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.
Oh, yes. I get exclaim-ey on Wednesdays.
It’s a thing. Well, let’s pretend it’s a thing.
Item! Post No. 45 in a series that makes me sound far more excitable than I actually am, because I keep shouting Item!
Item! I’m not the only one who forgets the things I already know..
Heather wrote a beautiful piece in response to my post about stucknesses.
“Here are some of the things I know, but have not been able to integrate into my living practice:
- When I’m tired, I need to rest.
- Stagnation is a natural part of the creative cycle. Perhaps view it as sitting or processing rather than stagnation.
- If I touch just one person with what I do or say, I’ve made a difference.”
I found this so helpful.
She’s @livingartist on Twitter.
Item! What makes an online community work.
Interesting piece from Richard Millington on why amateurs build better online communities than businesses. Confirmed a lot of what I’ve learned/experienced from running my Kitchen Table program.
“You’re competing against amateurs. The very online communities that most businesses want are the communities they would have if they acted less like a business and more like a passionate amateur.”
He’s @RichMillington on Twitter.
Item! Our dreamboat president. Again.
I know I linked to this in the Chicken.
But I can’t resist.
Picture taken by my brother, who’s @ezra_brooks on Twitter.
Item! Crazy wonderful socks.
More Etsy goodness.
Found via @memoija on Twitter.
Item! Another excellent dammit list.
Michael came up with his own version of a dammit list.*
* If you don’t know what a dammit list is, it’s now in the glossary.
“I love it because it is a vision of my future self, said with passion. A stake in the ground. A line in the sand, Dammit!”
My favorite part of his dammit list is that it includes be Randy Newman, dammit. Which is just adorable.
He’s @mj_walters on Twitter.
Item! Cranky Fibro Girl strikes again.
This is from ages ago, but I’m sharing it now. Because I don’t have a plan. More about my lack of plan next time, though.
“You know that whole stupid chart doctors pull out that supposedly tell you what weight you should be according to your height? Apparently the people who compiled this chart were unaware of the fact that women are actually 3-dimensional beings.
Now we do have a friend who is only 5 ft. tall, and probably does weigh only 100 lbs., but I’m pretty sure that’s because she was constructed using only the bones of one tiny sparrow and a few golden clouds.
She is very tiny and cute — like a miniature doll you might want to pick up and keep in your pocket. And as a matter of fact she frequently has random strange men come up to her and tell her this very thing.
That is, of course, the very last thing they say, right before she kills them and feeds their bodies to sharks. Which they clearly deserve because, seriously –that’s just creepy.”
Ah, yes. You can always count on some quality ranting from Jenny. That’s because she’s Cranky Fibro Girl. She’s funny and sweet and I think you will like.
She’s @jennyryan on Twitter.
Item! Oh I am so happy.
I can’t even tell you how gleeful I was upon seeing that The Onion has devoted this week to “the top 10 stories of the last 4.5 billion years” for their annual the-year-in-review thing.
My inner history major (yes, of course I was a history major) is just loving this to death.
“The Magna Carta, which limits the powers of the king and binds him to the rule of law, was issued on June 15, 1215. What do you think?”
“Then, tis tyme to become taken awaye to the prisonne, for I am desirous to trye this new Habeas Corpus.”
Excellent.
Item! Eileen on the human filter.
This is good.
“I feel like wow, if this person exists in the world then why do I even need to be here? They’ve totally got this covered.
Which is funny (funny ha-ha as I tend to laugh at myself when I learn lessons over and over again), because while someone else might be able to say things that speak to the core of who I am, things that inspire and move me and make me feel not-alone…..they can’t say my things.”
Yes. We can’t see our filters. Because they’re ours. Read the rest.
She’s @evalazza on Twitter.
Item! Lucy wrote a brave post about her thing.
Her thing!
She showed up to the Biggification Day in Sacramento not sure if she had a thing or if she wanted a thing or how she would describe it if she could get to the point of admitting that yes, it exists.
And now she’s remarkably articulate about why it’s awesome. It is, by the way. It’s like astrology for people who don’t believe in astrology. Only better.
