Archive for the 'NaBloPoMo' Category
November 21st, 2008 by Blythe
I just got back from hearing Annie Leibovitz speak. She showed slides of some of her photos and read a bit from her new book and answered questions from the audience. She was obviously uncomfortable, especially when the questions were about her own celebrity or the well-known figures she’s photographed. She laughed at herself when she couldn’t form a complete sentence and clearly preferred reading from her prepared notes, though she even stumbled there.
But when she was asked a couple of questions about her craft – about digital vs. film, or how her photography has changed over the years – she became articulate and went on at length. She said her advice to young photographers was not to wait around to be assigned a subject, or get a job at a magazine, or for someone to tell you what to do. Choose a subject you love, and follow it, and learn all about it. Take photos of your loved ones, of things you know.
Thanks for your comments on my post about the disappearance of my European lifestyle. I thought of them tonight, when Annie said to focus on the things you know. And I thought about something that Courtenay said:
“…no matter where you live, you are all of the past as well as the present.”
It’s hard to trust our own experiences, to feel that the things we love are also worthy of our focused time and attention, and to remember that we don’t have to try so hard to be who we are. There’s probably a lesson in here about living in the moment and simply trusting that our experiences will inform our values and our choices without trying so hard.
But it’s getting late and I’m a little to tired to make that point, so I’ll just say thanks. To you and to Annie.
November 20th, 2008 by Blythe
When I’m tapped out for interesting things to write about, I like to send you to other blogs that I love. And while there are many blogs that I love, I’ve already sent you to most of them before (see that blogroll to the right). I haven’t discovered anyone new in a long time – not because there aren’t bunches of great blogs popping up every day, but because I haven’t had the chance to cruise around the interwebs as much as I used to.
If I send you to see a couple of my friends, will you find some new ones for me?
You’ll love Mego, and not just because she’s from Montana. But that part doesn’t hurt.
Abby just wrote a beautiful post about friendship and love and freedom. Go see her too.
Evany is delightful and takes photos of her clever outfits.
In case you’re not already reading Linda, you should. She writes with wit and bravery about parenthood. And being a person. And she has a rockin’ bod.
OK, I’ve shown you mine. Now you show me yours.
November 18th, 2008 by Blythe
When we left Germany, I swore I would bring the European lifestyle along with me. Not all of it – not the sausage and gravy at every meal, or the horrible customer service. But I’d bring along the simplicity, the habits of taking a walk every day, of shopping only when I really needed something, of using only as much as I really require. I figured we’d live in a small house within walking distance of a grocery store and a park. We’d try to get by with just one car. I would grow lettuce.
But either I’m an easily swayed consumer (probably) or I’m a living example of why the American lifestyle is the way it is (also probable). Yes, I could have had all those things I wanted. But they would require sacrifice and I’m weak willed and, believe it or not, those things can be really expensive. Living near a grocery store AND a park AND in a neighborhood where we felt OK about the local elementary school meant we’d all have to share one bedroom. And, well, if I wanted that lifestyle I would be living in New York City. At least we wouldn’t need a car there, but it would be tough to find a place for my lettuce.
So here we are, not quite in the suburbs but almost. We have two cars, one of them an SUV and neither of them a hybrid (because we don’t live on a bus line, and buying one hybrid would have cost more than both our cars combined). Theo spends more time in his car seat now than in his stroller. I have yet to fully explore our neighborhood on foot.
On the other hand, I met a really nice mom at the playground yesterday and we could actually, you know, communicate in a common language. And I’m ten minutes from Trader Joe’s, where they sell delicious food and the checkers are unfailingly courteous. And I do plan to plant some lettuce in the back yard.
November 17th, 2008 by Blythe
Well, right this very moment, he’s asleep. But besides sleeping, here’s what else he does:
-Says Mo Peez Mo Peez Mo Peez (More, please) over and over in a screechy whiny voice when he wants something. I’m trying to focus on the good manners but the delivery leaves much to be desired.
-Points to my leg and says Mama pants! and points to his leg and says Theo pants!
-Asks me to sing Wheels on the Bus when he is trying to delay naptime.
-Has a crush on Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street.
-Steals the rolling pin out of the kitchen cupboard, takes it into the living room, and lays down on his belly on top of it and rolls back and forth.
-Always wants broccoli for lunch.
-Whimpers No Loud? No Loud? every time I go near the KitchenAid mixer.
November 17th, 2008 by Blythe
Do you watch 60 Minutes? I kind of love it. I’d forgotten about it until tonight, when I tuned in and saw Steve Kroft joking with Barack Obama about his mother-in-law. There’s something comforting about the fact that it’s still on the air, and that Steve Kroft’s hair is still terrible, and that Andy Rooney just gets crankier and crankier. And, especially, that I still have the attention span to watch it.
Because now that I’ve sort of figured out my DVR, I watch a lot of Oprah, and I swear there’s never more than ten minutes without a commercial on that show. Especially in the last fifteen minutes. It’s the true hidden cause of the explosion of ADD in America. My fast-forward button is getting a workout. When I remember that I’m not watching live, that is, which is almost never.
All this is to remind you that really do belong in that retirement village down south. Me, Andy Rooney, black cherry vodka, and a TV with a manual dial that forces me to get up and cross the room to change the channel. It’s a winning combination.
November 16th, 2008 by Blythe
I’ve never been so breathlessly anxious for the weekends as I am since I quit working in a real live office. Even back before I had a 26-pound wind-up toy running around the house, I loved Friday nights and Saturday mornings. Existing on my own all week long can get boring and lonely, and feels like just as much of a grind as when I had to put on real shoes at 7am and worry about parking the car close enough to my office that I didn’t have to slog through too many puddles in my nice clothes.
Our weekends aren’t exciting around here, but they’re just so weekend-y; hanging out in bed, wearing sweatpants, eating waffles, going out for ice cream. But since we bought this house I’ve sort of ruined most of them by rampaging around the kitchen on Saturday mornings, enumerating all the stuff that needs to get done or we’re all going to DIIIIIIEEEE. There are pictures to hang and bookshelves to fill and clothes to wash and leaves to rake, and OMG the weekend is going to be over! It will end in 48 hours and then whatever will we do when the pictures are still lying on the living room carpet instead of hanging on the walls?
It’s a wonder Jeff doesn’t slip some Valium in the maple syrup on my waffle.
But today we got a few things done and took time out to go to the park and ate Thai food for dinner. And the laundry is still dirty but so far we’re not reduced to wearing those outfits that lurk in the back of the closet for those times when everything else is in the hamper. And none of has self-destructed because the to-do list isn’t complete. So maybe I should remember this weekend the next time I think I’ve got to do everything in a two-day period.
Either that, or start drinking mimosas for breakfast.
November 14th, 2008 by Blythe
Our local Humane Society is running an ad campaign touting its mission to provide a pet for “every man, woman, and child.” Every time I see it, I shudder, because it makes me momentarily concerned that someone is going to force me to adopt a puppy.
I am not interested in having a pet. I realize they’re great companions and they love you, and they teach children to be comfortable around animals and take care of them. But, really, no. To me, most pets are hairy and smelly and loud and ruin the furniture and are just one more thing to think about when you are trying to plan a trip out of town. Yes, I’m sorry, even yours.
That’s not to say I don’t appreciate certain animals. I do like cats (cue the dog people in the audience removing me from their feed readers). But they have sharp claws and all that damn hair. I can appreciate a nicely trained dog, as long as I don’t have to sleep near it or, heaven forbid, WITH it, and it doesn’t leave saliva anywhere on me. There’s a turtle in our extended family that I’ve admired, mainly because it once crawled into someone’s raincoat pocket and showed up unscathed several months later.
I grew up on and near a cattle ranch, where animals were outside and people were inside, and only when the temperature dropped further than 20 degrees below zero was that barrier crossed. Yes, even the bunnies stayed out of the living room. I’ve got a unique (warped?) view of animals, especially pets. I realize that.
So does the Human Society really think that every man, woman and child should own a pet? Clearly they’ve never met me.
November 13th, 2008 by Blythe
-Why is my recycling bin blue, and my garbage bin green? I intuitively think recycling = green and throw everything in the wrong bin every time.
-I signed up for Gwyneth’s GOOP newsletter and it bugs me. I unsubscribed today after she recommended four Little Black Dresses, all of which were cut mid-thigh and would flatter only those with stick legs. I’ve always liked her but I’m starting to wonder if the haters who say she’s condescending and boring might have a point.
-Two-year molars. They’re kicking our butts around here. Fortunately Elmo Hypnotism is almost as good as a nap.
-My sad housekeeping skills. After spending four days in someone else’s clean, nicely decorated home, I’ve realized that getting my act together would really improve my mood. Too bad I’m sitting here blogging instead of, say, doing laundry or mopping the floor.
November 13th, 2008 by Blythe
It’s nice to come back to a place that, while it doesn’t exactly feel like home, houses my bed and my clothes and where I know how to work the TV. We’re right back in our routine, driving cars through the pouring rain and sitting side by side on the couch with our dueling laptops.
I’m still working on making this house feel like we really live here, but I suppose since I didn’t feel at home in Deutschland even after three years, and I’ve been here only half as much time as we lived in the hotel, I shouldn’t rush it.
November 12th, 2008 by Blythe
why I signed up for this Blopping thing?
I’m going home tomorrow and perhaps you’ll get a different kind of post at that time. Until then, I’m still in retirement mode. We ate dinner tonight at 5:15pm and had chocolate sundaes for dessert, at home afterward.
The radio station we listened to all day played nonstop Christmas music. I’m not ready.