{ a swoop and a dart }

An Incomplete List of Willis Startle Reflex Triggers

I had the opportunity to contribute a few scrapbook pages to a great Big Picture Classes workshop taught by Angie Lucas last year—my assignments were very specific, as I had to do something with a bar graph and something with a Venn Diagram (Angie does in fact know me well). As I was thinking up ideas for the bar graph page, I immediately thought of the list of things that can trigger my Willis Startle Reflex, and turned it into this (totally an incomplete list, but there is only so much room on a 12 x 12 piece of paper):

click to see larger!

Well, I have a new thing to add to the list that has been plaguing me in the most ridiculous manner since this past October, when I bought the Dictionary.com app. See, at 11:33 am every day the app pushes the "word of the day" to my phone, and if the sound is turned on and the phone is close by—which it usually is in the middle of the day when I am working on projects—it makes a sound like someone suddenly turned a bunch of pages in a dictionary abruptly. And it makes me jump every single time. I can see that it's 11:26, and my phone will be over on the table somewhere while I'm working at the computer, and I STILL JUMP AT 11:33. Definitely falls in the "a little embarrassing, especially in public" range.

: )

This post is part of a list-making project called Lists With Friends 2014, an effort to document the year in lists of all types. I love lists, and I love a good project : )

A Story About Gracie and Her Old Grandpa

Gracie and Bridget have been working on memorizing patriotic poems this month for school. They have to be a certain length by grade level, which was far easier to figure out for Gracie than Bridget, but in the end they both had the perfect poem: The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus for Gracie, and a little poem I found on Pinterest from the 1930s called Little American Citizens by Annette Wynne. It's been a fun thing to work on with them at home, as there is value in memorizing poetry—something people don't do much anymore.

Gracie was especially nervous last night after gym as she practiced in the Statue of Liberty costume she wanted to wear but was having second thoughts about at the last minute. Robes, torch, and crown in place, she needed a book to hold; she went straight to the bookshelves in our bedroom and grabbed one of Old Grandpa's books, from his collection of fancy Reader's Digest versions of classics with gold foil titles. I started to say "no, no, not one of those...." but then I stopped myself, imagining the eye-rolling I would have received from Old Grandpa had he heard me describe one of his books as too precious to take to school. Book in arm, she recited the poem one last time, just at the right pace, just at the right volume.

This morning she was even more nervous. Boys would laugh at her in the costume. She would forget the words. She didn't want people looking at her. We talked about what one of her dear life coaches, Wendy, would say about being teased about something she worked hard for and was proud of, and that helped a little. Suddenly it occurred to me that having Old Grandpa's book with her wasn't just a fun part of the costume, though. I told her how Old Grandpa would have loved that she was smart enough and brave enough to successfully prepare this poem to recite, because he was once a speech and debate competitor and loved public speaking and history. Holding that book in her arm? It might not help her remember all the lines at the right time, but it would be like he was right there with her, cheering her on proudly, like a secret invisible weapon against nerves. That helped a lot.

I don't know how she did yet, because she isn't home yet. But it doesn't matter, really, because today she did a hard thing with her great-grandfather's memory in her heart.

Found in the Piano Bench

Moving poetry written by a child clearly at her wit's end. I think it's written by Gracie, though it could be even older and written by Maddie. Hard to tell. Maybe I'll commission them for a longer piece of work this summer. Heh.

A List, Revisited

I had another list planned for this week but then I read my friend Jenny's list of the week—her recent google searches—and I was inspired to go back and look at a page I made for The Scrapbooker's Almanac back in 2006-2007. I had to giggle because right there in the text below the page I say "Because I love lists...." so little has changed. I'm still googling things a hundred times a month. I thought it would be fun to revisit my past self and comment on this with the benefit of almost eight years on my side. Ha!

forester arm rest extension
Did we break it? Were we experiencing a temporary lengthening of our arms? I don't know, but I do know that the Forester is still alive and kicking. It's a little grumpy this week because I forgot to put the better gas in it for the first time since 2003, but it'll live.

