An Aries (Who Knows Some Stuff)
Happy birthday to my friend James!
The other day, Tim and I were at the Galleria (I know…that IS weird) when I spotted this book:
Er, I guess this is NOT a book, but whatever. It has all kinds of quirky or creative instructions inside, and I liked this one:
So I did it, and here is the stream of my thoughts:
For more information on This Is Not a Book, you can check out author Keri Smith’s web site and even purchase the book from her. Or find it at your favorite local or online bookseller.
Father’s day at the Zombie house:
A very happy Father’s Day to all you father figures out there.
Perfection Wasted
And another regrettable thing about death
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market—
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanches
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their tears confused with their diamond earrings,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response to your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories packed
in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That’s it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren’t the same.
Saturday’s memorial service for Don introduced me to this poem by John Updike.
This is a photo I took of my monitor when it’s showing a new page I created. My One Word Art site is still online, and I also have a page for my True Colors series. This photo is of a page I made featuring other art I have for sale that isn’t part of a series (or may be part of a series in progress). Anyway, if you get a chance, check out my Other Works page sometime. As always, thanks for linking to, supporting, and buying my paintings!
Today is the day we always celebrate Sir Paul McCartney’s birthday!
Kidding. Today is Tom’s and my twenty-second anniversary. Since Kathy S and The Brides were joining Tim, Tom, and me for dinner and craft night, my creation for Friday was A CAKE!
Current Photo Friday theme: Stand Out
One of my favorite amateur sleuths of all time is Pamela North from the Mr. and Mrs. North Mysteries written by Frances and Richard Lockridge. The novels were set in Manhattan during the World War II era. When reading one of the books as a teen, I was charmed that Pamela North wore rompers. There was something endearing about a grown woman wearing the same thing my mother used to sew for me to wear when I was a little girl.
In honor of two women who made me want to be a writer, here’s my model Susannah wearing a romper that I sewed on Thursday.
For 30 Days of Creativity. The fabric is a gift of Marika; the ribbon belt is a gift of Laura C. Susannah is posing in front of an unfinished painting by Timothy J. Lambert.
For around ten thousand years, or at least since 2002, I’ve used this tiny sketch pad (approximately 5.5 x 4 inches) to make simple line drawings of things I see in Montrose or around The Compound. There really aren’t that many sketches in it because I keep forgetting I have it. Whenever I find it again, I’m always surprised by how much I enjoy looking back at the sketches and vow to do more of them.
Here’s the first new one I’ve done in two years:
I just finished reading The Harvard Lampoon’s parody of Twilight, titled Nightlight, and while I’m not one to disparage anyone else’s creativity, I have to say I was disappointed. While I agree that Meyer’s book is the perfect material for parody, Nightlight just wasn’t as funny as I hoped it would be. There was humor, but generally it was mild to downright silly. Team Jacob would be disappointed, because the wolf was nowhere to be found.
The cover was the best part. In honor of all Twilight-style covers, I’m presenting here my covers for the series of tales about Pixie’s favorite toy, Lammy. “Lammy” was originally a lamb, not to be confused with a Lambda award, of which there are none at The Compound thanks to Famous Author Rob Byrnes. I think Lammy was a gift from Lisa.
The heat: It is draining me.
Yesterday, we found out we lost a friend, who died unexpectedly. Not long after we moved to Houston, we had the good luck to meet a group of terrific people who I worked with at the bookstore. Through them, we met Don. During many of our early years of friendship, he was finishing his doctoral work and writing his dissertation, and his acknowledgments when it was published included Tom and me in that little group who Don had dubbed “the Disgruntled Liberals Club.” Don and the other “club” members were part of my support system when I lost friends to AIDS, and they were among the most enthusiastic of our friends when the Tims, Jim, and I began publishing books. It’s hard to believe that when we get together in the future, Don’s big laugh and many stories won’t be heard around the table. I feel this acutely for his best friend Robin, maybe a little more today because it’s the eighteenth anniversary of Steve R’s death, which just doesn’t seem possible. Clichéd though it may sound, time does heal, but it doesn’t ever diminish the magic and memories of a profound friendship. I’m thankful for all the ones I’ve known and still celebrate.
The heat, the mood–they both made me grateful when Tim suggested we catch a matinee of Sex and the City 2. Considering the less than stellar reviews, I figured it would at least be a diversion. Instead, I loved the movie! I thought it was better than the first one, and I was more than happy to land in Carrie Bradshaw’s well-shod world once again.
Whatever, critics.
Today, I also finished the thank-you card I was working on, submitted a sketch to Lindsey’s Bravo challenge site–where I was quite impressed by the other submissions!–and began another 4×6-inch canvas to eventually add to my One Word Art site.
