Sucked in

Oh yeah, Robert and I got sucked in. We did quite well actually... I think. We donated 2300 grains of rice. Robert's vocabulary was quite good. Click on the title to go to http://www.freerice.com/index.php and play the vocabulary word game to donate rice. Its addicting...well, to geeks anyway.

lunar eclipse - 03.03.07

This is last years lunar eclipse. I kinda like the music.... I missed the latest eclipse...but I hear it was cloudy here and not as spectacular.

Star Wars according to a 3 year old.

Oh my god Iove little kids! Why did I only have one?
three year olds are THE BEST! such insight!

AGH!

I am laughing so hard! Yes folks, people are painting cats. No, I don't mean watercolors or oils OF cats, I mean they airbrush ON cats! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH........gasp AHAHAHAHAHAHA! what in the hell is this world coming to? One women who commented on the website said she was excited about the book because she'd dipped her cat in beet juice but it was not effective he looked as if he'd killed a chicken and rolled on it. What posses someone to dip their cat in dye???!!!!!!!!! Bad enough people dye THEMSELVES but a (relatively) defenseless animal? What a riot.
http://www.whypaintcats.com/

Kayaking

We went out for a quick kayak trip at the beach yesterday. My daughter, Robert and I went down Banks Channel to a small beach and had lunch and paddled back. It was borderline too windy for Meredith and I, being the novices, but we persevered. As I walked the little marshy spoil island I thought how lucky we are. We don't have much. We chose artsy lives which don't include big salaries, very reliable cars, paid vacations, etc. But we do have this- this water to be near, this sun on our full bellies, the wind blowing the grass, the marks we make in the sand. And we have it any time we want it pretty much.
Those of us that live here on the coast live in a kind of paradise when we slow down enough to remember. Art by Shellie Mitchell from SC. Click the post title to purchase and to view her Etsy store.

Bacon

So my 12 year old daughter said, "Yeah, I thought about becoming a vegetarian, but then....
I remembered bacon."

The Grays

The Very Best Years and awesome Grays song. I couldn't embed it sorry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtkgE4h_EKw

Jason Faulkner

So if you're not familiar with him, I LOVE Jason Faulkner. My favorite cd will always be Can You Still Feel? When I play that cd people always ask what it is. I loved previous incarnations of his, the band The Gray's and later Jellyfish
http://www.rogerjosephmanningjr.com/projects/jellyfish/.

The Treasury

I LOVE intelligent pop. I guess its growing up with the Beatles...dunno/ I was glad to recently see Jason Faulkner still out there kickin' it... http://www.jasonfalkner.net/
But I just discovered this band The Treasury and love 'em! Evidently missed them last year at The Whiskey. Love their song on myspace "My Way". Good solid pop.

Chris Jordan

I am not kidding folks.... you have got to check this guy out.http://www.chrisjordan.com/



"This series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 410,000 paper cups used every fifteen minutes. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. The underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned.

~chris jordan, Seattle, 2007

Capturing the Scale of American Consumption

Fascinating talk (30 minutes? ) by Artist Chris Jordan who brings the enormous scale of our mass consumption into high-resolution. He shares Running the Numbers, composite photographs of discarded cell phones, computers, aluminum cans and other modern detritus, urging us to consider the consequences of our consumer culture while insisting that each of us has the power to make a difference. Gotta love Pop!cast.....

