The Whole World In Your Hands

Ashley Bryan has beautifully illustrated three spirituals in Let It Shine. The colors are so vibrant. The jacket says it's for ages 4-8, but my 2.5 girl loves it. I do too.

To Be Heard

That's what we lawyers say when the judge calls a case name in court. We stand up and say, "To be heard." I really struggle with whether or not anyone is ever heard and whether I am hearing the things that will be most pivotal in my life. Am I listening enough?

Looking for Terra Naomi performances to figure out which album to get, I found this young musician covering her and was just blown away. Amazing. Her cover of This is the First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes is great too (and recorded in what appears to be her garage).



Someone give this girl a record deal. I love the posters on her wall and her seriousness and the fact that she closes the door before broadcasting to millions. I love that the ceiling fan is on and that she runs her own camera. But mostly, I love that she puts it out there as honestly and purely as possible. They teach you not to do that - little too loud - too smart - too strong - girls are not supposed to be. I love this because it is so full of everything that it is to be a girl in a time of contradicting expectations. Don't listen to them Meghan. Don't lose that. Be heard.

As an aside, I wish they sold this Terra Naomi cover of Sublime's Santeria, but it's only available on Youtube. She writes this was recorded in their hotel in Castlebar Ireland after a show. Enjoy.

Date Night Discoveries

I found the coolest, inspiring stationary from this neat company




and discovered a new-to-me writer, Tessa Hadley. I am really enjoying her book Sunstroke & Other Stories, but she has written several books getting attention including The Master Bedroom reviewed here . A quick search led me to this great interview with her about mothers who write.

A few quotes from that interview worth mentioning:

How old were your children when you started to write?

"Even when they were very young, writing was such a wonderful thing it kept me alive. Some aspects of motherhood -- especially very young babyhood -- can be so difficult, but I found if I could have three hours a day to step into this other world, it kept me going and I could enjoy my children. In that way, writing helped me be a better mother because I could escape for three hours and then go back to other things with real pleasure. With my second child, I had a "child minder" which felt very greedy, but that was my time. I couldn't justify it, but it was crucial."

From a practical standpoint, how has being a mother affected your writing?

"The topics I write about are hugely affected by motherhood. Since my life from age twenty-three through my thirties was completely taken up by motherhood, all of my ingenuity and interest have been focused on that. It's the challenge of trying to capture in writing the essence of women juggling home and work, women with babies, sexuality and young mothers, the division of labor -- that's been my story, and that's what I know about."

Any other thoughts on how being a mother has influenced you as a writer?

Click here for ordering information.

"A.S. Byatt has talked about women developing later as writers, and how maturity and motherhood are sort of a backwards route to writing. That was true for me. Although I look back now and know I was not that happy with writing in secret and being rejected by publishers, I'm glad I had that time. It was almost as if I needed a period of privacy and solitude to develop. It was a plus and a minus, but I wouldn't exchange being at home for those years." Tessa Hadley





And I packed my new finds home in this cracker jack:



Envirosax-
This bag rolls up like an umbrella cover into the size of travel Kleenex, perfect for your purse, to have any time you purchase anything. We have been using larger green bags for groceries, but this works for everything else, comes in great patterns and retails for about $7 bucks.

Potpourri Continued

I was thinking about some old Trisha Yearwood lyrics this morning, "Don't even want a drink. Give me some chocolate and a magazine..." Truely. Few things rival.

I hope that all of you are blessed with one moment a week that is yours - just yours. I'm still working on it. I am thrilled that substantial house cleaning cannot go on in the cottage while my daughter is asleep. This blog would never exist, I would never edit photographs, or bill any time outside of my office if the house was big enough that it wouldn't wake her for me to clean. I look around and there are a million things that I should be doing right now, but it is supposed to be quiet in the house, and that necessity forces me to take some time. This is a great gift to me.



Why is it that we can't just be without guilt that we should be doing something else, absent extraneous factors forcing us to take a breather? I personally put too many contradictory expectations on myself. If you can find a moment, I recommend spending it in one of these super cozy jackets:

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with a packet of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate in your coffee and some magazines. Speaking of which, did you hear that Blueprint will not be printing regularly anymore? This is the last issue for a while:


However, their blog, bluelines, is asking for reader feedback. Victoria is back, but the jury is still deliberating on whether it has the same charm as the last run.

