Measured Words

And then a Dog (or three) Barked

I had a dream last night that I was drinking a cup of coffee*, when... in my real life... one of my dogs barked (of course, the house was crazy silent at 3:30 a.m., why wouldn't someone try barking for no reason?).

And in my dream, I was startled and spilled my coffee.

***

*Free suggestion to my friends at the @MBTA and @DunkinDonuts... I love my Charlie Card and I love my Dunkies auto-recharged card. But I'm always getting them mixed up in my bag, pulling out the wrong one, and trying to run for the orange line (America may run on Dunkies, but they don't run through the T with it. Word.) with the card that should be for the medium hot coffee, cream only.

I think you see where I'm going with this.

Combine those cards, and the T can get some ad $s from Dunkies and I can get to my coffee a lot more quickly.

You're welcome.

Explain to me. Parkas and Bare Legs. Really?

#MBTA Orange Line | Back Bay Station | Feb 9 8:25 a.m. | 25F/-3.8C

Fully understanding that this will make me sound like I'm a hundred and eighteen years old, I have to go ahead and ask it.

"Ladies. Seriously? Bare legs with a parka? In Boston? In February? Seriously?"

Sorry. I had to get that out.

I don't get it. And by "don't get it," I mean... "AREN'T YOU FREEZING COLD????"

Now. I know that I come from a more conservative place, and that in that place, winters rarely brought snow and frequently required nothing more than a light wool coat.

New England is not that place.

And maybe it's just me, but I don't really find blue icicle legs (mine) attractive or comfortable really (mine) when the wind whips off of Boston Harbor and around the financial district.

COLD! THAT'S COLD!!!

So there's that.

I was just thankful today to find out I'm not the only one questioning this. Capitol Hill Style and Corporette both have had (similar) entries on the issue recently. None of the commentors could really land on a consensus (weird!) with some being pro bare legs and some pro-tights.

I will note however that no one seemed to be taking a pro blue icicle legs (mine) position.

Just something I noticed.

c) I think writers should write

I've been reading Laura over at 11D for years -- since she was actually in NYC and through the birth of her children and now into the suburbs. I've turned into one of those complete blog lurkers who feels like she knows someone from reading them for 10(? really?) years or more, but who have never really interacted with them.

One of the things I was inspired by recently was her blog post on the need to "just do it."

Well. I was inspired by it, then totally forgot about it and then remembered when my friend, was talking to me about it when we were "working out" (the quotes there are used purposefully) because I had told her she should be reading Laura's blog. And so she did, and so we were talking about it.

I used to blog pretty religiously. And by "used to" I mean back in the internet stone ages of 1998-2003(ish) on Diaryland.com as Cubiclegirl. I even managed to turn my blog into a novel, which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, earned some kind of blog award and most importantly, met my wife through it. (I also bought a faux leopard coat during a book tour in San Francisco on my birthday, but I know that I'm supposed to say that finding my wife online was more important than that gorgeous coat. I know that. Yes, I do.)

And, I don't know... but when you achieve all of those things through a blog, you're kind of like, "well, I don't really need to do THAT any more."

So, outside of a massive stint in Hong Kong, Sydney and Tokyo in 2010 that I blogged my way through... I didn't. Really.

But the truth is, I miss it.

I need a daily writing practice because a) I like to write and b) I'm a writer and c) I think writers should write.

But also because I miss it.

I miss the interactions with the readers, I miss the practice of putting my thoughts into some kind of coherent form. And I miss the ability to compose a thought that's longer than 140 characters and more original than a "share" or a "like."

I miss writing, and I blame Laura and my friend C* -- and "working out" for that.

Let's Make a Cloud! And Other Community Organizing Tips

 

When I was 7, my family moved from one county Kentucky to another. That's pretty huge for people in Kentucky. There are 120 counties in the state. Which I know because I had to memorize all of their names and their county seats and place them correctly on a map in 7th grade. Which I did.

If you ask a Kentucky where s/he's from, and s/he's not from a town that someone may have actually heard of like Lexington or Louisville, then you'll get a county as an answer. I mean, Kentucky counties also have Judge-Executives, which are like mayors of the county.

All of which is to say that counties are really important and moving from one to another is a big deal.

So when my family moved counties, I was in a different school and in first grade and didn't really know anyone and didn't really realize that that should probably matter, because to me it didn't.

Because it was recess and the sun was shining and it was September and the sky was blue and I had on a new dress, and I wanted to make a cloud.

I really wanted to make a cloud.

At recess in this county, the whole school went outside to take recess at the same time. So in addition to the first graders being outside on the giant asphalt playground with the chemical plants blinking off in the bakcground. In addition to all of that, there were also second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders. And I still wanted to make a cloud.

So I did what any new kid surrounded by like 150 other kids would do. I put on my big girl voice and I somehow convinced every single person on that giant playground to hold hands in a giant circle.

I somehow sweet-talked every one of those kids into making a cloud.

It was so awesome. Right up until someone looked up at me and goes, "now what?"

Um. I dunno, idiot. We made a cloud. You should be happy.

Anyway. Last week, I had the opportunity to do the grown-up version of that when I helped to organize the first meeting of the Roslindale for Elizabeth Warren group.

It was amazing. We had 50 people come out on a Thursday night in February to talk about how much they wanted to elect Elizabeth Warren to office. And out of that meeting, we worked and organized and got delegates committed to Elizabeth Warren, elected in several Ward Committee caucuses on Saturday.

It was fantastic.

And almost kinda better than making a cloud.

Almost.