South River Paddle

My first OBE

And no, I don't mean Out of Body Experience.... I like to call it Out of Boat Experience! Salt Marsh Kayak and Bluefield Enterprises had their first Oyster Roast and Paddle this weekend. While we got there late to the oyster roast out in Bladen county, it was great, big fire, good food, live band.... We camped on the property and ate a huge spread that Bluefield Enterprises CEO and chief cook Scott prepared. Fresh homemade biscuits with sorghum molasses, yellow grits, sausage, cinnamon rolls, I was ready for the paddle! We were all going down the South River ending near Tomahawk NC. Gorgeous day, brisk, blue sky, Black water mmmm! The South is a nice river a bit more gravely than the sandy Black, and low this year. We had a lovely paddle about 13 of us. An adorable little black puppy hovered about as we put in and one of the group just couldn't leave her. She rode in the bow of his kayak the whole way down, 9.64 twisty turny miles! So Robert and I were hanging back, it was after lunch and the river had a bit more current than I, the beginner, am used to. There were plenty of obstacles, some really BIG trees down over the river. So lots of strainers. Robert hung back to gather some wild gourds and the puppy rescuer and I were alone trying to shoot through a tight zig zag of logs and trees down. I got trapped, the back of my kayak pinned between two cypress knees and the front wedged. I couldn't budge. and every time I did try to move I would nearly flip with the current rushing under me. I just sat there waiting for Robert as the other guy went on through. Robert came along chuckling at me sitting there looking glum. He moved to the bank, got out and helped me get unpinned. I backed up to try again. This time he was patiently giving me instructions as to how best to paddle through the narrow passage. Well I made all the same mistakes. The current caught the back end and I lost control of the boat again and got trapped....again. I was irritated, frustrated and mad at myself. The rest of the group was long gone. And then trying to move myself out of my situation I flipped.
This is a big deal for me.
I have never flipped over. I have taken a quick rescue and recovery class in the summer, in warm water, at the beach in which I flipped over hung for a second or so, and then released the skirt and popped up. But I have never accidentally flipped over in freezing cold water with nothing on but a T shirt and pfd. I panicked! It was only waist deep but the current was pulling me under the strainer and I was freaking. Robert was shouting at me to calm down and pull the skirt and get out of the boat. It took a second, I was gasping at the cold. trying to grab gear. He's shouting "leave the gear!", forget it... I was a very cold mammal at that moment, not hearing anything. so I stand up and try to wade out against the current. I shook for 20 minutes from just adrenaline. Robert had brought all kinds of extra dry clothes so I was warm soon. But it was pretty big milestone for me. And evidence as to how quick a reasonably calm looking river, no rocks, no whitewater, nothing scary can become really scary when you are being towed under logs and branches with a current especially for a novice. We are laughing about it now. And I am glad that I have that experrience under my belt. He wants to kayak the Orcas islands and I feel nowhere near ready. I am not a cold water girl! I know there's gear and all... but...I am a big chicken. I don't love adrenaline. I like yoga and making things. I love easy, gentle paddling in pretty surroundings! Needless to say I am sore and slept like a baby last night.

Its Up!

My interview with Allison Lee is up at Craftcast.com. Its moving hearing it. I was scared to hear myself, but I think its okay!
Check it out! http://www.craftcast.com/

Derech - Mosh Ben Ari

I just love csome of these lyrics if they are in fact as this person posted them:
Road (or- Way)
---------------
I wake up in the morning, I'm addicted to the road
I travel, I travel
A lot of green around, it touches laughter
It's a sweet moment
How should I move between the paths that were embroidered on me by the years
I sink into the radio
Silence is sweet again, on the escape rout again
And again it touches
chorus:
And in the nights, eye full of tears
Lips whisper To you, to you
And in the days, face to face
I'm in the middle of life
And still without you

The road does not end, it's the road to tomorrow
I touch the horizon
If only you were here with me,
to strengthen my weakeness
I would be calm

mosh ben ari-ya

Another one I am lovin'!
So catchy,happy....
Here's the lyrics posted on Youtube:

open your eyes,
we are here together in this world
and there is one God above
And just accept that it's ya ya ya...
He always comes on time.

"Mukeret Li Mipa'am"- Hebrew song, by Din Din Aviv

I am so excited about this group! Great animation
here's the lyrics that I could find on the internet:
One moment before the sunset
I embrace you and my heart, like a ball of fire,
dives and falls with you
Then comes the darkness
The magic disappears
Leaving only the depth of your eyes
and the sadness of the world
I have known you long ago
Perhaps in another lifetime
A dream that left in me a fragrance
Of a burning memory
So before I touch you
Just before sunrise
Come and say to me,
I am all yours
Perhaps from another lifetime...
There is only one in my imagination
She is good and sweet
And I am pointed at her
From a cloud of silence
Maybe that is where you came from
So if you are real
Please take me with you
And look after me
I have known you long ago...

6 Word memoirs

Can you do it?
Sum yourself up in a 6 word memoir?
I heard an interview on NPR with the books editors. Very cool idea.
Based on the story that when challenged to write a 6 word novel Hemmingway said, "For Sale: babyshoes, never worn."
I am still working on mine.
For more cool stuff like this book go to Smith online magazine: http://www.smithmag.net/
Everyone has a story.....

yael naim new soul

I think this is my life's theme song. People say "She's such an old soul..." Not me. I have always thought I landed in the wrong world and am new here. Live the video too!

Collaboration Factory-PLASTICS!

Dan Brawley is hosting a Collaboration Factory at IAC-Wabi Sabi Warehouse. If you want to make art out of plastic then come on down!



Go here for more info: http://wabisabiwarehouse.blogspot.com/

No experience necessary. Bring plastic stuff to upcycle into art! Finished works will be installed as part of the "Retirement Plan for Plastics" Exhibition at UNCW's Warwick Gallery.

EXCITING!

Dan Brawley has set up a blog for our studio space Wabi Sabi Warehouse.
Very cool...
http://wabisabiwarehouse.blogspot.com/

Lots of exciting things will be happening there this year, stay tuned!

Craftcast

Well! I was honored to be surprised by an email from Allison Lee of Craftcast.com. She interviewed me today! It will air sometime next week. Go check out her interview with Susan Lenart Kazmer and many other great metalsmiths, including Linda Darty, Kathleen Dustin, and Alan Revere. COOL!

Liveearth.org

Very cool website...Live Earth!