and now for something completely different…

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig

Here is a book that is, of course, a Classic; one that just about everyone has heard of – but one that I realized I had never read.  I have heard or read references about it many times – and so when it came up in some conversation or other I remembered that I wanted to read it.  And of course, my sister owns a copy.

So this is what I am now reading.  A look back to the 1970s.  And it is different.  (And well, the 1970s were very different – I know, I was there!)  But yet the philosophy contained within its pages is still very relevant today – if not more so. 

I doubt that I will be reading this as quickly as the last couple of novels I’ve read – some of it is a bit hard to sift through.  But so far it is a good read – the author is noticeably a very good writer – and I am sure I will come away with some good tidbits for living to add to my repertoire.

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BOING! (It’s April)

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

April2015I was hard-pressed to create another 31-point-plan so soon after arriving back from vacation; so many things to do:  unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, appointments, work – endless busyness.  And the only thing that kept coming to mind was SPRING – springs!  (BOING!)

So there you have it, Spring has Sprung!

 

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George R.R. Martin

My next choice of book to read was one of George R. R. Martin‘s stand-alone novels written back in 1982.  I have loved his Game of Thrones books, but haven’t ever read anything else by him.  So when I saw this book recently, I decided to pick it up:

Fevre Dream, by George R.R. Martin

What initially grabbed my interest about this book is when I read on the back cover that it was a cross between Mark Twain and Stephen King.  Now, that’s one I’ve never seen (or thought of) before!

This was a really good story – life on the Mississippi in the 19th Century …and VAMPIRES.  It was a unique tale and I am only sad that I went through it so fast; I finished it in about 4 days.

 

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Spring Vacation

March 19 – 25, 2015 – we’re off to Los Angeles to spend time with my dad and for Dalton to attend his League of Legends weekend.  Our journey begins with a ride on the Airport Express bus.

PrintArriving at SFO, we find we have some time to kill.  We have our boarding passes, our luggage is checked – so we sit and eat some absurdly-overpriced airport food and wait to board our plane.

And so we arrive at LAXabout 4 1/2 hours from the time we left Petaluma (for a flight that is in the air for approx. 45 minutes).  We retrieve our luggage,  board the car rental shuttle, and are soon ready to drive our new Ford Escort to Hermosa Beach, CaliforniaWe arrive just in time for dinner:

Scotty’s on the Strand, Hermosa Beachscottysonthestrand (much better than airport food).

HERMOSA BEACH (Dad’s house)

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Caskey-Hermosa-Strand4The next morning, we walk down to the beach and check out the Strand.  We had lunch here: Patrick Molloy’s, Hermosa Beach, and basically had an easy, enjoyable day.  For dinner we walked down to this place:  El Gringo (Mexican food) and sat outside on the deck.  It was beautiful and the food delicious.

On the beach at Hermosa:  The beach is but a two-block short walk from where my dad and his wife live.  We got lots of exercise walking back and forth and up and down the Strand.  It was wonderful. 

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IMG_0672 640px-Hermosa_Beach_Strand

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Too Funny…

On March 16th I started reading a book that my sister had and recommended – I was in the mood for something light.  And this book was perfect – totally silly, really; but extremely enjoyable.  I laughed my ass off:

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson.

This description (from Amazon.com) describes the book very well:

A reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert with a fondness for vodka) decides it’s not too late to start over . . .

After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he’s still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn’t interested (and he’d like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (not to mention a death by elephant).

It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them. Starting out in munitions as a boy, he somehow finds himself involved in many of the key explosions of the twentieth century and travels the world, sharing meals and more with everyone from Stalin, Churchill, and Truman to Mao, Franco, and de Gaulle. Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.

This was the perfect book to take on vacation with me and I finished it the last day we were there (3/24/15).  I only wish I had it to read again!  And, after all, it is said that ‘laughter is the best medicine.’  I totally agree with that!

(I’ve said it before many times, but I’ll say it again:  I LOVE BOOKS!)

