Category Archives: quotes

pollock self-portrait

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I did this self-portrait on a website that lets you paint in the style of Jackson Pollock. That’s me in the morning before my coffee. A couple of hints if you want to try it out. It’s a very simple program, clicking the left mouse button changes the colors, press the Space key to erase and start over, if you get something you like hit the Print Screen (Capture) key on your keyboard, that copies the screen to your clipboard. Go into your photo program and open a new image under File the same size as the image on the clipboard, paste and crop. Easy squeezey.

We work in the dark, We do what we can, We give what we have, Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task, The rest is the madness of art. ~Henry James

just be

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As we were getting ready to go to the hospital to see the kids when they lost the baby last week, I was trying to think of something to say, you know, something all motherly and wise that would help them feel better. Suddenly, two words came into my head, a gentle whisper from the universe that quieted my racing mind. I heard “just be” and I realized that there were no words that would make them feel better. No matter how powerful we mothers like to think our mother-love is, sometimes we just can’t protect our children from life’s sorrows. Sometimes all we can do is just be and let them know that we love them.

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

spring wildflowers

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Every spring I can see these white wildflowers blooming in the commons behind my house. This year I walked out and photographed them so I could find out what they were. I discovered a great web site for identifying wildflowers, My Wildflowers.com where I figured out that they are Sanguinaria canadensis, commonly known as Bloodroot. Turns out they produce a rather nasty toxin called Sanguinarine, which interestingly enough the FDA has approved for use in toothpaste as an anti-plaque, antibacterial agent. Hmm, think I’ll run up to the health food store and get me some Tom’s of Maine Toothpaste.

We are all trying to stay busy around here, trying not to live completely in our heads and reliving the pain of the past week, yet leaving ourselves time to honor our sadness too. The baby was due a week before my birthday on September 7th, which this year also happens to be Grandparent’s Day. Our lovely daughter-in-law’s birthday is coming up soon and me and Mr. bookbabie decided to take the kids on a short trip, we all feel like we need to get away.

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

snark bytes

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From Wikipedia: Someecards.com is a free online Ecards service created by Brook Lundy and Duncan Mitchell, and designed by Jerry Tamburro. The content of Someecards is comprised exclusively of parodies of the sentiments found in the traditional Hallmark greeting card, and often features content that could be considered cruel or offensive if taken seriously. Someecard’s deadpan humor has drawn approval from those for whom traditional greeting and Ecards do not appeal, especially younger urban audiences.

I’m not younger (unless you’re comparing me with my husband, or my brother, or most of my girlfriends, or Dennis my blogger friend in Texas) and I’m not urban either (more like suburban-ex-urbanite who wouldn’t mind a few acres in the country to build my “green” house on someday) but I still get a kick out of the Ecards on that website. Just make sure you only send them to people who can appreciate a very dry, very snarky sense of humor!

“What makes you think the whole world revolves around you?!” my mother said, as I slowly rotated to maintain eye contact. ~John Alejandro King

signs of spring

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The last few days have been lovely here in Michigan. We’ve had lots of golden sunshine and warm temperatures, it felt soo good after such a long, snowy winter. The other day I spotted that photo of the cranes on flickr leech and I don’t know why but it just made me really happy! I’m posting it with permission from Kishore. I just thought of a fun game. Click on the flickr leech link (you have to click the Go button next to the date when you get there to get the pics), click on a photo that represents spring to you (or one that just makes you smile), then copy and paste the web address as a link in your comment. I can’t wait to see what inspires y’all! I’ll do one too just to start us out:)

I realized that if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes. ~Charles Lindbergh

40 years

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I want to say one other challenge that we face is simply that we must find an alternative to war and bloodshed. Anyone who feels, and there are still a lot of people who feel that way, that war can solve the social problems facing mankind is sleeping through a great revolution. President Kennedy said on one occasion, “Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” The world must hear this. I pray to God that America will hear this before it is too late, because today we’re fighting a war.

Those are the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoken in 1968 at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. At the time of his death forty years ago today, Dr. King was crusading to end hunger and to end the war in Vietnam. His views on that war caused a great deal of controversy at the time. He was branded “unpatriotic” and was widely criticized, not only by white America, but also by many leaders in the black community. The photo above was taken by Sgt. Curt Cashour of the U.S. Army of two soldiers with the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division standing guard at a market in Al Doura in Baghdad. And so it goes…

wednesday notes

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Sending out a little love and some groovy music for your midweek coffee break with I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. Jason has a fun website too, click on his name and check it out! Happy Wednesday:)

The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another… and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world. ~Leonard Bernstein