Tag: ram

Magnetic Poetry 365:341

I’ve told you before that I love the photography and creatures on the site Plastic Animal A Day. A couple of times she’s shot animals through her window. It made me want to do the same, but her photography skills are way better than mine. She asked me to give it a shot, though, so now I have. Of course, Ram is leading the parade.

Only in Plastic Animal World is a hamster as big as a raccoon, or a unicorn and a wolf the same size. Check out her site for the good stuff; I am but a fan-girl.

State of The Compound

Since it’s been all Button Sunday/MagPo posts around these parts, I figured I’m past due speaking of what’s going on at The Compound.

Yes, I voted. Early voted, in fact. And I’m so glad this election season is over because the number of phone calls I was getting drove me nearly crazy and distracted me from….uh… whatever it is I do around here.

There have been Craft Nights. And game-watching parties. I’ve been packing away dolls until the next Project Runway season, though I’m not sure I’ll be doing doll fashions again. I always feel this way–a little burned out–after a season of Runway Monday, then I start getting the itch to sew again and am relieved when a new season begins. So we’ll see. Feel free to CLAMOR FOR MORE FASHION in the comments.

My sister is coming to spend Thanksgiving with us. As you may recall, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and Thanksgiving meals are the ones I most enjoy cooking. Rumor has it my sister-wife Kathy S will be here for Thanksgiving dinner, too. Hope so! I’m also hoping these flowers endure until my sister’s arrival, because she did some of the pruning and grooming that resulted in their being so lovely this autumn, despite Houston’s drought:

Lindsey, Tim, and I pre-ordered our opening night movie tickets for Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1. I’ve never watched one of the movies with an entirely first-time audience, and I vowed to do so before the franchise ends just for the silly fun of it. It should be a happy audience but not as squealy as it could be since it’s a midnight movie and at least SOME youngsters should be home, if not in bed asleep, at that hour. As promised, when the movie opens, this month’s vampire poetry will end. Thank you again, Marika, for those Twilight-themed words.

Don’t think we’ll be finished with mythical creatures, however, because guess what arrived in the mail this week?

The original sparkly legend! Yay!

Speaking of mythological creatures, Tim and I have been watching Lost on Netflix. We just finished the first season and are either through the first or second episodes of the second season. I’m SO GLAD I didn’t watch this when it was first run, because I’d have been tormented by the cliffhangers. As I learned years ago from watching Sex and the City on DVDs, I enjoy television much more when my viewing isn’t spaced out over years. Otherwise, it’s difficult for me to sustain interest. This partially comes of not being in a workplace where a previous night’s shows get discussed in the break room or at lunchtime, although Tom tells me that doesn’t happen as frequently in these days of TiVo and DVRs.

I’ve been battling a headache for a couple of days with pharmaceuticals and naps, but last night I ventured out to meet Gilbert Ruiz to purchase this sketch from him. I first saw it on his Flickr account in September 2010 and laid claim to it then. When he recently opened up more of his works for sale, I knew the time had come to make it mine.

Gilbert also has a painting based on this sketch that I wish I could purchase. Maybe one day! Without going into too much detail, the sketch perfectly illustrates one of the to-be-written novels inside my head. So far, Gilbert is the only person who’s put it to paper (from his own creativity; he didn’t know about my novel idea), but I’m hoping his sketch will help me get it from my brain into words. It’s long overdue.

On my way to meet Gilbert, I was at one of the worst/busiest intersections in our neighborhood at rush hour when I witnessed a car hit a man and his dog. I joined several others in giving assistance. There were injuries to both, but none of them fatal or requiring medical help at the scene (dog definitely was headed toward ER vet). There’s a lot more to this incident, but really all I want to say is PLEASE be cautious drivers and pedestrians. Awful things can happen when any of us stops being observant for even a second.

National Authors Day

Since 1949, the U.S. has celebrated National Authors Day–it’s funny I can find it written that way as well as National Authors’ Day and National Author’s Day–on November 1. I’m not sure if that’s why this month was picked to be National Novel Writing Month (better known now as NaNoWriMo), but I wish success to everyone who participates. And by success I mean this. Some of you will finish your novel and may even bring it in around the targeted 50,000 words. Some of you won’t finish, but you will start something that can continue to be developed even after the month is over. And some of you will just have fun–nothing wrong with that!

Regardless of how much you write or whether you follow through and finish, hopefully you’ll experience the satisfaction that comes with flexing your creative muscle. You may also acquire a greater appreciation for the amount of energy and effort that goes into writing. Such understanding might make you hesitate the next time you decide to trash a published writer. To actually finish a novel and revise it to publishable condition, to seek out and find an agent and/or a publisher, and then to promote it once it’s on the physical or electronic page–it’s an enormous undertaking. Even if you don’t like a particular writer’s work, if someone believed in it enough to put forth all that effort, then there are readers who will believe in it, too, when they find it thanks to booksellers, librarians, and other readers.

Today one of my favorite photographers, Joseph Holmes, retweeted from @lpvmagazine: You know you’re a real photographer when you spend your free time on the internet mocking amateurs & complaining about copyright. I think that sarcastic assessment applies to any creative endeavor. The people who are really creating in the arts don’t put their time and energy into belittling or taking shots at the efforts of others–they put that into their work. Sure, there are times an artist may compare his or her work to other people’s and think, Mine is better. It’s good to believe in your work and to think it’s the best! But mostly when I hear or read people taking shots at others’ creative accomplishments and efforts, I think of the Ram Definition of Snark:


Snark: when people who don’t do anything or make anything or accomplish anything mock the people who try–and call it “humor.”

You can answer in comments here, or on your own blogs, journals, Facebook pages, or Tweets: What authors have meant the most to you and why?

30 Minutes of Creativity: Month 2

I’m going back in time to post a 30 Minutes of Creativity photo because I forgot to do it on the third Monday of the month. The theme is “Monsters.”


Little creatures beware!
Monsters lurking everywhere.

John Riley is a BuNnY MoNsTeR created by Keri.

If you want to create something in thirty minutes once a month, check out Create Stuff’s Twitter feed to get a theme and get the guidelines here. Enjoy!

What’s in a name?


“Cleanliness is next to ramliness.”

When I was younger, even during times I was poorer, I was brand loyal. I remember when generic products first began hitting the shelves, and it would have made economical sense to buy those white packages with the black letters, but I just couldn’t. Was it aesthetics? Because I always justified my choice by saying, “But I know exactly what I’m getting with my Jif, Tide, Hellmann’s, Golden Flake, Heinz, Campbell’s, Nabisco, Bama, Comet, Dial, Coke,” blah blah blah. I was certain that if anyone ever put me in a blind taste test, I could pick my favorite product.

I’m not quite as bad as I used to be. I’ll buy store brands or different brands for a lot of products now. Okay, never a peanut butter that isn’t Jif or a mayonnaise that isn’t Hellmann’s. But I’ve drunk store-brand colas and eaten store-brand oatmeal. I broke with my mother on loyalty to Tide, but only because of the expense. I still think it’s the best detergent. Because cost is one of my main criteria, I’ve grown indifferent to brand names on paper products, and I’m more likely to pick cereals based on the nutritional information on their labels.

Still, when I shot this photo, I wondered, if I were still using bar soap, would I purchase this?

Are you brand loyal?