It's happened! One of the least technical of my friends is now blogging! The inspiration? The complete renovation of his home.
Benn is a storyteller and what a way he has with words - especially when those words revolve around his favorite topic. Architecture, of course! Once you get him on the topic of Frank Lloyd Wright, then even transcendent sex pales in comparison - but I digress.
Times really are a'changing when a self-confessed Luddite has a blog. Benn can tell himself his cellphone is very butch with its flashlight, but it's like a Flinstone phone - it looks like it was carved from a piece of (high impact plastic) rock. Now the Blog - the mind fairly reels.
The worst part of it is, I can no longer toddle along with a post here and then a couple weeks (or months!) a post there. The time has come to beat our swords into plowshares of words. And the high-tech gauntlet is down!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wish Book for a New Generation
When we were children, the advent of the Sears Wish Book meant that our Christmas List could finally begin. After all, how would we know what we wanted to put in our letters to Santa unless we could tell him where to find our Christmas Dreams.
These days, my Wish Book lust has been eclipsed by a new love - the IKEA catalog. What dreams lie beneath the colorful glossy paper covers? How wonderful it's delivered to my home and there is even a mailer as an appetizer, reminding me to sample the main course of 375 pages of household decorative items.
The most amazing thing was that IKEA followed up the mailing with a brief survey. I managed to prevent myself from waxing rhapsodic over this odd passion of mine that began with a single bentwood chair (Poang, if you must know) that I purchased in 1987. I still have that chair, and many other items from IKEA.
Is it that nearly everything may be brought home flat and assembled with a metric hex key ("Svorn wrench" in my personal mythos)? Is it the clean lines of Scandinavian design? Is it the clever names for items? Who can say, but whatever it is, I'm hooked!
These days, my Wish Book lust has been eclipsed by a new love - the IKEA catalog. What dreams lie beneath the colorful glossy paper covers? How wonderful it's delivered to my home and there is even a mailer as an appetizer, reminding me to sample the main course of 375 pages of household decorative items.
The most amazing thing was that IKEA followed up the mailing with a brief survey. I managed to prevent myself from waxing rhapsodic over this odd passion of mine that began with a single bentwood chair (Poang, if you must know) that I purchased in 1987. I still have that chair, and many other items from IKEA.
Is it that nearly everything may be brought home flat and assembled with a metric hex key ("Svorn wrench" in my personal mythos)? Is it the clean lines of Scandinavian design? Is it the clever names for items? Who can say, but whatever it is, I'm hooked!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
A Beautiful Day for NYFOS
I'm getting a wee bit better. Only 6 days since my last post, though I think of you all often!
It's a gorgeous day today, great energy for getting job hunting tasks done. I'm treating myself to a review gig tonight at the New York Festival of Song at Merkin Hall tonight with my LCLC - Lesbian Companion (my friend Ruth) to the Lesbian Critic (that's me). Sometimes the companion varies, but the review will be out in the next day or so on QonStage.com, so look for me there.
There is a strong gathering of energy brewing and June will see a lot of stirring among the currently sluggish job market habitues. Those who are both hiring and seeking will find fruitful territory, so I've got a lot of work to do now in these last few days of May. The scene must be set for when Mercury goes direct on May 31 and reaches it's usual place in June.
Random thoughts - there is so much obfuscation in government and how much do we really know about what goes on. Specifically I'm thinking what if the HULU people are the ONLY ones telling us the truth...? Those of us old enough to remember The Monkees TV series recall an episode where there was an eye in the middle of every television set they passed - and they were the only ones (initially) not affected. What messages do we get from our TV sets and what kind of mind control will be accelerated with the digital switch? Who can say, but rent "They Live" featuring Rowdy Roddy Piper and you may be close to being on the right track.... Over and, well, OUT!
It's a gorgeous day today, great energy for getting job hunting tasks done. I'm treating myself to a review gig tonight at the New York Festival of Song at Merkin Hall tonight with my LCLC - Lesbian Companion (my friend Ruth) to the Lesbian Critic (that's me). Sometimes the companion varies, but the review will be out in the next day or so on QonStage.com, so look for me there.
