He uses his hammer

I’ve been borrowing movies from the library, and I just watched the documentary The Internationale (Peter Miller, 2000). The movie told the story of the socialist anthem of the same name. It’s an interesting story, and I’d recommend it. I particularly liked the new lyrics by British musician Billy Bragg, which speak to the many struggles that people face in today’s world, and some ways that we can all use to cope.

“Let no one build walls to divide us,
Walls of hatred nor walls of stone.
Come greet the dawn and stand beside us,
We’ll live together or we’ll die alone.”

The movie also got me thinking about Pete Seeger, who was one force behind the decision to change the lyrics. I’ve been inspired by Pete Seeger for many years, and it was nice to see him again in this documentary. I grew up in the same part of New York where Mr. Seeger lives and does his work for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an organization he and his wife founded to clean up the Hudson River.

I’ve seen him perform a number of times, and I feel lucky. Pete Seeger is one of those persons who radiates a Zen-like calm, and I admire all the work he’s done for the environment, and also towards the spread of folk music in this country. I hear there is a movement right now to get him nominated for a Nobel Peace prize, and I am not surprised.

As a person who eventually hopes to make her whole living from creative pursuits, I also admire anyone who follows a dream and makes it happen. Pete Seeger’s biography says that he fell in love with the banjo and it changed his whole life—it thrills me that it changed his life in a way that means he isn’t just some guy who plays banjo at the office Christmas party. Every person who takes a dream and makes it happen shows the rest of us that it can be done. It was nice to watch that movie and be reminded that so many different people have influenced my outlook. I’d thank them all if I could, but there’s not enough space on the internet to do it.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

151. Think of at least one person you admire (I have a long list). What have you learned from them? Tell someone else, and if you can, thank the person directly.

Links, should you desire them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Seeger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationale

Hand-stitched by time

I’ve been thinking about chaos, and quilting; about the interplay between light and dark. The moving boxes are part of the chaos, and I hope to set some of that right this weekend. It’s finally cooled down, and the holy rain has blessed us with a few showers.

I’ve got my dark patches, as do we all. The job hunting is not a bright spot, and I find the interviews stressful. As I write this I am stuck in a clinic waiting room, marooned on the ugly chairs until the lab people come back from lunch. These are the less pleasant pieces of fabric in my quilt, the squares where the pattern is slightly off, the colors a bit muted.

On the other hand, I have lots of bright squares, and that’s what really matters. One looks at the whole quilt, not at the disassembled pieces. Mine is bursting with color. Over there in the corner you’ll see a cheerful splash to commemorate my first sighting of the famous Northwest snails. I haven’t gardened in Seattle, so I don’t get up close and personal with a lot of soil. Yesterday a rock caught my attention while I was walking to a friend’s house. This rock was in a raised flower bed, and when I looked closer I noticed its head and its companion’s head. Two lovely snails sat there on a stick, and I admired them. They were quite a bit larger than I’d expected they’d be.

I’m also enjoying the sailors who are suddenly showing up all over the downtown, dressed in their white navy uniforms. They remind me of the movie Anchors Aweigh with Gene Kelly. If they start dancing in the streets, I’ll be sure to tell you. I feel grateful to have seen them.

I’ve been reading a lot, as always, and that adds more pretty threads to the overall pattern. My friend Laurie just recommended Claiming Georgia Tate by Gigi Amateau. I loved it. It was well-written, a feast both savory and sweet. I could taste the carefully-iced watermelon as I read about it, and I fell in love with her characters. The best thing about the book, though, is its message of joy. I am a joy-seeking creature myself, and it’s seen me through a lot. I know this, too—contrast is beautiful. The dark spots in any artwork really make the colors pop. All is right with the world.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

150. Find and read Claiming Georgia Tate by Gigi Amateau. How do you get through times of difficulty? Are there some bright patches amidst the struggle?

I haven’t forgotten you

One of the perils of fairly regular posting is that when you get really busy and have a few days off, people fear you’ve given up. I have not given up, and I shall post again shortly. I’ve been busy job hunting, and I haven’t had a lot of time on the internet in the last few days. I shall return with a longer post soon. In the meantime, if you want some homework, I suggest that you go back and do something that you skipped because you thought it was too challenging. It’s good to stretch your boundaries once in a while.

I hope to see you again tomorrow.

Quirky business fun

On weekends I like to mix up the format a bit. Enjoy!

I’ve been borrowing DVDs from the public library. This method introduces some serendipity into the selection process, since very few movies are available at any one time. Chance determines what is available, and I have found some interesting things to watch.