 

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031715

I have found that often I feel better with an afternoon nap.  To justify my fondness for napping, I then came across this piece that I’d like to share:


 Unleash the Power of the Nap

(From http:/www.artofmanliness.com/2011/02/07/unleash-the-power-of-the-nap/)

Your Cat Knows Something You Don’t

Humans are among the few animals that take their sleep in one shot. The rest of the animal kingdom consists of polyphasic sleepers; they alternate sleep and wake cycles throughout a 24 hour period. Cavemen likely slept in multiple phases too, so someone was always up to keep an eye out for saber tooth tigers. While experimenting with a return to polyphasic sleep has become trendy in recent times, the ideal pattern for human sleep is biphasic–a long stretch at night along with a shorter respite during the day.

The ancient Romans were biphasic sleepers; at sexta (the sixth hour or their noon) everyone would turn in for some midday shut eye. This is where we get the term siesta, a tradition once popular in countries like Spain but which has largely succumbed to the encroaching go-go-go Western business style.

While the pace of modern life may keep us from being the biphasic sleepers we were meant to be, the urge for a daytime snooze is still hardwired into our biology. Studies have shown that when people are put into an environment that lacks any indication of time, they will fall into the long sleep at night/shorter nap during the day pattern. Thus most of us are daily fighting tooth and nail against our body’s natural circadian rhythm, and this is wreaking havoc on our well-being, turning us into a horde of zombies that crave espresso instead of brains.

Many of us find it nearly impossible to get enough zzz’s at night, and sleep deprivation causes a host of bodily and mental ills, keeping us from performing at our best and enjoying life to the fullest.

While a good night’s sleep is essential, a daily nap can buoy us up when we’re not getting quite enough winks. And for those who already sleep well at night, a nap can take the performance of your body and mind to the next level.

The Benefits of Napping

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Molly

It has been a goal of mine for the last couple of years to start seeing Molly again.  Not only is she a good therapist (and specializes in ADHD), but she is an artist and a friend and I have found her to be very good at mentoring and inspiring me in my creative efforts and life goals.

So earlier this year, starting about the beginning of February, I arranged to start seeing her every other week.  I finally decided that I can afford it and I am happy to have help moving forward with my goals.

Molly really likes what I have done with the “31-point-plan” and recently urged me to bring them to the next CHADD meeting, which she hosts every month here in Petaluma.

So I did.  And I was amazed at how much everyone not only loved and praised my artwork, but were also impressed by my “plan” itself and how I designed it.  They also got a kick out of my 31 reasons for a 31-point-plan.”  It was very interesting and rather gratifying.  It’s been quite some time since I’ve been around other people with AD/HD.  I’d forgotten how it is with AD/HD – all the various characteristics and challenges that I share with others – and it really brought to mind the fact that I have come a long way.  Working with Molly in the past and taking part in her AD/HD support group(s) taught me a lot and gave me the tools to really work on myself and try to improve myself.  And hearing all the stories from these people just really highlighted for me the ways in which my life has improved.  So it was definitely a positive experience.  And I’ve decided that I really should plan to attend these meetings.  They are only one evening a month and it is close to home.  It would do me good to make a connection with some of these people.  I always end up as such a loner and sometimes I am not totally content with that.

It is also interesting to learn that two of the women at the meeting Tuesday night are also artists – and with art school degrees.  If they were impressed, that impresses the heck out of me!

Molly has also urged me to try to sell my greeting cards.  And she will help me figure out how best to do that I hope – I’m not good at that side of things.  I just love creating the product.  But also, Molly is helping me really focus in on my picture book projects.  And this give me hope that I can actually get this stuff done!  I find it’s often easier for me to complete things when I am given an “assignment” to do those things.  Funny how that works.

I just found this graphic and decided that it needs to go here (hopefully nobody will mind):

And this is exactly how I feel about AD/HD.  Let’s just be the awesome people that we are, each and every one of us AD/HD or otherwise!

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March 2015

I can hardly believe how quickly March has arrived! I have been very busy – and not just with work, I have also been working diligently on the garage – and getting a lot done!  I’ve been trying to get that task done for – what, nearly 3 years now???  But I am hopeful now that the end is in sight.

I have also been planning our trip to L.A. later this month.  I am taking my son down to see my father/his grandfather – and as a birthday present (which I announced to him last month on his birthday), he is going to attend the League of Legends championship events that are scheduled to take place over the weekend.  He is really looking forward to that.

