TheListServe Blog

Jake la Motta was rescued from a favela in São Paulo, abandoned, unfed and bound by a rusty chain link that allowed him no mobility. With doleful brown eyes and protruding ribs, he showed only signs of gratitude as his rescuers slowly nursed him back to health.  We first saw Jake as he was exiting the park with his rescuer. With short white fur, a big heart-shaped head and small (then undernourished) body, I surely thought he was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, aka "the nanny dog." After weighing many pros and cons, we adopted him one week later. We sat and brainstormed names, and inspiration came from the movie Raging Bull (laden with irony). But as the weeks passed, we found that Jake was not quite a Staffy. He is larger than the breed's size and we learned that there are no red-nosed white Staffies. Most likely, he is a pit bull mix, yet his exact breed remains a mystery. Whatever the lineage, he is a big hunk of love, entirely grateful for his new home and becoming heal...

*Size may vary and this package may be discouraged by others. They're just jealous. I guarantee a bicycle can get you much farther than you think. Whether you go 1 mile to the store, 10 to work, hundreds to another state, or thousands around the world - get on a bicycle! I will leave you all with a few quotes on the wonder of this man powered machine. Please reach out with any stories or experiences you might have had pedaling, or if you're interested in trying it out! "It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and can coast down them.... Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motorcar only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." - Ernest Hemingway "I began to feel that myself plus the bicycle equale myself plus the world, upon whose spinning wheel we must all earn to ride, or fall i...

Would you trade the mountains and the deep sea for an abundance of fertile low land? I have been yearning for heights ever since I was a kid. I climbed to the top of the beech tree in my parents’ back yard, I clambered on the roof of their barn and my preferred reading spot was the top of my bookcase, where I squeezed myself between the top shelve and the ceiling, until I grew too big and the bookcase collapsed. When I was older, I tried to climb the highest peak of every new country I visited. Reaching a peak is always a euphoric experience. I’m good at euphoric experiences. I never look for them, but I find them in spring days, in friends talking to friends, in traveling by train, in music, in the smell of a lawn mower and in the friendly greeting of a mentally retarded man at the supermarket. I find them in breathing the air and letting my feet take me wherever I want them to. I have a talent to marvel at little things, and I often feel happiness bubble up in my stomach, finding its...

Until the 27th of January of this year, I'd never REALLY been in love. I was 32 at the time. I'm not necessarily happier now than I was before, but there's a whole new layer to my life. In a way things are more complicated. A few years ago my uncle had shocked me when he told me that his wife was more important than his kids, that he loved her more than them. I don't have children, but I can imagine feeling the same way for Nathalie if/when we have wee copies of ourselves. I work a lot (and love the job), so I don't have a lot of free time. And now a good deal of that spare time is spend with the love of my life. But that means that some of what I used to I can't anymore or it doesn't get done with any kind of priority. But the upside is getting to spend time with someone who is frankly fantastic, more than I could've reasonnably asked for. And most importantly she challenges what I used to consider as priorities. Guilhem moichezmoi[AT]hotmail.com France

I’m 23 years old. I graduated from Westmont College with a degree in Liberal Studies (= non-committal/elementary education). I’m married without children. (Full disclosure: sometimes I carry my dog around like a baby.) I anticipate that when this is published my mother Gail will read it, possibly take a few moments to realize that this is, in fact, her daughter writing, and then she’ll call me and we’ll laugh about it because we are, as she says, “sympatico”. Love you mama! ~ I’m a doula. It’s Greek for “a woman who serves”. My job description is Professional Birth and Postpartum Support Person. It means that I attend births. I massage and braid hair and remind everyone to take a sip of water. I sway and count and breath to match the laboring mother’s pace. I tell her to reach down and feel her baby’s head. I watch babies take their first breath. Sometimes I pace the halls waiting to be escorted to a post-op recovery room. I take pictures and see the room erupt in tears and sm...

