Two whole days of sun and today it is due to snow again. Thank goodness the Arctic Blast is over and we are back to temperatures in the 30s and 40s for a while.
As of Sunday, November 21 I have been here for three months. It seems like the last month was all about adjusting to the weather and the low temperatures. After an unseasonably warm October, winter came in with a blast in November. November was more like January here, and I now know what January will be like. Real winters take planning. I set up a coat rack next to the front door with a low table underneath it. On top of the table is a basket for all of my hats and gloves and under the table go my two pairs of boots. I tried to go out yesterday wearing regular shoes, which was a mistake and I am sure I will be sick of my boots by February.
I still deal with financial fear and I thought I would have a job by now. The State continues to post openings and I have four applications pending a score. They filled one HR position, but there is another one pending, and there are two more positions that need applications this week. I applied for several positions outside of the State, non-profits, hospital technical support, but I have not heard a peep from any of them. This last week I was glad not to have a job, since I would have driven to it through the snow, but I would really like to have one by the first of the year.
There does not appear to be any activity with the Eagle gallery, but I continue to paint. It really helps to paint when I am not sure what to do next, I just paint and wait for an inspiration. I am glad I have plenty of constructive indoors things to do, since I have three more months of being stuck indoors due to the weather.
The biggest difference in the last month is feeling like I have a life today. I am now good at meeting people and feel like I have many friends. People call me, I call them, and I go out a lot, even despite the weather. I went out to meet someone for coffee yesterday morning. I had a car mishap, I used the windshield washer and spread ice all over my windshield and had to pull over and use the defroster for 10 minutes, then I could not find the coffee place and was 15 minutes late. I forgot the phone number of the person I was meeting, but it turns out she only waited for me for less than 15 minutes and then left. Geez, you would think you could give the new guy that doesn't know driving in snow or where things are more than 15 minutes! So I called and apologized when I got home and found her number, but I don't think I will do that again. When you have a lot of friends, you take responsibility for your part and don't put up with people just because you are lonely.
I keep pretty busy and try to keep moving forward and stay open to possibilities. God's plan for me is going too slow for my liking, but I think I always feel that way. My biggest concern, besides financial fear, is that the cats and I lay on the couch in the evening and keep each other warm and I can't get up and do anything. This doesn't feel very constructive and I hope I can get past this habit before winter ends. I started writing the children's book and finishing this is the goal for this month. Yesterday I got a library card so I can research current children's books and publishers. Today I will renew AAA in Idaho and that is the last detail, the last thing to change over to my new life in Boise.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Snow and Sun
It snowed almost all day yesterday. Mary Kay came and picked me up and took me out for coffee before noon. By then it was around 30 degrees outside and it felt warm! It stopped snowing long enough in the late afternoon for me to go out and shovel snow off my front walkway. It didn't necessarily need it, but I was a bit stir crazy even with my coffee outing. It started to snow again while I was outside shoveling and talking to Sarah, big light fluffy snowflakes. I felt like I was standing in a postcard.
I am getting used to the cold, but winter in the cold sure takes a lot of decisions. If I decide I need my boots, then I need to decide which door I am going out of so I don't track stuff around the house. I get dressed and then move the boots to the right door so that they are the last thing I put on. Then I gather up everything else I need to go out near the boots so it is within reach after I put my boots on. Do I need two layers under my coat? If I wear two layers, or if it is snowing, then I need to wear the red coat. Which coat do I need? Do I need the light gloves or the leather ones or the warmest ones? Do I need a hat? Which scarf matches the outfit and the coat? Throughout this process I also have the, what did I wear the last time these people saw me? Then when I'm out I have to keep track of all of this stuff. I am that person that really needs those gloves that string together through their coat, although keeping track is easier here since all I need is my cold hands to remind me to check for my gloves.
Then, also because of the boots, I need to think about what else should I do outside once I have my boots on. Take out the trash, get the mail? I've had times where I put my boots on and went out the back door, took out the trash, came back in and then realized I did not get the mail, so I take them off, walk them across the house to the front door, put them on, and go out to get the mail. Then there is the boot puddle that gets left on the floor as the snow melts off your boots. If you move the boots, you must immediately clean up the puddle, or you are guaranteed to step in it later while wearing your clean dry socks.
Today was clear and sunny. I went to the grocery store early and the streets and the parking lot were still covered in several inches of snow. No worries about parking in the parking space, no one can see the lines, just park anywhere. Pushing a grocery cart in snow was an interesting experience. I learned my car has yet another warning light, letting me know my tires have no traction. Yea, thanks, that helps a lot. So far, I've only seen it blink on for a second until the tires find traction, but gee, I sure knew I did not have traction without the light!
Then a group of us went to see the Festival of Trees. This is a charity event where local organizations decorate a Christmas tree to be auctioned. Everyone wants to take the new guy that has never been. The trees were impressive, but the wreaths decorated with hand drawn ornaments by 1st graders were the best. Even though it is warmer, I am glad the event was indoors. Next week-end it's Winter Garden Aglow at the arboretum and that is outside, at night.
I am getting used to the cold, but winter in the cold sure takes a lot of decisions. If I decide I need my boots, then I need to decide which door I am going out of so I don't track stuff around the house. I get dressed and then move the boots to the right door so that they are the last thing I put on. Then I gather up everything else I need to go out near the boots so it is within reach after I put my boots on. Do I need two layers under my coat? If I wear two layers, or if it is snowing, then I need to wear the red coat. Which coat do I need? Do I need the light gloves or the leather ones or the warmest ones? Do I need a hat? Which scarf matches the outfit and the coat? Throughout this process I also have the, what did I wear the last time these people saw me? Then when I'm out I have to keep track of all of this stuff. I am that person that really needs those gloves that string together through their coat, although keeping track is easier here since all I need is my cold hands to remind me to check for my gloves.
Then, also because of the boots, I need to think about what else should I do outside once I have my boots on. Take out the trash, get the mail? I've had times where I put my boots on and went out the back door, took out the trash, came back in and then realized I did not get the mail, so I take them off, walk them across the house to the front door, put them on, and go out to get the mail. Then there is the boot puddle that gets left on the floor as the snow melts off your boots. If you move the boots, you must immediately clean up the puddle, or you are guaranteed to step in it later while wearing your clean dry socks.
Today was clear and sunny. I went to the grocery store early and the streets and the parking lot were still covered in several inches of snow. No worries about parking in the parking space, no one can see the lines, just park anywhere. Pushing a grocery cart in snow was an interesting experience. I learned my car has yet another warning light, letting me know my tires have no traction. Yea, thanks, that helps a lot. So far, I've only seen it blink on for a second until the tires find traction, but gee, I sure knew I did not have traction without the light!
Then a group of us went to see the Festival of Trees. This is a charity event where local organizations decorate a Christmas tree to be auctioned. Everyone wants to take the new guy that has never been. The trees were impressive, but the wreaths decorated with hand drawn ornaments by 1st graders were the best. Even though it is warmer, I am glad the event was indoors. Next week-end it's Winter Garden Aglow at the arboretum and that is outside, at night.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Driving in Snow
Yesterday I practiced driving on snow and ice. I went downtown to volunteer at the Boise Rescue Mission's River of Life. There was not much traffic on Thanksgiving Day, which is good and bad. No other cars to crash into, but also no other cars to loosen up the road. I helped serve a couple hundred lunches and felt grateful that I am not homeless in Idaho. Three of the other volunteers were a couple with their 10 year old daughter. The daughter worked really hard and seemed really brave to me and I thought about all the times I meant to take Lauren to serve Thanksgiving to the homeless. I never did take Lauren to do that, but I still think it is a great experience for anyone to learn what they take for granted.
On the way home I stopped and took pictures at the parks.
I was amazed that the ponds were already frozen enough to skate on. Geese continue to fly over on their way somewhere else, but the seagulls are still hanging around.
I was headed out the door with my pie and Cruiser shot for the door. He keeps forgetting how cold it is outside. I stuck my foot out and he crashed into it, which stopped him. Sorrel boots are much more effective for this than other shoes.
Then I went to Mary Kay's and then to Mary Kay's mom's for Thanksgiving. My pie was a big hit and Mary Kay's mom actually took it around and showed everyone the little apples I put on top of the lattice crust. I used the Honeycrisp apples, which worked out well, and Meyer lemon, which happened to be at the grocery store a week ago. Honeycrisp apples are a bit sweeter than Golden Delicious, so I used less sugar, and the ones I bought were huge, so I only had to peel 4 apples to fill up a pie. I am OK with peeling apples, but sometimes I really wish for the fancy cutter that cuts the lattice strips perfectly even.
The battery in the thermostat at Mary Kay's mom's house went out yesterday morning. Mary Kay's 83 year old mom was out driving around at 5 am Thanksgiving morning looking for an open store that sold batteries. I was glad she found them and to be sitting is someone else's warm house.
The toughest drive was home in the dark where it is harder to see the icy patches, but the worst part is driving down the alley to my garage, because it is still full of snow. As I look at other people's cars outside and covered in snow, I think it was really smart to get a house here with a garage, snow alley or not.
I did some on-line research on my car's 37 degrees warning light. It does not mean there is anything wrong or anything to do and Toyota got rid of this light with the 2006 Prius. The best suggestion that I found to deal with the light being on all winter is to stick a piece of tape over the light. Which would be more annoying, the piece of tape or the warning light? I think the tape, so I resolved to just ignore the stupid light. Mary Kay's nephew offered to go out and start everyone's cars before they left last night, which reminded me again that I am now in Idaho, but I don't think it makes a bit of difference if my car is warmed up.
On the way home I stopped and took pictures at the parks.
I was amazed that the ponds were already frozen enough to skate on. Geese continue to fly over on their way somewhere else, but the seagulls are still hanging around.
I was headed out the door with my pie and Cruiser shot for the door. He keeps forgetting how cold it is outside. I stuck my foot out and he crashed into it, which stopped him. Sorrel boots are much more effective for this than other shoes.
Then I went to Mary Kay's and then to Mary Kay's mom's for Thanksgiving. My pie was a big hit and Mary Kay's mom actually took it around and showed everyone the little apples I put on top of the lattice crust. I used the Honeycrisp apples, which worked out well, and Meyer lemon, which happened to be at the grocery store a week ago. Honeycrisp apples are a bit sweeter than Golden Delicious, so I used less sugar, and the ones I bought were huge, so I only had to peel 4 apples to fill up a pie. I am OK with peeling apples, but sometimes I really wish for the fancy cutter that cuts the lattice strips perfectly even.
The battery in the thermostat at Mary Kay's mom's house went out yesterday morning. Mary Kay's 83 year old mom was out driving around at 5 am Thanksgiving morning looking for an open store that sold batteries. I was glad she found them and to be sitting is someone else's warm house.
The toughest drive was home in the dark where it is harder to see the icy patches, but the worst part is driving down the alley to my garage, because it is still full of snow. As I look at other people's cars outside and covered in snow, I think it was really smart to get a house here with a garage, snow alley or not.
I did some on-line research on my car's 37 degrees warning light. It does not mean there is anything wrong or anything to do and Toyota got rid of this light with the 2006 Prius. The best suggestion that I found to deal with the light being on all winter is to stick a piece of tape over the light. Which would be more annoying, the piece of tape or the warning light? I think the tape, so I resolved to just ignore the stupid light. Mary Kay's nephew offered to go out and start everyone's cars before they left last night, which reminded me again that I am now in Idaho, but I don't think it makes a bit of difference if my car is warmed up.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Even More Snow
This is the cowboys that I finished last week,
And the next one,
Mary Kay tells me these are Hawthorn berries. Since it has been so cold and gloomy, all I could think about when I painted the orange berries was Bob Ross saying, think happy trees!
It snowed two inches last night and the news today was all about the weather. I called and canceled meeting Laney for coffee and she understood. She had been on the interstate this morning and it was nasty. I went for a walk to take some pictures and get out of the house. People cleared their sidewalks and cars wore tracks in the snow, but the cleared sidewalks and the tire tracks iced over and it was easier to walk in the snow. I figure I won't bother clearing my walkway to the front door.
This guy has the wrong car, too,
I did clear a bit of the back patio so the cats could walk around. They did go out for a bit, but they want me to leave the back door open in case they need a quick escape, and it is just too cold for that. The sun was out all afternoon, which was really nice, even though it was still cold.
Note the November average low for Boise is 32.4° and the average high is 47.5°.