I’ve had so much to do though, that yesterday I suddenly remembered my “31-point-plan,” but had no idea what I would draw.  What is significant about the month of March?  Well, there is WIND.  Although in Petaluma, we get WIND a lot of the time, not just in March.  But I quickly decided that WIND it would be – so here it is:

March2015

March 2015
31-Point-Plan

 

HAPPY MARCH!

 

 

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SCWBI

Yesterday I attended this event through the northern California chapter of SCBWI.  My friend, Jennifer, who is also an aspiring picture-book author, went with me.  I found the experience truly inspiring and enjoyed it very much:

SCBWI NORTH BAY SONOMA COUNTY MEETING
Saturday, February 28, 2-4 pm
HOW TO BECOME A PICTURE BOOK CREATOR:
Freeing the child within
by Author-Illustrator Elisa Kleven


When
Feb 28, 2015
@ 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Where
Sebastopol Center for the Arts
282 S. High Street
Sebastopol, CA 95472
Contact: mailto:ctmarkee@gmail.com


Join Elisa Kleven as she describes the inner childhood origins of her illustrations and stories, and conducts an interactive drawing session, which will bring out the creator in you! As a child, Elisa Kleven used her imagination and her hands to create intricate, magical dollhouse worlds. When she grew up, she continued to make enchanted little worlds — within the covers of her picture books.

Elisa Kleven, a self-taught artist, Elisa is the author and/or illustrator of over thirty picture books. Her books have received honors from the American Library Association, The New York Times, The Junior Library Guild, School Library Journal, The American Booksellers Association, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Her books The Paper Princess, Hooray, A Pinata! and The Lion and the Little Red Bird have been adapted for children’s theater productions in the U.S. and Europe. Her illustrations in Abuela, by Arthur Dorros, are currently touring Children’s Museums around the country as part of “Storyland”, a traveling, interactive exhibit of seven well-known children’s books. Visit her http://www.elisakleven.com/.

Members registration online: $10, at the door $15


I ended up buying two of Ms. Kleven’s picture books (as odd as it may seem to be buying children’s books for myself):

The Paper Princess

and The Puddle Pail

Afterwards, Jennifer and I talked a lot about my attempting to illustrate some of her work.  I look forward to trying anyway!  And, of course, I need to keep working on my own.

A couple of strange occurrences:  On the way to Sebastopol, we hit a freakish little storm that was nothing like I’d seen in a very long time.  Suddenly the sky was pitch black, rain was pounding down so hard I could barely see the road – which was so drenched it felt like trying to drive on a river; and there was lightening flashing all over the place!

NOTE: This photo is NOT of Petaluma, CA (I think it’s in the UK).

Ten minutes later, it was GONE.  The sun was out, just some fluffy clouds overhead and not a raindrop in sight.  VERY WEIRD.

Then after the meeting when we got in the car, I discovered that I’d left my headlights on (from when it was raining) and my battery was dead!  LUCKILY, someone from the meeting was still there in the parking lot and was able to jump-start my car.

When we got back we were able to enjoy a glass of wine and talk about our picture book projects.  All in all, I think it was a pretty good darn day!

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Still in England…

As I wrote on January 23rd, I have been in the process of reading several books about the history of England (and, in particular, about the Tudors).  I finished the 3rd and final book in Alison Weir’s series about the Tudors, The Life of Elizabeth I, on February 20th.  The reason it took me unusually long to finish this book was that I spent many evenings when I’d normally be reading, instead watching episodes of Doc Martin.  The show takes place in Cornwall, England and, although it is set in the present, it still took me to England.

Then on February 21st, I started reading Paul Theroux’ nonfiction book, The Kingdom by the Sea, which I am still currently reading – and, therefore, I am still in England! As I read this book, I am frequently inspired to look at photos on Google Images of the places he visits.  And it was also interesting to read about his experiences in Cornwall at the time I was still watching Doc Martin episodes.  Sadly, however, I have no more episodes to watch, as I have finished Season 6 and must now wait until the next season comes out.  But it was fun while it lasted!  Meanwhile I am only halfway through Kingdom by the Sea and am very much enjoying it.  I love the way the author writes and it is frequently very entertaining.  I would love to visit England someday, but at least I can visit it vicariously!

