Meandering Missive: February 2006

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Why February sucked!

The other day, my friend David over at LiveJournal (LJ) wrote in his journal that he was in a very good mood and that he was giving out free hugs to whoever wanted them. :) I commented I'd take one, adding that February was a very stressful month and that I'd be glad when the month was over. He commented back (along with a hug, of course) to ask why it was so stressful. Well, now that it's the last day of the month, I'll blog about it.

Basically, just about everyone I know, including myself, had way more problems than normal. Some of the people in the list below are in-person friends, some are LJ friends, and some may be both. (As you might have guessed, I've become a real part of the LJ community). I'm obviously not naming names on the list; I'm not even revealing the gender of anybody, because I respect everyone's privacy.

In the list below, when I say "conflicts" or "problems", I don't mean the little day-to-day things that you forget about at the end of the day. Everyone has those. I mean the things that are more significant, upsetting, and/or more long-lasting than they should be. :( Following the list about other folks, I'll include my own list.

Several people were very sick with viruses.

Several people had conflicts with their spouses.

Several people had problems with their work.

Several people had conflicts with their child or children.

Several people had conflicts with parents-in-law or siblings-in-law.

Two people had pregnancy-related scares.

One person was plagued w/ ISP and cellular phone problems.

One person broke up with his/her significant other.

One person was crushed to learn his/her significant other was cheating.

One person began going through a bitter divorce.

One person had a flare-up of a chronic health condition.

As if all that weren't enough to be stressful and depressing for an empathic person like myself, I too had my share of not-happy stuff. It included the following:

My dad giving everyone a terrible scare by falling a few days after his 83rd birthday and cutting his head on the pavement. I thought we might have to call 911, since the way he feel, it looked like he may have broken several bones or gotten a concussion. But miraculously, NONE of that bad stuff happened!

A very longtime friend of my family who has three children and a grandchild discovering she has breast cancer, and being told a mastectomy isn't enough and that she also needs chemotherapy!

Another longtime family friend discovering her baby grandchild may have a metabolic or endocrine disease.

My applications to work part-time at three different stores/businesses I love but none have gotten back to me yet. I desperately need some work to supplement my freelancing, because my personal financial situation is about as grim as it could get (another source of unhappiness for me).

Learning that after 2 weeks, one of my eBay bidders never got the item I sent her (which wasn't cheap). She chose not to purchase postal insurance, which I offer as optional on ALL my listings! The loss was totally out of my hands since I had no tracking number. However, she wanted her money refunded anyway and I was afraid she'd leave negative feedback and ruin my feedback record. :( We finally agreed to a 50% refund, which would equal both of us taking half a loss. This is the first time in my 7+ years of eBaying that the Postal Service lost a package!

Getting a much smaller refund on my taxes than I expected. I had so many biz-related expenses in 2005 (a convention in Las Vegas, a new laptop, etc.) that I naively thought I'd get everything back at tax-time. WRONG!

The failure of my girls-only bingo group's February game to become the one co-ed game of the year because the majority of men wouldn't or couldn't commit (although it was still a great game hosted by a great friend, Becky and her mom).

The disappointment of the Winter Olympics having more examples of poor sportsmanship and/or unprofessionalism among athletes than I can remember in a long time.

Seeing so many examples of reckless, rude and sometimes downright maniacal driving that I can't believe it. I normally only see this in the 2 weeks before Christmas, so I don't know why it's been so bad in February. I was almost the witness to several accidents because of these awful people -- including accidents involving cars I was driving or riding in! YIKES!

A situation regarding the breakdown of good interpersonal communications with someone very important, which caused me much aggroness. It's finally on the road to resolution. I blogged about it at LiveJournal but put it in a Friends-only entry, because I don't always like the whole world being able to read about my life. But I can't do Friends-only entries here at Blogspot. Anyhoo, the situation is slowly getting better now; that's the important thing. :)

Today I am feeling drained but relieved!

posted by ScaryShari @ 2:44 PM 0 comments

Friday, February 24, 2006

"Tell Her About It"

Billy Joel really knew what he was talking about, when he wrote the song Tell Her About It. The song came out in 1983, but the appeal of it is truly timeless. I think a lot of men in relationships (with women) would be wise to carefully read and thoughtfully think about these song lyrics....

"Tell Her About It"

Listen boy I don't want to see you
Let a good thing slip away
You know I don't like watching anybody
Make the same mistakes I made
She's a real nice girl and she's always there for you
But a nice girl wouldn't tell you what you should do.

Listen boy I'm sure that you think
You got it all under control
You don't want somebody telling you
The way to stay in someone's soul
You're a big boy now and you'll never let her go
But that's just the kind of thing she ought to know.

Tell her about it, tell her everything you feel
Give her every reason to accept that you're for real
Tell her about it, tell her all your crazy dreams
Let her know you need her, let her know how much she means!

