I Got Card-ed

It's my favorite day of the year:  the day I sit on the floor at my coffee table eating cake and drinking reading water writing Christmas cards.  It's nearly impossible to feel anything except gratitude at this moment.  I hope each of you are having a great December and I hope our paths cross soon over holiday travel.

December is our "bring your favorite" holiday piece to the club.  The reads are always festive and occasionally leave you with a little something in your eye.

It's a Wrap

The year is winding down in a slightly different way than what I had planned. To this end, I'm going to take a bit of time for the more traditional pen to paper writing and work through a few items on my reading list. Best wishes to you for a happy, healthy end of year.  It's been fun reading with you in 2013.

See you in January!

Long Walk Through the Woods

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

- Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

Walls of Jericho
November 2013

All in the Cards

My week in a table:

1 month ago	60 stamps
1 week ago	1 photo
1 week ago	50 photos
Monday night	0 stamps
Tuesday am	Still can't find stamps
Tuesday noon	60 stamps
Tuesday night	Not enough photos
Wednesday morning	10 stamps
Projected Wed noon	40 photos
Projected Wed just after noon	40 stamps
Net:	10 stamps on hand
	60 lost stamps
	A lotta hand-written notes

A continual loop of a disproportionate stamps and cards, but a lot of fun.

P.S. If you get a mid-year note with gingerbread house stamps, don't ask any questions.

Anywhere, I Would Have Followed You

After pushing Saturday a bit to the limits, Sunday was a day to catch up on sleep, spend time with friends in a recovery lunch and cardio-offset a Christmas cigar.  I paired The Holiday with reading water and my rocket card writing by the light of candles and my red tree.  Quaint.  Content.

When I crawled into bed, I wanted the feel of a book rather than my tablet and went scrounging around the bookcase to see what was untouched.  I picked up Don't Go Where I Can't Follow because it was short and I knew it had good reviews.  I'd purchased this and two others by Nilsen in August.  The books sat on the counter for about a month before they were packed, moved, and unpacked during my autumn transition.

It sat waiting until I was ready.

This was a read that I both wanted to turn the page to see the next space and at the same time did not.  I knew where I was headed as a reader and I wasn't sure I was equipped for this peek into another's grief.  The book is a beautiful collection of postcards, a letter, photos and travel anecdotes fading into excepts of writing by Mr. Nilsen at Ms. Weaver's bedside. The end through drawings and words is particularly touching.  I don't think I stopped crying from page 73 onward.

It is such a beautiful thing when two people find each other, admit love, and take on the challenges of life as a unit.  They weather unexpected events, find laughter, and choose to stick it out to the end.  As GBC P@1ge has recently reminded me, all relationships end, one way or another.  Nilsen gives us a look at the other, and it reminds my heart to keep hope that deep connections are always possible, even if they are way too short to be fair.

11 Days of Christmas

We're into the tipping point of the rest of the year flying by in a series of:

• manic Amazon purchases which has ensured you will sign up for one more year of Prime
• crushed visits to your local bookstore where you end up buying things for yourself
• last minute Christmas cards and hoping that you don't repeat last year and send multiple cards to people (running count three).  You write personalized messages so you're left wondering if you repeated or contradicted yourself.  This is of course the downside to pairing writing with reading water.
• commitments to baking cookies that seemed like a really good idea at the beginning of the month
• desperate knitting which seemed like a great idea in November
• multiple holiday parties
• crazy road trips
• panicked purchases of pink lipstick to go with a crazy dress that you just had to have for the party*
• Starbucks visits where they start making your latte the moment you walk in because they know what kind of week you've had

culminating in some amazing visits with family friends and potentially one frozen blogger.

Happy holidays ahead! Hope you enjoy every second.

*You waited too long to find a dress.  You have limited options and tried on six.  This was the one the sales person recommended.  You agreed.

Love and Pictures

Tonight I stood outside at exactly 0C taking photos.  I dropped my lens cap, misplaced my keys and nearly met the front grill of a big red truck because I was paying more attention to angle than the fact I was standing in the middle of the road.  [Kids, don't try this at home.]

Twenty minutes later when I can feel my hands, I'm scanning through media feeds and discover "The Tutu Project".  You may have already heard about it the last two days, but in my current sleep deprived state was incredibly moved by the sentiment for his wife and some really beautiful photos.  Links to video and Ballerina, the Book here.

Portraits and Poems

I like Jane Austen...but probably not this much.  I think I would opt for the £10 note instead.

Perhaps something more in the realm of possibilities is The Gorgeous Nothings:  Emily Dickinson's Envelope Poetry published at the end of October by Jen Bervin. This NYT review has a nice overview of the book and its inception.

Plain Dreams of Trains

I've been reading John Dies at the End by David Wong which was published before This Book is Full of Spiders.  Since I've read them in reverse order, I'm using Star Wars logic and treating it as a prequel.  The books are quite suspenseful so I'm not disappointed I already know about John* because that's one less thing that will creep into my dreams.  [Side note:  I've also been reading about dream interpretations.]  It was really fascinating to learn about Amy in reverse.

Hope you've had a good weekend.  I'm off to finish a book with a side of reading water.  It's been a fun read.

*Author's note:  Titles aren't always revealing as the other book wasn't really full of spiders. Well, not really.

Tree-ting Yourself

I'm a little late for a Friday photo but long work days and reading water sometimes take precedence. After an early morning cardio session that will leave me unable to climb stairs the rest of the day, I'm finally feeling a bit motivated to bring the holidays indoor.  I might even open up the porcelain Peanuts Nativity Scene which has been boxed (and moved 4 times) since 2005.  Hopefully Snoopy is still in tact.

Happy December y'all.

Washington Square to Empire State
New York, December 2010

Better than All the Rest?

