Marvels

It's the little things in life.

Like finding cartoons that are perfectly true and funny. (by Lucy Knisley)



Like watching my orchid send out a stalk that will bloom with flowers! I don't even remember what kind of orchid it is, it hasn't bloomed in over 3 years.


Like getting a little plate into the store where I work that reminds me of my sister and my niece. "That's my FACE!"

1000 days at sea

Ben and I are considering living on a boat when we move to Monterey, CA. I spent a year and then summers living aboard Feather, a 38ft sloop, when I was a child/teenager, so sailboat-living feels like home to me. Ben spent a little bit of time on Feather too, and we spent a week on a couple sailboats up in the Great Lakes a couple years ago, so he's familiar with it, but I think it seems very novel to him still.
The main reason for considering this is the cost of living on the West coast, which everyone keeps telling us is horrendously expensive. If we play our cards right, we may be able to spend less by living aboard than living in an apartment (buying a house is prohibitively expensive) for two years. We are open to buying or renting a boat/slip; whatever seems to make the most sense once we've examined all the options. This could go nowhere, and we might end up living on land afterall, but we're definitely trying to think outside the box to eliminate some of our financial stressors.

So, for inspiration, we've been looking at boat listings, and googling all sorts of live-aboard situations. Amongst beautifully decorated houseboat interiors on Apartment Therapy, I found this website, 1000 days at Sea, the Mars Ocean Odyssey. It's immensely inspiring, fascinating, and a testament to how brave/strong/amazing humans CAN be when they put their minds to a task. Basically, this couple (now just the man because the woman got pregnant and went back to land to have the baby), is sailing in open ocean without coming to port and without restocking for 1000 days (nearly 3 yrs!). They (He) achieved this goal just 3 days ago, and is still out on the water til summertime. Here is a direct link to a nice description of their plan when they set out (where/why/how). And here is a link to their daily blog, starting at Day 1 (if you're reading it chronologically, you have to click "previous" instead of "next" to get to the next day, which is a little counterintuitive). Reading through this feels comfortable, exciting, and reminds me of why I love sailing, and it also reminds me of all the troubles/travails you have to deal with when the only person who can help is yourself. Of course, what they are undertaking is several orders of magnitude more intense than anything I've ever done (my longest ocean passages have only been ~60 hrs long), so I am learning lots and enjoying the insight into their explorers' minds. I recommend reading their blog, it's light reading--only a couple paragraphs per day--but gives very good insight into what their lives are like.

Soanya washing sprouts in the galley

Soanya and Reid in front of their bent bowsprit from colliding with a freighter one night. Doh.

The Artist's Way

So, I am undertaking The Artist's Way, a book/12 wk self-directed 'course' in....I'm not sure exactly what. Creativity? Finding a voice? Acting on creative ideas? All I know is that people who have done it recommend it highly, and it just feels right to me at this point. I wanted to make sure I got some good creative time in
1. AFTER I applied to schools (first thing's first!)
2. BEFORE I attend school in Fall 2010 (so I don't feel like I've let my 'time off' go to waste)
(side note-- and this is a BIG side note-- I got in to my program of choice! But that's a different blog post altogether)

I just happened to hear that a good friend of mine is doing The Artist's Way out in California along with a group of others. They're meeting once/week (I think), but I have been invited to follow along and join in the ReplyAll email messages of the group, along with a couple other participants who live far away from the group.

It's only been a week, but I am really really enjoying the group nature of this. My personal work hasn't been mindblowing, or too much different from my normal life yet. The 3 pages of writing we're supposed to do each day is only slightly longer than the journal I already keep, though it does require a bit more discipline to maintain. The "artist's date" seems to be something that I already did, but just felt guilty about because I assumed that time spent inspiring myself or enjoying alone time was equal to procrastination and/or waste. It's really relieving to know that it's GOOD for me. And allowing myself the structure and awareness of this time means that I am diminishing the 'wasted' or 'procrastinating' time because I don't share that time with negative, guilty thoughts that inhibit my productivity. Anyway, hearing other peoples' experiences as they struggle with or achieve the tasks assigned to us in the book make me feel like it's a more interesting, valid and worthwhile endeavor.

So, I already posted this picture on facebook (I try not to double post things too much) and already sent it to the group of Artists Way friends, but this is exciting enough to me to want to post it here too.

**********
Just wanted to share... on my 2nd week's artists's date this morning, I found this metal tool box/tackle box/artists' box (and some other goodies for future use in creativity). I posted it on facebook with this caption: "SCORE! Found this box for $1.50 at the goodwill. Just what I was looking for, and already broken in (well loved) (aka nice patina on the outside) but in perfect structural condition. Here it is already in use. I think it is a serendipitous reward for spending time this week to actually MAKE the little eyeshadow cases (seen in the bottom, with the japanese print fabrics) I've been imagining for months."

