tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47445788832184593752012-01-31T14:57:49.948-08:00Just a small town girl, blogging in a lonely world.SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.comBlogger3831100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-35352143972559034522012-01-19T18:15:00.000-08:002012-01-20T13:43:23.700-08:00

“The cure for anything is salt water….sweat, tears or the sea.”~ Isak Dinesen*  The Fiberglass Cradle I’m reminded again, laying on this hard slab, of why I love the sea. Yesterday for moments it had seemed my mortal enemy as I hung on the board and kicked with all I had yet was pulled further and further from shore. I could hear the fear in STG’s voice as he yelled “let go of your board

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-53547561621123401692012-01-17T11:59:00.000-08:002012-01-19T18:15:42.443-08:00

I haven't done a Write on Edge prompt for a bit since I've had a lot else to say. I like this one though: "... come up with a title and tagline that captures your life, or a moment from your life. That’s it. Looking forward to reading your life distilled to its essence." Small Pond Blues She couldn't see the wide world from her remote corner, and yet she knew it was out there just waiting for

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-42731160545421356282012-01-13T17:01:00.000-08:002012-01-13T17:05:51.162-08:00

There's a video making the rounds on Facebook right now, and after avoiding it for a few days, the right person posted it and I clicked to view. It was not what I expected - titled 'Dear 16 year old me,' I expected the message to be universal things we all wish we knew when we were young and invincible and maybe not so wise as we'd like to have been.  The message that is delivered is a

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-8690667282819116572012-01-11T23:20:00.000-08:002012-01-11T23:20:39.851-08:00

It's amazing how quickly an agreement with myself goes out the window. For over a month, give or take, I've been following a food plan that is designed to heal some of the damage to my digestive system. I won't go into any details, but suffice it to say that my love of all things sugar had taken its toll and I was suffering in ways I hadn't experienced since going gluten-free six years ago. I

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-61373797451216776942012-01-08T11:09:00.000-08:002012-01-29T19:21:04.420-08:00

It seems my ability to suspend disbelief took a break last month. First there was my struggle to get really into The Book of Negroes and then Jeanette Walls The Glass Castle, which is supposedly non-fiction biography, also tested the limits of believability. I know there are all kinds of families in the world. And I don't deny that many children slip through the cracks and are raised by

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-32075667992139057142012-01-03T10:58:00.000-08:002012-01-06T21:09:43.779-08:00

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” Henry David Throreau The team at Write on Edge, the writing community I joined in 2011, sent out their New Years resolutions this week, and while they all sounded good, Nichole's really stood out for me: "My resolution is to walk away from the computer and find inspiration from life more. I plan to live by Thoreau’s

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-46168363024342370182012-01-01T17:27:00.000-08:002012-01-01T17:27:49.743-08:00

Long ago and far away, I read Don Miguel Ruiz' The Four Agreements on a flight from Prince George to Chicago. Never has a flight gone faster, or a small book seemed written just for me. As I pondered New Years' resolutions the last couple days - not something I've ever really felt strongly about - all that came to me was 'do better.' Over and over - do better. Be better. Stop giving up so easily

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-57152524867465369972011-12-29T15:28:00.000-08:002012-01-01T18:47:47.393-08:00

It's one of those days. A day when I woke up with something nagging at the back of my mind. Not a thought so much as the shadow of one ... sneaky ... hidey ... furtive. I'm just sitting, and reading, and online-ing and pondering. And trying oh so hard to get that sneaky darkness out where it belongs - in the light of day where I can sort it through. And then it occurred to me that 2011 is

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-56000415038462291022011-12-28T12:50:00.000-08:002012-01-29T17:39:01.880-08:00

NOTE - this review has been sitting in drafts for a month ... some of my impressions may be slightly dulled.  For some reason before I started reading this book, I thought it was non-fiction. Of course it would be ridiculous to have a first-person narrative from years surrounding the American Revolution only pop onto the literary scene in the last few years, but still ... I thought it was a

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-35832894077421008512011-12-27T13:01:00.000-08:002011-12-27T15:33:11.677-08:00

To abstain from the enjoyment which is in our power, or to seek distant rather than immediate results, are among the most painful exertions of the human will. ~ NW Senior, 1836 ~ As I lay here on my couch, in my pyjamas at 3:30 pm, pondering this quote from a TED Talk I just viewed, a part of my brain is engaged in trying to remember which treats from Christmas remain in my fridge. A nice

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-26859792012531815852011-12-23T11:08:00.000-08:002011-12-23T11:55:58.075-08:00

The original 'Beat' stockings - lined up by the dozen Stockings were big in my family. I don't mean size-wise - by today's standards, Grandpa's dress socks & even Dad's wool work socks were quite small. I mean, they were exciting, surprising hosiery of joy that we got to open en masse with our cousins and see what we all had in common, and what - if anything - differed. At our big family

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-1286266131705186052011-12-14T22:57:00.000-08:002011-12-14T23:27:04.290-08:00

