SUNDAY November 30th

Click on Holiday Jewelry Sale and take a look at some new and fun pieces that I have been working on. I noticed that quite a few people had not cleared their cache and were looking at the old page.

Click on Patina’s and Metals Workshop to see what Gail Moore and I have cooked up for those of you coming out to Tucson for the Gem & Mineral Show.

Finally…Click on 2009 Tucson Workshops to plan a 3-day metals experience like no other. Come out to Tucson and spend 3 days learning all of the tricks and secrets that I have spent the last 10 years learning.

Traditions: I Forgot Something….I should not have forgotten!





I do so love Sundays, in my previous career Sunday was the one-day a weeks that I might actually get off and sleep in.

While I lived in NYC I would go to the corner bodega rather late on Saturday night to get the early edition of the Sunday NY Times. For my 7 plus years living in NYC, I got the Sunday Times, made a HUGE pot of coffee early Sunday morning and spent those mornings reading the Week-in-Review, Science, Style, Arts & NY Region Sections and ending with a power session of the Sunday Times Crossword in the Sunday Magazine. One section of the paper that I loved the most and no longer really exists is the Sunday Macy’s circular. I loved those mornings and they are fond memories for me. Often I would have friends over for quite mornings of brunch and power Crossword sessions.

After I moved out to the SF Bay Area, I could walk out to the corner newsstand out in front of my apartment complex and still get the Sunday Times and I continued my weekly tradition for a long time. I got to the beautiful moment in my life where I had the paper delivered on Sunday mornings. Those mornings came at greater intervals until I realized that I had a huge pile of un-read Sunday Times that I would never get to. Then my life took on changes even before I changed careers. I got busier and life got a bit more hectic and when I totally changed careers that tradition was totally lost. I had almost forgotten about those beautiful mornings but as I woke this morning and I had no desire to remove myself from the warmth of my bed…I recalled those mornings with a great fondness.

I think that I need to bring back a few of those rituals that I seem to have misplaced in these last number of years. In retrospect, I forsook pleasures for reasons that defy understanding. I may be traveling a great deal more but when I am home and I am ensconced in the warmth of my down comforter and my "gray fuzzy kitten monkeys" are sleeping soundly next to me, I need to take that time that I used to take for myself and that gave me such pleasure. I remember actually getting to the point that I would finish the Sunday Crosswords…I was always so impressed with myself if I could finish one on the same day.

Traditions are things that should never be forsaken or lost, they remind us of the journeys that we have undertaken and where we have come from and the journey that is laid out before us. It is to important to forsake.

Welcome Home Endeavour; well done!

Some Days You Wake Up Feeling Just Like This!

I want to be this tough some day!

Holiday Jewelry Sale Link is Live

Holiday Jewelry Sale Link
The link is live and there are some really wonderful pieces available for sale.
Each piece is a one of a kind and all of the gemstones are of very nice quality.










Sorry for the delay this afternoon.
I was having Dreamweaver image issues that
turned out to be me doing a poor job.
MY BAD..

Look to the Heavens on Monday Night

click on the image to read more.

Look to the southwest after sunset on Dec. 1 for a close conjunction between three bright solar system objects: the moon, Venus and Jupiter. If you have binoculars, you might even be able to fit all three of them in the field of view. Between now and then, you can see Jupiter and Venus getting closer together each evening.

Friday November 28th

TOMORROW!
Here is the latest news….Tomorrow by 12 noon PST I will have a Holiday Jewelry Sale up on line. A good many of my new PMC pieces as well as my pressure settings in PMC and fine silver sheet will be on sale. There will be complete necklaces as well as just pendants that you can make you own creations from. Check out the Jewelry Sale on my website. I will have a link here as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was awoken Thursday morning by pounding rain at 3am and again at 6am. The winter rains have arrived in Tucson. They are just as wonderful as the monsoons but they are COLD. I actually mean that, the rain water is cold and you do not get that hot desert smell of the monsoons either, but it had been about 2 or 3 months since we have had any water and the cactus were starting to get rather droopy. It is amazing how efficient the cacti are; they drink up the rainwater fast and quick and do not let a good rain go to waste.











We had planned a nice Thanksgiving morning hike up in Sabino Canyon but the rains canceled that plan but we did take a really nice long walk through the neighborhood after a light lunch once we had prepared all of the food for cooking for a 5-ish dinner.

I had an excellent day yesterday. I got to sleep in till 8-ish and sort of crept into my day with ease and really good coffee. Having been invited to a Thanksgiving Feast I was enjoying my morning. The task I was charged with was to bring the wine. What a treat for me. I just got to show up and enjoy my day. Well, I did do my share of chopping for the stuffing, prepped the turkey for stuffing, grilled the asparagus and made my special whipped cream for the Pumpkin Pie. (It may sound silly, but I do make really good whipped cream.)

We played a couple of games of Scrabble and the conversations varied as quickly and at times I had problems following 2 conversations at once. It was a totally excellent day.

Today was a bit of a slow start as well. I had a real issue getting motivated to get to work this morning. It took over a half a pot of coffee to get myself to the bench ad crack open a packet of PMC. Well I burned through 3 packages and ran the Kiln this afternoon.

