Day 85 (Or: For the Boy-Child)

Fondness for boy-child, fondness for doing things, fondness for the results of doing things, and a desire to illustrate for boy-child that anything is possible, if we put our minds, hearts and energy into things...

That sentence, above, is ALL over the map, and filled with all sorts of good things, and is an introduction to my next several things.

Boy-child, who is almost 15, and who is a lovely little lump of stuffing (in my humble opinion), is taking a health class, and this class, and several other things have prompted boy child to make some important life decisions for me (yes, for me).

(1)  Apparently, according to boy-child, coca-cola is bad for you.  Boy child says that he doesn't want me to die an early death, and that he wants me to stop drinking coca-cola.  Now, it should be noted that Coke-drinking is not a daily, or even weekly occurrence for me, but I agree with the boy-child, and want him to know that it's (a) important to be informed, (b) important to make informed decision (c) important to follow through and live those decisions.  No more Coke.  

(2) Boy-child, being a very active and rambunctious young man, is a member of the Board of Directors for The ReCyclery, a non-profit organization geared toward increasing bike use, and says that he wants me to ride a bike, instead of hopping in a car.  He says that he wants me to bike just a little bit, every day, until I'm as in love with biking as he is, and primarily use my bike for things.  Geez, he's smart!  Bike.  Every day!

(3)  He also says that he's worried about my health, and that he thinks my hands are chubby, and he doesn't want me to develop type 2 diabetes.  Okay.  After a momentary (sigh) reflection on the reality of this, I'm not shy to admit that he's right.  No more chubby fingers.

It's a really good thing I live with such a smart person, and that he cares enough to share his concerns and encouragement.  I may be biased, but I sort of love him.

Boy-child for President, 2020!  

85 down, 915 Coke-free days to go.

Day 84 (Or: rk post & C.J. Lane at The Red Raven in October)

I’m a little bit giddy.  And I have a HUGE geek-girl crush. 

Sometimes I get to meet, rub elbows with and generally fall in crushes with some seriously amazing people.  Laurie McClave (neighbor and bestie), C.J. Lane (bestie and cutie), and (new to me) rk post give me the shivers.  They’re just awesome in the sauce arena.  And I know them?  Or…in the case of rk…get to talk to them as they’re foot commuting through downtown Seattle to their “day” job?  Pssshhht.  Lucky me. 

AND I get to talk about games, and toy-stores, and my favorite coffee shop on the planet?  Stick a fork in me and call me pleased.   

A shortened and slightly altered version of the following feature was published today in the Port Townsend Leader, and because these peeps are so phenomenal, I wanted you all to see 

the WHOLE shmear…

Photo courtesy rk post

Randy “rk” Post (hereafter referred to by his preferred professional nomenclature:  rk post – no punctuation, no capitals) travels to conferences the world over, for comic-cons and fan signings of his work.  Each new location comes with a new tattoo, artists carefully researched by post, artwork “signed” by the artist in permanent tattoo ink. posts body, now featuring 20 of his visits, and 20 artists, is a visual map of his artistic proclivities and of his extensive travel.  

The travel follows a lifetime career of impressive freelance and contract illustrative work for Wizards of the Coast, Microsoft, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, 20^th Century Fox (Alien vs Predator) among many others (post jokes that his work is “too extensive to list.”).

This life is a far cry from growing up on farms in Illinois and Iowa where post, the son of a John Deere salesman, never took an art class and thought he’d be a veterinarian. After what post calls an “extensive college experience” – an 8 year study program, spanning veterinary science, graphic design, and eventually illustration – post found himself at the tail end of TSR’s Dungeons and Dragons production, illustrating interior black and white illustration book-work for the famous RPG. This break into the world of illustration through Dungeons and Dragons, lead to work with Wizards of The Coast, where the door opened for a remarkable career in art and design. 

A soft, ready laugh prefaces posts description of the work, the experiences, and the travel that followed those 8 years of study. “Growing up, we never traveled anywhere that we couldn’t reach by car.” He says, but when Wizards of the Coast bought out TSR in the mid-90’s, the company flew artists out to Seattle – his first flight – and post now looks back on that flight, saying “if you’ve done it once, all the rest are the same.” The difference now, is that after 15 years of illustrative work, when post travels from Seattle, his home town where he’s the Senior Artist at Big Fish Games, he ends up in Barcelona, Spain, Moscow, Russia or Sao Paolo, Brazil – as well as many other international destinations.

