I have been a big Elizabeth Berg fan for quite some time. During my
pregnancy, I went through a period during which I read all of her adult
novels. I’ve also spent a good four years writing novels of my own, so
it should come as no surprise that I picked up and devoured Escaping
into the Open, the Art of True Writing.
Back in the days when I wrote all the time, I read every book known to
man on writing. Anne Lamott, Lawrence Block, Natalie Goldberg. You name
it, I read it. And while this book may be a bit more about her than
writing compared to some other books, a bit less inspiring than Anne or
Natalie, a bit less instructional than Lawrence, it’s actually a
balanced combination of all. It’s inspiring. It’s full of good,
practical ideas, and it covers all aspects of writing. It talks about
fiction and non-fiction. It talks about how to come up with ideas. It
gives plenty of prompts. It talks about getting published. It even talks
about reactions from friends and loved ones. (while many at amazon
thought this was vain, I actually really thought it was pithy to mention
it.)
Most importantly, it made me want to write again. And isn’t that the
point, after all?
Photos from one of the mommy-David sessions.
Didn’t journal for this one because I thought the photos said all I
could ever think to say.
Bleh, not my favorite layout. Just didn’t have the creativity flowing
tonight. Oh well, still love the memory.
Journaling Reads:
One dollar. One single dollar. That’s how much we paid for the cash
register that you’ve been playing with night and day for the last two
weeks. You love it so much, you carry it around with you everywhere you
go. Daddy’s taught you how to put a coin at the top and see it come out
on the side. That’s your favorite game.
But sometimes the coin gets stuck. Then, you look at me and say, “Where
it go?” You pick up the register and shake it around. When you’re
satisfied with the amount of shaking you’ve done, you press the button
and scream with joy at the sight of the coin.
You play thins game hundreds of times a day. Your level of joy at
discovering the coin never dissipates. Your enthusiasm is catching and
soon Daddy and I are laughing, too. Who knew a toy we bought for a buck
would spread this much joy to our whole family?
Crap.
Crap. Crap.
So Jake and I have been watching the Tour De France. We got hooked on
the Tour four years ago. We watched it minute by minute in 2004 and
2005. Last year we missed it because we were in Turkey, but this year,
we upgraded our Dish subscription just so we can get Versus and we’ve
been watching it since day one.
So, of course, we started by rooting by Leipheimer. But then he was
obviously not going to make it and while I loved Rasmussen’s drive, I
was still rooting for The Discovery Team, so Contador it was. During
today’s stage, I kept waiting for Contador to take off. Waiting and
waiting and waiting. And then Rasmussen took off. And I got bummed.
So you’d think that once I read the news about Rasmussen being fired by
his team (due to lying about where he was and missing drug tests), I’d
be dancing on my coffee table.
But I am not.
I wanted Contador or Levi to win because they deserved it and because
they rightfully beat Rasmussen by riding faster for the time trial or
something like that. Not that they don’t deserve it but this is such a
bummer way.
It’s all so sad. Rasmussen. Vinokourov. Moreni. Not to mention all those
who were suspended last year and didn’t even get to ride this year. Why,
oh why?
I was looking forward to tomorrow’s time trial very much, especially
since it’s not Rasmussen’s forte and it might have changed the race. But
now looks like Contador will win by elimination. Not really the way I
wanted it to turn out. Reduces the excitement considerably.
What a bummer.
Another gem from the very same shoot. Isn’t he the bestest?
A gem from our weekly Mommy-and-David shots.
Here’s another recent layout. This was for a transparency competition
over at AMM. Hard to see
the effect from a photo.
Journaling Reads:
I guess it’s only fair that a picky eater like me would get a picky
little boy. The list of foods you eat is teeny tiny. Thankfully, you
like a lot of fruits. But not much else. Here’s all you eat without a
fight:
Pear
Apple
Grapes
Bananas
Blueberries
Strawberries
Graham Crackers
Veggie Burgers
Meatballs
Cheese
Yogurt
Bread
Here’s a closeup of the inside of this layout:
Paulo Coelho never ceases to amaze me. While his latest, The
Witch of Portobello, is a bit weirder than usual in my opinion, it’s
no less thought provoking than his usual. Here are a few excerpts that
spoke to me.
“What is a teacher? I’ll tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches
something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in
order to discover what she already knows.”
…
“I’ve always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much
time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing, I learned
calligraphy, I go to courses on selling, I read one book after another.
But that’s all a way of avoiding those moments when nothing is
happening, because those blank spaces give me a feeling of absolute
emptiness, in which not a single crumb of love exists. My parents have
always done everything they could for me, and I do nothing but
disappoint them. But here, during the time we spent together,
celebrating nature and the Great Mother, I’ve realized that those empty
spaces were starting to get filled up. They were transformed into pauses
– the moment when the man lifts his hand from the drum before bringing
it down again to strike hard. I think I can leave now…”
…
Everything is at once so simple and so complicated! It’s simple because
all it takes is a change of attitude: I’m not going to look for
happiness anymore. From now on, I’m independent; I see life through my
eyes and not through other people’s. I’m going in search of the
adventure of being alive.
And it’s complicated: Why am I not looking for happiness when everyone
has taught me that happiness is the only goal worth pursuing? Why am I
going to risk taking a path that no one else is taking?
After all, what is happiness?
Love, they tell me. But love doesn’t bring and never has brought
happiness. On the contrary, it’s a constant state of anxiety, a
battlefield; it’s sleepless nights, asking ourselves all the time if
we’re doing the right thing. Real love is composed of ecstasy and agony.
All right then, peace. Peace? If we look at the Mother, she’s never at
peace. The winter does battle with the summer, the sun and the moon
never meet, the tiger chases the man, who’s afraid of the dog, who
chases the cat, who chases the mouse, who frightens the man.
