“If I were a Christian I’d join the Peace Team — it’d be like being a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism.” -Peter

“The man has a heartbeat you can hear from here.” -Helene

“No thanks, I had a rootbeer float before dinner……I love being a grown up.”
-Tonya H

“So this old man is standing right behind me while I’m at the urinal, just sort of hanging out there, and he says to me “Good Job!” -Lindell

Shelia: “Have you tried supplements?”
Rachelle: “Yeah. I take 18 pills a day.”
Lindell: “18! That’s a food group!”

I just went and looked at some office space in a building near my home. It’s in an old schoolhouse called the Wallingford Center. It’s a small space with no natural light, but it has big windows and doors opening into the interior courtyard, and enough room for an office and some classroom/studio space. It’s been empty six months. I have no idea what the leasing price is, but I called the agent and left a message.

It would be nice, wouldn’t it, to have a place to teach classes on art journaling for the soul? A place to see my friends play music while people ate my neighbor’s chocolates. A place for Helene to offer dance lessons, and for … {read more…}

Wanna hear something funny?

-I can’t watch Six Feet Under on DVD right before I go to bed or I’m up all night trying to do spiritual direction with the characters.

-I’m depressed because the kids are back in school and I’m realizing that I really hate housework, but that I’m also scared shitless to try and write a book….so without the kids I’m stuck with the housework or doing the scary work of actually writing something.

-Today I got writer’s block and did a bunch of quizilla’s instead. My color is Red; if I were a Saint I’d be Saint Francis of Asissi (or possibly Julian of Norwich) and my life as a John Cusack movie would be “Being John Malcovich” … {read more…}

I’ve been learning more about cultural biases lately — especially my own. My children’s school is wonderfully diverse. Their friendship’s there have prompted me to check out “Islam for Dummies” from the library, to fast during Ramandan in thanksgiving for the word, and to read articles about cultural bias in the education system.

Here’s a quote for safekeeping from “Seattle Woman” magazine, Sept 2005. This is from and interview with Dr. Caprice Hollins:

“She describes culturally competent professional as one who is actively in the process of becoming aware of his or her own assumptions about human behavior, values, biases, preconceived notions and personal limitations.”

and another:

“When you say that you don’t see color, you don’t see me.”

- Claudia (Ragamuffin Diva) called out of the blue

- We raised $300 at our yard sale for low-income familes at Eden and Cate’s school

- we were able to helpsome friends get through a tough spot

-Charlie Wear asked to publish something from my blog in Next Wave

- I met my neighbor Annie, she of the beautiful garden

- Josh’s dad, Vern, came over and scoped out our basement to help us figure out if we can put in an apartment

- Paul brought me flowers

1. live in New York city for at least 3 months
2. own a motorcylce
3. live in Europe
4. work in an orphanage in Africia
5. be present at a death/passing
6. be a spiritual director
7. publish a book or show my art
8. build a welcoming kitchen
9. keynote at a national level gathering
10. write a regular column in a magazine
11. live with a beautiful shrine-y garden
12. learn to bake bread well
13. have a lifelong yoga practice
14. learn at least one kind of dance
15. dred my hair
16. see my children outlive me
17. skinnydip
18. be present at my parent’s death/passing
19. be at peace in my own skin for more than two weeks at at time
20. inspire someone
21. change the course of one at-risk family for the … {read more…}

Tracey: Why do we have to die?
Nate: To make life valuable.
-Six Feet Under, Season One Finale

I have been thinking about death a lot lately. In part, this is because I’ve been obsessively watching the library’s copy of Six Feet Under, Season One. Of course, there is also my ailing and demented Grandmother nearing the end of her life on this earth. Then again, there is my neighbor three doors down who seems to have death all round her right now – a father in the emergency room, a co-worker with a suicidal brother, a friend with a father gunned downed by police. But mostly I’ve been hanging out with death because of George.

Four … {read more…}

We did the “money” chapter in The Artist’s Way this past week. It really opened my eyes to a lot of things about how I related to money. Actually, I guess I already knew those things about me and moola, but something about my inner artist being at stake here has finally motivated me to make some changes.

See, I’m a money monk. I’m afraid money will corrupt me. So whether I have money or not, I don’t want to deal with it. If I touch it, it will ruin me. The result of this is that I do everything I can to avoid dealing with money. (A Tangent: Jim says if this was true I’d be a desert father, … {read more…}

Rebecca just threw down the gauntlet. We were “talking” on IM when she suggested blogging everything on our bedside table, just for a lark. She says she’ll do it if I’ll do it, but I can’t cheat. By this I assume she means I can’t take stuff out that makes me look shallow or add stuff in that makes me seem deeper than I really am…or maybe she just means I can’t lie and say I have less stacked up there than I really do. So here’s my list, no cheating involved.

Lying (or is it Laying?) on the bedside table:

The Artist’s Way
Julia Cameron
-and my really cool journal for morning pages which I should scan in and show you. I … {read more…}

of Monkfish Abbey’s Tattoo Gallery….now gracing the shoulder of Ms. Alicia La Joie!