Month: November 2020

Motorcycles and memory

There’s a guy at work who is getting a motorcycle next week, apparently.  When he talks about ‘getting his motorcycle license’ and motorcycle, there’s a part of me that reacts with envious awe, “Woah… a motorcycle license… that’s cool… motorcycle,” placing the man temporarily on a shining white pedestal with a glowing golden spotlight on him.

But then, as I mentally gaze up at this god-like figure of a person (who is thus due to the motorcycle status, of course – nothing to do with his actual body or anything) surrounded by shining lights, another part of me slowly wakes up and says, “Uh… hello… it’s actually called a motorcycle endorsement, not a license…. And, heLLO, Banana: you have one of those… and you drive a motorcycle… derr… you dope.”

And then I just feel silly and giddy all at the same time, laughing at my odd forgetful moment and delighted in the recovery of the relevant memories and information.

I guess I am really cool still.  And I still just keep forgetting how cool.  B.A., really…  in many ways, I am that shining person up on that pedestal.  And that is totally baller.  I am ever grateful for such beautiful blessings and opportunities in my life.

Thanks, bruh… I love you.  😉

Post-a-day 2020

Bedtime, for sure

You know, I had something that I felt was really good to share today… yet, I am so tired, at this point, I have no idea what it was.

And it was only a couple hours ago (if that) that I was thinking about it.

Man…

To be fair, it has been a long day. I woke up to use the bathroom just after 5:20 this morning (not seven hours of sleep), and did not go back to sleep. I went for a run and showered and made a smoothie, and I did loads of other stuff, too, all before 7:30, at which point I drove my mom and myself an hour and a half East to my aunt and uncle’s house for a known photo shoot and a surprise tea baby shower (complete with social distancing and a garage turned completely into an old style tea house, working chandelier included). (It really was an awesome event, and an even more awesome surprise for the mom-to-me.) I did photos in a field and from some tall grasses, then drove my cousin and myself to pick up our grandma for our tea time (which was all the two knew about, but which was only the beginning of a whole surprise event). Then I did photos and helped with serving for the party all day (it certainly takes a lot longer to do a party one family at a time, but those 15-25-minute visits are wonderful in their intimacy), and struggled to stay awake on the drive home (I wasn’t the one driving)… at 7pm. Now, as usual, I have taken ages to get ready for bed, and I am finally about to do it… at 11pm… only about 18 hours after I got up this morning…

Wowzer.

P.S. I remembered the thing, but I was already writing this. I’ll use it for tomorrow now.

Post-a-day 2020

I don’t do politics

I just would like to say this: This entire election has been a huge reminder of my utter dislike for and distaste in politics. I do not like it itself, I dislike how people behave around it, and I am heartbroken over how it divides us further and further.

Love is at the core of who we are in life – love is creation and all creation comes from love. Love is our true self, both the individual self and the whole universe and universal self. We are love.

And politics just seems to gives us all amnesia and a headache…

Ugh…

I am grateful I have remembered this, so I can stay away from it all for a while (and possibly forever) again… it was getting really rough for me there for a while. There’s a huge reason I stopped watching television and stopped watching the news years ago. I am a better person without them, and in so many ways, we could not possibly count them.

Thank you, God and Universe, for this insight and the strength and ability to do something about it for the betterment of myself and, therefore, my life and all those in it. Gratitude. 🙂

Post-a-day 2020

Work

I am exhausted. And in a satisfied kind of way, which is really good for me right now. I accomplished a lot of work today, and for multiple types of work. In the newest work, I finally started to feel like I had my bearings (at last!), which is awesome. A question was asked of me; I either knew the answer or had something easily on my tongue in guidance for a solution. I learned a new skill that was invaluable for the job, and that solved a lot of stress I had been experiencing almost constantly with the work.

So, much improvement today, but work almost all day long. Tomorrow is likely to be quite similar, working all day for different work, but improving significantly with the newest one. Plus, I get breakfast tacos at the early morning one (must arrive at 7:00am for that one). Yumm!

I love breakfast tacos. I sent a text message once, in response to someone telling me that the other food was gone but that someone had just dropped off breakfast tacos, and that message has been quoted to me multiple times since then. I think the person found my use of young adult language hilariously tickling.

“Super cool! Thanks! I can hardly wait. Breakfast tacos are my jam 😂”

So, I’ll be jamming in the morning, it seems… makes me wish I had some Jams to wear for it… 😛

Post-a-day 2020

Sleepy but tidy

I folded and put away some laundry, and tidied up some other little things today. My room already feels immensely different…, better. I still have lots more to do for things that already have homes or semi-homes, as well as more to do for establishing effective homes for others. And I am okay with that. I am glad and grateful and proud that I have tidied today despite having been exhausted and having desired to lie in bed all day, watching movies. (… which, by the way, I did not do.)

