17 posts tagged “creative every day”
I'd been neglecting my poetry muse. Granted, I don't pay too much attention to her, since every poem I post would be
Know what else? The whole "366 photos in 2008" thing? I'm letting it go. Call me a flake, call me a loser...but I noticed over the past couple of weeks that I'd sometimes be all the way in bed before I'd realize with dread I hadn't even pulled out my camera that day to shoot a daily photo. And then I'd beat myself up over it. I should know better. I hate rules--even those I make for myself. So I'm not going to worry about whether or not I remember to shoot at least one photo a day, because frankly it was starting to take the fun out of shooting for me. The 'have to-ness' of it. Instead I'm going to just let myself shoot when I feel the urge.
See this cobbled-together panoramic made from some snapshots? I'm so used to seeing it that I forget it's even there, tacked up above our wall calendar next to the desk. That was our view from the second band house when we lived in on St. Thomas. (This would have been 2000--and I'm stunned to think it was that long ago.) This is facing south looking towards St. Croix (40 miles away). Unseen to the left was St. John which we also had a view of. The town of Charlotte Amalie is in the center and it shows most of St. Thomas' harbor. You can see just a sliver of the house on the right edge--that was the big picture window in our master suite. That's right--I used to be able to sit in bed and look out at most of this view. It was pretty damn nice. :)
I'm still going to maintain an active Flickr stream even without the daily photo project. I put a few random photos up there today.
Sundays are my favorite days of the week, yet I haven't really given myself a Sacred Life Sunday in awhile. Today I'm going to not think about what's going on at work...not going to follow the latest campaign developments...not going to jump into my Twitter stream constantly...not going to check email...not going to turn on the TV. I'm going to get off the computer as soon as I post this. Today's going to be a day for poetry and photography and film and books and nature and turning inward and tuning in. I hope you have a blessed day.
I really want to see this documentary when it's in full release. It will premiere May 9th at Columbia College in Chicago.
After watching the various trailers for the film on YouTube, I got curious about Amos Kennedy's website and found it here. I LOVE the motto on the front page: "We demand the very best from our clients!" We often forget that the customer service dynamic is a two-way street. But my favorite thing on Amos' website is the first paragraph under "Order Posters" here. :) I love his posters...just having a hard time deciding which to buy.
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SQUAM
One of my earliest blog friends, Elizabeth (aka Blue Poppy) has a new creation, Squam Art Workshops which will take place in September in gorgeous New Hampshire. Here's the class schedule. Registration opens Friday (March 7th).
Years ago, BP sent me a small typewriter which sits on my bookshelf. The note attached said, "You have stories to tell." She's always been a big cheerleader for me. I hope she feels I've done the same for her, because she truly does create a beautiful life, daily. I have no doubt that if you take a LEAP! and sign up for her inaugural workshops, you'll have an abundantly creative experience.
Stephen is gathering together a group of painters from all over the world to create this project. We'll choose one or more tiles we'd like to paint. The Flickr set with each of the individual tiles is here. Stephen, as the leader of this project, will provide and ship the canvasses to each painter. We supply the paint. The leader's take from the sale of the piece will be 40% and the remaining 60% will be divided equally among the participants based on number of tiles painted (i.e., one tile = one share). All of the details are here.
Here's the exciting part...you can participate, too!...(while membership is still available). If you'd like to be a part of this Collaborative Painting project, either let me know in the comments and I'll put you in touch with Stephen or click on the Collaborative Painting badge here and you can contact him at Ning. I'm so fortunate to have such talented and creative readers--I hope some of you will join us on this project.
His hope is that participants on this project will lead future projects, so anyone who wants to would have the opportunity to be the lead on a future Collaborative Painting project.
Those of you who've been reading me for any time at all know that I consider myself completely devoid of any visual art ability or skill. So even just considering being a part of something like this is really scary for me. Ironically, just about the time Stephen's invitation to participate arrive, so did the book Art and Fear from Amazon courtesy of a birthday gift certificate from a certain unnamed someone...whose name rhymes with mermaid... ;) It's a book Patti had long recommended to me. The timing, of course, seemed no coincidence.
