Happy St. Nicholas Day

World Aids Day

How Long?

Happy Fall

Happy Fall

Muddy Pass

The birds
would eat out of
my hands
unafraid.
The blue so sharp
it hurt my eyes.
Foxes weaving
mice through
the camp.
All night
the stars fell.
Has anyone
seen....

Talking to my Mom

Perdita

When you find her
let me know.
Is she wandering
along the reedy
shore
head down looking
for pieces of
her broken necklace.
See if she will come
when you call her,
or if her milky eyes
turn away.
Is she lost among the stones
at the dark edge
dragging one shoe
her hair a tangle of leaves.
Her fingers twist a
muddy knot
waiting
to come home.

Lotteria

Hard Shadows in November

You should be dead

to haunt the living

the empty chair at my table

the meals I eat alone.

The candle flickers

from a whisper

unheard by anyone

but me.

It is the emptiness you leave

the open space

in my heart

where the rain falls in .

The vast expanse of the Arctic

bedclothes always

cold.

The laughter unechoed

the thought held and

worried smooth by silence.

Migration

When birds become blind
do they
reconstruct the sky?
Blue piece by
blue piece.
Puzzling over
a forgotten horizon.
Lost in a memory
of flight.
They sigh
small heartbreaks
escaping their cages.

Sparking

How I long to see

the electricity

spring across

the tops of the

pine trees

like masts at sea.

To hear the hum

of the northern lights

and face the closeness

of the stars as

they whistle down

upon us

to light up

your smile

The Last Time I was There

So the last time I was there
it smelled like rain and damp
the black and white tiled hallway
clogged with old cooking gas.
Once it was home
down the stairs to the haunted apartment
the found note once hidden in a back of a drawer
"i can't stand it any longer"
folded into a fortune sized slip of paper.
The low ceiling jungle
overgrown with dripping Victorian plumbing
filled with the wails of nearby sirens and claustrophobic dreams.
I was drowning below the line of the sky
my face covered with your rage.
Until one day my lungs so full of sadness
I could no longer breathe.
I broke the surface of your madness
and fled into the street.
Everything I had in my hands
was all I owned.
Washed up on the shore in the striking sun
learning to walk upright
I imagine my footprints scorching the cement.
leaving marks as I turned away.

Fractured

Aren’t the most lovely things broken and flawed?
The diamond is born under pressure,
its’ beauty only revealed after cutting and polishing.
The gentle crazing of memory around the eyes
A map of all our smiles and tears.
How dull and flat the shine of new things
Only through time we see true worth.
The sea shell whorls slowly
The tree moves imperceptibly towards heaven
The days we sift through
The years we remember
The moments so small as to be forgotten

My Favorite Pattern

So in about 1974- I had my sister make up this pattern up for me in about

every granny dress combo possible - i loved it

So does LA street artist turned fine Artist Becca

She has a show at White Walls gallery this week end

Happy Birthday Pablo

"Love is so short

Forgetting so long"

Secret Wings

Happy Birthday America

Dreaming of Flying Again

"A Prayer for the wild at heart

That Are Kept in Cages"

Tennesse Williams

Advice From a Cookie

Gulf Coast Heat Wave

Its is so hot heat index of 104 at present - 23 days plus with no rain- our little friends are getting cool comfort where they can find it - which means wallowing in my potted gardenia- passing out tiny tropical drinks with wee umbrellas at present

Astral Projection

Last night
I dreamed you
asked me to go
to Peru
All condors and bone whistles
Ribbons and bowler hats
I could feel your
breath on my neck as
you whispered
Machu Picchu
I dreamed of flying
with hummingbird wings
over the mysteries of Nazca
Yes, yes
with you
the answer will always be
yes

One of my most favorite places on this earth

My Teenaged Wall Art

Much has been stated about Miss Fawcetts Iconic poster- loved and adored by an entire generation of American males. Design Boner blogged about her love of Cory Haim and his poster. Here's what this girl had on her teen aged bedroom walls- That's right I was in love with Misha- oh so soulful- oh so sexy- and RUSSIAN- His ABT posters went with me to college adorn my dorm. Friends would often mistake him for my boyfriend- oh my I knew I was hopelessly in love then.

