It’s a small world after all

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

We often joke that Birmingham is the biggest small town, and I’m constantly stumbling upon proof–even in other cities! Three cases in point:

1. Last May I was in Nashville to interview a local band, Wild Sweet Orange. They were touring nationally in support of their then- soon-to-be-released debut LP, but the tour wouldn’t carry them back to Birmingham until well after my deadline, so it was up to Nashville for me! As we chatted, I began the Birmingham six degrees game by asking what high schools they attended. Sure enough, two of the band members attended the same high school as my best guy friend from college–and the wife of one was his date to a high school dance. Small world.

2. My friend Elisa has gotten really into cycling over the past year, and has even launched a blog and a co-op specific to that interest. This weekend she and another Bike Skirt girl met a fellow bicycle blogger for coffee. That cyclist? Is my concert buddy and fellow editor from Nashville. Small world.

3. Not so long ago, a photographer friend spotted a facebook status in which I mentioned my best friend from high school, Scarlett Lillian. Amelia was so excited to realize that a photographer whose blog she followed was a long-time friend of mine. But take it a step further: Right now Scarlett is in Atlanta for a party. She texted me to say she’d met a photographer from Birmingham and immediately asked if he knew me. And of course, I adore Caleb Chancey.

It’s a small world, after all.

Well you know, we all want to change the world

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

I almost convinced myself that I was seeing things as I parked the car outside my polling place at 7:02 yesterday morning. It was hard to say from my parking spot a block away, but I thought I saw crowds of people on the lawn of the senior citizens center. But it was no mirage–by the time I walked past the building, up the block and around the corner, nearly 10 minutes had passed.

And many more would tick by before I was handed my ballot, at approximately 9:10 a.m. The lines at my polling place averaged two hours all day, but the truth is that we were having fun. Although I had a book in my purse, I spent the time chatting with the older gentleman next to me about the difference in political climate between his generation and mine. People all around us were calling and texting friends and family in different parts of the city (one friend voted in five minutes flat!) and the nation (one sister voted in five minutes flat! The other stood in a line almost as long as mine.). A man in front of me told us about the memoir he is writing, and I played the inevitable six degrees of Birmingham game with the woman beside him. We also joked that the free coffee lines at Starbucks might be as long as the line we were already in–and besides, we weren’t that crazy about the ‘bucks, anyway.

The camraderie continued as I slid my ballot into the machine (voter 290 on that machine for the morning) and proudly adhered my “I voted” sticker to my jacket. I listened to reports on the voting experience from around the country as I drove to work, and when I stopped at my favorite coffee shop I cast a glance around for other “I voted” stickers. 

And then my coffee buddy from my polling place walked in. We laughed at the coincidence–we live and vote 15 minutes from the shop where we stood–and laughed even harder as we stepped up to the register and our barista said, “Regular, meet regular.” As it happens, my new coffee friend works at one of my favorite places in town, and I interviewed one of her close friends for a story I wrote last year. Yes, politics can pull people apart, but sometimes election day brings us together in unexpected ways.

—

I love election day. It’s almost like a holiday to me (and I should have made good on my threat to take today off! It was hard to pull myself away from coverage last night.). After surveying friends for their picks, I compiled a playlist to accompany me through the day. Here’s the Derek Webb-heavy result, in no particular order–and I intend none of these songs as a partisan statement (I didn’t select all of them, and I don’t even know who many of the people who made these suggestions did vote for. Plus I’m not one to announce on a blog who I voted for.).

Election Day 2008

  • Revolution 1–The Beatles
  • Beautiful Day–U2
  • Magnolia Mountain–Ryan Adams
  • If A Song Could Be President–Over the Rhine
  • King and a Kingdom–Derek Webb
  • American Hearts–AA Bondy
  • It’s the End of the World as We Know It–REM
  • Political Scientist–Ryan Adams
  • New Law–Derek Webb
  • Election Day–Arcadia
  • You Can’t Always Get What You Want–The Rolling Stones
  • In God We Trust–Derek Webb
  • Gone TIll November–Wyclef Jean
  • I Shall Be Released–Wilco with Fleet Foxes
  • I Hope–Dixie Chicks
  • Love Is Not Against the Law–Derek Webb
  • Either Way–Wilco
  • Politik–Coldplay
  • A Love that’s Stronger than Our Fear–Derek Webb

Any other suggestions?

I’m holding my heart out but clutching it, too

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

Last night I was privy to a conversation lamenting the early sunsets of fall. It was nearing 7 p.m. and dusk was settling in outside the coffee shop we occupied. The others with me missed the daylight stretching well into the evening, the late nights summer inevitably brings.