“It’s not about predicting the future, folks. It’s not about telling you what colour socks you’re going to wear next Thursday or what you had for breakfast this morning. Or even whether you’ll get that job or buy that house.
It’s about self-discovery.
It’s about talking to your patterns.
It’s short of jargon and it doesn’t invent connections that aren’t there.”
She’s @lucyviret on Twitter.
Item! Update from the land of the Peculiar & Hilarious Shivanauts!
The “peculiar and hilarious” thing comes from Melynda’s sweet bit about Butterfly Wishes.
Let’s see. We talked about what happens if you do Shiva Nata while pregnant.
Everyone at my Sacramento Biggification workshop had intense idea-storms and much epiphanizizing. Most of them have been blogging it up like mad.
Also, Pearl Mattenson gave birth to a wonderful baby blog about her shivanautical pracice. It’s called Shiva Nata Callings & Pearl is NOT having a mid-life crisis, and I love it.
She’s @pearlmattenson on Twitter.
Item! Comments! Here’s what I want this time:
- Things you’re thinking about.
- Things that are cheery in winter.
My commitment.
I am committed to giving time and thought to the things that people say, and I will interact with their ideas and with my own stuff as compassionately and honestly as is possible for me.
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. See you tomorrow.
Follow
So odd. I could not figure out why Item! was happening on Friday instead of the Chicken.
Oh.
I think I’ve been working too hard.
.-= Carol Logan Newbill @2fishweb´s last post … Friday 5 #1 =-.
The exclamation points remind me of this blog http://sodiapop.blogspot.com/ I am not sure, maybe I found her through you? Either way, the exclamation points always make me smile.
I haven’t blogged in about a month. I’m thinking about that. On Monday I had my meeting with my art group and I actually went. One member has ALS and lost her husband at the end of October, one member had a big fire in her home last July and is still living somewhere else while the house is being repaired, and on December 7 we marked 3 years since DH was fired.
The woman with ALS kept saying “you just don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow” in regards to being grateful for what you have today. And this is hard to explain, but it felt like the rest of the sentence was “because tomorrow you could get hit by a bus”. Which wasn’t very uplifting in terms of enjoying today or being grateful, at least in my mind.
And I thought “well, yeah, but something *great* could also happen tomorrow, couldn’t it?”
So that is on my mind, how to blog that, especially with the Christine Kane newsletter that came through my inbox which kind of touches on the “watch how you say things” topic.
I just hope I’m up to the task.
.-= Andi´s last post … Wishcasting Wednesday =-.
Cheery in winter:
Standing around the island in my parents’ kitchen, with them, my brother, his wife and their 2.5 year old daughter (my nieceling!), eating latkes as they come out of the pan, barely waiting for them to cool, tongue-burningly hot. The menorah candles dripping colorful wax over last year’s colorful wax.
The theoretical debate over whether it’s better to have applesauce or sour cream on latkes (theoretical because Mom had served meatballs earlier, so we were limited to applesauce anyway) being totally trumped by the nieceling proclaiming that ketchup was much better than applesauce…
Also cheery, cheering, and cheerful: A 2.5 year old thrilled with her Chanukah gifts! I got her a guitar; I’m told that she woke up the next morning shouting for “guitar guitar guitar auntrachyl guitar!”
.-= Pirate´s last post … In Which the Pirate Decreases. =-.
Oh Items! These were all so excellent, and I needed them today, because despite the fact that the sun is actually out today (even though it is annoyingly low on the horizon at this time of year), I’m feeling…meh. Items! made it better.
Cheery things in winter. Fat little sparrows, cardinals and nuthatches hopping around in the pine tree outside the dining room window. Getting to wear mittens and scarves and stockingcaps. Temperatures over 20 degrees.
.-= Emily´s last post … Five Species of Pain =-.
Cheery things in winter:
Lovely, fat, green-and-brown candle burning steadily on my window sill, reminding me light is everywhere, even when it’s mostly invisible.
My raspberry red velour bathrobe, which wraps me in warmth and softness as I write this.
