One magic ability:
To see this same time
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Monday, February 1, 2016
Why We Write
Haven't we all started a novel at some point or another? Maybe a few pages, or maybe even a few chapters?
I started writing a novel a few years ago and picked it up again recently after a sudden spark of inspiration. Will anything ever come of it? Will I ever finish it? I wish I knew.I am having so much fun writing that the words are just pouring out of me. Page after page, I just keep writing, sometimes backtracking to remember a minor character's name, or to fix a grammar mistake, but writing is never as hard when you do it, as it seems when you think about it.
I am learning a lot about myself as I work on my little fantasy/romance novel. I am learning that it is entirely impossible to create a character that is not in some way a version of your own personality. So that sheds a huge spotlight on all of the authors of the hundreds of books I have read.
Writing is intensely personal. I can't really picture myself allowing any of my family members to read my book, because they know too much about me already. I might show my book to a couple of my closest friends, but I know they won't judge me and they enjoy reading some of the same genres of books as I do.
Why do we write?
We write to live a life we can't have. To meet that person we haven't met yet. To experience those things that we don't want to admit that we want.
We write to not feel lonely. To live in a time and place where debt and bad knees and food allergies never happened. To have the things we don't have the space for. To have the job we really want. To have that one person who knows exactly what we need and when we need it.
We write to feel free.
We write to feel a little better.
We write because we want to escape into a book that has everything we ever asked for.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Bathroom Faucet
Plumbers deserve a raise.
Or engineers could figure out a way to make plumbing a little easier.
This is my current bathroom sink/vanity. Isn't it beautiful? Oh, it's missing something?
What started as a simple "I can do it!" project ended up being a "Have crowbar, will travel" project.
Morals of the story: Never assume a plumbing job will be quick or easy. Prepare yourself for living without a bathroom sink for a couple of days. Prepare yourself for spending about $200 on a new bathroom vanity and sink. Prepare some schnapps or other drink of choice to help you calm down after the stress of worst-case-scenario kicks in. Be thankful that you have a family member who knows how to fix the problem. Be grateful that you own the necessary pliers, channel locks, drill, drill bits, hammer, crowbar, utility knife, and cleaning supplies to disassemble the entire sink and vanity. Be thankful that when this whole ordeal is over, my bathroom will look awesome and my sink faucet will not spray my clothes whenever I turn it on. Be happy that you learned a whole lot about how to uninstall, install, uninstall, and reinstall a bathroom sink faucet.
The kitchen faucet will be another story.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Sexy Lines
In my college lithography class, I had a classmate who had...let's say an "interesting" personality, and a very different style of art, but his passion for drawing was sincere, and I admired him for that.
We were all sitting on the hard, wobbly, broken-legged stools that seem to grace every studio classroom, while we hunched over the concrete tables, sketching ideas for our next prints.
My classmate was leaning over his tiny, spiral bound sketchbook with a black ball-point pen, quickly yet carefully drawing a single, curved line down the middle of the page.
"That is a sexy line!" He says, looking immensely pleased and excited.
We all glance at the simple curve, and I start to chuckle to myself, but all of us at that table knew exactly how he felt.
Maybe it's just an art-major thing, but anyone who studied art and/or art history can probably picture just such a "sexy" line. It is not the same curve, shape, thickness, or length for every person, but we can all see it in our heads, can't we?
It has been a couple of years since this happened, but I was thinking about it the other day and laughing to myself as I was drawing my latest zentangle coloring page for my Etsy shop: DJPenscript.etsy.com.
Some lines and shapes and curves really are sexy. Not "sexy" in a sexual way, but "sexy" as in: attractive, beautiful, inspiring, and feel-good.
I believe that we as humans are always subconsciously searching for sexy lines. That's why we are attracted to certain animals and fruits and photographs and cars...and everything else.
We as artists are just able to see them a little more clearly. We hunt them, find them, create them.
I wish you all find a sexy line today.
We were all sitting on the hard, wobbly, broken-legged stools that seem to grace every studio classroom, while we hunched over the concrete tables, sketching ideas for our next prints.
My classmate was leaning over his tiny, spiral bound sketchbook with a black ball-point pen, quickly yet carefully drawing a single, curved line down the middle of the page.
"That is a sexy line!" He says, looking immensely pleased and excited.
We all glance at the simple curve, and I start to chuckle to myself, but all of us at that table knew exactly how he felt.
Maybe it's just an art-major thing, but anyone who studied art and/or art history can probably picture just such a "sexy" line. It is not the same curve, shape, thickness, or length for every person, but we can all see it in our heads, can't we?
It has been a couple of years since this happened, but I was thinking about it the other day and laughing to myself as I was drawing my latest zentangle coloring page for my Etsy shop: DJPenscript.etsy.com.
Some lines and shapes and curves really are sexy. Not "sexy" in a sexual way, but "sexy" as in: attractive, beautiful, inspiring, and feel-good.
I believe that we as humans are always subconsciously searching for sexy lines. That's why we are attracted to certain animals and fruits and photographs and cars...and everything else.
We as artists are just able to see them a little more clearly. We hunt them, find them, create them.
I wish you all find a sexy line today.
By the way, I think owls, especially barn owls, are full of sexy lines! Just look at those feathers and eyes! Tigers will be coming soon...
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