tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48634174629091472572024-03-02T09:29:52.555-08:00a moon, worn as if it had been a shellwhere poetry, politics, parenting and disability intersectElizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.comBlogger4428125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-5904626621001211042021-04-28T11:06:00.003-07:002021-04-28T11:08:36.708-07:00Announcement!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJkZkoDdMo6JXjUHCm4U_Nsy897ga6b18ALtwhJZA3OdY7r8y94L9ODSv0ytJhOnLHarwIHpjiiCGkuR6y5o_GC-FUX339KJm55fw2KrZzJXuSZng_8GrwEtO5VxDT0C6eRB1cKPU3co/s460/vintage+announcment.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="460" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJkZkoDdMo6JXjUHCm4U_Nsy897ga6b18ALtwhJZA3OdY7r8y94L9ODSv0ytJhOnLHarwIHpjiiCGkuR6y5o_GC-FUX339KJm55fw2KrZzJXuSZng_8GrwEtO5VxDT0C6eRB1cKPU3co/w640-h384/vintage+announcment.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>No, I'm not getting married or pregnant or publishing my book. I got nothing as far as life-shattering events to share with you. I AM permanently moving, though, and will no longer be posting on the Blogspot platform. This blog will always be here, and I'll be visiting to use my sidebar links to others' beloved blogs and to update my reading lists, but I'll be writing on my Substack and not posting teasers here. Please subscribe if you'd like to read my stuff/drivel/<i>tiny little mother mind™</i>-- it's free and, I think, easy enough. I bat around the idea of ramping up the writing and maybe even asking for paid subscriptions eventually, but for right now, I'm all into the non-transactional thing.</p><p>I am grateful for each and every one of you.</p><p><a href="http://elizabethaquino.substack.com">Here's the link.</a></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-58877414676119152612021-04-13T23:42:00.000-07:002021-04-13T23:42:21.585-07:00Hummingbirds and Curse Words<p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0Vp3K87DUVg_8JIxE42DNNs-Epj9U-4ZCKSwZml9ENnGfOXdWwc7c3zYUOTGSVhXEOHpyxclrLppFk8gaQxnhIBHzmeRiujJuWFeR9BeGDXIC1jJbVAAC2O0s1L0ZxWD8HeSA1-6mFM/s800/IMG_9768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="800" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0Vp3K87DUVg_8JIxE42DNNs-Epj9U-4ZCKSwZml9ENnGfOXdWwc7c3zYUOTGSVhXEOHpyxclrLppFk8gaQxnhIBHzmeRiujJuWFeR9BeGDXIC1jJbVAAC2O0s1L0ZxWD8HeSA1-6mFM/w640-h458/IMG_9768.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">Let’s start with hummingbirds. That beauty has nested right outside of Sophie’s bedroom window. Eye level. I saw it hovering around the other evening and watched it land. I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes, but Carl took the photo. As a person who’s into signs and symbols, who’s superstitious and feels sometimes as if I could morph into my southern Italian grandmother, I’m wondering if it’s a sign. A sign of what?</span><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">Same drill, different space. <a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/curse-words-and-hummingbirds?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">To read more, please visit and subscribe here.</a></span></span></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-54811488026550732722021-04-09T07:43:00.000-07:002021-04-09T07:43:00.935-07:00Realm of Caring Magic Night<p><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29Bzlagofr6lQxHDgwKtbXswS6FrC-lDVdTTQamuNMy2poSoMd9Opgb2O9KRlfRRZNBRqs-ouhCtPfUQe4AAG-YgpGgHYcMVjdj4T8tu_6lFKVzfhfJWx1Rus2frl8mgOJvJkD11L8Fs/s780/fullsizeoutput_3a57.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="780" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29Bzlagofr6lQxHDgwKtbXswS6FrC-lDVdTTQamuNMy2poSoMd9Opgb2O9KRlfRRZNBRqs-ouhCtPfUQe4AAG-YgpGgHYcMVjdj4T8tu_6lFKVzfhfJWx1Rus2frl8mgOJvJkD11L8Fs/w640-h370/fullsizeoutput_3a57.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">I took that screen shot the night before last as I sat watching and listening and weeping and smiling through Realm of Caring’s tribute fundraiser. It was the one-year anniversary of Charlotte Figi’s death — Charlotte of the eponymous Charlotte’s Web cannabis medicine. That mighty child and her mother Paige, along with Heather Barnes Jackson, the Stanley Brothers, Ray Mirzebegian and many, many others changed countless lives, saved countless lives, including our Sophie’s. As one of the original families to use Charlotte’s Web, we were asked to make a short video to include in the night’s online festivities.</span><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/realm-of-caring?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">Read more here.</a></span></span></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-75865874137929444462021-03-28T08:01:00.003-07:002021-03-28T08:01:44.167-07:00On Waking<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMktdOqK9UkMnbw18QYPPLpi0if_v6_to1blLRDoSdsRmPxalUQ1vFxVyBHa6AlBFmOaxfOA9RqnM48PGXud7MfQNmgiLc23Cv469Rzlza1tHnVo_CCXO2FArwVZoEHQppz5bfmJu4Noc/s2048/i%252BTa%2525nr1TG6QhQLwsmhxcw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMktdOqK9UkMnbw18QYPPLpi0if_v6_to1blLRDoSdsRmPxalUQ1vFxVyBHa6AlBFmOaxfOA9RqnM48PGXud7MfQNmgiLc23Cv469Rzlza1tHnVo_CCXO2FArwVZoEHQppz5bfmJu4Noc/w480-h640/i%252BTa%2525nr1TG6QhQLwsmhxcw.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/on-waking?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">Check out my substack. Same stuff, different place.</a></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-85632319582190582432021-03-22T21:47:00.002-07:002021-03-22T21:47:59.347-07:00List for LIfe<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZu6tvUekWVV6EleefCp0yfFlZoTlOqxJDWJYtTbCzBP2KG2NyKrWgiH-zhhPxg-fzbNwmDr8BzF3pH5B2yFr1J-ZBHRzPgtyBOzbs9IeYGEwUkghJhdgOczXFfEdnlf5GjJLLivZoL5s/s2048/GflrtTNfQpe2Xx5EodLfeA.