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Year's End Whine, vintage 2011

2011-12-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

Oh let's just call this year a fail. I failed. I was supposed to blog about tacky holiday decorations but I failed to carry my camera when the inspiration stuck. Sorry. I've been a very bad blogger. Here's to the end of a crappy year! 2011 was full of death and despair. There is nothing like going to three funerals of three young men within the last three months of the year. The first was my brother-in-law, the oldest at sixty, the second was a dear former student who died of suicide at 23, the third was a 14 year old current student who died in a tragic skateboarding accident. That was last week so I apologize for the foul mood.

November 29 had surgery to remove a wandering hemo clip that "wandered" from a prior surgery to a most uncomfortable place.

I struggled the first six months of the year to lose about 12 pounds. I believe I've found every single one of them once again. Sigh. Judging by the way my jeans fit, I believe they brought a few friends along.

Anyway I am looking forward to 2012! The excitement of a presidential election year. The Republicans are all vying for the religious vote. Mitt Romney is actually somewhat sane but the Religicans don't like him because he is a Mormon! The rest of them are totally and completely ridiculous. I am just afraid one of the lunatics might actually get elected. Then what?

Oh, some are saying the world is supposed to end? That might be a better option than Newt Gingrich.

Holiday Decorating...The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2011-12-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

Daughter and I are on our search for the good, the bad and the ugly displays of the season. We wanted to do the twelve days of Christmas, but I had the wandering hemo-clip thing surgically removed and then we got busy. Anyhoo, I take no credit for this photo. It was sent to me by a friend. I thought it quite funny and I think the holidays are better if they make us laugh! We all need to laugh. Hopefully I will manage at least two more posts. I will leave it to your discretion to decide the category!

Killer Show at Idiosyncrazies!

2011-11-28T15:21:00.001-08:00

Did I tell you my sister Shazza's gallery Idiosyncrazies was named the best Gallery of Ocean County, New Jersey? Did I tell you that I had the honor of showing my paintings with her in a "sister show"? Did I tell you that she sold two, maybe three of my paintings? I am honored and amazed. In the first photo you will see our display, Shazza's photos and my paintings. A few of my paintings were inspired by her photos. I tried to paint some beachy themes because her gallery is at the beach! Well Shazza sold two of my woodsy themes. One being my signature "Sacred Grove" painting. I credit Shazza's incredible salesmanship along with the good people of New Jersey. I never felt quite as at home in the Lancaster Art "Scene". Perhaps the New Jersey people appreciate my mystical vortexes and trippiness a bit more.

Here we are at Shazza's store. Some of the relatives showed up! Pictured are cousin Cynthia, my father (aka semiconductor), Shazza, Self, Aunt Bette (aka Mrs. Doubtfire), and Jeannie. Aunt Bette is my mother's sister, Cynthia and Jeannie are her fraternal twin daughters. They are holding a print of my Dublin "Chimbleys". My framer and one of her employees requested to purchase prints of Chimbleys. That was inspired the view from my hotel room on our family trip to Ireland four years ago.

Thanksgiving and Pearl Harbor

2011-11-25T16:29:00.001-08:00

My youngest spent Thanksgiving in Hawaii. Not just for fun and frivolity but her Marching band was invited to help commemorate the 70th anniversary of the lives lost at Pearl Harbor. The first picture is of her friend and tuba player, Joel paying his respects at the U.S.S. Arizona memorial. The band played two performances there and will march in the Waikiki Holiday Parade tonight.

A few of the girlfriends with their leis still intact, getting ready to perform. Delaney had a wonderful time. Besides performing she found time to kayak and bury friends in the sand. She missed Thanksgiving with the family although they "provided" the cafeteria grade turkey dinner with instant mashed potatoes, it wasn't up to par. Delaney sent us a text telling us she missed our Thanksgiving dinner. We stayed home. There were only the three of us. Oldest daughter was home from college and appreciated home time. So lets be thankful. Remember the brave men and women who fought for us and pray to stop these stinking wars.

Death Month

2011-10-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

Calacas

Sugar Skulls

In certain parts of Mexico, the indigenous people have celebrated El Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead during late October and early November. This wonderful festival (lasting several days) celebrates the lives of deceased loved ones. The people believed that during this special time of year, the spirits of the loved ones came back to visit. Sugar skulls are made and painted in bright colors. Little handmade skeletons "calacas" are created, dressed in the deceased persons' favorite clothing and depicted enjoying their favorite activities. Tombstones are decorated with marigolds. When Mexico was "conquered" by the Spaniards, the people had no choice but to convert to Catholicism. The Mexican people incorporated their traditions into the Catholic All Souls Day.

I remember years ago suggesting to my daughter's elementary school PTO that we should incorporate some of these festivities into their fall festival. What fun it would be! (This was after a certain fundamentalism group outlawed Halloween). Needless to say that was immediately shot down and I was accused of Satanism.

October to me has become death month. I spent last weekend in Virginia following the death of my brother-in-law. Dr. Joe turned 60 on September 11th. One year ago we traveled to Virginia to "celebrate the life" of my husband's best friend. Michael was 51. My mother's birthday would have been October 20th. All three of them died prematurely due to different types of cancer. I'm not quite up to celebrating in the way of our Mexican friends.

I haven't felt much like posting. I felt the same way last year after Michael's death. Mom's birthday in the middle of this contributes to the down feeling. My students will be making colorful skulls in art class. Perhaps if I post the name of the project in Spanish I will not get flak.

Preserved Farmland Trust Painting

2011-10-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here is the painting I've been working on for the Preserved Farmland Trust of York County, Pennsylvania. Thirty local artists were invited to participate. Each artist was assigned a preserved farm.

I was assigned to the 400 acre Snyder family farm in nearby Mount Wolf. I was given one day in July to sketch and photograph and gather a general impression of the land. The owner agreed to meet me at 6:00 p.m. one evening. I drove around with my sketchbook and camera, wishing that I had time to paint on location.

The cause is worthy. The owners of beautiful farmland agree to preserve their land in order to maintain some of the rural character of our county for future generations. The land directly across the road from this farm was turned into a typical sprawling suburban subdivision. I'm sure it was somewhat profitable for the owners, but much more so for the developers. Just beyond the ridge of hills there lies shopping centers, car dealerships, and traffic. The tower of he trash incinerator is visible, but not prominent on the horizon.

I am honored by the invitation to participate in this exhibit. There are some well known artists participating that I consider way above my league!

Jersey Salt

2011-09-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a painting I'm working on for Shazza's Sister Show. I am using her wonderful photography for inspiration. The sky is a little trippy but I like it.

This is definitely the landscape of my childhood as we were surrounded by the salt marsh. We used to call it the meadows. I used to play in it, sinking into the oozy mud while I hunted for terrapins and salamanders. When I was a pre-teen, I used to ride a painted Chincoteague pony down the sandy road to the Seaview docks. During the summer I set my crab traps over the Patcong Creek bridge and waited for my prey. As I got a bit older the sandy marsh roads led to "smoking" spots. When the marsh froze you could walk on the footpaths away from civilization. Small fires were built. Beer cans dropped by underage drinkers littered the ground.

It wasn't until I moved away that I realized the beauty of the salt marsh. I am glad that it is now protected. The osprey have returned. The place holds all sorts of memories for me. Some pleasant, some terrifying. I remember the smell of low tide.

As I look at it on my monitor it looks different than the painting. I added some new purple to the sky and now I realize that I should not have. I was trying to go for complementary color drama. I have to clean up a few stray marks here and there.

Flood Zone

2011-09-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

Well the weather gods are at it again. A stalled weather system funneled 7-8 inches of rain through central Pennsylvania over the last couple of days.

I did get an unexpected day off. Luckily my house is not in a flood plain. I did cross through a boundary and I drove through a water covered road last night. Normally I wouldn't do it, but the little VW ahead of me went through so I thought my bitchen mini-van would make it.

Hershey Park is underwater. Unfortunately they had to euthanize two buffalo (American bison) that were caught in a flash flood.

Major interstates are closed including I-81 and the Pennsylvania turnpike. It is pretty serious. This stalled weather system is causing more damage than Hurricane Irene last week.

The good news is that I spent the day painting. I have the preserved farmland trust exhibit coming up.

I hope everyone is staying dry.

If you need another reason to boycott McDonald's

2011-09-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

Captured from a friend. I knew there was something about McDonald's food.
If you need another reason to not eat this shit, here it is.

Sorry, I've not been posting. First couple of weeks of school with all new classes! I'm a bit busy but I love you all.

Daughter A's Philly Digs

2011-08-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

My daughter is moving into her fabulous Philadelphia flat this weekend! Just thought I'd share a few pictures. I want to live here!

The first image is the spacious L-shaped living room with twelve foot ceilings and wrap-around windows!

The second image is her second floor bedroom! This is a huge room and she will be sharing it with her friend.

The third photo is a view of the kitchen from beneath the open staircase! The appliances are three years old. The neighborhood is in a wonderful center city location. The girl looking out the window is facing an old cobblestone alley. There is a beautiful garden directly across the street. Most of the buildings are brick townhouses.

I am ready to move in. We have secured a two-year lease and if the girls decide to move home for the summer, you had better believe we will be Philadelphians again!

Mohawk Baby Carrot Jockeys

2011-08-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

My first daughter turned nineteen today. When I asked her what type of cake she would like me to make, I was not expecting to do anything like this. First of all, my cake decorating talents are nonexistent. Just because I can paint a little does not translate into cake decorating ability and here's proof!

I must admit this doesn't look too bad from an aerial perspective.

From the side view you can see how crooked my little cake turned out! The bottom layer stuck to the pan a bit. I tried to cover it up with the cream cheese frosting, but...oh well!

Annelise is a huge fan of the Cake Wrecks blog. Anyway that was the inspiration for the Mohawk Baby Carrot Jockeys! First I was going to mount the little babies on baby carrots, but then thought the frosting would be more fun! Please note I do not have proper cake decorating tools. I do not own a pastry bag, I did not go out and buy squeezy tubes. I tried to improvise. First I attempted to make a little funnel, but after that failed I resorted to "shaping" the little carrots with a butter knife! I did buy the babies and I was able to squeeze a little icing gel on the heads in order to give them their little mohawks. I did not give the black babies mohawks because they looked like they already had them.

After I added the candles it gave my carrot jockeys the opportunity to pole dance!

Anyway the cake tasted much better than it looked! I grated fresh carrots, chopped pecans and substituted crushed pineapple for one cup of the vegetable oil. The result was an extremely rich and moist carrot cake. (Perhaps that's why the bottom layer stuck a bit. The frosting was also homemade, cream cheese, butter, vanilla and sugar. Yum!

Little Hip Hop

2011-08-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun little painting that I created in response to the Degas Project back in April.

I actually created two paintings. The first I posted was of three little ballet dancers. This second painting was intended as a quickie fun painting. I was trying to capture the dancer's long blond hair that appeared as alive as she was! It was quite refreshing as most of the paintings exhibited were "oh so serious" and photo-realistically representational.

I photographed it with an intentional blur and then wondered if I could paint it!

Well I had some fun with the hip hop theme and tried to throw in a little sgraffito and grafitti action! The painting was photographed as in progress. I did touch up a few things, but I can't show you as the painting is SOLD!

