coralbells39

A consultant team today, the Loevys, came to my organization to ask our development department about what we do-- to see if our job descriptions should be changed or our strengths could be better used somewhere else. Mr. Loevy talked about a major gifts campaign so eloquently that I had to share it.
Paraphrasing, he said: Wealthy people have goals and desires just like all people. If you treat people with means as only money (if you, as a development director/fundraiser walk around with dollar signs in your eyes), you strip them of their humanity. You objectify them just like homeless people are objectified.
It was way more powerful when he said it, but that's what I remember.

i realize i have posted enough for today, but i just got these emails from Shorebank and i think they're quite amusing:

Email #1:

---
Email #2, 41 min later:

Dear Ms. Stetson:

Please excuse the incorrect sir name in the last e-mail.

Sincerely,


ShoreBank Customer Service
(800) 905.7725
customerservice@sbk.com
www.sbk.com

---
Seems like this could turn into an infinite chain here... :)

So, I'm now on vacation (woo!). Here has been my schedule (it's been so intense!! :) ):

Fri, 10/10: last day at the farm!
Sat, 10/11: so much packing. packing packing, all day, until 10:30pm, when i took the train to the city.
Sun, 10/12: Chicago marathon, visit with Wendy, new discovery, much nicer store than Early to Bed or Tulip: Pleasure Chest in somewhere odd in Lakeview (west or something). then, back on the train with Wendy and Madeleine to Grayslake. oh, and the 60 passed us completely by even though we were clearly standing at the stop at 18th & Blue Island, and we almost missed the train! yuck.
Mon, 10/13: get 15' budget truck because they don't actually have a 10' one like we ordered. load it, eat mexican food in grayslake (better than some restaurants in pilsen, dude!), say goodbye to farm, drive van+ car to pilsen. unload, take madeleine to the bus and wendy on an errand downtown. collapse into sleeping.
Tues, 10/14 and Wed, 10/15: hang around, mostly in Wendy's apartment, with my 5 or 6 stacks of boxes. visit Drew. make some bread. whatever. also, my parents put my dog, Abby, to sleep on Tuesday. she was 13 and a good dog.
Thurs, 10/16: go to mdw to fly to CT
Fri, 10/17: hang around/do various outdoor tasks for the parents while they're at work, ex. rake 2 beds and plant winter wheat on them, rake up leaves on the patio, roast beets
Sat, 10/18: go to an old farm, the land of which was just donated to the Wapikinogue or some other Northeastern US indian name Land Trust, and then go see the house associated with that land that my parents are salivating over. eat free cookies and drink free apple juice. watch LA Confidential with the parents.
Sun, 10/19: drive with my dad to Stockertown, PA (near Easton/Bethlehem, just west of New Jersey) to visit my grandma and see my Aunt Linda, who came up with her 70-year old rather annoying boyfriend, Ed. get some house-made italian cheeses from a store in Nazareth, PA referred to by my family and by the slogan on the store's tee-shirts as "Cheeses of Nazareth." drive back to CT (3 hours) after dinner.
Mon, 10/20: swim a kilometer at the YMCA that somehow i am still a member of, part of my parents' family package. buy some new pants at Bob's Stores. go to Stew Leanord's to relive the experience and the memories and check for 10 year old Wendy's picture on the wall (it wasn't there. they digitalized and culled the pictures). Visit with Mary Alice Kimball, a family friend, from 6-8pm.
Tues, 10/21: visit with Chan (ex-gf and friend) and her girlfriend, Veronica, and their Chihuahua (yuck) in Danbury for 2 hours or so. stop by goodwill and buy a few shirts. take a bath because it's cold in the house, then visit with the Naphen family, for whom i used to babysit, from 5-9 or so. paint fingernails bright, glittery aqua-blue.
Wed, 10/22: drive my mom's car into NYC and hang out at the NY botanical gardens in the Bronx. wow are they beautiful, especially the conservatory. but you have to pay to get in them, unlike in chicago, so that sucks. but man, what a nice place. i spent like 4 hours there. drive to queens and have wine and then turkish dinner with tisse and tanvi-- old roommates from apt 3 in hyde park who now live in nyc. so nice! :) sleep over at tisse's house and wake up and write this post!

and here's the schedule for what is to come:

