JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

No, diapering does not make you ditzy. Motherhood, argues a new book, makes you smarter

After a rough week, I was happy to find [via Ghost Word], a Time magazine interview with Katherine Ellison, author of The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter:

My argument is that there are many surprising and fundamental ways in which, despite all the boring time you now have to spend picking up Lego bits from the floor, the experiences of having and rearing children can stimulate and enrich your brain and make you smarter. [snip]

We’ve come to see our children taking things away from us, and we’ve lost the sense of how much they’re adding to us, as people, as thinkers.

When the camera arrived, a few weeks ago, I ran down the street the following morning to record the dogwood blossoms. These native flowering trees are one of my favorite signs of Northwest spring. But the blooms are already fading and flopping, brown around the edges of the petals, no longer fresh and white. After I took my picture, I stopped noticing the flowers, walking past without a second glance. Now another year will pass before I can glimpse their beauty again.

In snatches and snippets caught here and there, I’ve been reading through a collection of essays by Anna Quindlen: Loud and Clear. I cherish her wisdom in her writings on motherhood in retrospect. She described her journey through stresses of parenting and working, failures and joys, both national and personal crisises, the delicate dance of composing columns about family matters, pieces titled Doing Nothing is Something and Good-bye Dr. Spock. Here’s my favorite quote, from an essay lamenting all my babies are gone now.:

But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs….I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less. (page 11)

It’s great to have a camera to capture the moment. But a photograph can’t compare to being there. Not presence, the filling a seat on the sidelines out of duty or obligation while the mind is otherwise occupied, but the passionate participation in the ephemeral, seizing the day, every opportunity to love and laugh before it disappears. I want to live in the moment so I have more than a picture to remind me of what has passed. I want a vivid clarity, an imprint not only an image, a richer treasure to savor forever in my soul. I want to be in the moment as the river flows through time so when I look back on the map, through the topology of wrinkles and rememberances, I can know I was there.

According to Cathy Nickum of Bainbridge Buzz, quoting an account manager at Qwest, that title belongs to our little island with 44% of us on-line with DSL. I suspect this statistic reflects the nature of our community: the combination of living in a technology-rich region as well as the desire to work from home and avoid commuting on the ferry.

The Buzz has become a great place to learn about island news. The hot topic yesterday was the a Black Hawk helicopter’s no-show at the high school career fest. I’m grateful for Cathy’s coverage of the upcoming tech levy, companies paying to use the ferry for promotions, and teen privacy issues.

I’m behind on my list of potential blogging topics, and especially behind in linking to local bloggers I’ve discovered, including one anonymous one.

Last month Mike Houser started a Technorati feed for “bainbridge island”. Subscribing to the feed has been an excellent way to discover who is writing, living and visiting on our community (I’d recommend it!) and has led me to adding a few new feeds to my aggregator.

Through Technorati, Mike and I each found Bainbridge Beat whose inaugural post on March 29 began:

There’s a lot of blogging going on here on Bainbridge Island and I figured I might as well chime in. The thing is, I’d rather observe than be observed. So I prefer to remain anonymous.

I was impressed by Bainbridge Beat’s (BB) attitude, aware of other island bloggers and in a sense, almost expecting to be discovered, perhaps also aware of feeds and Technorati et al. Some bloggers, especially at the beginning, express doubts whether anyone is reading the posts, or write as if it is a private diary no one else will see. From the beginning, the Beat has been writing for the community, posting pictures, concerns and news Bainbridge residents would want to know, from frogs to rumors and gossip. Interesting ideas have blossomed in the comments too, such as this proposal to plant pumpkins around downtown.

Both Mike and Chris Holmes have suggested inviting Bainbridge Beat to our blogger get-together this weekend, however Bainbridge Beat has declined, in a comment on Chris’ blog quoting and later on the Beat posting the classic New Yorker cartoon: On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog. Hmmm…does this imply Bainbridge Beat is written by a rottweiler? Retriever?

Then again, I suspect a canine perspective would focus on other island matters, not the potential threat of lawsuits for my Peeps experiments but rather the location of free treats, water bowls and fellow furry friends or foes. Bainbridge Beat may want to read the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s post How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else): The point is that anyone can eventually find your blog if your real identity is tied to it in some way. I respect anonymity. I have read and I believe that anonymity can provide protection and allow for deeper dialogue than disclosure. If I hadn’t been married to Ted – and he hadn’t already been blogging – I probably would have tried to hide my identity. However, I think it is difficult to write on topics without revealing at least some clue in the perspective revealed. In reading the Beat, I’ve noticed details that I would not have known myself. Ethan Zuckerman has described some of challenges of the technical aspects of anonymity. Betsy Devine commented in Kalily’s post on blogger ethics: Word of caution: anonymity can easily get broken–and things that get onto the web stay public forever.

Yes, I am intrigued by the hidden identity of Bainbridge Beat, but more than that, whether anonymous or known (or canine?), I welcome this new blogger to our community.

Philippe Boucher has been linking to many examples of community sites to inspire us. We both appreciate Lisa Williams work too. Now his daughter has been inspired enough to join our ranks with her writings at Le blog d’Anne – another welcome! It’s refreshing and delightful to read about all the activities this talented 14-year-old enjoys and her perspectives and experiences in blogging and journalism.

I’m also late in posting a link to another Bainbridge blogger. Via Flickr, somehow the waffler, otherwise known as Adrian Sampson, found me. He takes excellent photos, such as staplers in their natural habitats, has great wit, maintains a blog (titled Capra hircus) or two (the high school debate team blog) and started his own one-man software company (!).

Only a year or so ago, I thought Ted and I were the only bloggers on Bainbridge. Then through Jay, I found Chip Gibbons. Last summer Philippe Boucher found me and I think a newspaper article lead me to Kevin O’Keefe. Another newspaper article brought Mike and Walker to my attention …and so the story and community grows as we become connected together…looking forward to Saturday!

Last month I was treated to lunch at Shima, a new restaurant on Bainbridge Island featuring organic vegetables and meats. The chefs prepare whatever is fresh so the menu varies daily. I ordered the vegetable sushi which was pleasing to the eye and to the appetite. Although the restaurant is small in size, the decor (country style?) provided privacy with burlap-like curtains around the table. The girls and I shared a number of dishes, from fish to chicken to sushi: all delicious. Shima is definitely worth a second trip. The restaurant is within walking distance of the ferry, on the corner of Madison and Winslow Way, in our downtown. Anyone who would like to meet me there please let me know!

Bonus links:
Reviews of Gandhi, the new Indian restaurant on the island by Chris Holmes and Bainbridge Beat.