Get Ready for some PRESSURE!

I'm gonna be blogging every day in January. The NaBloPoMo theme is PRESSURE. You will definitely see a trend. Instead of using my own pictures every time I'll be linking to some on the interweb. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Forgotten Poems Tsunami In memory of Indonesia 2004

Nine years ago? How can that be? I remember when it happened I thought about this poem. I wrote it in Naples Florida when I was all of 23 years old. I didn't really understand the devastating power but I sure do now. I think I had read something in Reader's Digest about them.

9/21/82

Tsunami-Death Wave

Tsunami
   Your name brings fear
   Into the hearts
   Of those who have known
   Your wrath

Tsunami
   Most terrifying wave of all
   An earthquake
   Is your mother
   Deep waters are your home

Tsunami
   You start as innocent
   As ripples on a pond
   But your energy
   Could kill us all

The Fruits of Our Labors

Love seeing my hats in action!

Please Stand by For Technical Difficulties

My illness drug on a lot longer than I had hoped and now I can't get my internet to work at home so I am posting this from work. If it's not one thing it's ten others so stay tuned for more fun later kids.

Forgotten Poems #5 or 6

Not doing things in a logical order here. Sorry, my bad. Doesn't help that my book is now falling apart either. Shuffle and reshuffle.

9/20/82 (Naples Florida)

The meaning of words
Who can be sure?
If our ears
Could only discern the truth
We'd know
The world's men prove to be liars
Never showing any trust
Don't let your guard down
Even for a minute
Beware the best of friends
Behind the smiles are daggers
To cut you deep
To make you bleed
To laugh at your pain
These are troubled times
When whispers of betrayals
Seem to drown out
Shouts of joy


Wow I wish I remembered why I wrote this. Or do I? Maybe ignorance really is bliss. I like to look ahead not dwell on the past. That's probably a good thing.

Another Art Journal Page. Yes the fun just keeps on coming

I go from one thing to the next in my art. I always have. Six months crocheting, three weeks using watercolors, a month and a half cutting crazy quilt fabrics. 

Right now it's my big mixed media art journal. Love it love it love it.

And crocheting of course. This hat is for a friend in Boulder CO for his grandson. He sent me one of his hand blown glass ornaments as a barter

It's the purple thing in front of the encrusted chest.

If Washingtons Grew on Trees: Art Journal Page

Stupid title but a fun page anyway. I just need a quote to complete it.

I got the stamps at my favorite thrift store, The I.D.E.A. Store in Champaign, IL

Here's their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-IDEA-Store-by-CUSF

How I just spent my four day Vacation

I got a forced vacation in that I have been sick. Ain't even left the house except to run to CVS for meds and tissues one time. Drinking plenty of fluids, bed rest (sorta), feeding my face (Whole bag of Dove white chocolates, lentils with ham, grapes, toast with no jam), have a bit of a fever with chills/sweats, knitting, crocheting, audio books, youtubes, podcasts, research, cooking, cleaning, sore throat, coughing, runny runny nose. Joyous silence since I explained to housemate about the slamming doors pushing me towards a nervous breakdown. I even had a friend send me a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup lol.

I'm going to try to get to work tomorrow even if I have to call a cab to take me down to catch the bus. One can only stand so much fun after all.

Garden Catalog Time!

Now's the time to plan and get excited for next year's garden

www.hpsseed.com

www.totallytomato.com

www.vermontbean.com

if you don't have these catalogs I highly recommend that you request them ASAP!

Space, The Final Frontier (Really just some really cool space paintings)

I joined Teesha Moore's new website/club called the Artstonaut Club at   www.theartstronauts.com

It's $5 a month (even less if you go semi annual or annual) and totally worth it!

I've already printed off some collage sheets and watched a ton of tutorial videos.

Here are some space paintings I tried today. Yeah, I'm addicted.

It Is Unlawful To...

IT IS UNLAWFUL TO:

SMOKE

EAT OR DRINK

REFUSE TO PAY FARE

DISCARD LITTER OR SPIT

BOARD WITH ANIMALS

(EXCEPT SEEING EYE DOGS)

BOARD WITH FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS

BOARD WITH DANGEROUS ARTICLES

BOARD WITH WEAPONS

PLAY RADIO/MUSICAL INSTRUMENT 

ON ANY DMT BUS

When musical instruments are outlawed...only outlaws will have musical instruments (ha!)

