Movie Madness - Jane Eyre

After seeing Jane Eyre, I have no recollection of ever reading the book. But, what a great film - gorgeous England, amazing acting and one kick-ass girl, strong, so self-assured and unwilling to accept anything less than what she deserves.

The Mission

With cathedrals like these, who needs a church? Sunday sermon started at The Alhambra in Spain

with an email from Amy, sitting on a terrace at sunset with Shana - "I love, love, love your firstborn! Please have one more," she said. My feelings of being left behind faded as I saw Amy from her I-can-say-anything-and-you're-stuck-with-me-clear-view-perch, how much she means to Shana and how today I can't get in the way. Moved to The Mission,

with it's adobe, been here forever (for AZ) walls, for some sustenance and social security, surrounded by parents with their precise, but never preachy, presence. Getting to Gammage, stunning 

monument growing up out of the desert, built just Wright as a place to worship Maya Angelou, so full of life and wisdom, who told us how the people in our lives, the "rainbows in your clouds," make it possible for us to teach others, as I sat next to a mother who has given me poetry since I could read. Enchanted evening ending at a Cave Creek labyrinth

 on a cold desert night, full of community, the smell of rain on Palo Verde trees and a beautiful gong, vibrating the day down deep.

Maya Angelou

I'm all out of grandmas, so here's the next best thing. She showed us her Medal of Freedom.

 She sang. She recited poetry, hers and others' from memory. She told us stories. She made us laugh. She made me cry.

Eurocheapen

What can you get for $495? Eleven day Spring Break trip: plane from Madrid to Paris, train to Brussels, train to Bruges, train to Amsterdam, ferry to London, plane to Madrid, lots of nights in hostels, several thank-God-for-friends free nights in Paris and London and all the walking around your feet can handle, says Shana.  Throw in some baguettes, Brie and beer and you're pretty close to 50 bucks a day.

Spring Equinox Labyrinth

 SPRING EQUINOX

LABYRINTH 

at the

Lanser Labyrinth

with a

Balinese Temple Gong

Equinox is a time of balance and harmony when the days and nights are equal in length. This is one of the four major power gates of the year when celestial energy floods us with                    opportunity.  Labyrinth walk at sunset to the accompaniment of a Balinese Temple Gong. Judy and Jon Foster will lend their beautiful gong to enhance our meditation  The evening will close with a very special musical interlude with Dr. Harold Moses and his viola

pic me, pic me

Spring Fling three day weekend hookie playing with Shawn at the new ipic theater. Whoa. Fancy, fancy. All alone in pre-assigned seats. Pillow, blankie, free popcorn, reclining plush seats, nice waiter bringing lunch and drinks, a bathroom I could live in and oh yeah, a movie. The Lincoln Lawyer. Not too bad, either.

Green Lipstick Call

O'wow, what a crowd! The bagpipe players, the Riverdance-like dancers, the bands, the shepherds pies and corned beef and cabbage smells wafting through the air and all the new friends. Here's my new BFF,

made while waiting for my own crew to show up. She's got three cats, fuzzy leprechauns on her shirt, a dad that looks exactly like Donald Sutherland (go way back, well, maybe half way back, think Animal House, another beer-themed event) and brought her own green food coloring. I love her!! We hung out, met even more new peeps and celebrated this good old Irish holiday in style.

Got lucky at the Dubliner Pub.

Seeing Red

My heart goes out to the people of Japan, feeling helpless out here in the desert. Away from fault lines. Away from oceans. But 50 miles from a nuclear power plant.

Maybe it's time to go green.

Dog Days

I'm not really a dog lover and thirteen (fourteen?) years after bringing home a lost and found tiny white ball of fluff,  I still can't believe that I actually own one. Nameless after a couple of weeks, I just put "SULLIVAN" on a dog tag, put it around his neck and he's been Sully ever since. He follows me around, begs for food, whines, snores, poops, jumps all over anybody that comes to the door, can't take a walk without acting like a crackhead, dragging his nose all along the path and is an overall anxious wreck. We've gotten used to each other, but I could swear that sometimes he looks at me the same way I look at him, sort of smiling and nodding his way through the relationship, knowing my heart's not in it, really deep down I'm a cat person

and I'm not faking it very well. But then we go for a walk or I break out the food and he seems to love me all over again.

Dbacks vs Giants

The Dbacks were on fire for tonight's Spring Training game at the brand new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick vs. the Giants. The night was perfect, stunning sunset, cool grass, state-of-the-art facility. We got there early for some hot dogs (double dog for Shawn, my once a year ketchup, mustard and relish fest on a bun fix) under the stars and headed home early. Seems like the fire went out when we left as the Giants pulled out a win in the end.