Marin Madam

Mellow Marin...my ass! I spent the day in Marin yesterday, and it was filled with debauchery, starting at 9am when I went to a copy meeting for a client. First category up for review? Women's foundations. That's right, bras, underwear, and whatever the equivalent of adult onesies are called. I will be studying these to write copy that will sell them, no double entendres and snickering allowed. I practically skulked out with my huge clear plastic bag full of D-cups and lace and ruffles.


That night I went to my sweet little Book Group in Mill Valley - formed of various members of the San Rafael Mother's Club - for a nice sit-down dinner and good adult conversation. Sounds very civilized, right? Sure, we sipped wine and enjoyed some fine food - and then out "came" dessert.


In case you can't read it (or have turned away in horror), it says "Your Day Has Cum". It is Pepto Pink, cream-filled, with special icing touches such as the white in the front and black around the...bottom. Now, even with this attention to detail, this has to be the least threatening rendition of the male organ that I have seen - it looks more like a toy gun of some kind. The flourishes around the base confuse me, but even better, I LOVE to think about the person decorating this cake, humming a little tune as they carefully place the swipes of black hair just so. And poor thing, it only seems to have achieved a dribble, although the volume looks sizeable - but hardly the money shot heard 'round the world. Wah, wah.

What do they use as a model, I wonder? A photo? I think not. This one seems to be from memory...or something.

To be fair, the book selection for this month was sex-themed : "Bonk" by Mary Roach. And we agreed to have a sort of GNI (Girls' Night In) in lieu of a serious discussion, so this cake didn't appear totally out of the blue - or the flesh-pink, as it were.

Still.

I think we have a Cake Wreck candidate on our hands, people!

Repurpose, Reuse

I decided the other day that it was high time to move on from my living room chair as my chosen spot to do my work. It was starting to resemble a homeless person's makeshift dwelling, with bits of food everywhere, dirty glasses, stuff piled all around me, and discarded shoes left on the floor to trip over. Plus, working in the living room was far too distracting for me. It's where I watch TV, read magazines, entertain people, and generally relax. Not very conducive to getting things done.

I love the fact that we have a full dining room, which is not always the case when you live in a city. But truth be told, we use it as such about once a year. We have never been people who sit down to dinner at a set time and talk about our day. I don't know what that says about us, but that's how it is. I am much more apt to sit at the kitchen table - to be close to the source, perhaps? So the dining room table functions as a dumping ground for all of the miscellaneous "to deal with" stuff in our lives - presents to wrap, bills, invitations to respond to, etc.

Cleaning off the dining room table was cathartic. I realized how disorganized and cluttered I had become. Putting it in order felt great, and before I knew it, I had set up a "desk" for myself. The table had already moved from its center space to be flush against the window (left this way after some buffet meal, probably Christmas), so all I had to do arrange my things in an order that suited me. I dug out my desk set from my last job, created files, and did an inventory check on my supplies. I threw away all of the outdated and unnecessary papers (I have to remember to throw out theater programs - I must have found 10 of them), and put away anything I needed but wasn't using every day. After that, I added personal things like my iPod speaker, some fresh flowers, hand cream, and a cute souvenir that Olga brought me from her trip to Japan.

I love my new space! It's light, airy, faces the ocean and the trees, and I have a comfortable yet straight chair to sit in, and an actual surface to write on (no more writing on a hardcover book on my lap). It's amazing how much difference your workspace can make.

I have missed having a desk, and an office. That separation of work and home is very important to me, and I had let those lines blur. I can always take the laptop over to my beloved living room chair for some late-night surfing-while-watching TV (a terrible habit and time suck, don't do it), but I love thinking that I can shut it down and step away from it.

Today I started off my day answering emails, and then I checked in with Jen Lancaster's blog for a laugh and some writers' camaraderie. Her post on writers' block and procrastination made me laugh out loud.

It's not a conventional office, but it works for me. Come 5pm, you'll find me in the living room chair, probably with a glass of wine. Until then, I'll be at my desk.

Journaling

I found this piece of writing that I had written during a workshop last month. It reminded me of how much you can learn about yourself just from the exercise of putting thought onto paper. The assignment was to go to a place in your mind and write about what you saw there.

I was in an open field surrounded by trees, and when I left the field to go walking, each direction led to the different departments of my mind. Some were bright and sunny and this is where I found my friends. Some were very still and somber and this is where my thoughts were with things that were sad like my great-uncle dying. The most scary area for me was the darkness, and this is where I journey alone without friends and family. This is where I step in with only me as my guide and I have to trust myself and have faith that I will find my way. It feels like walking in the dark and I don't know what is around me. But there is a part of me that likes this, too. Because I do know myself, and in that sense, it's familiar.

I have copied it here exactly as I wrote it. One thing that I found interesting after having read it again, is that when I talked about going into the darkness alone, I switched from past to present tense. I don't think this was a mere grammatical error - I think that it is in that part of my mind where I am presently (perhaps not fully in it yet, at least standing at the edge looking in), and where I definitely was in that moment.

Journaling can be wonderfully calming. I remember feeling very blissful after diving deep into my thoughts and emotions that day. I have to remember to do it more often, especially during the most stressful of times (which are the times I feel least like writing). Some of the benefits are outlined below, from the about.com website, with some links:

Definition: Journaling, though not an official word found in Webster's Dictionary, is a coin termed to describe the act of writing about one’s thoughts and feelings (on paper or via computer). Journaling has many benefits that range from stress management to sharpened mental skills to health and wellness, and more. Research on journaling has shown that it’s more effective to write about your thoughts and feelings surrounding a stressful event, rather than just your feelings or your thoughts alone. Read more on how to start journaling to make this healthy practice a regular part of your life.