Fitz!

Christy! Thanks for mentioning “writers block”. I can’t believe that you have ever had that! I remember ages ago when I made a request for “music to write by”, and you and several others posted some great ideas. Maybe you could do a special post sometime dealing with the writing process, so that folks could weigh in with advice and help. I would really enjoy hearing from you and other FDL writers on this topic.

I have been renewed in my commitment to destroy the Republicans as a national party after reading this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/…..01172.html

Nothing beats turning the computer off, unplugging the phone and kicking back with an old Calvin & Hobbes collection, a Dave Barry anthology or something equally low-brow but profoundly entertaining. Laughter is the best medicine.

Hiya Christy, Peanut and all y’all!

The *spark* is still alive, but ’tis waning for me.

;>

Oh Christy! An anime fan! Please visit my daughter’s site at http://www.mangapunksai.com She has asperger’s syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum, but I have always told her she is an “old soul” because I have learned more from her than she has learned from me.

To renew my spirit I always go to nature and animals. The connection we all (or should) share.
To do small things to make things better for another.
It is never about the self in the manner of cosmetic surgery, buying clothes or cars, or gambling, eating or drinking to excess.
I do take time to myself more than ever – including reading, photography, genealogy, but I always share it as well.

Thank you all at FDL – you are great. And if you ever want to experience the littlest state in the union with all our quirks – I will give you a tour!

Love Miyazake, the stories are never like you think they will be. His characters are not flatly black and white, good or bad, they surprise you. It reminds me of how I hope we will see some light emerge in some player on the national scene. Someone like a John Dean. An Oscar Schindler….
Wouldn’t that be marvelous!

Thank you so much for the break Christy…

Its been a while since I’ve posted here…life got very busy, very quickly. But I’m here tonight and your words really spoke to me.

I have found that slowing down and pushing away from the feast that is life is essential for any kind of growth, be it mental, physical or spiritual…

The constant go go go provides material things and allows me to check items off the to-do list but it doesn’t allow me to learn or be grateful for those things.

So thank you for all the work you’ve done for the progressive cause and especially for those words that I find here at FDL that speak to the overlooked small moments of slowness and renewal.

it’s funny, i’m going through a writer’s block now.
i’ve at least learned not to beat myself up over it. but no particular trick works every time. usually, it calls for physical activity — a run, or a sport, or even time in the gym — to focus elsewhere, give the brain some time off from the topic at hand.
hemingway had what is a really good tactic to avoid getting blocked in the first place. he wrote every morning, first thing — three, maybe four hours. and then he would stop wherever he was.
this was the key: he knew exactly what he wanted to say, or what direction he wanted to take his characters in, before he stopped, so he knew the same elements when he started up the next morning. thus, he would never face the big white bear that is the blank sheet without some ammunition. it was like having a strong liftoff every morning.

I am about to go do my evening meditation, anyone like some love and light their way? I am amazed how this daily practice can change my mood, energy, outlook. It is a renewal to tune in to something BEAUTIFUL and strive for a greater capacity to experience it and project it to all humanity.

I’m more a hobby writer, and i’ve always used music as a catalyst because i hear scenes more than i ever see them. The soundtrack is always the key.

I’m tryin to regain my spark after a near year long writers block. Even with just my hobby writing, the thing i do for fun. I think it’s been the radjustment of my life around the pain of the endo that’s sparked it. The spark is still there, i get story ideas all the time…but it seems like i never get time to write them. When i do get time to sit down, i’m too tired. To drained.

Maybe i should pull out Spirited Away tonight. Either that or The Cat Returns. Both are incredible Miyazaki films, and give myself a little time to revel in the wonder that they evoke. He has a gift for that. Maybe it’ll rekindle my own spark from just an ember again. ..

Music always soothes the savage beast within me.

Spark? Thinking about the Princess, my daughter, who lives so far away from me. Miyazake? I love those things. And I’m a grown man.

Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, ethnopsychologist and author of “Women who run with the Wolves”, dedicates an entire chapter of her book to the nurturance of the creative. One of the key points in her text that has served me well is her prescription for “getting back to the earth”; she maintains that western women have assimilated so many toxins to their identity and selves, that they literally need to be “regrounded”, recentered. She encourages women to get back to playing in the dirt, working a garden. (Hello, Christy? Mother Nature calling…)

After meditating on this for a while, and actually taking the prescription, it occurred to me that the toxins in our life are the things that disconnect us from being hands on, the things that put us at arm’s length from real living. Opening a box of instant food stuff is not living; cracking the eggs, kneading the dough, smelling the house fill with the scent of bread is living. Cracking open a can is not living; going to the orchard, picking the fruit and biting into the juicy flesh of the peach is living. Sending an email is not living; breaking bread over the table, enjoying a belly laugh together is living. Returning to life means returning to the the rio abajo rio, the river under the river, the creative flow that exists beneath the current of our lives, as Pinkola-Estes says.

