Today's Post Secret fave

Christmas

A great Christmas this year, complete with snow. So today will be a "stuck inside" kind of day, forcing me to clean. But maybe I'll get some painting done too. Here are some pics of my silly kids doing the Christmas thing.

Dustin's size 15 boots. The boy is huge.

 Dad and Dusty trying to get the vcr working so we can watch home movies. They were successful with the video, but no sound. Eventually 4 men were involved in this process.

He's incapable of taking a normal picture.

Michael Buble sings Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Holiday cheer

I wonder how many people do this. My guess is quite a few. A friend of mine told me about a "no-breakup zone" she heard about on the radio. It was something like December 15 till January 2, where it was forbidden to break up with someone. I had to laugh, because I know I've done the same thing. (Though really, not all that funny.)

So, another Christmas is near! This year I say, bring it on!

Diana Krall-New Years Eve

Animals of YouTube sing "Deck the Halls"

Men and Women cannot be friends.

This is of my favorite scenes from my favorite movie of all time. A classic exchange, and one I agree with, with only a few rare exceptions.

Stacy's show pictures!

Stacey's opening at Isaac's. "Dogs of Lancaster".

Drugs.

I never realized how much of a drug caffeine is until I quit cold turkey a few years ago. The resulting headache (not nearly strong enough of a word....more like head severing) was so excruciating, I could hardly stand it. I held a bag of frozen peas on my head (and wasn't THAT attractive) for hours on end. It felt like what I would imagine being stabbed in the temples with a very large kitchen knife would feel like. So anyone who tells you that caffeine doesn't affect them is LYING. They just don't know because they're are currently drinking it. Try to stop, smartypants. I did end up starting my addiction again, and have continued. I will probably now drink coffee until I die, just to avoid the painful withdrawal. Oh, there's some intelligent thinking.

Below is a new painting that won't come through in the right orientation, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to rotate it in blogger. You'd think that would be an easy thing to do. If it IS an easy thing to do, it's escaping me. This is a commission, and I love it. One of my faves.

Spring Race. Cheers!

Rachel

I am on a campaign to have "yummo" and "sammich" stricken forever from the English language. Not that they were ever there in the first place. (Just sounds so STUPID.)

What a week!

Lots of driving this week. Michael Buble in DC, Stacy's show in Lancaster. Both were great. Just having coffee now, after getting to sleep in (gloriously) this morning, so I will post photos from Stacy's show this afternoon when my eyes are more than half open. No photos from the concert, unfortunately...just totally spaced it on that one.

Yesterday's Open House at the RAL went well. If you're looking for some great gifts for the holidays (or just some great art for you, the work will be hanging probably through January. Quite a bit sold yesterday, but still some great stuff to choose from.

It's a typical December day out there. Just a bunch of shades of grey Gray trees, gray skies, gray grass. Bleh. The countdown to spring has begun. One more month of 2010, which was a significant improvement (SIGNIFICANT) OVER 2009. I think 2011 will be stellar.

Here's today's Post Secret fave. I don't go to many baseball games, but have gone to many concerts and thought this very thing. Morbid, I know.

CapeGazette.com - Peninsula Gallery to showcase small works

CapeGazette.com - Peninsula Gallery to showcase small works

Love the narration on this.

Awesomeness

Michael Buble was fabulous. An amazing voice, and a very funny guy too. He was really entertaining. Some cool pyrotechnics and explosive confetti that looked like butterflies (not intentionally....and maybe it was just me who thought that) that came down from the ceiling. A different kind of concert, but really well worth it.

Tuesday

One of my favorites.

La Bella Luna

I am frequently in love with the moon. Even named my dog "Luna". Jason Mraz has a song named "Bella Luna" and there's a line in Moonstruck where the grandfather looks up at the moon and says that as well. One of my favorite parts.

Last night was the opening at Peninsula Gallery. A very cool show. It will be hanging until December 31 so check it out if you can. Address is at the post below. You can preview the art online, but you can't purchase online. You could probably purchase over the phone, however. Karen Snoots has some amazing paintings there, especially her oceans and waves. Wow, they just blow you away.

Happy Sunday to you, time to get things done!

