I've been moving to a new blog, not related to the library project from which my first had originated. I'm afraid I haven't been feeling very original lately, and am amazed that my last entry was in April. Several things have happened since then. All have made at least a slight difference in my life.
- Following a survey I had taken through the AFL-CIO, I was interviewed by the NYT regarding working, insured people affected by the cost of insurance/healthcare. Now, with what had recently happened to me, I may see some real effects.
- On June 30, while watering my streetside garden, I was attacked by two women and a man(twenty-somethings). I'll write more about it later, but not now...one of the things that exhausts me. I went to emergency when it happened, back for a follow-up a week later; a visit yesterday to my doctor as my knee keeps buckling out from under me and the pain in my arm brings me to tears and keeps me awake. Tomorrow I visit the MSC. Costs for more exams, X-rays, etc are not in my budget!
- In May I was one of eight awarded the 'woman of distinction' by the DFL Women's Summit. That was very meaningful for me as I appreciate being appreciated.
- An acquaintance (Anne Kok) died in February. We hadn't stayed in touch, but her work ethic and her personality made a tremendous impact in my life...very few days go by that I don't think of her, before or after her passing.
- A friend married...and my nephew married. My nephew's wedding was difficult because of an estrangement from a sister, his mother.
Needless to say, I've had opportunity for self-reflection!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Home tour and clean-up time
Monday, April 28, 2008
I haven't been here for a while - life has been hectic. I plan to redo/move/change my blog in the near future; I've found that I do enjoy it...maybe it's vanity, maybe just easy access when I don't have time to take pen to paper, which is my preference for 'journaling'. There's one....the 'verbing' of a noun and then putting quotes around it to demonstrate I know I'm doing it, slightly disapprove, yet rather like it.
My apartment was on the weekend's Mpls/St. Paul/Dayton's Bluff house tour. I'm exhausted and aching with having power-cleaned and crammed 'stuff' into hidden nooks and crannies; there's only so much storage in any apartment, though mine is rather large by urban standards. Over 100 people came through on each day to see the architectural details of the 1888 Victorian. At least, thanks to LibraryThing.com, my books are always in order! There would be six people standing in my bathroom and I would suddenly notice a spot on the tile I had missed...details!
I tend to be a bit of a slob when home alone. My son is visiting with his partner at the end of May and somehow I have to maintain the neatness - for a whole MONTH until they arrive!
Sam manages a restaurant in NYC and is vegetarian (does now eat fish). I had taken him to Vincent's (excellent in every way) and Ethiopian in the past and need some new suggestions on other restaurants in either Saint Paul or Mpls. Yes to University Avenue's great ethnic selections.
Let me know of any favorites, please.
I haven't been here for a while - life has been hectic. I plan to redo/move/change my blog in the near future; I've found that I do enjoy it...maybe it's vanity, maybe just easy access when I don't have time to take pen to paper, which is my preference for 'journaling'. There's one....the 'verbing' of a noun and then putting quotes around it to demonstrate I know I'm doing it, slightly disapprove, yet rather like it.
My apartment was on the weekend's Mpls/St. Paul/Dayton's Bluff house tour. I'm exhausted and aching with having power-cleaned and crammed 'stuff' into hidden nooks and crannies; there's only so much storage in any apartment, though mine is rather large by urban standards. Over 100 people came through on each day to see the architectural details of the 1888 Victorian. At least, thanks to LibraryThing.com, my books are always in order! There would be six people standing in my bathroom and I would suddenly notice a spot on the tile I had missed...details!
I tend to be a bit of a slob when home alone. My son is visiting with his partner at the end of May and somehow I have to maintain the neatness - for a whole MONTH until they arrive!
Sam manages a restaurant in NYC and is vegetarian (does now eat fish). I had taken him to Vincent's (excellent in every way) and Ethiopian in the past and need some new suggestions on other restaurants in either Saint Paul or Mpls. Yes to University Avenue's great ethnic selections.
