The end of another week. Today started with a doctor appointment (ooooh new drugs and they come in a purple container - ooooooh) and then some fabric shopping (yes, I really really need more blues, as long as they are MEDIUM value blues, oh and maybe some of these three lucious reds and a these two wonderful greens, ok. Any maybe this grey.) And then work of course.
And now for some very sad observations about Halloween and the state of our culture. Isn't it incredibly sad that people aren't part of a community or neighborhood enough to bring their kids trick or treating in their own area? That they have to come to an outrageously loud, Radio-Disney blasting event at a huge regional shopping mall where tired little kids go in and out of stores and up to mall-peopled tables to receive candies in their little goodie bags which tout the latest Disney movie?
No kidding. No walking around in the dark, later than is normal for you to be awake let alone outside. No seeing other trick or treaters appear from behind a neighbors bush on their way back from getting a hershey bar. No. Just the same old thing of walking around the mall with your parents. Getting your little eardrums blasted by grownups howling into microphones trying to get you up on stage with your age group to judge costumes or trying to get you sing Y-M-C-A. yeah.
How very very sad. How did we lose our sense of neighbors or what Halloween is all about? So the kids grow up and don't know the neighbors either, except as potentially bad, evil people. That's not sad, that's scarey.
There is nothing - nothing - like starting a new work. Nothing.
You would think that every little step would be an annoyance. Just let me get to the real "meat" of the thing.
No.
Each little step is a part of the process. Each piece of fabric pulled from the shelf, shown against the others and returned or placed on the ironing board. Another. Another. Refolded. Unfolded. Ironed. Refolded. End trimmed. Sliced. Stacked. Repeat. No not this fabric. Yes that one. How many? Make a note about that for later.
All those things are part of the whole. There is no step that is unimportant or worth skipping over.
Some of the steps have been brewing awhile. While I remain open to direction and change all the way through, the major thoughts have been thought and it's time for action. There is no feeling of indecision or worry. No wonder about what will happen. I know what will happen.
I will make something. It's in my head now. There are scratchy sketches and notes about it in my books, but most of it exists in my minds eye and now it's time to show the world. But first the process of creation.
Hope the removal of a small java script makes this viewable to my folks. Wave at my folks, everyone!
Hey Mac heads - Panther is, as I said before, pretty darn cool. Expose rocks. I don't much have a purpose for multi-usering but the other stuff is way nice. Threaded messages in Mail is icing on the cake.
Do Windows users sit back in wonder at the power boost each OS update brings?
This fellow comes into the Apple Store every once in awhile "to check his web page on a mac." Today I thought I knew who he was but I wasn't 100% sure. But it was him, looking at these gobsmacking panoramic landscape images he has on his website. He loves the 23" cinema display. I love his photos. Go check them out yourself. For the newest images he put up, go here.
Written at:
10/22/2003 07:41:00 PM
You've heard of iTunes. You've heard me talk about the beautiful music that envelopes English Country Dance -- now you can get early Bare Necessities english country dance music of your own, or at least sample it.
If you don't have iTunes, you'll end up at a page where you can download either the Mac or Windows version. It's ALL good.
There are times when reasonable explanations just don't explain it all. Like why peeps interest so many people. Or why big hot dogs chase around the lovely Suzette. Or why at times, the haiku just flow from one's pen.
And then there are times when it's best not to ask for an explanation at all.
weiner dogs don't know the joys larger dogs relish it's been bun before
Check out this cool quilt inspired by Astronomy Pic of the Day - always educational or informative or both. Wish the larger view photos were better, but the quilter has taken the journal quilt idea in her own direction and I'm mighty glad she found a way into APOD.
They didn't ask me, but I've been saying this for a long time -- give me more vacation!
Another new study, by Sibson Consulting, reports that it wouldn't take much to lure many employees from their current jobs. Surprisingly, given the stock markets' recent gyrations, fully half of the people Sibson polled would take a new job for just $1,000 worth of equity, even if the stock a new employer gave them couldn't be sold for three years. Just as popular: extra vacation days. "Employees would rather have more time off than an equivalent amount of compensation," according to Sibson. "Half of American employees would quit to take a new job offering ten more days of vacation time, and 75% would leave if offered 15 more days of vacation."
LaVonne reminded me that I'd not reported in on Maya Angelou's talk. It was great! I've heard her so often on the radio and TV and she was even more inspiring in person. She has great delivery - beautiful sounding voice whether singing, reciting poetry or just telling tales.
I enjoyed the concepts that she presented -- that we all impact the lives of others intentionally or unintentionally. We may never know what effect we have.
The other take home message was that we should never denigrate our own worth or the value of our lives, if only because the lives of others have already "paid our way." So our ancestors and others in society, however unknown to us have made it possible for us to be here today, living our lives in the world that we live in.
I enjoyed the fact that although she wove together mainly these two concepts, the talk was wide ranging and wonderfully illustrated.
Wow. A productive few days. Yesterday I spent a lot of time stacking up quilts and thinking about the talk I'm giving on Sunday at the Berkshire Quilt Festival. Yes that's right folks! Come to the Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield MA on Sunday morning and hear yours truly talking about quilting and my own quilts. Anyway, yesterday stacking and thinking.
In between stuff, some sewing. I figured I had practiced that little tiny stippling enough to make it count so ta-da! I finished one of my grant quilts that was waiting to be quilted. Yes that's right. You can see a larger view by clicking above or click here for a closer view.
Green binding is made and pressed. That can only mean one thing - the pink and green quilt is quilted! yeah!
Realized tonight that I needed a couple more things to get the Journal Quilts where they're going and that's what I am doing now just before going to bed. Can't believe it's October 1st already. Where did September go?
