What Are You Waiting For?
52-year-old gnaws through the cocoon.Archive for Philosophical Ramblings
But I Loved that Man . . . .
I hate politics. Always have. There isn’t a sentence you could utter about any politician on earth that I wouldn’t believe, no matter how bizarre, how far outside the bounds of credible human behavior. Except Mark Sanford. I loved that man.
I uttered as much to the father of my children last week, and he replied, “I feel the same. He was my Tar Tudent. Character matters, and I hope he has boatloads. He’ll need it.” Indeed. Read the rest of this entry »
The Menopause Diet
My name is Pam, and I am in a Bad Mood.
If you’ve read Sex in the Fifties, you’re probably aware that I’ve been in a Bad Mood since that first hot flash in June 2006. I’ve heard that hot flashes can continue for 10 years. A very bad mood indeed. Read the rest of this entry »
Oddly Passionate
I was waxing my way through Summer Pierre’s fab blog called An Accident of Hope (gotta love it), when I mired down in the post “30 Things I Feel Oddly Passionate About.” Of course that got me to wondering, what would be tops on my own list of odd passions? Of course I’m passionate about my family, art, respect, and a crucial pair of gladiator sandals from Anthropologie, but those hardly qualify as odd. And I’m passionate about things like open cabinet doors, spiders skittering towards my legs, and combing my hair before answering the phone, but I’m just going to go ahead and file those under OCD. When it comes to the quirkiness that makes me me and makes you you, what are the defining idiosyncrises? Shall we give it a look? Read the rest of this entry »
Eden at Edisto
Love or hate The South, it just doesn’t get much lovelier (or haunting, haunted, seductive, or psychically altering) than this. I took the above photograph along a back road on Edisto Island. There’s no resort around the bend; in fact, Edisto Beach doesn’t boast a single hotel. Rent a cottage, a cabin in the woods, or snare a beachfront campsite and stare into these trees for an hour or a day, and tell me your soul hasn’t been abducted, pinned and wriggling to the wall.
Mosaic Howl
A friend recently mentioned the idea of an art show on the theme of The Protest Song, and I immediately began this mosaic. It perfectly ties together my love of folk art and my ever-burgeoning social conscience. Read the rest of this entry »
Every Man is an Island
I’m using again the fabulously illustrative art of Patricia Helsing, because it so perfectly sums up my thoughts over the past week. No doubt it was inspired by John Donne’s famous quote written over 400 years ago, but in this age of Every Man for Himself, It’s All About Me, What About My Needs, and Dog Eat Dog, what is out current concept of the Self in relation to Others?
If you’re a Lostie, and I am, you know that Other is a synonym for Evil. Read the rest of this entry »
Mosaic TaDa!
Well, she’s done. “My Mother Lived and Died” is 11″ x 23″ and uses Shell, Coral, Pearls, Transparent Smalti, China, Pyrite, and Ceramic. I made it as a stab in the dark at working through the death of my mother, but of course really as a way to order my mind around the concepts of life and death in general. The mosaic traces the concept of life from the central birth motif, through the varied passages of life, to the climb up the final mountain and release Read the rest of this entry »
Mosaic Philosophy
I’m having a heck of a time getting the colors to photograph as they appear to the eye. Today I’ll work on a bit more fill and the cutting of more transparent smalti to place around the edges as surf fizz. I’m considering a couple of new titles. The working title is “My Mother Lived and Died,” which works for me. but maybe “Life: In Short.” “An Offering of Soul.” “End of the Road.” “Journey of the Soul.” “Fragments of a Life.” Or maybe “Even Mothers Die.” We’ll see. Comments welcome. Read the rest of this entry »
Tibetan Mosaic
Tibetan monks will create a sand mandala like the one above in Atlanta beginning Tuesday, October 16 until destruction on the 23rd. Whereas most mosaics may use several hundred carefully cut pieces, the 5′ x 5′ sand mandalas use millions of grains of colored sand. The good news is that the grains don’t need individual gluing. The bad news is that this exacting work is back-breaking, and takes three to five days to complete. And, you know, you can’t hang it in a gallery. The event is free and open to the public, and more information is available here. His Holiness will speak free to the public on Monday, October 22 at Centennial Park.
Sex in the Fifties
Hickies and Hot Flashes, Oh My! My thoughts for today, simply by clicking on the link in the column to the right.
