Case in point:
Husband Bob didn't like the blue sheets because they "didn't breathe." I didn't like the black ones because they were itchy. Here you see the compromise: slicing them down the middle. Now we have two sets of sheets that we both like.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Seize the Scissors, Seize the Day
We don't have to stick with whatever comes out of a package. Often, we can change it. I love using things in ways they weren't intended, or altering them to make them work for my circumstances.
Case in point:
Husband Bob didn't like the blue sheets because they "didn't breathe." I didn't like the black ones because they were itchy. Here you see the compromise: slicing them down the middle. Now we have two sets of sheets that we both like.
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Case in point:
Husband Bob didn't like the blue sheets because they "didn't breathe." I didn't like the black ones because they were itchy. Here you see the compromise: slicing them down the middle. Now we have two sets of sheets that we both like.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Death Anxiety Finale
I was preaching and theorizing here two days ago about how the health care anger and uproar was coming in part out of the fear of death.
Turns out I was projecting: it was me. (And maybe those raging demonstrators as well)
The day after that post (yesterday), I worried here about the recession and money.
The Underlying Fear
So then last night, as I watched a raw and astonishingly moving funeral of I-won't-say-who on Six Feet Under on DVD, money fear dissolved into a serious case of: Oh shit, I'm aging, time is going faster and faster, and all the people I love are going to die. (Not me, of course, my thinking is not that advanced.)
The recognition was very relieving.
Hitting a Wall
I'd had the same experience more wrenchingly 31 years ago, a couple of weeks after my father died. For no apparent reason, I panicked over money, though I was a self-supporting adult by then. I also managed that day to let my car battery die twice and to then drive that car over a small wall that I'd thought was a speed bump. A wrecker had to lift me off.
So maybe I should have known to look deeper. And maybe there's something else under death anxiety. What that might be I don't know. I'll be watching to see what else erupts.
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Turns out I was projecting: it was me. (And maybe those raging demonstrators as well)
The day after that post (yesterday), I worried here about the recession and money.
The Underlying Fear
So then last night, as I watched a raw and astonishingly moving funeral of I-won't-say-who on Six Feet Under on DVD, money fear dissolved into a serious case of: Oh shit, I'm aging, time is going faster and faster, and all the people I love are going to die. (Not me, of course, my thinking is not that advanced.)
The recognition was very relieving.
Hitting a Wall
I'd had the same experience more wrenchingly 31 years ago, a couple of weeks after my father died. For no apparent reason, I panicked over money, though I was a self-supporting adult by then. I also managed that day to let my car battery die twice and to then drive that car over a small wall that I'd thought was a speed bump. A wrecker had to lift me off.
So maybe I should have known to look deeper. And maybe there's something else under death anxiety. What that might be I don't know. I'll be watching to see what else erupts.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
When Fear Likes to Strike
Curiously, courage is often needed most when a threat starts to recede. That's true for me, and true theoretically. The recession starts to show signs of abating and I start to feel the full emotional impact for the first time: anger, fear, fatigue, etc.
Why Be Scared of the Recession Now?
When the first frenzy of a crisis is over and things begin to look better, then I/we have the luxury of being tired and of resting, and of wasting time on worrying and second-guessing. Also, the adrenaline fades out a bit. And the initial overdoing starts to take its toll.
Decision-Making Principle
What I keep in mind is that the inevitable moment of wobble is not a good time for changing plans, backing off from earlier choices, throwing anything over, or rethinking anything important. Unless radically new circumstances occur, it's a good time for getting more sleep and sticking with the wisdom of an earlier fresher day.
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Why Be Scared of the Recession Now?
When the first frenzy of a crisis is over and things begin to look better, then I/we have the luxury of being tired and of resting, and of wasting time on worrying and second-guessing. Also, the adrenaline fades out a bit. And the initial overdoing starts to take its toll.
Decision-Making Principle
What I keep in mind is that the inevitable moment of wobble is not a good time for changing plans, backing off from earlier choices, throwing anything over, or rethinking anything important. Unless radically new circumstances occur, it's a good time for getting more sleep and sticking with the wisdom of an earlier fresher day.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tired? Terrified?
If job/economy worries are starting to wear on your courage and your imagination, your basic health and good humor, then take a playground break. Or you might even stand up and stretch, or try a little desk yoga. Not only bold, but refreshing.
