Keen Things

Almost. Wet. My. Pants.

2010-08-20T07:18:00.000-04:00

My friends have *very* funny friends!

Will You Be There?

2010-08-19T16:16:00.002-04:00

Face of America Gettysburg to DC 2007

Today I am wearing my T-shirt from this bike tour for wounded warriors. It was one hell of a ride, literally AND metaphorically. This moment, and another, are burned into my memory. I learned so very much about support, trust, hope and faith . These two men were a team. The one in the chair rode a recumbent bike with a pole on the back, and his able-bodied partner would push if need be. At the end of the second day of the ride, the recumbent rider crashed, hard,and was pulled from the race. His helper crashed too, but got patched up and finished in good time. This was the moment they had met again, at the finish line. We all cried. Alot.

Will YOU be there when your partner or friend can't finish the race? Will YOU carry the torch across the line? Will YOU be there for someone?

Do you see it?

2010-08-04T08:20:00.002-04:00

Face in the rock

I see eyebrow bones, the bridge of a nose and a mouth opening from the left. But, then again I see things everywhere. Always. Once I had a Beloved Friend who was really quite upset because his lover, a friend of mine, was totally flummoxed as to why he did not see the Man in the Moon. It became a huge issue for them at one point. She just could not imagine how someone could NOT see the Man in the Moon. He never did. She *really* needed him to see it, to feel the magic of that, to share it with her.

But, that's the thing with Magic. Not everyone is on the same channel at the same time, seeing the same things. She would point at the moon, draw pictures of what she saw, plead with him to ***see*** it. But that did not change the fact that he simply could not. That hurt him. A lot. We used to talk on the phone for hours after he moved to Mississippi, to help build housing after Katrina. He felt a huge loss in that relationship.

I recently went through something like this, only it had to do with matters of the heart. I saw, and felt magic, and the other person... Just. Didn't. I would point it out, draw my heart, explain, show, do *anything* I could to make that magic resonate for someone who Just Couldn't. And, both of us got hurt doing that.

My mom has a saying which comes from an I Ching translation:

"Pigs and Fish can't fly"

Which means basically, that you cannot blame people for their seeming lack of capacity. If they are a fish, well then, while they may sometimes jump out of the water while driving upstream to mate, they most certainly cannot fly. No point in condemning them for their lack of flight. It isn't in them to do so.

I am learning the fine art of compassion, and letting go of wanting fish to fly and people to see and feel what I see and feel. I get it that it isn't about ME, per se, because, frankly, I cannot see and feel what others do either, and I let people down that way, too. I cannot be what I am not. And neither can you.

One day, I will find someone who sees the Man in the Moon, the face in the rock, and the Passion in my soul, someone who has and returns that naturally, and who finds in me the magic that I am.

'Till then, remember...."Pigs and Fish can't fly"

Oink.

Judo Magnets

2010-08-02T08:14:00.003-04:00

CLICK HERE

Beauty, Change, Loss and Bounty

2010-07-30T08:17:00.004-04:00

The past few weeks have been chock-full of all the title of this post alludes to. I have found gorgeous beauty all around me, in the breezes that blow about my body, with my arms stretched out wide, in a huge field, alone, being grateful and sad all at once. I have been trying to embrace loss and change, allowing the discomfort of that to wash through me, accepting with Grace that growth necessarily involves loss, death, and rebirth. I have experienced great bounty as well, with a promotion at work, increased time with friends old and new.

The air has changed over the past few days. Flowers and trees are behaving differently than just a week ago. Some are coming to an end, some are revving up for the big burst of Fall. The cicadas are making their sweet "swish swish swee" sound, a harbinger of the oncoming season (my favorite!).

I have been a busy bee lately. My main client has asked for three-fold increase in my schedule, which means a lot more work, and a lot more money. I have finalized my daughter's finances for the first term. One of my dear friends, who has MS, is in mid-divorce and the heat of the summer has taken its toll on her health. I help her as best as I can. I also signed up for a Very Interesting Workshop in October, one I have wanted to attend for years. I have been going to Pot-Luck and Outdoor Movie Night in Jamaica Plain at a friend's house. And, I have taken lots of alone time to balance it all out.

Yesterday on a sales call in Bellingham, Mass, my cell phone was stolen. After getting over the feeling of loss, violation and anxiety, I drove directly to my neighborhood Verizon store and told them of my plight. The kind man there, James, said he would LOAN me another until my upgrade in November, thus saving me over 500 dollars. Not only THAT, but, it wasn't in the store at the time so he, get this...DROVE IT TO MY HOUSE, FULLY CHARGED, WITH ALL MY CONTACTS ON IT. Now, if *that* ain't manifesting Bounty I don't know what is!

Across the Lot

2010-07-23T13:22:00.001-04:00

I saw her crossing the parking lot at the grocery store, only from the back, as she was walking away, determinedly. I summed her up in a few seconds, shallow, I know, perhaps, but the images and thoughts swelled in my mind, ripe, rushing and full as a stream in March. She wore tan capris, a dark tone, like coffee with milk, and I could tell by her panty lines that she was definitely not wearing a thong. At the likely decade of her sixties, perhaps leaning ever toward the seventies, she looked like a suburban, matronly, country-clubbing, Grandmother. Her hair was, Just So, curled under at her shoulder, barely touching her navy Izod top. I saw a glint of gold on her wrist. She was treading with purpose, away from me and the thought came to my head…

Was she going home to someone who adored her?

Fragile Webs

2010-07-23T09:37:00.002-04:00

These tiny lines of connection, executed by some delicate spinnerets
are monuments to Hope and Determination.
Do not we all weave threads
when we deign to dream
of Possibility?
And, as the faithful craftsman waits
for juicy "Yes!" to fall into
the trap so arduously labored into being,
the tears of God are caught
from the sky.
Drink Well.

Still laughing over this...a week later.

2010-06-09T10:38:00.000-04:00

Luck

2010-06-09T10:18:00.003-04:00

I am not one who has much belief in "luck". Luck of the draw, luck of the dice, luck of anything, really, does not resonate with me. Perhaps it is because I learned from a very early age about Probability. My father used to know all the numbers, the possible options available, after any play of dice or card. He won lots of money at Harvard that way, playing games.

On a more philosophical note, where some hold a sense of safety or joy in playing with "luck", I much prefer intent or faith. I think over the past few years I have felt that my relationship with my faith has been challenged at times, at others strengthened.

