Hi, it isMelba here ~ time to share what I have been reading, listening, and watching...
Reading...
This week I bought three books. I won't be finishing them all anytime soon which is sort of good because I need to hold up on the book buying. AmazonPrime (which my brother in law signed me up for :) makes it too easy!
I will be reading a few chapters of Faeries of Dreamdark:Blackbringer by Laini Taylor everynight before I go to bed. I have been a long time reader of Grow Wings and blogger friend of Laini's so I don't really know why I didn't buy and read her book sooner.
The second book I purchased this week was also written by a Creative Blogger; Christine Mason Miller who writes the blogs Swirly Girl and Sparkletopia. Christine's new book, Ordinary Sparkling Moments, is the kind of book you savor. I keep flipping through the gorgeous pages reading a few at a time. This is one of my favorite pages so far.
And finally, I purchased Soul Coaching by Denise Linn because I signed up to participate in my dear Creative Blogger friend, Jamie's, new project called The Next Chapter. I haven't received the book yet, but that's OK because the project doesn't start until November. You should join! Everything Jamie does is wonderful ~ she is very talented, insightful, and lovely!
As you can tell I am a firm believer in supporting our Creative Blogging Sisters!
Earlier in the week I listened to the Magnolia Soundtrack. I remember liking the movie when I saw it in the theater in 1999. For some reason I was thinking about the CD and remembered we had it. I really like Aimee Mann's voice.
The only movie we watched this week was Charlie Wilson's War. I liked it. I had to really pay attention because I don't remember history. I realize now that despite my bad memory, I like historical movies. Last spring we watched John Adams on HBO and I loved the mini-series.
I updated this site a bit today; cleaning up some links. Let me know if there are any other Inspiring Creative Communities you think I might want to list on the sidebar to the right.
Thanks for your comments on last week's post!
It is so fun to share what we are reading, listening, and watching!!!
I'm posting this week while on the road, so Mother Henna's surf is a bit shorter than normal and is all over the map -- just like I am physically traveling all over the map these next few weeks it seems!
First up, we're here in lovely, sun filled, blessing of a swimming pool Arizona for the annual MISS Foundation Conference.
This amazing conference -- no, it is more than a conference -- this amazing experience, was founded by Cheyenne's mom, Dr. Joanne. Click that link to read a great post she shared with us this week about how we make meaning (or not) after great loss. I'm excited to say that one of our home town companies stepped up and sponsored a part of the Festival of Chocolates. A big thanks to Seattle Chocolate Company!
This annual event is more like a ritual for me. We live in a world that is mostly devoid of ritual for great loss. Parents become silent after their children die. Their parenthood is often closeted. But here at the MISS Foundation, they are offered a full context for their being. They are accepted whole. So in seeing the model of people like Dr. Jo and reading how to make meaningful ritual as Dr. Sukie writes about, I have come to appreciate the fullness of being here. Of being both my artist self and my mom self, outloud, fully counting ALL our children, not just those who are fortunately still with us here on the physical plane.
In planning for our trip, I did discover I'm getting a sore throat though, so that led to my next surf:
The Neti Pot
The one you see here is the "unbreakable" one from the Himalayan Institute, but they also sell the white porcelain one, too. I had seen my friend Nan use these Neti Pots with great success in staving off sore throat and colds. Since I really really want to be healthy for this whole trip, I decided to finally try it. I did get the "unbreakable" one because we are traveling on three planes and one train ride, so it seemed easier and safer to pack. I'm not thrilled that it's plastic, and may switch to the porcelain one afterall. But for now, it has been a savior on this trip. As soon as I do a wash with it, my nose clears and my throat doesn't hurt at all! It keeps coming back so far, but I'm keeping it up along with vitamin C and plenty of rest. I did get in the pool and let the heat soothe me today though! Lovely.
Fighting the Yeast Beast
Some of you know I've recently given up sugar completely in an attempt to deal with systemic yeast infection. Well, we've also discovered I'm reacting to wheat, too. So along with discoveries of things like Stevia, Spelt, and lemon in your drinking water, I've also learned a lot about Acidophilius, particularly the product from the Kyo-brand folks. Haven't been able to find it on our island and wasn't able to get to the mainland before our trip. So I got another brand that is close to it. Been using it at least one meal a day, sometimes two. Wow. I haven't had indigestion or problems sleeping all week! It's an interesting thing to see your own body shifting! I'm so sorry it took me this long to figure out these various pieces of the puzzle. But hopefully this old girl of a body will be kind and just work with me in the present!
