HATE AND LOVE

I pray. A lot of people might be surprised to know that about me, but I do. Almost every night. I also think about things a lot because I'm very sensitive. I put on a tough exterior because that's how I keep myself safe, but underneath I'm probably one of the most sensitive people you'd ever meet. I try hard not to let small things bother me, but even they get to me. I mostly keep that stuff to myself, but there are some things that are important - and that's what I'm about to share.

For some reason, I was lying in bed a couple weeks ago and I had a vision of the towers on the day of 9/11. The most awful vision of all came back into my head: people holding hands and jumping to their deaths. I just burst into tears and thanked God that I'm alive and asked that he grant me humility and remind me of just how very lucky I am.

The next day, I turned on the TV - once in the morning and once at night - and both times the same episode of "Becker" was on tv. Becker was annoyed, but was helping this old lady find her way around the subway system. When she finally got to her stop, she couldn't go up the stairs. Becker annoyingly asked her why and she said, "my son would have been 33 today. If I had only known I'd never see him again...." Again, I burst into tears. Twice. And there was my reminder.

Now London. I just don't get it. I don't understand how this can happen. I don't understand how anyone feels they have the right decide another person's fate. I don't understand how anyone can kill in the name of religion. I don't understand hate.

So in the midst of this sadness came wonderful news: my friend Sue was just proposed to and she accepted. They haven't known each other very long, but their courtship was intense and they both know it's right. The thing about Sue is that even though she makes mistakes, she acknowledges she is human, acknowledges her errors, and learns from them. She is one of the few people I know who is constantly working to better herself and her connection with other humans. Her joyfulness and happiness is contagious and I loved her the minute I met her. I feel lucky to be her friend, and I feel nothing but happiness for her.

Here's a girl who works to better her spiritual and human connection and through that openness and forward motion has found love.

But that's the world for you. Ups and downs, highs and lows. Experiencing sorrow and heartache helps us to appreciate the truly wonderful things in the world.

I have wonderful, wonderful people in my life: my family, Suzanne, Ben, Sue, Shah, Jen, Laurie, Jim....I love you all. Thank you for making my life better.

And I'll keep trying to remember how very lucky I am.
- posted by Taunia @ 4:21 PM (0) comments

 
THE NEWNESS OF THINGS

So I moved into my new home this past week - yipee! In case you didn't already read the previous entry, my best friend Suzanne bought a huge 5 bedroom home and asked me to be her roommate. We've been friends since 1991 and we're pretty much like sisters now. In fact, she even said I'm the sister she chose. Not to be corny, but in light of some recent crapiness that made me feel pretty bad about myself, it's nice to know someone loves me and enjoy my company enough to want me to hang out with them on a regular basis. :)

We've basically split the house and I'm living downstairs with Julip. I painted everything and it's like a world of primary colors down there! The "party room" is a deep brick red, my office is a beautiful orange and my bedroom is a deep blue. I still have to redecorate the bathroom - which will be sort of "cabana-y" white with some pink,white, and lilac stripes.

We're living just down the street from where I went to college...which is a bit odd. It makes me want to get up and go to class. Assuming that class starts at 1:00 in the afternoon, obviously.

I don't really have tons to talk about right now. Just wanted to check in, say hi, and give my primary colors report. I'll be back with some good stuff next week.

Adios!
- posted by Taunia @ 2:03 PM (0) comments

 
A REMINDER OF WHAT TRUE LOVE IS

It's work.
It's compromise.
It's committment.
It's devotion.

Today I went over to my parent's house and found them sitting outside on the porch swing. My dad was sitting, my mom was lying on the porch swing with her head in my dad's lap and my dad's hand stroking her hair. It almost made me cry it was so beautiful.

My parents have been married for 35 years, and to have that kind of affection and love...I'm lucky to be able to witness that first hand.
- posted by Taunia @ 9:43 PM (0) comments

 
NOW I KNOW WHY VAN GOGH CUT OFF HIS EAR

So, here's a top three list of things that I absolutely HATE doing:

*Packing all of my shit that somehow multiplied into 10 times MORE shit in a year.
*Scrubbing toilets and cleaning bathrooms
*Painting

I think last item is just about my all-time, least-favorite thing to do EVER. I'd much sooner clean a toilet than paint a wall. I'll even clean YOUR toilet if you'll paint for me. I hate, hate, hate it.

