Dailyish Pictures: October 2008 Archives

Nothing is quite so personal as a writers notebook. And being personal, the relationship between a writer and their notebook is appropriately convoluted and emotionally saturated. Some writers buy beautiful notebooks and then remain paralyzed, afraid of actually writing in them, afraid that their words will not do justice to the glory of the pretty graphic prints or fine leather binding. Others will only write in college ruled, plain fronted, spiral bound notebooks. The plain Jane packaging a psychological trick to convince themselves that they aren't violating a Notebook d'Art. Taking a pen to those blank pages will not mar the beauty of the possible. The unlimited potential, the supreme power of blankness.

These are two of my notebooks. One I bring to my read and critique group, mainly to copy down the movies everyone keeps mentioning, and the other contains my ideas for the graphic novel I'm writing. I originally started with basic college notebooks, but soon found that I'm far more inspired by something beautiful or intriguing. Although, I still haven't managed to write in my leather ones. (Leather is just so permanent!)

Exhibit A.

For the past two months Kyna has been subjecting us (me specifically) to a tiny taste of what she will be like as a teenager. And let me tell you, it is horrific. At first I tried to delude myself into thinking it was a late case of the Terrible Twos, but as time wore on and the 'I hate you's' flowed I began to suspect that this was some sort of a primer. A small taste of what I'm in for from this child who inherited all her father's stubbornness, which, by the way, is more concentrated in her because she's smaller overall, a great deal of his intelligence, as well as his driving need to tell everyone exactly what he thinks. From me she got blue eyes.

Needless to say I'm doomed. My options for emotional survival are slim and I'm resorting to some pretty far fetched solutions. Take the above exhibit A for example. This is Kyna's new bed. It was bought off a charming couple on Craig's list and lovingly decorated by Kyna's very self. Prior to this bed, she had a tall Ikea bunk bed that made cuddling up for bedtime stories impossible. It is my belief that having more 'cuddling' time will (maybe) lessen the horrendous foreshadowing of things to come, and maybe we can keep the teenage years from creeping into the childhood years.

Cats are so much easier.

Ok, firstly, I did not take this photo. Not that I'm criticizing whoever did, I mean, it's not like every picture I take is dead on fabulous, but still, I'm just saying being in focus helps.

Secondly, Congratulations Baby! Chris took his oath of allegiance with twelve hundred other newly minted Americans yesterday morning. Here he is at work today, blending in with the rest of us citizens.

This spectacular cat cup was made by Kyna in art class. I can not even begin to tell you how proud I am of this masterpiece. Firstly, it is a cat. She got that from me. Cats rank higher even then plants in my world. Humans come in a distant fourth, somewhere after dogs. Secondly, it is a cup. It is a useful item. As I've mentioned before, I dislike things that sit around without a purpose (other than dust collection), so this little piece of brilliance now has pride of place on my dresser and usefully holds my barrettes.

This is the sunset through the incredibly filthy window of my study. We have this deplorable corrugated plastic shade cover over part of our patio which adds an intersting linear structural element to this photo. It will be the first thing to go in early spring when we redo the back yard. In the meantime I'm trying to expand my photographic repertoire without leaving my chair.

My most wonderful friend, Gayle, plucked this little heart-shaped beauty from her pomegranate tree the other day and gave it to Kyna. Friends, kids and pomegranates. It doesn't get much better than that. Happy Love Thursdays everyone!

As I was driving to work the other day I caught a glimpse of the morning sun through a very exuberant cosmos bush at the edge of my garden. This morning I made a point of snapping a few photos before I drove off.