Dame Edna Returns to Washington

Word of the day:  maunder \MAWN-der\ verb:  1 : chiefly Brit : grumble.  2 : to wander slowly and idly.  *3 : to speak indistinctly or disconnectedly.

I've only watched her briefly on TV, but that old drag queen sure has a great routine.

Feng Shui & Being Organized

Word of the day:  lambent\LAM-bunt\ adjective:  1 : playing lightly on or over a surface : flickering.  *2 : softly bright or radiant.  3 : marked by lightness or brilliance especially of expression.

I wouldn't really consider myself an expert on Feng Shui, but I certainly do believe in its power and how it can affect your quality of life and living.  Last weekend, my new acquaintence, Keith and I were talking of two Cobalt blue pieces of glass in his bedroom.  I thought they were quite pretty.  Today, I read this article on AOL which identifies blue as a color consistent with the principles of Feng Shui.   (See Item 10)

Get more organized and clear the path ahead… you’ll be amazed at how many new gifts will appear in your life

It is important to set the tone daily... not just once a year when you make New Year's resolutions.

In the universe around us everything is organized in a certain order, rhythm and flow. Feng shui helps us get in tune with thisuniversal energy. The more you organize your home or office according to simple feng shui principles, the more the universe will support you in manifesting your goals.

Are you ready to open your life this year... to improve your health, find a new direction, land a promotion or attract more romance? Committing yourself to being more organized will help you clear your space for all the wonderful things waiting to come toward you.

1. Clear Your Entryway: The first and most important thing you can do to get more organized in any aspect of your life is to make sure the entrance to your home or apartment is neat and tidy. If you always enter and exit through clutter or chaos, guess what you will carry into your home... and out into the world? The entryway is the "mouth" of chi – or life energy. An entryway that is clean and beautiful allows chi to flow into the rest of your home and opens the space for organization to take hold everywhere.

Make sure shoes and boots are hidden away, coats are not hanging in the open near the doorway and that your entry looks neat and organized both inside and outside. The porch or walkway leading to the door should also be clear of clutter. Store trash receptacles, recycling bins and garden tools somewhere else. You'll enjoy coming home much more if the way is open and clear!

2. Enter Through Your Front Door: Our dependence on automobiles has led to the common practice of entering the house through the garage or through a side door. From the perspective of feng shui, this is definitely not a helpful practice. The typical garage is designed to be functional not beautiful. And most garages are full of clutter of one type or another. Very often a doorway that leads directly into a house from a garage or side yard is small and dimly lit. You may even pass through a storage area or laundry room as you enter your home in this way. This will not create the positive flow of energy that is possible to generate by entering through a front door, especially one that is clear and open and welcomes you home with a sense of peace and beauty.

3. Keep Things in Good Repair: Your overall level of organization will increase if you make sure that everything in your home is in good repair. Pay special attention to lighting fixtures and lamps – be sure to replace burnt out bulbs immediately so that your home stays well lit. This will help the chi in your home keep flowing freely to support you in many amazing ways. When things are broken, cracked or not working properly, it can slow you down. Just as order tends to inspire more order, so, too, cracked and broken appliances, loose door knobs and the like are impediments to an organized life.

4. Light the Corners: Clutter tends to gather in shadowy areas, so be sure that the living areas of your home are well lit, especially the corners. You and your family members or roommates will be much less apt to pile things in places that are highly visible. By shining some light on those potential "dump-spots," you may prevent them from attracting clutter in the first place!

5. Make Your Bed Every Morning: Start your day by making your bed and arranging the cover and pillows in an orderly and pleasing way. Make sure all your laundry has been put away and that your bedroom is neat. This should be your first gesture of organization every day, as it marks the passage from sleep to a new day and prepares the bedroom for your next night of sleep. Starting and ending your day in a well-ordered environment will inspire a more organization in the rest of your life.

6. Leave the Bathroom Tidy: Another area to pay attention to in the morning is the bathroom. Make sure you hang towels neatly after you bathe or shower, and keep your toiletries tucked away to avoid creating clutter around the sink or tub. Tending to these two areas... the bedroom and bathroom... will set a tone of organization that will continue throughout your day.

