Monday, April 30, 2012

A-A-A-pril, go she will

April, go she will,
May, she won't stay.
That eternal now keeps on nowing,
keeps on gnawing a path into the new.
I've been reading some Lao Tsu,
which is spelled a bunch of different ways,
but you've all heard his words at one now
or another:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."
"To know another is knowledge;
To know yourself is wisdom."
(That sort of thing.)
Anyway, since April is one of those petite months,
we must bid her adieu & say hey to May.

Blog alternative:
232. Read a philosopher, even if it's just a bumper sticker or a fridge magnet, & think about how to apply it to your own living.


Monday, April 23, 2012

Easter bunny for breakfast. Yummy!


I'm going to do a little time travel & then fastforward into the more recent past.

Imagine that it's easter sunday morning. I have just had a late breakfast. I hesitate to tell you about it, especially you on the east coast. Maybe it was late enough. Maybe the deed was already done. Maybe you got your easter basket full of goodies & were able to find some hidden eggs. I hope so.

I had rabbit stew for breakfast--& very fine it was. Now, if you ask me, "which came first, the rabbit or the egg?" I must answer that it was the egg, for I wrote "egg horror poem" when my boys were nine & a half. Yes, two eggs were harmed in the making of that poem. (It was too long; I had to write "continued on next egg.")

Is there no end to my perfidy?

Now we shall fastforward to earth day, 22 april, which, many of you already know, is my birthday. Yesterday I became laurel version five point three. I am now a full deck with one wild card. (Either a wild card or one of those silly cards that tells you how to order your own personalized poker chips, or the ranking of poker hands...)

We drove down to IKEA in Charlotte for my birthday. I meandered through & saw pretty much everything. (Hah! I defy you to see everything in IKEA in a single visit. By the time I got to the lighting section, which always interests me, I was fried. Err, shocked?) Made it out with less than $20 less in my wallet, which is pretty amazing.

Anyway, a good birthday was had by me & mama earth. She's a bit older than I am, but so frisky & dynamic you'd never know it.

Blog alternative:
231. Play a game of solitaire. With actual cards. Count 'em first, to make sure you won't be "playing solitaire 'til dawn, with a deck of fifty one."

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Watching paint dry


Oh, my my my

what a fabulous day.

(We needed a little white space there for emphasis.)


I got up this morning after a great night's sleep & had some coffee & read some Reinventing Fire & jotted & doodled some innovations. Then I took a shower & walked to the post office & looped back to the Castell Gallery to hear Roger Ricco, one of the 2 artists on display this month, speak about photography & painting (he does both) & art in general & the value of constraint. Very inspiring. I came home & started building a box for a photography project, a little set that shall hold my magnifying glass "people." Then I gessoed a canvas & watched paint dry for a while -- I recommend it -- & glued down a couple of my found art supplies on said canvas. (Really it's a canvas board, but who's quibbling?) Plus, while doing that, I soaked my feet in green tea water & had a nice beverage, also containing -- but not limited to -- green tea.

I'm about to get back to doing all of the above, so I bid you adieu. There's a song that's been running through my head today: it's the most wonderful time of the year... So true. You know why? The most wonderful time of the year -- indeed, the only real time -- is now.

In case you want to look up the mentioned folk:
rogerrico.com (doesn't that spelling just give the nicest pronunciation?)
castellphotographygallery.com

Blog alternative:
230. Watch paint dry. Or water boil. In other words, rather than multitasking during a task that requires no further input from you (boil, boil, water! you can do it!) simply be there. Stand or sit & watch the process. Listen, if there's a sound. (I defy you to find the sound of paint drying, but water boiling will give you a nice song.) Be there, in your own body, with the idea that the most important thing to do is just to be there in your own body.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Poet reinvents fire -- will no longer burn books

"Today, class, we learn how to climb DOWN the ladder."

Happy April. Not the cruelest month at all!

We have been having a splendid one, with a great downpouring thunderstorm today & a sweet summery evening last night & some sunny walking weather & some cloudy walking weather & supposed to be cool & stormy for a couple days & then back up to warm. All in all, a perfect spring.

I've been doing a fair amount of healing energy work recently, both scheduled sessions & the occasional poker-buddy-with-a-headache who is skeptical & then pleasantly surprised when the headache is gone sans medication. Lots of fun.

The room is in uber-fabulous shape (& of course can get better). Derrick was so impressed by my WonderFile (as seen on TV) that I picked up one for him as well.

We've also seen a couple stunning -- in ENTIRELY different ways -- movies. The first one was Away We Go, co-written by the brilliant Dave Eggers & his wife, the apparently also brilliant Vendela Vida. I loved the quirky movie & also the special features, including one on green movie making.

The second was Attack the Block, a low budget & completely charming alien invasion in South London, where the young gang members turn out to be the guys you want on your side. We watched with the subtitles on, because the combination of strange slang & the various English accents would have made it unintelligible. Pest was my favorite, but they were all good.

What else? Oh, saw a Scottish tinker wagon made by a guy who's Scottish & Cherokee. Checked out a book called Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era by Amory B. Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute (a think-and-do tank). Way awesome, positive, poetic, detailed, practical view of the energy opportunities ahead of us. I've barely started reading & I'm in love.

Oh, yeah, the trumpet shadow photographs. Err, umm, well -- I was so underwhelmed that I've decided not to inflict them on you. One of these sunny days (which would not be today) I will pluck the trumpet from its perch on top of the cello & take some good photos for you.

Blog alternative:
229. Reinvent fire. (just kidding.) (although it could save you billions of dollars.)
229. Have a tea party with an imaginary guest. (This is not a political suggestion, but rather a pretending exercise.) You can use real tea if you'd like, but for sure use real cups. Remember to stick your pinky out. Perhaps wear a hat, or a feather boa, or a bow tie.