Sunday, May 22, 2005

Playing Home Owner Today

I've been playing home owner all day today. Geez... what a dull thing to do.

I painted more in the soon-to-be library. I have just a little touching up to do and very little paint from that gallon left so hopefully it will last until I get through.

I also went and bought the other paint. This is a beige and I'm going to sponge over this funky green and some metallics. The green is called "pianist" and is a kilz brand. I've never used Kilz paint so this will be a good experiment. I have used all sorts of different kinds of paint to see which I like best. I'll add this to my list of things I've tried after this.

I'm eager to see what it looks like so I'm sure I'll do some of it tonight.

I've been outside for the last couple of hours. I washed off the porch, which is no easy feat because I have to move all my rocks to spray under them and then put them all back. Then I sprayed the lawn with this stuff you hook up to the garden hose and it's supposed to kill the weeds and green up the lawn. Well, we'll see. The jury is out on that one. I'll report back.

I did have a bright spot of fun, though. Trish called and asked if I wanted to go to lunch. I had just come downstairs when the phone rang so it was good timing. We were having a wonderful conversation but had to stop because she was going to the high school graduation that was this afternoon.

Well, I'm off to put some funky green on the walls and see what it looks like...

Things About Me 103-224

OK... so now I can't stop doing this... Once my brain got into this mode it just kept on going. Don't worry - I'm sure I'll become bored with this soon too. Oooh.. there's the start of another list... I bore easily!

