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Ordinary Things
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Still lurking

I'm still alive :)

I've been busy with work and the holidays and stuff, and I've been blogging elsewhere...mostly because of formatting issues.

I might come back here once in a while, but for the time being...Ta~

 

 


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 7:23 AM EST
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Thursday, 18 December 2008
Christmas Countdown

My last official week of the year begins today.

Actually our week begins on wednesdays, but since I had the day off yesterday, which wasn't really a day off since I spent it on the road from one end of the province to the other to run for appointments *sigh* but I digress...

We have to produce two weekly papers this week because when we come back the first week of january, it'll be production day. So I'm rather anxious about what my story list will consist of. I never know what awaits me on that first day with the list, so I have to be prepared for pretty much anything.

A fitting example would be showing up to work in dress pants and heeled shoes, only to be sent out to cover a school event hosted at a local farm...uh...yeah...those shoes are history, and the pants weren't in very good shape either.

We had a lot of fun on Tuesday at work, I really don't know how it began but lets just say anyone walking into the storefront might have wondered what nuts took over the intercom system that day. Everyone just sort of went cuckoo for 5 minutes and then we were left sitting there wondering...ok, so what just happened?!! lol

Then I went to East Side Mario's with my fellow reporters and editor for some yummerlicious grub.
At some point I said to my Editor..."sooo, I guess my 3-month probation is over..." and he's like "Why? Are you worried?" I said "nah, not really but I guess I expected something at this point."

His reply was something along the lines of "pfffff, don't worry about it, you've got nothing to worry about, you're doing fine."

Anyhoo it was fun, we'll have to do it again sometime. Preferably when we're not rushed because some of us have events to cover.

So I guess this concludes my post about nothing in particular, it's time to grab my bootstraps and white knuckle my way into work once again. But hey, I'm not complaining...I'll take a half-hour drive in as opposed to a two-hour one ANY DAY!

I guess I haven't been posting here much cuz I've sorta been stuck on doing it at the other place lately ;)


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 9:24 PM EST
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Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Surgery tomorrow

It's going to be another long day...beginning with an early trek to the city for my oldest son's surgery. They're finally taking the hardware out of his leg because it's hampering his overall progress.

I am both anxious and nervous, but I know he'll pull out of it just fine.  I hope he regains the mobility of his knee and that his progression continues when he's able to go back to physical therapy, because it had been at a stand-still for the past little while. 

*sigh*

Then after who knows how many hours before it's all over and done with, I need to drive him back home, get my youngest son and trot off to parent/teacher night at his school.

Second long day in a row...came home from covering at meeting last night it was almost 10 p.m.

So that what my 'day off' consists of for tomorrow, and it's my weekend to work as well.

I'm tired, and brrrr, I'm frozen...I need a warm back to snuggle my cold toes up to ;)

Ta~ 

 


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 8:13 PM EST
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Friday, 24 October 2008
Another cake, another candle
Mood:  happy

THE PERFECT LOVER

 

The good you do me, love,

is being like no other I ever dreamed of,

so real, all others were dreams of you. 

Beauty, reality, the sex we desire

become unlike in our mating bodies

what they were, and seem to be

creative by their accord, as are the parts of nature

when they marry and make in delight

-fire, or flowers. 

We love, but do not understand how our meeting

is privileged and more perfect

than any fact, of love  or trade.

  

MOON

Sitting in the branches

of trees at midnight,

I drink moonlight. 

When the sky is brilliant

I sit in the branches

and drink deep 

Moonlight is too strong for me;

I mingle it with the waters

of separate stars, 

I mingle it with the stars

in the bowl of night,

and drink deep. 

 

THE BREAKING HAIL 

Sharp snow falling;

my heart's torn with strange desire,

wild leaping of love out of memory

into new countries of snowy silence. 

The hail rattles on the pane,

breaking the blood vessels

from their crystal moorings,

I am drifting to the laughing sound of the hail. 

