What's in the gallery?
We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.
We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**
* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.
** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.
What's in the gallery?
We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.
We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**
* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.
** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.
The Negotiator, the Monster and the Scribe.
The thing with talking to monsters or having conversations with blocks is that it can be pretty freaking terrifying.
Understandably.
I mean, monsters! And stucknesses! Not the most fun company in the world. They say the meanest things. They know exactly where it hurts.
Oh, and they pretty much own guilt, shame, and the ability to make you feel crappy and incompetent.
So … a lot of people have been wondering how I do it without falling apart.
You know, aside from years of practice and having access to especially fabulous wackiness (like the emergency calming techniques, among other things).
At some point I’m going to have to write several posts about this, but for now I want to cover the art of mediation (no, not meditation, though that’s good stuff too), because that seems like the best place to start.
Mediating the experience.
If your life were an action-packed drama/thriller, you’d have someone brave and exceptionally competent whose job it is to negotiate with whoever is behind the hostage situation or the stand-off or whatever.
When it’s just you and your fears though, it can get pretty intimidating pretty fast.
Which is where mediation comes in.
Sometimes you bring in someone from the outside.
For example, with my clients I’m the one who gets to be the mediator.
That’s because one of my superpowers is that other people’s stucknesses talk to me. And they tell me the stuff they’d never tell you.
The book you’re not working on will tell me why it won’t let itself be written. Your fear will tell me why it’s trying to sabotage you and what it plans to do next. Your guilt will tell me what it needs to go away.
And since my other superpower is wacky intuitive stuckness-zapping, I know how to help the stuck dissolve and disappear once I’ve listened to it.
And sometimes you bring someone in from the inside.
You don’t have to use me. Or anyone from the outside, for that matter. Because you can learn to be a mediator too.
And if you can’t, you can try calling on one.
I do this too when I work on my own stuff.
You’ve probably read the posts where I negotiate with my fears and talk to my walls. That’s a pretty advanced form of internal mediation.
But sometimes there’s something that is so scary and so hard and so stuck that I don’t feel strong enough to encounter it by myself.
And when that happens, I take myself out of the picture and I ask for someone to do the mediation for me. Someone else gets to have the conversation in my place.
Who is this someone who gets to mediate for me?
The Negotiator. The Angel of Mediation. My duck. Whoever I want.
This mediator is (unlike me in that moment) calm and self-possessed. Not invested in one side or another … but still determined to keep me feeling safe and supported.
This mediator knows what to say when I don’t because I’m too busy cowering in terror.
And then, instead of having the conversation, I write it down. Which is an extra layer of mediation.
Let’s have an example, shall we? But first, a bunch of disclaimer-ey stuff.
Disclaimer-ey stuff:
This is not easy. I don’t want to imply that it is. And I always use the emergency calming techniques first. And yes, it helps that I have years of practice with this. And your mileage may vary.
And I’m not suggesting that this will solve all your stuck. Just sharing some of the things that have helped me. Okay. Let’s go.
A mediated conversation with Havi’s monster.
The cast of characters.
The monster: enormous, formless, everywhere, threatening, comes in the form of the belief that all money needs to be *earned* and that if Havi doesn’t work a gazillion hours a day to support herself, she’s an awful, useless, hateful person.
The negotiator: strong, steady, calm, patience, interested. The negotiator is not there to judge the monster or to vanquish it. The negotiator is there to listen to it and find out what’s going on between them.
The scribe: She tries to write down what she hears without thinking about it or interacting with it. Just taking dictation. Nothing to do with her. Also, she has a duck to keep her company.
And we’re off …
The negotiator: Hey there, Havi’s monster. I was hoping I could talk with you.
Monster: growls
The negotiator: Tell me a bit about this rule that all money needs to be “earned” through very, very hard work.
Monster: There is nothing to talk about.
The negotiator: Okay. Let me ask you a question then. Let’s pretend that the universe wants Havi to be provided for and taken care of. I’m just wondering … are there ways this could happen other than her working all the time?
Monster: That’s bullshit. It doesn’t work like that.
The negotiator: Interesting. Alright. I can tell you feel pretty strongly about this. I’m sure there’s a good reason for it. And I’m also kind of curious… whose rule is this?
Monster: That’s not your business. You don’t need to know that.