Starting Poetry Therapy-ish Group
Had a wonderful email this week from a man in TX who is starting a poetry group thru a local university to work with homeless folks. Using poetry as expressive therapy. He had read some of my (very old and now archived) articles on one of the syndication sites and wondered about finding resources or models for doing this kind of work. It has been awhile since I visited these sites, but it was great to see what everyone is up to these days! And exciting to share these resources with you, too:
Arts In Therapy (AiT)
AiT is a great site exploring poetry, drama, visual art and more as expressive therapy. Click the link to read a great email exchange I had with the AiT founder a few years ago now. Very cool of her to keep it posted as one of her shared healing stories!
I learned so much from reading the book Poetic Medicine and then communicating with John about ideas and group experiences. They've now started a whole institute and are takin their pilot model all over the place What a great person doing good work in this world!
Remember last week's surf when I shared that cool little animation of Lucille Clifton's poetry? Turns out there is a whole project, Poetry Everywhere, the marries poetry, voice, and video! What a cooooooooooool thing to see in motion. Poetry alive. In the artist's voice, or in any person's voice for that matter, poetry just leaps and dreams and comes alive in ways it may not for most when reading the flat printed page. Really glad this resource is online now.
Forgive me if I shared Violette's fabulously art-FULL site here before, but there is so much inspiration there, so many amazing drawings, illustrations, how tos, and the discussion boards are worth their weight in gold! Just recently there was a thread about how to "stretch your craft dollar" -- and getting ideas from all these artists is just such a gift. Really. It isn't like I just have artists all around me, and we can go to lunch everyday and share tips and ideas. But I can check into the boards while munching my lunch and these artists are there, sharing, cooperative, not competitive. I loooove it! And Violette is just such a great artist -- look for her Journal Bliss coming out soon!!
Autumn's Blog...
And one last bit: shameless self promotion, really :) It was very exciting to have Magpie (Rachelle Mee-Chapman) include one of my Mother Henna posts in her feature about How To Have A Soulful Autumn! She didn't feature just moi, and there are also lots of others shared there who offer great ideas and inspirations for the turning of Autumn. Click on over and have a read!
PS
I'm not sure how my internet connections will be next week or the week after as we are off to other locations those weeks. If I can be here, I will! If not, never fear. Mother Henna will return with more surfing goodness upon return to the rainy Isle.
Miracles, k-
This has been an entry of: The Surfing Life of An Artist Mother
Henna seems to spend as much time surfing as she does making art. Each
Thursday she will plunge into the history of her browser and share what
she's swum through during the past week. Sometimes it's all a splash
in the beauty of other artists' sites and blogs, sometimes it's a
plunge into the submission guidelines of various publication, sometimes
a kick board thru YouTube videos that show "how to" do this and that.
You just never know what you'll find in Mother's history. Get your
fins and flippers and come swim with Mother!
About Mother Henna Mother
Henna (aka Kara L.C. Jones) wears many hats: artist, writer, photo
assistant, Reiki Master/Teacher, workshop facilitator, wife, bereaved
mum, step mum, grandma, and more. You'll find more detail about Mother
Henna than you could ever really want by clicking here. To follow the progression of the 1,000 Faces of Mother Henna project, check out the blog at MotherHenna.blogspot.com. Lots of items are out in the world with Mother's designs featured: Handmade items at MotherHenna.etsy.com Books & Ephemera at Mother's Lulu.com shop Tshirts, sweatshirts, baby onesies and more at Mother's CafePress shop
Before I blogged I use to watch alot of television shows. Once I started blogging in August 2005 I pretty much gave up every form of entertainment~ I still read and wrote in my journal, but I spent ALOT of time reading blogs. For the last few months instead of spending so much time on the computer I have been reading, listening to music, and watching movies.
Since I gleam so many of my ideas from my blogging friends I decided every Mondayish I will post here about what I have been reading, listening to, & watching with the hopes you will share the same.
This summer I read the Twilight Series as well as The Host (I read all 5 books way more times than I will ever admit to anyone!). I am now a big fan of Stephenie Meyer. I ADORE everything she writes.
Last week I finished The Time Traveler's Wife. It was OK. I found myself bored sometimes and not dying to finish it like I usually am with a book.