So, yeah, tidying makes a world of a difference. I am looking happily and gratefully forward to the world that awaits me with tidying all that I have here… avec impatience. 😉

Post-a-day 2020

Learning… without teaching

Not all people are teachers. And that’s okay. And it doesn’t make someone a worse person, if that someone is not a teacher.

I need to remember that better. All of it. I keep growing current frustrated with people who are tasked with teaching something to someone – especially to me – but who are not good teachers.

Ugh…. such hair-pulling emotions ensue within me, whenever I am in a situation that requires me to endure bad teaching. And it is even worse when I actually am in need of teaching, when I am aiming to learn something that is new to me… just give me the written manual, please, and walk away.

::total face palm::

Okay, breathe… slowly and deeply, just breathe… let it go… there is something to learn here, though it is obviously not the information I was aiming to learn… find that something, and feel gratitude for its having presented itself to you… thank you… aaaahhh…

Post-a-day 2020

Election Day

I just want to say that, despite the qualms of the official leaders in this country, the fact that there is concern for rioting and people’s safety in the cities tonight, election night, suggests not that the elected leader is the real issue at hand, but that the people who cannot manage themselves are the issue. If people cannot be trusted to act appropriately, how can they expect anything better from anyone else in this culture and society?

I have always maintained that education – and more than mere math and science – real education is one of the most impactful and important things for a culture and society. Goodness, we could use some work on that right now and in the immediate future, for both children and adults.

This recent political arguing just seems so double-edged, so double-standard-y to me. That one could be forcefully attacked – and also constantly verbally attacked – for supporting one candidate over another just seems so unbelievably absurd to me… and yet it has happened over and over again, and from both sides.

We all know that change comes within, both on an individual and a group basis. So, perhaps, we would do better to focus our efforts within ourselves and within our immediate communities, than to be nasty and upset about the elected officials thousands of miles away.

Just an idea that has been remembering itself to me almost constantly, these past few years, and increasingly often these past few months and weeks.

Big siiiiggggghhhhhh

Post-a-day 2020

Día de Muertos

¡Feliz Día de Muertos!

Happy Día de Muertos!

Saturday was All Hallows’ Eve, Sunday was All Saints’ Day, and today was All Souls’ Day. My family has a very strong connection to Mexico and Mexican celebrations and culture, so we always celebrate Día de Muertos. Last year, I even brought sugar calaveras to my French students to have them decorate the extra sugar skulls from an event my mother had led (and with which I had helped). Talk about mixing cultures, eh? Houston kind of already is a huge mix of cultures, and in various ways, so I grew up in a world of mixed culture, with my family embracing the people around us in life. In other words, mixing cultures is totally normal for me and to me. 😉

This year, I created a special project for myself. Mattel created a Día de Muertos Barbie both last year and this year, but sells the collectible doll for far more than I could afford to pay. (Though, to be fair, she is stunning. They both are.) I found myself wishing I could have just one of these Barbies, perhaps one day, and, as I was looking at photos of them, my brain somehow developed an idea.

You see, there have been several old Barbies – from my childhood – in a box in my mom’s laundry room for ages. They, for some unknown reason, are all naked, and they have always kind of reminded me of a graveyard of Barbies. Though, I’ve never used that word, graveyard, as I’ve always just thought of them as, “the poor, dead Barbies”. It seemed like an extremely low-risk situation, since, and I mentioned, the Barbies were already “dead” anyway. So, I went for it. And I had a student join in with me.

I brought a bag-o-Barbies (yes, all still naked) to her house, and we each selected a Barbie. We then painted their faces and bodies, over a few days’ time, to be the designs we each wanted. Afterward, I then shopped for some ribbon and tulle, picked up a few fallen fake flower bits at the store, and then sewed a couple dresses for the dolls.

I hadn’t played with Barbies for probably about two decades at this point, but I think this really was some of the best fun I have ever had with Barbies. 😀

Alas, here are the process and the final results of today. Enjoy!

And the dresses…!!!

Post-a-day 2020

Bed time

A pile of laundry sits on my bed. I sit on my bed. I am exhausted. And yet I am putting photos from the camera onto my computer… both of which are also on the bed.

The photos are great, and I am delighted with their outcomes from the party Saturday.

The laundry turned out great, too, smelling lovely and clean and fresh. But I don’t see myself folding it tonight… I see myself doing my stretches and reading quickly and going to bed.

Now.

Post-a-day 2020