An Open Letter to Steve Jobs

I only have eyyyyyeeessss foooo-ooorrr yoooooouuu!

or

The Apple of My Eyes??

Dear Mr. Jobs,

I ruined a beloved sweater today. I ruined it with excessive drooling caused by the launch of your new gizmo.

I expect to be reimbursed for the cost of the sweater in rebate form when I am finally able to get my hot little Canadian hands on one. In fact, you had better include the cost of a new pair of TOMS, too. (I wasn't wearing TOMS at the time, but it would be a nice gesture.)

I will be available to discuss the terms of my request with your rugged British designer from the demonstration video, preferably in a dimly-lit restaurant over a fine meal and a glass of wine...

Thank you, as always, for the inspired works and for distracting me from the world's troubles with shiny, shiny things.

I remain forever loyal (addicted) to your respectable and certainly evil empire.

Sincerely,

Carly

Get your "tartan" on!

Today is Robbie Burns Day! Celebrate the Scottish bard!!

Go ahead - try it with the accent: Rrrrrobbie Burrrrrnss Dae.

Put on yer kilts, lads and lassies. Your tam, as well. And wear your heather perfume, if you've got it. ( It's one of the prettiest smells on earth.)

Have a scotch - preferably single malt - and some shortbread.

Or haggis, neeps and 'tatties.

(Or oatmeal. We Scots* love our oatmeal. Butterscotch will not be considered inappropriate either. )

Read some of the bonny poet's beautiful words!!

But don't get overly-comfortable with the sheep. :-)

*Even those by descent or association, or even those just looking to ha'e a gud tyme!!

Sunsets and timelines

Remember when you were wee and getting to the next day, the next month, the next vacation was the goal? Not being able to wait until you were grown-up, older, could do what you wanted?

Remember the several moments today where you lamented that the days are going to quickly and there is just not enough time in a single one to do all the things you have to do, let alone the ones you want to do?

Let's all sigh together, shall we?

[Sigh.]

I took this photo on Sunday, driving back from Regina (if you're not Canadian, I should tell you it's not pronounced rih-JEAN-ah. That's most definitely rij-EYE-nah. Yep.) I had an audition for a commercial. It's been a while since I auditioned for anything and it was a nice change of pace. (Competition was very talented so it was mostly for the drive..) It had been awhile since I'd been able to really enjoy a sunset and driving along one was a beautiful respite. I mused over how quickly time passes..I meant to post the sunset on the ol' weblog when I got home.

And then came the distractions. Family, phone calls, the Globes (which I barely paid attention to) and many wonderful little interruptions. And before I knew it, it was Wednesday and I had been absent from my mental respite (the ol' weblog) for a week.

I look forward to the arrival of visionaries that invent the 14-day week and teleportation devices so we can all help the Haitians and bring them to a warm, safe place to sleep and a hot meal. In a strange way, I once again wish time would speed up so that it can slow right down.

[Sigh.]

*****************

If you're in town, Friday at 9:30pm, the Saskatoon Soaps have their regular Improv Comedy show with the added bonus of all profits going to the Red Cross for Haiti. Laughs and love in the same place.

Stripped!!

And in case you thought I was speaking about what I did last night, let me set you straight...

Once upon a time, there was a nightstand. It was beautiful, part of a pair, and this part of the pair belonged to a woman known as Mum. Well, Mum thought the air a bit stale and convinced nightstand to support an oil diffuser upon its surface. It readily agreed (how would it argue, it was a nightstand...) The air was scented, Mum was relaxed, and all was well in the world.

Then along came a less-than graceful creature, well-meaning and gentle, but accident-prone and he was known as Father. One day, while Father was admiring the nightstand that looked so very much like his own, the oil diffuser was dislodged from its safe and vertical position. Father panicked and raced to sop up the perfumed and dangerous fluid. He wiped and rubbed and cleaned the entire surface of the beautiful nightstand, save under the exotic fabric coasters from the Middle East.... All night long, the nightstand felt something was amiss.

In the morning, when Mum greeted the nightstand, the appearance of the coasters alarmed her. She lifted the soggy rounds and much to her horror, discovered the stain had been stripped from nightstand's gentle face.

Father has not been seen or heard from since.

So I have been asked to make quilted toppers for the nightstands. :-)

Pictures Taken in Doorways

The Romans had a thing about doorways.

Seems if you tripped in a doorway, it was terribly bad luck. This very notion is one of many theories about why brides are carried over a threshold. Can't have the little woman ruining your marriage before it starts, now can you? No one said the Romans weren't a little sexist... (My second favourite theory was read to me from Plutarch by Millie Pontipee during the winter I was kidnapped with 5 other girls and trapped in the mountains, not unlike the Sabine women about whom Millie was reading....) Double girl-points if you caught that reference.

Janus was the god of doorways. Naturally, January was a good month to name after him. He looked in both directions, forward and back, much like we all do this time of year. It's a threshold, a bridge, a period of transition. He was the god of gateways, standing guardian to the gates of War, seldom closed during Roman days and seldom closed in our own, it seems. Once again, I will try to focus on positives for the last year and embrace even the smallest victories headed into the new.

Like coaxing visiting Nephew Cat out of the basement. Sort of.

Like a good hair day.

Like getting to make magnetic poetry at work today. Seriously, it was so much fun...

So, I'm making like Janus: keeping an eye on the past to inform my step but focussing on the future and moving ahead.

A doorway is no place to stand still.

I call this one "Blue Steel".

Last of Last - First of the New

If I haven't told you yet, Happy New Year!!

I came across an idea I loved this week - at A Commonplace Life. Rather than focus on resolutions and what didn't happen during the last year, look at what you've accomplished.

I started a weblog.

Made a few new good friends.

Found my path.

Found a job that makes me happy.

Baked 200 cupcakes for my sister's wedding and managed to keep from crying myself into a joyful mess on the day! (Trust me, that was difficult. When I have a feeling like happiness that becomes too large for little me to contain, it starts leaking out my face....)

Started an Etsy shop.

Learned how to make lasagna from scratch.

Gathered the courage to enter a poetry contest.

It was a trying year in many ways but that is now the past. I'll try to learn from my history and then put it behind me. And keep the memories of the good things beside me as I venture into the new year. And it is so very full of promise!!

*****

The first post of this year - the last projects of last year....

The pillows I felted for Mum for Christmas. The designs are my own adaptation of one in this book, Felt Forward.

The dresser runner is finally quilted as well. I solved my existential question and my metaphorical one shortly after. Life's like that.

And no, you can not see what's in the mirror behind me. Like I said, it colours the view but it really isn't all that important. :-)