Dream Travel

If you had an unlimited budget and a miraculously zero impact carbon footprint, where would you go? O.K. and you can teleport a la Star Trek so there’s no annoying airplane travel nor miserable jet lag. It’s sort of the travel equivalent of a Genie in a bottle with a fistful of wishes.

Me? I have to go first? Is there a limit on the number of locations? Oh, right. I’m making up the rules as I go along!

O.K. First, I’d go back to Bermuda. Chuck and I went there on our honeymoon and it was lovely. Unfortunately, our cottage colony no longer exists, but there are lots of other great options.

Next, Paris, France. Ironically what makes me want to visit are all the episodes of House Hunters International where folks are searching the various arrondissements for the perfect Parisian flat. I hear the food’s pretty good too!

Next stop, Iceland. Specifically I want to visit their hot springs. We enjoyed the hot springs in Banff, Alberta, Canada and the ones in Iceland look spectacular. Actually, thinking about Banff, I’d definitely go back to the Post Hotel at Lake Louise. It was delightfully decadent, yet down to earth. And we’d stop for a pie at Aardvark Pizza in Banff first!

O.K., now closer to home: Washington, D.C. I haven’t been since I was a kid and I’d do the whole touristy tour of every monument, museum and landmark I could find. It would take a long time but it would be so worth it. By the way, I’m probably teleporting home every day or two so I can sleep in my own bed, ‘cuz I’m kind of a lousy traveler!

I’ll stop there - for now!

Where would you head off to in this ideal travel scenario?

Smile Six Times

I did something very much like this once before. I referred to it as Part One, so let’s think of this as Part Two. When I came upon this sweet little meme posted by Hula Seventy I knew I needed to revisit the idea again:

Six That Are Smile Worthy

1. Minneolas or Tangelos or Honeybelles - These dazzlingly delicious citrus fruits are a blessed burst of sunshine on cold winter days. Buy the ones which feel heavy, have vibrant orange skins and, this is important, have the most distinctive bulbous “noses”. If they are nearly spherical and could pass for an orange, keep looking.

2. Snowshoeing - especially in sunshine on a crisp, cold winter day when the ground is covered with layers of snow. The chickadees call, the squirrels race and chatter across winter bare branches and the busy paths of all sorts of animals crisscross the woods - our one seasonal glimpse into their daily habits.

3. Down Quilts - big, poofy, lush, decadently comforting comforters to crawl under, straight from shedding layers of clothing, leaving only a cold nose peeking out to appreciate the sharp contrast.

4. Laughter - out of silliness, out of intellectual nimbleness, out of pain - it’s all good, all very good actually and allows me to keep my sanity. And I think helps those around me preserve theirs. (If you’re following closely, you know this was mirror close to number five from last time, but that’s O.K.!)

5. Customer Service - genuine, old fashioned, well intentioned, go that extra mile to get things sorted out and put to rights for the customer - service.

6. Blank Notebooks - lined, unlined doesn’t matter. It’s the blank page waiting for it all to come pouring out, crashing down, sketching up, doodling away - nearly dizzy with possibilities and then it happens. Pen touches paper; the connection is made; there’s no turning back.

7. Chuck - I said six. I wrote six. But there is always Chuck and he is always smile worthy! Even when I am ever so cross and ready to dope slap up him up the back of the head in frustration, he turns his head to afford me better aim and I am lost!

Six Degrees

You’re probably familiar with the concept of six degrees of separation. It’s a way of thinking about connections and relationships. I’m one degree of separation away from anyone I know and two degrees away from anyone those folks know and so on. The larger idea is that within six degrees, anyone can be connected to any other person on earth. It’s a fun idea which has a certain amount of scientific research behind it, as well as a modicum of controversy.

I thought it would be fun to see how many degrees I am - and you are - from some famous folks. For today, let’s say that a mutual blog association counts as one degree, even if we’ve never met in person. And I’ll further say that a connection need not be a friendship, it can be an acquaintance; as simple as a handshake and an introduction.

If you need help seeing who a famous person might be connected to check out the Notable Names DataBase and their nifty Mapper!

O.K. I’ll start.
I am two degrees of separation from Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco. (A good friend of mine from high school went to college with Albert and lived in the same house with him.) Therefore, I am three degrees of separation from Grace Kelly, the late Princess of Monaco. That puts me just four degrees of separation away from all of Grace Kelly’s film costars, directors and so on. For instance: Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, William Holden, Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Celeste Holm, Frank Sinatra, etc. Via Princess Grace’s post Hollywood life, I am four degrees of separation away from any and all world leaders and royalty she may have met.

