by...

Fingers crossed, I'll make it to #5 by Friday.

Today's topic: Diplomacy

I think this word gets a bad rap...but it's such a wonderful quality to have, in sincerity. Most people would use 'tact' in it's place. Either is essentially at the heart of denoting "the ability to deal with others with skill, sensitivity, and finesse", but there are slight differences. Tact implies propriety and the ability to speak or act unoffensively, whereas diplomacy goes a bit further and implies adroit management of difficult situations. I like the additional connotation implied with diplomacy.

And here's why: we are such a conflict-avoidant society that we have grown far apart from our neighbors and loved ones and tend to just 'call it off' in relationships when we face even a reasonable amount conflict. I think we'd all be MUCH better off if we could learn to sharpen each other with gentle-but-poignant words instead of the more-often-seen extremes of either 'the silent treatment' or just being downright MEAN to each other.

I'd have to say that I don't know too many people that fall to either extreme, but I only know a few who I'd say have a very good grasp on this little word. I submit that Don Munton and Catha Duck possess this quality in abundance. Some would say it's because of their jobs...but I think it's a quality for the masses.

who tears up over WORK?

Last week was rough. In a good way. We had a new employee start as our admin/receptionist…and it’s been a while since I had this kind of support, or someone to look after, so it’s taking a bit of adjustment to make sure she has enough to do, understands what needs to be done, etc.

In addition to that, we had a ‘team-building’ meeting on Thursday/Friday. I’ll spare you the details, but will just say that it was VERY important to me that it go well and that everyone there walked away feeling like they had invested the time there rather than spent it. Turns out…it DID go really well, and I think many of our folks were surprised by how it came together.

As things were winding down, the meeting facilitator asked us all to share something positive that we are each taking away from the meeting…and EVERYONE had really sincere and meaningful positive feedback to give. Then, as our leader was making some closing comments, he said “I think that in six months, we’ll be able to look back on this meeting and say it was a pivotal moment for this team.” That was all it took.

It was all I could do to keep the tears from slipping down my cheeks! I’m not sure why it strikes me as odd that I’m so passionate about my job. I guess I get concerned that it might become my ‘idol’ or the place where I find my significance…but I really don’t think it is. And here’s why: I’d drop it ALL in a HEARTBEAT for the whole “husband, kids, white picket fence” thing…and I share the dream of chucking it all for seminary with a few very good friends, but that’s not where God has me right now.

So, since I believe that I should pursue whatever path God sets me on with passion…I have a deep passion for my job. I think it’s a special company, and I know God put me there (believe me, that’s a whole story in and of itself), and I feel like I’m getting a unique opportunity to play a part in a MAJOR change as it grows from a home-town success to a multi-national competitor in the market. This is SO not who I would have thought God chose me to be…even if it is only for a season.

Now, I’m sure most of the people reading this don’t tear up over their jobs…especially the guys…but I’m sure everyone has a story about unexpected passion that you KNOW God has planted in your heart for something ‘non-spiritual’.

proof

This was the view of the back seat (Basim's side) from the front passenger seat on that trip from the airport I posted about a few days ago.

See, people...I don't lie!!

"speaking of me being right!"

So, I have a few guy friends who I who I would put in the category of "UBERsmart" (either in various or highly technical topics). I'm in a constant competition to 'beat them' at something...I mean, it's just SO gratifying to actually KNOW something they don't, or catch them in a rare 'brain fog' storm. I don't think they know that I'm always looking for a chance to be right about something. It's not really that I WANT them to be wrong, per se...it's just that I enjoy the feeling of being right once in a blue moon. Surely that makes sense to someone out there!

A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with one of these guys recently (he's a doctor...pretty smart guy), and somehow I managed to beat him in a bit of MEDICAL trivia. Let me just say that it was a EUPHORIC moment...and I still enjoy it. Unfortunately, the only possible witness of this event would be one of the Starbucks baristas, but I don't think they were paying attention to us.

Last week, two more of the aforementioned guys were visiting me in London (along with my best friend, so this time I had a witness)...and some similar situation occurred, and in the midst of my selfish and verbal enjoyment...I blurted out something like "SPEAKING of me being right..." which I planned to immediately follow up with the story above...but that's about as far as I got, because we all absolutely LOST IT laughing about how utterly arrogant it sounded!

