I like to think of the internet as some kind of intricate old English country dance, where you whirl and twirl about the floor, changing partners regularly. (I'm lying. I came up with this metaphor mere seconds ago. I like it anyway!)
Over the course of the dance the tempo and style of the music changes, as do the allowable moves, and each partner has their own rhythm you have to get to know before it's time to move on.
(The partners here being the various discussion groups/bulletin boards/listservs you move between, and the music being the general topics of conversation on same. At the moment, it's very fantasy esque, with a bit of wild tearing-out-your-hair writer angst, and a more general set of undernotes brought in by Facebook and Twitter. Those particular tones vary by the day, depending on who's more vocal in the stream. Fortunately, as I get older the music hits fewer sour notes, because I know to stay away from the more discordant discussions. Usually.)
Ten years ago, it was more of a sad lullaby, as I lived then on BabyCenter and other bulletin boards for mothers-to-be and mothers who had suffered losses. Today's music is far more upbeat and positive.
Wonder what it'll sound like 10 years from now.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
why I'll never be a famous blogger
I think it's pretty clear that I'll never be known for my blogging skills, and I've come up with a few reasons why that's the case.
1) I'm not funny. At least, not all the time, certainly not every day. And I'm rarely funny on purpose - I can't just sit down and be funny.
2) I try not to be outraged. It's a lot of effort to be outraged, angry, or even worked up, and I prefer to spend my energy on other things. But it leaves me without that particular well of emotion to draw from at blogging time.
3) I'm too caught up in my day-to-day life to wax philosophical every day; not unhappy enough in said life to whine about it; and not abnormal enough to think my day-to-day is all that different from other people's.
4) Too many bloggers, and people on the internet in general, post the same things over and over and over. I don't want to be that type of blogger, and I would be if I tried to post on a daily basis.
5) Too much other social media. I try to be interesting on Facebook and Twitter, I try to keep up with email and various other social sites. By the time that's done with, plus the writing I'm trying to do, honestly, I have little energy left for blogging. Unless something particularly interesting is going on, or I feel a need to get something down on ... screen.
All of which is not to say I'm planning on changing my blogging habits - I'm here, I'll be posting, but I don't ever expect my little blog to take off and change the world.
1) I'm not funny. At least, not all the time, certainly not every day. And I'm rarely funny on purpose - I can't just sit down and be funny.
2) I try not to be outraged. It's a lot of effort to be outraged, angry, or even worked up, and I prefer to spend my energy on other things. But it leaves me without that particular well of emotion to draw from at blogging time.
3) I'm too caught up in my day-to-day life to wax philosophical every day; not unhappy enough in said life to whine about it; and not abnormal enough to think my day-to-day is all that different from other people's.
4) Too many bloggers, and people on the internet in general, post the same things over and over and over. I don't want to be that type of blogger, and I would be if I tried to post on a daily basis.
5) Too much other social media. I try to be interesting on Facebook and Twitter, I try to keep up with email and various other social sites. By the time that's done with, plus the writing I'm trying to do, honestly, I have little energy left for blogging. Unless something particularly interesting is going on, or I feel a need to get something down on ... screen.
All of which is not to say I'm planning on changing my blogging habits - I'm here, I'll be posting, but I don't ever expect my little blog to take off and change the world.
Monday, May 23, 2011
another rainy Monday
And I have a few random thoughts.
.... Why does my iPod insist that "Gee, Officer Krupke" is my favorite song? It comes up so often I'm not sure I even like it anymore.
.... Next fall I need to remember how much I enjoy quiet days with nothing scheduled, and volunteer for very little.
.... Have I mentioned before that I'm very tired of cold rain? I used to love rain, but I think I've seen enough recently to hold me for a while.
.... The strawberries are blooming up a storm. Hoping for another bumper crop this summer!
.... 10 more days of preschool and 20 days of elementary before the end of the school year!
.... As of today, I've been happily married for 13 years. That's over a third of my life.
.... My daughter went to school in the pink leggings again today. I can't stand those pants. I think this is the last day she'll be wearing them - they may be heading for a terrible laundry accident.
.... And I think that's all for today. Tune in tomorrow, same random time, same random channel.
.... Why does my iPod insist that "Gee, Officer Krupke" is my favorite song? It comes up so often I'm not sure I even like it anymore.
.... Next fall I need to remember how much I enjoy quiet days with nothing scheduled, and volunteer for very little.
.... Have I mentioned before that I'm very tired of cold rain? I used to love rain, but I think I've seen enough recently to hold me for a while.
