Catch Up Time

It's been a super cold December for the most part. Today though is oddly warm (upper 70's) and muggy, which makes it feel even warmer. Weird.

It's also been quite awhile since my last post. December is always a hectic month for me and this one was no exception. With my mother-in-law living with us now, I have even less free time for writing. We had a couple of looonnngggg appointments at the hospital this month - a series of tests - to see how her cancer is doing and to see what the radiation did for her. We have to wait until January 7 to hear the results. That's so far away and waiting is hard. Especially since she has not felt well at all these last few days. We think a medication is bothering her stomach. Today is really bad and I feel so sad for her. She is a trouper, but it is no fun to have a belly-ache.

Regarding my storytelling career:
I did do a few storytelling events in the first half of the month. A big one was for NorthPark Mall here in Dallas. The crowd was so huge that not everyone could stay to hear my stories. I had a really good time telling holiday/seasonal stories for the Plano Homestead too. It was a very cold night, but we were cozy in the ram barn. Yes, I said "ram barn". The critters were out in the pasture and the barn was cleaned out, hay laid down, lights strung, and bales put out for sitting. It was rustic. A victorian era St. Nick came in to warm up and listen to some stories, and Starbucks was giving out free drinks and pastries. Fun, fun evening! My local storytelling guild had their party and it was a brutally cold night, with the weather people advising folks to stay in. BUT, we had a wonderufl turnout anyway and when it was over we all had the task of driving home in ice covered vehicles on roads that were rapidly icing over. We storytellers don't like to miss a gathering!

Regarding my artistic creations:
I have discovered felting!!! It is so much fun. I bought several old 100% wool sweaters at the thrift store and shrunk them. Then I cut them up and sewed two funky neck scarfs that I patched together and embroidered on. Currently, I'm working on a tote bag. I also sewed a wine gift bag & added old jewelry and buttons into the design.

Jeff gave me a new camera and I'll take pictures of my new creations as soon I get a memory card for it. I have a new blog that is just for my art and when I find the time (hah-hah-hah, I crack myself up. >snort<) I'll get that ready for viewing.

Oh dear one last thing, my sister Ruth was supposed to fly in from Albany, New York for a few days and due to weather her flight was cancelled and she couldn't reschedule it and leave enough time for a decent visit. She didn't come >sniffle<>

So, that's it for now. It's back to work for me next week. I have to organize my papers for taxes - YUCK! I also have a story program early in January on birds for the DMA that needs touching up. We are going to look at a lot of Japanese ceramic art...etc. There a lots of birds in their designs. I want to create a mini shield too that will relate to an African piece made out of bird feathers. One thing is for certain folks - I am NEVER bored.

First Tuesday in December

So, every first Tuesday I do a program for preschoolers at the DMA. This December's program was lots of fun because I got to tell stories in the Eliasson exhibit with the kids. Anyway, I am taking the DART down from Plano while the Tut exhibit is showing these days. The museum's parking garage stays jab packed with all the extra patrons coming in. I like taking the DART, it's very relaxing and stress free. Last Tuesday after my program, I sat on a bench waiting for the train and suddenly realized how empty the streets were. It was about 2pm. Where was everyone?

Look how clean downtown Dallas is. It is always well maintained.

By the time the DART arrived there were a few more folks waiting with me. Really though, it was an oddly quiet day in the city.

Took A Walk Yesterday

Jasmine was my walking companion. Here she is in her red sweater and ready to go.

This is a sign in the park across the street. We live by a huge greenbelt that has walking paths, playing fields, playgounds, a lake, pavilion...the northwest end of the park is surrounded by private property owners who own several horses. It is not unusual to see people riding them in the big field there. This park is one of the big reasons we wanted to live in this area.

Photos taken by Lily -

Here is a photo of Lily's friend Andrew. She took it with her little camera. Doesn't he look like a magician or perhaps a wizard?Here is a fancy picture of Ophelia. She was relaxing on her sheet on our couch. The lighting is so soft.

