Author Archives: Andrea

I try to open files from the wrong program…

I went to open the January magazine and I couldn’t find the file.  Not only could I not find that file, I couldn’t find any of my Adobe InDesign magazine files. None of them.  I could see all the pdf files, but my main files were not listed. WTF? I decided to open it from the external drive.  It wasn’t there either!  None of the files could be found, none of them.  I was surprisingly calm, considering I’d have to create the entire January magazine from scratch. But I could do it in one afternoon. As soon as I realized how easy it would be, I realized that I was in the wrong program.  I was not in Adobe InDesign, I was in Adobe Photoshop. I didn’t see the entire list of files on the drive because it was showing me only those files I could open in Photoshop, my jpgs and pdfs. I had to laugh.  As soon as I realized there was no problem, my awareness expanded and I immediately saw clearly what I’d done. Continue reading →

Typical Florida

1-11Mid-November and while it’s a balmy 77 degrees, it’s 86% humidity so the a/c just went on.  Gotta love living in the sub tropics.

No kids = no holiday hassles

Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, looking forward to them this year = my bf has no kids. Yep, I lucked out and found the holy grail, yo!  A galpal reminds me that for some, kids ARE the holy grail 🙂  To each their own.

Opening the view and letting in the Light

This week I’ve been using my hedge clippers to trim the eleagnus bushes that surround my screened in porch and make up the privacy hedge in my front yard. Also called silverthorn, it’s a large sprawling bush that gets very dense when left on its own. This is the first time I’ve used the hedge clippers on it and it was surprisingly easy.  The past couple of years I’ve let my yard become overgrown under the shadowy tree canopy. Since summertime I’ve been opening it all back up to the sunlight, cutting hedges shorter, trimming them close in so they are more lacy and less a dense wall.  I’ve so severely pruned back the giant philodendron outside my office window that it’s completely opened me up to see the entire courtyard and the street.  It’s a huge view in front of me that I never had before.   I can see the entire southern sky as well.  I feel as though I just gained two acres of front yard. My world is expanding in leaps and bounds. The more exposed and transparent, the less hidden I become, the freer I feel. Thank you God for this life and these realizations.

I set my dining room up restaurant style, complete with menus

I realized last night there’s no longer a need to have 9 chairs and 6 pillows in the living room as if we have a houseful anymore.  I decided to rearrange my living areas to reflect what I actually do every day now: a comfy place to relax after work and dine with my partner. I moved a tall file cabinet out of the dining area and into the back office. I moved a 48 x 60″ table into the dining room, right next to the kitchen as a service table for the toaster oven, convection oven and coffee maker. The wide table surface is a great staging area as well.  I love staging areas… Next to it is the water cooler and beverages. The entire dining area is now set up like restaurant seating with a self service beverage bar where I keep teas and coffees and cups and plates stocked. The dining table includes menus as well! Continue reading →

What did you do as a child that made the hours pass?

What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes? Herein lies the key to your earthly pursuits. Carl Jung
I drew and made a newsletter telling what the pets did, what did you do? “The Little Kitty Newsletter” was a hit when I was 10. I made sketches of the new kittens and gave their names. Mary Adams just made me realize here I am 50 years later kinda doing the same thing except now I get paid to do it… Who knew??

 

A lesson in vocal harmonizing, in finding our own note

 harmonizeI got a lesson in vocal harmonizing last Sunday and I’ll never listen to singing the same again. “Harmonizing: To bring or come into agreement or harmony.  To make (one thing) compatible with (another)” While I’m cooking up yummy snacks, my partner is usually in the living room on the piano, playing jazz classics and orchestral versions of rock favorites (White Rabbit!)  Through him, I’m learning a lot about music. Last Sunday I got a lesson in vocal harmonizing as we watched some kirtan videos.  Some elements he spoke of were having control of your voice, singing a note in a chord but staying off the notes in the main singer’s melody, counter notes, counter melodies and how harmonizing differs from singing in unison.    Continue reading →

The English of foreign phone techs with accents is far better than my own

There are suddenly new questions on the online customer satisfaction surveys, wanting to know if I am able to understand the English as spoken by their overseas tech. Yes I am, their English is immaculate, but then I am not so annoyed by a foreign accent that I pretend I can’t understand and have to complain to customer service about them. I actually know people who pride themselves on refusing to talk to a tech with a “non-American” accent and insisting on speaking with an American.  That’s like asking the Universe for help and then saying you’ll only accept help if it comes in one particular form. Expand your possibilities. Listen carefully to the whispers of the Universe as it tells you its secrets.  The answer may come in an Indian accent. In communicating with another human being, I am all about content over form, every time.