I started prepping the settings this evening and will have 3 more pieces completed by tomorrow afternoon. I am pleased with how the settings have come out of the kiln. They will be really excellent after I get them all “tarted” up a bit!!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday and that the people that you love to be near surrounded you all.

I love the winter nights here. When we get the full moons the air is so crisp and clean the moon shines so brightly. We are now just coming out of a New Moon right now and I eagerly await the next fill moon so I can sit out on my diving board and stare up at the sky and be amazed.

Wednesday 26th Cont.

It is my fondest desire to wish everyone the Happiest of Thanksgivings.
















I got great news today, a dear friend of mine that has been having a rough time of it lately may be making a turn for the better. I could not have asked for better news than that. Happy Birthday My Dear Friend.

It is a time to remember all that we are to be thankful for, all that we hold dear, all that we treasure, all that we have over come and all that we will over come. This year is drawing to a close and it is a year that I have to say I am glad that it is coming to an end. I know that it is a year that I had to experience in order to learn the lessons that I am supposed to learn and to grow in this life the way that we are all to grow in our lifetimes. That is the key...trying to realize that we are actually supposed to grow, learn and to become better than the people that we started as.

Tao Te Ching
Chapter 67

Some say my teaching is nonsense.
Others call it lofty but impractical.
But to those who have looked inside themselves,
this nonsense makes perfect sense.
And to those who put it into practice,
this loftiness has roots that go deep.

I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in action and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.

Just for follow-up...
This is for the fun of it all.
As you all know, I LOVE the Animaniacs

Yakko's Universe!

Wednesday November 26th

I had a great time today playing with a meteorite today.

Tuesday November 24th

Poetry

And it was at that age ... Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where
it came from, from winter or a river.
I don't know how or when,
no they were not voices, they were not
words, nor silence,
but from a street I was summoned,
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.

I did not know what to say, my mouth
had no way
with names,
my eyes were blind,
and something started in my soul,
fever or forgotten wings,
and I made my own way,
deciphering
that fire,
and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open,
planets,
palpitating plantations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.

And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.

Pablo Neruda

Monday November 24th

As you can see from a post earlier today the link for a new Patina & Metals Workshop with Gail Crosman Moore went live this morning. We are both excited about the workshop and hope that the workshop will be a success. We would like to teach it at some future shows like Bead & Button and the Bead Fest shows but those shows are already set for 2009. We think that the first time we would be able to offer it at a show would be at BABE next fall.





While I was watching the Rachel Maddow show this evening I was very dismayed to learn that the on November 4th, while we as a nation were throwing out ALL of the Bush administrations doctrine, they were trying to sneak past the American public by using the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management in an attempt to SIDE STEP CONGRESS and are set to sell land leases to oil and gas speculators next to vast tracts of land adjoining several of our National Parks in Utah. Robert Redford, who is a resident of Utah, went on the show this evening to raise awareness so we as citizens of this country can DEMAND from our representatives in Washington that this is NOT allowed to occur. It was well started this evening. “Once pristine is gone, it can not be restored.” We cannot allow this to happen, these lands cannot be raped and trashed by a industry that only cares about lining their own coffers. I drove through Zion National Park on my way home from The Utah Shakespeare Festival this summer and I have no desire to ever see anything damage that space or the area surrounding it that must be maintained in order to keep the pristine nature of the Park intact.

Raise you voice, be heard, email or call your representatives and tell them in no uncertain terms that this must not be allowed to happen.

It is cooling off here, relatively speaking; it is amazing what we get used to. I grew up in Ohio and I grew up with really cold winters, lots of snow and the changing seasons. I moved out to NYC and later to Boston and again was met with all of the above…Then, I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, gone was snow and I made the adjustment from 4 seasons to the wet season and the dry season. There was some sort of winter but I totally lost any sense of that when I moved down to LA.

I remember sitting out on the porch of my bungalow in downtown LA in the dead of winter, 65º, having to wear sweat pants and a sweatshirt because I was cold. I remember laughing at myself because New Yorkers would don shorts and T-shirts as soon as the temperature would rise above 45º and rush outside to the parks. Then we would all get spring colds because of our desire to hurry the arrival of spring.

Well, now that I have been living in Tucson for 2 ½ years my blood has thinned to the point that I am getting chilly as the temp drops to a bone chilling 70º. I laugh at my own weakness. It is amazing what we as humans adapt to and can acclimate our bodies to. How can a people live and thrive in the freezing climate of the north and the same species live and thrive in the harsh reality of the deserts. I guess that this is one of the reasons that I love watching Nova and the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. The series The Universe is outstanding and over a year ago I got the BBC’s Planet Earth. TOTALLY COOL. I am such a geek where these things are concerned.

Tucson Wildlife in all of it's glory! This is why I LOVE living here! I am looking froward to my Thanksgiving Morning hike in Sabino Canyon.

Workshop News Here you GO!

OK, so here is what I have been working on for the last 36 hours. As I have hinted at Gail Crosman Moore and I have been cooking up this really amazing 1-Day Workshop that we are going to debut here in Tucson During the Gem Show.








Here is the link and if I say so myself I think we have done a REALLY nice job of pulling this together in record time. Check out the link....It is really kind of cool.

Patina & Metals Tucson Workshop

Now here is what I need all of you to do...Please spread the word. We should have come up with this idea about 2 months earlier but that is not how this worked out for us.

