Much Ado About Stuff

Adventures in Banana Bread

2010-11-30T14:59:00.000-06:00

Umm...should banana bread 'glisten'?

Banana bread - it seems like everyone has made it at some point in their lives. Who hasn't had leftover bananas that are too ripe for eating (at least for me - I despise even one brown spot on my nanners. EWWW)?

Well, I am that one person - until today. So I can forgive myself for not knowing an 'iffy' recipe when I see it, right?

I really enjoy cooks.com - it's incredibly easy to use and most recipes (the key word here being most) are really fantastic. Unfortunately, I ran across one today that missed the boat completely, and I, being a banana bread neophyte, was too naive to catch the error.

As I was mixing the ingredients for the bread, everything SEEMED normal. Okay, so two sticks of butter seemed like a lot but I knew the batter was for two loaves of bread, so no harm done. And when the bread was baking I thought I'd died and gone to heaven; the smell was that wonderful.

It was only when I took the loaves out of the oven and had to drain the butter off that I noticed something was, oh, I don't know, a bit odd.

After I returned from an errand, I figured I should probably try the bread. At this point it had been cooling for about an hour and a half. It was cooled, all right, but all of that butter made for some rather crispy edges. So crispy, in fact, that they had the consistency of potato chips (but I think chips are less greasy). The middle of the loaf looks normal, but it probably contains a week's worth of saturated fat. You know that something is fattening when the chocolate chips are the healthiest thing about it. As it is, I had a very thin slice and can feel the begining of a coronary.

So, if you don't hear from me for a few days you'll know that the bread is to blame. I can think of worse ways to go. :D

A Weighty Issue

2010-11-23T08:53:00.001-06:00

A lot has been said lately about the subject of the portrayal of plus-sized people in the media. I'm sure by now you've all heard about the crapstorm caused by a writer from Marie Claire magazine when she ranted about the characters on the CBS sitcom "Mike and Molly" - if you hadn't heard, the gist of the article was that she was repulsed by watching two fat people make out. I won't even get into that controversy. What I would like to write about is purely my experience with being on both sides of the fence.

When I was a kid, I looked like one of the "Oliver" orphans. Let me tell you, it wasn't for lack of trying. I've always loved to eat. All through school, as a matter of fact, I was what you'd call "normal". I never concerned myself with my weight. I was blessed with the metabolism of a hummingbird. By the time I got into high school, I wasn't playing outside anymore, but I was walking home from school, so I guess I did get some exercise.

In college, I actually LOST weight, probably because of stress and/or the fact that I lived on the UWGB campus (literally adjacent to a corn field!) and worked downtown, which was about 5 miles away. I didn't drive, and I worked at a TV station late enough that the buses stopped running. That meant that I'd either have to ride my bike to work or one of my very patient roommates would have to come get me. I also finally became legal in college, which meant lots of dance clubs.

After college I immediately moved in with my first husby Dan. We both loved to eat and we spent many a dinner at Perkins, which was pretty close to our apartment and you got a lot of food for cheap. Dan was super skinny at the time and so was I. At this point I was smoking nearly a pack a day, which unfortunately contributed to my skinniness. Our lives continued this way for a couple years until...

Until I turned 25. Overnight, it seemed, I had gone up a pants size - it happened so fast that I was convinced I was preggers (nope). I had moved up to a size 9, which was the first time I'd been in that size since my senior year in high school. I certainly wasn't concerned - I still only weighed about 130 lbs.

Looking back at photos, I was more or less the same weight up until about 1999. At this point in my life I wasn't exercising a whole lot - I wasn't doing much of anything, actually, just watching a LOT of TV. One of my friends very casually said I should do Weight Watchers with her, and I did lose about 20 pounds. The program works, but you do have to stay on it.

I kept the weight off, and then some. Around late 2001 and into 2002, I began walking a lot. I was also singlehandedly stripping wallpaper and painting in our new house, which is hard work. By the summer of '02 I had lost quite a bit of weight - looking back at photos, I probably hadn't been that thin in 8 years or so. But it wasn't all good - by the next spring, Dan and I separated. The weight stayed off, because I was still walking but had also taken smoking up again after a year and a half hiatus.

Here's where it gets bad. On November 21, 2003, I quit smoking cold turkey. That's not the bad part; aside from a couple of crazy nights, I'm still smoke-free and will never smoke again. I'm glad about that. But when you quit smoking, get divorced and your dad dies, all within a 7 week period, there's going to be some stress. And when your metabolism goes bonkers because your heart isn't working overtime anymore, you're going to gain some weight. By the time of my dad's funeral in January of 2004, I had packed on about 30 pounds in that 7 week span.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not using that period in my life as an excuse. But it does explain a lot as to why it's been so hard to lose that stupid weight.

My future (now current) mom in-law invited me back to Weight Watchers in 2005. I did pretty well - I managed to lose about 19 pounds. Once again in 2008, I had a health scare and lost some more (but I had gained some back from the last time). Currently? Well, let's just say I could stand to lose some of those ell-bees.

I have found that people treat me the same regardless of how I look. I've never had an issue with parental nagging (thanks Mom!) or friends saying stupid things (thanks guys!). I can't control what's being said about me behind my back, but that's their problem, not mine. In fact, I've always wondered about people who make others' weight their own issue.

Why does someone's size matter? I could go on and on with our society's obsession with beauty, etc. but I won't. I really don't care about that. What I do care about is how rude people have become. Sure, it's not as blatant as it used to be (there isn't a kids' clothing company called "Chubettes" anymore), but there's an underlying acceptance of ridicule for people of size.

I'd like to think that I'm the same person now as when I was thinner; in fact, I hope I'm nicer. People are not their weight - whether they are over- or underweight, it's probably best to keep our thoughts to ourselves about their appearance. There are so many more interesting aspects to people, anyway. It's my hope that we can begin to see inside people and get to know them for who they truly are, regardless of whether they're 110 pounds or 310.

Spamalot!

2010-11-19T08:59:00.002-06:00

So, how do you feel about Monty Python?

Is this a divisive question? I think maybe it is. I've been on both sides of the fence when asked the same thing.

I've been married twice and both my husbies like Monty Python. Okay, let me rephrase that - Dan, my first husband, likes Monty Python. Brian, my second and last husband, loves Monty Python (which will, from here on out, be abbreviated MP).

Brian loves MP so much that he can quote almost verbatim from their first movie, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". He also has the entire "Flying Circus" series on DVD and many t-shirts with MP quotes. He even has a Black Knight doll with detachable limbs (if you've seen "Grail", you know what I'm talking about). Have I mentioned that Brian is a geek? :D

I've tried, since about 1990, to enjoy and understand this British phenomenon. I do appreciate the silliness and the troupe is undoubtedly brilliant (anyone who has seen Terry Gilliam's movies or Michael Palin's travel series or Eric Idle's/John Cleese's acting parts knows this to be true). But I'm also perplexed a lot of the time, because I'll be honest - I don't get a lot of it.

Because I like humor with some "history" to it (think of inside jokes or obscure pop culture references), I must admit that the "Knights who say 'ni'" bit from "Grail" is, well, odd to me. To what are they referring? Is there a back story here? No? Then what does it mean? Nothing? Hmm. Interesting. "Ha ha ha - yes, that's amusing. No, I do like it! It's funny!" (This has probably been said, by me, a thousand times while watching MP stuff).

But then, last Sunday, our friend Todd was able to procure some half-price tickets to see Spamalot, the musical "lovingly ripped off from" the aforementioned film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Todd's wife Dawn and I were both a little concerned that we were going to be totally lost; I was in the fortunate position to at least understand the movie references, but Dawn had never seen it.

Well, it turns out that this musical, aside from the usual schtick you'll see from the movie, was easy to "get" and very well done - and anyone could enjoy it. Talk about silly - the musical is 100 times sillier than the movie, but with the added bonus of singin' and dancin'. There were actual women in the musical, too (if you've seen any of the MP movies and/or Flying Circus, you know that the guys play ALL the roles). It was, as I like to say, a "hoot"!

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'll give it a solid 8. Not bad for a musical I didn't even think I was going to comprehend. I even bought a magnet!

Enthusiasm!

2010-11-13T11:04:00.001-06:00

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Some words are just great by themselves, regardless of meaning. This morning I was reminded of one of those words by reading my friend Kathy's status update: enthusiasm.

Just say the word yourself (or think it, if you're reading this at work or in the library) - EN-THOOOZY-AZUM. Sounds as good drunk as it does sober. Now say it over and over - it just sounds silly, doesn't it?

Actually, the whole status update was a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.” Amen to that! I mean, if you're going to do something, why not throw your whole being into it?

When you think about it, this idea can be applied to every aspect of your life - your job, your marriage or S.O. relationship (DEFINITELY!), your kids/extended family, your hobbies or passions - when you show excitement for anything, doesn't it make it more fun?

I've realized in the past couple of years that I'm psyched about art. I'd better be - it's my living! But I've also realized that I love getting other people fired up about art and the creative process, especially those who wrongly think they're not creative. BULL! Every one of us is creative in some way, whether it be art, music, cooking, organization skills - if you have a skull with a working brain, you're creative. When you pick out what color of clothes you're going to wear today, that's creative. When you prefer one scent over another for your body wash or soap - that's creative. Anything that gets you to think about the way you want to live - CREATIVE!

I can't tell you how many people I've run into at art exhibits that say they're not creative in the slightest - but they love art. Okay, that's so wrong. If you're an art appreciator, you can't NOT be creative. Simple as that. If you have ANY opinion whatsoever about why you like one artist over another, or one song over another, or what ingredient would taste better with another - YOU'RE CREATIVE!

Probably my favorite way to get people fired up is by having them make ATCs (artist trading cards) in my classes, or on Flickr, or wherever. When faced with a blank card that's only 2.5" X 3.5", art seems a lot less daunting. And when I tell them that there are no rules - that you can do whatever you want on your canvas, it seems to help loosen them up. "Go ahead and pair that aquamarine with yellow! Who cares?? It's your art, do what YOU want!" is my rallying cry.

Try going a whole day being excited about everything you do. Seriously! It may sound a bit Pollyanna, but I'll guarantee that even if it doesn't work, you'll at least get a laugh out of it, thinking to yourself, "Hooray! I get to file these reports in alpha-numeric order!". Hey, it might even get you thinking about how to file more creatively. :D

Auntie Julia

2010-11-07T20:00:00.000-06:00

My great aunt Julia, circa 1949

My Auntie Julia died over the weekend. She was 81.

I wish I could say I knew her better, but the last time I saw her, I believe, was 1994. She was my Grammie's sister and lived in Florida. She very rarely traveled up to Green Bay, where my Grammie lives, and we'd never go down to Florida. She and my late Uncle Bob lived in Winter Park (and Guatemala) my whole life.

I'm sad about her passing in a more nostalgic way more than anything; I barely knew her, so my own feelings don't really count. Who I am sad for is my mom and my Grammie, who has dementia and I doubt would understand that Julia is gone. And of the three girls, my Grammie is the only one left (my Auntie Lou-Lou died in 1990, when she was only 62. THAT was a sad story).

Julia was my mom's aunt, and a great one at that, at least when my mom was a little girl. Julia was only 16 or 17 when my mom was born, so she and my Auntie Lou-Lou (who was only a year older than Julia) would fawn all over my mom. They spoiled her rotten, too, as good aunties should do (I'm doing my best with my own nieces!). :D

Julia, my Grammie (Mary), and Lou-Lou, probably about 1952 or so.

Of the three girls, Julia was "the pretty one". She was very tall and thin her whole life (far too thin the last 15 years or so) and the only blond in my whole family. She looked like a perfect combination of my great-grandma and grandpa - she got the best features of both. All three girls sang beautifully (you may remember me saying that my Grammie was my own music teacher growing up), so she was quite the package.

She was a co-ed at a time when it was quite the thing to be. I may be getting mixed up here, but I'm about 90% sure she went to DePauw University in Indiana. I do know that she pledged a sorority (judging by the photos, is this any surprise? I mean, doesnt she just LOOK like a sorority girl of the Forties?).

I believe she married Bob Gibson in 1952 (I know my mom was the flower girl). Bob was a hoot. He was the jokester of the family. He was an engineer when they got married but later on he became an Episcopal priest and they wound up living in Guatemala for a period of time in the 70s as missionaries. I remember thinking how exotic that must've been.

She had three kids - Julie, Mary (called Mary T. so as not to be confused with my Grammie, whose name is also Mary) and George. Sadly, Mary T. died in 2004, just a couple of months before Bob. Both died of cancer, and from what we heard from letters and family members the grief never really left Julia. Can you blame her? No one should ever outlive their kids.

It's weird when family lives so far away, because you only really know them from stories and photos and the very occasional visit. Thank goodness for vehicles like Facebook - it's been fantastic at breaking down familial barriers. I know that I've learned more about some of my cousins through their status updates than I ever would've known otherwise, and I'm so grateful for that. And I know that my nieces' kids, should they choose to have any, will definitely know their Great-Auntie Mel. I'll make sure to spoil THEM rotten too! :D

We made it!!!

2010-11-02T08:28:00.000-05:00

I am beyond excited - yesterday I found out that our artists' collaborative, Fond du Lac Visual Arts, is in the running for $25,000 thanks to the Pepsi "Refresh Everything" contest! We've been trying to get in for six months now, and it finally happened!

For those of you who have never heard of this contest, Pepsi began giving away money to worthy charities and causes back in January. Supposedly it's only for a year, so I'm very glad that we were given this chance! And how would WE use the money? There is a budgetary breakdown if you follow the link, but the gist of it is that we'd use the money to supplement arts education in our area, which is Fond du Lac, WI.

Fond du Lac, like everyone else, has had some budget cuts. And of course, one of the first things cut is the arts. With this money, we'd be able to have artists-in-residency programs through our schools. We would also teach classes at the senior center. We would teach art therapy classes in the hospitals. We'd also serve as mentors for other artists trying to get their portfolio together.

But we can't do this unless everyone who sees this blog post votes for the idea, today and EVERY DAY until November 30! That's right - you have 60 tries (30 for voting online, and 30 for texting 103549 to
Pepsi (73774) apiece to get us the funding we so desperately need.

If you regularly read this blog, you know that I'm not one to ask for things - but this is just so important to our group, and it would greatly benefit our area. It sucks that everything costs money, and that the six of us in the group aren't independently wealthy. That would be awesome, and I wouldn't have to ask for your help. :D

If you're concerned that you're going to be spammed by Pepsi, NOT TO WORRY! I'm involved in the project and even I haven't ever gottten and spammy e-mails! They're really cool that way.

So, I BEG OF YOU - PLEASE vote for our cause. It would mean so much to me and my group. Thank you so much for reading this - I'll be back to my normal posts in the next couple of days! :D

P.S. See that widget to your left, right here on my blog, with the Pepsi logo? You can cast your vote right from there! :D Maybe you could even keep this link up so you remember to vote EVERY DAY! :D

Play Nice!

2010-10-25T12:41:00.002-05:00

Are you like me? Are you wishing that November 3 would just hurry up and get here already?

If you're in a state with contested congressional or gubernatorial seats (ie, nearly all of us living in the US), and unless you don't own a TV, you've been bombarded with political ads. BOMBARDED. I'm not exaggerating.

One of my facebook friends posted today that total spending on political campaigns by outside groups in midterm election in 2002 was $31,000,000; in 2010 - $385,000,000. So no, it's not your imagination; you ARE seeing that many ads.

I understand that with all of the information (and DISinformation) out there the candidates feel the need to inform the public about their policies and ideology, and that the best way to do this still is televison. What I don't understand is why every candidate has been reduced to muckraking.

Seriously - WHO does this work for? I have never spoken or met a person that loves these ads, or whose opinion was swayed by a negative campaign. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the negative campaigns actually work in the opposite way - that former supporters are so disgusted with the way their favored candidate is behaving that they either vote the other way or don't vote at all. And we can't have that happen!

My husby Brian and I are so sick of these stupid ads that we've resorted to muting every single one of them, regardless of political party. And it's pretty funny what these ads look like when it's just the images and no sound! Most of them appear to be for the other candidate because they use their opponents' names so often in their ads! I love how they find the most unflattering photos of their opponents, too. Mouth agape, chimp-like stares, furrowed brows - it's almost theatrical.

I'm not going to get into who I personally am voting for - I kick it "old skool" and still believe that it's a personal issue and one that I won't discuss with others for fear of putting them on the defensive (if you know me well, then you know how I feel about most issues). Alas, I think I'm one of the last holdouts of this philosophy. I feel the same way about religion.

I wish I had some ideas about how to put this sort of campaigning to rest. I haven't a clue how to fix it. But maybe after this election is over (it's too late for this one), if we all rally and let our elected officials know how we feel about being subjected to these ads, the tide will turn. We can only hope.

Don't let the Art Snobs intimidate you!

2010-10-22T08:05:00.001-05:00

See? Even my Publisher clip art has a bias!

If you're a regular reader of this blog, then you may remember me talking about our group exhibit that is currently running at the Windhover, our wonderful arts center here in Fond du Lac. I'm enjoying being in an exhbit immensely - it's the first time EVER that more than two of my pieces have been in a show.

But last night, I felt compelled to write a Facebook note about people's apprehension when it comes to visiting art galleries and exhibits. It is my feeling that a lot of smart, educated people in the arts are still baffled when it comes to going to an exhbit, because of the "stigma" surrounding it.

The following is the note in its entirety. I really hope that people take it to heart, because I sincerely mean every word!

Let's make art accessible and available to EVERYONE without fear!

"A funny thing has happened over the last 3 weeks or so -

I'm discovering that people have an innate fear of art galleries and exhibits.

In many different areas of my life, when I tell people that I'm in an exhibit at the Windhover Center, they look at me as though they've never met me before. And these are people that have known me for a long time! I thought maybe they just didn't care at first but I think there's more to it than that.

Brian and I were talking tonight about our first experiences at an art gallery and that feeling came flooding over me, a feeling that I had forgotten I had felt - that feeling of panic.

I think TV and the movies have done a great disservice to art galleries and their exhibits - they portray everyone involved as hoity-toity @#%% who want nothing to do with us "regular people". You know what I mean - people in angular glasses wearing Euro-trash clothes, either as gallery owers or patrons, discussing the works of art before them in hushed tones and uttering such bon mots as, "I feel his postmodernesque work completely overshadows his earlier, edgier pieces." Or something like that. Whatever!

Here's the truth - I am EXTREMELY lucky to be a part of the art scene in Fond du Lac. Here's something else you may not know: we artists in Fond du Lac are NOT "art snobs". Remember - this is Fond du Lac.

Okay, so you may find someone at an artists' reception who feels the need to alert the entire room that he or she knows more than anyone else about a particular artist, genre, style, etc. But those people are really few and far between. The majority of folks who attend these receptions are friends/family of the artist(s), regulars at the particular venue, or just nice people who like art.

I think a lot of people are overwhelmed or afraid of being called out for not knowing enough about art - and to that I say, fuhgettaboutit! NO ONE CARES whether or not you know your dada from your cubism, or even if you know what those words mean! Do you like pictures hung on a wall? Me too! Let's go to a gallery together! :D

And seriously, that's all there really is to it. Art is meant to be appreciated and enjoyed (or not, sometimes, but that's up to you. Don't let ANYONE tell you what you should or shouldn't like, even if it's mine. :D ). It is my hope that you let go of your worry that somehow you're not going to fit in. I am NOT an art critic, nor am I even an art expert! I just know what I like and don't like, and one of the ways you find that out is by - you guessed it - going to art galleries.

If you're still not convinced, remember this - it's just as scary being the artist and wondering if you like our work. But if we're not going to accost you and ask you point blank if you like it - that's bad form. So you don't need to worry about that, either!

So come on down to the Windhover on Saturday, November 6, anytime between 4 and 6 p.m. I promise we're not scary, and you'll have a good time! :D"

Home.

2010-10-20T17:00:00.001-05:00

"There's no place like home." "Home is where the heart is." "Home Sweet Home". I've been thinking a lot lately about "home" - I always do around this time of year. It seems like when the weather turns colder, it's the only place I want to be.

I'm sure the concept of home means something different to everyone - maybe you take off your shoes and put on slippers the minute you get home from work. Maybe you flip on the TV. Maybe you can't wait to sit down to dinner with your family. Maybe you work third shift and the sun's just coming up when you get home, so you check Facebook to see what happened with all your friends that evening.

Whatever your routine, it's good to be home, isn't it?

I don't know about you, but I've gotten emotionally attached to nearly every house I've lived in - I can't help but think about everything that happened while I was there. Good things, bad things, celebrations, funerals - it's all tied to where I lived at the time.

How many of you had only one childhood home? And of you that did, how many still have parents living there? I lived in the same apartment from nearly birth until I was nearly 20, when my parents moved to Madison so my mom could get her Ph.D. And even though we had insane neighbors and the place had seen better days, it was heartbreaking to leave (I didn't know it at the time, but I would move seven times in the nine years after that). It was the only place I had ever known, and the "unknown" was the scary part.

My current home is the fifth place I've lived since I've been in Fond du Lac. I told Brian that if we never move again, it'll be too soon. We'll never outgrow it; it's just the two of us and, barring some wacky life-altering event, it always will be just us. I have my art studio in my house; Brian's got a nice photography set-up too. We have a living room and a big family room, two bathrooms, two bedrooms and an office, and of course a nice-sized kitchen and dinette. There is no need for anything more. In my 42 years I've lived in 13 different places, and 10 of those have been in the last 22 years. I'm done moving! I love the security of staying put.

I recently made the collage (above) for the contest winner on Retro Renovation. Every month one winner is picked from the entrants and the prize is a collage that I've rendered of their house. I absolutely LOVE making these collages - one's house is such a personal thing and I love the challenge of creating something that will reflect how much these people really love where they are (the slogan of Retro Renovation is "Love the House You're In!"). This month's winner, however, really brought home to me how much we cherish our homes.

Ann, the winner, lives in North Carolina. They had just been through a tropical storm shortly before the contest was announced. Many of Ann's neighbors suffered some pretty devastating damage; thankfully, the damage done to this house was minimal. It was truly poignant to make this collage knowing it was such a close call!

So the next time the water heater goes out, or the roof shingles need replacing, or you just ran into the side of your garage (yep, that's me) - remember to take a moment and be thankful that you still have a home you can come home to.

I Heart the Post Office!

2010-10-14T11:40:00.000-05:00

Close-up of "Save our Saturday Service" by me

Recently my friend Beth sent me a very interesting e-mail forward, full of predicted soon-to-be obsolete items or places in our everyday lives. One of those was the post office.

I've talked about how much I love the post office in my other blog, Ephemeraology, from a collecting and art point of view. But I love it for other reasons too.

When it worked well, pre-Internet and other delivery services, the post office was one of the best examples of our government at work. I mean, did you ever stop to think about how amazing it is?

I write a letter, send a gift, write a check, etc. and that item will reach its destination in a week or less. And nearly the whole world's in on it! Isn't that incredible?! Truly stop to think about this. And don't say, "Well, the Internet does the same thing, only faster." Yes, the Interwebs is also amazing, but we are yet to teleport packages. Until then, we will need a mail service.

You might say, "Why do we need a privatized mail service when we've got UPS and its ilk?" Well, because they're publicly traded companies, they have to answer to shareholders. They need to make a profit and the last time I checked, it was impossible to mail a letter via UPS for 44 cents.

And I've always marveled at how people would complain about the price of stamps going up. Really? What else can you do these days for 44 cents?! You can't get coffee, a newspaper, bus fare, or any other cheap item for less than 50 cents anymore. Most cost a buck, at least. But we (for a little while longer, anyway) are still able to mail something under an ounce ANYWHERE IN OUR COUNTRY for such a little cost. You say you don't write letters anymore? Last time I checked we're still getting cards for our birthdays and the holidays. And they're much nicer than a text.

Here in Fond du Lac they're discussing doing away with our Saturday service and/or consolidating our post office with the one in Oshkosh or Green Bay (both too far away to be convenient). Besides all of the jobs lost, it would force people to use satellite post offices in businesses like grocery stores. This doesn't sound bad in theory, but there will be service fees tacked onto your errands, mark my words.

If we do keep our post offices, and I sincerely hope we do, there will be price increases. It's worth it to keep efficient, safe mail handling available for ALL.

Shame on you, Miley.

2010-10-12T08:45:00.004-05:00

Like probably a zillion other bloggers today, I'm going to rant on the new Miley Cyrus video (no, I'm not going to link to it. I don't want to give her any support).

I'm totally not surprised that Ms. Cyrus is taking this route to stardom, but I am disappointed that this trend continues. Has her family not seen what has happened to other girls (yes, she's technically still a girl!) when they try this? Britney, Lindsay, Paris....has she learned nothing?

What is the lesson here - that in order to make it with less-than-stellar talent, you have to resort to writhing around on a bed in your underwear? Oh, and let's not forget - she's still SEVENTEEN! Never mind the fact that her parents think it's okay that she's already living with her older boyfriend.

I wonder sometimes what has happened to our "Free to Be You and Me" world. When I was growing up in the Seventies, I heard all kinds of pro-women talk. It was the era of the ERA, and women felt empowered. They'd had enough of being thought of as just men's playthings (or their servants). It was a time when Sesame Street encouraged learning for everyone equally - all races, abilities, genders and ages. Thinking back to when I was a kid, this all seemed normal and, well, right.

So what happened? Instead of "Maude" we've got "The Bachelor" and "Real Housewives" and "Rock of Love" (ad nauseum). We still have Sesame Street but it's been dumbed down considerably and it plays along other pap like "The Wiggles" (seriously?). Instead of "I am Woman" (which is a pretty terrible song, but at least it's got a halfway decent message), we've got "Break your Heart" by Tiao Cruz. Instead of "The Stepford Wives" we've got "Bride Wars".

