Messiness

I know you can't see it, but this book is preeeetttttty.  Little white embossed birds all over the cover.  The inside pages have a bird on the edge that flies if you flip the pages really fast.  Just so pretty and well thought out.

Sadly, I didn't really like When Women Were Birds.  It had some wonderful passages.  The concept is hard to resist - the author's mother left her journals to Williams after she dies and upon opening, they were all blank.  Who can resist a starting point like that?  Unfortunately, it felt so scattered that I kept getting annoyed or frustrated.  That feels wrong because she's writing from a place or grief and exploration and that shit is messy.  I just wished for a little less messiness I guess.

Changed

A little bit hopeless

Halfway through the film Another Year, I was really tempted to turn it off.  There's so much loneliness in it, and that's not necessarily good watching for me at the moment. 

However, I couldn't stop watching because it was all so well done.  The actors and dialogue are so normal that it doesn't feel like much is being conveyed, but I think it really was.  The character of Mary was worth spending the time with all by herself and there were many others who were interesting to watch.

Sad and a bit hopeless, yes, but still a pretty wonderful film.

Intricate and impermanent

 

 

 

The murals of Suzan Drummen are astoundingly gorgeous.  Go look!

Livid

This article on civil forfeiture will make you wonder what sort of country we live in. And make you livid. One has to wonder how they thought incentivizing this sort of shit would end well.

In case you were curious

I have not made a real-real post in forever. Life is in the midst of some tremendous upheaval, but I am not abandoning ship - just hoping for some calm waters before I commence writing again. I do plan on working on a new 101 list because I am in need of some serious new stuff, adventures, and experiences in my future.

Unlocked

Like the night is young

Live through this

Graceful

Diving giraffes

A thousand times this

Why society still needs feminism.


I honestly cannot understand women who do not call themselves feminists.  Not a bitchy thing or a pity thing, just a complete non-compute in my mind.  

Not asking much of you

Only flying for a while

Don't need your last name

Hooked

I just started listening to a podcast called What Are You Reading in which the host asks the interviewee "What hooked you on reading?"  It made me think.

The first book that I remember being delighted by was The Search for Delicious.

And then at 12, I read Weetzie Bat which blew my little country girl brain.  I didn't know you were ALLOWED to do those things with language before then.  I still find myself using phrases learned from this book in my brain.

So tired

Hilarious advice on getting babies to sleep.

Crossed

 

 

Doctors' Diaries was a special on PBS that followed med school students and then revisited them later in their career.  It was really good.  The doctors had a variety of focuses and their ultimate directions was really surprising in some cases.  It felt like watching the real-life version of Scrubs (a show I absolutely adored) crossed with the 7 Up documentaries (which I also deeply into). 7/10.  

Normalish

Diving Belles is a short story collection that was right up my alley.  Each story had an element of the fantastic - mermaids, ghosts, people turning to stone, etc - but those elements were treated as entirely normal things that every day people deal with.  The story titled "Notes from the House Spirits" hit me in the perfect spot - perhaps it comes from living in an old house.  8/10.

Where are you going?

Losing

Every Day has a plot that I couldn't resist.  Each day, the protagonist  A wakes in a new body - a person with their own life.  It can be male or female and from any walk of life but always the same age as A, but A is never in the same person more than one day.  And then A falls in love.

Love love love the idea.  The novel not so much.  The author tries to cram in some Lessons.  And those lessons were a bit too ham fisted and obvious.  I wish he'd resisted the urge.

The concept though made me a bit panicky when I thought to much about it.  It reminded me of reading Still Alice, an absolutely amazing novel about a woman with Alzheimer's.  The idea of losing yourself like gives me chills.  This book was similar in that the protagonist has no one to tie themselves to or that would remember them once they'd gone. 

I just wish this book had done better by its idea.  4/10.

Broken

This segment of This American Life broke my heart a bit.

Sweet

Loving Lampposts is a documentary with a sweet and insightful look into people on the autism spectrum.  It felt like a labor of love by the director. 

