girl nutkin in the BA

Friday, December 24, 2010

love the holiday (and random) visits ...

... from my friend "the dude" - whom i met just prior to starting my first year in college. today is his birthday, and yesterday was our holiday meet-up. this year - hanging out in SF chatting at mr. & mrs. miscellaneous over post-ice-cream, paragon for drinks and mushroom cigars (sans tijuana donkey), and tres agave (attempting to stalk on foursquare). and for a bonus - my friend nicknamed piragua joined us.
(side note: 1st check-in at paragon got us complimentary paragon punch drinks. yippee!)

since early 2000s after we ran into each other in berkeley (while we were both living in southern california), we've made a point to meet-up around holidays and pick-up college-logo gear, while also squeezing in fried food, alcohol, and catch-up stories about life. he is still in socal, while i'm now in they bay area. the mini-tradition continues. just a few other key words that remind me of how much i enjoy mike being in my life - bonsai, bingham, calso, dude, mr. dwinelle, flowers, gerbil, text-stalking, and berkeley etcheverry/evans moment asking random strangers whether they knew what a ***job was. (i know - very wrong, but very memorable.)

happy birthday, my friend.
may your bonsai jungle continue to flourish!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

#reverb10: new name

(what day 22 (travel) was all about)

day 23 prompt ... Let's meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why?

(Author: Becca Wilcott)

(my commitment to myself for stream-of-conscious writing ... excited to see what pops up as i type!)

sylvia ramirez ... glad to meet you, becca. this is a name i have been called (in full, even) twice in my life - on two very separate and unrelated occasions. my first name is shirley (2 syllables) and my last name also has 3 syllables.

back story ... in the late 80s, after i stood in front of a conference registration booth stating my name, that person actually started to print my name tag with the not-my-name name as sylvia ramirez. no one on the conference attendance list with that name. not my name. not what i said. not what registration gal checked off the list just seconds after i registered. she had no idea why she started to do write my not-my-name name tag. no big deal.

in the late 90s, i was at a social mixer (at a conference, actually). someone i had just met introduced me to his colleagues - even with my real-name name tag on, he introduced me as sylvia ramirez. whadahell?!

- let's meet ... introduce yourself ... by another name and why? ... i would introduce myself as sylvia ramirez because maybe you can tell me that you think you know me, that my name sounds familiar, or that you also know someone named sylvia ramirez, but she spells her name with an "i" - as in silvia ramirez.

will the real sylvia (or silvia) ramirez please stand up? ... get this - i met a REAL silvia ramirez - spelled with an "i" instead of a "y" in 2007. short story version - she was my randomly-selected-by-the-instructors roommate (among ~20 other roomie options) for a weekend retreat about reiki.

silvia - my soul sister for the weekend ... we were introduced only by first names. and then while we were unpacking and getting situated, we exchanged mini-snippets about our lives including our full names - and that is when i told her that i have been called sylvia ramirez - but with a "y" (recall the 80s conference name tag). one thing VERY interesting is that she was an entrepreneur - a highly regarded woman business owner (nationally recognized in 1999). and at the time of that retreat, i had just stepped out of business ownership (to opt for cubeopolis), so we had quite a bit to talk about that weekend.

go figure.
what were the chances?
sylvia, it is!

(thanks for letting me share.)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

f|break: mid-week holiday morning

a vintage-ish SNL chuckle ... (after this past weekend's SNL fiber break) tv funhouse with a little holiday season theme, santa, politics, and margaret cho(?!)

enjoy your fiber break with blue state santa (over here)
and chinese food for ~ 5 min this morning

"dumb****istan"

#reverb10: travel

(what day 21 (future self) was all about)

day 22 prompt ... How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year?

(Author: Tara Hunt)

(my commitment to myself for stream-of-conscious writing ... excited to see what pops up as i type!)

local and not so much luggage ... 2010 has been a not-so-much-luggage travel year. and when i did travel, it was long (or short) hauls in my little car, with very few (relatively speaking compared to past years) moments when i had an airport experience, and with zero moments of a passport stamp.

for me, travel has simply been (this year and throughout my life) about visiting and reconnecting with friends in person, vacationing with friends, or turning a work-related trip into a mini-vacation by adding on 3-4 days to sample local cuisine, activities, history, and architecture. regardless, i loves me to travel for that reason - whether there are airports, customs officers, or gas stations involved - last-minute with quick planning is my approach rather than the more lengthy planning effort.

nevertheless, i consider what local/luggage-less travel that i did this 2010 to be fine and dandy. (note to self: visit chicago again.) however, 2011 ...

- how and/or where would you like to travel next year? ... yes, and yes - i'll travel however and wherever in 2011, and there will be airports and a passport involved! AND of course there will be local/regional foodie moments.

although i am not a wanderlust traveler-jetsetter, i very much enjoy other places and cultures. and for good (or bad) reasons, friends are aging or ailing, and visiting them is a must for me. (not a plug but southwest airlines and kayak are convenient for last-minute plans ... thank you for my last-minute travel fixes.)