This past week we saw huge storms here, and twice I have successfully avoided trees, ginormous trees, which had fallen, crossing the road, making it impossible to navigate around them without driving in the oncoming lane. I felt fortunate to have made it through. But, is that the same as feeling lucky? I don't think so. I felt protected in some way. Perhaps it was merely the numbers, the speed of my vehicle, the time I left my departure point, the direction the wind was blowing, the fact that one oncoming car was blinking their lights at me repeatedly. But it did not *feel* that way to me. It felt like more than that.

I found this die on the street yesterday. It lives in my pocket now. Just wanted to let you know.

Opening Up

2010-06-06T15:13:00.002-04:00

Like peonies, some things take a long time to open up. Little things pull at you, as do the ants as they help to unfurl the peony bud each Spring. Sometimes, it is big things that yank and tear you open, but eventually the opening happens.

I want you to open. I want you to unfurl before my eyes so that I may know the "real" you. Sometimes it's ants, sometimes it's storms that blow the petals about, but the end result is frequently glorious.

The Question

2010-06-03T08:26:00.007-04:00

She handed me some paper and a marker and said "Write this down":

"Is it going to make me FEEL better, or GET better"

So I did, with a deep blue green marker. I stared at it for a few seconds, and looked into her deep blue eyes.

"Okay...what does that mean?", I asked.

"That is the single question you need to ask yourself at every juncture of thought and action, when you can't decide, or even if you CAN decide. That way you will know: Am I anesthetizing myself, or directing myself to a True and Authentic experience?".

I thought about that for a while, coming up with possible scenarios, and how it would feel to face my own addictions to Self Soothing.

"What if what I really want at the moment is to FEEL Better?", I asked.

"Then OWN that, and if you are ok with it, go ahead, have a blast!" was the answer. "Sometimes a beer, or a piece of cake or going to a bar to get fucked is just what it is. Just, well...OWN it." She threw back her head and laughed, her long hair flowing over her shoulder.

I stared at that paper for a while, as she continued to chat about some guy who picked her up hitchhiking once many years ago, a heroin addict who was Native American. She said he used to grab a clump of dirt from every pow-wow he attended, and he would throw it in the back of his car on the floor. There was about 2 inches of dirt back there. She loved him, deeply, and was "there" for him through so much over those years. She got him into the AA program.

She said she knew she was avoiding leaving that relationship, and felt some shame that it took her four years before she asked herself the question. She stayed because she FELT better. But she knew, at one point, that their roads had diverged. She stayed anyway.

Another tale came out, as we sipped mango juice and ate some potato chips. It did not seem, at first, to have any thread back to The Question, but later when I pondered this more, tossing it around like stones in a polishing machine, it was very clear.

There was a friend of hers who invited her for dinner one night. They were looking around for some objects to use in a ritual for the full moon; shells, and rocks, things to be written on with blessings then thrown into Mother Ocean. Going to the bureau in her friend's bedroom, seeking precious things to use, she opened the top drawer and inside that drawer was a box. It was chocked FULL of AA 24 hour sobriety coins spilling out all over the place. She looked at her friend, who tossed up her hands and said "Well, they say keep on trying! So, I do! I keep going back to face my stuff. I always will...try".

She was a very close friend. One who had never, in any moment of her life, told anyone that she was in the AA program.

But, over and over and over and over again, at some point when her self soothing had reached toxic levels, she would ask herself: "Is this going to make me FEEL better, or GET better?" And she did so without judging herself about the 247 other times she had asked herself the same question. Because it is not about judging yourself. This question must be asked with as much compassion for yourself as you can possibly muster.

Is not facing the dysfunction and staying in that empty relationship going to make you feel better or get better?

Is not taking the challenge of clearing up family discord going to make you feel better or get better?

Is that beer you want going to make you feel better or get better?

Is that $200.00 pair of shoes going to make you feel better or get better?

Is that casual fuck going to make you feel better or get better?

Is isolating yourself because it is more comfortable going to make you feel better or get better?

Go ahead. Ask yourself The Question.

Own it.

THEN you can move forward with integrity.

Submit

2010-05-25T14:13:00.003-04:00

There is no escape from growth. It happens to you, around you, inside you, all the time. You could no more stop a train with the wings of a butterfly than make the change cease its endless push forward. Like many, I struggle often with growing pains, and much is internal, never spoken. Joys, fears, wonderings, musings, little angers building up and then dissipating like popcorn in a wind storm, all inevitable parts of being human.

I have begun a process of Letting Go recently. I have consciously decided to pry my fingertips away from the edge of the pool of wanting Something So Badly. I had to. I simply had to loosen my grip, my desire to have things go "my" way. Sure, there is a little death there, and I feel it. It is my fervent hope that the loss of what I wanted will be filled in again with Something Even MORE Wonderful in the future, or perhaps a re-visit to What I Want at another time, with other involvements.

I submit to the fact that it cannot be. And I KNOW I am worthy of the things I want. So I will wait for new coordinates.

Until then, I am feeling the need to be gentle with myself, to honor the loss of what I wanted to Be, and to keep my eyes open for New and Wonderous Things on the horizon.

My busy inner life...

2010-05-18T21:03:00.007-04:00

I met my friend, Andy, for brunch at Masa in Woburn this weekend. It was remarkably yummy. I am a chef and I take the word "yummy" seriously. The portions were perfect, the flavor profiles were clean and delightful and the outdoor patio was wonderful in the spring morning breeze. (click HERE for their lovely brunch menu)

But that is not what I wanted to write about here. I wanted to impart to you a little bit about what goes on inside Julia on a daily basis. I live a very busy inner life. And my brunch at Masa is a perfect example of that.

What you might have seen: Julia reaching for the butter. Julia sipping her coffee, smiling. Julia nibbling some bread.

What I experienced/noticed:

The two people next to us had a small child. The mom was wearing a grey fitted sweater and black pants. The dad was wearing a heather green top, long sleeves and jeans. The daughter had on a dress and green tights, little white shoes. She was not so happy about this whole dining al fresco thing. Mom gave her stickers to play with. They discussed landscaping.

The two people on the other side were expecting a baby. She wore a blue and white top with a pattern and blue stretch pants. She had on large sunglasses and a gold necklace. He was wearing a red shirt and jeans. She spoke a lot about x genes and y genes and how she did not want to sit around and watch sports with a son, so she hoped it was a girl.

There were purple, white and yellow pansies in baskets along the rail of the patio.

