Apparently I am riffing away on Tara’s 4-part series; maybe because the content of the series– “The Deconstruction of Ennui” — is like my own personal gospel choir Hallelujah-ing behind me while I work. Consumption is one of those things I’ve written about before, but I don’t think I’ve ever connected it to boredom. When…
Zen and the Art of Tedium
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A conversation about boredom at Scoutie Girl yesterday got me thinking again about the daily tasks that constitute part of the “work” of my life. Not the least of these is feeding a family of six. Not the worst of them is laundry. Some I despise for no particular reason, like emptying the dishwasher. Whenever…
Where Wisconsin Is…
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…And Other Existential Observations on Home My colleague (we both teach at university) said, quite innocently: “I guess I don’t think of Wisconsin as the Midwest.” This while I was rapping a heavy mix of Madison virtues and Midwest easiness. “Oh,” she said when I called up the map. “I guess I thought it was…
Laundry, and Love
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I get to feel superior to socks when I am conquering a load of laundry. That is sort of cool, isn’t it? There’s a swathe of the backyard that is leaf-free. Just one corner. (Well it was yesterday). I did that. I own that. Housework is menial work. Which is to say “humble” or “lowly”…
On Awkward Days…
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… And Processed Cheese I have this group of women friends that I, well, sort of worship. I knew them from college. We all worked together on the daily newspaper. It only recently occured to me that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t actually friends with them. Maybe it was that friend-ish-ness, where you later see…
Where the Wild Onion Grows
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Wild onions grow everywhere here. I smell them through the moon roof on those particular weekend days when men are at home in their kingdom yards, busy mowing alone and in harmony. If I made this up, forgive me, but I think maybe someone told me that a long time ago this entire area was…
Everybody’s got a darkness…
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The fog and the mugginess this morning reminds me of London. Previously posted on Jan 16, 2006 Everybody’s got a darkness They’re not going to show it to you. It’s Monday and grey again in London. I dreamed of you last night. I sat in a cafe over cappuccinos with some friend. He told me…
On Seeming Effortless
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Cinnamon rolls have to be one of my favorite foods. Over at Pioneer Woman this morning I was drooling at her recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Sweet Rolls. The recipe even starts from the yeast, and not from a blue can you tear paper off of and bang on the counter’s edge. Man, I like…
Choosing Here, or the Hereafter
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A Guest Post by Valorie Engholm I don’t know if there’s an afterlife or not, but I want to tell you a story about it, and it’s not an easy story for me to tell. A few years ago I became very ill. It started slowly, with some aching knees in the afternoon and evolving…
Embracing our Inner Madonna
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It’s another We Scout Wednesday! Thanks Tara! Everyday my life is being reformed by the choice to be “teacher of children,” big and small, at work and at home. So I was glad Tara asked: What will you teach the new generation about creativity? Every single one of us must embrace our inner-Madonna. The pop…
I’m Smarter Than You…
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Or, At Least That’s What You Think My oldest sister, Kathy, felt the crush of competitiveness in our family the most. And why shouldn’t she? After all, she was succeeded, one after another, by 5 cute little bundles that usurped her crown. And meanwhile, more and more responsibilities were dumped on her little shoulders Coming…
Peace is the Word
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On Setting Peace in Stone “Compassion is kindness. What we say or do in the name of compassion rarely is.” —from Karen Maezen Miller today, via TweetDeck. This weekend, I cleaned a closet. And felt like a minor superhero. I imagine what Jimmy Carter must feel like, in those moments of action, when he has…
Ordinary Rockstar
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On Accidental Meetings with Angst Today I was driving in the minivan across the river, when it hit me. I needed to screech. All these letter-perfect songs played themselves out over the speakers all day, telling me that the dull edged blade I was balancing on was tuned just right. I kept opening my mouth…
Enter the Storm
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I like to see people who write –all people who sit down and write, not just those who call themselves “writers” — to try to write beautifully and meaningfully. One of the writing concepts that I teach is this: Complicate the Metaphor To make writing more meaningful, we all need to back the f*ck away…
Weekends are for Lovers
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You know that elbow Room? That place where you can go and lean against the wall and feel your chest cave completely against your backbone in utter perfect relief? You know that place? That place, where the tables are always half-full and yet no one ever seems to bother the one chair you love, the…
