First, here’s a cute picture, as a token of my affection. See how happy I am to be here?

If you’re one of my regular readers (Hi, Mom!), you might be wondering why the heck I can’t just sit still and stick with one blog platform. I know it may seem silly that I’ve already moved this blog three times in about 6 months, but this move is for good. I’ve been trying to get the WordPress software set up on my domain (figured, if I’m already paying for it, why not put my blog on it?) for a while now. (It turned out to be sooooo much simpler than I was making it. Of course.) Anyway, I like the customization options it gives me, and the fact that I can put my Etsy mini (and, just as importantly, my Etsy faves mini) on it, and…well, it doesn’t really matter WHY, does it. Here we are, all the same. Welcome. Hope you like the new look/place. I’m sure I’ll continue to make tweaks here and there–but then, you’re used to that from me by now.

I am a total sucker for these mother-child Story Corps sound bites lately. This one had me all blubbery during my morning commute today. (This from someone who was once called “stone-hearted” because the movie Beaches didn’t make me cry.) Maybe my biological clock is trying to tell me something.

This week’s RR is brought to you by books–actual, tangible, smellable, hardbound books. ‘Cause I went to the library this week. And we’re off:

From the introduction to Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss: “Part of one’s despair, of course, is that the world cares nothing for the little shocks endured by the sensitive stickler. While we look in horror at a badly punctuated sign, the world carries on around us, blind to our plight. We are like the little boy in The Sixth Sense who can see dead people, except that we can see dead punctuation.” I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve read this book. I feel like it was written by my soulmate. It’s glorious.

From a book that makes me alternately sad, mad, and in awe of both the native beauty of my home state and the blindness of profit-seeking developers to that beauty: “Florida is for sale, has been for a while now, and it makes me sad as hell. I’ll stay as long as I can, but one day soon it will all go: the marsh wrens and the butterflies, the cactus and blackberry vines, the old Cracker house, the feeling. And I wonder if the hawk should ever come back, just on a random flyover one day, singing its high, sweet whistle way up in the sky, if anyone here where this dirt street once was will even remember the kind of bird he is, or care enough to stop, just for a moment, and smile.” (Losing it All to Sprawl: How Progress Ate My Cracker Landscape, by Bill Belleville) Check out his blog.

Tune in next week…maybe I’ll read a newspaper!

To match the official site. Because I am nothing if not all about the matchy-matchy.

Thought my readers (all three of you) might get a kick out of this blast from the past. Dig how I’m wearing a jumper with nothing under it?! That’s right, half of my torso was exposed. What can I say–I was a saucy kid. My hair is not this blond anymore.

I’m happy to report that I’m making progress on my resolutions for easing the overwhelmedness. Successes: declined an offer to participate in (yet another) local craft market this coming Saturday, and I could not be more excited about having a real weekend (fingers crossed that I get some jewelry supplies in the mail by then). Lunch breaks taken this week: two (one at the library). And today I’m teaching a coworker how to crochet on our lunch break. I’ve also spent at least a few minutes reading every day this week. All small steps, but they’re making a difference. Oh, and I’m getting an actual haircut at an actual salon next week! (I got a coupon.) I haven’t had my hair cut by anyone other than myself in about 6 years, but I’ve been in quite a hair funk lately, so it seems like a good time to call in reinforcements. Stay tuned to this space next Thursday for pictures of either my new fabulous ‘do or my new fabulous paper bag. Anything could happen.

This site, that is.

Oh, and happy Earth Day! If you haven’t seen it yet, you should read this compelling and thought-provoking article from The Storque.

Or, “My solution to the promotion dilemma.”

I finally came up the perfect (handmade) promotional item! It incorporates my designs, it’s functional, cute, and inexpensive. Ta-da!

I scanned some of my stitched notecards and printed parts of the designs on cardstock, which I then used as the covers for these little single-signature booklets (Littleput Books has a great tutorial on making these), perfect for jotting down a phone number, a short shopping list, a quick note-to-self. They’re about the size of a business card, and I printed my URL on the back. I plan to give these out like I would a business card at craft shows, and include them (with business cards, too) when I ship orders. And I’m putting them in these adorable little envelopes (which I purchased from Schoollocker on Etsy–she has TONS of great supplies for all kinds of projects). I decorated the envelopes with a fern stamp.

So, whatcha think? I’d love to hear what you use for promotional giveaways, too.

After texting him yesterday afternoon that I was having a bummer of a day, I came home to a hot bath being run (complete with lavender bath salts from JillianSays–mmmm), a cold beer in a frosted mug, and a quesadilla dinner on the stove. Oh, and snuggles.

Be jealous. Be very, very jealous.

(Reading Roundup is a semi-regular feature in which I share tasty bits of writing I’ve found.)

From My Pocket: Never tell your winter coat farewell, or April will play tricks on you. This one rings especially true to me this week, considering that Saturday we had 80-degree temps and since then it’s been 40-degree nights and 60-ish daytimes with a side of “very windy.” Not that I’m complaining, mind you.

Poet David Wojahn: We too often commit the hubris of thinking our desires can be gratified, or that gratifying them is going to give us the consolation we feel we need. These longings may prompt us to creative activity, and I guess the displacement of those longings is much of what poetry is about.

That’s all I’ve got today, kids. Whew. I don’t mind telling you that it’s been a hectic couple of weeks in Avenueland Continue reading →

In the last few hours I’ve become fully re-infatuated with The Magnetic Fields, especially the album i. Not only does the sound of Stephin Merritt’s voice take me back to my life circa 2004, which is great, but when you think about it, anyone who can use the word “ampersand” and the line “So you quote love unquote me”–in the same song–totally deserves my undying affection.

In other news: trying not to over-analyze the fact that I just clipped a coupon…for a liquor store.