Less is More?

I've entered a new phase in life. Granted, I don't know what that phase is, but somehow my calendar is a little fuller these days ... and my motivation to blog is a little less. Maybe I'm not doing as many embarrassing things worth chronicling - though I doubt that since I'm generally the dumbest person I know. Or maybe I'm just out of stuff to share.

When I started my blog almost two years ago, it was mostly for family and friends. My posts were random and sporadic at best. A year ago, I decided to use it as a writing exercise. I wanted to hone my columnist skills by write FIVE posts a week. So now my blog is still random, but consistent. And my writing has improved, along with my readership.

But now that I know I can do it, I don't really feel such a need to write as often. In fact, I sometimes feel like my posts are really stretching for material, and personally I always prefer quality over quantity. Except when it comes to clothes, I would seriously prefer a lot of cheap, trendy clothes to a small wardrobe of high-quality clothes. Actually, I'd really like a closet full of lots of high-quality clothes. Can anyone make that happen for me?

Most of you don't write every day. Some of you write a few times a week, some of you write a few times a month (if even). I know this because, YES, I do read all of your blogs faithfully even if I don't always comment. And, YES, that does take a lot of time that should be spent scrubbing my toilet. And, NO, I won't be stopping any time soon.

So here are my questions for you because I like to ask questions. I mean, I used to be a reporter, folks.

1. What system do you have for blogging? Or is there no method to your madness?

2. How do you decide something is post-worthy?

3. How would it make you feel if I only blogged 2-3 times a week? (Because, let's face it, many of you are probably sick of me at this point.)

4. What kind of posts do you like best?

5. Would you like to see Hot Topic Tuesday stay or go?

6. Crap! This would have made a great HTT. (Not so much a question.)

Save Katie!

I know this question is so last year, but I’m still troubled by it so I must pose it to you all no matter how dated:

Is Katie Holmes brainwashed or what?

Because while I do love her new ‘do - which I recently replicated - and am convinced she is happily mothering Suri and her head of hair, I’m totally disturbed how she went from low-key Catholic girl to a couture-wearing Scientologist.

Blame Tom. Blame Posh. Blame Dawson for all I care. Just tell me if her high-fashion transformation is a natural evolution, a coping mechanism or a cry for help!

I can’t decide.

* Perhaps my concern has to do with the fact she bears an uncanny resemblance to my own sister. Those who know Mrs. Gee should bear testimony below.

a distant shimmer

Sometimes when you force yourself to watch a few minutes of The Singing Bee before feeling a little sick to your stomach, you are ordered by Mr. Dub to make a more palatable playlist while he is busy creating a collage.

And sometimes these are the songs you pick, just because they're sentimental favorites ... and few new sounds:

Veruca Salt & Franck Black - Vincent Delerm

On The Radio - Regina Spektor

Feel The Pain - Dinosaur Jr.

Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) - The White Stripes

Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente!

Sleep The Clock Around - Belle & Sebastian

I Know - Fiona Apple

Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead

American Tune - Paul Simon

Is This Love? - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

Do You Realize?? - The Flaming Lips

Heartbeats - Jose Gonzalez

Bright as Yellow - The Innocence Mission

Lullaby - The Cure

When They Really Get To Know You They’ll Run - Pedro The Lion

The Story - Brandi Carlile

Caring is Creepy - The Shins

Seven - Sunny Day Real Estate

Rue St. Vincent - Wes Anderson

What is your most sentimental tune?

(Mine is Here Comes your Man by the Pixies, but it just didn't jive with my mellow mix, which I dubbed, "a distant shimmer" for no real reason other than it makes my random playlist seem cooler.)

Oh and what's the new song you can't get enough of? I must admit, last month it was Fergie's Glamorous. Mostly because I want to know what "flossy" means.

Sometimes I have more in common with Singing Bee viewers than I'd like to think.

Time to Say Goodbye?

