I'm back from a mini-vacation to Hawaii and right before I left my article on Lauren Saunders published in the Home&Garden section of the San Francisco Chronicle last Wednesday. This is my first time freelancing for them. Lauren is one of my favorite California designers--I actually posted about her previously!
So when Lauren notified me that the article published (because apparently a store in Napa contacted her), I bought four copies of the paper. My parents came over and asked why I had so many newspapers. I told them that I had written an article. Naturally, they were overjoyed...well, until they found out the article was about a designer that makes pillows. With confused faces, they said, "Pillows?!" (Ironically, I am a designer that make pillows, too.) And my dad adds, "Is that really news?" Apparently, they were anticipating some hardhitting news article, you know, like on the global warming, an ecoli outbreak, or O.J.'s search for the "real killer". Well, pillows are news to me. And I plan to write about more pillows (or rugs or paperweights) in the future, if anything, just to bewilder my parents even more.
Parents, especially those of the geriatric Asian variety, are practically impossible to impress. Well, unless you graduate from Stanford with top honors and a trifecta degree in Medicine, Law and Engineering, then I say you're pretty much Golden. I remember when I told my dad I that I was going to get my first book published--which to his dismay was about bridesmaids' dresses--his response was: "Congratulations. Maybe next time you can write a book on world history." I'll get right on that mister!
meg! you rock! you had me cracking up today...
great work on the article and i'm so glad you're back.
lauren's work reminds me of rays of light. cheers to
lots of sunshine in 2007!
xoxo - kelly
Posted by: kelly | January 18, 2007 at 01:14 PM
congrats meg- the article looks great. lauren's work is so beautiful :)
grace
Posted by: grace bonney | January 18, 2007 at 04:18 PM
ha ha... so funny. my parents are artsy hippies, but i still totally relate... when i tell family members, acquaintances, etc. what i do, most of them don't get it. sometimes i wish i had a mainstream, easy to explain job, so i could just give a one word answer to "what do you do?"
i LOVE lauren saunders work, fabulous article meg!
Posted by: lena | January 19, 2007 at 08:35 AM
your work is fabulous!! I can relate to the "impossible to impress" - shooting with a polaroid camera does not really help ;))
Posted by: Maditi | January 19, 2007 at 10:11 AM
parents are completely impossible -- congrats on the article! hopefully we won't be as hard on our own kids.
cathy :)
Posted by: cathysd | January 23, 2007 at 02:45 PM
hey meg! i tagged you, m'dear! play along-- it's silly but fun! xx p
(click my link for more details).
Posted by: phoebe (silk felt soil) | January 24, 2007 at 10:20 AM