scribbles

1.  Did someone in my neighborhood recently (in the last month?) do a post that was your day in photos? If so, please message me the link b/c I think I'm going batty.

2.  On that note, said post--which I now cannot locate--inspired me to do the same and to drag my best friend in the action. In the next week, I'll be posting a montage of photos--one taken for every hour that I was awake yesterday. Now I just need to clean up the photos, make the montage, upload, etc. Plus, I'm allowing for time for said friend to do the same. If you're intrigued by the idea and want in, pick up your camera first thing tomorrow morning and also leave a shout in the comments below.

...when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. -- Anaïs Nin

The post-dinner dog walk has become a nightly ritual for my husband and I, and [this is good] on all fronts: we exercise a bit, the dog with four short legs exercises quite a bit more; we enjoy the Florida weather and the opportunity for us-time (I originally wrote "private, adult conversation," but that gave an illicit sound to the whole enterprise; I'm sure the parents out there know what I meant, however).

Last night, my husband found a tightly wrapped magnolia bud on the ground; it had dropped before it had the opportunity to blossom and was such an interesting shape and texture. I brought it home and some Southern impulse made me drop it into a bowl with a shallow pool of water.

This morning, I saw the flower had use this opportunity to the fullest and rewarded me with a magnolia-scented room.

Originally published at file under "Miscellanea". You can comment here or there.

Like an invisible zipline, sometimes fate drags you to where you need to be.

Last night, as we were considering a movie night on the couch, I recommended taking the dog for a walk.

As we concluded our walk, my husband suggested going out for a drink.

When we got downtown, I peeked into an art gallery, saw it was open, and said we should stop in.

If you can see where this is going, you are far wiser than I!

Once inside the Progress Energy Gallery, we were greeted by Michelle Astuto Collins and Sergio Vitorio Flores and informed a silent auction was ongoing and would end that night at 9:45pm. Much chatting and perusing followed, and we left having bid on two items. My husband and I went for drinks across the street, a conversation about football and a delicious crab cake later, we were back in the gallery and were going home with one of Sergio's masks and I had won a artist membership to the gallery.

Artist members get advance notice of shows, discounts on gallery fees and purchases, and a link from their site.

Obviously, I need to get in gear:  updating my arty site, uploading photos, and completing both the 3-D house piece I've been puttering on and the two canvases I've begun. I knew, of course, in the back of my head, I wanted to do these things, but I let them get piled under my regular job, paying taxes, washing the dog, feeding the kid, and dozens of other large and small tasks. Now, fate has given me a reason to put artmaking back on the front burner of my life, a subtle conspiring of events that has set me right, saying:  You need to put your energy here.

Husband is in geek ecstasy using a seal-o-meal to prep all the food for our camping trip. Keeps bringing me little packages & bouncing. 10:15 PM March 26, 2008 from twhirl

My birthday present this year was a VERY nice hiking pack and three days in the Green Swamp. My husband handled almost all the arrangements, including our menu (Who the hell eats filet and French onion soup whilst camping? We do!) and part of this process involved him sealing up various foods with my mum's seal-o-meal thing. Each package--of coffee, cocoa, marshmallows, cheese, crackers, croutons, so many packages!--made him giddier. It was very cute.

@gapingvoid Were you an outdoorsy kid when you went? Previous interest or experience camping, hiking, kayaking? Just curious WRT my brother 11:58 PM March 26, 2008 from twhirl in reply to gapingvoid

Replies to others (marked with the @ sign, for those non-twitter folk reading along) probably make the most boring reading because you're only hearing part of a conversation. I'm including this, however, because it's part of a pattern kind of emerging--Hugh had mentioned his experiences at a Canadian wilderness camp, my boss has recently done the same, both suggesting how very significant those camp experiences were. My brother showed no interest in our recent trip, but I have been wondering how he would fare at such a camp. It's not something I did growing up, though I had other away-from-home experiences and understand their importance. It's not something possible this summer--both financially and I expect he may still be too immature for the experience--but it's percolating in both my and my husband's minds.

Have returned from my adventure in the swamp. Was beautiful and grounding, inspiring and awesome. Oh, yeah, and filled with bloodsuckers. 05:53 PM March 31, 2008 from twhirl

True story:  Park guy, upon learning we were going to hike out overnight asked, in the following order:

1. Have you been here before?
2. Do you have mosquito repellent?
3. Water?

Camping in Florida, DEET is more necessary than water.

Shrimp are in the marinade; going make skewers on the grill tonight. For a moment, living in Florida = bliss 04:23 PM April 02, 2008 from twhirl

My husband and I ended up in Florida because it's where my mother and brother were, and they needed our help. Mostly, we miss being up North (closer to his family, more connection to the cities and life there), but it's pretty damn hard to complain when it's the first days of April, you're cooking out on the grill in bare feet, a skirt, and a sleeveless shirt.

I expect my brother is only child in country who got a mentos geyser in his Easter basket. 09:50 PM March 23, 2008

This Easter basket brought to you by Mythbusters, for sure. Followed by much bouncing up and down, shouting, "It was higher than the house? Did you see that? Higher than the house!!"

Okay, so that was me. But the kid was impressed, too.

four more days to my birthday, squeeeeee!!! 10:18 AM March 24, 2008

I turn thirty on Thursday. Last year, my birthday was a pretty depressing affair, in fact I don't have many strong memories of it, just the overwhelming sadness. My mother had died less than three months earlier and I just didn't know how to process anything in the absence of my mother. I don't know how much I've learned in the subsequent year except I know I'm still here. I know I've been happy and can still be happy. I know I make her proud by continuing to make my way, by raising my brother into an good man.