.... The strawberries are blooming up a storm. Hoping for another bumper crop this summer!
.... 10 more days of preschool and 20 days of elementary before the end of the school year!
.... As of today, I've been happily married for 13 years. That's over a third of my life.
.... My daughter went to school in the pink leggings again today. I can't stand those pants. I think this is the last day she'll be wearing them - they may be heading for a terrible laundry accident.
.... And I think that's all for today. Tune in tomorrow, same random time, same random channel.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
stolen from Facebook again
Four things...
Share
Today at 5:03 pm
Four names that people have called me:
1. Amasa
2. Shay
3. honey
4. Mommy
Four jobs I have had:
1. car hop
2. assembly line worker at a fire alarm factory
3. waitress
4. proofreader
Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. Love Actually
2. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
3. Dirty Dancing
4. Earth Girls Are Easy
Four places I have lived:
1. New York, NY
2. Richmond, VA
3. Houston, TX
4. Andover, MA
Four places I have been:
1. Sorrento, Italy
2. London, England
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Victoria Island, BC, Canada
Four People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. Lou
2. Fanfiction.net
3. the editors/authors I work with
4. my mother-in-law
Four of my favorite foods:
1. ice cream
2. fried chicken
3. steak
4. mashed potatoes
Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. on a warm beach
2. New York City
3. out to dinner
4. Italy
Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. summer trip to Vegas
2. summer vacation
3. all three kids in the same school next fall
4. writing
Four TV shows that I watch:
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. Castle
4. Leverage
Four books you could (or have) read more than once:
1. These Happy Golden Years (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
2. The Stand (Stephen King)
3. The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins)
4. The Secret Adversary (Agatha Christie)
Share
Today at 5:03 pm
Four names that people have called me:
1. Amasa
2. Shay
3. honey
4. Mommy
Four jobs I have had:
1. car hop
2. assembly line worker at a fire alarm factory
3. waitress
4. proofreader
Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. Love Actually
2. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
3. Dirty Dancing
4. Earth Girls Are Easy
Four places I have lived:
1. New York, NY
2. Richmond, VA
3. Houston, TX
4. Andover, MA
Four places I have been:
1. Sorrento, Italy
2. London, England
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Victoria Island, BC, Canada
Four People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. Lou
2. Fanfiction.net
3. the editors/authors I work with
4. my mother-in-law
Four of my favorite foods:
1. ice cream
2. fried chicken
3. steak
4. mashed potatoes
Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. on a warm beach
2. New York City
3. out to dinner
4. Italy
Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. summer trip to Vegas
2. summer vacation
3. all three kids in the same school next fall
4. writing
Four TV shows that I watch:
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. Castle
4. Leverage
Four books you could (or have) read more than once:
1. These Happy Golden Years (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
2. The Stand (Stephen King)
3. The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins)
4. The Secret Adversary (Agatha Christie)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
weather report
It continues to be grey and gloomy and COLD in New England, halfway into May. This makes me unhappy. It makes me dream of sandy beaches and places where it's never cold. It makes me want to stay inside with hot chocolate/hot tea/hot coffee, and lots of pastries.
It seems to be affecting my youngsters, as well, who seem whinier, more fragile, and more stressed by things like school and homework, which they usually take in stride.
I would like this stretch of gloomy cold to end.
It seems to be affecting my youngsters, as well, who seem whinier, more fragile, and more stressed by things like school and homework, which they usually take in stride.
I would like this stretch of gloomy cold to end.
Monday, May 16, 2011
book reviews
Been a while!
Elizabeth Hardwick, The New York Stories of Elizabeth Hardwick. This was an extraordinarily rare impulse buy, and about as successful as you might expect. Elizabeth Hardwick turns out to have been one of those writers who writes extended slice of life character studies that are all about extremely superior people who learn nothing over the course of the story, and end the story suspended in the same purgatory they began it in. All of which renders the stories generally as dull and pretentious as the people they're about.
Elizabeth Peters, Lion in the Valley. The next installment of the delightful adventures of Amelia Peabody Emerson and her rather madcap troup of friends and family. This one had entertaining new characters, but the reveal of the Master Criminal and the subsequent scene between the MC and Amelia left me cold. I expected both more and less from it. It doesn't keep me from wanting to move on with the series, but it makes this entry's ending my least favorite so far.
Helen Simonson, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. For something blurbed as a "comedy of manners", I found it decidedly lacking in both. Most of the characters come across to the narrator, Major Pettigrew, as more or less rude, and while the comedy picks up a bit toward the end (largely as Major Pettigrew loses his patience and becomes more acerbic), much of the story is more serious, following the life of an aging British gentleman and his view of the world. It's a shifting kaleidoscope where it's hard to tell who's more out of touch, Major P. or everyone else, and that certainly may have a lot of truth to it. Overall, I found it a fine book but not a keeper.
