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Coming this summer
my dear loyal erstwhile* readers,
the time has come for that predictable post in which I tell you that I am pregnant, and have been pregnant, for some time–nearly three months–without your knowledge. What a foreign thing to want to whisper in everyone’s ear immediately, this thing that is completely occupying your attention and has made you feel quite sick actually, but you have to keep it hush hush because otherwise you might have to tell everyone the good news, and then tell everyone the bad news, should something terrible happen. Personally, I think it would be better to tell everyone both. But when it’s your first, as I keep reminding myself, you are in not much of a position to argue with tradition. Now, when it’s my third, that’s when I’ll be telling tradition who’s who around here.
So yes, I went from a merry oyster slurping, sushi munching, afternoon espresso and sommelier-aspiring food monger to a curious creature who preferred to keep a sack of saltines on hand and cringed at the idea of walking within ten feet of what used to be my favorite hot dog stand. So it is that you begin nine months of blissful occupation being brought to your knees and wondering what the hell you were thinking voluntarily signing up for this and finally understanding why people looked aghast when you said you have six siblings.
And now those three months have passed and mostly I’m just hungry all the time now, and I can move on to wondering where we will stuff the little monkey when he/she arrives–a file drawer? a basket lined with cushions? And how funny it is that we try our best to prepare for everything, but really our whole life is going to completely completely change in ways we don’t have a clue about.
But isn’t that stork magnificent?
*a contrary phrase, yes.
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A Bookplate Fund
The Athenaeum is a library we joined last year because when you live in a little apartment in a cold city and the coffee shops seem to have sold all their chairs and tables, it becomes difficult not feel absolutely stir crazy for most of the winter. So we joined the Athenaeum which is up the street from our apartment, and is one of the oldest libraries in the country with George Washington’s personal library, ancient maps of Boston, yellowed books of death tolls, etc. The real reason we go there is for the reading rooms which are full of tables by tall windows that look out over Boston and everyone is hushed and typing away.
Almost all of their books are purchased from endowed funds which means–bookplates! Every new book, no matter how insignificant it might turn out to be, is marked with a bookplate, each with its own design. Of the many choices one has to stow money in and keep their name in circulation after they’re gone–park benches, college buildings, patenting a strain of bacteria–a small fund for book purchasing with your own bookplate seems like the best idea.
How could they have planned that the book purchased–Nora Ephron’s I Remember Nothing–would turn out to be robin’s egg blue?
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The Thinking Cup
Finally someone noticed the great potential hidden in that desolate strip of businesses along the Boston Common on Tremont Street. The thinking cup opens today serving Brooklyn darling Stumptown Coffee, loose tea, mini cupcakes, sandwiches, the usual. Joe and I stumbled on their soft opening yesterday and were super impressed. They have lots of seating–small tables intentionally designed for lone customers with laptops–and it’s cozy inside, tastefully decorated, and spacious. Those of you not in Boston probably think new coffee shops are not that big of a deal, but remarkably, it takes work to find a good spot among the zillions of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks downtown.
I rated this a generous-sized tea mug.
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Boundaries
I like this photo of Kanye West’s studio in Hawaii where he and a whole bunch of people worked on Runaway. Creative group work is tough.
No hipster hats
No tweeting
All laptops on mute
No negative blog viewing
You can see more behind the scene photos over at Complex Magazine.
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Aging Grace
Here’s hoping we look like one of these ladies when we age.
Julie Christie
Iris Apfel
Vera, the scarf designer.
Nan Kempner
My favorite old lady accessory is the scarf snuggly wrapped around the hair look. For rain and wind prevention.
Anyone you aspire to?
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A Little Something for the Ketchup
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Reasonable Demands
While I was reading submission guidelines from various established journals for nonfiction writing, I found this little demand:
Tin House launches Buy a Book, Save a Bookstore Between September 1 and December 30, 2010, Tin House magazine will require writers submitting unsolicited manuscripts to the magazine to include a receipt for a book purchased from a bookstore. Writers who are not able to produce a receipt for a book are encouraged to explain why in 100 words or fewer. Tin House will consider the purchase of e-books as a substitute only if the writer explains why he or she cannot go to his or her neighborhood bookstore or why he or she prefers digital reads. Writers are invited to videotape, film, paint, photograph, animate, twitter, or memorialize in any way (that is logical and/or decipherable) the process of stepping into a bookstore and buying a book to send along for our possible amusement and/or use on our web site.
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Music Players
I like it when websites have seamless music-listening integrated into their websites. It’s like a little gift from the developer. “Here’s a little mix CD for you!” they are saying to the wandering web reader.
This is very different from websites where random music immediately begins playing and the design theme happens to be black-on-black and you can’t find the mute button for five minutes. Gross. Similar to when I was recently shopping and a woman’s cell phone ring was cats meowing a Christmas carol. I kid you not. She wasn’t even flustered when it took her three minutes to turn it off. Where was the mute button on that experience?
Anyway, here are a few from around the web that I like:
Chance’s three choice songs change frequently.
Anthropologie’s fits right into their Facebook page.
Chris Glass’s does not play, but it is very readable and clean.
Tennis uses red and makes you want to push Play.
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What Occupies Me
Though I am not very good at following through on my hopeful list making and buying all the presents I hoped to, I do love that moment right before someone opens something you know they will love. Joe made this to help my family keep our assignments clear.
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Peppermint and Clementines
Have you added a little peppermint to your diet? I’ve upgraded my occasional Starbucks hot chocolate to the peppermint kind, which means a hearty sprinkling of peppermint-flavored chocolate curls burrowing into the whip cream. I just heard Trader Joe’s has peppermint cookies ‘n cream ice cream, wow.
I’ve been buying those cartons of clementines that show up in stacks at the grocery store about now–the ones with vintage styled Florida advertising on the side, if you’re lucky. They are so delicious when most of my other food is not so fresh these days. They remind me of when kids used to look forward to oranges in their stockings. Like my young days of longing to be Laura Ingalls Wilder (didn’t we all have those days?), I pretend to savor the sections like they are my only citrus for the winter.
