Pinky flies.

Another Pinky video-Now he flies!!!

Update on Pinky the Parrot

This is Pinky taking his first flight :-).
See how he has grown since the first post
and video about him! I am amazed. He has a GREAT mom and dad :-). He may be getting a name change soon as Pinky no longer fits him. My friend parrot-mom says that he is a total clown and very sweet. I am in love...Have a wonderful Monday all.

Flowers

I am all talked/written out, but wanted to share

a couple photos I took of my garden at work. One

day a week I get to garden, and it is heaven to me.

Here are two photos of some of the flowers I planted

a couple years ago. The orange is a lily, I think, but I

have forgotten the names of the rest :-). If anyone

out there knows, please feel free to enlighten me.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone. OXOXOX

e.e.cummings' day. Yay

I am loving him so much these days. This poem he

wrote fits perfectly with my last two posts, only

cummings makes it more clear and says it in such

a wonderful way that I read it in awe.

since feeling is first

who pays any attention

to the syntax of things

will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool

while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,

and kisses are a better fate

than wisdom

lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry

-the best gesture of my brain is less than

your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for each other: then

laugh, leaning back in my arms

for life's not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

What a great way to start the day. It is my day

off and after doing some chores I will be playing with

clay-I will have photos soon of all my efforts.

This photo is one I took a couple days ago.

Have a happy, joyful Thursday!

*I did type this poem as it was to be read, but blogger

mushed it all together, does anyone else have this trouble?*

Living

Yesterday's post was not meant to be about death, but rather

life and the full living of it. I do think I went a bit off on death

though :-). I neglected to write the second half of the story.

When you are living as if this day will be your last, you

tend to live more aware and fully in the present, at least I

think you would, but since I have never been told that it

was my last day, this is just a theory :-). If I am living in the

moment, life gets really exciting. I do different things than I

normally would and life lights up and becomes new.

If I am asleep and just making my way through the day and not

paying attention, then I go by habits and life becomes dull and

ordinary. I do not have time to be dull and asleep! I want to

eat life up. I want to take risks and be fearless. I want to move

with the moment and stay aware. This is taking a lot of practice

and I find it is most hard to move in this world when fully awake.

I get sleepy by the sweet soothing talk of others that are asleep.

Does anyone else find it hard to stay aware and in the now? Why

is it so hard?

This photo is of Dottie or Dot as I call her, she is my brothers dog.

My brother is doing much better, 98 percent of his eye sight is back, yay.

Have a most wonderful Tuesday.

Living and dieing

This is Max on his favorite chair. He likes to talk to me

from this chair :-). I have been thinking a lot about death

and life. Lots of death and sickness has been happening

around me the past few months and then George Carlin

died. It has made me think more and more about how

we (I) get caught up with petty concerns about what has to

be done and how to be and act and what do I look like and

why did so and so do this and that, on and on until I all of

a sudden become present and realize none of any of it means

a hill of beans :-). The thing is any of us can die in the next

second, minute, today, tomorrow or twenty years from now.

No one knows how or when. Eckhart Tolle says, and I will tell it as I

remember it from one of his lectures: It may be two days or fifty

years, but when it comes, it will come too soon and it will be NOW.

What all this means for me is: How long will I waste anymore time

on petty, worthless things? I know it is hard to always

remember my path, I am human after all, so I am kind with

myself when I fail, but I continue to attempt to remember it

more and more and to live in the moment and to find some precious

thing, no matter how small in all my moments. OXOXOXOX

P.S. George, I loved you, rest in peace, dear man.

Pinky

This little sweetie belongs to a friend of mine, she and her partner made this video of them feeding Pinky. Isn't he a doll? They have to feed him as mom was not doing her job. I am so in love with this baby, I wanted to share him with you :-).

Painting

This painting is called "Slipping Glimpser(for de Kooning)".

de Kooning said he was always slipping and then seeing things

as he slipped :-). No words in this piece and it really is about

nothing at all or everything. What ever you want :-).

It measures 40"x 40" and is mixed media on board, which

is Venetian plaster and acrylic paint. Again the colors are off,

the rust color is not as intense as the photo shows. I can't

believe I actually paid someone to take these photos :-).

My brother update: he made it home and is hoping his eye

sight rights itself soon. The doctor said it could come back

normal or stay blurry :-(. Have a wonderful Friday. OXOX

e.e. cummings

I have rediscovered e.e. cummings and I am in love all over again. So once a week I will have e.e.cummings day and post a poem. We start today :-). I also want to thank all of you for your lovely prayers and thoughts for my brother J. They believe he had a blood clot and they can find no more, so they are releasing him this afternoon from the hospital. They still don't know what caused it and that for me is the scary part, but for the moment all is well. Have a wonderful Thursday and enjoy the poem. Photo is by Geraint Smith.

may my heart always be open to little

birds who are the secrets of living

whatever they sing is better than to know

and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry

and fearless and thirsty and supple

and even if it's sunday may i be wrong

for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully

and love yourself so more than truly

there's never been quite such a fool who could fail

pulling all the sky over him with one smile

My brother

This lovely photo of the ocean by Geraint Smith.

This will be a short post. I want to ask all of you,

no matter what or whom you pray to, to please

send some good thoughts to my brother J. He

is the brother who just came for a visit and he had

a stroke on his way home, actually he had two.

He is in a hospital and still has not made it home.

This stroke affected his eyes and so far we are

not sure what caused them. He is in the hospital

until they figure it out. This is a bit scary. I just

talked to him and he sounds fine, but it is still

scary for those of us who love him. Thanks everyone.

