ok kids, i know it's going to be hard on you, but i'll be away for a whole week. it's vacation time at the beach, my lovelies. and it's time for another lovely Graves woman to get married. mia and archie will be celebrating their wedding on saturday. yay! i'll be sure and take copious notes so i can fill you in on all the details.
interesting conversation i had with a friend today re: hell. we both agree that we are probably going to end up there(at least for a little while, since we both laugh at completely inappropriate things, like when people fall down, etc.), and while being together is somewhat of a consolation, my friend totally shot down the idea that there would at least be good music in hell. my friend pointed out that yanni and john tesh would probably be there. that was a total buzzkill because i was kind of counting on being in the corner with the cool rockers (like jimi hendrix, or janis joplin). dammit.
i went to my favorite music store today. i gots to have some new tunes for the ride to the beach. i got some good ones. you should totally go get some brighteyes. he's fabulous. not as good as ray lamontagne (who i think should be played at least once a day), but still pretty good. i can't get behind the buzz of referring to him as the new dylan, but whatever.
i need to go home and do laundry and pack. i am so excited about this trip, but i hate packing. i really just hate it. i feel like i do nothing but pack and unpack and do laundry so i can pack again. i swear the smartest investment my mother ever made for me, short of my college education, was to buy a little samsonite shoulder bag. i love that thing. it's like 10 years old, but it's amazing. i can pack for a whole week in that thing, if i'm careful. i intend to be careful when i'm packing tonight. the worst part about being single on vacation is not having anyone to carry your bag for you. and that's all i have to say about that.
i'll expect copious phone calls while i'm gone.
mil besos-r
18 April 2005
14 April 2005
thursday, part 2
ok, people. it's 3:55, i'm drinking my afternoon coffee and having some animal cookies (the frosted kind, not the plain kind) and pondering the fact that aretha franklin is a genius. she just knows exactly how to say things. i have been chair dancing a lot to day. it's a combination of factors really-- the cute haircut, my favorite blue shirt, and good music. oh, and let's not forget mind-numbing boredom and a total lack of work ethic.
the only thing that makes me half-way like doing paperwork is the fact that i get to use my new chococat pen. chococat is hello kitty's best friend, in case you didn't know. i have crossed off almost half of my gigantic to-do list. lord save us, i've been productive in spite of myself. dammit. i still want to be outside. boo hoo, poor me. at least after four years, they finally gave me an office with a door. baby steps, mi amigos, baby steps.
here's a conundrum i'd love have some insight toward: how to you tell a friend that you fear they might have just slipped from being a "chilled out person" into being a "champion of mediocrity" and that their vision of ministry and philosophy is so out of wack that you can't really have a productive conversation with them?
i'll be here until 7. you might even get three posts in one day. you'll only read them if you're half as bored as i am, though, i bet. after 7, i get to go home and clean house!! and pack!! yay!!
mil besos-r
the only thing that makes me half-way like doing paperwork is the fact that i get to use my new chococat pen. chococat is hello kitty's best friend, in case you didn't know. i have crossed off almost half of my gigantic to-do list. lord save us, i've been productive in spite of myself. dammit. i still want to be outside. boo hoo, poor me. at least after four years, they finally gave me an office with a door. baby steps, mi amigos, baby steps.
here's a conundrum i'd love have some insight toward: how to you tell a friend that you fear they might have just slipped from being a "chilled out person" into being a "champion of mediocrity" and that their vision of ministry and philosophy is so out of wack that you can't really have a productive conversation with them?
i'll be here until 7. you might even get three posts in one day. you'll only read them if you're half as bored as i am, though, i bet. after 7, i get to go home and clean house!! and pack!! yay!!
mil besos-r
public school?
ok, i'd like to address two instances of irritation i've had since friday. while driving an suv full of junior high children to the beach this weekend, somewhere between austin and cuero, i discovered that they had no idea who winston churchill was. i was shocked and dismayed. these kids are 6th and 7th graders, who've had social studies since the 2nd grade, and they all go to public school, which means that i pay for their education. and they don't know who winston churchill was. seriously people, what the hell? someone thought he had been in a band, and only one kid knew he "wasn't from here". geeze, louise. then last night, i'm doing one on one conferences with my high school children and i not only have to explain who karl marx was to one child, but i also have to explain the meaning of the word "vernacular" to the same kid. he's a freshman in high school. no idea about karl marx, no idea about basic vocabulary. and yes, this kid is a public school kid. dammit.
someone, please tell me what this means?
i'll be back later with more info...my hair looks fabulous, in case you were wondering.
two new expressions i picked up from friends yesterday that need to be noted in this venue:
"crotchular" in relation to a pant malfunction suffered by one of my girls recently. come on, we've all dealt with this, people.
