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 boy! The Items (Item!) are back with a vengeance.
I thought I’d be able to take a break from Itemizing, but no. Things don’t Itemize themselves, you know.
Actually they do.
Item! Post No. 37 in a series that gets me to occasionally close like, 734 open tabs in Firefox at once.
Item! Deborah Weber is my favourite person in the entire world!
Remember when I went and bought that wacky Healthy Boundaries spray?
Because I needed some? Healthy boundaries, I mean. The fact that they came in spray form just made the whole thing more appealing.
And of course I didn’t think it would actually work or anything. Come on. I just thought it would be a Useful Reminder for the thing I was focusing on.
And then it worked so astoundingly well that I started obsessing over it.
So a while ago when I started getting really into sovereignty (the quality of owning your own space and not giving a damn about what other people think about that), I asked her if she had a spray for it.
I was kidding. Well, mostly kidding, partly hoping. And she said she did but that it wasn’t on the website. And I said something like get out of town!
And then forgot about it.
Deborah sent me a bottle of it this week. As a present. Because she’s the sweetest person alive.
Sovereignty spray! It is making me happy! And she just added it to her online store. Which is here, if you’re wondering.
She’s @DeborahWeber on Twitter.
Item! Snail mail tips!
Not a secret that I’m a big fan of Marissa Bracke, my genius First Mate who is one hell of a Can-Do-Ologist (and a fellow maker-upper of goofball business vocabulary).
This was a guest post of hers for Jen Hofmann (someone else I write about pretty much all the time.
“The items that require some interim step between receiving it in the mail and disposing of it are the ones that befuddle me, and often end up being tossed in a pile on my desk where they promptly… sit.
(Well, they sit *and* act as the foundation layer for additional pieces of “needs further action” snail mail that come later… so let’s not pretend that they’re completely useless.)”
The rest is here.
Also, if you need a Virtual Assistant (which is what other people call Can-Do-Ologists, I guess), I cannot recommend her highly enough. Go see if you’re one of her Right People.
Marissa is @marissabracke on Twitter and Jen is @inspiredjen.
Item! In which someone else needs a duck!
Yes, this post is actually called: In Which I Need A Duck
“And Selma, for Havi, is — as I interpret it, anyway — a sort of Shibboleth, a way of identifying who those people are.
Now, we all know there aren’t that many people even reading this, so the fact that you’re even here probably means you pass.
But I’m open to suggestions for my version of a Duck.”
I love this! Even more because the capitalization of Duck.
Item! Are you in Portland? In November?
Because my friend Carolyn is doing a cool thing.
(Some of you may remember Carolyn as the one who coached me through the hacker thing, and taught me important things about how it’s okay to be beautiful when you’re running a pirate ship.)
Anyway, she does small-group intuitive painting workshops that are all about accessing creativity and power and learning cool things about yourself.
I’m not doing them justice, but let me just say that anything Carolyn does is going to be pretty freaking powerful. She is a neat, neat lady and I can’t say enough good things about her.
Anyway, it’s happening the weekend of November 7th–8th in North Portland — 10am to 5pm both Saturday and Sunday with a break for lunch.
Details are here. If you happen to be in PDX and (knock on keyboard) there are still spaces left, I say do it!
Item! Speaking of things that are only available until early November!
I read on Jolie’s blog that she’s doing a big Clearing Out of Stuff as a fall ritual.
Which is a great idea, actually.
And as part of her Clearing Out, she’s removing all her jewelry listings from Etsy as of November 5.
“Since I don’t want this stuff just sitting in my studio, I’d love it if you bought it instead. That way I’m really clearing things out (since that’s kind of the point). It’s a win-win.
You get goodies and I get more space in my studio for painting stuff.”
Look at these Laurelhurst earrings. First of all: they’re gorgeous. Then there’s this beautiful tiny watercolor that goes with it. And a story. And they’re ridiculously affordable.
It almost makes me wish I had holes in my ears. But I don’t. But some of you probably do. Or know people who do.
So if you feel like buying them earrings, this is a great time for it. Plus you get to support a talented Portland artist and make someone happy.
Item! I am a terrible stalker.
Oh, remember last week when I was all look at me, stalking Colleen? No?
I think my point was hey, that’s mostly why I got on Twitter, to obsessively follow around the mad, fabulous Communicatrix herself.
So let me just say that I’m not very good at it.
Because then I got a card from her in the mail about how wonderful I am. See? She knows my address and I didn’t even know hers until I got the card. That’s how ineffectual a stalker I am.
She also told me when she’s coming to Portland. Which is really so that I can clear my calendar and make room for buying her biscuits. Because clearly she knows which side her biscuits are buttered on. ROWR.
