Talking Tuesday: Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby

Since I'm getting ready to start writing a story based on these song lyrics by Edie Brickell, I thought it would be nice to post them here today.  You can read an excerpt of the story over at my other blog.

Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby
by Edie Brickell

Thrown off the bridge
To the river by the ridge
Was the iron mountain baby

A man walking by
Said he heard a little cry
And he found him in a suitcase

Fifty feet down from the train to the ground
It's a miracle that he survived
What are the chances that a man would be standin' there
And take him home to his wife

Sarah Jane
Sarah Jane
Be a mama to the boy from the train

Five days old with a hand that could hold in a grip around your finger
Old Sarah Jane no she never did complain 'cause she loved the little
Stranger

She brought him back to health
And she kept him for herself
When some women tried to claim him

"If you'd been a good mama then you never would've wanna
Gone and thrown him off of the train then"

Sarah Jane
Sarah Jane
Be a mama to the boy from the train

Woo oo baby!
Woo oo you're my baby now!

A picture in the paper
Showed the baby like an angel
With the savior and the suitcase

What kind of devil
Could have thrown the little fellow
Off the train in the first place

His mama musta died givin' birth to the child and the daddy went crazy
Got on the train with a heart full of pain and took it out on the baby

Sarah Jane
Sarah Jane
Be a mama to the boy from the train

Woo oo baby!
Woo oo you're my baby now!

A civil war vet went to see if he could get a bit of timber for a new barn
The number 4 sped from the train overhead came the itty bitty newborn

Woo oo baby!
Woo oo you're my baby now!

Pillowcase dresses

Right, so going to give this one a go anyway.  

Today I sewed something!  Well, two somethings actually.  I had this terrible homemade skirt that I bought at Buffalo Exchange last year for $5.  I loved the fabric, but the skirt was awful.  Elastic waist, boxy, too long, and too big.  Made me look like a whale.

I set it in my fabric box and promptly forgot about it.  Since I've been thinking about sewing things since last week, I've also been going through my fabric and notions to figure out what I have (not much, really), and I came across this skirt again.  I initially thought to make a blouse for myself, but set-in sleeves are very difficult for me, and I wanted to make something easy since I've not sewn anything for a long time.  I decided to cut the skirt in half and make two pillow case dresses for the girls.  I probably should have started with a tutorial, because it would have saved me a lot of time, and I probably should have ripped out every seam in the original skirt and started fresh, but I was feeling a bit lazy, and so there are some things about the finished dresses that aren't super professional, but they'll work for now.

The little addition I made was to attach a onesie underneath the dress so that they don't need bloomers.  I just took a white onesie, cut off the top with the sleeves, and attached the bottom underneath.  I did something goofus when attaching Birdie's in the back, so it poufs out more than it should (and I'll probably try to fix it tomorrow), but they are wearing them now!

The bonus was that the coral of the fabric exactly matched my calypso coral ribbon, so I used up what was left of the roll on these dresses.  I started to make self-ties and decided life was too short.

But for not having sewn in ages, and not using a pattern (I'm pretty pattern dependent usually), and upcyling something (I've tried and failed at that in the past), I think they came out pretty cute.  I just have to keep Birdie from trying to untie the straps constantly.

Oh, and happy birthday to me!  I thought that spending a good chunk of the day working on something tactile was a good start to disengaging with technology.  We are going out for dinner with the kids to Shake Shack, and then dessert at an ice cream place to be determined (so many ice cream places, such a small stomach...)  I'm just happy I don't have to cook or bake anything in this heat (which sadly, hasn't broken much yet--tomorrow, perhaps?)

QT: Summer Heat

--1--

I think it is impossible to do Quick Takes this time of the year and not talk about the weather.  So I'll just say it: gross.  We don't have central AC, and the two little floor units we have on the second and third floors are struggling to keep up.  The first floor is 83 degrees (the kitchen is probably around 84/85), and the upper floors around 84 with no help.  The temps at night aren't really getting below 80 degrees, so no hope of cooling down at night either.  At least we have ceiling fans.  The next few days are supposed to be awful--83% humidity and heat indexes around 105.  But then!  Oh then.  It is supposed to rain and then drop into the low 80s.  Which is still too hot for me, but at least we'll be able to open up the house and vent out some of this hot air!  And just in time for my birthday on Monday!!

--2--

With that in mind, my husband started trawling google weather last night, looking for places that were better than here.  The conversation went something like this:

S: You know, the highs in Montreal are in the 70s and 80s.

