Of High Flyers and Clouds

It is well within the '09 Hurricane season and I am longing to be a stormchaser. Longing, I tell you! I have the attention span of a doorstop.

We watched the long-delayed Space Shuttle launch last night in the middle of the street, wearing our pajamas (such as they were) and I was so happy to see a clear night. The shuttle was a small burning gash above the tall pines across the street. People were carelessly driving by, unaware (despite my motioning skyward) that history was blinking at us. It actually was a beautiful sight--the separation of booster and shuttle was clearly visible--finally winking out after a "go go go!" prayer. There won't be many more opportunities ...

I remember the first shuttle landing so well. Chris was training as an Air Force Pilot at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Tx. I was in our apartment in town watching the tv by myself, when I heard the mailman out in the hallway stuffing the boxes. The shuttle was starting a descent, shadowed by T-38s (which Chris would later instruct in) and I didn't want to spend the big moment alone. I ran out to get the mailman and told him he HAD to come and see this and he ran back with me moments before it landed. I think I was holding my breath the whole time. It was a beautiful sigh of relief and wonder. The mailman stood, shook my hand, and thanked me for making him come watch. What a world. I am still starry-eyed.

And speaking of High Flyers, here is a tour-de-force ( so happy to use that phrase in a sentence!) by the amazing Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane. Keep asking questions, my friends, and Feed Your You Know What!

Saving My Nuts!

Back from the abyss. Time to take stock of what I have accumulated and look for some new goals. Renewing my adherence to the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle, I promise to get my self back on the Path. Don't we all feel like this little guy from time to time? Since I have been resting and have a license to take it easy, there is a new priority of how busy I need to be. I can just say no as well as anyone else. And it gives me more time for my investigations!

Note to M. Obama: Establish a group to work on the New American Renaissance, which will encourage artists and industry to work hand in hand in creating useful, well-made, form following function, practical, products that will stand the test of time and not be considered disposable, as so much out at the big box stores is. And make it here! from American resources! By American Hands! In a new craftmanship that will rival the early Craftman's/Frank LLoyd Wright movement. Breathe. Discuss.

Just finished Dolores Stewart Riccio's "Divine Circle of Ladies Playing with Fire." Yummy. It's a series, start from the beginning!

Much anticipated movies to come for Moi:

District 9

The Fourth Kind

Johnny Depp as Tonto in The Lone Ranger

HP and the You Know What

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Childhood's End

Rendezvous With Rama.......

kinda itchy to start something....

Rainy Roads

Sitting in the car listening to the slap and dash of the window wipers, I was tempted to roll down the windows and inhale that hot wet pavement aroma so typical in the Florida summers. Traffic was moving in it's usual uneven rhythm when I became aware that the song in my head matched the beat of the wipers. Then it seemed as if there was a pattern to the dance, all in the sweep of Miss Whitney Houston's voice. Not being much of a multi-tasker, it was everything I could do to find the volume button on the radio and try to read the station numbers. She soared and swung and the dashboard would have filled with fireworks if it was possible.

I was in the moment with her, and then it became the moment you have when a great song is on the radio and you need to turn the key in the ignition to off. So upon arriving home, I looked up Miss Diva and imported her so that I would never lose that song again. Here is a version she did at an awards ceremony in Africa. She just owns the room.

Just got my personally designed Keds from Zazzle this week, and am I happy over the way they turned out! Mermaids will be on my next design, since I also have a Bee version out there. I am impressed with the amazing variety of things you can print on! All suggestions welcome.

Tonight I will start reading Dolores Stewart Riccio's latest Circle book, and hopefully finish Frank Scully's classic "Behind the Flying Saucers". Scully wrote it in 1950, and tho it has been attacked as a hoax and debunkers have a field day with it, it remains as fresh today as when it came out. Surely Scully's name was borrowed for the X-files....

Do I sound ridiculously upbeat? Or is it true that my balloon never lands...one day I will wake up buried from the neck down on a beach filled with crabs and the tide coming in...this lovely life of mine being but a dream. But in the meantime, life is beautiful, except when it's not....

Look to the Skies!

Change the World

What's that I hear? You want to save the world? Make it worth saving first! One volunteer moment at a time. Baby steps, my homepeeps, baby steps. We can all do something better.

So tomorrow night is the reception at the Rising Sun Cafe in B-ville, and I will publicly unveil my "Backstage Pass." Done. On to tomatoes and tornados....a new weather theme for my cycle.

Ahhhhhhh. I could sleep for a month if the dogs didn't need to go out so much. Miss Bandit is not feeling well so keeping an eye on her yardly habits is fun in the dark. Where are the fireflies this year? I have been looking for ufos and the northern lights, but alas, only little piles in the yard have been found underfoot.

Dad and Momita will be coming down for a few months so lucky me! Get the sisters together! Wish the kids were here... Sky mentioned a possible visit in Florida at some point. Chris is having a wedding soon. Congrats to him for graduating as a Martial Arts Instructor for the Marines! Good stuff.

Torchwood: Children of Earth knocked me out. Best ever of the series, just fantastic writing and an all out thriller. Finished "The Physick Book of Deliveranse Dane" well done. It will be a happy Halloween this year with all the reading I have lined up. Spooky stuff.

la la la.... me.