Don't make someone a priority when they only make you an option Respect people who make time for you in their busy schedule, but cherish the people who never look at their schedule when you need them If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you - you shouldn't have to fight for a spot Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth It’s not the

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-11220286821046591632011-12-12T22:51:00.000-08:002011-12-12T22:51:53.852-08:00

A few months ago I showed STG some pictures from when I was a teenager. He'd shown me his teenage photos - the charming, handsome, smiling young STG a clear promise of the handsome smiling man he is today, and I thought I'd share in return. He was gentle, and quiet, and slightly, I think, confused. He finally said, "don't take this the wrong way, but you are so much more beautiful now."  I

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-15133999544000062012011-12-07T13:10:00.001-08:002011-12-07T13:19:55.579-08:00

I read this devotional at our management team meeting today (only slightly modified from this original). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did: A Christmas Devotional - Silent Night It happens every Christmas. Hustling, bustling, shopping, traveling, cooking. Parties, banquets, Santa Claus, pageants, decorations, trees, lights, clothes. We get caught up in the season of Christmas, stressed

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-79275953865939522432011-12-06T12:26:00.000-08:002011-12-06T14:17:19.715-08:00

Today's Red Dress Club prompt is a one-word speed write (a.ka. flash memoir) on the word "Crash" ten minutes ... here goes: Crumpling metal. Squealing tires. Shattering glass. Screaming girls. A heart-felt 'I told you so' from the driver of the cars we'd so recently passed on that twisting mountain road. I remember most one bystander with a parrot on his shoulder, and streams of guano down

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-1550321035587316252011-12-05T13:58:00.000-08:002011-12-05T19:52:14.133-08:00

I woke up yesterday with a knot of dread in my stomach - I knew it was the second Sunday of advent and that I'd need to write this post about peace. I did not feel peace. I felt fatigue, stress, concern, some annoyance, and a little fear. Anything but peace. So I went about my morning aware of all that. I cleaned, and I sewed, and I thought about Peace, as I do at this and not a lot of other

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-1665240979403072832011-11-29T17:28:00.001-08:002011-12-01T13:03:39.640-08:00

I was bustling about a blustery downtown. Fitting in personal errands between work errands, trying to keep my receipts straight, and trying to keep the rain out of my eyes and my heels on the slippery sidewalk. It was not a comfortable shopping experience, even though I was in some of my favourite stores doing one of my favourite things - buying bits for creative projects. I was tired, cold,

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-51962048217697001382011-11-29T16:12:00.001-08:002011-11-30T09:48:21.298-08:00

This week's RemembeRED prompt ... Everyone has a favorite photo of themself, whether it’s a childhood snapshot, a professional graduation or wedding photograph, or a close-up taken amongst friends. Some say a photograph steals the soul. This week, show us yours: take us into the moment that photograph was taken. Show us who you were then and what the photograph means–in 300 words. _____________

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-49307792850973196322011-11-28T22:13:00.001-08:002012-01-29T17:41:46.885-08:00

You can tell I've come straight from reading The Bloggess again, because my title is so long, and has commas, which I don't think I've ever done before. It's okay though, I love The Bloggess nearly as much as I love run-on sentences.  View on Amazon The author referred to in my unusually long title is one Chuck Palahniuk. Who, you might ask (as did everyone I invited to come with me), is

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-8848057197152107252011-11-27T13:26:00.001-08:002011-11-28T08:58:22.474-08:00

It's time. I bemoan the constant creep of Christmas marketing earlier and earlier into the retail year because I truly think the magic of Christmas is best preserved by keeping it to a specific season. For me that season lasts from advent to New Years' Day, which makes today the beginning, for me. It's time to kick into gear on collecting gift ideas, digging out the decorations, and considering

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-1076082254902229292011-11-26T22:09:00.001-08:002011-11-26T22:56:46.991-08:00

Tonight I was transported. I was moved, touched, and inspired. And I was transported to a scratchy theatre seat with little padding. I was swooped up and carried back to 1980, to a small town theatre where I was introduced to one of my first and most lasting heroes. I was reminded tonight why I so admire my small green hero - his tenacity. His leadership. His willingness to overcome his own

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-4695265621908034142011-11-23T15:34:00.001-08:002011-11-23T17:57:51.289-08:00

I just got off the phone with BB2. He's good - living his life in another town. Working hard. Taking care of himself and his home and Sweetie. He's only 19, but he's so suddenly an adult.  We had a nice chat, mostly talking Christmas plans - which is no simple equation when we have to consider his Dad's family Christmas, Sweetie's 2 parents separate Christmases, and then even just our

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-92095677706115301082011-11-16T08:56:00.001-08:002011-11-16T09:24:12.652-08:00

I don't normally read all the way through email forwards, but for some reason this one caught hold and seemed like just what I need. I did a little more poking around, and it seems (according to the author herself) that the Internet has prematurely aged Regina Brett. Some part of me wants her to be 90. Because, as we all know, wisdom is preserved for the aged, and if we can be this wise in