Let me try politics.
I’m one degree of separation from my State Senator Steve Brewer. Senator Brewer puts me two degrees of separation away from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who is friends with our new President Barack Obama. Therefore, I am just three degrees of separation from Barack Obama. That was quick! The only problem with this connection is that it means I’m only four degrees of separation away from former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney!

O.K. Now it’s your turn. Leave your six degree connections in the comments or post them on your own blog and leave me a link. Have fun!

Eight Random Things

While we were out in Washington State, George tagged me with the meme: “Eight Random Things About Me”. I knew I couldn’t focus on the task well enough until we returned home. Now we’re home, so here goes:


: : I went to Catholic school for grades one through eight. Then I moved on to a public high school. But for college I returned to a Catholic school - all girls on campus, mixed gender in the classroom.

: : I’ve worn glasses since I was two years old. I tried contact lenses in college, but always felt like I had something in my eyes. Ummm, I did! Plus, I felt not enough like myself and somehow under-dressed without my glasses on.

: : As a young child, I loved the Bobbsey Twins series of books by the pseudonymous Laura Lee Hope. I then became hooked on the Trixie Belden series. My preteen romantic favorites were the Janet Lambert series about the Parrish Family, especially Penny Parrish. Swoon and sigh...

: : Truly good bread and butter and other savory delicacies will always trump sweets for me. Although chocolate - really good, dark chocolate - is a major food group. Really.

: : For as long as I can remember, I’ve been afraid of the dark. But as I’ve aged, the fear continues to diminish. However, we do own many flashlights and I do dearly love my salt lamps which burn around the clock.

: : My grandmother, Gagee, hoped I might become a nun. But I never, ever felt the calling - not even a teensy pull - as so many young Catholic girls do. My cousin became a nun, so Gagee had that, for a time. My Cuz left and is now happily married with children. Different callings for different times.

: : “It’s A Wonderful Life” is my favorite movie, ever, bar none. We watch it every year and every year it’s fresh and new and deeply, comfortingly, familiar.

: : Several years ago, I jumped through a few hoops and now, legally, my name consists of what I consider my real first name: Lee, followed by my maiden name and then my husband Chuck’s last name - no hyphens thank you! My parents named me Lee Ann (which someone in my family still spells incorrectly!); middle name Marie. But when I went to high school, I signed all my registration documents “Lee” because I liked the way it felt. I still do.

Now I’m supposed to tag eight people, but I’d prefer to keep this open ended and ever so slightly loosey-goosey. So you’re all invited to share “Eight (more or less) Random Things About Yourselves”, in the comments or on your own blog, or Twitter one thing at a time!

Thank you George. This was fun!

Bound - To Be Determined

Chuck and I recently watched a television report on high end bookbinding on “CBS Sunday Morning”. The exquisite bindings by Herb Weitz and Jamie Kamph were dazzlingly beautiful and tremendously expensive.

That prompted Chuck to pose the following question:
If you could choose one book to have bound in a fabulously deluxe, once-in-a-lifetime way, what book would you choose?

Would it be a childhood favorite - perhaps the book one of your parents read to you at bedtime?
Would it be the first book that turned you on to a new genre or a new way of thinking about life?
Would it be something you wrote yourself?
Would it be a religious text?
Would it be your favorite cookbook?

I confess, I can’t decide. Neither can Chuck!
I thought about my favorite dictionary; The RH2 - The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged.
I thought about the book of poetry that my poem “Two Days In August” was published in.
Or perhaps “A Lantern In Her Hand “ by Bess Streeter Aldrich, which was the first stunningly powerful book I ever read as a child.
Then again, maybe “Gone With The Wind” which I read every summer all through junior high and high school.
Oh my! There are so many wonderful possibilities!

What book would you choose?

Money

As the world economy continues to shudder, money is on the minds of many of us. So, tonight I first pose three questions:

What would you do with a million dollars?
What would you do with 10,000 dollars?
What would you do with 100 dollars?

I am fortunate to have regular readers from around the world. So I have re-posed the question in the top three nation’s currencies, at current exchange rates:

What would you do with 1,046,026 Australian Dollars?
What would you do with 10,460 Australian Dollars?
What would you do with 104 Australian Dollars?