AS THE MIND, THE TOY OF REASON 

As mind, the toy of reason,

complicates the infirmities of middle age,

so the figurative chaos of multiplicity

is charged with patterns, of things,

utilities, money values

-those irrelevant inventions

to a properly feeding organism,

shovels to feed, crates to take the air in.

But beyond the prisms of mind, where the greedy

intellect never reaches,

colors gleam and flare, coruscate like the great aurora,

with a passion of life,

a passion of pure existence. 

~Louis Dudek 

(ooopsie...this book is WAY overdue at the library)

~~~~~~~~

Speaking of toying with reason....the crew at work got me good yesterday.

We were 'called down' to the production room, and I ususpectantly complied of course, when I walked in there was a cake on a table, and they were telling me to hurry up and blow out the candle because it was going to go out, but it looked kind of funny from the moment I walked through the door. 

As I got closer and saw what was actually on the cake in lieu of a candle, I swatted a co-worker Ann, saying "that's you!" she maintained her innocence saying it was actually the editor's idea, asking, "didn't you hear him giggling down here?"

To which I replied that I hear him giggling all the time in his office....lol which raised a few eyebrows.

So the candle was actually a tampon, and they had lit the string of course. I thought it was freaking hillarious!  Then they stuck the slightly burnt tampon back into its wrapper and back in an absent Kathy's desk drawer.

Bunch of dorks!

Then I went back up the stairs to put the dishes into the sink and when I got back into the newsroom there was a gift on my desk from my fellow reporter and my editor. (wrapped in newspaper of course)

They did it all yesterday because as an added gift, I was given today, my actually bday, the day off. 

It is my weekend to work however, but it's not a tough one...I'll be covering halloween shing-dings from one end of the county to the other.  I'll also be attempting to get a bit of live streaming for the website, so it should be fun.

~~~~~~~~

I think perhaps I will take the time to do a bit of painting or pastel work, and maybe a bit of scrapbooking today.

Ciao~


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 7:03 AM EDT
Updated: Friday, 24 October 2008 7:16 AM EDT
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Sunday, 19 October 2008
Lovin me some Cohen tonight
null

Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 9:54 PM EDT
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Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Electoral exhaustion

*phew*  je suis pooped!

After covering a huge fire yesterday afternoon and meeting our writing deadline, then driving back home to shower, change, because I smelled like a giant side of ribs, I drove 2-1/2 hrs away to cover the defeat of the Bloc Québecois candidate for our riding.

He was supposed to show up at this little bistro at 9:30 p.m. and didn't show up till 11:30 p.m.

By the time I drove back home, went to the office to type out my 'coverage' if you can call it that, and got home it was 2:30 a.m.

My boss told me to take today off....darn good thing he did anyway, cause I doubt I would have gone in today.

I bolted upright in bed at 7 a.m. realizing that he didn't have my pictures so I e-mailed them to him pronto!  He was extremely glad I'd thought of it.

We put out one helluva paper this week though, with a great coverage of the recent fire outbreaks in our area.

And after all that, I am still feeling rather zombie'ish, so I think I may turn in early tonight. 

Major turn of events coming up in my life...contributing to my zombie stage in a big way at the moment.

When I wake up in the morning, I'm hoping the fog will have cleared a bit.

*sigh*

 

Bonsoir~

 


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 8:30 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 15 October 2008 8:33 PM EDT
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Wednesday, 8 October 2008
What a ride!

It was quite the ride I was on this past weekend...I barely had time to breathe!  My schedule left me with no time to write about 8 events that I covered, until monday. 

I stayed up till 1 a.m. the next morning, then got up at 5:30 to kick-start production day.  Front page is pretty much all mine though, so that's cool.

I sure am glad I have the next two weekends off. Though we are in for one hell of a week as our Nation's Election day looms (this coming Tues)...at least we get Thanksgiving Monday off, though I'm told to enjoy it, as I am never to have another holiday monday 'off' again (because deadline is on mondays)  

My biggies this weekend included an 3-day Oktoberfest festival, and a Commuter Rail trial run day, with two century-old cars filled with dignitaries and media, that did not have amenities such as heat and a toilet I might add. 

