Well, it was a shaky night, but not too bad in the grand scheme of things. A 5.2 earthquake was enough to make me get out of bed and into my clothes and wonder what to do next though.
The strange thing is that I have been really bubbly and happy today. I think that it woke me up from the zombie walk that I was doing. I have been working too hard and too much after my company's layoffs a few weeks back and I think that it made me realize how quickly life can/could change... without me taking any action. I am the type that prefer to make things happen rather than wait for something to happen to me though. While I am not panicked, I am finally going to make a bug-out bag. Thanks Zombie Squad!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
It's coming!!!!!
I am not a big movie or TV person.... but I won't miss the Banff Mountain Film Festival. It chokes me up and makes my face hurt from smiling, laughing and crying each year.
If you haven't seen it before.... check it out this year... trust me... it does a soul good.
This is the intro trailer (or one version of it... there is another slightly different version on their main site). The first 2 minutes are the trailer, the other 4 are highlights of the sponsors. The climber hitting the ledge at the end made me jump!
If you live in the St. Louis area you can buy your tickets in advance at The Alpine Shop. The event is on March 27th at the Moolah Theater.
Another good event that I hope to go and see is the Missouri Whitewater Championships the weekend of March 15 and 16.
Banff means Spring... and I am so excited about Spring being upon us (despite the 10 inches of snow this week). Now if I could only kick this flu!
If you haven't seen it before.... check it out this year... trust me... it does a soul good.
This is the intro trailer (or one version of it... there is another slightly different version on their main site). The first 2 minutes are the trailer, the other 4 are highlights of the sponsors. The climber hitting the ledge at the end made me jump!
If you live in the St. Louis area you can buy your tickets in advance at The Alpine Shop. The event is on March 27th at the Moolah Theater.
Another good event that I hope to go and see is the Missouri Whitewater Championships the weekend of March 15 and 16.
Banff means Spring... and I am so excited about Spring being upon us (despite the 10 inches of snow this week). Now if I could only kick this flu!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Stephen's Chet
Stephen started growing a beard when he stopped shaving for our trip to Big Bend National Park in January. After a few weeks it made sense to just see where it went. I have been begging him to keep growing it. I think that I did this partially for amusement and partially because it is exciting to see him look so different.
Last night at midnight he told me he was going to shave it off. After protesting and chiding him a bit, I defeatedly went and got my camera and asked him if I could get some amusing shots of him shaving it off in stages. We'll... we got to what I will call "The Chet Phase" and I again begged him to keep it... at least for a few days. The photo below was taken by one of Stephen's coworkers today.
I call this the Chet phase after Corey Chewning's similar facial do a few years back.
All hail the Chet....
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Voluteering changed my life... or at least my perspective...
When I feel like I am helping people and giving back... I am happy. I am not sure what that says about me. Knowing that I touched someone's life or impacted someone positively just is about the greatest joy I know. Yet I believe that altruism is usually ultimately a least a little selfish.
I am going the Steering Committee meeting this next week for the St. Louis Homeless Magazine "What's Up" (which I previously wrote about). Also, this weekend I am going to the Planning Committee meeting for HOBY. This was a program that I participated in during High School. This program urges each high school in the nation to nominate a sophmore student with strong leadership potential. Then the foundation pays for these studenta to attend a 3-4 day live-in seminar. The vision of the organization is "to motivate and empower individuals to make a positive difference within our global society through understanding and action based on effective and compassionate leadership." In wanting to do something that made a difference, I remembered that this program made a difference for me. I even went back in college as a college facilitator. Now I hope to participate again as an adult leader in the Eastern Missouri program this June.
I also spent last week in the Philadelphia area meeting with several of my clients. One was a Quaker boarding school. It was an amazing old campus and a peaceful environment. Seeing my clients happy and excited made my week (even though the weather trapped me there through most of Saturday). I just love helping my clients find creative solutions to their problems.
While all this sounds good, I wonder if part of my joy is that I like to feel appreciated (thus the selfishness)... because I must admit that I feel pretty darned good about life right now.
The best part of my week though came this morning. The owner of my company is someone that I greatly respect. He doesn't met out praise very often either. For example, after I had been with the company for 6 months or so, I asked for a meeting with him to ask him how he thought I was doing. The whole meeting was simply this: "if I didn't think that you were doing a good job, I would tell you."
Today, after a meeting with all of the managers, my boss said, "Stacey, can I talk to you for a minute or two." I thought that he either had a complaint or another project to give me. Instead he took me into his office and shut the door. He literally had tears in his eyes and was choked up while telling me what a great job he thought that I was doing... and what an important and integral part of the team I was. Dude. It blew me away. I have a policy of not crying at work (as should everyone... lol)... but I teared up in giving him my sincerest thanks.
Sometimes you reach a stride in your life that makes everything seem shiny and good. I am there for the time being... and I think that I owe it to opening myself up to looking outward instead of inward... and to my selfish need of finding things that give my life meaning and make me feel like I am making a difference. Writing about my funk here really empowered me to DO something. :)
I am going the Steering Committee meeting this next week for the St. Louis Homeless Magazine "What's Up" (which I previously wrote about). Also, this weekend I am going to the Planning Committee meeting for HOBY. This was a program that I participated in during High School. This program urges each high school in the nation to nominate a sophmore student with strong leadership potential. Then the foundation pays for these studenta to attend a 3-4 day live-in seminar. The vision of the organization is "to motivate and empower individuals to make a positive difference within our global society through understanding and action based on effective and compassionate leadership." In wanting to do something that made a difference, I remembered that this program made a difference for me. I even went back in college as a college facilitator. Now I hope to participate again as an adult leader in the Eastern Missouri program this June.
