Point and shoot

"It is not the first or the last breath you take that is important, it's all the ones in between"...

Perhaps my blog is going soft, but the past couple days, perhaps it is because of the new year approaching, I keep thinking of the impact and importance we all play in the scheme we call life.

Tonight, I am going to be at the YLNI Masquerade Ball bringing in the next year of life at the Historic Embassy Theatre. The event is sold out, 300 people have purchased tickets to celebrate the year that has been and the one that it will be. I am going to pick up my camera that has been in a box for many, many years. I gave up my photography near the millennium, but I am not sure why I did. I have always enjoyed taking pictures, capturing moments that are unique through my eyes. I hope that as I practice tonight, I can remember how to ride that proverbial bike.

Well, as I ramble, I feel as if I am on the long way to the well and my bucket has come up empty...but I am hoping as you read you ponder and wonder through the events that not only shaped you last years, but the many years before that developed your foundation of being. Possibly you have something that will click and develop into something wonderful. To all my friends and foes, who may be reading this, and to those who I do not even know that read this blog - - - H A P P Y N E W Y E A R ! ! ! !

Oh... there are more signs I could add...

Everyone is thinking about ways to lose weight, or make more money or learn a new skill. New Year's makes people think about how they must change to have a better, more healthy, life. I think this year I am going to encourage people to not think so hard just think smarter. If it is not working don't do it. Just STOP it. Eating too much? Stop it. Working too many hours? Stop it. Spending too much time with family? Stop it. Serving in an unproductive organization? Stop it. Spending too much on credit cards? Stop it. You will not need to make post it notes to put on mirrors, or voice recorded messages or a support group...nope just simply stop doing the stuff you find unbecoming of who you want to be. If you want to learn to dance, do it. However if you start it and don't like it STOP IT. I think one of the most important things we can do for our self is do what we want to do. Not saying total disregard for others, but if you are not wanting to bake a cake for the church, don't... buy one. Not that I go to church. But the point is, align yourself with your own desires and stick steadfast.

Oh, you so want to click the button...

Well dear friends, Fort Wayne is on the move. If you click the Fort Wayne button you will see where Fort Wayne is going. (If you click the button and it does not take you anywhere, then you know it is working properly.) The past couple weeks we had heard of someone buying the Holiday Inn to make it an upscale condo with shopping and who knows what other perfect amenities it could house. Well, that deal fell through. Surprise! The pink Holiday Inn is actually our pink elephant in town. Tall building gracing our skyline, that once inside is falling down within itself. Holiday Inn officials claim that the building needs a lot of work. Ironic, when is the last time someone admitted the truth. Which makes you wonder, if they are admitting there are structural and other issues, how bad must it really bad. You know Kenny Rogers had a little work done and we have seen how his little work effected his appearance. Perhaps with the new baseball stadium, I mean multiple purpose complex, the former Holiday Inn could be a multi floor retirement community. Everyone knows that the elderly love stairs and heights. We actually need one more retirement community. Every five miles is just not enough between them. Elderly do not need to go grocery shopping, so the fact that there is not a grocery store downtown would not be a turn off. Lets just hope 'meals on wheels' can just use the on-site kitchen.

Out with the old

Well New Year's Eve is just around the corner. I am going to be attending the YLNI Masquerade Ball at the Historic Embassy Theatre. Tickets are still available, probably less than two dozen, before it is sold out. I have had the best intentions to prepare on what I will wear. I need a mask, I needed to get a tux, I needed to get a date. Well, last night I achieved some of that... I called a tuxedo place that I have rented from in the past and said who I was and the next thing I knew I had a tux and it will be ready on Friday for pick up. As for the mask, well I have the one from last year, and I think I will just dust off the velvet and call it ready. As for the date, well the only date that I will be knowledgeable about will be Sunday December 31st at the Historic Embassy Theatre. Might as well end the year the way I started it, single. Who knows, maybe next year has something in store for me. But if not, this year has been wonderful. This guy is wearing a version of my tux. Mine does not make me look anorexic though, so don't you feel better :)

Do you hear what I hear?

