"Obos" - Japanese for "Pile of Rocks"

An "obos" is a Japanese term for a pile of rocks, often only three, one on top of another. I obviously took that to the extreme as I have 9 stacked up on each other as pictured above. The obos says "I was here." Now for someone's else's words on the obos...

"Being an unusual configuration, it is obviously from the hand of man. Further, if it is knocked down, it is easily rebuilt. They can be anywhere, mostly in gardens and parks. Obos is a destination, a sanctuary, a shrine, and a focal point that reminds us that we work with our hands. We are builders and what we build is sacred. Obos may appear inconsequential and be unnoticed by casual passersbys. It's a private tribute to something higher, something we might be striving for but find difficult to attain. Approach obos with a relaxed, curious mind. It can help with answers to questions not consciously asked. Obos gives pause, a contemplative thought or a new direction, a respite from clutter, a rededication to our struggle and an affirmation of the value of our personal effort. Obos is the carrier of a golden secret. Obos is like art itself. Obos is a joy to build." --- Taken from "Painter's Keys".

RainyDay Sunday

I wanted to get some really cool shots of the Lady's Mantle with water droplets on the leaves. I have tons more that I didn't post. I thought the fuzzy fern babies were interesting. They were not so drowned looking when they were dry, but the wetness adds a sort of "sadness" factor to them. The forsythia just bloomed yesterday, so I took wet blossom pictures. My co-worker said I should make the Lady's Mantle photos in black and white, enter them in a contest, and win. One of her photo class mates did that very thing. We'll see. I'm thinking of taking the photo class she took, it may be starting again in October.

A Commission and a Continuance

My coworker loved her Valentine's Day name thingie so much, she commissioned me to make them for her nieces. She gave me the appropriate color schemes and things they liked. I didn't make them exactly like I made the coworkers, more like my parents with bigger tags and "items" added.

For this one, I traced the tags on a page of music from an old book I got at a used book sale and cut them out. I glued the music onto the tags, covering up the tags completely. Since this girl likes pink and butterflys (the music is for her interest in dancing), I used the pink circles and butterfly stamps. Then I added the plastic embellishments. Sewed the tags together with buttons and embroidery floss and viola! all set.

This niece likes sky blue and purple. She dances as well but I didn't want to make them the same as they are sisters and should have "their own" stuff. She likes butterflies as well, but I got to work with flowers too. I added the carousel horses on a whim (and because I had three of them). I found out my whim was a right choice as she "LOVES" horses and carousels. Lucky me! Hers is less "busy" then the first one, but they both appeal to me for different reasons.

As a first commission, they were fun!

As for the continuance, the week continues to be shitty. I get to work this morning and my email was "unavailable". This has been a problem for the last two weeks. The tech guy has to remove my email, reload the back up email, and cross his fingers it will open. I'm getting very tired of not being able to access my email or access my computer for an hour or so while he does this friggin' process every morning or every other morning coz the computer can't have two of me working at the same time on different things. Now he tells me he needs to access "his people" as he's exhausted his [limited] tech abilities on this seeming random problem that only I am experiencing throughout the entire agency!

But the car isn't emitting the smell, it was some random evil smelling waft that I drove thru and the spare bedroom is no longer the scariest place on earth.

Could I Be Any More Tweaked Out 2.0?

I’m having a shitty week – mentally and physically. Well, not literally physically, but on the physical plane.

Mentally I’m not in a good place regarding myself, could be a touch of depression, but I do NOT like “me, myself, and I”. I’m feeling UGLY and downright 2 years old and oppositional and not willing to make lifestyle changes and craving all sorts of inappropriate foods and serving sizes and can’t get my act together to walk 10,000 steps (should I add walking before work? - no coz I don’t want to get out of bed even tho I’m already up at the butt crack of dawn, should I go during work? – no coz something always comes up or I’m traveling or in a meeting, should I go after work? – I should, but I’m tired and all I want to do is make dinner, cuddle with cats, read, and do/finish the things I couldn’t get done during the day). But that’s all excuses; I have no real firm reason to not get off my fat couch potato ass and just go for a goddamn walk! Except I’m lazy and I like sedentary things, like reading and cuddling with cats and those are not viable.