Before I go to bed I have been reading a few pages each night of Emmanuel's Book ( I have read it a bunch of times in the past). This book is FULL of wisdom.
I have been listening to the I am Sam Soundtrack. (The movie was great too) The soundtrack is made up of Beatles' songs performed by a variety of artists. It is a really good CD to do chores to; it keeps me in a good mood.
Last night we watched The Prestige. I Really liked it. You have to pay attention. It reminded me of The Illusionist which I also really liked.
One night when Sean worked late I watched The Celestine Prophecy. I read the book over fifteen years ago. For some reason I felt like re-reading it, but I couldn't find it amongst my stuff. When I went to order it on-line I saw that it was made into a movie. I liked the movie, but it definitely is for someone who has read the book because they don't give enough details about the insights. I am not sure if I will buy and re-read the book, but I have been browsing the Celestine Vision website.
Please share in the comments what you are reading, listening, and watching too!
To Kill a Mockingbird is apparently required reading for American teenagers in school but in the UK it doesn’t enter into our education. So while I was slogging through the equally classic (but dull) Z for Zachariah across the water kids were being engaged by the immensely likeable voices of Scout, Atticus and Jem. I have to say I feel a little bit cheated.
I only read To Kill a Mockingbird this year and I was instantly in love with it. Of course I’d heard a lot about it before I began reading. Although I’ve never seen the film it’s a book that everyone thinks they know something about and I imagined there would be a lot of time directly focused on Atticus Finch’s battle to defend Tom Robinson in court. I thought that the ‘lesson learning’ part of the book would be blankly obvious and that the book might be little more than a moral lesson in racial relations. As anyone who has spent even a few chapters in the company of the narrator Scout, Finch’s daughter, will know Harper Lee’s book is a true novel, not just a vehicle for social lessons. The ideas on the prejudices of Southern society and the right way to act are subtly expressed and integrate easily into the story of a childhood summer. Scout’s voice is easy and natural while the details of her world create strong, imaginative pictures. The story of everything Scout sees and does is just as important as the ideas expressed through the narrative. The book is full of life as well as having injustice to highlight and morals to champion.
Harper Lee has written a child narrator that doesn’t seek to categorise or patronise the age it portrays. Scout is the kind of scrappy, childish, wise woman character that all readers recognise as the soul of the child they wish they had been. She may not know or understand everything but she tries hard to learn, even when those she learns from don’t really know any better she trys to work their world views into hers. She is a character who believes the best of those around her and attempts to puzzle out how their views might fit with her perception of them as good people. She is truly good but also adventurous and not always attentive to her instructed duty which keeps her character from being a preachy mouthpiece.
It is impossible not to love her and her family as they project such a likeable spirit, free of artifice and full of energy. The way Atticus raises his children with infinite patience for everyone and understanding of their sufferings independent of their views makes him an amazing role model that everyone should learn about. Bring To Kill a Mockingbird to the British calssroom!
Creative Ideas:
Make a collage of childhood photographs and think about the adventures you had
Draw a character sketch of one of the main characters based on descriptions from the book
Think of five fictional characters who would be good role models and outline what they teach you
Write a letter to a childhood friend about ‘what you did one summer
Jodie loves books, drinking and crafting. She longs to hold a party based on these three things (think posh cocktails and cider). She can be found discussing British literature every month at Estellas Revenge. She is the maker of Pretty Little Love Objects and loves to discuss the handmade revoltution.
It's been an interesting week on Mother Henna's trips thru the surf. Lots of art, inspiration, and exploring the full spectrum of feelings, joy to grief and back again.
Hopper Is Coming!
I'm always looking for new exhibits that are coming through town or somewhere nearby so that we can take in the physical experience of interacting with art. I'm just flipping out to discover that Seattle Art Museum is about to bring an exhibit of Edward Hopper's works including my favorite all time painting: Chop Suey. This is an image my good friend Heather and I have always shared -- it is an expression of what our life was like when we managed to live in the same city for several years -- oh, way back in the day! :) Anyway, I've never seen this painting live and in person, so this is very exciting!
It's cheesy, but I love it!
I've been a Huntress collector since Earth 2 series, but we haven't had a tv since back in 2001. So I was shocked to discover there had been a whole series Birds of Prey that came, played popularly, and was canceled, pretty much in one breath! How dare they cancel Huntress!? There's great Wiki info on the series and the storyline history, and though it seems they replaced some of the soundtrack in the transition from tv to dvd, I have to say I loooove the series. It's cheesy, weird, funny, over the top campy. And Mia Sara as Harley Quinn is BRILLIANT! So sorry they didn't let this one play it the whole way out to a more natural end.
