Chicken Teriyaki Bowl #7

I just realized that Christmas is two weeks and one day away and I haven’t, so far, experienced any of my usual pre-holiday stress. Everything is just like the song: calm and bright. I’ve got presents for those who get them. Pretty much. I’m not dreading the family get togethers. Everything is, well, perfect.

Which, frankly, is bothering me. I’m the kind of person who can look at a perfect situation, say a lovely day at some community celebration, and think “but what if some old guy mistakes the gas for the break and plows through all of this?”. I know, I know, it is sick, but I’m always prepared for the worst. In restaurants, I know exactly what I am going to do if a lone gunman strides through the door. Planes falling from the sky, meteors, volcanic eruptions (which do happen here occasionally), I’ve got my actions pretty much mapped out in my head.

Which explains why I read so much; it keeps my brain from thinking up impossible scenarios and mapping out my reactions to them.

Sometimes I think I should write down my scenarious into screenplays and sell them to the SciFi channel. They are just as creative (read that last word with heavy irony, please) as the movies they show.

Pink and Green

I watched Dogma last night - it has to be one of my favorite movies of all time.  The entire movie is a philosophical argument, a presentation of a case for how religion is skewed.  I don’t really have a favorite part, because I like the whole movie, but I always remember Alanis Morrisette as God at the end.  Her grave eyes filled with compassion for Bartleby, the little twinkle of humor at Bethany, the way She does a handstand and shows Her plaid shorts under Her dress…  I always cry when Metatron tells Bethany she is no longer the last scion.  I also think this is Ben Affleck’s only great acting performance.

Since I’m on my own today (the DH is out pheasant hunting with guys who don’t think women should really carry guns, which is why I’m not hunting too), I think I’ll settle in this afternoon and watch it again with the cast and crew commentary.

Which reminds me, we watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on AMC last night.  Not only was it the entire movie, with all the bits they usually cut out NOT cut out, but they showed interesting trivia about the actors and scenes.  Very cool.

Finally, Pink and Green.  I couldn’t think of a better title for this piece, which is in my art journal.  I did the cabbage rose to the left and it’s pseudo-Victorian wallpaper background last and it changed the whole piece.  It became more girly, feminine, soft. A couple of the designs came from patterns on a doublet in a sketch of Shakespeare - particularly the shell pattern and the central green ribbon.

For some reason I have lots of shades of green and pink/red, but am lacking other shades, so I might go out and stock up on blues today.

I’ve finished the first chapter of Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled:  Unlocking the Poet Within and am spending a couple of days just writing iambic pentameter.  I’m having a surprisingly hard time at this.  I seem to naturally compose in iambic quadrameter, so by the time I get to the end of the line I still need another iamb, but I’ve said what I meant to say.  This results in very odd phrases.

It (iambic pentameter, I mean) sounds like someone tripping to me.  Ta-Da Ta-Da Ta-Da Ta-Da Ta-Da versus the smooth glide of iambic quadrameter: Ta-Da Ta-Da Ta-Da Ta-Da.  Or, to put it another way:

iambic pentameter:
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die,

iambic quadrameter:
She walks in beauty, like the night
of cloudless climes and starry skies,

If you read these aloud you can really feel the difference. There is kind of a odd motion to the first and a gentle roll to the second.  I do not dislike the first, but it is harder for me to stretch my brain around.

I think the solution is simple - keep writing (and even trying to think) in iambic pentameter.  I’m also prescribing a generous dose of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Florals

Though I haven’t been posting, I have been getting a lot done.  I’ve had “real” work to do, which is nice, and I’m almost done with one of the Christmas presents - I just need to borrow a Dremel from my in-laws, as ours isn’t working.

I also picked up the best…book…ever.  The Ode Less Travelled:  Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry.  Yes, that Stephen Fry.  It is a wonderfully kind and encouraging primer to writing poetry.  While reading it I almost feel as if he were sitting across from me with a cup of tea, chatting amicably about writing poetry.

On my doodle “Florals”, above, some of the motifs are inspired by another blogger, but unfortunately I didn’t record her name.  I do apologize!  The piece is actually slightly bigger than shown, but I did it in a bound journal and it wouldn’t scan very well.

Attractive Girls Union Refuses To Enter Into Talks With Mike Greenman

Cockeyed.com has a list of great ideas for getting most out of your digital camera or cellphone camera:

1. This camera belongs to….
2. Maps
3. Parking Lot
4. Repairs
5. License Plates
6. Yellow Pages
7. Evidence
8. Take-out Food Menus
9. Recipe list
10. Rentals
11. Mirror

Anything you would add?

I traced this meme quite a few blogs, so I don’t know where it started.  The idea is to bold the things that you’ve done.  After doing this I see many topics for journaling/blogging!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked {one time only and it nearly didn’t turn out well}
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

via Lifehacker:

November 28th has been designated the National Day of Listening by StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving oral history.

This Thanksgiving, StoryCorps asks you to start a new holiday tradition—set aside one hour on Friday, November 28th, to record a conversation with someone important to you. You can interview anyone you choose: an older relative, a friend, a teacher, or a familiar face from the neighborhood.

I saw this and immediately realized that Thanksgiving is the perfect day for this. We are getting together with my husband’s parents, my parents, my sister-in-law’s parents and grandmother, my brother and his wife and all the associated children.  So we will set up a video camera on a tripod in an unused room and encourage everyone (yes, even the kids) to come in and tell a story about their life.

