This is the wonderful strawberry cake my friend, Barbara, made for my birthday celebration with my Alvin writing group. Believe me, it tasted as good as it looks. Barbara is the queen of cakes and loves to bake. She is also a gifted writer and wrote an amazing poem about me which she framed and gave me as a birthday present. What a treasured friend she is and we have known each other since 1965 I think. She's also a former police officer and has some pretty hilarious tales to tell about her experiences. I look forward to many more years of keeping each other laughing and crying together. Here, have a piece of cake.

Here is another one. I have put pockets on the back so that a note can be inserted. Crazy fun!

Sewing fun

I've been having a good time making these funky animal dolls. Lots of fun with color and scraps of fabric. I decided I should be doing somthing with all this stuff that has been collected over the years. I think I should give this one a name but it will probably be a gift to someone and they can name it.

Being lazy

I have been totally out of the loop and nowhere for a week it seems.  It started with allergies, progressed to big time sinus and according to the doc yesterday was a virus on top of it all.  I've felt so bummed...didn't want to do anything but cough, sneeze, wheeze and drink liquids.  Spent a week it seems in front of the TV with a book and some soup and no ambition to do anything else and still don't have much.  Missed poetry events, class, everything this week...feels like a time warp.
Finally feel some better.  No sleep as the doc put me on a steroid yesterday that kept me awake until 4 am but hopefully today will be better and my nose is only dripping a little bit. 
My energy is slowly returning, thank good ness, as it is spring.  My azaleas are blooming and my daffodils and I should be charging forth getting lots of stuff in order.
In the meantime between books and TV I'm watching the cats watching the squirrels...better than most TV shows.

More spring

I love this slow, drippy rain and the fact that it sorta lays down the tree pollen for a while.  Maybe my nose will quit running.  I can feel the earth going slurp, slurp as this gentle wet settles in.  I do feel for my friends in the northern USA who are fighting major floods as all the snow begins to melt.
It is cool today with the rain which calls for soup...specifically chicken corn chowder and hot corn bread.  And it was sooooo good.  Enough left for the cold days coming this weekend.
I'm back sewing again and making funky little stuffed things...fun and an opportunity to use up scrap fabric.  And I brought out a canvas and played with a drawing on it...a sure sign that my Aries nature is coming soon.

Spring has come to Seabrook at last. Every year I look forward to this tulip tree or pink magnolia as some call it bursting forth with it's incredible blooms. And bless her heart even after some really cold temps this year, she is coming forth with her best garment yet. Gotta love this gal!

For all my writing friends

Esoterica: One of my all-time favorite lists is Hungarian/Canadian/British author Stephen Vizinczey's "The Writer's Ten Commandments." He's given permission to change the word "write" to "paint,"--or to other words for that matter.




1. Thou shalt not drink, smoke or take drugs.



2. Thou shalt not have expensive habits.



3. Thou shalt dream and write and dream and rewrite.



4. Thou shalt not be vain.



5. Thou shalt not be modest.



6. Thou shalt think continually of those who are truly great.



7. Thou shalt not let a day pass without reading something great.



8. Thou shalt not worship London/New York/Paris.



9. Thou shalt write to please thyself.



10. Thou shalt be hard to please.

Whew!

What a relief!  Hubby has come to his senses and is declining the invite to China.  It is a good thing.  We have lots of reasons not to trust the guy who issued the invite and when he said he wasn't going to be able to accompany hubby all the way, it became a no go.  Thank God I didn't have to say "ARe you out of your mind?  You can't even get through airport security by yourself."  He is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and though he can talk your arm off intelligently about the space program, he get easily confused in crowded situations.  I was so concerned but didn't want to rain on his parade.   He will help the inviter to write the paper, etc., just not go and he seems very okay with his decision.  Whew!  Life does present its challenges but they seem to come harder and faster as I get older.

