New Things

I lack discipline. Let me clarify. I lack discipline when it comes to doing things for my own benefit. I can focus on a project and be so organized and driven you'd think I was powered by Duracell when that project involves other people. But I can always find an excuse to put off doing something for myself. Soooo I'm challenging myself to learn, learn about, or do at least one new thing each week and write about it here.

To start off I've selected a new theme for my blog. The raspberry colored theme I used previously was evidently the same theme chosen by a friend for her blog. Oops. Great minds, right? :) But that' s not the real reason. Now I have one of my paintings as the background and that makes me smile. Now on to things I've learned.

This past month there has been an image going around Facebook regarding the Girl Scouts. The image looked like a news bulletin with a broken Trefoil cookie as the logo. It listed several reasons why Girl Scouts should not be supported. Each of which made me want to support them all the more. However I don't take things at Facebook value without digging a little deeper. At the same time I saw a friend from high school posting about her daughter joining American Heritage Girls. So then I start wondering about this other group? I looked up the websites for both organizations and did a little research. Now I know more about both.

Girl Scouts

American Heritage Girls

In researching I found a link to another (non-scouting) organization called The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

Lastly I went looking for something math and/or science related to learn. What I found presented me with so many choices I think my brain shut down from over stimulation. Apparently M.I.T. (yes THE M.I.T.) has a program called OpenCourseWare that compiles lecture notes, class assignments, videos and exams for almost every course offered at the real live 3D version of the institute. While you can't take courses for credits, the information is available for free, to everyone with internet access. You don't need to register or join or pay any fees of any kind. Just click on the website and pick something to learn. I have decided to learn a little 'Principles of Inorganic Chemistry II' and brush up on 'Single Variable Calculus.' Sadly I remember very little from the last Calc. and Chem classes I took over 15 years ago.

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

I'll report back next week to see what I've learned. :)

Refreshing Perspectives Work

Today's workday started with a group discussion about how good we have it here in the U.S. compared to workplace standards 100 years ago & communist countries now. One person in the group having left family in communist Vietnam. Interesting, refreshing and highly unusual start to the morning. :) Normally the say starts with people whining about have to actually DO work. Paperwork/computer work, in an air conditioned office, with established break times and paid vacation, and Wii consoles in the breakroom, and ergonomic specialists to make sure you've got the right equipment. It was nice to be reminded that some people here are truly thankful, grateful and appreciative of the jobs that we have.

'A Broad Way'

Soooooo I stumbled upon this documentary. They sent people out to film each block of Broadway simultaneously for one hour on June 6, 2006. It's called "A Broad Way" Their goal was to document the spirit and diversity of New York City. I think they accomplished that goal perfectly.

This is my New York City.

This is what I'm referring to when I tell people that Manhattan is where my heart is.

Trailer on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ABroadwayMovie

Watch the full length film on Hulu:

http://tinyurl.com/BwayHulu

Watch the full length film on Zimbio:

http://tinyurl.com/BwayZim

IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0902958/combined

I don't know how long the full length features will be available online.

Posty Note: Theatre #1

We (Ghostlight Theatre Club) got a new semi-permanent space or mostly our own last May. That new location and permanency also opened up new opportunities and created new responsibilities. I love all of it, even if it does mean that I rarely get a day off anymore. :)

Scary Dream...

Okay, first of all, let me say that I don't normally have nightmares. I can't actually recall ever having a nightmare or even a really bad dream where I wasn't sure I'd eventually be safe within the dream. Until last night.

It was still an odd dream, but there were of course some major points that were similar to things in my waking life.

I was at my work building, but there were classes there too and the structure was the same, but there were more open spaces and the cubicles weren't the same in placement or design. Sooooooo, at work, and we get information that someone is coming to the building to kill everyone, you know with the guns and everything like at the post office on the news when I was a kid and so many other places and and times since then. The difference of course that there was warning in this dream case. Soooo in the dream we were all finding hiding places and we knew his truck and saw it pull up. I didn't find a place that made me feel secure, but moved around keeping an eye on him as he was approaching the building. He, by the way, looked like another well known domestic terrorist who hit close to home. I found several problems with each hiding place option never finding the perfect one. This one actually scared me enough that I woke up at 3:30 in the morning. I was shaken enough that I seriously contemplated calling in sick to work. I played on the computer and got my mind on other things and got back to sleep. I did go into work today, and so far so good. :) The funny thing is that when I got back to sleep in my next dream there was someone trying to get in the door of a hotel room where I was staying, and the door wouldn't lock, but the werewolf like monster was not nearly as scary as the monster in my first dream. Hehe. I don't think it was the subject matter of the filming from the night before, but maybe it was the bologna sandwich with BBQ chips that caused the weird dreams. :D

Spelling musings...

Just a random thought.

Shouldn't the word conceited actually be spelled concieted? I mean, think about it. It's conceited so the 'i' should come first, and being conceited why should rules apply to it? It seems odd that it should be one of the few words that actually conforms to 'the rules.' I mean 'weird' gets it, it does it's own thing. It knows that it's weird and doesn't hide from it.

Nostalgia

They bought us pizza and salad for lunch today, and a birthday cake for the August and September birthdays. The birthday cake had those pastel plastic balloons on it. It reminded me of my third and my brother's first birthday. Our cake had those little balloons on it too. It made me smile. :)