One of things I regret is that I never got a chance to really talk to my grandparents about their lives.  They worked in Ketchikan, Alaska as teachers and before that were from Michigan.  My grandfather’s father was born during the civil war, so it would have been interesting to hear some family stories.

Every once in awhile I have to stop and look at all of the different applications and groups I belong to online and make sure I am using them as effectively as possible.  Since I just got a new phone (LG Voyager with a QWERTY keyboard!) this was a perfect time.  Here is my setup:

Email
I use Gmail to manage all of my email via Google Apps.  If you aren’t familiar with Google Apps, basically it allows me to use my personal domain, enseygroup.com, to access my email, calendar, docs, homepage, etc.  I have six different emails addresses plus my enseygroup.com address, all of which I manage through Gmail using GTDInbox.  I add filters to add labels to incoming email; Active for all new email and then Client labels.  After reading an email I remove the Active label and further lable it with a Project label, if necessary.  Mailing lists with posts that are really interesting I label with Reference.

Another tip - I don’t want to pay to have email on my phone, so I have a filter set up so when the phrase “DUrgent” appears in an email subject it gets forwarded via SMS to my phone.  That way clients and family know I’ll see it right away.  Well, actually, only one client knows and my husband - everyone else just calls or SMS me.

Gmail’s search feature is what makes this work.  Once I archive a message, I can find it again in a matter of seconds using search.  Ideally, I would use Gmail as a kind of database for all the stuff floating around in my head, but I can’t seem to do it.  For that I use:

Evernote
Easy, easy, easy.  Just a list of notes that you can tag and search.  I cut and paste programming code, technique directions for artwork, passwords, seriously, everything goes into Evernote.  It is backed up online so I don’t have to worry about losing it.  So far I’m just using the free service, but if I ever hit the max for online storage, I’ll just pony up the cash - it is that valuable to me.

Calendar
I use Google Calendar, but with a twist.  I also use I Want Sandy (Sandy) to keep track of reminders, so I added a calendar to GCal for Sandy and I can see everything in one place.  Why Sandy?  First, I can IM  or SMS reminders - everything from appointments to shopping lists.  Second, I can get the reminders on my phone by SMS, in my email in a daily digest and see it on my calendar.  Third, it works with Jott.

Jott
Jott is a phone app that lets you dial a number, speak a note, to-do or reminder and have it show up as text in your email, calendar or at I Want Sandy.  Very cool, especially now that I have a bluetooth headset and can just speak the number I want dialed.  I don’t even have to take the phone out of my purse.  I just say “Call Jott” and then blab away.

Blog Reader
I use Google Reader, which is not yet integrated with Google Apps (Booo!), but is a perfect feed reader for me.  I have a handful of categories and assign each new feed I add to a category so I can pick which ones I want to spend time reading.  Oh, let’s tell the truth - I actually go through all new posts quickly, pausing to read the interesting ones and starring posts I want to come back to for some reason.  The categories aren’t used a whole lot.  But they look nice in the sidebar.

Social Apps
I belong to a large number of social applications, but the ones I pay attention to are Twitter, Flickr, FriendFeed and Facebook. The others (Plaxo, LinkedIn, etc.) just aren’t as important to me.  Flickr and Twitter both feed into FriendFeed and Facebook.  My Facebook friends are usually friends or people I know socially (feel free to friend me!).  FriendFeed people are more tech-related and professional contacts. 

I use Twitter for “micro-mini blogging”; ie, asking questions, funny quotes or observations, participating in group activities (World Cup!) that sort of thing.  Flickr is, of course, for my photos.  I also have a Tumblr blog which is for “micro-blogging” - stuff that I don’t want in my main blog.  I can also blog from my phone to Tumblr (and sent photos to Flickr from my phone too). 

Home Page
I use the Google Apps home page, which is similar to iGoogle.  On it I have widgets for my email, calendar, Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Google Docs, the weather and GTalk (IM).  So, on one page I can see everything and click through to what I need to pay attention to.  Cool.

Finally, as much as possible I am using IM and SMS for notifications from various services instead of my email.  This clears out a lot of the junk in my inbox and also moves it to where I pay appropriate attention to it.  I’m also encouraging people to IM me with quick questions instead of emailing - saves us both time and easier than a call where you have to make small talk….

So, there it is.  How are you organized?

I’ve been meaning to tell you about this beautiful book I finished reading about three weeks ago - Peony in Love by Lisa See.  I’d seen it at the bookstore several times and finally bought it when it was on the buy one, get one half price table.  It is not really a love story, but a story about love and what love is.  Absolutely wonderful, like reading a dream.

I do have one confession.  At one point in the story, fairly early, I stopped reading temporarily - call it a lapse in faith.  I picked it up again, though and finished it in one, very long sitting.  If you read, or have read, the book you can probably guess at what point I almost gave up.

That was the good.  The bad is what “they” did to another of my favorite books, The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.  I finally got the movie on Netflix.  I knew not to expect much because it didn’t even get to the theatres in my home town and I saw maybe one ad for it - an obvious indication of a bad movie.  Oh My Gosh!  It was terrible.  How terrible, you might ask?  Bad enough that I couldn’t finish watching it; and that says a lot.  Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johanssen were fine, they just couldn’t do a thing with the plot or the dialogue.

The problem is that the director tried to cover the story as a whole, hitting highlights here and there.  The book is actually about family - the three Boleyns - how family is defined, how duty to family changes them (and England) and, for Anne and George at least, takes everything from them.  Mary manages to escape because she is faithful to her own family - her husband and children, rather than to the Howard and Boleyn families.  If the writer and director had taken this view of the story, it would have been much more cohesive and interesting.