Wednesday April 30th

I am writing like a madwoman today.
Here a something to keep you going till later.

So Beautiful!

GO D-BACKS

The D-Backs are on a tear. They have the best record in all of Baseball right now.
They may be loosing tonight but.....

Oh My God!The D-Backs brought up Max Scherzer & this man can pitch!!!!!
Not since 1956 has a reliever made a major league debut like this.

4 innings pitched and he struck out 7 batters.
Not a man on base so far! 13 batters retired.
This man pitches in the high 90’s and damn is he fantastic.
God I would love to see him pitch on Friday night against the Mets!

This is the best picture that I could find for him. He is much more handsome.

Full Name: Maxwell M. Scherzer
Born: 07/27/1984
Birthplace: St. Louis, MO
Height: 6'3" Weight: 215
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
College: Missouri
MLB Debut: ---

Tuesday April 29th

Now, when the waters are pressing mightily
on the walls of the damns,
now, when the white storks, returning,
are transformed in the middle of the firmament
into fleets of jet planes,
we will feel again how strong are the ribs
and how vigorous is the warm air in the lungs
and how much daring is needed to love on the exposed plain,
when the great dangers are arched above,
and how much love is required
to fill all the empty vessels
and the watches that stopped telling time,
and how much breath,
a whirlwind of breath,
to sing the small song of spring.

-Yehuda Amichai
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So one of my best friends and I have been going down music memory lane. This all started when I got a silly 90’s dance mix CD from Target. Both of us being children of the First Generation of MTV viewers we started swapping our favorite videos. Jeez! was this stuff great, I found one of my all time favorites. Everyone needs a little “Soft Cell”. Take a look at this one and remember the early 80’s and all of the crazed fun you had.


Now, I graduated from college with a really good GPA, but I do not remember doing homework. I know I had to have done homework at some point; I was in honors classics classes and carried a full theatre load for 4 years. But I do not remember doing homework. I do remember going out on most Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights when we were not in production mode at the Theatre. I vividly remember dancing till morning and going to Denny’s for breakfast. If it was a Wednesday, we would stay up all night and make sure we were at our 8am classes on time and if we were lucky we would have time to change cloths and take a showers. If I tried to live like that now I would last about 2 weeks before I fell over from exhaustion. Ah, the energy of youth, it is wasted on the young.

Monday April 28th.

So, If you missed my posting of the " An Engineer's Guide to Cats" from April 19 you can see it on Kate McKinnons Journal today. Watch it, great stuff!

OK already! So the bunny has 2 pancakes on his head. I have been officially reprimanded.

The days are getting warmer and warmer. It will be over 95º here today and I could not be more pleased. There is something so beautiful about the entrance of summer. The nights are spent under a sheet instead of a down comforter; I have the soft whir of a fan blowing instead of the heater. Mornings actually begin around 5:30am with the dawning sky and the birds songs. (they are squabbling over food actually) I am really fond of the transformation that happens as each season turns.

There really are seasons here in the desert, believe it or not. Right now the talk is starting up for this years monsoon season. It starts anytime after July 4 and goes to or through September. My first year here the monsoon started 15 minutes after the fireworks finished, it was very amazing and very wet. So when they say it starts around July 4 they really mean it.


Who has seen the news about the fact that we in the US are starting to ration rice. Costco and Sam’s Club are limiting the number of large bags of rice a person can purchase. These limits are being imposed as U.S. rice futures hit record highs due to worldwide food inflation. This has the possibility of really hurting small restaurants who shop in these warehouse stores. Has anyone ever dreamed of the day that food would be rationed in the U.S.? Not since the days of the depression and WWII has there been food rationing that I can find any information on. If I am wrong let me know! Just think of how bad it really has to be if we are actually seeing our bulk stores implementing these kinds of restrictions. In New York’s Chinatown the cost of a 25lb bag of Jasmine rice has up to $20 from $15 in a matter of 60 days. This is a scary stuff folks; I can say that I have noticed the costs going up, but for a world that depends on this food as a staple this has to be terrifying.

I was introduced to the Weepies this weekend. This is wonderful. ~Enjoy~

Sunday April 27th.

I hope you are having a beautiful Sunday morning!

I took a few hours off yesterday afternoon to go to the Pima County Fair. Now, to say that there was excellent people watching at the fair is the understatement of the decade. It can be a bit of an overwhelming experience; it is definitely a visual and auditory overload. I find that I have to turn off part of my brain in order to be able to take it all in and not be pushed over the edge with all of the external stimulus attacking me from every angle.

