Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 20: Socializing, Social Media, and Softball

Hey, all! :)

Well, my semester is officially over as of Tuesday night. I did get my projects completed (not completely ruined, thankfully!), and the teacher seemed pleased with them. I also got a lot of compliments from my fellow students, which was flattering because many of them are more advanced than I am. As I mentioned previously, we were to have a picnic for our final critique. One ambitious student made a grill for his project, so we turned the picnic into a barbecue. Unfortunately, the guys got a little carried away with the denatured alcohol used instead of lighter fluid, and there were a couple of casualties ("Boys will be boys!"). Everyone is fine now, but it definitely put a damper on the evening's "party"...not to mention the final critique of our projects. It seemed a bit anti-climactic at the time, but "all's well that ends well." Grades should be posted by May 17, so I will have mine by next week's post. :)

I also attended my second BSNJ Board meeting this week, as well as the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) thesis show for the graduating MFA students at MSU on Friday. The MFA show was okay...the space was pretty small and a lot of people showed up -- not just jewelry students, but all graduating MFA students showed their work. Much was not my cup of tea...it seems everyone tries to make a political statement of one kind or another. Either that, or they are aiming for shock value. Regardless, I prefer work that is more authentic, IMHO. To each her own! ;) After the show, my classmate and I hooked up with one of the teachers I had not previously met, and we ended up at a Cuban restaurant for dinner. The food was good, but the music was much too loud for me. I had a headache anyway from waiting to eat until 9:30 p.m. I should have put a snack in my purse! :o My Brazilian friends will be happy to know I tried a caipirinha. Not bad, but a bit strong for me and I'm not a huge fan of lime. I'd heard so much about them on the message boards back in the day, I had to try it for myself! Mission accomplished. ;)0

Now that I have my Tuesday evenings back to myself, I plan to focus on getting the photos of my recent pieces posted. I've let that slide for far too long, and the content on the Something Tangible LLC Facebook page is pretty thin these days as a result. :o By the way, the Virtual Mall Twitter page is still racking up followers...we have 578 as of today! :D I have 1,615 on my personal Twitter page, which mainly focuses on Something Tangible LLC news. :)

Mom and I did see my older niece pitch in her softball game yesterday. We were there for the first time she ever struck out a player! We played croquet afterwards in their backyard, using the same set my brother-in-law used with his parents as a kid. His mother was also there and played with us, but she was a bit out of practice. ;) Unfortunately, the second game was called on account of rain. It had starting drizzling earlier before the softball game, but we were lucky it held off until after dinner. :D

According to numerous horoscopes, a lot of planets are converging in my house of true love this month into early June. Jupiter, the planet of gifts and luck, will be visiting there for the first time in 12 years! I can honestly say, I've felt that! LOL :o :p I'm not holding my breath, but I'll take all the help I can get. ;)

Until next week...have a great one! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #12: "The Way We Were" and Taking Action

Hey, everyone! I just finished watching The Way We Were. I saw it once a long time ago, and all I could really remember was that I didn't like the ending. It's a good movie, but I still don't like the ending. Call me a sap, but I think if two people really love each other that much, they should be able to find a way to work things out. Sadly, that's not the case in real life, so I'll give the film points for being realistic. On the other hand, we watch movies to escape reality, so a "happily ever after" ending would have been nice. I know...I know...it would have been an entirely different film if the ending were different. Still, who wants to experience someone else's heartbreak? Someone who hasn't experienced the real thing, I guess. :p

I've been working on my final wrap-up video from San Diego. It's about 75 percent finished. I'm lacking footage that will fill in some of the gaps, so I have to check around and see if I can scrounge some up in order to finish it. :)

Also, I added links to the appropriate sections of the website store in the photo albums on Something Tangible LLC's Facebook page this week, as well as ten new product photos. I still have a dozen or so to fix, and I will update the photo gallery and store pages on the website once I have them all completed. ;)

BSNJ's St. Patrick's Day Party was fun. I got a nice pair of earrings in the Swarovski® Earring Exchange, as well as the materials for a pair of green beaded earrings as the party favor. I made mine right at the table while I was waiting for the food line to get shorter. ;) I also won some recycled paper beads in the silent auction and our table's centerpiece -- a candle decorated with leprechauns. All in all, I'd say I did pretty well! LOL

One of the blog's regular readers sent me a really nice email this week. She said one of my posts helped her decide to get a medical test she would have otherwise put off. While the results weren't serious, there was an issue to be addressed. She was grateful for my message. It's gratifying to know my words touched someone and resulted in her taking action. :D

I've been hearing a lot about "taking action" lately...it's being encouraged by many life coaches and business mentors these days. Taking action isn't always easy. Sometimes, it's pretty d@mned hard. And it doesn't always turn out the way you'd anticipated in my experience. I will admit that I've been doubting the wisdom of some of my actions over the past year. People forget that every single thing we do affects someone else in one way or another -- directly, indirectly, purposely, or incidentally. Too often, we don't realize the effect our actions have on others, good or bad, until some time has passed...if we ever learn about it at all. In the end, we just have to trust our own judgement, go with our instincts, and hope for the best. I do that more often than not, but I have been burned a few times in the process...sometimes, painfully so. Still, I suppose taking a risk that failed is better than not taking a risk that would have succeeded. The only way to learn the outcome is to make the effort. :\

Off to finish my Sunday night. Have a great week, folks! :)