Hello! My name is Cameron, and I’m a Seattle mom of two boys. It’s a funny trip down memory lane to revise this “about” page because it was hilariously outdated.
I started this blog in 2011 as a newlywed in a new city, looking for a creative outlet while finishing a Russian lit PhD. I was determined to eke out an identity and sense of worth for myself outside of my academic work, and writing about my adventures in cooking and painting and travel did the trick. I wrote here every weekday for several years, until I was felled by the mighty oak of morning sickness with our first baby. After he was born, I wrote much more sporadically, and almost not at all after our second baby was born.
Now I’m returning to this blog eight years later, still me, but with a different focus. In the scraps of time I can pull together during naptime, I am writing much more about my faith–how it shapes me as a person, my ever-expanding understanding of God, and what kind of life I feel called to lead in light of it. It’s become evident to me over the past few years that this is where my heart is; the stack of theology books I gleefully stick my nose into every time the kids are quietly playing Legos keeps getting taller, and the glow of joy they bring me keeps burning brighter.
Now, what on earth does the title of my blog mean? Good question! Krug (pronounced “Kroog”) is a character shaped by the hand of one of my favorite writers of all time: Vladimir Nabokov. Years ago, as I was frantically cramming for my Masters exams, I sat in on a course on Nabokov, and he changed my life. Put simply, he taught me how to *see* things, to find magic and beauty in the most mundane surroundings. I’m forever grateful. The quote below, on the mystery of consciousness and love, was the inspiration for my blog’s name:
“And what agony, thought Krug the thinker, to love so madly a little creature, formed in some mysterious fashion (even more mysterious to us than it had been to the very first thinkers in their pale olive groves) by the fusion of two mysteries, or rather two sets of a trillion mysteries each; formed by a fusion which is, at the same time, a matter of choice and a matter of chance and a matter of pure enchantment; thus formed and then permitted to accumulate trillions of its own mysteries; the whole suffused with consciousness, which is the only real thing in the world and the greatest mystery of all.”
-Vladimir Nabokov, Bend Sinister
Faith is mystery, love is mystery, and I am here for all of it.
Credits: Social media icons by SensationalFix.com.
Easy DIY Transformation: Muumuu to Cute Skirt! | Krug the Thinker
Jan 17, 2012 @ 05:07:18
[…] About […]
Jan 08, 2013 @ 11:58:16
Now I know a little about what Krug is about.
You got married, and with the “Just Married” sign dangling behind, headed to Pasadena?! That’s my comment & question. 🙂
“Questions? Comments? I’d love to hear from you!” Ditto, although I don’t expect u to spend the morning on my blog like I have here. I’ll be back when I have more time! It’s taco tuesday so I gotta take a stomach break!
Jan 08, 2013 @ 17:29:50
Yes, we definitely did, and right after we both graduated from grad school too–it was a busy year, but such a happy one! 🙂 Taco Tuesday sounds great! And I still have lots of catching up to do on your blog too!
Mar 10, 2013 @ 01:36:59
Hi Cameron!:)
Mar 10, 2013 @ 22:58:31
Hi! So nice to have you here, almost neighbor! 😉
Wee Cee’s Bloggy Birthday Extravaganza! | The Waiting
Apr 02, 2013 @ 05:11:56
[…] the singing of The Birthday Song are Curly Carly and Wee Cee’s Auntie Cameron (AKA Krug the Thinker) and Uncle Martin. They are her main contenders at the party in toothache-inducing […]
TAG! You’re IT. | Along Comes Mary….
Jun 24, 2013 @ 12:49:59
[…] 3. Cameron is an awesome southern girl who lives in the same city as me now! […]
Jun 26, 2013 @ 08:02:12
Russian literature? Now that’s cool! Do you have a favorite author?
Jun 26, 2013 @ 21:51:50
Yes! Dostoevsky and Nabokov all the way, but Gogol is also hilarious and lots of fun. It’s hard to choose just one. And I must say that War and Peace is majestic too. I love it all:)
The New Girl | The Waiting
Aug 22, 2013 @ 05:22:10
[…] That day, I met Besfrinn. […]
Jun 06, 2015 @ 00:59:11
I really don’t know much about Russian literature. For a self-proclaimed book nerd that’s maybe unforgivable? I recently had the chance to go and see Anna Karenina at the theatre ( perhaps that would have given me the curiosity-shove in the right direction) but instead I went to see an adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird. Favourite novel wins hands down everytime 🙂 I’ve started reading Scandinavian stuff, without getting too bogged down in the crime novels.
Sorry for going on, I shall leave it there. When I start talking books, day turns into night, my wife’s eyes begin to roll.
Aug 30, 2017 @ 14:29:19
A Tale of Two (Cross-Stitch) Bugs
I have spent WEEKS trying to find the exact found silver cross stitch frames you showed in this blog. WHERE did you find them? I’m desperate.
Mar 13, 2020 @ 12:25:16
Hi Cameron, we really loved your Pandemic Prayer and wondered if we had your permission to share it with Presbyterians around the world on our FaceBook page?
Kathy Melvin
Presbyterian Mission Agency
Mar 13, 2020 @ 21:06:14
Hi, Kathy! Yes, you are most welcome to share the prayer. Thank you so much for the beautiful work that you do. This especially touches my heart because my grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. Many blessings to you!
Mar 17, 2020 @ 15:16:48
I like the prayers. Thank you.
Apr 03, 2020 @ 02:39:56
Ms Bellm,
I received your verse from Carlos Pellegrini, M.D., past president of the American College of Surgeons and former chair of surgery at the University of Washington.
I am a surgeon at the University of North Carolina and editor of The American Surgeon, a professional journal read by surgeons in the clinical practice of surgery, many of whom are dealing with the current pandemic.
I was inspired by your poetry and hoped that I might share ‘Angels in blue gowns’ with my readership. May I have your permission to reproduce the image from your blog?
With admiration,
Don Nakayama, MD MBA FACS
Chapel Hill NC
Apr 03, 2020 @ 10:43:00
Hi, Dr. Nakayama, and thank you for writing to me! Yes, absolutely, you have my permission to use the images and prayers any way you like. Thank you so much for your great and selfless service to the many people suffering from this disease. Please be assured of my prayers for you and for all who are on the front lines of this pandemic. I cannot thank you enough for your care of others. Thank you for praying with me!
Oct 07, 2020 @ 13:40:51
Enjoying your blog, your writing, and learning more about your writing. Have been in a rather bleak place for a while and with God’s help — leading me to specific readings! — I am clawing my way back. Thank you and bless you!