About Me

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I'm Tara. I hail from "The Mouth", good old Plymouth, Massachusetts. I have always loved to write, and talk, and experience people and things in new ways. These days, I am using my writing skills not only to tell my own stories and experiences, but to reflect on some other things I love, like fashion, vintage jewelry, and art. I think accessories make the outfit and are the key to true style! I challenge anyone who doesn't like to talk to find their way out of talking to me. I could talk the paint off a wall, I'd bet. I enjoy meeting new people and love checking them out! Guys, gals, and these days, even pets often have their own sense of style, and personality and sense of style are the cornerstones of what I think about a good portion of the time. Food and drink take up the rest. Especially wine and cheese, and no, I'm not talking whine.

Monday, June 4, 2012

A land far-far away

Last month I left the good old state of Massachusetts to spend a week sailing around the BVI's on a catamaran. One might think that this sounds super-relaxing and rejuvenating...but being on a boat brings things to a whole different level. The quarters are tight...things like regular showers, access to copious drinking water, and comfortable sleeping areas are things that you appreciate a whole lot more when you get back from this type of trip. I thought the vacation from my everyday hustle and bustle life of race training and work and managing my home would be the perfect opportunity to catch up on my reading, and do a bunch of writing. To enjoy the slow island pace (that I did do), and just enjoy the time disconnected from the world wide web. Okay-I know, that term is terribly out-dated and completely out of use. Speaking of out-dated, and dating oneself... Back in the day I had an English teacher who made us write weekly 5-paragraph essays. She would insist on having us turn in a paragraph each day, and that these paragraphs always be typed. I did not have a computer at home (not everyone did at that time), and I would be forced to go to the computer lab or have my mom drive me to the library EVERY single day so that I could type my work. One day, I couldn't get a ride, so I wrote out my paragraph (VERY NEATLY). I have excellent printing and penmanship, so I felt it perfectly reasonable that on a single occasion I could hand in my assignment untyped. Boy was I wrong! Not only did my teacher call me out publicly in front of the entire class...but she went so far as to say "You will never be anything without a computer!" I was totally mortified, because in your formative years the last thing you want is to be publicly ousted as being "different" in any way, and because I was called out by my teacher! And the teacher of my favorite subject no less. Why am I bringing all of this up now, today, in June of 2012? Well, because, as much as this teacher hurt my feelings, and as angry as I was with her at the time (I went home crying, to my mom, who then scrimped and saved like a maniac to buy me a word processor so I could do my work!), this teacher knew something we didn't know... The way of the world is computers. And she saw that coming way before a lot of people did. So, I guess even though she was kind of a bitch she was a smart bitch. Today I make my living in internet, I do my writing on my laptop or my tablet, and I am pretty much constantly connected to social networks. I save information and photos and history online...and I struggle to imagine what I used to do before I had a smart phone to guide me through my day! The point is, I didn't spend my vacation relaxing in the way I expected. I did a lot of swimming and snorkeling and running around from island to island. I connected with friends first-hand, and in person. Talking and experiencing them in the flesh instead of on a screen. And this was the true benefit of my trip. By disconnecting I reconnected. To myself and the world around me. And I appreciated every little thing for what it was. But, boy, at the end of it I was tired. And boy, when my flight landed back in Philly I was DYING to get back online.