7. Straighten Your Desk Before Leaving Work: At the end of each work day, clean your desk or any other work area that you use in your job. This lends closure to your day and prepares the way for a new beginning when you return. If you work with a lot of papers or documents, organize them in folders or neat piles, but be sure to leave a clear space in front of you or next to your computer... such an open space welcomes new information. It's an invitation to the universe to keep the flow coming toward you. If you don't allow open space on your desk, you can block new opportunities and the prosperity they are trying to bring to you.

8. Don't Overlook Your Computer: Just because you – and others – can't see the clutter on your computer doesn't mean it isn't burdening you. Delete unwanted emails and purge anything that is no longer needed. If you must save certain emails to refer to later, move them from your general Inbox to separate folders that have been created for conscious storage. These folders can be arranged by theme or by the names of the people with whom you correspond. A cleared out Inbox invites new possibilities and new contacts – a cluttered one may prevent them from finding you.

9. Carry a Special Wallet or Envelope: Stay better organized when you are traveling or shopping by carrying a special wallet or envelope that you use to collect receipts, business cards that are shared with you and other bits of information you might gather as you move about the world. Go through the papers in this wallet or envelope on a regular basis and record or file any information you need to keep for any reason. Shred and discard any pieces of paper you don't need. Strive to keep this wallet or envelope clear and open, so you are not carrying the past around with you in the form of outdated receipts.

10. Surround Yourself with Blue: The color blue in feng shui supports an organized life, so try to have some blue around you when you work or pay bills, etc. Royal blue is especially good. Put blue accents on your desk, use blue sticky notes or find other ways to surround yourself with the color blue.

11. Put a Bubbling Fountain in the North: North is the direction of new beginnings and of an organized professional life, so a bubbling fountain placed in the North of your office or living room can help activate your resolve to get – and stay – organized. Stand in the middle of the room and, using a small compass, determine which direction is north. Imagining that you are the center of a pie, draw make-believe lines to create a pie piece radiating out from you to either side of due north. Placing a fountain anywhere along the outer edge of that slice of pie will activate the north and help make staying organized easier for you.

12. Keep the Center Open: Keep the center of your living areas open so the energy can flow. Arrange your furniture so the middle of the room is not blocked. That way, the chi can come in and move about, energizing your thoughts and feelings and making it easier to live a happy, healthy... and well-organized... life!

Judge Halts O St., SE Evictions Until Stadium Deal is Done

Word of the day:  snickersee\SNIK-er-snee\  noun : a large knife.

A D.C. Superior Court judge has refused to order the eviction of property owners or their tenants from land the city has acquired for a Major League Baseball stadium until baseball officials approve a stadium lease offered by the city and the stadium deal is certain.

      D.C. Superior Court Judge Joan Zeldon warned property owners affected by the proposed stadium that the city's 'is not obligated to give them the place of their dreams' to relocate.

At a Feb. 24 status hearing on the city's use of eminent domain to take possession of the properties, Judge Joan Zeldon said she would issue the eviction orders immediately upon receiving assurances that the stadium would be built.

"Yes, I’m waiting," Zeldon said about the eviction delay. "This is a case where a number of parties have equitable rights."

She then would give owners and tenants, including six adult gay entertainment businesses operating on O Street, S.E., 10 days to vacate their premises, she said.At a Feb. 24 status hearing on the city's use of eminent domain to take possession of the properties, Judge Joan Zeldon said she would issue the eviction orders immediately upon receiving assurances that the stadium would be built.

"Yes, I’m waiting," Zeldon said about the eviction delay. "This is a case where a number of parties have equitable rights."

She then would give owners and tenants, including six adult gay entertainment businesses operating on O Street, S.E., 10 days to vacate their premises, she said.

They Found Nemo!

Word of the day:  epistolary\ih-PIST-uh-lair-ee\ adjective:  1 : of, relating to, or suitable to a letter.  *2 : contained in or carried on by letters.  3 : written in the form of a series of letters.

the cartoons published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten

Word of the day:  pestilence\ PES-tuh-lunss\ noun:  1 : a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating; especially : bubonic plague.  *2 : something that is destructive or pernicious.