"galloping dandruff" in relation to a "social disease" one might pick up from a mail order spouse.
see if you can work THOSE little gems into your conversations today, along with the venerable mr. churchill (when is manchester going to write his third volume already?) and vernacular.
end of message, mil besos--r
someone, please tell me what this means?
i'll be back later with more info...my hair looks fabulous, in case you were wondering.
two new expressions i picked up from friends yesterday that need to be noted in this venue:
"crotchular" in relation to a pant malfunction suffered by one of my girls recently. come on, we've all dealt with this, people.
"galloping dandruff" in relation to a "social disease" one might pick up from a mail order spouse.
see if you can work THOSE little gems into your conversations today, along with the venerable mr. churchill (when is manchester going to write his third volume already?) and vernacular.
end of message, mil besos--r
13 April 2005
some kind of itis
when i was in high school, my parents would refer to occasional moods and attitudes i displayed as "senior-itis". i even diagnosed myself with this same affliction a couple of times in college. ok, more than a couple. pretty much every friday in spring that i had money for beer and a tube rental for the river i would beg off on the grounds that i was suffering from senioritis, whether i was a senior or not. since i was never really a freshman, i reasoned it was fair enough. i guess senioritis is the same thing as spring fever...
i have a severe case of it today. i don't want to do ANYTHING but blow off work, go home and get a book and a towel, and head to barton springs to soak up some sun and be outside. i have a million and 87 things i need to be doing, and i just can't make myself buckle down for beans. spring fever strikes again. even reading about random inane information, which usually spurs me to do actual relevant work isn't doing the trick today. instead of steering me toward work, it's just irritating me, because i can't do what i want to do. sometimes being a responsible grown up is not fun. blah.
i'll live. i mean, i'm griping about delaying gratification, because this time next week, i'll be neck deep in the gulf of mexico, with a cooler full of adult beverages waiting for me on the shoreline. i love family weddings. more than that, i love destination family weddings. maybe one day i'll even have my own destination family wedding. that's a whole other blog for a whole other day.
i'm getting a hair cut tomorrow. like you needed to know that, right?
mil besos-r
i have a severe case of it today. i don't want to do ANYTHING but blow off work, go home and get a book and a towel, and head to barton springs to soak up some sun and be outside. i have a million and 87 things i need to be doing, and i just can't make myself buckle down for beans. spring fever strikes again. even reading about random inane information, which usually spurs me to do actual relevant work isn't doing the trick today. instead of steering me toward work, it's just irritating me, because i can't do what i want to do. sometimes being a responsible grown up is not fun. blah.
i'll live. i mean, i'm griping about delaying gratification, because this time next week, i'll be neck deep in the gulf of mexico, with a cooler full of adult beverages waiting for me on the shoreline. i love family weddings. more than that, i love destination family weddings. maybe one day i'll even have my own destination family wedding. that's a whole other blog for a whole other day.
i'm getting a hair cut tomorrow. like you needed to know that, right?
mil besos-r
12 April 2005
random bit of information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerealia
some of you know my penchant for the trivial. this is right up my alley. today, i'd like to remind each and every one of us of our roman/greek influences, everything from paved roads, indoor plumbing (praise G-d!), govermental archetypes (for which i am sometimes thankful), to the way western theology has evolved over two thousand years of Christian influence.
ceres was the roman godess of grain. in greece, she was known as demeter. her husband was her brother, jupiter (zeus in greece). their daughter proserpina (persephone in greece) was wooed away to become queen of the underworld, and cerealia commemorates Ceres' search for her daughter. apparently the festival was celebrated in several ways. one involved tying lit firebrands to the tails of foxes, and turning them loose in the circus maximus. the other involved a bunch of women dressed in white running around with lit torches. go figure. i don't know what the roman obsession with running and fire, or running with fire was, but it's a bleeding miracle that any of them lived to tell about it.
i guess if i were going to make a recommendation for how to celebrate cerealia today (which i wouldn't because everyone knows that you get sent straight to hell for that sort of thing, and by that sort of thing i mean celebrating a PAGAN holiday), i'd have to go with lighting up a giant 120 mentol (which i wouldn't because i quit, and because it's bad for you, and because it's not fancy at all) and eating a bowl full of chex mix (which you shouldn't eat because the dietary fiber content is negligible, the sodium content is astronmical, and it gives you horrible stinky garlic breath). and maybe drink something stiffer than a diet coke (but i can't, since the diocese passed all the dumb rules about drinking on the job).