All Good Things

Don't complete that sentence. I have had a great week, (knocking on wood) filled with kid's activities and painting stuff. This was the Children's Advocacy Center Art Camp week, and as the first to do the roundup, comic book art was on the agenda. I think for the most part they Got it! I would have been happy to share my intimate knowledge of the lives of superheroes all day, but trying to get them to contain stories into 3 separate rectangles was the deed of the day. My theory was : panel 1 contains something that has Happened.

panel 2 contains hmm, should I tell someone about it?

panel 3 contains I am telling someone.

Well, getting the darlings to conceive of a happening was tricky. Miss Jennifer, the therapist, had been discussing when it is a good time to trust your instinct (in not so many words) and go to a person of trust. She referred to good secrets (surprise parties) and bad secrets (bullying) as examples. Still in a quandary to think of an example, I said "What if a ufo landed next door. Would you want to tell someone about it or would you keep it a secret?" Obviously there is a rash of abductions going on around here because everybody had a story! It was so funny, and so amazing to see their wheels turning. Creative, spontaneous, shy, stuff. I am humbled by them. And grateful to have had Lynne and Evie standing by to pitch in where needed.

Lynne's day was yesterday. Awesome! A natural at getting their attention (which is half the battle) and a great organized presentation. We all had fun with her project. It is a cryin' shame that art has been eliminated from some schools here. The arts community has offered to present some options in the past, but nothing solid has come of it. Yet.

Weeki Wachee will be hanging my latest piece, an acrylic painting, called "Backstage Pass." It will go in the banquet room, thank you very much! and I am so honored and pleased and Thrilled to be in the park. Oh yeah, and ARTIST IN REZ! Yep. good week.

To top off the celebration, Rhonda and I ate a ton of candy at the premiere of Harry Potter this afternoon. We have more in common every day... Love of all things Harry, being one of them, and this one was too short for me...I think I would like to re-edit the film, personally, since there was less dialogue than I would have liked. but the effects were interesting and the casting of the Tom Riddles was perfect. November 2010 for the next one is way too long.

Life is good....still the luckiest person on Earth!

Just Around the Corner

It's just past the 4th of July, and I can sniff the beginnings of hurricanes and marching bands practicing for the fall. I have a personal request for you high school band people out there--I want to hear a version of Kelly Clarkson's " Walkaway" from a marching band on a grassy field on a warm autumn afternoon. With all the pings and heavy beats. I dare ya.

I'm finishing up a new piece, called "Backstage Pass" which may define my slightly fantastic yet colorful way of looking at underwater scenery. Just can't take the world close up. More on that soon, I will be getting prints of this one...

Ok, I'm just gonna say it. Sometimes being a military mom sucks. All the parades and the fireworks and nobody's at the table this Sunday night. Don't know if I will get to see them before the end of the year, or next year or ever. I just ache to hold them and smell their necks and run my hands over their hair. And to see them come home from work still in their uniforms tired and frustrated and proud and hungry.

I am missing my sons and daughters a whole lot. Just makes me busier. which is good, but I would trade in my brushes for an afternoon with the gang around the table..... with all the dogs, past and present. With the stormy season coming I think back on a night in Denver when Johnny Depp's "Sleepy Hollow" was on. It was raining and windy, the downdrafts were chilling through the open windows. We watched Christopher Walken ride his horse into the tree trunk and I wanted the night to go on forever. Of course, Chris and Sky probably don't remember that night, preoccupied with other things going on, but I am so glad to have had real Halloween weather and really cool kids to eat popcorn and scarify with. Life has gotten scary for real now. Wish I could eat popcorn with them now...

Hmm lotta this is about eating. hmmmm

Further Adventures!

Exciting news, People of the Spring! Manysisters is on the way to earning her tail! I went down to find out about scuba classes and get a time for possible snorkeling, when the divemaster at Weeki said how 'bout now? and I said yes! (having all my gear with me just in case, and no, I wasn't wearing flippers in the park) So I went fresh from my snorkel initiation from my husband, Chris, an aquaman from the Miami days, and happily walked the plank into the DEEP HOLE!!!!! It was gorgeous! So refreshing! COLD. and clear, so clear....the second picture is the edge of the mermaid stage. It is kinda hard for me to hold a camera still, so bear with me until I get it figured out. Lotsa material for art work! Okay, so now I have to get a great bathing suit and work on diving with the snorkel. Allen, the dive guy, may be giving Chris and I some scuba lessons in the near future. At 57 I am finding a whole new world. Right down the street! It was so beautiful, so natural, All I kept thinking was why hadn't I done this before?!

Calm down and breathe...

Men in Black (Wetsuits!)

Thinking about being underwater...I watched the new trailer for 2012 and it scared me. Really. I think it's because I have a fear of drowning. Too many sisters dunked me in the hotel pool, I guess. But that leads me to my latest heroes, the Karst Underwater Reasearch Group, or KUR. They are the people that explore the caves under Weeki and and elsewhere around the world. They are a non-profit, a far cry from the resources of NASA, and their investigations into the unknown are amazing and important. Here is a pic of Brett Hemphill and Paul Heinerth. They are the intrepid duo that go way down under the Spring and explore the rough silent regions that makeup of our water source . Their gear is complicated and bulky in those tight, sharp spaces, yet they push through and stay at great depths for hours and hours. Brett, Paul, Becky Kagan (from Liquid Productions), Walt Pickel---they are so knowledgeable about diving --they make me want to get scuba qualified . Brett spoke at length about the cutaway view of the spring, as I pumped him for info for the new art project I have been working on. Paul has actually been diving inside, yes that's INSIDE an iceberg. The water was beautifully clear from the recent cleanup. Got me a new snorkle and fins...