What would you do with 503,347 British Pounds?
What would you do with 5,033 British Pounds?
What would you do with 50 British Pounds?

What would you do with 7,937,500 South African Rand?
What would you do with 79,375 South African Rand?
What would you do with 793 South African Rand?

Then, ask yourself, what would you do with those different amounts of money if you couldn’t spend any of it on yourself.

Me? I’d take the million and pay off the mortgage on our home. We’re halfway through the note, with the worst of the interest already paid, but it would be a big relief to own it “free and clear” as the saying goes. Maybe we’d even have a mortgage burning party, the way folks did, once upon a time. Then I’d see what I could do for my family members’ mortgages. (I wonder how far that million dollars would stretch?!) Then I’d put a rush on the new roof, the new windows and the paint job. Oh! And I’d love to get off the grid, so solar and wind power here we come! Hmmm... I fear I’m already way over my million dollar budget!

$10,000? Well, after a million dollars, that’s a serious cut in pay! I’d pay some bills, and set the rest aside for the new roof, but I wouldn’t call to put the same rush on!

$100? This inflation is gobbling up the resources faster than I expected! I’d go to a bookstore with Chuck and then out to dinner. How much we spent at the bookstore would determine where we dined.

Now for the non-me-me-me version:

With a million dollars, I would still want to help out my family. There are mortgages and school loans and weddings and... But I would also look at the charities and organizations we support: like the MSPCA, Mama Maria, the American Civil Liberties Union, Friends of Acadia and the Alzheimer’s Association. Because this is a critical election year here in the United States, we would contribute the maximum allowed by law to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Then, even though I am registered as “unenrolled” here in Massachusetts (small “i” independent), I’d send some money to the Democratic National Committee, because without a majority in Congress we’re in for more gridlock.

$10,000? I hope my family will forgive me, but it’s all going out the door to the charities and Barack Obama’s campaign.

$100? Wow, where would it do the most good? How could I make the greatest impact? Or does even the smallest stone tossed in the pond still send out a worthwhile ripple? O.K. Half would go to the American Red Cross because they help people in the worst moments of crisis and devastation. The other half, no surprise, Barack Obama’s campaign, because I’m looking toward the future.

What would you do?

Is it just me, or does anyone else have the Barenaked Ladies song “If I Had Million Dollars” running through their mind right now?

Things That Make Me Happy - Part One

This isn’t a meme, although feel free to turn it into one. I just felt like listing a few things that make me smile, feel happy and content. I decided to call it “Part One” because I enjoyed the process!

1. Sunshine. This one may seen like a “well-duh”! While I don’t suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) I do notice that on sunny days I have more get up and go and feel generally more chipper.

2. Our salt lamps from this company. They cast such a warm, cozy, homey glow. I don’t buy into all the purported health claims, but they never fail to make me feel good.

3. These inexpensive Grönö lamps from IKEA. (Do you sense a theme emerging here?) When I complete a mini-hack of this, I’ll post it. Just typing that sentence should get me off the the dime to finish it!

4. Flannel Sheets. Preferably Portuguese flannel. I love slipping in between them not just in winter, but year round. Yes they really are warm in winter, cool in summer. Here’s one excellent example.

5. Laughing, laughter and making other people laugh. O.K. perhaps this is another “well-duh”, but I do take great delight in laughing with friends and family. I take special pleasure when I can make someone close to me, like Chuck, my Mom, my sisters or my nieces and nephews laugh. Laughter is one of my top three responses in any situation. I’m not a Three Stooges/pratfall/whoopie cushion kind of gal, but if there is a way to inject a little socially appropriate levity into a stressful situation I’m there!

Pithy

I believe this started with Smith Magazine. But now it has morphed into a meme. Barbie2Be is the latest participant and loosely tagged/invited her readers to write their own “Six Word Memoir”. Sum up your life in six words - no more, no less.
Here’s mine:
Happy, unhappy, then happy for good!

Leave your own Six Word Memoir in the comments or post it on your blog and let me know where to go read it. Happy writing!

A Referral

George Geder tagged me for an interesting meme over on his blog. I’m not going to tag anyone, but I invite you to go play over at his post.

All I have to say on the subject is:

"It's a quick decision by the packer," Dave says.

All will become clear when you read the comments over at George’s blog...
Have fun!

Five Random Things...

As memes go, this one is ubiquitous. But I haven’t done it, so here goes.

Five random things you might not know about me.