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZu6tvUekWVV6EleefCp0yfFlZoTlOqxJDWJYtTbCzBP2KG2NyKrWgiH-zhhPxg-fzbNwmDr8BzF3pH5B2yFr1J-ZBHRzPgtyBOzbs9IeYGEwUkghJhdgOczXFfEdnlf5GjJLLivZoL5s/w640-h480/GflrtTNfQpe2Xx5EodLfeA.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/list-for-life?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">Check out my Substack.</a><p></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-77325956320591489882021-03-15T21:16:00.003-07:002021-03-15T21:16:31.246-07:00Two Stories<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqm7lssMVfzHCxZYRX283drTGxvYRYshTMZBO3yzBnQ4kOxOy4p9GaENDtZBYrDqX_J3DujbZHFh3O_DankGDBHHFfcB0nVvzsZ1C2uJcmXLTE5WraQdSeKdJAAeH1HPhhqxTLmgD648M/s2048/IMG_8537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqm7lssMVfzHCxZYRX283drTGxvYRYshTMZBO3yzBnQ4kOxOy4p9GaENDtZBYrDqX_J3DujbZHFh3O_DankGDBHHFfcB0nVvzsZ1C2uJcmXLTE5WraQdSeKdJAAeH1HPhhqxTLmgD648M/w480-h640/IMG_8537.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I</p><p>Tonight I made a beef stew. I poured a bit of oil into a heavy pot and waited for it to get hot. While I waited I put a bit of flour in a large bowl with some salt and pepper and then threw the beef cubes in and tossed them until they were well coated. When the oil was hot, I added the beef in two batches, watching the edges curl and the flour darken and the spatters of oil and fat fly out and land. I turned my back on the beef and chopped an onion into medium dice and then I minced four cloves of garlic. I pulled a tube of tomato paste out of the refrigerator and rolled it up like toothpaste until it squirted out the top. The beef was browned in two batches, removed and sitting on a plate, the oil in the pot the burnt bits of beef then more oil and the onions and the garlic and the tomato paste stirred all together until <i>fragrant. </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/two-stories?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">Read the rest here.</a></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-59299770125209747212021-03-08T07:22:00.003-08:002021-03-08T07:44:16.841-08:00Happy 26th Birthday, Sophie!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPT9d6tfVz6WjTQQlmZ6_mS-EF3kknnRwYpfLtnkkv5Wo4GFc4X9zckIrxT7C5NTewaCRGTPGCwPXW7KDKh_mxlkOZr8U8LoNk9DQIhNNtFpWj35KOSK_B1FES9ZJ0pHrDuyfUMuAspc/s2048/fullsizeoutput_396b.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPT9d6tfVz6WjTQQlmZ6_mS-EF3kknnRwYpfLtnkkv5Wo4GFc4X9zckIrxT7C5NTewaCRGTPGCwPXW7KDKh_mxlkOZr8U8LoNk9DQIhNNtFpWj35KOSK_B1FES9ZJ0pHrDuyfUMuAspc/w640-h480/fullsizeoutput_396b.heic" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">She was born on a cold New York City winter night and made me a mother. She has shaped me, taught me nearly everything of significance that I know, has never spoken a word, her eyes dark pools darkness and light a tree-lover a mermaid a powerful powerful woman.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLAIXFvClf-Whk1v42eTRyr2dRaswiLRZTCN-yoh0HvX7qYlX4QlvsL_pUT4LIa3Q_pAaXTSuwihORAff1H9Qva-HaSVTMYWuQwJPuvoVnkuGSj-1pZrbRbbkCjy4ctOrg4PK_mMcX3g/s2048/Klv5Bx95Tya3dvndNkc6ww.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLAIXFvClf-Whk1v42eTRyr2dRaswiLRZTCN-yoh0HvX7qYlX4QlvsL_pUT4LIa3Q_pAaXTSuwihORAff1H9Qva-HaSVTMYWuQwJPuvoVnkuGSj-1pZrbRbbkCjy4ctOrg4PK_mMcX3g/w480-h640/Klv5Bx95Tya3dvndNkc6ww.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span><p></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-82231170883549600422021-03-01T22:54:00.008-08:002021-03-01T22:54:58.133-08:00Listicles (in lieu of writing)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHU2LU0UIPFX3aOspaopfKcOWVQPszZJ3vo7v9eoT-lvDtEFVshPO6rDM-3ZZhICOp0mfmNn1JYL7b4nM42vc4nfGcA_ijnBuQI_5IzuSEKtL4wJvaz_hWMZUIHc6szfBYscH-dxA3vkE/s2048/Z%252BuDoOeZQpKY4GHqw9x3FA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHU2LU0UIPFX3aOspaopfKcOWVQPszZJ3vo7v9eoT-lvDtEFVshPO6rDM-3ZZhICOp0mfmNn1JYL7b4nM42vc4nfGcA_ijnBuQI_5IzuSEKtL4wJvaz_hWMZUIHc6szfBYscH-dxA3vkE/w640-h480/Z%252BuDoOeZQpKY4GHqw9x3FA.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #23293a;">I haven’t been in these parts for a good long time, and I’ve got nothing. I would say that I’d sort of hit a wall, but I think I hit it a while back and am on the other side in some strange, new and very weird world. I listened to a review of a new novel written by a Very Young Author who got her start or her fame via Yale and then some really good writing of listicles. Everyone loves a listicle. </span><em style="color: #23293a;">What is a listicle? </em><span style="color: #23293a;">Carl asked me while we were driving to Huntington Gardens last Friday afternoon. He’s been doing a lot of the driving — ok, all of the driving — what with My Eye Situation, and while I’ve always hated driving with all of ...</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #23293a;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #23293a;"><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/listicles">Read the rest at my Substack, please, dear Reader.</a></span></span></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-54647305595946500652021-02-16T18:10:00.000-08:002021-02-16T18:10:00.633-08:00Planet Eyeball<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FfvE_wvbNtgpeZ28AaxbD2KSLRyGdZfL03AdR16ogSr3AsNtFxSAaZkJVFv5rxuU5jY_zuwiFUov2SPbmwk8I1yRjdm87spL3DDHaEtYY9_dTXHNy5PZEyinQjkczAt2LCFFrTP1G_w/s2048/Yd%2525KB21UQfaYmR3KcU3t1A.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FfvE_wvbNtgpeZ28AaxbD2KSLRyGdZfL03AdR16ogSr3AsNtFxSAaZkJVFv5rxuU5jY_zuwiFUov2SPbmwk8I1yRjdm87spL3DDHaEtYY9_dTXHNy5PZEyinQjkczAt2LCFFrTP1G_w/w640-h480/Yd%2525KB21UQfaYmR3KcU3t1A.