Shutter Click & Chat 2/29

Bicycle races are coming your way

So forget all your duties oh yeah!

Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today

So look out for those beauties oh yeah!

-Freddie Mercury, Queen 1978

Amidst my cerebral radio station archives of eclectic and nonsensical songs I thought of this one. Aside of being a fitting song for this mural-photographed whilst on vacation, this song is... well, pretty random, even for Queen. What soundtrack have you chosen for your photo this week?

Next Week is the first Shutter Click & Chat of March, that was quick! Show me some wind. Shutter Click & Chat 3/7: Wind, windy, breezy, cool. Cool?

Peace

On second thought...

I was initially thrilled that Favorite Guy packed the laptop amongst all of our other 'necessary accouterments'. Yay, I can take photos all day upload them and talk about my trip as it happens. Um, nope. I'd much prefer basking in wine soaked nothingness for the next few days. I'll catch ya'll later, but not without lots of great photos!

Peace, like really peaceful peace-filled peace!

Shutter Click & Chat 2/22

Hot!

I'm blogging from a cabin in Flagstaff, AZ this week. While the rest of the blogosphere seems to be vying for spring we opted for a taste of winter. Frightened of frigid temps, the first thing I sought out was the fireplace. Mmm toasty. What's hot in your neck of the woods?

Next week, let's push the creativity a bit further! Let's post a picture that coincides literally or figuratively with a song title or lyrics. Shutter Click & Sing! Come on, it's easier than you think.

Reaching out...

"Reaching Out" Ltd. Edition print

What small step have to taken to make a big difference? What small sacrifice have you made to fill a heart with love? How can you be part of something bigger than anything you've ever dreamed possible? Well, you can begin here. 100% of all proceeds are donated to the Australian Red Cross. If you are unable to make an offering of..., please make an offering up.

"A waterfall starts but with one drop, and look what becomes of that."

- P.K: The Power of One, 1992

Peace

Necessity is...

The Mother of Invention

Introducing Tameka's Not Quite Twitter; all of the brevity none of the social networking!

-The Lifetime Fitness brand thigh abductor is a weapon of ass destruction. Winces, shifts position and wishes I had the extra asses today.

-I'm so bummed about Anoop Desai. But, I'm not removing him from my Top 12 until both Wild Card spots have been filled.

-Will someone tell me how to access strike through font option, please?

-Deaf cats can't hear no matter how many expletives you use in an attempt to keep them from swatting your beads off the table and onto the carpet.

-The colorful collage project-remember that? I killed it. The canvas is ecru and I'm back to square one. I'm having trouble channeling my inner-Picasso.

-I'm so looking forward to vacation, just 3 more laundry-filled, homeschooling, cat box scooping days.

-Pretty in Peace and its anti-social networking site owner are on Facebook, come see us.

What does your Not Quite Twitter say?

That felt good, Peace

The Talent Given Us 2005

Photo credits

Let me preface this by saying that since I reached the age when groping and open mouth kissing became acceptable my ability to sit in a dark, crowded theatre has diminished. The films that I review are often old and/or obscure as a result and benefit of that small aside. The Favorite Guy often asks, "How do you find these movies"? I shall reveal the answer here.

I spend a minimum of an hour choosing movies for my Netflix queue. (And, Favorite Guy bought me a Netflix player for Valentine's Day!Woohoo) Most are documentaries and the others are based on concepts that otherwise would not appear as intriguing film fodder. It is in those little crevices of the cinema-sphere that I find movies such as this one.

The Talent Given Us was not only written, directed and, featured Andrew Wagner, but the accompanying big screen unknowns happen to be his parents and siblings cast in their respective real-life roles. The story covers a road trip from New York to Los Angeles where the Wagner's intend to deliver a phone message to their seemingly reclusive, screenwriter son, Andrew.

In quasi-NYC family fashion everyone is either in therapy, should seek therapy or are of course, yogi armchair therapists themselves. The collective neuroses displayed as the characters weave the story is a welcome and almost necessary backdrop for the love story that inevitably shapes through the retelling of their journey as a family along this 3,000 mile journey.

The beginning of the film is a bit slow and will probably resonate most with those who are familiar with a certain type of neurotic New Yorker-think, the parents on Seinfeld. But, as the story moves these traits prove solid foundation on which to build the rest of the film. Finally, if you can get past Mr. Wagner's incessant, post-stroke, food-spattering and foaming at the mouth, you will take from The Talent Given Us, a pleasantly quirky, yet honestly gripping tale of loss, life and loves: romantic love, familial love and self-love in no particular order.

Peace

Inspiration Elation

I have been presented this illustrious award by one, sock-rocking, school-ruling graphic designer, Cathe Holden of Just Something I Made! "Neener neener".

When I received her e-mail vaguely alerting me that there was "something for me" on her blog I thought I'd been invited to an e-flogging for my evil socialist commie support of Nadya Suleman. Lots of angry tax payer e-mails following that one! I hope you at least noticed the pretty e-mail widget guys, Cathe designed it! Laughs. Instead, it was a nice-nice. Yes a nice-nice for me!