Thurs, 10/23: go to an art museum in queens, most likely ps1, and ride the 7 train. drive back to ct and be at exit 9 of I-84 by 4:30 to meet my mom and her friends to go to New Haven to a taping of Wait, Wait, don't tell me-- the show that usually is in Chicago, oddly enough.
Fri, 10/24: drive to boston and have dinner with Marc Kimball, a friend from my childhood church whom I haven't seen in like 6 years or something ridiculous. go to a "lesbian bar" with my friend Lauren from high school, who now lives in Providence, RI (only an hour from boston). possibly sleep at Chelsea Richer's house (from Rhythm and Jews in Chicago).
Sat, 10/25: visit with Chelsea in the am, possibly visit with Sean or Kate or Ellie and Doug Miller, also friends or parents of friends from church.
Sun, 10/26: drive up to the coast of New Hampshire to visit with family friends Russ and Trish Simon. probably drive back Sun night to CT.
Mon, 10/27: maybe see Mrs. Pollock, my old girlscout leader?
Tues, 10/28: cook dinner at the parents' house for Sue Tarshis and Bonita Cartoun, family friends in Newtown
Wed, 10/29: hopefully relax!!! :) maybe finegle a halloween costume somehow?
Thurs, 10/30: fly back to Chicago in the evening. Meet/visit with Wendy's ex/friend, Jackie, who will be visiting from LA.
Fri, 10/31 (Halloween): I think go to my aunt Mary's house in Lemont to make chili, experience suburban trick-or-treating, possibly with Wendy, possibly with some other friends I will convince to come
Sat 11/1 and Sun 11/2: chill out/figure out where my work clothes are and prepare for Mon
Mon, 11/3: first day of work at Deborah's Place!!!

Phew. Time to go take a nap!! :)

P.S. Portia Di Rossi-- like the same woman in Arrested Development. and she's Ellen's girlfriend!! Dude! connection just made while watching said show at Tisse's house last night.

Last night I was driving home at about 9pm and a rabbit ran out right in front of my car so that i ran over it!!! oh no oh no!!! I hardly had time to realize it was there until it was under my car. And then there was a hopping frog like 10 feet in front of the rabbit. Luckily i didn't kill the frog either.

I went back to see if the rabbit was dead or spasming, and luckliy it was dead. But its eye was open! aah! I could also see its muscles and outlines of its bones. yuck.

I didn't know if i should take it and give it to someone who wanted to eat it, or if it might be diseased or something. my mom always said not to touch dead animals (though this one was made so recently dead, it barely counts.)

But i didn't know what to do with a rabbit, so i just left it there. :(

I'm sorry, rabbit! I didn't mean you harm. :( I hope you will be good food for someone else now.

it was mentioned this weekend that a blog about the farm would be appreciated. this will not happen with any regularity, but perhaps sporadically, as is about to happen right now. :)

It rained hard both days this weekend, and today some also. Apparently, lots of water is really bad for certain plants. Sometimes lots of rain is ok for small plants, like lettuce, because those leaves that get hit by the rain are going to die off anyway. But it is bad for plants you're about to harvest, like spinach, because it rips the leaves or leaves them mottled.

And apparently, sitting in water is really bad for tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers that we just planted last week (4600 tomato plants, in about 25 different varieties. yes, really! tomatoes are their cash cow.). This morning, Peg said, "hey, everyone! looks like we might not have any tomatoes, eggplants, or peppers at all this season!" it was really bad. she and Matt (other farmer/spouse) are so stressed. matt couldn't even come to the farm today-- he just took the twin girls out somewhere because he's so upset.

Also, walking around in boots that get stuck in the mud, or carry like 5 pounds of mud on them as you walk is stressful for your ankles! My left ankle hurts from some combination of this activity and sitting on it while I picked pea shoots today.

Library is closing, so I'll stop now. Let me know some questions you have about farm life and I'll answer them maybe. :)

Researching tax particularities for Hfriend's crazy government sketchiness, and found this just too funny; had to post it on LJ:

Lines from the IRS (yes, the real IRS. .gov and all) Publication 525:

Page 31:
"Illegal income. Illegal income, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity."

Page 33:
"Stolen property. If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the same year you steal it, unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner."

COME ON, PEOPLE!!!!

The Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) at Colorado State University has frickin awesome job postings. I found out about them on the job board of Texas A & M, a top-notch site for temporary ecology/outdoorsy jobs.

The one I just found and am currently salivating over:
surveying plants in Alaska, for 3 months, for $14-$18/hour: http://www.wfsc.tamu.edu/jobboard/display.cfm?Jobno=13683&Printer

--

I am now also on the hunt for a community garden nearer to my current house than the one i had last year, which is in Hyde Park. Any leads?

