Enjoyment

June 25th, 2009, 7:04 AM by Goddess



Chili Raspberry Cosmo

Originally uploaded by dcwriterdawn

I was waiting for something to come in last night that was due at noon and arrived at 11 p.m. I’d actually made dinner plans so, really, it’s not like I was missing anything.

Went to a great sushi place on the Avenue. I don’t know if folks do “Taste of (city)” days like we had in Bethesda, Md., or Restaurant Week like we had in D.C. But I saw this offer for a five-course sushi dinner and was all over that like, well, white on rice. 😉

The highlight? A chili raspberry cosmo. I never dreamed that jalapeno would make a cosmo even better. But it does. *slurp*

I think they put a roofie in my drink, because I pretty much went home and passed out on the couch. And I found that I whipped together my daily project in an hour this morning, as opposed to toiling over it for a couple of hours late at night because I’m tired and ADD and just want to crawl into bed.

Methinks I might have to do this “working in the morning” thing again — I used to have a daily early morning project, and nothing lit a fire under my pudgy butt like the deadline being RIGHT THERE.

I’m not a fan of working in general, but definitely not daily projects. But then I heard that what I work on is required reading at West Point, and suddenly I see how what I’m good at yet doesn’t register on my radar as earth-changing, isn’t a bad thing after all. Hunh. Who knew?



Serenity now

June 10th, 2009, 9:03 PM by Goddess

Starting to get into the groove a bit more than I have been. I swear, it’s because a friend is in town and we actually got to see each other. AND I got to talk to an old friend a couple of days ago and another one tonight.

The visits and calls are never long enough, but they’re always more than worthwhile. My soul is feeling more sated. I’ve sort of been running on empty, to which I am no stranger, of course. But just hearing certain people’s laughter makes my emotional bank account overfloweth.

And I can’t believe I’m typing this, but I can’t wait to find time to exercise again. I’ve put on six pounds in the last 10 days. Yeesh. First free minute I get, I’m walking on the beach until I collapse. Right now, however, I’m so out of shape that I’d probably collapse while walking to my car.

I have plans to see my friend again tomorrow night. Yay! It’s the little things, I tell you. I’m hoping she decides to move here so that I’ll have a friend here permanently. (Maybe my little guilt trip will work! *haha*)



Standing still

May 27th, 2009, 6:58 PM by Goddess



Lounging

Originally uploaded by dcwriterdawn

Having a stressful moment (or 40) so I’m looking toward a photo from Monday that reminds me of the relaxation I experienced for a few minutes, even though I was terribly stressed out when I took the photo, too.

I’m not ready to rub the bottle and ask the genie to do a Command-Z on my life, but the weight of the world feels heavier than it used to.

All I have to say right now is that Blip.fm is going to be the source of my financial downfall. Sure, it’s a free service, but I’ve bought more music in the last week than I have in the past year.

“I tried reality
But it kept avoiding me
The world around
Melting into nothing
And all the people
Standing still
And all the people
Standing still

We all want it be so big
But it can’t
We couldn’t keep up
So we fell
And all the people said
And all the people said

Wait
Breathe
Hold on
To the last minute
Smoke one more cigarette.

The light drifted down
Through the trees
In the forest
Iit filtered out all the words he said
And all the people staring
And all the people staring

And finally the guns swing down
Creeping, finding
And I dont wanna be here
Anymore
‘Cause all the people say
‘Cause all the people say

Wait
Breathe
Hold on
To the last minute
Smoke one more cigarette.

Wait
Stop
Breathe
In the last minute
Smoke one more cigarette.”

— Echostream, “One Last Cigarette”



‘Somebody tell me why I’m on my own, if there’s a soulmate for everyone’

May 16th, 2009, 10:14 PM by Goddess



Goodnight, Sun

Originally uploaded by dcwriterdawn

Spent the day with a group of colleagues. It was a working session, although I mostly shot the shit with the talent and worked on my newsletter.

We’re pretty much booked every single day (weekends included) now through June 18, whereupon I plan to hop on a plane and meet with my NEXT group of talent in another Southern state in another time zone.

Exhausting, yes. But terribly exciting. Not this part, of course — the working part of it sucks. 🙂 But the magic we’re working to create? Fucking amazing, what I have at my fingertips here.

The “Russian” has become a rather welcome fixture at La Oficina. Today we had a really good discussion about what got him from where he was to our office, and man does it put a lot of things in perspective for me.

