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{this moment} – A Friday ritual (joining Soulemama.) A single photo – no words – capturing a moment (2005.)
{This Moment} Looking Back NYC
27 Friday Jan 2012
Posted in With Friends
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Biking in the Rain in January
25 Wednesday Jan 2012
Posted in Bike Life
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It’s funny, the very things I expected to dislike about city cycling, or at least find uncomfortable, have turned out to instead number among my favorites. For example, biking in the rain (bonus: doing it in January.)
When I first started bike commuting, I avoided riding in the rain. I mean, who wants to be wet? And cold? Wet and cold on the crowded Boston streets, tires kicking up grime, cars honking and driving too close. That swishing sound as they slosh past. On one of my first rides, I recall whining to a friend whose house I was departing and his expression of sympathy. At the, I remember thinking, crossly, whatever! He doesn’t care!
And then I got out there on the SouthWest Corridor, my tires singing that low, splashy song. Everything smelling a bit brighter. I noticed the pretty little spray created by my front and wear wheels. I realized that I practically had the path, the city, to myself. And I experienced an attitude adjustment (like what the teachers warn about in middle school.)
Truth be told, I don’t love all the rainy days -and sleet just plain hurts! But if it’s a mild January evening and I’m heading out for that six-mile stretch from Cambridge to Jamaica Plain, sure. Get a little magic of the clean, quiet city along the way . . . I’m down for the ride.
Admittedly, this is me in my summer gear . . .
Quiet Moments With Friends
23 Monday Jan 2012
Posted in With Friends
It’s fairly safe to say that moving to Boston for college exploded my social circle by probably two hundred percent! I was not a complete loner in my younger years -I had my family, pets, a few close school companions (including my now partner,) and a collection of friendly co-workers. If you flashed a quick light on my life, you’d catch more glimpses of tea and books than tea and conversation.
In college, it was firmly confirmed that companions are for conversation. Unless it was finals week, people didn’t just get together and quietly read -or write, or knit, or eat, or anything! Silence was for watching movies (maybe,) for sleepily trudging past one another in the bathroom, and little else.
My post college years have followed the same pattern: people get together and talk. That’s okay -I’m the first to offer a quirky observation, to sing a few lines of song, to exclaim over a victory or an injustice. Once in a rare while though, I am treated to a moment like last Monday’s, where my breakfast companion and I found ourselves briefly in silent enjoyment of the treasure of each other’s company and the meal we made.
And when that happens, I think: this is lovely, this is good.
{This Moment} Joanna’s Gummies
20 Friday Jan 2012
Posted in With Friends
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{this moment} – A Friday ritual (joining Soulemama.) A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
The Creation/Consumption Smack Down
18 Wednesday Jan 2012
Posted in Learnin'
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In my existential inner life, I fight a constant battle with consuming. What I previously had a hard time putting to words has recently become clear: when I get the urge to create something, I also immediately want to run to the store.
One day, strolling down some quiet street in JP (I get a lot of thinking done while traveling from one occupation to another), the concept popped into my head fully formed: It’s a battle of creation versus consumption!
And it’s interesting, isn’t it, how consumption disallows creation? For example, if I want to start a new knitting project, the time it takes to go to the store, purchase the supplies, and then return home completely eats up the time in my day that I would otherwise have spent going through my own (overflowing) supplies and actually getting started.
“But,” you say, “Isn’t it inspiring to wander the isles at the craft store, inspecting the newest inventions in crafty-ness, admiring the skill of yarn/pattern/fabric-makers, etc.?”
Sure it is. Visiting my local yarn shop -the act of opening the glass door, sniffing the scents of new, clean wool and cottons, flipping the glossy, colorful pages of craft books I’ll never purchase- can get me in the mood to buckle down and create! But I never accomplish this in the actual store. Instead, I arrive home and the laundry calls, the cat wants pets, my partner starts to discuss the latest book he’s been listening to on his iPod, I remember that I need to return my mother’s call. Time continues its incessant flow, and the time I could have put to making something has already joined the river.
So I’ve invoked a creation versus consumption smackdown. At this time, there is no clear advantage to either side (especially with having two new craft shops opened near my home and work), but I’ll catch you up on how things are progressing!
Five Month Anniversary
16 Monday Jan 2012
Posted in Bike Life, Bloggin Noggin, Boston Moments, Green Life, Learnin', With Friends
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I am five month’s happy with Whole Heart Local and, to celebrate, I’ve compiled a list of five favorite posts from 2011.
If you would like to celebrate with me, please post in the comments YOUR favorite post (or five) from your own blog!
