Weekly Rundown

We are returning to a staple of the site for it has been a crazy couple of weeks.

• My niece is growing like a weed. Her personality is beginning to show too. I love hearing her giggle. She also has this habit of crossing her feet when she content. Just thinking of her makes me miss her more.
• I love my job. My supervisor has been steadily increasing my responsibilities and I've enjoyed the challenge. The first time they sent me out on my own I crashed and burned spectacularly. My supervisor just gave me a pep talk and some pointers and said I'd do better next time. I did. Nothing like knowing someone has your back.
• Once a week I treat myself to a lil something food related. Since I've started cooking I enjoy trying out different stuff. Today I decided on brunch being the treat and made myself some savory baked beans from scratch (like we used to have at home), a poached egg, some swiss cheese on chiffonaded (sp) ham and toast. Chiffonading tricks the mouth into thinking there is more ham than there actually is so its great when you are on a budget. Other than the beans which took an hour, the meal only took 10 mins to prepare. Before I get called out for having ham, I did say I would be eating mostly vegetarian.
• On the social front I'm as single as ever and you know what, I am okay with it.
• As to the struggles of Lent, I need to find an iceberg to lay on. Giving up self service was not the wisest thing to do. I am perpetually horny which is distracting to say the least. Instead of spending quality time in spiritual reflection, my mind is spending QT reflecting on the women I see.
• If you are in the Chi, Cirque Du Femme is tonight at Circuit.

Have a great weekend folks!

Tuesday Beat: Di Johnston - Miss Shanghai Revealed

Beautiful vocals and instrumental arrangements. I've loved this song for ages and finally found it on YT. The vid itself gives the history of the singer since she never actually made a video for the song.

O the joys of Lent

The Lenten season is upon us. I made a midweek pilgrimage (between meetings) to the ecumenical service to get ashed since I could not make it to my own church.

With the mention of Lent comes the inevitable question what did you give up. This year it's the usual stuff, no alcohol, no sex (not that I'm getting any anyway so this one is just for form) and a mostly vegetarian diet. The one thing that I do not tell people that I gave up is self service. Lots of prayers, reflections, exercises and cold showers are going to be on my to do list.

For me the Lenten season is a time of reflection on all matters. I set my goals for the year during this time the same way people set New Year's resolutions. I look at my past year and evaluate it against my goals set during last Lent. This is not the time for me to be lying to myself. I am free to criticize myself for my shortcomings as long as I don't dwell on them.

Spiritually I look at my relationship with God. This past year I was mad at God a good many times because I felt He was being unfair. Every once in a while you need to blame someone for stuff you don't understand and I took it out on God. My faith did take a beating but I do believe my level of spirituality improves when it takes a beating. I have faith in God. I trust that He will provide and that He will never leave me. Simple sounding til you figure out that He will provide in His own time not yours and you are probably going to leave Him 101 times and return 102 times.

For those observing Lent ... may your time of reflection be fruitful. For those not observing it ... please don't tempt us with the stuff we gave up.

image extracted from http://open.salon.com/blog/bustedhalony/2009/03/10/what_to_do_for_lent

Tuesday Beat: Daniel Bedingfield - If You're Not The One

The tardy church bell-ringer

I used to be a church bell ringer. A post by Sweet T reminded me of my early days in the church. One of my earliest duties was that of bell ringer (some 8 or so years ago). My job was to ring the main bell 20 times at 9:30 to signal the start of service. When it was my turn to ring it, service always started between 9:33 and 9:35. Yes I was always tardy.

Second problem with me as a bell ringer was that I was under weight. Bell ringing is all about momentum when it comes to old bells. I needed to get a running start in order to jump high enough so that I could pull the rope down and get the first gong. I'd occasionally forget to let go of the rope and I'd go up with it which resulted in the ding-dong-silence-dong sequence. Rope burn was also a minor problem.

Needless to say after 4 months I was moved to ushering, something I could not mess up. I do sometimes miss the good ol' bell ringing days what with the digitalizing of the chimes and all.

image extracted from www.cartoonstock.com/.../ b/bell-ringer_gifts.asp

Tuesday Beat: K-Ci & Jojo - All My Life / This Very Moment

Lovers weekend is on approach so here's a lil something from me to you.

A night at the theatre

I took myself to the theatre last night to watch A Raisin in the Sun. DePaul had a free preview screening and being the broke sod that I am, I took myself out (even broke out my good jacket and shoes). I made the conscious decision to not read the synopsis because I wanted to experience the story with no preconcieved notions. That always makes for fun viewing. DePaul put on an excellent reproduction of the play. It made you want to get on stage and shake some of the characters, Beneatha for one. I found my self wanting to yell "man up" to Walter Lee Younger a time or two or three or four. The student who played Ruth has definitely found her calling. She emoted like no other. The icing on the cake for my night out was the elderly couple sitting in front of me. Made my lil heart glow. Why? Because they were a queer couple of color.

I am a fan of the arts and do try to do something twice a month. I've figured out how to get my arts fix in with minimal expenditure on my part. Play previews are a godsend and so are museum free days. Networking events / showcases are also good for the financially unsound. This probably makes me sound like a cheapskate, but at this point I honestly cannot afford to pay for this stuff. Patronage of the arts can be a lil pricey. As soon as I can free up some funding, I'll be sure to pay because I know that the artists need to eat as well. But until then ... my social calendar will continue to center around that which is free or in exchange for volunteer time.

An incorrigible flirt

Confession: I am a flirt. I smile at and chat up women because I can. Confession: I am also an introvert. I get struck by bouts of shyness on and off.

When I flirt with someone it's not about my getting a number / facebook name / twitter account, I could care less about them. I am genuinely curious about what makes people tick so I ask a lot of follow-up questions (nothing too personal) which as it turns out is the holy grail when talking to some women. I want the person that I was talking to to say to themselves, that person was interested in knowing me and not looking for a segue to talk about themselves.

Forgive my ego but it is also fair to state that I have a smile that has served me well. I've had women say to me on several occasions at networking events or presentations, I can't remember your name but I remember your smile would you mind if I sat next to you since you are the only person that I know. An instant ego boost for it means the last time that we met I evidently did not make an arse out of my self and you thought enough of me (as in figured I was not a creepy perv) to take another chance with talking to me.

image from http://blogs.theage.com.au/lifestyle/asksam/im-a-flirt.jpg

Tuesday Beat: Amerie - Dear John

Im writin u this letter
Just to let u know that
That I still love you
But I wont be comin back
U had me at hello
Now I gotta say goodbye
Cause one too many times u made me cry