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~

Mood:  happy

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~

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~

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~

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~

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 ;)

Mood:  d'oh

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*

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.

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 :) 

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!  :-/  

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

(wet on wet method)

This one was done on the third workshop day:

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 :) 

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!)

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  ;)

today

I wore

my lucky shirt.

Yep, that's what the instructor promised, and that's what he delivered!

What a day!

The initial realization that I was probably THE only one there who never really painted set in early in the day, though I was somewhat surprised that I knew a lot of the terminology, I mean I oughta, I've read enough books and surf enough porn, errrr, I mean art sites to have picked up on some things ;)

When he said that watercolour was probably THE most difficult medium to 'master', I quickly went from shock to panic to wondering what in the world I thought I'd accomplish by doing this in the first place to finally just giving in and saying...fuck it!  I'm here to learn, not paint a masterpiece!

Ok so my blood pressure was still a bit high at that point.  I mean feeling overwhelmed is one thing, but feeling overwhelmed in a class full of people is quite another.

Anyhoo...

One should not expect miracles on the first day, and first thing tomorrow morning, we have to pick one of our two works that we'd like him to critique...they're both crap, what more could he say that would make me feel any worse? lol

He kept saying that he wanted us to paint loosely....tomorrow I wanna be a loosy goosy, get into my 'zone' and just let the paint flow......

With the crayons, I was just starting to develop a layering technique that lets me play with tonal values, and I suppose I should expect too much until I can play and practice with this medium as well.

Beh!

I'll get a good start out tomorrow...it didn't help that the electrical storms we've been having knocked the power out and my alarm went off an hour late this morning, I had to leave without having my morning coffee...

I mean no caffeine all day = shitsgonnahappensista! 

So imma concentrate on a better start to the day...

I'm about to roughly sketch out tomorrow morning's piece, then I guess I'll start packing my lil goober's bag for his 1-week trip to Niagara Falls.

*sniff sniff*  mah baby's never been away THAT long before, I'm certainly going to miss him, that's for sure!

Here are the two demos that Mr Doug Mays did in class today.  He's a fun teacher, and to be honest I'm really digging his style.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Sylphe/Artsy%20Stuff/IMG_3178.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Sylphe/Artsy%20Stuff/IMG_3197.jpg

They were both done from pictures he took in France.  They are lovely paintings, don't you think?

En tout cas...I'm gonna get myself a cup of coffee, put on a bit of music, and do my homework for tomorrow.

I've just decided that I'll eeny, meeny, miney mo in order to chose one of my paintings for him to critique.

You?  You might NEVAR get to see them (you lucky bastas!)

*wink wink*

Addendum:  looks like the boy might have a bit of poison oak, or poison ivy or somesuch, now I have to miraculously squeeze in a visit to the clinic with him before his wednesday departure!

I've been bathing him in oatmeal baths and got him a non-prescript cortisteroidal ointment.  I was hoping it'd do the trick but it doesn't look like it is :(

I'll have to make sure to pack him his own facecloths and towels.