Caleb Carr, The Alienist. I was bowled over by this book when I first read it, many years ago. This was my first reread in a long time, and I still find it an extremely successful book, both as a mystery and as historical fiction. I enjoy Carr's detailed writing style and the portrait he draws of turn-of-the-century New York.
Elizabeth Hardwick, The New York Stories of Elizabeth Hardwick. This was an extraordinarily rare impulse buy, and about as successful as you might expect. Elizabeth Hardwick turns out to have been one of those writers who writes extended slice of life character studies that are all about extremely superior people who learn nothing over the course of the story, and end the story suspended in the same purgatory they began it in. All of which renders the stories generally as dull and pretentious as the people they're about.
Elizabeth Peters, Lion in the Valley. The next installment of the delightful adventures of Amelia Peabody Emerson and her rather madcap troup of friends and family. This one had entertaining new characters, but the reveal of the Master Criminal and the subsequent scene between the MC and Amelia left me cold. I expected both more and less from it. It doesn't keep me from wanting to move on with the series, but it makes this entry's ending my least favorite so far.
Helen Simonson, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. For something blurbed as a "comedy of manners", I found it decidedly lacking in both. Most of the characters come across to the narrator, Major Pettigrew, as more or less rude, and while the comedy picks up a bit toward the end (largely as Major Pettigrew loses his patience and becomes more acerbic), much of the story is more serious, following the life of an aging British gentleman and his view of the world. It's a shifting kaleidoscope where it's hard to tell who's more out of touch, Major P. or everyone else, and that certainly may have a lot of truth to it. Overall, I found it a fine book but not a keeper.
Caleb Carr, The Alienist. I was bowled over by this book when I first read it, many years ago. This was my first reread in a long time, and I still find it an extremely successful book, both as a mystery and as historical fiction. I enjoy Carr's detailed writing style and the portrait he draws of turn-of-the-century New York.
Friday, May 13, 2011
7 things that make me happy
It's been a highly unproductive and not entirely positive couple of weeks, and since I've just crossed 700 posts, I think I'll have 7 happy thoughts today.
1. Sunshine! It's about freaking time that there's some sunshine and warmth outside. How I've missed it.
2. Miranda and Steve; Harry and Charlotte; Samantha and Smith. I'm doing a Sex and the City retrospective, and I love that the writers got those three couples so very right in the final season.
3. The end of preschool. It's a month from Sunday that my youngest child finishes her last year of preschool (and mine), and I am so excited. I am ready to say good-bye to that portion of my life (and theirs) and move on to being an all elementary mom!
4. Coffee. Can't have a happy list without it!
5. A decade and a half (almost) of a happy relationship. We've reached a point where we can even talk finances in a mostly civilized manner. Constant communication FTW!
6. New bras. I don't think I need to go into detail here - either you know why it's important to have bras that fit, are comfortable, and aren't stretched out, or you don't.
7. Dragon Age 2. I admit, I was worried it was going to be horrible, and that management of expectations may be why I really like it, but still, I really like it.
1. Sunshine! It's about freaking time that there's some sunshine and warmth outside. How I've missed it.
2. Miranda and Steve; Harry and Charlotte; Samantha and Smith. I'm doing a Sex and the City retrospective, and I love that the writers got those three couples so very right in the final season.
3. The end of preschool. It's a month from Sunday that my youngest child finishes her last year of preschool (and mine), and I am so excited. I am ready to say good-bye to that portion of my life (and theirs) and move on to being an all elementary mom!
4. Coffee. Can't have a happy list without it!
5. A decade and a half (almost) of a happy relationship. We've reached a point where we can even talk finances in a mostly civilized manner. Constant communication FTW!
6. New bras. I don't think I need to go into detail here - either you know why it's important to have bras that fit, are comfortable, and aren't stretched out, or you don't.
7. Dragon Age 2. I admit, I was worried it was going to be horrible, and that management of expectations may be why I really like it, but still, I really like it.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
nagging malaise
So if 35 was a year of joyous discovery, as I made writing into a part of my everyday life and expanded my abilities in that area (mostly) in the way I've always wanted to, it seems that 36, so far, has been a year that has brought all the other areas of my life (diet, exercise, budget, household and time management, friendship, etc.) into sharp focus. Like the tablets you sometimes get at the dentist, that show where you haven't brushed thoroughly. Depending on the day, it's a manageable challenge or a daunting one - some days, it seems I fail to execute in most areas of my life. Others, it all seems a new-leaf change away from being in control.