Flickr Favorites: Inspiring Images

Click on the image to enlarge


See more of these amazing photographers at Flickr.com or here:
1. Card catalog., 2. Felt Mushroom Cottages, 3. Devotion, 4. new love, 5. Wednesday breakfast, 6. you are one with the burden of lost dreams, 7. Afternoon tea @ St. Mark's Square, Venice, 8. first day of winter, 9. llibreria - bookstore - Amsterdam, 10. Hydrangea Still Life 2, 11. Tell me the truth about Love, 12. Gelato, 13. 20060516 P5165407 Italian icecream (gelato) shop, Florence, Italy, 14. Tea & Tintin, 15. colorbands2, 16. tips, 17. new book, new mug, new yarn, 18. Pearly, 19. Vintage Pink Royal Typewriter Ad, 20. visions of Gracie danced in her head, 21. ballet class, 22. a slow morning at the beach, 23. Kawaii Kitchen, 24. The Tea Cubby, 25. realism, 26. green tea, lavender, and honey cupcake bombe, 27. cherry-vanilla cupcakes, 28. basil cream filled cupcakes with raspberry mousse frosting, 29. cupcakes, 30. scooping frosting

You can search for images by any description. I looked for photos tagged books, gelato, sails, tea rooms, coffee, prayer beads, lily pads, cafes, pubs, rivers, typewriters, pearls and so on.

Many of the photographers are not pros. Just like you and me, they are capturing moments in their lives, things they want to share.
**I made this mosaic using Big Huge Labs mosaic maker.

I have so much to tell you...

I have a log-jam of things I have been meaning to blog about, so here they are in no particular order:

On a recent trip to Chicago, my daughter and I shared a table at Corner Bakery with the sweetest couple and their 10-year-old twins from St. Paul, MN. Lovely lovely people who gave us great tips about the many museums and sites. But what was most enchanting to me was their story of how they arrived for the holidays. The day after Christmas, they boarded an Amtrak train at 8:00 a.m., and as the mom described, "snow was falling and we read books, had snacks, and took naps, the train went by the lake" and at 4:00 p.m., they were in Chicago ready to take a swim in the 1920's art deco style pool at the Intercontinental Hotel. Doesn't that sound magical?



The girls were planning to make scrapbooks of their adventures from their photos. It was a daydream just to chat with them.

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Grazie mille to the kindest readers in the universe who donated to the the Salvation Army Christmas morning Pajama Project. I am overcome with gratitude. Special thanks to American Apparel for their generous donation as well. Please visit Etsy stores for Faye Christian Phillips and Robin's Egg Pink. They each donated to this wonderful cause! (And, 10% of Faye's proceeds benefit the Kelly Autism Program.)

The little ones were SO excited on Christmas morning and didn't have to use their toy tickets for PJs. Because of your generous donation, every child, most of whom live in shelters, got to choose PJs in addition to their toys and toiletries.

I saw one little guy picking out clothes for his little brother before he ever looked at the Buzz Lightyears or Transformers. What's most amazing about your gift is that it gave children a sense of pride: that they deserve something brand new, in a ribbon, with the tags still on, just for them and in their size. You gave them something warm and clean to sleep in that is theirs, even if they aren't at home, and sent a clear message that they matter.


Because of you, I felt like this. My heart grew three sizes. As my daughter says, "My heart so full." I thank you.

A Thoughtful Spot

Watch any of the sold-out TED conference presentations online here for endless inspiration. The annual conference began devoted to technology, engineering and design in 1984.

The scope of topics has expanded, but the conference continues to bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

Listen to Isabel Allende on Passion or Malcom Gladwell on What We Can Learn from Spaghetti Sauce or Lakshmi Pratury on The Lost Art of Letter Writing. It's like dropping in on a great dinner party.

All of the speakers seem to have one underlying theme: the future is limitless.

Bedside Table Fodder

This lovely image is from a new-to-me favorite blog devoted to finding and recommending good books. Stop by before cashing in the bookstore gift cards for some thoughtful recommendations that might not otherwise be on your radar.

Pages For You

I begin each year with new music, blank pages, and more stories in my head than I can get on a page.

I've noticed my daughter always starts drawing on a completely blank sheet. If there is even one stray mark on a page when she finds it, she turns the page: clean, fresh paper for her little fingers to transform. Both of her grandmothers are painters and I'm always interested to watch her put colors together. No two drawings are the same.

My husband said of someone the other day, "he just needs to be given permission to be someone different than who he has been in the past." Damn. He's so so right.

We all need that.

Permission to change. To heal. To be better or just different. To find pages without stray marks. To decide which colors to use and where the center will be.

Happy New Journal. New Journey. New Year.