Ahh, Internet. It was actually nice to not have it at home, for a while. Just reading, or listening to music, or looking at cookbooks. I did miss my favorite blogs, and news pages, and Etsy, none of which I look at while at work. Here, for the curious, are the four blogs I opened as soon as I was back online:
Grammar Piano. And was treated to a very excellent poem, which I keep going back to read.
Leaf-Stitch-Word. Consistently great writing, interesting topics, cool photos, and ideas that I keep thinking about on my own.
The House of Nana. One of my favorite artists, wonderful spirit about that blog.
Scented Glossy Magazines. I haven’t ever seen any of the shows she recaps, but her writing is so funny–it doesn’t even matter if I don’t know the characters she’s writing about, I always laugh out loud.
Add Jezebel, LiveJournal, Luckybeans, and A Mom and Her Camera for more great photos, and a little evening of checking in on my favorite spots is complete.
To my surprise, The House of Nana had tagged me for a me-meme. Perfect for coming back from a blogging hiatus. Here we go:
What is your current obsession?
Finding small, old books in a variety of muted colors. They’ll be part of the centerpieces at my wedding this winter, and the favors as well. I also love the way they smell, and the marbled endpaper, and the occasional inscriptions.
What is your weirdest obsession?
Old photographs– when I studied the Victorians, I spent a lot of time reading about and thinking about how people thought about photography, and having a permanent record of an ephemeral moment. I think about this idea frequently.
What’s for dinner?
I don’t know yet– we eat at church on Sunday evenings, so it’s whatever the chef is cooking. His last name is “Church,” so his name is actually “Chef Church,” which I like.
What would you eat for your last meal?
Butter, cheeses, bread, figs wrapped in bacon, sweet corn on the cob, asparagus marinated in soy sauce and grilled, red wine, hush puppies with ketchup, watermelon, a bison burger… it seems like what I would want is a very, very fancy picnic.
What’s the last thing you bought?
Shhh… something from LuluSplendor for a friend’s birthday.
What are you listening to right now?
The box fan blowing in cool air from the bedroom.
If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I actually think St. Louis, my hometown of sorts. I miss it, and would like to settle there. But I’d consider one of those pastry colored houses around the town square in Prague, a little A-frame in Laurel Canyon, or a little farmhouse in my real hometown. But I’d want to keep my own furniture.
If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would it be?
Wow, only an hour? I’m tempted to spend time with friends. Also by something monumental like the Louvre– I like the idea of rushing through there with time to see properly only five or twelve things. I did that once before and don’t remember anything but the wild rush.
Which language do you want to learn?
I’ll be lucky to keep the ones I’ve got. But I’m trying to decide between Coptic and Syriac for the next one.
What’s your favorite quote (for now)?
Here’s one from Dickens: “Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.”
What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe?
My ball gown. It’s fabulous. It’s a deep red color, and has a full skirt, and is very, very v-necked. (As in, needing special, er, underpinning planning to wear it.) So my skin looks perfectly pale just as it is, and it feels amazingly comfortable on, and I can hear the skirts rustle around me when I walk.
I ordered it online, and when I picked up the package from outside my door, my then roommate Jodut and I were on our way to Starbucks at 5 AM before going to school to teach. I was so excited, that I had to open it right then, in the Starbucks bathroom, at five o’clock in the morning. And it was perfect. Now, if only I had more reasons to wear it…
What is your dream job?
Running my own school for kids.
What’s your favorite magazine?
I’m not sure. I like to pick up the fancy low-tech poetry magazines at bookstores, and also either The Paris Review or The New England Review, but I generally read those online. I also like that cooking magazine without photographs–everything is the hand-drawn drawings of the food and implements.
If you had 100 pound right now, how would you spend it?
I’d buy the fanciest, plushest, most soft and luxurious bathrobe in the world for Matt’s birthday.
Describe your personal style.
Um– I like to wear skirts, I have heaps of jewelry, I like to wear more than one of something at a time, I make things to wear myself out of ribbons, I like colored tights (especially when I’m teaching; nothing says “Adverb Day” like hot-pink tights), and I always say, “More is more.” I like feathers. Lace. Mirrors and buttons. I like it when things don’t match, and many patterns at once.
What are you going to do after this?
I’ll wash my half of the dishes, then get ready to go to church to teach Sunday school. On the way, we’ll stop to buy fancy olives and balsamic vinegar. I’m reading a good mystery and look forward to getting on the train so I can keep reading it.
What are your favorite films?
The Royal Tanenbaums, Chocolate, Corrina, Corrina, The Big Sleep, Pride and Prejudice (the BBC six-hour version), Bridget Jones’s Diary, the Horatio Hornblower series, Water…
What’s your favorite fruit?
Watermelon.
What inspires you?
The way people love stories, the way people say, “You have to read this,” when people memorize poems they love, ladies who read the Bible on the train, trying again, monumental architecture, places that make me realize the world is old and I am young, old people singing with solemnity…
Do you collect anything?
Old pictures, Super 8 and other old cameras, sugar and creamer sets, bits of paper from gifts or art projects. Ribbon, broken bits of glass and china.
Any advice that comes from bitter experience?
If you have to choose between the truth or a lie, choose the truth. Even if it seems more painful.
What plant makes you happy?
Peonies. Overblown roses. Little perky aloe plants.
This was a long one. I’d like to hear answers from A Voice from the Chorus, Red Bay Dreamer, and my friend Amy.
That was absolutely delightful to read. I am so tickled by your unique answers. I’d like to go to that fancy picnic and I think your old books as wedding favors is the best wedding idea I’ve ever heard, ever. Ever.
(Oh, I was cuddling with my five yr. old while reading this, and he said, “Did a giant take that picture?” You know, because its bird’s eye. )
And thank-you. I can’t believe someone calls me “one of their favorite artists.” (It was so hard to even TYPE that!) blush, blushie, blush, nervous finger fiddling.
I’m glad you’re back! I like reading your blog (makes me think), so I’m flattered that you like mine.
Is the photo for this post for real, or a scale model? The answer doesn’t even matter — I keep looking at it both ways.
And, if you think you’d like living in Laurel Canyon, have you ever seen film by same name? Stars Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale. Love it.
The photo is real, just a bird’s eye view of the Square–it matches the mental image of what I think my pastel Prague house might be.
Thanks for the movie recommendation! I take all recommendations seriously– I’ve had countless good book experiences that way.
I responded on M’s lj post sort of. Although I love reading what other people write on those things, it is hard for me to come up with answers for some of those questions. I know K did one on lj too.
We talked to a Financial Planner today (go figure) and they asked what our hopes and dreams for the future were. Wow, tough question. I think they expected the typical retirement answer, but mine was that I would love to be a full-time grandma. You know the kind that gets to see the kid/kids every day after school, greeting them with warm cookies and milk and then oohing and aahing over their homework. Sort of the Donna Reed, Leave It to Beaver, Mayberry sort of experience, but I just don’t see that happening right now, but a person can always dream. Maybe I can just be a fulltime volunteer at your school.