Savvy Thinker

On winning an Oscar

Karin — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:10:21 +0000

It's flattering to have two, but they haven't changed my life or my career. My work continues as it did before -- an adventure, full of passion and uncertainty. Of course, I'd like to win another one, who wouldn't? Pedro Almodovar; won for Best Foreign Language Film All About My Mother, 1999; Best Original Screenplay, Talk to Her, 2002

I love thinking of life as an adventure, full of passion and uncertainty. Taking risks, partaking of the adventure and the uncertainty, is one measure to me of whether I live a life well-lived. I have gone outside my comfort zone on a number of occasions. The alternative would be to narrow my life more and more. No can do!

How about you? do you look for passion and adventure in your life?

Karin

Originally posted 2007-02-21 10:12:57.

To be an appreciator People call me an optimist, but I'm really an appreciator....When...

A life that is well lived

Karin — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:58:02 +0000

This comes from a friend of mine who helped another friend celebrate her 102nd birthday! I asked her to tell me something about her friend. I think we tend to hear more of decrepitude than elders who are still going strong. I like to collect stories of folks living life well into their elder years. It counteracts what we hear way more of than we should for our own good.

Karin

My friend who is celebrating her 102nd birthday this week, is so inspiring to me. She stays up to date with news and current events and is always interesting to talk to. She knows what's going on and often has a thoughtful comment to offer. She has friends of all ages. I know that each of her friends feel just as I do.....they visit her because they WANT to, not because they feel obligated. They enjoy talking to her and they enjoy being with her.

One day, when she was 98 years old, I took her to the bank because she had two c.d.'s that were coming due and she wasn't sure what to do with them. I waited while she went in and talked to the bank officer. A few minutes later she came out of his office and with a little smile on her face, she told me that she had renewed the cd's for another two years. We both kind of chuckled at her decision, but that was just another example of how she lives each moment of her life, always living in the here and now. I don't know what she did with the cd's when they came due again. She would have been 100 that year and I'd be willing to bet that she renewed them for another two years. (and if so, it's now time to renew them again!) She lives each day with anticipation and appreciation.

About two years ago the apartment building which she had lived in for more than 25 years was being turned into condos and everyone had to leave unless they wanted to buy a unit. She knew she would have to leave, and after much help from several friends she moved from her spacious two bedroom apartment into a much smaller one-bedroom apartment a few blocks away. She could not fit all of her furniture into the one bedroom apartment, but instead of selling the furniture that she couldn't use, she rented a storage unit and stored the excess furniture.. I saw that as one more example of her living for the moment. She seldom talks about the past unless she has an interesting story to tell you. She's a real inspiration!

You asked me to include any comments that she might have made at her birthday party about life or birthdays, but she just simply thanked everyone for being there and for their kindness. She seems to take each birthday in stride without ever making a big deal about it . Amazing! Love, J.

Originally posted 2007-02-18 14:00:35.

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50 ways to leave your lover, Paul Simon

Karin — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:47:58 +0000

It's only fair to present the other side, after Valentine's Day. I always thought this song was clever.

It might add a little humor to life if we thought of another word for lover -- perhaps job or resentment or anger or...we aren't stuck in unhappiness in life if we look for a way out. Sometimes that might even mean staying under new circumstances.

Karin

Originally posted 2007-02-16 07:59:39.

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Colinette Absolutely Fab Throw as shawl

Karin — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:37:11 +0000

This is really a gorgeous kit and comes in an array of colors. Directions in each kit include a number of ways to knit the throw.

I really didn't want to commit myself to that much time -- or expense -- and some of the yarns have wool in them, so I felt the throw would get very little use.

I decided to see if one of my mini poncho patterns would work, since the number of stitches was the same. I knitted the design, following the pattern for yarn, until it was long enough to go around me. Then I made fringe to hold it along the top. For the fringe to hold, it has to pass through both sides; hold them even, and make a single knot. It is not attached like normal fringe. The shawl drapes on the bias.

I figured if I didn't like it, I could just keep knitting, and I'd have the throw. Just the same, I was a bit anxious to see if it would do as I hoped.

I have nearly enough yarn, or I have enough, to make a second shawl, especially if I would fudge the pattern and use the yarn down to the last inch. There is definitely enough if I were to make it for one of my children or a smaller adult. Whatever odd bits of yarn could be incorporated into the fringe.

I was happy with the way it turned out. What do you think?

Karin
www.savvythnker.com

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Originally posted 2009-03-23 08:01:21.

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FOTD Gothic Lolita colors from Aromaleigh

Karin — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:30:34 +0000

Breaking away from the amethysts from yesterday, I wanted to go for something a little different today. I do love all the GL colors from Aromaleigh.

Eyes all shadow AL Gothic Lolita which is 25% off this week.
Base: Lancome Cosmos cream shadow, a light pinky lilac; then a custom mix of sparkly beige powder
Crease: AL Verdant Wisp (green)
Outer corner: AL Elegant reverie (blue)
Dry lined top and bottom (outside the edge of the pencil liner) AL Aqua nightmare
Pencil bottom: MAC graphblack in waterline; MAC brownline outside that
Pencil top: Sephora Flashy Blue 08, bright aqua, just above the outer waterline
Mascara: Lancome Fatale in black
Brows: Chanel Blond-Taupe

Lips: NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in 721 Soft Fuchsia, very pretty color!
Cheeks: no idea, will add later

Originally posted 2009-03-06 15:44:16.

FOTD AL Shadows Eyes Base: Avon light purple cream in a wand Crease:...