The scribe: Uh oh.
Checking in with both sides.
The negotiator: Let me ask you this. What would Havi’s life be like if she could access financial support in other ways than the kind that comes as a result of working impossibly long hard days?
Monster: I don’t know. I don’t know and I don’t care.
The negotiator: Well, let’s ask her. Hey, scribe? Can you get Havi?
[pause]
The scribe: Havi says she could rest more easily. She could take her time. There would be less pressure. She could actually get more done.
The negotiator: And are there downsides to this for her? Does she have a good reason for not wanting this to happen?
The scribe: Guilt. Lots and lots of guilt.
Monster: Good! Ha!
Asking questions.
The negotiator: So tell me, monster. Because I’m curious. Why does Havi need to feel guilty? What does that accomplish?
Monster: Because the money is a reward for her work. If she works and works and works, then she can receive support in exchange for that.
The negotiator: Do rewards always need to take one form?
Monster: I don’t know.
The negotiator: I’m just wondering … there are other people who are provided for without having to work themselves to the bone … is there reason why Havi can’t be provided for too?
Monster: Those are lazy and undeserving people. We don’t want Havi to be like that.
The negotiator: Interesting. What about say, Havi’s mother? She didn’t have a career and she was provided for.
Monster: Havi didn’t do her duty of having a family so she has to work hard for a living forever.
The negotiator: Ah. And (sidestepping that for now) why can’t she be provided for in a variety of ways that don’t all involve getting completely exhausted and worn out?
Monster: She needs to be taught a lesson.
Learning about the lesson. And the love.
The negotiator: And what will this lesson teach her?
Monster: How to be independent and take care of herself.
The negotiator: Oh. Oh. So you’re worried that she won’t be safe.
Monster: Of course! Why should I be all trusting just because she is? Trust is stupid! Trust is not enough!
The negotiator: Wow. You really care about her safety. I can tell. You just want to know that she’s going to be okay. That she’s going to be taken care of.
Monster: Well, obviously. I love her and I need her to be safe.
The negotiator: Clearly. Wow.
What got you here won’t get you there.
The negotiator: So tell me … what if part of Havi’s purpose is learning to receive?
Monster: I don’t know anything about that. I just want her to be safe.
The negotiator: Okay. Would it help if I promise you that she will be? She definitely has the skills to earn whatever she needs whenever she needs it, and that’s amazing.
Monster: I know!
The negotiator: And you’ve been a huge part of helping her learn how to do that. Which is really impressive. Right now though, she needs to rest and she needs to receive. Which means that this rule is blocking her and (kind of ironically) keeping her from the independence that you want her to have.
My work here is done.
Monster: Goodbye.
The negotiator: What? Is something wrong? Oh. Hey, scribe? Tell Havi she can come back now. The monster is gone. It doesn’t need to be here anymore.
The scribe: Wow, that was fast.
The negotiator: My work here is done. I’m going to get a snack.
The scribe: See ya.
A note about comments:
These posts about my talking-to-stucknesses are a way for me to let you to hang out in my process-thing. They are not an invitation for people to tell me what they think I should be doing to work through my stuff. They are a way for me to model one possible version of how someone might interact with the stuck.
You’re more than welcome to leave comments about your reactions and about your own stuff and about whatever else comes to mind. Keep in mind though that this is a highly personal experience that I’m sharing, and that I’m not looking for advice or how-to-ishness. Thanks.
Words gone wild
So not like this is a secret or anything, but I probably mention Seth Godin or some Seth-related-concept a dozen times a day.
At least.
His ideas and his vocabulary have changed the way I think about (and talk about) just about everything in my life.
They also explain things. Those guys on the corner with the Greenpeace stickers and clipboards? The ones everyone is ignoring? It’s not that we don’t care about saving the world. It’s that interruption marketing is over, guys.
Why did my business take off like crazy when I stopped hiding the fact that my business partner is a duck? Because it was remarkable in the sense that it made people remark on it.
And so on. And now he’s come up with the Baxter.
“But often, if you’ve created something worth talking about, it’s something that hasn’t been done before. Which means it needs a name.
So name it.”
Now I just happen to know (but only because of a bizarre late night game of Balderdash with my wonderful uncle) that baxter is the name for a female baker. Insane, I know.