Truly, I was just trying to bask in my few joys in that area...but honestly, I really sounded like the biggest snob in the known universe! For the rest of the week, anytime any one of us wanted a good laugh, we just blurted out "SPEAKING of me being right..." and we were all done for.

In case anyone's wondering...this is one of the episodes BOTSO is talking about on his recent post. I can't remember most of the others...but they were similarly funny.

over-loading stella

So...to those of you out there who are actually CRAVING content from my little corner of the Internet, a very sincere apology for the 'radio silence' the past few days. In my defense, it hasn't been without reason.

• Feb 09 was spent in massive house-cleaning efforts in preparation for my current visitors.
• Feb 10 was spent with some new local friends playing pub Scrabble (more on that in an upcoming post).
• Feb 11 was spent on the M25, picking up my visitors.
• Feb 12 was spent with said visitors.
• Feb 13-14 were spent in Aberdeen, sans Internet connectivity.
• And suddenly here we are a Feb 15!

ANYWAY, back to the topic at hand. Stella. My poor little Nissan Micra. You can see that she's not very big from the example below (think Mini Cooper, but smaller on the inside, and note that my Stella is NOT blue).

On Saturday, I picked up Basim (and his two bags) at Gatwick and then we headed immediately to Heathrow to pick up Danny and Steffanie (and their 5 bags). So, for the ride home, Stella was carting:

• 4 adults
• 1 very large suitcase
• 2 medium suitcases
• 1 large duffel bag
• 2 backpacks
• 1 VERY large 'handbag'

The phrase that should come to mind here is: "packed in like sardines". Let me just say that EVERY person in the car (except me) had a bag either under their feet or in their lap or both. AND everyone got to participate in the 'driving' effort because I could not see anything but luggage in the rear-view mirror nor the side windows.

I'm SURE this is what we looked like:



Don't even try to tell yourself that I'm just exaggerating...people were actually pointing and laughing as they passed us on the M25. And yes, THEY were mostly passing US, because Stella's little heart could barely handle the strain and we were in the GRANNY LANE!!!

for dennis

INTJ

Until recently, I tested as an INFJ. I was always borderline F/J, but the last time I took the test...the results were inTj for the first time. I wrestled with this result, because although I felt like a 'typical girl' when I was testing as an F, suddenly...I felt very UNFEELING to test as a T. (How typically girly of me, right?)

(For the record...most women test as an F.)

After much discussion with the facilitator of this particular installment of the test, I conceded that I am, in fact, a T. I'm still borderline, but most of my DAILY decisions are made from a position of logic rather than feeling. I still can't help but feel a bit mean (somehow) for that...but I appreciate it at the same time.

However, what I have noticed is that although my preference is to do the logical thing, I *always* find myself thinking about how others will perceive the action...so I work to find the best way to do the logical thing and help people understand why it's the best thing, even though it may be hard to take (from a feelings perspective).

I think my cross-over to the J side (did anyone else hear Darth Vadar's voice just then?) has a lot to do with my friends and the people I have looked up to (many of them are Js, and even the ones that aren't have encouraged that part of me) AND working in corporate America (well...and corporate England as well).

I recently read that some experts believe that if a woman tests at 55% F, she could still be described as a T. Maybe there's something to that.

multiple personalities

There are jingles of personality tests and profiles out there, but one that seems to be well developed and widely used is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). In this profile, your personal tendencies are measured along 4 different continua:

Extrovert (E) - - - - - Introvert (I)
Intuitive (N) - - - - - - Sensory (S)
Thinking (T) - - - - - Feeling (F)
Judging (J) - - - - - - Perceiving (P)

The 'results' of the MBTI are a 4-letter profile, which indicates where you TEND to fall on each continuum. Nobody is a robot...so even the most extreme T can do something that would be very F at times. But it can be helpful to know how any one person would typically respond in a given situation or to any given task at hand. For example, a job that would be BLISSFUL to an NT might be TORTUROUS for an SF.

So, who knows their MBTI?

And who thinks it's a load of hogwash?? (There are some folks who I find resistant to the thinking that this sort of thing is worth the time of day...so stand up and be heard!)

what the $%@#??

This is just a test, b/c my blog is acting dodgy today...

outing all you IT folks

For the benefit of one of my lurkers…

I’m the administrator for a sales tracking system at work. In our set-up, this means that I’m the go-between for the users and the programmers…which puts me in that unfortunate position of knowing just enough about the technical side to sometimes feel a bit full of myself when the users just don’t get it.