The eyeshadow cases were what I made over the course of several artists dates during the 1st week. One thing leads to another! Even though I don't believe in cause and effect in a superstitious way, I am psyched that these followed each other (o: I have to add that I have never been much of a make-up wearer except that I'm a performer, and have thus learned that good make-up is an art into and of itself, and one that I have come to enjoy quite a bit over the years. Having a proper place for all the right tools feels like giving the thumbs up to that aspect of my creativity, rather than the "shove it all in a box and ignore that you're actually good at make-up" attitude I've had for so long.
***********

Every time I see this picture, I get really excited. I've always had a penchant for boxes and pockets and organizing things...but this is MINE! It has my own stuff that I use regularly in it! I only spent $1.50 for it!!! (Similar boxes, also used, I found for $18-34 today, across the street from the goodwill in antique stores) I don't have to dig for anything, it's all easily accessible and visible. It condenses the many make-up bags I was using, and makes it easily portable. Plus it is so pretty.

I kind of can't believe that me, Alyssum, is excited about this. But also really happy that I'm letting myself be.

I like sparklies

Yes, I do.

New Year 2010

wake up, foxy!



Resolutions:

1. Get into grad school

2. don't eat pizza for 6 months

3. Ride bike/walk to work

4. Keep dream kitchen nice and dreamy

5. Work on some artistic projects before starting grad school so I have some things to be proud of in that arena before I start, so I don't feel torn while I'm in school. I am learning to let the 2 sides of my brain take turns instead of trying to hold both hands at the same time.

Mira Betz's strangest performance

Oh dear. Woke up early this morning, checked my tribe.net account, saw that there was a new podcast with an interview with Mira Betz on YIP. Let me preface the rest of this story by saying: Mira is one of my dearest friends, and also one of my major dance influences. On a professional level, I admire her maturity, her depth of focus, her perfectionism. On a personal level, I love her spontaneity, her creativity, and how we feel like sisters picking at one another, supporting one another, and laughing (or crying) together at our foibles.
So, I gave the podcast a listen, to hear her voice that I miss, and to support her from afar. She gives a very straightforward interview on the types of things you would expect to hear from a famous bellydancer: her influences, what she finds important to teach, music she loves, and so on. Then, the interviewer asks her if her jellyfish piece was the strangest performance she's ever done. Immediately, my heart does a little flip flop because I'm pretty sure I know the answer. I'm kind of dreading her mentioning the piece we did back in August. To my relief, she says Buto theatre pieces are stranger than the Jellyfish Piece (which starts @ 1:09 in that link, and is a lovely homage to that gelatinous creature).
....And then, she starts telling the story about our piece back in August. I'm nervous and kind of embarrassed because it was definitely an impromptu strange thing that just sorta happened, and not something I really envisioned anyone (ha, everyone) knowing about in regards to my professional performance history. So, before I go farther, give it a listen. (Her interview starts at 27 minutes, and the story begins at 42:43).

Okay, so now that she's spilt the beans for people who weren't at Mecca that night, here's my version. The costume was the result of me just trying to get Mira out of the house, trying to get her to laugh and forget about playing the part of a proper famous bellydancer for a little bit. It worked! We even got my boyfriend in on the put-everything-on costume (what a sport).
So we arrived at Mecca, and to my bewildered amusement/disbelief, people (instead of laughing at our ridiculous costumes as I'd imagined they would) started exclaiming how amazing the costumes were, and how they couldn't wait to see what we were going to perform. WTF? The more people that said this, the less time/fewer options we had for just making a quick clothing change. And the rest, they say, is history. Here are some pictures, in sequential order, taken by Silvio Wolf Busch of the performance. Ay yai yai.










And later, Mira did a beautiful improvisation to our live drummers, holding the audience and the drummers in the palm of her hand, incredible as always.

crates and crochet

I really like the aesthetic that these apple crates on the wall as shelving give. Especially with that one blank spot where the wall shines through instead of seeing the back of another crate.

I am also surprised to like this aesthetic. I imagine a non-stop crocheter who puts garlands of crocheted squares everywhere, even into the greenhouse. But somehow, this unexpected bit of indoor warmth and domesticity brings extra love to the (quasi)-outdoors. Assuming that I didn't have crocheted squares all over my house inside, I think I would actually love to have this sort of decoration in my greenhouse. (If I had a greenhouse and a house, that is).