The self destruction I've witnessed in the press since the publishing of the cartoon in the Danish newspaper depicting a bomb on the head of the Prophet Muhammad is apalling to me.  I certainly believe there is reason to protest.  To make your view heard.  After all I live here in America where we are free to say what we think.  I know in many other parts of the world one is unable to do that without consequences.  However, I don't believe destruction of businessses and local infrastructure is the correct way to voice your views.  That only reduces your ability to move forward.  These riots around the world in response to the Danish cartoon remind me of the riots in Washington, DC in the 60's and even as late as the late 1980's.  The 1960's riots were for Civil Rights.  The 1980's riots were by the Latin community for socio-economic disparities.  In both events, the city's infrastructure, specifically businesses, were destroyed therefore causing umemployment and harm to the very ones protesting.

Skater Johnny Weir -- An Interesting Champ! I Can Relate!

Word of the day:  usurpation\ yü-sur-'pA-shen \ verb: 1 a : the act of seizing and holding (as office, place, or powers) in possession by force or without right.  "usurp a throne"   b : to take or make use of without right "usurped the rights to her life story"
2 : to take the place of by or as if by force : SUPPLANT

Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir has been out shopping every day, shopping so much that the Louis Vuitton store here, which he affectionately calls "Louie" and which he's visited six or seven times since arriving two weeks ago, paid for his cab recently when he was leaving.  "Cause I'm nice". he explains!  Because he's nice, or because he drops a lot of money?  "Well, both," he says

He is nice. And charming. And so thin he buys children's sizes when he shops at Lacoste. And loaded down with money from skating shows like "Champions on Ice." And great at getting discounts. And capable of spending $1,330 in two hours, which is what he did Monday on his daily shopping trip.

He knows the staff in the high-end stores of central Turin. He knows who's having sales and who moved around their merchandise in the few days since he was last in the store. It's a rush to watch him spend -- reckless and freeing, like shooting tequila in the morning.

"I like to shop," Johnny says.

So far, Weir, 21, who came in fifth in the men's figure skating competition for the U.S. team last week (but first in matters of beauty and brashness), has bought the following items here: five pairs of shoes, a pair of rabbit fur hand warmers, a Dolce & Gabbana hoodie he says reads "Sex trainer: Best to practice seven days a week," and a sable scarf that was supposed to be $715 but was instead $415 because he spoke French with the saleslady.

Ah, the fabulousness that is Johnny Weir! The fur collars! The special deals! His absolute favorite item of clothing is a Roberto Cavalli beaver-and-python coat. He is also proud that the "Louie" in Boston "pre-sold me a bag before it was allowed to be released," he says. "I'm the first person in the entire world to have this bag."

Before starting the day's shopping, he meets us for cappuccino at a cafe near the Olympic Village wearing the aforementioned rabbit hand warmers, a Fendi scarf, True Religion jeans, which are his favorite brand ("I like how my butt looks in them"), a black leather coat with some sort of fur collar, and recently purchased red John Galliano sneakers, "new for this season," which were supposed to be $416 but which he got for about $120 because the store's credit card machine was broken, and "I made a scene because I had to walk to an ATM."

He compliments our earrings and orders a biscuit, which is all -- aside from an orange -- that he will eat today, at least until 6 p.m.

Johnny Weir says he is very spiritual. It is true that he adores the celebrity rag Us Weekly and that he's currently reading a book by too-thin, too-blond starlet Nicole Richie. But he also has a deeper side. He says he's been obsessed with the Holocaust since he was little and considers himself "a little bit" Jewish, although he isn't, not technically. He says he's had his past lives read and found out that most recently he was a Jewish girl from Poland during World War II.

"I mean, it makes sense if you think about it," he says. "Like, what 4-year-old gets into learning about how 6 million people were exterminated?"

Around his neck, Johnny wears three chains with a knotted mess of pendants, including two Stars of David, an Israeli army dog tag, an Italian horn to protect him from the mal occhio , or evil eye, a miraculous medal of Mary, and the letter D, which stands for the Christina Aguilera song "Dirrty," because Christina Aguilera is his role model.

"I don't take them off ever and I don't untangle them because, like, their powers are all hidden in this knot," he says.