Thankfully we had pit-stops along the way, and it was a beautiful day for my very first train ride ever, and I absolutely loved it! 

I totally drifted off, imagining myself abord a train travelling through Europe. 

Man the stuff I could write, or read while aboard a train!  I felt so inspired...

Speaking of inspiration, if the following Dudek poems are a few that caught my eye while reading his book Infinte Worlds.

A Small Rain

Evening. With the thin rain falling.

A sky like moonstone.

And here, a slender tree, at street-edge

one branch pointing left

skyward,

another, thin, slanting to the right.

And in the pale light-filled street

the first lamps, far

pearly, light blue

light green, red

of all colors

of all dimensions.

 

Out Of My SLeep Rise Dreams

ANd when I sleep, out of my sleep rise dreams

of bleating horns on empty silent seas,

of windless sails that pass like wounded men,

or harbour night, and fog, and dim

snowy light falling on my face and hands,

and of my lonely body walking there

like a ghost wanting something never found,

an old love or a lost land of the mind-

and in the unhappiness a breaking of glass

like a hand dashed at clear waterdostirbed;

something of boyood swimming on the face of dreams,

like scenes painted on cheap glassware, shines

full of the sun's brightness and the rich grass,

and a home in a place where once I stayed;

but all this like a stone slipping falls

down the well of memory, and a cold hand of air

strikes my face, and then I am awake;

but all the echoes of that harbour night

sound in my waking head and beat in my heart.

 

I Wrote It With Joy

I wrote it with joy, gladness -

with bells in my hands

and syllables for cymbals,

streamers and standards.

 

A human holiday!...

toy bugles from a candle tree

with drums umbilical

and flowers of confetti!

 

Whence the world on my lips,

mind's marriage with matter?

WHo put the music there

to consonantal clatter?

 

It played on a heart's string

as sharp as toothache,

and fell on the page like blood

in pain's mimic.

 

I made it without a try,

and it was sweet -

it fell from my finger-tips

like chattering seed.

~Louis Dudek 

 

Well that's it for me, I plan to get myself a bit of sleep tonight.  It's raining though, and I hope I'm not up because of a leaky roof again, I hope the problem's been fixed.

Ciao~

P.S.  Oh if you're interested, msg me and I'll send you the link to the newspaper I work for ;-)


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 9:35 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 8 October 2008 10:37 PM EDT
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Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Let me *pinch* you, I think I'm dreaming...

I floated all the way home, through dinner and during my bath earlier, and it wasn't because I'm an air-head nor because of the natural boyancy of my big knockers, but rather because of the injection I received to my ego before I left work.

We were done with this week's paper and setting off to press when my Editor said he wanted to talk to me up in his office.

So here I am walking up the stairs thinking, great...what the hell did I screw up.

He started by asking me how things were going, and if I still enjoyed the job, did I come across any obstacles, etc...

I answered that I absolutely loved it and that I hadn't come across any obstacles that I couldn't overcome so far.

He then told me that I was doing really well, that I was a natural writer, and said when he and the publisher talked earlier, he told her that 'where he was hoping I'd be at' by Christmas, I had already surpassed. And he said that if I left there today, I'd be able to get a job at any newspaper.

I was simply elated! 

But the 'piece de resistance' was when he told me about the journalistic associations they're a part of, and how they had these awards in the spring. The journals submit some pieces in different catagories, and, hope that they are chosen to be the recipients of these journalistic awards. They have won many awards in the past, and he told me that he wanted to submit my "Magic Garden" article from last week's paper. He also told me to keep that in mind from now until springtime to bring any other 'worthy' article I might think should be submitted, should it slip by him.

DUDE!!!

It was from my second week there, second week as a reporter, and already he's nominating one of my articles!!

