I am sitting on a stool, in my kitchen, in front of a window, on my phone. Why? Because the sun is beating into this window. It feels so warm and so good. The kind of warm that makes me … Continue reading
Waiting for warm
“Busy, Busy, Busy!”
If you got that quote, Bravo! I’s been a staple of mine since childhood.
Reading an article called “The Busy Trap” from the NY Times got me thinking about being “busy” and what it all means. It is something that I have contemplated before but Tim Kreider was so concise about it.
“Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day. I once knew a woman who interned at a magazine where she wasn’t allowed to take lunch hours out, lest she be urgently needed for some reason. This was an entertainment magazine whose raison d’être was obviated when “menu” buttons appeared on remotes, so it’s hard to see this pretense of indispensability as anything other than a form of institutional self-delusion. More and more people in this country no longer make or do anything tangible; if your job wasn’t performed by a cat or a boa constrictor in a Richard Scarry book I’m not sure I believe it’s necessary. I can’t help but wonder whether all this histrionic exhaustion isn’t a way of covering up the fact that most of what we do doesn’t matter.” – Tim Kreider, “The Busy Trap”, NY Times.
Exaclty Kreider! I have felt this way many a time. Sitting at work, inventing things to keep me busy. Why? What is the point of “busy work?” This is a challenging idea to think about. The work you do has no meaning. Truly. Emails, printing, phone calls, computer screens. How does any of that matter in a day? I particularly enjoyed the Richard Scarry reference. So true. We are largely a workforce that doesn’t do anything.
Time ago we were “busy” with daily living needs. Cooking and cleaning took time, as in serious time. Not only were you working but you really appreciated the product of that labor. I bet cake or bread that took the better part of a day to create was special and the person who made it felt pride and fulfillment because of the effort it took. Try getting that from the grocery store.
How many of us can say we feel fulfilled by running errands, answering emails or sitting at a desk alone searching the internet for something? Anything at times.
As Kreider says, “It’s almost always people whose lamented busyness is purely self-imposed: work and obligations they’ve taken on voluntarily, classes and activities they’ve “encouraged” their kids to participate in. They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they’re addicted to busyness and dread what they might have to face in its absence.”
Alas and a lack. Check out the article here it really is worth the read.
And that Ladies and Gents is my rant of the day!
~L
Summer reading
About a year ago I discover a great app for listening to books through my smart phone.
Audible is an amazon company that allows for audio books to be purchased and downloaded onto your computer or mobile device.
IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE!
I consistently have been pleased by this service. No longer tethered to a room to hear the computer or radio, I am able to listen to a book all day while moving from task to task and location to location.
Shower, kitchen, laundry, grocery shopping, gym, walk, cooking…..
And I never have to stop listening! I give this big hearts. I highly recommend you giving it a shot. Bring literature everywhere!
Source: someecards.com via Lauren on Pinterest
In the past I might have tv on as background noise while I clean or cook but now I find that the poor old guy hardly gets action. I get sucked into a story and find myself looking for more tasks to accomplish to keep me active and listening. It’s been a great motivator. Last summer it was the driving force that kept me on my house painting goal. Seriously.
I still read regular books at night or when I am relaxing or in a place where headphones are generally considered rude. I could never abandon my paper lovelies! But I do have to say that audible has increased the volume of works I’m able to consume. And it is a great way to listen to non-fiction or classics that might otherwise be a little dry or lengthy. I tend to struggle through books of that nature but I have had good experiences with them using Audible. For instance, Little Women by Lousia May Alcott. I love the story but have always fallen short when reading the entire novel. I could never get through the whole thing with out picking up something else. However listening to it I had great success and was really able to enjoy the story!
That is my share for today. Read long and prosper.
Source: appleday.tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest
~L
Pinterest. I heart you.
Since I have joined Pinterest I believe I have become a better person. Yes, you’re reading me right. Pinterest makes me better. Or at least it soothes the shopping addiction I so clearly battle (see my closet and credit card bills for further confirmation) and makes me think more critically about how I coordinate my outfits.
It most certainly has helped my photography skills. Making me almost worthy of my sweet ass camera. If you need a reminder of my unworthiness see here. Sadly friends most of what I have mastered photographing is food and my dog. I have no real problem with this as I heart both but I shall spare you the redundancy of “Lucy looking left” and “Lucy looking right.”
