A somewhat goofy mini-collection of stuff I’ve been reading, stuff I’ve been thinking about and oh, some completely random crap.
Basically the stuff that never gets mentioned here because I’m not the kind of person who can just make some teeny little point. Not into the whole brevity thing, as the Dude would say.
Actually, I’m under the strict compulsion to write ten pages about anything on my mind. So this is me. Practicing brevity.
Selma and I are away in Monterey teaching our Destuckification Retreat* so we weren’t really on the internets that much. Luckily we always have a surplus of excellent things wanting to be Itemized.
And yes, I totally wrote this in advance.
Also, some of the Items (Item!) are kind of long because I had to make up for last week’s extra-brevity edition.
*Retreeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaat! Advaaaaaaaaaaaaaaance! Run awaaaaaaaaaaay!
Item! Post No. 51 in a series whose existence sometimes kind of gets on my nerves but I do it anyway because I really like shouting Item!
Item! Someone actually kind of understands what I do!
When your duck is famous, you tend to run into all sorts of stuff about yourself on the internet.
Some of it is sweet. Some of it is mean. Some of it is just bizarre.
But a lot of the time I get the sense that people kind of have no idea what my work is about. They’re describing bits of the elephant but it comes out all wrong.
Like people will say, “Havi is a social media expert who writes about communication” and then I want to go and cry, even though yeah, I do sometimes write about communication.
Whatever. As long as no one calls me a “thought leader” (eeeeeeeew), I’m mostly fine.
But you cannot even imagine how overjoyed I was to come across this post because this wonderful person figured out what I do.
“Here’s the thing. Havi talks about the hard and stuck stuff that keeps us spinning our wheels and driving ourselves crazy with negative self talk about what losers we feel like because we can’t make any headway with our thing or lack of a thing.
And she does it in a way that honors and respects the Hard without making you feel like a total, useless freak because you have a HARD and ARE stuck.”
Best Twitter name ever? @wulfshado.
Item! Doing it right on Etsy.
I like Etsy. I like having a way to support artists and fabulous craft-ey people of a variety of stripes while getting gorgeous hand-made things.
It’s where I buy presents for people. And where I get stuff for Hoppy House.
But I’m almost always wanting to rewrite people’s intro “about the store” paragraph.
So often it’s either not that interesting or it doesn’t make any reference to a website or a twitter stream. Which is important because I want a way to not forget about this person when I’m on Etsy.
This particular Etsy shop is called Fab Gabs Vintage and I love the way she introduces it:
“It was half-past one, and I was just thinking about the lunch counter when SHE walked in. Now I’m telling you, this dame was trouble.
“Detective,” she said “I’m looking for something.”
Right away, I knew I couldn’t help her. I pulled a business card out of my desk.
“Fabgabs.etsy.com” she read.
“That’s right. She’s a swell gal with all the dresses and hats and shoes you could ask for, she…” I suddenly realized I was talking to nobody. Trouble had walked right back out my door.
One if these days I’ll have to stop giving referrals.”
She’s @FabGabsVintage on Twitter and I didn’t even have to do any work to figure that out.
Item! Paypal horror story.
Okay, this hardly counts as an Item (Item!) because paypal horror stories are a dime a dozen.
But still.
A good reminder of why it’s useful to have more than one source of where the monies come from.
As much as I dislike every shopping cart software I’ve ever worked with, and as big a headache as it was to get my own merchant account a few years ago, still better than this:
“We had to add from our own money to pay the developers and now won’t see our money from it until end of May.
During one of my support calls I asked the “specialist” if there was any way I could have prevented my account from being limited because of the higher transaction rate.
For example, perhaps I could contact them and notify in advance of the upcoming sale. The answer was a definitive NO.”
Lovely.
Item! How to say stupid things about social media.
A wonderfully written post with a depressingly terrible comments section (avoid! avoid!).