Me: So you're looking at weather porn now?

S (ignores me): Lows in Quebec City are in the 40s!

Me: Weather.Porn.

S: Oooh, let's look at Salzburg!

Me: *face palm*

--3--

We have a fairly extensive CD collection, ranging from blues and jazz to medieval church music to Irish folk and bluegrass with a little pop thrown in for good measure.  Sometimes I forget what we have on our shelves, but this morning I was changing Ponchik and saw the Putamayo Mali album and put that in the stereo--just the thing for a hot Friday morning!   (Plus it makes me think of the family members who live there).  Also in the disc changer is Steve Martin's album The Crow, and Zambian Acapella.

--4--

I wrote something substantial this week!  It's probably as distracted as my subject matter, but colicky baby + nasty heat wave = not great writing time.  The upside was that it provided impetus for a nice discussion between my husband and me.

--5--

A friend gave me four yards of a very interesting fabric a few years ago, and I've been waiting for the perfect project to come along to use it, and I think I've decided it need to become a day dress.  I've got this pattern in my stash in the basement, but it is most certainly not nursing friendly, so I'm debating whether to make it and just wait to wear it until nursing is over, or look for a more nursing friendly retro pattern like this wrap-style house dress from the 1940s.

I'll admit that my dress making skills are pretty rudimentary (I have no idea how to grade a pattern, for example, and a lot of fine tailoring eludes me), but the fabric was free, the pattern is in my stash already, and I have a good sewing machine, so why not?  

--6--

In other news, Ponchik has really filled out in the last week or two.  She had her 2 month visit on Tuesday, and she is up to 11 pounds 7 oz, 22 inches long!  (From a birth weight/length of 5 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches).  

Look at that chub! And just for the record this is my "does it fit yet?" dress.  The answer is, mostly.  I'm wearing some serious shapewear underneath, but that is a distinct improvement over a month ago when I couldn't get it buttoned up comfortably even with the shapewear.  I seem to be stuck at 12 pounds above pre-pregnancy weight right now, though.  Le sigh. 

--7--

I posted my creative endeavors for the week already, so nothing to add here except I'm still thinking about Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby story.  I'm also considering a 1930s rural tale; perhaps I'll just combine the two ideas!  

Trying to Find the Way to Home

We humans have a unique experience of time.  We have memory of the past, exist in the present, and look forward to the future.  We can imagine ourselves on the continuum of time, the line that moves through the sphere of All Time.  I argued in my master’s thesis that time is created by God, and as such, God exists outside time, in what theologians describe as the Eternal NOW.  If you want to think of it concretely, all time exists in a sphere—much like Earth—and everything that has been, is, and will be is contained within that sphere.  Now, linear time, as we experience it day-to-day is still present in the sphere, and runs through it.  But God is outside it, in eternity, where He sees all time as present. 

The trouble with post-modern life is that we’ve lost our sense of linear time.  The trouble with post-secular life is that we no longer see God outside it. Over the last decade, as the internet and social media have claimed a large place in my day-to-day life, I’ve noticed that my own sense of time has gotten more fractured and my connection the past more tenuous.  I am less peaceful and it takes longer to calm my mind and to find a quiet place to just be.  I have a long-running fantasy of hieing off to a remote part of Ireland or Scotland and just existing in a simple dwelling in the wildness of nature, in the simplicity of an older time, finding my way back to a clear history of myself, my family, my world. I want the past to inform my present, and I want to be able to focus on that which is in front of me, but I find I can’t.  I want to have a plan, make plans, and follow through on them.  Douglas Rushkoff argues in his recent book, Present Shock,

“[W]e tend to exist in a distracted present, where forces on the periphery are magnified and those immediately before us are ignored.  Our ability to create a plan—much less follow through on it—is undermined by our need to be able to improvise our way through any number of external impacts that stand to derail us at any moment.  Instead of finding a stable foothold in the here and now, we end up reacting to the ever-present assault of simultaneous impulses and commands” (Douglas Rushkoff, Present Shock, New York: Current Hardcover, 2013, p.8)*

The implications of that statement are rather profound: the post-modern, post-secular world in which we live is in survival mode, rather than in thriving mode.  Survival is reacting in the moment to whatever comes across your path, be it good or bad; thriving is the ability to make a plan, anticipate the future, and follow through.**  Our current domestic and foreign policy measures, social media, traditional media, and otherwise are all reactive rather than contemplative.  There is simply no time to create narrative.  To put it another way, we are failing to see the forest for the trees.