Listen boy, it's not automatically a certain guarantee
To ensure yourself, you've got to provide
Communication constantly
When you love someone, you're always insecure
And there's only one good way to reassure...

Tell her about it, let her know how much you care
When she can't be with you, tell her you wish you were there
Tell her about it, every day before you leave
Pay her some attention, give her something to believe!

Cause now and then, she'll get to worrying
Just because you haven't spoken for so long
And though you may not have done anything
Will that be a consolation when she's gone?

Listen boy, it's good information
From a man who's made mistakes
Just a word or two that she gets from you
Could be the difference that it makes
She's a trusting soul, she's put her trust in you
But a girl like that won't tell you what you should do.

Tell her about it, tell her everything you feel
Give her every reason to accept that you're for real
Tell her about it, tell her all your crazy dreams
Let her know you need her, let her know how much she means!

posted by ScaryShari @ 10:24 AM 0 comments

Thursday, February 23, 2006

What Winter Olympic sport best suits you? (my own quiz)

In the spirit of the Winter Olympics, I've been searching the Internet for some type of blog quiz or meme whose theme deals with matching a person's skills and personality to a particular sporting event. I couldn't find any quizzes except for one, and that one didn't work well, so I decided to make my own! :) I used QuizFarm, a very good quiz-making website!

I couldn't include ALL the Winter Olympic sports in the quiz results, because that would have made taking the quiz a very long and cumbersome experience. So I picked what I hope is a good cross-section of seven of the available sports. I also tried hard to write accurate questions. I love making and taking blog quizzes, so please take the quiz (it's short, don't worry), and let me know what you think. Thanks!

After I took my own quiz, I was NOT surprised with my #1 event. *grin* (I'm also not surprised at the event I scored lowest in, because it's one that would terrify me!) For those of you who know how poor I am at almost anything athletic, you won't be surprised with any of my results either! Here is my best chance at an Olympic medal...

You scored as Curling. Want to win a medal in the Winter Olympics? Curling might just be your best bet!

Curling

88%

Cross-Country Skiing

75%

Bob Sledding (Bobsleigh)

56%

Figure skating

56%

Snowboarding

44%

Ice Hockey

19%

Freestyle Aerial Skiing

What sport in the Winter Olympics suits you?
created with QuizFarm.com

posted by ScaryShari @ 4:30 PM 1 comments

Monday, February 20, 2006

A good, busy Presidents' Day

Today was filled with many different things, and I feel good about how productive it was -- especially since I have such trouble with time management and time-wasting! (It also happened to be Presidents' Day.)

The most important thing is that today was my dad's birthday! Hence the festive userpic. He turned 83 today. Wow. Each year he's with is us a blessing; especially in light of his chronic health problems. Even though he doesn't read my journal, I still want to say: "Happy Birthday Daddy!" :) (his fave colour is blue)

I set my alarm a wee bit earlier than usual because I had an eagerly awaited chiropractor appointment today. And I didn't even feel horribly sleepy or sluggish upon awakening like I sometimes do. (Maybe my body knew it was waking early for a good reason, as I love going to the chiro!) It was a great appointment as usual; I really think he's the most sensitive, caring, and knowledgeable chiropractor in town -- not to mention the friendliest! My mom's been going to him for 5 or 6 years, and I've been going for 4 or 5. He and his son have a practice together, and the son is wonderful as well -- he learned from the best. :)

Afterwards, my mom and I visited a longtime family friend who had a mastectomy last week. Her surgeon thinks the cancer was localized and that the prognosis is good. She'll know more soon. She was in good spirits and looked good as well. We brought over some homemade spaghetti and (store-bought) garlic bread, because she doesn't really feel like cooking for a few more days. Her husband and daughter were there too, and it was nice to hang out for a while and chat with such nice people. :) Our friend is especially grateful to my mom, because my mom loaned her several excellent books on breast cancer and dealing with all the emotions that come with it. As some folks know, my mom recently passed her 5-year anniversary of being a breast cancer survivor! :) Hers was Stage I, thank goodness, and her prognosis was very good from the start. And now that she passed the 5-year mark, it's excellent!

My dad had decided, prior to today, that he wanted to go out to lunch, not dinner, for his birthday. And the place he chose was John's XLNT Foods, which despite the funny name is a restaurant where I can truly say: "I've never had a bad meal." :) It's a family-run establishment that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and has been around since the 1970s. It has such a large and loyal patron base that it's never had to advertise. The owners are Greek, and as such have a variety of Greek foods (my faves are the avgolemono, or Greek lemon soup, and the moussaka.) They also serve Italian food (of which my faves are the minestrone soup and the spaghetti/ravioli combo plate). And of course, they also serve good old American food, which I also love.

