Saying yes...

I am a product of Indiana...

Yes... I am...  a state I remember fondly, a state I also wanted to leave and not because it was terrible, but because I heard life's call elsewhere. Every time I hear someone bash on Indiana I think of all of the opportunities I was given there. Every time I think of Indiana, I think of a state where my eyes were opened and I was allowed to see the world outside while given the safety and comfort to explore.

By all accounts I should have been raised in a narrow fashion. My parents, both from Indiana, raised their family there, but, my parents, both of inquiring minds, realized there was a world beyond. My parents, of humble beginnings, eventually became a surgical nurse and an art dealer with both traveling the world and expecting the most from their children whether raised in Indiana or not. Indiana was not an excuse to set our sights low. Indiana was a beautiful place to rest in between mental and physical travels.

My parents worked hard and we had many comforts and luxuries. We could have been happy where we were, but we were also taught about the world at large... . The world came to us in the form of many exchange students and business colleagues, but also in the form of trips over the border.

I also attended a state school! Yes, I was ambivalent about colleges when the time for my enrollment came so I went to Indiana University. It was a beautiful campus, but it was also there that I found my world view enlarged even more! Yes, a college in Indiana was capable of teaching diversity and complexity... more so than I had even touched in my diverse and complex home... Indiana raised and educated an open-minded and diverse person.

I am grateful to Indiana... always will be. It was where I got my start... a safe place where I was able to slowly checkout the world at large. Indiana has some large, ugly spots as well, don't we all... but I won't deny her. She is a part of what made me what I am and I am forever grateful.

My husband says my experience was the exception and not the rule. He's probably accurate... but you know what? We exceptions exist and if there are exceptions, the place can't be all that bad.

And the Drama Cloud Passes...

It's been a funky few weeks lately. I've not been in sync with the life around me on any number of levels and I've probably taken responsibility for too much or have taken too much personally.

I'm not the only one, others seem to be coming out of a funk, rising out of a dismal haze. Maybe it's just the lengthening of the days. Maybe it's just focusing on what's important and not sweating the small, petty stuff. Maybe it's just realizing that this too shall pass so you better hunker down and enjoy the good as well, because it's not guaranteed either.

Things feel good right now. I was getting there, but the warmth outside, the emerging daffodils and the commonsense words of friends made it all the more clear and for that, I am grateful.

Have a good weekend everyone... and now, a song I've put up before, but it needs to be played again.

ATPCT: make-up edition

Yes, I know I said I was pulling the blinds on the blog for awhile. I'm still up to my neck in work that needs my whole focus, but I couldn't let the day go by without briefly touching on one of those nice surprises that you don't fully expect.

I had painting class again today. It was a make-up from a couple of weeks ago when my youngest lamblet was oh so sick. I was not looking forward to it. I had just gone yesterday and had had my usual struggles with those who say they want to be taught and yet show every sign they don't want to be taught unless you stop teaching... No, I was not looking forward to today, especially since it's really nice out and the snow and ice are melting and the sky was clear, but I went.

It was going to be a small class. Most people had previous commitments or just didn't like the thought of the schedule being changed. That's ok,  I thought. I'll take a small class. I'm not up for more and I was grateful when only 3 out of the possible 4 showed up.

The women ranged in age from late 60's to early 80's and also ranged in abilities. One had been painting longer than I have been alive and one only started this year. They all told me to just sit down and to not set up anything that they would work on their own stuff. So I sat and we talked. We talked and we listened and we opened up.

It was nice to hear their stories and for us to compare where we were at life-wise, etc. One of the women is turning 81 and is going into Senior Living center on Monday. Another woman is 72 and I would swear is no more than 58. She’s confident and adventurous. She does so many things and goes so many places and just seems very young for her age. I also love that she can ask for help and not mind being helped. The last woman, the one just starting painting, is in her late 60’s, she sounds like she's had kind of an odd and hard life, but she is so funny and is just full of insights. She was an accountant before she retired, but when I listen to her, I hear the heart of an artist. She sees things that only an artist can see.

