"Our troops come from every corner of this country - they are black, white, Latino, Asian and Native American. They are Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that some of them are gay. Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love."
President Obama, State of the Union Address, January25, 2011.
January 27, 2011
January 25, 2011
Photo of the Week
This week's photo of the week is a series of photos I call "Alone in a Hotel Bathroom."
Location: Chicago
Medium: Camera Phone
Location: Chicago
Medium: Camera Phone
January 20, 2011
Quote of the Week
I've long been a fan of greeting card (and now poster, calendar, you-name-it) artist Renee Locks. Take one look and you'll see why - beautiful paintings of trees and flowers with inspirational quotes in stunning calligraphy - shocking that I would be so attracted to her work, I know.
I first bought a greeting card of hers in college, which I had planned to frame, but it was many years before I finally did so. The painting was a single delicate flower and the quote was "..And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
I'm ashamed to admit that at the time I only knew of Anais Nin from a Jewel song, but still I found the quote stunning, personal and relevant. A late bloomer in several ways, I was, desperately at times, trying to hold on so tightly to what I knew. Fear played a central role in everything I did, or, should I say, didn't do. Too afraid to go too far away for college, I gave up free room and board out of state and stuck close to home to follow several friends to a nearby university. Afraid to be on my own, I traded the typical college experience for what was safe, for what kept me tight in a bud, because I was afraid to grow and blossom into someone that didn't coincide with the path I was on - college, marriage, job, children.
But Anais Nin was right... there came a time when it was too painful to remain as I was and even though I didn't have the answers, I listened to my heart and to my gut (which is right 99.9% of the time) and I started on a new path of self discovery. It pains me to think of where I would be now if I hadn't taken the risk to blossom.
I first bought a greeting card of hers in college, which I had planned to frame, but it was many years before I finally did so. The painting was a single delicate flower and the quote was "..And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
I'm ashamed to admit that at the time I only knew of Anais Nin from a Jewel song, but still I found the quote stunning, personal and relevant. A late bloomer in several ways, I was, desperately at times, trying to hold on so tightly to what I knew. Fear played a central role in everything I did, or, should I say, didn't do. Too afraid to go too far away for college, I gave up free room and board out of state and stuck close to home to follow several friends to a nearby university. Afraid to be on my own, I traded the typical college experience for what was safe, for what kept me tight in a bud, because I was afraid to grow and blossom into someone that didn't coincide with the path I was on - college, marriage, job, children.
But Anais Nin was right... there came a time when it was too painful to remain as I was and even though I didn't have the answers, I listened to my heart and to my gut (which is right 99.9% of the time) and I started on a new path of self discovery. It pains me to think of where I would be now if I hadn't taken the risk to blossom.
January 19, 2011
Happy Birthday, Betty White!
Shakespeare said a rose by any other name would surely smell as sweet. Well, not so when you're referring to Rose Nylund. No one is more sweet (smelling or otherwise) than Betty White. I was eleven years old when I fell in love with Betty, proving that I was an old soul from the beginning. While most young girls were swooning over Zach and A.C. Slater, I was taking comedic cues and reveling in the witty repertoire of Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia, four senior citizens in Miami. Rose Nylund is arguably one of the best television characters ever created. Played by a comedic genius, her St. Olaf stories and bits of "wisdom" are classic and thanks to the Hallmark channel's back-to-back reruns of The Golden Girls, I often spend hours laughing along with my favorite Golden Girls of the 80s.
It's educational too... Click to see Rose explain what gerkonanaken is.
Loved by so many, even though she was absent from television for several years, a Facebook campaign ignited her fan base of millions into voting her to host Saturday Night Live for the first time at age 88. Since then she's been in Super Bowl commercials, feature films with Sandra Bullock and Sigourney Weaver, another hit television show, Hot in Cleveland, about to enter its second season as well as traveling the talk show circuit drinking shots of vodka with David Letterman and playing beer pong with Jimmy Fallon. Everyone's favorite grandmother, she's sweet as pie with a cunning wit and proves she still has what it takes to make us laugh and fall in love with her all over again.
Monday she celebrated her 89th birthday with her colleagues and friends and was as vibrant as ever. The envy of every 9-year-old in America, Betty was serenaded by Justin Bieber. As she blew out the candles on her enormous cake she remarked "I had a chance, and I blew it!"
With the last campaign such a success, there is a new Facebook campaign to make Betty's birthday, January 17th, a national holiday. I vote yes! I for one would celebrate with my fellow golden girls by nibbling on some vanskapkaka and playing a little GoWackaNoggin.
Happy Birthday, Betty! And many more!
It's educational too... Click to see Rose explain what gerkonanaken is.
Loved by so many, even though she was absent from television for several years, a Facebook campaign ignited her fan base of millions into voting her to host Saturday Night Live for the first time at age 88. Since then she's been in Super Bowl commercials, feature films with Sandra Bullock and Sigourney Weaver, another hit television show, Hot in Cleveland, about to enter its second season as well as traveling the talk show circuit drinking shots of vodka with David Letterman and playing beer pong with Jimmy Fallon. Everyone's favorite grandmother, she's sweet as pie with a cunning wit and proves she still has what it takes to make us laugh and fall in love with her all over again.
Monday she celebrated her 89th birthday with her colleagues and friends and was as vibrant as ever. The envy of every 9-year-old in America, Betty was serenaded by Justin Bieber. As she blew out the candles on her enormous cake she remarked "I had a chance, and I blew it!"