Anyway, there will be biscuits. And maybe she’ll agree to teach a class with me called Being Obsessive: Doing It Right For Once.
Also my gentleman friend is very happy about all of this because he’s a huge Colleen-fan as well.
She’s @Communicatrix on Twitter and we love her.
Item! Update from the land of the Peculiar & Hilarious Shivanauts!
The “peculiar and hilarious” thing comes from Melynda’s sweet bit about Butterfly Wishes.
I’ve been avoiding writing this particular piece for oh, I don’t know … five years?
People often get a little confused about why I would want to teach something that is challenging to the point of impossible and also supposedly very not fun.
And what they’re wondering is something like, no, seriously, why would any sane person ever want to do this?
And I have so much to say about that, but I really had to wait until I found the right words and the right place in my heart, so that I could give a loving answer that is also a fun answer and a true answer.
The post is called why would you possibly want to do this?
And I think it’s super useful even if you’re not at all interested in Shiva Nata.
Item! Comments!
So it was really cool the other week when I got to work on my practice of how I ask for stuff and you guys gave me the best recommendations ever!
Here’s what I want this time:
- Someone or something I’ve tragically neglected to Itemize.
- Anything else you’re thinking about (uh, lines from Say Anything?)
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
These. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=79767
They’re monster notebooks. They’re adorable. Some of them Glow In The Dark. AND you can apparently design your own. I’m ordering one as soon as I can choose. Anyone have any ideas about what I could do with them?
EEEE! You like my post about needing a Duck! So exciting! Thanks for the link! Too many exclamation points!
(Also, since I know you like the Twitter, I’m @LauraGrowNyberg)
.-= Laura G´s last post … In which selfishness is selfless? =-.
How fabulous Ms. Havi that you support and love art, craft as much as I. It’s so important that we have beauty in our life and take the time to share it with others!
I find meditation in watching light refract through my stain glass windows.
And, thank you for taking the emotional time to hear us out.
.-= Lydia, Clueless Crafter´s last post … HouseCraft: Illuminate Your World from the Inside Out =-.
Thing for you to itemize: I don’t know, would you have any interest in a knitted dalek? (Extermiknit! Extermiknit!) If not, how about some cute handmade kids’ clothes?
Thing I’m thinking about: you know, it turns out that up to 20% of my blog traffic comes from here – people clicking the links in my comments, I mean. I wonder what it says about me that my first thought is oops, maybe I shouldn’t comment so much on Havi’s posts, in case I’m only doing it to get the traffic. Avast, demons of stuckification.
.-= Lean Ni Chuilleanain (@leannich)´s last post … Sunday Stash, no. 4 =-.
Hm…
just for fun and goofiness- here are some websites that have made me giggle;
http://www.lileks.com/ There is SO much here. I first ran into this author via his “gallery of regrettable food” book long ago.
and, um….
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/ dare I say that I submitted the one on the awkward drill team?? http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2009/08/03/awkward-drill-tream/ and yes, I am in there, top left. It’s comforting to know that there are tons of wacky and awkward people out there…
http://www.instructables.com/ I love the undercurrent that is gaining momentum – people dissatisfied with simply being a “consumer” that only exists to advertise to (usually by being told they are lacking somehow) and are deciding to MAKE things, whatever that might be. Some really out of this world projects of any kind. I love the offbeat creativity.
I am going to have way too many things that demand Itemizing, but I don’t care. Awesome.
@Ingrid – That was YOU? I saw that one. Ahhhhhh. Nice!
@Lean – Extermiknit! Very, very, very cool. And that’s fantastic that you get traffic from here. It’s a sign that the world of blog is functioning correctly.
(And you can tell your inner whisperer that I adore having you around and that anyway, I would not even slightly care if that were the reason you hung out here. And that anyone who says “Avast, demons of stuckification” is a fabulous person in my book. So there!)
@Lydia – *blows kiss*
@Laura – oh good! Thanks for the twitter name — found and followed! Yay.
@Seshat – LOVE the monster books. Am totally itemizing them. Thank you!
Do you know about TaKeTiNa? It does a lot of the same stuff you talk about with Shiva Nata — crazy brain repatterning using movement and rhythm and making a lot of mistakes — using a bit of a different technology. Check it out: http://www.taketina.com/
Also, item! In which I, who don’t even really wear jewlery, am kind of in love with this stuff: http://ripegoods.etsy.com. It is all sparkly and dangly and sweet and not at all I am totally dressed up as the kind of person who dresses up-like.
.-= Sarah´s last post … Presence =-.
