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Body: in sickness and in health
More recently, illness, pure but not simple, has added itself to the mix in a multi-system sort of way. And the challenges in figuring out exactly what's gone wrong are many. As problems have revealed themselves in the last few years, beginning with reactive hypoglycemia in late 2008, I've documented them here, partly to gain a little clarity on managing complex conditions but mostly to give voice to vulnerabilities I feel but don't normally share with anyone face to face. Better out than in, they say, right? (Oh yes, humor is one way I deal.)
The links below cover the different angles I've examined (and from which I've been examined) within that experience.
Travel: neither here nor there
Since we're no longer in separate places, I blog less often from airports. But we do travel -- together now! -- which is much more fun to write about. So in addition to thoughts on our years of commuting, the links below cover the places we've been as a pair and, in some cases, the adventures that have happened on the way.
Writing: the long and short of it
After graduating, I taught English for a few years and then worked as an editor, which I still do freelance. In 2007, I applied and got into an MFA program at a place I like to call Little U. on the Prairie. I finished my degree in 2011 and have been balancing tutoring and writing on my own ever since.
The following links cover the writing I've done about writing: process, content, obstacles, you name it. It's not always pretty. But some part of me loves it, even when it's hard. And this is the result.
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Why My Fall Made Me Feel So Ashamed11 months ago
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Mantras1 year ago
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Things Fall Apart3 years ago
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#MudpunchKAL20213 years ago
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Your Hard is Hard (The Pandemic Version)4 years ago
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Thank you, and a Look Ahead5 years ago
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A New Chapter9 years ago
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Overnight Research Trip9 years ago
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how to get through a thing10 years ago
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Heart: family and friends
That's what this group of posts is reserved for -- heart. The essential parts of my life whose influences I carry with me, for better or worse. The links below cover what I've written as I've learned how these forces work within me, for me, against me, in spite of me. They anchor me even as they change me, and they keep life interesting.
Recommended reading
Friday, June 18, 2010
Ahem
Hi.
I'm just going to start with where I am now -- home, for one. After D.C. Part the First, the Toronto Interlude, D.C. Part the Second, and a wedding in New York tacked on at the very end, I'm back in my own time zone. I am cried out, danced out, and slept (on other people's couches) out, and I do not want to see another plane unless it comes with a one-way ticket to a state of bliss.
D and I wandered part of Riverside Park on Monday (we had several hours to kill before our early evening flight). It was the first piece of alone-time we had since I'd left, and it felt like I'd been away from him for months. Before my trip, we'd been having ups and downs with each other because of all the May-hem (and, in general, most of 2010), so it was a strange feeling to walk hand-in-hand, connected but also not.
I found a curlicue in one of the monuments just before we left in search of lunch. I can't remember if I pointed it out to D or if I just snapped the picture in silence.
The week's been okay, though. We finally pinned the hems on the remaining two curtains, which I'm hoping to work on tomorrow while D finishes putting up the brackets for the garage shelves, and we picked some new recipes to try this weekend. Last night, we watched a light movie together, the first romantic comedy in months. And tonight -- well, tonight we have no plans. Maybe that's a good thing; it gives us flexibility, the chance to be spontaneous. But the possibility of silence scares me more than a little.
Thesis
- "Writing in My Father's Name: A Diary of Translated Woman's First Year" in Women Writing Culture
- Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You
- Darkroom: A Family Exposure
- Do You Remember Me?: A Father, a Daughter, and a Search for the Self
- Five Thousand Days Like This One
- Giving Up the Ghost
- Middlesex
- Simple Recipes
- The Bishop's Daughter
- The Possibility of Everything
- The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics
- Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity
On commuter relationships
- Commuter Marriages: Worth the Strain?
- Dual Career Couples: The Travails of a Commuter Marriage
- I Was in a Commuter Marriage
- Long-Distance Marriages, Better for Business?
- Love on the Road, Not on the Rocks
- Making Marriage Work from a Distance
- Survival Tips for Commuter Couples
- Ten Things Commuter Couples Need to Know
- Till Work Do Us Part
- Two Cities, Two Careers, Too Much?
Posts by label
Friday, June 18, 2010
Ahem
Hi.
I'm just going to start with where I am now -- home, for one. After D.C. Part the First, the Toronto Interlude, D.C. Part the Second, and a wedding in New York tacked on at the very end, I'm back in my own time zone. I am cried out, danced out, and slept (on other people's couches) out, and I do not want to see another plane unless it comes with a one-way ticket to a state of bliss.
D and I wandered part of Riverside Park on Monday (we had several hours to kill before our early evening flight). It was the first piece of alone-time we had since I'd left, and it felt like I'd been away from him for months. Before my trip, we'd been having ups and downs with each other because of all the May-hem (and, in general, most of 2010), so it was a strange feeling to walk hand-in-hand, connected but also not.
I found a curlicue in one of the monuments just before we left in search of lunch. I can't remember if I pointed it out to D or if I just snapped the picture in silence.
The week's been okay, though. We finally pinned the hems on the remaining two curtains, which I'm hoping to work on tomorrow while D finishes putting up the brackets for the garage shelves, and we picked some new recipes to try this weekend. Last night, we watched a light movie together, the first romantic comedy in months. And tonight -- well, tonight we have no plans. Maybe that's a good thing; it gives us flexibility, the chance to be spontaneous. But the possibility of silence scares me more than a little.
