life unexpected

i like this show. i like her clothes. i like the setting. i like the title. it's a definite metaphor.

easter

there were no chocolate bunnies, no easter lilies, no greek easter bread,& no m&m's. there was mac & cheese, collard greens, garlic asparagus, sweet potatoes, biscuits & cornbread. good conversation, friendship, laughter & love.

velveteen rabbit

when i was little, maybe 10 i saw the velveteen rabbit on saturday morning cartoons and i cried. i had never heard the story. but even then i loved it. as an adult she has bought me a movie and two versions of the book. she must love the story too.

"...What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day... "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does ti happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are Real. most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."...


the last two images are mine. i realize they aren't the velveteen rabbit. one of them is actually Peter Rabbit. i made them years ago, but in honor of today. happy easter!

mona lisa

"...What is art? What makes it good or bad and who decides?..."

"...Stop talking and look. You're not required to write a paper. You're not even required to like it. You are required to consider it..."

"...Look at this, mother. She's smiling. Is she happy?... " "The important thing is not to tell anyone..." "She looks happy, so what does it matter?..."

"...He painted what he felt, not what he saw. People didn't understand, to them it seemed childlike and crude. It took years for them to recognize his actual technique. To see the way his brush strokes seemed to make the night move. Yet he never sold a painting, in his lifetime. This is his self-portrait. There's no camouflage, no romance. Honesty..."

"Ironic, isn't it? Look at what we have done to the man who refused to conform his ideals to popular taste. Who refused to compromise his integrity. We have put him in a tiny box and asked you to copy him..."

"Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new idea..."

"You can conform to what other people expect of you or...."
"I know. Be ourselves..."

jewelry class

we listened to 70's music classic rock mixed with disco funk.
she made all the peace signs and alien snowman. i looked like a bigger dork than usual, wearing the safety glasses, but the last photo shows the earrings i created.

new accessories

not because i needed them, but it was time to get rid of old purses to make room for new ones. and they were also on clearance.

riding a bike

these are the moments i love:

"they have us run naked around the field outside." uh, huh, yeah, sure they do.

"if you're gonna call him Walle, then call me Robot Chicken." okay then robot chicken.

(she can do this weird thing with one side of her face where it blows air and makes funny sounds. we are playing a game bursting laughing outloud). i say "when you start dating and you go out with a guy"...

he says, "don't do that!" i say, "no, you can do that, but not on the first date just after you've known him awhile, unless you just want to make him laugh."

"ms. look at my picture.... here it's for you." i didn't get pictures from the high schoolers. before that i used to get them all the time. (i guess i'm back).