I was inspired by Dive's wonderful boy band photos and think she'd be quite the match for his blond boy rocker! I couldn't find the photo with my other dancer images and just found that I loaded it on hubby's computer!

Shazza's Jersey Dune

2011-07-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Oh and by the way, I have been painting. I just haven't been sharing. For several reasons, the first being laziness. The second reason is photo software issues. The third being, paintings are always works in progress and not quite ready to share.

Anyway, I am currently working on four or five paintings. I am sharing this one because it didn't photograph too bad.

This painting was inspired by a photo my sister, "Shazza" shot on the Jersey shore near her home. We both grew up on the "Jersey shore". Please note it is not the Jersey Shore of Snooki. Our stomping grounds were about and hour and a half south of Seaside Heights. We locals were not so much into big hair, gold chains and spray tans. I was of the long straight hair, parted in the middle, T-shirt and landlubber jeans. Shoes were flip flops or nothing. I remember that the bellbottoms of the landlubbers were long enough that I could curl my toes into the excess material. Otherwise the Rent-a-cops would boot me off the boardwalk.

Anyway, Shazz has this incredible store and invited me to do a "sistah show" with her. She will be showing her incredible photography and I will show some paintings. I borrowed some of her outstanding photos for inspiration. I am not trying to copy her incredible photos verbatim, but I am trying to add some of my recollections of growing up at "the shore". It was a huge part of becoming me and even though I am currently landlocked, the ocean, the dunes, the marshes and the boardwalk will always be part of me. As this show will be at the shore, I felt it appropriate to paint along with that theme.

The Meerkats of Washington, DC

2011-07-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Dive inspired me with his meerkats of Notre Dame. I will share with you the meerkats of Washington, D.C. I visited the National Zoo in April and was quite taken by these adorable creatures. (I love to converse with the zookeepers). They are always willing to share inside information such as feeding habits, mating habits and personality quirks. Unfortunately these meekats have an uncanny ability to escape from their zoo habitat and have been frequenting campaigning places in New Hampshire and Iowa.

Sarah, the Palin meerkat can see Russia from her front porch. She can skin a moose, talks like a twit and has become the sweetheart of the redneck set.

Michelle the Bachman Meerkat is equally endearing. She confuses sociopathic serial killers with Western actors and promises to be submissive to her husband when she reaches the highest office! She is stealing the evangelical Christian voters from Sarah the Palin meerkat! (Well, Sarah isn't officially on the ticket yet)

Equally adorable and of the male persuasion is Ricky the Santorum (please Google this) meerkat. His distinguishing characteristic is one of fundamental Catholicism. (Gotta get those voters too). All of these meerkats enjoy tea parties and are funded by the multi-billionaire Koch brothers. In case you are not familiar with meerkat behavior, please research Americans for Prosperity, the 912 Patriots and other tea party groups. Most rednecks, fundamentalists and ordinary zoo visitors think that these are "grassroots" political organizations that are made up of regular, ordinary citizens. Little do they know it is an orchestrated and hugely funded scheme! This scheme was carefully orchestrated by the Cocksuckers, I mean Koch brothers. They are in the gas, energy and corporate take over business and are enjoying amazing profits since the Bush tax cuts. The Kochs are fundamentally libertarian, their father was one of the founding members of the John Birch society. They have organized a campaign to destroy Obama, pesky labor unions, public schools and the middle class.

The tea party members are made up of primarily working class and middle class people. Most of them are or were hard working, honest people. The Kochs are successfully setting them against teachers, unions and other working people by suggesting that teachers and union members have it better. The Obese Governor Christy of New Jersey called teachers welfare queens.

One tea party group has openly admitted to a goal of destroying the public school system. Let's keep those lower and middle classes stupid!

People. The meerkats are cute, but they are puppets. George W. Bush was a puppet. Obama is actually a human being with a brain. He is failing because the republicans are united in destroying him.

Unfortunately, I was not able to photograph all the Washington meerkats for you. Some were underground and receiving "slimy yet satisfying" treats from their keepers. Lucky for you, I was able to catch the cute ones with my little Nikon digicam.

Apartment Hunting

2011-07-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend checking out apartments and townhouses for the art school girls! Four of them!

After one year of student housing - sharing a tiny studio with another student AND the fact that none of them were privileged to win the lottery for on-site housing, the girls are looking for their own digs. (This is actually a good thing, we think)

What an exciting, emotional and frustrating experience this has been. Exciting in that in brings back memories of my young adult self living in the city in a cool townhouse with three other girls. The little known small streets of Philadelphia, some cobblestone, some paved over but too narrow for cars, unknown, quaint little neighborhoods to explore. I remember living on Rodman Street. No one has ever heard of Rodman Street. It was an adorable little street!

Several years ago, Doug and I took the girls on an adventure...a train ride to Philadelphia to see a production of the Lion King at the Academy of Music. We rented a hotel room and walked to the theatre. The best part was the hour or so to kill before the show. We walked around the Avenue of the Arts neighborhood and I showed my girls my old townhouse on Rodman Street. A sign in the window read, "Frodo lost, Bush stole the Ring."

I believe that little detour stirred something in the daughters. Annelise enthusiastically applied to the University of the Arts and lived about four blocks from my old townhouse.

Today we place an outrageous deposit on a townhouse rental in an outstanding neighborhood two blocks away from my old house.

The place is perfect. The girls are worried that it is too nice for them. Split four ways, it is still cheaper than the University housing.

This is emotional because I started here in so many ways.

This is frustrating because the first apartment we looked at didn't work out. I am working with three other students and three other families. We all want our daughters to live in a safe neighborhood. We all want them to live in a nice place. I have one Mom with whom I see eye-to-eye. We agree on everything. I have another who is in Wisconsin and is worried about price. I have another who is a bit of a ______neurotic head case. No I didn't say that. (Yes I did.) She finds fault in everything. I have tried to convince her that all of these wonderful places are cheaper than what the university was charging. She just doesn't seem to get it. I do not want to alienate her daughter. Mine thinks the world of her, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

So how to parent and negotiate and navigate and stay focused, but not overwhelmed is a challenge.

I keep obsessively checking my email. Yesterday I received about 10 messages on this issue. There is in-fighting and shit going on between them. I don't want to get into the shit! I just want to be settled in an apartment!

Non-objective Water Media Fun

2011-07-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

When I feel I'm in a painting slump, the best thing for me to do is play with paint. So I took out all manner of water media, and started pouring . Dr. Martin's inks and pourable acrylics and watercolor pencils. This is just a fun exercise when I feel my oil painting is getting too tight, or I'm overworking things to death. Lately I've had that feeling....

I am at the brink. I feel pure, creative genius coming on, then paint, paint, paint....Some ridiculous music has spurred me on. I walk out the door. I come back one hour later and the canvas looks like cat vomit.

Well the sure cure is to pour. Then I can come back with some more opaque stuff and see if I can find anything interesting. These might be painting starts or nothing at all, but sometimes I am happier with these than the planned stuff.

Oh and excuse the non-existent cropping and crappy picture quality. My laptop does not have Photoshop and the photo editing software is crap.

Quinceanera!

2011-06-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my daughter had the honor of serving as a lady of honor in the court of a Quinceanera. This is a beautiful Latino tradition for a young woman's 15th birthday.

The day started with a formal ceremony and mass honoring Jessica's rite of passage to young womanhood.

A huge stretch limo was hired. Photos were taken a a park and a formal reception was held at a rented hall.

Some people may have gushed at William and Kate's wedding as every young girl dreams of becoming a princess, but this was so much better in so many ways.

The first picture is of the mini-quinceaneran, one of Jessica's cousins who enjoyed the honor of dressing like the honoree. She also won the admiration of every little girl at the park!

Jessica wore an elegant dress, a tiara and carried a scepter. She was truly a princess for the day!

She is escorted by her brother. He rode in the limo with about 13 beautiful young ladies! Lucky guy! He took a bit of "razzing" from his friends, but didn't seem to mind too much.

What an incredible day for a wonderful young lady. We returned to the reception hall for homemade Salvadoran food and dancing. There was a ritual "changing of the shoes" where Jessica's father replaced her Chuck Taylor sneakers with high heels. Jess stood up and thanked her family and her friends for helping her become a young woman. Every member of her family helped to prepare the feast and festivities.

Jessica's mother told me that she could not have one because her family in El Salvador was too poor.

She fulfilled the dream for her daughter.

I wish every girl could be a princess for the day.

(My daughter is the ginger-haired, third from left). I hope you enjoy the photos. Blogger would only allow me to upload three. What's up with Blogger these days?

Shirtless George

2011-06-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the founder of our country, George Washington, shirtless!

Oh what a scandal!

I did not realize that this scandalous sculpture existed!

Thankfully, my art student daughter enlightened me.

This sculpture, created by Horatio Greenough created quite the scandal in 1840.

The Wikipedia entry is as follows:

Greenough modeled his massive (30 tons) figure of “Enthroned Washington” on the great statue of Zeus Olympios which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (and which was destroyed in late Antiquity). The seated and besandled Washington gazes sternly ahead. He is bare-chested and his right arm and hand gesture with upraised index finger toward heaven. His left palm and forearm cradle a sheathed sword, hilt forward, symbolizing Washington turning over power to the people at the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War.

Well, the American people at the time thought it was obscene and hid the sculpture until at least the 1960s. That makes it all the more fun doesn't it?

And by George, he was chopped!

We met up with my California brother in our nation's capitol Friday. This was the highlight of our trip, besides dinner at La Fourchette, the restaurant we visited over our honeymoon, and breakfast at The Diner at Adams Morgan.

Coming of Age - The Elusive Job Hunt

2011-06-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Daughter A has been home from college for a month now. While I love her dearly I am ready for her to not be here so much. Daughter D's last school day was Tuesday.

Now you can understand my reason for helping with the job search.

Oh it has been extremely frustrating. All of the retail outlets and food outlets must be swamped with applicants as none of them ever bother to contact us. The girls follow up with phone calls and hear all manner of excuses.

Finally Mom's ingenious idea: The Temp Agency. I used to use these agencies when I was young and inexperienced. I landed a few nice little busywork jobs filing and typing and filling envelopes and such, but they were resume builders.

I helped A to build up her resume. Highlight skills: Adept at Photoshop, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, yadayadayada. Beef up the National Honor Society and 500 letters to soldiers and Vice Captain of the Fencing club to compensate for her lack of actual "work" experience.

It helped so much that she became overqualified for work in the cookie factory. (Not exactly what we were going for)

Then the Volkswagen dealer was looking for someone with her exact qualifications but wanted a permanent commitment. (No chance)

Will try another temp agency tomorrow. Funny, when I was her age they were always looking for clerical people.

This teen boredom might be the reason there are so many cute cat internet pictures, videos, games, etc.

Memorial Day Weekend!

2011-05-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

It is Memorial Day weekend and I do wish to honor all of the brave men and women who have fought and given their lives for their country. Thank you. My husband is enjoying the weekend marathon of old war movies on AMC.

To me, Memorial Day weekend also meant the unofficial start of summer. Ocean City, New Jersey was open for business and the shoobies were flocking to town. We used to laugh at the Pennsylvanians who clogged the roads trying to capitalize on the three-day weekend. They crowded the boardwalk and bought Budweiser visors to wear with their black socks and sandals.

