eep!

i wish i had something pretty for you to look at this morning! but after a three-day weekend moving extravaganza, and a new house with no internet, i am a little behind on my blogging. i will be back as soon as i can, i hope you have a lovely day today. i have a good feeling that once i can catch up on my sleep, june is going to be a good month.

how i ended up liking mornings, or: my favorite part of my house.

shhhh!! i am playing hooky from work today! mostly because i have about a million things to do, and no time to do them. today i just want to talk about coffee (!) and about the sun in the mornings, especially in the summertime--if there is anything that makes up for the forty below in minnesota, it's these looooong summer days. i wake up in the morning and, for a few seconds, think i have been transported somewhere exotic, with all-night sunshine. anyway, about the coffee:
my programmable coffeemaker has changed my life. seriously. every weekday since i received it, i have programmed it to brew my coffee at six a.m. and you know what? it has made all the difference in the world. admittedly, sometimes the coffee sits in the coffeemaker until six-thirty, but for the most part, the gurgling sound and coffee smell are a great alarm clock (i still need my normal one, don't get me wrong). and in the warm months? ah, i love to sit on my back porch and just be in the sun. or write my morning pages, now that i do that.
the mug is one of my favorite possessions, the first piece of pottery i bought in college, and carried all over the world with me (or, at least to norway). and when i say 'possession', i mean, i'm weirdly possessive about it. i can't really handle seeing anyone else drink out of it. i'm not like that about anything else i own.
i will really miss this back porch. but somehow, i think my new back porch, with the private backyard and garden, will not be too difficult to get used to.
i hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

hot off the press.

i am slowly but surely building up a little inventory. let me emphasize slowly. so slowly it's driving me crazy, every day finds me wanting a new, part-time job more and more. anyway, i was pretty excited about the color that ended up on the inking disc the other night.

and, since i am totally cheap, i often proof my new ideas over top of my old ones, which led me to this lovely color overlap/combo. i don't know if anyone else gets this excited about layers of transparent color, but let me tell you, this is one of my favorite things in the whole world. i think i jumped up and down when this came off the press. soon, i hope to show you an example of this that is more. . . on purpose, shall we say? i really wanted to have my shop re-opened by the end of may, but obviously some other things have gotten in the way. moving has taken a log out of me, and has thrown me off a little. i think will still be shooting for a summer re-opening of the ol' etsy (i just realized i haven't really talked about it that much at all on here. i think it's because i don't like to talk about things, i like to just do them. and since i am not quite ready for the doing, i hesitate to do the talking). i will keep you posted!

blah blah blah, art (and a new artist i really like).

discovered someone new yesterday, as i dialogued yesterday. it was an interesting discussion, about whether or not the online art world is reflective of the art and gallery scene in the "real" world. it was a discussion that stayed with me all day, and when i went back to see what others had said, i found that most people weren't answering the question, "does the online art community reflect real life", rather they were saying, "the online art community is better than that of real life!" which, in some ways, it is.
but you know what? sometimes i miss real life galleries and art scenes! i like openings, the excitement of preparing for a party, of inviting friends, of the possibility of meeting new ones (not to mention, there is usually free food!). i also miss seeing work in real life, taking in the size and scale, specific details, textures, and colors that sometimes get lost when work is distilled into a photograph and viewed on a screen.
i have been rather isolated in my own art making in the last few years (or in my not making, as the case may be). i have found the online community to be open and accessible. but is it better? i don't know. it is different, that is for sure. after the whole discussion, i feel inspired to get out and get involved in my local real life art scene.
viewing art online is a very private experience--it reminds me of how people used to listen to and perform music in community and that was how it was, but now we all have our ipods and we just listen to our own music and experience it very privately. there is no discussion over images we find online (usually), not much conversation or interaction (and we all know how i like to converse).
but if we are going to talk about the online art community, and how nice it is to stumble across someone whose work you like, then i want to talk about nigel peake. his blog is lovely, with photographs and drawings--mostly houses and structures, which are always good in my book. the photo above is his.

iris. that's me.

one of the benefits of living with an herbalist is that you learn a lot of interesting things. for example, i am an iris. which is nice, since i have always liked irises, particularly the wild ones that grow in the ditches along the roads near my parents' old house in northern wisconsin. in greek mythology, iris is the messanger, the connection between the gods and humanity, using the rainbow as her vocabulary (iris = rainbow in greek). sort of like an artist.
as plants, irises are the ones that grow wild in boggy, swampy, mucky areas. they send their rhizomes out under the earth, through the muck and, just when you think they are not going to come up, they shoot out through the muck and raise their flags as little bright signs of persistence and beauty. irises are fighters, they metabolize the muck and bloom in the midst of it.
the iris is a gorgeous flower, and i identify with her in so many ways, especially the more julia reads to me.