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[medical photo of an eyeball on a computer, green and orange with a fringe of eyelash]</td></tr></tbody></table> <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My retinal specialist/surgeon took a picture of my healing eyeball yesterday when I went in for my two-week check-up. Those are my eyelashes and up to the left is where the retina tore and has been lasered. I imagined writing something all deep and insightful about the eye, how I'm looking at me <i>looking</i> or the eye is not <i>like </i>a planet but, rather, <i>a </i>planet, <i>the </i>planet, a globe of blood vessels, the macula, the retina, the optic nerve. No ableism here. Even if you can't <i>see, </i>you can see. <p>Take a <i>look.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Before I got my eye put out -- (336)</b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Emily Dickinson</b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Before I got my eye put out –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I liked as well to see<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As other creatures, that have eyes –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And know no other way –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But were it told to me, Today,<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That I might have the Sky<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For mine, I tell you that my Heart<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Would split, for size of me –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Meadows – mine –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Mountains – mine –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All Forests – Stintless stars –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As much of noon, as I could take –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Between my finite eyes –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Motions of the Dipping Birds –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Morning’s Amber Road –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For mine – to look at when I liked,<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The news would strike me dead –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So safer – guess – with just my soul<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Opon the window pane<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where other creatures put their eyes –<br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Incautious – of the Sun –</span><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><p><i><br /></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-wxfEPiEbjlDVkbrDrR05yPAPIKIdJUMUMruQyrUBixAW8Xh-zmd7wmc60bcj3a-TwUEmDYpJG9Inrw3SEwwdrN-k52VlvvtvhOX0fGSpi1xFgEdsdsZZhuwqIpyoiThZSSTT4iMVLw/s2048/kIbDG8owQxqNqgSKctRR0w.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-wxfEPiEbjlDVkbrDrR05yPAPIKIdJUMUMruQyrUBixAW8Xh-zmd7wmc60bcj3a-TwUEmDYpJG9Inrw3SEwwdrN-k52VlvvtvhOX0fGSpi1xFgEdsdsZZhuwqIpyoiThZSSTT4iMVLw/w640-h480/kIbDG8owQxqNqgSKctRR0w.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[medical photo of an eyeball on a computer, green and orange with a fringe of eyelash]</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p></div>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-24458888829739060222021-02-16T13:04:00.003-08:002021-02-16T13:04:36.177-08:00Ahoy!<p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gITp41s-aEGVoWpC0Ad1bCOQRq4L9qOooY6ZN0FPZjXFUyv68bBAEuY0Cw1fGlvoES0TzMQtr1CqrtEIa26UQxovZ16Ytphn98ZWPjpdJ0d_1BdcPtSTxs3MEkhgXUR40zekV4rTgR4/s2048/IMG_9172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1406" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gITp41s-aEGVoWpC0Ad1bCOQRq4L9qOooY6ZN0FPZjXFUyv68bBAEuY0Cw1fGlvoES0TzMQtr1CqrtEIa26UQxovZ16Ytphn98ZWPjpdJ0d_1BdcPtSTxs3MEkhgXUR40zekV4rTgR4/w440-h640/IMG_9172.JPG" width="440" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">The eye is healing, and I am grateful for that. The “bubble” is slowly dropping and my two eyes are working better together, but I still can’t read very well from a book or even on the computer unless I hold things right up close to my right eyeball. I’ve probably not read fiction now for the longest period in my life. No kidding. It’s been a weird few weeks. I’m depressed and trying to rest. I meditate daily and depend on the two Marias to help me with Sophie. Ave Marias. Carl’s been a dream, dropping in the eye drops four times a day and coaxing me out on walks. My sons sent me a box of chocolate covered strawberries today for Valentine’s Day and a note that made me cry. They are, seriously, </span><em style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">perfect </em><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">in many ways. Sophie is good. The world is weird. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #23293a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/ahoy">Read the rest HERE.</a></span></span></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-44625893772593949472021-02-05T17:06:00.003-08:002021-02-05T17:06:59.134-08:00Eye Can See All Obstacles In My Way<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuEPGKshENE9Fy9WU8K6iVUKucAWcScGpGsfboKmw0PadG_wV3DK50vBP74LEj-XgtdpYXqj3_b0eRQwnRDOd43il2DfeHauojpSXl-B3um-22zlDeAd8AhyjxLEV3wcpMHYqO-8fnPg/s2048/QK%252BUrHlTQLOQnw%252BpXgabyw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuEPGKshENE9Fy9WU8K6iVUKucAWcScGpGsfboKmw0PadG_wV3DK50vBP74LEj-XgtdpYXqj3_b0eRQwnRDOd43il2DfeHauojpSXl-B3um-22zlDeAd8AhyjxLEV3wcpMHYqO-8fnPg/w480-h640/QK%252BUrHlTQLOQnw%252BpXgabyw.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p data-pm-context="[]">The good news is that I was in the hands of a very capable retinal specialist who was able to repair a tear in my retina yesterday morning. I don't have any restrictions in movement except for bending down or lifting weight over 20 pounds or exercising for a few weeks (the last being, as those who know me, music to my ears). I have a very gnarly left eye and feel vulnerable and disoriented. I feel as if I were on the other side of a ViewMaster, the tiny figure that is being looked <em>at, </em>clicked on, passed by. It’s also as if I were looking out at the world from inside an aquarium, the surface line of water sloshing across my eye, dark on the bottom, light at the top, shadows.