esprit de l'escalier

Six years in!

I thought I was going to squeak in a post for my blog's birthday, but here I am, checking my facts to find that I'm a day late already. My first entry was posted on June 13, 2005. It was actually a post I had written up three days previously, but hadn't had the courage yet to create a blog. It was about a movie I saw, one I still think of from time to time, about a rag tag group of ticket collectors in the Budapest subway. It was odd and engaging.

Instead of listing out the wonderful people who I've met in the past six years of having an online life, which I seem to do every year, I think I'll return to my roots to talk about a movie I saw tonight, and one I saw this weekend. (Hey, it's summer and I've suddenly got a bunch of movies I want to see. When it rains, it pours.)

Tonight my friend Tina and I went to see the documentary Bill Cunningham New York. Oh man was it fabulous. It made my heart brim over and want to hug Mr. Cunningham the entire time. "Oh you kids!," I'm sure he'd say to that. While I'm not particularly a stylish person, I love the documentation he has done over the years of high fashion and street fashion. If you have any interest in fashion, in people, in New York, go see it. Seriously. Now. (A bit more here.)

This weekend my mother and I went to see Woody Allen's new film, Midnight in Paris. What a charming film. Wilson was born to play one of Allen's nervous alter egos. He gets the chattering neuroses down perfectly, but softens it and is completely charming. I know I used that word already, but Wilson and the film were just that. Oh and Paris. What's not to love about a film where you get to visit the Paris of today and the 1920s? Go see it now too. 

Before I go, I just want to thank everyone who stops by to read my thoughts or look at my photos. I know some of you and wish we could all get together for a big dinner and chat away in person. Thanks.

30 posts in 30 days

Hi there lovely blog readers. I mentioned in my last post that I am turning 30 this month. To get things started, I have decided that I am going to blog every day in the month of April (30 posts in 30 days). I thought I'd start off with this photo I snapped this past Sunday, which coincidentally was 30 days before I turned 30. (I'll stop using that number now.) In it I am wearing the hat I knit that day. My first hat. Why my knitting has picked up as spring has ended, I can't tell you, but there you go. Winter doesn't seem to be quite done with us as it is.

Okay, so, I decided to do this when I realized how nicely the numbers worked out. And, like I said before, I'm hoping to get back in the habit of blogging. I like blogging, and miss it and you lovely people, but like many others, my online time has been fractured. (Note to self: post about how I love Twitter.) I also have a list of 30 things to do in my 30th year (sorry, used the number again), but I haven't figured out all of the 30 things yet. I am hoping to make it sort of a photographic treasure hunt for the year, and have included on it things I am planning on doing already, but I need some help. If you have any ideas for me (that maybe include you?!), please give suggestions.

I hope you have a lovely Friday night! See you here tomorrow!

March snow

I know, it's kind of cruel to post snowy photos, especially on a day we got some snow, but I rescued a forgotten roll from December and had to share these two shots from a winter walk.

I also have decided this week to do a little blog project next month. There are 30 days in April, and I happen to turn 30 at the end of it, so I am going to post 30 times in the month. My goal is to post daily, though sometimes it might just be photos. I need to jumpstart myself in this space, plus I'm in need of some creative stimuli. I hope you join me for the ride (and that I make it through the month)!

Five years time

I did it again. I have a very bad habit of forgetting my blog's birthday. This is the third year in a row that I have forgotten the day. I made a brief mental note about a week ago, but I didn't write it down and clearly that did nothing to help me remember.

Anyway, it's funny to think I've been at this for five years. The last couple years have seen a decline in the regularity of me posting, as well as the increase of photos posted. My habits online have shifted as well. This is partially due to technology and my time availability changing (ie: my use of an rss reader, my expanded use of various social media online, as well as me going to grad school and working). Really, this blog is badly in need of a cosmetic makeover, as well as an update in links. I haven't touched the design in at least three years, which is more than ridiculous. With all of this, though, my reasons for blogging and for keeping this space alive have not changed. Here's what I said five years ago:

I'm hoping this blog to be a place for me to write about the world around me. I'm very interested in politics, but I'm not interested in making this a politics-only space. Lots of things move me, and I am hoping this space is full of all of the things I hear, see and think about. I also hope that friends stop by and read me from time to time and that we can carry on cyber conversations. I like discussion in any form.

