bee nymph's file box

Note to Self

2010-02-06T22:19:00.003-07:00

When applying for a job:

Always clear things with 3 - 5 personal and professional references, as soon as applying. Even though they aren't required at the beginning. The employer is always going to ask for references. The number and the type may vary but they will always be there. Just accept it.

Send thank you notes/presents to references. After all they are being awesome.

Write down the questions about the job on a piece of paper and take that with me. I will be nervous and I will forget. . . If I don't have questions, make some up. Let them be able to answer some questions.

Look up the employer's website and check it's affiliate sites. Have a question relating to site content so they know that I looked at it thoroughly.

When I mess up, it's okay. Really.

Gratitudes:

I am grateful tomorrow is Sunday. The day of rest and spiritual rejuvenation.
I am grateful the ayurveda and meditation is working so well.
I am grateful all my friends think that the setbacks I find so frustrating are no big deal. Helps me realize that I'm taking myself too seriously.
I am grateful for car chitchat, so much better than just sitting there being taxied.
I am grateful my Mother taught me how to sew. I know, Mother, I didn't want to; I still don't enjoy the process. Still, it is an eminently useful skill.

career advice

2009-12-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

Because of his love for science, Professor Henry Eyring encouraged his sons to major in physics as preparation for a career in science. While President Eyring was studying physics at the University of Utah, he had an exchange with his father that changed his career direction. He asked his father for help with a complex mathematical problem. “My father was at a blackboard we kept in the basement,” President Eyring recalls. “Suddenly he stopped. ‘Hal,’ he said, ‘we were working this same kind of problem a week ago. You don’t seem to understand it any better now than you did then. Haven’t you been working on it?’”

A little chagrined, President Eyring admitted he had not. President Eyring recalls his father’s response: “When I told him no, my father paused. It was really a very tender and poignant moment, because I knew how much he loved me and how much he wanted me to be a scientist. Then he said, ‘Hal, I think you’d better get out of physics. You ought to find something that you love so much that when you don’t have to think about anything, that’s what you think about.’”

H. David Burton, “The Blessing of Work,” Ensign, Dec 2009, 42–46

Quoted From: Gerald N. Lund, “Elder Henry B. Eyring: Molded by ‘Defining Influences’,”Ensign, Sep 1995, 10

right is of no sex

2009-12-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

Without the vote women will be unable to change the laws that treat them unjustly.

All that distinguishes man as an intelligent and accountable being is equally true of woman. And if that government only is just which governs by the free consent of the governed there can be no reason in the world for denying to woman the exercise of the elective franchise. Our doctrine is that right is of no sex.

~Frederick Douglass
as stated on PBS documentary on Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
Seneca Falls Convention of 1848
[other information here]

indoor fresh air

2009-10-30T15:50:00.001-06:00

a magazine "tear out" from the first issue of the online magazine Lonny (pp.166)

fall look book

2009-10-30T14:59:00.001-06:00

How did I not know about Toast? Ah, well, I know now . . . and in my mind's eye these are the looks I'll be sporting this fall & winter season:

Now I just need thick red hair, a beach, tall grass and some mustard yellow tops.

Gratitudes:

I am grateful for my sight.
I am grateful for texture, and the sense of touch.
I am grateful for cold cereal.
I am grateful my internal organs are still internal.
I am grateful for squash.

the walk-a-ways dress

2009-10-29T14:11:00.006-06:00

The Walk-a-Ways Dress by Anthropologie made the rounds in the blog world for good reason - it's a beauty. Unfortunately it looked horrible on me, I even went up a size to no avail. The dress was made for a much shorter torso, or smaller bosom, than mine. However, it did spark some memories of the tee shirt dresses my mother made for myself and my sisters when we were little (and before my "I will not wear dresses" phase). The formula was simple enough: purchase a tee shirt, measure fabric for a gathered circle skirt, hem fabric, gather skirt fabric and attach to bottom of tee shirt. Occasionally, from leftover fabric, my mother also appliqued some simple shapes to the tee shirts. Looking at the walk-a-ways dress with it's silk skirt, I thought "I can make grown-up versions of those tee shirt dresses"; and if I make them for myself, there won't be any bodice length issues. Plus I could do all sorts of different skirts, not just a gathered circle. I love bubble skirts, and pleats are growing on me, lace or different-colored bands are a personal style favorite; empire waist, drop waist, banded waist, natural waist are all possible and all without the sleeve waterloo to slog through. Happiness.
And now, without further ado, some images of the dress that sparked the memories and ideas:

the cheaper look-a-like "Sparkler Dress" by Lulus

And also a few "inspiration" dresses:

fields of gold by anthropologie

autumn check dress by toast

silk faille dress by Lela Rose

(found here whilst looking for images of the Blushing Faille Dress by Anthropologie)

Easton Stripe Skirt by Kate Spade

and, just because it's pretty, the Plaza Jackie Dress by Kate Spade:

a domino breakfast

2009-10-09T14:39:00.001-06:00

menu at a glance

Kedgeree
"Prune" juice
Bangers (large link pork sausages are best!) and mustard
Toast and blood-orange marmalade

kedgeree
This dish has been a British staple since the Victorian era (it originated as a breakfast entrée with the colonials in India). Traditionally made from leftovers, it's also perfect for supper in front of a movie later in the day.

This recipe is adapted from Rose Prince's The New English Kitchen.

