We've all seen the show (even if we haven't watched it) 24 where you can see how the world can be saved over and over again in just 24 hours. A lot can happen in 24 hours.
And about 24 hours after I wrote that last post, a lot had happened.
First, the friend who I was afraid would gloat that she was right, most definitely did.
Second - and maybe this wasn't immediately within the first 24 hours - the Love Boat episodes that I'd been watching on You Tube got pulled for copyright infringement.
Third, I forgot to clean my sink, already.
But fourth, and I'm afraid to write too much at this point, a really promising possible job opportunity may have arisen at the place where I have been contracting.
It is too soon to write too much. At this point, it is an "internal" posting (that they let me respond to anyway) and folks have until this upcoming Thursday to respond. But given that the owner of the company has expressed - in the past - an interest in hiring me, even though we couldn't figure out where - I am hopeful that this may end up being it...
Knock on wood. Keep fingers crossed. And we'll hope that this is what is best for me in this new and next chapter of my life. If I don't get it, don't worry. I've perfected "Sour Grapes" mentality to understand that maybe it wasn't what was for the best for me.
Either way.... I may not turn into a big blob of blubber after all. Unfortunately, my sink may not get clean, either! ;)
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Monday, September 24, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A Plan?
A friend of mine asked me yesterday if I had a "plan" set for what I am going to do with myself after the contract ends. A plan? I facetiously asked...? What? Doesn't she read this blog religiously? I'm going to make sure my sink is clean before I go to bed at night. Other than that, what kind of plan do I need?
Later, by Twitter, I mentioned how I felt like I was sitting around waiting for something great to happen. And she chimed in how I shouldn't wait, I needed to out there and make it happen. To which I gave a harvesting analogy and insisted I had planted seeds. She believed me.
And I have... Don't get me wrong.
But she is poking atthe bear issues I have concerns about myself. Gently - or perhaps not so gently - making sure I won't devolve into a glob of blubber when the contract ends. I think she's afraid I will sit at home all day in my bed watching re-runs of Love Boat that I recently discovered on You Tube (that song is IMPOSSIBLE to get out of your head, so I don't recommend it... But, oh, that Doc, he is so funny (NOT!)). And her fears aren't entirely unjustified. Although I'll probably also catch up on some of the bloggers I'm friends with on Twitter and now here. And maybe find creative ways to enhance and improve my blog. And maybe I'll start a doll head collection. Okay, NOT to the last one.
And I won't be starting a Vision Board or likely a Pinterest account either, although I'm a little wary to say the last one because that pretty much is what I said about Twitter all this time, and we see what happened THERE!
But she's right. I know she's right. (Is there a way to block one single person from reading a single post? I mean I don't need her to spend the rest of today, this week, lording it over me that I said that she was right, do I? No... I mean, she'd favorite the shit out of this post, and return to it every day just to see that I said she was right... Wait... that might help my statistics, though.... If you found this post from the right hand side, well.... you'll know that I already regret it! Kidding!)
I do need a plan to make sure I don't just burrow deeply into my bed and never emerge except for soccer and to get the church bulletin done. Particularly because there's only another month to soccer, so that won't last too long.
Do I have one? No. Not entirely. Not much at all. Except a recognition that I want there to be some structure to my days. Something in particular I accomplish each day. Incremental work on other things. I don't want to simply burrow into my bed (although it is nice and comfortable) and get lost. That's the start of a plan, right?
In the meantime, though, it's early-ish in the morning and I need to hit the shower and get this project done first. Right now, THAT's my plan. Once that's done, I can concentrate on the other. For now, that's my plan. Okay? Okay.
Later, by Twitter, I mentioned how I felt like I was sitting around waiting for something great to happen. And she chimed in how I shouldn't wait, I needed to out there and make it happen. To which I gave a harvesting analogy and insisted I had planted seeds. She believed me.
And I have... Don't get me wrong.
But she is poking at
And I won't be starting a Vision Board or likely a Pinterest account either, although I'm a little wary to say the last one because that pretty much is what I said about Twitter all this time, and we see what happened THERE!
But she's right. I know she's right. (Is there a way to block one single person from reading a single post? I mean I don't need her to spend the rest of today, this week, lording it over me that I said that she was right, do I? No... I mean, she'd favorite the shit out of this post, and return to it every day just to see that I said she was right... Wait... that might help my statistics, though.... If you found this post from the right hand side, well.... you'll know that I already regret it! Kidding!)
I do need a plan to make sure I don't just burrow deeply into my bed and never emerge except for soccer and to get the church bulletin done. Particularly because there's only another month to soccer, so that won't last too long.
Do I have one? No. Not entirely. Not much at all. Except a recognition that I want there to be some structure to my days. Something in particular I accomplish each day. Incremental work on other things. I don't want to simply burrow into my bed (although it is nice and comfortable) and get lost. That's the start of a plan, right?
