corporate vs classroom

i went to a presentation last night by one of our HSBC supervisors called 'demystifying wall street ... investment banking explained' ... a room full of college kids looking identically hopeful and naive about the world of business. full of blank stares and black suits. the presenters went on to extol the benefits of life on 'the street' - the fun that was had at three a.m. putting pitchbooks together for big clients, working 100 hour weeks, missing important life events because work called, making less than the guys flipping burgers at mcdonalds (when you work out the per/hour salary) ... and i couldn't help but look around the room and wonder WHAT ARE YOU KIDS DOING HERE?

at the same time, part of me understood the attraction. not of the long hours or cog-like duties performed by junior analysts - but of being a part of something, of making things happen, of shaking hands and doing deals. and part of me wondered if i am better suited for the business world? of course i'd NEVER get into investment banking, and my deals would have to be worthwhile to me, but maybe i ought not lose sight of that idea as well. i sometimes fear a high school would swallow me up until my retirement with little room for bigger plans? maybe i'm wrong. i'm still optimistic. we shall see. (i say that a lot don't i?)

moving tomorrow for a short few days into alex's new place ... and then i'm off to SF next wednesday. how fast time flies, it's nearly october. where did 2006 go?

table tops

years ago my aunt lynne gave me a brilliant photo of the table out on our side yard after a thanksgiving party, replete with a bottle of wild turkey, veggies and dip (eaten), pate, chips, soda, beer, etc etc. i've loved that photo for years and have been attempting my own table top photos ever since. back at bavent road i had a chance to grab three of my favorites and i've decided to stop WAITING for a proper place/space again but to just frame them and hang them wherever i am. so i've got a table in tuscany, a table in paris, and a beach scene with drunken VBs and prawn shells scattered on the sand. i love them. here's just the two that i have digitally:




i don't know why i love them so much. i think just because they remind me of good times, and because they center around food, which is so important to me in good times. can you have a good time without food? i don't think so!

home again, home again ...

back to boston, and this my 100th blog posting.

the flight took rather longer than usual because we had to have an emergency landing in halifax last night because a woman gave birth prematurely to a baby onboard the flight yesterday. luckily there were medical personnel onboard to assist with the delivery. it was one of those lovely moments where everyone on the flight clapped when the announcement was made upon arrival - and no one seemed hostile or overly annoyed at the two hour delay.

and in other exciting news our friend isla is pregnant! it's babies all over the place! everyone was thrilled for them at the BBQ on friday, though we all knew it the week before when isla wasn't drinking at the wedding. surely there could ONLY be one reason for her lack of indulgence. she blamed gastroenteritis, we blamed chris. :)

and now i am home on a grey but warm afternoon in boston, catching up on housework, work work, and laundry. it's nice to have a day like this to recover before heading into work. i know i'll feel more relaxed ... especially after such a crazy week in england.

love to all.

and now the week is over ...

a lovely week in the uk. a whirlwind, as ever, trying to see as many people as possible.
i'm sitting in my old flat writing this, i've been here the last two days going through ALL of my stuff, uncovering old photos, sifting through old letters (love and otherwise), unearthing memories long passed. it's all boxed up now, ready for that age in my life when i have the time reopen and enjoy my twenties all over again. (my sixties??)

i've been ruthlessly throwing things away. clothes that sadly don't fit anymore or things i haven't worn but once to a fancy costume party and would unlikely ever wear again. i've gotten rid of nearly my entire book collection, excepting those on spirituality or on writing, and a few childhood favorites i've lugged with me through the years. it sounds sadder than it actually has been for me. it was actually quite easy to let most of it go. what's the point of hanging onto these possessions? even though i have a lovely hardback of white teeth, i'm never going to read it again.

the only things i've really saved are the memories. boxes and boxes of photos and letters will go back in the loft and wait patiently for me to reclaim them one day. but now i feel that i've salvaged what i really want from this house. of course i love the rest, but this last year away from everything that i once held so dear to me has shown me what i need to survive and what i don't. my butcher block was, for awhile, my symbol of adulthood and freedom and ownership. and now, even though i love it, i find i'm not as attached as i once was. the things i've thrown away are things i can replace easily, if at a small cost. i'm ok with that. i've learned that i can start again. (and again, and again and again ... as many times as i need or want to).

what i'm most thankful for are the people here, and the memories we've shared. and so it's not surprising that four of the seven boxes i'll return to the loft are stuffed with people and places and laughter and tears and friends i love.

though in actual fact, my real friends are waiting for me at the BBQ ... so i must run. for more!

i'm here! i'm alive!

just a quick note to say i'm in england.
the eagle has landed.