Geebus!

~~~~

K, off I goes now...ta~

Mood:  incredulous

The boy was outside riding his dirt bike and I was coming up from doing a load of laundry.

“Mom, quick, come see, come see!!” he says as he ushers me out the front door.

I’m expecting what…maybe a deer, or a bear, some other wild animal perhaps?

Well, I was not prepared to see a big aircraft (a 747 mebee? what do I know about planes?) just above the tree line. I mean we see them fly over here all the time, but never THAT low.

Sure I’ve seen them flying at that altitude when nearing or departing from an airport, but there are no airport to within 100 miles and another about 200-250 miles southeast of here. Save maybe the military base about an hour to the northwest.

“It was lower, and the ground shook mommy, then it flew a bit higher”

(Only shaking I felt from the basement, was the spin cycle though)

Ok, so a bit out of the ordinary but whatever…

I went back inside to grab my camera because I was going to bring the boy some cardboard and rags so he could spray paint his bike (he’s 12 years old, he wants to spray paint everything! He’s outgrowing it and it doesn’t run all that well anymore so I figured why the heck not) this is about 5 minutes since the aircraft incident, and I can hear it coming again at an alarming low altitude (from OUR point of view you understand) and why would it be coming right back in this direction???

I had my camera in hand so naturally I took a few shots. These are not zoomed in, so she was low I tell yas…

(Airplane 1)

(Airplane 2)

(Airplane 3)

It was also flying pretty slow and veered a bit left as it disappeared behind the clouds. It looked like the plane was looking for a place to land to be honest.

So I went inside, called 911 and asked to be put through to the police. They took my name and number and called me back about 10 minutes later saying that they had checked with aerial authorities in Montreal and were told that there was a company conducting motor-related testing northeast of Ottawa, and asked if this was the area where I lived and I said, yes.

Then she asked if I heard or saw anything since calling them, and I told her no. She asked me to call them back if I heard or saw anything out of the ordinary. And of course the boy is saying “see mom, I told you there couldn’t be anything wrong”

“well boy, you never know, there very well could be,” I told him, “and if something were to happen, it’s people calling in like this who would be one of the first clues/links to helping them if they were in distress,” -Life lesson # 867 ;)

(she just flew over again twice as I typed this, a bit higher this time though)

My mom called me in between all of this, a little bit excited and concerned about the incident herself ;)

*phew*

so there you have it, a taste of this peaceful life in the sticks ;)

~~~~~~

Here is the boy with a cheesy look on his face.

(Bike Boy)

Hmm, I really need to do something about these overgrow plants on this side of the house, dontcha think?

(The Jungle)

~~~~

Going to go sit outside for a bit before it rains again…gonna take my crayons with me too I think. (and my camera just in case!) Ta~ Bummer I’m too late…it’s pouring again :(

P.S. Here is something I did a while back, not sure I really like it myself...I didn't do the layering that I normally do with them, so I'm seeing that my technique serves a purpose.

(Sol-Étude)

I've been toying with the idea of adding my poetry to my finished pieces...what do you think?

Didn't go back to bed afterall, I headed out after I had my coffee and straight into a torrential downpour...visibility was almost nil and the streets were flooded. 

It's a good thing I was wearing sandals because I ended up in shin-deep water puddles.

I mean there were white caps in the streets for crying out loud, I'd never seen so much water rushing down the road that way.  You could have taken out a boogie board ;)   Even felt my brakes slip on me as I drove through some of these huge, I hesitate to call them puddles, through these rivers.

When I got to the city, the sun was shinning and it got hot and humid rather quickly.  So I didn't mess around, well ok I checked out the scrapbooking isle, but then I went straight to my business.

Had lunch, got stuck waiting for the train to go by, absolutly loved it....still gonna hop one some day ;)  Then headed back home again, and despite the fact that I was alone, I was still gone for about 6hrs.  so basically my day was shot.

Had to return a few calls when I got home, one of which was from a friend who's 2 sons hang out with, sleep over with, go dirtbiking with, plays sports with, go to events together with my youngest. 

She invited the little goober to go spend a week with them in Niagara Falls and wants to take them to Marine Land, to the Falls and do a whole heaping bunch of stuff with them. 

I just need to cough up the dough for admissions and such.  He'll be staying with them at her husband's appartment (he works on the big tunnel).

They'd leave next Wednesday and would be back on August 5th.

I'd been wanting to do something with him this summer anyway, going to Wonderland didn't pan out because my sister-in-law backed down at the last minute, so I'm sorely tempted to send the boy.  

He does want to go, and wouldn't get homesick I don't think, I was there myself at his age, 30 years ago...yep I'm THAT old! :P~~~

I think it's going to be stormy again throughout the night, but I'm pretty sure the worst has passed on.

Well this old chica's gonna hit the hay....gonna take my new art magazine to bed with me tonight. 

I'm toying with a bit of a twist to add to my artwork.  Also want to get into doing more multi media.   I'll throw a few ideas out there tomorrow and see what my hoards of admirers think...heh! 

k, I'm starting to amuse myself with my own stupidity, it can only mean that I'm over-tired, so off to bed with me now.

G'nite~ 

Yup, I think we got whipped by the tail end of Hurricane Dolly last night. 

Wind and heavy, HEAVY rain.  I was up till 3:00 a.m. taking care of a leaky roof in at least 4 spots...this is not good, I'm gonna have to get someone to go up and tar my roof.

Then of course the habitual menagerie kept me up...at 5 a.m. the cat was trying to tear down the door because he wanted in (tried calling the stupid beast in last night but he wouldn't come)  then at 6 the dogs got whiney because they wanted out of the basement.  So I went back to bed nursing a throbbing headache, only to get awaken at 7 a.m. by a Skidder roaring across the road.  I believe he was back-blading someone's washed-out driveway.

So here I am baggy-eyed and somewhat sluggish having to head off to do some banking and then off to do some grocery shopping. 

Blarg...I really don't feel like it.

Of course now that I'm up, everything is so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

