Suburban Tales and some Art....

My heroism was put to a test today. While out on errands I came across a scene of a security guard pinning down and trying to handcuff a struggling man. The man's hysterical girlfriend was screaming at the security guard. Then she lunged at the guard, so I sprang into action. After determining the man was securely handcuffed and concluding the woman was unarmed, scrawny and probably weak, I said to her, "Hey, don't do that". I don't think she heard me though, because by that time, I was blocked by the 2 people who had already pulled her off the security guard. Then a calm onlooker said to the woman, "You're making a scene you know," as if the whole thing in sleepy, middle class suburbia wasn't already a scene. But I could leave, reassured my work was done.

My poor reaction time is no doubt from staying up too late again. If anyone knows a good technique from switching from a night owl to a morning person, I'd be ever so grateful. I knew I was especially tired today, because I glanced at my wall calender and misread December 8th as Hajj (Muslims pilgrimage to Mexico) and didn't question it, just thought "why the venue change?" Oy. It's been quite a day. Tomorrow, I'm in the studio, painting and listening to soothing music ALL DAY.

I feel a need to be at least a little useful and to make up for my humiliation for accidentally posting an altered version of the kitschy 80's Soviet ground beef commercial I originally meant to show. If you didn't see it (and I'm hoping that's EVERYBODY), some twat thought it was oh-so-clever to subtitle the ad with juvenile references to male appendages and the like. Sheesh. So, for you artists and those interested, here are some links and resources for films and videos relating to art/artists .

The PBS series Art:21: Art in the 21st Century is a fascinating program on current contemporary artists and the direction of contemporary art. On the website you can watch show previews, bios of all the artists featured and related links to them. If you can catch it when it airs, it's definitely worth watching.

Saatchi Online TV has a little bit of everything. Mostly low tech weblog info on artists, visits to artist studios, galleries, etc. And if like me, you're miles away from an art scene, you can live vicariously through this site. There are a few short films and film previews. This preview of a documentary on artist Alice Neel by her grandson Andrew Neel fascinated me. Her unconventional and tragic life and her art are explored in this film. Certainly an artist I want to know more about.

I have more links but since I'm blogging everyday this month, I need to ration. Until tomorrow my good people...

I'm never going to use You Tube again

****update****This post originally had a You Tube ad on it. It disappeared this morning, so I went to find another version of it and updated it. What I didn't check was that the updated version was embellished with lewd and completely humourless subtitles. OOPS!And that is THE last time I will ever embed a video again. Maybe. So in all, I apologize if you received that video in your email box or reader. This blogging challenge is proving stressful. Puppies, I should just blog about rainbows and puppies. Moving on then...

I'd like to make a correction to this post, in which I shared the slinky toy commercial from my childhood and said I didn't think they made metal slinkies anymore. I was wrong.

Look!

Yep, my anti-consumerist rant backfired. My kids saw the commercial and whined for a slinky.

Last week while clothes shopping, my kids' paranormal toy sniffing gift led them to find a couple of slinkies hidden in the back of a high shelf in the toy section. After getting the slinkies home, the excitement didn't last long though. That old commercial is all lies. You need a physicist to calculate the exact arc, position and speed to get those babies to make it down more than 2 stairs. And I didn't cheap out on them when buying them either! I just noticed my receipt reads, "Slinky - DELUXE". If you look closely at the picture maybe you can spot the upgrades or special features I missed.

Wandering

Having publicly admitted my workout failure to even complete a full session of Tai Chi classes, I thought I should try to find my sport. I have no idea what that could be. It can't be team sports, because I have the competitive spirit (but not the serenity) of a Buddhist monk. Although, I got pretty riled up about over a game of Wii bowling last year.

The only thing I really like to do is walk. No, more like, wander. A friend from high school contacted me a while back and asked if I still loved to walk. She remembers how I would say no to a bus ride and choose instead to spend 3 hours walking home from the across the city. When I moved to my current city, I worked nights and explored the mountain trails in the region for hours. Then I worked days and had children and the years and the scale moved forward.

