Noury's Creative World…

Last Friday a friend of mine and I visited this supermarket, which I think is being used as a pilot program and training ground for future management trainees.  It is an older chain that has been upgraded.  Oh mine, what an upgrade.  From the moment you step inside, it is overwhelming with the sights, colors, aromas, and so much to choose from what to eat.  Yes, they do have all kinds of hot meals and cold salads, so much that there I was salivating and didn’t know where to start.  Then, to put the icing on the cake, the management is all over you, trying to make you very happy.  They make you feel important.  The state of our national economy is really working on people’s brains, and pocketbooks.

Meats looked so appealing, breads that tempt you to have a bite, and oh, forget about desserts.  After finally deciding on barbecued pulled pork, some red potatoes baked in lots of herbs, then right there together with these two sides, I scooped some bread pudding and put some banana custard right on top of it.  I started eating a little bit of everything at the same time.  No waiting on my account to follow the routine of waiting to the end to have dessert.  Oh, no!  This is the first time I have ever done this, and really…it felt pretty good.

Oh, I forgot.  My friend and I were fussing as to whom was going to pay for lunch.  In the meantime, one of the managers came by and used her card and paid for both of us, while we were still arguing.  We didn’t realize what had happened, until she told us to enjoy our lunch on her account.  Now, wait a minute.  Where are we?  Visiting another planet?  Yes…it happened and then there was free coffee.  So we went into this supermarket, had a free meal, and drink , and walked out without spending one cent.

On the way out, I tried to find some filters for my a/c unit, because I felt kind of guilty of not spending any money, but at $10 a piece, my generous spirit said that I should wait, and maybe in the future reciprocate the favor.

So…it was today…16 August, 2011…a day of describing another day in my life of unexpected blessings and having my dessert and eating it first too.

Your Happy Contessa

“If you are afraid of butter, use cream.”  Julia Childs, an American chef, author and television personality.  15 August, 1912 – 13 August, 2004.

Look at the splendor of these trees covered partially with Spanish moss.  There’s so much of it in this part of the South.  By now all of you know my admiration for all things dealing with nature, be it flora or fauna.  More inclined to flora, though.

This was in a hardware’s store parking place.  It seems that they built around all the trees and what you get when you are in the parking lot are all these trees covered with Spanish moss.  Just breathtaking.

This is a close-up of this incredible live organism.  It is a flowering plant that grows upon larger trees.  It gets its nutrients from the air and rainfall.  It rarely kills the trees, but it weakens them by reducing its exposure to the sun, thereby reducing photosynthesis, and weighing down and breaking the branches.  The circle of life once again.

And here’s one last shot.  Isn’t it all so grand.  I so love nature and how it connects with your spirit.  It gives me this incredible moment of identifying with something so much bigger than me.  It swells me with joy and gratitude to be able to witness the many miracles of creation and its Creator.

So it was today…15 August, 2011…a day of connecting with nature and of being grateful to be witness to wonder.

Your Happy Contessa

“But not only medicine, engineering, and painting are arts; living itself is an art.”  Erich Fromm, German-American-Jewish social psychologist, psychoanalyst.  23 March, 1900 – 18 March, 1980.

This past weekend I spent some time with some friends that I have known since mid-1990’s.  We shared stories, caught up with the world’s events, even though we have been doing that on a constant basis.  How can you not do that.  The magnitude of what’s going on cannot be ignored.  So after talking and some more talking, my friend showed me the piece of art with which I opened today’s post.  This was done by her husband maybe a year ago.  He built the base, the wings of the eagle are made of pieces of newspaper that he layered and layered until he achieved the results you see.  This piece of folk art, was conceived in his mind and was done totally by him, sanding wood, painting, in summary, this is his creation.  What a genius!  I was totally in awe and then she, (his wife) also showed me this…

What a beautiful winter scene!  Did you notice the different tones of gray? If you see the picture closer, you can notice the fine details this painting has.  I noticed also the color scheme that he used in the painting, from many years ago, he used the same coordination on the eagle piece of art showing at the beginning of the posting.  This one is one of the many paintings he has done throughout his lifetime.  What a talented individual he is.

I thought about all of us…how we sometimes do not realize the gifts that have been bestowed upon us.  Some of us are good at carpentry.  One of my friends once built a wooden boat all by hand.  By the way, Lindsay, whatever happened to that boat?  Some  of us are good at numbers, at decorating,  and making a place look warm and inviting and so on.  We need to remember that each one of us is very talented and validate our blessings,  and acknowledge the fact that each one of us is special in our own individual ways.  Do not underestimate how special you are.  I think that the circle of people we have surrounded ourselves with, or that have somehow showed up in our lives is to bring something to the table to make our lives complete.