My dad's chronic health problems, BTW, are mainly his lung disease. He started smoking around junior high school age and didn't quit until his late 20s (I think?). It was when he was married to his first wife, so I'm not sure of the timeline. At any rate, he has advanced COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The main component of it for him is emphysema, although he may also have some attributes of chronic bronchitis. He uses oxygen when he goes out of the house, because otherwise he gets too out-of-breath to safely go anywhere, as it's too hard on his heart otherwise. As it is, he has cor pulmonale, a condition in which the right side of the heart becomes enlarged and weakened, due to the strain of trying to circulate blood through the inefficient lungs.

In recent months, he was also diagnosed with a type of mild cognitive impairment that happens sometimes in COPD patients. This is due to the brain not getting as rich a supply of oxygen in its blood as it requires. The impairment is so gradual that it often goes unnoticed. Using oxygen more can help keep it from progressing, as can Ginkgo biloba supplements, which increase circulation, especially in the brain. He's even taking the drug Aricept, which is most often prescribed for Alzheimer's patients but is also used in people with other brain-related situations.

Gosh! That was a bit of a downer, eh? Sorry about the "too much information." Most folks here don't even know my dad. But it felt good to talk about him. Plus on his birthday it makes me think more about these things than on other days. *sigh*

ANYWAY... after lunch, we went on a wild goose chase to pick up his B-Day dessert. We first stopped at San Jose's famous Dick's Bakery for their famous Burnt Almond Cake (my dad requested the chocolate version). They're closed Mondays, however, so we next tried Bakers Square for a pecan pie, but they were sold out! :( My dad doesn't stand on ceremonies and said tomorrow would be just as good as today to get the pecan pie, so we'll try again!

As soon as I got home, I saw my two squirrel friends. Well, I'm trying to make friends with ALL the squirrels, but so far these two are the most responsive. I think they're a "couple", because I often see them playfully chasing each other around and around the big camphor tree. They also stay within eye-shot of each other when they're foraging on the ground for food. The more outgoing one I've nicknamed "Peanut". I'm not sure what to call Peanut's partner. "Goober" is a term for the peanut in the South, and although I'm not Southern, I think it's kind of a cute and funny name. In truth, I'm not sure which squirrel in this pair is the male and which is the female, but somehow I get the feeling that Peanut, the most friendly one, is the female. Not that it matters. :)

What matters is that BOTH of them now recognize me even when I'm quite a distance away. If they're in a tree, they climb down and scamper over. If they're already on the ground, they come even closer, sometimes even standing on their hind legs, as if to say "Okay, I'm here! Where's the treats?" SOOO CUTE! They also respond to my voice when I call to them, and they definitely also know the sound of the peanut bag! Each day they dib closer and closer to me, and are less and less nervous. One of these days I think I'll be able to hand them the peanuts, rather than throwing the peanuts at them. That would be nice, because they always get scared for a split second when they see the peanut coming at them, no matter how gently I toss it. (All animals, including humans, have an instinct to avoid being hit by a flying object! *chuckle*)

I haven't been able to snap a photo of them when they stand up, but hopefully I will soon (I love their white furry bellies!) In the meantime, here are two new photos of them on the ground. The first pic is the cutest, because the squirrel (either Peanut or Goober) was only 2 or 3 feet away. Look at that cute little mouth and those shiny eyes and fur! It was looking at me all quizzically -- probably wondering what the curious shiny metal thing was and if it was EDIBLE! (Sorry squirrel friend, it was only my camera!) What I like best about the second photo is the cuteness of the squirrel's little shadow. You can click either of the pix to view a larger version. After the pix, I'll finish describing my day.

In the afternoon, I took a refreshing shower and shampooed and conditioned my mane. My fave part was using the yummy Grapefruit & Wild Ginger conditioner by Nature's Gate Organics, whose products I love but can only find at Whole Foods Market. This particular conditioner smells like an orange creamsicle -- double yum!!

For dinner tonight, I'm proud to say I made another of my beef-and-veggie stir fry meals. It turned out delicious, too! I say I'm "proud" because I'm not a very good cook and am trying to build up my confidence in the kitchen. *blush* I prefer baking more than cooking, but one cannot live on baked goods alone! ;) is always encouraging me to "take baby steps" in the kitchen, and I'm really trying. Maybe one day I'll be as good a cook as she and her husband "DH" are!

Oh, but before dinner, I finally remembered to call up my old friend Freddy, who with her husband John own/run The Wild Bird Center of Los Gatos. I'd hoped she might hire me as part-time help as the Christmas season got underway, but she already had enough P-T employees and the season wasn't as great as she'd hoped anyway. Now that spring is coming, I thought I should check in with her again, but she still doesn't have any openings in her small group of employees, especially since she and her husband work a lot of shifts themselves. She said she'll definitely remember me if any of her part-timers leave and she needs a hole filled.

