Here are some of my favorite plants to grow. I'm sure I would have followed in Georgia O'Keeffe's footsteps if I had been a painter. My grandmother could grow anything and loved flowers the best. I do better with greenery than flowers but I try!
Cala Lily.
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
Thirteen Things That Suck About NOT Blogging:
1. My life if boring, only doing work. New position and broken arm do not mesh to make my life easier. Something had to give and blogging was one of them.
2. I’m not doing any self-discovery or discovering some insight that will turn my life around.
3. Missing out on reading everyone else’s blogs and seeing how they are doing.
4. Makes me feel like a failure because when I do read what everyone else has been up to and they’re still blogging I feel inadequate.
5. Miss writing period! Writing is the one true creative outlet that can satisfy my craving for creating without fail. If I do it.
6. Nothing to look forward to.
7. When I’m not writing/blogging I feel like I am missing a piece of myself. This is the one constant I have kept throughout my years, this and music.
8. Miss meeting new people.
9. Miss sharing other people’s blogs with my family. It starts conversations. Some stories make us laugh, some make us think, other’s have made us cry. But it’s fun to talk about them all.
10. Feel out of the loop and caught in a vacuum called ‘work and no play’.
11. Missed sharing about going to David Mathews Band concert with my daughter and what a blast it was. She is so delightful to be with and funny, I needed the laughter.
12. Missed sharing about the funk I’m in and getting everyone’s input on how to get out of it. Well maybe it’s a good thing for everyone else that I missed this one.
13. Don’t miss fighting with my 2 dogs over the fact that they are not getting attention because I’m engrossed in writing on the computer.
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
Cooking: These are some of my favorites to cook and some of my family and friends requests from my kitchen:
1. Full buffet breakfast with homemade biscuits and gravy.
2. Fresh fruits combined to create exotic flavor and I love to serve fresh fruit with all my meals.
3. I love seafood and grew up with it but enjoy cooking shrimp the most. Shimp Creole and Shrimp Brochette are my favorites.
4. Homemade macaroni and cheese made with a white sauce. Indulgent but wonderful!
5. The macaroni and cheese usually has to be served with salmon patties made with onion and cornmeal and fried to a golden brown.
6. Chicken Salad made with fresh grilled chicken and other secret ingredients.
7. Omelets the size of medium pizzas filled with sautéed veggies and cheese.
8. King Ranch Chicken served more like nachos than casserole.
9. Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, a recipe I learned from friends in Louisiana.
10. Fresh green beans blanched for no more than 10 minutes, come out with perfect color and a slight crispness.
11. Slow cooked spaghetti sauce with fresh garlic and veggies.
12. Home brewed sugared ice tea from a simple syrup made before steeping the tea.
13. A good old pot of beans and home made cornbread.
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
Hi everyone! Came back from out of town with a broken arm so writing will be sparse over the next few weeks. But here is my Thursday Thirteen -
Singing: 13 things I like about singing.
1. Something that I’m still not as confident as I would like to be but I’m good.
2. I was told my whole life I couldn’t sing by people in my life who could not stand the idea that I might have the same talents as them. So “Ha!”
3. My friends pushed me and now I’ve been in 3 productions on stage, nothing big, but it’s a start and its fun!
4. When you sing it can bring you to a zen place.
5. I have a soothing talking voice and there are those who think my singing voice is soothing also.
6. Singing fantasy: To perform at the Mamapalooza Festival. http://www.mamapalooza.com/
7. I think if you wrote your own songs and performed them that is the ultimate in creativity because then you get the instant feed back from the audience.
8. I wish I could play an instrument so I could try my hand at writing music.
9. This is probably not a good testimony to how good I am, but one of my dogs loves my singing and will wag her tail to the beat!
