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If I Were…

If I were a month, I'd be October
If I were a day of the week, I'd be Monday.
If I were a time of day, I'd be night.
If I were a planet, I'd be The Moon
If I were a sea animal, I'd be a whale
If I were a direction, I'd be center .
If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be a mirror.
If I were a sin, I'd be lust.
If I were a historical figure, I'd be a Queen.
If I were a liquid, I'd be Water
If I were a tree, I'd be an Oak.
If I were a clothing accessory, I'd be jewelry.
If I were a bird, I'd be a hawk
If I were a tool, I'd be a multi-plier.
If I were a flower/plant, I'd be cactus or peony.
If I were a kind of weather, I'd be cool sunshine with a light wind.
If I were a mythical creature, I'd be the ideal woman.
If I were a musical instrument, I'd be a guitar.
If I were an animal, I'd be an otter
If I were a color, I'd be the rainbow.
If I were an emotion, I'd be glee.
If I were a vegetable, I'd be broccoli.
If I were a sound, I'd be Laughter.
If I were an element, I'd be Fire.
If I were a car, I'd be a muscle car.
If I were a song, I'd be Bitch.
If I were a movie, I'd be The Philadelphia Story
If I were a book, I'd be Dry
If I were a food, I'd be: Steak
If I were a place, I'd be a forest by the sea.
If I were a material, I'd be earth.
If I were a taste, I'd be remarkably tart.
If I were a scent, I'd be Cedarwood, oakmoss and lavender
If I were an object, I'd be a marble sculpture.
If I were a body part, I'd be an eye.
If I were a facial expression, I'd be a smirk.
If I were a subject in school, I'd be: philosophy.
If I were a shape, I'd be a spiral.
If I were a number, I'd be 3.

When All Else Fails

...snarf a meme and do it.

Make a list of things you can see without getting up: the TV, my cactii, walls of books and DVDs, some of my artwork, the Manthing, 3 cat beds with 2 kitties in one.

What were you like when you were five? Creative, imaginative, interested

What are you wearing now? A sleeping costume and slippers.

What story/book/novel have you read over and over again in your life? The Mysts of Avalon

What’s the last thing you read/are currently reading? Last week: No Country for Old Men & The Road. This week: Continuing the Outlander series and some artsy-fartsy mags

Do you nap a lot? Yes. Pain meds have that effect on you.

Who was the last person you hugged? the Manthing

What’s your current fandom/obsession/addiction? Damages

What was the last thing you ate today? A pickle

What was the last thing you said aloud? Dooce can send me the cupcakes if Leta doesn't want them.

What websites do you always visit when you go online? Facebook, Google Reader, Twitter

What was the last thing you bought?   Tennis balls

What are you listening to right now? The TV

If you could have any super power, what would it be? The Midas Touch

What is your favorite weather, and why? Sunny and cool, low to zero humidity.

What time do you usually get up? Around 8 AM on the weekdays

What is your most challenging goal right now? Staying motivated.

Say something to the person who tagged you: Erin- I don't comment enough but I always enjoy reading your blog and FB Stream

If you could have a house–totally paid for, fully furnished–anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? Here.

Favorite vacation spot? Anywhere that doesn't require me to cook and caters to my every whim.

What is your favorite children’s book? Miss Twiggley's Tree

Name one thing you just can’t resist no matter how bad it is for you: Cookies and pie

If you could meet anyone famous - dead or alive - who would it be? I have to pick just one? Maya Angelou, Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Harvey Keitel,Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant

What was your first job? I don't remember. It was probably illegal.

What’s the last movie you saw? Reign Over Me

Are you a morning person or a night owl?  Night Owl for sure.

Thordora , NATUI, Atilla, RedNeckMommy, Nan, RT, Mad, Gus, SJ and anyone else who wants to play!

THE RULES:

Step 1: respond and rework—answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.
Step 2: tag—eight other un-tagged people will be tagged.

A Room of One's Own

Okay, so it's been a few weeks. I've had a bunch to do in preparation for getting the equipment for my new workspace.

I had to transform this:

To this (with some help of course):

Doing that meant moving the furkids into the kitchen and finding a place for everything else, which is no easy feat nor for the faint of heart.

We live in a small house that is positively CRAMMED with stuff and so when you move one thing, you have to move at least three other things. It's a bit like living in a jigsaw puzzle. So when you move substantial things around like storage space or furniture or furkids kennels, it takes awhile. Then add me and my spine to the mix, it probably takes 3 times as long for me to get anything done even with help.

But it is done now and once I got to work in here, I realized how much I missed having a space of my own in which to write. I had been working and writing at a station in the living room which is perfect for web surfing, light e-mail reading and photo editing but it lacks the flat space and the environment conducive to productivity and writing. And it's nice to have a desk again with a good comfortable chair in which to lean back in and think deep thoughts about social media and writing and and art- whatever pops into my head to feed my insatiable curiosity and active imagination.

Though I share this space with the washer and dryer and an art making nook, I have really been enjoying  have a space where I can be alone, that is mine to write in again. In her book, "A Room of One's Own", Virginia Woolf wrote, "'a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction". I don;t have a lot of money so I don't write a lot of fiction but I have to say it has been lovely to write and work with no other person in the room; no TV droning on and on with programs I detest. I have caught myself wondering if this isn't more important than having having a studio. Perhaps not.  Perhaps they are equally important and I am just a space hog.

What do you think?  How important is having a space in which to create where you can be alone ? Do you have a space of your own at home where you can be alone to blog or do art or write or mix music or whatever it is you do? If so, how important is it to you? If not, how do you manage?

