Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. I am thankful and grateful for good health, loving family and friends, adorable pets, and a steady job. Life is not great but it is good. I remember my family members gone now, my oldest brother just this past January. This particular holiday meant the most to me and my family, when it was all love and good food and family. I celebrate this day with a loving heart. May yours be so also!

Back home from Europe

This was an amazing trip! It became a life-changer (I am now engaged!) and a mind-expander (the cities were steeped in history/culture). We were flat broke so we took pictures for our souvenirs. I think we took over 3k pics. Yeah, yeah, I know, but we were on a whirlwind tour going through 5 countries in 12 days! I will place plenty of pics on an online service and link to them from here, and will also post about our experiences soon...

Here's a few pics to whet your appetite:

Go Julie!!

We've known Julie Weiss since she was a teenager because she and my niece went to school together and been friends ever since. We always knew Julie was driven and ambitious and would find something in life that would be her passion. And, being a stylist is it. My niece was there at the beginning, visiting Julie in Paris when Julie was doing a fashion internship for Christian Lecroix, and the rest is resumé ... Now, Julie is a Senior Stylist at MMA, the Margaret Maldonado Agency, and is featured in a new reality show for MTV called Styl'd, debuting tonight, November 1, at 10PM ET/PT.


Here's Julie's bio on the MTV's Styl'd site:

"Don't let her youthful look fool you...Julie Weiss means business! Her unique styling keeps celebrity clients coming back for more and her passion for fashion is unmatched. Clients have included Terrance Howard, Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears. She has worked with artists Kid Rock, Kanye West, NKOTB, The Pussycat Dolls and The Thrills and just recently styled an Eva Longoria Parker film. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she caught the fashion bug interning in Paris for Christian Lacroix and then continued to pursue fashion in Los Angeles after graduating from University of Arizona. Although she is only a few years older than some of the junior assistants, she will make sure they all know who is boss, and its best for everyone if they remember that, when on her jobs, she's in charge."

Go Julie!!

All photos by Kenneth Cappello

Where DID the month go?

My fellow blogger Nathings asks "Where did the month go?"

Exactly. For me, it is more like where did my life go? For the last 10 years at least, so much of my memory is gone, and it is a good thing I have friends and family (and this blog) that remember things for me and with me.

So here's my take on time:

Moments, like Russian nesting dolls, are held in Hours tucked in Days contained in Months wrapped in Years surrounded by a Lifetime.

The Extraordinaries

Be a micro-volunteer.

http://www.beextra.org/

Placeholder Post

I will come back and update this post. I just needed a placeholder

Poem: The Cadence of My Heels

The cadence of my heels click loudly on wet road
As I stride resolute, my destination distant still
The night air finds its way past my trench and gloves
My breath, exhaled, mists as proof of this eve's chill

The moon, pale and silent, watches as I walk past
My only companion this eve, tho' none needed
The wintry bite of crisp November weather
The greying clouds were, by me, unheeded

So I walk on, my thoughts compel me further
Pulling my scarf tighter, around my throat
My mind engaged with dark, rough ruminations
Desiring your arms about me, and not my coat

.
~ by Unilove


http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenturamon/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Quote

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation offers $100,000 grants to encourage innovative approaches to try to solve some of the world's worst health challenges. There, I found this quote:

"There is no bigger test for humanity than the crisis of global health. Without compassion, we won't do anything. Without science, we can't do anything."

~Bill Gates

Well-said.

A rhyme in time

Jack be nimble; Jack be quick...

Many significant changes going on at work, and I am embracing them with flexibility, forthrightness, and effort. This time, when change comes roaring down the river whipping things into white water rapids, I'm hanging on, steering the boat, and will do my best to find calm waters to enjoy. Being resistant to change will not work this time, and I am going to see what embracing change can do. Wish me luck!

We are going to Europe. Yes. I had already tweeted that we were going on vacation; leaving our zip code. Our state. Our country. 7 reasons why: London, Paris, Lucerne, Salzburg, Venice, Florence, Rome. For those that know us, we are homebodies of a first order, so this is another way of stretching beyond our boundaries: not like going to Europe is a chore! It's something I've always wanted us to do, and Ro's family treated us! Can we say awesome? Awesome!

Life seems different for us, but some things don't change, and I am grateful for that: Ro's love and devotion, my few family and friends, a job and good health.

So, I am happy. and it feels good...

