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I just discovered last week that BOTP (otherwise known as Gatchaman) and Gidget are in syndication on the tele again! I am reliving my fondly remembered times watching TV as a five-year-old. And all is well in the world.
I'm about to go have some fun with my girlfriends - sans "the guys" - at a tea party.
It was Mike D who put the satin in your panties.
The weather is not supposed to be like this in AUGUST, for goodness sake!
You may see some quirky things happen here at delara, interrupted for a while. Please bear with the noise and drywall dust. Sinabina and I will be experimenting with the blog in preparation for a SUPAH-SITE we are launching soon.
Mua ha ha!
I have been sans husband (at least in the physical sense) for the past week and a half. As is his annual ritual, Paul has been enjoying a fun week with Dad J in NY and NC, respectively. They spent last weekend close to Buffalo at the state firefighters' drills - a super loud and extremely fun competition kind of event for the volunteer firefighters in NY. And they spent this past week largely golfing - but only after driving back to NC from NY with a bunch of peacocks and guinea hens in their urban assault vehicle, er, SUV. (I'm sure that'a a whole other story.) Much to John's chagrin, Paul has gotten better at his game, apparently.
So, we have some stuff to catch up on, Paul and I, once he gets home tomorrow! Forgive me if I'm a bit incommunicado (as if I haven't been anyway!) for a time while I reconnect with my hubby.
AND THEN... all hell will break loose pretty much next week! The fabulous Markeesha and his lovely assistant Tessera will be in town and there are some schemes and plans in place to have a serious PAH-TAY.
Life is good. Life is very good.
"And a good time was had by all" doesn't even begin to sum up the weekend. Airport stress aside, it was DA BOMB of a weekend! We were in DC for Tom & Saba's wedding - which was just so lovely. And we got to catch up with good friends and meet some new ones. Ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out:
Tom & Saba are married!!
Mucho mayhem ensues!!
And we all looked so FAB-U-LOUS!!
Except Bobby... I don't know what happened here.
P.S. Did I mention it was BEE-U-T-FULL?
Well, it was.
Thank you, Tom & Saba, for getting married and for having us join your special day! We love you!
This is for Sina's benefit as well - we were talking about Rainer Maria Rilke yesterday and it inspired me to pull out my stash of his books again and just soak it all in - perhaps unstick my "stuck"ness and get the pen ink flowing again. I cannot fully express the effect that his words have on me - it is as though my soul is called forth. To say it inspires me doesn't quite capture the fullness of my experience. And so, Sina, as you write you might find Rilke's words resonate for you as well. Here's a sampling of what this amazing 28 year old wrote at the turn of the 20th century (early 1900s):
From "Letters to a Young Poet":
February 17, 1903
"...Things are not all so comprehensible and expressible as one would mostly have us believe; most events are inexpressible, taking place in a realm which no word has ever entered, and more inexpressible than all else are works of art, mysterious existences, the life of which, while ours passes away, endures."
"Go into yourself. Search for the reason that bids you write; find out whether it is spreading out its roots in the deepest places of your heart, acknowledge to yourself whether you would have to die if it were denied you to write."
April 5, 1903
"...Of course you must know that every letter of yours will always give me pleasure, and only bear with the answer which will perhaps often leave you empty-handed; for at bottom, and just in the deepest and most important things, we are unutterably alone, and for one person to be able to advise or even help another, a lot must happen, a lot must go well, a whole constellation of things must come right in order once to succeed."
May 14, 1904
"...To love is good, too: love being difficult. For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation."
Aaaaaaaaaahhhh. I can go on living now. And even perhaps write again.
Cheers, my friend!
I have had writer's block lately. And amazingly so, because much of what I do for work is writing. But perhaps that's the issue right there - I do so much during the week that I am all out of words by the time it comes to blogging. My poor little blog. (insert pouty face here)
It seems I've also had sleeper's block lately as I have rarely gone to bed before 2 or 3 am for the past 6 or so days. Ick. I don't like being up so late when I have to wake up at (what was that you said?) 7:00 AM!!!! At least I've been productive - I labeled about 100 mystery (as in heretofore unlabeled) CDR discs last night that Paul or I have burned with various backup or audio files. Yeah, that was vital to my existence. Not.
And finally, I definitely have had digestive block these days. But I won't go into detail on that. I do have some sense of propriety. He he!
Dear loyal friends and readers,
I'm sorry to report that I have turned off the comment feature on most of the entries on my blog for now. I have been getting slammed with junk comments from spammers, and I've just had it. I trust that you will continue to visit anyway - I love having you over! I will try to turn comments on only for my newer entries as it seems spammers love the old ones.
And as soon as Moveable Type 3.1 launches at the end of this month, all comments will be back on with some SERIOUS spam blocking power. Perhaps by then I'll move my little blog into its permanent home and free up some of Lacey's server space too. Much as I have loved being a tenant and am grateful to Lacey for housing my blog, it's time to move into a new home.
Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Love,
Delara
Thinking about:
All the debt Paul and I have managed to accumulate. Somebody stop us!
Stressing about:
Ditto.
Happy about:
The GORGEOUS weather!
Volleyball at the beach on Sunday - it was just so fun! I'm still basking in the joy of it.
My $9 pink and black small-polka-dotted silk skirt from BRepublic. It's cute, AND it's a bit loose. That's a good sign!
Spaced out about:
Pretty much everything. I have hit what you might call a wall today. And it's name is 4:15 PM.
Looking forward to:
Seeing brotha Markeesha (that's Marc, for those of you who are more civilized than he or I) and dame Tessera at the end of this month. WOOOO HOOO!!
Eating:
A lot of beef these days. I need the iron, apparently. For lunch today, I had a piece of NY strip and rice, leftover from my FABULOUS grilling experience last night. Pierre made killer broccoli too - SO YUMMY! (There's something you won't see in writing very often - killer broccoli?? But paired with the steak, pretty much anything would have tasted heavenly.)
Sweating to:
Stellar tunes on the mp3 player - currently a mix of alternative, rap and pop/rock, a la Hoobastank (unfortunate name, great music), Creed, Tonic, Collective Soul, Three Doors Down, Maroon 5, Beastie Boys, Stone Temple Pilots, Coldplay and Avril Lavigne. I love this mix. It makes me happy.
Wondering about:
What kind of parents Paul and I will actually be. (No, that's not a hint. Sorry.)
Wishing:
That I had a spare $50K just laying around somewhere. Maybe if I did our taxes something good might come our way!!
Also/Still wishing:
That I had time to do our FRIGGIN' taxes! (O Thursday night - you are mine to fill with spreadsheets and calculations! HA!)
Seriously in need of:
A life.
Camping this past weekend was very fun. Thank you Ladan, Piri, Chase, and Andalib for your awesome company!! We had a blast hiking through Mathiessen State Park (cool "canyons" and waterfalls) and eating s'mores with you! Too bad canoeing cost an arm and a leg (well, maybe just an arm) but we'll brave the waters next time perhaps.
Surprisingly, I ate pretty well for a camping weekend. Usually, I go nuts on sugar, but I stayed pretty moderate. Go, D! In some respects, it was a huge triumph.
And I had energy to spare yesterday when we got back - what's up with that?! So, I joined "da gang" at Foster Street Beach for some FABULOUS beach volleyball. Man, it was fun! And I got a good workout. (Thanks, Mahsa, for dinner!)
And now, back to work for the week. Well, kind of. I am working from home today, which means GREAT amounts of focused time writing and preparing various documents - letters, reports, website postings, email messages, etc. - something I generally don't have time to do if I am in the office as I make myself available to those with whom I work. Also, Lacey and I are preparing to facilitate a class on teaching the Faith for the Wilmette Institute peeps Wednesday and Thursday. Alas, I could have sworn it was scheduled for Thursday and Friday! So, we have one less day to prep. Man! Ah well. It will still rock.
So, here are some thoughts milling about in my head today. (I'm going to spare you the rundown of ridiculous dreams I had in succession this morning - like 4-5 of them! Suffice it to say that Charla's wedding plans, rock concerts and spaghetti w. meatballs all were featured prominently. Egads.) I have an issue with saying "back to work" sometimes, even though that's really what it is when Monday morning rolls around. But when you are working for an organization that is wholly linked with your religion, there is a bit of "guilt" around saying "back to work" in the same way that the phrase might be used in the film "Office Space", for example. This has been my dilemma for some time now. I LOVE what I do and the people with whom and for whom I do this work - unquestionably. And there is something rare and precious about being able to earn a living (albeit humble) doing work that directly impacts your national faith community and that even, one might hope, contributes to the betterment of the world. So, in that context, it feels wrong to have the sense of "back to work" Monday mornings - or any other morning, for that matter.
When Mother Theresa went out into the villages to help people, did she wake up in the morning and mutter, "Well, I guess it's back to work today."?? Believe me, I am not making a comparison between myself and MT. Not even close. But it illustrates my point.
So, what then? When I'm tired, and I know that I have letters, email messages, meeting after meeting, and other administrative activities ahead of me for the day, what is the appropriate phrase of choice? Is it work? Is it service? Does it just depend on one's attitude or perspective?
I am positive that my recent spiritual struggles contribute to my current state - that if I could, somehow, connect more spiritually I might not feel the dilemma. AND, the fact that I am really trying hard to understand and embody "the balance" of it all - in a genuine way - is another factor here. I'm not into faking the funk. If I don't feel it, I don't feel it and I'm not going to pretend just to have the appropriate window dressings. So, when it feels burdensome or overwhelming or imbalanced, I cannot smile through it. It is what it is. And when it is those things, it causes me a lot of stress and affects my health - further contributing to the imbalance. Such a pickle!
Before this gets any more convoluted, I'll pause here. And get back to work.