The Roomba Driver!

Worth Every Moment!

Saturday November 22nd

45 years ago today we as a country had the last generations chance of hope taken away. I find our country looking for that same sense of hope again. We are searching and for the first time in this generation we have that chance again. As I sit here watching Oliver Stones "JFK" this evening I am fascinated by it's scope for sure and it most definitely gives one pause as it is presented and unfolded before my eyes.

I actually do have hope for the first time in a very long time. I voted this time not for the lesser of 2 evils, I voted for an ideal and for a real desire for change that I think is attainable. We need to be a patient country and we have to realize that this change will take time. It took 8 years to destroy our countries reputation in the world, it may take just as long to repair this damage and regain the trust of the world.

I had a productive afternoon at my bench.
•Here are the newest versions of the Strap Pendants that I have been working on. Each pendant continues solve assembly questions that crop up in my head. •


I was listening to the best of the 80's for awhile today...This is for Donna @ Black BerryBeads
Mr. Mister - Kyrie

lyrics

Digis Coffee Shop

I love the juiced up coffee Cox Cable digis, it makes me laugh EVERY TIME!

Just because it made me laugh out loud.

Friday November 21st

I got a fair amount done on this fine day. I worked on a few more pieces and got work done on my website.

Gail Moore and I talk at length about the class that we are planning on and have decided that there are to be 2 sessions of the class here in Tucson. There will be one class right before the Whole Bead Show and one after the show. The link for these 2 one-day workshops will go live on Monday.

I was flipping through some channels this evening and to my pleasant surprise I was greeted to the sounds of John Barry’s score to "Out of Africa". The opening sequence and the score to this movie are some of the most beautiful moments in cinema history. I have always been a HUGE fan of John Barry and his music and I am constantly amazed at to how an individual takes the imagery of film and translates it into sound, the interconnected cords, progressions, themes. I love the way a good composer can weave the story together and integrate all of the visual into the auditory.

I am enjoying the end of the week and am looking forward to the weekend and getting the details for the workshop all ironed out and getting that kicking by the start of next week. We are both looking forward to this class, so, all of you out there in WEB land…please place a link to the site when it goes live and help Gail and I can reach more people in this interconnected world of ours!

Thursday November 20th

HERE IT IS!!!
So, I had a few technical details to work out as I went forward this setting that I had an idea about on Monday night. Below is the first attempt. I am pleased and just have to tumble and burnish the piece up. I love this stone and I think that the setting as a pure cold-join technique is a fun new technique for me to play with.

Let me know what you think! Hope that you like these as much as I do!

A PMC-3 Setting with Fine Silver Rivets & Bail.
















I cannot find the name of the gemstone. If I find it I'll let you all know














Using Fine Silver 28 gauge Bezel Wire that I riveted, the stone is very secure.

Happy 80th Mickey

On November 18th 80 years ago the world was introduced to Steam Boat Willie or more commonly known as...Mickey Mouse.
















He was originally drawn with all circles and he has had, I think, only 3 men give voice to the indomitable mouse. He has been a favorite of mine sine before I can remember.

What an evening I had this evening! When you get one of those great moments in your life that knock you on your butt you remember then forever.

I called up my guy dude friends Chuck & Jeff, the 2 guys that own and operate the Royal Elizabeth B&B here in Tucson for a dinner date earlier this week. We made plans to go to our favorite restaurant and as always I met them over at the B&B and we were to walk over to dinner. It is always such a joy to go out with them…they are so much fun. As we were leaving the house they introduced me to one of there guests.

I had the distinct honor and privilege of meeting Sylvia Guerrero this evening. The name did not ring the recognition bell at all, she came out of her room and gave me this HUGE hug and started chatting up the guys like old chums. She said that she was on her way out as well to give a talk and I inquired as to the nature of her talk and she re-introduced herself as Gwen Araujos mother and she said was giving a talk on the UofA campus this evening. I stood there like an idiot for just the briefest moment and crossed the room to give her the hug that she deserved from a daughter to a mother who has suffered the greatest loss a mother could experience.

What an honor to meet this woman, mother, grandmother, activist and champion of the voiceless. I was invited to go listen to her speak tomorrow evening and I would not miss this opportunity for anything.

For those who are unaware of who Gwen Araujo is; please Google the name and read up.

Well dinner was excellent as always and the company was as entertaining as usual. I had a day of cleaning and now I am off to work at my bench for a bit and then get some rest before another day of getting to the lists of my house and what I want to get accomplished before the real holiday season hits.

I hope that you all have had an excellent day. This evening has given me something very real to consider and very relevant as well, considering all of the Prop 8 in CA and 102 here in AZ.

Tuesday November 18th

There is always an ebb and flow to life. That is one of those important lessons that I am supposed to learn in this lifetime!

I guess, it is a hard thing to realize that some people must exit your life. After a time that spans almost half of your lifetime, to let a friend exit is a strange thing. It comes down to the simple fact that I guess I had an argument that I did not know I had with a friend of over 20 years and have not spoken in over 2 months. In that time I have received no reply to any inquires. I guess that when you end up making excuses for the behavior of the friend and extending reasons that you would not extend to anyone else means that you have actually grown and the other person has not moved past the maturity of a 24 year old. A real shame!

