Category: art

Rock Star

You know what I did today?

I met a Rock Star. Ok, not a real rock star, but my own personal rock star.

For me, celebrity is an interesting thing. I don’t really think that much about most Hollywood actors. Having once upon a time dated a musician, the magic is out of that one too.

The one thing I love to do more than anything else is writing, so for me, the real rock stars are writers.

About fifteen years ago (*gasp*, has it been that long?), my best friend gave me a book. A book about writing. About how to get started. About just getting the words down on paper.

It began a journey for me that I’m still on. It was a liberating kick in the pants.

And what was the best, my most favorite thing about that book was that the woman who wrote these powerful words was from New Mexico.

That fact left an indelible mark on my soul.

That book was “Writing Down the Bones” and that author is Natalie Goldberg.

Today she made an appearance at a really cool local bookstore, Kepler’s.

After her talk, which was great, she signed books. She could not have been more gracious. I got a chance to tell her how great it was for this little girl from New Mexico to have a New Mexican show me the way, and she said she understood that.

And I walked away on clouds 8, 9 and 10.

It was really, really cool.

The geek out factor was akin to when I get the autograph of a favorite baseball player.

Writers and baseball players. My own personal Rock Stars.

Media review

Here’s what’s doing in my world these days.

On the bedside table:

Just finished reading “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway. This is one of The Cute Boy’s™ favorite books. With his help, I might just become well read. Whooda thunk it! :)

I tried to read this one when I was about ten or twelve. I got it at the library and couldn’t master it. As an adult, the story resonated with me deeply and in the group of friends and their time at the fiesta in Pamplona, I saw a lot of people I know (or have been at one point in my life, I suppose).

I always thought that Hemingway had a lot harder edge than this, and I think in other works, he does. I really liked the quiet way this book is written. And it has many quotable lines, such as, “It’s is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night, it’s another thing.” That one hit me so hard I had to reread it a few times.

So despite my love for throwaway fiction, I think I might become a fan of the classics.

Now at work on the bedside table is “Fast Cars and Frybread: Reports from the Rez” by Gordon Johnson. Found this on an endcap at the library and picked it up. It’s a collection of essays about life on the Pala Indian Reservation near San Diego. Johnson has written a series of articles for the Riverside Press-Enterprise and many of them are collected here. Johnson has a great no nonsense style and a sentimentality for his time on the rez. I find a lot of what he talks about is a universal theme but I also like how Johnson makes his personal stories really accessible.

I’m also reading the travelogue of a good friend and I love hearing his stories told in his voice. This friend is still my favorite writer.

In the DVD player:

“Harvey” starring Jimmy Stewart. Oddly enough, I’d never seen this one, despite being a huge Jimmy Stewart fan. I always thought this was simply a goofy movie, but it isn’t. It’s terribly charming and Stewart is really top notch. It’s a movie that actually leaves you feeling good when it’s done. Can’t find that often enough in today’s movies.

Also, we recently watched “The World’s Fastest Indian” starring Anthony Hopkins. I was completely surprised by this one. It had come recommended from a friend and I’m so glad we watched it. THIS is truly a life affirming movie. And Lord, when I’m in my seventies and eighties, give ME the courage to climb up on a motorcycle and break speed records. The best part of this DVD was the short film about the actual man, Burt Munro. What a true character! The Cute Boy™ and I keep quoting lines from the movie. Good stuff.

On the iPod:

I got nothing to report here. Sad, huh? At the end of the year I got a full set of all the Starbucks iTunes free downloads and I downloaded them all, but found nothing in there particularly noteworthy. Some good stuff, yes, but not jumping up and down. I’ve got nothing I’m totally fired up about lately, and that worries me.

I scour the CD shelves at my library looking for something new to get into, but haven’t yet found it.

The most recently added music to my iTunes library is a boxed set of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Seriously. I also listen to a lot of “The Roadhouse” on my Sirius radio. That would be oldies country.

So I’m looking for good suggestions. Anyone got one? I like all kinds of music, so have at it.

Well, that’s the state of the media in my head at this point. Sort of an odd mix, eh?

Moist!