I also spent last week in the Philadelphia area meeting with several of my clients. One was a Quaker boarding school. It was an amazing old campus and a peaceful environment. Seeing my clients happy and excited made my week (even though the weather trapped me there through most of Saturday). I just love helping my clients find creative solutions to their problems.
While all this sounds good, I wonder if part of my joy is that I like to feel appreciated (thus the selfishness)... because I must admit that I feel pretty darned good about life right now.
The best part of my week though came this morning. The owner of my company is someone that I greatly respect. He doesn't met out praise very often either. For example, after I had been with the company for 6 months or so, I asked for a meeting with him to ask him how he thought I was doing. The whole meeting was simply this: "if I didn't think that you were doing a good job, I would tell you."
Today, after a meeting with all of the managers, my boss said, "Stacey, can I talk to you for a minute or two." I thought that he either had a complaint or another project to give me. Instead he took me into his office and shut the door. He literally had tears in his eyes and was choked up while telling me what a great job he thought that I was doing... and what an important and integral part of the team I was. Dude. It blew me away. I have a policy of not crying at work (as should everyone... lol)... but I teared up in giving him my sincerest thanks.
Sometimes you reach a stride in your life that makes everything seem shiny and good. I am there for the time being... and I think that I owe it to opening myself up to looking outward instead of inward... and to my selfish need of finding things that give my life meaning and make me feel like I am making a difference. Writing about my funk here really empowered me to DO something. :)
Friday, February 15, 2008
Shout out to BGC...
I just want to give a little shout out to my friend Brian in Cali.
I hope that everyone has the fortune of having a friend like Brian in their life at some point. My life is much sweeter for it. :)
Thanks for being my Valentine and my friend BGC. You made me smile all day yesterday.
I hope that everyone has the fortune of having a friend like Brian in their life at some point. My life is much sweeter for it. :)
Thanks for being my Valentine and my friend BGC. You made me smile all day yesterday.
Heart - Part 2
Last Saturday I visited the Soulard Farmers' Market. As I was walking in I was approached by a man selling the $1 homeless paper. Most larger cities that I have been to have a paper like this. I usually will buy one or give the the vendor a donation, but I have never read the paper or given it much thought. This time for some reason I did. I think it is because lately I have been really concerned about the homeless. We have had a lot of bitterly cold days and nights recently and it has made me realize how fortunate I am... and how I want to do something for those that don't have a warm and safe place to go.
Also, a few weeks back, there was a homeless man who fell off of the overpass a few blocks from us onto highway below. The speculation is that he had been trying to get to his bed under the overpass. There was even a stain on the highway for a while testifying to the horror of it.
So, I read the paper... cover to cover. The homeless buy the papers for a quarter and sell them for a dollar. The idea is that it is an empowerment tool and allows them to not have to beg.
In the front it said that they were looking for a volunteer development director and a grant writer (no experience neccessary). I called the guy who runs the paper and left him my information for both. I am excited about the fact that instead of wishing I was doing something more... I am actually taking action. If the perfect job doesn't come along that I can pour some of my heart into, I will do it on the side until I am lucky enough to find that full-time job that I can feel passionate about. I have some other ideas as well that I will be trying to pursue this spring as well. It is invigorating. :)
Also, a few weeks back, there was a homeless man who fell off of the overpass a few blocks from us onto highway below. The speculation is that he had been trying to get to his bed under the overpass. There was even a stain on the highway for a while testifying to the horror of it.
So, I read the paper... cover to cover. The homeless buy the papers for a quarter and sell them for a dollar. The idea is that it is an empowerment tool and allows them to not have to beg.
In the front it said that they were looking for a volunteer development director and a grant writer (no experience neccessary). I called the guy who runs the paper and left him my information for both. I am excited about the fact that instead of wishing I was doing something more... I am actually taking action. If the perfect job doesn't come along that I can pour some of my heart into, I will do it on the side until I am lucky enough to find that full-time job that I can feel passionate about. I have some other ideas as well that I will be trying to pursue this spring as well. It is invigorating. :)
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Bitches Ain't Shit
Oh how I love out of genre covers! What I mean by this is polka rock covers, bluegrass gangsta rap covers and piano ballad covers of angry music. I have always wanted to do a slow, soft, sensual cover of Nine Inch Nails' song Closer. I just think that a sexy crooning of "I want to fuck you like an animal" would be totally awesome. lol.
Check out Brave Combo and/or Hayseed Dixie when they roll into your town.
So, this past Fall Stephen bought me a Sirius radio receiver. I hadn't wanted one previously, because I didn't think that it was worth the money. Once Stephen had his though, I realized that I was wrong. It is totally kick ass.
Today on the way into work on the Left of Center (college-esque) channel, they played a cover of Dr. Dre's Bitches Ain't Shit done by Ben Folds. Now, I love The Gourds cover of Gin and Juice, so I was loving this cover... especially when Ben Folds couldn't help but laugh after one particular lyric.
Here's a version from YouTube. Enjoy.
Check out Brave Combo and/or Hayseed Dixie when they roll into your town.
So, this past Fall Stephen bought me a Sirius radio receiver. I hadn't wanted one previously, because I didn't think that it was worth the money. Once Stephen had his though, I realized that I was wrong. It is totally kick ass.
Today on the way into work on the Left of Center (college-esque) channel, they played a cover of Dr. Dre's Bitches Ain't Shit done by Ben Folds. Now, I love The Gourds cover of Gin and Juice, so I was loving this cover... especially when Ben Folds couldn't help but laugh after one particular lyric.
Here's a version from YouTube. Enjoy.
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