I have held onto this relationship as one of the dearest ones in my life…but I cannot help to look back on the past several years and notice a pattern of personal disdain for this person choices as to how to behave both personally as well as professionally and to realize that this person has cost me one of the most important professional relationships that I had in my previous profession. Live and Learn! That is the motto that I have come to grasp this year. I no longer have room in my life for those that are not up to the bar.

I am a steadfast and loyal to the end kind of friend. I would NEVER betray a friend until they had proven to me that they are not worthy of the devotion that I have freely given. I have learned that lesson all to well twice this year and in each case it is a lesson that will follow me forever.

Friendship is a gift, it is freely given; it’s a gift that needs to be nurtured and cared for and reciprocated evenly. The same is to be said of love! I believe that these 2 types of relationships can be the measure of a person. When you finally learn that you need to grow past your previous limits and really look at those you choose to include in your life and actually see the real friends and the real relationships…it is a very fine day indeed.

Here is to lessons learned!

This image below is so beautiful.
It is the yearly gathering of these swans so they can be taken to a warmer location to be cared for over the winter months and brought back in the spring.

Monday November 17th

When inspiration hits it is an amazing thing. Literally, I was puttering around my bench when it hit me. Just like the last time, I have had these gemstones that have been BEGGING for a different kind of setting and it hit me like lighting strikes the earth. This all started with a meteorite that I bought last year at the gem show here in Tucson. I have been staring at the thing everyday I have been home for almost year. I bought the thing when I had NO business buying anything last year but it caught my eye and I just had to have it. I knew what I wanted the setting to look like I just had no idea of how to make it happen.

Wish me luck! I’ll post the finished piece. I have a few nuances to work out either in my head or in a mock up… I am excited for the first time in weeks to make something NEW!!

The kiln is kilning and I am looking forward to seeing the finished pieces there as well. Whew! It is always a nerve-wracking time waiting for inspiration to strike you up side the head…I am grateful every time it does happen!

I am still really tired and I hope that the sleep that I am getting these cool nights is helping out.

I’ll post images in a day or so!

Sunday November 16th

PMC PMC & more PMC. I made 4 or 5 really nice settings today. I will fire them first thing in the morning. I am making settings for some of the more interesting stones that I have accumulated over the last several years. I am really looking forward to seeing how all of these come out. I worked on one today for several hours that I have to say I am less than pleased with. I know better than continuing on with a setting that in my head I know is going to SUCK!!! I know that the little voice in my head is ALWAYS RIGHT! When am I actually gonna learn the lessons that a 45 year old should have down pat by now. Some times I find my own stubbornness totally amusing and then there are the times that I just wish that I had the ability to kick my own butt. I guess that is why I have the awesome friends that I have.

I had an excellent day at my bench today and I was listening to my iPod on Shuffle. Heard some tunes that I had not listened to in a very long while.
Enjoy a little Joan Armatrading. I have loved her voice for ever half of my life.
Love & Affection

Hope everyone had an excellent weekend! I know it is going to be Monday in a few hours but just keep plugging along and it will be another weekend before you know what hit you!

A song I have been meaning to share for quite some time!

I do not think that I have shared this with you.

The Blind Boys of Alabama
The Lyrics of Amazing Grace sung to the Tune of House of the Rising Sun.

It is FANTASTIC.
I got to see these dudes live when I lived in SF.
Have a listen!!!!



- Blind Boys of Alabama Lyrics

Saturday November 15th

One more beautiful day! One more beautiful evening! I had a great pow-wow with Gail about our class that we are getting together. We are actually thinking about offering it just before and just after the Gem Show….Interesting thought, it would make us work that much harder and think that much more concisely…not a bad thing that is for sure! I do not like it when my brain goes to MUSH! Well, we told each other that we would have definite decision by next weekend! That give Gail a chance to recover from her show this week and then to contemplate this!!!!

I think it could be really excellent of we offered it in Tucson and then had it down by the time we wanted to get it on the books to Philly and Portland! Yea???

So, here is what else I have been pondering this fine day! I have had 2 very serous phone calls today and each has given me much to ponder!!!

So, when is it that you reach the decision that you, as a human being, are worth more than you ever thought you were. I posted an image from Post Secret a few days… “we accept the love we think we deserve.” I am finding that statement to be truer that what we would consider it is, just on the surface. Both good and bad, we accept what we “THINK” we deserve. What happens when we realize that we deserve better, we deserve more, and we deserve to be treated with honor and respect….

Each of us, deserves that… we deserve the honor and the respect that is due another human being even on the basest level. I quoted, ages ago…what I thought love was and what I thought the truest meaning of what love should attain…that is still true…but the caveat is that you must look at yourself as just as worthy and deserving of the same level that you are giving! It cannot be an assumption that whom you give this honor to understands that it is what is to be given in return.

Does it have to be negotiated? Or is it just time that gives insight to the individual that you want to give this to…to see if they are actually worthy of such a gift. There is always a risk…and it is up to you to grant that risk at your own peril. The risk is that when you actually believe that one is so worthy of this gift they might actually be to good at deception for you to see the truth. It does take time and it is worth the risk...because the reward, if found worthy would be beyond compare.

Here is what I had to say in February!