The Red Raven PostMortem

Avatar of Woe, rk post

Red Raven Gallery celebrated its one year anniversary in September, and in the year since opening, has featured an impressive lineup of local artists and visiting artists – many with magical, fanciful and eccentric inclinations. The cooperative gallery of 6 artists is owned by Sarah Fitch of The Rolling Raven Studio, and co-managed and curated by fine artist Laurie McClave – who calls herself a “Jacqueline of all trades.”  McClave, whose impressive curation has brought in high caliber fine artists – photographers, painters, fiber artists – said that she “looks for individuals whose work is quality and who have a level of personal professionalism.”  Of particular importance, and an indication of her own measures of success, McClave pays special attention to “artists who have interaction with a fan-base, having a Facebook page or a blog, or some way that they’re keeping active and interactive with other artists and with collectors.” 

McClave, who studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, and a highly collected artist herself, keeps an active hand in the online network of artists, and it is partially this networking and marketing ethic which has enabled the gallery to host national and international artists.  “rk was one of my first MySpace contacts – remember the days of MySpace?” She joked.  “I knew I wanted to feature something gothic and creepy in October, and because I’d known of and followed his work online, rk came immediately to mind.  Much to my surprise, he said ‘yes’ when I approached him.”  Earlier in the year, the gallery hosted the phenomenal  Jel Ena Markovic, a Serbian born, Los Angeles based figurative artist, and PostMortem will be followed in November by German born, Seattle based  designer and artist Redd Walitzki (http://art.candygears.com/).

In a coup, an artistic scoop, if you will, The Red Raven cooperative gallery and McClave are “thrilled and excited” to bring illustrator rk post to Port Townsend. “rk features strong women and female characterizations, and uses the figure in a lyrical way.  There are dark undertones in his work, and the pieces offer an intrigue – he’s a softer H.R. Giger.” MccClave said of post and his work referring to the surrealist painter who won an Academy Award for design work on the film Alien.

On Oct. 6, PostMortem debuts at the Red Raven Gallery featuring the fanciful and eccentric art of illustrator rk post and photographer and Red Raven cooperative member C.J. Lane.  PostMortem, will show at the Red Raven Gallery, 922 Water Street, through October.  Both artists will be on site for the gallery walk on the evening of the 6th, starting at 5:30.

Both divine and diabolical

post has published a now sold out collectors volume of collected works “Potmortem: the Art of rk post” posts website describes the work in his online gallery, as “both divine and diabolical. Sinistry and innocence. Fluffy-cute and damn-that-looks-spiky.”

Cover Art, "Postmortem: the Art of rk post"

Notably, the original cover artwork painting for “Postmortem: the Art of rk post” will grace the wall of the Red Raven Gallery, a work highlighting posts strong female figurative work, and the gizmo-riddled fantasy world that he’s known for. post, says that for the Red Raven Gallery show, in addition to non-magic related work, he’s “found a forgotten trove of more recent pieces,” and will be labeling and selling with artist proofs and prints.

post has garnered a following in the illustrative world, and is especially known in Port Townsend for work in the Role Playing Gaming (RPG) world of Magic: The Gathering. The Port Townsend Gallery walk, on Saturday, October 6, 5:30 – 8:00 pm, will be lively in the diminutive alleyway gallery, with local fans of the gaming world, and fantasy art collectors assembling to see the original artwork behind familiar gaming characters and well-known illustrations.

The Raven and the Pumpkin

C.J. Lane and model Tassa Briel Greif
photo Cara Leckenby

In complement to the fantasy work of rk post, C.J. (Carole Jean) Lane, cooperative member and co-feature artist for October at Red Raven Gallery, has a gift with the camera lens. Lane started photography in college, and her passion grew further when she moved to Korea to work as a military staff photographer. Since those early days in photojournalism, C.J. has turned toward fine art photography, and she and her husband, Terry Lane, are the vision behind “Lanebrain Photography”. “ Her unique perspective and edge give her work a painterly quality,” said McClave, “and she has an important story to tell”. This month, that story will be of “The Pumpkin Queen” and “The Raven King” – fantasy figure photography, highlighting a creepy burton-esque bent.  C.J. is a founding cooperative member of the Red Raven Gallery co-op and is working in photography while raising a family here in Port Townsend

The gathering

Port Townsend community dedicated to Magic: The Gathering is celebrating a weekend of firsts starting at 6:00 on the evening of Friday, Oct 5 at Whistle Stop Toysin Port Townsend. Steve Goldenbogen, owner of the toy shop, is hosting a launch for the newest of 59 “expansion sets” (or game play kits) for players ranging in age from 10 – 60. “Return to Ravnica” is a much anticipated expansion, and the evening will be an interesting pre-cursor to meeting rk post, the artist behind well-known Magic characters, “Avatar of Woe,” “Morphling,” and “Arbor Elf.”

