on visiting india

Please check out my latest story on World Hum, titled The Bucket and the Cup. It's all about how India kicked my traveling ass.

cute geeks in love

This one dates to May 2007. I still like it.

I am so charmed by this little story of band geeks in love that I had to share.

I’m not sure what my favorite part is. That they were first and second chair oboists in their high school concert band. That their first date was dinner at ZuZu and their second was a lecture about Stravinsky (and Kiira, both times, had to be the pursuer). That Barry wowed her with conversation about one of his favorite pastimes: backgammon. Or that he finally popped the question at a rehearsal of her bell choir by putting the ring under her bell and that when she accepted, the rest of the choir “broke into a round of Ode to Joy.”

The photo is cute, too.

Mazel tov, Kiira and Barry.

blogging, introversion, and me

Because three blogs aren't enough...

I'm now blogging about introversion on the Psychology Today website. Please visit, comment, make me look good!

The Introverts Corner.

wisdom

My first few years of blogging were on MySpace which, I realize, has become so annoying and impossible to navigate, that those posts have become essentially inaccessible. So I have decided, for my own entertainment and yours, to go back through my MySpace blog archives and revisit some evergreens. It's the lazy gal's blogging, but maybe it will juice me up to find more new stuff to say.

We'll start with some of the motivational mantras I use to get me through life.

One of my favorite motivational quotes comes straight from the mouth of Ricky Martin. I found it in the newspaper and had it on my bulletin board for years. I no longer have a bulletin board by my desk but the quote is seared into my brain and still comes in handy. He said, “You have to dare to suck in order to be great.” Yes, Ricky Martin, yes. You are so correct. That may be my life's guiding mantras, but some others that I use regularly:

Suit Up and Show Up. Not only is it the name of one of my other blogs, it's also the best exercise advice EVER. No matter how reluctantly I suit up and show up, once I start the workout, my heart says “Yippee!” and I start enjoying myself. Of course, these days the pleasure lasts only about 30 minutes before I lose interest but that’s where the axiom “Better than nothing” kicks in.

Apply Ass To Chair. A corollary to Suit Up and Show Up. People often tell me, “I have an idea for a novel…screenplay…article.” The only way writing gets done is if you sit down and write.

That’s Not a Problem It’s a Message. I’m thinking about this today because this morning I received an email from a friend that is so full of negativity and anger (not directed at me), it startled even me, the Queen of Surly. I see in this email a road map to a happier life if she can see the messages in the problems.

Life Is Too Short To Work For Assholes. I’m a prima donna. Everyone should be. When an employer treats me disrespectfully, I take a hike. There’s another job around the corner.

That Which Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Stronger. This is a musty old saw but I live by it. Hard times are hard but they put steel in your spine and, I think, teach us compassion.

Do Other Things. You think Ricky Martin is a silly source of wisdom? These words come from Jenna Elfman, who continued, “I don’t just act. It starts to feel like you’re digging into an open wound when you do the same thing all the time. It becomes achy, sore and tiresome.” I have to remind myself of this so that I get up from the computer sometimes and do things that don’t involve words.

Got words that get you through the day?

P.S. What I Didn't Say (the book)

A little shameless self-promotion here ... this is a trailer for an anthology coming out October 1 in which I finally get to say something I never got to say. Other women wrote heartwarming letters to the special women in their lives, but I indulged in a final, satisfying, "fuck you" to one who did me wrong. Because that's what I needed most to say.