Eagle flying past, trailing a giant branch. Re-lining his nest for babies-to-be.
The warmth and shelter of my home; rain dripping steadily from the eaves.
This blog, Items!, Havi and Selma, loving community.
Chickadee pecking at seeds on the deck, looking round, glossy and innocently gorgeous.
Happy mid-week, everyone!
Love, Hiro
.-= Hiro Boga´s last post … Sunday Poem #13: Buddhist Chronicles 3 =-.
I guess I needed to show up here to say thank you! for every day and every post and for making my blog an Item! I mean really, I have never been an Item!
And thank you for leading us to soulsleuthing.com
Eileen said what I think and fear in my darkest moments and somehow made it safe.
things i’m thinking about:
Who is going to take care of the kitties while I’m gone?
Why am I so afraid/ashamed/reluctant to ask the neighbors we barely know?
cheery in winter: Glühwein with happy German friends.
@andrea – mmm. Glühwein.
@Pearl – oh excellent. Eileen is so completely lovely. And a fellow Shivanaut.
@Hiro – your day sounds perfect. I am picturing all of it and I love it!
@Emily – fat birds. I always forget about the fat birds. Perfect!
@Pirate – whoah, ketchup on latkes?! The mind. It boggles. That whole scene is cheery.
@Andi – wow. Hard to maintain any sort of cheery anything in the face of all that down. I like that were able to make a thing of looking for the good anyway — not in a “fake it til you make it” kind of way. Just in a sincere “maybe not everything is crappy” way.
Actually, it would make a terrific blog post (no pressure or anything, of course). Anyway, that story cheered me up immensely. So thank you for that.
@Carol – first laugh of the day! A rueful one, but it totally counts. I also think it should be Friday. At least.
things I’m thinking about:
how beautiful the planet is, I’ve seen some fantastic stars this week.
How pleased I am that I am now on holiday and can actually focus on all the people who are coming to visit in the next week
How amazing High Def TV is: I’ve watched live cricket from South Africa today in pin sharp pictures.
Cheery in winter:
walking around the neighbourhood posting christmas cards and being so pleased that we live here, surrounded by such brilliant, kind and funny people.
Finally having some proper cold weather, chilly noses and walking around town at twilight as all the winter lights come on.
Cold sunny mornings – beautiful!
Hooray for items!
Thinking about… way too many things. Better to go straight to the wintery cheer.
Wintery cheer:
– Light and color. Mini twinkling lights, lots of candles, fire in the fireplace, fabulous lamp that lights up your whole room in any color you like (oh, I so want it) and art. Especially making it yourself.
– Yumminess. Ginger tea, hot chocolate with mint. Anything roasting with rosemary in the oven. Spices and spiciness. Hot buttered rum (try it!).
– Music. Too many kinds to list!
– Scarves. Can you have too many of them?
– Good company, of course.
– Planning fun surprises for people who could really use a fun surprise.
Mmm, cheer…
A winter memory that cheers me, at least: when I was growing up, we lived in the country. Our covered front porch faced what could charitably have been called a swamp; it froze over in winter. On the other side of the swamp was our road; beyond that, a hill with several houses scattered around it.
I remember one night, after dinner when the family had scattered to do their own things, I gathered a few blankets and afghans, a votive candle, and a small paper plate of Adult Cookies (the recipe had been submitted without a name to a Baltimore Sun cookie contest; since they aren’t sugary, the Sun had created a new category, Best Adult Cookie; and since the recipe didn’t have a name, we called them Adult Cookies), and went out to the porch to sit and watch the snow fall.
The lights on the houses on the opposite hill glittered on the falling snow, and reflected in the frozen swamp. I must have sat in the twilit silence for half an hour, just enjoying the cookies, the lights, and the falling snow. Finally I finished the cookies and set the paper plate aside…
onto the lit votive candle.
The flaming plate was pretty as it flew out over the swamp, though.
.-= Chris Anthony´s last post … Computer issues – please help if you can =-.
Items! Six Degrees of Separation moment!