Ayn Rand; The Romantic Manifesto
Chapter 2 Philosophy and Sense of Life
Pg 32-33 (February 1966)

There are two aspects of man’s existence which are the special province and expression of his sense of life: love and art.

I am referring here to romantic love, in the serious meaning of that term-as distinguished from the superficial infatuations of those whose sense of life is devoid of any consistent values, i.e., of any lasting emotions other than fear. Love is a response to values. It is with a person’s sense of life that one falls in love-with that essential sum, that fundamental stand or way of facing existence, which is the essence of a personality. One falls in love with the embodiment of the values that formed a person’s character, which are reflected in his widest goals or smallest gestures, which create the style of his soul-the individual style of a unique, unrepeatable, irreplaceable consciousness. It is one’s own sense of life that acts as the selector, and responds to what it recognizes as one’s own basic values in the person of another. It is not a matter of professed convictions (though these are not irrelevant); it is a matter of much more profound, conscious and subconscious harmony.

Many errors and tragic disillusionment's are possible in this process of emotional recognition, since a sense of life, by itself, is not a reliable cognitive guide. And if there are degrees of evil, then one of the most evil consequences of mysticism-in terms of human suffering-is the belief that love is a matter of “the heart,” not of the mind, that love is blind and impervious to the power of philosophy. Love is the expression of philosophy- of a subconscious philosophical sum-and, perhaps, no other aspect of human existence needs the conscious power of philosophy quite so desperately. When that power is called upon to verify and support an emotional appraisal, when love is a conscious integration of reason and emotion, of mind and values, then-and only then-it is the greatest reward of man’s life.

Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value-judgments. It is the integrator and concretize of man’s metaphysical abstractions. It is the voice of his sense of life. As such, art is subject to the same aura of mystery, the same dangers, the same tragedies-and, occasionally, the same glory-as romantic love.

For the record!

For the record…I still have a girl crush on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. In addition… I am not having post election news withdraw. What I am looking for is a single news cycle that does NOT include that twit from Alaska…PLEASE…enough is enough, can we send her back from whence she came? I am thinking of that island in the Bering Straight from where she can guard our coastline from that Head Rearing Putin Dude! Any thoughts???

So, I am settling in for a nice movie for the evening and I just had the desire to explain how beautiful the moon has been for the past few nights. It has been so full and so bright. It is back to that look of filling the entire sky up with light and illuminating my back yard
It is so bright it is to the point of full on shadows as I walk around the pool.

Well, I hope that everyone is going to have an excellent weekend and that the week was a productive one.

I really do not know what movie I feel like watching this evening!

Mmmmmmmmmm! Dilemma!

Friday November 14th

I was told in no uncertain terms that I needed to read HAPPY poetry from now on. In the words of Diane Lane in “Under the Tuscan Sun” I must search for "Lady Bugs!" In my defense, I have had the poem that I posted yesterday in a book that I was reading for AGES and I just really found it very moving and so beautiful.

But here is a HAPPY POEM by the same poet…It might not be what you would call happy... but it certainly is poignantly pungent????
This is for you sweet Gail L. I love you more than my luggage and you made me laugh with your email from earlier today. And yes….I was rather bored today as well with all of the tasks that I needed to get accomplished.

In the image used to represent the Onion, please take no inference as to which breed of onion I prefer... it was just a really nice image...I like a Sweet onion for my burgers, Red Onion for my Greek Salad, a Yellow Onion to cook with and for soups and a Chives for my Baked Potato with Sour Cream....

ODE TO THE ONION Pablo Neruda

Onion,
luminous flask,
your beauty formed
petal by petal,
crystal scales expanded you
and in the secrecy of the dark earth
your belly grew round with dew.
Under the earth
the miracle
happened
and when your clumsy
green stem appeared,
and your leaves were born
like swords
in the garden,
the earth heaped up her power
showing your naked transparency,
and as the remote sea
in lifting the breasts of Aphrodite
duplicating the magnolia,
so did the earth
make you,
onion
clear as a planet
and destined
to shine,
constant constellation,
round rose of water,
upon
the table
of the poor.

You make us cry without hurting us.
I have praised everything that exists,
but to me, onion, you are
more beautiful than a bird
of dazzling feathers,
heavenly globe, platinum goblet,
unmoving dance
of the snowy anemone

and the fragrance of the earth lives
in your crystalline nature.

Today was a wonderfully beautiful fall day here in Tucson. I got to add the most excellent weight of a waffled cotton blanket to my summer comforter yesterday after I washed my linens. The scent of cool air and the warmth of the cocoon all mix up to my favorite sleeping time of year.

I got EVERYTHING ordered that needed to be ordered. Ooops, I just remembered, I need to get PMC in for me as well as for class! I LOVE ordering fine silver wire and fine silver sheet and fine silver tube. It is such a rush knowing that I am going to get all of this stuff delivered to MY FRONT DOOR! Ah, this is just the best! I love this as much as I love shopping for and buying for Gemstones!!!!!! It is just as sassy and sexy as you think it might be and then add a bit more!

Gail…I promise…no more forlorn poetry….Only “happy” poetry for you from now on!!!! The years end is upon us and the dawn of new days and new tides has arrived on SO many fronts!

