Summer Blog Posts #10

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

“Southampton’s barrage balloons floated gleaming in the moonlight like the ghosts of elephants and hippos.” — Elizabeth Wein, from Code Name Verity

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Something WRITTEN

playful rhino suggested by Dia

When I saw this prompt, I somehow mixed up “rhino” and “hippo” in my mind, and thought of this children’s book effort from 2013 (created in that year’s online class “Year of the Giraffe”). I’ve never done anything with it — too shy!! — so why not publish it here for everyone in the world to see? (HA! But I feel I’m among friends here….) 

And apologies to Dia… there isn’t actually a playful rhino here!

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(a portion)…
Another time my giraffe wanted to visit the hippos.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid of hippopotamuses. They’re kind of big, and not at all gentle like giraffes.

But I was too shy to tell her that, so instead I said I that had heard that hippos were really giant grey balloons, and that if you poked them with a pin they would pop, shrivel up, and become fuzzy grey blankets.

The giraffe believed me and we went on with our day.

That night, however, she had a conversation with a giggling hyena, and the next day the giraffe was unhappy with me.

I tried to tell her that hyenas laugh at everything, but that just made her more upset.

I felt bad, but what could I do?

Hippos were indeed balloons, and if you didn’t glue them to the ground they would float in the air like big grey clouds in the rainbow-colored sky.

…

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Something MADE

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “giraffe love” “blue green,” “don’t lie,” “jay walk” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #9

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

I love Outsider Artist James Castle’s cardboard creations (via The Art Room Plant):

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Something WRITTEN

express shop suggested by Puppywings Jen

I am an express shopper.

Shopping for clothes, you would think that I’m racing for money or something. I’ll dash into a store, pluck a few things off the racks, and then wait impatiently for someone to let me into a dressing room. Clothes are then off, and on, and off, and on again so fast that no one has time to see me in whatever stupid, ill-fitting, what-in-the-world-was-I-thinking shirt or skirt that I had thought might be cute.

Salespeople barely have time to get out the “How’s it going in there?” before I’m opening the dressing room door and rushing past them, flinging the accusatory clothing into their hands and muttering “no thank you.”

When I shop at thrift stores, I often don’t even take the time to try things on at all, especially if things are very inexpensive.

For one thing, there’s always a line, and who has time for that?

And, I figure that if I purchase three XL black t-shirts at $3.00 each, and only two of them fit, then I’m still ahead price-wise, as two black t-shirts from a regular store would likely cost far more than $9.00.

😀

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Something MADE

Blob animals in clay and wax.

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “hi Jack” “let’s go,” “mighty fun,” “go now” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #8

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

I found this book at the library, but it was due before I could read it… but I did love this page I found right before I turned it in:

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Something WRITTEN

oh no suggested by PamB

Oh no!

Oh… no?

On ho.

(No ho!)

No. Oh?

Ho no!

O… know.

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Something MADE

Summer days.

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “my way,” “hi way,” “all good,” “James White” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #7

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Květa Pacovská (via 50watts)

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Something WRITTEN

being safe suggested by Elizabeth

A few minutes ago I got punched in the arm by someone.

I know!

We live in downtown Seattle, in Pioneer Square. I feel safe here. I walk around all the time and have never felt threatened.

Today I clearly pissed off this woman, though, enough so that she saw it clear to throw a punch.

My crime was that I was trying to pass her on the sidewalk. As I was about to overtake her, she put her arms up, airplane style, and drifted to the right. So I shifted directions and tried to to pass her on the left, but she shifted to the left, too.

“Are you blocking me?” I asked as I touched her arm.

She answered by punching me.

Now, I haven’t been punched like this since middle school. What happened then is that I was walking in a mall and passed a group of tough-looking girls. For no reason (that I knew of) I was punched hard in the arm.

In middle school I just rubbed my arm and walked away.

But today I spun around, stared at the woman, and told her not to hit me again. Then I turned, walked into the convenience store and bought a large glass bottle of soda water. I opted out of a bag, carrying the bottle home in my fist, ready to use it to defend myself if I ran into her again.

