to blog or not to blog

I read fellow writers who actually write, and leave me in the dust with my empty palette of verbiage. I am caught in the knot of words bulging from the stumps of trees. Impressed by haiku, but counting syllables just to make sure. This is old territory; the stomping ground of linguists, where bone is bleach white or decorated with brilliant gemstones. I have moved my table to the other side of the room. I watch now, constant observer of the new twist on the old tongue. "I grow old, I grow old..." I want to mold things with my hands, and keep my mind blank as slate... what I have to say is erasable; a babble-icious destructable, verging on "delete this blog" at a moment's notice.

4 things

The Walking Man had this 4 question survey on his blog, so I decided to tag myself with it and answer the questions.

Four Movies You Can See Over and Over:

A Beautiful Mind
Resurrection
Dances with Wolves
A Man Called Horse

Four Places You Have Lived:

Brooklyn, NY
New York, NY
Rovaniemi, Finland
Brooklyn, NY (over and over and over again)

Four TV Shows You Love(d) to Watch:

Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Medium, Law & Order: SVU

Four Places You Have Been on a Vacation:

San Diego, CA
Saratoga, NY
Santa Fe, NM
Durango, CO

Four of your favorite foods:

imported provolone
pepperoni
italian bread
roasted peppers
(with a nice glass of red on the side)

Four Websites You Visit Daily:

Cups of Tea ( a friend's forum)
The Weather Underground
Whatever updates are available from the blogs I follow

Four Places You Would Rather Be:

In the country, surrounded by nature
At a Medicine Wheel Gathering
A a private beach, swimming
In love

Four Things You Hope to Do Before You Die:

Visit more of Europe
Fall in love again
visit the Grand Canyon
Get a car and go on a road trip


Four Novels You Wish You Were Reading for the First Time:

She's Come Undone
Stones From the River
The Secret Life of Bees
Castaneda's books


If you're reading this, and you have a blog, then you're tagged, too!

linked what?

I just added this "Linked Within" widget to my blog. You can see, at the bottom of each post there are suddenly 3 links to other posts. It appears to be rather random. I don't know if I like it, or if it interferes with the post itself. I guess it's basically a chance to read other posts at random. Is it annoying? Interesting? Neither here nor there? I kind of like the randomness of it.. something different comes up each time.

a brief storm

A sudden downpour this afternoon... followed by a break in the clouds.

tea art

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the pleasure of getting to know James Oh, owner of The Tea Art Blog.
If you'd like to learn more about the Art of Tea, I highly suggest that you visit his blog... it's a very enjoyable place to spend some quiet time, and James Oh is a gracious host.

bead give away

Silver Parrott Designs is having a great bead giveaway... check it out!

salmon maiden

Here is the Salmon Maiden figure I made for The Goddess Dolls group challenge.

sunday's sundown

a good day

I found this video on Magdalena's blog today, and just had to share it here, too. It's a little over 5 minutes, and a wonderful "time out" on a busy day.

full strawberry moon dreamboard

Looking out into the spirit of the night
into the power of the moon
I am a crone sitting on the edge
of the moon
I am a woman, embodiment of reception

The Spirit lay before me, lay under me
above and beside
I am wrapped in this strawberry moon
In view of many beauties,

The Medicine Wheel spinning with my dreams,
parts of a rainbow, a journal, a camera
the many moons behind me
and today's moon
for now


My vision is simple, but filled.

wreck my mind

So I have this here copy of "Wreck This Journal", and I'm joining a group of other wreckers at The Next Chapter, created by Jaimie Ridler.

Kavindra compared it to the crazy wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa or Bhagwan Rajneesh. This analogy helped me view this "gimmicky" book in a different light. I am going to embrace the pointlessness of it and have at it.
I started on the book, having burned and poked and stained some pages. It's quite mindless, and I guess that's the point!

Here are some of my pages so far...

friday morning

My cat, Little Guy, makes a whimpering cry, not satisfied with being on the table, when he could be in bed. His fault for following me wherever I go.
It's 5am, and crow is the first sound I hear outside. Good morning, Crow. Always good to see (or hear) you.

It's humid this morning, I have the fan on me. I'm drinking tea.

Sometimes I come to this page with little agenda in mind... just a ramble, as I would do in a journal. Makes for a post that can be often mundane, but that is as much a part of me as anything.

I like this quiet time before the outside world really awakens. Of course, I say that and a car goes whizzing by, just to keep me in check.

Having messed up with Burnie the troll, I think I will start a new one soon. A troll is nagging to be made.... Just like a character sometimes nags to be written. There is also an elfen-type creature that wants to be made. The imagination challenges; if only the hands could follow the way I see it. But I do it the way I can. Trolls manifest themselves a bit faster, by virtue of their, well, trolliness. I see them as having their own beauty, but one that is a lot easier to sculpt!
Now, elves, on the other hand, tend to be graceful, lithe, attractive beings.... That's a bit more foreign territory to me.

The sky is lightening. I think it's going to be another grey day with the chance of thunderstorms. That's good; I like a day like that.

*******
In Memoriam:
Oh, dear David Carradine, you will live in my heart forever. What a fine influence you had on me in my young years. You were a good teacher, Grasshopper.

the not-to-be troll

I've been working on a new troll for a while now. Well yesterday I starting curing the head and feet, and Lo! I won't be working on this any longer. I had the oven set at the right temperture (checked with a thermometer, as always), and the piece should not have burnt like this. Other clay I had in the oven, at the same temp and length of time, did not burn... just my translucent flesh colored Super Sculpey, which I really enjoy using for my sculptures. Maybe I have to start covering/tenting the pieces with aluminum foil... but even so, I don't think any amount of foil would've helped this sorry case.
Here are the remnants of a not-to-be troll, who was supposed to be a pale beige.



His poor tootsies are downright crispy!

sound

(flute and finger piano)

This month's Creative Every Day theme is Sound. I decided to take pictures of instruments for this one.

Here is a collage, and the individual pics. Click on them to view larger images.