Now that the holidays are over, the next few days are tough, if not impossible, to get the work force back to work. All this giving and sharing allow for new holidays, celebrations and recognitions to begin: Bring Your Problem To Work Day! Since everyone has been so festive, and the holiday tunes have been playing for a month, and carry ins and special lunches have now forced people to talk to one another...now they can not stop! It is an obsession to tell a co-worker something ... what happened to Ginger when she made egg nog. Or Freida's gift wrapping disaster, wrong person got the wrong gift. Harold is obsessed in telling everyone about how early the kids woke him up because of Santa. All these needless stories are told throughout the day to co-workers. Asking advice on how to handle returns. Asking about that wonderful cheese ball recipe. Asking about where to take the Christmas tree to be recycled. Asking how much longer until Christmas..... Everyone feels that have to share something. Sometimes it is good, but no one wants to listen to that person. Everyone wants to hear about how the trunk was full of packages on the way to Chicago and the car had a flat tire, all the gifts had to be unloaded in the rain, the gifts were ruined. Now, that is the story you want to take in and then share with someone else. Honestly, Christmas is the holiday that haunts the office like a bad audit.

Yule be happy to ...

Santa's big day, as he flew through the night, I chomped on a big juicy peppercorn steak at Eddie Merlot's. Friends and I gathered to have a wonderful, relaxing dinner to celebrate the eve of the birth of Jesus. (Oh, I know, I just offended some people, but I am sorry, well not really.) I could have been celebrating the birth of my friend who was born on Christmas Eve, but she was not at the table and that would sound bizarre to celebrate without her. Oh, well now that I think of it, I have celebrated things without the party of "honor" present. Anyway, I had a great salad with a strip steak and Eddie's potatoes which have hunks of not spicy jalapenos. We reminisced in the year that has been and hopes for an upcoming year filled with joy and prosperity. We even talked about marriage, but it wasn't mine. Come to think of it, the person I was marrying off really did not commit the act either. Guess this was your typical Carbo dinner where I recall the night as I want to. One thing we all would agree, great friends, great company and a great new tradition. Merry Christmas (or happy birthday to my friend who celebrated one)!

Shake your snow thing...

Well, we are just hours away from the second biggest event of December, Christmas. (Of course the largest event of December was Carbozo - thank you very much!) Well, around my house, Christmas is a bucket of cards, a tree that looks like a mistake, and a handful of early gifts from people who won't be seeing me anytime soon. Bless them for thinking of me. But under my tree there are no presents, just some stray dog hair and perhaps a red bozo nose that some how appear in the damn-dest places. I think one of my funny friends hid noses throughout the house, as I find them when I least expect it. I spin the Christmas carousel, and hear some of my favorite holiday tunes. Over the past couple years, I have not stopped believing in Santa, but I think he stopped visiting my house. Must have lost him in the divorce. Oh well, Clyde is blessed with some fun gifts and that is what the holiday is all about. On the tunes: "Hard Candy Christmas" by Dolly Parton; "Home for the holidays" Jim Brickman, "Ordinary Miracles" Anne Cochran, "Grown up Christmas List" Amy Grant; "Christmastime is here" Vince Guarldi; "Holly Jolly Christmas" Burl Ives, "Merry Christmas Darling" The Carpenters; "This Christmas" by Chicago or Patti Labelle. How ever you may spend the holiday, do it with style and remember it is not whats under your tree, it is what is in your heart.

it ain't the love connection, but noteworthy

No matter what happens in our life,we are always attempting to stay connected. Sometimes it is through a song that may bring us back to a special place in time. Sometimes through photographs that allow us to recollect a wedding, a concert, a party, a graduation. Sometimes we connect through writing, perhaps what was known as 'paper and pencil' (guess I am showing my age, here), but also through blogs, emails and text messaging. Well, something happened for me yesterday to connect in a couple ways, some routine and not so typical. A friend and I went to Indy on Friday, we finished up some holiday bah-humbug shopping, and we went to a psychic. So, I went first (age before beauty) and after an hour, I was amazed at some of the facts, names and things that were delivered to my ears. Heard about family members who have left, but described them in pretty good detail. Described a friend without ever seeing her. Told me of a vacation I will take in October to Italy...hello! All and all, it was pretty wild to be connected with facts and perhaps fictions that made me more of a believer than I was when I walked through the office door. No glass ball, chiming music or veils, a normal every day person. When I came home, my DSL connection arrived too. So, painstakingly, I installed it and now I am legally on the web. The blog is up and running and back on a sort of routine. As the holiday and New Year approaches, connect with someone you have not spoke with to let them know you care, and don't wait until they contact from the other side.