New projects

The sewing machine is smiling at me saying "Come here, honey,  Let's get started on a new quilt."  And the stack of old blue jeans that I have dismantled lay near by ready to be torn into strips.  My idea is to make a quilt of old blue jeans for my grandson.  I think I will have to get someone else to quilt it...it is just too hard on my back and my small machine.  The other calling project is to start slapping some paint around on canvas.  I've done a little collaging this week but so little real art in way too long.  It is time...I'm going to have to cut down on my social life and meetings that I attend to plunge head long into all this and still get meals on the table and laundry done.  As I get older, everything seems to take longer than it used to or maybe I'm just taking more time to smell the roses along the way.  But before I get started on any of this, I have to get our taxes done...oh, lovely, right? 
      Spring is around the corner.  The pink magnolia in the front yard has swollen buds that are on the verge of popping open with its gorgeous pink blossoms.  The azaleas are lagging behind due to our cold winter.  I will ply them with some food now that we are past frost in hopes that they will burst with their usual fuschia display.  The tropical plants all took a beating but dear Victor has come and cleaned all the dead stuff away and hopefully there is enough green left that we will enjoy some recovery.

What? You are going to China?

Well, this should be interesting...my husband who seems to have Alzheimer's in regard to anything that isn't related to adventures in space.  A true space cadet, he has been invited to give a paper somewhere in China.  He claims a Chinese friend is going with him and I certainly hope so as he can't even get through security at the airport by himself.  His way is paid for by I know not whom and he is so excited.  I think it is great that he have this one last adventure.  He will be 79 next month so I think this is a great birthday trip.  And I emphasize, this should be interesting.  He has lost his cell phone twice in the last few months only to find them both after he had purchased new ones.  Anyone need a phone?  He has been officially diagnosed with Alz and is on Aricept which seems to be helping.  I just hope this guy knows to keep tabs on him 24/7.  When talking about the space program, what should and shouldn't be done with it and the future in space, he can be right on but that is about his limit....sweet, nice, brilliant man who can't remember shit and is hard of hearing.  I told him to tell his friend that if anything happened to him, to cremate him there and just send the ashes over...is that awful of me...probably.  I just hope he can get it together to go by the first week in April.
They will spend two days touring after the conference and his friend will take him shopping but for what?  Seems like everything made in China that I might want is at Walmart.  I am through collecting junk to sit around the house...I want to get rid of what I have now, not add more.  Ahhh...maybe jade earrings?

Life goes on

I'm back in business...happily ensconced in front of CBS Sunday morning with my new Toshiba lap top and still trying to learn my way around Windows 7.  So far I can't say I'm in love with it as it has some quirky stuff going on but perhaps I will get used to it.  And slowly I'm coming to grips with what I lost when my old one crashed.  But what the hey, it's only stuff and I can create again.
Has anyone tried hooping?  My friend Rowan teaches it and has a full page article this morning in the Houston Chronicle.  Dancing with a heavier hoop swirling around one's middle.  Rowan is teaching it and has lost 50 lbs. and looks great.  I think I'm ready to try it as my workouts at the gym don't seem to be doing something about my middle, darn it.
Friday was a total loss...it was the day for my colonoscopy check-up.  If you haven't had this lovely procedure, the prep the day before is the worst, really the worst.  Imagine the worst stomach virus only this time you are experiencing it on purpose...cleaning out your whole system before the procedure that takes about 20 minutes.  DH took me over at 6:30 am and the waiting room was crowded....geezus, all these folk volunteering for this?  So I was taken to Bay 3, told to strip to my socks and put on the paper gown.  Soon a pleasant nurse named Jackie took my vitals and put in a catheter for an IV.  There must have been 12 bays in this little hospital and they were all full of beds moving in and out.  Soon it was my turn and it was grand Central Station with a traffic jam of gurneys rolling in and out, some with patients knocked out.  I was rolled into the op room and greeted my doctor for the first time and looked around at various screens as I lay under the bright lights.  A nurse came with two vials of the magic stuff and put them into the catheter.  I was out like a light and here comes the problem.  I'm very sensitive to any kind of anesthetic and don't remember anything for quite a while after that.  The procedure went fine, I'm fine and don't have to do it again for 5 years but the problem was afterwards.  My husband said I started falling when I tried to get into the car, the nurse caught me and helped me in.  I have no memory of getting dressed, getting into a wheel chair, being rolled out to the car and barely anything until I woke up in my own bed around noon.  My husband was so worried that I would fall getting out of the car at home that he drove around for a while so I would come to.  He stopped at Starbuck's and got me a giant coffee which seemed to help and got me home and into bed.  So weird to have no memory of all of that.  This drug is designed to allow one to respond but not remember what goes on while you are on it...guess it is kin to the "date-rape" drug.  It is scary to think what could have happened if I had fallen at home.  I think the docs in there are going "ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching" every time they roll another one in.  Not a comforting feeling!  What else would motivate a guy to spend his working hours sending cameras up people's asses? 

