February 22, 2010

High Gear

First things first.  Nabisco owns Oreos.  Secondly, that last post about killed me because I pasted it into Blogger from Word. I know Microsoft and Google don't play well in the sandbox, but seriously? It was a nightmare. Anyone know how to import posts? I can't always write in an open web browser.

Ok anyway, I'm doing it. I'm kicking this blog into high gear. A week or so ago Dustan sat me down and gave me a good kick in the teeth about how I'm not applying myself creatively in any way and I, in turn, went on whining about how I'm not going to be another woman trying to make a home-based internet business by covering bobby pins with Scotch tape and trying to sell them on Etsy. After all, I can't make a quilt or a scarf or a pair of earrings like some of my friends can. What was it he suggested I do? He said I should paint stuff for people, like the stuff I've done for our apartment. And that's when my brain disintegrated and kinda fell out of my ear like salt. Because the thought of painting something for myself gives me energy, but the thought of painting something for someone else, who may or may not buy it, who may walk right past it at a craft fair, makes me want to take a nap and suck my thumb (and set my little craft booth on fire) all at the same time.

I got a job working at a sweet company. Rishi Tea. They distribute loose leaf organic teas to a whole bunch of coffee shops, grocery stores, cafes, etc. Anyway, it used to be a small tea company in Milwaukee, and now it's a huge tea company in Milwaukee. I do officey-stuff at Rishi but all you really need to know is that every day I drink something like this
out of something like thisSo anyway, I have a job that is usually part time, but for the next bit or so, I'll be working a lot more than I thought. So the big blog ambition I have that was based on a lot more free time has been slightly dampened. But I'm still serious about blogging more. Dustan's pep talk lit a fire under me about blogging for no other reason than disicpline. Period. Comments and readership are cool, sponsored advertisements and flashing banners that make you money are great, sitting at home eating sushi and drinking Rishi Tea because you make money just by turning your computer on is even better - but that's really not the endgame. I honestly just want to see myself sitting before a blank white box, smoke coming out one ear as I try to get a sentence the way I want it. It's been a long time. And what better place to do that than on a blog, where friends can elbow you in the ribs when you quit posting.

I'm gonna try and give this blog a little structure to keep myself on track (Chris Farley). And I'm not sure how it's gonna work. I might hate it and scrap it and go back to Facebook to stay. Tell Dustan to go sell birdhouses at a craft fair.

Here are my features.

Monday.

At the start of the week I'll post a great recipe that is changing my life in the kitchen. These seem to be coming in at a much better rate than when I first started cooking, and I'm happy about it. But this can't be a cooking blog. I'm not VeganYumYum and I'm not Honest Fare and I don't come up with anything on my own. I just imitate. Sometimes the result is a nice surprise on our kitchen table, so I'll talk about it. Plus, a good food blog has to be a downright amazing photography blog. You know I'm right! My little Sony Cybershot just can't live up to the pressure.  (Winter salad by Gabi, Cupcakes by VeganYumYum)



Tuesday.


This is the day I'll publish a photo that I love. It will give me a chance to write about the people in my life.  And celebrities, the people in both our lives.  And pretty much any other thing imaginable. 

Wednesday.


Since we've moved to Wisconsin, the before and after projects haven't stopped. I mean, you just don't know. I've painted beds, dressers, desks, tables, chairs, walls, filing cabinets, mirrors, baseboards, doors, windows, pictures, picture frames, bookshelves and a hall tree. I've spackled, sanded, mixed, remixed, polyed, distressed, caulked and scrubbed. This will be my chance to take one of my little DIY projects and show it off. But, this can't be a design blog. There are cool things to look at in my apartment, but you have to go other places to find the coolest stuff, because I've just copied them best I can, and drooled over the stuff I couldn't.  Like, the following.





Thursday.

I don't know. I'm going back and forth on this one. I might just do a journal entry. Write about the nuances of my day, just to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. "Today I woke up and made Dustan a fried egg. I walked to Sanders Paint, four doors down to the left, and bought three quarts - red, blue and green. The sky was a big cotton ball, making it impossible to judge the time by looking outside. It's been grey like this for what seems like weeks, and when the sun does come out, we will all throw our windows open and dance in the street with beads and braids like it's our own Wisconsin Mardi Gras, in honor of the sunshine."

Or I thought about featuring a product. One that I buy regularly, and enjoy the process of buying; one that I love to use so much I tell other people they're nuts if they don't use it too. I think this could be interesting because there's so much superficiality and negativity connected to the words 'marketing,' 'product placement,' 'consumerism,' and 'advertisement.' But the truth is, there are some products all of us would love to stand on our chairs and endorse. This would be my chance to talk about my new hand creme from Anthropologie that Dust got me for Valentine's Day. Or the 4-story brick feed n' seed store where we go to buy Trail's dogfood from Mark, and always come home with free puppy treats. Or eggs. I'd love to talk about eggs. The word, the shape, the many ways to eat them, their mystery.

Friday.


I'm gonna talk about memories of the Appalachian Trail on Fridays. I know, I know. I dedicated a whole blog to it already. But really? It's an open, breathing memory. So many pictures left unpublished, so many stories left untold, so many piping hot cups of coffee to drink while typing them up.  Of course, if this gets stale, I'll talk about the other Trail in my life. She shows me around this great city every day and I love her. Her newest nickname is for early rising, when the bathroom light and steam from the shower cut through the sleepy haze of early-morning darkness. She yawns - making a sound that's almost language - stretches like a geriatric, and then clicks down the hallway, toenails on wood. That's when we call her Morning Star.

10 comments:

  1. Sounds like a plan, Stan! Love your banners!

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  2. I just thought I would post something to let you know "I'm reading too" ... Maybe i'm your tenth reader? not sure if you remember me but i went to college with Dustin and answered a bunch of AT questions before you started your hike. I hiked in 07'

    Erin

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  3. Cool! I am going to replace my daily Dooce.com read with your blog... I kinda stopped reading that one a while ago anyway. Good for Dustan for giving you a kick in the pants.

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  4. Sounds awesome. Remember that time I came to W-burg with a gazillion jewels to sell at the winery, but everybody was so busy listening to the Gin Blossoms sing and say, "We're here to chew bubblegum and kick a**." That was the most unsuccessful day of my life to date, I think. The only sale I made was to you. On credit. ha Then I went and had some retail therapy at the outlets and I felt better about the day. Because I really needed that headband from J.Crew, didn't I? Rigggghhht.

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  5. Rach, please tell me I paid you the $21. The fact I remember how much kinda makes me think I didn't...

    Erin, of course I knew who you were silly, before your AT logo even loaded. You told us not to carry a gun. :)

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  6. Can Saturday be Eli Day!!!!? I have some good pics of Trail from that cold night on the beach, I need to get them to you somehow.

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  7. haha..and do you think you ever needed a gun?? Some days I would have loved to have shot one of those hens that used to scare the crap out of me on the side of the trail and eat the whole thing myself!

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  8. Oh YEAH! I had totally forgotten about those things. We called them turkeys. I think they were just one of the many species that used the trail as a footpath more than humans do. (Along with newts, squirrels, chipmunks, moose, ponies, porcupines and rabbits...)

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