j_bluestocking

our stories, our names

j_bluestocking Oct 28, 2011 00:30

I visited my mother yesterday and today. She still lives with my brother in the home where he and I grew up. The streets around that house are the Ur-streets of my life, the streets all others grew out of and away from; in my history, their names are the names of ancient Kish. And now, fifty years later, to round a corner and hear the testy ( Read more... )

oral_history, stories

(Untitled)

j_bluestocking Oct 26, 2011 02:01

Today was the first really glorious day of fall sunlight - illuminated reds and yellows against a painted blue sky. It was my last day in Jim Thorpe, so I had chocolate cake for breakfast, at an outdoor café where a toddler at the next table sang "You are my sunshine" with partial lyrics of his own. Then I went looking for an artist I’ve been ( Read more... )

read while on the road

j_bluestocking Oct 25, 2011 03:51

Read while on the road (unusual in that I never seem to have time to read):

Lying by Sam Harris --An argument for truthfulness in virtually every situation. Bracing.

My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley --An autobiographical tale of a dog. By which I do not mean it was written by the dog. The story of a female German Shepherd in all her physical and ( Read more... )

on the road and far from home

j_bluestocking Oct 24, 2011 23:35

I am in Jim Thorpe, a small mining town in the eastern Pennsylvania mountains. I do mean mining town; there are remains of a canal and what was once a thriving railroad; and there’s a giant lump of coal on display at the train station that comes up to eye level ( Read more... )

my kitchen education and domestic pleasures

j_bluestocking Jul 21, 2011 23:41

First, the boring health stuff. I've been alternating even more than usual between work and fatigue; it seems I'm not capable of doing more than one main thing a day. Except for those days I don't even manage one. What this all means is that I have to dedicate the few alert hours I have to doing work that must be done immediately, or to getting ( Read more... )

domestic_pleasures, aesthetic_pleasures

we should watch television!

j_bluestocking Jun 22, 2011 21:08

I hardly ever watch television, except the occasional Game of Thrones episode as I'm working at the computer, or Ina Garten roasting ever newer vegetables to add to my roasting portfolio. But I have house guests! Granted, seperis is sleeping up in the guest room, but svmadelyn is awake. In fact, she has just informed me that psychic bond fic and wingfic are the ( Read more... )

thank you!

j_bluestocking May 31, 2011 22:19

Thank you for helping me out with my vague historical query. You guys are fantastic. I wonder, does the small circle of people reading my journal actually encompass all human knowledge? If I asked about quantum physics or 16th-century French inheritance law, would you come through just as splendidly ( Read more... )

vague historical question

j_bluestocking May 30, 2011 18:37

I recall reading, years ago, about some port(s) in Asia where Westerners lived and traded in the age of sailing ships. The Westerners were not allowed to leave the port, or possibly a certain walled area in the port ( Read more... )

gift question and update

j_bluestocking May 26, 2011 21:09

I have a question. What would a good gift be for a friend who's just had her second son? I don't even remember what my gift was for Son #1, because I chipped in with a bunch of others, and not having any children myself, I trust those who do to make better gift choices than I would ( Read more... )

in which I beg your aesthetic indulgence

j_bluestocking Feb 27, 2011 00:42

I thought I'd never get this damned room remodeled. So -- domestic and aesthetic strategies ahead! Full interior design warning! And much discussion of Life With Too Many Books.

( now with before and after pictures )

domestic_pleasures, interior_design