I wrote to DC comics and asked for some issues relating to child safety for the campers at the Children's Advocacy Center. It is so easy to ask for stuff on behalf of other people! I learned to read by studying Superman and Lois and Katy Keene. To this day, the word "origin" makes me smile when I see it. I thought it meant organ, like someone misspelled it . There was an annual Superman issue with past stories in it called "Superman's Origins" or something like that . I was so concerned about his organs after that! But that eventually led to learning about dictionaries and encyclopedias. Life, with the help of reading comic books, was good!

Okay. Gotta say it . Five puppies cloned from a German Shepherd named Trakr. Couldn't spell the name right, yet they manage to copy him FIVE times! Still, they are beautiful... Long healty lives, I say. If you wanna see, google Trakr clone puppies!

Aqua-me

Reinventing myself is fun. Today in my head I am an aquanaut. (no, not like Aquaman...orange and green are not my best colors...) More like a mental diver. Ummm still not right. Okay, like I am astrally projecting myself through the big crack that makes the Weeki Wachee Spring all bubbly and powerful and possible.

While trying to imagine what it is like to dive 178' down to the beginning of the huge cave system under US 19, I am almost drowning! In happy! I've been fortunate enough to have seen some great footage of some dives. It is mostly limestoney karsty stuff, very little in the way of fish or plants, and some very sharp edges and narrow spaces . Then when they get to the caves a whole new world opens up. Huge and mysterious. VERY deep. Dark. Unknown. These guys are like astronauts, only with the Wet Right Stuff. So brave, and careful, and calculating. And patient! the decompression takes hours of hanging around underwater. I get to meet some of them this coming week to get some question time in. I guess you'd say I am a lot like a remora, which is

any of eight species of marine fishes of the family Echeneidae (order Perciformes) noted for attaching themselves to, and riding about on, sharks, other large marine animals, and oceangoing ships.

The idea is to be able to show what that journey down to the caves might look like if you could see it from a cutaway.

And tomorrow morning, speaking of astronauts, is one of the last shuttle launches. Chris and I will be up trying to get it on camera and running around the street in our pajamas. Ok, he will be dressed. Hey! History!

Exploration is in my blood...note my son, Rocket Boy. Now he is Rocket Man. Sky, RM, is bodybuilding in Korea and learning lots about nutrition and poker. Chris Jr. just told me he will be taking a Martial Arts Instructor course for the Marines. I sleep well.....

And tomorrow, who will I be?

...it's full of stars!

For your viewing pleasure--My friend Michele T. sent me this--I had to watch it all the way through to believe it, and she was right; it is just so typical of our sense of humor. ( We go waayyyyyyyyyy back. She's just gotten back from Santa Fe and I am so jealous...last time I was there was our trip back in '75. Ask me about sleeping in a church yard sometime...

more unrelated news--so many of my friends and fam are complaining about gaining weight. So we are headed into a planetary alignment thingy and our gravity is getting suckier and causing such frustration on the scales! I hate it when we align! When we emerge on the other side of 2012 I just know I will have rid my self of at least a few pounds... Look to the skies!

And congrats to Julia Royal for sticking out the hair competition.--In the top quarter of finishers and I am so proud. Hey Jules! I need a trim!!!

So what is full of stars, you ask? Why it's Weeki Wachee! Underwater, that is. I have been checking out video that was given to me by D over at SWFWMD to use as inspiration and reference for my new project. I am looking at footage to get info from for a cutaway view of the spring. There is a scene at the beginning where you can see the rain falling into the water, like stars or diamonds. It's just as I remember it . The water was so cold and yet up top the rain felt so warm. And there was a part where the mermaids had signed their names under the stage. So amazing to get a look at that area!

Spent the morning with Lynne and Karen H. at POP, the new studio space in Bville. Lynne was creating a leathery floor with polyurethane and brown paper with Karen. I mainly complained and mopped. (so stressful, watching them work!) Then we had pizza and I left to meet Masao at the City Hall. Rhonda was not around so we went to the printers after I gave him 4 bags of cans. I make my friends recycle my stuff. So easy.

Chris, my darling, was watching the Guitar Heroes, Themselves--Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood and then my fave Eric Burdon. Burdon...wow. Now where did that guy get IT from?

I relieved him of dog watching and cuddled up with the girls. Then I proceeded to figure a way to remove DVD scratches. Toothpaste, check. DVD cleaner, check. Scratches still there, check.

*sigh* Anyone with more ideas in that direction, send me a line!?! I swear, that video is worse now...

June 10th is an interesting asteroid day as well.... Let's all get up to see the launch of one of the very last space shuttle missions on the 13. To Boldly go....

The Incredible Adventures of Julie Komenda!

Okay, so they are slightly credible, if not fantastic.

Note the Woman in the Tail...Thanks to Evie Harper's great restoration project and my thanks also for allowing my art in the park!  Dreams do come true! And the lovely people below are Myrnita, Dad, Stefi, Cory, and leni & Moi.

