Upcoming Projects

I'm listing a few project ideas here to keep myself motivated (and to just record this transitional place in my life). Maybe, just maybe, if I've made this list public, I'll actually buckle down and get to work on a few things.
But don't really count on it. Ha!

1) First, the inevitable, ongoing project of BABY. This includes being pregnant and pursuing the cravings that go along with it. It also includes selecting a name for the sweet baby girl on the way. We're struggling big time with this task...so if you have any suggestions- send them my way!!! PLEASE! Also, send boy names too just in case the ultrasound tech was mistaken.

In addition to the Great Name Project (which is driving me a bit insane), I want to try my psuedo-crafty hand at making pink and frilly baby stuff- clothes, toys. If you are crafty and have any ideas for simple, beginning projects- please comment.

The nearby fabric store was having a Spring sale and I popped in today. Picked up these lovely girly-girl fabrics.

Before we knew the gender, I made this bib. Because any groovy guy or gal can appreciate the King.

 2) Besides baby stuff, I want to make/decorate a special Big Brother shirt for Noah. I have fabric paint. Just need to pick up a T-shirt and get to work. That should be easy, and I like it easy. 

Noah did not try to hide his disappointment when he found out that a little sister is on the way, rather than a brother. He fantasized about teaching a little brother all of his Boy Ways.

I need ideas about how to get him excited about the new FEMALE person arriving in his life. Thoughts? Suggestions?   

3)  On top of having a baby due in August, we are also trying to move...AGAIN...and in August. We're looking to become first time homeowners. So, I guess house-hunting is another project keeping me busy. I just want an extra bedroom for the littlest one, a small outdoor space (yard? patio?) for a garden/container garden, and a kitchen that is larger than our current apartment kitchen. And I'd prefer to stay in Takoma Park, of course. I'd also prefer to stay within the particular school zone that we're already in...I like the kindergarten that Noah will begin in the Fall.

I have so longed for my backyard garden from Syracuse this spring. I've envied our non-apartment dwelling neighbors and their gorgeous blooms. And as much as I love to cook and bake, I haven't been able to stretch my wings in the closet-sized kitchen we currently have. The cheese-press Michael gave me for Christmas sits gathering dust because there is just no room for a cheese factory in our apartment. No room! So a place with more room to further pursue more PROJECTS. That'd be ideal. : ) 

4) Then there's my poetry. I would love to grow further as a writer. I need more practice. I need mentoring. I would ultimately aspire to mentor others...oneday. Takoma Park is a fantastic place to be for an artist, plenty of inspiration, plenty of people to look up to for guidance, a community that is passionate about art. 

Unfortunately, I don't feel like I can really committ to a strict, disciplined writing schedule at this point. But it is a plan for the future. 

Well then, that's enough to get me started (and I haven't even mentioned salsa dancing or learning French).

I welcome all suggestions and encouragement...crafty, baby, home-hunting, writing, or otherwise!

In Celebration of Takoma Park, Spring, and a Return to Blogging

When we first moved here in July (2010), I fell in love with the politics of the place, the passion for poetry and the arts, the playful spirit, the family-friendly community, the proximity to DC, the criss-crossing trails littered with bikers and strollers and joggers, the green green canopy of trees overhead, the urban deer tiptoeing in back yards and the black squirrels chattering. 

But, honestly, it was damn hot- like a slap in the face everyday-leaving your face stinging and deep red. Some kind of humidity demon sucking the breath out of you- that was part of summer...if you couldn't find shade. And there is never enough shade to cover a Summer. Lethargy and mosquitos. Plus, I missed my garden.   

When Fall arrived, the brilliant changing leaves made me swoon. They catch your heart on fire as you remember remember remember all the Falls that came before. O' the bittersweet power of memory that Autumn exposes. The crisp air, the orange glow enveloping life in a bubble- reminding us to harvest and then come to rest and be mild.

Then the Winter was on us like a gray sweater, stark and svelte. Streamlining desire, suppressing, forcing us into hibernation- a chance to be more thoughtful. A turning inward because the outside world is so so cold. If the snow or ice builds up, trees and power lines snap under the pressure, and you could be huddled without power- realizing how helpless you are to the whims of nature (and ineffiicent electric companies).  

Now! Pure JOY! It's Spring! Takoma Park is known as Azalea City, and I never knew how lovely a city could be. Everyone must have conspired long ago to plant and nurture all of these gorgeous gorgeous trees and flowering shrubs, so that Spring would bring such incredible ecstasy. Green little sprouts and sprigs of hope frame your perspective. Buds shake their darling heads- affirming- yes- YES! The birds echo that same sweet song- oh baby- YES! Of course, this is not the ideal if you have allergies. But I am loving it today. Everything is exclamation points and Capital Letters!

I regret that I haven't written much lately. But I regret even more that I haven't carried my camera along through these seasons. I've wanted to take photos more and more because the beauty is just overflowing.
Back to it!
I can't stay away long!
You see, after trying to conceive for well over a year, sinking into despair because I thought I was infertile (which meant that I had to face the fact that I'm getting old and closer to death), and then getting pregnant- out of the startling blue- I've just been processing the news... excited, and completely absorbed in analysing the possibilities and limitations that the birth of a second child will bring.
So there. That's my excuse for being absent from the blogosphere these long months.
Plus, I was hibernating along with the other creatures.
But now, it's Spring. I'm awake! And hungry!  

Your Hometown: a left-brained and a right-brained approach to perceiving the place.

Maybe you're like me, and you're far, far away physically (and spiritually) from where you started. But maybe, like me, you still have internal conversations with old friends or family who have departed. Maybe, like me, you never stop loving people you grew up with and you visit them in blurry dreams.
Or maybe not.
Maybe you're not like me at all and the past is the past is the past...
Nevertheless, you might still like to check out these sites.
Your hometown- a left-brained and a right-brained approach to perceiving the place:

  

1) Arcade Fire's The Wilderness Downtown interactive video site. You really really should have Google Chrome for this experience. Just download it and all is good. The Wilderness Downtown is pretty neat. You put in the zip code from your hometown (or anywhere) and the video captures parts of your hometown using Google Maps and some awesome music and art. The result is a custom-made music video!

It may not be the hometown of your childhood memories, but, really, you can never go back to that.

It's lost. Only accessible in  those aforementioned blurry, time-smeared dreams or glimpsed running by out of the corner of your eye.

If you are unfamiliar with Arcade Fire, they are responsible for the emotional, epic music in the Where the Wild Things Are film. It's pretty interesting hearing this epic music playing over images familiar to your life. Kind of like a soundtrack to a memory from the past.

2) Patchwork Nation. This is a totally different experience than The Wilderness Downtown! Patchwork Nation is a research and reporting project that maps information about America in a more compelling and complex way than using those tired old monikers like Democrat and Republican...which really don't get to the heart of what people are. Patchwork Nation looks at the factors that might make you a liberal or conservative; like race, income level, religion, education level...but it also challenges those assumptions by showing that we are more complicated than those labels.
So, like with The Wilderness Downtown, you punch in your zip, and it spits out information relevant to you. It shows you the demographics of your hometown, or current town, and puts your county into a category like "Monied 'Burbs" or "Boom Town" or "Tractor Country" or "Evangelical Epicenter." These categories can be problematic too due to the fact that they are based on the county, not the city or neighborhood. For example, my current zip was categorized as a "Monied 'Burb", even though there is a huge immigrant population here in pretty dire poverty. Yet, because the wealth of nearby Bethesda and Chevy Chase are in the same county, the entire area is classified by that wealth.
In spite of it's limitations, Patchwork Nation gives insights on how we are changing politically and otherwise. You can see where all foreclosures are taking place and how that effects how people vote. You can see where counties with Cracker Barrels are versus counties with Whole Foods. You can create some cool map/data mashups.
Maybe I'm just a nerd. But, it was fascinating for me to see the data on the different types of communities that I've lived in...how diverse they are, or what they have in common.
My hometown, Lake Butler, FL, currently has a population of about 15,000...and about 86% of those people consider themselves to be Evangelical Christians.
The town I reside in now, Takoma Park, MD has a population of 950,000...with just about every religion represented...only 14% Evangelical.
Very interesting!

When the creator of Patchwork Nation spoke to a group of us last week at Greenpeace, I asked him if he knew of any similar sites that study this kind of human data, but on a more global level. He pointed me to Gapminder, which looks at world trends. Cool mappy stuff.

Everything is sparkly and new. Or unfamiliar and anxiety-producing.

Finally decided I've had enough of just reading other people's blogs, lurking in the shadows. Time to dust this thing off and try it again...this dialogue with the universe that I call a blog.
We moved over the summer and are settling in (if that's even possible for a vagabond like me).
Takoma Park, MD met and exceeded many of my expectations, but of course, places are spaces full of people and people are full of contradictions. I bump into my own hypocrisy all the time.
One quality that attracted me to this area is that it's a progressive community of artists and activists, extremely diverse, and rich in culture.
Yet...yet...yet, what continues to divide people everywhere divides people here as well.
Money (or lack thereof). Race. Politics.
1) Money: There are home owners. And then there are the rest of us. It's ridiculously expensive to buy a teeny tiny home in this area. We will absolutely not be able to afford a home on Mr. Mad on a Gray Sea's professorial income alone. No big deal, right, I'll just go back to work next year when Noah starts kindergarten. But then, what about our hopes for another child? And when will I ever get out from under my gigantic, stupendous student loan debt? We will remain apartment dwellers for now, biding our time, trying to figure out where to fit and how to structure our lives.
2) Race: Beautifully gorgeous diverse people. Language barriers. Cultural barriers. Practically segregated neighborhoods. Corridors of crime. The aforementioned homeowners, predominantly white, drive their suv's to some important DC job while herds of ethnic nannies push white privileged wiggly babes in their designer strollers.
3) Politics: While it warms my little liberal heart to see so many Obama bumper stickers, Takoma Park certainly exposes the conflicts within the liberal community. The desire to help the poor or racial other(or to even equalize the playing field) doesn't seem quite in balance with the excessively large homes and perfectly manicured landscapes and waste and consumerism and snobbery and disregard for the environment.
 
Of course, I am harping on the negative aspects of an awesome place. It is awesome here.
There are activists and artists pushing for change and educating each other.
One example: a group of elementary school kids have been protesting the use of styrofoam plates used for their school lunches. Toxic styrofoam, non-recyclable styrofoam, everyday adding to landfills.
The kids would gulp down their (surely over-processed, not Jamie Oliver approved) chow and think about how their plates are polluting the world. So the kids suggested that the school go back to ye old-fashioned, non-disposable plates of yore. Oh but, the school board(?) refused because they didn't want to hire a dishwasher. Anyways, here we have it- the illogical short-sightedness of bureacrats up against (extremely) youthful, wide-eyed idealism...welcome to Takoma Park.   
More to follow from the trenches of a liberal paradise (note the sarcasm and bitterness).
Oh yeah, I landed an internship with GREENPEACE!