My friend, Janet ...

Yesterday I spent a few hours with an old friend. We had a wonderfully fresh lunch at Mango's on Las Olas Boulevard followed by a personally guided tour through the Museum of Art where my friend is among the winners of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship for Visual and Media Artists... for the second time...

Once we'd completed our tour, we were off to her studio which is hidden in a warehouse district just south of the FEC railroad tracks. She had just acquired a huge collection of art and papers from the recently deceased mother of a friend the night before our meeting and it was a reverent yet delightful experience to see and touch this woman's things as Janet poured over them, sorting them into piles. There was a small plastic bag filled with cut-out egg shapes, each one with a random series of numbers typed in the center of the egg. Janet says that "obsessive compulsive" artists are the latest trend. The eggs are proof that these people exist, but I'll be very curious to see how she uses them in her collages.

She had nine of her pieces on exhibit at the Museum of Art and what I liked most about her work is its simplicity of design and sense of history that holds each piece together. One revealed an ancient, moldy book spine combined with a piece of an old envelope while another contained a rusty shape she'd scavenged from a dumpster somewhere. These objects would be totally meaningless if they'd been left as they were, but in the hands of this amazing artist, they are transformed to something else ... something that is all about design.

I enjoyed my amazing day and send many thanks to my friend, Janet Gold. We don't see each other as often as I'd like, but when we are together, it's always inspirational to me and way too much fun!

Our ballet teacher, Erica, is leaving town. I brought my camera to the final class and captured this lovely image after class was done. During the center work, I got frustrated with myself because I couldn't complete the combination and got all teary-eyed. I think it came from the realization that she was leaving us and there would be no more ballet class.

Erica has been our teacher for a couple of years now and we've thoroughly enjoyed having her show us the "Cuban way" of dance. She made it look so easy when she demonstrated the moves and she cheered us on to dance, even when it was difficult. It isn't often that you find someone as young as Erica who understands how we "middle aged ladies" long to dance and leap across the floor and feel the power of ballet. It's good for your head and your bod! We're sure gonna miss her!

bLuE noTes

Life's been a wee bit chaotic these past two weeks. Family stuff, you know? The "makes me crazy" kind of family stuff, that is ...

My darling husband and I have been going to the Starlight Musicals at Holiday Park on Friday nights this summer. It's like a big living room at the park with live music and lots of friends. Each week has a theme, like last week was Jimmy Buffet music by a local band and there were tents decorated like Key West and women wearing parrot hats. This week's theme is "The Blues" and I can hardly wait. It'll be music that suits my mood.

What's really sad about these two difficult weeks is that I've had no time for art. I'm really feeling it, too. I promise that tomorrow I will do something artful to make myself feel better.

Meanwhile, keep on keepin' on ... right?

Sweet Sixteen

Tuesday, July 1st was my darling granddaughter's
sixteenth birthday and we took her to dinner
at The Cheesecake Factory where the waiters
sang "Happy Birthday" to her ...
After dinner, with very full tummys, we took a walk
along Las Olas Boulevard. Here's some of what
my camera and I saw ...

Chico's has these rather stylish mannequins and I
couldn't resist taking their pictures ...

The shop window below, was beautifully arranged and
lit so that even at night, it was picturesque.
Don't you just want to go in and lay down
to sleep, perchance to dream?

See them? (BELOW)
The one with the glasses? That's my granddaughter.
The other one is her Best Friend Forever.
As they exited the shop, a young woman came out
and told me I couldn't take pictures. Hmpfh!
As if ......................... !!!

It's been a rather strange and somewhat bizarre week.
It ended nicely though, don't you think?

The Obama Tidal Wave

"It ought to begin by being personal."
--- Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail."

I read all of the e-mail messages that come from friends and acquaintances when they're about Barack Obama. I, too, had doubts about him when he won the Iowa caucus in January.

I am taking the time NOW to investigate who he is and what he's about as I move to make my selection of the person I think can best do the job of President of the United States of America. I take this very seriously and do my homework!

I am currently reading "The Audacity of Hope: Reclaiming the American Dream" which Obama wrote and published in October 2006. I am impressed with his writing and the organization of his thoughts and related experiences. I watch, read and listen on a daily basis, about Obama and McCain. I hope that you do, too.