Today the high was 24° and the low predicted to be 3°. Boise had a late Spring and an unseasonably warm October and I think everyone, including me, was expecting a late Winter, not a super cold early one.
The next enlightenment topic is Kindness. The author's selection is a poem by Stephen Crane called "Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War is Kind." This is a cynical poem about war and, as far as I am concerned, off topic. I prefer the Aldous Huxley quote noted by the author in the text. On his deathbed Huxley was asked for his advice to mankind and he answered, "All we need to do is be a little kinder to each other." As we all struggle with the difficulties and emotions and disappointments of the holidays, remember to be kind. This includes the harassed grocery checker, the sister-in-law that sends you out for sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving morning because yams are not good enough, and that grandmother on the road that is driving too slow. This does not include North Korea. War has nothing to do with kindness or unkindness.
And the next one,
Mary Kay tells me these are Hawthorn berries. Since it has been so cold and gloomy, all I could think about when I painted the orange berries was Bob Ross saying, think happy trees!
It snowed two inches last night and the news today was all about the weather. I called and canceled meeting Laney for coffee and she understood. She had been on the interstate this morning and it was nasty. I went for a walk to take some pictures and get out of the house. People cleared their sidewalks and cars wore tracks in the snow, but the cleared sidewalks and the tire tracks iced over and it was easier to walk in the snow. I figure I won't bother clearing my walkway to the front door.
This guy has the wrong car, too,
I did clear a bit of the back patio so the cats could walk around. They did go out for a bit, but they want me to leave the back door open in case they need a quick escape, and it is just too cold for that. The sun was out all afternoon, which was really nice, even though it was still cold.
Note the November average low for Boise is 32.4° and the average high is 47.5°.
Today the high was 24° and the low predicted to be 3°. Boise had a late Spring and an unseasonably warm October and I think everyone, including me, was expecting a late Winter, not a super cold early one.
The next enlightenment topic is Kindness. The author's selection is a poem by Stephen Crane called "Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War is Kind." This is a cynical poem about war and, as far as I am concerned, off topic. I prefer the Aldous Huxley quote noted by the author in the text. On his deathbed Huxley was asked for his advice to mankind and he answered, "All we need to do is be a little kinder to each other." As we all struggle with the difficulties and emotions and disappointments of the holidays, remember to be kind. This includes the harassed grocery checker, the sister-in-law that sends you out for sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving morning because yams are not good enough, and that grandmother on the road that is driving too slow. This does not include North Korea. War has nothing to do with kindness or unkindness.
Monday, November 22, 2010
More Snow
It finished snowing last night, but stayed pretty gray all day. This is first thing this morning and it was too dark, so sorry for the blur,
Later, Spit stayed under the table, where it was at least dry,
I went to the Mall to buy a hat and to the grocery to buy apples for the Thanksgiving pie and to practice driving. The roads were pretty clear and dry and everyone drove carefully. It is supposed to snow and be super cold tomorrow and I am supposed to meet someone for coffee, but I really do not want to drive when it is snowing.
I finished the latest painting and will start another one tomorrow. I also finished another application for an Idaho state job, but I am discouraged with them. My score for an HR job was 95, but that job is now filled and I did not even get a call for an interview. The job that the manager I interviewed with told me about shows I did not meet the minimum requirements. I guess they did not buy my creative interpretation of my grants experience. I applied for another one over the weekend that should get me a 100 and I am going to call about that one once the application date closes and make sure there is nothing wrong. I now have 3 jobs with the state of Idaho that are pending a score.
Later, Spit stayed under the table, where it was at least dry,
I went to the Mall to buy a hat and to the grocery to buy apples for the Thanksgiving pie and to practice driving. The roads were pretty clear and dry and everyone drove carefully. It is supposed to snow and be super cold tomorrow and I am supposed to meet someone for coffee, but I really do not want to drive when it is snowing.
I finished the latest painting and will start another one tomorrow. I also finished another application for an Idaho state job, but I am discouraged with them. My score for an HR job was 95, but that job is now filled and I did not even get a call for an interview. The job that the manager I interviewed with told me about shows I did not meet the minimum requirements. I guess they did not buy my creative interpretation of my grants experience. I applied for another one over the weekend that should get me a 100 and I am going to call about that one once the application date closes and make sure there is nothing wrong. I now have 3 jobs with the state of Idaho that are pending a score.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
It's Snowing!
When I woke up Saturday morning it was snowing.
As soon as this snow melts I will put those steamer chairs in the garage.
It is really beautiful and yesterday morning I was amazed like a kid seeing snow for the first time. I was out all day yesterday trying to take advantage of the warm weather, that is weather above the 2 degrees predicted for Tuesday. I called my friend Christelle Friday night about meeting her for lunch on Saturday and in my message I said I was worrying about driving to lunch in the snow. On Friday night she wondered why I was worrying about snow when there wasn't any snow yet? Sure enough, Saturday morning it was snowing. She called to tell me that story Saturday morning and give me driving tips, and Sarah, my neighbor, called soon after to check on how I was doing with the snow.
By the time I got to lunch it was raining more than snowing and the roads were wet, but not icy. Saturday morning Mary Kay invited me to a pot luck dinner and said she would pick me up and drive me. By the time she arrived the snow was gone and it was no longer raining and I felt like I wasted a free ride. I turned on the Christmas lights before we left and it sure was pretty to drive up and see them lighting up my house at night. Sarah told me she and Joe enjoyed them, too.
Not too long after I woke up this morning it was snowing again and it has been snowing all day. Sarah said they predict an inch of snow, but I put my trash cans out at noon and it looks like more than an inch of snow is sitting on them in just five hours. I walked over to buy a newspaper in my new coat with a hood and understood why people have winter caps with bills. Even with my hood pulled over above my face, the snow as still blowing down on my cheeks. When I got back Sarah and Joe were doing yard work in the snow and cutting down the sad, withered tomato plants.
One thing about snow outside, not only does it look quiet, it is quiet. I have not heard anyone since Sarah and Joe finished their yard work, not a person or a dog or a car.
Neither cat would go out yesterday. They seemed to know the yard was just the wrong color. Both went out a bit this afternoon. Spit just went out for a minute and looked at me brokenhearted. Cruiser stayed out for a few minutes, but it was the snow falling on him that he could not figure out and did not like. Both are fairly calm now, although they are sticking close to me.
The snow inspired a long nap this afternoon and afterward a cup of hot chocolate. Even though I have been heavily in to the giant bag of trail mix with cashews and M&Ms from CostCo, I am still losing weight. I figure I can lose another 5 pounds this winter if I lay off the trail mix, so I put it away for the holidays.
I am waiting for the sun to come out, or at least a break in the snowing, to take more pictures.
As soon as this snow melts I will put those steamer chairs in the garage.
It is really beautiful and yesterday morning I was amazed like a kid seeing snow for the first time. I was out all day yesterday trying to take advantage of the warm weather, that is weather above the 2 degrees predicted for Tuesday. I called my friend Christelle Friday night about meeting her for lunch on Saturday and in my message I said I was worrying about driving to lunch in the snow. On Friday night she wondered why I was worrying about snow when there wasn't any snow yet? Sure enough, Saturday morning it was snowing. She called to tell me that story Saturday morning and give me driving tips, and Sarah, my neighbor, called soon after to check on how I was doing with the snow.
By the time I got to lunch it was raining more than snowing and the roads were wet, but not icy. Saturday morning Mary Kay invited me to a pot luck dinner and said she would pick me up and drive me. By the time she arrived the snow was gone and it was no longer raining and I felt like I wasted a free ride. I turned on the Christmas lights before we left and it sure was pretty to drive up and see them lighting up my house at night. Sarah told me she and Joe enjoyed them, too.
Not too long after I woke up this morning it was snowing again and it has been snowing all day. Sarah said they predict an inch of snow, but I put my trash cans out at noon and it looks like more than an inch of snow is sitting on them in just five hours. I walked over to buy a newspaper in my new coat with a hood and understood why people have winter caps with bills. Even with my hood pulled over above my face, the snow as still blowing down on my cheeks. When I got back Sarah and Joe were doing yard work in the snow and cutting down the sad, withered tomato plants.
One thing about snow outside, not only does it look quiet, it is quiet. I have not heard anyone since Sarah and Joe finished their yard work, not a person or a dog or a car.
Neither cat would go out yesterday. They seemed to know the yard was just the wrong color. Both went out a bit this afternoon. Spit just went out for a minute and looked at me brokenhearted. Cruiser stayed out for a few minutes, but it was the snow falling on him that he could not figure out and did not like. Both are fairly calm now, although they are sticking close to me.
The snow inspired a long nap this afternoon and afterward a cup of hot chocolate. Even though I have been heavily in to the giant bag of trail mix with cashews and M&Ms from CostCo, I am still losing weight. I figure I can lose another 5 pounds this winter if I lay off the trail mix, so I put it away for the holidays.
I am waiting for the sun to come out, or at least a break in the snowing, to take more pictures.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Children
I started reading The Artist's Way and read about the basic tools. They include writing 3 pages first thing every morning. Three pages of whatever, stream of consciousness stuff. The author calls it a mind-dump, removing all that crappy thinking we all have before the day starts. This sounds like a really good idea. Then there is the artist's date. 2 to 3 hours just you and your artist self (kinda like you and your inner child) doing something the artist self wants to do and replenishing our creative resources. I already get to do this lately, but I thought some of the things the author counted as replenishing were interesting. She counts cooking and any regular, repetitive action, like knitting, as replenishing. I always thought baking bread was nurturing (even more so when it actually rises and is edible) but I did not think of it as nurturing my creativity.
This morning I saw snowflakes falling, although they melted before they hit the ground. I let the cats out this afternoon before it started raining again. They both usually roll around on the patio first, they roll one way, then back, then stand up and do it over again. Poor Cruiser, this afternoon he put his face down to roll, thought better of it since the cement is so cold, put his face down to roll again, thought better of it again, and finally just stood there so I could scratch him.
More rain is predicted tomorrow, then snow Sunday and Monday. Monday's low, 17 degrees, Tuesday's high 21 degrees, Tuesday's low 2 degrees. 2 degrees! That is really cold for November in Boise. At least by Wednesday the sun is supposed to come out. The cold doesn't bother me as much as no sun. Someone this afternoon said that Farmer's Almanac predicted that this Winter is going to be super cold with Boise under a foot and a half of snow. This is what Farmer's Almanac really says about the Intermountain region:
Winter temperatures will be above normal, especially in the south, with the coldest periods in late December, mid-January, and early February. Precipitation will be below normal, with near- to below-normal snowfall. The snowiest periods will occur in early and mid-December and early and late February.
I'm hoping the Farmer's Almanac is right, although they seem to have missed the super cold Thanksgiving week.
I am half-way through the next painting, which is going much faster and is bright colors. For the rest of winter I am only painting bright colors and sunny days.
The holidays are coming and I am missing my daughter, so I am picking my own enlightenment topic today, Children, with a piece from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran,
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
I can't say it better. I think it is interesting that my daughter and I used to do a lot of replenishing our creative resources things, like baking. We used to make bread shaped like a teddy bear (which always rose and tasted great) and every Thanksgiving we made an apple pie.
This morning I saw snowflakes falling, although they melted before they hit the ground. I let the cats out this afternoon before it started raining again. They both usually roll around on the patio first, they roll one way, then back, then stand up and do it over again. Poor Cruiser, this afternoon he put his face down to roll, thought better of it since the cement is so cold, put his face down to roll again, thought better of it again, and finally just stood there so I could scratch him.
More rain is predicted tomorrow, then snow Sunday and Monday. Monday's low, 17 degrees, Tuesday's high 21 degrees, Tuesday's low 2 degrees. 2 degrees! That is really cold for November in Boise. At least by Wednesday the sun is supposed to come out. The cold doesn't bother me as much as no sun. Someone this afternoon said that Farmer's Almanac predicted that this Winter is going to be super cold with Boise under a foot and a half of snow. This is what Farmer's Almanac really says about the Intermountain region:
Winter temperatures will be above normal, especially in the south, with the coldest periods in late December, mid-January, and early February. Precipitation will be below normal, with near- to below-normal snowfall. The snowiest periods will occur in early and mid-December and early and late February.
I'm hoping the Farmer's Almanac is right, although they seem to have missed the super cold Thanksgiving week.
I am half-way through the next painting, which is going much faster and is bright colors. For the rest of winter I am only painting bright colors and sunny days.