Why is cultural narrative important?  It is important because it helps us to understand ourselves, to give us reasons for the way we do the things we do.  It undergirds our community ties, and gives us commonality and mutual trust.  Rod Dreher writes on his blog:  “Stories work so powerfully on the moral imagination because they are true to human experience in ways that polemical arguments are not. And because the moral imagination often determines which intellectual arguments—political, economic, theological, and so forth—will be admitted into consideration, storytelling is a vital precursor to social change.” (Rod Dreher, Story Lines, Not Party Lines, July 10, 2013)  Stories give us a moral compass, a way of being in the world, and a way to capture hearts and minds. 

“Argument has its place, but story is what truly moves the hearts and minds of men. The power of myth—which is to say, of storytelling—is the power to form and enlighten the moral imagination, which is how we learn right from wrong, the proper ordering of our souls, and what it means to be human….Kirk understood that the world might be won or lost on front porches, in bedrooms at night, around family hearths, in movie theaters and anywhere young people hear, see, or read the stories that fill and illuminate their moral imaginations. If you do not give them good stories, they will seek out bad ones.” (Dreher, Story Lines…, July 10, 2013).

I think much of modern hostility and prickliness in the name of political correctness is in part a response to the lack of narrative.  It’s hard to agree on who you are if you can’t agree on how you got here.  The social media that now dominate our lives are more of a stream of information that you dip into and out of (there is no “catching up” in a stream, you must simply dive in and out), but ultimately leave one with a sense of important things passing us by.   I would argue that stepping back from the stream and sitting on the bank for a while would help us to slow down, reflect, make a plan, thrive.  That is where stories come in.  “But stories cannot truly come to the rescue of people who no longer have the time or trust required to respond to narrativity….How then do we maintain a sense of purpose and meaning?” (Rushkoff, 39).   It is tough to set limits on technology, given its pervasiveness in our lives.  Most people can’t function without their iDevices, and I will be the first to admit the easy addiction of a handheld gadget.  It is far too easy to allow our devices to control us, rather than the other way around.  And as devices are machines with programs, it is also very easy to allow ourselves to function as programs rather than as humans. 

“Our children may have their afternoons scheduled, but we adults live in a world that is increasingly understood as a program.  Where a schedule simply lists an appointment we are supposed to attend or a task we are to complete, a program carries out the actual process with us or for us….In the programmed life,…[a]ctive participation is optional, for these events will go on without us and at their own pace.” (Rushkoff, 84). 

Programming versus scheduling is the difference between typing an essay or story on a computer versus writing it out long-hand, or using an iPhone online calendar instead of a hand-written planner.  Delegating tasks to a computer or robot can be more efficient, no doubt, but there is also something lost by not doing it oneself.  I’ll be the first to say that social media and electronic communication allow me to stay connected to friends and family who are far away, or even to stay connected to friends who are close by but busy, especially since I’m an introvert and struggle a lot with in-person communication, but I sometimes think that the quality of our interaction has suffered some.  I’m distracted, everyone else is distracted, and it is hard to have a coherent (narrative) conversation.  We experience life as a series of snapshots rather than a larger story we tell about ourselves in order to understand ourselves.  To put it another way, imagine life as a never-ending conversation with a thousand toddlers vying for your attention.   It is hard to cultivate meaning in that sort of mental chaos. 

I’ve written a bit about the existential crisis of modernmotherhood, but I’m starting to feel that the existential crisis I continually find myself in is less about being a mother and more about living in a post-modern, post-secular world.  I have this dream that if I could just get away from it all, I could be at peace.  The reality is that I have four small children and a husband whose job currently requires us to live in a busy urban environment.  I want to be able to create a place that is out of step with the chaotic swirling stream of information overload and distraction, to find a place that returns me to simple narrative.  This is who you are, this is what you do, and this is how you do it.   When I was doing my PhD work in Soviet history, my main research interest was in social history: how people lived.  My interest continues on today because I feel there has been such a break with how people lived previously, and it would be good to get back to that somehow. 

So, how to reestablish these connections and create a sort of kairos time space in my day-to-day life? 

First is to set limits on my technology consumption.  I’m not an outdoorsy sort of person, and I’m at home with the children, so it is very easy to spend their playtime reading blogs, checking social media, responding to e-mails, etc.  I end up swimming in the information stream all day long, and by the end of the day, I’m mentally exhausted with nothing to show for myself.  I find when I do something manual (like stamping, or sewing, or knitting), it helps ground me, gives me something to show for my time, uses my creativity and satisfies a tactile need. 