i'll be here until saturday - though with limited computer access, so unlikely to do much blogging. saturday was coll and daryl's wedding celebration and boy was it a party! it was absolutely brilliant. i really enjoyed the evening. we were all dolled up in our finest (although anna said i really should have gone shoe shopping because my sandals looked like orthopedic shoes along side my gorgeous new dress. point taken, but i was SO comfortable). ha ha.

the only bad part about the weekend thus far is that tom broke his arm on saturday playing football. a very bad break, in two places, and needed pins and plates and general anaesthetic....so he missed the wedding and is in agonizing pain! he only just got back from the hospital today. luckily with feeling in his fingers. so anna too missed much of the weekends festivities although made a GRAND effort of taxiing over to the ceremony after visiting hours in the hospital, looking effortlessly dazzling of course. (as usual)

and yesterday i had a lovely day tooling around central london with ruth and vicky, walking through columbia flower market, spitalfields market, covent garden with coffee and bacon sandwiches (lots of champagne the night before) and then to neal's yard for an aromatherapy massage (a birthday present from vix) - delightful! i'm reminded how wonderfully diverse london is - so much going on in all corners and with such different vibes in each.

(and 3 days in a row with over 10,000 steps on my pedometer!)

anyhow, i must work so off i go. hope all are well.

food for thought : ACTION

this is my 'quote of the day' from google:

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing.
Action always generates inspiration.
Inspiration seldom generates action.
- Frank Tibolt

i like that. makes me think about my own situation. and how i'm sitting around (and have been for awhile now?) waiting for inspiration to strike me instead of just doing something about it. how many of us are just waiting, i wonder?

let's generate some action!

off to get my eyebrows waxed (hey, it's a start!)

podcasting is FUN!

ok, check this out, i think i've done it!
let me know what you want to hear!
tee hee. what a geek i am!

monday monday

i really seem to be sporadic in these postings, don't i?
sorry about that!

it was a pretty lazy weekend - i spent both evenings in and on my couch recovering from a cold i picked up last week. i got out of the house on saturday for a 'podcamp' - basically an un-conference about podcasting filled with people who podcast for a living or who are attempting to make a living out of it. there were a few of us who were total novices, but for the most part, these were podgeeks, and this was pretty advanced stuff. podcasting 101, one of the sessions i attended, was definitely upper division! i did, however, meet some interesting people. i met a guy named guido who hosts a weekly podcast on knitting called it's a purl, man. he was really sweet and told me all about what i need to do to get podcasts online. there's a few more things i need to do, but i'm on my way, if i can ever actually work up the nerve to get them out there. i'm thinking i'll have a format for them, perhaps answering questions. (ha ha) from my listeners. so hit me up. perhaps an interesting way to discover my own opinions. it's strange talking into a mic in a room by yourself. fodder needed!

i also met a really interesting woman who works for a documentary/film company who has been following fans of elvis, diana, and pope john paul II around for nearly 6 shooting about them and how they cultivate meaning and community from their grieving. she was also, that very night, hosting an iron chef party/competition at her house which i thought was a brilliant idea. as soon as i live in a house with a kitchen again, i'm going to host one of those. her secret ingredient was corn.

and yesterday was spent toodling around watching movies, king kong (not my cup of tea) and the triplets of bellville (brilliant! or at least what i saw of it until i fell asleep, part two tonight!) i'm sure others have seen this, no? a french cartoon?

tomorrow i'm working from home because i've got to have a call on skype with the two guys (former students) i've hired to create the podcasts for the EUSA website. one is in thailand and one is in michigan, but apparently we can meet online for a conference call with this software. crazy stuff!

more when something interesting happens!

some SF pics

here are a few pics of the place in SF, not sure these do it justice, but you can get the idea!

another day older

thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes, emails and cards!
how loved i am!

it was a relatively quiet birthday yesterday, though that was fine with me because i was exhausted.
i could've gone to a redsox game but it would have been standing room only, and i didn't have it in me to stand for four hours. apparently once they are out of contention, tickets will be easy to come by, so i still have a chance before i leave.

instead we ate some delicious food and watched a movie and had an ice cream (mint chip, but of course) and fell asleep by 11! i must be getting old.

and now here i am back at work. i think september is going to fly by with everything i have on my calendar - including a week in the UK!

i've found out that the woman in SF will definitely give me her flat while she is in africa for 4 months! so i will be living in central san francisco for 3-4 months! the flat is gorgeous - newly renovated - with soft plush white carpet throughout. i think this may mean i'll have to switch to drinking white wine over the winter, but i'm OK with that. the living room is fairly big with a glass table that sits under the bay window looking out on the streets of SF. i can just imagine making a coffee and sitting with the early morning sunshine pouring in. the bedroom is just next to the kitchen, and the kitchen is small, but no smaller than the one i've had in boston. and there is a walk-in closet/hallway on the way to the loo. it should be so sweet to be there. very peaceful!