I borrowed the first season of the British comedy The Office. I’ve never seen the American version, but the British one is hilarious. Tedium loses nothing in translation. I was also inspired by a quote on one of the shows. I don’t have it exactly, but one of the characters said something to the effect that he’d rather be at the bottom of a ladder he wanted to climb than halfway up one that he didn’t. I couldn’t agree more, and I thought it was well put.

If you get a chance to see the show, I’d highly recommend it.

See you tomorrow!

She has a point

On weekends I like to mix up the format a bit. Enjoy!

Today I bring you a quote from the most recent novel by Rebecca Wells, which is titled Ya-Yas in Bloom. I am finding this book just as charming as the others. I love her writing style, and I feel cheered by her work, even though she deals with tough subjects like racism and child abuse.

I loved this quote, and the idea behind it: “Normally, Eddie and Washington didn’t like to be seen out looking like this. They liked to look sharp. And their Aunt Willetta always fussed at them about this: ‘Don’t you be going out looking nasty! Won’t no girl ever kiss on you, if you all sweaty and smelly. Don’t you be acting like a ten-cent self. You good handsome men. Act like it.’ “

See you tomorrow!

I like to roam around

One of my favorite quotes comes from J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. He said “not all who wander are lost.” I’d add to that: “You never know what you’ll find until you go looking.”

I love to walk, and I particularly like to meander with no specific purpose. I was doing that the other night and I found a seemingly ancient dive bar tucked into a dead end of residential neighborhood. The bar has a backwoods feel to it. It’s got hunting targets in the bathrooms, chandeliers made of deer antlers and stools fashioned from tree stumps. A large barrel of peanuts provides snacks, and this is the kind of the place where the majority of shells end up on the floor. It’s a relaxed treasure hidden amidst the painted ladies and ornate apartment buildings. I’d tell you where it is, but it’s more fun if you discover your own places.

I get ideas for writing when I wander. I admire the quirky little things people have done with their houses, gardens and sidewalks. My friend lives near an Egyptian hieroglyphic eye that is set into the sidewalk in mosaic fashion with round pieces of glass serving as tesserae. It’s really nifty. The other day I saw a garden that had its flower bed fenced in with a little picketed row of Barbie dolls. Each plastic woman was planted waist-deep in soil, and their outfits were a riot of pinks and yellows. I’m not sure what statement the gardener was trying to make, but I admired it just as much without knowing.

I also wander through books, through magazines, through art museums. You never know what you’ll find when you go looking. I like to look, and the mind picks up these pieces of inspiration and makes something new and different from all the little bits it collects. Want to know where I get some of my ideas? I wander, I pay attention, and they come to me. It couldn’t get any easier than that. If you need some inspiration, I suggest you do the same. The world awaits your roving eye.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

149. Wander around in your own way. You never know what you’ll find until you go looking. Share a few of your finds with a friend.

Long live gender tourism!

I love to read men’s magazines. Just as country music details an experience I’ve never had, so does Esquire. I’ve never been male, I’ll never be male, and all the time I spend around male friends will not give me the true insider experience. Neither will Esquire, but it provides a glimpse into the obsessions of its readers.

I’ve learned a lot from reading Esquire, Details, GQ and the like. There are so many advertisements for fancy watches that I felt almost inadequate without one. How must men feel, if they read these all the time? I started checking out men’s wrists after I noticed this, and lots of men do indeed wear lovely watches.

One memorable article discussed proper behavior in case of a bar fight. The article alerted men about proper thumb placement so that they would not break fingers if they slugged someone. It also suggested that you should pretend to try to halt the fight while you were hitting people so that you could limit your liability. The general tone of the piece indicated that a bar fight might be a pleasant diversion. I’ve never even seen a bar fight, and I’d run in the other direction if one started. This is definitely a different perspective.

Another piece told about bathroom etiquette for males at work. Apparently men should never use a restroom on their own floor, because things could get tricky if you met your boss at the urinal. Who knew? When I mentioned this to a male friend, he said he has a personal rule about this: “Use the stall, avoid all.” My only bathroom rule is to take any chance to use a ladies room when traveling because you never know when you’ll have the next opportunity. Ah, how we differ!

I’m sure my male friends might also be interested to study some female publications. Why are we women so interested in self-improvement? What man would spend all his time organizing, crafting ornate curtains or making a decadent fudge cake while also obsessing over his weight? Why do some women do these things? Darned if I know, but it raises some interesting questions. The magazines prompt me to think about these things and to discuss them with others. I learn a lot in this type of dialogue with the printed word. The dialogue continues into my friendships and my writing. Long may it continue!