I have known or known about many people in my life thus far who have had my same birthday. A short recap:

A. Historical figures:
1) Beethoven (though perhaps he actually was born on Dec 17th, but it was in Germany, so it could have been the 16th in America at that time)
2) Margaret Mead (also a Unitarian, may I add!)

B. People I actually met:
1) my Auntie Ruth, an old roommate and close friend of my mom's, who died tragically when I was in Germany (2002) of leukemia, diagnosed shortly before she died
2) my "twin", Kaitlen Barry, who was in my girl scout troop and who was my friend until about middle school, when we stopped being friends so much
3) Dominique

((in fact, my dad's childhood friend, with whom he was very close, died (again, from leukemia...gosh) 2 years ago on December 16th.))

I also periodically check in the database at work if anyone also has my birthday. So far, we have over 900 people and I haven't found anyone yet. I did find one with Dec 17th, but no 16th.

now, I thought it would be really weird if I ever dated someone with my birthday. That'd be weird, right?! well, check for that one, I suppose. Even weirder (and awkward) if I ever married someone with my birthday, right? K. check out this story:

So tonight at Christmas dinner my mom was talking with the mom of the other family whose house we were at about this couple they both know (they're coworkers). Apparently the husband and wife of this couple both have the same birthday. Weird, right? Yeah.. kind of. only 0.27% of people have that (1/365).

But no, there's more. Their birthday is February 29th!!!! February 29th!! Dude!!! I don't even know one person born on February 29th, let alone two! let alone two MARRIED people!!

so, if you ever again think it's crazy that you and someone else have the same birthday, just think about them: the 13 year old married couple with 20something year old children.

Some possibly pertinent words of wisdom or possibly just words from songs that I like a lot. Mostly about relationships, and embellished slightly :)


You know just before our love got lost you said, "I am as constant as the northern star." and I said, "constantly in the darkness?? Where's that at? If you want me I'll be in the bar."

You're in my blood like holy wine, you taste so bitter and so sweet. I could drink a case of you and I would still be on my feet.

When the train rolls by, I'm gonna be ready this time. When the girl gets that look in her eye, I'm gonna be ready this time. When my momma says I look good in white, I'm gonna be ready this time: ready to run! Dude, all I'm ready to do is have some fun! WTF's all this talk about love?!!


Nothing about love is less than confusing: you can win when you're losing, stand when you're falling, I can't figure it out.


There's a letter on the desktop that I dug out of a drawer: the last truce we ever came to in our adolescent war. And I start to feel the fever from the warm air through the screen.

Signals cross and love gets lost and time passed makes it plain: of all my demon spirits I need you the most.
I'm in love with your ghost.


Oh hear my song, thou god of all the nations: a song of peace for their land and for mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is. Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine. But other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine. My country's skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine. But other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine. Oh hear my song, thou god of all the nations-- a song of peace for their land and for mine.

Now shall my inwards joys arise and burst into a song; Almighty Love inspires my heart, and pleasure tunes my tongue.

well, Chan called me last night, from a different number than I have for her, so I'm glad I even picked it up. Her voice sounded higher than I remember it being. I wonder if that's because I remember it incorrectly, or because she was in nice, customer service voice mode. Though I guess when I talked to my friend Michelle Black for the first time in like 4 years, her voice was a lot higher than I remembered it also.

Anyway. I'm excited to see what's up in Chan's life. I really really love it that she always calls me back and wants to hang out with me even if I don't return her calls, or don't talk to her for months and months, or even if we don't have much in common anymore. I really admire that. I feel like often decide that people are a certain way and cut them completely out of my life. But then again, I guess sometimes I don't cut them out, even when I feel like I should (ex. Eileen). Hmm...

Lauren also just called me, but I told her I couldn't talk because I was still at work. I'll call her back later today maybe, or Saturday. We always play phone tag a lot.

