pondering

- is it time to re-visit spiritual direction?
- can I do a 48-hour silent retreat without coming out of my skin, and have something of value come from it? is it worth it (right now)?
- what if I really followed my heart, and didn't work in a white-collar sweat shop?
- what could that look like?
- if I really followed my heart, what the hell would that even mean?
- why am I not picking up my camera?
- what do I need to be writing?
- why does writing anything feeling so daunting these days?
- courage, o where art thou?
- how can I balance more writing and creative projects with my current job?
- continuing to watch idols of certainty and compentency crumble...

random thoughts

Thinking of trying out Field Notes for when I need a little notebook, but it feels like I would be betraying my Moleskines.

I held out as long as I could before ordering this film from The Impossible Project, but the time has come. Can't. Wait.

I also want to try Lomography's Diana F+ adapter for my Canon.

Wishing I had gotten that orange chenille bedspread at the Paris Street Market last weekend. Even if it did have gum on it. It went perfectly with my vintage pink and orange flowered pillowcases. Maybe it will still be there next time.

the list

Tripped across this in my email today. A list of goals/dreams I had put together a little over a year ago at the urging of a friend. Not really any closer to any of them than I was then, which makes me feel kinda lame, but I think they are all still on 'the list'.

- have a gallery show my photography

- leave the insurance world behind because my photography and writing have become so lucrative

- find Mr. Right

- have a family of my own (this one is starting to smolder a bit - not sure I want to be raising kids into my 60s)

- write a book of essays and have them published

- lose 40 pounds

- f*ck fear

- paint the bathroom

- work less

- write more

- waste less time

- road trip around the country

- dream bigger

- live more authentically

illustration friday - IDLE

From their website: Illustration Friday is a weekly creative outlet/participatory art exhibit for illustrators and artists of all skill levels. It was designed to challenge participants creatively. We believe that every person has a little creative bone in their body. Illustration Friday just gives a no-pressure, fun excuse to use it. No clients looking for a particular thing. No one judging the outcome of the work. It's a chance to experiment and explore and play with visual art. 

This is my entry for the week. 

potpourri

- Work has been quite demanding this week in a lot of ways, so not much coming out on the creative front.

- I'll get back to posting Holy Week stuff this weekend. Still have photos from Easter Vigil to clean up, as well as some thoughts about my experience with Lent and Holy Week.

- Feeling sad tonight at the loss of a dear childhood/college friend, Gregg Fulkerson. Gregg was among the most talented people to come out of my hometown. He was an amazing, extremely talented singer-songwriter/musician who will be missed by many. My heart goes out to his entire family, especially his son, Carter. He was one of those people that I've known my entire life. While I love living in Colorado, it's times like these I wish I was back in The South.

- Chances are as great as not that I'll begin my day shoveling show tomorrow. Wet, heavy snow.

- Off to bed in hopes of starving a cold that is lurking.

- Weekend, come quickly.

vintage plastic Jesus

looking ahead

with 2008 in the books, here’s what I’m shooting for in 2009, creatively:

reading. goal of 50 books. averages out to approximately one per week. ambitious? yes. achievable? i think so.

writing. I’m not going to set a goal of a specific number of days this year. i have some ideas about what I want to write about and will focus on that.

photography. increase my photoshop skills. take another class or two at working with artists. take pictures consistently. and do something with them. get a macro lens, duaflex camera, and build a contraption so I can take thru the viewfinder shots. work on the plastic jesus series.

learn the mac. 2008 saw me move from being a pc girl to being a mac girl. great move. still have a lot to learn about the mac and all i can do with it. i’m signing up for apple’s one-to-one program so i can get the most from it. how can you go wrong with the option for an hour’s worth of one-on-one instruction for $99 for a whole year?

more knitting, collaging, random hand-crafting and d-i-y projects.

looking behind

2008 was a challenging year in a lot of ways. lost my dad in march. spent the first part of the year growing into my new (at the time) job. people insisted on playing emmylou harris’ orphan girl at every live music venue I frequented. moved on from a church I had tried to make fit for me for quite a while to one where i am finding real community. had my faith stripped of a lot of certainty along the way. still being forced to reckon with uncertainty. had to get reading glasses.

looking back at my first blog entry of 2008, here’s what I hoped to accomplish:

Read 40 books. the year-end tally was 41.

Write 5 days a week, or 20 days a month. it is almost laughable how short i fell of this goal. i did far more talk about writing than i did writing.

learn photoshop. off to a good start on this one, but there is so much to learn. doesn’t feel daunting any more, though.

take a jillion pictures and learn how to organize them. fell just short of a jillion pictures. figuring out the best way for me to organize them is an ongoing project.

develop the plastic jesus series. the plastic jesus series did not grow very much in 2008. definitely an on-going work.

take some creative risks. took a photography class at working with artists. went to the glen workshop in santa fe. collaborated on some creative worship experiences at a couple of different places.

drop a few pounds. dropped a few. more to go.

get my money’s worth out of my gym membership. used it more than in 2007.

simplify. ongoing. life does feel less chaotic.

be a little more free. let go of some stuff that was not life-giving. so, yeah, a little more free.

picking up the pieces

RGBP meet-up

In the midst of my post-conference craziness after Image Journal's Glen Workshop in Santa Fe, I'm also (finally) making the switch from a PC to a MacBook. Hence my delay in blogging about my week, and especially my fun meet-up with Zorra and The Scientist. After meeting briefly during intermission of an Over the Rhine concert the night before (via the aid of cell phones to find each other!) the three of us, along with my friend Jenny, enjoyed a lovely New Mexican lunch in downtown Santa Fe. Good food, great company, and for me, a great escape from the confines of St. John's College. Many thanks to The Scientist for being our photographer.