Hysterical

This book ROCKS!  I laughed so hard while reading How to be a Woman as well as wanted to pump my fist many times over.  Ms. Moran is hysterical and honest and really could be my new best friend.  The chapter on underwear is hilarious.  I bought a copy for my sister before I was even 1/3 of the way into the book.  8/10.

“We need to reclaim the word 'feminism'. We need the word 'feminism' back real bad. When statistics come in saying that only 29% of American women would describe themselves as feminist - and only 42% of British women - I used to think, What do you think feminism IS, ladies? What part of 'liberation for women' is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? 'Vogue' by Madonna? Jeans? Did all that good shit GET ON YOUR NERVES? Or were you just DRUNK AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY?”

also


“But, of course, you might be asking yourself, 'Am I a feminist? I might not be. I don't know! I still don't know what it is! I'm too knackered and confused to work it out. That curtain pole really still isn't up! I don't have time to work out if I am a women's libber! There seems to be a lot to it. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?'
I understand.
So here is the quick way of working out if you're a feminist. Put your hand in your pants.

a) Do you have a vagina? and
b) Do you want to be in charge of it?

If you said 'yes' to both, then congratulations! You're a feminist.”  

Nicely obsessive

Hogwarts made out of legos.  Wowee.

Not even there yet

The Honest Toddler is my favorite twitter feed these days.  Find it at @HonestToddler

Fungi

These long threadlike mushrooms, enoki, are my current obsession.  They are fantastic in soup.  Like extra chewy noodles.  Mmmmm.........

Bleak

I am completely hooked on the Inspector Gamache series.  I like the literary references, the motley band of characters, and the looming threat of the inspector's history.  Book three, The Cruelest Month, did not disappoint.  However, it was big on the gloom, and I do wish I had not read it during an extraordinarily gloomy March in Ohio. 

Nada

Did I just wait to long to check this one out?  'Cause Muriel's Wedding did not delight me at all despite my fondness for Toni Collette and all things Australian.  3/10.

Unfit

This NPR piece on disability benefits is really enlightening.

Celestial

A really lovely article on beauty.

Clouds

I have been under a seriously blue cloud lately.  I think it’s caused by a combination of the stupid sunless weather here in Ohio and a lack of quality sleep.  It’s manifested in feeling so kicked in the gut over the state of things – particularly bad news tied to children.  I know part of it is just being super sensitive about my baby, but goddamn I bruise pretty easily these days. 

I recently saw a post by an old friend about a little girl from my hometown in need of a liver transplant.  She didn't get it in time.  God damn it.  Read this if you can handle the insane sadness.  If you can't, then I suggest avoiding it.  That baby had the sweetest face.

If you aren't currently an organ donor, please sign up.  Stories like this don't need to have such endings. 

I felt so angry over this and helpless today.  I don't even know the family, but it just sucked so hard.  I'm already registered as an organ donor, but I did decide to sign up to join the bone marrow donor pool.  I've meant to do it forever, and the process is insanely easy. 

I cannot fathom the loss so many families face.  I just want to do what little I can to help lessen the chance of more folks going through this so pointlessly. 

Beginnings

This photo looks like the beginning of a story I would want to hear.

Found via A Disaster in Domestication.

Not enough

The Invisible War is so hard to watch.  It tells the story of women in the military who've been the victims of sexual assault.  It made me see red.  It broke my heart.  It was horrifying. 

Since the film was released, some positive changes have happened but not enough.  Not nearly enough.  8/10.

Natty dresser

I'm a fan of a well-written obit and this one is amazing. 

I also have a serious soft spot for obits featuring photos of the elderly deceased from when they were young.

Tugs at your heart

Senior dogs across America makes my heart melt a bit.  Dogs are made of awesome and old dogs are the bestest.

Infuriating

We're Not Broke is a documentary taking a hard look at the tax breaks and loopholes allowed for corporations.  It's seriously infuriating.  The courts give companies the rights of a citizen, and the legislative branch allows them to get away with welching on what they owe.  Crazy-making! 6/10.

