Once more, you’ve opened your e-mail
I have spent most of my life hating Johnson County because these kids were very annoying to play against in high school, and then the adults do not know how to drive on the Plaza, and a Lawrence girl has to have something to be annoyed about. And I know I posted a picture of a neighbor’s “Gates of Hell” Halloween decoration with the JoCo geo tag on my Instagram stories. But I would like to say one thing I love about living in Johnson County, and it is this: the trash pick up situation here is awesome. There is no two bag limit. There is once-a-month bulky trash pick up. We can put out as many bags of leaves as we want. Bins? We have bins.
Totally unrelated: I am psyched about next week’s guest writer, my friend Libby. Libby rules. October is a five Sunday month, so we’re doing three regular issues, one guest writer, and one subscribers-only. It’s gonna be a blast.
Keep using my Outdoor Voices link. This sentence now has links to the my instagram, and old issues of the newsletter. I did recently post a review of the worst Caesar Salad I’ve had, maybe ever.
Number One: Ancient Japanese Architecture and the celebration of imperfection
Continuing on the theme of upper-level electives I took in college: History of Interiors II, which I remember more from than I do most of my speech pathology classes.
One tidbit I love is that in traditional Japanese architecture and interior design, there’s a sort of intentional impermanence and imperfection. Walls are meant to be moved, natural elements are used in such a way that makes things being “a little bit off” the ideal. There’s an appreciation for how asymmetry brings warmth. It’s quite wonderful.
Number Two: Normal does not equal casual
I was on a walk with my friend Claire this week and she said, “normal does not equal casual.” And I said, “well I am going to kick that around all week, and it will be in Five Things.”
Plenty of the hard things in life are “normal.” Divorce, fender benders, backed-up plumbing. Name a challenge and twelve people will pipe in, “ oh, me too.” But that doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal, it’s doesn’t mean casual. Just because everyone stubs their toe doesn’t mean it’s doesn’t hurt when you do.
The flip side of that coin, is that even the normal good things don’t have to be casual. Celebrate the reasons to celebrate. Life is short, get the frappacino!
Number Three: Jame A. Garfield National Historic Site
I think a great picture of someone stewarding their calling well is whoever is running the James A. Garfield National Historic Site Twitter account. Just someone who could do the least, but is doing to most and doing it well. Garfield was president for like four months, and there’s not much to work with, but they are working it.
Number Four: Who is the Bad Art Friend?
Who is the Bad Art Friend is the best kind of long form article. Medium-stakes, there are twists, there are turns, there are lawsuits, there are writing groups. It’s wild and well worth the read.
The article made me think about the way I write about people in my life, and even what I expect from loose acquaintances and strangers. Should I ever write the great mono story of 2016? I’m not sure.
Number Five: BFF Print Shop
My friend Makenzie, who thinks I need to date a guy with a little “pizzazz,” tipped me off to BFF Print Shop. And I am so grateful. Perfect for bathroom art, or for filling in your mantle around Mediocre Watercolor. You download high-res PDF versions of the prints, take those PDFs over to Shutterfly, where you use the art print option, and then scoot over to Michael’s for some frames. Baddabing, baddaboom. Immediate upgrade for the twelve square foot bathroom.
Bonus:
If you are in the market for a sort of embarrassing country song full of platitudes about football, might I recommend I Hate Alabama ?