Now I live in Pennsylvania and I will not go near the shore or anywhere else on Memorial Day weekend. Yesterday we had a very laid back "party" with good friends and good food.

Today I decided to relax. I read an entire book while sitting on the back deck. I haven't done that for a while.

Thanks again the the brave men and women from every country who have allowed me to take an extra day to relax.

Let'sTry Maria's Meme Again

2011-05-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hey all. Dive posted a Maria Meme. I haven't done one in a while so I thought it would be fun. Plus I haven't had much to blog about. I wrote all of this in a Word document and tried to copy/past this to my blog last night to no avail. All sorts of idiotic error messages. So I am hand-typing my answers. Ok. I'll try to copy-paste one more time.
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1) ONE OF YOUR SCARS. HOW DID YOU GET IT? I have so many! I’ll take my ankle surgery scars! I got churned up by an ocean wave and shattered my ankle. Five broken bones! Surgeon thought it was caused by either a football injury or a motorcycle accident.

1) 2) WHAT IS ON THE WALLS OF YOUR BEDROOM? Some cheesy naked nymph from the days I worked as a picture framer.

1) 3) WHAT DOES YOUR MOBILE PHONE LOOK LIKE? Flat black and boring. Who cares?

1) 4) WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO? Miles Davis and John Coltrane interspersed with the Clash, Modest Mouse, Vampire Weekend, old Joni Mitchell, Mozart, independent new artists, Allman Brothers, old rock, depending on the mood.

5) DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN? 1:31 a.m.

6) WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW? The school year to end

7) WHO DO YOU MISS? Mom, Michael Canty

8) IS ANYONE IN LOVE WITH YOU OR HAS A CRUSH ON YOU? Hopefully my husband,Doug. Crush? That would be hilarious!

9) WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU KISSED? Doug

10) WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Ann

11) THE BEST TV SHOW EVER CREATED? Homicide

12) THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO? Doug is talking now

13) DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK? Not particularly

14) THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY? Mr. Fredericksen from the movie “Up”

15) WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOGNE/PERFUME? Eternity by Calvin Klein

16) WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX? Dark hair, blue eyes, but I always end up with the blonde lol.

17) WOULD YOU RATHER BE SMART OR FUNNY? Funny. I am smart according to the accepted IQ tests but it’s not always “fun” to be brilliant \o/. (I think too much)

18) COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINKS? Coffee duh

19) WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING? Onion and black olives on cheesy thin crusted New York style pizza

20) IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE? A nice sharp provolone with grapes

21) WHO IS THE LAST PERSON WHO MADE YOU MAD? Stupid scholarship committee at school for picking a butt kisser instead of the most amazing art student I’ve ever had the privilege to teach

22) DO YOU SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE? I used to speak Haitian creole

23) WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIFT THAT YOU REMEMBER SOMEONE GIVING YOU? I’m fixated on the turquoise EZ-Bake Oven for some reason.

24) DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE? yes

25) 25) ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED? No not even close

26) FAVORITE CLOTHING BRAND? No I am opposed to brand name anything

27) 27) WHAT IS YOUR DREAM CAR? O Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz…

28) WHAT COLOR IS IT? Gold with classic wood interior

29) WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF EXERCISE? Walking in the woods

30) WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING? Not at my age.

Soggy Bottom Boys- I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow

2011-05-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

love the soggy bottom boys. and if the world ends tomorrow, go to your better place. I believe the world will still be for us sinners.

"If you build it they will come."

2011-05-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies. Perhaps it is because of the perpetual soundbite with the voice of James Earl Jones. The Field of Dreams was such a ridiculously satisfying fantasy.

The wonderful inspirational moral about that leap of faith. Build a baseball diamond in a cornfield and the undead, unsung heroes will come back and play for your personal enjoyment. You will save your farm because people will line up and pay a fortune to share this fantasy.

The leap of faith into the unknown. I look at my sister, Shazza. She started her business on a leap of faith and she is now enjoying this wonderful journey. Her store, idiosyncrazies is the coolest store ever!

As for me, I decided to invest a little in my art stuff. I purchased some displays, invested in some giclee printing and all of a sudden things are happening. I did not plan, I did not solicit, but I've been invited to an invitational show, asked to teach adult classes and I've been getting checks! I sold an original at the Degas show and a print at the school benefit.

Oh and I need them because I have agreed to a pay freeze (because we teachers are supposedly overpaid welfare queens), I have a kid in college and another kid who is a talented, traveling musician. She is going to Hawaii and was invited to play in Europe and oh (I have to pay for it)

A wise man, Robert Andriulli, once told me "Do not go out and look for showing opportunities. Wait until they come looking for you."

I never expect to live from the proceeds of my art making habit, but it's nice to get a few bucks and a little recognition.

Degas Project - New Painting

2011-05-04T16:39:00.001-07:00

Hello old friends,

Here is a painting at about 95% completion that I painted for the Degas Project held in York, PA.

The York Art Association invited thirty local artists to sketch and photograph dancers from the Greater York Dance Studio as long as we could come up with a somewhat finished and framed piece within three weeks. I brought my sketchbook and took about 200 photos on April 10th. The painting is due to Art Association tomorrow!

I photographed this painting on Monday afternoon using natural light. I must admit I took it back into the studio to touch it up and correct a few things.

I enjoyed painting the little dancers but I must admit I stretched them out a bit. In trying to capture their lovely movements I elongated their little legs, arms and particularly the neck on the girl to the left. I guess this was more of a Modigliani Project for me (haha).

Brick Wall

2011-04-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

I hit the proverbial "brick wall" yesterday. I really did. I really, really did.
I remember about a month ago, I checked my April calendar. I remember thinking that the middle two weeks would be absolute insanity.

I am reaping the fruits of that insanity.

I have had something scheduled every single day (after work) and on weekends. These would be meetings, classes, field trips to Pittsburgh (but the Andy Warhol Museum was well worth the drive!) Long nights, little sleep. Oh and kids concerts and invitations to Youth Music Abroad, and signing away income tax money and field trip money and forwarding money and having no money and freaking and stressing and not sleeping and.....

I committed to the Degas project. A photo/sketch shoot of dancers at a studio. We have three weeks to turn in a painting. I thought it was a cool idea but I haven't had a free moment. I know you think I am on the internets blogging, but....

I am writing curriculum for four new classes. I thought I had until July. I have just been informed that it is all due on April 26th.

The day after the Pittsburgh trip I couldn't find my keys. I left them in my unlocked car. The Monday after I could not find my keys, went out to my car, found no keys. Walked back to my desk, found my keys but left my purse. I discovered I was purseless at the halfway to home point. I wasted about a half hour retrieving said purse. Last night I locked my keys in my car while daughter was taking flute lessons. After the "coat hanger treatment" failed, flute teacher's husband took my husband and daughter home while I sat in her gazebo, trying to stay dry. Thunder struck and the dogs howled. I huddled in the gazebo like a homeless person waiting about an hour for the hubby to return. I stopped at the supermarket. When I pulled into the drive I received a call that I left my checkbook at the supermarket. It was close to nine, I was exhausted. I retrieved the checkbook.

I have wasted hours looking for lost things.

Today I came in and a substitute teacher rearranged my desk. I could not find anything. Why do people insist on rearranging my desk. I know it is messy, but I thrive in creative chaos. I hate neatness.

I could not find crap today.

Oh, and Dive, I tried writing, it was crap. I haven't had time to fix it so... The hell with it.

Chalk it Up!

2011-04-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

Every year the YorkArts organization hosts the Chalk it Up! Mural competition for high school students. I was happy to sponsor two teams from my high school's National Art Honor Society. It is a fun, but stressful afternoon. The students must complete a carpet sized chalk mural on canvas in four and a half hours.

The first photo is of Team #1's finished mural. (Sorry it was a little difficult to photograph). This mural took second place in the competition. Eighteen teams participated.

If you click on this photo you might be able to see some of the rich textures applied by these wonderful students!

Team#2 is working very hard on their mural. Rachel loves to draw dragons and imaginary creatures. I think she did an incredible job. Unfortunately her team did not win anything.

It must be very difficult for these young students to work on such a collaborative mural.

Personalities and heads tend to clash, coupled with a short deadline. One student lost an Ipod.

All in all the results these year were tenfold greater than the last two years!

The kids are covered with chalk and pastel.

The public is amazed that our students are so talented.

If we do not support the arts, opportunities like this will disappear.

Our governor wants to make drastic cuts in school funding.

Back in the burrow

2011-04-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

Spring seems to have flown the coop. Winter weather patterns persist. Snow is flying and temps are hovering just above freezing. Yuck.

I have retreated to the burrow once again.

Happy Spring!

2011-03-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I am clean out of original titles. So, Jake will wish you a happy spring! Youngest daughter dressed Jake to greet the group of girls who were coming to help her celebrate sweet sixteen!

She dug up an old Hawaiian shirt foreshadowing perhaps her trip later this year? We purchased the hat and lei at the local Dollar store.

Jake looks comfortable on the front porch swing. (I can never get him to smile for photos).

We enjoyed the company of five teenage girls last night. They gushed over the super moon, watched the Road to El Dorado and Labyrinth, (for some reason, the latter has become THE birthday movie around here), ate pizza, tea sandwiches, hot brie and baguette, two pints of blueberries and Central Market cupcakes.

Morning activities included croissants and tie dye. No need to get dressed! By all means stay in your pajamas because we have no close neighbors.

I was surprised to learn that daughter's friends never learned to dip dye. (They've only tie-dyed with fancy squirt kits).

Well the purist old hippie art teacher has to show them how it is done.

The finished products are drying in the sun.

Today day and night are equal. The sun will soon be warming the earth.

Little green things are beginning to emerge.

Happy spring!

Dogs at the Beach Painting (WIP)

2011-03-12T12:31:00.000-08:00

"Little Darling, It's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here. "

Here comes the Sun.

I think I am beginning to emerge from hibernation. The sun was out most of today. Long enough at least to dash out to my lair and snap a few pictures.

I have been painting, although sporadically over this nasty winter. Painting sun-drenched beach scenes refresh the soul in February.

I posted this on Facebook a few weeks back. I got a good response even though it was a terrible photo. I could not find a card reader and had to crop it through whatever default photo editing software that happens to have come with my laptop. I cleaned up the painting a bit, re-shot and cropped it on hubby's computer. I think you can get the gist of it. I have another "woodland" landscape that I may post soon. The sun was glaring too much today.

Why do I love back lit scenes so? They intrigue me for some reason but are a bear to paint. I kept going over the dogs, trying to get some detail even though I couldn't see much from my original photo.

Anyway, I have been painting a bit. I need to paint more.

Road Boating

2011-03-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

Another boring day in Dover. We are expecting one to two inches of rain. A flood watch is in effect. The ground is saturated. The rivers are full. There is a creek in my yard.

I took a northward drive to New Cumberland to do a little shopping. The wipers were on high speed. I decided to shun the interstate and take back roads.

The drive north was uneventful. It seems that sane people stay at home.

On the trip home, many of the roads were slightly flooded with huge puddles. The meteorologists call this "ponding". I know well enough not to drive through any of the deep flash floods. A car could get carried away.

I noted that I could see the bottom. I could go for it.

Accelerate! SPLASH! A curtain of water covers the windows!

My oldest daughter is home on spring break. She was mildly amused.

