Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high:

It's summertime, and the livin' is perhaps not quite as easy as Ira Gershwin made out. But it is full and it is good.

Remember my dreamy Summer to-do list? I've continued to add to it, on various little scraps of paper and other useful internet listmaking devices:

1. read and comment on my friends' blogs on a regular basis
2. write letters!
3. plan a really good daily menu
4. go garage saleing
5. spend some sunsets out on the Point
   
6. read Crossed by Ally Condie
7. continue working through Wreck This Journal
8. start reading Finish this Book
   
9. blog about them both!
10. write an end-of-year-newsletter (it didn't happen last year; boo!)
11. call my niece and nephew on the phone more
12. do chores in the mornings rather than in odd snatches here and there
13. look at Christmas lights!
14. go to a carols evening
15. watch a movie in the middle of the day
16. cook meals for my family
17. go on a photo walk with Staish (not sure if she knows this is happening :D)
18. bake peanut butter brownies and other ridiculously unhealthy things with flour and sugar and (preferably) chocolate
19. get my hands on a copy of Prized by Caragh O'Brien and READ IT
20. re-read the Hunger Games trilogy
21. go see the Look! exhibit at the State Library of Queensland
22. go see Matisse: Drawing Life at GOMA
23. go on an opshop crawl
    

Revisiting the list now, I'm amused by its randomness and the juxtaposition of things I feel are really important (like writing letters to far-off friends) close by things that really don't matter all that much (like watching a movie in the middle of the day, just because). I'm also surprised by how many of those little happy things were actually achieved in amongst all the fun and busyness of Christmas and New Year. Numbers 3, 5, 7, 12, 16, and 20, on the other hand, are all currently mid-process.

Of course, I had a more serious Summer to-do list written in my planner, too. It included words to the effect of WRITE THINGS AND SEND THEM PLACES DANIELLE OR ELSE, and while there has been ample opportunity to spend time with loved ones and accept social invitations and generally do nice things, in the between-times I've really been relishing the chance to apply seat-of-pants to chair and work on editing and polishing and refining and sending. Friends, it is ten million times nicer to return to a piece of work after an absence of a day or two rather than weeks or months. You don't waste all that brain and heart time finding your place in the work once more and stifling the little demon on your shoulder telling you that you're really rubbish at this and shouldn't you just go ahead and clean the microwave instead. Not that I'm not scared, of course; you who know me well know that being scared is one of my exceptional (yet very much unwanted) talents. But it's easier to push past the scared when you're actually getting work done rather than merely wishing you could get to it.

And another thing I'm learning: no matter how many words you've cut from the story, you can always cut more. It's like the loaves and fishes, only in reverse -- a miracle!

What's Summer been teaching you?

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Conversations:

Un -- man definitely won that one... although it's wild that gets the attention so... who knows?

Lauren -- :D

[short + sweet] summertime wishlist

Once school is over, I plan to work from home fairly steadily through the holidays. However, there will of course be more scheduling flexibility so I've slowly been making a mental checklist of Things I Really Would Love to Do over Summer Break. In no particular order:

1. read and comment on my friends' blogs on a regular basis
2. write letters!
3. plan a really good daily menu
4. go garage saleing
5. spend some sunsets out on the Point
   
6. read Crossed by Ally Condie
7. continue working through Wreck This Journal
8. start reading Finish this Book
   
9. blog about them both!
10. write an end-of-year-newsletter (it didn't happen last year; boo!)
11. call my niece and nephew on the phone more
12. do chores in the mornings rather than in odd snatches here and there
13. look at Christmas lights!
14. go to a carols evening
15. watch a movie in the middle of the day
16. cook meals for my family
    

I'm sure there'll be more on the list. I'll just keep adding to it. Is there any time over Christmas when you get a break from the usual and can spend time on the unusual? What would be on your list?

Crafternoon!

One of the things on my holiday wishlist was to launch Crafternoons at the Housie -- and last week, the first one happened. There were sweet cupcakes, a sweet baby, and some sweet crafting action. My mum worked on her wholecloth quilt while my sister Lauren made baby thank you cards. Staish cut pieces for some adorable strings of bunting, and I played with my art journal and some stitchery work. Happy days!

