thought of the day

Don't ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

-- Howard Thurman

Here she is!

Baby Tiba
Originally uploaded by hollybrekken.

A picture of my puppy.
This is when we first got her- in October- so she is quite a bit bigger now- but oh, so cute.

I showed up in boots

Its rather sad how happy I get on casual fridays...

Polite... timid...? Maybe I didn't understand those words correctly.

Just finished Bill Maher's New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer. A good read. A compliation of random thoughts on everything ranging from G.W. and his posse, to Paris Hilton, to food pyramids, to Mecca... and everything in between.
Its a light book- something you can read at the beach- and people will give you funny looks because you are giggling to yourself. However I did try reading a 'new rule' aloud to companions a few times- and they didn't laugh- so maybe its not as funny as I think. Well, nonetheless- it entertained me.

Is it wrong of me to put examples on my blog?
Eh... whatever-
a few random rules to amuse the masses:

Color Scheme
New Rule
Color-coded terror alerts are not just for campaigns. I can't remember the last time we had one. It must have been... anytime John Kerry tried to speak. Okay, the terror alerts stopped the same second as the election, but that doesn't mean they were fake. That's just being paranoid. If you think Bush would do something like that, you might as well say he hires fake reporters, bribes columnists and produces his own news.

Name Dropping
New Rule
Stop leaving messages on my answering machine saying "It's me." I already have a "me" in my life-- me. And, frankly, if we were that close, I'd have given you the number of the phone that I answer.

Quite amusing- sometimes the 'new rule' is something that you know you agree with- and sometimes its one of those 'where the heck did he come up with that'--
and while I thought some 'new rule' s were a little harsh- its like a friend of mine always used to say: "I'm not prejudiced. I make fun of everyone equally".

Overall: enteraining, light, funny, but don't take it too seriously, and don't expect everyone else to find the same quips as funny as you do.

The things you learn about yourself...

Florida has taught me that I am afraid of birds...
never really noticed it before- but they make me extremely uncomfortable.
Maybe it has to do with the overactive imagination thing- and me feeling that they would try to peck out my eyes if I let them...
too much?
welcome to my twisted mind- get out while you can

I wonder what strange holly-isms I will learn at my next destination? I should choose wisely I think.

I remember that I said I don't want to be one of those whiners, but...

if they don't fix the stop lights soon I might kill someone.

Currently obsessed with:

Franklin Covey's add-in for outlook.
I play with it all day long-- in a productive way of course.
It plays off of my love for to do lists and color coding. Everything is organized and I get to prioritize, mark my progress, check off completed tasks or forward to another day in needed.
I created my personal mission statement this morning!!!
So happy!!!

nerd central... I know.

Dry those tears, world

I'm back- and alive.
I know you missed me.

After my prolonged absense from, everything, I shall provide brief update:

Monday, October 24, 2005. Wilma. You know all the details I am sure.
The storm itself wasn't so bad. Loud. But we mostly slept through it. I think our building is pretty sturdy- not such a bad pick after all.
Afterwards- surveying the damage- was when it started to seem crazy.
The entire region was devestated. I swear there is hardly a tree left in S. Florida, people lost their homes, property damage, etc. But the kicker- no power- anywhere. No water, no food, no lights, no phones, no gas. We were stuck. Luckily we had enough candles stocked up- and I had just bought RISK- always good for hours and hours of good family fun. However- when you only plan water and food for maximum 3 days or so- when you hear from your car radio that it could be 3 weeks before you get power back- you start to worry.

We ended up getting our power back after just a few days-- convenient location= Bonus! This meant my cell phone worked again- so I could make those all important "Don't worry, I'm alive" phone calls. Some people were quite worried- example. ;)

However- my office building's power was not put back on until yesterday- so that meant a week and a half of no work, no place to go, nothing to do. Good thing I had a new puppy to entertain me! ;) --Well, and my boyfriend. ;)

Bonus: we did get to know our neighbors a lot better. The lady next door is getting to be a shisha pro- and we got to sample some Argentinian-beef BBQ and some Boomers toss-outs from various other complex-mates. Good times.

There are two kinds of people in situations like this: (1) those who make the best of it and band together to help out and get through a tough time, (2) those that take advantage of it- e.g. stealing generators or gas, looting businesses without power, etc. and I guess we should add a third- (3) those who whine a lot or get really crabby. They are no fun either.

But I guess everyone has their breaking point.

Anyway- back to work today- that feels good- lots to catch up on- but at somewhat of a standstill since schools are closed until monday. There is always SOMETHING to do though.

I just really hope they fix the street lights soon- I think I have complained about FL drivers before- imagine that without street lights- yikes.

For all of you in the Broward/Dade/Monroe area: be sure to make it home before curfew!