Mad Cow!

If you have been listening to all the reports over the past couple months, America is being attacked with Mad Cow, again. This time, the cows do not want to be whacked, rather they want the PETA and Vegetarians to back down. Oh, yeah, this is very intentional sabotage by the meat industry to scare the American public from eating lettuce. Taco Bell, salad problems. Halls Tavern, salad problems. Olive Garden, salad problems. Best Buy, well they are just incredible slow and lack intelligence. But the facts are clear, someone is trying to hold back the lettuce eaters of America. Many, many years ago, this type of situation happened across the waters when people became addicted to potatoes and the rice industry developed a plague on the potato eating population. It may be hard to believe, but the next on the list must be those who eat turkey on Thanksgiving, but that is just my hunch. So, my only recommendation to the smart Vegetarians is that you must eat more starch and no lettuce. The starches are filling, and that IS what dinner is suppose to be about, I think.

This was my life, this year

All the furniture was removed for this one of a kind evening. Friends gather around mirrors, water, flowers and over twenty bottles of wine to taste test their way to find the glass that they just could not sit down. Perhaps, we were sitting down because we could not stand up, either way the annual wine tasting party was a blast!

Had a few gourmet dinners, one being this Italian themed party. Even broke open a bottle of wine that survived my trip to Hawaii, nearly ten years ago. Oh yeah, not so much a trip but I think it was the honeymoon. The wine was bad in ten years, too. This picture shows that my friend and I had made a great time of the evening.

I attended a leadership conference in Madison, Wisconsin on behalf of the Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana. I made some great friends and learned many great things!

Dinner for Five at Six, was a big routine this year. At the Summit Club, throughout the year, I host a dinner where four of my friends enjoy a dinner where they meet new people. It has been rewarding to develop better friendships through this dinner party.

I took a plane to Florida in February, and in April to San Francisco and June to Iowa. It has been a great time seeing sea shores, wineries and corn! Vacations can be great, and these were all three both exciting and full of adventures.

The holiday open house was in the planning stages all year long. The save the date cards went out mid year and then about two months out, so everyone would know that Carbozo is THE event of the holiday season.

This summer I went to THE summer celebration of the year! Outside venue with fantastic friends, new friends, and food that was lifted from a gourmet magazine!

I also had the opportunity to be a part of Tapestry - A Day for Women! Linda Elerbee was the speaker and we sat and just munched on some chocolate at Debrands.

There was a bit of time for fun and games with my friend as we posed for a pic or two to celebrate the coming of Carbozo.

I did attend a string of concerts: Chicago, Lee Ann Womack, Mamma Mia, Sugarland. It is important to have fun while in the Fort.

Simply Remember

Well, the days are clicking faster than the points on my credit card for airline miles! As I begin to look back at the year in review, there are so many great things that have happened, in the world of music, I thought I would share this list: (music)

Some of the best albums this year:

• Sugarland - Enjoy The Ride; Roseanne Cash - Black Cadillac; Kristine W - Fly Again; Sara Evans -Real Fine Place; Beatles -Love; Chicago - XXX; Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio.

It is only a number!

