I Am Not Making This Up

Lady Conquistas--Go! Finished and at PHCC to be hung in the Gym. Next up--Texas Longhorns, Bluebonnets, Big, Big, BIG King sized quilt fabric.... From sports to landscapes and taking pix of mermaids in between. Life in Mermaid Land is what you make it. True, that could be said of anywhere, but it seems like there is a bit of magic going on here that just keeps the work funner.

I got back in the DEEP HOLE at Weeki today which felt really wonderful--I feel the healing already! Great group of campers to play with and I am always inspired by the creativity of the Former (ahem!) Mermaids who put on the Sirens of the Deep Camp. As Carolyn Turgeon says, "Please don't be too jealous of my...." Yeah, right. I am soooooooo lucky.

Note to J. Angels are real--DonnaJean hides her feathers.

Retirement--see how Rhonda stays unbusy

hope Evie can paddle for two...maybe we should form a flotilla...

Alone, Unarmed, and Unafraid--in a Battle of Wits with Myself!

Well, my darlings, it has been a long time since I have written anything new, but please don't assume I haven't been busy, because we all know what happens when we assume. Many adventures and strange but true events have occurred already here in Weekiville and the calendar is still in 2010...more on that later. From the photos above, you can not only see that ice has formed in SOUTH Florida, I have a dog attached to my hand, and I jealously yet stealthily can pop up in any place there is an award to be given--in this case, to my fried Evie Harper, who so deservedly took home 1st place in Fine Crafts at the Spring Hill Art League Show at WW. Okay, so the sky hasn't fallen, but that stuff is still news.

In the shower last evening I had yet again one of my great insights . This one required no rinsing, and yet, after my contemplation ended I felt cleaner than ever. I started out thinking about symbols and gestures, cues in the environment, fractals and fortune. How certain numbers repeat, how Jack Bauer always knows who is lying, how when I gain or lose weight, the next size up or down tends to fit. I have already demonstrated here how we are all connected--don't make me come over there--but there was something missing in all the patterns. It is like everything is talking at once! or singing or shouting or listening or contemplating. All these brilliant colors of existence making peacock feather communication . And that's when I knew for sure. The universe is a conversation. What a pity it is that we don't understand what is being said....

Recently I had the privilege of working with two groups of volunteers that make my Weeki time on earth heavenly. One was the Muralist volunteers at Weeki Wachee, where Patty, Grace, Evie, Joe, Lynne and I got to make a 200+ pumpkin patch mural for Halloween, followed by working on a Christmas village and giant cards and stuff. So much fun! And so many people at the park were wonderful to work with. Ed, Clint, Pat, Ashley and Emily--a great creative crew of employees that have such interesting skills.

Then there is POP (People of Passion), a non profit in Brooksville where the art community can gather for fun or give art lessons. I am offering Batik on Paper-- even tho I don't do much anymore it still gets me itching to do it when I have people to share it with. Gus Guadagnino and Lynne Simone have worked a minor miracle for an area that is as gifted with talent as we have here. A showcase for our abilities and a way to share them, too. So yeah, I have been busy with my peeps.

More later.

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!