Let me know of any favorites, please.
Deer and unions
Posted by sage at 8:24 AM 4 comments
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
This post has nothing to do with libraries or technology...just stopped in to say I'm out for a while, organizing Anoka County for AFSCME. It's exhausting, but inspiring; I'll be back at work next Tuesday. That's all I'll say about it right now, except I am driving through areas of Ramsey and Anoka Counties that I never would have had occasion to see. I have been through Forest Lake, Andover, Wyoming, Ham Lake, Lake Elmo, South Saint Paul, Vadnais Heights, Champlin, many more and some towns that I've never heard of...saw a multitude of horses today....I've been in towns with the usual street name categories: trees, presidents, flowers; today an area had streets named for and about horses: Thoroughbred, Appaloosa, Palomino etc.
On Sunday at dusk my union partner and I witnessed a wondrous sight: two massive deer crashed powerfully through the wooded and swampy area just twenty feet in front of us. We were out making house visits and had come to a home in a dead end. Two deer were rutting (is that the right spelling? I know nothing about deer) Three smaller deer were with them, and they suddnly disappeared in the field right in front of us - time to bed down...
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
This post has nothing to do with libraries or technology...just stopped in to say I'm out for a while, organizing Anoka County for AFSCME. It's exhausting, but inspiring; I'll be back at work next Tuesday. That's all I'll say about it right now, except I am driving through areas of Ramsey and Anoka Counties that I never would have had occasion to see. I have been through Forest Lake, Andover, Wyoming, Ham Lake, Lake Elmo, South Saint Paul, Vadnais Heights, Champlin, many more and some towns that I've never heard of...saw a multitude of horses today....I've been in towns with the usual street name categories: trees, presidents, flowers; today an area had streets named for and about horses: Thoroughbred, Appaloosa, Palomino etc.
On Sunday at dusk my union partner and I witnessed a wondrous sight: two massive deer crashed powerfully through the wooded and swampy area just twenty feet in front of us. We were out making house visits and had come to a home in a dead end. Two deer were rutting (is that the right spelling? I know nothing about deer) Three smaller deer were with them, and they suddnly disappeared in the field right in front of us - time to bed down...
Neighborhoods..the real connections (Slide Show: Polly's Coffee Cove
Posted by sage at 3:01 PM 0 comments
Monday, March 24, 2008
Neighborhoods....the real connections (new photos at end of this post)
Three hook and ladders, two ambulances and two or three smaller fire trucks (I lost count, but was impressed) wailed up to the front of Polly’s Coffee Cove (on Payne Ave.). This seemed an apt welcoming as I made my first visit to grid 34 to listen to another neighborhood group and learn what they are doing to improve their area.
I stood outside and watched the firefighters enter the frame ‘for sale’ house next door, evacuate the young resident, and disperse the smoke. On the sidewalk Polly’s Saturday regulars gathered; some took charge of two dogs from the house and calmed them inside Polly’s. A young woman from the apartment above Polly’s then took charge of the woeful animals and took them upstairs to her apartment.
A man within the sidewalk group acknowledged me as if he knew me. I flipped though my mental facebook and contact list and was pretty sure I hadn’t met him before, but find that with involvement with a number of diverse groups around the cities I can’t always instantly place people. …instead I start what a friend calls my friendly interrogation, asking what kinds of groups is the person in, and reel off some of mine; where does the person live or work; and disclose mine. Usually we find the common ground and more memory.
He thought I was a person who lived a few blocks away. I explained I had been in this neighborhood quite often, but had never stopped at Polly’s. He gave me his name and I exclaimed, ‘You’re the reason I’m here!’ A colleague from the Wilder Neighborhood Leadership Program I’m in thought Larry would be a helpful connection for me with my neighborhood efforts. I spent the rest of the morning listening to their initiatives, grid planning, neighborhood boundaries, and resident activism. Side conversations took on quiet, unobtrusive lives outside of the primary dialogue.