The following evening, Saturday, October 6th, post opens PostMortem at the Red Raven Gallery.  Goldenbogen is an avid Magic player and fan, and describing the extent of Magic: The Gathering’s popularity said “There are 59 expansions on the game, and over 12500 figure cards. I’m making sure that I’m off work on time for the show on Saturday, and I’m telling all my players.” Tournament play will continue at Whistle Stop Toys through January of 2013, on Friday evenings at 6:00 and Goldenbogen notes that he has plenty of members willing to teach new players.

In addition to formal tournament play, Amy Smith, Executive Director of the BoilerRoom at 711 Water Street says that there are “all the time games at the Boiler Room these days. There hasn't been a day in the past two weeks without a Magic game.” The Boiler Room is a non-profit youth resource center and coffee house, with convenient couches and tables for game-players of all ages.

More information, and game kits, about Magic: The Gathering can be found at Whistle Stop Toys 1005 Water Street, Port Townsend.

Day 83 (Or: Stop! Collaborate and Listen!)

When in doubt, don't - Benjamin Franklin
When in doubt, do it - Oliver Wendell Holmes
When in doubt, tell the truth - Mark Twain
When in doubt, eat chocolate - me.

Into every life, a little doubt must creep.  A little:  "What the hell am I doing?"  A little:  "What the hell are YOU doing?"  A little: "FOR THE LOVE OF CORN, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

When this happens to yours truly, I have a tendency to slide down a long slippery slope (lined with razor blades) of whininess, crabbiness, over-perfection, and ironically - avoidance.

Advice:  STOP!  Collaborate, and listen!  (Vanilla Ice - good in coffee, and good for a bit of comic relief...and...good for soothing a doubt riddled soul?)

Stop!  Hold it.  That's right, don't just gaze down the gaping maw of doubt, being ever drawn forward toward the things that might not even need to be asked, let alone have an answer.  Just check yourself before you wreck yourself, will you?

Collaborate! Good.  Now that you've pulled yourself back from the precipice, let's just see if we can put your head back on straight.  Let's get on that collaboration thing. I'm not sure what Vanilla Ice meant by "collaborate" (he goes on to describe how he "flows like a harpoon"...what a maniac), but what I mean when I say it is:

• (1.) Friends are important, and they're really good at helping one get to the heart of the matter (even when we don't want to go there) - it's an even better experience when there's chocolate involved.  
• So (2.) get with somebody else, get out of your own head, stop being so stinking self involved - give something, do something for others, be something other than what you're doubting.  It helps.  
• (3.) Testing?  TESTING!  So...are you really in the rut you thought you were in?  Did you find something better to focus on?  Did you decide that you're sort of all right in a funny sort of a way?  Excellent.  That's as it should be.  You're awesome.  We're all awesome, really.  Even when we're full of doubt.  
• Because (4.)  Doubt is an important part of the human process.  We question, and we solve.  That's what we do.  Drowning in doubt is one thing, but a healthy dose of doubt can nudge us toward something incredible, if we let it, if we don't dive face first into it, but instead gently take it in.

...And Listen!  Little doubt worms won't become big doubt worms if we ask ourselves daily what/who/why we are, and then answer...and then LISTEN.  Free journal (write and write and write), draw, intentional breathing, yoga, be with it.  IT being the question and the answer.  Listen to yourself, listen to friends, listen to the QUESTION in the doubt and the ANSWER in the dark.  It's all there, and these smaller questions, answered daily, are the key to living.

If Vanilla Ice says it's so, then it is.

Day 83 Down, 917 to go.

Day 77 (Or: Earth Without Art is Just "EH")

I'm an artist. Sort of. I'm an aspiring artist? A wanna-be artist? A pseudo artist? Hmmm...

Okay. Maybe it's not fine art, but I do occasionally produce drawings/paintings/design/collage. Never sold any of it (other than monkeys). I do sell my design capabilities (as in...interior design, web design, graphic design - at Leckenby Co.), but never art. Yet.

I don't exactly have plans to become a visual artist, although I definitely have plans to continue artistically living my life - viewing, creating, appreciating, befriending... BUT! I live in this delightful artists community, where you can't swing a dead sable without hitting an artist or an aspiring artist, and as it happens, one of my besties runs a cooperative gallery.

THAT means that I get to shmooze with local artist appreciators, rub elbows with several seriously talented fine artists, and help disseminate art in the world. Generally.