</p><p data-pm-context="[]"><br /></p><p data-pm-context="[]"><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/eye-can-see-all-obstacles-in-my-way?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">Read the rest on my Substack, if you'd like. </a></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-4364686811477948562021-02-02T21:17:00.003-08:002021-02-02T21:17:33.416-08:00Occhio, Oeil, Ojo, 眼, глаз, عين eye<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlDswtGW-ziZPsMR_Y1f5f56B7agFJDyGxLY7-BQY9821FbhqVkUC_AJ3vShEfoScMgiQY_EwEcddaiLRswk1B01fgvWIqqm7C38xpa7bzY_JtmYwjHtNP_6RN5wOw2fJaq7wl5B7Sx8/s807/eye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="570" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlDswtGW-ziZPsMR_Y1f5f56B7agFJDyGxLY7-BQY9821FbhqVkUC_AJ3vShEfoScMgiQY_EwEcddaiLRswk1B01fgvWIqqm7C38xpa7bzY_JtmYwjHtNP_6RN5wOw2fJaq7wl5B7Sx8/w452-h640/eye.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">Who among us — the myopics — knew that we walk around with elongated eyeballs whose vitreous can dissolve or liquefy, and in so doing pull down blood vessels to which it might be adhered or even tear at the retina itself causing a hemorrhage, a flooding of the eye cavity </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">on the inside </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">even while the eye </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">on the outside </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">is looking out the window, its host body sitting in the passenger seat of a car, headed to a nearby park to go on a hike on a beautiful Sunday afternoon? This is what happened to me, and while I am grateful that my retina is not </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">detached, </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">I must have surgery on Thursday morning to address any possible tears or rips. My capacity to learn new words never ceases to astonish me — or not “my capacity” but rather </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">the </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">capacity — retinal detachment, retinal specialist, vitreous, vitrectomy, vitreous humor gel, endolaser, gas-fluid exchange.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/occhio-oeil-ojo-?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">Read the rest here.</a></span></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-82591508196165508372021-01-26T23:45:00.002-08:002021-01-27T12:52:57.164-08:00Apotropaic Devices: I Will LIft Up My Skirt<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8TWObDsKRX7cm0xX1Zzh8jG0_G9BUdUbh293sPIr3X_K1I9q2lORo10N9Pkqs3bGcoSV6e-tv5ojpsEyi70-2hMHZrutKXqhYrXCEvKvKwF02sZg2USAk7o67UOvXePRS3twVXKE2Xs/s311/Iambe-demeter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="300" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8TWObDsKRX7cm0xX1Zzh8jG0_G9BUdUbh293sPIr3X_K1I9q2lORo10N9Pkqs3bGcoSV6e-tv5ojpsEyi70-2hMHZrutKXqhYrXCEvKvKwF02sZg2USAk7o67UOvXePRS3twVXKE2Xs/w617-h640/Iambe-demeter.jpg" width="617" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> <p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tonight I watched a recording of a lecture titled "The Vulva's Pilgrimage: Understanding Medieval Genitalia Badges." I bought a ticket to hear this lecture from The London Drawing Group, so in lieu of listening live at some ungodly hour, I received the recorded version and watched it tonight after dinner. The pandemic has made possible a number of things for me, and, no, I'm not going mad. While I've begun a number of <i>crafts </i>and even dabbled in art for the first time in my life, I'm not yet casting vulvas. <i>Yet </i>might be an operative word there. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/apotraic-devices?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">Continue reading here.</a></span></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><br /></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-43750030974849014962021-01-14T20:22:00.002-08:002021-01-14T20:22:27.694-08:00Shower Blur<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnzu7l6pZ0nSspX13qzOm-IcKopvEZB60PUKrdJ6JppmwKPqBIT6XUxr2ww2sQlsvoRgvh3XYeG44EqCiV5cFGEq3YoYlzfT8qN8GYJa4T4E7Ubqpb4vuRY9HRDnpo3TpDx1VEPjS_e0/s2048/pvPlxlwvR6%252BCZbbHKoAxRQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnzu7l6pZ0nSspX13qzOm-IcKopvEZB60PUKrdJ6JppmwKPqBIT6XUxr2ww2sQlsvoRgvh3XYeG44EqCiV5cFGEq3YoYlzfT8qN8GYJa4T4E7Ubqpb4vuRY9HRDnpo3TpDx1VEPjS_e0/w480-h640/pvPlxlwvR6%252BCZbbHKoAxRQ.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">I’ve sat down about twenty times this past week, intent on writing</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"> </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">something anything</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">but then I just don’t. What is there to say? Why say it? The word</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"> </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">meaningless </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">comes to mind or</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"> </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">less meaning</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">and I think of coded language.</span></p><div class="body markup" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 12px; word-break: break-word;"><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">The rest is on Substack. </p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/shower-blur?