It’s by Cory Doctorow (from Boing Boing) and I really appreciated it. And read the whole thing despite the fact that I generally avoid anything about social media. Other than, you know, social media. But reading about it. Ugh.
This was great though.
“Criticizing the “banality” of Facebook conversation is as trite and ignorant as criticising people who talk about the weather. There’s a reason we say “Did you sleep well?” at breakfast and “How was your weekend?” when we turn up to the office on Monday (and it’s not that we care about the weekend or the rest).”
He’s @doctorow on Twitter.
Item! Traveling Teeth Follow Rumors of Home…
“As the dentist examined my mouth, probing my gum line with the delicate precision of an ant in a sugar bowl, he said: ‘Your teeth are moving.’
I mumbled: ‘Mrrtgwoof?'”
Hiro talks about restlessness, wandering, patterns and the vibration of home. An excellent post.
She’s @HiroBoga on Twitter.
Item! Everything sounds better with of Doom on the end.
My friend Nathan pointed out that everybody loves things that are “of Doom!”
I have been testing this theory and ohmygosh he’s right.
Thai Food of Doom! Extreme Sex Toys of Doom! Broken Carburetors of Doom! Doomsday Signs of Doom!
Blooming Tulips of Doom! I forgot to take my Vitamins of Doom! I’m going to have a pint of the Stout of Doom!
Yup.
He’s @NathanBowers on Twitter and he was my first real Twitter friend. Ah, those were the days.
Item! Chaos, Entropy, Meet Cosmos.
Loved loved loved this post from Lisa Firke about her, uh, creative approach to filing.
“For my personal papers I used to keep just two file boxes, Chaos and Entropy, but I’ve recently thought of adding a third, Cosmos.”
Fascinating.
She’s @HitThoseKeys on Twitter and she’s awesome.
Item! Update from the land of the Peculiar & Hilarious Shivanauts!
The “peculiar and hilarious” thing comes from Melynda’s sweet bit about Butterfly Wishes.
New date for the next hey, ask me stuff about Dance of Shiva and maybe even dust off your DVD no-cost teleclass thing. You can leave questions in the comments and I’ll do what I can.
Item! Comments! Here’s what I want this time:
- Things you’re thinking about.
- What you think when you hear the words “Monarch butterfly grove” because ohmygod a Monarch butterfly grove.
My commitment.
I am committed to giving time and thought to the things that people say. Even though asking for what I want still feels awkward for me, I’m just going to remind myself that this is a thing I’m practicing.
That is all.
Happy reading.
And happy Blustery Windsday. Or a Balmy one. If you need one. I wouldn’t mind one. Because of the butterflies. Anyway. See you tomorrow.
Follow
Monarch Butterfly Groves Of Doom! HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Thanks for a laugh on a tough day. How did you know in advance?
Oooh, great set of items today, thank you. I especially loved Cory’s and Hiro’s posts. Oh, and @wulfshado’s. Oh, heck, all the items today are awesome.
I’m thinking about this: What if I got rid of everything in my life that was crappy? Would there be anything left? What? How would that feel?
.-= Darcy´s last post … Day 86: Recycling rags, or why I don’t give up =-.
Monarch butterfly grove… reminds me of a butterfly sanctuary I visited in Costa Rica… and makes me think that I need to take my sons there, now that I have sons.
.-= Suzyn´s last post … Lovely review in Petite Purls =-.
I’m thinking about getting rid of things. Ugly things, things that are too large for the new flat, things I no longer love.
Also: projects and tasks. If I could clear out that big pile of things I was working on but am not anymore, either by completing them or accepting they’re not going to happen and saying goodbye, I would have a new kind of space.
If I rid myself of enough things, I might achieve a State of Rid. I’m thinking of making this next month’s theme. The great Month of Rid. The Ridding of Doom!
Yeah.
Oh, hey, and check out my thing! The Thing! (Last blog post, below.)
.-= Willie Hewes´s last post … Mascots for Life =-.
