Who’s a pretty little girl goat? Who’s got a cute little nosey? Who’s always got a mouthful of hay? Whose hair is growing back so fast? Who loves living with mommy and grandma and Uncle Eddie & Aunt Zowie? It’s Baby Ramona!!! “No, no, no, I’m not a baby anymore, I’m a big goat!”
So here is something nice that was said yesterday at my farewell lunch – nicer than all the boilerplate ‘we’re gonna miss you blah blah blah.’ My boss told me that I had inspired him on a personal level, “with all your hobbies – your raising goats, your knitting, your weaving”. When I took a week off for weaving school, people seemed fascinated – not with the weaving, but the idea that you could take time off and, like, just do something you want to do, not involving traveling somewhere. Honestly, people must really have no lives whatsoever, if they think I’m something to look up to. But he said he’d always dreamed of doing something like going to a woodworking school in Vermont, and that I’m inspiring him. That’s cool.
More pretty. The yarn you saw yesterday, and a hat I finished knitting the other day. It’s Malabrigo yarn, one of my favorite brands. I just wanted pretty and simple to work on during meetings.
Some weeks ago I saw the most beautifully dyed little package of Wensleydale locks at the St. Alban’s farmer’s market. Dyed locks is what I got. Dyed locks is not something I need to buy. But both Xopher & I just couldn’t stop admiring that blue, so I bought the locks. There wasn’t enough to make a skein out of, so mixing was unfortunately necessary. I hope I did it justice. First handspun skein of the new season.
by Woody Allen
Am I a bad person because when I saw Woody Allen had a memoir I immediately wanted to read it? Am I a bad person because I thought it was funny and I enjoyed reading it? Am I a bad person for finding his account of the whole molestation mishigoss is credible? No! I’m a bad person for other reasons, not these.
He’s funniest talking about his early life. Once his career takes off it seemed to get more matter-of-fact; once we are in his late career, the movie titles flying around and actors and actresses who were all wonderful, drop-dead sexy, beautiful, amazing, a joy to work with, etc. etc. and all the other famous people he’s met and known, well, it makes your head swirl a little.
So it wasn’t wall-to-wall comedy, but it was enough to be worthwhile and remind me why I’m a fan.
Incidentally, my favorite of his movies in order are:
Yeah, really going out on a limb there, I realize.
And incidentally if you want to read something supportive of Mr. Allen, this statement by his adopted son Moses may be the best.
I wrote to the great Oliver Burkeman and the great Oliver Burkeman wrote me back!!!
I wrote this.
“
I feel like there is a contradiction underlying Four Thousand Weeks. One thread is basically this:
And OTOH, you are constantly repeating some variation of the following: all of this should feel liberating and exhilarating, because now you can finally be freed up to focus on what matters.
But isn’t the first thread trying to convince me that, actually, nothing “matters”?
I do find the first thread liberating and exhilarating. But when you keep telling me, “Well! Now, time to get on with it! You know, that thing that REALLY MATTERS?” I’m like, what, what, what? I’m supposed to have a mattering-thing?
“
He wrote,
“Thanks, Chris! Fascinating point.”
And he wrote more. But I don’t think it’s right to publicly publish his words without his permission. Except for that “Fascinating point” bit, no way I’m not mentioning that.
Basically he argues that the first thread is meant to clear away illusions so what matters for you can bubble up to the surface.
Generally one weekend right around this time of year you will be bound to find us gourding.
Today’s Burkemanian quote is from ‘modern-day spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti’, who partway during a lecture leaned forward and said ‘almost conspiratorially, “Do you want to know what my secret is?… You see, I don’t mind what happens.”‘
Today I tore out the tomato jungle and went gourd-shopping with my life partner and smelled the autumn leaves.
“Worry, at its core, is the repetitious experience of a mind attempting to generate a feeling of security about the future, failing, then trying again & again & again…” burkeman
“In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double; don’t worry, be happy.” earworm
by Sebastian Junger
The author treks west across Pennsylvania with a group of other former combat veterans, following railroad tracks, secretly camping wherever looks safe, and eating big diner breakfasts and dinners. Why? Not clear. We find out way near the end that Junger is going through a divorce, which may be relevant.
I did not realize that it is illegal to walk along railroad tracks, thus “trespassing on railroad property.” I certainly didn’t realize that it’s as illegal as it is in this book. The group of hikers is constantly dodging into the woods, wondering if distant sirens are for them, wondering if someone who said hi is going to turn them in.
But precious little of the book is about hiking, camping, roughing it right in the middle of civilization, or our narrator’s journey. It’s digression, digression, digression. Ireland, Native Americans, Eurasian nomads. The overarching theme is not freedom, but fighting. All the digressions were about warriors, basically. Not interesting to me. Not the book I thought I was going to read.
Tytania 