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Dec. 25th, 2016

Renaissance Woman

Christmas meditation

On a Christmas day when my extended family members had no plans that included me, and the weather (icy rain) has kept me alone at home when I might otherwise have joined friends at the Como Conservatory and/or a Newtonfast party:

In honor of the spirit of Christmas, I want to understand my family in the most generous possible light.

Because I feel somewhat discounted and forgotten among the extended family in which I grew up, I want to understand them with all the love and compassion I would wish for myself in their place. I look to understand them with the same compassion I pray for my own part, in light of my human limitations.

I ask, how would I wish to be understood, if I had a husband and children and possibly grandchildren, and lived daily with all the demands of the people closest to me? What would I want others to understand if the demands of my life left me with little extra time or energy or resources for others, however much I might care about them?

I want to bring to my rejected feelings all the awareness, understanding, compassion and acceptance they need, in order that I may make peace with myself, and so better understand the people in my life. Understanding my own limitations gives me the basis for understanding the limitations of others.

If I embrace my feelings of resentment so as to comfort them with all due compassion, then I am at peace, and being at peace, it is easy to wish my estranged relations all the peace and happiness and joy the season can bring them.

And if I am happy with my own company, that is certainly a bonus.
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Oct. 17th, 2016

Renaissance Woman

New Coloring Pages

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Poll #2055783 New Coloring Pages

I'm thinking of creating new coloring pages and wonder what is of most interest?

More Fairy women (see samples)
0(0.0%)
Animals with fanciful butterfly wings
1(14.3%)
Mudras (hands) with fancifully doodled interiors
1(14.3%)
Abstract doodles
1(14.3%)
Sampler sayings (see samples)
4(57.1%)


Faery women:

Sampler Sayings:



Mudras:
Samples

As you may recall, I've previously published
'A Discordian Coloring Book'

Aug. 8th, 2016

Renaissance Woman

Until that steam engine from Hogwarts arrives...

Week of August 1 - 8
Last week I wrapped up the revisions intended to upgrade 'Thanksgiving' before sending it off to Eric Ruben, the agent who'd requested to see the full manuscript. And then I finally sent it off. Fingers crossed! I think the revisions have improved the overall tension of the story. [Oh and I need to verify whether Shira Hoffman ever received my submission in response to her request through that pitch contest]

I did better on dancercize and music practice this week>

Sending the revised mss to the agent was the biggest deal of the week. This week I plan to look into Kindle Scout as a possible avenue to publishing 'The Winter Knife.' Read-through first.

I bused to south Minneapolis to attend the MNStF meeting on Saturday.

But stayed in on Sunday, although I'd planned an emergency trip to the dentist after a chunk broke off one of my secondary incisors. I called the emergency number and they said they'd page the on-call dentist, but I never heard back, and now it will have to wait, since this morning laundry HAD to be done and tomorrow morning there's primary voting.

Maybe this coming weekend. Fortunately, it's not really painful, but the break left a sharp edge to be wary of.

Coming up this weekend also: MFW meeting on Saturday, Rise Up Singing on Sunday. Sometime in there I'll need to do grocery shopping.

FOR NEXT TIME:Collapse )
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Feb. 28th, 2016

Renaissance Woman

Why create works of art?

New blog post: https://wonderbysometime.wordpress.com/

"Humans are wired to create works of art (visual, musical, visceral, muscular, gustatory, literary, and more) the way birds are wired to build nests. Some might argue that nests serve a more practical, observably useful purpose than do works of art.

That would depend on how much we value cognitive maps making sense of our complex world and how we value the kind of thinking that builds bridges between individuals and society, between the worlds of the senses and of objective rationality, the kind of thinking good at finding creative solutions to the plethora of problems we encounter while living in the material world."
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Dec. 20th, 2015

Renaissance Woman

Oom pa pa

Today I had the chance to spend time visiting with old friends, and later singing a wide array of Christmas carols with new friends and old - a wonderful way to ease the pain of a recent loss.

Remarkably, we carolers were joined for a while by a tuba player - reminding me strongly of my tuba-playing kid brother, David L Sasseville - as if he were with us in spirit.
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Dec. 19th, 2015

Renaissance Woman

David Sasseville

To this day, I refuse to eat mayonnaise because of a disgusting story David told me when we were in grade school. He turned his eyelids inside out because he knew it bothered me. He teased me continually. For my looks: my nose, my figure, my scent, my oddball interests... I’m still defensive about my interests in mystical philosophies, meditation, and in fantasy & science fiction literature because of the way he teased me about them.

Most of my memories of Dave are from childhood through grade school. We grew apart in later years. He got involved with sports in high school and made a lot of friends outside the family. I lived mostly in the books I loved reading, and while I made a few friends and was respected in the art room, I was never as out-going as he was and I went away to college while he was still in high school.

When we were very young, Dave, and I, and our sister Melanie were often the closest or only play-mates available for each other. Around the neighborhood we’d play ‘Witch’s Pies’ and tag (Frozen Tag, Television Tag, etc) and Dodge Ball. We’d play Parcheesi and Hearts at home – often while sprawled out on the carpet in front of the television. We’d watch the Little Rascals, The Bowery Boys and Saturday morning cartoons together, and Mel Jass’s Epic Theater screenings of Hercules movies...

We’d make up our own games – imagining the neighborhood as an undersea world in which we swam, or the shrubberies of a vacant lot would become the hallways of a brambly castle. A red-striped curtain became the setting for a hospital drama we called ‘Peebee and the Blood Machine.’ I had a black dress - patterned with tiny strawberries, but it was black, so I became the witch of a chasing game we called ‘Witchita.’ We involved other neighborhood children in our games when at home, and involved our cousins when spending summers at the family cabin on Jewett Lake.

I was nineteen months older than David and, doubtless, I carried myself with an unconscious air of my own superiority. I was always ahead of him – a little bigger and stronger from the start, a year ahead of him in school: first to read and write, first to learn my math, etc. And he was always determined to prove himself at least as capable.

Dave and I were always competitive. We’d compete for the biggest cookie or brownie, see who could catch the most sunnies while fishing off our grandfather’s sailboat, and we’d tussle in hand-to-hand combat. Until he was about twelve and one day he hit me a little too hard, hurting me more than expected, and I went berserker on him – determined to strangle him by the neck until dead, if not strong enough to actually do much damage. I was frightened by my own loss of control, and for his part, he backed off when it came to picking on me physically.

His competitive spirit likely stood him in good stead when it came to succeeding in his chosen career. (It probably didn’t help Dave’s ego that I did better than he did on the LSATs and later dropped out of law school – as if I didn’t value something he saw as especially important.)

I didn’t like the conflict. I hadn’t had to try as hard as Dave did, and in fact it took me some time to grow out of my unconscious assumption of superiority in academic matters – it took getting involved in a social group founded by nerds, where I met many people more gifted than myself, but did find some appreciation for my oddball interests and my artistic capability.

Dave excelled as a lawyer. I even called on him for advice when I was in a situation where I needed to sue a former landlord, and he came to my rescue a couple times when my financially very insecure career as an artist wasn’t panning out and I needed help to come up with rent. His legal expertise came in handy for all of his siblings when it came to settling the estate of our Uncle Jim.

In recent years we took to playing ‘Words With Friends’ together – he managed to beat me an average of two games out of three, which I attribute to his having honed his competitive edge over the years, while I often play just for the fun of it, ignoring the scores, and when playing Scrabble live, will take on more of a teaching role for those who need an assist.

David chose well in his wife, Mary, who brought gentler and kinder qualities to their marriage, and he grew to become a much more considerate man and father than he’d been as a kid brother. I was proud of him.

It's very much to Dave's credit, the way he grew and changed as an adult. As he recorded in his first-born daughter Natalie’s baby book, he underwent a major change in his outlook with fatherhood. I saw it when I first saw a photo of him with his new baby. The change was visible, revealing a caring and gentle side to his nature that I had not seen in him before. At the time, I remarked to myself that my pestiferous brother had turned into a human being. Now I am only sorry that I didn't get the chance to better know that new improved version of my kid brother.
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Dec. 18th, 2015

Renaissance Woman

Squirrel!

We rescued a squirrel Wednesday night on the job. It had been trapped in the enclosed area of the stairwell in the south ramp since sometime Tuesday. While I was doing the driving patrol the next evening a couple people came up to me to report sightings. One told me the squirrel had gotten as far as the skyway lobby that morning, where it ran frantically around, startling employees on their way in to work.

We ended by propping the ground level doors open. I closed the one that was opening and closing on auto-pilot, for fear the motion would only scare the creature away. A couple of our people from the Security Control Center (Jesse and Robert ) chased it down the stairs. Robert had spotted it on the security cameras and directed Jesse to come in from above, then joined him. They used plastic 'floor wet' signs to bang the stair rails and poke at it when the creature tried hiding behind stanchions.

I put out a few cashews near the open door and stood by. When the squirrel came to ground level it first ran directly behind my feet, then up my leg! (Guess I looked friendly).

I tried backing slowly toward the door with the squirrel clinging to my slacks, but it took fright and ran off again. (Stupid squirrel).

It ran into a trash receptacle and the guys tried throwing a rug over that and hauling the whole bin out - but squirrel escaped again.

After more chasing up and down, we finally cornered it near the door and converged on it until it suddenly - finally - noticed the open door and ran out into the night. Last sighted heading for the park across the street.
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Dec. 12th, 2015

Renaissance Woman

Magic and Money

I’ve published two volumes of short stories from the files of the Fairy Godmothers’Union, True Love Local and a full-length novel, ‘Wonder Guy,’ (Kensington’s Lyrical Press) in which his fairy godmother grants super powers to grad student Greg Roberts — just so he can impress the girl next door.

When I have the opportunity, I like to ask people what they would wish for from a fairy godmother. It shouldn’t surprise me that so many people mention the same things. High on the list is healing – whether for an ailment of one’s own or for loved ones suffering from cancer or other diseases. I've been wishing for that one for several years now...

Many people also wish for relief from difficult circumstances, and for peace, and protection for their families in an uncertain world.

I might have expected more people to wish for money, and am glad to see so many who think first of the more immediate, human needs that money only exists to serve.

Money often seems to be the real world’s substitute for fairy godmother magic. Money can make the difference between receiving vital medical treatment and medication – or not receiving them. Money can pay for a military, for guns and security systems. It can provide food to the hungry – if there’s someone around who has grown and harvested that food. It can pay for transportation to carry us half-way around the world to visit distant friends and family, it can provide housing and clothing and essential services and pure luxuries… all depending on and presupposing the caring, hard work and ingenuity of the people who produce the goods and who provide the services…

Money only seems like magic. The real magic is in the people, in us; the money is a symbol representing the value of what we can do to change the world.

Money can help with some difficulties, but it can’t return a loved one who has died. The laying on of currency won’t cure the common cold, let alone a cancer. Money can help pay for medical research because it helps support the people with the drive, intelligence and training to do that research. Money can help support the people who care enough to work with those who are stricken by accident or disease, but the magic is in those people who care and dedicate their lives to that work.

It’s when we start thinking about the things money can’t buy that we come close to understanding this true magic. If money were the most valuable thing, why would we spend so much of it trying to extend the life of a sick dog or cat that’s only bound to die eventually anyhow? Or heck, why spend it on anything that doesn’t add to the bottom line of our own finances? Why buy books or music, games or artwork, why spend money on any but the most utilitarian of clothing?

Clearly, people are only willing to part with money because there are things we value more: life and health and the safety and well-being of our loved ones, friends and communities – just to begin with. When basic needs are met, we value beauty and meaning and amusement. Books and stories are important to me because they remind me of just how much I value being involved with people – even imaginary people in imaginary worlds.
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Dec. 10th, 2015

Renaissance Woman

May his memory be a blessing

My brother, David L Sasseville passed away a little before 6a.m. this morning.

Many thanks to ann_totusek who gave me a lift out to Edina so that I could spend some time with him and family while he was still here. He was unconscious for the whole time I could stay. Still, I'm very glad to have had the chance to be with him, and with the other people who've known him and care about him. Being with each other made it easier on all of us.
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Nov. 30th, 2015

Renaissance Woman

I like big books and I cannot lie...

Week of November 23 - 30
I quit NaNoWriMo after hitting the 30,000 word mark, but am still going forward with the book project on a slower basis. 'Yuletide' is the second of a projected five-book series. In this story an older woman is able to project her consciousness back into her past for a 'do-over' chance at finding happiness.

A couple weeks ago someone who wanted to buy the Discordian Coloring Book informed me that my link to do so on Cafepress.com was no longer working. It took me this long to track down the files and reissue the coloring book through Amazon's Creatspace! Whew! It's back. https://www.createspace.com/5903483

I hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving! (I did - the weather was bad for driving, so rather than have my sister come get me to join a smaller family group, I just stayed home and made lasagna.) We had our monthly filk circle last night - a small gathering with Richard and Sharon out of town for the holiday and Sarah recovering from driving back from Georgia - still, it was good fun, good company and good food.

FOR NEXT TIME:Collapse )
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