Money brings happiness. Fine. In that case, everyone who earns enough to
have a high standard of living would be able to stop working. But then
they’re more troubled than ever, as if they were afraid of losing
everything. Money attracts money, that’s true. Poverty might bring
unhappiness, but money won’t necessarily bring happiness.
I spent a lot of my life looking for happiness; now what I want is joy.
Joy is like sex – it begins and end. I want pleasure. I want to be
contended, but happiness? I no longer fall into that trap
…..
Reprogram yourself every minute of each day with thoughts that make you
grow. When you’re feeling irritated or confused, try to laugh at
yourself. Laugh out loud at this woman tormented by doubts and
anxieties, convinced that her problems are the most important thing in
the world. Laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation, at the fact
that despite being a manifestation of the Mother, you still believe God
is a man who lays down the rules. Most of our problems stem from just
that – from following rules.
….
“…Like love for example. People either feel it or they don’t, and
there isn’t a force in the world that can make them feel it. We can
pretend that we love each other. We can get used to each other. We can
live a whole lifetime of friendship and complicity, we can bring up
children, have sex every night, reach orgasm, and still feel that
there’s a terrible emptiness about it all, that something important is
missing.”
Recently, I went on a book binge and bought a ton of scrapbooking books.
I’ve already written about Cathy’s
book which has to be my all-time favorite. But here are a few
others I have read and loved. First and foremost are the two Ali Edwards
books: A
Designer’s Eye for Scrapbooking and
Designer’s Eye- scrapbooking with patterned paper
Ali is an inspiration to thousands and I am no exception. I love her
style, her attitude, her creativity, and her generosity of spirit. One
day, I would love to meet her. Until then, I will have to do with the
layouts. I must say that the layouts in this book don’t even speak to me
the way Cathy’s do but there are little bits and pieces of inspiration
all over these books and I use both of them regularly for inspiration
and good ideas. I know Ali’s coming out with another book this fall and
I also know that I am going to have to buy it. If she’s doing it, I know
it will be worth the money and the time.
If Cathy isn’t your style, and you’re looking for the one and only one
book to buy, it would have to be Stacy Julian’s The
Big Picture… Scrapbook Your Life and a Whole Lot More. Stacy is
fantastic. She’s inspiring. She’s funny. She’s creative. She’s great at
simplifying. She’s great at organizing. She’s great for giving you
fantastic ideas. But mostly, she’s great at shifting the way you think
about scrapbooking. If you’re struggling with your scrapbooking, pick up
her book. It will change your life. At least your scrapbooking. That’s a
promise.
Here’s another one I’ve loved to bits: 101
Things You Can Do With Your Scrapbook Supplies was mostly an impulse
buy since on all the boards I read, everyone said it was fantastic. And
they weren’t lying. The book is great. Full of great, little ideas. I
dogeared a lot of the pages to make sure I’d remember to try them out.
There are some gems in this book, so if you’re looking for some
practical, useful ideas and not just looking for general, overall
inspiration, this is a great find.
I also own two Autumn Leaves books: Perfectly
Clear and The
Look Book. While I am a fan of all things Rhonna Farrer, I just
never got into these books. I liked the stamping one because it had some
interesting ideas and since I own too many stamps, it’s always good to
have a set of ideas to try. But these books just didn’t speak to me. Not
in the way that the others inspired me.
I still have a few more books from my spree and I’m sure I’ll be buying
some more real soon. Like Cathy’s first book….
Here’s another layout that didn’t make the SOY cut. Something is off
with this one. I think it’s the title. Too small. But it’s such a cute
story that I still wanted to keep it and love thinking of David running
around in Daddy’s helmet.
Journaling Reads: They say boys love their mommies and you sure
do love me, but the person you most like to imitate is Daddy. You love
wearing Daddy’s shoes all over the house. You love playing with the
books on his side of the bed. You love going into his office and raiding
his desk.
So it should have come to us as no surprise that you wanted to try
Daddy’s helmet when you saw it lying around. You picked it up and tried
it on, and then you walked over to Daddy and put it on him, and just to
make sure, you put it on me and then you decided it looked the best on
you so you put it back on your head and giggled.
You look like Daddy even when you’re not trying his stuff on, so when
you’re wearing his helmet and his shoes, it’s like mini-Daddy is running
around the house.
A few months ago, I applied to Creating Keepsakes Magazine’s Sccrapbooker
of the Year because I am crazy. I figured, “Why not take the chance
to push myself and create 20 layouts?” Anyhow, I ended up making a few
too many and this is one of the ones that didn’t make the cut. I’ll be
posting a few more of the ones that didn’t make the cut in the next few
minutes. Once the results are announced in 10 days, I’ll post all the
others too.
This is by far one of my least favorite layouts. I wanted to do
something interesting like use chalk combined with the stamping but I
never really liked the outcome. I could do it over again, but I try not
to do that, so I’ve left it alone. I love the memory behind the photos,
so I am keeping it and just smiling each time I remember this day.
Journaling Reads: On our way back from Los Angeles, we stopped at
Michael’s so I could buy some scrapbooking stuff. I couldn’t really find
anything I was looking for, but you found a box of sidewalk chalk and
life was suddenly such a wonderful place. You carried it out of the
store, held on to it all the way home and wouldn’t even let go while we
undressed you. You hugged the box of chalk all night and were thrilled
when we finally got to open it the next morning.
As we both wrote all over the backyard, you practiced your letters and
numbers, and learned all your colors. You even learned the word chalk.
Which has since become your favorite word. You ask for the chalk every
time we go outside and love drawing everywhere. Who knew a $2 present
would make you so happy?
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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