I pick up the youngest who was performing at the spring musical. I told her the flooding had subsided but there were still major puddles to splash through.

We aimed, we hit. We splashed! The passenger side was washed in a sheet of water. Wheeee! Delaney laughed hysterically. "Do that again Mom!" We found another huge puddle and left a wake!

Delaney exclaimed "I always loved going through these puddles when I was little!"

I told her to stay a kid! We turned into our driveway.

Adventures in Amish Country

2011-02-27T17:02:00.000-08:00

A normal Saturday.

Daughter Delaney is a dedicated musician. We received a call that her flute is fixed.

Last week I delivered Delaney's flute to Mr. Bone. Mr. Bone is a fine artist, an expert flute specialist. I would insult him to call him a "repairman".

Mr. Bone was educated as a woodwind flute major. He is a professional woodwind performer. He taught music at the high school level for twenty years before he became interested in the craft of fine instruments. Mr. Bone received a diploma in handmade flute building in Vermont. He then traveled to Europe where he furthered his repair studies in Oslo, Norway, on Saxophone and clarinet. He then went to the Schreiber bassoon factory in Germany to become proficient in bassoon repairs. He became an authorized Straubinger Pad technician.

My daughter's private flute instructor recommended Mr. Bone. He is an amazing, passionate and dedicated individual who lives in the middle of nowhere.

Last week I entered Mr. Bone's address into "Irma" our lovely GPS machine. Mr. Bone told us that he lived in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County.

Mr. Bone in fact lives about fifteen miles outside of Elizabethtown proper in between two Amish farms. Irma flawlessly directed us there.

Mr. Bone "fixed" the flute. Why is it that the dedicated professionals charge less than the major stores. I find it hard to say goodbye.

Delaney wants to go to lunch. She wants to ask Irma. We found the Black Gryphon in E-town. Several places in Hershey. Could it be that we are only 2.5 miles from Hershey?

I suggest Mount Joy. She finds a place named the "Creekside Cafe".

She says "cafes are usually nice". The optimistic daughter thinking "sidewalk cafe". I tell her it might be a divey bar.

We set "Go" on the GPS. I become a little concerned as we leave Mount Joy proper to follow a windy creekside road.

The establishment is to our left, marked with a checkered flag by Irma. I remember long ago hearing that it is not wise to venture into a bar without windows.

Delaney learns that "cafes" can mean a lot of things.

I pushed the "home" button. We had lunch at the John Wright Restaurant overlooking the Susquehanna river. The food was terrible but the view was amazing.

The seagulls were floating backwards down the river.

Delaney's flute is ready for the musical next weekend.

Slosh

2011-02-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

Nothing new to report. February thaw melted 99% of the snow. We were close to 70 degrees F yesterday. The cruel reality of wind returned to central Pennsylvania on time for the weekend with 50 mph gusts. I had to drive across the Susquehanna River and held on to my steering wheel for dear life.

My cousin Paul from California called last night to tell me he was driving through PA on a big rig. I arranged to see him for about ten minutes. The kids got to tour his tractor cab. I was not going to let him escape.

Freja (the intellectually challenged golden retriever) jumped into the partially frozen pond, fell through the ice. I was roused by a panicky daughter crying" Freja fell through the ice and cannot get out" I ran to the pond to find that our little 12 year old visitor "rescued" Freja by climbing onto the ice. She said that she felt the presence of God. I told her that I was glad she didn't meet him in person. How stupid to climb onto the breaking ice!

Freja, upon her rescue immediately rolled in groundhog poop. Renee praised the lord for her "unworldly strength". I am thankful that her father did not sue me and am now drinking my Saturday night wine.

Under the Weather

2011-02-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

I've been "under the weather" both literally and figuratively for the last couple of weeks. Thinking about this phrase, I conducted a Google search. The Google search took me to sites such as Idioms.com, common idioms, etc. While I could find nothing absolutely conclusive, the most believable origin seems to be a sailing term. Two sources suggested that sailors would climb underneath the deck when the weather got stormy. This made sense. Another source suggested "ill, not well, unhealthy...", yet another suggested "hungover".

Well, whether it's weather or wine or whatever, I've been under it. The air has been absolutely frigid since early December. We've had snow, sleet, ice, rain and WIND. The upper respiratory symptoms started almost two weeks ago. I went to school against my better judgment, supervised the concession stand at the student council Dodgeball tournament on a Saturday and kept going and going....

Now the damned respiratory crap has gone to the chest. I have a lovely cough minus the deep sexy voice.

The sun came out for a bit on Sunday so I attempted to take a walk, to soak in a few rays. It was nice until the six remaining inches of crunchy snow soaked through my boots (sigh).

This winter just seems longer and colder and more miserable than it should be. If you don't hear from me for a while, check under the deck... or better yet the comforter.

I should be out and about in a few weeks.

The Hawaiian Waiter Goblin Snowman

2011-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it was the ukele rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody that I heard last night.

Jake Shimabukuro: 'Bohemian Rhapsody' On The Ukulele : NPR

Perhaps it was the first full snow day of the year.

Whatever the subliminal inspiration, here is our snowman.

I promised my daughter that I would build a snowman with her if schools were closed.

The snow was wet and heavy. Good packing snow.

We started trying to make a Totoro snowman, but we could not make the base wide enough. Totoro morphed into a nude pregnant woman. Daughter told me the boobs looked more like moobs (man-boobs).

We then tried to make it into a laughing buddha. The only thing that was working for our snow creation was the ginormous belly Undaunted we improvised. Delaney went looking for our neighbor's coal, but it was buried underneath snow and wood.

We dismantled our giant ornamental grass and experimented with "hair". We weren't quite sure what style we wanted.

Delaney began assembling a grass skirt and told me he needed a bigger nose and ears. (She is going to Hawaii with her school band next year).

"We need to find him a lei!" I exclaimed. Delaney could not find a lei, but found her old junior symphony bow tie. "That works!"

We could not find anything sufficient for eyes. I ran into the garage and found some ultramarine blue tempera paint.

We like the way the blue paint melted into the indentations.

He shall be Hawaiian Waiter Goblin/Troll.

Moral: When it snows, make odd looking snow creations. They will momentarily make you forget about the cold.

Carousel Magic!

2011-01-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

Last week I posted on the impending demise of the Brookside Park Carousel House in Dover, PA.

I am sad to report that the beautiful structure has already been demolished.

There was no ceremony. No formal goodbye.

A few lines in the paper with a photo, showing not the building, but the destruction of the wood by the powder post beetles.

I only knew that it was scheduled for demolition in January. I drove by one night last week and saw an empty space in the park, covered with snow.

I have pictures. I am so glad that I took them.

When I put my Christmas decorations away, I found this photo of my mother and self. I'm on the horse and this may very well be my first carousel ride.

I am not sure where the photo was taken, but there is a very good chance it was on one of the amusement piers in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We moved to the Atlantic City area when I was about one.

I'm guessing by the chubby cheeks that I was close to two in this photo! The carousel was always magical for me. Of course the Mary Poppins movie confirmed my belief that the horses were magical! I always waited for the time when the horses galloped off into some fantasy land where we were transformed into cartoon characters!

If you are interested in other stories and photos of Times Gone "Bye", you must check out Sepia Saturday posts for the many other wonderful stories told by the wonderful and interesting folk who still post regularly in Blogville! There are posts every week ! So dig out your old photos - sepia, black and white, hand-colored or technicolored. Tell a story and join the fun.

Brookside Park Carousel House Before the Wrecking Ball

2011-01-07T17:46:00.000-08:00

The Brookside Park Carousel House, framed by dumpsters and orange caution fencing.

I could not believe that this building was going to be destroyed! I decided to take my daughters to the park on a cold January day to take some farewell photos.

This beautiful old carousel building in my adopted town will meet the wrecking ball sometime this month. The building is not a victim of suburban sprawl. It is a victim of powderpost beetles. These nasty little insects have been destroying the structure of the building. The building must be destroyed because of structural and liability issues.

The building used to house a classic wooden carousel back in its heyday during the late ninteenth century up until about 1939. The carousel was built by Gustav Dentzel, a German immigrant who started his business in Philadelphia. At the time a trolley ran from York to this popular little picnic grove. Bob Hoffman, founder of York Barbell Company and a member of the Weightlifters hall of fame purchased the park around 1940. From what I have read, the carousel was in operation until Hurricane Agnes caused severe damage to the structure and carousel in 1972. Mr. Hoffman donated the land and the park to the township and/or the YMCA adjacent to the park which bears his name.
I was told by members of the Greater Dover Historical Society that the carousel was sold to a large amusement park in California. I tried to do some internet research, but I could not find any evidence of the transfer of the Brookside Dentzel carousel. Some reports suggest that the carousel was dismantled. This horse was advertised on an antique vendor's site as a Brookside Park Dentzel original. The asking price is approximately $1500.
My children have fond memories of this park. It has been home to the old fashioned penny carnival, haunts in the park, pony rides and Girl Scout camp. We used the empty carousel building for craftmaking, cakewalks and halloween parties.

I have spent many hours of my free time researching this story. I have found more conflicting information than historical fact. I was thinking of painting a mural to honor the legacy of the carousel and the once glorious carousel house. When I tried to do some background research, I became a bit discouraged. Carousels are magical rides for small children. I have a picture of myself and my mom together on a carousel when I was very young! I tried to scan these in, but they need more editing.

Writing in Flow: Guest Post: Kinetic Typography via My Mother-in-La...

2011-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Writing in Flow: Guest Post: Kinetic Typography via My Mother-in-La...: "Do you love language? Do you like to swirl beautiful, poetic words around on your tongue like truffles from See's candy? Di..."

Good Riddance 2010

2010-12-31T16:48:00.000-08:00

I am just writing to bid good riddance to the year 2010.

I'm gazing back. The visuals that come to mind are pre-college arguments with financial aid offices. Hours upon hours looking at numbers only to get a letter stating that something is amiss with our payment schedule. I keep finding legal pads with my numbers.
I hate numbers.

I am not a left brain person. Numbers scare me. And yes, most of the errors were my fault.

Next visual...Stinkbugs. The damned things ruined my fall plein air painting.

I'd set up my easel, find something to paint, get everything prepared and then I was accosted by these nasty bugs. They would fly their shield shaped body armour into me. The damned things are still around. They swarmed the house in October and made their way into every little crack and crevice. The emerge when you least expect them.

I have a stink bug death chamber now. A cottage cheese container filled with vinegar and detergent. Every time I find one of the buggers I deposit it into the death vat. I love to watch them die!

Death. My husband's best friend succumbed to leukemia in October at the young age of 51. One of my students also died of leukemia at the age of 15. Both were diagnosed about a year before their deaths.

World news. Haiti's earthquake and cholera epidemic. I spent three months there in my youth. I was an idealistic young person. That country was terribly poor then. I cannot fathom what they are enduring now.

The Gulf Oil Disaster.

Politics. Fucking tea party. Stupid American people who are targeted by these groups. Why are there so many "stoopid" people here?

I'm having issues with my artistic mojo. I'm working things out, but overall 2010 has been a year of struggle.

Blog traffic is down. Probably my fault to some extent. I've not contributed much.

Blah is a good way to describe 2010. Haha. Back in 1982 when I lived in Haiti, the local people called us white people "Blahs". It was creole for white. It seems oddly appropriate for 2010!