Thursday November 13th

I am another step closer to my end goal. Each show I exhibit at and each class I teach gets me one-step closer to a very lofty goal that I very much desire to achieve. It is a noble goal and it seems that it is an achievable goal. And as soon as this bar is reached it will be the happiest day I have had in the last 12 years. That is a definite guarantee.

I did get just a bit distracted today… so I did not get as much accomplished as I had desired. Well Friday is another day and I am sure that I will be able to get more items crossed off of my list.

I am getting my class supplies ready for my December class and I am getting ready to get into assembly and creative mode for The Tucson Gem Show! I am getting very excited about this show. I am kind of excited about sharing the room with so many excellent artists and friends. Marilyn Berg was super stoked to know that I am in the room as well as Gail and Andrea & Steff…I guess my only bummer is that I had really hope to share the gig with Michele Goldstein. But she has a gig that is really close to Tucson and she did not want to short change that one. Can’t blame her for that at all.

What defines the things that we hold dear? How do we choose the things that mean the most to each of us? What makes one thing important and makes the other thing transient? I look at how a moment in history, a choice or a turning point can lead each of us to place one beautiful thing in a higher place of honor than something equally as beautiful. I have actually seen a choice to tear down the beautiful and eloquent because this thing is a reminder of point in time that might not want to be remembered even if it is so very important that it is remembered and honored. What is it that can make us cherish one thing and dismiss another? I think about this often lately. I gives me great pause when I see it in practice!

I am still reading a lot of the Poetry of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. I keep re-reading so many of them, they are so intense and so raw. It’s like I can hear his voice in my head as I read his words on the page that is open before me.
This one is SO INTENSE!!!! So Personal, so Raw, so Intimate…
Read on and be prepared to hear the voice as well.

TONIGHT I CAN WRITE

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, 'The night is starry
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.

Wednesday November 12th

I got loads and loads done today. I did not get through all of my emails, there were so many that I just barely scratched the surface…tomorrow will see to the end of that. But, I get the rental returned, the boxes unpacked, my tools inventoried, laundry done, cats loved up, bench set back up, and all of the orders ready for supplies for my December class and for the show that I am trying to set up for January.

I am still really tired and when I did sit down to watch the Rachel Maddow show this evening I think I fell asleep for about 20 minutes. I am still rather tired but I may be catching up.

I have been a bit distracted for a few days, my friend Cris had to put down her beloved cat the other day. I had the great honor of meeting the honorable Max Leonard and I was told that I was one of the blessed that he liked right off. I dreamt of him and of my sweet Capt. Marvel last night. It was rather weird, I felt as though I was awake and very lucid but I kind of knew that I was dreaming. I kept adding up the years of my life and saying that Marvel was 40 years old and that it was so weird to have a cat that long. I have no idea what all of that means but it was weird. My heart goes out t Cris & Paul right now, I know how much they love Max and I do know what it is like to have to do the right thing for your beloved animals. He will always be cherished and I know that the plumber that he trapped upstairs will always think fondly of him as well.

I have a HUGE rest of the week. The list of what I want to get accomplished may not get all the way done but I know that I will make great progress.

This is an image that I pulled from Post Secret. If you do not know this sight check it out. It s the coolest thing and it gives to the reader as much as it heals the writer.

It is true, we do accept the love we think we deserve. Really think about what is being said! It is truer than the obvious!

Tuesday November 11th

Sorry for the missing day or 2 here. Sunday was the exhausting last day of the show and Monday evening I did not have Internet access so I was relegated to the stone age for a day. My computer would not get onto my friend Carol's wireless network.

Well, one more show under my belt and I am back home and I have no explanation as to why this one knocked me on my ass. On Sunday night after the show, I accomplished the most efficient breakdown and pack-up EVER in the history of shows. I then helped Gail get her bags up to our room, we had an early and very quiet dinner and we were both asleep really rather early. Gail needed to be at the airport by 7:30 and we got up to have coffee, enjoy our last morning view from our room and were so organized it was ridiculous.

Now here is the strange part, as all of you know I can drive up to 20 hours at a shot no problem and all I had to do on Monday morning was to get my butt to LA, a mere 6 hour drive but I was SO tired after 3 hours of driving that I had to take a nap at a rest stop for 30 minutes or face falling asleep behind the wheel of the car. I mean this was ridiculous.

I guess that this year has really taken its toll on me. I see the end of the year fast approaching and a time when I actually only have one class left to teach in the beginning of December at my Tucson Studio. I am going to add a Baltimore show with Gail before the end of January but nothing before that. I now have the time to get the DVD finished, a few house projects finished, my bedroom painted and I see the slowdown ahead of me and maybe my body is telling me that I am really F-ing TIRED. It is true, not only have I worked hard this year it has been an emotionally challenging year.

As much as the BABE show is Old Home Weekend, it is also a very emotional show for me in SO many ways. It represents one of the happiest moments in my life and one of the saddest moments in my life all rolled up into one show, one venue and one time of the year. It is amazing how we associate things together, how we make it a good thing or a not so good thing just by giving it that power. I have loved coming to the BABE show for a very long time and for the last several years it has been associated with a very wonderful aspect of my world, since that is no longer the case I had to go and reclaim the show in another way. I accomplished the task and I guess that it took more out of me than I thought that it would. I know that I had not really considered portions of this before arriving in Oakland, but once there, it is very difficult not to see all that has transpired and all of the history that is tied up in a place.