Havi,
It is with gleeful delight that I inform you that you have tragically neglected to Itemize xkcd. It is a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. And it is awesome. Topics vary widely from strip to strip, and I don’t know if you will like them all, but there are some real gems there. Including a comic about the spirit behind Declarations of Independence. It’s here: http://xkcd.com/137/ I think you will like it, if you don’t mind that their dammits are a bit stronger than your dammits. I bet you will like this one too: http://xkcd.com/150/
Enjoy! 🙂
~Rachel
.-= Serendipity´s last post … =-.
This is more Friday Chicken-appropriate, but I can’t wait that long. 🙂
I’m working in a study group right now and somebody’s laptop is playing music. A new person sat down a second ago and started asking about it, so the guy playing says “Oh, do you like it? He’s got some great songs, I’ll play another one”.
And then the new person goes “Wait, he? It’s just one guy?”
Dun dun duuun! It made me giggle like crazy and I had to come over here and tell the story. Hehehehe.
– Marmoset
.-= Marmoset´s last post … Starting Where I Am =-.
Just so I don’t let another wonderful post pass by without a comment… Duck Biscuits!
Not much else. I’m just sitting here kayaking through an Ocean of Formless Drek and the aches in my body and the spray remind me that it’s good to be alive, good to go through struggles because the effort is what makes me stronger.
Of course, I’m Just One Guy… ;^P
uh, lines from Say Anything?
“I gave her my heart and she gave me a a pen.”
I *just* watched “Say Anything” again and that line is still in my top 10 lines from the movie. Since I’m still on couch-rest, the ending made me teary again, like any good romance should. And then I came here to find my Wednesday reading and it was wonderful. This site always helps me forget, even for a few moments, whatever pain I’m feeling.
Oh – and coolness itself – the Hippie Husband needed shoes so he summoned his courage and headed for a downtown mall, where he ran into an interesting stranger and had a cool adventure. It’s a long story and not mine, but it was awesome and just what was needed. Mentioning it here, because my own blog is still expectantly sitting there, waiting for my own stories to emerge.
((hugs to all))
@Serendipity: I was thinking about that second xkcd strip myself! So glad that you linked to it.
@Havi: The Items! make me smile on a regular basis. I just wanted you to know that.
.-= spiralsongkat´s last post … There’s a nap for that. =-.
Thank you!! My husband is routinely giving me a hard time for my multiple tabs (on multiple computers – but that’s another story). I love when I’m vindicated and can say “it’s not just ME you know!” (with a wink and a smile, of course).
@Laura G – I’ve been wondering the same thing. I want my Duck as well. I’m sure it will come to us.
.-= Katy´s last post … People Are Afraid of Apples Now??? =-.
Items! I love them, and I love being one. Esp. a HOT item!
And how great would it be to do a workshop on the proper forms of obsession. SUPER-great, that’s how great.
.-= Colleen Wainwright´s last post … Clearing my (psychic) clutter, Day 9: The “why” behind the “what the hell?” =-.
Lean is killing me with “Extermiknit.”
.-= Sonia Simone´s last post … What Makes Marketing Hard? =-.
@Serendipity – I’ve read much xkcd, including going back a ways into the archives when I discovered it, but I had apparently not gone as far back as that first one you linked to. Thank you for pointing it out!
Also, I think a good item would be Faith Hats: http://www.faithhats.com They are adorable, made from recycled wool, and support one of the dancers for Portland’s own MarchFourth Marching Band (http://www.marchfourthmarchingband.com/ for anyone who is not yet acquainted with the joys of rock marching band.)
.-= Shannon Henry´s last post … On Artists and Money =-.
The most wonderful naturalistic and lovely handmade hair crowns (found during the ongoing quest for tiarae): lambcandy on etsy – http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7942291
And I usually have more Princess Bride than Say Anything running through my head. “Inconceivable!” “I do not think that means what you think it means.” Anything Mandy Patinkin, really. And the young Cary Elwes (fanning self), who still has that lovely voice, even now he’s older… Also the whole land war in Asia thing always cracks me up…Happy inoculation for the day!
Utterly frivolous fun with plenty of 70s nostalgia (avocado green! goldenrod yellow! shag carpet!) plus a sprinkling of schadenfreude for spice.
EUROBAD ’74 an exhibition of Europe’s worst interiors of 1974.
I have to confess I’m in love with this stripey couch.
Princess Bride! Yes! Chock-full of useful phrases.
“Let me explain — no. There is too much. Let me sum up.”
.-= spiralsongkat´s last post … There’s a nap for that. =-.
Havi, what you said in response to my comment up there made me cry. Not in a bad way, you understand. More in the way that being reassured that I’m ok tends to have.
Thank you.
.-= Lean Ni Chuilleanain (@leannich)´s last post … Socks! Well, One Sock =-.