Petco had a promotion going on....including sales staff attached to HYOOGE balloons. Six of them. Red, Yellow. Purple. They had words on them like "chirp" and "woof".

There were four kinds of bread/muffins in the basket. Three condiments, apricot preserves, strawberry jam and honey butter.

This was all before the meal came.

I take in more than the average person. I see things people don't. I hear things people don't. I feel things people don't. I taste things people don't. It is wonderful and exhausting. Most of the time it is a three ring circus inside me, while on the outside, it appears that I am totally concentrating on the words coming out of your mouth. It is not ADD, it is more like Super Sensation Input. This is why I sometimes get overwhelmed easily, and need to turn off the radio while driving, why I require quiet time and why I really enjoy alone time or private time with friends, rather than large crowds, or parties. This is why, if I am in a particularly emotional place, my bandwidth for what you would consider "normal" is so narrow. Be patient with me. I have no choice in the matter. It is just the way I am wired.

Intensity

2010-05-17T14:08:00.000-04:00

Dream

2010-05-17T09:22:00.002-04:00

I have an acquaintance who said something powerful last week...she wrote "Never compromise on your dream. Compromise on how you get there." That hit me right between the eyes, right on the ol' bindi, the third eye, that pluckable property between the brows.

It got me to thinking, and processing, pulling back the many layers of the inner onion, to try to find the kernel of Things. I think all of us get caught in the trap of expectation and attachment to outcome from time to time. Heck, some probably reside there, in that high rent district of the soul.

I am going to bet that some of us even find ourselves thinking that dreaming, or having something, someone, some job, some love, some wealth shimmering in the distance like so much mirage, is folly. Chasing the bright carrot of Now, only Now, never Later, never to squint at a goal post from afar, is the method that works for them.

Some of us need a clear game plan, with charts we hold in our hearts of Return on Investment, Profit and Loss, deposits, withdrawals, interest reports.

Some of us can only dream if we have control of the process as completely as possible. Some can let loose the grip on how we get there, and are open to creative and out-of-the-box ways of working toward our Dream.

As I said before, I know my "it" is out there. And, to be totally and frankly honest with you, holding onto the edge and demanding that the process of getting to that reunion happens the way I *want* it to, is not working for me.

Chasing dreams involve change. Making way for what you really want, deeply inside, involves Letting Go of the edge.

And, if you have been doing the same things, over and over, in your life, your love, your job, your friendships, and that path has not yielded what you seek, then it is time to accept that there might be another way to get there.

Dare to dream, they say. Risk it. Get clear about what you want and do not compromise that clarity. Compromise on how you get there.

It

2010-05-14T12:56:00.002-04:00

I know it is coming. I have dreamed it, and allowed it to percolate up to the surface. I have spoken it,invoked it, coaxed it along. I know, to the very core of my being, that "it" is on the way. Somewhere, someplace it is growing in it's own path, creeping along, or soaring above, to ME. I can sense, deeply, that all will be okay, eventually, that I will find it, or it will find me, and a big sigh will come from inside me, as I wrap myself around it and say "Welcome! I have been waiting for you!"

And the response will echo back "And I have been waiting for you, too! It took me a while to get to you, but I was on my way all along. I heard you ask for me, and I knew I would find my way to you, eventually."

I have looked in places near and far and not found what I was looking for. I have expected it to Be in situations where I had NO BUSINESS expecting at all. I have cried and struggled for something(s) to happen, grasping at the Possibility when there was none there. Only in letting go, truly, and finding the knowledge that "it" is out there, tracking a course to ME, *in it's own time and way*, will I find Peace.

huh?

2010-05-14T08:41:00.000-04:00

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: A comic I love.

2010-05-12T06:43:00.001-04:00

Kids...they make me cry, and Laff

2010-05-08T08:50:00.001-04:00

Thursday evening, driving to the gym with the teen:

Kid: OMG! It's Thursday??? Really? That means tomorrow is Friday?!

Me: Yup, usually.

Kid: Do you have any idea how awesome that is???!!!

Me:...? Um, Yeah?

Kid: 'Cause, frankly, this week was Shit on Wheels!

Hafiz

2010-05-04T12:57:00.003-04:00

All the Hemispheres

Leave the familiar for a while.

Let your senses and bodies stretch out

Like a welcomed season

Onto the meadow and shores and hills.

Open up to the Roof.

Make a new watermark on your excitement

And love.

Like a blooming night flower,

Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness

And giving

Upon our intimate assembly.

Change rooms in your mind for a day.

All the hemispheres in existence

Lie beside an equator

In your heart.

Greet Yourself

In your thousand other forms

As you mount the hidden tide and travel

Back home.

All the hemispheres in heaven

Are sitting around a fire

Chatting

While stitching themselves together

Into the Great Circle inside of

You.

Ironically, this post is NOT about SEX...

2010-04-29T12:18:00.003-04:00

My friend, Andy, has one of these Liberator furniture pieces. It is called the Esse. And, yes, it can be used for Great Sex. But, it is also PERFECTLY designed for emotional processing with a partner. Last weekend I was feeling some Deep Stuff when I was visiting Andy. He fed me a tasty sandwich and took my hand and led me to this piece of furniture and told me it was absolutely great for talking.

So we sat. And we wrapped around one another and talked, and I cried, and no one's legs fell asleep, no one's back went out and we were cradled and supported and really PRESENT with one another for the processing, rather than having to wiggle and stretch and lose track of what the other person just said onaccounta your sciatic nerve is playing terrorist with your butt.

I think that EVERY couples therapist should have one of these in the office. No, really. How cool would it be to be sitting that way with your Beloved while someone heartfully coached you to discuss your deep, intimate "stuff"?????

VERY good Condom Commercial

2010-04-29T08:49:00.000-04:00

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

2010-04-29T08:45:00.000-04:00

Validation

2010-04-29T08:33:00.003-04:00

Talking to Myself

2010-04-26T07:28:00.002-04:00

"The truth is", I said to myself as I was driving down the highway, my eyes full of salt water, "you DON"T have to defend your feelings. To Anyone. Even You. EVER."

"Hmmmm", I said back. That let something loosen up a bit for me, from the contracted place of sticks and bones, breath and tears I had become that morning.

"You DO sometimes need to defend your ACTIONS to yourself, or others, but really, feelings are sacred ground, and they just need to BE. Own them, cradle them, tell them it is okay to BE. Then tell them to sit down and relax now, they have done a good job."