There are things that re not to be missed at any really good county fair. I love all of the 4-H exhibits. There were 2 girls who blew glass bowls; the photography was actually really good, sewing/quilting projects and cooking. Of course my favorite, the animals, rabbits, Guinea pigs, ducks, chickens/roosters, pigeons, cows, alpacas and sheep. I have to say that the best are the pigmy goats. Jeez are these things cute. Now all good fairs are smart if they have the fair in the spring because there were so many babies running around and what cold-hearted fool does not like a baby animal. God are they cute as hell.

In all of this mayhem is the constant drone of the livestock auction for all of these animals. That world is so different, the care that is taken to raise, care for and enter these animals for competition all to culminate in their sale. Now you all need to realize that I have a hard time getting rid of stuffed animals that I have. Somewhere I feel that they may have feelings or will feel abandoned. Here are the children, raising these beautiful creatures knowing that they will have to part with them and that is just the realities of life.

I find that these events give me a very different perspective on the importance that I place on anything. There is a truth here, one that these children being around the cycles of life so intimately, posses a pragmatism that I must say I am jealous of. The simplicity of a youth’s view of the world blessed with some innate sense of the cycle of life that is gained from their existence. I watch each of these kids (such the wrong word) take care of their charges and answer questions with pride in their accomplishments.

The rest of my day was dedicated to the new handouts that I have to generate in the next month for B&B. I am working diligently and trying like crazy not to screw up the spelling and grammar. I will freely admit to the fact that I cannot spell to save my life. I was of that age group when the US thought it would be a great idea to introduce Phonics as the way to spell. Now, if you look at many of my “goofs” you will see that they are phonetically, on the money. I just wish that that effort counted, but alas, it does not and so I am relegated to Spell Check and the occasional friend that points out my errors.

The tasks go on and I will keep my head down and just keep forging ahead. There has been way to much thinking going on and the realizations that come along with all of that pondering are just as tiring. I am looking forward to my drive to Wisconsin. I hope it will be just as relaxing as my drive up to Portland. And I am stopping off to see Cris and Paul on my way. The similarities are adding up!

Just remember; I have no idea what you're talking about... so here's a bunny with a pancake on it's head

Friday April 25th.

That about sums it all up.















The enigmatic nature of the Tao Te Ching is due fundamentally to Lao Tzu’s realisation that we make sense of living by entering into it directly, not by trying to understand it as detached observers.
We cannot escape ourselves. To use a Zen metaphor, the sword cannot cut itself. Neither can we make sense of living through a haze of intellectual constructs; living is larger and more elusive than the systems we invent to explain it. So we never quite understand ourselves and the universe in which we live. The Tao is the freedom that comes with not-understanding.


At your disposal is the arsenal to destroy.
It is wisdom not to take aim.
Aware that you can devastate with a word;
the courage is not to speak.
Abuse of power is done so out of the fear;
acceptance of the inner battle disables the fear.
That is true power.

Thursday April 24th.

Today was a busy day of errands and lists. I had to replace the bubble wrap cover for my pool and get a new pool vacuum. I just broke down and got the 'spensive one. I am so tired of replacing the screws and bolts on the cheaper version. For the love....why are things made so poorly? Such a royal pain.

Oh Well, there is is, soon my pool will be the perfect temperature, the bubble wrap also warms up the water anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees. in a few days I will not have to ease my way into the pool I will be able to dive right in! So, even though I am unhappy about the the vacuum I am VERY pleased about the big blue bubble wrap blanket for my pool.


















Tao te Ching - Chapter 64

What is rooted is easy to nourish.
What is recent is easy to correct.
What is brittle is easy to break.
What is small is easy to scatter.

Prevent trouble before it arises.
Put things in order before they exist.
The giant pine tree
grows from a tiny sprout.
The journey of a thousand miles
starts from beneath your feet.

Rushing into action, you fail.
Trying to grasp things, you lose them.
Forcing a project to completion,
you ruin what was almost ripe.

Therefore the Master takes action
by letting things take their course.
He remains as calm
at the end as at the beginning.
He has nothing,
thus has nothing to lose.
What he desires is non-desire;
what he learns is to unlearn.
He simply reminds people
of who they have always been.
He cares about nothing but the Tao.
Thus he can care for all things.

Wednesday April 23rd.

A friend wrote me the other day about how the post of my cats staring at me as I woke made her think about our “moments” and how important they are and how we must treasure them. She told me to make sure that I kept that morning as one of my “moments” because it was such an awesome one. There are so many of those moments in each of our lives and too many people just brush them aside.

