Amen and amen. This blogger perfectly describes a fear I share – that time and my life are just flying by without my notice or appreciation. I’m trying to learn about and practice acceptance of the impermanence of life, though I don’t know how well it helps to address the fear. So I, too, write.
The Vegas Storytelling Difference
Have you ever thought about the difference it makes on a story to put it in Vegas?
Think about it. When you hear a story begin with: “Dude… One time in Vegas…” you KNOW the story is going to be badass. Or maybe someone is talking to you and, while suddenly giggling uncontrollably, they say, “Okay, so we were in Vegas this one time…” you actually start giggling with them in anticipation! I’ve done that loads of times!
I’ve been wondering lately, though, does this really mean the story is better or more outrageous?
Job (In)stability
I’ve actually been thinking of writing about this lately, and then today’s Daily Prompt asked: How do you feel about your job? Do you spring out of bed, looking forward to work? Or, is your job a soul-destroying monotony of pure drudgery, or somewhere in between?
I am a social worker with a Catholic agency in north St. Louis, and I work with homeless addicted and mentally ill people. My patience and enjoyment of the position has fluctuated over the years, and maybe that’s normal. When I first started in this position, I was happy about the work and wanted to try new things, explore different ways of helping the clients. Then I started to see the same people again and again, the revolving door, and anytime I tried something new, I was met with resistance. Later, I started graduate school, and I spent a lot of time focusing on research and macro-level intervention, something I really wanted to get into. I had hoped to find a job for after graduation (nope) or get into the next PhD cohort (not happenin’).
You Don’t Have To Be Pretty – On YA Fiction And Beauty As A Priority
Excellent analysis and super timely. This wasn’t something I noticed as I read the book, but I have noticed the pattern as well: The strong heroine needs is really pretty, though she doesn’t know/feel it, and the hero-love interest comes along and validates it for her.
I think a lot of young women identify with that – they don’t feel pretty, either – and then they wait for a hero-love interest to prove it. ‘Cause that’s what happens in books.
What do they do when life doesn’t turn out that way?
You Don’t Have To Be Pretty – On YA Fiction And Beauty As A Priority.
Dictionary of Popular Use
I am not ordinarily a grammar Nazi. Not of the spoken word, anyway. Today, however, the fragile sheet of paper which gathers collective human intelligence was threatened and I could not stand idly by.
I was with a group of people doing some site work for the approaching Renaissance Fair, and I overheard a conversation between two of my fellow volunteers. One of them, a grown man (I do use that term loosely, FYI) was counseling a 14 year old girl about her grammar. He told her… Are you ready? that “taut” and “taunt” mean the same thing.
Inspiration Engine v.7 – Art and Good Food
This is a weekly post I do to highlight blogs or bloggers who have inspired me in some way during this week.
1. This post from Out of a Great Need concerns her dining room table and the space she makes for art supplies to be used easily and readily. I believe in the healing that art can give someone, and I like how easily it can be incorporated in one’s life this way.
I have lots of art supplies – paints, packaging scraps, mosaic tile – and lots of them, I barely use. Or I use for one big project, one that’s totally awesome (I made a mosaic of Odin’s Horns that doubles as a Ren Fair game board), but that I may not use again. When I think about using them, I get a little intimidated ’cause they’re so fancy. Shedding some of them as well as incorporating them like this blogger proposes suggests ways to make are more.
2. This post from xoamys is a wonderful reminder about the joy and good feeling that comes to me from certain kinds of eating experiences. I never feel full enough eating a strictly raw or vegan food regimen, but I believe in the “harm-reduction” model of addiction recovery and healthful living, so I like to incorporate as many gems from these models as I can. Also, since today’s the first day of spring, I can feel the entire Earth begin to get up to stretch. It’s been a hard winter.
Conversations with Girlfriends
In a legitimate conversation over lunch today, the following was uttered:
“I can’t believe you said I’m a Chihuahua. I’m so mad at you right now. I was even nice and made you a cocker spaniel!”
There are some conversations one only has with girlfriends, and they’re wonderful. Especially as I get older, I appreciate them all the more, since they’re so not part of everyday professional life.
Art of Impermanence in Coffee
I was recently looking up other blogs about rituals and thinking about that, particularly concerning coffee or tea, and I heard a story on National Public Radio (NPR) this morning that led me to something beautiful. The story was on Japanese tea in the 15th century, and when I went to their website to see the story, I connected to another story about coffee art.
SEW ALL THE THINGS!!
In preparation for the upcoming St. Louis Ren Fair and my stint as Avis McGregor, I’m borrowing my mother’s sewing machine to make my garb. I brought it home and started looking at the piles of cloth I have that are waiting to be hand stitched into something, and suddenly I’ve become like that guy in the meme, but only with:
SEW ALL THE THINGS!!!
5 lesser-known Disney World Details
Last week, I got married in Disney World, where Cohiba and I have had a lot of fun. Before we went, I looked up some new details I wanted to find, as a way to prolong the magic.
1. In Magic Kingdom, I read that something “unexpected” happened when you curtsy in front of the water fountain statue of Cinderella holding a bird behind her castle. I knew it wouldn’t be anything as unexpected as, say, fireworks going off, but I wondered if maybe the statue would transform into something, or I would hear the bird tweet.
I don’t know how that could have been engineered, but this is Disney World. It’s magic!
I Didn't Just Wake Up This Morning With A Craving 
