I'm on Twitter!

The title is rather self-explanatory. I used to tell myself I didn't want a Twitter and it was a waste of time, but once I realized that almost everyone else has jumped on -- or off! -- the Twitter bandwagon, I rode the wave.

Follow me? www.twitter.com/mayaganesan

Hands full of your new bones

You are either the small miracle or the next footprint on the road. You might be the dark spots around the edges of your mama's favorite photograph. Is it possible to be miraculously dark?

How long can you stay seaweed-and-bone, living off the pattern of your skin? You are always running, wind braided into your hair.

You could be the girl who thanks God every night for letting her live another day -- the one who is grateful for every breath she takes. Have you stayed up until three a.m. splashing torrents of red hurt onto paper, mad scientist mixing paint and waiting for a color -- not chemical -- reaction?

You are the fragile handful of bones she carried so many years ago. She called it a blessing of July. You are the spirit under the stars, the well swimming with water, the love burning in a rush of air.

32 Flavors

lovelovelove

dear daddy,

thank you for
dropping me off at & bringing me home from school
cooking dinner (sometimes -- but it's always good)
keeping our house at a decent level of cleanliness
always (actually, make that "almost always") taking my side in arguments
all your laughably awful jokes
scaring me (as in really really scaring me!) yesterday
being crazycrazy smart
always being patient when I mess up
being perfectly okay with sappy "I love you!!! Happy Father's Day (or Happy Birthday)! Love, Maya" cards for the past 9? 10? years
having the weirdest (and I honestly mean WEIRDEST) sense of humor
just being you

Somehow, daddies always get pushed to the side. But I will love you forever!

Perpetual motion

walking down an empty black-and-white path that never ends

Confessional

(NYColor)

I'm listening to "Circus." (Yes, I love it.)

*****

I haven't even wandered near the writing front for a week or two now, which is pretty unusual for me. The only writing I've done is a secret.

*****

I love secrets, the feeling that you know something someone else doesn't. It makes me feel more important than I really am, like I know something exclusive, some kind of inside gossip, something special.

*****

I should have called you, but I didn't. I was too afraid to pick up the phone and dial.

*****

Somehow, I'm lost in this tangle of life. I don't know where I tripped and fell off the road, but I know I did.

*****

It's difficult to decide on a favorite novel. Some of my top rankers? "Paper Towns," "Speak," "Wintergirls," "My Sister's Keeper," "North of Beautiful." Each one did something for me. Each one spoke to me (no pun intended). Each one was powerful and handed me a new mirror.

*****

Sometimes I wonder if we have enough mirrors. When I find a new one (or receive a new one), I always feel like I don't have enough, because there are always more to discover and be discovered.

*****

The world is so complicated and cobwebby. When I'm reaching deep in the thread, I wonder why I'm here in the first place. Why, and equally as important: how. How I got here. How I made it to this place in the world, in whatever's written out for me to do and live through.

*****

I'm afraid this is a pretty life-reflective, meaning-of-lifey post, but it's exactly what I need(ed) to say.

If I could've, I would have captured it for you.

Probably one of the biggest reasons why I love Washington is because we get these amazing sunsets in the summer and fall. Last summer, I'd wait every night to watch the sun dip below the horizon.

There are stripes of golden-orange on the kitchen wall. When this ohsoglorious sun cuts through the window and your sister is playing "Carol of the Bells" and "Love Story" on the piano, you can't help but feel hopeful that there is something beautiful coming.

I would have
drunk apricot sunlight with you
if you were here.

back!

I promise I'm still alive. And kicking. But very busy.

I'll confess shamelessly that I didn't know what to blog about and thought that silence would somehow give me something to say. Truth: it didn't. I figured that shushing for over a week requires a much-needed post.

So. I was reading Apologies (I know it's kind of funky to read your own book, but that's okay) and realizing that tomorrow marks the four-month birthday of my sweet little collection. That's remarkable. It's still so surreal to hear the phrase "your book, your book" over and over, being repeated through the house in conversations. Wow. Just...wow.

Speaking of books, I found this brilliant talk from Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) through January's blog. It's really lovely. If you've got twenty minutes to spare, this is one of the best ways to spend that time. Gilbert is funny, interesting, and engaging. She's truly a treasure to listen to.

What I love about the blogosphere (and being back in it!) is that it's like one of those loot bags you get after a birthday party. It's so full of goodies. There are so many amazing things to discover in the corners if you just look hard enough.