Confront The Beast
Which reminds me that I regularly drive past Silver Lake Waterpark with a waterslide called The Beast and yet have never stopped and slid. This needs my attention before the weather gets cold once again.
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Confront The Beast
Which reminds me that I regularly drive past Silver Lake Waterpark with a waterslide called The Beast and yet have never stopped and slid. This needs my attention before the weather gets cold once again.
Fury and Fears About Healthcare
At tea this afternoon after my regular weekly writing group meeting, I suddenly understood why rage has been breaking out at meetings to talk about health care.
The Anger
I'm sure you've read about people showing up at these discussions packing heat, and seen the pictures of snarling and pushing participants.
This afternoon at our cafe table, four close friends--all well-educated, well-informed, and fairly temperate--got pretty hot on the subject and the thing is: we AGREE about healthcare reform. But we had slight variations on what must be included, or what model should be allowed or not allowed to become a new system. But safe to say: we were thinking about 96% the same.
So if we could get as stirred up as we did, then I can understand how people with radical disagreements can get very upset. And how people can let themselves be inflamed by bizarre rumors. And manipulated into bug-eyed fury.
It's because basic safety is involved.
Death Anxiety, The Fear of Death
What we're talking about isn't mere financial corruption or tax increases or better schools. It's staying alive. And staying whole. And protecting our young and our old.
Some of the rumors going about are simply insane, and I'm not even going to further spread them by repeating them. But people worried about basic safety for themselves and their families can get crazy pretty quickly. Especially if helped along by political forces that stand to gain by their anger.
When I was living in Varanasi doing my research for Sister India, rioting and terrorist bombing broke out there and shut the city down for two weeks of curfew. The sides there were Hindu vs. Muslim. Never mind that Hindus and Muslims were living together in harmony most of the time through much of the city. But political agitation stirred up violence over symbolic acts, over what an outsider might see as a trifle. Each outbreak then set up a chain reaction of retribution.
(When I set out for India, I didn't expect such fights and living under curfew to become part of my novel, but inevitably they did.)
It's easy to say: go easy, listen to all sides, remember that this is your neighbor who also wants reliable healthcare.
Such restraint is very hard in practice. I do know that inflammatory rumors help no one and can do extraordinary harm.
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The Anger
I'm sure you've read about people showing up at these discussions packing heat, and seen the pictures of snarling and pushing participants.
This afternoon at our cafe table, four close friends--all well-educated, well-informed, and fairly temperate--got pretty hot on the subject and the thing is: we AGREE about healthcare reform. But we had slight variations on what must be included, or what model should be allowed or not allowed to become a new system. But safe to say: we were thinking about 96% the same.
So if we could get as stirred up as we did, then I can understand how people with radical disagreements can get very upset. And how people can let themselves be inflamed by bizarre rumors. And manipulated into bug-eyed fury.
It's because basic safety is involved.
Death Anxiety, The Fear of Death
What we're talking about isn't mere financial corruption or tax increases or better schools. It's staying alive. And staying whole. And protecting our young and our old.
Some of the rumors going about are simply insane, and I'm not even going to further spread them by repeating them. But people worried about basic safety for themselves and their families can get crazy pretty quickly. Especially if helped along by political forces that stand to gain by their anger.
When I was living in Varanasi doing my research for Sister India, rioting and terrorist bombing broke out there and shut the city down for two weeks of curfew. The sides there were Hindu vs. Muslim. Never mind that Hindus and Muslims were living together in harmony most of the time through much of the city. But political agitation stirred up violence over symbolic acts, over what an outsider might see as a trifle. Each outbreak then set up a chain reaction of retribution.
(When I set out for India, I didn't expect such fights and living under curfew to become part of my novel, but inevitably they did.)
It's easy to say: go easy, listen to all sides, remember that this is your neighbor who also wants reliable healthcare.
Such restraint is very hard in practice. I do know that inflammatory rumors help no one and can do extraordinary harm.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Taking a Break from Strong?
A courage conundrum: Can a strong person have a weak stomach?
I won't burden you with details, but I came down with food poisoning last night. A rough six hours, but it was the cleanup that was most vexing.
