Native Daughter

You are 84% REAL Texan!!

You're way more Texan than average. Your parents were probably from here too. We're glad to have you. You probably go to the border for Christmas shopping and are well versed in BBQ, Mexican Food and ... well, that's pretty much it.

How Texan Are You?

Thanks to Starrlett for the pointer to this quiz. Since I am a native, I'm relieved to know I scored higher than she did. Maybe if I had answered "yes" to "You've gotten drunk on 6th Street?" I would have scored 100%.

Of course, take the quiz yourself and you'll find out how much editing I had to do to the poor grammar and punctuation in the display above. So, since the quiz author doesn't display correct answers or tell you which questions you missed, who knows if the whole thing is accurate or not.

Calling all Food Lovers

Blogger's Blog of Note today is The Fanatic Cook. If you are interested in food, great digital photos, nutrition, or even just interesting observations, I urge you to take a look. At the beginning of the year, the author blogged about the experience of brining her bird (in a gallon Ziploc bag--must have been a small bird). Unfortunately, the experience didn't turn out to be a happy one.

A Poem

When sleep enters the body like smoke
and man journeys into the abyss
like an extinguished star that is lighted elsewhere,
then all quarrel ceases,
overworked nag that has tossed the nightmare grip
of its rider.

Nelly Sachs (1891–1970), German Jewish poet and translator; relocated to Sweden. “When sleep enters the body like smoke,” lines 1-6, translated by Michael Hamburger, et al. (1967; first edition in German: 1949)

The Columbia World of Quotations. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. www.bartleby.com/66/.

Simpatico

I don't really like that word, "simpatico." In fact, until I looked it up, I thought it was spelled the same way as the prefix sympatico-

But I like the meaning: sympathetic; congenial; being on the same wave length.

It's so wonderful to have friends with whom I can share similar experiences and who articulate my own feelings and opinions even better than I myself can.

Don't get me wrong--variety is the spice of life, and it would be a dreary existence if we were all carbon copies of the same person. But sometimes when you're feeling a little beat down, it's nice to hear someone utter a sentiment or make an observation that makes you think, "exactly!"

A friend told me that, "the only thing that periodically kept up my confidence during the job search . . . was remembering that every job I've had has been better than the last, and each one was more related to what I wanted to do than the previous one. That whole sense of divine direction kinda helps. "

Yes. Exactly the same for me.

Even though I didn't really know what I wanted to do for a long time, and I'm still feeling my way through it, I know that I've been moving in the right direction all along. And I know that I will continue to do so, even if it appears from this spot in the road that the bridge ahead is out.

(please send me a link to this post the next time I start freaking out)

Apology Tendered

Dear me. If you're a regular reader, I know you might have been frightened, bored, or disgusted (or all three) by last night's (this morning's) messy display of self-pity.

Thank you for being so indulgent. Things look much better in the light of day, of course, and I'm sure that I'll soon be back to my sunny, cheerful self. After a good night's sleep, that is. Right now, I already have the Friday afternoon symptoms of dull aching head, misfiring brain synapses, and small lapses of attention, and it's only 6 pm Thursday. Guess the old body just isn't capable of what it once was.