It’s quiet…too quiet.

I’ve downshifted to first speed on this thing, yes. “This thing” meaning “the internet.” I need to slow down, in every arena possible. I’m focusing on how I breathe, and my posture, and how a mug of tea feels in my hands. My son’s eyelashes on his perfect cheek. My husband’s arms and his serious determination when he’s cooking for us. The dedication of my friends, how they keep coming back. The love of my family.

Grounding is in order. Breakneck speed is necessary and wonderful sometimes. Now is the time to slow way down.

So that’s what I’m doing. For a little while.

Photo credit: lanraga. Used under a Creative Commons license.

Where I’m From

My great-grandfather on the right; my grandmother's sister bottom left.

My mother, far right, with (L-R) her sister, father and stepmother.

A distant relative of my father's; I want her amazing outfit.

Little fella on the far right: my father, with some of his siblings and aunts/uncles/grandfather/niece.

My mother, center. High school. (Stone cold fox.)

My mother's father and stepmother.

My father's father, front and center, helped build railroads in the US in the early 1900s. (Dude behind him terrifies me.)

Third from the left: my uncle Daniel, a cousin of my dad's. The church in the distance is where I made my First Communion.

My mama, twirling.

Down for a jack move

I’m pleased to tell you that Jack Move Magazine is now live! Rife with culture and vision, it is brought to you by a swarm of mad geniuses, the likes of which I could not be more proud or honored to have as contributors. I’d say more, but the truth is I’d rather have you check it out. Please stop by, leave a comment, and stay tuned!

See me, age 19, with some dumb haircut from 1960

This Working for the Man business is at once much smoother and much stranger than I’d anticipated. On the one hand, corporate life is a whole lot like riding a bicycle: there’s your computer, there’s the coffee machine, there’s the printer. On the other hand, in a short eighteen months my day-to-day existence flipped upside down twice. So yeah, a bit of internal gasping and flailing about, nested just inside the delicious knowledge that I don’t have to drive the whole damn train anymore. Dual realities. Surreality. It’s a weird sort of floaty thing. Which is serving to remind me that everything is transitory, including said floaty thing.

What’s next? A lot.

Between tenderness and brute force

Hitting the top notes, here’s what’s new ’round these parts:

I’ve been offered a fantastic role at a massive organization, and I’ve said yes.

What does that mean for the work I’ve been doing over the last year and a half? It means it’s going to have to slow down, considerably. One client at a time, possibly. What does it mean for everything else? It means more money, more mental space, more relaxing, more fun. More openness.

I’m launching a new magazine.

As of this week, I’m no longer part of Delish Magazine. Instead, I’m launching (with the help of a kick-ass group of contributors, along with my brilliant/trusty editor-at-large) a different online publication! Jack Move focuses on music, art, culture, style and real life. Look for everything from theories on fashion to first-person accounts; from interviews with legendary novelists, kick-ass musicians and massively talented screenwriters, to poetry and photography.  That’s all I can tell you for now, but it’s come together incredibly quickly and continues to sort of fall into place like a very fast and precise game of Tetris. More info soon.

I’ve moved all work-related content over to LitmusStudio.com.

Remember how everybody used to have a blog for work and a blog for personal? I’m going back to that.

What’s new with you, love?

And yes, of course it includes a reference to cute boys.

The excellent and kind Tanya Geisler interviewed me recently, and the Q&A is up on her site today. You can check it out here. Thank you, Tanya!