He is beautiful in what he calls an "androgynous" way; dark-lipped and hazel-eyed, with long lashes that curl perfectly up. He is 5 feet 9 and 125 pounds, with body fat "in the death levels," at 5.5 percent. His skin is pale and lovely.

"I'm breaking out really bad," he says, and points to one tiny little almost-zit.

He finishes his biscuit and we take the tram to the high-end shopping district around Via Roma. He heads into a eyewear store and tries on a pair of Dior sunglasses encrusted with rhinestones that, at nearly $1,200, he decides are too expensive. Besides, he already has this pair without the rhinestones, he says. Besides, he already has 45 pairs of Dior sunglasses.

He wanders around inside. "They have the Dior ski goggles," he says with awe.

Sitting down to arrange the laces on his new sneakers (whose laces he refuses to tie but instead carefully wraps and tucks in elaborate fashion), Johnny spots a pair of $320 Roberto Cavalli shades. He gives them to the saleslady to ring up. This, he says, will bring his sunglasses collection to 103 pairs, which he keeps arranged in drawers according to designer.

"I take care of them all," he says. "I have to polish them."

Weir considers clothes and handbags and sunglasses his children. In his closet, "certain designers get a black hanger and certain designers get a white hanger, and they're hung in order of designer and then color." He believes in buying real designer stuff; when he sees someone with a knockoff handbag, "it hurts my feelings," he says.

He opens his Louis Vuitton bag, which has inside it the following items: a Louis Vuitton camera bag and a cell phone with three fur tails hanging off it (one beaver, two mink). There is also a Gucci change purse, inside of which he keeps a spoon that has been twisted three times, of which Johnny will only speak mysteriously: "It's mystical," he says. "There are powers in it."

He takes out a baby blue Balenciaga wallet and removes a MasterCard, which he hands to the saleslady. "My bank always thinks that my card's stolen so they'll put a block on it sometimes," he says. "Drives me crazy."

The Olympics may be the only time America pays any attention to figure skating, but in truth the Olympics are not how someone like Johnny Weir pays for his expensive children. He says he makes six figures a year through exhibition skates. He's promised to pay his 17-year-old brother's college tuition. He buys his mother handbags. He grew up somewhere between working and middle class in rural Pennsylvania, the son of a secretary and a nuclear power plant technician, and sometimes he wonders if he buys so much because he grew up with not so much. Even when he goes to the supermarket, he says, he buys more yogurt than he needs, "just in case it goes away."

In any case, he's got these great sunglasses now. He steps outside the store.

Next, he tries on a pair of $450 Dior jeans, which, he decides, do not make him look "bootylicious," desires but restrains himself from buying a $1,225 handbag, and compliments a salesman who, he notes, has been to the tanning salon since the last time Johnny saw him.

He buys three candles for $160. He feels these will liven up his dreary Olympic quarters.

Next, Johnny makes a trip to the ATM because he fears he may be nearing the limit on his credit card. He proceeds to "Louie," where the salesman -- who waits on Johnny every time he comes in -- goes down to the stockroom to retrieve a bag he thinks Johnny will like.

"You want try, Johnny?" he asks.

Johnny does want try. Johnny like. It is a messenger bag, remarkably similar to the Louis Vuitton messenger bag Johnny happens to be carrying on his shoulder today, but Johnny says this one is slightly different and he wants it. What else does he want? He thumbs though the store catalogue with the expertise of a radiologist looking at X-rays.

"The squash?" asks the salesman, pointing to something called a squash bag, listed at $1,400.

"No, I have the squash," Johnny says.

He also has: nearly 40 pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage. A Louis Vuitton hatbox and a Louis Vuitton mini steamer trunk, and a Louis Vuitton doggy carrying case, which his dog did not like ("he peed in it"), so Johnny returned it and got another bag for himself. He has all the beautiful things a young man who believes in beauty could want. Someday, he says, he wants to go to college, become a fashion designer. There is so much he wants to do, he says, he doesn't know how to get it all done.

In the meantime, he says, he will skate till his body gives out, probably by the time he's 25, and he won't get so down about not doing better in the Olympics. There will be another, and besides, "it's just the Olympics," and besides, it was fate. Maybe he did poorly because he was mean to someone at some point in the past, he says. He tries hard to be nice to everyone.