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy">Here you go.</a></p></div>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-68682351851705863052021-01-05T19:01:00.004-08:002021-01-05T19:01:51.614-08:00Cue Mrs. Braddock's Laugh Post #4,567,234<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHo2J9Hd6MbHFRcoQEWtL1M9FheMmDAsvYuTnyXPycaCL21yDenVLO4lTHG6FqBYZ-_NzaofiTk71InpbcqCETi-Kw4tFLLWI8wAkGaVSwRAxPYMeOO2qYnYWIt6QSEQjK5O2QYylSNE/s358/Mrs.+Braddock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="301" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHo2J9Hd6MbHFRcoQEWtL1M9FheMmDAsvYuTnyXPycaCL21yDenVLO4lTHG6FqBYZ-_NzaofiTk71InpbcqCETi-Kw4tFLLWI8wAkGaVSwRAxPYMeOO2qYnYWIt6QSEQjK5O2QYylSNE/w536-h640/Mrs.+Braddock.jpg" width="536" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Visit my Substack, if you're so inclined:</p><p> https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/post-2020-georgia-proud-boys-repugnakins?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy</p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-29540211386780588202021-01-01T10:26:00.001-08:002021-01-01T10:26:45.425-08:00Day One 2021<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEZuiAlKMIm10KsYuMPdAaVAXQjmWO3zgmyNKBuwZ4TfV7R1pB8sY_UekUvEh4t4hl9SNyxdiThZVNSipi3emTlMhcq8RFgVy9HVBzPem-xT9MUcKaal7ChHOgmIiggvt1lnsohXkUw8/s2048/KCLdU%252BnQRmu2RSKgrL6ndA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEZuiAlKMIm10KsYuMPdAaVAXQjmWO3zgmyNKBuwZ4TfV7R1pB8sY_UekUvEh4t4hl9SNyxdiThZVNSipi3emTlMhcq8RFgVy9HVBzPem-xT9MUcKaal7ChHOgmIiggvt1lnsohXkUw8/w640-h480/KCLdU%252BnQRmu2RSKgrL6ndA.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Good morning! The picture above is from last night when Carl, Henry, Oliver and I went to Santa Monica and watched the sun go down on 2020. Sophie was at her father's place, so the evening wasn't perfectly perfect, but it was pretty close to perfect being with three men that I love on the beach that I love. When the sun dipped below the horizon, everyone cheered. We drove home and built a little fire in the fire-pit in our backyard, roasted marshmallows and played a game on our phones called Psych or something like that. We drank champagne and whiskey and beer together and laughed and argued but mostly laughed, and it was about the most perfect New Year's Eve I could ever imagine during a pandemic or otherwise, to tell you the truth. I wrote down a few of my current fears and burned them in the fire, and when I went to bed my clothes smelled like smoke. When I woke this morning just before sunrise, my hair still smelled smoky and the moon shone in a band through the back door blinds. I stood there in my mind in the moonlight the year behind us with many ways forward, the rest of it, life, seen through the eyes of the heart.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBuKbJCqFtbql_b7f-CbiB3UDf_3kBv5od7X6aoTwNBPgzRGFFlwaQUm3lPMalho0enrXBmVQ3tbMxBVO-8IGfV3VU6sIt19hn8iCbYrwhyphenhyphenhgrPro0g_Ean_5Zj42xzdr4JXgin50hfY/s2048/%252BfsNIILnTvyVb9HWaXzolA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBuKbJCqFtbql_b7f-CbiB3UDf_3kBv5od7X6aoTwNBPgzRGFFlwaQUm3lPMalho0enrXBmVQ3tbMxBVO-8IGfV3VU6sIt19hn8iCbYrwhyphenhyphenhgrPro0g_Ean_5Zj42xzdr4JXgin50hfY/w480-h640/%252BfsNIILnTvyVb9HWaXzolA.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmu6NW2vhr6tW55e2W3-h9rgkmVXA-CSUJ7aIORY3V2LzWhZ1KuDlxbThRXn9SQdquDxGvMIiri6j1vLn6quVsxdHJFmErw_d_6LqK6XIV9ta_kMyeaDhbTgIRmt9ELGkheUWio5TL7xI/s2048/%252BIWcvIk6SwOoeTWCNjI0fw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmu6NW2vhr6tW55e2W3-h9rgkmVXA-CSUJ7aIORY3V2LzWhZ1KuDlxbThRXn9SQdquDxGvMIiri6j1vLn6quVsxdHJFmErw_d_6LqK6XIV9ta_kMyeaDhbTgIRmt9ELGkheUWio5TL7xI/w480-h640/%252BIWcvIk6SwOoeTWCNjI0fw.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gTTllM4q4nYQeOF0h9ybVBVUMGEf45XvprH55AOOwitXxkHNqLGJsygsK78JJwQVDMXV4Hzzk1FBXsveq8p5o4bFEQ7ZUYP7odyI4R_FAOugFZWaA798FailXWecdJzHtzNhtBdHHO0/s2048/21KhAKDcTQqqrLxHdb1dkw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBx2hb4J7o5iVbsAmrs6lOjIXBusSt0-5V2ykiTnkifiPOepBVCkUjvfdYP_QI_ke0z3079rVGGsIzrlqzMeok5AONwAPJJ-EAAnHANzfcnhaXxsK81zk8JCyy-HhyphenhyphenIrmfM1xpBK7czyM/w640-h480/%25255VtKbzWTQmnxHuO%252B5w5Pg.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIFshoLPoC2C9sO9sZQp2inR1V54z0uA_wc6fFqU1otoax5E33iBLR9sO4tb6K-uzAhyphenhyphenWO03J0R6q1VzmbI0Lhmi7AszQf3JwYZKG6iS6kY0dzmvvOCLLSmOt-mmzElfMOIcvwi85uhs/s2048/6K2BBMkRQS%252BB5PeWTx2BVQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIFshoLPoC2C9sO9sZQp2inR1V54z0uA_wc6fFqU1otoax5E33iBLR9sO4tb6K-uzAhyphenhyphenWO03J0R6q1VzmbI0Lhmi7AszQf3JwYZKG6iS6kY0dzmvvOCLLSmOt-mmzElfMOIcvwi85uhs/w640-h480/6K2BBMkRQS%252BB5PeWTx2BVQ.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtA-tb8aqLM12ay_m3R5MD_4QKlSj-ZXVpiieb0lvl7VdV2FcSfeB-AnZgpvYu3_97Wp6ssaKZlH2VPejLnRHmatJzijBBLGPkv36Cy7QFzgtKtINloAfpzwvYMnISNOqEdJY3m_ni3Q/s2048/V8lmvnHbTACUqwcAqsRVeQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtA-tb8aqLM12ay_m3R5MD_4QKlSj-ZXVpiieb0lvl7VdV2FcSfeB-AnZgpvYu3_97Wp6ssaKZlH2VPejLnRHmatJzijBBLGPkv36Cy7QFzgtKtINloAfpzwvYMnISNOqEdJY3m_ni3Q/w480-h640/V8lmvnHbTACUqwcAqsRVeQ.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-85511147350824702892020-12-27T11:37:00.001-08:002020-12-27T11:38:23.002-08:00Happy Two Days After Christmas<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKdpBEP4HE0A33oHyQq20QouWvGyaRw2M79ZLlg2__AbRTW4lTShN-qAUF6GX39EDjEBdRQxbIPMGuVK-I82CJo1sJ9Ox898p-CZ_5fmm6hHOWeRcy1bjxsqPacAbmfn-KtnHBrsEtOpE/s2048/X8SZO648SECSmFm0GDzvPQ.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKdpBEP4HE0A33oHyQq20QouWvGyaRw2M79ZLlg2__AbRTW4lTShN-qAUF6GX39EDjEBdRQxbIPMGuVK-I82CJo1sJ9Ox898p-CZ_5fmm6hHOWeRcy1bjxsqPacAbmfn-KtnHBrsEtOpE/w480-h640/X8SZO648SECSmFm0GDzvPQ.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There's been a lot of sweetness.