Future tense

This is not about going back. It's about going forward, together, into something better.

It's OK

It's OK to be confused, but still happy.
It's OK to go with your gut, and when your gut feels peaceful, that means that things are right.
It's OK to be awake half the night but not stressed about it.
It's OK to know that many of the people who love you deeply won't understand, but that doesn't mean you're doing the wrong thing.
It's OK to follow love when it calls your name.
It's OK to want to start again.
It's OK to listen to how you were half to blame, and take it to heart, and want to do better.
It's OK to not be a victim, but a joyful participant in a new possibility.
It's OK to feel compassion for the others who were hurt.
It's OK to laugh twenty times a day, instead of two, or none.
It's OK to re-unite.
In fact, it's more than OK.

This is what I do at the supermarket

What? Don't you?


If you can't see the above embedded video, click here.

Now You're Home

Clare Bowditch's new single Now You're Home featuring Lanie Lane. I like it! If you prefer, view it here on YouTube.

Sketching fun

Man Up

I like the contrast between the large brush strokes of the background, and the small ones of the subject.

Table 7

For those (like Elizabeth) who can't view the movie, here's a link to it on YouTube.

On not being here, now

I spent much of the day with good friends, having good times. But I still kept checking for that text or email that never came.

Tonight I saw Mary Oliver

THE SUN

Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone--
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance--
and have you ever felt for anything

such wild love--
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed--
or have you too
turned from this world--

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?

~ Mary Oliver ~

Life is good

I am pretty much speechless after I paint. All I can think is "I am so lucky" and "life is so good." I know that means I'm in my Right Space. Nuff said.

We are the xx%

I've been wondering what Occupy Wall Street was all about. Then I found this:

It was pretty sobering to read thirty or so of these entries. A common factor is crushing student loan debt -- I am so glad that I (and my children) do not have this burden.

Not to be pedantic, or to diminish anyone's suffering, but 99% is not an accurate number. I don't know what percentage of Americans lives hand to mouth, without medical insurance, but I (and my friends/relations here in the US) are neither desperately poor nor in the top 1% of wealth. So I don't fit into either camp. Nor, I suspect, do the majority of Americans.

I believe the official poverty statistics (however they are measured) stand at around 15%. But "We are the 15%" doesn't pack nearly the punch of "We are the 99%".

A funny (synchronous) connection: I just came across this passage in the novel I'm currently reading: "The conflict between corporations and activists is that of narcolepsy versus remembrance. The corporations have money, power, and influence. Our sole weapon is public outrage. Outrage blocked the Yuccan Dam, ousted Nixon, and in part, terminated the monstrosities in Vietnam. But outrage is unwieldy to manufacture and handle. First, you need scrutiny; second, widespread awareness; only when this reaches a critical mass does public outrage explode into being."
 
I'm interested to see where this goes, and what, if any, change it triggers.

The Dreaded Lurgy

It's out to get me.

So long, Steve. And thanks.

I am proud to work for the company (and the office) that wrote and produced the ad featured at the end of this clip ... and all the Apple marketing since.




P.S. I have seen the text from the "Think Different" ad posted many times in the last day or so, attributing the words to (a) Steve himself or (b) Jack Kerouac. This ad was actually written by two TBWA\Chiat\Day creatives, Rob Siltanen and Ken Segall. The voiceover is not Steve Jobs, but Richard Dreyfuss (though an unaired version was narrated by Jobs.)

So long Steve. You were an awesome (though very tough) client. There's no-one else like you.

TMJ

Nearly a year ago, I was enjoying a post-Thanksgiving dinner with good friends, and laughing my butt off. (Michael's suggestion of a possible sign language interpretation for "concentration camp" cracked me up.) All of a sudden, my jaw locked up. I could hardly open my mouth.

I was alarmed, but as this had happened a few months earlier and remedied itself the following morning, I figured it would get better pretty fast. But it did not.

I consulted with various doctors, dentists, chiropractors, and even a cranio sacral therapist over the next few months. I received conflicting advice, though the common factor was large amounts of ibuprofin.

I dosed up. I applied heat. I applied ice. I massaged. I meditated. I avoided chewy foods. I wore my nightguard religiously. Nothing worked.

In April my GP said that, though it might take up to 18 months, it would get better by itself, so I abandoned the ice and ibuprofin. It hasn't improved yet.

Josh thought that my jaw would loosen up once we separated. He was wrong. It's been six months now, and it's tighter than ever. And it hurts! Oh yes, it hurts.

I'm getting pretty tired of my temporomandibular joint disorder. I have no clicking. I just have tightness and pain. Oh, how I would love to be able to YAWN. Any magic cures out there?

No To Do

I’m a planner and a list-maker. Meals for the upcoming week, groceries to buy, gifts to make, books to read, state parks to visit, things to do before I die, items to pack for travel (winter and summer), things I might buy if I still want them in 30 days, hikes to take … you get the drift. I like me a good list. And I really, really like checking things off those lists.



This personality trait helps me in my job, where I manage multiple projects on tight timelines. Lists (and the satisfaction of accomplishing the things on them) come in pretty handy there. But lately I’ve been noticing that lists can take the place of something more important. I’ve noticed that I can fill my time with somewhat arbitrary stuff, and miss out on real connections. That I can spend a month reading a book I am just not into (because it’s on my list) instead of being swept up for several hours in a story that enthralls me.




So …. I’ve been experimenting with the idea of having no plans on (at least one day of) the weekends. To just do what feels good at the time and see what happens. A weekend with no ‘to do’. Radical, right? For a list-maker like me, it is.


 

So here’s what happened this weekend (sorry, but I have to make it a list).

• I saw some awesome clouds.
• I washed my sheets. 
• I vacuumed, and actually figured out why sometimes the machine blows instead of sucks. This is a good realization. 
• I painted a (very rough, completely non-perfectionist) portrait of my friend’s daughter and used it as her birthday card. 
• I also made a birthday card for my step-mum. 
• Both the above cards are addressed, stamped, and ready to mail. 
• I skyped with my sister and one daughter. 
• I walked a 3-mile circuit through my local cemetery. I love living near a graveyard. 
• I spent enjoyable time with four of my favourite girlfriends (on three separate occasions). 
• I visited a letterpress printing fair and relished lots of cool art and antique equipment.
• I finished a book (“Candide” by Voltaire) and started another (“Complicity” by Iain Banks)
• I processed my accumulated work email and made a To Do list for tomorrow (should I be admitting this?)

So, with no planning, I seem to have hit on the important* points: loved ones, cleanliness, art, exercise.



But there’s the rub. I’m still measuring the success of my weekend against my mental “to do” list. And feeling pleased with myself that I ‘got there’ even though I hadn’t planned it in advance. Maybe there’s no escape from my personality type. Or maybe I just need to get more enlightened.
 
NOTES:

• I did not go grocery shopping. I still have an almost empty fridge. But luckily I got to bring home the leftovers of tonight’s dinner with 2 gf’s. So I’m set for tomorrow.
• Are you a list-maker? If so, how do you unwind?

*Important = reflective of my values. Your mileage may vary.

LA Printers Fair

I updated my blog template and whoa, the photos can be 20% bigger. Are they TOO big? I'm sure I'll get used to it, but they really seem a bit in-your-face.

Anyway ....

I attended the third annual LA Printers Fair at the International Printing Museum, a mecca for lovers of letterpress and book arts.











I kept my wallet under tight wraps, but now really wish I'd bought one of these awls. Aren't they awl-some?