Short as a Minute

What if Syndrome

2010-07-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

"Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."
My favorite Aunt joined the wave of half million other Facebook fans last week. Her recent photos provided me the opportunity to longingly look at pictures of my family I have not seen in years. Cousins that have not grown up before my very eyes, but are so grown up I can't believe my eyes.
Living on the opposite side of the country was as close as I wanted to be back then. Family to employment slowly filters through my what if syndrome these days. What if I had not decided to 'see' the West Coast, and remained in my home town... or not leave my adorable cottage in San Francisco in order to buy a house in the country. Regret and happiness are like oil and water.
I can miss my family but just for today I will embrace the fact that I live in paradise here, the community, the events and even the weather I occasionally blog about.
Life is good.

Paying it forward

2010-07-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

As I begin production on the August issue of Young at Heart I'm aware of the fact that over past year + that I have been redesigning and producing the paper, it has been an exercise in learning and earning ...even if the earning has been inconsistent. The previous owner retired in April and as a result, the past three months have been about creating a whole new standard of quality -mainly in content. Before the paper was filled with articles supplied by the advertisers, it was all part of the draw to SELL a display ad, now I am working with 'an Editor' (an Editor with integrity and creative passion) we have established themes and its a whole new ball game. This past issue was on travel and great places to getaway to in Oregon. The papers have flown off the racks and we have been flooded with emails and calls complimenting our efforts.
This August issue ahead is on Pets and Ms Kitty and Maggie will be the cover girls. There have been some fantastic submissions by our readers for the best pet picture contest we are holding and I am excited to be riding this wave of production on through to my press date in a week. Thanks for all the inquires as to 'what up? ...'I have had little time over the past few months to update my blog, I have been updating the Young at Heart website, sales sheets, email blasts and redesigning the Media Kit for the upcoming fair in October. Changes indeed!

Change and happiness

2010-04-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

"Change is not merely necessary to life - it is life."
-Alvin Toffler
I have been questioning if my blog has turned into a whine-a-thon. A venting outlet of frustration with my clients and general unhappiness with the creatively under challenged part of my life and effective ability to make a living. In case any of you are wondering, despite my power of intention, plea bargaining with God, and candles lit, I have not heard a peep from Google, or any of the other two places I sent resumes outside of the Rogue Valley. My burning desire for a design position is evolving, by necessity into what I have been seriously considering for more than a year, sales.
Volunteering at the Britt selling raffle tickets was one of my most rewarding positions, I loved the people contact and especially outselling my competition by a landslide.
When I first contacted Young at Heart, it was with the intention of selling display ads for them, until the owner saw my design work. After a few months of revising their marketing materials and ad design, I was hired to redesign the publication, which snowballed into planning the content, photography and writing a monthly column. I think it was the pinnacle of personal and creative satisfaction, unfortunately it was also accompanied by a disturbing pattern of non payment and questionable business decisions made by the employer.
I am excited to be working with two new clients in a sales capacity, its taking a little time to get my creative side and my Muse along for the ride, they are throwing tantrums in the back seat like a couple of two year olds.
I am working on a new game plan that will allow for some creativity in other ways, like formulating marketing plans for my clients and helping them decide where their advertising dollars can be best spent. I am wrapping my mind around the fact that creativity comes in as many shapes as people, and my happiness depends on seeing my glass half full instead of half empty.

The BuG or the WindShield

2010-04-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

"well it's a strange old game
- you learn it slow...
one step forward and it's back to go.
sometimes you're the windshield,
sometimes you're the bug"
I can't tell you the amount of times I have been taken in by the seductive lines of a client, the lure of the words: "unlimited budget, anything goes, need it right away".
Thinking I am the windshield I fly, throwing myself into the creative process with total abandon. Days spent immersed, swallowed up from concept sketches to the final designs sent off.
I think this won't happen again, and it does.
...here I am again, a client not paying, not responding to emails, and in the middle a friend who called me initially to help out his son, and now... I am the bug once again.
Not thinking I needed a contract, money upfront, just thinking about their needs.
Ouch, squished again.

American Woman

2010-04-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

Randy Bachman explained the origins of this song in an interview with Words & Music magazine, Spring 2005. Said Bachman: "We were playing in a curling rink in Kitchener, Ontario (Canada), and I broke a string. I was up there alone, tuning up my E an B strings on an old Les Paul. I started playing that riff and in the audience, heads started turning. The band got up, and I said, 'Keep playing this, I don't want to forget it.' When Burton had run out of solos, I yelled out, 'Sing something!' So out of the blue Burton just screamed, 'American Woman, stay away from me!' That was the song, the riff and Burton yelling that line over and over. Later, he added other lines like 'I don't need your war machine, you ghetto scenes.' Before America knew it, it was a #1 record and it was a protest song."
Do you remember the song American Woman by The Guess Who? I wore the groove out of that vinyl album when I was in college and knew every song lyric by heart. I was just on You Tube looking for the video to add when I stumbled on a hot Lenny Kravitz version, smoking guitar licks ...and it makes the Guess Who version look like a bunch of overweight middle age geezers at a Tea Party rally. Now you are probably ready to leave and go looking for it so I will have to include a link in order to keep you here, so hang on.
Fact: due to the anti-American lyrics, The Guess Who was not allowed to play this when they performed at the White House for President Richard Nixon in 1970.
I have a new client, she came to check out my available studio rental and while it was not quite right for her we got talking and it turned into a business connection. She does online resource sites, successfully launching three over the past few years out of Denver, Colorado. Her next site is called American Woman and features products and services, yep all made in the USA. Her logo, website design, and social media application art are all in the works and here are two of the four designs for her logo I just completed. Not sure which one will be the pageant winner, but feel free to weigh in on your favorite.
Speaking of websites, I would like to thank Jess the gal who takes my designs and makes my clients' websites happen, not just an excellent html coder, but SEO expert who is a total joy to work with. Responsible for my latest website reincarnation, you can see some of her work linked HERE.
Fact:The song American Woman was featured in the Jim Carrey movie The Cable Guy, where it appears in a Karaoke scene, and American Beauty, where Kevin Spacey rocks out to it while going through a mid-life crisis.
Oh and that Lenny Kravitz video, fasten your seat belt, I WAS going to provide a link to YouTube, but instead the code embedded the video ....

Life in the Short Lane

2010-04-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

Every vertically challenged individual has seen it all and heard it more than necessary.
"How tall are you?"

"Ahhh.. are you writing a book, or is this just a random act of curiosity and rudeness motivated by needless insensitivity."

The man I have been with for eight years is above average in height, I often see the look, or their eyeballs going from one of us to the other, up, down....yep, we are a wonder to behold, a long tall drink, and a wink.
"...my Mom was tiny too he says, unfazed by my diminutive stature" lovingly unable to comprehend my insecurity packaged with a closet full of cruel shoes I never wear anymore and a lifetime of double takes, finger pointing and bad jokes.
Pocket size... I see myself through the eyes of others and compare myself more than I would like to admit. I'm so grateful for the love that lifts me up and helps me not take myself too seriously in spite of myself.
Recently there has been a story in the news about a high school girl who killed herself after being terrorized by fellow students- bullying has been honed to a whole new level. Thankfully I look back on my childhood and see a much easier level of emotional boot camp from peers than the current times require. My torturers were the eyes and cruel words from parents of my male friends who targeted me and my DNA, threatened by imperfect grandchildren and potentionaly destroying their future Christmas cards even when dating or kids wasn't even on the table or in our minds.
Why do the hurtful words stubbornly remain when the compliments don't.
"don't get too serious with her, I don't want midget grandchildren"
Forty years later those words still sting, but not like they used to. When you are young and impressionable one sentence from an adult can take you down a path of personal torture unparalleled by your peers.
A gentle reminder to teach your children to love and live as you would want to be treated in an world where we are all perfect, and loved just as we are.

SoulFood

2010-04-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Last evening was the second of a two night gig volunteering to paint signs for the upcoming Earthday celebration in Ashland. Magic Marker fumes aside it was a wonderful experience starting with discovering a fabulous new place, The Ashland Art Center. What a great resource for artists in the area, run by some awesome individuals and showcasing some amazing artwork from clothing to hand painted tiles, so incredibly inspiring.
Working last evening with a dedicated group of artists and non-artists it was a reminder of the power of community even on a small level. Production moved briskly along to some Tom Petty music on the boom box and Marsha Bashfords' support and enthusiasm. Leaving Ashland around 9 PM with the aroma of delicious food in the air from restaurants lit up like Christmas trees, I felt exhausted but delirious. Volunteering has that effect on you, its something you do for others but feeds the soul and returns the effort in an unmeasurable way, and its lingering effects are so richly rewarding.

Bird by Bird

2010-04-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

Ten years ago I read my first Anne Lamott novel, Traveling Mercies, Some Thoughts on Faith, it started a memorable summer of reading every book she had written. I reserved the best for last, since the last thing I thought I would be interested in, was writing. Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life, turned out to be my hands down favorite and had such an impact on me I subsequently ordered 6 copies from Amazon and sent them off one by one to my friends. I raved and also sent one to my main client at the time, David Pogue, editor and publisher of the Missing Manuals books that I was illustrating the covers for, who is now Tech Guru and columnist for The New York Times. In retrospect, I can't help but wonder what he thought, that I was suggesting he could use some writing help... fortunately, I distinctly remember discussing how floored I was by the hysterically irreverant prose and how applicable it was not just to writing, but to the creative process in general- and life. It was a hilarious and inspiring book to say the least, and her ability to be sarcastic and wise spoke to my heart and rattled my cages in more ways than one.
Lately I have suggested the book to two of my friends who I find to be fantastic writers, and have been encouraging them to start a blog. Normally I buy used books on Amazon, and this morning when I logged on, I was shocked to see the limited copies available and ridiculously high prices for the few available print copies for sale there. I did Google, locate and order one elsewhere but in the thrill of the hunt I spotted a link for a digital edition. There was Bird by Bird for Kindle and also a link for reading books on your Mac, the download for which I will link here for my fellow Mac users...Kindle for Mac
I have been researching the online digital publishing sites popping up on the web out there, and I am incredulously impressed with the ease of upload and advance in readability, its truly come a long way, and I think its about to take a giant leap forward with the release of the new iPad by Apple. Take a look at the software linked here, and if you don't have an Amazon Kindle, there is a link in the right column of my blog to check them out and order one. Thanks for reading my ramblings and have a fine feathered day.... click by click.

Intention and Resurrection

2010-04-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

I have to wonder, is it irony or divine intervention that Wayne Dyer, The Power of Intention just started on our local PBS channel behind my laptop minutes before I hit the button to submit my online application to Google.
A colleague of mine recently rolled her eyes when I mentioned I was considering reworking my website and submitting my resume, "they don't hire old folks", only twentyearolds. "Its my dream job and they have to have a few boomers with experience to balance things out"... I patiently responded.
It reminded me of a transforming conversation a number of years ago, when I told my Mother that I was going to get a computer. Here was her response: "don't bother honey, you will never learn how to use one of those". Hmmm... those kinds of comments, they either paralyze you, or motivate you. Needless to say, I got a computer the following day.
In those days the cost alone was prohibitive, I know I'm dating myself here, but I remember spending over a thousand dollars on my first monitor (that took two people to lift) and a whopping fifteen hundred bucks on the used hard drive. Sharing software was not the politically incorrect sinister act back yonder and with a little help from my friends in that department, I was burning some rubber on my yellow brick road.
I never looked back, zealously encouraged by clients who felt my graphic style of illustration and a Mac would be the perfect marriage, and it was. My workload doubled, within a matter of weeks I had three ongoing jobs illustrating in-house newsletters for both Mervyn's and Pacific Bell, and 3 months later, ongoing illustrated charts for EPRI's quarterly publication rendering visual diagrams of the infrastructure of the internet. Thanks Mom!
I'm sending out two more applications today as well, one local business I would love to work for as a runner up on my wish list, and for a position in Chico ...just so I am not putting all my eggs in one basket. Even if I don't get an interview, I will at least feel I have tried, and that alone is far better than stuffing those random feelings of not following through.
I have never settled for less, or done less than my best despite the obstacles on my path. And just like me and the Mac, I can't help but feel like -Google and moi, well we too are a match made in heaven.
Today is Easter, there is that metaphorical resurrection association with this day and that powered by my intention is expecting the miracle.

Stay tuned ...and please consider hitting the Follow Me button, those five brave souls who have done so are getting lonely, and who knows...things might start to get interesting one of these days.

Good Friday and April Fools

2010-04-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I admit I am a serial problem solver, my minuscule engineering molecule that I was gifted with blissfully functioning in a practical methodology-except at 3 in the friggin' morning. Lately I find myself waking from restless sleep far more than I would like to admit, wacky dreams I briefly recapture for dysfunctional clues to what is going on in my sub conscious before falling back to sleep. Constantly reevaluating the waking dream I am living -sometimes becomes a challenge in itself. In all honesty it seems like every fifteen years my gypsy blood rises and wants a change, my life feels routine, my muse desires another palette.
These days I am not feeling creatively challenged enough and I throw myself-ass over tea kettle, into the smallest of assignments apparently unable to determine the clients who want quality results and are willing to pay a fair compensation, from the ones who I become a willing doormat to be taken advantage of. If there is a Cinderella complex for artists I am in the proverbial trenches.
I want to be working with other creatives, part of a team, yes, working a job, with a boss who appreciates the hoops I jump through and the passion I have for the process. I want to get up, get dressed... go to work and create, I want the daily grind to be the job I love, and love the job I do.
I don't want to waste precious sleep time waking with stressful thoughts about money and maintenance around the property...my problem solving molecule in overdrive focused on the solution.
Today is Good Friday and here is what has been good, if not great about it, I finished reworking my website, expanding and updating my online portfolio, and now in earnest I will start applying for design jobs. Top of my list is Google, I know... good luck, I hear they only look at twenty something applicants, but I can dream. San Diego and Austin are also on my radar, another bleak winter here is all I need to send me over the edge, if I pull off a geographic I want it to be to a warmer climate. Hoping, praying and lighting candles in the spirit of write it down make it happen that next year at this time I won't be having another 'Groundhog Day' experience on Good Friday and feeling like another April Fool.