A self portrait. Notice the unmade bed behind her. College & work take up most of her housekeeping time.

Student Photo Night Shots

My daughter Lily who is wearing the black dress & hat and her friends dressed up in costumes the other night. They were quite an odd sight. Her friend Larissa (wearing the jeans) is taking a college photography class and needed models.

They all came over to our house, dressed up and went out to the park across the street. It was a cold, cold night so afterwards I made a big pot of real cocoa for them.

Introducing Princess Ann Marie!

It's good to be a princess. All the perks of living life as a member of the royal family without the responsibility!

These photos were taken at the DMA in the C3 for their Kings & Queens themed First Tuesday in November. The children got to decorate their own crowns, dress up in costumes and have their "royal" photos taken. I'm still a kid myself who happens to reside in the body of a middle-aged woman, so I made a crown too and had my photo taken. It was FUN!

Time, time, time is slipping away...

so quickly! I am behind in so many areas and the holiday season is here. Yikes!

So, to make life easier we are ordering our Thanksgiving meal from a grocery store. It's called Market Street and it's a fancy place for a grocery store and the food is awesome. Jeff, Gayle & I sampled some of the dishes this past weekend and decided together that we would order a meal from them. I will make a homemade apple pie though.

Lily will have a friend or two over in the afternoon and perhaps we will have the fireplace going all day to add an overall coziness to our surroundings. It will be lovely to share the holiday with Gayle again. We small families really cherish each other - especially during the holidays.

Heck Yeah, We Have Grocery Stores in Texas!

Our grocery stores are so fabulous that even my mother-in-law's dog Bojangles knows it. He loves to relax on the Sprouts reusable shopping bag. I imagine that it must smell of all the marvelous foods we carried home in it.

Gayle and I have visited four grocery stores since she arrived here - that's a store a day! Here she is at Central Market. It's a gourmet store with all kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, there's all kinds of prepared foods that you can buy to take home and eat. Usually they have a live band playing, but we were too early today. They did have samples throughout the store and we left with our bellies full. Yummy!

Jeff and his mother enjoy Central Market's olive bar.

Gayle looks at a huge collection cheeses from all over the world! This store can be overwhelming on the first visit or two, but it is surprising how quickly you can get used to it. We live about 15 minutes away from it - not a bad drive at all.

Dallas Historical Village

The Dallas Storytelling Guild told stories this past Friday to Dallas area school children on fieldtrips at the Historical Village. What a fun day! The kids were all wonderful listeners and participants in my interactive "Hunt for king Tut" story. Above is a picture of Traphene Hickman, Joyti Subramanian, her daughter Meena and me taken at the house where we all enjoyed lunch together following the event.

Meena is a marvelous storyteller! She is in the 7th grade and has been telling stories for three years. She has even started getting paid to do it! In the photo above she is telling her personal version of "The Little Red Hen". Her characterizations are hilarious. This is a story that I hope she takes to competition. She very well could be the next national youth storytelling champion - yes, she is that good.

Jerry Young tells a tale about how the rabbit came to be in the moon. The kids loved his story. He is a much admired, long-time, award winning Texas storyteller.

Traphene Hickman tells a story about the big bad wolf and the seven little baby goats. You can't look away from her when she tells it, for it's delightful to hear her texas drawl, as well as, see her tell how momma goat got her babies back.

The Hofbrau Beer Garden

My friend Marie Cox and I had dinner at the Hofbrau Beer Garden. What a fun place! Do you see the woman playing the accordion behind Marie? Speaking of Marie - she looked so good and young that I didn't recognize her at first! She had put in a full day at work too.

Here are the dishes we had along with a stein of beer - of course! Can't go to a beer garden and not have beer. We had yummy ice cream cones for desert.

Thanks Marie for the wonderful evening! It was soooooo much fun.

