Monday, June 30, 2008

Muir Woods

Have you ever come across anything like this??? We hadn't. I'm definitely going to have to read up on ladybugs. I'm not sure whether this was a convention of some sort, or a hatching.





























And here's one way you can tell if you're with a good friend. Say you find a quiet place off the beaten path. You sit side by side and enter the kind of state where you start drawing things in the sand and arranging sticks and stones to make things. You don't agree to do it. You don't have to talk. You just do it and get some kind of peaceful satisfaction from doing it. Deb made this one:
I made this one:

Here's what the boys did:

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Sunday: Adentro y Afuera


adentro (Chihuly exhibit at the de Young)



































































afuera (Arboretum/Golden Gate Park)

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Friday, June 27, 2008

Company Coming

















Tomorrow Deb and Eric arrive. Tonight I decided to make some Welcome Cookies.

I love being an adult. I skipped dinner and made a double batch (Toll House). I tested lots of dough along the way, with red wine to wash it down. I have that old familiar sick feeling.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Bus Stop






















The Nebulous is at it again. Here I am at the bus stop by the Boom Boom Room.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Good Advice

Isn't it a relief to have friends who will respond with some honesty to your work? Janet, Dorothy and I get together once every few months to have show & tell. We also drink champagne and eat huge platters of food. Here we are today at Janet's.

















Janet: There's something that doesn't feel quite right about the last page. The voice changes. It's too adult.


Dorothy: Remember what Larry David said: "No lessons, no hugs!"

Birthday

Monday, June 23, 2008

The PO Did Something Right






















I know of two things I mailed this spring that never made it to their destinations–or back to me. One was a handmade card–a cat and mouse performing a birthday serenade. Inside was a poem written by me in Spanish about a birthday trip to a shoe store. The other was a package of solid ink left over from my old Xerox printer. I sent that one to Alex in Half Moon Bay, who happens to be printer-crazy. These stamps are almost enough to make up for those missing pieces of mail.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Friday, June 20, 2008

Happiest Day of the Year





























I found this drawing on the beach this evening. What I want to know is, was today a good day for you?
Because my friend Dorothy sent me the following article:

By SHELLEY EMLING
Cox News Service
Published on: 06/20/08


LONDON - Having a fab day? That's no surprise. According to one British researcher, June 20 is the happiest day of 2008.

Cliff Arnall, a psychologist at the University of Cardiff in Wales, has come up with a formula that considers a variety of emotional, physical, and stress factors to determine the most blissful day of the year.

Apparently it's the combination of brighter evenings, childhood memories, and the prospect of summer holidays that puts the best possible spin on today.

On paper, Arnall's equation looks like this: O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He.

O is time spent outdoors.

N is time spent in nature.

S is more socialization in the summer.

Cpm relates to positive memories of childhood summers.

T factors in temperature.

He is vacation anticipation.

Arnall said his calculation isn't rocket science. Being outside produces energy, while increased socialization — such as barbecues with neighbors — stimulates pleasure zones in the brain.

Also arousing feelings of euphoria are pleasant memories of childhood summers and the fact that vacations are just around the corner.

And it's no coincidence that the happiest day of the year falls on the summer solstice, the day with the most sunshine.

But Arnall's formula does not take into account the gloomy forecasts for world economies, dragged down by dropping house prices.

It also doesn't consider record fuel prices, which will make travel more expensive this summer.

... In six months we'll be marking what Arnall figures to be the gloomiest day of the year, generally the third Monday in January.

That's when bad weather, Christmas debt, and failed New Year's resolutions will surely be getting you down.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Interview with Lisa Horstman



















illustration by Lisa Horstman

Lisa Horstman is an old friend I recently became reacquainted with through the internet. We both worked at Whittle Communications, a publishing company in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1994 Lisa won the Dr. Seuss Picture Book Award for writing and illustrating
Fast Friends. She won $25,000! I was very jealous. I remember watching Connie Chung interview her on TV. I've been wanting to ask her lots of questions for some time, so here goes:

You both write and illustrate children's books. Do you enjoy one part more than the other?

