[video]
Books that arrived in the mail for review this week. #book #review
I’ve had a six-month spell where I’ve truly had a school-hours working day to myself. And, to be absolutely honest, I haven’t always used it as I should, but I’m getting to the point where I’ve been able to establish a pretty solid routine that is beginning to be productive.
Only now I’ve got to adjust. Orangina has finished Special Ed. and has started a job which will involve four evening shifts a week. This means that she no longer disappears into the school bus somewhere between 7:30 and 8 a.m. (the short bus, man, talk about variable scheduling!) but is now entirely my responsibility for most of my working day.
I’m better off than most caretakers: I have a kid who can pretty much take care of herself, with minimal supervision and support. “Minimal” can mean anything from I just have remind her of things several times a day, to I have to do reminders + drive her to X today, to all of the above + I have to spend a chunk of my working day troubleshooting the latest paperwork issue (special needs = paperwork intensive). But I don’t have to change diapers, insert a g-tube, cope with 10 tantrums a day (used to, but those days are gone), or constantly be on the alert for wandering, choking, seizures…you name it, other people have it.
But.
This is my working day, and the adjustment that has to be made is getting Orangina both to respect that (i.e. only interrupt me when necessary) and to get on with the things she’s expected to do BEFORE she gets to stick her face into a screen. And not to ask me what she has to do next when she knows exactly what has to be done. And not to wear the same clothes she’s been wearing all week so that we don’t have to have that argument.
And on my side, the adjustment is getting used to the fact that This. Is. Life. That barring a miraculous coincidence of funding and a suitable place to live (don’t even get me started on how complicated that is in Illinois), Orangina and I—and my writing life—are going to be tied together possibly forever.
This is not a complaint. There are tons of advantages in the situation when your child is as nice a person as Orangina is. I enjoy her company, appreciate her willingness to be helpful, and am happy to be doing what I’m doing. But I have already had to explain four times this morning that this is my working day, and I’m not getting a lot done, and it makes me irritable because I want to tackle the list on my whiteboard.
Julia Margaret Cameron, The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty, June 1866, albumen print from collodion negative
She has her front hair cut and curled. Did the photographer stage her look (hair down, the strange loose wrapper?) I imagine so.
YES.
“I have to take a deep breath before I start the first full revision. I used to hate myself for procrastinating, but now I see it might be wise. You need to pause in holy fear at what you’ve done, and make sure you don’t wreck it in panic.” — Hilary Mantel - By the Book - NYTimes.com
[video]
(Submission from Stephanie, thanks!)
“author’s”?
“the first word I teach my daughter will be “no”
she will sing it to me and scream it at me
and I will never tell her to quiet down
she will say it when I tell her to go to bed
when I tell her she can’t have anymore candy
or watch anymore television
“no” will be my daughter’s favorite word
not only will I teach her how to say it
but I will teach her to repeat it over and over
again until every single atom in her tiny little body
hums with it
If it makes her less soft than the other girls
I will take her to museums and show her
what marble and stone can become
I will brush her hair and let her wear whatever
she wants
whatever that makes her
she will know
that the world has been built upon “no’s”
upon rejections and refusals and swords
if this makes her a warrior in a field of
flowers, then she will walk without fear
of being trampled on
the first word I teach my daughter will be
“no”
and when she grows up
in a world that tells her
she can’t walk down the street by herself
that “no” will be heard
it will roar and echo down the block
and she will never be told to keep
silent
she will not know the meaning of the word.”
— The First Word I Teach My Daughter (via albinwonderland)
Oh is that what I did?
(via greatwhitebear)
30 abandoned places that look truly beautiful. -
Many people didnât even heard about these famous abandoned places. Many of these places are really amazing and magnificent, but they’re also really sad when you take a closer look at them.
I don’t know which one I like the most.
(Source: paperisdue)
