Time For Yourself, Postcards, and More Postcards

Just a few postcards today...

Some observations for today, and I guess we can call them lunch observations since I did all this during my lunch break:

1. It's important to schedule time or yourself, even if you don't feel you're in need of any. I work from home and only interact with people via phone or email so it can get a little glum in my office now and then. So, I took myself to lunch today and decided I'm going to do it once a week. Even if it's just for my tried-and-true tuna sandwich smothered in green chiles and avocado.

2. Who knew postcards could become an obsession? Yikes. I'm participating in the Month of Letters and putting a little poetry spin on it. Short poems on postcards. I'm enjoying picking out poems to go with the image on them. So far, I've sent out "Green Striped Melons" by Jane Hirshfield and "Michiko Nogami (1946-1982)" by Jack Gilbert. I can't wait for the weekend!

3. In my search for postcards, it seems no one really carries them anymore. I got lucky that one of the Barnes & Noble stores in my city still has a few on the rack, but they're not stocking them anymore. (Too late I found this out after driving to the other store across town in hopes of a more plentiful rack.) I went to another small bookstore with no luck, then even made my way to Hallmark, but they've discontinued them as well. Why? These perfect little cards say so much with just one image. Are postcards dead? Am I going to have to start making my own?

4. The mark of a productive day is a chocolate smudge from a York peppermint patty on your keyboard, at least it is for me today.

How has your day been? What does the mark of a productive day look like to you? And if you know of a good place to buy postcards besides Amazon, will you let me know? Please and thank you!

Smile, Andrea

Iced Tea, Old, Old Recipes, and The Way to a Man's Heart

I shared pecan chicken salad with my Grandma for lunch today. I also helped her put together her new recipe box and snuck in her recipe for her one-of-a-kind and top secret pie crust (she won't admit she is forgetting the recipe).  Sitting at her kitchen table, sorting through old recipe cut-outs, I felt like I was a kid again, just off the school bus, enjoying my afternoon snack with Grandma.  I'm still smiling.

Some lunch thoughts/observations:

1. Iced tea always tastes better when Grandma makes it.  I can't explain why.  It just does.  I even buy the same kind of tea and put it in the same kind of jug.  Maybe it's her ancient lemon/lime squeeze contraption that does it.  I don't know.  Refreshing.
2. I wish I could still buy Clabber Girl baking powder for 10 cents.  10 cents!  I wish I would've remembered to bring that little cut-out with me just to show you.  Instead, I remembered to bring some tasty cookie recipes instead.  From scratch.  Take that boxed mixes and pre-made dough!  (I researched this a little online and it looks as if these recipes are from sometime in the 1940's.  Wow.)
3. My Grandma says, "The real way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  Just look at your Grandpa.  He'd starve if I didn't cook or bake, and I realize it's my own fault!"  They've been married for over 60 years now and she still makes him a different dessert every night.  My husband gets dessert about once a week.  I've got some catching up to do! 

Wishing you a relaxing Labor Day and extended weekend!  

The Poetry Conveyor Belt

I'm amazed at the rate some people can turn out poems on various social media sites.  I even posted the following on my Twitter this morning: "Some people are conveyor belts of poetry.  I'm more like Lucy at the chocolate factory and I'm ok with that." 

Wrapped chocolates are the finished poems.  They come down my Twitter stream quite rapidly.  I admire the dedication these writers have to their craft.  I do try to write every day, but I can't say I have a wrapped chocolate ready for the eating at the end of each day.  Like Lucy, I tend to go at my own pace, eat a piece of chocolate yet to be wrapped here and there either by placing a poem in my "waiting-to'happen" pile or by chunking it all together (which I try very hard not to do in a fleeting wave of frustration) and continue with my work.  Sometimes, the chocolates I'm wrapping aren't my poems at all but those of others, and I like to stuff them in my shirt and sometimes even my hat for the reading.  The poems I'm reading and writing will all get wrapped eventually, and I may consume one too many calories, but I'm happy with this pace.  Chocolate is to be eaten and enjoyed, and I'm trying to delight in every bit of the process!

How often do you write a "finished" poem? 

Happy wrapping!  Andrea

P.S.  A little over a week and a half left for the book giveaway contest.  See details on how to win your own copy of The Memory of Water by Jack Myers by clicking here:  I want this book!