And for my dear lurkers - the conference overall was a mixed bag - some highs and some lows. Glad I experienced it, not sure I'll need to go back. It did spark the beginnings of some great conversations, and the new connections with a few people were the best take-aways. But aren't they always?

chimayo

random tidbits

- My regular computer - the one that I just put a new hard drive and extra memory in, the one that is not far out of warranty - is being operated on by the Geek Squad as I write. Is this a sign that I'm supposed to switch to a MacBook Pro? I'll let you know.

- Points to Ponder (found these written inside the front cover of my Moleskine)
What really gives me joy?
Where is my bliss?
Where is the flow?
Doesn't Points to Ponder sound like the name of a church bulletin article of long ago?! Please leave a comment if you have the answers.

- I don't want to celebrate prematurely, but I think I am living in a mouse-free house.

- Here's another Point to Ponder. This one from my spiritual director, wise sage that she is. We do best what we do joyfully. So what does that say about me going back to my regular office tomorrow after being off-site for two weeks? Hmmm?

- Counting down the days until I head south. Six. Six days. Seven until I have sand between my toes.

- Personal goal of the week: Finish the thank-you notes.

- I am completely nauseated by Contemporary Christian music at a whole new level. This poses a slight problem on the corporate worship front for me.

denise, this one's for you!

What a small world we live in. Right before I headed out the door tonight to go to the Dry Bones Denver Photography show I checked email very quickly. My friend Denise had commented on my last post about how the church she goes to in Abilene is a huge supporter of Dry Bones and that she had played Bunko with Nikki (who is one of the staff leaders) last month.

Long story short, I sought her out at the fundraiser tonight and we made the connection, which was really cool.

The show was very well put together and hopefully raised several hundred dollars for the Dry Bones folks. It was set up as a silent auction and there were some wonderful works. I walked away with two nice urban photos of Denver.

Urban Skye Art & Design First Friday event

What: Urban Skye Art & Design First Friday event

When: Friday, March 7, 2008, 6pm

Where: Temple Events Center, 1595 Pearl St, Denver, CO 80203

Join Urban Skye Art & Design as we support the budding photographers of Dry Bones Denver in their first ever Photography Exhibition.

Dry Bones Denver is an outreach to homeless teens and young adults living in downtown Denver.
*
Afterwards, we’'ll check out The Shoppe @ 3103 East Colfax for some tasty treats. The Shoppe specializes in cupcakes and cereal! What's not to like about that?

hopeful happenings

Well, we're 1/24th of the way thru 2008, and I'm moving along half-way decently toward my creative intentions of the year.
- I've read 2.5 books so far. Will try to get them posted this weekend.
- I'm signed up for a PhotoShop crash course on Saturday.
- Have been somewhat sporadic on the writing. Seems like I may have overshot it by thinking I could write something of substance 5 days a week. 3 days seems like a better goal. (Actually, if I counted writing business plans for work, etc, I'd be at 5 or 6. But I'm not counting that stuff.)
- I'm off to a decent start of taking pictures, including a day at the Museum of Contemporary Art and some photos at an Off the Map community party.
Now to get my lazy ass to the gym...

what's up

- just back from a belated birthday beach trip. yeah, i milked this one for all it was worth. squeezed two more birthday celebrations out of the big 4-0.
- got to catch up with my birmingham buddies.
- played a lot of boggle.
- ate a lot of firecracker shrimp (this involves the best remoulade sauce in the world).
- slept a lot.
- sat on the beach a lot.
- watched the sun set and the moon rise.
- had some great conversations.
- did a lot of nothing.
- read Bless Your Heart, Tramp. and random magazines. deep, deep reading, in case you can't tell.
- did read a bit of Breath for the Bones, by Luci Shaw, so all was not mindless.
- enjoying the new foo fighters album - echos, silence, patience & grace. isn't that a great title?
- found the perfect music for the treadmill - florida state's marching band doing the best of college football fight songs.
- drove up to the mountains today so i could catch the aspens in all of their fall glory.
- just spruced up my porch with a pumpkin/mum display to officially welcome fall.
- trying to plan my week now so that i can ease back into work and maybe even a daily routine that doesn't feel like chaos.
- have a huge need for great amounts of creative energy to come bursting forth in the next week or so.

word in art

Join us...
creative artists showcase
at the refuge
sunday august 26 2007 at 5:30pm

we are excited to host a fall creative art evening at the refuge, coming up sunday august 26th. this will be a chance for all creative artists from any medium--music, art, photorgraphy, writing, drama, comedy--across ages & abilities to share their work as a form of worship.

invite your friends & neighbors to join us for this amazing evening together with music, multimedia, drama, art, photography, poetry, great food & more!

the evening will include 3 broad categories--sights, stage & statements.
* sights - visual arts, painting, photography, sculpture & other visual mediums
* stage - music, dance, theater, comedy, film, spoken word & multimedia
* statements - poetry, short stories, prose, fiction, non-fiction

gen x great american pastime

took my reps out for a night of spirits and skeeball the evening before i gave my notice that i was leaving. i felt like a clod all night, knowing what message i was going to deliver the next morning. we had a bunch of laughs and pooled our tickets for some silly office toys. a fitting end to this chapter of my story.

serenity now

all fun things must come to an end. tomorrow i go back to work. had a glorious time away from the funhouse. sat on the beach for 8 straight days. read a ton. laughed a lot. enjoyed the company of good friends. ate boatloads of shrimp. caught up on my sleep. detoxed from sugar-free red bull. totally de-stressed.

would that i could prolong this serene state.

lent...week three

Keep us alive with three square meals.