1. The poorest I ever got was when I had twelve dollars to my name. I was working full time, paying rent, buying groceries - the whole nine yards. But it got down to those twelve bucks and pay day was way too many days off.

2. I once went to a Mary Kay Cosmetics pep rally/recruitment meeting thinking that I might want to sell their products. It struck me as oddly cult-like, yet very seductive.

3. I rarely, if ever anymore, wear make up. A long time ago I would feel a little naked without it. Now, I feel strange with any on.

4. My proudest teaching moment was when I covered Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and the Book of Genesis in the same C.C.D. class. As far as I know, all the kids turned out just fine, thank you!

5. After I learned how to throw a football with a mean spiral, my folks gave me one for Christmas. I had learned how to throw a football at a religious retreat.

: : Care to share any of your own random things?

Six Sets of Four

I’ve seen this meme floating around the Blogosphere for a little while. Now that it has made it to Roo’s blog, I figured I’d join in.

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. I was a salesperson in the Men’s Furnishings Department of a major department store (underwear, ties, shirts, socks...).
2. I did lenses and glasses data entry for an optical company and was able to enter the data “blind”, many pages ahead.
3. I was a House Mother for an Elderhostel dormitory.
4. I worked in a cheese store and offered samples in front of the store to drum up business. My folks came by to see me and my Dad was so proud of my pitch it made him cry.

Four places I have lived:
1. Rhode Island
2. Vermont
3. Minnesota
4. Connecticut

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Bermuda
2. Canadian Rockies
3. Acadia National Park in Maine
4. Cape Cod Massachusetts

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Maine
2. Maine
3. Maine
4. And almost anywhere as long as we don’t have to fly to get there.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pizza
2. Ethiopian/Eritrean cuisine
3. Clam or fish chowder
4. Fresh baked bread with butter

Four of my favorite books:
1. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Ten Secrets for Success and Inner Peace by Wayne Dyer
3. The Spenser series by Robert Parker
4. The Mitford Series by Jan Karon

Ten Questions Times Two

At the end of each interview James Lipton conducts on the television show Inside The Actors Studio, he asks his guest a series of questions. These ten questions originated with French journalist Bernard Pivot. I think it’s probably the original meme!

So in honor of my 200th post, I first posed them to Chuck:

What is your favorite word?
Love
What is your least favorite word?
Sweat
What turns you on (creatively, spiritually or emotionally)?
Competence
What turns you off?
Arrogance & Incompetence
What sound or noise do you love?
Lee’s laughter
What sound or noise do you hate?
The sound of a bone being crunched
What is your favorite curse word?
Sh*t
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Cabinetmaker
What profession would you not like to do?
Surgeon
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
You done good!

Then I answered them:

What is your favorite word?
Love
What is your least favorite word?
Obnoxious
What turns you on (creatively, spiritually or emotionally)?
The Ocean
What turns you off?
Cruelty
What sound or noise do you love?
Laughter
What sound or noise do you hate?
Buzzing alarm clocks
What is your favorite curse word?
Single word: F*ck - String of words: Too many to type here!
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Singer
What profession would you not like to do?
Accountant
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Welcome! You were right. Your family and friends are right over there.

: : How would you answer them?

A First

I’ve seen a lot of Memes on blogs since I first fell into the blogosphere. But this is the first one that struck me as being of both general interest and potentially interesting. This Meme came by way of Hula Seventy. Here goes:

Two names you go by:

-- Lee & Auntie Lee

Two parts of your heritage:

-- Irish & Scottish

Two things that scare you:

-- Alzheimer’s & Nursing Homes

Two everyday essentials:

-- Chapstick & Noxzema

Two things you are wearing right now:

-- Birkenstocks & Glasses

Two of your favorite current bands/artists:

-- Sugarland & Jann Arden

Two things you want in a relationship (other than love):

-- Laughter & Loyalty

Two truths:

-- Love is our soul purpose & Kindness matters

Two favorite hobbies:

-- Paper Making & Photography

Two things you have to do this week:

-- Finish the Fidelity work & Hang more cabinets from IKEA

Two stores you shop at:

-- IKEA & Trader Joe’s

Two favorite sports:

-- Baseball & Team Handball

Two shows you like to watch:

-- 'Law and Order' & 'Friday Night Lights'

Two things you'd buy if money were no object:

-- Wind Power & Solar Power for our home

Two wishes for 2007:

-- Peace & Published

Thanks to all of you who read Pink Granite - in silence or with comments! You enrich my world!