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Sunday Secrets
17 hours ago
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Ann Patchett is Awesome
Thank you to Myfanwy Collins for pointing this clip out.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Bits and Bobs
- This morning I was lying in bed waiting for the alarm to go off. Then I remembered that it was Monday, a holiday, not Tuesday. I drifted back to sleep only to wake up a while later and go through the whole it's-not-Tuesday-it's-Monday thing again. After one more cycle, I realized that no, this is Sunday. I feel like I've gotten a bonus day!
- For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage - An interesting look at a cultural shift and the economic/social factors behind it, using a town near where I went to college as an example.
- The Naked Face Project - Two women going sixty days without beauty products or shaving to find out why they really engage in beauty rituals and to become "more intentional in our actions." I love this idea. I wear very little makeup, and usually only on days when I'm teaching, but I engage in a lot of other primping and I'm honestly not sure I could go sixty days (or even a week!) without, say, shaving my legs. And I never leave home without earrings on. Why? My first answer is that I'm more comfortable with nice hair, smooth skin, and jewelry. But why am I more comfortable? What is behind that feeling? I'm not prepared to go sixty days without to discover the answer, but I applaud these two women for doing so.
- For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage - An interesting look at a cultural shift and the economic/social factors behind it, using a town near where I went to college as an example.
- The Naked Face Project - Two women going sixty days without beauty products or shaving to find out why they really engage in beauty rituals and to become "more intentional in our actions." I love this idea. I wear very little makeup, and usually only on days when I'm teaching, but I engage in a lot of other primping and I'm honestly not sure I could go sixty days (or even a week!) without, say, shaving my legs. And I never leave home without earrings on. Why? My first answer is that I'm more comfortable with nice hair, smooth skin, and jewelry. But why am I more comfortable? What is behind that feeling? I'm not prepared to go sixty days without to discover the answer, but I applaud these two women for doing so.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Counting Down: The Small Stuff (That's Really Big)
A little more than five months to go until the wedding. The venue, the celebrant, the florist, the cake maker, the dress, the honeymoon destination were all picked a long time ago. We got so much done in the beginning that over the past couple of months, we kind of forgot. We became busy with other things, like the rest of our lives. Time passed. Then one day I looked at my Ultimate Wedding Checklist and realized that - ack! - we had stuff to do.
What's left? The little stuff that's actually really, really important. Like ordering invitations and choosing wedding shoes and picking dates for the bridal shower and bachelorette party.
Like filling out the questionnaires from our photographer and celebrant. I spent two hours this morning answering questions like "When did you first fall in love? How did you know?" and "When do you or did you feel closest to your partner?" and "What do you hold sacred?"
These questions are a lot harder to answer than they might first appear to be. I'm enjoying thinking - really thinking - about Eric, our relationship, myself. I'm remembering small moments when we first started dating that signified the greater things to come. It's strange to think that there was a time before we knew our future was certain, even stranger to think that there was a time before we knew each other. Yet I need to remember, so that I can be grateful for our life together now.
Still ahead: writing our personal vows. Nothing I've written - or will write - will ever be so important. I'm going to have to allow myself a lot of time to tackle this one.
What's left? The little stuff that's actually really, really important. Like ordering invitations and choosing wedding shoes and picking dates for the bridal shower and bachelorette party.
Like filling out the questionnaires from our photographer and celebrant. I spent two hours this morning answering questions like "When did you first fall in love? How did you know?" and "When do you or did you feel closest to your partner?" and "What do you hold sacred?"
These questions are a lot harder to answer than they might first appear to be. I'm enjoying thinking - really thinking - about Eric, our relationship, myself. I'm remembering small moments when we first started dating that signified the greater things to come. It's strange to think that there was a time before we knew our future was certain, even stranger to think that there was a time before we knew each other. Yet I need to remember, so that I can be grateful for our life together now.
Still ahead: writing our personal vows. Nothing I've written - or will write - will ever be so important. I'm going to have to allow myself a lot of time to tackle this one.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Early Bird
The fiance and I recently shifted to an earlier schedule. With his new job, we have to wake up at 6am if we want to fit the gym in before work. Even on non-gym days, we find ourselves waking up naturally by 6. Like today, for example. Saturday, when we have nowhere we have to be.
I'm loving it.
A few months ago, the New York Times ran a quiz to see if you were a morning person or a night person. Predictably, I came out as a "morning lark," whereas the fiance was definitely a night creature. What I found most interesting was the question about waking up hungry. I wake up starving, but at night I'm not very hungry at all. The fiance is the exact opposite. Obviously, our bodies are processing in different ways.
He's adjusted surprisingly well to our new schedule. Meanwhile, I've been waking up with boundless energy. I wonder how much is nature and how much nurture. My parents were both morning people, and I was raised in a household that was "early to bed, early to rise." Either way I have instilled in me the value of early morning stillness, the beauty of savoring that first cup of tea of the day.
I'm loving it.
A few months ago, the New York Times ran a quiz to see if you were a morning person or a night person. Predictably, I came out as a "morning lark," whereas the fiance was definitely a night creature. What I found most interesting was the question about waking up hungry. I wake up starving, but at night I'm not very hungry at all. The fiance is the exact opposite. Obviously, our bodies are processing in different ways.
He's adjusted surprisingly well to our new schedule. Meanwhile, I've been waking up with boundless energy. I wonder how much is nature and how much nurture. My parents were both morning people, and I was raised in a household that was "early to bed, early to rise." Either way I have instilled in me the value of early morning stillness, the beauty of savoring that first cup of tea of the day.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Our Endangered Ecosystem
Monday, January 30, 2012
Beware Straunge Ynkehorne Termes
From The Language Wars: A History of Proper English by Henry Hitchings:
"Thomas Wilson's The Arte of Rhetorique (1553) disapprovingly mentions 'straunge ynkehorne termes,' and for roughly half a century a writer who spattered his text with novelties was likely to be told his work reeked of the inkhorn - a vessel used for carrying ink, a little horn of plenty that became a symbol of authorial self-indulgence."
I love this! We need to bring "inkhorn" back.
"Thomas Wilson's The Arte of Rhetorique (1553) disapprovingly mentions 'straunge ynkehorne termes,' and for roughly half a century a writer who spattered his text with novelties was likely to be told his work reeked of the inkhorn - a vessel used for carrying ink, a little horn of plenty that became a symbol of authorial self-indulgence."
I love this! We need to bring "inkhorn" back.
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