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change
8,780 Blogs
148 Countries / 12,300,068 Readers

The Goal of Blog Action Day?

"First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue.

By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.

Out of this discussion naturally flow ideas, advice, plans, and action. In 2007 on the theme of the Environment, we saw bloggers running environmental experiments, detailing innovative ideas on creating sustainable practices, and focusing their audience's attention on organizations and companies promoting green agendas. In 2008 we covered the theme of Poverty, and similarly focused the blogging community's energies around discussing the wide breadth of the issue from many perspectives and identifying innovative and unexpected solutions. This year we aim to do the same for Climate Change, an issue that threatens us all."


I am one of the 8,780 bloggers posting on this topic. A topic that I, and many millions of other people, know little about. Why blog on it? Because it is a shame that I can even make the preceding statement.

In anticipation of this day, I went to read on Climate Change on Wikipedia. Sure, plenty of important folks before today have been sounding the alarm regarding Climate Change, Global Warming, and damage to our world as we know it. Sounds apocalyptic, like a movie.

As the Global Warming wikipedia article states: "An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably including expansion of subtropical deserts.[7] The continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice is expected, with warming being strongest in the Arctic. Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather events, species extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields. Political and public debate continues regarding climate change, and what actions (if any) to take in response. The available options are mitigation to reduce further emissions; adaptation to reduce the damage caused by warming; and, more speculatively, geoengineering to reverse global warming. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

Interesting thing to note: the U.S. has signed but will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Additional reading is in order to determine why.. Maybe that will be a future post?

Ignorance of the concept and potential implications of Climate Change to our planet and way of life sounds dangerous. But, to many, the urgency and catastrophy that people speak of scares people away from even learning more. Don't be afraid. Be informed.

What to do about Climate Change?
Educate yourself with facts.
Decide for yourself.
Share your knowledge.
And, if you decide that something needs to change, make a change.

Start with the Wikipedia articles listed above. Then put the power of your keystrokes into your own education and grow from there.

Poem: If you were here, mom, I would

If you were here, mom, I would
lay my head down in your lap,
and feel your love encircle me
as you softly stroked my hair

You would say, "What's wrong babydoll?"
and I would cry and share my heart's burden
and you would gently tell me "It will be okay"
and it really would be okay

Never to hear your voice greet each morning with
"Thank you Jesus for another day of life"
Never again to feel your abundant love for me
Missing always your joyful mother hugs


~ poem by Unilove

I Just Write

I just write, when emotions fill and presse against the dam that holds my heart,
when the swirling miasma of pain and love threaten to overwhelm, I write.
The words coalesce and appear before me, and the waters recede
and I can breathe easier for a time.

Words are my tools, the only ones I can wield effectively in my own life.
Some paint; others dance, some craft and others sing.
I wish I had the talents of creative hands, but only words do my bidding,
and they are most pliant when I am under duress.

So, words are my friends, small agents of emotion, change, message, and expression,
and I, a melancholy poet, embrace them quietly.

Quote by Unilove

For a friend:


These few days are just that: a few days. What will ultimately matter is the sum of them...

~ by Unilove

6 - The Questioner

The Quick and Painless Enneagram Test

I took this test of just TWO questions after my friend Heroic Muse posted her results as an 8. I took the test and was proclaimed a 6. And, it was very much spot on. Here are the details of a 6:

Your result for The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test ...

6 - the Questioner

you chose CY - your Enneagram type is SIX (aka "The Loyalist").


"I am affectionate and skeptical"

Questioners are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.


How to Get Along with Me

• Be direct and clear.
• Listen to me carefully.
• Don't judge me for my anxiety.
• Work things through with me.
• Reassure me that everything is OK between us.
• Laugh and make jokes with me.
• Gently push me toward new experiences.
• Try not to overreact to my overreacting.


What I Like About Being a SIX

• being committed and faithful to family and friends
• being responsible and hardworking
• being compassionate toward others
• having intellect and wit
• being a nonconformist
• confronting danger bravely
• being direct and assertive


What's Hard About Being a SIX

• the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind
• procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself
• fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of
• exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger
• wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right
• being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations


SIXes as Children Often

• are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn
• are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger
• form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent
• look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel
• are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent


SIXes as Parents

• are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty
• are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence
• worry more than most that their children will get hurt
• sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries


Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele, The Enneagram Made Easy. Discover the 9 Types of People.
Harper: San Francisco, 1994, 161 pages