cirque du soleil

On advice of a friend, I looked into the CDS show coming to Boston this summer. Having never seen a live show, I thought maybe it was time. Imagine my quite pleasant surprise when, having been forwarded an email from said friend, I was greeted by this lovely ladybug. From the tidbits of CDS shows I have seen on television, all involved were slender, lithe, athletic bodies contorting to everyone's delight and amazement. This ladybug is fabulous! Not slender, and fabulous! Even if there's padding involved, it appears to be for the purpose of enhancing this character, not making fun of it.

We're going to see OVO in August.

tchaikovsky would be proud

This is my little friend, Alia. For Christmas*, we gave her a kit of unadorned wooden nutcrackers along with a paint set. Without any direction, and with amazing determination and drive, she had completed them all in less than two days. Zoom in on this picture. They have handlebar mustaches. It's all very cool.

* We celebrated Christmas with Alia's family weekend before last. Three previous attempts had to be rescheduled for various reasons. If you're wondering, yes, it's fun to have Christmas in almost-March.

it's everywhere

The other day, I blogged about a random heart posted on a tree by the side of the road. Today, I found another.

This one, a simple heart nearly filling every inch of a regular piece of paper and stapled to a telephone pole. I parked in a nearby lot to walk over to it and take a photo, when I realized that it was at the end of Love Lane. How sweet.

I walked back to my car and was turning around to leave when I found another heart on another pole. Thinking there might be something to it, I decided to drive up Love Lane. Lo and behold, each telephone pole on the street had two or three hearts pinned to it. Both sides of the road. From one end to the other. The last house before the street ended, had a giant heart painted on it and lots of little hearts carved into the porch banisters.

I didn't take any more pictures, as it was a small neighborhood, and my parked car and camera-ready wandering might be disruptive. But it was kinda' cool.

finding the heart

Last weekend on the drive to Mom's house, my attention was captured by what appeared to be a broken heart fashioned from wood and mounted on a tree by the side of the road. At the time, I had a full 'to do' list, and wanted to stay on track. Onward I drove.

I found myself thinking about the display of art/affection during the week, though. So, today as I headed back home after visiting Mom, I made it a point to stop. That is, after I scoured the treeline of a tree-lined road for 20 miles before finding the right tree -- while driving in the opposite direction. I made a couple u-turns in the process. But on the day of the Big Game (and because I was in The Sticks, New Hampshire), there was no traffic with which to contend.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered messages.

"It's broken worst than you know"

"I love you"

"Thier is no distance so far apart"

"You will alway have a piece of my heart"

Heartbreak is bad for spelling and grammar. But good for art. I wonder if the beloved is aware of this installation.

P.S. Finally photos from my new camera. This occurred because today I also procured a new computer.

found

I went looking for a picture to use in tonight's otherwise brief blog entry. Instead of simply plucking the one I liked best and inserting it here, I found myself fascinated by the site from whence it came. I direct your attention to Words Are Art. Lovely and fascinating. The one I found at first was a beautiful, stark tree blown by the wind. But wander and see if the houses, moons, or bunnies strike your fancy.

it's slipping away...

The muses are gone. Even the part-time one, who inspires meek anecdotes and easy YouTube embeddings. I'd hoped that this lovely lady sketched by Deeleigh over at Well Rounded might be enough to stir the lazy muses from their slumber. Alas, not. Or not yet -- not that I have it in me to wait around for it.

It's easy to say that available free time has decreased now that I'm well into a real, full-time job again. Especially given the depth to which my subconscious is submerged in my new industry (I have dreams about huge kettles full of cooking fruit, tiny jars packed with delectable condiments, and Excel spreadsheets brimming with pricing formulas. Every day. No, really... every day. Without exception. For coming-up-on half a year.) But I managed to shake the muses loose with reasonable frequency when previously employed in a real, full-time job. What's different this time?

There's no answer to that question, because the muses, well, they've taken leave. Even the second shift one whose sole responsibility is making excuses.

It's not for lack of topics.

* Family... ah, family
* Friends (present, past, former [different from 'past'], and maybe even future)
* A new president
* The wild (and barely tolerable) winter weather
* My rapidly growing dissatisfaction with our living quarters
* The single song I play repeatedly despite having a library of over 20,000 songs
* Poems that make me ache
* Cute cats
* Messy storage units
* A highly successful venture into making meatloaf
* Problems whose aching manifests as bouts of hives
* The sweetness in the world
* The overload of everything in the world
* The year of the landmark high school reunion
* A thick skull that remembers less and seems to only grudgingly adapt
* The imminent demise of one of my favorite size acceptance blogs
* Newly updated lists
* File boxes that look organized from the outside
* Unread books gathering dust
* The burden of truths that can never be shared

This could go on forever. Not actually writing anything interesting or insightful. Just listing the general topics. I've got this one song on repeat on my iPod so as not to wake up Ted. It's 58 degrees in here, and despite my fluffy slippers and layers of long fleece, my toes are cold. And once again, I've escaped the potential for a full night's sleep by rambling about nothing until the calendar turns.