Last month I started helping my friends on Gallery Walk night (the first Saturday of the month, new shows debut, artists are available for discussion, and generally, art is celebrated with food, wine and good company), and now, on the first Saturday of each month, and in particular, Day 77 of One Thousand Days, you can find me at The Red Raven Gallery, helping my friends Laurie McClave, and Sarah Fitch to make the world more beautiful and interesting.

Hints, should you wish to enjoy/partake of/or serve at a gallery walk:

1. Although gallery walk is known as a bit of a walking booze fest, never serve more than two fingers of wine, as you want people to be precisely smashed (not overly, and not underly) in order to effectively help them to appreciate/buy art.

2. By god, you'd better know what you're talking about, or believe that you know what you're talking about, or have an intention to know what you're talking about, if you want to talk about art.

3. Take that last little hint and stuff it in the toilet, because EVERYONE, and I do mean everyone, has something important to say about art. That's why there IS art. To get us thinking. And even if all you have to say is: "That looks like my cat!", it's a valuable assessment, in my book.

4. Do not - DO NOT - be a snob. Damnit. Yuck.

77 down, 923 to go.

Day 76 (Or: Moving On UP)

Moving is hard. Disgusting, overwhelming, dust-riddled, hard. There are things to be put IN to boxes. Things to be moved to places. Things to be taken OUT of boxes. And then there are all those things that won't fit in boxes.

Exhausting. My head hurts after writing that paragraph, and I have an urge to crawl into bed and never come out again.

Just packing a box to take to the Goodwill gives me PTSD. And surprisingly, it seems that this is my lot in life these days. That is, boxes. Boxes being packed. Boxes being unpacked. Stuff being moved from one place to another. Sorting. Packing. Moving.

Well, who am I to question? Yesterday, Day 76 of One Thousand Days, I did one of my favorite things: I helped someone else (helping other people is like my bottle of wine - it's soothing) with their boxes of loot. Spur of the moment, I put on my Moving Outfit (which closely resembles my every-other-kind-of-thing-outfit) and helped a besty move her boxes to a new house.

Sigh.

76 down, 924 to go.

Day 73 (Or: Organize, Organize, Organize)

Ran across this very succinct article regarding organization, written by Amanda Enaya: Why Clutter Matters And De-cluttering Is Difficult.

The article does a fairly great job of pointing out many of the realities of organization and disorganization.

I'm particularly fond of numbers, and found this little tidbit to be a great numerical representation of the ills of disorganization:

"Clutter is expensive: It costs an average of $10 per square foot to store items in your house and almost 10% of American households rent storage units, spending more than $1,000 annually in rent. One quarter of people with two-car garages can't even get their cars in there because they are storing their junk instead. Twenty-three percent of us pay bills late and incur fees because we have lost the statements.

How's this for a reality check? The average American spends one year of his or her life looking for lost or misplaced items, according to the National Association of Professional Organizers. Get rid of the clutter and you will eliminate as much as 40% of the housework in an average home."

Organization is a very large part of my life. Always has been, always will be.

Not that everything has always been organized, rather, organization has ALWAYS affected me, influenced me, and been something that I focus on in all areas of life - one might call it an obsession, were one so inclined to put a label on my...er...tendencies.

I remember, as a child, that my mothers pantry had open shelving. Now, this isn't unusual, many pantry's have open shelving. However, what I'm sure was unusual, was my 7 year old hatred of looking at mismatched cans, boxes, labels, housewares. Hatred. One of my first room-mate situations blew up in a million pieces on the first day, when the room-mate moved all of the pantry items onto an open shelf in the dining area. Instead of using the cabinets in the kitchen...AAAAaaaaagggggghhh! I moved out that night. Organization interruptus.

And then there's the work-space. I. Can. Not. Work. If. It's. Not. Square. Organize to look like this:

First, make things square. THEN work.

And my refrigerator magnets? Boy-child likes to tease me by ruffling them up. I, of course, notice immediately, and SQUARE THEM UP. Little maniac.

I have a friend who invites me over to her house in order to be amused as I square up her coffee table. It ALWAYS happens. Sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it.

All of this, and I can happily say that I'm now applying these organizational...er...tendencies...in a more direct way. I'm helping other people to learn how to be just as obsessive as I am! Or, at least, I'm applying my obsession to their spaces, to give them a newly launched organizational space. I organize, for folks and businesses, and I can probably attribute this little bit of newness to my Wild And Crazy One Thousand Days efforts (that is, the attempt to make better things happen in the world - for myself, for others...).

73 down, 927 to go.

Day 71 (Or: More About The Hood!)

Day 71, Continued!

Just in case you haven't already seen the ream of pictures and information from the Boy-Child's and my house building adventure, you can check out the loveliness here!

Highlights:

Day 70 (Or: I'm a WHAT?)

