Sometimes there are good ones.
Like this one: permed+eyelashes+orange+california
The Note
The object in my Treasure Chest
was a large Silver Musical Note:
2 feet tall.
It shone and glimmered in the sun,
but not too brilliant to look at.
I knew it was mine.
It belonged to me.
And, even more,
I wanted it.
The Note was a little heavy:
It had weight to it.
But it was not unpleasant to hold.
The smooth edges made my fingers long
to stroke and dance along the edges and curves.
In my inner ears
I could hear its beautiful song.
It sounded familiar.
It was my voice.
It was my song.
Great Weekend
back from the Utah Trip.
It was great to see my parents and some other family as well. My kids had a great time jumping on the tramp, swinging, shooting air-soft and rubber band guns, typing on Grandma’s old-fashioned typewriter and so many other things.
I finished Joe’s quilt. Finally. It’s only about a year late….
We made some lists for 2004.
The traffic coming home wasn’t too bad at all.
Back to work today.
I’m the key-note speaker this Saturday at a conference. I’m almost ready….
Things feel good.
This is Andrew Phelps. Check it out…the eyes follow you and it’s a little weird but very cool. I hope he lets me know when the new site is up so I can add it to my side-bar.
Project Greenlight has a photo contest.
via emese’s blog.
Today's Letter
Re: Crab Salad
Hi Leah!
I know you won’t mind me using your first name since it sounds like everyone is overly familiar with you. I just wanted to say that I have similar experiences to yours, but only in Libraries and Bookstores.
Although I am a Librarian, people just assume that I am an employee of whatever building I am in. I mean it’s not like I wear my work nametag everywhere I go or anything. I get asked all kinds of directional questions. “Where are the cookbooks?” “Do you know where the bathroom is?” I mean, don’t they see the purse? Employees don’t carry their purses around with them!
Weirdly enough, I can usually answer their questions, even when I am visiting the store for the first time myself, so there are probably a bunch of people walking around thinking that I work in a lot of places I was only visiting.
So what is it about us that make us the ones to chat with? Do we just project friendly/smart/approachable? Do we look like their mothers/sisters/best friends? I for one was at least relieved to read your article and realize that this type of thing happens to other people, but still…
Let me know if you find a way to make yourself more anonymous (so that only the cute guys approach you; not the restroom attendants!).
Karen
Dear Karen,
I actually did it to someone else the other day. I asked her where I could find the cards and she laughed nervously and said, ‘Oh. I don’t work here.’ and hurriedly walked away. I wanted to follow her and tell her, ‘Hey! No worries! This happens to me all the time. You don’t need to run away….I’m not really a weirdo.’ but that might have made me seem even stranger…
I laughed all the way home, though. And it kind of made me feel good in a way. After all, like you said, it’s a relief to know this kind of thing happens to other people. : )
leahpeah
Validation
Margot took me to dinner last night. We discussed reading credit reports, real estate, home loans and my boyfriend, Joe.
Margot paid the bill on the way out. She handed the guy her parking receipt.
M: Could I please get validation?
Guy: You look really pretty today.
You may notice the new ads on my site. I’m trying out Ad-Sense. If it works, it could help my next project get off the ground.
Hey Kids
Just Say No to being distracted while driving. My friend Charles is alive, but it’s a miracle….
Flaming Lips
In an article by David Bernstein in The New York Times about the Flaming Lips being up for a Grammy, you get a sense of why I like them. I also like the White Stripes but I’d be less likely to want to hang out with them or wish they were around when it’s time to clean out the garage…
“Two hours before the White Stripes and the Flaming Lips ushered in 2004 with their double-bill New Year’s Eve concert at the historic Aragon Ballroom here, the Flaming Lips were onstage blowing up oversize balloons, posing inflatable robots and setting up a giant video screen and confetti machine for their extravagant multimedia show.
By contrast, Jack and Meg White, who make up the White Stripes, were mostly backstage until performance time, their roadies, in black suits and bowler hats, guarding their dressing suite. The White Stripes are rock stars, and stars are not supposed to do stagehand work.”
BeLove and Animals
Mickele ‘BeLove‘ Hughes sent me two animal related links today.
1st: Check out the Best of 2003 photos according to Team House, a website for military Special Forces. I’m not sure what these photos have to do with them and their website is lacking in user-friendly ability, but the photos more than make up for the slowness. Here is one of my favorites:
2nd: Mike loves to watch AFV. I hate that show because it looks to me like people actually get hurt in those clips and it makes me sad that people laugh at that…. However, this little clip made me laugh out loud. It takes a minute to download, but be patient…it’s worth it.
Today's Letter
leahpeah,
On your web site you have some pages with your kids names on them but then you dont have anything on those pages. Why? and what is the difference betweem the art therapy paintings and the other paintings? They both look like the same kind.
Francis Lighton from Arizona
Well, Francis, let me start with the first part of your letter: the kids’ pages. I have been torn about putting up stuff from my kids on the internet. On the one hand, they create some really great stuff and I want to put it up there. On the other hand, I worry about there being some kind of backlash that I haven’t thought of. I’m not sure what. I just worry. But, as you can see, I haven’t taken the pages off. So I guess I’m still unsure. I’ll let you know if I ever put content on those pages.
To your second question, art therapy is different in only the name in my opinion. All my art is in some way therapeutic. However, the paintings in the art therapy gallery are specific to some kind of deliberate thought on my part as I was working through some issues pertaining to my traumas as a child and throughout my life. Any art can be used as a way to ‘therapize’ yourself. You only have to have that thought prior and during the making of the piece. Also, many times I’ll look back on a piece and see that it was healing for me to make it and I wasn’t even aware of it at the time. You might want to try it yourself. Just create something out of any medium you’d prefer and give yourself permission to explore your feelings as you do the work. Let me know how it goes.
best,
leahpeah
When I Turned 31
My birthday party at the Corvette Diner. I was there again last night, 2 years later. New photos coming real soon….
a man named Dan…
Dan Landrum is a friend of mine. We belong to the some of the same San Diego clubs etc. We talk on occasion and I’ve always had the sneaking impression that there was way more cool stuff about him than I knew, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until now.
Seva Deva is his resort where people can come and rejuvenate/heal themselves. Here is more about him along with the things he does at Seva Deva. And here is his partner, Carol, and what she contributes.
What an awesome team!
Someday I’d like to go for one of their retreats.
So Retro
I love that after women have climbed by the skin of their teeth out of the pegged hole named ‘only a stay at home mom’, these men are jumping into it in full force. It’s so good to see parenting taken seriously.
As it should be.