Sunday, December 30, 2007

Ringing In The New Year ~ Clearing the Cobwebs


As I start to write this, there is a little over 29 hours left of 2007. What am I waiting for? What's going to change? I'll tell you what's going to change. First of all, I'm getting rid of ALOT of stuff. It's either being Donated, Ditched or Dungeoned. Donating is easy. You just throw it into a sack and leave it at Goodwill. Ditching stuff is always fun. You just load up the garbage bag, a black one preferrably, until it weighs eighty pounds and you haul it to the curb like the Helga of the North you were meant to be. Dungeoning is simply packing it up in hearty rubbermaid and sending it over to the in-laws basement for the next millenium. It's junk, that's not junk. It's sentimental crap that's taking up valuable space and sanity. Someday you'll serve tea in your Kentucky Victorian with quaint company using your grandmother's heirloom tea set, but until then, ya gotta dungeon it!

What else is going to change? Well, my gut ain't getting any smaller, but that's not an issue right now. I'm talking about changing my attitude. Lately I've been having a really hard time dealing with the little things. We've got nuclear bombs aimed at us and I'm having a fit over excessive twisty-ties. Where do they keep coming from? Those and milk cap rings are continuously returning everytime I clear the counter. Should I be aware of a greater message being sent through these nagging oddities? I've bagged quite a collection of these everyday pull tabs I run into when I have to open something up. I figure it should spell out something to me someday in a working collage about a housewife and her daily commands. "Pull Here", "Pop Up", "Push In", "Pull Out". It's quite something when you think about it. So, from now on I'll try not to freak out over the lip curling annoyances like static electricity that makes my hair stick to my forehead when I'm trying on clothes in the dressing room, the ache in my elbow and hip that makes me feel like I'm 75 years old, my misplaced scissors, miscounted money, sudden canker sores, dead batteries, relentless co-worker cliches and the neighbor's yapping dog that shares his morning glory in our yard. Hey, all this is merely a Yoga position away toward better understanding of the whole picture. Now if I took Yoga, I'd be half-way there, however, I'll simply transform and add it to all the interesting material I've accumulated in my mind to write about whether it's ugly or not.

With that said, the next area to clean up is my current artwork which is clashing with my soul. Once I'm finished classifying my household stuff into destination piles, I'll do the same with my unfinished art works. Let's see, it'll be Finish It, File It, or Fire It! If I don't finish it by the end of Winter, (I'm making this up as I go along) I FIRE IT UP! SWOOSH! Right into the burning barrel come March 20th. What a plan, but I better be careful. I've lightened the load many times and as always, along comes a day when I ask myself, "Why the hell did I get rid of that?!"

HAPPY 2008!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

You'll Poke Yer Eye Out Ya Nit Wit!




So, am I the only woman who uses her toothbrush to smooth down, fluff up and shape her eyebrows in the morning? What a great beauty secret I thought I had. Who knew that one day, one spastic move and SMOOGE! Right in the eye! The pain was incredible. Later I would find out after an afternoon visit with the eye doctor that it was just enough force to put a gash into my cornea. If C.S.I. were to come into my bathroom, they would have found the microscopic splatter of my eyeball on my soggy bristles. If I could've watched that idiotic move in slow motion and saw the intense impact I had on my tender little peeper, I would live with goosebumps forever. Why is it I'm always in such a rush in the morning getting ready for work? That particular morning I was meeting my good friend, Reenie, for coffee. So I had to be out of the house earlier than usual. For some reason I was feeling ugly, hense the call for my beauty secret routine and Whammo! Bad timing and terrible aim. Maybe I'm going to have to cut my caffeine intake to one cup in the morning.

Now what would my mother have taught me? What would she have said? She probably would have reached into her make-up bag and said, "Here's an eyebrow comb, honey. Be very careful and use slow sweeping motions away from your eye. If you're in a hurry, dear, you'll poke yer eye out!"
ps ~ I don't know who the baby pictured above is, but I hope his mom doesn't mind my using his photo for this. He's absolutely adorable!!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Christmas Greeting and Pause




"Does anyone know what Christmas is all about?"

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"


Wishing my family both far and near, my best friends who I hold so dear and to so many more I've yet to meet a very beautiful Christmas and a New Year filled with hope, love and peace.


karen








Saturday, December 08, 2007

Help! I'm Trapped in a Homebody!


What's the big deal? So I didn't follow through on another desired impulse. I guess I shouldn't feel so twisted up about it. I'm tired and I'm mentally wearing myself out. Like a Suzanne Vega lyric, "...I'm fighting things I cannot see." I just couldn't warrior myself enough to jump into a frozen car at dusk, spend MAYBE an hour at the gallery, then regretfully speed home so that I could pretend I never left and throw together a half-assed meal. I missed my artist friend, Janet Baskerville who was there and that would've been fun and worth it. Ohhh, I need to coop up and forget it.

I got a call from one of my customers from the craft show. She'd like another Christmas illustration personalized for family friends. It's the Santa list design. That's cool I guess. Now I wish I had charged more, but, really, it'll be cake to do. I should be working on some kid cards for a shop I sell to. My art area has been excavated to make room for the Christmas tree! So most of my stuff has been relocated to the basement. It's accessible, but it's in a bit of disarray. I'm going to do myself a favor and invite the Sandman in early. This cranky girl needs to get buried. Sweet Dreams!