Weekly Entertainment from Entertainment Weekly

Sorry I have no illustrations for this....but in a recent article in a popular magazine a performer's vocals were described as a "singing orgasm."  Now there's a thought.  I do recall orgasms that left me singing but I can't recall any singing orgasms by me or any of my partners.  However I'm not ruling out that possibility.  Are there voice coaches for that?  Or would it be a specialty of a sex therapist?  What exactly should I ask when inquiring about this training and how long does one have to train to become skilled in singing orgasms?  Would such a coach take on a more mature student?  Mature, not old, just mature.  And does Medicare cover this service?  I'm trying to imagine just where one's focus might be in all of this.  It sounds challenging...like trying to pat one's head, chew gum, and rub one's tummy counter-clock wise at the same time but then I'm not a singer.
      I wonder what my husband would say if I suddenly broke out in an aria from Aida or Madam Butterfly but then he is a fan of Gilbert & Sullivan.  Maybe he would be happier with something from the H.M.S. Pinafore...probably better rhythm in that.  Also I wonder if a costume or wig is necessary for this magical experience.  Perhaps we should consider a duet.  We could do ads for Viagra...big or little ones depending on its success.

How did I get to this point?

Still no computer...it is a matter finances really.  I would love an Apple but will probably be limited to a PC.  But what I have come to grips with is how dependent I have become in just a decade on this little machine.  The rest of the world seems to run on one and so do I.  Are we just communication sluts?  Addicted to knowing?  I am amazed at the chunk of time I now have without it.  I even rediscovered my handwriting yesterday preparing for my memoir class.  But let me tell you, folks, I don't write as well by hand...I really don't.  thoughts get lost while tediously moving the pen across the page.  Other writers tell me they have a different experience and write first by hand and then edit it onto the computer. 
I was so hoping to have a new lap top for the workshops I'm going to with Max Regan this weekend but alas, I doubt it....it occurs to me I could have a big step toward the new computer if I didn't go to the workshops but I really want to go and will be happy to be there writing by hand while everyone else is clicking away.
Another sign of aging...I rediscovered some memoirs I wrote about 5 years ago and they are better written than what I wrote yesterday.  Darn!...What is going on here?  Is it my memory or just my thinking process cluttered with other stuff?  A bifarcation point?

Oh no...Murphy's Law

My computer crashed!  I've heard of others having the problem but yep, it has been verified!  There is no recovery of all those files that I didn't put on a CD.  All those pictures gone, all the documents vaporized.  The doctor said it was a fatal virus that there is no medication for, that there was no vacine for it in all the vacines that were current.    I'm borrowing my husband's computer now and trying to figure out what to get as a replacement and how to pay for it.  But I'm also noticing the amount of time that has been freed up.  No Facebook checking, no diddling around with other sites. 
     As for me there is no DSM IV diagnosis for computer loss.  It feels like an invasive attact, a violation.  How dare some varmint come and infect me!  Hmmm....and yet I feel like I have lost a close friend.  Maybe I should have a little ceremony in the back yard and bury the old one.  Two hundred years from now some land developer can dig it up and make some judgement about what it might be for.  Probably not...two hundred years from now this will probably be all under water if our society doesn't do somthing quick about global warming.  So how should I mark the grave?  Maybe a colorful flash drive glued to a stick.
       So now the question is:  Mac or PC?  Lots of folk tell me Mac and I am going this afternoon to a friend's house to play on her new one.  Any comments on the subject would be appreciated. 
        Dang....life is what happens when we are making other plans!  Off I go...hubby wants his toy back.