I feel what I feel. And, it comes in waves, sometimes hugely present, sometimes shimmering just under the surface, sometimes under a very heavy and itchy costume of "I'm So Much MORE Than Okay, thanks!". And no one, generally, can tell from the outside, that inside is a broken nest, a crushed bird, and some pretty feathers.

I talk to myself, a lot. And, that first sentence up there was some of the best advice I have given Me recently.

Along with, "Hey, enough of the processing, already! Let it Go!". That one saved my butt last month.

Google Search String: "Male Plug"...

2010-04-22T08:20:00.002-04:00

Other Things More Likely...

2010-04-21T18:29:00.004-04:00

There are a number of things MORE LIKELY than my opening that first email up there. Yeah, the one from Bank of Whitman. Here is a list of some of those things:

- suck on a mouthful of pennies
- sit on a chair laden with brussel sprouts for ten hours
- marry a man who is a limbless Shakespearean actor with herpes
- eat a bucket full of bloody lamb's eyeballs
- clothe myself in fish skin oiled with WD-40
- blow John Mellencamp
- stick capers up my nose
- memorize the entire Bible backwards
-drink Pepto Bismol with dinner
so, so, so much more...

Me thinketh that bank delivereth Trojans, and I *don't* mean the ribbed kind.

Dangling and Fallen

2010-04-21T17:57:00.003-04:00

Spring Morning Walk

2010-04-15T10:13:00.002-04:00

Spring Comfort

2010-04-15T08:46:00.003-04:00

For me, a simple bowl of white miso with shaved baby bok choy and shrimp with a little sriracha sauce Most Indubitably hits the spot.

Golly, Gee! My kids are cute!!

2010-04-14T16:05:00.001-04:00

Introducing: Rizzelles!

2010-04-13T08:54:00.004-04:00

I have finally landed upon the perfect recipe for gluten free pizzelles!!! Yipeee!!! Recipes for both sweet and savory have tested well! Made with brown rice flour and tapioca flour these are perfectly suited to those with gluten sensitivity.

Right now I am working on a savory pizzelle with dill, to be topped with a salmon mousse and-micro greens. Also coming up are gluten-free cannoli shells! I will keep you posted!

No Doubt About It

2010-04-10T12:36:00.004-04:00

I *think* it is safe to say that I can put away my snow shovel and down coat now. The epic floods have receded and little flowers are swaying in the sunny breeze today. Holly Loolie!!! (Hallelujah!!!! the way my kid used to say it when she was little...so cute, it sorta "stuck" ).

Oooh! Anavah Ting I Kin Wern!

2010-04-09T10:52:00.002-04:00

Click HERE for Aquatopiary!!!

Mawr clicking to embiggen for ya.

2010-04-06T17:41:00.003-04:00

Things I see today...Click on pix to Embiggen

2010-04-06T17:26:00.006-04:00

Plastic on the side of the road...beauty in litter.

Shy treats from Switzerland-with brandy infusion...mmmmmm!

Twist Ties- I bought a box at a yard sale, what? ten or more years ago...it is like the never ending bowl of Pasta...I use them All. The. Time. and there are still squillions of them. I think I bought the box for .25!

Easter and Peppers

2010-04-02T09:44:00.005-04:00

When I was a kid my family Really DID Easter. Not in a hugely religious way, unless you count the Church of Chocolate and grassy baskets filled with prezzies. Never at a loss for space, my childhood homes loomed large, with many rooms, sliding pocket doors, Father's "den", winding and steep "servant's " staircases and many closets. Little Me and my siblings were treated to veritable scavenger hunts of many, many little nests filled with candies. Lighting sconces, china cabinets, piano innards all saw my parent's hands depositing multitudes of wispy handfuls of Easter Grass over the years. Along with those hunts came the inevitable baskets at our doors in the morning. Huge. White. Filled with really Keen Things. One year I actually got a white chocolate PISTOL. (Oh, yeah, really religious and appropriate, but oh-so-yummy. I ate it from the handle onaccounta, well, the barrel end just did not feel, I dunno..."Eastery")

One year, I think it was when I was somewhere around 13 or so, my mother put into my basket a box of Edward Weston note cards (we were one of "those" families...the ones who gave note cards AND used them).

It was that one introduction that began a life long love of photography. From there, and back TO there, I travel in my adoration of the visual image. I began to study Weston, Penn, Karsh ( I actually HAVE a Karsh portrait of my grandmother!) ,Avedon, Stieglitz, Sally Mann, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Annie Liebovitz, Ansel Adams, Immogen Cunningham...and on and on and on...and much of my personal aesthetic has been garnered from a patchwork of appreciation of these artists.

I am so very grateful to have had parents who steeped me in art and books, music and theatre. I had Picasso picture books when I was tiny, and heard classical music growing up. I was encouraged to grow my tender creative shoots, with classes and toys and supplies. My mom was a smart mom. When I was 6 or so, she came home with a huge sheet of linoleum, cut to fit under my bed, and I could slide that sucker out at any time and paint to my heart's content without messing the carpet up.

So for me, Easter means a LOT of things, but aside from all the Booty collected, and the resultant fluoride treatments at the dentist, I am most grateful right now for the Edward Weston pepper cards that showed up in my Basket that year. It has been a long and wonderful ride since that Spring.

I love...

2010-03-31T10:54:00.002-04:00

Moo-Moo

They say some dogs are just like their people...Flirt!

Meredith's cupcakes-Yummo!

STD Updates

2010-03-31T07:51:00.009-04:00

"Human papillomavirus (pap-ah-LO-mah-VYE-rus) (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States. At least 50% of sexually active people will have genital HPV at some time in their lives." Center for Disease Control

HPV VIRUS LINKED TO RISE IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER: CLICK HERE

I would think this falls in to the "Wow! I did not know that!" category. For years many people have believed that engaging in oral sex was a safer interaction than actual intercourse, and many have chosen NOT to use barrier protection when engaging in oral sex. Listen up, people.

While we are at it...

Gonorrhea showing signs of becoming a Super Bug, resistant to antibiotics CLICK HERE.

"Instances of gonorrhea being resistant to multiple drugs -- the definition of a "superbug" -- have started to appear in Japan, where health authorities had decided to up the dose to treat the disease, but stick with the same antibiotic, she said."

So, going out on a limb here, I am going to say that I have had to deal with my feelings about safe sex a number of times in the past years. In some cases, I have been considered "over emotional" about breaches of safe sex agreements. Some of my most painful experiences in the last few years have centered around people not advising me of other partner's positive test results for WEEKS or MONTHS (then telling me in an email, for example...gah), or deciding to blatantly disregard my feelings about our agreements concerning adhering to safe sex practices with others.

