A little culture

This afternoon I went to see a Georgia O'Keefe exhibit . Actually, it was an exhibit of 6 female artists whose champion and benefactor was Alfred Stieglitz, a photographer and NY gallery owner in the early 1900s, who championed photography as an art form and eventually became Georgia O'Keefe's husband.

Surprisingly, the painting that I enjoyed the most was not painted by Georgia O'Keefe. It was instead painted by Georgia Engelhard, the niece of Stieglitz, who obviously studied the same style that O'Keefe did.

I love the colors , lines , shapes and shading. Take a look!

My Sunday evening theraputic TV....

With the addition of a new show to the Sunday line-up a few weeks ago, I have realized that 3 shows that I regularly watch on Sunday night end up being really theraputic for me and help put me in the right mindset for the week.

60 Minutes
I inherited my penchant for watching 60 Minutes from my parents. For as long as I can remember, they have watched the show every Sunday night. I used to sort of watch it as a kid and even thought it was interesting then. The mixture of insightful investigative new and one of a kind entertainment stories just make it great thought-provoking television. Plus, I really remember the pride and comfort I took at seeing Ed Bradley on the show each week.

Extreme Makeover, Home Edition

Okay, this show always makes me cry --- like a snotting, blubbering cry. I don't know what it is, but I always cry at happy things. Each week, the lives of a deserving family who has faced or is facing serious struggles, is dramatically changed by the grand gesture of a brand new home, tailored to their specific needs built in a miraculous 7 days. I am always inspired by the love and perseverance that these families have and how gratified they are to have their struggle recognized and their lives improved.

The Big Give
How can you not be inspired by a giving reality show. The participants are going around to different cities on giving challenges --- being given money and a set amount of time to find deserving people to help. Some gestures are big, some are smaller but you can never underestimate the impact an act of kindness can have on the lives of the recipient.

I have actually thought about doing some community service and giving some of my time to help others a lot lately. I had intended to do something while I was out of work but didn't get to it unfortunately. Eventhough I have less time now, there is so much that you can gain by giving of your time. I am going to work to integrate something like that into my regular routine. Stay tuned for what I arrange to do soon!

The Brunsli effect

I was reading a post by Cluizel where she was talking about feeling bad for not posting for a few weeks and I could empathize. I have also felt the same way when I didn't post any new blog posts for a while. But why do we feel guilty when living life gets in the way of posting regular updates on our blogs?? Don't we need to live life to be able to have something interesting and meaningful to write about? Who says we need to post something every single day or every few days?

I call this "the Brunsli effect." How do we live up to someone who just recently posted her 1001st post after about 3 years of blogging. That is almost 1 post everyday -- and most of them with pictures! I don't know about you, but a lot of times the pictures are what hold me up on posts. I have one post that I have been planning on writing for the past couple months but it has been held up by the fact that I have yet to get the picture that should accompany it off my phone.

How does she manage to do it? Anyone who has read her blog knows that she is not just sitting around the house. On the contrary, she has been completing a law degree at a top law school, shuttling up and down the California coast for work, and traveling to beautiful and exotic cities around the world. Does the fact that she does not have a TV make that much of a difference?

Seriously though, perhaps the guilty pang comes from a desire not to disappoint our readers. It really is nice to feel that you have an online community and support system to share your life with. And I think that we really should not underestimate the theraputic effect of blogging, modern day journaling. It is always good to get things off your chest and perhaps when we are stressed by life is exactly the time when we should be blogging more, not just to talk about what is stressing us but alternatively to concentrate on something else than the situations that are sapping our positive energy.

Just a thought....... (and while I did poke a little fun, Brunsli, you know I love ya! ;-)

My chartreuse thumb

So, since I have had my house, I have dipped my little toe into the gardening pool.... Well, basically I have only bought some hanging plants and attempted to plant some flowers in the rectangular containers on either side of my front porch.

When I bought the house, there were some pink Impatiens (just now learned how to spell their name) in the pots. Last year, I decided to try something new and bought these hot pink/magenta colored dianthus. They didn't quite end up looking like this picture unfortunately, thanks to a drought and some interference by a furry four-legged creature who likes to dig and bury her rawhide bones. The impatiens actually tried to come back and looked better than the dianthus so, I got the hint.