Click here: All Things Considered : NPR

McCain's 23-year-old daughter has a blog about traveling with her father's campaign. It's from her point of view, and it provides some insight into McCain in a "different" leadership role --- the role of "Dad." Go visit.

Click here: McCainBlogette.com

If you have not already heard, Obama has set up a "rumor control" web site in response to all the internet gossip. Personally, I think it's an idea whose time has come. Below is the link. Check it out.

Click here: Fight the Smears Fight the Smears Home

John Adams & The Constitution
I watched every episode of "John Adams," the HBO mini-series based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book about our second President and Founding Father, and I am in awe of what all the Founding Fathers did to create the Land of the Free. I have read and re-read the Constitution of the United States of America, which provides a way for us to govern ourselves, and it, too, is an astonishing document, still relevant and operable two hundred years after it was first "published."

Click here: HBO Films: John Adams

Click here: LII: Constitution

Obama appears to embody the spirit of the Founding Fathers. He believes he can do the job of President and it's up to us to decide if we agree with him. It doesn't mean that I've made up my mind to vote for him. I am a registered Republican who is somewhat disillusioned with her party at this point in time. I AM checking him out, trying to get to know him.

I want our next President to be very smart and very well educated. I want a President who understands the economics of our country and the global economy. It's changing rapidly and a technically savvy President can guide us through the maze of changes we are, even now, experiencing. I want a President who is not afraid to talk to the leaders of the other countries. We must engage in dialogue and diplomacy if we are to spread the idea of Freedom upon which our Founding Fathers built our country. Our President does not have to agree with those other guys, but he needs to be talking to them and listening to them ... remember the thing about "keeping your enemies closer"? Our President will be smart enough to do a thing like that.

I want a President who knows that "getting the right people on the bus" is essential to a successful journey. Please check out the 3-page "Good To Great Discussion Guide" and you'll find a sense of what Obama is doing as he prepares to run the business of the U.S. Government. It's a really BIG job to be President, and I really want a President who has his stuff together!

Click here: Welcome to Jim Collins.com

I invite everyone to examine the ideas I've presented here and to share your ideas with me. We have a few months to prepare ourselves for the "Final Hire" on voting day, so join me in the journey to November.

It'll be fun!

I'm a tree hugger ...


I live in Broward County, Florida, which is located between Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade County. Broward's name was made famous by episodes of "Miami Vice," when Crockett & Tubbs chased the bad guys up I-95 "to Broward."

The tree in this picture is the only one like it that I've seen anywhere. And, I promise you that, not only do I get around the county, but I pay attention to trees! I took this photo while waiting at the stop light at Andrews Avenue and North 2nd Street. The property belongs to the City of Fort Lauderdale, but hasn't been used since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. It's been shuttered ever since and I wonder every day as I pass by it if they will leave it when they decide what to do with the property. I've seen developers cut down trees with absolutely no regard for the wildlife that might reside in them, the oxygen they produce or the beauty they add to our world, so my worries are based in reality.

I love trees of all kinds, even the "invasive exotic species" that are on the hit list for NatureScape and all the environmental protection people. I understand the reasoning behind the efforts to remove them, but some of them are truly spectacular and should be left for Mother Nature to take down (as in Hurricane Wilma). This tree, though, doesn't look like it's going anywhere any time soon. It's not too tall, it has a wide trunk, and the way the branches are constructed, I think it would take a licking and keep on ticking!

I love this photo. I am discovering that the photos shot quickly, like this one while sitting in traffic, come out the best. If only I could figure out how to duplicate that process so more of my pictures looked like this one! Ahhhh! The mysteries of life ...

... and your point is?

I love pencils.
I have cups filled with them, sharpened and unsharpened.

I have a Mason jar that is filled with colored pencils that I use almost daily.I have an old-fashioned hand-cranked pencil sharpener and I wouldn't trade it for all the electric sharpeners in the world. They just don't do the job as well as the old-fashioned kind do. My favorite leads are soft, 1 or 2HB. I like the way they spread the graphite on the paper, especially when the paper is smooth and shiny. I've collected pictures of pencils from the internet as long as I can remember and decided to just play around in PhotoShop this afternoon. What you see above is the result of that playtime. If you like pencils, too, I encourage you to visit Pencil Revolution.

http://pencilrevolution.com/

You'll find lots of great pencil stuff to look at and read about!

Happy Friday!