answers
Ooooh, I'm especially impressed with the response to my swiped q & a post, especially for a Sunday.
And now, on to the answers!
bunny said...I know I am probably a TOTAL moron for asking this question, but is Tuvalu a REAL city? Or just a fictional reference to where you live? You live near/outside NYC, right? I know that's more than one question--and I promise I am NOT stalking you--I just always like to have a sense where people are on the earth, in general.
bunny, bunny, bunny, you are NOT a total moron at all. In fact, I get this question once or twice a month. After all, even when people realize that Tuvalu is a very real place they often find it difficult to believe that there is a Target, Ikea, or Plaza Hotel on the island. So they write to me and ask about it and I am forced to tell them, to tell you, dear bunny, that Tuvalu is a very clever pseudonym for where we live, a nom-de-place, if you will.
KmKat said: What did you study in college?
I went to a small private university where I studied The Humanities.
cindi & bill said: De-lurking to ask if you knit...I stumbled upon your lovely blog quite a while back & cannot remember how I discovered you.
I know how to knit but have not done any knitting in a while. I have been known to read some knitting blogs - perhaps I commented somewhere and you clicked back here to me? Anyway, nice to meet you.
ingrid said: What is your favorite room in the house?
Gosh! I don't know. I love our kitchen because we designed it but I'm fond of other rooms too. We've just moved our bed to a different wall and our bedroom feels new now.
Schmutzie said: What is your favourite article of fall clothing, a closet staple, that makes you look forward to this time of year?
Funny you should ask as I have spent this cold damp day in my Uggs and long brown from-the-thrift-shop sweater coat. I love having my sweaters back in my closet.
Is there a reason why you don't wear colours?
If you could choose anywhere else to live, where would it be and why.
Paola
I started to wear mostly black clothes in high school - you know, when kids go through that phase where they do that kind of thing. Somehow, over the years, I never really stopped. I realized along the way that I really do like my gray and black and white things. I don't feel like colors suit me...and where would I take my monotone wardrobe to live, if not here? If money were no object and I had no restrictions? I'd like a house on the ocean - maybe on the Cape, maybe on an island. I wouldn't mind spending a month in Positano each year either. But it's the sea that draws me.
Eliane said: What pajamas do you wear?
I have an odd variety of bed clothes...a long sleeved, calf-length henley shirt, a silky slip-like thing and some tee shirts. Why do nightgowns always end up tangled up around my waist?
The Coffee Lady said: Out of all these outfits you show us, how many do you actually buy?
None! I bought a pair of pants before I went to Italy and then the Wellies - but when I write about outfits at Anthropologie or Old Navy or somesuch, I never buy any of it! In my house we usually only buy clothes when we need them or as a present - never just on a whim because we really *crave* a long cardi from JCrew, for example.
Strictly said: Does Middle still wear the Quantum of Solace jacket bought this time last year?
Jen (formerly The Guider)
As a matter of fact, I laundered the Quantum Of Solace jacket just yesterday. Middle is the kind of fellow who will wear that jacket until it absolutely disintegrates. Plus, he loves it.
Little Miss Sunshine State said: How did you meet K?
I met K a very long, long time ago. At school. During his last week before he graduated. I don't remember the exact circumstances but I do remember him sitting at my table in the cafeteria.
Karen Dietrich said: What were some of your childhood favorites? -- games, toys, foods, books, activities, etc. I want to know more about blackbird as a little girl :)
I loved Barbie. I loved her clothes and her homes and all her tiny shoes. I had a bunch (but not dozens as I had my favorites) and I played with them very seriously for years. I liked doll babies too and spent long hours with a friend pretending they were our babies and feeding them tiny spoonfuls of hand cream.
You often say that nothing is stronger than your marriage. What makes it so? How do you guys keep that magic alive?
jbhat
That's a smart question and I'm not sure I have a concise answer. It may be that we are lucky enough to be in love. It could be that we listen to each other - or that we enjoy each other's company. Truly, though, it seems to me that when many couples face adversity they draw away from each other. That's never happened to us - oh, we've faced plenty of adversity, but we have always drawn closer together.