When I was complaining one day about one of our less-savvy users, a programmer friend shared a little IT secret and said “You should tell him he’s having an ID10T error”. Apparently, this is one of several common jokes that IT folks enjoy playing on the inept (and therefore usually unsuspecting) user. Just a few examples, for fun:

ID10T error: [Synonym for PEBKAC, e.g. “The user is being an idiot”] Tech-support people passing a problem report to someone higher up the food chain (and presumably better equipped to deal with idiots) may ask the user to convey that there seems to be an I-D-ten-T error. Users never twig.

PEBKAC: [Abbrev., “Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair”] Used by support people, particularly at call centers and help desks. Not used with the public. Denotes pilot error as the cause of the crash. Very derogatory.

UBD: [Abbrev., “User Brain Damage”] An abbreviation used to close out trouble reports obviously due to utter cluelessness on the user's part.

my ID10T error of the day

When I came to the UK, the office in Houston gave my old phone number to a new employee in my department. This new employee happens to be someone whom I call slightly more often than once a month.

Now I find myself having the opposite problem from Todd. Every time I log in to the company intranet to look up her phone number, I’m soon overcome with feelings of embarrassment, because I’ve just looked up what was my own phone number for the last 3 years.

I’m writing this today because it has just happened…again. I’ve been in the UK for five (5) months now…when am I going to learn?

are you coming to visit me?

If you are, you need to check out this little guide.

There's a link to it along the sidebar, but just thought I'd give a shout out to Mike and John and whoever else among the 'early visitors' (Susannah, LB, Heather, Basim, Dennis) who helped create this little guide using an online collaborative document site.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that I currently do NOT have any visitors scheduled for the months of May, June, July, August and beyond...you know...no pressure or anything...I'm just sayin'.

some oxymoron got paid for this

So, there's this show on television tonight called "Accidental Emergencies" and the listing gives the following description: "Dramatic accidents and survival stories. Featuring a drag racer whose leg was broken in seven places; a man with a spear in the face; and a woman who was struck by lightning."

Um...so...I wonder if the person who named this show is coming out with another series called "Purposeful Emergencies", because frankly, I'd rather watch that one.

in honor of robbie burns

I was invited to my first ever Burns Night dinner on Friday night. These dinners are held all over Scotland in honor of their 'national poet', and are not very prevalent in England...but I've got friends in all the right places!

One of the many pieces of tradition during the dinner is poetry reading...mostly works by Burns himself...but at this dinner, folks were invited to read some of their own work. I don't write much poetry, but I threw down a few lines for fun on the train ride to the dinner. I'd like to claim that my hurried efforts affected the quality of the prose, but I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be much better if I'd spent hours on it! Here we go...

I'm jut a naive American girl,
Who fell in love with the land of the kilt.
And if the good Lord who lives up above,
Should deem in His heart to give me a pearl,
And send me a husband,
From somewhere among them,
I'll be quite happy,
Right to the hilt.

Now, should the Lord send me,
The one, the only, the perfect gent;
But one who can't really claim the descent,
Well, someone will just have to teach him,
Exactly how to speak with the accent.

tap dancing

One of the few things I just DO NOT understand is the continued usage of the double-tap sinks in the UK, which are even sometimes still called for in new construction.

It may have made sense at some point in the history...or maybe it's just that the 'technology' didn't exist to combine the taps, but come on...




...is there really any market demand still out there for the double-tap sink?

If you've ever used one of these little guys, you may remember doing a constant, delicate dance between the hot tap (which is desperately trying to SCALD your skin) and the cold tap (which is near freezing temperature, even in the summer) to achieve a luke-warm combination, which frankly isn't possible.

seriously?

I was in Edinburgh last week for a training course. This course was part 2 of 4 that about a dozen of us are going through over a two-year period (not critical information, but background is always nice). Because we ALL complained so much about the hotel accommodations for part 1 of the course, the super-sweet girl from HR kicked it up a notch for this session. Note Exhibit A below: the television in my hotel room.



