Lists are phenomenal, but they are also such human creations. And what I mean by that is, have you noticed that Nature does not create lists? Nope, Nature creates whatever the heck it wants. Organically. Nature is a city like Rome or Old Paris - where streets go where people wanted to go and develop AROUND natural features, like the Seine, things that with early technology we could not control. But lists...lists help us make that entrophy manageable. It turns Old Paris into New Paris ala Baron von Haussman.
Lists create order. Lists are useful things, but lists like anything can become instruments of terror or rigidity if you're not willing to derivate from them. Maybe it's best to take a page out of good old Captain Barbossa's book:
First, your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate's code to apply and you're not. And thirdly, the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Turner .
Regardless, here are some good guides for 2012 from your pal, the Dalai Lama
The Dude asked me over udon on Saturday night, what my goals were for the year. When my face started to contort into shapes only seen in wind tunnels, he laughed and changed it to, "Ok, top 3."
Top THREE? Please, I have like Top FORTY. And you're asking me to have a Top Chef Chopped Session? Over tempura udon? Ok....
Sometimes, we have a hard time setting our goals for our year going forward and the sections of our life. If we have a simple mantra that keeps us focused on what our intentions are, it can assist us through the times when we are confused, scared or just plain don't know what to do. This is what Franklin Covey spit out for me.
I am at my best when I am thinking and creating. I will try to prevent times when I am interrupted or insulted. I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can solve puzzles, create solutions. I will find enjoyment in my personal life through singing, learning, spending time with loved ones. I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as empathy, reading people, humor, keeping friends, finding clarity. I can do anything I set my mind to. I will create something lasting and life changing that inspires people to be better. My life's journey is always interesting and a challenge to face my fears . I will be a person who can do anything and is loved. And is loving . My most important future contribution to others will be their security, wisdom and insight to care about others than themselves. I will stop procrastinating and start working on:
I should have a better relationship with mom.
I should reach out to others in a way that is less selfish.
I should learn more skills that are useful or money making
I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:
Optimism
Ambition
Insight
I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:
Maintain, don't ignore
Create time for spirituality, for it is equally important.
Don't procrastinate or avoid.
Forgive, give the benefit of the doubt.
It's a LEEETLE long, so here are the key words I pulled out of this to create a personal manifesto/haiku:
Optimism. Ambition. Insight Forgive, give the benefit of the doubt Create time for spirituality, for it is equally important. I can do anything I set my mind to. I will create something lasting and life changing that inspires people to be better. My life's journey is always interesting and a challenge to face my fears. I will be a person who can do anything and is loved. And is loving.
new resolution for 2012. blog every day, for 364 days.
do-able? we'll see.
part of the reason I stopped blogging a while ago, because I generally ran out of things to say. And the more I started to explore the internet, the more I found that the things I wanted to say were being much better said by other people around me.
and I found other places like: Polyvore, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter that would satisfy my need to express daily ponders.
and I found it slightly disturbing that friends I hadn't seen in a while were actually using my blog to keep up with my life. and would reference it during dinner or a party.
so I stopped, because life caught up. I think I'm ready to do this again. So let's go blog. LET'S GO!
Sometimes I really feel like I need to join the digital revolution.
There are Apps now that are not available on the web. Apparently Spotify is going to stop working on my laptop in four months When I'm in a different city, rest assured I will get lost because I don't have a smart phone. I can only get to level 14 on Angry Birds and my Tiny Tower really isn't where it should be
When did having a laptop, cell phone and wireless access NOT qualify you for Digital World Domination?
Sometimes the hardest thing anyone can ask you to do is to create something out of nothing.
Giving someone carte blanche with no boundaries and asking them to put a description down on paper can create nothing but havoc, confusion and migraines.
So can asking someone: "What do you want to do?"
Most of the time my answer is, what needs to be done? I'm not great at setting the grand oeuvre of a project, but rather good at execution once I see the path.
It is hard to make one's life the project. Especially when everyone around you is encouraging you to be a diver, and you're really a scanner. What's a scanner? According to life coach/self-help guru sites, it's a dilettante, a jack of all trades, a modern Renaissance Man. They are people who are adept at learning new skills, intelligent and efficient learners. But they rarely delve too deeply into one area of expertise. Doctors, consultants and experts are rarely Scanners. Scanners often take the time to become mostly proficient in an area then move on.
It's why I have a degree in architecture. Worked two years as a law office manager Six years as a draftsperson 3 years as a bookkeeper, junior finance admin 2 years in my free time as a theater producer have 10+ years writing a blog 2 years writing a play 8 years building a lyrical mezzo soprano and alto belt voice for musicals and theater and 3 months developing a web app.
There are downsides to being a Scanner too - even though we have unique skills and applications.
For example: I have a 2 year College level proficiency in Italian. I only needed to complete one more year of language and another semester of Cultural Studies to earn a minor. I played viola for 7 years in middle school and high school, and was section leader for all of middle school, but never took a private lesson I worked in an architecture firm for 6 years and studied for the LEED exam but never took any tests. I am a proficient bookkeeper and can analyze finances fairly easily, but I have no desire to take an accounting course. I am a very good theater producer, but have no desire to run a theater or theater company as my primary source of income I am a great singer, but have no desire to be on tour or a professional actor. I'm a great cook, but have no desire to go to culinary school or open a restaurant.
Barbara Sher writes on how a lot of Scanners need a Good-Enough Job. One that pays the bills and leaves enough time to work on hobbies and other interests. It's not a career, it's the thing that you do well that gives you money. While you work at things that don't affect your livelihood but rather your happiness. It's about being a moving target, being awfully good at being balanced and a multi-tasker extraordinaire. Being skilled, efficient and smart - but never dedicating all of your time, resources or emotions to one particular field.