Many of us cannot get back to the earth; we don’t have the luxury of a small plot of land, or even a pot of dirt on a balcony in which to sink our fingers. But we can sink our fingers into dough; we can immerse ourselves in the physicality that is required of real intimacy with friends and family, we can do one thing that requires our hands on effort.

I do something tactile; were it spring, I would be out in that dirt. But yesterday it was making bread dough; tomorrow it will be making noodles by hand for Lunar New Year. And maybe Monday I will take up the paint brush again, and messily paint some dirt on my landscape.

OK– love you too!

I’m old as well.

Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime) still both refreshes w/amazing plot & characters & grounds me to reality these days.

Y’know, I’ve read and read and read about how great Miyazake is but I’ve been too lazy to actually check him out.

Thanks, Christy!

.

angie @ 15

OK– love you too!

I’m old as well.

;0)

angie- been missing you. glad to see you back.

My job sparks me. Teaching in a rural public school. There’s nothing better than seeing that light bulb going off in a kid’s eyes when she or he says, “now I get it!”

Oklahoma kiddo @ 18

angie @ 15

OK– love you too!

I’m old as well.

;0)

you always keep me centered. xoxo

I got sparked by the earlier post about donating to “any soldier”…I have been making a list of what to buy and send…I have to say it makes me feel positive. The idea that somebody may feel a bit better by something I sent makes me happy.

Thanks to Firedoglake for the inspiration.

Doing what I can to help my state become blue once more, puts the sparkle in my morning, noon and night.

Rayne @ 14

Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, ethnopsychologist and author of “Women who run with the Wolves”, dedicates an entire chapter of her book to the nurturance of the creative. One of the key points in her text that has served me well is her prescription for “getting back to the earth”; she maintains that western women have assimilated so many toxins to their identity and selves, that they literally need to be “regrounded”, recentered. She encourages women to get back to playing in the dirt, working a garden. (Hello, Christy? Mother Nature calling…)

After meditating on this for a while, and actually taking the prescription, it occurred to me that the toxins in our life are the things that disconnect us from being hands on, the things that put us at arm’s length from real living. Opening a box of instant food stuff is not living; cracking the eggs, kneading the dough, smelling the house fill with the scent of bread is living. Cracking open a can is not living; going to the orchard, picking the fruit and biting into the juicy flesh of the peach is living. Sending an email is not living; breaking bread over the table, enjoying a belly laugh together is living. Returning to life means returning to the the rio abajo rio, the river under the river, the creative flow that exists beneath the current of our lives, as Pinkola-Estes says.

Many of us cannot get back to the earth; we don’t have the luxury of a small plot of land, or even a pot of dirt on a balcony in which to sink our fingers. But we can sink our fingers into dough; we can immerse ourselves in the physicality that is required of real intimacy with friends and family, we can do one thing that requires our hands on effort.

I do something tactile; were it spring, I would be out in that dirt. But yesterday it was making bread dough; tomorrow it will be making noodles by hand for Lunar New Year. And maybe Monday I will take up the paint brush again, and messily paint some dirt on my landscape.

I was just thinking of Clarissa Pinkola Estes! She is such a great story teller and she has a CD of stories relating to the cycles of creativity called The Creative Fire. You can listen to a bit of it here

Oklahoma kiddo @ 23

Doing what I can to help my state become blue once more, puts the sparkle in my morning, noon and night.

How about the American River Canyon, Auburn?

I’m glad you all like him, but please spell his name correctly. It’s *Miyazaki*.

[Mod Note; refresh your screen and it should be fixed. Thanks.]

Ca-native @ 25

Oklahoma kiddo @ 23

Doing what I can to help my state become blue once more, puts the sparkle in my morning, noon and night.

How about the American River Canyon, Auburn?

Oh yeah! I used to live and work for Placer County in Auburn. After I got out of Chico State. Stop the dam!!! Grew up on the American River. Such good memories.