But not anymore. I guess the Union of Female Bakers will have to come up with something else …
Because Seth Godin owns the concept now. Because he knows about doing magic with words — and teaches the rest of us how to do it too. Not just by example but by explaining what’s going on behind the scenes.
And since I am a huge fan of being a maker-upper of words (destuckification, biggification) and concepts (At the Kitchen Table, the life of the Pirate Queen) …
Well, let’s just say I’m looking forward to cooking up some Baxters of my own. No, not that kind.
p.s. I think adding to the collective vocabulary is one of the most powerful things you can do in your work and in your life.
p.p.s. Three more terrific thinkers I look to as great transformers-of-the-collective-conversation.
Malcolm Gladwell. Stephen Jay Gould. Dan Ariely.
For having given me new and wonderful words for important concepts that I didn’t realize were important concepts: LOVE.
p.p.p.s. Sometimes just playing around with unpacking a word (like we’ve done here on the blog with especially icky or potentially-icky concepts like “marketing” and “networking” and “thinking big“) can be a very useful practice.
Friday Check-in #40: tired and cranky edition
Because it’s Friday AGAIN. And because traditions are important. In which I cover the good stuff and the hard stuff in my week, trying for the non-preachy, non-annoying side of self-reflection.
And you get to join in if you feel like it.
It’s Friday. Really, truly. Here’s the chicken.
It was an odd little week. I’m tired and cranky and want to go back to bed but I can’t because I need to catch a plane.
Will catch up soon. In the meantime, here’s the hard and the good.
Tell me about yours too. It will make me feel better.
p.s. yay, Friday. 🙂
The hard stuff
Gaaaaaaah. I’m so sick of people asking about my arms.
Or even having conversations about it.
Seriously. I know everyone means well. I just don’t want to talk about it anymore.
I already explained that my arms are on my side and that the pain is useful because it is helping me transform my business into one where I don’t have to be there all the time.
My situation has improved a lot. It’s good. I am no longer in agony. And I can now even send a text message if I have to.
But I need people to let me have the rest of my process.
I’m really working on allowing the pain to be there when it needs to be there. Because it’s that pain that is keeping me on track with my “rebuilding my business so I never have to be a workaholic again” practice.
Freedom. It’s good.
And all these conversations about how we can get rid of the pain and how the people in my life wish it would go away are not useful for me at the moment.
I just want a hug. And that’s it. xxoo
System changes!
I know. And yeah, I’m still completely loving having a pirate crew.
It’s just that changes are hard. And they mess with your head.
And we spent an inordinate amount of time this week just undoing all these things that had already been done.
So I pay people to spend time doing things. And then I was paying someone else to spend time undoing it. And then I was spending time trying to figure out what the new rules are so that this doesn’t have to happen again.
Sunk costs, I know.
But it was completely annoying. And expensive. And frustrating. And aaaaaaaaagh.
The good stuff
System changes! There’s a good side!
Like the day my assistant and I realized we had not spent 45 minutes of our day looking things up and tearing our hair out.
Because the system was finally working.
Because we were saving time.
Because people were communicating more or less in the ways I was asking them to.
Sigh of relief.
I can see the future. And I like it.
It was sometime in August that I realized it was really time to do whatever it took to turn this thing into a business instead of a job.
I had a lot of the elements in place. A staff. More products than services. Group trainings and programs. A very famous duck as a business partner who doubles as a mascot.
But when it came to imagining something crazy like only working twenty hours a week (or — gasp — fewer than that), my brain would turn to mush.
It just didn’t seem plausible. I couldn’t picture what I would be doing in so little time and who would be doing the rest of it.
So I started taking steps. I went (as some of you will remember) to Michael Port’s Beyond Booked Solid training in Vancouver, which planted some seriously fantastic seeds and set me off on the right path.
I started working with Hiro Boga.
All this systems work with Cairene.
But now — for the first time ever — it’s completely clear to me how this thing can work. I can actually imagine what it would be like to work very minimal hours. And what would be happening during those hours.
And what amazing good-for-me good-for-the-world things I’d be doing both during and outside of those hours too.
I finally got it. And this just feels so completely huge.
At the post office.
I’ve been mailing out the last of the gifts I’ve been sending to my Kitchen Table students.
