Top Comments: Balancing Lessons 4.9.07

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Monday April 09, 2007 · 7:00 PM PDT

2007/04/09 · 19:00

What is it about Spring that can be so wonderful and so overwhelming at the same time? No matter what, it seems to be the season with the most intensity in my life.

When I was younger it was as if I could feel the intensity of the earth coming back to life through the soles of my feet. The power of things turning green and growing rose up through my senses and nearly collapsed my ability to take it all in. Making me feel achingly alive and enervated at the same time.

I was reminded of that feeling the other day when I happened to walk through the dining room and catch sight of my pussy willows out the window. What could be so special about that you ask? Let's see if I can paint you a picture of what I saw in that moment.

Cronesense

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Monday March 26, 2007 · 7:00 PM PDT

2007/03/26 · 19:00

A few weeks ago I wrote of my feathered friends and my homemade feeding stations in a previous TC diary. I'm afraid I have gotten a bit carried away over the weeks much to the delight of the birds and the various seed and feeder supply places.

First, I wanted a clear plastic feeder with suction cups that I could put right on my window to bring the birds up close. A little googling and I found just the thing. While I was waiting for it to arrive I purchased a thistle seed feeder in the shape of a mesh tube. I did this after I found out that the nijer seed has to be heat treated so as not to germinate before it can come into the country. My orange halves eventually shriveled so I found some plastic cups from a restaurant supply store that my husband drilled holes in for hanging. I went to the pet store other day for seed and they had some feeders on sale so after buying 8 different bags of seed combinations I picked up two large new feeders. Is there a 12-step program for bird feeders anonymous? My husband is staring to worry a bit.

Cronesense

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Monday March 19, 2007 · 7:27 PM PDT

2007/03/19 · 19:27

Where Were You - What Were You Doing

Four years ago. Where were you? What were you doing?

Cronesense

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Monday March 12, 2007 · 7:00 PM PDT

2007/03/12 · 19:00

So here's the thing. Last week I wrote my essay a day ahead of time and found that I could not use it the day I was responsible for doing the diary. Today I decided to wait for inspiration while mining (9 diaries selected and 38 comments chosen for tonight - just so you know what you are in for down below ;-). Various subjects popped in and out of my head but nothing quite stuck around long enough to get me writing. So for now I will give you a few things to think about while you look at the comments in the hopes that you will share some of what you have learned.

The question is to look at some of the things in your life, large and small, that you have learned and to sum them up in a sentence. I will start off with a few from my list.

Cronesense

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Monday March 05, 2007 · 7:00 PM PST

2007/03/05 · 19:00

The past couple of weeks I have taken to writing my essay for Top Comments the day before I post so I can spend the entire day comment mining. After reading quality diaries all day I felt my little story sounded pretty lame after a momentous day like today with so much action and excitement on the political front. It was a piece of fluff compared to important issues covered today. So I set it aside and started over to pay tribute to the talented writers of diaries and comment this day.

Several very excellent diaries where up on the recommended list today and for very good reason. Two live thread diaries, Walter Reed Hearings Live Thread and Walter Reed Hearings - Panel ll Live Discussion covering the congressional hearings on the Walter Reed mess were helpful for those of us who couldn't watch the live coverage.

Cronesense

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Friday March 02, 2007 · 6:56 PM PST

2007/03/02 · 18:56

A gentle soul slipped off this mortal coil a couple of weeks ago. It was the things not said about him in his obituary that rankled me the most. And those are the things I am going to write about for you tonight.

I grew up reading the Reader's Digest as a child. I enjoyed the different joke sections, the word power section and the stories. But my favorite section was the "Most Unforgettable Character" section of the monthly magazine. After I flipped through all the pages and read the jokes that was always the first story I read. I often wonder if I would ever meet someone that I could place in that category in my life. I did and this is an homage to a fine fellow that passed away last week at the ripe-old age of 95 after having lived a full and interesting life. He had a pleasant obituary in the newspaper that cited his many friends and accomplishments through the years, but I felt missed one important element that was the very essence of Isador (Izzy) Rosenbloom right down to his very bones.

Cronesense

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Monday February 26, 2007 · 7:00 PM PST

2007/02/26 · 19:00

Pruning Lessons: A Metaphor

Tonight I'm going to wander a bit to get to the point of my essay. Please bear with me for this reflective discourse into the metaphorical.
::

By My Hand

Today I played God looking for the soul of a tree.
Taking pruning shears in hand I studied the artful structure of a bare-branched sumac tree in my garden.
The goal was to enhance the gnarled growth of the tree; to make more of it than it was would be one way to look at it.