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-27004524057379719452011-11-10T08:08:00.001-08:002011-11-10T08:37:56.672-08:00

Yesterday someone on Twitter was playing truth or dare, and I jumped in and said 'truth.' I'd seen some of his dares, and wasn't feeling like getting out of my seat at the moment, so ... truth seemed easier. Due to some 'glitch in the matrix' (his words, not mine) I ended up getting two truth prompts: What's something you wish your twitter followers realized about you that they don't know right

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-59072948681789070522011-11-08T09:45:00.000-08:002012-01-19T18:16:10.155-08:00

I knew. Sitting in the back seat of the white Lincoln Town Car my Dad had rented for the occasion. As my hands, clad to the elbow in white satin, slid apart no matter how tightly they grasped each other. As my dress – so much more satin meringue than I had ever imagined wearing – billowed around me, the train cocooning my legs. I knew, in that back seat, hands wringing, satin wrinkling,

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-89779422253735126362011-11-02T18:59:00.000-07:002011-11-02T19:06:27.743-07:00

I don't know when I became a boot wearing girl. Heck, growing up in snowy frigid  Northern BC I wouldn't even wear snow boots in winter. Between inheriting my dad's muscly calves, and adding my own layers of fluff over the muscle, stylish boots haven't often been an option.  I tried to pretend for a long time that I was fine wearing ankle boots but ... really ... we all know those are just

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-79150881383939682622011-10-31T00:25:00.000-07:002011-10-31T00:25:11.972-07:00

Somebody asked on Twitter the other day "When did Halloween get to be about adults?" Or maybe that was on some TV show. Either way, the question stuck with me.  I am a huge fan of Halloween. I love the kiddy aspect of it (though I really hope no neighbour kids drop by tomorrow, as I'm not buying any candy and they HATE that). But I also really enjoy the night of bacchanalia. The costumes. The

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-62091947733568479442011-10-23T23:20:00.000-07:002012-01-29T17:44:00.501-08:00

As with the first book in the Millennium trilogy, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I struggled to finish The Girl Who Played With Fire. Actually, that's not accurate - with both books I struggled with the first third or so, and then couldn't put it down. I find the translated Swedish, or perhaps Stieg Larsson's savant-like attention to detail, labourious. And yet the story moves at a pace that

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-61643815206452279962011-10-21T09:41:00.000-07:002011-10-21T09:44:07.966-07:00

A few weeks ago this article by Yashar Ali about 'gaslighting' made the circuit on Facebook. I'd never heard the term before then, but instantly recognised that it's a practice so common that I hardly know a relationship in which I haven't experienced it.  I'm a woman of emotion - perhaps not more than average, though I suspect, based on the common family myth, that I might possibly excel

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-160938438511303542011-10-19T23:25:00.000-07:002011-10-19T23:25:21.172-07:00

Wednesdays tend to be my quiet-night-at-home eating poorly, watching too much TV, and surfing the internet with nothing to do but tickle my fancy. At some point tonight on Twitter I 'met' Alyssa, the author of Near Normalcy, whose tweets made me giggle and whose blog struck a chord with me. She had posted about NaNoWriMo, the annual novel writing fest/challenge, and stated that she participates

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-68698791370688361012011-10-18T10:20:00.000-07:002011-10-18T15:36:29.229-07:00

"Come and go with me - it's more fun to share. We'll both be completely at home in mid air." Every October 18 I get wistful. Yes, there are other days I get wistful, though they tend to be a bit less scheduled and a bit more in response to some outside factor. Sometimes they're around the BBs' birthdays when I'm struck by some 'they're all grown up now' mixed with looking at pictures of

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-11432730893717576292011-10-15T13:35:00.000-07:002011-10-18T09:23:07.089-07:00

The lucky ones - off on another adventure I first heard this song when STG & I were driving home from Ucluelet last weekend. I was exhausted & achey and like oh so many songs it made me teary, especially when STG sang along. I've got it on loop this morning ... for no reason other than I like it. I hope it gives someone encouragement when they need it. That Michael Bublé ... such a tear

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-65760594441512871062011-10-15T10:19:00.000-07:002011-10-15T10:23:36.226-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about dads, and more specifically how important dads are to their daughters, and how much dads get the shaft in our culture. It's kind of disgusting how we've devalued dads and sanctified moms as though we don't need both equally to grow into healthy adults.  It's not a new thought - in the blogosphere or for me. I did a quick search of my blog before I started

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-59068449849742715302011-10-13T20:15:00.000-07:002011-10-13T20:15:30.199-07:00

It's not that I can't do the trick. It's an easy one - I can definitely do it. It's just that I didn't. Today I took my first real mountain bike ride, and my first mountain bike tumble. I looked at the trick. I practiced the first part over and over. I looked at the second half, and I went for it.  But something went wrong ... not enough momentum, a moment's hesitation, stepping off to the

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-24126988223151585762011-10-10T22:42:00.000-07:002011-10-10T22:42:50.422-07:00

