Archive for March, 2010
Posted by Cindy on
March 31, 2010
There on the table before me there are bowls and spoons, and we are all here, all of us here, waiting for the pot. The pot will be boiling, heavy, and terrible in its otherworldly beauty, and we won’t take any time to make it all disappear, turning the heavy into light, and the hot to warm. We are capable of amazing transformations.
It’s a thing that separated us from anything else when we were children, the uncanny ability to make disappear, and food was out favorite way to change energy. I don’t know if we were aware of anything then, much less the basic principles of biology, but we were aware that there was magic in the universe.
My grandmother taught me magic first, her slight Polish accent speaking to me through lips held together by a cigarette she always smoked. I always imagined it was the same cigarette. She could take powder and turn it into dumplings, those magical tools that fill a pot of chicken broth, and make life worth living. The sense of wonder as your teeth worked over their soft and springy textures, as good as any day on the beach.
Returning to the town where the family is gone is a little strange. There are great hotels , and everything seems bigger again. Somehow that’s a transformation that happens when we age past a certain point. Things are large when we are young, and then they get incredibly small for a long time, and then suddenly they’re growing again.
I don’t know the best version of Alice in Poland , and if there is one, it’s probably gone to live in Prague by now, but this is a place I understand. This place here, where grandmothers still speak, speaking through the streets of the town where I learned how to eat magic and make magic with my eating, and nothing’s been the same since.
Posted by Cindy on
March 23, 2010
The Illinois Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps is one of the premiere cultural establishments in Rosemont, Illinois. They are a world-class percussion based corps and their performances continue to draw large crowds. Tourists who are in the area are almost always attracted to attending a performance if they happen to be lucky enough to be in town at the time of one. And of course there are other eager hotel guests who plan their trip specifically to catch one of these great performances.
The drum and bugle corps was originally founded in 1948 and their strong mission oriented perspective has extended the past six decades and continues to gain strength and a traditional aspect as the years progress. The corps remains one of only two all male organizations of this nature. The other one is the Madison Scouts. The average age of members in the Cavaliers corps is nineteen to twenty and they tend to march in the program for two to three years.
The current director of the group is Adolph DeGrauwe. Under his guidance the members continue the standard of excellence and pursuit of integrity and discipline that was established by Donald Warren when he founded the organization. This organization has major character development intentions for members and its mission includes ensuring them a life changing experience that encompasses educational and social aspects. In addition to the musical training and experience that membership with the corps provides the students also gain a confidence and ethical background that is unique to the program.
The performances on that will occur during 2110 are being considered and the concert program is in development. The Cavaliers have indicated that some of the musical possibilities for this year are Smile by Charlie Chaplin and Mad World by Roland Orzabal. Other possibilities that are being considered include works by Michael Daugherty, Pat Metheny and Peter Graham.
Posted by Cindy on
March 19, 2010
I see the massive Ford trucks on the road and I wonder about the life of the person and the truck. What in the world does anyone need a truck like that for. Sometimes what they are wearing can give a clue. If they have on a bandanna with a cut off Harley Davidson t-shirt then maybe they are in the motorcycle business and need the truck to pull around trailers filled with bikes. Which just make one jealous for the persons life all together. How fun would that be to just be able to get on a motorcycle and ride all over the country or world even.
If they are wearing a cowboy hat, which is what I find more often than any other, than it is more than clear. This person has a very physically demanding life. They are more than likely hauling horse and hay to shows across the country. I bet they have to take that massive truck out on the open plain to fix fences and find their cattle. I bet they even have a ford super duty pick-up repair manual and can do most of the truck maintenance on their own. Maybe they have come to the city to pick up something they need and are listening to some Brad Paisley on their radio. Actually, I bet it would be more like some old Patsy Cline or Roger Miller.
Anyway, then there is me with my convertible Oldsmobile living in the city working my desk job, daydreaming about the greener grass on the other side, as I drive along with my oldsmobile delta 88 royale repair manual in the glove box hoping I don’t even have to change the tire.
Posted by Cindy on
March 17, 2010
Snow covered the ground and the cold bit through her clothes. The street lights were dim and the alley dark. The lights from hotel fremont shone brightly and invitingly as a warm place to stay. She longed for a warm bed and soft pillow. “I must keep going”, she told herself. It was too close to the end. She had searched for this town in her dreams. A place that she knew she had to find before she took that last breath and crossed over into the light. She had to hear it. She knew that one day she would be able to sit in awe of that beautiful music once more.
As a child she had heard the Fremont Symphony play in a special performance at her school. The perfect harmony of the orchestra made her heart dance. It was a moment where time stood still and her body forgot to breathe. She sat in awe after the performance and watched the players clean their instruments and place them carefully back into their cases. It was amazing how theses seemingly ordinary instruments could make such heavenly sounds. This was the closest that she had ever felt to God, despite her life long commitment to him.