"Small Jewels" exhibit

Peninsula Gallery, 520 E. Savannah Road, Lewes De. Opening reception, Saturday November 27, 5-7 p.m. Exhibit continues until December 31. More than 75 original works by 12 artists.

November 30 - Verizon Center. :)

November

What a cool idea. I heard a woman recently say that she didn't want to send care packages to Africa, as her church requested, because she felt there are enough needy people here. She said she would rather just leave money somewhere for someone to find. And apparently she had done that - dropped money on an impoverished street. I was kind of fascinated with that concept.

Upcoming show at Peninsula Gallery, with images

http://www.peninsula-gallery.com/December2010Exhibit.htm

The whole thing is summed up in the last paragraph. We need to remind ourselves of this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/opinion/17friedman.html?_r=4&src=me&ref=homepage

I love this guy. He's such a dork.

Cool animation and a cool story line too.

Big Brother

Ever read the book?? If you haven't, it deals with the future, and how "big brother" will watch every move you make...on top of other profound happenings. You know the post I posted earlier this morning, which named a prominent cable company? That cable company searches blogs. I had a call on my cell phone from a rep from the company who had read my blog and wanted to assist me. Okay....so....in some ways, great customer service, in other ways, CREEPY with a capital CUHHHHHREEEEPY. At least it was a female rep who called, which made it somewhat less so, but still...yuck. So be careful when you name prominent companies on any type of social networking. They're watching. On the other hand, that company fixed the problem instantly after I got to talk to the woman who called me from the corporate office.

I have taken their name off my blog, and put one of those black bars across their eyes. They didn't ask me to do it, just would like to drop off the creepy radar screen.

C**cast!

You know, I've heard horror stories about C**cast before, but I haven't really had the pleasure of experiencing them until today. I have used C**cast for years, and have had a C**cast email account for years as well...under the same screen name since my kids were little. I moved a year ago, and although my address changed, my screen name did not.

Yesterday afternoon, C**cast stopped recognizing my screen name and password. I thought their email system was down, and didn't give it much thought, until it was still down this morning. I just got off the phone with a rep, who tried (in vain) to explain it to me. She kept referring to my old account and insisting that "haledust" was not my screen name, it was in fact - klabe19070. Um.....no?? I check my email multiple times a day, daily, and have for years. When I tried to explain this to the rep, she kept insisting that the info didn't transfer over from my old account (what old account?) and kept going back to my "real" screen name. WTF? I could feel myself losing patience, like I do when I can't make myself understood, and felt like I was talking to a drone.

So, if you email me - fuhget about it. I am not able to receive email until the brainiacs at C**cast figure this one out.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

Another Sunday already?

This week sure flew by. Seems like they all do anymore.

Last night was the Beebe Ball. I painted "live" as part of the silent auction. Brought the painting home to finish, and hopefully I'll get it where I want it. It was purchased by someone, so I'll need to finish it up soon.

Lots to do today, including more painting. Awake far too early today, thanks to an early morning text. I need to turn my phone off at night.

Ten days and counting. :)

Happy Halloween

This has been a weekend of getting next to nothing done. All day at Sea Witch yesterday and today leaves me with absolutely nothing done at home. Ah well.....it's fun painting the kids faces and it's for a great cause  - all the money raised goes to the Y's Strong Kids Campaign, and we pull in some serious money over two days.

I have so many photos on my camera that I haven't downloaded to my computer yet - all the way back to the mud run! Hope to get to that soon.

Today's Post Secret fave. I totally get this.

Too funny

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/videos/?autoplay=true&mediaKey=e6c4d773-3465-4dc2-89e8-d171ea0b417b

I didn't know how to embed this one, but it really cracked me up. This could be me going through a haunted house.

A classic....in a gross kind of way.

Sea WITCH

No, not Christine O'Donnell. The Sea Witch Festival in Rehoboth begins Saturday. Sherry and I will be facepainting all day Saturday and Sunday. Bring your kids for a unique experience that benefits the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign. The lines are long, but it's worth the wait. Check out the pics on my website, under face painting.

71 degrees

at 9:30 on October 25? I'll take it!