TILT

1. this wonderful heart in my hand- made by my son many

many moons ago - made with love - glitter- and an

emerging mastery of scissors- I keep it in front of

my work area- to remind me of that long ago

Valentines' Day - and the pride on his face when

he gave it to me "I made it myself"...one of the things

I would grab when leaving a burning house.

2. Iced Coffee

3. making my backyard an animal habitat- my sister and I

were actually discussing if the birds appreciated the ice cubes

in the bird bath or not - it's been 104 degrees here on the

third coast.

4. Trips to the book store- to recycle books I have finished and

find new treasures. God Bless Half Priced Books

5. Writing more- my muse has returned- when it flows it flows

and when its gone I wonder if that feeling will ever come back.

What are you loving today?

Word for Today

Do not Be Afraid

Word of the Day

Indivisible

My left hand

paints and writes

My right hand types

My left hand cradles the baby

My right hand folds the laundry

My left hand longs for time

My right hand wears the watch

The left hand itches for a road trip

The right hand makes sure the oil is changed

There is a concept

that states

some fully left sided individuals

have absorbed a mirror twin

I think this is true

and somewhere

braided within

I have that hidden twin

reminding me

What's right

when my left hand keeps me

dreaming all night

of choices, clouds and lonesome desert highways

My left hand holds the secrets of my heart

while my right hand reaches out to strangers

If I were you

If I were you,
I would run.
If I were you,
I would slip out of my skin
and give up now.
If I were you,
I would hold my heart
up to my ear and
listen very carefully.
And I'll tell you
anything.

A whisper

So is your shadow alive and well
thinking of the last time
I saw it fall
across my door
So long since
I've heard your shoes
sing up my steps
So summers here
and I'm thinking of
your mouth
filling mine with
stars and smoke
up in the mountains

Happy Solstice

Songs of Summer

Always Longing for the Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmXc4F78_vk
STP

Gone with the Wind - the First time

In about 1972 or so ( I was in the 7th grade) they did a big reissue release of GWTW- my mother god rest her soul who created the old movie maniac I am now - told me we were going to do something special the next day- I DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL- instead my mother made popcorn and placed it in two brown paper bags - and made grape Kool Aide in mason jars- my mother carried a purse so large you could smuggle small children in it- she placed these items, and a purse packet of Kleenex for each of us ( stating we would need them later) into said voluminous purse - and away we went - To the new Westminister mall Twin Theatres- wow - back in the day when two theatres were a new fangled thing- we saw GWTW- and I saw my mother cry for the first time - I mean really sob- right before the intermission- when Scarlet declares she'll never be hungry again- so this was like a huge rite of passage to womanhood for me- like a club my mom and i were in - smuggled snax- cutting school to go to the movies- oh and what lessons we learn from that film itself- I knew I would way rather be Scarlet than that little mealy mouthed Melanie any day, motherhood isn't all its cracked up to be and having a baby could damn near kill you- falling for the Bad Boy could only bring heartache- and an abiding deep southern distaste for Yankee boys. To this day I cannot taste grape koolaide with out thinking of my Mom- and the Fall of the South revealed to me on a hot spring day. The next day my mother who had sworn me to secrecy with my Dad wrote my note for school - in her beautiful handwriting it simply stated' " Please excuse JoDee from school yesterday , she had important Family business to attend to "- indeed some things are more important than school. I wish I had that note , and some days I really miss my mom.

The Open Road

Today marks the 100 year anniversary of the First Woman to drive across the country- Alice Huyler Ramsey - aged 22 - set out with three other women from Hackensack N.J and 41 days later they arrived in San Fransico. Alice was the only one who drove of the three- I love to drive and driving to the coast - where the ribbon of asphalt unravels into the sea - is a feeling I can hardly describe - a sentimental and complete end. Like a horse that has run to the end of the pasture- and must turn back for home. Women in the Middle East are still not allowed to drive-

It was 20 years ago today

I still can't believe that 20 years as passed since I held my breath and watched as tanks crushed the voice of a generation of protest in China- Yet we still hold most favored nation trade status with this country- I remember holding my son and watching the news - not believing till the last minute they would run over that mothers son- there is still no accurate record of how many were killed - due to news black outs- which are the same today- no news- no network connections - no web access- When one is oppressed we all are-

Also please keep Current news reporter Laura Ling in your thoughts today- she has been held since March in North Korea- and is facing trial today- if found guilty of spying she faces 10 years in a labor camp - Laura and her partner insist they were not aware they were in North Korea when arrested- They were reoporting on refugees being taken into China for human trafficking I watched. Lisa report on the Narcotrafficante wars on the Border with fearless dedication - don't let another voice for truth be silenced -

TiLT

I love Having music in my life - and miss so very much my friends in Denver that gave me the great pleasure of having live music in my life and my home.

