seattle weekly shout out and two life-giving africans

*An "I saw this" little feature by Adriana Grant at Seattle Weekly...

*On a suddenly sunny day, I often only want to listen to Ali Farka Toure. The first time I heard him was riding in a back seat years ago looking out the window at an Illinois farm field at purple dusk that was filled with the streaky yellow arcs of fireflies. One of the best parts of the Midwestern summer, and so far from Mali, but the memories are linked for me.



*My last post was a burning in my bones, and maybe came out a bit more dour than what I feel. I saw an amazing documentary last night about Nobel Prizewinner Wangari Maathai, whose efforts toward the re-greening of a tree stripped and ecologically pained Kenya have had massive implications, socially and politically. A striking story of redemption and interconnectedness, and full of the sort of struggle that joy loves to shine against. And that, I think, is what the most difficult tasks allow, whether it's mothering or overcoming illness or any other hard part of life. A picture of a life that does not include this tension is unreal to me.

*In the Wall Street Journal article linked in the last post, Pamela Tanner Boll, the director of "Who Does She Think She Is?", has this to say:

When I had my first kid, my world changed. That happens to women and we never hear about the positive. We hear about how hard it is. We create a dichotomy between work and family. For women, they’re woven together in a way that’s different than for men. The best work comes out of that loving presence where you’re really paying attention to the people that you love. That gives you energy.

I have to say that this is my experience as well. I think, since the burst of growth and work at the end of my undergraduate years, when things started to click for me as an artist, I've done my best work after having two kids.