So it was today…14 August, 2011…recognizing the uniqueness each one of us has.

Your Happy Contessa

“The quieter we become, the more we can hear.”  Baba Ram Dass, an American contemporary spiritual teacher, author of “Be here Now.”  6 April, 1931 -.

All of you that have a washer and dryer at home do not know how blessed and fortunate you are.

I remember when I became incredibly happy when the delivery of my first washer and dryer was made to our home in Virginia.  I was at work and Ron called me to let me know “they” were home.  When finally I arrived at our townhouse, I went immediately to the basement and touched those apparatus and almost cried.  It was such a happy and joyful moment.

Now I look at my getting-higher-by-the-day pile of briefly used clothes and think how much I miss my buddies.  There are so many things that require washing, drying, and folding.  I have to walk around 50+ steps outside my condo to get to the coin operated machines.  No quarters, no washing or drying.  One more thing to think about.  The collection of quarters.  Life on the going down hill in the chapters of my soon to be thought about book.  Maybe the title should be something like this; Happy Contessa and the battle with her briefly soiled garments.  Have to be a bit sophisticated describing very common things.  We are different, you know.  Yeah!  With no washer or dryer to make my life a bit easier.  I am different alright!!  It looks to me that I am almost checking out of this life turn and ready to enter next.  Man, what’s going to happen next?  Going from three (3) toilets to one and maybe none.  Who knows!!  That will be the day.  I remember when I was growing up, there was no toilet inside the house.  There was outside what you call in this country, an outhouse.  It was not funny.  I have come a long way, baby.

I should probably stop complaining and be happy and gracious accepting the fact that at least there are a washer and a dryer in the very close vicinity.  I am blessed in some way.  Things could get uglier.  How ugly?  Going for a month without washing a single piece.  Better get some extra undergarments.  Thanks God for the big “W.”

Well…so it was today…12 August, 2011…a day of missing my buddies…and being somewhat thankful for their substitutes.

Make it a very happy weekend.  Every time you use your washer and dryer, think how fortunate you are.  See you next Monday!

Your Happy Contessa

“You can never plan the future by the past.”  Edmund Burke, Irish stateman, author, political theorist and philosopher.  12 January, 1729 – 9 July, 1797.

I was cruising, along with half a billion people on the planet on the very familiar site “Face.”  There was a note by one of my “friends” that suggested I go here and there and check this and that and voila, something showed up that left me speechless.  All my phone contacts, “friends” or not, from my cell, were listed in front of my eyes.  I have been trying to delete this list without any success as of this moment.

Since then I have been pondering…what is it that “they” don’t know about us.  I must admit, as I said yesterday, that most of the time I volunteer my information.  But come to think of it, look at your receipts from a store.  Sometimes it even lists your underwear size number.  A good thing sometimes, to keep us in check in case our size has jumped and we have a receipt to keep us informed that we need to change our eating habits, or in other words, starve a little.  But we know from experience that we cannot fool our very smart brain by eating grass and making it think that we are ingesting a steak.  Go fool somebody else, Missy.  That’s my brain talking to me.

I am saving the post as I go along.  No dummies here any more.  I hope.

Now going back to the issue of privacy.  Who in the world do we think we are fooling by being paranoid about our “private stuff.”  Ha, ha, ha.  Everything is out there.  It’s been to all the black holes in the universe and back many times.  What “they” don’t know, doesn’t exist.  “They” know what creams we use, what sport teams we cheer, speed we drive, if we sleep well or not (taking pills), and how many times a day we pass our beloved carbon dioxide.

In other words, when I saw the list of my phone contacts, which I gather it happened when I had a Blackberry, which I gave up because too many interruptions to let me know when one of my “friends” sneezed on “Face.”  I returned that fastidious apparatus as soon as I was able to get to the store, but the damage had been done.  We get so tech-happy whenever we are awed by it, but remember, my dear friends, always and I mean always, the price is paid either at the entrance or the exit of everything in life.  Sometimes we are walking around with a little knife on our backs and we don’t even know it.

So…it was today…10 August, 2011, a day of being in awe at technology once more and a day to realize that we are not really alone.  We are all in this together even if we want it or not.

Your Happy Contessa

“The best way out is always through.”  Robert Frost, American poet, received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.  26 March, 1874 – 29 January, 1963.

Let me make this clear…picture is totally unrelated to the subject of the posting.  Couldn’t find a picture of the Transcendentalists so I thought, these guys look like they get along and communicate very well with each other.  So that will have to do.  Enough of my wild imagination.

