Sara + h

questioning

I've been questioning whether to continue blogging.  You may have noticed that I'm rarely around this corner of the Internets anymore.  It's not that I have nothing to say.  I have plenty to say.  Or ideas of things to say.  I have quite engaging conversations in my head.  I am, however, lacking in the motivation and follow through arena (a perennial issue with me).  There seems to be something about that Typepad "Compose New Post: Sara + h" screen that stops me cold every time I resolve (or try to, anyway) to glue my ass to a chair and type.  Perhaps a stronger glue?  I've no notion of what that would be but obviously a stronger glue than my weak will is necessary.

Flickr is the exception.  At the beginning of the year I resolved to take a picture everyday of 2008.  I've thus far been successful.  Less so in selecting and adding pictures to my 366 set but damn if I haven't taken a picture every stinking day.  Usually multiple pictures.  And on those days when only a single picture has been taken, still, the shutter was opened and something was recorded.  Even if I haven't liked the results, it's been done.  The exercise has been as much about willpower and perseverance as it has about becoming a more practiced photographer.  More so, even.  Words come more easily over there too.   It appears to be a less intimidating canvas for me to fill.

So, I'm questioning and, as yet, undecided.  At some point I'll come to a decision and do what I'm going to do.  I'm not there yet though.  I'll let you (if there are any yous still with me) know when I do.

popping up all over

me

I first saw this meme over on Domesticali but it's been popping up all over crafty blogland.  I'm playing along despite not being tagged because my posting mojo done gone off and left me and these questions provide just enough of an outline for me to follow.  Here goes.

1.  Do you promote your blog?

My only real methods of promotion, per se, have been to comment on the blogs of others, link to Sara + h in my Flickr profile, and [very] occasionally link to a related post from an individual picture I've posted over on Flickr.  If my blog and my livelihood were intertwined, I'd do more.  It's not, so I don't.

I've not been a particularly active commenter in recent months (sorry) and I've never commented specifically to get people to come to my site, but for those who are just starting a blog, I'd say this is one of the most effective ways to generate web traffic.  It's also a way to "meet" people and make connections.

2.  How often do you check hits?

This is entirely dependent on how actively I've been posting.  When I'm posting, I check, usually once a day but sometimes more.  Like a lot of folks, I find it interesting to see how people find me.  (The number of hits I get from "flapper + hat + pattern" is astonishing.  I'm done with flapper hats in all their forms.  Other people aren't, apparently.)  When I'm not posting, I don't  check.

3.  Do you stick to one topic?

Broadly speaking, yes.  My life from many angles.  Most notably the craft angle.

(Is anyone still awake?)

4.   Who knows you have a blog?

In real life?  Not that many people, actually.  Even though this is a public site, it's still, in many regards, a personal journal.

5.  How many blogs do you read?

Well, let's just say my Bloglines is not an accurate reflection of the number of blogs that I read.  I used to have a convoluted, beyond explanation (hey, it made sense to me) system for my blog reading.  That system fell apart some time ago and I've yet to sit down and subscribe to the feeds of all those blogs which I read on a regular or semi-regular basis.  Laziness, as ever, is my enemy.

6.  Are you a fast reader?

As someone else said, I'm a fast skimmer.  (Was that you, Meg?  I'll have to go back and check.)  I quickly breeze over whatever doesn't hold any particular interest to me on a given day so that I can devote my attention to what does.

7.  Do you customize your blog or do anything technical?

Look at this site.  Does it look like I do anything technical?  Moving on...

8.  Do you blog anonymously?

No.  I respect those who feel doing so could potentially put them or their loved ones in jeopardy or who just want to maintain a higher level of privacy than I do.  I personally don't feel the need for anonymity but that could always change.  The world can turn funky on a dime.  If all of a sudden this blog becomes private, you'll know that's happened...and that I'm too lazy to go through all my posts to remove pictures and edit the names of people and places.

9.  To what extent do you censor yourself?

Everyone censors themselves on some level.  Sometimes it's just not prudent to say a thing out loud or in print (in pixel???).  On the subjects of politics and religion, I prefer to be eye-to-eye with whomever I'm engaging in discourse.  You'll likely never find more than a passing mention of those things here.  On the other hand, one of the reasons I don't freely mention that I have a blog to the people in my day-to-day life is so that I have more freedom to be frank, so that I don't feel the need to censor myself.

10.  What's the best thing about blogging?

The people.  The connections.  The artistry.  The skill.  The inspiration.  It's all so very, very good.

six things. six wierd things.

Is it weird to always be taking pictures of your breakfast?  I don't think it is, actually.

Now that I've been tagged not once but twice, I think it's time I sat my arse down to reveal but a few of my eccentricities to all of you.  The rules are as follows:

People who get tagged need to write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

Now that I've followed the rules by stating them clearly, I'm going to flat out break them by not tagging six other people.  Mostly because all of the people I would tag have already been tagged by someone else.  I may suggest it to Eireann and Heather though.  (updated 12:06 a.m. :: I was just laying awake in bed, downloading my day into my pillow when I realized that the lovely Angelique hasn't been tagged with this meme yet.  Now she has.)

Okay.  Ready?  Here goes.