Willpower alone does little to restrain a stomach in rebellion. I do know that hypnosis can get amazing results; my psychologist husband helps people prepare for chemo, etc., using clinical hypnosis. He mentioned this morning that this episode was an opportunity to "work on" my sensitivities. I did not press him for details. Wasn't feeling bold.
I do know that it's possible to desensitize to a smell. Living in Varanasi, India, doing research for Sister India, I found that I "forgot" the smell of the riverbank funeral pyres.
And yet a bad smell is an astonishingly tough adversary. Even rioters can be dispersed by the truly potent stink bomb.
I may just decide to be a wuss in this particular aspect of life, unless I hit a persistent need to do otherwise.
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I won't burden you with details, but I came down with food poisoning last night. A rough six hours, but it was the cleanup that was most vexing.
Willpower alone does little to restrain a stomach in rebellion. I do know that hypnosis can get amazing results; my psychologist husband helps people prepare for chemo, etc., using clinical hypnosis. He mentioned this morning that this episode was an opportunity to "work on" my sensitivities. I did not press him for details. Wasn't feeling bold.
I do know that it's possible to desensitize to a smell. Living in Varanasi, India, doing research for Sister India, I found that I "forgot" the smell of the riverbank funeral pyres.
And yet a bad smell is an astonishingly tough adversary. Even rioters can be dispersed by the truly potent stink bomb.
I may just decide to be a wuss in this particular aspect of life, unless I hit a persistent need to do otherwise.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Pump It Up
Here's one of my favorite pump-up songs of all time, performed by one of the great pop artists. Perfect for shaking off any August lethargy.
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Sunday, August 09, 2009
Boldness Highlights of the Week
Bold this week:
...our new Justice Sotomayor. It takes courage to be the first of any group to climb into a highly visible position.
...the rescue of the two reporters from North Korea, not with force but with strategy and charm.
...Paul McCartney riding city buses (from "Paul McCartney Keeps It Real", The Week magazine)
My own boldest move this week was pretty small: I rewrote my intro copy for my blog in a more revealing and pointed way. (soon to come)
What was your own boldest move in the last seven days? What's it going to be for the coming week?
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...our new Justice Sotomayor. It takes courage to be the first of any group to climb into a highly visible position.
...the rescue of the two reporters from North Korea, not with force but with strategy and charm.
...Paul McCartney riding city buses (from "Paul McCartney Keeps It Real", The Week magazine)
My own boldest move this week was pretty small: I rewrote my intro copy for my blog in a more revealing and pointed way. (soon to come)
What was your own boldest move in the last seven days? What's it going to be for the coming week?
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Weakness or Strength?
Peeling a car isn't everyone's idea of fun. But my car needed it. It's an artcar, as I've mentioned here before. And my most recent attempt at a white background for the morning glories used housepaint. Bad idea.
It started to blister. Then ragged tatters of paint flapped in the breeze as I drove. Something had to be done.
So in late morning I started ripping off bits and strips of paint. It was so much fun. I kept thinking I would quit and go move the laundry from washer to dryer. But then I'd pull one more dirty bit of paint off and another.
And then I discovered that four hours had passed. Unbelievable! I would have believed maybe an hour and a quarter.
Which brings me to my point. I'm good at focusing, losing track of time, and staying with a project literally for decades. My point: our weaknesses are our strengths inappropriately applied. I could have quit earlier and borrowed a sander. Or settled for a less-peeled car. (It's no prize as it is, I'll tell you.) Or at least made a conscious choice. That's the key thing: to pause for a second to make a choice.
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It started to blister. Then ragged tatters of paint flapped in the breeze as I drove. Something had to be done.
So in late morning I started ripping off bits and strips of paint. It was so much fun. I kept thinking I would quit and go move the laundry from washer to dryer. But then I'd pull one more dirty bit of paint off and another.
And then I discovered that four hours had passed. Unbelievable! I would have believed maybe an hour and a quarter.
