My New Hero

I don't know Roann Mathias, but I would bow down to her if she walked into the room right now. I absolutely love her calligraphic style. Here is a video she posted on her web site. She says, "This is my first "music video" featuring calligraphy from various journals and the song by Norah Jones called "Those sweet words."

View it and be thusly inspired.

Not a Cover Girl

The following was posted on XX Factor yesterday by Abby Callard.

On Wednesday, Fox News aired a segment in which it berated Newsweek for not retouching a photo of Sarah Palin that ran on its Oct. 13 cover. (You can see a good close-up here.)

The photo is clearly untouched: stray eyebrow hair, large pores, and wrinkles are all visible on her face. The headline reads "She's One of The Folks (And that's the problem)." But the outrage isn't about the headline at all; it's about the photo. When did untouched become "unfair," as a Republican media consultant claims during the segment? And when did it become a requirement to retouch photos in news magazines rather than fashion ones?

The consultant went on to claim that the photo was "mortifying." Maybe the photo is a little unflattering--who can expect to look great that close up--but mortifying? It's also ridiculous that the three women on the segment prefaced their statements by some form of "Sarah Palin is a beautiful woman." We get it.

If I were Palin, I would upset. Not at the magazine, but at these women who can only talk about her as a "beautiful woman."

And this isn't sexist treatment?

My Oh My Oh My

Although this reads like an SNL script, it is the actual transcript of a Couric/Palin segment. So sad.

COURIC: What other Supreme Court decisions [than Roe v. Wade] do you disagree with?

PALIN: Well, let's see. There's --of course --in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are--those issues, again, like Roe v Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know--going through the history of America, there would be others but--

COURIC: Can you think of any?

PALIN: Well, I could think of--of any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a Vice President, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today.

Les Misbarack

Every time I hear a news item about McPalin and the lengths they sink to in the name of politics, I feel sick. In honor of the theatrics of this election cycle, here's something that made me smile for a change.

Eleven Days and Counting

It's countdown time until I leave for convention, which means my life is uber-busy and unbelievably exhausting when I factor in work issues and personal trials while trying to maintain a modicum of sanity. The past month has been filled with many good things and an inordinate amount of drama. No details to protect the guilty:) Suffice it to say, it takes its toll on me. The outlets that I depend on for a release all of a sudden seem to take too much energy, too much time, too much everything. My days become a circle of arrows chasing itself and even though the number of good things outweigh by far the drama, those bits of intense drama zap the vitality right from my core.

Yesterday I tried to regain my footing with a stroll through the Farmer's market, a trip to Whole Foods and let myself take in few blocks of an Art & Jazz fest that I stumbled upon. Add a nap to the mix and I'd call it a good day.

Shoes Like Yaya

I'm so excited. I got a message last week that a photo I had submitted to the "Grandparents are the Greatest" contest is in the Top Ten. Voting was supposed to begin over the weekend, but so far the photos aren't posted on their web site. I'm dying to see the other photos to see what the "competition" is. The winning photo will be the Grandparents Day poster and the cover of their mag -- which would be very cool -- plus gas cards for the monetary award. I'm more excited about the poster and mag prospect than the gas card though.

The picture is one I took in Pittsburgh of my feet and Lucy's feet -- both of us wearing our purple Keens. It's funny, when I look at the picture now, I know that if I had even considered that it was a photo for a contest, I would have lined our feet up, tried to be sure her little dress wasn't there, probably fussed with it, etc. But as it was, we were just standing there and she said "I have shoes like Yaya." And I had my camera, so Snap and it was captured. Obviously, the title of the photo is Shoes Like Yaya. Here it is:

Transitions

"Who are you?" said the Caterpillar. . .
"I -- I hardly know, Sir, just at present," Alice replied rather shyly, "at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then."

Lewis Carroll
from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

"I'll Be Right Back"

Our best "couple" friends are in San Francisco for a pleasure trip. Only it has turned out not to be pleasure. He ended up in the hospital emergency room, had surgery on his brain, and is currently heavily sedated to prevent seizures. His family has gathered 'round and they don't know at this point what the outcome will be. My heart is the heaviest it's been in a long time. I can't stop thinking about them.

Every day when we walk out the door, we have every intention of being right back. We leave things undone, unsaid, uncared for, believing that we'll take care of them when we get home. Seems like lately I keep getting hit in the face with these reminders to not take life for granted. Strange times for me.