I just got home from a four day weekend with STG and his friends to our wild west coast. I've only ever been for mini-trips before and I was so amazed - again - by the ocean. I've lived near the Pacific coast for 10 years and I'm still blown away by its power, its constancy and its constant change. The south island is lovely; Pacific Rim National park fiercely wildly stunning.  It was a great

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-75365288424501852082011-10-04T23:20:00.000-07:002011-10-04T23:26:28.222-07:00

So I decided to be a little quiet for a while rather than continue to whimper and whine - the stressors and worries were winning, and I just didn't want to keep going on about it. It had been coming for a while, and Friday was the end of it - BB1 was moving out again. And for the first time in my life I'm living completely alone - not even any pets to distract me from the emptiness and quiet.

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-69360957092643829552011-09-27T21:49:00.000-07:002011-09-27T21:49:58.424-07:00

Sometimes, just when everything is going well - when work is ticking along, and there's no immediate BB emergency to focus on, and my sweetie is being his sweetest, and there are things to look forward to - some teeny tiny little nothing ... a tweet, an unexpected ex sighting, something on Facebook ... will tweak my 'people - ugh' response and the avalanche begins.  I love people. I really

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-64082941869308264752011-09-22T20:34:00.000-07:002012-01-29T17:44:24.905-08:00

When I started reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude, I was completely swept away by the damp poetry of Marquez writing, the immersive descriptions, the believable connected characters. And yet, for some reason, it took me six weeks to finish reading it. Somewhere between Jose Arcadio Buendia & Ursula Iguaran founding Macondo and the second or third generation, it got

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-37512359180682328232011-09-19T19:05:00.000-07:002011-09-19T19:05:39.389-07:00

I noticed over the past couple days, growing - really - since the big release last week of fear and my realisation that everything is as it should be and we will be okay, that there's a fluffy light cloud of melancholy following me around. Just a tinge, off to the side of my my day, that I couldn't quite nail down. I wouldn't even say melancholy, really, more like the sharper edge of nostalgia.

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-88222311743277766382011-09-17T14:22:00.000-07:002011-09-17T14:22:15.803-07:00

I said a while back in the Trust 30 posts that I'd start breaking down into eatable chunks the elephant that is finishing my novel. I have indeed been working on that, as well as a new non-fiction project. Somedays it feels like jogging in mud, but somedays I hit a river of clarity and it flows. The balance is encouraging. I shared an older snippet in that July post, and I figured maybe I'd

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-15541653762170160062011-09-16T21:57:00.000-07:002011-09-16T21:57:41.507-07:00

I saw my counselor the other day for the first time in about a month. A lot of life has happened since we last chatted - more than I could catch him up on fully - and it was good to check in. To say out loud there has been good and bad but definitely more good, and that I'm learning again that the good is real too.  We talked about some impending changes that, although I am trying to believe

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-224622471220879502011-09-14T13:26:00.000-07:002011-09-14T13:26:28.574-07:00

There's a luxury to white that entices me. Dare I wear a white sweater and eat carrot soup, or slurp saucy spaghetti, knowing as I do my clumsiness and white cotton's magnetic powers. It's tempting fate in a casual cottony kind of way. Lush white towels - fluffy and broad - hang in my bathroom, but I fear sometimes to use them. Instead I wipe my face that might still have traces of mascara on

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-62432351892480792762011-09-13T22:17:00.000-07:002011-09-13T22:25:42.902-07:00

So I've started work on a new offline project, and even though it's offline, and I'm not even deciding what shape it's going to take until I get the words out, it seems I can't stop censoring myself. The document I'm drafting it in is password protected. No one has access to this computer but BB1 and I, and he can't access the file. Yet I can't stop censoring myself. I know what I want to say ..

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-61220606087504764482011-09-12T22:30:00.000-07:002011-09-12T22:30:48.890-07:00

This morning STG and I woke up, looked outside at the already blue sky, and let our respective bosses know that we were pulling an audible - a last minute request to use some of our remaining holidays and spend a day in the sun. It'll be fall soon, we'll trade our shockingly blue skies for months of gray. It's great to have the freedom to choose a day like today instead.  It was glorious - we

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-71199540622138891262011-09-10T23:23:00.000-07:002011-09-10T23:23:06.234-07:00

Mrs. Lady came for dinner last night and it was a lovely evening - great food. Great wine. Great conversation. We were talking about trauma and moving past it, and I was shocked to realise that for some reason - even though my master's thesis uses trauma theory and bearing witness as it's theoretical model so really I should know this - I haven't been willing or able to tell my story. And I said

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-15214699879089181502011-09-06T22:57:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.541-08:00

Energy by Julia E (Trust 30 Prompt 30) “The world belongs to the energetic.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson It’s easy to blame our failure to meet our goals or to live our dream lives on a lack of energy, and we don’t always stop to think about the quality of energy in our lives. Yet we can choose to create and manage our own energy flow. Think of an instance when you’ve been so involved in an

