Euripides is one smart dude

Posted on December 29, 2014 by simplygiselle

“The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.” – Euripides

Wait a minute, back up, you have not fully digested that statement from Euripides yet… you are not ready to continue reading on…read it again, let it sink it… wow powerful stuff, right!

We all acknowledge balance in our lives is key, but maintaining it is so difficult. It reminds me of the game, Don’t Spill the Beans. The pot is on a rocking device and as the players take turns placing a single tiny bean, if not perfectly positioned, the pot tips over and all the beans come spilling out.

Isn’t this what we are facing every day? Racing around to get the kids to school, all of their extracurricular activities, working full time, paying the bills, etc. etc. only to go to bed and do it again the next day… the monotony of running at 4000 r.p.m.’s daily with very few attempts to step back and regain or restore the balance because it is what is expected of us or ‘we don’t have the time’.

There is a great power around us, and in us, I have no doubt about that, but what we choose to do with that power is what makes us great…makes us a better person….makes us find our balance, naturally and without force. Embrace the power and energy like a big hug! The power is in your mind, in your heart, in your soul, throughout every inch of your body, just waiting for you to tap back into it and release it… (hmmm maybe I am getting a little too sappy…negative or realistic?)

It is thought that what energy you send out into the world comes back to you threefold, so why not send out the positive?! We could all use a little more positive and happy in our lives. It can be something as little as telling a passerby, ‘love those shoes’, but acknowledging each other with a simple positive vibe seems to grow, it changes that person even for the slightest moment, and no, they may not respond back, (you shouldn’t expect anyone to, that is not why you are doing it and some looks you get will be priceless and make you smile even larger), and no they may not pass it along, (hey.. that is on them), so why not? It didn’t cost anything, it didn’t take any of your precious time from you… so… Why not sprinkle a little bit of happiness in your life and heart by sharing it with others, and improving your balance? Throw out the entire pot of positivity to those around you and see what sticks.

Do whatever it takes to find that powerful balance without excuse. Don’t let that ‘pot of beans’ spill before it is too late.

My next cup of tea

Posted on December 21, 2014 by simplygiselle

I would like to order my next cup of tea, bottomless please.

A never ending perfect cup; neither too hot nor too cold, neither too sweet nor too bitter, with the slightest taste of honey that makes me lick my lips wanting that last droplet. The kind of tea that, when you close your eyes, you have been transported to another place and time and seems to last forever…

Maybe it is in the past, but maybe it is in the future, each sip is always different. Which do you taste first, the bitter? The mistakes made that you have tried to put behind you? Some are safely locked away while others give a glimpse to let you know they are lurking and waiting for the exact moment to ruin your complacency on any given day.

Sometimes the bitter is just missing someone you will never see again. You have safely compartmentalized in that velvet box, way way back, so far deep down, and then for no reason at all, BAM the tears start to fall-you don’t want to forget (you will never forget) but you also don’t want to remember…

Does the heat from the tea flowing from palate to stomach to thaw you inside and out? Remember the freezing cold days well below zero, shoveling, brushing off the car before the sun rises, or the chill you felt that made your hair stand up for no reason – just a perfect cup of tea can cure them all.

Maybe it is the sweet? The times where you made the right choice, saw the smile on someone else that was because of you, the simplest happiest moment just because… because you heard the perfect song, smelled the perfect flower with the perfect scent, heard the birds sing and laughed at what they may be saying…is it a song? a private joke? or stood in awe at the size and power of Mother Nature and what she can produce…the ocean waves, the bounty of snowfall, for that matter the beauty of each snowflake and its delicacy.

Yes that endless cup of tea has so much to offer; now I need to know just where to buy one.

Just.Let.Go.

Posted on December 12, 2014 by simplygiselle

You never really know what you are made of until you are faced with the challenges and choices you fear.

When faced with life altering choices do you play it safe or look at it as an opportunity for more and chance it – let the ‘gods’ play with you (as it were) as if you were a chess piece in the game of life?

Am I being face with such an ordeal because I have had it too easy, too content, for too long and now life plans to give me a taste of what others have to deal with on a daily basis or is it a turn of events-the next new path to exploring and growing?

I read a book many years ago, it was called, The Reluctant Messiah (great read). In simple terms, it says to just let go… stop fighting the stream’s current, be the blade of grass that stops clinging to the rock, and let the flow of water and energy take you for the ride of your life.