It’s exactly what I needed to get my own energy/enthusiasm back in full force. Just “getting” people makes such a difference to me. I don’t do well with unknown entities or even enigmas. Now that we finally understand where on the doll that he himself has been touched, we can really move forward.

He said something off-topic and, I think, rather brilliant today. He suggested that we each have that one true soulmate in this world, and that we DO run into them.

But we may be at different levels of readiness … so much so that even though our paths cross and we even connect on some level, we may keep on going and find another “true love,” but maybe it might not be the perfect love whom we “could” have had if it were the right place, right time for both parties.

He said what about all the times that you meet someone and one or both of you is in a relationship/marriage already. Or what about when you’re both 5 years old and you know that person is special, but you’re not at any level of consciousness/readiness to identify that this is the person with whom you could spend your life.

I found the discussion fascinating. Not because it’s anything new in my head, of course, but maybe it was seeing through the soul of the source of it.

I have my short list of people who made my soul dance at one time or another. Some were already married, some were already dating someone else, some lived a thousand miles (or more) away, some were colleagues who actually honored those stupid “no dating” rules that traditional corporate America shoves down our throats and up our asses.

My Facebook page is a veritable yearbook of “could have beens.” But I’m OK with that. I’m just lucky that I recognized specialness when I saw it, and of course I continue to be surprised all these years later when I get a private message telling me that I was more than whatever I thought I was.

(We won’t even get into the Facebook-based courtships booty calls. Really. I only went through with one, though. So far! *lulz*)

I don’t have anything profound to say about any of it. I am still of the hope that either I haven’t met that true soulmate, or that if my friend is right (and it’s a thought I’ve always entertained) that we have multiple soulmates but one shines through above the rest, well, it’ll happen when it happens.

Another colleague chimed in about his wife, saying, quite simply and succinctly, “She saved me.”

I got CHILLS, yo. A man, saying that, and meaning it? Lord, there’s hope for me yet.

I haven’t been getting nervous about whenever it’s going to be “my turn.” I’m more restless that I haven’t been in anything I can define with any sense of authority as a “relationship.” Most of the tags I can put on them fall under “salacious,” “illicit,” “WTF,” “Goddess, you KNOW better” and “What am I missing out on while I’m messing around with this clown?”

I know the proverbial “they” say that it comes around when you’re not looking. But I’ll be damned if I let something (else) good slip away because my fool ass wasn’t wise enough to see it or persistent enough to get it.

And I’ll try very hard not to wonder whether it’s too late to save me, because settling isn’t on my agenda and I’d rather be alone than be with the wrong person when the right one comes along.



On heavy rotation today

April 23rd, 2009, 7:21 PM by Goddess



Beach club

Originally uploaded by dcwriterdawn

“You were from the North, I was from the South
We were from opposite places, different towns
But I knew it was good and you knew it was, too
So we moved together like a ball and chain
Minds becoming two halves of the same
It was real, but in shadows it grew

‘Cause you’ve got a secret don’t ya babe?

I would’ve shouted loud and broken through
I would’ve given it all to belong to you
But there were different plans, different rules
You said, ‘Where I’m from, there is a lock and key
If you’d be so kind as to follow me
I will show you the way to the rest of my sins’

‘Cause you’ve got a secret don’t ya babe?
Yeah you, you got a secret don’t ya babe?
And I should know
Yeah I should know

So this room was damp where your sins laid
There was that smell in the air of an old place
That hadn’t seen much daylight in years
And you threw me down, said, ‘If ya don’t mind
I’m gonna leave you here until night time
Then we can do what we want my baby, out of the spotlight.’

‘Cause you’ve got a secret don’t ya babe?
Yeah you, you got a secret don’t ya babe?
And I should know
Yeah I should know
For I’m your secret aren’t I babe?
Yeah I’m your secret aren’t I babe?
Aren’t I babe?”

