Artistic Thoughts and an Upcoming Road Trip

I've been writing, and writing for several years now, not really producing much artwork. But I do love it when I dream of projects dealing with metal, chemicals, flame and glass - my media of choice. Something popped into my head in the early hours of the morning today and I want to see if I can get it to work in a way that would make it cost-effective. That's the problem with many of my jewelry and art designs - they take too much time to be able to ask a proper price for them.

Isn't this enamel leaf brooch lovely? A leaf motif was part of my dream
last night, although it wouldn't take this form. 

This particular project would use gemstones that I purchased several years ago for a similar design, but expand the design with more depth and some color. I'm not really sure where this will go, but at least I finally have a direction of possibility with my metalwork, and I've been at loose ends with that for too long. Will it work? Maybe. Maybe not. I'll have to try some samples to see. And given the current state of my kiln, I may have to torch fire or use my mini kiln instead - not as effective or fast, but fine for a trial version.

I love working with faceted gemstones. They're like little pieces of
color that fall down just to be admired by their owner. They
sparkle, they gleam, and I can look at them for hours on end. 

I had my car into my mechanic yesterday for a full check-out and check over. I wanted to know whether it would be safe to drive it to my conference at the end of May, or whether I needed to push buying a new car into a very tight time frame. Fortunately, I got the report that my car is in pretty good shape and perfectly fine to drive to and from my conference. I had to put some money into it, but it was within the budget I allowed before it would be "too much". So I fixed up Grape and she and I will go on one final road trip before I look into replacing her by the end of the summer. I want to trade her in while there is still some value to her, and she's a great car, but there have been some serious safety advances since she first came on the scene.

Although this is not my car, it is a close cousin - same year, same color.
I really love my PT Cruiser. There's a lot of great design in this car, and
it is totally a retro classic and the first cross-over made - starting
an entire category of follow-up cars. I've never regretted owing
my Cruiser and will be sorry to say good-bye later this summer.
At least we can have one last road trip together. 

I'm quite happy, though. I didn't want to be pushed into purchasing the new car just yet. I wanted to take my time, discuss the financing options with DH who will help me figure out the best way to go about it, and I want his opinion on the new car too. I think it is a very good alternative, and he is resigned to the fact that I'm going to upgrade this year. I know he's relieved that I'm not backed into a corner either, though. The pressure is off :-)

Shruti does wonderful mandala drawings. I searched
for one of hers, but wasn't able to find one to show
you. This one, however, is quite close to the type of
wonderful work she produces. 

For those of you who had asked me - my registered letter that caused my schedule to go so haywire, was a small letter and packet from my dear friend in India, Shruti. She's a phenomenal artist in her own right, and was sending me a sample of her newest offerings to see what I thought and what pricing she should ask for them. It was wonderful to hear from her again, as well as getting the ability to hold some of her art in my hands again. Hopefully my answers to her questions were what she was looking for. Next year, if all goes well, we'll room again at Bead & Button Show - she's a really fun roomie.

Look at this completely amazing mandala by Kathy Ahrens. You can
see some really magnificent mandala art on Deviant Art if you follow the link. 

So, as I get ready to go back out into the cold and rain (I hope the snow stopped north of us, although it is cold enough that we might have received a dusting), I'll be thinking of all of my friends around the world who are experiencing sunny, warm days today. Please send some of that warm weather my way. I want a warm spring filled with flowers and chirping birds, not one that makes me want to crawl back into bed.

Oh, a bit more snuggle under the blankets time would be so
welcome, but no ... I have to get going in fifteen minutes. *sigh*

Happy Tuesday!

A Rainy Sunday and Thoughts of Matisse

It's been raining - and raining - and raining again. But that's not bad. Actually, that's pretty good because it's not snowing! If this was a month ago, all of this moisture would have been coming down as snow and we would have been shoveling. Instead, I get to use an umbrella to walk over to McDonald's this morning after I drop my car off for servicing. DH will meet me at McDonald's for breakfast and then drive me to work. A chauffeur and a cup of coffee. What could be better?

I'll be using my umbrella to walk to McDonald's this morning. It's been
raining for the past 24 hours and it looks like it has no intention of
stopping anytime soon. 

I gave my mechanics the instructions of making sure that I have a clear idea of how reliable my car is and whether or not it will be safe to drive to and from Milwaukee for my conference later this Spring. If the car is in good shape, I may hold off on buying a new one for a bit longer - maybe closer toward the end of the year. Or maybe not. I am so undecided on this! But I'll have a better idea when I pick up my car tonight. 

