One-Minute Writer: Design

Today's Writing Prompt: Design

You are designing your own house. Describe it.

My home would fit into the landscape of the land it's on -- it fit continulous into the land instead of just sitting on top of it. It would be made of brick or stone -- something that looks natural. There would be a host of windows and a porch on the roof. At least one large bay window will be on the side with a large window seat, perfect for reading in. There will be a few "open" rooms with ceilings that stretch to the 2nd story but in general, there are hallways instead of continuous openness. Sound carries too well in houses that are entirely open. There are built in bookshelves in places that make sense instead of places where the television should be. A few stretches of hardwood floors but mostly carpet with a little tile thrown in.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. It just has to feel like a home. I have so many ideas of what I would like my home to be and what sort of decorative features it may have. There's a difference between a welcoming place and an unwelcoming one. I want to feel comfortable where I live. This may seem like an obvious idea but.... I'm willing to put the work into it.

Brandi Carlile in Kentucky!

Hey, who wants to go to the Brandi Carlile concert with the Kentucky symphony in February????

She and Sondre Lerche are performing with the Louisville Symphony!!! Tickets could be as low as $25. Plus, you get the wonderful company of fabulous me....

Click on the link in the title for more info.

Fish

For someone who grew up only eating Gordon's Fishermen fillets and popcorn shrimp at Red Lobster, I'm eating a lot of fish lately. Tuesday night I had sushi (smoked salmon, raw salmon, raw tuna), last night I had lemon pepper tilapia, and tonight I believe I'm having pecan-encrusted tilapia.

Now I just want more sushi. Anyone have a favorite sushi place in Atlanta? Anyone want to eat sushi with me sometime? Or fish? Or steak.... (I still need to go back to Texas Roadhouse -- it's been way too long.)

If it's not already obvious, not only have I been noticing how much fish I've been eating lately but I also am ravenously hungry. I can't get away from it. Maybe I should consider eating a full breakfast.... one more reason to wake up early. I could even create a whole system where I get up, go do some sort of physical exercise, eat a good breakfast while watching The West Wing (which I discovered yesterday comes on at 8 and 9 AM every weekday). It could happen, right? This is the time that I need a roomate. Someone to do this with because I have trouble motiviating myself to wake up when I'm alone.

But fish -- for some reason, I have all kinds of motivation about fish....

Putting the "distance" back in "Long-Distance Relationship"

Beth is leaving. This is not a surprise it just never really gets any easier. I'm so happy for Beth that she found her right place and that she will be in TX but.... I wish she wouldn't move. I don't begrudge her one growing/stupendous/fantastic experience that she will experience. I just wish she didn't have to do it so far away from where I am.

Jordan and I were talking about this recently, how difficult it is to create a new network for friends sans the college experience. I think part of the reason it is so hard is that you didn't choose to leave your other friends. You didn't drift apart (yet), you only moved further away in distance. There are people you know you would remain very close with if they were within an hour's drive of you.

My friends have scattered and scattered good. Philip ran all the way to Alaska to get away from me (love you Sparky); Phil is in Durham (sp?); Lyndsey DC; Jordan Colmbia, SC; Rob Viriginia; Laura Boston; Jen Newport Beach, CA; Toby Ann Arbor, MI; Brad LSU; Courtney, for all intents and purposes, Chattanooga; Chris has almost moved away several times for work; Christy and Alden Houston, TX; Jen Australia; Elspeth Germany....

It's actually a little strange that I haven't left Georgia yet. It wasn't really my intention to say, this just happened to be where I found a job I really enjoy. And the rest of sort of followed....

I'm listening to Sarah Blasko at the moment. She has yet to become magical but we shall see....

There was a point to this but I got distracted by honest-to-goodness work that just came across my desk and now I have forgotten. Ah well.

Couldn't have been that important -- people move. It's sad. The end.

Music You Have to Become Acquainted With

Some songs are magical the first time you listen to them. You have to find out who the song is by and what album and why you've never heard it before because this is what's been missing in your life all this time. Other music requires time. It may take only a second listening or several more, but then it's just as good as other music you love.

Guster was like that for me. Laura came home from a John Mayer concert freshman year of college and told me I HAD to download music from Guster because she'd just seen them live and they were amazing. Laura and I generally have the same taste in music, so I found some Guster. On first listen, I was unimpressed. It sounded.... flat. But I kept the music on my winamp playlist and they came on in the background while I was studying. After a few weeks, I found myself singing along to these Guster songs. I looked up, surprised, when I realized I was doing it and I realized I liked the songs. Not just liked, loved. I could play them over and over and over again, singing along. Guster tends to sing with 2- and 3-part harmony and so I found various melodies and harmonies to enjoy. The bongo drums from Lost and Gone Forever were magical too. These guys love to sing.

Lately, I've found the same with Mieka Pauley. I went to a Josh Joplin concert with Toby and Erich several months ago and she opened at Eddie's Attic. She was amazing live -- just her and her guitar. And her cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was aweinspiring. I'm not kidding -- I was floored. I bought her album and a separate CD of some acoustic versions of songs but when I listened to them in my car they didn't compare to the live performance to me. The magic was missing. I loved parts of them but.... they didn't speak to me the same way. I'm stubborn, however, and put her entire album on my iPod and stick it on sometimes when I'm proofing something at work. It was like falling in love with Guster all over again. She's playing in my office right now and I love the songs -- how familiar they seem, the rhythms, the different tones of her voice, etc. I LOVE her now on her album just as much as I loved her in person.

This is a good lesson to remember in other areas of life. I've learned to like all sorts of foods that used to be anathema to me: avacado, sushi, green peppers, spicy things, shrimp, just to name a few. They were the same way they had always been; I just took the time to become aquainted with them.

I need to remember this with people I don't like. You never know when you will discover someone magical.

Sometimes giving a fear a name and saying it out loud diminishes it to the point of obscurity. Strangers are to be feared; that which is known can be overcome.

Wind and Doors

Last night after I fell asleep, I dreamed that I was going to bed -- I remember vividly closing my bedroom door, the glow of the lamp in my room, the feeling of my hand as it closed. I remember the thought even, that I wanted it closed and then the moment's hesitation after doing it -- did I really want it closed?

I was so convinced that this actually happened that when I woke up this morning and saw my bedroom door open, I literally bolted up and gasped. Then I looked and realized I couldn't have closed my door -- the vacum cleaner is in the way, sitting right in front of it. So is my new purse. There is no way I could have closed my door with those items sitting in front of it. Dreams are interesting, aren't they?

The wind is gusting so loud oustide that it sounds like it's raining in periodic bursts. I seem to always find apartments in windy spots. In my last apartment, the wind got so strong that it literally knocked my satellite dish off of my balcony, ripping it loose from zip ties that held it in place. I suppose Windy Ridge Lane was an appropriate address....

I need more action in my life. Beth and I are going to Helen on Saturday for a few hours just to do something. I'm waking up early tomorrow to do something physically active, even if it's only walking up and down the hills of my apartment complex. I'm considering signing up for some sort of ballroom dance lessons. I think I'm going to take advantage of LA Fitness's New Year's membership discounts and finally join a gym.

I've renewed my passion for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice, I can help the greatest of all causes -- good will among men and peace on earth."
-Albert Einstein