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVh5b4zOUdJDr-6J5OKQEfHCqJQrj4dIkEN_mOpYj280hQ6ST1rRFY7Y_k9FH34yTXSidGOe4cv9MnDmB-Yoovv0_kp9VO2J_rM6gwmAX0clxnrDtDmkPloKYiN4bOy9JxR0c1-ELUi3Y/s2048/SSIEKNiXQtClMt6BXxfG7A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVh5b4zOUdJDr-6J5OKQEfHCqJQrj4dIkEN_mOpYj280hQ6ST1rRFY7Y_k9FH34yTXSidGOe4cv9MnDmB-Yoovv0_kp9VO2J_rM6gwmAX0clxnrDtDmkPloKYiN4bOy9JxR0c1-ELUi3Y/w480-h640/SSIEKNiXQtClMt6BXxfG7A.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And a lot of Dumb and Dumber.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Reader, what's happening?</div><p></p></div></div>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-26054524271463823722020-12-17T19:27:00.003-08:002020-12-17T19:27:24.708-08:00Bead-maker, Sea-shell people: Chumash<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQ69s95M6HShBfDvmEf_7SVTQWPY44JL6wWUfS1kIQZWdlLr5epFBx36SxV4wyYQk9ewtwK_qmeSutMWVaMmr0CQRKsK4gD8Sx-sFzgru62ryIVENphyn-WQCwuiyZ2owSSCYPlUMIb4/s2048/trees.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQ69s95M6HShBfDvmEf_7SVTQWPY44JL6wWUfS1kIQZWdlLr5epFBx36SxV4wyYQk9ewtwK_qmeSutMWVaMmr0CQRKsK4gD8Sx-sFzgru62ryIVENphyn-WQCwuiyZ2owSSCYPlUMIb4/w480-h640/trees.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px;">Dear Inhabitants of this Land,</span></p><p style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">This is me at this time: a 57 year old white woman living far away from my ancestors (primarily Southern Italian, Syrian, a smattering of Scotch and English) on your land. I know only a small bit of how I got here and what twists of fate and circumstance and stardust and love brought me, but at present I feel lost and broken and confused and overwhelmed. I feel obligation to my family — obligation so heavy that you — inhabitants of this land — are just shadows on the periphery. </p><p style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/bead-maker-sea-shell-people?r=1fjqd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR31l-nagEuOJXeBJKMbIme7wtRFtSZMfe4za71susGO5Q1lrnr529-7mAU" target="_blank">Read the rest, if you'd like, on my Substack.</a></p><p style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><br /></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-27321487903156829352020-12-12T19:00:00.003-08:002020-12-12T19:00:45.718-08:00Stopping and Watching the Leaves (Cimbrian Women)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUkhMK-6OxqBs346mbjU-8gLWPdoj7RiLaZTMyeyvCeq-s0CCQVciqI2BKwGZJzgB-qHgTVRXmUGSgN-_48Hiog78gzFz0Z6VmLYsop594qKAhrYsVwdS7TA0DAf8rO8iMPj31zNV3aqs/s1886/Cimbrian+women.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1886" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUkhMK-6OxqBs346mbjU-8gLWPdoj7RiLaZTMyeyvCeq-s0CCQVciqI2BKwGZJzgB-qHgTVRXmUGSgN-_48Hiog78gzFz0Z6VmLYsop594qKAhrYsVwdS7TA0DAf8rO8iMPj31zNV3aqs/w640-h324/Cimbrian+women.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">I bought a big Christmas wreath today at a neighborhood Christmas tree lot. I was driving around the big shitty, thinking about the coronavirus and the vaccine and why people are so stubborn yet so hopeful and my</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span><em style="color: #1a1a1a;">tiny little mother mind™ </em><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">whispered its disappointment in the spoonful of sugar mentality of my countrywomen and men who are most if not all all geared up to be cured by this thing and my</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span><em style="color: #1a1a1a;">tiny little mother mind™ </em><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">is just sighing and trying not to let the old ghosts run down its labyrinthine corridors with all those little doors behind which are all those little experiences. My</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span><em style="color: #1a1a1a;">tiny little mother mind™ </em><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">thinks</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span><em style="color: #1a1a1a;">gently</em><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">about the idea of Terrible America being capable of pulling something like this off given what’s just happened in the last ten months,</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span><em style="color: #1a1a1a;">gently </em><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">because twenty-five years have taught me to approach</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span><em style="color: #1a1a1a;">gently </em><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">that which is impossible, the better to hold and bear it along with all the good and beautiful.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"><b><i><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/stopping-and-watching-the-leaves" target="_blank">To read more please go to my Substack.</a></i></b></span></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-34902693514746509322020-12-06T10:06:00.002-08:002020-12-06T10:10:53.992-08:00Respite<p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtN-G9CdK_5e9QwM1lklXgLFh_jyt1R70J4ZpSgFAvoqR_sT6qzaaZqMAKGarrBECwEyQoeM0z8nWNAB7EznpQ_6h7b3ouPAwIurIkZiEZwLsxW6WcggBxzRhO6L6xDX8zDVeROiHm8Ms/s2048/dFpGq1xVSDqKH2PDTeUcIA.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtN-G9CdK_5e9QwM1lklXgLFh_jyt1R70J4ZpSgFAvoqR_sT6qzaaZqMAKGarrBECwEyQoeM0z8nWNAB7EznpQ_6h7b3ouPAwIurIkZiEZwLsxW6WcggBxzRhO6L6xDX8zDVeROiHm8Ms/w480-h640/dFpGq1xVSDqKH2PDTeUcIA.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px;">You haven’t seen much of me lately, and I’m sorry for that. I can’t say why, exactly, I haven’t visited and written. </span></p><p><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px;"><i><a href="https://elizabethaquino.substack.com/p/respite" target="_blank">Read the rest at my Substack.