Today I spent the morning updating and reinstalling applications on my mac, and trying to get fingerprinted at the Children's Center.  The afternoon was spent getting fingerprinted at the Sheriff's Department (yay! it was the sex-offender's day to report!) and then off to Swiftmud to see if I could get info on the Weeki Wachee Spring.

Why?

I needed to be fingerprinted in order to work at the summer art camp and for some mysterious reason my fingertips do not appear on electronic devices. ("Tell the High Commander it's working!)  The Swiftmud thing is all about my latest project detailing the interior of the Spring and geology around it.  It's just all leading into

The Adventures of Juan Ponce De Leon, otherwise known as Ponce Upon a Time.

You know who going to discover the you know what.  Time to contact my hydrologist friend, Mr. Anderson, who is Corn Mother's Son.

Chris Jr is a certified Lifesaver !  Perseverance and persistence!  Constant Vigilance!

Sky Skyped us and he is looking wonderful and somewhat restless, if sleepy.  Some great stories and insights from him.  We discussed the passing of David Carradine, Sky having had many suicide prevention information sessions, courtesy of the USAF.  I am not buying it.  I remember the first time I saw him, in "The Longriders" .  He had his brothers with him and there was a bar fight scene in which he fought over Pamela Reed as Belle Starr.  What charisma he had!  And nobody will ever say the word "grasshopper" without me thinking of him.  Mr. Carradine will be missed.

I was shopping the other day and came across some ruby slippers.  Well, not exactly slippers, more like sparkly red loafers.  If I clicked them together three times I would probably wind up right where I am, only I would have all my family here with me, and we would be sitting at the table eating and laughing and snorting out orange juice or pepsi through our noses, such fun we would have.  If only.

2001 FE90, passing through our neck of the planetary neighborhood on June 28th....Not so close!  We hardly know you!  check it out at JPL or Nasa.  Just sayin...

Like We Never Left

I am so happy because I get to be with my sisters this weekend.  We could be meeting under happier circumstances, but just being together lifts the occasion.  How wonderful it is to be with them, to get high just from eating together!  Dad and Myrna complete the picture of this particular circle...one day I would love to have a huge reunion with a gazillion Adler sisters and kids.  The Eagles (meaning Adlers) have landed.

After several hours wrangling with Apple, I am getting a live technician in my actual office/studio to fix my Mac.  I am so relieved .  He is bringing a new optical drive thingy and some other goodies to fix this machine.  Saves me a lot of grief, and I may just record the visit for posterity.

Bandit's lesions are back again on her nose.  More meds and we will keep an eye on her.  So far she seems comfortable, but I know she may not be.  Seven years old and still awesome.  She actually got under the bed yesterday when it rained....

PAY ATTENTION.  According to Spaceweather.com, the magnetic flux stuff is higher so I am predicting even more earthquake disturbances for the upper and mid latitudes.  Say 4-5 on the Richter scale.  And there will be a Near Earth Object flyby on June 28th, the closest.  Don't ask me how I get this stuff.  It's what I do.

Birds will fly backwards, whales will beach themselves...oh wait. That's a movie.

Make it a Memorial Day

My friends,

Bear with me as I reflect on Memorial Day...It has always been a significant holiday for me.  Long before I connected with my Dad's role in the service, I was a peace activist.  I also had a mind open enough to see the commitment to our way of life behind whatever policies were being enforced at the time.  I've read many books about troubled times, and am part of the generation that fought in Viet Nam and came back hurt, confused and unappreciated. 

 "The Lord of the Rings"trilogy gave me  a different perspective on war .    Tolkien himself had seen so much of battle that returning to academics was always tinged by his experience.  To live a life without appreciating sacrifice was not fathomable to him and was played out in his writing.  For me, the key to the story was at the end, when Frodo returned to the Shire.  It had been overrun by "Sharkey's" bullying gang; his family was thrown out of their homes, the Shire had been burned, ransacked, and politically compromised by outsiders with a terrorist agenda.  And amidst all these concerns, the total environment that had been so long protected and taken for granted was polluted and laid waste.  Enter Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippen, who had given so much to protect their way of life.  The cost was dear, and the homecoming bleak.  Sacrifice by these seasoned warriors seemed almost pointless.  

I believe with all my heart that for war and sacrifice to have meaning, we must live the best lives we can.  That does not mean the richest, most extravagant life, but the most meaningful.  We owe our military members at least that much.  My favorite movie is "The Best Years of Our Lives", because it deals with the aftermath of war.  Even as the heroes were appreciated, the effort at home to give them opportunities lagged, and the transition was not easy.  Today is no different.  My sons in uniform face difficult choices every day, and just the thought of a possible lack of employment makes the decision to leave the service a tough one to make.

So today and everyday I will remember to make a good life, as they and so many others have made that possible.  And to my future grandchildren I say "Keep on Keepin' On."  

 

Will Art Flow Downhill or Float?

An interesting week.  The art thing later.

Dad is out of the hospital and on his way down with the lovely Myrnita, can't wait to see them!