She and I have known each other for years, and she knows how much I love her merchandise and how good I am with people, so maybe it'll work out sooner than I think. :) The merchandise, BTW, concentrates on bird feeders, bird food, bird books, etc. but also includes general "nature-themed" things like field guides on flowers and mammals, garden accessories, plant- and animal-themed jewelry and gifts, etc. And yes, even squirrel stuff!! ;D In the meantime, tomorrow I'm going to give a follow-up phone call to SummerWinds Nursery, where I've already applied for part-time work and would be tickled pink to actually get it! I also have two additional job applications at two additional stores that I love and are extremely close to my home. One is Diddams Party Store; the other is Barnes & Noble. I hope to finish filling them out tonight and turn them in tomorrow. No time like the present!

Today I am feeling accomplished.

posted by ScaryShari @ 7:33 PM 1 comments

Saturday, February 18, 2006

February's bingo game!

Last night was another great gathering of my monthly gals-only bingo group, The Bingo Belles. <---You can click this link to learn more about the group. My friend Becky S. (distinguished from my other friend Becky R.) and her cool mom co-hosted at her mom's home this month. Becky -- I know I already thanked you both, but I'm saying thanks again! :)

It was nice for me to take a break from having all the games at my house, plus between Becky's mom's driveway and the cul-de-sac, there was room for more folks to park than in my townhouse complex. In total, there were 9 players, which ties with December for the most players since I started the group last spring! :D Aside from Becky, her adorable son Andrew, her mom and her mom's friend from work, there were 5 others (4 plus me). Several other gals wanted to come but couldn't make it. I wonder how we'd all have squozen in if they HAD come?!

The February game was originally supposed to be a "co-ed" bingo, but it didn't work out. This concept is a throwback to the old bingo group I used to play with until they showed their true (evil) colours and intolerantly kicked out the players who were not ultra-conservative religiously and politically. :[ Long story -- don't even ask or I'll start in on a long tangent! *chuckle*

Anyhoo, I always thought it was very funny and fun to have men play bingo one time each year. The guys are typically always the ones to make fun of us for loving bingo and who insist they'd never enjoy such an inane game. (heehee) But of course, when they actually get dragged to the game, they usually end up having excellent luck and often become as giddy as young girls. Hilarious!

BTW, we all play bingo for gifts that we bring and win/steal, not money. Well, except for the blackout round, in which everyone puts $2 in the pot and the winner takes all. I won't bore anyone with all the specifics on how we play, but feel free to ask if you're curious. Basically each time someone bingos, they get to unwrap a gift. Once all the gifts are unwrapped, THEN the stealing starts for the rest of the evening, each time someone bingos.

Unfortunately, we ended up NOT having co-ed bingo after all, because there would not have been enough men. Even tho most of the players did have husbands, boyfriends, male friends or male family members to invite, most of them are unable to attend, not sure they can attend, or didn't want to attend, for a variety of reasons. :( It would certainly be awkward if only 1 or 2 guys showed up! So, I told everyone not to worry about bringing a guy this time. Maybe next year it'll work out. Of course, Becky still brought Andrew, since she'd already planned it and he was going to spend the night at Grandma's. I was very glad he came! Andrew is a very funny, smart and cute boy, and also a very good sport -- both when he won and when he didn't win. I feel safe saying that everyone enjoyed his company. :D

I would have taken pictures last night, but I was very aggro when I left my house, and also running a bit late, especially since I was going to another friend's house to carpool. So, in the absense of posting a pic from last night, I'll instead (just for fun!) share a photo of the Bingo Belles from our December game, which also had a big turnout. Not all of February's players are in the December pic, but half are. :)

Today I am feeling pleased.

posted by ScaryShari @ 5:22 PM 4 comments

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Johari's "Window" to my soul ;)

It seems everyone's been doing the Johari Window lately. I'd call it a meme, but you don't answer quizzy questions or post anything in your blog. It's an insightful tool dealing with psychology and interpersonal communications, and I love it! I first tried it in college, in my Interpersonal Communications class. I enjoyed learning how other people (family and friends) saw me, and whether or not I saw myself that way. It was also a cool way for the family members and friends to learn more about me. (Of course, we did it on paper and were free to write any adjectives we wanted, unlike the website, where you choose from a pre-made list).

The website that hosts the Window has been overloaded lately, but it finally seems to be online more than it's OFF, so I'm doing my own now. I went to the site many times to participate in other peoples' Windows; now I hope you'll take a minute to help me with mine. :) Thanks! The instructions are here: Shari's Johari Window. After you've picked 6 adjectives that describe me, please enter either your Live Journal user name (if you're on LJ), or your real first name, before you click the "save" button. That way, I can see how many people picked which adjectives. (Note to Shari in L.V. -- if you do my Window, please enter your last initial or some other thing to differentiate us, so people don't see your name and think I rated myself a second time. *blush* Thanks!)

