I have a friend. Her name is Dieter. No, her parents did not name her after a German boy, as Mr. Spouse thought was the case for several years. Dieter is her last name. She shares her first name with several English queens and at least one uber famous actress. It’s a lovely name, really. But for some reason she is, and always will be, Dieter to me.
But this is Wednesday. Time for RANDOM ACTS OF ART. The rules are simple. Make a little something. Leave it in a public place. Take a photo and walk away. What does Dieter have to do with all of this?
Well, Dieter and I have this…thing involving the local grocery. One of us sneaks up on the other and, umm…does this.
And then we laugh like a couple of middle schoolers and DO IT AGAIN! And again and again. Near the bananas. The ice cream. Pasta aisle. Wherever one of us thinks we can stalk the other one and get away with it.
Which says a lot for our mature-o’meter.
Well, today I ran into Dieter at the grocery. She was locking up her bicycle out front. I placed a rock and photographed it as we chatted.
It was on a light post or something in front of the store. Plain sight about waist height. Someone would surely find it. Then Dieter and I went into the store and made fools of ourselves sneaking up on one another and doing the Dramatic Chipmunk thing. Because we are so m.a.t.u.r.e.
I was the first to leave. As I walked past her bicycle I had to stop. And plant some love in whatever that thing’s called on the side of the bike. The thing she carries stuff in.
I figured she’d see it when she loaded her groceries. And I bet she heard Da Da Daaaaaaa when she did. So even though it’s not an anonymous RAA, it would still be a surprise and make someone smile.
And that’s what RAA is all about.
As I was putting the groceries in the back of the 4 Runner I glanced up the embankment next to the parking lot and noticed a perfect hidey spot at the base of a cedar tree. I scurried up the embankment, realizing about halfway up how steep it was. Not one of my better ideas.
But look. It was worth it, right? Easy enough to find from the sidewalk if someone happens to be looking.
And now it’s time to share RAA from around the world.
Sister Marjorie Ellen was inspired by the Kelly Rae Roberts poster I printed a couple weeks ago. You can follow the link and print some yourself. Or you can do what Margie did and make your own.
It’s in Norwegian. She lives in Norway. If I dare believe her translation (and she has led me down the wrong path before) it says, Please Help Yourself. The tags from left to right: Hope. Courage. Respect. Forgiveness. Faith. Rest. Love. Beauty. Joy. Time.
She hung one on the message board in the kiosk that shelters the neighborhood mailboxes. She’ll be hanging more and sharing. Next week, right Margie?
Now it’s your turn. If you blogged about any RAA you made this week enter the URL down below where it says You are next. It’s a blog hop and the link will remain open until Saturday 11:59 PM California time. (PST). If you want to join us and you don’t have a blog, send me your photos and I’ll post them the following week. If I get too many for a post I’ll make a gallery. Easy peasy.
Oh, hey…don’t forget to check out my Facebook page. Think of it as Arty Life Lite. More pictures, less words. While you’re there be sure to click the ‘like’ button at the top of the page. Think of it as a free lotto ticket…you’re not going to win anything but you’ll make me feel good : )
Chocolate is calling to me. Not the good kind, the 88% full of anti-oxidents it’s-so-damn-healthy-you-can-eat-it-for-breakfast-and-you’re-happy-with-just-a-smidge-of-a-bit kind. Oh nooooooo, I’m hearing the seductive call of it’s evil twin, a well known brand of milk chocolate that tastes like…well, it tastes like my childhood. All sweet and sugary. Laden with fat and chock full of stuff that makes my inner nutritionist cringe. But that doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter at all because even if it glowed in the dark from radiation (and it might) what the hell…I WANT IT! And I WANT. IT. NOW!!!
I could eat a one pound bar All. By. Myself. In fact, I would go all ferrel and snap and snarl and growl threateningly at anyone who even looked at it, much less tried to take it away.
And after that, I would round out the day with potato chips. Salty yummy greasy crunchy chips. YAY!!! Let’s hear it for–
For what? Am I hungry? Umm…no. I just had lunch. A nice chicken tostada with extra guac and greens. To be perfectly honest (which I rarely am when it comes to food) there’s NO vacant real estate in belly land right now.