Leni made it through her day at the doc's and I think the nail marks on my hand are almost gone.  She is such a trouper, so brave, so lightheaded yet down to earth.  Makes even moi in awe of her example ( and I have enough ego for at least 3 of us!)  So far no word, but then no news may be good news.  Here's hopin'

Chris Jr, Marine extraordinaire, is planning to get his degree in Homeland Security stuff.  I will sleep better just knowing he is out there.  Sky is planning his next hand...Laura is taking a quiz.  Such busy bees, everything they build is honey to me.

The weather leaves big Chris uncomfortable but still, it is cozy when it rains and Stevie Ray is on the T.  The wolfpack is getting antsy to run on drier grass and I am getting tired of slipping on wet poop.  Ahem.  But I have a full rainbarrel and baby peppers growing by the front door.

On Art.  Went to the meeting at Weeki to form a Citizens Support Organization.  The mural thing is on hold (at least at the theater) but the powers that be assure me that there will be opportunities elsewhere.  So I will continue to paint park stuff in readiness and anticipation of that assignment.  I got to see Barb and Vicki and Fawn Germer, a wonderful author of fiction and non fiction, already endeared to me with her novel"Mermaid Mambo" and now knowing that her Mustang Sallies intro is the Commitments singing Mustang Sally, one of my alltime favorite songs.  Vicki, Barb, Fawn, and John all viewed my Vicki painting and I was thrilled to see their reactions.  A good day!  I heard from my soul sisters Evie and Lynne with lots of encouragement and great friendship.  What more can I ask for?  And also

Julia Royal, my Circuit City twin sister, asked me to paint a dragon on her jeans that she plans on wearing to a hair competition in Orlando.  She has worked so hard since I have known her, in fact, to live her dream of doing hair and making a good life for her family!  Of course I said yes, and the evidence is this picture.  It is supposed to be a lucky dragon, but then, she already has the skills and heart to make her mark at the show.  Good Luck, my friend!

My Cory, my Stefi, my Leni, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura...yep.  A good week to have made it this far.  Live long and prosper!

Henny Penny

Okay, two pages of notes later on "LOST" and still going.  I love challenges! Speaking of challenges, I worked with acrylic paints this week on a mermaid painting.  It's all coming back to me now.  It's been a big day.  Dad is in the hospital (fine, will be out shortly) Checking on Leni up in G-ville, sold a print on Fine Art America, had mulch delivered, and still can't wake up.

So. The sky is falling.  Now why would NASA be making such a fuss about having standby shuttles available.  Like there have never been dangerous manuvers before.  And the Hubble pix.  So if they see the Eye of God out a bazillion lightyears away, how come we can't find Bin Laden  and those license plates on Mars....

I have a new Corn Mother painting coming out soon as I get a big something to put it on.   and new bee stuff.

Eating lots of dried beans, Mexican and Indian style.  I feel good! and Mexican chocolate with cinnamon.  ooooooooohhhhhhhhh.

Laura got a scholarship--I am a very proud mom in law. Lucky lucky me

"Lucky lucky lucky lucky"  Ripley in " Alien"

What Are We Looking For?

Just got back from G-ville.  I visited Leni, the hardest working person I know.  She looked great, sassy as ever, a bit tired, and working life out on her terms.  It's always good to spend time with her--she is warm and funny and focused on what is in front of her, step by step.

I am all over the place in my head.  It isn't multi-tasking, it's more like pick-up sticks.  You know, balance here, and the other one falls.  And connecting the dots at the same time.  Cory says she is wondering where Stefi went.  Slipping through the cracks of life Stef goes, barely caught by a memory or a task not quite finished.  With only a shred of her left, we keep trying to reconstruct her therapy by therapy, pill by pill, person by person.  It is a known fact that Adler Sisters require mirrors or store windows to see themselves, just to be sure what face they wear that day.  I fear Stefi's mirror has failed her again, and as she wanders by the store fronts she forgets to see herself.

I may never get the hang of this planet.  

On the mural thing;  things are on hold til I speak with the state guys.  I am spring loading my guns (a pun) and working on a strategy. and painting.  The main thing I like to get  across when I do a painting with water in it is to make me thirsty. It can be all overwhelming to think about so I am trying to focus on my vision and techniques.  Dharma Trading requested more pix or bio for their website, and that is a great place to start defining where I am today in batik, and out of batik.  Glad to have the opportunity to show there.

And all the new archaeological finds in Egypt!?!  Are these collateral findings, or is there a race to find something else going on?

Predictions for this summer:

8 hurricanes--4 major, 3 hit FL, not Weeki, though.  Look out Texas and the Carolinas.

Harry Potter will exceed every standard set so far

Sunspot -watching will become almost as popular as weather forecasts

Miracle -Gro will go up in value

A major and very old secret from many governments will be revealed, as hackers scratch some very odd surfaces.

Ancient burial sites from around the world will be opened.

I will get my last tan.

The Future Ain't What it Used to Bee

Top picture:  Evie and her gang working on restoring a tail at Weeki.

 Ken, Karen, Chris, and Frank, my buddies from the 'hood.  Never stop!  Just don't.

Here is a picture of two great gals (did manysisters just say "gals"?) that I went exploring with a few weeks ago, DonnaJean and Mary/Molly 

I love to go a-wandering, along the mountain path,

and as I go, I love to sing

my  knapsack on my back.