NaBloMoPo 12:: Not Your Usual 101 Things

Everyone has  seen 101 Things About Me that bloggers put up.  These usually are random  biographical sentences that give us insight into a person's life.  Right?

Well, I decided to do one but with a twist: 101 Things That Describe Me. If you've been reading my blog and sites for any amount of time you know a lot about me.  I thought it might interesting to see if I could come up with 101 Things That Describe Me.  It took a few days but I did it. I did the 101 Things About Me Once and I think this was more challenging. So without further adieu...

1. direct

2. straightforward

3. uncomplicated

4. active

5. energetic

6. pioneering

7. innovative

8. bold

9. plucky

10. independent

11. charming

12. entrepreneurial spirit

13. ambitious

14. self-willed

15. stubborn

16. obstinate

17. tenacious

18. attracted to unexplored or taboo areas of life

19. avoids all things superficial

20. fascinated with what lies under the surface

Creativity Blooms

Creativity blooms in solitude- not in isolation. There's a difference between the two, kind of like the difference between alone and lonely. We believe we are alone because our most creative moments often happen when we are by ourselves. These moments are sometimes shared with our intimates or sometimes not at all. Alone is not always lonely. Lonely often leads to isolation. We don’t have to be isolated, if we choose not to be.

When I discovered VSAVA, I felt lonely, isolated, and afraid. I had spent a few long years, isolated recovering from multiple spinal surgeries. Many of my old friends and acquaintances had drifted away, finding my new circumstances too difficult to deal with. While my longtime boyfriend provided a great deal of support, I didn’t want him to be my only source of support. It wasn’t up to him to create my life for me. I wanted to be less afraid of my life and more independent.

I had read somewhere that the choice that sounds the craziest; the most risky; the choice that makes you squirm and giggle and makes you feel vaguely uncomfortable, is usually the most natural and creative choice. That was the choice presented to me when I became a part of VSAVA, first as a participant in the Da Vinci Project and later as a volunteer. It turned out to be one of the most risky and creative choices of my own life.

Before becoming disabled, I had spent years being a round peg trying to squish my broad imagination into small square holes. I had developed protective devices and armor that had become defective.  I had conformed in many ways to ideas that were not my own. More importantly, I had forgotten that I was a wonder-full, brilliant, and forgivable spirit- if I had ever really known it. I chose not to follow that path again after becoming disabled.

I knew it was going to be tough enough to craft a new life with new physical and emotional challenges without doing work that made me miserable. Without my involvement in VSAVA, I would not have developed the confidence to begin to consciously choose a life that was authentically mine filled with relationships that were nourishing and nurturing.

It’s easy to buy into the idea that society doesn’t support creativity and it’s just as easy to find examples that justify this rationale. Too often, every time a child tells a grown-up about the elf they saw in the backyard or colors outsides the lines in their coloring book, they are told there’s no such thing as elves; that coloring “right” means staying inside the lines. For every teen and young adult who says, “I want to be an artist”, there is a chorus of grown-up voices who discourage any art as a vocation; “You’ll starve. Artists are crazy”, they are told. At every turn, creative thought and expression are not only squelched but squished under grown-up convention.

While it’s true that every year more and more arts funding is cut, subliminally giving us the message that our government and our society support the notion that creativity and art are not valid, worthy endeavors. But this doesn’t mean we can’t experience the magic and wonder of garden fairies and backyard pixies who sing softly anyway.

In a creative community, we find the freedom to choose to relearn how to call for our muses and then listen to what they tell us when they whisper softly in our ears. Creative thought and expression are fed and tended by the support, encouragement and insight of everyone in the community. We are included and our opinions considered. We learn we are not cast out or dismissed for our intrinsic non-conformities, sometimes for the very first time.

Without art and community it would have been much harder for me to learn to trust what life hands me; to hear my muses and imagination above the cacophony of grownup voices, thoughts and obligations. Without VSA arts to provide my first creative circle, I am not certain I would be as willing to chat sincerely with children about fairies and invisible companions openly today without worrying that someone might think I am “crazy”. I’ve learned there are far worse things people can think of you.

Today I work part-time for VSAVA, assisting the executive direct and volunteer as the Richmond Regional Director. I also work at a local art gallery as the Gallery Administrator; I curate local, national and international exhibitions of Outsider and Emerging Art; facilitate art and writing workshops and privately tutor other emerging artists. I continue to make, promote and show my own art, and am an active, talented part of the larger art community around me.

I have met such colorful people and forged friendships with such creative and talented spirits; all people I might never have encountered had I not chosen to be a part of VSAVA’s creative circle. As my world expanded in new directions, so did my imagination, dreams and belief in myself. I have a tall, wide, multifaceted life crafted by my own inherent creativity and resourcefulness.

As I embark on the beginning stages of starting my own art business, I am often reminded that it is we who are the keepers of our spirits and dreams; we are our own muse tenders and caregivers. Accepting this responsibility means to truly seek out and follow our most creative pathway. At times we may need to carve out the path ourselves, clearing it of brambles and thorns. It may not be an easy, well-traveled or popular path but it will always be clearly and uniquely our own.

Moderate

It's always been interesting to me that when I get to discussing political type things, some people lump me into theliberal camp and others want to slap a conservative label on me. Appropriately, the liberals think I am Conservative and the Conservatives think I am Liberal.  I have always said I am a Moderate, which both sides heartily disagree with because of my views on any number of  things: reproductive rights, education, gun control, capital punishment, etc.

Well, here's the "proof" I am indeed a Moderate:

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

See? It is possible to support a woman's right to reproductive freedom and our Second Amedenment rights at the the same time....

So there.