In the meantime, though, it's early-ish in the morning and I need to hit the shower and get this project done first. Right now, THAT's my plan. Once that's done, I can concentrate on the other. For now, that's my plan. Okay? Okay.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sounds of Silence
Raise your hand if you are comfortable with silence. No, I'm not talking about having your kids be silent - although certainly the silence when they are out of the house and you are home without them, I'm certain (if I had kids) would be quite pleasant.
Certainly there are moments in our hectic and busy lives when silence is welcome.
But how many of us are truly comfortable with silence? I have become less surprised in life to discover how many people fall asleep with the television on. That "sleep" function on your remote control for your television, where it turns off after sixty, ninety minutes or even two hours, has been around for a long time. Clearly it serves a purpose for many of us.
"Hello darkness, my old friend..." starts the song by Simon & Garfunkel. I was a pre-teen when I bought one of my very first non-consumable item with my own money. It was a digital radio alarm clock. And I had it well into my thirties, and probably, if I hadn't fled my home, I probably would still have it in some box of junk (I fear going back to the storage unit of what I was able to salvage, and finding it there, although I'd also probably be quite happy to see that "old friend", too).
It got replaced by an iClock when those were first new, where you could recharge your iPod on your clock, and play your iTunes as well as the radio through it. But I digress.
When I was a young girl, before I bought my magic clock, I would take my big boxy radio (about the size of a toaster) and hide it under my pillow as I went to sleep, to muffle the sound so my parents wouldn't hear it, and listen to music through the pillow as I fell asleep.
These days I have a few television series on Hulu that I've seen before, so if I fall asleep I won't "miss" anything, although usually there's this moment just before I fall asleep where I actually manage to reach out, touch the mousepad, and pause it before I completely crash.
When I had a television in the house, I admit that we were one of those households where it was always on. I can't drive anywhere for much distance without music in the car (including the three miles to work) - unless there is someone else there to fill the gap.
Treadmills at the gyms these days often have televisions in them. Or if not, there's certainly one on the wall blaring whatever show they think most commonly would be enjoyed by others. (Regardless of whether they do or not). We invented Walkmen for us to live in our own world of sound and block out others.
Stores and restaurants all have radio stations or muzak on in them or a television in the background. Heck, even elevators, the original home of muzak, of course has music in them, and in many of the skyscrapers, we now have videos - to get that thirty second blip of information or advertising in that we can.
Those who live in the city are used to a certain hum. It's referred to as "noise pollution". When they come outside of the city they are almost deafened (I know it's strange) by the silence.
I was working job #2 the other night, and we had closed, and a rain monsoon swept in (okay, maybe not a monsoon, but it was creating a nice swirling flood in the street between the restaurant and my car). I was waiting for the manager to finish up and the storm to subside before getting drenched by the storm. He'd already turned off the radio for the night, but the storm took out the power while I was waiting, and then there was real silence. We forget, sometimes, how much noise all of our machines around us make.
On an ironic side note, nonetheless, I have to close my bedroom door at night before I go to sleep, because the ticking of the kitchen clock drives me mad.
Those who meditate, though, savor the peace that the silence brings them. (Assuming they manage to actually find a space where they can have that silence uninterrupted). I envy them that moment of peace. I wish I were better able to enjoy moments of silence rather than always seek to silence them. I lose so much of my life because I want to be distracted, and because, then, I become distracted.
Writing these posts is one of the few moments in my day where I turn off the distractions, so that the inspiration and the words can flow. Perhaps this is my form of meditation. Even then, the sound of a text or an IM will sometimes pull me away - even for a moment.
A friend of mine recently gave me an "exercise" to do and the first instruction was to "slow down and spend quiet time with you". While yes, I have read further in her instructions, I'm not apparently really able to get past that first instruction. Spend quiet time with me.
Except in the shower. No wonder so many "brilliant" posts come to me there? ;)
(See, even now, I try to joke to deflect away from the seriousness of the idea of spending quiet time with myself...)
But I know that I am not alone. I know that many of you, too, have trouble enjoying the silence. Perhaps we are afraid, as Simon & Garfunkel warned, that silence like a cancer grows?
And let's face it, it isn't just with ourselves. How many of us can feel awkward spending time with another when that moment of silence comes up in conversation? If we're eating, at least, we have an excuse - we are busy putting food into our mouths and therefore it would be impolite to speak. But you know you are truly comfortable with someone when you can sit side by side with them and say nothing, and perhaps just hold hands. Just enjoy that moment of being with each other.
And that, perhaps my friends, is the lesson. You will know (I will know) that we are truly comfortable with ourselves when we can just sit there with ourselves and say nothing, and perhaps just hold our own hand. And enjoy that moment of being with ourselves.
Let's all give it a try this week, shall we? Come back and report, if you will...
