PS22 Wins A Webby

My favorite PS22 wins a Webby for Artist of the Year. The Webbies limited all acceptance speeches to 5 words. Here are the best.

In Defence of Food

Originally, this was going to be a sidebar post, but I'm finding I have more to say than will fit in a 1 in x1 in margin. My relationship with food has been a long and sordid affair. I've written about it lots of times, most notably here and here. While I can say with relative honesty that I've never been healthier and more well-adjusted in terms of my relationship to food, it remains something I struggle with on a daily basis.  Of course, some days are better than others.

I work hard, very hard, to be healthy.  I'm not talking about weight or BMI or what I put into my body.  I'm talking about happiness.  It's something I think about every single day. I go to therapy, I take my medications, and (most importantly) I've started to make choices that bring more happiness into my life.  Choices like: inviting good people in while letting other people go, having fun with my husband, having fun with my children, maintaining boundaries with the people in my life SO THERE'S SOMETHING LEFT AT THE END OF THE DAY, paying attention to what I need (exercise, a cup of tea, a walk, a movie, a nap), moving my studio into my home.  I stopped waiting for other people to tell me I was ok.  I stopped making excuses about not having fun.  I stopped looking outwardly for validation as a mother/photographer/wife/friend and got the hell off the couch.  Basically, I stopped waiting for life to get better and started making it happen.

I make it happen by maintaining a million different decisions every single day, and I stopped asking for permission.  Turns out, Ferris is happier now that I've stopped looking to him for happiness.  Turns out, my kids are still alive and well and no turdier than they were before I started down this road. Turns out, by cleaning house in those ways, my anxiety about food and my body has subsided as well. Turns out, the issues with my body weren't the problem but rather a symptom of not being happy.

A few weeks ago, I got on the scale and didn't like what I saw.  Instead of feeling the regular blame, shame, fear, panic, and self-loathing, my gut reaction was to tell the scale to f**k off.  So that's what I did, and I haven't looked back. It was never about the scale anyway.

I adore Michael Pollan and just started In Defence Of Food. I also read Food Rules which I go back to every now and again for tips and affirmation. So far, the rules I've found most helpful and easy to maintain are "don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food", "pay more eat less", and "treat treats as treats". In the end, though, I'm thrilled to throw all the rules out the window with the scale if they stop making me happy. 

Rounding Up the Stuff

Stephenie Meyer wrote a novella to accompany Eclipse. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is available online for free, FOR FREE, until July 7th.  She says we should read it before we SEE THE MOVIE IN A FEW WEEKS!

I want to make fun of this girl, but the hypocrisy would be astounding. My crushes started with Strawberry Shortcake and ended, dreadfully, with New Kids On The Block. Posters, bedspread, dolls, pins, tapes, movies...oh my.

I found these booties in a small boutique during my trip to New Orleans.  One pair left, super sale, gun metal color, to die for. Update: there's a problem with the link. Click on boots/booties, bottom left corner (Mamie).

Enjoying The NY Times summer reading list.

I'm obsessed with my yard. A neighborhood friend walked by my house the other day and asked me what the hell I was doing.  I was standing on my sidewalk 'visualizing my canvas'.  It's a technique to help you figure out how you want to design.  For those of you without a yard to design, check this out.

PS22 Chorus, "LISZTOMANIA"

PS22 Chorus sings Phoenix's "Lisztomania" via Mighty Girl.

Happy weekend, everyone.

Stephanie

This could be one of the most surreal and outright FUN moments I've experienced as a blogger. 

Amy, from A Commonplace Life, generously asked if I'd like to participate in her recent project.  It took less than a millisecond to scream YES! A little over a year ago, I asked Amy to help me with a project that changed the trajectory of my life. That was the moment she switched from anonymous blogger to bloggy-friend.  Then she did the redesign for Lula Inc, which became the moment she switched from bloggy-friend to actual friend. I think she's enormously talented and has created a radical (literally and figuratively) body of work this month.

My favorite thing she said about me was about my voice.  Funny thing, when we first spoke over the phone I thought she sounded very serious and wise.  Then we spoke to each other using iChat, and I realized her house is a three-ring circus of batshit crazy.  Lovely people everywhere, handmade quilts on the wall, food, stuff, life, toys, happiness, ease.  It reminded me very much of my Grandma Lula's house, the house I grew up in, the house I'm trying to recreate.

And since our interaction required visual documentation, she became a reason for me to wear fancy earrings and lipstick in the middle of the day.  I did not, however, take a shower.  Thank heaven iChat doesn't require a smell check.