Blatherings

Hall & Joyce Carol Oates' Greatest Hits

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:56:34 -0400

Hall & Joyce Carol Oates' Greatest Hits:

You Make My Dreams (Which Are Filled with the Faint Memory of Us in Those Glorious Sunlit Days, Before Everything Changed Irrevocably)”

“Rich Girl (Will Suffer)”

“Maneater (Begat by Womanbeaters)”

“Private Eyes (Are Judging This Family, I Hear What They Whisper About Us Behind Closed Doors)”

“Out of Touch (On the Brink of Losing Control)”

“Kiss on My List / Kitchen Knife on My List / Blinding Rage on My List / Momentary Loss of Control My List”

“Did It in a Minute (And I Cannot Undo it Ever)”

“I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) (It’s Hopeless)”

(Via McSweeney’s)

Giggled out loud.

slaughterhouse90210: “I do not know what it was about that boy...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:52:00 -0400

slaughterhouse90210:

“I do not know what it was about that boy but just looking at him, even I wanted to clout him on the head. It was a head that invited violence.”
― Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers

I always feel this way about Pete Campbell.

Building your Batterie de Cuisine: Part One | The Kitchen Illiterate

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:12:41 -0400

Building your Batterie de Cuisine: Part One | The Kitchen Illiterate:

Cooking is way better with the right tools. If you’re new to cooking and aren’t sure what you need, I’m here to help.

Inspiration Overload

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:55:18 -0400

I have lately been feeling like I’m drowning in my list of Things I Want to Do. I’ve had this feeling that it’s time to really focus, to start prioritizing my creative life and push myself to accomplish the goals that have always been at the back of my mind. You know, those big, lofty goals that always seem unattainable, like Being a Writer, or Being a Painter.

But I have this lifelong bad habit of feeling like I have to Know All The Things before I can get started on leading the life I really want. You know. It’s classic Librarian syndrome. I have to do all the research. I have to deeply understand design, and also learn Photoshop to within an inch of its life. I have to completely know the depths and breadths of my interests before I feel like it’s ok for me to just do them. Which is silly, and actually prevents me from every just getting starting and Doing Stuff.

Besides my drive to learn everything there is to know, too, I’ve been feeling like my time is squeezed. I do, after all, work a full time job, and I like to go to the gym, and occasionally see friends. And watch tv. Where can I possibly find the time to work on creative endeavors?

So there are two pieces to this puzzle that I’m hoping will help me get past the hurdle of paralysis: First, I WAYYYY pared back the list of blogs I read on a regular basis. I’m addicted to my RSS feeds, and I think I had about 50 or 60 food blogs in my feed (not to mention all the stuff about librarianship and the news and crafting and writing). I decided to take a non-judicious axe to that thing. I kept only the handful of most inspiring blogs in my feed, and I figured I’d find everything else worth reading through other people. It feels really good not to see that daunting number of things I should read every day.

Second, I decided that I need to give up on learning design. That isn’t what I want to do. I can’t focus on the writing and the cooking and the photography if I’m also trying to be a totally amazing designer. I decided it’s time to bite the bullet and pay someone for this work that I can’t do. My brother will be re-designing my site for me, and I can focus on the stuff that really matters.

Here’s hoping that all of this means I can focus, and start spending my time doing the things I want to do, rather than spending all my time trying to learn about everything, and being inspired by other people who are doing the things I really want to do.

Does anyone else have helpful hints for focusing on what really matters and paring out the rest?

textsfromhillaryclinton: Thanks to @CapitolHillKid and...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:08:23 -0400

textsfromhillaryclinton:

Thanks to @CapitolHillKid and @AdamConner for finding the photo.

Original image by Kevin Lamarque for Reuters.

"Ever since puberty, ever since I was 11 or 12, I’ve had cyclical depression. That’s something that..."

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:55:09 -0400

““Ever since puberty, ever since I was 11 or 12, I’ve had cyclical depression. That’s something that has been a defining feature of my life as an adult. It’s manageable. But it’s real. And it doesn’t take away from my joy or my work or my energy, but coping with depression is something that is part of the everyday way that I live and have lived for as long as I can remember. … Depression for me, you can’t distract your way out of it. … When you are depressed, it’s like the rest of the world is the mother ship, and you’re out there on a little pod and your line gets cut and you don’t connect with anything. You sort of disappear. And so it’s not something you can talk-therapy out of. It’s really a chemical thing. You get adrenaline from work, but adrenaline is not a cure.””

- Rachel Maddow on depression (via nprfreshair)

I love this project SO MUCH. And I remember this photo spread...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:16:53 -0400

I love this project SO MUCH. And I remember this photo spread and how much I loved it, too.