Val dereeeeeee, Val deraahhhhhh,

Val dereeeeeee, Val der ah hah hah hah ha ha ha ha ha.  Yeah.

And speaking of the future...I am in the middle of a great read--"October the First is Too Late", by Prof Fred Hoyle.  Written in the early 60's, it is a novel about the concept of time as a spiral, of paradoxes and choices.  And British perseverance.  Arthur C. Clarke and he were contemporaries, and I have to believe their paths crossed in many ways.  Clarke wrote a variation on that theme with his Time's Eye series.  If you have seen  "2001 A Space Odyssey" note that this book is at a right angle to it...anyway, very interesting stuff, and now I am a huge fan.

  I like the hard science in Sci Fi, but also the social side, the implications, the  prophesies, the possibilities.  Jack McDevitt is a favorite because he leaves the heavy science as a given a lot of the time, instead raising questions about what our expectations are of exploration and the nature of alienness.  Is there such a word? Hope so.  He has a series with a pilot, Priscilla Hutchins,  that makes the universe even bigger!  I would get on board one of Hutch's flights any day.  Kim Stanley Robinson is another great author.  Grounded in science, reads like Tom Wolfe in some ways, always putting planetary environmental  concerns in an intriguing storyline, complete with political and social scenarios and all wrapped up in a well thought out package.  I would start  with Red Mars.  

Zenna Henderson.  If you haven't read her "People" stories, you are in for a treat.  Not like ice cream, but like something that satisfies a craving that is good for you, too.  Having evacuated a dying planet, the People are bound for a new Home when some groups and individuals fall to earth in the 1800s.  Witch hunts, separations, psychological challenges.  Like "Escape from Witch Mountain" with intelligence.  Think Quakers that can levitate, with out the Quaker thing.

So I am moving forward on the mural, getting ready for the Tom Varn Show.  Right now I am going through a dictatorship phase, where I get to be the dictator/director, possibly alienating  anyone who gets in my way.  Must be that Queen Bee thing.  Ohhhhhhh I feel a buzz coming on!

Stop me now before I get bossy again!

Your Queen thanks you.  Kindly disregard that last request.

I Have Enough

  Tax Time.  Been throwin' stuff out, uncluttering...and what I found is that I ...have...enough.  Probably to last a major catastrophie of some kind.  got lots of books, including several boy scout manuals, do it yourself stuff...homeopathic remedies, wax, candlewicks,(reading by candlelight when there is no sound but the wind through an open window...Canned foods, staples, cold and hot weather gear, dog foods and treats, more cleaning stuff than I will ever use (on principle) and don't get me started on shoes and old shampoos.  The collecting is OVER!  Matches, vitamins, old tapes, records, school supplies, boxes filled with evidence of a life moved on from.  I HAVE ENOUGH.

Quit telling me I need more to be happy,thinner,healthier,sexier, better educated, protected,fashionable, compassionate, balanced...I will judge that myself and not be manipulated into getting MORE.  I HAVE ENOUGH. But I must DO more.  YOU?

I HAVE ENOUGH FOOD IN MY PANTRY TO FEED A FAMILY OF 4 FOR A YEAR.  DO YOU?

WHY?   MANYSISTERS WANTS TO KNOW.

Say Hello To My Little Friends

So beeswax is in the air, literally.  Guess I overheated the wax pot...it is pretty strong.  I was in the zone, painting and humming and forgot my mask.  Tsk, tsk.  So now chastise myself for not wearing proper protection...Think I should do the darling bees on a smaller scale.  or maybe a stylized version that suggests bees without the, uh, bee anatomy beeing correct. I have almost finished half of the quart of honey I brought home that fateful day with the beekeepers.  There is so much to do these days.  More bee stuff to come, just thought I would share an attempt. Busy little me.

I am officially starting to sweat this mural thing.  We have a walk through tomorrow and I have a bare-bones proposal drawn up to present to the group and maybe John A.  No names, please.  I think I am on track, especially having spoken to Cindy Chinn (her I can name) who is a super genius mural master.  I look forward to getting together with everybody, my friends and I have emptied my head just to make room for all their wonderful input.   Not that anyone will notice, since I am pretty light in that department right now.  

Chris and I had a conversation earlier about the likelihood of visitors coming to this planet that did not have some kind of hive mentality, or at least a group mind of sorts.  The whole bee thing, the success of  creatures that live in harmony with their environment and function cooperatively on a major scale, yeah.  I think we are too individually minded to pull off something interstellar without major casualties.  Unless we have a stargate.  Orson Scott Card wrote Ender's Game a while back (a long while) and addressed contact with an insectlike species.  Communication problems were just the beginning of the obstacles we would face.  Hey!  We can't even talk to members of our own mammal family!  Uncle Orson, a wonderful writer and interesting speaker, is one of my top 5 writers.  He leads you through a story and makes you ask yourself questions you did not know you were wondering about.  I love that.  He also writes an alternative America series, the  Prentice Alvin books.  I could read them all the time.  He and I share admiration for Zenna Henderson, author of the People  stories.  So many favorites! So many books! * Happy Dance*

Bee Good!