You know over the past couple of years, I have been carrying tons of plastic cards. Each card does something but I have no idea what. Like I kinda understand my Northwest Airline points, I buy something for dollar and get a dollar in saved points, once I spend, say ten million dollars I get a one way flight to somewhere within 50 miles of my home, or something like that. Then there is my Barnes and Noble card, I do not really get points but I get a discount. Best Buy I get points, but I did not take enough advanced math in college to understand how much I spend equals a point. Can't forget my Eddie Merlot card. Just used it this Tuesday for a great meal, and they even told me I had 300 some points, but I did not know if I get a free ice cube for my drink or my meal was comped. I also hold a Gordon Food Service Card, which I can not recall the last time I received something in return. Speaking of retuning, Hallmark crowns me points for sending cards bought from their store. I can tell that this is a lost art, because they don't send me special greetings in the mail either. I have an Aveda card, I am sure you all do. I can not use it in Fort Wayne because we do not have any Aveda stores, but it is always nice to have when I am on vacation. I have an H2O card, and again, it does not do me any good while I live in Fort Wayne, but it does come in handy along with those in store only coupons I receive every quarter. I have a Pet Smart card, this really is Clyde's, but I hold onto it for him. I have an El Azteca card. I know that I can call ahead to get a seat reserved and Monday and Tuesday are double point days, so I am never sure if this means a free nacho sampler or enough Margaritas to make me forget how many times I had to eat there to get the free drinks. I do have a Borders card. Used it once and I get the emails that I do not have any points, and I know that I do, but how can I prove it. I guess, the point I am trying to make, can't we regulate these point programs so that I understand why I am carrying more plastic than Joan River's face in my billfold?

what a nice reflection on you...

Well all that glitters is not gold, or good! When I last left off I decided to put my bah-humbugs into action and put up that lousy Christmas tree anyway. Well, I did. It looks horrible (see last post), but it is up and I am in the Christmas spirit damn it. The next morning, up and the crack of dawn so I can work off my freshman fifteen (okay, so I graduated in 1992, it is just taking a bit longer than I had hoped), when I could not see. My vision was blurry. I thought, maybe I don't have my glasses on, or perhaps there are on upside down. No, the glasses were fine it was just my left eye. It was blurred. It began to water. Not a good sign since I do not eve have an onion in the house let alone cut one. But the good news was, I thought, I could have a reoccurring role on Guiding Light, because I could roll tears out without any hesitation. I texted (if that is a word) my friend to let him know I would not make it to the gym, and began to flush my eye. Low and behold, what eventually came out of my eye was a piece of shiny, happy, glitter. So, the moral of the story, if you think you need to put up a Christmas tree, don't because you may go blind!

I just need a couple pills...

Okay, I changed my mind. I felt guilty. The year without a Christmas tree. So, I went down to the storage room and dug through the boxes of stuff to find a few tubs of Christmas decorations. Once in my life I had double the amount of Christmas decorations but it was about two years ago this month that I decide to give up, walk away from or start fresh as I began a new chapter in the life of Carbo. So, my tree does not have the collection of snow penguins, or snow babies or disney ornaments that I had collected for years, but on the other hand it does not have angels, french-victorian bulbs or that country-bumpkin feel either. What I have this year is an artificial tree that looks like 10,000 people all hung one thing on it. It is my split-personality tree. I am not sure how it went from elegant (last year) to the most dysfunctional tree in Fort Wayne. But it is up, and I am feeling so darn Christmassssyyyy I can hardly handle myself. Since I was in the spirit, though I did not have any spirits which may have helped, I went shopping for gifts. I went to one store and decided that this may be the year everyone gets something from an online vendor. Overstock.com, or potterybarn.com or ebay.com. I came home and decided that I want December to be over. I think I need to find a place to go for the rest of the month, perhaps Israel. Not thinking Christmas is a big deal over there, especially this year.

Real Fine Place ...

Hooray! Sara Evans is coming to Indiana in January to perform! It has been a while since I saw Sara Evans in concert. She was performing with an unknown artist when she was an unknown artist... Kenny Chesney. Well this round Sara is doing it on her own. She is coming to Indianapolis. Rumor is that she may be divorced by January and we all know why is coming to Indiana!! I will need to update my wife-ry list. The things I would regard as important to date or marry a person. That list seems to get more red-lined as the days, weeks and months (shall I say years) go by. It pretty much is down to a post it note: must like music, must like Clyde and must enjoy eating food. The list had said before things like, be gainfully employed, laughs at Arrested Development episodes, enjoy traveling and can use a fork as well as a spoon. Realize that the spoon just is not too critical in the dating world any longer. So, time will only tell how short that list will become as time clicks by like sand through an hourglass. Oh, yeah, I am not looking for an hourglass figure, too much upkeep and dieting uggh, not in my house -- won't have that food consumption fear.

Holly Jolly My...