The holidays are coming and I am missing my daughter, so I am picking my own enlightenment topic today, Children, with a piece from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran,
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
I can't say it better. I think it is interesting that my daughter and I used to do a lot of replenishing our creative resources things, like baking. We used to make bread shaped like a teddy bear (which always rose and tasted great) and every Thanksgiving we made an apple pie.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Food Storage
When I got up this morning it was already over 50 degrees, which felt really warm. I put the flannel sheets on the bed along with the extra blanket and the down comforter a month ago and if I don't turn the heat down to 60 degrees at night I am too hot. It didn't seem like the heat even went on last night. By tomorrow the temperature plummets 20 degrees again and we have rain/snow predicted for three days. Boise seems to have regular huge temperature swings.
There also does appear to be some real wind in Idaho. The Idaho Housewife posted some pictures of trees and signs blown down around her place in Northern Idaho and winds were 87 MPH around Orofino.
I think I finished the last painting and I'm not that happy with it, so I thought I better hurry and start on another one. I did drawings for three more, transferred two to paper, and started one this afternoon. I worked on the last painting for a few hours over too many days and I think it shows. It looks too labored and without spontaneity. I will post a picture as soon as the sun comes out again and I can photograph it.
I got the large painting of Hazel framed and hung it up on my wall in my living room for now. She looks awesome. She is my entry for the Idaho watercolor society show at the Idaho State Capitol building in February.
The Artist's Way arrived and my first meeting with the artists that want to do the workshop is December 2. We are supposed to meet twice a month. Some of the people involved seem to be pretty nutty, but I am hoping the do-it-yourself workshop is at least motivating.
With The Artist's Way I ordered my own copy of The Dhammapada and The Best of Idaho cookbook. I am feeling very well rounded.
I was reading about that Zombie show on-line and the leading actress talks about having an emergency pack, although she calls it a Go-bag. Then I watched TV this afternoon and they are talking about food storage. I think that is weird, I have an idea that I should be prepared for something, but I don't really know what, and it turns out there are lots of people preparing for something, but they don't really know what. I probably have enough stored to feed myself for 6 months, but I am overwhelmed by trying to store for a year. What do I really need for a year? On TV today I was reminded to ask the Mormons, Mormons know about food storage.
If you are interested, here is a page of links, courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:
http://bekkel.tripod.com/links.htm
There also does appear to be some real wind in Idaho. The Idaho Housewife posted some pictures of trees and signs blown down around her place in Northern Idaho and winds were 87 MPH around Orofino.
I think I finished the last painting and I'm not that happy with it, so I thought I better hurry and start on another one. I did drawings for three more, transferred two to paper, and started one this afternoon. I worked on the last painting for a few hours over too many days and I think it shows. It looks too labored and without spontaneity. I will post a picture as soon as the sun comes out again and I can photograph it.
I got the large painting of Hazel framed and hung it up on my wall in my living room for now. She looks awesome. She is my entry for the Idaho watercolor society show at the Idaho State Capitol building in February.
The Artist's Way arrived and my first meeting with the artists that want to do the workshop is December 2. We are supposed to meet twice a month. Some of the people involved seem to be pretty nutty, but I am hoping the do-it-yourself workshop is at least motivating.
With The Artist's Way I ordered my own copy of The Dhammapada and The Best of Idaho cookbook. I am feeling very well rounded.
I was reading about that Zombie show on-line and the leading actress talks about having an emergency pack, although she calls it a Go-bag. Then I watched TV this afternoon and they are talking about food storage. I think that is weird, I have an idea that I should be prepared for something, but I don't really know what, and it turns out there are lots of people preparing for something, but they don't really know what. I probably have enough stored to feed myself for 6 months, but I am overwhelmed by trying to store for a year. What do I really need for a year? On TV today I was reminded to ask the Mormons, Mormons know about food storage.
If you are interested, here is a page of links, courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:
http://bekkel.tripod.com/links.htm
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Rim
Today is my brother Dave's birthday and until March my brother's and I are all 2 years apart. I'm the oldest, so it goes, 48, 46, 44, 42. Dave is 44. I am at the age where I have to remember how old I am and count backwards. It is hard for me to believe I am 48, but it is even harder to believe all my little brothers are in their 40s.
Yesterday the Idaho weatherman was making a commotion about the wind. It was windy but I felt the same way I do when people here talk about how hot it is in July and August. I lived in Vegas, in Idaho you don't know hot. I lived in Vegas, in Idaho you don't know wind. Constant high winds that blew day after day was the thing I liked the least about Vegas. Sometimes the hot dry wind was so bad that I felt like I was going to dehydrate into a pile of dust. Then I moved to Simi Valley, which is also pretty windy, and I thought, why did I do this again, live someplace so windy? It is not windy here.
Even though it was mildly windy for a few hours, I put up the Christmas lights, since I felt like it and it was sunny. 2 more days of sun and then we get rain and snow through Thanksgiving. I had to buy another strand of lights and once I saw the price of LED lights I was tempted to buy a lifetime supply of old fashioned incandescent Christmas lights. At Target, a strand of 300 incandescent lights is $6 and a strand of 300 LEDs is $60. I guess once I can't buy incandescent Christmas lights anymore then I will not have outdoor lights anymore.
Then I went for a walk to take pictures of streets full of leaves, and I did not find any so I took a walk along the rim. I live in the part of Boise called the Central Rim, which is the edge of the Boise Bench. Just a few blocks from my house is the edge of the rim and the houses on the edge of the rim have this view,
These are some of the houses that have this view,
Two doors down from me on the other side of Kurt's house they have been working on the world's longest home remodel,
The house looks like a duplex, with one apartment downstairs and one upstairs and it can't be more than 1000 square feet total, but they have been working on it since Labor Day. In that amount of time you would think they could have rebuilt it from scratch. Sometimes the construction noise gets really annoying and the worst was when they brought in a small backhoe to take up the driveway. Now that every moving vehicle has to have beeping the entire time that it is backing up, that backhoe beeped all day for two days. I wanted to go over and disconnect it, although that would be against the law. How many children were saved from being run over by that backhoe in those two days? None.
Speaking of over regulation, yesterday The National Transportation Safety Board called on states to enact stronger motorcycle helmet laws which caused an uproar here in Idaho. Motorcyclists are not required to wear a helmet in Idaho, which goes with Idaho's general philosophy of freedom and personal responsibility. I was surprised at the timing of another attack on State's rights by the Feds. Even if the Fed's passed a law requiring motorcycle riders to wear a helmet in Idaho, I doubt they could enforce it.
Kurt did not bag his pile of leaves and now half of the pile is in my yard. Sarah's tomato plants are all wilted from the last freeze and she was planning yard clean-up this weekend, but she may be doing it in the snow.
Yesterday the Idaho weatherman was making a commotion about the wind. It was windy but I felt the same way I do when people here talk about how hot it is in July and August. I lived in Vegas, in Idaho you don't know hot. I lived in Vegas, in Idaho you don't know wind. Constant high winds that blew day after day was the thing I liked the least about Vegas. Sometimes the hot dry wind was so bad that I felt like I was going to dehydrate into a pile of dust. Then I moved to Simi Valley, which is also pretty windy, and I thought, why did I do this again, live someplace so windy? It is not windy here.
Even though it was mildly windy for a few hours, I put up the Christmas lights, since I felt like it and it was sunny. 2 more days of sun and then we get rain and snow through Thanksgiving. I had to buy another strand of lights and once I saw the price of LED lights I was tempted to buy a lifetime supply of old fashioned incandescent Christmas lights. At Target, a strand of 300 incandescent lights is $6 and a strand of 300 LEDs is $60. I guess once I can't buy incandescent Christmas lights anymore then I will not have outdoor lights anymore.
Then I went for a walk to take pictures of streets full of leaves, and I did not find any so I took a walk along the rim. I live in the part of Boise called the Central Rim, which is the edge of the Boise Bench. Just a few blocks from my house is the edge of the rim and the houses on the edge of the rim have this view,
These are some of the houses that have this view,
Two doors down from me on the other side of Kurt's house they have been working on the world's longest home remodel,
The house looks like a duplex, with one apartment downstairs and one upstairs and it can't be more than 1000 square feet total, but they have been working on it since Labor Day. In that amount of time you would think they could have rebuilt it from scratch. Sometimes the construction noise gets really annoying and the worst was when they brought in a small backhoe to take up the driveway. Now that every moving vehicle has to have beeping the entire time that it is backing up, that backhoe beeped all day for two days. I wanted to go over and disconnect it, although that would be against the law. How many children were saved from being run over by that backhoe in those two days? None.
Speaking of over regulation, yesterday The National Transportation Safety Board called on states to enact stronger motorcycle helmet laws which caused an uproar here in Idaho. Motorcyclists are not required to wear a helmet in Idaho, which goes with Idaho's general philosophy of freedom and personal responsibility. I was surprised at the timing of another attack on State's rights by the Feds. Even if the Fed's passed a law requiring motorcycle riders to wear a helmet in Idaho, I doubt they could enforce it.
Kurt did not bag his pile of leaves and now half of the pile is in my yard. Sarah's tomato plants are all wilted from the last freeze and she was planning yard clean-up this weekend, but she may be doing it in the snow.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Fall Color is Over
There was a beautiful sunrise this morning and then the sun went away, but it was back in the 50s today, which now feels warm. I meant to get out and take one more round of pictures of Fall color, but I did not make it. Everyone's yard and the streets are full of leaves. Some people have already diligently raked theirs up and there is now a moron across the street trying to use a leaf blower on his. I'm thinking that his leaf blower is going to break before he finishes, since there are too many leaves, some of them are really big, and it rained yesterday morning and the day before, so the leaves are heavy.
AMC has a new series called The Walking Dead and I stayed up and watched the first three episodes last night until midnight. I don't like horror, but I seem to like zombie movies. It isn't a new story, but it was done pretty well. It took me a while to figure out where I've seen the main actor, he was in one of my favorite movies, Love Actually. I don't know if it was too much zombies, or staying up too late, but after the show I could not sleep and then I woke up with a cramp in my shoulder and then I got up early with a headache. This did not make a good start to my day and I have not been able to get over it. (The dying leaf blower is not helping!)
There were two jobs posted with the state of Idaho. I finished one application and submitted it last night and am more than half way through the other one.
I am close to finishing the latest painting and I am starting to like it more. There was just too much in it that I had to lay in and it took a long time to look like something.
I have a mixed opinion of President Bush as President, but I have really enjoyed watching his interviews to promote his book this week. I wish he spoke up before on some of the topics he discussed this week, but then maybe he did and I never got the opportunity to see or read it. He looks like a content and peaceful guy today. One interview was with President Bush and Laura Bush, and I really do miss Laura Bush.
The next enlightenment topic is Agelessness from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll,
"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."
"You are old," said the youth, "As I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door—
Pray, what is the reason of that?"
"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—
Allow me to sell you a couple?"
"You are old," said the youth, "And your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak—
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"
"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."
"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose—
What made you so awfully clever?"
"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father; "don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"
I do not like Alice in Wonderland. What a disrespectful kid and a mean old man. Where is the enlightenment? Today I am feeling the aches and pains of being old, but I went out and raked the last of the leaves to add to the tops of the leaf bags so the trash man could pick them up today. Raking leaves and working outside in the cold made me feel invigorated, if not ageless.
AMC has a new series called The Walking Dead and I stayed up and watched the first three episodes last night until midnight. I don't like horror, but I seem to like zombie movies. It isn't a new story, but it was done pretty well. It took me a while to figure out where I've seen the main actor, he was in one of my favorite movies, Love Actually. I don't know if it was too much zombies, or staying up too late, but after the show I could not sleep and then I woke up with a cramp in my shoulder and then I got up early with a headache. This did not make a good start to my day and I have not been able to get over it. (The dying leaf blower is not helping!)
There were two jobs posted with the state of Idaho. I finished one application and submitted it last night and am more than half way through the other one.
I am close to finishing the latest painting and I am starting to like it more. There was just too much in it that I had to lay in and it took a long time to look like something.
I have a mixed opinion of President Bush as President, but I have really enjoyed watching his interviews to promote his book this week. I wish he spoke up before on some of the topics he discussed this week, but then maybe he did and I never got the opportunity to see or read it. He looks like a content and peaceful guy today. One interview was with President Bush and Laura Bush, and I really do miss Laura Bush.