Ca-native (24) — Pinkola-Estes is amazing, isn’t she? her work helped me through a patch in which I had some horrible nightmares, the kind that kept repeating themselves. Apparently I wasn’t listening and something was trying hard to get my attention. After reading in “Women/Wolves” about the “dark man” dream, it all clicked. I was suffocating myself, concentrating too much on work, too much on what a couple of men in my life were saying about me, to me. I used to have the dream as a teenager and young woman, but it wasn’t until I was a mother that the dream really crippled my psyche. The dream changed to include a passive threat to my children, too. The book made it clear to me that I had to nurture myself, or I would not be nurturing my children well, too. Might even have been more complex than that; if I didn’t not protect and nurture my own inner child, I wouldn’t be protecting and nurturing my chidren in life, either.

Like that CD, too; she’s right, that creativity is cyclical. It’s why many bloggers who are “lone gun men” like Billmon burn out from time to time; they don’t have a way to nurture the cycle without completely detaching.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 27

Ca-native @ 25

Oklahoma kiddo @ 23

Doing what I can to help my state become blue once more, puts the sparkle in my morning, noon and night.

How about the American River Canyon, Auburn?

Oh yeah! I used to live and work for Placer County in Auburn. After I got out of Chico State. Stop the dam!!! Grew up on the American River. Such good memories.

I remember you saying this. I am near the Canyon now. About 70 degrees today. The Dam has a snowballs chance now. People in Auburn do not want it. Cheers!

Thanks for the Miyazaki clip. That was really soothing. There is an interesting quote at the 2:06 left in the clip about everything she had painted up to that point being a copy of someone else which led to a block.

I think there are two ways to approach creative expression: convergent and divergent as it relates to ‘the big picture’ of life.

In its pure sense, convergent expression is a reflection of getting in tune with what we all have in common, shared things that have a universal quality and appeal. I think this can be underappreciated and mistakenly taken as being ‘unoriginal’ when there is an unnatural attempt to be novel or unique.

Divergent expression is more individual and generally appreciated on the surface for being novel but necessarily is borne from elements that are universal. I think block ensues when one attempts to resist or exclude convergent or universal elements.

However, through convergent expression, divergent qualities are inevitable as a result of each of our unique selves.

In short, I think the fountain of unique individual expression is the byproduct of being tune with and appreciating those universal things we all share in common. It’s a paradox of sorts. To extent one allows shared connection to everything, individual expression will flourish.

.

I love these posts, Christie. They are always inspirational and so needed.

When I think about my life, I feel so lucky that I have been drawn to all creativity, to people who make. Whether it is in the kitchen, in the garden, with words, music, paint or all manner of found things.

I love museums, poetry readings, movies, books, restaurants, galleries, theater, gardens, animals, photographs, fabrics, clay, steel, junk, singing, laughing, working.

I used to beat myself up when I was not making things. Now I have learned that it comes and goes in cycles–creating and resting. It is just a process.

I also am inspired by deadlines. Even though as I have gotten older, I have learned that I just don’t pace myself well and at the end am in a frenzy. This is what I am trying to get better about. I am too old for frenzy.

Oklahoma Kiddo, check out You Tube, some people have posted video of hiking Stagecoach trail, the river, etc… It will warm your heart, I bet.
Just search American River

For me, it is getting out and walking on an earthen trail, not just a hard path. My body keeps having to adjust to the bumps and rises and falls of the land. Sometimes, it is reconnecting with the childhood sense of the seasons. Right now, on a hot summer Sunday afternoon, it is the feeling that there is no time, that endless summer feeling without an agenda. I only get it fleetingly, but, with the windows open and the birds singing, I relax. And then relax some more. And then even more.

Christy, I sent a few NZ pictures to you via email. I hope you get them.

For me, renewal is often helped by going back to my favorites — music, books, people, food, movies.

Miyazaki is one of my favorite directors, because he understands hope in a way that few other directors do (perhaps Kieslowski and Wenders express their belief in hope as deeply).

A good split pea soup (with ham) is renewing. My partner, and my friends and family. Reading Bruce Sterling’s “Holy Fire” or Luis Bunuel’s “My Last Sigh”. Listening to Joni Mitchell’s “Heijira.”

My favorite Zen koan is very simple, and in a way, all about renewal:

Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

Renewal is always going on. We just have to make sure we’re tending ourselves so that we can experience it.

Ca-native @ 32

Oklahoma Kiddo, check out You Tube, some people have posted video of hiking Stagecoach trail, the river, etc… It will warm your heart, I bet.
Just search American River

Thanks!

Wow! Great topic, Christy.

