Monday, March 26, 2012

Some days the time just flies!

Oh my goodness!  Today just flew and I am just now sitting down to write a post for this blog.  It is very early on Monday despite what the time stamp says.  Sunday flew by and found me running from one activity to another and spending a lot of time on the computer helping another resident in the building where my flat is located.  Sometimes what you have planned for the day just has to change when something else pops up and seems to need your attention.  Maybe I lack the power to stay with one plan of action, or maybe I just do not seem to be able to say "no, I am tied up for the moment."  Regardless, I fell off of my carefully planned out schedule and am just now sitting down, cup of coffee in hand (but no cookies!) and typing away to tell you what has been going on in the life of the want to be artist/writer.

The week played out pretty much as most weeks do.  A little shopping, a little reading, some laundry, playing in the studio, some more laundry and on and on.  I will confess that laundry is a bit of an obsession with me.  I have to wonder why there is not a laundry detergent named "Obsession" just yet but I am guessing that it is only a matter of time before this lands on some shelves in a shoppe near you.  Today hit and I was on my way into the studio when I decided to check my e-mails and I am so happy that I did!  There was an e-mail from a special friend that I hear from pretty much every other week and I open each and every e-mail with the anticipation that I am about to have a good chat.  And, a good chat it was, so much so that I felt the need to respond right away.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I cannot write a short e-mail, they are all of epic proportions and this one was no different.  But, for some reason, my brain was shorting out and I kept losing my e-mail or sending it off before it was well and truly finished.  I am sure this is due to a) my fingers stumbling over the keyboard, b) my eagerness to get my thoughts down on the page before I lost them, or c) either a case of dyslexia or early onset Alzheimer's.  Truth is, my mistakes could be a combination of all of the above.  I really do have to focus when I am writing anything these days in order to get my thoughts down correctly.  I need to make lists so that I do accomplish the more important things that need to be done.  But, I wonder if maybe this new age of technology has made my brain function with fewer brain cells in good running order.  I seem at a loss for words by times, I tend to get lost in my thoughts frequently and I am easily distracted. 

Maybe all these problems are caused by my being too technologically challenged.  It is so easy to hit the wrong key when I am keyboarding and send communications into cyber space before I really mean to hit the "send" key.  I am easily distracted and a piece of music on the radio can totally derail my line of thought or take me to a place where I have not been a resident for a long time.  I am laughing at this, but sadly, it is true.  I am of an age where I am nostalgic for simpler times, the music I was listening to way back when and a time when I knew what colour my hair really was and so did the hairdresser.  These days, I seem to flit from classical to rock, new age to middle age, best sellers to classics.  There is no rhyme or reason to selections of music, the books I choose to read or anything else.  I am a child of no age, one who definitely marches to her own beat, the beat of whatever music is playing in my head at that particular time on that particular day.  I am not terribly concerned that my attention span is a bit sporadic.  I would rather do a turn about and head off to where I can do something interesting or be able to help someone.

So, today, I sent a lengthy e-mail to a friend albeit in two parts.  Sorry about that CM!  Hopefully, it all made sense in the long run and made you laugh.  Friends do that for friends, they reach out, listen, chat, laugh and tell stories of their past all in hopes of connecting.  That is what any type of communication is supposed to do, but the reality is, many of our communications these days are sadly lacking in personality.   We subscribe to the "form letter" type of communications format.  This is so not acceptable and our letters reflect that we have lost our "voice" when we write.  What I mean by this is that there was a time when you could read something and knew straight away who had written the piece.  Today, you can never be sure.   With spell check, auto format and all the techno stuff, we have lost our individuality.  I always knew when a certain person had left me a note at work because she could never spell the word "marijuana." 

So, I have managed to go off of my line of thought one more time today!  I did, after three, maybe four attempts, manage to get the e-mail written and sent correctly.  I have had a quick response telling me that it was received and yes the recipient did laugh at the content.  S'all good!  Very bad grammar, but indicative of my somewhat creative state of mind.  Or, it could be that I seem to have an empty coffee cup and should see about a refill.  Kim and Russ, two friends on twitter, know and share my daily requirement of caffeine that keeps me waxing poetic or in other words, a tad manic.  I will let you decide which is more accurate.