— Missy Higgins, “Secret”




‘The night wants to kiss you deep / And be on his way / Pretend he don’t know you the very next day’

April 18th, 2009, 9:54 AM by Goddess

A couple of young girls went
Sailing down A1A
Into the arms of Florida
Sailing down a highway
Singing their heads off
Protected by the holy ghosts
Flying in the ocean
Driving with their eyes closed

The night wants to kiss you deep
And be on his way
Pretend he don’t know you the very next day
Isn’t it hard sometimes
Isn’t it lonely?
How I still hang around here
And there’s nothing to hold me

You slide down into the seat
From 12 hours on your feet
And get the tide to wash you away
For thousands and thousands of days
And someone you never meet
Signs a check you get every week
You try and you still can’t forget
All the strangers that you have met

The night never owed you nothing anyway
Makes promises that he never intends to keep every day
Isn’t it hard sometimes
Isn’t it lonely?
How I still hang around here
And there’s nothing to hold me

Every time, every year
The travelers come and go
You see them landing with their pale wings
And flying back to the snow
And the summer comes marching in
With his heavy boots on
Kicking along the blacktop
Sidewalks of A1A
The young girls in their bare feet
Cigarettes smoking
Looking every which way
Wishing and hoping

And you want the night just to let you sleep
And be on his way
Wrap you up in some cool sheets
And have nothing to say

Isn’t hard sometimes
Isn’t it lonely?
How I still hang around here
And there’s nothing to hold me.”

Patty Griffin, “Florida”




Welcome back, Goddess

April 15th, 2009, 9:39 PM by Goddess

A photographer, I am not. All you have to do is look at any of my cat photos on Flickr to realize that.

And yet, I live in a gorgeous place that photographs beautifully. It’s hard to believe that every single photo I’ve taken here has been on a cameraphone. Any moron who can point and shoot can have a breathtakingly spectacular photo album.

The ocean seems to be my only friend right now. I’m OK with that — its presence is tremendous. It’s everywhere, and it’s there waiting for me when I leave work or escape from the house or need a moment of clarity in between errands. It’s always close by and it welcomes me when I’m moved to drop by for a visit.

I’ve been eating for crap since I left the old job a month ago. (It’s been a month already? Feels like a lifetime ago.) But I walk on the beach several times a week, and it helps me to maintain my weight and maybe even overcome the metric buttload of sweets that always find their way into the company kitchen (and, in turn, onto my hips.)

I met with my boss today. Let me rephrase, we met for a couple of smokes at our favorite set of Adirondack chairs that are down the street and around the corner from our world headquarters. (*happy sigh*) No more conference rooms, no more pantyhose, no more worrying that my attire doesn’t pass the test. It’s just me, in my cute flip-flops and whatever limited supply of summer clothes I’ve managed to pull together for the day.

I only have about two months’ worth of summer clothes — that’s all I needed in D.C. Now that’s it’s summer 10 months out of the year, I’ve got some shopping to do. I got my first pay today — I almost passed out and fell over dead. Told my boss I felt like I should give him a thank-you card for it. He said he sees big things for me and has big plans to rely on me as a “thought leader” when I get into the swing of things.

I had once told him, probably not two days ago — time escapes me down here — that I was worried about going from a superstar who could supposedly do no wrong at the old ranch, to someone new and unproven and maybe who left her mojo back in D.C. He was the one who said that I simply traded jerseys — I was with the Mets; now I’ve joined the Yankees. I still know how to play ball, right?

I realized something today, and it’s that I have become the old version of myself. But with new features. It’s like how I had to use PCs for my entire working life but I was always a Mac girl and now I have two Macs. The platform is familiar, and it’s easy to use and it feels like home. But the operating system has been improved thousandfold. It was always a fabulous system, and it’s gone through a lot of improvements along the way while I wasn’t looking.

Because I’m a geek and pal around with other smarty pantses, we all said I was rebooting my hard drive with this move. Nuking and paving and overwriting and reinstalling. I have returned to my roots as relaxed and unafraid. I’m rediscovering my faith and confidence that things are happening as they should and that I will turn out just fine.

I think of all the friends I’ve made during the past (too many) years, who actually liked the uptight version of me. Don’t get me wrong — I still find myself falling into old thought patterns. But then I remember how awesome it is to be all Zen Goddess-like, and I can return to that state pretty quickly. Mind over matter, people. It’s easy to let yourself fall in love with life when you realize that it actually is going in your favor overall.

Oh, if all those friends could see me now. … Imagine all the awesomeness that they never got to see because it had all but evaporated. Hallelujah for recapturing your spirit by buying back your soul.

Goddess, pleased to make your re-acquaintance. You’ve been missed. Hope you’re enjoying the sunshine and will stick around to bask in it for a long time to come.