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Conversations:

Un -- Tain wouldn't have even noticed :D

Mothercare -- :D

Laura Elizabeth -- the lucky is all on my side. He's so hilarious and fun :D.

Staish -- I get to see you tomorrow! And thank you for your always beautiful words.

Rebecca Simon -- <3

Happy golden days

Sorry to have gone all ninja on you and disappeared from the blog. First, I was sick. Then, I was, you know, on holidays. It's been nice. Some of the stuff that's been happening includes:

• starting books and actually finishing them
• a crafternoon! (pictures to come)
• trying to keep alive the tiny herb garden my mum made for me
• hanging out with my family
• squishing my niece
• sleeping in
• watching some good DVDs
• shopping for a wedding outfit and finding one, with only a hint of tears
• actually doing some novel rewriting
• tidying and cleaning the Housie
• movie night and black forest trifle with lovely girlfriends

and

• finding beautiful bouquets of flowers on sale for ridiculously cheap prices

What's new with you?

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Conversations:

Katie -- it seems the ideal garden for a slow graduation into new seasons. While some of the trees are losing their leaves, others are just turning, and still others already have new buds. It's lovely.

Laura Elizabeth -- yes! Nights are cold and the days are sunny. It's practically perfect! And thank you for your lovely words re. the project 52 post. I have to come and lurk yours (my internet is being a pain; it's disconnected three times just in the writing of this post, requiring a restart of my computer before it would even connect again. GRRR!).

School's out!

Holidays. What a sweet, sweet word. I'm so pleased about this word that I am sitting here at my computer, sighing happily (and you thought they only did that in badly-written novels, right?). To celebrate, I want to share with you three things that have made me merry over the last couple of weeks, when I needed to think about things other than essays and deadlines...

Something to enjoy: Beautiful Christmas music for free from Noisetrade. I have to thank this excellent friend for reminding me to revisit this cool site. There's always a bunch of great music available, and it's a wonderful way to get to know new artists without purchasing music you're not yet sure you'll like. Anyway, I've downloaded three albums so far -- Sara Groves (O Holy Night Tour Live), High Street Hymns (Christmas and Advent Sampler), plus The Argyle Project (Christmas) -- and I'm loving them all.

Something to encourage: I have a feeling Josh Harris's Dug Down Deep keeps popping up in my blog posts. I know I've certainly mentioned it before, and I know I've been reading it for a long time. But it's good stuff and I'm really relishing this back-to-the-basics examination of theology -- the beliefs about God that really, really matter. Anyway, this video is not only a cool introduction to the book; it's also a thought-provoking look at the concept of theology. And, apart from all that entirely, it's just a very awesome video and I wish I'd made it.

Something to entertain: This is pure, joyful stupidity. Before watching, you need to be familiar with the Trol lol lol man of youtube glory. So if you're not, watch this first. Then, enjoy this absolutely excellent mashup: Captain Kirk deals with a strange alien culture. SO GOOD.

What internet thingummys have been adding trololols to your life lately?

* * * * *

Jessica -- yes! Cool mail is so much fun :)

Asea -- wow; you are VERY FUN to receive packages from! And, strictly speaking, I should email you this thought, but I've been loving Tove Jansson's little stories. They're so evocative of a land I don't know. And they're creatively inspiring, too -- I'm reminded that not everything has to be turned into a full-blown story. Some characters and ideas can remain as small story-seeds, short pieces on their own.

Samantha R -- I know! So creative!

Bonnie -- so lovely to receive your comment! <3

Mitanika -- absolutely! Unexpected parcels are one of the best things ever.

Katie -- me, too. I think I need to write a story about the billycarting nun.

Mothercare -- too true. xx

Chantel -- the privilege was definitely mine! You have been such a welcome part of this journey! And yes, you did send something for the final issue. Hopefully it will reach your mailbox soon :). xx

Imma let you finish but...

Yo, my peeps! This post goes out to my supreme homey Mitanika, who specially requested a little procrastination action on the internets while she avoids the black looming deadline of the crazy crazy world that is NaNoWriMo!