But it felt more like a kinship asking the tree to show me where it wanted to go.
Where it was too crowded?
Where it needed to be left alone?
At times the decisions felt immense and took many false starts; other times it was obvious what to do.

Pruning like living is a mixture of skill and experience.

Living like pruning sometimes takes a couple of seasons to know if the results are worth the effort.

That the cuts did more good than harm.
That in the end more balance was gained.

Cronesense

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Friday February 16, 2007 · 7:00 PM PST

2007/02/16 · 19:00

I envy women who can wear hats for I fall into the category of hats that wear women. You know the kind I mean - the type you shake your head at and say to yourself, that is so not working for her. Since childhood hats have held a strange fascination for me. I remember my mother’s closet shelf stacked high with elegant, glossy round boxes of hats. She bought more each year but seldom discarded any. Sometimes I would haul all the boxes out of her closet and try on her collection. But the hats always wore me and I knew it.

I love hats. I love watching someone with flair and style completely as ease when wearing a hat. Much like jewelry, I don't have the panache or style to carry off the wearing of hats. I discovered this at a very early age all those years ago and have lived with that knowledge ever since.

Cronesense

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Monday February 12, 2007 · 7:00 PM PST

2007/02/12 · 19:00

This diary is for the reluctant and the procrastinators among you; generally known as men. Fess up. How many of you are ready for that day that happens this Wednesday? Yep. That's what I thought. Well, I'm about to give you a little help. Now I know that not everyone has someone significant in their lives, but there are many ways to show love and affection to all around you and that is what I am trying to help you with this evening.

I abhor the crass commercialization of just about every holiday in this country anymore. The older I get, the higher the ante seems to be to 'enjoy and celebrate' the major holidays with anything resembling simplicity. That why I like to K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simply Sweetie. Much like the TC diary I did a couple of months on Romance Tips, this one focuses on low or no cost possibilities for this holiday fraught with tension and expectations. So lets see what I can do to help you have some fun while you K.I.S.S.

Cronesense

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Monday February 05, 2007 · 7:00 PM PST

2007/02/05 · 19:00

. . .tellin' me more and more
about some useless information
suppose to fire my imagination. . . *

Can useless information fire your imagination? I think so. Okay, I confess. I'm a Clavinist. As in Cliff Clavin of the TV show 'Cheers'.

WIKI:
A rambler by nature, Cliff was well known as a storehouse of useless trivia, often of dubious veracity and bearing little relation to the conversation being had around the bar.

Now the internet can be a very dangerous place for a closet Clavinist like me. I went computer-less for several years - intentionally - as I could hear the siren call of all those bits and bites of UI (Useless Information) calling to me. I tried so very hard to keep myself restricted to information gleaned from dead tree stock, but my husband bought me my own computer for Christmas one year and.... well, you can guess what happened.

Cronesense

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Friday February 02, 2007 · 6:59 PM PST

2007/02/02 · 18:59

I have wanted to write about my sister for a long time as she has been such an important presence in my life. I think the death of Molly Ivins this week lit a fire under me as I considered her a 'soul sister' for her rambunctious ways. A little inner piece of me always wanted to be like her and occasionally I do let my inner mouthiness out for a breath of fresh air. When I do it's fun to see people's eyebrows climb so high. And it's total bonus points when I can make my sister laugh and blush at the same time!

This story is about my relationship with my older sister, though I have no doubt my words won't begin to come close to how special she is to me in a million little ways. The challenges we overcame to have a healthy relationship were immense. My mother was an only child and as such she had little to go on in crafting a trusting family environment. We paid in ways big and small for that lack. Mother was use to being the center of the universe and saw no reason to change her position.

Bear with me while I try to do the subject of sisters in general and mine in specific, justice.

Cronesense

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Monday January 29, 2007 · 7:04 PM PST

2007/01/29 · 19:04

After last weeks fumbling attempt to present some statistics on Top Comment diarists (corrected now), I'm running for a safer topic this week. On Sunday I read ackermanniac's hilarious diary, I have chickens, I have eggs and it stirred up stories of my love of feathered friends. [If you didn't catch the diary yesterday, give yourself a treat and go read it when you have a moment]

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