The next enlightenment topic is Agelessness from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll,
"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."
"You are old," said the youth, "As I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door—
Pray, what is the reason of that?"
"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—
Allow me to sell you a couple?"
"You are old," said the youth, "And your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak—
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"
"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."
"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose—
What made you so awfully clever?"
"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father; "don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"
I do not like Alice in Wonderland. What a disrespectful kid and a mean old man. Where is the enlightenment? Today I am feeling the aches and pains of being old, but I went out and raked the last of the leaves to add to the tops of the leaf bags so the trash man could pick them up today. Raking leaves and working outside in the cold made me feel invigorated, if not ageless.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
It's Cold!
I got used to weather in the 50s and 60 seemed warm, then I got used to the 40s and 50 seemed warm, but suddenly yesterday it was in the 30s all day and it was cold! I was out for most of the day and wore my coat, scarf, and gloves. I checked the average temperatures and I only have one more adjustment to make, the average lows in December, January, and February are in the 20s. At least we are back to lows in the 40s this week, starting today, and the predicted highs around 50 will seem warm. That darn warning light in my car went on yesterday morning telling me it was under 37 degrees outside, duh, which reminds me I need to call Toyota and find out why.
Yesterday I went to lunch and then went for coffee. It is that eggnog latte time of year and an eggnog latte tastes better when it is 38 degrees outside. With my latte I got a $1 off coupon for the Festival of Trees, which reminds me that it feels more like the holidays when it is 38 degrees outside. Why is it that cold and snow makes me feel like it is the holidays when I've never experienced cold and snow on the holidays?
I need more hats. I don't look good in hats, but I can't deal with weather in the 20s without a hat. I bought one that looks good enough on me, but it doesn't cover my ears very well. I am currently too vain to buy one of those hats with the ear flaps, but I'm wondering if the next time my ears are cold if I will abandon vanity. I bought a coat a few weeks ago, but now I am not sure it is warm enough, so I am going to test it out today and maybe take it back for something warmer. I already have two warm jackets, including a peacoat, and Mom's 30 year old full-length cashmere coat, but I did not have a casual coat that I could wear over several layers. I had one in Vegas that I just loved, but I finally wore it out.
The next enlightenment topic is Physical Perfection, with an observation by Walt Whitman,
To me , every cubic inch of space is a miracle...
Welcome is every organ and attitude of me...
Not an inch, nor a particle of an inch is vile.
Your physical body is a temple, honor it. I'm finding that this gets harder as I get older and my body seems to be falling apart. My knee can now predict weather changes and I need highlights again, my gray is showing.
This makes me think about my issues with Perfectionism and The Spirituality of Imperfection, which I like better than Wisdom of the Ages. So I will add on the topic of Perfectionism, a conversation between Augustus and Call from Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove via The Spirituality of Imperfection,
"You're so sure you're right it doesn't matter to you whether people talk to you at all. I'm glad I've been wrong enough to keep in practice."
"Why would you want to keep in practice being wrong?" Call asked. "I'd think it would be something you'd try to avoid."
"You can't avoid it, you've go to learn to handle it," Augustus said. "If you come face to face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it's bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day - that way they ain't usually much worse than a dry shave."
Lonesome Dove is a great book, even if you are not looking for spirituality. There are many more passages from other sources on the topic in The Spirituality of Imperfection, but I like the accessibility of this one.
Yesterday I went to lunch and then went for coffee. It is that eggnog latte time of year and an eggnog latte tastes better when it is 38 degrees outside. With my latte I got a $1 off coupon for the Festival of Trees, which reminds me that it feels more like the holidays when it is 38 degrees outside. Why is it that cold and snow makes me feel like it is the holidays when I've never experienced cold and snow on the holidays?
I need more hats. I don't look good in hats, but I can't deal with weather in the 20s without a hat. I bought one that looks good enough on me, but it doesn't cover my ears very well. I am currently too vain to buy one of those hats with the ear flaps, but I'm wondering if the next time my ears are cold if I will abandon vanity. I bought a coat a few weeks ago, but now I am not sure it is warm enough, so I am going to test it out today and maybe take it back for something warmer. I already have two warm jackets, including a peacoat, and Mom's 30 year old full-length cashmere coat, but I did not have a casual coat that I could wear over several layers. I had one in Vegas that I just loved, but I finally wore it out.
The next enlightenment topic is Physical Perfection, with an observation by Walt Whitman,
To me , every cubic inch of space is a miracle...
Welcome is every organ and attitude of me...
Not an inch, nor a particle of an inch is vile.
Your physical body is a temple, honor it. I'm finding that this gets harder as I get older and my body seems to be falling apart. My knee can now predict weather changes and I need highlights again, my gray is showing.
This makes me think about my issues with Perfectionism and The Spirituality of Imperfection, which I like better than Wisdom of the Ages. So I will add on the topic of Perfectionism, a conversation between Augustus and Call from Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove via The Spirituality of Imperfection,
"You're so sure you're right it doesn't matter to you whether people talk to you at all. I'm glad I've been wrong enough to keep in practice."
"Why would you want to keep in practice being wrong?" Call asked. "I'd think it would be something you'd try to avoid."
"You can't avoid it, you've go to learn to handle it," Augustus said. "If you come face to face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it's bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day - that way they ain't usually much worse than a dry shave."
Lonesome Dove is a great book, even if you are not looking for spirituality. There are many more passages from other sources on the topic in The Spirituality of Imperfection, but I like the accessibility of this one.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Valor
There were several reasons why I wanted to get to Boise by September. I wanted to get settled before Winter, I wanted to see Fall, and I always have the most amount of energy in September. In the olden days, when I went to school, we started school after Labor Day and I must have really liked school. Every year in September I have that same feeling of optimism and a new start.
Second best is Spring, although the new beginning feeling is less in Southern California, since we really do not have Winter, and confused by however I feel about my birthdays in March and May. In Summer I just feel like I should be on vacation, which goes back to 12 formative years of being on vacation from school. 30 years and I am still not over getting the Summer off. In Winter I just want to hibernate. No matter how busy or happy I am, I am more tired and I sleep more in Winter. It feels like Winter here already and the days are short and going to get even shorter and I am ready for hibernation.
The Health and Welfare manager sent me an email about another specialist job and I am halfway through writing the answers to the application questions for the application due Monday. The phone rang all evening last night and I may not have a job, but I feel like I have a life. I talked to my new friend now back in Bellingham, Washington, I am going to lunch on Saturday, and I am taking care of Sara and Joe's cats for the weekend while they are in Sun Valley.
In honor of Veteran's Day yesterday, I chose my own topic, Valor, with a quote from an article by John Stuart Mill that is frequently used by the US military,
“But war, in a good cause, is not the greatest evil which a nation can suffer. War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice – a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice – is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other.”
I included the entire original passage, which is often abbreviated. Mill was English and writing in support of the Union north during the US Civil War. I do not know much about Mill, and I believe it is important to understand the writer and the context in which he was writing. He was a philosopher and also wrote about Utilitarianism, which bases knowledge on human experience and emphasizes human reason. As a member of the British Parliament Mill was considered to be a radical at the time, and his advocacy of women's suffrage in 1867 led to the women's suffrage movement. It is interesting that this article was written by someone "of a liberal political view of society and culture." (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In his book Utilitarianism, Mill defined utilitarian ethical theory, and formulated a single ethical principle as the basis of all utilitarian ethical principles, the Greatest-Happiness Principle. (Which is reminding me of Dennis Prager's Happiness Hour, which is on today.) I will leave you to read more about the Greatest-Happiness Principle, if you are interested.
Regardless of how I feel about any war or its purpose, military service is still service to others and should be honored as such, on Veteran's Day and every day.
Second best is Spring, although the new beginning feeling is less in Southern California, since we really do not have Winter, and confused by however I feel about my birthdays in March and May. In Summer I just feel like I should be on vacation, which goes back to 12 formative years of being on vacation from school. 30 years and I am still not over getting the Summer off. In Winter I just want to hibernate. No matter how busy or happy I am, I am more tired and I sleep more in Winter. It feels like Winter here already and the days are short and going to get even shorter and I am ready for hibernation.
The Health and Welfare manager sent me an email about another specialist job and I am halfway through writing the answers to the application questions for the application due Monday. The phone rang all evening last night and I may not have a job, but I feel like I have a life. I talked to my new friend now back in Bellingham, Washington, I am going to lunch on Saturday, and I am taking care of Sara and Joe's cats for the weekend while they are in Sun Valley.
In honor of Veteran's Day yesterday, I chose my own topic, Valor, with a quote from an article by John Stuart Mill that is frequently used by the US military,
“But war, in a good cause, is not the greatest evil which a nation can suffer. War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice – a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice – is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other.”
I included the entire original passage, which is often abbreviated. Mill was English and writing in support of the Union north during the US Civil War. I do not know much about Mill, and I believe it is important to understand the writer and the context in which he was writing. He was a philosopher and also wrote about Utilitarianism, which bases knowledge on human experience and emphasizes human reason. As a member of the British Parliament Mill was considered to be a radical at the time, and his advocacy of women's suffrage in 1867 led to the women's suffrage movement. It is interesting that this article was written by someone "of a liberal political view of society and culture." (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In his book Utilitarianism, Mill defined utilitarian ethical theory, and formulated a single ethical principle as the basis of all utilitarian ethical principles, the Greatest-Happiness Principle. (Which is reminding me of Dennis Prager's Happiness Hour, which is on today.) I will leave you to read more about the Greatest-Happiness Principle, if you are interested.
Regardless of how I feel about any war or its purpose, military service is still service to others and should be honored as such, on Veteran's Day and every day.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Ice and Sun
The lawn and the rooftops are covered with ice and the air was clouded with a cold mist this morning, but now the sun is out and the sky is clear blue.
Erika, that I met at the workshop, suggested that once we had ice on the ground here I should find a big empty parking lot and practice driving on ice. She and her friend then proceeded to suggest the best parking lots, which were all far from my house. I told them if the parking lot to practice in is too far from my house I am going to end up practicing on ice on the road to get there and that defeats the point! I'm thinking that the parking lot for the bowling alley down the street is the ticket, or else there is a big hospital around the corner with a big parking lot. Maybe the hospital would be better, then if I get in an accident and hurt myself I can just walk on over.
Several people have told me they have allergy problems here year round, but the frosty weather seems to have put an end to mine.
Cruiser is driving me nuts every morning this week and sitting at the computer is a battle. He's on the chair, then the desk, then knocking over the lamp, then back to my lap. Yesterday he was whining, whining, all day, so I went out to get away from him in the late afternoon. (If he's having trouble with the cold weather, then it is going to be a long Winter.) Mary Kay invited me for Thanksgiving and I told her I would come if I can bring an apple pie. I make one every year and I was wondering if I made one this year who was going to eat it, so that problem is solved. I was thinking of using Honeycrisp apples this year, although if I am going to show off I may stick with the usual Golden Delicious. Honeycrisp apples are fairly new and popular here. They are similar to Golden Delicious and according to what I found on-line, they are excellent in a pie.
The next enlightenment topic is Fear and Risk-Taking, with an excerpt from In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
I envy not in any moods
The captive void of noble rage,
The linnet born within the cage,
That never knew the summer woods;
In envy not the beast that takes
His license in the field of time,
Unfetter'd by the sense of crime,
To whom a conscience never wakes;
Nor, what may count itself as blest,
The heart that never plighted troth
But stagnates in the weeds of sloth:
Nor any want-begotten rest.
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'T is better to have loved and lost
than never to have loved at all.
The poem was written in honor of Arthur Henry Hallam, another poet and friend of Tennyson, who died at the young age of 22. At the age of 18, Hallam fell in love with Tennyson's sister, but Hallam died before they could be married. This is pretty much the same topic as yesterday. There is nothing that inspires growth like failure, so make growth a goal. If you think of failure as teaching you something and getting you closer to your goal, then it is really not such a bad thing. If you don't try, so you can't fail, then you stagnate. I'm wondering if we should let people fail more, so they can grow. Growth is painful and I tend to avoid it as long as possible.
I am painting first thing every morning, but the painting I'm working on now is slow going for some reason. Luckily, Cruiser can't get up on the drafting table and he does not enjoy walking around on the paint palette, although Spit likes to drink out of the water jar. Yesterday I went to wash my brush and there was Spit with her head in the jar and I had to wait until she was done.