No. I love to do both, and both are equally a struggle. Some people assume that because we do books for children, it's a day in the park and not hard work. This irritates me. There are days when I want to tear my hair out because nothing seems to come together, and other days when everything flows easily. The hardest part is working through those tough patches when all I want to do is take a nap or bother a cat.

When do your best ideas come to you?

At night, or in a state of semi-wakefulness. See? Napping isn't a bad thing.

Do you have to be in a certain frame of mind to work–or do you have work habits that you stick to whether you "feel like it" or not?


It depends upon if I'm working on deadline or not. The busier I get, the more I stick to a work schedule. Otherwise, if it's in the early stages of a project and I have the luxury of time, I try to wait until the muse takes over. Sometimes you just can't force it.

Do you share your work with anybody along the line–a trusted friend or family member?

Dave, my partner, sees everything first. One of my sisters, Pat, sees stuff early as well. My agent, Andrea, is also in the mix.

What projects that you've worked on have been closest to your heart?

Currently, I'm working on a book I'm writing and illustrating called "Squawking Matilda" that I'm having great fun with. I love working on the art for this book because it combines all of the creative skills I've learned in the last 20 years--puppetry, digital painting, sewing, sculpting, photography, and drawing. It feels right. Also, a couple of years ago I contributed cartoons to a book titled "The Smokies Yukky Book" that I had a great time doing because the publisher really cut me loose with the silly text that goes with the cartoons. It's not often you get to draw baby turkey vultures discussing the latest technique in projectile vomiting (their defense mechanism), or a queen bee saying to one of her worker bees: "Peel me a grape, big boy." I still can't believe I got away with some of the stuff in there.

What are you excited about now?

Getting a new president, although my expectations are limited.

I'm attempting to write some children's books. Do you have any advice for me?


Start by writing what you know as a way to share your life experiences. This doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't include new things you've learned, but that the core of the story itself should be based on things or feelings you've experienced in life. Really work hard to make sure your "voice" (or personality) comes through in your writing. Keep the words simple and clear, and remember you can cut words out of the text but include them in the art--not the physical words themselves, but the ideas behind them.

Does it ever strike you as funny that we do work for kids, yet we don't have kids of our own?

Not as funny as other people seem to find it. Yet I don't recall hearing about authors of murder mysteries actually killing someone to make their books more authentic, either.

Some of us just remember what it's like to be a kid a little better than others. I feel bad for people who don't remember what it's like being a kid at all. Also, giving birth or raising a child does not automatically make someone a children's book author. However, I truly admire women who can both create children's books and raise a family at the same time, or really any woman who can hold down a full-time job and raise a family. I know I couldn't do both.

I prefer to repeat the words Ted Geisel himself used to say: "You make 'em, I'll entertain 'em." To which I add: "Then I'll break out the candy dish, send them into a sugary frenzy, and deliver them home for you to deal with." I'm not an Evil Auntie for nothing!

Have you ever had to work during some sort of crisis in your life? If so, how did it affect your work?

Not yet--knock on wood. I'd imagine my work would be affected, though, if I could work at all. It would either be not work at all or use work as an escape from the crisis. I hear there are people who do their best work while going through a crisis, but for me I have a feeling I'd have no energy to work.

There are so many glimpses of my life in my work, at least according to one of my sisters. One of her favorite things to do is look at my artwork to see if she recognizes anyone from real life in the characters. In my first book there's a cow eating popcorn in front of a t.v., and she swears the cow looks like my mom. My dear mother looks neither bovine nor eats popcorn in front of the t.v., so I guess I inadvertently captured one of her facial expressions.

When you volunteered to help with the Learning About Diabetes website, you said, "Well, heck! I've been a Type 1 diabetic since I was diagnosed at age 13 in 1977. I'll help!" Is diabetes something that has had a huge effect on your life?

I suppose so, even though I tried to ignore it for many years. It wouldn't let me.

Has having diabetes had an effect on your work, other than jumping to volunteer to help others with diabetes?

Oh, believe me, I'm not that generous when it comes to volunteering to help others with diabetes. That makes me sound like a rotten SOB (or would that be DOB?), but it's one of those diseases where you have to decide to accept that you have it and learn how to live with it or suffer the consequences. You must do this before you accept help from anybody. Lots of people can try to persuade you to take care of yourself, but it won't happen unless you decide to break the denial.

I decided the best way I can help diabetic kids is by using my talents to tell my own story, showing them that I get through it and they can, too. I hope to someday write a book, maybe in graphic novel format if I dare attempt it, about being 13 and getting diabetes. That particular age is a tough audience for diabetes educators to reach. I remember being really pissed off all the time and ignoring my health because I just wanted to be like everybody else, not to mention puberty was slamming me on the head. You feel so out of control, and denying you have this disease is a way to feel in control, oddly enough. So you lie about your blood sugars and you eat whatever you want. I'm amazed I made it through high school without going into a diabetic coma at some point.

My next door neighbor has type 2 diabetes. We're never sure what a good "treat" is to take him. Any ideas?

Well, type 1 and type 2 diabetes are almost two completely different diseases in a lot of ways. He might control his blood sugars with exercise and diet, and maybe pills, too. Some type 2s take insulin, too. His pancreas may still be making some insulin, so it's kind of hard for me to say what sweets he could have that wouldn't affect him much. Type 1 diabetics can't make any insulin at all, and so they have to control blood sugars with diet, exercise, and insulin. Both types have to think about every morsel of food that goes into their mouths.

Something lots of non-diabetics don't know is that we're more concerned with carbohydrate amounts than we are with sugar in the foods we eat–not that we don't pay any attention to sugar at all. Does he have a sweet tooth? If you want to bake your neighbor something, you could try making a regular dessert recipe using Splenda instead of sugar. You use the same amount of Splenda that you'd use with sugar. I made a pumpkin pie last Thanksgiving with Splenda, and it rocked! Or maybe some fresh berries with homemade whipped cream sweetened with a little Splenda. Stevia, which is a natural sweetener, can be used too, but I think it tastes kind of bitter so I shy away from it. He might be okay with honey--some diabetics can handle it, some can't. It's so hard to say, because we're all so different!

You can also go the other route and bring a non-food treat. Last Halloween we gave out candy, but we also handed out little junky toys from Archie McPhee, which I think were more appreciated than the candy. The little toys were in a big paper bag, and the kids reached into the bag--without looking-for one toy. I suggested to Dave that maybe we should put in a few mousetraps or Chinese finger traps, but he'd have none of it. That boy is no fun.

Is there a movie you've really enjoyed lately? (Old or new.)

One movie I always go back to is Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru"–one of my all-time favorite movies. I can watch "The Graduate" over and over again and laugh hysterically every time. I also love pretty much anything by Hayao Miyazaki. "Spirited Away" is amazing, and "My Neighbor Tortoro" is really wonderful. How many movies have a cat bus in them? A CAT BUS! Some day I'm going to sashay over to Japan and see the Ghibli Museum, which is dedicated to Miyazaki's work.

I also love "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken", an old Don Knotts movie full of quotable lines. But it's one of those movies that I think you have to have grown up with, because it would probably just seem dumb to someone viewing it for the first time. Gotta love Don Knotts, though!

Are you still crazy about your Kindle? After owning it for months, does anything surprise you about the way you're using it?

The Kindle rocks! For a couple of months I subscribed to The New York Times, and it was great having the daily edition waiting for me when I woke up every morning. Then I started getting really busy with work and didn't have enough time to read it, so I temporarily cancelled the subscription. Once things return to normal, I'll probably sign back up again. I've gotten a few books through Amazon as well as some public domain books through gutenberg.org.

At first I felt like I had ten thumbs when I used it, because I kept hitting the Next Page and Previous Page buttons by accident, but now it's okay. The weirdest thing that happened was once, when I was reading, I got to the end of the page and reached up to "turn" the page. That tells you that you can get lost in a story by using a Kindle just as much as using a paper book. I'll never give up paper books, though. My love of the smell of the ink and paper is indecent.

One thing some people don't get is that the Kindle is for reading. Period. It's not a web browser, it doesn't light up, it doesn't play iTunes, it doesn't stand up and cha-cha. It doesn't have to do this stuff–why should it? It's for book lovers. I love that I can haul a bunch of books around within this little gadget.

Most importantly, what's your favorite pair of shoes?

I will be mocked. I don't wear heels much because I can't stand wearing them. I'd rather be comfortable and dowdy. Oh, well. I have a pair of Born mary janes that I love. I used to have a pair of Born fisherman's sandals that I wore all of the time, but I made the mistake of wearing them at the beach and the salt water ate away the soles. %$#Buncharackinfrackin!

These are the Born shoes. They even come in puke green!













What's one of your favorite restaurants in Knoxville and what do you like to order?


There's a good joint called Taste of Thai way out in West Knoxville that's probably a favorite with us right now. They have really good Drunken Noodles. And The Tomato Head in downtown Knoxville is always, always delicious. Anything there is tasty. They know how to use garlic, pal.

Have you read anything good lately?

Right now I'm really enjoying "Armageddon in Retrospect" by Kurt Vonnegut. I want to start reading some David McCullough stuff–I love history and I can't believe I haven't read any of his books yet. Every once in a while I pick up "Democracy Matters" by Cornel West. I read a chapter and put it aside, then pick it up again later and read another chapter. It helps get me through some pretty dark moods. I also finished "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, which was absolutely hilarious.

Is there any THING you want, want, want?

I want a hobbit house to use as a studio. Preferably in England or New Zealand. By God, I'm getting one. This will do nicely, although I wish it had round doors:






































Do you think you will start a blog?


Oh, but then I wouldn't be Lisa H, International Woman of Mystery.

What is your favorite curse word?

What, just one?

Home Again

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Adventures With Mom

Watching Dolphins and Whales, a 3-d movie at the IMAX Theatre.

This afternoon as we were getting ready to go out, Mom demanded: "Now tell me where I keep my purse." I pointed to the bottom drawer next to her bed. "Yes, you're right! Only sometimes I'll put it in the top drawer, or the second or third drawer. And usually I'll put some junk on top of it."

She's convinced people are coming in and out of her apartment and taking things. Sometimes they rearrange things. Other times they leave things that don't belong to her.

We checked her purse to make sure she had her sunglasses and her lipstick and her envelope with the twenty dollar bill. She pulled a pink comb out. "Is this your comb?" she asked me. "No!" "Well it's not mine." "Oh. I guess someone snuck into your apartment, searched for your purse and deposited the comb in it." She laughed.

We headed to Belk to look for summer pants and polo shirts. (She had been wearing a pair of white wool pants the day before in the 95 degree heat.) We had fun trying on pants, and left with 2 great pairs. As we were approaching the cash register, a woman who had just paid for her own clothes handed me a raggedy $10-off coupon, good for today only. In a hushed voice she explained that she had already used it, and asked if would I like it. Sweet! So I showed it, and got a $10 discount. We were walking out the door to the parking lot, and I saw another woman looking through the sale racks. I hesitated, then walked over and asked her if she'd like the coupon, repeating that today was the last day it was good and that we had already used it. She eagerly accepted it. This whole scenario thrilled my mom. It was magical to her. I loved it too and wondered how many hands the coupon had been through--the stories that coupon could tell--the merchandise that coupon had seen.

Then we hit the Piccadilly, which is the cafeteria right next to Sears. Mom got watermelon, green beans and carrot salad. And a tiny blueberry muffin. And a coke. She declared the meal the best she had ever had. She asked how much the bill was.

Me: $18.
Mom: Well I have a twenty dollar bill and I'd like to be the hostess.
Me: Oh thank you! But let me put it on my card. That way, Margaret can reimburse me if you'd like to buy, and you can keep your twenty. Otherwise, I'll just be giving you a twenty when I leave.
Mom: These muffins are superb.
Me: Should we get some to go for breakfast?
Mom: Will they let us do that?
Me: Sure!
Mom: Can I afford it?

As we were leaving, she told the cashier that this place should be rated up with Disneyland.

