What a Couple!

On our recent trip my Boyfriend and I drove from the Carolinas to Atlanta. It was my second visit in a few days. The first was to see family. This time our destination was the High Museum.

We stayed at the Granada Hotel in mid town. Very old and picturesque but the rooms were cold. Atlanta had a big cold snap the day we arrived. The fountain in the middle of the courtyard was an ice sculpture.

We walked to the museum. The High was designed by Richard Mier. He also designed the Getty in L.A. He likes white. Just looking at the building was a treat for the eyes.

The big deal in the museum was the ancient Egyptian exhibit on loan from the Louvre. Two hundred years ago this Egyptian stuff was reintroduced to the modern world (at that time) by this cool French couple named:

Napoleon and Josephine

They were the fashionistas of their time. If they said it was hot - it was hot. Actually Josephine was the trend setter and she liked all things Egyptian. Napoleon was "head over heels" for her so he went along - as many husbands do.

So France had an Egyptian art renaissance a couple of hundred years ago and we're still enjoying it.

All of this culture was happening even while Napoleon was out fighting wars and Josephine was back home cheating on him. They were multi-taskers.

What's Love Got to Do With It?

I'm reading the best selling book "Eat, Love, Pray" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Just finishing the first 3rd of the book and so far I'm not crazy about it. But I suspect that it will get much better. She's being very open about who she is and how she operates.

Sometimes when people are real they scare us.

She writes a funny description about her dysfunctional relationships. It looks familair to me. I know people who function this way.

While this does NOT describe my close friends I do know women who, even at my age, are still doing this:

...I disappear into the person I love. I am the permeable membrane. If I love you, you can have everything. You can have my time, my devotion, my (body,) my money, my family, my dog, my dog's money, my dog's time - everything. If I love you, I will carry for you all your pain, I will assume for you all of your debts (in every definition of the word), I will protect you from your own insecurity, I will project upon you all sorts of good qualities that you have never actually cultivated in yourself and I will buy Christmas presents for your entire family. I will give you the sun and the rain, and if they are not available, I will give you a sun check and and rain check. I will give you all of this and more, until I get so exhausted and depleted that the only way I can recover my energy is by becoming infatuated with someone else.



What Elizabeth Gilbert describes is certainly not what a Woo Woo woman is all about.

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Woo Woo in the Woods

Recently somebody asked me what "Woo Woo" meant. I was stuck. It's kind of like the descriptive word "Granola." The picture immediately comes to my mind of a woman in a long skirt and Birkenstocks eating an organic carrot.

But that's just me. You may have a different definition of "Granola."

When I describe my friends as "Woo Woo" I mean that they're spiritual, always seeking knowledge and wisdom, willing to embrace the mystery of the universe and the mystery of themselves. I don't picture any one person because to be "Woo Woo" means to be ones self.

We're all different.

One of my Woo Woo friends, a person whom I greatly admire, preached the sermon at my church yesterday. She had on a flowing liturgical robe and really cute shoes.

So on our road trip my Boyfriend and I stopped to visit one of my Power Rangers and her Significant Other in their cabin in the woods in North Carolina.

She's Woo Woo.

The first thing we did was take a bottle of wine to her tree house. It's a two platform structure deep in the woods - built by him but decorated by her. Hanging from the beautiful wooden planks are jewelry items, various wind chimes, angels - you get the idea.

After a glass of wine in the tree house she and I walked her labyrinth. It's next to the tree house.

Their cabin (house really) is a work of art. As are the woods surrounding it. He says with a sigh that she likes to manicure the forest.

You may think that she has way too much time on her hands. Quite the opposite. She has a huge job back here in the city - with much stress.

Sometimes she's a round peg in a square hole.

She's Woo Woo.

Book Recomendation

Somebody gave my Boyfriend a book. I read the first page and instantly knew I would love it, so he bought me my very own copy.

I don't want you to think that he lavishes me with gifts. We don't have that kind of relationship plus I don't need or want any more stuff. Nor does he.

But I didn't want to read his copy of the book because I have to write in it. It's that kind of book. It's called:

The Intellectual Devotional by David Kidder and Noah Oppenheim

It's not a spiritual devotional. It's a secular book in the same tradition with one year's worth of daily readings on history, literature, arts, science, music, philosophy....and religion.

One of the first entries is on James Joyce's book Ulysses. Years ago I found this book very hard to read. But it was worth it. It's based on Homer's Odyssey but it's about a Jewish guy named Leopold Bloom. He's a good guy during hard times. Joyce calls what he does "Everyday heroism."

Today we would call it "Random acts of kindness."

I'm not recommending that you read Ulysses. James Joyce didn't like to use periods and commas. But you can read this page of The Intellectual Devotional and then pretend that you read Ulysses.

But if that's too hard just rent the movie Evan Almighty. It's the same message.


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A Tiny Mix Up

OK, here's what I know for sure.

We were traveling South.

It's fun to see country places and small towns that "make do" with smaller venues than we city folks are used to. For instance, we stopped for a few minutes at "Ronnie's Gym and Window Tinting." How convenient if you should need both.

Then we're traveling along and I see a sign that says "Athens." So I say to my Boyfriend, Athens is a very sophisticated small town. It's where the University of Georgia is located. Why don't we stop there and tour the school?

He's says, "Sure" because he's a very agreeable guy.

So we get off the Interstate and drive a few miles to get to Athens. Only it's Athens, Tennessee. The University of Georgia is not located there.

But Tennessee Wesleyan is. And it's a Methodist school. So we toured that. On foot.

We had to confess to the guy at the coffee shop on the town square that we were in the wrong Athens, touring the wrong school in the wrong state.

But we enjoyed ourselves.



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Star Wars House

At Christmas time I was at my favorite house - besides mine. It's a Star Wars House. It was a Star Wars Christmas. All Star Wars - all the time.

This isn't like the 30 year old Trekkie (Star TREK) living in his parent's basement. Star Wars always was and still is cool.

All of my kids loved Star Wars. Not one of them is living in my basement.

So my younger grandsons have hundreds of star war figures and they know the back story for every one of them.

A couple of years ago I bought them a Star Wars Cookbook. They still use it. Some of the recipes are complicated and some are like "Make a cheese sandwich and stand Han Solo next to it."

My favorite is "Princess Leah Cinnamon Buns."

But back to Han. Following are some of his quotes. I've chosen the ones that will help you in your everyday life. Use them where appropriate.

Never tell me the odds.

Here's where the fun begins.

Great kid. But don't get cocky.

You know sometimes I even amaze myself.


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The Best Gift

What constitutes the "best" gift? I think it's like "The Gift of the Magi" when people sacrifice in order to give. Remember the old SNL skit when Donald Trump sold his yacht to buy Ivana a jewel encrusted front door for Mar-A-Lago - only to learn that Ivana had sold Mar-A-Lago to buy him some fabulous thing for the yacht?

Like that.

I got some fun gifts for Christmas. But my Boyfriend got the best one from his 16 year old granddaughter. She's one of those kids who is crazy busy with school and sports and LIFE.

That's why it's so touching that she made her grandfather a CD. She downloaded tunes from her Ipod. But not the ones she listens to. She chose songs and artists that he loves. Nora Jones, Fiona Apple and Herbie Hancock.

The CD cover is an old picture of my Boyfriend holding a one year old baby girl.
On the inside all of the song titles and artists' names are hand written.

Last night we arrived home from our eleven state road trip. We have piles of dirty clothes and an avalanche of mail. But it's been a good day partly because we've played the CD so many times.