I lost my job of 7 years last Thursday. I’ve been on a roller coaster ever since. I’ve been finding small slices of time where I can stand back and feel grounded. Sometimes it’s when I think of my cats who are just so consistent with their love and affection.

I’m also sober 18 years and I go to a biker AA meeting on Saturday nights. Their love and support keeps me from going off the deep end into fear and anxiety. There’s something about a bunch of leather-clad, bearded, sober, spiritual guys talking about their experiences with fear and uncertainty that makes me feel connected and not alone.

I also make hand-sewn quilts. Big, colorful ones that I give away to people that have affected my life in a loving way.

Today I had two friends come over, way out of their way, to help me extricate my car which had been fused to the pavement by ice since our ice storm last Wednesday. Renewal is, for me, remembering how great my friends are. And to be a great friend in return.

(((((vachon))))) we’ve all been down that road – right now, i’m a temp waiting for the corp to hire me. 18 years – that’s fantastic – what a great accomplishment. Love the bikers!

Practice Tai Chi.
Use colored pencils.
Watch water — even if it’s only in a teacup and I have to blow on it to make it ripple.

Kiki! My daughter fell in love with Kiki at six. Now two years later we own three or four of Miyazaki’s films and she has three posters on her bedroom wall. We both love the spirit he brings to his characters.

Ah yes, as an anime fan for over 25 years it’s gratifying to see Miyazaki being appreciated by others in the left blogosphere. I have a fold-out poster of Ursula’s painting in this clip from an old issue of one of the Japanese anime magazines from years ago. I always wished I could find one that hadn’t been folded up (thus showing the crease lines) in a a magazine, since it’s both a lovely and meaningful piece of art. In a fantasy world I’d love to have the original mounted on my wall, but I’m sure an original piece of art like that from a Miyazaki film would be well outside my price range!

vachon @ 36

Wow! Great topic, Christy.

I lost my job of 7 years last Thursday. I’ve been on a roller coaster ever since. I’ve been finding small slices of time where I can stand back and feel grounded. Sometimes it’s when I think of my cats who are just so consistent with their love and affection.

I’m also sober 18 years and I go to a biker AA meeting on Saturday nights. Their love and support keeps me from going off the deep end into fear and anxiety. There’s something about a bunch of leather-clad, bearded, sober, spiritual guys talking about their experiences with fear and uncertainty that makes me feel connected and not alone.

I also make hand-sewn quilts. Big, colorful ones that I give away to people that have affected my life in a loving way.

Hand sewn quilts. That’s nice!

vachon @ 36

Wow! Great topic, Christy.

I lost my job of 7 years last Thursday. I’ve been on a roller coaster ever since. I’ve been finding small slices of time where I can stand back and feel grounded. Sometimes it’s when I think of my cats who are just so consistent with their love and affection.

I’m also sober 18 years and I go to a biker AA meeting on Saturday nights. Their love and support keeps me from going off the deep end into fear and anxiety. There’s something about a bunch of leather-clad, bearded, sober, spiritual guys talking about their experiences with fear and uncertainty that makes me feel connected and not alone.

I also make hand-sewn quilts. Big, colorful ones that I give away to people that have affected my life in a loving way.

{{{ Vachon }}} You hang in there. Cats are fantastic givers of comfort, too.

One of my cats will seek out warmth and is now on my lap enjoying the heat from the laptop’s battery pack.

You know renewal is all wrong when the only time you think of it is in relation to insurance.

hiking in search of wild mushrooms

feeding a winter fire

stepping in a mud puddle on purpose

turning half of your yard back over to the woods

fold laundry while its hot

find a waterfall or a lone clear pool and sit in it

when your cat climbs a tree follow it just a little

comb someone elses hair

sit and listen, really listen, to a river or the ocean

Make sure the renewal items in life equal all the rest.

((((vachon))))

glad your kitties and your biker friends are there for you.

condolences on the lousy news in our cruel economy.

and congrats on your 18 year achievement!

I have booked my first completely solo show, and am practicing furiously after days of devout procrastination. It’s doing me good.

I love Kiki’s Delivery Service, but my favorite Miyazake film is Spirited Away. A masterpiece.

Hope all are well. Sorry about the drive-by.

am jumping in before reading the comments thread

there is a quote, can’t remember who, who said (paraphrased):

if you have writer’s block, you are writing about the wrong thing.

think about it……….i did…….and it has influenced my life in many ways since.

Eureka Springs AR (45) — ah, now that’s living!

