Flotsam, Jetsam and Judy Blume

July 1, 2013

Hi. So. Cape Cod happened. We came home more or less intact. I don’t want to render you comatose with the details, so here’s the short version.

 

A Working Vacation in Bullet Points:

-husband worked. I didn’t. I didn’t even bring my laptop or go online for 7+ days. This was quite liberating.

-until I came home to an inbox with 500+ items, hollering for attention. Fallout from 7+ days offline? Buzzkill City. What the Hell was I thinking?

-one disgusting, mangled toe.

-lobster, halibut, mussels. Repeat.

-Boston Marathon memorial, 2 days before it was removed. So many shoes and tears.

-Baseball at Fenway. THIS is how you fall in love with a city. Dear God, the people of Boston.

-Cape Cod is lovely. Especially if you own a sailboat, like to sail, enjoy parking your ass on rocky beaches, fancy toddling around town on a bicycle, or crave sport fishing. We aren’t interested in any of those things. Still, we managed to have a pretty good time.

-When rain descends on the Cape, it doesn’t fuck around.

-It is unwise to get into a battle of wills with a disobedient hide-a-bed.

 

-Yes, I did say hide-a-bed, and I slept in it. Hubs snores like a warthog. Desperate measures, dudes.

-Old-bag crone ladies don’t recover from trips easily any more.

*************Judy Blume Project Update!***************

Soooooo. It’s July 1st. I haven’t written my Judy post yet. Kim hasn’t either, and we’re the two hacks supposedly running this shindig. We have had such exciting and heartfelt response thus far, and we’re so grateful. Believe me, this project isn’t going anywhere. However, after a talk with Kim, she’s made me realize that perhaps this project is a journey, not a sprint.

I get all excited and shit when I love an idea, and I run in circles like a small hyperactive dog. I don’t really think things through–I just go. That’s where Kim comes in; the voice of reason. Thank goodness one of us can be a calm, rational force in this operation.

I came home to 500+ emails and about 40 of them (38 if we’re getting technical) were from people dedicated to this project, excited about this project, asking for more time.

Truth: the basic gist of the emails– “Was June the deadline? Wait, is June over? Yargh! What are you and Kim smoking? June means end of the school year chaos and fuckery and Hello! BlogHer is a’comin in a few weeks and are you going? {no}  BlogHer is a big deal and I’ve got paralysis just thinking about it and I can’t write anything right now. PS: What are you and Kim smoking? June deadline? Are you mental?”

Kinda sorta that.

In retrospect, we didn’t consider the timing re: deadline. We got so hopped up on the JudyJuice that we failed to realize that y’all have lives and kids and responsibilities out the wazoo.

I want to hear those 38 voices who haven’t weighed in yet. Judy deserves to hear those voices and I bet you want to, also. I hope so.

I’d love to hear even more voices, when life settles down and you find a corner of time to write. And read–because re-visiting my old Judy favorites has been one of the best parts of this project. Dang, those books read different when you are grown and have hatchlings of your own.

So Kim and I have decided. We’re giving you that space and that corner, and we can’t wait to read your words. Kim and I haven’t settled on a new deadline and we’re not sure if we should even go there yet. But what we do know is that we’re going places. This project has legs and it’s scary and exciting and baffling all at the same time. And we want you along with us in this spinning teacup ride. Please say yes.

 

xoxo

{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }

Killian July 1, 2013 at 12:33 pm

Fuzzy deadlines are the best ones for artists anyhow!

Rock on. =)

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katrina Kenison July 1, 2013 at 4:32 pm

You do make me laugh. We’re heading down to the Cape tomorrow, to watch Henry play piano at his summer job — and also, of course, to sit in traffic and to watch it rain for another twenty-four hours. But as you say, it’s still possible to have a good time. Loved this, and will think of you tomorrow as I tuck into my halibut dinner at the Quarter Deck!

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TheKitchWitch July 1, 2013 at 7:34 pm

Katrina,
How is it that I missed meeting so many talented and ferocious women who live close to the Cape? Ratters and Swear Jar! That’s so disappointing and now I’m shaking my fist in the air.

Where is Henry working? Did we stumble on/into his watch at the Wequassett Resort? The young people (shit, I sound old) working there were so articulate and honest and real. I loved them. Once you got them talking, they’d dish and tell you the truth, even the gory bits, and we know that’s the good stuff.

Enjoy that kick-arse halibut. Best thing ever, believe it.

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Jamie July 1, 2013 at 8:08 pm

Evidence # 1 million that we are kindred spirits: I get way over excited and mega-hasty when it comes to new projects/ideas/anything. Hence me banging out a Judy Blume “piece” (I use this word loosely) THE. DAY. you announced the project. :) :) :)

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TKW July 3, 2013 at 6:29 am

Jamie,

That’s why I love you! Another excitable small dog of a person!

