Too Pale for Twilight

I recently went to see my doctor to check on my thyroid. Turns out I'm low in Vitamin D (hello, I never go outside) so I'm taking a Vitamin D prescription (in addition to my thyroid and iron prescriptions) and will go for follow-up bloodwork later this week to see if my thyroid, iron, and Vitamin D levels are behaving themselves.

But what do those three issues have in common? Tiredness. And paleness. So even when I'm content, I look like this:

I would try out for Twilight, but I don't sparkle. At least I have color in my cheeks. And I'm getting my hair cut and highlighted soon, which should help me not look like a member of the living dead.

And poor little Nate has my skin tone, I think. I'm looking forward to summer - fun in the sun (with sunscreen, of course). I'm really grateful for the mild winter we've had, mostly because it means our heating bills haven't been a nightmare, but I'm also just not in the mood for winter this year. I want spring. For the first time in a long time (or possibly ever), I want summer. I'll still be pale, but maybe my sunscreen can be sparkly.

In the grooves

A photoblogger I follow recently started using a film camera, moving "backward," if you will, from digital. When she posted the pictures online, it was so apparent that they were film and not digital.

(source) 

When music moved from vinyl to CD, purists complained that CDs changed the music, that you can't get all of music's flow and nuances from digital music because when you break it down to the most basic level, you're getting bit and bytes of the music, not the smooth, uninterrupted flow of the needle on vinyl.

I think photography is the same. A film picture feels fuller to me, more rounded - like everything is there. Digital pictures are astoundingly crisp (and I love that about them) but I think maybe life isn't as crisp as those photos tell us. I feel like years from now I'm going to look back and all of these digital photos are going to feel somewhat untrue.

My dad is a photographer so when I first had these thoughts, I rushed to my email and wrote him a long note and then kept checking my inbox, waiting for his reply. I'm not good at taking pictures, but I do love to talk about the art of photography.

A few days ago, the aforementioned blogger posted a photo of her hands holding her film camera. As I looked at it on my iPad, Nate ran over and said, "Pop-Pop! Pop-Pop!" My sister's kids make the same connection, too. Pop-Pop means pictures, so much so that sometimes I call my dad the "Pop-Pop-parazzi." But the kids love it - and I love having so many pictures of them.

While in my heart I might feel that digital photographs hold little lies or withhold other truths, they still hold a place, filling in spaces in our memories.

NabloPoMo
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tell us about your father.

Family faces

As I mentioned yesterday, my dad sent out an email for my sister's birthday with pictures of her as a baby. What followed was a slew of emails back and forth between me, my sister, and our parents, all remarking on how incredible it is that we can see so much of the kids in my sister's baby pictures - even my own son.

It's nearly indescribable, that feeling I got looking at a picture of my sister as a baby and instantly realizing something of Nate in her face. I showed one picture in particular to the hubby and he said, "Well, really, I see Nate in YOUR face."

Oh, right. I was in the photo but was just so amazed by seeing a broader family resemblance that I hadn't thought to look at my own face, but he's right, of course.

 

 my sister & me, 1980
(For what it's worth - in this picture, my sister looks like our maternal grandmother.
I keep expecting her to ask me if I want a pierogi.)

 Nate, October 2011 

I could look at these photos all day. Genetics is fascinating to me. It's science but it feels like magic.

Susie Sunshine

I was talking to a classmate yesterday about the other class she's taking, the topic of which is giftedness. I was telling her about my sister's son and how he's clearly gifted, but it's such a delicate line to heed, recognizing that while not putting pressure on a three year old to do more than he's ready for.

She was telling me about the different theories about where giftedness comes from - how it's genetic, but not hereditary, and how nurture plays such a significant role. In particular, we discussed how much of an effect one's parents' talking, vocabulary, and attitude had.

"Oh, well," I said, "My sister is both a Chatty Kathy and a Susie Sunshine so I'm sure that has a big part to do with why her kids are so bright."

(On a side note, where do I get these terms from and why do I put them together? Chatty Kathy and Susie Sunshine? I sound like I'm 65.)

Yesterday also happened to be my sister's birthday so my dad sent out an email with photos of my sister as a baby, including a couple from the hospital on the day she was born - actual birth day photos for her birthday. Included was this photo:

My sister - smiling ON THE DAY SHE WAS BORN. And this wasn't a fleeting smile, there are others from the same day.  (Aw, and that's my dad holding her. Love it.)

SMILING ON THE DAY SHE WAS BORN. I think that justifies my use of the Chatty Kathy/Susie Sunshine combo. 

7 Quick Tuesday Takes - faux post-tryptophan

Faux post-tryptophan because I ended up actually not eating much turkey (or much of anything) on Thanksgiving. I crammed five minutes of food in my face and then spent the rest of dinner chasing Nate off everything dangerous (mostly the stairs) in my BIL and SIL's house. But to honor the holiday none-the-less, I spent the next four days being as lazy as Nate would let me be (which isn't much).

So here are Tuesday's musings:

1 - I had two weeks to do my homework for tonight. When did I start it? Last night at 8pm. Some things never change, even when you're a teacher.

2 - It's not a good sign when you get an email saying the final project due date was extended to next week and you think, "Wait, that's an extension? So it was due this week???" and it's a total shock because you just have not been paying attention to the details this semester. Content, yes - I am all over my course content this semester... but the details contributing to my grade? Not as much.

3 - Nate has become a major hugger. He hugs everyone all the time now and says, "Awwww!" and pats you on the back as he hugs you. I melt every time... and I have tucked this memory away in my mental file box to pull out when he's 15 and doesn't want to hug me.

4 - I told my sister the other day not to turn 36 because there's just something about 36 that aches. I have regular aches and stiffness that I never had before and they really feel like they came on all of a sudden in the past few months. Is there something about 36?

5 - I was reading a blog post where someone said something about 40 not being scary at all and how women need to embrace it. My first thought was, "Eff. 40? Crap. That's less than four years away. Eff." Better start working on embracing that idea now. (And in my head I don't say "eff." I say the f-word. A lot. Just too prudish to type it out for all of intarwebs posterity.)

6 - I'm starting to put together the menu for Christmas Eve; we're hosting my family again this year and my goal is to have a simple but scrumptious meal. I may have stolen the phrase "simple but scrumptious" from The Pioneer Woman's Food Network show intro... but it works. Basically, I don't want to make anything complicated. As Carla Hall says in her intro on The Chew:when I cook I want my food to hug you. Simple, scrumptious, huggy food. And I'll stop stealing TV intro quotes now.

7 - Life needs to slow down. I need a week to just sit in my living room and stare at our Christmas tree and think. Do you ever sit in the dark with a lit Christmas tree and just think? I find it to be one of the most valuable meditative experiences in life.

And with that, on goes Tuesday. What's your quick 7 today?