At the age of six, the night of the spectacular performance, there was an accident. Her parents were hit by an out of control truck and died instantly. A nun showed up at the hospital and took her to an orphanage that night. The orphanage was called Our Lady of Guadalupe after the Mexican patron saint of children. She decided that God had been angry with her because she had gotten too close to heaven and discovered his secret. In seventy five years of service to her Lord, she never once felt as close to Him and his kingdom as she did that evening in Fremont .
When she received the news that she was losing her hearing, she decided she could not wait any longer, she had to go back. That night she packed up the little belongings she had and set out to hear the Symphony.
Posted by Cindy on
March 14, 2010
Singapore is an amazing city-state, where the wide variety of architectures and styles in fashion invoke an effect that is mystifying. There is an enormous sensibility toward beauty here, where there seems to be multiple concentrated efforts to make a cityscape that is constantly pleasing to the eye. It’s evident not only in the buildings and the fashions, but is also present in the food. Whether the traveler’s taste is for Indian, Chinese , or any of the other local cuisines that are served up so elegantly here, there is a beauty in presentation that further evolves in the tasting.
It’s a lovely way to spend an evening, where one can have a fine meal, and then venture out to look at the local arts and entertainments. It’s very apparent that there is a great deal of attention put to the public art in Singapore, and like any artworks, these all have their own stories. The work of Lin Emery is a splendid example. This artist has a number of public works, and her sculptures have been shown in exhibitions all over the world. They each demonstrate a remarkable sense for combining crafted materials with an eye toward honoring principles found in nature.
Her works show a kind of elegant fluidity, and for some of the sculptures, where works of metal invoke a certain sharpness and harsh angularity, the fluidity comes through as a kind of grace note. The artist herself comes from New Orleans in the U.S., and her work translates here in Singapore because of its fine attention to capturing a subtle elegance of form that speaks of technology that is always trumped by the forces of nature. Singapore’s thriving metropolis is always also accompanied by the presence of nature, the power of the elements, transfiguring our visual field, and at times, even our consciousness.
Posted by Cindy on
March 8, 2010
When choosing new blinds for a home, there are usually two types of blinds available to consumers. These are horizontal blinds and vertical blinds. The difference can be huge in terms of style, but not in terms of use or purpose. The choice of one or the other can be the difference in a whole room from a flash of color, to making the room a little more elegant. Vertical blinds are not as common in houses as horizontal blinds and can add a little extra flair to the room, this can be a nice personal touch in a room that many people will be in often. These blinds aren’t usually very good for smaller windows like those often found in bathrooms, but are great for large view windows like in a living room or bedrooms. Horizontal blinds are not as elegant and are better for the small windows, but can be used for any window type.
Horizontal blinds are the most common blinds found in houses, and attach in a fairly standard way. There is not a lot of elegance in these blinds, but they are cheap and they do the job they are intended to do very well. They are the best window treatment option for rooms in which a lot of water is used. Easy to clean off if something spills on them, and they won’t be damaged if a little water rests on them for a while. While there is a large variety of these blinds, aluminum is the most common. They can usually be found in any color to match the standing decor of your room.
Vertical blinds come in a number of fashions, from fabrics to vinyl , these blinds can be made to custom match the decor of a room by finding just the right print that goes with the room. Often they can even be made to compliment a couch if put up in a living room. These blinds attach slightly differently, but act in much the same way. Usually vertical blinds are best for rooms that need to be made completely dark, as the overlap in vertical blinds efficiently blocks out the sun. There is a mechanism that keeps all the blinds at the same angle, and they can be adjusted by hand, or by chord. Some companies will even offer to motorize these blinds, taking away the need for a chord.
Posted by Cindy on
March 1, 2010
There have been a lot of commercials on television lately about cash advance loans, which got me wondering, is there a reason cash advance loans are better than other loans? There are a few reasons why, and they mostly have to do with the speed and convenience of a cash advance loan. When you take out a cash advance loan, you are borrowing against your next paycheck. Most loan agreements will show this by making the due date on the loan a day or two after you are due to be paid. As long as you do not take out too big a loan this can take the pressure off you for a week or so and let you get back up on your feet. This also means that you do not have any collateral you have to put up for the loan, so if something happens the loan company can not take your house or your car. These loans only work however if they are paid back and they don’t insist on collateral as a sign of good faith, not to say that you can borrow money from them and walk away.
These loans are fast. If you get on the internet and find a cash advance loan today , you can have the money in your bank account tomorrow. This means that when you don’t have the money to pay the bills or if a financial emergency comes up, you can have the money right away to buy what you need to survive. Sometimes these emergencies seem small at first but become larger as you understand the consequences better, like the possibility of overdraft fees that when added all together cost over $300. These emergencies can also be big, such as a storm wrecking the roof of your house. These loans are designed just for these types of hard times and can literally keep a roof over your head by giving you the money fast so someone can fix the roof.
What you will need to know before applying for the loan is that you must be eighteen or older to take out these loans, and you must have a job making $800 or more per month. There may also be some other restrictions depending on state and company you go with. You may want to ask further questions or look into other sites to find out more about these loans.