It is a tough line to hold, to express, but, dammit, it is IMPORTANT. Playing fast and loose with your sexuality may seem like "fun", and yes, it is uncomfortable to discuss your sexual history, but if you are letting someone into or on your body, it is a conversation that needs to happen, and it should happen with a piece of paper in your hand.

6 months. That is the commonly held amount of time to wait for an STD to show on an antibody test. Smears and blood tests which indicate bacterial infections are available earlier, and some STD's like chlamydia HAVE NO SYMPTOMS. You can have them for years and NEVER KNOW.

So, now you know. Cover it up, people. Seriously.

CLICK HERE FOR CONDOM NATION : Your one stop place for condoms, dental dams and more!

Mumbles

2010-03-29T08:15:00.004-04:00

On the way to the gym yesterday in the car with my teen, she told me she needed to go to CVS. She told me about three or four things she really needed. Ok. No problem. Until we got to the last one...

"And, I need Whole Rainforest Mints", she said.

Huh...WTF is a Rainforest mint, I am thinking...

"Rainforest mints?" , I said...

"Whole rainforest mints", she repeated...

"Really?! Rainforest mints???", I asked again...

"OH MY GOD, MOM, WHOLE RAINFOREST MINTS!!!"

"What the hell is a Rainforest mint?!" , I asked...

Totally, 100% perturbed she turned to me and yelled:

"HOLE REINFORCEMENTS, MOM, OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO ANNOYING!"

Rainy Day

2010-03-28T11:34:00.002-04:00

Um, yeah...

2010-03-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

Old School: Relationship Parallels

2010-03-26T08:47:00.004-04:00

I was thinking the other day about school, about classes, in part because my teen is experiencing High School right now, and sometimes it brings me back to my own experiences, way. back. when...

And, it occurred to me that a parallel can be drawn between classes taken in school, and parts of a relationship.

There is the English portion of a relationship, wherein communication, and comprehension are formed and utilized. Here, we seek deeper meaning, and understanding. There is the Math sector, where the "workings" of things like shared finances and relationship to money and units of relationship measurement are negotiated. There is Chemistry, where, well, you know...those fires alight, or don't. There is Biology, where the general being-ness of our corporeal bodies reside (one is a night owl, one may be a morning person, for example). We have the Physical Education class, where hopefully there is no uber butch Russian Gym Teacher-lady with a moustache telling you to run laps. But, what sort of proportions of outside activities, and physical excertion do you both need to be happy? In Foreign Language we learn to speak and understand different languages and cultures. Do you enjoy travel in the real world, in the inside world? Do you go to uncharted places between you and grow from those experiences?

And, let's not forget Study Hall and Lunch.

Mmmmm. Lunch. Let us always remember Friday is Pizza Day. What will YOU put on your relationship pizza today?

Tweet Tweet!!!!

2010-03-25T17:13:00.001-04:00

CLICK HERE for dawn-chorus

Synopsis:

Dawn Chorus, by Marcus Coates, uses unique digital methods to explore the relationship between birdsong and the human voice, drawing out previously unexplored similarities between the behaviour of birds and humans.

Dawn Chorus comprises films of 19 singers that uncannily recreate birdsong in their ‘natural habitats'. The individuals are located in various situations such as an underground car-park, an osteopathic clinic and a bath-tub, the project is as much a portrait of British idiosyncrasies as it is of the natural world.

During rigorous fieldwork 14 microphones were placed around woodland to record birds during one morning of birdsong in Northumberland. From this multi-track recording each song was slowed down up to 16 times, then human participants were filmed mimicking this slowed down song. Finally the resulting video footage was then speeded up, returning the bird mimicry into its ‘real' register. The films are presented on screens in the gallery relative to the position of the birds when they were recorded.

Roads Diverge

2010-03-25T13:48:00.004-04:00

Daniel

I met Daniel one summer at a drumming/camping weekend, as I was putting up my tent. I sat down and grabbed a peach from my pack and ate it, juices flowing down my face. He came up to me, wearing shorts and a head scarf with flames on it, smiling. We made fast friends. But, it was more than that. We resonated at the same frequency and sought one another out most of the weekend. It was very clear that there was something special between us. I was in involved with someone at the time, and he was married, so a romance was not possible. But we remained friends, deep and profound friends, for years, until at one point we were both free to engage in something deeper.

It was a short something deeper, as we discovered some parts of us that did not mesh well, including the fact that he really was not into kids or animals and I had both. Also, he was decidedly polyamorous, and while we tried dating others at the same time, with some success, it got complicated and messy and I was unable to really open up to him any deeper. Eventually, he met and fell in love with G. , a truly wonderful woman, became monogamous with her and I went my way dating little over the next 2 years.

This week he proposed to G. I am so very happy for both of them, because they truly are the best matched couple I have ever met. He is a magnificent man, and I am thrilled that he has found "The One".

But...

It has also led me to this place of reckoning, of feelings that speak to me about how rare that is, how almost every man I have dated since my divorce has required non-exclusivity or how I choose people who are distant to me, unavailable in one way or another.

Part of me is saddened that I have yet to find someone to build a sustainable relationship with who wants exclusivity. Not only that, but that of the two men I have had the deepest feelings for BOTH were vociferously NON-MONOGAMOUS, yet they left relationship with me to be monogamous with others.

I get that it isn't "about" me. But, my feelings about this ARE about me, and about my doubts about finding anyone who sees me as special as I do, as worthy as I do, as wonderful as I do, and who really DESIRE exclusive relationship.

I tell myself that it isn't indicative of my undesirability. And, most days I can really listen to that. I don't want to craft that with someone who really does not want it. I don't want to force anyone into a box that is ill fitting for them. I can love part way. I try to be able to embrace all the forms of loving and joy that come my way.

But, still, part of me is reminded, again, that it is so very, very rare to find someone with whom you can craft a healthy and sustainable relationship AND have them want that with only you.

kwowds

2010-03-24T19:05:00.002-04:00

oldie but goodie

2010-03-24T13:53:00.001-04:00

No Right Way

2010-03-23T16:38:00.004-04:00

There is no "right way"
to feel a love
nor it's loss
or impending low tide.

No "right way" to be "whole"
when part of your world is
collapsing from the weight
of indifference.

No "right way" to say "goodbye"
to elders, waning,
flickering like a smoking,
wilting wick
of some candle forgotten.