This is a photo of the side rear view mirror that I took last night as we were out running errands. It's how that fear
I was in the bank after work on Friday and the teller commented on the pendant I was wearing. She asked about it and I told her where I'd bought it. Then I flipped it around so she could read the other side and as she looked at that side, she read it aloud, "She has the soul of an artist." Then she asked, "Are you an artist?" I can't begin to describe the enormous amount of information I processed in that split second..."Well, I write poetry...does that count?...my photography wouldn't be considered art...although once in awhile I pull off an art-y one...I don't seem to write anymore but I enjoy doing it...I 'can't' draw or paint...I have loads of creative ideas but never seem to act on most of them...so I guess the answer is..." I'm sure I hesitated for only a moment in real time before I answered, "No." Then she said, gesturing toward my clothes, "Because you look like you could be an artist." I walked out of there feeling so disappointed in myself--that after roaming around this planet in a crazy-quilt fashion for 53 years, I still have a rigid definition of 'artist.'
Since this is my year to LEAP!, I'm going to just jump right into that big scary word and wallow in it and state for the record here, "Yes, I am an artist."
Saturday afternoon I went for a bike ride. My first stop was at a horse pasture on campus. It's literally a block or two from I-80, but when I go there (it's one of my favorite places here), I feel like I'm in the country. Those daffodils were growing near there. I love The Eggheads--Robert Arneson sculptures that dot the campus. You can read more about them here. I feel fortunate to live just a few blocks from the eastern edge of the UC Davis campus, since it's a great place to bike...not to mention a lovely place. That pond is on the western side of the UC Davis Arboretum.
I met a friend for coffee yesterday afternoon. She and her family moved here from Chicago last summer and, like me, she's had a hard time adjusting to this place. Davis is portrayed as a very liberal and progressive place (probably considered one of the most liberal towns in the country), but scratch the surface and you'll find that it's not all that progressive. And it's certainly not very diverse. Yet another reason to be grateful for the university and the culture and diversity its presence brings to our town. And yet another reason to feel grateful for the tribe I have here. ;)
I'm off work today for the holiday and plan to spend a good chunk of it offline and just relaxing. Happy Monday!
Go through the ear to the center
where sky is, where wind,
where silent knowing.
~Rumi
Today's prompt at Writers Island is "changed." My poem is here.
Last week I was a bit off in my photo-a-day efforts. Between accidentally deleting (on my camera) several sunset and moon shots...spending all my energy shooting school activities on Thursday (and I keep those off my blog)...and two days flat out forgetting (in all the craziness) to even shoot a daily photo...well, let's just say I'm glad I'm doing this only for myself and not playing by anyone else's rules. Here's a sample of what my week looked like with just a tiny bit of 'cheating'...
Monday - I really shot this the day before (on Sunday afternoon). I was getting out of the truck at a strip mall on the northern edge of town when I suddenly noticed this barn across the road in the distance. I do love the zoom on my new camera.
Tuesday - You already know we had In-n-Out on Super Tuesday. :)
Thursday - This is to replace the pretty sunset photos I had taken. It was sunny last week and it began to feel like Spring was on her way. (I took a lot of photos on Thursday for two school events.)
Saturday - You'll have to settle for this cheesy, free souvenir photo from the golf tournament (with Jeffrey's closed eyes).
Although I was late for all of the prompts, I did write three poems yesterday for Sunday Scribblings (2/3 prompt was "foul" and 2/10 prompt was "fridge space") and Writers Island (2/4 prompt was "magic"). The poems are here: foul, fridge space and do you believe?
And now, I'm going to spend my holiday day off seeing if I can get caught up a tiny bit. ;) Happy Monday!
Tuesday's prompt at Writers Island was "desire." Here's my poem.
This has been such a busy week thus far. Crazy busy at work. My folks got here late yesterday afternoon and I met up with them (and my brother's family) at my nephew's basketball game last night. I'd post a photo, but my camera batteries have died. Zak's team lost--both teams were undefeated in conference play going into last night's game. My folks will be here until Saturday. I've got a busy day ahead of me at work--not sure what we'll be doing this evening.