Of all the things that I DON'T want to be known for...

I've been given the label "Yard Sale Lady."

Because I've held or participated in a ridiculous amount of yard sales in the last month and a half. I've lost count of how many. 4? 5? Ridiculous.

True, the house is emptier, and the storage has room for...well...storage. And yes, I'm a great sales-lady. And, alright, I agree with you, I'm a hoot to hang out with, hawking wares.

But YARD SALE LADY? Argh. Quick! Somebody pay attention to all of the other things I do. No - not "Crazy Cat Lady." NO! Not "Weedy Yard Lady." NO no no no no. NOT "YARD SALE LADY!"

Okay. One more yard sale. Next month. For a client. And that's it!

From now on, I'd like to be known at "Art Lady," or "Design Lady" or maybe "Organize Lady" or even "Monkey Lady."

Thank you.

70 down, 930 to go.

Day 62 (Or: Standing On The Side Of Love)

Martin Luther King, Jr., Day began 30 days of the National Standing on the Side Of Love month.

Take a moment, visit Standing On The Side Of Love, and join in.

Click on over and join the movement.

I did.  And do.

62 down, 938 to go.

Day 59 (Or: The Great Monkey Maneuver)

You've been hearing about it, and now it's happened!

No, I didn't lose my mind.  And no, I haven't started a speed dating group...and no, I most certainly haven't finished my novel.  Geesh.  There's a whole lot that I haven't done.  But what I HAVE done, this morning, Small Business Saturday, is launch The Great Monkey Maneuver!

What's this, you wonder?  "Frankly, I think you HAVE lost your mind, darling." You mutter under your breath.  I heard that. 

Here's the thing.  Sock monkeys.  They're totally adorable.  And enjoyable.  And they make me laugh.  Seriously. 

I made one monkey, every stitch by hand, loving the feel of the sock and the thread, and loving the funny ears and the hillarious red butt.  And he charmed my boy and I in ways that we hadn't imagined.  And then the most amazing thing happened.  My favorite 2 year old boy came over, walked straight to the monkey, picked the monkey up by the tail, poked at a button eyeball, and immediately took the sock-turned-monkey to show his mama.  The monkey clearly belonged to him, and now he has a name - "Hoo-Hoo-Ha" - and a premanent home with a most delightful boy.

I WANT MORE OF THAT!  I want monkeys to be EVERYWHERE and I want to be the one to make that happen!

The Great Monkey Maneuver, I'll have you know, is a sock monkey and 40th birthday initiative. I will be 40 years old in one week, exactly. And in honor of my 40th birthday, I will sell 40 sock monkeys!

In case you're curious, here's the original, the loving, the adored-by-favorite-2-year-old-boy Hoo-Hoo-Ha:

And I donated this monkey to a service auction, to raise money for QUUF:

And I'll donate THIS monkey to my favorite non-profit kid place and coffee house, The Boiler Room, for their auction, coming up in December:

And the rest are yours! 

So, The Great Monkey Maneuver, is a sale of 40 monkeys, to be housed in 40 homes with 40 loving children or children at heart.  All in honor of turning 40 years old.  Because when you get old, it's important to engender the joy of being young. 

And what's more, the first 40 monkeys will come with a $4.00 discount when the lucky purchaser uses the coupon code: 40MONKEY
Yes. 

Day 58 of One Thousand Days may just be the most wonderful yet.  Monkey business.

59 down, 941 to go.

Day 57 (or: The Janitor Was Fired Long Ago)

If you hadn't noticed, we're quickly approaching the most stressful time of the year.  Councilors and therapists and pastors and Besties the world over are girding their loins for the onslaught of serious depression and blues and near-suicidal anxiety. 

And I'm not talking about the holidays.  Or S.A.D. 

I'm talking about Parent/Teacher Conferences.

Darling boy child prepped me last night for what I might expect today in the dreaded bi-annual review, by telling me that I should imagine his brain thusly:

"Mom, it's like a huge hall full of lockers, dusty and cob-webby, and the janitor was fired a long time ago.  All of the lockers but one are locked tight and rusty.  That one locker?  It's unlocked, and it has the keys to all of the other lockers, and I know I can unlock all the other locks, but I'm too lazy to get off the couch and open it."

Well.  You can't say I wasn't warned. 

Day 57 of One Thousand Days I promised the boy that after being told by his teachers that he's a bright child but he just needs to.... (fill in the blank with whatever teacher-speak seems appropriate), I would NOT sigh in that pointed way (he reports that the sigh says "CALVIN!  YOU'RE DEAD TO ME!") and should instead understand that he's a pretty awesome dude with janitor issues.