No "right way" to comfort
that crying child
for which no soft voice
and no gentle touch
brings solace.

The best we can do
is be as vulnerable
as we can
to the opening
of others
and to the closing
as well
for one never appears
without the other.

And grace
goes a long way when
holding the bony hand
of fear
while crossing the road.

You were given a voice.
Use it wisely.
You were given a heart.
Give of it freely.
And know
there is no "right way"
on the humble map
of the soul.

Three out of four ain't bad...NOT!

2010-03-23T09:16:00.003-04:00

So....what about a man listening to music speaks to you of mortgage refi? Huh? Really now. And how about that attractive mother they have pictured there for the "Moms return to school"?? Ain't she cute?!

And, I am pretty sure Jesus cares not a bit about APR's hitting 3.62.

Man...these people are not thinking too very hard about things. Maybe they need more coffee, just like me.

Silly Me

2010-03-22T11:50:00.003-04:00

I was a busy girl this week. One of my adventures was cooking for a Bar Mitzvah at the Commander's Mansion in Watertown. It was a long day, with much to do. There were over 100 guests to feed. They were served a mixture of (vegetarian) world dishes as requested by the family. These included, a Moroccan Tagine with saffron, Lo Mien, Samosas with a tamarind/chile sauce, Scallion pankcakes, curried vegetable fritters with mango salsa, sushi, tabouleh, pot stickers and much more...I did have a kitchen assistant, but it was a long and furious paced day.

The mother of the boy who was being celebrated had arranged for a Murder Mystery to be performed during the meal. It was quite fun! At one point, one of the hired staff came in and I asked if the show was over so that I could plan my next phase of the meal. She confirmed that it was over. So I asked "Who did it?". She confirmed, jokingly, that it was the butler, in the library with a wrench. To which I replied: "Oh. Really? Because I thought it was Major Hottie in the Bedroom with a lead pipe!" Hilarity followed muchly.

Periodic Partay

2010-03-20T08:20:00.000-04:00

Look Me In The EYE!

2010-03-18T07:49:00.003-04:00

Forehead Tittaes!!CLICK HERE

Water, water everywhere

2010-03-17T15:32:00.002-04:00

I did not take these, people. I can't even GET my car near some major roads here...but this is precisely what it looks like in many places near me. Hopefully, I will get some pix later today as the waters drop a bit. Let me just say that we are done with rain. Done. Done. Done.

My sump pump cannot even begin to touch the waters, they just sink in from the foundation...ah, the lovely tones of the shop vac into the wee hours.

So.

Much.

Fun!!!

I make me laff...(redux)

2010-03-16T14:25:00.002-04:00

OMG!

2010-03-16T10:18:00.000-04:00

Chladni Singing from meara o'reilly on Vimeo.

I will never look at a container of salt the same way again!

Vajazzle????

2010-03-16T08:09:00.004-04:00

You Need to Click HERE: clicking on that youTube up there does not get you to sparkly vajayjays...

Die of Kyoot!

2010-03-15T09:39:00.003-04:00

Supposed to Get More Rain Today...

2010-03-13T07:41:00.002-05:00

More Pix

2010-03-13T07:32:00.002-05:00

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Hymn 784

St. Michaels

2010-03-11T16:39:00.002-05:00

Um, yeah...I don't think so...

2010-03-11T09:50:00.002-05:00

Really now. If I am one to sit in my car and bitch to NPR about AIG and the bail outs and all that is wrong with the fiscal universe, I cannot, in good conscience, believe that spending almost 800 clams on a sex toy is an "appropriate" idea.

Click Here for Lelo

Unless of course I use my non-existent tax rebate to buy it and promise to murmer "Fuck me AIG, Fuck me harder!" every time I used it.

I would consider that appropriate.

And I would do it.

Often.

"Leapin' Lizzards, Batman!!"

2010-03-11T09:46:00.001-05:00

Click Here for Godzilla Haiku

"What's the story here?"

2010-03-10T08:22:00.006-05:00

As a photographer, I find that one of the most pleasant moments for me is the point where I am scanning something through my camera and asking, oft times outloud, "what is the story here?". I find "stories" in sometimes very simple things. I see more things than most, and absorb them deeply. I find feeling or "essence" in something mundane. Like this:

"Give us your lunch money"

or this:

"Delicate Virgin"

It strikes me as natural that I do this with my internal world a lot, too. I scan my experiences and absorb them deeply, imbue them with feelings and thoughts, colors and sensations. I spend inordinate amounts of time and energy in my head, heart and body. Every. Day. I live life "big".

Once I said something to Scott about that, and he replied:

"Yeah, you are a big liver"

To which I replied:

"Oh YEAH? WELL YOU ARE SOOOOOOOO A BIG SPLEEN!!"

Laughs ensued, but the bottom line is that I do have a lot of stories.

When I am feeling cautious, or afraid, coming from a place of contraction, not from Open, I try, as often as I can remember to, to trace back from the immediate feeling to the same question. "What is the story here?". In learning to re-wire myself from a place of reactivity (learned from some childhood traumas) to a place of acceptance and calm Being-ness, I am uncovering the Nuclear Stories underlying my Big Feelings.

Basically I am scanning my inner horizons for the likely story that is being stoked from some external (not "of Me") stimulus.

It takes a lot of work to be Me sometimes. Because sometimes the story, like the lunch money story above, isn't real. I imagined it from a place of fear. And other times, it is very, very real, and I just have not found it in the landscape yet.

Thus endeth today's system analysis.

Believe

2010-03-10T08:02:00.001-05:00

I believe in all that has never yet been spoken.
I want to free what waits within me
so that what no one has dared to wish for

may for once spring clear
without my contriving.

If this is arrogant, God, forgive me,
but this is what I need to say.
May what I do flow from me like a river,
no forcing and no holding back,
the way it is with children.

Then in these swelling and ebbing currents,
these deepening tides moving out, returning,
I will sing to you as no one ever has,

streaming through widening channels
into the open sea.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

Street Finds

2010-03-05T10:05:00.003-05:00

I am forever looking on the side of the road for things people throw out. It is amazing how much wonderful stuff I find. Once I found an entire clothing rack full of Old Navy fleece tops and Patagonia hiking clothes tossed on the side of the street. Another time I found a wonderful stainless roasting pan and a complete set of Pier One table linens. I have many pieces of furniture, too, bookshelves, coffee tables, plant stands. My rule is that something has to really move my soul and make me happy, OR replace and upgrade something I have.