I had a hard time picking from the adjective chart, because I identified with so many of them! Also, quite a few were near-synonyms, which was confusing. For example, the chart had both "caring" and "kind", and to me those basically mean the same thing. Likewise "cheerful" and "happy", while not the same, are very close when it comes to personality traits. I may or may not have chosen any of these for myself; I'm just using them as examples. I think I would have made the Window with a wider range of adjectives, but hey -- I didn't design the site and wouldn't have a clue how to do it! *chuckle* And it really is well done and easy.

After you're done with that, if you want to try something completely different, I've also made one of the infamous Nohari Windows. Here's the link: Shari's Nohari Window. It's the opposite of Johari and consists of personality flaws and/or weaknesses. It may seem very negative and insulting, but it really isn't -- unless you take it personally. I promise I won't. :) I'm the first to admit that I have as many weaknesses as anybody else. I also feel it's never too late to try to improve myself, but it helps if I know what I need to improve on. I picked the 6 flaws that I think are most descriptive of me. I hope you all will do the same. As with the Johari Window, you don't have to pick 6; you can pick 4 or 5, but it won't let you pick more than 6.

Thanks again all!

Today I am feeling curious.

posted by ScaryShari @ 10:26 PM 0 comments

Monday, February 13, 2006

Candy hearts & squirrels!

I'm sure no one will ever again hear THOSE two things mentioned in the same sentence! (heehee)

First things first -- the candy heart! I discovered Acme Labs' funny and fun Candy Heart Maker website a while ago, but was waiting until close to Valentine's Day to use it. You can design your own "conversation heart" candies in a variety of candy and text colours, and of course with your own words. Here's mine:

I think everyone knows my fave colour. However, since almost everyone also knows my background in writing and editing (and my obsessive-compulsive copy editing tendencies *grin*), I don't want anyone to think I suddenly lost my mind and misspelled the word hopeful! I didn't. I wrote the candy heart this way as a sort of play on words. If you're hopeful about something, you could also be considered as full of hope, or "hope full". And I think that's a suitable sentiment for many people on Valentine's Day. :)

Next up: the squirrel photos! My Live Journal friend Wilhelmina, who likes squirrels almost as much as I do (heehee) and I have been talking about these cute little critters for a while now. She also loves photography and has taken some great photos of the ekorren (squirrels) in Sweden, which have long, sticking-up ears covered in fur.

I've spent the past two or three weeks (or more) trying to make friends with the tree squirrels who live in my townhouse complex. They are Eastern Gray Squirrels <---click for a great link! My efforts were slow going, but ultimately successful, and improving every day! :)

Here are the photos, followed by a heart-warming squirrel story. Please click on the pix to view the larger/better version. I don't think this squirrel is my special friend (as explained in the story below), but it's one of the squirrels who recognizes me -- otherwise I don't think it would have allowed me to come so close. I used my camera's zoom lens, so I'm not quite as close at it looks. However, the zoom lens is very limited, so I still had to get closer than most squirrels would allow! *chuckle*

When I first started walking around with my zipper bag of roasted, un-shelled, un-salted peanuts, the squirrels would all run into the trees when they saw me. They did NOT shriek and chatter like they do when they see a cat, so obviously they knew I wasn't a threat or a predator. However, they didn't really trust me either. However, I patiently kept walking the area, talking in a friendly, quiet voice as they stared at me from up in the trees. I also shook the peanut bag, and I'm sure the noise got their attention. They watched as I placed peanuts in certain places, and whenever I came back to those places an hour or two later, the nuts were gone! ;D

Over time, some would still dash into the trees when I got too close, but others would only scamper to another part of the grass or landscaping, rather than running away. In the last few days, two squirrels have become trusting enough to stay on the ground and let me toss peanuts to them. I think they're actually a "couple", because I often see them playfully chasing each other around and around the trunk of their favourite tree, a very large camphor. So cute!! ;)

Today, I saw some squirrels and went out as usual. I knelt down, shook the bag and announced "Peanuts! I have peanuts!" One squirrel, who I'm sure was part of the friendly pair, actually came over to me! I was so happy!! Normally, squirrels run AWAY from people. This one ran TOWARD me! :D :) It kept boundering and scampering through the grass -- in a straight line, no less -- until it was only a few feet away! It then hopped up on a rock -- I think to get eye level with me -- then hopped off the rock. I almost thought if I held my arm out, it might take the nut from my hand. But I didn't want to seem pushy or over-eager. Neither squirrels nor humans appreciate pushiness! *chuckle* Good things come to those who wait. So I simply tossed the peanut to my friend, who took it in his/her mouth and then thought for a while about whether or not to eat it in front of me. However, I don't think he/she was quite ready for that, choosing instead to take the nut up into the big camphor tree.

