Universal Living Wage Benefit
May 08, 2004

The night was just superb. At first, I was concerned because there weren’t as many people as I had hoped…but the people who came were into understanding more about the Universal Living Wage and hearing Richard Troxell speak about it.

The Universal Living Wage explains how businesses thrive when their employees receive a living wage…and that wage is on a sliding scale so that someone in Denver pays a different wage than someone in Austin or NYC.
The wage allows someone to afford housing, and with housing comes stability,
and with stability comes happiness for the employee and the employer. These are my simple words, not Richard’s. If you want to learn more about how it works, visit the http://www.universallivingwage.org site. Learn how you can get involved and make a difference. How homelessness affects all of us, just not those on the streets, struggling to survive. At the going rate of $5.15 an hour, no one is thriving or making ends meet.

The sweetest moment for me, of the evening, was when Colleen’s painting went for $750 dollars…she is Richard’s 13 year old daughter, and the painting was of a gypsyesque woman praying in her long black robes, covered in beautiful jewels and bracelets. Watching Colleen’s face was precious…she was so proud to be helping her dad help others.

Jason volunteered his culinary expertise, so the hor-deurves were excellent.

David and Sue volunteered their gorgeous home on the hill…so we had a comfortable, open house to gather in.

My friends who donated so much of their time…Thank you to: Cat Reynolds, for gathering 3/4 of all the signatures on my purple electric guitar…which brought in $3000!

Rafe Foreman, who came all the way from Dallas, was our live auctioneer. Hilarious! And he can do that, “Do I hear four hundred dol-five five fiddy going for five now I hear sixdo I hear six fiddy” reaaaaaally fast.

Peter Bay, conductor of the Austin Symphony…for allowing himself to be auctioned off for a dinner date!

Eddy Hobizal…for coming and providing piano music…

Gene Cowan for making a 10 minute video piece on the ULW and Richard that we could show to everyone attending…and that Richard can use to further the ULW campaign. Thank you, Gene!

I feel so blessed to have friends that step up to the plate when I ask them to participate in something so important. They really made the night. Thank you.

posted by Sara Hickman at 10:58 am
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What I Know

Is that I am really hard on myself. I tend to forget the gardenia of myself and see straight through to the compost.

Yesterday’s speaking engagement had its ups and downs. I get obsessed with the downs. I think, “If only I had said…” or “Why didn’t I…?” because I want to be able to give 175%. I was prepared, and yet I froze. I was excited, and yet
I was unsure. I was behind a podium, so I couldn’t move, or literally walk about and touch the audience.

I realized this morning I need that. I need to be able to give that to the people I have come to see: I need to be able to MOVE.

A podium for me was like a cage for a tiger. I like the unknown, I like the jungle. I like the call of the wild and the occassional heckler. Those things bring out who I am…moving and laughing and laughing with my audience brings out my confidence, my experience. I don’t know how to stand behind a podium without it being deadweight.

I’m reminded of when I made the “I Couldn’t Help Myself” video. The director, Matt Mahurin, wanted me to sit on a stool and be PERFECTLY STILL. I stuttered, “Um, that’s not who I am…I like to flow…” but he was very insistent that I only use my eyes, my mouth..not my hands or my body. I think he had a point, that
the viewer would be drawn to my emotion through my face. (I don’t give my face much credit to what people gather from and about me…I think of my face as a sort of gnome in the woods that came with the property! Ha ha.)

However, I think I had a point, too. I wonder what would have changed if I had said, “No, I gotta dance! I have to run around like a child!” How would that one instance of me saying, “Nope” changed all the other times I wanted to say “Nope”?

This is where wisdom steps in and gathers the facts of the past. It’ s how I”ve learned to say “no” more often. (Especially with ice cream!)

Well, I hope I brought something to that conference yesterday. I did get the men to sing like pirates. That was cool.

posted by Sara Hickman at 10:39 am
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Gardenias

Through my bedroom window on a little plot of about six feet of garden is a gardenia bush.