Makes 8
The Ingredients

1 lb. smoked salmon
1 onion, halved
1 cup milk or cream
seeds from 6 green cardamom pods
1 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan, then ground
6 fennel seeds, toasted and ground as above
½ tsp. ground turmeric
1 lb. cooked long-grain or basmati rice
1 tbsp. butter, melted
4 eggs, soft-boiled (boil for 5 minutes) and peeled

Put the salmon in a large pan with the onion, milk, and spices. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat; let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the salmon and flake the flesh; set aside. Strain the milk and pour into a large serving dish; add the salmon, rice and butter. Mix gently but thoroughly. Quarter the eggs and scatter over the surface. Garnish with parsley if desired.

"prune" juice
Prune, the delicious restaurant in downtown New York City, serves an eponymous juice that's happily made from five citrus fruits—not prunes. This combination of citrus juices is a sophisticated version of everyday OJ.

The Ingredients

4 cups orange juice
3 cups ruby-red-grapefruit juice
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice
1/3 cup lime juice

Combine all ingredients, chill and serve.

From Domino magazine December/January 2007.

Photos by Justin Bernhaut.

one of those random confessions

2009-10-07T13:20:00.001-06:00

I hug trees. Literally.

Have for a long time. I blame it on Anne Shirley; if there needs to be blame. She was always hugging trees.

Anne, walking home from school through the Birch Path one November afternoon, felt convinced afresh that life was a very wonderful thing.[She] paused to throw her arm about a slim young birch and kiss its cream-white trunk. Diana, rounding a curve in the path, saw her and laughed.

"Anne Shirley, you're only pretending to be grown up. I believe when you're alone you're as much a little girl as you ever.

"Well, one can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once," said Anne gaily. "You see, I was little for fourteen years and I've only been grown-uppish for scarcely three. I'm sure I shall always feel like a child in the woods." [Anne of Avonlea, "Davy in Search of a Sensation". image by StudioG]

With such a personal heroine I was bound to hug trees. There's little chance now I'll outgrow the habit.

Gratitudes:

I am grateful for yoga classes.
I am grateful for my husband's kindness.
I am grateful for pain medication.
I am grateful for banana cream pie.
I am grateful for milk.

the practice of non-doing

2009-09-22T10:05:00.009-06:00

In college I took a course in Alexander Technique. This technique developed by F. Matthias Alexander in the late 1890s and early 1900s is designed to allow the body to be in its natural alignment. Thus decreasing, and even eliminating, many physical ailments. The chief exercise in Alexander Technique is the position semi-supine. Semi-supine is to lie upon one's back, head on a book or block to allow for the natural curve of the neck, knees up with feet flat upon the floor, arms gently resting on the abdomen. Then the participant is to think the following directions:

head forward and up
shoulders back and down
spine/back lengthen and widen
knees forward and away
pelvis pointing down (down when standing but in this case it means to the opposite wall)

Though often we would shift our bodies we were not to consciously move them. We were instead to "not do" or as my teacher put it "inhibit." I hated semi-supine. I hated it in class, I hated it out of class, I hated it when the semester ended. I was unique in this sentiment, everyone else in the class loved semi-supine. I did enjoy other applications of the directions. I liked to use them when standing, walking, talking, sleeping. I merely despised non-doing.

As I've gone along this "journey of wisdom" non-doing has presented itself as a piece of wisdom to incorporate into my life. I have resisted it - vehemently. It has caught up. For the first time ever in my life I have no plan. There is nothing for me to do. It makes no sense to me. I struggle with it. I hate it. My Alexander teacher would advise me to allow. A meditation teacher would advise me to be. Christ, the master teacher, would advise stillness.

Oh, bother.

Gratitudes:

I am grateful for the broom.
I am grateful my husband lets me re-arrange our belongings.
I am grateful for magazines.
I am grateful for golden September days.
I am grateful for my church community.

education of children

2009-09-15T11:16:00.003-06:00

"It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate
the minds of our children and exalt their courage;
to accelerate and animate their industry and activity;
to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness,
abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and
an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue.
If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy,
they will grovel all their lives."

~John Adams
[Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1756]

Gratitudes:

I am grateful for Netflix.
I am grateful for words.
I am grateful for windows that let in sunlight.
I am grateful for refrigeration.
I am grateful for my health.

laudable ambition

2009-09-14T10:21:00.001-06:00

Cory and I finished watching the HBO miniseries on John Adams last night. Then we watched the short documentary on David McCullough and he shared an anecdote about the young Ralph Waldo Emerson meeting the old President John Adams -

Speaking of the mood of the times, Adams exclaimed with vehemence, "I would to God there were more ambition in the country," by which he meant, "ambition of the laudable kind, to excel."[McCullough, John Adams, p.640]

How exhilarating to know that there is a short of ambition that is laudable. I grew up with the very distinct impression that ambition is a dirty little secret, and what's more, even more so in a female. Yet I always felt that my ambition couldn't possibly be a bad thing as it took nothing from anyone else - I could never articulate it until now though.

Perhaps I shall dust off my ambition.

Gratitudes:

I am grateful for toothpaste.
I am grateful for running water.
I am grateful for my eyesight.
I am grateful to have a comfortable mattress.
I am grateful I have a pleasant bedfellow.

advance apologies

2009-09-11T15:21:00.000-06:00

My advance apologies if you get inundated with posts the next few days. I'm condensing various and sundry blogs all into this one and I don't know how the posting will go.

fearless - nah.

2009-09-10T12:00:00.001-06:00

“The absence of fear is not courage. The absence of fear is some kind of brain damage.” - M. Scott Peck

noted by Chris over at The Art of Nonconformity in a post about how he isn't fearless, he just feels the fear and does things anyway.

