Saturday, May 23, 2009

the devil's in the details


i'm a big arm movements kinda girl. very dramatic when telling stories and using my hands and arms as much in the telling as my words. i'm loud and i crave attention. totally impatient. everything has to be done with lots of speed. no dilly dallying here. HRH TFM would say, "you're so aries." and she's no doubt right. i am so aries. bossy. taking the lead. me, me, me. and have i mentioned me?

but i'm working on it. one of the many things i love about husband (he's aquarius) is his patience and ability to wait for people to notice things. like small details on which he worked for ages. he's actually ok if it takes a really long time for someone to notice. he's willing to wait. it's part of that patience thing with him that i mentioned last week. thousand year oaks and such.

and so i try to let some of that rub off on me. i do it in small ways. the above photo is an example. i found that perfect eyeball stone on my last trip down møn's klint. about a month ago, i noticed that it tucked nicely into the hole in that piece of driftwood. the driftwood forms a bench of sorts near our grill table (yes, we had a table made with a grill in the center of it--more about that another time).


and i waited for husband to notice it. and it took a few days. and even then, he wasn't sure if i had put it there intentionally or if it was actually already there in the driftwood. but, of course i had put it there. and once he asked, of course i said so.

i have an urge to paint around it or otherwise somehow call attention to it. to make it more obvious, less subtle. because subtle i'm not. but i'd like to be. sometimes anyway.

and if i don't paint around it,  i wonder if others will notice when they come over. and if they don't, will i be able to resist pointing it out and hinting for praise for my cleverness? i'm not sure i will, but i'm going to try. you have to start somewhere.

19 comments:

iasa said...

From the opening sentence, i thought this was gonna be an eddie izzard post. He's got that bit about da vinci painting the last supper and jesus doing 'the big arms thing'. I couldn't find a clip in the 12 seconds i devoted to looking, anyway...

i am the same about drawing attention to thing, you might have to make arrows from smaller stones and attach them to the driftwood pointing at the large stone. or perhaps a quick interperative dance about the stone's location and your mastermindingness before each meal taken at the table

julochka said...

iasa--that's it PRECISELY!! definitely going to go check my smaller stones to see if they can form said arrow...

Char said...

:) very clever. my arm movements get big too - especially after a couple of vodka tonics

julochka said...

mmm. vodka tonic...

Janet said...

i know what you mean about finding it hard to be patient for others to see something special - either that you've created or that you've found. because i get so excited over little, but extraordinary, things like that, i want everyone else to see it and be excited too. it's hard. but sometimes just waiting and letting them have their own "aha!" moment is totally worth it. (and sometimes, because my mind is always going in 7 different directions, i've already moved on to something else and forgotten all about the first thing and it becomes an "aha" moment for me all over again.) ;)

Hit 40 said...

The stone jumps out at me. I definitely see it. I would not draw more attention to it.

Sounds like we married alike. My hubby is also quiet and reflective before speaking. I am full energy and spontaneous (spontaneous within a plan LOL)

I would bet anything that your husband did see it, but waited pondering what to say for a few days.

My husband makes a lot of $$$ because he really can think things out. I give him all directions to read on new techie toys.

I love the log. Leave it alone.

Just Jules said...

But now it looks ancient and cool and on the edge of just happening - if you draw attention to it you may actually be taking away from it.

Unknown said...

You described my husband and I to a T. Except I'm an Aquarius/Pisces and he's an Aries.

Go figure.

Peace - Rene

McGillicutty said...

I'm so glad you brought up the whole "sign" thing, none of my friends analyze that like I do. I am an aquarian and am very patient but will point out my triumphs when I need accolades... this blog being one of them!! I don't wait for my coworkers to read my blog, I hassle them into it each morning hoping they'll tell me how funny/brilliant/insightful it is.
Don't draw attention to the rock physically just mention it every time you sit down. By the way can you describe your accent for me?>??

Bee said...

I think that you should try to go for the subtle gesture on this one. (But I love it, for some reason, that you can 'fess up about wanting the praise and attention. I guess that's part of the big waving arms things.)

My husband is an Aquarius, too. Just thought I'd mention . . .

rxBambi said...

I love the stone, it looks like it was meant to be there. Altho the arrows would be kinda funny, I like that it looks like an ancient accident.

Now about me:: I'm a capricorn, husband and 2 natural kids are sagitarius... what do you think??

beth said...

my leo traits are very similar to yours....and thank god my husband "off sets" all my craziness by being a sagittarius...."balanced" is a good combination !!

Kortnii said...

I am also SO ARIES! and my guy is a taurus. We butt heads now and again, but its all fair fun.

when you first started off this post I was reading it going "this is SO ME!" minus the married part.

Anddd I noticed straight away in the first picture that there was an eye there. and Id so be itching to tell all my guests as well. but id prolly wait until they figured it out. or at least id wait until the end of the night ;]

Xk

julochka said...

votes tallied--i'm leaving it alone and going for the subtle gesture on this one. it is way cool in and of itself. and people will notice it because they almost sit on it. and it's an exercise in patience for me, which i can use. :-)

i'm quite intrigued at how the whole star sign thing spoke to y'all. :-) it's actually not something i give that much thought to, but it does seem to explain this big difference in patience levels between husband and me. :-) sabin's an aquarius too, but if she'd been born on her real due date, she'd have been an aries too. funny how that works.

funnily enough, ali got me thinking about the whole blog post thing. i'm totally NOT this way about my blog posts...almost no one in my real life circle knows the whereabouts of my blog, so i am definitely not waving people here. interesting how that works too...

i love how you guys help me think things though. thanks for that!

Mari Mansourian said...

another aries here, arms moving and all, but am a little more patient and don't like too much attention... huh go figure, hubby is a virgo and we do very well together, love the rock in the driftwood, leave it alone. just think, it's like a little scientific study for you, you get to see which one of your guests are more attentive to little things and which ones aren't.it can open up a whole conversation at dinner of "who's more attentive" etc.. i notice every little thing when i go someplace, and it's interesting to people-watch and notice the different qualities they possess. have fun with it. :)

hele said...

i love the subtlety of it. Maybe you can create a whole series of subtle touches all over the garden and then invite a group of friends to find them.

Liz Fulcher, The Fragrant Muse said...

We are so similar dear J.
I would be jumping out of my skin to show everyone. However, saying nothing and letting people notice (or not) is very zen. And kind of like having a little secret.

Your hubby is aquarius, an air sign.
You are aries, a fire sign. Air feeds fire.

Optimistic Pessimist said...

That's great that you're working on your patience. I'm not even to the point that I'm ready to work on mine. I would probably put up an obnoxious sign so everyone would be sure to see it.

DeeDee said...

Don't draw attention to the stone. It's perfect the way it is and quite noticeable. If you paint around it, it will detract from it's natural beauty.