MLK

Sometimes I think I do my best thinking in the shower. Too bad I can't have my computer in there with me. I love taking a hot shower in the winter, and a cool one in the summer. I am always conscious of the luxuries in my life when I am in that soothing, refreshing bubble. When we lived in London, I swore I would never take water pressure for granted again. I thought I had nothing to write about but then I thought of a few things in the shower:

... Today is a holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. With everything going on in the world, the time between his struggles and now seems to have shrunken. There is so much social, political, economic and environmental uncertainty right now. It is a time of despair for some people and also, a time of great hope and determination.

I have the people of Haiti foremost in my mind. It makes me want to go there and do what I can whether it is digging people out or helping with the bureaucracy. The scale of the tragedy is so large that I have a hard time grasping it. On some level, like Carl Jung wrote, I think we feel these human events inside a part of our brain that is ancient.

I am reading Four Spirits, by Sena Jetter Naslund for my book group. It seems a fitting thing to read on this day. It is disturbing to read about the brutality and the racist attitudes of the police and of some of the whites in that time and place. I have never been to Alabama, but I can only hope that there has been real progress and healing towards higher consciousness and humanity.

We are so lucky and I am grateful for the comforts, conveniences, safety, friendship, love and nurturing that are in my life.

A Twisted Path

I made muffins the other day. I used to make them all the time and I was quite good at it. I would make various flavors and put in only a little sugar and lots of extras to make them healthy snacks. I've even thought off and on over the years of opening a bakery or selling them wholesale. I never really seriously expected to though; partly because I couldn't bear the idea of getting up a 3 a.m. to have fresh things ready in the morning. Also, I never really had the right connections. My younger sister has a commercial kitchen in her house and supplies desserts for her friend's business. Her house smells so good when those thousands of brownies are baking. (she jogs and is very fit, never eating her wares).

I had a friend here who once asked me if I wanted to go into a pie-making business. I make very good pies and so does she. The idea was to make them with organic and locally grown ingredients, and supply them to a restaurant that specialized in that kind of food. It never happened but I suppose it still could. There was a place in Santa Cruz, when I lived there. They served hippie style Mexican food and had the best peach pie with a whole wheat crust! I would model my pies off of that - if I ever did it.

The point is, even though I have always had the creative, scheming, organizing, inspired kind of mind, I don't have the nerve or the business aptitude to play it out. I don't even have the nerve to seek out someone with business skills to help me. I don't know if it is because of my personality (I tend to be quiet and slow going), or if it because of my upbringing. Maybe I was taught to stick with a tried and true course of career action. Maybe I picked up my parents' tendency to worry and doubt. Either way, I don't have the confidence or the drive to plow ahead through things.

I have come to terms with the kind of person I am though. When I look back at my life so far, I have to admit that I have accomplished a lot. I probably did most of it in a circuitous, inefficient way, but who is to say what is really best. Luckily, today, we have a much more open cultural understanding of personality and learning styles. The basic paradigm is still very rational and conformist, but there is an openness to diversity and flexibility.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to try to work on my personal growth. I hate the idea of stopping half way through life and just stewing in one's past until the inevitable death and decay. I think it is only logical to expect to keep growing and transforming . I want to keep my physical body strong (that is actually the easiest part). I want to develop better self-understanding through working on improving my moods, relationships and routines. I want to get rid of some old reactionary feelings, hangups, and behaviors.

Why should we have to be slaves to negative and ineffective thought processes? Just like in addiction treatment, awareness is the first step towards change. I am hoping that if I work on myself, I will grow and get stronger and be open to new challenges, adventures and accomplishments. I still have a list of ideas. Maybe one of them will turn into a big success, or maybe there is something out in the universe that I have no idea about yet but that is waiting for me...

The photos are all from our family trips to England, Princeton, and Marquette, Michigan. Obviously, I like the theme of paths and passageways.

Textile Tuesdays : #13 Pantone Color Chart

One of the things about fashion that I actually like, is the shifts in color trends. A person can look at a particular color fabric and guess what decade it came from. Yes, there are patterns and styles that give you clues, but sometimes it is specifically a color.

The most famous of these are based on dyes that were widely used, or just discovered. Indigo is quite old, "turkey" red, that was made from Madder root is associated with the Civil War era. Avocado and orange make us think of the '70s, and magenta and fluorescents mean '80s.

It is true that there are many subtle variations and things come back around and around. But the shifts give us a sense of time and hopefully a feeling of newness and change.

Pantone is a company that makes color swatches for designers of all kinds. I found this website with their color trend predictions for Spring 2010. It is based on their research of a cross-section of designers and what is most commonly popping up.

I happen to love this palette! The colors are natural but bright and there is a different take on typical hues. For example, the red is more of a tomato, the turquoise is moving towards a calmer teal. I also like the idea of mixing a bright color with a neutral that is not just black, brown, white, or grey. In fact, it seems that black and white are missing... interesting. Can you give up your black? or your whites?