Some photos of Panama City Beach

Tiny little shells litter the fine, crystal white sand.

The water is cool, clear & soothing as it wraps itself around my toes.

No one on the beach but me on this glorious, sunny, Saturday morning in November.

A view of the gulf through the sea oats.

Few people know this, but the best time of the year to visit Panama City Beach is in October & November.

Good Grief Olafur with an "R"!

This is what severe sleep deprivation does to the mind. I am still traveling back to Texas with Gayle and barely slept again last night. This hotel was a real loser and the dog is having issues. It has been a lllloooonnnnngggg time since I had a decent night's sleep.

Pray for me during this last day of driving, I'll probably really need it.

Opps, that's Olafur with an "s"!

Olafus Eliasson

Eliasson's exhibit opened at the Dallas Museum of Art on Sunday. I am SO excited! I've been enthusiastically working on new storytelling material for this . Here are two images of his work. Look at the sun that was part of his exhibit at the Tate Museum - don't you feel warm just looking at it? Imagine what it must of felt like to be there. Then look at the other image called "take your time". It has a space-age feel to it. Though I haven't been to this exhibit yet, I did see bits of it during the installation. There is something very like it at the DMA. Yippee! I have an alien story that I rarely get to tell, but boy will I be doing it for Eliasson. In Florida, I bought a toy that changes my voice giving it an otherworldly quality.

"Take me to your leader!" Hee-hee, sure can't wait to use it.

I'm In Florida

I drove here all by myself. First time I've ever driven so far alone. It took me two days with an overnight stay in Alexandria, LA. There were near constant torrential downpours on the second day and every time I pressed down on the gas pedal, water would trickle down on my foot from a newly discovered leak. You can say that I was a wee bit tense, white knuckling the steering wheel a good bit of the time. It was a relief to finally reach my mother-in-laws house.

She looks pretty good considering that she has recently finished 14 radiation treatments. The only side effects are a very sore, red scalp, some fluid in the ears, patchy hair loss, and fatigue. She reports that she is feeling a little better the last coupe of days. I think her appetite is not as good as it once was, but she is eating regularly.

Tomorrow we pack the car, visit with a few friends and make sure the house is set up for potential buyers who will be stopping in with their Realtors. On Monday we begin our two-day journey back to Texas. The house needs to be sold, but it is hard to think of it belonging to someone else. So many changes have occurred in our family's lives over the last 3 1/2 years. There's been moves, deaths, illnesses, job lay-offs, new jobs, starting college, selling & buying homes...it hasn't been boring folks. It isn't over either. We have some challenging times ahead of us, BUT we are growing, learning how to adjust to change with as much grace as we can muster. There are gifts all around us if we consciously open our hearts to see them.

The weather on the beach was gorgeous today, the gulf water was crystal clear, the breeze refreshing and soothing. I dug my toes down into the cool sand and sighed with pleasure. I had dinner with my good friend Marie at a rowdy German restaurant where a young woman on the stage played an accordion with gusto. I set up a blog for Gayle so that she can write about all the new adventures that she will be having when she comes to Texas.

Oh, and I've been taking photos with Gayle's camera and will post pictures soon.

It's nearly 1 am. Time for this insomniac to try and catch a few winks. Nighty-night.

Discovered Photo

This is a picture of me doing a Friday Night Live story concert in September. I found it on Flickr. There are several marvelous photos there from past events at the Dallas Museum of Art. I had a fun picture taken yesterday, but it wasn't up yet. I will post that one soon. In the meantime, here I am telling my version of The Purple Gorilla.

Long Overdue Post

SO much has been happening with my family life and storytelling work that blogging has had to take a back seat. Oh and I love to post pictures on my blog, but my camera broke. It takes some of the fun out of blogging. Sheesh!

