So, I'm having my wisdom teeth out tomorrow. I'm not super excited about it. In fact, I'm really nervous. I'm afraid that I'll pee myself or make a fool or myself like my friend Suzanne (repeated hit on the docotr while her husband was in the room) or worse yet I might just be in severe pain the whole weekend. Urgh. I hate seeing my own blood.
On a more cheerful note, I heard from a very old friend yesterday. I went to elementary school with kacey Henson and I e-mailed her sister before Christmas and apparently she forwarded the e-mail to Kacey and we've been chatting. It's funny to hear from someone that I haven't heard from in a very long time.
I am suprised by the sudden changes in my life. The possibility of Josh actuatlly having a job (while not that far-fetched, because he is one of the most hard-working people I have ever known, after all) seems so foreign and bizarre. We've been so long without any real idea of where we will be in six weeks or six months that it seems normal to live wondering where we will be or what we will be doing- while at the same time not really expecting anything to change at all.
It all sort of creeps up on you.
chara
Tuesday, January 31
Friday, January 27
some suggestions
Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity
1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a
Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries
with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten
Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds"
7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."
8. don't use any punctuation
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."
12. Sing Along At The Opera.
13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds
All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party
Because You're Not In The Mood.
16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock
Bottom.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling
"Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To
Have To Let One Of You Go."
20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity....... Send
This E-mail To Someone To Make Them Smile. Its Called therapy.
1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a
Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries
with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten
Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds"
7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."
8. don't use any punctuation
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."
12. Sing Along At The Opera.
13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds
All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party
Because You're Not In The Mood.
16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock
Bottom.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling
"Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To
Have To Let One Of You Go."
20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity....... Send
This E-mail To Someone To Make Them Smile. Its Called therapy.
Friday, January 20
short one
The Dream...
Edna St. Vincent Milay
Love, if I weep it will not matter,
And if you laugh I shall not care;
Foolish am I to think about it,
But it is good to feel you there.
Edna St. Vincent Milay
Love, if I weep it will not matter,
And if you laugh I shall not care;
Foolish am I to think about it,
But it is good to feel you there.
Friday, January 13
recent post on the storytel listserv
Below is a copy of a letter recently (about 15 minutes ago) posted on the storytel listserv about what stories storytellers are allowed to tell: more specifically, are we allowed to tell stories from cultures other than our own?
Pay particular attention to the part in red below. For those of us of anglo-european ancestry:
Let's be honest about this. Underneath the lofty talk about material that "calls out to our hearts," let's admit that ripping off other cultures IS our cultural heritage. That's what our ancestors have been doing for ages. We are descended from generations of bandits. That is (at least one aspect of) OUR culture.
But a skilled professional thief doesn't just grab something and hock it (that's for amateurs). If he wants to sell it for high value, he has to alter it. Repaint the stolen car and change its license
plates. Reset the stolen jewels.
If we want to tell stories from an alien culture as REPRESENTING that culture, we are acting instead as borrowers -- who must handle the borrowed item so carefully that it could be returned undamaged. This requires learning how to use it properly: culture background &
history, proper pronunciation & use of words, respectful source attributions and permissions etc. Lots of homework.
If we just want to run off with something that appeals to us, face it, we're thieves. Let's at least be professional about it.
Fran
who admires Native American powwows where the dancers get to wear the traditional regalia of tribes they belong to by birth, marriage, or adoption -- but no other. It's fun to imagine a Black & White Folks powwow: what regalia would YOU be allowed to wear? This was a BIG question for me for a while. So many of my friends had some serious niche to fall into as storytellers (Like Brenda, my friend who was a civil rights activist and does diversity training, who also happens to be black, or Mary, who has been writing her own music since she was like six minutes old). What was my culture that I brought to the table? Where did I come from that mattered? What were my talents that I could bring into the story with me? So all of this finally led to me focusing on stories for women and encouraging mentoring- or at least that's what I hope to do. But even that doesn't exactly answer the question... I'm a vanilla white-girl who doesn't identify with a culture. But then Brenda (of the above mentioned) reminded me that we all have different experiences growing up and we all come from some sort of culture with traditions and beliefs and ways of thinking that aren't exactly like other people. I come from a church-of-Christ-Dodgen-Sanders-rural-oklahoma-PK culture that has it's own nuances. Did anyone else ever think about this? Chara
Wednesday, January 11
Sometimes I feel...