Much easier said than done… or is it? When is it time to just let go? When do we have enough faith in ourselves that we will be happy no matter what comes into our lives?

I am currently faced with the proverbial fork in the road and can’t decide. Clinging to the rock is comfortable; I know where I stand, I know what is coming from upstream and how to handle it. At the same time it is exhausting to continue holding on so tightly and not let myself be tossed around against the stream’s rocks, logs, and occasional slimy frog.

When? When will I know it is time to ‘just.let.go.’ ?

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Posted on November 21, 2014 by simplygiselle

Vivaldi’s Four Season is the prime background music – isn’t this what life truly is? Spring Summer Autumn Winter? Close your eyes and listen to the music. Vivaldi brings out the essence of each season with every note: spectacular!

We are born and everything is fresh and new… green and smells like the dew drops in the Spring… colors bursting with the excitement of what is to come… growing and learning and spreading our wings to eventually leave the nest (insert Cyndi Lauper’s Girl’s Just Want to have Fun).

Summer comes and we are in our prime, we have hit our stride, we are trying to enjoy life while finding the perfect balance of family, friends and work (insert Shinedown’s: Shine from the Inside).

Slowly we realize Autumn is upon us. Our hair turns gray as do the leaves change colors. Temperatures cool and we find ourselves needing another sweater. Funny, when we were younger how the temperature change would not affect us so drastically.

We look to the Winter months knowing it is not too far away. We try to cram as much family-time into a short of a period as possible. How quickly time has passed and it feels as if we never really had any time with them at all. Our children’s lives have become filled with their own family friends and ‘Summer’ (Incubus’: Wish You Were Here)

As the snows from Winter keeps us in our homes and secluded, so does the ultimate and infinite hibernation arrive. (Pink Floyd’s: Time – “far away across the fields, tolling on the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knee, hear the softly spoken magic spell…”)

Response to the question of the day:

Cue the Violins

If your life were a movie, what would its soundtrack be like? What songs, instrumental pieces, and other sound effects would be featured on the official soundtrack album?

Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge

Posted on November 18, 2014 by simplygiselle

The Leonard Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge can be seen from many angles but this one was taken by me while on our boat underneath (!) the bridge.

The bridge serves as the northern connection from and to Boston and is one of the widest cable-stayed bridges in the world.

During the summer we take the boat down the Charles River (love that dirty water) past the Harvard Yacht club, Boston College, the Hatch Shell, the Boston Museum of Science and finally through the locks which lead into the Boston Harbor. It is a lovely ride and beautiful view. If you ever come to Boston be sure to take a Duck Tour so that you can experience the Charles River and see the Boston outline with a completely different twist.

Press 1 for English

Posted on November 7, 2014 by simplygiselle

Welcome to Venting Vendredi – pull up a seat…

At some point during this past week, I read a blog that addressed the American’s distain for having to press 1 for English. She was very accurate in pointing out the U.S. does not have an official language, that is 100% true.

So where does that leave us? Very frustrated.

I would hazard a guess that all the fuss and complaining about calling a company and being greeted by the prompt – press 1 for English -may have has something to do with the fact that the only other language presented in the prompt is Spanish – seems a little biased don’t you think?

If society wants us to believe that the U.S. is a melting pot (to co-exist, to welcome diversity) that should accommodate all races, than you have to actually accommodate them, otherwise it is prejudiced (some may say racist) resulting in (wait for it…) pissing off a whole lot of people. English is not the official language, nor is Spanish. The government, the companies, society, etc. do not have the right to cherry-pick two languages to represent the country as a whole.

Do the hundreds of thousands of people on the Mexican border, throughout southern California, parts of Florida and many other areas with a heavily populated Spanish/Latino culture justify Spanish as the second language choice? The northern border counts too. Drive through parts of Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire and you will see signs in both English and French. Visit the Ogunquit shore in the summer and you will be surrounded by both vacationers and residents speaking French.

What about Chinatown in Boston, New York, Chicago and elsewhere? They don’t count either?

THAT’S why people get pissed. Because offering only one other choice is insulting to all the other races and cultures in the country.

How can you accommodate all the other languages? How about using the dial pad to spell out the language you wish to use? Companies use this type of system all the time. “If you know the last name of the party you wish to be connected to, please dial the first four letters of their name…” There has to be more than just Rosetta that has multilingual software to help the caller get to a person to assist them.