May 2011 be a better year!

Trojan Wedding Shower Commercial - Triphoria Gift - Hair Blown Back

2010-12-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

I was gathered with my husband and daughters on Christmas day. We were celebrating Christmas in our pajamas, watching the original Star Wars trilogy on the Sci Fi Channel. Can you imagine? This was the first commercial to play! On the Sci Fi Channel!

I have never seen anything so ridiculous. I can imagine a Saturday Night Live skit. I don't know what to say! I could not post this yesterday.

Soupies and Chickies Cafe!

2010-12-14T18:22:00.000-08:00

Just for fun, please click on the title of this post and check out the link for my daughter's new favorite restaurant in Philly!

She describes it as a little place run by adorable hyper Asians. She told me that the names of the menu items are all cutesy. I had to check this out!

My favorite name is Yo Tony! If you haven't guessed, this is an Italian inspired dish with fresh mozzarella.

Oh, and I love the way they spell omelet.

I must brag that my daughter is adjusting well to the college/city lifestyle. She prefers Jean's because of their extremely low prices. Although she fell in love with Govinda's, a vegetarian restaurant that specializes in soy cheesesteaks, she chooses to spend most of her going out time at Jean's. She buys her clothes and supplies at i. Goldberg, which used to be our favorite military surplus store. Our frugality is rubbing off!

She will be coming home for the Christmas break on Thursday! I cannot wait. I miss her! I miss hearing about Maru's latest post. Oh Mom, did you check Cake Wrecks today? Did you hear what the nostalgia critic said about _________? I miss the constant, "Mom, you've gotta see this!" To which I respond..."okay, I'll be there in a minute." I miss hearing my two daughters giggling together in the computer room.

But I also hope that she will be anxious to return to school. This child is blossoming in her new environment. She told me she will probably be named vice-captain of the fencing club in the spring. She is growing!

Gangsta Skunks

2010-12-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

One of the hazards of living in the boondocks is the threat of attacks by angry woodland gangsters. They prey upon their naiive domesticated mammalian relatives who have not been educated to the signs of gang symbolism.

Those of us who are worldly know the signs. The colors: white on black with the stripes starting at the head and ending at the tail. The stripes can vary from single to double to the triple threat. We see the stripes, we turn and walk away. We know that if we leave them alone they will probably leave us alone.

Unfortunately, the naive golden retriever has been sheltered from these thicket thugs. She does not recognize the colors, she perceives a lifted tail as an invitation. She sniffs. It sprays. She is hit point blank in the face. The older, wiser, half-border collie Fiona is grazed but escapes the major assault.

I have been informed of the attack by my husband. The victims were sentenced to the garage for the day. I must deal with them at day end.

My vet recommended Nature's Miracle is all but empty. I consult the internets.

The first thing I find is DO NOT USE TOMATO JUICE! Please tell me where that tradition/urban mythology/old wives wisdom/rumor came from? I used tomato juice once, decades ago. It did not work AT ALL. The result was a dog matted with sticky red goo and a lingering skunk aroma.

On the internets I found the best remedy ever! 2 quarts of hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 cup of baking soda, 2 tsp. dish detergent. This neutralized the odor almost immediately! There is a faint skunky smell, but the dogs are tolerable. The most tolerable they have been under such an attack.

Art School Fencing!

2010-11-22T16:51:00.000-08:00

My daughter is a fencing fool! She joined the fencing club at the University of the Arts and is absolutely hooked. Be it known that this is her first fencing experience and she is the beast!
She is the petite 5'2" freshman facing the much larger male opponent. My fearless freshman lost this match by one point, 4-3. She went on to win two other "bouts" against much larger males! Way to go Annelise. Behind her is her good friend and fellow animation major, Giselle. Most of the fencing club is made up of animation majors. In fact, the coach is her animation professor!
She is having an absolutely amazing time and cannot wait for fencing every Monday and Thursday night! What a way for a tiny teen to feel empowered!

Pumpkin Rolls for Dessert

2010-11-20T16:29:00.001-08:00

Today I attempted to make pumpkin rolls. Pumpkin rolls instead of pumpkin pie. I have purchased a pumpkin roll every year from someone.
This is the first year I have not been offered one.
I expected one.
I turned my New Jersey family on to these delectable desserts one year ago.
They do not make these in New Jersey.
I think it is a Pennsylvania Dutch thing.
My newly formed chapter of the National Art Honor Society was going to have a pumpkin roll baking party. We were going to sell them at football games.
I thought I would get my pumpkin roll from them.
The plans fell through.
No pumpkin rolls.
A lot of church ladies make these. Last year I bought two from a student whose church ladies made them.
What happened to the church ladies?
What happened to the students who always ask me to buy them?

I decided to try to make them myself.

The recipe is, after all on the flip side of the Libby's pumpkin label. Most people make the pumpkin pie.

How hard could it be?

The first thing I needed to do was find a jelly roll pan. Hmmm. What is a jelly roll pan? I found a cookie sheet with sides and a pizza baking stone with sides.

I mixed all the cake ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, pumpkin, ginger, ground cloves and allspice.
I greased the pan, laid waxed paper down, greased the waxed paper and floured it. I spread my cake mix over the waxed paper and baked for 15 minutes.

I then had to flip the cake out of the pan onto a kitchen towel dusted with confectionary sugar.
I rolled the cake and towel and let them cool for an hour.

I made the cream cheese filling. I had to unroll the cake, spread the filling and re-roll.
One roll ripped a little (okay a lot). The other looks rather nice.

We will have to sacrifice the ripped one to the tasting gods. The tasting gods live in my house. The prettier one will be taken to New Jersey for our Thanksgiving dessert.

Wear Loud Shirts and Eat Dessert

2010-10-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

This is a postscript to my Cancer Sucks post of November 2009.

Michael Canty passed on at the age of 51. He was diagnosed with acute lymphotic leukemia approximately one year ago.

The leukemia was bullied into remission through aggressive chemotherapy. Unfortunately the thing that was supposed to cure him put his body into near total organ failure. Two organs that did not fail were Michael's brain and skin.

We visited him in the hospital ICU just after Christmas. The nurse took out his tracheotomy tube so that he could converse with us. This caused such severe respiratory distress that it had to be immediately replaced.

For almost one year, Michael refused to die. He fought incredible odds. He regained some functions such as the ability to eat and the ability to walk a few steps. He took a shower. He went home to Hampton, Virginia where he used to be a high school principal and city manager. He kept a blog, sometimes writing though his wife, Annie, sometimes writing with his son, Liam. He managed to post himself after regaining the use of his hands.

My husband met Michael at Boston College when they were graduate students. In 1983, Michael, Doug, and friends Mary and Jeanne rented a Dodge Reliant K Station wagon. They took a month to drive across the U.S. Most of the time they took shifts driving. Occasionally they stopped to camp. I met Doug just after his return East.

Doug and Mike vowed to make this trip again before they died. They envisioned two old geezers speeding through the desert in a Porsche convertible.

It seems that Michael's respiratory system did not want to cooperate. Mike would take a step forward, walk, write, laugh, and then the lungs would fill up with fluid again. Michael had to go back to intensive care.

Michael did not want to live forever on a ventilator and asked his family and doctors to disconnect him. He was surrounded by family and friends. He was at peace. He said that he was able to reconnect with everyone that he wanted to in the last year of his life. He left us last week to pursue his final journey into the unknown. We will be attending a celebration of his life on Friday. He has requested that we do two things in his memory:

1. Wear Loud Shirts
2. Always Eat Dessert (Life is to short to deprive yourself)

We love you Michael. We hope your chariot was a Porsche! I'll have some of that cheesecake now.

My dear mother's birthday would have been Wednesday. Cancer and chemo took her in 2006.
I wanted to post some pictures. Perhaps I will at some point , but not today.

Testing 1..2..3 What do you think of Jeff Koons?

2010-10-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

Jeff Koon's Bunny Sculpture. Okay, the picture looks like WTF? Who would sculpt a bunny balloon? I did see this sculpture in person and it is amazing. It is constructed of polished steel and you can see your reflection distorted in astonishing angles. I took a group of high school students to the Baltimore Museum of Art when it was exhibited there. They were absolutely captivated!

Imagine their astonishment when I told them that Jeff was born in York County. In fact, Jeff was born and raised in my current home town of Dover, Pa and has become the highest paid and most well known sculptor in the U.S. Many people think his work is kitschy. Okay, the subject matter is kitschy, but the interpretation, in my opinion, is brilliant.

I'm just testing to see if the blog works anymore.

I've tried posting a few times and I've gotten all sorts of error messages.

I have a lot to write about but I want to make sure blogger is still working before I pour my heart and soul into this.

If you are still around, say hello. If you don't visit blogs anymore, let me know.

Brown Marmorated Stinkbug Plague!

2010-09-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

I tried to paint today but I was assaulted by swarms of Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs. These horrible creatures are nasty. They sound like a wasp when they buzz you! Their armour-like exterior actually hurts on impact. They fly into your body, fly into your hair, fly into your home. If you kill them they emit a foul odor.

These ugly fuckers came from Asia. They've attacked our tomatoes. They are attacking our sunflowers. They have swarmed our siding and are looking for cracks to invade our home. The weather outside is perfect and I have to turn on the air conditioning.

These foul creatures have ruined my favorite time of year and I am not happy.

Finally, the humidity is gone. The trees are showing some color other than green. It is my time to paint plein air.

I painted for about an hour. I could have cried. I almost killed a beautiful butterfly that landed on my knee. I thought it was a stinkbug.

These fuckers have no know natural predators. Birds do not eat them because they smell and leave a foul taste. They are pesticide resistant. Help me.

Here is some biological information brought to you by the University of Maryland.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) is a new pest in North America. Adult bugs are 14-17 mm and dark mottled brown. The last 2 antennal segments have alternating light and dark bands. The exposed edges of the abdomen also have light and dark banding. Eggs are light green, barrel-shaped, and laid from June to August. The young bugs (nymphs) are yellowish and mottled with black and red. Older nymphs more closely resemble the adults. The host list is long and includes many shade trees and woody ornamentals such as Paulownia tomentosa (empress tree), Buddleia spp.(butterfly bush), Catalpa spp., Rosa rugosa, Lonicera spp. (honeysuckle), and Acer platanoides (Norway maple). Feeding damage appears as small necrotic spots on leaves and fruit. These stink bugs can also be a nuisance in homes and buildings as they seek shelter in the fall much like Asian lady bird beetles and boxelder bugs.

Management: Prevent them from coming in the home by sealing up cracks with caulk, use weather stripping around doors and windows, remove window air conditioners, close all possible entry points. Inside shop- vacuum up the bugs and place in an outdoor trash receptacle. It should be noted that if many of them are squashed or pulled into a vacuum cleaner, their odor can be quite strong.

There are no chemical recommendations currently available for home use. For heavy infestations outdoors, contact a pest control professional.

Baltimore's Harbor View

2010-09-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Baltimore Harbor from the Marriott Harbor View. Our Priceline bargain during Otakon.

I was going to write about the Racist Tea Party, but I became angry. I felt my blood pressure rise. I viewed photos of Christine O'Donnell who magically transformed herself to become a twin of Sarah Palenut. Funny, I watched my sister-in-law start the transformation about two years ago. It started with the glasses. Opticians now carry more Palinesque glasses than you can imagine!