The shirt is by Isla New York, the chairs are by Fabulous Pieces, and the blanket is by Turtle Murtle. They are all sellers on ETSY. The runway model is from Carolina Herrera.

4 SKIRTS: Update

Well, it is January and I am still wearing my 4 skirts! I still have days where I want to chuck the whole project or some days where I think I will just cheat a little or adjust the rules a little. But, so far, I have stuck to it! It has been hard since I am really wearing just 3 now. I put away my white sear sucker skirt because it was too white and thin. The cold weather makes it hard to feel like I am being practical except when I am wearing Penny - my wool skirt.

My leggings, knee socks and leg warmers are a constant under layer and I haven't shaved my legs in about 3 months! I still have plenty of shirts sweaters and scarves to mix around with the skirts. I go back and forth with being really dull in my color choices or being outrageous.

It still doesn't seem to matter. No one says anything. I guess one effect is that I get less compliments on my attire. My daughters are really the only ones commenting. They are pretty supportive and will give me a nod of approval when I come up with a cute new look with the same old items.

Otherwise, the main effect is that I have a lot less laundry. I spend less time getting dressed. I have bought almost no new clothes. And I am working on the issue of sticking with something I started. That is probably the hardest part and it is yet to be seen if I will succeed. I think it would be easier if I thought someone cared one way or the other.

Work and Play

Saturday, I cleaned the house yesterday so today we just had to sleep late, shower, and get on with the day.

One daughter off to her cooking club. One getting ready for a dance. Driving here and there.

I did the grocery shopping, finished my bag, photographed it and posted it. I love the way it turned out and I feel motivated to keep making more and getting them listed.

We got a late Christmas card in the mail from our friends in Australia. Their children are 20 and 16 years old. She said that it "seems impossible that they are exploring life with increasing independence!" I thought it was so well put and I can relate to that feeling of confusion over the reality that is right in front of our faces.

Dances, movies, shopping, cooking, art, relationships, friends, success, failure, closeness, distance, etc. ... it is all just life!

Quiet Work

The first week back at a working routine is almost over. It has gone smoothly and I am thankful that I get to sleep in till around eight. I hear everyone get up at 6:30 and am so happy at the luxury of snoozing and dreaming away one more hour.

Everyone seems to know what they have to do and none of us has so much right now that we get cranky or overwhelmed. There is still some bickering from time to time but I think we all want to preserve the peace as much as possible.

I got up, had my toast and tea in front of the computer, did my new dance workout video, finished my bag that I was working on and took a shower. David was working at home in the morning but left for a meeting.

When I was alone, I listened to a story on the BBC7 about a girl in Belfast who went missing. It was told from the sister's point of view. It was so sad that I almost shut it off. The fact that the reader had an accent very like my friend's in Belfast, made it even harder to listen to. But it was sweet and had a good message. How do we know when things will change? How can we know how much the people around us effect us? How do we deal with losses - big and small? It was called "The Girl from Mars".

I finished my bag. I did the carpool and saw my friend who chatted with me while we waited. I made dinner and took my oldest daughter to her fencing class. Everything is quiet except for the cat mewing. A solid, ordinary, good day.

Textile Tuesdays : #12 New Year

I don't have much to say because most of my creative energy has been going into sewing. I guess that is a good thing! I do feel bad about not being consistent on my blog. My DVE has turned into more of a Weekly Verbal Exercise.

I am still trying to get a good "voice" in this writing. I want it to be genuine and meaningful, but I don't want it to be embarrassingly personal. I am potentially writing to the "public" but really, I am probably just writing to a void plus a few people that I lure in. It is hard to just be me without being too incoherent - without leaving big holes or going into too much detail.

Also, I could write about my family for about 10 days, then move on to some sociological rant for a while, then get into art for a month, then talk about travel and my dreams - this is the way my mind works, but I am trying to be more organized, be - better. But it is hard, and it might be strangling me. Isn't organizing for editors?

Anyway, Textile Tuesday for today is going to be simply, my latest creations that I put up for Valentine's day.

I have been thinking a lot about certain designs, certain decorative techniques and certain "looks" that I wanted to achieve. So, now it is a new year, and my shop is pretty much wiped out from Christmas (yay!), I am going to make manifest some of these ideas. I decided to play around with something small and I think they turned out pretty well.

I actually feel inspired by the fun process and want to do more and more. I wrote really effusive copy on my listings of these hearts and I really meant what I said. I am not usually much of a heart shaped person, but there is something that I love (pardon the pun) about these. They are made out of a hemp/organic cotton blend that has a look and feel of linen. I love how they show off the natural fibers and texture. And, I don't see why they should be relegated to Valentine's day. After all, we want and need love all the time don't we?