Let’s get some smarty-pants MIT students on this pronto!

Spooky Salem

Posted on October 30, 2014 by simplygiselle

My daughter and I use to go to Salem, MA every year. It is the mecca for all that are in search of spooky during the October months due to its history relating to the witch trials in the late 1600’s*. The majority of the visit is walking; walking through haunted houses and museums, walking through somber 1600 -1700 graveyards where women and children died so very young, walking through town to see all the vendors sell their wares and jumping headfirst onto the Halloween bandwagon, etc.

The last year that we went, we were walking down a semi-main street as nighttime was falling… checking out the buildings and the fabulously old architecture… when something ahead of us caught our eyes. An older home not well maintained with a farmers porch, a refrigerator stuck in the corner, and a man, a rather LARGE man who could pass for a 6′ football player standing at the bottom of the steps from the porch.

This was no ordinary man; this was Michael Myers come to life! Full-on one piece jumper and perfectly fitting mask. Upon realizing who this large man was, we (what we thought was discreetly at the time) crossed the street and continued to walk toward the house. We were whispering to each other– what do we do? do we keep moving forward? He has seen us! It would be awkward to turn around now… we have to keep moving forward. All the whispering without taking our eyes off him…he stood there watching us. Ever so slowly moving his head… watching us from across the street, walk past the house… and then he started to move, to walk slowly but deliberately, as only Michael Myers would do, down the sidewalk following us…never breaking character, slowly…very slowly following us… the electricity between my daughter and I rose significantly as we tried to keep the scream to ourselves – oh my God he is following us – and quickly picked up our pace. The shrieks were mixed with laughter and many MANY high pitched “oh my God! oh my God! oh my God!” as only two frightened young women can do.

He stopped following us at the end of the street, turned and walked back to the house only to wait for his next victims. Meanwhile, my daughter and I laughed so hard we cried… how that nameless man in his spot-on Michael Myers impression, made our trip to Salem a moment we will never forget.

*Side history lesson: due to changing town lines since the trials, the ‘Salem Village’ where the trials took place is actually present-day Danvers Massachusetts. The current town of Salem is not the original site but is widely accepted as where the witch trials and hangings took place.

Daily Post:

Today you can write about anything, in whatever genre or form, but your post must mention a dark night, your fridge, and tears (of joy or sadness; your call). Feel free to switch one ingredient if you have to (or revisit one from previous trio prompts).

Deconstructing the misconception of the Bostonian

Posted on September 4, 2014 by simplygiselle

The amount of articles citing Bostonians as being racist, snarky, and just downright rude, could not be further from the truth. Bostonians, and I lump people from several different parts of New England into this category, are more loyal than any watch dog you could purchase.

Why are we so sarcastic, stoic and snarky upon first meeting? Well, simply put, we don’t know you. You see, there is a bit of a test that we put people through before we can call them a ‘friend’ in the true sense of the word. Not an acquaintance, not someone we just met or a work mate, a true friend, and we don’t use the term often, so when we do; you know we mean it. That is how serious we are about it.

It is a timely procedure, yes, you can equate it to a job interview where you are required to return a few times before you are told you have the job. You will be asked a hundred questions about your past, your relatives, and your high school. You will be made fun of, you will be tortured with relentless jabs and ribbing, you will be reminded of the horrible mistakes that you have made and not let you live them down, and will laugh at you… just like any family member would. And we expect the same in return. After all, if you are not receiving such a ‘roast’ you better run; it’s a clear sign that you are being tolerated but not liked.

We will not give you the ‘no there is nothing wrong with our friendship’ smile, while promptly texting and FB’ing everyone what a d-bag you are. We will not tell you that the awful Member’s Only Jacket is making a huge comeback and you are on the cutting edge. We will not agree with your choice of sport’s team, especially when one of our players turns rat and leaves the team for yours.

We are going to hit you smack in the face with the truth, because although it hurts more for the first few seconds, it won’t follow you around like toilet paper stuck to your heel.

We need to be sure that you are going to stick around, because when times get tough, when the ‘stuff’ hits the proverbial fan, we need to know that you ‘have our backs’ as much as we will have yours.

It is not unlike many families motto; I can make fun of my family all I want, but you say something, and you will get your ass handed to you.

So you see? We are not some heartless, sardonic, people; We have a heart of gold, sprinkled with a little sea salt.