103. I love old diners and restaurants.
104. I love my Birks - and other comfy shoes.
105. I was hit on by a lesbian at Lilith Fair. Yes, she was wearing Birks. No, I declined her offer. Got no problem with it - just happen to like the equipment men come with best.
106. I have participated in a major, award-winning, oral history project.
107. One of my radio pieces is in a time capsule at the Cosmosphere.
108. I can crochet and knit and embroider.
109. I love kitsch.
110. Monet's gardens at Giverny used to be one of my favorite spots on Earth. Now the hoardes of tourists ruin the effect for me.
111. Willie Nelson told me I had "beautiful blue eyes" once.
112. I have covered all the public areas of the Louvre.
113. I've been alone inside Stonehenge.
114. I've been alone inside the tomb of Unas.
115. I climbed the Red Pyramid.
116. I love old cemetaries.
117. I've studied French. Extensively. Mais je ne parle pas francais.
118. I've studied Spanish. No hablo espanol.
119. I've studied heirogylphics. No hope I can ever manage that. I know a few things but no way can I read them.
120. I've never been married.
121. I've never been pregnant. (That I know of, anyway.)
122. I've had wonderful men in my life. I have great taste in boyfriends.
123. My mother taught me to be happy. It was a wonderful gift.
124. I have no parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles left.
125. I am fascinated by serial killer stories. No... I don't want to marry one... just want to study them like a bug under a microscope.
126. I enjoy thinking/reading/talking about quantum physics.
127. I am part Cherokee.
128. I know how to shoot a gun and use a bow and arrow. I'm pretty good with both.
129. I've never been arrested.
130. I've never even had a speeding ticket.
131. I sued a company once for packing a worm in a can of corn. I lost.
132. I want the world to be "fair" and will fight battles that are not my own. I also think companies shouldn't pack worms in cans or corn, and sell them as "wholesome," but a jury didn't agree so what do I know?
133. I love to dress up - Halloween, Ren Fest, whatever.
134. I don't like scary movies. Fear is not an emotion I enjoy so I don't pay people to induce it in me.
135. A drawing of my hand was used on a billboard once.
136. I never cheat. I'm a 1000% faithful in any relationship.
137. I don't believe in keeping a spotless house - too much energy for too little return.
138. I make very good pie crust.
139. I plan great parties.
140. I don't believe in regret.
141. I've fixed tea, with a dozen things on the plate, for 100.
142. I carry wet wipes with me at all times. Hate germs.
143. I don't mind the blood on accident scenes but the sounds people make when they're really hurt get to me.
144. I've never dyed my hair. (Although as more gray appears, this will change.)
145. I rarely take any over the counter medication.
146. I love Christmas.
147. I've never had a traditional birthday party.
148. I love my long hair.
149. I can't wear a watch - they stop working on me.
150. I seek others who see beyond the limits of this dimension in which we live.
151. I believe in the power of thought.
152. I like good old boys - minus the trans-am and the skoal.
153. I love fun surprises.
154. My mother didn't know she was pregnant with me for quite some time. Took modern medicine a four day hospital stay to figure it out. The local "witch doctor" had told her weeks before just from looking at her across a room.
155. I think on dozens of tracks all at the same time.
156. Writing helps me figure thing out.
157. I have a great interest in the civil rights movement.
158. I admire Mamie Till.
159. I think Minnow was right when he said TV was a "vast wasteland." It has only gotten worse since then.
160. I love rivers. I am a person of rivers.
161. I have some issues with the concept of women's rights. I'd like "people's rights."
162. I think we need to accept that there are some differences between the genders.
163. I am not politically correct a large part of the time.
164. I am not ethnocentric regarding being an American.
165. I love long bubble baths.
166. I know education is the key to solving all the world's problems.
167. I get very pissed off at the extremes of any political situation.
168. I want to stop having the abortion debate. I want to get rid of unwanted pregnancy and therefore never have abortion again.
169. I am fascinated by the minds of people who do things far outside the "norm" - like mothers who kill their own children. Don't want to emulate them - just want to question them.
170. I'm a good interviewer - it was one of my great skills in radio.
171. I have a good voice - if I lived in a larger city I could probably make a living by doing voice work.
172. I can't act.
173. I can't dance.
174. I can play piano.
175. I was a music major. Briefly.
176. I've never been hungry and not known food was available. That is something most Americans can say, but not most of the rest of the world.
177. I have done therapy.
178. I have been in caves.
179. I have been on mountains.
180. I have been at a volcano.
181. I have been on the sea.
182. I have looked at the Mediterrean, the Atlantic, the Pacific and sailed the Panama Canal.
183. I have done pieces for NPR and CBS.
184. I have a large birthmark.
185. I can't tell left/right without looking at my birthmark.
186. I have won awards for news, public relations and graphic design.
187. I find the French to be lovely people. The British seem to hate me - always rude to me when I'm there.
188. I have been to an Egyptian wedding.
189. I am not a jealous sort. I believe in trust - not jealousy.
190. I have had three broken bones.
191. I have never had stitches.
192. I am impressed with people who have vision. I used to work for a man who had tremendous vision. And he could see how to take it from vision to reality.
193. I've never met a very powerful person who didn't have a vice. (Think: Clinton and women; Bush and cocaine; etc. etc. etc.)
194. My family history goes back to France in the 12th century. Or so we think anyway.
195. Some people think I'm a computer geek. I'm really just a geek wanna be. I don't know enough to be a geek.
196. I was published in the India Times once. Yeah, the one that's published in India.
197. I came home from the hospital on Christmas Day.
198. I still have most of my childhood toys - including my first doll.
199. My grandmother was blind.
200. I can drive a stick shift.
201. I own a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Doesn't everyone?
202. I have over 1000 cookbooks.
203. I have every letter I've ever gotten - and copies of many I've written.
204. I adore perfume. Nice perfume. Expensive perfume. I wear it every day - even if I'm just in my house alone.
205. I'm not a big jewelry person. But I like to make jewelry. Go figure.
206. I love to make art with other people.
207. Making things with other people is a bonding experience.
208. I have no savings. I have debt. Money is a continual thorn in my side.
209. I've been to Graceland.
210. I'm not especially modest.
211. I can't rollerskate. I've tried. It's not pretty.
212. I can make truffles. And divinity. And fudge.
213. I make a killer carrot cake.
214. I'm not into celebrities. At all.
215. But I do want my Mtv.
216. I painted my kitchen blue and yellow because Monet's kitchen is blue and yellow. Although I did use much more intense colors.
217. My upstairs bathroom color was chosen from some embroidery floss.
218. I hate snakes. Getting bitten by one this spring did not change my opinion of them any.
219. I've been to Nicaragua.
220. I studied handwriting analysis.
221. I love the feeling of sleeping in a chilly room under tons of blankets.
222. I have planned concerts, receptions, weddings, teas, garden tours, homes tours and dozens of other events.
223. My favorite journals are Claire Fontaine quad notebooks about 7 by 9 inches. Unfortunately, they're unavailable in the US.
224. I love to be in love.

Despite my Sloth Level...

Despite my sloth level, I must go upstairs and paint more... So, this will be the last one of these for me for a while... But, no reason you can't go there and test your liklihood of going to hell. 14% doesn't seem too bad, given my past...











Your Deadly Sins



Greed: 40%

Sloth: 40%

Lust: 20%

Envy: 0%

Gluttony: 0%

Pride: 0%

Wrath: 0%

Chance You'll Go to Hell: 14%

You'll die in a shuttle crash, on your way to your resort on the moon.

More tests

OK... of course, I've become immediately addicted to these things...

My "sociability" is only "medium?" Hmmmm... I thought I was pretty outgoing and sociable...



Your Extroversion Profile:


Activity Level: Very High
Assertiveness: Very High
Friendliness: Very High
Cheerfulness: High
Excitement Seeking: High
Sociability: Medium

Thinking Style

I'm a sucker for various little tests... Don't know why... always have been. Knowing of my addiction, someone sent this to me... you can do it too! They're right on with the first one - not so sure about the second one - I think a few more questions would have helped clear that up. But... fun...


Your Dominant Thinking Style:

Exploring

You thrive on the unknown and unpredictable. Novelty is your middle name.
You are a challenger. You tend to challenge common assumptions and beliefs.

An expert inventor and problem solver, you approach everything from new angles.
You show people how to question their models of the world.

Your Secondary Thinking Style:

Modifying

Super logical and rational, you consider every fact available to you.
You don't make rash decisions and are rarely moved by emotion.

You prefer what's known and proven - to the new and untested.
You tend to ground those around you and add stability.

Defining Oneself

I have been thinking a great deal about how we define ourselves, and how that impacts our worlds.

Tonight I have been surfing through blogs of various sorts - many, many blogs - at random. I've noticed the desire people have to define themselves in terms of disease. Now, I have to say, I have been *blessed* to not suffer from any chronic condition, so I don't know how that affects one's life. But, I do find it curious that one's disease is so important that it is often THE thing that is mentioned as a definition or one of two or three things that is mentioned as the most important things to note about a person in a profile or bio.

In the past I've noted this with regard to "survivor" or "victim" status. It's noted with a pride that is odd to me. We've all been victims and we're all survivors of various things, but I don't define myself in that fashion. It seems very limiting to me. If the most important thing about me is that I survived something 30 years ago, I need to examine what I've done in those 30 years. Surely I've done something else that's noteworthy.

Of course, that may have been what I call a "defining moment," but it's not the only thing that defines me. At least I hope not.

Humans are infinitely complex in many ways. I'm not sure why we want to keep ourselves in these small little boxes, defining ourselves as "survivors" or "sufferers" or whatever. Are we not bigger than this? More complex? More inventive?

This begs the question of how I define myself..... I guess the 101 things does some of that for me..... If I had to do a 15 second elevator speech for myself I'm not sure what I'd put in it...

Off the top of my head:
Creative person with an old soul... looking to connect with others on the same path...

I'll have to give that some thought.

A Saturday in the House

I worked on some computer projects most of the day. I created some free downloads of computer wallpaper to put on my website. Someone asked about having one from the monoprint I use as the buttons on my website. So, I did three different ones today. I'm usually a plain blue background kind of girl but I am using one of these now and it is kind of fun.

I did not leave the house until about 7:30 this evening - it has been HOT - and I've been enjoying the AC. I went and picked up my friend, Sondra, tonight and we went to Skaets for a moonburger. The sky was beautiful and it was one of the rare occasions when I didn't have my digital camera with me. It was cloudy and there was lightning but it looks like we're not going to get any rain after all.

After dinner, we went back to Sondra's and I looked at the various projects she's been working on in her house. Sondra has a wonderful old house that she's always doing something with. It's good for me to talk to her - it inspires me to work more on my own house.

Today I painted a bit more in what will be the library. I am torn about what to do with the walls in there. I'm just putting on a beige-y base coat. My plan is to sponge over some other colors. My first thought was a chocolate brown and copper metalic color. Then I considered an Egyptian look with a blue and gold sponged over. Tonight I went to Walmart to pick up some things and noticed a very nice leafy-sagey green. I think it with some copper highlights would be fabulous. It also looks good with the chocolate brown. So, I'm headed upstairs shortly with the various color chips to give it a look see.

Regardless of what I do paint wise, it will still be some effort to get things done in there as I want to add a number of shelving units and those will have to all be put together. And then the 40 plus boxes of cookbooks put on them. I do NOT enjoy hauling boxes of books up the stairs! Maybe I can hire a couple of high school kids who's like a little extra cash to do that.

There is a company in town that I've never hired but a friend has - two guys and a truck. They charge a flat hourly rate. I think I might just hire them to do it. I have been taking a box up whenever I go upstairs but I've now got those in the sun porch and they're in the way. So, I decided no more until I get the library done.

I also worked on a project for an art group today - an address book I committed to. I have my design done, but it requires some hand painting on each one. I thought I had printed enough that they were all done, but I realized after cutting them that I need a few more. So, I printed them and will paint those tonight. I like to slather on paint, so it takes awhile to dry. It seems my studio is constantly covered with things in various stages of drying.

I'm thinking about making a section of my website for "in the studio" with pix of whatever I'm working on. It might not always look very tidy but it seems to be of interest to people. Whenever I have work people here, or sometimes friends, people seem fascinated by whatever is spread out to dry. So, it might be fun to share that on the website.