overheard

me: it's supposed to be cold today.
him: how cold?
me: in the 50s.
him: maybe i will put on long socks.

that cracked me up as i heard from my friend kate today (who lives in a freezer in some prairie in canada) that it will be -50 with the windchill. MINUS 50, people. and that is so cold that my mind can't wrap around it.

. . . . .

i've been reading christine kane's blog.

you know how sometimes the world whispers in your ear and if you don't listen it will whisper again and again? that is what happened with christine kane's blog.

my flickr friend romanlily (amazing photos -- go see her stuff pronto) had gone to a ck retreat and put photos of it on flickr. and while i was happy that she was following her heart and all, i wasn't drawn in. in fact, i felt some resistance.

then, on a blog comment another flickr friend again pointed me to christine kane. only this time it wasn't a woman getting in touch with her inner hot-damn, but my friend bodhi who is about the farthest thing from that. bodhi is like a motorcycle guy's guy (who is fabulous and awesome and great to talk to).

and i like to think that when the world/universe/god/spirit/whatevs whispers twice, that i will listen.

and so i did go and read christine's blog and since then it's basically been a nourishing blog meal for me on a regular basis.

the email i sent to my student assistants yesterday

(I want you all to see these links, too)

Hi guys!

Here are some links that I hope you get a chance to check out:

1.) Richard St. John: Secrets of Success in 8 words, 3 minutes (video)
This is a TED talk and it was really motivational (for me, anyway).

2.) The 2007 Feltron Annual Report
Oh man, oh man. I've seen this guy's annual reports before — they are awesome! And unless you've already checked 'em out, they are like nothing that you are thinking in your head right now. This guy creates an annual report for his life each year. It's sheer brilliance.

3.) Michael Beirut Talks Typography with The Atlantic

Also, along the same lines, I watched Helvetica this weekend and it was so, so good! I really encourage you to check it out (especially Txxxx and Kxxxx; but Jxxxx I think you might dig it, too). It's inspiring and fun and informative and just great all around. It tells the story of Helvetica, both in its making, its impact, and its ongoing popularity through design phases.

Alright. Onwards and upwards. Hope you like the links.

Marya

Resolution Check In: 15 days into it

29.366 | my resolution, simplified, originally uploaded by emdot.

Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do. — Denzel Washington

The fifteenth already? My oh my how time flies.

I thought this would be a good time to check in.

How are you doing with your resolutions? Did you make any resolutions? How are you feeling about the new year?

Every year I seem to make about five New Year's resolutions, whether I want to or not. I will say that there is only one (like the time I gave up salt; or last year when I vowed to follow Getting Things Done), but there is always another one: silent, persistent, consistent, nagging: to get into shape.

Sometimes it changes names: get healthy. Lose weight. Work out. Eat right. But you know it always comes down to a numbers game: Weight x number of pounds.

This year it is no different. I have just one resolution and yet I still have that other silent one. But this year I'm tackling things a little more head on. A little more smartly.

I'm tackling the supporting characters.

Case in point. Clutter. "How you do one thing is how you do all things," said somebody smart. And I agree with that person. For me, extra weight is a type of clutter. A type of thing that I pushed off to the side to tackle another day, address another day, put away another day, deal with another day. And instead, just like papers, just like mail, just like little things that need to be put away, extra pounds creep in and gather around. In other words, how I do one thing is how I do all.

If I change how I do one thing will it change how I do all others?

We'll see. I decided to attack my physical, in-my-house clutter. Slowly but surely I'm doing this and there will probably be more about this in another post.

The other thing I'm doing is setting up my support systems.

You know how you decide to get to the gym every morning at 6 so you can get to work at 8? I totally do that and I haven't been successful at it for a really long time.

It's still my goal, but I'm strengthening support habits first. For instance: for the month of January I am getting up at 6:30 and getting to work at 8. No gym in there yet, but I'm building up to it. In February it will be up at 6 and work by 8. In March I'm moving on to morning work outs.

The other thing I'm doing is bringing my breakfast and lunch to work. Every day. This is pretty huge as I tend to be a buy-a-croissant-and-latte girl. A turkey-sandwich-from-the-deli girl. One, this adds up dollar-wise, and two this is a hard habit to break when you decide to go on a diet.

So, I'm bringing my own food for January and February. I won't tackle what type of food I'm bringing until later.

---

I have to admit that this feels extremely wimpy. I should be strong enough to just jump in there and do it all right now. Get up. Get to the gym. Get to work. Eat healthy. Bring my own food. And make all those changes at once.

But you know what? It's never worked for me before. And I have tried. I have had the best intentions.

So this time, a new tack. Building a foundation.

15 days in and so far, so good.

resolutions, revolutions, traditions, etc

mission accomplished. our best wishes and hopes and thoughts are now blowing through the wind directly to you. :), originally uploaded by emdot.

A few years ago — 2003 to be exact — I had a really fucking awful year. So at a New Year's Eve party at Dan's, I wrote down on a piece of paper all of the things I was done with and/or wanted to let go of, forget, etc. There was a bonfire at the party so I burned it at midnight and invited everyone else at the party to do the same. There was a mad scramble for everyone to quickly scribble their stuff down and then deliver it into the fire.

Since then, every year we do this.

This year I had a new idea.

My friend Dan had mentioned how last New Year's Day he and his girlfriend came across some graffiti on a train that said "AMAZING!" They loved it and made it their word for 2007. He said, "I wonder what our word for the year will be this year?"

And that gave me an idea. I've been wanting to create my own prayer flags for a while.... I thought, what if everyone at the party chooses a word for their 2008 experience. I could make a flag for each person and they could write their word or phrase on the flag. Then we'd string them together like prayer flags.

Each New Year's Day we go for a cool hike. My thought was, we'll leave the prayer flags somewhere along our hike so that others will accidentally come across our good wishes and hopes and dreams and maybe get a little heart-start happiness.

It turned out awesome. More awesome than I could imagine. It still makes me smile to think about it. :)

In addition, for the first time since I started the scribble-and-burn tradition I had very little to burn into the fire. I had to THINK about what I wanted to get rid of, where every year before has been pretty fucking crappy and so easy to just let it spill out on the paper and chuck into the fire. I can't tell you what a little bit of joy that has been for me, because it feels like progress. It feels likeI have seriously tackled some big hurdles and may have triumphed — if even temporarily. :)

And for that I feel a huge amount of gratitude.

2008 I am very happy that you are here. I feel excited about the year. ;)