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

148. Look at some magazines written for the opposite gender, and think about the magazines written for your own gender. Do you think your magazines accurately reflect your own interests? What questions do the opposite-gender publications raise? Raise the discussion with some friends.

Sometimes more is better

It’s easy to let relaxation go in the midst of turmoil and confusion. I know this, and I’ve worked really hard to keep a balance while I job hunt and try to unpack. This Saturday I got a little boost on that front. I went to the spa.

How did I do that on my unemployment wages? I won a drawing at one of those expos that the convention center is always having. I always enter those things, and I actually won two different drawings, as well as some prizes that weren’t really prizes. I ignored the sales pitches, but happily accepted the true goodies.

I won three spa services, so this weekend I had my first-ever facial. I’ve done my own facials, of course. I don’t think you can get to be an adult female without having at least spent some time investigating the range of scented luxury potions and skin care options. It was decadent, and I appreciate the people who attend the school where the treatment took place. I think that the services they provide truly qualify them as healing professionals. My skin looks a little bit nicer, but the best thing about it was the healthy indulgence.

After that I had my first-ever salt glow, a procedure where I was scrubbed with scented salt until my skin had no more rough parts or dead skin cells left. Once the salt was washed off the aestheticians rubbed on a soft lotion that smelled like lemony mint. I finished my afternoon with a manicure, and carried that relaxed feeling into the rest of the weekend. Yesterday I continued the pampering with a long soak in my apartment’s claw foot tub. The whole experience has been so helpful to my outlook that I’m going to redouble my efforts to remember to nurture myself.

At the same expo I also won a decorative glass float. I’m told these things were used by fishermen to keep nets up in the water. Whatever it was originally for, it’s very pretty. The float is a blown-glass sphere about six inches in diameter, with rainbow-colored swirls. I’ve got it in a bowl nearby my bed. It’ll remind me to keep going out, to keep taking time for myself, and to always to take a chance when there’s a prize drawing. Who knows what else could enter my life?

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

147. Next time you see a free prize drawing, take the time to sign up. The universe may be waiting to reward you.

And lots of songs about trucks

I had a strange moment on Friday evening, and I’d like to share it with you. I was out country dancing, and had taken a break for a moment because I’d just done two really fast line dances in a row. As I caught my breath and watched the other dancers doing the two-step, I sang along with the music. This is when the weirdness occurred. I realized I was singing about farm equipment, and that I knew all the words. I thought about it a little more that evening, and I know the words to lots of songs about farm equipment.

I grew up in the Hudson Valley region of New York. The state has plenty of rural regions, but the area I am from is not one of them. I’d never seen a combine or a grain elevator before I moved to Minnesota, and I certainly could not have told you what they were for. As I’ve learned to love country music, I’ve gotten even more familiar with these things. I think that’s great. I think that writers ought to know at least a little about a lot of things, and it’s interesting to hear the viewpoint of someone who has grown up with a different experience than your own. The song I was singing along with is called International Harvester, and it’s sung by Craig Morgan. It’s a great two-step song, and I think the lyrics are intriguing. The singer talks about how it feels to be driving down the highway at five miles per hour on his combine and have all the cars honking at him when he’s only trying to do his job.

I’d never thought about it from that perspective before. I’ve done a lot of driving on back roads, and I’ve gotten behind some of those slow-moving farm vehicles. I’ve also been stuck behind Amish buggies. I realized they couldn’t go any faster, but I never thought about how frustrating it must be to have angry drivers behind them. I love to have my world expanded like this. I can’t wait to see what next new perspective will cross my path. I’m keeping my eyes and ears open.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

146. When was the last time you were exposed to a new perspective on life? Seek one out. One idea is to page through specialty or trade magazines. You can learn a lot by seeing what others focus on.

Know where to go

On weekends I like to mix up the format a bit. Enjoy!

Today I bring you a few Seattle details. I love the way that certain coffee shops and restaurants mark the doors to the bathrooms. The place I’m currently at has photos of old men and women on the respective doors. Another shop in my neighborhood has taken Mattel’s darlings of yesterday, Ken and Barbie, and changed them a bit. “Kenneth” marks the men’s room, and he’s all glittered and spangled, and “Barb” ushers the women in with her short haircut and manly attire. This certainly beats the markings on the fabulous pie shop I went to in Wisconsin. The restaurant is called The Norske Nook, and everything inside is Norwegian. This includes the words on the restroom doors. I had to ask the server which one was for women. There’s fun cute, and then there’s cute which impedes understanding. I’ll stick with Kenneth and Barb.