Pajamas, "Healthy" Food, Cell Phones, and Jack Myers

Lunch observations for today:

1.  I know pajamas are comfortable.  That's why I and a great many other people like to wear them to bed.  Their comfort and warmth are conducive to sleep.  How is wearing them out in public, especially to a restaurant, conducive to dining?  Ah, yes, you like to dine in comfort.  I'm still puzzled.  Sorry if you're not with me on this one.

2.  If you are fresh from a workout at the gym and still in your gym attire, and are complaining to your gym friend about your constant workouts but lack of weight loss, please don't order a huge salad with fried chicken pieces and drenched in ranch dressing.  And even though you've rationalized that half of a dessert (because you're splitting it) is "healthier" than a whole dessert, you've just erased your whole workout and then some.  But, if you're all about working out to maintain your weight and eating what you want, eat on. I will be open to sharing a peanut butter filled chocolate whoopie pie with you on my designated cheat day. ;)

3.  Out of 8 other tables around me, I was the only lone diner, and couldn't help but notice that only one table of four women were enjoying a lively conversation.  The rest of the tables (7) were all withdrawn from any conversation or human interaction, opting instead for a wide-eyed interaction with their cell phones.  And I continued to watch at this lack of human interaction for minutes on end.  And then when their food arrived, well, you know what happened.  Am I the only one saddened by this?

And on a side note, I have been thinking about teachers who have touched my life because it is National Teacher Appreciation week and came upon a poem that reminded me of a special teacher in my life.  I almost wanted to write "former teacher" but that would not be appropriate.  Jack Myers' instruction and lessons live on in my life not only through his memory, but through his books and poetry, especially now as I read his final poetry collection The Memory of Water.  Jack, I'm still watching, listening, and learning.  And yes, still writing.  I miss you, and I thank you.

Smile, Andrea

Is it Half Full or Half Empty?

Lunch observations for today:

1.  Chicken noodle soup is normally consumed when your stomach needs soothing or your cold needs tending to.  Today, I've found it is just good for the soul, kind of like a big bowl of ice cream at the end of a bad day.

2.  It is during times of adversity that your friends will really shine through.  Take note of them.  Appreciate them.  Be there with a bowl of chicken noodle soup the next time they need it.  And you.  The world has a funny way of putting things into perspective when we need it most.

3.  There are those who dwell too much on whether their glass is half full or half empty.  We should be grateful even if there is one tiny little drop in it.  At least I am. :)

Smile and take time to appreciate life, Andrea

P.S.  I've found a new poem to share with you:  "The Word that is a Prayer" by Ellery Akers.  A friend shared this with me today, and I couldn't say enough about the timing.  I hope you enjoy it.

Messy tables, Babies, Cupcakes, and Handwritten Poems

Happy Friday, everyone!

Lunch observations for today:

1. The way you leave a table says a lot of things about you, at least to me. And probably the person who buses your table once you leave the restaurant. Even if you know a place will bus your table, why leave it the biggest mess possible? How much of a mess can you really make when eating? And now on to positive things...

2. I wonder what babies are thinking while they are staring at you, hardly blinking, and managing a grin mixed with a look of bewilderment. I wish I could see what is going on in their mind. I hope they think I look happy.

3. I wish I would've taken a picture of it before I inhaled it: this miniature French toast and bacon cupcake topped with buttercream frosting and green sprinkles. Yes, I said French toast and bacon. It goes at the top of my list of flavors today. Sorry, red velvet. Move over, orange dreamsicle. I wish I would have bought a dozen of them!

4. I still love writing poems by hand. I can't do it via a computer. I don't know why. I think a handwritten poem on a page is a beautiful sight. How do you write yours?

Wishing everyone a day topped with buttercream frosting and sprinkles in your favorite color, Andrea

Lunch Conversations,Evolving Paparazzo Culture, and Hacky Sacks

Lunch observations for today:

• I am often taken aback by the outrageous amount of gossip that goes on among women who are lunching together.  I get it:  women talk about women when they get together.  I am guilty of this too sometimes.  But today, I discovered another phenomenon:  Men do it too.  No, they don't get together and gossip about other men, they gossip about women!  What she was wearing at work this morning, who so-and-so was caught talking to walking out of the office last night, etc.  Now, that is some competition!  I now have other tables of interest to draw my attention to at future lunch sessions. 
• I am now convinced all these advancements in technology, namely cell phones with camera capabilities, are allowing for the evolution of paparazzo culture.  The new celebrity:  you, the incessant picture-taker.  No, not YOU.  But, you know who I am talking about.  You see these people all of the time, especially on Facebook.  I mean, how many profile pictures can one really snap of themselves in a week?  Wow.  And today, I saw something I've never seen before and hope to never see again:  a woman standing in the middle of Corner Bakery holding her cell phone as far away from herself as possible and smiling brightly to take her own picture.  No, no one else was in the picture with her, and there was no notable landmark anywhere around her.  Oh no.  What is going on in this world? 
• Thankfully, a happy moment occurred right after this astounding one.  Outside, I noticed four little boys standing in a circle playing Hacky Sack.  It made my day to see that kids still find fun in such games (games that I enjoyed as a child) especially in this digital age.  Even cuter about this scene was that all four boys were playing with flip-flops on.

Wishing you a hacky-sacked-fun-in-the-sun kind of day!  Smile, Andrea

A Haiku Inspired by Lunch

Beautiful bird I saw in San Francisco, March 2010

I did more reading than observing today, but this little scene stood out and inspired a poem:

Feathered Food Fight

Five birds fight for one
potato chip; four scatter.
Fat one wins again.

Lunch observations: Books in Public, Job Interviews, and Love

Enjoyed a nice lunch with myself today; twittered a little, mused a lot, and caught up on some reading. A few observations from my chicken-tortilla-soup-and-tuna-sandwich hour:

1. If you are reading a book in a public restaurant, expect to be stared and smiled at. People may even worry about you. These "observers" make me worry. There is nothing wrong with eating lunch by yourself, and it is even better when a book is your companion. Who cares what anyone else thinks. Read away. And don't look lonely or embarrassed. Be proud of the time you are taking for yourself. You are a student of life.

2. I don't know why people hold a job interview over lunch. How awkward! It is hard enough to eat on a first date, much less a first interview, without obsessing over what you should eat, whether you have food in your teeth, how you managed to spill that raspberry tea on your shirt, etc. How can an interview be successful when you are musing over a lunch menu, drinking tea, and eating a whole plate of food? You lose a lot of important time and conversation - at least that is my opinion.

3. Love is all around if you look at listen for it. In a time when we are inundated with
negative news delivered to our PDA's by the second, love is hiding out in the booth behind you, giggling and smiling. You may not know what the cute couple behind you might be laughing about, but you know that blended sound of two people's laughter makes you want to giggle along with them without any reason whatsoever. Just because. Then they round the corner and you notice this little old man is helping this little adorable woman put on her coat. He is having difficulty with his task because she is at least a head taller than he is and he can barely lift his arms from his sides. Yet, he persists. They giggle some more. He finally conquers the coat, grabs her hand, and they walk out smiling as if on their first date. This couple will never know the smile they brought to a stranger's face today.


Wishing you a happy day with lots of love and giggling in between!

Smile, Andrea

Poodles, Sandwich Complaints, and Cold Drinks

I occasionally take to my Twitter to report my lunchtime observations, but lately such observations are worthy of more than quickly getting crammed into a 140-character count. Going forward, I've decided to include them on my blog and encourage others to share their observations.

Lunch is a time of reflection, a moment that allows you to break up the monotony of the work day, an opportunity to take in the little things we so often rush by without notice. Sometimes, these lunch breaks help bring a little sunshine to my day and remind me that everyone is unique, the world has so much to offer if we look for it, and that just when you might think you are weird or crazy, someone else is out there to prove you wrong.

My lunch observations for today:

Poodles on a cardigan can be cute. Who knew? Just keep the poodle-print small.

Don't order a chicken sandwich and then yell at the poor girl delivering your food in front of the whole restaurant saying you specifically requested "no chicken" when the name of the sandwich has chicken in it. There is no job for a Chief Complaint Officer that I've heard of, and if there was one, I'm sure it would offer zero pay and matching benefits.

And if you've been cold all day complaining about how your feet felt like ice blocks and your fingers like little icicles, just stand around a soda fountain with a large group of people competing for drink refills, ice, lids and straws, and you'll realize life isn't as miserable as you deemed it all morning once someone drops their cold soda on you.

An aside:

A little girl with a Yorkie on her red sweater just came up to me and said, "I like your computer. It matches my sweater. Red is my magic color. Is it yours too?" Her mom must be the one wearing the poodle-print cardigan, and today, her little girl has brought the biggest smile to me even though I am sitting here shivering and writing while the soda on my clothes dry.

All in all, life is good today, and I promise I'm not being sarcastic. I hope yours is as well. :)