Now, despite my initial giddiness over the size of that screen...as a group, we noticed several constraints to our full enjoyment of all of our respective room screens:

1. We were in 'class' from 8:30 am through to 7:00 pm (on average) each day we were there.
2. Our dinner seating was consistently approximately 45 minutes after each day's session ended.
3. After-dinner drinks were clearly not a course requirement, but we're all so cool that we couldn't NOT hang around and chit-chat, which translated into arrival back in the room somewhere between 11:00 pm and 1:00 am (yes, I was one of stragglers).
4. Such a late arrival back in the room forced a decision between taking advantage of a precious few moments of wonder at the screen and an immediate plunge into the already small amount of sleeping time on offer (clearly, I went for the precious few moments of screen enjoyment, which forced an even later bedtime).
5. The list of channel selections was disproportionately small compared to the size of the TV screen (I think the total was 8 channels, 3 of which were sports-only stations).
6. None of us realized before our arrival that there was also a DVD player hooked up to each TV, and therefore none were in possession of quality viewing material.

All of this rolled up to the following:

1. I came home VERY sleep-deprived.
2. I still don't feel like I got anything close to a justified amount of quality viewing on that screen.
3. I'm definitely going to have to stay there again (I mean, it's Edinburgh, so we KNOW I'll be back there sometime soon).

good times in january

Even though I've spent about 8 days "working", even some of that has been on a training course (in Edinburgh, of all places!), so I feel like I've been on vacation since I left the UK for the Christmas holidays!

So, here are a few pictures of my most recent visitors and our wandering about across the UK.

For the record, I owe all these shots to the collective lenses of Susannah, Heather, Dennis and Basim...so I can't take credit for most of them.

meme of four

I can't not respond to the call...Mike started it.

Four Jobs You've Had

1. Dead President Counter
   
2. Drive-thru Princess
   
3. Wireless Communications Interface Manager
   
4. Corporate World Flunkie

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over

1. Pirates of the Caribbean
   
2. Finding Neverland
   
3. The Princess Bride
   
4. Elf

Four Places You've Lived

1. Inside the Loop, Houston, TX, USA
   
2. Outside the Loop, Houston, TX, USA
   
3. Strasbourg, France
   
4. Woking, UK

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch

1. CSI: New York
   
2. House
   
3. Friends
   
4. Grey's Anatomy

Four Places You've Been on Vacation

1. Edinburgh, Scotland
   
2. Aberdeen, Scotland
   
3. Udine, Italy
   
4. Minocqua, Wisconsin

Four Blogs You Visit Daily

1. Catch Me if You Can
   
2. Mike Hon
   
3. B.Y.O.W.
   
4. For What It's Worth...

Four of Your Favorite Foods

1. Camembert
   
2. Granny Smith apples
   
3. Beef fajitas
   
4. Italian cream cake

Four Places You'd Rather Be

1. Venice, Italy
   
2. Paris, France
   
3. Any place that ends with "Spa"
   
4. Anywhere, Scotland

Four Albums You Can't Live Without

1. Gypsy Kings - Cantos De Amor
   
2. Chris Isaak - Baja Sessions
   
3. Gavin DeGraw - Chariot
   
4. Derek Webb - I See Things Upside Down

Four Vehicles You've Owned

1. 1989 Nissan Sentra
   
2. 1999 Saturn SC-2
   
3. 2000 Audi A4
   
4. 2003 VW Passat

jazz hands strike again

Confession: this picture comes directly from the blog of my new friend Crystal, whose blog I found from a link on my good friend John's blog.

Crystal's only comment was: "i can speak only for myself, but i know that when i’m falling on ice i always do jazz hands on the way down".

HYSTERICAL!

She's my new favorite unknown friend because of that post, and the one just before it (but you ought to go to her blog and check it out...I don't want to keep thunder stealing)!

my little girl

Well, she's not the love of my life (that would be my new girly-pink-ribboned-bag-from-Scotland), BUT she does treat me well and carry me all about Surrey and everywhere else I demand.

I decided to name her Stella, in honor of my good friend John, who along with Mike, was one of my first guest passengers.



(Click on her to see a close-up)

Thou droning common-kissing strumpet!

IF I had participated in any street snogging on Prince's Street in Edinburgh on New Year's Eve, and IF I were going on and on about it...I'm pretty sure this is what Shakespeare would have said to me.

There are so many moments in any given day where it would be SUCH great fun to whip out a good insult and yet sound quite posh and proper at the same time...I wish I had one of those fancy always-connected-to-the-Internet mobile phones for on-demand access to the online Shakespearean Insult Kit.

(Thanks to Mike for reminding me of this wonderful corner of the Internet.)

Susannah-Jim

When Heather, Laura, and Susannah agreed to come to Edinburgh with me for Hogmanay (aka New Year's Eve), I knew it was going to be a great trip. What I didn't know is that we were going to have our first 'trip story' before we even landed in the UK.