So my advice for today is not to walk by people that need to punch you if you can at all help it! 😀

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Something MADE

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “ouch man,” “wow really,” “don’t hit,” “pass left” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #6

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Gorgeous (gorgeous!) flower constructions by Anne Ten Donkelaar.

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Something WRITTEN

moving on suggested by Deb

Steve and I realized last night that we have lived in the same apartment almost three and a half years. This is the second longest we’ve ever lived in one place.

We tend to move a lot.

I’m not sure why this is. But in 25 years together, we’ve lived in seven places. This means that every three years or so we start looking on Craigslist for greener grass.

At the moment we live/work in a truly beautiful space, though — a dream apartment really! — and it would be kind of hard to find something better than we have now.

Hmmmm.

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Something MADE

Chihuahua!

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “pow wow,” “yellow gutter,” “oh man,” “why after” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #5

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Beautiful work by Kelsey Shultis (via Art Hound)

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Something WRITTEN

two words, suggested by Jane Wherry

 

Writing posts
using prompts
from you
of only

two words

is really
much harder
than I
thought it
would be.

But I’m
having fun
with it —
so please
keep on
posting your

two words.

(Thank you!)

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Something MADE

Imaginary flowers from a few years ago:

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you Monday!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “John Smith,” “purple guitar,” “get down,” “how now” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #4

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Lovely illustration work by Makoto Maruyama (via Artistic Moods blog):

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Something WRITTEN

ten years, suggested by cathee

Ten years ago I was 44 years old and had just returned from a month-long art-teaching trip to India.

Ten years before that I was 34 years old and grieving the sudden death of my father (a heart attack at only 62).

Ten years before that I was 24 years old I was beginning a year of studying History in Sweden and was pregnant with my first son, Christer.

Ten years before that I was 14 years old and was taking a ceramics class in summer school where I made a little clay elephant that I broke on the way home and threw away in frustration (but my sister retrieved it from the trash and for that I am grateful).

Ten years before that I was 4 years old and honestly can’t remember what I was doing that summer but I do remember the day before I turned 4 in May telling the grocery store clerk that I would be “this many” tomorrow (while holding up four fingers).

Ten years from now I will be 64 years old (hopefully) and will have three teenaged grandchildren and will have published “that” book (hopefully).

Ten years from then I will be 74 (hopefully) and, gosh, the grandkids will be in their 20s.

Ten years from then I will be 84 years old (hopefully) and Steve and I will have been married 55 years (hopefully).

Ten years from then I might still be alive at 94 (my grandmother lived until 102!) and if so I hope I am still drawing and painting.

Ten years from then I will most certainly not be here anymore, but hopefully by then it will be okay.

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Something MADE

The elephant from the summer before 9th grade:

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “think do,” “blue bunny,” “gripes before,” “Oh man” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #3

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

seno-kaori has lovely work; her website!

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Something WRITTEN

stinky feet, suggested by tcre8ive

So I was at the airport and in the security line. That day things were moving fast and I was feeling pretty good, unusual for me and airport security lines.

It was April 14th and I was flying home to Seattle from Denver — a quick trip for my mother’s 80th birthday. My mom, sister and I had spent a good day together the day before; Kelly had arranged for us to spend the day at The Wild Animal Sanctuary. The weather was beautiful — welcomingly hot! — and I noticed that the park was basically a 1.5 mile elevated sidewalk where we could observe tigers and lions and bears from a high vantage point.

My heart leapt; I could kill two birds with one stone! The two “birds” were:

1. Honor the woman who gave birth to me, raised me, and who, miraculously, had made it to 80 despite several life-threatening health scares in her life.
2. Get my walk in.

They had wheelchairs to rent and my mom had wandered over to the parking lot. She was settling into a nice big one when Kelly and I looked at each other and sprung into action.

“No, mom,” Kelly said. “Your chair is over here.”

My mom’s face fell. We were pointing out (cheerfully, big smiles!) a motorized chair.

“But I…” she protested as we plopped her on her chariot.

My mom was nervous that she wouldn’t be able to drive that fast thing, and said that she preferred that we push her in “that wheelchair over there….” But her voice trailed off as she pointed vaguely to the right, clearly giving up. Kelly and I exchanged a cautiously triumphant look and I started giving mom instructions on how to push the lever.