Ah yes, it’s that special time of year. Right on time. We have arrived at the rainy season when soaking rains last for days and days and make it non-stop damp. Makes slugs and snails slither across sidewalks (: shiver :).

Inspires my auntie (formerly of Oregon) to claim that mold is growing in one’s own nooks and crannies. (ew)

I remember when I’d first moved to the Bay Area back in ’97. I was VERY naive. Incredibly so. I spent the first year living here picking hayseeds out of my hair.

I used to cry at night wondering where all that rain would go. In New Mexico, that much rain would cause massive and cataclysmic flooding.

I had this incredibly caustic friend I worked with at Lockheed. She was a lifelong Bay Area resident and she took me under her wing early on. I remember asking her where all the water would go. She looked at me incredulously, and said “uh…there’s this thing called the Bay?”

“Ohhhhh,” this desert rat said. Beginning to realize that Dorothy was not in Albuquerque any more…

But the best story came one afternoon at work. After weeks and weeks of rain, we were outside so my friend could take her afternoon cigarette break. I don’t smoke but would go outside with her. We were talking and I looked down and saw the most profoundly blue iridescent fuzzy thing on the ground. It was beautiful. I’d never seen such a color. I wanted to take a photograph!

Was it a bug? A flower? What incredibly new and wonderful thing was this that I had discovered?

So I asked my caustic friend!

She took a long drag from her Marlboro Light and kicked at it.

Then she fixed me with a steely glare and responded, “It’s mold on bird shit.”

Ah.

So I’ve toughened up a bit over the years. Age and intention can do that to you.

But just to prove I haven’t lost the wonder of it all…

Yesterday I was on my way to the stop where the work shuttle bus picks me up to take me to the CalTrain station.

And I saw something that caught my eye. And since my phone has a camera, I stopped, squatted down, and took a photo.

Here’s your Bay Area “art shot” for the day. Better then mold on poop, right?

I have a crush.

I’m wildly, passionately, unabashedly in love with The Crafty Chica.

There. I said it.

I came across her book, The Crafty Chica Collection, at my library. (my local library roooocks. I am a huge fan of the library.) As a New Mexico girl, it sang to me.

I’ve been possessed by it since. I also have two more of her books checked out, and one on hold.

And when I say possessed, I mean full on OCD, freak out, dropping cash at Michaels, dreaming about it at night, spending free time all over the glue gun, buy me some glitter, rhinestones!, possessed. I’m into it.

And bless The Cute Boy™, he’s rather supportive of the craftiness. He even scored crafty-perfect Xmas gifts. God, I love that man. The Feline thinks she needs to sleep in the craft box. It’s a tug-o-war. I’m not sure that as The Human that I’m winning.

So, since I’m gonna own it, publicly admit my crush, here are some photos of my stuff inspired by the Chica. This is what I’ve put together on my time off from work. (have I mentioned that not working for two weeks is utterly the best? Sleep. Whatta concept!)

This is a small photo of, yes, me. Little me. This was just a “let’s see what I can do with this spare piece of cardboard and some glitter glue”. It’s not perfect, yet I like it:

And here is the piece I’m working on now. I’ve always been all in love with Dia de los Muertos images and art and so the Crafty Chica gave me some ideas and some how-tos and I’m off to the races. I made all the clay beads. I’ve had dreams about making this and it’s coming together really well.

It’s not a lot to show for my time off so far, but lots of things are in motion. This is MUCH more fun than work!

Photos by Karen Fayeth and crafty art by Karen Fayeth too.

Tummy. Full.

The Cute Boy™ and I pulled off a nice Christmas dinner. Ham, german potato salad, ravioli, and my very own homemade apple crisp that rocked the house. It was a very nice day and I’m grateful. I may get the hang of this entertaining thang yet.

Meanwhile, found this by way of NewMexiKen. I watched it and it touched me.

I’m thankful on this holiday that I have a home to live in, food to eat and friends and family who love me.

This four minute video was created by Mudhouse Advertising who will donate $1 to ArtStreet, a program for the homeless in Albuquerque, for every unique viewing (up to $10,000).

I learned in this video that New Mexico has the third highest poverty rate. Oh Fair New Mexico, the struggle continues.