Friday, November 29, 2013

So Thankful

For me this has been a year of drastic lows..
and unbelievable highs. I lost my mother to
a brutal bout with ALS.  Our lovey tuxedo cat,
Maddie followed soon after.  

But then...here we are on the top level of a
double decker bus in England with the wind
blowing in our hair.

I have so much to be thankful for!
Thank you to everyone who supported
me through all the difficulties and
celebrated the better moments too.
If you want to share in more of the highlights
go to Chris's Flickr site at:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/livelens/

And remember...
 When life plops you on the crapper..

 
Climb up on the lid..
Remember to flush..
keep looking up...
It's bound to get better!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Aimless Love and the Bucket List

Not many people know that I am a bit of
a poetry nut.  I've also raised a few eyebrows
with my taste for country music.
Keith Urban?  Isn't he a country artist?
Who knew!
 
Anyway...I'm a huge fan of the poet Billy Collins.
In fact he has been on my bucket list for quite
some time.  He recently released a new book...
"Aimless Love - New and Selected Poems"...
and along with it...a book tour.
 
 
Lucky for me...he made a stop in Eugene
and my man snapped up a couple of fourth row
seats at the Library reading...standing room only
with one hour to the reading.
 
 
Of course I stood in line to get my book signed...
 
 
Billy Collins is the only person to hold two terms as
Poet Laureate.  My friend Bill sums up Billy as
"the Bob Newhart of Poetry."  I love it!
He is all over You Tube...so go check it out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you ready to do some early Christmas shopping and
help out a worthy cause?
 
 
Check out the ultra cool stuff on my friend Emily 
Proudfoot's brand new Etsy site.
Go visit Orange Sweater Design to see what shes'
up to and then hop over to look at her infectious,
collectable jewelry and paintings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm hoping to get to some of my own artwork soon.
But until I have something to show...
have a look at some of the goodies I brought
back from my Europe trip...
I picked these out from a street artist on
the way to The Pompidou....
 
 
Eiffel Tower...
 

Monmarte street scene...
 

Bistro with kitty....


Boulanger and shops....


The Moulin Rouge



Paintings like the one above are mass produced
on canvas and sell for 10 - 15 euros.
Same as the next three....
 
 



These two were purchased during a rain
downpour in an artist square in Monmartre...



Here is the painter....
 


Artists on every corner.....




Don't you want to dip a brush in and start painting?


Until next time.....