Reach Inside Yourself

 

"Creativity is a lonely art.

An even lonelier struggle.

To some a blessing.

To others a curse.

It is in reality

the ability to reach inside yourself

and drag forth from your very soul an idea."

~Lou Dorfsman

When I was getting my hair highlighted yesterday afternoon, I noticed a bag of chartreuse decorative pears sitting beside the door as I entered the salon.  Intrigued, I picked one up and began to admire the crinkly, glossy surface. I wonder whose these are, and why they've left them in this bag, seemingly discarded...?  I inquired of one of the stylists. 

"Oh, yeah, those are mine.  You want 'em?"

"Are you selling these?"

 "No, you can have them.  I got tired of them

-- you know how you do? --

and I'm just getting rid of them. 

If you want them, you can just have them."

 I tried to convince her to let me pay her for them, and she wouldn't hear of it.  Delighted with my new find, my mind began wandering...these are so pretty!  Twenty-three beautiful lonely, forgotten pears.  What can I do with these...something really cool...different...eye-catching...

I needed a new project. 

As I pulled in the driveway, the pot of mums beside the flower bed launched an idea...that weird chartreuse green hue coupled with a complementary red?  Marrying those two colors in dramatic splendor.  A deep faded "old" red, mixed with this wonderful shade of green...?

Eau yeah!

I sat the bag of pears on the bench in my kitchen and decided to let this one brew a while.
                                                        

 I'm waiting for the idea to climax in my brain heart.  And when it does, I'll know it immediately.  I'm excited!



Forever Abandoned?

 

I discovered this acoustic version of Brian McKnight's "Anytime" this week.

Listening to the melodic nuances

lured my mind to wonder about all things abandoned

and all the beauty left behind.

 

Acoustic...raw...enduring.

 

 

 

 



Moon Night

Moon Night

 Emerging twilight,

veiled in
an expanse of calm,
brandishing a familiar
Presence...
nature's shining light of Heaven
smiling down upon the earth in humble splendor,
watching over me,
bidding boundless and unconditional comfort.

Moon,

there you are again…

whispers my heart lovingly.

 I hoped I'd find you waiting for me.
 

With wordless dialogues

we speak;
a clear and quiet
piercing of my soul
a gentle release with every exhale,
exposing
every
past, present and future
utterance
of my heart.

Reassured, I smile.

I am uplifted
I am reminded
of all that truly matters ...
love.
~T

(Not crazy about all these images, but the music is amazing.)

FNL - Good Enough

Evanescence

Good Enough

 

the musicians are so into the music ... there is no separation

(The cello...oh, how it MAKES this song)

 

 

I could listen one hundred times one hundred...

 

“I can’t say no…”

 

And Change is Never Easy

 

My trusty Lenovo Ideapad laptop, which has served me well for the past 2+ years, has recently suffered a fracture of sorts.  The left hinge had gotten damaged from wear and tear and is not repairable – this I know from having been to the computer repair dudes.  Otherwise, the laptop works like a charm.  Since I have to travel quite a bit with my laptop, opening and shutting the lid is critical.  For starters, I’m back and forth from the courtroom every day, twice a day, to set up my realtime translation, and then returning to my office to have internet access, getting work out, etc.  Yes, the lid gets a good workout, and it’s just too bad it wan’t able to withstand the wear and tear.

So I’ve had to purchase another laptop.  I’m short on funds for a myriad of reasons, too depressing to address for now, so I felt compelled to go with another Lenovo (my favorite brand), though with a few less bells and whistles.  I did a bit of research, googled price comparisons, and ended up purchasing a Lenovo G580 from Staples at what seemed like a good deal.  “Caveat Emptor.” I plan to submit a review at some point.  Overall, I give it a 6 out of 10 stars.  For now.  It’s still new, so that review may change.
My biggest gripe is not having two designated 3.5 mm audio jacks, one for microphone, one for headphones.  I report bench conferences, i.e., side bars, while listening to the parties through my headphones.  The judge pushes a button to turn on the white noise that goes out to all courtroom speakers, except my input cable, i.e., via headphones “for my ears only,” and as the Court and counsel speak into the bench microphone, only I can hear it.  I never even have to get up out of my chair.  When sidebar is over, white noise is turned off, and I take off my headphones and continue reporting open court proceedings.  Thus, I need TWO audio ports. 

