Birthing my blog

"She's as cute as a Bug
Short as a minute
She's a pretty little package with
Everything in it"

One of my favorite blogs, Ruth at synch-ro-ni-zing has challenged fellow bloggers to post about how they named their blog. So I have decided to use the excuse to peel and reveal.
My blog title above was stolen mid-concert from a line in a Lyle Lovette song. I had a few other possibilities rumbling around in my bird brain that I was considering, but when I heard him sing that line, Short as a Minute, in the song "Cute as a Bug", chorus above, in that instant I knew that was it.
I took a writing class about 8 years ago at our local community college from a wonderful local author and a superb teacher by the name of Diana Coogle. My main excuse at the time was that I spent too much time wringing my hands over even writing a mediocre email, but it was coupled with the fact that I was recently divorced and needed to get out of the house and among other peeps. It was a fantastic class and little did I realize at the time, how in more ways than one it would prepare me for blogging. There were about ten students in the class and weekly when we arrived with our pads, pencils, and fears, we were given a topic or word to write about and 20 minutes to do it. Then each of us would read our singularly diverse stream of consciousness on that topic, out loud. What I remember the most is the cup of courage she gave each of us, her enthusiasm rendered with a sweet little southern accent and how she found the beauty in what each student had written. Initially I didn't think I could do such a thing - sit and just write for twenty minutes, but now six years later, and fourteen months into my blog, its a piece of cake and I have over a hundred posts.
Oh yes, my blog title, it was part of that line in a Lyle song and it also is in reference to my petite stature, a mere 4 feet 6 inches.

After the concert I hung around the exit, I had heard that he often stopped to talk to fans and pose for photos on the way to his tour bus. And suddenly, there he was, towering over me, shaking my hand, asking me my name, then dropping to one knee in his beautiful pressed suit to pose for a picture.
Thats how my blog was named....

New Work

Its been a wonderfully creative period for me these days with three jobs in house, a ten page website to design, some PalDog illustrations in the works and I just wrapped up a couple of wine label designs for one of my favorite clients, The Train Depot Restaurant.
When Darla called about the job I was thrilled, she wanted something retro and its my favorite kind of design era - frankly everything from the typefaces to the colors used in that period appeal to me, and the logo I designed for them a few years ago was a great place to start the creative process.
Valley View winery in Jacksonville, Oregon is one of the larger wineries in the Rogue Valley with outstanding wine that has won prestigious awards over the years. They were to be providing the cases of wine and as an added bonus I was given the opportunity to name the wines for the labels too.
Cheers!

Simple Abundance

I've been trying to find a way to use this photo I took a few weeks ago, when the last thing I wanted to do on that beautiful sunny day was a run with Dave to get kindling. Every year he makes a trip out to 'the Kindling Farm' and stocks up for the winter. I have never done the drive and only heard about the place for years. Still, nothing prepared me for the view, massively surrounded by wood bits at least a few acres wide, with some piles stacked up a good ten feet. The rub is to load the pickup with as much as we could jam in the back. Its ten dollars for a load and if you carefully lay them in- as opposed to throwing them wily nilly its a giant mess of wood, and a lot of bending over. Right now I am reaping the rewards of that day as my fire started this morning with ease and my front porch is jammed with enough fire starting material to last the winter.

FulL mOoN Rising

Indian Summer in the Pacific Northwest is a reminder why I continue to live here.
My family and some dear friends are back East where I was born and raised....and at some point I will blog about what brought me out here, but for now this seasonal euphoria is what keeps me living here in beautiful Oregon.
The weather has been wonderfully warm, smokey from burn piles torched, and sweet sunshine. It will soon turn to rain and it is putting me in the brace for winter, and why did I not do this that and everything else in the summer I put off, state of mind.
I have had the interior exterior walls of the house plastered. Looks fantastic thanks to the expert help of Dave Blanco. It has been a total workshop to keep calm in the midst of the chaos that is temporarily my life these days. Everything furniturewise has been moved way from the walls in all the rooms upstairs...to accommodate the work. I know it will be worth it, but for now it is crazy and as is usually the case, stuff (****) happens. I cut my finger last night slicing veggies, and the sink started leaking and can't figure out where on the pipe....and the plaster is not exactly drying at the speed of light.
However, Maggie and the new kitty have continued to keep my spirits up with their playfulness, it must be the full moon, they are crazy funny cute.
A few assignments have landed, and I will be working on another website and twelve illustrations for a weather related calendar for 2011.
Gratitude abounds.