So I'm off today to explore again, although I don't have the time (and probably not the stamina) to explore for hours. I'm determined to keep this up, because finally I understand that consistency is the key to everything. That's what this daily blogging challenge is about, consistency. What you do doesn't have to be perfect or amazing or brilliant or extreme. You just have to DO, like the tortoise plodding along.

And in the spring I'm thinking of taking up fencing or archery. Yep, old fashioned sports with weapons. I wonder what that says about me. I think it means I played too much Dungeons and Dragons with my brother when I was a kid. And I'm a geek. En garde!

Happy Blogaversary from the Land of Crisis

Who says Canada is boring. Our current government has a real possibility of being overthrown. Yet in typical Canadian style it involves a lot of paperwork and very dull characters. I'm disgusted with every one of them. None of them represent me anymore. I've also discovered our Governor General is rushing home from Prague (sort of rushing... on Wednesday) to attempt to sort out the matter. She is the personal representative of the Queen. The Queen of England. The woman who is our head of state but has no other purpose in our country other than having her head decorate our money.

However, I'm not going to let the matter get me down because today is my one year anniversary in the world of blogging! And so even though I'm a terrible party planner, I'm going to throw a virtual party.

First, a celebratory cake.This was tough, because when googling "existentialists cakes" you get nothing, and that's what I really want pastry wise. But this is even better! Picasso's Woman with Crow by artist Jean L. Zaun, not a cake but all chocolate, including the frame. Yum.

For wiping off the chocolate, you must use these, retro stressed mom napkins available at Mikwright. They read, "where the hell is my pickle fork? i can't have anything nice with you kids" I love them.

During the party we can play a giant game of scrabble like this one played at Wembley Stadium in London.

Later we can sit and put our feet up wearing these bird seed shoes and see who can attract the most birds.

Hmmm...I even give bad pretend parties.

But it's been a good year here. To all those who read this blog and to those who comment, I'd just like to say I couldn't ask for more intelligent, beautiful, perceptive, interesting, wise, articulate and overall super duper fabulous total strangers come into my life, who now... feel like friends. Cheers!

The Blogging Challenge

I found this brooch I made when I was about 20. I created wood painted jewelry and sold it occasionally . I had enough sympathy sales from friends and family that I was able to pay for a month's rent or was it rye and cokes? Memory eludes me.

At the time I thought I was basing this image on Edvard Munch's The Scream. What I didn't realize, was in fact, I was painting a pretty accurate self portrait of me in the future, specifically last week.

Three points and I'm not going to harp on them, but quickly just imagine:
1. arthritis in your cheekbone
2. toothache
3. sinus infection

ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

The other annoying thing I won't do is what every woman who has given birth does when she experiences strong pain in her life is to use the childbirth scale. On a scale of one to ten, how bad was it in comparison to childbirth, that sort of thing. Irritating.

Seven...it was a seven, sometimes 8 1/2 and with no cute, cuddly baby reward at the end.

I'm much better now. So better in fact when I read about the blogging everyday for a month challenge, I thought I'd participate. It was for November, but I see others are starting one for December, so I'm signing up. Yes, it's December, the worst month to start. Christmas Day will probably have nothing but a YouTube video of the burning Yule log, but I'm going to give it a go.

Be prepared for creative spelling, big grammatical errors (even more so than usual) and pointless ramblings (even more so than usual). Possibly even some intense personal disclosures, simply for lack of better ideas. Anybody else want to take the challenge?

Painting Your Inner Child

Feel free to use my last post as a sleep aid. My kids had trouble sitting through the ladybug slo-mo video too. I thought it was super cool! Who doesn't like ladybugs? They're like the shih tzu puppies of the bug world. I'm sparing you on this post. I realize it's a busy feasting day for my American friends tomorrow, so take a break from making your origami turkey decorations and watch some comedy on how to paint a SPECTACULAR picture.... and Happy Thanksgiving!

It's About Time

If you're looking for a fancy Christmas gift, how about this $6,400,000 hour glass? The sand is crushed diamonds. For collectors of the obvious metaphor? Yes, time is indeed precious.