Help is on the way, darlings!
Tammie's photos and insights are so inspiring! I always feel as if I've entered a haven when I get to her blog. If you've not checked out Spirithelpers, you should :) And if you have checked it out before, drop by for a visit to see the most current posts. That latte she snapped looks yummmmy!
Give and take of blogging!
Leah over at Creative Everyday posted a wonderful quote the other day, and while I was reading there, I noticed that Leah mentioned one of my posts here on JustBeConnected.
She was saying she was digging the MIT open course offerings, and in particular, she found a class, The Creative Spark, that looked intriguing. So I surfed on over and sure enough, look at that, coooooool!!!! There are so many materials online for/from this class: pdfs, links to sources, samples from student works, and more. Very rich resource!!
Little Lovin' for Literature!
Have you been over to Black Eyed Susan? She rules! Wonderful writings, great exploration of self and process in her Confessions, and I just discovered this week, that's she's doing something called, "Little Lovin' Mondays". She invites you all to share links to relatively recent posts on your blog that have had very little lovin' or comment. And then asks all who post, to click thru and read, give some lovin', leave a few comments. Wonderful! So many gems turned up there this week! Check it out!
Oh. My. Gawd. A Girl Can Dream
Would you look at that pretty picture (above)? How coooool is that photo? Hey, I can dream about seeing some of my 1,000 Faces art all showcased in a museum like that. Better than just dream, now I can SEEEEEEEE it (above) :) hee hee! What fun. It is a free, fun, little, turn-key from Photofunia, so you can surf on over there yourself and play! You can put your art up on billboards, on magazine covers, and other fun mock-ups like the play you see here. FUN!
Never heard of her, the actor, the film, nor the history...
Isn't this a beautiful Tintoretto?! I've always dreamed of going to Venice to see some of Tintoretto's works life and in person. In the meantime, I recently saw the film Dangerous Beauty -- wow, what a steamy bit of history! In the film, there was reference to a portrait done of the main character/historical figure of the film, Veronica Franco. So I went hunting for it and discovered Tintoretto had painted it -- and there was this lovely image of the painting on Wiki. FABU! Anyway, the film was great, thought provoking, insightful. Catherine McCormack is the actress who plays Franco. I've never seen McCormack in anything else, but she was amazing embodying Franco in this film!! What a talent. My favorite line from the film:
It's wanting that keeps us alive.
Creating Your Life teacher now online!!
Joan Newcomb's new site just came online, and it looks great! She's the teacher who facilitated that "Creating Your Life" class I wrote about a lot in my Mother Henna blog. How fun to see all of Joan's work posted, lots of her writings shared, and info about her books, blog, and classes. Check it out yourself and see...
Gentle prompts for exploring the difficult stuff
I've been working with a small group of bereaved parents who wanted to explore creativity for examining grief and life-after-the-death-of-a-child. In sharing resources with them, I re-visited my deck of Support Cards from Grief Watch. These are wonderful prompts for writing or art-making, gentle questions and ideas asking us to look at the full picture of loss: from grief to love, loss to continued relationships with the deceased. Really thoughtful deck!
Living in a grief denying culture...
I first heard the line, "we live in a grief denying culture," when seeing Molly Greist present about her stone sculpting. She's an amazing woman who only discovered stone carving after the death of her son. Her work transcends what you would think of as "a grief journey" -- it's much more like a LIFE journey, a full life, where she feels all she feels and doesn't deny grief at all. In that way, she stays open to feeling everything. If you deny one emotion, chances are you are turning off other emotions, too. By staying open, you stay open (duh!). Anyway, Molly is an amazing model of learning to live again after the death of a child.
Can we learn to grieve and therefore learn to live?
I have been wanting to write a post over in the Kota Blog about all the images and stories that came out about Gana, a gorilla whose child died causing her to express grief in ways that may have seemed shocking or looked odd in the face of our "grief denying culture." But I've not gotten round to writing yet -- or maybe just haven't made sense of all my feelings about it yet. So I'm very glad other bereaved moms have written about Gana. In particular, Grace's mom over at the blog Cover Her Briefness In Singing wrote a moving post and shared several of the photos. I'm so turned inside out seeing these photos. You see Gana kissing the feet of her child. I so know that. You just want to take in all the physical-ness you can before giving up the body of your child. It's such a complicated and unimaginable time of shock and grief. And yet it is so normal. It is so real. It is so human -- turns out it is even more basic than human -- it is instinct, animal instinct. Just wow.
