Quote of the Day: Amen! edition

"There's nobody in this country who got rich on his own.  Nobody.  You built a factory out there - good for you.

But I want to be clear.  You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for.  You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.  You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory...

Now look. You build a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea - God bless! Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay it forward to the next kid who comes along."

-- Elizabeth Warren. 

AMEN!

Song of the Day: Be Okay

Ingrid Michaelson - Be Ok

Song of the Day: Keep Your Head Up

Only rainbows after rain
The sun will always come again.
It's a circle, circling,
Around again, it comes around again.
I say only rainbows after rain
The sun will always come again.
It's a circle, circling,
Around again, it comes around

But you gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh.
You gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh.
I know it's hard, know it's hard,
To remember sometimes,
But you gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh.

Quote of the Day: Velveteen Rabbit Edition

”It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

The Velveteen Rabbit 

Song of the Day: Dixie Edition

So....this song is a little bit random, and titch bit more gospel-y than I generally roll on in for, but the chorus, well it just plain speaks to me right now.  So take it for what the song was meant to mean or take it for whatever you want, that's what I do.

I hope, for more love, more joy and laughter
I hope, we'll have more than we'll ever need
I hope, we'll have more happy ever after
I hope, we can all live more fearlessly
And we can lose all the pain and misery
I hope, I hope

WHAT ABOUT THE FOOTBALL GAMES?!

Some people often define themselves by their talents, by what they love and what they innately do well.  I am not one of those people.  I've yet to find something that I just happen to rock the socks off of and generally, not a small amount of effort is required to become proficient at any given task.  Even with that work, there's a pretty decent list of things that I'm just not very good at and that's okay, one has to leave room for the other people to excel.

As of today, I say let's go ahead and add to the list - totally sucking at breaking up.  To be polite, we'll just go ahead and say that I'm a little bit messy at the moment.  During the day the things that make me wreck-ish (I think) fall into the normal-ish category but the the stuff that I worry about in the middle of the night?  It's bleeding insane I tell you.

Last night at around 330 in the morning I started worrying about the fact that given the current state of turmoil around these parts, hosting a football game this season is looking unlikely.  This inability to carry my weight in terms of hosting football games will in turn would lead to undue stress upon my friends who will each have to host more games than usual.

Oh em gee I tell you, OH EM GEEE.

Because this, the equity of football hosting responsibilities is totally my biggest fish to fry at the moment.  Screw the broken heart, screw feeling completely lost and disoriented and screw the inappropriate bouts of crying...WHAT ABOUT THE FOOTBALL PARTIES?!

Quote of the Day: Life Isn't Easy Edition

"But life isn’t easy, and the fact no guidelines exist leaves the boundaries open to interpretation. And we all know what happens when we make others part of the judgment jury of our lives: they judge the fuck out of us"

Song of the Day: minor overshare / broken hearted addition

The details in my fabric are currently that the oft written of Wondieful Boyfriend has moved out.  He is still wondieful in oh so many ways, just no longer mine. We decided on this together and yet it is is a thing that makes me panic as I look around my life and think, "now what?"  My heart hurts in a way I didn't know was possible, nobody ever told me that a mutual split is just as painful.


Please forgive me for the sadness that may appear here in the coming weeks.

"Details In The Fabric"
(feat. James Morrison)

Calm down
Deep breaths
And get yourself dressed instead
Of running around
And pulling on your threads
And breaking yourself up

If it's a broken part, replace it
If it's a broken arm, then brace it
If it's a broken heart, then face it

And hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way
Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way

And everything will be fine

Hang on
Help is on the way
And stay strong
I'm doing everything

Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way
Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way

And everything, everything will be fine
Everything

Are the details in the fabric
Are the things that make you panic
Are your thoughts results of static cling?

Are the things that make you blow
Hell, no reason, go on and scream
If you're shocked it's just the fault
Of faulty manufacturing.

Everything will be fine
Everything in no time at all
Everything

Hold your own
And know your name
And go your own way

Are the details in the fabric (Hold your own, know your name)
Are the things that make you panic
Are your thoughts results of static cling? (Go your own way)

Are the details in the fabric (Hold your own, know your name)
Are the things that make you panic (Go your own way)
Is it Mother Nature's sewing machine?

Are the things that make you blow (Hold your own, know your name)
Hell no reason go on and scream
If you're shocked it's just the fault (Go your own way)
Of faulty manufacturing

