Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Happy Halloween!
If your neighbors pet Chihuahua had membrane wings, perhaps she would look like this:



This past summer I became fascinated by bats. They're not only cute in a pug dog kind of way but their temperment, loyalty to family and overall disposition is great. I'm hoping to build a bat house next year so I can return the favor of their keeping the mosquitoes out of my yard.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006



New York's 'Best Kept Shopping Secret'...need I say more? Where else are you going to find Pucci pants for $250 next to a Hanes $3.99 t-shirt? The store is insane every time I go there but I think it is genetic: I don't go often but when I do, I have the find the most incredible berries/shoes in the forest/store. There is a time to pay retail prices - like when you know exactly what you want and there is limited supply and, there is a time for Century 21. I find the best approach is to give myself a dollar amount allottment before I go in, similiar to how some people will go to Vegas with $250. What I walk out with depends on patience and luck.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006



Speech is a Powerful Force

Speech is a powerful force. But how much attention do we pay to our speech? . . . Do we actually bring some wisdom and sensitivity to our speaking? What is behind our speech, what motivates it? Does something really have to be said? When I was first getting into the practice of thinking and learning about speech, I conducted an experiment. For several months I decided not to speak about any third person; I would not speak to somebody about somebody else. No gossip. Ninety percent of my speech was eliminated. Before I did that I had no idea that I had spent so much time and energy engaged in that kind of talking. It is not that my speech had been particularly malicious, but for the most part it had been useless. I found it tremendously interesting to watch the impact this experiment had on my mind. As I stopped speaking in this way, I found that one way or another a lot of my speech had been a judgment about somebody else. By stopping such speech for a while, my mind became less judgmental, not only of others, but also of myself, and it was a great relief.


--Joseph Goldstein, Transforming the Mind, Healing the World
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Preppy-ville

Britt and I are going to meet up at the Black Goose, have a Guiness and then head over to the Darien Sport Shop. It is of course Thursday which means they are open until 8:30pm. They normally close at 5:30 because by that time all of the wives have returned home to relieve their nannies. The Darien sport Shop is like nothing else anywhere. Only in one of the most affluent New England towns could this place exist. I found my Lacoste jeans there (half an alligator on each back pocket!) as well as my Tretorns. Generally speaking, the front room is Burberry and Lily Pulitzer and the back room is Lacoste and Ralph Lauren. In between is the men's section which carries the above brands and Joseph Abboud (who lives in the area), Garfield and Marks, etc.. Up stairs you get the sale racks (a.k.a. the why bother racks), kids clothing and sports gear - from la cross sticks to soccer balls. You get the picture. No where else have I seen teen-age boys asking their Dads without a sense of irony, if they could have a pair of Bass loafers because their current pair is worn out.

This is exactly why we are having a drink before we go over there.

Cats & the damn cradle



Ah, the guilt that parents can put on their children. Once again, I questioned my stress - the headache I have had for a week and worsened with each call from my sister. She needs my support to help a parent yet the parent refuses to help themself. Child as a crutch. 4000 miles away, my manager suffers because my mind is not focused on the present and I have made mistakes. It is time to put my foot down and, more literally, the phone down, and reject taking these calls on a daily basis. People are people and the attachment and expectation that everything will be better tomorrow without doing anything to do something positive and forward thinking today, is crazy. Life does not work that way and without taking these steps forward, life will pass one by and a person is left with should haves. I need my life back and it is frustrating that one persons choices, can negatively effect a whole group of people - it reverberates outward. So, here I am recommitting myself to a healthier, simpler lifestyle. I'm sure my friends will be relieved.

My friend A and I grovel together for bitch sessions about our parents and ultimately, probably exhaust each other to a point that we break each other out of the funk. We go to our homes, light an incense and regain a sense of having our own lives to enjoy.

Monday, October 02, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NICK!!!

Mary said you had sushi with friends in San Francisco. I wish we could have been there with you to help celebrate and welcome a new year for you. We would have drank too much and ended up piecing together a band and singing cover songs only to regret it the next day...maybe you're better off without us.

Love & miss you both,

Kelli