And it is just the loveliest feeling in the world to show up at the post office with an enormous bundle of presents, feeling like Santa Claus.
Looking at the all the places my people live. Australia, New Zealand, India, Austria, Ireland, Scotland, England. All over Canada and the States. Looking at the familiar and loved names.
So completely wonderful.
There are so many times when it’s hard to remember why I do what I do. This was a really powerful reminder.
My arms are really doing much, much better.
When I made bread this week? Didn’t even have to ask my brother to come stir the flour in.
And I can scrub the stove without wincing.
And I twisted off a bottle cap.
It’s not like I’m done. There’s still enough pain to remind me not to work too much. But it’s completely bearable and I can work and it’s good.
And … STUISMS of the week.
Stu is my paranoid McCarthy-ist voice-to-text software who delights in torturing me misunderstanding me. I can’t stand him. Because he’s an acetyl .
There are only three little Stu gems this week because he was (astonishingly) behaving for once and also because I didn’t need him as much.
- “On the Tweeter instead of on Twitter
- “Ask Hobbies” instead of Ask Havi
- “about Steve’s typifying the general” instead of about destuckifying in general
I don’t know what his thing with Steve is. Honestly.
It reminds me of the time he asked Naomi “What Steve think?” instead of “What do you think?”
That wasn’t awkward at all.
That’s it for me …
And yes yes yes, of course you can join in my Friday ritual right here in the comments bit if you feel like it.
Yeah? Anything hard and/or good happen in your week?
And, as always, have a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious weekend. And a happy week to come.
Destuckification 101
While attempting the other day to answer some 17,000 (okay, slight exaggeration) Ask Havi posts at once, I had to stop and hit the brakes.
It had become very apparent just how huge the lack of general knowledge and understanding about destuckifying is.
Here’s my sense at this point.
Most of the people I encounter are already familiar with at least one of the three major conventional methods out there.
At least in a casual way, even if they’re not conscious of the fact that what they’re dealing with is just that — a method.
Or that all three of these ways-of-destuckifying can be, oh, somewhat problematic.
So it kind of seemed like it might be time to a) pull back, b) add to the general knowledge base… and c) just try to give you a better sense of what these three methodologies/philosophies are.
And why they aren’t really always that good for you.
Warning:
This is a general post. A very general post. It is also … full of generalizations. Ridiculously absurd generalizations. Parody, even.
We can go deeper into the subtleties in grad school. Or at least next term in Destuckification 201.
But we’ve got to start somewhere, and this is it.
Traditional methodology #1: “Pushing through the stuck”
Also known as: Fighting it.
Common phrases: Don’t take no for an answer, be strong, you can do it, stiff upper lip, fake it ’til you make it, get out of bed already!
Associated with: Motivational speakers, personal development blogs, men, the 80s.
Aesthetic (old-school): Suits.
Aesthetic (today): Site designs that are black, red or black and red. The phrase “ass-kicking”. See also: bootcamp.
The pro: Sometimes it works. It gives you that push and you do the thing and you feel motivated and inspired. Rock on.
The con: Kinda violent. It totally doesn’t meet you where you are. It relies on an underlying layer of guilt, which is actually counterproductive in the long run. Also, self-mastery is exhausting and debilitating because it means you always have to be winning. And you can’t always win.
Traditional methodology #2: “Just sit with it”
Also known as: Just sit with it. (Repeat as necessary.)
Common phrases: Just sit with it. Let it be what it is. Accept it.
(Occasionally also — when said by someone who until recently was a disciple of methodology #1 — “Just deal with it.“)
Associated with: The self-help section, trying out eastern philosophies, Yoga Journal.
Aesthetic (old-school): Robes. Neti pots.
Aesthetic (today): Pastels. Illustrations of lotus flowers. Blogspot or Typepad blogs. Either austere seclusion in a hut or expensive retreats that sometimes take place on cruise ships.
The pro: Sometimes it’s exactly what you need. It helps you just when you need it. When you’re able to sit with the stuck, the stuck will dissolve. Which is magical and beautiful.
The con: It doesn’t acknowledge the hard. It doesn’t acknowledge just how hard the hard can be. When you can’t sit with it — and there will be times when you just aren’t able to — the advice “just sit with it” is just not very compassionate.
Traditional methodology #3: “Thank your problems and kiss them for being there”
Also known as: Practicing gratitude even when you don’t feel like it.