I have two teenage nieces and my sister and brother in-law, along with me and my ultra-feminist mother, are doing our best to instill "can-do" attitudes that they can carry with them. I know family is the first line of defense in these situations, but I do worry that the positive messages they're hearing at home are being eroded by the crap they see all around them every single day.

So what do we do about it? Part of it is educating our BOYS as well. If boys are taught that girls are just people, that's a start. I'll even go so far as to say that an "I am Woman" mentality isn't that great; equality is far more important. Yes, at some point, biology is going to take over boys' thoughts and they'll start to see girls differently. But if "she's a cool girl" could replace "she's so hot" as far as how they think about girls, that would be fantastic. And if we teach our girls that you don't have to get a boy's attention by flaunting what you have, and that they don't have to put up with any sort of behavior that is contradictory to this mindset, that would also be a tremendous help.

Do we want to turn the clock back to 1952? Do you want your daughter to be a subservient wife instead of an equal partner in the relationship? If this sounds good to you, then just keep teaching her that showing off her body is the way to snag a man. Because we all know that the foundation to all wonderful relationships is how sexy you look, not your personality or thoughfulness or sharing. I think we should all strive for a world where gender means nothing. This probably won't happen in my lifetime, but maybe my nieces will have a better shot at it.

An Abomination

2010-10-05T15:22:00.000-05:00

Egads.

Oh, this is bad. I'm not exaggerating - this is just really, really bad.

Take a look at this photo. Yes, there are FIVE garbage bags there (one is kind of hiding). They're full of clothes.

Oh, go ahead and yell at me - I deserve it. How did it get this bad?! I'm trying to think of the last time I made a Goodwill run with donated clothes - I can't remember the last time.

I was in one of those moods today where I just decided that I'd better clean out my closet and drawers, or it may wait another year. It's a daunting task, but today I felt like being realistic.

"Were clothes REALLY made right here in the US, Mommy?"

What do I mean by that? Well, as sad as it is, I'm pretty sure I'll never be a size 10 ever again, considering the last time I was that thin was back in '95, when I was 27 years old. Time to throw out that plaid skirt from Express. Oh, check out this tag: it's from a sweater I bought at the County Seat (remember them?) back in - wait for it - 1985. Yes, I said 19-EIGHTY-5. It's 25 years old. How can you tell? Well, when's the last time you saw "Made in U.S.A." on a clothes tag? (I also have to laugh at the "virgin acrylic" material - must be from those petroleum-based sheep!)

Now, those of you that know me personally and have seen my taste in clothes know that I am, by NO stretch of the imagination, a clothes horse. I will wear something until it wears out (I must've gotten this trait from my Depression-era dad - mustn't waste ANYTHING!), regardless of whether it's in style or not. I haven't gone so far as to buy "separates" yet, but that's probably because I'm only 42 and I don't need elastic-waisted pants (yet). So if I'm not a fashionista, how on earth did I get FIVE bags of unwanted clothes? Well, if you count pants that I've grown out of (or bought thinking every 14 is the same and then was too lazy (or too optimistic!) to bring them back), there's a bag right there. If you count clothes I hung onto for sentimental reasons, there's another bag and a half. If you count gift sweaters, that's a half bag. If you count Target t-shirts, for which I had one of every color, there's another half bag (but they're pretty poorly made, and those were on the verge of wearing out, yet too good to throw away). If you count dresses and skirts that I wore once to some Christmas party or other, there's some more. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Strata of clothes, ranging from 1985-2008.

I'm pretty sure that my generation (and possibly the Boomers) is the first generation to have this problem. Seems to me that before all of our disposable income (and cheaply-made Chinese clothes) people bought a few well-made items and then mixed and matched them. Something tells me that, save the richest folks, people didn't have a completely different outfit for every day of the week. And did anyone really care if you wore a shirt twice in one week? Would anyone really notice today?

I have bought very few clothes this year - firstly, because I really don't need any now that I'm home all the time; and secondly, for budgetary reasons. I remember, in the past, going to Target and just throwing a pile of shirts in the basket because, hey, they're cheap, so why not?

What I'm going to try and do this year is: a) Buy American! and b) buy less. If I can find a couple of classic pieces (like a good white shirt and some nice pants) and pair them with sweaters I already own, so much the better. I don't ever want to have to clean like this again. But there's always Brian's closet....

Happy October!

2010-10-03T23:01:00.000-05:00

"Autumn Oak" ATC by me.

It's hard to believe we've entered October already - is it just me, or did the summer just fly by? (For my southern hemisphere friends - did the winter just fly by?) :D

This time of year always feels like the new year to me. No, I'm not Jewish but I think they're on to something! Doesn't it totally make sense to begin the new year right after a harvest? It is a process of starting over, after all!

I do have ulterior motives for why October is my favorite month - it's my birthday (or as my family likes to call it, my "birthday month". We really like birthdays in my family.)! I'm not shy to say that this year I turn 42. What IS weird is when my mom was 42 I was a sophomore in college! I absolutely remember her turning 42! And in two years, I will be the same age as my Grammie was when I was born. EEK!

But enough about that - I don't think I'm alone when I say that Autumn is a time of rebirth, even though in this hemisphere, everthing is coming to an end. I for one am very happy about the chilly weather we get in these parts - in Wisconsin, the 50s are normal for this time of year but it can be as warm as the 80s and as cold as the 30s! I've had every temperature fluctuation on my birthday - 3 years ago it was 85 degrees!

I tend to be happiest during this time. I feel more creative, more social, and more willing to try new things. I have more energy and ideas. Plus, did you notice that some of the best movies and music come out in the fall? And of course, the new seasons of network TV shows happen.

But the best thing about fall is the spectacle that Mother Nature sends us! I happen to live in a state that has all four seasons, so we get to witness the fall colors in all of their splendor. I think the leaves turning is one of the most amazing wonders of our latitude! Some day I'd love to take a trip to Nova Scotia in October and experience some of the best color around. We also grow amazing apples here - the cold weather helps. We have a great orchard/farm in our area called The Little Farmer, where there's apple picking, incredible baked goods (like pumpkin muffins that are to DIE for), hay rides and live music. It's only open from September-November, which is why it's so special. It's a must-see destination for many folks in our area - we're going this week!

However you celebrate this wonderful season, I hope you enjoy October and autumn as much as I. If you don't, it's only six months 'til spring!

Up and Running!

2010-09-29T23:25:00.001-05:00

"Tuesday Morning, 9:30 a.m." by Mel Kolstad (me!)

I viewed my very own exhibit today - does that make me an exhibitionist? :D

For those of you who hadn't heard via Facebook or Flickr or e-mail, the co-op group in Fond du Lac, of which I am a founding member (and so is Brian), opened our first exhibit today called "Exposure", at the Windhover Center for the Arts. Our group is called Fond du Lac Visual Arts and we eventually will be taking members. There are six of us in the group and we each are displaying about 6 or 7 pieces.

It's all sort of surreal. Considering that I still have a hard time with the "artist" moniker, I'm flabbergasted that I get to have my own works in a show! With the exception of one piece, I made all new works specifically for the exhibit. I know me and I tend to be a bit of a procrastinator, so I purposely started on my pieces early, like back in June. That way I'd have time to get them all framed, if needed be. I'm happy to report that I had all of the pieces done and framed two weeks ahead of schedule.

The staff at the Windhover did an amazing job of hanging the show; we all placed our pieces how we wanted them on Monday, and the staff came in yesterday and did the rest. It was so exciting to see MY name up on the wall along with all of my new art. I'm a little anxious about it - of course, those little voices I hear have a tendency to place doubt. What if nobody likes my work? What if they call it "amateur"? What if people balk at the prices I've set? What if, after viewing my stuff, they're just not impressed?

I'm going to bet that there will be people who just don't care for my stuff. What I have to keep telling myself is that it's okay if they don't like it! They don't have to like it. Only I have to like it, because I made it. If they like my work, wonderful! That would be fantastic! But if they don't? Oh well. I just don't want to hear it said to my face. :D

One last thing - I am so very excited that Brian is a part of this group as well! All of his photographs turned out amazing. The images he chose to be framed are spot-on fabulous. It's a very professional grouping, and I hope he knows how talented he is. I hope he knows what I mean when I say I am very proud of him and what he's accomplished this year as well. It means more to me than anything that we get to do this together!

The Bane of my Existence

2010-09-27T14:01:00.002-05:00

I just passed the 8-month mark with my new art career. I absolutely love how this year has gone so far - all of the art opportunities, the flexible schedule, saving tons of money by staying at home - it's ALL great. But there is one smallish problem that has plagued me since January.

Suburbia.

I'm relatively new (again) to suburbia - I've only been back in it for the last five years. Before that I always lived in houses right in the city (both in Green Bay and Fond du Lac). I'm not saying that living in town is akin to the "concrete jungle", but where I am right now is total suburban land.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the house that Brian and I share and the thought of moving makes me sick to my stomach. But sometimes, I'd like to wring my neighbors' necks.

Within the 5-house radius of my house, both in the front and back yards, it seems that everyone owns a leaf blower, riding lawn mower, weed whacker and other extremely noisy lawn implements. I am constantly surrounded by that awful din of motorized equipment. One of my neighbors stands out in her driveway with the leaf blower just waiting for leaves to fall - I witnessed this while on my walk today.

Let's break this down - first of all, do these people seriously have nothing better to do than to wait for leaves to fall so they can blow them out of their driveways? I've got an idea - how about you just wait under the tree with your hands cupped - it's far quieter and more environmentally sound.

Secondly, how lazy do you have to be to use gas-powered equipment instead of a good old-fashioned rake? I find it interesting that those folks who could stand to lose a couple of pounds are the ones who rely on leaf blowers and riding lawn mowers in the first place.

And really - for your suburban patch of grass you call a lawn, do you REALLY need a riding lawn mower? REALLY? Because there are patches of grass that your behemoth can't get to, so you have to dig out your electric, NOISY weed-whacker to clean up the job. How much sense does this make?!?

Now, Brian mows the lawn with a regular gas-powered mower, so I can't claim we're Mr. & Mrs. Al Gore either. But our lawn gets cut about once every 7-10 days, like normal people. We both could find a hundred other things to do besides annoy our neighbors with our noise-polluting equipment. And speaking of noise pollution - one of the offfending neighbors likes to blare the radio whilst he's out leaf blowing - it has to be loud so he can hear it above the roar of his mighty manhood extension, doesn't it?!

Oh, and do we really have to be out using our expensive toys at 7:30 in the morning on a SATURDAY?!? Find a new hobby, people!!!

Well anyway, thank you for letting me vent. I know that you out there would NEVER be so inconsiderate to your fellow neighbors, right? I didn't think so. :D

The Nightfly

2010-09-24T09:06:00.000-05:00

I had an unusual bout of insomnia last night - I haven't had one in a long time! I used to go weeks without a good night's sleep, but it's been years since that's happened.

There were a couple factors: our room was way too hot; the winds were wicked; I couldn't get comfortable; and I had a head full of thoughts. Group these things together and I suppose it's inevitable that it's not going to be a good night.

When I worked in TV, I thrived at night! Even though our production crew had crazy hours (sometimes beginning at 5:30 a.m and ending at 11:00 p.m. in split shifts), we'd go out after work every night. There would be nights where I'd get two hours of sleep, work my first shift (5:30-8:00 a.m.), go home for a couple hours and sleep, come back at 11:30 and work my second shift, etc. etc. etc. There's only one explanation for how I could do this - I was 24.

Normally I get up at 6:30 and I'm more than fine all day, but I just can't handle three hours of sleep anymore! And did you ever notice that when you're awake and thinking at 3 a.m., it's never about happy things? Okay, maybe it is for some, but I'd be willing to be that 95% of us who are up at these ungodly hours are not thinking about the best days of their lives; it's more about what happened that day, or what's coming up that's going to be unpleasant or nerve-wracking. I can see how people get hooked on Ambien!

One nice thing about the night - it doesn't last. Morning comes, and everything looks a little better. It's like our brains have a switch that turns gloomy thoughts into lighter ones when the sun comes up.

I'm going to use that to my advantage and go back to sleep. :D

The Joys of Gardening, Part 2

2010-09-23T09:53:00.000-05:00

About 3 1/2 months ago (I believe it was June 3), I wrote about my garden. I was very excited about it - I had just planted a tomato plant, a cucumber plant, two green pepper plants and four onion plants. Here is that photo:

It's so fun to see this again, because the garden EXPLODED! I remember thinking that I should've gotten more than one tomato plant, but am I ever glad I didn't! One cuke plant was enough, too - it yielded about 15 cucumbers. It's just Brian and me in the house so we really don't need more than that. Now that I know how successful the garden can be, I may try my hand at canning next year, especially for the tomatoes - that one plant went insane and I'm still harvesting fruit! All in all I'll be that we'll get 40 tomatoes, give or take a few, from that one tiny plant (which, as you'll see, is far from tiny now!).

Our peppers, on the other hand, didn't fare well at all - so far there's been a ton of growth but every time a pepper got to be about halfway to maturity it would begin to rot from the inside! It's pretty gross, actually. I don't know what went wrong - Brian thinks that maybe it was just too hot of a location, being so close to the white siding. The onions were the nicest surprise! I yielded about 13 onions, which were small but VERY powerful!

So, here's the garden the way it looks today, September 23:

How about that tomato plant, huh (yes, that's just ONE plant!)? It grew so big it actually bent the cages that were supposed to contain it. You wouldn't be able to see them anyway but the onion plants are all gone, and so is the cucumber plant (that just withered up on its own). Here's the bizarre thing - all of a sudden, I'm getting decent green peppers (and some that are red, too!)! It would certainly prove Brian's theory right - it's been much cooler lately. We'll see if any of the peppers mature, but it would be really odd to have new peppers in October, wouldn't it?

One thing I know for sure - I'm hooked. I loved tending the garden this summer. It's so fun to see the progress and to reap the rewards! Everything about it was great - the actual husbandry, the flavorful veggies (not the crap you get at the grocery store in the middle of winter), the money I saved by growing my own produce, the satisfaction of knowing it was "organic", the new recipes I tried because I had an abundance - it just feels great.

The only problem is waiting another eight months to do it all again! I look forward to it with relish. :D

The (Difficult) Art of Relaxation

2010-09-20T08:43:00.001-05:00

Brian and I went away this weekend - actually, the place where we went is only about 3 miles from our house, but whenever we're there it feels like we're in another state.

The place we stayed at is called Moondance B&B, and it's right in Fond du Lac. Our friend Sue owns it - it's actually a one-bedroom house on her property. What's great about Moondance (besides the gorgeous decor and the view!) is that guests are left to their own devices - there's a full kitchen and it's stocked with whatever is requested. For us, that meant Thomas English muffins. :D Sue always leaves little treats, too - this time we were greeted by a plate of muffins and a mni pie from the Little Farmer, an orchard/farm that makes incredible pies, muffins and other fall treats. This was our second time staying at Moondance - the first time was in January, for our 4th wedding anniversary. It was wonderfully relaxing, when I was able to relax.

Which brings me to the actual post - why is it so hard to relax and do nothing? Is this weird? Do any of you reading this have a similar problem?

It always baffles me when people tell me that they went to some wonderful all-inclusive resort somewhere and did nothing but lay by the pool and drink margaritas - I'm a little envious, too. I would have a hard time doing that. I can handle the pool for about an hour and then I have to do something else. If I have a book along I may be able to eek out another hour, but it would have to be an engaging book. No, I would much rather be exploring what the city has to offer (museums, attractions, etc.) and learning something.

In my "normal" life, during the week, I'm always busy. If I'm not writing in my blog or updating the many facebook pages I administer, I'm in the studio or visiting friends or attending meetings in between running errands and cooking dinner. But you'll never catch me just reading, and the TV is never on during the day. To me, that would be "cheating". I feel like I have to be productive all the time.

I wonder where this notion came from - kids certainly don't feel this way! As an adult I've felt like this since I can remember, but I think it got worse when I quit my 9-5 job in January. Now that my job consists of me being creative, I'll admit that I feel a little guilty about having so much fun and getting paid for it. It still blows my mind that I get to do what I love for a living. Maybe I'm worried that if I fully relax on the weekends, people will either think I'm a spoiled princess or a total slacker, either of which would be upsetting.

I was sick a couple of weeks ago and spent two days in bed. I did nothing, and I was okay with it, but I didn't feel well. Maybe that's why we get sick - it's our body's way of telling us that we can slow down and the universe won't stop spinning if we're not a part of it for a couple days. Now if I could only do that when I'm feeling good, I'd be all set. :D

The Woods

2010-09-13T08:47:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a picture-perfect day in most of Wisconsin - brilliant sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, low humidity, and 78 degrees. It was one of those days where you feel guilty if you're not a part of it. So before the Packer game started at 3 p.m. (I believe it's actually a sin to miss The Game in Wisconsin), Brian and I set out to walk one of the many wonderful trails in our area, and there are a lot.

We first went to Hobbs Woods, a gorgeous parcel of land set aside by its original owner (well, not original, but you know what I mean) to be maintained as a place where people can go to hike, relax or picnic (it's also where Brian proposed to me). It was really busy, of course, so we left and tried a trail in town instead.

This trail starts out in town but eventually hits patches of wooded area with streams and neat little bridges. We walked about three miles yesterday but when walking a trail like that, to me it never feels as strenuous as when I'm walking three miles around my house. There's also so much more to take in.

My favorite of these trails is the Wild Goose Trail, a decommissioned railway that was turned into a walking/biking trail about 10 years ago or so. It stretches from Fond du Lac all the way to Juneau, which is about 55 miles. I discovered it in 2001 and started out biking but soon switched to walking to take in more of the beauty of my surroundings.

I'm probably the billionth person to realize this, but for me, the experience of being in the woods is my church. No where else do I feel serenity and peace more than when I can walk in the (relative) quiet of the trees. One hour amongst the birds and "friends" (what I like to call the cute woodland creatures one sees in this setting, like squirrels and chipmunks and rabbits) and I always remember that life is great, and that everything is always going to be okay.

One of the coolest things I encountered during one of my trips on the Wild Goose trail happened when I was on my halfway break. I would walk about two miles and then stop below one of the big bridges and sit on the rocks by the rapidly-flowing stream before I headed back. The water was pretty loud but it served as white noise for my thoughts. I was just sitting there, pretty still, for I don't know how long - and an entire family of beavers walked right past me. It's like they didn't even see me, or care that I was there. I turned my head just enough so that I could get a better look but not enough to startle them. I suppose it wasn't surprising they were around, considering there was (and still is) a HUGE beaver dam very close by. But it was the only time that ever happened. I would go back and hope that I'd see them again but the closest I ever got was seeing a little head peeking out of the water every now and then.

There have been a couple of instances in my life where I needed to escape to the woods any chance I got. It was the woods where I worked out my feelings about my dad's stroke and eventual death; it was where I pondered what the hell I was going to do when I was separated from my first husband. The woods was my therapy during that time in my life - but it also made me sit quietly and remember that although my troubles seemed insurmountable there was something bigger going on around me and if I let go of myself for a while, It would let me be a part of it. And if that's not the definition of "church", then I don't know what is.

(The photo above is the Wild Goose Trail, exactly at the spot where I would go under the bridge and sit. Photo courtesy of Fond du Lac County.)

Word Play, or Am I Weird?

2010-09-10T09:01:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I made a batch of brownies. I've made more brownies this year than in my entire life combined hence. As I was gathering the ingredients, I quickly realized that I was going to use up both the sugar and the cocoa, so I got out my running grocery list and added them so I wouldn't forget.

And as I wrote these items down on the "Sugar Daddy" paper (thank you, Target "Dollar Spot"!), I had a realization that perhaps I do things a little differently than others - but maybe not. So I'm going to ask all of you reading this blog entry - when making out your grocery list, do you write things normally, or do you try to make yourself laugh? Is this an odd question?

I really never made grocery lists when I worked full-time; I just ran in, grabbed what I thought I needed and left. When I began really taking inventory, clipping coupons and writing thorough lists, I just started writing things in a "Mel" way. My first thought was that if I dropped my list or accidentally left it anywhere, maybe somehow it would make its way into the "Found" series of books or on the blog. Or the person who discovered it would think me a total freak. Either way, the idea was intriguing. After a while, though, I just started writing the lists my way because I enjoy laughing. Shocker.

Some of the "odd" things I write are on the lists in the pictures. For example, "Team Coco" in this case reminds me I need to pick up cocoa; it's not a reference to my allegiance to Conan O'Brien. When I see "Anton Chigurh" (pronounced "shi-GUR"), I know that sugar is on my list and not that Javier Bardem was awesome in the aforementioned role in "No Country for Old Men" (if that's not your cup of tea, perhaps you'd like "Suge Knight" better).

As you can see, I also enjoy saying things twice, like "crabby-crab" and "sour creamy-cream" and "coffee-coff". These things make me laugh. Try it - isn't it totally fun saying "crabby-crab"? And you can't just say it in your normal voice, either; shake it up a bit. See? Did you make yourself laugh?

I'm sure a lot of you have kids in your life. My inspirations are my "smooshers" Nat and Mia (my sister Jen's kids) and Brian's niece and nephew Josh and Sydney. Because of them, I will never say "chocolate" unless I'm out with people who don't know me very well - in my world, the word is actually chockit because that's what Nat called it. "Noodles" is for suckers; the REAL word is noonles, which is what Josh called them and is infinitely more fun to say.

Also, foreign accents and pronounciations make their way into my list. My friend Chad took Spanish for years in high school and college, and he used to crack me up by over-emphasizing the difficult "dth" sound which native Spanish-speakers can do with ease. So, from now on, it's enchiladtha ingredients on my list, which of course I sort of whisper to myself when I'm writing because it's so fun to say. Conversely, and this may be un-PC, my favorite breakfast staple will forever be known to me as Engrish muffins. Sorry, but that makes me laugh. A couple of times I almost got caught saying this in a restaurant as I was ordering breakfast, though. Oopsy.

Of course, all of these things are said out loud as well - I'm not going to confine them to just my lists! If someone were to ever bug our house, I wonder if Brian and I would be committed (those of you who know Brian may think he's not silly. Au contraire! You just don't have the great fortune of experiencing it like I do).

I guess my point to this entry, besides exposing one of the odder parts of my psyche to you, is that there are ways of making your world a little more fun and interesting. Don't enjoy a task? Then put a spin on it! If you hate mowing the lawn, try writing a song about how much you hate mowing the lawn, and then singing that song to yourself while you're doing it. Come on, you know you'll chuckle a couple times - how can you not? You wrote it!

Your assignment is to try and make yourself laugh today. Try a new accent when answering the phone at work (if someone calls you on it, just say you have a cold). Think of your favorite Seinfeld-ism when you're in the bathroom and then try not to laugh so people think you're insane. Come on, there are a zillion things you can do. But I guarantee it'll make your day a little more interesting. :D

A "Vast Wasteland"

2010-09-08T08:56:00.000-05:00

The past couple of days, I was sick with one of those colds that just likes to hang on long enough to be most annoying. I'm very fortunate in the fact that I can climb into bed if I want and not have to worry about calling in sick to work, which is good because I know I wouldn't have called in and it would've made for very long days. So instead, I hunkered down and rode it out.

We have a TV in our bedroom, but it hadn't been used since Conan's untimely and unfortunate departure last January. I finally gave in and turned it on Sunday afternoon. I figured I'd catch old reruns and watch them until I passed out on cough medicine. No such luck! I caught one rerun of "Frasier" and then the station began running infomercials. I finally just left the TV on the Science Channel and let it lull me to sleep by showing me how to make a snare drum.

Like almost everyone who has cable, we have approximately 200 channels on our set-up. Brian and I certainly have our favorite shows, like Mad Men, 30 Rock, Project Runway, The Office, and a few others; but otherwise we don't watch TV. And we record everything with our DVR so that we can watch when we want. About the only shows that we watch live are Jeopardy after dinner and "The Daily Buzz" in the morning before Brian leaves for work (which I promptly turn off when he leaves). So to try and find shows that were interesting in the middle of the day was pretty difficult.

I know people that can watch TV for 10 hours a day; in fact, I used to be one of those people. I'm not passing judgment - I'm saying that for me, I just can't do that anymore. That's not to say that I don't waste time surfing Facebook or any other Web-related distractions, but at least I can choose what to read when I'm on the Internet.   With TV, you're stuck with what they choose to show.

When I did watch TV, about 10 years ago, I'd turn it on in the morning and leave it on all day. I know that I worried more when I watched a lot of news. I couldn't watch "Cops" because it used to make me paranoid that someone was going to break into the house. I started to identify with the characters on "Northern Exposure". I would freak out if one of my favorite shows was pre-empted; it would throw a wrench in my day.  I used to schedule other plans around my TV viewing, and get nervous if the two coincided.

Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Yet somehow, I don't think I'm alone. I don't know if I was so "blah" because I watched too much TV, or I watched too much TV because I was "blah". But TV definitely factored into that time in my life.

I wonder sometimes if all of the divisiveness in our country is TV's fault. Let's think about this: before 24-hour news, most people watched Walter Cronkite and read Time magazine and their local newspaper to get their news. There were a couple of Sunday morning political shows, but they consisted of highbrow commentators politely stating their case and discussing the matter at hand. Now what do we have?  Five very different news channels with very different viewpoints. It's gotten to the point where people can judge you based solely on whether you watch MSNBC or Fox News. How sad is this? And the SHOUTING! Since when did this become acceptable? I wonder sometimes what would happen if everyone just stopped watching "their" news for a week (and turned off the TV altogether!). I think we'd all be less stressed!

I certainly have guilty pleasures when it comes to my TV viewing - the most obvious is probably "Project Runway". Throw 17 designers together and you're going to have some bitchiness. And I love watching. So again, I'm not passing judgment, but are we really spending our time at night watching stuff like "Rock of Love: Tour Bus" and "Keeping up with the Kardashians"? What are we really getting out of this? And what could we be doing instead that may be a tad more edifying? Reading? Playing board games (no, video games don't count)? Working on a hobby?