Daysgoby said: What do you do with all the apples? We've been eating them and cooking them as fast as we can, but I need to step it up! I still haven't done a pie.
Are your boys still really into their pursuits? Yep. Each one of them is still very busy with music/film/graphic arts. It's interesting to me that while K and I are creative by nature we don't pursue creativity every day - but the boys do...all three of them.
Are you still excited about working? I AM. It has given me a brand new life.
Tammy said: Long-time lurker... delurking to ask:
What is your best bit of advice for raising sons? I'm the mom of a 14-year-old son and love reading about the relationships you have with your boys. You seem to have found a nice balance of friend/mom. :) Be honest. Don't worry about being their friend - be the Mom. Make sure he knows he could tell you anything in the world - but don't press for information. Sounds easy, right?
Cookin'-in-Colorado said: Dear Abby-Bird,
I bought an Emeril Lagasse saute pan. It's perfect for soooo many things. It's deep, really deep and has a thick copper-clad bottom. Mostly, it's shiny. REALLY SHINY! It doesn't match my Caphilon Everyday but that's OK. It's perfect for omelets, sauteing ANYthing, and I can flip stuff in it like a crazy man. Did I mention it's shiny? Like a mirror. It looks great hanging in my kitchen! I kinda feel like a gorilla playing with a new shiny bauble every time I use it. The problem is cleaning the damn thing. I can't get the inside as clean as it was when I bought it.
So, my question to you, is it too early to start trying the Halloween candy I bought to give out? :0)
Dear Cookin: try a little Barkeepers Friend in the pot and then fill it with the Halloween candy which you should commence eating IMMEDIATELY. Dear Lord, it takes a WHILE to determine what is good enough for the neighborhood children!
AG said: Do you have a favorite post that you've written? What is it?
Although I tend to be humble about my own writing I also tend to think my archives are BRILLIANT. My airport post made me famous - and it's a good one.
How many of your blog friends have you met in real life? (Excluding conferences, at which I'm sure that number exploded!)
ErinH (not very lurky)
Hmm. I think I've met ten or 12 bloggy friends outside of conferences. I always get nervous about it. The last person I met was a fellow blogger who was stranded in Pittsburgh with me on the way home from BlogHer. It was comforting to look around, in the middle of the night in a strange airport and see a comrade in arms.
Eurolush said: Can you describe yourself in detail for those of us who have never met you in real life? I am 5'2" tall, I have L'Oreal Light Brown hair, presently cut in a short bob, and a pointy nose. My mouth twists a little when I speak, I have green eyes and small feet and hands.
How old is your dog? How did he come to be a part of your family? My dog is 14 years old - a beagle. Oldest begged for a dog from the time he was very small but I wouldn't have one in the city as I was unwilling to walk a dog every morning in my bathrobe. When we moved into our house we found a breeder a couple of hours away with a litter of puppies and brought her home in the snow. She has a very special bond with Oldest and still misses sleeping under his blankets in his bed. (He got too tall to have her in his bed comfortably.)
One more...Who is your favorite pastry-eating blogger, living in small-town Germany, with the word "lush" in her name? Just curious.
Who would that be? My pal EL - The Lady Lush! The Gem In Germany! The Pastry Princesse!
Kim said:
- when are you coming to Australia? Sometime after the trip to Paris and the one to Tokyo - or maybe as part of the Tokyo trip.
- You do know that when you're in Sydney I will be standing very close to you a lot? I might even hug you. So ditch any notion of only seeing me for one dinner or afternoon or some such.
And you say this because you know I LOVE it when people touch me a lot, right? As for how much time we'd spend together: FINE. You may have us day and night.
- what is the family's favourite standby dinner? Probably pasta. Pasta with veg, pasta with meat sauce, pasta with butter and garlic.
- what is your favourite food? Salty stuff. Pasta. Potatoes. I like to eat.
- what did you want to be when you were a little girl? Only one thing: a mom.
Catsteevens said: 1) What parenting advice can you give a mother of young boys, like myself? I love the way you have raised your children. They seem like amazing young men.
See smug advice given above. Please also remember that each of them are regular guys with issues and problems that I tend not to write about - but they are good guys, all three...while I'd love for everyone to think we did beautifully and that they are always amazing, it wouldn't be accurate. It's kind of normal around here, I think, and, some days, even kind of crappy, boy-wise.