Second is to set aside quiet time for serious reading, writing, and reflection.  I do a lot of good thinking while I’m driving, but I don’t do enough distance driving by myself on a weekly basis right now, so I’ll need to carve out some cave-time at home.  I found that researching and thinking about this little essay was good for me.  I wrote my research out long-hand, the way I used to do in high school and college, and spent several weeks ruminating about the topic before starting to type.  I also have a few more ideas swirling around in my head for future essays, and am glad to have taken the time and effort to put the right ingredients into the pot before stirring.  (Sort of like eschewing a computer for atypewriter).

Third is to set and keep daily routines that create stories: ways of doing that I can pass along to my children, but that are also connected to the past.  Most importantly, these things need to be compatible with our lives right now, as we are parenting four very young children, some of whom have additional challenges and needs.  For example, I’m not going to start churning my own butter, and I will still continue to buy most of our bread and using shortcuts when preparing meals, but I hope as time goes on, and our children are older and better able to help, we may move back into a more labor-intensive model.  I have fond memories of the things we did as a family when I was growing up—going roller skating, visiting the cabin in northern Minnesota almost every summer, the routine we followed while at the cabin, Christmas traditions, birthday traditions, visiting my grandparents and what we did while we were at their house, the games we played, what we ate, all these things inform my sense of where I come from, and make up part of who I am. 

Fourth is to make story-telling a priority.  We read to our kids every day, and they watch very little in the way of media programming, but I could do more to prioritize stories during the day rather than just before bedtime.  We should talk more as a family about the things we do and why, to create for our children that rich tapestry of history and tradition that will inform their own sense of being.

Fifth is to get away from the city now and again.  We try to visit monasteries several times a year (although I’ve not been for several years because of the babies), and I always find my mind cleared and my soul lighter after a visit to one.  Being forced to unplug is very good for me. 

Finally, I need to retrain myself read things carefully, consider my response, take time to do things correctly, with focus and forethought, rather than immediate feedback and action to everything that comes in my path.  (Though there is something to be said for processing all the information that comes across my inbox in a timely manner…) I need to remind myself to slow down, to stay present, focus on the person or task in front of me, and push everything else to the background.   I cannot give everything vying for my attention a piece of me; I have to be able to sort out what is important and fully engage it.  I need to value the real now, and in order to protect it, I need to filter, step back, and move away from the onslaught of information, imagery, and technology.

I realize there is some irony in posting this little essay here, a little rock stuck in the rushing river of internet information, but I also think it is important to post here, as a small story to myself, for myself.  It may keep me honest and remind me of my tasks.  Perhaps it may even help me find my way to home.

--

*I will say that Rushkoff’s book is very uneven and obviously written by a professional blogger.  The book is written in five chapters, and each chapter broken into small blog-size snippets.  The chapters themselves are uneven as far as content goes (I think his conclusion that video games will save us from the lack of cultural narrative to be hugely mistaken, for example), and his chapter entitled Fractalnoia makes absolutely no sense to me.  That said, I think he had a few good things to say about the loss of narrative in post modern society, as well as the inability to maintain linear time (what he terms “overwinding”).  The irony of his book is that not only will his intended audience not read it in its entirety, but that they will read it in distracted snippets to get the general gist and move on, a point he notes in the conclusion.

**I use the example of Birdie’s health issues during her first year of life as an example of survival vs. thriving.  We spent that whole year reacting to every health crisis, unable to make a coherent health plan, even when we had enough information about her condition to be able to do so.  We are now past the worst of the crisis, and are beyond survival mode, at least in this particular instance, and have started to thrive with regard to her health issues.  We have a plan in place to treat her condition on a day-to-day basis, we have a plan for when she has a flare, and we follow through on that plan when she gets sick rather than freaking out.  I won’t say that I don’t still have moments of survival mode in the midst of one of her flares—all the sleep deprivation and worry sometimes make thriving hard—but having a plan in place helps me to ignore the worst of the flying stress meteors.

