Rabidly Whimsical Tenacity
Mar. 23rd, 2012
11:38 am - New LuckFae for sale!
I guess Fae wake up in the Spring. They left me alone for three solid months!
Acrylic & 4-leaf clover on birch wood panel, 8x10", SOLD
7.5x4.5" acrylic & 5-leaf clover on birch, SOLD
Original for sale! 5x6x3/4" canvas (the painting continues around the sides), acrylic & 4 leaf clover, $600.
Mar. 18th, 2012
11:31 am - Naketiquette
Last night, a friend invited me out to the Country Club, a New Orleans bar/restaurant with a clothing-optional pool & hot tub in back.
I’ve been to the front end of the house, but hadn’t actually gone swimming before. I was under the impression that the clientele was mostly gay guys, so I thought the whole thing was gonna be pretty chill. The night was perfect, with a slight breeze, the flowers were blooming, the pool was heated, so I wrapped myself in my new zebra sarong & drove over.
The pool area was beautiful – lush palm trees, lit water, starlit skies, great music, people in various stages of clothednes. I found my girlfriend, grabbed a drink, stripped down, hopped in the hot tub, underestimated the last step, and came down hard on my left foot. Ow.
The bleach-blond, bloated guy to my right grinned: “You need me to rub it & make it better? I’ll even do your foot, too.”
Ignoring him, I scooted to the other side of the tub.
After being gifted with another cocktail by the bartender, I headed into the main swimming pool, only to be confronted with another guy. He insisted on discussing my various body parts in detail, as much for shape & size, as for flotation devices. When my friend suggested we head to the other side, he insisted on following us. She rolled her eyes & got out, while he tried to monopolize me, all the while keeping his hands suspiciously below the water line & attempting to get me back to the sauna. ANOTHER guy showed up, bringing even another, which pissed off the first guy, and when I got them all talking to each other, I went home.
Gentlemen, if you are lucky enough to be in a situation where there are lots of happy, conversational women who just happen to be unclothed, try to follow a few basic rules:
1.BE COOL. Yes, we know we’re naked. No, we don’t need to be reminded of it every time you open your mouth or look at us. Be friendly, conversational, respectful. If people are naked, use your manners and be a gentleman – even more so than you would otherwise.
2.KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF YOUR BITS. We know what you’re doing under the water. It’s probably a turn-off to us, especially if you’re doing it in the first four minutes of meeting us.
3.KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF US. Unless you’re invited, unless there’s actually a connection, you’re still just some naked male stranger. See rule #1.
5.NAKED DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEAN SEX. Just because that's what YOU might think, doesn't mean it's also what WE think. Move beyond your assumptions.
4.NO MEANS NO. A woman rolling her eyes, crossing her hands across her chest, looking away from you, or getting up and going to another part of the room/pool/club/bar/country, also, most likely, means no.
Think about the consequences of your words, behavior, or actions BEFORE you do or say them. Don’t be the jackhole who makes all the women put on their clothes and leave. And on second thought, most of these rules work for clothed encounters, too.
Ladies, feel free to add gentle suggestions in the comments section. Maybe some potential creep will get a clue.
Feb. 25th, 2012
10:26 pm - Gonna stick various news clips I've been in here...
VCC Fight
VCC Fight #2 (Couldn't get it to embed)
http://www.abc26.com/videobeta/6ace
Drugs are bad, mmmmkay?
Feb. 8th, 2012
11:37 am - New Painting...
...not sure what it's called, but I'm in love with it. Even if it makes me horribly uncomfortable:
Jan. 30th, 2012
01:09 pm - Something beautiful happened at the Comic Con yesterday.
I’d just finished setting up when an excited fellow in his 60s approached my table. “Are you the artist?!”
“Yup.”
“I had to come & thank you for what you did for me!”
“Excuse me? Did I meet you at the gallery?”
“No, I met you here last year. We talked about Katrina and your husband’s volunteer efforts, and about how it was frustrating that church groups were fixing up Section 8 housing & rentals for people who were just making money off it, rather than living in the homes themselves.
I’ve volunteered and come back to New Orleans four times, and I do my research. I make sure I’m helping homeowners who work on the house with us, who will then live in that house themselves. Thank you for talking to me, for inspiring me to do this. It’s an amazing experience, and it’s made me realize how the world really doesn’t understand what happened here, and how wonderful this city is.”
And he shook my hand and disappeared back into the crowd, and I finally managed to close my mouth, and spent the next hour grinning like a lunatic as tears threatened to burn my eyes.
THIS is why I try to talk to people, to connect, to be positive, even if I’m going through a tough time. The words and attitude we put into the world are sacred, and the smallest gesture from us can cause the most cataclysmic ripple. Perhaps we have some control over the outcome of that ripple if we greet the world with joy and openness rather than fear and suspicion.
Jan. 3rd, 2012
07:48 pm - I sang my Army Wife song into my webcam...
It's on my FB page if you wanna see it. Dunno how to embed non-Youtube stuff here...
A few folks have expressed interest in REALLY recording this, like in a studio with actual musicians! That'd be cool, but will hafta hold til I get back from my signing later this week.
