Erin is a lot younger than I am, and blogs written by people this much younger rarely speak to me for long, even when their authors write as well as Erin does. I've "been there, done that" and in most cases am not intrigued in the least by the way they experience their days and approach their challenges. I'm well past their stage of life and am looking for different insights, for intelligence that touches me where I am now or where I am going.
Erin and I don't have the same interests. We don't like the same music. We don't spend our time in any of the same ways. But Erin is one of the few writers who consistently makes me laugh out loud. OUT LOUD. That is beyond valuable to me. It delights and uplifts. And this is why I read — why I read anything at all outside of the work essentials. It's not for education, it's not for connection; it's for pleasure.
Also, I'm a huge fan of Erin's fella, Henry. The way she characterizes the longsuffering Henry cracks me up; I am dreaming of her biography about him, because it will be a laugh a minute. She teases him mercilessly and he hangs in there, taking care of business, sensible, solid and strong. He might just be the grownup in the family (of course you know, Erin, that I'm teasing here), while Erin is the one chasing down the fun and making everyone's lives more interesting. Every grownup needs someone like Erin, and every Wild Child like Erin needs someone like Henry in her corner!
Go see for yourself. Erin's answers to my questions are below, followed by the link to her page.
1. What flowers, if any, will you plant this spring?
Every spring I start haranguing Henry about planting a garden and he always gives me some monotoned, canned response about how we "don't have room" and "[something something] sunlight" which basically just means, "Please don't give me more work, I just want to nap." However, I'm really into succulents so I will definitely be adding to my house plant collection. I'd like to get some large potted cacti!
2. Do you have a #1 must-see, can't-wait-till-later blog right now (not a relative or close friend, though it can be themed and does not have to be a personal blog; of course, my blog is disqualified so my feelings cannot be hurt -- hee!), and why does it keep you coming back for more?
Aside from a handful of friends' blogs (yours included!) I really don't read many other blogs. I always check out a few music websites though, Absolute Punk being my favorite (wait---they recently changed their name to Chorus.fm but it'll always be Absolute Punk in my heart). I used to really enjoy A Beautiful Mess because they had some good DIYs that I would assign to Henry (lol) but now they kind of get on my nerves so when I do check in, I usually just skim and leave.
3. What are your other common stopping places on the Internet? Please list up to five and give me their urls. I'm sure you've got at least that many.
Http://chorus.fm
http://gomiblog.com
Http://Altpress.com
Http://Stereogum.com
http://substreammagazine.com
I'm boring and mostly just read music reviews!
4. When you go to a potluck meal, do you have a best dish that you usually take? If so, what is it and do you share your recipe? If so, please do.
I do this really annoying thing to Henry every time my department has a potluck, where I find some overly complicated//hipster-approved//vegan//78-step recipe written in French that has an ingredient list that rivals the amount of our monthly cable bill, and I say, "Here, you have to make this for a thing that you weren't invited to." Also, I usually wait until the night before to tell him this. He made a honey lavender pie once that was a huge hit, the recipe for it can be found here: http://thebakingbird.com/pie/salted-lavender-honey-pie/
5. What's your idea of a fabulous holiday? Is it one you have already taken, or one you hope to take before you die?
I'm a go-go-go type of traveler so beach vacations are usually lost on me. Actually, as I'm typing this, my family and I are on our way home from a week in Orlando, FL, where we spent two days at Disney and three days at Universal Studios. My son and I are huge theme park lovers (Henry spends a lot of time holding my purse and sitting on benches) so this was an Erin-approved vacation. I also enjoy road-tripping/traveling for concerts. We'll be going to Michigan next month for Bled Fest, Maryland a month later for the Cure (whom I've also traveled to Australia to see because they're my #1 band forever!), and hopefully in September we'll be going to Chicago for our third Riot Fest. I love music festivals and to me, that's the equivalent of a fancy spa retreat --- it soothes my souls and recharges me!
My dream vacation though is Romania. I'm determined to get there someday even though I have developed a crippling fear of flying in my older age.
I hope these answers are good enough! Please excuse any typos -- typing on my phone in the car is not ideal but I wanted to get these back to you sooner rather than later. Thanks again for including me!
http://www.ohhonestlyerin.com/