I've experienced a few things in the first thirty years of my life I wouldn't wish upon anyone else, but those experiences continue to form me into a woman I'm proud to be. In the next years, I hope to come to grips with myself as an "adult." I hope to be successful in my career and to support my husband in his. I hope to continue growing an inspirational, creative life. I hope to inspire and encourage my brother. I hope to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

soaking maple planks for tonight's mahi mahi 04:49 PM March 24, 2008
Dinner: planked mahi mani with roasted red pepper sauce, mushroom risotto and grilled asparagus 06:10 PM March 24, 2008

Okay, so this tweet and reposting it here is just utter gloating. Ever cook a meal and feel its execution and presentation were just dreamy? That was Monday's dinner.

my blog is fueled by steel-cut oatmeal and coffee at this point, me thinks about 22 hours ago

Random thought about my morning routines. In yesterday's case, I was reading new content at nonprofit.alltop.com and was inspired to write last morning's post (please read if you missed it :). Today, bowl of oatmeal in front of me, I decided to wrangle my tweets into this post. If you wish to be similarly fueled, consider Alton Brown's overnight oatmeal recipe. We've been making it in a triple batch with craisins and dried blueberries, then just reheating up a bowl each subsequent morning. Soooo delicious.

Feel like my head was disconnected at some point last night, rolled about by cats, then hastily shoved back on before the alarm sounded 7 minutes ago

I spent almost all of my 20s working in nonprofits and my husband has worked for Habitat for Humanity since 2003, so reading the following in the Nonprofit 2020 blog was pleasingly direct to me:

"To commit to a career in nonprofits is already akin to taking a vow of perpetual poverty.  The workers quoted in the first survey who complained about being underpaid are not seeking a 10,000 square foot vacation retreat, or a private jet, or millions in stock options.  Instead they seek a living wage:  enough to repay student loans, get a decent apartment, and take their families out for dinner and a movie now and again." [link]

Have you ever earmarked a donation, requesting that it be spent on programs and not administration? Have you ever rated a charity based solely on what percentage of its funds go to overhead?

Many people do, thinking they're "savvy" donors, but really they're buying into a gross oversimplification. A construction manager's salary and health insurance, his/her skills and his/her passion for building Habitat homes are worthwhile expenditures. A Habitat home is not just volunteers, 2x4s, paint and nails; it's made possible by a staff member who wrangles the hundreds of volunteers, the fundraiser who gets sponsors for the supplies, the grantwriter who dots every i and crosses every t.

At a museum, you can't spend money on the conservation of a painting or book without also paying a talented conservator. Clever writers and gifted designers communicate the mission of a nonprofit--but the financial rewards are significantly better to use those same skills to shill commercial products. The same is true for many, many, many nonprofit positions.

Some will choose to forgo the more extravagant financial rewards available in their field in order to do good and feel passionate about their work. They accept never earning what commercial carpenters or graphic designers can and do earn. But continually chipping away at nonprofits' overhead and administration costs, assuming those costs are unnecessary or wasteful without any basis, becomes a form of punishment. How much can you strip away from a nonprofit's employees before they burn out?

This isn't limited only to employee salaries, either, but is true of the tools of their trade, too. Quality safe tools on a Habitat job site, adequate computers and software in a charity's offices. These, too, are "overhead," but they are the tools required to achieve the organization's mission. If your favorite charity's newsletter editor has already accepted the pay cut necessary to work in the nonprofit field, is it also fair to expect her to do the job with a ten-year-old machine and sitting in the state's least ergonomic chair 50 hours a week? How many other ways do you want to hinder her success (and, thereby, your favorite charity's success)?

Okay, I'm off my soapbox for the morning, but hopefully I've provided you with some insight into this issue and maybe made you think a little more deeply about your expectations of nonprofits.

Want to do more than think about this? Great. Share this perspective with your friends and families. Send your next donation in earmarked for salaries or administrative costs instead and include a note that say "I love the work you do. Thanks!" Know someone in the nonprofit field? Ask them what one thing would make their job easier or give them more job satisfaction.

Thanks for reading and have a great day :)

What's the most valuable thing you've ever had stolen?

God, can being emo rub off on someone? I saw this and thought, "My innocence." Cue up the My Chemical Romance, take me out back, and shoot me.

Following Jason who is following Anil, I've turned off my automatic Twitter update and will be posting things manually, but with annotations to make them more meaningful. I also went back and added some notes to my most recent Twitter updates, which you can see under the twitter tag.

Unlike Jason, I don't have a witty name for this endeavor. Can't win 'em all. (Thanks for the idea, Jason!)

• 13:44 Having an Irish-themed dinner party tonight. Guinness corned beef and Guinness cupcakes for all! #
• 16:56 Guinness cupcakes. While, initially putting a stick of butter into a cup of Guinness seems like a crime, the result is worth the time! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

I've been having semi-monthly dinner parties since last November, I think, each with a potluck with a theme:  Cuban, Greek and, this month, Irish. Originally, I just said, "I'm nearly 30 and have never hosted a dinner party" and set about fixing that. Now, it's a great opportunity to open my home to my friends, share my table with some warm and entertaining people, and pass around great food.

Saturday's dinner had the highest attendance--we had to alter our table to fit everyone in and had to pull out my grandparent's china in order to have enough plates, etc. for everyone. A lot of work, a lot of clean up, but so very worth it. After every one of the dinner parties, I'm left with a great sense of happiness and that I'm close to living the life I want.

For those interested in such things, this last party's menu:

Starting with
* v * A selection of Irish cheeses served with crackers

Savoring
* * * Steak & Guinness Pie
* * * Guinness Corned Beef

Complemented by
* v * Soda Bread
* v * Colcannon
* v * New Potatoes with Rosemary
* v * Mushroom Soup

& Finishing with
* v * Apple Barley Pudding
* v * Irish Whiskey Cake
* v * Guinness Cupcakes