~~~~

I made good headway in cleaning up and re-organizing my 'studio' (workspace).  The creative bug has bitten me but I refuse to give in till it is all clean.

I did do some touch-ups on a few pieces, then trimmed them and set them up in my portfolio.  (and yes, I fixed naked girl's ugly, ugly lips with a pigment marker)  I will post some new stuff soon.

But for now my debate is the following....crawl back into bed for an hour's sleep, or get ready to head off and do the stuff I need to get done....

Got a call today asking if the boy could go in for surgery on the 1st of August. 

When I asked at what time, I was told that I'd receive a call the day before to tell us what time we need to be there, and if there are any preps that we need to know of.

I told her we lived 2 hrs away, and said I hope we don't have to be there at 6 a.m.  She said she had no idea and that we'd find out the day before.  She also said he'd be coming back home that same day.

*insert french cussing tyrade here* 

Drive through, fly by the seat of your pants surgery...gotta love it. 

So I'm up for a busy, busy week next week.  Mon-thurs/9-4 is my watercolour workshop, then the next day I get up at some ungodly hour more than likely, drive the boy to the hospital and park my fat ass to wait for at least 8-10 hours if not more, then drive  2 hrs back home. 

Oh well, I just hope everything goes well and that the procedure is not too invasive so he can recover from it quickly and get back on track with his physical therapy.

I'll be glad when it's behind us.

Mood:  mischievious

reeeally ponderous...

and then my shoes started to squeak

I’d forgotten about this one. Heard it years ago and it kind of stuck the quirky side of me I guess. ;)

So I was thinking…about what poetry is, what it means to people, and where it is found.

In conversation today someone said “I wish I was a poet” And I thought…but you are! Poetry is all around us, we live it every day, poetry is a moment, a place, poetry is people, a conversation. It’s the summer sun, the moon and the stars, the ripples on a lake, and the burst of flavour when you pop a fresh berry in your mouth, poetry is you and it’s me…see?

~~~~

The boy is gone to sleep over at my mom’s tonight with his cousin Nicholas.

I love the little goober to pieces, I do…but man it’s quiet when he’s not around! I can actually hear myself think.

“Can you see what I’m saying?”

~~~~

A taste of Neruda before I go?

Ok, I knew you’d say yes! :)

For All To Know

Someone will ask later, sometimes searching for a name,

his own or someone else’s,

why I neglected his sadness or his love

or his reason or his delirium or his hardships:

and he’ll be right: it was my duty to name you,

you, someone far away and someone close by,

to name someone for his heroic scar,

to name a woman for her petal,

the arrogant one for his fierce innocence,

the forgotten one for his famous obscurity.

But I didn’t have enough time or ink for everyone.

Or maybe it was the strain of the city, of time,

the cold heart of the clocks

that beat interrupting my measure,

something happened, I didn’t decipher it,

I couldn’t grasp each and every meaning:

I ask forgiveness from anyone not here:

it was my duty to understand everybody,

becoming delirious, weak, unyielding, compromised, heroic, vile, loving until I wept,

and sometimes an ingrate, a savior entangled in his own chains,

all dressed in black, toasting to joy.