2011 will continue to be another mix of gas stations and/or airports, and my passport will get some action ...

public transit ... the SF bay area - and the greater northern california and central coast - has much to offer. 2011 will be using more public transit to explore (and lower carbon footprint) and taking the train to visit the state capitol - will give that a whirl.
gas stations ... the west coast is rich with many urban and outdoor activities. i have NEVER been to yosemite or to the redwoods - WTF?! i know! gonna fix that.
air travel, at a minimum ... for family-friends stateside - back to chicago (so my soul sistah also can head over to meet up -thanks to billn6) to play tourist, up to the northwest to visit a friend who is a miracle of life as a cancer survivor (many times over), over to the southwest because of an artist friend's show in the first part of 2011, east coast to visit several friends and family (the traditional places - nyc, boston, vermont, d.c.) and the my friend the oracle, and over to hawai'i with my mom because it is long past due that i (and my mom) visit family and friends.
travel plans for passport fun ... spain because it has been too long since i've visited (and there's a college friend to visit) and vancouver (b.c.) to get my fluevog fix up-close-and-personal.

travel - family, friends, food, and shoes

(thanks for letting me share.)

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

#reverb10: future self

(what day 20 (beyond avoidance) was all about)

day 21 prompt ... Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?)

(Author: Jenny Blake)

(my commitment to myself for stream-of-conscious writing ... excited to see what pops up as i type!)

tea in hand and the coast in view ... my advice would start off something like this -

" ... just want to encourage you - find a great place to create and post your reverb10 "vision board" (or something like-kind for visual cues) to remind you of what have accomplished, your work-in-progress, your aspirations, and your ability to express yourself in writing. and by the way, if you keep up the great healthy habits, you'll be excited to know that you CAN get off of meds to manage blood pressure and cholesterol."

- and with a supportive tenor, i would add something like this -

"... and do continue to delight! continue to be your authentic self, and you'll figure your place in (or out) of cubeopolis."

cubeopolis world ... it is a bit of a chore at cubeopolis - with others surrounding who excuse their lack of forthrightness and accountability because it-had-to-be-done-that-way;you're-not-my-boss perspective, their gossipy-antics because others do it, their inability to make change happen because of an it-can't-be-done;why-bother? attitude, and their shortcomings at the expense of others. me? i've kicked myself for those oh-so-few moments when i've been sucked in to gossip-moments and going along with the stagnant flow, so to speak ...

(WOW! i promised myself stream-of-conscious writing ... there you have it!)

choosing a different path ... yet with all the imperfections of others (and myself, included) and many who also care - i have chosen a different path, a different path of conduct. and for that, i am thankful to continue meeting like-minded people while being challenged with nay-sayers, to experience change albeit slower than i am used to experiencing change, and to be the change i would like to see in the world (so says ghandi) and in cubeopolis (so says shirlnutkin).

- Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self? my little note would say something like ...

never say never. i know you loves you your r|cat, your owning a business rocks your world and others around you, and you enjoy pushing the envelope to breakdown psychographic stereotypes.

sure, you get to make change happen - and quickly - but maybe also keep in mind that change can happen anywhere, albeit at different paces but change - and good change nonetheless. and you still can always be part of that change - make it happen wherever you are. what you're doing now - traveling? fun. meeting hyper-visionary people? priceless. cleaning up the environment? of course. influencing others to clean up the environment? that's you.

fair, forthright, and self-aware? yup, still you. just keep on open mind, acknowledge cues and signs, and give your folks and brother a call to say "hey!" and see what's up!

younger shirlnutkin,
never say never.

(thanks for letting me share.
i chose to put in deep-freeze my business and
opted for (re)entering cubeopolis.
i swore i would NEVER go back to cubeopolis.)

Monday, December 20, 2010

#reverb10: beyond avoidance

=(what day 19 (healing) was all about)

day 20 prompt ... What should you have done this year but didn't because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwise deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?)

(Author: Jake Nickell)

(my commitment to myself for stream-of-conscious writing ... excited to see what pops up as i type!)

personal/business finances ... although my finances are generally good, they can always be better - especially for recordkeeping, saving, and investing. and most importantly, i gots to get me a new tax accountant; it's time for a change.

get finger on the pul$e ... i used to have my finger on the pulse when i had my consulting practice. however, without the more rigorous need to do so after joining cubeopolis, i have played catch-up on bookkeeping/recordkeeping each tax season. i have been draggin' my ass on finding another tax accountant for my business (which has been dormant since late 2007), being better organized about my bookkeeping, and investing more wisely.

- Bonus: Will you do it? yes, simply put.

(thanks for letting me share your time!)