An appreciation

Just as I was starting to develop a rhythm for posting, our Frankencomputer started misbehaving. Namely, randomly turning off whenever it felt like it without ever asking if I wanted to save first. I definitely began to dislike doing any work involving the Frankencomputer. Turns out it was just a short in the power cord, and perhaps it wanted a new name (we figured out the problem shortly after I renamed it Monster Mix). But I have a lot of ideas stored up in my head and in my Idea Book, so new posts should be around the corner often.

Today does not come from the Idea Book or brainstash, instead it came after learning the sad news of Maurice Sendak.

I find it amazing that the death of someone I have never met can cause such an emotional reaction in me. Perhaps it’s the connection of my time spent as a child reading and listening to his books, or the admiration and inspiration I find in him as an adult. Probably both.

My family had a little 45 with “Pierre” on one side and “Chicken Soup With Rice” on the opposite. I listened to it countless times and knew the whole thing by heart. I have no clue the last time I listened to that record but I can still sing parts of “Chicken Soup With Rice” today. Those two along with “Where the Wild Things Are” are the ones I remember  best. I learned how powerful words can be through the story of Pierre and Max, one sentence made one King, and the other a lion's lunch. Silly yet dangerous, serious and fun, the balance of his books was amazing. I had always wished I would be able to meet him, but now I can only send out my gratitude for his work here.
Thank you, Mr. Sendak.

Oddly enough, my lunch today is leftover chicken soup. With noodles though, not rice.

Birthday Reflections

(I accidentally posted a rough draft of this yesterday, but this is the real deal)

Once again the air is cooling down and the feel of autumn is in the air. Every year, I mark the beginning of the end of summer with my birthday. I've always been really attached to birthdays - parties, good food, and secret wishes! - but a lot of the time it was lost in the summer's end shuffle and the new school year's beginning. When everyone leaves around your birthday, it can make it hard to actually want to celebrate.

Oddly, as I have aged I have actually embraced celebrating each year more and more, especially this year when I had my Golden Birthday. I've been dreaming of it since my 5th birthday party, and while it may not have been the biggest birthday - it was definitely full of magic and wishes. Each of the 27 days leading to my birthday, I reflected on my life - the accomplishments, what I still want to accomplish, my proud moments, and what I want to improve. This year I made the conscious decision that from now on I would never shy away from my birthday again. No matter what the year is like, no matter how many candles on the cake, if I can't find something from that year to celebrate then some serious inner reflection will be needed. With each year gone by is a new ring on the tree filled with new experiences and accomplishments. While I know there will be hardships and heartache in the future there is always personal growth, times of lightness and the people past and present in our lives to be thankful for - it is our choice what to hold onto.

Of course, it's much easier just to say that I'm celebrating me.

Obviously one of my most important goals this year is to start blogging more regularly. I was excited at first, and gradually grew nervous and overwhelmed as I researched how to have a good blog. I kept running into advice to keep it simple and limited, which isn't quite me. (As a kindergartener, I had 13 careers picked out and the plan to execute them all.) I became confused whether I should limit myself to just writing about music, crafts or could I do both? But then what about cooking or dinosaurs? What about books? Could I just pick one or two things and stick to it? If I don't, will no one read?

Then it was my birthday and I calmed down. Knowing I have people in my life who love me even though I am odd and love lots of different things, then I can have a blog where I write and talk about lots of different things. Otherwise it won't be me, it'll be blog-me and that sounds like swamp burps.

I do have a plan. I'm still working on some goals. I will post at least once a week. And it won't be this long all the time either. But I might talk about dinosaurs and swamp burps every now and again. I feel better getting this out there as a fair warning though. Thank goodness for birthdays, reflection and the end of summer:

A note about productivity and wearing shoes.

I have realized the oddest thing about myself: to be productive, I must wear shoes. Depending on what I want to accomplish, I need to put on the correct shoes. My running shoes are also my cleaning shoes. My slip-on shoes work for thinking, reading, really any leisurely activity. My regular shoes are a bit tricky though. Sometimes I can put them on and be really productive in anything, while other times I sit on my blue spinny chair and stare at the screen, my keyboard or out the window.

This morning, I decided to put on shoes because before that all I could do was work on this:

(That's going to be a 2000 piece Starry Night someday)

I put on my regular shoes, but it didn't really work. I did move from the dining room to the workroom, cleaned it a bit and was inspired to make magnetic notes:

But they looked so cool on the magnets, that I didn't want to cut them apart. So I decided to take this picture and write about it. And now it's time to go teach piano lessons. Another (semi)productive regular shoe day at home.

Probably should have worn the running shoes.

Update on Friday, April 29, 2011 at 11:45AM by Becca Ruiz

I realize now that some of the music notes are backwards. You would think I had been wearing these:

Happy spring!

Okay, so maybe it doesn't look like spring outside my window right now - but I know it's coming because my husband keeps sneezing.

Update on Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 1:39PM by Becca Ruiz

P.S. It is still barely spring, but my husband is still sneezing. There is hope.