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-48413370424456357012011-09-02T21:18:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.597-08:00

Overcoming Uncertainty by Sean Ogle (Trust 30 Prompt 29) Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Write down a major life goal you have yet to achieve or even begin to take action on. For that goal, write down three uncertainties (read: fears) you have relating to each goal. Break it down further, and write

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-37692775812854230952011-08-31T22:13:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.576-08:00

Mirror, Mirror by Esther Poyer (Trust 30 Prompt 28) “Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Mirror, mirror on the wall… find the nearest mirror. Look. Keep looking for 3 minutes. Write about what you see. I couldn't. This was supposed to be the prompt 8 posts ago, and I just keep shoving it back. I just can't do it. I know that what I see in the mirror

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-80064648392678733832011-08-30T00:23:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.639-08:00

Nothing to Lose by Tanner Christensen (Trust 30 Prompt 27) “Self-censorship is not just self-betrayal and self-abandonment (which would be bad enough), but soul-betrayal and betrayal of our Muse, our inner voice, our highest self.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Too often we censor ourselves, our actions, and our work in hope or fear of what might happen if we otherwise don’t. What words would you

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-73736704446122568392011-08-26T14:38:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.628-08:00

Fire Up by Ben von Burg (Trust 30 Prompt 26) “Books are the best of things, well used. What is the right use? What is the one end, which all means go to effect? They are for nothing but to inspire.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson As a writer, your only duty is to be original, to inspire, to put something new on paper. Don’t be reasonable – your job is to to fire up people’s imaginations, to give them

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-87186321722386583272011-08-24T22:05:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.672-08:00

Ordinary Things by Ana Guardia (Trust 30 Prompt 25) “Every artist was first an amateur.” Ralph Waldo Emerson  To be an artist one has to find beauty in ordinary things. Find 10 things of great beauty in the landscape that surrounds you. For example, crumple sheets on your bed in the morning, the smell of coffee making its way around a busy office. I am in my living room - it's an

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-88435964829346649102011-08-23T22:22:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.680-08:00

Deep in Your Soul by Michael McFadden (Trust 30 Prompt 24) “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson What message is yearning inside you?  What is something you know deep in your soul?  Don’t look for someone else to describe it. You do it. Write it down. Write it as a poem, a sentence or even just a string of words.  Just make sure you get it to paper. I love you.

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-82289753531238691282011-08-22T11:03:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.652-08:00

Legacy by Tim Belber (Trust 30 Prompt 23) “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson One definition of legacy is what someone feels, thinks and says when they hear your name. What are you doing today to build the legacy you want? I've been thinking a lot about legacy lately. At the Power of Women

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-41249725832537807022011-08-21T21:27:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.584-08:00

Original Thought by Michael Brajkovich (Trust 30 Prompt 22) “The arts and inventions of each period are only its costume, and do not invigorate men.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Think of the last time that you thought, said, or did something that was original. What inspired or invigorated this? Not me - but clearly jumping right in  Yesterday I took the plunge - I jumped off a cliff in to a

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-24083246383971432142011-08-19T18:26:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.546-08:00

(Trust 30 Prompt 21) Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Hard words ... or soft? Does the truth have to hurt? Why is brutal honesty better than compassionate honesty? I see no reason why what is true is not just as true if it's gently delivered. Yes,

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-77449144668621187072011-08-17T18:33:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.633-08:00

Fault and Change by Carlos Miceli (Trust 30 Prompt 20) I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Think of all the things that are not working in your life. That job you don’t like, that relationship that’s not working, those friends that annoy you. Now turn them all on you. Imagine that everything that’s not working in your life, is your fault.

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-77095554415284651982011-08-16T11:15:00.000-07:002012-01-29T17:48:03.330-08:00

There are a few kisses of death for books in my world. One was being chosen for 'Oprah's book club' when it existed - unless it was a book already on my list, in which case I tried to find an edition without the Oprah stamp of approval - and the second has generally been to be a 'Heather's pick' at Chapters. I try not to shop for books at Chapters, but when I do, if a book is on the 'Heather's

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-9650839343899693142011-08-15T19:01:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.686-08:00

Alive-est by Sam Davidson (Trust 30 Prompt 19) Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. If we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. - Ralph Waldo Emerson When did you feel most alive recently? Where were you? What did you smell? What sights and sounds did you experience? Capture that moment on paper and recall that feeling. Then, when it’s time to create

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-7094565452456865202011-08-10T23:20:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.623-08:00

Personal Recipe by Harley Schreiber (Trust 30 Prompt 18) I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Think about the type of person you

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-14538632567231192002011-08-09T16:44:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.535-08:00

Going my own Way (Trust 30 Prompt 17) Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good. Ralph Waldo Emerson I have a lot on my mind just now, and today's prompt - yet again - didn't seem relevant for me. So I thought I'd find my own Emerson quote and write my own prompt. This is it. :)  One of the reasons I love this quote so much is that it

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-36534386409149200842011-08-08T23:30:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.569-08:00

Most Ordinary by Susan Piver (Trust 30 Prompt 16) Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours.