Old Crow Medicine show - loving this band for some time now they are just young'uns but are so good its scary

The Gardenia in my yard - although In my mind she sounds like a fussy Southern Belle- " When Y'all gonna give a little watah sugah?" the scent is mind bending

And the signs of spring moving quickly into summer here

Watching my son in the surf off Galveston- going further and further out - and realizing this is the metaphor for parenting - they grow and splash out into the rough wild world- and you hope you give them the strength to keep the shore in sight and make their way back to it

TiLT

Seeing the rain glisten on spiderwebs- all that art and geometry

birthday cake

presents- given with love

the face of the reciever

road trips - yet again I know I have mentioned this- but it still opens my heart when my eyes get to see new things

And these two men one my father and the other my son

And I stand between them- one made me - and I made the other

and so it goes.....

TiLT

1. Early Spring rainy days like this one - that allow us to have one last day with our old love Winter- where we make soups with crusty bread- and go - ummm its good to be inside today.

2. Net flix- I just joined and i love it - lots of wonderful films come right to you - and on days like today - you can stay in your pjs' eat the aforementioned soup- and watch the latest Swedish Vampire movie - with out strange looks from the teen aged clerk at the local video store.

3. My fireplace- what else needs to be said - see numbers one and two- there are a few days down here on the third coast where you get to use them- and today was one.

4. Stevie Nicks - yeah that's right -big props to the Welsh Witch- Lady Lavona at her blog Cabinet of Curiosities posted a 79 live you tube clip of Rihannon- ohhh my what a flashback- standing on the edge of 17 myself- in swirly gauzy clothes and look alike hair- well if you were there you remember- if you weren't I'm sorry for you.

that is what i'm loving today- howabout you?

TiLT

1. Creme Brulee- love like nothing else- quite possibly the best dessert on Earth
2. My Red Bike- I love it - and how the wind blows in my hair
3. My new hair cut - lost 6 inches - and it feels like 20 years- and its still long
4. Canelli beans- so good with everything
5. Planting the new garden- tomato's up on deck next
6. Saving Grace- my latest guilty TV pleasure
7. The Sunday paper- and Damn glad to be living in a city the still has one

one fine day

There is a wasps' nest in my heart
step lightly
as not to awaken them
they sleep
humming
anger sifting below the dreaming
time
before
the
swarm
and the
sting

March Madness

Temptation

New Mexico

Red sand
glazed everything
my hair
my teeth my
tent.
My cheeks blasted
near Shiprock
leaning to stay upright.
In the bottom of the
backpack
the last grains
of being there
slip over
my fingertips.

Valentines' day

Love in the form of Tulips from my sister today

Spring is near

TilT

Spring is coming and I love all the new green in the world

Mardi Gras is coming and I love the joy and absolute hedonism

I love contact with old friends- who knew me when - keeps me grounded

Old German Paper Mache Easter eggs

and need we say more

EASTER CANDY

Big Thanks

Big thanks to Freya of Fish nor Fowl for posting me as her guest blogger on Words with Weight !!! Check it out
http://fishnorfowl.net/

Dig This

A friend posted this on my Facebook - wanted to share it with you as well -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

TiLT

Bollywood- I love Indian movies - the color - the music- it gives a view

into a place not too many folks have visited -yet soooo many people live,

it reminds me that certain things are universal - love- romance -tears -drama

Getting new music - I love getting new music - it takes me right back to being a teenager again the excitement and pleasure of hearing something new

Driving- anywhere anytime - my longest love affair has been with the road

Organic Souvenirs- rocks, shells, pieces of drift wood, found objects, memories of being someplace, the day ,the journey, encased in the thing carried home.

