Thursday, February 23, 2012

Hogue Columbia Valley 2007

One of my good friends is doing wine reviews every Thirsty Thursday (centsiblerunner.blogspot.com). Today, I just happen to be drinking wine as well, so I'll review the wine I'm drinking.
It's a dad wine. I'm really a white girl. I enjoy them more, they are easier for me to drink, and I like them better. Yet, I'm not one to complain when a bottle of wine is open and needs drinking, so the drinking of a Hogue Merlot commenced. I had one glass before my ever-so-fancy Panera dinner, and had two small glasses after.
I'll have to say I don't hate it. I'm not a Merlot fan in general, but it was easy enough to drink. It is quite earthy, and has a somewhat tangy finish. The bottle says it would be good with pork or bbq lamb. I'd vote for the BBQ. I like porc with whites, but as in the disclaimer above, I'm a white drinker.
For this one though, I'd recommend it.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Gatsby quote 2

I finished The Great Gatsby the other day. I've read a lot of "deep" books recently. Those "deep" books also tended to be more than 500 pages long. Gatsby? Less than 200. Still just about as deep as it gets. So many topics to talk about at book club.

Anyway, there was another one liner that I found particularly memorable. It is close to the end of the book when Nick sees Jordan after she has found another man.

The important piece comes at the end of this passage...
We shook hands.

"Oh, and do you remember--" she added, "--a conversation we had once about driving a car?"

"Why, -- not exactly."

"You said a bad driver was only safe until she met another bad driver? Well, I met another bad driver, didn't I? I mean it was careless of me to make such a wrong guess. I thought you were rather an honest, straightforward person. I thought it was your secret pride."

"I'm thirty," I said. "I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor."

That statement made me think of how necessary it is to be who you are, not who you think you ought to be.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Ballet

Last night we went to the Ballet at the new Kauffman Center. Thoughts from the evening:
1. The Blue Bird Bistro has some money food. I had the ravioli with goat cheese, onion, spinach and cherries and it was yum. If you are vegetarian, vegan or carnivorous, you'll be just fine.
2. The Kauffman Center is awesome. I mean really, you should go.
3. I'm not sure I've been to the ballet other than The Nutcracker and for some reason the fact that no one talks isn't a big deal in the Nutcracker. Maybe because I always see it as just music and dancing anyway. Last night we saw Romeo & Juliet. I read Romeo & Juliet, really, I did. It was probably 13 years ago and therein lies the problem. I knew roughly which characters were which, but without any dialogue, the story becomes much more intriguing. The thing about ballet is that it is a masterpiece in body language. I couldn't see Juliet's face, but I knew when she was happy and sad by her posture, her movements and her eyebrows. The girl that played her is a ballerina that's been dancing in the KC Ballet for 20 years. I honest-to-God didn't know ballerinas could dance that long. Age discrimination? Possibly. Still, she was great. The symphony did a fantastic job as well.
4. People watching at an even like that is better than the airport. There were people in farm boots and jeans, one old man with a white coat and obnoxiously printed bow tie with a woman 20 years his junior who was wearing an extremely curve hugging leopard print skirt and then there were normal people dressed in ballgowns to business casual. I was entertained before I even made it into the show.
It was a fabulous night to be out and about in Kansas City. More reasons this city is great.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Published!

I've been published! Ok, not really, it is more like a national blog let me contribute for them, but it is fun nonetheless. It is only my first blog that I'll write for Advertising Week. I'm excited to write more, but it is interesting how now there are so many blog topics that I can think of instead of having severe writer's block. Take a glance at the article!
http://www.advertisingweek.com/blog/2012/02/13/party-arty-stepping-out-and-stepping-up-in-style/

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Blest are They

I went to Catholic grade school. For eight years, I went to church every Friday and every Sunday morning. I wouldn't say I loved going to church, but absolutely one of my favorite parts was singing. One of my teachers used to tell me that singing was like double praying. I think she just said that to get people to sing, but it always stuck in my head. Even to this day, when I'm in church singing, I think of that.
Yesterday we went to a funeral for a dear friend's mother. The woman who sang the music was absolutely amazing. The piano player and flutist were also extraordinary. The celebraiton of this 93-year-old woman's life could not have been more fitting and more awe inspiring. From her 7 kids and their families to the musical jubilee that we sent her off into heaven with, it was fantastic. I know she was smiling from above.
We also sang one of my favorite songs in the Catholic church which correllates to one of my favorite parts of the Bible: the Beatitudes. I'm not overly religious, but what I love about the beatitidues is that you don't have to be. They are about living life, and how living reflects living. You can certainly take them religiously, but on a broader meaning, you can also apply them to whichever faith you follow. To me, they are calming and reassuring.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Positivity

I was listening to the radio the other day and this guy was talking about how a caller had called in and thanked the station for saving his marriage. Here's why. The caller and his wife used to car pool to work every day, and on the way listened to this particular station. The topics discussed on the station stimulated further conversations among the husband and wife at later points in the day, and they communicated all the time.
Then, the wife's job moved, so the couple no longer car pooled together. Instead of still listening to the radio station, the husband switched to another station that had djs on it that were a little more "masculine". The jokes and stories were a bit more raunchy and the caller said he found himself repeating the jokes and stories to his wife like he used to, but realized very quickly that they weren't worth repeating. Instead, the couple started talking less. Eventually the wife mentioned that she thought they were growing apart and the husband realized that it was because they had less to talk about each day. He began listening to the station again and was able to re-gain his relationship with his wife because they could relate to the same stories and have the same conversations.
Now whether this is a true story or not, I personally could believe it is true, because the same thing happens with culture. You relate to people on what you're able to talk to them about. As the DJ of the station also said, what we surround ourselves with begins to be how we then project ourselves onto others. Garbage in, garbage out.
I had a somewhat deep thought about it while finishing up my drive that day. I've got to surround myself with people who possess the attributes that I most want others to see in me. I've got to learn things to talk to people in a certain way, I have to pay attention, observe and pass along information that helps all of us be relatable to one another. It's my responsibility to surround myself with respectful people, watch and listen to respectful shows and music and think positively about those with whom I encounter. In the end, my environment creates my being, and it is totally under my control.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

A reminder

We just started reading The Great Gatsby for book club. I didn't remember this being the opening:

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.""

True that. I need to remind myself of this more often.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Post #1

In 2010 I lived in France and blogged everyday about my experience. It was awesome. Yes, France, but also blogging about it all the time. There is something about the exercise of putting one's thoughts into words. I write pretty often at work, whether it is a facebook post for one of my stores, website descriptions, program explanations or simply emails. Sometimes I have the problem where I can't think of the correct word to use, or the correct way to formulate a sentence. I realized the only way to bring the ease of writing back to myself was to practice it. Jsut like when I was younger and mom made me practice the piano so I would know the correct notes and tempo, practicing writing is the same thing. I can't really predict what this blog will be about. Some days I'm sure it'll be recaps of events in which I've participated. Some days it might be a book or recipe review, and some days it might be just random thoughts, or musings, as I like to call them. All days it will be an outlet. It's good to be back at it.