It started with the rival girl group at the departure gate...as soon as we saw them, the competition was ON. (I'm sure they're cool gilrs...but business is business!) We had no idea how or when we were going to win...but shortly after breakfast was served, it happened. Susannah was visiting the rest of us (no, she wasn't in first class...but we were separated from her in the commoners cabin), and somehow, as flight attendant Jim came around collecting breakfast waste, before we knew it, Susannah was wearing Jim's apron and hard at work!



The whole back half of the plan was laughing, and we were the stars of the show (ok, well, Susannah-Jim was the star of the show, but they laughed at us too because we were taking pictures)!

After Susannah-Jim finished collecting the rubbish along her aisle, we were all invited to the galley in the back of the plane for the presentation of the wings.



We left that other girl group in the dust...even if it is because Susannah was picking up trash!

the new love of my life

Well...it's probably a temporary state, but I've fallen in love...with my new bag!



It may seem silly, but I actually smile just looking at it. See, a few years ago I realized I was an impulse-buy shopper, so in an effort to rein in my spending habits, I've actually OVER-corrected, and now it takes me what seems like forever to even decide to buy a CD most of the time.

I first met my bag when I was in Edinburgh in early September. I visited it two times while there, and left the city without it because I was concerned that it was a bit too 'girly' for me (I mean, it's got a bow, people).

However, I have thought about my bag many, many times since those early September visits, and was looking forward to seeing it again during my stay in Edinburgh to celebrate New Year's Eve. As soon as I saw it last week, I knew it was going home with me. And it's official...I'm in love.

(Yeah...I know...I need to get out more.)

happy new year - here's to scotland

Or...here's to Edinburgh, at least. Somebody up there really knows how to put on a fireworks display.

Although the fireworks were enough to make everyone on the street feel like a 7-year-old seeing the phenomenon for the first time, I have to say that the activities on the street were much more tame that I would have imagined.

We did see the odd guy walking round in a kilt, the occasional party-goer that was returning all their food and drink to the ground (circle of life and all that), and the obligatory crowd rendition of Auld Lang Syne (written by none other than Robbie Burns, so singing it this year did carry a certain je ne sais quoi).

I'm convinced there are as many Aussies in Scotland as there are Scots (which I've determined is a direct result of their unwillingness to endure the return flight to their homeland once they've arrived). There was a small group of them next to us at a pub the night before New Year's Eve - and they were OUT OF CONTROL on THAT night. As we showed up to the restaurant on New Year's Eve, they turned out to have a reservation at the SAME PLACE. What are the odds? If we had thought to think that they couldn't have been more wild...we would have been wrong. Someone in their group actually managed to set herself on fire over dinner...let me just say that the combined smells of burning sweater, hair and a bit of flesh are NOT appetizing. It was only a flesh wound, however, and all that happened was the waitstaff's removal of their table candles.

Cheers to Bobby and Katrina and Matt and Jemma - new friends (by extension from Susannah May) we met in Edinburgh. And cheers to Russell and Hamid - new friends in my neck of the woods, who seemed to enjoy the Americanisms of Susannah, Laura, Heather and myself as much as I enjoy my daily dose of Britishisms.

happy news

In case you didn't see this article on foxnews.com, go check out happynews.com for a lift.

The director of the journalism school at TCU was quoted in the Fox article, saying "Unfortunately, the events we need to respond to as informed citizens are not good". I agree with that, but I don't think the right answer to 'balancing the news' is what we get from the mainstream media (entertainment and celebrity news), so I am happy that someone started happynews.com.

countdown to tex-mex

The time is currently T-5 to Tex-Mex...and progressing!

For everyone in Houston dying to take me out to dinner and hear all about my grand adventures in the queen's England....I offer the following suggestions:

• Lupe Tortilla
• Chuy's
• Lupe Tortilla
• Molinas
• Lupe Tortilla
• El Tiempo
• Lupe Tortilla
• Chuy's

Please note the list does NOT included Casa Ole or Taco Bell. At this point, some people would say "Well, Dovie...beggars can't be choosers", but I'm not begging. So I'm being choosy. Is that so horrible?

random (small) acts of altruism?

First, a definition:

al·tru·ism: Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness.

Now, maybe my internal content that comes from placing the Weekly Word News back in its rightful place (instead of in front of the one stack of Vogue) while standing in the grocery queue isn't atruistic, in the purest and grandest sense of the word. But in a very small way, I think it is.

