Monday, January 9, 2012

On Being a Creative...ish

It's even hard for me to say I'm a creative person. I spend a LOT of my time, looking, reading, talking, listening, and hanging out with Creative People. And yet, I would describe myself as a creative person aspiring to be a Creative Person, maybe even an artist of some undefined sort.

So today as I went through my unread blog inboxes, this one from Heather of The Farm Chicks really made my heart sing. If I just keep doing what I'm doing, there's hope for me yet. There's hope for all of us trying to do something, anything new.



Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Catch Up or Good-bye 2011, Hello 2012

Here's the quick and dirty. I was all caught up on my Photo365 pics, when a horrible little thing called "Flu" came to visit me. She was a nasty, nasty creature who insisted upon coming to me the week before Christmas and stayed throughout the holidays, despite my insistence that this was not, in fact, a good time for us to catch up with each other. But stay, she did, and I was forced to watch hours of mindless tv (I'm all caught up on Teen Mom 2, Thank God!) and when we weren't watching tv, she tormented me in my sleep. In a cruel twist of irony, she stole my appetite and yet I still managed to pack on the pounds because she hates the gym and wouldn't let me go either, the fat bitch.

Anyhoo, here's the pages I did get to do before flu. I hope to pick up where I left on in the New Year, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. I take the pics on an app on my phone, which has been fun, but I'm taking another photography class in January, so I may scrap the app pics and go for something more. Something different. I'm not sure yet. I'm open...I'll keep you posted.


I did a lot of decorating outside the house for Christmas this year. It involved climbing a tree (that's the picture view from my kitchen window), outdoor spotlights, and Alphonso, the lighted deer. That week also brought a bat mitzvah, sewing and knitting class. All and all, it was a good week.



Week 10 started with a bang, literally. I drove my car into the concrete road divider at Lowe's. I blew 2 tires and broke a rim. But since I had no car, I had lots and lots of time to write my paper for Intro to Expressive and Creative Arts, so that was a good thing. By mid-week, my car was back (Thanks, Mom!), and I was able to drive carefully back to Lowe's to get the deer I'd gone for in the first place. Friday night, In the Loop, hosted Hannah Fettig, author of Coastal Knits. A good time was had by all.



Thanksgiving Week brought lots of food and cooking. The statue is the second weekend of my Introduction to Creative & Expressive Arts class at Salve Regina. Mom and Bill came down and that's their pug, Malcolm. He's a love.


Week 8 brought me to my first paid knitting teacher gig. I taught the Kids' knitting class of 8 fantastic elementary school girls. I'm pretty sure I sweated through my sweater that first class, but the next 3 weeks went great. I'm doing it again in January.


Week 7 found me and the boy at UMass Amherst for a lax tournament. It was cold, but a beautiful if not exhausting day. He had fun, so that's all the matters. I came home Monday and hubby had made dinner. That was a wonderful surprise that needs to happen a whole heck of a lot more.

The End...for now.

One Word for 2012


Yesterday, I was reading on my Zite app about choosing one word for the New Year. OneWord365 asks participants to skip the New Year's resolutions and select one word to sum up a goal, a way to live, etc. for the new year. Now, I'm not a big resolution girl. In fact, I'm sure that it's a recipe for failure for most of us. The intentions are good, but come on...it will take me at least 3 months to remember it's 2010 never mind 1-5 resolutions I hope to achieve and/or maintain during those 365 days. But, one word. That, I can get my head around.

After much thought and research, I chose: Open. Ironically, I've had this picture on my desktop that I took when the hubby and I (or me and the hubby...I'm never sure) spent the day in Provincetown a couple years back. It's not my best photography, but I love it none the less and it will as a daily reminder which can't hurt, either.


I really like One Word choice and it's daily, if not hourly, possibilities. I could get into a long exposition of all the ways I could apply the definition to various life-scenarios, but I'm going to skip that and just see what happens. In other words, I'm going to be open.