I found this Chinese silk painting on the sidewalk a few years ago. It has a water stain on the bottom left corner, and was relegated to Trash Status, left to die a slow death in a landfill. I rescued it, and every day I wake to this peaceful scene. It calms my soul. I am so glad I tuned my head that day and saw it, lingering, crying for someone to take it home and love it.

Justsayn'!

2010-03-04T18:24:00.002-05:00

But can it do my taxes?

2010-03-03T13:33:00.000-05:00

Click here : " Say, old chap, do you have the time?"

Ok GO!

2010-03-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

2010-03-02T11:25:00.001-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/02/chile.quake/index.html?on.cnn=1

We'll Have No Trouble Here!!!

2010-03-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Einstein's God: Speaking of Faith

2010-03-02T07:40:00.000-05:00

Farley, Farley, Farley!

2010-03-02T07:22:00.002-05:00

Well Now...

2010-03-01T16:13:00.004-05:00

It does not matter how you do it, really, but that you do it at all. Perhaps it makes a difference if you shovel out of snow by bending your legs. Perhaps it makes a difference to eat a good meal before heading out to buy food. But, making it to the Other Side of a particularly Quiet Time, one of some struggle and strain, can be done in many ways. It is just that you need to do it.

Find cuddles where you can.
Seek the hot mugs of tea and a smiling offer of a cookie.
Pay someone to really listen to you, and offer their wisdom.
Let go of that burden of fear, that one which has been chafing at your neck.

Those cold, thin breaths taken in the winter wind, open up your lungs and bring life.
Lean into the trust, even if all you can see at first is the fuzzy edge, the possibility of being swaddled in it.

Bathe in pleasure when you can. Let it sink into your skin like a warm oil, feeding your parched soul.

There is love out there. And there is more In there, too.

Finding balance is impossible until you stop and really listen. Only then can you take action to find yourself well.

Well Being to all. And welcome back!

Honestly

2010-02-02T20:06:00.002-05:00

I know that I have not contributed here much lately. Frankly, I have been going through a really rough time, and I just don't feel like blogging. Since Christmas I have felt myself fall away from here, from creativity, from a lot of things, and I just don't have it in me to paddle back to shore right now. I will leave this up for a while as I think about a more permanent departure. Perhaps when I am feeling better I may begin another, new blog. It has been quite a ride, Keen Things. I learned a great deal about myself in the process.

Settle Not for W00t! Demand more Squee!

2010-01-27T07:44:00.003-05:00

I dare you to tell me this did not make you smile.

I made a t-shirt that says that a while ago. I should wear it more often. The truth is that I have been feeling not so very much made of awesome. But the trend is turning. This is a good thing.

I have been spending time each morning, meditating, and listening to music, playing my singing bowl, or drumming. It has helped ground me a bit.

I have been balancing on a number of thresholds lately, teetering back and forth. That's just not so very comfy for me. Mostly that is because I think and feel so many things at once. I process a lot. That means that sometimes I just don't have the bandwidth for some things.

Among the other things on my To Do list, every day I write down:

"Joy"

Somedays, I don't get to cross it off the list.

Lately, I have. And it feels Really Totally Good.

One Man's Trash...

2010-01-25T11:30:00.000-05:00

Bend Over, America

2010-01-22T09:07:00.003-05:00

CLICK HERE: Jeeze, Louise!

Whereby our political system becomes Kraft's Bitch. Well, at least more transparently. I bet the price of Coco Puffs goes up tenfold by 2k11. I guess we will have more power by consumption now, maybe? If we all drop, say...the top three GNP companies, or, say, ten PAC backed corporations, we might get a few folks out. We wouldn't bowl a strike, but I bet we could knock a few pins off.

What do you say?

Oink! Moo!

2010-01-10T19:50:00.005-05:00

(Jenny, please hold your hands over your eyes and disregard this entire post-she loves piggies and won't eat them)

Today I went to (Click Here:) Lester's Roadside Barbeque. Oh. My. God. It was wonderful! I have not eaten much in the past week or so, mostly soup and protein drinks, and my appetite has been way, way off, so I was not sure I would really want to, or be able to eat much when I got there.

I was wrong about that.

And now, my coat smells of hickory smoked pulled pork. All the doggies in the neighborhood are going to follow me around salivating tomorrow.

After lunch my friend, Andrea, and I went to see "It's Complicated", which was sweet and funny and at some points sorta painful (and I don't mean the scenes with Alec Baldwin practically naked, but really, they could have deleted those...yucko).

All in all, a pretty good day.

Good Friends

2010-01-09T17:48:00.005-05:00

Andy O (Naked Stand Up Comedian) on left, Brynn B. (tantrika extraordinaire) on the right. (friend I don't know yet in the middle) photo ganked from Facebook.

Anyone who knows me well enough is aware that I have been going through a really rough patch the past two weeks or so. What is different for me this time is that I have a really wonderful group of 10 new friends, including the two above. Whenever I need to talk, or have a cuddle, or cry or rant or just be silent in front of a witness, these new friends have ponied up big time. Never before in my life have I had 5 or more people with whom I share my intimate inner workings, to whom I reach for support, for whom I offer the same. I am very, very grateful for my Open Hearted Group of friends. I know, deep in my soul that I am loved AND loveable. They remind me every day with their phone calls, emails and texts. I love you all, very, very much. (Andy, Brynn, Dina, Ben, Laura, Donna, Aileen, Anad, Daniel, and Shayna)

Choices

2010-01-07T19:09:00.002-05:00

Friends

I have a dear friend who has secondary progressive MS. I could go into all the detail about how that is an auto-immune disorder, and all the ramifications but that is not really the point here. Over the more than 12 years I have known her she has tried many, many different therapies, many drugs and many alternative ways of easing her journey. Over the holiday she was considering a particularly dangerous form of chemotherapy. She sought my help, my understanding and my support. Now, this drug, which is primarily a chemotherapy for lung cancer, may, indeed be helpful for her particular form of MS, in it's particular stage of progression. Unfortunately, the two side effects of said therapy are 1) heart damage, heart failure and sudden heart attack which may occur any time during the 12 months of injections OR up to YEARS later. and 2) leukemia.

So......how badly do you want to walk?

In helping her think about all the considerations, and in watching her carefully make choices about her health care I began to think about how we make our choices in life...and the care with which she was making this life decision was profoundly affecting my own choice-making.