57 down, 943 to go.

Day 52 (or: I've been Called)

Alright.  Hold onto your hats, because it's about to get a little weird up here in the blog.
Woo-woo weird. 

But life's like this sometimes, and one of the things that I've realized, slowly, since letting go of The Bad Relationship, and Corporate Life (alright - both of those things let go of me, but who's counting?), is that there's a message in the silence, in the moments in between.  We can listen to those messages or we can ignore them, and on Day 52 of One Thousand Days, I chose to listen.

Okay.  That last paragraph was only slightly woo-woo, but NOW it's going to get positively bizarre, so I really can't blame you if you want to skip down the page a bit.  Here's what's been going on:  I belong to a fellowship (read:  "church"), where I have been a volunteer youth educator on and off throughout the years, for various ages of kiddos.  This year, I agreed again to be an educator for the Middle School kids.  Ever since I made that agreement, I've been having all of these near-ESP-ish moments of synchronicity, in which someone repeats something I've been thinking on for a day or so, or I dream something that then happens the next day, or my thoughts settle on something that eventually is reality within the week. 

If you read through that paragraph, I TOLD YOU SO!  Weird.  Eventually this strangeness convinced me (hold on to your boots!) that I was being "called."  Called to be involved with the kiddos, and specifically involved with the kiddos QUUF in my sweet little home town. 

So I offered myself (weird ESP story and all) to our "church" Youth R(eligious) E(ducation) Director, and came home with the promise of more Middle School Madness than is healthy for any sane person (as I've demonstrated here, my sanity may be in question, so I'm PERFECT for the job!), and a craft project!  I LOVE CRAFTS! 

Day 52 of One Thousand Days, I'm going to put together the scrap book for the Youth Coming of Age program my son (that's him in the upper-center of the photo, below) and about 15 other kiddos went through last year.  Hurrah!

52 Down, 948 to go.

Oh, and I fluffed up the logo...it's not drastically different, but it's different!

Day 42 (or: Garden Party with The Soprano's)

I have a brand new obsession:  The Soprano's.  I'm currently beginning season 5, and haven't been able to put a finger directly on the appeal of it.  But boy is it appealing.  Goombas...Goomas...Italian food and a whole heck of a lot of moral ambiguity.  Or straight up moral ineptitude.  Take your pick.  Either way, I'm loving it, and am relishing spending the Holy Day immersed in the disgusting under-belly of New Jersey in my own living room, no less.  Heaven.

But the REAL good things that were the bulk of my work today, involved coordining soccer snacks, hot drinks, canopy for a cold game, coach gifts, kid gifts, and working on a gift certificate for my church's annual service auction and dinner.  My "service" being a garden party hosted in the gorgeous garden made possible by said church.  My beautiful yard was made possible by my fellows at church (more than 30 of them) who, 2 1/2 years ago, came to the house with cuttings, clippings, snippings, bulbs, seeds and divisions from their own yards. 

My first spring in this home was a constant surprise, watching things I didn't know were there coming out of the ground, watching cuttings grow by leaps and bounds.  My yard, which is one of my very favorite things in my life, is entirely the result of the love from my church.

Day 42 of One Thousand Days, I made my pledge of $200.00 in service to my fellows.  Lovely fellows.

42 down, 958 to go.

Day 41 (or: 'Nough Said)

Last day of 24 weeks of chemotherapy treatment.  Today.  'Nough said.

Day 41 of One Thousand Days:  Yellow roses of joy for you, Mom.

41 down, 959 to go.



Day 35 (or: Fuzzy Kitty Slippers)

Sick in bed again. How’s one supposed to do good when one is in jammies and has been for 3 days? I think this calls for taking the “good” where it comes. For one thing, I can’t speak. So there’s no yelling going on. And that’s good. And I haven’t started the car in three days, so that’s good. Not polluting. And then there’s the little matter of no laundry and no dishes. Saving water (never mind that I haven’t showered since Wednesday)!

But really, I think the best thing today, Day 35 of One Thousand Days, is that I’m generously providing a nice warm cat-nap location. What’s better than a bed with a body in it for fuzzy kitty napping? Ok. It’s a bit selfish – I get to benefit from the little warm bodies as well, and what’s better than a bed full of two fuzzy napping kitties? Sliding cold toes under a fur body? Heaven. If I could utter noises other than raspy grunts, I might even sing the Hallelujah Chorus.

Day 35 down, 965 to go.

Day 33 (or: Foisting Cookies)

It’s Freaky Sunday! Today Annie Parker, of The Sunday Hiker, is being Cara, and is guest-blogging on DAY 33 of One Thousand Days, while Cara is posting on Annie's blog The Sunday Hiker. We’ll have hiky goodness all around!



“I’d love to guest-blog, brilliant, fun, easy!” I said.

My guest-blogging relieves Cara of doing good for one day. Hey, that sounds like a good deed. Guess I’m done.

I know, that would be cheating, on to plan B. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I’ve made an homage is to Day 14.  No, I didn’t smooch Bad Relationship, plan a lobotomy or bury myself in chocolate and brie... I baked cookies for the fire department!

When I was eleven, I stepped on a needle. It went clean through my foot. It’s always disconcerting to see a foreign object protruding from one’s body but especially so when home alone. One quick call to 911 and a fireman whisked me away. But there is more than romance to admire in fireman. Public servants in general are worthy of appreciation but unlike firemen most gain some power in their position. The cop, the auditor, building inspector, they can all make your life hell if they want to. But firemen are just there when you need them.

Baking cookies sounded like a good idea, until I committed to it. Then clouds of doubt rolled in. “Is foisting cookies on the fire department my definition of a good deed? In this day of overabundant caloric intakes lurking everywhere, are cookies a blessing or a curse?” If I were resident blogger for One Thousand Days, inevitably we’d get bogged down arguing the moral value of cookies regularly.

Defining “good” sounds simple but has been plaguing philosophers forever (or at least since the Hellenistic period). In these situations sometimes, it’s helpful to ask, “What would Epicurus do?” Epicurus was the “pleasure is good, pain is bad” guru of the Greek’s golden age. Unfortunately, he had one qualification on pleasure. It has to be a lasting – drunkenness and debauchery were out. But what about cookies?

It’s tempting to fall into a philosophical abyss, pontificating on Epicurean ideas mutating through the philosophical lineage landing in our own age with Utilitarians, Economists and the slogan “maximize utility” (utility being a sterile word for pleasure). But I won’t.

Good deed or not, I delivered the bedeviled cookies.

“Did we do something for you?” the fireman asked.
“Um, no,” I said, “and I hope you never have to.”
He smiled and nodded. “Thanks,” he said looking a little puzzled and a lot bit happy.


Photo credits:
Fire Truck http://www.sxc.hu/photo/582465
Epicurious Free Clip http://www.cksinfo.com/people/famouspeople/philosophers/index.html
Cookies Annie Parker

and Cara says: 33 down, 967 to go.

Day 32 (or: Here’s to all things Quirky!)

One of the many wonderful things about living in a quirky, artsy, rustic, raw and wild little seaport town is that quirky things occur without any sort of prompting or contrivance.

Things like Kinetic Sculpture races (for the Grand scale) or seagull art (on a minor scale) or the local greasy spoon standing in as a lending library.

Yes. Sea J’s Café (using the word café very loosely) is a fixture in Port Townsend. A greasy, tiny, bawdy, fixture of true local significance and culture (not to be easily usurped by the new urban yuppies and health food junkies). One room, about 15x15, with a kitchen as large, both splattered from floor to ceiling in coffee and grease and off-color jokes, pictures and bumper stickers, all presided over by the sweetest rough around the edges staff you could ever find.

If you imagine something out of a movie scene, where local fisherman dine cheaply on boxed Danish and self serve mud which stands in for coffee, you’d be just a hair shy, because not only does Sea J’s make the meanest mushroom burger, onion rings and coffee milkshake, but it also hosts an informal book exchange (color me pleasantly shocked!). Today, as I was waiting patiently (read: slobbering slightly and slamming my spork on the table in anticipation) for my grease fix (more about my lapse of no meat-cheese-and sugar-ness in some other post), I took a minute to look around (actually, you could probably take several days to look around and still not see everything) and discovered the most phenomenal book about mothering lingering amidst a stack of paperback romance novels and historical murder mysteries. When I asked about the book, the staff gave a flick of a hand and said: “oh, people just bring ‘em in when they’re done with ‘em and take ‘em when they want ‘em!”

I walked away, hands heavy with a heart-attack-in-a-bag and my new book, imagining a world where we all took our read-through books to the local diner, ate our sustaining slice of pie and left with a different book in hand. What a lovely world that would be. I then imagined sharing my lending library find, only to cause a cascading over-abundance of books being donated to Sea J’s. Where would they put them all? You’d run out of room awfully quick in a 15x15 room.

Ah well, imaginings aside, Quirky, Offbeat Day 32 of One Thousand Days I picked out some choice and not so choice books from my bookshelf and took them down to Sea J’s to replenish the stock I took and to add to this very charming little library.

32 down, 968 to go.