Gratitudes:

I am grateful that each day must end.
I am grateful that all pain must end.
I am grateful Kathryn let me hang out with her when I was getting a bit morbid.
I am grateful Cory helped me fold the laundry.
I am grateful that difficult things must end.

a few quotable quotes

2009-09-08T12:09:00.003-06:00

These were all originally found via the Brocante Home Pin Board

[here]

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out.."

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."
-Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

[though orginally seen on Brocante Home, apparently it was at some point removed. The above is from here]

[here]

Gratitudes:

I am grateful for my husband.
I am grateful for words.
I am grateful for clean running water.
I am grateful for pesto penne pasta.
I am grateful for the amazing aerial display that is Swift Watching.

more garlands

2009-09-02T11:50:00.000-06:00

see more of these beautiful doily and bias tape garlands (by zoey) at knack

found paper garland

2009-08-20T17:12:00.000-06:00

isn't this just beautiful? garlands made by cori kindred.

her found paper envelopes are also quite pretty . . . I think I may make some envelopes from the paper of my anthropologie shopping bags - large ones, I need them.

some maya wisdom

2009-08-07T19:19:00.000-06:00

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

—Maya Angelou

discovered on this website.

to the beat of your own drummer

2009-07-14T10:35:00.000-06:00

Everyone has their own rhythm. Aside from dance rhythms people have different speaking rhythms, work rhythms, emotional rhythms and even seasonal rhythms. This is hardly odd, all of life on earth is rhythmical and cyclical. Knowing your own rhythm can bring a sense of purpose and undercurrent of calm to your everyday life.

I've heard The Animal School: A Fable by George Reavis multiple times. Perhaps you have too. The jist is that once upon a time a bunch of animals decided to form a school. The students would learn swimming, climbing, running and flying. This school stressed having a well-rounded education so even though the Duck could swim better than his teacher he had to stay after in running and climbing. He ended up with a C in swimming because he wore out his feet in make-up classes. The squirrel did great at climbing until he had to do things the teachers way - from the ground up. The eagle also did great in climbing but teachers didn't like him because he had his own way of doing things. The rabbit had a nervous breakdown from doing so much swimming make-up. At the end of the year the valedictorian was an eel who could swim pretty well, run, climb and even fly a little.

What are you forcing yourself to do so that you'll be "well-rounded"?
What activities have you given up in the name of growing up?
What is your rhythm?

an accounting

2009-06-29T10:30:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed that I haven't posted an accounting in a few weeks. Also if you look over this accounting, that I didn't fare very well. What happened was this: I got sick. As in too dizzy to get out of bed sick. Still getting better. I will get better and then I will do better. That's how it goes. (Think marathon not sprint.)

2/5 days        swept [a clean sweep]
16/24 liters    water consumed [the one thing]
1/7               tasks completed [flotsam & jetsam]
0/7 days        early to bed (10 pm) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
2/7 days    early to rise (8 am) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
0/7 days    check email twice (and no more) [the time-tech continuum]
5/7 days    most important task done by 11 am [the time-tech continuum]
3/7 days    internet surfing necessary for that day [the time-tech continuum]
26/7 hours     pleasure television* [the time-tech continuum]

An accounting makes note only of those things done. If I am trying to avoid doing something I will only mark down when that failed and I did the thing being avoided.

Hope that's clearer than mud.

* Though movies vary in length I am counting a movie viewed as 'pleasure television' to be one hour regardless of it's actual time. Otherwise an hour means one hour-long show, or two half-hour long shows.
** Preserving refers to "extending the harvest" via the making of preserves, jams, chutneys, stock, etcetera.

my elective blackout

2009-06-11T22:50:00.000-06:00

It was August. I was driving home from camping with my family at Flaming Gorge. I was stressed out, the previous month had been rather trying. I stopped the car at a lookout point, got out and sat on a rock. An hour later I got off the rock. I was calm. I had just watched a moonrise, and just realized I'd never seen a moonrise before. It was beautiful.

That was a few years ago, fast forward to now. I haven't seen any more moon rises. I don't know what time to the moon rises tonight (or even if there will be one). I do know the next three days I'm more likely to see a moon rise than I have been since that August night, because the next three days will be my electricity fast.

The idea comes from a November 2006 Domino article. Cynthia Kling, aka The Adventuress, participated in an “elective blackout” including no “phone, lights, TV, DVD, radio, and washer and dryer” in addition to no email or electric coffee pot. The only electric appliances allowed were the stove and refrigerator. In my own elective blackout I'll also include the overhead fan (if needed) and my cell phone, though I'll limit the length of phone calls to less than five minutes except with my husband because he'll be out-of-town. And no texting.

Kling's experience which “started as a stunt” she writes, “morphed into a lesson in intimacy.” She learned the smell of her home at dusk, how many candles it takes to light her mantelpiece, and that there's a spot in the crook of the horse chestnut tree perfect for an evening soiree.

I have no horse chestnut tree but I'd like to know my own small world more intimately.

[image "Moon, Jupiter, Venus on Palermo" courtesy lorca56]

friut fast on hold

2009-06-11T09:20:00.000-06:00

Yesterday's menu wasn't even sort of a fruit fast. So I'm putting the scheme on hold a few days while I sort things out with the cupboards and fridge.

fruit fast: day two

2009-06-10T13:09:00.000-06:00

[image "pomegranate" courtesy Joe M500]

You'll notice for these first few days that I'm not keeping strictly to the rules I outlined. This is because my fridge is full of foods that need to be eaten as they'll go bad otherwise.

