Quote of the Day

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Picasso

Teresa sent me this quote the other day and I love it. The "dust of everyday life" is the perfect way to describe the drudgery of going through the motions, which seems to be a large part of daily living. So much repetition. So much of the same.

I am working very hard at being in the moment - if I'm washing dishes or making art or whatever. It's good to live in the moment and be thankful for the ability to wash dishes or whatever mundane thing you're doing. It's worthwhile to remember that gratitude is a necessity. And we should be thankful for the ability and tools to wash dishes just as we're thankful for the tools and ability to make art.

But I want life to extend beyond the "dust of everyday life."

It's The Weekend - Thank Heavens

I am so ready for the weekend. I finished my grant this afternoon and got it sent right at the deadline, which is always when I get such things sent because I agonize over them. Grant writing is not my favorite thing and this one is a really important one so it has taken some stomach lining. I'm not sure how much more stomach lining I have to give to such things. It's starting to feel pretty used up.

And I hate the hoops they make you jump through - just because they can as far as I can tell. For example, on this one I had to get a letter signed by the board president saying we really wanted to do this. What? Like my board president would say, uh, no, uh, I don't think it's a good idea to fulfill the mission of our organization. But, I dutifully wrote the letter, printed it out, and got it signed and faxed it off. Busy work. I've got more real work than I have time to do and they want me to spend time on busy work.

I was up until after 3 last night working on it and got up at 6 to work on it some more. At 5 this afternoon, after it was sent I went to bed and slept off and on until about 9 tonight. But, since then I've been enjoying the fact that I have two whole days in front of me without any obligations other than those of my own choosing.

I have two freelance projects to do this weekend - a graphic design job and a magazine column to write. Other than those two things I'm going to focus my attention on the art show. I've done pretty well in my quest to get things finished, but I'm not completely done with that, so I want to keep working on it. I don't want to be up until the middle of the night next Friday and then a zombie all day Saturday.

I went to lunch with Trish today and we talked more about my latest Patsy theory on internal vs. external. The other night at Creative Sisterhood, after some excellent questions from others, I realized that part of the reason those of us who are internally focused need new and different is that that is what expands our internal world. I'm going to examine this more in my journals.

The other thing I'm realizing is that I continue to need more beauty in my life. Tonight I've been looking through some photos I took for the blog over the last year or two that I want to use in some art projects. I am reminded of just how much beauty one can find in daily life if you're just looking for it. Or maybe if you're just aware of it, not even necessarily looking.

Last night at Cheney I snapped this photo of a tree. It struck me that it looked very winter like, even though fall has not officially arrived.

Quote of the Day

Le beau c'est l'imprévu. - Thomas Bernard

Translation: What is nice is the unexpected. --Thomas Bernhard

This arrived in my mailbox today and I thought it was so appropriate given my penchant for "new and different."

I had a meeting in Kingman late this afternoon and stopped by Cheney Lake on the way back for the sunset. It wasn't a spectacular one, but it was nice. As if there's such a thing as a bad sunset.

It has been a draining few days. I have a grant due in about 12 hours and I'm still working on it. I could write these darned things in a couple of hours, but it's all the sweating over them and if I've said the right things. So, instead of a couple of hours they take a couple of weeks. And use up a lot of my stomach lining in the meantime. Not to mention what's used up while I'm waiting for the answer on them. I'm looking forward to the weekend with this off my plate. I'm taking the weekend off. Really off.

I got to have lunch with Leah today. We rarely have time to catch up and I miss her. The big news in her life is that she's now a cat owner. Considering that her husband "hates cats" and so does her older son and Leah would never want an animal in her house, it's pretty amazing. But, they're all falling for Minnie and Philip (the cat-hating husband) brought her home from work in the first place. The only family member who has been poised for cat ownership his entire life is Zane, the younger son. Zane was just ahead of his time and the rest of them have come around to his way of thinking. Anyway, it sounds like Minnie has made herself quite at home in Leah's household. I told Leah that I've always thought of cuteness as a survival skill for cats.

During my brief stop this afternoon at Cheney I was reminded of how much I need time in nature. And an hour here or there is not enough. I need to go spend a week or so in nature. I need another week at a cabin in the woods writing and painting and thinking. I need to do more writing and thinking for sure.

