Monday, September 30, 2013

Love

Maybe I'm feeling especially emotional this morning, because of various things -- it was my birthday recently and the Guy and I had a wonderful weekend, including dinner at home with a few great friends (a wonderful cozy little dinner where the Guy cooked almost everything), our wedding anniversary is coming up -- seven years! -- and we've been talking over our relationship and how it all happened and how lucky we were for the last few weeks. But anyway, I read this post on proposals and weddings by Melissa McEwan (who is probably my favorite blogger ever) and when I got to this line, I wanted to cry:
To love someone is an infinite action, not any single gesture. No matter how grand.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Mid-Week Reads: Heat, Noise, and Dying

If you have been reading this blog for some time, you know I hate hot weather. This Slate article tells me I'm not (just) being self-indulgent.
Our capacity to endure the heat has an upper limit, and one that isn't very high... After you've stripped naked and dipped your feet in ice water, there aren't many other options. Winter chill, on the other hand, leaves more room for maneuvering: If it's too cold, you can always don another sweater, drape another blanket, or huddle with a friend.

Monday, September 23, 2013

All My Notebooks

Guess how many notebooks I'm using right now. As in not right now, and not all at the same time, but how many notebooks do I have to make lists and notes and stuff?
 
Yep, these are eight of my notebooks
Ten. That's right. I know because I counted them for this post. I wrote there about why I need ten notebooks and why I prefer paper lists to digital productivity tools. If you read it, tell me what you think.

How many notebooks do you use? (Zero is a perfectly valid answer.)

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Mid-Week Reads: Inspiration from Bill Waterston and Other Book/Graphic Stuff

This lovely comic uses a quote by Bill Waterston and imitates his famous Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Bill Waterston is one of my heroes, both for creating the delightful, beautiful, and thought-provoking treasure of Calvin and Hobbes, and for the way he lived his life. Reading this was very inspirational for me, given what I'm doing with my life right now.

And then read more of his words. How can you not admire the man? This is my favorite part:

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Short Fiction: The Easy Way Out

I found this just now and wanted to share it with you. It was written a few years ago, and it seems to have gone lost and I don't even remember writing it.

My dear friend,

I hope I can always call you that, if nothing more. I hope this email will not offend you. Sorry, I know I’m wronging you by saying that. But things have changed so much between us lately that I’m not quite sure how to behave any more.

You have always been so good to me. When I first came to the city and rang you up for advice,
you didn’t just stop at giving me advice. You helped me find a flat to rent, you showed me around
the city, you even came with me to run my errands, at first. I was overwhelmed then: it was way
more than I could have expected a casual acquaintance to do. I suppose you would have done it for
anyone: I was then, just a clueless young girl from your hometown. But I was so grateful you did it
for me. Because of you, what would have been a scary and lonely time was actually exciting and a
whole lot of fun.

You showed me the ropes of the city. You gave me tips on haggling with vendors and precautions to
take when I was coming home alone at night. You taught me to drive. You even helped pick out my
first car.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

Mid-Week Reads: Journalism and Crime

How two newspaper reporters helped free an innocent man after he was in prison for 20 years: this moving story illustrates just how flawed justice systems can be, and how confessions are often not an indicator of guilt.

I also read this thrilling true crime story of a 50-year-old kidnapping case. I was very dissatisfied though with both the ending and the way the writers insinuate that the case isn't yet solved, that the kidnapper/murderer isn't found. Based on the evidence offered, I don't agree. The convicted murderer seems the most likely person to have done it.

And these two heroes -- one of them just 12 years old -- helped the police find the rapists in the recent Mumbai case.

The first two are long reads, so I'll leave you to it!