About

Hi!  Welcome to this here blog.  Leave a note, say hi, I’m glad to meet you! I am Miriam, and will be your tour guide.

Back in June 2007, when I started this blog, I said that I write here because I like to write. That’s true, mostly anyway, but after months of writing here, I think I’ve realized that I write because it’s a transformative experience for me.

Writing Is …

Having to write about something makes me want to find subjects that are interesting enough to have something to say about. I don’t force myself to write about things. If I’m bored, I stop. If I’m interested, I continue. And I have to say, I’ve been surprised about what’s fallen into the “bored” and “interesting” and “irritating” and “scary” categories.

Having to write about something also means I have to think about it. Seems that sometimes before, I haven’t necessarily put so much thought into some things. Now I am. And what the brain churns out isn’t always what I expected.

You may notice I’m surprised by what I have to say: the one promise I made to myself all those months ago was to not force this process, not plan what it might become, not make it a known road before I started. I felt like maybe it could have a life of its own, or maybe that it would be inspirational, or that I could learn some new things. I was right on all three counts.

Why this Subject?

I write about crafting because I do a lot of it. Like writing, it’s a creative process. I have manic phases of composing project plans and purchasing supplies. I have dry periods where I never want to look at another skein of yarn. I get inspired and giddy, frustrated and tired. It’s thoughtful and meditative, spontaneous and frantic all at once. I used to never think of myself of having a creative process at all - who, me? creative? Nah, I just like to mess with things. I was wrong. There’s more in my head and heart than I ever knew was there before. I’m just trying to figure out how to let it all out now.

What sort of Stuff do I Do?

My list of past crafting includes cooking, crocheting, sewing house stuff, painting things, making soap, woodburning, sawing things, sewing non-house stuff, embroidering, quilting, making beer, knitting, making candles and other things that burn, constructing furniture and probably some other stuff I forgot. I like to learn things. I like to do things. I like tools. I like supplies. I like drawing. I like planning things. I like color. I like math. I like shapes and details. I like light.

Fundraiser by Day

As the title implies, I am something else during the day … I am a fundraiser at a local non-profit, doing a lot of different things that mostly don’t fit into anybody’s definition of a forty-hour work week. What I do involves of public/donor relations, database management, web & other writing and updating, some editorializing (that is, being an editor, although I do have lots of opinions), SQL reporting, some accounting, some graphics stuff, lots of mass mailing things, with some event planning thrown in when I get bored (ha!). Some of it’s more fun than other things, and it’s always a mind-boggling experience being a bleeding edge, experienced techie trying to do tech stuff at a small nonprofit. At the end of the day, I just hope that what I do benefits the people we serve, the many, many people in our area who are uninsured and underinsured who come to us for primary care medical treatment.

Details, details …

Once upon a time I wouldn’t have described myself as Southern or Texan. I still wouldn’t. But they’ve both crept stealthily into my food choices, my diction and my outlook on life. They’re insidious influences. There’s something slightly creepy about the area of east Texas I’m from that I just can’t explain if you haven’t been there. Add to that a large dose of Iowa where my extended family’s from, with some liberal dashes of Mid-Atlantic and Colorado, and you’ve got a woman who doesn’t actually belong anywhere.

I live with my beloved husband Jeff, who is a brilliant web programmer and tech writer. I like to call him mon capitan, but you won’t understand that tongue-in-cheek reference unless you understand Picard and Q. I have two cats, a Yorkie named Audrey and a whole lot of books. I have moved a lot, and I’ll do it again. I am also, by 8 years of intense educational training, an early medieval historian, religion scholar and feminist. I recommend to people who find out I have three degrees in religion, including a seminary degree, that they investigate what religious studies actually is before they ask me if I want to be clergy. Um, no. I actually wanted to be a professor until I figured out academia was definitely not for me.

Most of all, I like to live my life, not just watch it pass by.