Life Is Great's Open Salon Blog

Are You Waving At Me?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:11:05 -0500

In July I posted a piece on a man that I see every morning as I drive to work, The Man At The Bus Stop.

Since then almost every day I see him perched atop his bench waiting for the bus. For a week or so about a month back he wasn't there and I was a bit concerned and disappointed since he's now become a part of my life.

I find his presence there comforting and I'm not sure why. I just feel a kindred spirit with him and sometimes there's just no explanation. You just accept and enjoy it.

For the past couple of weeks a co-worker who lives nearby has been riding with me to work. We chat about what's going on in our lives and one day I pointed out The Man At The Bus Stop to her. Now we've started to watch for him together and one day last week for some reason I waved at him as we passed. I think I did this twice last week.

This morning as we were driving by I was a bit preoccupied and busy talking about my weekend which, by the way, was absolutely great. Today I had forgotten to wave but as I glanced to the right, there he sat and do you know what he did? He waved! We hurriedly waved back and gave him smiles.

I think a friendship has been born and we'll probably never say a word face to face but now we'll wave our "Good Morning" and share a few seconds of human kindness.

I like to believe that for each of us our days will be a bit brighter for having connected with a "friend" so bright and early in the morning! I know mine will.

Day On Saint George Street--a journal

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:11:02 -0500

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Britt called this morning and I could tell she’d been crying. She told Parker last night that she would never be willing to move to California and it’s obvious that when he finishes film school out there he isn’t coming back here. She told me how she feels badly because he didn’t do anything wrong. Well, she didn’t do anything wrong either but she can’t just keep talking to him every night with no hope for a future. She is so much like me and now our situations seem to be very similar also.

“Do you want me to come over?”
“Yes, that would be nice.”

Lately my answer for everything has been to hit the road so we headed for Saint Augustine. There’s plenty there to get her mind off the situation for a while. To get both of our minds off our situations.

As we wandered down St George Street the voice of a girl singing lured us into Mi Casa Café. Outside the restaurant is a bar and a few tables with a covering overhead but otherwise pretty much open where she was singing and playing the guitar. A guitar and me, I can’t resist. Some of the songs Chelsea had written and a couple of covers that she did surprised me because she is so young. When she sang Stevie Nicks’ “Landslide” I cried. Changes…man....yeah, talk about it! But I cheered up with Melanie’s “Brand New Key” and even sang along without getting an “Oh, Mom” from Britt. Actually, I don’t think I sound so bad but that’s just me.

The bartender seemed to be either her roommate or boyfriend and was very nice. He recommended Spaten Optimator for me and offered a taste which turned out to be half of a small cup but it was very good. So, with the “taste” and the regular large cup it was almost more than I could drink. Almost! Britt gave me a hard time because it was before noon and she had lemonade but who makes the rules around here anyway? Me, that’s who and I'll drink before noon if I want to!

We sat there for a long while enjoying Chelsea’s music before deciding it was time to move on. She had a few CD’s there, of course, so I bought one and talked to her for a bit. She was happy someone recognized her Melanie song and enjoyed it. That's definitely a place I want to go back to sometime at night. And often!

We bought tacky bracelets made of seashell fragments and I got a pair of not tacky earring made of abalone that I love. Dangly ones.

There was a bench in the little alleyway where the shop was located that had a sign over it: “No Loitering”. Now, can you tell me what the hell else you would do on that bench but loiter? Britt and I stood there and had a good laugh. Is making out considered loitering? Have to give that a try sometime and see if anyone comes to arrest me!

The chocolate shop doesn’t have the appeal it once did since I don’t eat much candy any more. The caramel apple, though, looked good but they’re so messy. I stuck my head in and the guy said, sure, they’d cut it up for us. A big green apple dipped in caramel then chocolate then drizzled with white chocolate cut eight ways in a take out box! We could only finish half of it between us but it was delicious.

Outside of a gallery sat an artist painting so I had to stop and chat. Britt and I are both very gregarious so a lot of chatting happens when we’re around. He had a large painting on display that took a year to finish. Imagine that, a whole year on one painting but the detail on the ferns and Spanish moss was unbelievable. Today he was working on a commissioned piece of a scene in Key West. It looked finished to me but he showed me where he was going to add a cat curled up on the sidewalk because there are cats there descending from Hemingway’s cats and a rooster and hen because “anyone who knows Key West” knows they run around wild. I don’t know Key West so I’ll take his word for it.

Victor told us that the lady in the shop next door was there when Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings lived in the area and that many times she saw her walking her dog down the streets of St Augustine. He also told us about Rawlings visits from Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald when she lived there. I got a chill just thinking about it! Imagine! Now that’s a trio I’d like to stop and chat up!

Britt and I went in my favorite shop where they have the risqué postcards and buttons. Love that place! It’s the one where my friend Dimples got a card for her grandmother of an old woman smoking weed. She is so much fun and apparently so is her grandmother.

We had wandered a while since eating half the apple but weren’t really hungry when we came to the pizza place with the guy out front passing out samples. It’s supposed to be the best pizza in St Augustine and the sample won me over because the crust was thin and very crispy. We ordered one slice each, Britt’s with artichoke hearts and mine with artichoke hearts and tri-color peppers. As usual my order was wrong. I don’t know what kind of karma I have or what cook or chef I pissed off in another life but I rarely get what I order. The girl handed me artichoke hearts with extra cheese! I didn’t want extra cheese. I wanted bell peppers. So Britt took the one with extra cheese and we sent back hers to have peppers added and it was delicious with a very crispy crust after having been cooked twice. Yep, I think it probably is the best pizza in St Augustine.