Cornwall, UK

Cornwall, UK

UPDATE: I finished this book on 3/15/15 (Goodbye to England – time for other things now!)

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021315

A birthday card for my nephew:

Card front

Card front

card-inside

card-inside

I’ve been in the process recently of posting all of the birthday cards I’ve created here on the “Greeting Cards” page like I’ve done for my Christmas Cards.  I have a few of them there now, but haven’t finished – soon I hope!

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FEBRUARY 2015

I finally finished my 31-point-plan.  And I don’t know what the deal is with BIRDS this month, but I think it started with what I came up with for Dalton’s birthday card.  I worked on this for a couple days – it’s been a while since I designed a card from scratch:

Front of Card

Front of Card

Card Inside

Card Inside

 

 

So I must’ve had birds on my mind!

 

 

 

 

 

And my 31-point-plan evolved from there:

Feb2015

At first, what came to mind, was “Stairway to Heaven.”

 

Then, as I continued drawing the birds, I thought of “Birds Fly,” and that song got stuck in my head (Whisper to a Scream):

My son is 15 years old today.  TIME FLIES – just like birds…

So there you have it:  BIRDS.  🙂

 

 …And, what do you knowFebruary is National Bird-Feeding Month

National Bird-Feeding Month

(I must have known….) 

Happy February!

And Happy Birthday to my son!

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‘MasterMind’ Meetup Group

As I have mentioned here and there, I am a member of several Meetup groups and I get emails from time to time about new groups that might meet my interests.  The other day, I received one that roused my curiosity:

Petaluma, CA

North Bay MasterMind Support for Highly Creative People

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Doc Martin

DocMartinAnother thing that I’ve been enjoying lately (again, thanks to my sister who discovered it) is the British TV series “Doc Martin.”  I LOVE this show!  And it’s addicting!  I just cannot say enough good things about it, it is wonderful.

Here’s what the NY Times says about the show; you can learn all about it and learn how to watch it on the Doc Martin US Fan Site.  And here’s the star of the show, Martin Clunes in a television interview, where he talks about the show, and also about his lion documentary – gotta love him!

 

 

 

And, finally – here’s another question I have (or two):  Why is it that British television shows are always so much better than anything the U.S. does?  Why is it that, although a multi-generational American native, I find so little to respect and appreciate in my own country

Unfortunately, the answer to this/these questions is much too complex to go here.  But I will say I am very thankful that we can at least enjoy British entertainment here in the U.S.! 

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Tudor England

Recently, I read Hilary Mantel’s novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (which I finished on Jan. 7th).  I enjoyed these so much that I decided to next read a book my sister recommended, The Six Wives of Henry VII, by Alison Weir. 

This book is nonfiction, but written in such a way that I found it nearly every bit as enjoyable as the fiction I’d read on the subject.  And this book, as a genuine historical account, contained a lot more information.  I finished this book on the 17th of January.  And because English history has been a favorite subject of my sister’s, she loaned me two more books that follow this one:

The Children of Henry VIII, which I am currently reading, and The Life of Elizabeth I – both by Alison Weir.

I expect to be finished with the first one in a day or two and then on to the next.  I tend to get interested in a subject and proceed to read everything about it I can get my hands on!

Interestingly enough, one evening I was browsing the TV listings and came across a series called “The Tudors.”  Rather interesting to see this right after reading about it!

Who knows if my fascination with Tudor England will continue; I would also like to read about the Plantagenets, among other things.  Funny – I hated History class when I was in school; I had absolutely no interest in it.  But I have since come to find that History is completely fascinatingIs it the teachers that fail to instil this fascination in their students?  Or is it just that it takes maturity to gain an interest in the subject?  Perhaps it is a bit of both.  But thank goodness for books!

