Thursday

The charming and talented Tina Tarnoff over at Thought Patterns was so sweet as to give me an award the other day, and it has been such a busy couple of days that I nearly forgot about it...
I did mean to comply, though I knew this would be one that would make me squirm. The conditions are that I am supposed to state five things about myself that I find sexy. Well....like most people, I think, I have days when I feel sexy. I also have many, many days when I feel like the mommy in her pjs and sweats who hasn't showered in so many days she has lost track, and who doesn't want to let anyone get too close to her for fear she is beginning to smell. This is what it's like to be the mother of a 19-month-old. The plus side is that you're so freakin' happy all the time that it's hard to even care how un-sexy you look. One smile from that tiny, chubby-cheeked face, and none of it matters a whit.

Furthermore, I feel the need to warn you, I am not the traditional brand of "sexy". The things that I find sexy may not be what other women would consider pertinent to that word. I am not a Jimmy Choo girl, not a Brazilian Wax girl, not a lipstick-and-chiffon girl.

So, without further preamble...my five things that I think are sexy about myself:

- I like to sleep in the desert and, if I'm camping, I can go days without a blowdryer, a pillow, a working bathroom, or even a shower. I am as comfortable in the wilderness as I am in a luxe hotel.

- I know how to hand-draft and make a blueprint. I was probably one of the last classes in design school to learn hand-drafting, before autoCAD took over completely. I love the process of pointing leads, rolling the lead holder gently between the fingers so as to create a perfectly consistent line, brushing the pencil shavings from the page with a big, feathery brush so as not to get any hand grease on the paper. I still use a drafting pencil, leads, a pointer and a brush when I illustrate, purely because I love the instruments.

- I am very self-contained. I don't need people. This is both a blessing and a curse, since it's very easy for me to become a bit hermit-ish. I sometimes have to force myself to interact socially, just so I don't forget how. But on balance, I'd rather have that independence of spirit than to feel reliant on others. And I have a horror of clinginess, in either sex.

- I am strong, and I have a great deal of endurance. I can run for thirty miles if I have to, and I can climb a 14,000 foot peak, alone, with nothing but a sandwich and a bottle of water in my backpack.

- And finally, I am a natural at mothering. This is my greatest delight and amazement at this stage of my life, because I never wanted children, and if you'd asked me in my 20s I would have told you I was entirely unsuited to parenting. So it was to my great suprise and delight that I discovered, upon meeting our daughter, that motherhood comes to me as naturally as the tides, as easily as the sun rising in the morning. And yes, I think that's sexy.

It's hard for me to think of five people to tag with this award, since I consider everyone on my blogroll to be a sexy blogger, in one way or another. That's why they're on my blogroll! But let me just toss this into the ether and pick a few off the top of my head...if you feel like playing, go ahead! If not, just take it as a compliment and go on your merry way! Kisses to all my wonderful bloggers:

I pass the torch to
- Amber by Day
- Call-me-Heidi
- An Carol
- Yoli at Musings
- The Sheltering Sky
- Indigo Blue
- Fly in amber
- Susanna's Sketchbook
- Ms. Muse
(Ok, I'll stop..sorry, I couldn't pick just five).

9 comments:

FDChief said...

Interesting list, and an intriguing look inside your head. I note that you include none of the conventional physical attributes of desirability.

So, let me add that, from the standpoint of someone with a Y-chromosome:

1. You have the most astounding bone structure. Lean, strong, gracile; your hands and feet look so lean and powerful you give the impression of being almost aerial.

2. Your gaze; arresting, dark and deep. Yet when you look at your daughter the softness in your eyes makes me want to weep.

3. The aching tenderness with which you hold your child. As a man and a father, there is nothing as attractive as the expression of love between mother and child.

Altogether, a well deserved recognition.

Tina Tarnoff said...

Maia, this is wonderful! I think your list is unbeilevably sexy. Especially the part about motherhood. So wonderful, poetic and sexy! xoxo And me being also very self-contained and hermit like I'm happy you listed that as something sexy!

rosemary said...

I love what you consider sexy. It's a good turn-about to the word! I was one of the last of my class to learn old school dark room development and I've always been happy for it.

Yoli said...

Ahem...lady, you are striking and tall and when I think of a fairy tale princess, I think of you. Don't throw a book at me OK! Who has not looked at the white dress pictures with you crowned like Titania and sighed at your beauty? Very well deserved.

English Muse said...

oh! you brightened my day my dear!! thank you!!! (and you are truly sexy!)

Gill said...

So I take a few days off visting and THIS greets me!
Well if anyone deserved this award it's YOU.
Low maintenance is by far more appealing than the brazilian wax set anyday, trust me, I serve them all the time. :)
Confidence is sexy, and you exude that.
Way to go, sexy blogger babe!
xo

Evelyne said...

Derrière l'image il y a une femme, une mère, une amie...peu importe qu'elle soit sexy ou non...c'est elle,Maia.

Marsi @ The Cottage Cheese said...

All of these things make you not only sexy, but I also think that these make you a wonderful person! I love that you are self-reliant and are comfortable in the wilderness. A girl after my own heart! And that you're a natural at being a good mother, well that takes a special, nurturing and loving individual.

Heidi said...

Thank you so much for this award!! It's the first time I get one in my entire life ;-)
I'm not ignoring you, it's just that I feel embarassed / confused / proud / honoured and I don't really know what to do with it... having said that, I may well one day actually do something about it, who knows?
anyway, I've been meaning to thank you... hence this lenghty comment ;-)
merci et a tres bientot!