10. I think anyone can learn to sing and it is a confidence booster.
11. I love to sing old gospel like from O’ Brother.
12. My first time singing solo in public was my grandmothers funeral.
13. My last memory with my grandmother when she was dying was me singing to her for an hour before she fell asleep.
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
First, first forgive me because this list is vague but I’ve had a rough week. Music: A creation that can seep into your very soul. Can make you cry in an instant and feel joy in the next. To dance, to move, to make love to music is a wonderful joy. Music, as is writing, will always be a part of my life. Here is only a drop in the bucket of my favorite songs:
1. Sweet Child of Mine – Guns & Roses:
2. I Wish It Would Rain Down – Phil Collins/Eric Clapton
3. You Really Got Me – The Kinks
4. Desperado – The Eagles
5. Lawdy Miss Clawdy – Lloyd Price
6. Take Me To The River – The Kinks
7. Fast Car – Tracy Chapman
8. Janie’s Got A Gun – Aerosmith
9. U + UR Hand – Pink
10. The Pink Panther Theme – Henry Mancini
11. I Need You Tonight – INXS
12. Black Horse & The Cherry Tree – KT Tunstall
13. Better Man – Pearl Jam
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
Reading has always been an escape for me and a learning tool. When I was younger, I only read fiction and of course as I grew older found my way into non-fiction. Here are a few of my favorite books:
1. Cave Dreamers – Jeanne Williams - I have always been fascinated with the idea that we are one soul traveling from one entity to the next and carrying with us our special talents and gifts. It is just a matter of what we do with them. It is a celebration of women set in a background rich in history.
2. The Mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley - I used to read her “Darkover” series (fantasy Sci-Fi) when I was young and delighted to find her writing about one of my favorite subjects. I do believe that one of my life times was spent in this era.
3. Interview With a Vampire – Anne Rice - Though I believe her writing grew up and became even better, I read this one in the eighth grade and was astounded at how well she ‘painted’ a picture and to this day still feel she makes you believe….
4. Lestat – Anne Rice - My first experience at seeing how a writer’s work can evolve and grow. Her ‘pictures’ became even more vivid and with a depth that I want to always reach with my writing. She also writes erotica under the name A.N. Roquelaure. Check it out.
5. Conversations With God: An Uncommon Dialogue – Neale Donald Walsch – This book was given to me by a life long friend and it took me over a year to read it the first time and only a week the second time (5 years later). The information is astounding and will make you think. No matter what your beliefs are, this is a fascinating and thought provoking book.
6. Illusions – Richard Bach – My grandmother was obsessed with “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by this author and I was too young to discuss it with her. When I was older, I was given this book from a friend that is no longer in my life and I miss. It opened my eyes to things I had only begun to understand and physically changed my life.
7. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years – This is the most astounding account of anyone’s lives I have ever read. The story of two African-American sisters who never married and lived to be over a hundred. It is funny and eye opening, heart stirring and amazing as you are let into these very private women’s lives. You will learn something whether you want to or not.
8. A Woman’s Worth – Marianne Williamson - Again my grandmother had given me one of her earlier books and this one I found later in life when I was questioning who I am and who I could be. You have to glean from it what pertains to you but it reminds us of all the things that society tags as being a woman and ‘weak’ as being beautiful and strong.
9. Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence – Nick Bantock – This was such a unique concept at the time it came out and I loved the artwork. It was so much fun to read.
10. Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller - Okay, so I’m a sap for a good tragic romance. In addition, even though I think she should have gone with him, I can feel the bonds of responsibility and most likely would have done exactly what she did.
11. Lucky Man: A Memoir – Michael J. fox – An autobiography of hope, confessions and reality of how he handled his life as it unfolded. He is truly a lucky person to have made the choices he has.
12. Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague – Geraldine Brooks – Now I know what you’re thinking, a story about the plague! How depressing. Give it a chance! It is a wonderful story with depth and color that paints the picture of what it must have been like back then. Its characters have such depth and she brings to light what you don’t see much in literature and are usually blind to in life, the fact that we all have our secrets and our ways of thinking that can blind side someone when the truth is revealed.
13. Cujo – My First Stephen King novel. I was so pissed when I got to the end and the mother had fought so hard and her son died anyway!!!!! I was on those pages with her beating the shit out of that dog! He is a fascinating writer and I highly suggest reading his autobiography, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft”. Whether you are a fan of his works, a writer or just curious, it’s great.
TT
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
My introduction to art was through books and enhanced by what I read, not just what I saw. Eventually writing came to me easier than drawing. These are a few of the things that have inspired my love of writing:
1. Dreams: I am a perpetual dreamer in full Panavision color. Wrote my first novel in my dreams.
2. Secrets: My own secrets and my curiosity about the world and how it works.
3. Disney: The original dream of Walt Disney and the world that was created in his mind. Not the corporation.
4. Edgar Allan Poe: Never more, will there be someone who investigated their own psyche as he did. Down to his very soul and all its depth and darkness
5. Alfred Hitchcock: One who studied others psyche and human nature. He asked the question: What would they do if put in this situation?