it's going to be a long week...
mil besos-r
some of you know my penchant for the trivial. this is right up my alley. today, i'd like to remind each and every one of us of our roman/greek influences, everything from paved roads, indoor plumbing (praise G-d!), govermental archetypes (for which i am sometimes thankful), to the way western theology has evolved over two thousand years of Christian influence.
ceres was the roman godess of grain. in greece, she was known as demeter. her husband was her brother, jupiter (zeus in greece). their daughter proserpina (persephone in greece) was wooed away to become queen of the underworld, and cerealia commemorates Ceres' search for her daughter. apparently the festival was celebrated in several ways. one involved tying lit firebrands to the tails of foxes, and turning them loose in the circus maximus. the other involved a bunch of women dressed in white running around with lit torches. go figure. i don't know what the roman obsession with running and fire, or running with fire was, but it's a bleeding miracle that any of them lived to tell about it.
i guess if i were going to make a recommendation for how to celebrate cerealia today (which i wouldn't because everyone knows that you get sent straight to hell for that sort of thing, and by that sort of thing i mean celebrating a PAGAN holiday), i'd have to go with lighting up a giant 120 mentol (which i wouldn't because i quit, and because it's bad for you, and because it's not fancy at all) and eating a bowl full of chex mix (which you shouldn't eat because the dietary fiber content is negligible, the sodium content is astronmical, and it gives you horrible stinky garlic breath). and maybe drink something stiffer than a diet coke (but i can't, since the diocese passed all the dumb rules about drinking on the job).
it's going to be a long week...
mil besos-r
08 April 2005
something totally different
i figure life on longvallyelane.blogspot.com can sometimes read like one long random ramble about my life. that's because that's exactly what it is. but, i also imagine that sometimes you might want more from me, more hard hitting information, and fewer pms induced rants. because i care about what you want, or at least because i'm supposed to care what you want, i figured i'd expand on something i had to do for work earlier this week i'd also love, love, love if this could generate some conversation on the comments section., or at least tell me what you think. or if you just like the news and rants, minus any philosophical waxing. let me know and we'll see what we'll see. smooches--rmg
Prayer of Mother Teresa
Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly
That our lives may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through us and be so in us
That every soul we come in contact with
May feel your presence in our soul.
Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.
Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine,
So to shine as to be light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from you.
None of it will be ours.
It will be you shining on others through us.
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best
By shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching,
Not by words, but by our example;
By the catching force-
The sympathetic influence of what we do,
The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.
Amen
The Kalighat Home for the Destitute and Dying stands on the site of a temple dedicated to Kali, the Hindu goddess of death and destruction, in the midst of a city dedicated to that same goddess. Mother Teresa arrived in India in 1931, and began to help establish an incredible Roman Catholic presence in a country that had very little religiously in common with her church’s ideology. Nevertheless, Teresa began to do her work in the streets, in schools, in the sewage filled neighborhoods of Calcutta. Mother Teresa came to that city as a teacher, and in 1952 reclaimed the Kalighat Temple, and turned it into a haven for the poorest of the poor. She renamed it Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart), and it was there that Mother Teresa began her life’s work and ministry. Helping poor Bengalis know that there was hope and care in a society that called them “untouchable”, Mother Teresa would walk up and down the aisles whispering to them in their native tongue that “God is here” and touch their foreheads with her small hands.
Now, i have some issues with the Catholic Church, and with overt proselyzation. But that discussion is for another day. The thing about this prayer and about this story that just leaves me in awe and amazement is that opening line-- Jesus, help us spread your fragrance all around. Think about that for a minute. Imagine being surrounded by death at every turn, surrounded by raw sewage when you step outside to get a breath of "fresh" air, and to still have the desire to pray for a new smell. What must Jesus smell like in that instance? I know that seems like a random question to ask, but really, what would you want to smell in the place of what was there. Smell is a powerful sense. It has the power to generate memories that are powerful in their intensity. Case in point--the smell of camay soap always reminds me of my great-grandmother's bathroom, and these funny little picture things she had hanging on the wall. The smell of coconut reminds me of the beach. The smell of gardenia reminds me of my mother. The smell of patcholi reminds me of the drag.