I started fuming about the stupid tea-baggers. Glenn Beck holding his rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's speech. My blood began to boil as students had their parents call in to prohibit them from listening to Obama's address to school children.

What happened to common respect? What happened to listening to the president's address just to hear what he had to say? After the address you can bash the hell out of it. You can disagree, find fault, make fun, throw darts, etc. We did this with the Bushes. We did this with Reagan. We even did it with Clinton. They are politicians for god's sake. They deserve to be questioned.
We've always made fun of politicians. That is expected.

But disallowing children to listen? Why? Because he might convert them to socialism? He might be a Muslim? He only wanted to encourage them to do their best in school.

No. I believe it is because he is black. I have never witnessed such sheer disrespect toward any American president. You can disagree with him. Just listen first.
Enjoy the photos while you ponder my rant. These were taken from an I-phone.

One Flew Out of the Blackberry Bramble

2010-09-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

My oldest child has gone off to school.

All of a sudden nothing else matters. I cannot paint. I cannot blog.
It is a life-changing experience for both of us. It is beyond my writing capacity.

My daughter is living in Center City Philadelphia attending the University of the Arts. She is living her dream.

She is living in a studio apartment with twelve foot ceilings and huge windows overlooking the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I used to live two blocks away.

She is afraid to use the electric stove. (It smells funny)
She has a neurotic roommate. There are laundry facilities on every floor (but hers).

She discovered street vendors for breakfast and lunch. They see her coming and begin to prepare her lunch - egg, cheese and lettuce on a hoagie roll - $2.00.
(I told her that would happen). Marty used to have my poppy seed bagel with butter waiting for me every morning at precisely 7:45.

We gave Annelise a quick walking tour of her neighborhood. She is only about six blocks from the Italian Market. The street vendors are still there although most of them are Asian. There are still some institutions like DiBruno Brothers Cheese.

Twenty six years ago the old DiBruno brothers used to greet us and tempt us to taste all sorts of wonderful Italian cheese. When we stopped in with my daughter, the old guys were gone and replaced by mustachioed twenty-somethings. They could have been thirty-somethings. They are muscular and tattooed, wearing wife-beaters as a fashion statement. They look like babies to me. They were still friendly and helpful, but the old Italian accents are long gone and replaced by the Philly "Yo. (Adrienne)"

There is now a mural honoring the DiBruno family about one block north of the store. Okay, the old Italian guys are history now?

Okay. I'm in a funny place right now. A major transition with my daughter, an opportunity to reminisce about my twenties, the beginning of a new school year. I'm also in a funny place when it comes to painting. I'm not sure where I want to go.

I'm wondering if anyone is blogging anymore as I do not get many comments. Perhaps my posts are too boring. My paintings have sucked. Some bloggers have so many blogs within blogs that I gave up trying to keep up.

I miss the regular blogging circuit.

Perhaps Facebook has destroyed blogging.

Sometimes the Blogger site is glitchy. It doesn't let me comment or post.

Sometimes I just get too busy with my own life. I either do not have the time or the energy or the organizational skills to find photos for meaningful posts. It is entirely my own fault. I'm sorry.

Hey. I miss you bloggers. Drop me a comment. Suggest a painting. Tell me a funny story. Let's keep the blogs alive.

Cape Cod Mini-Vacation

2010-08-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a few photos from our mini-vacation up to visit friends at the Cape! Our good friends, Mary and Ted invited us to spend a few days at Cazzy's Cape House! While I do have a picture of the house. Here are a few pictures we snapped on our trip. Doesn't this lighthouse look like an Edward Hopper painting? I looked up Edward Hopper's lighthouses and this is not the one he painted. Perhaps I'll give it a go. This lighthouse was located on a strip of land that is only accessible by boat or certain off-road vehicles. We passed it on our whale watch cruise from Barnstable Harbor.

The Whale Watch was fantastic. We witnessed at least ten individual humpbacks frolicking around the Stellwagen Bank (I'm not sure about the spelling here). I do believe this individual is Salt, the most famous humpback of the area. The Marine Mammal Conservancy has been tracking her since the 1970s. In the foreground is her newest calf. I have a lot more whale tail pictures! I'll probably crop some of them when I get around to playing on the desktop.
We stayed in the quaint village of Harwich Port. The Harwich Port Harbor looked golden as we passed it just before sunset. I decided to walk back with my camera to snap a few more pictures! Maybe a painting or two will come out of these photos. It is always fun to revisit places through painting them. I have more pics, but blogger seems to be "limiting" me. We visited two other friends on the way up to the Cape. My good friend Stefanie in West Milford, New Jersey and our good friend and former boss, Linda in Milford, Connecticut. This was a driving trip to visit old friends that we haven't seen in 15-25 years, but still love. It was nice to also catch a few sights along the way.

Orenda, New Painting

2010-08-10T11:28:00.001-07:00

Well, it looks like the computer gods are cooperating today, at least as far as uploading goes. Perhaps I tried to load too many at a time? Perhaps it is the particular computer. I am using the desktop now because I cannot crop with my laptop.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to get some feedback. As many of you know, I've been in an animal mode lately. This is a painting of my sister in law's beautiful Birman cat, Orenda. Orenda recently passed on to the great sunlit cushion in the sky. She lived to the ripe age of 21.

My daughter snapped this photo a couple of years ago. I found her picture and thought I'd try painting her.

Well, this proved to be quite difficult and I am not quite "finished". First of all, I had to tackle the lush interior of my sister-in-law's house. Gail's house is quite beautiful and she has impeccable taste when it comes to furnishings, pillows, color and decorating etc.

Second of all, Orenda is a fluffy, mostly white, long-haired cat. How do I capture the fur without fussing too much?

Third of all, Orenda is backlit. While this made for a beautiful photo, I found it quite challenging to capture her delicate face when I could not see it very well. I did not have another photo. I wanted to capture that wonderful back-lighting through her fur! Anyway I've been going back to this painting for several weeks and while I know I have to make a few adjustments, I thought I would ask my wonderful blogging friends for your advice. There are spots where I keep fussing (like the color of the shadow behind the red cushion on the chair). Also the pillow has a cushion sewn on top if it. It looks like a second pillow, but it is not. The patterns change. I usually avoid a lot of patterns as I don't like to get into that "tickling" mode. Sometimes I need to stop and critique. Your thoughts please?

What is with ##*!!! Blogger?

2010-08-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

I am ranting because I cannot seem to post photos anymore.

I know I've been lax in my blogging as of late but this morning I came to the compy with good intentions. It is family reunion time and I have a contribution to Sepia Saturday.

The site seems to have become very glitchy. Photos have been selected, but they fail to upload. Has something changed? Am I limited to one photo per post? I tried the new posting option but didn't like it. Am I just becoming a grumpy old woman who hates change? This is about the third time I've had this problem.

There are paintings to post, vacation photos and all sorts of goodies, but I cannot seem to do it. Arrgh!

Otakon Fun - Annual Post

2010-08-01T18:04:00.001-07:00

Otakon 2010, Baltimore, Maryland. This was the end of our vacation and the highlight for the kids! We booked rooms through Priceline and were pleasantly surprised by Waterfront views! Here Caitlyn is being eaten by Neuro! Don't ask!
Annelise, transformed into a blonde bombshell with burns for Baccano!
Oh the fun of Otakon! A little sidestep into a David Bowie tribute!
The Baccano crowd posing. The photo ops are incredible.
Jazz Hands! Baccano takes place during the depression! We have Jazz. We have the great depression! Speakeasies and demonic immortal children! Life is good! There was an evacuation at the convention center due to some eejit pulling the fire alarm. Imagine all these costumed individuals running out and screaming! I'll post more vacations photos later!

Vacation Time

2010-07-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I'm on vacation this week. We've had to downsize our vacation due to our new financial responsibility of tuition payments! Yay! No West Coast or Europe this year.

We are making our way up the east coast to see old friends. First stop is East Milford, NJ. My good friend lives on the New Jersey /New York border, north of the city, near the Tappan-Zee bridge, the widest part of the Hudson River.

Next we are visiting our friend Linda in Milford, CT. She was my "boss" in Philadelphia at the Blindness agency where I met my husband. I have not seen Linda in over twenty years.

Finally we will spend a few days and nights in beautiful Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We will visit wonderful old friends.

I have a cat painting I will probably post as well as photos of our trip when I get back. Otherwise you probably will not hear from me for about a week.

Peace.

Blackberry Road

2010-07-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that I live in the middle of nowhere, U.S.A. which is smaller than Dive's Smallville.

We live on a three acre lot with agricultural/conservation zoning which was sold to us by our neighbor.

We decided to reforest about an acre. Unfortunately the Electric Co-0ps power lines cut through a bit of the reforested area. Last year they told us they had to cut a path through it. These were tree guys and we told them we wanted to preserve as much of the trees as possible. They were very considerate. We had other people who wanted to spray and kill everything. We would not allow this. Our neighbors allowed them to spray an area and they destroyed an entire patch of black raspberries.

Happily, last year's cut resulted in a flowering daisy meadow!

One of my little summer guilty pleasures is to take the dogs out in the morning for a bit of exercise.

I must confess that while the family thinks I'm exercising, I am actually foraging for berries.

In my little wooded corner of nowhere, I have thickets of black raspberry in June, and several varieties of blackberries in July.

These delectable treats while abundant will never be made into jam or a pie. I've been there, done that.

Not as long as they are part of my morning walk.

When they are fresh, they are healthy, full of fiber and not coated with sugar. I can gobble them up without much guilt.

A pie would transform these into a sinful indulgence. So I will enjoy these in July, fresh and sweet. Sugar is not necessary. I may not burn as many calories from walking fast, but I think of all the calories I've saved from not making them into pie.

More importantly, there is something about berry picking that transforms me into a kid again. I love the hunting, I love the gathering. I just don't like to share the harvest. And by the way, I do live on Blackberry Road.

Chiminea Cat Painting by Anita Williams

2010-07-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

I've been into an animal kick lately. I am enjoying the responses I've gotten from the cows and the seals. I just believe that people are drawn to faces. So for those of you who like faces, I hope you enjoy Eddie in the Chiminea. Eddie is smart enough to realize that he does not like to be wet. During one of our winter snowstorms, he discovered a nice little "shelter" inside the chiminea. Unfortunately, the chimney enabled him to sneak out the top to grab the occasional unsuspecting songbird. My daughter eventually solved that problem, by placing a soccer ball on top of the opening. Eddie hasn't quite figured out why it is so dark inside.

Eddie presented a particular challenge in that he is a striped, brown tabby. Partially due to his impeccable breeding. Eddie was born to a feral father and a trailer park mother. One of my students begged me to give him a "good home". I have read that the brown tabby is very close to natural wild cat coloring. Eddie likes to accompany us on our walks through the woods where he is almost completely invisible. His coloring blends in perfectly.

Anyway, while painting, the challenge was to try to capture this beautiful coloring, and show some texture while not losing the "form" of the animal. Another challenge was capturing the snow. I blended some pthalo blue with titanium white and applied it with a wide trowel.

The surface of the chiminea was completed with a palette knife. The kitty was painted using a combination of brushes, knives, sticks and scumbling.