On the periphery a chess tournament with prizes was being pulled together for youth at the Arlington branch library; two persons brought in prizes and chess sets. The subject of serving on a board briefly surfaced; then a swapping of gardening books. An exchange of nformation reached out to several within the group, and was then enhanced when two new arrivals were identified to me as master gardeners. Larry shared their ideas on fundraisers and the influence they’ve found in applying ideas from Jay Walljasper’s The Great Neighborhood Book: a do-it-yourself guide to placemaking. One of Walljasper's points was that a great neighborhood has boundaries and a coffee shop. I've got the book and am moving it to the front to read.
Finished with their call, firefighters came in for coffees and lattes. Several of us expressed our thanks for their quick response and the work they do. One told me he used to live in Dayton’s Bluff; for various reasons, we tend to see more than our share of fire department responses in my area.
I considered my Saturday morning both fruitful and enjoyable. Joining the Saturday Polly’s group was like visiting with my parents and three sisters at the table years ago. My then husband couldn’t understand how we could all talk at once and still hear each other, let alone carry on several conversations and not be enveloped in any sense of chaos. Polly’s group felt like family…and all are welcomed!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Neighborhoods....the real connections (new photos at end of this post)
Three hook and ladders, two ambulances and two or three smaller fire trucks (I lost count, but was impressed) wailed up to the front of Polly’s Coffee Cove (on Payne Ave.). This seemed an apt welcoming as I made my first visit to grid 34 to listen to another neighborhood group and learn what they are doing to improve their area.
I stood outside and watched the firefighters enter the frame ‘for sale’ house next door, evacuate the young resident, and disperse the smoke. On the sidewalk Polly’s Saturday regulars gathered; some took charge of two dogs from the house and calmed them inside Polly’s. A young woman from the apartment above Polly’s then took charge of the woeful animals and took them upstairs to her apartment.
A man within the sidewalk group acknowledged me as if he knew me. I flipped though my mental facebook and contact list and was pretty sure I hadn’t met him before, but find that with involvement with a number of diverse groups around the cities I can’t always instantly place people. …instead I start what a friend calls my friendly interrogation, asking what kinds of groups is the person in, and reel off some of mine; where does the person live or work; and disclose mine. Usually we find the common ground and more memory.
He thought I was a person who lived a few blocks away. I explained I had been in this neighborhood quite often, but had never stopped at Polly’s. He gave me his name and I exclaimed, ‘You’re the reason I’m here!’ A colleague from the Wilder Neighborhood Leadership Program I’m in thought Larry would be a helpful connection for me with my neighborhood efforts. I spent the rest of the morning listening to their initiatives, grid planning, neighborhood boundaries, and resident activism. Side conversations took on quiet, unobtrusive lives outside of the primary dialogue.
On the periphery a chess tournament with prizes was being pulled together for youth at the Arlington branch library; two persons brought in prizes and chess sets. The subject of serving on a board briefly surfaced; then a swapping of gardening books. An exchange of nformation reached out to several within the group, and was then enhanced when two new arrivals were identified to me as master gardeners. Larry shared their ideas on fundraisers and the influence they’ve found in applying ideas from Jay Walljasper’s The Great Neighborhood Book: a do-it-yourself guide to placemaking. One of Walljasper's points was that a great neighborhood has boundaries and a coffee shop. I've got the book and am moving it to the front to read.
Finished with their call, firefighters came in for coffees and lattes. Several of us expressed our thanks for their quick response and the work they do. One told me he used to live in Dayton’s Bluff; for various reasons, we tend to see more than our share of fire department responses in my area.
I considered my Saturday morning both fruitful and enjoyable. Joining the Saturday Polly’s group was like visiting with my parents and three sisters at the table years ago. My then husband couldn’t understand how we could all talk at once and still hear each other, let alone carry on several conversations and not be enveloped in any sense of chaos. Polly’s group felt like family…and all are welcomed!
