It’s going to be a hot one in Wisconsin this week. Perfect for taking a dip in a lake. I hope you are staying cool wherever you may be. If you need a little break this week, check out my favorite links from around the web…
Read moreProcrastination Links 04.29.19
Last week I attended UntitledTown, a book and author festival in Green Bay. I gleaned so much and am continually inspired by other writers. If you need a little inspiration this week, check out my favorite procrastination links from around the web…
Read moreProcrastination Links 02.18.19
We’ve gotten another wallop of snow in Wisconsin, and it’s a winter wonderland outside. So hard to believe spring is only a month away! If you need a little break from playing in the snow, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 08.20.18
What are you up to this week? I'm continuing to savor the last sweet days of summer. I'm also excitedly preparing for my new collaboration with interiors store Past Basket. I can't wait to put on my styling hat, and I will hopefully see you at Past Basket on Saturday, September 8 from 11am - 3pm for the kickoff party. In the meantime, check out my favorite links from around the web this week...
Read moreContests! I Love Contests! Part Two
Remember that writing contest I entered two months ago? I had eight days to write a 2,500-word short story using an assigned genre (action/adventure), a subject (a boat race), and a character (a biographer)? How excited I was?
Well, here is an updated confessional on that whole experiment. I spent a week writing drafts, getting feedback, and then ripping everything apart. Not since 1975 when I penned an ambitious junior high version of "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" have I dabbled in fiction. It was hard!
Read moreThursday Night Fights: Mithra vs. The Pre-crastinator
I am a procrastinator, and maybe you are too. We are everywhere. Did you know that Charles Darwin took twenty years to write "Origin of Species"? Experts refer to the time between his voyage on The Beagle and the publication of his masterpiece as "the incredible procrastination."
My husband Gary -- sound asleep in the photo above -- is what is known as a pre-crastinator. He finishes assignments ahead of schedule, which according to his defective internal clock, is finishing on time. He loves order, punctuality, regularity.
Read moreOn the Third Anniversary of The Bubble Joy, Here's What I Know About You
I've always struggled with deadlines. Procrastination and I go way back. I tried to dump Procrastination but he was like the Navy seaman Jon Something-or-other who had a thing for me in 1979 and kept popping up outside our kitchen window, scaring the bejeezus out of my poor mother, until 1984 when he showed up AWOL and got put in the brig and finally left me alone.
Read moreA Dinner Party with Strangers from the Internet
WARNING: The first two paragraphs are long-form procrastination and not necessary to the story of the dinner party. If you have a short attention span, go directly to paragraph #3.
Do you procrastinate? Ugh, don't you hate yourself when you do? I publish a blog post every Friday morning. But on Thursdays, because I am a compulsive procrastinator, I put off the process of writing the blog post for as long as possible. Today I monkeyed around by looking at color swatches painted on the side of Patrick's house. For hours. It was the perfect procrastination activity because the task was concrete (pick a color), non-urgent (pick a color soon), and challenging enough to be a satisfactory way to procrastinate (pick a good color).
Read moreWeekend Listicle // Things I Can't Sell
I am troubled by the question of what to do with a few items I have which fall under the category 'black memorabilia'. All of these items depict black mammies, and from a purely aesthetic viewpoint, I love them. The colors -- black, white, & red -- are striking. The rag doll mother and child were stitched by hand. Same with the framed appliqué canvas. And I adore cookie jars in the shapes of people or animals. A black mammy seems like a nostalgic symbol of home and hospitality.
Read moreNot Feeling the Valentine Vibe?
On Monday, the first draft of this listicle began as an inspirational ode to love. (For new readers, most every week I try to synthesize the best of the web into a themed listicle of links, accompanied by an object in my shop that relates.)
But my valentine is away. He travels frequently for work and I struggle to find an equilibrium when he is gone. Proof: it's Wednesday, this listicle is late, and it is certainly not an ode to love. It is a tribute to the flipside of love, which isn't hate. It's confusion, loneliness, frustration.
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