6.24.2008

Wherein I steal from other peoples' blogs.

My blog pals inspired me today, so I wanted to share a few things I found while checking in with my buddies...

-J Bird just started her blog but damned if that girl does not find the coolest stuff EVER. She always did (she was my college roomie). To this day I still envy her ability to go into someplace like Marshalls or TJ Maxx and find the most awesome deals...

Anyway, in her latest post she showcased this thing called Wordle. You can put a bunch of text in a box, and it makes this cool, well, "wordle" out of it. I used a passage from one of the best books ever, Breath, Eyes, Memory, by Edwidge Danticat. I have read hundreds, if not thousands, of books in my life, and I read this one probably ten years ago. Yet this is the only passage I've ever read that I actually recall and go back to time and again. I won't paste the full text, but you'll get the idea of it through my wordle (click on it for a larger view):



-Jynx'd provided some commentary on a hilarious story from the Virginia news. Two guys managed to get hitched in Norfolk, because one of them was a transvestite and (s)he played the part of the bride so well that no one suspected they weren't a man and a woman. Well, apparently the "bride" was so tickled to get away with getting married that (s)he decided to go back and have her name legally changed... to Penelopsky Aaryonna Goldberry. Well, this raised a red flag, and the authorities finally figured out that she was actually a he. And now there's a big uproar about whether or not their marriage was legal since (s)he is transgender and all kinds of craziness.

But can't you just hear that conversation? "Well, damn, if I am such a fabulous woman that they let me marry you, I need an equally fabulous name! What should it be, what should it be... Ooh, how about PENELOPSKY! Yesssss, honey, that is FAB U LOUS! Penelopsky Aaryonna! I don't know what the hell that means, but, girrrrrrrrrrrrl, it is FIERCE!"

-Finally, my old friend Nikole at clearframe talks a bit about discovering herself in these past few years. Nikole and I went to high school together (and, before that, played percussion side-by-side in the Chesterfield All County Band in 6th grade!), and she was always the girl I wanted to be like. She was loved by everyone, was nice to everyone, was smart, beautiful, and seemed to be so sure of her place in the world. Her post is a reminder that even those who we think have it together the best sometimes have the same struggles we do. We are all human, and we all have our self-doubts and our self-criticisms. It is also a reminder that we often don't give ourselves enough credit. We may not feel like we're succeeding in life, but there is always someone out there who looks up to us. Nikole's post stirs up many more feelings and thoughts, but I'll leave it there for now.

3 comments:

Mymsie said...

You should set up a Google Reader account and then you could mark these things as "Shared" and I could subscribe to your feed to see 'em! :)

Anonymous said...

I've been meaning to respond to this for a while. I'm glad you shared your sources of inspiration - I always love to find out what is stirring up my friends. :-) And thank you for your amazingly sweet words. Like you, I continue to be amazed at the common humanity among us - how despite what *we* think of someone else, all of us amazingly seem to share similar struggles. It's all very humbling. Lots of love to you... xoxo

Anonymous said...

There are some grammatical mistakes in your post, but otherwise I found it somewhat useful.
I don't think it's up to anyone to judge what people's posts should be about. Why not allow everyone to just say what they want (in designated threads, ofcourse)?
I don't have a website yet, but I'm planning on starting a blog like yours, any tips?
How do people blog on other people's blogs? Can I guest post on your site, I have lots of interesting articles.

*NO CARRIER* -- A Naval Aviator's worst nightmare!