Thought I'd post some Over the Rhine this morning. Sam Twittered yesterday that she's finally going to get to see them live. So, for my dear, sweet Sam, one of her favorite bands performing "I'm on a Roll"...
Sorry I haven't been posting much in the last week. I've just been on the go. And there was something else afoot, too, I realized in retrospect. I was getting very depressed about what was happening in the Presidential campaign. I know some might not understand that. Some might say: jeez, girl, relax--it's just politics. But it was getting so personal. You all know I'm supporting Obama and I'm honestly not trying to sway anyone in who you choose to support. I'm just speaking for me. I felt what Bill Clinton did last week was blatant race-baiting. I felt strongly that he was trying to marginalize Obama and paint him as 'the black candidate.' So you can probably imagine how happy I felt on Saturday when voters in South Carolina of all colors and ages and genders supported Obama enough to give him a resounding victory. If there's one thing America doesn't need right now it's further damage to our already fragile race relations. If you didn't see Obama's victory speech, I suggest you watch it even if he's not your choice for candidate. I think it's a speech that speaks to all Americans. "Out of many we are one." The video is here. I was overjoyed to hear that Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg endorsed Obama, comparing him to her father. Her Sunday New York Times Op-Ed piece is here. And as I write this, Teddy Kennedy is about to endorse him, too. Like many Democrats, I believe there aren't huge policy differences among the three Democratic candidates, so it comes down to things like character and vision. I know I'm not alone when I say that Barack Obama makes me feel proud to be American again...and I haven't felt that way since childhood.
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I said one of my steps would be to write two poems a week. I wrote two this morning...to catch me up for last week. :) The first was for the Sunday Scribblings prompt of "miscellaneous"--it's here. The second one is here.
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My family likes to get together for dinner to celebrate each of our birthdays. Because of schedules, we still hadn't had my birthday dinner, but my sister-in-law was insistent that I swing by their house Friday evening before going to my nephew's basketball game. She wanted me to come by before she'd be taking C. to her dance recital. My brother and I would be going to the game and all of us would be attending C's performance on Saturday afternoon. When I opened my gift, I understood. Marty, Chelle and the kids gave me a camera. To say that I was surprised is an understatement. It made me cry. I told her that I'd just put a new camera on my Mondo Beyond list. She said, "Well, you document our entire lives!" (I maintain a private blog for the family.) I asked C., "Is this because I'm 'the official family photographer?'" She laughed and said, "Yeah!" Chelle wanted to give me one with a great zoom and good video capabilities. I'm still trying to figure out the settings, but I played with a zoom a bit at C's recital yesterday. I also shot video of every one of her performances and it really does do good video. I'm having a hard time uploading the clips--maybe the files are too large. Not sure, but I'll get it figured out. But here are a few tentative first shots...
Okay, I'm back. See, told ya it wouldn't be long. I just needed the 3-day weekend to kind of chill. I don't have any impressive stories about creative things I did over the past few days. I just needed to not think about having to come up with a blog post. To enjoy my quiet, solo time at home...and I did.
I've been keeping up the with 'photo a day' thing, but I haven't been writing much poetry. I decided over this holiday weekend that I'd like to write at least two poems a week in 2008. That's 104 poems for the year. That sounds like a lot, but two a week sounds easy-peasy. I'd only written three so far this year, so I needed to write three more just to catch me up through last week. I did that this morning (after watching the Oscar noms being announced live at Oscars.com). In order, they're here and here and here.
They're all sort of about the same thing, I guess, even though I paused in between writing each one to do something else and wasn't intentionally writing some sort of trilogy. The middle one is about my fear of setting goals. Writing it I realized my fear isn't so much about the action as it is about the negative connotation the word "goals" carries for me. So I've decided to use "steps" instead (as I wrote in the poem). Here are two steps for me in 2008:
- ~ take at least 1 photo each day
- ~ write at least 2 poems each week
And that, my friends, is all I've got today. Happy Tuesday! (I started to write "Happy Monday" and then realized with glee...ooooh, only 4 days of work this week...yay!) :)
