Parthena’s Neighborhood

Is that a dragon I see before me?

Night 1:

Flamingo Dancer returns from the bathroom and Mr FD asks:

"Did you see any dragons?"

"Yes," said I. "They were bar-b-queing the yaks"

"I hope there are some leftovers for breakfast" he says and goes back to sleep.

Night 2:

Mr FD returns from the bathroom and I  ask:

"Did you see any dragons?"

"Dragons!" Mr FD exclaims. "I am sick of slaying dragons. Day in, day out, nothing but dragon slaying. At least they could keep it down to one a day." He returns to bed and goes back to sleep.

Dragons and yaks in our backyard...the neighbours are not going to be happy at all.

We have finished Le Grande Coq and moved onto a Cockfighter's Ghost...is anyone sensing a theme here? Besides drinking and happy dancing in celebration that is. Language is no barrier.

Cockfighter's ghost : Named after a ghostly steed, said to reside upon Pooles Rock vineyard

viewing the light at the end of the tunnel

I had a great moment early yesterday morning, as I sat in the lecturer theatre waiting for the conference to begin and for my scheduled time to present my conference paper. Well, I had a couple actually, but one was earth shattering.

On the very first day of my studies this year, I struggled with flipping the lecturer table up on my seat in the first lecture hall and I had to be shown how to get the damn thing into position. Yesterday morning, in a totally different lecturer theatre, I saw my neighbour struggling with her lecturer table and assisted her to get it up and into place. I laughed and said what a sense of achievement I felt from that one little thing. It seemed to represent in some way the long journey that I have been on this year. Of course the sage in front of me laughed and said 'let's hope that is not all we have learnt this year'. It wouldn't have mattered all that much if it was, as I have changed so much over this year, met some wonderful people, who, while I know they won't stay in my life after this week, have contributed to a very profound expreince for me.

I was reading the conference booklet, looking at all the great papers being presented that day, and feeling my nervousness mounting, when my tutor walked by. I wish such a teacher on every student at some stage in their life, and hopefully at a time when they can gain most from them. She turned and called out to me 'Flamingo Dancer! You are going to be great today, you have written a really fantastic paper and your power point slides are wonderful!' I said that I guessed it was only a half hour of my life, but I was still feeling nervous. And then she stopped and thought a moment and she smiled and said ' Think of it this way, you are presenting for all the people in the world who suffer anxiety because of their difficulties with perfectionism'. And at that moment, I calmed down. She was right, as here I was having a chance to present to a group of educators a problem that I know has severely handicapped the lives of several people I know and more than a few students I saw while prac teaching. If my few simple words made an imprint on one of them, and they could help one person as a result, and even though I will never know that, I will have lived a life well lived.

I was 3rd to present. It was a good position as we were all fresh and not yet uncomforatble from sitting for too long. I was happy with my performance. Well, I am Flamingo Dancer after all! Actually I was more than pleased with my presentation because when I started this degree course I was so frightened at the thought of standing up in front of my peers and speaking that I really worried whether I would be able to complete the course. Now I can stand up in front of a room of strangers and speak. Maybe sometimes it is incoherent, or dribble, but damn I can do it.

Afterwards a couple of people came up to me and said how much they enjoyed my presentation and how they identified many aspects of their own personalities in what I had described. I suspect that most university students suffer from perfectionism to some degree, how else do they stay the course? Of course we all have to write 'attention to detail' on our resume, don't we? So we are expected to be perfectionists, even though it makes our life unhappy  and often derails our learning. I felt please anyway, because I had delivered my message and hopefully the message will be passed on.

At the end of the day, most of my colleagues were going for drinks, but I was exhausted and had arranged for Son to pick me up anyway. I must admit that sitting from 8.30am to 5.30pm with just a lunch break and a couple of toilet breaks really put my back and neck into painful zones, so I really did just want to go home. They didn't need Flamingo Dancer dancing on the tables and telling everyong that she loved them in a slurred tongue. Not that I wouldn't have done it in an original memorable suprior style! 

So all I can say is - take that leap, test yourself, go for the mountain top. AGE DOESN"T MATTER!  It won't be easy and it will be scarey. At times you will be exhausted, and frightened and overwhelmed. There are no guarantees at the end. No promises that you will get a better job, or a pot of gold, but what you gain as a person, the little treasures that come your way on the journey are worth every moment of the journey, pain and all. Join the parade.

I am partaking of a small, well middish, glass of a cheeky little le grand coq cabernet sauvignon 2004. It's promotional claim is that it is produced from very well hung grapes. I have no idea where or when we obtained it, I suspect it was either a gift, or purchased in one of the moments of holiday hilarity when one thinks everything is humorous and a must have. It has been cellared very carefully in a cardboard cartoon that once contained reams of printing paper, in the corner of our living room, for heavens knows how long. Maybe since 2004.  It did have the requisite covering of dust though.

I drink it as I write my way through my first draft of my last assignment in my postgraduate degree. Perhaps too soon to celebrate...but damn I am being creative. Luckily I don't have to hand the assignment in until Monday so I have time to sober up and edit!

It tastes very nice....

red sunflower macro


Originally uploaded by Karen Lynnn

Jo brought me flowers for my birthday party on Saturday. I bet she knew I'd be shooting them. :)

one leaf


Originally uploaded by Karen Lynnn

This tree is pretty much naked now, we had a few days of wind, and only the oak trees and the weeping willows are hanging on to their leaves. I have a few perennials still doing ok, I was hoping to get out and shoot today, but the wind changed my mind so I took a day for myself, and laid in bed and watched Milk.

I rearranged the pantry today in anticipation of Thanksgiving. I want to attach my clothing closet too, but it is overwhelming when I look at it. But, the pantry was too, and I tackled that. I had expired jello...expired in 2007. Then I started looking at every expiration date on every package and filled a 13 gallon trash bag with near empty bags and boxes of stale snacks and expired Jello. I wonder why I had 13 boxes of Jello. What was I thinking?

I've got flowers around the house to photograph, 2 of my christmas cactus's are blooming, and Jo brought me flowers on Saturday, when we celebrated my birthday yet again. October was FULL of birthday surprises!

My best gifts by far were the platter Jo made for me and my IPhone.

I've sort of abandoned my Vox blog. There just isn't time in the day to keep up with a neighborhood and download and edit, post and comment AND do things offline that won't get done if I don't get off my arse.

Note to self. This posts to your Vox blog you dummy!

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The List:

1.  Frog Star using 2008 shop hop fabric -- finish purchasing fabric, finish designing, piece, applique, quilt, bind

2.  Pacific Koi block swap -- quilt, bind

3.  Edmond Quilt Guild block of the month -- piece blocks,  prepare applique blocks, finish applique, assemble top, quilt, bind

4.  Front Porch stars -- quilt, bind

5.  Starry Night in May -- quilt, bind

6.  The Mother Road -- quilt, bind 

7.  Weather Vane -- quilt, bind

8.  Christmas Quilt -- quilt, bind

9.  Plumeria alba II -- design, fracture, border, quilt, bind

10. In the Merry Old Land of Oz -- quilt, bind

11.  Yellow Brick Road -- piece blocks, add borders, quilt, bind

12.  Lone Star -- piece star, add borders, quilt, bind

OK, I've made very little progress this month.  But the quilt that I've added to position 12 will get finished.  It's a challenge quilt that must be turned in before the end of December.  And since I really do have all those wall hangings I made this year that don't show on the list I think it's fair to say that this resolution is in the bag.  Now to start planning my strategy for next year's resolution...