2) Would you be willing to meet me if I happen to be in Tuvalu? Would you meet any of your blogger fans? I would be willing to me you (and would love to!) or any other of my blogger fans. You make that sound like a challenge!
Alice C said: All I want to know is this - what will you be wearing when I arrive at Tuvalu - (when I eventually do arrive) - I need to start planning an appropriate outfit.
Waitaminute, waitaminute, WAIT A MINUTE. Are you coming to Tuvalu? My heart!
I will be wearing some variation of what I wear every day/week/month/year: black leggings/tights/pants, black skirt, black turtleneck and an artfully tied piece of neck wear. BRING IT ON.
Miz S said:
I would like a picture of you in your glasses. Obviously, you won't publish a full-on pic, but how about a cropped pic?
We'll see if that occasion arises - I'd need one of the boys to shoot me and then it would have to be croppable.
Sue said:
Wait, you closed your comments ! Is your sink always sparkling?
Yes - too many questions now...and NO, my sink is full of dishes as I type.
Suse said:
I remember you saying once years ago that you would LOVE to have short man hair but K wouldn't have a bar of it. A year or so later you got the super short hair. Now you say K threatened to kill you if you got those glasses, and you got the glasses. So, given that K expresses strong opinions about what you should look like, what do you do? Do you just go ahead and do what you want cos it's your body/life/hair etc and his reaction be damned, or do you spend a great deal of time and energy talking him around and/or buttering him up?
Curious.
K expresses his strong opinions when asked - otherwise he never says a word or acts differently to me. I do what I want cos it's my body/life/hair and we spend no energy or time talking or buttering. If he had never seen the glasses and I had come home with them he'd have said: not what I would have picked but they look good.
And he'd be correct.
I do hope I've answered everything in a satisfactory manner.
We should do this again sometime.
xo
bb
And now, on to the answers!
bunny said...I know I am probably a TOTAL moron for asking this question, but is Tuvalu a REAL city? Or just a fictional reference to where you live? You live near/outside NYC, right? I know that's more than one question--and I promise I am NOT stalking you--I just always like to have a sense where people are on the earth, in general.
bunny, bunny, bunny, you are NOT a total moron at all. In fact, I get this question once or twice a month. After all, even when people realize that Tuvalu is a very real place they often find it difficult to believe that there is a Target, Ikea, or Plaza Hotel on the island. So they write to me and ask about it and I am forced to tell them, to tell you, dear bunny, that Tuvalu is a very clever pseudonym for where we live, a nom-de-place, if you will.
KmKat said: What did you study in college?
I went to a small private university where I studied The Humanities.
cindi & bill said: De-lurking to ask if you knit...I stumbled upon your lovely blog quite a while back & cannot remember how I discovered you.
I know how to knit but have not done any knitting in a while. I have been known to read some knitting blogs - perhaps I commented somewhere and you clicked back here to me? Anyway, nice to meet you.
ingrid said: What is your favorite room in the house?
Gosh! I don't know. I love our kitchen because we designed it but I'm fond of other rooms too. We've just moved our bed to a different wall and our bedroom feels new now.
Schmutzie said: What is your favourite article of fall clothing, a closet staple, that makes you look forward to this time of year?Funny you should ask as I have spent this cold damp day in my Uggs and long brown from-the-thrift-shop sweater coat. I love having my sweaters back in my closet.
Is there a reason why you don't wear colours?
If you could choose anywhere else to live, where would it be and why.
Paola
I started to wear mostly black clothes in high school - you know, when kids go through that phase where they do that kind of thing. Somehow, over the years, I never really stopped. I realized along the way that I really do like my gray and black and white things. I don't feel like colors suit me...and where would I take my monotone wardrobe to live, if not here? If money were no object and I had no restrictions? I'd like a house on the ocean - maybe on the Cape, maybe on an island. I wouldn't mind spending a month in Positano each year either. But it's the sea that draws me.
Eliane said: What pajamas do you wear?