Instead of two audio ports, this laptop is equipped with a “combo port” – whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean – that I find rather useless.  I cannot run audiosync  (a backup audio recording that is synched word for word with my steno strokes) through this port, number one, because it is not recognized; and two, because I can’t both listen AND record at the same time – essential for bench conferences.  So I googled and researched and ended up buying a USB Stereo Audio Adapter with two 3.5 mm audio ports that so far works rather well.  My computer, as promised by the manufacturer of this little baby, recognized it instantly as an audio port.  I’m still having to troubleshoot simultaneous playbacks while recording, having tinkered with it most of yesterday afternoon.  This may require more research, more googling, comparing guru gadgets, reviews and feedback – until I get it right. 

Another gripe I have:  There is no CAPS indicator on the keyboard.  I find that pretty essential.  There is a caps indicator light that flashes on the screen for a brief moment, but then it goes away.  I want this indicator to STAY lit.  Is that too much to ask?  I find myself wasting time toggling back and forth from caps to lower case, never sure which mode I’m in.  Time.  Time is of the essence in a reporter’s life.  In most everyone’s life …?

Another gripe – this is a big one, and it involves CHANGE – my keyboard is not set up the way my other -- most all laptop keyboards are set up.  I’m used to having the HOME and DELETE keys in the far right corner.  They are used constantly.  On this keyboard, they are five keys from the right on the top row.  This means I have to stop and search for them every time instead of just reaching up there blindly, an instinctive tap without missing a beat.  The PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys, are in a completely different spot too, another critical “change” to get used to.  And the whole keyboard is not centered, but rather sits slightly left of center—why?  Because there is a numeric keypad to the right of the alphabet keys  (I couldn’t care less about this – when do I ever do math?) taking up space where the keys would normally be in true “home” position. 

I type for a living, oscillating from qwerty to steno machine, back and forth, countless times a day and for countless tasks and reasons.  A keyboard layout is about as fundamentally relevant as it comes.  Thankfully, when at the office I use an external keyboard, all nice and predictable, all keys in familiar/traditional spots.  I can fly on that baby.  But when having to use the laptop keyboard, either at home, on the road, the courtroom, etc., there I am, painfully struggling along, trying – TRYING – to adjust to a new keyboard layout and making way too many annoying typos. 

 

When will it get easier?  DOES it get easier?  Will I adjust to this change?  I’ve never much cared for the word “can’t.”  I refuse to give it stage time.  This much I know:  I’ve learned my lesson (again).  You get what you pay for.  Had I spent a little extra money, another $100-150, I may have avoided these bumps in the road.

I’m paying for this.  And I’m embracing change.  Maybe it’s intended to be more of a lesson about change, learning curves and tolerance, and not so much about economics and marketing.  Time will tell. 

Change



Destination Barcelona

Music can be a source of escape like no other.

I discovered this song a few months ago and I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve heard it since, playing it over and over, it quickly becoming one of my favorites in recent memory. 

Have you ever heard a song that you could hit REPEAT, and no matter how many times it played in succession, you never grow tired of it?  This is that song.

Enganaita

I first heard it on Pandora.  And it’s pretty cool that Pandora plays it regularly now on my newly created “Blank & Jones” station.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E7bg2KBamc

Try it.

Hit play.

Now close your eyes and let the music take you there.

Are you there yet?

Where are you?

What do you see?

What do you smell?

How do you feel?

What are you wearing?

Are you relaxed?

Smiling?

What are you thinking?

What comes to your mind first…

and why?

Why not?

Careful…don’t open your eyes.

Don’t wake up.

You have arrived at your destination.

You may stay as long as you’d like.

 You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one