For me, were I to stand where Mother Teresa stood, Jesus would smell like several things. Jesus would like that moment between being asleep and awake, when you can almost smell breakfast, almost smell the fresh shampoo smell from last night's shower, almost smell the laundry sheet you dry your bed linens with. it's a smell that's almost nothing, but very definitely something. Almost overwhelming in its simplicity, but above all, comforting and so incredibly ordinary. Or maybe Jesus would smell like a wide open field after a good central texas rain, full of wild flowers--smelling sharply green, slightly sweet, and so clean you could eat off of it. Or maybe I'm reaching too far with this analogy, and have finally slipped into the sweet bliss of crazy. Who knows.
What I do know is that there are days when the sights, sounds, smells, and frenetic pace of life overwhelms each of us. I do know that there are days when we get so caught up in our own ambitions, intrigues, relationships, and disappointments that we forget the very basic necessity of breathing in and out. My yoga teacher (we hosted a class during let at the church) reminded us that breathing in and out is something we should concentrate on doing, that it's part of us loving ourselves. Prana is the Sanskrit word for "life-force", which is connected to breath, but is so much more than just breath. Our teacher told us to feel our prana when we breathed, to take time out every day to feel it, if only for a moment, that our breath and our bodies were alive. It's amazing how squaring back your shoulders and breathing all the way to your toes five or six times can change your entire attitude. And in opening up your lungs, in being mindful of the breaths we take, maybe, just maybe, we can smell Jesus. And maybe after we've done that, we can take that scent with us, and share it wherever we go.
mil besos--r
Prayer of Mother Teresa
Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly
That our lives may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through us and be so in us
That every soul we come in contact with
May feel your presence in our soul.
Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.
Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine,
So to shine as to be light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from you.
None of it will be ours.
It will be you shining on others through us.
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best
By shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching,
Not by words, but by our example;
By the catching force-
The sympathetic influence of what we do,
The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.
Amen
The Kalighat Home for the Destitute and Dying stands on the site of a temple dedicated to Kali, the Hindu goddess of death and destruction, in the midst of a city dedicated to that same goddess. Mother Teresa arrived in India in 1931, and began to help establish an incredible Roman Catholic presence in a country that had very little religiously in common with her church’s ideology. Nevertheless, Teresa began to do her work in the streets, in schools, in the sewage filled neighborhoods of Calcutta. Mother Teresa came to that city as a teacher, and in 1952 reclaimed the Kalighat Temple, and turned it into a haven for the poorest of the poor. She renamed it Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart), and it was there that Mother Teresa began her life’s work and ministry. Helping poor Bengalis know that there was hope and care in a society that called them “untouchable”, Mother Teresa would walk up and down the aisles whispering to them in their native tongue that “God is here” and touch their foreheads with her small hands.
Now, i have some issues with the Catholic Church, and with overt proselyzation. But that discussion is for another day. The thing about this prayer and about this story that just leaves me in awe and amazement is that opening line-- Jesus, help us spread your fragrance all around. Think about that for a minute. Imagine being surrounded by death at every turn, surrounded by raw sewage when you step outside to get a breath of "fresh" air, and to still have the desire to pray for a new smell. What must Jesus smell like in that instance? I know that seems like a random question to ask, but really, what would you want to smell in the place of what was there. Smell is a powerful sense. It has the power to generate memories that are powerful in their intensity. Case in point--the smell of camay soap always reminds me of my great-grandmother's bathroom, and these funny little picture things she had hanging on the wall. The smell of coconut reminds me of the beach. The smell of gardenia reminds me of my mother. The smell of patcholi reminds me of the drag.
For me, were I to stand where Mother Teresa stood, Jesus would smell like several things. Jesus would like that moment between being asleep and awake, when you can almost smell breakfast, almost smell the fresh shampoo smell from last night's shower, almost smell the laundry sheet you dry your bed linens with. it's a smell that's almost nothing, but very definitely something. Almost overwhelming in its simplicity, but above all, comforting and so incredibly ordinary. Or maybe Jesus would smell like a wide open field after a good central texas rain, full of wild flowers--smelling sharply green, slightly sweet, and so clean you could eat off of it. Or maybe I'm reaching too far with this analogy, and have finally slipped into the sweet bliss of crazy. Who knows.