But oh, not me. The other seasons exist so I can recall how much I appreciate autumn, or so I would have you think. All year long I crave those first few moments when summer’s heat breaks and suddenly 90 degrees is a hot day. I long for nights spent with the windows open, fading into mornings, afternoons and evenings spent with the windows open. I daydream about taking my morning coffee on my balcony. I wait for football and planning outfits for a 20 degree swing in temperature from tailgate’s beginning to game’s end. I recall those magical moments as a student in Tuscaloosa, when I would step onto the quad and think, this is what campus life should feel like. (Somehow those came in spring in Tallahassee.) I embrace harvest beers and light my harvest candles. I queue up my autumn playlist for weeks in advance of the weather’s change. (Is it surprising that it’s eight times longer than my lists for the other seasons? I don’t think so.) I switch from my daytime coffee to hot apple cider in the evenings. In retrospect, even difficult seasons in life seem sweeter if they occurred during fall.

I am trying to relish in every hint of my favorite season, from September’s overtures to its final, fading notes in December. I don’t want to wish a moment of it away.

And even when the trees have just surrendered to the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in mid-September and sending us inside,
Still I notice you when change begins and I am braced for colder winds.
I will offer thanks for what has been and what’s to come.
–Nichole Nordeman, “Every Season”

This ain’t the easy way down

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

Sometimes I think I’m a complicated person, with unpredictable thoughts and emotions. When I stop thinking of myself as some mysterious character in a novel, I realize how false that is. Right now I’m parked on my couch with a book and a beer, listening to Ryan Adams and thinking about having a second go at that bowl of guacamole I made before I clean my apartment. I wear my heart on my sleeve and my life is filled with simple pleasures. I don’t think that’s such a bad place to be.

On wine

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

Last night I attended a wine tasting. It wasn’t my first, and I doubt it will be my last. But as is so often the case, I found that I didn’t especially like any of the seven wines I sampled.

Friends tell me I just have to keep trying until I find what I like. And it’s not as though I can’t drink the occasional glass with dinner. I’ve attempted that, on and off, over the past six years. I’ve attended wine tastings at a variety of venues and sampled wines my friends love. I’ve even enjoyed a wine weekend at a resort, including a five-course meal with a different wine (or two!) paired with each dish. Some of those were rare bottles, all carefully selected my a wine expert to complement the food. But I didn’t care for more than a sip of each, just to see how the food brought out the drink’s subtleties.

So last night, as I tasted my way through sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, rose, cabernet and others, I declared what probably should be my final word on the subject: Maybe I’m just not a wine person. My palette doesn’t seem to be developed in that particular way. And what am I missing, really? A glass of wine may appear more elegant than a pint of beer… but who doesn’t love the contrast of a girl in a prissy dress drinking a manly stout?

When you play my song, play it slowly

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

Even though I normally keep my bedroom as dark as possible when I sleep, I’m not sure I’ll be able to close out light tonight. I’m spending tonight and tomorrow night in Nashville. It’s the one city that I could imagine stealing my heart from Birmingham, and right now I’m sitting in the heart of it. My hotel room overlooks the Ryman auditorium, the Tennessee Titans’ stadium, the river and the capitol (???). I’ve got 20 feet of windows stretching out before me, and since I returned to the room tonight I’ve found it difficult to do much but stare through them. (OK, I might have danced around a bit too. No one can see me from up here!) With Over the Rhine serenading me and a good book or four waiting to be read, I’m glad for the chance to slow my pace in a city I love.

Back in the neighborhood

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

I rejoined the 21st century yesterday. After almost a year without home internet, I finally bought a new computer. (Thanks, Economic Stimulus Plan.)

I can’t deny my excitement–after all, it’s been about eight months since I updated my iPod. I’ve spent the morning adding albums to my iTunes, updating my facebook status to reflect the albums I’ve loaded and texting friends to let them know how many albums I’ve added. (It was 33 at last count, but will be 50-plus by the time I finish. I guess I’ve acquired a few new CDs since my last update!) I’m also thrilled to death with how fast my iPod updates now. My old laptop’s USB ports were not high speed–and oh my gosh, it makes a huge difference. It would have taken eight or nine hours to load 4,000 songs on the old machine. It might have taken an hour last night to bring this thing up to date.

(Yes, I realize I essentially bought this machine so I could update my iPod. Shut up.)

But at the same time, there’s a hint of bittersweetness in this new acquisition. Although it was inconvenient at times, it was sort of nice to be disconnected when I left the office. Now I’ll be able to get directions without texting Google, and I’m certain I’ll be more faithful to this here blog. I can’t wait to look up recipes that use buttermilk when I look in my fridge and realize I’m about to let it go to waste. But I know I’ll also work more after hours and occasionally fight sleep by playing on facebook. (I did not miss facebook.)

I know this, though. A home computer isn’t as essential as we think. I’m hoping (perhaps naively) that mine will still spend a good portion of its time turned off and stowed away.

