Category: All (-ish)

A carrot.

I know you are out there reading, some of you. I know that some of you read regularly. I know that not all of you are Sara and my mother. But you never comment. You may not have a blog, so you might not know that comments are kind of like crack. Once you get one, you want so many more. So don’t be shy. Comment away.

Maybe you don’t have anything to say, and that’s totally fine. But I’m guessing when you read a post, you think to yourself, “Interesting,” or “I never knew that.” or “What?” or “She spelled “reclaimed” wrong and wrote “of” when she meant “all” and she incorrectly uses quotes within quotes.” Just take a second and throw that thought into the comment page.

Before I had a blog, I never commented. I was a bit shy and it felt weird putting my thought up there. I was worried I wouldn’t spell something right or didn’t have anything profound to say. Now I just comment as a matter of course, on almost every single post I read, especially if I am personally acquainted with the person who is blogging. You may not want to comment on every post, but once in awhile would be nice. I would love it so much.

I would love it so much that I’m starting an incentive program. The first five people who comment on this post and say something–anything–about any of the previous posts on this blog will get a little something homemade by me in their mailbox. If this is successful in the future I will embed prizes in blog posts. Or, random posts with more than just a Sara comment will get prizes. Don’t be shy. Comment today.

p.s. Matt Johnston is exempt from this program. I know he doesn’t read this blog (which I find a small failing in the boyfriend department) but I have a feeling if I tell him I am doing this he will wander over and comment. Nice try, Matt. You might want to read regularly.

Three sentence movie reviews–Enchanted.

Just as Jim Carrey was the person to play a live action cartoon character in The Mask, so is Amy Adams the actress to play a fairy tale character transported to New York City. Enchanted was so enchanting, I walked out of the theater without my purse. Though I am disturbed at the trend of the soon-to-be-cast-aside-girlfriends having thick black eyebrows.

North River: a novel. Pete Hamill

Delaney is a neighborhood doctor during the depression, struggling to make ends meet in a time when people have no money to pay the doctor. One spring morning he arrives home to find his estranged daughter has left his three-year-old grandson on his doorstep while she runs off to try and find the boy’s father. Coping with the arrival of his grandson changes his life.

I’ve liked every book I’ve read by Pete Hamill and this was no exception. Delaney was a terribly sympathetic and likable main character and Hamill injects humor and warmth into his story while supplying an underlying tension that kept me reading. This was a book I kept putting down as I got closer to the final pages, because I didn’t really want to finish it.

Good advice.

Charles Veley is some rich dot-com guy that travels all the time. He is featured on www.mosttraveledpeople.com. I read an interview with him in the Oregonian and was struck by the genus of the answer to this question.

Q: Do you plan ahead or wing it?

A: Plan as if you need to schedule every waking minute, and then, once you get there, set aside the plan. By doing all the planning as if you had control over all aspects of your trip (which you do not) you’ll have enough knowledge to make good decisions when things start going haywire (which they will.)

I’ve never minutely planned everything, or even very much, for a trip because I didn’t want to turn into the anal, planned-every-minute girl. But because I don’t plan every minute, I often have no idea of what I could be doing while on the trip. This seems a great combination. Go Charles Veley. I guess dot-com millionaires are good for something after all.

Lint Wrap Up.

Well, the season of Lent is over and I think it is time to call and end to my season of Lint. I was going to extend the Lint project through orthodox lent, but I’ve decided not to as I am busy with the garden and other projects and a soon-to-start class.

I went great guns at the beginning, but the last few weeks tapered off into nothing. I started Parkour classes and those take up five hours of my Saturday with which I would otherwise have been doing Lint things. I accomplished some good things in that time:

  • Divided my closet into summer and winter wardrobes.
  • Donated all clothing that I didn’t like
  • Realized how few clothing items I love
  • Explored some new consignment stores and reacquainted myself with some old favorites.
  • Bought eight items of clothing and accessories.
  • Tried on 30 pairs of pants. Found one that fit.
  • Read a lot about style and wardrobe assembly
  • Learned a handy trick for checking pants to try on.
  • Realized I need to shop constantly, not just twice a year.

And so, with that last realization, the lint project lives on. I’m going to try to go shopping at least every other week until I get to a point in my wardrobe that I feel like I have enough. I’ll most likely go to the Goodwill store on the way home from church, but I could also regularly visit two clothing resale places that are near my job. I’m still on the lookout for pants that fit and still really need new tops. When I find new items I’ll post them here.