Yesterday's menu:

breakfast: strawberries
snack: hazelnuts
lunch: tortilla-less burrito (refried beans, lettuce, avocado, lime, cheese, hot sauce, cumin)
snack: mango
snack: cheddar cheese & crusty bread
snack: small chocolate cupcake with chocolate-buttercream frosting (Saint Cupcake)
dinner: miso soup and sushi (Gaya Suishi)

Those last two were certainly not things in the home which needed to be used up. I have no defense. Weak-willed I suppose, or just didn't want the bother of eating something different myself than what my husband was eating. I may end up with only a one week true fruit fast after all. I did sleep better last night and noticed that my digestion was smoother, not that it was bad before.

fruit fast: day one

2009-06-09T11:30:00.000-06:00

[image 'round and 'round courtesy Darwin Bell]

breakfast: red pepper
snack: bread & butter & jam
snack: tropical carrot juice & (when my blood sugar spiked) hazelnuts
lunch: bacon, cheese, pickled asparagus & bread
dinner: quiche lorraine with bacon & asparagus. strawberry-rhubarb pie with strawberry ice cream

I had a second helping of pie and I shouldn't have. I could feel the sugar crash. Didn't sleep well, though how much of that is sugar-induced, and how much is lack of exercise and being emotionally overwrought induced I couldn't say.

to know thyself

2009-06-09T11:13:00.000-06:00

I love collecting quotes and one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes is from Hamlet. Like so many of Shakespeare's quotable witticisms it is said by the fool, who in this play is called Polonius. During a long speech advising his son Laertes, Polonius finally urging is:

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
[act I, scene iii, lines 78-80]

I have learned a new truism about myself: I do not do well with daily goals. Though the accountings I write up are useful and necessary; adding, as I did, so many from my general aspirations list for the summer has taken most of the joy out of the aspirations themselves. I realize that, for myself, a few daily goals when I am trying to build new habits is useful, but breaking things into weekly and daily goals to reach other goals just bugs, bogs and burdens me. What's more alarming is that I begin to dislike my original goal and away it goes. I have concluded thus that I must delete the markings for many of the items in my accountings.

I know it's the fool's advice I'm following, but I began the blog on April Fools . . . 'sides I think I won't end up looking foolish.

fruit fast

2009-06-08T11:44:00.000-06:00

Last summer I went on a fruit fast. Feeling yucky and spent I found myself drawn to doing a cleanse. I perused the cleanses by blueprint but rejected them for being too radical. Then I came across a simple fruit fast (can't remember where). The concept was wonderfully uncomplicated consisting of three rules:

eat only when hungry.
eat only one type of fruit per meal.
eat as much of that fruit as you want until full.
at one meal a day include protein and, if desired, an herb or two.

A typical day's menu:

breakfast: strawberries
snack: pineapple
lunch: strawberries
snack: grapes
secondary snack: avocado with salt and lime
dinner: tomato with crumbled cheese, basil and salt
snack: cherries
When I was thirsty I drank water.

After a week I felt so much lighter, freer, fitter. During the ensuing weeks I continued to eat a lot of fruit and a lot less meat. Mainly because meat took a lot of chewing and saliva to break down, which was kinda gross. Seeing as I loved the experience I've decided to try it out again this year. This time for two weeks.

I might even try some of the blueprint recipes.

[image "strawberry4-1" courtesy steve9091]

an accounting

2009-06-08T11:13:00.000-06:00

1/5 days        swept [a clean sweep]
11/24 liters    water consumed [the one thing]
3/7               tasks completed [flotsam & jetsam]
0/7 days        early to bed (10 pm) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
0/7 days    early to rise (8 am) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
3/7 days    check email twice (and no more) [the time-tech continuum]
6/7 days    most important task done by 11 am [the time-tech continuum]
5/7 days    internet surfing necessary for that day [the time-tech continuum]
9/7 hours     pleasure television* [the time-tech continuum]
1/4 days      yoga [project orientation]
1/7 days      meditation [project orientation]
0/1            preserves** made [project orientation]
7/7            sweets [project orientation]
0/3 days      pilates [project orientation]
4/6 eves     walk or bike ride [project orientation]
0/1             calligraphy piece [project orientation]
1/1            phone call [project orientation]
7/7 days     "French" movement [project orientation]

an accounting

2009-06-01T10:15:00.000-06:00

phooey on accountability! phooey on getting anything done, particularly when there are kitchen fires and an upset stomach involved, ah well . . .

1/5 days        swept [a clean sweep]
15/24 liters    water consumed [the one thing]
1/7               tasks completed [flotsam & jetsam]
0/7 days        early to bed (10 pm) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
3/7 days    early to rise (8 am) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
2/7 days    check email twice (and no more) [the time-tech continuum]
3/7 days    most important task done by 11 am [the time-tech continuum]
5/7 days    internet surfing necessary for that day [the time-tech continuum]
7/7 hours     pleasure television* [the time-tech continuum]
0/4 days      yoga [project orientation]
3/7 days      meditation [project orientation]
1/1            preserves** made [project orientation]
14/7          sweets [project orientation]
1/3 days      pilates [project orientation]
4/6 eves     walk or bike ride [project orientation]
0/1             calligraphy piece [project orientation]
1/1            phone call [project orientation]
7/7 days     "French" movement [project orientation]
5/0 books      Over the course of the last two weeks I've skimmed five self-help books I hadn't read before. In direct violation of my no new self-help books directive [a moratorium on [self]help . . . [books that is]]

an accounting

2009-05-26T15:08:00.000-06:00

2/5 days        swept [a clean sweep]
21/24 liters    water consumed [the one thing]
2/7               tasks completed [flotsam & jetsam]
2/7 days        early to bed (10 pm) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
2/7 days    early to rise (8 am) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
5/7 days    check email twice (and no more) [the time-tech continuum]
6/7 days    most important task done by 11 am [the time-tech continuum]
6/7 days    internet surfing necessary for that day [the time-tech continuum]
8/7 hours    pleasure television* [the time-tech continuum]

project orientation

2009-05-26T09:07:00.000-06:00

I am project oriented. I like due dates. I like things to start and finish. It's just the way I am. My goal orientation is seasonal. Since a new season is upon us [which I've decided ends when I go back to school at the end of September] it's time for some new projects.