I know some people might not understand how I feel, but I feel so happy about this that I can't put it into words. :) I love all animals, but I have a special love for rodents. I also feel very accomplished when I can gain the trust of an animal who normally does not interact closely with humans. Of course, there are lots of squirrels in parks, at beaches, etc. that are very familiar with humans and will practically sit on your lap and BEG for food. However, the squirrels in my townhouse complex are not like that. So it's even more special to me that we're becoming friends. I like to think that they can sense a "kindred spirit." :)

Today I am feeling hopeful.

posted by ScaryShari @ 9:02 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

It's beginning to look a lot like SPRING

Last week, along with going to Los Gatos to photograph the beautiful acacia trees in bloom, I also went to the Vietnamese Buddhist Temple on McLaughlin Avenue in San Jose, because there's always something in bloom there, especially late winter through mid-spring. I was not disappointed! :)

Of course, you don't have to be Vietnamese OR Buddhist to visit the temple. I've never been inside the building, since I'm not sure if I'm supposed to and I've never seen anyone to ask. However, I've walked around the grounds many times, and always enjoy how wonderfully well-kept the landscaping is.

One of my friends over at LiveJournal wanted to see my "Bee in Blossom" photo, which I'd told her about a few days ago, so I'm sharing that one first. (Actually I already shared it in my Live Journal version of this blog. I didn't plan on having a friendly BEE arrive in the picture; it just happened by accident -- definitely a happy accident! :) Click on the pic above for a really neat close-up.

I think this is a flowering almond tree, because the blossoms are pure white, and early-blooming. However, these days there are so many different cultivars and hybrids of stonefruit, I can't always tell what flower will become what fruit!! *blush* This tree hadn't sprouted any leaves yet either, which made identification even harder. BTW, when I say stonefruit, I mean fruits of the genus Prunus, which all have a hard pit in the center with "flesh" around it. Examples include peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, prunes, cherries and, yes, almonds.

The Buddhist temple also has a large number of flowering quince bushes in the landscaping, and they too are very early bloomers. Although fruiting quinces generally grow as trees (with the tangy, pear-like fruit used in jelly and preserves), flowering quinces tend to be grown as medium to tall shrubs or hedges. They're cultivated for their gorgeous, festive blossoms, which these days exist in just many different shades of pink, red or orange, along with white. Sometimes flowering quinces produce small, starchy yellow fruits as well. As you might guess, yes -- quinces are related to pears and apples. :) Below are two of my quince photos; you can click each of them to view a close-up, if you like.

Finally, we have the rare (at least in this area) and exquisite Purple Orchid Tree, known botanically as Bauhinia purpurea or Bauhinia variegata. I had NO idea what this was when I was at the temple, because even though every plant has a "nametag", they're all in Vietnamese. I discovered the tree's name totally by accident at home, when I was looking up something else. Talk about good luck!

The flowers look, at least to me, like a cross between a purple orchid and some type of tiger lily. *chuckle* They have a mild fruity/floral scent and are so pretty! According to my research, the tree has an interesting "schedule", blooming winter through spring, and dropping its leaves some time during the same period! The flowers turn into long messy seedpods, and the tree eventually refoliates with its unusual light-green, broad-lobed leaves. Interestingly enough, this tree is in the same family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) as peas and beans! That's also the family acacias, caesalpinias, royal poincianas, mimosas, locusts and carobs are in, but we won't get into all THAT! *grin*

Instead, I'll let you enjoy the photo below. Feel free to click it for a close-up shot!

Today I am feeling springy!

posted by ScaryShari @ 5:13 PM 0 comments

Monday, February 06, 2006

I'm a Pen Woman! (well, almost)

This past Saturday, I was one of nine "creative women" honored at this year's Achiever Luncheon of the Santa Clara County branch of the nonprofit National League of American Pen Women. (NLAPW)

I'm not yet completely over my surprise at being nominated in the first place (my dear friend Jeanne was behind that). I also was extremely humbled to be in the company of eight women who are much more successful than I am. I'm not just giving falsely modest platitudes either -- I really was surprised to be honoured! *blush* And thankful. It turned out to be a great event for me, both personally and professionally. If you want the rest of the story, read below. It's a long one, I warn you! ;D

Actually, I'm not a Pen Woman YET, but I definitely plan on joining the Santa Clara County branch. I meant to join last year, after Jeanne told me how much she likes the group and I discovered I already knew some of the ladies on its roster! :)

In a nutshell, the NLAPW is a nonprofit with more than 200 local branches in the U.S. and Panama. Members are creative, professional women of all ages who work in one or more of three "comprehensive membership classifications" -- letters, art or music. Among the benefits of joining NLAPW are the chance to learn from and network with other creative professionals at regularly held meetings; attend interesting workshops, lectures and discussions related to various creative fields; and enter one's written, visual or musical works in contests, competitions and exhibitions.

Each year, our local branch (and I assume most branches?) holds this luncheon to honour women who, as the event program puts it, "have achieved professionalism in the arts." At least one current branch member must nominate you and give info about you to the applicable committee. Apparently Jeanne did this without telling me, because I didn't know I was one of this year's nine women until I got a thick envelope in the mail this past December, asking me to write a brief bio, answer some questions, provide my resume and work samples, etc.