The New Craft Movement- reminds me we all love the handmade and homemade, it is heavy with a sense of timelessness and rejection of the impersonal mass produced object- reduce-reuse-re-cycle -re purpose- rebel-

Imbloc

Brigit-

Dances to bring back the spring

life full in her belly

The fires in the home hearths blaze

we stand in the path between

the solstice and the equinox

Goddess of poets

unloose my tongue

with the honey of creation

so I can sing to you

TiLT

Getting Caught up on all the Laundry
Sending Birthday Cards -on time
Bacon - yes bacon - i am about as bad as those beggin strip dogs
there are precious few things not improved with its addition-
YES -i know where it comes from - but i love it still.
letting people who only have a few items go in line in front of me at the store- I love
to do this little kindness - their surprise and thanks makes me feel like
buttah.
Old music - real old music- i have several recordings form the late 20's and 30's
the pleasure I get from this music almost curls my toes- it's the tiniest bit like time travel- and I love to think of that music still being played
Oh and my latest issue of Glimmer Train - love this collection of stories

Lament

Oh my heart is beating hard today, hard today
it wants so bad to fly away
Beating against my throat like
a caged thing.
I want so bad to follow your flawed soul
deep where we've been before
where the red sands sing
and the stones bleed at sunset.
I long to loose my head in the clouds
leave these lonesome crowds far behind me.
To fly by the hawks feathers
scattered in the ditch
And remember when you were next to me
I belonged nowhere and to no man
And I was free.

Happy Birthday Mr. Carroll

I remember the first time I read Through The Looking Glass

It was magical - and I never wanted it to end.

It made me believe that you could grow up

and still have a fantasy world in your head.

So many phrases and images -

Thanks Alice for being an Inspiration.

La Coeur

So now they tell us

they can see into

the heart of the universe

and what will they find?

Mirrors and rabbits?

All the things we've lost,

gathered there together?

Fireworks and turtles

spinning out into

the midnight velvet

of spiders and stars.

The answer, it's the smallest

things we miss

isn't it?

Remember Me

The roadside shrines
drip homemade grief
blurring the side of the road
with loss between here and there.
Names and dates
etched alongside the asphalt
witnessed by the trees.
Who comes to remember Michael
and place the flowers for each seasons' holiday?
Sacred space, hallowed ground
where the souls have slipped away
remind us who they were, and when they left us.
Hungering for their faces and the easy laughter of the lost.
The flowers heavy with memory.

The Mercy Seat

This man is walking slowly
towards the mercy seat
pushing his cart full of redemption
shuffling in shoes of his own device
on a cold winter morning
his great bald head
covered with steam of his efforts
moving so slowly
as to appear solid in time
his thoughts escaping
in great gray clouds
wisp up to heaven
long before he arrives

Compass

It becomes complicated
when you can no longer see the stars
When things become too tight too slow
like the century plant - frozen in the snow
The unwinding begins
things begin to reach slowly into the past
moving blindly like a thing unborn
through the cave of memory
creeping slowly within
to withdraw and wait
until the sky clears again

TiLt

Religious Art- all kinds all flavors all through history
I had a teacher pass out a replica of
the Venus of Willendorf- when I was in
second grade or so - and I was in awe
still am -antiquity amazes me

That I live in a country that is closing Gitmo- oh- rah
That with all the people in Washington D.C.- no arrests were reported
The faces on the kids of the class of 2012- as they watched the inauguration
oh and this quote- that hung over my office door when I was a social caseworker
" Never Doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has"- Margaret Mead

View From My Desk

Thinking of The Parades

I'm thinking of the parade
I will miss today,
and how I would
take my son every year.
First in his stroller
Then in my arms,
then on my shoulders,
and then by the hand.
And tell him to lift his face up
and remember.
You may kill a man
but you can never kill his dreams.

untitled

She thinks the dead are only sleeping,
swimming through the milk of dreams,
in their red shoes.
Whispering ,
"where are my gloves?"
"did you find the train tickets?"
lives lived full of unanswered questions.
They wander through the mystery of loss.
Just beyond her reaching arms.
So she cooks their soup and bread
lights their candles, feeds the lonesome dog.
The dead come round the table,
called home with the sweet smells ,
and the names of her children.

doodle of the day

TiLT

Dia De Los Muertos Art

Being Left Handed

Watching the Birds At my Bird Feeders

Beaches - any beaches anywhere

the sheer bliss of reading in a hammock

Darn I was Looking for the Cake with the edible baby

TiLT

The way it smells in Mexico

Found religious tracts- i love that someone I don't know worries about my eternal damnation

1930's Fonts and Graphic Design

Truck Stops - for oh so many reasons

Images of Ganesha

One For Joan

Standing in the smoky Paris rain,
In front of Our Lady.
Admiring the lace of the Rosettas
and the wardrobe of the tourists.
I stand before her,
The Maid of Orleans-
Proudly riding her pony -
leading the children into battle.
What must it have been like to hear the word of God?
To be a true believer- the brush of angel wings amongst the wheat
To take up arms and follow your fate
Headlong into the fire.

