Skills

Since I have realized that my true calling in life is to be a Rennisance woman, sans bustier and dirty hair, I have been thinking of the skills that would would be good to have.

1. Knowing Spices- cumin, basil, corriander, tyme, curry, marjoram, rosemary, cinnimon, nutmeg, ginger, etc.... Spices make life more interesting, more flavorful, and ultimatly more delicious.

2. Being able to frame things- I want to cut a perfet mat, it's as simple at that.

3. Living sans car- Well this already has been happening due to unforseen financial circumstances. May God grant me the ability to take the bus (and other forms of alternative transportation) as long as I live.

4. Plucking My Mandolin- "Trying to scratch out a pleasent simple tune without breaking (my) neck."

5. Dancing with My Belly- I am a strong and flexible girl. I need to move with my strengths and and love the lumps. ,

There, five skills are enough to work on for now.

The First Moment

At midnight, standing from my miniscule balcony in Ballard there is light all around. Fireworks set off in front yards and into the night sky are all around. Horns are tooting. There are ones that sound like crying babies and then somewhere in the background there is a trumpet sounding in one long note. All around I hear clappers and drums and bells and shouting into the dark.

On my balcony I sip one last glass of champagne and take a long drag on the one last Parliment. The cold burrows into my fingers and extremities first and then starts to send shivers into my bones. The cig gets snuffed out amid the tooting and bursts of light and I go inside.

A new year, and new frame of mind, a new direction, place and sense of being. My goodness, how lucky are we to be able to start over, over and over again. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January... The hum-drum of everyday gets interrupted by the fireworks and the noisemakers, by the excitement of the new and by the weight of the old.

Rejoice.

Lookin Great in 2008 and Doin Good as Grandma Would

In a burst of good ideas the hopes for next year have just been born. Slightly premature we won't be able to take them home until this coming Tuesday, but that's alright. My current mantra, "What Would Grandma Do?" is excited to see the evolution of putting the "What" into action. We look forward to growing Spiritually, Physically, Financially, and Artistically in 2008. We will be making lots of good choices to take good actions that pertain to the 4 categories of growth.

For the past 6 months I have been just keeping my head above the roiling waters of adulthood using the dog paddle and sometimes the life bouy otherwise know as mother's checking account. The days of paddleing and using the life bouy are going to end in 2008. I will, instead, become a synchronized swimmer. I already have the cap so I'll pull it on and practice holding my breath while madly sculling and pointing my toes toward high heaven.

Meanwhile, I'll keep contemplating French Farm culture and Physics. It's amazing the things one thinks about while working in retail.

Multiples

1) There was a pack of old men on the bus yesterday. Their voices were like worn down sneakers trudging down a gravel road or like how I would imagine grumpy, yet freshly fed hyenas would sound. Muttering about the rain and about the best way to get a free ride.

"Have you had that green apple flavor kind?
No, I don't drink that shit. Give me the real stuff.
What do you think of Jose?
How 'bout Jack?
Heh heh heh."

2) Pot-bellied, wood burning stoves, very black with a kettle on for tea.

3) Mountian Dulcimer practice.

4) Yoga Zone with Jen and Jeanie.

5) Notions make suitable ornaments for the lovely 5 footer Noble Fir who has taken his place next to the butter yellow velvet armchair.

6) Murray McMurray mail order fowl.

Those were the good ones, these are the bad:

not enough postage, not enough pasture, not enough Smog, and too many crazy ladies who make messes in the fitting room.

Friend of the Month

Since moving to Seattle one of my goals has been to make one new friend a month. This friend must become more then an aquaintence. So far things have been turning out for the best and I have been learning some good and bad things.

Dear Lauren was October. Our meeting was a practical intervention of the divine in the aqua walled breakroom at Anthropologie in the University Village shopping center. Not only did we both study art, but we also both went to NYCAMS, only a year apart. She knows Clark Street Cafe, the Promanade, the greenery of 28th Street, Gloria, and John Silvis. Our meeting was a stoke of great luck.

Mr. November was that foxy boy from All Aboard 2nd Hand Furniture Store. We first met in September, but it was not until November when he fit in the program. We met becuase of a butter yellow velvet armchair. Now with several visits and a beer or 2 at Prost later friendship with Mr. November remains undefined and at a projected low. He has reminded me that the ability to ask good questions is a very important quality in a friend. I still like the chair better.

On the first of December my monthly friend called me out of the blue just as I sat down for lunch. Jo Ellen has just moved to Seattle and got my number from a mutual friend who thought I'd be a good person so call. The next day we met for coffee and I took her to church. It was good of God to provide in a moment when I didn't know who to be friends with next. If only getting a phone call at the opportune time would happen more often.

I should take their portraits and then at the end of my time in Seattle host a party with all the friends. I think it should be a barbeque and each person must bring with them one of their good friends. There will be hotdogs and coleslaw.

The End

विष thinking

Curried lentil soup with carrots, orange bells, onions, celery, garlic, parsley, ginger, cumin, chicken broth, pepper and of course, lots of curry powder

Garlic Parsley Muffins

Vanilla Yogurt with blueberry cinnamon sauce

Then you have a few glasses of wine and wait for the boy from the furniture store to call.

You think the soup is ready, but the carrots and lentils are not quite tender enough.

After 2 muffins and another glass of wine you think, "well maybe it's alright if the lentils and carrots are not done enough?"

Cheers to another delicious dinner consumed alone!

By the way, being alone is a good/bad idea.

When alone I begin to think about things in a way I never do while with others. I think about ways to lighten my earthly load (i.e. which handbags I can live without.) I plan out menus for meals I would like to have and invite the people I would like to meet. I think about patterns to weave the lightness the spreads out from my toes into. Sometimes I think about how hard it is to be living and how lovely blooms of crimson would look in the bath water. But, then again, each sunrise calls a new day into being. Each new day brings new possibilities to do good or to stamp out the bad.

Good Manners

I work retail. I do judge a womans character by the way she leaves a dressing room. Scattered hangers, inside-out blouses, undone buttons, and various bits of refuse on the floor all point to someone who is generally careless and selfish to a fault. This is the kind of woman who lets her child cry for extended periods of time in public. She does not look you in the eye and tries to return things that have been worn and washed. She is not to be trusted.

One the other hand, a woman who brings her clothes out of her dressing room on their hangers and hands them to the fitting room attendent is someone who deserves a home made pie, a fresh peach, or even a warm hug along with a cup of tea. It is a good idea the be that woman. Pick up after yourself. Button those tiny buttons. Be a considerate human.

It is also a good idea to listen to Rosie Thomas and Smog while at home, alone for the evening, yet again.

It is a good idea to enjoy a fried egg with toast and orange juice for dinner.

It is a good idea to write letters to humans you love. Use real ink and real paper and 41 cents. It will be worth it.