On My Imagination today...
I'm intending to post here a lot more frequently. I will enjoy it and maybe someone else will, too!
Today I've been thinking about...
- Corresponding the old-fashioned way. Earlier this year, my good friend Karen (www.benevolentplanet.com) and I made a pact that we would correspond through snail mail instead of email. I have to share that this has been such a lovely experience. Over the past couple of days I've spent some wonderful times writing a long letter by hand. Something feels really awake when I do it, and equally so when receiving a letter from her. It's hard to remember this is how we all used to communicate, isn't it?
I feel very passionately about not letting the written letter/note/card disappear into the dust. I'm going to start writing more snail mail cards and sending them. It's too sacred a tradition to just fall by the wayside to the ease and convenience of technology.
- Haikus and photos. I wrote ten haiku poems this morning, each one in response to some photos I have taken here in Hawaii over the past few months. I know that Haiku doesn't necessary need to follow the 5-7-5 (syllable) rule, but I used that as a structure for my writing. Having a structure can be really helpful when I'm feeling sort of "dry". I found I would write a line, find it didn't fit 7 syllables, but then when I changed it to fit, I liked it better; the constraints helped me choose my words more carefully and challenge me to "spend" them wisely. In general, I enjoy creative projects when they are in response to a specific challenge or structure...although on the other hand, sometimes I'm just a rebel....
- My Mom. We are working on our fourth altered book, where we pass it back and forth, working on spreads as we go. Pages from our "Paper Doll" altered book are now shown in The Calmics section of The Artella Daily Muse every Mon, Wed, and Fri. But one of the books we're working on now is a book about Seurat's "Sunday in the Park" painting. It's a children's book about the painting and Seurat, and we're altering it so that we're each taking turns doing some kind of unique interpretation of the painting. I just received my mom's latest contribution to the book and it's AWESOME! She set up a "Where's Waldo" scenario, with characters from Where's Waldo interspersed around the people in the painting. And then a list of "can you find..." questions, that are written so cleverly. She's the best.
Mom does more than just art -- she spends her time operating a children's library out of her home in Dallas. It's called "Launa's Little Library", named for my sister. Read about it here.
- Sea turtles. I saw a great bit sea turtle on the beach today. It was so amazing.
- LOST. Tony and I are currently watching the entire series of LOST on DVD. We just started the discs for Season 2. It's so great - although a little freaky since we live on an Island! lol. We became fans of its creator, JJ Abrams, watching the whole series of ALIAS on DVD. We were absolutely engrossed with ALIAS, and nothing can compare to it...but that being said, we are really enjoying LOST too. (p.s., don't you dare tell me what happens -- I don't know anything and want it to all be a surprise)
- Vintage STUFF! We get more and more vintage goodies coming in every day, and we're adding them to the Artella shop as quickly as we can. These beautiful items are currently taking over our living, until we move it all to our new office space. Our living room looks like a general store from 100 years ago! I'm getting to live out long-standing "Little House on the Prairie" fantasies...
Peace Love, and Sea Turtles,
~Marney 