Bloggy Misc » Two Wishes

I’m Baaaaaaaaack!

Nov 012011

[While] we had a lot of feelings and observations and memories and dreams and (God knows) opinions we wanted to share, we all ended up just the tiniest bit resentful when we found the one fly in the ointment: that at some point we actually had to sit down and write. — Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Hello, my darlings. It’s been five months. And now I’m back.

Here’s how things work around here: Between my daily battle with fatigue and pain and my daily battle with a headstrong two-year-old, there’s little time and energy to live a life of my own. Things rarely get done without a deadline or other extremely pressing motivation. Like everything else that counts as optional, the blog falls by the wayside. Then I worry about the constant nagging stress of the unwritten post, and I wonder repeatedly whether it’s time to just quit.

But the combination of illness and baby has also reduced my real-world life to nearly nothing. Where I used to have a profession, and better yet one I was good at, now I just sit at home and try to fill the hours till Vera’s bedtime. Whenever I stop blogging, I feel like I’ve lost my voice in the world. Disappeared.

And so it goes: Slack off. Pick up. Quit altogether. Restart. Back and forth, ad nauseum.

Right now, at least, we’re forth. November is NaBloPoMo, the month wherein many bloggers make a commitment to posting every day. I still haven’t figured out the ultimate destiny for Two Wishes, but it seems an ideal time to burn through some of the 100+ compelling (to me, anyway!) topics in my “things to blog about” list. Hope you’ll stick around!

For that matter, between breaking my feed last fall and then my very long absence, I’m not even sure anyone is out there anymore…. If you’re there, please do leave a note in the comments and say hi.

Meet Vera

Bloggy Misc, Wallaby 3 Responses »

Jun 012011

Vera in Central Park

But wait, you say … doesn’t this “Vera” look an awful lot like your existing child? The one who is definitely not named Vera?

Yeah, about that….

When I first started to blog about the baby, I worried for one nanosecond about the privacy issues of using her real name on this blog. I don’t generally get worked up about slight First World dangers, and it’s not like this blog has a zillion readers. But as time passes, I’m discovering more and more that online content lives forever. Luckily it’s tremendously hard to Google anyone with an Asian last name, but I don’t want to doom our girl to future embarrassment based on Mama’s blog.

I kind of hate it when blogs use nicknames instead of names (“Mr. T” is entirely a Weddingbee-based habit), so a pseudonym it is. Of course my immediate thought was to re-name her something that I considered but couldn’t use in real life. And that means “Vera.”

Vera has the old-time-but-modern vibe that’s popular these days, is easy to spell and pronounce, is an in-joke for Firefly fans, and calls to mind one of my favorite 30-something actresses, Vera Farmiga. Better still, the reason we couldn’t use it in real life makes it perfect for the Internet — hey future stalkers, good luck Googling “Vera Wang.”

(Plus, the word nerd in me loves choosing a fake name that means “truth” in Latin.)

In theory I’ll go back and change her name in older posts, but in practice I rarely finish non-essentials like that. Sorry if the changeover is extra-confusing for a while!

Other bloggers, do you use real names on your blog? If you have children, or might someday, would you use your child’s real name?

#reverb10 Days 10-13

Bloggy Misc, Consuming Obsessions, Just Life 4 Responses »

Dec 132010

Playing a little catch-up on the #reverb10. A few of these questions just didn’t resonate with me, plus I’ve been a bit sickly and uninspired….

Day 10: Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

Don’t know about my wisEST, but here are a pair of wise decisions from my past year:

1. I’ve been planning for years to write a book about shopping. I have dozens of pages of notes, but the actual writing never happens. This year, I decided to start a separate blog on the topic as a way to force myself to write, even if just a couple of paragraphs at a time.

2. I began setting up the new blog, planned my first posts, handed out a few hundred business cards with its address, only to discover that my excitement over the project was more than equalled by my stress at never being able to get to it. So I set it aside, and the stress went away. Am finishing up a few other pressing projects first (and getting back into the swing of writing via #reverb10), and can’t wait to move forward with passion in 2011.

Day 11: What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011?

Um … forced lists like this? I get that it’s 2011, but something about the need for ELEVEN things rubs me the wrong way. So let’s say “gnawing guilt over things not done” and echo The Pale Wisconsinite on “monkey attacks.” Better two I can feel great about than a halfhearted eleven….