Wow…and you’re not even here! That’s got to be an item all it’s own!
I’m thinking: Whoah: Havi mentioned me!? Thanks and eeek!
I’m also thinking about how to work out the snaggled knot of discovering that the thing I thought might be my thing ISN’T, but there’s a whole new Thing that might be THE THING. The snaggle is that some stuff from the Thing That Wasn’t a Thing does go with this New Thing that Might be a Thing. Hard. Fun. Light is a fig of Wisteria. Yeah.
Monarch Butterfly Grove…oooooo, not to be confused with ipods poo.
@Willie: I’m joining February as the Month of Rid but changing it to the the Month of Doom Ridding cause that makes me smile and I can work with that.
.-= Wulfie´s last post … Inner Realities =-.
Whoop! I’ve been itemized! In absentia!
Much love to you, Havi.
Oh, I know the Stout of Doom! In my experience, it’s what they tend to serve you when you order your fourth pint of Guinness. It’s all downhill from there…
I am thinking about how I tend to be afraid of making certain changes in my life because of what I might be leaving behind – as though embracing a new habit somehow meant crossing a river and becoming an entirely different person. Today someone said, of my attempts to become more punctual, “What if being on time weren’t a struggle any more – what if it became your way of life?” And that phrase – way of life – sent a shock of fear and resistance through me, as though she’d said, “What if you shed the husk of your former self and became a Monk of Punctuality, dressing in coarsely woven, undyed robes, rising at dawn to perform tedious rituals that involve carrying hand-beaten bronze bowls to collect water from natural springs, and similar?” Whereas in fact, I could probably keep my house and my marriage and my children and my books and my sewing and my mess, and just … not be late all the time. Do you think?
(Monks of Punctuality … of Doom!)
As for Monarch butterfly grove, ohemgee, can I come?
lol@Lisa
That’s right! Itemized! hahah We’re Items! That’s going to have me rolling on the floor all day.
.-= Wulfie´s last post … Inner Realities =-.
Oh, I love that Cory Doctorow article! Perfect. I am going to start sending that to people.
Reminds me of some stupid study I read from CNN or BBC about how Twitter is “90% meaningless chatter” (or something like that.) ARGH pronouncements like that make me *stabby* over the missing-of-the-point 😉
Enjoy the rest of the retreeeeeeeat, my dear!!
.-= Eileen´s last post … Backwards, Upside-down and Sideways =-.
I’ve been thinking about so much stuff that I wrote 3 blog posts in the past 12 hours. Including:
What I need, right now
My blog’s first birthday
How to choose from among all the amazing workshop/journey offerings the universe is sending my way
What my seasonal depression is feeling like right now
Conversations with my kiddo
TMI girl stuff
Dance of Shiva
Biggifying my place of work
I have a lot on my mind, so much that I didn’t sleep long last night.
Monarch butterfly grove makes me want to swoop in and lean into it, feel all tickly and light and alive.
.-= lynn @ human, being´s last post … Random Tuesday Ramblings =-.
Monarch butterfly grove was read as “monarch butterfly groove”, and that was a fantastic fluttery-yet-swooping and mysteriously-migrating-cross-country dance-thought, and I’ll stick with that :).
I’m excited to be a new reader, I saw all sorts of good people online saying ‘havi’s so cool’ and that’s kind of intimidating, but… you’re so cool 😀 thanks!
Interestingly enough, Monarch Butterfly Grove sounds to me like a small publishing company. Very small. Actually, I hear it’s just one guy.
I’m thinking a lot this week. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about what it feels like to be on self-declared super-secret stealthy retreat, while still appearing to follow my usual daily routines. Mainly, it seems to involve a whole lot of introspection and quiet stabs at sovereignty — and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.
.-= Kathleen Avins´s last post … Dramatis personae =-.
Oh, and I almost forgot: Thank you so much, Havi, for giving us, even when you’re on retreat, all these lovely Items! and links free of chaaaaaaaaaaaarge!