perform the headstand - this summer's main project is to get to the point where I can do a headstand, I've done yoga off and on for a decade and this summer is finally the summer when I will learn to do the "king pose". the sub-goals to reach this one are:

~~dailies~~ 3-4x a week: yoga journal routine & sun salutations except during bleeding week because inversions aren't recommended, in which case it'll be the white mountain yoga women's routine & natural movement.

in July & August add headstand preparatory poses [dolphin pose, handstand, bridge pose, boat pose, half moon pose, and shoulderstand] may want to reference these articles: 1, 2, 3.
in September work on supported headstand - this goal will be met when I can stay in headstand for three minutes.

secondary classes: classes at the local yoga studio 1 a week in June and 4-6 days a week for July, August and September.

meditate - a spin-off of the yoga stuff, this is primarily to treat my heart condition, sub-goals:

healing sounds meditation in savasana
chi refining meditation is savasana
healing sounds meditation with movements and ovarian breathing meditation followed by nine breath meditation at bedtime

preserve - did this as last year's main project and it was a lot of fun. this year I'll be doing it again getting jams made and bottling many, many more peaches.
be wedding dress size - yup, vanity. although it's also good for the health of the body, hee hee. subgoals:

limit sweets - for now I'll say one a day. we'll see how this goes.
lunchtime pilates at home or at local yoga studio. follow with a yummy, nutritious meal
explore Portland on foot or bike
evening walk or bike ride
oatmeal week - in my religion the first Sunday of each month is a day of fasting. for medical reasons I can not fast, instead as a show of devotion, I eat plain oatmeal. I shall make a batch of Irish Oatmeal (sans the sugar) and eat the leftovers (with toppings) for breakfasts the following mornings.
bike or walk instead of taking public transportation
drink lots of water - helps meet another goal, flushes out toxins, helps curb appetite
"French women" movement - based on suggestions in this book.

fruit fast - a two week fast, I'll be doing this in June
electricity fast - a three day fast, I'll be doing this also in June
increasing my will power
weekly calligraphy piece
audition - it's that time of year. if an audition is available I'm going.
phone calls/visits - once a week to a good friend / someone I know could use a call
pie pastry making - I have a fear of pie pastry, but it was over a decade ago that I last made any real effort. I've cooked and baked A LOT since then. I will try again, 1 pie per Sunday - unless we're out with friends that day.

I know this was a long post ~~(and will add a lot to my weekly progress reports),~~ but, eh, what can I say, I like projects.

[image "Check Chk" courtesy Matt Carman]

love letters

2009-05-22T12:33:00.002-06:00

Amazing love letter ideas:

The Envelope Book of Notes from "oh, hello friend".

The Web-based Book of Notes from "oh, hello friend".

The beautifully wrapped letters of Kelly English (via mint).

A sewn letter from Twig & Thistle.

A nautical flag note from Erica (via design*sponge)

a catalog of love by grace light (via design*sponge)

an accounting

2009-05-18T10:04:00.000-06:00

1 /5 days       swept [a clean sweep]
14/24 liters    water consumed [the one thing]
11/7              tasks completed [flotsam & jetsam]
0/7 days        early to bed (10 pm) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
2/7 days    early to rise (8 am) [healthy, wealthy, and wise]
3/4 days    check email twice (and no more) [the time-tech continuum]
4/4 days    most important task done by 11 am [the time-tech continuum]
4/4 days    internet surfing necessary for that day [the time-tech continuum]
4/4 hours    pleasure television* [the time-tech continuum]

the time-tech continuum

2009-05-13T11:14:00.000-06:00

The new Star Trek movie hit theaters last week. In this movie as in many of the Star Trek movies (& episodes) the space-time continuum is manipulated. It reminded me that I've been considering how to manipulate the time-tech continuum. You know that black hole of technology that sucks up your time. You sit down to "check email" or "catch up on blogs" when suddenly it's hours later. Or you watch a little television/ play a little video games to unwind; before you know it you can't recall what you used to do in the evenings. Though surely you must have done something.

The problem applies no less to more purposeful actions - you call a friend to connect, reply to business emails, or look for the right image to go with your blog post - a "moment" later time has swept past. Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, tackles this time-tech problem head on. In fact he devotes whole chapters of the book on techniques for keeping your time from slipping into the tech continuum. My focus is the internet, concerning which Ferriss gives these suggestions:

Check email twice a day, once at noon or just prior to lunch and again at 4:00 pm. [pp. 93]
Never check email [or blog reader] first thing in the morning. Instead, complete most important task before 11:00 am to avoid using lunch or reading email as a postponement exercise. [pp.93]
Only search for something when need the information that day. [pp. 87]
Turn internet off in evening. Instead read a fictional book the hour afore bed. [pp. 87]
(bonus) One hour/show of television viewing (for pleasure) in evenings. [pp. 87]

I wonder what crazy results I'm going to get from messing with the time-tech continuum.