There is no place like home, for the holiday. At this home, during the holiday, it going to be a tree-less home. I had tossed around the idea about putting up the tree on Sunday, after Carbozo, but I am still cleaning on Thursday haha, so that plan went by the way side. The next thought was to put it up this weekend. I thought, why! I live alone, I won't have many, if any, presents under it, and it just means I have to schedule myself to sit around it. So, this will be the year without a Christmas Tree. Perhaps my spirit is just on hold, but I think it may have been wrapped up with a nice bow and tucked under someone else's tree this year. Bah-humbug!

You will leave your lights on...

Twenty years ago, I ate my first and only Taco Bell meal. I was on the Ball State Campus (some may say I was just visiting, others know that I paid for a year and went for a quarter, but nonetheless...). My roommate, his girlfriend, her roommate and I went there for dinner. Well, for seventy cents we could eat forty tacos with beans and rice. At least something ridiculous like that. Anyway, the next morning the newspaper said that the same Taco Bell we ate at, was closed. Not due to poor sales, or a remodel or anything like a holiday, nope, it was because the Board of Health found rat turds in the re fried beans. Hmm, well that seems like a very valid reason to close the place down, if I have ever heard of one. Needless to say, I have never eaten at a Taco Bell. So, to my surprise, as I am watching the news (not Nancy Grace), Taco Bell has had an outbreak of E Coli. E Coli is normally associated with under cooked meat. Considering that a mouse or a rat was not thoroughly cooked, could be the source, but I only suspect this to be the case.

Last red nose opportunity

Well, I have realized the last job that I want to have is a trash collector. After hauling fourteen bags of trash to the curb, after Carbozo, I could not imagine picking up an entire road, block, quadrant for one day, for one week, heaven forbid, for a twenty-five year career to earn the watch. Hats off to the men and women who serve our sanitation community. I know, everyone is so proud of our vets. Granted many have given their life for this country, but what about those who pick up our trash. Everything we don't want we leave for them. Perhaps a special cemetery, or a wall listing all their names should be created. After I realize my contribution to their work load today, I think I owe them something. Perhaps a red nose so they won't have to smell the trash!

No clowing around folks, it was a hit!

Well, just four hours ago, I went to bed -- this is because Carbozo lasted until a record setting 2:30 a.m. We did not have breakfast, who needed it when there was still grapefruit martinis left behind the bar. The mini keg was already tapped, so we had an obligation to help ease the morning clean up process. The evening had a midnight guitar player that sang a song about Chocolate. The big hit of the night on the food line appears to be either the lasagna roll ups or the chicken biscuit casserole. Though nothing seems to be left in mass quantity except crackers. What a blast. Now THIS is what the season is all about. Spending time with great friends, sharing stories and a few drinks. Speaking of drinking, how can I write this without giving a shout out to everyone's favorite weather specialist Sandy Thomson. Not once but twice, the most compassionate group of people who care about our communities weather formed an amazing circle (felt like 'We are the World') to hear Sandy tell us in great detail the past, the present and the future weather. Here is to Sandy (raise a glass I found near my computer desk -- who left this here!) Overall, the house is not in too bad of shape for having about 150 people here for about nine hours. There are only about two hours of unaccountable time in my evening. No, I did not slip into a closet with some hottie, I think I may have been so concerned about our weather that I may have been a bit overzealous playing along! But that was what the night was about. Can you believe we are just 364 days away from Mexi-Carbo! Yes, the celebration of Margarettas! Who wants to practice with me? Snake Bites?

Early Birds miss the party

Awwww, and you didn't think I would have time to write an entry today with Carbozo just hours away. Well, I think it is important to let you know that I am jamming to music, cleaning this morning. Food prep is ahead of schedule, somehow, and I am thinking all may go pretty close to plan. The picture shows what last year's Holiday Open House traffic was like, or so I have heard. The funny thing about being the host of Carbo-celebrations, I have never seen the parking nightmare that happens outside of the home. I have heard that it is always a party in itself getting to the house. Traffic is lined up for miles, or at least blocks. The neighbors, luckily all go to bed at 630 p.m. after their 4:00 p.m. early bird dinner, so they never know that the party even happened. Once you make it inside, you should find tables of food in multiple rooms. People tastefully drinking (haha) and laughing. The countdown begins to the ten year celebration of Carbo-celebrations.