Halloween

Another funny PS. Look at her face. hahaha......people "stay" for all kinds of reasons, and this one isn't any more absurd than other reason for staying where you're miserable.

Got about 100 bulbs in the ground yesterday. Red tulips, one of my favorites, will be a new reason to look forward to spring.

Beautiful day today. Time to go take some photos for the winter painting project.  :)

Play it again Sam.

Personality tests....ugh

It's kind of disheartening in a way to come out with the same result from every personality test I take. Makes me feel so boooooring. I took the Briggs test years ago, and it was right on the mark. Just took one at a staff retreat, on a much smaller scale, but still very accurate:

(unfortunately my "animal" was a beaver.)

Beavers have a strong need to do things right and by the book. In fact, they are the kind of people who actually read instruction manuals. They are great at providing quality control in an office, and will provide quality control in any situation or field that demands accuracy, such as accounting, engineering, etc. Because rules, consistency and high standards are so important to beavers, they are often frustrated with others who do not share the same characteristics. Their strong need for maintaining high (and often times unrealistic) standards can short-circuit their ability to express warmth in a relationship.

!!! I think I'm offended! Unrealistic standards?? Phhhhfffft!

Lie to me

David Cook - singing Lie to Me. Funny how there are quite a few songs out there, begging people to lie so the other doesn't have to know the truth. I don't know which is worse.

I took the night off from painting tonight, will be back on it tomorrow, working on a couple commissions and some work for the CBH show in December. Watched a little of  "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". A long movie that I will have to finish tomorrow. Looks pretty interesting.

Oooh, now it's One Eskimo "Kandy". What a fabulous song. Must listen.

this and that.

http://sz0069.ev.mail.comcast.net/service/home/~/Event%20Flyer%20%231.pdf?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=493981&part=2

http://sz0069.ev.mail.comcast.net/service/home/~/foundation%20dest%20invite%20IV.pdf?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=493981&part=3

Because the above are pdf files, I was not able to upload them here, but they are invites/flyers for the Cadbury event, featuring the Wilmington skyline painting.

Below are the five new mini's for the Peninsula show next month. All Rehoboth cottages/houses/shops, etc.

Giving tea a bad name.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/17/how-tea-partiers-get-the-constitution-wrong.html

I think in the not-too-distant-future, that we will be ashamed and shocked that in 2010, these people were given any attention at all.

Pleasant Valley Sunday

This PS made me laugh. I've worked either as the Fitness Director or a fitness instructor for the Y for about 18 years now, and whenever I would run into a member or class participant at the grocery store, they would look in my cart to see what I eat. Because I have two kids, often times I would find myself explaining the Capt. Crunch or the Oreos or Pop Tarts. It was funny, defending myself and pointing out the soy milk and soy chicken that belonged to me. Ridiculous, really. Now that Dusty is gone to school and Hale is only here every other week, my cart looks far more respectable.

Planted a beautiful Bradford pear tree in the front yard yesterday. The leaves are burnt red in color and they make a nice crinkly sound when the wind blows. I love it.

And I love Sundays too. David Grey playing on the stereo, hot coffee, a full day ahead to do whatever I please. So nice. Enjoy yours!

:) Couldn't resist.

"CHRISTINE!" - Ben Sheehan - watch more funny videos

Fray - All at Once

Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.

whoo, ain't that the truth.

Virginny

Great weekend in VA with the girls. Happy hour on the Potomac, nice run around Lunga Lake with Lorrie and her rescue dog Dewey, (that dog can run fast and doesn't wear out.....he must get the latter part from his owner) wine festival on Saturday in Fredericksburg, followed by a great night at Brock's, a local restaurant/bar to finish up the evening. Well, actually IHop finished up the evening, but that's another story. I definitely give Lulu, our server, 2 big thumbs up for putting up with us.

Back to reality now. Here's a Post Secret for everyone who has had someone go through this.

Over the river and through the woods...

to Lorrie's house I go. My house has a security system and a large dog, so don't even try it.

No painting this weekend, strictly r&r. Goal for next week is to finish the rest of the minis for the Peninsula show so I can get them scanned and submitted. But this weekend.....pure, unadultered fun.

