From the most ridiculous movie I've seen in recent time:

"Well, now I've seen everything!"

"Have you seen a man eat his own head?"

"Uh, no."

"Then you haven't seen everything."

(from Team America: World Police).

Okay, so the Sacramento Zoo is MUCH smaller than I ever remember it being, but I had fun observing the snow leopard and the lion (lion hid out under a cool rock). The sloth was taking nap in the air conditioned nesting space, how perfect!

Ate at the "second best hamburger joint in Sacramento," so, now I can check that off my list.

I didn't know that the "Well, it's..." excuse could apply to so many places, but now I know that "Well, it IS Sacramento" means the same thing as "Well, it IS Fairfield." Good to know!

Some weekend, this....now, I must stop procrastinating, catch my breath and do some homework!

This might be because I'm in the middle of watching Run Lola Run, and everyone in the movie is connected, but here I go anyway.

I am finding it fascinating lately how every action and every person I encounter has a connection to someone else I already know or someone I knew in my past.

I went to a staff/volunteer dinner last night for the non-profit where I volunteer, and I stood talking with the mother of a kid I went to school with years ago. Her son was a year ahead of me, but I know who he is. I never would have imagined when I was little that I'd end up volunteering at the same place as some other kid's mother. It's not some truly esoteric, philosphical connection, but it's one of those things that reminds me that you never really know who you might run into in the future. Does this mean it's important to treat people well the first time around? Probably! That karma stuff will come right around and bite you on the butt if you're not careful.

Life has been full of other meaningful (or meaningless, depending on your perspective) encounters over the last several weeks.

Heck, I even saw celebrities when I was in L.A. this past weekend, and I don't usually see them when I'm down there.

And then there was the thing with the two old jeeps, turning in front of me at two consecutive intersections...very I Heart Huckabees...

Okay, I'll admit it. If not movie inspired, these odd little connections might simply be a result of my exhaustion...then again, maybe not.

"So, basically, you gotta GO BEARS!"

Who knew? At a summer bbq for library staff, after "SSSSS"ing properly at the mention of Stanfurd, I encountered 2 other Cal Alums (one from about 10 years ago, one from about 40 years ago), and we began a rousing rendition of the Cal Drinking Song.

Oddly enough, I was the only one who knew the "Grandma was a two-bit..." part of the song...yeeeeah, great impression on future supervisors...so, was that an AOII thing?

I've been thinking a lot about "creativity." Maybe it's because of the book I'm reading, Never Let Me Go , where the characters are required to "be creative," or maybe it's Irene's recent comment about how I should thrive on the ups and downs of emotion, since I like to think of myself as an artist.

I don't mind the ups and downs of emotion, but I think that they damage those around me. When I was a child, I had frequent outbursts of anger. Over the years, I've learned to control those almost entirely. I'll admit to bouts of temper from time to time, but nothing like the tantrums I battled (and those around me suffered) when I was much, much younger.

The downside of calming myself down? My creativity takes a nose dive. I haven't written a short story in at least a year...and it's not writer's block. I just have no desire to sit down and write fiction.

I have tried to bring back some of my creative juices, and I feel really pleased with a collage I made and entered into the county fair. It's called "The Storyteller," and I had it rattling around in my brain for about three months before I actually did something about it. I know that I'm an amateur, but the guy at the exhibits desk, said, "Wow! Cool!" when I turned it in...now that may not be high praise from a critic, but it's not from a parent or loved one, so I'll take it as meaningful.

I guess what I'm saying is that while I've learned to control my emotions to some extent, I haven't lost as much of my creativity as I had feared. I'm just expressing myself in new ways now. And that can't be all bad, right?

The problem is that when you allow yourself to feel something, anything, you open up the opportunity to feel the pain as well as the happiness.

Exit Strategies.

I'm reading a book, Letters to a Young Catholic , and it's raising a lot of interesting and important points.

One of these points is about exit strategies and "back-up plans." Of course, it talks a bit about pre-nuptual agreements and the absolute lack of faith that goes with those, but it also talks about the simple fact that we sometimes do not have enough faith in God.

Mary said, "Let it be done to me," not "Let it be done to me, but if I don't like it, I'm going to get a lawyer and sue you, God."

Mary is the ulitmate example of faith in God's plan. It's like we worry that we won't like God's plan for us (I know it's one of my fears - what if I get to where I'm going and hate it?), so we try to figure things out on our own.

It's a human dilema, but apparently faith does mean one basket full of eggs.

Leaps of faith are daunting and intimidating, but they are one of the few true expressions of faith.

Exit strategies will come along when they are necessary but should not necessarily be thought out ahead of time. That sounds odd, but if you need to get out, you'll know how. Otherwise, just believe that you won't need that exit plan and trust that God knows what He is doing.

(sounds like advice I need to follow, huh?)