The "Best of 2013" lists are starting to emerge (with apologies to anyone who might accidentally publish in December).  The Guardian's list was fairly interesting as it contained a few titles which had escaped my attention over the last few months.  My Struggle:  Book Two (A Man in Love) by Karl Ove Knausgaard is (wait for it) the second in a series of six autobiographical tales which turned out to be fairly controversial as he included narratives about friends, neighbors and his ex-wife.  (Norway's not so large so I'm sure he had a few uncomfortable nights at the neighborhood bar.)  If you're assembling your end of year hide away in a cabin reading lists in the great snowy north, the first two Knausgaard books might be an interesting add.

Hope your week hasn't been too great a struggle.

Cut it Out

It was a combination of GBC K1m's snowflakes and my spending Thanksgiving evening with an eight year old and her book Can You See What I See? that has left me thinking about pop up books.  Robert Sabuda has a number of pop up books, cards and picture books to capture your fancy.  Look for him tomorrow on the Today show and consider adding one of his books to your wishlist.

You Can Ring My Bell

New Year's tidings to our GBC group and to the others of you who check in from time to time.  I hope as you reflect back on the year, you remember fondly at least one good book, a glass of reading water enjoyed with friends, and that one thing that you did that scared you to death.  I hope you recall smiles and new journeys and pause to consider how fortunate that we all really are.

[I also hope that if you happen to be sick, you have a bell.]

May 2013 be bright, full of warm love, tender moments, lots of laughter, a few new challenges, [the Oxford comma,] and the resounding belief that anything is possible.

Happy New Year, friends. xo

Hark, Joy, Wishing you...

Despite the craziness that is the week before Christmas, I had a few moments of genuine bliss:

• surprising a few (former) neighbors by returning to town to join a party
• hugging everyone at the event more than once (tightly)
• singing perhaps a bit off key (loudly)
• having a photo made with my favorite doppelganger of all time and still having someone confuse us when she entered the room
• walking the streets just any way we wanted (but not loose)
• "performing" for Joy Williams at one of the restaurants, though I only know that via someone else.  (I'm the worst to identify all the songwriters and singers here)
• talking about life and having someone ask me aloud the hard question I've been asking myself for a year (I still don't know the answer and this wasn't exactly bliss but it was probably good for me)
• helping the youngest member of the GBC find a chair for a gingerbread snack
• exchanging presents (books of course!) with GBC P@1ge at 5:45 a.m. when both of us were still half asleep 

Hugs to all and Merry Christmas greetings!  I plan to take a bit of a writing break during the season but I'll be back at least once more before the calendar turns the page.  Wishing you safe journeys, peaceful moments, and lots of smiles along the way.  If you're lucky, perhaps you'll get mobbed by a group of accordion-accompanied rogue carolers who fancy reading water and singing.

Kind-red Spirits

It's the kind of stormy morning when you want to sleep in but instead get up for a bit of yoga, present wrapping and a cafe con leche.

It's the kind of afternoon where you take a few hours off and make a road trip to sing and drink reading water with your friends.

It's the day of the week where you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Hope your day is a good one.

The Seen Scene

I've already admitted I'm behind in reading, however it seems I'm not doing too terribly bad with my movie watching (over the course of 2012).  With a bit of a break coming up, I'm certain there is time to view a more.

Here's one of many (many) articles and lists to be published on the Top films of the year, courtesy of the New York Times:  25 Favorites From a Year When 10 Aren’t Enough by A.O. Scott.

How many have you seen?

A Play on Words

If you're a like me, you're behind on your reading because you are:

1. trying to finish up work projects before year end
2. knitting like mad to finish a few gifts
3. still working on Christmas cards
4. trying to create a Christmas shopping list that is procurable from Amazon Prime
5. all of the above

For you over-achiever, successful planner, relaxed types, just a reminder that the next GBC book is  The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams.  Happy rainy day reading!

Yin Yang

A late lunch led to a late dinner which meant a drive to fill the time gap until the restaurant opened.  The drive led to an overlook and a few peaceful moments as the sun set and the moon rose.  Happy Friday.

Monte Sano State Park
November 2012

Oh Rumi, Don't Take Your Love to Town

This morning's inspiration from Rumi in the Everyman's Library Pocket Poets edited by Peter Washington.  It's not complete as I rather favor the beginning more than the ending.

If You Don't Have*
        - Rumi

if you don't have
enough madness in you
go and rehabilitate yourself

if you've lost a hundred times
the chess game of this life
be prepared to lose one more

if you're the wounded string
of a harp on this stage
play once more then resonate no more

if you're that exhausted bird
fighting a falcon for too long
make a comeback and be strong

you've carved a wooden horse
riding and calling it real
fooling yourself in life

though only a wooden horse
ride it again my friend
and gallop to the next post

* The last two stanzas are a bit more dire so they've been omitted.

Can I Ask you a Question?

The concept of understanding someone's thoughts and motivations by the execution of a survey has been on my mind of late.  A portion of this pondering began with this NYT article "Columbia's Gang Scholar Lives on the Edge" highlighting Sudhir Venkatesh's work (and a bit of controversy).  Venkatesh's early experience included work on a research project whose leader had the request to survey those who were poor to find out how they felt about being poor. (Fairly sure Richard Dawson would have had only one answer on the board.)  He abandoned paper and instead talked with people, shadowing, learning.  These day to day interactions later emerged into books.

This morning, while reading through a NYT list of the top 10 best books of 2012 (already!?), I discovered Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. Boo spent three years reporting in Annawadi, just outside Mumbai, capturing the stories of men, women and children.  Her book is described as "narrative nonfiction."

Walking the proverbial mile, watching, and listening.  I think it's better than a survey.