But, for the moment, all I can write is this grant. I will be so glad to be done with it. I'll be even happier to hear we've gotten it.

Well, I must get back to the grant. It's now 12 hours exactly when it has to be sent and I do need to spend at least a couple of those sleeping or I won't be coherent at all.

Creative Sisterhood

Tonight was Creative Sisterhood and it was an amazing evening. It was our fourth anniversary celebration. Technically, that was Monday the 3rd, but tonight was our gathering. It was incredible - truly incredible - the kind of evening I long for.

Sometimes we talk about what we're doing or thinking and although it's always pleasant, it's not always deep. Tonight was very deep, moving and personal. It was an honor merely to witness it, much less to participate in it. I'm sorry that Diana and Julie missed it because it was an exceptional evening and something that can't be recreated.

That is always the problem with missing any gathering of any sort - the synergy that exists can never be recreated. People can tell you what you missed, but it's never the same as experiencing it yourself. I just hate it when I have to miss something that's important to me. But, sometimes it just can't be helped.

In honor of our anniversary, I gave everyone a copy of the photo we took last year after cleansing Martha's office in Wichita.



I had gotten them printed in January, but had forgotten about them and ran across the prints recently and knew they were the perfect gift for our anniversary. I had planned to buy little frames for them but when I was in the store, with frames in hand, I was led to get plexi-glass coverings with magnets on them instead. I already have mine on my fridge. Martha is planning to put hers on her filing cabinet. For whatever reason, it seemed the right thing for them to be magnets.

I am so thankful to have this group in my life. When I'm considering good things I've done in my life, starting this group will be one of them. Of course, initiating the group is only a small part of the equation - the true test comes in if people are willing to commit and share themselves within it. Tonight was an exceptional example of how amazing that can be.

I made a new recipe tonight. I found it on allrecipes.com - it's called Earthquake cake. I'd heard of that, but never had it. It was pretty tasty, but very rich.

Earthquake Cake

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix with pudding


• 1 cup flaked coconut


• 1 cup chopped pecans


• 8 ounces cream cheese


• 1 pound confectioners' sugar


• 1/2 cup butter


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray.


2. Spread coconut and pecans over bottom of pan.


3. Mix cake mix according to package directions. Pour over the pecans and coconut.


4. Melt butter, add with cream cheese, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar to a medium-sized bowl and mix well. Spoon with a teaspoon over the cake.


5. Bake cake at 325 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until done.

Square Footage

Today I read a phrase I never thought I would see - "compact 2,028 square foot home..." in O at Home magazine. Just to set the record straight - 2000 plus square feet is NOT compact - particularly not for a home for one person. People have raised large families in less than half that space.

In the interest of full disclosure, my old house is about 2600 square feet and I live alone in it with my stuff. I'm certain in its 100 plus year history it has housed larger numbers of people than it currently does. It has four bedrooms, two baths and two sunporches - this is not "compact." Admittedly, it's not one of those 8,000 square foot homes so popular these days, but it is not compact.

I don't think it's wise to give people the idea that 2000 plus square feet is compact. That's foolish.The last thing the world needs is for everyone in the US to start thinking we need to build and heat/cool homes that have more than 2000 square feet per person, as if we're not using enough resources already.

Well, I think I need to go write a letter to the editor.

Change and Not

My days seem so very much the same lately that I'm hesitant to write about them for fear of boring you to tears. Or, to mouse clicks. I work. I paint. I prepare for the show. Lather, rinse, repeat.

But there's a lot going on in my mind. I guess I'm just not ready to premiere it yet, because I'm not sure what "it" is. The short story is that I am in a serious transition phase. I can feel it. It's palpable. I'm just not sure what it means or where it's going yet. But, I'd guess that my life will be very different a year from now than it is today.

I always assume my life will be better in the future. I remember saying that in a small group of people a couple of years ago, and being chastized for being so foolish.But, it still seems logical to me - and, frankly, essential - to believe that. Otherwise,  it seems like you'd be setting yourself up to fail in a way.

I'm searching. I'm just not sure for what. So, it's hard to know if I've found it yet.