Of course, I have four very large walls in Chelmsford that are begging for two coats of paint and I've found every excuse in the book to put it off. I have one week left to pack all much shit (that's multiplied and spawned NEW shit), clean my current apartment for my sister, paint walls and clean toilets in Chelmsford, and move all of my shit over THERE so it can begin the incubation process and start the "Taunia's Shit Reproduction" process all over again.

I'd rather do any of it than paint. I can't even give you a good reason why I hate it so much. I just do. Oh no, I know why I hate it! Because painting blows.

In addition to all of this moving nonsense, I also have a gig in Portland, ME on Saturday. We're staying over in Maine and then I have to be back on Sunday for my private student's recital in Boston. What dickhead planned THIS weekend while I was moving? Oh yeah, I'm the dickhead.

Thankfully, I have no lessons next week so I have a full week to lounge around and procrastinate and get nothing done.

Must.

Paint.

Gah.
- posted by Taunia @ 9:37 PM (0) comments

 
GAH! and YEA!


1. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to fix the comments thingy for this blog. Quite annoying.


2. Looky here! A fan of Ben's (clearly!) did a cool fan page for us from the Ryles gig. Video and everything! He sent it out to his own personal list with this really nice message:

Hello folks,

For those who had the pleasure of seeing Ben Jackson's band "Vote for
Pedro" I don't need to tell you how awesome they are, for everyone
else, you can get an idea by checking out some pics and vids:

http://hcs.harvard.edu/~htkd/images/voteforpedro/voteforpedro.html

whatever the cool kidz do,
gts

CHECK OUT THE HOTNESS!
- posted by Taunia @ 3:01 PM (0) comments

 
DY-NO-MITE!

I'm feeling really happy about the changes in my life right now. Everything is moving in a positive, forward direction and you can't beat that! It's sad to leave some things and people behind, but growth and change is important and that's my direction now!

One big change is that I'm moving. My best friend Suzanne bought a 5 bedroom house in Chelmsford and asked me to be her roommate. We're pretty much like sisters, so even though there's bound to be arguments, we're really good at working things out between us.

The place is great! Upstairs we have a kitchen, dining area, living room, bathroom, Suzanne's bedroom, a guest bedroom, and Suzanne's office. Downstairs, there's my bedroom, my office/studio, a bathroom, a laundry room, and a huge "party room." There's also a deck that runs the full length of the house on the top floor and there's an acre and a half of land with a small fruit orchard in the back. Needless to say, I'm really thankful and lucky to have a best friend who likes me around enough to be her roommate at such an awesome place!

The other big change has been the band. We've decided to create a new project called Vote For Pedro, and we had our first official gig headlining at Ryles on Sunday night. The show went much better than we could have expected. We had a few guests sit in with us, we had some really great new songs, and we even had a couple bellydancers come in and dance on our version of "Naughty Girl" from Beyonce. Had some new male fans after that. lol



I've also been slowly losing weight and I'm down 25 lbs. Someone just noticed for the first time the other day, and I fluctuate between 5 lbs every few weeks when I goof off, but I'm using the move as a new beginning to get back on track. Suzanne doesn't cook much and I LOVE to cook. When I prepare meals in advance and do my own cooking, I end up losing lots of weight because I'm really paying attention to what goes into the food and what I'm eating. I'm feeling better because I'm losing weight, although I have a long way to go.

Work is going really well too! I'm getting a bunch of potential new teaching jobs through the summer, and that will mean really good money. It's tough work becasue I have to promote my business, my band(s), and be super-organized...but I've never been as happy as I am now working for myself. My boss rocks!

So good stuff all around and I'm excited about moving and working. That's what I've been up to! You probably won't hear from me for a while since I'll be moving, so enjoy the summer and be sure to eat some summer BBQ!
- posted by Taunia @ 10:03 PM (0) comments

 
MASSACHUSETTS GIRLS

A joke from my friend Laurie...

Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had given
their new wives duties. The first man had married a woman from
Alabama and bragged that he had told his wife she was going to do
all the dishes and house cleaning. He said it took a couple days but
on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were
done.

The second man had married a woman from Florida. He bragged that he
had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning,
dishes and; the cooking. On the first day he didn't see any results,
but the next day it was better. By the third day, his house was
clean, the dishes were done and he had a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married a Massachusetts girl. He boasted that he
told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes
washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for
every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second
day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling
had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye. Enough
to fix himself a bite to eat, load the dishwasher and telephone a
landscaper.
- posted by Taunia @ 2:01 PM (0) comments