29 November 2012

thursday night thoughts.


*  I watched the season finale of "Flipping Out" (on Bravo) and cried hysterically for over 30 minutes.  That hasn't happened since I saw Gran Torino.  I think sometimes you really just need a good cry.

*  There are some new things on my horizon that I am really excited about.  I have really been looking for another creative outlet and I'm super happy to have found one.

*  Amelia pulled herself up last night on her baby gate, then stood there for about 25 minutes squealing, and laughing and being so proud of herself.  She is so big.  I no longer have a baby, I have big girl.

*  Today I went through my Bloglovin' reader and deleted over 50 blogs.  It's sad to say but a lot of the blogs that I loved at one time feel like they are only full of sponsored posts and product reviews and nothing relevant to me anymore.  Don't get me wrong, I am super happy for them and the fact that they are making crazy money off of their blog and getting free goods, but I miss reading the "real" stuff.

*  We went to Bass Pro Shop last night to get Amelia's photo taken with Santa.  It's free and the set-up is way prettier than the one at the mall that costs $40 to do.  It was cute and I love that I have this photo of her first Santa.  She wore the sweetest vintage red velvet dress.  

*  I have absolutely no idea what I am getting anyone for Christmas.  I have no ideas at all.  I even created one of those Secret boards on Pinterest, haven't pinned a single thing to it.

*  Did you know that Paul McCartney wrote "Blackbird" when he heard about all of the crazy things happening with the Civil Rights movement here in the United States in the 60's.  "I wrote it in the '60s, when the civil rights movement was at its height," he said. "I liked to think of a blackbird as being a kind of symbol for a black woman."
When he told us about it at the concert, it made my heart swell with love for this man. Now every time I hear the song, I feel a whole new meaning behind it and I cry every time.  If you know me, you know I would have been a total civil rights activist in the 60's.  It's something I am super passionate about.

*  Did you see the moon tonight?  Oh my goodness.

Alright, I need to get back to  a little project over here.  I just needed to get some thoughts out of my head, and onto my computer screen :)
Thank you!

xo
janel


5 comments:

  1. Just wanted to leave a comment. I am ALWAYS inspired by you- and think about your creative ambitions a lot (not in a creeper way!) Let me explain. I had my daughter Eleanor March 1st so she is about the same age as Amelia (which was a name choice for us too!) I have so many ideas, but at the end of the day I just don't have the ambition to start. I admire your constant drive and just wanted to share that with you. Have a great weekend!

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  2. Paul McCartney is amazing! look forward to hearing more about your new creative venture!

    Stunning moon! happy christmas :)

    Barnicles

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  3. I know what you mean about the sponsored posts on blogs. Many of the blogs I once loved have changed their pillars of blogging completely and sometimes I feel like the online community part of it has died a little. Like... I remember online classes, live chats, seeing posts of some of my favorite girls taking trips to Springfield, and lots of commenting going on. It makes me a little sad. I still love the blog community, but some of the closeness has been lost.

    Also, Blackbird is my very favorite Beatles song. Always has been. And that's very interesting to hear that tid bit about the symbolism in that song.

    Also, Amelia's Santa outing was adorable and she is infinitely adorable herself. I hope I have such a happy baby someday!

    Love to you!
    Elaine

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  4. amen to the sponsored posts.
    I too have unsubscribed from some posts that were too sponosory, giveawayish and overall commercial. It makes me so sad when bloggers quit or delete their blogs too. I keep hearing people talk about how the blog atmosphere is just not the same as it used to be and so people who have had long running blogs are pulling the plug. The sad thing is I'm still as drawn to a real life, personal blog as I was 10 years ago. Grace Bonney said, on her podcast recently, that now everyone's the chief editor or expert of something or other now. Are people deleting their blogs because they feel competition or lack of recognition? Maybe they were in it for the wrong reasons then anyway.
    And... about Blackbird. I have always loved that song, and used to think of a friend that had moved away. Well, my fella is a huge Beatles fan and so early on in our dating we went to see Paul McCartney perform in chicago. He told the story about how he wrote the song after (I swear I remember him saying this) seeing the photograph of Ruby Bridges going to school, and how bird is the term slang for girl in england, like you said. Now, I can't see any reference to Ruby Bridges specifically, only a general civil rights era song. Still, this was so obvious, yet it had never occurred to me or Matt before and let me just say tears and tears rolled down my cheeks. I can never hear it the same way now, but I still love it as much if not more.

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  5. I also hate it when good blogs become nothing more than marketing platforms. It's sad!

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Thank you so much for commenting!! xo