I am easily distracted, so I know that if I chose to spend my time watching TV during the day, I never would've accomplished all of the art that I've done this year. My mind would've been somewhere else, and eventually I would've succumbed to the siren song of TV Land. I know this to be true. And I think it would've made me "blah" all over again.

So here's to turning off the TV every now and then! I think you'll find that the world is a better place, with friendly people and a nice community. Try it! You may even lose your "blahs"! :D

Back to School

2010-08-31T09:06:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it's back-to-school time already?! I think I echo a million people when I ask, "Where the H did the summer go?!".

So, parents (or kids, depending on who's reading this) - are you excited for your kids to go back? Or are you a little sad because you won't see them every day? Or maybe a little of both? :D

This fall marks 20 years since my last "first day of school". It was my second senior year of college and I couldn't wait to get out. I was burned out by then and I already had a job in my field (TV Production), so I sort of didn't see the point. But I'm glad I saw it through, even though I wound up working for only four years in TV (talk about BURNOUT!).

I always looked forward to that first day of school and finding out who would be in my homeroom. Back in the 70s and 80s, of course, we didn't have the Internet so we'd have to trek to school to see the posted homeroom assignments. I always hoped that my neighborhood friends were in my classes but it never happened. I never got the "cool" teachers, either (it was many years later that I learned my Grammie, who was a music teacher (Mrs. Seiler, for those of you who were taught by her) in the same district where we attended, pulled some strings to make sure I had the tough teachers and, because she knew firsthand my "issues" with paying attention, that my best friends would never share my homeroom. Here's to relatives and parents looking out for kids!).

And who didn't love new school supplies?! I wasn't a big fan of school, per se, but man - did I ever love those new pink erasers! I can almost smell that faint petroleum-based rubber smell now. But the apex of my school supply lust came in the fall of '79 - the year I started sixth grade (and middle school, for all you non-US students out there. You're 10 or 11 when you start sixth grade). My mom and dad broke down and bought my sister Jen and me each a Trapper Keeper. Perhaps I'm dating myself but if you're around 40 and went to school in the US or Canada you know EXACTLY the thrill whereof I speak. And believe it or not, it did actually raise my street cred a notch (but when you're a huge geek like I was, it couldn't go any lower). Oh, how I loved my Trapper Keeper! That thing must've made Mead a zillion dollars that year. I see that they're actually still available! What a hoot!

That same year, in sixth grade, all of the grade schools in Ashwaubenon combine into one middle school - Parkview Middle School. And because it was the late Seventies and education ideas were getting an overhaul, they tried something new - "pods" (Mine was 6A). Each pod was one giant room divided with partitions so that you were almost always with the same 90 kids (three teachers to a pod) but you had different classes at different times. It's actually kind of a neat idea. On that first day of school 31 years ago, armed with the aforementioned Trapper Keeper and my new feathered haircut (yep, that's me in the photo in 6th grade), I was excited to meet the "other kids" from Pioneer and Cormier Elementary Schools (I went to Valley View). For some reason we all met in non-pod classrooms first, and I was assigned to the Home Ec room (it's not called "Home Economics" anymore - it's something like "Family Prep" or something stupid). As I was in the Home Ec room and staring into the sea of new kids, I saw a girl that looked friendly enough, so I thought maybe after class we could become "Besties", as only you can when you're a kid.

Imagine my surprise when the girl I thought would become my "Bestie" turned out to be my own reflection in the mirror. I have no idea how I didn't realize we were wearing the same shirt, or that this person looked exactly like me, but it must've been nerves. Before you either pity me and/or call me a dumbass, revel in the knowledge that I did indeed find two Besties that day - Amy Wettengel and Beth Schoenebeck. :D

So that's my favorite "first day of school" story. For those of you who are either returning to school tomorrow (like my nieces and nephew!) or have kids that are, I wish you all smooth sailing. Here's to a safe, happy, productive '10-'11 school year!

Serendipity or Happenstance - or Both?

2010-08-25T09:34:00.000-05:00

When you think of good things that have happened in your life, do you think they occured because by chance or fate? Do you think we make our own luck or do things happen at random?

There have been a few instances lately in my life that began as totally random events but that have turned into amazing opportunities! So would that fall under the "both" category?

The first such incident happened on a trip to Duluth, MN that Brian and I took during the 4th of July weekend back in 2007. I don't recall now why we chose Duluth; the only reasons I can think of are that I figured it would be cooler than it would be in Wisconsin and some friends of ours really love it there. We actually stayed on the North Shore of Lake Superior, which is a 20 minute drive from Duluth. It's so lovely and I know we'll vacation there again.

While in Duluth one evening we happened across this old warehouse-type building with a few shops in it. One of the shops was a photography studio that Brian wanted to check out. We both went in but when he started talking cameras with the owner I knew it would be a while. So I wandered across the hall to a shop called Peasantworks. What a neat store! It was a great mix of art supplies, home decor and commissioned artworks. It was really vibrant and colorful and there was something new to see in every nook and cranny. And as happens so many times in non-chain shops, I struck up a conversation with the owner, Lori. I think she and I talked for an hour and a half! It was a lovely way to spend the evening (and I bought a gorgeous pillow and some AWESOME Jo Sonja acrylic paints that I still use to this day!).

Flash forward to late 2008 - a full year and a half since we'd been in Duluth. I just joined Facebook and I got a friend request - from Lori! The last name didn't register at first but when I saw her profile picture it all clicked. So of course I friended her! Flash forward ANOTHER year and a half, to earlier this year. Lori was thinking about putting together an art retreat - and would I be interested in teaching a workshop? Of COURSE I would! So I am, along with Lori and Teresa Kolar, in Duluth in October. I am terribly excited about this fun event and I can't wait! It's also right around my birthday so Brian and I will be taking a couple extra days to explore the Northern Wisconsin area as well.

All because I wandered into Lori's shop that one fateful July evening over three years ago.

The second surprise all started with my May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. In an article in this issue, artist Cathy Taylor demonstrated a new mixed media technique using a product called Citra Solv, which is actually a vegetable-based household cleaner (that smells deliciously like oranges or lavender!) that does amazing things when paired with National Geographic magazine pages (seriously! Just brush the pages of a Nat Geo with Citra Solv and the inks mix, making these beautiful other-worldly art papers.). I tried it and not only was it fun to do the project, the papers turned out wonderfully!

I happened to mention that I tried the technique on my ATCs - Artist Trading Cards Facebook page. Well, somehow the good folks at Citra Solv saw this and invited the group to enter their art contest! I did, along with a few of my friends. The entries were AMAZING, and the winner was an artist who had rendered Andy Warhol completely in Citra Solv pages. Incredible.

So many of my live trading group friends were intrigued by this technique that I did a mini-tutorial at our May live ATC trade. I made Artist & Display smell like an orange grove in the process! :D

A couple of weeks ago, I heard from my Citra-Solv friends again, this time wondering if I'd be interested in running a giveaway on my ATC Facebook page. Of COURSE I would! I ran the contest and five lucky winners received a bottle of Citra Solv in the mail so they can make their own artworks (and clean their homes!). At the same time I thought I would enter their latest art contest, "Freedom of Expression". The gist of this contest was to create some Citra-Solv art that embodies the best of our country, at a time when we really need some optimism about this great land. So I used a photo that Brian had shot while we were in Hawai'i at the USS Arizona Memorial and rendered it in Citra Solv pages. I also wrote a little essay about the memorial and how it pertains to the best part of us.

Well, imagine my shock when I found out yesterday that I won the GRAND PRIZE. I was flabbergasted! And flattered, honored, moved - all those great things. I am just thrilled (and I won a gift certificate! WOO HOO!). :D

All of this because I happened to try a new mixed media project and product.

Long stories long, I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is room for serendipity in every encounter! And maybe we have the ability to steer the course of every chance meeting we have. Sure, there are plenty of times that I've somewhere and nothing amazing has come of it - yet. Who knows? Maybe something that happens during the day today will affect the rest of my life positively (I try not to focus on the negative!). Isn't that a fun prospect? Maybe it'll happen to you!

People are People

2010-08-19T09:36:00.003-05:00

If you're like me, you've had about enough of the whole Dr. Laura debacle. If you haven't heard about it by now, well - I'm surprised. But just in case, here's the audio of what she actually said, in its entirety. Was it stupid? Oh lord, yes. Was it racist? Well, no, in a crazy way, it wasn't. PLEASE read on to see what I mean!

You have to know, if you follow my blog, that I like pretty much everyone I've ever met. And if I don't care for someone it's because they're cruel, insensitive, egotistical, or self-riteous (and guess what? Dr. Laura is all these things). I don't care what you look like, your race, your spiritual beliefs, your gender or who you love. I just don't. And I believe that a majority of people feel the same as me. Is this naive of me? Perhaps. But I do think that we're inching ever closer to Dr. King's dream of people being judged not by their race but by the content of their character. I do believe this.

I have friends that range in age from 12-75; disabled; straight; gay; lesbian; Asian (Korean, Hmong, Japanese, Chinese); Hispanic; Black; Indian; American Indian (or PC "Native American); Jewish; Born-Again Christian; Muslim; Hindi; Catholic; Protestant; Wiccan; Atheist - and I'm not exaggerating. All you'd have to do is check my Facebook friends list to see that it's true. In fact, I'm a little surprised at the diversity of this list! I hope this shows that I just don't care what or who you are, as long as you're a good person. And everyone on my friends list is a good person!

That being said, I will also never be black. Or Asian. Or Wiccan. So I will never understand what it means to be any of these things (before you give me slack about the Wiccan thing - I understand that this categorization is a "choice", but it's still a way that people are labeled). So I will never go around saying the n-word, pretending to talk like an Asian person (stereotypically), or making witch jokes. If I EVER offended any of my friends, I would be right there with an apology, and I hope we'd talk about why it was offensive to the you, and I would feel just awful.

Like it or not, Causasians will be the brunt of jokes for a long time to come, and we are the only "category" who really can't do anything about it. I don't mind, either! We do it to ourselves, too, guys. One of my favorite books in the last couple years is a book called, "Stuff White People Like" by Christian Lander. It's hysterical, and if you're a 25-40-something urban hipster liberal white person, you'll realize how spot-on it is. And if a black/Asian/Hispanic person were to poke fun at this book there'd be no backlash. Why? Because it's all true!

I've got only one last thing to say about this whole deal, and I hope I say it right so that you all know what I mean (but if you don't I'll personally message and try to clarify, because it's not my intention to offend): let's all be a little more self-deprecating. Seriously! I think more self-deprecation would be a major hurdle-jumper in our attempt to build bridges and create unity. When we can laugh at ourselves and at the same time educate others about our culture but NOT be offended when others imitate us in order to try and understand what it's like to be in our shoes, then we've made progress. If we step back a little, we all know where the boundaries are and when they've been crossed. And those people who do cross the line need a good dose of sensitivity training. But hey, let's lighten up! Because we all have one thing in common - we're HUMAN. It's wonderful that we're all different - I don't want to be a Stepford Wife! Vive les differences!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to grab a cappuccino and put on my yoga pants before I take a walk with my dog to Whole Foods while I listen to NPR on my iPod. (If you don't get this, read "Stuff White People Like" and you'll see what I mean). :D

Dress for Success (or at least wear clean clothes!)

2010-08-17T08:43:00.006-05:00

Brian and I were gone this weekend, so we watched this week's "Mad Men" last night. We both love the show for a couple reasons, but the styling is just so spot-on beautiful it's hard not to stare, especially if you're a mid-century modern fan like I am.

And oh, those clothes. Even when the characters' lives are falling apart, they look spectacular. Yes, I know that we're talking about 1960s Manhattanites here, and I know it's a TV show, but my mom has also told me that there was actually a time when people dressed up to leave the house.

Oh, how far we've fallen.

For example, in yesterday's USA Today there was an article about how some states are presenting stricter dress codes for appearances in court. I guess people were showing up in flip-flops, short-shorts, clown suits (?), micro-mini skirts, etc. Really? Seriously? You're supposed to be defending yourself in a court of law and you show up looking like you just rolled out of bed? This from Delaware Superior Court Judge William Witham, Jr.: "We're not out to treat people as school kids, but we do expect if you come to court, you need to treat it with the appropriate respect and dignity it should deserve due to the occasion."

So in one or two generations we've gone from ladies wearing white gloves to lunch to people wearing flip-flops in court.

But wait - there's a place where you can see how we have truly let ourselves go - I think you know where I'm going here - yes, I'm referring to "The People of Wal-Mart" (see photo above). I'll admit - once I'm on the site, I get sucked in, sometimes for lengthy periods of time. I can't help it. I just can't believe that people would go outside in these clothes (or lack thereof).

I don't frequent Wal-Mart, so I just don't see this level of freakishness. But I used to witness it in some of my co-workers at the newspaper where I worked. There were some paper carriers who would show up to get their papers in dirty pajama bottoms - some would show up shirtless. Now, it is a dirty job, but for God's sake, couldn't they have worn a clean t-shirt and jeans? It's a dirty job, but it's not as bad as working on a farm!

Not to get all psychiatrist-y, but I do believe that in our society today, where anything goes, one's appearance is an indication of their mood. When one is feeling good about him- or herself ususally that individual will make an effort to at least run a comb through their hair and perhaps wear undergarments when stepping outside. Personally, I can't leave the house without my hair done and my eyeliner applied (the phrase "my hair done" makes me sound like I'm my grandmother, doesn't it?). It would make total sense for me to take my walk in the morning, before I shower; but I can't do it. I just can't have people see me with messy hair! So the only time I walk before I shower is when I use my treadmill, which is deep in the recesses of my basement where no one can see how bad I look. :)

I wonder if the pendulum will ever swing back. It would be nice. I think if people look decent, they act accordingly (I know, not always!). There has to be a happy medium between individuality and decency. I'm really not shocked by anyone's appearance anymore, and I'm not judging, either - there are plenty of people who are tatted from head to toe and look great. But I also think there's a time and place for everything, and looking presentable is just a way of saying that you respect your fellow citizens and that you've stopped just thinking about yourself for once. Here's a hint - if there is even one iota of your backside showing, either at the top or bottom of your apparel, it's time to buy some clothes that fit. PLEASE.

How RUDE!

2010-08-11T08:52:00.000-05:00

A few incidents this week have brought rudeness back into the limelight - actually, in two of these cases the actions were downright hostile!

By now I'm sure you've all heard about the Jet Blue flight attendant that had had enough. If you haven't heard about this or seen it on the news, here's the summary: some jerk on this flight decided that he was going to retreive his luggage from the overheard bin before the plane landed. When the flight attendant informed the passenger that he needed to return to his seat, the jerk ignored him and in the process of retreiving his luggage, hit the attendant in the head. When the attendant demanded an apology, the jerk called him an M.F.
Well, the flight attendant had had it at this point. So when the plane was firmly on the ground the attendant got on the PA, called out the extremely rude passenger, grabbed a beer from the beverage cart and pulled the string that activates the inflatable raft - and proceeded to exit the plane by slide, thereby ending his 20-year career.

Here's another one: a woman who worked in a brokerage firm had also had enough of working as an assistant to a broker named Spencer. The last straw came when she overheard him call her a HPOA to someone else (I didn't know what it stood for either - hot piece of a...). So what did she do? She quit via dry erase board, (see photo above, too) posted it through e-mail, and called out her boss for spending an exorbitant amount of time playing "Farmville" at work (something like 19.5 hours a week!). BAZINGA!

Of course, this last story goes beyond rude to dangerous - have you seen the "McNugget Rage" video? It's incredible. Appparently last New Year's Eve some chick went bonkers because the McDonald's she frequented didn't have Chicken McNuggets available - at 6 in the morning. I'm sure you've all guessed by now that she was completely wasted, but that's no excuse - and the tirade lasted a LONG time! She actually got out of her car, punched the drive-thru worker repeatedly, and broke the window with her hand when they slammed her fingers in it (out of their own safety). It's NASTY.

So what's going on here? Are we so stressed out that we've forgotten how to behave? I mean seriously - who reading this post would ever go so far as to call a flight attendant and "MF" just because he's doing his job? Who IS this guy? If I were that flight attendant I'd have quit too, although probably not as creatively as he did (unfortunately, the attendant DID break several federal laws, so he was arrested. But Jet Blue, his employer, waited to call the authorities until he was home, so they obviously sided with the attendant!).

And can you imagine, in 2010, calling your assistant a "HPOA"? What is this, Mad Men? Is this how far the pendulum has swung back? I knew feminism was dead, but wow. This guy deserved to be called on that, and called out for his time-wasting (ironically, he was the guy who installed the "office snitch" software in the first place!).

The last incident needs no explanation. It is indicative of a society that's out of control - of our emotions, our behavior, our decorum.

I have no idea how to fix it, but I think it's fascinating that we as a country apparently have no filter anymore. Of course, these are isolated outrageous incidents (which is why they made the news), but I'll bet that every one of us can single out an incident of our own where someone was so rude, it left us speechless. I'll give an example:

Back in November or December of 1998, I was working at Waldenbooks. I had just started about three weeks' prior. I was working with a customer to find the title of a book and I asked her if she knew the author. (Side note: I have total recall when it comes to song titles, book authors and the like. I had never heard of this author before - it was an unusual title). She proceeded to read me the riot act, asking me directly why they hired me because apparently I was too stupid to work there; that I was a product of our failed school system, etc. Fortunately my boss overheard her, took over the transaction and told her we couldn't get the book (we probably could have). Of course, I almost cried (I've developed a far thicker skin these days, by the way) but my boss Paul (one of my FAVORITE bosses EVER - thanks Paul Gieschen!) told me that if I ever need to, I could just go in the back and "silent scream" it out.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, have you ever noticed how a place brightens when a customer treats a worker with respect and a positive attitude? Everyone feels better! It may even make the other customers in line smile a little bit, and the worker certainly will pass on that goodwill to others in line. It really works and honestly, how much more effort does it take to forget about our own lives for a second and just show some courtesy? Forget that we're having a bad day, or we don't feel well, or we had a fight with our spouse. The worker doesn't know that, so why should we pass on our bad karma to them? And speaking of that, the "MF passenger", "Spencer" and the "McNuggets lady" all have some interesting surprises in their future - karma is a wonderful thing. :D

I propose this - the next time you're having a bad day, be the cheeriest person EVER, even to the point of saccharin overload, but without sarcasm. Take that saccarin-sweet attitude and pass it on to the gas station clerk or Walgreen's employee. I'd be willing to put money on the fact that you'll feel better, and so will they.

I think it is our duty as citizens of Earth to make the world a nicer place. Forget the true meaning of life - I think this is it. If every one of us tried to live by this code, imagine what a lovely place it would be! I know I'm living in a fantasy world but I'm seriously going to try and do my part. Who's with me? :D

The Book that Started it all

2010-08-06T08:54:00.000-05:00

Mid-2006. Fond du Lac Public Library. Lunch break. Perusing.

I happen across this book that is VERY intriguing, and a little scary. And fun. A "Can you seriously do this?!" feeling washes over me; the kind of feeling where you don't realize it at the time, but there is a little kernel of fate/enlightenment that enters your brain, telling you that you'd better file this moment away because it's going to be a HUGE indicator of things to come.

I realize that the book that I thought was so intriguing four years prior has influenced my work so much that I should probably pay the author for the education.

I'm sure you realize by now that the book is "Realistic Collage: Step by Step" by Michael David Brown. There have been a few books in my life that have been written, it seems, specifically for me (check my other blog, Ephemeraology, for info on one of the other books). When I first saw this book, it infiltrated my thoughts throughout my day, so much so that it was hard to concentrate sometimes. I was completely enchanted!

Mid-2010. My studio. 4 p.m. Relief.

I just finished my 10th collage for Pam Kueber's delightful Retro Renovation, a veritable encyclopedia of mid-century architecture, history, resources, ecology and fun. Back in January, Pam had contacted me to do some collages for her blog; she had seen my work on Flickr and liked it, and knew that I was all about the "vintage" look. It was a complete and utter shock to think that someone would like my work enough to actually PAY me to make collages! I mean, seriously? I'm going to get paid to do what I adore doing?

If you follow the blog you know that this exchange was the impetus for me leaving my steady 9-5 job and jumping head-first into the then-unknown world of being a collagist. I don't regret a single moment of this decision, and Pam has certainly done her part to make the journey far easier.

Do you ever wonder sometimes if things would be different in your life if one tiny thing hadn't happened? What if, on that fateful day in 2006, I hadn't taken a lunch? What if the book had been checked out and I never saw it? Was it fate that brought me to that book, or pure chance? Would I be mining silver now if I had stumbled into the Precious Metals section of the library? I guess I'll never know. But I sure am happy with how things are working out!

Here are some of the collages that I've done for Retro Renovation (you can see the entire selection here) - I wonder if David Michael Brown would like them too? :D

Alone

2010-08-03T08:42:00.002-05:00

Last night one of my Facebook friends posted this video from a Canadian woman named Tanya Davis, called "How to be Alone". It's one of the neatest narratives on the subject of being alone I have ever read (or seen).

A sample line from the video is "You'll find it's fine to be alone once you're embracing it."

Amen to that.

I love being alone - I always have. As a kid I did play with the other kids, of course, and I always had my younger sister Jen to keep me company. But I loved sneaking away and hiding in small places where I could read or collect stamps or just be by myself, which was hard in our little apartment.

For a few summers starting when I was ten, my family and I would go up to a place called Moon Beach (insert joke here). It was a family camp, and I LOVED it. There were plenty of opportunities to wander off by myself and catch frogs or walk in the woods. After one of these solitary excursions, my dad took me aside and asked me if I was okay. I said, "of course!". He then told me that perhaps I should join the group of kids, rather than doing my own thing, because he didn't want me to be like him. I still get choked up when I think of this, because I didn't see anything wrong with being like my dad; he seemed to do just fine in his own company.

As time progressed, I became quite the social butterfly, probably due to my sister Jen being so good at it herself. We're only 13 months apart so many times, especially in college, we'd hang out together. Her attitude is infectious and I grew more and more at ease with being around people. In my junior year of college I moved out (or rather, my parents moved to Madison so I was forced to be on my own), and while I was very upset at first because my safety net was gone, after about three weeks I realized I could do whatever I wanted with virtually no supervision and I found myself surrounded by people constantly. I had four roommates that first year and by the time we moved to a big house on the east side of Green Bay, I had six roommates. It was all friends, all the time and I had lost my desire to be alone.

I went straight from roommates to living with my first husband, Dan. We had a blast together and after a year of cohabitating we got hitched. We also worked at the same TV station, so we had the same friends and went out EVERY night. It was a wonderful, friend-filled time.

After twelve years together I found myself alone (it was my decision) for the first time in many, many years. Dan and I separated in May of 2003 and I got an apartment. It was the first time in my life that I'd ever lived by myself - and I LOVED it. Oh sure, I'd miss Dan - you can't share your life with someone and not miss them unless they were cruel to you, which was certainly not my case. But I finally mustered the courage to be alone.

That year I did things that I thought would be impossible just the year before - I went to the movies by myself. I went to Toronto myself for a long weekend and did everything that I wanted to do, which also meant eating by myself. It caused me some anxiety at first but just like the aformentioned video says, you get used to the joy of it.

Okay, I'm rereading this post and I realize that I told a lot of backstory to get to my original question - why is there such a stigma to being alone? I'll admit it - I have a hard time seeing people by themselves too. When I was a kid, I'd cry if I saw people eating by themselves in restaurants or sitting on a park bench alone. It broke my heart to think that there were people out there who may be lonely. To my mind, loneliness is one of the worst things someone can feel.

Ah, but there is SUCH a difference between being alone and being lonely! There have been very few times in my life when I felt actual loneliness (which is probably why it made me so sad to see others possibly feeling this way). But what if the difference between the two is just an attitude adjustment? I know that's a pretty simple statement, and there are many, many factors to consider - but if you haven't yet, watch the video above - it's okay to be alone! All of us are alone sometimes, but ALL of us have someone (or a lot of people) that care for us, too. So take heart - being alone doesn't mean we're "all alone"! It just means that we can like ourselves, and maybe even find that we're fun to be around, even when it's just me, myself and I.

Are Women Mean?

2010-07-29T20:37:00.000-05:00

I was watching syndicated morning show "The Daily Buzz" this morning, and one of the topics presented was: Are women mean?

Apparently a blogger was saying just that (the actual title of the blog post asked the question, "Why are women such bitches to each other?"). A lot of the post deals with these problems in the workplace, but it does touch on other factors as well.

Since I'm the one writing this post, I'm going to give my opinion on whether or not women are mean to each other: the way I see it, it's a resounding YES.

Before you think that I don't have any female friends, that's not true. I have cultivated many wonderful friendships over the past 25 years - but I will say, it's been hard trying to find good women friends. The ones I do have (and I count my online friends in this mix too) are amazing ladies who have enriched my life in myriad ways, and I cherish them!

Oh, but we all know the women to whom I am referring, don't we? Guys, I'm sure you could think of a few yourselves (I'm not woman-bashing here, either; there are plenty of guys out there that could use a swift kick in the fun zone. But I never really deal with those types of guys).

It has been my experience that men are easier to talk to, joke with, and be around. I have always been the "pal" in any group of guys - I feel very lucky that guys were always comfortable around me, probably because I can be just as raunchy as they are and I'm not a 6'1" and 125 lbs. supermodel (FAR FROM!). I have never had to deal with hurt feelings with men, or wondered if they harbored any resentment toward me for some reason. It is very unfortunate that I have, my entire life, had to deal with these issues with many women.

Starting in the second grade, with Karl Buchmann, I have enjoyed the company of men more than women. Why? Because boys (and the men with whom I am friends) are hilarious. My guy friends don't turn on a dime, emotionally, like many women do (and because I'm a woman, I'm guilty of it too). My guys never pulled a "what's that supposed to mean?", or answered, "Oh, nothing." when asked if everything's okay.

