100 Things and Clutter Fast

100 Things about me:

1. I love condiments.
2. Especially rice vinegar and balsamic vinegars.
3. A little boy wearing a handknit Hat melts my heart
4. I've had a Barbie Knitter since I was 8 years old.
5. My daughter robin has made oodles of Barbie Tube dresses on Barbie knitter
6. We love to shop at Trader Joes and Whole Foods
7. We still call Whole Foods "Mrs. Gooch's" or "The Soup Store"
8. I've been called Boho
9. I grew up alot in Mill Valley, California (it was one year, but a really big year).
10. I've been called a hippy (alot)
11. I've been called a dyke
12. A dyke is a little cutting tool that electricians use
13. I love Northern Europe
14. I fell in love with Brugges, Belgium and stayed there for a week after intending to just pass through it for a day.
15. Gypsies are dark nomads.
16. I wish I was darker
17. I grew up with Heart in the 70s
18. Favorite Heart albums are Little Queen and Dog & Butterfly
19. My sister is Little Queen
20. My sister taught me to crochet
21. I love to fly
22. It's much nicer to swim though
23. I love aiports
24. Have to be careful to take crafting on airplanes
25. I'm sad about America
26. Sad to be American sometimes
27. I like many people from many places with many ideas
28. Many people from many places are not too crazy about many Americans
29. I have Mark
30. Mark has Ty with me
31. I share Robin with them
32. we have a family
33. But Luke came first
34. Luke gave us Ty for name
35. I picked Kai
36. Luke & Tyler Kai
37. My favorite movie is Spirited Away
38. Previous favorite movie for years was Kiki's Delivery Service
39. Current eBay handle is Hals Moving Castle (Howls Moving Castle was already taken)
40. I have nothing to feed No Face
41. Katherine Hepburn was my idol growing up
42. almost as much as Betsey Johnson
43. I had every single one of her Butterick patterns (Betsey's, not Kate's)
44. I wore many appliqued apron dresses, wrap skirts and lace inset tee shirts during the 70s.
45. Then I discovered Deborah Harry
46. I changed a little
47. Favorite 80s bands: SHRIEKBACK, Police, B52s, Bronski Beat. Not Heart. Pretty much if a band kept their hair short or thin in the 80s, I was into them.
48. Favorite 80s game: Trivial Pursuit
49. Pink was my favorite category
50. I still play Junior Trivial Pursuit with Robin and her cousins
51. And watch jeopardy with brother Johnny many nights.
52. It's not fun to watch Jeopardy alone.
53. Robin napped through her first two years in my lap, while Food Network was on t.v.
54. Robin is passionate about cooking.
55. Especially baking. She's going to be a pastry chef when she grows up.
56. The Sheriff on Eureka is too cute.
57. The bald guy who married Charlotte on Sex and the City is cutest.
58. Mark is not bald
59. Mark is not even balding
60. Skinny Mark is very, very cute.
61. I love to dye things
62. and felting too
63. I am very DIY
64. I am very not Di.
65. I wish to be living in UK
66. Queens must survive
67. Princesses dream
68. If a princess knits enough, she will survive enough
69. Red is inflammatory
70. Red patent leather is mean
71. Blue is universal
72. What does that mean?
73. Bitter is universal
74. My closet is pink
75. My bedroom was orange
76. A soft, marbled, earthy, wiped over orange.
77. Tweeds are strong
78. Yucky pink tweeds were only fun for 10 seconds
79. Martha Stewart had to happen
80. Without her, the alternative could only be sad
81. I discovered Nighthawks at the Diner in 1983.
82. I wished I saw Tom Waits perform drunk in a piano bar during the 70s.
83. Did see Tom Waits on stage with Carol Kane in a play Called Demon Wine.
84. I was really young, I didn't get it - but they were so cool to watch performing together. (Waits seemed very sober, and somber).
85. Favorite female performers are Carol Kane, Catherine Keaner, Francis McDormand, Myrna Loy, Audrey Patou, Ani Difranco, Rickie Lee Jones, Eryka Badu, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald.
86. All time favorite song is "I loves you Porgy" as performed by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
87. Favorite song to Karaoke to: "Fever" by Peggy Lee
88. I lived with Nighthawks at the Diner and Tom in is Wild Years during the 80s.
89. I lived with a Girl at her Volcano
90. I grew up with Ladies of the Canyon and a Tapestry of rich and royal hues.
91. I am 32 flavors and then some
92. Bucheron is my favorite cheese
93. I am not cheap, I just reuse, renew and recyle alot
94. I grew up in Puerto Rico
95. I've lived mostly in Hollywood since I was six
96. Went to at least a dozen different schools during my childhood
97. I like cold, rainy weather. I have to take a walk in my Thompson Green Wellies each time it rains here. Being hot makes me miserable.
98. Naturally, I live in Southern California
99. Would love to change places with Franklin Habit
100. I just want to have something to talk about afterwards in the Locker Room
     

And there you have it, my first go at a 100 things list.

Something tells me this will be done again. and again. Already, I'm working on a "100 things" about the year 2006 to put in the Christmas cards to family this year. I was never a newsletter to the family writer, just a quick Merry Christmas note in the cards I send out. This year I plan to try a 100 things list and hope that maybe, sooner or later, it will catch on and we can exchange them with each other. (Wouldn't that be so cool???)

I've been thinking more about Clutter. Especially after listening to CreativeMom in her Episode 9 podcast on the subject.

Clutter in so many parts of life.

• I've turned to Yoga, meditation and methodical crafts (origami, granny squares) for my cluttered mind;
• a Journal and To Do Lists for my cluttered schedule;
• even noticing a little bit of the cluttered body facing the sunny side of 40s.

And craving alot of moments to kind of go on a "clutter fast." Clear the mind, just sit with friends and be busy doing absolutely nothing.

So look what Robin did:

I couldn't keep my brush paws off either. But I did the tiny parts, the horse hairs and some slight shading; she did the rest. Why did they say this was for ages 8up? I'm 38+ and it was not easy! But well worth it; Robin's excited to tack up it up on her freshly painted, pink walls.

Thinking along these lines, I made myself watch a 2 hour dorky movie with my daughter. Not doing anything else, no crafting or crocheting or anything while we watched the movie. My body was buzzing, my brain was aching to keep up the daily nonstop activity - it was incredible just noticing the ease it began to feel after just 2 hours of no-thinking in watching this movie.

Amazingly refreshed after the two hours, I just felt "reset" and easy-going.

Crafting had become an obsession rather than the calming cure it used to be.

So we went to the Park the next day just to hang out, talk to strangers and not bring any knitting, crocheting or podcast listening. There's a balance thing going on here. Cool.