What's the point?

And so with that, I suspect that sanguinary blue will likely come to an end. Not following Paul's suit. I've floated the idea before. Now I just need the overly pert motivation muse to kick me in the ass so I'll actually take the site down.

I'm elsewhere in the ether. One way or another, I can be reached if need be. Good night.

watercolors

I discovered Peter Welsh when a number of his paintings were on display locally. Lovely.

shiny object

I just think this graphic is pretty. If I were so rich that I could be truly fanciful, I'd buy a white car with broad doors and have this fabulous set of swirls magnified and painted on each side. If I were even remotely interested in body art, I could have it tattooed -- perhaps around my ankle or the back of my neck. Or I could dedicate myself to becoming a better letter-writer and have it printed onto elegant embossed stationery, with my monogram in gold next to it.

Or I can just blog about it. Play with it on the computer and pretend.

Here's my new 2009 Scion xB in Super White with a custom decal. Not bad, huh? All it took was the Scion website, the copy- and- paste function, the little Paint application in Windows, and some wrap points and overlaying in Microsoft Publisher.

And away I go! Beep! Beep!

elephant

This is amazing. Follow the link, and spend the 8½ minutes. Completely wonderful. More info here.

another

I like this one better. Have you splattered yet?

~~~
Song: "Falling" by Jamiroquai
Other: Costco trip today!

for art's sake

While I like to think myself moderately creative, I'm no artist. So when I find a fun way to pretend that I am, I go to town. Hence, the Jackson Pollock website. No fancy instructions. Not even any idea what to do. Just go there and start moving your mouse around. Hover in one area for a couple seconds. Click to change colors. Splatter away. What a blast!

So, again I've neglected my blog. I have good reasons (several of them), but am not going to reveal details at this point. For now, I'll just build a little suspense and say that there will be interesting posts in the near future, pertaining to what we've been doing, what we will be doing in the months ahead, and oh yeah, that meme post I keep promising to do.

~~~
Song: "Fever Dog" by Stillwater (a real song by a fake band; see "Almost Famous")
Reading: "What Should I Do With My Life" by Po Bronson
Other: Kurt Elling and Raul Midon -- two of my favorite musicians -- are playing a FREE concert this Saturday in New Haven, along with Terence Blanchard and Dee Dee Bridgewater, hosted by Spike Lee. How cool is that?

great art prevents sleep

Yes, I was going to go to bed half an hour ago. But I decided to read a few blogs beforehand. And now I simply must include another new piece by my blogging artist friend, Billy. There are three designs, all intended to be done in chalk for a street painting festival in Houston. Aside from looking extremely cool in this medium, can't you just imagine them on six foot square section of asphalt in chalk? Go, Billy, go!

the sloggin' noggin

What, no mad upload post at 5:00am? No desperate attempts to disprove addiction? How could I let an entire day go by without an update?

Well, my children, sometimes life intervenes. Two signs came to me today to convince me to temper my furious import mania. First was the overwhelming need to sleep for more than four or five hours. After about a week of late night bedtimes and very early morning alarms, the deprivation has caught up with me. So, this morning, I woke up, got ready for work, and went to work. That's it. No squeezing just another 100 songs in while blow-drying my hair.

Then, something happened in my office that could either be interpreted as Sign #2 or could just be an indicator that Sign #1 has long-reaching consequences. In the 20 seconds I was bent over to get some promotional bags out of a box on the floor of my office, I completely forgot that there are large, steel storage bins mounted overhead. Can you see this coming? I didn't. I stood straight up and ***WHAM*** smacked the back of my skull right into the edge of the bin. That was almost nine hours ago. My head still hurts. My husband finally convinced me to take some Aleve. Maybe I'll sleep.

So, anyway, I did actually do some uploading tonight. I'll put the count in at the bottom. Instead of just listing the song that's playing as I publish, I'm going to put in the last 30 songs I've heard on shuffle. These combinations are getting downright amazing, now that there's so much more music in my iTunes library. But, as I mentioned about the paradox the other day, I still have a long way to go. The first 5000 or so songs were from CDs that I listened to most frequently or used for a specific purpose (like having my entire holiday catalog online or making mix "tapes"), plus song purchases. After about 5000, I started going through my rack in alphabetical order. Right now, I'm up to Counting Crows. So, there's still a lot to go. Plus, after Z, there are a couple of sections by genre (soundtracks, compilations, and classical). Yep, lots left to do.