There is a strong gathering of energy brewing and June will see a lot of stirring among the currently sluggish job market habitues. Those who are both hiring and seeking will find fruitful territory, so I've got a lot of work to do now in these last few days of May. The scene must be set for when Mercury goes direct on May 31 and reaches it's usual place in June.
Random thoughts - there is so much obfuscation in government and how much do we really know about what goes on. Specifically I'm thinking what if the HULU people are the ONLY ones telling us the truth...? Those of us old enough to remember The Monkees TV series recall an episode where there was an eye in the middle of every television set they passed - and they were the only ones (initially) not affected. What messages do we get from our TV sets and what kind of mind control will be accelerated with the digital switch? Who can say, but rent "They Live" featuring Rowdy Roddy Piper and you may be close to being on the right track.... Over and, well, OUT!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Has it really been a WEEK?
Greetings, Gentle Reader! It has been nearly a week since my last bloggity-blog so I need to refine my scope a bit to be more regular. On the up-side, a week is better than several!
First, Out Professionals ROCKS! Joe and Douglas were the members whom I was helping run the event and I met so many great people at all points in their careers! Since Mercury is in Retrograde for the next couple of weeks - and had just started that day - I missed the earlier train home. Drat!
It felt like someone put SleepyDust all over me! I was profoundly tired - most likely allergies. The event was stellar, the walk was great and understanding MinR, I patiently waited for the next train. There's always a reason why things happen, and at this point in my life I relax and enjoy it.
It amazes me that no matter how much I grow and change, there are some of my acquaintances who doggedly pursue remaining the same. Life is about change. Sometimes changes are good and sometimes changes are not good, but we need to ride with them and learn from them and be responsive to what's around us because as that sage philosopher Carly Simon said "these ARE the 'good old days'". Tru dat
First, Out Professionals ROCKS! Joe and Douglas were the members whom I was helping run the event and I met so many great people at all points in their careers! Since Mercury is in Retrograde for the next couple of weeks - and had just started that day - I missed the earlier train home. Drat!
It felt like someone put SleepyDust all over me! I was profoundly tired - most likely allergies. The event was stellar, the walk was great and understanding MinR, I patiently waited for the next train. There's always a reason why things happen, and at this point in my life I relax and enjoy it.
It amazes me that no matter how much I grow and change, there are some of my acquaintances who doggedly pursue remaining the same. Life is about change. Sometimes changes are good and sometimes changes are not good, but we need to ride with them and learn from them and be responsive to what's around us because as that sage philosopher Carly Simon said "these ARE the 'good old days'". Tru dat
Thursday, May 7, 2009
It's Today!
I am going to the Out Professionals B2B Networking event at The Center in NYC tonight. This combines several of my favorite things.
First, I get to take the train into Penn Station. I love tapping in to the energy there and when I emerge from below Madison Square Garden, I really feel like Midtown is at my feet. I head up-, cross- or down-town as my will, appointments and feet take me, and this brings me to my second point.
Second, I LOVE walking in Manhattan! The "long" blocks east/west give less of a sense of progress than the "short" blocks north/south, but I can pass a multitude of neighborhoods - no - WORLDS - as I traverse the city on foot. Lately I've been permitting myself a lot of extra time so I can enjoy walking past Parsons School of Design, for instance, and wonder what people are doing and thinking and feeling. What great works or ideas will be generated today?
Third, I get so much positive energy from meeting new people! Tonight I get to meet Joe Renga, with whom I will volunteer to help run the meeting. I will also get to meet 30 or more new friends and who knows what value and great things we will bring to each other's lives. Meeting new people encourages me to view the world through their eyes and that often reveals insights I would not have found on my own.
Finally, the only way to grow, to stretch, to keep one's edge is to get out in the world. If you sit in a room, it's hard to find new ways of seeing, new ways of being smart, funny, pensive, intellectual. We all need other people to expand our horizons. And that is what will keep my brain young.
First, I get to take the train into Penn Station. I love tapping in to the energy there and when I emerge from below Madison Square Garden, I really feel like Midtown is at my feet. I head up-, cross- or down-town as my will, appointments and feet take me, and this brings me to my second point.