Bursting with fruit flavor here

April 14th, 2009, 8:30 PM by Goddess



Burst of happy

Originally uploaded by dcwriterdawn

I can’t believe I got this shot on my iPhone. I find that most of my best shots come from that thing. All hail the almighty Apple. *bows*

Don’t have a lot to say today. Have mostly been either at work or trying to come up with ideas for it. Also have been fighting with our content management system; once I learn that thing, it will be cake. Cake, I tell you, cake.

Speaking of cake (and Easter candy in general), I’ve eaten my weight in it these past few days. All hail the faulty thyroid for actually registering a weight LOSS after all that sinful eating. Everybody brings so much junk into the office, and in a space that’s about the size of my apartment, it’s very hard to get away from temptation.

I stuck with my Saturday morning Weight Watchers meeting. It’s me and 37 Brooklyn Jews in their octogenarian years. But I kind of had fun this time around; I may give this date and time slot a shot. We have a lot of favorite delis and restaurants in common. 🙂

But I was mostly endeared when they all wished me a “Happy Eastah.” Seriously, cute as friggin’ buttons, they were. I miss New York more than I miss D.C. right now.

On the subject of travel, I am kind of bummed these days; a trip I normally take each May probably won’t happen. I’m getting my wish to work on intensive projects instead of having the same schedule every day. And we’re diving headfirst into “holy mother of God, how the fuq are we going to do all this in that short of a time period?” land. But it’s all in God’s hands, you know? If I’m meant to go, the production schedule will get bumped by a week or two. I ain’t mad and I ain’t losing sleep. I have enough to worry about otherwise.

I’ll spare you the “otherwise.” But if the term OEHTM (Over-Extended Houseguest) comes to mind … ding-ding-ding you win a prize!

Anyway, I’m posting a happy beach photo today because the storm clouds are looming and, for as desperately as I need a car wash, I just don’t wanna have my parade rained on right now. Other than that one blip on the radar (see previous graf), I’m happy to say that life is as full of sunshine and rainbows as it’s ever been, and I don’t take that for granted. Not one bit.



‘I have to praise you like I should’

April 8th, 2009, 9:13 PM by Goddess

Have had a couple of long days at the new ranch. Nothing too bad, as one night involved a dinner with new talent and tonight was a combo of learning more about existing talent plus taking on a new daily project. Methinks I’ll need to start taking a dinner break and signing on from home. Just as long as it doesn’t interfere with my beach time, I will be fine.

Anyway, I was talking to one of my boys last night and had a memory of many jobs past, when I had organized a teambuilding exercise at Dave & Buster’s and I was shocked when they brought in a reverend to say grace before we had lunch. This was during my non-believer days, and I was annoyed that I had a rib hanging out of my mouth during this, what I believed to be inappropriate, blessing.

At the time, I worked with abused and neglected children and their crack-ho moms and the grandparents in poverty who were chosen to take care of these kids. It was very hard to see God in anything I did.

I’m sure at some point I asked someone about the unexpected, ah, devotion of the entire staff (but me, it seemed). I was of the corporate mindset that this was a place of business, and a place of very tragic and sad business at that. Ergo, what’s up with all the weekday praise?

Whoever it was, told me that everyone had it tough their whole lives at that agency. (They were big on implying that I had the best opportunities in life. Which, I was born in even-more-impoverished circumstances than any one of them.)

But I do agree that they faced harsher things than I did during that life — relatives being shot for no reason or overdosing or being thrown in jail for life. I admit I never had to deal with any of that, and I admire anyone who can put on a smile and still thank the lord above for what He DID give them, as opposed to focusing on what was taken away.

And that was a lesson to me that I wasn’t ready to digest at that point, but one that really means something to me now. Maybe even back then, though, I admired them for being so very comforted by their belief that something bigger was out there. Especially at a time when I felt there was nothing much ahead for any of us on this plane of existence or elsewhere.

So here we are at Easter/Passover, and my old pastor was talking to me about baptism. She also encouraged me to “come out” as a Christian as part of my metamorphosis in my new life. Which, I got as far as changing my Facebook religious status from “spiritual” to “Christian.” That was a big step for me.

I’d say I wish those old colleagues could see me now, but I really DON’T want to see any of them EVER again. And I’m grateful that God has given me a path that’s about 1,500 miles away from any of them. 😉

Even though I’m finally accepting that maybe the Bible wasn’t just a grand work of fiction and that maybe its teachings are rooted in something real, I still find God in the details. You can’t spend your days around the ocean and its accompanying marine life, sand, seashells and majestic sunrises/sunsets and not wonder about the Grand Design that brought them here.