Why describe your truths if I lived with them,

I am everybody and every time, I always call myself by your name.

Sonnet LXXXI

And now you’re mine. Rest with your dream in my dream.

Love and pain and work should all sleep, now.

The night turns on its invisible wheels,

and you are pure beside me as a sleeping amber.

No one else, Love, will sleep in my dreams.

You will go, we will go together, over the waters of time.

No one else will travel through the shadows with me,

only you, evergreen, ever sun, ever moon.

Your hands have already opened their delicate fists

and let their soft drifting signs drop away;

you eyes closed like two gray wings, and I move after,

following the folding water you carry, that carries me away.

The night, the world, the wind, spin out their destiny.

Without you, I am your dream, only that, and that is all.

~~~~

G'nite~

When are you most comfortable? 

I am when doing one, or a combination of the following things:  Listening to music, reading poetry/reading a good book, semi-clothed like on a beautiful warm summer day just like today, creating something with my own hands basically, whether it be creating a 'chef -d’oeuvre' in the kitchen, knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, drawing, painting, working on some other art project, or simply looking at artwork…*siiiiigh* yep that’s me at my finest moment and highest comfort level. 

I wanted to prolong the feeling, so I shaved from armpits to toes. Then I went for a drive near a couple of lakes, thinking how I'd be stitting on one of those docks that lined the shores till the dew fell.  Anyway, I am smooth and soft and will sleep well tonight on my fresh Egyptian Cotton sheets.

My kitty’s rubbing up against me at the moment, he’s soft too!  He’s pissed off that I won’t let him go out to prowl tonight.  I mean the prowling is one thing, but the meowing and scratching at the door at 5 a.m. when I’ve only finally gone to sleep at 4, I can do without thankyouverymuch! 

He always manages to slip by one of the boys when they open the door, but not tonight!  I’ve been holding him captive and will put him in the basement shortly. 

~~~~~ 

The house is so quiet tonight, the wee boy is gone for a sleep-over at a friend’s house, and my oldest is doing his own thing in the with his guitar and my laptop in the living room.   

Incidentally, a cute young lad came to my door a few hours ago and when I answered it he asked if there was a certain so-and-so who lived here.  I thought perhaps this was an old school buddy coming to visit him, I said yes and sort of invited him in pointing to my son sitting in the chair.  Then he pulled out a wallet saying he’d found it whilst biking on a dirt road, where my son had stopped for a road-side wizz the other night.  Couldn’t help myself, I did the whole ‘I told you so’ at that point, because I knew that’s where he’d lost it when he told me about the pit, er piss stop. 

Ah well, it’s too late, we’d already cancelled and filled out whatever paperwork we had to for replacements.  But at least I’m glad it’s back in his possession. I offered the fella a 20-spot for his trouble, (well ok, it was from my son’s wallet but still!)  He refused to take it, saying he knew what it felt like…I’m just happy there are still some good people out there, yanno? :) 

~~~~ 

Have you ever have these ‘aha moments’ where you realize something that was so very apparent, but you were so busy trying to deal with it that you sort of shrugged the solution away?   

Like trying to suppress thoughts and or memories of an event or a person because it’s too painful to think about for example.  You’re just as well to let it wash over you and go through the motions, and then let it ebb away…resistance is futile, and causes you to expend too much energy.   

Let the waves serve their purpose, let them wash over you, through you, and sift away some of that pain.  It’s much more therapeutic that way. (4 a.m. wisdom) 

And now as the summer breeze gently blows through my window, I shall leave you with a sonnet or two and bid you goodnight...

Sonnet XII 

When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls, all silvered o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defense
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence. 

Sonnet LXI 

Is it thy will, thy image should keep open
My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee
So far from home into my deeds to pry,
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?
O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great:
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake:
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake:
For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
From me far off, with others all too near.

*sigh* 

I do believe my comfort level is such that I can get some much needed sleep now.

Bonsoir~