Unplugged

It's that time. I'll be gone for awhile.....adios! :)

Air...or not

there is no AC in the building today...i....can't....breathe....

today is probably one of the most humid days on record in Boston, with crazy unpredictable rainy weather. not good for a woman with a mop of thick & curly hair to begin with. if they don't fix the AC in another couple of hours, i will need to walk down the hallway SIDEWAYS just so i can fit through. my hair is growing more bozo-like by the second. i REALLY want to avoid this. i've already had a couple of double-takes thrown my way. i don't want to be accused of trying to follow this fashion trend - BY CHOICE. please...fix the AC!

Visit to the MFA

When I was in either 8th or 9th grade, I had to do an oral report for my Spanish class.  I chose to study and report on the artist El Greco.  I  loved researching the topic and giving my presentation to the class. El Greco became a fast favorite of mine, and I was beyond excited when the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, brought an exhibit of his work to Boston.  I went to the exhibit today with my sister Carol and brother Paul.  It was very, very crowded.  The exhibit is named "El Greco to Velazquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III".  The art was created during the late 1500s and into the 1600s.  If it comes to a museum near you, I highly recommend it!  I loved it.  Carol & I opted for the headphones and with those you can capture more of the history of the times and the reasons behind the commissioning of these incredible works of art.  The headphones also help for when you can't read the painting descriptions due to crowds, or as seems to be in my case, failing eyesight (I'm blaming too much blogging for that :) ).  

Carol, Paul and Rita definitely give the exhibit

FRIDAY

gotta love fridays.  here's how i see this one panning out.

lets begin here (this is the exact machine i use every day, many times a day):

then up one flight to what most of my day will look like:

the mind will be wishing it were hanging down here instead watching this  click here.

inevitably there will be some of this:

but there is a light.  always a light.  we here get early release on fridays in the summer.  three o'clock won't approach fast enough

the mood lightens.  people feel, well, euphoric

for me, one of these will be in the picture

along with hanging out and watching this on hd tv

yeah.  i like fridays.  

i hope all of you have a good one - followed by a great weekend!  summer, summer, summer!

Work It!

Taking my cue from Emily and Tia, I thought I would just let people know how I spend my time Monday thru Friday, 9-5 (beside commenting my brains out on blogs).

I work at Boston College, as the Associate Director of Prospect Management. If you are wondering "what's that?" do not be alarmed - I'm still trying to figure it out as well. My role falls under the University Advancement office. In short terms, it is fundraising. I work behind the scenes to make sure the front-line fundraisers are approaching the best people who are in a position to help the University sustain its operations and also grow. That means running a lot of reports, analyzing the results and making many judgements and determinations. I also help each fundraiser stay on top of his/her portfolio by assisting them in moving people toward a gift. It's a big operation - last year BC raised over $101m...in just 12 months! That's a lot of moolah. We are prepping for a very, very big campaign that will kick-off in October. I have been in the field of fundraising since 2000. There is a lot to the science of fundraising and I have learned a great deal while working in the industry. I do not see myself ever advancing down the road of directly asking people for their hard-earned cash, but there is definite potential for career growth behind the scenes. And it's nice to work on a college campus where there are many varied opportunities, should I ever want to turn down another road.

I attended BC as an undergrad and that has been an added bonus to this whole experience. It makes me feel like I am twenty years old again!

This is one job that I continue to get up every morning and love to go to. I can't say I have ever had that experience before. I have always liked my jobs, but was frequently frustrated with the goings-on and with mediocre management. This job is great and offers so much, with a great deal of support from management. I have been here eleven months and will celebrate my one-year anniversary August 20. They seem to like me - so I think I'm in! Phew.

It's known around here locally that BC is a tough place to get a job. It's highly competitive. To even get an interview through the regular Human Resources channel is HARD. You pretty much need to know someone. As my incredibly lucky stars would have it, Betsy knew someone. When I was feeling low - way low - at my last job, Betsy took it upon herself to reach out to a woman she once worked with that is now at BC to verify a rumor about a job opening that could be a potential fit. Connections were made and the rest is history. That email was a turning point for me. The depth of my gratitude is completely beyond words. I love Betsy for many, many different reasons and this is just one of them. I work every day to consciously honor her kind words that she used to describe me to my now boss - cuz it worked! When Tia blogged that Betsy brings out the best in her, I exclaimed outloud at my kitchen table - "that's how I feel too!" Her encouragement is ALWAYS there. She truly is a gift. She travelled a long way to cross my path seven years ago next month, and I am beyond glad that she did!

So - here I am at BC. It's a wonderful place - put it on your list of colleges to visit with your kids when they are juniors in high school...I'll give you the inside tour! : )

Go Eagles!