I discovered it when my husband and I removed undergrowth, weeds, dirt and ant piles about two and a half years ago. It was small and gangly, from lack of exposure to the sun, and I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I left it because it looked like a healthy bush wanting to stay and grow in its seclusive spot.

Last year, it bloomed. I was tending to some grape hyacinths and tulips, when I noticed a beautiful, light fragrance in the air. To my surprise, it was the bush
I had left to grow. The scent was coming from one, lone flower, proudly bursting forth; whiter than white, smooth and clean and pure. Not one freckle blemishing its petals. I couldn’t believe one little flower could make so much noise! I leaned in to the flower and took a huge breath and instantly I felt such peace! I felt like I had landed in a little bit of home. A secret garden, just for me.

Since then, I have had a kinship with that bush. I love it so much. I tend to its limbs when they get too scraggly, trimming the pieces that stick out like stray hairs on a child. I work the dirt, and pull the weeds, and thank my magnolia for staying strong when it was neglected and forgotten.

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of at least forty buds this year, so my happiness exploded when I raised the blinds this morning and saw the first
flower had opened.

You know where I’ll be as soon as I finish typing this. I’ll deliver a fond
hello on your behalf, and I’ll celebrate the crisp smell of the gardenias
by just sitting still.

posted by Sara Hickman at 10:24 am
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Why I Am Behind on My Blog
May 07, 2004

Thursday, May 6

Wake up at 6 a.m….go for a run. Not quite sunrise, and the street lamps are stirring their yellow hue in with the dusky blue of the sky.

6:45 load laundry

6:50 make breakfast for all (scrambled eggs, sausages, waiting to make toast,
smoothies…strawberries, frozen bananas and blackberries, whole yogurt, protein powder, apple and orange juice….mmmm! frosty cold YUM!)

7:00 Lance is up, getting ready for his work day as a photographer at a new job!

7:15 Lily is up and at the art table

7:30 Lance eats breakfast with me, quick kiss, he’s out the door

7:45 Try to wake up io

7:48 Try to get Lily to break her play-doh bakery focus so she can get dressed and ready for school. She has made a lovely pie, complete with criss-cross
top.

8:00 Still no io up…open curtains, kiss her feet…”C’mon, lovebug..morning!”
She rolls over and pretends to snore.

8:01 Sit down to breakfast with Lily. Dressed but no shoes. Yet.

8:15 io walks in. Sits with us for breakfast, but I announce it is time to take Lily to school. We put io’s breakfast in a bowl. Head for the door.

8:30 This is the mystery zone, where we always walk out the door on time to get to school on time, and then everything gets hazy…Generally, because the cats need to be fed, so Lily feeds them, we all pile back in the car; Lily now has shoes on. io is munching on breakfast.

8:42 Drop Lily off at school. Kisses all around.

8:45 Need gas. Drive through and fill tank

9:00 Run in to get office mail

9:15 Clean kitchen

9:30 Take shower (io is now at the art table, making a play-doh spaghetti plate, complete with meatballs)

9:40 Dry hair, get dressed.

9:50-10:30 Play with io. We create a world of play-doh food, and decide to decorate Dad’s place setting. io pours his favorite bowl of cereal, and places a tiny spoon and fork on a miniature napkin next to it. She then decrees he will be thirsty when he gets home, so she pours him a little glass of water. He will need a banana. That goes on the other side of the plate. “Hey!,” she says. “He will need milk for the cereal!” I say that is for tonight or his cereal will get soggy.

Next, we go outside with her purple umbrella and two chairs. The umbrella goes over our heads not to protect us from rain, but from bird poop. io says it could happen! We watch the birds come eat the seed io has scattered all over the driveway. She yells “SCAT!” at the cats and with hands on her hips says to me, “How was THAT!?” I nod, “Good!” except that now our birds have all flown away, as well. We don’t care! We laugh and throw more seed. Then, we get the hose and she says, “Make it RAIN!”, holding her umbrella over her head, and I squirt the water high in the air. Pum-pum-pum-pum! As it hits the purple plastic, giggles escaping from underneath.