Common phrases: Your problem is your teacher. Your problem is your healer. Your problem is a gift. Your problem is a friend. Your problem is a blessing. Embrace the hard. Smother it with kisses. Be grateful for everything. Count your blessings.
Associated with: Affirmations, meditation circles, alternative community bookstores, beads, women.
Aesthetic (old-school): Power suits.
Aesthetic (today): Pink. Green. More illustrations of lotus flowers.
The pro: It’s true. When you are meeting yourself with patience and compassion, problems are gifts and blessings. And when you are ready for that — and it’s a pretty freaking advanced practice — amazing stuff can happen.
The con: Most of us aren’t there yet. Because we need to take time to meet ourselves and our pain first. Calling something excruciatingly painful a blessing can diminish or negate the real life experience of the person whose pain it is.
It is just not compassionate to tell someone that their agony is a teacher. It’s not compassionate to tell yourself that either. Or to expect yourself to be able to practice this if you’re not there yet. Because forced compassion is not very compassionate.
So how am I supposed to work with my stuck if these methods aren’t going to (necessarily) do it for me?
There’s an element that all three of these traditional methodologies (and yes, I stereotyped like crazy because I’m a horrible person) are missing.
What they’re missing is kindness to yourself.
Destuckification is about the willingness to meet yourself where you are.
Even if where you are in that moment is not being able to get out of bed and do the thing already.
Even if where you are in that moment is not being able to sit with it.
Even if where you are in that moment is not being able to thank your pain for being there to teach you.
And if you can’t meet yourself where you are yet?
You recognize (or remind yourself) that this is okay too. That you’re practicing. That you are allowed to hate it. That you can take your time getting to the point where you’ll be able to implement some concept that you’ve learned.
Bottom line.
You don’t have to listen to me.
If any of the methodologies I’ve talked about are what’s working for you right now, then I’m totally not going to tell you to stop doing it. Heaven forbid. Tfu tfu tfu.
I’m just pointing out that as a long-term strategy, it may cause some problems later on.
But if you are interested going deeper into the practice of destuckifying, we’re going to be talking here about what that means.
About having a conscious, active, intentional relationship with yourself. About what happens when you’re allowed to drop all the shoulds.
Including the ones that say you should be able to push through it. And the ones that say you should be able to sit with it. And the ones that say you should be more grateful.
So that you can give yourself permission to not have to be there yet.
So that you can find out what you need right now. And find ways to give it to yourself. Or at least get better at being eventually ready to receive it.
FIN
EDIT: HERE’S THE CAVEAT
I’m moving this bit (that I published seconds after the post went live) over from the comments since some people missed it.
Gah! Caveat!
Ha. I was just having a discussion about this with my gentleman friend and realized there’s an important bit I left out in this already long post.
It’s important to remember that any of these methodologies can be used with great effect by people who are no longer beginners at all this destuckifying stuff.
For example, my teacher is the most disciplined person I know (methodology #1). But that’s because he has so internalized all this “learning to practice kindness” stuff that he processes it automatically and goes straight to doing the thing without any guilt or pushing.
Or my wonderful friend Janet Bailey from Mindful Time Management. Janet has years and years of meditation experience, so when she says she’s going to “just sit with” something she’s feeling (methodology #2), that’s not forced.
It’s very comfortable and loving for her. And that’s awesome. It’s the advanced practice. Without the shoulds.
Or my wonderful friend Hiro Boga (the Flourishing Muse). She is completely capable of viewing hardships as blessings (methodology #3). I’ve seen her do it. Because she’s already there.
She’s already doing the deep internal clearing and processing that allows her to get to the place where she can truly see the good in something.
So in all of these cases, you might use these methodologies as an advanced practice with good effect. It’s just that I would not recommend any of these things for beginners.
And definitely not to the people writing me with things like “aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! stuck-stuck-stuck-stuck-stuck!”. Not for them. But as methodologies? They can totally be used for good.
Hope that helps. 🙂
Item! It is definitely Wednesday again!
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. Way too much stuff to link to.
I actually had to cut out a few bits to not completely overwhelm you.
It’s not my fault I know so many smart, interesting people who constantly seem to be thinking about (and writing about) smart, interesting things. Oh, alas, woe is me, etc.
