LEAVING BLOGGER FOREVER

Sorry there isn't a redirect option - I looked into it, but of course, to edit html code I need the Layout tab that no longer exists.

SO... I've gone to:

http://summerv.wordpress.com

Please update me if you follow this blog in any way. LUV U GUYS!!!

S L O W...means more than you think

Blogger has lost its mind, so I'm having to type this in instead of cut/paste. Stupid thing...

We went to Seligman, AZ a couple weeks ago. The pics still aren't ready and my schedule changed twice since then - I'm still trying to get reoriented. It was a nice weekend hop, cruising Route 66 and stopping at all the odd little places along the way. Stopped in Hackberry to take pictures; if I ever acquire an old GMC truck from the early 60's like my folks had, Hackberry is where I'd go for parts. We did the Grand Canyon Cavers tour, made that much better by our odd tour guide, Bob. Seligman is a jumping classic car mecca in the summer months, but in January when it's cold, half the town is closed. I suggest West Side Lilo's Cafe over the Roadkill Cafe and a visit to the Return to the 50's shop for an alien driver's license. Visited Keepers of the Wild in Valentine, AZ on the way back - lots of tigers and video of emus doing the unmentionable. It was deeply necessary to get out of town for awhile; I'm feeling that way again actually...

I went clubbing for the first time on the 7th for my roomie's birthday bash at Marquee. I managed to pull some strings last minute and get us a table and comped bottle. Honey, I and our friend Jodi shut the place down at 5:30am. I was sick for the next three days; she was sick for two. Honey drove me home and was fine. It was a lot of fun, but the aftermath was horrific and I probably won't be going to that level ever again.

We bought a couch. It brings the place together and makes it look like someone lives here. Not to mention it was a steal at $80 for a two piece sectional. The studio has been resurrected and is ready for business. Hopefully today an ad will go out.

Besides that...I'm still settling into who I am. It seems ridiculous it should take nearly 30 years to figure out what I am, what I really want from life, what's important and what's not, but that seems to be the way of it for me. I'm slow, but also slow: everything is easy going, mellow, relaxed, no stress - that's the groove I'm getting into. There's more room for my brain to think creatively, more sense of the right now around me, and it harmonizes with my inner rhythm. I guess my inner hippie is winning the day. And it feels good.

Sunshine and Butterflies

I've had some excellent inspiration for this blog recently, but also haven't been anywhere near it to communicate them. The caliber of people I've been meeting at the gallery is improving - they're not all art buffs, but the conversation is stimulating. Met Gregory from San Diego who has dreadlocks down to his waist. I had a long phase (for lack of a better term) where I really wanted to have dreads, so we chatted about that. I gave him the website for the blacksmiths where he can get a hair staple like I have (whose site is currently down, but it's www.poundiron.com ); he gave me the site for some excellent hair care products. We also talked about tooth whitening and shared our pain stories about 'Zoom!'.

Borrowed an excellent book from the shop called The Four Agreements, that I'm hoping to put into practice. Been researching methods and materials for my version of the pouf mentioned in previous posts. Had French toast at 2:30am two nights ago and some great conversation with my husband - he has excellent advice for navigating the complicated work scene.

I'm trying to remember some of the light bulbs that went off I wanted to share....
One was a quote posted in the office at work, that I swear was just for me. It reads:
The trick is what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same. - Carlos Casteneda

Another thought was that when asked what my career goals are or what my career is, my answer shall now be "Happiness". Or better yet, that I'm working towards being a professional bum. I've broken the spell finally that says my career defines me. I don't define myself by my career, because ultimately, taking everything into consideration, that would make me miserable. From the perspex of others, I'm an interior designer wasting her talent in an art gallery. Before this gig, I was the designer wastinger her talent in a lighting showroom, which usually produced that long drawn out, pitiful "oooooo"; which used to offend me because part of me believed it, saw it the way they did. Now though...Eh, followed by a shrug. What and who I am has nothing to do with where I work; also has nothing to do with my success in this life, or my happiness. That great book I mentioned earlier talks about making agreements with yourself that ultimately define your inner truth, and what I've gathered so far, only being two chapters in, is that my truths up to this point have been provided by others (so have yours) and I chaff against them because they're not true to what I am: a happy free loving spirit. My soul doesn't want all this fuss, all this pain and frustration; it wants sunshine and butterflies and all things to be right in my world - the hippie motto, if you will.

I can have it. So can you. I'm not going to listen to any feeble arguments you have to the contrary either. :)

Anyway, daylight is a-wasting. I'll start jotting down those bursts of inspiration... Until then.

Finding my way...

I’ve been meeting some interesting folks at the gallery. Had a Ted Nugent look-alike confuse me to death with some shpeel about the Native Americans’ solution to the white man destroying their lands, which apparently was a 5 x 10 block piece of graph paper colored in primary colors. Yeah.


Today I met some nice gentlemen from Etna, California, population roughly 766. They’ve been living in a “wall tent”, off the grid, for 9 months and counting. See wall tents here. I think that’s fantastic. Now if I could just figure out how to become a vagabond myself…

Let’s see: pay off car, buy small caravan OR build little house on wheels. Sell or donate just about everything I own. Find portable, location-independent means of earning a living – that’s where it gets hard. Well, challenging. I haven’t come up with a brilliant answer yet, but I’m working on it.

I’m also working on creating my own version of this very cool poof. I already have someone who wants to buy one from me if I’m successful.

Just trying to find my own way in a sea of meaningless chatter and chaos. The boys from Etna mentioned how coming to Vegas is sensory overload compared to how they normally live. I wouldn’t mind a bit less of that myself. Change the way you see the world and it will change the way the world sees you. My oft-used line about being forever disappointed I didn’t run away and join the circus was answered today by an EMT from Chicago, who said “it’s never too late, if you really want it.”

Yes sir, you are indeed correct.