DC Cherry Blossoms

D'oh

It's amazing how much in common I have with Homer Simpson...



"I'm in a place where I don't know where I am."

"If something is too hard, give it up. The moral boy is to never try anything."

"That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college."

"This donut has purple in it. Purple is a fruit."

"Wow, a baby and a free burger. Could this be the best day of my life?"

I Hate Bad Dreams

I've been having a lot of bad dreams lately.

I Think It's Time to Share

I try to remind myself that I do have friends and as I've gotten in contact with them I feel sorry that I haven't been in the loop and don't know the good or bad things that have been going on with them.

In Memory of My Buddy and Me

Samson

Usually,
everything i see when i wake up
annoys me.
Both internal and external.



The fear that life
would be unfinished.
The consciousness that you couldn't be
what you wanted to be
so badly.



Due to intimacy,
we are attached to each other.
The connection is compelling:
she requires exclusivity.
Sharing is betraying.



When others abstain us from their
devotion, respect and admission,
why can't we just say to them:
I don't need all of that,
i have myself.
Isn't it an horrible form of un-freedom,
that we can't do that?
Doesn't it make us slaves to the others?
Which feelings can you insert against it,
as barrier, as bastion?
Of which nature should the
inner freedom be?


Since then,
i know how people are connected
and intertwined with one another
till their deepest depths,
without them having the slightest presumption
that they are.



words extracted from book: Nighttrain to Lisbon

Career Rx

I took a personality and priorities test on mycareerrx.com that helps me figure out what careers would be ideal for me. This is part of the results:


Green-Red Introvert

Summary
Gentle and flexible, Green/Red Introverts often hide an intensely idealistic and driven inner self. You judge issues by your personal values and have a quiet stubbornness when it comes to achieving personal goals. Free spirits by nature, you are often unconventional and admire other non-conformists.
Keen and penetrating observers, you have a strong sense of what motivates others. You see life as an unfolding cosmic drama that presents infinite possibilities for humans to grow and develop.
Adaptable and creative, Green/Red Introverts love a challenge, dislike routine and take life as it comes. The ability to quietly and unassumingly influence a constructive cause is deeply satisfying to you. Gifted in communications, most take up writing or the visual arts at some point in their lives.

As big picture thinkers, you are insightful and able to project the trends and pitfalls of the future. You are interested in many areas, focusing in particular on those that impact people and global concerns. Green/Reds are flexible and accommodating to work with as long as their privacy is respected but tend to dislike bureaucracy, which you gleefully battle every chance possible.

Others see you as insightful and you possess excellent listening skills. You display a surprising toughness when your values are challenged. In relationships, you establish rapport by being genuine and non-judgmental. Cool and reserved on the surface, you seldom show the intensity of your feelings, until you know someone well. Despite your high need for empathetic relationships you typically focus your attention on a small group of family members and close friends. You get most irritated by people who are intrusive, controlling and overly critical of others.

Your Natural Strengths
You:
• Explore new possibilities and solve problems in an original way
• Listen carefully to people creating trust and support the development of others
• Understand how underlying emotions impact productivity
• Get right to the guts of an issue
• Can concentrate and work for long periods of time alone
• Work without much supervision

Your Challenges
Your potential blind spots may include some of the following. You:
• Can be too idealistic and ignore bottom line consequences
• Can be too reserved, not speak up enough and appear disengaged. (Few know how much energy it takes to listen, and you listen intently. Your concentration, however, comes across as aloofness. Just throw in a few comments to let others know you’re present.)
• Don’t prioritize and appear disorganized. (You have only one priority a day—sit down and prioritize that day’s activities.)
• Consider your own values superior. (Others may compromise or be more realistic, but your ideals are IDEAL. Once you recognize the strengths of other Colors, though, this tendency will mellow.)
• May miss deadlines because you are a perfectionist. (Being perfect means meeting the deadline. Your boss feels that way, so prioritize that career-important deadline over less important details.)

Your Best Work Environment
You will be most productive and energized when your work culture:
• Is in synch with personal values. Companies that violate your values will soon see you gone. You don’t tolerate this.
• Is democratic and informal. You function best with a minimum of rules, paperwork and supervision. Rank and status are fluid.
• Is supportive and harmonious, fostering cooperation and trust. Backstabbing, confrontation and malicious gossip really irritate, and distract you
• Encourages creativity and idea generation.
• Recognizes individual needs of both staff and clients. Seek companies that encourage work/life balance and high levels of customer service.
• Allows for private space. As an Introvert, your batteries get drained when dealing with people, even if your people skills are superb. You recharge alone. You think and perform better in a private space; insist on one as a condition of employment if at all possible.
• Has a boss who is flexible, does not micromanage, has a high level of integrity and takes a personal interest in your development