Today, I bought some more impatiens to plant for the year. They are sort of a purply pink. There were a lot of folks at the Garden section at Home Depot because it was such a beautiful day. But then, about 2pm, grey clouds rolled in, lightening splashed across the sky and it started to pour.....

So, about 8pm, when the rain seemed to have let up and it was still rather warm. So, I decided to get to planting since tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Things were going fine. I finished with one pot and then decided to go ahead and do the next one and got finished just in time, sort off. When the flash lightening and the big raindrops returned, I decided to call it quits. Hopefully, I can keep these growing and the dog away from them this year!

Spring has sprung!

Pretty!

Can you say "stylish!"?

Okay, this just cracked me up so I had to take a picture of what I saw when I went to the grocery store one day..... Notice the matching scarf!

Starting to get the hang of things....

Two and a half weeks in and I am starting to feel like I am getting the hang of things at work. At least I think so.

Today I was running down a few launch affecting product issues, got to do some user experience testing, was taken out to lunch by a vendor, and got a bunch of cool gadgets to play with and use to support my job responsibilities. I am still excited about the job.

Also, coincidentally, a guy who was in the same group with me at my previous job, has interviewed for 2 positions at my company, one in the same group I am in and one in a different group from me but one that I personally interact with every day. I guess that it is not completely coincidentally. This other woman who I have worked with at my last 3 companies, put in the good word for him and helped him get the interview. So I have been putting in the good word for him whenever I could. Yesterday, I was asked to write a recommendation for him so I think that his chances are pretty good, at least for one of the positions. I am glad that I am able to help him. I think that is is so important to reach back and help out someone else in their job search after you get a job. It's sort of like paying it forward....

How I know Missouri is not in the south....

So, I confess. I grew up in St. Louis. But it was not until I moved to the East Coast that people tried to tell me that I was from the South. I think Nelly had something to do with this. Everyone knows he grew up in St. Louis but no one knows he was born in Texas. I didn't really know anyone growing up who had a southern accent. If they did have any type of twang, it was because their people were from..... the South! I mean, come on people, St.Louis is "the Gateway to the West" There is that big Arch thingie at the Mississippi River and it could not be more clear that Missouri is the MidWest. But over the years I have come up with a few sure-fire irrefutable justifications of how I know that St. Louis is not in the South

1. 1. I never actually had grits until I moved away from St. Louis. In fact, I barely knew what a grit was until late in high school. It was not served as a regular side on any breakfast platter that I ever had growing up. (Case in point, no Waffle Houses!)
2. 2. I thought Luther, Bubba or Justus were just names for black men. I had no idea that somewhere there were white people with these names to.
3. 3. No sweet tea!

I rest my case! :-)

Payday!

Today is my first payday at my new job! It seems that they didn't get the direct deposit set up yet so I will be getting a physical check and since they pay one week in arrears, I will only get paid for one week but a paycheck is a paycheck!

Yay, money!

I think I am going to take this opportunity to revisit my budget......

I have an office!

So, I forgot to mention..... by the luck of the draw, I managed to get an office at my new job instead of a cube. I actually don't mind the cubicles they have. They are pretty roomy and full of light. And I think that you can learn alot by overhearing other people's business conversations (and personal ones but that is another story!)

So, I sort of had mixed feelings when they showed me my office. It is an interior, closet-like space, with a desk that forces you to sit with your back to the door. There is no window and intially it seemed a little dark. I am somewhat light-affected and my spirits and energy level is really lifted by sunlight. It was also filled with the previous occupant's stuff but I finally got that cleared out.

But, it does have a door which can be pretty nice. And, it's own printer, nice as well! I also set up my computer so that I am sitting sideways and can see the door out of the corner of my eye which eliminates the sneak-up factor. I do sometimes feel a little isolated since I have to make a conscious effort to go out and talk to people but it has been good since I have a lot to do to get up to speed. And, as I learned this week, while I can't tell when it is sunny outside, I also can't tell if it is rainy and gloomy outside! There is a fli side to everything.

Now, the whole building is moving in 5-6 months to a different complex that I actually worked in before so I am familiar with the layout. There, I will not have an office and will be returned back to cubeland. So, I better just enjoy it while I can!