Weekend Come to Mama!!! TGIF!!

Steve Jobs - Gone at 56

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, passed away today at 56.  Too young to die.  But he seemed to pack numerous lifetimes of achievement into one.  He recently gave a commencement speech which included several pearls of wisdom:

During the speech, he touched on the fact he was adopted, along with the fact that he did not graduate from college, although he took a variety of classes, including calligraphy, which later pointed him toward creating the typography for the Macintosh computer.  As he reflected on his past choices, he referred to these as connecting the dots through his life.  Jobs said, "Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." 

I've had a lot of dots in my life that didn't make sense for my future until I look at them in retrospect. 

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going (after being fired from Apple) was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

That's a big lesson - don't settle.  I've settled in my past but I'm determined not to make that mistake in my future. 

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition - wow!  Those are powerful words!  I may just have to post this on my bathroom wall as a reminder every day.  I do know that the times I've ignored my intuition are the times that found me in trouble. 

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs.

You can find the full text of Steve's commencement speech here.

Happy Birthday Diva Andrea!!!

Happy 21st Birthday Diva Andrea!!!!

Like This!

A Mermaid or a Whale

From a posting on Facebook:

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"  The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness

They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia. They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?  They would have no sex life and could not bear children.  Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.  And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.  We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.

Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

Monday Already?

Wishing I had these to wear today!  I'm thinking it may just be a black skirt and heels Monday - I need a break from the standard pants, fleece vest, and sensible shoes!!!



From Hot Topic



Welcome to the Tavern of Bad Vibes

Last night I met up with my new beau at a different pub for relaxation and the traditional viewing of the darts game (I don't play...I just view.  A dart could be downright dangerous in my hands!)  While I was getting ready to go out, my hair wasn't behaving, my clothes were giving me fits, and my face just didn't contain any sign of oomph.  I attribute this to being Friday along with the fact I had to assist in firing a minimum of three people this week, a task I'm required to perform but still tugs on my heartstrings.

I arrived at the tavern and pulled into a prime parking spot right out front, which I took as a good sign.  Alas, that wasn't the case.  As soon as I walked in, an older coot of a man said "you look like you've had a hard day!"  WTF??  Hello to you too, you drunken old fart!!  Unfortunately, I knew the old codger spoke the truth.  My blessing of the parking spot was quickly forgotten as I made my way to my guy.

Have you ever been someplace and just had a weird vibe?  That's all I can say about this place....a weird vibe came over me.  The crowd wasn't that friendly, the service was mediocre, and I just wasn't getting a warm, fuzzy feeling that I normally got when I entered the regular dart establishment.  Along with viewing the dart competition, I spent my time people-watching and discovered there are some serious odd ducks out there.  The bar counter was filled with ancient, scraggy men for whom this was obviously their hangout of habit.  A group of younger bucks in their twenties entered the bar later in the evening so this balanced out the age difference.  There was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction, perhaps even anger, in this bar; I could easily see a fight breaking out at any moment.  I chose to remain huddled at my corner table to avoid any punks who may want to ruin my evening.

The highlight of my evening was keeping my eye on a behemoth gal playing pool.  She wore a white tank top sweater and very tight jeans.  This outfit also included a large muffin top pouring out of the belt of her pants.  Her shirt was simply too short to cover her white, fleshy belly as it hung over her waistband and she made no attempt to conceal it.  Her pants were so tight it resulted in her sizable stomach folding over in the middle, obliterating her belly button.  She frequently bent over the pool table to make a coveted shot, which further encouraged the tank top to rise and the belly to tumble.  Her appearance would have fit right in with the People of Walmart website!  It's times like that I wish I was the host of Ambush Makeover, which would have given me an excuse to rush over, pluck her from the fashion nightmare, and recreate her as something lovely. 

As the dart game was ending, an older woman came toward me and asked if she could sit at the table next to me.  She was very friendly with intense eye contact, to the point that at first I thought I may have met her in the past. Then it hit me - she was either wasted or bit bonkers.  And she made me sad - to be an older woman, obviously on her own, who sought out new friends at a melancholy bar with bad vibes.  As we gathered our things to leave, she shook my hand for the second time and said "God Bless You."  She admitted it was an odd phrase to say to someone you just met, let alone at a bar, but that was just the way she was.  And I accepted that...I will never turn down God's blessing no matter what shape or form it is given.

My evening with my guy ended before 10pm; I was tired and simply felt my bed calling me.  Tonight we are scheduled to get together with friends and I'm looking forward to a much more positive evening!