The Louis Vuitton bag costs about $845, or 710 euros.

Johnny pulls out the sum total of what he took from the ATM: 800 euros, just enough to pay for the bag. This is a sign.

"I guess I was subconsciously supposed to get this one," he says. "See how that works?"

He lines the money up next to him in piles.

After he pays, he asks the salesman to give him a phone number so he can call and find out when the store gets something new in. After all, he is leaving Turin on Saturday, and there is so much he has yet to buy.

 

Tower of London Protects Its Ravens

Word of the day:  rictus\RIK-tus\ noun: 1.  the gape of a bird's mouth.  2 a : the mouth orifice *b: a gaping grin or grimace

What a coincidence to have "rictus" as the word of the day today in light of The Washington Post reporting Great Britian has moved the six ravens occupying the grounds of the Tower of London inside to protect them from the H5N1 Avian Flu.  Tradition holds that if at any time there were less than 6 ravens occupying the Tower of London, the Monarchy and Britian would fall.  Prince Charles, heir to the throne added that "he is happy the birds are safe".  The Avian Flu has been reported in France.  Twenty-one miles away.

Words to add: Usurpation, Scotto Voce.

Self Destruction

Word of the day:  repugn\rih-PYOON\ verb: to contend against : oppose.

It is truly tragic that this beautiful mosque was destroyed in war.  A wrong war at that.  I agree with the repugn of the people this mosque and many others are sacred to but to voice your opposition to a tragedy such as this by rioting and further destruction is only hurting the ones doing the damage.  Why don't people ever understand this or see it before they destroy theirselves and the infrastructure of their cities and lives.. 

My Roche Bobois Living Room

Word of the day:  deign\dAn\ verb:  to condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one's superiority that is involved.  2.  transitive senses : to condescend to give or offer

My Memories of Belvedere in Bristol, TN

Word of the day:  ambivalence\am-'bi-v-len(t)s\ adjective:  1:  simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action.  2 a : continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite) b : uncertainty as to which approach to follow.

I remember very well Leo and Cleo Carrier one of the previous owners of Belvedere in Bristol, TN.  Their son, Tim was one of my friends when I was living in Bristol prior to moving to DC.  I met him and his partner Jim Tate at Ruth Ann's one night and we became friends.  We went to Florida together.  Tim was my kind. 

His mom and dad were very nice people.  My mother thought very highly of them.  They were exceptionally good to me.  I recall participating in Tim's sister Debbie's wedding to Ron.  The house was all decorated up by Tim.  He was a floral designer on the side.

I'm sad it is exchanging owners.  It was a loving home for the Carriers.  Last weekend, when I was in Bristol, I heard the old commericial for Tim's dad's company Leo's Exterminating.....  It went Leo, Leo Carrier, King of the Bug Frontier!  It brought back fond memories..

**** My Little Collection of Bijous

Word of the day:  bijou\BEE-zhoo\ noun:  *1 : a small dainty usually ornamental piece of delicate workmanship : jewel.  2 : something delicate, elegant, or highly prized.

I Were AVIANTHROPOMORPHOSIZED, I'd be a....?

Word of the day:  pixilated\PIK-suh-lay-tud\ adjective:  1 : somewhat unbalanced mentally; also : bemused.  *2 : whimsical

Dick Cheney's Motorcade

Word of the day:  zeitgeist\TSYTE-ghyste\ noun:  Often capitalized: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.

This morning at 6:30 as I was driving up Embassy Row (Massachussetts Avenue, NW) as I approached the Vice President's mansion/National Observatory the Veep himself in his motorcade was exiting the grounds.  I suppose he was heading over to see George and debate how best to discuss with the media his shooting his buddy over the weekend on the bird hunt.

On another note, I read in today's Bristol Herald Courier online where Tennessee Eastman (Eastman Chemical) was planning to hire 2000+ empolyees over the next few years.  They seem to be having problems recruiting professionals because of the zeitgeist of the Tri-Cities, TN/VA region.  They cited candidates declining jobs because of their being underwhelmed or at minimum unimpressed with housing, schools, and safety of the region.

