Look at that cute couple just minutes after getting married, so young, so happy, so in love – so not having any idea what the hell they were getting themselves into! Twenty-seven Valentine’s Days later they are hanging in there, not so young anymore but for the most part still happy, their love different now, the joys and trials of everyday life having given it roots, binding them together with a lifetime of shared memories. Happy Valentine’s Day Mr. Bookbabie!
artful monday
This beautiful print is from a website where people can sell their handmade items, it’s called Etsy. Aside from artwork they have furniture, clothing, housewares, needlecraft, woodwork…etc. It’s a neat site, well designed and a great place to window shop or find that one-of-a-kind gift you’re looking for.
bats and turtlenecks
As well as having interesting posts about the goings-on in the publishing world over at his blog, Ed Champion’s Return of the Reluctant, he also has some great podcast “radio” interviews with authors. This one is with Nora Ephron, author of the longtime bestseller I Feel Bad About My Neck. Click to take a listen to this funny interview, or go to Ed’s blog and take a gander at the long list of guests that have been interviewed by “Jorge, the alcoholic and blacklisted DJ Bat Segundo, and his Young, Roving Correspondent.” Fun stuff.
then she found me
Helen Hunt wrote the screenplay for a movie adaptation of the novel and she is also directing and starring in the film along with Bette Midler, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick. The casting is dead on and it’s possible that the film, slated for release sometime this year, may even be better than the book! Another one of Ms. Lipman’s books, The Inn at Lake Devine , has just been added to my “To Be Read” pile.
dive into reading
the eyes of love
That’s my daughter Lizzi and my father in-law, Hank. The picture was taken at an ice festival twenty-three years ago. Lizzi’s grandpa passed away the year she graduated from high school, it will be seven years this May. Sometimes, when I look at a photo of Hank, I still feel a mixture of anger and sadness that he is gone. The funny thing is, when I first met my husband I wasn’t all that taken with my new father in-law, I thought he was a bit of a grump! But he’s one of those guys that really mellowed as he got older, or maybe it was me who changed. Maybe when you grow to love someone you start to see them differently, maybe love allows us to see past the rough edges that life’s lessons have left behind, allowing us to see the into heart and soul of our loved one.
When I was working on one of my books a few years ago, I had an Aha! moment. I was struggling to understand intolerance and wondering if it was really possible to be blind to the physical differences in people. I was at a store shopping when I suddenly could see the spirits of the people walking by, it was like a door had opened and the physical aspect of their person somehow dissolved leaving behind a kind of dancing, colored light. I know it sounds strange, and it was, but it was also an amazing thing to see (and no, I hadn’t been drinking or smoking any illegal substances!). It only lasted a few moments, but for those few moments I felt such an affection for those imperfect, yet beautiful souls, and I was thankful for having been given such a gift. I believe it was the answer to my question, and the answer was a resounding yes, it is possible to look beyond our differences if we choose to look at one another through the eyes of love.
family portrait
After feeling a little burned out from the busy holidays I decided to try my hand at a the fun, no stress art form of collage. I scanned photos of my family from a favorite trip we took to Lake Michigan about fifteen years ago and glued them onto a background I painted and layered with torn paper and a map of the area we visited. I made our clothes with material leftover from all the sewing projects I never got around to and, ta da, a family portrait like no other (Mr. bookbabie insists I write that his legs are not nearly so chicken-like). There a lots of sites online to get inspiration from, Collageart.org and the Collage Artists of America has lists of artists and their galleries.
Rosie and Claudine Hellmuth are also websites of collage artists that got me motivated to make stuff again. Thanks girls! Next up, a collage of me and George on the red carpet at the Oscars, hmmm, what should I wear?
happy birthday dad
Today is my dad’s birthday. My dad grew up on a farm in the UP in a small town called Pelkie. He was the youngest of eight, the first one in his family to graduate from college. Back then MSU was called Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science. He married my mom in 1956 and they started their family of four, that’s me and my brother on the front porch with my dad in 1961. We grew up in Detroit and Novi and I am blessed with childhood memories that include trips up my dad’s family farm, a magical place for a small child where we took sauna’s together, ate squeaky cheese my Finnish grandmother browned in a wood burning oven, and where the night sky was lit with so many stars it made me dizzy to look up at it. Many adults carry the angst of their childhoods around on their shoulders, it weighs them down, it leaves them longing for something different, something better. I don’t. Instead, my memories are mostly jewel toned and washed in honey. Maybe it’s just the passage of time blurring the past, but I don’t think so. Happy birthday dad.
bookbabie 