meaningless minutiae

I love small details.  I even have a whole section on this blog devoted to minutiae.  I recently told friends that some of those tiny things are, I believe, hugely telling about who someone is (for example, I love to ask what people, if they’re married, have engraved inside their wedding bands).  I think often of the Gail Godwin quote, which I’ve written about before, that “the more you respect and focus on the singular and the strange, the more you become aware of the universal and infinite.”

I don’t know whether our preferences are innate, learned, or some amalgam of both.  Some of them probably fall into each category.  I know that Grace and Whit, who are growing up in the same kitchen, have strong views on certain foods that are almost entirely opposed.  Which would argue, of course, that we are born with our biases (at least towards food).

Things I love:

the smell of laundry
books
flowers, especially peonies, ranunculus, parrot tulips
the mail (I still get ridiculously excited when I hear the mailman on the porch)
libraries
playground swings, bobbing in a pool, or skating circles around a rink (repetitive activities that I find soothing)
the smell of pipes (reminds me of childhood)
the Quiet Car on the Acela
the words luminous, archipelago, inelectuable, ineffable
Christmas carols
chocolate

Things I do not love (and I don’t say hate, because my grandfather used to say, “takes an awful lot of energy to hate”):

black jelly beans
flat gladiator sandals
broccoli
salmon
listening to the radio while driving with other people (or, frankly, often, alone)
strong lotion/soap/candle smells (Bath & Body Works is one of my nightmares)
the smell of cigarettes
rap music
fruit desserts of any kind

I’m curious, what are some things you love and some things you actively dislike?

 

My love of random questionnaires and of the minutiae of our lives is well-documented.  I do think that it’s in the tiny stuff that we can see glimpses of the entire, shimmering whole of life.  I also think that random details are just plain fun.

I found the Goop questionnaire recently and thought I’d close out July with my answers to the (lightly edited) questions.

Go-to weeknight recipe?

Have been toying with a whole post about this, actually.  We have some family favorites that include pulled chicken sandwiches, Asian stir-fry chicken with rice, maple candy pork chops, fish tacos.

First job?

Management consulting.

Next job?

I hope, writer.

Mentor?

My high school English teacher, Mr. Valhouli.  A couple of people in executive search I won’t name.  My first friend from my first job, A.A.G.

Hometown?

Cambridge, Massachusetts

What would you put on your neon sign?

Be here now.  Same thing I’d put on my tattoo, if I had one.

Wouldn’t leave home without?

Something to read.  Lip balm.  A hair tie.  My phone.

Essential beauty products?

Lip balm.  Moisturizer.  Mascara.

Wouldn’t fly without?

Something to read.  Lip balm (are you sensing a theme?).  A sweater.

Things you buy in bulk?

Perrier.  Toilet paper.  Frozen waffles.

Favorite book?

Ooh.  This is hard.  Novels: The English Patient, Light Years, Gilead.  Poetry: anything by Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, Adrienne Rich, Stanley Kunitz.  Memoirs: Devotion, The Gift of an Ordinary Day

First celebrity crush?

Hmmm … an 80s rock star maybe.  Peter Cetera?

Favorite movie?

Stealing Home.  It’s sad that that’s all I can come up with, I recognize that.  Movies are a real weakness in my cultural vocabulary.  As is television.

People on speed dial?

My mother, my husband, my two or three BFFs with whom I speak on the phone.

Preferred form of exercise?

Running and yoga.

Drink of choice?

Coffee.  Water.  Occasionally, wine (red, white, or pink depending on the mood and occasion).

Proudest moment?

The births of my two children.

Perfect Sunday afternoon?

A walk around the neighborhood, dinner at the dining room table, and reading in bed with a child on each side of me.

 I’d love if you wanted to do this questionnaire and share your answers!  More generally, are you as fascinated as I by the random detail, by the mundane minutiae, by the ways light catches on the tiniest corners of a life and seems to, momentarily, illuminate it?

 

 

 

I have long loved minutiae and believe there is tremendous meaning in the smallest things (“The more you respect and focus on the singular and the strange, the more you become aware of the universal and infinite.” – Gail Godwin)  I was happy when Casey Carey-Brown and Samantha McGarry tagged me to share five random things about me.

One: I really only listen to music in the car.  At home I prefer that it be quiet.  Right now I’m alternating between a favorite Christmas carol playlist and a new one of songs I love these days, which includes:

Orange Sky – Alexi Murdoch
Let’s Be Still – The Head and the Heart
Peace – O.A.R.
A Life That’s Good – Lennon and Maisy
Let Her Go – Passenger
Compass – Lady Antebellum
The Boxer – Mumford and Sons
Lost In My Mind – The Head and the Heart
Just Breathe – Pearl Jam

Two: I was a very small child.  I grew eventually – I’m not a small person now – but it was late.  When I moved back from Paris I started taking gymnastics lessons and the gym put me on their elite team until they realized I was 7 and not 5.

Three: I have broken nine bones (two bones in my arm, my ankle, three ribs, two toes, and one finger).  I asked Whit to come up with something random about me and this was his contribution.  I suspect anyone who knows me or has read this blog a bit know this fact.

Four: We had a guinea pig for a month when I was in grade school. The guinea pig was named Caliban (thanks, Dad).  This was Grace’s addition to the litany of randomness about me.

Five: When I was four or five years old I almost lost an eye to a wine press in France.  The handle of the wine press hit me right next to my eye, and I still have a scar.  My salient memory of the experience is of the winery’s dog licking the blood from my face. (this was Matt’s offering).

It gives me agita to think about tagging others, of course, so if anyone wants to share five things, please do, and come back and let me know!