**** I Wish I Had A Valentine!

Word of the day:  eradicate\ih-RAD-uh-kayt\ verb:  1 : to pull up by the roots.  *2 : to do away with as completely as if by pulling up by the roots.

**** My Beautiful Snowy, 6AM Drive Up Embassy Row To Work.

Word of the day:  numen\NOO-mun\ noun: a spiritual force or influence often identified with a natural object, phenomenon, or place.

**** Dinner At Busara w/Stephen

Word of the day:  walleyed\WAWL-eyed\ adjective:  1 : having walleyes or affected with walleye.  *2 : marked by a wild irrational staring of the eyes.

**** Snow in Bristol

Word of the day:  catbird seat\KAT-berd-SEET\ noun: a position of great prominence or advantage.

**** Marc Ecko - WHAT A HOTTIE!

Word of the day:  gaffer\GAFF-er\noun:  1 : an old man.  2 : British a : foreman, overseer b : employer.  3 : a head glassblower.  *4 : a lighting electrician on a motion-picture or television set.

**** Life through hope. Living by a plan.

Word of the day:  kanban\KAHN-bahn\ • noun:   a manufacturing strategy wherein parts are produced or delivered only as needed : just-in-time.

"American people live by plans, Vietnamese people live by hope."  Kim-Hoan Thi Nguyen, awaits a bill in the U.S. Congress providing her with permanent residency and mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.

**** I'm Grateful For Risa. She's Making Me A Better Man!

Word of the day:  fissle\FISS-ul\ • adjective:  1 : capable of being split or divided in the direction of the grain or along natural planes of cleavage.  *2 : capable of undergoing fission.

Feb 8 2006 Place Holder. The DC City Council approves the Baseball stadium.

Explorers find a lost world in the jungles of Indonesia

Word of the day:  oftentimes\AW-fun-tymz\  adverb:  often, repeatedly.

A group of U.S., Indonesian, and Australian scientists announced Feb. 7 that they had discovered dozens of new, rare and though-extinct animal species during an expedition to a pristine mountainous area in New Guinea.

Pittsburgh Wins The Superbowl in Detroit!

Word of the day:  velar\VEE-ler\  adjective:  *1 : formed with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate.  2 : of, forming, or relating to a velum and especially the soft palate.

Pittsburgh, I wonder how Chris Criscuolo is doing.  He's such a nice man and I hope things are going great for him.  I'm reading Risa's book, "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" by Mitch Albom.  This seems to be an interesting book and I think it'll be enjoyable reading. 

 

The Happy Goodman's

Word of the day:  deference\DEF-uh-runss\ noun: respect and esteem due a superior or an elder; also : affected or ingratiating regard for another's wishes.

 
Vestal Goodman sans Bee Hive!

Today's entry is called "The Happy Goodmans" in reference to a famous gospel group from Morristown, TN whom I grew up listening to and watching on the Sunday morning Huff-Cook Gospel Hour, when I was a kid.  This morning, I went out to the car to run an errand and the radio station was set to a country music station in Bristol and, as Bristolian Sunday morning programming typically is, it was playing gospel music.  The announcer was introducing a group who was influenced by "The Happy Goodmans".  I didn't realize that Vestel Goodman, the lead singer had recently died.  I remember her and her big hair.  She was something akin to the Gospel version of Kate from the B-52s.  Once I recall watching some Hollywood game show with Chuck Woolery and him mentioning a "Happy Goodman Hairdo".  I must admit, The Happy Goodmans was a great gospel group and Vestel, yes she sure had the "Bee Hive" doo going on.

Vestal certainly has earned the title "Queen of Gospel", but I must say this; there is NO caucasian who can belt out gospel music like an African American.  The true gospel queen is reserved for someone of that ethnicity.  

Whiners!

Word of the day:  querulous\KWAIR-yuh-luss\ adjective:1 : habitually complaining.  *2 : fretful, whining.

