So, here I am after too long not blogging.  What can I say?  Things are strange.  Things are stressful.  Things change so fast and there’s no time to reflect.  Either go with the flow or get left behind.  So much has happened to me in the last year that I can’t expound on it fully.  Suffice it to say, this roller coaster is rocketing through the corkscrews now after reaching top, exhilarating speed.  I’ve got my arms thrown up and I’m screaming in abandonment!  [yes, this is a good thang...snap photo here].

    After what feels like financial ruin, nerves frazzled to the breaking point, and a laissez faire attitude about my job…you know, life in general right now…I might have just reached an oasis of calm.  A truly happy place that allows me to prioritize, fight back, and gain strength.  A place in my life that I have been waiting and praying for for 20 years.  You guessed it: Love has found me again.  Not that I haven’t loved in the last 20 years; I have.  Just not this all-encompassing, life-changing, future-enhancing kind that blows the boundaries off the being “in love” stage of romance.  Ya know…the Real Shit.  The shit that comes after the fantasy stage.  When you know the person is really compatible for a future life together.  When you know he will nuture you and give to you the same way you nurture him and give to him.  When you know the choices you make to love him are the same choices he’s making to love you.  Nothing is covert, nothing is taken for granted.  It just fits.  I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this.  I have had facsimiles, to be sure, and good relationships, no doubt, and beautiful children as a result.  Self-awareness, life-learning, and hope have all abound…but not to this extent.  Passion and sexual fulfillment, yes, those too.  But what happens to a woman when she’s had all those things to the nth degree, but didn’t actually have them with “the one” she’s supposed to be with?  I think you end up with a whole woman, such as I am, recognizing in her partner the same.  Guess now I’m whole.  And I probably wouldn’t have felt this way till now.  Right now.  At this very moment of my life.  Go figure.

So.  Be happy for me, world.  I deserve it.  And so does everyone.  If I were to give everyone on the planet a gift, it would be this: your own personal calm.

Does this mean I’ll be blogging more?  Gawd, I hope so!  Do I want to continue the same underlying themes, like computers, Windows and web applications?  Hmm, I just don’t know for sure.  I’d been thinking I was doing pretty good at personal as well as functional, but I’ll have to search my soul awhile.  What do you think?  Leave a comment, I’ll listen.  I’ll see what kind of hits I get and from whence they come…Facebook is growing by leaps and bounds right now.  Lots of integration through 30 Boxes as well.  Till then, be happy.

Well, I finally jumped on the ole bandwagon and joined facebook.  It has multiple functionality and integrates nicely with 30Boxes, so I hear.  We’ll see how it goes…

So, Madonna has some new album coming out…I’m hip to that.  This woman re-invents herself every time; that’s what I call “staying power”.

Here’s a link I found at Elle Magazine:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid372302730/bclid1279694046/bctid1483830431

i am sick for the bazillionth time this year

Originally uploaded by jamelah.

Haha, I know exactly how this photographer feels. Thought I’d link this picture on my blog. The only difference from my own bedside is the haphazard manner in which I throw the used ones down to the floor before collecting them when I get up. This photo is priceless!! Love the hand!! Awesome……*sneezes*…

Well, I’ve needed a distraction lately, and looks like this will fill the bill.  World of Warcraft has awesome graphics…need I say more?

Hopefully, it won’t distract me too much from blogging…[but I know better]…

A co-worker of mine had this to say:  “I refuse to have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed.”

Jeff, I think you’ve said a mouthful.  I’m not sure who originally said this, or if it’s a slight variation on a truly quotable quote, but I definitely get it! 

So much so that I think I’ll adopt it as a mantra…my lantern in dark places…the rocky ledge I cling to…

From the dictionary:  NOUN:  Wit:
 

1. The natural ability to perceive and understand; intelligence.
2. 1. Keenness and quickness of perception or discernment; ingenuity. Often used in the plural: living by one’s wits.
   2. wits Sound mental faculties; sanity: scared out of my wits.
3. 1. The ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.
   2. One noted for this ability, especially one skilled in repartee.
   3. A person of exceptional intelligence.