Memories are a very powerful thing! Our memories give us these “moments”! What makes us remember? For me, there are smells, there are colors and there are images that I store up in what I call my visual Rolodex. I consider myself blessed because I have a very visual memory. I can close my eyes and actually see many of the events from my life just as if I was watching a movie. Today was the full circle completion of one of those “moments” for me!

My father worked at a paper company, he was one of their salesmen. On the occasional Saturday my father would take me into work with him. As a 5 year old I thought it was so cool to see where my dad worked and to sit in the chair in his office while he finished up the few things that he needed to get done. We would walk past these huge machines that would be clattering and whirring away. One of the biggest things that I remembered was this aroma that was everywhere, it was this intense sweet smell, and a child loves the smell of sweet. This five year old, at that very moment, recognized that smell as the aroma in her father’s clothes. That was the way that he smelled when he came home from the office at the end of the day.

Every night when he came home he would empty his pockets, put his change on his dresser next to his keys (to this day I know the sound that his key ring made) and he had this “thing” that he used at work that I loved to play with. I now know that it was a tri-fold brass magnifying loupe. I would play with it for hours, looking at bugs and rocks and any other thing that I could think of. I loved that thing because it was small, fit into the nifty little leather snap case and it folded up really cool, the sound of it clicking closed was also very excellent.

I had forgotten about that smell and that brass gadget as I grew older. It was not till I went back to Dayton after a 10-year absence, as I drove past my fathers old paper plant and that aroma burst through my car window that everyone of those Saturday’s and the memory of that brass loupe came flooding back. I wanted to find that loupe more than anything else at that moment. I tore through my father’s belongings and could not find it. He had given it to my niece when she was about the same age as I was when I played with it and she had lost it.

Well, two years later, on a searching whim, I found one on E-Bay and I bid on it. The Quality Engraving & Electrotype Co. loupe arrived today. It is now all shined up and sitting among many other little treasures that I have around my house and I could not be happier knowing that I will get to see it every day. It is exactly like my fathers. Now I can close my eyes and see those Saturday’s sitting at his desk and I can see that loupe sitting on his dresser as this five year old grabs for it. I think it was a well spent twenty dollars.

Tuesday April 22nd.

I got SO SPAMMED yesterday. This is the third time in the last 2 years that I have received over 900 emails in the span of a few hours. All of the emails were to one of my email accounts. It is SO maddening to hear the “bing” of incoming mail when you know it is going to offer you the opportunity to enlarge parts of your anatomy (both male and female). I am sure that somewhere in the mess I lost any number of personal messages. I tried my best to not make these errors but in my ZEAL of trashing these massages I am sure a few important emails got lost. If you emailed me and I did not respond, that may be the reason. If that is in act the case please accept my apologies.

Monday April 21st.

I opened my eyes this morning and laughed out loud. I cannot recall the last time that happened.

I woke to my fuzzy cat Niki standing on my chest, her big green eyes about 3 inches from my nose, blinking at me and Alex sitting next to me, tapping my arm and shoulder with her paw and mewing softly. My first blurry thought was that these two have actually figured out how to access my computer and watched the video that I posted yesterday, now how did they do that?

What a wonderful way to wake up, two beautiful kittens giving me their full attention, (actually they just wanted food, but let me dream!) warm sunshine on my blankets and the sound of laughter resounding in my room. I have had my girls for a good portion of my life and I love them deeply. It was an awesome way to greet the day.

The rest of the day is being spent getting those articles sent in and continuing my preparations for my next set of shows. Getting more and more done every day! It is so beautiful here today. I took the lead from McKinnon and got a bird feeder so I can get a better view of them all. Then I got a brilliant idea and took the dish from an old planter and turned it into a small birdbath. It has been such a kick to see them splashing around and preening. God what fun this has been.

As for the following video, all I can say is that I could not help myself.
I guess I could also say I am sorry?

Sunday April 20th.

I have been working on several articles to B&B and Art Jewelry these past few days. They are progressing nicely and I am glad to say that they will be finished today. It is an absolutely beautiful day here and I am going to work out in the yard and go swimming after I get these articles written.

A few short weeks ago, I told you all that I thought that I had killed my printer; its untimely passing occurred at 10:43am April 20th 2008. It was an honorable machine and served me well. I feel for any printer that I purchase because I am very aware that it has a life expectancy of about a year with me. I feel responsible for pushing it over the edge day before yesterday because I was printing enough to make the Library of Congress seem small. (Well, Not Really, Just seemed that way at the time!) I said my fair-thee-wells and promptly drove off to the office supply store and now I am the proud owner of a brand spanking new Epson CX8400, printer, scanner, and copier.

Here is Wake Up Cat - Enjoy Every Nuance!

Another Really Funny Video

These guys had way to much time on their hands.
Some may say the same of me!