10:42 Realize my mom is coming at 11 so we can go hear Anna Quinlan speak for the Austin Children’s Museum luncheon. Dress quickly. Throw on some make-up

11:00 My mom arrives. Dawn arrives (to play with io while we are gone…hooray for the mermaid!!!) My mom looks great—-she’s got such a way with clothes and design! More kisses goodbye, as I toss lunch ideas out for Dawn and io, and off we go.

11:30 We reach the Renaissance Hotel. We are guests of the museum, so we are grateful to be in the midst of so many interesting people. I see Anne Elizabeth Wynn, the mayor’s wife, who just purchased my decorated ceramic pot at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden party. We hug and kiss, and I introduce my mom. I thank Ms. Wynn for buying my art! She says it is in her kitchen and we have to come over to play with the kids.

11:45 Seated at the table. Little golden boxes wrapped with pretty purple ribbons. Gifts! Inside are tiny mirrors decorated with beads. OOH! We drink our waters and gab with the nice ladies (and one gentleman, a professor from St. Edwards who has taught their 44 years!)

12:00 The program starts. Two little Korean girls, 3 and 7, perform a traditional dance. A sportscaster from KEYE gets up to start introductions. Anna Quinlan speaks. (Not sure if I am spelling her name correctly!) She is fabulous. She uses notes. That was some good info, as I have to speak tomorrow (which is now today) and I am always wanting to have my programs memorized.
She is funny, direct and poignant. We applaud. We ask questions.

1:30 On our way home to see io

1:45 Get home. My mom leaves. Change clothes. Dawn stays for a bit so we can catch up on office items.

2:30 io and i have snacks. We play until almost three, when we go pick Lily up from school

3:00 Pick up Lily, decide we want girl time at Half Price Books. We go and have tea, sit in a big, purple chair and read about electrons and how electricity works. Another book is about Rescue Helicopters and the teams that run them.
I have some cinnamon hazelnut coffee…io has her traditional apple cinnamon tea, and Lily has Darjeeling.

4:30 Walk over to Walgreens and buy ice creams, a Blue’s Clues notebook (io) and skinny balloons (like the clowns use) for Lily.

4:50 Walk back to car, drive home

5:00 Play with skinny balloons. Lily twists them into swords and hats.

5:30 I am making dinner for the girls. Nana (my mom) is coming over to play with them so Lance and I can go to the Universal Living Wage benefit.

6:00 Lance is home, I am getting dressed for the event, the girls are jausting with their swords, my mom is here, now wearing a clown hat.

6:30 Lance and I take seperate cars to the event. He has to be back by nine to relieve my mom. She has to drive back out to her RV before 9:30 or she will be too sleepy (and worn-out!)

6:45 Reach the event at David and Sue’s house. See Cat (who looks fantastic in red…helping with the silent auction items)

7:00 People are starting to trickle in. Eddy Hobizal is there to play piano. I sing
“The Lady Is A Tramp” with him. That was fun!

The event lasts until around 11. We had a marvelous time and raised money for a very worthy cause (another blog). I auctioned off my purple electric guitar. Cat and I had garnered signatures from Shawn Colvin, Keb Mo, Little Feat, me, Taj Mahal, etc. The guitar goes for $3000 (plus a private lesson from me!) Cat did such a good job getting so many musicians to sign. Three cheers for Cat!!!
Peter Bay (conductor for the Austin Symphony) graciously allowed himself to be auctioned off for a dinner date, and my new friend, Rafe Foreman, drove all the way from the Dallas area to be our live auctioneer….and he is FUN-NEEE! So grateful to all my friends for pitching in to help on a stunning night of good food, comaraderie and love.

10:30 Get home, Lance is waiting up for me. We have ice cream. Lance’s mom calls. His dad is in ICU. We take the phone to bed with us. I can’t sleep at all.

2:45 Lance’s mom calls. Not sure what is happening, but Lance’s dad now has 103 fever. They think it might be pneumonia. Please keep him in your prayers.

8:45 a.m. out the door to Houston for my speaking engagement…

posted by Sara Hickman at 09:40 am
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