So Here We Are

Yo, my not-so-little warriors! I thought I would be back here before now but instead I get to be here now. I needed to percolate and process how I would talk to you, if you were here. When I started this, half a million years ago right after the internet got borned and all, you were all still really freakin'small and I din't expect to have so much to say. I also didn't have a road map for how to navigate being a grandma from this far away.

We know each other some now and I know that you read. You read good stuff - man, we're so lucky we get to read and that some of it's good stuff. Aaahhh, but I digress (which pretty much always happens.) I've given way too much thought to what my One Job as a grandma is and the best I can come up with is that I need to be a more consistent writer again, and more fearless. That fearless part is not my fave, because, like every other human I've ever encountered and really liked - I want you to like me. You're super cool and I still forget that I get to sit at the Cool Kids table on some days. (To be clear: I get to sit there ALL the days and I just forget some days. I do have days where I think I might not rock as steady as I do.)

So, I'll just show up here and you either will or won't and I'm cool with it. I'm going to keep the format the same and try to just give you three pretty clear things, but now that you can engage in critical thought - I'll try to provide content that makes your parents ask what you're looking at on your device. My logic is that IF I can hold your attention for longer than three minutes - that is legit...

one FOR sure - graduate from high school. I'm pretty sure that's not really a deal for you guys as you all seem pretty invested in your educations, but it's more than that - learn how to do your laundry and pay your own bills, do the car thing (it's expensive) and the phone that's not on your parents plan and learn how to clean pans without destroying the finish. Mend your own clothes and change your own oil if you can. Buy good shoes and take care of them so they last longer. Know how to sharpen a knife and start a fire. Plant some trees and eat food you've grown. It's more about your utility and self-sufficiency than anything. It feels good to be able. 

two GET.outta.here. Travel as soon as you can and go as far as you can. While it's not imperative that you travel alone, DO travel alone and go to places where you're hungry with curiousity and a little scared so your head's on a pivot and your heart skips some beats. I really hope you learn to speak other languages, too. I learned Spanish a long (long long) time ago and still remember enough to converse under travel pressure. I will always be thankful for that and it's helped me navigate the art and music coming out of that part of the world, too. There's way WAY more to our stories than just this country and ... how can you know what you love or don't if you don't try everything? Travel. Go, DO things and gather stories. All the things, and g'head and be scared - it's appropriate. If it wasn't scary everybody would be doing it and the boujie would smoosh our landscape like a mayonnaise spill.

three Even IF all this AI and ChatGPT works out fine - learn how to write, my little dudes. I swear t'gawwwwd, I will have to haunt you if you squander this opportunity to borrow from your killer DNA and keep the legacy alive. Never stop keeping actual humans creative and productive by reading books and listening to the stories you hear. Write pretty sentences and build solid paragraphs. Storytellers cannot be replaced with bots, no matter how clever they may be programmed. And, don't use that technology to cheat on anything. I would imagine you could if you wanted to, so just don't.

I know I don't have to say it, but I love you and your guts.

I love your brains and intentions. I dig your lil baby agendas. Go.be.do. 

xomomo

Love in The Times of Contagion

Hey My Loves!

Again, I know it's been too long and for that I apologize. I wish I had a decent reason for being gone so long, but I do not. If I were to write you guys, every time I think of you, we'd have a million stories and words. I'm going to do much better at dropping by more often.

Right before Felix was born I decided I was going to start this blog and make it like letters that my Momo used to write me - full of love and fun things while also passing along little things that she knew were important. In the twelve or thirteen years that have passed since Felix arrived, I've changed format and my mind and top-secret spy locations a whole bunch of times - now you guys are pretty much all grown up and capable of understanding more complicated things and sentences and whatnot. So, I'm just going to keep doing this but make it more like a letter or a journal.

*Do you guys keep journals? If you don't, you might just love it. Get yourself a sweet empty book

with pages you love to touch. Find pens that fit your hand and have ink in colors you like. Tell yourself that every day you are going to write something. Anything, really. From what I've seen - you're very smart and you write well. Journalilng (I think that's what they call it) is a kinda cool way to do a whole bunch of things. Not the least of which is ....

one  Learn how to write well. Write your name, write your address, write numbers and letters and symbols in ways that show your style or attention to detail. Writing is a blast. When you have just the right ink, on just the right paper - it's like beautiful power. You can do or say or create anything you want and nobody is the boss of you but you.