And so is picking up that stray bit of paper in the office hallway. And so is filling up the holders for coffee sweetener and cream when they're low (even though I don't even use sweetener at all, and I am enough of a snob to refuse to use powdered 'creamer' in my coffee...but I digress). And so is putting out a fresh roll of paper towels when I've used the last one. And so is filling up the copy machine with all the paper it can hold when I notice it needs to be done.

These things may not seem very 'unselfish', but they take time...and time is a limited resource...and time is money. So (stretching the metaphor just a bit more), I'm giving away money every time I do these things. But I'm happy to do them. It gives me joy to do them. Now I'm reminded of that Friends episode where Phoebe is trying to find a truly selfless act and ends up making a donation to Sesame Street even though she hates it...but I digress, again.

These activities might be perceived as just a bit overly concerned with order and give a nod to neurotic tendencies...but aren't they just as selfless as letting the pedestrian cross the street in front of me when he's out in the rain and i'm in my nice, warm, dry car? (Or is that just common courtesy?)

Anyway, I believe in the broken window theory, and view my magazine sorting (and label facing and general product reshelving) and self-appointed trash duty to be my personal fight against the broken window phenomenon taking over my immediate environment. I mean, I really do want that girl I'll never meet but am sure is coming along behind me to easily find that stack of Vogue, because I know how sweet it is to make the odd impulse-magazine-buy and enjoy a long and quiet evening browsing the latest fashion trends and dreaming of shoes I'll never be able to buy.

I'm happy to make the bigger gestures...but on an average day, it's only the small ones that I have opporutnity to provide.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not looking for any crowns or anything (although a tiara would be kinda cool). I'm just sayin'...I'M NOT NEUROTIC!

me? neurotic?

In response to a comment on my last post about properly aligned Sweet 'n Low packets, I submit the following:

Since I don't use Sweet 'n Low (or anything that comes in little packets like that), it's a non-issue at home. In a restaurant, as long as the packets of (any given) sweetener are safely housed within the intended container on the table, I don't care if they are perfectly arranged or not. Admittedly, I do prefer if all the like-packets are kept together (i.e. all the yellow ones are together and blue ones together, rather than a stray yellow packed mixed in with the blue ones).

Now, I do catch myself rearranging magazines at the check-out line at the grocery to be put back in their appropriate place (b/c if they're not, a 'stray' copy of the Weekly World News might be covering up the one stack of Vogue that some poor girl is looking for. This also occasionally happens at magazine racks in the bookstore.

Generally, I consider this magazine-sorting behavior to be altruistic (and not neurotic). And the sweetener packet ordering is just plain logical and proper, right?

And for the record, nothing in my pantry is properly faced, although most items do tend to be placed such that the front of the label is generally viewable as it sits...but clearly, all the spices live together in one spot, the cereal all together in another, etc. I mean, isn't everyone's pantry set up that way? Who would be crazy enough to keep cumin and dill seed in one cabinet or shelf, and have garlic salt and marjoram in another?

So, it's not about having everything in PERFECT order...just in order.

But if you still wonder...check out this cartoon and then tell me I'm neurotic!

diction: it can be a monkey

I don't remember ever learning the word 'persnickety'; as far as I know, it has always just been there, in my brain, waiting to be used as appropriate.

I'm sure there are countless words that fall into this (unfortunate) category, and most don't ever get to come out to see the light of day. However, a few years ago, 'persnickety' started getting a lot of attention from me when I noticed a friend of mine using the word 'persnippety' (which isn't, actually, a word). 'Persnickety' quickly started working its way into my daily speech around this friend, in the hopes that it would rub off. I can't remember if it did or not.

Because it was such a rub for my grammar-patrol-loving mind, you can only begin to imagine the immense panic that I experienced two days ago, when, in the course of reading some bit of fiction, I ran across the word 'pernickety'. I froze. All those moments of frustration with my friend who says 'persnippety' came rushing back as I realized my worst fear might come true...that I had been wrong about the word myself all this time. THE HORROR!

Needless to say, I jumped up and went straight to the dictionary and looked it up. Turns out, the definitions cited on dictionary.com are as follows:

per·snick·e·ty (adj)

1. Overparticular about trivial details; fastidious. Snobbish; pretentious.
   
2. Requiring strict attention to detail; demanding: a persnickety job.
   

per·nick·e·ty (adj): Persnickety.

persnippety: No entry found.