[image "Eternal Clock" courtesy Robert van der Steeg]

a few books from my childhood

2009-05-11T18:29:00.000-06:00

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
My Scholastic book order copy was tattered in a year because I read it fourteen times. I read it again in 2007, a decade after the last read, and I still agree with Mark Twain, it is one of the best pieces of literature written. Hands down my favorite book of all time.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
I planned a running-away venture because of this book. Didn't go because my siblings all chickened out on the night we were to leave and they knew my all my plans so I figured I'd get dragged home.

The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye
I love fairy tales - first via Disney and then through two large volumes of Fairy Tales curated by Reader's Digest - and I love twists on fairy tales. This twist on a fairy tale, the first I remember reading, is delightful. The ordinary princess is short, freckled, snub-nosed and has brown mousy hair. Then she meets an ordinary prince - and neither of them knows that the other is royalty - when they do figure it out "high jinx" ensue. A great book to read when feeling blue or to read aloud to a daughter, niece, neighborhood girl, etc.

Six Months to Live by Lurlene McDaniel
From fourteen to seventeen I read and re-read the novels of Lurlene McDaniel. All deal with teenagers who have had life-changing experiences - usually to their health. At twelve I was diagnosed with a chronic heart condition. I didn't realize it at the time but reading McDaniel's novels was a way for my to process the bewildering array of feelings and thoughts I had about my health. I must've bought nearly 40 novels by McDaniel. I don't own any now. Sometime around twenty-one the last of the books was given away. Six Months to Live is the first in a series of books about how Dawn Rochelle deals with and battles leukemia. It was the last book I let go.

changes noticed

2009-05-11T16:33:00.000-06:00

I've been at this little experiment a little over a month now and oddly there are all these things that have cropped up and out of the woodwork. Little epiphanies or changes in perspective. A sense of calm descending. Most notably I've 'pared down' and streamlined unwittingly. The changes are, as yet, still minor, but of course that is in keeping with the slight edge philosophy which this experiment is based on.

Wisdom creeps in and I find myself wondering what detritus of my life it will creep out with next.

an accounting

2009-05-11T13:33:00.000-06:00

Went out of town for vacation; then returned and recovered from it. Drank some water but not nearly enough. Did some sweeping but mostly left things to my husband. Went to bed when I was too tired to sleep and got up when I had to. Crossed a few odds and ends off my list. Threw out a pumpkin that had finally begun to decompose on the inside.

That's all I have to say for myself.

healthy, wealthy, and wise

2009-04-13T10:21:00.001-06:00

Early to bed and early to rise,

makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

~Poor Richard's Almanac

Who doesn't desire health, wealth, and wisdom? I haven't come across a single person whose desire it is to be sick, poor and stupid. If you comb the whole earth I doubt a person wanting those three qualities could be found. And yet many, myself included, neither retire early nor arise early.

What of health? Frank Lipman, M.D., author of Spent, is convinced that lack of rhythm with the world around us, particularly the sun, is the reason that we experience “fatigue, headaches, digestive problems [or] general aches and pains” along with insomnia, depression or anxiety. These thoughts were formulated when he worked with rural patients in South Africa. He noted that the communities lacking electricity were forced to live in harmony with natural rhythms of day/night and the seasons. Being in rhythm has become the foundation of his practice. [Lipman, M.D., Frank. Spent. Simon & Schuster: 2009. pp. 6-9]

What of wealth? Leo Babauta, author of blog Zen Habits, believes that waking early increases productivity on a myriad of fronts—eating breakfast, exercising, getting to work, getting work done. A satirical letter written by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 noted that by arising at 6 am, instead of the normal time of noon, the city of Paris might save some 64-million-and-50-thousand pounds of wax and tallow, or the amount of 96,075,000 livres a year (add inflation and that's a whopper of a number).

What of wisdom? Babauta also writes of the prevalent peace he experiences by early rising, and I have oft-heard it related that the best time for pondering is in the early morning hours. Could it not also be construed wisdom to sleep when we are weary or eat when we are hungry?

. . . retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary;

arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.

~Doctrine & Covenants 88:124

[images "Waiting for Dawn" and "Autumn Dawn" courtesy the early-rising photographer James Jordan]

an accounting

2009-04-13T10:11:00.000-06:00

3/5 days       swept [a clean sweep]
17/24 liters     water consumed [the one thing]
5/7               tasks completed [flotsam & jetsam]

An accounting makes note only of those things done. If I am trying to avoid doing something I will only mark down when that failed and I did the thing being avoided. Hope that's clearer than mud.

flotsam & jetsam

2009-04-07T10:40:00.000-06:00

Flotsam describes that debris of life which is inevitable—plates crack, light bulbs go out, shirts rip, banks change, tax season comes around—jetsam references deliberately pushed aside detritus—unpacking all the books, returning merchandise to the store, calling a dear friend, finishing a project. Together this flotsam & jetsam ebbs and flows onto my consciousness, now coming forward as I wash dishes, riffle through the closet, or trip over a box. Intent on other purposes I let them drift back to the dull recesses of my mind. The actions necessary are out of my daily rhythms and thus may go undone for days, week, months, or sometimes years. Avoided, perhaps even forgotten, these tasks nevertheless lurk in quiet corners of the mind taking up valuable emotional and mental energy. Contributing to feelings of futility and depression. [image "A Conference of Street Creatures" courtesy Bright Tal]

Finally one day life is littered with all of these broken and discarded bits and bobs of life. A mound so high as to seem unapproachable, and thus the ignoring continues taking ever more psychic reserves. At last I have approached it the way I approach most things: I made a list. Larger tasks broken down so that every task on the list may require only 5 - 20 minutes to complete. Many may be lumped together to produce after a concentrated hour's worth of work the completion of 4, 5, or even 7 tasks. The real trick of course is to do them. It is my hope to complete seven of these tasks a week. Certainly such a concerted effort over three months, even including slip-ups, will notably reduce my mental debris.