Resistance

Resistance is on my mind. In my spiritual practice I have been
working on getting rid of ego (in as much as you can) and saying
yes to life in the now. Resistance gets in the way. A lot. At the
moment I am resisting a whole list of things. I am resisting getting
older, I am resisting having to work and not doing what I love for a
living. I am resisting this sinus infection, the cutting down of the tree
at work and so many things I could write for an hour, but I will spare
you. Instead of resisting I would like to accept what is going on.
I don't have to jump up and down with joy about it, but I want to move into
acceptance because resistance just makes things worse and it makes it all
go on a lot longer than it would if I accepted what was happening. I KNOW
this and yet, I still resist :-). I will learn sooner or later. It feels better
having written it down :-). If any of you want to add your two cents
in about this topic, feel free. Have a lovely evening all.

My wandering heart

This is the photo I submitted to Pia for the Wandering hearts

project. Go to her site if you don't know about it. I don't know if

mine will be accepted, but at least I tried. I waited until the last

minute like I tend to do :-) and sent mine in at 10pm last night.

I will write a post tonight to make up for all the boring ones of late.

Have a wonderful Monday. OXOXOX

Happy Sunday

I still don't have anything of interest to say, but thought

I would share these photos I took at work. I hope you

are all having a wonderful weekend.

I'm back

It's really Saturday, blogger keeps messing up!
Hey, I missed you all while I was gone. Two
whole days away from the computer. It is good
to get away though and take a break, do some
different things. I had a good visit with my brother
and his wife and their dog Dottie. I miss them already.
It was a full house, but we managed. Back to work and
real life. I have a lovely sinus infection due to all the
construction at work. I think I will take it easy today.
I will write a more interesting post tomorrow I promise.
Have a great Saturday.

Longing

You made me wait so long,

so long that I got used to missing you

You came back after a long time I now love longing

for you more than I love you.

Rumi

(translated by Suleyman Fatih Akgul)

I can relate to this poem so much in my life.

Photo by Geraint Smith.

I will see you soon, I will be away

from the computer for a couple days. OXOX

Blogger messed up-it is really Wednedsday :-).

Tagged

dagny tagged me:

A) Four places that I go over and over again: These places will mean nothing to you, but Cid's
(organic food store), Mondo video, Kultur Cafe, People's bank.
B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly): My brother J, Robin, my mom, the man who will remain nameless.
C) Four of my favorite places to eat: Bravos, Loki, Kultur Cafe, Joseph's Table.
D) Four places I would rather be right now: Carmel CA, Paris, Africa, Rome.
E) Four TV shows I watch over and over: Seinfeld, Curb your Enthusiasm, Twilight Zone, Star trek.
F) Four people I think will respond: I can't keep track who has already done this, so tag yourself if you feel to.
My posting will be a bit spotty as my brother and his wife are visiting and I am working, so time is limited. Have a wonderful week...OXOXOX

Paintings

This is the third painting I did about relationship. Do you see the words "Let Go"? They are written in four places on the painting and it is the title of the piece. This painting is all about being alone. The relationship did not work out. The photo is not great and I was not able to fix much in photoshop, so forgive me, but it is close. I wish you could see these painting in real life as there is so much texture that gets lost in the photograph. "Let Go" is large 60"x 47" and it is the biggest painting I have done so far. I would like to go a lot bigger, but I would need a much larger space to work in, as it is I paint in my kitchen :-). This painting is for sale :-). Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

My mind wanders...

I know this photo is a bit blurry, but isn't my dog cute?!
I just had to share. See that big bag of grey stuff on the
table? That is clay :-). I have not been able to do anything
more with the clay as my brother and his wife and one of
their dogs are coming for a visit and I did not want to begin
another project without being able to give my full attention to it.
I have been busy cleaning and relaxing on my days off and I
do believe I am now ready for visitors :-). There has been
a lot going on: at work they are working on the outside of the
building, completely redoing it and all I will say is gee that's been
fun :-), they have another week to go. It will be nice when
it is all done, so I am happy it is happening, even if it has
been a bit of a pain. One sad thing is they cut down a tree and
I hate to see that happen. I did my best to stop it, but short
of living in the tree there is nothing more I could do. At home they
are working on the roads, another good thing, but makes it
rough to get to and fro from my house. Helps me to practice
being detached :-). Nothing much more to say except isn't
life grand :-)? Yes, yes it is. Even when things are not perfect,
they are. Have a wonderful Friday. OXOXOX

Ceramic love

I just found this artist, Kathy Ruttenberg and fell in love with her work.
Just wanted to share :-). Go HERE to see. Lovely Wednesday everyone.

Gratitude

Photo by Geraint Smith. Yesterday I was

in a complaining mood, mostly to myself,

muttering under my breath all day. It is

true I had some things to complain about,

but I hate it when I get like that. I started

out like that today too, but I want to change

my focus, so I decided to write a post about

what I was thankful for and what I want more

of in my life, so here is a short list, and you can

add some of your own.

1. My four boys(animal kids).

2. My lovely family

3. All my wonderful friends

4. My healthy body

5. My talent

6. The beach

7. Paris

8. The man who will remain nameless

9. Hummingbirds

10. Dragonflies

11. Butterflies

12. Birds

13. Trees

14. Movies

15. Books

16. Good food

17. Chocolate

18. My lovely car

19. Art

20. All my bloggy friends

Okay, I feel so much better :-).

Happy Tuesday!

My cup

This is my cup :-). In the raw. Can you see the patttern

in the clay? I learned a new trick from a friend and it

made my work go much faster. I finished in half the time!

I think I finally have the hang of it. Next I will tackle a bowl :-).

Now this piece has to dry for about 3 weeks before it is ready

for glazing and firing. Glazing is a whole other thing I have

to learn, and everyone keeps telling me how hard it is :-).

I find working in the clay so soothing and relaxing, I could

get addicted to this. Have a magic Monday.