Ho hum...

Okay, this is getting old...all this gray and gloomy weather but it has put me indoors and getting stuff done.  I finished the jean jacket for granddaughter's birthday next week.  $19.95 at Target and I've spent $25 on trims and sequins.  It has a picture of Justin Bieber on the back; he's the latest teeny-bopper heart throb.  We are giving her tickets to his concert at the Houston Rodeo next month.  Last year I made her one with Taylor Swift on the back but she has lost status this year.  I love revamping these jackets with lace and buttons and stuff.  I can't sell them with the pictures on the backs as I feel sure the pictures are copy-righted even if I get them off the Internet. 
My studio is even cleaned up...holy moly.  About time, huh!  My writing class is going so well.  The teacher doesn't teach us anything which is rather odd but we learn by listening to each other's stories and oh what stories they are.  By now we are all so hooked into each other's dramas that we keep taking the class to keep up.  It would be nice however if every now and then the teacher added a little something but after 4 semesters I've given up.  When I run across an article that is about writing memoir, I send it on to class mates.  The teacher in me just can't help it.

Rolling down memory lane

Who says one can't go home again.  I do with my annual reunion in my home town of Austin.  It is hard to believe but this trio have been friends for more than sixty years; two of them for more than 66 years.  And we still have such a good time together.  I married following my junior year at UT and the other two married after graduation and we are still married to the same great guys who seem to have a great time together at our annual get togethers.  We bring pictures from high school slumber parties, junior high year books and laugh and giggle and gossip all over again.  Next meeting we have agreed to bring our wedding albums.  We feel so fortunate to still be healthy enough to get together and share our many blessings as we toddle into our elder years. 

We grew up in a post war age...after WWII and before Korea, a time of magic and dreams at the budding stage of women's liberation when the Ladies Home Journal was telling us to wrap ourselves in cellophane to greet our husbands at the door while our college degrees told us that we were fully capable of doing anything we wanted.  We three have rasied families, had careers, have volunteered in our communities, cared for aging or ill parents and have traveled widely on the planet.  We still find each other interesting and wise.  We have traded sodas and cookies for wine and cheese but never have lost our desire for good chocolate (that is a given, right?). 

There was no organ recital of our aches and pains though I know we have them but some honest discussion of our plans and concerns about the last stages of our lives, where we will live, who will care for us and what we would like when we make our transitions to our next life.  How many people do you know that you can have these honest discussions with?  I consider it a mark of friendships with deep roots.  We do go way back...we loved not only our own parents but each others.  I knew their siblings and envied them for having some.  One still has her precious mother alive, now 97.  We tease her about her good genes.

I am so grateful that I grew up in basically the same neighborhood all my life...3 different houses but the same neighborhood and my friends had the same experience.  We had to grow up and move on to experience how the rest of the world lived and worked but we were secure in our sense of self and place no matter where we ended up.  What a gift!

This afternoon my daughter and I took the Spectator bus from the Kemah parking lot to the Extreme Makeover building site. It was teeming with landscapers, contractors frantically trying to get it ready before the family with 12 children return tomorrow afternoon. It is almost scary to think that this house went up, all 6,000 sq ft of it, in a week. Workers were frantically trying to put in the landscaping today following the bull dozer across the yard. Tents were set up on a lot across the street for workers and volunteers. This whole family had been living in two trailers on their property since Hurrican Ike so there is a real need here. The family has four children of their own and 8 adopted kids, several of whom are special needs children. It has been fascinating and what a boon for Kemah as it has brought in good business for restaurants, Wal-Mart and Home Depot much less local contractors. The show should air the middle of March I was told so look for it. It is the biggest house the show has ever built. I would love to see the back yard as evidently they put in some awesome play stuff.
Rain is predicted for later this evening and tomorrow...darn. Some folks are planning to camp out at the site so they can have a front row when the family returns tomorrow. Geez...built so quickly, I pray this house is up to handling another hurricane if heaven forbid we should get another.
Notice the green structure at the back of the trailer obviously ready to go inside when it is time...should be interesting. There are 8 or 9 bedrooms in the house and I don't know how many bathrooms.