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-34415142381956480152011-08-07T22:09:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.564-08:00

Wholly Strange and New by Bridget Pilloud (Trust 30 Prompt 15) When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name;—— the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Can you remember a moment in

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-65512535662826061562011-08-07T21:31:00.000-07:002011-08-07T21:34:18.100-07:00

Swingy dress for dancing in his arms = $30 Sexy shiny heels so I smile right into his eyes = $20 Singing along together at Naturally 7 & Michael Bublé concert = $178 Celebrating 6 months with STG ... you know. :) I think we might be the cutest couple ever! I hate to succumb to a terrible cliché, but last night was incredible for so many reasons. STG and I have been excited about the

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-31896117728713942892011-08-05T22:46:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.552-08:00

Intuition by Susan Piver (Trust 30 Prompt 14) The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. – Ralph Waldo Emerson If you could picture your intuition as a person, what would he or she look like? If you sat down together for dinner, what is the first thing he or she would tell you? My intuition looks like Emma Thompson as Margaret in Howard's End. Stayed. Lovely. Old-fashioned and proper,

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-8277474172416706132011-08-04T17:39:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.659-08:00

Courage to Connect by David Spinks (Trust 30 Prompt 13) Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Who is one person that you’ve been dying to connect with, but just haven’t had the courage to reach out to? First, reflect on why you want to get in touch with them. Then,

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-32892153367841813482011-08-03T23:28:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.557-08:00

Enthusiasm by Mars Dorian (Trust 30 Prompt 12) Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. – Ralph Waldo Emerson “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” is a great line from Emerson. If there’s no enthusiasm in what you do, it won’t be remarkable and certainly won’t connect with people on an emotional basis. But, if you put that magic energy into all of your work,

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-61633444877391439852011-08-02T20:01:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.617-08:00

Invent the Future by Cindy Gallop (Trust 30 Prompt 11)  A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. – Ralph Waldo Emerson My favorite quote of all time is Alan Kay: ‘In order to predict the future, you have to invent

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-54731456488957153532011-08-02T12:22:00.000-07:002012-01-29T17:50:20.128-08:00

Yesterday I indulged in one of my favourite forms of luxury - I read (almost) an entire book in one day. It takes a perfect set of circumstances to allow this sort of indulgence - a sunny day off to lay on the patio. A following day off that allows reading late LATE into the night (or early into the morning, depending what you consider 4 am). And a book that pulls you in deeper and deeper until

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-44060388449272736852011-08-01T13:32:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.591-08:00

You Know by Jen Louden (Trust 30 Prompt 10) Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. - Ralph Waldo Emerson We live in a society of advice columns, experts and make-over shows. Without even knowing it, you can begin to believe someone knows better than you how to live your life. Someone might know a

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-5435706743273705822011-07-31T17:50:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.604-08:00

Speak Less by Laura Kimball (Trust 30 Prompt 9) What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know I. - Ralph Waldo Emerson I once

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-86739639447432904872011-07-30T23:44:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.665-08:00

Facing (and Fearing) by Dan Andrews (Trust 30 Prompt 8) Greatness appeals to the future. If I can be firm enough to-day to do right, and scorn eyes, I must have done so much right before as to defend me now. Be it how it will, do right now. Always scorn appearances, and you always may. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Trusting intuition and making decisions based on it is the most important activity of

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-81640941932755849332011-07-29T20:01:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:51:35.646-08:00

Dreams by Michael Rad (Trust 30 Prompt 7) Abide in the simple and noble regions of thy life, obey thy heart. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Write down your top three dreams. Now write down what’s holding you back from them.  1. I dream of owning my own home - a spacious older home on a property that has room for a dog and a garden. And that's close to the ocean. A place full of light and charm. 

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-56210439645792321592011-07-28T23:26:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:50:45.401-08:00

Alternative Paths by Jonathan Fields (Trust 30 Post 6) When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson The world buzzes about goals and

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-2278897565714160202011-07-27T17:39:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:50:45.377-08:00

Change Your Thinking by Maryellen Smith (Trust 30 Prompt 5) “If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson At any given point in time, you’re only one thought away from changing your thinking. What thought can you change today? Oh my gosh ... really? This is today's prompt? Gah ... so ... okay ... funny story. I've totally been at the mercy of my thoughts all

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-15108061479439402532011-07-26T22:02:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:50:45.362-08:00

One Thing by Colin Wright (Trust 30 Prompt 4) Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Take a moment, step back from your concerns, and focus on one thing: You have one life to achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. Sounds simple, but when you really focus on it, let it seep into your consciousness, you realize you only have

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-4608635029295297392011-07-25T18:06:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:50:45.394-08:00

Surprise by Ashley Ambirge (Trust 30 Prompt 3) I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Think of a time when you didn’t think you were capable of doing something, but then surprised yourself.  How will you surprise yourself this week? When I first read this prompt,

