People in glass pyramids - 31/40

When I was growing up my mother had a most marvelous collection of people come through our house. One visit included a devout believer of pyramid power, though I don't think that is how he came to stay with us. What I do recall is that our pet goldfish died and this jolly gentleman explained to us at breakfast that he would build us a pyramid and that it would mummify our goldfish and that we would have a beautifully preserved fish for all. Over the course of the rest of the day I sat in the back yard watching him carefully measure and remeasure the pieces of cardboard that he was using to build this pyramid. He regaled me with tales about how it was the pyramids that helped preserve the famous mummies in Egypt (and not their embalming process I would now assume) and finally he finished this process and we all gathered outside where we had a ceremony of sorts where we placed the fish directly underneath the pyramid.  He told us that it would have to be under the pyramid for at least two weeks to reach its optimal mummified state.

Two weeks later, we checked and I can tell you all that it was not an effective pyramid... which has me deeply concerned for Dodi Fayed's dad intent on burying himself in a glass pyramid... but it would be very interesting to see what happens.

"I'm building a glass pyramid over the Egyptian escalator where my body will be mummified, so my customers can come and see me forever."
~ Mohamed Al-Fayed

More information on the ideas behind pyramid power

Embracing my natural awkwardness - 29/30

Recently I proclaimed my introversion to someone (Subject A) who promptly informed me that was a seriously erroneous self assessment. Actually they said "I don't think so".

I was really taken back by someone who has never lived in my skin feeling like they could make such an pronouncement. Whatever, it was a stupid thing to tell me in such a thoughtless manner.

The thing is, that on several occasions I have mentioned that I am shy and the people around me that have heard me utter these words told me that they would never consider me to by that way (notice that they just told me the same thing as "Subject A", but in a nicer and more genteel way?).

The things is, I am most probably both.

I had the genius revelation while at a Costco the other day. Actually I had this revelation after I caught myself talking to a stranger. I call this stranger Costco-Man (Subject B*).

Costco-Man looked a little like this

It is not everyday that one will see a handsome man wearing a suit and a fedora. I was so taken by how lovely it was to see someone make the effort that when I happened to walk by him I said;

"Sir, you look very handsome and it is so lovely to see someone as fabulously dapper as you".

I was on the phone talking to my mother at the time, how rude of me. But, thank you Costco-Man!

Anyway, the next day I realized that I had spoken to a complete strange which is not something I think a shy/introvert would do. So, I thought about those supremely definitive personality assessments that some people follow as if they were an astrological forecast and took at a peek at them and "sho'nuff" I scored a 50% on those things that measure introvert/extrovert (defaulted to extrovert, as an interesting aside).

So, I went to the google-sphinx and asked for the meaning of life. It was not 42, but that was not my question... "who can be an introvert and an extrovert?"

Apparently there is something that they are starting to call an ambivert.

Which appeals to me because I am ambidextrous, and navigating the middle of any spectrum appeals to me ever so much.

“I never wish to offend, but I am so foolishly shy, that I often seem negligent, when I am only kept back by my natural awkwardness."
~ Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Andie was awkward and it is only in my dotage that I realize what a poor choice Duckie would have been, but then so was Blane, aka a major appliance. Yes, I realize this photo has NOTHING to do with this post... I am merely giving in to my natural awkwardness.Also, note that there are no Y's in the nicknames.

 * only because I was once told that if you have a first of something like this you need to have a second.

Gentle hands made these 26/40

One of the things I am rarely without is a necklace. I never take off the gold chain with the tumi charm. Though I often wear what is apparently called a statement necklace I have added another necklace that has somehow manged to capture my intention in wearing it at all times.

The tumi charm was a gift from some family and friends in Ecuador, when they gave it to me they said that I had shown that I was a native daughter to the land and that as an Incan surgical tool it represented my studies in medicine. It is a treasured gift and I don't take it off unless absolutely necessary.

The new piece that I seem to wear almost constantly is a piece I bought in a monastery gift shop. It was hidden away on a bottom shelf in a basket under which was hidden a small 3x5 card with some terrible pictures of beautiful round-faced African women on one side and some pencil drawings and crude information on the other, It implied that the necklaces contained in the basket were hand made ceramic beads at a woman's cooperative in Africa that used local clays. It gave no mention of where in Africa, but the necklaces were amazing with these tiny round beads with occasional longer beads. As the daughter of a woman that traversed the terrains of Latin America in search of exquisite hand crafts I was intrigued and the necklace was only $5.00. So, I picked through them and found one that seemed a little different from the rest.

The purchase was made (thank you, mom) the necklace slipped into a paper bag and forgotten until the trip was over. Once I opened the bad with the necklace a month or so later I was still struck by how magnificent the small handmade beads were. I twisted open the barrel closure and put the necklace on.  I had no idea what magnificence I was yet to see.

When I woke up the next morning with the necklace still on, I was brushing my teeth when I was stunned by the transformation that necklace had gone through in the 24 hours since I had put it on. The obviously clay beads had picked up a beautiful sheen from the natural oils in my skin and had become this incredibly rich mix of colors, with a patina that was mind-blowing. I set my toothbrush down and touched the beads as I look at them int eh reflection in the mirror. The beads were beautiful and I was struck by the memory of the highly pixelated pictures in my recollections of the 3x5 informational card that was with them in that monastery gift shop.

Several weeks later I had need to take it off for a formal event. And I set it on the tray on the dresser in my bathroom. When I went noticed it the next morning I was struck again by how much it had changed, It had returned to a far less beautiful version of themselves. It was obvious they were meant to be worn, to go through a transformation that spoke to so many layers of humanity. They have become a reminder that we are all beautiful, but something comes out that makes us magical when we are  doing what we need to do with others. They have become about community and have somehow manged to tie me to a landmass that I have not properly visited, and hope to someday.

 

My Boys - 24

My best friends, when I was 17, were a group of boys.

I called them "My Boys".

We would go to parties and they'd tell everyone I was their step mother. 

No one ever asked how come I had six very different looking step sons or wondered about my fake British accent. I became known as the cool step mom, the extremely young wife who had step sons only a few years younger.

Each one granted me wishes I didn't know I had. 

They were all Boy Scouts, and for one glorious day they made me one too... Then stole my bra while I was strapped down and impersonating a scout and put it up the flagpole the next morning.

One taught me how to dance.

Two taught me how to charm a man.

Three taught me how to rappel a wall.

Four taught me brutal honesty.

Five taught me how to make chain-mail, throw knives, fight with two swords, and how to pick locks.

All of them protect me fiercely and loyally, but in their very own way. I am a very lucky girl.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ = −1/12 [day 23]

- 1/12

A magnificent number.

The reason is that there is this;

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯ = −1/12

 

If I had life to do over again, I often think that I would be a physicist. I would want to work on the theoretical aspects of string theory. I find it so provocative that that I am almost tempted to take it up late in life.

There is such a gentleness to it, that it is exciting and  attractive to me.

I am not the only one that thinks that.