M.F. Miller
Photograph by M.F. MillerI first read M.F. Miller’s work in Kinfolk Magazine volume three. Yes, Kinfolk Magazine. Again. I know. But seriously, it’s awesome, and if you’re not subscribing, what are you waiting for? Nathan Williams to invite you himself?
M.F. wrote a wonderful piece for the spring issue titled Revisting Our Temples. It’s about how the seemingly ordinary places the she and her now-husband visited at the beginning of their relationship have become special. I love this, and it’s true for me too. When Drew and I first started dating we were living in L.A. We don’t get to revisit our places often, but they make me smile whenever I think of them.
M.F. gave birth to a beautiful boy at the end of May. She blogs at Suite Henry.
Mid-Century by the Bay by Heather M. David
The first time I saw Mid-Century by the Bay I was at Canoe, a fantastic design shop in Portland. Everything about this book got my attention – the colors, the photographs, the fonts. I loved it right away. Heather has very generously shared a preview with us on Flickr.
This last photo is from The Tonga Room in San Francisco. I think I have to go there.
P.S. The rest of Heather’s photostream is awesome too.
How to Build Cool Forts with Your Son
All for the Boys is all about cool stuff for boys and the moms who love them. Allison has a fun weekly column called Fort Friday. Yep. Forts! One of her posts led me to Lessons in the Art of Pillow Fort Construction, a New York Times article by Matt Richtel.
Photograph by John Kuczala for The New York Times
There’s a whole section of the article that made me kind of melancholy. The motherhood nostalgia for the present syndrome I wrote about recently.
“We had to be invited in,” said Ms. Ikeda…“It was their home, a home within a home,” she said. “It had to become their thing.”…
…She told me the fort had to be the children’s to build, not mine to direct — and theirs, too, to let go of. It’s O.K. if it falls down, comes apart, changes, needs rebuilding.
“You’re setting up the notion of impermanence,” she said. “Keep reinforcing the mantra, ‘This is not going to stay here.’ ”
Hmm. Was that message for my kids, or me?
When I interviewed the architects, I heard the hints of melancholy in their voices about connecting with kids in a mutually creative process. We remember the comfort of the fort, the thrill of designing our own space, and we want to design it with our children.
But maybe the experience isn’t about togetherness. Maybe it’s about letting go. Sure, I may have a few months, maybe years, to collaborate. I’ll show them things. I’ll initiate. But then I’ll have to let them have their home inside our home, apart from us.
The pillows and blankets, the sheets and rope, the umbrellas, will belong to them. And the secrets whispered inside.
I wonder if I’ll know when I’ve built my last fort.
My brother and I used to make blanket forts. We’d stretch the blanket between two kitchen chairs and weigh it down with stacks of World Book and Childcraft encyclopedias. Now it’s time for me to make them with Nathaniel. Our first fort. That phrase makes me smile.
Our True Intent Is All For Your Delight: The John Hinde Butlin’s Photographs
Wow. This weekend I was doing some research to find out more about Our True Intent Is All For Your Delight: The John Hinde Butlin’s Photographs
Instagram Tips from Fabulous People
Do you guys read Morgan Shananan’s blog, The 818? She writes great posts like this, and she’s funny on Twitter (see two of my favorite tweets, tweet #1 and tweet #2, for an example). She also provides awesome Instagram tips.
Instagram Photo by Morgan of The 818
So does Jason Hudson.
Instagram Photo by Jason Hudson
Do you use Instagram? If so, do you have any special tricks or favorite apps to share? Follow my feed here, if you’d like.
P.S. The first issue of the Inward Facing Girl newsletter will go out at the end of this week. Sign up today if you’d like access to information you won’t find on the blog, including social media and blogging tips, discounts on marketing, social media, graphic design, and blog consultation services, random fun things, and more!