It is still really funny!

Saturday April 19th.

Ok, for the last 8 years our President has refused to acknowledge the issues of Global Warming. Even with Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" so honestly explaining things to the masses, Bush refused to acknowledge the problem. Now that he finally has, with-in 36 hours of that blessed event, the website We Can Solve It has come out with a series of ads that mimic the unified front that Bush Senior and Clinton put on the face of the Katrina Crisis.

Now we have the Reverend Al Sharpton sitting on a couch next to Pat Robertson and Nancy Pelosi sitting next to Newt Gingrich telling us to cooperate for the greater good. I am saddened that we have had to wait for our world to come so close to the brink before action would be taken. Does anyone else see these commercials as opportunistic? I cannot decide if I am offended or not! I am glad that our policy is changing but I am so sad to see that it took so long.

Friday April 18th/

I want to thank everyone for all of the positive comments that I have received over the past weeks for this undertaking. A new visitor sent me this at the end of her email the other day.

P.S. Love your web site. I think you have one of the best journal/blogs I've seen!

Thank you! It means a great deal to have these kinds of positive responses to a new endeavor. This email was just one of many, but since this is the one that I could find this is the one that gets posted.

Jeez! Today was trying. I realize that the moon is getting close to full and that everyone gets a bit off during this time. The back yard was so close to that bright moonlight wash that I experienced not to long ago.

This is what my day felt like today. Sisyphus rolling a rock up the hill. I found this image after looking for the perfect Greek portrayal of this piece of mythology. I thought that this was funnier and slightly more accessible.


Today was a day of tasks and errands. I got a great deal done but it was tiring. I still have to get my fine and sterling silver order tuned up so I can place my order soon. As I always say, “buy low, sell high.” This is the hardest part of getting ready for a big show, the cost of getting this much product is scary. The market has wreaked havoc on teachers, those of us that use sterling and fine silver and have had to price kits almost a year in advance are praying for a lower market that’s for sure. In 2003 the silver market was based on a $5.00 market.














So, What did I do today? I re-potted half a dozen plants that have needed it for a very long time. I ordered a very inexpensive faucet for my outdoor tub. The water line was run over a year ago and I have been looking for an inexpensive faucet to hook it all up. I found a $28.00 faucet, which is a really good find. Before this I was looking at spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $100.00, not something that I can afford right now. I am SO looking forward to having an outdoor bath in the heat of a summer night!

I have a great deal on my list for this weekend. The list is as long as my arm. I am rather disappointed in my lack of real accomplishments today, but I still have a few hours to make a valiant effort towards something meaningful. Wish me luck.

Thursday April 17th.

Ok, the day started off really well, I stumbled on a BLOG Maya's Granny. I spent almost an hour pouring over her posts and at this moment, more than anything else, I want to grow up to be just like her. She is feisty, sees the world with a great deal of humor and is so aware of everything that is going on around her.

This is her header for her sight: This is where I share the wisdom that a granny, as an elder of the tribe, accumulates in her journey through life. The reach of my mind is wide, and sometimes even a little deep. Sometimes, like Whitman, I contradict myself. Sometimes I wax eloquent. Sometimes I fall on my face. Why not do it in public?

On her post I found this video. UM, to say that I laughed till I almost cried is right on the mark. I can not wait till you see this. I will humbly admit to the fact that when I watched this, I had not yet had coffee so I was a bit confused. I can be very gullible without caffeine. But please laugh along with me! Very Worthy!



Here is the link that explains everything. Swiss Spaghetti Harvest! If I could have only found this 17 days ago I would look like a genius! DAMN!

In typical British Humor below is the response given to those who asked the question
"How do I grow my own Spaghetti Tree?"

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax generated an enormous response. Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC diplomatically replied, “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

Wednesday April 16th.

It is the truest harbinger that summer is closing in, the tap water is warming up here in Tucson and that means the true summer is close at hand! There is no such thing as a cool drink of water from the tap in Tucson during the summer. I was washing dishes this morning and was pleased to find that no cold water came from the tap.


I have been swimming twice a day since I returned from Miami. Even the night I got home I sat out by the pool, dangled my feet in the water and enjoyed the Tucson evening. It is such a beautiful time, to see the sky, to look at the mountains and to enjoy the warmth in my bones as summer quickly approaches. It has been a great time of reflection and introspection.

Chapter 73
The Tao is always at ease.
it overcomes without competing,
answers without speaking a word,
accomplishes without a plan.

It’s net covers the whole universe.
And though its meshes are wide,
it doesn’t let a thing slip through.