RIP Don Van Sciver, everyone at the Y will miss you terribly. Thank you for our your heartfelt hard work, kind smile and giving soul.

This is for....

Christine O'Donnell and her "I am You" commercial. (somebody give me something to throw up into.)

October's DE Beach Life

that's my painting on the bottom left.

LHS this weekend

http://www.historiclewes.org/events/art.html

Comfortable by John Mayer

I just remembered, that time at the market


snuck up behind me and jumped on my shopping cart

And rode down, aisle 5

you looked behind you to smile back at me

crashed into a rack full of magazines

they asked us if we could leave.


Can't remember, what went wrong last September

Though I'm sure that you'd remind me, if you had to


Our love was, comfortable and

so broken in


I sleep with this new girl i'm still getting used to

my friends all approve, say she's gonna be good for you

they throw me, high fives


She says the bible is all that she reads

and prefers that I not use profanity

your mouth was, so dirty


Life of the party

and she swears that she's artsy

but you could distinguish

Miles from Coltrane


Our love was, comfortable and

so broken in

she's perfect, so flawless

or so they say, say


She thinks I can't see the smile that she's fakin'

and poses for pictures that aren't being taken

I loved you

grey sweat pants, no makeup, so perfect


Our love was, comfortable and

so broken in

she's perfect, so flawless

I'm not impressed, I want you back.

Social Network

I saw The Social Network last night. Great movie. There's something about hyper-intelligent, quick-witted nerdy guys that I just love. :)  The FB inventor is a genius, but apparently lacking in social graces slightly. More than slightly. Facebook is as addictive as cell phones and computers can be, but now I have a whole new respect/outlook, knowing how it got started. Fascinating.

So, out of about six days, we've had one day of sun. It's currently COLD and rainy. Again. Yesterday was beautiful. Guess the sun is taking some time off. I'll bet it's shining in Tuscany, dammit.

Daily Om

There seems to be so much unhappiness in the world right now - more so than usual. I found today's daily om to be pretty inspirational.




Now is the Time

Bloom Where You are Planted

There are no guarantees in this life, so when we hold back we do so at the risk of never fully blossoming.

Having a vision for our future that differs from our current circumstances can be inspiring and exciting, but it can also keep us from fully committing to our present placement. We may become aware that this is happening when we notice our thoughts about the future distracting us from our participation in the moment. We may find upon searching our hearts that we are waiting for some future time or situation in order to self-actualize. This would be like a flower planted in North Dakota putting off blooming because it would prefer to do so in Illinois.

There are no guarantees in this life, so when we hold back we do so at the risk of never fully blossoming. This present moment always offers us the ground in which we can take root and open our hearts now. What this means is that we live fully, wherever we are, not hesitating because conditions are not perfect, or we might end up moving, or we haven�t found our life partner. This can be scary, because we might feel that we are giving up our cherished dreams if we do not agree to wait for them. But this notion that we have to hold back our life force now in order to find happiness later doesn�t really make sense. What might really be happening is that we are afraid to embrace this moment, and ourselves, just exactly as we are right now. This constitutes a tendency to hold back from fully loving ourselves, as we are, where we are.

We have a habit of presenting life with a set of conditions�ifs and whens that must be fulfilled before we will say yes to the gift of our lives. Now is the time for each of us to bloom where we are planted, overriding our tendency to hold back. Now is the time to say yes, to be brave and commit fully to ourselves, because until we do no one else will. Now is the time to be vulnerable, unfolding delicately yet fully into the space in which we find ourselves.

Two new mini's

 I guess these are complete. The top one looks crooked, but I think it's just my crappy picture taking.

I love Anderson Cooper, especially when he's interviewing a total koo-koo.

Happy Weekend

Ah, a weekend full of fun stuff coming up.

Tomorrow is the Beebe Fun Fest, a fund-raiser for Beebe, and a lot of good stuff for local kids. Sherry and I will be there face painting (see my website for examples...under facepainting...) 10-2. Always a fun thing.

Sunday is the Delaware Mud Run, our second year. My daughter is doing it this year as well, and I have a feeling she'll have me hysterical. She's so funny and I think she'll really enjoy this.

