Valerean

"Sometimes it’s hard to be grateful for the basic things in life, like waking up in your own bed, having a roof over your head, and having a choice of what food to eat — but these things shouldn’t be taken for granted. With those things alone, you’re richer than 75% per cent of the world. Really take that in for a moment. Despite your struggle, and by nature of being able to read this article, you are in a better position than 75% of the world." -- Alex Heery I came across this in one of the articles that I've been reading for some character-building research. I'm trying to refine a protagonist who is in desperate straits and must make some very tough decisions. I haven't really related to her yet on an emotional level. Yet it was this quote from the article that reminded me of the time in my life when I was in my early twenties, struggling to get by, and definitely not in the 25%. I'm not going to depress you with details, but I know only too well ...

With Thanksgiving looming I've been thinking a lot about my dad lately. Not sadly, or even fondly, but just with longing. Having him here during the holidays would make it easier on me. He loved Thanksgiving, and cooking a big dinner, and gathering everyone at the table to share it. He really liked the way I made turkey, and preferred my stuffing to my mom's (although being a very good husband, he never told her that.) Dad's probably the reason Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. He even made Christmas bearable for me. Dad would have been in his late eighties for this pandemic, so in one sense I'm glad he never lived to see it. For once Alzheimer's probably would have spared him a lot if he had lived this long. He had so many friends in NYC, and odds are some of them didn't survive the first wave. He would have had to see the idiot ways it's become politicized, and how much all the squabbling has cost our country. That said, part of me still wishes ...

Last night I should have started cutting the fabric to make my shibori card trick patchwork. Instead I chickened out and made some Halloween treat bags. I had a similar problem last year when I was about to start making the boomerang quilt for Oliver's arrival into our lives. This quilt won't be half as much trouble as the boomerang pattern was, and yet I feel intimidated. I'm convinced I'll mess it up, waste the fabric and look like an idiot for trying. Every nasty thing anyone has ever said about my quilting goes on repeat in the back of my head. I get squashed by my own timidity. Vocabulary.com says "The noun timidity is related to the Latin word timidus , from timere , meaning “to fear.” In fact, fear is often a cause of timidity — fear of the unknown, fear of not knowing what to do. For example, you might experience timidity in visiting a country for the first time because you aren't sure of the local customs or you don't speak the language wel...

One thing I've been trying to do with my quilting is slow down, be more thoughtful, and enjoy the process, philosophies with which I still struggle. I'm a get-it-done person, obviously, but I'm also aware that the number of years I'll be able to quilt by hand are dwindling. Also, pandemic-think. Whenever I start a project lately there's a little voice in the back of my mind muttering, "Am I even going to live long enough to finish this?" After searching for some books on putting the brakes on my quilting process, and hopefully in the process soothe my nerves, I decided to invest in Cheryl Arkison's A Month of Sundays . The author is as much a writer as a professional quilter, and she embraces low-volume fabrics and projects that are family-oriented and deceptively simple. Although the book offers directions for sixteen different quilted and sewn projects (eight quilts, a couple bags and some other inventive things), the thoughtful writing in bet...

While sorting through yet another pile of stuff I collected during my spring cleaning, I found these two watercolors tucked away in a folder: I painted these eight years ago when I took an online class in metallic watercolors. On a whim I went to see if my slideshow of the work I did for the class was still on Flickr, and it is ( click here if you want to watch it.) I'm never going to set the art world on fire, of course, but I enjoyed it for the most part, and I learned some tricks. While taking the class I also came up with my own technique to transfer the pattern of an abstract lace with the watercolor, which is what made the background for this piece: Once I finished the class and did my final project I went back to doing my own thing art-wise. I find I'm happier learning on my own from books. I also found these stashed away in another closet: Ice Cathedrals, 1996 Jax (character painting), 2004 Mattias (character painting), 2004 What I realized when I ...

This is that time of year when most folks make resolutions or choose a theme word for the next twelve months. I'm guilty of doing both in the past. I'm definitely a planner, and January always feels like a starting line. I found that choosing goals or themes often sets me up to feel like I've failed when I don't achieve whatever I planned or imagined, so I've quit doing both -- yet I still feel the urge every January. As I write this post it's actually December 10th (see what I mean about planning? I'm currently 22 days ahead on blog posts.) Today I need to begin putting together some notes for my annual business meeting in January, work on finishing the last novel of 2019, and finish my prep for my guy's birthday tomorrow. 2020 won't arrive for another three weeks. Why worry about it, or anything else, for that matter? I think it's mostly because I'm not spontaneous or organic or whatever allows people to just do stuff without plan...

A couple of weeks ago I got this slip from a fortune cookie in our Chinese take-out order. Aside from obviously illustrating that the author of said fortune is probably not a native English speaker, it made a little lightbulb go off in my head. Eventually the sentiment made its way into Chapter Twelve of Twenty-One . Why? Don't know. Just did. That's how inspiration works. This pic captures one of the most important moments in my creative and spiritual life . Six years after it did, from memory only, it inspired this: Not all inspiration is funny or pretty. I don't have a picture of one of these, but the DOT in Florida will by request erect a memorial marker on or near a spot where a motorist died in a car accident (I think they can only do it on public land.) These markers are white circles inscribed "Drive Safely, In Memory" followed by the deceased's name. Unfortunately I live quite close to a couple of very dangerous roads, so they'...

You know somewhere online they sell posters and stuff with this quote on it. No lie. Someone sent it to me and asked if it was really me. Yep. I wrote that on PBW. My fourteen years of online fame, distilled into 21 words. Could be worse. They could have snatched something from that dilemma post I wrote about the Albino Robin Hood cover . I always thought that was me at my finest hour. Anyway -- onto how it's going with NaNoWriMo. I caught up on day two and did well, I think. I'm starting to get back into Nex's head -- or centracore, if you prefer -- and pick up where I left off in her adventures. I also wrote a bit of backstory about Navara in the intro to Chapter Nine, which I thought came out well. Everything seems to be falling into place. Since I also got my day job done and vacuumed all the rugs in the house and made dinner, I think it was a productive day. Now if I can just keep that going for another 27 days . . . . How are you doing, Theo? I think...

"Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things." --Ray Bradbury