Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Currently -- Summer


Watching: 

These days we are watching Louie. I love the brilliance of this show. It's surprising, strange, thoughtful, self-aware, offensive, funny, poignant ... I recently heard Emily Nussbaum, the television critic for The New Yorker, say it is a show we don't yet know how to watch. 

I would agree that this is the best way I've heard it described. I don't yet know how to experience it. But I'm watching with great interest. And I'm still amazed and reeling, all this time later, from Parker Posey's haunting performance of last season. 

Reading:

I just started Ian McEwan's Atonement.  

I recently finished an ARC for a book I hope to write more about in a bigger way, After Birth by Elisa Albert. It is a fictional story about the social exile that many women experience in motherhood. It really resonated with me. 

Listening:

It's rained a lot this week so I've been in the house with Little O, listening to music. After years working in the toy industry, I don't do a lot of baby music here. A Lena Horne record I found on the street. Ella Fitzgerald on Spotify. And O.A.R. from Tyler's iTunes library.

Making:

Baby food for Little O. Ice cream for me. Stories, when I can. 

Feeling:

Like maybe I'm on the brink of something new.

Planning: 

A trip to Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts to hike and explore and visit with many family and friends. 

I'm also dreaming of a new space in my home to write. When my office turned into a room for baby boy, I found myself a bit displaced, moving from the bed to the couch and working around Tyler's television and sleep schedule. I realized, early this week, that there is just one unused nook in our tiny apartment, tucked in the corner of our bedroom. I have found the smallest desk possible to fit in it. I can't wait to pick it up this Friday.

Loving:

Ice cream. Fireworks. Summer walks with friends. Little O's smile and the sound of his laughter. He thinks the broom is very funny, even if I don't find sweeping very amusing. After thinking about various manuscripts over the years and the moment of knowing  you must walk away from them...I began singing Kenny Roger's 'The Gambler' out loud (you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run) and Little O now thinks that is the most hilarious thing he has ever heard.

6 comments:

  1. That flower is stunning! It sounds like you are having a blissful summer, and I'll bet Little O is getting big! I'm glad you found yourself a writing corner.

    Thanks for the advice on my blog today. I might go with a conversation the MC overhears between her mom and someone else asking her about adoption. It might be the perfect lead-in to mention her multi-racial family, especially since the MC will know her mother is faking it with the other woman. (There is a totally science fiction reason this family came together and adoption wasn't it ...) That would make sense in the story! It's natural for people seeking adoption to bring it up, and only a piece of the conversation needs to be heard for the topic to be raised and explored. Thanks!

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  2. When my younger bro was a baby, I don't think we ever played baby music for him either. He always listened to whatever I was into at the time :)

    I'm making myself a book nook in a corner of my apartment soon and I'm excited about it. Small spaces really call for creativity, don't they?

    Hope you have a great New England trip!

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  3. Yay for a new writing space! And baby smiles are the best - I'm just starting to see some.

    After Birth sounds like something I'd love to read. I need to write it down so I don't forget.

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  4. Sounds like a good summer! I wish I could taste your homemade ice cream (though I'd be happy to trade some of ours for a bite--do you like strawberry? :)
    My babies' favorite music has been Ella Fitzgerald and Simon & Garfunkel and, recently, Walk Off the Earth. I sing nursery rhymes to them, but I hate most recorded versions!

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  5. I love that you found a new space to write. My baby is 9, and I've never quite found a "room of my own."
    I haven't read After Birth, but I know after the birth of my first son, I read a book called CHILD OF MINE, a collection of essays by writers about motherhood. It really inspired me at the time.
    Sounds like a lovely summer!

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  6. Making baby food...such a precious thing to do. I loved doing that too. It's cooking love for your love.

    I lost my writing space too. It's hard to write currently. I have my writing furniture in the hallway, but once the basement recovers from the most recent flood I will be moving down there. Walt and I are getting too old to move Katherine's furniture back downstairs.

    Enjoy your time....hugs...

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