Fatboy, January 2007

I am considering myself tagged by my hula girl for the '6 weird things you don't know about me' meme. Because she is spinning right now (and could use some love) and I am a bit slower on the rebound from last week's disappointment than I would have hoped (and could use some love, too). So here goes...

1) I was hit by a car when I was five while walking from kindergarten to my daycare by myself. I was knocked unconscious and received a hairline fracture to the back of my skull. I got to ride in an ambulance to the hospital and missed a week of school. My teacher brought a handmade book to my house with a page in it created by each child in the class. That book is long gone (which makes me sad). And when I tell people this story and they joke and say "Oh so thaaaat's what's wrong with you" I never laugh (even though I probably should).

2) At 19 I dropped out of college to pursue a career working in the music business. I begged my parents to let me keep my car and to give me six months to get a job 'in the industry' otherwise I would have to move home. At the five month mark I was hired as the Receptionist-slash-Video Production Coordinator at A&M Records. And got to keep my car. And found a way to pay rent. And never looked back.

3) I had my baby at home in a big tub of warm water (in Australia). Maybe I already said this on the blog at some point but it is definitely worth repeating. And don't listen to everything you hear about bad birth stories. Mine was beautiful (and yours might be, too).

4) I am amazed when I meet (or read of) a woman who has never had a pedicure before. And it embarrasses me that I am amazed because - duh - there are plenty of people in the world that have never tried things that I consider a vital luxurious thing. I am spoiled with the pedicures and many other little joys in life (but certainly not with everything).

5) I am addicted to the show The First 48. I watch it and forget everything that is going on around me. I do believe I sit forward on the couch while watching and shake my head to 'come back' to the room when it is over. I am amazed at what one human can do to another. And ashamed that I am so fascinated by it and although I say that I should stop watching it - I know I won't.

6) I have become a 'crazy cat lady'. Much to my chagrin. I only have the one. Nicknamed FatBoy (but otherwise known as Rocket) and I love him like crazy. I have tried very hard to be just a nonchalant cat owner/caretaker but if you met him, you'd be the crazy cat lady, too. Or is it really just me...?

Now consider yourself tagged.

_________________________________
I found out yesterday that I did not get the job.

I know - I did not even mention this job on the blog before but I have spent the last two months with my eye on this particular prize. I really believed it would be mine. That it would be great. That it would dissolve all sorts of road blocks in my life.

I do believe wholeheartedly in fate. That each and every thing happens for a reason. I know that there is something else for me. Meant just for me. But yesterday afternoon and this morning I allowed myself to feel the disappointment. Even pout a little and stay in pajamas until lunch time.

Then, to cheer me, my friend Adam sent me the link to this...

...and suddenly, things are so much better.

_________
No pbf for me today.
But that shouldn't stop you.

Happy weekend, all.

Artist of the Week
The Shins

Album of the Week
Wincing the Night Away

Song and Video of the Week
Phantom Limb



Music Story of the Week
I.
Love.
The.
Shins.

The new album was released today. There has been great anticipation brewing (and not just at my house). Not only do the boys deliver with this collection of lovelies, but I will go on record as saying this will be considered one of the best albums released in 2007.

I will waste no more time typing words. Instead I will now lie on the living room floor with headphones on and eyes closed and disappear into their delightful world.

Won't you join me?

We see you over there hula seventy!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to photobooth friday.

My life is certainly richer for these connections.

(it's working!)

________________

more self portrait challenge new years resolutions here.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

challenge:
one month (five tuesdays) of 2007 resolutions in photographic form +
my resolution (to be happy) =

five happys.

front cover

I present to you this year's Winter Mix 2006/7 cd.
I make a stack for my nearest and dearest each year and love every minute of the process.

Here is how it works...
Spend hours and hours sifting through your iTunes to get the right combination of songs together. Then spend several more hours moving the songs around so that all of the segues are as close to perfect as possible. When final decisions have been made, move on to creating the cd sleeve.