In blogging time (similar to dog years) about 4 years has passed since my last post. For me, it seems like only about 3 days and I'm not surprised by my perception of time. My sense of time is like Cro-Magnon Man, there is DAY... and there is NIGHT. Obviously, I'm no slave to schedules. Maybe I should be a little more aware of the passing of time though.

How do you go about slowing your perception of time to make the most of it? Time seems to speed up as you age. There is proof of this. Physicist Michio Kaku in his documentary series Time, approached people on the streets of Manhattan asking them to tell him when they thought a minute had gone by. They younger people finished counting before an actual minute had expired, the older people after a minute. There may be a biological reason for this or it may be because as you age life becomes routine and more predictable. New experiences that engage your brain and seem to put you in the 'moment' stretching your perception of time, are less frequent.

I experienced this recently while taking a tai chi class. I'm completely out of shape and needed something more than my occasional walks to get me into an exercise routine. Tai chi sounded enjoyable and well...easy. And when I discovered my instructor was insane and hung out with Kerouac and Ginsberg in the 60's writing beat poetry? I thought, "my god, the universe is so kind to me! How did it know?!" My western mindset is also attracted (a little shamefully) to the idea that since tai chi is a slowed down form of martial arts, if you speed it up, you could really beat the crap out of someone (in self defense of course). The class was good for a while. But then my instructor turned out to be perfectly sane and tai chi is just so, so sloooow. Moving at a snails pace and having complete awareness of every tiny gesture made the class seem like 4 (boring) hours instead of one. Had I enjoyed it, the sense of expanded time would have been wonderful.

Another way to slow down your sense of time is to have adrenaline pumping, life threatening experiences. People who've been in a car crash or even a near crash, experience the event as longer than it was, being hyper aware of all the details surrounding the event. A study was done where volunteers free fell from a drop of 150 ft into a net. They estimated the length of the fall double than it's actual time.

So how does this apply to me or you? Personally I'm no thrill seeker so flinging myself off a plane or a cliff so I can feel like I've lived longer doesn't appeal to me. I'll think I'll just copy children. I'm guessing partially the reason why kids perception of time is lengthened because they bring all their senses to an experience. They're so much more physical than adults. My kids bounce or hum when they're at the kitchen table for dinner. They have a need to touch everything at the store. They're in the moment because everything is a sensory experience. Adults live partially in memory and often with a distracted mind. Our senses diminish with age, no doubt naturally and maybe a little from lack of engagement. Using your senses in the moment really expands time. I'm going to commit myself to really bringing my senses to my daily experience, because even in the simplest things, look what a wondrous world unfolds when time slows down...

Barbies, shopping and stuff, oh my...

No, this isn't going to be that big, ugly post I warned you about. I don't intend to post it. It's related to this documentary, in case you're interested. I researched and worked hard on it, so I would like it to be graded. If anyone is a 1st year professor of ...anything, I'd like to have it read and critiqued and maybe that would help me feel better about my poor university grades from 20 yrs ago. Grades resulting from too much tequila and watching Late Night and Star Trek:The Next Generation. Wow, bloggers say the darndest things! (I'm getting far too comfortable online I believe.)

Back on topic. My youngest daughter had a big birthday party recently. She put the word on the street that all she wanted was Barbies. The kids heeded the call. After the Barbie windfall from the party, a Toys R Us gift card and money from grandma, she had enough Barbies to populate a toy planet. Scattered among the multitudes, there is only one boy Barbie, a (VERY HAPPY) Ken doll. There used to be 3 Ken dolls in the house, but for some reason their heads kept coming off.

I'm just saying it like it is.

I let my 2 daughters play for a week without having to clean up. I managed a little half hearted nagging but they protested with, "but we're still playing!". Even if 2 days passed with the barbies left untouched, I let it go. I understand 21st century Barbie is so accessorized with gadgets that assembling the whole set up again is time consuming. Barbie has 2 flat screen TV's, an IPod, an IPod docking system, 2 MP3 players, laptops, several cell phones and even little plastic cappuccino cups. I actually think my husband is jealous of all the crap Barbie has.