*insert girlie squeals*™   x 1000²  (how's THAT for a formula, eh?)

That's pretty much how 'cited I is!!

(mmmm vanilla frosted mini wheats)

Yep, eating a bowl of cereal (kinda forgot to eat today, so I was famished by dinner time) then I'm off to bed early again tonight. I went to bed at 9 p.m. last night, and I couldn't even tell you when the last time I went to bed that early was...

I'm tired, and this blasted rain is having an effect on my old bones, but the hot bath did help in that regard, and I'm sure the added sleep I'm hoping to get won't hurt either.  (mebbe even a little bitta prescription drugs tonight?)

My weekend to work.  I've got an Oktoberfest to cover ANDDDD-UH...I'm going on a train ride, I'm going on a train ride! lol  yes I am a child at times ;) 

I've always wanted to, never been on, and going on one this coming Sunday.  It's a day trip, with a few stops along the way. I am sooooo looking forward to it. Fall foliage is at its peak too, so I should get some good pics. 

Brrrr I just had a shibber (as my youngest used to call them when he was just a wee bug).

I better turn up the furnace tonight (it's what I have to settle for in lieu of a warm bedmate).

Ok, I better stop (everything) and just go to bed ;)

Niters~


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 9:20 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 1 October 2008 9:49 AM EDT
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Sunday, 21 September 2008
Imma paid writer
Mood:  happy
Topic: Poetry/Writing

Well I've survived my first week as a reporter/photographer.

My first weekend to work was quite full.  I covered 6 events in two days, thoughout the span of our county.

It's funny how it goes...some of the events I thought would be ho-hum booooooring, turned out to be the funnest ones to attend, and vice-versa.

I especially wasn't impressed with the hob-nob snubby snobs playing golf. 

Why is it that money gives you the right to be rude and dismissive with people I wonder?  *shrug* whatever...

Money does not a class of people make.

     -Carole

Anyway, I enjoyed some of the perks of the job on Thursday when covering a Fish-Fry fundraising event....yum, yum!  I ate some salt water fish varieties that I had never had the pleasure of  tasting before and totally loved it!

I uncovered a couple of stories on my own for this week's issue...and I'm doing a really fun piece as well.

(I mean I can't tell you what it is till we go to print...ya know?)  ;)

Still can't believe I am now a 'paid writer'

heh!  what a kick in the pants!

Tommorow is deadline...so I better get my butt to bed.  I have officially dubbed mondays 'red bull' day.  Yup, I'm going to need the energy!

I LOVE the rush of deadline though... 

Also very very much enjoyed doing page layouts...I think I might be able to get creative with this in the long run.  It's like scrapbooking the news!  heh...k, I'm tired...bed now

'Nite~

 


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 10:50 PM EDT
Updated: Sunday, 21 September 2008 11:07 PM EDT
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Saturday, 13 September 2008
“Extra, extra, read all about it…”

You gotta love Canadian politics!

 

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=yD0sb3HQPik&eurl=http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9008418.html

 

Now THAT’S the way every campaign should be run! ;)  lol

 

I’ll actually be playing my part in the election coverage in this week’s paper.  I have to write a ‘campaign launch’ piece on an assigned candidate.  It is one of the more difficult ones I have to write, for lack of stats and info…but I’m sure I can dig something up.

 

I’ll have 8-10 stories published this week’s upcoming paper, on a range of different subjects, couple of front page pieces, and one exclusive!

 

Upon booting up my computer on my second day on the job, (after showing up with a box of tissues and my voice barely a whisper on the first day) I was told to grab my camera, because we had to go cover an accident.

 

After standing in the rain, feverish and snot-nosed for about 2 hours to get the scoop on how this vehicle ended up in the river (fortunately no one was injured) I sat back down to my desk to start typing madly before the adrenalin rush disappeared. 