If you have tribe out that way, please let 'em know I'll have books & art at JRay's, 1302 Platte Falls Rd, Platte City, from 6-9 this coming Saturday:) Thank you!
Jan. 2nd, 2012
03:55 pm - I wrote a song...
...I give you, "Army Wife Blues":
Well my man joined the Reserves at 38
And “Army wife” was never what I thought was my fate
COs were quick to learn what I’d always known
And now he’s downrange leaving me all alone
I got them Army wife, Army wife, Army wife blues
You get great healthcare When they take your man
Stick him on a Blackhawk in Afghanistan
While he’s saving lives way up in the sky
I got too much to do, too sit around and cry
I got them Army wife, Army wife, Army wife blues
They got a lotta acronyms in Army life
Took me awhile but I’m getting it right
MOS, DOD, LMNOPQ,
Didn’t want this info a civilian can’t use
Yeah, I’d rather learn Italian, I got them Army wife blues
I fixed the leaky toilet, I’ve raked up all the leaves
They’ll be nothing left on his on his honey-do list
When he gets home to me
I’m getting good at doing all the stuff he use to do
Baby, come home quick, I got them Army wife blues
I’m a pro at getting hairballs outta the drain
Cleaning out the gutters so they don’t clog in in the rain
Cats don’t fill the silence, and that’s the God’s honest truth
I got them Army wife, Army wife, Army wife blues.
You’re out there, but I’m back here
And this deployment feels longer than a year
I’m proud of what you’re doing, but I’m all alone
And I just can’t wait til you get back home
I got them Army wife
Stop this war and strife
Never thought this would be my life
Army wife, Army wife, Army wife blues.
Dec. 25th, 2011
11:02 am - Hey, Mid-west tribe! Incoming!
So, I've never been to y'all's neck of the woods before, but ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.6){kind=small}
archway is changing that for me.
She's set up a book signing for "Lightsurfing" on Saturday, January 7th for 6-9pm, at a restaurant called JRay's at 1302 Platte Falls Rd, Platte City, Missouri. Oh, and I guess I'm coming, too!
I'll have a few books with me, and some art, and a helluva lot of eagerness to share what I've learned. Please, use my brain like a hotel towel -if you have questions about making a living doing what you love, branding, marketing, creative stuff in general, a portfolio you'd like me to look at, bring it!
For the FaceBookers among you, the event page is here, and to see the nice things folks have said about my book, that's here.
Last but not least, I'm using LJ now mainly for big pithy writings, and to show new art, but if you wanna keep up with me, I post much more regularly on this page. Thanks for looking, happy holidays, and I look forward to meeting fabulous new people - even if it means freezing my hot-house-flower ass off:)
Dec. 17th, 2011
02:01 pm - New Fae...
So the DemonFae weren't done with me, but these girls are a little different. In the previous entry, I told you about my superpower. Well, I pressed a mess o' four (and five) leaf clovers in a 1982 Physician Desk Reference while on tour this autumn, and once I got home, the Fae woke up & made some demands. These are on canvas, and yeah, those are real four leaf clovers collaged in with the Fae:)
This one is already spoken for, but I wanted to show you anyway :)
My favorite part of this one is that there somehow became a pink aura around the clover on the left. I didn't paint it there, and none of the others have it. Kinda like a kirlian photograph...
4x12", mixed media & 2 four leaf clovers, $750
6x12", mixed media & a four leaf clover, $850
This one may be my favorite, cuz there's a surprise "ending" when you tilt the canvas:) See here (and the video reverses the image - it's true in the jpg above):
Thanks for looking!
Dec. 6th, 2011
05:27 pm - My Superpower
I’m a teenaged camp counselor, responsible for an energetic pack of seven year old girls. Off on a rare walk alone, I climb a hill atop of which perches a dilapidated barn. I glance down to watch my footing, and see a four leaf clover. And then next to it, another. And then two five leafs.
Inspiration strikes.
I head back to the cabin to where my flock is awakening from their post-lunch nap, and spin a tale of elven haunts. I promise something wondrous happens on a certain magical hillside if you get there just before sunset.
My little girls are aflutter, but first, I make them play soccer, and then there’s dinner. I’ve taught them that properly cooked pasta sticks to walls, and it’s an easy guess which table is ours by the telltale stalactites of dried spaghetti dangling from the ceiling.
After a coat of bugspray, everyone is herded back to my hill. The late afternoon is warm and golden green, the cicadas are buzzing, and my charges race on slim little legs ahead of me.
The crumbling barn glows bronze as the sun drops towards the treetops. I make a show of stopping suddenly, looking down and calling out, “Hey! Look here!”
They swarm around me, and follow my outstretched finger. The child to my right yells, “A four leaf clover!!” As she reaches down to pluck it, the girl next to her says “there’s another!” And the hill rings with excited laughter as each child finds handfuls of magical clovers.
Since that glorious evening, my superpower has never left – I find four, five, and sometimes six-and-seven-leaf clovers constantly. And this story is a clue to what is percolating in my studio…
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