I just bought The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy. To say I'm looking forward to reading it is something of an understatement! All 700 pages waiting for me.
We bought Matty a pair of sunglasses today. Black. Wraparound. We were only trying to buy him clothes, but he saw the rack of sunglasses and by god he was going to have himself a pair. He was wearing them around while we walked in town and at the museum. Except he'd have to take them off frequently so he could actually see where he was going! Still, I guess if you're hip, you're hip ...
I love listening to the rain in bed. It rained in the night, a colder night, a two cat night — Tess snuggled in under the duvet next to me, Gump curled up around our feet. And waking at odd points in the night to rain on the roof and wind against the windows. And nestling myself around Debbie, arm across her belly and a leg tucked through hers.
Matthew slept late, so we had time for a cup of tea in bed, sipping and talking and reminiscing. Deb talked of knowing from the earliest age that she needed to get away from the small Maine town she grew up in. No one else in her family has left, or even really traveled. They're still living in the same houses, on the same roads, working in the same jobs. Deb was talking with her sister on the phone last week. Her sister said she was glad their Dad had sold the family summer camp on a lake to get money to send Debbie to college. Debbie had never known that until now. Never known it. And still, she could only afford to go to college because she achieved a scholarship paying 3/4 of her fees and got a student loan to cover the rest.
She's made of something different, Debbie. Different and tougher. She arrived in London, after finishing college, with exactly 200 pounds and not knowing anyone. From a small town in Maine to London. She's capable of doing that. We talked about that, what it took. We wondered if that sense of risk, or adventure was still there. I think it is. I think it's hidden under a mortgage, a toddler, a pregnancy, a job and a husband that's put her through a lot, for now though. I like to think we'll coax it out again though. I like to think one day in the not too distant future we'll quit our jobs, sell our house, and go on an adventure somewhere. I like to think that we'll believe that's an important enough goal to strive for.
Last Monday evening I went to a 7x7. These are held very two or three months, and consist of a series of speakers (seven in fact!) who speak for seven minutes each on a topic — usually something to do with their work/pet project. They were all good speakers this time. One talked of a big idea. Her big idea was that everyone should sit down for 15 mins at the start of each day and just think. Think, with no interruptions. She challenged everyone to break up their routines, to give themselves space to think of different things, different possibilities.
I'm starting to think that writing in this journal is my space to think.
last | nextLink of the day
Te Papa
The national museum of New Zealand. It's a great place to spend a couple of hours on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Journals and blogs that I read regularly
Raising Hell
Feral Living
Hippycritical
Udder
My Life in 12 Point Font
Journal of a Writing Man
Some Jingle Jangle Morning
The Last Girl Scout
Potatoe.com
Journallife.com
Window to my Soul
Chickybabe
Sorabji.com
Yesterday's Makeup
Fifteen Milliliters
Fly Away
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The Ageless Project
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Blogging Mommies
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Photo of tunnel copyright Bernd Klumpp, available from istockphoto.com