</a></i></span></p><p><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Spectral, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-46915954612275351492020-11-26T10:53:00.003-08:002020-11-26T10:53:27.340-08:00Thanksgiving<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZc1csvzfjk5OSr5JE2SUFya91duPXRIZtUA_Od4RwLrl0PO9V6npNtngPckTwknJ13KozUdu0h9R2-UcPnhT1YBJK3vPQzwJKQ6Y5EqCrHHIXyeb0G22IKhM4hzmdQzuKnOykt02F_0Q/s1600/Boys+in+Yosemite+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZc1csvzfjk5OSr5JE2SUFya91duPXRIZtUA_Od4RwLrl0PO9V6npNtngPckTwknJ13KozUdu0h9R2-UcPnhT1YBJK3vPQzwJKQ6Y5EqCrHHIXyeb0G22IKhM4hzmdQzuKnOykt02F_0Q/w480-h640/Boys+in+Yosemite+.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Henry and Oliver, Yosemite </div><div style="text-align: center;">2011</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them. Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life. Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer. Never take the first. Never take the last. Take only what you need. Take only that which is given. Never take more than half. Leave some for others. Harvest in a way that minimizes harm. Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken. Share. Give thanks for what you have been given. Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken. Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Robin Wall Kimmerer, </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Braiding Sweetgrass </span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></span></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-67281330097707846302020-11-18T22:22:00.004-08:002020-11-18T22:22:54.241-08:00Dysfunctional Resilience<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xJiSwnkRVmAu5v2iNcTWcOQxJoHnfuBhmOsRGzuDHUnnM8gH6FR9EP6QzpIPDopg2_C4jD-Amw3h4YbfyKnpY-MBPiPWHMdvutt4VG_dqphcAWt2hUchRS-GCNqDcUDtP8d3Duo41mU/s2048/abweu5swRoWW7qcHfWRMGg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xJiSwnkRVmAu5v2iNcTWcOQxJoHnfuBhmOsRGzuDHUnnM8gH6FR9EP6QzpIPDopg2_C4jD-Amw3h4YbfyKnpY-MBPiPWHMdvutt4VG_dqphcAWt2hUchRS-GCNqDcUDtP8d3Duo41mU/w480-h640/abweu5swRoWW7qcHfWRMGg.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /> Last night I was reading in bed and I heard a crackling sound and then again a rustle and I thought it might be Sophie but I didn't feel like getting out of bed so I kept reading (<i>Homeland Elegies) </i>but that was it, the guilt was creeping in and then I heard coughing a tiny cough a choke, really, so I lay the book down and got out of bed and walked down the hall the short hall and into the darkness of the room where the lady lay the princess lay gurgling. I don't know how to write anymore and remember writing these tales before when I used commas and semi-colons and short muscular verbs. Now it's all run-ons and no punctuation and stream of thought because after nine months of being at home and teaching on Zoom and doing all the usual things with Sophie like marveling at her hair and feeling her grace and changing her diapers and managing her medication and arguing with her insurance company and paying Nice Neurologist to write me scrips and listen to my suggestions for what we should do next, well, there's no other way to get it all down. I flipped on the light and Sophie's lips were dark <i>were they blue? was she breathing? had she had a seizure? where's the pulse-ox? </i>Let's make a long story short (the requisite <i>shall we?). </i>Sophie is ok so no worries all is well thank god (<i>where is god?) </i>and I sat up with her all night, you see, because I knew in that moment that had I not gone into her room at that exact moment she might have died. It feels good to type that out here in the public space that is this old blog for you dear Reader some of you well over a decade. I just knew in my bones that this is how it will happen but that it did not happen not happen last night. I sat up all night and then I fell asleep and woke with a start at <i>ten til nine</i> and Sophie was still sleeping <i>Sleeping Beauty </i>right next to me her lips red red rosed. I had to teach at 9:30 on the Zoom and one of the Marias was coming at 9:00 so I got up from the bower where we lay and made coffee and opened the door to one of the Marias who would be <i>taking over</i> for me. Where was I? My friend Noa from days gone by calls this all of this <i>dysfunctional resilience </i>and I call it a tale, a happily ever after, thickets of thorns and brambles and words and thankfulness to be alive, even now with no punctuation.<p></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-23040780690288525922020-11-07T21:53:00.002-08:002020-11-07T21:58:59.782-08:00Hallelujah<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgju0QYXBaw7JJj19FTMjgEPlhHYh5xwGfWC2daCAe7DkUV_jdJacerDoM7LLel8CaOtRQ8IBSbXpZg9RVr6pa3j0T1RcNz2vDJPn1C11y_YTCmo9yh0JUZnwAH0NFXG41GDshBmbOsKdU/s927/fullsizeoutput_362a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="828" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgju0QYXBaw7JJj19FTMjgEPlhHYh5xwGfWC2daCAe7DkUV_jdJacerDoM7LLel8CaOtRQ8IBSbXpZg9RVr6pa3j0T1RcNz2vDJPn1C11y_YTCmo9yh0JUZnwAH0NFXG41GDshBmbOsKdU/w570-h640/fullsizeoutput_362a.jpeg" width="570" /></a></div><br /><p> It was the best day in a long long long long stream of days, wasn't it? When Kamala came out in her white suit, the tears started falling, and I felt absolutely nothing but happy when she spoke and then Joe spoke and then all those people in their families walked up there and all those silly fireworks went off and for a moment -- yes -- I felt glad to be American and to be a part of it. I remember going to a resistance meeting in another lifetime, shortly after walking with three quarters of a million people in downtown Los Angeles on the day after Dear Leader inaugurated himself and we talked so passionately about