Life

Rambling

/ still a dreamer

I find there are periods of time in which I am all over the place. I’m working on several graphics jobs that call upon very different mindsets, am fielding a proposal to do a new job, wondering when I should follow up on something I am waiting to hear back on, when I’ll get the time, (or desire), to simply pull the remaining paperwork from my files so I can put away all my 2010 tax stuff, and it goes on and on.

I finally used my Barnes & Noble’s gift card from Christmas – bought the reference book I’ll need for some of my characters in the picture book I’ll be bringing with me to the upcoming NJ SCBWI June Conference, and surprise! David Cook’s CD, (yup, from American Idol.) Usually, when I work at my desk, I listen to new age, light classical piano or guitar, or Indian (American) music because I can’t do creative writing when someone is singing lyrics, but lately, when on other types of work, I find myself listening to the radioio IDOLS station in iTunes. Sometimes I watch the show, sometimes not – this year I seem to be interested. I do know, however, when I hear David Cook’s voice, I hear something I like, so he’ll be arriving in a few days. And then I went to read a bit about Patricia Briggs’ latest in the Mercy Thompson series, River Marked, but let’s not go there just yet.

Forrest Gump arrived today. I must be the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen Forrest Gump, but so be it. I, unlike a friend of mine, am a constant juggler of movies in my queue. He just adds something, and when it comes up, it comes up. Not me. I seem to ponder how it will fit in with the current tenor of my life, my feelings, etc. Do I want to laugh? (or need to?) Am in the frame of mind to deal with something powerful and disturbing? I can’t say how many times I have pushed Hotel Rwanda down as it begins to surface in my queue. And I just watched Alice in Wonderland, which I really enjoyed a lot. Makes me think that maybe when I’m done my current book, that I’ll read Alice – she’s a fixture on my bookshelf.

Now watching Alice in Wonderland and Forrest Gump may be an offset to that current book – The Kite Runner. I was told it was a very sad book. I didn’t ask why my friend found it so, so am discovering the many levels of sadness for myself. Certainly, reading a book like this makes it that much more obvious what fabulous, often spoiled, lives we are living here in the land of the free and home of the brave. Visualizing the bombed ruins of Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan and the cruelty of the Taliban as described by the author is sobering to say the least. And it made me think of how that happened here in its own way, except that the victims weren’t Afghani people, they were native Americans.

Imagining the abject poverty the Afghan people were subjected to is heartbreaking, but that same poverty is also right here in America. Many of those living on reservations are living in conditions that are below those of third world countries, yet no one ever talks about it. Or even seems to know. Indians have the highest rate of poverty of any group in the United States.

Years ago at a pow-wow, I saw this great tee shirt. It was funny, well, no – not funny – more ironic. Clever. Ultimately, more sad than anything else. It features Geronimo and several other Indians, the tee shirt saying – Homeland Security – Fighting Terrorism since 1492. Here it is – you can order it at Northern Sun along with many items which have something to say. Was their experience so different than what happened in Afghanistan? Their world destroyed, families killed, homes taken away, forced to live where their terrorists demanded. It was a very dark chapter in American history. I wonder if that history is being taught. Or that this impoverished way of life, so unlike our own, continues on in many parts of this country. Or are we all just too busy?

Well, rambling I am. I also wonder when one of my cats will get past the hairball she seems to be harboring somewhere in her digestive tract, and which she feels compelled to try and push up in the vicinity of 2 – 4 a.m.

And I can’t wait to start photographing my friend’s little boy, my model for the MC in aforementioned picture book. Yeah, just all over.

Making Time for What We Love

/ still a dreamer

OK, I’m the first one who says we have to “make” time, not “find” time, but every now and then, something occurs which effectively pushes in my face just how much I’m trying to accomplish, and what happens? Instant overwhelm!

If you have a dream, and I’m sure you do, there really are just times when you wonder how you’ll ever get there. I was updating my web site, and looking at how many children’s books I have somewhere in the process of either writing, editing, storyboarding, dummying and/or illustrating, and how I really want to be working on each and every one. But then I … like you, I suspect … remember that I have to work and do all the multitudinous things that mean taking care of our lives.

It sure can be a dilemma, can’t it? And then we sit down to it, (or run across it, climb up it, build it … if that’s your dream), and we’re happy. I actually updated a few areas of my site, and added the following quote in my shop, where I always like some words of wisdom – “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker.  His words seem apt for where I am right now — standing on the edge of everything exciting, but still wondering how long I can fly up there, before I have to return to the reality of everyday life. Well, everyday life as I know it at this precise moment in time.

I plan on making the time to fly up there longer and longer. And to keep on learning how to kick that overwhelm to the curb. How’s your dream coming along?

