After months of anger and frustration about the situation in the Gulf, I have finally found a great way to help out with oil spill relief that is not necessarily expensive. I'm sure that donations to organizations such as the National Audubon Society and Ducks Unlimitied (and a whole host of others working to relieve the situation - click here for the Better Business Bureau's list) are more than welcome and absolutely necessary - but if you're not able to come up with a chunk of change any time soon (I feel your pain!) here's another great way to help!
In my quest to clean up my wedding-related firefox bookmarks, I've been clicking on things I've bookmarked to see whether or not I need to keep them. One craft blog lead to another and then lead to another....and I stumbled across Craft Hope. They've teamed up with The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Audubon Nature Institute, and the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge and have started an effort to collect rags and towels for cleaning oiled animals: birds, turtles, dolphins, you name it. The post specifies size and materials, and lists the address where this stuff needs to be sent. It's a great opportunity to gather up your old sheets or go through your t-shirt bin and have a little fun with some fabric scissors :) If you're so inclined, you could even throw in a bottle or two of Dawn (why Dawn? Read this)
See? Totally easy! And cheap! And you can stop feeling totally and utterly helpless and useless (how I've been feeling)!
There is a "deadline" for this project - July 3rd - I think it's mostly so the woman delivering supplies doesn't get completely overwhelmed, though she said she'd accept donations beyond the "deadline" of course...but the "deadline" for me is just another reason to go through my old stuff to try and help out, especially since I'll be moving in a couple of months and would've had to do this anyway. I can't believe I'm suddenly looking forward to sorting out that old t-shirt bin!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Still Awake
After this week of work madness I needed some peace and quiet.
My coworker and office mate, whom I actually like a lot, was full of complaints and noise today.
I was at the end of my rope. I left early. I walked through a mob of my coworkers way way early and said "have a nice weekend!" and did NOT look back nor CARE.
I finished my book.
I snoozed on the train.
I sang show tunes all the way home.
Then I took myself to the river.
It was all bluegreenshimmery and it smelled like summer and water.
The air was full of birds and dragonflies.
It was glorious glorious and quiet and still and comforting and peaceful.
And perfect.
Strangely after all this
I'm still awake.I'm supposed to be working on a wedding "to do" document.
Instead I'm rewatching the series finale of Lost....
And listening to some Great-Horned Owls call to each other.
It's quiet and peaceful too.
Just what I needed.
Dream Last Night
Last night I dreamed it was Sunday morning.
My father went out the side door to get the Boston Globe off the side walkway.
He bent over and looked at the front page and said 'I forgot we lost a guy this week.'
I dreamed a state trooper had died.
This morning I woke up, and that's just what happened. It has me quite spooked.
This story is sad beyond sad. My heart goes out to the family. Four kids? Tragic. I have so much empathy for the situation. I understand the motive for working late at night, extra details, the danger of working out on the road. Lucky for me, I have never had to experience a loss such as this.
This easily could've been our family. How many nights did my father stand outside on the highways, directing traffic, working details to put me and my sister through college? Hundreds. Probably even thousands. He even got hit by a car at least twice. Thank the powers above he retired.
I have no more words. So I'm stopping.
My father went out the side door to get the Boston Globe off the side walkway.
He bent over and looked at the front page and said 'I forgot we lost a guy this week.'
I dreamed a state trooper had died.
This morning I woke up, and that's just what happened. It has me quite spooked.
This story is sad beyond sad. My heart goes out to the family. Four kids? Tragic. I have so much empathy for the situation. I understand the motive for working late at night, extra details, the danger of working out on the road. Lucky for me, I have never had to experience a loss such as this.
This easily could've been our family. How many nights did my father stand outside on the highways, directing traffic, working details to put me and my sister through college? Hundreds. Probably even thousands. He even got hit by a car at least twice. Thank the powers above he retired.
I have no more words. So I'm stopping.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
101 Things in 1,001 Days
**Yes it took me 12 days to finish this post. Blogger hates my computer at work and at home and keeps crashing. Enormous frustration. I also changed the blog background. I've wanted to do this forever, but am now completely unsure of my choice. I will probably make many changes before settling on something for good.....**
I have a HUGE HUGE HUGE HUUUUUUUUGE project due at work.
That's not the problem. The problem is I AM A PROCRASTINATOR. Have been since college. It's kind of bad...ok, not kind of bad, it's really bad. I am supposed to have a pile of work done by tomorrow, and instead of getting it done now, during my normal 8:20-4:20, I'm sitting here blogging, knowing full well I'll probably be catching the 6:15 or 7:30 train home due to my procrastinating propensities.