I’m also feeling lonely and adrift. My friends are busy or out of state or have mini families in the making. My parents are all puppy-preoccupied and they have their own lives and interests and things to do. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up and I keep meeting people leaving their jobs and “doing what they love or have always wanted to do” or having a million dollar idea.

I have so much to complete at work and I haven’t been able to get any of my day’s plans completed. I stayed at work til 6:30pm to finish something the phone, other people, meetings, quick co-worker trip to the DQ, and emails prevented me from finishing. Every time I get a phone message, it’s bad news, something’s gone wrong or awry, or it’s a cancellation and… People, it’s the end of the month, I have 4 working business days to get a shitload of cancelled meetings rescheduled and plans reviewed, typed up, reviewed, signed, copied, and mailed out, not to mention applications for this that and the other, and and and… I can’t even talk right and get out of my own way. I tried to explain to a co-worker why one of our meetings was cancelled and I couldn’t say “chest X-ray”, I said “Chex” repeatedly instead.

And now my car may be emitting an odor that resembles the smell an overheated vacuum makes when it sucks up a curtain, corner of a rug, or has too much of my hair in the treads and you have to turn it over to cut away the stuff wrapped around the beater bar as it is impeding it’s ability to function properly (which happened last night – freakin’ me out) or could it possibly be the general overall scent of the fresh morning air? I can’t tell and so I’m all on nose alert, overly so.

And Moomin, my bravest cat (the one who greets company, sniffs people out the window, watches the neighbors do their neighborly stuff, lets me use the vacuum/Cuisinart/hammer/etc without leaving the room or flinching) is acting all squirrelly, totally doing the MeerKat big-eyed “predators are a’comin” thing. I don’t understand why the spare bedroom has suddenly become the scariest place on earth. I can’t find anything wrong, I can’t smell anything, and nothing is out of place or broken or or or… I told him the only thing it could be was an astral visitor or someone on the spiritual plane, “and if you are, you need to move along as you are tweaking my cat right out!”

So I’m having visions of my house slowly smoldering to the ground or I have a stalker coz pets are supposed to be like early warning systems and save families from gas leaks, fires, and burglars, oh my! It’s true, I’ve seen the stories on TV!

Being "Artful" With Colored Reflections

Let me know what you can see or imagine seeing in these images. And yes, bits of me are in the last two!

Channelling PopArt

Winkin' Pinken

True Blue

Serene Green

Experimenting with Color with DigCamera

Nothing says fun like full-on sunshine, color light filter samples for theater lights, and a digital camera! I just had to take a rainbow of my living room side windows with mirrored balls.

Click for bigger image, I just didn't want to make big pics of the same view...

Daydreamin' Sunbeamin' and Cleanin'

This Just In!

I received this email yesterday but opened it today (I was taking a mental health day due to the dental experience!). How exciting to get an award!

Hi Samantha,
I just received a Thinking Blogger Award for my photos-only blog, RSR: 365 Days of Art.
Part of the deal is to pass it on, so I've chosen your blog as one that inspires me and makes me think and I now pass the Thinking Blogger award on to you.
http://debrichardson.com/blog4/2007/04/16/a-post-with-words/
I'll also mention this on my main blog (and link to it) either tomorrow or Wednesday.
I hope that you'll join the ranks of passing this meme on. You'll find the original challenge here:
http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/02/thinking-blogger-awards_11.html
take care,
Deb

When I get some time, I will "join the ranks of passing this meme on."

Thank you Deb! Nice to know my "writing" and photos gives someone inspiration and enjoyment.

Well, That's Over!