7 comments:
- BigLittleWolf said...
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I've missed reading your posts. Sounds like you deserve a little put-your-feet-up time after all the travels.
Hope your Friday evening was whatever you wanted it to be. Silence alone is one thing, and wears many hats. Silence with another is something else again. I hope for good words for you, or good silences. - June 19, 2010 at 12:35 PM
- This Ro(a)mantic Life said...
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That's high praise, BLW -- thanks. I've missed reading your posts too (not many opportunities to sit down with internet access while traveling). I am definitely putting my feet up. Right now, in fact, while waiting for tonight's stew to finish simmering.
Yesterday evening was all right, in the end. Taking it one day at a time. - June 19, 2010 at 7:51 PM
- French Fancy... said...
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Welcome back to a better rest of the year.
*I can't remember if I pointed it out to D * tells me how things are - once you would just have said it automatically, as it is your 'thing'. Don't worry though - all couples go through these ups and downs and after all your time apart then getting used to each other again - to the point that each other became irritating - I know, really know, this is all part of what loving couples do. It's never good all the time - most of the time is brilliant, some of the time is normal, little of the time is what so many couples put up with and then there is you and me - with the men we were always meant to be with.
Don't worry CT - it will be alright. - June 22, 2010 at 3:58 AM
- This Ro(a)mantic Life said...
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Thanks for the reassurances, FF. It does feel like this year has been a lot of getting used to each other! That's something I've been meaning to write more about but haven't been able to characterize it very well for myself yet.
- June 22, 2010 at 10:52 PM
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"One way ticket to a state of bliss?" I'm there! Sign me up, please! Welcome home!
- June 23, 2010 at 10:26 AM
- SuziCate said...
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Yay, another curlique! Silence between partners is ok as long as you're not holding something back. there's actually a comfort in it, a peace in just being together and knowing you don't HAVE to talk, you can just be. I hope this is what you're sliding into...it scared my newly wedded friend when it happened to her a few years ago. It's a matter of realizing that talking all the time is not necessary. I hope all will be well because you absolutely seem to be made for each other. Being together takes getting used to also, and this is all new and much difference from a long distance relationship. I'm glad you're getting a little rest. Sorry I hadn't been by here, I am still trying to get my faves lined back up after having my hard drive replaced!
- June 23, 2010 at 6:07 PM
- This Ro(a)mantic Life said...
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Jane -- I KNOW, right??? I could have sworn vacations were, by definition, meant for relaxing, but I guess life has other plans for my plans.
SuziCate -- oh, I hope the hard drive snafus are working themselves out! Glad whenever you can stop by, no worries. Thanks for the wise words on silence. It's not easy to judge what's what when the only model you have is your own parents (whose silences were not instructive). Now that's a blog post I ought to think on ... - June 23, 2010 at 7:25 PM
7 comments:
I've missed reading your posts. Sounds like you deserve a little put-your-feet-up time after all the travels.
Hope your Friday evening was whatever you wanted it to be. Silence alone is one thing, and wears many hats. Silence with another is something else again. I hope for good words for you, or good silences.
That's high praise, BLW -- thanks. I've missed reading your posts too (not many opportunities to sit down with internet access while traveling). I am definitely putting my feet up. Right now, in fact, while waiting for tonight's stew to finish simmering.
Yesterday evening was all right, in the end. Taking it one day at a time.
Welcome back to a better rest of the year.
*I can't remember if I pointed it out to D * tells me how things are - once you would just have said it automatically, as it is your 'thing'. Don't worry though - all couples go through these ups and downs and after all your time apart then getting used to each other again - to the point that each other became irritating - I know, really know, this is all part of what loving couples do. It's never good all the time - most of the time is brilliant, some of the time is normal, little of the time is what so many couples put up with and then there is you and me - with the men we were always meant to be with.
Don't worry CT - it will be alright.
Thanks for the reassurances, FF. It does feel like this year has been a lot of getting used to each other! That's something I've been meaning to write more about but haven't been able to characterize it very well for myself yet.
"One way ticket to a state of bliss?" I'm there! Sign me up, please! Welcome home!
Yay, another curlique! Silence between partners is ok as long as you're not holding something back. there's actually a comfort in it, a peace in just being together and knowing you don't HAVE to talk, you can just be. I hope this is what you're sliding into...it scared my newly wedded friend when it happened to her a few years ago. It's a matter of realizing that talking all the time is not necessary. I hope all will be well because you absolutely seem to be made for each other. Being together takes getting used to also, and this is all new and much difference from a long distance relationship. I'm glad you're getting a little rest. Sorry I hadn't been by here, I am still trying to get my faves lined back up after having my hard drive replaced!
Jane -- I KNOW, right??? I could have sworn vacations were, by definition, meant for relaxing, but I guess life has other plans for my plans.
SuziCate -- oh, I hope the hard drive snafus are working themselves out! Glad whenever you can stop by, no worries. Thanks for the wise words on silence. It's not easy to judge what's what when the only model you have is your own parents (whose silences were not instructive). Now that's a blog post I ought to think on ...
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