I am getting all of my orders ready for Bead & Button. It has been a daunting task this time around. Getting ready for a 3-day workshop and 10 classes in 5 days takes some strategy. I have to say that the office boxes worked out perfectly for me. I was very organized upon arrival and not so much on the packing up part. I could have done better but I was really tired by the end of that teaching session.

I have a better plan this time, I am spending 2 days with my friends (proper spelling) Cris and her husband Paul while I am on my way so I do not arrive tired. I have 3 friends that are showing up in Milwaukee to help out and make sure I do not fall into the great teachers abyss. Like I said the other day, you know things are on a good track when your pals offer to pitch in. I am grateful for them every day. They are a great source of sanity, getting all of this stuff ready can get a person crabby at times. They keep me laughing!

Another really good thing came out of the Miami show, it looks like I am gonna be teaching for the Miami Guild in September. I met Adrienne Gaskell, the president of the South Florida Guild and we talked for quite some time and came up with a really fun 3 days of teaching. I am really looking forward to it. Keep an eye out for the Miami dates!

I just slyly acquired a Coca-Cola Cherry Zero from my roomy because I really wanted a sweetish kind of drink. I think it might have been a mistake! WOW! It is overtly sweet with a heavy cherry overtone! Interesting.

I am also starting to get ready for the Phoenix show. The show is has arranged a baseball night with the D-Backs and the Mets. I got tickets and a friend of mine from Austin, TX that is actually driving through AZ on her move to Las Vegas and is going to spend a few days here on the way. Sound complicated? Yea, it does to me too! Oh well, it will all work out.

Tuesday April 15th.

Ah, one more year of filing for an extension for my taxes. This is the second year in a row that I have done this. I hate the feeling that I could not get my act together ot get it done this year. There has been so much going on and I have been focused on so many other things. Oh well! I am promising myself that I will get it done before I go to Bead & Button. (We will see!)

Here is one of the classic videos from a favorite of mine Joan Armatrading singing "Willow". I will never forget the first time I ever saw her live in concert. 1983; one of the hottest summers that NYC had seen in a very long time, no rain, really high humidity and the subway line that I lived on had NO air conditioning. I had the joy of listening to Joan Armatrading on the Pier 54 on the Hudson River. She sang for a really long time as I remember, or I could have been delirious from heat stroke but I recall a long evening of sunsets and actually a cooling breeze off of the Hudson. I hope that you enjoy her as much as I do, her voice is a so revealing to the human condition.



Some time ago I told you about how much I love a sunrise at high altitude, last night I got to see an amazing sunset from 37,000 feet. That was pretty spectacular as well! I could not get any kind of shot being in the middle seat. Maybe I will get to see another one like it some day. I think that the cloud cover that we were flying over had a great deal to do with the intensity of the colors! This is not my shot but it is close to what I saw!

Monday April 14th.

I AM HOME! How else can I say it! I am back in the warmth of Tucson; I am home! I have been very serious about keeping up on my journal, but yesterday was LONG and today was a travel day!

I am home, I have been fed and watered and I have had my requisite adult beverage. I got an aisle seat from Miami to Hot-Lanta but I was in between 2 guys from Atlanta to Tucson that, well how can I say it nicely, ………smelled poorly! (Forget being nice, I had 3 1⁄2 hours in between these dudes!)

It is a really big week. The new kits will go up tomorrow! YEP!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I had the privilege of meeting 2 amazing women this weekend. Over the last 5 months I have been graced with an influx of really great people that I KNOW I will be able to call friend.

How rare it is that, in a period of 4 or 5 months to be able to say that you have met or jumpstarted REAL friendships that in your heart you know will actually stand the test of time! What an amazing phrase to be able to attribute to a person, to know in your soul, that they will stand the test of time. It is a wonderful thing.

I am beat to the marrow! Forgive me for the weak post!

Saturday Night/Sunday Morning

What a long day. I am beat and have been unwinding by watching some baseball. The saving grace of this day was that I discovered that I got my hotel Internet connection in the convention center. I got to watch baseball during the show. Praise be! But for some crazy reason the Tigers vs the Sox game was blacked out on MLB TV. I have a feeling that it was on a National Broadcast. Well I got to watch the Mets and the Reds and The D-Backs. It was a ball filled day.

Oh, Yea! I also sold kits and books from 10am till 6pm.

I have met a number of really nice folks here. The gal next to my booth is a seed bead artist named Jill Wiseman and a delightful artist and instructor named Charlene Abrams. Both of these people have made the trip worthwhile. And then there is the GREAT CREW from Jane’s Fiber and Beads! YOU GALS ROCK!