I want to whole-heartedly thank my father for being my “dental buddy” yesterday. He was a trooper coming to pick up a be-Valiumed me and driving me to my 8:00am scary dental procedure appointment, and holding my ankle throughout the entire hour. I know he and the dentist had some conversation but I had my CD player on ‘10’ to ensure I heard absolutely nothing but Electric Light Orchestra. Thank you Dad, I would not have been able to do it without you!!

At the beginning, there were several moments when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to have my dad. The nurse/assistant, who greeted me, told me having someone else in their “tiny rooms” was against policy. When what color remained in my face drained away and I said the dentist told me when the appointment was made I could have a buddy, she said she’d “have to check with the doctor”. I heard her muffled unintelligible voice and then his voice clearly stating “yes, it’s against policy but I’m making an exception with this case.”

Now for all his reported rudeness and the little impolite episode I myself experienced, I have to say, my dentist knows what he is doing. Although I can’t say the experience wasn’t full-on nerve wracking (literally - I shook the entire time, there was not a muscle group that didn’t have the tremors. Today I feel like I had the work-out from Hell. Every thing is very sore and I re-discovered abdominal muscles I had totally forgotten I had.), he did make sure that it wasn’t full-on traumatizing. Calmness reigned, nitrous oxide was provided (which I don’t think I really felt the benefits of although it may have taken an edge off, I’m not sure, I wasn’t in any place to judge it’s effect), many many shots of Novocaine, and I got to have my dad. The worst was the heavy pressure drilling/grinding and the smell of the tooth. And the repeated fine tuning drilling to make the expoxy resin into the appropriate shape. And… well you get the idea.

But it’s over and I did it without sedation.

And I was able to have my dad there!

What Makes Us Like Us?

I mean, where do the interests come from?

I know talents and athletic abilities (which are only improved and honed as one practices and trains) can genetically be passed on as well as limitations.

But where do the hobbies, passions, obsessions, fascinations, and interests come from? Are you born with inclinations?

Was I born with this “need” to have cats in my life and to be surrounded by books?

As far back as I can access my memories; I’ve always wanted cats in my life. I had a stuffed cat as one of my earliest toys and many other forms of cats (figurines, stuffed animals, my drawings, pictures, and books about them) as surrogates until I wore my mother down and got my first cat in 6th grade. Now I have three of my own. I can’t pass a cat without trying to make its acquaintance and all my friends’ cats are “oohed and aahed” over regularly. I’d rather hold a cat than a baby, so antisocial of me! But where did this apparently full-blown interest come from?

My love of books and reading may have its roots in me overcoming the challenge of reading. You know, owning what was really difficult to master and then going beyond that. My mother tells me that when I was in elementary school, I would bring home word flash cards and my parents would go over and over them with me that evening. I’d take them back to school with me the next day… and bring the same cards home again because I didn’t get them all right. I remember playing teacher with my brother and trying to make sense of spelling and reading. He started reading when he was four, that didn’t help with the inferiority complex that was slowly growing. I don’t remember what the break-through was, but I do remember devouring the elementary school’s library and the children’s section in the public library and having the most gold stars and longest lists when it came to the reading programs. I swallowed books down and couldn’t wait for the next trip to the library (love that book-infused smell and hushed atmosphere). In 5th and 6th grade, the children’s librarian had to send me over to the adult’s section where the adult’s librarian found me unobjectionable reading material. Zooming through those, I kept that librarian hopping. Then we moved to Germany and my reading was severely curtailed as the only place to access books was through the school library and trying to please the masses pleases no one. I did find a few gems but they were few and far between. Thank goodness for the annual book sales, they always came around when I could not stand to re-read another book for the 50-millionth time.

Pasta, where did that all-consuming passion come from? I had regular spaghetti and tomato/meat sauce (yum by the way) and mac ‘n’ cheese like any other kiddo, but when I started to live on my own, the pasta free-for-all just took off.

What about the love of colors? Wanting a bright palette surrounding me? Having to have all the colors they make for Sharpie markers, using all the brightest colors in the pencil, crayon, or paint boxes? Overdosing on Espirit and Benneton back in the ‘80’s? Having the brightest side of the room in college? And spreading color joy all over my home now?

