Famous among dozens
Camp Mighty 2013 Ace Hotel, Palm Springs.
Apologies for going radio dark the last few days, the week before Camp Mighty is always the land of a thousand checklists.
But yesterday a girlfriend and I drove into the parking lot at The Ace Palm Springs with the windows down and the kiddo in the backseat. The air here is exactly the same temperature as my skin, and Tom Waits is playing low by the pool.
I am so happy I could burst into blossom.
Damn it feels good to check that little box.
You guys have been making intimidating stuff. Like violins? And chairs? Meanwhile, I’m unwilling to work with any tool that plugs in unless it comes with glue sticks. Or hot rollers. This is probably because I can’t drink wine while I’m using a table saw.
Anyway, we’re in our final round of the I Made This Project on Go Mighty. If you’ve been making stuff, just add the tag #imadethis to a story. We’ll enter you for a chance to win a $400 package of good things. (And I’ll announce the winner August 30.)
If you know how to use a table saw or a sewing machine, now’s the time to make me feel inferior. Like so:
I’ve mentioned Caitlin before. She’s learning how to make a violin and sharing the process on Go Mighty. Most recently, she whittled the scroll and put in the Filletatura. Every time she posts, I’m like, “Still? I would so be the girl with the half finished violin in my closet until I die.”
Lorien is sewing and gifting a new stuffed animal every month for a year. Most recently she made dragons as a wedding gift.
Liz crocheted these washable, reusable face scrubbies from yarn. Good for your skin and the environment. She also used the word “cunning” to describe an object. One of uuuuuus.
This ramen from the Momofuku cookbook took 9 hours to make. Which, in cooking years, is almost as long as it takes to gestate a child.
More things. More things!:
• About half of us have pinned this, Kellee actually did it. The rest of us are just killing ourselves slowly.
• Tara rescued a chair from an alley and tried her hand at reupholstering for the first time. Success.
• Karisa has been sewing since she was 10, but this shirt is the first piece of clothing she’s ever made for herself.
• Robyn is making and giving away 1,000 hats. I wear mine constantly.
• Amy is finishing all of her unfinished sewing projects, and she made something I want.
If you haven’t posted your project yet, do! It can be something, you cooked, wrote, drew, whatever. Making stuff automatically makes you a more interesting person. And better looking too.
Go Mighty is our Life List community for people who get it done. If you’re not a member yet, let’s fix that. Sign up, and we’ll send an invite your way within 24 hours.
This is Kelly Knight’s first dahlia.
One of the best things about poking around on Go Mighty is seeing the patterns emerge. Right now, the site feels like a big “Why don’t we?”
– Dance
– Grow flowers or just keep plants alive
– Do something grand
And a whole lot of us would like to conquer a fear. Over the years, I’ve learned that using my list to conquer fears has one of the biggest impacts on my life. It’s surprising how much brain space fear reserves, maybe because of the energy we spend in avoiding thinking about the things that scare us.
In considering what I’m still afraid of, I realized I have a ludicrous, palm-sweaty fear of the group sports I played in Jr. High. I’ve joked about this before, but damn, you guys. Volleyball, dodgeball, kickball? How do I still get cold sweats thinking about doing these things as a grownup?
I think I always just thought I’d get over these things, but they seem to linger until I take active steps to shake them. Which frankly, sounds like the worst.
How about you? What scares you as a grown up? Any fears you expected to have “gotten over” by now?
Go Mighty is a Life List community for doers. Join in, why don’t you?
Universal truth: People who make stuff are preferable to people who fail to make stuff.
We’re in our final round of the I Made This Project on Go Mighty. Add the tag #imadethis to a story on Go Mighty, and then share your project on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. We’ll enter you for a chance to win this $400 package:
SIX-PACK FRAME CINCH
Once a generation an invention comes along that shifts the dominant paradigm. Such is the Six-Pack Frame Cinch created by the husband and wife team at Walnut Studiolo. Where was this when I was in college? You guys are geniuses.
BOOK PLATE STAMP
This vintage typewriter stamp is handmade by Meagan Lewis of Brown Pigeon. She carves her custom stamps from rubber. You can use yours as a bookplate starter, or to stamp the cover page of the novel you’re writing.
