Tag: family

reading and coloring

Very glad I followed the recommendation of a commenter to an article about Quincy Jones and read this autobiography. I settled with my iPad and read it as an e-book before bed every night, spellbound by the life this man led. He worked with everybody! I learned so much, not just about him, but about music and music history, ranging from classical composers to hip hop.

He had his demons and made mistakes, never quite escaping the damage of a tough childhood, but he remained full of love for his work and the world, along with his family, friends, and fellow artists. You know a man’s special when he had several children by several wives, and he and the kids loved each other unconditionally, and the wives spoke kindly and lovingly of him even when their relationships ended. No telling how many lives he impacted during his 91 years. I finished the book last night. Rest in peace, Mr. Jones.

After I ran errands this morning, I found a good way to make myself feel better about things while I color: play old music I can sing along to. Not the kind of music I normally listen to, but music that takes me back to times when I was really just the daughter of two, and the kid sister of two. For example, Saturday mornings when we cleaned house, my mother would stack albums on the stereo. They’d be her favorites, mixed with some of Debby’s favorites to sing along to, and some of my favorites, too. That’s how today, while I colored, I ended up on YouTube listening and singing along to many songs by Andy Williams, the Righteous Brothers, Tom Jones, Patsy Cline, and Hank Williams Sr. while I colored.

I’d forgotten how singing is a great mood lifter. That’s true even though I’m not much of a singer (Debby is and Mother was). Luckily, nobody’s hearing me but the dogs; Tom’s been in and out of the house a lot so far today.

This is the book I was coloring from. I’ll share those I’ve finished as part of my Sunday Sundries post tomorrow. I did my first from this book in 2020, and I haven’t removed any of them to put in my sketchbook. I’ll explain why in tomorrow’s post. A unicorn’s always worth the wait.

When listening to YouTube today, I made a discovery. My parents had an album of instrumentals that included an English clarinetist, Acker Bilk. For all I know, the entire album was Acker Bilk. My father’s favorite from the album was Bilk’s rendition of “Stranger On The Shore” (England’s biggest selling single of 1962). For the first time, today I heard the lyrics. The words are so sad, maybe because as I listened, one of my characters came to mind, and it broke my heart for her. Then, as I pondered how to work it in as a reference in book seven (the current work in progress), I realized it’s even more heartbreaking for a different character in the series that would follow the Neverending Saga (should I ever actually complete the NS). I’m WAY too hard on my characters, and consequently on myself, sometimes. But as one of her mentors, who may have gotten it from Robert Frost, once told Marika, No writer tears, no reader tears!

Here’s the song with an orchestra and Andy Williams singing the lyrics:

And the instrumental version with Mr. Bilk and his clarinet:

Gratitude

I’d pulled three coloring books off the shelf the other day to use for my next coloring pages, and this is the third of those (I’ve already pulled three more). It’s one of my favorites, but because the pages are on front and back, if I want to color a page, I scan it and print it on cardstock so I won’t lose the backing page (because some of the pens I use bleed through, and also, I like putting them in my big sketchbook when they’re finished).

Before I get to that though, I need to send a big thank you to the people who’ve made these last few days pleasant in so many ways (including texts, emails, and phone calls). Anyone who comments here lifts my spirits, and Mark has been catching up for the last few days, and it’s so much fun to go back to old posts and read and respond to his comments. I promise, Mark, even when you get caught up or miss, I will continue to anticipate our interactions with pleasure.

Getting comments here is always fun, and I thank my regulars, like Blue Sky Boy and Lynne, and the people who like leaving more cryptic names for fun (you know who you are), and my family members (including Tom, Ron, David, Debby, Geri, Lisa) and fellow writers (including my writing partners) who drop in from time to time and leave comments. I enjoy the occasional visits and comments from Nurse Lisa, Debbie D. in Canada, Gael who’s another LJ person from long ago. I may get more interaction on Instagram than here (though I post there infrequently except in October). There’s a different vibe to that: one is similar to passing someone I know (and like) in public, or having brief but pleasant interactions with strangers, and the other is like inviting someone to visit my home for a good conversation (even when brief), if that makes sense. There are also people, including family members, who read here regularly but respond via email, and that interaction is equally welcome.

Everyone has busy lives and endless places to direct their attention–jobs, time with friends and families, and in pursuit of interests like books, music, TV, movies, social media, traveling, and more physical activities. So a visit here is always appreciated.

Today’s coloring page was inspired by this photograph of Maxime De La Falaise wearing a fish-tailed striped gown designed by Paquin, as photographed by Cecil Beaton in Vogue, January 1950. I researched her, and wow, what an interesting person she was, and she had an intriguing family, as well. In this age, they’d definitely qualify as influencers, with huge groups of fans/admirers along with plenty of detractors, I’m sure. A current family comes to mind…

 

I liked being able to do the black stripes on this myself, and hope the contrast comes across in the photograph as well as on the page in front of me.

Tiny Tuesday!


This is a bird house I painted and decorated for a little girl in 2011. I called it a Fairy Roost in my blog post back then. I’m sure the bird house is long gone, but I’ll always have the pleasant memory of creating it.

