Storm of Thoughts

I Feel So Loved

I was so excited to find that I had been given this award by Sharon over at Mom Generations. It’s especially meaningful because of how much I love her blog. In fact, it’s a shame I can’t give it right back to her! (Although I can, of course, bestow the honor upon the other Mom Generations girls, who are equally as great. A lot of my blog reading time is spent on their site!)

So now, to spread the “I Love Your Blog” love, it’s my job to nominate 7 other blogs that I really like. (Although, of course, I love more than 7 blogs!) Here are my choices for this award:

CPA Mom at Did You See That?
Snow Betty at Psst…
Mrs. Mogul at Mrs. Mogul
Pamela at Little Baby Lump
Sherry at Chaos Theory
Jane at Mom Generations
Audrey at Mom Generations

Rules:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

Thanks again, Sharon, for making my day!

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A Small Misunderstanding

Before launching my blog, I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a name. Something slightly meaningful, I imagined, and at least sort of catchy. Easier said than done, of course. (That photo, by the way, is of me brainstorming by the pool. You can tell I’m thinking hard.) To help, I went to the three people who always have an answer for everything (although I’ll stop short of calling them know-it-alls) – my parents and my boyfriend. (Possibly more on their know-it-all status at a later time).

I finally had a list of possibilities, which I was more than excited about. So I went, paper in hand, to Yahoo, where my site is hosted. (I will say, to be fair, that I love Yahoo – their features and especially their service are excellent. But anyway…)

I entered the first option: FlashFiction.com. (A name that came from scouring dictionaries of literary terms, looking for something that might fit. While not fiction, a blog does sort of fit the “extremely short story” category). Of course, it was taken, but the domain finder helpfully suggested another option: FlashCreativeAds.com.

I moved on to another choice, MyThoughtsExactly.com. This, too, was taken. Suggestion: SendMyThoughts.com. Both off-point and nonsensical.

Next: LetMeExplain.com. No again. This time the suggestion was closer, though still completely wrong: LetMesExplain.com. Yeah, that would go over well.

This went on for awhile. Yahoo turned FlashTalk into FlashDialogue, FiguresOfSpeech into TalkingFigures, and WhatAWasteofTime into PremiereWaste.

Eventually, I got tired of the process (and of having my great ideas shot down and then mocked). I typed, “InsertCatchyNameHere.com” out of frustration, only to find that those before me had similarly run out of ideas. The alternative? CatchyNameStore.com. I would not own that store, let me tell you.

At this point I was beginning to feel like Yahoo did not understand me at all.

I even tried “ICantTakeThisAnymore.com,” which, not surprisingly, was also unavailable. (Suggestion: YourThisAnymore. Huh?)

But the last one was my favorite. Before giving up, I typed in “ThanksAnyway.com.” You’re probably not shocked to hear that someone owned that one too. But this one prompted the suggestion: “PayAnywayUsa.com”

Well, now, that about sums it up, doesn’t it?

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Leaving the Curtains Open

I like looking in windows. (Which is why every time I go anywhere I end up with a lot of pictures like the one above.) And not in a creepy way…although I can see how you might think so if you don’t possess a similar urge to check out nearby houses and the people in them. I like seeing how houses are decorated and landscaped, noticing lights burning upstairs and a TV glowing in the big bay window and imagining the people inside. I remember years ago when I would walk home from friends’ houses in the evening and notice the families cooking in their kitchen, sitting down to dinner, or coming out to play in their yard. Even still, when I pass by, I notice the colors of houses and the rooms inside, the flowers planted near the pathway, the things left forgotten in the grass, and I wonder what that says about the people who live there. In fact, I conjure up images of people in their home even when I meet them outside of it. And, when visiting someone for the first time, nothing brings me greater joy than the obligatory tour. I love looking at the paintings and photos they hang on the wall, the dishes displayed in the dining room, and even the rips, stains, or lack thereof on the living room couch. All of these things truly paint a picture. Stories of people in their homes. Is there a truer impression of a person?

Which is why I love reading blogs. Blogs, too, are stories of people in their homes. It is here that I can see the photos they might hang on their wall, the things they enjoy doing, and the people they sit down to dinner with every night. Bloggers are the people who leave their curtains open. This blog, then, will be my window too.

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