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-33978772376824376842011-07-23T10:33:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:50:45.388-08:00

Fear by Lachlan Cotter (Trust 30 Prompt 2) These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Is fear holding you back from living your fullest life and being truly self expressed? Put yourself in the shoes of the you who’s

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-90784918408017629522011-07-22T18:16:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:50:45.414-08:00

Divine Idea by Fabian Kruse (Trust 30 Prompt 1) Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-85673786714313792252011-07-19T19:38:00.000-07:002011-11-08T09:50:45.408-08:00

Sometime mid-June I signed up for a writing challenge based on Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance. However, I knew at the time that I wasn't actually going to participate in the challenge right then. I had other things I wanted to write, and I was in the middle of learning that it's okay to rely on other people - which seemed a little contrary to the point of the project.  However, the

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-74116861891139633052011-07-11T21:57:00.000-07:002011-07-11T22:14:56.730-07:00

'They' try to tell us that love is composed of grand gestures. Of dinners on gold rimmed plates. Of precious metals & stones, epic poetry, declarations shouted outside windows in the rain. But this is what love is made of. A picture, snapped in a moment and sent in an email. Just because he saw it and thought of me This is love - bright as speckles, sparkling as bokeh, fine as a foxglove hair.

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-56442292655754957732011-07-10T19:34:00.000-07:002011-11-12T23:46:17.479-08:00

This has been sitting in my drafts for a while ... because I know what a private man my boy is. But this month I've had friend after friend after friend proudly exclaiming over their graduates, sharing their pictures on facebook, anticipating their departure for whatever's next. And I just wanted my turn. You see, he's perfect - he was when he was born. Smooth skinned. Unwrinkled. Smiling.

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-53847716585951016472011-07-08T22:11:00.000-07:002012-01-29T17:55:32.748-08:00

I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a while ago, but life being life I somehow didn't get around to the review. One of the things about being a bit of a book snob is that sometimes I resist reading really popular books. But, Dad recommended this one and I can't remember Dad ever steering me wrong in 43 years. He often recommends books I wouldn't normally read, but I've enjoyed every one. 

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-83166055248905182132011-07-06T22:57:00.000-07:002012-01-29T17:57:23.150-08:00

A couple weeks ago while I was having a girl getaway with UberCoach in Ladysmith I finished Jodi Picoult's Handle With Care. Part of me is disappointed with myself for not having the units of self-respect required to put down something that was so unredeemingly sentimental and made-for-tv movie predictable.  I have an embarrassing love-hate relationship with Jodi Picoult, based solely on the

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-58924845192569496712011-07-05T00:26:00.000-07:002011-07-05T00:26:33.244-07:00

I completed an interesting questionnaire this evening ... one that sparked some relatively deep and not entirely comfortable thoughts. The questionnaire began obviously enough given the topic (what would it take to live a life of passion), with exploring what my dreams are - something I've only recently again been able to even consider.  It moved on to something that seemed, at first, only

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-82427354786813931012011-07-03T14:46:00.000-07:002011-07-03T14:46:42.090-07:00

I has a lovely unscheduled conversation this morning. My friend and I were meant to be going to yoga, but somehow got the schedule wrong and ended up going for tea and snacks and sunshine instead. Not a bad trade, if you ask me. In the course of the conversation we started talking about parenting ... for both of us what works - or not - about our parents, and for me what I know - or not - as a

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-52285536804794638862011-06-22T19:37:00.000-07:002011-07-08T20:57:53.914-07:00

I was just daydreaming - something we're told as children is a waste of time. Something I've probably even told my own sons now and then to snap out of.  It was a great dream - I could almost feel the breeze that wafted through our open windows carrying freshness and the smell of ocean salt. The space was one of light and love. It was an impressionistic dream - short and soft. Full of promise

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-823774614600238992011-06-21T21:53:00.000-07:002012-01-29T17:58:33.677-08:00

"When you love someone you say their name different. Like it's safe inside your mouth." I'm reading another Jodi Picoult book right now (full review in a few days) and there's a part of me that, though I find her books utterly un-put-downable - feels somewhat manipulated when I read lines like that and they instantly evoke tears and regret and an ache in me.   I love - fully, mostly freely,

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-83592130144275872562011-06-09T08:51:00.000-07:002011-06-09T10:39:26.134-07:00

Two days ago I saw a link on twitter about a 15 yo girl named Alice who has terminal cancer and who wanted, as a part of her bucket list, to have her name trend. Something about it tweaked with me, so I searched for 'Alice Bucket List' and found her blog. It's poignant and sweet and heart-breaking. I cried a little - not a lot - life isn't fair. Good kids die of cancer. And families get shredded

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-56776893728354216902011-06-08T11:32:00.000-07:002011-06-08T20:18:16.782-07:00

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.  Winston Churchill In a week of epiphanies, here is the second one ... I don't have to be perfect right now. It's okay that there are things I'm continuing to learn and master.  More than one person has told me that I am too hard on myself. Mostly my response is 'ya, and?' But on a happy ramble this morning I suddenly