A master poet...a masterpiece
Another writer who explores grief and life, love and joy, loss and being ... all explored with grace and beauty: Lucille Clifton, specifically in her poetic memoir Good Woman. You have to see this collection as a whole to really appreciate it, but there are individual gems that just fly off the page. When she is "speaking of loss," she ends by saying, "i am left with plain hands and / nothing to give you but poems." And the "homage" poems are just downright brilliant! In fact, today, I'll end with a little animation I discovered on YouTube -- a lovely, fun version of the hips homage:
This has been an entry of: The Surfing Life of An Artist Mother
Henna seems to spend as much time surfing as she does making art. Each
Thursday she will plunge into the history of her browser and share what
she's swum through during the past week. Sometimes it's all a splash
in the beauty of other artists' sites and blogs, sometimes it's a
plunge into the submission guidelines of various publication, sometimes
a kick board thru YouTube videos that show "how to" do this and that.
You just never know what you'll find in Mother's history. Get your
fins and flippers and come swim with Mother!
About Mother Henna Mother
Henna (aka Kara L.C. Jones) wears many hats: artist, writer, photo
assistant, Reiki Master/Teacher, workshop facilitator, wife, bereaved
mum, step mum, grandma, and more. You'll find more detail about Mother
Henna than you could ever really want by clicking here. To follow the progression of the 1,000 Faces of Mother Henna project, check out the blog at MotherHenna.blogspot.com. Lots of items are out in the world with Mother's designs featured: Handmade items at MotherHenna.etsy.com Books & Ephemera at Mother's Lulu.com shop Tshirts, sweatshirts, baby onesies and more at Mother's CafePress shop
During my history degree I liked to take the most random classes available. I wrote essays on the Chinese opium wars, antiquarian architecture and and attended a whole lecture series about the Carolingian Empire. My final dissertation was written about British and European witches, the Apocalypse and contextually rational arguments. In my third year I, a woman who has a serious fear of heights, took a course on the history of mountains and mountain climbing. The course taught me a lot, encouraged me to over come my fear of leaning back and letting go (this year I had my first successful visit to a climbing wall) and made me add a whole heap of books to my to be read list.
Sir Chris Bonnington’s three decker autobiography ‘Boundless Horizons’ is the book I remember best from the course’s required reading . Beginning with Bonnington’s boyhood attempts to climb the smaller British mountains the big trilogy follows him through to his (finally) successful assent of Everest. Along the way Bonnington sees men die, is exposed to blistering conditions and yet never really questions if he will continue to climb. His story is almost one of a zealot or fanatic who acknowledges the frightening power of the mountains but does not consider this a reason to stop climbing. He seems to feel that the cold, the wet, the fear are things that must be gone through in life, but this view must not to be confused with culturally conditioned stoicism. Bonnington does not simply endure freezing temperatures to achieve the joy at the end of these experiences. While he realistically documents his climbs, admitting to being afraid, once he is away from these mountains he does not entertain giving up climbing these sorts of routes. Although smaller, yet still technically difficult climbs may offer more joyful periods of climbing and path finding climbs like Everest satisfy something in him is hard to define.
This trilogy is full of all the emotions that climbing evokes and the motivations that push people to climb anything, anywhere. Bonnington is an inspirational figure, a man who pursues his passion in full knowledge of the risks that this involves.
Creative Tasks:
Get thee to a climbing wall, it’s fun and you can learn how to tie ropes and climb safely. It’ll get your blood pumping and give you a rush of creative energy.
Currently Reading: Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson
Jodie loves book, drinking and crafting. She longs to hold a party based on these three things (think posh cocktails and cider). She can be found discussing British literature every month Estellas Revenge. She is the maker of Pretty Little Love Objectsand loves to discuss the handmade revoltution.
This week's glimpse at Mother Henna's browser history has some gifts, some grief, some chocolate, some how-to's and more. Check it out and have your own surf thru...
