374th Friday Blog Roundup
I’m starting this on Thursday night, while the twins are finally asleep after standing by their windows post bedtime calling out to us, “I think I see something moving out there, something that is even faster than a plane.” It makes me understand Christmas Eve, why people follow Santa on NORAD. Except that it is even more exciting because Befana isn’t coming to any other house in our neighbourhood as far as we know. The twins asked several times today whether she was visiting any of their friends, and I kept repeating, “no, she only comes to houses of people who believe in her.” And they couldn’t wrap their minds around the idea of someone not believing in her. What could possibly be gained by not believing in her?
So I pose that question to you: what is gained from not believing in magic? In not believing in all the one million impossible things that our minds conjure up? I guess I’ve never understood why people don’t continue to believe in at least versions of the things they believed as a child. I still look in the Bay for Chessie every time we’re by the Kent Narrows. I’m sure I’d do the exact same thing if we lived near Loch Ness.
I’m asking this as a serious question: why stop believing in unicorns and monsters and fairies and wizards?
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I meant to blog about or at least Tweet about the 2011 Creme de la Creme list closing to new submissions, but since I forgot, I’m keeping the list open until tonight. 11 pm EST tonight (as in, January 6th) is the last possible moment to submit a blog post for the Creme de la Creme of 2011. The rest of the blurbs will be going up slowly over the course of the month.
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The twins and I have signed up for Codeacademy, which may just be the most addictive website ever. The Wolvog already knows Javascript, but the ChickieNob and I don’t, and he is along for the ride (he is seriously the best cheerleader in the world. I feel so freakin’ good when the boy is congratulating me for figuring out how to create a new variable. He is so earnest that he actually makes me feel smart). We like to bark at each other, “code academy!” like we’re drill sergeants and we have talked about making our own t-shirt uniforms to wear when we sit down together for lessons. Not that we’re geeks or anything.
Is anyone else doing Code Year?
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As of writing the Roundup, the Kindle version of Life from Scratch is still enormously on sale as part of an Amazon promotion to fill-your-Kindle (assuming, of course, that you just got a Kindle for a holiday gift and it is empty). So if for some crazy reason you haven’t read it yet, here’s your chance for 99 cents. A huge, huge, huge enormous thank you to everyone who has been helping spread word via their blogs or Twitter or Facebook or email or however else you are telling people about this. Thank you thank you thank you.
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And now the blogs…
But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week as well as the week before. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:
- “Gifts Worth Giving” (Miss Conception)
- “Little Girls” (The Lotus Flower)
- “Turn Turn Turn” (MissOhKay)
- “Well, Hello 2012” (Unruffled Lanie)
- “Resolutions of New Years Past” (Clay Baboons)
Okay, now my choices this week.
Our Own Creation has a lovely, brief post on what should have been Zoë and Lennox’s fourth birthday party. It is so quiet, so filled with all the hope she felt for those children, that you can’t help but feel your throat close as you read it.
Uppercase Woman hits it out of the park with her post on body acceptance. I love this thought, “As Americans we attach so much virtue to dieting, to the idea that the only times our body are mildly acceptable as fat people is when we are in a perpetual state of hunger and deprivation to try to chisel ourselves down to a smaller version. But I won’t go there again.” I love her usage of the term “body acceptance” instead of “fat acceptance” (because frankly, there are plenty of reasons why people hate their body). And this final point is great: “It’s hard to love ourselves and treat our bodies as objects to be treasured when we don’t like how we look. Trust me. I live this every day.” A must-read post.
Too Many Fish to Fry has kicked off a series to balance out the mainstream media’s coverage of outlying fertility cases. She is presenting just your average infertile woman, in this case, Bodega Bliss. The idea in and of itself is fantastic, and the accolades need to go to both writers; Bodega for giving her story and Fish for how she presents it. But moreover, it’s just a beautiful, heartbreaking post to read; both unique and at the same time accessible to anyone who has experienced a loss or wants to understand.
Lastly, Infertile Fantasies has a post kicking off 2012, that is also about the various reasons why people blog and how certain blogs read. This obviously resonated with me: “For myself, I blog to think. More than that: I connect to think.” It is about not being done with a space, but not really knowing what to write. And sort of being comfortable with that is a valid place to be — and blog from — too.