Your Entrepreneurial Style
For you goals and plans are changeable, depending on whatever is exciting to you at the moment. Prioritizing is problematic for you, especially when two or more interesting things compete for your attention. You will stick to a goal if it helps you find your deepest possible satisfaction and reflects your personal values. You need a partner of another style, who can ground you in the present.
Greens are less motivated by material gain than other styles. You prefer to provide value and express your creative energies in whatever business situation stimulates you. Sometimes that will be an entrepreneurial venture, most often prompted by a change in employment status, a disagreement with the practices of an employer or need for a family-oriented work schedule.
You will build a loyal clientele, but often think little of sacrificing profit margin to achieve a certain quality of product or service. High customer loyalty and low staff turnover often get a Green enterprise through rough times when other companies fail. Your superior abilities to promote and market also get you noticed quickly, despite the fact that these skills are often underestimated by those more focused on the balance sheet rather than the customer base.

Lead Kindly Light

It was finally warm and sunny out so I decided to take advantage and go for a run around our neighborhood lake. I haven't felt so good in a long.



Bright rays
warmth in my eyes
breathing free
wanting harder work, wanting more
warm dew lifted in a soft brush of air
lungs grow healthy
body feels soul awaken
rich soil sweet underfoot
lake twinkles starry path of sunlight
Lead kindly light
God's countenance unveiled
His warmth rekindles memory of being whole
being immortal
but now knowing the beauty and accomplishment of flesh

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Last Year's Paper

I don't know what's better; last year's "I am lucky to have you in my life" or this year's "I want to get with you"

Sunday Paper

Rain Rain Go Away

Very rainy cold and lonely day

A View of Yesterday

Cold, gray, bare tree branches, shopping at Loehmann's and wishing I had a job just to afford pretty dresses, coming home and drinking tea.

Shouldn't...But

Sometimes you need a Coke and your Best Girl.

Anxious Heart

Ideal Job

1. Owning a Cupcake Shop


2. Creating Graphic Design in a beautiful home office


3. Owning a Boutique


4. Planning and designing Weddings


5. Being a Housewife, especially if this is the case...

The Good Earth

"One day when Wang Lung was hard pressed with the swelling wheat and was cultivating it with his hoe, day after day, until his back throbbed with weariness, her shadow fell across the furrow over which he bent himself, and there she stood, with a hoe across her shoulder....and without speech she took the furrow to the left of him and fell into steady hoeing...Moving together in a perfect rhythm, without a word, hour after hour, he fell into a union with her which took the pain from his labor. He had no articulate thought of anything there was only this perfect sympathy of movement, of turning this earth of theirs over and over to the sun, this earth which formed their home and fed their bodies and made their gods. The earth lay rich and dark, and fell apart lightly under the points of their hoes. Sometimes they turned up a bit of brick, a splinter of wood. It was nothing. Some time, in some age, bodies of men and women had been buried there, houses had stood there, had fallen, and gone back into the earth. So would also their house, some time, return into the earth, their bodies also. Each had his turn at this earth. They worked on moving together-together- producing the fruit of this earth- speechless in their movement together."

Eagles' Nest

My Dad's cousins', The Burtons, live in the DC area and I got to go to their son's Boy Scout Eagle Ceremony. It was the first one I've been to. My favorite part was the eagles' nest, where all the men who already have their eagle medal sit. The program teaches the development of many noble attributes and that's a huge accomplishment nowadays for young men. I was impressed.

Annapolis Ball

The LDS boys of Annapolis Navy Acadamy hosted a formal dance at their school. I went early to explore old town Annapolis which was founded in 1649. It's a quaint seaside town with lots of cute shops by the bay. My favorite place we stopped at by far was at an Italian gelato store called Aromi d'italia.

I Heart These Sweet Spring Florals

This weekend is supposed to be sunny and beautiful so I had to celebrate by buying the prettiest floral dress today at H&M. Can't wait to wear it!

Twighlight

Finished all four books of Twighlight and I enjoyed them way too much.

Cool School

I got a new touch screen cell phone yesterday with a 3.2 megapixel camera. It's totally rad!

Miracle

I decided to put on a pilates dvd to get a much needed workout. Turns out that I needed the remote control to start the workout and there was no way around it. However, I couldn't find the control anywhere. I decided to pray, then got on my knees to look under the couches again and noticed there was a drawer in our coffee table which I didn't notice before because I had pushed it out of the way against the couch. I looked inside the drawer and there was nothing in it except for my remote control. It was a miracle, not more than two seconds had passed after my prayer and it was answered. I was able to accomplish my "Bun and Thigh Sculpting" "Now I can have the buns I've always wanted after a short time of using the video 2-3 times a week."

Flying High or Flying So Lo?