The work of an unknown good man (or woman)

Karin — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:13:26 +0000

The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green. -- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish Writer

Sometimes I think we feel we need to be doing something really huge to justify taking up space, but this quote puts it into perspective for me. I just love this one.

It's enough just to be. And we water the ground around us. Maybe we even make a wilderness bloom. And it is not that we do it consciously, we just do it because we are.

Even the simple things of life that we take doing for granted, such as washing dishes, are seen to be important if they are not done.

It's enough just to be who we are. Going through our day with as much enjoyment and as much courage as we can muster, hitting some hard or low spots, or even high spots, but carrying on carrying on is really doing a good work.

And yes, sometimes it is work...

Without a word our lives can be a counterbalance to the difficult places or people in life, and that's saying a lot.

Karin

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus in John 7: 38

Originally posted 2007-03-17 07:48:31.

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The Beatles And I love her

Karin — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:59:56 +0000

Originally posted 2007-03-03 09:27:40.

No related posts.

The elusive nature of happiness, part 6

Karin — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:42:15 +0000

H = S + C + V
Happiness = Set Point + Conditions of Your Life + Volunteer Activities

The S and C account for ...60% of our happiness. "But that still leaves 40% which is really quite a lot." [Lyubomirsky] Liz Seymour

I'd like to know where they get their percentages. I think there are times when C can be a lot more than 60%. It can permeate the whole of life, even if we have happy moments.

We have to fight for the kind of life we want -- and that includes our happiness. Make the choices that increase our overall sense of well-being.

Martin Seligman, originator of the term 'positive psychology' [director of the Positive Psychology Center at the U of PA] divides the building blocks of happiness into two broad categories: pleasures and gratifications. Pleasures are sensual and emotional (a good meal...a back rub) but generally fleeting in their effect. Gratifications are those activities that call on our skills and strengths and give us a sense of a job well done. [He] divides [these] even further into what he calls 'signature strengths' -- marks of character such as perseverance, kindness, curiosity, and humility that make each of us the individuals that we are.

...[Haidt] assigned [psychology students] four activities: attend a lecture, perform an act of kindness, express gratitude to someone, [or]eat an ice cream cone. Only the ice cream cone failed to lift the student's mood for the whole day. ... "We are most fully engaged in life when we are part of something that isn't just for ourselves." Liz Seymour

Well, no wonder food is not really a comfort, if this holds true. Of course, we knew that empirically, but now it is confirmed. I'm still not ready to give up chocolate, but if I go for a while not eating it, I find I don't want it.

What things give you the best day or the best feeling about yourself or your life? Kindness and curiosity rank up there with keeping involved in life.

Karin

Originally posted 2007-09-24 21:04:27.

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Lucid Intervals by Stuart Woods

Karin — Sun, 20 May 2012 02:26:29 +0000

What's not to like about a Stone Barrington book! Stuart Woods has created an interesting series.

I got this book from the library.

It has the usual cast of characters: Dino, Stone, Joan, Herbie Fisher ... and much of the action takes place, as usual at Elaine's, the restaurant Stone and Dino frequent. Or at Stone's house -- and in the bedroom.

Herbie has won a fortune in the NY lotto and that provides both humor and pathos. Why Herbie! And he pays Stone $1 million to represent him. Delusional or not, he thinks he is being pursued, and he might be, since he is determined to marry a prostitute (who still has a pimp) and carries a brown bag full of money. He has even less money sense than he does sense, if that is possible, though he has paid off his bookie and the gambling debts he has incurred. He also has incurred their wrath because he is no longer gambling -- after all, when it is real money, not paper loans, it feels more real.

Additionally, Dolce makes an appearance again. She is the murderous ex-wife (or kinda wife, since the paper they signed has been returned to Stone) who, after a mental breakdown of the worst sort, has convinced her mafia father and her handler that she is safe on the town. But she knows how to knife a man without killing him. And she seems bent on killing Stone -- or at least scaring him, and she is one to be feared.

The lucid intervals refers to moments of lucidity in Herbie's crazy life, and the moments of lucidity (which have disappeared) in Dolce's.

And who's to say which intervals are lucid when the world has gone crazy.

Into this mix comes Dame Felicity who offers the sex interest in this book -- nearly all of which occurs off page and by innuendo -- and a job for Stone. She wants him to find a missing rogue agent, Stanley Whitestone, who may or may not be alive. She refuses to tell him much of the reasons why (and she may not know herself) and Stone keeps his confidences to himself also.

The fun is in the humor between the characters and in the denouement, and the fact that you know Stone will come out on top. There are a few surprises along the way, one of which I was not happy with, but it shows the world's craziness, and perhaps it shows real life spy scenarios where safety isn't always possible. The reason is given as a surprise, no hints along the way.

Now what will these characters find themselves into in the next book?

Do you read this series or this author? Do you have a favorite?

Buy: Lucid Intervals: A Stone Barrington Novel (Kindle Edition)

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Fresh Disasters SIGNED by Stuart Woods 1ST/1ST (2007, Hardcover)

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Mounting Fears SIGNED by Stuart Woods 1ST/1ST (2009, Hardcover)

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Originally posted 2010-05-04 06:57:43.

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Are you addicted2beads(Trollbeads, Pandora, Chamilia, artisan) and more?

Karin — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:04:54 +0000

If you are, you might like to check out

http: www.addicted2beads.ning.com

I'm hoping it will be a great resource for many of us.

So far, there are several artisan glass makers who have joined and have their information posted as well as some gorgeous silver compatible Bali beads from a shop in Australia: http:www.redbalifrog.com

You can see pictures and meet new friends who share the same interests.

Karin

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