So here is an update on the last few weeks:

My mother-in-law has breast cancer that has spread to her spine and brain. She has just recently finished 14 radiation treatments for the brain cancer. Side effects have been very minimal and we are very relieved about that. She also has a type of cancer that responds well to hormone treatment, which she started last week. Tomorrow afternoon, I start driving driving alone to Florida where I will pick her up and bring her back to Plano to stay with us. She will recieve excellent medical care here, plus we can enjoy each others company. She hopes to sell her home in Florida (it is on the market) and relocate near us, hopefully in the same neighborhood. We all very much look forward to enjoying the holidays together again and seeing each other on a regular basis, just like we did when we lived in Panama City, Florida a few years ago.

Regarding my storytelling work, all I can say is WOW! There has been a lot going on.

I attended several storytelling concerts as a listener, including the Lone Star Storytelling Festival, and had a blast. The national level storytellers have been Antonio Roche, Barbara Freeman, Charlie Chin, Elizabeth Ellis, Lyn Ford, the Storycrafters, and Barbara McBride-Smith. I have heard several wonderful local tellers like Tim Couch (his spooky tales are SCARY), Gene & Peggy Helmick-Richardson of Dallas, Jyoti & Meena Subramanian at the Dallas Crow Museum, Greg Rodgers from OK, Lucinda Wise from Austin, Gary Whitaker, Genie Hammell...the list goes on. I love getting the opportunity to sit back and be a listener, to marvel at the vast variety of ways in which to tell a tale. This is a very creative profession to be sure.

I have been doing a LOT of storytelling myself. I have participated in a spooky story concert at the Dallas Bath House, and provided three concerts for the Dallas Museum of Art. The themes were Egyptian Mummy's, Elephants - met the author of Babar, Laurent De Burnhoff and Kings & Queens. In addition, I have designed a new workshop for storytellers and writers that I am very excited about. It incorporates visual imagery!

Speaking of visual imagery - If I can only get my blasted camera to work I can start sharing pictures again. I'm off to see about that right now.

Ciao

#$&@ I Forgot The Camera!

Okay, so I forgot my camera when Jeff and I went to Louisiana for the Tales Along the Bayou program last Friday night. Gosh dang it all!

Well, even though I have no photos to prove it, the night was a BLAST! I love the people in Louisiana. I really, really do. Everyone is so friendly & super nice. They truly appreciate the art of storytelling. There were over 1,000 families at this event. (Actually I think I heard 1,200, but that number is too high for me to wrap my mind around.) The setting was perfect for outdoor tale telling with a large grassy area behind the plantation house that was surrounded by various historical buildings, a well lit stage, great sound system, and perfect weather with no bugs. DELIGHTFUL!

Johnette Downing and Sylvia Davis performed during the first hour. WOW are they good! Johnette Downing is a children's author/recording artist with lots of awards. Check out her website http://www.johnettedowning.com/ Sylvia Davis performed at this years National Storytelling Festival on the Exchange Place stage and is just DIVINE! Oh my, she such a sweet person. Lord, I love the folks I meet in Louisiana. I would move there if it weren't for those blasted hurricanes.

Following their highly entertaining program, and after a 30 minute intermission (this was for the families with little ones to leave and others to arrive for the spooky tales), it was my turn to scare the $%&@ out of everyone with really scary stories. HAH! When I saw the crowds growing in number, their eager faces looking up at me, many coming up to me and telling me they were there to hear scary stories, I gotta tell ya, I about freaked there for a moment. BUT, I am at home with spooky stories, I love them! I have spent years, YEARS hungrily reading scary stories. So, I got up there and gave them my best by golly. I think they liked it.

Jeff, my super supportive husband who came with me began running a fever during the event. I did not know this, but when we got back to the suite (yes, they got me a suite for this job - sweet!) he obviously had a temperature. It was high! When Jeff gets a temperature, BOY does he. For the next several hours I put cold compresses on his head every 15 minutes or so. Thank God we had a refrigerator in the room so that we could ice the washcloths. It was several hours before the fever broke. He had a sinus infection poor guy. Today he went on antibiotics. He is a trouper and I so appreciate that he came with me. I drove all the way back by myself and let him sleep.

