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Rant Warning: Gated Communities and Crowded Beaches [Jul. 2nd, 2008|11:07 am]
[mood | cranky]

 We're leaving Sandestin today, thank goodness....I hate "gated communities."  I hate what they stand for.  When we first started coming to Sandestin, you stopped at a front gate before driving to the Hilton, and that was a little irritating.  Now, here and across the highway at this huge new development you are stopped and queried by people in uniforms.  Next year, I'm dressing up Rasta and we'll see what happens.   GGGRRRRR.  And the architecture is annoying...and why are outlet shopping malls now a part of beach culture? 
And the beach is hyper crowded...I love people but...I need my empty beach.
Thank God for Grand Isle - I love the empty beach albeit not-white sands....I love the laid-back atmosphere and the run-down camps and the wind and the sea oats.  I love getting boiled crabs and playing poker and sitting on the back deck yucking it up with my friends.
 
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From inane to meaningful in a heartbeat [Jul. 1st, 2008|02:08 pm]
[mood | contemplative]

Interesting thing last night - business dinner, really boring, then...a conversation with a woman seated next to me turned from inane to meaningful and I experienced it as a physical sensation.  Blah blah small talk - then she disclosed that she had lost a son a few months ago - and our eyes engaged and I caught my breath and she and I had a great conversation about things that matter - but the subtle shift was SO, I don't know how to describe it.  I mean it's not like we will be bestest friends or anything but we won't forget each other's names.  And I might have missed it...it would have been easy to gloss over her devastating loss with a sympathetic remark.  Staying open to really listen to people has remarkable rewards.
She did not join a group of us for an annual event - the walk on the beach in memory of Wade Speed, a wonderful man, the original husband number three,  who died four years ago in the crash of his small plane near Hammond.  I loved him dearly and miss him daily.  I did whisper her son's name and the name of another friend lost this year.  The walk is starting to get longer and more meaningful, too.

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BIZARRE great meal... [Jun. 30th, 2008|02:10 pm]
[mood | weird]

Late dinner last night at Cafe 30A - one of my favorite - beef carpacchio, arugala salad, wood-roasted shrimp, very lovely Rioja Muga - but service was weird - waiter in a half-empty place late was 15 minutes before I got my French Kiss cocktail in front of me and you KNOW what that's likely to do to my state of well-being....but the kicker was that the other waiter - guy in mid-30's from Manhattan - hovered for a while and then, complaining of a bad back SAT DOWN with us.  Now look, I like friendly help - but thei was just WEIRD.  He may have been hitting on  

[info]crystal_pushpin  but REALLY!  Earlier in the evening, had a 40 minute conversation with the insurance commissioner who now apparently is going to appoint me to a state ethics commission - THAT should be interesting.  
And now for the SECOND time today they closed the beach due to lightening...GGGRRRRR.  What's a little lightening?

 

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Simple Pleasure [Jun. 28th, 2008|02:53 pm]
[mood | thoughtful]

I used to do a lot of design work - nothing fancy, before a graphic artist doing the actual comp - layouts, concepts, colors.  I took a few design classes in college and had a blast.  I loved doing it, and would zone out for long periods of time, finding that place where the work was more important than the clock.  Like a lot of things these days, I'm about 5 layers removed from that kind of work - I oversee and lead and supervise and ...And I miss the actual work.  I did a very simple little layout for a poster yesterday and loved it.  There is no substitute for the hands-on, getting it from my head to the paper.  It's the same pleasure I take in cooking, making garb, etc., but in this case, something I did for a living and loved - and had to leave behind.  I just realized how much I miss it.

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From Slate Magazine [Jun. 27th, 2008|12:45 pm]
[mood | infuriated]

Bushism of the Day


"One of the things important about history is to remember the true history."—Washington, D.C., June 6, 2008

As in there were no weapons of mass destruction.