But that won’t happen until after I finish updating my iPod, for sure.

How do I feel by the end of the day?

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

One good turn deserves another, right? Missy Marie fearlessly plagiarized something I wrote a few weeks ago, and now I’m doing the same to her.

Although we’re five hours apart, distance isn’t much a factor in mine and A Re’s friendship. We talk on the phone probably 15 times a week (and I like to hope that most of the text messages in my in and out boxes are hers, because we’ve got free mobile-to-mobile and I hate getting charged for exceeding my text limit!). While we were chatting the other night, she was finalizing a blog entry that included a list of things that make her happy. She read them aloud, curious to see how many would appear if I made a list.

A list? Of things that make me happy? Sounds like a good antidote to a week filled with allergies and appointments (even if those appointments could, theoretically, be included on said list). So now, with nothing but love in my heart, I’m ripping off and editing her list, then adding a few of my own.

Things that make me happy

  • Hot tea and a good book lying in my big cozy bed (this is actually what I was doing when Apryl called!)
  • The beauty of flowers (especially daffodils and tulips)
  • The way that certain songs make you remember a person or an event
  • A feeling of accomplishment at the end of a work day
  • The spontaneity of just up and leaving town to go visit friends (last weekend!)
  • How sweet and perfect children are when they’re young (Heck, how obnoxious children can be, while still being completely lovable. They’re not always sweet, and they’re certainly not perfect, but I do adore them!)
  • Having friends who I know I can always count on
  • Being a friend that people know they can count on
  • The feeling of wearing high heels and pearls (I don’t actually own pearls, although you should feel free to buy me some…)
  • Movies like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Notebook, High Fidelity, Love Actually and Runaway Bride—stories that have a happily ever after without the story book romance (I hate hate hate HATE The Notebook, and I would have to add When Harry Met Sally, of course.)
  • Writing in my journal—not to be confused with blogging, there’s something about ink and paper (Amen, amen, amen)
  • Singing loudly and off key to sappy love songs when I’m sad and up beat pop when I’m getting ready to go out
  • A latte with 4 sugars and cinnamon powder on top
  • Learning new things
  • Looking to the future
  • Hours on the phone with my BFF
  • Being alone but not lonely
  • Ending a day of work with a vineyard wine tasting
  • Saturday and Sunday mornings spent in bed with obscene amounts of coffee and obscene amounts of reading material
  • Rereading a new favorite book, even though I just finished it two weeks ago
  • The fact that my cat is always, always so thrilled to see me that she will follow me from room to room to room (including the bathroom… crazy cat)

  • Anything with green leaves
  • Cooking for one at the end of a long day
  • Driving through rural Alabama with the windows down and The Beatles turned up
  • People who really know me
  • Pens and paper
  • Hope
  • Grace
  • Alabama
  • Blue skies
  • Enjoying a beer on a back deck with lots of friends
  • People with whom you can talk for hours without running out of things to say
  • People with whom you can be completely silent without being uncomfortable
  • Community
  • Red high heels
  • Beatles, barbecue and a book on a Friday night

It’s the rat age

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

Ways that I am reminded I’m not the typical sports talk radio listener, part one:

This morning I caught the tail end of a debate over who is the hottest animated character. (Ariel from The Little Mermaid? Daphne from Scooby Doo? Jessica Rabbit?) This is not why I listen to sports talk radio.

(And for the record, the favorite among my friends and I was always Dmitri from Anastasia.)

There’s a time you hold your head up, say it doesn’t hurt so much

Posted on by Carla Jean Whitley

I’ve been feverishly working my way through my book sale, book swap and other unread books for the past month. I returned everything I had on loan from the library, and notices of holds ready for pick up have gone unanswered. I’ve started to read books on loan from friends once or twice, but they’ve been quickly abandoned for my own growing collection.

I’ve made a little bit of headway, too–The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; Ghostgirl; Plainsong; A Year in Provence. But that’s got to stop.

As summer slowly draws nearer, I’ve got to reduce my personal reading to the occasional interlude. It’s time to focus on Alabama authors instead.

As if that’s such a trial–this is perhaps my very favorite part of my job. Last year I got to live the dream. I spent weeks in coffee shops, stacks of books surrounding me, as I whittled a list of 60-some prospective titles to the 18 I recommended in the article I wrote. I interviewed a rock star of the Alabama literary world, and my coworkers and I recommended some of our all-time favorite books. I’ve been looking forward to this year’s article ever since.

It’s easier this time, because I’ve been paying attention to new releases through the year. I’ve already settled on probably half the books I’ll include and am still expecting several others to arrive soon. (I’ve even started my list for 2009!)

Yeah, my job’s pretty great. I know. The hardest part of this assignment is that it brings me face to face with the fear that I’ll never write anything so magnificent myself.