DIRT

After a little art gallery in the Bishop Art's District closed (Decorazon), I was a little bit sad. Whenever I came back from Savannah, I followed my mom's advice, being the Master Gardener that she is, and went to the store that replaced it. This is a store of all stores. The name is Dirt. It is owned by a couple who got married in April. After talking to the husband, I realized this was a dream life they were living. The husband, Chris Eudaley, is a photographer and graphic designer while the wife, Sonya Eudaley, is a florist and artist. They live above their shop in the Bishop Art's District. I couldn't believe this store or their story and immediately wanted to be a part of their small little world. They photograph, plan weddings, supply the flowers, you name it. So great. So cool. Many of the flowers in there consist of succulents planted in really cool found containers or old tins. If you ever get the chance, take a peek inside their store and talk to them. I am going to brag and tell you...I was the first person to by dirt from dirt.

Lunar Eclipse

We have "Africa Game Nights" many times a year. These game nights consist of a wonderful invitation ( see this example ), random treats, laughs, and GAMES! This game night included two things that made this an exceptional game night : KJ without his wisdom teeth and the lunar eclipse.

A little late, but this is of the lunar eclipse that happened in the early morning of the 21st. It was a many hour event but well worth it (obviously).

A Different Christmas

In all my years, everyone of my Christmases has looked the same. We go to church, have the cousin gift exchange, eat shrimp creole, play cards, then go to bed. We then wake up and open presents. After that, we pack everything up and travel to Winters, TX for two days...

This year, Mary Claire got home after a big delay of being snowed in in Scotland. Yesterday, I worked then had the first Christmas Eve I can remember without half of my cousins. The group was significantly smaller and quieter. It was different. For me, the Watsons were truly missed. We all went to sleep like normal. Today, we have opened presents and are here in Dallas to feast and hang out ALL DAY. Like usual, traveling to my best friends house to see what they got for Christmas is on the To Do List today. Tomorrow, we drive to Winters. It doesn't seem like much, but it felt different this year.

This Christmas is full of knitting presents, making espressos, peeled shrimp, painting, cheese grits, clothes, books, pass the pigs, babysitting a dog that is not mine, planting succulents, working, elf shoes from holland, gnomes...the list goes on...

Some has changed and some has stayed exactly the same. It has been wonderful so far.

We forgot to have the ceremonial wave of the stockings today... I better go remind everyone to do that now.

I hope you all have the Merriest of Christmases!!!

Drawing a Day

Perpendicularities

Space all around-

Three dimensional-

Why not four?

How do our words even meet?

There is no linear track from my mouth to your ear.

None from your eyes to mine.

Just space.

How can what you mean meet what I mean

And converge?

Words can go anywhere

In our three dimensional world-

Why not four?

If they shoot off diagonally from you

To me,

And mine shoot of vertically from me

Away from you,

Would these lines of thought

Encased in word-sound meet?

Not at first. No.

But would they after traveling the world-

Wrap around in a circle,

Compelled by gravity,

And not being parallel?

That is exactly why they meet.

Not being parallel.

We don’t see eye to eye.

But as the words traverse the sky on and on,

Bending back around,

They’ll inevitably meet.

A phenomenon not available to the parallel or to the same.

So don’t move too fast with your disappointment

At our opposing angles

With your frustration-

Of not knowing me and

Of me not knowing you.

Because it’s for that very reason

My meaning will meet your meaning

In this too big, three dimensional space

And then converge.

This, this is communication.

Poem, written by Mary Claire Russell

And Another...

The lovely quaint college house is so close in the future. I cannot wait to make things for it and have dinner parties there.

Home Handmade in Finland

i want this so bad. so cool.

A Typing Flow

My new form of thought is the typing flow. You can change things and work through them all over the internet! I feel a little silly because I was such an advocator of written word. What am I saying? I am still a huge fan of written word.

I am fearful of what is to come, but not happy with staying here. I am jumping across the absurd, preparing myself mentally, physically, spiritually to make the leap to something bigger. This “something bigger” might be challenging and frightening. Making this leap is laying down the comfortable and the normal and continuing the journey laid before me. I don’t have any idea of what is to come before me. Honestly, I don’t have huge ideals; I just want to begin the future now. As each day passes in this phase in my life, I see that the difference between the past, present, and future is not THAT different. They all correlate with one another. With out one, there could not be another. I appreciate who I was, who I am, and who I will be in the future. The common denominator is the same: it is all about relationships. It is odd to come to that realization over and over again. It seems so simple, yet here I am a few days after Thanksgiving, giving thanks for those who are in my life. I have realized that I am blessed with the people in my life: past, present, and future. What do I want from these next years? I want to become better. I want to become closer to the Lord. I want to be more real with my friends. When I am away from them, I want to learn to be praying constantly for them. I want a lot, but I don’t think it is unrealistic.

The year is changing and the cold is coming only to bring the warmth of spring. Ahhhhh.

That was my scatter of thoughts a couple of weeks ago.

Geneveve's Birthday Wish

Geneveve officially turned the big 50 today. That is half of a century- a VERY big deal.

We have been and will continue to celebrate all week. For today, the actual birthday, we ran errands, relaxed, ate burgers and cake, listened to Sufjan Christmas, opened presents, and rounded things up with decorating the Christmas tree. This is always my mother's wish on her birthday. She wants us all to stay home and help her bedazzle the tree with the pinecones she has collected for the past 25 years. With my sisters gone, the Christmas tree decorating attendees were just my parents and me. Feeling a bit out of place, it was my dad's first time to hang a Christmas ornament. We were all very proud of him.

Now we are ready for some Christmas.

364 Creations To Go

Today was a good day. It was a wonderful day of relaxing. I ran errands, saw people that I wanted to see, bought some wonderful watercolors, and began to paint.

Today, I officially begun my own version of a "drawing a day" for the next 364 days. I have talked and thought about this process for far too long. So here it is. It is out in the open. I cannot hide from it any longer. One down. 364 creations to go. That means 364 new moments to ponder my life and work some stuff out...on paper! It is like a diary, but better!! I cannot wait to see the progress and transitions that await me in one year.

I have missed drawing, reading, and writing these last few weeks. Good thing these actions remain constant and I am the one changing. (makes it a little fun)

Monica Cook

Monica Cook’s paintings describe a stark, sometimes disturbing, objectivity of the figure, by heightening various textures on the body, the translucency of the flesh, how the veins surface and recede. Her paintings allude to stories exposed by history trapped inside the skin. Exaggeration of these details enhances the mortal presence of the subject and their psychological complexity, objectifying the condition of raw.