Correspondence

Letter Carrier Collecting Mail, originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

Just in time for my "I should write more email letters, like I used to" thoughts, Google has made it SCIENTIFICALLY possible to send messages to anyone on the Google world. Crazy scary, or crazy cool?


I also have a real letter to write, in response to a real letter. Like, on paper. With a pen. And maybe some sparkly stickers.

And, I need to write some letters that won't get sent. You know, that old trick. Get it off your chest, then burn it and cry or something. I think I spent all my teen years doing this.

I also know there are crazy pen pal hook-ups out there, but I might be too old for that. I want real correspondence, with the people that I know and love and want to communicate with. It's about connection.

I used to have multiple pen pals as a child from Sweden, Australia, England, California (I know, California is not a country, but it was a foreign land to me at the time). We happily chattered about school and favorite meals and friends, and with the girl from California whom I wrote to for more than 10 years, boyfriends and marriages.

And I don't do that anymore. I do see the irony, coming from someone who returns text messages hours later, but that doesn't mean I don't have something to say.

So here's to communication, readers. Let's get it out there, whatever way we know how. I'm going to try paper for a while. I re-discovered my storage bin of stationery and I have more than enough paper (and most likely, random ramblings) to entertain us all for the rest of the millennium. Who wants a letter? Use the magical Google plusness to send me your address.

Free Milk!

I just finished reading the Bloggesseseses' book and realizing how stupid and amazing it is that we can write books from the internet. Or are we writing books ON the internet? For the internet?

I guess it doesn't matter, because one of the more respectable occupations I've pined for over the years was "writer", and now I could say I am doing it. Oh sure, a big bound wad of paper for the coffee table would be impressive to more, but you can not deny that I have written this, and you are reading it. (Unless, I never get this thing out of draft mode, which is entirely possible.)

And it also stuns me to realize how many of the books I've read recently are blog-based. I got the Foodist for my Kindle, which wasn't really bright because I'd like to loan it to some people or have it in the kitchen. Oh well. I bought TWO copies of Humans of New York for Christmas gifts. I am now less dumb! and have the book to prove it.

But I am also aware that I am not writing books. (To wit - I'm nibbling through the decadent granola chocolate bacon bar that is Infinite Jest again. This is not anywhere close to that.) I've apparently cast myself as the cow, the cow that gives away free milk and doesn't need to purchased unless you're a foolish, greedy man who is scared of generosity.

Really, when I think about that analogy, I'm most angry with the cow-boycotting man, who will not appreciate the gifts he is receiving, but will continue to accept them without gratitude. The cow is just giving away milk, BECAUSE SHE MUST. She will explode if the milk is not expressed, and it would be quite painful. If you've sampled the milk, and you find it delicious, then pay for your milk, JERKFACE.

(By the way, I do realize that paying FOR the cow does not actually compensate the cow, but rather the other man, who owns the cow. And also, this is why I never want to hear this applied to a relationship EVER AGAIN. Unless you come from a culture that actually uses a dowry, please, stop. Milk is free and fun. It doesn't really apply to a business situation either if you mean to imply that the independent contractor cow is at fault for not receiving fees for her services, because the COW WORKS FOR SOMEONE ELSE. If you find a cow with a checking account, please let me know.)

But I haven't really learned many lessons either. I have pondered the difference between a blog that I could read for free and the book I must purchase and read in its entirety, and I'm not sure what the magic factor is. I'd like to remain open to paying for books from blogs I enjoy, because I like to think of myself as a nice person who pays for her milk. But on the other hand, there's so much good stuff out there!

And know that I'm certainly not asking you to pay me for anything. Unless you're like Penguin or St. Martin's Press or something... in which case, drop me a line. I could come up with some special dairy, just for you.

But it's a wonderful thing, isn't it, that there's so much to choose from? What blogs do you enjoy that should be books? What books have you read recently? 

Word of the year: Enough

You know how there's those people who are like, "I love Christmas!" or "Halloween is my favorite holiday!" Well, I'm the one that ADORES New Year's. Lists! Parties! Optimistic statements and wishes for future happiness! This is what makes me tick. 

In the past, I've done the whole inventory-of-past-disappointments with a detailed plan-for-future-success baloney. I've made lists of resolutions. I've narrowed the resolutions down to only 3 (or maybe 5). I've stopped calling them resolutions, so people stop laughing at my idealistic intentions. And really, I think I've succeeded most of the time, in that I still believe in trying to make it better. 

So this year, I'm trying microhabits, not resolutions. Easy to keep. Almost stupidly so, in fact. But hopefully, these tiny steps will make big things happen. Vague enough to be applicable in a lot of situations, but specific enough to move the ball forward. The framework is "enough". These are the little triangles in the corner of said frame:

1. Say hi to the "boss" every day (the boss being whoever runs the particular endeavor I'm trying to participate with). 

2. Say hi to the "family" every day (the family being my friends, colleagues, co-pilots, passersby, etc.)

3. Find one truth every day (the truth being beauty, or quiet, or something I need to say).

4. Pick up one piece of trash every day (trash being anything from actual trash to a mess that I've made in a relationship or whatever).

And this is part of the picture with which I hope to fill the frame:

26 books read

52 blog posts!!!

104 dances

206 hugs

345 pleasant dreams

365 trash bags (hopefully not literally....)

730 hellos