First up: Consider your holiday footprint
School's back in session, Halloween items are beginning to appear on the shelves, apples are beginning to fall off the trees. It can only mean we are rolling around to holiday time again. This year for the gift giving holidays, consider your footprint. Check out ways you might give experiences instead of stuff! That's the promo for our own little King County here in WA state. Maybe your county does the same thing? If not, maybe you can be part of the start of a "Waste Free Holiday"?! As an artist, I'm participating offering a discount on henna body art sessions. So you see, you can participate as a vendor as well as a gift buyer! Click here to find out how it works in King County!
Working for Equality...
They are doing great things at the Women & Girls Foundation to bring equity to us all. They've launched a new PSA...check it out here...
Likewise for world peace...
Over at World Peace Emerging, they are doing great things for promoting peace in our time. They've launched this beautiful online magazine -- free! Click thru and get your copy today -- learn all about International Peace Day -- it's coming up right quick here! And if you'd like to share your Piece of Peace, consider submitting your art work to "A Peace of..." blog exhibit!
Giving up sugar...wowsers...
I have to say again Theo Chocolate comes to the rescue! I've recently given up sugar to try and deal with some health issues. This of course means giving up lovely dark chocolates that are sooooo part of my yummy days. So in trying to find an alternative, I came up with Theo's nibs. They are unprocessed, so as close to whole food as you can get in chocolate. No sugar added, but still with the lovely bitter dark chocolate flavor. And they are yummy in salad, soup, over fruit, or even tossed into steamed yam -- quite yummy. And these nibs are keeping me in chocolate while letting me give up sugar and processed stuff as much as possible! Thank you Theo, you life saver you! :)
A couple of How-To's
Came across two great resources this week. One is a listing of free, web based, alternatives to Photoshop. What a generous post for this author to have done the research and shared options with us. I haven't personally worked with any of these alternatives yet, but it is on my to-do list for sure! Second up is a Blogger Buster for creating a drop down menu for your label listings. I don't know about your blog, but as my entries inch near the 300 point on my Mother Henna blog, my labels list was getting very looooong! So I picked up this bit of code, altered my template and Wa-LA! I have a drop down menu for my labels and gain a whole bunch of real estate on the side bar of my blog back! Very cool.
Last up for this surf: Of Memory and Grief...
On this anniversary of the infamous 9/11, I'd like to remind us all that grief is part of every day life as a human simply because we are mortal. While we remember those we lost on 9/11, we also remember all of those loved ones you are missing who have died at other times, in other places, due to other circumstance. I want you to know that even though the media doesn't do news stories about our losses -- heck, they hardly do anything about 9/11 losses anymore -- that the love and loss you feel is acknowledged -- by me and through our KotaPress work -- and we remember. With that in mind, I'm sharing links today to various online supports I've accessed and trust myself in the hope that if you need support in your journey, you will seek it out:
This has been an entry of: The Surfing Life of An Artist Mother
Henna seems to spend as much time surfing as she does making art. Each
Thursday she will plunge into the history of her browser and share what
she's swum through during the past week. Sometimes it's all a splash
in the beauty of other artists' sites and blogs, sometimes it's a
plunge into the submission guidelines of various publication, sometimes
a kick board thru YouTube videos that show "how to" do this and that.
You just never know what you'll find in Mother's history. Get your
fins and flippers and come swim with Mother!
About Mother Henna Mother
Henna (aka Kara L.C. Jones) wears many hats: artist, writer, photo
assistant, Reiki Master/Teacher, workshop facilitator, wife, bereaved
mum, step mum, grandma, and more. You'll find more detail about Mother
Henna than you could ever really want by clicking here. To follow the progression of the 1,000 Faces of Mother Henna project, check out the blog at MotherHenna.blogspot.com. Lots of items are out in the world with Mother's designs featured: Handmade items at MotherHenna.etsy.com Books & Ephemera at Mother's Lulu.com shop Tshirts, sweatshirts, baby onesies and more at Mother's CafePress shop
Another week of being all over the map with my interests, ideas, and projects. What fun! If you are looking for lessons, inspirations, recipes, community, just check out some of these spots from Mother Henna's weekly surfs!
Learning and exploring with the best minds on the planet...
Many of the kiddies have gone back to school this week. Now you can, too. Only this time, do it for fun, self-development, self-guided, and, hey: free! :P Check these out from MIT and Yale.
Of course, while you are doing all that learning, it's important to look coooool! ha! I'm am absolutely floored to learn all the things you can do with a basic t-shirt. Personally, I've always hated t-shirts because they just make me look like a big, fat box. But I actually have some hope of playing around with my t's now that I'm reading about altering techniques!!