Where I go and who I interact with online has shifted slightly, but really it's just widened. I've made a lot of friends via this space, as well as Flickr. My online friends enrich my life, and this space continues to be a place to share experiences and things I love. I count myself lucky for so many reasons.

As I seem to do every year, thank you especially to the three bloggers who have been there from the beginning - Lance Mannion, Blue Girl, and Jennifer. Thank you guys for being inspirational and supportive. And thanks to Kathleen too. You guys are the best.

Here's an early summer mix I just made. Enjoy it!

Some things to read

My mother told me this weekend, after I commented on her comment on the last post, that I haven't been blogging. She said in that scolding way that mother's do so well. It's true, of course. I haven't had much to say  lately. Today I'm feeling good, though. The sun is shining and I'm sitting overdressed on my couch. I'm overdressed, because I've been combing my closet the past week, trying to come up with an appropriate outfit for a wedding I'm attending this weekend. I'm happy because I think I struck a good combo of shoes, tights, dress that is colorful but still early-spring appropriate. (My dresses seem to be decidedly summer or winter, so finding the summer ones I could do with tights that didn't look stupid was difficult.)

I'm also happy because I just got some helpful constructive criticism on my resume from a friend of a friend. It turns out I know her and took a class she taught. She sent me a long and helpful email, which I think means she remembers me favorably, which is always a nice thing. I'm off to tweak my resume and then take a walk in the sunshine. After I change into something more appropriate for the day.

Here are a couple of articles I read in the last 24 hours that I want to share.

An article for transit nerds about how we tend use the fundamental attribution error when discussing how others choose their transportation. The author, Michael Druker, argues that we tend to attribute other people's transportation choices on social on cultural issues, i.e. poor people choose mass transit for economic reasons or Europeans use transit for cultural reasons. He argues this oversimplifies the issue and hinders transit discussions. He argues that it is more a matter of infrastructure than cultural/social/etc. reasons. My mother recently told me some statistic about how much different countries put towards infrastructure, I don't have it in front of me at the moment, but the US was drastically less than European countries and China. Quelle surprise. (Hat tip to Jarret at Human Transit.)

Here Steve Conn tries to talk us off the ledge and argues that the Obama presidency is not the failure that the media would have you believe. (Do yourself a favor and stick the Rustbelt Intellectual in your RSS reader. Conn and the other authors don't post often, but when they do, their posts are wonderfully written and insightful.)

Finally, this is a post from Roger Ebert last month, but I just read it this morning. It's a lovely essay on walking and memory. It's beautiful and makes me want to get to London immediately. When will my fairy godmother drop me that unlimited travel allowance I keep asking for? This post, and the lovely spring weather we have today, will get me out doors and wandering around today.

More 2009 reflections

These are out of order and some are missing, not to mention late. I'm just dealing with that. I hope you can too. 

December 7 Blog find of the year.

Brian's Blue Hour. His photos and food are very inspiring for vicarious daydreams. I was jealous before of his roof deck in Brooklyn, but now that he's in London for the year, I'm downright drooling with envy.

Runner up is much newer to me but I'm enjoying it oh so much: Bridget Callahan is Your Best Friend. She is so awesome that you wish the title were true so you could drink wine and yell at the tv with her. I first fell for her ANTM and Top Chef reactions/recaps. Then she went and wrote this in response to her drunk friend's worrying about her love life, "There is nothing right or wrong you can do about it. There is no big decision you are going to regret for the rest of your life. Life is a string of meaningful events that with the passage of time become balanced and understandable." Amen.

Thank you, Blue Girl, for pointing me in her direction.