Keep in mind that I pull all of these things myself, so I feel I'm able to vent about why I don't hang around with women of this ilk. I don't know - maybe I wouldn't hang around myself! :D

I've always tried to present myself in the friendliest manner possible - I don't mean that "everything is SUPER!"-type friendliness, reserved for perky hostess types. I'm talking about a "Happy to know ya!" sort of demeanor. And this really is who I am, most of the time. These days, I don't get snickered at or blatantly picked on, but it was probably my happy attitude that got me in hot water with the "mean girls" at my school. Oh, they loved picking on me - I was such an easy target! They'd ask me things like, "Where'd you get your clothes, Goodwill?" or "Your teeth make you look like Dracula - we'll call you Count Jonesy!" (Jones was my last name at the time). I would get tripped in the hall, called names, you name it. And I always gave them what they wanted - they made me cry, EVERY time. I mean seriously - is there anything more horrible in this world than a 16 year-old girl?! Not in my mind.

It may be a little clearer now why yes, I do believe that women are mean. They're mean in a social way that men just aren't. You will just never see a group of (straight) guys gossiping in a corner about some other guy, unless that other guy is doing something so outrageous it can't be ignored. If a guy in a group complains about a third guy in the group, especially if that third guy isn't there, he will be placated by the other guys in the group and the subject will be dropped. There is no talk of hard feelings in a group of guys, nor is there a shunning of one guy out of many. In a social setting, most guys are pretty inclusive; if introduced to a third party, they'll ususally include that guy in conversation right away. They may not become friends, but the evening will probably be a nice experience for the "new" guy.

Ladies, how many times has the exact opposite been true when you've been out with your girlfriends? I'm going to say PLENTY. At least, it has been my experience. Well, I just don't play that game. If that means that for the rest of my life I only get to keep the women friends I have currently, that's more than enough for me. I found the best, anyway! :D

I'm going to put it out there - let's start a "No Mean Women" group! If we see women behaving like Third Grade brats, let's call them on it! It's the only way this type of ridiculous behavior is going to stop. Who's with me?

P.S. As I was looking for clip art in Publisher tonight, I typed the keyword "mean". The picture you see above came up - but, surprise surprise - there were no photos of little boys in the same situation. Interesting, no?

You're Asking HOW Much?!?

2010-07-22T09:25:00.002-05:00

As I was perusing Facebook yesterday, I came across a post from Craft: magazine. It featured a "Brisket Flip Flop" - a soft sculpture made by Robert Tabor of SoleSensations. On Robert's Etsy site, he is charging $295 for his piece (oddly, on his own Website, he's charging $500. So if you'd like to buy it, make sure you buy it from the Etsy page!)

In the comment section of the Craft page, I was quite shocked to see so many comments about how much he was charging. Here's an example:
"When you call something a sculpture you can charge $295. I bet we can knock it off for less than $10." Or another:
"TWO HUNDRED AND NINTY FIVE DOLLARS?!?! Interesting but um, no."
To which I replied:
"Yes, but remember - how long did it take them to do? You have to factor in labor for one's work, just like anything else. And they are making a living from their work, just like a plumber, a carpenter, an electrician, or anyone else providing a good or service."
A comment after my retort:
"I agree but $295 is a just a tad bit RIDICULOUS."

Sigh.

I will be the first to admit - before I began making things for sale, I would go to galleries and balk at prices too. I will also be the first to say that I'm not at the place yet where I understand pricing. That being said, I don't think that $295 for an original, clever sculpture is out of the question. Let's break down the cost:

Labor: Mr. Tabor is a veteran in the art world. Not only does he do sculpture, but he's done graphics and window displays for clients such as Nabisco, Macy's, and Mattel. He's been around for more than 20 years and has made a name for himself. So he's going to charge more than minimum wage for his labor. If this piece took him 5 hours to do, at $40/hour, that's $200 right there.
Materials: Let's look at the layers in this particular piece. You've got the foam top, fabric, ribbons, trims and rhinestones (which I don't see, but I guess they're in there somewhere). Let's put the material cost at $75.
So we're up to $275 already. For an established artist, I think it's criminal that's he's netting a mere 20 bucks for this piece!!
Oh, if only more people would look at our work this way! Now, let's see how I price my work:

Labor: Since I'm just starting out, I certainly can't, in good conscience, charge $40/hour. I figured a good place to start would be what I was making at my old job, which was a little under $12/hour.
Materials: For my pendants, as an example, my expenses are roughly $4.
Because my pendants are one-of-a-kind, fully designed by yours truly, they usually take more than an hour to do. So I'm at about $17 already. Unless I'm running a sale, I charge $20 per pendant, plus shipping. So when you factor in the labor, I'm making about $3 on every pendant.

It is frustrating when people balk at your prices. And even before I started making items myself, I would overhear the rudest comments from people at art fairs and shows about the pricing structure. People - you're not in Wal-Mart! If you have a problem with cost, wait until you're out of earshot of the artist before you start ranting about the "ridiculous" price. These items are handmade, and if you're at Art Fair on the Square in Madison, for example, that artist had to go through a very rigorous judging before they were even able to set up their booth! A good rule to follow is this: if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

I know this: before I even consider doing an art fair, I not only have to hone my skills more, but I have to develop a thicker skin. I've seen plenty of art that I didn't like, but when an artist puts his or her work out there, they are subjecting themselves to a type of vulnerablity that most people don't experience in their daily lives.

Of course, Regretsy items are the exception to this rule. :D

P.S. I have to give MAJOR props to all of my customers - I appreciate your business so very much! I hope this blog post didn't come off as bitter - that wasn't my intention - I just wanted to show how some artists price their work. I also do what I do out of the sheer love of it, not to get rich. If I happen to make a little money off my pieces, even better! :D

I Don't Buy it

2010-07-20T08:47:00.003-05:00

There is a very interesting story on NPR this morning. It's entitled, "Eating Nutritiously - A Struggle When Money is Scarce". They chronicle the morning routine of the Williamsons of Carlisle, PA. The focus is on eight year-old Alex, who, "ate a blue ice pop for breakfast". According to the article, Connie, Alex's mom, tries to get him to eat healthy but if Alex gets up early he "grabs what he wants for breakfast".

The article's main gist is the correlation between poverty-stricken families and obesity, and how it's a growing problem. One food pantry worker is quoted as saying, when told that the aforementioned Alex drinks orange soda instead of milk: "A gallon of milk is $3-something. A bottle of orange soda is 89 cents," she says. "Do the math."

I know firsthand how hard it is to feed a family of four on a VERY limited budget; we didn't have much growing up. In the Seventies and Eighties, my dad made about $10K/year. We lived in an apartment. We had the "reduced lunch" lunch tickets (SO embarrassing). Going out to eat consisted of McDonald's on my Dad's payday - a HUGE treat for us. My dad sacrificed his vacation time and took the money instead to make sure we had great Christmases and new school clothes (and we did). But I never felt like we were "poor" (even though, technically, we fell below the poverty line). And my dad was far too proud for us to ever go on Food Stamps or assistance.

Flash forward to January of this year. When Brian and I decided together that I was going to quit my 9-5 job (and the insurance and money that went with it), the goal was to somehow make up my salary by cutting other things out of our lives (mainly: prepared foods, going out to eat, vacations and my Etsy habit). I'm proud to say that we've succeeded on all fronts and as of the 6-month mark of my new artist career, we've not only managed to save what I would've made in salary, but we've exceeded that amount.

So pardon me if I don't buy this story of the Williamsons.

I'll give you an example: yesterday, which was "market day" for me, I spent, for the week, $23.96 on my groceries. Yes, that's 23 dollars and 96 cents. And that included a 4/$9.98 soda deal (Brian's hooked on Diet Pepsi; I don't drink soda at all).

You may ask how on earth I do this. Well, I'll give you the breakdown of this week's menu:
Monday (yesterday) - we had dinner with my in-laws, so that meant a freebie day for us (and incredible cedar-plank salmon to boot).
Today (Tuesday) - I'm making enchiladas tonight, one of Brian's favorites. I make between 5-6 enchiladas, which ensures leftovers. Cost for tonight's food: $3.65 (I had leftover tortillas from a meal last week).
Wednesday - tonight is Spaghetti pie, made with whole-grain spaghetti. Cost for tonight's meal (using leftover spaghetti sauce): about $2 (the cheese is the most expensive part).
Thursday: Smorgasbord night. We're leaving for a trip to Michigan on Friday for my grandfather's memorial service, so we want to eat all the leftovers so nothing goes to waste.

So this week is a little odd, but you can see that my meals typically run between $2-$5. And that's not per person; that's for the whole meal. I cater my menus around what's on sale and the coupons I have for the week. So if you eat at Chez Kolstad, be prepared to eat something made with chicken, Bisquick and frozen vegetables, or possibly a quiche, casserole or crock pot dinner. If you're lucky, you may hit a steak night (about 6 times a year). Breakfasts consist of cold cereal for Brian and yogurt and a banana for me. I always buy cereal on sale - mainly, when you can get 4 huge boxes of Kellogg's cereal for $6. That cereal will last us about 4 months, on average. Lunches consist of leftovers or half a can of Chunky Soup (which is the recommended serving size) and a slice of bread.

The Williamsons get $600/month in food stamps. Now, before you call me heartless and think I'm going to go off on "welfare recipients", I'm not. I wholeheartedly believe in these programs, but I also think it's not an excuse to go out and buy the worst/most expensive possible food you can think of just because you can (it used to gripe my dad's butt something fierce to see people paying for lobster and steak with food stamps, when we NEVER got to eat those things ourselves). If Alex's mom is so concerned about him eating a blue ice pop for breakfast, then why are they in the house? For the same money, and clipping coupons, he could've had a banana and a cup of yogurt. I don't think it's necessarily a matter of not having money; I think it's more likely ignorance about how to eat properly.

Yes, the Williamsons are a family of four. But all the meals that I prepare for the two of us are usually 4-person servings (it's hard to find recipes for just two people). If you prepare foods from scratch, you will save SO much more than if you go out and buy a Stouffer's lasagna. My in-laws would spend one or two Saturdays a month cooking for the weeks ahead so they could just pull something out of the freezer instead of being tempted to go out because they'd be too tired to make something.

I guess all I'm saying is that if you want to save money and eat right, it can be done. Brian and I are living proof.

The ABCD Diaries giveaway

2010-07-15T09:59:00.000-05:00

Wow. I am sitting here, nearly hyperventilating. About three weeks ago, Christin Banda contacted me via my Etsy shop, Snizzers & Gwoo, about possibly doing a giveaway - would I be interested?

Since I had never done this before, I had no idea what a giveaway entailed. When I checked out Christin's site, "The ABCD Diaries", I learned what goes into making a great giveaway!

Before I go any further, I do have to say a MAJOR thank you to Christin! The mere notion of someone finding my Etsy shop and thinking enough of my work to FEATURE it on their blog? Well, my heart is full of gratitude! What an amazingly thoughtful gesture!

So, how does this giveaway work? It's really cool. First, you start on the ABCD Diaries blog. Then you can be linked to my Etsy shop or this blog or my other blog, Ephemeraology. If you "heart" me or buy something on my Etsy page you're entered (but I want to reiterate, no purchase necessary - I mean, I'd love it, but please don't feel obligated! How's that for low-pressure sales? :D). If you comment here or on my other blog, you're entered. If you blog about the giveaway or me, you're entered (how flattering!). All the details are on the ABCD blog. :D (Above is a photo of the pendant that you could win!)

This was just one more experience this year that has shown me the Universe is an amazing place. You give a little, you get a LOT. I am so grateful for the kindness that others have bestowed upon me - please know that I am enjoying and appreciating it all SO very much. Thank you!!!

Summer Fun

2010-07-11T23:29:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that the summer "season" is nearly half over already - how on earth did THAT happen?!? Time does seem to move faster in the summer, probably because even though it's warmer and we may be moving slower (certainly true for me), a lot of us have super busy weekends and activities during the week that keep us plugging along.

So far this year I've been to Sheboygan twice to see the exhibits at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. All summer long they're focusing on humor in art - it's FABULOUS! If you're in my neck of the woods (Mid-Eastern Wisconsin) I highly recommend a trip. And I'm not just saying that because two of my pieces were in an exhibit there. :D

In early June, I went to one of my favorite places - Persimmons, a workshop studio/store in Manitowoc, was hosting a "Night O' Fun" with artist/author Rice Freeman-Zachary. If you don't know who this cool lady is, check out her blog - she is a HOOT! On top of meeting Rice and having her autograph my copy of "Living the Creative Life", it was great to hang out with Kim Geiser, the owner of the shop, and some of my friends that I've met through her. It was just one of those great art experiences and a super fun evening!

I also went to an INCREDIBLE estate sale about a month ago - I mean really, that sale may have been the best I've ever seen. There is another one next week, put on by the same company. I'm planning on going to that one, too (you can read about the June sale on my other blog, Ephemeraology). The amount of stuff that was for sale - it was an entire lifetime's worth of collections, even old newspapers from the 30s and 40s. And it was right on Lake Michigan, which gave the sale a very summery feel.

It seems like this has been quite the summer for theater, too! Last weekend, Brian and I and my nieces Natalie and Mia (who are 11 and 13) went to see "As you Like it" at the American Players Theatre (see the photo, above). If you're not familiar with this particular theater, it's in Spring Green, WI (also famous for Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin house and The House on the Rock) and it's outside, which only adds to its magical quality. The troupe mainly performs Shakespeare, Shaw, O'Neil and other classic plays, but they just opened an indoor theater where other, more "experimental" plays are held. This is my seventh year attending - we always do one play with my sister and her family, and one play with myself, my mom and my sister. And we have AMAZING seats - fifth row. Awesome.
We also always attend the Fond du Lac Community Theatre musical, which used to be held in February (and I sometimes performed in) but they changed it to a summertime event. This year the offering was "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", and it was fantastic. (Yes, I'm biased, but it really was wonderful).

Next up - a trip to Michigan in two weeks with my mom. It's not for the most fun reason (her dad died last November but they waited to hold the memorial service until everyone could make it) but we'll make it fun. It's in lower Michigan, on the western side of the state. We're driving, and it's been a LOONG time since we've done such a long drive - I'm really looking forward to it! After all, what's summer without a road trip? :D

I am a "fall girl" at heart - I can't wait until the temps fall into the 50s or so. But this summer has been wonderful so far and if the second half is as good as the first, I don't think I'll want it to end.

Why I love (and not so much....) my country

2010-07-04T11:51:00.002-05:00

Today is Independence Day in the US. It's never been my favorite "holiday" - I like the fireworks, but not at 2 a.m. in my neighborhood, set off by soon-to-be juvies. I like picnics, but I hate bugs. I'm not a big fan of summer in general so if we would've gained our independence as a nation on, say, October 24, that would be infinitely more fun.

But I do love my country and if it means enduring a sticky summer evening for some explosives, I shall comply.

Why do I love my country? Let me list a few reasons for you:

1. I can say whatever I want, whenever I want, about whomever I want, with no fear of imprisonment or worse (okay, maybe not in a crowded theatre, but if you're going to pull that kind of crap, then you should get what you deserve). I happen to be quite fond of our current president, but did not feel the same about our most recent former president. I spoke of him often in not-so-flattering terms and even now, if his name arises in conversation I still yell out interjections, the likes of which I shall not utter here. I LOVE that I get to do that.

2. I don't have to worship anyone, or I could worship anything. If I wanted to start the Church of the Eternal Dick Clark, I could. I'll bet that there'd be people willing to join, too. Our church would resemble the old American Bandstand set, and of course the highest of the high holidays would be our lord's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Isn't it wonderful that I can do this if I want?

3. My stuff is relatively safe. I never have to worry about John Q. Law entering my house in the middle of the night because they heard I own bootleg DVDs of all 12 seasons of Cheers (I don't, by the way. How totally random would that be?). Ever seen the movie "Reds"? 'Nuff said.

Okay, those reasons aside, I'm now going to rip on our beloved country for a bit. Here are the reasons why I'd rather live in Canada:

1. Insurance. What the hell is it with this country? We are the only developed nation in the world that has problems with middle-class people going bankrupt because they get sick. This is an abomination. I am a firm believer that a healthy country and its inhabitants is a prosperous country. It makes me want to scream that our healthcare system has run so amok. I don't pretend to have any answers, but here's a start - let's cover EVERYONE'S preventive care (kids' immunizations, annual womens' exams and mammograms, prostate exams and colo-rectal exams). I'd be willing to bet that if we did these things, we could catch 50% more cancer and other life-threatening illnesses than we currently do.

2. Immigration. This is a very touchy subject. Yes, illegally entering this country is a problem in some states and those folks shouldn't have the same rights as our natural born citizens or those who willingly took the time to become citizens legally, but certain states are handling this crisis in a not-so-American way. I am very concerned that the States' power in this instance is out of control and the Feds need to step in (yes, I know this is a violation of the 10th Amendment, but....). What a quandary - here you have people who want to enter our country for a better way of life, yet our country is showing them our ugliest side. For shame, Arizona. Oh, and the next time you go to Europe and complain that the folks over there don't speak English, take a good hard look in the mirror and behold the tools you've become.

3. The Religious Right. Egads - here's a group of people I'd like to round up and have them form their own country, one with whom we don't trade or associate. Hypocrites. Bigots. Prejudicial. Ick.

So I guess the reason I love my country so much is somewhat the same reason I wish I could move up North (hey, my dad was half Quebecois; maybe that's an in!). On second thought, I think I'll stay. Besides, all my stuff's here and no one'll search it. :D

*The beautiful photo you see here is courtesy of my very talented photog husby, Brian Kolstad*

Having Good Scents

2010-06-28T19:32:00.000-05:00

They say that our olfactory sense, more than any other, triggers memories (and in this case, I read it somewhere. "They" are the people who wrote the article. Scientific, huh?).

This has got to be true. One whiff of a particular scent and I'm right back in the moment that defines it for me. As a matter of fact, this happened to me today.

Ladies, you'll probably relate to this far more than you guys out there, but I was using some rub-on transfers in my artwork today and the new Barbie-vinyl smell was overwhelming. All of a sudden, it's 1972 or '73 and I'm in the parking lot with my family on an outing to buy our Barbie doll cases (yep, that's mine in the picture there). To me, it's one of the finest scents of my world, second only to crayons (which, "They" say, is the most recognized scent in the U.S.). I wish I could describe it well enough for you to be there too; it's definitely plasticky, with petroleum undertones. It's a "new" smell; it doesn't last long, unless it's kept hermetically sealed. I guess it just smells like childhood. And Barbie accessories.

More of my favorite smells? Lemon and wood smoke. I love the former because of its sunshiney-clean goodness (and what it does for drinks!). The lemon is such a versatile fruit - it's equally delish on fish or in pie. I've never tasted anything with lemon that I didn't love.
Woodsmoke is the opposite scent, but probably my favorite scent ever. It smells like home to me. It reminds me of campfires - and who doesn't love campfires? That crackling fire sound, the camraderie (because rarely is one at a campfire by him- or herself), the laughter (or poignancy), the s'mores - there isn't anything about campfires I don't like. It's also a fireplace-y smell, which for most of us conjures up visions of Christmas/Hanukkah, cozy winter nights, and contentment.

While we're talking about smells, there are some that people may not associate with "good" smells, but I love them just the same. The first is the (old) smell of a bowling alley.

I was on a bowling league for the newspaper where I worked, The Reporter, for the 2006-07 season. I was terrible - ask anyone. One night my game score was 39. No, that's not a typo. But I still went, every week, and gave it my all. Near the end of the season I began noticing the very distinct odor that our bowling alley had - a mixture of cigarette smoke, fried food, shoe spray, and the oil or grease that is used to lube up the ball returns. It's a very nostalgic smell for me now, and one that I won't smell for much longer, now that Wisconsin will be completely smoke-free a week from today. Time marches on.

Is it just me, or does anyone else love the smell of skunk? Is this weird? I don't know why, but there's something so comforting about that smell!! Same with manure - I actually really enjoy it. I guess the manure smell reminds me of summer road trips and being out in the country, but I really honestly don't know why the skunk smell is so appealing; it may have something to do with Smelly Stickers, of which I had a plethora in 8th grade; the skunk one was my favorite.

And last but not least, that old basement smell. Many folks simply cannot handle this smell - some are even allergic to the mold from which the smell originates. To me, it's all about antiques, old books, history, and my great-grandpa's old house in Hoopeston, IL that we visited twice before he passed away in 1977. It had a marvelous attic, filled with old games and toys (and I can't even think about all of the old ephemera that was probably tossed - *shudder*), letters, medals, records (warped, natch) and sundry items. There was also a cellar, which was creepy beyond belief; it consisted mostly of old canning that my great-grandma had done before she died in 1967. But the attic made up for it. I got a TON of old books at our live trade on Saturday and like a time machine, that old book smell transported me back to Hoopeston, even though it's been 33 years. If prompted I could still draw a floor plan of that house - THAT'S a powerful smell.

Dad

2010-06-19T20:11:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow's Father's Day in the US, so of course I've been thinking a lot about my dad lately. Actually, there's not a day that goes by where I'm not reminded of him somehow.

I can't believe it, but it's been 6 1/2 years already since my dad left us. It was blustery and cold, that day in January of '04. It was fitting weather for a funeral.

But enough about that! I want to talk about the good things!

When I was born, my dad was a month shy of his 48th birthday. I try to put that in my perspective, and I just can't fathom having a newborn around when I'm 48, which is, ironically, 6 1/2 years from now. Egads! Now to be fair, I was his 5th kid, but the first to be born to my wonderful mom Suzanne, Dad's second wife. So he had been through this a few times already. Dad LOVED babies, so he was in his element.

Growing up, Dad was a great dad. Unfortunately, when I was seven, he had a heart attack. It was definitely a wake-up call, because he quit smoking cold turkey and even quit drinking his Hamm's after work (neither one of these "quittings" would stick, but I'll bet they added a good ten years to his life). My mom and dad also became "born again". I'm not religious AT ALL, but I believe the attitude change also helped prolong his life.

Of course, there are things I know now that I didn't know back then - like how, instead of taking vacation days every year, my dad would take the money instead so that we could have good Christmases (we didn't have a lot of money growing up). He appreciated his job immensely, but didn't really like it; he stayed with it because he had to (my mom, like most back then, was a stay-at-home mom). Dad did a lot of things that he didn't want to, but did anyway because he HAD to. And it doesn't sound like much, but there are a lot of guys out there who aren't real great at being responsible. I always admired that about my dad.

One of the habits that Dad changed after his heart attack was his physical activity; Dad walked miles every day. Once, he actually walked to church, which was 10 miles away. And Dad walked FAST. I think he did it in under two hours. One of his walking routes took him past a nursing home. One day, Dad saw a gentleman sitting outside, so he went and struck up a conversation with him. I'll never forget - his name was Al Letterer. They became fast friends (and the weird part? They were only nine years apart). Dad even took us girls to visit him once or twice. And when Al passed away, Dad was genuinely saddened.

Oh, and Dad was SO sentimental, another of his traits that I just adored. When we were opening Christmas gifts every year, he'd have to get out his hanky. He didn't make a show of it - the man was a Marine in WWII, for Pete's sake - but he'd get farklempt. Growing up, I thought he was sad. By the time I got to college, and he was STILL doing it, it made him vulnerable and even more human and wonderful.

Speaking of WWII - like many guys of his generation (he was born in 1920), Dad didn't even think about enlisting - he just did it. He started his tour in August of '42, but enlisted on December 8, 1941 (with probably millions of others). He never really talked about it, until my sister Jen flat-out just asked him what it was like. I'm so happy she did that, because it turns out that it's not that Dad didn't want to talk about the war, he just thought we wouldn't be interested (!). Au contraire! I loved hearing the stories! He was a gunner on an aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown II, in the South Pacific. He saw his best friend die right in front of him. He danced with Maureen O'Sullivan at a USO dance. On one occasion, he was leaning against a bomber on deck, had lit a cigarette, and all of a sudden he heard his mother's voice screaming at him, "GET AWAY FROM THIS PLANE!!!!" It startled him so profoundly, he ran like a bat out of hell. About a minute later, it was destroyed by an attack from the Japanese. He said they were the best, and the worst, years of his life.

Dad had a temper, and sometimes it got the best of him. I was a little afraid of him as a kid - when my mom actually said "Wait 'til your father gets home!", I knew I was going to get it. It was yelling more than anything; I only got spanked three times in my life, and once was because I decided to explore the deep woods behind our apartment with my friend Jodie. My parents were FRANTIC. And Jodie and I were hopelessly lost. I'll bet they screamed for me for an hour - and when we were finally reunited, the first thing I asked, when running to their open arms was, "Are you gonna spank me?". :D They hugged me harder than they ever had; I also got spanked pretty bad, too.

For Christmas, my wonderful husband Brian made me DVDs of all our old Hi-8 movies that my ex took of my family (and that he very graciously returned to me upon our divorce). I haven't been able to bring myself to watch them yet, because my dad is very prominently featured. I know what kind of heartache it's going to bring to hear his voice again. But I'm getting closer. I think by the end of the year I'll just have to sit down and do it, and let the tears flow. Who knows? It might bring back even more wonderful memories, and that's worth everything.

Happy Father's Day, Dad, wherever you are. If you can read this, I hope you're exploring the Universe. I know that would bring you much happiness. We miss you more than you'll ever know.

Creativity and Inspiration

2010-06-17T11:52:00.000-05:00

Creativity is a cruel mistress. You never know when she'll arrive and, even scarier, when she'll leave. As I've learned over the last 5 months or so, it's not really something you can control.

Or can you? Just like knowledge, the more images, thoughts and ideas you expose yourself to, the more you'll get out of life. And for me, it's the same with creativity.

