Art Projects...

     Hand cut original stencil, acrylic and egg shell mosaic. Made for my son Aaron, who gave it to Charlie.

   
                       Paper clay (dry wall compound, glue, toilet paper, linseed oil) hand painted heart with
                       original stencil. Made for my friends Narayani  and Ashamarae.

My Aunt is Dying

  Old lady, where will I put you? Trees and hammocks, relatives, sounds of clanking plates and dried flowers that hang upside down in a pantry that smells of Ivory soap and dried fruits. Embroidery and pressed leaves with unfinished crossword puzzles on round oak tables in rooms that echo with sounds of your gospel songs and shadows of prayer circles on a tree lined street where you've lived for 60 years. I cry for you tonight with jumbled thoughts of life we shared in pieces here and there that haunt my heart, with shadows on my hands that have grown similar to yours. You hide in music that sings me from the hospital to my home. Old lady, where will I put you? In button boxes, quilts and church ladies who cook for funerals while trading recipes and fears of who they thought should and shouldn't be cared for by God. Old lady, where will I put you?

What Men Need To Avoid If They Want Great Sex For The Holidays

     Is your sex life as stale as last month's Halloween candy? Now that you and your partner are living together, does your mojo seem to lack the sparkle it had when you had separate living spaces? You worked long hours, took out the trash and wore your best shirt today but something went sour between the second helping of mashed potatoes and Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Did you go to bed alone,  feeling like an overstuffed sausage and a bit jaded? Lucky for you, she still loves you but you definitely need to polish your game.

    Rule One: Women like pretty things. They have looked through magazines and stores for the prettiest table settings and imagine how they're going to create the same look on a budget. Yes, it's fantasy, nobody realistically creates such beauty without hired help but it's her fantasy. Notice the new napkins, smell the real flowers and whatever you do, shriek in agony when or if the crystal bowl gets dropped because of her nerves. Walking out of the kitchen is the same as saying goodbye to warm hands that know where your sweet spots are.

    Rule Two: Women like strong men. Holiday strong to women means you can lift the vacuum without being asked. Be strong with carrying extra folding chairs and try not to look at her as though she's asked you to rebuild the Brooklyn bridge. Think kisses, slow ones and wipe the dust off the chairs without mentioning the word spider or cobweb.

     Rule Three:  Women admire a clean home. Like most people, work and social life got in the way of household chores so women will work too hard in a short time to make their space presentable and spotless.   While you slept, she was mopping the floors, vacuuming the carpets and if she was lucky, sweeping autumn leaves off the entryway. It's probably not a good idea to mow the lawn one hour before the arrival of your guests. Why? The lawn is dead, it's November and you're going to track in grass clippings not to mention muddy shoes! Stick to cleaning toilets and whatever you do, DON'T use the good towel to shower. (It's the one that's folded with three smaller ones on top)

    Rule Four:  Women love good music. Singing can be sexy to them but not when she's juggling hot casserole dishes from the oven and closing refrigerator doors with her foot. It may be tempting to showoff your vocals because the guests are coming in less than thirty minutes but if you haven't lifted a finger to help with the food prep, save your Stairway to Heaven for New Year's Eve, bye bye heated stone massage.

     Rule Five:  Women want a hero.  Most of us have watched the movie Pretty Woman, maybe twice. The idea of a Richard Gere coming to save us in a white limo is sacred foreplay. If your mother is at the table, respect her in every way, but the minute you hear any tone of sarcasm, put on the invisible Superman cape. Girlfriend or wife is the one who you defend. She's the one who puts band aids on your ouchies now, the one who listens to your political rants and football fantasies. (She knows you can't play better than the Chiefs.)

  So there you have it my male friends. If you follow these five rules, may you have many surprises in your stocking and under your sheets. Break these rules and you will have another meaning for Black Friday.

 

2012 LOVE

--------------------------------2012------------------------------------
This is the time when EVERYONE, absolutely everyone is in dire need of living an authentic life to ourselves. So
many people are going to feel ignored or unhappy with their friends and loved ones and it isn't an insult but the
need for our new energies in these times to know who we are, and to love us. The times of co-dependency are
over and we are now being called to become co-creators!! I mean this with the greatest of LOVE. Breathe into
the moment, know that there is nothing for you to prove, be still and if that is hard, do what I do....wear earplugs
for an entire day to find your peace.  It works....Namaste  

     

Perfect TIming

     Street joggers match my music, slow walkers match the music along with my breath. The flow moves along invisibly and shows itself in signs, you know, when a car changes lanes in front of mine and has today's date on the license plate. Those funny nudges to say, hey, it's all going to be ok.

Carrot Barbie

     There weren't many carrots to make the famous slaw with raisins but we felt lucky to find a single
carrot with another attached like a pair of legs. Good thing nobody threw away the unwrapped piece
of cucumber that was starting to shrivel because it made a great shirt for the carrot Barbie. Her shoes
were lemon squash that taste like squash but sure fooled Bill who thought it was a lemon for tea. We made her hair with part of the squash and cloves for eyes and then gave her a cabbage feather for a fancy touch.
 She lay on a bed of shredded cabbage and then went to a little girl's birthday party who turned five. Nobody dared take a bite, the birthday girl wasn't impressed. Balloons and presents were more important so we brought her home at the end of the party looking rough around the edges. For two days she sat in the fridge without even a bite until finally, her glamour shot picture was taken and she was laid in the yard to tan in the sun.

A Blue Moon

           Rare is a moon the color of blue to light up the skies in August for love that is true. . .

    The stately house on the right with the six foot climbing vines in their black urns caught my attention today on a busy street that had become quiet due to the fact that the road was closed for construction. I breathed in as much beauty that my eyes could take with a slow motion thought that once, yes once in a blue moon I may have lived in a house so grand. Briefly an image of a stone wall covered in ivy appeared only to be broke by the sounds of a fast sounding jet that shook the left side of my car. A buzz like a bee stinging my precious imagination, popping it with fear and bringing me back to the present. In the distance I could see a white car driving at speeds of ninety miles an hour without an exaggeration. Once in a blue moon! You don't see that too often. My heart hurt, my legs felt rubbery but I laughed at the thought that my newly purchased dragon stone rock for a dollar was in my pocket. The rock that brings creative power, energetic force and courage.

  Wouldn't it be nice if reason had a voice and we could understand the code? Maybe the moment was perfect, showing me to get into it, feel the fast changes or was it to appreciate living through a near miss we get once in a blue moon? Whatever it may be, I celebrated at a new Ethiopian restaurant in the older part of my town. The little girl in this picture was hanging on the wall as if to say, "keep your dreams alive and happy blue moon until we meet again."