~Artfully cluttered Imagine a grid of paint chips on a poster in color-coded order. Then small chips of corresponding colors slapped on top, creating an unorganized pile of cardstock with flowing vibrant color. A place for everything, everything in its place. But addresses change and glue can go from "in the second drawer next to the scissors", to "the right of the ceramic bird on the shelf". Everything becomes an intricate system for only your eyes to make sense of. ~Aesthetics Peppermint cocoa, apple-scented candles, fuzzy blankets, sunsets, small cafes, flower crowns, peonies, Renaissance architecture, Snoopy, skylines, gauzy curtains, quotes, ocean air, autumn leaves, warm rain, blueberry scones, palm trees, acoustic guitars, farmers markets, little figurines, quality writing instruments, bulb-shaped lights, modern art, parasols, feather pens, sundresses, pocket watches, photo booth strips. ~Toastmasters Is a community of people who's primary goal is to buil...

I recently turned 40. I'm a midlevel career type of person, no kids, unmarried. I help take care of my sister's children. I have normal hobbies (reading, visiting museums, seeing concerts, etc.). I'd like to meet someone but dating is the pits.    I'm also suffering a midlife crisis.   Midlife crises are seen as jokes. Balding men who drive sports cars or take up motorcycling. The reality is that 40 hits you like a ton of bricks. Even if you don't look or emotionally feel what 40 is "supposed" to look and feel like, your aching bones, persistent gray hairs, and looming fear of getting old tell you otherwise. My life, for all intents and purposes, is half over. And the other half of this life gets tired and gains weight really easily. It worries about a mostly pointless career and would often rather stay home in bed, reading a book.

I'm guessing most on this list are younger than 40. Here's what I wish I had done before this point: 1. Not wasted ti...

They told me to become the change I want to see in the world. So I became a dime. They are underrepresented in the financial world. Have a fulfilling day. Jon 
MT

Once, at the edge of a moment, I stood, afraid, confused, excited And waited, from sunset to month to year Always there, but never here The drum went on and on. *** I remember when the Halloween catalogs came, as a child The thrill, the excitement Finding the perfect one Which was never for me; I knew better than to ask *** Falling, I stopped to catch myself, but slipped And there, in front of me, I found something New—a taste, succulent, unfamiliar Rich, explosive, I trembled; Hope. *** I tried to kill myself once. Or maybe twice. I tried to drown in a bathtub And ran a knife across my wrists My tears were because it was too dull *** But if this was me, the one with hope, Did that come with despair? Was it the possibility of joy That dredged up the ultimate moment *** Did it matter? In the hospital, I learned to breathe To sleep To smile again *** I wondered, was it a dream? Was it real life? Did it matter? Fear remained *** People call me brave I hate it. For being me? It took no cou...

Do you know how to speak about what you love? Joni Mitchell has been in the news a lot, and for once when I see her name and hear it I flinch and do not want to know. Others do not know how I feel about her except that I do. I love to write, yet when it comes to Ms Mitchell, I do not have a word. I've gotten this question a lot, as though I am somehow the go-to source when I am the most unreliable source you could ask: who is Joni Mitchell? I pretend I don't hear, though I pay attention by principle. I will try an answer for you listserve readers (though really, spare others the pain and just use google): Joni Mitchell is a folk and jazz singer-songwriter known for her "weird chords" and a song she came to regret about Woodstock, written early in her development. She is an artist, a recluse, frustratingly standoffish and a painter ("I live in a box of paints"). Joni Mitchell is sick. Reports on her condition varied from the apocalyptic to the utterly blasé....

Hey Listservers, I've been on here for a long time now and was starting to think the winning email had forgotten about me; yet here we are. I'm 23, am what's known as a 'Third Culture Kid' and currently call the landmass of Australia home. My story: As a baby, I grew up during the apartheid in South Africa. Despite personally having no recollection of events, my parents must have been concerned enough as we moved to Switzerland, the opposite to South Africa in pretty much every way. We didn't stop there though, 5 years (and 1 little brother) later we packed up again to move closer to family, this time to Australia. Adelaide, South Australia is where we settled, to be with family on dad's side. Now Adelaide is a special place. Instead of the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, it's the 2 degrees of Adelaide (no, seriously, 2 degrees, I've never broken this rule). We are home to the highest number of serial killers and churches in Australia (coincidence?)...