Why would I do this? My best work is done under pressure. Yeah, I know professors tell you in college "don't wait until the last minute to do this paper! It's 90 pages, and I'll know if you did it the night before." Not to brag (and I'm not going to call it bragging because I didn't even make the dean's list til senior year) but I NEVER received less than a B on a paper, and actually, I can count the number of "B" papers on a single hand (not that you would know from reading this blog, since I write in broken English , on the fly, do not edit, and probably commit any number of egregious spelling and grammatical mistakes. At least I edited in college!) Tests, well tests are a whole other story, lol, I bombed most of my college exams because I suck at tests HARD, which is why I took four writing-based classes senior year...but I digress...the point is, I produce my best work under pressure and know that my project will be better if I wait and do it tonight. In the meantime, I'm a-blogging.
So I am ready to share my list of 101 things I want to accomplish in 1,001 days. Of course some things won't happen. I know that. But I am a list maker. And part of me will love failing to do all the things on this list, because then I'll be able to make a new to-do list with all my unfinished things. The cycle continues...and I like to be 1o5, expiring only after I complete my list. Makes perfect sense, does it not?! (ps I just fixed my , key and feel like a goddang genius. Had to share that tidbit)
Anyways, here goes my boring ass list with brief explanations. Note that I did not take the easy route out by writing things such as "get married." Just note.
1. Get an article published in a magazine
Kind of a copout since I am planning on being published in an academic journal soon. Still though.
2. Read the Bible (Old and New Testaments)
I've only read a few things. And since I have strong opinions about the Bible and religion, I should probably do the background reading, right?
3. Visit a new continent
4. Go back to Africa
Pretty please?! It's my heart and soul.
5. Buy a house
Would be nice
6. Plant a lilac
7. Walk the whole Freedom Trail
What kind of Bostonian am I having never done that?!
8. Visit 10 new states
9. Go to five new national parks
10. Buy a hybrid car
11. See 30 new birds
neeerrrrrd alert
12. Kayak in a new place
13. Make myself a sweater
14. Run the Boston Marathon
unless my shin acts up again :(
15. Skydive
Second scariest thing on this list
16. Memorize three poems
17. Get out of debt
uh, credit card debt...unless I hit the lottery the student debt is here to stay for a while
18. See a Red Sox game
19. Skip work for fun
20. Help an animal
21. Take a cooking class
22. Try and learn a new language
Wow, it was a real moment of weakness when I put that up there
23. Learn basic home repair
24. Take a dance class with Jamaal
25. Read 20 books from Modern Library's List of 100 Best Books of the 20th Century
26. Go to a drive-in movie
27. Learn more about my ancestors
28. Write a letter to a teacher who changed my life
29. Help someone do something they thought they couldn't
30. Make a pie with fruit I've grown myself
31. Visit the Mapparium
32. Go to the top of a lighthouse
33. Sponsor a child
34. Knit 50 hats for Caps for Kids
35. Have a spa day
36. Finish a coloring book with a new pack of crayons
37. Read all the unread books currently on my shelf
38. Climb a mountain (or a large hill)
because I hate hiking
39. Make a custom recipe book
40. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy/grateful
because I am a complaining b*tch sometimes
41. Go to the Heifer farm to deliver baby lambs
42. Turn off the TV for a week
43. Photo document a year of married life
44. Document a week
45. Catch up on my scrapbooking
46. Finally make the gay quilt for EE
47. Finish my senior year calligraphy project
48. Work on a Habitat for Humanity house
49. See 10 classic movies I've never seen
50. Go to a Broadway show
51. Go to a book signing and tell the author why I liked his/her book
52. Take a snowboarding lesson
53. Learn how to play tennis
54. Buy a pair of killer heels
55. Participate in a sprint triathlon
56. Make a marriage sampler
57. Take yoga
58. Go to afternoon tea with a friend
59. Enlarge one of my photos into a canvas artpiece
60. Help someone anonymously
61. Shoot a gun (at a shooting range)
62. Visit Niagra Falls
63. Learn (properly) how to change a flat tire
64. Do 100 pushups
65. Put dead batteries in all my watches
66. Learn all the countries in the world and their capitals
67. Get caught up at work
68. Make a meal with only local food
69. Participate in a flash mob
70. Finish my bird life list
71. Go iceskating
72. Fly a kite
73. Buy a lottery ticket
74. Take a trip with my sister
75. Host a fabulous dinner party and invite friends
76. Dedicate one wall in my house as a "travel wall" filled with memories
77. Answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"
78. Scan my unscanned photos; save on external HD, put in my parent's fireproof safe
79. Visit 5 DC Museums I've never visited
80. Watch 10 documentaries
81. Learn to juggle
82. Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
83. Visit Western Mass with Jamaal
84. Complete a possessions purge
85. Go out to eat in a fancy Boston restaurant
86. Get a good pair of jeans that are flattering and fit
87. Have a nice surprise waiting for Jamaal when he comes home from a traveling stint
88. Go camping
89. Ride a rollercoaster (it's been YEARS)
90. Recycle WAY more
91. Spend a day at the beach
92. Learn about wine
93. Reduce my yarn stash to nearly 0
94. Buy a bottle of Perrier Jouet to celebrate the completion of this list
95. Have my sister teach me how to use photoshop
96. Learn and identify 5 constellations
97. Give up soda for a month
98. Try 10 new crafts in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts
99. Meet with a rep at work to review my 401k and 403b's
100. Have a baby
the FIRST most scariest thing on this list. Don't know if I'll be ready. Or that it will happen. Um, but wouldn't it be insane if by Feb 2013 I had a kiddo? CRAZY.
