We're All Mad Here » Life

I have to admit…

shell — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:16:42 +0000

I wasn’t entirely sold on Atlanta when I first moved here. A bit before, I was. And then I landed here and everything wanted me to work for AT&T and it seemed like the only thing in Atlanta were Telcos and Medical. Chain restaurants and mainstream clothing shops. I was NOT happy.

But as I am starting to clear up the debris from my long neglected social profiles (major life changes take a toll on your twitter libido)…I started stretching my legs and seeing what was really around. Little geek conferences, jobs at the smaller organizations where I’d like to be, nature, art. You have to be somewhere for a while in order to start peeling back the layers of corporate marketing: dry and dirty, they cover everything and are everywhere because they have the most money to throw around to be everywhere. Peel those layers back and the culture, rich and juicy lies below.

I still have yet to find a vintage clothing shop to love. But on the flip side, there is a huge underground culture of indi designers in the area. I love vintage, but maybe I can reserve my vintage raids for when I got to see the babies or my mom. Things are looking up.

Admire the shat.

shell — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:30:04 +0000

Chris (on original site): I thought you said it was going to be Star Trek-y? Where’s the ship?

So I give him William FREAKIN’ Shatner, complete autography and all. And am I appreciated? Does he show his gratitude? Of course not. NO. Silly boys. Maybe he is just angry that he got rick roll’d by me today…and not just in a “hey, check out this video” sort of way. In a brilliant!!1!-never-before-seen-in-the-world sort of way. He is very wrathful now. He is plotting his revenge. So wrathful he cannot even ADMIRE THE SHAT. :(

Pic of the Day: Figs in the Atlanta Garden!

shell — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:36:33 +0000

I know, one day I will need to cut the tags off of these guys, but I’m procrastinating until I find a new journal or book to throw them all in. Brown turkey fig…I’ve been waiting for one for ages. I have my eye on a pair of kiwis as well, but those will have to wait I suppose.

Garden of Eden

shell — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:06:12 +0000

datzun: We don’t need anymore right now.
datzun: We need to get these growing.
datzun: Especially our dead ones. :D
datzun: THEY WILL LIVE!
Shell: zombie plants
datzun: Yarp.
datzun: That’s what we could do
datzun: !
datzun: A GARDEN OF DEAD PLANTS!

Guest Garden: Theresa

shell — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:55:34 +0000

My friend Theresa from Sebastian, FL sent me a desperate cry for help over her droll-worthy garden of arugula. I told her the solution was to send me some (as I sit over my bowl of bagged arugula and spinach salad, I miss the zing of fresh grown. yawn.). OH. MY. GOD. How tasty does that look?

I need more photos. Steph, Laur, Amber...I know ya'll garden, send me some!!!

Urban Homesteading in Atlanta

shell — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:31:32 +0000

So the little homestead has returned. It is hard to believe how much has happened in a year, how much was lost and how much the fates are giving back in return for perseverance, faith and not losing too much of my sanity along the way. I’ve lost a lot of friends along the way: between watching the papaya tree turn to mush during the hard winter freezes, to losing most of the herbs in the midst of my own emotional drought, to just simply leaving behind the rest. But I’m rebuilding, and a year later my green thumb has returned.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce the new players to this skit. Chris and I decided on a “black and white” themed garden. So we have lots of darks and opals and variegated varieties, and of course it is still growing.

Procurement
Chris sought out a nursery in the area, which turned out to be a big mistake. Pike Nursery (“come play in the dirt”, indeed.) is a wonderland. I wish you would have had the chance to see my face when I realized that in this new growing zone, I could grow EVERYTHING! Kiwi, berries, omg. Maddness. New and new madness.

The new babies coming home, that is a Blackberry, Brown Turkey Fig and Black Peach Tree (white fruit, swear to god, how hot is THAT?) plus a gorgeous little glazed pot for the Blackberry.

One should always remember the size of your car… or lack there of. Which of course, I didn’t. In this case the Mazda was filled to the brim with plants… and it smelled divinely of leaves and such. And it felt like home. Part II will have more close ups and the final garden in all of it’s uber garden geekery hotness. LOVE. Stay tuned. Grab that RSS feed over there and stay updated—>

Lucy, you have some ‘splainin to do!

shell — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:50:37 +0000

I just…want this site to be done (this one: shellgreenier.com, but it’s not done).

This morning consisted with me running down the hall whining/crying/laughing manically after Chris found me sitting in front of the computer at 7:30 wondering why the wrong website wasn’t updating despite the changes I was making to it for the last half hour. Here I had accidentally opened a local archived version and failed to notice it.

He thought it was funny when I called us the Lucy and Ricky of web design as he stood giggling over me as I curled up on the bed, head hidden in the pillow throwing a tantrum over my own stupidity.

WHYYYYY am I cursed with stupidity…or is it just that I haven’t had coffee…in two weeks?

Autumn leaves

shell — Thu, 27 May 2010 00:53:29 +0000

I stand in a field of gray cement under the canopy of mothes attracked to the overhead night lights of commerce. dressed simply in a green dress and agitation, he holds me in his arms so I won’t float off into the oblivion of my rage.

“you’ll find a new hobby,” he says to me. You’ll find yourself again. He kisses the top of my head to seal me to the ground, opens the car door for me to get in. We drive off from the bookstore where I spent an hour in frustration realizing my old stopping grounds no longer applied to me. I couldn’t find my new self amongst the shelves.

Kids of the four legged variety

shell — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:58:58 +0000

Wisdom teeth removed, I slept in a restless slumber as light poured in from all of the eight windows in my bedroom. At any given time when I awoke the dog would be curled beside me, or sprawled on his back at the foot of the bed or sleeping between my legs. This time he was next to my head throwing up… On my new shoes…chunks of wood he ate from my bed. sigh. Kids.

I call Chris whining, he arrives with resolve and coconut milk ice cream sandwiches the way a knight in shining armor ought.

Bad mom

shell — Sat, 22 May 2010 03:33:15 +0000

Lunch: I finally realized why solaris says she hates me all the time, and it has nothing to do with me directly. There is hate like “I hate you for putting me in the corner” and then there is all the time I hate you mom. She came over from her side of the table at lunch, sat in the chair next to me and said “I hate you mom.” and just went on for the next five minutes about hating me while I tried to choke back tears while not choking on my salad.

Here it dawned on me, just tonight: She blames me for breaking up the family she knew. She loves krisi bc she filled the place of me in a world familiar to her, with parks and Mimi and fountains and routine. What I had to offer them was not routine.

I’m not a bad mom. I’ll bite the bullet and take the blame on this one, though. Being a bad mom is much better than the truth at her age… Or ever. Apparently when she asks about the nanny, her dad tells her she went up north…”to help Santa make presents?” she asks.

I’m not actually as terrible of a human being as I’ve thought these last couple of years. And a couple of years down the road I may still be able to get that farm with my super extended adopted family and be confident knowing I’m a kick ass mom. I’ll be able to look at chubby cheeked babies and not feel my heart break to bits thinking I didn’t have what it takes to make it/them happy.

You have no idea the levels of hell in your own soul until you’ve been rocked to your core.

I’m a bad mom… Bc I’m a fucking amazing mom.