The back-to-school pic is making its rounds in the blogosphere – So-and-So’s five-year-old is off to his first day of kindergarten, That Gal’s seven-year-old is braving second grade. They’ve got their best outfits on, their brand new backpacks basically empty but ever-present (and beside them on wheels because for some reason that’s cool) and they boast smiles from here to Kudumulagumma – a city in India home to 11,200 people, none of whom I know.

They are cute. And they bring back a wave of nostalgia for me of all of my first days of school: the nerves, the dread, the sheer specialness of the day. But try as I might, I just can’t convince Mr. Dub to pose for a first day of school pic. And I dare not take one of Miss Dub because I’m sure I’d break into hysterics at the thought she’ll be leaving me in five short years. (Or is it four? How the heck do they determine the cutoff?)

There is no back to school for us here at the Dub residence, although today is the end of summer in one regard because Mr. Dub will return to normal business hours next Tuesday after a three joyous months of “summer hours.” (Translation: Working an extra hour every day so you can get off at noon on Friday.)

Summer hours have been awesome. I’ve always been one to drag out the weekend, calling Friday, “Little Saturday” and Thursday, “Little Friday.” And summer hours made this even easier because we could get in some extra Saturday every Friday. Still with me?

Because us Mormons, while happy to oblige, don’t get to use Sunday as a sequel to Saturday. We choose to treat it differently, which means there’s no shopping, no spending, no swimming, etc. So that leaves us with A LOT to do on Saturday. And balancing fun and chores can sometimes get complicated, which is why using Friday as a prequel to Saturday is so ingenuous.

So it’s very bittersweet for me to say goodbye to summer hours. On one hand, as I mentioned yesterday, there is this new strange part of me that is looking forward to fall. (I think I’m going through seasonal puberty or something.) But on the other hand, I liked having Mr. Dub a few extra daylight hours a week.

And don’t you dare tell me that summer is over just because summer hours are done or because your kids have already posed for their back-to-school pics. First, Labor Day isn’t until Monday and if people are wearing white pants it’s either still summer or still 1983. Also, I am still more than a week away from my two week summer vacation to Southern California. And while the calendar may say September, I say two week vacations are a very summery thing to do.

But what do you really think?

Is summer over? And how do you feel if it is?

Did you live it up, or are you loaded with regrets?

I wouldn’t know yet. It’s still summer here.

Seasonal Oppresion

QUESTION:

If someone told you had to choose between the following or you'd get no dessert - and I know of no greater threat - what would you pick:


A very cold winter

or

A very hot summer?


Because I used to be all about the latter until I met HUMIDITY. And now I'm thinking winter is looking better every day. Then again, it's still a humid cold.

Stupid moisture!

Or is it five?

Question: How many trips to Target in one week is too many?

'Cause I think my enthusiasm might start to wane the fourth time ... slightly.

(Fun fact: I once went to Target THREE times in one day.)

What is it about T-Town that we loOoVe so much?

(Fun fact: Mr. Dub doesn't understand the purpose of the capital "O" in loOoVe.)

Q & Q

“Is Miss Dub teething?”

“Should I cut my hair?”

“Is short hair easier or harder to do than long hair?”

“What character from ‘The Office’ should I dress up like for our ‘Office’ marathon party tonight?”

“Is it appropriate to call the gathering of two married people a party?”

“On a scale of 1-10, how cute is this picture of Miss Dub?”

“Do I give it a 10 for the jazzerific-ness of it or do I deduct points for her eyes being closed?”

“What the guy is The Dharma Intiative?”

“Why is it so weird that I use the word ‘guy’ to mean anything I want it to?”

“How do you submit a new definition to the dictionary?”

“When are Mr. Dub and/or my sister going to start a blog?”

“Why are Mr. Dub and/or my sister so guy smart?”

“Do I really need to go to the grocery store as much as I do?”

“When Graco made this stroller did they know what I would use it for the most?”

“Is Target my guardian angel?”