I look back on my previous work and I can recall what I was feeling on the day I made the piece. Unlike some artists, I think my best work happens when I'm happy; I don't have a "suffering artist"-type attitude. Thankfully, I'm happy about 98% of the time. :D The other 2% of the time, I have to force myself to create and then I'm happy again anyway. :D

On those days where I feel like my creative meter is at zero, I peruse library books, Etsy, Flickr, my own stash of supplies - and really, inspiration is EVERYWHERE. You just have to be open to the experience! Another thing that helps me is stream-of-consciousness writing. I used to think that this was something only crazy people did at all-night diners. Au contraire! It really helps! I can go from Mason jar to Phish song just by thinking or writing it down. It's weird - it's sort of like having a telepathic conversation with yourself.

And speaking of Etsy - another, very addictive inspiration mechanism that I've discovered is the Treasury. Now, it used to be that there were only certain spots that could be filled with Treasuries, and you'd have to wait until the wee small hours of the morning to even get a shot at it. Now, any Etsy member can curate a gallery anytime they want! I started making mine last night - I've already made two, and I've got ideas for far more. Treasuries are a win-win; one is able to cull from some amazing work for inspiration, and also help out your fellow sellers by posting their items that may not have been seen by other buyers (and I found some stuff that I wouldn't have, also). If you're on Etsy, I highly recommend looking at and making Treasuries - it's really fun! It worked the other way, too - I made it to the "Front Page" last night! :D (See photo at the top - mine is the Mountie pendant on the bottom)

Flickr also allows members to "curate" galleries. I love this too! I've made about 20 galleries, with topics that range from coupons to rainy days. It's almost impossible to NOT get inspired by the millions of photos and ideas presented there. Sometimes, it's overwhelming!

If you want to kick it "old school", the library is the best place to go. I love hiding out in the stacks with oversized art books that are too expensive for my budget, but that are all there, waiting to be read. I get all-out psyched with inspiration - there's something about the tactile nature of books that can't be replicated. It's also easier to stare at a painting in a book as opposed to a computer screen, even if it is a no-glare iPad.

Well, it worked! Just by writing this blog entry, I feel more inspired. I can't wait to take that inspiration and (hopefully!) make something worth displaying! :D

Work of Art

2010-06-11T14:46:00.000-05:00

So, did anyone catch the new Bravo series, "Work of Art"? If you didn't, think "Project Runway", only with artists instead of fashion designers.

And really, the show is set up almost exactly the same. There's a host, China Chow, who's also a judge. The panel of three judges consists of industry critics and gallery owners. There's even a Tim Gunn-esque "mentor" for the artists, Simon du Pury, who's an art auctioneer. The winner of the show gets a solo exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum and $100,000, furnished by Prismacolor. (I WISH!).

I really loved the show, but I have to say I wasn't surprised by any of the artists. By that I mean, they had all the swagger and pretention that I expected. It's funny to me how many artists are very conformist in their non-conformity. I think it takes more guts as an artist to dress like I do - in 10 year-old t-shirts from Target and jeans from Fleet Farm. But I digress.

It always amazes me how fast some artists paint. I suppose if you've been painting for 20 years, that paintbrush is just an extension of your arm (I'm a collage artist, so painting is very foreign to me). Just like on "Project Runway" (hereafter abbreviated as "Proj Run"), the artists only had a day and a half to complete their project, which was a portrait of one of their fellow artists. I was a little skeptical of this: some of them were working in oils; don't they take forever to dry? Would an oil painting really be ready to hang after 16 hours?!? Hmm....

Of course, some artists' portraits were "shocking" for the sake of being shocking. There was one artist, Judith, who painted an abstract of her subject and used the "p-word" liberally in the piece. Really? Is this really shocking anymore, or is it just kinda lame? To me, if you have to resort to using supposedly "shocking" images or text in your work, you're covering. Another drew her subject naked, even though the subject didn't pose that way for the painter. That's sorta creepy. That being said, the paintings were technically good.

Which brings me to my other point: artists - let's support each other, not crap all over each other's work! I know I just sort of ripped on Judith there, but other than that, don't be that person that everyone hates. On this show, her name is Nao. Went she first walked in the gallery where everyone's art was hanging, she actually went around the room and by each piece said stuff like, "Boring!", "No talent!", "Amateurish!", etc. Okay, if you're going to do that to others' work, expect people to lash out at yours. Unless you're the next Picasso, keep your mouth shut. And even then, be careful.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the show pans out. I have a feeling that the person who everyone least expects to win will go home a lot richer (his name is Erik - check back in about 2 1/2 months to see if I'm right!). And I also have a feeling that if there's a Season 2, there are going to be a LOT more entries to be a contestant. A hundred grand is a LOT of money!

Sex and the City and the "New Feminism"

2010-06-07T21:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, so "Sex and the City 2" came out on Friday. Guys, contrary to what you may have heard, not every woman is clamoring to see this film. I'm one of them.

I'll admit it - I don't get the appeal of this franchise. I really don't. Everything about it is odd to me - going into debt for shoes, selling your soul for a buck, dating stupid men and wondering why you're still single....and that's another thing. While it may look like this foursome are happy-go-lucky, cosmo-swilling girls-about-town, what it really came down to is all of them (except for Samantha) snagging husbands and then complaining about them! Ugh.

Growing up, "finding a man" was not something that my mom hoped for me. Now, obviously I'm not anti-marriage; I've done it twice and for the most part, I find it to be a wonderful institution. But there's something about these movies and TV shows about single women that always comes down to finding a man! WHY? They always seem to be miserable when they're in relationships, so why do they want to be married so badly? So they can wear a pretty dress and a big-ass diamond? I just don't get it.

I wonder sometimes about the mixed messages that my nieces are getting; on the one hand, they've got their mom (my sister) telling them that they can be whoever they want to be and do whatever they want to do if they just put their minds to it, but on the other hand, all they hear at school is boyfriend-girlfriend drama. And they're 11 and 13!!! I know, all girls seem to go through this phase, but what happens when some don't grow out of it? Oh yeah - see above. It just scares me to see young girls going through the same crap that we did, or our mothers did. It's such a bizarre time we live in - we have women in the some of the highest offices in the land and thankfully, we can land any job a man can. THAT is different than even in my childhood. But on the other hand, you've got six year-olds dressed up like whores in beauty pageants! And as long as that mentality exists, women will never truly be as equal as men. Sadly, many young girls don't seem to care about this. I mean, really? It's 2010 and it's still portrayed on TV that girls and women want to look pretty so they can find husbands?? GAH!!!!

So ladies - if you're single and still intent on getting married then for god's sake, find one that will treat you the way you were meant to be treated - as a human being. As an equal. No game-playing, just two souls who've found each other and want to share their lives. THIS I wish for everyone. Find someone who treats you this way (i.e., through a friendship first) or get out of the relationship. Be a WOMAN, not some guy's mother or plaything. You're better than that, and you know it.

On Learning Language

2010-06-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, we visited our friends Jason and Amy in St. Paul, Minnesota. They have two adorable little girls - Dina, who's almost five, and Mira, who'll be three in November. They are absolute joys to be around.

One of the best parts of the weekend (for me, anyway) was trying to decipher what Mira was saying. Since she's only two and a half she's at that wonderful age where language is coming much easier, but there are still some stumbling blocks. When I'd say, "What, honey?" to her statement, she would very nicely repeat what she said, without a trace of frustration. Even better, Dina would sometimes act as her translator, which was really sweet and cute.

It's been a while since I've had to decipher language! I have a lot of friends with kids at the "deciphering" age, but I usually just see them for an hour or two at a time. By the time we left St. Paul on Sunday, I was really starting to get the gist of Mira's speech patterns!

In my family, vocabulary and language were always talked about. Growing up, my mom and dad would regale us with stories of cute slip-ups we'd have when learning to speak or read. For example, my sister Jen had the hardest time with the word "yellow"; she would call it "lellow". So my mom and dad would tell her, "Say 'yell'." And Jen would say it (correctly). Then they'd tell her, "Say, 'ow'." And she'd say it. But when mom and dad would respond, "Okay, now say 'yellow'.", she would go right back to saying "lellow". I love that story. Jen would also call Campbell's Chunky Soup "sunky poops". Of course, we STILL call it that - and I think everyone should. :D

When my nieces (who are now 13 and almost 11!) were small, there were a plethora of cute things they said that have survived to this day. Indeed, my own Etsy shop, Snizzers & Gwoo, is based on the way the girls said "scissors and glue" when they were about three. We in my family now say, "actchowee" instead of "actually" because of my oldest niece, Natalie. Try using it to start a sentence sometime - it's great when you really want to get your point across ("Well, actchowee.....").

Maybe we should learn foreign languages this way, slip-ups and all! I think learning from our mistakes is as much a part of the process as saying words the right way. In fact, sometimes it can even help with spelling. When I was about 9 or 10, we were at the grocery store and I asked my mom and dad if they preferred Russet potatoes over other varieties. Except that I pronounced it "russay". I don't know why my brain went all Frenchy, but I never forgot how to spell the word after that! (Incidentally, I did go on to take six years of French in high school and college. I have potatoes to thank for that).

The next time you're in the presence of a toddler, really pay attention to the way they form sentences and use tense. It's not only adorable (and hysterical), you might just learn a new word that you'll be able to use the rest of your life. Actchowee, you might learn a lot. :D

The Joys of Gardening

2010-06-02T10:11:00.000-05:00

I finally planted my garden yesterday, and I felt rather proud. This year's garden is bigger than in the past - I didn't plant anything last year because we had new landscaping put in mid-June and I didn't know if they were going to leave a patch of earth. But they did, so this year, instead of just tomatoes, I added green peppers, onions and cucumbers. If all goes well, I'll have a tasty salsa - all for the price of some plants (about $10)!

I also designed a planter in our front yard (see above). We have deep plum shutters and much of our landscaping reflects that, so I wanted to continue the trend with the planter. My friend Jessie is an excellent flower gardener, so I looked to her for advice on what to do. I have to say, I'm happy with how it turned out!

This is probably a sentiment as old as time, but I think a garden is miraculous. I mean, really - I bought some small plants that will grow larger and yield some stuff at the end that I can eat (it looks puny now, but I'll post another photo later in the growing season). When you think about it, isn't that amazing?

I'm sure real farmers don't have time to look at their crops this way - or maybe they do. I don't know. I just think it's so cool that I have control over a small patch of land. I can see why this gardening thing can become addictive - but I have to watch myself or I'll become overzealous and baby the plants. Too much love is a bad thing when it comes to plants; I found that out a couple of years ago when I overwatered some tomatoes and they got all yellow and weird looking, and not very good to eat.

So tell me - is it just me, or do all you gardeners out there feel the same way when YOU plant? I'd love to know. Maybe I'm showing my garden newbie-ness, but....hooray for growing your own food! :D

The Great Reorganization is underway!

2010-05-25T16:18:00.001-05:00

Why? Why do I do this?

I'm sure I'm not alone, but why do I wait until the situation is so dire that it takes me days, possibly even a WEEK, to fix?

Okay, so it's not life-or-death, but it's annoying all the same; I'm talking about cleaning my craft room (or art studio, whatever you'd like to call it). The Great Reorganization (you know something's severe when you capitalize it) began in earnest yesterday. I spent nearly the entire day just cleaning off the tops of my two workspaces! I found detritus from projects I had finished TWO years ago!

You have to admit, that's bad. I thought I'd come clean (pun intended) to you all so that maybe you can keep me in line. I've written about my cleaning skills (or lack thereof) before, but this takes the cake. The dust bunnies had multiplied, formed colonies, and taken up residence behind doors, under tables, and around lamps so thoroughly that I went through two Swiffer cloths to try and round them up. EGADS! I mean, clutter is one thing but I don't like a dirty house, and that's what had happened.

Now that I'm a full-time artist and learning all there is to learn about what that entails, there is one tenet that I hear over and over - that if I don't take myself seriously as an artist, no one else will either. This makes sense. I would NEVER have allowed my workspace at my 9-5 jobs to look like this! As a matter of fact, my desks were always spotless at my jobs. I always felt like I would forget something if it were buried beneath piles on my desk, so I rarely had any. I also wanted to portray myself as a hard worker who values her position in the company. So why am I not following that rule with this job? It should be even MORE important to me to have my space neat and tidy, since I'm working with paint and glue. My clients are very, very important to me and if they were to have seen my space before TGR how would they have felt about my work ethic, whether or not the sentiment would've been unwarranted?

I would LOVE to say that my space will stay the way it looks in the "after" photo. I can't make any promises. But I am going to try my best to keep it as clean as I can. Wish me luck! :D

Oh, and for those who are looking for the "word"? It's "disaster". :D

Stuff n' Things

2010-05-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

I suppose that it would make sense to talk about stuff in my blog, considering the title. :D But today I'm going to talk about specific stuff - garage sale stuff.

Back last month, I wrote an entry about how excited I was that garage sale season was starting - but that was the other side of the story. Yesterday, I was part of one.

My mom and dad in-law host a sale every two years or so, mainly because Rose (my mom in-law) just wants stuff OUT of her house. I can relate. Even though I really like "stuff" (for proof of this, you can check out my other blog, Ephemeraology), I get a little crazy when I have too much of it. And because collections evolve and change, I want the old stuff gone. Example: about 12 years ago or so, I had a teapot collection (WHY?). Now, with the exception of a scant few, I don't know what I was thinking. Out they go.

Around here, you can't really have a successful g-sale if you don't have kids' clothes. Thank god for my sister and bro in-law - Brian's niece Sydney and nephew Josh are 7 and 8, and there were TONS of their clothes there yesterday. That really drew people in! Kristin, my sis in-law, had them so reasonably priced that people were buying them in PILES. My dad in-law Dave also had a lot of "man" items - fishing poles, an ice auger, a table saw, etc. and a lot of men stopped by.

Brian and I combed our house for items that we could sell. Besides the trinkets I no longer wanted, I found old diswashing detergent and a huge refill of liquid soap, priced them at a buck apiece, and they sold. I had old magazines, priced them at 10 cents each, and sold about 40 of them yesterday (but that was only half of the pile - yes, it's an "issue" I have). Old Mah Johnng tiles, framed pictures, my 25 year-old vacuum (that still runs like a champ), hotel samples that I had bagged up - all of these things of ours sold yesterday.

This just goes to show you - you can never rule anything out! There was a small can of deck stain that sold yesterday, which no one thought would. Who knew?

"Stuff" has been talked about for the last 50 years, ever since we've had the disposable income to have it (if you're like me, you're thinking of the timeless George Carlin bit right now). I mean really - why do we have so much stuff? What purpose does it serve? But we love our stuff, don't we?

God help me if we ever have to start storing our stuff in a rented garage - I won't admit to having a problem until that happens. :D

Stones vs. Beatles

2010-05-16T10:46:00.000-05:00

Unless you don't watch TV or hop on iTunes every now and then, you're probably aware that the Rolling Stones are rereleasing their 1972 magnum opus, "Exile on Main Street". Everyone keeps referring to it as their "38 year-old album" - that can't be right, can it? Holy smokes.

One of my Facebook friends uploaded a video of Keith Urban covering "Tumbling Dice" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the other night, and when I watched it I was reminded how great the song was. I never called myself a Keith Urban fan, but he did a fantastic job with the song. Right after that, I started combing through iTunes and I downloaded some of my favorite Stones songs, of which there are many.

As I was indulging in my typical Sunday morning routine of coffee, English muffins and Entertainment Weekly, I read a review of the "Exile" rerelease - for the original album, they gave it an A+ (and the bonus material, a B). I don't think I've ever seen an A+ given for anything in EW before; not for a TV show, not for a movie, not for a book - not anything. So that's saying something. Maybe it'll get more people to give the album a listen - like myself.

As I was developing my personal music taste around 11 or 12, I was introduced to the Beatles via "Sgt. Pepper's" by my Uncle Lou (he gave me his own copy on vinyl). It is not an exaggeration to say that it changed the way I thought about music. Here was an album so sonically perfect (to me, and to be fair, a zillion other people as well) that it made the current stuff on the radio pale in comparison. I mean, how can you compare "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang to the Beatles? They're like two different animals. And thus began my tween musical snobbery (before you rally, I actually DO like "Celebration". How can you not? It's such a feel-good song!).

Growing up when I did, perhaps it's unfair to compare the Stones and the Beatles. The Beatles broke up when I was a year and a half old. The Stones kept charting until I was in my twenties! Maybe it's like when a musician dies too early; do people revere Jim Morrison because he was a musical visionary (meh) or is it because he died tragically (and preventably) at 27? Is it just me, or do other people sort of imagine that if he were to have lived, he'd be playing Vegas, bloated and washed up, a la Elvis? Just a thought.

Well, maybe it was like that for the Beatles. These guys quit, just up and quit, while they were still on top. How many people have the cahones to do that? The Stones, on the other hand, just kept going and going. And maybe it's because I had to endure such hits as "Emotional Rescue" and the now-ubiquitous "Start me up" that I didn't think much of them. Had they ended with "Exile", perhaps I would've seen a whole different side to them, but instead my Stones experience was clouded with their latter-day sins (to be fair, I LOVED "Undercover of the Night", which came out when I was a freshman in high school, in 1983 - isn't it weird that you could actually see the Stones on MTV back then?).

As it happens often with me, unrelated pop culture experiences make me change my mind. Take the movie, "The Royal Tenenbaums", for example. It's one of my favorites of all time. I know a lot of people are divided on this movie, but you can't deny that it has an AMAZING soundtrack. In a pivotal point in the movie, Margot (Gwenyth Paltrow) is playing some old Stones vinyl and reminiscing. She plays the one-two punch of "She Smiled Sweetly" and "Ruby Tuesday", and I can't imagine two better songs for the scene. It made me re-evaluate my attitude toward the Stones' place in my personal music collection (thankfully!).

Fifty years from now, when the Boomers are all gone; when my generation are octo- and nonogenarians and my 11- and 13 year-old nieces' grandchildren are musical scholars, I wonder how history will play out. Will the Beatles and the Stones be lumped together, or *GASP* - worse yet, the Beatles, Stones and Elvis (horrors) be lumped together? Will anyone care about the impact that all of this wonderful music made in the world? I only wish I could be around to hear what they have to say.

On being a daughter, a granddaughter and an Auntie

2010-05-10T10:58:00.002-05:00

Here in the States, we celebrated Mother's Day yesterday. Was it Mother's Day in other parts of the world, too? Chime in if it was!

I was very fortunate that I got to see my mom, my Grammie, my sister (who's a mom) and my mom in-law all at different times last week. It's good to let them all know how important their jobs are!

And frankly, I don't know how they do it. I really don't. I am not a mom myself, nor do I plan to be, so I am in awe of this enormous task that moms have every single day. I am so lucky that my sister Jen and I are so close, because it's very important to me to be a good Auntie. But as invested as I am in those girls, my role is still not even close to what my sis has to do. And she does it SO well.

When I was born, my mom (whom I still call Mommy, thank you very much) was only 22, and only 23 when Jen was born (and then she was through). I can't fathom this. I remember me at 22 and I was nowhere near ready for motherhood. Hell, the thought scares me more now than it did back then! The fact that, for the rest of your life, you will be a mom? Wow. What other station in life can you say that about? Sure, I'll be a wife for as long as Brian's here on Earth, but that's different. We're a partnership and the dynamic is one of equals.

I will say that I got VERY lucky in the mom department! When we were growing up, she was the type of mom that was very interested in our days at school, but never smothered us. When we hit teendom, she didn't care how we looked or what we wore (neither one of us had a weight problem and we were very straitlaced, but she still wouldn't have said anything if we weren't). She never offered unsolicited advice, and she still doesn't. She's a wonderful listener and a very caring soul. "Our Mom" (as Jen and I call her) is just awesome and I'm so proud to call her "Mommy". :D

Which she probably inherited from my Grammie. Grammie will be 86 in August, and I feel so lucky to still have her here. She does have dementia, which manifests itself in different ways, but deep down she is still the same wonderful lady she's always been.

Grammie has been a huge part of my life since my birth. I am the firstborn, my mom was the firstborn, and my Grammie was also the firstborn, so there's a common bond there. Plus, my middle name is Mary, which is her name. She was Jen's and my music teacher when we were in grade school, and she is a huge reason that Jen and I are both musically inclined (her mom and her sisters, plus my mom's brothers, all have a music background). She married a not-so-nice man (my grandfather, whom I only saw a handful of times before he died last year) but they divorced when I was about 10 months old. So it was really only ever Grammie, which suited me fine (I never knew my dad's parents). We were doted on as little girls, and pretty spoiled, too, but only in a monetary sense; manners were EVERYTHING growing up!

When you put my mom and Gram together, you get one of the neatest mother-daughter relationships I've ever seen, and one that made a huge impact on me. My mom and Grammie talked ALL the time, but it was more as friends than as mother-daughter. They love the same things, like British mysteries and crossword puzzles, and even though my Grammie got very conservative later in life and my Mommy is a tree-hugging liberal, they were able to set aside those differences and not let them get in the way of their relationship. It may sound corny, but I wish every mother-daughter relationship could be like the ones that I currently have or see around me.

I know this will continue, too, because I see the relationships that Jen is cultivating with her girls. It does my heart so good to see the outpouring of love once again, just as in generations past. It's this kind of cycle that we should celebrate every Mother's Day.

(Photo of me, Mommy & Grammie taken at my cousin Sam's wedding in June of 1999)

On being BUSY!

2010-05-07T09:04:00.000-05:00

What's that old saying, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop?" I have found this to be true. Or, at the very least, "Idle hands leads to low self-worth and boredom."

So if this is true, what is the opposite? I haven't found a quote for being TOO busy. Maybe it's because, at least in my Protestant work ethic-laden area of the globe, being busy is what makes a moral person. It's engrained in us from very early on that working, at anything, is something to strive for.

But shouldn't there be a happy medium? Maybe in June.

It seems as though May is an INSANE month for many people. There are graduations, end-of-the-school year activities, Mother's Day, rummage sales, lots of birthdays (it seems like many folks were busy in August too, if you know what I'm sayin'....), just tons of things going on. The weather is getting nicer here in the Western Hemisphere, so lots of people are beginning their gardening, painting, lawn care - GAH!!! Is there any time to just breathe and enjoy it?!?

Being on the other side of the 9-to-5 fence, I really thought I'd have more time to just relax. HAH! Yes, I am doing all the things I absolutely love to do, but it definitely keeps my busier than I ever thought! Plus, I'm volunteering more, starting new projects, building my business - all of these things that I never anticipated would bring so much work. And I love it. But I certainly AM busy.

I think humans have an instinctual need to be busy. We are animals after all, albeit smarter that the average bear (sometimes). But too much slothy time can mean trouble - it almost always does. Isn't that why we love vacations? Because deep down, we know that we will eventually settle back into working?

So many people have lost their jobs over the past year and a half. I personally know many people that this affected. I worried about it myself many, many times. And it wasn't so much the money that was a concern, it was "What am I going to do now?". I think that's true for many people; if you don't feel as if you have a purpose, then what IS our purpose? How are we going to contribute if we can't work? It's good to see that things are slowly turning around as far as unemployment goes - it makes for happier, busier people.

I like Europe's idea. They all work hard but they also take two-hour lunches. They have more vacation time than anyone else in the free world. They take naps in the afternoon, but they still put in an 8-hour day. They have the best maternity leave laws on earth. Let's adopt THIS way of life! I think we'd all be less stressed, don't you?

What Happens Next?

2010-05-06T08:40:00.000-05:00

I love movies - I always have. The first movie I ever saw was "Star Wars" - I was eight. We had a movie theater less than a mile away so as soon as I could, I would walk down there and spend my allowance money. I was one of those kids who would see the same movie over and over again. I think I saw E.T. three or four times in the summer of '82.

Here's the catch - every time I saw E.T. it was like seeing it for the first time. You see, I have what my sister and I like to call "Movie Amnesia" (she suffers from it, too).

Let me preface this by saying that I'm one of those people with whom you may not want to see a movie, especially if it's a suspense or thriller genre. I have to constantly ask, "Okay, now who's that, again?", and things like, "Wait - I thought he died in the beginning!", etc. So I suppose it would stand to reason that because I'm trying to hard to follow along, I may forget key plot points along the way.

Probably the best example of my movie amnesia came with the 1990 movie "Presumed Innocent". If you haven't seen it, Harrison Ford plays a prosescutor who is accused of murdering a woman with whom he is having an affair. I must've seen this movie five times before I remembered who reallly murdered the woman (I won't give it away, in case you haven't seen this 20 year-old movie and you'd like to). In this way, it's kind of fun being inflicted with this disorder - it's a new movie every time! Another, more recent movie that affects me the same way is "The Departed" - and we OWN that one! You'd think that I would kind of know what happens in a movie that we own. But nope, same problem.

Unfortunately, my amnesia sometimes stretches into TV shows as well. Just a year or two ago, "The Office" started running in syndication. Now, I've been watching this show from the very first episode. Religiously. Never missed an episode. But when I see the promos and teasers for the reruns, I always have to ask Brian, "Okay, which one is THIS?". And he always knows. Because Brian has the exact opposite of my amnesia - the man has total recall for every movie/TV show he's ever seen. It's incredible. I'm in awe. And he's awfully handy to have around that way (one of the thousand reasons he's like the most awesome person EVER).

So if you're the very unfortunate person that's sitting by me in the theater, I apologize in advance. I should probably take this opportunity to apologize to Brian too, as well as anyone else who has been annoyed by my odd afflliction. Next time, I'll take notes. :D

Mistakes have been Made

2010-05-04T19:37:00.000-05:00

All over the place today, I've seen blogs and status updates and news articles about making mistakes. I don't know if it's because I'm open to that concept today or if it is just a coincidence that there is so much talk about mistakes, but when I begin to see patterns in things I read or hear about, I like to find out what the Universe is trying to tell me.

Here are the "mistake" ideas I heard today - first up is this status update from my friend David:

"Perfection is a poisonous myth that disguises itself as candy. Don't eat it. Don't believe it. Don't be a slave to it."

