Radical Transparency

(in case the other blogs need a friend) 
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mimi

 

Upright, No Bow

Apparently magnetic moose play violin like Ben Sollee plays cello.

My aunt Carey took that pic. She took this one, too. And this one. And this one. And thousands and thousands more, of everyone in the family and everything we love. And we don't thank her nearly enough for it.

Bury Me With My Car by Ben Sollee  
(download)

Filed under  //   ben sollee   cello   feldencarey   mimi   moose   music   photography  

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Gettin' Hotter Than The Sun Get

Been a little slack on the blogging over the past few days.  Writing lots of postcards instead. And Valentine's Day cards.  For all my cousins.  Because that's what my granny used to do.

But there's always time to kick some brand new flava in ya ear. 

I actually kind of can't believe I haven't posted this yet.  Been loving it for couple of years now.  Big thanks to Joey Headset.

I have no idea who Craig Mack is, let alone what track this is on what album.

Flava In Ya Ear by Craig Mack  
(download)

Filed under  //   cousins   craig mack   joey headset   mimi   music   postcards   valentine's day  

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Not How You Are Made

Just got this from my sister.  She says it reminds her of Mimi, our granny, who died last January.  It's from The Velveteen Rabbit.

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Wisdom and inspiration come from unexpected places.  Glad Giuls is always on the lookout.

Filed under  //   becoming real   books   giuls   inspiration   mimi   stuffed animals   talking animals   the velveteen rabbit   wisdom  

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Til the Need Seeps In

I first heard this song about nine months ago.  I was playing hearts with three of my cousins, and ten year old Winslow sang along to every word.

Someone took this pic within days of that moment.  Win and I are hanging with our granny.  Those were her last couple of weeks, and they were sad, but there was a lot of love in that room.

I haven't yet found a magically coincidental connection between the song and the granny, but their plotlines intersected last January, so they sit together in my memory.

Sleeping Lessons is track 1 on Wincing the Night Away.

  
(download)

Filed under  //   coincidence   memory   mimi   music   winslow  

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Immortality

My cousin Parker and I just watched a movie we made five years ago.  A full family effort.  Our tribute to Best in Show

Below the Belt

The story of the greatest heavyweight title fight in history.

Last Christmas, Zoe, another cousin, put the movie on a DVD and added interviews from the movie premiere, outtakes, and deleted scenes.

When we made the movie, my grandmother was very much alive, very much a part of the summer when we shot the movie and the winter when we edited and released it to our world.

And Parker and I saw her tonight, on that DVD.  She walked through the party at the premiere, dressed in her costume ball finest, and she walked through a scene in the outtakes, making a joke.  Making us laugh.  Doing what she did best.

No one I would have rather seen.  Been almost 8 months.

Filed under  //   boxing   filmmaking   immortality   mimi   parker   tumbleweed entertainment  

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A Reminder

I talked to the Nevinator last night about the future of the remnants of LanguageCalls, his day job plans moving forward, and what I see lying ahead for The Carrot Project.  Nevin's an unusual guy, but I'm glad to know him and have him in the carrot project orbit.

Overwhelmed by the document clutter on my desktop, a had a scan a few minutes ago for things I could delete or drop into folders.  I found a note titled Andrew Nevin Jan 13.  Given last night's call, I opened it up.

There were a couple of questions in there, a couple of ideas Andrew had given me back in January, and a two line dialogue I'd wanted not to forget.

Jake: What are you gonna do tomorrow?
Mimi: Get into as much trouble as I can.

Mimi died five days later. 

Hard for me to imagine a better granny. 

http://www.moreperfectmarket.com/2008/01/used-tissues.html

And hard for me to imagine a more characteristic joke.  Mimi was funny right through the morphine, right down to the very end.  It made things so much easier, knowing that she was still having fun.

Great to come across a little something like that.  I'm glad I wrote it down, glad I left it on my cluttered desktop, and glad the conversation with Nevin last night led me back to it today. 

Filed under  //   advice   carrot project   languagecalls   laughter   mimi   nevinator   notes  

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