It is a fear of mine that one day I will have a gig while I am ill. Luckily, I very rarely get sick. Thank goodness.

Ugh

Off to Louisiana! Again.

Jeff and I head out to Alexandria, LA tomorrow morning. I will be doing an evening program of ghostly, spooky tales at Kent Plantation House (circa 1796) Friday Night. Should be a right eerie place for some Halloween tale telling! I am bringing my camera and hope to have pictures up soon from the trip. I also created a painting for the program. I am doing a Night Gallery type tale. If I get to felling better about the painting, I might just post it. The painting is a landscape scene of a swamp. Landscapes are NOT a speciality of mine, it was created purely to enhance the tale. It'll work fine in dim lighting without too much scrutiny. Hah!

What Happened!?!

There my family and I were merrily marching down the road of life when WHAM! We got blindsided.

Ten days ago, our family learned that a close family member has a serious illness. We have been getting near daily updates regarding the status of this illness as the medical tests have been coming in. What a shock this has all been - most especially for the sick family member. As we cope with the changes that treating this illness will have on all our lives, we get the added pleasure of coping with the current daily news in our country. The United States is in a gut-wrenching economic crisis, and the political rhetoric between the two men running for President has sunk to an all new, low-down mean & ugly level.

Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry, so you just do both.

On the upside, gas was $2.37 a gallon today. Yeah, lower the gas prices that'll fix everything.

We're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy.

I'm On An Artsy-Craftsy Bender - Yeah Baby!

I have been working on many projects this last week. Many, many items are "in progress" and get rotated around depending on where & how the inspiration comes to me. Here's my current list of projects:

1. A couple of purses from the thrift store that are being creatively enhanced.

2. Several old softballs & baseballs that are being painted into "art balls".

3. Another computer memory board project. (Pictured above) Yes it is weird, nontraditional & very much something I would come up with. It's a study on contrasts & color.

4. A mixed-media tree picture.

5. A sculptural piece made from old silverware.

6. Two quilted totebags that are getting lots of embroidery embellishments, quotes, buttons...

7. A lampshade using recycled phonebook pages.

I found a big bag of fake money at the thrift store yesterday and now I want to make a sculptural piece with that. An idea came to me while I was in the shower this morning.

So many ideas, so little time...

Peace Festival

Jeff, Lily and I went to the Bishop Arts District in Dallas for the Peace Festival. Sept 21 is the International Day of Peace. Friday night, I had met Karen Blessen, the Pulitzer Prize winning Dallas artist who illustrated the book "Peace One Day" which is about the struggle to create an international day of peace. She said I would love the Bishop Arts District where it was held. That same night after talking with her, I came home to find an email from my friend Jyoti Subramanian. She and her daughter Meena were going to be telling stories there too. When Sunday arrived we had beautiful weather & some free time, so off we went for an adventure.

What a FUN afternoon! Also there to tell stories & emcee was Traphene Hickman, a delightful storyteller and Gene & Peggy Helmick-Richardson, a married couple who often do tandem tales together, but instead on this day each told one wonderful story. I was invited to share one of Traphenes' favorite stories about the "walk-off people". I enjoyed every single story, it is very hard to single one out as a favorite, for they all had a specialness to them. Meena is (i think) in the sixth grade this year and she has really developed into a gifted, wonderful storyteller over the last three years. When she and her mom tell a tandem tale from India together - it's magic!

The art galleries & funky shops at the Bishop Arts District are top-notch! It is a bit of a drive from Plano, so weekends are best for driving down there - lot less traffic then. I definitely plan on visiting the area again.

Plano Balloon Festival

Look what floated over my house last Saturday. We live less than one mile from the site where the annual Plano Balloon Festival is held.

My lantern titled, "Firecracker Mood!"