grassroots activism and what we'd need to do to change things and we did do those things but damn the years went by and wore us down and everything, literally everything, that we thought might happen did and more and nearly destroyed us and did destroy hundreds of thousands of lives but we kept it up. We kept up the calls and the postcards and the letters and the writing and the marching and the protesting and the talking and the arguing and holding people accountable and calling out bullshit when we heard it. We stopped when we were exhausted and other people stepped in. We laughed a lot but we were fucking sick of it all, too. And then this week happened and it was probably the weirdest three days ever, waiting to see what would happen, hunkered down in our homes, stepping over the homeless, ordering our groceries, teaching our kids, wearing our masks and posting memes and wiping up drool and comforting our seizing daughters and reading Twitter and novels and Louise Gluck poems and not sleeping and all the while trying to wrap our minds around the fact that nearly 70 million people who live on the same land actually wanted Dear Leader again, actually voted for the man and justified their votes with their usual talk of pocketbooks and Jesus and Israel and socialism and godlessness and killing babies. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, yeah, I'm very happy tonight. It's as if a weight has been lifted and thrown off, far off and we're all ready to do what's next. We hopefully won't ever have to hear from a leader who not only mocked disabled people but actively worked toward and supported and put into place policies that harmed our children. I don't want to ever talk about him again. Tonight, President-Elect Joe Biden included persons with disabilities in his speech and spoke in complete sentences with vigor and not a trace of malice or threat or law and order. He spoke little of himself and much of those who'd put him there up on that stage in Delaware and how wonderful that bells rang in France and people shouted in Germany and people danced in the streets all over this country, this grand and terrible place.</p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-40467570531306957822020-11-05T07:09:00.000-08:002020-11-05T07:09:04.508-08:00Halfway<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp139aScWhXEiQQ1Oh5L7iL0IdF7rK4UATjhvfSEBBEO_Dc0w574We1eU6gqNE74QEvNy0P71PbIBzLO0d7jHEWHjq93M6nr1daMC8nK7Zd-o9toAG3rVGNxA8yeo_1A2Z4rW1EMM6k8w/s2048/Kiar6lrXQeeZdfyURq0mIg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp139aScWhXEiQQ1Oh5L7iL0IdF7rK4UATjhvfSEBBEO_Dc0w574We1eU6gqNE74QEvNy0P71PbIBzLO0d7jHEWHjq93M6nr1daMC8nK7Zd-o9toAG3rVGNxA8yeo_1A2Z4rW1EMM6k8w/w480-h640/Kiar6lrXQeeZdfyURq0mIg.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>On Tuesday night, when I saw 65 million people had voted for the man we call President in Terrible America, and after I'd felt disappointed then depressed then terrified then enraged then numb I threw the IChing, drew Hexagram 37 by tracing my hand writing writing writing into fingers and thumbs over palm, hunched over the tile table in my dining room. Hexagram 37 is Family (<i>What will become of us? </i>I'd asked). <i>Be certain, however, that you are not involved in carrying out a role for which you are unsuited, or a role that has been cast upon you. This will rob your life of meaning. </i>Every line of the hexagram changed, an occurrence that in the nearly forty years I've been using it, I've never seen. <i>Skip straight to the transformed hexagram when all lines change. </i>Look it up look it up look it up and then read Hexagram 40 (Liberation) which is sometime in the future so I eventually stood up minutes hours later peanut butter ghost redolent and walked down my dark hallway to the bedroom. It's a short walk but about when I'd gotten halfway my children smiling down from the wall of years the slant of moonlight disguised by the blue blinking LED light from the box over the door that waves in this constant stream of information to my room my sanctuary my sleep, I felt suddenly enlightened (halfway) not by ghosts or peanut butter or Jesus or hands or Chinese oracles but by my persistent unconscious which was screaming <i>exceptionalism is a lie. </i>It was as if a hand were placed on the top of my head palm down the fingers draped over forehead (halfway) my eyes closed breathing there in the hallway (halfway) soothed.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now it's Thursday and it's all a lot.</p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4863417462909147257.post-14154683649991299132020-11-03T09:08:00.004-08:002020-11-03T09:08:43.560-08:00Forced to be an optimist<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #191919;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRKvd2PLrk0j0rPzfZXStLh0hftWK-XRMtewK7tnsZpgef79cm9u41Xjj82fW2OkoikyX5Y7Z52sLnx1DoSS9vhn5TS4VFm7sgbzSUaonvy5R7CqSNWOAN_AHJ_Gv6A6iDYOqazeIBPs/s2048/fullsizeoutput_35c5.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRKvd2PLrk0j0rPzfZXStLh0hftWK-XRMtewK7tnsZpgef79cm9u41Xjj82fW2OkoikyX5Y7Z52sLnx1DoSS9vhn5TS4VFm7sgbzSUaonvy5R7CqSNWOAN_AHJ_Gv6A6iDYOqazeIBPs/w480-h640/fullsizeoutput_35c5.heic" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;">I can’t be a pessimist because I’m alive. To be a pessimist means that you have agreed that human life is an academic matter, so I’m forced to be an optimist. I’m forced to believe that we can survive whatever we must survive. </span></blockquote><blockquote><p>James Baldwin</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p> </p><blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8CFrCk6_0rM" width="320" youtube-src-id="8CFrCk6_0rM"></iframe></div><br /> <p></p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Let's go.<p></p>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.com5