Good grief, good grillin'

2010-03-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

In the winter months, helped along by the holidays... ones thoughts and free time turn to cooking, baking and packing on the pounds. This year is no exception, especially since I have yet to activate the three month gym membership won last month at the Siskiyou Film Festivals' silent auction, to work my extra baggage off.
My latest food creation addiction revolves around Italian panini sandwiches. Panini's are essentially grilled bread filled with meats and cheeses - originated in the sidewalk cafes of Italy. Its the perfect winter weather easy breezy gourmet treat. I found a fantastic cookbook and together with my Cuisinart grill press we are happily on the road to some serious weight gain. Grilled cheese sandwiches were a staple of my childhood and I must say, Panini's have elevated this to a whole new level.
The cookbook I bought has some great recipes to try, Turkey with Brie & Apples, Turkey Meatloaf with Spicy Tomato Sauce, Grilled Salmon with Chipotle Aoli, or for a morning delight, Eggs & Bacon Breakfast Sandwich. My grill is a small unit but have been wanting to upgrade to a newer Cuisinart model which I will link to on Amazon.com (free shipping) along with the cookbook.
See you at the gym folks!

My Muse, myself...

2010-03-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

"Be like the bird that pausing in her flight a while, on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her - and yet sings, knowing that she has wings."
-Victor Hugo

I am working on a new job, one of those jobs that I'd like to think I wished into my creative life. Ever thankful for assignments that my clients' desire to reflect another era, sort of like the wine label for The Train Depot, this one goes back even another decade or two.
My Muse must have brokered this job, there was minimal direction....the email said - Santa Rosa restaurant, roaring twenties theme, flapper with cigarette holder, elegant, older clientele.
These days in California there is no smoking in restaurants or bars so I wonder if one of my favorite facets of the artwork will be cut.
I am always interested to see if the selected artwork is the first design worked up, or the last. Here is the last of the six designs submitted ....and my personal favorite.
Stay tuned for updates and further musings.

A walk on the wild side

2010-03-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a teeny tiny glimpse of the season idling patiently ahead, a single day and window of sunshine wedged between a wall of rain and windy weather that has been dominating the Pacific Northwest and my mood swings. Dave talked me off a job I have been blissfully working on for a few days and we hit the road for the Illinois Valley to check out the spectacular wildflowers. Packing some snacks and the dogs, it was not lost on either of us that the last time we hiked Little Falls two years ago we were accompanied by our beloved duo we have since lost to cancer. Not a lot of time for reminiscing between keeping Peppers frantic barking and Maggies ear splitting yipping from spoiling our fun. We descended the rocks to an isolated slice of shoreline to crash and bake while the dogs played on the waters edge. I took photos of the multitude of flora blooming from every nook and cranny and we marveled at the erratically raging river. March Madness indeed...

2010-03-17T22:15:00.001-07:00

This past week I attended a free marketing class offered through RCC, our local community college. Thanks in part to the SBA (Small Business Administration) and private funding, it was very well attended by a wide range of individuals and impressively presented. The random diversity of local businesses and entrepreneurs was remarkable, 3 piece suits to flannel shirts, local Realtors to eclectic gardening tool inventors...and the age range of folks attending was striking too. Having worked in the advertising industry for years, PR and marketing is one of the key elements I have focused on to bring in new business for myself both as an illustrator and graphic designer as well as for my clients. What I learned in the class was not altogether surprising, one of the most extraordinary and impressive statistics in marketing centered around the social networking phenomena, and if you have missed the boat in this department its time to climb on board. Twitter and Facebook are the two most effective tools for generating FREE advertising. The class facilitator along with a slide show relayed a fascinating example of the way a new business can accumulate a "fan base" via FaceBook before their product even hits the market. I wrote in a previous blog post at the beginning of the week that I was considering setting up a page to do Digital Facebook Portraits after doing one for my new website that I am working on, and it is up. I sent out invitations yesterday and so far twenty friends have accepted ...and I will continue to blog about my headway... no pun intended, in addition I have set up a Facebook page for Joe Coble, architectural watercolor artist, and client, take a look at his amazing work.
Social networking, a riveting reason to make some assemblage art and blog about it.

Goin' Green

2010-03-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is St. Patty's Day and we are cresting the middle of March. My heart sighs with delight at the weeping willow trees pushing green outside my window. The first of our local trees to start natures' parade into April, they are the real deal and a sure sign Spring is almost here.
There will be a lot of surreal green surfacing tomorrow, green beer, green potatoes and green hair color. Chicago actually colored the river last year with a green dye that made me question their sanity. Maybe there are no fish in that waterway, but ya' gotta wonder who is at the helm in the windy city making those kind of wonky decisions.
Following close behind, and with another nod to going green, EarthDay 2010. I just finished up a minor revision to last years' artwork created for earthsayers.tv... hard to believe the year has flown by soo fast.
Think Green y'all!

The old days, dust bunnies and the new Me

2010-03-15T05:42:00.000-07:00

There was a time in my illustrious career when finding a job meant making an appointment and just showing a portfolio. Competition was not as fierce, and thinking back on my simplistic strategy, I would decide who I wanted to work for, (I usually aimed high) got an interview, regardless of an opening or not, showed my work and left with a position. Such was the case when I left the National Lampoon and went on to work for Time Warner, and years later landing on the West Coast- went to work for the prestigious design firm, Landor Associates, a full time freelance gig that lasted nearly five years.
Looking back, I was so fortunate to have the paid education I did, putting in those years in those two places of employment provided me an opportunity for hands on training, first in publishing and then corporate branding accounts, that I still benefit from today.
Things have changed radically, these days my portfolio has been collecting dust bunnies, and instead of cleaning it off, I am redoing my website and rethinking my creative strategic plan. I am optimistic in a whole new way about the challenges ahead, and still feel blessed to work with some incredibly talented individuals I learn from on a daily basis. This weekend I did an illustration of myself for my website Biography link instead of using the same tired photograph or taking a new one, and I'm thinking Facebook and blog portraits may be a fun new avenue of employment opportunities to pursue.

Driving Rain and Good Intentions

2010-03-12T07:54:00.000-08:00

"The Road to hell is paved with good intentions"

Outside the wind is howling and the tops of the fir trees are blowing around with the kind of ferocity that coupled with the wild driving rain and overly saturated earth can bring these beauties crashing to the ground. A few years ago that is exactly what happened. A giant evergreen fell, breaking fifteen feet up the trunk. Had it come out of the ground like the other giant did two days later, by the roots, it would have been an unwanted guest in my kitchen and an insurance claim.
It was providence or something similar that Dave was working on re-roofing the fiberglass patio inches from its landing spot when I walked outside and asked him to help me carry a mattress into the house for my Brother who was arriving the next day from the East Coast. Walking back from the barn we heard a gigantic groan and looked up to actually witness the massive beast fall with a thundering aftershock, the top just grazing the roof of my house. Amazing grace on multiple levels, Mark arrived 24 hours later and fired up Mr. Chain Saw, my renter had all the firewood needed to stay warm for the next few months, and no collateral damage other than my worry meter needle shattered the glass ceiling and is still hovering overhead on mornings like this.

In other unrelated news just read, Carl Rove is releasing a memoir this week, Courage and Consequence, in which he has defended President Bush, saying that history would look favourably on the president's two terms. At times referred to as W's brain, he has even come out today and said he is proud of waterboarding suspected terrorists. His attempt to put a positive spin on torture is only surpassed by his defense of other atrocious actions including going to war despite the lack of weapons of mass destruction, a move whose consequence has contributed to pushing our national debt out of control and resulted in the financial mess the country is in, and yet he described the achievements of the Bush administration as "impressive, durable and significant". I think that I will stop here on this soapbox, politics are not a topic I feel the need to cover in my blog unless it means I can use one of my very favorite cartoons turning yellow on my fridge. And yes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Along with the rain, the daffodils blooming and daylight savings two days away, I'm wishing you all a good weekend.

Here, there and everywhere

2010-03-09T06:59:00.001-08:00

"Can you give me an idea of how long it takes to drop in another font? Is it like on a standard computer where you just highlight it and it drops it in so you can try different ones? If it takes hours I don't want to play with it any longer but if it is seconds like on my computer I would like to try something else."

Here in Southern Oregon, there seems to be an unlimited amount of employment opportunities for transportation and road workers. I'm reminded of this watching this mornings' news and footage of a rock slide on 199, the two lane to the coast. Multiple dump trucks working overtime to clear the path, projected to require days and over 200 loads until cleared. Scores of men in hard hats and day glo vests pushing around rocks and dirt with big boy toys and collecting fat checks. I'm thinking I'm in the wrong profession. Creative opportunities here are as scarce as hens teeth and appreciation for something well designed is practically non existent. Every job seems to come with either a silver lining or a workshop I didn't sign up for. Been working on a logo for two months now, once again I went overboard to please the client submitting rounds of designs, font modifications, client directed revisions and add a daughter in Sweden, a marketing professional that apparently needs to review my work as well, and I bet you have guessed which one this is.
In 1996 when I moved to this area from San Francisco, my friend and mentor Adam Brevius was heading to Southern California to work for Disney. He had attended college in Eugene, Oregon and wisely suggested I reconsider my plan to move to this area. He warned me, that this area was spectacularly devoid of creative positions and said that if down the line I wanted a job at least consider somewhere North of here. At the time I had multiple ongoing clients, three newsletters I did illustrations for and royalties from stock illustration sales. I was married and the novelty of moving to the country and living the rural life on 'the farm' with a computer to connect me to the "real world" thrilled me. Twelve years later, divorced, managing a high maintenance property on my own, and looking for a job, I can say yes Adam you were right.
I love living in Southern Oregon, the beauty of the area is only surpassed by my need for creatively satisfying work. It may be that this will be a silver lining after all because I think if nothing else I will start looking in earnest for a job back in the Bay Area where clients don't think design decisions take seconds and Logo designs shouldn't cost more than a hundred dollars.

Anonymity and its Virtues

2010-03-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

I have been negligent with my blog, an entire month has flown by without a single post, not that I haven't attempted one. I can't get past my lack of inspiration, further motivated and matched by the weather. I really should not be whining about the weather, not that I'm whining. Outside of the Pacific Northwest, its been a Winter Wonderland, but here in this neck of the woods where that is normal... outside of ...'Theres no such thing as Normal- other than a setting on a dryer', we have had either spring temps or days of pouring rain and only a glimpse of snow back in the very beginning of December. My trusty snow shovel, which my Brother packed with him when he drove cross county a few years ago in the winter has shoveled and flung nothing but dog doo for months.

I have been working this month on a couple design jobs and getting over the disappointment of one, being denied a refinance by B of A, and two not getting a PT job I really wanted and tried like crazy to get. Life goes on, disappointments and all. The silver lining, no one has missed me, two people following my blog three counting my Brother, anonymity does have its virtues... the silver lining to the crazy weather: buds on the lilac bushes, birds singing in the morning and I guess one can post about nothing at all after all.

Show and Tell

2010-01-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

Much of what has occupied my time these days, both mundane and work related has quietly conspired to keep me from my blogging desires. Darla, my client at The Train Depot Restaurant needed someone at the last minute for First Friday art night and I committed to create some eclectic Valentine Collages, and the more I work on them the more eclectic they get. I will start hanging the ones I have done so far tomorrow evening and be working on more until the opening reception this Friday the 5th. Live music will be happening and some awesome food is always cooking.
Other bitties, last week Ms Kitty got fixed after one week of her first heat and I won't even mention some of the slutty behavior going on around here at the Kinky Dog and Kitty show. A big thank you to the JoCo Spay and Neuter Fund for helping me out with the expenses, I will be doing some graphics in return and looking forward to giving more than I got. That is how it works...
That's all for now folks. Hope to see you this Friday night!

Necessity and reinvention

2010-01-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

Art imitates Nature, and Necessity is the Mother of Invention.

[1658 R. Franck Northern Memoirs (1694)

In college, I had a hard time deciding which painting or illustration style fit me, I was a creative chameleon. As students we were strongly encouraged to focus on one specific direction and stick to it, diversity in your art or your portfolio and God forbid, no one would associate your name and your art. Truth be told, out of necessity, I have had to refocus and reinvent myself frequently over the years.
I love working in different digital styles, and learning new technology or software, discovering that what I initially stressed over, is actually a good thing. As is the fact that I don't have to decide am I an illustrator or a designer, it means I can integrate both to my advantage.
Recently recommended for a calendar illustration job, the client thought my digital style of illustration was too hard edge, past calendars had been rendered in a painterly style. So I offered to break out my pastels in storage and do some hand drawn samples. They liked what I did, giving me the go ahead to finish.
When traveling across country in 1977, my camera broke halfway to the West Coast. I didn't expect to land in Southern California on an avocado farm with a couple months to kill until leaving for Europe. I thankfully settled into a place of warmth and extraordinary beauty -with no art supplies and limited funds. Out of necessity I started tearing apart brown bags from the supermarket and I bought these same few pastels recently unearthed to document my surroundings...nature + art + necessity and just another random reinvention on the wheel of art and life.

Revolution and Resolutions

2009-12-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

"A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear"

John Lennon

Two days from Christmas and I have been thinking about this past year, (and the one ahead), the losses, the gains, resolutions, accomplishments ...and the unfinished projects. What truly matters and what divides us, friends, countries and how it plays out overseas in the name of war, or here at home in the political drama waging over healthcare. Fearful uncertainty is prevalent and it takes a mindful attitude to live in the moment- hopeful and happy, at a time when bankruptcy is potentially a medical emergency away, or losing a job means losing your home and everything you have worked for and more. I remind myself to concentrate on what counts, and whats icing on the cake, like family and friends. I am so grateful to have the creative work I have been blessed with this year and a loving relationship of substance and support. I lost Maggie, my beloved border collie in February and then adopted another in June. Thanks to Facebook, my circle of friends has expanded, and as a result of Alzheimer's my Mother lost a little more of her mind and beautiful spirit. It is nothing short of providence to have my Brother back home taking care of her, his loving patience -challenged daily by a lack of appreciation, is simply beyond measure.