I still dream of doing a proper digitization project of Sassy magazine, if anyone could ever figure out who holds copyright.

sassyscans:

From the Sassy Magazine September 1992 issue.

I think this model is absolutely gorgeous. The spread only lists her as ‘Yvonna’.

Don’t Let It Pass You By | Nicolesy

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:40:21 -0400

Don’t Let It Pass You By | Nicolesy:

I was just thinking about the fleeting nature of time this morning, and how I want to be much more conscientious about photographing things in my daily life now. This is a great blog post from a great photographer about remembering to be in the now (and remembering to document it).

Mar 04, 2012 Filoli, a set on Flickr.Another weekend excursion,...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:50:03 -0500

Mar 04, 2012 Filoli, a set on Flickr.

Another weekend excursion, to Filoli. More pictures to share.

Hiking at Tilden, a set on Flickr. We had a very outdoorsy...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:22:00 -0500

Hiking at Tilden, a set on Flickr.

We had a very outdoorsy weekend. Saturday we hiked up Wildcat Peak at Tilden. It was a beautiful day, and it was great to see a part of Tilden other than Lake Anza.

Unfortunately, I discovered something funky with my new lens: When the aperture is shut down, a little black line appears on the left hand side of the images. The line becomes stronger the more the aperture is shut down. I think I need to take it in somewhere to have it checked out.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took up at Tilden. I’m still learning to take outdoor photographs, but I hope these show at least a little how awesome those views are.

Unmade Bed photo assignment

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:18:46 -0500

Unmade Bed photo assignment

Things I love

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:17:51 -0500

In no particular order:

the jasmine smell of California
a hot mug of coffee
my Chucks
new shampoo
grocery stores
my brothers
new books
swimming pools
a glass of wine at the end of the day
fonts
rediscovering the books and movies I loved as a kid
Sean
having dinner with girlfriends
leaving the gym and feeling strong
warm sun on a cool day
menus
cheese
learning
planning
clean sheets and clean dishes
babies
letterpress cards
wool pants and vintage skirts
remembering to feel grateful

Road Trip: Top 10 Healthy Restaurants: Food Cooking : gourmet.com

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:06:17 -0500

Road Trip: Top 10 Healthy Restaurants: Food Cooking : gourmet.com:

I’m in Gourmet Live! They chose my blurb to publish in a feature on healthy restaurants. I’m kind of excited.

A Photo a Day in 2012

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:53:36 -0500

A Photo a Day in 2012:

I decided 2012 is the year when I become a better photographer. To that end, I started a 365 photo project. Thought I’d share it here!

A pretzel from Firebrand, purchased at Bi-Rite on Flickr.We went...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:29:33 -0500

A pretzel from Firebrand, purchased at Bi-Rite on Flickr.

We went to Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco yesterday for lunch and perusing. I’m glad we don’t live closer to this place because I would spend all my money. We bought a pretzel and it was the best soft pretzel I’ve ever had.

A dish of Hoppin John, for good luck in 2012 on Flickr.One of my...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:28:35 -0500

A dish of Hoppin John, for good luck in 2012 on Flickr.

One of my 2012 goals is to take a photo every day this year. I’ll try to remember to share at least one here everyday, too.

And I get chills… thepinakes: Ladies and gentlemen, this...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:00:08 -0500

And I get chills…

thepinakes:

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Republican Party in a nutshell.

4514 Montgomery St, Oakland, CA 94611 | MLS# 40551599

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:34:00 -0500

4514 Montgomery St, Oakland, CA 94611 | MLS# 40551599:

I think I found my dream house. I should stop looking at houses and get to work. Boo.

Doh

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:28:05 -0500

I should not read funny things people send me when I’m on conference calls.

But if you’re not on a conference call, you should read Texts from Bennett.

Holiday Gatherings

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:00:47 -0500

This is the first year that I’ve experienced that fun/stress of having multiple holiday season parties and gatherings to attend, and we’ve decided to add to the fun/stress by throwing one, ourselves. We’ve been talking about having a housewarming party for a few months, plus it’s definitely chili party season, plus holidays, so finally, we sent the invites and started the planning.

And I’m realizing one of the trickiest parts of holiday planning: Inviting co-workers. There are some of my co-workers I feel a little closer to than others. I initially sent invitations to only two of my co-workers, but wondered about inviting a few others. It feels weird to decide among people who, basically, spend all day, every day together. I’m trying not to feel guilty or weird about it, but geez, it feels more complicated than it should. We have a pretty tiny apartment, or I would just invite everyone and assume that not everyone is going to show.

I recognize this isn’t a life changing or even significant problem, but merely a funny holiday season issue. Would you just invite everyone, and assume that not everyone will come?