Some of yesterday’s posting, the one that decided to reside in a black hole, was somehow touching on the way of life of that group of people called “Transcendentalists.”

These were revolutionaries in the fields of religion, politics, social issues and whatever it was they decided to make their opinion matter.

I was typing, let me stop right now to save this post, yesterday,  that probably we think about luminaries from our past in a realm of almost perfectionism.  We only go by what the books we have available tell us, in their own edited versions, about this so glorious people.

They did not have the network news, FaceB, instant messaging, email, etc, to screw up their images.  I think if these people were to live in this era, oh boy, there go all the books, essays, classes, lectures about our brilliant ancestors.  They wouldn’t have a chance.

I know that change is good.  Don’t change, you perish.  Sort of.  But I believe that we are a too expressive and out there society.  Look at me.  You know a whole bunch about my life that even my own mother, that does not have a computer, know about my moving here, there and everywhere.  So much for families’ secrets.  There are none.  We strive in tell all or we are not important.  Remember, I am including myself on this techno mess.

Going back to the brilliant thinkers of the good old days, back then, they had time to think, read, learn new languages through books, share opinions that in a way shape the telling of our history as a country.  I am glad that everything in life has its own time and place.

I am saving this post as I go.  My weakened neurons couldn’t take a consecutive failure.  I would be totally disconnected from all of you.

So…it was today…9 August, 2011…a day to take out the August calendar and see whose birthday I have already missed and who knows what else, and opining about the good old days.

Your Happy Contessa

“Money is the root of all good.”  Ayn Rand, Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter.  Developed the philosophical system known as Objectivism.  2 February, 1905 – 6 March, 1982.

You will not believe what the heck just happened!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I lost my over 300 words posting.  I am nauseated right now.  It was a masterpiece.  This is about the fourth time this has happened.   It goes to hell in a basket.  I do not have any other explanation.  You don’t have an idea how my almost disappearing neurons have to work to come up with something decent five days a week.  And, just like that.  Gone.  You have been deprived of a great piece of work.

So now let’s go to the usual mediocre writings that sometimes I manage to put out.  I am still with my head shaking.  What is is.

Well…let me just try to capture some of the thoughts I was exposing in the gone-to-the black hole post.  Sorry, this is too much to handle.  Let me take another subject matter.  The prima dona in me is just too upset to have a high level of thinking discussion right now.

This is my 201 posting.  Labor pains have been too intense.  I just delivered a child that didn’t want to come into the world yet.  This posting.

I am going to keep it short, unless later I can come up with something better to enlighten all of us.  I need an electric shock right now to get my almost disappearing neurons back to the place they were when I started earlier.

My apologies to all of you.  Go and enlighten yourselves.  I know you can do it.  I am working very hard at doing that for myself.

Carambola!!!! Oops, shouldn’t have said that.  The unsophisticated side of me overcame the always composed and classy contessa side.  Have to let some of the steamy frustration out, otherwise I will explode.

So…it was today…8 August, 2011…a day of another disappearing posting and trying in vain to capture the genius in me.

Your Happy Contessa

“Let us not overstrain our talents, for if we do we shall do nothing with grace.”  Jean de la Fontaine, most famous French fabulist and poet.  8 July, 1621 – 13 April, 1695.

Well…my lovely visit has gone back home to Washington D.C.   I really miss her and the getting up and being on the go constantly.  Did not have to address the issue of taking things that I have shoved into spaces, closets, under the bed, all to make the place look pretty, into consideration.  Now the situation is here,  I am on your face-kind-of thing.  Dealing with getting rid of some more stuff.

Last Friday night we had dinner at this very cozy and attractive looking French Bistro.  From the moment we went in, we knew we were in for a memorable dinner and experience.  Our server, Jennifer, was a charming young woman and then…they sat us on a corner unit of a burgundy velvet sofa, just as it happened in Paris, just that in Paris, it was leather.  What a coincidence!

I had (Lapin aux pruneaux) rabbit for the first time in my life.  Doing a lot of things for the first time ever.  The rabbit (sorry Peter) was simmered probably for hours together in red wine, with prunes, raisins, carrots, onions and some other spices.  Rabbit tasted to me like chicken.  But this was so flavorful.  I had rice pilaf, and steamed green beans.  Dessert was the apple tart showing at the beginning of the posting.   C’est magnifique!!