That tiny bird house was on my mind lately because my most recent completed chapter in the Neverending Saga had fun information about birds and bird houses. In this case, though, the houses belonged to a family with the last name of Bird. Since I’m trying to gently redirect my focus back to writing, I chose this more literal concept of bird houses as my coloring page on Saturday and Monday.


The birds on the houses are more fun than realistic, so I looked at some California birds before I chose their colors.
Upper row, first house, the bird has the colors of a Stellar’s Jay; middle house, the bird on the roof has the colors of the Oak Titmouse, and inside the birdhouse, the bird has the colors of the Cedar Waxwing; third house, the bird has the colors of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
Lower row, the first house bird has the colors of the Mourning Dove; middle bird on the roof has the colors of the Yellow Warbler, and on the porch, the bird has the colors of the Loggerhead Shrike; third house, the bird has the colors of the House Finch.

I still have a page I colored this past weekend to share, maybe tomorrow. You know, I have an abundance of coloring books. Anything you’d like to see?

Mindful Monday


Today, as on every November 11, we honor our veterans. It’s a beautiful and breezy day here, so the flag was being borne upward in this shot, set against our magnolia and mimosa trees, with neighbors’ trees in the distance.

Respecting and caring for our veterans has always been something I’m passionate about. If it seems at odds for a pacifist to feel that way, wanting a world without wars is not meant to disrespect in any way those willing to put their lives on the line to keep our country, and the countries of our allies, protected. There’s a true line from generations of my forebears to me, including ancestors who fought in the American Revolution and beyond, to my father being an Army veteran who landed in Normandy on D Day and was career military, and to my brother, who served in the Air Force, and to my sister, who worked at a VA hospital facility for many years as a nurse.

Any policy that attempts to reduce or limit our nation’s care of veterans, including health care, should never be accepted by us no matter what party we vote for. When a service member or veteran is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to self and family for you, no matter what your political affiliation, you should be willing to return that respect in kind, including as part of your tax dollars.

If you have a military cemetery near you, it can provide a quiet place to visit for mindful meditations on gratitude, care for others, courage, and peace.

Sunday Sundries


Taffy, who appears to be a golden retriever, tries to look innocent about where that hole came from, but the dirt on her nose and the fact that at least one of her pals seems to be pointing at her, gave her away. (All of these are Mattel dogs.) (ETA: I changed out this photo because I realized in this one, in the upper left, there’s a sliver of Delta watching from a distance. Who can’t have any cake because of the chocolate. Oh, the bitterness.)

That’s a cake I made to celebrate the 1.5-year May birthdays of Timothy and Rhonda. It was in May that our crazy weather and power outages began. Since then, several of us have dealt with sickness, some have traveled, and Lindsey and Timothy have had crazy busy work schedules. Today became the day we could finally all gather: Rhonda, Lindsey, (their dog Pepper), Timothy, Debby, Tom, and me for much needed friend time. Among us, we contributed “finger foods”: queso and chips, puff pastries with fig preserves and brie, chicken wings with three dipping sauces, tuna salad for petite sandwiches, fresh raw vegetables and fruits, turkey sausages, artichoke and jalapeño dip with crackers, guacamole, and hummus and pita chips. I didn’t take any photos except of the cake, though I did catch the two (May) birthday celebrants as we sang “Happy Birthday” to them.


It was lovely to be with friends again and to talk honestly and openly about how we’re all feeling and reacting right now. Our connections are important and to be cherished.


This is the book I colored from back in October of 2022. I think I posted it on Instagram but never on here. If you squint at the page I colored, you may be able to see how, for the framed pieces on the mantel, I chose to copy Rothko postcards that I own.


I thought Mr. Reynolds might be lonely, so I chose a different coloring book I found last year at, I think, Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, to color a page to go opposite Ryan’s in my sketchbook. Is Mr. Reeves one of the best souls on the planet? Sometimes it seems that way. I found photos online of him in one of his kitchens at some time or another, and used a few of the details for my choices as I colored.

A cozy day reading with Ryan next to a fire in the library, or watching Keanu prepare a meal, sounds like a good time–though I’m content with how I spent my Sunday: good friends, family, dogs, and food.

words for today

I will now get to learn how to manage depression and anxiety. I’ll be seriously curtailing my online time. This morning, I read the social media post of a personal friend. He’s a really good human. A gay man. Gifted. Smart. Compassionate. He was being encouraging to people who feel wounded by the election results. Reminding his readers to take the long view, knowing there are still ways we can make our world a better place for ourselves and the marginalized. There was nothing hateful in his words. Nothing objectionable. But his comments began filling up with people mocking him, verbally attacking him. Gloating. Even low-key threatening him.

I’m sure he’s not surprised. I’m not surprised.

I’ve never tolerated hatefulness on this blog since I began it in 2004. I will ask you do not comment here or speak to me elsewhere and tell me ALL [fill in the blank with whatever descriptor you identify as] are not like that. I know. I’ve been around a while. I’m not the one making hateful generalizations. In so many places in my life, I have to choose my words and remain kind with people I know, people who are friends and family members, who vote in ways that literally threaten the health, peaceful and full life, and happiness of people I love. Their choice.