The attraction to sparkly things? Not girly-girl bling and things, but the old rhinestone brooches, big clear gems (zirconias mostly coz they are affordable), holographic anything, glitter and sequins (not to wear, but to make arts and crafts with), beads, and crystals. I remember delving constantly in my mother’s and my grandmother’s button tins. At Christmas, I am sucked into the ornament sections of all stores looking for the brightest sparkliest ones they have.

Miniatures. I love teeny tiny minis of things and am fascinated by how real they can look. When Dad finally finished the big-ass doll house, I was obsessed with filling it with teeny furniture and accessories. I loved my Barbie and all her fancy clothes, bitty shoes, and microscopic jewelry. I get over-stimulated in craft stores coz there is so much to look at. I made bite-sized hamburgers/hotdogs/grilled cheese sandwiches for one of my parties which were a big hit by the way.

Considering my mother’s oversensitive sense of smell, I wonder where the love of berry/fruity scents came from. I adored The Body Shop when we lived in Germany. They had the best and most realistic smelling fruity lip balms and scented body oils, so all through high school I smelled like a big cherry. I love the Bath and Body Country Apple in all its variations (lotion, soap, bath/shower gel, lip gloss, spray). During my party days, I found Sunflowers, a fruity perfume that I over-shared with everyone. The perfume before that was Tribe (cheap but a purply fruity scent). I used to buy scented candles until my friend’s house burned down (a candle was the reason).

Just rambling on...

Despite the Occasional Sketchiness and Anxiety...

All’s well that ends well on The Grand Adventure out of state with a two year old and a grown-up with travel anxiety.

Yesterday I played supervisor-approved hooky (read: I used earned time) and went to Boston with my friend J2 and her son, my pseudo-nephew, TJ. Our plan was to go to the Aquarium.

J2 is like me, methodical and orderly when it comes to planning trips. But yesterday, she got to experience “life according to Slambo” where Murphy’s Law is always in full effect.

First off, the drive down went fine, TJ coped very well in the backcarseat, and we actually got to potty in a clean bathroom. Once J2 was lulled into a false sense of security, that’s when things started to go awry.

We couldn’t get to the town where J2 planned for us to catch the Blue line which would have taken us straight to the Aquarium. We ended up meandering in a very sketchy, unkempt, boggy, trashy, ugly part of Massachusetts. Finally J2, as our fearless navigator, made a split second decision to have us catch the train at the station we stopped in front of to discuss our plan of action which was in shambles at this point.

Then once that snap decision was made and the parking garage ticket purchased, we found the clearance to said garage was 7 feet. J2’s SUV has kayak attachments on it so I had to go outside the vehicle to make sure it was going to make it inside. She had about 4 inches to play with. If you want a laugh, picture in your mind two women DUCKING while inside an SUV (like it’s was actually going to make a difference) while driving around in a low ceilinged parking garage looking for a parking spot.

Upshot is we get on the Purple commuter line train (where I exhibited a bit of OCD/anxiety concerning the ticket and was J2 sure she knew what station to get off at and how does one understand the unintelligible train announcer language to ensure you do get off at the right stop and oh, do you still have the ticket in your pocket?). Before the train started, J2 stated she wasn’t sure how TJ was going to react to riding a train as 1) he’s never ridden one before and 2) anything vehicle-wise other than a car/SUV (like a tractor hay ride) he’s not reacted very appropriately to (read: crying, some screaming, gripping, flailing, and other sort of panicked behaviors). He was in my lap when the train started. I watched his pupils dilate, felt his grip on my jacket tighten into what J2 and I referred to as the “Death Grip”, and he could not be moved from my lap at all. He did great! And we learned it was Opening Day at Fenway. Nice, good thing we were going no where near that area.

