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I don't know if it's Texas, or whether it's because I live in the burbs now, but I am continuously impressed by how much people want to please you and be helpful. Have I been tainted by living on the coast where people tend to keep a distance?
For example, if you are at a department store, or at any store, for that matter, you find that clerks empathize with you and want to suggest better deals, and, overall, are being super helpful and genuinely friendly.
There is a man at the pharmacy who asks me about California every time I show up. He says he has a friend there. Not sure if it's a woman friend, or what, but my guess is that he wouldn't mind going there and checking it out
Then there are other occurrences where you just know that people are actually paying attention to you and want to know who and how you are.
Why should I be surprised? Have California and Seattle permanently damaged me and my faith in people being genuinely interested in others? I am laughing, of course, but, really, I am beginning to think that looking you straight in the eye and asking what you mean to ask, or not saying anything at all if you have nothing to say (rather than bullshitting) is a Texan thing. Is it not?
It has actually turned out quite beautiful. Now I just have to find the time and wire-wrap it. The piece I cared about the most got a big air bubble. And the piece I did willy-nilly turned out unexpectedly well. I can probably make a swirl of silver wire over the bubble. It's all an experiment which I didn't expect to turn out so well. I am delinquent on posting pictures. And I will continue to be that, till I get more free time and a peace of mind to go with it
A colleague who doesn't know me well yet, and who is apparently very perceptive, had asked me the other day, "So you are a Nomad?" That's after I told him where I've been, and how I got here. No, actually he said it after asking this question: "If you suddenly became wealthy, where would you choose to live?" I was stumped. My first thought was "Maui," and then I started listing various other places, after which he concluded that I was a Nomad. And I didn't know that about myself, I swear. No matter that I'm GypsyTunes, as I am mostly into gypsy tunes, so it's not about being a gypsy - it's about music I like. I really want to lead a life that is somewhat settled. Not all that settled, but at least not unstable, not unpredictable...
Right now I feel kinda numb from all the moves and changes. I just want to function normally, as other people seem to be able to do... I'm really a homebody, more than anything...methinks...
You heat two (or more) different pieces of glass at a very high temperature till they melt, and then you cool them off till they anneal (merge, fuse). What a metaphor for a relationship, I am thinking as I am writing this...
Went to a class on dichroic glass at a local bead shop discovered by accident. The woman who taught it had learned it from someone who lives in the greater Seattle area. Another synchronicity is that she and her husband like going on vacation to Friday Harbor, the place where we first landed when we came to this country.
The woman said she loved the area (Seattle vicinity and the San Juans), although the people weren't as nice as here (in Texas). Then I said, "yes, people are very friendly here, indeed." Then the woman's husband who was working on his photos there pitched in and told a story about certain New Yorkers who told him that the people here were so nice that they were worried they were hiding something I said to him, "yes, I wonder myself if this is for real." We laughed.
The woman said that when the hurricane Ike hit, they were without electricity for over a month (or more, can't remember now). She said everyone helped, and those who had power were letting others use their houses, take showers, do laundry, you name it.
"We don't wait for the government to help. We don't need their help. We don't trust the government," she proclaimed, putting some colored shards together.
I was quietly cutting the glass while contemplating that view, not entirely unexpected
I am using Paradox's term and question as a basis of this post. He asked whether I've noticed "regional" differences where I am now. Yes, I have. And I like most of them, so far
People appear to be genuine here. They may be less nice at times, but it's because they don't want to fake it (although most are very friendly and helpful), and if they talk to you, it's because they are interested. They also appear more serious, but, at the same time, they have a sense of humor. (I am comparing them to the overall characteristics of people in L.A. and Seattle, and comparisons aren't fair, I know). Many like to say, "I was born and raised in Texas."
I also like Texan drawl (accent?) I even want to imitate it, and sometimes I am afraid that I'll gradually start talking like a Texan hehe...
Yes, I am looking on the bright side. The way I see it - and that was somehow synchronistically validated in a conversation with a gal I met today - it might be easier to be yourself here.
'xcept I thought I was already being myself in California. I think this is a chance to develop the inner self.
I had an interesting incident (at work - not at dating!) the other day. A man with whom I had a professional exchange appeared to be too harsh in his responses. I told him how it made me feel. It had turned out that he didn't have the faintest idea, and that he only wanted to help! Ever since, it's been turned around (knock on wood).
How many times did you have a similar problem, feeling as if you've been getting crude responses, and thinking someone was unhappy with you, while the opposite was true? Or, have you ever found out what was behind that unpleasantness?
If you remember my standoff with the persistent pigeon - I have found a solution. It wasn't the owl. It was the chimes. I hung up the wind chimes on my balcony in the pigeon's flight path. He has never reappeared afterward. It's been a couple of weeks
Kandoux made me think of this. For me, a successful life is when one feels free, powerful, happy, loved, and loving, regardless of what one does or has. Freedom and power should not be regarded as absolutes - they are relative. It's when one feels free to make one's own choices, within what's possible, and powerful with respect to one's personal power to be oneself. Loved and loving - that should be easily understood and needs no elucidation.
To link to this blog from blog posts/comments, use [blog GypsyTunes], from anywhere else use http://personals.girlfriendsmag.com/blog/GypsyTunes, and to read it remotely use the feed.