Everything will be fine
Everything in no time at all
Hearts will hold

Quote of the Day: Amen! edition

"Don’t speak to me about your religion; first show it to me in how you treat other people. Don't tell me how much you love God; show me in how much you love all His children. Don't preach to me your passion for your faith; teach me through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell, as I am in how you choose to live and give." 

~~~ Mayor Cory Booker, Newark

Thanks for the awesome quote Dr. Washington! 

Bert and Ernie got married...but WHERE HAS ALL THE COFFEE GONE?!

There are few things in this world that I love more than my morning coffee. Mornings are generally pretty quiet affairs in my world and since my coworker Diane is usually the first person I talk to in the mornings and that's a good 45 minutes after I roll out of bed, waiting until I get to work for my 8 oz of caffeinated sanity usually isn't an issue. 

Last Thursday was the exception to this rule.

Last Thursday morning was busier than usual what with leaving town that night an all.  Leaving town means goodbyes to my boys, packing and getting me and my baggage out the door.  I lay there staring at the ceiling, thinking about my "to dos" before leaving the house when... plotseling de telefoon rang!  Just once and then it stopped.  Someone must have glanced at the clock, realized that it was 645 and thought better of calling...smart cookie. The coffee has not been had yet, I cannot be fielding phone calls.

Two minutes later the phone rang again... and again...and again.  Smart cookie is maybe not so smart.  Generally early morning phone calls simply go unanswered (one of the luxuries of being young and relatively unattached) but it was my sister and because she is my sister and we were traveling together later in the day, I picked up the phone.  I still not really all that clear on what the conversation was about because I was half asleep and she was all kinds of worked up over the mail service but I do know that my responses were clearly not satisfying to her as the conversation came to an abrupt conclusion and was then followed up by several clarifying text messages.

All this before I set foot out of bed and way before the coffee could find its way to defogging my brain. 

So by the time I loaded up the car, squdged the kitties, kissed Wes goodbye and made my way to work, I'd already had way more than the usual amount of person to person interaction in my day.  Thrown a'kilter by this atypically social morning, I thought about stopping for a latte but decided, nah...I'll save the four bucks and just make myself a cup of joe at the office.

 Are you getting a sense of foreboding? Can you hear the ominous music playing? Are you thinking, "No Anna No!  Stop for the latte!" If so, you can go ahead and classify yourself as a smarter cookie than I am.  

A little bit later than usual, I trot up to the office and as I say my good mornings, I am informed by a seriously indignant coworker that Sesame Street is considering letting Bert and Ernie get married.  Married! Apparently expanding the definition of marriage to include puppets is just far to much for the right wings' knickers, which are seriously, and very uncomfortably, twisty.   It's a fun fact to be sure but then... BEFORE THE COFFEE HAS BEEN HAD... a debate gets going on about whether it's appropriate for two "male" Muppet's to get married on a kids show.  And I know where this is going, it's going where almost all conversations go in my office, it's going straight towards politics. 

Need I remind you at this point that THERE STILL HASN'T BEEN ANY COFFEE!

 And so as I stand there, utterly bereft by my lack of coffee and the plethora of opinion flying around me the debate begins and soon I'm cringing and feeling the need to stand up and throw in my two cents (because seriously, when I have I ever been known to not have an opinion) but I'm held back by the single and powerful facts that it's not even 8 am and I STILL HAVEN'T HAD MY DAMN COFFEE YET.  There is no debating pre-coffee. 

As I sat at my desk, in torturous silence, waiting for my nice cuppa sanity to brew, I asked my self "who are these people who have such social skills first thing in the morning?  What's wrong with these coworkers of mine who can muster not only an indignant opinion but then rile up and debate before 8 AM?"


It struck me like lightening, like a light switch being turned on...these are people with children.  Children who rise and shine with the sun, full of spit and vigor and who awaken their parents with the expectation of being fed, dressed, talked to and loved.  These people live in a different universe than I and have clearly already had their coffee.

Comforted by this realization that means I am not inept, just childless and thus minutely handicapped by my expectations of quiet morning, I sipped my large cup of coffee and slipped my headphones on.  Bert and Ernie's love nest is none of my never mind...I don't say a world.

Quote of the Day: Top of the World edition

I bet he felt great when he woke up this morning.  One minute you're on top of the world, the next a secretary is running over your foot with a lawnmower.

-- Joanie 

Mad Men

Best Compliment Ever: Version 2.0

"I like talking to you.  You're cute and I love the way you write."

- The West Wing Season 3, Episode 18 

"The US Poet Laureate"

Tickling Slow Loris

When you're stuck at work and full of vitriol and crankies, Slow Loris saves the day:

Rainy Days

The living room in my parent's house in Gainesville was made for enjoying an afternoon thunderstorm.

The northern and western facing walls of the living room are floor to ceiling windows that look out across the back yard.  From the far right corner of the couch you can see through these windows across the back yard, past the hammock and across the tree tops all the way down the street and into the adjacent state park. It's a rather nice view on sunny days but on rainy days...well it's just perfect for rainy days.

I currently have the pleasure of living in said Gainesville home, both evidence of my parents' generosity and my own privileged little life.  Had I begun to doubt the privileged nature of my piddly little life, this afternoon's monsoon-ish thunderstorm occurred just long enough after brunch ended to ensure that I was cozy on the couch from the delightfully ominous darkening of an impending storm, straight through to the drippy, sparkly, sunshiny end.

Life is a pretty simple undertaking but for all it's simplicity, it's rarely easy. I've been told that we learn from our mistakes and that when we stop learning, we stop growing.  If this is the case, I've grown a lot in the past few years, enough so that I'm unrelentingly mindful of how much more growing will be necessary in the years to come.  Even knowing that, the 45 minutes that I spent this afternoon in a beautiful (albeit borrowed) living room, watching the raindrops on the windows and the tree's dancing in the wind...well all was right with my world for that 45 minutes.

Quote of the Day

"Worry about your character, not your reputation because your character is who you are and your reputation is what people think you are."