Sassistas! Our dish on the social soup.

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CAPTION, PLEASE.

It's An Elephant!

Sistas and mistas! You asked for it and PEACEsista delivers --

some sass about the one of her adventures with nowayasista in Tanzania!

Thank you, PEACEsista! (She also took the above photo.)

I fell in love with Africa, more specifically with Tanzania. The sights, sounds, smells, kindness and generosity of her people all captured my heart. The National Parks and Serengeti plains are true wonders of the world ... my world at least.

Forced to choose a highlight, for me, it would have to be traveling through the middle of the Great Migration, where 1.5 million wildebeest migrate 500 to 1,000 miles each year in search of water and green grass. With the wildebeest are innumerable zebra and gazelles. Animals as far as the eye can see to the north and south. It gave us an inkling of what was destroyed in North America by decimating the wild Buffalo herds and carving-up and fencing her prairies. It was magical to be in the middle of such a flow of life.

Second best, waking a sunrise to a giraffe right outside our tent munching on the top of an acacia tree. It was maybe ten feet from the open windows of our tent. I turned off the flash and got some photos of this. Upon waking to the sound of a large animal beside the tent (and without our glasses on) noway said, "Shit! It's an elephant!" This became a favorite line of the trip.

Third, waking during the night to the sound of lions roaring nearby or at sunrise, surrounded by the amazing sounds of singing and whistling birds. Best alarm clock ever!

Words will never do justice to Tanzania, or as is often the case, one picture (like the one in this post) will equal 1,000 of them.

 

The Loft

Hey, beloveds!  Carolyn is here for the weekend.

Guess where she is staying?

The Sassistas! will let her give you her first-hand experience of our unique accommodations.

Welcome to SassistaLand East, Carolyn!  We love you!

Joyeux anniversaire!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEACESISTA!

PEACEsista won't have much of a chance to celebrate her birthday today for a very good reason.  Tomorrow she and nowayasista are flying to Paris for a couple of weeks!  The Sassistas! thought one way the sassosphere can wish her a Happy Birthday is to offer sassgestions via URL links on what to do and see while in Paris. To begin, be certain to stop here, PEACE and noway:

And while at The Louvre, be certain to check out this broad all decked out just for you!

 DIESEL WISHES YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOO.

 PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN PARIS SASSGESTIONS and/or OFT-USED FRENCH PHRASES. 

 

End of Rainbow

   

This huge double rainbow was our entranceway to the worst thunderstorms the Sassistas! have ever experienced.  We made it through one series early yesterday evening -- and called PEACEsista and babysis, relieved -- only to be clobbered again five miles from home where we sat on Beltway traffic for the longest delay at any point in our trip. The earlier storms had been a piece of cake compared to these ones. While waiting, we called treesta and "thanked" her for her earlier weather report that hinted that the bad weather would be out of the area by the time we hit the SassistaLand East area. We literally could not see in front of us.  Nearly every car and truck was pulled over.

We're home, however, and now back to my huge writing project.  Thanks again for keeping us company. 

Seriously.

Gone Writin'

THE GOOD NEWS:  Out of the blue last week, Flannista got a writing opportunity that could open new doors for her.  

THE BAD NEWS:  The deadline for this project is Thursday, August 18th at 6 pm EST (yes, the contract is THAT specific). The Sassistas! are making a roadtrip to Iowa this weekend, Flann with laptop in tow, clicking away.  We plan to post a bit from the road, but other than that, will to be away from the sassosphere until after this project is completed, at which time, Flann will provide more details about it.

Until then, please send your thoughts and prayers for creativity, patience and stamina!

Love to all.

Reunion Roadtrip

(The Sassistas! humbly acknowledge the use of the Getty image above.)

Later this morning, the Sassistas! will drive to western Pennsylvania to attend Flannista's 40th high school reunion tomorrow evening. A buffet dinner featuring sliced beef, heated-up canned corn and waxed green beans and Bud Light will be offered to be sure. We're curious to know if the only member of Flann's high school class considered to be a bonafide celebrity will show up: Mike [last name withheld], who was, at one time, the blacksmith at Dollywood.  

We don't know if it's kismet, but tomorrow also would have been Lucille Ball's 100th birthday. We don't know what kind of mishaps, shenigans or tomfoolery we might run into during our trip, but we plan to get through the weekend asking ourselves: WWLD? What would Lucy do? 

So stay tuned. To begin, what would Lucy wear to this reunion?  More questions to come.

First Class

Last Friday, the Sassistas! were upgraded to First Class on our trip to attend the surprise 75th birthday party of a beloved friend over the weekend. The First Class flight attendant was extraordinarily attentive, so at one point, when she asked the Sassistas! if we needed anything else, Flannista rather jokingly replied: "Can we have a snack bag to go?"  

Two minutes later, the attendant presented us with a large white plastic bag filled with the above snacks.  Not included in this photo are what we consumed over the weekend: one bag of Chocobillys, two packages of biscotti, one bag of potato chips, two packages of the cranberry nut mix and one package of the deluxe snack mix.  What you see in the photo are the snacks we are taking home this morning.

Needless to say, Flannista plans to send a thank-you letter to US Airways, thanking them for employing this First Class flight attendant (we got her name and employee number). But we're curious . . . have you ever had an extraordinary encounter -- good or bad -- with an airline flight attendant?  Let us know.

Leaping

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap. -- Cynthia Heimel

Today, Flannista is taking a leap.

She is traveling to Amish country in Pennsylvania where tomorrow afternoon she will lead a team-building story-telling session at the annual conference of Hope International, an organization that provides micro-lending and basic business training to entrepreneurs in poverty-stricken areas of the world.  The conference is being held at a Mennonite center with modest accommodations (think bunk beds and community restrooms).  Pictured above are my session tools.

This is a leap for me for several reasons:

• I am afraid to drive, but I am driving alone three hours to get there (and three hours to get back).
• I know only one person; the development director who attended the Orlando story-telling workshop I conducted in March and with whom I've talked for a total of less than 15 minutes.
• I am donating my time and expertise.

As some of you know, in January, I got word that my TRM contract would likely not be renewed in January 2012. In response, I sent out a letter to a dozen beloveds who have known me for a very long time and/or whose professional expertise and personal advice I respected.  I didn't ask them for answers -- only for questions.  In the aggregate, these beloveds suggested that I ask myself what my passion was and focus on it first and foremost.  In all responses, money was a secondary consideration, if it was mentioned at all. 

Storytelling and teaching others how to tell their story have always been my passion. So today I drive . . . and leap . . . adjusting my wings as I learn to fly in a new way.

As I take off, I would love to hear about the leaps of whatever each of you has made in your own life. Thank you and deep bow.

Holy Matrimony!

Cor blimey, chaps and lassies!

It's the Sassistas! in London on our way to the Royal wedding!

As you can see, Matissta just tossed her disguise toward Kate

(who, God bless her, will need it after today) . . .

and Flannista is serving as a Royal carriage footsista

decked out in her Royal cowboy hat!

Stayed tuned today for our special Royal wedding sass!