Once we arrived at North Station, we learned we had to take the Orange subway line for 3-4 stops to hop on the Blue subway line for 2 stops to finally get to the Aquarium. Purchasing the subway ticket was an ordeal and a half, only a few machines worked and all the Fenway people were gobbing up the lines. Again TJ did well with the waiting. And for all the trouble we had figuring out the inbound/outbound piece, we managed to not have to wait for long for any of the trains we took. TJ’s train criteria were one of us had to be holding him and he had to be able to grab enough jacket material for the two fisted Death Grip. Fine by us.

Finally we arrived at the Aquarium. After stuffing our stuff into a locker and changing TJ, we entered a very crowded (can you say multiple school field trips and harassed parents of toddlers? I knew that you could) dimly lit building. Although the fish (that were bigger than an adult) circling in the big main central tank were interesting, it was the penguins and harbor seals that were the biggest draw for us.

Then once we could see that TJ was nearing the end of his behavior rope, we coated up and trekked back to the trains. TJ was much more relaxed on the trains on the way back to “Momma’s car”. More relaxed than me, because school had apparently let out and there was a massive influx of high school students of many ethnicities and I get stressed in crowds! We certainly looked very clueless to the subway savvy teens! On the Purple commuter train, TJ actually pressed his head against the commuter train’s window to watch the ground go by but he still required sitting on one of us.

Back in J2’s SUV and on the road, TJ promptly fell asleep and woke up in time for us to go to Macaroni Grill for an early dinner. YUM!!! (I have leftovers for tonight!)

J2 said that if we had been able to follow the original plan and take the Blue line all the way to the Aquarium, we would have cut almost 2 hours off our overall time spent on the outing. Ah well. We went, we saw, we got home safe. Trip worked for me: TJ enjoyed his “fish”, trains, and Auntie Sam and J2 and I got to spend some fun time together.

Thanks J2 for putting up with my OCD in having you constantly check your pockets to make sure you had your keys, all our tickets, you knew the way and what train to take, and following pickpocket safety!

Don't you just LOVE this picture?!

TeleVenting Yet Again!

You all know the scenario… you find a kick-ass TV program and it gets cancelled.

You get hooked the first/second season and then it’s gone. Like a brightly burning falling star – brief but memorable. Like Dead Like Me, like Popular.

Or you stay with a program because like a good book, you’ve gotten interested in the characters and you want to follow their storylives along. And as a loyal watcher, you stick through the not-so-good seasons and just when things pick back up again and regain that momentum, they pull the plug. Like Ally McBeal and two mentioned below which are starred*.

Or your favorite show with supernatural overtones goes all apocalyptic on your ass, which is a sure sign it’s the final season. Like Buffy, like Angel*, like Charmed*, and now like Supernatural.

Or it’s a really good show, great multi-faceted characters that are never static, smart dialogue, intelligent storylines, humor and tragedy blended like it is in “real” life, and you totally forget you are just watching a TV program and it’s almost like you’re eavesdropping on people you know. And because it’s a show that doesn’t dumb down to the audience, it doesn’t attract a vast array of viewers which leads to “bad” ratings which leads us to be left without a stimulating program. Like Veronica Mars.

I’m just saying is all.

I don’t want to give the impression that I’m a marathon TV watcher. I have one or two programs I tune into on certain days and I read before, after, or in between them. Occasionally I’ll channel surf and catch something on the Discovery Channel or TLC. Or if I’m tired of looking at words, I’ll watch Law&OrderSVU, CSI, or The Closer reruns.

I’m losing both Supernatural and Veronica Mars the end of this viewing season and I’m not real happy about it.

Let’s just hope the programs I have left don’t suffer the kiss of TV death. I would greatly miss Grey’s Anatomy, Prison Break, The Closer, LOST, Project Runway, and America’s Next Top Model. Of course, that would mean more time for reading. Hmmm…

What I Woke Up to on Thursday Morning

I shoveled then took pictures of the result of our Nor'easter that happened Wednesday late afternoon to Thursday mid-morning. I really was having shoveling withdrawals, NOT!

I don't know how much more my deck can take... That's a lot of heavy snow!

Poor birds, their food is in the deep freeze!

