illuminating life with words and pictures
so avoiding the packing thing–
and i am excited so one might think i would jump right in.
but instead, i sleep alot. lol
and i painted.
anybody here find this little shed familiar? i had a dream about it and it should have meaning for someone here (if it’s recognizable!)
anyway, i made it for you. hopefully it will bring happy memories and not sad ones!
and i found these pics on my camera.
kiiiitttttiiies.
my boys. . . with bedhead
jack and jill . . . awww
and ginger-butt
Here’s this week’s illo.
The scan is pretty low res, so it looks hells muddier than it actually is.
Considering how not exciting this topic was to me at first, I am okay with it now.
I just didn’t feel much like drawing someone eating until they were ready to puke.
As for the move– which seems to be happening to alot of us these days–
I send out the paperwork to the mortgage company tomorrow. My parents close Feb. 4th, we close the 15th– though we’ll be signing over power
of attorney since we won’t be there.
AND I actually packed a bit today. Most of my clothes. And there’s a nice pile of crapola to get rid of, too.
whoohoo.
it’s friday. i have done zero packing. (though i did get boxes.)
i want to thank you all so much for your comments and support, though i’ve yet to have enough time on
the computer to respond appropriately– or at all.
🙂
basically, time online has been drastically reduced as i do all the paperwork for buying the house, etc.
but hey, it’s friday— and i *actually have illos done on time!
though they are beginning to be bi-weekly and not even on friday . . .
hmmm.
but hey, i am keeping up, albeit at a hobble.
lol. it’s been a big couple of weeks. (see my previous post.)
last week’s topic: tsunami relief
this week’s topic: balance
and for those of you who were unmoved by my pleas and begging, this was the illustration for my holiday postie
that went out to all poll-filler-outers.
well, here it is,
we are moving to, of all places, the town where i grew up.
and honestly, it’s not the grim tale one might think,
but quite the opposite.
the story goes, my mother, who has been dreadfully blah for alot of years, found a house.
she found a house that made her excited about life, and that made us all happy for her.
things fell into place one by one. now she is buying this house and granting us the equity in their old house.
(meaning we get to buy it for the remainder of their mortgage– about 35,000)
as if we could pass that up.
and after being home to visit i knew i wanted to be closer home as my grandma and parents age,
but also to see my cousin’s baby grow as a toddler.
kevin, now being ABD has the ability to retreat into the small town atmosphere to write his dissertation.
job prospects have even presented themselves,
and i will have plenty of studio space–
not to mention a house that is 100+ years old to renovate!
it also tends to be, well, haunted. if you believe in that sort of thing.
the new icon gives you a glimpse of how immense it is.
considering how confined living quarters have been for so long, it feels like a mansion.
about the pronunciation of Appalachia—
its derivative is native— vowels like Apache (you don’t say apayshee, do you?)
no more apulayshuh, please.
from songcatcher
remember what i said about complex memes?
Well, here’s the 2004 survey.
no cuts for you wussies.
1. What did you do in 2004 that you’d never done before? saw Cirque du Soleil, stayed at a Disney resort, went to New Orleans (and met drava), rode for a day and a half in a train sleeper car . . .
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I usually just try to recommit myself to life in general.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes, my first cousin, Samantha— the closest I have to a sibling.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Not terribly close, no.
5. What countries did you visit? Just a lot more of this one than usual.
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004? contentment with how i make money and how much money i make!
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory? June 16th, the wednesday after that, October 2 and October 30th.
Two joyful. Two royally sucky.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Finally doing some theatre in town, having the same job all year, taking two awesome road trips.
9. What was your biggest failure? I am worthless at providing for myself financially and have yet to begin paying back student loans. blech.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Thankfully not.
11. What was the best thing you bought? my comfy danskin sweatsuits.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? so many friends, and k. for passing his exams!!
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I am depressed that I have an answer to this question.
14. Where did most of your money go? eating out. such a waste. clothes. rent. the trip.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? seeing baby emma, going to disney
16. What song will always remind you of 2004? damien rice, cannonball and the blower’s daughter
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? both
ii. thinner or fatter? the same
iii. richer or poorer? overall poorer, temporarily richer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? moving my body! writing letters, making ART.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? eating. consuming in general.
20. How will you be spending the holidays? it was very low key. and a tad lonely. and mostly at work.
21. Did you fall in love in 2004? In and out, over and over with everyone and everything. MANIA BABY.
22. How many one-night stands? nada.
23. What was your favorite TV program? I am pretty much addicted to PBS. Six Feet Under on DVD.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? hate. damn, them’s fighting words. but this year i have probably come closer than ever before. though it’s more like the most severe disappointment in a person you can imagine.
25. What was the best book you read? I dug reading all the Harry Potter books again. Otherwise, I didn’t read much. Not fiction anyway.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Lotus finds— Frigg, Warsaw Village Band and I pretty much wore out Damien Rice ‘O’ and the B sides
27. What did you want and get? my freaking insurance situation settled!!!!
28. What was your favorite film this year? there’s a list really— Kill Bill Vol. 2, Sex & Lucia, Garden State, Finding Neverland
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? It sucked but I went to hear the band with Jon and Karris. I turned 29.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? it was pretty groovy, really. being settled in a nice house, maybe.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004? comfort. and my usual stripey socks, bright tights, flowy skirts and dresses. black shirts. scarves, dangly earrings.
32. What kept you sane? I’m not sure that happened, but friends and my immediate family sure helped. Companionship.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? again i have a list!
34. What political issue stirred you the most? yeah, i got stirred. motion sick really. no more talk of this nonsense.
35. Who did you miss? I am pretty good about not missing people. But I have missed my family more this year and I always miss maduro, even though I saw them . . . And I didn’t expect it so much but I miss David since I left his ass in Texas.
36. Who was the best new person you met? I met sooo many new people, most of whom I am not really in regualr contact with. But drava, adoor and my work colleagues, like David and J. and Ed come to mind.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004: The same one I learn over and over again. Maybe it’ll stick this time. Put your energy toward the people and activities that DESERVE it.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I don’t recall lyrics. But I remember the quote from Garden State. It’s the one about home. It sums up my last few years really. But the end of the speech is,
“Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.”
1. Take five books off your bookshelf.
2. Book #1 — first sentence: “Why is the measure of love loss?”
3. Book #2 —last sentence on page fifty: “And she has sandals made of gold and she’s surrounded
by the torches which are light made out of flames . . . ”
4. Book #3 — second sentence on page one hundred: “I had no problem understanding or agreeing with her.”
5. Book #4 — next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty: “Goodnight” he said as he left the bar.
6. Book #5 — final sentence of the book. “Dance when you’re perfectly free.”
7. Make the five sentences into a paragraph:
And she has sandals made of gold and she’s surrounded by the torches which are light made out of flames . . . Dance when you are perfectly free. I had no problem understanding or agreeing with her. “Goodnight” he said as he left the bar. Why is the measure of love loss?
8. Feel free to “cheat” to make a better paragraph:
I already did because I didn’t want to use character names, so i chose a different book. I had Goblet of Fire in my hands, but damned if there isn’t somebody’s name in nearly every sentence.
9. Name your sources:
Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Sorcerers’ Crossing by Taisha Abelar
The Essential Jennifer Johnston
The Essential Rumi
I missed last week somehow, just the usual craziness i guess.
So, while they didn’t take too long,
here they be . . .
magic lantern arts 