P.S. In a completely fitting moment, while I was writing this a good friend who is taking a long road trip this morning, literally while I was writing this, tweeted about needing a new stereo in her car... thus providing one more example of how we are not comfortable with the silence. (As well as, I admit, an example of how I allow myself still to be distracted during these moments myself...)
Certainly there are moments in our hectic and busy lives when silence is welcome.
But how many of us are truly comfortable with silence? I have become less surprised in life to discover how many people fall asleep with the television on. That "sleep" function on your remote control for your television, where it turns off after sixty, ninety minutes or even two hours, has been around for a long time. Clearly it serves a purpose for many of us.
"Hello darkness, my old friend..." starts the song by Simon & Garfunkel. I was a pre-teen when I bought one of my very first non-consumable item with my own money. It was a digital radio alarm clock. And I had it well into my thirties, and probably, if I hadn't fled my home, I probably would still have it in some box of junk (I fear going back to the storage unit of what I was able to salvage, and finding it there, although I'd also probably be quite happy to see that "old friend", too).
It got replaced by an iClock when those were first new, where you could recharge your iPod on your clock, and play your iTunes as well as the radio through it. But I digress.
When I was a young girl, before I bought my magic clock, I would take my big boxy radio (about the size of a toaster) and hide it under my pillow as I went to sleep, to muffle the sound so my parents wouldn't hear it, and listen to music through the pillow as I fell asleep.
These days I have a few television series on Hulu that I've seen before, so if I fall asleep I won't "miss" anything, although usually there's this moment just before I fall asleep where I actually manage to reach out, touch the mousepad, and pause it before I completely crash.
When I had a television in the house, I admit that we were one of those households where it was always on. I can't drive anywhere for much distance without music in the car (including the three miles to work) - unless there is someone else there to fill the gap.
Treadmills at the gyms these days often have televisions in them. Or if not, there's certainly one on the wall blaring whatever show they think most commonly would be enjoyed by others. (Regardless of whether they do or not). We invented Walkmen for us to live in our own world of sound and block out others.
Stores and restaurants all have radio stations or muzak on in them or a television in the background. Heck, even elevators, the original home of muzak, of course has music in them, and in many of the skyscrapers, we now have videos - to get that thirty second blip of information or advertising in that we can.
Those who live in the city are used to a certain hum. It's referred to as "noise pollution". When they come outside of the city they are almost deafened (I know it's strange) by the silence.
I was working job #2 the other night, and we had closed, and a rain monsoon swept in (okay, maybe not a monsoon, but it was creating a nice swirling flood in the street between the restaurant and my car). I was waiting for the manager to finish up and the storm to subside before getting drenched by the storm. He'd already turned off the radio for the night, but the storm took out the power while I was waiting, and then there was real silence. We forget, sometimes, how much noise all of our machines around us make.
On an ironic side note, nonetheless, I have to close my bedroom door at night before I go to sleep, because the ticking of the kitchen clock drives me mad.
Those who meditate, though, savor the peace that the silence brings them. (Assuming they manage to actually find a space where they can have that silence uninterrupted). I envy them that moment of peace. I wish I were better able to enjoy moments of silence rather than always seek to silence them. I lose so much of my life because I want to be distracted, and because, then, I become distracted.
Writing these posts is one of the few moments in my day where I turn off the distractions, so that the inspiration and the words can flow. Perhaps this is my form of meditation. Even then, the sound of a text or an IM will sometimes pull me away - even for a moment.
A friend of mine recently gave me an "exercise" to do and the first instruction was to "slow down and spend quiet time with you". While yes, I have read further in her instructions, I'm not apparently really able to get past that first instruction. Spend quiet time with me.
Except in the shower. No wonder so many "brilliant" posts come to me there? ;)
(See, even now, I try to joke to deflect away from the seriousness of the idea of spending quiet time with myself...)
But I know that I am not alone. I know that many of you, too, have trouble enjoying the silence. Perhaps we are afraid, as Simon & Garfunkel warned, that silence like a cancer grows?
And let's face it, it isn't just with ourselves. How many of us can feel awkward spending time with another when that moment of silence comes up in conversation? If we're eating, at least, we have an excuse - we are busy putting food into our mouths and therefore it would be impolite to speak. But you know you are truly comfortable with someone when you can sit side by side with them and say nothing, and perhaps just hold hands. Just enjoy that moment of being with each other.
And that, perhaps my friends, is the lesson. You will know (I will know) that we are truly comfortable with ourselves when we can just sit there with ourselves and say nothing, and perhaps just hold our own hand. And enjoy that moment of being with ourselves.
Let's all give it a try this week, shall we? Come back and report, if you will...
P.S. In a completely fitting moment, while I was writing this a good friend who is taking a long road trip this morning, literally while I was writing this, tweeted about needing a new stereo in her car... thus providing one more example of how we are not comfortable with the silence. (As well as, I admit, an example of how I allow myself still to be distracted during these moments myself...)
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