And see this SF article exploring this altered art
Plums, plums, plums and more plums
It is harvest heaven around here! I cannot get enough plums which is great because they are literally falling off the trees around our house. I've been thinking that if I can harvest enough -- as in more than I can eat just now -- maybe I can freeze some and get my plum fix in the winter via something like this stunning Dimply Plum Cake from SmittenKitchen!
And if you need a poetic hit of the plums, check out William Carlos William's beautiful poem: This is just to say... I think this poem is an everyday miracle. It's on my top ten for sure!
Artist calls and submission guidelines
Have you got the itch for doing more submissions of your art after sending in your works to We'Moon last week? If so, Art Calendar has a great resource online where you can find all kinds of artist calls, look at only the ones that require entry fee or only the ones that are free, AND if you happen to be an artist who likes to organize events, too, then you can have them list your own call for art!
Couple other place you might want to check out as places to share your writing and art: New Witch or Skirt. Both great magazines!
Have you heard, seen, dug through all Dani Spies offers?! WOW!
I'm totally into her site these days. She just makes sense. She's real. She understands what it is like to have no time at all to cook dinner, but to be hungry for real food. She has a completely common sense way about things like organics, nutrition, life. You have to check out her entry about Dry Herbs vs Fresh -- you'll want to know this as we head into winter and lose the fresh stuff from the garden!
And OMG, can I just tell you that Quinoa Rules! If you don't know anything about this amazing little grain, you have got to watch Dani's Quinoa 101 video! And when you are done watching the video, make sure you surf thru her recipes to find ideas for using quinoa for breakfast or lunch or dinner or dessert! YUMMY!
You know you are a geek...come on, you remember Weslie Crusher...
I admit it. I'm a Star Trek freak. So when I stumbled upon Wil Wheaton's In Exile blog, I was totally sucked in, hook, line, and sinker! To be fair, of course, Wheaton has done a ton more things than just ST: Next Generation -- remember Stand By Me? That is a great film! Anyway, it turns out that Mr. Wheaton certainly has the turn of phrase, too! His writing is funny, insightful, opinionated, generous, and I appreciate the very humanness of his everyday details, including the curse words! :) ha! Check it out for yourself and see what I mean!
And how about a couple interesting reminder to see the beauty all around us!?
And have to mention that I came across the above article via Kate's wonderful 90 Day Blessing Experiment over at Better To Bless. It's been such a great trip to play along with her blessings practices and ideas. So grateful for all she is offering!
Are you there god? It's me Medusa... oh, this is going to be interesting!
Over at Glow in the Woods, they are hosting a really interesting event: a spiritual round table of bereaved mums exploring their grief, healing, life thru the lens of their individual spiritual beliefs. It's the "Are you there god? It's me medusa" Blogolympics! I'm fascinated by this concept and honored to be guest writing for my own, weird, eclectic, nature-based, pagan, wiccan, goddess-centric view. :) As an ice breaker, Glow posted a 6 by 6 meme this week, and I decided to participate via the Kota Blog as a teaser to what you all can expect from me in these blogolympics! Looking forward to writing more for this soon...just look for the glow of the campfire...all Medusas invited! :)
Miracles, k-
This has been an entry of: The Surfing Life of An Artist Mother
Henna seems to spend as much time surfing as she does making art. Each
Thursday she will plunge into the history of her browser and share what
she's swum through during the past week. Sometimes it's all a splash
in the beauty of other artists' sites and blogs, sometimes it's a
plunge into the submission guidelines of various publication, sometimes
a kick board thru YouTube videos that show "how to" do this and that.
You just never know what you'll find in Mother's history. Get your
fins and flippers and come swim with Mother!
About Mother Henna Mother
Henna (aka Kara L.C. Jones) wears many hats: artist, writer, photo
assistant, Reiki Master/Teacher, workshop facilitator, wife, bereaved
mum, step mum, grandma, and more. You'll find more detail about Mother
Henna than you could ever really want by clicking here. To follow the progression of the 1,000 Faces of Mother Henna project, check out the blog at MotherHenna.blogspot.com. Lots of items are out in the world with Mother's designs featured: Handmade items at MotherHenna.etsy.com Books & Ephemera at Mother's Lulu.com shop Tshirts, sweatshirts, baby onesies and more at Mother's CafePress shop