Which brings me to my point. I'm good at focusing, losing track of time, and staying with a project literally for decades. My point: our weaknesses are our strengths inappropriately applied. I could have quit earlier and borrowed a sander. Or settled for a less-peeled car. (It's no prize as it is, I'll tell you.) Or at least made a conscious choice. That's the key thing: to pause for a second to make a choice.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Cheeky Advertising
My hip, imaginative dentist (take that, stereotype!) has interesting ways of getting the word out. Note this give-away toothbrush. In case the writing on my portrait of it is hard to read, the inscription says:
Rebecca Schmorr, DOS, 834-4450
Directions: Use the Fuzzy End
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Boldly Grateful
A wise friend recently told me he feels gratitude is the key to success in life.
I already knew that genuinely feeling grateful does a lot for one's health and happiness. But as I thought about it, I realized how effective a focus on gratitude could be for making alliances, working with people, recognizing opportunities, and so on.
And it does feel better than griping about what's not right.
Probably it cuts down on self-consciousness, fear, and irritability as well. Anyone who is in the midst of reveling in the wonders of what she has been given probably isn't simultaneously in a swivet about the oppressive to-do list, money pressure, how the meeting this morning should have gone, and so forth. Anyone feeling that kind of ease is likely nice to be around.
Even my computer is more cooperative when I don't swear at it for taking 8 seconds to do something.
It's pretty easy to feel genuine gratitude (nothing's more annoying than the fake pious lying kind) Feeling grateful happens simply by remembering what's good: an 8-second delay in getting into a website is miraculously easy research compared to the old days of driving somewhere to pore over microfiche archives. And so forth.
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I already knew that genuinely feeling grateful does a lot for one's health and happiness. But as I thought about it, I realized how effective a focus on gratitude could be for making alliances, working with people, recognizing opportunities, and so on.
And it does feel better than griping about what's not right.
Probably it cuts down on self-consciousness, fear, and irritability as well. Anyone who is in the midst of reveling in the wonders of what she has been given probably isn't simultaneously in a swivet about the oppressive to-do list, money pressure, how the meeting this morning should have gone, and so forth. Anyone feeling that kind of ease is likely nice to be around.
Even my computer is more cooperative when I don't swear at it for taking 8 seconds to do something.
It's pretty easy to feel genuine gratitude (nothing's more annoying than the fake pious lying kind) Feeling grateful happens simply by remembering what's good: an 8-second delay in getting into a website is miraculously easy research compared to the old days of driving somewhere to pore over microfiche archives. And so forth.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Grab a Green Kleenex
It's hard to do the right thing when someone is pressing you to do it. At least I, immaturely, find that so.
So congratulations are due today to two organizations:
1. The world's largest tissue-maker Kimberly-Clark
2. Environmental organization Greenpeace (as well as other eco-activists)
Kimberly-Clark, after almost five years of urging from Greenpeace, will no longer use wood pulp from Endangered Forests, such as Canada's Kenogami. And KC is a company that requires a lot of raw materials; they make Depends, Kleenex, Scott paper towels, Huggies, Kotex, and Poise, among other items. Now they're a giant not only in paper products, but in green paper practices.
So-- Yay, Kimberly-Clark! Yay, Greenpeace! Yay, ancient forests!
If it brings tears to your eyes, go buy yourself a case of Kleenex. The right move deserves a reward.
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So congratulations are due today to two organizations:
1. The world's largest tissue-maker Kimberly-Clark
2. Environmental organization Greenpeace (as well as other eco-activists)
Kimberly-Clark, after almost five years of urging from Greenpeace, will no longer use wood pulp from Endangered Forests, such as Canada's Kenogami. And KC is a company that requires a lot of raw materials; they make Depends, Kleenex, Scott paper towels, Huggies, Kotex, and Poise, among other items. Now they're a giant not only in paper products, but in green paper practices.
So-- Yay, Kimberly-Clark! Yay, Greenpeace! Yay, ancient forests!
If it brings tears to your eyes, go buy yourself a case of Kleenex. The right move deserves a reward.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
On Time or Way Behind?
The feeling of running behind is one that I find hard to shake. Here, from The Daily Om, is a good way to think of it. Important, because nothing is actually gained from going around feeling pressed. The hurried state of mind makes me clumsy and leads me to try too hard and actually slows me down.
"...The delays that disappoint you may be laying the foundation for future accomplishments that you have not yet conceived....What you deem a postponement of progress may actually represent an auspicious opportunity to prepare for what is yet to come."