After all of that I had a brainstorm that I needed to find some old classic cartoon on line and I remembered one of my favorites!

Remember this?



Paradise By the Dahsboard Light is now selling AT&T GoPhones.
Now this commercial is the best one I have seen in ages!
Meatloaf & Tiffany - God this is great stuff!
What brilliant campaign executive came up with this?



I LOVE MILWAUKEE!

Saturday, April 12th.

Have a great Saturday!

Karaoke for the Deaf!
(be patient, the screen is dark for the first 20 seconds!)



This is one of the funniest things that I have ever seen.
Please take the time to see the entire piece. iIf you
choose to view it in a Duet format, check out this version!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0hAUN4bYVk

Friday, April 11th.

I got into Fort Lauderdale late and into Miami by midnight. I had set-up early this morning and a full day of selling to the masses of Miami. Two more days and then I get a few hours on Monday to sit by the pool and to relax before I get on a plane again to go back home and to start it all over again.

What do you do when you are presented with a true conundrum? I feel as though I am in between the proverbial rock and the hard place. What I believe that I should do and what I actually may do and the ramifications of those actions. I seek guidance from those whose advice I trust more than my own. (And I trust me a whole lot!) How do you gauge the correct choice? How is a decision made that will not have karmic repercussions yet keep your “self” in a place that you are able to look in the mirror each morning. That is a really important thing to be able to do!

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22

If you want to become whole,
let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight,
let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full,
let yourself become empty.
If you want to be reborn,
let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything
give up everything.

The Master, by residing in the Tao,
sets an example for all beings.
Because he does not display himself,
people can see his light.
Because he has nothing to prove,
people can trust his words.
Because he doesn’t know how he is,
people recognize themselves in him.
Because he has no goal in mind,
everything he does succeeds.

When the ancient master said,
“If you want to be given everything,
give everything up.”
they weren’t using empty phrases.
Only in being lived by the Tao
can you be truly yourself

Just for fun!

Today in 1790 the U.S. Patent System was established, then in 1899, 109 years later, Charles H. Duell, the commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents said, "Everything that can be invented has been invented." He wanted to close the U.S. Patent office.

Thursday April 10th.

I am off to Miami, the sunshine state! One of my mothers favorite stories about me is the time when were were driving down to Florida for the family vacation. Just after the border at the welcome station, you would pull over and the state of Florida would give you a free glass of "Pure Florida Orange Juice" to welcome you. At the tender age of 4 or 5 I proudly walked up the the OJ stand and asked for Tang! I hope that I don't do anything similar anytime soon.

A monstrous amount of work was accomplished yesterday. I am packed and ready to head out to Miami today. I have not been to Miami for ages and am hopeful that the show is a good one. Such an interesting time we are now in. It is always a journey to keep coming up with new ideas to keep everyone’s interests peaked. All of us just keep an eye on the horizon and aim for that.

Yet, there is hope in the air, even if it is only a distant glimmer at the moment. I remember the same feeling the first time I heard Gavin Newsom speak at a mayoral debate in San Francisco. He was the first man that I had heard or seen, in my adult life, that could speak eloquently off the cuff with intelligence, honesty and sincerity. His words and manner brought the phrase Kennedy-esque to the minds of many. His ideals brought hope to a city that had lived through “Slick” Willie Brown and his escapades. The citizens of SF dared to dream of a new beginning. The same words are being said about Barack Obama. There are rumblings that if he is the candidate he could sway entire states from their long held Republican affiliations due to the additions of young and African-American voters. It is my fervent prayer that we listen to a voice, one that is raised in compassion and appears to embrace a vision for peace.

There are still just over 30% of people in this country that believe that we are on the right track and that our Commander-in-Chief is doing a great job. It would be helpful if those individuals would answer the “CLUE PHONE” it is ringing VERY LOUDLY!

Gas along our highways is inching close and at times is over $4.00 a gallon. Only a few short years ago it made us all gasp when it went over $2.00. People are dying and suffering as never before, 160 square mile chunk of ice, a large part of the 5,000-square-mile Wilkins Ice Shelf is set to break away from Antarctica and the Polar Bear population has lost close a quarter of is body weight due to the depletion of it’s food supplies. People are loosing their homes and in frustration are trashing them as they are forced to leave.

Help us make it change. It is time, don’t you think?

My taro last evening was interesting!

The Ten of Cups suggests a time of success and contentment, with friendships and relationships on a peaceful footing at last. You may feel, though, that something is missing, or that you have had too much of a good thing. The dangers of dissipation, stagnation and waste are there, so consider your actions or inaction. A wish could come true now, so be careful what you wish for.

Wednesday April 9th.