Then why do I feel the need to eat? Especially something loaded with sugar and fat and salt? Stuff that’s no good for me. That makes me hyper and tired all at the same time. That makes me look like I come from a long line of Sumo wrestlers.
WHY?
I’ll tell you why in a couple of minutes. But first go read a post I wrote back in February. Because even though I’m sounding desperate right now, I’m not. But I was back then.
Before I met AnaLisa Rutstein, MA CHHC. Before I took part in her Jump Start Program. Which was NOT a diet but six 45 minute one-on-one phone calls exploring and clarifying my issues around food. With handout and e-mail support.
That’s a whole lot of AHA! moments, believe me. A whole lot of getting back in touch with myself. Slowing down. Breathing. Meditating. Understanding the emotional triggers that send me scurrying to that bag of chips.
My emotional triggers? The biggest one…stress. But not stress like the car broke down or I had words with DearDaughter. The top hit on my personal Stress O’Meter…creativity. Or the insecurities I have surrounding my creative endeavors.
WTF??? Whack upside the head. My whole life is one big creative endeavor. Painting. Writing. Starting a biz…. No wonder my ass is so big.
Does this mean if I want to wear those skinny jeans again I’m going to chuck it all, get a 9-5 somewhere, a boring 9-5, and call it a day?
No. It means when I’m sitting at the computer searching for the exquisite turn of phrase, the perfect thing to say and I find myself getting all jittery and jumpy as a tweaker and I NEED to stuff my face with the bad bad bad bad BAD stuff so I don’t have toTHINK…it means I now have the tools to deal with that. Tools like BEING AWARE of what I’m doing. And why I’m doing it. So I can redirect myself by breathing, by acknowledging the emotion, by any number of little MINDFUL diversions.
The chocolate up there? The stuff I really, really wanted? I had some. But not a lot. It was a choice I made consciously. I didn’t have nearly as much as I would’ve six weeks ago. And honestly? If you’d come by and wanted some, that’d be okay. I wouldn’t have gone all ferrel on you.
I might’ve even shared.
Change of subject: Whoo-hoo! Over here! Be sure to check out my new FaceBook page. There’s art. New art every day. Imagine that!!! And if you click the ‘like’ button at the top of the FB page I will like you forever and be your BFF. Because I likes me those ‘likes’. So go ahead, do that RIGHT NOW because you wouldn’t want to forget or anything, right?
It rained hard enough last night for the power to go out. Poured throughout the day today. Snow. Hail. Going to keep on going like that for another 24 hours.
Welcome to April.
When I came home from work tonight the first thing I did was check the studio. The new studio, Studio-Grande-under-construction. Even though the sky was opening up like some fanatical end-of-the-world-scenario, it was dry inside. DRY!!! Not a puddle in sight. No drips. No buckets. No horse shavings strewn around the floor to sop up the puddles.
It. Was. DRY.
Oh, what a difference a roof makes.
I went inside and savored it. Walked around feeling the space that for the first time did NOT include some reminder of the outdoors. A space that completely sheltered me from the elements. The air was cold but it wasn’t moving, wasn’t blowing in through cracks. The rain was on the other side of the windows. It smelled like lumber in there. And cold concrete, if there is such a smell.
Each phase of the construction has filled me with a sense of gratitude. Because this place is being created to honor my creativity. It’s my space to paint and spill and celebrate whatever it is inside me that HAS to make things.
And I’m so grateful for the love that’s gone into this place. For Mama, who left me the money to finance the construction. For Mr. Spouse, who also has the need to create and has taken this project beyond what I first envisioned.
This weekend we’ll put up the insulation. Weekend after that, the sheetrock. There’ll be cabinets to assemble, concrete countertops to pour. If all goes as planned, I’ll be in there in early June.
And I can’t wait! Got a business to get up and running. Painting. Teaching. Marketing. Letting my light shine.
It’s about time.
Speaking about business, be sure to check out my Facebook page, SLPorter, Mixed Media. I’ll be posting a little something there every day. Brief little bits of studio news, new art or something from my classes. Arty Life Lite. And if you like what you see, please do me a great big favor and click the ‘like’ button on the top of the page. I want to get more ‘likes’ than Coca-Cola. I only have 41.something million to go.