*faints delicately on the daybed*
But if it’s all too much, you can just hang out with me in the comments bit and we can talk about typefaces and grandmothers and whatever else comes to mind.
Also, I include links to Twitter handles too, when I can. If you’re not a fellow Twitterite, here’s my post about why it’s so great.
Item! Post No. 19 in a semi-ongoing series that lets me not be all deep and meaningful for one day a week.
Item! Watch out for the grandmas!
I love Sparky Firepants. I love his illustrations and really, I love everything about him.
And even though I know his real name (David Billings!) and have met him in person (hi, Mr. Pants!), I insist on calling him Mr. Pants.
Because really, with a name like that, how can you not use it?
Anyway, he left what might be the best comment in the history of comments on my Friday Chicken a couple weeks ago.
About his grandmas being constantly in his head. Since mine try to do the same thing (yes, will write about that someday too), I totally identify with this.
Anyway, I bullied him into writing more. Actually, he was probably going to do it anyway. It’s really, really good.
Grandma Dolores is the “Everything you do is art” voice.
Grandma Kernik is the “Are you sure you won’t get trampled by elephants?” voice.
Grandma K: I’ve heard that plastic absorbed through the scalp causes premature baldness. Do you think that’s what happened?
Grandma D: Well, I think you look very distinguished with that shaved head. Like a teacher.
The post is called The grandmas weigh in, and you absolutely have to read it because it’s brilliant.
He’s @sparkyfirepants on Twitter.
Item! Speaking of me making people write posts …!
I’ve been going on and on about how the brilliant (and fellow goofball!) Cairene has been helping me restructure my business so that it works better for me and is more fun for me and lets me be a pirate queen.
She’s really helped me understand what a difference it makes when I let the rest of my pirate crew know how I like to receive information, and why I need it in the form that I need it in.
So … I like to deal with all travel/itinerary things at the same time. The people setting things up for me like to group them by event (here’s where you’re teaching in Taos, here’s North Carolina) when they share information with me. Now it happens my way, because I’m the pirate queen.
It’s not that my way is better. It’s just that it’s better for me and if I’m going to be figuring out where this ship needs to go, my clear-headedness needs to be top priority.
I learned that from Cairene and it is changing my freaking life.
And with her help I’ve realized that ohhhhhh, I prefer a few buckets with lots of things in them to many buckets with a few things in them. Symbolic buckets, yes?
Anyway, she wrote a super useful post about how it’s not you, it’s your systems — that you should read.
And she’s teaching a course on this systems stuff really soon. I’m taking it too because I am just soaking up whatever she gives me. Because it’s that great.
She’s @thirdhandworks on Twitter.
Item! Yarn Sprites!
This got me extra excited for some reason.
Who doesn’t want a Yarn Sprite?! Just look at her. Yarn sprites!
They’re from Endless Knot on Etsy (yay, Etsy!) and I heard about them via our own Twitching Grey.
Read this delicious post about how she (Twitching Grey) transformed her work space, with the help of Jen Hofmann (yes, the same Jen Hofmann I’m always telling you about). The pictures are AMAZING.
Twitching Grey is @twitchinggrey on Twitter. Jen is @inspiredjen.
Item! Gah! I got linked to by Arutz Sheva!!!
Okay, this one won’t interest anyone who isn’t Israeli, but honestly, the last thing I expected to see in my incoming links was something from the Israeli Channel 7 news.
It’s a boring article. The link is completely random. The whole thing could not be more surreal.
But the crazy part is that the article itself was about Avri Gilad (and I used to have the biggest schoolgirl crush on him and would blush uncontrollably when he was on television (which was pretty much all the time), and then my husband and everyone else I knew would make fun of me mercilessly).
Trippy.
Item! Two things for typophiles!
Despite my occasional rantiness, I must say that I’m not really a typographical fascist. I just play one on the internet just spend a lot of time (cough, understatement) with designers and appreciate their mishigas.
So if you are a typeface fetishist or really just someone who enjoys visual anything, I give you:
1. A delightful carrying case for an ampersand.
and
2. Oh god more ampersands but this is just so cool you have to look at it.
I can’t remember how I got to either of those, but of course probably through Twitter.
That is all.
Happy reading.
And happy Blustery Windsday. See you tomorrow.