Ah well

Monday again. . . I had such a nice weekend. I don't know why weekends always have to end the same way - going back to work. I did a lot of stitching, went to a booksale, cleaned, read, walked and cuddled with my cats. What more could I ask for! I only spent $12 at the booksale and ended up with 9 books. Not a bad deal. I was going to get my Christmas tree but decided to wait until next weekend. I'm going to get my ornaments out of storage then so I might as well wait and not have a mostly empty tree sitting around for a week.

I haven't had a Musical Monday for awhile so here's one for you. Baby the Rain Must Fall sung by Glenn Yarbrough. The video says it's a tribute to Steve McQueen. I thought the quote was interesting: "...every baby boomer honestly believes that the average woman would rather sleep with a dead Steve McQueen than a live Ben Affleck." GQ

Now I'm pretty sure I'm a baby boomer and I don't believe that. Steve McQueen just doesn't appeal to me. I don't know who Ben Affleck is so I looked him up. I guess he's cute but again, doesn't do much for me. Now if it were Cary Grant definitely. Or Pierce Brosnan. Or Martin Sheen - I've been watching West Wing and for a fairly old guy, he looks pretty good! Anyway, here's some music to brighten up your Monday.

Sunday Thoughts

I particularly like my quote this week: In solitary stone fastness among the mountains, there is a strange market, where one can barter the vortex of life for boundless bliss. ~Milarepa (Tibetan poet/yogi, born 1052)

This is a mountain monastery north of Yushu [Gyêgu] near the confluence of the Tongtian and Sepa Rivers.It's where I would imagine one bartering the vortex of life for boundless bliss. I wonder if it would be worth it?

I don't know about Sunday Thoughts as a title. I liked Silent Sunday - maybe I'll go back to that. . . 

Bunches of random stuff

Another post of various bits of information I've found in my web travels!

Pew Internet report says that more people are going online for fun and to pass time, not to specifically look for something. Apparently this is mostly people under 30. I'm slightly over 30 but I go online all the time just for fun. It's amazing the stuff you can find. As this post will show!

One of my not-so-secret interests is UFOs. Seriously. Really and truly. Whether I believe in actual aliens from outer space visiting earth I'm not prepared to say but I find the subject fascinating. Here's an article from The Skeptical Inquirer about the Roswell Incident in 1947. I want to go to Roswell someday!

I cannot imagine why you'd only want an email address for 60 minutes (well I can but I'm going to pretend I can't), but if you do, check out Guerrilla Mail. No registration and you get an email for 60 minutes. If 60 minutes is too long for you, try 10 Minute Mail. Yep 10 minutes. Everything is disposable today.

If you have cats and want to get them a cat tree for Christmas look at these new ones from Whisker Studio. One looks like a cat (sort of) and the other like a tree. Both my cats want the cat one. Unfortunately they seem unwilling to get a job and help pay for it!

Some good advice from Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

If you like pictures, quotes and poetry, visit A la recherche du temps perdue. It's a very cool site! By the way, the title means In Search of Lost Time. I could let you all think I read French but I really used Google translate. I would like to learn French and Italian. I'm worried that my brain is too old though.

I found an interesting site called Quiet: The Power of Introverts. It's managed by Susan Cain who has written a book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.I like the site and what she says. You've probably guessed that I'm an introvert. I've been told all my life that I'm too quiet, I should speak up more, be more outgoing, etc. You know what? I like me this way! Quiet is good, introverted is good, being alone is good. I don't dislike people (well a few maybe) but I'd almost always rather be alone. There are only a small handful of people I can tolerate being around for any length of time. I need to be alone, I need quiet. It's one of the things I love about my apartment complex - it's very quiet here. I rarely hear my neighbors and even the street noise is muted.

As I stated in my second paragraph, I do like going online just for fun. But always, always, always I'd prefer to read. I prefer reading to anything else. Here's a picture from The Tattered Cover Bookstore blog called Bathing in Books. Isn't that wonderful!

Ok, that's about it I think. Speaking of reading, my plan for today is to visit a huge used book sale sponsored by the Friends of the Sacramento Library. I'm looking for some mysteries, beading books, poetry, and just about anything else! I'm signed up to receive notifications from Book Sale Finder every week on book sales in my area. If you like book sales, you might want to register with this site.

After the book sale (if I have money left!), I'm going to look for a Christmas tree. I want to get one soon and decorate. The cats are looking forward to helping me!

StoryPeople

Have you heard of StoryPeople? Now that I ask the question I'm not sure how to explain what they are! Created by Brian Andreas, the company now sells prints, furniture, calendars, and much more.  I have no idea how many stories they have but they are all great. This is from the about us section of their website and probably gives you a better idea than I have!

We're a diverse group of people, artists, activists, healers, tinkerers. We talk, we laugh, we eat great food & drink great wine, sometimes we disagree (passionately) & sometimes we agree (equally passionately) & it's all part of the same gift of being alive together. Our wish is that other people experience this amazing world we live in as a world of imagination & possibility & healing. We believe our stories do that. (& that's not just StoryPeople stories, but all our stories...) We believe (fiercely) in the power of stories, not because they're our stories, but because it is valuable & right to protect the precious connections between people.

Anyway I love StoryPeople! I have two prints hanging in my living room and I'd like to get a lot more. I was going through their site last night and finding stories I thought fit people I knew. I wanted to get them as gifts but it was getting rather expensive! Maybe I'll do it individually throughout the year. I can easily find at least 2-3 prints that fit everyone I know. I have so many favorites I couldn't possible show them all but here's a few. The first one is a particular favorite! Anyway I hope you enjoy these as much as I do and if you are looking for Christmas gifts, this is a great place to start!

Time for another poem

Moonbeam

 By Louise Gluck

The mist rose with a little sound. Like a thud.
Which was the heart beating. And the sun rose, briefly diluted.
And after what seemed years, it sank again
and twilight washed over the shore and deepened there.
And from out of nowhere lovers came,
people who still had bodies and hearts. Who still had
arms, legs, mouths, although by day they might be
housewives and businessmen.

The same night also produced people like ourselves.
You are like me, whether or not you admit it.
Unsatisfied, meticulous. And your hunger is not for experience
but for understanding, as though it could be had in the abstract.

Then it’s daylight again and the world goes back to normal.
The lovers smooth their hair; the moon resumes its hollow existence.
And the beach belongs again to mysterious birds
soon to appear on postage stamps.

But what of our memories, the memories of those who depend on images?
Do they count for nothing?

The mist rose, taking back proof of love.
Without which we have only the mirror, you and I.

Foggy & Gloomy Day

This is what it looks like outside this morning!

State Capitol Pictures

We went to the State Capitol yesterday and wandered around the park. I wanted to show my daughter the statue honoring Junipero Serra as she has always been interested in the California Missions. There are nine plaques surrounding the statue for each of the nine missions Serra founded. I took a picture of them all but I'm only going to post  Mission San Francisco de Asís.

Statue of Junipero Serra and map of the 21 California missions.

View of the California State Capitol through a few trees.

I liked the way the sun came through the tree in this picture.

This rose is named Cary Grant! My all-time favorite actor!

The plaque for San Francisco mission.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Jill holding a rose!

Cool trees w/lots of leaves!