End o' Week Musings

I've been keeping myself busy this week, which isn't a bad thing.

I spent my weekend taking my required classes to perform at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire at the Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale. I created my character, got a start in Shakespearean English and learned the dos and don'ts of costume. Plus I met some really nice people, such as Nicole, who is an author and cupcake baker, and Ethan, a nice guy who works at a theme park and is also studying to be a filmmaker.

Saturday night I joined Carin and Tom at Stox in Bellflower for dinner. We were celebrating both of their birthdays, so it was extra fun. The waitress brought us a yummy eclair to share at the end of our meals. Then it was hot tubbing under the stars with drinks, cigars and funny stories.

Monday I spent the bulk of my day at my sewing machine, although I did get out for a nice lunch and some shopping with my special guy. But by the time my head hit the pillow, I had four skirts, three blouses, two scarves, two headwraps and a bag ready for handsewing. I was VERY productive!

One of the highlights of my week was going to the Pasadena Museum of History to meet Jeannette Bovard and Barbara Troeller to learn about feathers and hats. Barbara will be giving a talk in April in conjunction with the "Mad for Hats!" exhibit that is already open. She shared her feather collection (a small part of it at least) with me and bubbled as we spoke.

There's a beautiful and busy garden at the museum too, which water running through it and tons of flowers. I watched a bird taking a bath in one of the streams and then walked to the back of the garden to see a pair of Canadian geese nibbling on the lawn a few steps away.

That night, Wednesday, Barbara had inspired me, so I decorated my straw hat for Ren Faire. I glued on feathers, flowers and ribbon-- but just a few, as I don't want it too busy.

Yesterday I interviewed Michael Sweet from Stryper. The '80s Christian metal band is on tour in support of a new album, "The Covering," which is quite good. Michael was very cool and interesting to speak with. Today I spoke with Hershey Felder, who is coming to the Pasadena Playhouse next month to perform his show on George Gershwin. Hershey was interesting, the kind of guy you'd want to talk music history with over a big pot of tea.

This weekend, I'll be returning to more classes at Ren Faire and taking in Girl Talk in Pomona with my drummer Ric Sarabia. I'm sure we'll end up dancing at the show because neither of us like to sit still.

I'll be out of the office again Monday (last one!) so don't fret over the blog~ I'll be back!

In rotation this week: Monster in the Machine, Brenan James, The 69 Eyes, Stryper and Luanne Hunt.

Photos we got 'em: Just some cute animals photos from the Web-- enoy!

Thought o' the week: Stop and think. What the heck was going on this week?? People were sooo rude! I'm angry and frustrated with the attitude and I'm sure many of you are too.

There were lots of bad drivers out there, especially tailgaters. Hey, dude, do you see the big truck in front of me? I can't go any faster and I'm going the speed limit, so back off. I also saw a driver who was sitting in the middle of the parking lot drive in her van fiddling around at something. The guy behind her waited and waited and then finally went around and when he did, she leaned on her horn like he was the rude one. At least he could get by-- she had me totally blocked.

I also had people in stores step in front of me in line twice and so on. But what pushed me from frustrated to angry was when I went to the lobby of our office to speak with a man who wanted me to write a story about a show he was performing. I took the information and explained that I would need to check my calendar to assure I had time to do it (it was very short notice) and talk to my editor as well and I would call him and let him know.

The promoter expressed that it was an important story and I acknowledged that it was of interest, but I would still need to check the calendar and talk to my editor and I would call him as soon as possible to let him know what we would do. Not getting the answer he wanted, the promoter then pulled the race card on me stating that my newspaper and me regularly ignored a certain ethnic group. (I'm not going to say what ethnicity because it doesn't make a difference to my story). This statement was not only untrue, but it was downright rude and made me mad. But I kept my anger to myself and politely told him that this wasn't the case and again repeated what I needed to do and that I would get back to him.

We went back and forth several times with the promoter getting louder and more pushy and accusing me of racism while I maintained a soft volume and repeated the steps needed to secure a story. Finally he relented, leaving in a huff. Angry and hurt, I went to my editor to let her know what had happened in case he called and to let her know about the story.

Anyone who knows me knows that I try to help as many people as I can, but I can't do every story, especially one that's short notice. If the promoter had just thanked me and left, I would have been more sparked to see how I could help him, instead he forced the issue and in a rude and mean way, which turned me off. I still did my job and spoke to my editor as promised, she may give it to another writer if we cover it, as I would prefer not to deal with this man any further. And this is a pity because I like one of the acts in the show he is promoting and have interviewed them several times in the past, it would be interesting to find out what they're doing now.

OK, enough of my venting over something now in the past that I can't change. What I can do, however, is give myself an attitude check and make an active effort to treat people politely and with extra kindness and maybe my sweetness will begin to get passed forward. Have you found yourself getting short with people? Have you been rude or mean? Even if you're not of that ilk, I urge you to join me and before you act or react, stop and think, it could change not only your day, but the day of everyone who you encounter.

Keep on rockin'

Mickie