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Kim Jorgensen Gane July 1, 2013 at 10:24 pm

MUWAH!!!!!

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Alison July 2, 2013 at 1:05 am

500+ unread emails make me twitch. Well, I know you read at least 38 of those.

I’m the same with new projects. Hyperactive, dive into it head first, smash head and hit reality, then WTF was I thinking? But still love idea. Sticking with it sort of person. Glad you’re sticking with your Judy-love.

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Rob July 2, 2013 at 5:22 pm

I love Boston! It is one of my two favorite cities. One of our first family vacations was to Boston. We stayed in a motel or hotel close to Fenway. We loved the Boston Red Sox as much as the Phillies (two different leagues). My parents went out to dinner, leaving me in charge (I was 10) of my three younger siblings.

Eventually, I fell asleep – into one of those dead sleeps that you don’t wake up from because you are young, exhausted, and have no worries.

Chaos ensued. The phone started ringing. Someone was knocking on the motel room’s door, and someone was knocking on the window. Apparently, my parents did not take a key with them, expecting me to stay awake until their return. Needless to say, I woke up confused and afraid. I answered the phone – safest. The front desk told me to let my parents in. Ha ha! What were they thinking?

I have never stayed at Cape Cod – only drove there before hitting Boston. But I love Cape Ann. It is very New England. Our son went to college on the North Shore of Boston, so we stayed in Rockport (on Cape Ann) often when he was in school.

I wish I could participate in the Judy Blume Project, but I am too old to have benefited from her wisdom to the young teen years. At that time of my life, I was reading things like “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden”, “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings”, and Carlos Castenada’s books. I also read mysteries and adult novels.

It was the 60’s and 70’s. A time when parents were too free-spirited for their own good – and that trickled down to the children. My family was pretty____ – you know I want to swear – but I can’t bring myself to put it in print; but I know you can fill in the blank.

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TKW July 3, 2013 at 6:32 am

Rob,

I love the hotel story! Ah, it was a different time, wasn’t it? Leaving a 10-year old in charge…

No worries about Judy, but there are several people who never read her as a kid who are reading her now, and their take on the books is fascinating!

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Dawn July 2, 2013 at 7:10 pm

You are making me want to do two things. 1. Go to Cape Cod. Even if it rains. 2. Read Judy Blume. Cause I must have missed it when I was growing up.

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TKW July 3, 2013 at 6:33 am

Dawn,

Do it! Go to the Cape AND read Judy! Just because she wasn’t a part of your past doesn’t mean that she can’t be a part of your present. xoxo

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Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes July 3, 2013 at 4:55 am

Wow that is some bruise!
But since my husband snores like a bear with bronchitis I’m actually thinking about the hide-a-bed too…
Fuzzy deadlines… are there any other?

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TKW July 3, 2013 at 6:34 am

Tinne,

Isn’t that bruise special? When we were out at the hotel pool, my husband wanted to crawl into a hole. “You know they all think I did something…”

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Rudri Bhatt Patel @ Being Rudri July 3, 2013 at 10:00 am

I love your vaca updates! I am smiling while typing my comment.

Grateful that the deadline has been extended! You rock.

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Contemporary Troubadour July 3, 2013 at 5:37 pm

That bruise is something else all right! I’m glad the injury wasn’t worse.

Is it bad that my interpretation of your husband’s “You know they all think I did something” went to kinky before it landed on the more obvious evidence-of-domestic-violence? (I’m guessing that’s what he was actually concerned about?)

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Justine July 3, 2013 at 7:21 pm

Cape Cod sounds lovely. Except for the mangled toe part. Glad you’re back intact though. I have a work deadline in two days, so of course you’ll find this seasoned procrastinator hangin’ out over here, devouring every word.

Seven days unplugged from the world does seem a little blissful though. I think I would love that. Or hate it. I’m not sure.

Speaking of unplugging, we’re shopping around for a vacation and CO is high up there on our list. When you get the chance – after your 500 emails that is – let me know if you have any recommendations for a quiet mountain getaway for a family with young kids (one of whom whines a lot when asked to walk further than two blocks.) I’ve been to Boulder/ Estes Park / Aspen and loved them all!

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Jennifer July 5, 2013 at 2:24 pm

For you guys that vacation sounds like a win!

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Naptimewriting July 7, 2013 at 12:21 pm

I want that extension. I need that extension. Deep down, in places I don’t talk about at parties, I know I might still miss the new deadline.

But this is a righteous project and I want to do it. I do.

How about a little finger wagging and threatening and whatnot? To get the ball rolling? Please? ;-)

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TKW July 8, 2013 at 6:43 am

Nap,

*wagging finger* “Get cracking, you slothful, disobedient jellyfish!”

Did it work?

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