three things (plus one)

betty wears a sneak peek of necklaces heading to the shop this week

summer seems to have finally arrived for more than just a day or two in this corner of the world. and because there seems to be more living than writing and photo processing going on around here, my new york posts are still hanging out in my mind instead of on my blog...so this evening, i think i will write a very short list of things i would tell you if you were joining me here at my kitchen table for a small slice of chocolate cake + glass of milk:

1) hello mtn (aka my brother matthew and his partner in crime catherine) has released an EP of four songs! head over here to their page on bandcamp.com to listen and then download your copy. "suitcase song" is my favorite and it does indeed include my brother playing a suitcase...listen closely for the latches.

2) i think you should take a moment to read this post by jen lee. right now. in fact, consider it homework of the best kind. the juicy you are gonna want to write this down and never forget it kind of homework. the post is called "what to do when it still hurts." i have read it about ten times, nodding each time i read about the proclamations. twice i have felt those pinprick tears. and the part about nostalgia. oh my. feeling so grateful that just about this time last week i was in jen's kitchen listening to the music of the mentioned in the post "rosebuds" and telling stories and catching stories and breathing deep. ah brooklyn...miss you big.

3) i am seriously considering a tattoo. (hi dad) i have been considering one for about three years. (hi mom) but i have been waiting until i felt certain of what i want and where. an image for one came to me while i was listening to maya angelou speak earlier this march up in seattle. seeing her speak in person was such an incredible experience that i am still stuck at saying "incredible experience" instead of telling the story that was so big and real and raw and wow that i couldn't sleep much for the three nights that followed because i was so overcome with the beauty of it all. anyway, back to the tattoo. i am thinking about it. for real. and i pretty much love that. (but i might not ever tell you here on the blog if i do get one. see aforementioned peeps in parentheses.)

plus one) a small bit of shop news: i have been working on another batch of new designs this month and plan to get them listed this week. to "make room" for them, i have put several items in the shop on sale. you can find them here. 

ways to procrastinate one's desire to begin.

 

bench monday . september 7, 2009

1. upload photos to flickr

2. create new sets for flickr photos

3. check facebook

4. decide to categorize old photos into new flickr sets

5. make a new playlist on itunes

6. write another blog post

7. dance party for one

8. head to youtube to look up the song that started the dance party

9. dance again

10. order new candles

11. visit bloglines

12. remember a moment outside beason hall 16 years ago right about now

13. let everyone on facebook know you are procrastinating

14. finally choose a song for that video created weeks ago

15. isn't there any email?

16. google some really odd things

17. pause to drink some tea

18. contemplate a tattoo.

19. sex. (just sayin'.)

20. entertainment weekly

21. wish this was in the house so this list could go to a whole new level

22. still no email? oh good. facebook messages.

23. tweet. because, well, why would you not?

24. smile just sweet enough so your husband heads to BR

25. etsy? oh yes please.

26. decide that this might be in order. (and then take time head here for some snooping around)

27. remember that the shell collector is perfection, so think about buying this or this or this.

28. spend time inside the actor's studio with jason bateman. (notice how he seems smart and really wicked funny.)

29. just get this already. been talking about it for months.

30. flickr. yes. there must be something to see on flickr. why yes there is.

31. decide to take a bench monday shot. right now. (decide to also upload outtakes)

32. list all the above. and then share your list with the world.

nothing to do with that...

having fun with color (stand in the light . new necklace in the shop)

i started a ninety-day poetry exchange today. i started writing one poem a day for ninety days today and i needed some words. i needed some words so that i could find a starting place to write a poem a day for ninety days*. i found this starting place by walking to the bookshelf and pulling down a well read favorite and gathering some words. i gathered some words today and thought you might want to comb through them and pour a few into your creative well...

mystery

elusive

ordain

harp

hurricane

bitter

goddess

cherry tree

rapid

flood

baptism

texture

ambiguous

witness
trap
chemistry

struggle

fudge

execute

synchronicity

emerge

naive

shrine

double

incessant

refuge

simple

laundry

pew

sigh

immediate

lament

pillow

vial

mannequin

seraphim

peasant

adopt

precise

sage

gift

tongue

vine

ground

artery

encounter

bike

catalog

intertwine

*to avoid freaking out

nine. (written down as they arrived throughout the day)

front-yard dusting . march 9, 2009

this morning i awoke to snow on the crocuses. snow on the crocuses. i think this might be a delightful name for a blog or a poem. i should write that poem. perhaps i will. (if you decide to write it though, please share.)

the west wing and mash are my two favorite television shows of all time. all time.

i don't often find myself being pulled back to indiana. but when the snow falls, as it is doing now, and i see the birds flitting about hoping to get a quick bite before the temperature drops, i think about the house on oak road and suddenly i am eleven. i am eleven and the snow is falling at that house and i am looking out the kitchen window at the acres of woods and seeing the trees sway and watching the birds at the feeders, and i am believing that i am okay, that all of us in that house will be okay.

several times today i wished for a cup of coffee...and i almost made one. let me try again, i almost got into my car and went to the drive-through starbucks in my pajamas. instead, i settled for hot cocoa around 4 and was quite happy about that choice.

i really enjoy listening to books on tape...hmmm...i really enjoy listening to books on my ipod although i still call them books on tape. my favorites are mysteries. i love it when the person reading the book acts out each character, assigning a specific voice to each person. my favorites right now, because it is truly like listening to an old radio show, except for the part where it probably isn't as i have probably not really heard "an old radio show" before so let's instead say that it is kind of like what i imagine listening to an old radio show would be minus the sound effects and with a few more gruesome details about the crime scenes and other fun things...my favorites right now are the "In Death" series by JD Robb. I feel pretty okay that I can go from listening to Billy Collins on my iPod to listening to Kenny Rogers sing about a warm summer's eve to reading a (beautiful and deeply meaningful) book by Christina Baldwin to pulling down Kate Chopin's The Awakening to find that one specific passage knocking on my memory to listening to Promises in Death...all in one day. yep. that is a good day in my world.

the nice thing about listening to mystery books while i sew or crochet is that my mind is forced to quiet a bit. sometimes i just can't hush those whirring, swirling thoughts even as i try to let myself relax into the rhythm of creating. a good mystery book captures my attention and gives me the space me to sink into another world while trying to figure out who might have "done it."

i also love listening to memoirs, especially if they are read by the author. (do you have a favorite memoir? would love to add it to my list.)

my hair is long again. i feel like me.

sometimes i think i might be crazy to be trying out this new adventure in the midst of this economy. but then the core of who i am whispers to me and i remember why i am following this dream wherever it might take me...

what thoughts are on your mind in this moment? where are you?

seven

the april bag...story to come

lucky to have a husband who takes care of me, of us

blessed to have friends who give me space to be me

happy (really really happy) to be playing (to be finally playing) with fabric and thread and putting that pedal to the floor

content to hear the dripping on the roof and the wind rustling the trees

owning that i choose how to respond in each moment (even if i want to pretend that isn't the truth sometimes)

grounded while listening to jakob dylan

open to what is to come

(what is going on in your world?)

my sacred life