Fairy arches... if you went through them, you might end up in another dimension! There are 3-4 of them, small to big.

No gardening happening today or any time soon!

My nod to Ansel Adams. This tree is in my backyard. So pretty.

This picture was unintentional but if you look closely, you can see the cat-face shape!

Here's a WaterCooler Topic For Ya

I’m not a news watcher or reader. The only reason I occasionally catch the news on TV is because I want “noise” during dinner. When I’m in a waiting room or at other people’s houses, I might peruse their newspapers. At work, when I need a brain break, I’ll jump on msn.com and scan the online news.

Last night, I caught the tail end of the local news and listened to a story that has refused to leave my mind.

Title of said story is “Man Disputes Alimony for Dying Wife”. Sounds innocuous enough. The man and his wife owned a successful restaurant business pulling in about $2 million a year.

Now, it turns out this guy owes his wife $94,839 because he agreed to pay her $1000 a week. Reasoning? His wife was diagnosed with cancer shortly before the divorce and “he signed the settlement because his lawyers told him she would die soon, and he wouldn’t have to pay very long.”

His wife is surviving and continuing to fight her cancer, he’s sold off his business and all his assets, and now he’s saying the pressure of having to pay her $1000/week is making him mentally and physically unable to work or hold a job for very long.

He thinks he shouldn’t have to pay her anymore because he’s broke and that jail is his only option. His own words: “3 hots in the cot. Good food. Good books to read. Good card game every day. I’m pretty comfortable.”

And he’s hoping his story on TV will find someone who will “sympathize and give him the money he owes”.

Why did this story stick in my mind?

I’m chagrined he’s expecting someone to just fork over $90,000 because they feel sorry for him and his sad sack situation. It also bothers me that he was banking on his wife dying really soon and that the taxpayers are footing the bill for his “comfortable stay” in jail so he can eat, read, and play cards.

I came to work and “water coolered” this story. One of my co-workers responded she thought the guy was foolish in signing the settlement and he should have gone back and made another arrangement when he saw his wife was going to live longer than his lawyers predicted (what? Are they doctors now?). She also said, sort of jokingly, he should have killed her. Another co-worker said she heard on Talk Radio that the wife is doing fine and working and making more money than the alimony. Her thoughts were that the husband should be responsible for his settlement because he signed it, but his wife who’s self-sufficient at this point should just “suck it up that her ex is an ass and move on”, meaning have a new settlement arranged. “Right now, we the taxpayers are paying for him to not pay her, at least put him on a work detail!”

What are your thoughts? You can find the story on www.wcsh6.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=56797

Happy Birthday Hobbes!

Hobbes' birthday was yesterday. I celebrated by singing the song (extremely loud and very out of tune) to him while in the shower and giving him extra breakfast. After dinner, he got to drink my milk remnants - one of his favorite but rarely given treats and we played a rousing game of feather (shared with Moomin, no other option). Hobbes very much enjoyed the extra attention and being the sole treat receiver. I also took some special b-day pics of him WAY up close, you know, coz I'm addicted to getting that close and he has such fabulous markings and wee sweet feet!

I think he's such a handsome cat. Too bad his beautiful sea-foam green eyes didn't show up so much. If a human had that color, they would have paparrazzi (sp?) all over them!

I Got Permission to Post Puppy Pictures!

Here are my best photos of Reny, the SuperPuppy! He's the sweetest smartest cutest puppy ever! I know, I know, your pup is always the best of the best! But he really is!

I'm such a sucker for a cutie face!

He chews on everything so the 'rents have to give him appropriate choices!

My very favorite picture of the Renster!

Checking out the perimeter, there could be squirrels, crows, or chipmunks, oh my!

Speak softly and play hard with a big stick.

The profile shot.

Slambo made me very very tired and quit with the camera already!

Spring Has Sprung!

My mom already has crocuses in bloom! Mine are still little green shoots coz they are in the front of the house where the sun doesn't shine all day long. My camera is pretty kick-ass when it comes to taking pictures!