No, I wouldn't jump off the Brooklyn Bridge

But there are plenty of other things I'll do because my blogging friends are doing them, too. I can't claim Geeky Mom's prowess with Getting Things Done, some of Laura's posts have inspired me to take a few steps towards better organization and task management. And her blogroll led me to 43 Folders, where the January entries on fresh starts and modest changes have gotten my e-mail inbox mostly cleared out. I'm not one for new year's resolutions (in part because the new calendar year is in the middle of the academic year, when I'm muddling through and dreaming of summer. I'm much more likely to make new academic year resolutions). But this January, some of my new organizing techniques really are feeling new. And that's nice.

For some of the quirkier things I'm doing b/c of blog-influence, keep reading.




For starters, I'll rip up linoleum. My bathroom discoveries weren't quite as lovely as Halloweenlover's, but as you can see I found some nifty original tile in our bathroom. The bathroom is about to be renovated, and our contractor isn't sure we can use the original tile, but maybe. And at least we know what it looked like so we can evoke or recreate it in the renovated bath.



Secondly, I'll buy socks, because when Peripatetic Polarbear writes about socks, it's inspiring (and when Halloweener lover writes about socks, it's funny).






And always, I'll try a recipe. I've made a lot of blog-shared recipes over time, most recently this pasta dish that came courtesy of Julie, field-tested before Curious Girl and I got to it by Scrivener and his daughters (after all, any chance for me and Scrivener to resemble each other is something worth grabbing!). If you look closely at the photo, you'll see the side of CG's sunglasses. When she was stirring the onions, she complained that her eyes were bothering her. I suggested she get her sunglasses so she ran to the living room for them, and they blocked enough of the onion's whatever-makes-your-eyes-burn qualities so she could keep stirring. Plus she thought it was funny to get to wear her shade indoors.

A lot of things I've been reading have also gotten me thinking about the language of adoption, as well as the structure of a semester, so I'll try to write about one of those ideas tomorrow. On matters both Important and Mundane, I'm enjoying the ways in which blog-friends get me to try new foods, new ideas, new questions. And especially new orange socks. I like these connections.

And on that note, time to progress towards my earlier bedtime.