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For my final year-end task this year, I want to do a “soul collage,” but I think I will enlist Molly’s assistance.  I think I’d like to do one illustrating what I would like this year (2015) to be like, but I am not now sure what that is…

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2015 Goals & Resolutions

Health:

  • Quit smoking
  • Walk/exercise regularly
  • Do more cooking (help Dalton eat better)
  • Spend time in rest/reflection (pay attention to needs/stress level)

Order:

  • Get garage in order
  • Get Dalton’s room in shape
  • Keep Dalton on track (school, etc.)
  • Keep eyes on finances/save

Goals:

  • See Molly regularly
  • Pay attention to creative goals/balance
  • Spend more time on piano/music
  • Be proactive & aware

 

🙂      [Subject to change without notice.]

 

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“Pennies”

Instead of doing a “Satisfaction Wheel” this year, I decided to use a tool I learned about during my “Goals Group” back in 2008.  The idea is that we only have a finite amount of time and resources available to us and using pennies to represent that time/resources, we can see which life areas most of our “pennies” have gone into.

It has become obvious to me that most of my “pennies” (or in this case, doing this on my computer, I chose coffee beans as my “pennies”), have been in the areas of Health (due to my battle with shoulder pain/dysfunction), Relationships (representing time and energies spent regarding my son), and Career/Work (in light of how hard I worked all year).  But I still attended to other areas as much as I was able, and at least I remained aware of my desire to retain balance in my life.

pennies2014And this tool of course goes hand-in-hand with my Annual Summary (which is unfortunately quite long this year, but it seemed necessary). 

HAPPY 2015!

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2014 in Review

It has taken me a long time to summarize the year 2014. It was a difficult year from the beginning, and continued to be tough for the better part of the year. Primarily, I had three big areas of difficulty to contend with, as follows:

(1) Relationships-Family (Parenting)

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Here’s a WordPress tip from me:  I recently discovered a very distressing situation:  I found broken permalinks all over my blog!  I believe most of it happened when I switched my domain name server, but it also could’ve happened when my whole blog crashed once upon a time and had to be fixed.  In any case, I found a good solution.  It still took time to edit all of the broken links but in the case of the changed domain name, I was able to do a bulk edit.  So I went from nearly 400 broken links down to nothing in only a few hours – much better than I expected!  Broken Link Checker – I’m very glad to have found it!

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HAPPY 2015!

happynewyearcolorful

It is hard to believe that it is now the year 2015.

All I can say is WOW.

…And that it’s good to still be here, of course!

I brought in the new year recovering  from a tooth extraction; my last day of 2014 was spent at the dentist, and in PAIN!  New Year’s Day was a blur; I mostly slept the day away in a pain-killer fog.  But I’m much better now.

leftarrow And I was able to create my first “31-point-plan” of 2015.

I had planned to do something relating to astrology and the Tarot for this year’s plans, but after reading a whole lot of stuff, I still had no clear idea of what to draw.  So I simply went with the “father time and baby new year” symbolism and added constellations showing Capricorn and Aquarius.  Perhaps I’ll work some of this stuff in as the year goes on – I just find it interesting and FUN.

For now, let’s look at some interesting (?) facts about January (and I cannot swear that everything here is accurate, it’s simply what I found on the web):

  • The zodiac signs for the month of January are Capricorn (until January 19) and Aquarius (January 20 onwards).
  • On January 10, 1776, The Common Sense, by Thomas Paine was published.
  • On January 2, 1788, Georgia ratified the Constitution.
  • On January 8, 1798, Amendment 11 to the Constitution was proclaimed which modified the Supreme Court’s power.
  • On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln.
  • On January 4, 1896, Utah became the 45th State.
  • On January 6, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th State.
  • On January 10, 1920, the League of Nations was established.
  • January is National Thank You month.
  • January’s gem is the Garnet, which represents constancy.

And here is my (Sagittarius) horoscope for the coming year (and you can easily find your own at this same place, whatever it’s worth!).

58-champagne_glasses_6

Happy 2015! 

May it be a good year for all of us.

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“31-Point-Plan” – see previous years:

See my “31 Reasons for a 31-Point-Plan.”  And here is 2015:

Jan2015 Feb2015
March2015 April2015
May2015 June2015
July2015 August2015
Sept2015 Oct2015
Nov2015 Dec2015

 

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I just started reading the sequel to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall:

Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel

And I am loving it!

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12/31/14 Finished reading WOLF HALL

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Christmas 2014

What is Christmas without family photos?

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