There are so many times in my life where I wish I had understood this already.  Times where I felt as if I were bashing my head against a brick wall.  I’m not saying, however, that I am always in the right, or that my ideas of things are the truest…au contrere…I believe there are fundamental differences in the sexes and they way they think, speak, and behave.  I believe there are basic principles to live by, but one’s interpretation of these principles are based upon life experience, and in no small way, religion.  So we are all human beings, fallible, just trying to muddle through it, doing the best we can with what we have; learning along the way, applying those things in our daily lives, and striving towards enlightenment, for lack of a better word.  {Gawd, I sound like a self-help book…lol}

But, I think it’s this understanding of human nature, or lack of understanding, moreover, that sets us apart…or, more to the point…drives me crazy…endangers my sensibilities…hurts me, inevitably.  {I need to enter that Writing like Hemingway contest, huh?  look at all those run-on sentences!}  Finding a life-partner who has similar interpretations, putting up with the ineptitude of your superiors in the workplace, and dealing with those people who cross your life’s path, can be really frustrating without some kind of dogma to live by.  I know of one such teaching: it’s called The Golden Rule.  “Do unto others what you would have done unto you”.  Baby, that says it all!  There’s nothing else for us idealists.  But how can we cope, in the interim, with those folks who just don’t get it?!  Why, we adopt a mantra as written in the beginning of this post…the whole reason for this post, as long-winded as it is…my new standard…my cure.

“I refuse to have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed!”

Thanks, Jeff, for this great euphimism, and thanks to whoever said it first {I need to look this up, me thinks}.  You’ve saved my life, you really have…

My friend Rick sent me this…it’s a little long, but worth it…wait for it…hahahaha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4Y4keqTV6w

…having problems embedding today…it’s probably the keyboardist…:/

Found this little web application. It’s so cool! Has limited functionality right now, but I’m going to keep my eye on it for awhile. Integrated Flickr stream and uploaded some background music. YouTube also available, and you can record your own audio and video instead if you wish. Nice demos with WordPress.com and Pageflakes embedding. Having trouble in Internet Explorer, however…why am I not surprised? I’ve been trying to embed in my brendasbasics.com site, but IE is hanging…grrr. I guess this calls for some research…

Best seen in Firefox, then:  here’s the link: SplashCast

UPDATED:  I’m really likin’ this cool little toy…guess I’m gonna have to go full tilt and upload pics and video and recorded voice-overs for a new channel!  Whheee-eee!

It’s official, BrendasBasics.com is now online.  I am now my own entity.  It feels strange, actually, kinda bare naked.  Like I need to be super careful from now on.  Hmm…so, to recap, this is the “Basics” suite offering from Microsoft Office Live…it’s free.

So, gimme a couple of days to tweak, it’ll be a perpetual work in progress.  I ought to be able to give y’all a good review, though, huh?  Here’s a screenshot:

Oh, and by the way, the girls are having a SNOWDAY today…..woohoo!  Hopefully I’ll get outside and take some photos…more later…

Well, what the heck, thought I’d branch-out even more. Microsoft Office Live has a basics website for free. You get your own domain, website creator, e-mail, and business solutions [in part]. And upgraded options for those who don’t mind spending a tiny bit extra per year for stuff. Yeah, it’s brought to you by Microsoft, but, hey, I’ve been using Office for awhile now…

I’ll letcha know when I’m online at Brenda’s Basics.com…woohoo!

What in the hell am I doing, anyway? I’ve got this WordPress.com blog going now, I’ve got one of those free Yahoo! websites, I’ve tinkered with Wetpaint and Weebly, been around on Yahoo! 360 too, MySpace, 30 Boxes, Flickr…just what is it I’m trying to accomplish? Got me, gentle reader. I’m clueless. Do I want to earn my way like this? Is this Plan B? I don’t think so. Obviously, I’m not worried about anonymity anymore. Just take a look at my “web presence” on 30 Boxes.

I mean, really, how many avatars do I need? Maybe that, in part, is what I’m trying to accomplish…consolidate…aggregate..collate…heh heh.