My first thought: Ah...what relief!! Despite the fact that I know I've looked up 'persnickety' and 'persnippety' before, it has been quite a while, and confirmation is such a good feeling.

My second thought: As much of a fan as I am of people that have good diction, when two words are so similar as 'persnickety' and 'pernickety', shouldn't someone quite farther up the grammar patrol chain than me have the authority to just DELETE the superfluous word, and go with the one we're all used to - and comfortable with: 'persnickety'?

turkey day in the UK

Mmmm...pizza and red wine. Now doesn't that just SCREAM Thanksgiving to you? Well, it did to me.

Thanksgiving here is 'just another day' (because although the Pilgrims actually were English, England doesn't claim them, given how things turned out about 150 years after the first Thanksgiving).

So, when what was originally a double-booked night on my calendar turned into two cancellations, I carted myself off to the store to buy 'Thanksgiving Dinner', instead of doing what I technically probably should have done (go to the gym and cook dinner), and this is what came home with me. So compared to what I would have done on most any other night in merry old England, this was a blessed holiday!

In retrospect, I should have chosen a Napa or even Texas wine, given the event to which I was drinking. However, being that I didn't really think things through, since my Thanksgiving celebration was quite unexpected, I ended up with a Spanish Rioja. It was lovely.

impulse buys CAN be good!

The pictures I posted yesterday include one taken at Piccadilly circus, standing in front of the Virgin Megastore, where I had just purchased my new favorite CD called "Who Killed the Zutons". Buy it now from Amazon.

I decided to buy the CD after hearing only 2 songs, one of which reminded me of an older U2 sound. In fact, I asked Mike and John if it WAS U2...which won't suprise those of you who know about my mishap with James Taylor and Ronnie Milsap (aka "the Milsap mishap").

Now, I should state that, although I was much more prone to impulse buying in years past...lately (and by lately, I mean in the last 2 years or so), I have grown to be quite the spendthrift when it comes to CDs and DVDs. Reason unknown. Regardless, every now and again I still fall prey to the impulse by (like the rest of the human population), and it usually turns out to be a disappointment.

This time, however, I am gloriously happy with my purchase. If you're not up for the absolute impulse buy, you can read a couple of reviews here.

Dali was a FREAK!

I went to the Dali museum in London this weekend with Mike and John. Now, it should be noted that, generally speaking, I don't like Dali...never have. However, in the name of 'broadening my artistic horizons", I spent some time reading about the sculptures in the museum.

Apparently, one of the themes Dali was obsessed with during his life was the concept of time, and the fact that it is mastered by no one. So, even though I still don't really like his work, I do very much like one of the sculptures I saw. It's a melting clock (big surprise) with a crown at the top.

Some of these pictures are John's...he's got a MUCH better camera than me.

i can drive!

My permanent car hasn't arrived (fingers crossed for Monday), but I couldn't take another weekend of cabin fever...so I rented a car this weekend, and today I visited Windsor Castle.

My car will have an automatic transmission, but the only thing available at the rental agency was a standard. Now, it should be said that I'm QUITE good with a stick shift, as that's what I learned to drive on, and continued to drive until just 2 years ago. However, driving a stick shift here means that not only do I have to worry about the steering wheel and traffic on the wrong side, I also have to shift...and oh, yes, the stick is on the wrong side of the steering wheel as well.

Let's just say there was a general email issued to everyone in the office to steer clear of my part of town as well as the road to Windsor for the weekend. Emergency contacts were entered into the mobile phone, clean underwear was worn, and many prayers were prayed (by me and every Christian who knew I was on the road, I'm sure).

Even though I took a few pictures, the best part of the day was something I couldn't capture on film. It was me. Bouncing up and down in my seat in the car every time I knew I had taken a turn and was still on the right course. Especially when I was close (and knew it) and was having that experience Meg Ryan kept having in French Kiss of NOT seeing the Eiffel Tower...and then, finally, there it was!

I was like a giddy little girl who just found out she was getting a new puppy for Christmas!

I made it all the way to Windsor AND all the way home without hitting anyone or anything, and I only stalled the car 1 time (give me a break, it's been 2 years), and I only went around 2 roundabouts more than once. Now, for the record,I purposely went around both of those roundabouts twice to be sure that the exit I thought was the right one really was it.

So, for those of you who will be passing through my part of the world anytime soon...the one place I know I can take you (and get you back home) is Windsor.