Westerns?

"You've never seen any old Western movies?" he asks, incredulity obvious on his face. "Nope." I said with a shrug. "Not my thing."

John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter in a scene from The Searchers

I have a colleague who loves Westerns. In fact, he's something of an aficionado on the subject. He quotes lines from Westerns pretty much daily...slips them into a conversation with an almost comedic sense of timing. I'm sure I'd laugh, if only I got the point of reference and could place the line. For now, the best I can do is recognize that whatever he said probably is a line from a movie. I quote lines from movies fairly frequently too...though my taste runs more to romantic comedies. Anyway, I was really bothered that I couldn't "get" his references. This combined with the fact that his enthusiasm on the subject is contagious, had me agreeing to watch my first Western. "Start me on something that won't make me quit," I told him. And so my "Western education" began with The Searchers. A John Ford/John Wayne masterpiece filmed in Monument Valley. It's breathtaking. Definitely some of the best cinematography ever. I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it (and all the others that have followed). You couldn't be more surprised by this than me. I mean, I was just humoring the guy...after all, he is on the short list. So I reported back to him... "It was amazing. Did you know that Steven Spielberg said in an interview that The Searchers is the best Western ever made and possibly the best movie ever made?" I got totally hooked on the scenery and the music. If you haven't seen it, you should. While you're at it, see all the Westerns on my Movies list...trust me, you won't be disappointed. You may even get hooked liked me. As it turns out, Westerns are very much my thing.

Ode to Ridiculous Sayings...

Okay, okay….I know they’re just trying to be helpful and supportive, but I wonder sometimes if people actually think about these things or if they just say them because it’s just what you say when someone you care about is struggling?

I’ve been pretty stressed and busy lately, so I need more fingers and toes to count the number of times somebody said “This too shall pass.” Really? Or else it won’t.

I gave up keeping track of “Everything will work out for the best.” a couple of weeks ago. This one is a sore spot with me anyway, having heard it so many times in my youth from someone who has an uncanny ability to be right more frequently than is decent.

How about “It will get better.” or better yet, the flip side “It could always be worse.” Yeah…THAT is definitely helpful.

But, at least "It's temporary." Whew! That's such a relief.

Oh and “The Lord never gives us more than we can handle.” or the slightly more clever “If you’re handed it, you can handle it.” or just simply “Give it to God.” *IMPORTANT NOTE* - I'm not discounting God, but he knows me and well, he's all about patience and it isn't my strong suit.

Then there’s my personal favorite... “That which doesn’t kill us, only makes us stronger.” By that theory, I should be able to lift a car all on my own…well maybe only a small compact, but you get my point.

Wow, I feel kind of bad for this rant. I know you’re only trying to help and I truly appreciate it. I’m normally a really optimistic person, and I’m sure I’ll get it together and be my old self soon. But until then, how about this one? “Yep Rach, that sucks.”

You don’t have to forecast the future or fix the right now…but thanks for listening and I TOTALLY love you for trying.

55 in 2010 Update

Ok, so I've been really lazy about blogging...preferring instead to lay in bed in my jammies and watch old Westerns in the limited spare time I have these days. Granted, the housework is piling up but I thought I'd take a few minutes to quickly update the 55 in 2010 list.

#4 Figure out how to organize my stamp collection:

Back in the Spring I found these really nifty 8-1/2 x 11 sheet protectors by We R Memory Keepers at Archivers. They come in several different versions which are perfect for storing acrylic stamp sets. I cut a piece of white cardstock to size and slipped it into the pocket to back the stamp sheet and make it easier to see the designs. I put the sheets into a zip around binder that I got on the clearance aisle at Walmart and presto...organized stamps.



#6 Paint a picture

I went to Sips n Strokes with some friends and painted this lovely picture of a tree. The bird is just a bonus...he had a mate, but sadly she had to be painted out due to an unfortunate stroke of the brush. (No doubt brought on by the very tasty moscato I was drinking.)



#8 Make and send Valentines

They were super cute...wish I had kept one to display here, oh wait...I did take pictures! I only made a handful, but I enjoyed doing it. I also made and sent Easter cards this year. They were stickled and stitched...what was I thinking?



#40 Reduse, Reuse, Recycle

Inspired by the guy from Canuckistan, I started recycling at home. I was impressed by his claim that he only has to take out two bags of trash a month. So, I added a bin to my pantry cabinet. It's super easy to recycle in Tuscaloosa...the fire station two blocks from me has bins for everything except glass. (Glass has to be taken to Bham.) So people, if you aren't recycling, you should be. Now get to it!

#47 Advance my career

I accepted the position of Assistant University Registrar in May and it definitely carries with it a lot of added responsibility. I'm facing my daily challenges with determination and poise...well ok, maybe not every day, but hey - everybody needs a goal. I'm enjoying the 50,000 foot view though. I'm not exactly sure when I decided I wanted a career in higher ed administration, but it was probably around the time I realized I might be good at it. Having a pleasant working environment and great co-workers likely played a role as well.

#51 Practice Self Awareness

I took a course called The Artist's Way at the first of the year. I won't pretend that I thoroughly completed all the tasks of each chapter successfully. I won't even pretend that I read every chapter of the book. I will admit that one of the things that I was the least faithful about (morning pages) was the one thing that was the most helpful. It was also the most difficult. You have no idea how negative thoughts can run your mind and life (or even that you had so many) until you start writing them down. The morning pages are the one thing from the course that has hung around. I'm not diligent, but they serve a purpose from time to time.

There are several other items that are "in progress", so hopefully, I'll have another update soon. Please don't hold your breath though...I'd hate to see you turn blue.

Rach