1. In the same vein of Laurie's 1st weird thing (and kind of her 4th too) for as long as I can remember I've detested having dirty feet.  Really.  Don't.  Like.  It.  The biggest downside to this is that it hinders my ability to enjoy long walks on the beach.  It's not so much the sand as the fine dust that coats one's tootsies as you walk.  Wearing shoes doesn't work.  I hate having sand in my shoes nearly as much as having dirty feet.  And rinsing my feet off in the water is an imperfect solution because then my feet are wet and sand sticks to them and gets in between my toes and it's just awful.  I shudder even to think about it.

I'm bothered by dirty hands as well but not nearly so much.  It's the thing that makes it difficult for me to really delve into gardening as a hobby though.  Dirt under my fingernails?  Heaven help me and pass the nail brush, please.  I suppose I could solve this problem with a good pair of gardening gloves but I've yet to procure a pair so I just let Dan do all the digging.

2.  When I'm reading (to myself) or deep in thought, I rub my upper lip and nose with the side of my index finger.  It's a remnant of having sucked my thumb for the first 11 years of my life.

3.  I've been known to refold laundry that's been folded by someone else and remake a bed made by somebody else.    In my warped mind there is, you see, a right way to do these things.  Sometimes the right way to fold a pair of pants or a shirt can change.  The right way to fold a fitted sheet never does, however.  And neither does the right way to make a bed.  Square corners, people, square corners.

4.  Though I have the uncanny ability to peg voices (This afternoon I walked into the living room where Dan and Lola were watching an episode of Jean-Michel Cousteau's PBS show Ocean Adventures, listened to the voice over for a moment, and said, "Pierce Brosnan."  I do this sort of thing often and at least 9 times out of 10, I'm right.  A good portion of this success has something to do with the fact that I know who Peter Coyote is and what he sounds like.  Man, that guy does a lot of voice over work.)  I absolutely suck at identifying the band when listening to a song.  I can often hum the tune or even sing the lyrics but I can't name the band.  I can get the artists that I listen to often or that I've listened to often in the past.  I can also name obvious ones (ABBA, Bob Dylan...)  but that still leaves a staggering number of singers and bands that I can't name.  Dan gets no end of pleasure from this.  He himself is quite good at it, of course...but he had no idea it was Pierce Brosnan doing the voice over for Ocean Adventures.  So there.

5.   When my nose itches, I scratch it by raking my knuckles back and forth across it.  My mother maintains that this is caused by some sort of recessive gene as the only other person she's ever met who does this is her brother.  I can't recall ever having met another person aside from my uncle who scratches their nose this way either.  Do you?  Maybe we're related.

-and-

6.  This isn't so much weird as it is something that you likely didn't know or suspect.  I swear like a sailor.  I also unfortunately have the dubious distinction of having taught my children to swear.  We have  video of Lola saying, "Oh f!@#!" at the tender age of two.  While there's something quite funny about a two year old swearing, there's many more somethings about it that are wildly inappropriate.  Even so, old habits die hard.  I'm working on it.

cheer

Our mail woman delivered this bit of blog holiday cheer from Meg last Friday .  There was also a Rittersport in the box but it lasted all of five minutes (I have no willpower) and therefore didn't make it into this morning's photo shoot.  The tissue holder has been well utilized in the past two days especially since Astrid & Lola have both come down with wicked colds.  I feel well prepared when I whip out my trusty tissue holder to wipe a nose.

the other side of the matchbox

Thank you, Meg.  You'll be getting something in return but I'm not nearly so organized as you so it won't be until after the holidays.

shock & disbelief

I won.  I never win.  Ne-ver.  And now, this week, I've won two things (more on the first thing in another post).  Maybe those four leaf clovers did it for me.  Mabye I really should go and buy a lottery ticket RIGHT.  NOW.

kirsty, you're too kind

I was just perusing the new messages in my inbox when I thought to myself, "I've never known a Kirsten to go by the nickname Kristy."  "Strange," I thought to myself...and then I read her comment...and noticed that it was in fact signed Kirsty not Kristy.  Dyslexia, anyone?  I've been referring to her by the wrong name both here and in emails for a month and she's not said a word.  How mortifying.  Kirsty, I am ever so sorry.  Forgive me.

lola's room gets it's 15 minutes

Lola's room is spotlighted in today's (errr, I mean, tomorrow's) post about the Corner's Of My Home Flickr group over on Kiddley.  Kiddley is the child & family oriented blog of Claire Robinson* of Loobylu fame.  If you haven't heard of it (I can't imagine you haven't), pop over for a visit.  It's a fun place.

*I about plotzed when I got an email from Claire asking permission to use my photograph earlier this week .  I read her note and screamed "Hell yeah you can use my picture!!!" to an empty room.  I'm a rather excitable type.

useful & beautiful

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

-William Morris 1834-1896

While rooting around in one of our closets this morning, I came across this needlepoint that my Mom made.  When I saw it I immediately thought of Amy & Kelly, Blair, and all the other bloggers who are making a push toward more intentional and more simple living.

When we moved into this house, I was six months pregnant with Astrid.  We went from leaving our friends and the only home Lola had ever known (the place she was born), to moving to a new place, to having a new baby & sibling all in the span of three months.  Things like painting and hanging artwork on the walls fell by the wayside.  So now, two and a half years later, we're finally getting to all that.  That's why I came across this in a closet.  Someday soon (pleeeeeease!) this should have a more appropriate place on a wall.  It will be useful in reminding me that the trajectory of crap should be in an outward direction.  It will be beautiful simply because it is.