Watching a garden grow

I've been watering my friends' garden for the past week while they are out of town. It's still in the early stages of growth. Except for the cayenne peppers which are hitting their prime and the sugar snap peas which have passed their prime. The tomatoes are starting to ripen and other plants are beginning to flower. But gardens are interesting to me, because you wait and wait and wait for things to grow and bloom and produce, then one day you walk outside and....tada! The plants are six inches higher. A week later you go out and...tada! Flowers or fruit or vegetables have appeared. Do we just not notice the growth until it's significant or do the plants grow in bursts. And why do they always grown when we're not looking?

Happy Friday!

Regardless of whether or not you're working (like me) or relaxing this weekend, take some time to enjoy the company of friends or a hobby or a pet or family or a good book or a good movie....whatever makes you smile. And take some time to call up a friend you haven't talked to in a while.

Later

change

All things must change to something new, to something strange. -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This is a plea to anyone who feels stuck in a situation and therefore feels very discouraged and/or unhappy:

Do something about it.

I know, I know. it sounds easy to say it and it's hard to do. Believe me, I know. But if you never try, you'll never know, right? Look good and hard at what's holding you back....is it worth your misery?
But I can't do a complete 180, you say. Well then, there has to be some way to still do something beginning with perspective. The Bible study I attend is studying the Old Testament book of Ecclessiastes, otherwise known as the book of meaninglessness. Sounds depressing right? But it's not. It's all about perspective. Let's take Bob for example: Bob lives in Cityville (know it's lame, but just go with it) and hates it. His friends and family are all hours away and he hasn't really found a place there. But at this point, he doesn't feel like he can move because of his job. Bob becomes depressed and bitter. Then one day, Bob decides he's tired of being depressed and bitter and realizes that in the grand scheme of things, where he lives doesn't matter; it's meaningless, if you will. And even if he can't change the big, he can change the little. He starts taking one day at a time; doing different things; looking for joy in something besides where he lives or where he works; focusing on the good.

An overly-simple illustration I know, but my plea is still the same: don't let anything steal away your joy. Take it back, even if that means acknowledging a sucky situation and just choosing to ignore it. Even if it means braving the uknown. Even if it means risking failure to try something new.

If I sound preachy or self-righteous, I'm sorry; not my intent at all.

until later...

Garden State

Watched Garden State last night and enjoyed it....Steve, you were right. :) However, stupd Blockbuster online sent us a DVD that crapped out in the middle. So i missed about three scenes in the middle -- it froze up during the hampster burial and let us return to the action when Largeman and Sam were in a bar right before jumping half-clothed into a pool with a bunch of other people. Has anyone seen this recently enough to fill me in on the missing chunk?

But aside from that, I liked the movie a lot. I loved the character progressions and randomness and humor and heart. And the actors were all fabulous. I did think it sad though that part of the main character's big epiphany was that this life was all there is, so he better live it as hard as he can. While I can jump on board with the live life to its fullest part, the best thing about life is that this ISN'T all there is.

So....

Moving...done. Unpacking...mostly done. Let's all breath a sigh of relief. Now, if I can just remember to do all the other little things I need to get done.

Thought of the day: how much stuff is too much stuff? I ponder this question every time I move, and have yet to come up with a satisfactory answer.

Peace.

Miriam's back!

My car (Miriam for those out-of-the-know) is home from the mechanics and (so far) running right again! It's very exciting, and a real load off my mind. We had some friends here who suggested a mechanic, and it turned out to be a good reference, which is also a nice thing.

We're moving this weekend. Just down the street, but packing is still a pain and I HATE it. Oh well. It'll be over soon.

Anyway. That's a nutshell of what's going on with me right now. I've watched House of Flying Daggers and Thelma and Louise (can you believe I've never seen it?) this week. Both good movies, although I liked House of Flying Daggers better. Really stellar fight scenes, expectedly good cinematography (I know that's spelled wrong) and a good if simple story; one of those classic stories that can be just as moving even if you've heard it before.
Thelma and Louise was interesting because it could have been terrible, but it wasn't. The main police officer was kind of annyoing to me; I didn't feel like they really illustrated his motivation very well, which to me made his actions seem too out of the blue and intense. But Gena Davis and Susan Sarandon rock the house. Oh, and Brad Pitt looks almost like a skeleton he's so skinny.

Happy Friday.

movie notes

I know I'm behind on my movies these days, but everyone should see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Great movie. A little odd and different, so if you don't like odd and different you might not like it. But I thought it was really creative and poses an interesting question...if we knew the outcome would we still make the same choices?

Happy weekend!