Cause its true

WTF Plus makes me laugh.

Intricate

Beatrice Coron - you could lose yourself in her pieces.

Revery

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.

The revery alone will do,
If bees are few


(Emily Dickinson poem sent to me by my mum on the first day of spring - not that its been very spring-ish in central Ohio lately.)

Rambly

I've been really interested in the history of Bellevue Hospital after having it mentioned in a couple of recent reads.  After doing some looking about, I found Twelve Patients which tells the hospital's story through a chapter each about very different people who walk through the doors. 

Sadly, the author is obviously not a writer.  He can't seem to leave out a detail - even the astoundingly unessential ones.  I wish he would have had a better editor for these stories.  3/10.

Tootsie

This Dark Red Chocolat Rouge wine tasted like merlot with a tootsie roll melted into it.  Not my thing, but strangely not awful.  It was gifted to me by a coworker who likes the total opposite sort of wine from me, and decided that this fell into the "dry as hell" category.  It didn't, but it was interesting and very sweet of him.

Soft

I made this fabric ball for the babe.  It wasn't insanely hard like I thought it might be.  Pattern here.

Cute and apt

Ask

Amanda Palmer's TED talk is worth listening to.

Bleak and gorgeous

Fox is a picture book that I loved loved loved.  It's haunting and lyrical.  It's bleak and gorgeous.  It's pretty much perfect for me.  Maybe not so perfect for reading to little kids but since my babe just smiles at whatever is said, I don't think it was taken to heart.  10/10.

Crisis memoir

After reading and absolutely loving Tiny Beautiful Things, I offered up Wild as a possible book club read, and the ladies in my club agreed to it.  It's Strayed's memoir about losing her mother, having her life go to shit, and deciding to hike the Pacific Crest Trail alone.  I typically don't love the mid-life crisis memoir, but I did like this book.  She's terribly honest and she writes in a way that sticks you hard.  There are a few images from the book that I may never shake.  7/10

- This book really put me in the mind of Krakauer's Into the Wild and Into Thin Air a bit.

Berate

I have tried so many apps to capture my to do lists.  I love making lists.  I love crossing stuff off.  There are about a bazillion apps out there to help me with this.  Carrot, however, adds humor and judgement.  If I neglect my to do list for too long, the app starts berating me.  If I kick ass and get a bunch of stuff done, I get little funny rewards. 

 



 

 

Striking

This fox graffiti art is amazing.

Transformation

A few weeks ago in a fit of winter blues, I took myself off to the Franklin Park Conservatory to see Aurora Robson's exhibit and bask in plants and warmth.  She transforms waste into beautiful organic sculptures - somewhat Chihuly-like but better in its own way.  It was stunning. 

I shall want with the pure blue force

A friend lent me this collection of poetry when I had the realization that I didn't have to just read children's books to the baby.  All I needed was words that flowed somewhat rhythmically and kept my interest, and the babe would enjoy it too.  Another America offers each poem in both English and Spanish.  Many of the poems dealt with violence and were devastating.  (Those I avoided reading aloud.)  Others were touching observations on life.  One poem filled me with glee - Baby Blues - because it is just spot on perfection.  7/10.

Pipes

This bed frame made of pipes is pretty excellent.

Insanely

Insanely cute narwhal pillow is insanely cute, right?

Last mile

Problems

Fantastic response to the over-used and under-thought phrase first world problems.

Unlikely

Dreams of a Life documents the story of a woman who died in her apartment and wasn't found for three years.  It's very sad, but what's amazing is how unlikely her end was.  The telling of the story was a little outside of the box as well.  5/10.

Blue pines

Seriously love this necklace.

Weirdly awful

P.S. icked me out a bit.  It's about a professor who meets a student who looks and sounds and is named just like her long deceased high school boyfriend.  The story line is both kinda weirdly awful and super predictable.  Hated it. 1/10.

