Quotes for the Day

Can't nothing make your life work if you ain't the architect. ~Terry McMillan

Stop wearing your obstacles like a hair shirt. ~ Margot Potter

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it. ~Chinese Proverb

You can have what you want or your reasons why not. ~Jerry Stocking

I’m all for riding the current wherever it takes me, but there must be a reason they put paddles in the boat. ~John Morgan

It would be funny if it weren't sad

GSF Kristina sent this to me last night, so I had to share. I just learned how to embed Youtube videos but it's been disabled. So here's a link. Tina Fey is hysterical as Sarah Palin. What makes this so funny (and sad) is that she is so accurate. These are 2 back-to-back clips with SNL's parody and then the real Katie Couric interview. Yikes.

GSF Bess & I are taking a massage therapy class together this weekend, so I won't be blogging until Monday. But I will have tales to tell when I get back. In the meantime, Margot Potter has created a new blog, with a craftier focus. Check it out if you're crafty or aspire to be. She's creative, smart, & wickedly funny.

Until Monday, then. Adieu. Parce que je blog mais pas quand je ne blog pas.* How's that for some kickin' franglais? ;-) H.

*Because I blog except when I don't.

Procrastination

Procrastination is not laziness, it is an active process of delaying things until we "feel better" about them. It's a kind of perfectionism in the sense that we think everything has to be "just right," when in reality, there's no time like the present and we feel better when we have gotten something done. ~Lissa Coffey

I read this quote from a newsletter this a.m. and thought it was appropriate. Pictured above is the final product of Margot Potter's Kewpie Doll Challenge. She sent me the 2-inch doll in June where it sat and eventually got covered up with other thingies. So I finally excavated it. Initially I had thought I would do a miniature Seth Godin in a purple suit, since he has a bit on kewpie dolls. Then I thought, No! Robert Smith! A tiny version of Fat Bob! But whenever I would think about it, I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to get the hair right. So it stayed in my head, picture perfect. And incomplete.

Michaelangelo used to say that he was just chipping away the pieces that didn't belong to his statues. They were there already, waiting to be revealed. OMG! Am I really comparing my artistic process to Michaelangelo? Hahahaha Yes.

So I held the doll and looked at it and . . . daydreamed the possibilities of this sweet, cherubic-faced . . . reminds me of the baby Krishna pictures . . . and then I thought, Ooooh . . . Baby Ganesh. I fashioned the extra appendages with Sculpey, oven bake clay. I did make 2 extra arms, but I couldn't get them to fit. Did I mention he's only 2 inches???? I baked & then painted.

Back to procrastination: This is where I make a joke about buying a book on procrastination but never taking time to read it. Hahahaha Except that I did. And it was v. helpful. The key is just to start moving, because that helps build momentum. It's a physics principle: Things in motion tend to stay in motion. So the next thing is to finish my new CD--2 months after recording. Because, you know. *sigh* It's not perfect.

Inspiring Blog Award

What a wonderful surprise! Yesterday Nature Gal, who's photography is stunning, stopped by yesterday's blog & left me with this:

How cool is that? It was created by another blogger, Ida, also a fabulous photographer, with the suggestion to pass it on. I am going to have to figure out how to translate Norwegian so that I can effectively communicate to these 2 gals! So I'm passing it on to the blogs that I visit regularly:

Holly Brimhall: Mother, wife, sister, daughter, & photographer. She captures all the sweetness & optimism of the human spirit in her pictures. She has handled a difficult year with such GRACE--truly an inspiration.
Margot Potter: Bead Queen & so much more, for your daily dose of creative genius, inspiration, & "Super Girly Goodness." Margot ROCKS! And I discovered her through . . .
The Crafty Chica: Kathy brings her glittery sparkle to everything she does--and she does it all! She inspired me to build my first website. She prolly doesn't know that, but she is a champion for the DIYer.
B. Bliss: I adore this gal. Great photos & quotes, I love seeing the world through her eyes.
Lastly, to John Morgan. I know this award is a bit . . . er . . . floral, but you can get in touch with your feminine side. His Monday morning Grasshopper Notes ROCK & I read his blog every day, religiously. He really is a daily dose of *inspiration*

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday GSF Bess & I scoured through a bin of postcards at an antique shop. Bess found this one sent in 1961. Love the bathing caps! It was to Mrs. Ernest Martin of Brooklyn, NY. & says:

Dear Ann: Hope I have not sent duplicate cards. This is the view from my porch. Enjoying every minute and working hard to keep below 140 lbs. Madge

Yes, of course made me think of another Madge. Have a swell weekend, everyone!

Menstrual Monday

Menstrual Monday? Whaaaaaat???? Reminder to my gentlemen readers: you have sisters, wives, girlfriends, co-workers, friends, mothers, and daughters. You are surrounded. So before you click off with a fast exit from this post with a does-not-apply-to-you response, I invite you to read on.