Erika, that I met at the workshop, suggested that once we had ice on the ground here I should find a big empty parking lot and practice driving on ice. She and her friend then proceeded to suggest the best parking lots, which were all far from my house. I told them if the parking lot to practice in is too far from my house I am going to end up practicing on ice on the road to get there and that defeats the point! I'm thinking that the parking lot for the bowling alley down the street is the ticket, or else there is a big hospital around the corner with a big parking lot. Maybe the hospital would be better, then if I get in an accident and hurt myself I can just walk on over.
Several people have told me they have allergy problems here year round, but the frosty weather seems to have put an end to mine.
Cruiser is driving me nuts every morning this week and sitting at the computer is a battle. He's on the chair, then the desk, then knocking over the lamp, then back to my lap. Yesterday he was whining, whining, all day, so I went out to get away from him in the late afternoon. (If he's having trouble with the cold weather, then it is going to be a long Winter.) Mary Kay invited me for Thanksgiving and I told her I would come if I can bring an apple pie. I make one every year and I was wondering if I made one this year who was going to eat it, so that problem is solved. I was thinking of using Honeycrisp apples this year, although if I am going to show off I may stick with the usual Golden Delicious. Honeycrisp apples are fairly new and popular here. They are similar to Golden Delicious and according to what I found on-line, they are excellent in a pie.
The next enlightenment topic is Fear and Risk-Taking, with an excerpt from In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
I envy not in any moods
The captive void of noble rage,
The linnet born within the cage,
That never knew the summer woods;
In envy not the beast that takes
His license in the field of time,
Unfetter'd by the sense of crime,
To whom a conscience never wakes;
Nor, what may count itself as blest,
The heart that never plighted troth
But stagnates in the weeds of sloth:
Nor any want-begotten rest.
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'T is better to have loved and lost
than never to have loved at all.
The poem was written in honor of Arthur Henry Hallam, another poet and friend of Tennyson, who died at the young age of 22. At the age of 18, Hallam fell in love with Tennyson's sister, but Hallam died before they could be married. This is pretty much the same topic as yesterday. There is nothing that inspires growth like failure, so make growth a goal. If you think of failure as teaching you something and getting you closer to your goal, then it is really not such a bad thing. If you don't try, so you can't fail, then you stagnate. I'm wondering if we should let people fail more, so they can grow. Growth is painful and I tend to avoid it as long as possible.
I am painting first thing every morning, but the painting I'm working on now is slow going for some reason. Luckily, Cruiser can't get up on the drafting table and he does not enjoy walking around on the paint palette, although Spit likes to drink out of the water jar. Yesterday I went to wash my brush and there was Spit with her head in the jar and I had to wait until she was done.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Leaf Bags
What did I say about the leaves on my street tree?
By mid-afternoon all of the leaves on my street tree had fallen. This left a thick carpet of leaves into the street, so I decided to rake them up before it rained again. Kurt came out and made fun of my hand rake and let me borrow his real rake. One problem with 3 foot tall leaf bags, when you are only 5 foot 2 inches, is that they are impossible to get open all the way to the bottom. I had to put the bag over my head and get inside to my waist to reach the square bottom and open the bag all the way. I'm sure if Kurt was watching he thought that was pretty funny, too. Kurt had already raked the leaves on his side into a pile, but my side filled 4 leaf bags,
Trash day is not until Monday, so I can fill the tops of the bags with the leftover leaves between now and then. It was supposed to rain and then snow last night, so I put the bags on the covered porch. It did rain all night, but no snow at my house.
The next enlightenment topic is Regrets, with a section of poem "Maud Muller" by John Greenleaf Whittier,
Alas for maiden, alas for Judge,
For rich repiner and household drudge!
God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall;
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"
Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies
Deeply buried from human eyes;
And, in the hereafter, angels may
Roll the stone from its grave away!
The whole poem is worth reading, so you can get the whole story, and you can find it here, http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/maud_muller.html. The maiden and the judge meet, like each other but don't say anything, the judge rides away, they both marry someone else, marry badly, and regret what could have been with each other. Regret is destructive to enlightenment and right up there with Resentment. If you feel something in your heart and do not act on it out of fear, the result is regret. I have to wonder if the bad marriages of the maiden and the judge may have been caused by them yearning over a fantasy, so regret keeps you from living in the present and its destructiveness gets spread around to others in your life. Or maybe these are two fearful people who never say what they want and use regret to avoid any kind of relationship. It is easier to do your best and then fail or endure pain, because then you live without regret and in the present. I like to ask myself, what would I do if I was not afraid? I suppose I should rephrase that into a positive, what would I do if I was fearless?
By mid-afternoon all of the leaves on my street tree had fallen. This left a thick carpet of leaves into the street, so I decided to rake them up before it rained again. Kurt came out and made fun of my hand rake and let me borrow his real rake. One problem with 3 foot tall leaf bags, when you are only 5 foot 2 inches, is that they are impossible to get open all the way to the bottom. I had to put the bag over my head and get inside to my waist to reach the square bottom and open the bag all the way. I'm sure if Kurt was watching he thought that was pretty funny, too. Kurt had already raked the leaves on his side into a pile, but my side filled 4 leaf bags,
Trash day is not until Monday, so I can fill the tops of the bags with the leftover leaves between now and then. It was supposed to rain and then snow last night, so I put the bags on the covered porch. It did rain all night, but no snow at my house.
The next enlightenment topic is Regrets, with a section of poem "Maud Muller" by John Greenleaf Whittier,
Alas for maiden, alas for Judge,
For rich repiner and household drudge!
God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall;
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"
Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies
Deeply buried from human eyes;
And, in the hereafter, angels may
Roll the stone from its grave away!
The whole poem is worth reading, so you can get the whole story, and you can find it here, http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/maud_muller.html. The maiden and the judge meet, like each other but don't say anything, the judge rides away, they both marry someone else, marry badly, and regret what could have been with each other. Regret is destructive to enlightenment and right up there with Resentment. If you feel something in your heart and do not act on it out of fear, the result is regret. I have to wonder if the bad marriages of the maiden and the judge may have been caused by them yearning over a fantasy, so regret keeps you from living in the present and its destructiveness gets spread around to others in your life. Or maybe these are two fearful people who never say what they want and use regret to avoid any kind of relationship. It is easier to do your best and then fail or endure pain, because then you live without regret and in the present. I like to ask myself, what would I do if I was not afraid? I suppose I should rephrase that into a positive, what would I do if I was fearless?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Path
My neighbor Sara came over late Sunday afternoon and brought me pumpkin scones. She was wearing flip-flops, which she took off at the door and came in to my house barefoot. Between the temperature change and the time change, Monday felt like we went from Fall to Winter overnight, and it was hard to believe Sara was wearing flip-flops just yesterday.
Mary Kay's mom said she thought this was the best Fall color show Boise had in a long time and I felt like I enjoyed another treat along with the unseasonably warm weather. The show is still going on, but the leaves are really falling now and the tree in front of my house is literally raining leaves. At the rate it's going my tree will be bare by the end of the day.
The leaf bags they sell are 3 feet tall and they come in packages of 5. I thought there was no way I would use more than one bag this Fall, now I'm not so sure. I still have my little hand rake, but I think I am going to be missing my full sized rake when I tackle leaves this week.
Even with all my moving around, I still held on to some things I am happy to have today. I still have some of my skiing stuff from before Lauren was born, including long underwear. It's the thick kind of long underwear, two layers with wool on the outside and cotton on the inside, and looks like good pajamas. I saved some heavy sweaters from living in Vegas even though they got too small. Now they are no longer too small, although I saved a wool skirt that I tried to try on and I can't imagine ever being that thin again.
Do you ever see those people dressed as if they are in a time warp? The aging woman dressed head to toe in an outfit from the 1970s and everything looks new and you wonder if she bought a lifetime supply 30 years ago? The price I pay for criticizing women like this is that then I have to look at myself. My very favorite outfit is a pair of leggings and an over-sized men's sweater, right out of the '80s. I am finding myself wanting that outfit again, right down to the boots, although with updated boots, like Sorrels, instead of those slouchy kind we wore in the '80s.
A friend of a friend loaned me The Dhammapada translated by Eknath Easwaran and I started it last night before I went to sleep. This reminds me I should get back to enlightenment, especially since I am now more than halfway thorough, but today my topic is The Path, with a passage (273-276) from the The Dhammapada translated by Eknath Easwaran,
"Of paths the Eightfold is the best; of truths the Nobel Four are best; of mental states, detachment is the best; of human beings the illumined one is best.
This is the path; there is no other that leads to the purification of the mind. Follow this path and conquer Mara. This is the path; there is no other that leads to the purification of the mind. This path will lead to the end of suffering. This is the path I made known after the arrows of sorrow fell away.
All the effort must be made by you; Buddhas only show the way. Follow this path and practice meditation; go beyond the power of Mara."
The Four Noble Truths
1. Life means suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path
Wisdom
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
Ethical Conduct
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
Mental Development
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
Right livelihood seems to be one of my biggest challenges. I think it is interesting that even Buddha tells us, "All the effort must be made by you."
Mary Kay's mom said she thought this was the best Fall color show Boise had in a long time and I felt like I enjoyed another treat along with the unseasonably warm weather. The show is still going on, but the leaves are really falling now and the tree in front of my house is literally raining leaves. At the rate it's going my tree will be bare by the end of the day.
The leaf bags they sell are 3 feet tall and they come in packages of 5. I thought there was no way I would use more than one bag this Fall, now I'm not so sure. I still have my little hand rake, but I think I am going to be missing my full sized rake when I tackle leaves this week.
Even with all my moving around, I still held on to some things I am happy to have today. I still have some of my skiing stuff from before Lauren was born, including long underwear. It's the thick kind of long underwear, two layers with wool on the outside and cotton on the inside, and looks like good pajamas. I saved some heavy sweaters from living in Vegas even though they got too small. Now they are no longer too small, although I saved a wool skirt that I tried to try on and I can't imagine ever being that thin again.
Do you ever see those people dressed as if they are in a time warp? The aging woman dressed head to toe in an outfit from the 1970s and everything looks new and you wonder if she bought a lifetime supply 30 years ago? The price I pay for criticizing women like this is that then I have to look at myself. My very favorite outfit is a pair of leggings and an over-sized men's sweater, right out of the '80s. I am finding myself wanting that outfit again, right down to the boots, although with updated boots, like Sorrels, instead of those slouchy kind we wore in the '80s.
A friend of a friend loaned me The Dhammapada translated by Eknath Easwaran and I started it last night before I went to sleep. This reminds me I should get back to enlightenment, especially since I am now more than halfway thorough, but today my topic is The Path, with a passage (273-276) from the The Dhammapada translated by Eknath Easwaran,
"Of paths the Eightfold is the best; of truths the Nobel Four are best; of mental states, detachment is the best; of human beings the illumined one is best.
This is the path; there is no other that leads to the purification of the mind. Follow this path and conquer Mara. This is the path; there is no other that leads to the purification of the mind. This path will lead to the end of suffering. This is the path I made known after the arrows of sorrow fell away.
All the effort must be made by you; Buddhas only show the way. Follow this path and practice meditation; go beyond the power of Mara."
The Four Noble Truths
1. Life means suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path
Wisdom
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
Ethical Conduct
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
Mental Development
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
Right livelihood seems to be one of my biggest challenges. I think it is interesting that even Buddha tells us, "All the effort must be made by you."
Monday, November 8, 2010
State Competitiveness Report
This is Tia, my neighbor Kurt's dog,
She is a mixed breed and I don't remember of what breeds my neighbor's told me, but she looks like an Australian Shepherd to me. Kurt must have been gone too long last Saturday afternoon, so Tia jumped the fence and went looking for attention. She came running over to me and rolled over at my feet. Tia knows she is not the pack leader. She has great fluffy ears, but she would not point them up for me for a picture.
Saturday night was actually balmy, with a warm humid breeze, but must have been an indicator of cold weather on its way. It rained all day yesterday and today is the day that it gets cold and stays cold. No more high temperatures above 50 degrees and lows are now in the 30s. I finally went out yesterday afternoon and bought those Bearclaw boots for wearing around the house, although last night my feet were really too warm in them.
There was a break in the rain early last night and I let the cats outside. Cruiser managed to chase a few big falling leaves before it started raining again and both cats raced back in the house. Even though it has not been that cold yet, the cats like to lay with me on the couch and we all keep each other warm. Once there and warm, none of us want to get up, which is not conducive to getting anything done.
