Pencil Shavings

The Coffee Sure Tastes Good This Morning

"The coffee sure tastes good this morning."

My mom says that all the time.  Today I think I know what she means. Usually in the morning I'm so busy, getting lunches, packing backpacks, getting breakfasts, locating homework that has wandered away (both mine and my kids') that I just pour the coffee into my cup and either let it go cold while I'm running around, or toss it down my throat on my way to do something else.

Today is a designated morning off for me.  I decided this last night while I was working on making postcards.  I haven't had enough time to do things that make me peaceful.  I've been really happy doing school work and being busy, but that isn't the same as being peaceful. 

My new project for school is about the noise of society and technology.  It's about how we lose our inner peace, how we lose the divine that is inside us while we are busy being busy in this noisy modern world.  (the project is due on Thursday and I'm just a stamp or two away from being done).  While I have been busy creating these two paintings that are full of visual of noise, I have felt increasingly unsettled, cranky even.

So I have put them away for today.  As close as the end of term is, I still need a day to find that peaceful space inside of me.

I have listened to the kids laughing and playing, I sent my early riser husband back to bed to fight his cold, I can hear the grunty snores of my cat, as I sip this still hot cup of coffee.  You know, the coffee tastes really good this morning.

A thousand million trillion cranes

We all feel the same, heart-sick, heart-broken, heart-aching for the people of Japan. I've been thinking about Sadako and the thousand paper cranes and the belief that wishes are granted to those who fold that many. Sadako Sasaki, two years old when the bomb was dropped near her home in Hiroshima, died of leukemia when she was almost 12, having folded 664 cranes, short of her goal of 1000. Her classmates finished for her.

via endlessknots.netage.com

This post speaks to my heart about the helplessness that we are all feeling, and the ache of human suffering we want to ease.  click the link above to see the whole post.

Also if you haven't given yet, it's never too late.  You can go to the Japan Relief page at CBC.ca (http://www.cbc.ca/japanrelief/) and choose from a number of ways to help and see the latest news about the disaster.

 

Bread and Circuses, and Charlie Sheen

Around 140 BC Roman politicians discovered that the best way to tame an unruly populous was to offer them cheap food and entertain them with bloody spectacles. The cheap food was bread or grains, the spectacle was violent chariot races called Circuses.

The people of Rome were easily distracted from the serious matters facing the Empire, by spectacular entertainment that often resulted in bloody painful deaths for the participants.

What does this have to do with Charlie Sheen?

It seems that we have not lost our taste for spectacular entertainment (and if there is a chance of the bloody death or at least metaphorical bloody death of the participant all the better) and we are still easily distracted from the serious nature of the times we are living in.

The world is in crisis. There are thousands of people dying right now as you read this. Some from natural disaster, some from illness, many from starvation, and some are being killed by their own governments because they dare to disagree.

And what are we doing?

We are busy being entertained.

The more serious the problems of our world become, the more we wish to eat our cheap food, and be entertained by the cheap spectacle. Why are we so determined to avoid facing the hard problems of our society? Why on earth would we care more about what Charlie Sheen is doing or saying, than about what we might do to help the people of Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Lybia, China, (and the list goes on)? I was shocked on the weekend to see that on Yahoo and Google Charlie Sheen was trending higher than the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster that is assaulting Japan.

We still, obviously, live in a time of Bread and Circuses. I wonder, how long this need to be entertained going outstrip our humanity? When will we pull our heads out of our TV's and see the world for what it is. Or are we going to entertain ourselves past the point of rescue, and into oblivion?

With Glowing Hearts

There are lots of flowery words I could say about the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, but far better writers have probably already said them.

What I will say is that for the last 17 days I opened a new world to my kids by turning the TV on every day (something that is rare in our house) and letting them see the amazing stories of amazing people from around the world.  I talked to them of my deep admiration of Clara Hughes, and why she is more than a role model for me. 

Together we watched the most heartbreaking stories, and the most glorious. The kids made me cry when they stood to sing O Canada.  These games have changed us.  I think that they have probably changed the whole country, in a way that is hard to believe.  Yet we believe.

We cheered the the athletes, those with broken hearts, and those who were simply broken.  We awed at the struggle, the fight, the victory and the strength in defeat.  We were able, as a nation to express the pride that we have always felt, but in the most Canadian of ways, were too humble to express before.  And we showed the world our true nature.  That we are fun, brave, strong, irreverent, and able to throw one hell of a party.

And yeah, we won a few medals along the way.

It's been a wonderful Olympics for us as a family and as a nation.  And tomorrow we have to go back to work.  But I hope that when we head out the door well still wear those maple leaves with pride.

It's Blog-Aid! Cook Up Some Good!

I stole this from my Friend Cathy at GRIT Communications:

Hi all,
 
I wanted to bring your attention to this wonderful project:  “Blog Aid for Haiti”.
 
The most amazing Julie Van Rosendaal (www.dinnerwithjulie.com) pulled this fantastic book together. It’s full of recipes from many of Canadian’s top food people, including Chef Michael Smith (www.chefmichaelsmith.ca) who I know many of you are big fans of, and who is in Vancouver preparing for the Olympics as we speak.
 