What an interesting word for today.  These types of people are to me the most annoying possible.  Always whining, complaining, and begging for sorrow of poor poor pitiful me.  I'm sure glad I'm not that way.  I think people who engage in this type of behavior are those who don't understand the concept of being proactive and taking charge of their own destiny.  As for me, I try to grab the bull by the horns and tackle any problems I'm faced with in life.  I think that for anyone who's been following my blog last year, especially in the last few months of 2005 would agree that I've not sit around in a querulous stupor awaiting for someone to solve the ills of my life.  I did that and WOW!  I FEEL GOOD, as James Brown would say!

Lonely, Bored, Small-Minded People, I'm sad for them!

Word of the day:  jubilate\JOO-buh-layt\ verb:  rejoice.

I like this word "jubilate".  Throughout the day today, I've thought about this word in the context of people who gossip.  Don't you find it really sad that someone can jubilate over someone elses, oftentimes mispreceived misfortune, only to make a failed attempt to make themselves appear better.  SAD SAD SAD!  This is why I don't associate with many people in Bristol, especially the ones online.  I've recognized too often their attempts to jubilate over others by trying to put them down.

I'm so blessed, fortunate, and grateful that my life has more substance so I'm not participatory in that kind of entertainment.  I'm so glad I've made a conscious effort to fill my world and my life with positive facets where I can lift people up opposed to putting them down.

A New Cathexis For Me

Word of the day:  cathexis\kuh-THEK-sis\ noun: investment of mental or emotional energy in a person, object, or idea.

I've been thinking about when I retire back to Bristol that I want to have a hobby which I can participate in and allow the color of my life to show.  I want to also emphasize a part of my heritage, my roots.  To do that, I've always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument.  One I've always had an interest in is the Fiddle or Violin.  Fiddle is the country word for the bourgie Violin.  I've inquired with an associate at work who is a friend of a reknowned violinist and she has as that person to help me in determining what to look for in a performance grade violin/fiddle that would be reasonably priced.  The price is expected to be around $2000 at minimum.  Thats something I can handle.  I want to learn to play this instrument so that I can join a local group in Bristol and we can all have just a fiddling good time doing what we like whether or not anyone else likes it or not.  This is the advice Nora gave me:

From: Lee, Nora
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 11:42 AM
To: Cysner, Debra.
Subject: RE: Violin Question

There is no “brand name” (other than a Strad or Guarnieri of course) that violinists swear by.  The key factors include:

·         You want a handmade (not machine made) instrument
·         You want a shop that will let you take home two or three instruments at a time to try them out.
·         You want a wood bow (not fiberglass), but carbon fiber is a new choice that many pros swear by – an individual preference
·         If you do not yet play you should go with a string player or at least someone with discerning ears.
·         Plan to spend no less than $2000 for the outfit

Selling points that are not that important, but may be presented to you by over-zealous salespeople:
            One-piece back vs. two-piece back
            “self-tuning” pegs
            Carved scroll or other decorations
            Humidity controlled case
In my opinion, none of these makes a difference and may increase the price.  The self-tuning pegs should be avoided.

Hope that helps!
Nora

An article appearing in the Washington Post as to where might be a good place to find my violin/fiddle:

 

Chuck Levin's Riff 'n' Ready Charm The Wheaton Music Store May Not Be Flashy, but It Keeps Strumming Along

By Claudia Deane

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page C01

Maybe your junior high school band teacher tipped you off. Maybe your wistful father took you on your 13th birthday. Maybe you heard about the place from Jimi Hendrix's original drummer.

But if none of those things happened, and you just happened to drive by the aqua-tinted, disco-era storefront in Wheaton, with Mr. Levin's jovial, jowly face mostly rubbed off the Yamaha sign on the building's side and some broken glass in the second-story windows, you'd be forgiven for not immediately recognizing Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center for what it is: a retail powerhouse. A local institution. A throwback, a standout, a hangout, an industry legend.

Brothers Robert, left, and Alan Levin at the Wheaton store their late father opened in 1968. (Nikki Khan -- The Washington Post)

 

"When you do $50 million of business out of a collection of locations in suburban Maryland, it's pretty anomalous," Brian Majeski, editor of the Music Trades, says of the overgrown mom-and-pop instrument seller. "The biggest two markets for the stuff he sells are New York and Los Angeles. And he outgrosses any individual store in Los Angeles or New York City by a wide margin."