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-74540598864060911182011-06-07T21:26:00.000-07:002011-06-07T21:26:01.069-07:00

I had an epiphany yesterday - it isn't anyone else's job to put me first when I consistently refuse to do so myself. I don't mean 'put myself first' in a self-indulgent or narcissistic way. After this past Spring I've been feeling so depleted, yet I've thought that somehow or other I was just going to get better without my doing something about it. It's been scary for me, and frustrating and

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-73688356987033979022011-06-06T17:20:00.000-07:002011-06-09T11:21:03.983-07:00

This weekend I had the pleasure and the honour and the fun of going to my Dad's 70th birthday party. I tried to say all this to him and mom the next morning, but they sorta deflected the point and talked about how blessed they are to have such loving family and great friends. So I'll say it here, and maybe if you see them you can help it sink in. Dad blowing out the candles, with a little help

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-26571842785593732872011-05-30T13:12:00.000-07:002012-01-29T18:01:21.512-08:00

Twenty or so years ago, someone who at that point mattered to me tore his knee cartilage. Emergency road trip to a better-than-local hospital, and emergency surgery to remove bits of torn cartilage, and months of physio later, he returned to his regular job. But his knee was never the same. Without that fluid, forgiving margin of cartilage between his knee bones and his knee cap, the joint just

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-57910032227668631212011-05-27T23:47:00.000-07:002011-05-27T23:59:17.703-07:00

It's been an interesting phenomenon for me to be creating a relationship with someone else who also has an online presence. STG blogs. He's on Facebook. More and more he's on Twitter (though he's not yet the big twit I am - ha). And, he makes and posts crazy fun videos on YouTube - something I don't imagine I'll ever do.  Today STG blogged about the long weekend, one day of which we spent

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-43354854527959865342011-05-19T22:28:00.000-07:002011-05-19T22:28:26.280-07:00

In the past few months of sculpting a relationship in the midst of chaos, STG has said to me more than once that the stuff I'm dealing with is just the stuff I'm dealing with, and not who I am. Or something to that effect. It might not sound like a lot, but it's so easy to internalise life, to make it personal, that it's meant the world to me to have him see something in me besides my

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-30781043040922826792011-05-10T17:13:00.000-07:002011-10-15T08:51:56.713-07:00

No, this isn't that kind of post - dad & my BB's, you're welcome to read on. *wink* STG has a driving passion. The man is manic about mountain bikes, and he has been since he was a wee lad (actually, I'm guessing my strapping love was never really a wee lad, but that's neither here nor there). He rides whenever he can. He reads about riding. He blogs about riding (NB: Some of STG's

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-43594004977168122022011-04-17T11:20:00.000-07:002012-01-29T18:03:35.170-08:00

For the past 20 days I've been nearly unable to stop eating. Or at least to make good choices about what I eat. It's been very clear that my body doesn't want all that food - it's not pleased. But my head was (and still is to some degree) convinced that food will give it enough space in time until it is safe to feel what there is to feel. I could see the compulsion as a compulsion, but not drive

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-32224855270134842262011-04-16T20:05:00.000-07:002011-04-16T20:37:04.180-07:00

You've probably noticed the quiet of late. Or not. Maybe you see what's there more than what isn't. Life has been good this winter. And then suddenly not. Or perhaps 'not with hints of wonder.' Somedays I've lots to say and someone to say it to. And then days like today I'm alone with my thoughts - a dangerous place to be - and thinking that sometimes those days I want to talk the least might be

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-5346861539518524732011-04-05T13:32:00.000-07:002011-05-05T12:04:01.655-07:00

I can almost feel them give way. Those taut, stretched, straining muscles and tendons. The wee fibres of my being that struggle to keep me upright. To keep my foot lifting one more time. To keep my eyes forward and my head on straight. If I turn too quickly I can hear one snap - not hear it so much as feel it reverberate in my inner ear. I feel a sharp ping between my shoulder blades and imagine

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-29712275125929268332011-03-19T23:54:00.000-07:002011-03-19T23:57:37.032-07:00

I meant to enter a writing contest this week. I often mean to enter writing contests, and then somehow manage not to track the deadline or make time/space to do the drafting/revising/editing and then pretend to be surprised when the deadline passes.  This particular topic was near and dear to my heart. I don't even remember what the prize was (national publication + cash, I think); I just know

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4744578883218459375.post-60002806052717954302011-03-15T00:20:00.000-07:002011-03-15T15:33:55.619-07:00

I have a shameful confession ... I kind of hate my body. Still. I know I'm not supposed to, and lots of times I don't - I'm sometimes quite proud of myself. I mean, I weigh not much more than I did when I graduated high school. Less than I did when, at the ripe old age of 20, I walked down the aisle. Considerably less than my nemesis for decades - the deuce. I am buying clothes two sizes smaller

SCWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637362867554690125noreply@blogger.com1