Initially, I started this blog simply so that I could post comments on my friend Kristin's blog. I created an account, came up with a quick name, haphazardly picked a template and threw this thing together. I never expected to spend so much time here, so, I didn't care how it looked. I did not expect that I would get hooked on blogging. I love having a place to express myself and, despite all of my claims to be an introvert, it's nice to know that others are reading my stories. So, I am going to keep blogging because it feeds the creative part of myself that I have ignored for a few years.
So, now, I want a sense of order around here. I really don't like the template I chose and my friends use the other cool ones so I am not sure how to make this blog more aesthetically pleasing. I would really like a super cool, professionally designed blog but that's not going to happen. I figure that I will just learn HTML this weekend...that shouldn't be too hard to fit in around the potluck tonight, the swim lesson tomorrow morning, the birthday party tomorrow afternoon, the dinner with friends tomorrow night and the concert on Sunday. I have a little problem with overreaching at times...like the Incredible Design I came up with for the milk carton boat race that was just a wee bit impossible to implement or the hundreds of dollars I spent on video equipment and editing tools so that I could make a movie about Peeps that remains unfinished to this day. I am a visonary but I can't always carry out the visions. So, I have to be realistic about my skills in web site design or I'll soon be drowning in "How To" books and will be explaining to my girlfriend why we need Adobe CS and a new computer. I say all of this to let people know that I would like to change the look of things and would be open to advice or lots of pro bono design time.
I also think that I need to explain the title of this blog, to provide some context, but that is a little bit harder than learning HTML in a weekend. Up popped a fox is a phrase that I have only heard my mother say. No one else...none of her sisters, not my grandmother...only my mother. When I was young, my mother and I played cards every weekend. She began teaching me rummy as soon as I knew my numbers and could learn the suits. I still remember my tiny hands aching from holding those 13 cards. We played all of the time and I didn't win a single game until I was 10. My mother didn't believe in letting people win, even if the opponent was only 6. Some of my best memories of my mother are from those card games. She was so animated and fun and present when we played. As I write this, I realize that teaching me to play cards was the only time my mother was ever truly patient with me. There was no hurrying, no harsh words, no scolding non-verbals. It was just me and my mother and the deck of cards. During a game, as my mother drew cards, she would occasionally say, "Up popped a fox!" in her southern drawl, her cigarette clenched between her teeth. She would let out a little laugh and proceed to kick my ass. It's hard to explain but this was my mother at her most charismatic. So, the phrase "up popped a fox" means that something has caught you by surprise and changed your outlook completely. Now, if anyone has any ideas as to how to condense that into a soundbite that I could put as a description under the header, that would be great.
Well, it's almost time for me to go to that potluck. It's a GLBT Potluck for parents at my kid's school. There really aren't any G's, B's or T's right now. It's all L's. This also means there will be tofu and maybe quinoa. I'm bringing brownies which can also serve as my entree if need be. Brownies and the obligatory chips and salsa...yeah, dinner is sounding good.
2 comments:
Try this out, i condensed it a little bit:
Up popped a fox is a phrase that I have only heard my mother say.
When I was young, my mother and I played cards every weekend. She began teaching me rummy as soon as I knew my numbers and could learn the suits. I still remember my tiny hands aching from holding those 13 cards. I didn't win a single game until I was 10. My mother didn't believe in letting people win, even if the opponent was only 6.
Some of my best memories of my mother are from those card games (for more information on my mother, see my Porcupine memoirs). She was so animated and fun and present when we played. It was just me, my mother and the deck of cards.
During a game, as my mother drew cards, she would occasionally say, "Up popped a fox!" in her southern drawl, her cigarette clenched between her teeth. She would let out a little laugh and proceed to kick my ass. This was my mother at her most charismatic (and she is one charismatic gal).
So, the phrase "up popped a fox" means that something has caught you by surprise and changed your outlook completely.
I think the new colors are FA-BU-LOUS.
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