Now there's an idea that I can adopt for my own. I've never been a perfectionist - far from, in fact; but I can't stand it when something I'm working on (mainly my art, my cooking, or my computer) isn't working right (okay, maybe I AM a perfectionist).

I subscribe to the Etsy feed in my e-mail, which serves up wonderful advice about sales and marketing for those like me who have an Etsy shop, and this is what is said today:

"There's an old proverb that goes, 'If you don't make mistakes, you don't make anything.' We all make mistakes...."

Isn't that a lovely sentiment? Basically, it's saying that we all make mistakes every day and they're just part of the creating (and creative) process. It certainly is true; I do make "mistakes" every day in my art. But the great thing about being a collage/mixed media artist is that there's this thing called glue. And when a collage element isn't working, you take this "glue" and paste something over the offending item. It's like magic. But that's not to say it isn't also quite frustrating when the work in progress isn't cooperating.

I tend to make the most mistakes when I try to rush through something. I love taking my time with my artwork but when I feel a deadline looming, I tend to get really stressed and invariably that's when things go south. This is around the time my potty mouth gets the best of me, too - I start dropping the Effingheimers left and right (GASP!). It'll never be as bad as when I worked in the television industry, but I still try to not swear on a daily basis.

What I really should do is practice what I preach. One of the most wonderful parts of my art career is teaching workshops. And a HUGE part of these workshops is making sure that my "students" are made abundantly aware that in making art, there are no mistakes. Really. So why am I any different? What makes me so gosh darn special?

Of course, the whole idea of making a mistake is rooted in fear - fear of getting fired, fear of losing one's admiration or trust, or just the fear of "not being good enough". And for sure, there are some mistakes out there that are MAJOR (BP, I'm looking in your direction). But let's be honest - most of us do not commit grievances of an enormous degree very often. It may seem like a big deal at the time, but more often than not what we think is going to be life-altering just turns out to be a minor upset. What's more important is that we don't repeat these mistakes. And maybe be a little easier on ourselves, okay? :D

Brownies.

2010-05-03T16:41:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a super-fluff piece all about my love of brownies. Sorry if it's too frivolous, but I felt the need to sing the praises of the best dessert - EVER.

I have always loved brownies. After about the age of 10 or so, they became my birthday cake. When my dad retired, he'd make these Rocky Road brownies that were TO DIE FOR. He even omitted the nuts - because (and I know I face opposition on this opinion) no dessert should ever contain nuts. Not in ice cream, not in cookies, not in cake and certainly not in brownies. Why mess with a beautiful thing? Mixed nuts are fine on their own - just not in my chocolate.

About ten years ago or so, at the height of my laziness, I would just make a batch of brownie dough and eat it in front of the TV. Thankfully, I've seen the error of my ways (and my waistline!) and ended that practice. But there's a reason that Hunt's pudding makes a "Brownie Dough" flavor - because, aside from cookie dough, brownie dough is as close to Nirvana as we're ever going to get here on Earth. Yeah, yeah, spare me your lectures about salmonella - for brownie dough, I will gladly ingest raw eggs.

Since I've been working from home, I've made a few batches of cookies, pies, and breads. But the hit of the family seems to be these brownies! If I can make Brian and my friends and family happy with a mere pan of brownies, I'm happy to do it. Aside from the dirty dishes (which Brian happily takes care of in the trade-off), they're no problem whatsoever.

According to Wikipedia, the first brownie was served at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Get this - it was served with an apricot glaze and walnuts. Say what? Now why would they go and ruin a perfectly good brownie with walnuts?! Apricot glaze I can see on a pound cake, but a brownie? Not so much. Of course, Wiki also has a link to hash brownies. I've never had them myself, but that may take the brownie experience to a whole new level. And I can imagine that they just may be the best @*!(^%* brownies you'll ever have in your life.

If there is an afterlife, there will be brownies there (at least in my version of it). And The Big Cheese will ask me for my recipe in exchange for his/her recipe for Nanaimo bars. Because, little-known fact, God is Canadian. :D

I Guess it was Inevitable....

2010-05-02T14:45:00.000-05:00

I came to a realization this morning. It's not revelatory, nor really that important, but kind of surprising....

I just don't care about new music anymore.

Now, if any of you reading this knew me from about the age of ten on, you'd be surprised by this. Starting in the Summer of '79, I started becoming very interested in popular music, mainly Top 40 but also anything from the 60s and 70s (which at the time weren't considered "oldies" yet).

And when I discovered it, I went all in. It became a personal quest to memorize every song on the radio, even if I didn't like it. I also figured that if I was to have an opinion of a song one way or another, it was my duty to know everything about it - who sang it, when it charted, what I was wearing when I first heard it (sorry, family joke there). My poor sister - I used to quiz her about classic rock songs and if she didn't know who sang a particular song, her pat answer became "Blue Oyster Cult". She still uses it to this day.

I used to LOVE to discuss music with anyone who'd listen. I have two brothers who are quite a bit older than I (they're 14 and 18 years older, to be exact) and they were always astonished that I knew "their" music. My uncles (who, coincidentally, are the same ages as my brothers) were also fascinated by my almost encyclopedic knowledge of any group out there, but mainly The Beatles. I became the go-to person for the question, "Who sings that song....." (this was pre-Internet, mind you).

There were periods in time that I sort of "dropped out" - one of those times was the early 90s, when Grunge became the rage. At the time I hated it, probably because I was "supposed" to like it. If there's anything I can't stand, it's being told by "them" what I should be listening to (and yes, I realize that every time I listen to the radio, that's what's happening; I'm talking more of a trend thing). So I just kept with my old standbys like Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer and, of course, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. I realize now that I missed out on some great music, but that's what iTunes is for. And even then, I eventually got back into a radio-listening routine.

I still love Top 40. I like to know what "the kids" are listening to. I like that I can connect with my Tween nieces and "their" music (and I know a lot of the lyrics!). The difference now is, with very few exceptions, I'm not purchasing any of it. It used to be that when I heard a song I liked, I'd rush out and buy the CD. Maybe iTunes has changed all of that, too. If I can buy the single for $1.29, why commit to the whole album? In a way, I'm reverting back to my 10 year-old self, when I saved up my allowance for 45s (irony alert: The singles I purchase today are actually CHEAPER than they were in 1979. What an age we live in!).

So if I still love Top 40, what do I mean by "new" music? I guess it's the music I'm "supposed" to be listening to right now - the songs that my digital music channels, my hipster friends, the cool ads on TV, NPR, or anyone else "in the know" are telling me I should like. Bands like She & Him, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Pomplamoose, etc. that are so hot currently. Try as I might, I just can't get interested. I don't know if it's their blase attitude or what - I'm bored. Or maybe I'm just too tired to try and absorb it all. (NOTE: one fantastic thing about these new bands is that they're embracing art & design like never before, and incorporating it into their own branding. I LOVE that).

At least with the whole Grunge thing, I adopted the look - maybe that made me a poseur, but what's more comfortable than Doc Martens and baggy flannel shirts with ripped jeans? That was a look I could get behind. Now it's all cute sundresses with cowboy boots - I'm 41 and wear clothes from Kohl's. I'm not about to start looking like I'm trying too hard.

Maybe this is another phase - maybe, in 2022, I'll start listening to The Hold Steady and think, "Why didn't I give this a try when it came out?". But I don't know; something's different this time. Is this it? Is this the point where I start to say, "In my day, we had GOOD music!"? Dear God, I hope not. But secretly, maybe it's how I feel. Only time will tell.

*Photo of Vampire Weekend from Breaking the Midnight*

Made in the USA

2010-04-29T09:22:00.000-05:00

I ventured into one of Fond du Lac's many dollar stores yesterday for the first time. I normally don't frequent these types of places; it's not because I'm a snob, but I find that if I shop at stores like this I wind up buying stuff I don't really need. I'm sure my logic is, "Well, it IS only a dollar! Why not?". That adds up, though, doesn't it. If you think about it, that's probably the logic behind all discount stores - it's why I avoid Target (one of my FAVORITE stores!) like the plague. And it's the reason why I started writing this blog entry.

While I was in the dollar store, I noticed that many of the items for sale now have the place of manufacture right on the packaging. And, not surprisingly, most of the items were manufactured in such-and such Province, China. This is nothing new, but somehow I was a little startled by the blatant statement where everyone can see it.

Let's flash back to a couple years ago, when I first started hoarding old Life magazines. If you read this blog regularly, you already know that my main reason for buying the magazines is to use them in my collages. But along the way, I've grown to appreciate the magazines in and of themselves. And in reading these magazines, one of the things that really stuck out for me is the difference between products of yesteryear and products today. If you look at almost any advertisement from, say, 1954, you'll notice that at the bottom, it'll say where the company is located. And almost every company's plants were right here in the US. Very shortly after WWII, magazines like Fortune had advertisements for companies to consider relocating to "more affordable" locales - like Oklahoma. Or Kansas. What sort of reaction do you think these people would've had to the suggestion of moving their operations to China or India?

Think back to your childhood. I grew up in the 70s - I was born in 1968. As a little girl, I LOVED my Barbies! We had all of the accoutrements, too - the camper, the plane, the clothes, the little shoes, the whole nine yards. The 70s were probably Mattel's heyday. They had already moved some of their operations overseas by then, but still had a major presence in El Secundo, CA, their headquarters. Another toy giant, Fisher-Price, which began in East Aurora, NY in 1930, was VERY popular in our household! We had the Play Family house, the Sesame Street neighborhood, the plane, the A-Frame, the Bus - oh, I loved those toys! They are now owned by Mattel and most of the F-P toys are now made overseas as well.

Now, this is not a commentary on the quality of these toys. But if you ever wonder why the Wal-Marts of the world can sell these toys at prices that seem a little too low, it's not just "volume"; the main reason we have more "toys" than ever is because someone in China is making those items for a buck a day. If we still had all of the plants operating here in the US, that $25 toy would probably cost $55 (which, if you think about it, would be about right, factoring in inflation and economy).

On the surface, this seems like a not-too-shabby deal for us, doesn't it? I mean, who DOESN'T want to save money, especially right now? But, as we know all too well, it doesn't matter how much that toy costs, because Mr. Jones lost his job a year and a half ago due to the plant relocating overseas.

The cycle is maddening, isn't it? We want our manufacturing jobs to stay here, but now that people are used to the ridiculously low prices at stores like Target and Wal-Mart they would never stand for paying double for those things, even if it meant that unemployment would be back down to a reasonable level, with better-paying jobs at plants and factories.

I don't pretend to be an economics major, nor do I have a solution for this dilemma. It just seems to me that if we made more items here in the US, we would all win. Sure, products might cost more, but wouldn't it be worth it to know that most people could afford to pay the higher prices because most people would be employed, which would have benefits that stretch far beyond just a steady paycheck? (If you don't know what I mean, ask someone who hasn't worked in over a year. They'll have plenty of reasons for you).

One last thing - on my trip to the dollar store, I picked up a couple of Twix candy bars - they were a new flavor, "Java", and they looked yummy. As we were eating the Twix last night, I looked at the wrapper - and noticed that the Mars candy bars were made not in New Jersey, their headquarters, but Russia. Yes, my Twix made the 14 hour journey from our former "sworn enemy".

Such is the 21st century, I guess.

I Don't Mean to Impose....

2010-04-25T22:40:00.001-05:00

...No, really, I don't!

If there's one lesson my dad imparted to me more than any other (at least how I remember it), it was that imposing yourself on others is akin to taking candy from a baby; you just don't do it.

All of my adult life, I've been very aware of my actions and how they affect other people. If I sense the slightest discomfort from a host, I will assume that I've overstayed my welcome and beat a hasty retreat. Because I have no problem talking, I will always ask Brian later if I've talked too much after being out with other people. To me, it would be a fate worse than death if someone were to say that I was annoying to be around or that I never shut up.

What's interesting about this, though, is that the people who everyone agrees are annoying - the loud talkers, the interrupters, the people who have to make their presence known wherever they go - they seem to be completely unaware that they may be inconveniencing or irritating other people. How is that possible? Is it ego, or really just a lack of social graces?

What has always amazed me is how some people are impervious to hints. You've seen it before on TV, or in the movies, or maybe even in your own life - there is always that one person or couple that refuses to leave, even when the hosts are cleaning up, turning off the lights, yawning and saying how they have to get up really early. After they still don't get the hints, they put the hosts in the really awkward position of flat-out telling their friend(s) to leave. Then there's a lot of, "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realize..." kind of talk. Why would anyone put themselves through this torture? And do the hangers-on not realize that the hosts are saying stuff like, "GAH! I thought they'd NEVER leave!" when they're gone?

One of my greatest pet peeves, cell phones, have made even polite people forget themselves. I just assume that people don't really care to hear what I'm talking about when I'm out in public and on my phone. I even heard someone on their phone in the theater once. Really? You can't go two hours without having that thing attached to your ear? US Cellular (a Midwestern-based cell company) goes so far as to ridicule these people in their ads - talking about the stupidest things you can imagine. I say, go ahead and talk about whatever you want - just don't do it within earshot of me. Some stores have posted signs like, "We'll be happy to wait on you, just as soon as you get off your phone." (see photo, above). Bingo.

There is a website that I really enjoy called etiquetteer.com. It's sort of like Emily Post for modern times. On it, you can find all sorts of advice on how to behave in public. I think we could all use a refresher course - don't you agree?

You Can't Judge a Book by its Cover

2010-04-23T11:32:00.001-05:00

I'm 41. I subscribe to Ready Made magazine. I enjoy bands like Ben Folds, Kings of Leon, and My Morning Jacket. I own Naot shoes and shop at Anthropologie. I love tofu, vegetarian, and any sort of "ethnic" food you can imagine. I do not follow any one religion. I am pro-choice, anti-death penalty, and a staunch advocate of gay rights.

I'm 41. I wear "Mom" jeans. I loves me a good steak. I love my country and I feel blessed to live here. I have mixed views on global warming. I LOVE Lynrd Skynrd and the Allman Brothers. I grew up Presbyterian and have wonderful memories of my childhood church.  I support our troops. I am a stay-at-home "housewife" and artist.

So, which paragraph is the real me?

Both.

How many of you out there are in the same predicament as I? I certainly do not fit any mold; by appearance alone, I'm willing to bet that 9 out of 10 people asked would say I was a Republican, went to church every Sunday, and had 2.8 kids (none of these things are true, by the by). Not that there is anything at all wrong with the above statements; they just don't describe who I am. But come on, let's face it - we all pigeonhole, don't we? I know I do.

I've been guilty of thinking someone agrees with my point of view, only to find out later they felt the exact opposite. Just because someone may have the same interests as I do doesn't mean that we're soul mates. I have my opinions, they have theirs, and that should be that. If only we could agree to disagree.

I would guess that if it were feasible, and we could do a very detailed poll of every person over the age of 21 living in the US, we would find that we're not all that different in the big scheme of things. Sure, we may have differing views on some topics, but in order for our country to end this divisiveness we need to look for the common ground.  An example: words like "patriot" and "liberty" should not be co-opted by one faction of the population. They're becoming dirty words to many who may not agree with certain points of view (such as myself). What constitutes patriotism, anyway? If you would've asked a million people on September 12, 2001 if they were patriots, you would've had 999,998 yeses, regardless of topical opinions or party affiliation. What's different now? Because my opinions differ from others', does that make me love my country less? Please.

I'm going to continue to rock the Mom jeans, read my neo-hipster magazines, and eat tofu AND steak. Because no matter who you think I am, I am an American. I will continue to love it, but I may just leave it someday (Toronto, here we come!).  Because I live here, I have that choice.  God/Allah/Jehovah/Whoever Bless America. :D

It's a Small World

2010-04-20T08:43:00.002-05:00

Oops - sorry if I put that horrific song in your head! This post isn't about Disney stuff - it's about all things small.

From as far back as I can remember, I've been into mini things. I've always loved anything that was shrunk down to a smaller scale - dollhouse miniatures, Barbie stuff, model cars and ships, architectural models, model railroad figures - you name it, I loved it. I still do. I know that's a large reason why I got into ATCs - they're really tiny! :D

A couple of months ago, I discovered a blog here on Blogspot called "Call of the Small". Maybe you've seen it; they were just featured in the New York Times (how cool is THAT?). The really neat thing about
her site (run by Christine Ferrara) is that she focuses on modern dollhouses and interiors, not the stuffy Victorian ones that we all grew up with (well, I didn't; I had a very contemporary dollhouse, furnished with Better Homes & Gardens dollhouse furniture, circa 1979). Ms. Ferrara buys a lot of her stuff on German Ebay, where all of the cool mid-mod miniatures can be found. If you love modern design and miniatures, you'll love this blog!

My Flickr friend Sandy also collects vintage dollhouse furniture, and a lot of it was hers as a little girl. She's Finnish, so again, there are some fabulous examples of modern design in her dollhouses' interiors (she also knits mini outfits for her Blythe dolls!). You can see her photos here.

So now that you've seen some fantastic miniatures, you may be intrigued too. Why do we love to see objects that we see every day, only smaller? I can only speak for myself as a little girl, but I think at that age it's the "cute" factor - tiny things are cute! I was pretty darn small for my age, so maybe I related that way (they used to call me "Too Small Jones" - Jones was my maiden name, and Ed "Too Tall" Jones played football then). As I got older, I think the interior design aspect became my focus, and it's much cheaper to furnish a doll house than a real one (MOST of the time!).

I also think miniatures evoke a feeling of comfort - everything is cozy in a dollhouse. There always seems to be a fireplace in dollhouses, and many times you only see dollhouses around Christmastime. I suppose any time you're dealing with a dollhouse, you're going to think of your childhood home, whether you still live there or it's a place that is long gone. There's a great deal of nostalgia that goes along with dollhouses, too, whether it's longing for a bygone era (hence, the Victorian dollhouse) or playing with your childhood dollhouse as an adult. I loved the idea of having a two-story house - I grew up in an apartment, so a two-story seemed like a mansion to me.

How about all of you? If you're into miniatures, did you love them as a kid, or did you only get into them as an adult? What's your favorite era - Victorian or modern? Post your favorite miniature memory in the comments - I'd love to hear!

Girl, Put your Records on....

2010-04-14T09:51:00.003-05:00

As I was looking through the flyers that come with the Sunday paper, I happened across one for ShopKo (think Target, but for the Midwest only). They were having a huge sale and one of the items that was greatly reduced was a record player.

Now, I know that record players have made a comeback in recent years, but it's still so weird seeing them available! Fifteen years ago, it was nearly impossible to find one. Ten years before that they were around, but dying out. Ten years before THAT (circa 1975, if you're playing along), they were ubiquitous. Looks like we've come full circle - or at least, 270 degrees.

When I was four or five, I got a Close n' Play Phonograph. I LOVED that thing! I remember playing my "Seasons in the Sun" and "Heartbeat - it's a Lovebeat" 45s. I'm sure the sound quality was horrific, but what did it matter? It was MINE, and I didn't have to wait through my mom and dad's Steve & Edie records to hear my songs. But one day, as I was dancing in my room, I stepped on it and ruined it and broke the "Seasons in the Sun" 45 as well. I'm sure Mom was mad, but I don't remember being punished. I'm sure she thought my disappointment was enough.

I was born in 1968, which was one of those in-between years. When I was born, it was all Hi-Fi, all the time. When I was about six, 8-Tracks were coming into vogue (and left just about as quickly, thank god). I think I got my first "compact cassette" in 1983 (if I recall, it was the Police's "Synchronicity"). Only five years later, I got my first CD and player. And from 1988-2004, that's all there was - CDs. But there was a lot of overlap. Here in Wisconsin we are very lucky to have a chain of stores called The Exclusive Company, which for years was THE place to buy your music (and are still around - for now). I, on the other hand, worked at Musicland, which was the overpriced mall store (and now non-existent). Even with my discount as Musicland, the music was cheaper at "Exclu".

And who out there, that's around my age, didn't make "mixed tapes"? I still have all mine but alas, no cassette player. I remember spending literally HOURS perfecting these things, making them for my sister and all my friends (or new boyfriends, if it was 'serious'). The tapes were amalgamations of all of my 45s, tapes and CDs, which made for some interesting variations in sound quality and volume. But that only added to their charm. I still have all of my 45s as well, along with a few choice LPs (one of which is my Uncle Louie's original Sgt. Pepper's album, which has been played so many times the grooves are wearing out). I also have quite the collection of cassette singles, of which Musicland had a very nice selection. What's amazing to me now is that those babies went for $3.35 apiece - in 1989!! Isn't that crazy? I love that I can own the same song now for $.99 (or if it's really obscure, $.69!).

Flash forward to the fabulous age of the iPod, or MP3 player. Brian embraced this technology from the beginning. Me? Well, if you haven't figured it out already, I kick it old school. But once he brought the iPod home, we never looked back. In fact, we sold all of our CDs two years ago at a rummage sale for a buck apiece and made some nice folding money. I don't regret that decision for a second. I think we already take them for granted but if you think about it, MP3s are amazing! I only wonder what the next big music thing will be. Hopefully we can just enjoy our iPod for a couple of years before we have to change everything AGAIN!

Of course with new technology comes folks rediscovering the old ways - which brings us right round, like the proverbial record, baby. I can understand the allure of vinyl - the pops, hisses, and warmth of that sound; it's almost more "real" than its digital counterpart. Purists are the main demographic of vinyl enthusiasts, to be sure. And there is something so comforting about hearing old jazz on an LP. But will I go out and spend money for new vinyl? Probably not. We don't have the room. :D

*(High Fidelity pendant picured above made by me and available in my Etsy shop)

I Heart the Library!

2010-04-12T12:43:00.002-05:00

In honor of "National Library Week", I thought I'd give a shout-out to one of the greatest institutions we have.

I would bet that 100% of you who are reading this blog entry can think of one really wonderful library memory, whether it's from your childhood or just recently. I've been going to the library since I can remember.

I grew up in Green Bay (Ashwaubenon), Wisconsin (Go Pack!), and up until 1972 they had a Carnegie library. It was on Jackson Street downtown, and it was a wonderful old library - or so I'm told (I don't remember that one). They built the new one on Pine Street and that one still stands. I LOVED that library, and that is the one my family would frequent until 1976, when the Ashwaubenon branch opened. It was only a mile from our house so we were there ALL the time. My mom even volunteered there.

There was a really wonderful and well-planned summer reading program at that library, and my mom took full advantage of it. One of my favorite library memories was Miss Olson reading us "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. To this day, I still wonder what Turkish Delight tastes like. And aside from story time we also had all kinds of crafty options, too. I remember making thumbprint people and LOVING the Ed Emberley books (I even bought them for myself - a couple of years ago).

When my first husband and I moved to Fond du Lac, one of the first things I did was check out the library. That was in 1996, before the remodel. But I still loved it, turquoise Seventies carpet and all. There was a mezzanine in the old one, and it created sort of a 'loft' where you could see the first floor from there. I loved finding an interesting bookshelf and just sitting there and reading. In 2003 the remodel was completed and it made the library even more wonderful. Now there are two stories and a mini-mezzanine. Everything is laid out perfectly and they have really nice reference and history/geneaology sections. There are also fantastic meeting rooms, a used bookstore called the Book Cellar (get it?) and the Langdon Divers Gallery, which showcases talented local artists (like my friends Nicci Martin, Susan Fiebig and Trista Holz). It's not only a library; it's a community center.

I of course spend most of my time at the Fond du Lac Public library, but there are two other libraries that I am not only fond of, but have also been very good to me personally. The first is the Greendale Public Library, in the metro Milwaukee area. I met the library director, Gary Warren Niebuhr, through our ATC live trade group and he liked my work, so he offered me a workshop spot on the roster. Last September I taught about 17 people how to make collaged ATCs. It was a blast (see what I mean about libraries being community centers as well?). This library is also one of the loveliest I've ever seen - it's got WPA ties, too, which makes it even cooler in my opinion.

The other library (but certainly not least!) that I need to give props to is the Kewaskum Public Library. The library director, Steev Baker, also gave me a chance and to date I've taught two classes there. We had wonderful turnouts at both and they were also great experiences for me. Kewaskum is a tiny town of only 3927 people but they have a library that would do well in a town three times the size. I instantly felt at home there, which is how a library should make you feel.

If you love libraries as much as I do, give yours a shout-out today, either by donating your time or money or even just by posting on your Facebook page how much you appreciate everything that it does for your community. If you haven't been to your local library in a while - GO! You'll be glad you did.

Life

2010-04-09T09:05:00.003-05:00

I've immersed myself in Life.

No, it's not a new cult I've founded (but if I ever do, I've just named it and I have a catchy slogan!). Since last August, when I went to an amazing auction, I've been cutting up, and subsequently reading, old Life magazines.

When I heard about the auction, which was all items from a farmhouse that was nearly pristine and full of stuff that hadn't been touched since the Thirties, I knew I had to make it there. I even took a couple hours off of work so I could get there on time (it was in Kewaskum, about 30 miles from Fondy). I didn't realize that it would last about 5 hours, but I stayed because there was a HUGE lot of Lifes and I wanted them. What I didn't know at the time was that they were going to sell them all at once.

You've probably already surmised that I did indeed win the auction bid and for my persistence and patience received about 60 magazines (some Collier's, Looks and Saturday Evening Posts as well) for less than a dollar apiece. Poor Brian - I came home with a carload of old magazines, and I could just see his wheels turning; mainly, "Where on earth are we going to store these?!?" (P.S. MOST are in my studio, but there is some spillover in an inconspicuous place in our basement). I got to work right away, sorting the wheat from the chaff, so to speak (there were some that I simply couldn't cut up).

A funny thing happened while I was perusing these magazines for images, however - I began reading them cover to cover. And the more I read, the more I wish we could get back to that time.

Please don't misunderstand me - there are plenty of reasons why this pre-Civil Rights era is downright awful - it's still amazing to me how people could get away with the blanket generalizations that were uttered in these magazines - but there is also an optimism that is gone, as well as a more balanced approach to politics. There is also very little cynicism in these pages, which is wonderfully refreshing. I realize that I myself am making a blanket statement here, but it just seems like people were more excited about the little things back then, like grand openings at supermarkets or parades - things many in my generation have deemed "lame". And maybe they were lame, but at least people showed enthusiasm.