I hope this little spot of staying home is at least a little fun for all of you. I also very much hope it's only a little spot and not some kinda long-term plan, because I'm just not really loving it so much. I do have to wonder though - what DO you guys do at school that makes it last all day long. I'm getting to help teach and herd a couple most-excellent teenagers, a little here and there, and we pretty much have all the actual school work done by noonish.

What's it like at your house? Are you missing all your buddies at school? I miss my friends so bad it hurts sometimes, but I think I'm getting better at being happy doing nothing, all by myself.

two  Learn how to enjoy your own company. Learn how to sit still. I could make each one of these things their very own books (like the bazillions of writers before me have done) but for me, they are so closely related, that I think you need to learn both at the same time. I also think that when I say "sit still" I really might mean, learn how to do nothing and be happy. What with the whole world screeching to a halt, I've found that I really do have time to not be doing something. I'm still not very good at it, but I think when you get to be an adult and you have to pay bills and whatnot, you forget how to stare at clouds or chase frogs... basically - do nothing. I really hope you don't forget how to be happy all by yourself, doing nothing.

three Get a job. Yea, I know you're still a kid, but I was on payroll when I was 8 or 9... your

mom or dad was too. It's a great way to make your own money to buy your own cool stuff. Just 'cuz all your friends don't have jobs means you have to be unemployed, too. Just put down these screens and go offer to mow the lawn or clean an entire bathroom; Ask where the cleaners and rags are. I'll bet you dollars to donuts, your parent will smile and ask if you want PayPal or Venmo or what. All y'all are going to be looking at dorm rooms or apartments within the next handful of years and you're going to want the nice stuff that you've grown accostomed to. Chop chop, buttercup. 

That's all I got besides don't ever give up hope. 

I started this note to you at the end of March.

It took me THIS long to remember that we got this. 

Protest where you can, smash the patriarchy

&

Don't touch your face.

xomomo

Yo. Felix.

I miss you, man. I miss the sound of your laughter in my house.

You should tell your dad to come visit soon, and remind him that you have unlimited Momo access and read my blog and I can talk you into things... like, coming down for a quick visit. 
We'll hit Nifty Nut House again and grab a taco or something.

You're Three Things for today are long overdue, but will always be true:

one Don't stop. Always rise up. Never stop rising up. Don't let the bad minutes drive the direction of your days. All days are gonna have rough spots and you are defined by the grace I see you share. You got this.

two Don't be afraid. Fear is a liar. I've been too wrapped up in my own head to sit here and write you three simple things, for months. That's not how this is going to work. We really have nothing to fear and we're kinda unstoppable. It's in our DNA. I'm not going to stop talking (writing.) 

three Build yourself a website. I know you don't think you need it, but I think you might. At the very least, you're gonna need to build some killah skillz to get your hustle on tight, and I think this internet thing is going to catch on. Learn about extensions, add-ons, apps, SEO, metrics, reviews, copy writing, editing, brand management and creating an empire where one didn't exist before. Jus'sayin. When I was your age, I was working full-time as a proof reader. N-numbers of airplanes. For real. Most tedious job ever. It's a new day - you get to do better. Do it. I can't believe you're ten and you don't fill out taxes yet. 

Move along. I love your guts to the moon and back. Tell your dad to call me.

xomomo

Secrets, habits & stuff

uno Try to not have secrets. If anybody says, "Don't tell anybody this..." then that probably means it's not cool. Unless it's a surprise party, or PostSecret (or maybe if you're punking someone in a good way) - then ... well, that's totally cool. But, in general, if someone tells you not to tell anybody this - it is not a good thing. It is triple turbo-uncool if a grown-up tells you this and it makes you feel creepy. You'll know the creepy feeling when it hits, if you ever have to. It's there, you'll just feel it. If it gives you the eeby-jeebies, then tell another grown-up, don't hold it in.

dos Make your bed and put your stuff away where it belongs. Don't even ask me for all the reasons this is a good thing, just trust me. Doing these two things, and making them part of your every single day, will make you happier and less harried. Just make your bed every morning before you leave for the day and put your stuff away. It's not like I'm asking you to dig trenches. It would be nice if you could learn to do those "hospital corners" though....  
I'm just sayin' ...

tres Know that buying stuff and owning more and more stuff is never going to make you happier. You are sufficiently happy as you are, and buying and owning all that stuff is not going to fill whatever holes you may have in your soul. Get what you need, get some of what you like and then stop. Buy meals with your family or buy an adventure to the country, but stop buying stuff already. This is crazy.

Remember to buy American made when and where ever possible. Trust me ~ This matters.

copyright 2010 moemasters