The books are available in soft cover ($25) or hard cover ($50) . The proceeds from book sales will go straight to Haitian relief via the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders, AND..... Western Canadian AND Blurb are matching the dollar amount of the proceeds raised up to $10,000. And of course until February 12th, the Canadian government will match that.
 
Seriously now. Does it get any better?  Buy a book for you, for your friends, heck get that Christmas shopping out of the way!
 
Here’s the link, you’ll see where to click to buy : http://blogaidforhaiti.blogspot.com/

thanks for letting me steal your words Cathy!  And I'm off to do some Easter/Christmas/late Groundhog Day shopping....

Back in the Saddle

The 72 Hours for Haiti has wrapped up and I'm really pleased to say that my friend Jaqui and I raised $469.00 for the relief effort.

I was hoping to raise a bit more than that, but the reality is that I'm thrilled for any amount that we can raise for this good cause.  The beauty of donating now is that the Canadian Government is matching donations so that $469.00 will become $938.00 and that is awesome.  Add in my daughters allowance money that she donated without batting an eye (something that we can all learn from kids) and we are doing some real good here.

I haven't been blogging since the auction started because I wanted the blog entry about the auction to be at the top of the list when people came to visit.

Now it's back to work, if I can concentrate.  Lots of things are going on right now.  I am working on another painting for another art auction to aid Haiti (although this time I'm not running it), I'm designing some classes for grade 1/2s for the spring to teach them watercolour, and I'm getting my portfolio ready for another adventure.

It's amazing how quickly life kicks into high gear when you cultivate a positive and grateful attitude.

Stay tuned it's time to catch up on the 365 days of art... cripes I'm nearly a month behind in posts.  CAn you take the onslaught?

I figure you have the courage to do it!

72 Hours For Haiti - Live!

The Three day art auction to benefit the Haitian earthquake victims is live!  At this point in time the Canadian Government will match any money we donate to the Red Cross.  So what ever you bid will be doubled.

You can go to my Facebook Fanpage to view the pieces for sale by myself and my good friend Jaqui Mitchells.

You will have to become a fan if you want to bid (or you can contact me through my website to place a bid).  If you can't bid (I know what that's like) I would really appreciate it if you could spread the word.

The more people that know the better chance we have to make a difference over there.

I am way behind on the 365 Days of Art Postings, all my computer time has been taken up by getting this organized and off the ground, but I will do some catching up this week I promise.

I know, I know... But Here's the Reason why I'm Late.

I am still painfully behind on updating the 365 Days of Art.  I'm sorry about that.  I will catch up I swear it!  I have loads of scans to update onto the blog, I was just dithering and distracted yesterday.

Yesterday I heard what Pat Robertson and Rush Limbough  said about the enormous humanitarian disaster in Haiti.  

I think that at least Pat Robertson's misguided and bizarre assertion at least came from a willingness to help. Although I do think he needs to read a history book or two.  Rush Libough's statements come from a place that I can't even imagine, they come from greed, arrogance, and selfishness.  Frankly, though, his statements did do some good, they prompted me to even further action in my desire to help the people of Haiti.

My feeling is that it's not them and us.  The people of Haiti are not some distant problem that we don't have to worry about, because someone else will care for them.  We all share this planet, we are all connected.  They ARE us, and we all need to pull together to help.

In that vein, I am pledging everything I can to help the people of Haiti.  I'm low on cash, but I am not low on creativity.

I have pledged to help Julie Van Rosendaal with her fundraising effort (along with dozens of other people).

I will be competing with a fellow artist next week auctioning off paintings on our Facebook Fanpages to see who can raise the most to donate. 

Also, ALL the proceeds (every cent) of profits I get from my Artfire Studio, my Cafe Press Shop and my Imagekind prints for the month of January are going to the Canadian Red Cross.  Every dollar that I donate will be matched by the Canadian Government.  So... If you by anything from me this month it will be worth twice the amount with the matching funds.

It's time to do something positive.  What are you going to do?

Won't you Lay a Wreath?

Today is the 8th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon.  Today speeches will be made, wreaths will be laid, and flags lowered to remember 2,993 people who died that day.  It's a day that is burned in my memory, because people that I worked with, that I talked to nearly every day, I will never talk to again.

And the cry goes out "We will never forget!"

But we do forget.  We forget London (43,000 civilians killed), we forget Desden (135,000 civilians killed), we forget Rwanda (est 800,000 to one MILLION civilians killed) and Hiroshima and Nagasaki (250,000 civilians killed).  Why do we not lay a wreath for these and the millions of others who have died by acts of violence and terror?

Is it because it is "Them" and not "Us"?  Why do we not grieve for the people who are dying all around us every single day, the way we grieve, and "Do not forget" those who died eight years ago?

Here is what I believe.  I believe that there is no "Them".  Because we all share this planet, we share the same branch of DNA, because we all live, love, fear and die, there is no them.  It is only Us.

And when we all grieve for the millions who died in fear, for other people's purposes, and we all realize that it is, only, Us.  That is when we will find a way to have peace.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com.

This is brilliant!  This guy has nailed it exactly on the head. 

It's time to stop punishing our kids for being the wonderful, sparking, creative souls that they are.