Off to Walgreens, to get my Michfest camera developed!! :)

I'm going away tonight, leaving 8:25pm to Louisville, and I won't be back until Monday morning, right in time for work again. Sheesh, I'm here at work a lot! :) Dominique asked me if I'm excited about going away, but I hadn't even thought about it, really. I did forget my drink tickets again, as usual. Oh well. I really can make it through an hour flight without drinking, can't I? Yes. I'll just have my cranapple flavored sugar water, thank you. But it will be nice. I'll get to see the "Wheatley clan"-- all of the Wheatley cousins (the children and associated relations from my grandma's sisters). My mom, grandma, great aunt, and 2nd cousin are all in Lebanon today-- the town where my grandma was born and raised. I didn't want to take another day off of work to go do that with them. Saturday is the party, Sunday is clean up day. And I'll get to see my mom again, though I am going home for Thanksgiving in a month anyway. She's bringing me some rhubarb from our garden, plus some eggs from our chickens. I'll feed them to my otherwise vegan friends who will eat my eggs because they come from our chickens (Andrew, Allie, Gabi...). :) I will be away from my friends though, which is of course sad. Next week I think I should make more time for them, especially the Hyde Parkians. I've been favoring my northside (/northside associated) friends and I miss my moomers crew, and my old roommates, Tanvi and Laura.

My coworkers are all in Deanna's office, talking about whatever it is Deanna is upset about this time. I can't hear so much now because they finally had glass installed in Deanna's windows, which muffles their voices. These women get upset about a lot. They're always complaining about their husbands (well, Pam and Deanna are. Tracey is really happy with her partner), or saying that's not their job, or complaining that they don't get paid enough for all this they have to do. Oh! I see, they're complaining about our other coworker, Jayne.

Heather came and visited me at lunch today. Yay. Tracey, my coworker, said she looked "eccentric." WTF does that mean?! I'm protective of my Heatherfriend!!

And it's 2:27, and I guess I should get back to fiddling with or learning about Access. Ok, here I go!

Today I do not have orchestra rehearsal because we had a concert yesterday (Heather, Andrew and Drew came!!! made me feel so good!! :) ).
This extra time is quite exciting, especially on a Monday, since Mondays are half off days at Unique.
Here is my plan for how i will spend my happy extra Monday time!:

(work/"work," 9:30-5ish)
orange line to Kedzie, 5ish-5:45
Step Jam at gym, 6-7
stop by that dollar store to see if they have floss, 7:15-7:30
Find more pants & shirts at Unique, 7:30-9? maybe they close at 10...
go back home, 9-10:30
make potato salad while watching conan, 10:30-11:30
sleep!!, midnight.

------
All my Libras:

the girlfriends/hookup friends/flirting partners/macking recipients:
Chan: Oct 12
Lauren: Oct 15
Melika: Oct 16?
Whack: Oct 8?

others:
Olivia (Lauren's little sister): Oct 16

It's National Coming Out Day. Christina, Cord, Andrew and I all came out of the closet in Andrew's room this morning in celebration (Andrew came out as straight. :) ).

I want to know where the ball is. aren't there coming out day balls around this place?

On another note, Rocky Horror is playing in full sexual, sequined, and scantily-clad glory, the Fri and Sat before Halloween at the Music Box Theatre. The last time I was there was 1st year (wow, that was 5 years ago!). We were freeeeezing on the way back, waiting for the 55 bus at the Garfield red line stop. But it was so fun seeing the movie/show with all the comments and flying toilet paper. I'm really excited to go this year, and I'll wear my gold butterfly top (you know it, roomies!).

Hispanic: 1
White: 4
Black: 7

20's: 3
30's: 3
40's: 3
50's: 3

Single: 3
Not single: 9

Kids: 4
No kids: 8

awesome: 1
not as cool as me: 11
ha ha. just kidding. :)

We just hired a public ally to be the Girls Program Coordinator at work. This ups our team's score to TIED!!! Wow, can you believe it?!
Counting only the full-time, here every day (unless they're on medical leave) staff members:

Gays: 6!
Tracey
Tim
Janice
me
Lauren
Cindy

Non-gays: 6!
Pam
Deanna
Jillian
Jacqui
Janan
Jayne

Of course, when the new case manager starts on Monday, I anticipate the straight people winning yet again. But, hey, who knows! Far be it for me to assume...

Well, who would have thought? My co-worker, Janan, the lowly, innocent and clueless-acting Administrative Associate, used to be an instructor of Lotus and Cobol for Northwestern Business College. And she designed databases in DBase1-4, and she used to get all kinds of accolades from her Dean. Dude, a Cobol instructor. And she said she knew assembly language. and she taught 20 years ago!!

Woah. You think you know people... Well, I mean, I think I know people. But I'm learning these days that that's just not true. I think I make decisions about people too quickly.

And also, hey, what is this, that a zillion people do "programming"? My dad did Cobol programming, too. My only experience with programming has been through hard-core CS kids at the U of C. How come I can't get into/understand this world?