Voices in my head

Did I happen to lend my copy of The Woman in Black (the 1993 version, not the remake) to one of y'all? I was of a mind to watch it, but it wasn't where it should have been in the DVD collection.

Sort of fell off the posting wagon already, but in doing so I realized something about my relationship with writing.

Many of you reading this have heard me talk about Naked Hippy Camp and my experiences there. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about and are too lazy to click the link, Naked Hippy Camp refers to a series of camps collectively known as Farm & Wilderness. The mission statement for the camps is as follows:

Guided by the Quaker belief that the light of the spirit is present in every person and the belief that people working together can create a more just and humane society, the Farm & Wilderness Foundation sponsors year-round experiences for young people and adults that emphasize the building of community through the values of cooperation, simplicity, responsibility, empathy, spirituality and service.

Of particular relevance to this here little ramble is the first 16 words of the mission statement. Every morning after breakfast, every camper and staffer goes to morning meeting, where everyone sits in silence for 15 - 20 minutes. Nobody talks at all, unless "the spirit moves them to do so". Some days everyone just sits in companionable silence, meditating or reflecting on what the day might bring or what was experienced in the previous days. Other days, one or two people will stand up at random intervals and just talk about what is on their mind. As weird as it may sound to someone who has never done this, purposefully setting aside some time as a community to just experiencing each other with or without words is an incredibly awesome way to start your day and I truly do miss it.

To bring this all home, I realized that I only really want to write when the spirit moves me to do so. I'd like it if the spirit moved me to do so every day, but to just make a post for formality's sake seems pointless to me. So yes, I will likely not post every day, but I will hopefully be posting more with things that I feel are necessary to share with my community for one reason or another.

So all today I'd been thinking of things that I wanted to write about so as to start my daily post experiment on a great note (whatever that means - i'm still not certain, really), and all today I've been drawing a blank. This actually has been something of a theme with me and writing recently and part of why I decided to dust off my journal; I've been having the hardest time just sitting down and writing about anything that isn't directly related to educating a client, and it is sort of killing me. I mean, I've never found writing easy, but this current trend is sort of ridiculous to me and also something of a huge pain in the ass as I've still got two NPC writeups and two text props that have to get done before the Aralis event. Not to mention that I also should come up with advertising blurbs for Lloyd's items.

The truly stupid thing, to me anyway, is that I have no issue describing exactly what I should write, but that there is some sort of disconnect in my brain which won't allow for the translating of the ideas from words I am speaking to words I am writing. I've always had that problem, ever since I can remember, but in the past, it was a bit more mild and I could fight through it with just a little effort. These days, more and more effort is required and with the way life has been recently, I'm all out of spoon, as the saying goes. So I feel as though I either need to hire a secretary who takes dictation (he he, I said 'dic') or invest in the Dragon Tools software if I want to get any serious writing done any time this millennium. Interestingly enough, I actually wanted the Dragon Tools software for a while now, although I've always kind of worried that if I started using it, my writing skills would atrophy that much more. But I sort of feel like this is an unreasonable fear, so maybe I'll make an expedition to Best Buy on the morrow and see about picking it up

Huh.. Guess I had something to write about after all. Who knew? And on that note, I think I'll pack up my virtual quill for the night, for lo, I am tired.

Wow was that a rough event for Marco. Despite this (or more realistically, because of this), I had a wonderful time. It has been a very long while since I've come home from an event both physically and emotionally drained.

There is much more I could write on this subject, but most of it is for the PEL and not public consumption. Suffice it to say that I owe thanks to all the PCs and NPCs who made this weekend what it was.

My love and I were sitting on our bed with the baby yesterday, just watching him play with the pillows and making sure he didn't dive head first onto the floor, when he took one of the pillows, folded it in half and proudly proclaimed "A book!". Then, opening up his newly made book and he said "The end" and closed it again. The cuteness, it slayed. Upon later reflection, I find myself amazed at the imagination and associative leap that particular moment entailed.

The daily grind of wrangling a toddler sometimes makes it hard to remember that you've got a little person in your care who has their own likes, loves, desires, sense of humor and ideas of how the universe should run. I value the moments like the above not only because of the humor and love they engender in all of us, but because they also remind me to stop and just soak in all the wonder and joy present in every moment I spend with our son.

The poor boy is sick, which means that I'm getting an impromptu two days off of work. I'd be a lot happier about the time off if it weren't due to the little guy suffering. Still, I get to spend time with him, so I won't complain.

I like to listen to music while I work, especially if I'm doing some sort of manual labor or repetitive task.

Last night, while preparing the boy's supper, I had Dig Up Her Bones playing and was bopping around the kitchen while arranging food on his plate. Cue the boy wandering in with my love; he takes a moment to listen to the music and then starts doing this odd little headbanging dance. If I hadn't been streaming music from my phone at the time, I totally would have tried for a video capture.

My little horror punk rocker. ♥

Getting diaper changed and play cloths on		10 minutes
Eating mid-morning yogurt snack and cleanup		15 minutes
Getting into snow suit, boots, hat and mittens		20 minutes
Convincing toddler that his favored stuffed animal won't survive the snow		05 minutes
Getting squirming & crying toddler and sled out the door		02 minutes
Getting no longer squirming & crying toddler into sled		01 minute
Pulling toddler in sled through 2' of snow while breaking trail for what feels like 6 hours		15 minutes
Time it takes for toddler to start crying when he realizes that daddy is 'out of steam'		30 seconds

All I can say is thank all the gods for Veggie Tales because by the time I got us back in the house, I was in no condition to do anything other than hit "play" on the dvd player.

Lessons learned here: Until he is old enough to climb a hill with a sled and then ride it down by himself, sledding is a two adult job. Also, if this is how outdoor excursions are going to be for the conceivable future, then I need to start doing more cardio, because daaaayum.

I thought I'd share my current musical obsession, since F+tM seriously deserve the adulation.

Something about this song just hit me this morning and resonated so hard that I haven't been able to stop listening to it.



And now, back to the grindstone. One of these days, if I'm really good, maybe my inbox will read 0 for a few glorious moments.

a guy can dream, can't he?