Category Archives: Diversions

The stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.

Documenting the everyday

Today is #OneDayHH day on instagram. It’s a thing Laura Tremaine, formerly of the Hollywood Housewife blog, came up with a few years ago in which you take pictures of what you’re doing all day long and post them to instagram, kind of like what we all do normally but on a more regular schedule and with a cohesive hashtag.

I love the project, and this is the fifth year I’d done it! In 2014 my day was mostly laundry and schoolwork with the kids, in 2015 we were fighting colds, in 2016 we watched my favorite baseball game of all time, and last year found us homeschooling, going to the library and introducing Poppy to “Stranger Things.”

What will #OneDayHH have in store for us in 2018? Let’s find out!

7am | Everything Old is New Again

9am | Jumping Through Hoops (Someday)

10am | Proud Mama Moment

11am | Pre-algebra

11am bonus | Dad vs. Autumn

noon | on the road

1pm | NaNoWriMo in the Parking Lot

4pm | Meow mix

5pm | Dissent is patriotic

6:30pm | sustenance

7:45pm | Test prep

8:15pm | Blue steel

9pm | Cake o’clock

10:30pm | Good night, and good luck

Midterms matter

I was going to write something today about the midterm elections and why I think you should vote, and then in a Facebook post my little brother said pretty much exactly what I wanted to say.

Alright, y’all. Tomorrow is Election Day in America. Make your plan to go get it done.

Because there are a finite number of times in your life when your opinion really means anything.

Because it’s the only way you get to continue to be proud of living in a country that serves as a beacon for the democratic form of government.

Because it’s how you earn the right to complain when the government isn’t doing what you think it should do.

Because you will never regret going to the polls.

Because you get a great sticker.

Because it will make you feel part of something bigger.

Because I promise you that you will feel a great sense of accomplishment – and I’m not sure there is anything easier in the world that gives you a great sense of accomplishment.

Because most of you have the ability to use Google to find their sample ballot and then do ten minutes of research into the things that are on it. And if you can’t? Call me. I’ll help you.

Because you are a Patriot.

Go vote.

I also wanted to say this: I know the outcome of this election — even if it goes the way I want it to go — won’t make everything perfect. But it could make it better, and better is always good. Even if we just do a little bit better every day, that’s good. A lot of small, positive movements can add up to big, positive change.

How to turn a giant mansion into an alien landscape

Dale Chihuly is an American artist who makes ginormous, colorful glass sculptures. Or rather, he conceives of giant glass sculptures and then puts a team to work on them because a couple of accidents years ago left him unable to do the glass-blowing himself. His largest piece is on the ceiling of the Bellagio in Las Vegas — I’ve never seen it, but I’d like to because it looks gorgeous — and

I’ve been admiring Chihuly’s work from afar for awhile now, but Poppy and I finally got to some of it in person at the Biltmore Estate. Most of the works are incorporated into the gardens, and they are colorful and stunning and have turned the normally sedate, elegant Biltmore grounds into an otherworldly “Annihilation” landscape.

The Dale Chihuly glass sculptures at the Biltmore Estate will be there until mid-October, so you still have a few months to see the installation. My favorite local art gallery, Momentum, is hosting a contemporary glass exhibit until August, too, so make sure you stop in there if you’re in Asheville in the next few weeks.