YAY, it’s WEDNESDAY!!! OMG, you know what that means…cartwheels! Backflips! Handsprings! Because…ta-da it’s time for RANDOM ACTS of ART, Wednesday edition.
And now that we’ve got all that jumping around out of the way, would someone please call the chiropractor? Because being an acrobat inCirque du Soleil is not in my future. Nor was it ever in my past.
But a girl can dream, can’t she….
So now as I settle in with an ice pack, a brief recap of RANDOM ACTS of ART WEDNESDAY for those who are new. It’s simple, really. A little something I started doing on Valentine’s Day. It was so much fun I decided to keep doing it. And I invite the world to join me. All you have to do is make a little arty something, leave it somewhere like on a trail or a restaurant for a random stranger to find. And after leaving little bit of anonymous luvvvv to brighten a someone’s day, take a photo. Then share it on your blog. And share the link here.
My Random Acts weren’t so random this week. First came sister Marjorie Ellen’s beautiful arty tokens, all the way from Norway.
Aren’t they gorgeous? Just some local rocks she covers with gold leaf and decorates with a tag from Yogi tea. She sent them with a special request, that I put them where Mama can find them.
So I put them in the oak grove where we put Mama last year. One year ago this past week.
And that’s where I put my own rocks. And sister Perci left some flowers. All nestled next to Mama’s big rock.
So for me it wasn’t about being random this week. It was just about spreading the luvvv right here at home.
And now it’s your turn. Got any RAA to share? Leave your link just below the post, where it says You’re next. Click here to enter. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got! The link stays open until Saturday midnight, California time.
Oh! And if you haven’t been to my Facebook page, check it out here. Got a couple art albums going there. And while you’re at it, do me a favor and ‘like’ the page, okay? I’ll be your best friend if you do, promise. I’ll even buy a box of Girl Scout cookies from your kid next year.
Warning: The post you are about to read was written under the influence of an unholy amount of sugar coursing through my veins. I am not responsible for a single offending thing I say in this post.
Or EVER, for that matter.
I’m writing this post on Easter Sunday. This is the most holy of days in the Christian calendar. On the O’Holy o’meter it’s OFF. THE. CHARTS. Which is why Christians everywhere engage in ritual sacrifice of rabbits and chickens on this most sacred of days. To celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
What’s not to celebrate? I’d come back for chocolate too.
Pause here to bow your head and genuflect. Show some respect. Because those cute little critters down below… they’re about to have their HEADS EATEN OFF. And they haven’t a clue.
They are the innocents. Who. MUST. Die. For us.
Look at them. So…cheerful. So unsuspecting. Well, maybe not the bunny. Her smile looks rather forced to me. And WHAT is that she’s clutching? OMG! A little purse. She thinks she’s going shopping. Or to the movies. Oh, why doesn’t someone SAVE her??? Where is PETA (Confectionery division) when you need them? Where?
Because if someone doesn’t STOP ME, I will do what I was raised to do. WITH THE CHURCH’S BLESSING!!!
Starting with the ears. I will break them off her tiny little head with my bare hands. Just. Like. That. And then, as she watches (still smiling but it’s a horrified smile) I will BITE PEEP’S HEAD OFF. And. Swallow. It. Whole.
And then I’ll get back to Miss Bunny….
But I will spare you the details. It’s not a pretty sight but it MUST BE DONE. To honor new life. New beginnings. The glories of spring.
Unless you live in the southern hemisphere. Where Easter co-insides with the decent into the hell of winter. That REALLY sucks theologically, doesn’t it? You want my advice? Go eat a chocolate ‘roo. It’ll make you feel better. Maybe.
Change of topic:
Put a couple of albums of art up on my FaceBook page. It’s like an Arty Life Lite. Kind of. Come on over and check it out. And while you’re there, PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLUH-ESE click the ‘like’ button on the top of the page. ‘Cause that Zuckerberg kid said I could trade them in for a PONY when I get enough of ’em.