Refresh Button

2010-07-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

Ah...summertime. The heat, the humidity. The sweat, the stink, the bugs, the poison ivy. The black raspberries, the blackberries, the wineberries. Homegrown tomatoes, snap peas, the barbeque. So much to hate. So much to love.

This is the first summer in a while that I do not have to take graduate classes. I have no major vacation planned. I have no pending solo show or gallery contract. My adult painting class was canceled. My oldest daughter graduated. I finished all of her college paperwork (I think).

I can finally relax.

I didn't rush to my painting shed because I didn't have to.
When I did get in there I decided to clean it. Ancient, tubes of half-empty paint which long ago lost their caps were tossed. An old sketchbook was opened and I drew with a pencil. Long forgotten reference photos were rediscovered.

I found a coupon. Fifty percent off of anything at Michael's. Thought I would get myself some brush cleaner. When I got there I found stretched canvasses on sale. I bought nine. Started painting again this week.

People are always complaining about teachers. We have it so easy being off for the summer and all. I know. We make too much money yada yada yada.

Just so you know, I am finally feeling relaxed. I'm almost caught up on my laundry and I've been sleeping until 8:00, sometimes 9:00 as opposed to 5:00 a.m. during the school year. I don't feel guilty.

Don't get me wrong. I love teaching. I love 95% of my students. Sometimes that other five percent suck the enthusiasm right out of me. Teenagers can be amazing, ambitious and fun or they can be total and complete idiots. Most of them are old enough to choose. Worse than the teenagers, however are the administrators. Our school is currently run by a team of nincompoops.

At any rate, I have a clean painting shed, nine blank canvasses, a little less stress, and a rested body.

I may finish some paintings.

Or maybe not.

Summer Parade

2010-07-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

We're back to the sixties again on Chanese Lane, in beautiful Oceanville, New Jersey. I remember organizing this little Fourth of July Parade. I am the one with the army hat, braids and looking ridiculously patriotic in my red, white and blue. I am also one of the few that is not barefoot. My sister Sharon (Shazza) is the adorable blonde to the right of me with the "cymbals" and yellow shirt. My best friend, Maria is behind me carrying the big flag. I remember the boy on the bike as the obnoxious kid across the street. Maria's sister Mandy is to the far left.

Chanese Lane was a wonderful little neighborhood. It was a half mile cul-de-sac developed with little one-story and split level houses situated on the edge of the pine barrens. Behind us you can see where the lane dead-ended into the salt marsh. My parents bought their little split level for around $10,000.

The neighborhood was inhabited by young families. The parents were friendly. We kids were outside all the time. We had miles of pine forest to explore. The woods on the north side of the lane extended to the Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge. The woods to the south backed up to the Seaview Country Club. There was very little traffic and the lane belonged to us. I remember Mom sending us out in the morning. I'd go to Maria and Mandy's house and we would get her dogs and set off on an expedition of sorts.

Summers were spent exploring the woods. We found the tombstone of the Jersey Devil's relatives (Sarah and Obadiah Leeds). We collected the creatures and flowers and fruits that we found. This was not the New Jersey that people typically think about. There were no Sopranos and we did live on the Jersey Shore.

The parade was a silly idea at the time when we had time for silly ideas. Our imaginations fueled our play. There was no political agenda. It was a holiday and a time to celebrate. My parents moved us to a new home in a new town the following year. Our family was growing and they wanted us to go to better schools. Chanese Lane changed over time. I will always remember it as the setting for an incredible childhood.

Painting - California Bathing Beauties

2010-06-29T12:16:00.001-07:00

Here is a painting of a few of the sunbathers we found on the Monterey Peninsula in California last summer. These harbor seals were so relaxed and obviously comfortable with their torpedo shaped bodies.

This past winter's weather with multiple blizzards found me digging through photo albums for painting ideas. I found these "gals" to be cooperative models. (I am assuming they are gals).

I started this painting with a monochromatic value study of the rock formation. I wanted to capture the texture of the rocks and also the solidity of them. I built up several layers of paint using a palette knife, adding color and texture. I worked on the rocks exclusively for a number of sessions leaving the seals sketched in. When I finally got around to the seals, I switched to a paintbrush. Unfortunately, I think they look a little "thin" in comparison to the rocks. I wish I could have continued to build upon them, but had to let them dry off for my March show. I did post the actual photo upon my return from California last summer. You might find it if you dig around through my labels. I wasn't going for exactitude. I never do when I paint. So don't judge me! I believe the colors on the rocks are largely invented to separate the seal gray from the rock gray!

Big Eighties Hair

2010-06-24T13:12:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Poetikat, today is I love the eighties day. The eighties was basically the decade of my twenties. I decided to stay with the hair theme as the eighties were notorious for big, poofy hairstyles. This was a trend I resisted (at first). The first photo of me was taken in 1984. Doug and I had just moved into our first apartment. As you can see, I still had the arse length hair and the big glasses. These were my toned down rimless frames!
We got married in 1985 and I was working in the insurance industry at time. I wanted to modernize my look a bit so I added some "poofy" layered bangs.
As you see, these bangs got poofier and poofier (thanks to hair "products") I was an aerobic dance fanatic at the time. Aerobics was so much more fun when we danced to good music. The techno stuff just isn't the same. Unfortunately I don't have photos of me in the spandex dance outfits, complete with leg warmers and Reeboks. I had a much better body in the eighties!

Finally, Doug and I are hamming it up for you just above the Golden Gate Bridge on the Fourth of July, 1987. We bought these $5.00 Corona sweatshirts from a street vendor. We didn't realize how chilly it could get in San Fran in July! I hope you like our shorty shorts!

History Through Hairstyles

2010-06-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

For today's Sepia Saturday submission I am sharing some of my childhood looks. It is amazing what a hairstyle says about the time period.

The first photo of me was dated, Christmas, 1963. I was four years old at the time. I remember mom sending me to bed with curlers in my hair. The result was a neat, controlled coif.

This photo was taken about three years later. There was no date, but mom wanted me to be stylish with this little pixie cut for my uncle's wedding. I'm guessing the year was 1966. (It is an actual sepia photo).

When I finally had a little "say" in the matter, I wanted to grow my hair long with the part in the middle. I stayed with this look for most of my teenage years. This was my school picture around 1971. I remember the outfit. It was a vest with long double fringes.
I did get a "shag" type haircut in around 1976. I didn't like it very much. I quickly went back to the long, straight, parted in the middle look. When I first met my husband in 1983, my hair was "arse" length. I kept it long and straight until around the age of 30 when I wanted to look respectable. Hubby wants me to go back to "arse" length. I'm not sure how it would look with my fifty year old bod.

Congratulations Class of 2010!

2010-06-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Congrats to the graduating class of 2010! Jake wants to tell you that you are awesome!

Jake is the palest member of the Williams family. His job was to greet the visitors who came to celebrate my daughter's accomplishment. (We told him he could work on his tan.)

Jake is a very diligent worker. He endured the heat, the humidity, thunder, lightning and torrential rain. He was undaunted. His mortarboard is now a little warped. Still he remains intact, despite his ill-fitting arms.

I took off the mortarboard to reveal his amazing sculpted hair. Watch out Max Headroom!

The incredible Tres Leches cake was made for my husband's Mexican student. We attended her graduation party and ate the best homemade Mexican food ever. The cake is soaked in three different "milks", hence the name. The cake was served after an incredible meal, fruit with three chili sauces and homemade flan.

Last, but certainly not least, is my incredible daughter after graduation. (I am standing behind her). She did it! I am incredibly proud of her. She is now ready to pursue her animation dreams at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Kids, you rock.

Oh, and by the way. "My" school year is over. The college application process, scholarship process is over. I have free time again. Hoo-hoo! I might have time to blog more regularly!

Philadelphia You!

2010-06-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

Okay. I promise I won't write too much. This is an aerial view of Philadelphia taken from above the waterworks, behind the art museum. Yeah, those steps that Rocky climbed.

What do you see in this picture?

Go Flyers!

Uncle Hugh

2010-06-05T18:42:00.001-07:00

Lassie was not my favorite show back in the day.

I did watch the show when I was a youngster and I thought Lassie was an amazing dog.

What I did not know until years later was that the gentleman in that photo was my great uncle.

He was my grandmother's brother. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1915, he pursued acting after serving in the army and landed a few roles on Broadway. He moved to the West Coast to pursue a role in film.

Hugh Reilly was not a well known actor. He was known as Timmy's father, June Lockhart's husband, the other guy.

He acted on Broadway, off Broadway, a few well known soap operas such as the Edge of Night and Dark Shadows.

A Google search revealed a Wikipedia entry. Turns out he turned down the role of the Professor in Gilligan's Island to spend more time with his family!

I remember him as a great, warmhearted, down-to-earth gentleman. I watched him perform at the South Jersey Regional Theatre in Somers Point, New Jersey.

The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Early years and career

Born October 30, 1915 at Newark, New Jersey, Reilly saw service in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II and pursued a theater career following the war. He made several Broadway appearances (including one with Tallulah Bankhead in Dear Charles) before heading to Hollywood for a film career in the late forties. HIs film appearances include Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949), and Bright Victory (1951). Reilly also worked many early television shows such as Kraft Television Theatre (1949), The Ford Theatre Hour (1951), and Broadway Television Theatre (1953).

Lassie

In 1957, Reilly guest starred as George Cameron in the episode "Dangerous Channel" of Barry Sullivan's short-lived CBS adventure/drama TV series, Harbourmaster

In 1958, Reilly joined the hugely successful CBS series Lassie playing Paul Martin, a farmer, husband, and adoptive father of the show's child character Timmy. Reilly debuted in the opening episode of the fifth season, "The Storm" (1958) with June Lockhart opposite him as his wife Ruth and Jon Provost as Timmy.

In 1959, veteran character actor and comedian Andy Clyde was hired to play Cully Wilson, an elderly eccentric farmer and nature lover. When Timmy was scripted into many adventures with Cully, producers felt two adult males on the show would overwhelm the audience and Reilly was consigned to fewer appearances. His character's absence was attributed to workloads in distant fields, grange meetings, or business trips away from home.

As the eleventh season approached (1964), it was evident that young teenager Provost was outgrowing his role. Producers decided to rework the show and sent the entire Martin family to Australia where Paul would teach agriculture. Lassie remained in the States as companion to a team of forestry workers; the Martins were never seen, heard, or referenced again on the show.^[1] Reilly made his last appearance on Lassie in the first episode of the tenth season, "The Wayfarers" (1964). He had made a grand total of 140 episode appearances on the show.

[] Final years

Following his stint with Lassie, Reilly was offered the role of The Professor on Gilligan's Island but declined, preferring to spend time with his family and performing in theater.^[1] He worked television off and on through the seventies (appearing in The Edge of Night) and made final appearances in the early and mid-1980s. In his last years, he often joined Lassie co-star Jon Provost at fan conventions and autograph signings.

Keeping up with the Joneses!

2010-05-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

While browsing photos, I stumbled upon some of my mother-in-law's family pictures. Phyllis Jones Williams was previously pictured in her elegant 1950's dress at a New Years celebration.

