It's ARTICLE time!

 There is so much I wouldn't know if it weren't for the power of my mother's scissors:

 And this, is one of my favorites.
('a must' click to read)

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. 

~william arthur ward

Sure, you can say 'thanks' anytime, but today seems like an awfully good time to say it to everyone.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Other People's Lives

I have an addiction.  And usually, the first step, is admitting it.
Problem is, as long as their are estate sales, flea markets, boot sales and sidewalks with stuff for sale, I'm never getting over this one.
Every month, I think the same thing:  I probably have enough stuff by now.  I've got thousands of old photos, and hundreds of old letters, multiple family photo albums, many, many notebooks,  dictionaries galore and an untold amount of playing card collections.
Other peoples stuff. Mine now.  Who's later?
I asked the owner of the estate sale company, Guy, if this job made him more of a hoarder or more of a minimalist.  His answer, both surprising and inevitable, was minimalist.  With a caveat of trying to live by the motto of letting one thing go when you bring another in.  Yeah, I've always told myself I do that, too.
And it's true, to an extent.  Though I'm not sure RK would agree, I think I live by this motto at home.  I absolutely in no way apply this same rule to my studio.  Whatsoever.
And that, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is how I justify buying one more photo, another letter, the filled-up photo album, the half-empty notebooks, and the Webster's of a different year.
This past weekend was no different:  the photos I came home with will be up at my blog other people's lives all this coming week, the 10 wood boxes I came home with, and lovingly cleaned, will be turned into new work by the time of the next open studios, the geography book is a piece of history that can only be read to be believed and the 2-foot snapshot of the Forks and Knives club of San Francisco has already entertained RK and I for a good hour.  I HAD to get it!  I'm still a little sad I couldn't get both of them.
Bring in:  BUYERS REMORSE!
I think because my sister, a fellow collector, has a few more years experience, she's better at saying 'no'.  As in, 'no i don't really need that, because i don't really want that. moving on!'  I often think I must have something and then curse myself for spending the $5 on it when I get home.  This is a hoarder/bargainers brain.  I live with it.  RK constantly telling me to 'let it go', by which he means either let it go out of your brain or let it go in a sale.
So, I let it go.  Out of my brain.  Mostly.

But I do have to get to the flea market next week... I just know there's something I need.

Animal Love, Anyone?

Just because I know my own dog is gorgeous and sweet and adorable and juicy...doesn't mean I can't appreciate the cuteness in others.  Even cats.

Until one has loved an animal,
a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.
- Anatole France

We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.
- Immanual Kant

all images from the fabulous website Trend Tablet

Today's date is 11.11.11
which is really pretty cool.  As cool as 4.4.4 and 5.5.5 and 6.6.6, etc
but, we're talking about today.
I don't think it has any huge karmic significance or that things are going to 'happen' because of this interesting time scale.
But, it is cool and pretty neat and fun to think about.


Just like this monkey.



And this amazing project by Amy Krouse.

i took that image and i stitched it carefully into the hem of my own life

I didn't hesitate a bit last week when a friend handed me her half-finished (evident by a classic bookmark:  the book flap) copy of Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I'm one of few people I know personally that really, really liked the book Eat, Pray, Love.  
I  liked it so much I bought multiple copies and gave them to a few very good friends, including my sister.  I thought each one of them would love it in their own unique way.
Only one of those people actually finished it.

That's cool.  It's not for everyone.
Mostly the feedback I heard was that they didn't like her voice.  They didn't like her.
Her is Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of this very autobiographical book.
They thought she was whiny.
And she's the same reason why my friend handed me her not-quite-finished copy of Committed.

I must say... during the reading of both of these books, I never even thought of her. 
The words she wrote, I applied them differently to my life.
The same way I think we all do, with every book we either love or hate.
A book on one end of the spectrum or the other, for you, most likely has a recurring 'thing' about it that just doesn't let up.  But, to me, books are a bunch of mundane or pretty good or fantastic lines of poetry.  I get caught up in a good story as much as the next guy, but really, for me, reading is like a river that you dip your toes in and out of.  Words pop out at me as beautiful, and little stories in themselves.  Put together in an arresting sentence, well, you've got me.  And, I wasn't an English major in spite of this fact, but because of this fact.

As evidenced, I'm not thinking of Elizabeth Gilbert.  I've only ever seen her on the book-jacket and I've never heard her speak.
I don't know anything about her but what she told me in the book before this one.
So, I jump in and find the next beautiful word, wherever it may find me.

ps: i really did enjoy Committed (title of post paraphrasing a line from the book)  i've even recommended it a few times now, but tend to mention it's available at the library...

pps: it's a great big world out there, you don't want to loose your place...may i recommend this collection?

 

bookmarks:  checkit