(images found at the lovely small stump + studio choo. they always have gorgeous photos of their arrangements.)

welcome, summer.

it could not have been a more beautiful weekend for a move. and by that, i mean: it didn't rain. nor was the weather too hot. we had so many people graciously help us move all of our earthly possessions from one house to the other. now we just have to wait for the painter to finish up at the new house (which is looking great!) and should be able to start settling in next weekend. i am tired, but relieved that everything went so well.

rewind a week: i finally had a chance to upload my photos from art-a-whirl last weekend and realized this was the only one i actually took, from the fifth floor of the california building (full of beautiful studio spaces with gorgeous light). to be honest, i was a little bummed out by art-a-whirl (i was thinking of maybe blogging about it, but i just didn't see much work that i really liked, and really don't want to bring negativity into this spot, especially about art and other artists). however, it was a lovely, lovely day for biking around northeast and being a part of my little neighborhood. i really do love my city in the summertime.

this kills me every time i hear it.

here goes sharing my first video (and risking the employer-enforced extra-curricular internet watching). i die every time i hear it on the radio.

sleep deprived, week three (and i don't even have a baby).

you know what people don't usually photograph and upload to their flickr photostreams? moving. it makes sense. it's not that exciting. in fact, it's kind of stressful. i can't even describe how tired i am. there are some boxes sitting in my living room. i haven't managed to make time to pack any of them, but they are here, waiting. tomorrow night maybe? oh, and i mentioned flickr, because when i searched for pictures of 'moving', this was the best option i got (which i happen to love, because it reminds me of the mountains and ghost towns and cowboys):

(photo found here.)

is this post even making any sense? as i write this, it's almost friday (only nine more minutes!) and my mind is not exactly cooperating with me. work has totally fried me this month. i realized this week that the major project i am finishing up at work is the first one of its size, possibly ever, that hasn't made me cry. i kind of can't believe that 'not crying' is a positive assessment of my current job.
but where was i? oh, yes. moving. this weekend. fortunately, my parents are coming to help, and the heat wave seems to be over, so hopefully the weekend will include a little rest (and maybe even a hamburger?!) along with the heavy physical labor.
what are you up to on this lovely three day weekend? i hope that whatever it is involves some sunshine, rest, and being with the ones you love.

thievery.

someone (i cannot for the life of me remember who) posted this quote several weeks ago. i have come back to ruminating about it since then and i am simultaneously inspired and appalled by it.
what do you think? are we all doomed to recycling ideas? is that such a bad thing? is it possible to tell the difference between innovation and imitation? i would be interested in hearing thoughts. one of the things i miss most about school (yes, these five years), one of the reasons i wish i had a special man-friend (i guess he would have to be the perfect one, obviously, since not all boys like talking about ideas like this) is talking about ideas! and about creativity and about work that is good or not, etc etc etc.
you know. so, even though i would prefer to have such a conversation face-to-face, share them with me in blogland, because that is what is available at the moment.
have a great wednesday. this week is a doozey for me, so i will be really glad when it is over.

i love my daily worth.

a few months back, jena posted some encouraging words she had received in her daily worth email and i was so inspired, i went right over to the website to sign up to get my own money-related love notes! since then, i really do look forward to them every day. i thought i would share a couple with you, the ones that have been most encouraging and challenging to me. but don't take my word for it, sign up to receive your own! here is a good one to start with:

Waiting Out the Darkness
You've decided that you want something – a new job or career, a particular client, a new house, a move across the country – and you go after it. Here's the catch: It could take days, months, even years. You just have to be determined enough to wait out the darkness in between the “wanting” and the “getting.”

i breathed a huge sigh of relief when i read this. there was some more information at the bottom of the email, with a link to an article, and the words "getting rich slowly". which was exactly the reminder i needed. i will not save all the money i need overnight, it takes time. it takes time to build up a savings account for emergencies or overhead for a tiny business start-up. it takes time to save up for the things i want. and that is okay. it's really all about my attitude, my perseverance, and my patience.