Celebrating the elements: http://wholeheartlocal.com/2011/12/22/winter-mornings-jersey-vs-boston/
Daily richness and beauty: http://wholeheartlocal.com/2011/12/08/weekend-wonder/
Growth from opposition: http://wholeheartlocal.com/2011/09/21/wrath-on-the-bike-path/
Cherished time with friends: http://wholeheartlocal.com/2011/10/13/whole-heart-vermont/
Hanging with the gents at City Feed:
http://wholeheartlocal.com/2011/10/08/this-moment-city-feed-supply-jp/
{This Moment} With The Boys
13 Friday Jan 2012
Posted in Boston Moments
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A Friday ritual (joining Soulemama.) Single photo – no words (not that words could explain, anyway!)
An Open Letter To My Sewing Machine
11 Wednesday Jan 2012
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Dear Baby Lock,
There are times I think you hate me. There are times when I feel thankful for your considerable weight. Moments when the scent of your oiled mechanism, when I open the door to untangle stubborn thread from the cage that encircles your bobbin, is so potent yet so welcome.
The story of how you were acquired is to me cherished family mythology: my mother, driving, was once struck by another car. An insurance payment for the damage went not to correct the dent, but instead brought you into our lives. You impressed us with your newness, your computerized components, and our ability to program you, if only we understood how.
You who sewed a winning ice cream sandwich costume.
You who foiled my brother’s attempts to repair leather car seat covers, despite the specially purchased needles.
Who passed semi-frequently from my mother to her sister at rest stops on the New Jersey Garden State Parkway, both of whom would take you home with good intentions, and then accomplish nothing.
You with not a single actual opinion about me -love or hate- but much to say about denim.
We think we can do more with you than we are realistically able, but just having you in our possession inspires us to dream.
Librarytour: Library Love, Counting the Ways
09 Monday Jan 2012
Posted in Librarytour
This past weekend, I had the opportunity (and good fortune) to visit the Field’s Corner branch of the BPL. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery just when I was about to go crazy snapping photos. Fortunately, I enjoyed a ten minute conversation with the children’s department librarian about all-things library: from the politics of funding for branch libraries, to the whys/hows/and why-nots of displaying books, to culling collections, to how children learn.
Our conversation was fascinating, and brought one concept to light for me: I often engage with a library through it’s structure and architectural design not because I like architecture (which I kind of do,) but because it’s a way for me to experience the library beyond just checking out materials.
Put more simply, I’m looking for light, I’m looking for cozy, for the parts of the library that appeal to my kid-self. I’m looking for what would draw my mother, my father -what keeps their particular interest (magazines for Dad, travel DVDs for Mom.) I’m looking for the eating spaces, the opportunities to tuck oneself away for much desired solitude in a busy, people-stuffed life. To the efforts by library staff to tantalize teens: the computers and comics, the clubs and activities. For me, more than books does a library make!
Will the BPL forgive my use of this CPL photo to accompany this post?
Whole Heart Resolute Take Two
06 Friday Jan 2012
Posted in Learnin'
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Ah, ha! As promised, my 2011 resolutions and summarized results:
Resolutions:
- Focus on improving my health, including my co-counseling practice, meditation, “dance therapy,” learning to stretch, and establishing a pre-bed routine -a work in progress. I did a fair amount of dancing (for free even! with people I love!), and learned a few meditation techniques that slipped off me faster than rain down a greased window.
- Be more courageous in my interactions with people; talk less, listen more -another work in progress, though I’m happy with my level of attention to this resolution. “Talk less, listen more” was my mantra for the year.
- Refocus my energy towards writing and craft, including setting up a desk/creative workspace -done! Well, the workspace, anyway. I’m still working on the writing and craftin’ part. Interestingly, film photography sprung up in my life and I’ve tripped along behind like a child to the piper.
- Be more intentional about celebrating my partnership -I suppose you’d have to ask the person at the other end about my progress! I’m quite good at not taking him for granted, but he’s far more skilled at little affections like bringing me flowers and limoncello, or graciously ignoring my rolled eyes at his many jokes and puns.
Goals:
- Sell the novel -nope! However, my writer’s group of a decade has a project under it’s belt that I hope to share very soon.
- Update my resume by spring 2011 -done. Solid, but much too lengthy. Hey! None of us is perfect.
- Visit Seattle with my partner and our friend Barry in spring 2011 -oh, Seattle! Mythical re-location city of my imagination. This was one of those goals I had my doubts about when I set it to paper, insisting that the simple act of writing could summon the same magic that bundled me, despite my lost passport and lack of cash, and set me in Paris one year earlier.
- Collect five new pieces of art or writing created by friends -on my way. Purchased: Underlife by January Gill O’Neil, Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj, and a burnt toast plush by a crafter I admire.
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Now that those are out-of-the-way, stay tuned for Whole Heart Resolve 2012! It’ll knock your socks off. If you have socks. If you want them knocked off.