The other option is to just move . . . though won't the detritus still follow in my wake?

the one thing

2009-04-06T10:33:00.000-06:00

Everyone has one. The thing that nags. That thing we ought to do but somehow just can't manage to do. The thing which done obliterates a host of troubles.

Mine is drinking enough water. I know bizarre. Nonetheless true. I have a chronic malady that is aggravated by my chronically low blood-pressure and the key way to improve my overall health is to drink a lot of water. A gallon is the bare minimum. Three gallons is recommended. Most days I drink two-and-a-half liters. Tops [psst. a gallon is 3.4 liters]. On the occasions I manage to down five or more liters in a day the results are nigh unto miraculous. My skin fairly glows. My hair loses its frizzy tendencies. I see sharper, speak clearer, sleep sounder. Most helpful my energy improves by leaps and bounds. As in I'll just leap around to burn off some of my seemingly boundless energy. Oh - and the chronic malady I have? Markedly diminished. [image courtesy goMultipure]

Why then don't I do it? Frankly, it's inconvenient. Having to remember to down at least half a liter of water every half hour is a bother. The shocking cold of most public taps is painful. Carrying around a bottle of water is a drag. The increase in micturating [i.e. restroom usage] a nuisance.

But this being my year of actually applying wisdom I guess I'll have to just gulp the stuff down.
Bottom's up!

an accounting

2009-04-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

3/4 days swept [a clean sweep]

An accounting makes note only of those things done. If I am trying to avoid doing something I will only mark down when that failed and I did the thing being avoided. Hope that's clearer than mud.

a clean sweep

2009-04-03T10:27:00.000-06:00

“Dust Bunnies, how do you breed?”

“By locks of hair and shoe droppings.”

Looking for a place to begin living by wisdom I heard a fleet of dust bunnies say, “Hello.” Off I went for the broom.

It is not by whimsy that the picture accompanying this post is that of a Shaker broom. A glance at their dwellings reveals their high regard for sweeping. Chairs, tools, clothing, bedding and, of course, brooms hang from wall pegs. Beds and tables are placed on casters for effortless movement. Cupboards and drawers are built into, and lie flush with, the walls. As much light as possible is circulated into the rooms. Even the design of stair banisters reflects a way to easily sweep up debris.

Supposedly sweeping is very good for people. In her book, Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston relates how in Bali – the home of her husband – the whole island partcipates in a rhythmic renewal each dawn. They all sweep. This sweeping wakes people up, connects them with their environment, invigorates their lives, and begets mental clarity.

Pretty heady stuff for a humble chore. [p.s. According to Kingston vacuuming does the same thing, though the sound is not as soothing as swishing broom fibers.]

“Dust Bunnies, what caused your demise?”

“A swish of a broom passing by.”

[image “flat broom, Shaker Village” courtesy lumierefl]

a moratorium on [self]help . . . [books that is]

2009-04-02T10:33:00.000-06:00

The Library
by James Phinney Baxter

Though tombs the dust of Men of Genius claim,
They still survive immortalized by Fame,
Here with them Thou mayst hold communion still,
And of Their Wisdom freely drink Thy fill.

But what is learned that must Thou wisely do
If Thou wouldst reap, for this is ever true,
Who learns and learns but does not what He knows,
Is One who plows and plows but never sows.

[image "Uris Library Stacks" courtesy eflon]

The very first self-help book I recall reading was the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I was about twelve yeas old at the time. I came to Franklin's thirteen virtues. I made a chart for myself and worked for a summer and a month (September) on those virtues. Elated by the changes in myself I became a self-help book junkie. Since that summer I have read about how to lose weight and how to build muscle. Learned of the seven habits and how to influence people. I am literate on how to grow rich and how to manage that which is grown. I am versed in methods of organization, gardening, sewing, and cooking. I am familiar with feng shui, yoga and reflexology. Know by what means to attract a man or set-up a business. Unflagging in my quest to improve myself I have far too often stepped around the actual doing (or continued doing) of those things learned. This year I shall endeavor to literally help my self. Consequently I'm instituting a ban on new self-help books. As one I own states, “All you have is all you need” [Breathnach, Sarah Ban. Simple Abundance].

Or at least none excepting what is already on hold at the library.
After that no more.
Promise.

I have plenty of seed to sow.

the beginning

2009-04-01T10:12:00.000-06:00

It seems somehow fitting that a year of wisdom should begin on Fools' Day. Not that I picked this day particular. It just happened.

Years ago I read an article by Jeff Olson titled "The Slight Edge Philosophy". The take-away doctrine, for me, is that is both easy and difficult to change one's life. Easy because those actions with lasting impact are easy to do. Difficult because those actions with lasting impact are easy not to do. Then one day you realize that your life is in ruin - or on the road to ruin.

I'd like to take a different road. I'd like to walk along a path to bliss - whatever that is. For this year I will seek to incorporate into my daily walk the various bobs and bits of wisdom I've learned, or may hap I will learn that something which has been masquerading as wisdom is in fact rubbish and will drop by the wayside of the year.

It may be a fool's errand.

I will undertake it nonetheless.

really cool photography

2009-03-20T14:51:00.000-06:00

check out Shane Gorski

Window to an Abandoned House

The Beginjnhof

quotable quotes

2009-02-12T11:00:00.002-07:00

Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.