Puppies and Pot Pie

It's Easter Sunday, Passovered and Out, here in Mermaid Land.  I have had my share of events today.  Went to see a friend in the hospital, which seemed deserted (Stephen King, are you listening?) and went to Lowes to check out the plants.  I could stay in the plant section forever, it just smelled so good and the guy in the red vest was watering everybody and some plants, too.  Got some pepper plants, some flowers, seeds, soil...where the energy will come from to plant them will come from, I don't know.  Then I got ice cream to go with the Mexican stuff I will be making for dinner...to be followed by lots of tv.

Bandit has a boo boo on her nose, probably from Sasha head-butting her to the ground the other day.  Even our car has Sasha marks down the side.  She is a good girl but is heavy on greetings. We will work on this. 

 Today's paper had a good article on Temple Grandin, a woman who has given the world new insights into autism through her candid writing.  She is one of my super heroes.  She is an expert on animal behavior and has campaigned for better treatment of those destined for the food supply.  I have read two of her books and watch her on videos.   There is no "cure" for autism.  There are strategies to work with people "on the spectrum" of the disorder, and new ways for recognizing the broad range of behavior are being developed.  I just hate to see it become the disorder du jour.  After the daytime tv talkshow parties are over, there is still a lot of work to be done.  This I know.   So if you ever get a chance to see Ms Grandin, pay attention and see a truly wonderful point of view.

And for the pot pie.....I  think Just Shoot Me was one of tv's underrated comedies.  Here is a clip featuring Donnie, a purposefully misunderstood character.  Me, I could sing about just about anything, but his version of manipulation through this brief ditty just shot me.  If you never saw the episode, just ignore the clip and go get a cheap Stouffer's version.

And Have a Happy Day!

Worker Bees, Unite!

We gotta job to do!  Having nagged my way into the heart of Weeki Wachee, it appears that we will be working on THE MURAL of our lives in the entrance to the Mermaid theater!!!!  Bee still my heart! Yes!!!!  Mermaids and Turtles and Fishes, oh my! Okay, like I'm not excited or anything.  Yay!!!! and working on a plein air paint-in day, too!

Manysisters is so happy now, like, everybody hold hands and sing!

So, I don't want this to look like Surfside Six but I want it to kinda feel like it.  I envision it to look like you are walking gradually down inside the spring, lower and darker, surrounded by mermaids in different eras and costumes.  With props in the background, and eel grass, and the castle, and Mermaids on the Moon, and the original Adagio, maybe the incredible Mr. Limpet and Elvis!  WhooooooWhoooooo!!  just breathe.

This allergy season is killing me, though.  The beekeepers said to try eating honey from the season you are in to take a bite out of what you are allergic too.  Fine by me.  I think I've gained 5 pounds since I saw them.....Now I am looking for some beeswax so I can purge my waxpots and pens and begin my all bee all the time art.  I found some interesting metal stamps made for glass bead making that are honeycombs.  Would that be cheating?  hmmm.  I suppose if I make my own it would bee alright.  Hah!  I could use some chicken coop style fencing stuff and paint it with hot wax and imprint.  Yep.  original.  me. I win. In a battle of wits with ....myself.

So Mermaids!  I have lots of stuff to draw from and still, it would be great to go to one of those aquariums with the glass tunnels so I could take pictures .  Road trip??!!

Lemme know if anyone wants to go---

Still the luckiest person in the world!

Doin' That Happy, Happy Dance

I know I get carried away sometimes.  But I hope my success never comes at the cost of your enjoyment of my little tirades. 

 For you, my friends

 

Bzzy , Bzzy, Bzzy!

I have had THE most wonderful kind of day!  It was an unexpected pleasure to meet Anne Marie and Charlie Hammond, beekeepers extraordinaire.  I had called them a few days ago to see if they would allow me to take pix of their bees and ask some questions.  Today Anne Marie called and said "How 'bout this afternoon?"---I was so happy/shocked/unprepared/delighted and said yes, see you when I get geared up and off I went to greet the bees. 

 Shortly after I arrived, Anne Marie suited me up(sacrificing her own hand while giving me her gloves) and we went out to the hives.  They had some camphor bits smokin' up around the hives to better control the darlings and it was a beautiful breezy afternoon.  I was given a good dose of background information on the social side of bees and some biological info too--how they are affected by pest control, disease, mites, climate-- and of course,how they make honey.  HONEY!  That alone would have been worth the trip.  I was treated to some Tupelo honey and their homegrown wildflower honey, which was far richer and more complex than the store stuff, what Anne Marie called Baker's grade--still sweet but bland.  Amazing. 

 Well.  Everything was happening so quickly I really didn't have time to be nervous or scared, which is one of the big reasons I wanted to do this.  My decision to do this project on bees grew out of concerns I have been made aware of lately having to do with CCD, or colony collapse disorder.  While that is more a problem for larger beekeeping operations, it drew my attention to bees in general.  I started digging around the local and Florida organizations to find out what the general state of beekeeping was in our bountiful, pollen dependent state.  There is a ton of info on the net about how to become a beekeeper, regulations ( inspections are required), the medical treatment of bees for both their health and ours, introducing new Queens to established hives ( I really enjoyed that stuff!) and much more.  Anne Marie mentioned the possibility of fighting allergies with honey in season.  I plan to pursue that trail.  Honey has been used medicinally like, forever.  