Looking ahead, instead of unrealistic resolutions I hope to start the new year with the best intentions: less stuff for starts, no more garage sales or treasure hunting the thriftshops - my cup and barn overflows. I'm embracing a 'less is more revolution'.
I reap what I sow... therefore I channel and commit to cultivate and nurture a positive attitude daily. My serenity haiku, "Don't worry be happy, The inbox will always be full, The only thing to fear is fear itself". Its the mental affairs in life that are the hardest to control and the truth is, its all we can control - unless like my Mom its totally out of your control. In her case, there is a pill to slow it down - but not one to understand it, change it or fix it - or the accompanying depression.
My desire is to end 2009 with compassion and understanding, and to look ahead to 2010 with hope and trust.
Peace on earth, goodwill to everyone.
May we all live without fear, and continually count our blessings that surround us.

MO'regon and beyond...

2009-12-15T21:32:00.000-08:00

After revisiting my trip to Myrtle Creek in 1995 in my last blog post I have thought about the random decisions that sometimes have unpredictable and life changing consequences. I still question what gave me the moxie to ask my client Annamarie that day if I could stay at their vacation home in Oregon. I do remember needing to get out of the city, road trips allowed me to be a balanced and happy urban dweller in San Francisco, and those days I was up and down the West Coast from Baja to Seattle in my little Honda hatchback. Gas was cheap back then and a trip of substance was accomplished on a shoestring.
When she said yes and added "you are welcome to take the dogs", in a New York minute I was mentally packing and planning my music for the drive. The girls were, as my friend Martina says, "outside of themselves" to be in the country. Everyday spent there that week was foggy but simply gorgeous. I had packed my watercolors to paint and the house was stocked with wood to burn and paperback books to read. I didn't want to leave, and twice extended my stay, exploring the countryside ...when I wasn't buried in a novel or hiking their land.
I had recorded a few cassette tapes for the drive, one got stuck in my car tape deck playing over and over an odd mix of Screaming Jay Hawkins on one side and Roger Miller on the other, (funny how music emotionally connects you with certain times and situations)... 'I Put a Spell on You', started one side of the tape and then 30 minutes later I'd be singing along with 'Trailer for Sale or Rent'. I clearly recall the death grip I had on my steering wheel driving Interstate 5 sandwiched between semi trucks first over Mt Sexton then the equally harrowing Siskiyou Pass. I don't think I ever listened to that tape again after returning home from that trip and getting it out of the unit.
That trip was the deciding factor for my move North.
My move to the West coast from New York was equally random. I probably should back track to my adventure hitch hiking cross country from New Orleans to Oakland and the motivating decision, but I'll save that for another post.
It was at a New York City Christmas party in the winter of 1977, and I ran into an acquaintance from college. He had been living in San Francisco and wanted to move back to New York, I had just returned from a six month trip to Europe and wanted to return to the West Coast. In spite of the fact that I had just spent three months hunting down an apartment and only moved in a short three weeks earlier, we joked about swapping apartments, and with hardly a phone conversation, two months later I was driving across country with two fantastic guys I connected with via a classified ad in the Village Voice, delivering a Stella Dora bread truck to San Diego with a fraction of my belongings packed in the back.
Phillip introduced me to a few of his friends in San Francisco before he headed back East to my apartment on the lower East side of Manhattan, and I settled into his rent controlled apartment in the Castro district, my lifestyle radically different from the one I left behind, along with all my friends and a relationship that had ended.
Supersize one door closes and another door opens ...and skip the fries.

Fire and Rain

2009-12-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

I've seen fire and I've seen rain,
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end...

The summer sunshine is of course a distant memory and the drone of icy rain rattles my windows along with the random squeal of tires skidding on the curve outside my driveway. Its a dangerous corner and when icy, cars easily underestimate the drop and bend and can go completely off the road or wind up nose first into the oak tree that once was. After two days without power except for a few brief respites, I am so grateful right now to have lights, internet, water flowing and the heater humming at my side. The temperatures have been hovering in the teens, coldest its been in eleven years.
Meanwhile, a blazing fire burns in my woodstove while I work.
My downstairs studio is a sweet space and currently unrented, it feels so cozy complete with two creatures cuddling and yes, holding hands in front of my warm and crackling' fire. I have missed the process of building a fire, the upstairs has a propane fireplace, a flick of a button activates the fake flames rippling behind some faux logs that resemble a pair of petrified steaks.
When I lived in my cute little cottage in San Francisco on top of Potrero Hill, after a few years I installed a Franklin stove. Along with my gravel driveway, ample parking, and drop dead views, it was a one of a kind rental for where it was. I lived there for thirteen years, fixing the place up from the funky shack it was when I moved in, to a place few of my friends could believe I was leaving behind for rural Oregon. Back then, I was the only one I knew in the city with a wood burning stove, and after some research, found a wood lot in South San Francisco I would drive to every month in the winter and load the back of my Honda hatchback with 20 dollars of wood.
In 1996 did the math on the rent times thirteen, and decided I could have bought a place, and so the hunt began. Up the coast of California from Bolinas to Mendocino, fueled by the roof that had started to leak in earnest and the fact that one of my aging dogs was having trouble negotiating the three stairs to the backyard.
It was the week that Bill Clinton was elected President, a rainy week spent at a clients' family house up in Myrtle Creek, Oregon that was the deciding factor.
It rained all week, and a fire burned in the woodstove, it was as good as it gets, and on the way south stopping to visit a friend I picked up a newpaper, and the rest was history. Six months later I was moving into this place where Stella could enter without steps to fall on, and I could rent the downstairs if I needed to.
Each winter I think about relocating to someplace warm and sunny and wonder if I can tough it through another Oregon winter, counting the days until Spring rolls around.
Brrrr, time to stop whining and make a fire!

Birthing my blog

2009-11-30T18:11:00.000-08:00

"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

2009-11-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-03T21:53:00.000-08:00

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.

27 years and counting (my blessings)

2009-10-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

Twenty seven years ago today on Halloween night I was planning on staying home. Living on the fringe of the Castro district in San Francisco, it was an unprecedentedly crazy night to be out and about. A last minute invitation that afternoon changed my mind and my life. It was 1982, hope I did the math correctly, and I headed to my favorite thriftshop in the Mission for a costume.
Charlies Angels and Farrah Fawcett were everywhere including across the front of my outfit that night. Red boots and a leopard coat completed the look and I stepped out on a hot date starting out on my favorite barstool up the street. I was the party animal those days, youth and stupidity went hand in hand in my life back then. There was nothing I liked more than dancing the night away to the BeeGees or Donna Summers and I have fond if not blurry memories of those San Francisco nights.
I had been at the bar for less than an hour when someone taped me on the shoulder and said, 'your house is on fire'.
The exterior of the apartment building was being painted and apparently the painters had left cans of oil based paint in the cellar around the furnace that ignited and roared up the air shafts. It being Halloween night there were no parking places for blocks including in front of the fire hydrants. A ladder went up from one of the 5 trucks to one of the windows to rescue an old man who had stayed in for the evening and as they carried him down the ladder he had a heart attack and died. I stood in the street, watching the flames leaping out my windows for about 15 minutes before we decided to head to another neighborhood bar over in Noe Valley. I cleaned up on sympathy drinks that night and the pain of losing everything but the costume I was wearing wore off as the night wore on.
The next day the tenants were allowed back into what was left of our apartments. What wasn't scorched was soaked and I gathered a few things with a little help from my friends. Life went on, in a different neighborhood and I gradually rebuilt my life although it took many years to get over the trauma and drama.
Looking back I realize that I was in a state of shock for weeks, but it could have been so much worse had I not decided to go out that night. There were definetly some angels watching over me and I don't think it was the one on the front of my wacky costume.

Joe Coble

2009-10-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

Back a few years ago, my friend Johanna asked me to please help her Dad out, an architect and architectural rendering artist by trade, the economic slowdown had taken its toll on his assignment work.
I have known Joe since 1982 and have always admired his watercolors of residential and commercial buildings as well as the way he lays paint to paper and makes it look fresh and vibrant, his paintings of buildings in the midwest where he lives are especially spontaneous-just like him. Joe is old school in technique, but totally young at heart, especially in spirit.
Recently, he sent me a disk of his new work and I designed and created a Powerpoint presentation to send to potential clients and last night uploaded a new website.
Take a look via the link below, and drop him an email via the contact link on his site, I'm sure he would love to hear from you, business or pleasure!
www.joecoble.com

Welcome Home

2009-10-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

"So many times I read about art directors/photo editors talking about the photographer's vision, talking about how it's not the style of the photograph but about the moment... forget post processing, forget about lighting... forget about technique... when does the photographer push the button.
As Cartier-Bresson called it "the decisive moment."
.....from an excellent blogspot called the Strobist.
My photographs have been like my kids and one goes astray or as has happened multiple times in my past, stolen in a random robbery or burned up in a fire, I feel the loss more than what should be the norm for a picture.
This past week thanks to Facebook a photograph of mine resurfaced, not just any photograph, but one I grieved and held in my mind for years. I had lost the box of my photos and negatives years ago in a fire that burned my apartment building down on Halloween night 1982, pictures from a rock concert we traveled to from Brooklyn at Watkins Glen, New York ten years earlier. An estimated 600,000 rock fans came to the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway outside of Watkins Glen, New York on July 28, 1973, to see The Allman Brothers Band, The Band, and the Grateful Dead perform, we were four of them. I still have my original ticket. ...and very few memories of what turned out to be a insane weekend. Rain, mud, cold and I can remember people setting the porta potties on fire for heat. I remember a huge thunderstorm and being unable to leave, because everyone had simply stopped their cars on the jammed roads and walked the rest of the way. I remember having only a flimsy blanket and no rain gear, standing on a rain drenched hill looking down on a concert stage barely able to see the band playing. We rigged up a tent from a chenille blanket I had thoughtfully brought to sit on, hardly rain proof -but good background prop for the picture burned in my mind. I remembered that decisive moment, snapping that picture of Klaus and until last week I longed to reconnect with it to see if it was as memorable as I recalled.
Reconnecting with my old college friends via Facebook that are living on the East Coast has been sweet, one of them, Claude Pidgeon who was one of the four along on that concert trip wrote me what he remembered that I didn't.
"We were in my 1967 Lincoln Mercury Park Lane Braughm. It wouldn't start for the trip back. A hippie mechanic stole a distributor cap from a farm vehicle in the field behind a barn, and the car started right up. We made a shelter with bent saplings, your blanket and lots of hay from the field we were in. There were four of us. I know that you, Klaus and I were there, but I don't remember who #4 was. Very cold, wet, lots of acid...Who was with us?
Here and now, 36 years later, none of the three of us can recall the fourth person. I have thought about this picture for years, and when it popped up on Facebook on Klaus's profile last week, I did the happy dance and felt like throwing a welcome home party... if nothing else to embrace that decisive moment in back in 1973.
More pictures click here

Hellloo Fall

2009-10-25T06:14:00.001-07:00

This season is the time of the year I used to drive North when I lived in San Francisco and visit a friend living in Merlin. I would relish the rainy weather that brought out the rich earthy smell of the woods, the pumpkins that decorated all the porches and I loved sticking around for Halloween to see the kids in their costumes, wonderfully engaged in a world that revolves around fantasy and trick or treating for candy.
Its a magical time of year, especially in Oregon, and the changing maple trees here are reminiscent of my youth and growing up in Pennsylvania.
Yesterday I went to mail a few packages down at the Wilderville store where Laura and John were hosting their annual pumpkin carving party. While I was walking around taking a few pictures, Maggie jumped out of the car window I had absent mindedly left down and was instantly surrounded by costumed girls soaking up her endless love.
Then off we went to recycle and pick up a few things at the grocery store feeling like we had just taken a quick trip to Disneyland.

Sweet Surrender

2009-09-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

I adopted a kitty. My second adoption of the year after driving up to Salem Oregon in June to rescue a border collie of the same name as the one I lost in February. This Maggie had been raised with cats and peacocks and the gal peddling kittens from the back of her SUV at The Wilderville store said the kittens had been raised with dogs.
A quick trip to get some propane for my BBQ and suddenly I was introducing Maggie to her new playmate. Seems like its working out, they are instantly the best of friends.

Seasonal Whiplash

2009-09-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe we are creeping into September with 9/11 this Friday. We will be observing the 8yr anniversary of it at a Spearhead concert. Our fourth consecutive year in a row they have been at Britt- but the fact that it is on 9/11 this year makes it uniquely significant. A fact that I'm sure will not be lost on Michael Franti, it should be the concert of the summer and I am pumped.
I'm not working the Britt this year as a volunteer, not working the hospital surgery desk either, all due to the unpredictability of the production schedule for Young at Heart. Between the paper, a steady flow of company and the usual whiplash of summer days, suddenly we are full on into Indian summer.
We had a fun time in Jacksonville this past week, a fantastic Chris Isaak concert with great seats right in front of the stage, totally exceeded my expectations, at the end of the concert I worked my way up to the front of the stage to snap some pics and as they were taking a bow, I gave them back the SNL Garth bow and the drummer smiled and extended me his drum sticks and Chris flipped me a guitar pic.
Sweeeeet!
Then there was Alisons' fantastic moving sale, a satisfying latte at The Good Bean and walking the dogs around Jacksonville. Simple pleasures, awesome treasures.