Today I am trying to paint all day after an unproductive weekend. I am feeling a bit off balance, like I am not sure what to do next, but I am also feeling hopeful. Hopeful and off balance is a weird combination.
Dad sent an article about the dire state of California which mentions two reports on State competitiveness,
The Tenth Annual State Competitiveness Report by the Beacon Hill Institute
http://www.beaconhill.org/CompetitivenessHomePage.html and
The 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp60.pdf
Idaho ranks 18th on both index. I am curious why more businesses are moving to Utah than Idaho and this is due to the business tax climate, which is ranked lowest of all the surrounding states, Wyoming 3rd, Nevada 4th, Montana 6th, Utah 9th, Washington 11th, Oregon 14th, and Colorado 15th. I disagree with some of the reasoning for lower scores for Idaho on the State Competitiveness Report, but Idaho also ranks behind all of the same states on this report, although not by much, Wyoming 4th, Nevada 16th, Montana 17th, Utah 7th, Washington 14th, Oregon 15th, and Colorado 2nd. Idaho ranks lower in the Technology category because it's institutions do not accept enough money from the National Institutes of Health (federal grants for research) and I am not sure if this is really a bad thing. I also find it hard to believe that a relocating company would not have some serious human resources issues in Wyoming. Anyway, this is material for another paper.
The sun is out and I am really liking the time change.
She is a mixed breed and I don't remember of what breeds my neighbor's told me, but she looks like an Australian Shepherd to me. Kurt must have been gone too long last Saturday afternoon, so Tia jumped the fence and went looking for attention. She came running over to me and rolled over at my feet. Tia knows she is not the pack leader. She has great fluffy ears, but she would not point them up for me for a picture.
Saturday night was actually balmy, with a warm humid breeze, but must have been an indicator of cold weather on its way. It rained all day yesterday and today is the day that it gets cold and stays cold. No more high temperatures above 50 degrees and lows are now in the 30s. I finally went out yesterday afternoon and bought those Bearclaw boots for wearing around the house, although last night my feet were really too warm in them.
There was a break in the rain early last night and I let the cats outside. Cruiser managed to chase a few big falling leaves before it started raining again and both cats raced back in the house. Even though it has not been that cold yet, the cats like to lay with me on the couch and we all keep each other warm. Once there and warm, none of us want to get up, which is not conducive to getting anything done.
Today I am trying to paint all day after an unproductive weekend. I am feeling a bit off balance, like I am not sure what to do next, but I am also feeling hopeful. Hopeful and off balance is a weird combination.
Dad sent an article about the dire state of California which mentions two reports on State competitiveness,
The Tenth Annual State Competitiveness Report by the Beacon Hill Institute
http://www.beaconhill.org/CompetitivenessHomePage.html and
The 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp60.pdf
Idaho ranks 18th on both index. I am curious why more businesses are moving to Utah than Idaho and this is due to the business tax climate, which is ranked lowest of all the surrounding states, Wyoming 3rd, Nevada 4th, Montana 6th, Utah 9th, Washington 11th, Oregon 14th, and Colorado 15th. I disagree with some of the reasoning for lower scores for Idaho on the State Competitiveness Report, but Idaho also ranks behind all of the same states on this report, although not by much, Wyoming 4th, Nevada 16th, Montana 17th, Utah 7th, Washington 14th, Oregon 15th, and Colorado 2nd. Idaho ranks lower in the Technology category because it's institutions do not accept enough money from the National Institutes of Health (federal grants for research) and I am not sure if this is really a bad thing. I also find it hard to believe that a relocating company would not have some serious human resources issues in Wyoming. Anyway, this is material for another paper.
The sun is out and I am really liking the time change.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
First Friday
First Friday in Eagle was fun. I spent an hour at the gallery and met two photographers and then Mary Kay showed up with her mom, Shirley. There was some deal where we could enter a raffle for some concert tickets if we went around and got stamps from 5 First Friday participants, so Mary Kay and her mom and I went around and got our stamps. Everyone had live music and fire pits and free food and it was a pretty big crowd. Most places we just went in and got our stamp, but we walked around the other gallery in Eagle, which appeared to be much higher end than the one I'm in. Mary Kay was getting cranky with hunger, so we finally stopped at one place so she could eat. We sat outside around a word burning fire pit on a really warm evening for November in Idaho and I met a lonely Democrat here from Lancaster via Pepperdine University. He said during election season he gets tons of calls, because there is only a small pool of people the Democrats can call. I did not get a chance to ask him why he moved to Idaho.
One of the photographers I met also went to the artist's business workshop. She moved here from Montana, I think, but lived for several years in Santa Barbara. She's been here for 15 years and owns a 110 year old farmhouse. She has a separate inside studio and a big lot with large old trees for outdoor photography. The other photographer is from San Francisco has only been in Boise for a year. He photographs kids and families with his wife, but still goes back to San Francisco to photograph weddings if the pay is good enough. He said times are tough and he told me some of the creative ways he is trying to bring up business, like donating a photo shoot for the silent auction that was held that night at the gallery.
I did some research before I chose Boise, including looking up towns with art communities. Nowhere did anyone mention Boise and now that I am here, not only do I find that Boise supports the arts and that there are many avenues to see and display art, but half of the people I meet are artists and some of them are even supporting themselves.
I showed Mary Kay and her mom my work in the gallery, but it quickly got too crowded to try to sell my work to anyone or even talk, so I think I will go again in December. Downtown Eagle is small and quaint and I would love to see it dressed up for Christmas. Mary Kay was not impressed with the gallery owner, either, and could not get past her blue underwear that showed through her cream colored dress. I said, I think she is wearing a matching blue bra and Mary Kay said, does that make it OK? I love Mary Kay and really liked her mom, who is pretty spry for being in her 80s and she still skis.
Dad was trying to tell me a story about Hazel, but could not remember her name, and got stuck on Walnut. Apparently Dad tries to remember Hazel's name by remembering that it is a nut, but starts with Walnut and can't get past Walnut. Let's see, Walnut, Peanut, no her name's not Pea, Almond, Cashew... I don't know about you, but I think it would take me a long time to get to Hazelnut, but then if you were to do a word association, what would you match with Hazel? Anyway, when I was at the framer she asked what to name the framing order and I said Hazel and I told her Dad's nut story. There is another woman waiting at the framer and when I'm done she tells a story about how her and her husband remember their niece's, or maybe it's a nephew's, name. They remember it's a Christmas tree and then have the same problem. They have to go through all the trees before they get to the right one. Pine, Spruce, Douglas, no, it's Noble! I can see why you would need some help remembering a kid's name is Noble.
I spent the first half of the day on Friday applying for jobs again. I applied for some part time jobs at St. Luke's Hospital and used the girl I met at the workshop's name as a referral. The City of Boise had several openings, part time at the library, a full time City Clerk, and a part time media/graphics assistant. At this point, any of these is fine with me.
After a busy week, the house is a mess and I cooked and cleaned and did laundry all day. Lani sent award winning Garlic Dill pickles and I was tempted to go out and buy corned beef and rye bread, but I've been eating them with grilled cheese and they are still excellent. The temperature is supposed to drop 20 degrees and Boise is back to being really cold by Monday, so I am now making pot roast. Next week I am going to make another attempt at baking bread, so far mine is mediocre at best. I don't stick with it because I can't stand wasting all that flour, but this winter I just want to master one bread recipe.
I am very excited about my extra hour tonight, this morning it did not even start getting light until after 8. I hope Cruiser gets the time change and doesn't try to get me up earlier tomorrow.
One of the photographers I met also went to the artist's business workshop. She moved here from Montana, I think, but lived for several years in Santa Barbara. She's been here for 15 years and owns a 110 year old farmhouse. She has a separate inside studio and a big lot with large old trees for outdoor photography. The other photographer is from San Francisco has only been in Boise for a year. He photographs kids and families with his wife, but still goes back to San Francisco to photograph weddings if the pay is good enough. He said times are tough and he told me some of the creative ways he is trying to bring up business, like donating a photo shoot for the silent auction that was held that night at the gallery.
I did some research before I chose Boise, including looking up towns with art communities. Nowhere did anyone mention Boise and now that I am here, not only do I find that Boise supports the arts and that there are many avenues to see and display art, but half of the people I meet are artists and some of them are even supporting themselves.
I showed Mary Kay and her mom my work in the gallery, but it quickly got too crowded to try to sell my work to anyone or even talk, so I think I will go again in December. Downtown Eagle is small and quaint and I would love to see it dressed up for Christmas. Mary Kay was not impressed with the gallery owner, either, and could not get past her blue underwear that showed through her cream colored dress. I said, I think she is wearing a matching blue bra and Mary Kay said, does that make it OK? I love Mary Kay and really liked her mom, who is pretty spry for being in her 80s and she still skis.
Dad was trying to tell me a story about Hazel, but could not remember her name, and got stuck on Walnut. Apparently Dad tries to remember Hazel's name by remembering that it is a nut, but starts with Walnut and can't get past Walnut. Let's see, Walnut, Peanut, no her name's not Pea, Almond, Cashew... I don't know about you, but I think it would take me a long time to get to Hazelnut, but then if you were to do a word association, what would you match with Hazel? Anyway, when I was at the framer she asked what to name the framing order and I said Hazel and I told her Dad's nut story. There is another woman waiting at the framer and when I'm done she tells a story about how her and her husband remember their niece's, or maybe it's a nephew's, name. They remember it's a Christmas tree and then have the same problem. They have to go through all the trees before they get to the right one. Pine, Spruce, Douglas, no, it's Noble! I can see why you would need some help remembering a kid's name is Noble.
I spent the first half of the day on Friday applying for jobs again. I applied for some part time jobs at St. Luke's Hospital and used the girl I met at the workshop's name as a referral. The City of Boise had several openings, part time at the library, a full time City Clerk, and a part time media/graphics assistant. At this point, any of these is fine with me.
After a busy week, the house is a mess and I cooked and cleaned and did laundry all day. Lani sent award winning Garlic Dill pickles and I was tempted to go out and buy corned beef and rye bread, but I've been eating them with grilled cheese and they are still excellent. The temperature is supposed to drop 20 degrees and Boise is back to being really cold by Monday, so I am now making pot roast. Next week I am going to make another attempt at baking bread, so far mine is mediocre at best. I don't stick with it because I can't stand wasting all that flour, but this winter I just want to master one bread recipe.
I am very excited about my extra hour tonight, this morning it did not even start getting light until after 8. I hope Cruiser gets the time change and doesn't try to get me up earlier tomorrow.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Workshop
I got lost on the way to the workshop this morning, I went to the Capitol Building instead of City Hall. The lobby of the Capitol Building was awesome, all marble with offices in ivory and dark wood. I was 15 minutes late, which means I did not pay attention to where I parked and it took me 1/2 an hour to find my car and cost me an extra hour of parking by a few minutes.
This morning was an hour on pricing, insurance, overhead, and that kind of stuff. I learned about CERF, Craft Emergency Relief Fund, and the Studio Protector (the artist's guide to emergencies, http://www.studioprotector.org/) Then I waited around for my 10 minute consultation. While I waited I talked to another guy there about websites and another one about crating and shipping. The girl I met yesterday was there waiting, too. She works part time at St. Luke's and the job comes with health insurance. She just got another woman a job there and will look in to getting me one.
At my consultation I explained what I wanted to do and showed some samples and asked how I could get to my market. He had some good suggestions, but his best suggestion was to include a set of cards with each commission piece, with the painting on the card. They would not cost much and make the customer feel like they are getting more, plus they have something to show off to their friends that can't come over and see the painting, plus I get more advertising directed at my market. It was a brilliant idea and I think I might try a sample printing with the piece I did for Marsha (the boy sleeping among red sheets) and send them to her.
I forgot that yesterday the speaker talked about artist's Mad Syndrome, and I really related. I don't think Mad stands for anything, as in MAD, but it is when artists thinking about what they should create fly all over the place, as in I think I will do a watercolor of a cat, no a dog, no a horse, no maybe I will do it in oils, oh look at that solar print, that's NICE, I should try solar prints, I will sign up for a class, oh look at those great new watercolor colors, I think I will try that new purple, oh wait look at that blue, maybe I should work smaller, no bigger, look at that plant, it needs watering, while I'm at it I think I will have a peanut butter sandwich, now what should I work on again? I do that all the time!
