linda pastan.

Here's a poem from one of my favorite poets to start off your day, my dears.

In Another Country

--Cernobbio, Sunday Morning

The trick is to leave yourself behind,

to disguise yourself

in the unselfconscious body

of a woman you always meant to be,

to sip a glass

of prosecco in the sun

like sipping the sun itself.

I pluck the petals of a dozen daisies and always get

the same answer; but here

where language consists

not of words but of syllables of music,

no answer matters.

There are only flowers.

There is only the lake, concealing

in its blueness and drowned

gates of that first vineyard.

And we are still locked safely in,

the wine somehow alive

in every glass, our tickets home,

like the angel's final summons,

no more for now

than the mother of beauty.

--Linda Pastan

(Photograph by the very talented Abby)

maria kalman.

I know many of us have been following Maria Kalman's Pursuit of Happiness blog over at the NY Times. I was sad to learn that the George Washington post she did in December was her last, but very happy to find out that these posts she will be turned into a book. I adore her book The Principles of Uncertainty, and think her work in published form would make for the greatest gift.

erika on "one simple joy": colored letters.

After Alicia so graciously asked me to be a part of this guest series, I really got thinking about the chaos of a normal day – the hurdles and errands and obligations that for many of us define the adult world. And some days, it is tough to find one simple joy amidst all the responsibilities, but lately, I’ve been looking a little closer and what I’ve found is quite simple indeed.

I spend most of my day in a cubicle, working at a computer, typing and reading words, and I’ve found that sometimes, these letters on a page can really become something transformative. There are certain words for me, that just seeing them printed provides some kind of comfort, some nostalgia or acknowledgement of home – words like poem, low tide, autumnal.

Reading, for me, is somewhat of a visual experience – every letter has its own color and space on the page – a phenomenon called synaesthesia that causes two or more of the senses to cross over, in my case, letters and color. So some words feel like old friends – the oranges and reds of the word poem with a creamy white in the center, the way it smoothes across the page like a spoonful of crème brulee. I take some small pleasure in knowing that these letters put on a kind of show that only I can see, and feel grateful that we all have this opportunity to envision and define our little corners of the world.

--Erika (who not only sees beauty in the word poem, but writes radiant poems, too)

*photo of Erika taken by Graham Shepherd at her home away from home--Newcomb's Hollow Beach, Wellfleet, Cape Cod

sweet little gift #14: a library of ideas for your brilliant friends.

For you, my lovely readers, who read lots of different things and are so kind to read Well Hello, Chicago. While these books maybe aren't that little, I know most of us don't mind if our bag is a little heavier if it means we can travel with a book (or two). . .Here are a some great books to give in 2009. . .

For the artist or photographer in your life. This book looks so rad. The Contact Sheet, by Steve Crist. $26.37 plus shipping from Amazon.

For all of the writers you're surrounded by, because we can all always use more inspiration (plus, the title's just cool). The Paris Review Book for Planes, Trains, Elevators and Waiting Rooms.

$10.88 and up plus shipping, from Amazon.

For all of your basketball and sports admirers alike, this book is bringing sport and poetry together and shhhh, don't tell, but I think it's gonna change the world. Losing Season, by Jack Ridl. $10.88 and up, plus shipping, from Amazon.

Because now that we've all read My Life in France by Julia Child, we're left yearning for more. . .The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious and Perplexing City by David Lebovitz. $16.47 and up plus shipping, from Amazon.

And finally, a children's book for the big kid in all of us, because, in the end, that's one thing that Christmas is absolutely about. Sparkle and Spin: A Book About Words by Ann Rand and Paul Rand. $10.85 plus shipping from Amazon.

And, I'd like to say that of course I'm all about supporting your local bookstore, so I'm sure many of these books are available there. I just wanted to attach the Amazon links to be thorough :)

Thanks so much for reading through all the Sweet Little Gift ideas for 2009! I had so much fun putting this together, and I'm surely sad to see it end. xo.