It was a nice class. They worked on various painting projects, but mainly we just talked and even better, people listened. Today there was no one-upping, no passive aggressive tendencies, just a sharing of creativity and stories.

Today people painted, people talked and people listened. 

... and the blinds go back down...

For H.o.p.

Project Runway finale

You know you want to be there, you know you can't stay away. You know you want to see who wins the fight to the finish. Project Runway live-blogging ends tonight over at newcritics.

Thank you, Claire for getting a post up. I had planned on doing it earlier, but my old ladies keep arriving at class earlier and leaving later. They thought I was worried about my lamblets getting home before me. Little did they know there was live-blogging prep to tend to!!!

Yes, come hell or high kilowatt rates, live-blogging will come to a tension-filled end this evening.

I voted for women

Blue Girl has an interesting post up today. She starts it off in her usual funny manner, but ultimately she reveals her serious point. There is a woman running for the office of President of the United States. A woman who, love her or hate her, has a very strong chance of becoming President. That is amazing. It is a truly historic moment and yet instead of focusing on this, the mainstream media is focusing on her baggage, whether real or imagined.

Yesterday, when in the voting booth, I did what I thought I'd never do. I voted with a gut reflex. I did the very thing I chided the soccer moms for doing. I'd like to console myself that what I did was more important. I did not vote out of fear, I voted because for once in my lifetime, there is a serious female contender for President.

When my oldest daughter was 5, someone gave her a book of American Presidents. She loved history from an early age and was enjoying the book. After leafing through a few times she asked me where the section was that had the women!?! We had a long chat, as long as you can have with a 5 yr-old, about rights hard won.

I am amazed that more people are not amazed that we are at such a momentous point in history.  Maybe it's because there are so many younger people who never knew a woman who was alive at a time when she couldn't vote. I'd like to think it is because we are so evolved that the fact that woman is running doesn't matter, but I know better. This is a momentous occasion and brushing it off as us being so beyond that is bullshit.

When at the booth yesterday, I had to pick the woman.

 

Different wishes for Snag

It was just the other day I was wishing Snag a Happy Birthday... today Snag gets wishes of another kind... wishes that he feels some comfort during a crappy time.

Snag, I wish we all could take some of your grief and make you and your family feel better, but I know that's not how it works. I'm so sorry about the loss of your wonderful pooch.

All hail Queen Claire!!!

Well, we've finally been allowed to release the results. AG finally posted. Why was AG doing the final posting? I don't know, but she did, so instead of reinventing the wheel, I'll just link to her post here for all of the nitty gritty.

The main thing is... Claire is the new Cookie Queen!!! Have I ever said how much my lamblets love Claire??? Not that that figured into the judging. Claire just had some awesome cookies.

First runner-up is... Team Chicago!!!
Second runners-up will be shared by... Billy Pilgrim/Zelmo AND Pinko Punko and Geenie Cola!

As I said, all of the down and dirty details are over at RoD. Go take a read. I'd post them here, but frankly, I'm pooped. :)
 

What fish said... (with a change by plover)

"Liberal Fascism

Right now, the top google hit for Liberal Fascism is the book's page on Amazon.com. But if we can get enough people to create a Liberal Fascism link to the Swift post, that will eventually change.  But it can only happen with your help.

If you have a blog, write a post about this googlebomb project, and mention Liberal Fascism as often as possible.

And Recommending this diary couldn't hurt, either.

Please do your part to help make Jonah "Doughy Pantload" Goldberg's book the snicker of the internet."

oops... links taken down just in case aif is correct. Today's been bad enough.

It's Project Runway Night, People!!!

Yes, Wednesday is upon us already and I'll be at the helm over at newcritics, live-blogging this tantalizing season of Project Runway. You know you want to be there. You know you do. Something has been missing from your life and you're thinking this is probably it. Well, you're right!

Besides, this season has been known to induce narcolepsy in its viewers. I'm coming down with a cold and will need all the snark I can get in order to stay awake.

You know the drill... live-blogging down in the comments (wasn't that a Billy Joe Royal song? "Down in the Comments") over at newcritics. 10/9pm.