ear infection treatment
This seems to be a recurring theme in this household. I am missing our ENT in Cheyenne so much this week that I'm tempted to pack up Bridget and take her to see him. We need his advice. I don't want to start over with someone new.

girl scout oath
I must have been researching for the book... Related: a poor unsuspecting Girl Scout knocked on our door Monday while the girls and I were at the gym. Ellie wanted to eat this poor unsuspecting Girl Scout very much, and Matt had to put her in the other room and apologize for our sweet dog who only turns into a junkyard dog when she hears UPS trucks within a 2 mile radius or if some poor unsuspecting stranger knocks on our door. No Girl Scout cookies were purchased, because then she'd have to come back. We're looking forward to a different entry way setup that doesn't involve a glass front door.

tricycle lyrics
Frances England song. Too sad to share. Beloved tricycle found a new home at the Great Urband Legend Garage Sale of 2013.

tires tracy california
Seriously. We have the worst luck with tires of anyone in the universe. Last week we were googling tires shreveport louisiana. Hmph.

seville classic laundry sorter
Best laundry purchase ever. Still going strong.

lemon tea benefits
Clearly the desperate search of a pregnant sick woman who couldn't take cold medicine.

drug epidemic portland oregon
Huh? But still, I'm sorry. I did have a lovely visit in 2007 with the best tour guide. I wish I could go back not seven months pregnant.

top ten shell beaches
Daydreaming?

stinson beach california
never been there

pregnancy nasal congestion remedy
D E S P E R A T E

Danielle Cross Spokane
Now Danielle Hunt, and I still need to track her down because I accidentally sent her Christmas card to her old house. Again, apparently.

"elizabeth dillow"
Good habit to be in, to google yourself every 7.5 years or so. Today it doesn't become some other Elizabeth Dillow until the second page, when it abruptly becomes some other Elizabeth Dillow who has a twitter account. I'm not a tweeter.

little house on the prairie music
This soundtrack does in fact exist in our collection now.

magpie
Super fun store I'll never get to again because Katherine moved out of southern California.

nutcracker kennedy center
Sadly, we did not see The Nutcracker at Kennedy Center, but we did have a really fun experience seeing it in Arlington, and went to Kennedy Center a few times for other shows. I love D.C.

louis daguerre
Still interesting.

single family homes arlington
Found one. Lived in it for two happy years. Matt still has nightmares about the diagonally hopping crickets in the basement, though.

babi italia
Bridget got third-baby-IKEA instead.

george mason elementary fairfax
Hmm. Nope. Patrick Henry Elementary Arlington.

k & company girl scout collectoin
Got it. Used it. Perfect!

america the beautiful
Ha ha, I googled this two weeks ago, too. Gracie and Bridget have to memorize patriotic poems of a certain length. Gracie went with The New Colossus and Bridget is working on a quaint little poem from the 1920s about flags.

jc penney commercial music
So good I had to google it.

forever thursday
Responsible for the good JC Penney commercial music. How can it be that they haven't done a single thing since? (Did you see what I did there? It was actually an accident. Hee.)

luscious jackson
Back on the scene—I heard a great story about them on NPR a few months ago. I love Luscious Jackson!

mountain mike's
I honestly have no idea.

i have something in my pocket
What has it got in its nasty little pocketeses?—a line spoken quite regularly around here. Clearly, this google sampling was right smack dab in the midst of when I was working on my Girl Scout project for The Scrapbooker's Almanac.

the last kiss
Hmm. Again, no idea.

flag etiquette
Yes.

mp600 won't print red
This was a problem, but kind of a quaint one because about a year into the future, I was googling "why is my printer suddenly only displaying Japanese." I kind of miss my old Japanese language printer, 平和で休む.