 

I’ve got to admit, I’m enjoying it so far.  Not the part where I had to work my first weekend straight away, nor the part where I had to drive from one end of the county to the other to cover 6 events, and all beginner’s stress aside, including learning to use a new system, new software, protocols and the whole heaping pile of information that I’ve had to absorb in a short period of time, I believe I’ve risen to the challenges that came my way from the get-go. (Despite the fact that I’ve wondered what the hell I was thinking in accepting this job, once or twice already)

 

Well, that’s it for me tonight…ta~


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 10:53 PM EDT
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Thursday, 4 September 2008
Let the chips fall where they may

Sooo, I sent in my 'mock-assignment' for the Newpaper reporter/photographer position of our local paper and got a call this morning to say that I was hired!

I was told that they were impressed with my writing, and that the assignment was pretty much print-ready.  That in combination with my answers during the interview did the trick.

A few hours later I got another call saying they were printing my business card and wanted to know a few minor details...I am blown-away!  Yup, I am ;)

And speaking of away...I guess I will be for a while.  I need to concentrate on making this work out so I won't have time for much else but work and taking care of my family for a while till I get into the swing of it all.

But that is not to say that I might not pop in to post a few lines now and again, some artwork or somesuch to satisfy my itch. ;)

So Ciao~

 


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 1:58 PM EDT
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Monday, 1 September 2008
Interview

There’s a silent hush over our little town tonight, children are all snug in their beds, and moms are happily packing their little lunches in prep for the first day of school!!!

(I had to limit myself to only 3 exclamation marks here; else I’d have gone way, way out of control)

I went for that job interview this evening, and I think it went over quite well in fact, but I am trying to remain as aloof as one of my interviewers you see, because I really couldn’t read her.

The position is reporter/photographer for a small local weekly here, and they gave me a ‘mock assignment’ which is really quite a no-brainer, I will do a stat report of my old stomping ground, the local campground, where I was manager for a couple of seasons.

I hope my victims subjects will be cooperative. I better get to bed, I have to get up in 6 hrs and hit the road…boy has an appointment with a surgeon, not the surgeon he originally had, because apparently he is leaving and they’ve handed his case over to another guy, which we’ve already seen once before and were not overly impressed at the way he treated us…but we shall see, we’ll give him another chance.

I’ve got my ducks lined up in the event that it works out pretty much the way it did the first time we saw him though, cause I’m just a smart cookie that way ;)

Anyhoo… ta~


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 10:13 PM EDT
Updated: Monday, 1 September 2008 10:15 PM EDT
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Friday, 29 August 2008
On the eve of September

What more fitting than to end the month of August with, say...a day of rain?  I guess those glorious days of warmth and sunshine weren't meant to last, ah well, c'est la vie...

This weekend is our county fair, it's a big to-do around these parts,which goes without saying really, I mean c'mon, I live in the sticks! 

They usually have some top billing country singer or band performing which attracts a lot of folk, me....notsomuch.  It's not a secret that I am not a fan of country crooning.

So what do I get out of it?  Well I do like to make my rounds of the exhibits, we do have some great talents in our humble little county, so I know I will see some wonderful things.

Oh yeah, and I musn't forget the fair fare...the eats!  There is something to tantalize everyone's taste buds, including such delicacies as Beaver Tails!  ;)  Mostly I'm content just hanging around and getting a nostril-full though, it's too rich for me...but I can't guarantee I'll pass up on a slice of Billy's Pizza.

I have an interview on Monday....for the job that I really REALLY wanted.

Of course I'm second-guessing myself, wondering what the hell was I thinking of applying for it in the first place and stuff, but I'm at least going to show up for the interview and see what happens. 

In other words...I'm gonna wing it ;)

 


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 8:58 PM EDT
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Sunday, 24 August 2008
End of August days
Mood:  d'oh
Now Playing: Open Your Eyes - Snow Patrol

It's hot and humid and disgusting, but hey, I'm not complaining! 