Poem: "Lost," by David Wagoner from Collected Poems 1956-1976 © Indiana University Press.
Lost
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
Lost
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
Saturday, January 7
New website
Well, Laura has inspired me to fix my website. Currently it is www.joyteller.com which would have redirected you to an actual website (crummy as it was) yesterday. I have put it back to the starter site for now. I will be fixing a lot of the information and pictures, so hopefully it will be a little more professional. Keey your eyes out- and let me know what you think.
Wednesday, January 4
happy music
Jack Johnson Makes me happy!
JACK JOHNSON
"Banana Pancakes"
Cant you see that its just raining
Aint no need to go outside...
But Baby, You hardly even notice
When I try to show you this
Song is meant to keep ya
From doing what your supposed to
Waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
Ill make you banana pancakes
Pretend like its the weekend now
And we can pretend it all the time
Cant you see that its just raining
Aint no need to go outside
Just maybe, hala ka ukelele
Mommy made a baby
Really dont mind the breakfast
Cause your my little lady
Lady lady love me
Cause I love to lay here lazy
We could close the curtains
Pretend like there's no work outside
And we can pretend it all the time
Cant you see that its just raining
Aint no need to go outside
Aint no need aint no need
Mmmm MMmmm
Cant you see cant you see
Rain all dayAnd I dont mind.
The telephone is singing
Ringing its too early
Don't pick it up
We don't need to we got everything
We need right here
And everything we need is enough
Just so easy
When the whole world fits inside of your arms
Don't really need to pay attention to the alarm
Wake up slow, yeah wake up slow
You hardly even notice
When I try to show you this
Song is meant to keep ya
From doing what your supposed to
Waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
Ill make you banana pancakes
Pretend like its the weekend now
And we can pretend it all the time
Cant you see that its just raining
Aint no need to go outside
Cant you see cant you see,
You gotta wake up slow
JACK JOHNSON
"Banana Pancakes"
Cant you see that its just raining
Aint no need to go outside...
But Baby, You hardly even notice
When I try to show you this
Song is meant to keep ya
From doing what your supposed to
Waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
Ill make you banana pancakes
Pretend like its the weekend now
And we can pretend it all the time
Cant you see that its just raining
Aint no need to go outside
Just maybe, hala ka ukelele
Mommy made a baby
Really dont mind the breakfast
Cause your my little lady
Lady lady love me
Cause I love to lay here lazy
We could close the curtains
Pretend like there's no work outside
And we can pretend it all the time
Cant you see that its just raining
Aint no need to go outside
Aint no need aint no need
Mmmm MMmmm
Cant you see cant you see
Rain all dayAnd I dont mind.
The telephone is singing
Ringing its too early
Don't pick it up
We don't need to we got everything
We need right here
And everything we need is enough
Just so easy
When the whole world fits inside of your arms
Don't really need to pay attention to the alarm
Wake up slow, yeah wake up slow
You hardly even notice
When I try to show you this
Song is meant to keep ya
From doing what your supposed to
Waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
Ill make you banana pancakes
Pretend like its the weekend now
And we can pretend it all the time
Cant you see that its just raining
Aint no need to go outside
Cant you see cant you see,
You gotta wake up slow
Tuesday, January 3
Bread machine Fun!
This is my first loaf of bread!
This is the dough waiting to rise.
This is my organized cabinet!
This is me with my bread machine!
This is my really organized cabinet.
Balance
My New Year's Resolution is to live my life with Balance.
I am not just referring to my unfortunate habit of falling on my behind- I am also referring to the priorities I set, how I spend my time, the way I eat, think, spend money and view others.
Areas of my life to balance:
1. My physical life. I spend so much time sitting on my behind at work that I would like to balance that with at least a good hour of physical activity every day. This could include actually going and running, but also moving around when I do the laundry, clean the house, and chase Josh. Also I think it referrs to my eating habits. I try to ignroe the tasty things (like chocolate covered cherries...mmm) and eat things that are good for me- instead I will attempt to balance the tasty with the healthy!