My own road trip won't be nearly as much fun as the Ferrari Italian Road
Tour was. Wouldn't it have been fun to be driving a Ferrari through Italy? 

I had a lazy Sunday amid rain upon rain. It was pouring rain yesterday and we stayed inside for most of the day, watching television, playing computer games, and taking time out for dinner. Lazy can be good every now and again. The week won't be quite as lazy, but it's OK. We got a huge shipment in last Thursday and we'll be working on getting it processed and out for our customers for much of the week.

"Purple Robe" is typical of Matisse. He's one of those
amazing artists that you look at and think "I could do art
like that" - and then you look closer and realize the amazing
talent that he had. 

I've been wanting to see the Matisse exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and it's down to the last three weeks. I'm making reservations for next Sunday and will be there at 11:00 am to look at wonderful paintings and glorious art. Can you tell I'm already looking forward to it? Absolutely! Museum crawling is one of my favorite activities EVER!

"The Red Madrass Headdress" is another lovely painting
of Matisse. I can hardly wait to see the exhibit. I'm just bouncing
in my chair, I'm so excited. 

So as I get ready for a long and rainy day, I wish all of my friends a glorious start to their week. Happy Monday to all!

Happy Weekend - Beautiful Pictures of Animals

I'm working today, as always, but I'm well aware that most of you who read my blog and postings have the weekend off. I'm a bit rushed today, so I'm going to play with some beautiful things instead.

Time to go hunting for beautiful things...

Earlier this week I went through pictures of fabulous cars - so beautiful in their form and the engines underneath the hood. But there are many types of beauty in the world and I'm on a hunt for some to share with all of you today. Let's see what my hunt has come up with.

You can find beauty in the most unusual places. Just look at this
stunning lizard. The jewel-toned skin color and that deep amber eye -
he's a stunner (and probably knows it). 

Who can resist a beautiful tiger photo? Tigers are one
of the few cats who actually don't mind getting wet. In
fact they love the water. 

Here's an encounter that could go very badly. The leopard is coming
a bit too close and comfortable with the African porcupine. Those spines
range in length from 3" to 12" or even longer and they're thick. The North
American porcupine is a pussy-cat compared to his African cousin. 

Kingfishers have the most amazing and beautiful plumage. Just stunning!
I really loved this picture of two kingfisher birds together on a branch. 

And as I sign off for the day, here's a stunning elephant picture. I adore
elephants, and many of my friends are also enamored with them. They
are exceptional, loving, strong friends and faithful parents. Elephants Rock! 

Have an exceptionally beautiful weekend.

Shards of Unease and Poetry

Why is it that some things just spear through a person with unease? In my mail last night, I found a notification from the Post Office that I had a Registered Mail item awaiting me at the Post Office. Now, my schedule is such that getting to this particular post office today in a timely manner won't be easy, but I'm going to have to try because the next day I could manage this would be Tuesday. By Tuesday they probably would have been returning the mail to the sender.

Sorry We Missed You notifications are a bit nerve-wracking. If they
arrive on a Monday or Tuesday - no problem. I can get to the Post
Office on Wednesday. But later in the week requires some serious
shifting of my schedule. *sigh*

But who would have sent me such a thing? I could see my DH receiving something like this for his father's estate legal papers, etc., but I don't really have anything out there that would require Registered Mail for the delivery. I'm perturbed, a bit worried, and slightly frustrated. I'll manage to work it into my schedule, but today is a super-busy day at the shop and having to drive to an out-of-the way post office isn't fitting into my schedule with ease.

I enjoy the poetry of Ogden Nash. He has a biting sarcasm wrapped in
a small package that packs a punch. He's fun to read. 

My 'humorous poem' was released yesterday and I'm rather pleased with it, as well as with the reviews/responses from those who have read it so far. I need to get some of my past fics up on my archives - I'm behind again - but last night I spent working on an overdue beta. Although I write poetry every now and again, and am comfortable with the genre, it isn't my favorite. John Milton doesn't have to turn over in his grave with fear for my skills eclipsing his own. I'd say he's very safe indeed.

Who doesn't love the poetry of Dr Seuss? Whether writing for
children or adults, he had a wonderful way with words. 