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"...The delays that disappoint you may be laying the foundation for future accomplishments that you have not yet conceived....What you deem a postponement of progress may actually represent an auspicious opportunity to prepare for what is yet to come."
Monday, August 03, 2009
Daily Uncertainty, Daily Strength
"Creativeness is correlated with the ability to withstand the lack of structure, the lack of future, the lack of predictability, of control, the tolerance for ambiguity, for planlessness." Maslow on Management, Abraham Maslow
In about my second year of freelancing (1973), I would walk from my parking place to my office in the mornings, often amazed that the buildings were already there and weren't something I had to fling up one either side of me as I walked. That's how unstructured self-employment felt a lot of the time then.
I often still feel that writing a novel is sketching the first step of a flight of stairs, stepping up onto it, then drawing another step that's supposed to hold my weight. And so on.
I'm not a great fan of ambiguity, though I do find an uncertain future (professionally) to be exciting. Most of us like some wobble room, and get nervous about other aspects of facing the great void. But getting used to that is part of the job; it goes with the turf.
The work is both conscious and unconscious. In addition to the discipline of writing, it requires some trust that the path you're on, with all its detours, is worth taking. Practically, that means staying willing to proceed even when you don't know what's up ahead.
E.L. Doctorow said that writing is like driving at night, you can only see as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
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In about my second year of freelancing (1973), I would walk from my parking place to my office in the mornings, often amazed that the buildings were already there and weren't something I had to fling up one either side of me as I walked. That's how unstructured self-employment felt a lot of the time then.
I often still feel that writing a novel is sketching the first step of a flight of stairs, stepping up onto it, then drawing another step that's supposed to hold my weight. And so on.
I'm not a great fan of ambiguity, though I do find an uncertain future (professionally) to be exciting. Most of us like some wobble room, and get nervous about other aspects of facing the great void. But getting used to that is part of the job; it goes with the turf.
The work is both conscious and unconscious. In addition to the discipline of writing, it requires some trust that the path you're on, with all its detours, is worth taking. Practically, that means staying willing to proceed even when you don't know what's up ahead.
E.L. Doctorow said that writing is like driving at night, you can only see as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Who Is the Bold and Savvy Blue Hair Lady?
Those unnerving little ads that show up at the top of email somehow always seem to know what I'm interested in. I don't know the technology by which they read over my shoulder, but yesterday I was actually enticed into clicking on one.
The phrase that caught my eye was: Radical Writing. How could anyone resist that?
It took me to The Blue Hair Lady. And what a find! Not only does Laura Cerwinske put "Blue Envy" on her hair every couple of weeks, she's a highly accomplished writer on design and visual art, publishing with such outfits as Rizzoli International, Thames and Hudson, Bantam, Dell, Doubleday, Simon and Schuster.
And she's an artist.
And a small publisher (Blue Hair Lady Publishing..."The company’s publications are excursions through the secrets of transformation, weaving quantum thought and healing, metaphysics and art, memoir and mythology.".
And a student of Santeria and similar body/mind/spirit subjects.
Also she teaches a 12-week on-line Radical Writing course aimed at wild disinhibition-- for $25.
I do admire the combination of free-wheeling and commercially-and-artistically-successful.
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The phrase that caught my eye was: Radical Writing. How could anyone resist that?
It took me to The Blue Hair Lady. And what a find! Not only does Laura Cerwinske put "Blue Envy" on her hair every couple of weeks, she's a highly accomplished writer on design and visual art, publishing with such outfits as Rizzoli International, Thames and Hudson, Bantam, Dell, Doubleday, Simon and Schuster.
And she's an artist.
And a small publisher (Blue Hair Lady Publishing..."The company’s publications are excursions through the secrets of transformation, weaving quantum thought and healing, metaphysics and art, memoir and mythology.".
And a student of Santeria and similar body/mind/spirit subjects.
Also she teaches a 12-week on-line Radical Writing course aimed at wild disinhibition-- for $25.
I do admire the combination of free-wheeling and commercially-and-artistically-successful.
A Good Sign
A long-time biker bar (Hogs not ten-speeds) is on my route between home and office. I've never stopped there, though it has often crossed my mind.
Recently a sign went up outside the place that I thought pretty bold, and delightful as well. The sign: "It's A Boy." And the little marquee was festooned with appropriate decorations.
