126/365 If you really knew me PT V

I should start by saying I feel naked - your lucky I didn't post that. The Nikon is in need of a little TLC / tune up and won't be home till Monday. Phone photos for me - this is the part where I complain that I don't have an iPhone and your thankful because all you would be getting is histamatics.


If you have visited my blog or are a facebook friend you know that this year I have been on a crazy house cleaning - really purging - kick. I read something somewhere about how physical clutter can cause mental clutter, which we all know I don't need any more of. All items in our house have been  evaluated and either I love it or I don't. Those that I don't found new homes. My den is a happy place, where I am surrounded by the tools that help me work out my creative frustrations and brilliant ideas, and well - things I love. These are a few of the things in the den that survived the cut.

If you really new me you would know that I have tried almost every art and craft known to woman and scrapbooking is the only one that I stuck with; that part of the reason I fell in love with our house is that there is an extra closet where I can store all of my craft supplies that don't live in the den - it is called the magic closet. I don't why - it just is.

If you really really knew me you would know that I have made great friends through my scrapbooking, that I actually schedule time with myself to scrapbook, that I have a weakness for all things alphabet (when scrapbooking), and love the full story a scrapbook versus a photo album tells.

If you really really really knew me you would know sewing and crafting has been something special that I have shared with my grandmothers; that I am not that great at most of the things that I love to do most (gardening, singing, photography, and scrapbooking),that I don't care because they bring me joy just doing them.

125/365 If you really knew me PTIV

I have always been a voracious reader. One time in the 5th grade we had a read a thon. People could either make a flat donation or they could pledge a specific amount per book. The read a thon was for one school quarter. My dad - such a dear man - pledged something stupid like $5 dollars a book - I read 17 books. He is now a believer in the flat donation. Truly it is his fault, when I was way to young to read Steven King's The Stand, I found it on our bookshelf. My dad said I would never get through it - so I did. Then he was reading Michener (the guy who can spend 19 pages describing one stone or pebble), and he said I would get bored - I didn't. Thanks Dad for giving me the gift of reading.

If you really knew me you would know that there has only been one book I have never been able to finish (and am still trying), that even if a book is horrible (see previous note) that I will force my way through it, that I can easily blow through a 600 hundred page book in a weekend, that I have read all but 2 books on the Oprah book list.

If you really really knew me you would know that despite my techie proclivities that I have been resistant to eReaders until my iPad, that I have read some books that moved me so much or I enjoyed the characters so much that I was sad when the books were over, and that I think reading is so important that the best thing I have ever done (reading wise) is the read to rover program with my CCI breeder.

If you really really really knew me you would know I savor the last chapter of a book and generally read it aloud, preferably by myself; that books have changed the way I think, made me want to visit different places, and exposed me to points of view that I would never have known otherwise.

If you really really really really knew me you would know that I love old cookbooks - especially when I find one that the owner has written notes or scratched things out in it, and you would know the books that I have enjoyed and/or meant  the most to me: Atlas Shrugged:Ayn Ryand, The Posionwood Bible:Barbara Kingsolver, The Shell Seekers:Rosamund Pilcher, and Harvesting the Heart:Jodi Picoult and Catch-22:Joseph Heller - I have read them all several times.

Unfortunately my mind is now racing and full of other titles I have loved - there is just not the space here to do them all justice.

124/365 If you really knew me (professionally) PTIII

If you don't know I work for the City of Sacramento in the Office of the City Clerk. I am an assistant city clerk and am responsible for records management, public records requests, and media inquiries, and my favorite task is - other duties as assigned. Other duties are usually best as they are the spice of life. Many people probably think "records management" isn't that much fun or interesting and I would tell them that it really isn't about records. For me it is able ensuring that the public has easy access to the business of the City. Sure old records are cool, but nothing is a cool as when a member of the public asks for a record and then says - wow that was easy or thank you so much I didn't think I would get this kind of help. We were asked at a clerk's conference last December how we want to leave the world and I said accessible. I could stare at historic city hall (yes we have a "new" city hall) everyday. There is something stoic about it. I certainly have SEEN it now that I am doing this photo project.

If you really knew me (professionally) you would know that I had my first job at 15 and since then I have had 16 different jobs with 9 different employers; that I have worked at the City of Sacramento since 1998; and that my first job with the city was as a 911 dispatcher.

If you really really knew me (professionally) you would know that despite outward appearances and the amount of hours I gladly work that I work to live and not live to work; you would know that I take pride in doing a job well, that the legacy I hope to leave among my co-workers and people I supervise is that I care about them and am a fair person, and I think that if someone doesn't understand what I am saying - 90% of the time it is the way I am saying it.