Man, I must have banged around my brain, because I feel like I'm just rambling and making little sense. So, I'll get back to business. The list of songs I've listened to tonight while uploading music. Here goes:

Liebesleid
Joshua Bell

The Child Is Gone
Fiona Apple

Men In My Life
Anita Baker

Neon
John Mayer

Ironic
Alanis Morissette

I Like You
Morrissey

The Uncertainty Of The Poet
Kurt Elling

Space Oddity
David Bowie

Mary Jane
Alanis Morissette

The Working Hour
Tears For Fears

Hey Jupiter
Tori Amos

Sisters
Bobby McFerrin

Can't Get Enough
Bad Company

Let's Get Away From It All
Rockapella

Departure Bay
Diana Krall

Dindi
Astrud Gilberto, Antõnio Carlos Jobim & Marty Paich's Orchestra

4 Leaf Clover
Erykah Badu

Wedding Song
Andy Stochansky

Hello, Goodbye
The Beatles

Karma Killer
Robbie Williams

Don't Let It Get To You
Jane Child

World Waits
Jeremy Enigk

Instant Replay
Dan Hartman

Lullaby Of Broadway
Dianne Reeves

Big Decision
That Petrol Emotion

Muzzle Of Bees
Wilco

Just Wait
Blues Traveler

My Love
Mary J. Blige

Less Is More
Joss Stone

O Morro Nao Tem Vez (Favela)
Stan Getz, Luiz Bonfá w/Antõnio Carlos Jobim

You've got to admit, that's getting crazy eclectic. Love it!

OK before the song count, I must redirect your attention to my blogging friend, Billy. He is very committed to producing new art on a regular basis, and I love his use of color. He starts with one or more of several media (paint, photography, etc.), but his hallmark is the digitization he employs. There are two pieces here. The one at top is a new one (although I don't know why Blogger's putting a big block of white space under it). The one here is a Christmas flashback from last year. Nice work, as always, Billy!

OK, super duper time for my brusied head to rest on soft pillows. Song count: 8046.

Blogger has way freaked out on me. Pictures gone screwy, spellcheck telling me entire paragraphs are wrong. Maybe it bumped its skull on something hard, too. Good night.

this art brought to you by...

Yee-ah, I'm cool. Spraying down some graff on the web, yee-ah, yee-ah. Spra-shizzle, my graffizzle. Rate my masterpiece with lots of Sprite bottles! Peace out.

bam

when things get too serious

Remember the Gates project in Central Park? Well, this newest 'version' of it made me laugh out loud. A little light in a dark world. Too bad the chasers had their brows in a furrow about it.

inspiration gone wrong

Every now and then, I poke around the web looking for interesting art. I love photography, and painting or graphics with lots of color and interest. I'm not an artist myself, although I did take a watercolor class a couple years ago. The teacher was not as inspirational or insightful as I hoped (and needed), and so it didn't really stick. I might try again someday, but not just yet.

Meanwhile, I always enjoy doodling even though I rarely do it anymore. Years ago, my every spiral-bound notebook had margins full of posies and vines, geometric shapes, and various attempts to create my own type styles.

Then today, my printer made a mistake. Its serial cable partially out, it misinterpretted a letter I'd sent to print. When I turned the paper over, the first thing I thought was how interesting it looked (not really about the fact that it printed incorrectly). I decided to take some highlighters, a couple Sharpies, and a Dryline to it. This is the result.

I call it "Dear Mr. Scrap." A bit silly to title a doodle, but I can't help myself (it's the writer in me). The combination of a faulty scanning job (that is, my fault), the use of a very faint medium (highlighters), and a large reduction in size (to fit it into this finite venue) makes some elements invisible here. Not that it's spectacular to see in person. Just more vivid.

Oh well. Perhaps I'll be more inspired to try some new things. Until then, good night.

colors and shapes

Here's some cool art I found while wandering the Blogger trails. William H. Miller is done with the rat race and is dedicating himself to art. He works a wide variety of styles and media, and I find just about all of it wonderfully fresh. Here is just one piece.


So Lovely
© Copyright 2005 William H. Miller All Rights Reserved

Billy's friend, Jim Frederick, also creates some amazing works. I'm hoping to show some of it soon, as well. Until then, here is the link to his online gallery. Between the two of them, there's a lot of amazing art.

I'm envious! Of their talent, and their commitment to their art.