But I rarely read poetry - I don't find it something relaxing to just sit down and read a poem, even by some of my favorite authors. There's something amazing about good poetry, though. That ability to search through for the perfect word, that single word conveying the exact emotion that needs to be carried through to the next word, is a skill that is beyond most of us. There's a lot of really poor poetry out there, along with some gems that gleam like sunlight off a sparkling ripple. I love those wonderful gems, but I can't always spend the time culling through the chaff to get to the good kernels.

Want to try your own hand at poetry? Try some of the forms
featured in the buildings above. You might be the next great
poet and not even know it - yet! 

The snow has finally almost melted here, but that has left us with serious fog and our second season - that of road construction. This weekend has some serious road closures on major interstate highways through the Twin Cities. I feel sorry for anyone visiting or just trying to pass through our cities this weekend - it will be a frustrating stop and go turtle-like progress through the bottlenecks. I think I'll stay in or just go to work, and I hope my customers won't be too badly affected by the traffic issues.

It's time for road construction season again. It's better than shoveling
snow every day or two, but it's going to be really inconvenient for a lot
of people over the weekend. 

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy your day!

Running Late - Photo Blog - Cars and Dreams

I might dress like an aging hippie (truth in marketing, after all - LOL), but I do love fashion and fine design. I guess that's the artist and jeweler in me. One of the items that I adore are cars and most of the cars I love are WAY beyond any budget I'll ever have, even in my dreams. Take a look at some of the cars I would love to drive, even once in my life.

I fell in love with Lamborghini when I was a teenager. There is
something about this sporty Italian speedy car that just catches
my breath every time I look at one. Yum! 

I think it was the gull-wing doors that first solidified my love for
the Lamborghini. That, and the fact that the first one I saw parked on a
street was in a fabulous lime-green color. Yummy! 

This is the Masarati Granturismo. I figured that since I was discussing an
Italian car, I'd move on to the other contender. No flash on this
one, just solid beauty and speed. 

And just look at the interior of the Masarati. Every piece is hand detailed, the
leather is hand stitched, and all is designed for speed and comfort. The
ultimate in luxury. 

Then again, who says I need modern speed. How about classic lines in a
historic brand? This 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom will do just fine, thank you. 

Here's a futuristic classic - the Delorean. Although this has a date of 1983, I'd
put it a few years earlier. Those gull-wing doors were the hallmark of these
wonderful stainless steel cars. Yes, this is the car that was used in the
"Back to the Future" movies. 

For speed and sports car beauty, it's hard to beat Porsche. I've actually
driven a few of these over the years. They're a joy to drive - responsive,
jumping to show their stuff, they handle like a dream. 

I'll end with a car that I see quite often - the Jaguar. Possessing many models
at many price points, this car is a frequent purchase for those wanting
something extra special without the high price tags of similar cars. I first learned
how to drive a stick shift on my brother Peter's Jaguar as we drove on the
outskirts of Mexico City where he lived. It took years before I realized
what a special gift I had been given, to learn on such a beautiful and classic car. 

So there you have it. Dreams of someone who loves cars. Want to give me a gift? Any of these would do in my gift basket at any time :-) Have a wonderful Thursday while we enjoy the fact that it is raining, not snowing, up here today.

A Day Off - Sleep, Errands and Rain

Tuesday nights are late nights for me (all of your night owls will laugh at what I consider late - but then again, you shiver at my early morning wake-up times). In any case, because of both Face Off and Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, I get to bed at 10:00 pm instead of 9:00 pm. That one additional hour of sleep is important, so I let myself sleep in a little bit this morning - 20 minutes of wonderful cuddly sleep. It should have allowed me to only be a slight bit behind schedule today, but no. I couldn't find my eyeglasses. And the subsequent hunt took an additional 20 minutes of time. Suddenly my stolen 20 minutes became 2/3 of an hour and I'm running behind *sigh*.

Since Face-Off's finale was last night, Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Challenge will move into their time slot beginning next week with
Heroes of Cosplay taking the later time. I'm pleased about that because
I can get back to my earlier sleep time. Happy me! 

I have to get supplies from two different office supply companies today - better pricing on some things at each store will force me to visit two. But at least they are close to each other. I'm going to start my day out by driving back to the auto dealer and taking another, close and detailed look at the car I'm thinking about buying.