~President Thomas S. Monson "Finding Joy in the Journey"

rita konig's apartment 2007 entryway

2009-01-31T14:48:00.005-07:00

"Finishing the entry was the final thing I did and made such a huge difference to the whole apartment. Paying attention to a small area and giving it some importance really pays off." Domino

Peroquet wallpaper from Osborne and Little. Fantastic!

rita konig's apartment 2007

2009-01-31T14:46:00.007-07:00

rita konig

"There is absolutely no question in my mind that small bedrooms need wallpaper, this room is 6.5' by 8' and when painted white was positively cell-like. Choose a neutral tone, though, because that leaves you totally unrestricted when it comes to linens, quilts and bedspreads. Large square pillows are another personal essential. I love that wall sconce too, which is from The Lively Set in NYC."

rita konig's apartment 2007 sitting room

2009-01-31T14:39:00.024-07:00

This is the sitting room today. It is amazing to me what decorating does to a room. It isn't just the look that changes but the entire feeling—from spare and echo-y to colorful, welcoming and happy.

rita konig

"I like having different heights in a room and to use scale boldly. This is actually a small apartment, but the room has good proportions and the large lamp, high console and long sofa all work well. A small apartment doesn't mean that you have to have small pieces—you just have to give the room one function. (When you start trying to do too much in a room it gets awfully cramped.) I love light interiors—pale walls and pale colors in general—but it's important to put some strong colors in to balance them, or the whole room starts to float away."

rita konig's apartment 2007

2009-01-31T14:38:00.003-07:00

Rita Konig

Decorator, author and our Girl About Town blogger, Rita Konig marries classic English coziness with her personal narrative.

Inspired by: Scotland, for the blend of feminine interiors and dramatic landscape.
Signatures: A lacquered table, Porthault linens, Lucy Cope lamp shades and old mirrors.
Best decorating solution: A tiny room wallpapered with something crazy like a bold floral.
Website: dominomag.com.

rita konig's apartment 2006

2009-01-31T14:37:00.004-07:00

rita konig

"Here's my apartment in New York City, very early on. Budgets were pretty tight, so the place was decorated in stages. First, I was desperate to put shades up. Even when on a budget, one should look to spend a bit here, on the fabric. I love this material—Prague from Quadrille. The large-scale print in that divine lavender really lifted the apartment, where beige roman shades would have contributed very little and cost about the same. The kilm rug and sisal carpet made such a massive difference—bare boards can make a room seem terribly hollow."

rita konig's apartment 2006

2009-01-31T14:35:00.004-07:00

rita konig

"This is a picture of my bedroom in London. I loved this paper—Madras Violet from Cole and Son—the first time I saw it and I have never tired of it. Don't be afraid to use wallpaper in a large room. The mirror fitted perfectly in my first apartment, but when I moved it looked rather small in this room. Take some time before you discard things though: I think it works fine with the watercolors on either side, and all the junk on the mantelpiece."

rita konig's apartment 2006

2009-01-31T14:33:00.005-07:00

rita konig

"Books add so much to a room. They give depth, and the spines add that fantastic random color palette. I'm a fan of books stacked in all directions; it breaks the monotony. Bookcases are also excellent places for hiding televisions."

rita konig's apartment 2006

2009-01-31T14:30:00.008-07:00

mothers and daughters

"I couldn't afford to buy fireplaces for the sitting room, but my mother gave me this one, which she had made by a set designer! Painting a fireplace straight onto the wall is also not such a bad idea—very Cecil Beaton," says decorator and our Girl About Town blogger Rita Konig.

"The pictures are old photographic prints by Karl Blosfelt, framed in ravishing silver frames from Stephanie Hoppen, in London. I'm ashamed to say I chose the frames before the pictures."

rita konig's apartment 2006

2009-01-31T14:29:00.006-07:00

rita konig

"I bought both the writing table and the lamp at Alfie's Antiques Market, one of my absolute favorite sources in London. The lamp is an excellent color source in an otherwise pale setting. Polaroids stuck up on the wall or stuffed in the sides of larger picture frames are a trademark of mine. It's such an easy way to personalize a space."

yellow living room

2009-01-31T14:20:00.001-07:00

the domino
decorating contest

domino readers' living rooms

"Portland: wet, gray, and dreary. A living room to mark its antithesis, each element chosen to ward off the rainy-day blues. Warm wool beneath your toes, warmer lighting awakening your soul. The perfect cuddle room, especially created for coffee and comics on a Sunday morning. An expression of modern minimalism that blends personal comfort with classic design. Our haven stresses quiet solitude—but with an exuberance that rekindles the spirit that the northwest winter so stealthily steals away."
— Alesha from Portland, OR

rita konig living room makeover

2009-01-31T14:16:00.004-07:00

before-and-after living rooms

Our own Girl About Town blogger Rita Konig utilized her bohemian approach to displaying artwork, a pretty lamp, and a leggy table to dress up a dull space.

jenna lyons home supplemental

2009-01-31T14:06:00.007-07:00

House Tours
Jenna Lyons

At home, Lyons has the great luxury of allowing her extensive wardrobe a room of its own.
Settee: (similar to shown) "Winterthur" $5,100 hickorychair.com for stores
Shoe shelves: (similar to shown). Custom prices vary, store.rakks.com
Striped rug: 9' x 12' handwoven cotton $1,050. Madeline Weinrib Atelier (212) 473-3000 ext. 780

Photo by Melanie Acevedo
November 2008