Planet Cornball

2009-09-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

Opening Sundays performance was a theatrical and musical revue called "Oregon, Oregon" celebrating the states' 150 year anniversary and included the US Army band. Totally planet cornball, but the talent was impressive and the musical numbers amusing.... all the patriotic songs, guns and mini cannon, I would have gladly traded for another shot of Pink Martini at the end of the show. My oh my. Pink Martini was all it was cracked up to be and more. We had a fabulous time and were once again front and center on the lawn. One can never get enough of China Forbes voice and stunning looks.

Tonite we are off to see Chris Isaak, I worked his concert two years ago, but my friend Claudia had come in town for an overnighter before a planned rafting trip down the lower Rogue, and being it was was my limited window to see her, I worked my Britt shift selling raffle tickets, watched him open, perform two songs, and left wishing I didn't have to. Should be a stellar show, I remember seeing him in San Francisco in the late 70's when he had started playing with a friends' boyfriend in a band called Silvertone, Gail did their posters. He has come a long way, and I seriously doubt Jimmy is still playing with him. Got a line sitter in line as i type, but doubtful we will get close, there were line sitters getting in line Sunday evening for tonites performance.
I'm currently working on the September issue of Young at Heart, long days and hoping to make my deadline. It was so much easier, organized and content better a few months ago before everything got cut including my production help and my compensation to less than half. My focus is on getting this issue out, and exhaling.
But tonite we rock and roll!!!!!

Rain

2009-08-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Its not just the days getting noticeably shorter, the weather pattern is starting to change, a welcome relief even for us sun worshiping, winter hating Oregonians. My favorite time of the year, Fall is ahead. The kids are back in school, campgrounds are practically empty, and the fire danger is off, meaning you can burn. Torch the pile out back, start a roaring campfire and best of all leave it to Mother Nature to water the garden. In spite of an overpriced automatic watering system I put in years ago that waters the my so called lawn area, I'm tethered to a hose, watering, filling in and spot watering stuff around the back of the barn and the garden.
There are a few advantages to the lack of rain in the summer here, top of my list is the outdoor concert season at the Britt, it is a given to be picture perfect weather with the exception of the opening concert or two.
Its almost September, a year and 80 posts since I started blogging, and I have a lot of work to do all of a sudden... bids to get in on two or three jobs, Young at Heart has had a record month of ad sales and I went from wondering if I had a job, to having four days to finish the September issue and get it to the newest printer. Once again it is a mixed black and white and color issue, in order to trim my budget they decided to do all the ads themselves, and it is a disorganized hodge podge I will have the challenge of pulling together.
Speaking of pulling together I better bust a move, we are off to see Pink Martini this evening and I need to get a picnic packed for another perfect night of awesome music under a canopy of stars.

True Love and Homegrown Tomatoes

2009-08-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

There is a Guy Clark song i stole that line from and it refers to the two things money can't buy, in the song, and in life.
Dave grows the most awesome crop of organic tomatoes every summer, he has friends and neighbors that wait for his harvest and he sells them for a song. Well not really a song, but at a buck a pound it practically is.
August is always about setting up the overflow for winter. Traditionally we do salsa, roasting the tomatoes on the grill along with the other ingredients, onions, peppers, garlic, corn on the cob. Its grill and toss in the food processor, except for the corn, add fresh parsley and salt and pepper and the result is an amazing tomato base to make and freeze for pizza sauce, chili, or enchilada sauce.
You have to pour off a good deal of seeds, watery tomato juice and add a small can of organic red paste to it, and be sure to leave on the grilled skins they add a rich flavor and color.

Stayin' Alive

2009-08-21T10:37:00.001-07:00

The three days of triple digit temps drove us out of town and out to the coast, where an hour and a half West on 199 we landed on a gorgeous sunny beach at Whaleshead, named appropriately for the shape of the rock and spray that looks like the spout rocketing a greeting to the shore.
Ruth Ann followed us, anxious to return to the river that hooked her last summer and our favorite camping destination heat wave or not.
It was a hastily prepared pack job and created some challenges cooking and eating wise. One plastic fork, no spatula, but thanks to Ruthie, plenty of excellent Oregon and California wine. Our priorities were in order if our camping gear was not.
After an hour of beach time and the thrill of feeling the fog roll in, we headed up river and set up camp. After releasing Maggies ashes into the river rolling out to the ocean, I put together some tomato slabs with mozzarella and basil, and Ruthie cracked a bottle of Williamette Valley Orange Blossom. Dave lit the mosquito coils and the evening closed lying on the rocks next to the rivers edge under an ebony sky watching the big dipper dip behind the trees intensifying the feeling of magical and spiritual serenity.
The next day, with perfect temps to bask in we hung out on a small island overlooking a pool of water so clear and blue it was hard to believe we were not at the Caribbean. A good swim was had by all, including the dogs who wore themselves out while we ate Fritos and indulged in some California Chardonnay.
After a memorable day Ruth Ann packed and headed up the coast to explore Coos Bay and Dave and I decided to stay another night.
Back in the Rogue Valley the heat wave is still happening but it is in the reasonably tolerable stage and my life and garden desperately needed some TLC. It is amazing to see the survival of the fittest nature wise as I have spent the majority of the morning watering all the parched and drooping plants AND playing with Maggie who is hardly outgrowing her water biting obsession. She makes it kinda difficult to really water at times but this morning when I finally lost my temper and made her drop and lay down, she finally did, right in front of the heart shaped rock that came back with us from the coast, picked up her head and gave me the biggest smile a dog can sport. I thought my heart was was going to burst, but instead I got my camera, fired up the hose and gave her a workout.
Another round of TLC please!

Turkey Tamale Pie

2009-08-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

This has become the summers favorite and I have had multiple requests for the recipe so i am posting it, and I took some pictures the last time I made it to accompany the recipe.

Roses'TURKEY TAMALE PIE
2 pounds of ground turkey
Salt
1/4 cup chili powder divided
3 cups of salsa
2 4oz cans of diced chilis or fresh roasted ones
2 16 oz can of pinto or black beans ( mash one)
2 2.5 oz can of black olive drained
1 cup of fresh chopped cilantro divided
2 cups of cornmeal
2 tsp salt
2 cups, 8 oz of grated sharp cheese

Heat two 12 inch skillets medium heat and add the turkey and lightly season with salt and cook until it turns from pink to brown, stir in 3 Tbs chili powder, then the salsa, green chilis, beans, olives and 1/2 cup of cilantro simmer about 5 minutes.
Pour into two casserole dishes and sprinkle with half of the cheese.
For the topping, bring 6 cups of water, cornmeal, remaining 1 Tsb chili powder and 2 tsps of salt to boil in a large pot, whisking frequently until it thickens to a mushy consistency (like grits). Pour over hot mixture spreading with a spatula to completely cover the casserole dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese and cilantro.
Bake or broil until the top gets browned. Let rest 5 minutes and serve.
This recipe can easily serve a large gathering, I frequently cut it in half and it will serve four with a little leftovers. Reheats well and is awesome the following day!
One of the things I love about this recipe, its ground turkey, so much healthier than beef and wonderfully flavorful. As you can see in my pics I improvise and add whats in season, in this one, some fresh tomatoes and peppers were added that were grown in Daves organic garden. Don't be surprised if your guests ask for the recipe too!
Bon Appetite!

Blogs of note and poison oak

2009-08-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

I know those little bumps, not a mosquito bite, not a fly bite, too itchy for anything but the dreaded poison oak bump. The cure in a bottle, Benadryl gel. And if i put it on soon enough the blistering will not happen.
Heres hoping, relief is a swab away.
I found out about the gel from my dear friend Deb who has since passed away. She was a ranger for the BLM and had the smarts about all things nature and outdoors related. It was her divorce and need for a place to move to after that motivated me to create a studio space downstairs where she lived for three years before getting cancer.
On another note I have gotten lost in a blog of note or two once again this morning, glimpses into other peoples lives, a few hours of voyeurism and procrastination. Its time to jump back into my life which has slowed down considerably these days since Young at Heart Publication has run out of money. Its been a month since I have been paid and there was apparently no money to print the August edition which is now going to be the September edition, good thing I didn't finish the Buzz and all the time sensitive happenings that will have to be changed. So I essentially have a couple weeks off to catch up on other creative projects, mow the lawn, post some stuff on ebay for sale and breathe. Thankfully my vintage trailer just sold to the sweetest couple in the world, giving me some needed funds. Thank you Nicole and Shawn!!!! I am so glad you love that trailer as much as I have, may you have many happy times in it as we have had!
The temps dropped back down after a record week of soaring triple digits, a power outage for 15 hours on a 109 degree day and the pump going down, requiring Dave to twist into a human pretzel for 45 minutes in the spider web filled pump house working on repriming and unclogging the unit that brings the water into the house from the ground. I am so grateful to have a man in my life with patience and mechanical smarts.
This month marks 8 years since we met on Julies back porch over home made pesto, and bonded instantly talking about music.
This week we did a much needed float down the river, our "old fogey float", spotting osprey, bald eagles and egrets.
Oh my....

Sunny Summer Sunday

2009-08-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

Hope Frank dropped in Saturday evening on her way to the Bay Area and we had dinner on the back deck, savoring, as is the norm these days, Daves' homegrown tomatoes, topped with some fresh mozzarella and basil from the garden.
Sunday morning after some of Joans happy hen strangled eggs, I helped Hope get a blogspot and gmail set up before she hit the road for Nevada City -loaded down with organic tomatoes and garlic.
I worked on a couple website projects for a few hours, did some laundry, worked on getting some new speakers hooked up to my computer and it was suddenly approaching the time to head off to the movies to see Julie & Julia. Truly a delightful and entertaining film in which Meryl Streep is just incredible, and I will be shocked if she doesn't win an oscar for her performance. On the drive home we found out Ruthie was a big fan of her shows (Julia Childs) and has actually made many of her recipes. This explains why Ruthie is such a wonderful cook.

This and that.......

2009-07-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am listening to The Story podcast and cleaning up a cluttered desktop of files from things that I have been doing- along with production on the August issue of Young at Heart. I love the diversity of my job, especially writing stories or taking my photos and weaving them around an article on road tripping in the area. This month I wrote an article about going to Crater Lake, researching it was interesting and informative and I got to reminisce about a funny camping trip at Crater lake a few summers back with Dave and the dogs, and yes that would be Maggie and BuBu.
This past months' issue on the river enabled me to use my Applegate picture that I posted a while back, on the cover.
Been uploading some books that I have collected at garage sales and thriftshops and selling them on Amazon, its an easy process, and I have been doing it since I broke my wrist in 06 and started selling off my CD collection of three hundred plus cds, now all in my iTunes library and occupying a fraction of the space.
At times there are no photos of the book and this was the case of one I was posting called Grace and Favour, so i took a picture of the beautiful inside picture of the Duchess and added it, Amazon makes this very easy too. Also posted - a very cool art catalogue from a Lichtenstein ceramics show that is an out of print item i bought for 50 and is selling for nearly a hundred dollars used on Amazon.
I'm also getting together digital photos of the art I did quite a few years ago, this is a drawing I did on the Avocado farm in Escondido after hitchhiking cross country in 1977, after my camera broke, but thats another blog post or maybe a to be continued...
Stay tuned, stay cool in this heat.
Thanks for reading, i think.

well duh....

2009-07-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

this just in, from my home state....
" Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican recently turned Democrat, said Sotomayor's much-maligned comment reflected a woman standing up for women and someone exhibiting ethnic pride. "I didn't find fault with 'wise Latina woman,' I found it commendable," he said.

I am hoping she sails through the rest of the approval process, I see a joyous swearing in ahead for Democrats, Latinos, WOMEN, and Liberals taking a second ride of pride for things moving forward in a positive and balanced political spin.
Here in paradise we are breaking records heat wise, seriously hot and demotivating upon impact. And thats what it feels like, a wall of heat..we have considered exiting back to the coast but the reality is I am on a good wave of production on the August issue, since the deadline was pushed back a week.
Its all about being inside and hitting the AC button in the afternoon.
Ruthie is in San Francisco sailing and I am watching her cat, Mia.
Who never comes out from under the bed. Here is a photo of her taken by Ruthie on one of Mias' good days.
Ruthie has taken some fantastic photos with her iPhone and put together a website called Summering in Southern Oregon. linked here.
I must confess, Ms Mia, I have those days too......

Beating the heat

2009-07-25T19:41:00.001-07:00

Back from a too short trip to the Chetco this week, mainly because I am supposed to be on deadline, but as has been the case of late there is a question as to wheter the paper will be printed on time or if I will be paid for my time.... three weeks behind I don't know where to draw the line. It is a job, and I am enjoying the work I do but scheesh, bills pile up and I wonder if continuing to invest my time in this job or finding another is the way to go.
Triple digits and the grass looks parched.
This is what I eek through the winter for...

The Chetco ahead...

2009-07-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

Triple digits have crept into the valley and while we are barely cracking the 100 mark, areas of the southwest are in the 108-110 range, the mere thought makes me wilt. Its fortunate we cool down at night here and the saving grace is a window fan and closing up the house in the day, the brick house is also a bonus, keeping the place cool through the late afternoon when during these heatwaves around 5, I have to breakdown and hit the AC button.
Finally got paid from last months issue and starting the August Young at Heart today.
Today Julie lands back in Oregon, for a friends wedding. We haven't seen her since she left in 2001 and it was at a farewell dinner at her house that Dave and I met. We are looking forward to meeting her and Dwight at the coast in a few days. They have rented a cabin at Loebs for two nights and we are pitching a tent on the Chetco, just down the road. Oh boy, sun and fun ahead.
This past week, a too short visit and BBQ with Paul and Jamie and friends, Ruthie returned from a week in San Francisco and today we headed to Jacksonville, one of the sweetest towns in the area, to lunch and afterwards connect with a line sitter for a Britt concert on Thursday night. We took a drive up on Sterling Creek Road, one of my favorite roads with sweeping vistas (see photo above) and suprisingly, we ended up in Ruch, completely the opposite direction I expected to pop out in. Following a garage sale sign we landed at the home of Misty Stone were we spent at least an hour chatting and delightfully discovering she is an amazing illustrator. She showed us their private swimming hole on the Applegate River, and invited us back anytime to swim. Incredibly beautiful, Ruthie took this picture with her iPhone.
We all exchanged cards and hope to connect with her artistically in the near future. All in all a delightful day, and now I better start pulling out the camping gear, I'm so excited about meeting up with old friends and sharing a special place.