So I went over to Soul Sleuthing because of this week’s shout-out, and who should I spot in her blogroll but a very cool chica and a good friend of mine? (That would be Catherine Slye aka Cat Slye, a creator of things, including my wedding invitations and baby announcements, once upon a time.)
So I guess that’s four degrees of separation. Me > Catherine > Emily > Havi.
Cheery in winter: Sitting on the couch with my girl monkey, covered in blankets, watching Christmas specials on TV, drinking hot chocolate — the kind with little bitty marshmallows *of course*!
.-= Heids (@moonheids)´s last post … The Gingerbread Chef =-.
Things that are cheery in winter? Well, cheery to me, anyway…
Not having to shave my legs.
TMI?
.-= Victoria Brouhard´s last post … Quitting the Man: 46 Days Since Freedom =-.
Bwwaaa-haaaa-haaaaa! Yeah for Victoria! Not having to shave legs is the best part of winter! Tho I had to break down and shave last night. It wasn’t pretty. We’ll leave it at that. 🙂
Other cheery things:
Thanks to Fabeku I found two marvelous presents for My Hubby! One was a totally geeky time waster from ThinkGeek.com, and the other was a beautiful singing bowl from Fabeku’s site. I can’t wait for My Hubby to open his present and see what he thinks about it! (Don’t worry Hubby doesn’t come here, so he won’t see this. Havi is a little to woo-woo out there from my rational, logical man. Well, actually, I’m all the woo-woo way out there he can handle. :))
All the wonderful Christmas decorations all about me. Especially the twinkling Christmas tree lights. It’s been a little gloomy in Chicago, and they brighten the place up. Pictures can be found here. I got a picture of our cat on her perch on the back of the couch with the Christmas tree in the background.
Having a job where I don’t have to be a morning person. I got up at 11:00. Love it.
And this site. I love it here. After yesterday’s Right People Post, I remembered discovering I was one of Havi’s Right People. It began at the Twitter Bar when I saw she had a yellow duck on her shoulder. So of course, I had to come to the website and find out why. Which is where I discovered the duck was Selma and Havi’s business partner. Obviously this meant I had to check out the blog where I discovered that Havi was not only weird, but she was my kind of weird. Been here ever since.
BTW Havi, if you and Selma are ever in Chicago, I have a Devil Duck and a Pirate Duck that are dying to meet Selma. BUT I am not responsible for their behavior once the sexy Selma enters the room.
Now to bring the cheeriness to a close. I have to run some errands, and it’s 18 degrees outside. Brrrrrr. Was wondering when I would be breaking out the down coat. Guess I now know.
.-= Shawna R. B. Atteberry´s last post … Christmas Decorations =-.
Thanks for the iteming!
Things that are cheery in winter – I love the shape of bare branches against bright blue skies 🙂 ooh, ooh, accidental alliteration! Ooh, and again!
.-= Mike Walters´s last post … My dammit list =-.
I am thinking about sustainability and self-judgement (and my worries about what other people think, and the way all of that connects to each other). I am also thinking about what’s going on in Copenhagen, about the couple of pieces of fiction I’m writing at the moment, and about how damn cold it is here (London, UK). And that my hip hurts where the physio acupunctured it today but hey, this is going to be a Good Thing in the long run.
Things that are cheery in winter: woolly socks; curling up on the sofa with a mug of tea and a blanket; really good chocolate; Christmas (food! presents! hanging out with people you love!); open fires; the fact that there are still lettuce leaves in my cold frames for the eating of fresh greenery; lovely clear shiny fresh days.
.-= Juliet´s last post … Sustainability and self-judgement =-.
Things that are cheery in winter:
My family being extra excited to see me home for Christmas this year. I got a very sweet email from Mom saying so.
I think the 10 cent designer is cheery all the time. Her photos always make me smile. She fly’s to and photographs herself landing in all sorts of beautiful scenes. (no airplanes involved) you’ll see what I mean…
Her flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theproletariatdesigner/
Her headless blog: (yes, headless. The 10 cent designer has lost her head)
http://the10centdesigner.blogspot.com/
Something cheery about winter: Spending the day with the oven on to suppelement the meagre heat, and getting so warm the slippers come off & hair goes up, and knowing that the reward is fresh bread, bread pudding w/double-whisky sauce, delicious stew and a feeling of warm abundance.