At first I almost politely declined. I couldn't believe that of all the more worthy nominees out there, they actually wanted ME! But I knew Jeanne would feel awful if I declined. She's such a sweet and thoughtful friend that I would never want to disappoint her. I also got to thinking this might be a way to network with all these connected, creative women, and get better known in their circles. I'm still struggling to find enough creative work and to keep my head above water financially, so anything that could help me in that area is a GOOD thing!

Fast forward to Saturday. The event, which this year was titled Hats Off to the Arts took place in the social hall of the First Congregational Church in San Jose. Everyone was encouraged to wear some type of hat, but I didn't because I look stupid in most hats, except my cowboy hats and my Renaissance Faire hat. However, I didn't think either of those would be appropriate. *grin*

The Achievers were supposed to get there by 10:30 a.m. to set up our work samples on the tables provided for us, as the event would begin at 11 a.m. with schmoozing until the noon buffet lunch. The artists brought paintings, art prints, notecards, postcards and other mediums; the writers brought books (fiction and nonfiction), magazines and newspapers; and the musicians did something but I didn't see what.

I brought along a bunch of different publications I've done writing, editing and/or photography for in the past or in the present. This includes Industry Magazine, Silicon Valley Home, a monthly magazine supplement in the San Jose Mercury News, Times Media, Inc. and Boulevards New Media. I even brought a copy of a May 2004 press release I wrote for Mother Earth Clay Art Center. I would have brought copies of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times and Saratoga News as well, as I was features editor of those two papers (part of the larger SVCN group) for many years, but in my typically disorganized fashion, I couldn't scrounge them up in time. However, they were included on my resume, which I also brought copies of to hand out, along with my freelance business cards.

OH! And I also displayed notecards featuring my original nature photography of trees and flowers. You can see some of them at Flickr.com, where I keep my portfolios. To see my favourite set of images, please click here and enjoy. :) You can also find my animated Flickr image badge at the bottom of the sidebar to the right.

[Despite all this that I said about myself, I just want to make it clear that ALL of the other Achievers had MANY more years of experience in their fields than I, and had accomplished MANY more impressive things. It's not that I'm not proud of my work or think I'm a loser. The work that I do is good. However, I don't think I hold a candle to the other women I was with. They've done so much more than I! Hopefully their success will rub off on me, especially since I've been feeling somewhat disenchanted lately with aspects of writing and my career in general.]

Although the display tables were not specifically a "selling event", we were all told that it was perfectly fine to sell our items if people were interested. And it so happens that one lady bought 10 of my notecards! *cheer* This didn't even happen during the pre-lunch period, but rather after the lunch AND the program! I went back to my display table while the other folks took a last visit to the silent auction and raffle prize room, and one lady cruised by my table and bought 10 cards. Cool!

Another cool thing was that I ran into several creative souls (and nice people!) I got to know during my days with the Los Gatos and Saratoga papers, when I covered the arts scene. Nancy Jo Lopp and Marian Gault were two of the other Achievers: Nancy Jo for her photography and Marian for her paintings and calligraphy. Also attending the event were papercraft artist Jeanne Tillman (yep, another Jeanne!) and photographer Felicia Peters Pollock. (Marian's artistically inclined husband Ned was also there and remembered me!) It was so great to see all these awesome folks again! It brought back old times/memories, especially when Felicia told me she and many of the other artists at Saratoga's two co-op galleries missed me and wished I was back covering arts for the SVCN papers again! *blush* I miss the galleries and the artists too! In fact, since they all deserve more recognition than they usually get, here are their websites: Gallery Saratoga and Aegis Gallery.

YIKES! I'm sure getting off track here! Back to the Achievers event. After the 11 a.m. to noon schmooze fest, we all enjoyed a catered buffet lunch of a huge mixed green salad with lots of cheese and croutons, three choices of salad dressing, rolls and butter, chicken breast and penne pasta in a creamy tomato-y sauce, tender chunks of beef in a stroganoff sauce over herbed rice, and a cooked vegetable medley. And dessert, which came out later, was a rich chocolate mousse pie, accompanied by grapes and -- of all things -- fortune cookies!

After lunch was the program, which began with the mistress of ceremonies asking each Achiever, in turn, to stand up at their table while she introduced them for about 5 minutes. It so happened I was the 5th person out of nine to stand, so at least I didn't have to be anxious while listening to her speech about all of the others -- only about half of them! *chuckle* I actually would have preferred if we each got to take the microphone and speak about ourselves.