I not only accomplished that task but I got the opportunity to start the major undertaking of repairing a path that has been badly damaged and I am grateful for that opportunity and it will not go to waste.

I lived in the Bay Area of over 17 years, I love CA and always will. Gail lives in MA and LOVES this part of CA, and we both love the view from the Marriott that over looks the Port of Oakland and all of the SF Skyline, both the Bay and Golden Gate bridges, Alcatraz, the hills of Marin…the view is just outstanding and we both just love being in the Bay this time of the year. But, just like I had to reclaim, Bead & Button and the Bead Fest Shows I had to reclaim this last show of the year as mine and look at it with a different pair of eyes.

The year is coming to a close for me in this respect; this has been a year of challenges and it is one that I would not have gotten through as well as I did if it were not for friends and family. I guess that there is a reason that Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks. It is that time for me again, I am no longer waiting for the promised invitation that was never going to be offered not matter what was said. I have learned a great deal about myself, my capabilities, my desires and most importantly I have seen the things that I feel that I actually deserve in life.

2008 is a year to look back on and say that there were a great many lessons learned and a great many obstacles overcome. There has been an even greater appreciation gleaned for my work, my friends and a greater understanding of my own self. This has been an incredible year on many levels, one that I guess that I would not want to do over but it is one that I know I had to live through. I am looking forward to 2009. It is looking promising on many levels professionally.

Saturday November 8th

It is good to be here in Oakland with everyone. There has been a real sense of optimism in the air, it is almost palpable. I got to spend a few hours with my friend Pam Engebretson during breakfast and it was like the absence of the last 2 years had never happened. Then when the show doors opened up it was like old home week. There were old friends and old students that came by to say hello and to see the new work; Nancy Cecil was a vision in chartreuse as usual and my pal Anne Zelver took time out of a birthday weekend with her family in SF to come chat for a bit. I could not have asked for a better morning. I really could not.

I got to do a fun demo on ear wires for a nice large crowd and I’ll do a bail demo first thing tomorrow morning. I did a guest appearance in Gail’s class on Thursday and afterwards we did some brainstorming and thought up a really awesome 1-day workshop that we are going to fine-tune over the next few weeks to offer up at a few shows next year. I really think that it is gonna be kind of exciting and can offer our students a really excellent 2 for 1, more bang for your buck kind of thing. And hell… who would not want to share a class with Gail Crosman Moore. We ran the idea past a few students that were in the class and the response was overwhelmingly in favor of the idea.

This morning was excellent, there were bridges located and the start of some fences being mended. The interference that is run by friends can be a really excellent thing and it is the kind of thing that friends actually do for one another.

Dinner was a treat with Heidi, Jody, Susan Gail & me. Susan is a bit under the weather and cut out after dinner and the 4 of us went out for a lovely shared desert.

I am rather tired and with that tired I can seeing a few things with open eyes. The losses that have been faced and looked at full on in the last year have been quite a few. In the end I guess I would not have traded these months for anything, I have found a voice that I did not know that I had. I re-discovered the friends that have always been there and I know that life is not a solitary journey.

I am looking forward to the last day of the show. It has been a really nice week so far.

Ovid: Fortune and love favor the brave !

Thursday November 6th

I had an excellent drive yesterday. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. It is 13 hours door to door, and I use a great deal of personal guile to trick myself about how long it actually takes. I leave really early, when it is dark and by the time I am ready for a little bit of breakfast I have hours and hours of driving under my belt. I left at 5am and stopped at 9am for some food and a stretch of my legs. So, at that time I had already put 300 of the 850 miles behind me. I think that is a pretty smart plan.

So, I got into Oakland about 60 minutes before Gail’s flight landed and I am really pleased with the addition of the “Cell Phone Waiting Lots.” I just parked my car closed my eyes and waiting for Gail to give me a call telling me she had her bags and I got to tell her that I would be there in 3 minutes. Very Civilized Indeed!

I love this drive and I do miss CA. There will always be a part of me that would wish that I could afford to live here. My bones would mutiny, but there is something about CA that I do miss & always will miss. But I would never trade my Bad-Ass house, my pool and my outdoor tub. The weather of AZ has done great things for me and I do not see that changing anytime soon…but who knows…when the shiny things get my attention, off I can go! So, there is always a chance for anything to happen.

I was invited to do a guest demo for Gail Crosman Moore’s class tomorrow afternoon and I am excited for the chance to spend some more quality time with Miss Gail.

We got very lucky this year, our favorite concierge here are the Marriott, Sandy, got us a great room on the tippy-top floor with THIS VIEW! AWESOME!!!!

The City in the Distance is San Francisco!












Notice the really bright star up top!














How the world changes, one year ago, right after this show, I was getting ready for 8 days in China, working at a resort for a gathering of really rich Chinese gentleman that liked good wine and wanted to taste a $3500.00 bottle of Screaming Eagle Wine. The trip was exhausting and stupid and it was at this moment in time, one year ago, that everything changed. There occurred a fundamental shift in my world that was so subtle that it took me several months to actually see what was actually being perpetrated.