This is what I made at the ReadyMade workshop last night. We all constructed lanterns using cardboard and assorted materials. It is challenging to work fast enough to finish on time. None of us did, but when I got home it was only another 30 minutes more and it was done.

Now that this one is complete, I've come up with several more ideas that are a tad more sturdier and practical in construction. They will work better with my homes decor too. At any rate - this was fun to do.

The workshop leaders were Grace Hawthorne, President & Publisher of ReadyMade Magazine and Derek Fagerstrom, Projects Editor. They are very nice, live in gorgeous Berkley, Calif. where the company is located, and were very hands on with the lamp making. It is obvious that they are both SUPER creative people who like learning new, creative ways to make things for the home. What a dream job...

Tonight they will discuss more about ReadyMade at the DMA in the Horchow Theater at 9 pm. You know I'll be there!

My very own panda ~~~

My daughter Lily named her email "kungfupanda" several years before the movie came out. At the time I remember asking, "Where in the the world did you get kungfupanda?". Lily shrugged her shoulders and said "I just made it up." Then the movie came out years later, and of course she and her friends went to see it a few times. I haven't seen the movie, but Lily said it was pretty good.

Lily has been collecting all things panda for a few years. Here is she going off to her college classes earlier this week. She also went to work at the coffee shop, Escape' the same day. She works at a really funky, fun place that is also a favorite local hang out where people can bring their laptops and get free internet. Anyway, the customers loved it!

Ah youth! When you're young you can get away with looking like this far easier than a 40 something year-old woman.

It's Finished!

I finally finished a 16x20 in. picture for my mother. It was a challenge to keep it simple and as traditional looking as possible. My art tends to be ooohhhh...mmmm... "unique", my mother is much more traditional in her tastes. She likes flowers, softness, a real feminine look to her home.

So, I merged my technique of working in layers of recycled materials & collage with a shabby chic, vintage style.

The pictures foundation is collaged magazine text, painted over in layers of golds & greens. A opened lunch bag is laid on top with a splash of white paint hastily applied over it. I drastically enlarged & color-copied an image of vintage, hand-painted flowers with the words "Award of Merit" below it. Then I used an art medium to "lift" the colored ink off the paper and then applied that image on top of the white paint. The frame was natural wood that I painted white and then sanded down in places.

Voila! Tis done and not too weird for my momma. (I hope.)

Celebrating The Scandanavian Heritage

Despite the weather last Saturday (It was the day that hurricane Ike made landfall here in Texas), the festivities at the Wooden Spoon went on without a hitch. We scandanavians NEVER let a little bad weather get in the way of a good time!

I told my Minnesotan/Norwegian influenced stories inside the building along with all the other performers rather then in the tent outside. We all enjoyed the music of Norwegian born & Minnesota raised Greg Briland, a Hardanger fiddler who played a wide assortment of polka music & other tunes. Also on hand was Alan Beck with his accordian who played a tune that I KNOW I heard as a child up at my Grandma Torgerson's house in Berner, Minnesota.

A good time was had by all!

DIY ReadyMade at the DMA

The folks from DIY ReadyMade http://readymade.com/magazine/will be visiting the Dallas Museum of Art next Thursday & Friday. On Thursday evening they will have a workshop where attendees will use recyclable objects to create pieces inspired by architect Frank Gehry and the Materials & Meanings Exhibit.

Holy Cardboard Chairs Batman!?!

Isn't that exactly what I like to do? Use non-traditional materials in new & original ways to create art? Why yes it is - I am the QUEEN of using the pages from old telephone books to make different stuff. (I am planning on constructing a lampshade with phone book pages next by the way.)

But I digress. Space is limited for this workshop, so I called right away and got my name on the list of attendees. For $50.00 I will get the supplies & the opportunity to create something next Thursday night. I'm very curious & excited to find out what that will be. Then, on Friday (DMA Late Night), the DIY folks will have a conversation at 9 pm about all things hip, crafty, & handmade. My storytelling program is at 7:30-8:00, so I'll be done by that time and plan to attend that as well.