One of the galleries has a Theodore Geisel exhibit. They have his sketch of a woman with her tits showing and a big hammer poised over her head titled “Booby Trap”. Ha!!

We walked along the water on the way back to the car parked by the Castillo and enjoyed the sight of the sailboats and the breeze on such a beautiful day.

When I dropped Britt off we hugged and told each other how much we had enjoyed the day. The pain was forgotten for a few hours and somehow when it came back some of the sting was gone.....

I think we left it strewn up and down St George Street.

Sexiest Man On OS--No Doubt About It--Duaneart

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:11:30 -0500

He's an artist.

He's a fiction writer.

He's a songwriter.

He's a poet.

He's a musician.

He makes every woman on OS think he's talking directly to her.

He's a flirt.

He's addictive.

He can drive a woman crazy.

But he is also

Just a man

A sensitive man

An intelligent man

A man with so much to share

A man who's not afraid to admit his faults

A man who never stops surprising

A man who is so much more than all those other things.

What makes a man sexy? I'll be damned if I know for sure but all of the above make a great start. It's so much more than just sex and appearance.

Duane, you are the Sexiest Man On OS!!!

Now can I get an Amen on that, girls?

When Good Just Isn't Enough

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:11:10 -0500

I'll make this short and sweet!

Life Is Good has become Life Is Great.

What's up with "good" anyway?

"This soup is good. What brand is it?"

"This soup is great! What kind of spices did you use?"

"I had a good time last night. That restaurant was nice."

"I had a great time last night! You made me feel so special!"

Big difference, huh?

Yeah, that's what I thought and today seemed like a good, make that a GREAT, day to make the change.

A good life is OK but let's not settle for OK or good, whatta ya say?

Life is going to be Great!

What's in a name?

Oh, so very much.......

Andy Worhol or Sharon's Job

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:11:34 -0500

Andy Warhol's "200 One Dollar Bills" after being estimated to sell at $12 million sold for $43.7 million. The last time this piece sold was for $300,000 over 20 years ago so someone made a tidy profit on their investment and I understand the business aspect of art collecting but what I don't understand is who the hell has $43.7 million right now to spend on art, even if it is Andy Warhol. Obviously, at least one other person or company or group had almost that much or the bidding wouldn't have gone so high from the $12 million expected.

I have no idea who bought the piece so I don't know how they came by their money but being the social thinking person that I am I can't help but wonder. "Who has that kind of money and where did they get it?"

Do you want to know my theory? I think it comes out of each of our pockets one penny at a time. An interest rate increase here, a price increase there. And while our interest rates get increased on our mortage or credit cards the companies are outsourcing their jobs to other countries. While prices increase on goods, the manufacture of those goods is being done in China or Mexico or anywhere but the good ol' USofA.

I don't have a lot of money for shopping but I always check the box on electronics or appliances and the label on clothes to see where they're made and will opt for Made in America over anywhere else, especially China. The first challenge is just finding any of these items made here. Have you looked lately? I know a lot of us are pinching pennies right now and only see the price tags but, if you're interested, start checking to see where products are made and trying to find a comparable domestic item and you'll see what I mean.

What if?

What if a company like WalMart went back to old Sam's original premise of "Made in America"? I don't shop their stores for many reasons but one is that so much of their stuff is made in China but the company carries a lot of clout due to the sheer volume of their sales and could make quite an impact if they started insisting that their suppliers provide domestic goods rather than imports.

What if the executives who bring down the multi-million dollar bonuses on a yearly basis were tried for treason when they moved their companies offshore to avoid taxes or get cheap labor? Have they lost all social conscience?

What if our elected officials had the nerve to levy taxes and put more restrictions on trade?

What if someone with power stood up and said loudly, "This is enough! Our country's economy is dying and needs resusitation, Now!" Why are other countries having to take steps to shore up the sliding US dollar to protect their own currencies? How the mighty have fallen!

I know I'm a bit of an innocent when it comes to the economy and someone with more knowledge than I could come up with better "what if's" but my point is that we need to start exploring some of these "what if's" and make them reality.

I found out last week that my job is being taken by people in the Philippines. They've started taking some of our calls and that's why I'm at home today. Our volume was so low that they offered to let some of us go home and I'm just so tired of making excuses for corporate greed that I was glad to leave.

How much do you think the company is saving by doing this? Probably less than an executive's bonus for the year I'd be willing to wager. Do you like to call for customer service and get someone in India or the Philippines? I don't think it's going to go over very well with the people who subscribe to the publication for which I work even though they're probably some of the very people who, when it comes to their own bottom lines, would not hesitate to send jobs offshore to ensure that they have two homes, one north and one south, and sometimes a third in the mountains or Vegas.

So, today I'm ranting about people who can afford to buy expensive paintings and who maybe don't deserve my disdain but I'm more than a little mad. When I look at the job sites, I'm more than a little worried about finding something else anytime soon.

I look around me at people who aren't as fortunate as I and are also losing their jobs and I feel ashamed for complaining because at least I have a roof over my head and a little money in the bank and another income in the house.

But if we don't start complaining and insisting on change and buying American whenever we can then nothing will happen. But then again if we start complaining and insisting on change, maybe nothing will happen either but at least we will have tried.

Now, I feel better having gotten that off my chest. I'm going to go do something nice for myself and enjoy the rest of the afternoon and hope you do, too!!!

Big Hug!

Sharon