: )

This post is part of a list-making project called Lists With Friends 2014, an effort to document the year in lists of all types. I love lists, and I love a good project : )

The Krewe of Harambee Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade 2014

I love parades. I think it's because I've been going to them my entire life, having grown up in the town with the largest 4th of July parade in Ohio. As we were getting ready to go to the parade in downtown Shreveport yesterday, I was thinking how many parades we've been to over the years: all the ones in Stow, of course, but also Christmas parades in Wyoming and Montana, the amazing parades of Cheyenne Frontier Days, the 4th of July parade in Lincoln, Montana when we had no choice but to attend because they closed the road, the Chinese New Year parade in Washington, D.C., St. Patrick's Day in Old Colorado City, The Scottish Parade in Alexandria... they're all so very different from each other. I am rarely disappointed in parades save for a few examples (not a big fan of kid-centric neighborhood 4th of July parades—I'm looking at you, Mountain House, CA and Arlington, VA) and we were downright disappointed at the Independence Bowl parade we went to over Christmas break at the Boardwalk in Bossier City last month because it lasted SEVEN MINUTES (accurate timing, not an exaggeration) and had a higher-than-expected risk for head injury.

So while I have high expectations, it isn't really hard to satisfy me if you just give it your best (and put together at least one hour minimum of parade content). Yesterday's parade was full of completely new and foreign experiences to us: we now know what Krewe means (an organization that puts on a parade during Mardi Gras season); that Harambee means "all pull together" in Swahili; that Mardi Gras is actually a season with many Krewes putting on many parades (when you grow up in Ohio, it's only a day... maybe); that there is a right way and a wrong way to throw Mardi Gras beads at the parade audience (neither folks from Boston College nor Arizona quite had that figured out, though it wasn't an issue yesterday, thank goodness—no near head injuries to report); and that marching bands are very regional in their customs (I knew this already, but it was fun to see). One thing that remains the same no matter where the parade is held: there will be shriners, and they will seem ever-so-slightly mysterious to us.

I was so excited when I clicked the shutter on this photo, because I just knew I caught one of the stiltwalkers at the exact right moment. Matt and I loved the stiltwalkers.

So similar to the marching band uniforms Matt and I wore in high school! The bands were not large, but they were good. Bridget thought the percussion was too loud, and I was sad when the loud percussion marched on. More loud percussion!

This is one of my favorite photos of the afternoon, too—I love this girl's concentration.

You can see more parade photos over at Flickr (just a selection, don't worry, I didn't upload them all).

As I was looking through my photos I observed that my parade photo-taking goals never change: I'm always looking for good shots of the people that make up a parade... and cool cars. Ha. Which brings me to my other point!

Finding Your Photo Style is running for a second time starting on February 13, this time with a 7th photographer added to the roster (Alessandra Cave)! The introductory price ends on Thursday, 1/23 at midnight PT, so if you've been thinking about taking it now's a good time to sign up. I'll be running a giveaway for a free seat sometime next week, too. This class is so good for defining your goals as a photographer, no matter what your skill level; it helps you figure out what it is you want to photograph so you can be more confident that you'll get the shot you're envisioning. I highly recommend it—I learned a lot just by following along in the other instructors' weeks the first time this workshop ran, as well as putting together my own content. The exercise of studying and evaluating your own photos to figure out your style (or to strengthen it) is invaluable.

The Weekend Documentary Round-up

Our love affair with the documentary section on Apple TV has not diminished. Actually, our love affair with Apple TV in general has not diminished, despite the rocky viewing of Clue over break, some odd connectivity issues, and a really terrible choice to watch Broken City recently. It is a sad day indeed when not even Marky Mark can save a movie. Thumbs down on that one—take our word for it.

But we have two really great ones to share!

1. 20 Feet From Stardom

This is one of the five 2014 Oscar nominees for best documentary, and it doesn't disappoint. It's all about the women who have made their careers as backup singers; they are a diverse group, but with one thing in common—they share the burden of being anonymously famous. Everyone knows  and sings along with their riffs, their lines, their melodies, but unless you're a music documentarian you probably don't really know them. And they are amazing singers with really, really interesting (and occasionally heartbreaking) paths to the background and beyond.