Although I could skip the folding hot laundry part…I’ll take two doses of muddy puddles instead.

Sushi, sushi, sushi,
Sake, sake, sake,
Sex, sex, sex.

OK… Two out of three ain’t bad.
OK, one out of three is good too.
Aw heck, just thinking about it is fun!

That was an impressive painting just sitting there when she opened the cabin door.

Speaking of renewal this is the start of a new year for 1/5 of the people of the world

http://www.chinapage.com/newyear.html

tommy yum @ 47

I have booked my first completely solo show, and am practicing furiously after days of devout procrastination. It’s doing me good.

I love Kiki’s Delivery Service, but my favorite Miyazake film is Spirited Away. A masterpiece.

Hope all are well. Sorry about the drive-by.

Drive-by? Meaning you won’t be reading comments? Alas. Congrats on taking solo show plunge. You don’t need my advice, of course, but, fwiw, warmth and audience connection trumps technical matters. Always.

eureka springs @45

stepping in a mud puddle on purpose

i did that today with my sister, she is visiting (she is reading right now) we both got new snowboots today, and i right away found a slushy puddle to test them out in………a few as a matter of fact……and we tromped through the snow in them, each got a pair, mine black and hers brown, twin boots…….fun…….felt alive……i liked all of your list. am proud to say i have personnaly done all of the things on your list…….thanks……..

Hello, sister!

vachon (36) — very sorry about your job loss; when a door closes, a window opens. Watch for your next open window, wishing you luck when you need it.

tommy yum (47) — congrats on the show! give our best to Esten.

tommy yum @ 47

I have booked my first completely solo show, and am practicing furiously after days of devout procrastination. It’s doing me good.

I love Kiki’s Delivery Service, but my favorite Miyazake film is Spirited Away. A masterpiece.

Spirited Away is exquisite. The score done by Hisaishi Joe is as incredible as the story and the characters. One of those classics i’ll never forget seeing in theater and glad beyond words that i own both the DVD and the score.

Its getting my house ready for the first day of Chinese New Year, cleaning the floors, laying down new lawn seed, and vacuuming out all the little last corners of dust bunnies and dinosaurs all over the place. Its mopping the bathroom floor with Lexol. Going through cookbooks for that best light dessert for the party of four you expect tomorrow.

Its that first spring hen roasting in the oven, the smell of the garlic marinade wafting in the air. Its the first meal prepared at home after a long absence trying to do too many things. Its the laundry that I’ve finally got around to doing, and it smells like oranges.

Its about finding out all about me and my idiosyncracies through my day to day living. Its about letting my energy settle back into me, my house, my body, after trying to save the world too many times.

Jackson Browne said something along the lines that writing a song was sort of like watching a photograph appear in the solution. I like that analogy. You never really know what’s going to appear. Of course you need to be looking in the tray.

For me, when I start getting that snowed in feeling, I clean my house from top to bottom. Clean spreads, windows, closets, etc. Once the house is clean, I can usually get on with things. For me, clutter is bad for concentration.

tommy yum @
47

I have booked my first completely solo show, and am practicing furiously after days of devout procrastination. It’s doing me good.

I love Kiki’s Delivery Service, but my favorite Miyazake film is Spirited Away. A masterpiece.

Hope all are well. Sorry about the drive-by.

That’s one of my favorite, too. I bought the kid’s Howl’s Moving Castle for Christmas but, strangely, I got to enjoy it too.

I throw pots, it tends to keep one centered. It is also completely dependent upon the kneading concept like Rayne’s bread baking; but with stoneware, it is called wedging. It is the foundation to throwing a well centered pot.

When I’m not actively taking a class (like now) I crochet. I’ve got a 4×6 foot afghan of beautiful 4 ply natural wool going right now; but, typing at FDL tends to keep me from it.

Manual pursuits are good for the soul, there is no doubt. So, perhaps sending an email isn’t completely terrible, you do need to use your fingers…until the carpal tunnel sets in.

dmac 7:48 – I love it

I got stuck in the mud a couple of days ago. Many a times that would have been very upsetting. Then I remembered I have a choice here and now, though at first the choices were not apparent. Then I remembered it’s going to freeze again for a few days. Sure enough the next afternoon I waltzed out, the mud was frozen solid and I drove right out.

Sometimes renewal only requires the understanding that certain energy is best left unspent.

New thread

johnSwifty- you crochet?! I didn’t know that xy’s knew about this.

Valley Girl @ 63

johnSwifty- you crochet?! I didn’t know that xy’s knew about this.