The roundup to the Roundup: Why stop believing in the things that made you happy to think existed as a child? Creme de la Creme is still open for another few hours. We’re doing Code Academy; how about you? Please help me spread word about the Kindle deal. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between December 30th and January 6th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.
17 comments
This post by MMCC really struck a cord with me. Paul’s ex-wife’s shower is next weekend and a co-worker recently announced her second and I”ve felt really down. i completely understand where she is coming from and wish I could tell my friends may of these things as well.
http://mmccif.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/a-letter-to-my-fertile-friends/
There is a post by areyoukiddingme that really made me laugh..
http://xj2608.blogspot.com/2012/01/failed.html
This post by The Stork Diaries really touched me. She talks about turning 36, thus “earning” the moniker “advanced maternal age” – and goes back to her 15-year-old self who did not have the resources and experience to connect to her sister-in-law struggling with infertility.
http://thestorkdiaries.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/what-i-was/
I stumbled this one.
It’s a great story … about those nagging incidents past … either regret-filled or rue-filled or the ones that still burn … that we all have … that most of us rarely get closure with … only this one did come around … brilliantly. It’s revolutionary behavior. The link contained within is good, too. Another reminder about everyone fighting a hard battle. Whether we know it or not.
I just read Life From Scratch (in one day!) It was the perfect thing to read on vacation on my new Kindle. Since I’ve never read a book by someone I “know” before, I was totally geeking out about phrases in the book that reminded me of things you’ve blogged about. Like “Haha, I know what Mel thinks about which way the toilet paper should face” or “Ew, I can’t believe Mel just used a cricket analogy.” 🙂
I don’t know why people stop believing in magic. I haven’t stopped. I still immerse myself in fantasy on a regular basis.
Although one of my friends told me about Santa when I was 8, I never SAID I didn’t believe in him anymore. And he hasn’t stopped filling my stocking yet. ; )
http://wearsheartonsleeve.blogspot.com/2012/01/plan-b.html
I love this post. She talks about what her life would’ve been if she couldn’t have a baby, but wondered what she’d do with the sadness of not having one.
I believe in magic. If I didn’t, I’d NEVER be able to TTC. 😉
Who hasn’t read Life From Scratch? I’m gonna have to pimp it on my blog tomorrow. Such a good book.
Thanks for finding & recognizing these posts. You always hit on good stuff, but these seem to be really speaking to me this week.
I had to push for Santa Claus. N was afraid that encouraging the belief in magic might make Dot feel like we weren’t honest with her later on, but my experience is that it doesn’t work like that, and the stockings were filled this year. I firmly believe that life is better if there is room for magic and the possibility of the extraordinary. I still believe in fairies if I try really hard, and like to think that white horses are sometimes unicorns, and that animals are given the gift of speech on Christmas Eve.
Code Academy, huh? That actually looks rather cool.
I don’t suppose I ever stopped believing since I never believed in any of those the first place — I was apparently not the kind of kid who just believed in stuff, nor did I have parents who pushed any of that.
I believe in logic and truth.
Magic is the lights of Las Vegas that stop you from seeing the stars.
(Not saying no one should ever visit Las Vegas… but there’s definitely something to be gained by getting out of there, too.)
Rachel’s post CRACKED ME UP. She is brave to write about sex and TTC and did it with perfect balance of humor.
I have never stopped believing. Finding magic in every day things makes life so much better.
This post from Kara about her miscarriage tore at my heart, especially the last line. The last line was especially the part I kept thinking about more than any other. http://unaffectedbyyou.blogspot.com/2012/01/devastation-or-silence-of-heart-that.html
Code ACADEMY! I love this.. I am totally going to give it a go… both the website and the barking it out randomly (and hopefully the feeling good about successes along the way!) I like the site a lot so far. Learning to code is high on my list of priorities (but constantly being thwarted by my difficulties in how it is taught in sometimes). And if the Wolvog is already that good at coding AND cheering people on, that is a recipe for great success in my mind. The coders in my world haven’t always so talented in helping the coding uninitiated:)
Which reminds me … I was listening to “the Pipeline” podcast today, which might appeal to the techie side of your family, and the interview with Derek Powazek (who was involved in the Fray — the pre blogging thing — not the band) made me think of you.