Well, we got through it.

The 3-mile round trip was made up of numerous jerky starts and stops, a couple of crash landings, and a bathroom break. At one point Kelly had to walk alongside mom for about a mile with her thumb impressively steady on the “go” lever.

Mom was a nervous wreck the whole time.

We did get to see a few animals, though. “Look mom,” I would say. “Do you see those black dots in the corner there, by the fence? Not there… farther away, yes, there! Yes, way out there! Those are lions!”

Still, all told it was a pretty good day! My mom has a good sense of humor and we all laughed a lot. An hour later we dropped mom off at her residential home in time for dinner and then drove home to Kelly’s house, exhausted but happy things had gone so well.

I was thinking of our successful birthday outing when I grabbed my bin and took off my shoes, as one does when one doesn’t have TSA Precheck.  The woman in front of me immediately pulled her scarf up over her nose. I thought it was an odd thing to do, actually, especially as she kept it there for an unusually long time (how long does it take to blow a nose?).

But then I realized that my shoes, or my feet — one or the other, or both (all four actually) — were causing the odd behavior: I was stinking her out:

Hot weather + 3-mile walk + old shoes – socks = Oops, sorry

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Something MADE

Videos from my mom’s 80th birthday.

Kelly Walks, Mom Rides

 

At one point my mom had had enough:

Mom Walks, Kelly Rides
https://vimeo.com/226211115

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “thumb-like antics,” “yellow mane,” “goodness me,” “Ew, serious?” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #2

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Jeff Koons’ website

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Something WRITTEN

curly poodle, submitted by Nina

When I was growing up, my two grandmothers lived within driving distances and visits were fairly frequent. They both had awesome grandmotherly names (Gladys and Esther), and they each had a black dog (Sheri and Susie).

My mother’s mother was Gladys (“Grandma”). She had a Standard poodle named “Sheri” (pronounced sher-ree), who always smelled like perfumed soap. My grandmother kept her groomed and I remember the click-click-click of her red toenails on the kitchen floor. My sister and I loved that dog’s friendly smile and curly poofs and velvety ears. (She also had bad breath, but what could she do?)

My father’s mother was Esther (“Nana”). She had a medium-sized black dog named Susie, her breed unknown to us. Susie was old and graying around the eyes and a little overweight and not that friendly, and Kelly and I didn’t really love her that much.

As far as I know my two grandmothers didn’t see much of each other. In fact, I’m pretty certain they only met once, at my parent’s wedding.*

But they both belonged to the Black Dog Club**, so at least they had something in common.

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*There is absolutely no basis for that statement. For all I know they talked on the telephone every Tuesday and took a weekend away to Las Vegas together once a year.

**I had made that up, but decided to google it to see what I found. There is, indeed, a club called the Black Dog Club!

 

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Something MADE

A mini hanging pillow made years ago. It’s me and my first dog… a poodle!

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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Please help me decide what to write about tomorrow! Comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “day break,” “red tube,” “gad dummit,” “crazy love,” etc.

Summer Blog Posts #1

So I checked my calendar and the next time I get on an airplane is August 12th. So I plan to do three weeks of M-F posts until then: Something FOUND, Something WRITTEN, and Something MADE.

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Something FOUND

Trashy Dog.

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Something WRITTEN

 

I have been thinking about doing another series of blog posts for a month now.

Meaning, every day for the past month I’ve thought I would start that day, and every day  of the past month I just couldn’t think of “what” or “who” to write about (much less “when” or “why”).

I even missed a golden opportunity to do some posts themed on Steve being out of town for 10 days, but I watched a t.v. show instead, and now that he will be home in 7 days, it doesn’t seem worth it.

But then today I went for a walk to Home Depot for a bag of 1000 white zipties and I had the idea that you could help me!

Please comment with two words — they can be anything, nouns, verbs, names — and I will pick a set for tomorrow’s post. Examples: “I love,” “green table,” “gosh darn,” “colored pencils,” etc.

Leave a comment!

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Something MADE

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Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!