Careful

In my last post I talked about the concept of "No".  Not just the word...but what that word represents.

There's another word that has a particular context in my world.  "Careful".

Living a careful life is to refuse to look Risk directly in the face.  The key isn't to shy away from risk.  It's to know which risks are worth taking.

For example, I'm in Raleigh today and I'll be home in Charleston by the weekend.  Hurricane Sandy is headed slowly northward off the coast - it looks so nasty that they've already dubbed it "Frankenstorm" (story here).  Unless that thing were aiming directly at downtown Charleston there's nothing that'll keep me from driving towards it, and home, tonight or tomorrow.  It's worth the risk.

On the other hand, I'm supposed to head to New Jersey late next week to attend a family event there on Saturday.  If there is ANY chance that I'll get stranded there, or that there will be snow involved because of it....it'll change my plans in a heartbeat.  While I certainly love my family, those aren't risks worth taking.

I think the ability to get comfortable with risk is one of those key life competencies required to move past your own fears into the great unknown.  I'm not sure if it's inborn or developed or some  combination of the two (kind of like guilt).  What I do know is that coming to peace with Risk is key to not worrying about being careful all the time.

On another topic, Apple held one of it's legendary secretive "Unveiling" events earlier this week.  There had been quite a bit of buzz around the possibility that they'd announce a new, smaller iPad (dubbed iPad mini).  They did.

I got an iPad after the last release, so my own response to this news is a stifled yawn.  Big deal.  I'm not going to trade in my iPad.  I like it just fine...size, clarity, capability.....all good.  I expect to have mine for a long time.

BUT...the surprise announcement was about a new series of iMac desktops.  Now THAT I'm excited about.  My existing iMac is first generation...I mean, old.  And it generally does ok.  But the technology is so old I can't install the newer OS on it.  Again....not a significant issue for me considering what I use it for and the other toys I've got.  But I've been waiting for this, and I'm glad to see it.

Long story short - I envision 3 Holiday presents to myself this year.  One deals with  some photography "stuff", another is a firearm, and the third is....well....this is it.  I think you can tell a lot about a person based on what they want for Xmas, so this is me in all my unique diversity.   :)

Speaking of the Holidays - I've mentioned before that I'm a MAC girl.  I'm an Apple Mac girl, but I'm also a loyal MAC Cosmetics girl.  They earned my business back in the early early days of my transition, and have kept it for a laundry list of reasons.  I know everyone at the local MAC counter by name, and they contact me before every large new product launch to talk about it and see what I might want.

The biggest part of the MAC "year" is their annual Holiday Collections.  I've been getting something from it for years....brush sets, limited-edition colors, unique packaging, just fun stuff.  Anyways, today is the release of the 2012 Holiday Collection in stores, so I've already got my order set aside.  I'll go there tomorrow for a little application/demo and as always - I'm awed (and admittedly jealous) by their ability to do such amazing things with cosmetics.

I've got lots of make-up.  I do.  You can only use so much of it, and I'm not sure where to boundary between having lots ends and "hoarding" begins...but I've certainly got more than I could use for the entire rest of my life.  But as with lots of things in my world, but main ingredient in all of this isn't in the "thing" itself, it's in the fun.  And this stuff is fun for me.  Really, really fun.  Perhaps I'm making up for all those years when I couldn't do it, but regardless....I'm all in now.

There are endless opportunities to find videos online about anything and everything having to do with makeup.  I've got subscriptions to a couple of different YouTube channels.  One is Pixiwoo.  Another is MakeupGeekTV.  And a place where I go for reviews and such is Allurabeauty.  We all need to learn somewhere, or at least dream.  These are some of the places I've found that make it fun. 

I went to they gym yesterday after work.  I have a lot of energy right now, and I've been happy that I can get to the gym at least a couple of times a week lately.  I suppose the more trendy term is "Fitness Center"....but call it what you want, I've been going to one fairly regularly for over 40 yrs now so when I don't go it's a problem.

I probably should have done something aerobic, but that makes me feel drained if I do it too late in the day and I really didn't want to be that kind of tired.  I did a good, overall, body toning session that felt GREAT.  I'm a little sore this morning from it, and that's a good thing.  My body and I are generally on pretty good terms these days which is a minor miracle in and of itself given what I ask it to do sometimes.  I'm glad it's still speaking to me.

The election happens in less than two weeks.  I have my voter registration card in South Carolina, and will be there to vote in person.  It's a big deal for me.

I've said more than once that I find this entire election process to be far more painful than productive, but such is the nature of what our political process seems to have become.  The fact that "public opinion" can shift, week-to-week, like the tides, demonstrates the fickle nature of these so-called measurements we use to predict.

For me - I have my own prediction.  I believe much of this hulabaloo about how close the race is and who is wooing what voters is more like Super-Bowl week pre-game hype than edge-of-your-seat substance.  I believe that most people have already made up their minds, the only question is whether they will get out and actually vote.  I believe the end game is far more about playing Electoral College roulette than winning the popular vote although it'd be nice to have a mandate with both.  And, when all the above is taken into consideration - two weeks from now President Obama will have won re-election by more than just one swing state. 

The question I've got is what he'll have to work with.  What will the rest of the political landscape look like?  But once all this armchair quarterbacking, and political bickering, and posturing is over - then what?  That's what I'm more interested in. 

I can't control any of that.  All I can control is my one vote, and (a) I know I'll use it and (b) I know where it's going.  The rest - all I  can do is have Faith.