our awesome world in photos

Our world is awesome.  Here are some pretty amazing photos of it:

52 days of motherhood

I've been a mother for fifty-two days now, and I want to remember this time, as every day feels momentous in some small way.  Today, for example, my baby girl started sucking on her hand.  This is both good and bad.  The good: it means I won't have to be her human pacifier anymore.  The bad: well, it isn't particularly attractive, for one.  She hasn't figured out how to suck her thumb or fingers, so she tries to jam her entire fist into her mouth.  But also, I don't get to be her human pacifier anymore.  And because I read this beautifully written piece, I can see how that could be seen as a loss.

I am not a warm human substitute for a cold silicone and plastic doohickey. 

creative class projects = awesome

I'm honored that Trevor, who is clearly talented and going to make beautiful films, decided to choose our cafe for his class project.  Here is his 30-second commercial of our shop.  Enjoy!

Bello Mundo from Trevor Hooper on Vimeo.

welcome to the world, aria!

I've been a mom for twelve days now, and I can finally understand what all of the hullaballoo is about.  My partner and I are deliriously in love with our newborn, and we love being parents.  For someone who really values using my time productively, I now just want to stare at my little one all day long.  She grows so quickly that she looks a little different every day, and while babies can't actually smile on purpose until they're about six weeks old, my little Aria has these involuntary little smiles that completely melt my heart.

You know those annoying people who keep sending you photos of their babies?  Now I can see why. As the parent, you think your kid is the cutest thing EVER to land on this planet.  Never mind that newborns are usually not that attractive and make me think of Benjamin Button.  I even said to my partner when I was still pregnant that I didn't want to share any photos of our baby until he or she was at least three months old so s/he could be sort of cute.  Ha!  I've shared photos of our little one from the day she was born and thought she was beautiful from the moment I saw her.

Also, as promised, and largely so I'll remember it, I wanted to share my birth story.  It isn't for everyone, so don't feel obligated if you aren't interested. :-)

ha ha ha

That's nature laughing at me.  I was CERTAIN I'd have my baby early, and here I am, five days late, with absolutely no signs of labor at all.  I was told if you were working hard and on your feet all day, you would go early.  Well, I guess I wasn't working quite as hard as I thought.

They say parenting is the most humbling challenge one can undertake.  You have all of these noble and lofty ideals, and your little one, with their own personality and ideas, just laughs at you as you fumble your way through parenthood.  So, even in utero, my little one laughs at me.  To think I thought I'd be a mom by the end of April-- and now, we're approaching June.

So, we learn a little more humility and patience.  Good practice for what's to come. 

everyday miracles

Hello!  I'm six days away from my estimated due date, but I'm still as pregnant as ever and wanted to share some pretty awesome stories with you.

So, this first one comes from the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), typically associated these days with "civil war, child soldiers and worst of all the systematic rape of women as a weapon of war." 

Not exactly puppies and rainbows.  So, when I heard about this orchestra, I was pretty floored.  I'll let the 60 Minutes clip speak for itself.  Enjoy.

If you're inspired and feel like donating, you can go here.

The next video is about a boy named Caine and his DIY cardboard arcade.  A filmmaker in LA was so taken with Caine's creation, he created an instant mob and a short to capture the "best day of Caine's life."  You can read about how the filmmaker found Caine here, and again, I'll let the short speak for itself.  Enjoy.

Caine's Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

And in case all of this is too feel-good for you, you can read about the benefits of swearing, gossiping and being a slob here. :-)

what a dad/son/photographer

These girls are adorable, and the story is pretty touching (from boredpanda):

If you are tired of posed, stiff and cheesy family portraits, then take a look at these incredibly creative pictures taken by Jason Lee.

Jason who is a wedding photographer started taking photos of his two little daughters back in 2006 when his mom was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The girls were constantly sick, with colds and coughs so he couldn’t always bring them to visit their grandmother. Jason wanted her to be able to see her granddaughters without catching their kid germs so he started a blog where his mom could see what was going on in their lives.

Most of the ideas come from his daughters – eight-year-old Kristin and five-year-old Kayla. Jason says that they are never-ending source of ideas.

Lee is a really talented photographer in his own right (you can see his photography website here), but it's really the spirit of fun and whimsy of this collection that I love.  Here are some of my favorites.  Enjoy!

music and maternity photos

My favorite video of all time is still the happy dance around the world (here), but this one (above) of musicians around the world all shot on 10/10/10 is also pretty awesome.  Enjoy!

On a more personal note, life is often funniest when it isn't trying to be.  I'm 34 weeks pregnant this week and 34 years old.  Tomorrow, I'll be 35 weeks pregnant and will be turning 35 years old this coming weekend.  Planned?  Nope.  Kind of a fun coincidence?  Yup. :-)

I really feel the older you get, the more quickly life zooms by.  Here's a time lapse video that I thought was neat, demonstrating just that:

I also just discovered these photo series and think they're a great idea.  Life as art, and art as life.  We've been taking weekly photos, too, to document the growing belly, but we have yet to do anything with them.  

Here are some shots from the original series.  I love the descriptions.  You can see the full blog/series here.

And here are some from the series I came across first (inspired by the above series).  It reflects the different personality of the mom, and I have to admit I cried at the end of this one.  You can see the whole series here.

unexpected art (from the diverse arts project)

This is reposted from the diverse arts project, and I hope you'll enjoy it:

Part of the appeal and magic of art is that it can appear (and disappear) at any time and any place.

I was recently reminded of a documentary by Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy that I enjoyed, entitled "Rivers and Tides," and how often beauty and artwork can truly vanish in a moment. Here is the trailer:

Accompanied by sappier music (possibly from "Somewhere in Time"), here is more of his work: 

Simon Beck is creating snow shoe art near Mont Blanc in France in a similar way.  For a sense of scale, note the tiny two skiers in the top right corner:

You can read more about his work here, but the short version is that this man walks around for hours and hours (nine sounds average), creating these amazing snow "crop circles" with the knowledge that as soon as it snows again, his art will be gone.

Another heart-warming story about the unexpected outcomes of art is about Joshua Johnson, a 20-year-old man from Harlem, who has been tap dancing in New York City subways to pay for college.  You can see him in action here: 

And you can read more about him in both the New York Times and on the Good News Network site, which shares the story of how he was tap dancing to pay for his college tuition and help his mother, who lives in a shelter-- and how he ended up on the Ellen show and receiving a generous check (and a pair of fancy tap shoes).

Yay, art.  And they say art doesn't pay... :-)

5 regrets of the dying

I recently came across this post and thought it was a good reminder for those of us who still (hopefully) have a lot of life ahead of us.  This was written by an Australian caregiver named Bonnie Ware who found recurring regrets as she worked with people whose lives were coming to an end.

I hope you will find something of use to you, too.  May we all live lives without too many regrets. :-)

REGRETS OF THE DYING

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five: