i write the letters for you: 03/14/11

Monday, March 14, 2011

just behold evolution (because i'm so tired)-

Hi, All-As I passed around today on facebook, email lists, etc., I totally revamped the blog and turned us around some corners, finding new paths and places for me and for all of you to open up and show and tell what you've created and why and how...

My first picture is of a mosaic I made when I was going through my divorce. The piece is called "Sophie's Hand," because our neighbor, Sophie, had the most beautiful hands I'd ever seen and all I could think of whenever I saw them was how much I was going to miss her and our neighborhood and school and friends and house and zen garden on the other side of 125 year old rose arbor-such a beautiful dichotomy...so she sat in the sun with me for a whole day and I copied every joint and curve of her fingers and wrist and forearm...I love that hand more than anything I've ever made. Then I filed for divorce.

The rest of the mosaic was created while I was getting divorced and was otherwise, in every way, a shrapnel strewn war zone of a person...

I've never figured out why the rest turned out how it did-why I made those shapes and colors or used all those different materials from glass to metal to china to mirror to pottery...

So someone has to be insightful...why did I do it?

p.s. i'm doing everything and more to get the ads off my blog...grrrrrr

Sincerely yours-so show me and everyone else yours and keep on telling stories!

turn off the tv and read

"Into Thin Air," Jon Krakauer-this true account of what is called "the deadliest season in the history of Everest," will leave you stunned at the courage of those who risk their lives for strangers, wondering what moves someone to attempt such a feat and sobbing for the pure loss detailed by the author, who was there and willing to risk expressing his own feelings about the event, which may be the most courageous act of all...
"Land of a Hundred Wonders" and "Whistling in the Dark," by Leslie Kagan...these stories are narrated by a 21-year-old woman with a closed head injury and an 11-year-old big sister, respectively. The narrators of these beautiful, suspenseful novels are what make Leslie Kagan's writing what it is. I dar you to read these books and not fall in love with this young woman and her world and this girl and her little sister in theirs. I've come to admire this author very much and it's worth reading about her life, as it's been an interesting path to "writer." Again, the honest shines through in every page of each of these books.
"The Hour I First Believed," by Wally Lamb. This is a story about the Columbine massacre, drug addiction, marriage, family, redemption, loss, the vagaries of human nature and so much, much more. You will fall in love with these characters and never forget them. I read this book two years ago and I still provokes my thought from time to time. It's beautifully written and, once again, told in the first person by a narrator. I'm attracted to those books as they scream "honesty!" to me, and isn't that what we're all looking for?
a few new books to devour...
THINK ABOUT BUYING YOUR BOOKS FROM AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLER...YOU CAN GO ONLINE TO "SATURNBOOKSELLERS.COM" AND BUY FROM THEM, MY FAVORITE INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLER, AS CONVENIENTLY AS YOU WOULD FROM AMAZON, AND GET YOUR BOOKS A HECKAVALOT FASTER, WITH THE SAME GREAT PERSONAL SERVICE YOU GET IN THE STORE, ALL WHILE FEELING GOOD IN SUPPORTING YOUR COMMUNITY...THINK ABOUT IT.