Take a photograph that will work with your theme. In my case a shot I got of an old tree in the yard with the moon shining through. Tweak it in Photoshop until you get the feel you really want (i.e. dark, mysterious, a little blurry). Crop to a 6" x 10.5" size and keep in mind that you will lose your edges when you cut and paste the final sleeve. Create text boxes and type in the title and track info and spend way too much time fiddling with font choices and sizes. Email final work to local print shop. Make thirty copies on heavy card stock. Bring home. Crop down using these guidelines.

Invite friends over to drink wine and help you assemble with some strong paper-to-paper glue. Tie with vintage twine and label with care.
Distribute to nearest and dearest with glee.
Listen over and over and over...

back cover/track listing

Questions? Please ask away.

I have so enjoyed going through the self portrait challenges this week to see all of the different resolutions and photographic interpretations of such. There are so many that have inspired me. I also want to thank all of you for the lovely comments! I am humbled and even more staunch in upholding my resolution than ever because of it. :)

I do want to draw special attention to one post in particular, though, as it has had a profound affect on me. Michelle of the blog la vie en rose...a sweet life wrote a beautiful and brave post that starts out light enough but really delves deep into her current funk and the difficulties that parenting can bring to the forefront. Please take the time to read it and absorb it. I do believe that 98% of us have felt just the way she did in this situation at one point in our parenting journey and she has such a beautiful yet visceral way of making the reader feel as if they are right there in that moment with her. It stirred all sorts of feelings up in me and my immediate response to it (in comment form) was...

"I think the best possible thing that I could tell you right now is that I truly believe those dark, crazy, beat-the-dresser moments in parenting are JUST as important as the gentle loving ones. Although they are uncomfortable and certainly less sweet they allow you to scare the juices up in yourself. They come from the same place as "Ok, B-Dog, put on the silliest stuff you can find in the house because I'm gonna too and then we are going to the grocery store to pick out three things that we would never buy on a 'normal' day and then we are gonna sit in the park and eat it all and sing at the top of our lungs together!!!".

Life is full, full, full of the highs and lows and if you made me stick at middle and safe all the time I think I really would go crazy.

Keep the faith, my dear, because you are exactly where you are meant to be in this moment and headed straight for who you are meant to be in this life from every moment here on out."

I wasn't thinking as I was typing that to her - it was just flowing through me. After I finished the comment and posted it the feelings just kept flowing and even washing over me in gentle waves until I became aware that these words I had typed were as much for me as they were to encourage Michelle.

Parenting has not been easy for me. It has been stunning and breathtaking and rewarding on the deepest levels and truly life-affirming. It has also been gut-wrenching and tear-jerking and, yes, visceral for me. When I typed those words above about how sticking safe down the middle would make me crazy I didn't realize how much I really live that belief. Every single day. Until I finally let the light bulb 'tink' on over my head. Let it truly sink in that - this? - this IS living.

Good/bad, luminescent/dank, clear blue water/thick sticky mud - everything in between...

Please bring it all on.

I would not have it any other way.

____________________

So no photobooth friday for me today. Instead a warm happy 'have a wonderful weekend' from me to you and, let's face it, a break from my face on this here blog for a few days!

This month's theme over at Self Portrait Challenge is resolutions and we were wished luck on how to interpret our own personal resolutions in photo form. Sounds pretty hard unless you only made one and it was the following...

1) To Be Happy.

I took this photo on Christmas day. My extended family were all sitting in front of the tv watching some teen movie and dozing on and off. I was going stir crazy. I took my camera out into the cold on a walk. While wearing a polka dotted peasant top, jeans, boots, my brother-in-law's beanie and my brand new tuu-tuu. I say, aqua tulle with red frills? I have always wanted one and my girl Mary indulged me as my gift this year. Damn good start to my resolution if you ask me...and a closer look at my skirt of happiness here...

indeed.