Second, I LOVE walking in Manhattan! The "long" blocks east/west give less of a sense of progress than the "short" blocks north/south, but I can pass a multitude of neighborhoods - no - WORLDS - as I traverse the city on foot. Lately I've been permitting myself a lot of extra time so I can enjoy walking past Parsons School of Design, for instance, and wonder what people are doing and thinking and feeling. What great works or ideas will be generated today?
Third, I get so much positive energy from meeting new people! Tonight I get to meet Joe Renga, with whom I will volunteer to help run the meeting. I will also get to meet 30 or more new friends and who knows what value and great things we will bring to each other's lives. Meeting new people encourages me to view the world through their eyes and that often reveals insights I would not have found on my own.
Finally, the only way to grow, to stretch, to keep one's edge is to get out in the world. If you sit in a room, it's hard to find new ways of seeing, new ways of being smart, funny, pensive, intellectual. We all need other people to expand our horizons. And that is what will keep my brain young.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
If It Is To Be....
I keep having thoughts that echo old sentiments. Some of the sentiments should be dusted off though, like antique crystal, and held up to the light.
There's no doubt it's a tough old world and that is not going to change. My recent change in positiong - aka losing my job - is a case in point. I have a lot of decisions to make about what I want and where I am going next and it's exciting, and I want to do it correctly - watching where my steps will lead when they are in front of me, rather than behind.
Toward that end, I went to a Lifecoaching presentation at GAAMC last night and Elias Scultori had a lot to say about the source of decision-making for most people. It comes down, very simply, to "do you make your decisions out of Love or Fear". Elias went on to say that 90% or more of the decisions a person makes on a daily basis come down to that. What do YOU choose to do with the tools you have? No matter how level or not the playing field might be, we need to do the best with what we have at hand.
This might sound really common-sensical, but hearing this same wisdom from several sources - work with what you have, and make it the best that you can - is like water in the desert. I have times where I give myself over to internal and external demons, but what always brings me back is "if it is to be, it's up to me!".
I heed the call for personal responsibility. Going forward every success I have is attributable to taking responsibility for myself. It's all up to ME!
There's no doubt it's a tough old world and that is not going to change. My recent change in positiong - aka losing my job - is a case in point. I have a lot of decisions to make about what I want and where I am going next and it's exciting, and I want to do it correctly - watching where my steps will lead when they are in front of me, rather than behind.
Toward that end, I went to a Lifecoaching presentation at GAAMC last night and Elias Scultori had a lot to say about the source of decision-making for most people. It comes down, very simply, to "do you make your decisions out of Love or Fear". Elias went on to say that 90% or more of the decisions a person makes on a daily basis come down to that. What do YOU choose to do with the tools you have? No matter how level or not the playing field might be, we need to do the best with what we have at hand.
This might sound really common-sensical, but hearing this same wisdom from several sources - work with what you have, and make it the best that you can - is like water in the desert. I have times where I give myself over to internal and external demons, but what always brings me back is "if it is to be, it's up to me!".
I heed the call for personal responsibility. Going forward every success I have is attributable to taking responsibility for myself. It's all up to ME!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Brave "New" World
Times change, people don't usually. It seems to me though that there are many opportunities afoot.
In the wake of last week's election (was it really only a week ago?!? Yup!), the change in the White House is precipitating change everywhere. A very new leader in our pantheon has children of all ages pondering what's truly possible.
Black American children can ponder the option of the Presidency, and feel its truth, for the first time. And American children of all colors and circumstances of birth can see that whether they are boys or girls, options exist for them to make a difference both individually and together. But not all is rosy.
California voters of ALL descriptions handed their LGBTI fellow citizens a bitter, though not lasting, defeat. For all the heterosexual mixed race couples who feel free holding hands and marrying - Asian and Black, White and Asian, White and Black, Latin and Black, etc., have you forgotten (or perhaps are entirely ignorant) of the 1968 Supreme Court decision in Loving v. The State of Virginia that guaranteed YOUR right under the constitution to equal protection in whom you love? Equality is no different for the hue of your skin in the eyes of Whomever you believe in, so why should the gender of whom I love make a whit's (or a wit's) difference to you?!?