Day 12: This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body?

For the past few years, my body and I have been at war. It doesn’t encourage many moments of peaceful coexistence. But I recently read a book on energy within the body, which had an exercise that involved feeling the flow of energy in your hands. Can you close your eyes, focus on your hands, and feel the energy circulating through them? I can. It helps me relax in those times when my brain won’t slow down.

Day 13: Action. When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step?

See above on my new blog and book. Next step: Just start writing.

Hope you’ll all join me over at Consuming Obsessions starting sometime next month!

Why Is This Baby Applauding?

Bloggy Misc, Giveaways No Responses »

Oct 102010

She is excited that Mama has finally returned to her poor, neglected blog* long enough to choose a winner to the CSN giveaway.[*] Random.org picked comment #33, which means Negative Nancy will have one more thing to Just Be Happy Be Happy about. Congrats!

But all the rest of you can consider yourself winners too, because I plan to get back to posting this week, which means lots more superlative content to come.**

* I’ve been in that place again — the one where nothing gets done.

** Kidding. Oh so kidding.

[*] That would be the one I deleted as part of my “I’m too lazy to re-upload photos for every #$(*#&$ post” effort when I moved to WordPress!

If You Like It, Make a Link to It

Bloggy Misc, Tidbits of Interest 2 Responses »

Jun 012010

I took a break from blogging in part to decide whether to continue. For a while, I really thought the answer would be “no.” But in the end, I emerged not only re-dedicated to this blog, but determined to start 2 more! (Much more on that in coming weeks….)

Why blog, when it takes precious time and even money? There are so many stories in my head! Without some outlet, I fear my brain would eventually explode. I picture the famous Monty Python gluttony sketch — cramming in blogs and books and TV and articles by hour after endless hour, until all it takes is one more celebrity factoid or YouTube kitten video and — KABOOM.

(image here)

Baby and illness make me slow. There’s no getting around that. So, to let off some mental pressure until I can get a few posts written, may I present some links?

Amusing blurb on a 9-year-old overachiever. I described this girl to Elsa, with a request that she start supporting Mommy and Daddy in the style to which they hope to become accustomed. (Unfortunately, she countered with the story of the baby with a black AmEx.)

Amazing, affordable home office makeover. (Via Belle Maison)

Kotex has clever new ads poking fun at traditional “feminine care” commercials. Media censors objected. Which is why we have those goofy, euphemistic commercials in the first place. (Via NY Times)

All I understand about astigmatism is that it’s harder to buy contacts. Thank heavens for I Am Bossy’s convenient tutorial. (Ah, who am I kidding, I still don’t understand. But I got a good laugh.)

One of my major regrets from pregnancy = not strengthening my abdominal muscles. This video tutorial describes a low-stress way to work that giant belly. (Via Trainer Momma)

Colorful rooms from Project Nursery.

We all suspected it, and here’s some proof — how advertisers control content in fashion magazines. Also interesting: how magazines cover trends. (Via Searching for Style)

Chicken coops and high-end gardens: bringing new meaning to traditional homemaking, or just a new form of whitewash? (Via BigThink)

Edit, Add, Appreciate: 3 steps to a more authentic life. (Via MakeUnder My Life)

What’s inhabiting your brain at the moment?

New Year’s Resolution

Bloggy Misc, Just Life 2 Responses »

Mar 242010

Not as late as you might think — the Baha’i New Year (Naw-Ruz) took place this past Sunday.

(cherry blossoms’ arrival to DC = pure joy in my heart)

While “New Year’s Resolutions” aren’t a tradition for Naw-Ruz the way they are for the American holiday, it seems these days I’m always looking for any excuse to figure out how to organize our post-baby life. So I’m taking this opportunity to try out a few changes.

First and foremost, my goal is to simplify, simplify, simplify. (Oops, make that “simplify.” One time. Because … you know … simplify!)

As part of that effort, I plan to step away from the Internet for a couple of months. Not completely, I’m not insane! I’ll still read your blogs, make the occasional swing through Facebook and Formspring, and of course think often of my Internet friends. Hopefully I’ll even drop by the blog once in a while with photos and updates. But for a while, the bulk of my efforts will lie elsewhere.

See you all later…. And in the meantime — Happy Spring!