And speaking of forever, here is where the full circle comes in.  In Minoan culture, as in many cultures around the world, Bees were very highly regarded and had a significant role in their world view.  The Malia Minoan Bee sculpture in the picture  above shows two bees joined by pollen with drips of honey from their wings and bodies.  So important to the cycle!  Like Corn Mother, they are providers and important to the food chain.  There is even  a Bee goddess with the face of a woman and body of a bee.....And the final part of the circle for me personally, is that I am switching to using only beeswax in my batiks.  I think it will work effectively, smell wonderful, and be much better for my health.  Beeautiful!

As far as the social part of the bees go, I love the worker bees.  Little girl bees, cleaning and busting out of their birthplaces until they can forage for pollen and return triumphant to the colony.  All the while working for that Lazy @#%*! Queen.  I call them my Cinderella Bees.  I figure if I can personalize them it helps me get past the fear part.  That's how I am going to show them in my art, my bee girls.  

Many thanks to the Hammonds! Informative and generous ( Charlie gave me fresh radishes, Anne Marie gave me skydiving tips!) as well as kind.  Can't wait for the orange blossom honey to come in...

"Busy, busy, busy..."--Kurt Vonnegut

What's the Buzz?

For your enjoyment (I hope) this is a 1975 batik blouse worn by Sister Leni, because.....

This year the theme is BEES.  I have been hearing a lot about populations of bees disappearing seemingly overnight.  It is a huge alarm!  Our friends in the cycle are so important, so vital to our ecosystem.  They give us such a model of teamwork and pattern.  So I will explore the connection to bees and look forward to doing some beeautiful art with them.  Partners, me and the bees. and the corn.  OOOOOOhhhhh bees and corn together!  Fun! Pretty!

I am in obsession mode.  This usually happens when I am bored or have just come off a project and hit the void.  So tonight it is coral necklaces that look like snakes (coral snakes, of course) and old tv theme songs.  Just enough to keep me up past my lunesta.  But I will make it through because I have found just the thing to settle me down.  Actually, it is writing.

I think I put off writing for years, because I was afraid of not getting a good grade.  Aside from having an official license to read, getting a degree in English pretty much guaranteed not ever wanting to be judged by my words on paper ever again.  Which is kinda strange because I did well in school.  It just sucked my creativity dry.  I loved everything I read then, but it was all paraded across my  brain like a feast that you had to figure out the ingredients for.  Now I enjoy writing... maybe because sometimes people write back, maybe because it clarifies what I am thinking about.  Which is BEES.

 

A Month of Celebrations

March usually gives me a tummy-ache, on account of all the frosting I eat at birthday time.  Today my Daughter in law, Laura, is 21.  Cheers!  She is on her own for a while in Japan as Sky is out keeping us safe.  Schoolin' and shoppin', all on her lonesome, she is gettin' it done.  Salud!  Next, is CJ's birthday, the 27th.  He will turn 26 on the day he and Vladimira are moving into their new home.  A bottle of the best to you!  And Sky will be 24 (my favorite number!) on April Fool's day.  in Korea.  Hoping it is only treats and no tricks for you...

Anyway, I am still managing to finish the cake from my reception ( above) and still celebrating the mural, also above. You can't see my hand tightly gripping a Mr. Clean sponge....however, I just love the group of people I worked with and happily I saw some of them at the reception.  However, I am taking names of those that did not attend....(kidding!)

CJ (Chris Jr.) suggested the name Vacationing the New Desert World for my story .  I like it.  and about the story...

Vacationing the New Desert World Part III

As soon as I stepped inside the entry to the rock -camouflaged structure, lights came on... very , very bright lights.  I figured they were programmed that way because it was so glaring outside.  After a few seconds they began to dim to a normal wattage.  I looked around for some kind of host and found a console blinking my name next to a map similar to the one on my display.  There was a scanner over it, so I winked into it and a voice said "Please state your equipment request."  

It was unnerving.  The voice was lifelike in contrast to the silicone nature of everything up to now, but I kind of felt let down that there wasn't even a hologram of an AI to meet me.  Well, I had wanted to get some me-time in, after all.  So much to discover, so much relaxing to do, so much to decompress from, right?

 Okay.   It wasn't exactly a  welcome center.   This was the supply area for the lodge.  As good a place to start as any.  I considered my options.   Knowing that I would be here for a while gave me the luxury of doing nothing .  I could go back to the lodge and sleep.  or read.  or do some exercises. or not.  I decided to look around the center for a snack and see if there was any evidence of recent visitation by whoever maintained the place.  The air hummed around me with a pulse/tune built in.   Such environmental modifications were passe' these days, thanks to modern sensory engineering.  Still, it was a pleasant enhancement to the sterility of the place.  Kinda made me feel like moving to a ghost beat.  Not quite music, not quite rhythm, the air ssssssssssed around and my pace matched it shortly.  Quiescent exercise. Another way of keeping up with the planetary differences, I supposed.  After a few weeks of this I won't mind the g-differential.  

I accessed the food controls and had some water and more fruit.  There was a green wafer with it that seemed familiar.  It almost disintegrated with my touch.  I licked my fingers ...tasted like a dusty type of nori, the seaweed wrapper sushi came wrapped in.  No telling how long it was in the dispenser.  hmmmmm. More water.  In fact, water tasted better with each sip.  Ahhhhh, the simple things!  I sat down and waited for motivation.  

That was the last thing I remember.