We've had a good stretch of beautiful weather, with the exeption of a bit of a drizzle during the early morning hours today, otherwise, I'm loving these end of August days, best time of the summer really...

We sat out late at my parents' last night, of course we were all tired and suffering from a bit of indigestion, (maybe we're just getting old) lol you gotta love family reunions! 

We were short two family members, who's absences were felt of course, but we shared some memories & tears and got through it.

We let far too much time get away on us between get-togethers, I guess our next one will be at Christmas (though that one is always more difficult to orchestrate)  

~~~~

Oh yeah, I applied for the wrong job!! LOL

ok, I'll explain...

I was talking to my friend, who mentioned in passing that I should apply for this certain job, I asked if it had been posted, and of course, it had been posted in last week's local weekly paper, which I forgot to buy. 

I usually always buy it, as I am actively looking for work and one close to home would be preferable. 

So I figured I'd buy this week's paper to see if they ran the add in this one as well...they hadn't.  So I made a few phone calls, trying to find someone who hadn't sent their copy to the recycle bin, and finally got my hands on a copy.

In my excitement, the first job posting I came across, I sat down and wrote an opening letter for and popped off my resume.

A while later, someone picks up said paper and says..."oh, is this the job you applied for?" 

I looked at it I thought...duh!  This is the job I wanted to apply for, so what the hell was that other one?? 

:P~~~~~

shut up!

So apparently I applied for two jobs on Friday, and with my luck? 

Yeah...I'll be getting called for an interview for the one that isn't the one I really, REALLY wanted ;)

Don't get me wrong, either one would be fine, but the intended one would better suit me.

And I am purposefully NOT giving out more information about them because I already said enough, I don't want to jinx myself! (as I always seem to)

:D

And now some French poetry:

Nu

Ce corps que l'on caresse avec des doigts de fée,

cette douce tendresse qui vous est prodiguée,

ce sourire gracieux, ces cheveux défaits qui tombent dans les yeux,

dans ces yeux éclairés.

 

Cette musique douce sortant d'un vieux phono,

ce drap, que l'on repousse, cet air de renouveau,

et ces mots inutiles,

que l'on dit bêtement

mais veulent tout dire

sur un beau sentiment.

 

Et ce calme apaisant après l'instant d'orage,

cet attendrissement qui paraît d'un autre âge,

pourraient être désuets,

s'il n'y avait toujours,

dans ces gestes secrets,

les gestes de l'amour.

 

Je me dis que ce soir, il y sûrement tout cela,

dans mon regard, dans tous mes gestes,

oui mais toi,

tu ne le crois pas!

 

Reste donc écouter,

cette musique douce,

elle ira te porter

suave et sans secousse,

vers ce clame apaisant après l'instant d'orage,

vers l'attendrissement que tu crois d'un autre âge.

 

Et ces mots inutiles que l'on dit bêtement

mais qui veulent tout dire sur un beau sentiment,

pourraient être désuets,

s'il n'y avait toujours dans tous ces mots secrets

tous les mots de l'AMOUR.

 

A une amitié 

Houle d'or de la dernière vague, au couchant,

dans le soleil qui fuit,

rayon d'argent de l'aube silencieuse,

fracas d'hommes laborieux,

silence chaud de l'après-midi,

couleurs pastel du soir,

tout me rappelle ta douceur.

Celle qui j'ai connue, que tu m'as donnée.

Rêves fous de jeunesse,

éclats de rire frais,

yeux pétillants de joies au hasard des journées.

 

Longtemps après, je pense encore à tout cela.

Nostalgie douce du passé;

amour ou amitié?

 

Il reste au fond de moi cette douce chaleur qui fait que

mon coeur bat et plus vite et plus fort lorsque

j'entends ta voix.

Pourtant tout nous éloigne.

 

Reste les souvenirs, si forts, si profonds,

qu'ils me font oublier les regrets que j'ai

de ne plus te voir.

-Bernard Duporge 

*petit soupir*

 


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 8:28 PM EDT
Updated: Sunday, 24 August 2008 8:30 PM EDT
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Friday, 22 August 2008

Today marks a year for you...

I've been there, I know how difficult it's been,

how difficult it still is...hang in there.


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 8:50 AM EDT
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Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Poetic *panting*

mmmm yesssss!

Ok so my first experience with an audio book is a pretty darn good one if I do say so myself.

What kind of book you might ask? mmm tis french poetry, and I swear by the 2nd of the 40 some tracks, I was *panting* slightly.

The music montage I could do without...but the poetry of Bernard Duporge is exquisit!

Here I am at track 5 and I've got these wonderful little *shivers* running up my arms and legs... I'll give you an update when I get the 40th, if I make it that far ;)