Along with awesome photo-taking and outfit assembly it inspires me to try a little more than average on hair and make up. Granted most of that trying happens on the weekends with infinite time and ends with an interesting interpretation that makes me feel a little special as I head to my exotic weekend plans of grocery shopping and washing the car.
Be jealous. You wish you were so cool. How many people can say they spent an hour of their weekend doing a braid hairdo for the grocery store? Exaclty.
So Pinterest is my lover and is making me better one pin at a time.
Are you a Pinterest Addict? Do you know of the love I speak? Are you too becoming a better accessorized version of you?
End Pinterest commercial love.
~L
Sunday Confession
1. Warm. I want to be warm. Despite the fact that our winter has been incredibly mild, I am craving heat. I want to be snuggled in a puddle of sunshine with a warm breeze. It’s always about this time of year that I get fed up with the droll indoor world and begin yearning for summer in its best.
Source: kittyfisherfoundit.wordpress.com via kittyfisher on Pinterest
2. I am a Pinterest/Downton Abbey addict. I can’t stop. If it’s wrong, I do not want to be right!
Source: tomandlorenzo2.blogspot.com via Sharmin on Pinterest
3. Living in the present has proved to be an incredible challenge. I fear I am failing. I am a planner by nature. Anticipation is both my gift and curse.
There are my truths for today. Feels good sharing them! Feel free to share back!
~L
A lovely summer day is waiting for me somewhere…
Source: ratlion.tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest
Thinking Thursday
“A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life,
for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live.”
Bertrand Russell
Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Pinterest. A true love story
Hi. My name is Lauren and I am addicted to Pinterest.
I have now lost countless hours pinning away on this terribly deceiving site.
If you aren’t on pinterest, you may want to keep it that way. Save yourself! It’s too late for me!
Possible the best alone, girl time I have spent in a while was a two hour window this past weekend.
Couch. Check
Blanket. Check
Pajamas. Check
Breakfast at Tiffany’s on netflix. Check
Pinterest on laptop. Check
The result:
A perfect girly morning!
~L
Breakfast. It’s how we say love
This is an actual photo, of the actual breakfast that was made and delivered to me this very Saturday morning…
Exactly.
It’s like he loves me.
Hearts!
~L
The calzone, the birthday and the husband
Episode 4 of Boondock Pioneer: Cooking on the Fringe
My husband had a birthday coming up. For about a week and a half before I would periodically ask, “What would you like to do for dinner on your birthday?”
“I don’t know.”
I.Don’t.Know.
These three words are the bane of my existence. I am a person who firmly believes in making decisions. Even if they are wrong. In the time it takes to correct a wrong decision and move to the right one, my husband is still contemplating his first move. I.Don’t.Know.=paralysis
Needless to say the day of the birthday came and no plans were made. No reservations for a favorite restaurant, no favorite foods were purchased for a special dinner at home. And then it was 5:00PM. Work was done, peeps were home and nothing was quickly becoming the name of the game.
After a last feeble attempt to extract a dinner desire I moved to plan B.
Plan B: Make what ever is out and easy.
In walks Pioneer Woman’s Cowboy Calzone!
I did not make the pizza dough as she recommends (because it was Wednesday at 5 and really, what do I have to prove?) and I used only venison sausage and did not add any ground beef. Again, it was 5pm and it takes 20 minutes for me to get to a grocery store. Not. Happening.
So I made do with what I had.
Super easy dish to whip up
Despite how not yummy this looks, once it was baked inside the dough…yum.
The cool thing about her recipe was that it made 8 mini calzones and not just one big one.
So not only was it dinner, it was also a great jump on lunches for us.
While I was making this dinner, some birthday husband was giving me side eye. Not really convinced that this was going to be what he wanted for dinner. However, since he failed to articulate his dinner desires (as they were unknown to even himself up to the moment of it being decided for him) he said nothing.
We sat down. Cut into the calzone and …
SMILES!
Birthday boy was wildly pleased!
Success!
So if you are feeling indecisive and don’t know what you want for dinner, try this tasty dish! It promises to please!
~L
A Little Bit of Boondock Life 