Hindsight is AMAZING! and it is 20/20! It appears that I actually do have really good vision and that in some way and in some ways there were actions that I took, at the time, not knowing why, and now that I look at those actions, I am very SMART indeed.

I am so glad that this year is almost over and I am glad that I have made as much progress as I have. I am hopeful for 2009, I have lots of travel on my plate but it should be a good year.

Wish us all luck with the show these few days.
Many people could use a good show!

Tuesday November 4th

Election Day 2008

I get to look at the world with fresh eyes and optimism again. I could not be more proud of our country, throwing off the mantle of race and not looking at diverse cultures with derision and making the bravest of choices to do the right thing! What a decisive and commanding voice that we as a nation spoke in this evening.

I start driving off to California tomorrow and for the first time this year I have hope in our future. My friend Jill and I were recalling earlier this year talking in Miami and wondering if an African American had what it took to convince the rest of the country that he was the way for our future.

This is a moment that we will look at and say I remember the moment that this happened and I remember what I was doing at that moment. For as divided and divisive as we can be, no other nation can do what we do…surprise the hell out of the rest of the world in one fell swoop.

I am looking forward to seeing all of my friends in CA. It is going to be so excellent to see my friend Anne and my friend Pam. These are 2 awesome women that I have missed to desperately for over 2 years. And to Ruth and Lise…I am on my way! It has been way to long and I will never lat that happen again.

Well done everyone! It is time for us to get to work and clean up the mess that we have allowed to be made. A civil, decent, calm, honorable man has been chosen to lead and to govern. His speech was inspirational and I am grateful that John McCain has laid down the way for healing the wounds that have been inflicted.










YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!
We have to, it is OUR time!

Monday November 3rd

I have a bottle of Champagne chilling and I am looking forward to tomorrow, I am cautiously optimistic about the direction that we as a nation are willing to take. The choice is a brave and bold one, for so many reasons. Out with the old; it is time to provide new guards for the protection of our liberties.

cautious |ˈkô sh əs|
adjective
attentive to potential problems or dangers : a cautious driver. See note at vigilant .
• (of an action) characterized by such an attitude : the plan received a cautious welcome.

optimistic |ˌäptəˈmistik|
adjective
hopeful and confident about the future : the optimistic mood of the sixties | he was optimistic about the deal.
• involving an overestimate : previous estimates may be wildly optimistic.

I had a great Tarot on Sunday.

The Root - XVI The Tower
The Root card deals with past events or influences that have played an important part in bringing about the current situation, and these influences are still likely to have an effect now.
The encouraging aspects of your situation at the moment have been brought about by a difficult period or calamity that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. More difficult aspects are likely to be the result of ill-advised actions, quarrels or just sheer bad luck. Look back, and you should be able to see that a very trying event or period has made you stronger and helped to jettison some unhelpful aspects of your life.

The Covering - Knight of Pentacles
The card in the Covering position highlights the important events, issues, attitudes or influences around the question or current situation.
This is a time when you need to work hard and manage your material affairs properly, and you should realize that clear and realistic aims combined with application and perseverance will reap rewards in the future. Now is not the time to take unnecessary risks, but beware of being too much of a stick in the mud. Be reliable and trustworthy in your dealings with others.

The Future - Page of Swords
The card in the Future position suggests fresh influences or events that are about to come into play and are likely to operate in the near future.
You are entering a time when you will need to apply your intelligence to the prevailing situation, and act upon your thoughts. You will need to be bold yet stealthy, fighting your corner against all opposition. Keep a check on yourself, though, to avoid any tendency towards slander or revenge.

My horoscope wasn't too bad either.
Your already-healthy ambition needs to get a little bit more exercise to stay on top of its form -- so how about putting it to work in your personal life? This is a great day to start making powerful improvements in your romantic life. If you don't have a romantic life, it's a great day to start one! Whether you create an account on an online dating site or ask a fascinating person out on a date, make sure that the actions you take are bold, bright and confident!

There are just some things in life that happen that are so altering that even as you look at them you still find it hard to believe that they have occurred. That is the reason for really good friends and a really good adult beverage close at hand!

Saturday November 1st.

When you are faced with a moment in life that actually gives you such pause as to make you stare in disbelief, sit dumbfounded for a really long time and make you reconsider an entire portion of your life, that moment can be a profoundly altering experience. I have been faced with one of these moments. It comes out of the blue, takes you by total surprise and in a matter of moments causes you to live a portion of your life over again in really, really fast forward. The clarity that is represented is unbelievable and the resolve that follows is even greater.

I can be a stubborn lass; let’s just leave it at that…but stubbornness aside, it is an impossible to ignore these moments and they can shake you to your very core. When these moments come you have to dig really deep to make sure that your are the person that you think you are and you have to look out and REALLY see where that moment is coming from. Then ultimately you have to determine what the actual intent of that moment means.

Peace
Courage
This takes great courage and an inner peace to listen to others, listen to your soul, listen to your heart and pick and choose a singular reality to believe in. When it comes down to that moment and if the journey that you have been on is an honorable one, the faith that you have given your heart and soul confirm that battle to it very first footstep.

It let’s you know what to hold onto and what is necessary to let go of as a past that no longer has the meaning for you that it once did! There are those out there that choose to destroy and those that choose to build.

Choose Wisely!