sam and zoe...

morning walk

i love my morning walks with Lola.
it such a great time of day with a lot of built-in peace.
we generally go out pretty early, so the day is just settling in.
i never know what i am going to see.
but nature never disappoints.
i'm really not an outdoorsy type but sometimes i look at a flower and...
it just makes me happy.

know anyone to send this card to?

i am certainly not nominating myself for this.
but i do know a lot of people i'd like to send this card to.
a vast majority of those deserving of employee of the month
aren't employees.
yet they work their asses off every minute of every month.

Oldest Camper Show

Sammy is in that highly coveted position at camp: oldest camper.
with that status comes all kinds of benefits: air conditioned bunks complete with living room, kitchen, phone and tv.
it's pretty sweet and a nice way to bond one last time with the 18 other girls you've known for every summer since third grade.
i never loved camp. neither did jimmy or our other daughter zoe.
but sammy does.
she has really thrived up there in lenox, massachusetts.
i think she's free there in a way she can't be at home.
over the years she's been in a bizillion musicals and ballets and modern dance shows.
and the few times i've gotten to see her perform i've always been amazed at how brave she is.
however big or small the part, she gets up on stage and goes for it.
that's camp.
last night's show came on the heels of visiting day.
i always assumed that the camp was in morning once all the parents left.
last night proved otherwise.
the entire camp seemed lighter and happier than they had seemed all day.
there was definitely a sense of 'thank god the parents are gone...now we can get back to having fun.'
and they did.
at 8pm sharp the entire camp filled the jessup theatre and all at once began chanting.. OCS, OCS, OCS.
it was great.

off to visiting day at sammy's camp...

our daughter sammy has gone to a performing arts camp for the past eight summers.
as you can imagine there are few shrinking violets there.
all the campers are so full of life and really passionate about what they do.
it's always a pleasure to be part of this community.
really looking forward to it.

the dreaded mirror

i heard this in spin class this morning and thought it was profound.
nothing good ever comes from looking in the mirror.
so, walk away.
stop caring.
stop buying into everything you've been told since day one.
i wish i was this self-actualized.
maybe one day.
doubtful.

ragging type

last night's type class was really interesting.
we are still working on our book jackets.
i won't bore you with my design and where it stands.
suffice to say i have a lot of work to do.
we got into a discussion about ragging type and i decided to try it out with my card today.
(i think) ragged type is when it is not aligned. it just sort of hangs out there.
it's a lot of fun to work with...at least it was this morning.
i can't imagine having to rag an entire paragraph. oy.

content, content, content

i was at a dinner party the other night and the man sitting next to me wanted me to tell him about my cards.
so i read him the line from this one and he very politely smiled and asked me to pass the bread.
he didn't get it.
and why would he?
he doesn't blog.
but anyone who tries to post regularly knows that every conversation,
every funny story
every detail of your day to day existence is your next post.

everyone's everywhere...

for the last couple of years i've noticed a fairly big shift in my life.
while everyone around me seems to be in constant motion
i seem to be the one that isn't.
i'm the one in the family that sorta doesn't move.
i'm the one that's home,
in just about every sense of the word.
this summer is no different.
my husband has been traveling frequently for work.
sammy is away at sleep away camp for seven weeks.
and zoe has been in and out all summer.
i'm not sure when i became the one to hold down the fort.
but i feel like it's a pretty important thing to do.
at least for now.

homework....

so this was my homework for tonight's type design class:
redesign a book cover.
i chose the bluest eye, by toni morrison.
it's about a black girl's quest for blue eyes.
that's why my cover is entirely black.
with the exception of the book's title which i placed where someone's eyes would normally be.

next week's assignment:
design the sleeve and spine.

while this is a fun assignment i wonder if book covers will soon be a lost art with kindles and ipads.

happy independence day...

25 years ago i was traveling in singapore.
i walked into a restaurant, ordered lunch and sat down at an empty table.
as i looked around the restaurant i noticed i was the only woman eating alone.
when the waiter delivered my food he asked me where my husband was.
this was the first time i ever remember feeling american.
happy july 4th.

happy july!

both girls are away now.
sam is at a performing arts camp and zoe is at tennis camp.
it's funny because for the first time either one of them can be reached at their summer programs.
in years passed there were phone times...one day a week, for 10 minutes at a time when we could talk.
no longer.
now, if i want to talk to them, i just pick up the phone and dial.
they are both reachable, whenever.
but i'm finding that i'm not calling them too much and they're not calling me too much.
i think that's good.
it's nice to disconnect for a while.
that's the whole point of going away for the summer.
last night, i was bbm-ing with zoe and i was asking her some mundane question.
suddenly she was tired and had to go.
can't say i blame her.