(sorry, sorry, I just couldn’t resist…)
.-= Kathleen Avins´s last post … Dramatis personae =-.
Monarch butterfly grove is obviously where The Monarch became The Monarch when his parents’ plane crashed Tarzan-style leaving him to be raised by Monarch butterflies.
I’m sensing that I just confused a lot of people, but those who watch [adult swim] will probably know what I mean.
.-= claire´s last post … Who The Devil Made It =-.
Um, you know Andre (the gray cat) is full-named “Andre Paul Ramone, Bringer of Doom to all Kittykind”, right? I mean, you DID sleep in his bed…
.-= Tara´s last post … Month Of Love Round-up #1 =-.
Love the “of Doom!”
The card game Munchkin has an “of Doom!” card which you add to any weapon to make it “Of Doom!”
My favourite: Big Heavy Rock of Doom!
A very silly game.
.-= Karinne´s last post … Recent happenings: Christmas =-.
Oh yes – we have a frying pan Of Doom (and there is a story about it from Patricia Wrede, which I highly recommend), and when I was nursing the left one was Boob of Doom, and we have the seat of doom in the car. A very handy phrase, and more useful now that we can’t joke about having enough of anything to last to the next millennium. Well, we can, but there has to be a lot more of it than when I used in it in, oh, 1999.
I am thinking about how to start self care without going first to petulance or defiance.
.-= lee´s last post … database woes =-.
I gotta thank Wulfie because sometimes I get stuckified in Havi land. It’s not because I want to, it’s just because I’m learning a new talk. But,a great thing that comes from sticking around is that the actual wording is a practice of perseverance, dedication, and destuckification in itself.
Ahh, the format here is actually a tricky way to teach self confidence. Perfectly crafted, indeed!
.-= Lydia, Clueless Crafter´s last post … Auctions and My Art Story ~ An Approach to Collecting =-.
@Lydia lol The thing to remember around here is Sir Laughs aLot. So next time you get nervous, invoke him…usually with a WTH followed by immediately laughter, an exclamation point, or multiple ??? He responds immediately to any of those.
T’is tricksy, isn’t it? Methinks Havi’s a Hobbitses.
@Lee, haaaa I, too, have a Pan of Doom. Doesn’t matter what you put in it…it’ll come out wrong every time! Also, no one ever asks me to make a cup of coffee for them because….yup….Coffee of Doom. Even I won’t drink it.
.-= Wulfie´s last post … Yakity Yak DO Talk Back =-.
My find for the week has been Sonia Simone’s The Complete Flake’s Guide to Getting Things Done. I am a totally huge flake, and she nails me on this. But she also has good ideas and steps for working with my flakiness instead of pretending I’m not a flake.
I even wrote a post to my blog apologizing for ignoring her and explaining to her I’m a flake and that I have a new way looking at being a flake and making sure she gets all the love and attention she deserves.
.-= Shawna R. B. Atteberry´s last post … Dear Blog: It all boils down to this–your mistress is a total flake =-.
“Monarch butterfly grove” reminds of Santa Cruz. And the monarch butterfly grove there. Right near the beach.
Which was not nearly impressive on film as it was actually standing there, looking up through the eucalyptus trees at hundreds and hundreds of Monarchs.
Sigh.
Oh. And Items rock.
.-= Gina´s last post … Letters to a Young Therapist =-.
I have a Cupboard Of Doom. It’s a lot tidier than it used to be but I have the constant sense that it’s plotting to degenerate into Chaos at the first opportunity.
Right now I’m thinking about an opportunity that I’ve been offered. Actually, ‘freaking out’ more accurately describes what I’m doing. Because it’s pretty soon & I’m not really well enough to do it but I don’t want to say no because it could really help with My Thing and they’re even offering to pay me, which is rare in the arts.
.-= Kirsty Hall´s last post … Snow Days =-.