Seizing the Moment

2009-07-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

Its hard to keep track of the amount of guests visiting this summer Deb, Hope, Geoff, the Pies and of course, RuthAnn moving in for the summer months to my downstairs studio rental, which she has totally transformed with her furniture and artwork, not to mention exzuberant spirit.
Last week Martina and Dylan, now 8 years old, came up for a numbingly short visit. Include a scheduled vet appointment in Eagle Point -always a day trip due to the 45 minute drive and assorted activities normally included, Costco, any yard sale along the way, and a primo spot along the river to stop, walk the dogs and watch the river flow, and I barely saw them.
Dylan bonded with Maggie and she with her as you can see in this sweet picture above taken of the two of them and the circle of love, her hand on her head, her paw on her chest. Martina, Ruthie and Dylan did a number of fun things and one of their creative accomplishments was creating a video of Maggie and Rowdy, shot the day before he went to live on Genevieves' farm, it can be viewed at the website Ruthie set up entitled Summertime in Grants Pass
I decided to try and place Rowdy, after six weeks, it was apparent that they were not bonded, but in fact, she was bullying him and simply put, he just wasn't getting the love he deserved for the cool dog he was. Two days after posting him on Craigslist I got two emails, both elderly individuals that had recently lost their dogs and Rowdy was placed with a sweet and charming 70ish French woman on a 5 acre farm outside Medford. It was quite the drive there, he was a totally different personality than when I rescued him up in Lebanon, Oregon the beginning of June... and I believe it was a good decision.
I watched him walk into the house with her, never looked back, Maggie didn't register any separation anxiety either.
The dynamic is better around the house, and with Dave and Pepper around a lot of the time, two dogs are plenty to handle!

Music on the Applegate

2009-07-13T10:44:00.001-07:00

I am logged in and waiting on this weeks online illustrator class to start, hard to believe its been a week since last weeks class. Presented by Creative Techs in Seattle its an interesting update and tutorial for two hours on CS4.
Here is the link to log on.
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/585486272
They have a number of excellent classes and a schedule on their website, www.creativetechs.com/training

Last Wednesday evening we headed out to see the Rogue Suspects at the Applegate Inn. Also wanted to show Ruthie another one of the more wonderful venues to enjoy music on a summer night. It turned out the music was instead two very talented musicians, one on guitar, one on sax.
We arrived at the Applegate River Lodge as the owner, Joanna, and Mr Kim, her PR man were finishing up a photoshoot outside. I mentioned that I worked for Young at Heart publication and was there to snap a picture for the article I was writing, about driving through the Applegate Valley via 238.

We were graciously given the tour of all the wonderful rooms, and then retired to the deck for some wine and music.
It was a great night in a special place, once again, on the river.

July 4th

2009-07-06T15:12:00.000-07:00

The weathers been hot and sunny and after wrapping the July issue of the paper last Friday, I spent some time in and on the river, a necessity when its triple digits in Southern Oregon. Dave inflated my little kayak thats been packed away for a summer or two, and repaired another inflatable bought a few summers back that needed some TLC. Saturday and Sunday we went by Joans and Bills stretch of the Applegate with Ruthie, who is up for the summer. The July 4th holiday weekend was a delight, made a pie, scored some tiles at a garage sale to finish the kitchen backsplash, shopped the Growers Market, picked rasberries at Daves, paddled around in the Applegate and grilled salmon and zucchini.
I have been really enjoying the CREATIVE TECH online classes I have been taking for the past 7 weeks, InDesign, Illustrator and soon Flash is coming up. Even though I have been using these programs for years, the tricks and tips alone are worth the time and I'm learning new ways to use old tools. Its such a reason to upgrade to CS4 as well, since that is the Creative Suite version they are covering each week.
I just downloaded an animation software 30 day trial called Lightbox 3d I'm about to check out and see how it can be applied to the Mokie redo planned for his 10 year anniversary.
Company coming tomorrow, Martina and Dylan, looking forward to seeing some dear friends and the weather is cooling off significantly which makes it all the better.

The Rub

2009-06-19T08:55:00.001-07:00

Scheesh another one of those stretches of time flying wheter you're having fun or not. Its been an exciting few weeks of activities, and working on the downstairs studio with Dave in anticipation of my friend Ruthie moving up from San Francisco and into the rental for the summer. Each time the rental turns over we get a window of opportunity to do a few more things to improve it, this time we painted the bathroom, not been painted at all since I moved in thirteen years ago.
Also on the 4th of June I headed North to rescue two dogs I saw on Pet Finders. One named Maggie and with a remarkably similar face and her seven year old companion Rowdy, a 74 pound butterball now on the Jenny Craig diet.
Its taken them a few weeks to settle down, especially since there have been a stream of dogs visiting and creating new challenges daily for them.
I was lucky to have my dear friend Hope come through on her way to San Francisco and back and spend the night. Her sweet dalmation Dominique is eleven and I remember going up to Hood River when Maggie was still a youngster and them rolling and tumbling and playing like the wild childs they were back then.
Ruth Ann (and Geoff who drove the truck) arrived a few days ago and after selling her loft, she rolled in with all kinds of presents, the very best being a couple of queen size beds for the upstairs bedrooms.
This week its been a flurry of company and cooking and starting to work on the July edition of the paper starting in earnest with the articles and last minute ads coming in. Attempting to create order and guidelines into a production that is understaffed and busy with the Senior Fair that the paper is sponsoring in two days at the local college has been a challenge.
Its summertime here in paradise, Julies' jasmine is blooming and there is a stream of friends visiting, I love this time of the year when my porch light is always on!

Garlic Dressing

2009-05-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

Tis' the season for fresh salad, and fresh ingredients, which after a long winter are now available from the local Growers Markets.
I headed down around noon today to get the ingredients to restock the GD we have been out of for well over a week. No small thing in this food oriented household...
Picked up some organic flat leaf parsley from Fry Family Farms produce stand and some fresh garlic so freshly picked, the skins were pure white and cloves still wet and packed with some serious heat. Along with some beautiful red onions, clearly the best purchase made on the way out, was a bunch of gorgeous Peonies for a mere three dollars.
Back to the garlic dressing, to provide a historical angle, it started with The Backroads' fresh salads and their incredibly delicious sweet garlic dressing.
We were hooked. They sell it there at the restaurant, but its ridiculously expensive for a small container, and they close down for three months in the winter.
Dave grows a crop of around 200 fantastic garlic each year, organic, huge and so tasty. Since I had the garlic to experiment with, I started working the waiters for clues to the ingredients. Coupled with some research online, I was off and running and eventually came up with this recipe.
My dressing varies depending on the amount of garlic I put in, and the heat the variety packs. Dave grows a mild sweet crop, but occasionally I will purchase some (like today) that is hot and adds a whole nuter' element.
We use it on and in everything, from salads to stir fry, grilled salmon, dipping sauce for home baked pizza, pasta, eventually, everything tastes boring without it poured on top, or worked into the recipe (must be the italian in me..) so I'm posting my recipe, I never measure specific, just general amounts, you can't ruin it.
Everything with garlic rules!

Roses' Garlic sauce/dressing
6 heads of garlic
one generous cup of EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
one cup of water (or more depending on the consistency you like)
about... 1/4 cup Cider Vinegar
about...1/4 cup or less of Brown Sugar
about ...!/3 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
a very generous splash of soy sauce
a generous amount of Kosher Salt and lots of Fresh Ground Pepper
....about two tablespoons each.
Get started by cutting the tops off three of the garlic heads and drizzle some olive oil on them, wrap in aluminum foil and bake in the oven until the kitchen has that fantastic smell of roasted garlic, about 30 minutes at 350. and let sit in the oven while it cools down. This can be done the night before or even a day or two before.
Start peeling the rest of the raw heads of garlic. I smash them with the knife-its supposed to make them more potent...
Squeeze the roasted garlic out through the cut tops, or strip them and put the raw and the roasted garlic together in the food processor along with the olive oil and process for a few minutes until combined, add the rest of the ingredients in any order or all at once, except for the water and process till thick and creamy. Then through the feeding tube in the top of the processor with the unit slowly running start adding the cup of water until it becomes a thinner consistency, if its too garlicky, add more oil or water to taste, I like mine totally heavy on the garlic....
Enjoy!

Friday again?

2009-05-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

Shocking how fast the week flys by, I haven't even had a chance to count how many ads I've designed over the past few weeks, in addition to an additional 8 pages to layout this month.
Up visiting from the Bay Area last weekend, Deb gave me some fantastic tips and coupled with the online InDesign classes I have been taking from Creativetechs, I am having a great time designing the June issue, even if it has eaten my life and any free time.
On the homefront, its raining blobs of cotton from my cottonwood trees. A gust of wind and it looks like its snowing. The driveway looks like a washer has overflowed and the suds distributed along the gravel. Every year I deal with this in a different way, I've learned the hard way, not to bend up and down and pluck every blob on the lawn up - I can't move the following day. Raking takes forever, mowing it clogs the engine, and I sure can't afford to have my lawn mower go down... I might try leaf blowing it into the blackberries bushes along the edge of the lawn, or talk to the nice lawn maintenance guy down the road and see if he has such a thing as a lawn vacuum for hire.
Moving on to less stressful topics, we finally made it to Medford this week for the Britts' seasons summer concert tickets. This has to be one of the most disappointing line ups of the past ten years. I didn't sign on to volunteer this summer, my job has limited my available time. I cashed in my raffle sellers prize from last summer in exchange for two tickets to see Elvis Costello, and we purchased tickets for the Indigo Girls, Pink Martini, and Michael Franti and Spearhead, back for a fourth year, can't wait to see them again.
Well, the sun is now rising, my coffee helping to motivate me, and I'm reminded of a quote I just highlighted in a story we are running this month on Aggie Pilgrim.
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is our gift, and we better use it wisely.” Agnes Baker-Pilgrim
On that note, I think I'll wander outside, water the garden and take some pictures of the cotton everywhere!
Y'all have a great weekend, Ms Leah, hope you're not too sore to get back on those ponies and ride!

Summertime!

2009-05-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a road trip up to Applegate lake instead of the coast as planned and explored a piece of paradise close to the California border.
Its finally settling into some warm weather and I'm analyzing the pattern I moan about in the winter as I enjoy the benefits of the brick house I hate for 6 months and love the rest of the year. This time of the year I love sleeping with the windows open and hearing the birds calling to each other in the morning. The day closes with crickets cricketing and the sight of bats circling overhead fading out to a starry sky that is a canopy of twinkling diamonds.
When winter rolls around I'm scratching my head why I am still here in the miserable grey weather that is the Pacific Northwest, but in the summer its a love affair.
The picture above is worth a thousand words.

Whats Up....

2009-05-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

I taught a class in iWeb this past weekend at The Guild, it was actually pretty fun especially creating the support sheets and learning some additional things via the awesome Apple videos. Here's the link to the excellent iLife tutorials http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#iphoto starting with iPhoto, these are for the 09' version, but you can do a search for previous ones.
iWeb is a fantastic program, smoothly integrating with iPhoto, and its so user friendly. Equally impressive are the templates in iWeb and also the iWorks program- so well designed and a joy to play around with. I hope to do a class in the future on creating a portfolio with Keynote. One of the other impressive features is the ability to export to other formats, pdf, to email, or a Powerpoint presentation that is PC friendly for those not on a Mac.
I'm working on the Young at Heart June issue and enjoying the creative process, just added an additional 8 pages to this issue and there are so many more ads being sold, I'm cranking out ads daily! I just completed working up a logo/type design and PR kit, with Pages (the print part of iWorks) for the next event Young at Heart is sponsoring in October, A Medford Senior Affair.
There are times that my muse is satisfied with the creative challenges of this job and other times I am challenged by the limitations. Today I choose to see the glass overflowing.

Picking up the pieces...

2009-04-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

If compliments paid my mortgage and kind words soothed my heart I would be flying.
But they don't, and its been a stretch since I have been able to find the time and the desire to return to this blog. Losing Maggie ran me off the proverbial road and I have been trying to find my voice and return to my routine and the gratification that this blog has given me since my last post.
I started working for Young at Heart publications in January, creating display ads and upgrading their marketing materials. At the end of March I was hired to redesign the newspaper and take over design and production. Having a number of additional creative projects has been helpful and rewarding and I have felt truly blessed by the work.
This months production just wrapped up and it has been an insane two weeks. I hoped to get off to the coast with Dave the past two days but the weather has been seriously stormy and its looking like the end of the week instead since sunny days and warm temperatures are returning.
The Southern Oregon Guilds'gallery, which was renovated as part of the RCC building project opened the past month and it was fun to see the transformation from the raw space we were assembling display cabinets in this past January, to a light bright open space filled with art and now awaiting the final touch, carpeting. As a member of the Guild, I have been pro/bono, working on redesigning their logo, website and print materials over the past two years, and was anxious to see the banners I designed for the outside of the building and road. It was a challenging project to get so much copy condensed and designed all into a pleasing vertical format.
We went out to Kerby for the opening and evening festivities and we toured Its a Burl, right down the road. Despite driving by numerous times over the years I had not been in there but one quick stop 12 years ago. I wanted to take some pictures since I was writing an article for the Young at Heart paper on exploring the Illinois Valley and road tripping up to the Oregon Caves, which turned out to be our spontaneous destination on Easter Sunday. It was a fantastic maze of burl art galleries and awesome pottery. Music was happening on the porch, dogs lay around in the dust and I loved meeting Joy and Harvey the owners while we were there. I took a lot of pictures (what else is new) making it so difficult to pick only two for the article.
This past week Jamie and Paul came up from the Bay Area, Jamie has a cabin in Wimer she bought years ago and spends a month or two a year escaping to, and Paul being the avid cyclist he is has a new hybrid road/mountain bike and enjoyed the local scenery and thankfully had no encounters this time with the local rednecks.
We went up there on Sunday and it was a sweet time. We left feeling grateful for making the call to do the hour drive to get there. As crazy as things have seemed lately, theres something so soothing and spiritual about feeling surrounded by tall trees and walking on pine needles with friends while the dogs run wildly through the woods.