Well, it is just knots with a hook. My paternal grandmother taught me. I don’t do anything fancy. I’ve made a modified half double crochet into my primary stitch and I simply make afghans of simple design. I’ll mix in a triple here or there if it’s a baby blanket or something, but I can do the half double and watch Monday night football at the same time without watching my hands. Rosie Grier did cross stitch what’s the big deal…{you’re not gonna tell the guys, are you, I don’t think anyone else is around and I don’t want Trex to think less of me}

Welcome to the lake dmac’s Sister..) The best puddles are along the south shore. *s*

eureka at 61

Sometimes renewal only requires the understanding that certain energy is best left unspent.

that’s the key-knowing how to spend your energy……….

I loved Kiki’s Delivery Service, but the Japanese version is so much better than the dubbed English version. Unfortunately, not so good for kids who can’t read the subtitles.

Fe – Happy New Year and thank you for trying to save the world!

and john swifty

i also am a clay freak, however, have had a kiln hooked up for a year, and keep puttin off doing it…….wheel does two speeds, too slow and too fast, very annoying…….used to run a pottery studio at an arts center(among other things)……..nothin’ like throwin’ pots. clears everything out……..and crotcheting is way fun……..like magic.

My whole family loves Miyazaki. Kiki’s Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro are great for children and adults; some of the others are a bit darker, but they are all great.

A word of warning: do get My Neighbor Totoro, but avoid the 2005 Disney version. The older English version (available on VHS) is much better; Disney threw out much of the Japanese-ness in favor of getting to hear Dakota Fanning voice the lead character yet again (doesn’t that girl ever get a rest?). Anime nerds will say you’re supposed to listen to the original Japanese and read the subtitles, but that’s not workable for children.

Miyazaki is particularly great for girls; they get to do much more interesting things than be princesses.
I’d particularly recommend “Spirited Away” for 8 or older, though you do need to prepare them the first time for the shock when the lead 10-year-old finds that her parents have turned into pigs and she’s on her own facing all kinds of scary monsters: she will triumph in the end by finding more in herself than she knew was there.

dmac @ 69

and john swifty

i also am a clay freak, however, have had a kiln hooked up for a year, and keep puttin off doing it…….wheel does two speeds, too slow and too fast, very annoying…….used to run a pottery studio at an arts center(among other things)……..nothin’ like throwin’ pots. clears everything out……..and crotcheting is way fun……..like magic.

I don’t like most electric wheels either. I’m left handed and I spin the wheel clockwise, which means I have to switch the polarity on most electric wheels (this tends to freak most instructors out). My mother in law had a little electric kiln and a wheel but I passed on taking them off her hands. I prefer to go to a little art school nearby. One of the instructors there is just a genius with glaze bodies and it is an absolute joy to use some of his more interesting concoctions. I’ve got my 14 year old interested so he and I will take classes together this summer. It should be a blast.

Stay centered!

was just checking in-
time for sleep

sweet creative dreams everyone!

and if the one you’re doin’ isn’t working-try another one for a while. it’s all good.

((((fdl creative firepups))))

john swifty @71

I don’t like most electric wheels either. I’m left handed and I spin the wheel clockwise, which means I have to switch the polarity on most electric wheels (this tends to freak most instructors out). My mother in law had a little electric kiln and a wheel but I passed on taking them off her hands. I prefer to go to a little art school nearby. One of the instructors there is just a genius with glaze bodies and it is an absolute joy to use some of his more interesting concoctions. I’ve got my 14 year old interested so he and I will take classes together this summer. It should be a blast.

Stay centered!

just caught this before i signed off—–yeah, i learned backwards on a kickwheel…….am ambidextrous…….but now throw right-handed.
and yes, a shared studio is much better for trying out glazes and the feeding that goes on back and forth, the flow of ideas…….liked the community studio setting much better, plus with all of those people using the glazes, they were easier to stir before using!!!!!!!!!

GREAT idea to include your son, he’ll love it……the only person i know who wasn’t able to get the hang of it was my own sister, she absolutely can’t throw a pot……..but she does other things really well, teaches ninth grade english….and excels in other areas……….and thanks for the ’stay centered’, there are many clay analogies that we could use on people, aren’t there? and i LOVE to wedge clay……..maybe have to get out some clay now that you’ve brought it up!!!!!!!!!! thanks…….

nite all

dmac @
73

…and thanks for the ’stay centered’, there are many clay analogies that we could use on people, aren’t there? and i LOVE to wedge clay……..maybe have to get out some clay now that you’ve brought it up!!!!!!!!!! thanks…….

nite all

Soo many analogies…”Potters do it in the mud!” ;-}

Time for sleep here, too. Gotta take the kids skiing in the morning!