After the workshop and finding my car, I went home and ate, priced my stuff for the Eagle gallery and drove it over so it will be there for First Friday. She has too much stuff and a bad printing of my flier. I will bring her a better flier tomorrow, but I hope she sells some artwork because right now it is too crowded and work is hard to see. She made me nervous, a gallery owner should be able to print a nice flier and display art so it will sell. I think she might have her own version of Mad Syndrome.
Then I went to Fast Frame and got the bigger painting of Hazel framed. I learned about reverse bevel mats, which I had never heard of before. This is when they bevel the mat to the inside, so no white edge shows. This was hard to do in the old days, but now the computer cuts the mat and it is as easy as a regular bevel. Now there are 4 kinds of glass you can chose and 4 kinds of Plexiglas, regular, UV protected, non-glare, and museum. Choosing framing always takes me a long time and now it is even worse! The framer was really patient. I picked out mat and frame for another piece, although I did not order it yet, so at least next time I will know what I want.
Now I am super tired.
Dad asked if I could look for some information about companies leaving California, since we heard about a few just before I left but then did not hear anther word about it. Here are two links:
http://nevadanewsandviews.com/2010/08/25/companies-fleeing-california-for-utah-over-confiscatory-tax-rate/
http://www.independentamerican.org/2010/04/22/companies-leaving-californiasome-to-nevada/
This list is from the first site:
Abraxis Health, Adobe Systems, Inc. Alza Corp., American AVK, American Racing, Apple Computer Audix Corporation, Apria Healthcare Group, Assurant Inc., Barefoot Motors Bazz Houston Co., Beckman Coulter, Bild Industries Inc., Bill Miller Engineering, Ltd. BMC Select , BPI Labs, Buck Knives, CalPortland Cement California Casualty Group, CalStar Products Inc., Checks To-Go, Chivaroli & Associates CoreSite, A Carlyle Company, Creel Printing , Dassault Falcon DaVita Inc. , Denny’s Corp., Digital Domain, Ditech DuPont Fabros Technology, ebay, Inc., EDMO Distributors, Inc. Edwards Lifesciences, Electronic Arts, Inc., EMRISE Corp., Facebook FallLine Corporation, Fidelity National Financial, First American Corp., Fluor Corp. Foxconn Electronics, Fuel System Solutions, Gregg Industries, Hewlett-Packard Hilton Hotels Corp., Hino Motor Manufacturing USA, Intel Corporation, Intuit of Mountain View J.C. Penney , Kimmie Candy Co., Klaussner Home Furnishings, Knight Protective Industries Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc., LCF Enterprises, Lennox Hearth Products Inc., Lyn-Tron, Inc. Mariah Power, Maxwell America, Miasolé, MotorVac Technologies Nissan North America, Northrop Grumman, One2Believe, Patmont Motor Werks, Inc. Paragon Relocation Resources, Pixel Magic, Plastic Model Engineering, Inc. Precor, Premier Inc., Pro Cal of South Gate, Race Track Chaplaincy of Amer., Red Truck Fire & Safety Co. SAIC, Scale Computing, Schott Solar Inc., SimpleTech Smiley Industries, Solaicx, SolarWorld, Special Devices Inc. StarKist , Stasis Engineering, Stata Corp., Tapmatic Teledesic, Telmar Network Technology Inc., Terremark, Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Toyota, True Games Interactive Inc., TTM Technologies, Understand.com, USAA Insurance, Yahoo.
The second site gives more details, but was posted last April.
That is a long list, although only a few went to Idaho.
This morning was an hour on pricing, insurance, overhead, and that kind of stuff. I learned about CERF, Craft Emergency Relief Fund, and the Studio Protector (the artist's guide to emergencies, http://www.studioprotector.org/) Then I waited around for my 10 minute consultation. While I waited I talked to another guy there about websites and another one about crating and shipping. The girl I met yesterday was there waiting, too. She works part time at St. Luke's and the job comes with health insurance. She just got another woman a job there and will look in to getting me one.
At my consultation I explained what I wanted to do and showed some samples and asked how I could get to my market. He had some good suggestions, but his best suggestion was to include a set of cards with each commission piece, with the painting on the card. They would not cost much and make the customer feel like they are getting more, plus they have something to show off to their friends that can't come over and see the painting, plus I get more advertising directed at my market. It was a brilliant idea and I think I might try a sample printing with the piece I did for Marsha (the boy sleeping among red sheets) and send them to her.
I forgot that yesterday the speaker talked about artist's Mad Syndrome, and I really related. I don't think Mad stands for anything, as in MAD, but it is when artists thinking about what they should create fly all over the place, as in I think I will do a watercolor of a cat, no a dog, no a horse, no maybe I will do it in oils, oh look at that solar print, that's NICE, I should try solar prints, I will sign up for a class, oh look at those great new watercolor colors, I think I will try that new purple, oh wait look at that blue, maybe I should work smaller, no bigger, look at that plant, it needs watering, while I'm at it I think I will have a peanut butter sandwich, now what should I work on again? I do that all the time!
After the workshop and finding my car, I went home and ate, priced my stuff for the Eagle gallery and drove it over so it will be there for First Friday. She has too much stuff and a bad printing of my flier. I will bring her a better flier tomorrow, but I hope she sells some artwork because right now it is too crowded and work is hard to see. She made me nervous, a gallery owner should be able to print a nice flier and display art so it will sell. I think she might have her own version of Mad Syndrome.
Then I went to Fast Frame and got the bigger painting of Hazel framed. I learned about reverse bevel mats, which I had never heard of before. This is when they bevel the mat to the inside, so no white edge shows. This was hard to do in the old days, but now the computer cuts the mat and it is as easy as a regular bevel. Now there are 4 kinds of glass you can chose and 4 kinds of Plexiglas, regular, UV protected, non-glare, and museum. Choosing framing always takes me a long time and now it is even worse! The framer was really patient. I picked out mat and frame for another piece, although I did not order it yet, so at least next time I will know what I want.
Now I am super tired.
Dad asked if I could look for some information about companies leaving California, since we heard about a few just before I left but then did not hear anther word about it. Here are two links:
http://nevadanewsandviews.com/2010/08/25/companies-fleeing-california-for-utah-over-confiscatory-tax-rate/
http://www.independentamerican.org/2010/04/22/companies-leaving-californiasome-to-nevada/
This list is from the first site:
Abraxis Health, Adobe Systems, Inc. Alza Corp., American AVK, American Racing, Apple Computer Audix Corporation, Apria Healthcare Group, Assurant Inc., Barefoot Motors Bazz Houston Co., Beckman Coulter, Bild Industries Inc., Bill Miller Engineering, Ltd. BMC Select , BPI Labs, Buck Knives, CalPortland Cement California Casualty Group, CalStar Products Inc., Checks To-Go, Chivaroli & Associates CoreSite, A Carlyle Company, Creel Printing , Dassault Falcon DaVita Inc. , Denny’s Corp., Digital Domain, Ditech DuPont Fabros Technology, ebay, Inc., EDMO Distributors, Inc. Edwards Lifesciences, Electronic Arts, Inc., EMRISE Corp., Facebook FallLine Corporation, Fidelity National Financial, First American Corp., Fluor Corp. Foxconn Electronics, Fuel System Solutions, Gregg Industries, Hewlett-Packard Hilton Hotels Corp., Hino Motor Manufacturing USA, Intel Corporation, Intuit of Mountain View J.C. Penney , Kimmie Candy Co., Klaussner Home Furnishings, Knight Protective Industries Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc., LCF Enterprises, Lennox Hearth Products Inc., Lyn-Tron, Inc. Mariah Power, Maxwell America, Miasolé, MotorVac Technologies Nissan North America, Northrop Grumman, One2Believe, Patmont Motor Werks, Inc. Paragon Relocation Resources, Pixel Magic, Plastic Model Engineering, Inc. Precor, Premier Inc., Pro Cal of South Gate, Race Track Chaplaincy of Amer., Red Truck Fire & Safety Co. SAIC, Scale Computing, Schott Solar Inc., SimpleTech Smiley Industries, Solaicx, SolarWorld, Special Devices Inc. StarKist , Stasis Engineering, Stata Corp., Tapmatic Teledesic, Telmar Network Technology Inc., Terremark, Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Toyota, True Games Interactive Inc., TTM Technologies, Understand.com, USAA Insurance, Yahoo.
The second site gives more details, but was posted last April.
That is a long list, although only a few went to Idaho.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
From Red State to Redder State
Boy 'o boy am I glad I am not in California anymore. Jerry Brown is Governor of California, again?!
The results for Idaho, from the Idaho Statesman:
"The GOP retained all statewide constitutional offices — and easily. The narrowest majority went to Gov. Butch Otter, who won a five-way race with 59.2 percent of the vote. Four years ago, Otter won an open governor’s race with a 52.7 percent majority. State schools superintendent Tom Luna re-elected with 60.5 percent of the vote, up from 51.3 percent in an open race in 2006.
The GOP again holds all four spots in the Idaho congressional delegation. In the marquee race of the night, state Rep. Raul Labrador ousted 1st Congressional District incumbent Walt Minnick with surprising ease, and a margin of more than 24,000 votes.
Two years ago, Minnick won a squeaker and couldn’t claim victory until midmorning Wednesday. This year, with half of Ada County’s precincts still uncounted, Minnick campaign manager John Foster offered up a 2 a.m. concession tweet on Twitter. Talk about the changing world of politics.
The top-of-the-ticket Republicans seemed to pick up steam in the final days of the election. In our final Idaho Newspapers poll, conducted Oct. 20-22, the Labrador-Minnick race was too close to call, Otter was up 22 percentage points, and Luna led by 16 percentage points. All three outperformed the poll, particularly Labrador. I suspect that says more about the political tide that lifted Republicans locally and nationally.
It’s a rout of the magnitude of 1994 — when Idaho Republicans benefited from huge voter turnout and midterm disillusionment with President Clinton. While 1994 was a turning point of sorts — Republicans reclaimed the 1st Congressional District, added 11 legislative seats and, after a 24-year hiatus, took back the governor’s office — November 2010 reinforced the GOP’s hammerlock in Idaho."
Read more: http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2010/11/03/krichert/idaho_politics_gop_democrats_its_deju_vu_all_over_again#ixzz14Gz4DZxf
The State schools superintendent race was probably the biggest deal, since school budget cuts were tough this year and there will be more. Interesting that Labrador is a Puerto Rico-born immigration lawyer, who was only elected to the Idaho legislature 4 years ago and stepped in to the US Senate race 11 months ago when someone else dropped out. He made a name for himself in 2009 when he successfully defeated Gov. Butch Otter's plan to raise fuel taxes for roads.
I spent a wonderful, inspiring day at the art/business workshop. Not only an interesting and knowledgeable speaker, but Starbucks coffee and lunchboxes provided by Honeybaked Ham. The workshop was called "No Trivial Pursuit: The Business of Being an Artist" and given by Bruce Baker. Bruce Baker has been making and selling jewelry since the 1960s and he shared more information than I could absorb. He was interesting and funny enough to keep me awake and sitting in an uncomfortable chair in over-air conditioning for almost 8 hours.
Topics today were very much geared towards selling at art fairs, and I am not sure this is the marketing avenue for me, but I still learned things I can apply. Topics were Merchandising and Booth Design, Digital Images and Jury Process, Trends and Product Development, and Dynamic Sales Techniques. I knew nothing about booth design before today. I know something about photographing my work, mostly from John, but I learned about how to present these when applying to be in a show/fair. (I also learned there is a big market for photography of art for art fairs.) I learned the most about trends and was really pleased that my ideas about commissioned portraits of children is right on trend. I suck at sales, so anything I can learn about sales will help me. Overall it was an energizing, inspiring day.
I met two other artists, both sculpture artists. One I met after the workshop while running errands on the way home and I thought, OK, I've now sat next to this woman all day and then run in to her again, I better give her my card just in case she is a messenger for me from the Universe. I did not talk to her much at the workshop because when the speaker wasn't talking, I looked for somewhere to get warm.
Tomorrow I get to sit with the speaker and show him what I have and ask him for marketing ideas for my commission work.
The results for Idaho, from the Idaho Statesman:
"The GOP retained all statewide constitutional offices — and easily. The narrowest majority went to Gov. Butch Otter, who won a five-way race with 59.2 percent of the vote. Four years ago, Otter won an open governor’s race with a 52.7 percent majority. State schools superintendent Tom Luna re-elected with 60.5 percent of the vote, up from 51.3 percent in an open race in 2006.