The music industry is portrayed honestly, for better and for worse: you feel the disappointments that Darlene Love and Merry Clayton (among others) feel as they are unable to break through the circumstances that prevent them from becoming the stars they clearly deserved to be. The genuine appreciation felt by headliners like Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and Mick Jagger for their background singers is evident—though it doesn't do Ike Turner any favors (no surprise there). We were surprised to learn that Luther Vandross was one of David Bowie's backup singers, and felt an increasing sense of sadness as the message came through loud and clear that backup singers just aren't that essential anymore in this era of autotuning. The amazing anonymity that Lisa Fischer lives within is absolutely shocking when she opens her mouth to sing, as is the amazing lack of anonymity Judith Hill faces (yet can't overcome, inexplicably). When the clip of Bette Midler introducing Darlene Love into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is shown at the end of the film, it's a cold heart that doesn't feel a little weepy.

This documentary is so good because it makes you feel a little guilty for enjoying the greatest songs and voices of the 20th century without knowing or caring who you're singing along with, all the while reassuring you that you aren't alone and it isn't entirely your fault. It's a tragedy, yet a celebration all at the same time.

2. We Cause Scenes: The Rise of Improv Everywhere

We were ready to go to bed, really we were, but trailer watching is such a terrible thing to do sometimes because immediately after watching the trailer for We Cause Scenes: The Rise of Improv Everywhere we had to watch it, 10:51 pm or not. We were not disappointed. 

This just-released documentary follows the unlikely path to success of Charlie Todd, recent college graduate yearning to make it big in New York City. He wants to be an actor, but realizing how hard that's going to be, redefines his dreams into something even better with a few friends, a few crazy ideas for pranks, and a really big heart. Even though this film takes place entirely in the 21st century it is shocking to see just how much the world has changed since 2001: when he started organizing small-scale "scenes" in New York City, there were no blogs, no texting, no iPods, no YouTube, no Facebook, no social media: only email and a clunky way to write up his stunts through the now-defunct Geocities website. Through organized but covert shenanigans, Charlie was able to grow his "collective" and pull off bigger and bigger scenes (he is adamant that "flash mobs" are not what Improv Everywhere is about). It's the best kind of storytelling, and he comes across as a genuinely good-hearted guy who really wants to give people experiences tailor-made for small groups of strangers who have no idea what hit them. Some take on an unexpected life of their own, some are hilarious, and they all make you shake your head because... how does someone think this stuff up?

The only Improv Everywhere scene I was familiar with before watching this was Frozen New York:

 

Highly recommended as both a really interesting insight into performance art in the 21st century and as a celebration of human ingenuity.

How Not To Appear Crazy In One's Neighborhood 101

1. Don't let your dog catch baby squirrels when you're taking a break from stripping furniture in your almost-pajamas.

2. Don't drag your Christmas tree out the front door, Grinch-style, at 1:59 am.

3. Don't open your door and shriek inadvertently at the man across the street after discovering a slug on your skin.

4. Don't get into possum fights in the middle of the night.

Tipper Gore alert: not all of this is appropriate for children, though some of it is fine

And whatever you do, do NOT listen to Mike Birbiglia on your morning walk/run with the dog. Because trying not to be noticeably cackling as cars drive by or when you pass all the construction sites makes you look like you might be straight up having a seizure, or crying, or both. (I'm on a bit of a Mike Birbigla kick; he's the one who wrote one of the movies we liked so much last year, and I heard him on This American Life this week, and then bought this album yesterday).

Clearly: Fail on all of these.