The weather is beautiful....HOT! Love it, and could have it all year with no qualms.

2 paintings nearly complete, and I haven't taken any in progress shots. Need to do that tonight.

Bought tickets today for Michael Buble in DC in November, and Ben Folds at the Tower Theatre in November. Here are a couple videos by each. (Ben Folds....a little different from Michael Buble....  :) )

Final Weekend

 Busy Sunday ahead. Lots of everyday kind of "to do" items. I can almost check off watering the lawn - that's in progress. Sprinklers should come with directions. They have all this info on the box on what they can do, but then when you open the box up, there's just a sprinkler. No info on how to adjust them to make them do a long spray, short spray, blah blah....and I am just not mechanically inclined enough to figure it out. I end up moving something and then just standing there to see if it did anything. Usually it doesn't, or does the opposite of what I wanted it to do..oh, to have an engineer's mind at times.

Two things on the list (long run and beach) are looking very tentative right now, because the more serious, more boring things (clean out the closet, clean the house, go to the grocery store) are a little more pressing. But knowing this is the last weekend of summer, it's going to be tough to not go to the beach, even if it's just for a little while. Haley and I went yesterday and it was perfect. She struck up a friendship with a seagull she named "whitey" and filled him up (covertly...no other gulls caught on) on potato bread.

Two paintings on the easel right now. Would love to finish both of those tonight along with everything else on the list. I'd be a happy, contented girl.



September

It's really beautiful here this time of year. The crowds are mostly gone, the beach is amazing and clear, the temps are nice. I stopped by the beach for a while over lunch today and just sat in the sand in my work clothes, watching the waves and feeling the breeze. It was heavenly.

Working on completing 5 new mini's for an upcoming show. Minimum of five, max of ten. So I will aim for five and see what happens after that. Will post photos.

Sarcasm

My blog about being glad O'Donnell beat Castle.....sorry for any confusion, wouldn't want that to be misconstrued.

I'm going to have to do a lot of painting this fall, and avoid the television and radio.

Well, gosh darn. I'm so glad she beat Mike Castle.

http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/2010/09/michele-bachmanns-fellow-traveller.html

Feminism

Ok. So.....I consider myself to be a feminist, and fully support women being involved in any career they choose, including male-dominated fields. HOWEVER, if you're dressing with your buttons undone down to your bra, and everything else is skin-tight and you're walking to a football team's locker room after a game.....um.....hello? Doesn't make it right for the guys to give her a hard time, but it's not like it's rocket science for crying out loud. Wardrobe choices would not only cut some of that out, but would also get you much greater respect across the board.

Scary, funny, then scary again.

Get away

A fun weekend. It's so nice to walk away from everything for a couple of days and just do something fun and spontaneous, like take the ferry over to Cape May/Atlantic City. Saturday's weather was amazingly beautiful and the ferry crossing was very smooth. I booked a "b&b" in A.C. from the internet. Let's just say that whoever took the photos for the internet was a talented photographer, because the place was a dump. Really. The room was clean enough. but yeah....not going back there. Pretty tired now though, a little too much partying last night. Buenas noches.

Wilmington Skyline - complete

This was a commission by Cadbury Assisted Living. It will appear on advertisements for an upcoming event. I think the plan is to auction off the original painting as well.

Auction

http://kimklabe.com/oil-camprehoboth.htm

I donated this painting to Camp Rehoboth's Sundance event Labor Day weekend. The painting was live-auctioned for $1100. Nice!

Opening at Camp Rehoboth this weekend

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/-figuratively-speaking--opening---Sept--11---5pm-to-8pm.html?soid=1101758629628&aid=l0cfmtWXud8

Stacy's dog show

http://www.stacycaldwellart.com/blog/the-dogs-of-lancaster-project-submit-your-photos/


Check this link out to see some great artwork by a super nice friend of mine (and very talented artist). She's doing amazing paintings of dogs for a show in Lancaster in December. These paintings are smile inducing and the show should be great fun!