Coming unglued

2009-03-04T06:36:00.000-08:00

"There is sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love." -Washington Irving (1783-1859)

All those cliches about one door opening and another closing, life turning on a dime, appreciate each day for the gift it is, are small reminders and nano comfort these days. Frankly I've been having a terrible time getting on with things. The depressing rainy weather hand in hand with my seemingly endless flow of tears contributes to my feeling still in shock. I am so eternally thankful for Dave in my life he has been my rock and lifeboat, and has left Pepper here with me when he is not. She has in fact been here since losing Maggie. There is no replacing one dog with another but I see fully the benefit gained by the distraction. Plus she is very cute.
When I lost Mona, I waited six months before adopting Maggie at the local animal shelter, or even going through the effort of looking. I'm not sure why I waited so long, life was so sure quiet without a dog for those months. Really quiet. But looking back, I was waiting for her. When I broke down and went down the row of barking lunging dogs at the pound, she was the only one sitting quietly in her cell staring at me. She had a pink slip on her door, not a job dismissal, and when she came outside with me, she circled my legs like a cat and stole my heart.
Its been ten years and life without her seems so hard, everyday gets a little easier, but I'm still coming apart at the seams. Photos of her, phone calls and comforting emails from friends and family all still seem to push me over the edge. She was larger than life, and I believe leaves my life better because of her presence in it.

Free Falling

2009-02-22T16:39:00.000-08:00

U is for UNPREPARED for losing Maggie
The bus ran off the road on Friday, it started off like any other day. Had I known it would end like it did I would have not spent so much time working on the computer and would have skipped my volunteer shift on Thursday. I would have made more time to stroke her head and tell her what an incredible companion she has been since the day I brought her home from the pound. She was always so funny, smart, so undemanding, loyal and devoted but independent, so if I was busy working she was totally content. We had our rhythm, which after living ten years 24/7 together is no surprise.
She had been having some difficulties, and was hardly eating, and drinking more water than normal so I called the vet and scheduled an appointment for 3.
She had been to the vet in December but saw a new vet who said the lump in her side Dave felt was just a full bladder, took no x-rays or showed any concern despite our worries that she was kind of lethargic. But she had lost BuBu 5 months previously, and we all were still recovering that loss.
Friday was different, our regular vet felt her swollen belly, immediately took an x-ray and she was in surgery 15 minutes later. She said she probably wouldn't have made it through the weekend. I prayed for a miracle but when the vet came out, I only had to look at the expression of pain on her face to know I had lost her. It was cancer and it had spread to her liver.
I still feel heartbroken I had less than five minutes to say goodbye, I was so not prepared. In my worst nightmare, never would I have thought I would be taking her to the vet that day and not bringing her home.
Now there is a giant hole in my life and heart and I am still falling into it.

Folky snake

2009-02-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

S is for SNAKE
This picture was taken at the Martin Guitar factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. They have a fantastic museum of folk art collectibles, displays of wonderful guitar memorabilia and the guitars used by various artists from Johnny Cash to Crosby Stills and Nash. Theres also a fabulous walking tour that is so worth the time and you can see the way Martin guitars are constructed - everything from the way they are polished to the embellishments cut into the fronts around the hole. Its hard not to drop a few bucks in the gift shop on t-shirts, hats and assorted doo da. It looks to be a great place to work, and I recommend the tour if you are in that neck of the woods or are within driving distance. A big thanks to my Brother Mark, who drove me out there one day while I was back East two years ago for the one and only time in years. I have a lot more pictures I will link as a slide show sometime in the future.

Reflection and such

2009-02-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

R is for REFLECTION
It was a great weekend, Friday night Dave and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire, everydarnbit as good as I have read. Saturday, we headed out to a swap meet and eventually landed in Medford and Costco for the usual supplies and a hike along the river. Maggie and Pepper seem to be getting along extremely well, and both picked up a few ticks.
There were encouraging glimpses of blue sky, sunshine and warmth and the days are getting longer.
Pretty soon we will be floating down the river, reflecting on the fact that we survived another winter.

Ground Control to Major Tom

2009-02-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

N is for NOSTALGIA
Lately I have been reminiscing about the good ole' days. Theres been a flurry of photos from the 70's popping up on Facebook, reminding me of the days when my overhead didn't exceed my income, I didn't look like my Mother, and everything seemed so much simpler. I used to roll my eyes at my Mom saying to me 'when you have your health you have everything'.
Now I get it. I get a lot of things I didn't get back then. I appreciate the older and wiser part of my life and try to keep my focus there. I've never been much into Classic Rock and Roll, but I have to admit, footage of Buddy Holly surrounding the 50th anniversary of his death last week, and the Doobie Brothers concerts at the Britt over the past few years that have rearranged my thinking in that department too.
My Mom has dementia, thankfully my Brother has been taking care of her over the past few years, allowing her to remain at home. Recently I found, and was moved to read a 2 page letter she wrote me in college, when her brain was firing on all cylinders (and mine wasn't). These days, like our former President, she can barely string a sentence together.
That letter made me nostalgic and even more appreciative of that cliche that would make me turn away and roll my eyes.

Mama Mia...

2009-02-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

M is for MADONNA
Mid afternoon at the hospital, someone mentioned it was a full moon these days, which I immediately thought....that explains everything.
It was busy beyond belief, scheduled surgeries and add-ons plus it was short staffed in the back forty. Usually the afternoon shift I work at 3Rivers is slow compared the morning one but that was not the case today.
Compounded by the fact that I had a full day before I even checked in at 11 am, up at the crack of dawn trying to make changes to the Media Kit and website I'm working on, and a morning appointment in town. These past few days I'm scrambling to keep all my plates spinning.
Todays photo challenge submission was a nite light I picked up at the Humane Society thriftshop last summer for a mere 2 dollars, it lights up too. One of these days it will make it on to ebay, but in the meantime it collects dust and provides a token measure of comfort just looking at its beautiful face and delicate hands. These days with a full moon rising maybe I should plug her in and let her light shine bright.

Making Lemonade

2009-02-11T17:10:00.001-08:00

L is for LEMONS
Todays submission to the Alphabet Photo challenge was altered with yet another Photoshop filter, Paint Daubs. Kinda fun exploring the filters, this one makes it look almost like it was painted.

New Frontiers

2009-02-10T17:31:00.000-08:00

K is for KNOT
Daves' organic garlic is a staple in our cooking, he has been growing the most amazing crops for years. Every fall replanting the best cloves and normally harvesting around two hundred beautiful bombers in July. Its the real deal, and we have been perfecting a fantastic dressing with a combination of the roasted and raw garlic plus a few other ingredients. It goes on everything from salad to salmon. Yesterday he dropped off a still knotted six pack of the 'purple italian' to make another round of dressing.
This afternoon I shot the picture and it looked wildly boring, not a lot of time in my day to play, or hunt and seek new subject matter, I decided to explore some Photoshop filters (this filter is Poster edges) and got I lucky, it really pulled the knot out so it was more readable, and I learned something new.
Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Bottoms UP

2009-02-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

J is for JAVA
My daily coffee production was altered a few years ago by a visit from my friend Michael.
Landing from the Bay Area (where theres a Starbucks on every corner) to install some doors in my kitchen, he blew my doors off whipping up some milk to top a cup a java.
There was a period of time in the 80's when Sandra from Switzerland was here, ah... in San Francisco, she had this milk steamer device and introduced us to the frothy milk factor. However the unit to do the deed with was dangerous and unpredictable, especially if one left the room.
Michaels technique was simpler, involved a small pan and a wisk, and we can't drink our coffee any other way since. The mere fact that you heat the milk makes it sweeter, and wisking it by hand for a minute or two takes it to a whole nuther level.

Senior Moments

2009-02-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

I is for IDLE SENIORS
On Saturday Dave and I headed over to the Grange to see if I could get our local chapter of the Old Time Fiddlers who were playing there, to commit to playing the Senior Fair in June. We stayed for a few tunes, where I shot these photos for the Alphabet Challenges' letter I. Outside it was 64 glorious degrees, it was a tough decision to remain inside watching them play music, rip up the dance floor and socialize. We then headed over to the local swap meet, scoring a few treasures and afterwards, the Mini Pet Mart to get the dogs nailed trimmed.
This morning we headed out for a hike and drove out to Waters Creek, outside of Selma. We wound our way about 5 miles up the mountain, where we were overlooking the fog. It was absolutely breathtaking, a reminder of the reason I remain despite the winter weather that continually challenges me.

Chickens

2009-02-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

"The rooster may crow, but the hen delivers the goods"

H is for HENS
Chickens were one of the most fun and fascinating aspects of my move from city life to country living, I loved watching them, primarily in the hope I could glimpse an egg exit their fluffy bottoms.
My hens, it seemed rejected their nesting boxes and instead dropped eggs randomly...later I would find it was because there had been a rather large snake raiding the nests.
Totally fascinated by their routines, I would spy on them through a tiny section missing from the door to the roosting area. At dusk, they would retire to the tree branch that Keith nailed up in the enclosure, always lining up in the same order.
I decorated the walls in there with magazine photographs I found of poultry, hoping to make them feel at home. One day after a prolonged period of watching I was delighted to actually see it happen, one of the hens let an egg drop, and to my amazement, I could see it was soft as it came out.
The problem was the roosters, at first there was only one, but when I got a few more chicks from a neighbor up the road, hoping to increase the size of the herd and egg production, one of them developed into another rooster. And suddenly the heat was on, the girls had no rest, and the boys weren't just crowing at dawn, they were crowing all night long. Once they began fighting, I was told one of them had to go, or one of them would kill the other. Bad tempered, they went after my legs anytime they could and I became highly fearful not to mention increasingly irritated by the all night crow show.
One evening, I noticed in the local paper an ad for a free rooster, and so I called the number. I too have a free rooster, if you get more than one call please give them my address, his bags are packed.
It was just around dusk when a beat up pick up pulled into my driveway, and a petite older woman emerged with one leg in a brace. She limped confidently up my driveway and after peering through the peep show hole, I watched her fearlessly fling open the door, and in the blink of an eye she snatched it off the roost by its legs. It dropped upside down instantly sedate in her hand. She limped back down the driveway, effortlessly dropped that crazy rooster into a cage in the back of her truck, drove off and that was the end of my sleepless nights.

Ben

2009-02-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

G is for GOAT
Heres Joans' remaining goat, gentle Ben, he is so sweet, loves his head rubbed, and loves dog cookies. When I go into the fenced area to drop my food scraps I've brought over for the chickens, he'll come right up next to me and I'll feel this warm breath blowing in my ear. Like hes trying to tell me something....cooookieeees.........
He's incredibly socialized, as are all her animals- Joan does this bonding thing when they are born, I have to ask her, theres a name for it I can't remember.
Everyone is like family, all her creatures, great and small.

The daily flog

2009-02-05T22:35:00.000-08:00

F is for FEATHERS
Been busy revising and uploading website changes and working on some display ads for my new client. Had a meeting this afternoon in Kerby regarding some signage for the Guild. The new gallery and addition is wonderful and I'm looking forward to creating some big banners with the logo materials I did a year or so ago. Meanwhile todays pic was tough, I walked around in the drizzle looking for something and settled on a couple feathers Dave put on a board, and called it good, not a lot of time to play today.
I stopped at Joans on the way back from my meeting in Kerby to take some pics of Ben, mr goat (for tomorrow) and pick up some eggs.

Keeping it Simple

2009-02-04T10:15:00.001-08:00

E is for EGG
One of the staples of my diet, I decided on the egg as my subject matter for today. That part was simple, yes indeed. Chose a location, ....every surface in my house is a stage of garage sale items and found objects arranged in an every changing rotation of hodge podge interior desecration. Martha with a disorder that has yet to be identified, but involves kitschy steroids.

In the past six months it seems like these little plastic toy soldiers have been turning up everywhere, maybe they have always been part of the landscape unnoticed, but not until last summer on a camping trip to the Chetco, did I begin to start picking them up and utilizing them randomly and erratically.

I walked around the house picking up a few other items of eclectic and unrelated interest till I sensed I was going too far. I was relieved and gratified that I had not resold those cool Pottery Barn plates I picked up for a song at a garage sale this past summer for two bucks, each one of the four has a beautiful illustration from a vintage french poster.

The egg shells from breakfast still on the counter inspired me to head outside and grab the bird nest I considered using for B day and then set up the shot that made me think, ah now I'm really going tooo far.... especially when I saw all the little spiders frantically exiting it.
I try to remember to keep it simple, but instead I'm normally a runaway train and here's eggactly what I'm talking about.
Click here for the one I decided to submit for Charlie Bears Alphabet Photo Challenge, as well as the other submissions!
Thanks for taking the time to read, and comment!

Diggin it!

2009-02-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

D is for DOG
Oh so much fun checking out all the photos being submitted for the Alphabet Photo Challenge from across the country and across the pond. While the midwest shivers, and my Brother in the Northeast- along with the UK shovels snow, we are getting some warmer temps and I'm able to sit outside and soak up some sunshine these days.
Todays' photo was taken at Daves, I gave him this little dog a few years ago for Christmas, it reminded me of Bullet. I didn't do much other than point and shoot, it was sitting there backed by a couple of white plastic ukeleles as I was poking around looking for some 'D' material. I love the background picture in the left corner of Daves kids, Brian is out of college two years now, and Daniel, the baby in the picture, is a senior in high school and a talented guitarist and artist.
I submitted the alternate without it, because I thought the composition was better.
Work to do so I'll stop rambling...