So, what else did I do today?  Another resident in the building needed some computer help.  Not having a computer and desperately needing a quick brochure with tear strips to be put together for her business, she called asking if I would help.  It has been a while since I have actually put together paperwork of a business nature, but in the spirit of helping this woman get her fliers done, I agreed to give it a try.  It took a few hours to get a format that I found acceptable and got the gist of her information typed up and looking fairly professional.  Adding a few creative elements just because I felt the need to do something art related helped me feel better about what I was doing and feel that I was making her fliers stand out in a good way.  So, a few hours ago, the fliers were delivered and left at the neighbour's door.  Hopefully, they accomplish what she needs them to do and she gets some more clients.  I will tell you a little secret here and hope you will not tell anyone.  When I delivered the fliers to the door down the hallway, Molly accompanied me.  Molly has a real yearning to tackle this lady's door as there is an over sized wreath hanging on it and my energetic little feline is coming very close to jumping up and tackling the wreath to the floor.  Heaven only knows what she plans to do with it at that point, but I am keeping an eye on her and on the wreath, willing it to stay where it is currently hanging.  Say a prayer that Molly's antics do not allow her to gain much more height when she jumps or I am going to have to rebuild a wreath of very much dried magnolia leaves.  I am pretty sure one tumble to the floor and they will not be in very good shape.  That is best kept among all of us here!

I heard from the art shoppe where I ordered the articulated wooden hand a few weeks ago.  The wonderfully helpful clerk who helped me place the order called to inform me that my order had arrived and was ready for me to pick up.  She sounded so excited, in fact as excited as I am to finally have a life sized hand that can be posed in any manner of ways.  I have to wonder what pose it might be in as it sits waiting for me to pick it up on Monday.  I have visions of it being posed in the "thumbs up" position.  My sister suggested it was in the pose of the greeting Mr. Spock used in Star Trek.  I never thought of my sister as being a Trekkie, and that gives me some pause for thought.  No, I am fairly certain she has not actually watched an episode of Star Trek, but I could be wrong.  I will let you know if I find out differently. 

Oh, and when the clerk called to tell me that my order had arrived, she also mentioned that there was a sale on and there were a lot of items that I used and I should look at the sale flier.  Duly noted and I have a list made of items to pick up tomorrow.  I have a feeling that Monday is going to be an interesting day.  Molly is already running around the flat behaving like a little monster, kitty monster that is and complete with interesting sound effects.  Again, I am not sure what has brought this behaviour on, but it may very well be connected to the fact that she was just in her litter box.  She tends to get quite excited after she does a certain something and I am quite likely going to find that something when I head into the bathroom to tidy it up before I head off to bed.

Anyway, I will be in the studio working this week along with getting back to reading.  I have been reading Danny Gregory's "How to Make a Journal of Your Life."  I have not finished it as yet, but can already highly recommend that you put it on your "to read" list.  Danny Gregory writes a chatty book full of his wisdom on taking the time to document what you see and gives some pointers on how to put your ideas down on the page.  His biggest piece of advice is to take it slow and easy and not to stress over it.  Rome was not built in a day and you will not manage to be Picasso in that short of time either.  You can quote me on that.  I try every day to improve my drawing skills and I can tell you, I have a long ways to go on this journey before I come close to Picasso or any other real artist.  But that is all part of the journey, taking the time to learn not just about drawing, art and so on.  It is also very much about taking the time to explore what you see and taking the time to enjoy life.   

I hope you have a wonderful week!  I will let you know what goodies I find at the art shoppe and how well my resolve to stay on budget holds up.  No promises on that, but I will try to keep to items I actually need and will use within a reasonable amount of time.  Beyond that, it is a good guess just what might be in my shopping bags by the time I get home.

Sincerely,   Rutheemac

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