After a week of finding little setups on bookshelves and under tables, I realized the little bimbos (bimboes? bimbos? how do you pluralize bimbo, I've never had to before) were taking up the entire top floor of my house and it had to stop. The barbies needed something like ... hmmm, a sorority house? We went to the toy store, looked at doll houses and then I was overcome with that icky feeling. $150 for some big, plastic toy that will have about 2 yrs of use, then nothing. But I had to admit, if I had the extra money to spend on something like that, I would probably buy it, just to make my life easier. All my desire to get away from consumerism and live a life that enriches, not pollutes the planet, pretty much evaporates when it comes to my kids.

This is my anthem whine - how can I raise my kids to truly understand value doesn't come from STUFF , when here in suburbia, here in the world, all around them, that's all they see? I know they are no more spoiled than the average middle class child, possibly less so, but still, marketing to kids has exploded since my childhood. In this New York Times article, "80 percent of global brands now deploy a 'tween' strategy". And parents get caught up or worn down and do the buying. I'm amazed at how many adults I've heard say how important it is their kids get the trendy and fashionable clothing, even it goes beyond their budget, for fear of their child being teased or left out. We're sending the message that inclusion is something that has to be bought at younger and younger ages.

There may be a small silver lining to this global recession, the disposable culture of consumerism will lose some of its power. The world beyond the mall or boutique will be explored and people may start slowing down and investing time into positive experiences and relationships. Wouldn't that be something. Doing so, can only make us happier.

As for the doll house, I'm going to a thrift store and finding a small bookcase that I'll strip and paint the interior to look like a house. Barbie will have a fixer upper. Then she'll have the room to store all her gadgets and endless beauty supplies (and I won't be tripping over them). My kids know their Christmas won't be excessive with stuff this year. After telling them so, I've watched them discuss with each other about what they want and if they even want it that much. Now they're not really sure what they want and don't seem to care. What is truly wished for in this house (for ages 10 and younger), is lots of snow, no school and playing outside.

Since I've become a little bit of a YouTube junkie and like to show off my recently acquired video embedding skills (that took a ridiculously long time to learn on this blog), I'll leave with this slinky commercial from my childhood. Times were different then, or maybe I was an idiot child, because I remember how thrilled I was when I first got a slinky. I notice they don't really make them anymore, or they only have plastic ones. I wonder if that's because of parent paranoia. I can imagine how a child could accidentally fall on a metal slinky and slit their throat like some old school Mafia piano wire whacking. Okay, enough with the sarcasm, have a moment of nostalgia with me.

A Possibly Unpopular Post

Still here. I lost my blog voice. As far as blogging goes, I've obsessively been researching and writing an epic post that is yet still unfinished, it's full of research, data and dry information and it's completely without humour. BUT I HAVE TO WRITE IT. It's a compulsive need at the moment, so be forewarned, it's on it's way.

I'm not an American, some of my close relatives are and I live near enough to the border that when I stand on my back porch I can see streetlights in Sumas, Washington. In fact, in moments of extreme restless boredom I've thought of crossing the border, getting a cup of coffee and coming back all within half an hour. Then if anyone asks what I did today, I say with uber coolness," Oh, I was out of the country, just got back now, it was great, thanks for asking."

So, I feel some kinship with my American neighbours . I followed the election with interest and am happy with the results. I was moved by Barack Obama's victory speech yesterday and pleased by the graciousness of McCain's words, but when I read this man's (hilarious) post today, it pretty much echoed my thoughts throughout this campaign (without of course, the baby strangling) . I'm also weary from socialism considered a dirty word. And it's true America is no where near a socialist government. Relax. No one is going to steal your land and go through your shoes in your closet and divvy them up with your neighbours. The shelves of Walmart won't be bare and you won't be standing in long lines to get toilet paper. If you do, it won't be because of socialism, it'll be because all the trees have been cut down and made into flyers advertising free flat screen tv's with the purchase of a brand new leather sofa set. *Sigh* Now ignore everything I just said and go finish celebrating.