Well 2011 was a year of change and new directions. I lost my job, developed severe mobility issues, graduated from college and started doing more artwork. So some good and some not so good. I hesitate to say bad because I think the actions aren't over and I feel like I don't entirely know the outcome.
I try to view change as not good or bad really. Or rather I try to view it as potentially good. I mean when I got laid off I really thought that suddenly My Life As I Knew It would drastically change and we would be living in a cardboard box - three cats, the sweetie and me - and we still are (knock wood) where we started. That's a great good thing to me. I got to do interviews, apply for work and get around surprisingly well despite the pain and the feeling that I should be doing more. But the pain is teaching me to look at what I have to do - if I can do it - and it's teaching me to accept help graciously and with the idea that I have given to people and now get back.
So 2012 is going to commence in a relatively short time. Last years goals were somewhat met. I had to go look them up and found there were 4 and I re posted them here for me to think about.
1. Pay more attention to my health and physical well-being.
2. Work at doing art.
3. Get my ETSY shop going.
4. (the big one) Go to the Doctor and Dentist.
I did do 2 and 3 easily and I am paying more attention to my health - I started losing weight (20 pounds) and since I've become somewhat disabled I pay more attention to it so I guess I could say I did No 1. No 4 was more difficult. I've called my doctor and got referrals to two other doctors. I will be calling them in 2012 and see what they say. I think - while not totally perfect - I did my resolutions.
GOLD STAR for me!
So without further ado my resolutions for 2012
1. Do enough artwork to have a small show.
2. Go see the Orthopedic doctor
3. Get either some job/volunteer work to give myself more structure.
4. Lose 20 more pounds (I've lost 20 last year).
5. Get either an Illustration certification or going back to Texas State for the second part of my BFA. (Or both!)
6. Work towards becoming retired.
7. Go on some sort of vacation!
Check back with me throughout the year. I have very positive thoughts on this.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
New photos
I bought myself an early Christmas present this year. During taking my visual graphics class this semester, we were allowed to use the school cameras - handy little Fujifilm Finepix S3300. I really liked them and since I opened my ETSY account had been using the little Nikkon Coolpix. (That's a nice little camera as well) So after consulting with the SO, I decided to spend a little cash and get it for me. It was on sale and I can use it for shop photos.
I just love it. of course right after I bought it I was forced to stay indoors for th emost part because of the crutches and not being able to do a bunch in wet rainy weather with lots of cement walkways and such.
Today, however, was beautiful and I decided to try the back yard. It's a blast. So here are the backyard plants (who are doing quite well with all this nice slow steady rain we've been having) and a trellis....
I think the shots turned out pretty good. I need to practise more but the zoom is totally wonderful. I'm going to take some of the jewelry I've been making and photograph it outside. More shots later!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
On this the beginning of the year
Today is somewhat of a high point, I suppose. Today or this morning at around 10:39 Pacific Standard Time I was born in a town near Los Angeles. Not a big hoopla really for anyone but me but it did encourage me to become a little thoughtful and reflective (are these two different actions or one)
I don't remember much in terms of my young life. I know I was born and spent my early days in Culver City near MGM studios where my father worked. I was the youngest of three sibs. Two older brothers.
One of my earliest memories though is the Easter Bunny who I swear I saw one morning. My bedroom was in the front of the house and I had a set of double french doors that led to the front or living room. I remember waking up Easter morning early (before dawn) and seeing the Easter Bunny. A rather tall fellow with a pink bow around his neck and was holding holding a basket. The Bunny turned around and held its finger to its lips - telling me to be quiet. His being there was out secret. I remember this vividly the white fur, the little tail, the big pink bow... Strangely, I didn't receive my basket in my bedroom - it was always on the breakfast table, but the bunny came to see me in the room. That vision has never dimmed over the years.
I was told that when I was 4 or 5 I would get up early in the morning and sit on the curb in front of the house. (No mean feat - since the yard was long and our house sat back to the rear of the lot). I would get up, sit on the curb and sit away - just singing the sun up. To this day I still sing to myself, to cheer myself up, to express joy. I'm not the most talented singer although I can sing and have a pleasant voice but it stays a really private gift to myself. I do however sing more in the bath tub than the curb although I have been known to sing on the front porch. I no longer get up at 5 in the morning to sing. Age does bring wisdom.
I remember the time my brother ate grapes in front of me and wouldn't share. I still don't eat grapes much although that is more to Caesar Chavez rather than my brother. I remember trying to bury the duck in a hole. This was totally by accident since we were originally trying to dig a duck pond fill it with water to give the duck a swimming hole. No one told small children that they had to line the pond first - the resulting muddy hole caused the duck to almost succumb. My mother rescued it and we got in a great deal of trouble.
