Sunday May 3rd

Sorry for the long absence.

The Denver was interesting. My drive from Albuquerque was uneventful till I got to Denver Proper. A great deal of construction was taking place and the required slowdown to 55 from the 75 or 80 MPH seems like slowing from light speed mach 10 to molasses in winter. The Merchandise Mart was hosting a gun show next to our quaint little bead show. It was really very easy to figure out who was going to which show. The crowds that were lined up to get into the show were very brisk and as always this year, the people are doing everything that they can to keep the independent artist afloat till this nightmare that we are all in turns the corner.

As I was packing up my show on Sunday afternoon and loading everything into my car to drive south it was pouring rain and that rain actually turned to snow later that evening. But my drive was beautiful, the clouds broke here and there as the sun was setting and then the stars came out so brightly as I approached Santa Fe. The highlight of the drive, heading both North & South was the sighting of a coyote loping along the side of the road. They are so beautiful and both looked very healthy. It was really a very excellent site to see.

I spent the next 2 days just hanging out in Albuquerque and relaxing before I had to face the reality of getting ready for Bead & Button. I knew that once I got back to Tucson I was going to be slammed with task after task to get ready to head out to Milwaukee in just four weeks. And that prediction has come to fruition; I have been slammed since I walked back in the house. I got back home on Tuesday night to a warm pizza and a cold Boddingtons. I crashed rather early knowing that Wednesday morning was going to be the start of the races.

So, Since then I have been making lists, adjusting lists, ordering kit materials and trying to figure out just how much of a risk to take this year. I am finding that I am actually unwilling to take much of one. These past months have been hard for everyone and it just seems prudent to be a bit more careful and make sure that the risks taken are not to great.

I have been stunned watching all of the Swine Flu news. A friend of mine brought up a very interesting and salient point. Here we have a FLU that had killed over 700 people and the world is taking steps to see that the spread of this illness it curtailed as much as possible and people are donning those surgical facemasks to try to protect themselves, yet the spread of Aids is still at epidemic proportions. We can wear masks to protect ourselves but refuse to take the simplest precautions in other areas of our lives…Come On Folks…this should not be that hard.

So in response to that I now give you the MUPPETS!

Furry Happy Monsters...