Friday, April 18, 2008

My Feet, the Pope & other esoterica

It's beautiful today. My feet are freshly pedicured (pretty red toenails) and ready to take on the world in some sexy shoes. I was excited to wear my favorite sparkly lime green platform flip-flops on a little walk through the grass with my dog today. Bailey has spring fever, and only going outside with me seems to help it, much to my chagrin. I have work to do!!!

Pope Benedict XVI is in the U.S. right now. This is very exciting. I grew up Catholic (went to Catholic elementary school and to a Jesuit college - John Carroll), but now I don't know what I am exactly. Maybe I'm the catch-all phrase "spiritual." But having the Pope here and seeing the excitement of the people greeting him was a really good thing. It seems to be a reassurance that there is still good left in the world. I had tremendous respect for John Paul II, despite my misgivings about a lot of the Catholic doctrine. Perhaps it was from my grandparents, who revered him. First, it was because they are devout Catholics, but they also took great pride in him because he was the first (and still only) Polish pope. So there was a special connection there. Gram always referred to him as "our" pope. I don't think Benedict XVI will ever be "ours." He's German.

I respect Benedict XVI because he is a renowned scholar. From college, I have learned to respect those who study religion, because I have seen that they do so from a "world" view, not just from the point of view of their own religious persuasion. He seems to understand the importance of inter-religion dialogue. Everyone thinks their views are correct, but all that really matters is that you're a good person, right?

So as a casual onlooker - not a religious person - I actually like seeing the Pope treated like a rock star in our country.

On a completely different page, I'm so glad Jen Toohey enjoyed our shopping adventure yesterday. I loved hearing her talk about it on the radio!!!

I'm starting to volunteer at the Art Museum soon! I'm really excited about this as my degree is in Art History. And while I never planned to make art my life's work, I use a lot of the principles I learned studying art in my image and style business all the time. I definitely developed my eye for color and pattern (I have always been inspired by Matisse, Dufy and Miro) from my art background. I miss the museum terribly since it has been closed for renovations. It seems like forever already. I used to just take a day whenever I was feeling stressed and stroll leisurely through the galleries. Starting with contemporary, I would move backward through time, and ultimately end up in the African gallery. I collect African tourist art. I have a special affinity for it (despite disliking the African, Pre-Columbian & Oceanic art course I took in college).

And finally...
My friend Raven is starting a wrestling school down in Georgia, and I just wanted to wish him luck. His classes start on May 6th. I hope it's a success!

And....
I finished one of the three books I promised to complete! If you ever want to know what your dog is thinking, just ask me! I'm now a dog behavior expert after reading one book! Yep!!

Or should I say "Yip?"

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