You Know Who You Are

There's so much I could say about this poem but I won't. It's neither here nor there at this point. I just know I should be more careful in the future.

 written 9/20/82

It's really sad when people
Refuse to find themselves
Ignoring hidden talents
Putting resources on the shelf
To waste their lives away
With no desire to create
Sitting staring slack-jawed
At the TV set all day
What if all the artists
Had such an attitude?
What if all musicians
Were never in the mood?
What if all our teachers
Refused to do their jobs
Just because they didn't want to
Wouldn't you feel robbed?
I feel sorry for these people
Who will not even try
If I had to live that way
I'd just lay down and die

Weird Families Rule

Why would anyone want a normal family when weird ones are just so much fun?

What is "To Dream"?

"To sleep perchance to dream"  Hamlet

Origin

From the celebrated 'to be, or not to be' speech in Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1602:

HAMLET:
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

I love to dream. It's a whole other life for me. I've lived two, possibly three, lives as it were. I have flown over fields, fought dragons, spoken with long dead relatives, went to school naked, tasted ambrosia, smelled freshly cut grass while hearing air raid sirens. All through the glorious power of sleep and dreams.

And so I must ask, what of your dreams?

With Great Sadness

This should have been yesterday's post.

My fav interweb word game, Wordsquared, is shutting down Dec 1. I am sad beyond normality over this. (Is that a real sentence? Grief is making me loopy)

I have played this Scrabble-like game for three years. I rank 26th out of a million. I shall have to find another time waster, or not.

Here are some boards I have saved over the years.

*sad face :(

Endings

Friday, November 29, 2013

You're almost there! Tell us how you feel about endings.

I love endings. Usually. Maybe not right when they happen but eventually. Endings mean new beginnings for something else. That is what I have to focus on. 

Onward.

 

The first Blog Post I Ever Wrote

Thursday, November 28, 2013

How do you feel about the first blog post you ever wrote?

Extremely sad. If memory serves me right my first blog post happened after my daughter's first boyfriend was killed in a car wreck way back in 2002. It wasn't so long ago that someone found it on the way back machine and asked me about it. That's when I realized that things on the internet don't ever go away. 

The next time I started blogging Daily was on Myspace in 2005. I posted a lot of song lyrics with guitar chords. Much much happier about those.

Pride

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Oh that would have to be my blue and brown crazy quilt! It has been appraised at $2000. 

Hidden

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Tell us about the last thing you hid.

I hid my true thoughts. I have to do this quite often. 

When dealing with people close to you it is sometimes necessary to say what you know you should say instead of what you are actually thinking.  Even harder to do when you are dealing with difficult people. Ask me how I know.

Persuasive Advertising

Monday, November 25, 2013

Tell us about the last thing a person or advertisement convinced you to buy.

That would be tea light candles and  bread pans to sock away in my bug out bag as an alternative heat source. I saw a youtube video on it. I thought it was a really good idea then the unthinkable happened. We had strong storms complete with a 10 hour power outage and it moved me to action. I am still looking for the bigger clay flower pots but I could uproot my wandering Jew if I had to to use that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brHqBcZqNzE

Couldn't get the preview to show but click that link if you want to see how to build your own space heater on the cheap.

Small Art to Support Champaign County Humane Society

I am donating to this. Haven't decided just what yet...maybe a Crazy Quilt block maybe a mixed media piece maybe a zentangle thing. We shall see, we shall see.

Please click to enlarge to see the details

That Certain Kind of Light

The light before sunset. Gotta love it.

Judging Books by Their Covers

Friday, November 22, 2013

How important are book covers in getting you to read a book?

Very important, but not for the reason you might think. I don't care about the graphics on the cover I only care that it's a HARD cover. I HATE paperbacks and I only read them when there's nothing else available. Wait, I take that back. I read non fiction paperbacks all the time. I mean I don't like paperback novels. Yuck. 

I don't think I'd like reading on a Kindle either.