101. Write about doing this challenge.
So there it is. Some of the things WILL get done. Some won't. I'm interested to see what I accomplish. OK Back to work...
I have a HUGE HUGE HUGE HUUUUUUUUGE project due at work.
That's not the problem. The problem is I AM A PROCRASTINATOR. Have been since college. It's kind of bad...ok, not kind of bad, it's really bad. I am supposed to have a pile of work done by tomorrow, and instead of getting it done now, during my normal 8:20-4:20, I'm sitting here blogging, knowing full well I'll probably be catching the 6:15 or 7:30 train home due to my procrastinating propensities.
Why would I do this? My best work is done under pressure. Yeah, I know professors tell you in college "don't wait until the last minute to do this paper! It's 90 pages, and I'll know if you did it the night before." Not to brag (and I'm not going to call it bragging because I didn't even make the dean's list til senior year) but I NEVER received less than a B on a paper, and actually, I can count the number of "B" papers on a single hand (not that you would know from reading this blog, since I write in broken English , on the fly, do not edit, and probably commit any number of egregious spelling and grammatical mistakes. At least I edited in college!) Tests, well tests are a whole other story, lol, I bombed most of my college exams because I suck at tests HARD, which is why I took four writing-based classes senior year...but I digress...the point is, I produce my best work under pressure and know that my project will be better if I wait and do it tonight. In the meantime, I'm a-blogging.
So I am ready to share my list of 101 things I want to accomplish in 1,001 days. Of course some things won't happen. I know that. But I am a list maker. And part of me will love failing to do all the things on this list, because then I'll be able to make a new to-do list with all my unfinished things. The cycle continues...and I like to be 1o5, expiring only after I complete my list. Makes perfect sense, does it not?! (ps I just fixed my , key and feel like a goddang genius. Had to share that tidbit)
Anyways, here goes my boring ass list with brief explanations. Note that I did not take the easy route out by writing things such as "get married." Just note.
1. Get an article published in a magazine
Kind of a copout since I am planning on being published in an academic journal soon. Still though.
2. Read the Bible (Old and New Testaments)
I've only read a few things. And since I have strong opinions about the Bible and religion, I should probably do the background reading, right?
3. Visit a new continent
4. Go back to Africa
Pretty please?! It's my heart and soul.
5. Buy a house
Would be nice
6. Plant a lilac
7. Walk the whole Freedom Trail
What kind of Bostonian am I having never done that?!