By the light...of a silvery moon

Sometimes when I stamp, I have to tell myself to put my hands in the air and walk away from the ink pads.  Today was one of those days.  But.  I did get three cards stamped, so I guess that counts for something, right?  Ponchik is fussy and feverish after getting her two-month shots yesterday, and doesn't want to be put down for very long, and the middles didn't take a very long rest time this afternoon.  I was determined to ink up some rubbah today, especially since I've got several sets that have been sitting on my shelf since May!  Ack!!  They weren't even put together, that's how out of the stamping loop I am.  I was starting to feel all my creative mojo leaking out of my ears.  All I can say is that I'm grateful for Fireman Sam, a little Welsh cartoon I just discovered on Netflix.  It kept Boo occupied for about 45 minutes this afternoon so I could make my cards.  These are all based loosely on other people's cards (found at splitcoast), but I made them my own with a few changes here and there.  I wasn't too happy with the final results initially, but now looking at the photos, I think they'll do.  (Hands in the air, walk away from the cardstock...)

I used markers to color the fish and the seashell, and to add highlights.  I stamped the shell on Baked Brown Sugar cardstock to keep the tone of the card down.

Supplies: Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar, Calypso Coral cardstock

Chocolate Chip, Calypso Coral, Soft Suede, Pool Party inks, Blush Blossom (marker), Daffodil Delight (marker), Pear Pizzazz (marker), Pool Party (marker), Sahara Sand (marker)

By the Tide, Express Yourself stamp sets

Candy Dots (brights)

Paper snips

Dimensionals

This one just uses some sponging technique--it is a very fast and easy card.  The shell is stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock.

Supplies:

Sahara Sand, Island Indigo, Whisper White cardstock

Island Indigo, Pool Party, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Summer Starfruit, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso inks, Pink Pirouette marker

Chalk Talk, By the Tide stamp sets

White gel pen

1 3/8" circle punch

dimensionals

I think this one is my favorite of the three.  I used brayer technique on the top half of the card, and sponging/masking on the bottom half.  I didn't have Coastal Cabana ink, so I used Bermuda Bay instead, but I think Pool Party would have worked also.  Also, I stamped the shell on Sahara Sand cardstock, which mutes the color a lot.

Supplies:

Coastal Cabana, Whisper White cardstock

Summer Starfruit, Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake Soft Suede inks, Pink Pirouette marker (shell)

By the Tide, Six-Sided Sampler stamp sets

Linen Thread

Sponges

Dimensionals

Six-Sided Sampler

So the thank you cards I made last week?  I couldn't send them without a congratulations card (since it was for a baby's birth), but I wanted to use new rubbah, so I inked up the six-sided sampler and made this quick card in between diaper changes and refereeing kid squabbles.  This set is so easy to use!  I was worried it would be pesky, but with the coordinating punch, easy as pie.  I used a ruler to draw the box inside.  I've gotta say, I'm kind of in love with Crushed Curry!  It didn't make a great impression on me the first time around when it was an incolor, but I'm really liking it now as a core color!  Yay for color refresh!

Supplies:

Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White cardstock

Six Sided Sampler, Express Yourself (hostess) stamp sets

Raspberry Ripple, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay ink

Hexagon punch

Ruler

Raspberry Ripple marker

Foodie Friday: Vegan BBQ Tempeh Burgers

I adapted this recipe from Yummy Mummy Kitchen.  It wasn't exactly a hit with my kids (the boys were both fussed up about the avacado and the sprouts--I'll leave them off their burgers next time!), but my husband liked it, and I thought it was pretty good.  The only thing I would do differently next time is to use more BBQ sauce during the basting (perhaps saucing it in a small bowl would work better, as Yummy Mummy suggests).  You can also add cheddar cheese to your buns to make it vegetarian for non-fasting days.

Vegan BBQ Tempeh Burgers

Ingredients: 

6 Whole Wheat hamburger buns

1 pound Tempeh (I used two 8 oz packages of Three Grain)

BBQ sauce (I used Weber's Molasses)

Avacado

Red or yellow onion, diced coarsely

Olive oil

Salad sprouts (I used a broccoli/clover mix)

Panini press or hot grill

Cut tempeh into thirds.  Baste liberally with BBQ sauce and place on hot griddle or grill.  I grilled mine with the press down for five minutes, or whenever strong grill marks appeared.  If grilling, you may need to turn over once and grill slightly longer.

While tempeh is cooking, toast buns in toaster oven or on grill.  

Place onions in shallow fry pan and add a tablespoon or so of olive oil and cook on medium heat until dark brown and fragrant (about 7-10 minutes or longer if on medium-low heat).  

Remove avacado from outer skin and slice thinly.  

Assemble burgers as follows: avacado, tempeh, carmelized onions, sprouts.  Enjoy!  A little BBQ sauce on the side is nice for dipping.

  

A healthy feast!  I served this with steamed sugar snap peas, raw carrots, and a Romaine lettuce salad.