Childhood Reflection

just started reading this book Me & Emma upon recommendation.  i can already tell it will be a doozy - 70 pages into it and it is already pulling at my heart strings. it begins with an 8 year old girl and her relationship with her sister, two years younger.  they're buds and it's wonderful. 

the book has got me to thinking about my own childhood.  and from that look back, i have pulled out a memory of my favorite must-see tv lineup (real deep on my part, i know).  when i wasn't in the basement listening to my brothers' albums (i was down there a lot.  a cellar dweller if you will.  when nine people are occupying your house and you're the youngest fighting for space, that's where i ended up for chill time.  it was a finished basement, chairs, couches and with the finest speakers this side of town.  i learned a great deal about music down there, from my brothers mostly - bruce springsteen, tavares, elton john, harold melvin and the blue notes.....upstairs was where i heard my sisters' music - the beatles, diana ross & the supremes...good times.  anyway - i digress) i was runnning to the tv room to catch the latest on these five shows:

The Flintstones   

every morning before going to school there were two shows i needed to watch - this was show #1.  i thought wilma was awesome.  i think her white dress always made think of my mother, who was (is) a nurse, and always wore the traditional white uniform back then.  fred was fun and i just loved and appreciated the friendship they all shared. and i guess i learned a little about rock quarries too.

Gilligan's Island

I believe this was on in the afternoon too, but in the morning (show #2) I only had time for the theme song before rushing off to kindergarten. so, i would stand in front of the tv, impatiently waiting for the commercials to be over so i could sing the theme song.  it was an important ritual for me. then i'd bolt out the door.  in the afternoon i could come back and settle into the actual show...what a hoot.  i could never figure out how they all managed to stay looking so good when there were no stores on the island.  no wonder i like the show LOST

The Brady Bunch

of course -  who wasn't watching this?...but the best part of this show would be two things that every day i could ALWAYS count on happening: 

a.) going into the kitchen for this conversation

 

me : 'what's for dinner?' 

my mother: 'food'  

me: 'okay'

then i'd go settle into the chair back in the tv room. 

b.) in a little while my dad would come through the door from work, walk into the den (served as his office AND our tv room) and he'd lean over and give me a big ol' fat kiss on the cheek.  i loved those two things about the brady bunch hour.  but hey - check out this fashion.

Solid Gold

if you grew up in boston, every saturday night was hot dog and beans night.  burgers too.  my brothers would bring friends home and my mom would feed all of us and the friends too. needless to say the kitchen was CROWDED.  my sister and i would wolf down our dinner and when it turned 7:00pm we would bolt for the den.  solid gold.  we were going to be solid gold dancers one day.  without question.  we enjoyed and we STUDIED the show.  the show worked for everyone - the youngsters were in the den while the adults could enjoy 'grown-up talk' in the kitchen.

Looney Tunes

this could have a gazillion sub-categories to it.  saturday morning cartoons.  weekday afternoons after school.  elmer fudd, bugs bunny, daffy duck, but also tom & jerry, and i loved mighty mouse.

(sidebar: i am smelling this character right now)

lester lightbulb taught me about electricity.  and special to my heart was captain bob - he was a sailor looking artist who had a drawing show and made me fall in love with art every saturday morning, at age eight or so.   

an honorable mention goes to this - loved it! and i often wonder if this one influenced me to become a history major in college?! 

what were you watching when you were 8 years old?

   

Rumblings...

We had some pretty unsettling weather today.  In the morning the sun was out, then BAM!, hail and blowing rain like I have not seen in years.  Luckily it was over as fast as it came and the sun shone on for the rest of the day. 

But what really made the world rumble under my office chair today were these two stories in the news. 

Leona Helmsley 

$8 billion to the welfare of dogs?  I'm a dog lover.  I know many of you out there are too....but $8 BILLION?!?!  I could almost say "yeah, okay" to $1 billion.  There are a number of abandoned dogs out there, many due to so many natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters that cause dogs to be left behind. Unfortunately it doesn't even have to be a natural disaster to cause their homelessness. They need to be taken care of, and if someone wants to leave so much of their estate behind to aid in the care of these lost animals and their friends in shelters, I applaud it.  But I think this is a little over the top.  wow.  I'll be curious to see how this plays out.

Madonna and A-Rod

Why should it surprise me?  But it does.....SIGH.  I am really, really hoping it's just bad press and not true at all.  And, well okay - if she's going to go ahead and do this, does it have to be with a Yankee?  Then again, probably only a Yankee would do this - d'oh!

And since I am in a little bit of a snarky mood, I'll add one more - does there really need to be a press conference about Angelina giving birth to twins? I definitely wish them all the blessings, joys and health of newborn babies, but women are doing this every day, every hour, every minute all over the world.  geesh.  

And lastly...um, what was Cat Dealy wearing tonite? Anyone?