But never try to justify to me that chaos, division, demonizing, mendacity, and mental, emotional, and physical cruelty are okay. Hide yourself in a cloak of something abhorrent to me, and know that even then, I will listen, for a while, anyway, to all the things you say and all the things you don’t even realize you say, and the only, ONLY, point when we are done is if you begin to insult and demean me or the ones I love. If you don’t like me, respect me, or love me, for who I am, step off. Find a better way to fill your time than wasting it on me. (I have people in my life who build me up. Who comfort me. Who started bright and early this morning sending messages of love and commiseration, and the reminder that I can breathe with them. We can speak frankly whether we’ve been friends since we were eighteen, or since 1989, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’97, 2005, 2007, 2011, or 2015, I’m there for them. They’re there for me. We connect in so many ways.) To them (or you if you need to hear it) I say:


And to the others of you…
If your candidate won, celebrate. Sit at home with a big smile on your face; have some champagne. Crack a beer. Grill your favorite meat. Call or gather with your likeminded friends and repeat all the things you’ve been saying out loud since 2016. Actually, since 2008. You’ve gotten what you wanted. You’ve taken the White House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, (as of this writing, the jury’s still out on the House), and you’re already anticipating how all your “enemies” will be punished, controlled, vanquished. Do that instead of traveling social media and finding the accounts of strangers (and celebrities, because they are your very favorite targets) to pester them. Go and live the idyllic life you’ve been promised.

Today, I’ve spent lovely hours with my dogs. (Starting at about 4:30 am, when they began nudging Tom and me to GET UP. He took them out but then made them come back to bed and wait for breakfast.) They’re all a little crazy in all their different ways, but they have so much love to give. I don’t mean to aspire to craziness when I try to be more like them. It’s just a bonus, I guess. I showered, dressed, left the house to wash my car (the weather is lovely), make a bank deposit, and grab Starbucks.

My heart hurts. I want to be nice to myself. I’m not sure if I have the focus to write. There’s so much I’m unsure about. But I sure am grateful for the love in my life. I’m grateful for the values and strength I was given by my family, and the family I’ve made since. I feel far away from and lonely for many of them, but I also feel the love. Thank you.

Tiny Tuesday!

I’m keeping a running account of moments in this day. Will I post it? If you’re reading it, I guess I did. I think I got maybe six hours of sleep last night? I always look at the time stamps of the last things I did on my computer or phone to recall my “lights out” moment, though that doesn’t really indicate when I fell asleep.

Up well before six, dogs not having heeded the time change memo, I quietly doom-scrolled on my phone for a bit. The last things I saw last night were some of the thousands of messages from women all over the world expressing their love and solidarity for the women in the U.S. on this election day. Their words were profoundly moving. In my morning news feed, I read that all U.S states except Alaska and Kentucky are in drought–just as I heard the sound of thunder, promising more of the much-needed rain we’ve been getting over the past few days.

Among my early morning activities are the online games I play for later comparison to Tim and Jim’s game results. One that only I play (though sometimes Tom does) is Spelling Bee, and I got what I thought were two difficult-level pangrams. I told Tom maybe I should stop after my success and play no more games today. =) He was busy trying to put an “I Voted” sticker on the top of Jack’s head. I suspected that would prove less successful than my Spelling Bee results.

I was wrong. Tom posted this on his Instagram account.

I showered and washed my hair; have had the dogs outside a few times. For Tiny Tuesday, I’m wearing a few of my favorite necklaces: one with heart-shaped, good-energy stones; one with brass musical charms; one with amethyst and quartz crystal pendants; and a wave-and-whale-tail ceramic pendant.

I’ve eaten fairly nutritiously today and taken my meds on time. Blood pressure and blood glucose all good. Tom picked up protein-packed takeout on his way home from work. (I’ve read protein can help regulate stress responses.)

And I have written. And written. The imaginary world is stressful, too, with characters in conflict and many unknowns ahead, but I’m sure it’ll all turn out okay. I’d like to take that attitude into real life.

And now I wait, with everyone else. Hours? Days? Unless something extraordinary happens, and then I may add to this post.

Mindful Monday

Wishing you all peace of mind. Happy Monday.
For me, I hope it’s writing, home, husband, dogs, music, and nourishment. For you?

Was sad to hear about the death of Quincy Jones today, though he lived a long and eventful life. What an impact he had on music and culture. Someone in comments to the obituary I read strongly recommended Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, and just like that, it’s in my Kobo ebooks. Research!

All Hallows’ Eve

I hope you and yours have a safe and happy holiday, however you celebrate. It’s raining here (which we GREATLY need; Houston is under a drought), so even if we were giving out candy (we’re not), I doubt there’ll be many children trick or treating. Behind the cut, I’m sharing the last days of my skeleton photos posted to Instagram. Y’all get a lot more details here than I provide on my Instagram posts. I had a little help today thanks to posters from the coloring book pictured above. It’s always a party if there’s music!

Continue reading “All Hallows’ Eve”