See the U.S.A. in your...

2009-02-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

C is for CHEVROLET
There ARE those commercial advertising jingles buried in my brain that take me right back to being a kid growing up in the 50's. The most brilliant one that comes to mind is the Chevy one, with a close second being the Oscar Meyer wiener one. This road warrior was probably not the model that most people imagined themselves flying down the freeway in, hair blowing in the breeze.
...around these parts, there are quite a few of these dinosaurs still going strong and adding visual interest and beauty where the rubber meets the road.
Todays photo submission for the Alphabet Photo challenge was taken on "G" street, here in beautiful downtown Grants Pass.

Challenged

2009-02-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

I know that each and every day is a leap of faith in one way or another.
And for instance, that it IS a personal choice to believe that Punxsutawney Phil could be wrong and we will get an early spring... my tooth implosion will improve, and I will be able to eat solid food soon... that the sun will come out today and the days ARE getting longer. I have to believe that my new client I'm working for will come through with the financial compensation he promises from the income generated by the marketing materials I am working on. I have to believe that as I am challenged, I can deliver and not in anything other than to the best of my abilities kind of way.
Lately my trust has been challenged by clients who have taken advantage of my creative talent. Promising me raises that haven't been followed through on, and when questioned, canceled my contract, and presently a job offered that hasn't happened because the previous designer changed her mind about leaving... when challenged by finding a better position.
I try to find the silver lining in every situation presented to me, to look back on the previous week and see what I have accomplished and learned. What have I done that has contributed to my dream, my goal, my big picture.
In the face of being challenged creatively, financially and attitude wise, have I been kind and walked my path with the solid belief that things will improve, and I am being taken care of. That in spite of a string of heart breaks and poor choices, that my soft place to fall will be there to catch me for the long haul.
....and the bottom line, embracing the fact that faith is a constant and challenging workshop I have to believe in.
In January, my friend Lori forwarded me these "Words of Wisdom for the New Year" and I have been trying to work them into a blog post. Todays' seems appropriate...enjoy.

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
Talk to God about what is going on in your life.
3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to ________ today. I am thankful for ___________'.
4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.
9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument - agree to disagree.
13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years will this matter?'
17. Forgive everyone for everything.
18. What other people think of you is none of your business.
19. GOD heals everything - but you have to ask.
20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!
22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for _________. Today I accomplished _________.
24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You'll be smiling before you know it.

Skipping the Stupidbowl

2009-02-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

B is for BROOM
Well theres actual sunshine out my window, so no chance I'm staying in to watch the sports event of the year. Got my days photo sent off to Charlie, and I'm outa here.
Made some serious progress this morning on some marketing materials I'm working on, and my tooth is feeling better than yesterday.
Life is good and getting better.

Point, shoot, uhhh decide

2009-01-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

A is for ANGEL
I'm starting the alphabet photographic challenge, forwarding across the pond todays photo of something that starts with the letter A. Seems like a creative and crafty framework for shooting a photograph. Good thing I just checked on the time zone difference because it appears that at 11PM there, its 3Pm here. That means that those of us on the west coast need to shoot off our submissions for tommorrow before 4PM today. Click here for the current post of submissions from everyone posted on his blog.
Since the funkadelic weather coupled with my achy breaky toothache has me mainly indoors these days, and and theres plenty of material around the ranch, I decided to just shoot what I got around here. In fact between the house and my barn theres prolly enough material for three or four rounds of this. I really have difficulty at times with making decisions. Acorns or angels, staged or simple. Scheesh, at the very least it will pull me through the month of February, and be so interesting to see the various submissions. One or three of my friends have signed on too, fun fun fun.
I'll use my blog here to post each days snaps, question my submission decisions, try to add some relevant dialogue and not get too carried away.
The angel above was hand carved and purchased from an artisan in Sante Fe, New Mexico about 7 years ago.
I remember he had a pillow case filled with these beauties, and I paid him 10 dollars for it. I love the way he left her skirt uncarved. I collect angel stuff and these are two of the three that hang over my bed.

No Pain no Gain?

2009-01-30T18:43:00.000-08:00

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Abraham Lincoln

This is one of my very favorite quotes, that is of course unless you have a mind numbing toothache...
I was supposed to get a tooth yanked about three years ago.
It was really bad. A problem had developed no thanks to a poorly capped tooth, but due to my phobia of dentists and lack of insurance, once the infection healed, I shined it.
A couple of trail bars last Saturday started this weeks recent round of pain and found me this morning reclining in the dentists chair at the crack of dawn and gratefully leaving with a packet of penicillin.
I tried to take my mind off things by starting to shoot a few photos for the Alphabet Photo challenge that starts this Sunday, so I'm not running around in a state of creative panic on Saturday... uhhh tomorrow, going ... A, what can I shoot that starts with the letter A.
I was over at Daves' after my dental appointment- (for some sympathy and breakfast) when seeing a cool broom (the letter B) hanging on the wall, I decided maybe I should get a jump on things.
I love staging photos, and hopefully there's plenty of material to work with between our respective abodes.
My goal is to post each days photo, starting Sunday, through the month of February, (and the runner uppers), God I hate to make decisions, this one or that...
Please sign on with me, either to post (a photo) or 2 follow mine that I will be posting on my blog!

Gloom, Doom and Glory Days

2009-01-28T16:19:00.000-08:00

Exciting things have happened since my last post. THE most over the top thrill being the inauguration of our 44th President. I had a joyous day watching the news... for a change. I wished I was there, I felt like I was there. It was so cold in Oregon, and in my house, watching it on TV that morning I felt like I was there. I somehow managed to tear myself away for the 20 minute ride over to Daves where there was a fire, and someone to share it with.
After 8 painful years of George W. Bush, I feel like we have turned a whole new page. The unprecedented elation that was shared around the world is a breath of fresh air despite the fact that our economy is circling the drain. Our collective tears of joy emphasized the three words, Yes We Can.
The news in general these days is so unsettling, it seems that no matter if you are listening to NPR, the network news or Coast to Coast, its nothing but doom and gloom. I'm welcoming the new mindset, I have faith we can surface and rise from fear to hope and gain the respect we have lost around the globe.
I've started working with a new publication and as well as designing display ads, I'm also working on marketing materials for The Senior Fair they are putting on in June at RCC.
On the homefront, Dave has adopted a dog and Maggie has a new best friend. Pepper was found through an ad in the local paper, from a young couple that just had a baby. She is 5 years old and does all kinds of tricks. They are so similar in some ways, and yesterday after a few rounds of growling at each other around food issues, I watched them standing side by side looking out the window, their tails wagging in perfect unison.
I'm thinking, maybe they should be making a non-partisan training video for those Washington politicians....?

I Have a Dream

2009-01-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

I can hardly listen to the Reverend Kings' speech without choking up, and wish he were still alive to witness tomorrows inauguration. I'm glued to the tube watching all the hoopla in Washington. If I were still living on the East Coast no doubt I would be there to be part of this historical and monumental event. But I'm not, and reporting from this neck of the woods where we woke to freezing fog, I'm reminded that in retrospect it was on Martin Luther King Day in 1996 that I started my hunt for the move that would take me out of the Bay Area in search of my casa in the country.
My dream started its way up the coast of California, stopped in Mendocino, poked around Sebastapol and Sonoma county, where it could not afford to settle and ended up here in Southern Oregon all because of a classified ad in the Sierra Club newsletter.
7 months later I was packing up the moving van and whistling Green Acres.
This August will mark 15 years and today I am considering a new dream and it involves living in a place that is sunny and warm more days out of the year than not.
Yesterday we headed out to the Illinois Valley once again to find some sunshine. This time I kept Maggie on a short leash and out of the brush. Stopping for a latte on the way I snapped the picture above. I'd like to think that this might be where Dr King will be looking down on the festivities from tomorrow. And I sure hope its warm, sunny and he has plenty of milk and sugar.
Amen!

Beauty & The Beast

2009-01-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
- Rumi, from "Let the Beauty we Love"

My trip in search of sunshine and splendor left me with an unwelcome souvenir when I woke the following morning to a tick working its way into my neck. It had piggybacked either on Maggie the mothership, (or myself) lending a practical and ironic reflection on the quote above.
I have been a total pain in the neck and its been a difficult three days. No doubt the tender neck/collarbone location being a primary factor. How something so small can inflict such pain in such a short amount of time is a mystery I set out to solve and thought I would share. I started researching and reading on Google ...yikes the pictures alone were enough to inspire horror and panic, in spite of the fact that the tick had just begun to make himself at home. I learned that they emit a super glue like substance (and numbing agent) that combined with their barbed legs make removing even before they have burrowed, difficult at best. Each new fact and image convinced me this was not how I wanted to be spending my quiet Saturday night, and shut down mr computer. I will be so much more cautious if not paranoid the next time I head out into the great outdoors for my next dose of beauty.

Fogged IN

2009-01-14T18:58:00.000-08:00

The weather these days has been vaguely reminiscent of life in the Bay Area at its worst, fugly and cold. Its been a totally depressing two days and the burning desire to head out of the fog became the voice of reason and motivated a picturesque drive to the Illinois valley. I could have skipped the insanely narrow road that zigzags down the side of the mountain to the river, with a suicide drop off the side that takes your breath away, were you not holding it in, praying another vehicle is not coming around the curve in the other direction. Each time we head down that road I swear its my last... and fear its my last.
No matter how you turn this kaleidoscope it can take your breath away.
At the top of the mountain, in the midst of some solid sunshine, we discussed the fact that this weather picture plays out every year around this time, and then, in no time at all its 110 in the shade and we're floating down the river.
Time flys wheter your having fun or not, and its all relative to something I just can't get a handle on. Like, fourteen years since I moved here, a year since I started at the hospital ( I got my one year certificate this past Monday), I still struggle to remember how old I am, and still wonder what I will be, if and when I grow up. And the seasons turn turn turn around it all.
There is a distinctly serene advantage to the change of seasons, but as I get older, the reason I appreciate that fact becomes dimmer and is eventually off the radar entirely. I find myself longing for the kind of blissful warmth that makes me turn my face to the sun and melt, ahhh....year round. Each winter more than the last, I long to head somewhere, anywhere south, kind of like some of my body parts these days...
I tell myself, THIS is my last winter here, and then, here I am again, a year later, wondering where the past twelve months have gone. Its like one of my very favorite movies, Groundhog Day, except its not hysterically funny. There is snow, I have one of those generic clock radios, I am from Pennsylvania, but can we cut to the Hollywood ending complete with romantic music? And can I rewrite the ending to be on a beach with a Margarita in hand?
Reality check. Maybe its time for a new life plan complete with a geographic, a creatively and financially rewarding job, or maybe just a few days escaping cabin fever here in paradise.

2008, magic, miracles and music!

2008-12-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

This years magic began on training wheels - in January I started a new volunteer position at 3Rivers Hospital. At times its been a challenging ride, but each shift leaves me with an attitude of gratitude. I'm so truly thankful to be working with the individuals that staff the surgery department, better known as PACU.
My other volunteer position, selling raffle tickets at the Britt Festival was as usual, a total blast. Pushing over three thousand tickets, I won the big prize this season again, winning two tickets for the concert of my choice next year, and five minutes of fame at the 2008 volunteer picnic.
With so many magical concerts this season its impossible to reach back and pick highlights since every single one was memorable in one way or another.
The season opened with Crosby Stills and Nash and ended with Bonnie Raitt. In between I also worked, Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy, The Neville Brothers, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Steve Miller, and Michelle Shocked. Clearly at the top however was the Craig Chaquico concert with Jesse Cook opening, two incredible guitarists each one so singularly amazing. Michael Franti played the Britt for the third consecutive year and we took Daniel along this time. Lyle was back and he was of course simply fantastic, meeting him and having my picture taken with him after the concert, next to nirvana.
It was a great summer weatherwise, and hard to believe, Dave and I made it down the river only twice, but we got out to the coast and camped for a few glorious days on the Chetco river.
Lots of company this year, my high school friend Carol came to visit in March with her friend Lori, who ended up renting my studio downstairs in the fall while looking for a permanent teaching position in Oregon. Ruth Ann came up from the Bay Area two times and joined us at the coast for two days of our Chetco camping trip. Martina, Dylan, and her Mom, in from Germany, came up for a week in July. Francis, Ted, Jamie and Paul, Deb and Robert Yee all visited as well.
Sadly we lost Bullet this summer to cancer and still feel the loss, and even more, so does Maggie. She got into a moonlight tangle with a raccoon this summer and was fortunate to escape with minor injuries and an unwanted (is there any other kind) trip to the vet.
The end of the year was miraculously punctuated by hope and the election of Barack Obama. Here's to the economy rising to a better place by this time next year. 2008 is almost a wrap, and as my friend Leah wrote today in her blog Barn Door Tagz..."Good Riddance!"
Heres wishing you a New Year of prosperity, good health, and peace of heart and mind.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T19:10:00.000-08:00

The snow, the food, and the beautiful Christmas eve candlelight service at Newman Methodist, it truly was a Christmas to remember. We had Lori and Bills incredible red sauce on Christmas Eve with ravioli, gluten free gnocchi and we fired up the grill for some salmon caught at Albertson's.
After dinner we packed up everything including the tree because a storm was moving in... and the possibility of not getting up the driveway, headed to Daves' in the pouring rain, stopping on the way through town at Newman Methodist for a spectacular spiritual infusion.

But is it art?