It takes a bold biker to make a tender announcement.
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Recently a sign went up outside the place that I thought pretty bold, and delightful as well. The sign: "It's A Boy." And the little marquee was festooned with appropriate decorations.
It takes a bold biker to make a tender announcement.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Obsessive-Compulsive Haircuts
My hairdresser, like me, has a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder. So we tend to compare notes on meds and how we're doing.
Once she noted that we'd gone a whole haircut without touching the subject, and didn't that speak well of how we were both doing.
Today: haircut at 11:15. Forty-five minutes from now.
I'm doing fine with this OC stuff. And one small part of the reason is getting to talk about it as she and I do. Having a comrade-in-arms helps build all kinds of courage. And gets my bangs out of my eyes.
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Once she noted that we'd gone a whole haircut without touching the subject, and didn't that speak well of how we were both doing.
Today: haircut at 11:15. Forty-five minutes from now.
I'm doing fine with this OC stuff. And one small part of the reason is getting to talk about it as she and I do. Having a comrade-in-arms helps build all kinds of courage. And gets my bangs out of my eyes.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Courage to Face Death
Yesterday I was finishing an edit on a nonfiction book proposal from my three months in Varanasi, India. (I was there doing research for my novel, Sister India.)
In the proposal is a scene from the first time I visited "the burning place," the riverbank pyres where corpses are burned and ashes placed in the Ganges. Watching a human body catch fire is disturbing, even if it's a stranger, and seen briefly and from a little distance.
Hours after that experience, I felt as if the ballast in my interior was rolling around. I felt all atilt. I've read that material a number of times since. But yesterday it got to me again, as if I were seeing it for the first time.
The fact that we die and are physically destroyed is shocking. I find it incomprehensible.
We are all very brave to put up with it.
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In the proposal is a scene from the first time I visited "the burning place," the riverbank pyres where corpses are burned and ashes placed in the Ganges. Watching a human body catch fire is disturbing, even if it's a stranger, and seen briefly and from a little distance.
Hours after that experience, I felt as if the ballast in my interior was rolling around. I felt all atilt. I've read that material a number of times since. But yesterday it got to me again, as if I were seeing it for the first time.
The fact that we die and are physically destroyed is shocking. I find it incomprehensible.
We are all very brave to put up with it.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Encouraging Largeness of the World
Foreign accents filter through the door from the office next to mine. My friend and colleague Carrie is taking part in a conference call/meeting. I think she's talking with Australians about some joint arts project.
I like hearing this murmur from the other side of the world. It reminds me that the world is large and the possibilities nearly infinite.
For a while when I was in my twenties, pre-Internet, whenever I felt low I went to a newsstand and bought a New York Times. It reminded me that the world was larger than whatever--
No, wait! The voices in the next room are from South Africa, I just heard a reference to Johannesburg.
Anyway, having a look at The Times reminded me that my options were larger than whatever limited set I was focused on that day. It inevitably worked, if only a little.
Yesterday I was posting about the power of following our particular passions where they lead, into deeper knowledge and engagement. Today, I remember that a wide view can also be greatly inspiring and exciting and en-couraging.
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I like hearing this murmur from the other side of the world. It reminds me that the world is large and the possibilities nearly infinite.
For a while when I was in my twenties, pre-Internet, whenever I felt low I went to a newsstand and bought a New York Times. It reminded me that the world was larger than whatever--
No, wait! The voices in the next room are from South Africa, I just heard a reference to Johannesburg.
Anyway, having a look at The Times reminded me that my options were larger than whatever limited set I was focused on that day. It inevitably worked, if only a little.
Yesterday I was posting about the power of following our particular passions where they lead, into deeper knowledge and engagement. Today, I remember that a wide view can also be greatly inspiring and exciting and en-couraging.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Follow Your Bliss
Follow an interest with passion and energy and it becomes very particular. Not just interest in dogs, but deepening interest in particular breeds or particular aspects of dog training or some such. Husband Bob is fascinated by big exotic breeds. Here's a Boerboel (a South African mastiff type) that we drove several hours to meet, never mind that we already have one at home.
I consider following an interest where it leads to be a bold and enriching exploration.
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I consider following an interest where it leads to be a bold and enriching exploration.
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