Things I’ve been thinking about: I get to paint a naked boy today! Good thing it’s warm in here… 😉
.-= Amy Crook´s last post … Procrastination Musings =-.
Havi! Thank you for item-izing me! <3!
Cheery things in winter:
My bed.
Building lego things.
Hot chocolate (though I guess that's *really* not sugar-free). Other hot drinks. Teeeeeea.
Warm fuzzy blankets.
Did I mention my bed? Mmm, bed.
.-= Lucy Viret (aka randomling)´s last post … A division of me. And a mini-announcement. =-.
that which brings good cheer on this drippy, dark PDX day: Lights. Candles. A fire in the woodstove, which will warm us in a way that no other heat can. Red, wherever it is to be found (poinsettias, candles, fabric), especially if it is paired with white.
that which I’m thinking about: Fatigue. Too much of a muchness. The way I am suddenly overwhelmed and all the holiday spirit goes out of me in a whoosh. And, sadly, I’m thinking of a friend who died on Mt. Hood almost 10 years ago. Here’s to you, Diana.
I am thinking that I would like to start using the word desirous. And writ. And nonsense.
I am desirous that I shall writ much nonsense in my tyme.
Things that are cheery in winter:
scarves – apparently I think that I cannot have too many of them
candles, especially votive candles in red candle holders
not having to shave – I’m with @Victoria, even if it is TMI
a big spoonful of pink peppermint stick ice cream dropped into a mug of hot cocoa
the sight of Christmas lights in the dark
the sun – on its rare appearances
.-= Elizabeth´s last post … look at me =-.
Cheery in winter: hot soup. Soooooooooup!
Also, I really enjoy looking at the light displays on other people’s houses. I absolutely haven’t the patience to set up my own, but I’m really grateful and appreciative of those who do!
Really, any little lights shining on dark winter nights are deeply comforting to me. I think I’ll go light a candle now — maybe even half a dozen of them.
.-= Kathleen Avins @spiralsongkat´s last post … If blogging can be therapy, can it also be triage? =-.
I have two words for what makes life easier these days: leg warmers.
I got a pair that doubles as forearm/hand warmers (has a hole for the thumb) from, of all places, Club Monaco.
I feel so taken care of in them. Plus, I can continue to wear my pretty nighties all winter long. Get ’em, pronto!
.-= Lydia, Clueless Crafter´s last post … Don’t Be Tardy for the Party =-.
Oh my gosh, I am an item!! So, no crankiness today-only blushing and happy-girly skirt twirling 🙂
But have no fear-the cranky, it shall return!
.-= Cranky Fibro Girl´s last post … From Cranky Fibro Girl With Love =-.
Greetings!
Love the comment prompts! Way win-win!
Winter beauty – round birds are awesome! As are eagles.
So is drifted snow, beautiful lights (esp. those blue-just-this-side-of-ultraviolet ones), and icicles (both the light kind and the Nature-made kind).
The new addition to Round Animals – the Round Squirrel. Saw my first one the other day when it was so cold here. I suspect I’ve probably seen more in the four years I’ve lived here, but this one in particular struck me with its beautiful brown & grey fuzzy rotundity.
The eternal hope for the Squirrel-Permeable Membrane – there is a skylight here, and every so often a squirrel wanders across it, much to our tuxedo-cat’s (& our) entertainment.
The crispness of stars on a cold winter’s night and the clarity of the midnight blue of the sky. Makes being out in the cold worth it.
A warm sunbeam, perfect for basking in. Three would be even better – one each for me, the cat, and the dog. 😀
What I’m thinking of – how amazing & wonder-full it is that it is possible (& more profitable for all!) to do business being just the way you are, doing just the thing you want to do, and having a duck as your business partner if the two of you are so inclined. As far as we may have to go in this world, we’ve come a long way, baby. 🙂 Yay World!
Bright Blessings & Good Fortune! 🙂
-Birdy