Here's another thing - we can never talk about 'being poor' ever again. The Golden Years of "Life" - which I think were between 1939 and 1963 (my opinion) - show photos of folks that were truly down-and-out. We're talking "bib overalls-I only bathe on Saturday night-my floor is made of dirt" poor. But in many cases, they don't look unhappy. Maybe it's because they didn't have a TV telling them that they were unhappy, and they'd better go out and buy things to make them happier. Again, I'm generalizing, but it certainly seems like people were satisfied with far less than what we have now. They also seem to scream from the pages, "Stop trying to be HAPPY all the time! It doesn't work that way!". A lesson I think we could all learn.

I've learned more history from these magazines in the last 7 months than I did in my entire school career, including college. I will never regret cutting up these magazines, because some of my best artwork (again, my opinion) is because of these Lifes. But it certainly is a snapshot of a week in history and if you've got many of them in a row, you can begin to get a glimpse of how the U.S. was feeling at any given time (another generalization, but you know what I mean).

Maybe, instead of textbooks for 20th Century U.S. History, we should have our kids read these old magazines. It's all there in black and white (literally), while it was happening - no rewrites, no personal opinion, no theories - just the facts (and fun ads!). Only by studying the past can we work toward the future.

Wacky Weather in Wisconsin!

2010-04-08T09:01:00.001-05:00

I'm sure this will be the topic of many a Wisconsin blog today - here it is, April 8, and we're having a lovely early spring snow. (The picture on the left was taken this morning at about 7; it's almost 9 and it's STILL snowing!).

I've lived in Wisconsin nearly my entire life. I love it here and, even though I threaten to move to Toronto sometimes, I can't imagine living anywhere else. I love the people, the cost of living, the seasons (even though they overlap) and the quality of life. I think overall, people in Wisconsin have it pretty good.

That being said, I can imagine that my transplanted friends may find our weather a tad odd. My friend Jill commented on my Facebook page this morning that she had snow yesterday morning but by the afternoon it was 65 degrees and sunny. She lives in Denver. So see? It's not just the Midwest that's dealing with this craziness.

My mom's birthday is tomorrow, and we still talk about the Blizzard of '73, which occured on her birthday that year. I'd bet that if I looked in an almanac, we've had snow in April at least 30 of my 41 years. Anyone who's around my age or older, who lived in this area back in 1990, may recall the freak snow that we had - on MAY 10!! This isn't anything new. But when you're teased with 80 degrees and sunny, like it was last Friday, it just throws us back into reality that we really have no control over the weather. It's sort of nice to know that we sometimes just have to roll with the changes, isn't it?

Besides, if we Wisconsinites couldn't complain about the weather, we'd have nothing to talk about at all! :D

Taking a Break

2010-04-07T09:24:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been a while since I've written - I was on vacation.

Oh, I didn't go anywhere, really, but for the last 5 days or so I've been so busy that it feels like I haven't been part of my "normal" life for a good span - and isn't that what vacation is really about?

The last five days have been SO fun! On Friday I got to spend the evening with my sister Jen, BIL Mike and my nieces Natalie and Mia and talk about their trip to San Diego (and, sadly, say good-bye to their doggie Jo, who they picked up that night to return home). Saturday we did nothing; I mean, pretty literally, NOTHING. I guess we all need days like that but I feel so guilty when that happens! Sunday was Easter, so that was spent with family.

On Monday, Brian took the day off and we spent the day in Sheboygan. I have the best husband. The reason we were in Sheboygan was because I have two pieces in the Wordplay exhibit at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. So we went to see it, and all of the other exhibits as well. It was a great day. We also had a wonderful lunch at Field to Fork. We had our FDL Artists Association meeting at night so there was no artwork done then, either.

Yesterday I did manage to get a few hours' work in in the morning, but then some of my friends and I met for lunch at Park Terrace, a restaurant that's connected to Moraine Park Technical College's Culinary Arts program. Yesterday's theme was "Turkish", and it was wonderful. Then my friend Sue and I went to see an alumni art show at the private high school in town with pieces done by some of our friends. I also finally got to Persimmons in Manitowoc, where I took a copper stamping class with Kim Geiser, the shop's owner. It was a blast and I got to meet some very nice ladies! It was 10:30 by the time I got home (it took me over an hour to get home because of all the storms), so no art last night, either.

One great thing about vacations (if you're lucky) is that it allows you to step away from your work for awhile and rejuvenate. I for one am looking forward to working in my studio most of the day today, because it feels like I've been away for a month. I miss my art! And I love that I can say that.

Cooking and Baking (but no Candlestick-making - YET)

2010-04-03T13:15:00.003-05:00

I've just passed the 2-month mark on my new stay-at-home art venture. In a way, the time has flown; yet in an altogether different way, it feels as though I've been in this line for years. This was brought home to me last Thursday when I went to one of my former co-worker's retirement party. I got to see a lot of my work friends and it was wonderful, but I'm starting to forget my day-to-day activities that were such an enormous part of my life for five years. That's odd.

What I don't miss is the so-busy-I-can't-keep-up pace I used to endure. But I have discovered that I do indeed enjoy having something to do all day. And when I'm not making art, more and more this translates to being in the kitchen.

When Brian and I began this full-time art adventure (I include Brian because he's as much a part of it as I am, if only for the immense support), one of the things we agreed upon was that I also become the home economist, saving money in as many ways as we could. I soon realized that it's far less expensive to bake from scratch - you can really stretch a box of Bisquick! I've also discovered the joys of kitchen creativity spilling over into my artwork - chemistry is a big part of cooking and art, after all!

In the last two months I've cooked more than in the last eight years total. I've expanded my recipe repertoire a hundredfold, and I'm having a marvelous time in the process. Call me a geek, but I adore my Sunday night ritual of planning the week's menu and its corresponding grocery list. Much of what I make is dictated by what's on sale and in coupons that week, thus saving us even more money and allowing me to get even more creative. I've also been buying local when I can, shopping at places like Eden Meat Market (and soon, the weekend farmers' market!) where I know the meat and produce is the freshest possible. Because of some creative web searches and scouring the Sunday papers, along with doing our own cooking, I am saving an average of $92/week on our grocery bill. It's thrilling.

I've also been doing quite a bit of baking. Now, anyone who worked with me at the Reporter may remember that when it was a "Food Day", I would NEVER bring in baked goods; I would stop by the bakery on the way into work. Baking was never something I enjoyed, until now. I made a batch of brownies yesterday because my sister Jen and her family were coming to pick up their doggie after their vacation, and it made my day when they all scarfed down the pan (Jen and her husband Mike are both excellent chefs in their own right).

These days, with the Internet as your guide, you can find a recipe for nearly any dish you could dream up. What I love is that you can type in one ingredient and work from that. Sites like recipes.com and Epicurious are wonderful tools to have at one's disposal, and I've consulted them often. Many of you reading already know this, I'm sure; I am certainly a latecomer to this fun way of eating!

It is my sincerest wish that I will always have this balance between my art and having enough time to make dinner every night. Brian loves it, I love it, and even when my art projects are being stubborn I feel good knowing that I've accomplished a delicious dinner at the end of the day.

A Blessing (and a Big Ol' Curse)

2010-04-01T08:58:00.000-05:00

I lead a bi-polar life. Oh, I don't mean that way. But my day-to-day living is quite divided between the arcane and the current. I recently found out that the "current" part of my life was lagging way behind.

If you regularly read my blog, you know that for the past week I've been taking care of Jo-Jo, my sister's family's doggie. I love Jo - everyone in my family does. He is part of the family, which is why Jen (my sister) asked if I would give daily updates on how he's doing (she said it was for my nieces' benefit, but I'm not so sure about that. :D).

So I said I'd call them with news from the homefront. But then I told Jen that I thought I could text from my phone (it's a REALLY old phone, because I hate phones and I don't need anything fancy). Well, the texts started rolling in. And because I don't have a new phone, I don't have a QWERTY keyboard.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think texting seems an awful lot like work? Because everyone in my sister's family has a smart phone, they can text like nobody's business. So they think nothing of firing off one-liners every two minutes. With my phone, and my lack of texting experience, I would be finishing one text and three more would come in. I could never keep up!

So finally, I just stopped texting until their texts stopped. This is the same reason why I don't ever "chat" on Facebook, or why I flat out refused to join the IM network through Gannett. If it's that important, couldn't it be written in an e-mail?

And pardon me for sounding like Andy Rooney, but when did e-mail become the old-fashioned way of communicating?? I heard a comedian on some TV show mockingly call someone "Grandma" because she e-mailed rather than texted. Good for her, I say! It's a pretty telling indicator of how quickly our life moves when e-mail isn't fast enough. GAH!!!

On Sunday, Brian and I rented "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" (and before you chortle - no, we didn't rent it at Blockbuster or even RedBox - we ordered it through our Playstation 3. So there). I am a huge fan of Wes Anderson, the director of the film, and have been so ever since I saw "Rushmore" back in '98. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is still my favorite movie of his, but "Fox" was a close second. One of the reasons I love his movies is his very twee way of incorporating disappearing 20th century technology into his modern movies. For example, in "Tenenbaums", his characters use record players, ship-to-shore telegrams, ticker tape, and have professions like elevator operator and old-fashioned bell hop (and a beaver secretary in "Fox" uses shorthand). But he uses these examples in such a way that you wouldn't necessarily find them to be out of the ordinary until you really stop and think about it (for me, anyway). Perhaps it's a phenomenon that is unique to Gen Xers (of whom Wes Anderson is one also), who more than any other generation currently living in the Western world straddle that fine line between centuries - especially those of us with Millennium kids who have both feet firmly planted in the 21st.

I've talked about objects and lifestyles becoming obsolete before; it's a topic that has piqued my interest, especially from a sociological perspective. So don't be surprised if I'm slow to adapt to the latest and greatest gadget - I'm still trying to figure out how to use our new cable TV system.

The Joy of Garage Sales

2010-03-29T14:04:00.001-05:00

As I was walking Jo-Jo (the doggie we're sitting for this week) around the neighborhood today, I could smell it in the air - the scent of unwanted items being cleaned and prepped for Garage Sale Season.

I for one am awaiting this season impatiently, as this year I will have far more time to peruse these mini bazaars. It's always interesting to see what your neighbors have amassed over the years. When you think about it, garage sales give us a peek into their lives, too. That deck of cards with the Eastern Airlines logo on them - why do they have them? Where were they going, and was it for business or pleasure? And, since it's Eastern Airlines, they've obviously had these cards for a looong time - why did they choose this year to finally get rid of them? Do they need the money? Did they run out of room? Am I nosy for thinking these things?

My mom and dad in-law are having a sale of their own this year, and I'm helping out. My sister's family had one last year that I did with them and we had a ton of things that we sold. It was amazing, seeing all of the items that we managed to discover in our basement. It felt really good to be rid of all that clutter, and surely we'd be good for at least a couple years before we'd have enough for another sale. Au contraire! I can't believe the pile we have set aside already! Where does this stuff come from?!?

I'll tell you where it comes from - mainly, other sales and junk shops! It's a cycle that can't be broken, I'm afraid. Because like many garage sale-goers, I believe that there's nothing like that Holy Grail find. You know what I mean - I think all of us that frequent garage sales or junque shops or antique stores think that we are going to uncover a long-hidden or forgotten Picasso sketch that someone's Aunt Mildred just happened to have stowed away in her attic trunk from her days as a barmaid in Europe - that Antiques Roadshow-type moment when the appraiser announces that the seemingly worthless trinket you've brought for inspection is worth $580,000. But of course we'd never sell it - the sentimental value is priceless. Yeah, RIGHT!

I don't plan on getting rich from my eagle eye, but I do love finding items from the not-so-distant-past that I would never find anywhere else, like an ugly vase that I could care less about, but that has an old Prange's or Kresge's price tag on it (yes, I'm weird). Or greeting cards that can be repurposed. Or old labels and stickers.

This garage sale season, I'll keep my eye out for things that you need too - what are YOU looking for? :D

Jo-Jo

2010-03-25T12:34:00.000-05:00

I'm very lucky - for the next week, we have a visitor here at the house. He is of the furry persuasion, and his name is Jo-Jo.

So I am dog-sitting while my sister Jen and bro in-law Mike and my nieces are on vacation, and I couldn't be happier. I can tell Jo-Jo is a little down right now, and wondering when they'll return. But he knows me very well, so I'm sure we'll have a grand ol' time together, especially now that I work at home and he won't have to be crated for eight hours at a time.

Jo-Jo and I hit it off right away. From the moment that my sister Jen and her family brought him home, he ingratiated himself into our lives. He's a very loyal pup, too. I think my mom is his favorite human outside of his "immediate family".

So, who is Jo-Jo (or Jo for short)? Well, he's about 5 1/2, and a Poodle-Bichon Frise mix. He used to really like other doggies, but about two years ago he was bitten by a Chow that lives in their neighborhood, and he grew quite wary of other canines after that. One of his favorite things to do, other than play tug-of-war, is look out the window. He likes to warn us of potential hazards, like leaves blowing across the street, or people walking, or (GASP!) other dogs.

Despite these little quirks, he is quite smart. For example, he gives a short "ruff" and looks at the faucet when he's thirsty. He'll scratch at the pantry door (where his food is kept) when he's hungry. And all he has to do when he needs to go out is nod his head toward the sliding glass door. When he's crated, Jen will say "go in your house, Jo" and he goes. Sometimes, when keys are being jingled or coats are donned, he will just go instinctively. He is a joy to be around.

He is also a lovey. I really like it when he literally leans on me. I'll be sitting on the couch or the floor, and he'll come over and put all of his weight on me. I really feel special when he does this! I think this is his way of saying, "I trust you". :D

Brian and I go back and forth on whether or not to get a dog of our own. Now that I'm at home, it certainly would be easier to have one. We're also traveling less right now, and our lives aren't as hectic as in years past. I know it's a lot of work to have a well-behaved doggie, and we would certainly make sure that our dog would we one of those. It doesn't do anyone any favors to have a dog that no one can stand, least of all the dog itself. Dogs need to have rules and structure and a pack leader. It would be hard not spoiling him.

My sister had to ask me straight out not to give Jo too many treats while they're away, because it isn't good for his digestive system. I do know this, deep down, but when I see how happy it makes him to have a treat all logic flies out the window. I'm the worst kind of "Auntie" in this way (I'm afraid I'm like this as a human Auntie too).

Well, I'm off to see what Jo-Jo's up to. I just heard a small bark, which probably means there was a sudden gust of wind or a bird flew overhead. Something extremely hazardous, no doubt.

Living Longer

2010-03-23T09:01:00.000-05:00

As I was sitting in the waiting room of Fond du Lac Clinic today (for over an hour - don't get me started), I began thumbing through an old issue of Time magazine. The overall topic of that week was living longer, and of course Dr. Oz was a panelist and columnist (I don't know why, but he bugs me).

The articles were pretty interesting - one of them was about a family of 8 or 9 siblings who range in age from 79 to 96, and they're all still alive. Scientists are actually studying their family to see what sorts of factors play a role in one family having such a great track record of longevity. It is very intriguing, how some families are blessed with old age and others seem to be beset with health problems.

Knock on wood, my family is one of the lucky ones (I'm pretty superstitious, so I'm having a hard time writing this sentence). I've lost very few family members in my lifetime: my great-grandfather on my Grammie's side (he was 79 and had cancer but was a heavy smoker), my Auntie Lou-Lou, who was my Grammie's sister (she died at only 62, but she was an alcoholic and a heavy smoker and had throat cancer), and my Dad (but even though I was only 35 when he died, he was 83).

Of course, all of the doctors in these articles list things you can do to live longer: more fruits, veggies and whole grains; EXERCISE; live a stress-free life, don't smoke (or quit), etc. You know, all of the "duh" things. And yes, if you're overweight and/or don't exercise, you're at far greater risk of health problems. But not always! That's the thing! I want to be in that "not always" category, so I don't have to exercise. :D

Some of the studies published also found that "going hungry" may help people live longer. Here's my question: if you're a little hungry all the time, why would you want to live longer? For better or worse, I think one of life's greatest pleasures is good food. Yes, good food can and does include fruits and vegetables, but it's almost always accompanied by something fatty - that's why it tastes good! Of course life is going to seem a heck of a lot longer if you're hungry, because you're miserable, which I would also be if I couldn't eat yummy stuff.

I don't put a lot of stock into "doctors' findings", because they change so often. Remember the oat bran craze of the 80s? No one talks about oat bran as being the panacea anymore - it appears that pomegranates or acai berries have taken its place. Coffee seems to be a villain on and off, depending on how popular it is. Back in the 90s, when coffee was again the drug of choice, it was linked to all different types of cancer. Now, not so much.

I guess all we can do is all we can do. As I get older, I'm certainly paying more attention to how I eat and I'm trying to get more exercise. I quit smoking seven years ago, so I don't have to worry about that. Every life has some stress, but I'm quite lucky in that department too.

We'd all like to live a nice, long, healthy and happy life. Good news, all you babies born this year - you have a 50/50 chance of reaching your 100th birthday. Isn't that incredible? The only way I want to live to be 100 is if Brian's there with me (he'll only be 94!) and I'm not a loony old bat. Oh wait...I'm already there.

Stuck in Third Grade

2010-03-20T17:56:00.000-05:00

Warning: This post contains my brand of immature jokes and humor. If your humor goes beyond a third grade level, then this post probably isn't for you. If you do like scatalogical humor, read on!

I love poo humor. Its roots go very deep into my past - so far, that I may not be able to separate myself from this humor, even if I live to be 100. And I don't have a problem with that.

Some of my first memories involve "functional" humor. I grew up in an apartment building and lived in the same place from 1970-1988. My sister Jen and I always had kids around to play with. One of them was a boy named Tad. He and I were about the same age, and because he was funny (and naughty), I liked him right away. One of the most hilarious things about Tad was how he would call his poop "boomies". Jen and I thought that was the most hysterical thing we'd ever heard. It still makes me laugh. So of course, we'd ask him to say it over and over.

Even my mom got into the act. When Jen and I were about six and seven, Mom told us that when she was little, she would call going to the bathroom, "making kerplunks". Now you have to admit (if you've gotten this far into reading this) that that's funny stuff. Kudos to my mom for telling us this, because it made her seem more human, more than just "mom" as an authority figure. It was fun (and still is!) trying to picture our mom as a little girl, telling my much younger Grammie this statement. It's rather absurd, when you think about it. With as educated as my mom is, she still had to go through the same stuff that we all did. It's like picturing George Will being potty-trained - not easy to do, is it?

When I was in first grade, my best friend was Lynn Vannieuwenhoven (if you're not from around Wisconsin, I'll help you out - it's pronounced "van-even-hoven" with a long O). Every recess, Lynn and I would go to the "Poop and Pee Place" by the hill behind the school. The great thing about this place is that it had absolutely nothing to do with what we called it; we just liked saying it and it made us sound funny and "cool". All we ever did at the Poop and Pee Place was pop tar bubbles after the maintenance workers would come around and repair the cracks in the asphalt. The fun never stops when I'm around! Maybe we called it that because the tar resembled the aforementioned material. I can't remember - that was 36 years ago.

Fast forward about 15 years to college - remember the movie "Parenthood"? Remember the song that Steve Martin's kid sings in the car on the way home from Little League? I'll give you a hint:

When you're sliding into first and you're feelin' somthin' burst: Diarrhea! Diarrhea!
When you're sliding into third and you lay a juicy turd: Diarrhea! Diarrhea!
When you're sliding into home and your shorts are full of foam: Diarrhea! Diarrhea!
When you're sitting in your Chevy and your shorts are feelin' heavy: Diarrhea! Diarrhea!

My roommate Vicki and I sang this around our college house all the time. I honestly can't remember what our other roommates (there were six of us total) thought about us singing this, but I probably didn't care much. Even as I was typing out the "lyrics" to this "song" and watching the clip, I was on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. I can't help it - in a very large way, I'm stuck at eight years old. This morning, for some reason, I thought of this "song" and started singing it. Let's just say that Brian does not share my love of scatological humor.

Oh, but my nieces do!! And I had a blast telling them words and songs that only Auntie can get away with. Maybe my sister would've been upset with me too, if she weren't right there helping me out. One of my most hilarious memories of my niece Mia is when she was about two, and she said to me, "Hey Hantie (she couldn't say "Auntie"), I have a secret to tell you!" Me: "What's that, honey?" Mia, whispering in my ear: "Butts and poop." Funny, funny stuff. At least to me and my family.

Mike Myers once said on "Inside the Actors' Studio with James Lipton" that he would never stop using the "poo-poo pee-pee" humor in his work (and if you've ever seen any of his work, you know that it's filled with it). I completely understand this. And it is possible to enjoy highbrow AND lowbrow humor, even at the same time. It's why "The Simpsons" works so well, as well as the Austin Powers franchise. It's also why "Family Guy" works; just omit the highbrow part for that show.

If you don't share my love of this brand of humor, that's okay. Just know that I will feel a little sorry for you, as you're missing out on a lot of hilarity. I also look at it this way: when I'm 85, and in a nursing home, it's going to make those awkward Depends moments a lot easier to take if I can laugh about them. Maybe I'll even sing the "Diarrhea" song to the attendants.

Photo of my sister Jen and me. I'm on the left. I'm guessing this is around Christmas of 1975, which would put us at six and seven years old (I'm older).

What Price Vanity?

2010-03-19T19:51:00.000-05:00

I received my "Real Simple" magazine in the mail on Wednesday. I love my magazine subscriptions, and RS is one of my favorites. I usually skim it the first time through, read it more thoroughly in the second pass and then keep it around for a few months for the recipes and hints.

For those of you who have never read this magazine, think of it as sort of a laid-back Martha Stewart. It's loaded with time-saving hints and tips for parents and non-kidlet families alike. It's one of the only magazines I've read that I liked at 31 and will like at 61, if it's still around. Some of my favorite recipes have come from RS. The stories of real women (and men) who have faced obstacles or triumphs are always well written and insightful. They do a great job of citing sources for the items contained therein.

But I do have one issue with the magazine - the fashion section. Oh, they pick out gorgeous clothes, all right - but my question is, who wears them? I'm not talking about size here, either; yes, their models are thin, but not grossly so. No, I'm talking about price. Egads!!!

Take, for example, an outfit they show in the current (April) issue.  Some of it is clothing from Max Azria, so it's going to be expensive. But am I the only one who shrieks when I see a black jacket for $258?! A linen skirt for $595??? Seriously, who's buying these clothes??? To be fair, RS always has a "steals" page, too - but I must be super cheap when it comes to clothes, because I still wouldn't pay $44.50 for a Lands End Canvas shirt.

I feel very lucky to live in a town (small city) that doesn't pride itself on its fashion sense. In that arena, I fit right in. Here in Fond du Lac, you can dine anywhere, even if it's "upscale" (read: one place in town), in jeans. No one would bat an eye if you showed up in a "nicer" sweatshirt. You have to remember, though, that Fondy (its pet name by everyone who lives here) is a blue-collar/farm town. The good people of this town just don't care what you look like, for the most part. I have to say, it's very refreshing. Not that Green Bay, where I lived for the first 28 years of my life, was any hotbed of culture. Far from. But it was a big enough city to have an "elite". Fondy does too - they're the "Ledgers" - but not enough to change the fashion climate. Thank God.

I'm one of those people who never knows quite what to wear to a wedding, and I HATE to shell out the $150 for a new outfit (that would buy a nice stash of art supplies!). I also hate wearing heels, and that seems to be all the rage right now. I really liked the early 90's, when I was in my mid-twenties and Grunge was in. I had a ton of baggy flannel shirts and my Doc Martens, and I was comfortable. Why can't that come back into style?

I'm also pretty far out of the loop when it comes to beauty products. I do use Aveda hair products almost exclusively, and they ain't cheap.  They're also 95% naturally made, and they smell great. But the facial creams that they show in RS - WOWZERS!!! They recommend four different moisturizers, depending on skin type. They range in price from $15-$95. Are you kidding me?! I think the $15 is too expensive! Whatever happened to soap? And really - is that $95 cream six times more effective than the $15 stuff? I doubt it.

Anyone who's ever met me in person knows that I just don't care about the clothes or makeup I wear. I'm picky about my hair, and that's about it. I've been thinking a lot about possibly updating my wardrobe, but the circular argument with myself always comes back around to, why? Especially now, when I'm working with paint and glue all day, would I shell out moola for clothes that no one will see, save my trip to the grocery store or random errand? I've also come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter. People have always treated me kindly, whether I was in my cashmere sweater or my ratty old sweatshirt. Because one thing that I always do wear, whenever possible, is a smile. It's the best fashion accessory you can own.

You can go ahead and puke now. :D But it's true.  If you don't normally wear one around strangers, try it some time. It works wonders. It also makes you look younger and feel better. I can't offer a money-back guarantee, but you won't need it anyway - it's 99% effective.

Lunch

2010-03-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

Lunch. It sounds like something you'd do with a "squat", doesn't it? I mean, "with your back straight, do one lunch, followed by three squats. Do five reps of this with each leg."

Of course, "lunch" is short for "luncheon", which, in the Midwest anyway, is too hoity-toity for most people. Actually, that would be kind of funny - "So, what did you bring in your sack luncheon today?". But I digress (what else is new?).

I have been quite lucky this week in terms of lunch - on Tuesday, my friend Sue and I ate at a place called Le Soeurette, which was wonderful (check the previous blog entry for more info). Today, I had the pleasure of eating at Park Terrace, which is a sometime-restaurant inside Moraine Park, the technical college in Fond du Lac. It's in a lovely setting, with a patio that's open in the late Spring. I wish I had a photo of it, but I just couldn't find one online. I think it's a pretty well-kept secret in Fondy.