The GOP again holds all four spots in the Idaho congressional delegation. In the marquee race of the night, state Rep. Raul Labrador ousted 1st Congressional District incumbent Walt Minnick with surprising ease, and a margin of more than 24,000 votes.
Two years ago, Minnick won a squeaker and couldn’t claim victory until midmorning Wednesday. This year, with half of Ada County’s precincts still uncounted, Minnick campaign manager John Foster offered up a 2 a.m. concession tweet on Twitter. Talk about the changing world of politics.
The top-of-the-ticket Republicans seemed to pick up steam in the final days of the election. In our final Idaho Newspapers poll, conducted Oct. 20-22, the Labrador-Minnick race was too close to call, Otter was up 22 percentage points, and Luna led by 16 percentage points. All three outperformed the poll, particularly Labrador. I suspect that says more about the political tide that lifted Republicans locally and nationally.
It’s a rout of the magnitude of 1994 — when Idaho Republicans benefited from huge voter turnout and midterm disillusionment with President Clinton. While 1994 was a turning point of sorts — Republicans reclaimed the 1st Congressional District, added 11 legislative seats and, after a 24-year hiatus, took back the governor’s office — November 2010 reinforced the GOP’s hammerlock in Idaho."
Read more: http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2010/11/03/krichert/idaho_politics_gop_democrats_its_deju_vu_all_over_again#ixzz14Gz4DZxf
The State schools superintendent race was probably the biggest deal, since school budget cuts were tough this year and there will be more. Interesting that Labrador is a Puerto Rico-born immigration lawyer, who was only elected to the Idaho legislature 4 years ago and stepped in to the US Senate race 11 months ago when someone else dropped out. He made a name for himself in 2009 when he successfully defeated Gov. Butch Otter's plan to raise fuel taxes for roads.
I spent a wonderful, inspiring day at the art/business workshop. Not only an interesting and knowledgeable speaker, but Starbucks coffee and lunchboxes provided by Honeybaked Ham. The workshop was called "No Trivial Pursuit: The Business of Being an Artist" and given by Bruce Baker. Bruce Baker has been making and selling jewelry since the 1960s and he shared more information than I could absorb. He was interesting and funny enough to keep me awake and sitting in an uncomfortable chair in over-air conditioning for almost 8 hours.
Topics today were very much geared towards selling at art fairs, and I am not sure this is the marketing avenue for me, but I still learned things I can apply. Topics were Merchandising and Booth Design, Digital Images and Jury Process, Trends and Product Development, and Dynamic Sales Techniques. I knew nothing about booth design before today. I know something about photographing my work, mostly from John, but I learned about how to present these when applying to be in a show/fair. (I also learned there is a big market for photography of art for art fairs.) I learned the most about trends and was really pleased that my ideas about commissioned portraits of children is right on trend. I suck at sales, so anything I can learn about sales will help me. Overall it was an energizing, inspiring day.
I met two other artists, both sculpture artists. One I met after the workshop while running errands on the way home and I thought, OK, I've now sat next to this woman all day and then run in to her again, I better give her my card just in case she is a messenger for me from the Universe. I did not talk to her much at the workshop because when the speaker wasn't talking, I looked for somewhere to get warm.
Tomorrow I get to sit with the speaker and show him what I have and ask him for marketing ideas for my commission work.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
I can't believe it is November already.
This week the weather is unseasonably warm again, as it was most of October, and I feel like I am getting spoiled. Next week we are supposed to return to normal and cold. Some of the trees with early Fall color are almost bare and now we have the later turners, which seem to be more multi-colored, and the ones that just turn yellow brown and fall off, like my street tree. I am ready with my Fall leaf bags, which I bought with my coupon from the City of Boise and came out to less than $1 a bag.
My mum is on it's last legs, so I pruned off the dead flowers and moved it to the backyard, but now my porch is bare. The cold is making me feel like the holidays are here and between that and the bare porch I am ready to put up the Christmas lights. I would normally do this Thanksgiving weekend, which is more than 3 weeks away.
Tomorrow is the business-side of being an artist workshop at the Boise Public Library. It starts at 9 am. I can't remember that last time I had to start anything at 9 am. Not only is it free, the first day includes lunch. It goes to 4:30 pm and this sounds like a long day for someone who has been on their own schedule for more than 4 months. Regardless, I am looking forward to it.
I found 2 cheap frames for two of my studies and I had Fast Frame finish the backs, so I can take these and the matted-but-unframed studies to the gallery for First Friday this week.
Despite the warm weather, I have been feeling out of sorts lately, probably just financial fear about something that hasn't happened yet, but that darn financial fear seems insurmountable sometimes. I did make myself paint this morning, and this afternoon I mowed the lawn for the last time this year. It seems more spidery in my house, maybe the spiders are trying to come in for the Winter, but I also have a sudden influx of ladybugs inside and outside. Spit did not appreciate having one walking on her food bowl. Spit, don't you know that is good luck?
I signed a new contract with Cable One and now have unlimited long distance phone, in addition to all the other things I already had, for less money.
I can't believe it is November already.
My mum is on it's last legs, so I pruned off the dead flowers and moved it to the backyard, but now my porch is bare. The cold is making me feel like the holidays are here and between that and the bare porch I am ready to put up the Christmas lights. I would normally do this Thanksgiving weekend, which is more than 3 weeks away.
Tomorrow is the business-side of being an artist workshop at the Boise Public Library. It starts at 9 am. I can't remember that last time I had to start anything at 9 am. Not only is it free, the first day includes lunch. It goes to 4:30 pm and this sounds like a long day for someone who has been on their own schedule for more than 4 months. Regardless, I am looking forward to it.
I found 2 cheap frames for two of my studies and I had Fast Frame finish the backs, so I can take these and the matted-but-unframed studies to the gallery for First Friday this week.
Despite the warm weather, I have been feeling out of sorts lately, probably just financial fear about something that hasn't happened yet, but that darn financial fear seems insurmountable sometimes. I did make myself paint this morning, and this afternoon I mowed the lawn for the last time this year. It seems more spidery in my house, maybe the spiders are trying to come in for the Winter, but I also have a sudden influx of ladybugs inside and outside. Spit did not appreciate having one walking on her food bowl. Spit, don't you know that is good luck?
I signed a new contract with Cable One and now have unlimited long distance phone, in addition to all the other things I already had, for less money.
I can't believe it is November already.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Halloween
Yesterday I was a little more constructive than Saturday and I hope to be even better today.
My friend Margo wants to start a workshop following the Artist's Way - A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. I think I remember checking out this book and not thinking much of it, but a chance to get together with a group and talk about creativity and the 12 Steps seems like a good idea. One requirement of the course/workshop is to write every day, so I am already ahead.
I looked into volunteering for Thanksgiving and there are several opportunities in Boise on Wednesday and Thursday during Thanksgiving week at the Rescue Mission and I think I will sign up for Thursday. This seems like a constructive way to deal with my irritation all weekend and remember how good I have it compared to most of the rest of the world.
When I applied for the last State of Idaho job I checked my scores on the other applications and I scored a 95 on an HR job for the Labor Department. That's even higher than I scored on the two Health and Welfare jobs I interviewed for, so it should earn me another interview. This made me feel a bit relieved.
Two trick-or-treaters showed up on Saturday night and I gave them what was left of the one bag of candy I bought, so I had to go out yesterday afternoon and buy more. Last night I got about 5, including two girls not more than two years old. Those little ones in costume are so cute, they always look mystified at the concept of going to doors and getting candy. One came inside the door to get a really good look at my candy bowl, as if there might be some variety, and the other one wanted the candy in her hand so she could put it in her pumpkin bucket herself.
I went next door to give Sara a card for the Eagle gallery's First Friday this week and she gave me a selection of grapes. The woman that she buys eggs from (which I guess I am going to have to go back and find out who that is) gave her many bags of a variety of grapes. She was storing the grapes on the porch, which I guess is not too different from the refrigerator right now. I guess you can only make so much grape juice and jelly, what else do you make with grapes? I now have bunches of 4 kinds of grapes, all different and all sweet.
There are several farmer's markets in Boise and I finally got over to the one downtown last Saturday morning. I just wanted to check it out and it gets smaller by October, but they still had some good stuff. There was a cheesecake booth and I sampled key lime cheesecake, which was just wonderful with almonds in the crust. They also have caramel apple cheesecake for Thanksgiving. There was a booth of jams and preserves, including blackberry/orange and that rhubarb/raspberry again, and a collection of sweet ice cream toppings and of savory glazes for meat. I wanted to take a picture for Lani, but I thought it might be rude and it was also too cold to take my hands out of my pockets. All of the jars in the booth had printed fabric on the tops that kind-of matched what was in the jar, which looked pretty festive. The market also had homemade sausage, elk, and Kobe beef. I didn't buy anything, but I was impressed.
Today I get to go over and sign a new contract with Cable One. I signed up for a $99 package and after I signed up Cable One started sending me promotions for a package with more stuff for $75. So I called them last week and they agreed to change my service, so I get to add unlimited local and long distance phone and save $288 in a year. The sacrifice is a one year commitment instead of two years, which is better for me anyway.
I missed the Scarecrow Stroll at the Idaho Botanical Garden,
maybe next year, but Tuesday I can go see Day of the Dead altars at the Idaho State Historical Museum. There is always something to do here and it's almost always free.
My friend Margo wants to start a workshop following the Artist's Way - A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. I think I remember checking out this book and not thinking much of it, but a chance to get together with a group and talk about creativity and the 12 Steps seems like a good idea. One requirement of the course/workshop is to write every day, so I am already ahead.
I looked into volunteering for Thanksgiving and there are several opportunities in Boise on Wednesday and Thursday during Thanksgiving week at the Rescue Mission and I think I will sign up for Thursday. This seems like a constructive way to deal with my irritation all weekend and remember how good I have it compared to most of the rest of the world.
When I applied for the last State of Idaho job I checked my scores on the other applications and I scored a 95 on an HR job for the Labor Department. That's even higher than I scored on the two Health and Welfare jobs I interviewed for, so it should earn me another interview. This made me feel a bit relieved.
Two trick-or-treaters showed up on Saturday night and I gave them what was left of the one bag of candy I bought, so I had to go out yesterday afternoon and buy more. Last night I got about 5, including two girls not more than two years old. Those little ones in costume are so cute, they always look mystified at the concept of going to doors and getting candy. One came inside the door to get a really good look at my candy bowl, as if there might be some variety, and the other one wanted the candy in her hand so she could put it in her pumpkin bucket herself.
I went next door to give Sara a card for the Eagle gallery's First Friday this week and she gave me a selection of grapes. The woman that she buys eggs from (which I guess I am going to have to go back and find out who that is) gave her many bags of a variety of grapes. She was storing the grapes on the porch, which I guess is not too different from the refrigerator right now. I guess you can only make so much grape juice and jelly, what else do you make with grapes? I now have bunches of 4 kinds of grapes, all different and all sweet.
There are several farmer's markets in Boise and I finally got over to the one downtown last Saturday morning. I just wanted to check it out and it gets smaller by October, but they still had some good stuff. There was a cheesecake booth and I sampled key lime cheesecake, which was just wonderful with almonds in the crust. They also have caramel apple cheesecake for Thanksgiving. There was a booth of jams and preserves, including blackberry/orange and that rhubarb/raspberry again, and a collection of sweet ice cream toppings and of savory glazes for meat. I wanted to take a picture for Lani, but I thought it might be rude and it was also too cold to take my hands out of my pockets. All of the jars in the booth had printed fabric on the tops that kind-of matched what was in the jar, which looked pretty festive. The market also had homemade sausage, elk, and Kobe beef. I didn't buy anything, but I was impressed.
Today I get to go over and sign a new contract with Cable One. I signed up for a $99 package and after I signed up Cable One started sending me promotions for a package with more stuff for $75. So I called them last week and they agreed to change my service, so I get to add unlimited local and long distance phone and save $288 in a year. The sacrifice is a one year commitment instead of two years, which is better for me anyway.
I missed the Scarecrow Stroll at the Idaho Botanical Garden,
maybe next year, but Tuesday I can go see Day of the Dead altars at the Idaho State Historical Museum. There is always something to do here and it's almost always free.
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