~~~~~~

So what happens when you cruise down the highway on a warm summer day with the moonroof and windows wide open?

You end up with a hairdo like this! LOL

And that look is what you get after having had about 2 hrs sleep the previous night, and being on the road all day ;)

I had an urge to take out my crayons, but I think the early hour will be dragging this tired ass of mine to bed.

Have to do some more planning, for my parents' 52nd wedding anniversary on Saturday.  And after a day of baking and cooking, I will be have a late night ahead for Friday too...outing with the gals.

On the up side, it *is* supposed to be a gorgeous weekend :) 


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 6:17 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 20 August 2008 7:24 PM EDT
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Saturday, 16 August 2008
Better start building that Ark

We had 22 days of rain in June, 27 days of rain in July, and I think...what are we today the 16th of August?  We might have had 1 day without rain so far this month.

Yes, we are feeling cheated at this point...after having survived the second biggest snowfall in recorded history, I suppose Mother Nature thought it only fitting that we endure the second wettest summer in recorded history? 

One can only hope that we will continue marking our record-breaking year with say perhaps... the second longest Autumn in recorded history?  or how about the second shortest/ warmest winter in recorded history? 

Well I top it off with a record of my own.  This has been my second most scattered, least directional year in recorded history...dunno if I'm coming or going most of the time....ooops, there I go again...

While I could plan to get my shite together once school starts for the boy: want to find a job that I actually want to keep doing till I retire, want to start working out/going to the gym again, want to draw/paint/write more, etc, etc...I've learnt that planning most always goes astray, no matter how you try to stay the path.

So....I guess I'll just 'wing it', seems I’m pretty good at that these days ;)

~~~~~

I'm reading this interesting book The Poetic Landscape-A Contemporary Visual and Psychological Exploration, by Elizabeth Mowry, and decided to share some of the quotes from the book with you.  Isn't that awfully nice of me?  ;)

You cannot find what

the poets find in the woods

until you take the poet's heart

to the woods.

John Burroughs, Harvest Of A Quiet Eye 

Every artist who...aims truly

to represent the ideas and emotions

which comes to him when he

is in the presence of nature

is a benefactor to his race.

George Inness  

The aim of art is to represent

not the outward appearance of things,

but their inward significance.

Aristotle 

 

Color creates form. 

The eye and soul are caressed 

in the contemplation of form and color. 

The subtle changes of color over a surface… 

transitions that are like music… 

are intangible in their reaction upon us. 

There is an immediate sensuous appeal. 

John F. Carlson, N.A., Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting 1929  

 

It’s morning and all is well. 

I am…in the home of poets, 

that is to say, in nature. 

All the dewdrops of dawn

glisten through the delicate veil of mists 

gently lit by the sun. 

A Beholder Before A Painting By Corot   

 

That landscape painter 

who does not make his skies

a very material part of his compositions 

neglects to avail himself of one of his greatest aids. 

John Constable, 1921

The artist as a poet

will have seen more

than the mere matter of fact, 

but no more than is there 

and that another may see

if it is pointed out to him. 

Asher Durand  

 

The true purpose of the painter

is simply to reproduce in other minds 

the impression which a scene has made on him. 

George Innes

Nature matters to people. 

Big trees and small trees, 

glistening water,

chirping birds, 

budding bushes,

colourful flowers… 

these are important ingredients

in a good life. 

The Biophilia Hypothesis

To read the landscape like a book 

as well as to enjoy it as a picture, 

opens the way

to a new relationship 

between men and their environment. 

The health of the landscape,

its appearance and men’s response to it,

are interdependent. 

Sylvia Crowe, The Pattern of Landscape 

 

Some special places have

the extraordinary power

to serve as a metaphor

for the whole world. 

The power often comes

from a concentration,

a reduction to essentials, 

and its effect is altogether to absorb us, 

to hold us in the spell of the place. 

The Poetic of Gardens  

Now I know

that great men 

have no other function in life 

than to help us to see beyond appearances. 

Jean Renoir, Renoir, My Father