The Joy of Dishes

/ still a dreamer

As I was looking at my newest and most (currently) favorite mug this morning, I felt a desire to write about dishes. What is it about dishes that is so incredibly wonderful? I will admit, I have plenty, and quite a few complete sets. But with rare exception, and this mug is one of them, (available here), I haven’t paid much – or anything at all – for them.

Just to give you an idea of the wonderful dishes that call my table and cabinets their own are the following … a set of Johnson Brothers china, (given me by my college roommate), a complete set of Vernon Ware, which is like a soft-hued Fiesta Ware, (dishes I grew up with),  a 1920’s set of hexagonal amethyst glass dishes, (I paid $15 at the first auction I ever went to with my friend, Jan, in the late 80’s), a Royal Doulton Art Deco tea set missing a sugar bowl, (dirt cheap on London’s Portobello Road in the mid-70’s), hand-thrown bowls, large and small, and serving dishes and casseroles, (all gifts), cobalt crystal tumblers, ( a gift), and …. a lovely assortment of “factory-second” sets from Pfaltzgraff’s factory outlet, ( at $1 and $2 per piece), when they were still open in Flemington. I also have a gorgeous set of hand-thrown stoneware glasses and plates to whose talented creators I happily paid a fair price. And, of course, the hand-thrown mug you see pictured. (In all honesty, there are still more odds and ends in more hand-thrown mugs, pie plates, glasses, serving platters, etc. gathered over the years.)

So what can we conclude from this? That I have tons of company for dinner? Nope, that’s not it. That I am a disaster to only myself when packing to move? Oh, yeah! That many of these dishes have sentimental value? Yup, that’s true, too. But the overriding conclusions are the following … the dishes that I have collected over the years are beautiful, and, in my estimation, a form of art. It’s true. Dishes are a relatively inexpensive – if you know where to shop – form of art.

But wait, there’s another conclusion. Dishes make food look wonderful. Food, one of the true delights in life, can be beautiful on its own when prepared, but placed on the right plate or served in the right bowl or dish, surpasses its own singular appeal. A table set with just the right dishes holding even the simplest of foods can be a form of art. Think of some of the best food magazine photographs – they have you salivating just looking at the food so beautifully presented. And behind every mouthwatering morsel is a carefully selected dish.

So that’s it – there’s joy in dishes because of their beauty as an art form all their own. (And just so you know … I had to actually resist photographing more of my dishes for this post … but maybe another time.)

Synchronicity

/ still a dreamer

I’m a big believer in synchronicity, which is simply to say, there are no coincidences. I’m also of the mind that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. Or, in some cases, appears again.

I am currently reading The Four Agreements, A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz, a Toltec nagual, or shaman. It’s my own book, and this is probably the third time I am reading it, and as with most books of this kind, gaining a deeper understanding of Ruiz’s words. The synchronicity? Two different people mentioned this book to me in a space of as many days. I hadn’t even thought of The Four Agreements in quite some time, but loved it when I read it. So I soon found myself sitting on the floor in front of that bookcase starting it again.

I believe when we have such experiences, we are being pointed in a direction of something we need to know or which will benefit us in some way. So I am again reading about Ruiz’ four (seemingly) simple guides to a meaningful life: Be impeccable with your word, Don’t take anything personally, Don’t make assumptions, and Always do your best. It may seem like something you’ve read before, but written in the framework of the Toltec wisdom, it is quite different.

Some of these lessons are easier to learn than others, some have more personal meaning, and some are exactly what I am focusing on in my life right now. You might find the same. A little Toltec wisdom might be just what you need now, too. After all, you did come to this blog post, didn’t you?

Making Time, Making Cookies

/ still a dreamer

It’s President’s Day, a national holiday. It snowed just a bit this morning, and it’s amazingly quiet. So quiet, in fact, that if I weren’t at the computer, I’d think the power had gone out. So I made my trip to the vet this morning, and am now ready to begin work, but first, a small post.

I photographed the cookies I made yesterday for two reasons .. one, I do love to bake, and two, I love to take photographs. But more important, is that I made the time to bake them for myself. My schedule seems always packed, and more often than not, if I bake, it’s for someone else, an event, etc. But I’ve started on a new path. It’s not actually about making cookies for myself, but for making the time for what I want to do and figuring out what I don’t need to spend time on at this moment, and making the change.

This is all in the interest of moving forward with my writing and illustrating children’s books. We all have issues in our lives, and we all have things we need to change. Right now, I am taking a really hard look at, well … my life, and how I go about it. I am happy with my work, and grateful that I am engaged daily in creative work, but children’s books take additional time .. where will I find it? I won’t. I have to make it. And this means dealing with many more issues in my own life, my own heart, and how badly I want to reach my dream.

So after I made the cookies, I worked on a manuscript, then a storyboard, back to the manuscript and back to the storyboard. This is who I am, and who I have to make time for. The cookies are just a bonus.