Whispers, Sunshine and Pink Shoes

Woke up this morning to sunlight on my face. My favorite way to begin a new day.

Decided it was Spring, even if it is only 40 degrees outside, and I would put the boots aside and wear shoes today. My mauvey/pink stilletos, to be exact. Not sure if the boots are retired for good, after all, it is April in New England, we could still get snow, but for now, it feels like shoe season.

Trying really hard to maintain the excellent mood I arrived at The Firm with, but Whisper Wednesday is in full effect, and I've come to realize that my LEAST favorite sound in the world is the sound of whispered conversation. It scratches at me like nails on a chalkboard. Creeping into the deepest parts of my soul, stirring up feelings of inferiority long thought forgotten. The irritation when I can hear the whispering is akin to that a woman feels in the depths of her PMS...it goes from mild, to "I want to grab them and slam their heads together" in record time. Seconds away from head slamming, I close my office door and blast some Justin Timberlake. Something has to quiet the rising "office rage". Forget road rage, THIS is what gets my blood boiling.

Deep breaths, JT's voice, and a Timbaland beat...crack the window, inhale the fresh air, and I'm feeling better already.

The Africa story is coming, possibly as part of my Thursday Thirteen. There is a new American Idol recap over at Cafe Karina, and I've decided to join NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month (where I will attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April) over at Creative Karina. Won't you stop by?

We Interrupt our Regularly Scheduling Programming...

I know I promised to tell you all the story of how I came to be birthed in Africa...but we have breaking news folks. This is something that normally would be saved for Cafe Karina, my pop culture blog (and in fact will be posted in there as well), but the news are too major to contain in just one blog...

We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow...but today...well...today I give you:

A few months ago I posted about the rumors that the New Kids on the Block were staging a reunion. Well, ladies, grab your old t-shirts and buttons because it appears the rumors were indeed true.

This Friday at 7AM NKOTB will appear on the Today show...ALL FIVE members, together in public for probably the first time in at least 15 years. A big announcement perhaps? A performance perchance?

Click here, to be taken to a page with some more information and links to videos of interviews with some of the guys. In one of the videos Joe alludes to time in the studio...a new album in the works?

Call me silly, tell me I'm acting like a teenager, but I don't care. I'm giddy with excitement and yes I will be standing in line for tickets if they go on tour. We've discussed before how there's a certain amount of nostalgia tied up with certain icons of our childhoood, and for me, none hold more than NKOTB. So go ahead, laugh at me, but I wore their buttons proudly back then, and I'll do it now too.

Well...okay, no...I won't really wear the buttons this time around, but you know what I mean.

UH, right...okay, well, go on about your business...I...uh...I'm going to go back to work. Yeah...I'm a mature adult...I...uh...right.

Fun Monday - Don't Quote Me but...

This week's Fun Monday is being hosted by Robyn at Pensieve. She has asked us to share words that inspire us. More specifically: please share words that inspire and motivate you--brief or bloviatory, silly or serious, from great world leaders to last night's Comedy Central...from a Hallmark greeting card to your favorite book. Choose one, choose many; let the quotes stand on their own or tell where you first read or heard them and how they affected you. There's a lot of leeway with how this topic can be handled.


I've been thinking about this topic all week because I've always been really big on quotes and inspring words. In fact, over the years, I've collected quotes that are taped to my desk, at work and at home. Here are just a few of the words that inspire me, cheer me up or just plain make me think:


"If you think you're too small to make a difference,you haven't been in bed with a mosquito." - Anita Roddick


Anita is the founder of The Body Shop, and I worked as an at home consultant for the company for several years. Ms. Roddick in general is an extremely inspirational person, and has done some amazing things for others, and this quote pretty much sums up her take on life, which I admire tremendously.


"Am I not destryoing my enemies when I make friends of them?" - Abe Lincoln

I love this quote, and have always tried to sort of live this way. It doesn't always work, but it's pretty cool when it does.

"Humility does not mean you think less of yourself, it means you think of yourself less" - Ken Blanchard

Something we should all remember.


"Maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. Maybe they need to run free until they find someone just as wild to run with" - Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City)

I love this quote, and I actually remember hearing it when I was watching the show, and rewinding the dvd to hear it again, and writing it down. It just reverberated with me, and sort of still does.


"Just when you think you've got the world on a string, someone comes by with a pair of scissors"


I'm actually not 100% sure where I heard this. I think it was an yout group leader who said it, but I've had it taped up to my desk for years and years. Just a reminder not to get too comfortable, because things can change in a second. But it's not a negative though, it's just a reminder to be on your toes, and pay attention.


"It is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice"


Another one that I'm not sure where it originated, but I think I saw it on a t-shirt a while back.


And this last is more than a quote, it is a poem. One of my teachers in high school had a version of this poem taped the front of her desk, and I copied it down, typed it up, and printed it out. I have had it taped to my desk at work or at home in one form or another all these years:


Risk
To Live...is to risk dying
to do...is to risk failure
to laugh...is to risk appearing a fool.
To love...is to risk not being loved in return.
To cry...is to risk appearing soft and sentimental.
To reach out to another...is tor istk involvement or rejection.
To place your ideas, dreams and desires before people...is to risk ridicule.
The greatest omission in life...is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing gets nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering, pain and sorrow,
but does not learn, grow, live or love.
He is only a slave - chained by safety - locked away by fear.
Only a person who is willing to risk - not knowing the results - is truly alive!


It was only yesterday as I was trying to research the author that I realized the version I had wasn't exactly correct or complete. I'm not sure which version I like better,so I'll give you both...here's the correct one:


To Risk by William Arthur Ward

"To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails."


And there you have it, a few of the words that inspire me.


By the way, in last week's Fun Monday I mentioned that I was born in Africa, and quite a few of you wanted to know more about that. Come back tomorrow, I'll give you the "short version" of the how, why, where, when and what about my "African Roots".

Sunday Blessings

This: is the view outside my window today. This is a beautiful thing, because THIS:

was the view outside my window on Friday. That's right TWO days ago. Today it is in the mid-40's and it feels like a beautiful Spring day. Yes, I know, for some of you the mid-40's is enough reason to break out the hats and gloves, but for those of us in New England, it is reason to head out without even a jacket on. In fact, I don't doubt I'll see some fool out there with short on sometime today.

So, the sun is shining, I'm sitting in my living room with my balcony door open, allowing the cool fresh air to air out my condo, and listening to the sound of birds chirping and enjoying the day. And to make it an even better day, I'm just about to head out to lunch with Lil'K, who I have not seen since Christmas. Now that she's a teenager, we spend less and less time together, which I understand and accept, but I still miss her, and always look forward to seeing her. My phone call this morning was met with an exhuberant "HI!" which lets me know she also misses me.

Small blessings.

I hope you have a wonderful day, I know I am.

Photo Hunter #12- - High