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!

...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...

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!

Lincoln Vail of the Everglades

Hey you Boomers.  There was a time when tv studios in Florida were making out Miami--Ft Lauderdale to be the Hollywood of the east.  We had all kinds of programming--Flipper, Surfside Six, Everglades, Gentle Ben, Whirly Bird...usually Ivan Tors had the special effects with the aquatic scenes and there was some swingin' stuff goin' on with the 77 Sunset Strip wannabees at the Fountainbleau.  or maybe it was the Eden Roc.  

I was just a little cadet then, and my heroes have always been a little on the super side.  Lincoln Vail was the police/ranger for the Everglades County Department.  He was sooooooo cool.  But the star of that show, really all the shows, was Florida.  Route 66 had an episode set at Weeki Wachee, which I recently viewed courtesy of former Mermaid Barbara Wynns. It was Fabulous.  The boys in the corvette go to Weeki and meet a real mermaid.  I actually swam in that water!!! George Maharis and Martin Milner.  Wow.  But then again, it was really all about the Spring.  What I loved about those shows was how natural Florida looked --it had a really different identity.  A bit of a mystery there.  You would never know it now....

Florida.  Yeah. Let's hope Weeki Wachee State Park keeps that old Florida flavor.  Something between an orange creamsicle and smell of new cut grass....

 

How I Spend My Valentine's Day

Self Amused as I am, Valentine's Day is mostly in my head.  Having suffered through the exchange of those elementary school valentines (or lack of the right one) we all should just accept the fact that Love Is All Around Us and let the feeling go.  wherever, however, whoever.

Today, my friends, let's look at how we arrive at our Zen Space.  Some times I go shopping in a really big store or mall just so I can space out.  the walking is good, I put my mind on automatic, and hum to myself as I peruse the displays.  what I am really doing is organizing my life.  I am thinking about how something will fit into my home, my refrigerator, my life.  How will others use it or see it.  Who will need it, break it, want it, dispose of it...do I really have to get it? Could I throw out the one I have just like it that I never use?  The list goes on.

And it is the same with cleaning.  Working in my bathroom or closet is almost a treat.  It is fashion show, makeup counter, legos, puzzles, romance, regret, nostalgia and a reminder that I will feel better if my day isn't cluttered as much as my countertop and shoe rack.  I am not a glam girl, but I tend to collect things that pile up so I feel like I have taken my shot at beauty without the commitment.  I sit on the floor , scraping my shower walls and reviewing the last mural meeting or Lost or figuring out where my tax papers are.  It works and lo and behold, I can see a clean room.

It's Valentine's Day.  For your viewing pleasure, Billy Mack sings from Love, Actually.

Reminds me of an episode of The Wonder Years.  Kevin's mom had lost a bunch of receipts his dad used for his job and it was time to do their taxes.  Kevin was afraid that his parents would get into a big  argument because it was really important and his dad was already frustrated.  Expecting a fight, he watched secretly to find them sitting on the floor and laughing about  old times that lead to recreating his expenses.  How  relationships are stronger than paperwork, and that exercising our memories makes us richer is what I remember from that show.  Wish they would do a reunion  of that one!

  

Skin Deep

Big Night at Ruth Eckerd Hall this past Thursday.  Buddy Guy and BB King.  We had a car service so driving at 1 AM would not be a problem.  Actually, that made a real difference in making this thing happen.  so we are deposited at the theater, take our drinks to our fabulous seats, and just watch everything unfold.  There were 2 sets of roadies, 2 back up bands (Excellent!) and other than that, no set background.  Just amazing music.  I can't say that I am a true blues fan like my husband, Chris, but I can say that those were the most rocking 3 1/2 hours I have spent in years.  And Buddy was singing and winking right at me and we are going to be married.  Chris says he will give me away....he took this pic of BB.  I just love it.  Buddy's latest CD is Skin Deep.  He sang the title song at the concert, about how we are all the same under the skin.  Very few dry eyes after that.  What a Guy!

The art plan for this week involves working on a mural with Spring Hill Art League peeps. It is a diverse group and I know it will be a project of the heart.  My own plans will include printing out some stuff for an upcoming show at Spirit of the Hand and preparing for the Mermaid calendar stuff.

This season has left me wiped out.  It is probably a combination of dogs and pollens...I sneeze all the time and my eyes and throat itch.  I never believed much in allergies til I had 'em!

Lots of reflection this birthday week.  Cory and Lyn helped a pet shelter in my name.  I love that!  My Thursday buddies waved us on to our date with BB, standing in the cold driveway as the limo pulled away.  They really knew what the night meant to me.  My buddy Lynne is like a little sis to me.  Such a gift in herself! And presents!  I skyped with Sky, Laura, and CJ.  How I love this tech stuff!  my heart would break otherwise.  and darling Chris got me this turntable thing so I could transfer vinyl to Itunes.  The first thing I recorded was music from Me, Natalie, by Rod Mckuen.  Yeah, Rod Mckuen.  I said my taste in music was eclectic.

Should Jack really trust Tony?  Is Daniel Faraday the son of Desmond and Penny?  Was it really a good idea for Admiral Adama to shoot Gaeta and Tom? hmmm.  at least Phillip will be back on GL.

and speaking of eclectic, an amazing video of a duet between Luciano Pavarotti and James Brown!

Life Is Good!

Dreamland

okay, so Ponce's story is going to take a while. lotsa stuff going on in my head.  I am getting tired of all these voices!

idea for art-Sky and Laura as storybook characters.  Maybe as superheroes.  hmmm.  Just got an email from a mersister, V, ( I am an honorary Mermaid) with pictures to use for the calendar/children's book I am working on.  Marla, another mersister, gave me some great pix of her horse costumes.  She is incredibly talented with a great eye for detail.  Anyway, my world is so full of real make believe that I am hard pressed to distinguish the differences....

Taking a break from la-la land, I am really missing the guys and dolls overseas and in California.  But seeing them on the webcam is so wonderful and current.  As long as they are having adventures and moving on. That's what counts.  When I was just a tadpole (yes, carrying on with the mermaid thing) I flung myself at life.  It may have been playing the odds a bit, like running across a rickety rope bridge over a bottomless pit, but I like to think that we make some of our best memories that way.  Live Juicy!

Dreaming along, my Artist in Rez status is great, but I don't know how I can effect real change or add to the k-12 curriculum of art in the schools here. Almost 23,000 students!   Maybe if Weeki Wachee opens up to the idea of an art center with Moi as the Artist in you know where, maybe then we can do some fun stuff year round and hold hands with the community and all the resources available for nature exploration and hands on creativity.  I can see it now.  Little trailblazers learning all about the spring, guest artists doing workshops, retreats, festivals, lectures, gallery, conservation, involving all of Hernando County and benefitting everyone. I hope.

Why are there craters on the moon?  because I have no more room in my back yard for the dogs to dig.  They are down to the sprinkler pipes and any minute now I expect the underground  to tunnel out to freedom.  

On the street, it's Super Bad Brad

  

And now, it's time for "Ponce Upon A Time"

Ponce loved the smell of orange blossoms and leather...  And smoke.  He had spent many nights by a fire, trying to keep small orange  saplings warm so the frost would not take them.  There he learned the languages lost to us now--Calusa, Timucuan, Mandan, the old ways gone with the people whose lives he sold for immortality...