6. Beauty: I have been blessed to see some of the most beautiful things in nature up close and personal…a female lion, a Bengal tiger, sunsets and sunrises, low flying clouds in a valley as I drove atop a mountain…
7. Horror: I have lived it, I have seen it and I have been empathetic towards those who have been through it.
8. Ann Rice: She made me believe in vampires, …excuse the smell of garlic.
9. Poetry: Others and my own is an art form that takes the language of the soul and transforms it to paper. It is inspiring even when others don’t understand it.
10. Gothic Romances: Dark, mysterious, and always tragic and oh so much fun.
11. Louisa May Alcott: “Little Women”. I could not imagine what it was like to be in a large family and it seemed so ‘out there’ to write about a woman in those times that was strong and different from the rest of her family.
12. The power of words: spoken and written have effected me. Positive and negative. I realized early on the damage that words can do to you. The hell with sticks and stones.
13. Books upon books, upon books. Reading has taught me about other cultures, other worlds (real and imagined). They have taught me about myself and how to grow and help others. I hope no matter what I do with my writing that my words will always have a positive impact on those who read them, even if they don’t fully agree with what I am saying.
TT
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
1. Writing: I’ve been a storyteller all my life. Though drawing was my passion when I was younger, writing has stayed with me and surely will for the rest of my days. Weaving details and descriptions and creating an alternate reality is a wonderful way to use your creative energies.
2. Reading: Escapism and a learning tool. I always hope to get out of reading something to carry forward into my life. Whether it be simple joy or a new concept or thought about a situation that I had not contemplated before.
3. Movies: The ultimate escape! I love it when a movie can pull me in and take me into its world. For those few hours, I am oblivious to the world around me and I am totally engrossed in theirs and living it. A definite medium for putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.
4. Music: A creation that can seep into your very soul. Can make you cry in an instant and feel joy in the next. To dance, to move, to make love to music is a wonderful joy. Music, as is writing, will always be a part of my life.
5. Acting: Something new for me as is singing in public. These mediums are outside my box and helping me to have courage to try other new things. My debut was “Vagina Monologues” and I had to do 17 different kinds of moans and an orgasm at the end. At first I turned it down then thought, if I can do that I can never be afraid of anything again that has to do with going on stage. And it worked.
6. Singing: Still not as confident as I would like to be but I’m good. I was told my whole life I couldn’t sing by people in my life who could not stand the idea that I might have the same talents as them. My friends pushed me and now I’ve been in 3 productions on stage, nothing big, but it’s a start and so much fun.
7. Cooking: Love cooking, especially for a group of friends. I love the planning, the process and of course the eating. Farmer’s Markets are my favorite and if I lived near enough to a good one I would be buying my food fresh every day!
8. Gardening: Can’t get fresher than that when it comes to food and I love plants. I inherited this love from my grandmother. I actually have some plants that are over 20 years old that she gave me and they are in the ground (versus a pot) for the first time in my yard. Nothing like getting close to nature when you watch things grow and continue to create.
9. Fast Cars: Grew up with them. My first car was a 1972 Ford Galaxie 2 door with a 429-4V engine and glass pack muffler system. You could hear me coming for a mile before I got there! I love the feel of a strong engine and am crazy about the drag races but I’m not much on NASCAR to one of my best friend’s disdain. Just don’t see the point of watching cars go around in a circle.
10. Motorcycles: Same as in 9. I just can’t afford to own one!
11. Good Friends: Nothing like great conversations or sharing of fun with people you care for, trust and love. Playing games, laughing, doing something nice for when it’s needed. My friends are my family and mean a lot to me. I’m very blessed.
12. Good Food: Whether I’m cooking it or someone else, I love good food, fresh fruits and cheeses. Add a bottle of wine or champagne and my taste buds go crazy!
13. Rocking Chairs: Nothing better at the end of a day. Enjoy the breeze, my puppies and garden and rock away my stress! Only thing better is a hammock!
TT
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
Things I love effect me in different ways and have a story behind them all but for now here is my simple list:
1. Writing
2. Reading
3. Movies
4. Music
5. Acting
6. Singing
7. Cooking
8. Gardening
9. Fast Cars
10. Motorcycles
11. Good Friends
12. Good Food
13. Rocking Chairs
TT
Labels: Thursday Thirteen