2008-12-23T12:19:00.001-08:00

These holidays the lines are blurry, and in a sober way, in regard to the art of making art. Baking, decorating the charlie brown tree with homemade decorations, or the dog...taking photos to post or working on illustration jobs. Its all art and all about art.
Challenging as it is to focus these days on the stuff that brings in an income, and with my studio rental turning over after the new year plus an assignment to work on, I created two image stamps for a clients website in between baking some Gluten free cookies, and uuhhh, decorating the dog.
My computer was just relocated -for the third time this year, and now sits closer to my kitchen, between the kitchen and the fireplace, and with a direct view of the television. Does it get any better than that?
It does, add Pandora radio into the mix and you have commercial free tunes for any musical taste. I love Pandora, (thanks Ruthie for turning me onto it).
http://www.pandora.com/
These days the Christmas tunes are worth dialing in and provide the perfect backdrop for making art, for clients or gluten intolerant b-friends.
I rented two videos this week, The Bucket List, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Bucket List, was as contrived as Hollywood can pump out, yes I choked up at the end, but in the process I felt emotionally manipulated.
I read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly years ago, more than once, its a short read with a lasting impact and I was curiously excited to hear it was being made into a movie. Since its usually the case that the movie is nowhere near as good as the book, this was one I didn't want to see, but couldn't wait to see.
Its taken two years for the desire and the actual video to merge, and I have to say this movie was as good if not better than the book. Julian Schnabel, an eclectic artist and filmmaker was the director, the cinematography and the acting were fabulous, and the result was as artful as a film gets.
Weather wise we have been fortunate here in Southern Oregon to get a light version of the full on blizzard affecting the upper Pacific Northwest. Lori's husband Bill had the nail biting drive up from New Mexico this week, and we had a wonderful dinner together on Sunday evening between storms. Last week Lori landed her dream job teaching art at a fantastic school in Salem, Oregon. I'm sure she will be a tremendous creative asset to their staff. We will miss her spirit and cooking around the ranch!!

Fun with Maggie

2008-12-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

Maggie is nowhere near as amused as we are this morning. She is in fact wasted from the hike around Limpy Creek yesterday, not wanting to even go outside this morning, allowing us to put the silly santy hat on her and pose for some pics I plan to submit to the SF Chronicle holiday pet pics section. As you can see, she has had it by the time its begun, tolerant good sport she is, she let us play for a good ten minutes.
Well we had fun.

Let it Snow!

2008-12-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

Many of my friends who have come to visit have walked the botanical trail at Limpy Creek. A mere ten minute drive from the house, no matter the season or the weather, draped in dogwood blossoms or fog, its magical and mood changing. It takes on an even more ethereal quality in the winter when dressed with snow.

Snowing at last

2008-12-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

Maggie and I went over to Daves on Saturday night expecting to get snowed in, instead it was only a light dusting, enough for the early morning photo op above. This morning we woke here on Marcy Loop to the real deal and headed outside, meeting up with Lori in the driveway, slideshow below.

Baking cookies

2008-12-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

A few years ago in 2005, and my how time flys, I registered a domain and designed a logo and a website for it... (www.doggonecookies.com) the purpose being to create an online dog cookie business, with additional dog related items to buy. At the time there was a gal in town that made the treats and I hoped to partner with her on the actual products. Since then Danielle has moved out of town and I dropped the ball on the website project. Lately Maggie has not been all over the Costco cookies shes been addicted to for years. So I decided to experiment with baking some homemade ones with the outside chance I would get crackin' and get the dog cookie business happening.
Or at least the website finished so I could sell it to someone who actually wants to bake and sell dog treats for a living.
These days with the temps dropping, any excuse to turn on the oven to bake is a worthy idea, and our four pawed test kitchen approved round one. Woof!!

Backyard brew haha

2008-12-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

This week the sun finally reappeared, Dave fired up Mr chain saw and we went looking around a corner of the property for some dead Madrone to cut for Lori. I was surprised how much we found and hauled out. Afterwhich we torched the pile of brush back there, sipping tea, taking pictures and laughing about past bonfires we've had in the backyard.
City living was never this much fun.

Turkey and ponies and sunshine oh my...

2008-11-29T16:27:00.000-08:00

It was a fabulous Thanksgiving mostly due to Lori taking charge, she sure is an amazing cook, she did sweet potatoes, the veggies, pumpkin pie and dressed the turkey, even making gravy with gluten free flour.
The only thing she didn't dish up was some sunshine. In short supply these days, especially in our neck of the woods, we bolted outside this afternoon at the first sign of it in days. Once we lost it here we fired up the car and headed over to this pasture on the other side of 199 and backed into a spot in front of two beautiful ponies and sat on the tailgate makin' friends with two pretty boys for another half hour as the sun dropped and the shadows grew longer on the field.
A dose of vitamin D can go a long way on a gray day.

The Applegate River

2008-11-14T07:19:00.000-08:00

After a morning shift at the hospital yesterday, I spent a few hours raking and blowing leaves while Dave worked up on the roof clearing the gutters, it was so warm and sunny and beautiful for a change. Its been days since I have been off the computer and outside for more than a half hour, what a wonderful change of pace and workout for the body and soul. I love this time of the year.
I've been working on a landing page for Skodes Horse Treats, setting up the type design, integrating it with her new artwork and emailing the files off to a new html gal I am just starting to work with.
Posting this breathtaking picture of the Applegate River that Dave took the other day on the way up Joans' driveway.

The Rainbowbama

2008-11-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

Todays photo op represents the kind of day and attitude I felt infused with. A new business plan, a new president, and five minutes of sunshine all contributed.
I worked on 3 design projects until late in the afternoon when Dave and I headed to Wilderville to mail off some packages. Already in the neck of the woods I dropped by Joans to leave some greens for her guinea pigs, pet few barnyard animals and pick up some fresh eggs.
On the way home as we passed the Old Mint Farm, and in the five minute pocket of sun, there it was, a brilliant rainbow dropping into an Obama sign on their gate. Clearly a divine sign that there are better days ahead, and the heavens are smiling.

Knowing When to Say When...

2008-11-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

The title of today's' posting is a catchy advertising slogan that has, for many years been about what it was traditionally created for and about-drinking.
For me, knowing when to say when, has never been about alcohol. My formative years in design and the creative process were fine tuned at Landor Associates where as a freelancer -and working on a job, possibilities and explorations for logo art were a never ending creative free for all. Churning out one idea after another and continuing until, not unlike those tests in grade school, someone finally said 'OK, time to put your pencils down'.
Today's' question...when to say when, when it comes to concepts - or with clients who are never satisfied.
I realize that there are situations in the advertising and design world where this would be a virtue- not a liability, but for me in the present, I find myself at times, on a limited budget and overworking the time I should be putting into a job. I've discussed this with a few other designers and they say, 'well I just limit my designs to three ideas and that's it'.
When a client is still not happy after three to five options, I'm only too happy to keep on working on designs, bending over backwards with passion and perseverance. My people pleasing genes kick in and I'm a runaway train, often giving them so many possibilities, making a choice then becomes a challenge.
This was driven home most recently by a client and an assignment I was working on and really enjoying ...and thought I had come up with some elegant and nicely designed solutions. Please click here for my designs.
Then the email came in, one of her vendors had created something for free that she was going to use instead. Please click here for her choice.
Simultaneously I have been working with another client, reworking some design elements of her website, a banner with photographs, creating some simple buttons, and next an opening screen for her site. She is just a delight and a joy to work with, couldn't be happier, or easier to please.
It motivates me to continue to do the best I can, which I believe is what it all comes down to in the long run.

Stormy Sunday

2008-11-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

Today we went for a short drive and a long walk on eight dollar mountain on our way to Kerby. There is a fantastically engineered handicap accessible walkway out to a field of cobra lilies, a species of plant native only to this area and the Kalmiopsis wilderness. It was a grey day and stormy skies threatened to cut short the adventure.
The destination was the workshop of an amazing craftsman, Jerry Work, to take a look at a used iMac for sale. Jerry appears to me to be one of those left brain right brain individuals that can create stunning fine furniture, and in a former professional life was a software engineer. There is little he doesn't know technically and there is little he can't do artfully with wood. I met him about a year ago while taking a studio photography class he was teaching at The Southern Oregon Guild.
It was a nice break to get out for a drive, and it looks like I will be buying a new (used) Mac to boot.
For more about Jerry and his studio/ work click here.

Remembering Halloween

2008-11-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

This was one of the best Halloweens I can remember, on the left, carved pumpkins glowing artfully in the dark.
Friday I found myself downtown in the late afternoon without my camera, wishing I had not forgotten to pack it in my purse as I usually do.
A break in the rain brought many families out to cruise the streets of Grants Pass, and there were so many adorable costumed kids on parade.

Six days and counting

2008-10-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

This countdown week marks the last of the all the political news and views locally and nationally. Its been downright ugly, from commercials to lawn signs...and I am hoping for change. The upcoming end of a presidency that never should have been. The divisive atmosphere is driven home daily and I hope that next Tuesday we will be back on the road to a new era. Personally I have checked out of politics going all the way back to Ronald Reagan, I couldn't listen to the actor as president anymore than I can watch or listen to George W. Bush. I'm inspired by Obama and hope everyone gets out and votes with their head and their heart. Love this fantastic video posted above, great music, graphics, outstanding message.

Warm and wonderful

2008-10-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

It was a great weekend in the Pacific Northwest. We hit the Growers Market, a few garage sales and had dinner with Paul and Jamie at Aja.
I stopped by Joans for eggs on Sunday afternoon and had a nice visit with her and Bill before returning home to work on a job. Took some pictures at Joans' I will have to download and post in the next few days when I have more time.

How Sweet it is

2008-10-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

It has been one of those "time flies wheter your having fun or not" periods. Been working long and hard on the trailer, an illustration assignment, and watching the season turn, turn turn.
Last night Jamie, Paul and Zoe arrived for a visit. While we were waiting for them to arrive, we made some delicious cornbread. Bobs' Gluten Free Cornbread Mix, THE best, far superior to the -from scratch recipes I've ho hummed over over the years. I've included a link to ordering some from Amazon below, the price is for a four pack.
It was wonderful to have The Pies in for a visit, its been about six months since they came up in the spring and we drove to Takilma and did a tour of the treehouses at Out N' About.
The weather these days is unusually warm and beautiful and all the trees are peaking.
Walking outside at night the sky is clear, stars twinkling and there is the intoxicating smell of woodfires burning.
Sweet as cornbread and good friends on a warm autumn night.

No pain no gain

2008-10-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional...

Sometimes I feel like, is it all worth it?
...the initiative and effort it takes to be a self supporting artist in todays' economy and creative world, where imagination and passion come with a huge price.
Recently two new assignments came in that renewed my desire to get past the limitations and challenges, out of the ditch I was in, and back on the road. Hi ho hi ho.
It just feels fantastic to be working on something that makes me aware of how important it is in my life to be designing and illustrating- and what is missing when its not there like its sometimes been lately.
Appreciation and fair compensation are the icing on the cake.
I've been working with Ruth Ann Barrett who has been developing a business plan over the past month involving creating an online presence and branding called The Whole Brand. Her strategic marketing has been an effective business tool and I feel so fortunate to be working with her on this project. This weekend I finished her logo art and banner art-http://wholebranding.blogspot.com/

Howling with the wind

2008-10-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Change is in the air, geese are honking overhead in the morning and leaves are rustling and floating to the ground from the birch trees out my window. Yesterday they were downright glowing. Today is cloudy and there's the chance of rain in the next 24, in these parts, its nonexistant for a good 5 to 6 months. Its a welcome change but an unsettling reminder of all the things still to do before it happens, because as the saying goes, when it rains it pours ...through the winter. I noticed along with the beautiful colored trees in my front yard, the pine needles on the roof that will clog the gutters, the equipment around the property that needs to be put away, should tarp the trailer, it needs a new coat of sealer on its vintage roof. And so on and so on and so on. Makes me want to howl, so much to do, so little time.

Backing up

2008-09-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

"One day at a time unless they all attack at once."

One of the things I've learned the hard way is to back up your files. Two years ago when my computer went down during a power surging, butt kicking winter snow storm, I realized I had nothing, I mean nothing backed up. I thought for sure I was toast and I had earned the burn. Bob, computer genius, once again managed to save not only mr computer but all my files on it. And somehow managed to get Apple to pay for the replacement power thingy that had fried.
You know the saying that behind every good man is a good woman, backing him up? Ok I added the backing up part because it seems to fit with todays blog about backing up, but not just in a lip service kind of way. Jan is the ying to Bobs yang, and when you call Valley Software, trying to contain your panic, her voice is like honey on toast, shes calm, never loses her patience, and most of the time can get you out of the jam before, as a last resort, she turns you over to Bob or tells you to bring the computer in.
Backing up... I swore I would not get myself in the wiggly place i was in last time, and two years ago I bought an external drive on ebay and backed up my files. Since Bob had to rebuild my computer from the ground up this time, it hasn't been the smoothest restart, small things are not happening, like despite his best efforts, Firefox was running when the mothership went down and I lost all my bookmarks.
The one thing that did set me into panic mode last night was the font factor, two fonts I had been working with on my website overhaul, one I had downloaded from Emigre and another missing font I use all the time, nowhere to be found in the rebuilt font folder which I guess goes into the default format when the computers' OS is reinstalled. This morning I plugged in my external hard drive with little hope I had actually backed up my fonts, but there they were.
My miracle d'jour.

Mothership crashes

2008-09-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

From one pain in the neck to another, my computer crashed right in the middle of updating my website files. I went from making some serious progress to staring at a teeny tiny folder on my desktop with a flashing question mark.
Its been days of feeling lost in more ways than one and hours hanging out at Valley Software hoping for a quick fix. Like my neck problem, this one took days to resolve as well. Thanks to the friendly folks there at VS, I somehow pulled through with an intact sense of humor, and what feels like a new computer.
Thanks Bob and Jan, once again you guys are the best.

Whats New

2008-09-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

This week I have finally gotten around to working on redoing my website, something that has been on the 'to do' list for about a year. Relearning Dreamweaver, painful but rewarding... I'm almost there, have to add some pages and refine a few things, but it will be much more professional and less personal.
On the homefront, this week Lori moved up from New Mexico and into my studio rental. She is a breath of fresh air, a fun and creative spirit. Today we took her to the downtown Grants Pass Growers market, got some tamales and we hit a few garage sales on the way home.
Big fun in Oregon.