Writing, like all other art forms is supposed to inspire, and I'm thrilled to have been recognized as someone who inspires others. Even when I piss you off, consider yourself inspired. Inspired to think, "This broad is nuckin' futs!" And, when you do, know that I'm thinking, "Nuckin futs or not, I made you think, neener neener!" Thanks so much, Cathe!

I will indeed pass this award on to a fellow blogger on a later date, I've never been good at sharing the spotlight and, have no plans on working on it!

Peace

Shutter Click & Chat 2/15

Something Sweet

The loquacious lassie and I baked up two dozen of these for the playground peer group. None for the punks-actually, they weren't there or I would've fed 'em, it's in the grown-ups handbook! I ate three and washed them down with six beers. I hope they invite me to a game of tag, I sure could use it! How about you, what's sweet in your life today?

Next week, I will be in Flagstaff, Arizona playing in the snow, which really means snapping photos of others playing in the snow. The theme however, will not be the white stuff, I've heard the word about town is "ix-nay on the ow-snay", so show me something, someone, somewhere HOT!

Shutter Click & Chat 2/22: HOT; Bring on the heat!

Stillness

"To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders". -Lao Tzu

Shot for Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

Peace

Happy Valentine's Day!

Image Credits

Enjoy your chocolate, cookies, beer, baked goods and such,
These guys surely won't mind your added curves much!

Peace

Love: A Meme

Vintage Brass Cats found here. I bought 'em!

I found this three question meme at the blog of lovely and talented Kala Pohl.

How many times have you fallen in love?

Once, it was magical and then, we fell out of love and, it was at once tragic and triumphant. We learned that loving is a commitment to choose love as a way of life, not a happy accident. We've since reached a remarkable place in the depth and breadth of love, emotionally, physically and spiritually; love of ourselves, each other and others.

If you could only pick one - do you marry someone you love madly or someone who loves you madly?

While I'm tempted to go with the former, experience has taught me to steer clear of any and all madness as it pertains to love. (See above: tragic) Laughs.

If you truly love someone, do you think it should be unconditional?

Yes, but I also think humidity percentages should yield on good hair days, beer and chocolate should be calorie-free and, all creative ideas should easily manifest themselves into beautiful pieces of work. In love I strive to be unconditional in my acceptance of the perfectly imperfect but, I'm carbon-based, and well...you know how that story goes.

How about you?

Peace and love...

Nadya Suleman Wears Black Flip Flops

...And other random shit that is none of our business.

Why does it seem the whole country is angry with this woman? I've been following the story since it broke because I love a good train wreck, but recently, I find myself outraged by the way our society views and treats those (read: women) who choose a lifestyle that deviates from the cookie cutter quasi-American family norm. As far as I can tell, her only offense is being poor, unmarried and of course, a woman.

Otherwise:

1. If you are Pro-Life, she's cool.
2. If you are Pro-Choice and you understand that choice means the individuals' choice and NOT merely the choice you'd make, she's OK.
3. Unless upon accepting a contract/offer letter from any employer you were given a list of boxes to check indicating the specific causes you do NOT wish your tax dollars to fund and subsequently you checked the-"despondent children of women who: wear black flip-flops, give Dateline interviews, have plastic surgery rumored to liken them to other full-lipped fertile folks, bear 14 children sans husband and suitable financial means" box, sucks for you. No foul there either. I mean really would you have checked the give my money to Merrill Lynch and Bank of America box? The bailout box? The weapons of mass destruction box? The war based on ...why are we at war again? Pick a box, any box.


So beyond the belief that 14 children is too many for you; has she really done anything so unconscionable? Okay, so maybe her rhinoplasty/collagen work is not the best I've seen, but that is yet another matter for the AMA not the USA. What say you?

The Color Quagmire

and Other Creative Nuisances

Whew! I'm struggling. If you were to ask my friends, they'll tell you I have an interesting relationship with color. I'm the proud owner of more than one pair of green shoes, a pair of gingham and, yes-even striped shoes. The best part is, I call them my "happy shoes" and throw them on no matter the palette of the rest of my ensemble; just because. Yes, just because they make me happy. I was also the child known to color a striped rain cloud or a kitten with stars and hearts adorning its coat.

So why then do I struggle so when incorporating color into my art as an adult? My writing is oft-vivid and colorful. I'll tell you why, I over-think. Yesterday as I mixed colors, for the large orbs I chose as my latest collage backdrop, I was listening to cerebral radio; a continuous medley of Addiction, 1983 and the theme song from The Wire: Season One -in any and every imaginable order. The mind was clear and I was living in the far right. Then I stopped, brewed another cup of coffee, stared at the happy colorful orbs as they lay drying and I could feel my eyebrows come together at the center and a nagging tug at the right side of my mouth as my jaw clenched in self-doubt. Meh.

I'm going to give myself one more evening of pondering (and, a glass or ten of Pinot Grigio) before I whip out the matte medium and seal the deal-no pun intended. What creative quagmires have you faced recently?

Peace

And the winner is...

The Blog Love and Thanks! giveaway winner is Lori of Elvie Studio ! Lori began blogging in July of 2008 and concedes, "it never really occurred to me that I'd meet people and make new friends!" Well you have Lori and, you've won a cool new necklace-wear it in blog love and peace!