What I do know is that there are days when the sights, sounds, smells, and frenetic pace of life overwhelms each of us. I do know that there are days when we get so caught up in our own ambitions, intrigues, relationships, and disappointments that we forget the very basic necessity of breathing in and out. My yoga teacher (we hosted a class during let at the church) reminded us that breathing in and out is something we should concentrate on doing, that it's part of us loving ourselves. Prana is the Sanskrit word for "life-force", which is connected to breath, but is so much more than just breath. Our teacher told us to feel our prana when we breathed, to take time out every day to feel it, if only for a moment, that our breath and our bodies were alive. It's amazing how squaring back your shoulders and breathing all the way to your toes five or six times can change your entire attitude. And in opening up your lungs, in being mindful of the breaths we take, maybe, just maybe, we can smell Jesus. And maybe after we've done that, we can take that scent with us, and share it wherever we go.
mil besos--r
06 April 2005
i know, i know, i know
geeze, it's been a while. the office recently moved, and we've been without internet for a whole week. i felt like someone cut off my arms. it was awful. but we're back on line, and i feel much better.
let me tell you about the excitement in my life.
hot news item #1: sometime in either december or january, i will become a real-live official aunt. that's right, seth and monica are expecting. i am so freaking psyched about the impending arrival. it's going to be a long ass wait. i guess that will give me plenty of time to jockey for a god-parent spot, buy the kid lots of books and stock up on juicy fruit gum, which i think every aunt should have in her purse. i will also practice my skills on the baby nels, and hope i don't mess him up, either. yay.
hot news item #2: for those of you waiting with baited (live or dead?) breath on my D-Day decision, here's the jist... i'll totally be in austin for the forseeable future. what i'll be doing, that's the next big hurdle to cross. i can't say more than that at the moment, just know there are a ton of exciting opportunities presenting themselves. yay!!
hot news item #3: i found my first gray hair last week. there's no way it was anything but a gray hair. i know this because i pulled out a blonde hair and a brown hair to compare. this was all white and of a totally different texture than the rest of my hair. i pulled it out and threw it away. i thought about keeping it, and then changed my mind. it's not like keeping your first tooth...
hot news item #4: i finally got asked to a prom. i know, that's hard to believe, but when you date a younger man in high school, you are the one who does the asking. yeah, one of my freshmen boys asked me to got to his prom (he goes to a small high school, so their prom is open to everyone), but i'm pretty sure he was mostly joking. i got a big kick out of it, though. i did make sure and tell him that it was inappropriate, however. he said that he was renting a camoflage-patterned tuxedo, and if my professional ethics hadn't been enough to elicit a "no" from my very shocked and amazed lips, the thought of that tux would have done the trick. a camo tux-- what will they think up next?
hot news item #5-- i'm going to the beach with my junior high kids this weekend. yay beach, boo junior high hormones. i figured i will just threaten them with bodily harm and then ply them with sugary snacks to keep them in check. i'll let you know how that works out.
mil besos--r
let me tell you about the excitement in my life.
hot news item #1: sometime in either december or january, i will become a real-live official aunt. that's right, seth and monica are expecting. i am so freaking psyched about the impending arrival. it's going to be a long ass wait. i guess that will give me plenty of time to jockey for a god-parent spot, buy the kid lots of books and stock up on juicy fruit gum, which i think every aunt should have in her purse. i will also practice my skills on the baby nels, and hope i don't mess him up, either. yay.
hot news item #2: for those of you waiting with baited (live or dead?) breath on my D-Day decision, here's the jist... i'll totally be in austin for the forseeable future. what i'll be doing, that's the next big hurdle to cross. i can't say more than that at the moment, just know there are a ton of exciting opportunities presenting themselves. yay!!
hot news item #3: i found my first gray hair last week. there's no way it was anything but a gray hair. i know this because i pulled out a blonde hair and a brown hair to compare. this was all white and of a totally different texture than the rest of my hair. i pulled it out and threw it away. i thought about keeping it, and then changed my mind. it's not like keeping your first tooth...
hot news item #4: i finally got asked to a prom. i know, that's hard to believe, but when you date a younger man in high school, you are the one who does the asking. yeah, one of my freshmen boys asked me to got to his prom (he goes to a small high school, so their prom is open to everyone), but i'm pretty sure he was mostly joking. i got a big kick out of it, though. i did make sure and tell him that it was inappropriate, however. he said that he was renting a camoflage-patterned tuxedo, and if my professional ethics hadn't been enough to elicit a "no" from my very shocked and amazed lips, the thought of that tux would have done the trick. a camo tux-- what will they think up next?
hot news item #5-- i'm going to the beach with my junior high kids this weekend. yay beach, boo junior high hormones. i figured i will just threaten them with bodily harm and then ply them with sugary snacks to keep them in check. i'll let you know how that works out.
mil besos--r
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