The Mormon Church and the Catholic Church and several Pentecostal and Evangelical Churches poured MILLIONS of dollars into encoding, for now, discrimination into the constitutions of California, Florida and Arizona. But these houses, divided among themselves, cannot stand. First, those MILLIONS of American dollars in this dicey economy could have greater effect in creating jobs for the jobless, homes for the homeless, food for the hungry, and literacy for those who can't read. It could help immigrants become legal citizens and help runaway youth avoid the pitfalls they encounter on the way to their new lives or back to resume the ones they've left.
More important is the fact that all of these hate-mongers hiding behind the symbol of their religion are not heeding the New Testament teachings they claim to embrace. And the victory they've bought, yes BOUGHT, is Pyhrric since the discrimination they are trying to encode violates the full protection clause of the US Constitution. Under full protection, I believe that DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell will also be repealed, but not without OUR fight.
Here's what we do - grass roots organizing to change minds one by one. Tell each person why Marriage Equality is part of full equality for every person. Whether or not they feel marriage is important - whether they are married, single, divorced, gay, straight, bi, etc. We all deserve full equality. And when we HAVE that, we still can't rest - because we have to fight to KEEP our rights. Look at Roe v. Wade.
Bottom line - learn about your neighbors, co-workers and friends and be part of the greater family. Sleeper cells and terrorism exist in places where we are separated from one another, disenfranchised and don't give or receive the opportunity for understanding.
Once we start work on this, we are on our way to the Brave New World.
In the wake of last week's election (was it really only a week ago?!? Yup!), the change in the White House is precipitating change everywhere. A very new leader in our pantheon has children of all ages pondering what's truly possible.
Black American children can ponder the option of the Presidency, and feel its truth, for the first time. And American children of all colors and circumstances of birth can see that whether they are boys or girls, options exist for them to make a difference both individually and together. But not all is rosy.
California voters of ALL descriptions handed their LGBTI fellow citizens a bitter, though not lasting, defeat. For all the heterosexual mixed race couples who feel free holding hands and marrying - Asian and Black, White and Asian, White and Black, Latin and Black, etc., have you forgotten (or perhaps are entirely ignorant) of the 1968 Supreme Court decision in Loving v. The State of Virginia that guaranteed YOUR right under the constitution to equal protection in whom you love? Equality is no different for the hue of your skin in the eyes of Whomever you believe in, so why should the gender of whom I love make a whit's (or a wit's) difference to you?!?
The Mormon Church and the Catholic Church and several Pentecostal and Evangelical Churches poured MILLIONS of dollars into encoding, for now, discrimination into the constitutions of California, Florida and Arizona. But these houses, divided among themselves, cannot stand. First, those MILLIONS of American dollars in this dicey economy could have greater effect in creating jobs for the jobless, homes for the homeless, food for the hungry, and literacy for those who can't read. It could help immigrants become legal citizens and help runaway youth avoid the pitfalls they encounter on the way to their new lives or back to resume the ones they've left.
More important is the fact that all of these hate-mongers hiding behind the symbol of their religion are not heeding the New Testament teachings they claim to embrace. And the victory they've bought, yes BOUGHT, is Pyhrric since the discrimination they are trying to encode violates the full protection clause of the US Constitution. Under full protection, I believe that DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell will also be repealed, but not without OUR fight.
Here's what we do - grass roots organizing to change minds one by one. Tell each person why Marriage Equality is part of full equality for every person. Whether or not they feel marriage is important - whether they are married, single, divorced, gay, straight, bi, etc. We all deserve full equality. And when we HAVE that, we still can't rest - because we have to fight to KEEP our rights. Look at Roe v. Wade.
Bottom line - learn about your neighbors, co-workers and friends and be part of the greater family. Sleeper cells and terrorism exist in places where we are separated from one another, disenfranchised and don't give or receive the opportunity for understanding.
Once we start work on this, we are on our way to the Brave New World.
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