We humans are pretty fucking smart but there’s no way we could get out of our own way long enough to craft such glorious wonders. Can you imagine a committee coming up with the Atlantic coastline? It would still be under development after a billion years, for starters!

My friend and I were saying how lucky we are — and how lucky we are to KNOW IT — that we were born where we were, when we were. We had rough upbringings, him probably more so than me, and the odds weren’t exactly in our favor. But to see who and what we turned out to be is magnificent, especially considering how high the odds are that we could have been plopped somewhere else where our skills would have been absolutely useless.

Sure, we know finance pretty well and can make a career out of it — but what would we do with those talents in a third-world nation with no access to the stock market? We wouldn’t survive. And thank God for putting us exactly where we needed to be, to develop into whom He intended us to be.

So, that’s my religious schpiel for this very holy season. Thank You for dying the way You did so that I may live the way You intended. I am sorry I couldn’t see God in the life and work that has preceded this time in my life, but maybe what I brought to the situation was the hope that some needed — that they got the change that they were praying for because of some effort that I put forth. And the greatest gift of all is that I didn’t go a lifetime without recognizing that. …



‘Money, that’s what I want’

March 8th, 2009, 12:21 PM by Goddess

I don’t know what it is about D.C. that makes me cry these days. I tell ya. Maybe it’s the fact that my hotel in Florida sucked and I didn’t get an iota of sleep for the past two days. But when I touched down here at home, man I wept with joy.

I’m beginning to wonder whether my tears of grieving for all I’m leaving behind are simply just a physical reaction to going because maybe I shouldn’t.

Oh well. Too late to turn back now.

I’m still homeless, as it were. I won’t hear about the two potential living situations till tomorrow. Both are equally, heinously expensive. And I don’t know how else to do it but on faith. That’s how I’m doing pretty much everything these days.

My plane landed with just enough time for me to head to church. Because let’s face it, I need all the help I can get right now. God, I hope you’re looking after me and you’re as crazy in love with me as the pastor said you are. Your follower is beyond lost these days and greatly needs a life GPS.

My pastor’s wife said she’s praying for me to find my new home and to love it. To some extent, she’s praying that there’s still time for me to make the right decision, if I haven’t already. You and me both, sister. You and me both.

I think where I’m challenged right now is that it’s all so hard. I don’t mind hard work. I don’t mind hard times because I know they’ll end. But I’m approaching all of this from such a deficiency, from waning mental capacity and health and from every little setback feeling magnified. I keep trying to pray on it. At this point, I just pray to stop crying already and start feeling good enough to push forward and not feel like the universe is shoving back.

The pastor said today that many of us feel comfortable viewing God as emotionless. He’s a manager, a decision-maker, in our minds. He can lay off this person and let that person go and choose another to succeed. But it’s not so, per the Word. He loves us and wants us all to pass this life test with flying colors. And He’ll help, if we ask.

I’m asking.

Something else interesting that came out of today’s sermon is how we were created to walk in fellowship — that we all have a group we’ve been with, through thick and thin and everything in between. Those are/were my current set of colleagues. Every life event happened to us there. And to break away from it is scaring the hell out of me.

I need to break out of this all-or-nothing mentality. I’m not giving anything up. I’m merely exchanging some things for others, but not losing everything in its entirety. And even though I cry like a freaking baby every time I think about what/whom I’ll miss, I’m absolutely fine when I’m gone. Shit, other than lying awake for two very long nights, I was downright happy. (Minus the stressing over housing.)

I guess whatever will be, will be. I just don’t know whether I should try to do more or if I should take everyone’s advice and chill out till tomorrow.

In any case, it looks like I need to leave some of my (precious little) furniture behind. It just won’t fit where I’m taking it, assuming I get either of these places. It just hurts that I have so little in this world, and I’ve worked so hard for it, and there’s just no place for it.

Maybe a massive purge today will make me feel better. Less to pack/carry, less to worry about. Once I get into the groove of making money again (i.e., I know when my next paycheck is coming, but not the one after it), and once I get all these stupid security deposits and moving fees paid (about three months from now), I can hit Swedish Central (i.e., IKEA) and life will be back to normal again.

Lord give me strength (and cash) during the next three months. And if You can only pick one? Cash. Love, that girl I hope You’re crazy about, like the pastor said.