This post is part of a list-making project called Lists With Friends 2014, an effort to document the year in lists of all types. I love lists, and I love a good project : )

Here's to Extra-Curricular Activities

Here's my secret to seeing the world beyond your town: get involved in extra-curricular activities. I was thinking about all the places I've been because of my involvement in things over the years... a lot of places. Not all of them are super exciting destinations, but I've had a really, really good time traveling to (almost) each and every one. I got in a heated deadlock debate with some science teachers at Great Falls High School (who I really liked otherwise) about kids missing school for activities: they thought it was inappropriate in 99.9% of situations, and I was all "I missed so many days in high school for activities I was practically a truancy case, but now here I am gainfully employed the same as you." I believe class time is important, obviously, but I also think I learned just as much being away from the classroom. Behold, a list of places I've been:

General Hooky in Elementary School
+ Cincinnati, OH (I got to miss a day of elementary school to tag along with my parents to a music conference and I still remember my dad pulling off the road so I could stick my foot out of the car to touch the ground and say I'd been to Kentucky, too)

Middle School Jazz Band Trips
+ New York, NY
+ Montreal, Quebec

Other Middle School Trips
+ Hocking Hills, OH
+ Virginia (Monticello, Williamsburg, Busch Gardens)

it should go without saying, #nofilter

High School Band/Jazz Band Trips
+ Chicago, IL
+ Virginia Beach, VA
+ Niagara Falls, NY
+ Toronto, Ontario
+ Put-in-Bay, OH
+ I'm certain there is another one in here but I can't remember where

Latin Club Trips
+ Columbus, OH x 4

Other Miscellaneous High School Trips
+ Washington, D.C.
+ New York, NY

GFHS Speech & Debate
+ Helena, MT
+ Billings, MT
+ Missoula, MT
+ Kalispell, MT
+ Bozeman, MT
+ Butte, MT
+ Dutton/Power, MT (heh)
+ Havre, MT
+ Conrad, MT
+ Powell, WY
+ Minneapolis, MN
+ St. Louis, MO
+ Phoenix, AZ

GFHS Delphian Choir
+ Sheridan, WY
+ Casper, WY
+ Denver, CO
+ Colorado Springs, CO
+ Calgary, Alberta
+ Vancouver, British Columbia
+ Moscow, ID
+ Spokane, WA
+ Tacoma, WA
+ Seattle, WA

Cheyenne Central HS Speech & Debate*
+ Green River, WY
+ Rawlins, WY
+ Casper, WY
+ Sheridan, WY
+ Laramie, WY
+ Douglas, WY
+ Scottsbluff, NE

Maddie's School Trips
+ Casper/Casper Mountain, WY
+ Houston, TX

Gymnastics
+ Laramie, WY
+ Denver, CO plus almost every gymnastics town within a 50 mile radius of Denver, CO
+ Baton Rouge, LA
+ Hot Springs, AR
+ Houston, TX**

with Wyoming but in Baton Rouge

and of course I can't leave out all the places I've been because of working for Simple Scrapbooks, Creating Keepsakes, and Big Picture Classes:

+ Salt Lake City, UT
+ Las Vegas, NV
+ Portland, OR
+ Anaheim, CA
+ Fort Morgan, CO
+ Tulsa, OK
+ Hartford, CT
+ Valley Forge, PA
+ Arlington, TX

I'm sure I'm missing a few places. But regardless: that's a lot of hotels. Related: I am now actively trying not to have a panic attack about how many photos/untold stories I have carefully stored away in photo boxes.

*OK so I might not have had quite as much fun on this particular batch of trips because I was pregnant with Maddie and we traveled by school bus vs. an over-the-road bus.

**This Friday-Saturday

This post is part of a list-making project called Lists With Friends 2014, an effort to document the year in lists of all types.

An Imperfect Photo of a Perfect Moment

Taken during our recent trip to Red River Wildlife Refuge aka the feral hog farm; these two got out ahead of us and I had to be the hiking paparazzi, running as close as I could on tiptoe before they caught me. I had to decide to not be broken-hearted that I apparently can't run on tiptoe through the woods and take sharp pictures at the same time on this one.

15 Second Review: Paul Rudish + Mickey Mouse

 

We were poking around in the free on demand section of our DVR this weekend and I came across a jackpot of Mickey Mouse shorts so good that I had to go investigating where they came from: Paul Rudish, who led a team that was tasked with creating some new Mickey Mouse content that was released in 2013. They are funny, and a perfect mix of old-fashioned animation and fresh air. Don't miss them : )