Tag: houston

Button Sunday

This is often all we can do in a world that’s driving us mad or breaking our hearts.

I celebrated art today by spending a leisurely few hours alone at the Bayou City Arts Festival. There were a couple of artists I wanted to see/meet, but I was happy to absorb art and creativity on every level I could. This is the first public event I’ve attended in more than two years. It was an odd experience being among lots of strangers again, but the weather was good, there was plenty of water to drink and shade to enjoy for brief rests, along with live music and SO MUCH ART. You can be sure you’ll be seeing photos from the day in future posts.

Seeing behind an artist’s festival exhibition space can be as fun as seeing what’s inside it.

It was a good, inspiring way to finish off my birthday weekend. I saw and explored things that make me want to write as well as paint. Our world would be so grim without the good energy of animals, the healing energy of nature, and the creative energy of humans. Music, dance, film, books, and the many varieties of visual art–I’m endlessly grateful for it all.


Stunning day for a festival.

Waves…waves…waves…

You can, if you wish, go back and revisit this post from October in which I went off on a little rant about one of my favorite artists Bruce Springsteen (honestly, VERY high on my list, higher even than maybe a Beatle or two) and how I once taught his song “Thunder Road” to my college freshmen as a fine example of the carpe diem theme, wherein I told them “Mary’s dress waves,” then years later, I was faced with what I was told was hard evidence that “Mary’s dress sways.” I apologized to my students all these decades later if I had misled them.


Wait. Let me pause here for a photo that recently landed in my social media feed. Taken in 1970… this lovely Irish/Italian/Dutch boy, name of Bruce… What? He was twenty-one and legal!

I, however, was not. I’ll enter the Bruce plea: Not guilty of inappropriate thoughts because it IS hard to be a saint in the city.


Moving on from all that, a couple of weeks back, Tim told me about a new used bookstore in the Heights that’s pretty cool, KABOOM. Since our two closest Half Price Books shuttered during This Pandemic™, a new used bookstore was good news to me. On my weekly outing, I went browsing.


I took several photos inside and out, and bought several books, and sooner or later, you’ll probably see a lot of that one way or another on the blog. Here is one of the books I bought, and it’s not quite as elaborate or detailed as the Paul McCartney books I recently featured here.


Then again, it’s 24 years old. Bruce has released a lot more material since then. But it is authored by the Boss himself. So….


Here it is, that song that remains forever lodged in either the first or second spot of my all-time favorite songs.


Wait, do I need to zoom in on “Thunder Road?” Her dress is WAVING? You don’t say.

I rest my case. (ETA: But y’all should read my answer to Marika in the comments.)

A few shots featuring Bruce and more of my favorite things.

I wore the album The River out when I got it. It still blows me away. Saw him on tour for that one.


Lovely, hand-scribbled lyrics for “Glory Days.”


Song “Born in the U.S.A.” misunderstood and misappropriated by political candidates. Because their teams don’t read the lyrics. Or ask Bruce.


Bruuuuuce! One of my two favorite Jersey-born boys.

Tiny Tuesday!

Last night, I did a new moon intentions ritual using information from Kevin at Body Mind and Soul. He does videos each month during new and full moons on the store’s Instagram account that are always fun and informative. My intentions were mostly about writing, but also making inner peace with a few things.

Pictured are the Star card from the Muse Tarot, the last candle burning from the shelf everything had been on, and stones and crystals including kyanite, moonstone, malachite, turquoise, amethyst, amazonite, tourmaline, and clear quartz.

I like starting February with creative energy and serenity.

Tarot Etc. Thursday No. 2

The Muse Tarot, published in 2020, is a new-to-me deck. If you read here, you know the concepts of the Muse, and muses, are important to me as a writer and a creative person in general. I won’t belabor this; it’s my own system that works for me around inspiration, imagination, and action. It might have nothing to do with traditional stories of muses or anyone else’s perception of what a Muse or muses are.

Some of the struggles I experienced with writing in 2021 were on my mind when I left the Hall to pick up a box of nag champa incense to replenish my supply. And I knew, I just knew, I needed to go to Body Mind and Soul to do it. When I went inside, my first goal had me picking up their lone box of my brand of incense, which felt fortuitous.

As I walked toward the cash wrap, I spotted a display of kyanite, a favorite stone, and among many, I picked up the one pictured under my incense holder/burner in the photo. I knew it was supposed to come home with me. Kyanite has a high vibration, making it an amplifier of only the positive, and it corresponds to the throat chakra, which has to do with communication and using one’s voice. Writing is my voice, so kyanite is a good helper. Kyanite also helps with sleep and dreams, so at night, it now rests with several other stones on the table next to the bed.

Then I glanced toward the shelves with all the various decks of cards, including their tarot decks, and there it sat: The Muse Tarot. There may have been two there, I don’t remember, but all I had to see was “Muse” to know I was getting the deck. Thank you, Christmas cash and gift card givers. =) Also, the staffer who checked me out was a highpoint of the visit; when he struck the three-toned chime as part of the ritual of clearing the shopping bag with my purchases before handing it to me, his eyes and mine widened with surprised delight at the tones we heard.

The Muse deck is a little different from more standard decks. For one thing, in the suits, there are no Kings. Those have been replaced by Muse cards as the highest card of the suit. Also, in place of Pentacles are Materials, and in the other suits, Wands have become Inspiration, Cups have become Emotions, and Swords are Voices.

The author/artist does not provide the traditional Tarot spreads in the guide, assuming a user will know those or can easily find them. I rarely lay out any of the more detailed spreads; again, I use a system that seems better suited for what I want to contemplate with the cards’ help. I shuffled the deck and pulled three cards face down. Before seeing them, I had a specific question for each card (no need to blare my questions to the Internet).


The Major Arcana card the Magician was there for my first question. Briefly: She’s a reminder to bring one’s desires into form, in a way that creates something healing for others and is rooted in love. The guide also explains some of the other symbolic significance of the art on the card.

For my second question, I pulled the Knight of Materials. The Knight is the third highest in the suite, indicating I may be far along on this particular question. The keywords attributed to the card include productivity and diligence paying off, determination, and planting and tending seeds for the future.

Even without reading about the card, pulling the Muse of Materials for my last question was visually a resounding answer to the either/or question I asked. The Muse sends a message about manifesting and abundance. Please note that for both of these cards for which I drew Materials, I wasn’t asking questions about money or worldly success but about something more intangible. So while keywords include prosperity and wealth, more relevant to my question are the keywords gratitude, health, comfort, and happiness.

I see the Muse Tarot as being a great deck for creative people or for anyone needing guidance about any journey or choice, really, whether related to vocation, spirituality, or relationships.