Unforgivable, indeed. Avada Kedavra on your phone? Really? I'm weirded out just typing those words. I myself prefer to stay in the light.
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill, An it harm none do what ye will.
Semi-Daily Scribbles
Carving out a corner to post random crap.
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The sun is setting on this Wednesday evening. My eyelids are heavy and my stomach is saying things I’d rather not hear. I believe there’s quite a bit of that going around. Wind is whipping up around my door and creating a clanging racket in my firebox. The barks of dogs fill the empty space between the swirling gusts and excitable birds. And now the smell of toasted bread distracts me as I melt into my chair and go all soft around the edges.
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Always looking to keep my notes in order, thoughts on track, and priorities…well, prioritized. I’ve been blessed with a wildly undisciplined and disorderly brain. My forte is making things much harder than need be. ThinkthinkthinkThink. Ponder, poke, prod. Walk away. I do a lot of that. Sometimes, though, I double-back around and hover over one spot until I’ve absorbed all the nutrients. That’s when I come to my senses. When I take in sufficient oxygen and don’t freak out over the possibility of doing a good job, I begin to actually enjoy those things I tell everyone I enjoy. Should I continue along this rubble-strewn track, or backspace, delete, and never come back? For now, I think I’ll place all my hopes on a strip of paper found inside a cookie:
You will obtain your goal if you maintain your course.
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Everything will reflect in this — the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sun, everything. So it should be invisible nearly in the forest.
via green.yahoo.com
A dream home in every sense. I would love to have a little cabin in the forest. A hideaway to call my own where nature is the key design element. This cube in the woods elevates that concept…literally.
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Om Theresa; ny amerikansk recensent på Enbokcirkelföralla.
via bokcirkelforalla.wordpress.com
My friend Karin Berg runs the delightful book blog Enbokcirkelföralla. Karin has recently asked if I'd like to contribute reviews and recommendations, with works by American authors being a particular focus. I have wide and varied tastes in my reading material, and I grab any opportunity to write. This joint venture in exploring and celebrating the written word, from different cultural perspectives, is my kind of fun. I hope you'll make your own discoveries between the pages, too. Now…let's get to reading!
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I had the wonderful opportunity this week to talk books and writing with a colleague at work. He had actually come by my desk to inform me of a new report he’d written that would help me complete a project I’ve been working on. As is often the case in the workplace, simple messages delivered en route to other tasks can take on their own head of steam. Trains of thought go off course and sometimes collide, and that’s when conversations are the most fun. I learned from our chat that this technically minded individual was an English major and that he used to write quite a bit. Today, though he still writes, the work he produces is very different from prose. My colleague expressed concern that after years of writing reports, Methods of Procedure, and other technical documents, he has lost the ability to construct flowing, full-bodied sentences. The writing he does for work is peppered with short, clipped, concise phrases that, according to him, “has turned his voice into a chatty one.” He said he’s always had the idea to write a novel about a post-apocalyptic world, and wondered if he could still make an attempt at it. I told him our relationship with language changes throughout our lives, and that he should experiment with his new voice to see what creativity it sparks. Maybe this is exactly the right voice my colleague needs to tell his story. -
Through the door awaits adventure. Or tedium. Sometimes riddles, sometimes things that keep us from sleep. Plans to formulate, dreams needing tethering, destinies to which we tend. Out there is a perfect world, your refuge, my prison, the loneliest acre where lookers and thinkers gather to bring back stories no one believes. Open the door and step out onto the causeway that will wind itself around your wishes. -
**August 31st: Bridging Cultures – from Vikings to Cowboys
This course will help participants improve their intercultural communication skills when it comes to interfacing with Swedish colleagues, as well as American colleagues. This workshop is facilitated by Christina Johansson Robinowitz, author of the book “Modern Day Vikings – A Practical Guide to Interacting with the Swedes.”This week, I received the above bulletin at work. Since I can barely keep my email manageable, I took one look at the header, snorted, thought Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and deleted it. Was that rash of me to do? Yup. Perhaps I deleted this workshop notice because I’m already an expert at bridging cultural gaps? Hell no. I am no diplomat. What I am is a loud, stubborn, inquisitive, fidgety, friendly, easily bored, easily entertained, patient, focused, helpful, standoffish daydreamer. It’s a miracle I get anything done, especially since I exhibit most of these traits during any given workday. Are these character quirks the reason why I get quizzical looks from my Swedish co-workers? I’m guessing so. But then I get blank stares and nervous sidelong glances from everyone. I do reckon, however, that when those confused expressions are coming from visiting VIPs from our HQ in Sweden, that’s probably a bad thing.
Maybe I ought to think twice before being so dismissive of an opportunity to learn exactly how brusque and abrasive I come across to my colleagues, be they Vikings or Cowboys…or Seahawks (couldn’t resist that one, sports fans.)
p.s. Since I’ve made mention of a couple of Northwesty things (Scandinavians and Seahawks), I’d like to pass along a reminder that this weekend is The Nordic Heritage Museum’s Viking Days celebration. If attending, give my regards to Ballard.
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A barn in Hood County, Texas, has become ground zero in the hunt for the chupacabra.
via buzz.yahoo.com
I was first made aware of el chupacabra years ago, and have always been on the lookout for that sneaky goat sucker. I even think I may have spotted one not long ago while driving near our home (and yes, my husband and I are residents of Texas.) I recall seeing a dog-type creature or coyote-like animal trotting along a fenceline before disappearing into a field of tall grass. It all happened rather quickly, but what sticks out in my mind is that the animal was about the size of a greyhound, had wrinkly blue-black skin, was completely hairless, and had an elongated snout. It was not cute and it didn't look healthy. Did I see a sick, mange-ridden canine or the infamous chupacabra in all its skinny, hairless glory? In light of recent sightings and all the buzz on the Internet, I know I saw something out of the ordinary that day. Perhaps I'll mount my own expedition to track down (without killing it, people!) the bane of goat herders everywhere.
Do you have a chupacabra sighting to share? Do tell!
Semi-Daily Scribbles 