and now i must get back to work. thanks again to everyone!

all in two day's work...

at the airport getting ready to board. a successful two days, i'd say.

interviewed six candidates - quite a lot by myself, and wishing i had had someone with me for clarification/confirmation of my views. first reactions, initial reactions can be deceiving...but let's hope we choose right. otherwise, my job will be VERY hard work! not that i don't enjoy working hard, of course.

found an apartment! on mason and sutter. a gorgeous apartment literally 2 blocks from union square. not the neighborhood feel i thought i wanted, but when i saw the inside of this flat, i just fell in love. it's SO peaceful, despite the neighborhood full of tourists and tramps. and closer to the action than a neighborhood might be. i suppose i have the rest of my life for neighborhoods. bring on the city while i still can and while i still want to. final confirmation on this place tomorrow from the woman, but she said she liked me!

shit, they're boarding my flight quickly, must not be full at all, i hope i get three seats to myself so i can sleep.

am i 31 now if it's midnight in boston? hmmm....

grrrr....they took bobbi

the morning is NOT off to a great start.
only a few will appreciate this, but i accidentally left my bobbi brown in my bag going through customs and they took it. funnily enough he left my lip smackers lip gloss - must not have known what that was. but he took bobbi. they also took a brand new bottle of sunscreen. more of an annoyance than anything else.

alas.

while we're on things that only a few people will understand or appreciate, this one is for the girls. fancy a cut by mr tavy?


ha ha.

i need to finish my coffee before i can write anything for the masses.

the bride, the groom and the deadhead

so i've been in portland and bend (oregon) this weekend - a fly in / fly out trip for my good friend emily's wedding. it was beautiful and she was a stunning bride. it's so lovely to see people so happy and so in love, and i must admit, i'm becoming a much less cynical spectator at wedding ceremonies. i'd not met her fiance and he seems like a really good guy, so i'm sure they'll be happy. she kindly let us stay in her house in town because she had a room at the resort where the wedding took place. and staying there really made me miss having a place of my own. i've been in temporary accommodation for the last year, and will be for the foreseeable future, and it's getting rather old. i miss my kitchen and my gadgets and having a proper dining room table to eat and sit at. she had the most beautiful dining room table, dark solid wood. i'm beginning to think that the table might be the most important piece of furniture in the house - so much is shared around it.

anyway, the wedding was outside and it was a beautiful day. the reception followed and i met quite a few of her friends. i brought molly and brad and little elliot as my plus 3 (she didn't mind!) though we were minus two when brad took elliot home to sleep, and molly came back for some dancing.

i sat at the table with emily's UK contingent and the highschool coach of the groom. he was a riot. turns out he'd been a navy seal and when he got back his friend from eastern oregon asked him if he would be jerry garcia's personal bodyguard. so he did that for three years. he said he could have as much sex, drugs and rock'n'roll as he wanted. and by the sounds of it, he took advantage of that. he had some great stories, said he was friends with larry bird (a deadhead), don henley, and that he shared a joint with bob dylan when they toured with him one summer. he said bob was a real introvert and not very social. i was sorry the dylan fans were not there to ask more questions, i'm sure you would have loved this guy. he said that being a bodyguard was more like babysitting - they just went crazy all the time.

he told this one story about how another guard and friend of his (apparently all the bodyguards came from this one town in eastern oregon) was obsessed with spending money, just because he could and because he had it, so one day he bought a lasso. at one of the concerts there was a woman on stage scantily clad (which is to say, naked, as i guess was common at these shows) she was standing on the edge of the stage and his friend had the brilliant idea of lassoing her from the wings. and in less than 10 seconds, he had the rope around her (naked) shoulders. she, unfortunately, could not keep her balance and fell crashing off the stage. they thought that was the end and presumed a jail term would follow shortly. but she was back up a second later, never missing a beat. i guess with enough drugs anything's possible.

speaking of drugs, he said that the band would give the roadies an allotted amount before a tour and they'd be responsible for anything else they'd need if they finished that off. weights and measures don't mean much to me, so i can't remember exactly how much he said it was, but i think it's fair to say it was enough.

it was really interesting and i could've listened to his stories the whole night. he was a pretty cool guy. and his wife was lovely as well. she met him AFTER these years, for which she was probably grateful. but he got out after three years, said the lifestyle just wasn't for him. you can only have SO much rock'n'roll. (and cocaine!)

anyhow, back in portland for one more night with molly, brad and elliot. and then tomorrow i'm off to SF to interview a few candidates for the position and to check out some apartments. fingers crossed that one of them works out. and then a redeye back to boston on tuesday night in time for MY BIRTHDAY on wednesday. no real plans yet, probably a casual night with alex and my cousin anna - who also has a september 6th birthday.

get that card in the mail! :)