Velveteen Mind: Ready for my Pulitzer? Favorite Posts

These are some of my favorite posts, as well as those that seemed to resonate with you.

2008: from newest to oldest

2007: from oldest to newest

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Summaries...
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2008: from newest to oldest

I Am Your Very Own Dichotomy.

May 8, 2008: One of my favorite posts. Written very quickly and very personally, it struck a chord. It is about the complexity of us. This quote sums it up best:

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Who's Afraid of the Queen of Spain?

April 21, 2008: I am no political pundit, but I'm ready to talk politics. Will the famous (infamous) blogger Queen of Spain squash my efforts or welcome my voice?

Written tongue-in-cheek, I was surprised by the strong response to this one.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that there are more opinions out there. And I am thoroughly interested in the opinions of other parents because we are the ones guiding the political candidates of the future. We are the ones raising future taxpayers. Our influence is important."

Mommybloggers, Business, and why Parents Magazine hasn't hired me. Yet.

April 16, 2008: A dream of a writing studio and what it is going to take to make it a reality. Also, mommybloggers and the media/ PR interest in them as a platform in and of themselves.

"Yet, it is a package, and a powerfully seductive one at that. More bloggers have been discussing the "business of mommyblogging" lately and I find the discussion fascinating. What began as a hobby for so many of us has become, quite frankly, a business. All of the sudden, we are finding ourselves concerned with branding, marketing, promotion, and managing PR inquiries. "

Glenn Beck's Responsibility Beat-Down. I'm in.

April 8, 2008: My response to news of a group of teen girls beating up another girl with the intention of posting it on YouTube, colored by Glenn Beck's coverage. An exploration of the media's effect on our children.

"I am asking you, where does it begin? Where does the desensitization begin where our kids start to muddle the line between reality and surreality? Where they go beyond playing Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin in the living room and begin playing Fight Club in their basements?"

BOSSY is the new Marlon Brando or And then BOSSY yelled "Stella!"

April 2, 2008: BOSSY's New Orleans stop on her Excellent Road Trip. Yep, the stalker finally meets the stalkee.

Death Defying Acts

March 17, 2008: My first post back from an extended hiatus from blogging.

"Three months of silence. More like four. No explanations. Just *poof* and this site went silent...

Yet, I shook my fist at the blogging heavens and dared shout, "I need to live an inarticulate life for a minute! Feedburner be damned!"

A death defying act for a blogger."

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2007: from oldest to newest (these were my first posts)

Relish the velveteen. Revel in the threadbare.

January 28, 2007: My first post. The why of it all.

"If that's the case, then I am well on my way to becoming real."

Shrouded Audience Revealed

February 9, 2007: Brief background into my journaling history and why I've chosen blogs as the next step.

"I imagine them, swollen and buckled, stained and torn, ink partially washed away, half buried in sand and under debris. I picture new hands picking them up. I see new eyes, surprised and awash with empathy, glancing at the secrets that I never truly believed would remain secret."

Our Lady of the Slab

February 13, 2007: A little of our Hurricane Katrina story and a newfound interest in Marian lore.

"The waves pounded the debris into pulp for hours before it finally wiped the slab clean.
Yet there she was. Looking as untouched as ever. Waiting patiently for us at the edges of our slab. As though she knew her children would come back for her.

Our Lady of the Slab."

Industry of Cool

March 27, 2007: Having a fit trying to reconcile the compromises that come with writing in a blog versus writing in a private journal.

"Somewhere, deep in my little ego, tied directly into my thought processes, which leach out into my fingers, which push these little keyboard buttons, I will have spoiled the purist nature of journaling in a paper journal with a pen in hand, for my eyes only, and will begin to take my audience into consideration. And then what? I fear I will begin whoring myself out for comments."

My Heart Takes a Fall

April 2, 2007: Celebrating and mourning the fact that my babies are growing older and won't be babies forever.