Day 31 (or: This is Going to Require Copious Amounts of Grease and Alcohol)

Baby bunnies? That’s nothing compared to today’s Thing. The girlie conversation started at 10:30 a.m., and the Besty didn’t leave until 7:30 at night. That’s right, one mushroom burger, a grilled cheese sandwich, one plate of greasy onion rings, one plate of crinkle fries, one shared milkshake, 2 bottles of champagne and 1 bottle of wine later, I managed to talk the Besty out of the trees and back into her 7 year committed relationship (granted, she’s a smart-as-a-whip Besty, and would have figured things out without me, I’m sure). Whew! It’s all in a days work.

And let me tell you what: Day 31 of One Thousand Days, I realize that in the face of my dear friend's 7 years of commitment and constant work on a relationship, my previous paltry and murky One Thousand Days, and future glorious 969 days is nothing but an annoying little unimportant gnat. Buzz, buzz (Somewhere, Holly once again says:  "Duh!")

31 down, 969 to go.

Day 27 (or: The Most Unlikely of Good Deeds)

10 days.  I'm sorry.  I've been gone for 10 days.  I've been sick, and bed-ridden and traumatized and trying to be nice.  Really, I have been.  But it hasn't worked out all that well (read: I've been a heinous hose-beast).  You try to be nice when you're sleep deprived from hacking up a lung and when it feels like there's a small human sitting on your chest!  And (go ahead, I dare you!) YOU try to be nice when you feel like the worlds crashing down your around your ears because you can't get the laundry done and the cats are taking over the house, and the Son hasn't done any homework in god only knows how long.  What's that?  You say it would be a breeze?  You say I'm being whiney?  Well, you're a better human than I.  But that's what this blog is all about, isn't it.  Me being a better human. 

Okay.  Whining, lamenting and railing is over-rated.  I have to say, that while I haven't been being nice, all the lovelies in my life have been (bless their loving hearts!).  So for all of those un-done Days, there are the heros who brought me spicy soup and sushi (thank you, Holly!), and water in the middle of the night (darling boy!), and emailed and stopped by to see if I was okay.  And all of the extraordinary people who worked hard in my absence (sweet co-workers!), and sent me worried messages and offered to make me "witches brew", and who bought me herbs and entertained my son and drove him to soccer games.

And lastly, there's the secret darling who left chocolate on my car for me to find this morning.  And guess who that darling was?  That's right.  Day 27 of One Thousand Days, the Bad Relationship did the daily good thing and left me "subtly compassionate" chocolate (he's not an admirer, he says, but at least he's not a stalker!).  He's not all terrible, Holly!  Only partially.

27 down, 973 to go.

Day 26 (or: Pizza. I want it. Badly.)

Day 26. Wow. I’ve been doing good things for almost 4 weeks. And 11 people are “following” me. And I was approached on the street by a friend/reader, who found the blog amusing. And my first complete stranger commented “I love this blog!”. And my best friend’s parents think I’ve found my calling (they may be right). And the first boy joined as a “follower.” And I’ve quit swearing, quit eating dairy/sugar/meat (more on this in a minute), adopted a healthier state of mind, baked cookies, bought coffee for a stranger, planted things, done nice things for family, observed eco-Sabbath’s, and 17 other nice things.

But not today. Today I did nothing. Nothing but write about doing nothing. And watching Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter. Those of you who know me, know that these are my stress busting fallback movies. I watch them compulsively and repeatedly in order to soothe an achy brain. Why’s my brain achy? Because I’ve got a lingering horrible cough from my three weeks of illness and in the last couple of days, I

(1) had an enormous fight with my bad-website-searching son (use your imagination), and

(2) had words with my mother, and

(3) had to hold my ground with the sneaky and pathetic Bad Relationship who I really care for.  The butt.  Yes. I told him to get lost. Again. This time it didn’t take me as long – only about 6 hours – you would have been proud, and

(4) suffered the brutal slings and arrows from a Besty (which was all for the best, she prompted me to stand my ground with Mr. Bad, but was really a painful thing). Boy was I up to my eyeballs in swear words. Good time to quit swearing, huh?

And (5) I may have also had a maple bar. Or two.

Can day 26 be about allowing myself to fall down a bit? Yes. I make up the rules. I’m glad you agree. And what’s more, I’m going to further someone else’s cheese habit. Day 26 of One Thousand Days I order pizza for the neighbor. Really good pizza. And I’ll watch the pizza delivery van drive up the street, and I’ll think about all that cheesy goodness, and I’ll remember that there are other people on this planet, and they might have difficulty in their lives and they might deserve cheese, too.

26 down, 974 to go.