ManiacWorld (Video)
Posted by sage at 8:41 AM 1 comments
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Wish I had been there.....
My son sent this video to me, saying he knew that if I had been in NYC when this was initiated, I would have been there participating....he knows me like I know which Girl Scout cookies to send!
I'm having trouble putting this video on my blog. It's a Maniac World video and I can't find a code. So, it's not how I wanted to do it, but here's the link:
http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Wish I had been there.....
My son sent this video to me, saying he knew that if I had been in NYC when this was initiated, I would have been there participating....he knows me like I know which Girl Scout cookies to send!
I'm having trouble putting this video on my blog. It's a Maniac World video and I can't find a code. So, it's not how I wanted to do it, but here's the link:
http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html
From the original
This is another from the original blog....had a photo of my son that I'll 're-affix' to this post.
Posted by sage at 6:39 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
My creation - Trading Card
My creation
Originally uploaded by finnflix This is my trading card...writing a meaningful blurb is always the most difficult part. I was trying to edit the card but was thrown off course.
I feel privileged, blessed, that Sam is so much a part of my life. I count him as my most trusted friend. I admire him for his ethic, his ability to reach out to people, his wit; I respect him for how he leads his life, finding that balance of head and heart. He is wise and he is compassionate. At this point he would laugh in his resonant voice and say this sounds like an obituary!!
Posted by sage at 6:39 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
My creation - Trading Card
My creation
Originally uploaded by finnflix This is my trading card...writing a meaningful blurb is always the most difficult part. I was trying to edit the card but was thrown off course.
I feel privileged, blessed, that Sam is so much a part of my life. I count him as my most trusted friend. I admire him for his ethic, his ability to reach out to people, his wit; I respect him for how he leads his life, finding that balance of head and heart. He is wise and he is compassionate. At this point he would laugh in his resonant voice and say this sounds like an obituary!!
From the original
This is from my very first blog. I am creating another and have decided to 'tear' out a few pages to include in my new 'book'.
Posted by sage at 3:47 PM 0 comments
Contemplation on letterwriting
This morning another staff and I talked about blogging and I again recognized its connection for me - letterwriting and journaling (excuse the 'verbing'). I found that we shared an enjoyment of physically putting ink to paper. Besides realizing afterward that I must have droned on about my pure enjoyment of paper textures and weights, I also was reminded again of the satisfaction of both writing and receiving a posted piece of friendly mail!
Part of our conversation was on where to find writing paper. Wrapping paper from places like Wet Paint or the Paper Patisserie can be cut or torn down into writing paper size when one can't find 'real' writing paper. The decorative beauty on one side complements the personal message on the other!
I've always liked onion skin paper (also known in the past as 'airmail' paper). It's been difficult for me to find, even at the Hmong and Vietnamese shops on University. My son had found some in NYC's Chinatown, but hasn't come up with more.
I know there are shops online, but half the fun is in the touching. The other is shopping for it when I'm in the mood.
Posted by sage at 3:47 PM 0 comments
Contemplation on letterwriting
This morning another staff and I talked about blogging and I again recognized its connection for me - letterwriting and journaling (excuse the 'verbing'). I found that we shared an enjoyment of physically putting ink to paper. Besides realizing afterward that I must have droned on about my pure enjoyment of paper textures and weights, I also was reminded again of the satisfaction of both writing and receiving a posted piece of friendly mail!
Part of our conversation was on where to find writing paper. Wrapping paper from places like Wet Paint or the Paper Patisserie can be cut or torn down into writing paper size when one can't find 'real' writing paper. The decorative beauty on one side complements the personal message on the other!
I've always liked onion skin paper (also known in the past as 'airmail' paper). It's been difficult for me to find, even at the Hmong and Vietnamese shops on University. My son had found some in NYC's Chinatown, but hasn't come up with more.
I know there are shops online, but half the fun is in the touching. The other is shopping for it when I'm in the mood.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)