"I don't remember the details of the discussion, but I remember that she pointed, near sobbing, at a picture of me on the wall at around age 8, and said, "I won't ever have that baby again. She's gone! I can't ever have her back." It was like she was accusing me of something, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what. All I knew was that, in that moment, she seemed devastated and there was nothing I could do."

Sandbagging Martyr

April 12, 2007: I'm married, too, by the way. And, oh, the games we play.

"I'm thinking this trip is going to cost me my martyrdom. Yep, that's right-- my role as the stay-at-home martyr that I have developed so diligently. Will this trip mean I have to cash in my "I never get any time for myself" chip? Man, that is going to suck, because I work that chip like a $3 whore."

Mary Worship. Really?

April 20, 2007: Exploring the belief that Catholics worship Mary. Lots of cool pictures, too.

"Between our prayers, prayers from our family, prayers from our friends, and His Mother whispering in His ear on our behalf, I imagine Jesus has probably had just about enough of us for a while. We've been coming at Him from all sides."

The Toothpaste Promise

April 28, 2007: A promise to not sweat the small stuff with my children. A promise decades in waiting.

"This was something that I dearly wanted to do. Why couldn't I be as wild and crazy as Ramona? I think at this point in my young life, the most reckless thing I had done was mix a bottle of my Cabbage Patch perfume with a brand new bottle of my mom's Giorgio perfume... together, in a snow boot. Lord bless the mother."

While I was blogging...

June 13, 2007: Wordless Wednesday post that I still love. The perfect illustration of life around here.

Victor Vito

June 13, 2007: My emotions regarding Hurricane Katrina are still right under the surface. This is one day in which they surfaced.

"I remembered what it felt like to be full of such hope.

I'm lost under the water. This wave is worse than usual. It's too high. It's too deep. It's unexpected. This wave is worse than usual. This feels like a storm surge."

Strength to Take

July 15, 2007: Relearning how to take time for myself.

"This bears repeating: Your children don't treat themselves the way you treat them. They treat themselves the way you treat yourself."

I'm No Heroine

August 5, 2007: Responding to the comment, "You are such a strong woman." You have no idea.

"It has come to my attention that somewhere along the unusually winding road of the last few years, I started waiting around for a hero. Someone to swoop in and rescue me. Someone to see me and recognize that I needed some help. I needed some rescuing."

Less Helicopter, More Hang Glider

August 14, 2007: "When it comes to parenting styles, I would say I fall fairly far outside of the realm of the Helicopter parent, and more in the realm of the Hang Glider parent (yes, I made up that term, but still). I don't so much hover as I do sort of glance around the situation, get the general gist of things, but then continue on whatever path the air current has me going at the time."

Camille was a Lady. Katrina was a Bitch.

August 29, 2007: The second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

"A mighty wind done blew us down. Took us out to sea. Left us with nothing...

Except our manners. Our pride. Our determination. Our anger. Our spirit. Our sadness. Our charity. Our gratefulness. Our elbow grease. And, yes, our hope."

Biscuits and Beer

September 11, 2007: Life is different with kids. Doubt me? Just go on vacation.

"A few days into our vacation, Jarrod said, "I don't feel like my vacation has even started." I hear you, brother. "

I Am a Have but I Happen to Have Not

September 26, 2007: Money and family. Is it more complicated with or without?

"More than anything else, I hope I am teaching this perspective to my family. We are not our money."

BOSSY is the new Dooce.

September 30, 2007: My hilarious photo ode to BOSSY in response to her video ode to Dooce. Seriously, this one is hilarious... if you read BOSSY, that is. Or Pink is the New Blog. Or yeah, even Dooce.

Hierarchy of Suffering. Who wins?

October 25, 2007: Ever play the "who has it worse" game? I hate that game. You win.

"Bad days are bad days. The hierarchy of bad is irrelevant.

Your life could always be worse. Someone will always have it worse than you. Seriously. But does that mean that we have no right to complain about the mundane? Hell no."

Ready for my Pulitzer? Favorite Posts

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