Holes and mud seem to figure prominently in my youth. When older and at a different house we flooded the flower bed outside the bedroom window and took turns jumping out the window into the mud. Totally killed the begonias and again raised my mother's ire. I have lingering guilt about the horrid things we did to my mothers flowers. She died when I was young so that may have encouraged that feeling of guilt.
I remember learning to read and loving the whole process of reading. My grandmother gave us politically incorrect Southern readers from the '20's to brush up or reading skills. While the childrens names escape me - not Dick and Jane - I remember the books were illustrated with photos of the period. Picking cotton looked fun to me . (I told you they were politically incorrect.) Growing up in Southern California with a family based originally in Texas had it's charms.
So what then does 60 mean to me? I'm not sure. Mentally I don't feel 60, although my body is being difficult these days and not working it's best. I have a strong interest in learning. I love finding new things to keep me thinking and want to learn more. I've learned to be comfortable with myself which I couldn't do when I was younger. I've accepted my shortcomings and still try to resolve the issues they bring. I try to understand myself and learn to forgive myself my flaws. But I don't feel old except the rare times the bionic leg starts hurting more than usual or a twinge suddenly makes me long for younger bones.
But suddenly I am older - older than 59 and yet younger than 70. With the exception of my mother, the women in my family are long lived so I hope that I will be the same way. My grandmother died when 89, my one aunt in her '80's I think as did my great aunt. My other aunt is hale and hearty. So I hope I live as long as they do. I still have things I want to finish and times not waiting.
So I give myself this birthday wish and that is to be happy and accomplish something this year and the year after and the year after that. To not be idle and to keep going. Happy Birthday to me.
I don't remember much in terms of my young life. I know I was born and spent my early days in Culver City near MGM studios where my father worked. I was the youngest of three sibs. Two older brothers.
One of my earliest memories though is the Easter Bunny who I swear I saw one morning. My bedroom was in the front of the house and I had a set of double french doors that led to the front or living room. I remember waking up Easter morning early (before dawn) and seeing the Easter Bunny. A rather tall fellow with a pink bow around his neck and was holding holding a basket. The Bunny turned around and held its finger to its lips - telling me to be quiet. His being there was out secret. I remember this vividly the white fur, the little tail, the big pink bow... Strangely, I didn't receive my basket in my bedroom - it was always on the breakfast table, but the bunny came to see me in the room. That vision has never dimmed over the years.
I was told that when I was 4 or 5 I would get up early in the morning and sit on the curb in front of the house. (No mean feat - since the yard was long and our house sat back to the rear of the lot). I would get up, sit on the curb and sit away - just singing the sun up. To this day I still sing to myself, to cheer myself up, to express joy. I'm not the most talented singer although I can sing and have a pleasant voice but it stays a really private gift to myself. I do however sing more in the bath tub than the curb although I have been known to sing on the front porch. I no longer get up at 5 in the morning to sing. Age does bring wisdom.
I remember the time my brother ate grapes in front of me and wouldn't share. I still don't eat grapes much although that is more to Caesar Chavez rather than my brother. I remember trying to bury the duck in a hole. This was totally by accident since we were originally trying to dig a duck pond fill it with water to give the duck a swimming hole. No one told small children that they had to line the pond first - the resulting muddy hole caused the duck to almost succumb. My mother rescued it and we got in a great deal of trouble.
Holes and mud seem to figure prominently in my youth. When older and at a different house we flooded the flower bed outside the bedroom window and took turns jumping out the window into the mud. Totally killed the begonias and again raised my mother's ire. I have lingering guilt about the horrid things we did to my mothers flowers. She died when I was young so that may have encouraged that feeling of guilt.
I remember learning to read and loving the whole process of reading. My grandmother gave us politically incorrect Southern readers from the '20's to brush up or reading skills. While the childrens names escape me - not Dick and Jane - I remember the books were illustrated with photos of the period. Picking cotton looked fun to me . (I told you they were politically incorrect.) Growing up in Southern California with a family based originally in Texas had it's charms.
So what then does 60 mean to me? I'm not sure. Mentally I don't feel 60, although my body is being difficult these days and not working it's best. I have a strong interest in learning. I love finding new things to keep me thinking and want to learn more. I've learned to be comfortable with myself which I couldn't do when I was younger. I've accepted my shortcomings and still try to resolve the issues they bring. I try to understand myself and learn to forgive myself my flaws. But I don't feel old except the rare times the bionic leg starts hurting more than usual or a twinge suddenly makes me long for younger bones.
But suddenly I am older - older than 59 and yet younger than 70. With the exception of my mother, the women in my family are long lived so I hope that I will be the same way. My grandmother died when 89, my one aunt in her '80's I think as did my great aunt. My other aunt is hale and hearty. So I hope I live as long as they do. I still have things I want to finish and times not waiting.
So I give myself this birthday wish and that is to be happy and accomplish something this year and the year after and the year after that. To not be idle and to keep going. Happy Birthday to me.
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