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Too much of a good thing.... [Jun. 27th, 2008|09:40 am]
[mood | disappointed]

Per my earlier post re:  Nick Hennessey...yes, 26 tracks in one day is too much.  I got auditory overload and started to tune even THAT voice out...No more two-cd's-at-a-time purchases for me.  I have to go on a strict Nick-restricted regimen. 

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Whacky Birthday [Jun. 26th, 2008|08:09 pm]
[mood | relieved]

WHY did I let myself get scheduled with 9 meetings on my birthday? I LOVE birthdays. This one sucked. The only fun I had was finishing up plans for  [info]marcgunn's  CD release party.  That's sad....but then I have 4 days in Sandestin on the beach and the Fourth of July...trashy books, slushy drinks and cabana boys...Oy.
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Oh Happy Day!!!!! [Jun. 25th, 2008|07:48 pm]
[mood | jubilant]
[music |Nick of course!!!!!]

My two Nick Hennessey CDs arrived from England - after weeks of PayPal/email problems during which Nick could not have been sweeter or more accomodating...so I have 26 tracks of gorgeous voice and hot harp to listen to tomorrow...made me dance.

AND I can't stop listening to "Warwick Avenue" by Duffy - I KNOW "Mercy" is overexposed but listen to "Warwick Avenue,: it's a big ole rich 60's style ballad a la Dusty Springfield/Phil Spector wall-of-sound...made me shout out loud.

And finally DO NOT MISS Karan Casey's new CD and if you buy only one track from iTunes, make it the astonishingly beautiful slow jazz/piano cover of "Black is the Colour." Made me weep.
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It's Hot [Jun. 24th, 2008|07:22 pm]
Without going into too much gruesome detail, I spend the afternoon walking around the French Quarter this afternoon and DAMN it's hot. I have NO idea why I live here - except that it's the most European city in the US...I just have to survive until October...I have NO idea how street performers survive. Marrus, Crash was helpful...
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Maybe I'm a Unitarian? [Jun. 23rd, 2008|10:02 pm]
[mood | curious]

I jokingly call myself an Episcopagan - but since Ireland it's gotten to be less of a joke...then today I run into the director of education for the Baton Rouge Unitarian church at the fabric counter at Hobby Lobby and we start talkin'..God's pretty sneaky, it seems.
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Just journaling [Jun. 22nd, 2008|09:22 am]
[mood | exhausted]

Nothing insightful here for you guys - just writing things down that happened that I am still processing.

What a weird, fun day...I was going to stay home and get stuff done...instead, Katie and I went to NO for lunch with Josh-former-Bilge-Pump and his surprisingly normal girlfriend and the first cool thing happened. We met at Napoleon House - and for background, when I was in high school, I almost lived there on weekends, had my own waiter and table and everything - the drink would hit the table we doon as I walked in the door. Too long a story but I now have my own waiter again!!!! Larone!!!! Josh is going back to school and looked great.

Then home, get dressed and go BACK to NO for a fundraising gala for the New Orleans Medical Mission, a great group of people who do medical missions to Central America - usual silent auction, dance band sort of thing - but it was a little strange because there were a lot of people there that I knew at East Jefferson General Hospital, most of whom I have not seen in 15 years. Still processing some of what they said...and Bob and I were the ONLY people dancing.

Then on to Marrus' house in advance of going to the erotic circus art event...she had a houseful of cool folks and we all walked over together...it was fun but too hot and I tried to be shocked.

Tried to sleep in but couldn't...

Three very disparite threads of my life in one 12 hour period.
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I'd Better Get Busy! [Jun. 21st, 2008|07:57 am]
[Current Location |Study]
[mood | creative]
[music |Duffy]

Oy, I have a lot to do - only four months and a bit before Faire, and I've got to:

1. Make Dudley's doublet and venetians - and no jokes about too many inseam measurements, thank you!
2. Choose all the wines for the wine tastings - which means agonizing over things like should I serve a Tasmaniam sparkling wine or stick with a New Zed; I spend HOURS doing that - get the catalogs, place the orders, buy more glasses, bleach the tablecloths, write up the tasting notes, and find someone to help with the set up
3. Plan the Patron Party for the week before and get press out
4. Clean out the vardo and the cottage - it's always interesting
5. Maybe do some plantings around the wine tasting stage

And I actually have to do all this before October 1 because I will be at TRF as often as possible this year - plus get my son ready for a year in Spain, get Katie off to her sophomore year.