MAKER STAMP
Customize your handiwork with this stamp from Cathie at Ampersandity, who does her own hand-lettering and calligraphy.
LIMITED EDITION POLAROID
Polaroid cameras let you make a tiny little something in seconds. So good. This one was created in partnership with The Ace Hotel.
EPIPHANIE CAMERA AND LAPTOP BAG
Finally, our photographer friend Maile Wilson designed this Epiphanie Camera Bag which accommodates a DSLR, lenses, and your laptop or tablet. I use mine constantly.
So share what you’re making on Go Mighty with the tag #imadethis. When you do, we’ll enter you for a chance to win. I’ll share some of my favorite entries here, and we’ll announce the winner on August 30.
Also, you have a little glitter on your face.
Art by Kimberly Hall, who is working to be a free agent.
– Mackensie Cornelius is becoming Indiana Jones, with an assist from some intellectual friends of ours.
– Megan H is taking a huge goal and breaking it into tiny bites, most recently she’s hoping to use her new knot tying skills on unruly bachelors. (Baby steps, you know?) When I see this kind of story unfolding it gives me chills, because it’s obvious she is doing this thing. Cheering for you, Megan.
– If you were bummed to miss the first round of Victoria Smith’s (SF Girl by Bay) online book club, join in for round two.
– Meanwhile, the Go Mighty community is still making summer resolutions. If you tag your summer ideas #gosummer, we’ll enter you to win one of six tickets to Camp Mighty. Kimberly Hall made a cool list for artists.
One more month of Summer! I’ve gotta get some bonfires in, son. I hope your days have been happy and your nights warm.
If you’re not a member of Go Mighty, our Life List community, I hope you’ll have a look and consider making your own list of fun ideas for your life. Invitations are issued within 24 hours of sign up.
Progress on the Summer Resolutions front:
Midnight Picnic with Hank at the Eiffel Tower
Another Conversation with a Six Year Old
Picnic at Sacre Coeur
Which includes a rambling video of me, filmed when I believed I was only being photographed. (Thanks, Jason.)
Fireworks for Bastille Day!
This was one I had to add to my list retroactively, because how was this not on my list? Silly.
How’s your summer shaping up? If you tag your Go Mighty goals and stories with #gosummer, you enter yourself for a chance to win a ticket to Camp Mighty. It would be nice to see you there.
How’s your summer coming? Pretty good, by the looks of it:
All those Go Summer folks are entered for a chance to win a ticket to Camp Mighty. If you haven’t made your own Summer Resolutions yet, consider it. Because they are fun. And because Camp Mighty has a poolside lounge chair with your name on it.
July, you’re really coming along.
Photo from Bonnie Chan’s Gorgeous post about visiting the Sierras.
Most years, my summer goes like this, “It’s Summer! It’s Summer! It’s… Fall.”
Summer looks so easy from the outside, filled with simple pleasures like barbecues, road trips, watermelon on ice. Unfortunately, it’s even easier to put those things off in favor of napping in a cool place. (I love you, napping. Come here, let’s cuddle.)
Much like the holidays, there are things I need to do every Summer or it doesn’t feel like I really got a Summer. And all of us know what I do in these situations. I make a list:
My Summer resolutions for 2013.
And! If you’d like to make your own list of fun ideas for Summer, Team Mighty is giving away Camp Mighty tickets to members of the Go Mighty community. To be eligible, tag your summer plans and goals, and any stories about your progress, with #gosummer.
We’ll be giving away the first of six tickets next Friday. Hooray! Here’s hoping we get to meet up for a little more summer in Palm Springs this October.
Sara Lando! Get on this, stat.. And then the rest of us will have to do it too.
Sara McNally is making things. So satisfying.
Brittany Gibbons is in the zone right now, doing makeovers for curvy intellectuals and pitching her TV show.
Oh c’mon. One of you has to want these.
If you’re not a member of Go Mighty yet, come have a look. Invitations go out within about 24 hours after your initial request, so don’t be shy.
Mighty Girl 