I do not know many details, but I will speak from remembered snippets heard at family reunions. The Jones were Welsh miners who immigrated to Pennsylvania to supervise laborers in the lucrative northeastern coal mining region. A young Grandpa Jones is pictured in the straw hat. A member of the family became a brewmeister at Stegmaier Brewing in Wilkes-Barre. I also do not know the identity of the children in the little ox cart. I am quite sure they are siblings of my mother in law. I do know that they lived for a time in Williamsport before building a house in the back mountain of Wilkes-Barre. Phyllis used to tell me about her father's wonderful victory garden! Grandma Jones was a severe woman who made the female children wash the kitchen floor every morning before going to school.

They were depression era children and lived a frugal existence. Hard work was expected and valued.

There are only two surviving members of this generation. Their children gather every August for a family reunion. Perhaps I will show these pictures and get some more stories over the summer.

Moo for Shazza

2010-05-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

I am skipping Sepia Saturday to post a painting. I have been meaning to post paintings for a while but have been experiencing either technical difficulties and/or lack of time. Since I am now in full acceptance of the realization that I can only post once a week, I am posting a bovine for Shazza.

Background: I first painted "Moo" when I was a resident artist at a Lancaster gallery. I had to crank out five to six paintings every other month for a year (while working full time and raising two children). Anyway, I painted this, hung it and "hated it". Although I measured, the head seemed disproportionately huge. That with the effect of the hidden hoofs made the animals appear awkward.

I revisited the painting before my March Elizabethtown show and decided to re-size the head a bit. Now I think it appears too small. (If you look carefully, you can see the ghost image of the old chin) Anyway, Shazza and quite a few other people liked it. This will be my contribution to my sister's new store! Visit her at her new blog. http://www.Idiosyncrazies.blogspot.com.

Happy Days - Tube Tops in 1953

2010-05-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't know they had tube tops in the fifties! Pictured here are my mother-in-law, Phyllis, (right), her older sister, Bernice. I am not positive of the identity of the man looking in the truck. He was either their father or grandfather. I do like the truck!

A family picnic with another sister (Bev?) and sister-in-law, Claire.

Phyllis and Bernice laughing it up for the Holidays!

Thanks for visiting! Dig up some Sinatra and Have One More for the Road!

Happy New Year 1950something

2010-05-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

This appears to be a New Year Celebration. I am guessing it took place in the 1950s.

I do not know all of the revelers pictured, but the gentleman on the far right was my father-in-law, Ralph Craig Williams. To the right of Ralph is my mother-in-law, Phyllis Jean (Jones) Williams. Both are now deceased.

Ralph was a U.S. Marine and the only survivor of his platoon at Iwo Jima. He was apparently left for dead and later identified by his dog tags. He received a purple heart.

His nickname was "Squire" and was known to be an outstanding salesman. He apparently suffered from the then rarely-understood post-traumatic stress disorder. I heard that he was a wonderful man who ran into some troubles. The life of a traveling salesman did not mesh much with family life. He divorced Phyllis in the early 1960s to live a "fast" life. He died lonely and penniless as a result of alcoholism in 1984. Unfortunately I met Ralph on his deathbed. From that brief meeting I realized that the man was a charmer. If only circumstances were a little better, I am sure he had many stories to tell.

Phyllis struggled as a single mom. It was not as acceptable in the 1960s. She was extremely dedicated to her three children, Craig, Gail and Douglas (my hubby). She made sure that all three children graduated from college. She was a fierce and passionate woman. We had some memorable arguments. I grew to love her as I came to appreciate her. She passed away from cancer in 2005.

Rose Harrison Earns Her Wings

2010-05-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

In the 1950s there was not a more stylish profession for women. My mother earned her wings after completing some college and professional airline hostess training. I believe she worked for Continental Airlines. Women had to be at least 5'6" tall and were subject to weight restrictions. She lived quite the glamorous life flying between New York and Chicago.

My father became a police officer in New York City. Walt was interested in Rose for several years. I was told that mother and one of her girlfriends "stowed away" my father and a friend in the luggage area. Mother finally agreed to settle down and marry Walter in 1958. Rose had to turn in her wings, Walter made a career change after being stabbed below the chest on Canal Street.

Mixed Messages

2010-04-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

One fine day while taking a detour off Interstate 81, we happened upon this little rural church.

It made me laugh.

I can just feel the love.

Why do I get the feeling that the members are card carrying members of the tea-bagger movement?

Not Quite Sepia Babies

2010-04-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

The first photo is my father, Walter J. Murphy, Jr. aka the Semiconductor, wondering what to do with his newborn daughter in 1959. Walter is holding the perfect little girl.

While wandering through the Murphy archives, I thought it appropriate to show my gorgeous mother, Rose Marie Harrison Murphy, with my first wailing newborn, Annelise.

Annelise was a squaller. I didn't like her much until my maternity leave was almost over. She immediately conquered the colicky crap and became the perfect baby. I fell in love with her and quit my job at the community college.

This, however, is what she looked like during the first four months of her life.

In contrast, I will show you the perfect child. This little cherub was born in 1959. How do you like that Snow White dress?
I am not quite sure but I think the first couple are my mother's friends. The woman is my godmother. The man is her husband.

Sorry, I don't mean to be narcissistic, but yours truly is the star of the first series of Murphy Family photos.

Thirty three days

2010-04-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post today. I have all sorts of things going on. I just didn't get around to it. I have those paintings that I painted in the fall and winter that I haven't photographed. I have more beach scenes from our Easter trip. I have old family photos for Sepia Saturday. My art club participated in the annual chalk mural competition Saturday. My kids are keeping me busy with concerts and lessons and scholarship applications.

Instead I scheduled a dentist appointment for me and a doctor appointment for the girls at the same time on the same day and forgot them both. I am considering resigning as advisor to the art club. We managed to fund raise enough money for a trip to New York and they would rather go shopping than visit the museums.

It's that time of year. Thirty-three more days of school. I'm tired. I am sure we will have a wonderful trip and I will love them (Art Club) again before the year ends.

Sepia Saturday - Old Time Religion

2010-04-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

Sepia Saturday is a wonderful opportunity to share old photos. This was started by my prolific blogging friend and poet Kat Mortenson aka (Poetikat). There you will be treated to wonderful photos and stories posted by many bloggers. This is my second contribution. (You do not have to tint your photos sepia - just post)

Here are some unique and nostalgic photos featuring both sets of my grandparents. My Uncle Paul Harrison is pictured here in his Jesuit robes (second from right).
Pictured from left to right are my mother, Rose Harrison Murphy, an unknown Jesuit, Grandma Anna (Smyth) Harrison, Grandpa Walter J. Murphy, Sr., Grandma Anita (Reilly) Murphy,Brother Paul Harrison and Grandpa Joseph Harrison. (the harse tief holding a new form of amusement).

Grandpa supposedly stole a horse or a cow from his Kilkenny Ireland family to purchase passage to the US. He later became a chauffer for Theodore Roosevelt.

Anna Smyth Harrison hailed from (Manchester, UK) and booked passage on the Titanic (second class). Something happened and she supposedly "missed" that boat.

I do know that Joseph and Anna met in or around Jersey City, NJ. They married and produced nine children. One became a Jesuit, perhaps a penance for the horse incident.

Bottom picture Brother Paul is in the center with his mother Anna and my mother, Rose. (I am thinking I might be a bun in the oven here). I will therefore guess the date as Spring, 1959.

Off Season Beach Break

2010-04-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

We took a mini-vacation! Easter weekend Thursday through Sunday. We found a beach house in Strathmere, New Jersey, just 12 miles from my Dad's house. We could bring the doggies! I found it on Craigslist!

Okay. I was skeptical at first. This was by far, the best beachhouse ever.

Just look at the view from our deck!

This is a little snippet of the "gateway" to the beach. I loved the old dune fences. This is tiny beach community totally committed to dune reclamation.

Fiona and Freja are loving this! I'm sorry. Think about it. If you were a dog....

Delaney is in the water in April. Yes it is unseasonably warm. I have so many more photos.

Let me know if you want to see them. I didn't want to "bore" anyone.

I'm a bit more relaxed on a Monday.
We will defnitely go back to this spotl

A Tribute to My Gorgeous Parents

2010-03-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

I accidently stumbled upon these photos of my amazingly gorgeous parents and their little pink first-born (me). I believe this was my first Easter and we are looking quite dashing. I am not sure why I have two hats! I do like the car.

Mom and Dad were about 24 years young at the time. The year being 1960.

Looks like Mom was a little better at keeping my dress down over my chubby knees.

There I am with my first Easter basket! I am guessing by the furniture that we are at Grandmother Harrison's house in East Orange, New Jersey. We all lived there during my first year.

I found notes that my mom wrote in my baby book.

"Anita Ann is a very fat baby."

Six months later "Anita Ann is still fat."

I think I was cursed. Perhaps it was all the goodies under the cellophane.

Happy Easter to everyone in advance!

Decisions! Decisions!

2010-03-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

My first baby is about to graduate high school. That in itself is hard to believe.
This year we have been visiting colleges, filling out applications, writing essays, submitting portfolios, etc. etc. etc.

Annelise wants to major in animation. That pretty much eliminated the possibility of state schools. We did visit two.

We then began visiting Art Schools. Our first was the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in Lancaster. I liked it because there were only 300 students and it was close, in Lancaster. Annelise liked it. Second visit was to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. They had a wonderful animation program, but the rest of the school was limited. The basic science, math and language classes, but no fine arts.

Because I had the swine flu, Doug took her to University of the Arts in Philadelphia. UArts is located in the cultural district next to the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. Annelise loved it! They also have music, theatre and communication art programs. She met with an animation student who showed her some of the "stuff" he was working on. We also went to a Portfolio Day at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Annelise didn't think much of it as they seemed highly critical of her portfolio. A week later they sent her a letter telling stating that her portfolio showed a lot of potential.

I told her she should apply. I did hear that MICA was an excellent school.

We went for her portfolio review at UArts and got an acceptance letter AND a big scholarship within a week. Annelise was happy. I was happy. We also got an acceptance letter from PCAD two days after her interview and portfolio review. (back-up plan)

I still helped her put her five pages of application, four pages of application for scholarship, on-line portfolio, three essays, three letters of recommendation, lists of extra curriculars, SAT tests, transcripts, etc. together by the MICA February 12th due date. They sent us a card that they received it. They sent us a big envelope but it was not an acceptance letter. It was five new four-page scholarship applications. Each scholarship needs a separate application. We had a week to get them filled out and turned in to them. We also received a separate letter stating that we missed the financial aid deadline. I turned in the FAFSA, which is standard at every other institution, but that is not enough for MICA. I cannot get that in until our tax returns get back from the accountant.

Anyway, MICA stated that acceptance letters would go out on the 12th (Friday). The deadline for getting the scholarship forms to MICA was today (the 15th). We hadn't gotten our acceptance letter yet. Neither Annelise nor I felt like filling out all the forms and finding all the supporting documents without knowing if she was accepted. We were very tired of the process and suspicious of an institution that seems so in love with paperwork.

Of course we got the acceptance letter today AFTER the post office closed.

So we basically blew our chances there as we cannot afford MICA without a scholarship.
Annelise made her decision. She wants to go to UArts in Philly. Why is it that I will always feel guilty about having missed the MICA opportunity? But then again, it would take another month before we hear about MICA scholarships. Those letters will not go out until April 15th.

Furthermore, Annelise and I cannot stand to prolong this process. We are ready to move on. But why do I always worry about the road not taken?