random round-up

(Thanks for your comments yesterday. They did help. And once I gave myself permission to step away from the photos, I felt a lot better.)

People keep asking me if I had a good trip to Cuba. I find this a hard question to answer, kind of like the "How do you like motherhood?" question. The weather was great and it was wonderful to be on vacation. But it was challenging. Swee'pea was more difficult than I expected. I learned a lot on this trip. I learned that I can't take it for granted that Sugar D and I will just get along on vacation (although that's been the case historically) or that we'll want to do the same things (although that has been the case historically). I learned that I (sadly) cannot combine photography expeditions with family trips; I just end up doing badly in both camps. I had thought I'd be happy pursuing photography as a passion with a trip or two a year, taken with my family. But if that's not an option, what's left?

I learned that I'm a little bitter that travel photography as a potential career is so utterly incompatible with family life. At the moment, something like that would be my dream job, but I feel like there's no point pursuing it since I wouldn't have the work-life-family balance I need and expect. No wonder photojournalism and travel photography are dominated by men and single young people.

I also learned that if I do take a photography trip, I should do a lot of research in advance, and go with a sort of theme in mind, and contacts. I don't get the best results wandering the streets frenetically. For example, after my conversations with our guide, D, I wouldn't mind going back to Cuba to photograph the lives of a variety of Cuban women.

*******

Swee'pea had his first speech therapy this week. Reportedly, he had a great time and laughed a lot, and gave the therapist a hug before she left. Our homework is to spend the next two weeks compiling an inventory of his words, both clear and unclear (by far the vast majority), and word combinations. We are also to ask fewer yes and no questions. Instead of asking if he wants a cheese sandwich (dees mamass), we're to ask him whether he wants a cheese sandwich or salad. It's fine if he doesn't use a word to answer, we're just to give him what he wants and say the word for it clearly.

I'm glad she's asking for this inventory. I really think the problem is entirely with pronunciation, not vocabulary.

****

Eek! It's May! And Sugar D's birthday is suddenly only three days away! How did that happen?

*****

Why is good tv concentrated on Thursday nights? Why can't they spread it out a bit? I have, however, recently discovered "How to Look Good Naked" on W network. I found it flipping around and of course the title sounds silly but in the absence of anything else I watched. And it's seriously good. It's like What Not to Wear but it focuses almost exclusively on the woman's body image, and how what she perceives of her body is often drastically wrong (adding 20% to her silhouette or hip measurements). They also get her good underwear and it seems like most women have totally the wrong bra size. Anyways, if you have the slightest dislike for any part of your body, I strongly suggest you watch this show.

******



Ages and ages ago, Niobe bestowed me with a great big E for Excellent. I'm pretty chuffed that she likes me, especially since I find her so engaging and intriguing. I always want to know more about her but I'm too afraid to ask, so I just live with what she sends our way.

She also asked me to show a picture of my bookshelf. But we packed our books into boxes more than six months ago when we thought we were moving, and we still haven't unpacked them. I *could* show you my dining room table, which is mostly where we store our books right now, but I'm not sure you could see the titles for the papers everywhere. And besides, you've seen my dining room table before. (Hey look! My bookcases are in the background!) Sadly, it isn't much different now.

***

I don't ordinarily buy hardcover books, and certainly not on a whim. I went to the bookstore to pick up The Discipline Book, and found another book that I just couldn't leave behind. It's called Between Interruptions: 30 Women Tell the Truth About Motherhood. How have I not heard about this on blogs? Of course, the blogosphere could be 30,000 or 3 million women tell the truth about motherhood, but print publication seems to carry more weight out there in the real world. Anyone else read it? I haven't started it yet, but I'll let you know how it goes.

*****

Today I mailed my first cheque to the Stephen Lewis Foundation with half the proceeds from my Imagekind sales in January and February. Those two months raised more than $60. Yay, you!! (I won't have any earnings to contribute from April, but I have put the photos from Cuba that I shared in the slideshow yesterday up for sale, so if you're interested in a print or a card...)