Newtons 1st law

I feel the need to follow up my post from yesterday with an apology. I was ranting like a frustrated whiner. I could have made my point with much more grace. I'm sorry. This topic just happens to be close to me right now -for me and for the people I love.

It seems that motion is perpetual. Who knew? Newton. He's a reliable source, he was a smart cookie and he chose this as his FIRST law! So that would imply that the first step to anything is THE FIRST STEP. Motion will continue to stay in motion. (meaning "get off your lazy a** and do something- anything, and it will pay off by taking you to your next adventure.") Whether it's a baby "bite size" step or a giant "wookie" sized step- just GO! (I'm stretching this beyond physics but I don't think he'd mind because it makes him relevant in a whole different realm.)

The reason I had this thought in the first place came to me from blogging to you (or not blogging to you) and talking to my dad. The only way to have something to blog about or to have something to update your daughter (or anyone) about, is to do something. Wouldn't it be great if every time someone asked you what you've been up to lately, you could say something unexpected and new EVERY TIME?!? That way, they're not bored with you and you're not searching for something to assign meaning to. I mean really, the most interesting people I know have had real life adventures... or maybe just know how to make corn cob pipes straight from a field... or could teach me all the differetnt kinds of knots and their purposes that they learned in boy scouts. I think we all respond to learning something new and it's just as important to teach as it is to learn. I know this is a huge challenge, and that it can't be expected to have some amazing story in your back pocket all the time... but wouldn't it be great if you did?

To my brother in law Karl- you are on my list of interesting people and I appreciate your experiences.

Amusement & Adventure

I mean this as a challenge. I got peeved and this is the result.

Ryan and I have been talking a lot lately about pass times. Amusement vs. Adventure. I would say that in my teen years I spent most of my time being amused. (and usually for most people it had been restricted to teen years... I'm now observing that it's seeped into 20's and even 30's!) I sat and waited for something entertaining to spark my interest. I watched tv, listened to the radio, played video games, and went to movies. I was happy. There was no oppressing force telling me that I screwed up a task, because how do you screw up if you an observer? I felt like I was learning things, being swept up in new emotional spectrum's from tv and movies, gaining hand eye coordination from video games and knowing worldly gossip from the radio. (Mind you I listened to KDWB- not NPR) I felt like I was totally on top of my game and doing just what I was supposed to do. I knew how to live my life well because I was really good at these things, watching movies that were thought provoking and playing puzzling games as if it were making my brain grow. How naive. I wasted an entire chunk of my life by simply watching. I told myself that I was learning, that I was the quiet casual observer. I told myself that this was my role. I was a child at heart. What I've learned from that is that being a child at heart doesn't mean I could get away with a child's lifestyle or point of view. I could have been participating in my thick emotional plots with REAL relationships, I could have been making movies, I could have done something amazing to make the people on the radio want to talk about me! Being a child at heart is living with a child's Zest for life! Learning everything new, seeking out things that make your heart skip and getting excited about new things! Adventure is the key. It implies motion, ACTION! The difference between being a kid and being grown up is all about range of motion. Being older affords more options, TAKE THEM!!! This is important. I can't sit and wait any longer to start living a life of action. I want to be someone who inspires others to try something new, to go some place different and to dig deep into their relationships. Wasting the only life that we're given is not an option. Ryan and I (I'm pretty sure) are on the same page.

Maggie Walsh

I just wanted to take a minute to say Happy Birthday to someone I hold deep respect for, Roommates Best Friend, Mags. She is wise beyond her quarter of a century status and more gracious than most. She's amazing because she does life intentionally, taking in every good thing and learning from all the twists in her path. She does these things out loud- which is where my respect for her takes root. I have laughed out loud, been moved to tears and fallen more deeply in love with my Jesus by reading the words on her blog, Always Never the Same. Mags, I value you and the role you play in the lives of the people I hold so close to my heart! Have a great year and have fun discovering what's instore! I can't wait to hear all about it! And let me know when you're book comes out- I'm ready!

A long time coming.

It's been a while. I haven't had time in the past month or two to formulate thoughts- let alone document them for you. Today is really no different...

8am- Wake up
9am- Work
1:30pm- Leave work- Run errands
3pm- Lunch
4pm- Work on preliminaries for my newest paintings and children's book (more to come later)
6pm- Jump Rope contest with my manager and the kids in our community.
7pm- Go to accountability
8pm- Leave early to go to Ryan's softball game
10pm- Parking lot beer time
11pm- Dinner
11:45pm- Check email before bed

The moral of my itinerary is that I got to participate in a JUMP ROPE contest at age 27, FOR WORK! I haven't jumped rope in a good 12 years! True - I lost to a little girl named Elaina - but I put up a good fight. So congratulations to her!

This will probably be the most I ever write about work on my blog... until the hula hoop contest during our summer ice cream social.

drawing and painting

"Kenya"
36 x 48

This painting is an addition to my Africa Series. This is another moment that Ryan captured with his camera. This little girl was pretending she was shy but kept slowly moving closer to Ryan, posing as she crept down the hill. The other child in the picture saw Ryan's camera and made his way down as well. This particular moment was in the beginning of a series of pictures, by the end there were 3 children up close and personal peering into the lens. So much of our interaction was like this, shy and cautious at first but friendly and energetic soon after. I named this painting Kenya and put the flag across the image because it seemed so true to my experience there.

This is a drawing I did in Illustrator from a sketch. This is my new favorite thing to do. If you know of anyone who needs illustrations, send them my way!

"Wild and Free"
36 x 48

This is an oil painting that I worked on for 2 days. I don't know if I'm finished with it yet. Erik W. Heavey, this painting makes me think of you.

Nemesis

Ryan got in a knife fight with a bagel yesterday... the bagel won. How did this come about? I'm sure you can guess, it's the familiar bagel cut injury, but from his reaction there was no way to tell how bad it was. All I heard was, "Oh shoot." He wasn't panicked, he was annoyed. I thought he dropped his food in dishwater or something. I was curious, "What happened?" to which he responded, "I cut myself, kind of bad." Always an adventure that husband of mine.

We made the familiar drive to Urgent Care in Arden Hills where they gave him 5 stitches in his left hand. Ouch. There are a few lessons here. First, no matter how many harmless times you've used the palm of your hand as a cutting board, it's NEVER a good idea. Second, if you don't want to drive yourself to urgent care, I suggest not showing me your 1.5 "long - profusely bloody wound. This time it wasn't even that I don't know how to drive a stick, it would have been irresponsible for me to get behind the wheel in such a woozy state.

That's right, he was a man and drove himself... with a bloody hand, in a manual car, with a woozy wife all the way there. The funniest thing was, before we left the only concern and panic he expressed was for the bagel and whether or not it was going to be edible by the time we made it home. It was not.

As for now, he's doing fine, all stitched up, they come out in 9 days. He's bummed about missing basketball for the next 2 weeks, which may be what really made him learn the proper bagel cutting lesson. (p.s. he has an extremely high pain tolerance. It's amazing really.)

Demetri Martin

I was listening to clip from one of Demetri Martin's stand up routines and I heard something that really made sense to me.

"Swimming is a confusing sport to me, because sometimes you do it for fun... but other times you do it to NOT DIE."

I mean really.