You haven't seen the ads, you say? Yeah, Chuck's doesn't really do much advertising. Also, employees don't really have titles. The two guys running the place -- Levin's sons, who took over when Chuck died three years ago -- don't really have offices. Most instruments don't really have price tags. Until six months ago, the store didn't have a formal return policy. Buy something and your receipt's handwritten.

Yet somehow, out of its jampacked, run-down, bazaarlike buildings, Chuck's continues to sell more instruments than any other single music store in America.

"People are used to these big beautiful box stores like Wal-Mart, Costco and dare I say, chain guitar stores. Our store with its facelift is prettier than it was . . . but by modern standards it's still a pawnshop gone horribly awry," says Paul Schein, for 25 years the store's guitar guru and mad prophet.

"If you walk in on a busy Saturday, you have to be kind of brave. It's like the Carnegie Deli. People screaming orders across the room. 'I need a corned beef here and two Stratocasters on white over there.' "

Asking a man if he remembers his first guitar is like asking a woman if she remembers her first kiss.

"It was a Fender Mustang. It was blue, with a racing stripe," says Philip Leventhal, 49, whose federal judge father first took him to Chuck's when he was 15.

Chuck's, like most music stores, is heavy on the Y chromosome. It's full of men, and boys, and men who wish they were still boys.

They're cradling expensive electric bass guitars in their arms, deeply involved in some serious thumb funk, while their girlfriends look around vacantly. Or they're playing covers on keyboards, side by side, ignoring each other. Dreaming a dream that, thanks to Mick, seems plausible even well past middle age. Thinking that maybe, after 20 years of trying, 2006 is the year they'll get that Clapton riff right.

Howard University grad Aaron "Ab" Abernathy, 23, is at Chuck's picking up an amp for the second keyboard player in his band, Ab & the Souljourners. But he's also come to visit his other love: "My dream is over there -- the Roland Fantom-X8," he says, motioning to a sleek gray keyboard. "It's probably like $3,000, but I'm going to come back and get that Roland Fantom in the next three or four months. Definitely."

 

CLANG! CLUNK! Card Retained! Contact Your Bank!

Word of the day:  abulia\ay-BOO-lee-uh\ noun: abnormal lack of ability to act or to make decisions.

OK, That drama with forgetting my ATM Card's pin was a pure pain in the ass. Last night I went to the ATM to get money for gas and dinner. Well the card didn't work and the machine says "invalid pin". I try it twice at the machine beside the Fox and Hounds. Stephen, whom I was meeting for dinner walked by and I told him I must have forgotten my pin. So we went up 17th to the Safeway and I tried it there. Still wrong pin.

I didnt want to continue to try to withdraw cash in worry that my card would get blocked and then I couldn't use its "credit" feature at dinner. All during dinner, I was on pins and needles worrying that my card might not work because of my 3 failed attempts at withdrawing money at an ATM. Thank You _____ it worked to pay for dinner.

After dinner, I went to Microcenter to buy a new hard drive for my notebook computer. The card worked for that as well using "Credit". So I felt "lucky" and confident I knew my pin and those two earlier machines were maybe down or something. So I proceed to Wachovia and try it there. Same story. Since Safeway is in the same shopping center, I went in there to try it too.

I put my card in the SunTrust ATM at the Safeway in PanAm Shopping Center and the first attempt the ATM says, 'invalid pin, try again". I did, and that MOTHERFUCKING ATM ate my card, and made a sound as though it was the slamming door of a jail cell and gave me this message "Card Retained, Contact Your Bank". This was so traumatic. Horrifying. It made me feel as though I was robbing that FUCKING ATM.

Needlesstosay, I now needed money for gasoline in my car. I had NONE in my wallet. I got to digging around to see what I could figure out. Low and behold, I came across a forgotten US Postal Money order hidden away in my wallet which this guy had used as payment for an item I sold on eBay. LUCKY ME! I turned right around and headed to the Merrifield Post Office which is open 24 hours with counter service until around midnight. I was able to cash that $30 US Money Order to buy gas. I was so freaking stressed and panicked. This was a horrendous experience and wish it on NO ONE!