But back to dinner for a minute: Mom told me that for a while now she had been thinking she had 3 daughters. I said, "Mom. Did you have a daughter you never told me about?" She assured me that she hadn't; that her thinking had just been confused. But she told me she had never thought of me as her oldest daughter (which I am), so I asked her again if she was sure she hadn't had a daughter before I was born (who maybe had died?) No.

When I was leaving her apt. to come back to my room, she said, "You have your coat, don't you? It's cold out there. After all, it's February, isn't it?"
I gave her a look and said, " Noooooooooooooo." She said, "March, April, MAY! It's May isn't it."

Yesterday we went to the IMAX Theatre to see Dolphins and Whales, a 3-d movie. As we were making our way VERY SLOWLY down the sidewalk we passed a parked police car with a cop sitting in it. My mom yelled over at him: "Do you have your dog in there with you?" He said, "No, I had to drop him off!" Only then I noticed that the car said K-9.

She had clipped an article out of the paper this week about how a company in Chattanooga has begun converting methane gas (from landfills) into electricity. Then the company sells it to Tennessee Valley Authority. She was elated. She kept asking, "Why isn't this on the front page? Why isn't this the headline?"

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Thank You

















top row: Larry, Barbara, Aggles
2nd row: Sally, Stray
3rd row: Matthew, Tom, Luci
4th row: Gene, Deb, Katy

Thanks for being with me on my trip to TN tomorrow. Does it ever make a difference.

Yee-Haw Industries printed these beautiful cards on their letterpress. They're tiny! 2" x 3 1/2".

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Next Door Candy Adventure

So I took my box of candy next door and here's what happened:

Before Candy





























During Candy


After Candy

My Favorite Mistake

















You know ... that great song by Sheryl Crow. This post is about one of my favorite mistakes ever. I got a box of candy for my birthday last week. The box said: "Don't Open Unless You Were A Child of The 80's." Of course I ripped right into it. It never occurred to me that I wasn't a child of the 80's. But it occurred to Sally that the company had shipped the wrong decade. So she arranged for them to redeliver. The box just came. I'm especially thrilled to see the candy buttons, and the Nik-l-Nip (those are the wax coke bottles with colored drinks). Also there's a roll of all-chocolate Necco's.

So how about you? What's your favorite mistake?

Monday, June 09, 2008

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Our Magical Neighbors

















Stray G. emailed me this article from the NYT about our old home town, Knoxville, TN–where Tom and I met, and where we lived for twenty-five years. I started to get homesick! But then our next door neighbors Emmy and John–the very ones who took us out last night for our birthdays–called us to come over to their back yard. John was barbecuing and they handed us each a plate. We think we'll stay where we are.

p.s. I'm holding a book on my head that Emmy's class made for her. It was printed by mypublisher.com

This new print-on-demand technology is fascinating to me. Below is a spread from her book. Each kid in her kindergarten class had a page with his photo, and each kid told what his favorite memory of kindergarten was.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Our Magical Neighborhood

Our next door neighbors, John and Em, took us to dinner this evening for our birthdays. We went to Pagan, a Burmese restaurant, and had tea leaf salad and angry prawns and Singha beer. Fried bananas with mango ice cream.
On our way home, we passed this house. Right in front of it, between the sidewalk and the street, is a strip about 8 feet long covered with marbles and glass and little toys. Dogs of all kinds are arranged on top. A giant squirrel, too.


Thursday, June 05, 2008

I Am a Vampire

I got a new hairdo tonight. I took a photo of Barbara, because I decided I wanted to look just like her. And I do! Only instead of bangs, I got fangs.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Japa Mala





























I keep remembering one of my Guru's teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.
(Not me. I won't travel around the world looking for it.) You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't, you will leak away your innate contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray when when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.
Elizabeth Gilbert / Eat, Pray, Love

Monday, June 02, 2008

Special Delivery

I was getting so hungry and thirsty this afternoon. I found a big box with my name on it on the front porch, and I ate all the candy inside. But you know how you feel after you eat a lot of candy—sorry that you ate it, and even more thirsty. Then I found the bottle of Wink at the bottom of the box.