Oh yeah, and build a new hospital. No more napping with Albert the Cat (see default photo - it's me at age 3).

I sure have an interesting life.
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I'm outta here [Jun. 19th, 2008|09:07 pm]
[mood | naughty]

New address: General Delivery, American Express Office, Florence, Italy
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No, Jamie Lynn Spears' Baby was NOT born at my hospital! [Jun. 19th, 2008|07:40 pm]
Thank the goddesses for small favors...
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More Ireland [Jun. 17th, 2008|12:21 pm]
[mood | discontent]
[music |Nick Hennessey]

It was beautiful. To say more is impossible.
I felt connected to a place like I have not in a long time.
Prehistory was more real than the present.
I sat in the grass and made clover chains with my daughter and acted in general like a 7 year old.
I made a damn fool of myself on at least one occasion.
People were generous and lovely and cynicism was suspended.
I wanted to play hide-and-seek in the woods above Cromleach Lodge.
At least one new lifelong friend and probably more was a gift.
In spite of a few disappointments - very few - it was a great trip and it was very good for me.

Having a hard time buckling back down at work and at home - the house is a mess. Maybe the fact that there are no emergencies at work is allowing me to daydream too much... Oh well, since we have a statewide emergency hurricane drill that I have to do baby evacs for, that'll cure that.

I worked out yesterday and plan to do the same every day...walking in Ireland was healthy and good and I need to keep it up.

Here's some pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27692973@N03/
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Post-Ireland To-Do List [Jun. 16th, 2008|09:45 am]
[mood | rejuvenated]

1. Figure out how to get back ASAP and then go to Italy - I'm so GREEDY
2. Co-write a song with Katie about Grace O'Malley the Pirate Queen that we may be related to...she married a Burke!
3. Become a travel agent so I can travel even more - see #1 above
4. Figure out how to survive the 98 degree heat in Louisiana
5. Add all my nw friends to my contact list
6. Stop daydreaming and get to work
7. Get over the fact that there are dishes to be dome and clothes to be washed and chores to do and even goddesses have work to do
8. Pick out the wine for the LARF wine tasting
9. Be grateful for friends new and old, experiences glorious and mundane, and life itself
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Jobs in Ireland for Americans [Jun. 15th, 2008|04:49 pm]
And I'm only kidding a little
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Quick Ireland notes [Jun. 15th, 2008|06:37 am]
More later - still in Boston...be home by noon. But here's some fast notes.
1.we're moving back - they give me milk with my coffee and hotel tubs so big that I have to be on tippitoes so I don't fall underwater
2. Take me back to Gougane Barra - deeply spiritual on so many levels
3. The most amazing part for me was connecting with pre-Christian/pre-English culture - had been repressed so deeply and now is in full resurgance - the goddesses and pagan queens are back without taking anything away from Bridget
More later
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Scott McClelland [May. 28th, 2008|10:03 pm]
[mood | angry]

Telling the truth and being pilloried for it.  I don't know about you but I plan on paying full retail price for his book and maybe I'll buy more than one. 

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The Haeuser Family Orthopedist Retirement Fund [May. 28th, 2008|06:00 pm]
[mood | optimistic]

Rushing around packing for Ireland AND wrapping things up at work for 2 weeks away AND walking across a courtyard Monday and something goes "POP" in my knee - So I go to the orthopedist Tuesday AM for a lovely injection with a 3 inch needle then get to arrive at the orthopedic surgery center with my son for shoulder surgery this M at 7...he's fine, a torn tendon from a bike wreck in Spain last year..at least we get injured in interesting ways - but now I'm up for dancing in Ireland!  It's not Lugnasa but who cares?

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