Sunday Secrets and amazing weather

I love hot weather, but I gotta say this weekend has been PERFECT weather-wise, and it hasn't been hot. The windows are open, screen doors being utilized, and the breeze is heavenly. Sleeping has been nice too, just a little chilly, but I never take my blankets or down comforter off my bed, so I stay warm.

Ran 10 today, and being cooler makes a huge difference. Really a nice run.

Still trying to get this Wilmington skyline done. Hopefully in the next day or two.

This Post Secret made me laugh - I have a couple of friends who I think would do this. Marriage doesn't mean you stop caring, ya know?

Complete

Sunday's Post Secret

There are pawn shops, ya know.

Citizen Cope

Listening to Citizen Cope drift down the stairs. Haley's upstairs listening. Diamonds they fade....I'm telling you...these feelings won't go away, they be knocking me sideways..

Have been working on the Wilmington skyline painting and it's really frustrating the hell out of me. I've been going over and over the same spots, refining, layering...mainly because I can't "get happy" with it. I don't want to post a pic right now because I'm just so.....ehhhh. It'll get there, just definitely not an instant gratification kind of painting. I'm staring at it right now, giving it the stink eye. The sky is bothering me, and there's a particular building that just looks like a booze flask to me right now.

Mercury is in retrograde. When this happens, I just want to go live in a cave, because it wreaks havoc with my life. Is that how to spell wreak?

In progress

Not complete, and have quite a bit of line straightening to do. Maybe another four hours for this one, but getting there.

Elin

Was reading Elin Wood's interview about her life over the past year. I feel really bad for her and the kids and was surprised to read that she has lost some of her hair in the days preceding her divorce. Thought that was interesting, because the same thing happened to me, just a quarter-sized bald spot after my engagement ended, and I was told it was stress-related. Up till that point, I had thought the whole idea of hair falling out was just an old wive's tale. Too bad it doesn't seem to have happened to Tiger, though having an appendage fall off would probably be a better malady for him to suffer.

Hazy morning

I had high hopes for this being at least a partial beach day today. Not looking very likely.

I totally get this Post Secret, having taken Ambien one time (first and last.) That stuff is crazy-dangerous. You're lucky if shaving your legs is the only thing you do that you don't remember. And it stays in your system for longer than you'd think.

Dewey last night. Not so much fun. Lots of tremendously drunk people. What amazes me is the Bottle and Cork. The dance area is covered in crushed beer cans, and the liquid (beer....and probably lots of other bodily fluids) on the floor is deep enough, that if you have long pants on, the nasty stuff gets on the bottom of your pants and seeps up like a sponge. I unfortunately work white pants. MisTAKE! Not sure why people there just feel it's okay to just drop your beer can (no bottles there, thank God) on the floor and then just dance on them. My niece told me to stop being old. Yeah, I guess that's it.

The other half of tomorrow's concert. Beautiful.

Metropolitan Magazine

I'm just getting around to posting this. A nice little "shout-out" from Metropolitan Magazine, July 2010 edition.

Peace

A peaceful couple of days, post-outdoor show. Things are winding down. Traffic is still heavy, and will be for a few more weeks, but then we'll return to "normal". Volleyball pre-season has started for Haley and she is beyond sore, due to bleacher runs, lunges, sit-ups, etc. Poor thing can barely take a breath. Dusty is working up a storm and brainstorming ideas for creating shark lures as a business. I am painting, painting, painting and trying to relax at night. Working on a painting of the Wilmington skyline and a house commission. Photos are in progress, early stages.

Ray Lamontagne and David Gray

Concert this Friday night at 7:30. Can't wait.

Clothing, art, cool breezes

Today's Post Secret fave. This particular pattern reminds me of some also-ugly plaid, button down shirts I wore in the 70's. Ew.

The Rehoboth Art League Outdoor Show had two beautiful weekends. The show had a new layout, great musical entertainers, free face painting (theatrical type...no little balloons and hearts here...) freshly squeezed lemonade, catering by Nourish, and of course - fabulous art. Putting on this show is definitely a (big) uphill battle for numerous reasons, but our very tiny staff and many wonderful volunteers pulled it off. We've been working for about 19 days straight now and are all really kind of tired and probably a little punchy as well.

Crop Dusting???