I am scared to tell my friend and HR Manager, that what I'm really looking for is a Good Enough job that pays more. I am too smart and too able for what I'm currently doing. But I don't want to try to make an income with my current passions. And because, honestly, at my company the Good Enough Job would actually be the Totally Awesome Job; great co-workers, good and healthy work environment, benefits, natural light the whole bit - just not my obsession. And I think that's ok.
So the question becomes, not, what do you WANT to do? But more of a situation of what DON'T I want to do?
OH on Castro Street: "Well, you know I don't have pockets in these pants Dave, so where would I have put it?" - elderly gentleman in assless leather chaps after Dore Alley Fair.
I've tried to give this entry a somewhat catchy title and am failing pretty badly. After a month long silence, I've decided to give blogging a try again. On another note, I've noticed that any sort of preconceptions about gender biases in nature has gone out the window. Most photo blogs - I've tried to get Scott to start using the term "phlogs", so far it has not gone as planned - belong to women these days. And they are mostly to market products, cute sparkly fairy-like children, pretty parties and themselves. Most male blogs focus on the funny, the mundane and the out there. I'm not talking about Tumblr - but a lot of the blogs that I like to read, rarely if ever have a picture attached to them. I just start to get distracted with blogs that have a lot of pictures. This goes against the notion that men are visually oriented/stimulated and women more so by words and the imagery created by them.
In the last two weeks alone, I've been to two separate outdoor fairs. And had a markedly different experience at both.
Last week was Indie Mart: hipster, crowded, thronged with wannabe emo-folk bands overidden with badass house music coming from a one-eyed monster speaker on a handcart. Lots of skulls, vintage clothes, necklaces with teeth. Screen printed shirts, succulents stuffed into finished nubbly sea wood bits. Everyone is wearing: plaid, scarves, skinny jeans (rolled up for bike riding), ironic t-shirts, oddly proportioned dresses, bangs and Toms. They are all mostly pretty nice. Victoriana and steampunk make their presence known. Bigtime. Food is taco truck chicken and waffles. Little dogs are everywhere underfoot. Average age, probably about 23.
I bought a super cool jasper necklace with chains. I kind of love it. S. got a bag made out of a vintage feed bag.
This weekend was Treasure Island Flea: mostly older folk looking for good deals, much more spread out and quiet. Families wearing sneakers, jeans, backpacks and visors. Lots of estate jewelry, old pottery, rust and dust. Vintage clothes - more of the sort that you find in a St. Vincent De Paul society store. They are all nice. Steampunk jewelry still finding its way to the front of the line along with old art prints, windchimes, rasta wear and old jelly jars. The hard sell is king here. Food is amazing: belgian waffles with raspberries, chairman bao, garlic noodles, vegan food, greek and kebabs. Kids can spend their afternoon hula hooping on the sunlit lawn in full view of the bay.
I bought a super cool black glass claw necklace with beads. I'm wearing it right now.
Is there something about fairs that we just love? Is it the novelty of being outside? Is it the thrill of the deal or finding something that isn't sold in stores tax free?
Oof, 2 hr nap in the middle of the evening, NOT the best idea. But it means you guys get a blog post. Hoorah! Weekend has been full of amazing things and some wholly INTERESTING things. First up: the Balenciaga exhibit at the deYoung.
Balenciaga (Spanish pronunciation: [βalenˈθjaɣa]) is a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Spanish designer, born in the Basque Country, Spain. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior.[1] His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern shapes were trademarks of the house.
The Wikipedia entry hardly describes the phenomenal collection (most personally owned by famed stylist Hamish Bowles) still showing at the deYoung through next weekend. The stunning collection of brightly candy colored party dresses, Spanish culture influenced toppers (and yes, the cardinal's coat is INSANE) and chic day suits reflect the best of Balenciaga. Unlike Dior or other designers of the time (he designed through the 40s all the way through the early 70s) Balenciaga created designs that had both a looseness and elegance to them all the same time. If a jacket had a nipped waist, it probably also had a very loosely cut back or bloused sleeve. But because of the casual flow of the clothing, everything was also cut extremely precisely. Seams disappear into folds, curved bodices and peplums were everywhere and simple shirt would have 6 seams instead of two. The art of making things simple is always more complicated.
(the "Infanta" dress inspired by Valezquez's painting Las Meninas)
The deYoung doesn't disappoint, with more than 4 showrooms of fashion, that also includes several hats, a doll, and a costume from a historical play, Balenciaga designed. Historical influences are also shown throughout in pictures so that the viewer understands the inspiration for the clothes. However, for a designer to take a monk's habit and turn it into a chic hood or a cardinal's coat into a sexy evening jacket - is something of a talent that had to have been nurtured. The most playful thing about the Balenciaga collection is his attention to proportional detailing. Many times, skirts are higher in the front and lower in the back, creating a frame for the legs of the wearer. Hems are often given frills ala flamenco costumes, making them not only pieces of art but girly and fun to wear as well.
Balenciaga was also a study in convertible clothing, way before the tech revolution. He designed several outfits with large draped hoods, skirts that turn into capes and also items that could be worn from day to evening quite easily. He was at home as much with fancy appliqued toreador inspired boleros as he was with a simple silk tunic. This pink dress was one of my favorites in the collection - a simple shantung frock with a lace underdress, it was sweet and yet cut impeccably. The exhibition closes next week, GO GO GO!
Let's talk about lists. 
