Category: thoughts

A challenge was issued: Let’s play the silent game for 15 minutes. If you do it, I’ll give you a quarter!

I remember sitting in the living room of my great aunt Pat’s house, restless, picking at the dark carpet. I’m guessing that I was six-years old, maybe seven. I’d probably talked the ears off of the adults, until ends of wits had been reached and frayed. I started talking late in life (my mom was worried I’d never speak) but then, apparently, didn’t learn to shut up. At least not for a really long time.

A whole shiny quarter? Yes. In those days, that meant a ride on one of the mechanical horses, or a tiny fistful of candy from the red machines lining the windows at the super market.

Think I made it? Not a chance.

As I sat, squirming, I played with my old-school, knee-high tube socks. This pair I wore didn’t quite match, having different color rings. In my 90 seconds of silent introspection, I got completely enamored with the stripes, rolling them down into donut socks, then back up to mismatched tubes. I was pretty sure other people needed to know about this wonder, and before I realized it, I blurted, “Hey, look at my socks!”

Game over. No quarter. Silence challenge completely and utterly failed. I’ve never re-visited a slience challenge again, nor given much thought to it.

Today, my husband is practicing a day of silence. In this strange quiet during our morning routine, this vision of my six year old self, so naive, so fascinated by the world, came rushing back. After processing this dusty memory, I was suddenly hyper-aware of the mindless chatter that fills the day. My own voice, a strange interruption. Silence. I haven’t given you enough thought of late.

Decades later and sans tube socks, I still don’t always know the right times to be quiet. That’s something I imagine will be a life’s work in progress. But I am at least asking: is this worth saying? Some days I get it right. Some days I quietly notice.

Confession: I’m terrible at keeping house plants alive. We’ve had a thriving, bountiful garden outside, but my indoor plants? I over-water. Or I put them in the wrong light. I leave them in the cold of fall too long, shock them to death when bringing them inside. My husband thinks I’m silly to keep at it, but I just can’t help myself. I love the way plants add color and life to indoor spaces.

There’s actually something affirming about a dogged dedication to this thing which does not come naturally. I know I may fail yet again, and I’ve decided it’s okay. Each plant I drag home, I wonder, How long will you be with me? A season? A couple of years?

I’ve learned a few things along the way. The plants I’ve kept alive include cacti and a Zamioculcas. I seem to fare better with plants who prefer drying out between waterings.

In making my plant choices, I’ve been less ambitious. To replace my latest victim, a Shefflera, I only considered plants marked as resilient. (Thank goodness for garden centers who mark them this way!) I have withered away a fair number of more delicate plants — clearly I need to build success with more tenacious varieties first.

Welcome home to my latest, a fine looking Sansevieria. I look at this living thing with hope. This is the one I can manage, the one I’ll look back on in awe when I can’t remember how long it’s been in my life.

Should I fail, I will keep at it. Even if I have to buy a few house plants every year for the rest of my life, my house will always be marked with some bits of green life.

I’ve let my knitting group lapse, after many moons of keeping it going, weekend after weekend. There’s something very grounding and calming about meeting up with friends over hot tea and knitting to end out the week.

I know. I sound like an old lady. Knitting is a great escape from a cluttered brain. Loop into loop into loop into loop. It can be incredibly challenging to work lace patterns, to shape garments. On the flip side, rhythmic and mindless, as in the simple moss stitch scarf I’m working on.

It’s the same scarf I’ve been knitting on since the spring. Slowly, a few rows here. A few there. I thought I’d finish in time to wear it this winter. There’s time still, I suppose.

I want to finish the scarf, true. But also there’s the gathering of friends I miss. I’ve put the call out there. Here’s hoping that a few of my crafters-in-crime are up for a knit next weekend.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “Make plans with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time.”

 

The events that mattered this year were the ones involving a handful of close friends gathering together for a meal. My husband and I have a monthly Supper Club with 3 other couples. Sometimes we branch out and try new restaurants, other times we design a bit of dinner adventure.

There was the Great Rib Showdown, where we gathered at the R’s house, each of us bringing ribs from a different spot in the city (Hank’s brisket stole the show). Then there was the picnic at Tibb’s Drive-In, in which we watched Lincoln Vampire Hunter over homemade goodness.

One summer night, we sat in the glass room of Locally Grown Gardens and watched a storm roll in, dark clouds and hail and all, candlelight flickering on our table. These are the nights I hold onto, the ones that make up a life well-lived.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “What event stood out for you this year? Where was it? who was there? what did it look like?”

2012 was a good year for events, so I thought I’d share a few other favorites.

Honorable mentions:
SXSW Conference (The film part blew my mind. I want that for Indy!)
One Man Two Guvnors in NYC (Seeing an old friend on Broadway is tough to beat.)
24 Hour Web Project with SmallBox for ICAN (Puppies!)
TEDxIndianapolis (So many sharp people in one place.)
Kishi Bashi at Joyful Noise Recordings (One man band, taken to a whole new level, in an insanely intimate space.)
 

I tried drawing a self portrait today. To be exact, I drew nine of them. I really didn’t want to give up. I hate giving up.

But after much sketching, not one really looked like me.

One came out looking like a very old version of me. There was a sort of zombie-like one. Another bore a striking resemblance to Madonna. I even doodled my dinner and dessert, inspired by the saying, ‘you are what you eat.’

I thought in a try or two I could doodle a quick self portrait. Total folly. It’s much more difficult than I anticipated, an exercise I found to be both humbling and awkward. The pursuit of self-portraiting is not for the faint of heart.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “Draw a self portrait. Get as abstract or as real as you like.”

I’m grateful for a life full of unexpected beauty, for a curious eye I’m training year by year to find and appreciate it, and for the most wonderful partner in crime to take it all in.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “What are you grateful for this year?”

 

You can tell a lot about a person by what they carry. I have seen ‘what’s in your bag?’ type memes make their rounds on the web, but haven’t ever shared before. I swapped bags recently so it’s a little less chaotic than usual, but this is unedited. Complete with ancient cough drop!

1.The bag – HOBO International has the best leather bags. This camel tote has been with me for many moons, and just keeps getting better with age. It can serve as a light weekend bag, or is big enough for my laptop and lunch during the work week.

2. Laptop bag – Oilcloth bag by danica studio. The perfect bag for the chronic spiller (that’s me!).

3. Water bottle – well-loved, with a barely visible Bicycle Garage Indy logo.

4. Blue folder – reading material and resumes for the Musical Family Tree internship position.

5. Moleskine notebook – for doodles and to do lists.

6. 3 Pens – Pilot Precise v5, a fine instrument for writing.

7. Apple ear buds

8. Indy Film Fest name tag

9. Keys

10. Cough drop – from last year I think! It was tucked in a crevice.

11. Green wallet – another one that ages wonderfully, bought in a long-ago-closed boutique in Chicago, circa 2001. And a little cash.

12. Card holder – the bamboo silk printed case has things like IMA membership, library card, Speak Easy key card and unused gift cards.

13. Wallet – People for Urban Progress dome card holder for the essentials: license and bank cards.

14. Lip gloss and balm – I’m a Burt’s Bees devotee. It’s the best stuff out there, period. The others, Neutrogena and Bite gloss, see a lot less use.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
I chose one of the lifeline prompts for today’s Think Kit. “What’s in your bag? Let’s see those old receipts and cookie crumbs!”