Were you wondering what 130 people in the Portland area named their children 4-5 years ago?

I can tell you:

Zachary, Samuel John, Anna Elena, Miles Lincoln, Connor, Wren, M. Mackenzie, Sage Aradia, Sorrell, JanCarlos, Jamison, Ava, Nigel, John Alan, Karynne, August “Gus”, Maggie, Hyden, Krisandra, Oscar Matthew, Milo, Porter Jay, Elijah,Samuel, Jackson, Silas, Eleni, Alejandra, Leah, Ace, Carson E., Pasha, Mariella, Hazel, Sullivan, Ten, Cleo, Arden, Zoe M., Valen, Mason, Jackson Lee, Tuesday Louise, Carte, Jasper, Olivia, Gabriel, Violet, Maha Hanna, Zoe, Delilah Rose, Skyler, Rhionne, C.T., Jasper “Jack”, Tapley, Alexandra, Madeline, Mia, Grace, Kassia, Karla, Hazel, Coen, Elawyn L., Natalie, Uma, Ezra A., Benjamin, Alexandra, Tobias, Cole, Aidan, Selah, Edme, Isabella, Ezra, David,Maya, Alice, Hudson, Joseph Dodge, Chiara, Dhruva Krishna, Rachel, Orion, Sam, Nicolas, Zoe, Zora, Lily, Nora, Evan, Lucy, Landon, Maya, Molly Donyale, Phoenix, Aiden Theo, Simona, Joran, Justice, Alec, Emmett, Jasmine Nicole, Rose Helen, Coleman, Tenzin, Jackson Green, Max, Lily Ann Mason, Colin Foley, Zachary W., Isabella, Charlie, Lucian, Umoya, Jibril, Anika Jaz, Helena Rose, Nicholas Richard, Jeremy Palmer, Ukiah, Ira “Bird”, Lyla R., Jude, Cole “Spike”, Prashant, Milena R., Gabriel, Soren, Clara D. C., Isaac, Brendon

Resolution 2008 Update. Letters written March 11-20.

Mid-month saw the arrival of my Letter Exchange magazine and provided relief from poor Sara who would probably get a letter every other day if I hadn’t found discovered this great source. She would like the letter getting, but then feel guilty when she didn’t respond promptly, which I’ve told her isn’t a huge deal as she certainly hasn’t resolved to write a letter a day, but you know how she is. When I wrote a letter to a LEX member, I’ve included what they wrote in their listing.

  • March 11. Sara. Letter.
  • March 12. Sara. Letter.
  • Letter back! Nestor Ramos.
  • March 13. LEX Letter. Do you blog? Where? What about?
  • March 14. LEX Letter. Charm bracelets. Tell me the story behind your favorite charm. If you don’t have one pretend you do and tell me the fictional version of your favorite charm.
  • March 15. LEX Letter. 1.5 miles from an empty mailbox.
  • March 16. Jenna. Letter.
  • March 17. LEX Letter. Let’s write topic letters. Simple start: five favorite T.V. shoes and why. Initially, no politics or religion. Your topic next.
  • March 18. LEX Letter. College student living in Savannah, Ga. Send me your tips on surviving college life.
  • March 19. None. Bad mood.
  • March 20. LEX Letter. Thirtysomething writer looking for a penpal who can be supportive like the perfect bra in a world where gravity wins.

Nestor Ramos is my movie review boyfriend, as I think I’ve mentioned before. I enjoy him because he is very funny, as his letter back proved. An excerpt:

Thanks for writing! Always nice to hear from someone who enjoys my work. Actually, you’re the first. But I imagine the second will be pretty nice too. Mostly I just get mail from people who are upset because I’ve mocked some movie in which they were an extra. The time I said Cher was built from wax and car parts, some lady offered to spit on my grave.

I sent off a big packet of five letters to the letter exchange on March 19. It will be interesting to see if I get any letters back. It’s a little weird writing letters to people you don’t know. But I excel at blathering on both on and off topic, so it isn’t too bad. I really need to work on my handwriting. I hope people can read my blathering. Perhaps I should have had a year of resolving to write neatly before my year of letter writing.

Do you want to write to any of the LEX Letter people? Tell me by posting a comment and I’ll tell you how you can, even without being a member of LEX. Though you should be a member of LEX. It’s very fun.