8. Visit 10 new states
9. Go to five new national parks
10. Buy a hybrid car
11. See 30 new birds
neeerrrrrd alert
12. Kayak in a new place
13. Make myself a sweater
14. Run the Boston Marathon
unless my shin acts up again :(
15. Skydive
Second scariest thing on this list
16. Memorize three poems
17. Get out of debt
uh, credit card debt...unless I hit the lottery the student debt is here to stay for a while
18. See a Red Sox game
19. Skip work for fun
20. Help an animal
21. Take a cooking class
22. Try and learn a new language
Wow, it was a real moment of weakness when I put that up there
23. Learn basic home repair
24. Take a dance class with Jamaal
25. Read 20 books from Modern Library's List of 100 Best Books of the 20th Century
26. Go to a drive-in movie
27. Learn more about my ancestors
28. Write a letter to a teacher who changed my life
29. Help someone do something they thought they couldn't
30. Make a pie with fruit I've grown myself
31. Visit the Mapparium
32. Go to the top of a lighthouse
33. Sponsor a child
34. Knit 50 hats for Caps for Kids
35. Have a spa day
36. Finish a coloring book with a new pack of crayons
37. Read all the unread books currently on my shelf
38. Climb a mountain (or a large hill)
because I hate hiking
39. Make a custom recipe book
40. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy/grateful
because I am a complaining b*tch sometimes
41. Go to the Heifer farm to deliver baby lambs
42. Turn off the TV for a week
43. Photo document a year of married life
44. Document a week
45. Catch up on my scrapbooking
46. Finally make the gay quilt for EE
47. Finish my senior year calligraphy project
48. Work on a Habitat for Humanity house
49. See 10 classic movies I've never seen
50. Go to a Broadway show
51. Go to a book signing and tell the author why I liked his/her book
52. Take a snowboarding lesson
53. Learn how to play tennis
54. Buy a pair of killer heels
55. Participate in a sprint triathlon
56. Make a marriage sampler
57. Take yoga
58. Go to afternoon tea with a friend
59. Enlarge one of my photos into a canvas artpiece
60. Help someone anonymously
61. Shoot a gun (at a shooting range)
62. Visit Niagra Falls
63. Learn (properly) how to change a flat tire
64. Do 100 pushups
65. Put dead batteries in all my watches
66. Learn all the countries in the world and their capitals
67. Get caught up at work
68. Make a meal with only local food
69. Participate in a flash mob
70. Finish my bird life list
71. Go iceskating
72. Fly a kite
73. Buy a lottery ticket
74. Take a trip with my sister
75. Host a fabulous dinner party and invite friends
76. Dedicate one wall in my house as a "travel wall" filled with memories
77. Answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"
78. Scan my unscanned photos; save on external HD, put in my parent's fireproof safe
79. Visit 5 DC Museums I've never visited
80. Watch 10 documentaries
81. Learn to juggle
82. Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
83. Visit Western Mass with Jamaal
84. Complete a possessions purge
85. Go out to eat in a fancy Boston restaurant
86. Get a good pair of jeans that are flattering and fit
87. Have a nice surprise waiting for Jamaal when he comes home from a traveling stint
88. Go camping
89. Ride a rollercoaster (it's been YEARS)
90. Recycle WAY more
91. Spend a day at the beach
92. Learn about wine
93. Reduce my yarn stash to nearly 0
94. Buy a bottle of Perrier Jouet to celebrate the completion of this list
95. Have my sister teach me how to use photoshop
96. Learn and identify 5 constellations
97. Give up soda for a month
98. Try 10 new crafts in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts
99. Meet with a rep at work to review my 401k and 403b's
100. Have a baby
the FIRST most scariest thing on this list. Don't know if I'll be ready. Or that it will happen. Um, but wouldn't it be insane if by Feb 2013 I had a kiddo? CRAZY.
101. Write about doing this challenge.
So there it is. Some of the things WILL get done. Some won't. I'm interested to see what I accomplish. OK Back to work...
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
If you are bored, or trying to INTENSELY procrastinate>>>
Head on over to testcolor.com for an online color personality test. It's fun, it eats up a small portion of the day...
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The Weekend
The weekend was quite lovely.
It was relaxing - I shopped, went to the gym, lazed about watching my hulu queue, and worked on wedding decorations.
I have pictures I'll put up later...
In other news, I was cleaning up my favorite links over there on the right side of the page and "re-discovered" a bunch of blogs I thought were dormant. Putting them on my google reader was practically akin to Christmas morning, all those juicy new posts to go through. Hurrah!
I have many to add back to that list. I subscribe to 111 blogs via google reader though, so I'm not sure that there's enough room on my little blog scroll. We'll see.
Also, I am still mad about the oil spill.
So mad. Anyone have book recommendations on cutting oil dependency/living green, etc? I'll take anything worthwhile, not just oil-cutting tips, though those would be preferable!
That is all, back to the drudgery of the work day (sorry this was so boring).
It was relaxing - I shopped, went to the gym, lazed about watching my hulu queue, and worked on wedding decorations.
I have pictures I'll put up later...
In other news, I was cleaning up my favorite links over there on the right side of the page and "re-discovered" a bunch of blogs I thought were dormant. Putting them on my google reader was practically akin to Christmas morning, all those juicy new posts to go through. Hurrah!
I have many to add back to that list. I subscribe to 111 blogs via google reader though, so I'm not sure that there's enough room on my little blog scroll. We'll see.
Also, I am still mad about the oil spill.
So mad. Anyone have book recommendations on cutting oil dependency/living green, etc? I'll take anything worthwhile, not just oil-cutting tips, though those would be preferable!
That is all, back to the drudgery of the work day (sorry this was so boring).
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