If you really really really knew me (professionally) you would know that I believe that relationships are the key to success, that the only thing I own is my own reputation and I am proud of the one that I have created, that I believe in ownership of all of my decisions (even the stinky ones), and I don't believe that no, you can't, it wont work are ever a good answer to a question and are never the first answer.

If you really really really really knew me (professionally) you would know that I subscribe to the "Good to Great" philosophy of the window and the mirror, that I value the respect and trust of my co-workers and supervisors as much if not more than my paycheck, and that I often make things look easy - I am skilled at looking like a duck (calm on top and paddling like hell under the water, it's what all good dispatcher do).

123/365 If you really knew me PT II

Several years ago my friend's neighbor was trying to get rid of a piano. I talked my husband (and her husband) into bringing me this free piano. They got it here in one piece and did I mention it was free? It is very unique and in lovely condition (not that you can really see all of that in the picture) It is customary to tune your piano annually and they paste their business card inside the piano cover. You can imagine my surprise when I opened the cabinet to find a business card from Mr. Mingo's Music Center.

I practically grew up in Mr. Mingo's Music Center, my grandmother worked there as long as I can remember and retired from there - twice. I believe that things are meant to be, and that this piano was destined to be mine. I lost my grandmother, who was much more like parent and pretty much raised me, several years ago. I think of her every day. She showed me the joy and magic of music, and music through her eyes and ears was simply magical. It tied us together.

If you really knew me you would know that I play the flute, piccolo, clarinet, and piano; that I was in the marching band and went to band camp for years - years before anyone knew there was a band camp

If you really really knew me you would know that for me music is akin to oxygen and water; that I love everything from Gaga to Garth Brooks, Mozart to Metallica - with a little Usher and Ke$ha mixed in; and that I would never make it on American Idol but I sing with reckless abandon and no longer care about being "caught"

If you really really really knew me you would know that I mark all of life's occasions by music, that songs and melodies run through my mind continuously, that I think not having music would mean the end of the world. You would know that my top favorite songs/soundtrack of my life (today) in no particular order are: The Story: Brandi Carlile, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress:Judy Collins, Amazing Grace, Let It Be:Across the Universe Soundtrack Version; Unchained Melody:Righteous Brothers.

Mostly though if you really really really really knew me you would know that music has tied me to the most important people and moments in my life, and had the strength to get me out of bed and back to life after I pretty much thought life was no longer worth living.

122/365 If you really knew me

Last week, as you know, I was in Tahoe for the City Clerks Association of California annual conference. Overall it was a good conference and it ended on an exceptionally high note. Speaker Mike Robbins, who was not only funny, left me thinking about quite a lot (http://www.mike-robbins.com/). If you know me at all (and we will get to more of that later) you know that except for rah-rah meetings the only thing I hate more is touchy feely group activities. Welcome to Mike's class - okay it isn't quite like that, he is someone I could totally lunch with and then catch a game later (especially cool since he was an MLB major leaguer and I love baseball). We did an exercise called "if you really knew me you would know..." I was paired up with someone I work with so this was an especially good exercise for me. A wise woman (ms. sherri furniss) once told me that the more you get to know someone the more tolerant you get of their issues. She thinks really getting to know someone is an investment and one of the most valuable things you can do. I hate to say it, she is right.

This week I am hoping my pictures will reflect - what you would know  if you really knew me and here is the first one.

If you knew me you would know that I love black and white photos (doesn't matter if they are old ones or ones that I take and convert)

If you really knew me you would know that I love old signage, particularly neon, and I love love love the study of typography.

If you really really knew me you would know that I also love Hamburger MARY'S as it will always be to me but is not Hamburger PATTIES (boo) for two reasons - 1 the half load nachos, and 2 is because it is the place that a close friend of mine disclosed to me many years ago that he was gay. It broke his heart to tell me because he didn't know what I would say. He had sort of found a refuge in this very gay friendly place. Of course I loved him as much as I did before he told me and quite frankly was relieved he told me because I had suspected that for years.

If you really really really knew me you would know that I don't think we choose who we love - the heart is fickle and it loves who it loves, that we should be free to love who we love and be permitted to marry and live with them for the rest of our lives if that is our heart's desire, that who someone else loves doesn't change or diminish who I love, and that the world would be a much much more wonderful place if we focused on real issues instead of who I sleep with when I turn in at night.

121/365 Yashira

I am trying to stick to a "no more than 1 dog picture a week." Alas due to the rather uninspiring opportunities at the conference I was at this past week coupled with what I think is a good shot of a black dog - here you go.... meet Yashira. She is just over 4 months old and is an aspiring service dog.

120/365

Spent the day at the 38th annual Fisherman Festival that calumniates with a blessing of the fleet as they start the fishing season. When I am on the coast I always have to remember that the beautiful flowers I see will not do well in the Sacramento summer sun. A picture will have to do.