Favorite Outfit

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Describe an outfit that makes you feel good. (It can be from any period of your life.) Double points if you post a picture of yourself in the outfit.

I have so many!!! Right now I like my tights and boots with my tunic over a top my mom bought me a long time ago. 

But my all time favorite is my Steampunk Crazy Quilt Skirt. Love love love. 

My first Friend

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Tell us about your first friend.

I'm thinking my first friend was probably my dog, Queenie. I'm straining my memory looking for the human equivalent but it's not coming. Considering where we lived I'm gonna say it might have been Lorrie, who lived NE of us across the street. Or quite possibly it was my Aunt Karen or one of my Grandparents because they took care of me a lot.

I grew up in a very small town where my family owned an entire block. Then we moved out to the country when I was in 3rd grade and my BFF  was my sister in the winter and Gayle in the summer when we could walk a mile to meet up to play. Yay for friends!

Plugged In

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

How much of the day are you plugged in? Do you consciously set aside offline time, or does it happen whenever it happens?

I have been online almost everyday since 2001. What's that tell you? Yes, I'm addicted, but I also make money online so I justify it. 

You know what I hate? I hate when smart a** "Tech" men look at me and see a 50 something year OLD woman and jump to the conclusion that I don't have a clue about malware, social media, RAM, Cache clearing, https, virus protection, and blah blah blah. It truly gripes my a**. 

Blog Header- Woooot

Do you like my new header? My son helped me design it. Actually I stood by and said yay/nay while he made it. I love it!

Nunya

Monday, November 18, 2013

Tell us about a blog post that you didn't publish.

Excuse me? That's none of your business. There's a reason I didn't publish it. I'm sure it had something to do with a certain meth head mommy though.

It amazes me that I had any kind of conscience towards this person. 

The Generals

Me and the Generals at Civil War Days. Custer was very shy.

A Second Series of Unrelated Photos

I feel compelled to explain this last picture. This is the rug my landlord offered me for my bathroom. I turned it down. Does anyone blame me?

Bad Habits

Friday, November 15, 2013

If you could quit one bad habit instantly without difficulty, which would it be?

I'd change my eating habits. The ones that impel me to eat sugary or salty snacks that I KNOW I am NOT supposed to eat but I can't help it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! 

                              This is how I feel about cake, cookies, chips, brownies  etc etc etc.

Morning Person or Night Owl?

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Good question. I used to consider myself to be a night owl but I really do feel better if I go to bed early and get up early. I am most creative at night I think. It's just that I get stuff done that needs to be done in the mornings. My circadian rhythm is as confused as I am. 

 Sleep still has the power to make me or break me. Just a few days ago I had a sleepless night and it totally messed me up.I'm okay now though so stop worrying already 

My favorite Hour of the Day

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

What is your favorite hour of the day?

I like the hour before I go to sleep because I spend it reading. I keep a massive pile of books by my bed for this very purpose. You might call me a power library user. 

I am finishing up the Judge Deborah Knott series by Margaret Maron. Last year I re-read all Sue Grafton's ABC books with Kinsey Milhone as heroine. I also keep business books, knitting and craft books and art books handy.

Five Things in my Refridgerator

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Name five things inside your refrigerator right now and how you feel about them.

Okay seriously? Who thought this one up? Whatever. I'll play.

1. Can of beer I just HAD TO HAVE yet never drank. What's up with that lol? I feel like I should keep it because I fought so hard for it.
2. Some peppers from the garden I helped with this past summer. I'm proud of them.
3. A ham I bought in case my son comes to visit. It's a good thing and I love it a lot.
4. The coffee canister I use to hold scraps. One of my all time favorite things. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right when I put my coffee grounds and eggshells in it to take out to the compost pile.
5. REAL BUTTER. 'Nuff said

Trapped in a Sherlock Holmes movie

Monday, November 11, 2013

If you had to be trapped inside a movie for 5 days, which movie would you pick?

The Sherlock Holmes movie with Iron Man and that Jude guy. You know, the first one that came out when I still lived in Colorado and I got to go see with my BFF, Leslie.

I love Victoriana. Yes, it was dirty and gritty but I do so still love the architecture and fashion. 

Please trap me there....PLEASE!!!!