Sweet dreams.

johnSwifty- word is, maybe I am wrong here, that knitting at least was “invented” by fishermen. I used to knit and crochet- taught myself both. All in all, I find crocheting more relaxing, but I don’t need a lot of afghans, and having crocheted a few pieces of clothing, I confess they didn’t work out that well.

I thought it was interesting that one of my undergrads (male) told me that his prof (female) at the 2- year college he first attended had everyone who worked in her lab xx or xy, learn to knit. I thought that this was a great idea! It is so unfortunate that knitting or crocheting has been so firmly place in the xx domain, because they are very contemplative exercises, and, apart from cultural bias, really aren’t xx or xy.

This post, and the clip just posted, speaks to me today. I am just about to change jobs (most likely). I don’t want to say too much, because the offer is not final yet, but it will mean working intimately with lots of great people. My present job is somewhat isolating, as I do just about everything over the Internet.

Some people around me are nervous about the changes. My kids were originally dead-set against, because they thought it would mean less time with them (it’s across the Bay), but as it turns out, there’s a shuttle that picks up a couple blocks from my house, so it should all work out logistically.

So I’ll gladly accept good thoughts sent my way from the FDL community. More details when it’s appropriate to post them.

Raph Levien @ 76

Sending you good thoughts!

Good renewal Ralph…)

Lady of the Lake @
6

Oh Christy! An anime fan! Please visit my daughter’s site at http://www.mangapunksai.com She has asperger’s syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum, but I have always told her she is an “old soul” because I have learned more from her than she has learned from me.

To renew my spirit I always go to nature and animals. The connection we all (or should) share.
To do small things to make things better for another.
It is never about the self in the manner of cosmetic surgery, buying clothes or cars, or gambling, eating or drinking to excess.
I do take time to myself more than ever – including reading, photography, genealogy, but I always share it as well.

Thank you all at FDL – you are great. And if you ever want to experience the littlest state in the union with all our quirks – I will give you a tour!

I went to your daughter’s site and I have to say that she is seriously talented. Amazing artwork she has there. Very, very nice.

BTW – when Cristy was in the hospital all I could think of was the scene from “My Neighbor Totoro” where Satsuki travel to visit her mother by way of cat bus. I want a cat-bus!

There is only one Miyazaki film I have not been able to watch all the way through, “The Grave of the Fireflies”. I get part-way through and I just can’t watch it any more and I have to stop. Seriously, I just can’t. That one really gets to me.

…poppy seed cake with butter cream frosting and 8 walnut halves pressed into the frosting in a circle
Feeding the crows some of my walnuts

Fe at 57 Its about finding out all about me and my idiosyncracies through my day to day living. Its about letting my energy settle back into me, my house, my body, after trying to save the world too many times.

Hmm. Ok. That sounds right.

Miyazaki’s “Castle in the Sky” (Formerly, “Laputa”) is, like all Miyazaki, exquisite, but seems underappreciated. Rintaro’s (& Otomo’s) “Metropolis” is also superb; beautiful, intelligent, and heartbreaking.

I’ve found that a visit to Duckburg is always an effective tonic. Any of the Donald Duck or Uncle Scrooge comic book stories by Carl Barks at his prime can stand respectably alongside any single work by the magnificent Bill Watterson or even Mark Twain, which, come to think of it, a couple of hours in the company of Huck Finn never fails, either.

Also dependable is any Mozart Piano concerto from #5 on up will recharge depleted batteries. When in doubt as to the soloist, go for Brendel. Same with Haydn Piano Trios.

Sleep. Ahh…

and the ‘doing’ of the doing. Drawing/painting/poetics: in the act of doing is energy unleashed,energy retored, energy created:

pencil/paper-pen/paper: touch.
brush/canvas: movement-physicality: touch.
tactile materials: plaster gauze-reeds-jute:touch.

the sleep-dream-image place manifested with layers of emotion/history/politics/wonder/texture:
pure energy.

Wait. Have I described restoring oneself to be creative or the act of being creative itself?

Roman XP-47 @ 82

Miyazaki’s “Castle in the Sky” (Formerly, “Laputa”) is, like all Miyazaki, exquisite, but seems underappreciated. Rintaro’s (& Otomo’s) “Metropolis” is also superb; beautiful, intelligent, and heartbreaking.