What if? What if we thought about the choices we made for our lives with as much integrity and care as this woman was making about her choice of therapy?

You *could* choose one route, which may have the effect of sudden loss. Or, you could suffer a long, protracted slide into the end.

Or you could stay with what you know already and make the best of things as they are.

How badly do YOU want to walk? What risks are YOU willing to take to make your life the most biggest, bestest life possible?

PSA

2009-12-28T16:48:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! I wanted to say that things will be sort of quiet here at Keen Things for the next week or so. I am taking some time away from my blogging duties to attend to some personal matters and have some down time. I will be back in a while, though, so don't worry, things will be Keen for 2010!

Yuletide

2009-12-27T10:33:00.002-05:00

I know. It looks like John Coltrane is smacking his head in disbelief at what a wonderful tree I have.

So now it is all over, the fussing, the paper, the tape, the turkey, the family gatherings, the phone calls. I hope yours was a good holiday, one filled with some joy and some good food, some prezzies and some love. Now, the sun is returning (or so they say, personally I don't see much sun around here). On to the New Year.

My New Year's Eve will be spent with new friends, and spending some time in an outdoor hot-tub under the stars. How cool is that???!

One little piece of advice. Put that turkey carcass in a pot with water NOW. Make soup. 'Cause if you wait, it will stink up your fridge something nasty. Justsayin'.

Geminids

2009-12-21T08:33:00.001-05:00

Ten Tips for the Holidays

2009-12-18T10:01:00.005-05:00

1. Keep oil-based moisturizers on hand in your car. Water-based moisturizers are great to use at night, when you will be all snuggled in bed. If you put on a water-based moisturizer before you head out in sub-freezing weather you will regret it. The water will freeze on your face, causing more chapping. The small tin of Nivea can be found at CVS for about .99, and the Burts Bees I got at Whole Foods. Both work really well, don't freeze and smell great. Chances are, if you are like me, you have that heat cranked in your auto, and unless you want to look all dry and scratchy like your Great, Great Aunty by Christmas morning, I suggest you baste yourself often. Oftener than you would think. Like, at every third red light.

2. Keep a roll of packing tape and a Sharpie in your car at all times. This has saved my ass a number of times. Know that you can turn a box from the wine store inside out, retape it and create a brown shipping box.

3. Sew some cloth bags for wrapping. Easy-peasy. Buy a few yards, cut out strips that are about 3 feet wide, fold in half, cut into segments, sew up the sides. Use a nice ribbon or Twine to tie closed. Et-Voila!

4. Keep wine in the house at all times. N'uff sed.

5. Go to bed early. Really. Do it.

6. Keep a granola bar in your car at all times. Lines get long. Traffic sucks. You have to go to 10 stores for that Perfect Gift. You will get hungry. I know this.

7. Use hair conditioner as shaving cream. Just a dab will do it. Save the money you would spend on spendy shaving cream and buy yourself a muffin, one with bran, and a Very Strong Coffee.

8. Go through your credit card statements and put away the cards with the highest interest, I don't care HOW little you have on them. Put them away. And use cash whenever possible. That would be the ugly green paper stuff, remember?

9. Turn down the thermostat and wear a hat in your house. It will save you a ton. A TON, I say!

10. Make as simple a To-Do list as is possible. Keep it to five or less important things. Reward yourself each time you finish something on the list. Not with, like, a yacht or anything. Just, you know, a treat or a hot bath or something nourishing for YOU.

A Study of Window Insulation Plastic

2009-12-18T09:38:00.000-05:00

I LOVE Photobucket

2009-12-18T09:10:00.003-05:00

Onaccounta they have cool statistics to show me about how many views I have had on my albums there. And they are pwitty graphs. Me wike Pwitty Gwaffs.

Classic Moment in the car with teens...

2009-12-18T08:45:00.005-05:00

Driving along Rt 293 heading South from St. Anselm College we pass a tanker:

"Peterman's Oil" on the side...followed, in LARGE text with "Lubrication Specialists!"

***Um****

College kid pumps her fists in the air and hoots: "Whoo Hoo!!! Lubrication Specialists!!!" and shoots me a look.

***hee hee sputter speachlessly***, I look back at her, valiantly parsing what she said trying to come up with a fast response that would be appropriate (in my head I'm thinking "So good to know they are out there doing their job!!").

Before I can she looks at me and grins and says "Petroleum Products, Mom....Pe-trol-e-um!"

Kid in the back says "You guys are gross".

Get out Your Puffs Plus Aloe...

2009-12-18T08:41:00.000-05:00

In Which I Slam Bing

2009-12-17T10:05:00.003-05:00

I hate Bing. I hate Bing with a passion. It jumps into the middle of my Google search engine search strings and puts half into it's own pretty little search engine box...half of it. What good is that, Bing? I have to erase it and put it in correctly wherever I choose, even if I stay with you. But, no, Bing. I don't like you. You may be handsome. You may be able to do some things better than my old love, but really, you are pushy and arrogant and make grand assumptions., assumptions like the above.

Only in America. Palin dodges tomatoes? Ex-madam to run? If this is an indication of the people who use your service, by virtue of being a list of the top 2009 searches, I rest my case.

You suck.

"Slapping the Panda"

2009-12-16T17:08:00.000-05:00

Feeling Squashy

2009-12-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

Dude, who left the lights on all night???

2009-12-16T08:02:00.001-05:00

Music Box Dancer - Holdman Christmas Display 2007 from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Silent Monks Sing Halleluia

2009-12-16T07:39:00.001-05:00

Ice and Snow

2009-12-15T09:14:00.002-05:00

My Best Friend

2009-12-14T13:47:00.003-05:00

I know I am not supposed to be on the couch...

But, aren't I pretty!

Weekend Creativity

2009-12-14T10:12:00.001-05:00

detail:

What is That?

2009-12-13T06:57:00.000-05:00

Pixel Paint

2009-12-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

Lemon Slice

Wednesday's Child

2009-12-10T11:31:00.001-05:00

Berries

Kwoats

2009-12-09T13:25:00.004-05:00

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

At the core of quantum is co-creativity. We say, "This is Special Me. This is what I am. This is what I want." Quantum reality responds with "Great! Very cool expansion of the Whole you are! Will this help you? How about this? . . . or this? . . . or this??" Quantum reality responds to our assertion of our uniqueness by supplying the goods. - Phyllis Kirk

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -- over and over announcing your place in the family of things ~ Mary Oliver ~

There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic. - Anais Nin