I love taking road trips. I haven't done anything major for several years
now, but I used to drive south every year to go through the Southwest, purchasing
new products for the stores I operated. These days my road trips
consist of my annual drive to Milwaukee - a mere 5-6 hours away.
Have any of you been on Route 66? As a former resident in
numerous locations in New Mexico, Route 66 was a road I was on often. 

I don't want to buy a car if my own will be fine for my annual road trip and beyond, so I've also set up a car appointment to get Grape looked at and get a realistic opinion on how much longer I can expect her to be dependable. Right now she's leaking a bit of oil, the result of a pothole incident about a month or so ago. That should be fixed and there are other issues here and there. I need dependable. I know the approximate trade-in value of my car and I don't want to put a huge amount of money into fixing it, so I'm at a crux. But the look at the new car this morning and the opinions of my mechanic next week should help me to nail the time frame on when I'll actually get new transportation.

I don't mind rainy days, but probably should buy a set of rain boots
one of these days. Wet feet aren't fun. I have a lovely yellow raincoat
that my mother-in-law bought for me when I first moved up here, but I've
never owned a set of wellies. 

It looks like I'll be running around with rainstorms today that will continue through tomorrow, so I'll be grabbing my Aussie hat with the large silver and turquoise spider for weather protection. This is a short post today, but my wishes for you to have a fabulous Wednesday are no less heart-felt than if I had written a novella. Happy Wednesday!

Thoughts on Gay Rights Progress ... or Not?

I just finished reading a book called "The Tin Box" and it left me with a lot of thoughts and fears.  The main character of the book is given a job as caretaker for an abandoned insane asylum that is slowly being restored. It's in disrepair with few funds available for restoration, but it's on the Register of Historic Places, so can't be destroyed. The protagonist lives in a small apartment in the asylum while working on his PhD dissertation.

The Tin Box left me in tears with lots of thoughts about
how our 'educated' society treated homosexuals in
our recent past. 

Exploring through the echoing halls and abandoned rooms, he comes across a small tin lunchbox that contains letters never sent from a patient institutionalized in the late 1930's for the crime of being homosexual. The main character slowly moves towards acceptance of his own sexuality while reading through the letters. The story of this patient and his 'therapy', which was accepted therapy for the times, led me to thinking about how far gay rights have come over the past 70+ years. But we have so much more to do.

This picture is of the County Insane Asylum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Just
look at the size of this building. Were there really that many people
who were insane in one small area of the US? And there were
asylums like this throughout the nation. 

Homosexuality is no longer illegal in the United States, so arresting a man for the 'crime' of homosexuality and sentencing him to jail or, as in this case, to a mental institution for a 'cure' no longer happens through the court system. But "Pray for Gay' camps still exist, as do many parents who refuse to accept their gay children, turning them out of their homes and onto the streets to make their own way.

Although the ad has an old-fashioned look, it is modern - dating from 2011.
Frightened yet? Maybe you should be. This is one of two products sold
in drugstores around the nation. 

Sexuality is not a choice, it is hardwired. The type of body that causes a sexual response from another varies from person to person, and can be a member of the same or the opposite sex, tall or short, skinny or overweight. Some people prefer blondes, others gingers or dark and sultry. Men can be attracted to other men or to women, women can be attracted to other women or to men. The attraction is not criminal, it is natural. Yet, over the years and in other nations and lands, this basic fact is not acknowledged and, in some cases, is still criminalized and punished by imprisonment or even execution.

Maybe it's time we start admitting that all sexuality is legitimate
as long as it occurs between mutually consenting adults. 

In the past it was perfectly acceptable to imprison a person for 'deviant' sexual behavior. It was common to link homosexuality with pedophilia. Those accused of the 'crime' of homosexuality could legitimately be sentenced to prison or asylums for their crime. Within those institutions they were free to be 'cured' in numerous ways including cold therapy, insulin therapy, castration and lobotomy. All of these 'cures' were centered on destroying the desire of the patient for a lover of the same sex, and all destroyed the patient or prisoner instead.

Embrace your inner queen. 

As you go about your day today, cleaning up the trash and recycling for Earth Day, spare a thought for those who have paved the road to sexual acceptance with their blood and bones. Work to eliminate prejudice and homophobia around you and remember that sexuality is a universal human condition and that it should be a joy, not a path to fear and pain. Actively try to make sure there are safe places for teens who no longer have a home. Work against child marriages and governmental sanctioned punishments for homosexuals. Work for equality - it benefits all of us.