Crop dusting at 6:20 a.m. on a SUNDAY MORNING??? REALLY???? Sussex County, WTF? You can't crop dust on a Wednesday morning at 6:20? Where's Snoopy when you need him?

Santorini

This is a "finished" (I think) commission for a friend.

Update on peeves.

So, we're in the heat of vacation time. Have I mentioned how much I hate those striped bike-monstrosity things that people rent and ride around town? I understand the novelty, and I'm sure the people who are riding them are having a grand ol' time. However, they are huge. Rehoboth streets are narrow, and there are no bike lines or shoulders on many of the roads. This means that these bikes ride down the center of the road, with the 4-6 people on them peddling madly....or not. Sometimes they just keep on pokin' along, as if they have no idea that there are cars behind them, fighting off the urge to do something similar to what the airline employee just did yesterday. (I love that guy, by the way. Who hasn't had the urge or the nerve to do what he did?) My favorite fantasy regarding these cutesy bikes is a large bazooka-like weapon that comes out of the hood and disintegrates the bike (without hurting any of our beloved tourists, of course.) What's even worse is trying to run down the narrow end of the boardwalk with one of these things taking up the width of the boardwalk. I just love that one.

Eternal Sunshine

Today's PS is a photo from the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of my favorite movies. It's pretty unique, and pretty multi-layered. One of the movies that leaves you thinking about it for a long time afterward. I know many people think it's just weird and don't get it at all.

Day two of the RAL Outdoor Show. A great day yesterday, both in sales and in weather. Hope to see you there!

Comments

Here are some random comments I heard today. Some directed toward me, some not, some said by me. (We're getting ready for the Outdoor Show at work, can ya tell?)

- You are going to Hell.
- Don't ever wear your hair like that again. It was cute at first, but now I'm sick of looking at it.
- I'm going to kick you until you're dead.
- I'm going to cut you and then kick you until you're dead.
- GodDAMN (about 50,000 times)
- I hate this show.
- I hope it's hot and sweaty and miserable in your booth.
- I have to do all the work.

I laughed so hard a couple of times that I was downright hysterical. Good for the soul.

Complete

Here's the finished commission. I kept the background simple, so the action in the front didn't have to compete. The pic is from a lifeguard competition where they have to grab a stick out of the sand before someone else does. Great action shot.

Distance, change and moving forward

Seems like living life takes up so much time that we don't always see that change is happening, and out of that change comes personal growth. What feels right and comfortable at one point in your life is sometimes lost and replaced by nothing initially...and then something eventually. (That may be one that has to be re-read a couple of times to follow.) Sometimes we fight the change when it's happening, we resist, then go through the stages of grief, just like we do when someone dies. Eventually we get to acceptance and find what it is that has replaced what was lost or maybe we just realize we're standing in a new place.

As hard as it is to go through change and loss, life has an amazing way of regenerating and renewing our hope and faith and trust. Some people call it "letting go and letting God", others say it's "living in the moment". Whatever it is, it's something you can bank on. The hard part is remembering that when you're in the middle of the process, yeah?

I'm very grateful for the changes that have come about in my life over the past two years. There were some real doozies that knocked me for a loop, but were complimented by so much good. A cosmic buffer. I've learned so much and know that there is so much more to learn. I'm a willing student.

whoo.

Wow, major vacationers arriving. More rv's and boats coming down Route 1 than you can shake a stick at. (Has that saying ever made sense to anyone?)

Below is a commission in progress. This has been a fun one, with the sand flying everywhere. Still a ways to go, but may be done by the end of the weekend.

Be careful out there! Bicyclists, pedestrians, scooter-riders getting hit all over the place. Slow down, you're on vacation, even if the rest of us aren't!

Next show...

Rehoboth Art League Outdoor Show coming up!

10-5 each day, $5 admission for adults, covers both days for one weekend. You know you need some art, come take care of that!

Opening

Wow, just realized that's a guy in this picture. Thought it was a woman at first.

I think a lot of us walk around with all kinds of stuff in our heads that ought to come out of our mouths. Such a shame that most of the time it doesn't, then we find out that if it had, things may have been different. We're all so scared of opening.