I have an odd variety of bed clothes...a long sleeved, calf-length henley shirt, a silky slip-like thing and some tee shirts. Why do nightgowns always end up tangled up around my waist?
The Coffee Lady said: Out of all these outfits you show us, how many do you actually buy?
None! I bought a pair of pants before I went to Italy and then the Wellies - but when I write about outfits at Anthropologie or Old Navy or somesuch, I never buy any of it! In my house we usually only buy clothes when we need them or as a present - never just on a whim because we really *crave* a long cardi from JCrew, for example.
Strictly said: Does Middle still wear the Quantum of Solace jacket bought this time last year?
Jen (formerly The Guider)
As a matter of fact, I laundered the Quantum Of Solace jacket just yesterday. Middle is the kind of fellow who will wear that jacket until it absolutely disintegrates. Plus, he loves it.
Little Miss Sunshine State said: How did you meet K?
I met K a very long, long time ago. At school. During his last week before he graduated. I don't remember the exact circumstances but I do remember him sitting at my table in the cafeteria.
Karen Dietrich said: What were some of your childhood favorites? -- games, toys, foods, books, activities, etc. I want to know more about blackbird as a little girl :)
I loved Barbie. I loved her clothes and her homes and all her tiny shoes. I had a bunch (but not dozens as I had my favorites) and I played with them very seriously for years. I liked doll babies too and spent long hours with a friend pretending they were our babies and feeding them tiny spoonfuls of hand cream.
You often say that nothing is stronger than your marriage. What makes it so? How do you guys keep that magic alive?
jbhat
That's a smart question and I'm not sure I have a concise answer. It may be that we are lucky enough to be in love. It could be that we listen to each other - or that we enjoy each other's company. Truly, though, it seems to me that when many couples face adversity they draw away from each other. That's never happened to us - oh, we've faced plenty of adversity, but we have always drawn closer together.
Daysgoby said: What do you do with all the apples? We've been eating them and cooking them as fast as we can, but I need to step it up! I still haven't done a pie.
Are your boys still really into their pursuits? Yep. Each one of them is still very busy with music/film/graphic arts. It's interesting to me that while K and I are creative by nature we don't pursue creativity every day - but the boys do...all three of them.
Are you still excited about working? I AM. It has given me a brand new life.
Tammy said: Long-time lurker... delurking to ask:
What is your best bit of advice for raising sons? I'm the mom of a 14-year-old son and love reading about the relationships you have with your boys. You seem to have found a nice balance of friend/mom. :) Be honest. Don't worry about being their friend - be the Mom. Make sure he knows he could tell you anything in the world - but don't press for information. Sounds easy, right?
Cookin'-in-Colorado said: Dear Abby-Bird,
I bought an Emeril Lagasse saute pan. It's perfect for soooo many things. It's deep, really deep and has a thick copper-clad bottom. Mostly, it's shiny. REALLY SHINY! It doesn't match my Caphilon Everyday but that's OK. It's perfect for omelets, sauteing ANYthing, and I can flip stuff in it like a crazy man. Did I mention it's shiny? Like a mirror. It looks great hanging in my kitchen! I kinda feel like a gorilla playing with a new shiny bauble every time I use it. The problem is cleaning the damn thing. I can't get the inside as clean as it was when I bought it.
So, my question to you, is it too early to start trying the Halloween candy I bought to give out? :0)
Dear Cookin: try a little Barkeepers Friend in the pot and then fill it with the Halloween candy which you should commence eating IMMEDIATELY. Dear Lord, it takes a WHILE to determine what is good enough for the neighborhood children!
AG said: Do you have a favorite post that you've written? What is it?
Although I tend to be humble about my own writing I also tend to think my archives are BRILLIANT. My airport post made me famous - and it's a good one.
How many of your blog friends have you met in real life? (Excluding conferences, at which I'm sure that number exploded!)
ErinH (not very lurky)
Hmm. I think I've met ten or 12 bloggy friends outside of conferences. I always get nervous about it. The last person I met was a fellow blogger who was stranded in Pittsburgh with me on the way home from BlogHer. It was comforting to look around, in the middle of the night in a strange airport and see a comrade in arms.