I’ve found that a visit to Duckburg is always an effective tonic. Any of the Donald Duck or Uncle Scrooge comic book stories by Carl Barks at his prime can stand respectably alongside any single work by the magnificent Bill Watterson or even Mark Twain, which, come to think of it, a couple of hours in the company of Huck Finn never fails, either.

Also dependable is any Mozart Piano concerto from #5 on up will recharge depleted batteries. When in doubt as to the soloist, go for Brendel. Same with Haydn Piano Trios.

yes to Mozart Piano concertos. working on a project involving image and text I did not want to hear voices or words. so bought the complete piano concertos.
Mozart seems to me to be a guy who says ‘want to play catch?’ and you say ‘yes’ and suddenly he has 20 balls in the air. ‘Whoa…’
astounding variations, sounds, thought process, emotions…

it is great, how you break from the daily grind of dealing and thinking about this horrible administration….with musings and advice for planting this spring, sharing cartoon clips that your little one watches with a profound message, you’re into drinking coffee…without a doubt. it’s inspiration, all in itself. getting away mentally, every now and then.

we here in texas, so appreciate you and this website. contrary to popular belief…not all of us are a-holes, like president monkey-boy.

thanks!

A Japanese friend turned me on to My Neighbor Totoro and she couldn’t have given me a nicer gift. I have the original version in Japanese and prefer it over my overdubbed version. I’ve seen mixed reviews about the Disney release, but I suppose any version is better than nothing. Just don’t lend it to anyone …you may never get it back. Thanks for bringing Miyazaki to your readers attention, Christy.

I am lucky enough to own an old horse. When life is trying or inscrutable, I head out to the barn and hang out with the horses, the dog, the cats and the wild critters that live in the neighboring fields.

There is a reason the Baby Jesus was born in a barn – they are the most spiritual, life affirming places.

Thanks for the Miyazaki clip – I had never seen an anime before. I am going to try to order a few thru Netflix.

Lately, to renew my spirit, I step away from the computer. I’ve been hit with a particularly nasty cyberstalker, and when I shut down the computer, the person almost goes away.

Chopping a big batch of vegetables for a pot of soup, or making tabouleh, gets me back into my non-virtual life where, quite frankly, things are becoming nicer than online. Used to be the other way around. It’s better this way, though.

Combing my little girl’s hair is a huge relaxer. She asks me to do it, and it is positively medicinal for me. Scrapbooking, cutting the paper, pasting down ribbons and paper flowers, these things put me in a happy zone.

One of the best things of all is to find that a loved one who needs a favor, and to carry it out (emergency babysitting for them, bringing food or cold medicine when they are stuck at home with a little sick one). That puts me exactly where I want to be!

My 13-year-old nephew introduced me and my little one to Miyazaki a little over a month ago, when we housesat/”babysat” him and big sis. Savannah and I were enraptured with “Spirited Away.” I need to go get this Kiki film for my own little peanut and me.

This guy is the best, but he doesn’t do it alone.

*****

One of the best jobs I’ve ever had was artist recruiting for animation @ Sony.

mudkitty, you are right, the credits list goes on and on and on! But what a beautiful vision he must have.

My renewals are always changing and (sorry), renewed. The latest escape for me has been to investigate all of the new, at least to me, hot chocolate recipes. Who knew there is such a thing as Mexican hot chocolate, mmmmm spicy! Shaving a good bar of chocolate, arranging a choice of spicey aromatic additives seems to go along way toward improving the spirit. Serving that chocolate from an old fashioned chocolate pot, and having special and lovely cups only adds to the total experience. Infused and enthused by the chocolate ceremony – everything seems much more civilized.

A friend of mine lives in London and we met in Scotland over New Years’. She does something called Tranference Patterning.
When one is writing about deeply personal and/or primal topics, as I am, there are possibly going to be issues that or questions surrounding their topic that the writer isn’t even aware of…not really ‘thinking’ about addressing. I highly recommend it if you trip over it, know someone that does it, etc. Getting out of your skin, through music and meditation or nature is always a good idea but sometimes the issues that one needs to work through are much more subliminal and take a deeper track. Transference patterning is an odd combination of internal physical and biological reality with basic math. But the process itself is quite simple if one is open to reviewing what’s hidden deep….life, or rather our inability to realize our lives as honestly as we would wish is often about blocked wishes i suppose.
Bailey/Paris