With the last campaign such a success, there is a new Facebook campaign to make Betty's birthday, January 17th, a national holiday. I vote yes! I for one would celebrate with my fellow golden girls by nibbling on some vanskapkaka and playing a little GoWackaNoggin.
Happy Birthday, Betty! And many more!
January 18, 2011
Photo of the Week
Happy Tuesday! I took this week's photo in October 2010. Playing around with the art of focus, I took this photo which now serves as a reminder that in the midst of all the chaos and noise in the world, including our jobs, our families, our relationships and our responsibilities, there's no need to be overwhelmed. Every one of us has the ability and discipline to stop and clearly focus on what's right in front of us.
January 17, 2011
Still Dreaming
Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. A pivotal figure in the civil rights movement, his famous I Have a Dream speech is more than a dialogue, it is a prayer, a poem, a plea and a song of inspiration, hope, justice and peace. Dr. King was a visionary leader and it is for his contributions, leadership and belief in justice for all Americans that we celebrate him on this day.
Let me ask you - how did you celebrate? Perhaps like me you had the day off of work and relished the three-day weekend...you went to the gym, caught up on DVR'd shows, wrote some emails, went to the movies, ate dinner out. Perhaps you took a few seconds out of your day to remember Dr. King's speech and reflect on how far we've come since 1963.
Or perhaps, like me, you hadn't heard or listened to the speech in its entirety since you were in school so you looked it up and sat on the couch with your laptop and read every word, tears streaming down your face because the poetry of it and the prayers of peace and hope were so powerful and still so relevant. (Read the speech here or watch and listen to it here.)
You see, Dr. King wasn't just seeking justice for African Americans. He was too much of a visionary to stop there. His prayers for justice encompassed ALL Americans. More than that, his vision of peace encompassed the world. As an ordained minister of Christian faith, he recognized the importance for people of all races, religions and cultures of the world to come together as one people. He traveled to India to further acquaint himself with the teachings of Ghandi and formed friendships with a prominent Rabbi and the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. In his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, Dr. King shared a world view that we continue to strive for and struggle with almost 50 years later: "This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited ... a great 'world house' in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Muslim and Hindu ... Because we can never again live apart, we must learn somehow to live with each other in peace."
I read about Dr. King's interfaith views in this fantastic blog by Eboo Patel in which the author makes a comparison between the problems with the "color line" of the past to the "faith line" of the present, and I agree with him. Our country, where once divided so distinctly by race, is now divided by religious principles and judging by recent headlines and the intense opposition between parties, a religious war on our own soil is not entirely unthinkable.
Today I find myself wishing that Dr. King was still here. Even though he would be 82 years old this year, I know in my heart that his voice would rise above the chaos and turmoil, just as it did on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, and we would hear his call of duty and respond as his soldiers of peace, acceptance, brotherhood and love.
Rest in Peace Dr. King. You are missed.
Let me ask you - how did you celebrate? Perhaps like me you had the day off of work and relished the three-day weekend...you went to the gym, caught up on DVR'd shows, wrote some emails, went to the movies, ate dinner out. Perhaps you took a few seconds out of your day to remember Dr. King's speech and reflect on how far we've come since 1963.
Or perhaps, like me, you hadn't heard or listened to the speech in its entirety since you were in school so you looked it up and sat on the couch with your laptop and read every word, tears streaming down your face because the poetry of it and the prayers of peace and hope were so powerful and still so relevant. (Read the speech here or watch and listen to it here.)
You see, Dr. King wasn't just seeking justice for African Americans. He was too much of a visionary to stop there. His prayers for justice encompassed ALL Americans. More than that, his vision of peace encompassed the world. As an ordained minister of Christian faith, he recognized the importance for people of all races, religions and cultures of the world to come together as one people. He traveled to India to further acquaint himself with the teachings of Ghandi and formed friendships with a prominent Rabbi and the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. In his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, Dr. King shared a world view that we continue to strive for and struggle with almost 50 years later: "This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited ... a great 'world house' in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Muslim and Hindu ... Because we can never again live apart, we must learn somehow to live with each other in peace."
I read about Dr. King's interfaith views in this fantastic blog by Eboo Patel in which the author makes a comparison between the problems with the "color line" of the past to the "faith line" of the present, and I agree with him. Our country, where once divided so distinctly by race, is now divided by religious principles and judging by recent headlines and the intense opposition between parties, a religious war on our own soil is not entirely unthinkable.
Today I find myself wishing that Dr. King was still here. Even though he would be 82 years old this year, I know in my heart that his voice would rise above the chaos and turmoil, just as it did on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, and we would hear his call of duty and respond as his soldiers of peace, acceptance, brotherhood and love.
Rest in Peace Dr. King. You are missed.
January 13, 2011
Quote of the Week
This week's quote of the week is not incredibly moving or ridiculously funny, but still hit close to home...
In a recent interview for Allure magazine, Jennifer Aniston was asked about the famous "Rachel haircut" of the 90s. Her response?
"How do I say this. I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen."
How embarrassing for all who attempted to copy the Rachel cut in 1995, including yours truly.
In a recent interview for Allure magazine, Jennifer Aniston was asked about the famous "Rachel haircut" of the 90s. Her response?
"How do I say this. I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen."
How embarrassing for all who attempted to copy the Rachel cut in 1995, including yours truly.
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