Being Attentive to Spiders and the Breeze

I’ve been reading The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. I love this book. Here’s a quote I want to share from page 53: The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.It’s amazing how much of life passes us by without our knowing it. Recently, I’ve started doing what Cameron calls “Morning Pages.” Upon waking, I pull out my binder and write three pages. Well, they are actually half-pages produced by the paper cutter, but...

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See, Math Really Is Hard

From a test I just took:Your brain: 120% interpersonal, 180% visual, 80% verbal, and 20% mathematical!Congratulations on being 400% smart! Actually, on my test, everyone is. The above score breaks down what kind of thinking you most enjoy doing. A score above 100% means you use that kind of thinking more than average, and a score below 100% means you use it less. It says nothing about how good you are at any one, just how interested you are in each, relatively. A substantial difference in scores between two people means, conclusively, that they...

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I've Got My Eyes on You

Just a bit of prep/practice sketching for the hopefully upcoming art class. I feel rusty. It's amazing how much better drawings look once they've been tightened by the reducing process. I received good news regarding the art class today. So far, there are now four people interested. One more and we're good to start. I'm starting to get pretty pumped. Time to start concocting lesson plans. I've got more posters going up, and I've asked Tim...

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Ships Passing in the Night

I've decided to start (yet another) blog. This one is to post a story that I wrote some time back. It's called Ships Passing in the Night. Okay, it's not the best title, but the story itself isn't that bad. I think this is a good way to show off my writing. Besides, I've had so much fun re-designing this blog that I wanted to do it aga...

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New Title and Background Graphics

Ain't they just the groovie...

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Whack Your Boss dot Com

I just received this in an e-mail. Check out Whack Your Boss. Don't forget to click on the Bush post...

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I'm Going to Teach Art

I've decided to put out flyers. My goal is to pick up 20 steady students. I hope that's not unrealistic. I've been told that my fee of $10/wk is too low, but I want the art classes to be financially accessible. Besides, it's not like I'm an "established" artist who can charge out the wazoo. (Not that I would even if I could.)I talked with Tim last night and he gave me the heads-up on submitting to an independently published anthology focusing...

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I'm Back

I just got back in from seeing Christina and Jacob last night. That was apparently just what I needed to unwind. I feel like I'm ready to get back in the saddle again today.Jacob's 9th birthday party was at Skank Skates. He and his friends had a ball with their bikes and scooters. As I recall, none of them actually used a skateboard for any extended period of time. But they had fun taking other wheeled instuments up the hills. It turned out that there was an art show next door, so that made me happy. Not all the pieces were all that good,...

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Meet Captain Happy!

Meet my friend's brother's dog. Ain't he cute?Today, I'm going down to see Christina and Jacob. It was his birthday yesterday (the big "oh-nine"). He doesn't know I'm coming down yet. Hopefully, it is a good surprise. I plan to be on my way back on Sunday.Speaking of birthdays, today is my mom's. I already called her and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She's outside enjoying the day and working with her flowers.I'm finally unwinding. It really...

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Cross-Posting

I had to do it. This is actually for Free Agency, but I just finished it and wanted to post it here too. This took 4 1/2 hours. Can you believe it? I'm exhaust...

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It's Apparently "Art Day"

Yes, I've spent all day working on art. I did this for Free Agency. It took alot longer than I expected. The original sketch took about a half-hour. (I did that some time back.) The digital work has taken me about 5 hours or so. But, the idea today is to draw and relax, not feel like I'm trying to beat a clock. (That is not easy for me, bt...

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"Green-Eyed Monster"

My mom used to call me the "green-eyed monster" because I had a strong jealous streak in me. When it comes to art, that streak really comes out. How often do I say, "Gee, I wish I could do that." Well, after coming across Grant Gould's tutorial, I have something to work with in order to better myself. But what shall I draw? I know: me! It's a self portrait. I haven't done one in years, and it's easy to find a model (though less easy to get...

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Vacation

Ahhh...It's about time. I'm starting vacation today, and it is amazing how much I can feel the tension in my body just sitting here. I figure it will take me until probably Wed or Thurs to unwind and feel "normal." Last night was good. I decided to work on the computer and play with artwork. Grant Gould put up this tutorial and I've been playing with the steps. I'll post my pic when I finish it. That tutorial has been amazing help to me. Warning: My pic isn't turning out very good, but this whole approach is new to me and I've got to start...

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Yin-Yang and Lunch

Yesterday, I went to the cemetery for lunch to eat my Subway Steak-n-Cheese. It was very peaceful. There is a mausoleum there that has bushes growing in front of it. The bushes are starting to get that green look, but not so much that I couldn’t see the intricate interweaving of the various branches. The sun was high in the sky and poured out this beautiful glow onto the stonework and turf. The whole scene was so moving that I found I actually...

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Stress

I'm up right now because I cannot sleep. The big issue: the congregation I'm working with had hoped for a grant, but it did not come through. It was tough news for the congregation to hear, and that makes the future uncertain. Meanwhile, I'm applying for some side-work as a minor web designer. I emphasize "minor" here because my skills are all self-taught. I'm limited to basic HTML and a bit of graphics work. But I'm not looking for a top o' the line position. Basic freelance work will do. Although I'm not up by choice, I admit that I do...

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A Sporting Faith

It was a good game, though I'd hoped it would turn out differently. Despite being down by about 13 at the half, we came back to tie it with two minutes left. Unfortunately, we just couldn't quite pull it off.I've heard it said that sports is a "religion" in America. Perhaps that is true, but I think it is an over-exaggerated statement. I suspect that for those who want to split off the "spiritual" from the "material" it may be more of an issue...

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Divine Presence

On the first Sunday of the month, our congregation joins with a UCC church on their turf for Communion. I've been thinking today about a phrase from the UCC Table liturgy which describes God as "distant as the farthest star, yet as close to us as breathing." I love that line. It definitely speaks to my experien...

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Hermetic Homiletics

The plan: keep my general spiritual reflections over here, but do some sermon prep over he...

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Battlestar Galactica Finale

OMG! What an amazing finale to the BSG season. I can't believe that they actually did what they did. There's a reason that I'm horribly addicted to this show.For those who might be interested, there is a Battlestar Blog on Live Journ...

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