So it is midnight on Wednesday. Here are the pieces that I worked on over the weekend!

I love finding really unique stones to set. This way of setting that I have developed really sets off the stones potential and lets each person make the stone their own.












I have started firing PMC to intigrate into the class structure. I am pleased with the results. The other pieces that I have been working on still needs some finishing touches.











The pressure setting with Fine Silver Tube has really grabbed my fancy lately. Can't get enough of solving each stones unique set of problems. How fun it has been passing this on!

Tuesday April 8th.

Gail Moore kindly let me know of my inability to date my own posts. Did you know that Saturday and Sunday were both the 5th of April. ONE LONG DAY! Thanks Gail.

I realize that I fell off the face of the earth on Monday. I have to say that I was crazy beat at the end of the day. The last day of class was really fun. It was as productive as it was relaxed. Since this was the first time that I have taught this in this format I asked the gals if they thought it should stay as a 4 day class. The answer was a resounding "YES!" So, the class stays as 4 days. They thought that since it is a project driven class where you really walk away with a "finished" piece it was important to keep that 4th day. I was thinking that 3 may be the way to go, but 4 does seem to be the appropriate count.

The craziest part of the day was spent in a power outage. We lost power around 1:30 and did not get it back till after class was finished. Fusing by ambient illumination. Funny!

Kyra's piece turned out so excellent. She did such a wonderful job of fine tuning her fusing skills and adding those extra touches to make the piece. We ran out of time on her patina. She had to leave really early to catch a flight back to California.


Marti made a piece that was very detailed, she grabbed a stone that had a mat finish and really made a unique setting for it. The inclusion of copper and a load of riveting really set off the finished piece.




Take a close look at the side view and see how the rivet copper piece on the back raises the stone off if the back.





She was a riveting fool.

Sunday April 6th.

I had the most wonderful surprise this evening! I got a call from my brother-in-law and he and my youngest nephew were in town for the evening visiting his parents. We were not sure if we were going to get the chance to see each other.

My nephew is 12 and not only is he cool he is smooth. Do you all realize how rare it is to be 12 and smooth? I was not smooth at 12. I am not sure that I could be considered smooth now! I have moments of smooth, but this dude ROCKS! He is a blues guitar playing man that loves Led Zeppelin and every great guitar player.

~Can you tell that I am a proud Aunt?~
God it was so wonderful to see him. I have 2 nephews and a niece. Each one is a truly excellent person. I am honored to be their aunt.

Today was another really wonderful day of accomplishments in class. The pieces are BEAUTIFUL! I took pictures earlier but I did not do a good job and I am too tired to do them over. I will post finished pieces tomorrow. Sorry!

I have a desktop full of widgets on my MacBook and one of my favorites is Zoltar. You remember Zoltar, the fortune telling carnival game that made Tom Hanks BIG! My fortune for the day!
“Your everlasting patience will be rewarded sooner or later.”
I will take SOONER please! Thanks

P.S. You can have your own Zoltar for 9k. I’ll take 2!

P.P.S. Today was National Tartan Day in the United States.
For anyone who cares I do love Sean Connery every so much!
And he look great in a Kilt!

Later on the 5th of April

Here are several of the images that I promised you!

Here is Mt Shasta on the way North to Portland!










Here is Mt Shasta 5 days later on the way South. Different? Um YES!










I have 4 students that took all 3 days of the Low Tech class in Portland. Only Kiffi's picture came out. She made a beautiful chain and made some wonderful components! Everyone did so great!










Kyra's in progeress pendant and chain that will be assembled in class tomorrow. It has been an excellent 2 days.













Here is a completed PMC setting for a wonderful rutilated Quartz. The rivets are "U" shaped pressure settings I have to texture the chain and re-patina the entire piece. I am making some really awsome PMC settings for my semi-precious stones that I have been gathering!

Keep a look out for more images! I am having fun!












I have started Sun Tsu's "The Art of War" Interesting reading!
Any thoughts on the subject?

Saturday April 5th.

Happy Tomb Sweeping Day! I really mean it! It is Tomb weeping day in China!

Ok, We had a great day yesterday. Everyone made the most beautiful chains for their pendants. Today is Pendant making day! We will be creating the bases for the stones. I will take pictures and post them this evening! I think that you will be impressed. I am sad to say that a pair of students could not make the class this session. Both got that nasty flu that is going around all over the west coast. Well, hopefully they can make it to another session.

Now, on to other items of interest!
I am very worn out by these negative horoscopes that I am getting.
This weeks Freewill Astrology is really the last straw.
(Read it for yourself, I am the Scorpio!)
I feel as if the recurring theme song from the TV show Hee Haw is haunting me.

