Angry World

Why is the world so angry and ready to thrust this anger on other people or blame other people, things, or events for their anger.  We are all guilty of feelings of unnecessary anger.  That time when you yell at the other driver for no reason, or you let your frustration with something escalate to ugly anger directed at someone else.  Also, as soon as some directs anger towards you it is very hard to be the bigger person and not retaliate with anger (or to even let it go).  I witnessed this on the train on my way home from work.  If you are leaving a station that has an open ticket window and you choose (or are forced) to buy your ticket on the train from the conductor instead there is an additional $2 charge.  There was a guy on the train tonight who, had not had enough time to buy his ticket at the station because he had come into Union Station on another train that was late.  He then expected that he would not have to pay the extra $2, but the conductor informed him that it was the rules and he had to pay.  There were a few words exchanged between them during the transactions… and then BOTH of them continued to talk about to other people… the conductor as he moved on his way and the guy to the poor guy next to him.  These were anger driven and filled conversations.  Unfortunately, there is not a magic button that can be pushed to make everyone less angry.  Also, today was an example of something that could have been a lot worse… the guy could have refused to pay the extra money, and then the conductor would have HAD to do something about it (when in reality, he probably could just let the extra $2 go). 

On an opposite note, last week I was actually surprised at the kind attitude and words from a girl working at a coffee shop.  It is too bad that good attitudes like that is not the norm.

Just a little laugh

Today was pretty blah… not a lot good or bad happened.  I really do not like having those days, I feel all out of sorts.  For instance today, after about 10:00 AM, I was not comfortable in the outfit that I had on.  The outfit that had to last me until I got home around 7:00.  So that just created additional tension and blah feelings.  It was a typical ‘Monday’ at work – I know it was Tuesday, but since I was out yesterday all my Monday meetings were today.  I also had a very hard time focusing on one thing.  I would start something then without really getting anywhere, I would start a second, and then sometimes a third.  All this while, I would be going back and forth between the others.  It was very distracting and quite frustrating.

 

Then this afternoon, I fell out of my chair.  Now to be totally honest, this is not the first time this has happened.  My co-worker rounded the corner at just the right time to see me fall (He got a good laugh).  I actually think that little clumsy act helped to brighten my day.  It made me laugh and then I guess things were so dreary.  Nothing else really changed with the day, so that must have been it.  It is amazing how a little laughter can make things better.

Paint Job

So I was still on vacation today, but somehow I ended up doing more painting…. It still needs some touching up, but it is pretty close to being finished!

Chef Efrain

I have this friend, Efrain, who I have known for about 8 years now.  Efrain’s passion is food – more specifically entertaining by cooking.  He has another job that is not cooking, but still makes time to do what he loves.  He recently moved to San Francisco and found this great group:  The Ghetto Gourmet.

From their about page:

“The Ghetto Gourmet began as an original underground dining experience in a basement apartment in Oakland, California. The Townsend brothers, Joe the chef and Jeremy the poet, cultivated a loyal following literally from the ground up. Every Monday night, 15-30 strangers gathered on their living room floor for a chance to make new friends and enjoy deliciously creative cuisine.

What started out as an experiment has turned into a movement. Influenced by traditional salons, paladars and a growing communal dining trend, The Ghetto Gourmet now works with a community of entertainers and culinary professionals to offer a wide range of private dinner parties and supperclub events. The Ghetto Gourmet is proud and grateful to be a product of the vibrant East Bay underground community, and we welcome your involvement. Any chefs, performers, hosts or volunteers interested in participating are encouraged to check out our Ghet Involved page.”

They were also recently highlighted in the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-underground8nov08,1,3426618.story?coll=la-headlines-food (that guy serving up the quesadillas is Efrain). 

They are also planning to do a special dinner in Chicago – check out the site if you are interested.  I am looking forward to it!

red berries

I have been drawn by the contrast of all the red berries I have been seeing lately.

Home, why would I want to go home?

I love going places.  Vacation, visiting friends and family, day trips to neat places.   I never want to go home.  I know a lot of people who, after being away from home are just ready to go home.  I cannot ever remember feeling like that.  Granted, other than one 5 week road trip from Illinois to the West coast was by far the longest trip I have gone on, other than that the max has been around 2 weeks.   But even on that 5 week trip as I was sitting on the beach on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, I was dreading that we were going to have to start driving East to head home.  I am not sure why I feel this way.  I really like being home, but it is just not a place that I really miss.  I guess I am just pretty good at feeling comfortable in new places and to make the best of the moment. 

Vacation

I am on vacation today, tomorrow, and Monday!

So far today I have:

worked for 3 hours (I am not good at taking vacation).

painted our master bathroom (not a small room).

took the dog for a walk.

packed for our actual vacation.

I am now heading out the door to the airport.

We got $25 each way tickets from Chicago to DC so we decided to head out to visit B’s sister and her husband.

B

isn’t he cute!

isn’t he cute!

Foggy Morning

I get up and take the dog for a walk in the morning.  This morning our whole area was blanketed in a thick fog.  I noticed how awesome the trees looked covered in droplets of dew, so when we got back home I grabbed the camera and took a few shots.

Results of Much Hard Work

We moved into our new house at the end of December 2005. We had the house built through a builder, but decided to do some of the flooring ourselves to save some money. 10 Months later we have finally finished the Kitchen floor. Yes we installed this slate tile ourselves. A project which included several long weekends worth of work. We have also painted the kitchen walls twice (we didn’t really like the first color). These pictures only show a small portion of the work we have put into this place. We are almost finished with everything we want to do! Very exciting times.