Shattering

Melancholia is gorgeous, shattering, and hard to shake.  It follows two sisters on two days - one of their wedding days and a day when a planet threatens to collide with earth.  So many frames look like paintings that I was awed at times.  Really amazing!  8/10.

Want!

Moose bedding would be SO cool!

Singing in the dead of night

This search on Tumblr yielded such pretty results. 

Moonscape

This dress makes me think of the fairytale where the girl has her dead mother make her a gown that looks like the night sky.  So magical.

Be curious

Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. What people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity.- Aaron Swartz

Hats

This article on Dr. Seuss' hats made me happy.

Scheming towards spring

I really want to plan an amazing cutting garden this spring.  And I really want spring to get here already.  In fact garden-planning is usually how I cope with Februaries. 

So here's some of the pretties I'm thinking of getting for my garden:

Tiny pompom dahlias

 



 

This one called Amber Queen is kinda odd and perfect.

 

Some daisy type dahlias like this one called Pooh.

 

 

 

 

A reddish colored sunflower like this Little Becka.

 

And maybe this Peach Passion variety.

 

.

 

And that's just to start. 

 



Delicious

My husband made this dish for valentines and it was delicious.  Tortellini with fennel and sausage

Sure is pretty

Of all the seasons, winter is my least favorite.  The cold, the lack of sunshine, the nasty weather, and all that.  However, it sure can be pretty now and then.

Appreciated.  Now bring on the daffodils, tulips, and poppies!

Staples

I took this photo while out on a walk the other day.  I liked the look of all the staples and nails left behind.

Randomness

These photo montages of buildings are so cool.



My imaginary girlfriends consist of:
- Samantha Bee from The Daily Show
- Sarah Vowell, the author
- Linda Holmes from Pop Culture Happy Hour

We have imaginary hangouts.


Hello 1,000th post!


This baby carrier is a life changer.  Particularly when one has an exceptionally big baby whose determined to keep pudging out. 

Recent delicious wine find - Stark Raving Cab.  Yum!

Slogging it

In the Garden of Beasts was another disappointing read.  A diplomat's family in Berlin during the rise of the Nazi's - should be full of suspense and intrigue.  Sadly the book needed a ton more edits.  I usually can't put down one of Larson's books, but this time, it was a slog of a read.  3/10. 

Another aggravation was that I did not manage to finish this in 2012.  I love a clean reading slate with a new year but this one would not be finished in time - I kept falling asleep. 

Unexpected

 

Elizabeth and her German Garden has been on my to read list for forever.  A memoir from an early feminist about gardening.  I expected to love it a great deal and instead came away feeling only lukewarm.  It's not enough about gardening and not enough about feminism.  It's mostly complaining about house guests and gardeners.  3 / 10.

Pep talk

You are not stupid

"Frida Kahlo to Marty McConnell" - Marty McConnell

leaving is not enough; you must
stay gone. train your heart
like a dog. change the locks
even on the house he’s never
visited. you lucky, lucky girl.
you have an apartment
just your size. a bathtub
full of tea. a heart the size
of Arizona, but not nearly
so arid. don’t wish away
your cracked past, your
crooked toes, your problems
are papier mache puppets
you made or bought because the vendor
at the market was so compelling you just
had to have them. you had to have him.
and you did. and now you pull down
the bridge between your houses,
you make him call before
he visits, you take a lover
for granted, you take
a lover who looks at you
like maybe you are magic. make
the first bottle you consume
in this place a relic. place it
on whatever altar you fashion
with a knife and five cranberries.
don’t lose too much weight.
stupid girls are always trying
to disappear as revenge. and you
are not stupid. you loved a man
with more hands than a parade
of beggars, and here you stand. heart
like a four-poster bed. heart like a canvas.
heart leaking something so strong
they can smell it in the street.

Smothered

These pork chops are really really good.

Awesome petition response from the White House

Read it here.

Party time

 

 

How cute are these?!

Sweet