~~~~~  

 

Hurray, now it’s basement-cleaning time!  :-/  


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 12:14 PM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 16 August 2008 12:35 PM EDT
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Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Artwork

Keep in mind that I never really did watercolor painting before I took this workshop. Like any medium, it's going to take a lot of practice, trial and error on my part to get comfortable with this, apparently most difficult medium to work with.

This was done on my second workshop day:

 FlowerPots

FlowerPots

(wet on wet method)

This one was done on the third workshop day:

 Streetscape

Streetscape

Didn't do anything worthwhile on the fourth day, since I bailed out early because I was a bit out of the loop, with my son's surgery looming the next day and all (even though it has been postponed)

And there's no way in Hades I'd show you what I did on that first day so...yeah, what you see is what you get basically. (oops, just realized I didn't sign those two pieces, I'll get right on it!)

So critique away....I know you wanna! ;)

What do I have to say?

Well I had fun, and that's pretty much it. *shrug* what more do you expect me to say?

I know they're crappy but they are stepping stones to learning. There.

And last night I had an urge to play with my pastels again...

I always catch myself 'off guard' it seems. I start to draw without direction and stop to look at it at different intervals and think...hmm...doesn't really look like anything, but then I realize that I am layering and blending my colors, and I have to say, I am starting to pick up on a few of its characteristics. 

I get dirty as all get-out (which I rather enjoy) and then after a while it starts to come together. But I never know what I'm drawing until it appears beneath my hand.

The whole process is a kick in the pants as far as I'm concerned, because it blows me away to see something emerge from my seemingly aimless beginings. 

It's fun to see a piece come to life :) 

 OutOfTheBlue

Out Of The Blue

As you can see I sort of jotted a few lines down, it was something I wanted to experiment with, but now I'm wondering whether I should finish this little poem.

I'm also surprised to see that I've applied some of the things I've learn at the watercolor worshop to this piece as well.

Well, Summer's not quite over yet so...Toodles~

(even though I might have thought differently during today's wicked, wicked hail storm...Got pics, will post!)


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 12:10 AM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 12 August 2008 8:42 AM EDT
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Saturday, 2 August 2008
Surgery Update

They were wheeling him into the operating room when his surgeon walked by and asked if he really wanted to do this.  Which was kind of confusing, but then he grabed his leg moved it around a bit and said that he didn't really think it was necessary at this point, because the mobility of his knee had gotten way better than the last time he'd seen him, and he didn't see any real benefit in going ahead with the planned surgery.

He wants to see him in two months, and want to give it time to heal properly, but said that in a year's time he'd have surgery and at that point they might completely remove all of the hardware in his leg.

So I've got one very relieved boy, who thought he'd have to take a few steps back in his progression through all of this, but instead its full speed ahead with his recovery.

I'm happy that things are turning out well and that he's got a very positive outlook on things once again.

~~~~~

And now, a short pause for the cause  ;)


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 12:26 PM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 2 August 2008 12:31 PM EDT
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Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Today...

 

today

I wore

my lucky shirt.


Posted by Sylph, aka Mysty at 6:35 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 30 July 2008 6:40 PM EDT
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