This month's Friday Night Live is extra special. Lots of super fab events on the schedule. Check it out: http://dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/Experience/ID_011668 Not only will DIY be there, but so will Pulitzer Prize winning artist Karen Blessen. She is the illustrator of "Peace One Day", a book for children about the struggle to create the International Day of Peace which is September 21.

Totally awesome night folks! If you live in the Dallas area this is a really fun night out for the whole family.

EEeeewwWW...Black Bubblegum!

Here is a photo I had taken earlier this week for an urban legend program I will be doing in October. Lily changed the gum black for me. Can a person even find black bubblegum?

Let me clarify "NEW unchewed bubblegum"?

Story Concert was Excellent!

I forgot my camera, so alas there are no photos from Elizabeth and Tim's special story concert on Wednesday. It was very moving and wonderful. These two are perfectly matched for tandem tales of this epic scale! They will be doing this tandem story at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN in October. I wish I could be there. >sigh<

Elizabeth Ellis & Tim Tingle Concert

Tonight I'm traveling with fellow storytellers over to Arlington, Texas to hear Elizabeth Ellis & Tim Tingle do a tandem concert. I've heard a lot about this collaborative work between two top national tellers and am very excited to have the opportunity to see it live.

I almost decided not to go. Why? Well I had an unfortunate meet up with the bathroom light fixture and my head while doing some decorating. On Sunday I whacked the daylights out of my noggin (yes there was blood), scared my poor husband whose first reaction was to pull out a roll of paper towels, and got one hell of a headache. After washing the area, seeing that there was now only a slow trickle of blood coming from a one-inch long jagged tear it was decided no stitches for me. Phew! After lots of ice & one rough night I am loads better and can style my hair in a semi-respectable fashion. Short hair rules!

SO, I AM GOING TO SEE ELIZABETH & TIM! YIPPEE!

I might also get Lily (my personal photographer) to take some publicity photos for my spooky storytelling gigs in October this afternoon. >sigh< I'm so thankful to be healing quickly!

Ophelia & Jasmine with their human friend Lily

Here is a photo of Ophelia wearing her harness that she can slip out of in 10 seconds flat. Little stinker! Jasmine & Ophelia get competitive for Lily's attention - Ophelia is the more aggressive one. If she feels the urge, she will try and whack Jasmine across the face. What a spunky personality she has.

Like I said she is a little stinker.

Orwellian Goosebumps!

Get a load of the posters annoucing the new music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. They are plastered all over downtown Dallas. BIG BROTHER is WATCHING YOU!

A wee bit creepy, yes?

Let's Celebrate Scandanavia - Uffdah, you betcha!

My friend, fellow Minnesotan and Scandinavian Gwen Workman, owner of the Wooden Spoon in Plano, Texas is celebrating her 20th year in business this Saturday, September 13th! http://www.woodenspoon.ws/

I will be doing two 30 minute storytelling programs in the afternoon for this event and will be located in a tent in front of the store. My stories will all be Scandinavian in origin, with special emphasis on Norway, my ancestral heritage. Uffdah! I will also be encorporating my own personal Minnesotan stories into my program. Good fun! Here is a picture of Gwen, she makes tasty lefsa and other scrumptious scandinavian goodies that she has for sale in her store. Stop by if you have the opportunity - it is a truly unique and special place!

Indecent Exposer

I find this downtown Dallas bronze sculpture fascinating. There is so much detail to this piece and yes, I think there is a story here. You can look into the woman's tote bag, her purse...and there are pictures of her family(?) on the bench beside her. My wonderful friend Amanda B. who works for the Dallas Museum of Art mentioned her rather indecent sitting pose (Yes, that is no way for a lady sit with her knees spread wide, especially if she is wearing a skirt!). This piece is so interesting to me. Love it!