I know most folks hate public speaking but I don't. I used to be deathly afraid of it, but thanks to some great college classes in rhetoric and a super-encouraging professor, I lost my fear. Anyhoo, I wouldn't have been embarrassed to give a mini biography of myself, but standing there while someone ELSE talked about me... well... that was embarrassing for some reason. *blush* She also made one minor boo-boo and left out a few things I wish she would have mentioned, but that's okay. :)

After all nine of us were lauded and received our certificates, the entertainment portion of the program began. Everyone involved was a Pen Woman. There were flute and piano numbers, a ventriloquist, a song-and-dance medley of "doo-wop" music, a cool talk on the history of hats and a hat fashion show in which Pen Women were the models, donning chapeaus of many different decades and styles. Oh, and the program began and ended with an original song, "Hats Off to the Arts," written and sung by one Pen Woman and arranged (on piano) by another!

Afterwards the raffle winners and silent auction high bidders got their prizes. I didn't win ANYTHING in the raffle, despite buying 12 tickets. I'm such a loser at most raffles it isn't even funny. :( And you wouldn't believe the lavish gift baskets of all kinds that were being raffled! There were also half a dozen or so door prizes, but I didn't win those either. Just call me Charlie Brown. (heehee) I did get one thing in the silent auction, however! *cheer* Among other things was a $20 gift certificate to Mountain Mike's Pizza. The opening bid was $5 with $2 increments. No one wrote down anything after my $9 bid, so I basically got the certificate for half-off! Not bad! :) I really like their pizza, although my fave is still Round Table. The silent auction AND the raffle were fundraisers for the local Pen Women's scholarship fund, so it was definitely a worthwhile cause.

Wow, what a meandering missive THIS was! I'd be surprised if anyone actually made it to the end. I don't expect anyone to. :) I mainly wrote this long narrative for myself, because I want to remember this event, and there's no better way to do that than to put it in writing. Photos are good too, and in fact Nancy Jo and Jeanne are both going to email me some digital photos they took of me at the event. Hopefully I'll get them soon, so I can post them here. In the meantime, I'm going to start filling out the paperwork to join the Santa Clara County branch of the National League of American Pen Women, because I definitely think this is the start of great things to come!

Good thing I didn't let my embarrassment and surprise get the better of me, and cause me to decline the Achiever honour! Thanks again, Jeanne! :) Sometimes it takes a friend to believe in us, when we're not sure if we believe in ourselves.

Today I am feeling thankful & embarrassed.

posted by ScaryShari @ 11:38 AM 1 comments

Friday, February 03, 2006

All about acacias!

The photo below is a Bailey acacia (Acacia baileyana), also called Cootamundra Wattle or Golden Mimosa Tree. They're blooming everywhere right now! (Click the pic for a close-up)

As some of you know, I have 2 blogs at LiveJournal.com. One is called Meandering Missive and, as you'd expect, is a nearly exact "clone" of this one. The other one is called Earthly Delights. It's a way for me to "publish" my gardening column, Earthly Delights, which used to actually run in some local newspapers (and I actually got paid for it, but no more!)

To learn the good, the bad and the ugly about the often misunderstood but beautiful and (yes, even useful!) acacia tree, please read "All about acacias" at Earthly Delights. Thanks! I promise it will be interesting, and not too long! After you read the column, please feel free to post any comments there, if you wish. :)

Today I am feeling accomplished.

posted by ScaryShari @ 5:24 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

MEME: "Five Unique Things"

I found this the other day at Live Journal (LJ), where my friend Marjorie blogs. She didn't mention the meme's name, so I'll take the liberty of calling it the "Five Unique Things" meme. Please correct me if it already has a name. :) Thanks! (BTW: a "friends list" is a place on LJ where you, and others, can see the user names and blogs of your friends.)

Name a CD you own that you think no one else on your friends list does:
The CD soundtrack from Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance extravaganza! (Ronan Hardiman is the excellent composer)

Name a book you own that you think no one else on your friends list does:
When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves any type of animal/s! It's full of fascinating and amazing stories, and all are true! Many move me to laughter and/or tears. Awesome book!!

Name a movie you own on DVD/VHS/whatever that you think no one else on your friends list does:
The Water Babies. I don't have the actual tape or DVD, but rather a home-taped version from TV when I was a kid. I ought to buy a "fresh" copy from Amazon! *chuckle* I'll be very surprised if anyone has this! It's a 1970s British adaptation (not too close, apparently) of a novel by the same name. The film is part live action and part animated. I was enchanted with this film as a kid!

Name a place that you have visited that you think no one else on your friends list has:
Antigua, an island in the eastern Caribbean

Name a piece of technology or any sort of tool you own that you think no one else on your friends list has:
An iMac G3 computer running OS 9.2 -- I'd almost bet money that no one else has one of these dinosaurs! *smirk*

Today I am feeling curious.

posted by ScaryShari @ 4:55 PM 0 comments

Welcome to my blog: 'Meandering Missive'!

: Name: ScaryShari; Location: South Bay Area, California, United States

My blog here has been abandoned, sorry! But PLEASE come and visit me at http://scaryshari.livejournal.com -- I update my blog several times each week. And Live Journal is far better than Blogspot/Blogger in many ways!! :)

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