Many thanks to all of you for sharing the history of your blogging journey with me. Now, I'm off to work on a new collage-and, I'll be playing with bright colors for a change. Gasp.

Peace

Shutter Click & Chat 2/08

Introducing the NEW! Shutter Click & Chat badge, thanks Erin!

Broken: adj 2. Sundered by separation...

I never have to stray far from home to capture the images in my mind's eye-Mother Nature doesn't disappoint. I shot this struggling young tree along our shopping trip route.

Shutter Click & Chat 2/15: Sweet, whatcha got?
Let's see something/ someone/ some place sweet.

Peace

Shopping Shadows

Yael: "Mom, I'm already almost as tall as you are..."

Me: "Cool! Does that mean you're paying?!"

After a long work/homeschool week, Yael and I took our shadow searching/shopping selves to the streets of gorgeous 72 degrees Goodyear Arizona. We were in search of sales. Summoned first, by the siren song of Starbucks, we made our way- avec two lightly sweetened, venti green teas, satchels in tow, we sauntered the strip mall; store to store, sale after sale until we struck gold in dem dar' aisles. "Sweet", said le petit shopper-"Saved", said the already overspent chaperon. Shadows we shot and away we went.

This post has been brought to you by the letter "S" and Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

Peace

Blog Love and Thanks!

A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,

A song is no song 'til you sing it,

And love in your heart

Wasn’t put there to stay

Love isn’t love

Til you give it away.

-Oscar Hammerstein

It's give-away (read: give love and thanks) time!

Oh, blog/blogging/bloggers, how I love thee. I recently remarked how, none of my blog friends and followers are family or real life friends. Later, I thought, "But, they kinda are". While we have never met in person, this is pretty much as real life as it gets.

Tea and Honey Bread is a vital part of my daily allowance of "sweet morsels for the mind, body and spirit". When I started this blogging journey (for a whole year, I might add) I went at it like I do with everything; a ridiculous amount of planning, just as much thought and in complete solitude. I don't think even the Favorite Guy knew what was going on in here. Points to head. Now, we're like a big old family, with children and nieces and nephews and pets, love and, loss and it's growing everyday. And, I've grown and am growing everyday that I'm a part of it. Thank you.

To show my appreciation for all of you who stop in- even when I'm sparkle-free and there's nothing to see, I'm gifting away the necklace shown above. The rules are simple: leave a comment telling me (us) how long ago and, why you became a blogger. A random winner will be chosen from my heart-shaped candy dish on Sunday at 12:00 EST and announced on Monday!

Peace

A Passion for Purple

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.”

-Alice Walker

My sister Bhani will be twenty years old on Friday and I've made this necklace for her. As sibling superlatives go, she is the nicest of us three ; she's bubbly and energetic, and very outgoing. My brother and I ("The Meanies") are more like stoic cave dwellers.

While we share a similar fondness for shoes and body modifications- each of us inked and pierced, "Fagadocious" (Hehe, don't ask.) is at the prime of her life and well on the heels of cutting edge urban fashion. Lucky for me, the one thing I can keep track of is her lifelong love affair with the color purple and all things unique and handmade.

What is your one thing? Would your closest friends, and/or close family members guess correctly?

Peace

High souls are never low...

Birth decrees to all men who live a common circumstance.

Diverse actions define their unique specialness.

Lowly men are never high, even when elevated.

High souls are never low, even when downtrodden.

Tirukkural 98: 972-73

...at least not for too long. Please excuse the photo quality, as I am truly pleased with how this collage came out. I've combined magazine clippings from my collection with decorative paper scraps from previous projects. They've been decoupaged, burned, distressed and sealed in a combination of metallic gold acrylic and a matte sealant; I wanted some shimmer without taking away from the wear worn aesthetic of the piece.It has been aptly titled, Soul on Earth. I'm back... I guess. You all know how it goes... and comes and goes and comes back again.

In other exciting creative news, Charmaine has alerted me to the wonders of Haiku Kung Fu hosted by the lovely and talented Chelsea of 88Words. She can be found here and here. I've spent the last hour- yes, sixty (60) minutes, with my haiku written, debating, "Do I punctuate or not"? (Do you?!) I ultimately went with punctuation, and later felt like that person: the one who uses his chopsticks to cut sushi or worse, rubs the chopsticks together! Ewww! Either way, I have written and entered my very own (punctuated) haiku to Chelsea's awesome contest. Wish me luck and/or join the showdown here.

Peace

Shutter Click & Chat 2/01

Everyday in a different way...


Today I did something I often do subconsciously but seldom do deliberately; I altered my perception. I took this shot of a pruned shrub whilst lying on my back in the sun. Rather than standing over it or alongside, I got down in the dirt, I got right into the root of it.

I'm in a place now where I am working out kinks; pruning if you will and, mapping out a healthy direction for growth. This shot was spot on with where I am at this moment, a little rough in places, fragile in others but looking forward to blue skies.

Next week: 2/08 Broken

Show me something broken, a heart, a finger nail, a bottle, a plate...anything broken will do.

Have a fabulous week!

Peace