Daughter had (Carnard aux peches) duck in a cherry sauce, with steamed spinach and mushrooms.  We tasted each others’ delicious dish and hers was very good also.  Very appetizing presentation also.  She had the creme brulee for dessert.  How can you go wrong with that.  We ended up walking down Park Avenue as a way to end the evening.  Very nice in the quietness of the evening, but we were not the only ones that had the idea.  It is so nice to have a place that allows you for an evening stroll in the relaxed moments of the evening.  Of course, there was a train going by, but that only added to the charm of the moment.  My blessed trains!!!

All and all, I am so happy to have had her visit with me and helping me change my furniture around.  Now it looks so cozy and inviting.  Before, everything was against the wall.  Just like in HGTV, she changed it all.  Thanks, darling.

So…it my weekend ending today…7 August, 2011…a day of catching up with my laundry, and facing the stuff bulging out of the closets.

Your Happy Contessa

“When I am though changing, I am through.”  Martha Stewart, American magnate, author, media personality, magazine publisher.   3 August, 1941-.

Had to go and render homage to the Swedish in Orlando.  You know what I mean, IKEA, the never-ending have fun store.  You simply cannot leave with your hands empty.  Well, my lovely daughter did leave with her hands empty.  No space in suitcase for anything much.  Have to travel light.

I purchased a plastic bag organizer.  You just shove them in the plastic receptacle, and voila, the bags come out free and ready to be used.  I am big with plastic bags.  Take my garbage out minimum twice a day.  Do not want to nurture critters or any funny looking creatures in my place.  Already had a close encounter around 2 am one day in the bathroom, and I could have care less what the code of silence is at this community.  I just blew the thing apart with my sandals.  That will show them, I thought.  But, in reality I promptly went to the store, the next day, of course,  to find the most potent and fastest bug killer that has ever been produced.  I mean business.  Only one prima dona in this house.  That’s me.

Oh, yes, going back to our visit to the Swedish.  Love the color scheme of that store.  My favorite two colors.  Dark blue and yellow.  Those were the colors of my North Carolina home.  We did not eat the meatballs.  Had so ever good tasting, mmmm,mmmm chinese food.  My daughter introduced me to steamed dumplings stuffed with pork meat, and then broiled, with the most mild soy sauce I have ever had.  So tasty.  Also, she had the chicken lettuce wrap.  So flavorful also.  You make your own wrap.  Try it.  You will also love these two items.  Then we went around the shopping center, a big, big one I must say.  We did not honor the shopping center itself with our presence.  We visited some of the stores in the periphery of the mall.

Then, on the way home we stopped at my now very favorite supermarket, to get some ice cream for favorite daughter, while I checked for ripe fried plantains.  No luck today for my plantains.  So it was dulce de leche yogurt for the girl.  I am planning to experience that new texture.

So it was today…4 August, 2011…a day to experience new chinese cuisine elements…and new yogurt flavor.

Please do have a very memorable weekend and of course, stay “cool.”  I shall return on Monday.

Your Happy Contessa

“I have done my best.  That is about all the philosophy of living that one needs.”  Lin Yutang, Chinese writer and inventor.  10 October, 1895 – 26 March, 1976.

Very lovely and well maintained.   Today my daughter and I went to have lunch at the “Village” where I have moved.  We had a very tasteful meal, in a very quaint and cozy little restaurant.  Service and meal were at par with the village.

After having our senses and culinary quests satisfied, we went for a stroll up and down Park Avenue.  Guess what…the train is following me everywhere.  There it was right on the middle of the park, beautiful park I may add,  Amtrak letting people off and getting people on board.  Cannot escape the train, and more trains.

French bistros, French pastries, boutiques, and everything imaginable to entice you to depart with your currency.  I caved in and bought another pair of white slacks.  I love white for the summer.  Now I have three pairs of white capris.  Making sure I don’t run out of them when I need one.

So much for my intent on holding on to my dollars really tight into my hands.  Brain was more powerful than my whole body.  Incomprehensible.

Let’s see what kind of collateral damage is done tomorrow on our quest for having an adventurous good time.

The young kid wanted to go to a movie.  What?  My body is already begging for a bed to relax and she is all ready to go.  Psychological smart came into the picture and help from the heavens.  It started raining, praise God!  Nice reading weather and time to chill and relax indoors.  Hope she is a happy camper.  There is always tomorrow, my tired body is saying.  Good thing I have an understanding daughter.

So it was today, 3 August, 2011…a day of eating, spending and enjoying having my darling daughter around with me.  What a good day!

Your Happy Contessa

“I’ll think of it all tomorrow, at Tara.  After all, tomorrow is another day.” Scarlett, from Gone with the Wind.