Due to a painfully busy worklife over the past few months, I’ve been a little out of pop culture, so I’m doing my best to catch up. Here are some of my favorite current obsessions in my ipod. Enjoy.

Hard Candy - Madonna: Great. Great. Great. Dance it out!

The Very Best of the Police: Lapster and I are headed to see the Police Reunion tour this summer! Gotta get up to speed.

Release the Stars - Rufus Wainright: We just saw Rufus at the Paramount Theater a few weeks ago. It was a great show. Funny. Sarcastic. And that voice, doesn’t leave your skull.

Eat, Pray, Love: Yes, my new age Seattle hippy lifestyle has gotten the best of me. I just finished listening to it on audiobook during my commute to work. A sweet story about a year of spiritual discovery. I know this book has an Oprah phenomenon. I can’t say it changed my life, but it did give me back my travel bug!

So my dear friends Trisha and Aaron just had a beautiful baby daughter named Maggie.  I’m so excited by this new arrival, but as I was sharing all my press success with Seeds of Compassion — I see that this new little bundle of joy is getting her own press. . .

lucky girl.

• Washington Post - D.C’s ‘Breast Whisperer’
• Other Maggie Pics

So,  I have left my precious blog alone for far too long.  My work-life, as always, came in like a storm.  Now I’m sitting in the aftermath dazed and confused.   Well, actually it’s great.  I’m still working for Seeds of Compassion, but now we get to do the basic aftermath of thank you notes and event evaluation.  I have a swirling mind of ideas about work-life balance, falling out of touch with friends. . .again, etc.   But I’ll save that for later.  Right now, I’ll take some quiet pleasure in a successful event.  Check out some of our press.

• Seattle Times
• LA Times – Special thanks to my friend Keri for passing along
• Dave Matthews and Dalai Lama - conversation on media and compassion.  Audio isn’t good, but you get the idea.  Great clips from all our events including our Stadium show at Qwest too.
• Full Seeds Webcast Online in 24 language

Who knows what next.  Right now, I’m thinking about heading back to the East Coast for my grandmother’s funeral, traveling somewhere sunny, buying a car, and moving to a bigger house.  As for my next work project, who knows,  I’m trying a different style — just open up see what happens!  Wish me luck.

The FAA has mandated an upgrade to the famous ‘Black Box’ - the flight recorder which has an almost techno-religious status. It details the downfall of life and rises from the ashes to tell the story.

My interest in this subject comes from a memory - a trip to the beach in Edmonds, Washington. One Saturday, my tall and lanky father took me with him to collect gallons of sea water. He was working for Honeywell, the Microsoft of Bellevue during the 70’s. The huge green army containers made my father huff and pant, lugging them to the car across a beach empty of swimmers, the afternoon cool, gray and sprinkling rain.

He was collecting the sea water to help his team. He was one of a group of men who had designed the enclosure for the original ‘Black Box’. That was what my father was good at: designing successful enclosures.

Here’s the link to the site: BLACK BOX

Check out this simple but unique moment inside of Grand Central station in New York city…

Woah. The Ballard Dennys, on the corner of 15th and Market Street, has been designated a landmark. I ate there on a number of occasions and felt that the wait staff were obnoxious. Here’s a quote from a Seattle Times

article:

“A city board stunned developers, preservationists and Ballard residents Wednesday by voting 6-3 to designate the boarded-up Denny’s Restaurant at Northwest Market Street and 15th Avenue Northwest a landmark — based largely on the visual punch the structure’s Googie-esque roofline delivers to passing motorists.”

I can’t tell if this is a good idea or a bad one. Besides the building having a hint of ‘Googie’ architectural style, there’s very little left to recommend it. The gentleman who renovated the Majestic Bay Theater just down the street thinks the owners don’t have the interest in making the building live a new life. My question is: Why would you designate a building a landmark and leave it’s future to a disgruntled corporation, in this case, the venerable Benaroya Companies? They wanted to to sell the property for condominium development.

I’ll keep you updated if there’s any kind of news…

She is on her way, shipped yesterday.  Oh, la, la!

As always my work-life has become exciting and all encompassing. So much so, that Lapster is also volunteering a ton of time to make Seeds of Compassion event a success and it keeps getting more grand by the day. It started out as a four-day event — Now, we have a benefit concert, five days of events (several in the stadiums around town) and a ton of luminary speakers. I’m thrilled, but man, it is a lot to do in 60 days!

Yesterday, Lapster and I flexed our political muscles at the Washington State Caucus and helped to bring a big win for Obama. I forget now that I’ve been out of the campaign life for a few years, how exciting direct action politics can be. What a thrill to see so many new people excited about politics.

But this morning I’ve chosen to distract myself, take a few hours off to sit around, watch home decorating shows, and read some favorite blogs. Here are a few of my fav posts from my drive by blog reading:

What I Like:

• Feeling Stuck? 100 Ways to Change Your Life
• The Beauty of Organized Cables

What I want:

• Volunteer to Travel: 11 Opportunities For Free Or Very Cheap Travel
• The Wireless Wii Nunchuk

What I need:

• A Complete Guide to Better Email for Freelancers
• The ABCsof Remaining Coll in a Crazy World

Since I am vtgirl. I can’t let the day go by without one shout out to my hometown (well, home region) team. I’ve got a day filled with lil’ smokies, four different dip based appetizers and the pre-game show complete with Paula Abdul. . .does it get any better than this?

Go get em boys!!!

Hi friends,

My work schedule has taken me away from time to blog, but please take a moment to click through the Bsuit site and admire Lapster’s beautiful new design!  I just love it — clean and sexy.  Thanks for all the great work!  Enjoy.