The restaurant is run by the Culinary Arts faculty and students, and they do everything, right down to hosting and serving. Every time the restaurant is open there is a different theme - today's was Tuscan. You do have a choice of entree, and there are a couple of desserts. I should've kept a menu so I could tell you exactly what was offered but my choice was the smoked salmon en croute (i.e., it was in a puff pastry). I also had the soup, which was an Andouille sausage & white bean soup. Fantastic. And for dessert? Chocolate Napoleon with a blackberry liquid nitrogen foam. Heavenly. And the cost for all of this, plus my drink? Fourteen bucks. Yes, 1-4, not 4-0. Fourteen. Amazing. The company was wonderful too - a group of six of us, including some of my artist friends. It was a two hour lunch - you can't beat that.

Okay, I digressed again - sorry about that. The point I'm really trying to make is, I love lunch! I would much rather go out to lunch than to dinner. I think a lot of people feel this way; I know my sister Jen and my mom are also big lunch fans. I also have very fond memories of lunch with my Grammie. I can't put my finger on why lunch is so great, but maybe it's because, when you're at a 'special' lunch, you sort of feel like you're playing hooky. I know that when I'd take a long lunch during my time at the Reporter, it was almost like a mini vacation. I'd forget about work for awhile and hang out with a friend or two (or five). Another bonus is that a lot of times you get the same entree as dinner, but it's a little smaller and usually cheaper.

There's also not so much "pressure" at lunch - you normally don't have to get dressed up, which I like. There's usually not an event that you have to attend afterward, so it's okay to linger longer during the afternoon. And if you want a sandwich or just a salad or bowl of soup, you don't look like a cheapskate. They expect that type of order at lunch. Or even at luncheon. :D

Don't even get me started on the delightfulness that is brunch; we'll save that for another time.

Relics from the Not-so-Distant Past

2010-03-16T22:20:00.001-05:00

Today my friend Sue and I spent the loveliest day in West Bend, a city about 45 minutes southeast of Fond du Lac. It's a little gem that I have surprisingly overlooked many times in my tenure here. They have a wonderful downtown with cute little shops and many fun restaurants, one of which we tried for lunch - Cafe Soeurette (in case you're wondering - I had the Maple Beet & Spinach Salad with a side of the Tomato Provencal soup. Absolutely delicious!).

After lunch, however, is when we discovered the mother lode at a place called Winkler's Office City (I would've put the link here, but they're not online, alas). My oh my, what a fabulous place. When you first walk in, you're met with the rather distinct odor of, well, time. That's the only way I can describe it (I've smelled the same scent before, and I'll get to that in a minute.). To the right of the entrance, up a few steps, is the "art supply" area of this store. They had a nice selection of acrylics and pencils, but it was pretty sparse otherwise. I did pick up a few paintbrushes that were on sale. Sue didn't find much either but then we ventured into the "office supply" part of the store.

Now, I didn't spend much time in office supply stores as a kid, and I came of age (in the corporate world) in about 1993. I think 100 years from now, 1993 will be a very interesting year to study, sociologically speaking. We were right on the cusp of the "Information Superhighway" (ha!) and no one really knew how to deal with it. I was still using a DOS-based computer system that would sometimes overheat and they'd send us home because the mainframe would go down for hours at a time. I was at the Green Bay Press-Gazette then, and there was still a "composing" department (all digital now, of course. These were the people who "laid out" the paper). But the Internet completely changed our world, and a great place to realize how much has changed in the last 15 years or so is an office supply store.

At Winkler's, we found the following items, amongst the thousands:

Graphic tape
Typewriter ribbons
Dry transfer sheets (today known as rub-on transfers, but these are vintage 1985 or so; see above)
Dymo labels
Key tags
Dixon-Ticonderoga pencils from about 1950
Rubber cement (with "erasers")
Printing sets (the kind where you set the teeny-tiny rubber letters yourself)

These were all legitimate supplies only a few short years ago. Now, who uses any of this stuff, besides artists? And did anyone see this coming, the end of the need for all of these items? I wonder. But wow, were we ever glad to discover these amazing goodies today (and it's very good to know that we now have a transfer connection)!

I wonder what is going to happen to this kind of office supply store in the future. Surely, there will always be a need for a Staples, for example, but I'm talking about this particular kind of place. In fact, we have something very similar in Fond du Lac called Wegner's Department Store (they're not online either), where you can still pick up an electric typewriter and ancient flash cards. It too is a gem, and it too smells of "time". I've found labels and tags and items there, such as old stencils, that I know are from the mid-Sixties. It is a living, breathing time capsule. And I'll be terribly sad to see it meet its inevitable end. Until then, I will gladly do my part to keep it going.

Warning: Person on the Street More Litigous than He Appears

2010-03-13T15:51:00.001-06:00

I was working on a project this morning that involved a woodburner. This awesome tool has a very sharp, precise and scalding hot tip. How sharp? Well, before I plugged it in this morning (thank GOD) I dropped it, and the tip impaled itself into the linoleum and left a small hole. If it had been plugged in at the time, I would've burned a lovely hole there too.

So as I was plugging it in, I noticed what the tag said that was attached to the plug. It says, and I quote:

"This appliance has a polarized plug (one blade is wider than the other). To reduce the risk of electric shock, this plug is intended to fit in a polarized outlet only one way. If the plug does not fit fully in the outlet, reverse the plug. If it still does not fit, contact a qualified electrician. Do not modify the plug in any way."

Are you SERIOUS? My first thought was, how stupid do they think I am? But of course, we all know that this has nothing to do with people's idiocy. Much.

About 10 years ago or so, there was a book that came out called "The Warning Label Book: Warning: Reading This Book May Cause Spontaneous, Uncontrollable Laughter". And yeah, it's pretty funny. It's basically a book of stupid warning labels that come with products. One of my favorites is a warning label from a windshield cover: "Warning: Never drive with the windshield cover on your windshield.". How bad has it gotten that we have to warn people about these types of things!?

Apparently, pretty bad. If you're up as early as Brian and me, you know that lawyers spend a LOT of money running ads like "Have you been seriously hurt in a car accident?" and "If you or someone you know died or was seriously injured using the pain patch Blahblahblah, call us. You may be entitled to a large cash award."

So you see, it really has nothing to do with people being that dumb; it has everything to do with people (and some lawyers) trying to make some easy cash.

Now, before you jump on me for ripping on lawyers, I said some lawyers. I have friends that are lawyers, but they're not THIS type of lawyer (read: ambulance chasers). And yes, some class-action lawsuits should indeed happen for the benefit of everyone that was wronged. I'm talking about the type of people who sip scalding hot coffee and sue for millions when it burns them. I'm talking about the type of people who sue because the baby in the E*Trade ads is clearly ripping off their persona (yes, this is real..WTH?!?).

Remember back when we could play with metal Tonka trucks? Or when aspirin came without tamper-proof caps? Or when there were actually people with common sense who wouldn't obviously try to futz with the plug on a woodburner so it will fit in their apparently 19th century home (I'm only assuming someone tried to do this, and that's why the warning label was placed there)? And in case you're wondering, yes - the warning label doesn't end there. There is another entire paragraph about how this WOODBURNER is extremely hot and could cause burns or fire. I know you're all relieved that we've been duly warned.

Before I sign off, I suggest that you make your OWN warning label! It's really fun. The one that I made is the image above. :D

ATCs

2010-03-11T08:54:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I haven't written a blog post before about ATCs, considering how much they are a part of my life. Oh lordy - where do I begin? At the beginning? Alright.

I was on my lunch break at The Reporter in the summer of 2006. It was a routine of mine on my breaks to hit my favorite haunts downtown - The Knitting Room, As You Wish, Bookworld, the Fond du Lac Antique Mall and of course, Bagelmeister. This particular day, I believe it was in August or September, I had gone to Bookworld for my latest stash of magazines (I was, and still am, a magazine junky. I'm getting better, though). I was looking through the knitting magazines, as that was my hobby/obsession at the time, and came across a magazine called Cloth Paper Scissors. I've always loved paper, and the title was intriguing, so I thumbed through it.

I was instantly mesemerized. I bought the magazine, pored over it at lunch, and then read it cover to cover when I got home. I had always been interested in doing some sort of artwork, but I didn't realize there was a whole culture of people who had the interest but may not have been classically trained or educated as an artist. Like me.

Throughout the magazine, the articles kept referring to ATCs. The problem was, nowhere in the magazine did it give a definition about what an ATC was! If only there were some way I could find out....well, once I got online, I found an entire universe filled with people who were making Artist Trading Cards. This intrigued me even further, so I spent every night for a week researching how to make them, how to trade them, where to trade them, etc. It was like discovering the Holy Grail.
(For those of you who are reading that don't know what an ATC [Artist Trading Card] is: it is the size of a baseball card, 2.5" X 3.5", made from any material [paper, quilted, polymer clay, etc.] with any medium. I prefer collage, but others do just watercolor or metal. It's all up to the artist. When you're done with your cards, you NEVER sell them; you trade them with other artists, either online or in a live trade, which is what I prefer.)

I began trading on Swapbot.com, which is an online community where you trade not only ATCs but all sorts of things. Because it's Swapbot, however, that means that you're paired with someone via a bot, not a real person. So you never know who you're going to get. Some people that I've met on Swapbot I am still online friends with; however, once bitten, twice shy. I made what I thought were quality items and many times never got anything in return. So I quit Swapbot and turned to Flickr and ATCsforall.com. These are far better, in my opinion; first of all, you get to see who you're trading with. The quality of cards is far superior, too.

Because of my connection with ATCsforall, I met Carolyn Brady. She was trying to set up a live trading group in the southern WI/northern IL area for quite a while when, in the summer of '07, it just clicked. The first-ever meeting of the Milwaukee ATC group was in August of that year. I attended my first one in September, and have been an active member ever since.

Since that fateful day nearly three years ago, as a direct result of that group I have:

*Met about 100 new people with a common interest
*Learned thousands of new art techniques and tips
*Set up my own Etsy shop
*Taught three classes
*Posted all of my work on my Flickr photostream and gotten paid work from it
*Gained enough confidence to forge ahead and quit my day job and become a full-time artist

So now you can see why I can honestly say that ATCs have changed my life. They are no longer a "hobby"; they are a passion. I have no idea where this passion will lead me; all I know is that I'm along for the ride.

(The image is my name tag that I made for our live trades.)

Nectar of the Gods

2010-03-09T20:02:00.000-06:00

I love coffee.

No, too weak - I doubt I could live happily without coffee (Better.). It is my last vice (I gave up smoking and I just can't drink like I used to) and rain or shine, summer or winter, sickness or in health, it greets me every morning. It is the last grocery item for which I still splurge.

Like so many of my peers, I grew up with a mom and dad that both drank coffee, although their routine was far different from mine. In the 70's, at least at my house, my mom would get up, have a cig and make the coffee in a percolator. The coffee of choice for them was Maxwell House or Folgers - and then, in 1977, when coffee prices skyrocketed, they switched to instant. I think my dad complained about it every single morning. Hey, I would've too! Remember that old style of instant, like Taster's Choice? EWW. It is far better now, but I can still tell. Eventually, they switched back to regular. My dad's taste buds were so shot near the end of his life that he would put salt in with the grounds, "to bring out the flavor more". Now THAT'S a coffee addict.

I remember going over to my Grammie's house as a kid and seeing her tins of General Foods International Coffees. I thought she was rich, because I remember hearing from my parents how expensive this stuff was. It still is - I'll get back to this in a minute.

My first real taste of coffee was a trial by fire - Viennese coffee. I was 19 and was in Vienna/Salzburg/Budapest for a month, in between semesters. That trip was memorable for many reasons, but a milestone occured when I came back to the States a full-fledged coffee drinker (it's a national pasttime over there - you'd start drinking it too if it meant you could go into their coffee houses, which are AWESOME). Well, almost - those early cups had about a 1/4 cup of sugar and half of it was milk, but it was still coffee. That was in 1988.

Then the Coffee Decade came upon us. I got married (the first time) in 1992, and one of our wedding presents was an espresso maker. Dan (my first husband) and I were instantly hooked. The problem was, the machine was a bitch to clean and the way we drank coffee, it didn't pay. It became a part-time job keeping us caffeinated. So we switched to a Mr. Coffee and a grinder. We had a friend that worked at Starbucks in Seattle (when it was new and cool to work at Starbucks) and she'd send us "care packages". That's when our coffee habit became out of control.

Around late 2001, I joined Gevalia, a service that delivers coffee right to your door. They have these great offers where, when you join, you get a free Krups cofffee maker. We were in need of a new coffee maker, so I joined, got the first shipment of coffee, and quit. I did this again, when I ventured out on my own, but I didn't quit. I still get shipments every 14 weeks. It's really good coffee. But we may need a new coffee maker soon, so it may be time to quit.

Okay, back to General Foods International Coffees (which shall from here on out be called GFIC for the sake of economy and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome). Brian and I call these coffees our 'back up'. Whenever we don't want to make a fresh pot, we make ourselves some GFIC. They have great flavors - I'm partial to the "cafes" but Brian likes the "lattes". Have you ever had one of the lattes? I swear they have the same ingredient as Pop Rocks - when you mix the water in with the powder, it crackles and forms a "froth" at the top, to make it look like a real latte. It sounds gross but they're really quite tasty. At $3 per tin, it's cheaper than a run to Starbucks, but still pretty expensive. When you're a coffee junky, though, you do what you gotta do.

I know that I'll be one of those old people that will still insist on regular coffee as opposed to decaf, even at 4 p.m. when I know I'll be up half the night. I'll deal. It's the price I'll pay for my addiction.

Artwork by me

Some Random Thoughts about the Oscars

2010-03-08T19:51:00.001-06:00

Did any of you watch the Academy Awards last night? What did you think? They always complain that it goes long, but has it ever ended on time? Maybe the first year, but no one cared and they were probably all three sheets to the wind (Prohibition, shmohibition!).

I thought Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin did a nice job, but what was with Alec's fake British accent? He launched into it a couple of times during the evening - once when they were talking about the mystical "wood sprites" of Avatar and then later on he did it again - odd. Also, is there some bad blood between Alec and George Clooney? What was with all of the sneers and beady-eyed looks with those two? Anyone know? Was there some feud that I was not aware of?

I felt so bad for the poor guy who had won for the documentary short, "Music by Prudence". He obviously had his speech all prepared, and was doing a fine job, thank you very much - when all of a sudden, some lady jumps up onstage and totally steals his thunder!! At first, Brian and I looked at her like perhaps she was some nut job that could possibly do some damage. She was never named (could it be Elinor Burkett?), and then the music started to play, so Roger Ross Williams, the director, couldn't finish his speech. She looked like a fool, whoever she was (okay, I just now went to the Oscar website, and it indeed WAS Elinor Burkett, and they're calling her Lady Kanye. HA!!).

Was it just me, or did you notice that there may have been an extra laugh track? There were a couple jokes that Steve and Alec made that got laughs a little too early after they were told, like someone was anticipating the end of the joke. This seemed particularly apparent in the beginning of the broadcast. And I don't know about you, but sometimes hi-def isn't always the best, sound-wise, especially if it picks up every little sound backstage. There were an awful lot of bangs and crashes - it felt like I was back doing community theatre!

I thought the John Hughes tribute was really cool. I also felt supremely old, especially seeing Judd Nelson for the first time in about 20 years or so. Holy smokes! I mean, I realize that the Brat Pack are nearing 50 (YIKES) but it was still a shocker. Now I know why my mom and dad would say stuff like that about Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra back in the day. But it was neat to hear all of them eulogize John in their own way.

Speaking of eulogizing, the set-up for the Best Lead Actor and Best Lead Actress sort of feels that way, doesn't it? Don't get me wrong - I LOVE it. But I would be a puddle of weeping goo if I were nominated in that category and had to be forced to hear someone say such nice things about me like that. Can you imagine what that was like for Gabourey Sidibe?! I mean, it's FREAKING OPRAH for God's sake, and a year and a half ago this girl was just a regular student. Incredible!

As for the winners - everyone seemed most gracious last night, didn't they? I really thought that the big winners - Mo'Nique, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, Kathryn Bigelow - they all gave such lovely speeches. There was no drama in them, no one spouted political rhetoric (agree or disagree - it just doesn't belong at the ceremony), no one got overly emotional - it was just very subdued and nice to watch. But oh, was I ever thrilled that James Cameron didn't win Best Director or Avatar for Best Picture! Hooray! I told Brian that if he did win, and said "I'm king of the world" or "I'm king of Pandora!" or something stupid like that, a brick was going to be hurled through the TV. The only good thing about James Cameron is that he's Canadian. Kudos to Kathryn Bigelow for not rubbing her win in his face (you probably know this already, but Ms. Bigelow is James Cameron's ex-wife). I don't think it was an accident that they were seated right in a row like that, either. Awkward!!

I've started my list of documentaries and movies that I want to put in my Netflix queue - first and foremost, A Single Man for movie and Logorama for documentary. If there's one thing the Oscars are good for, it's finding new movies for us to see that we probably wouldn't know about otherwise. Now, to find more time...

*Postscript: To whoever is in charge of the singin' and dancin' for every awards show - just do us all a big favor and hire Neil Patrick Harris for ALL of them. Thank you.

Spring has Sprung!

2010-03-07T16:19:00.002-06:00

I love Wisconsin. I love that we have four distinct seasons - they may not all be the same length (winters can feel like an eternity here), but we experience the full gamut of temperatures.

And I wouldn't have it any other way. It's true what they say - that you have to take the bad with the good, and with the right attitude, the bad just makes the good all the better.

Such was the case today. Here in Fond du Lac, we're having the most beautiful late winter day that one living in these parts could ask for. The temp is hovering at around 42F (or 6C for my Canadian and Continental friends reading), it's perfectly sunny, the snow is melting, and it's the perfect day for a walk. Brian and I went for a walk earlier, and it seemed as though the entire neighborhood was out enjoying the weather, walking their dogs and, in the case of the guys on our street, doing unnecessary random yard things.

It's hard to be in a bad mood on a day like today. There are signs of new life everywhere - the trees are budding, new homes are being built, I saw some Canada Geese today - and, best of all, I could smell someone barbecuing.

Yes, in the middle of February, nearly all of us here wish we lived in Florida. But I'm really glad we don't. I think I would miss the excitement that spring (and fall! And summer!) offers. As we get older, time seems to go faster because, according to neurologists and memory experts, we don't experience as many "new" things. There is a lot more routine in our lives, so there isn't much of a "learning curve" to deal with. But with the change of seasons, we get the chance to discover the newness all over again. We have the opportunity to find new ways to enjoy the change - maybe play a new sport that the season offers (softball in the summer, skiing in the winter) or bird watch or chase storms. Maybe this year I'll try "plein air" painting.

Wherever you live, take the time to savor the first nice days of whatever season is upon you (I'll bet you're VERY happy that it's almost fall, western Australians!). You may even feel time slowing down!

*Artwork by me

New and Improved!

2010-03-04T09:05:00.002-06:00

I'm going to go on a little rant - has anyone in the States or Canada seen the ad for Charmin toilet paper, where they talk about "fewer pieces left behind", and they show this bear (not bare, get it?) butt with little pieces of toilet paper on it??

Am I the only one grossed out by this? Really, every time I see this I just get disgusted all over again. There have been commercials for toilet paper since the 50s, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think 99.9% of viewers know what it's used for. I don't think we need to be slapped in the face with what this particular product can do for us.

Maybe it's because so many people are using DVRs to record their shows now, and advertisers are panicking about how to make their commercials noticeable. Many are turning to humor in their ads, which is making some commercial viewing a lot more fun lately (I really like the new Old Spice ads). People seem to really like the E*Trade baby spots; personally, I find them disturbing (although, I do like the word "milkaholic").

Local ads are, well, still local ads. Brian and I watch the "Daily Buzz" in the morning so we see the same 10 ads rotated every weekday. It is hilarious to see people like none other than Capt. Kirk himself shilling for Milwaukee law firm Hupy & Abraham - I always wonder how much he got paid for that. I worked in the TV biz for four years, and helped with commercial production as a "production peon", so I have seen the tremendous acting ability of local talent in action (italics denote sarcasm). I hear it's actually becoming more affordable to advertise on TV, because the competition for this here Interweb is so intense. That's wonderful news, because we will be treated to more local talent than ever before!

Oh sure - I talk a good talk. But my mom said that when I was really little - as young as two or three - I had no interest in TV programs but would come running out of my room when I heard the commercials. I have always loved watching commercials. Any time one of those TV specials with the foreign ads runs, I will watch it. Any time I get a "forward" that includes a funny TV spot, I will save it for future viewing (especially true when I worked a 9-5 job). And yes, some commercials may annoy the heck out of me, but I don't turn off the TV when they come on. Sometimes it's just as much fun to ridicule a commerical than it is to watch one that is truly enjoyable.

I'm afraid that advertisers missed the mark with me, though - I have never bought something because I saw it on an ad. Sometimes I wonder - does this work on anyone? Really? I would love to hear if any of you actually ran out and bought an item because you saw it advertised on TV. It has to work, or there wouldn't be commericals! But I just have to wonder who's buying and why.

I shouldn't complain about commercials (or any advertising, for that matter) at all - that advertising paid my salary for a total of nearly 13 years of my life. I'm just asking that we not see any more ads that feature toilet paper shrapnel. Stop the madness, Charmin!

Jeopardy!

2010-03-02T09:09:00.001-06:00

With the advent of DVR, Brian and I don't watch much live TV anymore. But there is one exception, and it's a show that we follow with nearly religious devotion -

Jeopardy!.

I suppose this TV viewing would also qualify as being somewhat geriatric. I can say this with some degree of certainty, seeing as how all of the on-show commercials are for Poli-Grip and Osteo Bi-Flex. But I digress.

I LOVE Jeopardy!. I always have, or at least since the retooling of the show back in '84 (those of you who are reading this blog that are past "a certain age" may remember the Art Fleming-hosted Jeopardy! back in the 60's. I wasn't born yet, but I have seen reruns). When it first came back on the air, I was a sophomore in high school and, even though I was barely passing most of the classes I was taking at the time (my first semester that year I had three Ds and an F), I always kicked some butt at Jeopardy!.

Over the years, it's been interesting to see how the show has changed. Every 2-3 years they change the set, but I do believe the questions have gotten easier, too. There seems to be a lot more pop culture mixed in with the "17th Century Royalty" categories. And now that King Features Syndicate has been swallowed up by Sony, there are a lot more, albeit subtle, plugs for Sony products (Playstation 3 was a popular "answer" about two years ago).

One of my favorite reasons to watch, though, is a snarky one. I secretly love it when Alex lambasts the contestants when they answer incorrectly. If you want to see Alex get really mad, then watch when someone answers a question about Canada wrong. Hoo boy! You can almost see the slow burn! Of course, it's easy to sound high falutin when you have the answers right in front of you, isn't it, Alex?

Of course, like most Jeopardy! devotees, it has always been a dream of mine to become a contestant. I even took the online test last year (note to self: you should've paid more attention in school). Unfortunately, as long as I still have friends in the TV biz, even if I were to be picked, I'd be disqualified - I know too many people who work for CBS, the distribution company for the show. But let's say I were free and clear to be on the show - I have a feeling I'd be one of those people to have a negative balance after Double Jeopardy, and therefore unable to play Final Jeopardy. Oh sure, the game looks easy when you're sitting at home watching, but can you imagine the pressure when you're up there? And forget about it if there are any geography or science questions!

If all of this "Dumbing Down of America" talk is true, though, I'll be a shoo-in in about 15 years. By then, the questions will resemble the ones that Will Ferrell's "Alex" asks the celebrity contestants on Saturday Night Live. If I get lucky enough to be on the program the night that "Your Ass or a Hole in the Ground" is a category - I'll run it for sure.

GERMS!

2010-02-28T08:57:00.001-06:00

I don't know about any of you, but I feel that this obsession with being clean has gone a bit overboard. Yes, germ-free is fantastic in a place that should be sterile, like your doctor's office. But to me, a few germs isn't such a bad thing. For instance, you will never catch me with hand sanitizer in my purse. I've always held the belief that that which does not kill me, will only make me stronger. Which apparently is Kanye West's motto also.

I was in a public restroom, though, that gave me the willies a little, and for a stupid reason - they had a soap dispenser with a pump. Now at first, you'd probably think, "Oh, great! At least it's not some disgusting BAR of soap!". But think about it - where you put your hand to dispense the soap is where possibly hundred of others have also put their (unwashed!) hand to dispense.

And because this thought was so uncharacteristic of me, my mind began to wander about the other myriad places that may seem innocuous, but are more than likely teeming with millions of germies just waiting to get us. So here is a short list of places and things that, unfortunately, will probably make me think twice now:

My gloves. Or rather, the insides of my gloves. We touch doorknobs, money, all kinds of dirty things - and then we stick our grimy mitts inside gloves. Probably not a very clean place, when you think about it. But now I'm thinking about it. Ew.

Community newspapers at restaurants. No, not "Your Hometown Newspaper Since 1870!"-type community newspaper - "community", as in, everyone's read it. Usually occurs at places like McDonald's and "family" restaurants, where older people tend to congregate (hence, the newspaper). I just hope they washed their hands before they picked it up and read it (not likely).

Airports. This one's a no-brainer. I can't think of a place on earth that's germier than an airport - okay, maybe a bus terminal. No - okay, I've changed my mind - a bus terminal would be worse. Yep. Oh yeah. Definitely worse.

Clothes on the rack at the store. Dang it! Now WHY did I have to think about this one? I already despise buying clothes; now I'm going to wonder whose B.O.-ridden pits have met the sweater I'm about to try on. Grody!

Alright! There you have it. I hope I haven't ruined your day with my bizarre ramblings. Perhaps you are a germophobe and these thoughts are old hat to you. I actually hope this is the case. If not, then maybe we all should start carrying sanitizer in our purses or pockets. Or start bathing in it.