I was kidding when I proposed Menstrual Monday to Margot Potter, but then I started thinking about how cultures behave towards periods. Unless we’ve been raised in a matriarchal, goddess-worshipping culture (not in abundance on the planet today), we are woefully unenlightened. This is not gender-based, either. Look at the language we use:

Feminine PROTECTION. Protection from what? It’s not an attack and it’s not a disease.

SANITARY napkins: implies something dirty. It’s not dirty, it’s nature. In some religious traditions, men are not allowed to touch a woman who’s menstruating. How’s that for affecting self-esteem?

Euphemisms like the CURSE. Think about it: women have the ability to create life. I think that’s more of a BLESSING.

Ignorance is a voluntary affliction. ~ Nicholas Ling

I am not surprised by the lack of understanding that men have about periods. Afterall, their relationship with bleeding is from an injury. I am, however, surprised at the lack of knowledge women have about their own bodies. Ladies, do you know where your ovaries are? Here’s the thing about ignorance: there’s a tendency to make what we don’t understand, wrong. Religions do this all the time. In addition, whenever you keep something shrouded in darkness and mystery, it’s a place for shame to hang out. How can we be living in the 21st century and still be in the dark ages when it comes to our biology?

I have an Indian-American friend who told me that when she was a girl, she happened to be visiting India when she got her period. All the women got together and performed a specific ritual for her. She said that she was so embarrassed that everyone knew about it. I said, “How wonderful that you could mark the occasion as a celebration into womanhood. You had the support of women from all generations.” We don’t have that in our society.

She went on to say that when she was growing up, her mother was not allowed to prepare the food for the family for the first 3 days of her period. Perhaps, initially, however many centuries ago, that rule was created to support the woman. The body is breaking down, cleansing, clearing out. It takes energy and sometimes don’t we just want to take a nap? How many women listen to their bodies and rest? This is our downtime, but most women pop a pill and push themselves to keep going.

There’s a wonderful book, The Red Tent. Set in Old Testament times, it tells the story of women who retreat to a tent for their 3 days out of the month. The men thought it was a place of isolation where the women went to suffer. Far from it. It was the place of communion and storytelling and rest. It’s a great read.

You may be wondering (if you’re still with me) what sparked this little essay. It was Margot’s post. There are girls who miss a whole week of school each month because they have no access to supplies. If you think it’s only in faraway countries, think again. It’s here in America.
So Sharon McCreary is heading up a Maxipad Drive and you can read more about it at Generosity Flows.

Or you can send donations to:
Sharon McCreary
EGOS/CRESL
1250 Welton St.
Denver, CO 80204

Happy Monday. :-) H.

Labyrinth Rocks

I liked the melted-crayon rock activity so much that I played with it on Sunday. I've made finger labyrinths before for journals, etc. But this is my first venture into a more 3-dimensional form. I used sparkley dimensional paint for the labyrinth lines. The heart rock and pink rock, I painted, but the other 3 rocks I did the melted crayon thing. Before I painted it, the pink rock reminded me of an elephant, and I thought of a recent post from Margot, so here's a pink elephant labyrinth. Other than that, I was kinda on a purple kick. The crayon gives it a nice, smooooooth texture and I'll definitely be making more of these!

New Blog Policy

I'm taking a page from Margot Potter and I'm going to be more consistent with my posting. Like everyday consistent. Who said that??? Even if it's a quote-for-the-day. Because some days I'm not really doing anything I think would be screamingly blog-worthy. I walk my dogs and wash dishes to tango music and shmoooooze on the phone for John Morgan. Because some days are just lovely and ordinary. So here's your quote:

Consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness. ~Scott Ginsberg

Thanks, Nametag Guy! And I'll also take greatness. Why limit myself? ha ha

P.S. If you're reading this, Mum, your children would all like to know that you are having FUN in Scotland...so drop an email already! LOL from BNO (&2,3,4, & 6)

This Is Where the Title Goes

I find myself not posting because I'm such a visual gal, and being on dial-up, I can't upload pictures. I keep promising myself I'll go to the internet cafe...but who am I kidding? I'm lying like a big dog. Am seriously considering joining the 21st century with a satellite hook-up, even if I don't know how long I'm out here in the wilderness. I've seen scientists in the Amazon rainforest with laptops--it shouldn't be so hard in rural Virginia, right? Hehhhh....

This is what I would show you if I could:

Yesterday while walking Barkley & Remington, I found 11 four-leaf clovers, one right after another. ELEVEN. My favourite Spinal Tap-inspired number...because it's ONE MORE, INNIT?

And here's a picture of The Grasshopper, who sent me a lovely surprise in the mail. I have a Grasshopper journal and tea mug and shirt-that-fits.

And here's a picture of Margot Potter, whom I absolutely adore. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her blog! And she was so sweet to give this Labyrinth Gal some "linky love." Thanks, Madge!

Well. Now I really am inspired to do nothing but upload tons of photos. It shall be done. And soon. Promise, no more lying dogs.