Jeezy Creezy, ENOUGH!

Gloom Despair & Agony On Me Hee Haw | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

We figured she was rich, loaded to the hilt
And we figured she had class like the Vanderbilts
'Cause we had heard for years how she was so well reared
How was we to know they meant the way she was built

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me.

Thursday April 3rd.

Today was a very busy day of starts and stops and making lists and crossing off parts of the list and making new lists. I am so done for the day. It will be a long day tomorrow but I am SO excited about class. I have been working on some new pieces that are changing the way that I am working! Wait till you see! This s BIG stuff!

The weather here is warning up, I am enjoying swimming laps and warming my bones. I treated myself to a massage today from my dear friend Carlysle. She is the best masseur in all of Tucson and I am grateful that I have her. The best part of it is that we both share a very deep love of the theatre, she is a very accomplished actress and we are taking a road trip to the Utah Shakespeare festival this summer after I get back from the Pudget Sound Bead Festival. 4 plays in 3 days. We have planned to see Cyrano de Bergerac; The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Othello and The Taming of the Shrew. More may be added depending on timing! I CANNOT WAIT! Several of the productions will be in the outdoor theatre under the stars. Nothing is better!

When we have mislaid our path and start to re-discover it the simplest things mean the greatest of all! Everyone needs to read the "The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff

Lao-tzu Tao Te Ching - Chapter 41

When the superior man hears of the Tao,
he immediately begins to embody it.
When and average man hears of the Tao,
he half believes it, half doubts it.
When a foolish man hears of the Tao,
he laughs out loud.
If he didn’t laugh,
it wouldn’t be the Tao.

Thus it is said:
The path into the light seems dark,
the path forward seems to go back,
the direct path seems long,
true power seems weak,
true purity seems tarnished,
true steadfastness seems changeable,
true clarity seems obscure,
the greatest art seems unsophisticated,
the greatest love seems indifferent,
the greatest wisdom seems childish.

The Tao is nowhere to be found.
Yet it nourishes and completes all things.

Wednesday April 2nd.

Well I am getting into the groove for a house of students this weekend. We are gonna have a great time. 4 days of chain making, metalworking and gemstone pressure settings. I have been waiting for this class since I posted it in January.

So, I have a session of Metalworking coming up on May 16th -19th that will include PMC bases for our settings. You all need to get on down here and have some real fun. May will be a perfect time, the weather will be gorgeous, because one of those evenings will be spent here while we grill out, swim and enjoy the Tucson night.

I am also getting ready for next weekends trip to Miami, FL for the BeadFest. I have not been to Miami for a number of years. The last time I was there I was lighting the Mazda booth at the Greater Miami Auto Show. While I was in the convention center making a car look pretty a hurricane glanced off of the coast and blew the beach front door to my room off of the door frame, shoved the AC unit 8 feet into the room and destroyed a 8’x10’ plate glass window. I am hoping for a better visit this time around. So the extended forecast does look promising!

Then just a few weeks after that you can all come and see me at BeadExpo Phoenix the beginning of May. Then it’s time for Bead and Button. God! Then half of the year is over!

Speaking of Bead & Button I have seats left in a most excellent class. I am offering 2 sessions of 3 chains in 3 hours. I teach it on Wednesday and on Sunday. Now I am rather fascinated by the fact that this class is almost full at the Pudget Sound Bead Festival and I am having a hard time filling it in Milwaukee. I also added an extra session of the Viking Knit Woven Chain Class. Check your schedule and come see me in Milwaukee!

Where has this year gone? It has been a crazy year that I would love a re-do on. What a f-ing year so far!

Tuesday April 1st.

It is April Fools Day, but no foolin', I drove for 20 hours yesterday. I started in Portland at 6am and I arrived at my front door in Tucson at 2am. I just had a plan to drive till I got tired. I kind of had it in the back of my mind that I may be able to drive the entire distance but that was not the plan at the start. Just as I got closer I just really wanted to wake up and not have to get back in a car. So I drove 1450 miles in 20 hours and I am home. HA! My kitties were so very pleased to see me Niki could not get close enough to me and even Alex slept near.

The weather was perfect yesterday, not like my trip north. The view of Mt. Shasta was beautiful. I'll post the photo I shot later. I also got to see my favorite thing this time around. Under the overpasses, along the I-5, all around Bakersfield are where the swallows build their mud nests. The overpasses are just crammed full of the nests with the birds flying in and out and if you get a good look there are times when you think that you get a view of a youngster. I would love a picture of this, I have never been able to find one and I just can't pull off the highway to take a picture.