December 9 Challenge. 

Very literally, my yearlong challenge has been my 365 photo-a-day project. Often I have resorted to just documenting the changing seasons in our yard, because I did not always want to cart around my dslr. I actually have enjoyed those moments stalking about our hill, searching for some lovely golden light.

I did not always enjoy the photos I was coming up with - they sometimes felt forced and trite - but I have become so much more at ease with my camera. Where before I was often hesitant to freely take photos, I am now more confident with my camera in my hands.

Oh dear.

I forgot my blog's birthday. Again. Last year I was in Ireland for my dear friends' wedding (which I was in), which I thought gave me a pass. This year I really don't have the same excuse. I mean, I've been a little distracted and out of touch with this space, but I should have remembered.

I have been absent from this space, as grad school kept me otherwise occupied. I hope to get back into blogging, though. I miss this place and writing. I want to thank (again, and because I can't hug you all and I would) all my blog friends and readers. I know I don't know all of you, but thanks for continuing to read. Say hi.

Oh, and I hope you like the agrarian photos - I took them today on my drive home from work. They are so summer to me. Click them to see them bigger.

Rustbelt Intellectual

A couple of weeks ago I found myself reading an op-ed piece in the local paper about the revolutions of Darwin and Lincoln, both born 200 years ago this year. The piece*, by Steven Conn, was eloquent in stating the importance of the lives of both men and how we especially need to turn to their revolutionary thoughts today. 

"In this year of twin bicentennials, it is worth remembering that the emergence of modern America was shaped by twin revolutions: one brought by Lincoln, the Civil War and the emancipation of roughly 4 million black slaves; the other initiated by Darwin's explanation of the natural world through the mechanism of natural selection.

On the face of it, these revolutions, profound as they have been, would appear to be as coincidental as the birthday Lincoln and Darwin share. On the one hand, Lincoln's Civil War transformed the social, political and racial landscape in ways which continue to play out. On the other, Darwin transformed our understanding of biological science, paving the way for countless advances in science, especially in medicine.

In fact, both revolutions share a commitment to the same proposition: All human beings are created equal."

I enjoyed the piece and was surprised to read it in the Dispatch. I noticed the author was a professor at Ohio State. I looked him up and found out he shares a blog with two other people; a blog that is right up my alley. It's called the Rustbelt Intellectual and it's very well written and incisive.

Check out these recent posts: Dr. No(hio) about Rep. Boehner, One Size Fits All Economics, or Bourne Supremacy. Really, just bookmark it (or add it to your reader), because all of the contributors are smart writers.

*The Dispatch won't let me hard link to it because it's over a week old, but Conn reprinted the text on his blog.

New year, new hair

I'm in Chicago again to ring in the new year.  There have been all sorts of travel mishaps for me and for some of my friends (including one of my hostesses, who finally just arrived from South Dakota!).  Luckily there are lots of people who are willing to let me sleep on their couches (even when they are not home).

I had some time to kill yesterday afternoon and found myself getting a haircut.  It was much needed - the last one was in September.  I called too late to go to my old friend Aime - she's popular and books up fast - so I just did a walk-in some place in Lincoln Square.  I love the flippiness of a new haircut - I can never straighten it like this on my own.

Anyways, I want to thank all my friends and readers who visit this space.  This year hasn't been my most prolific as a blogger, but you all still keep coming back.  Thank you.  I love the communities I visit and thank you for letting me be a part of it all.  Next year my friend Sharon and I are planning to each do a photo every day.  I'll probably be posting many of them here, and always on Flickr.

2009 is feels full of possibility for me.  God willing I'll be able to get a job when I graduate grad school in June (if you know of any urban planners looking to hire - I come with good papers!).  Hopefully the economy will pick up enough for that.  I could be in a very different place (geographically) in six months, and I'm kind of excited for the change and the new beginnings.  

Happy new year!

Back online

We have power and internet back.  Some more Montana stories shortly.  To see a larger version of my sister's view (above), click on it.