Mostly, it's a nagging weight with a variable balance of guilt piled on top of it depending on how many entries on that list are currently earning failing grades. A proactive change is definitely necessary to move at least some of those entries up into a passing, or better, excelling, grade.
Mostly, it's a nagging weight with a variable balance of guilt piled on top of it depending on how many entries on that list are currently earning failing grades. A proactive change is definitely necessary to move at least some of those entries up into a passing, or better, excelling, grade.
Monday, May 09, 2011
thoughts on diet
I'm writing this down for, you know, accountability. Important stuff, that.
Tempting as it is to consider the idea of one of those major dietary change in the short-term for quick weight loss diets, I don't actually think they work.
Ergo, the plan is this: small meals, three times a day. NO SNACKING. Careful attention to portion control. And a focus on eating more slowly - fast eating is a constant problem for me, and leads to my eating a lot more than is necessary. Simple, but theoretically effective. And, more important (but also theoretically), sustainable.
Tempting as it is to consider the idea of one of those major dietary change in the short-term for quick weight loss diets, I don't actually think they work.
Ergo, the plan is this: small meals, three times a day. NO SNACKING. Careful attention to portion control. And a focus on eating more slowly - fast eating is a constant problem for me, and leads to my eating a lot more than is necessary. Simple, but theoretically effective. And, more important (but also theoretically), sustainable.
Friday, May 06, 2011
5 things that make me happy today
It's been a pretty lackluster and unproductive week, so I think it's time for a happiness affirmation.
#1 Bet you can't guess. All right, you got me. It's coffee. Coffee-maker gave me a scare this week, but it seems to be back on its feet now.
#2 Good books. I'm rereading Trixie Belden #2 right now and just finished a new (to me) Louis L'Amour.
#3 iPod on shuffle! I find music inspiring, and the duration of a song tends to be a nice bite-size work unit.
#4 Heat! The mornings are still too chilly for my taste, but now, wellllll into May, we finally seem to be having spring in New England. 'Bout freaking time.
#5 Lovely understanding husband who puts up with my complaints and supports my hobbies. That's the best one!
#1 Bet you can't guess. All right, you got me. It's coffee. Coffee-maker gave me a scare this week, but it seems to be back on its feet now.
#2 Good books. I'm rereading Trixie Belden #2 right now and just finished a new (to me) Louis L'Amour.
#3 iPod on shuffle! I find music inspiring, and the duration of a song tends to be a nice bite-size work unit.
#4 Heat! The mornings are still too chilly for my taste, but now, wellllll into May, we finally seem to be having spring in New England. 'Bout freaking time.
#5 Lovely understanding husband who puts up with my complaints and supports my hobbies. That's the best one!
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
ever have one of those days?
It's the kind of day when I feel that my performance is underwhelming in pretty much every aspect of my life. That my goals are going unmet; my responsibilities shirked; relationships unsupported; and those parts of my life that require discipline met with a melting puddle of goo instead.
Not all of those things are true, of course - I know that. But enough of them are to make me feel I need to pay attention to days like this and make a concerted effort to do more things in my life to the utmost of my abilities.
Not all of those things are true, of course - I know that. But enough of them are to make me feel I need to pay attention to days like this and make a concerted effort to do more things in my life to the utmost of my abilities.
Monday, May 02, 2011
cake
I had an interesting idea last night. For some reason, I was thinking of what it might have been like if Matthew had been born a normal, healthy baby (not a line of thought I usually travel these days - over the years I've come to accept what is, and to value the changes in my life that came about only because he was who he was). I thought of the person I was then, of the mother I was set to become, and I thought there was every chance I'd have gone down a parenting path Lou wouldn't have wanted to follow.
And then I thought of a metaphor for our family that really amused me. If Lou and I are two layers of cake (chocolate and lemon, I think), then Matthew is the raspberry filling that cements us together. Greyson is the rich buttercream icing; Charles the inventive decorations; and Veronica the exotic flowers that complete the presentation. I find those roles entirely apt, and highly entertaining. And now I'm hungry for cake.
And then I thought of a metaphor for our family that really amused me. If Lou and I are two layers of cake (chocolate and lemon, I think), then Matthew is the raspberry filling that cements us together. Greyson is the rich buttercream icing; Charles the inventive decorations; and Veronica the exotic flowers that complete the presentation. I find those roles entirely apt, and highly entertaining. And now I'm hungry for cake.
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