2. Commitments to free time. I have a tendancy to accept any responsibility that people want to throw my direction- I hate saying no. Instead I will accept those thing that I can, while also leaving plenty of time to do what I want to do (like read a book, or hole up in bed on saturday morning).
3. Art and Responsiblity. Sadly, for me these are the same thing. In response I have started viewing my artistic life as work- chores. Instead I will have more balanced view of the things I most liket o do- art as art and chores as chores.
That's all I can think of right now. I am trying to post the pictures of my bread machine and my first attempt at a loaf (much better than any loaf I've made without the machine) but the computer isn't cooperating. We'll see.
Chara
I am not just referring to my unfortunate habit of falling on my behind- I am also referring to the priorities I set, how I spend my time, the way I eat, think, spend money and view others.
Areas of my life to balance:
1. My physical life. I spend so much time sitting on my behind at work that I would like to balance that with at least a good hour of physical activity every day. This could include actually going and running, but also moving around when I do the laundry, clean the house, and chase Josh. Also I think it referrs to my eating habits. I try to ignroe the tasty things (like chocolate covered cherries...mmm) and eat things that are good for me- instead I will attempt to balance the tasty with the healthy!
2. Commitments to free time. I have a tendancy to accept any responsibility that people want to throw my direction- I hate saying no. Instead I will accept those thing that I can, while also leaving plenty of time to do what I want to do (like read a book, or hole up in bed on saturday morning).
3. Art and Responsiblity. Sadly, for me these are the same thing. In response I have started viewing my artistic life as work- chores. Instead I will have more balanced view of the things I most liket o do- art as art and chores as chores.
That's all I can think of right now. I am trying to post the pictures of my bread machine and my first attempt at a loaf (much better than any loaf I've made without the machine) but the computer isn't cooperating. We'll see.
Chara
Monday, January 2
Frenzy!
After spending ten (Josh was driving rather briskly) hours in a car yesterday, I was rather restless last night. We were coming home from Louisiana and visitng Josh's parents (they are living in their RV in Slidell LA, and spending a lot of time moving trees, mucking houses out, and doing laundry for people) after having spent several days with my parents (FULL HOUSE!). Basically I had spent too long just sitting there and I was wanting to play with my new Christmas toys. I got a bread machine for Christmas. Yipee! (or as Haydn says now: Hooray!)
SO we got home and I realized that I had no kitchen space to set up this wonderful gadet. Disappointed, I went to the bedroom, got launndry together and started hanging up clothes. I was still feeling restless so I cleaned out my closet. There are many articles of clothing which I haven't been utilizing over the past year, so I made a pile of them to give to goodwill.
My closet being clean and organized, I decided to go get my new toy out of the box- at least. I realized that if I just rearranged some of the things on my tiny counter, I could give the bread machine a permanent home. So I moved things and found a box of potato flakes that didn't fit int he counter. It hit me that i could use my new containers to hold the potato flakes so they wouldn't have to sit on the counter anymore- so I got out my other new toys- my plastic containers for my kitchen!
An hour later I had gone through all my kitchen cabinets, filled all but one of my wonderful containers, cleaned off the countertops (even under the microwave) and thrown out a bunch of useless things that have been sitting around for a while.
We got home at about 10:15 and I didn't go to bed until 12:30. Tonight- we bake bread!
Charlie
SO we got home and I realized that I had no kitchen space to set up this wonderful gadet. Disappointed, I went to the bedroom, got launndry together and started hanging up clothes. I was still feeling restless so I cleaned out my closet. There are many articles of clothing which I haven't been utilizing over the past year, so I made a pile of them to give to goodwill.
My closet being clean and organized, I decided to go get my new toy out of the box- at least. I realized that if I just rearranged some of the things on my tiny counter, I could give the bread machine a permanent home. So I moved things and found a box of potato flakes that didn't fit int he counter. It hit me that i could use my new containers to hold the potato flakes so they wouldn't have to sit on the counter anymore- so I got out my other new toys- my plastic containers for my kitchen!
An hour later I had gone through all my kitchen cabinets, filled all but one of my wonderful containers, cleaned off the countertops (even under the microwave) and thrown out a bunch of useless things that have been sitting around for a while.
We got home at about 10:15 and I didn't go to bed until 12:30. Tonight- we bake bread!
Charlie
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