[Okay, cease random Kanye-style voice; resume Danielle voice]

This post is indeed dedicated to a friend, a friend who is more heroic than I am because she's currently swimming through the vast ocean of terrifying waters that is the quest to write a 50,000-word novel in a single month. She requested some distraction and, since I -- being in the final two weeks of uni for the year -- have a profound respect for procrastination, I am more willing to comply. However, that simple fact also means this blog post will be the most spontaneous and least-thought-out of my blogging history. It will also likely be:

a) very boring -- because I've used up all my words writing essays, and
b) very hyperactive -- because I'm tired, and the tireder I get, the sillier I get.

So consider yourself fairly warned before I present to you a random list of life's latest.

1. I am currently being haunted by spiders and cockroaches, which makes me feel both sick and stalked. It must just be their season of bliss, because they're appearing everywhere and around every corner. I've actually killed two huge spiders myself (this was not fun) and -- get this -- was woken yesterday morning at 6.30 by a cockroach crawling down my arm. *choke* I am a big fan of the environment, but I am definitely going to be calling the pest control man.
2. I've tripped over my own shoes today (twice) and the hem of my dress (once) because I am that cool. The dress-hem-tripping incident was directly in front of someone, too.
3. I think I saved someone's life today. Okay, I didn't save their life, but I did save their blood sugar levels. A bright blonde Irish girl came to the door selling energy savings. We got talking (about spiders, snakes, and cockroaches no less; see what I mean about them haunting me?) and she suddenly asked, "Do you have any fizzy drink?" I didn't, and she must have felt silly because she went on to explain that she'd been walking around the neighbourhood, had not had breakfast, and felt quite faint. We then proceeded to bond over some Lindt 70% cocoa chocolate, the only legitimate energy food source I had to hand.
4. Both of my sisters are having babies. I'm not sure if you all knew that. Yay! (I slipped that one sneakily into my random list).
5. Every day lately, parcels have been arriving on my doorstep, but it's kind of agonising because my mother is doing Christmas shopping and gets all the mail sent here. There is a stack of parcels (nine; I counted) just sitting there, tantalisingly.
6. However, I've been doing some Christmas ordering of my own, so some of the parcels have been ones I can open, and it's fun. I bought myself a little end-of-school present -- a Charley Harper colouring book. If anyone tells you big girls can't colour in, don't believe them. I am so excited.
7. Thursday night is do-the-groceries-buy-dinner-and-rent-a-movie-night around here. The movie didn't happen because papers on Prince Caspian and relativism were calling out for the Red Editorial Pen of Doom, but the dinner did happen: Madras beef, rice, and naan bread. So very, very good.
   

Here you are, Mitanika -- a post all of your own! I hope it helps you procrastinate just a wee bit more; it certainly helped me to do so. Love!


PS everyone. Soon I'm going to be on holidays. Holidays. Holidays. HOLIDAYS. What books should I put on my holiday reading list?

They're HERE!

Oh, sweet sweet school holidays! How I have longed for your bright presence, your warm greeting, your loving embrace! And now -- now you are finally here with your opportunities for reading in the middle of the day, for spending time with people, for writing letters, for learning to like talking on the phone, for sleeping in, for watching movies, for baking nice foodstuffs. Holidays, I love thee.

PS. The tribe has spoken. In-post-replies return -- starting today.

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Conversations:

Meaghan -- I don't need profound reasons from you; your excellent opinion is quite motivation enough, oh wondrous friend!

Mothercarey -- my eyebrows blush and thank you.

Julia -- thank you! xx

Ruth -- I took it for what it's worth and then some. I like the in-post-replies, too, but I'm weird and so I thought it quite possible everyone else would find it vaguely disturbing. Apparently not so! Plus, it feels more like a little hippie commune when we're all in dialogue together.

Rachael -- thank you and I think we're all on the same page re. comments. Yay!

Caitlin -- precisely so! The internet is great for connections like that :). Oh, and yes, hopefully we'll be down your way more often now!!

Samantha -- we are like-minded souls :).

Katie -- thank you, friend! x