Mary Karr

My idol, Mary Karr, was in town last night speaking at the Hobby Center to a sold out audience.  She is funny, witty and has an amazing grasp on language and especially metaphor.  I was thrilled to have her sign my copy of Cherry, her wonderful memoir of her adolescent years and probably the best revelation of female teenage sexuality ever.  Nothing is sacred to Mary, few secrets not spread out like lacy underwear for all the world to see.  She is Texas through and through even though she is now living in NYC and teaching at Syracuse University and belongs up there with iconic Texas women like Molly Ivins and Ann Richards.  In the audience were two of her high school teachers from the little town in which she grew up and she honored them for working hard to keep her in school.  I can't wait until her latest book, Lit, arrives and want to collect more of her poetry.  She claims that all Texans speak metaphorically.  God, I wish that were true.  I think my dad came closer to it than my mom who was a stickler for "proper" English.  Metaphors are the spice of life and language and when I asked her if she thinks in metaphors, she answered a definite "Yes."

Someone asked her what she thought it was about the rather grim, derelict part of Texas around Pt. Arthur that has spawned such creative folk as herself, Janis Joplin and Robert Rauschenburg.  Her answer was that in such impoverished surroundings one was forced to create an inner life, one relied on one's own creativity to get through life.  I think she's so right about that.  It makes me sad to see my children and grandchildren rely so much on outside stimuli to be entertained.  My childhood was filled with imaginary games, homemade theater and dramatizations with imaginary characters and costume, drawing, reading and writing stories.  I would like to think that kids are still doing all that and that TV and video games haven't totally taken their place.  Guess time will tell.

New Year Intentions

My intentions for the year 2010...hmmm....
to love and be loved
to experience more joy and laughter
to experience wellness and gratitude every day
to give something somehow somewhere to someone every day
to commit to creating, writing and painting
to experience my work growing, developing and supported financially
to clean and clear more crap out of my house and my life
to eat healthy and exercise regularly
to continue to grow into my potential whatever that is and live it OUT LOUD
to travel
to be more patient with myself and others
to honor the wisdom that comes with being an grand old broad and negotiate the rest with dignity and some fashion of success
to have FUN doing it all

From the Daily Om

I gotta tell you...the Universe is listening in. I hadn't anymore written that last blog than this showed up on my Daily Horoscope:



January 8, 2010
Endings as Beginnings
Aries Daily Horoscope
A significant ending in your life could leave you feeling alone today and unsure of what is coming next. You may experience a sense of loss or feel abandoned because a phase of your life has come and gone. Solace can be found in the fact that all beginnings are preceded by endings. Though you may mourn for what has passed, try looking toward the future. You may find that in leaving your past behind, a myriad of opportunities are waiting to be discovered. Consider all that you once dreamt of and ask yourself which of those dreams you might find pleasure in resurrecting today. A fantasy that once tugged at your heartstrings could become a real goal for you.

Viewing an ending or loss as an opportunity for new beginnings can make moving into a new phase of life a more enjoyable experience. Though leaving a valued part of your life behind can sting, the fact that the future is not yet written means that there are infinite possibilities waiting for you. A period where you are encountering obstacles can be the best time to consider altering your course to create the life you desire. The pain that loss can cause can be the motivation that drives you to discover unknown worlds or immerse yourself in new knowledge. Endings are simply transitional periods that prepare us for the unknown. The ending that saddens you today will become the starting point for the next amazing phase of your journey.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is almost spooky.