Eurolush said: Can you describe yourself in detail for those of us who have never met you in real life? I am 5'2" tall, I have L'Oreal Light Brown hair, presently cut in a short bob, and a pointy nose. My mouth twists a little when I speak, I have green eyes and small feet and hands.
How old is your dog? How did he come to be a part of your family? My dog is 14 years old - a beagle. Oldest begged for a dog from the time he was very small but I wouldn't have one in the city as I was unwilling to walk a dog every morning in my bathrobe. When we moved into our house we found a breeder a couple of hours away with a litter of puppies and brought her home in the snow. She has a very special bond with Oldest and still misses sleeping under his blankets in his bed. (He got too tall to have her in his bed comfortably.)
One more...Who is your favorite pastry-eating blogger, living in small-town Germany, with the word "lush" in her name? Just curious.
Who would that be? My pal EL - The Lady Lush! The Gem In Germany! The Pastry Princesse!
Kim said:
- when are you coming to Australia? Sometime after the trip to Paris and the one to Tokyo - or maybe as part of the Tokyo trip.
- You do know that when you're in Sydney I will be standing very close to you a lot? I might even hug you. So ditch any notion of only seeing me for one dinner or afternoon or some such.
And you say this because you know I LOVE it when people touch me a lot, right? As for how much time we'd spend together: FINE. You may have us day and night.
- what is the family's favourite standby dinner? Probably pasta. Pasta with veg, pasta with meat sauce, pasta with butter and garlic.
- what is your favourite food? Salty stuff. Pasta. Potatoes. I like to eat.
- what did you want to be when you were a little girl? Only one thing: a mom.
Catsteevens said: 1) What parenting advice can you give a mother of young boys, like myself? I love the way you have raised your children. They seem like amazing young men.
See smug advice given above. Please also remember that each of them are regular guys with issues and problems that I tend not to write about - but they are good guys, all three...while I'd love for everyone to think we did beautifully and that they are always amazing, it wouldn't be accurate. It's kind of normal around here, I think, and, some days, even kind of crappy, boy-wise.
2) Would you be willing to meet me if I happen to be in Tuvalu? Would you meet any of your blogger fans? I would be willing to me you (and would love to!) or any other of my blogger fans. You make that sound like a challenge!
Alice C said: All I want to know is this - what will you be wearing when I arrive at Tuvalu - (when I eventually do arrive) - I need to start planning an appropriate outfit.
Waitaminute, waitaminute, WAIT A MINUTE. Are you coming to Tuvalu? My heart!
I will be wearing some variation of what I wear every day/week/month/year: black leggings/tights/pants, black skirt, black turtleneck and an artfully tied piece of neck wear. BRING IT ON.
Miz S said:
I would like a picture of you in your glasses. Obviously, you won't publish a full-on pic, but how about a cropped pic?
We'll see if that occasion arises - I'd need one of the boys to shoot me and then it would have to be croppable.
Sue said:
Wait, you closed your comments ! Is your sink always sparkling?
Yes - too many questions now...and NO, my sink is full of dishes as I type.
Suse said:
I remember you saying once years ago that you would LOVE to have short man hair but K wouldn't have a bar of it. A year or so later you got the super short hair. Now you say K threatened to kill you if you got those glasses, and you got the glasses. So, given that K expresses strong opinions about what you should look like, what do you do? Do you just go ahead and do what you want cos it's your body/life/hair etc and his reaction be damned, or do you spend a great deal of time and energy talking him around and/or buttering him up?
Curious.
K expresses his strong opinions when asked - otherwise he never says a word or acts differently to me. I do what I want cos it's my body/life/hair and we spend no energy or time talking or buttering. If he had never seen the glasses and I had come home with them he'd have said: not what I would have picked but they look good.
And he'd be correct.
I do hope I've answered everything in a satisfactory manner.
We should do this again sometime.
xo
bb
Comments
I'll be the one standing there with a tray.
And I believe K can answer that question about why nighties always end up twisted around your waist.
BOOMTISH!
*Sigh*
I'm glad I wasn't the only one.
I took a lot of crap for that answer back in the day.
Thank you for the link to the airport post.
jbhat
Also, I really liked your answers and the questions too, thanks!
ErinH
Okay, now I understand.