Help Help I can't Feel My legs

oh wait I don't have eyes yet either!

My latest crafty project

Wee felt bunnies- under construction- approx 5 inches tall- seated

I find I can never make one of anything

so he will have lots of other felty friends

I see an albino- and a pink one and a yellow one and.....

It's my way of dealing with post holiday blues

start making Spring!!

Pray For Peace

An eye for an eye leaves us both blind

Tiny Bubbles and Chairs

Something fun to do after New Year Celebrations

Amaze Your friends and provide

emergency seating for house fairies

Where Are You

I wish that you would haunt me

toss an unsuspecting tea cup

or pull at my heel as i leave a room.

I awoke this morning with

leaves and smoke in my hair

a phantom braid.

Pull with your slender fingers

the tangents of my dreams.

Weave me a nest of memory

somewhere to place my tired heart.

Time Travel

I love the New Year- we all stop to observe that change
the letting go of one and grasping the other
That tick, that sweep, that observance of the smallest moment
We count down the seconds- cheers, glitter, and kisses shower down.
In the next 52 to weeks I resolve to:
a) stress less- chances of this happening- approx 30%
b) Get my studio organized- chances of this happening- 45%
c) Face daily challenges with grace and less caffeine- hmmmm- maybe just more grace
d) Write/ Journal daily- chances of this resolution- desire 100%- outcome 30%
e) Not to seek comfort in food- I don't have much hope for the success of this one maybe just
more awareness- "Hi I'm JoDee- and I have chocolate issues"

Year of the Ox- 4707

Happy New Year

What a wonderful wild ride its been

Thanks to everyone

for supporting the Arts

" Now let us Welcome the New Year

Full of Wonders that have Never Been"

Rilke

End of Time

Somewhere now

There is something happening

Something hidden

something living

I think of how

your shoulders looked

turning away

from my face

shrugging off the day

TILT

Sunday Night Silent Movies
The smell of cucumbers
any breakfast anyone else makes
the homeless guy i used to give my change to
everyday- who was always so sweet- and then disappeared
school buses in the rain
NPR

have yourself a Merry little Christmas-

TILT

The sunlight in my studio
Fixing breakfast on a cold morning
A book that makes me lose track of time
clean sheets
found feathers

southern suprise

Noel Noel

Well she was a rescue- came with her name attached

was an inconsiderate x-mas gift for someone else

survived neglect including a snakebite

now she is the love of my pet life

and cant you tell just how very much she enjoys dressing up

its cold 32 degrees in Houston today

but i guess there are really no excuses

for dog couture

They'll tuck their heads under their wings poor things

Ah yes - the holidays' - I entered a competition last week at Parahernalia- very cool UK site with an Etsy shop = such fun and unique stuff- alas I did not win- I've also been busy making these cool little birds for Christmas,Kwanzaa, Hanuka, Solstice, festival of light gifts- for everyone on my list- I'm having a heart"felt" holiday - hehehe felt get it - I adapted this pattern from Calamity Kim's on line site- very fun and easy- I'm using felt and beading a hanger- they are like chips so easy to do and I can't stop at one!! and as I work each one has a little personality that emerges under the needle- so sweet-

http://diaries.paraphernalia.nu/paraphernalia/2008/12/the-victoriana-collection-competition.html?cid=141289646#comments

http://calamitykim.typepad.com/calamity_kim/calamity-chickens-make-do.html

TILT

Things I Love Thursdays= TILT

my dogs face
no depression music
chai
nag champa incense- smells like home!
hot baths on a gloomy day

Found Texas Trash

Even the refuse is friendly down here 'mam

Saw this cheerful albeit rusty "Howdy"

greeting me in a parking lot-

Had to pick it up

It cheered me all day

Evergreen Road

I keep seeing that Whitetail in my headlights
The one that wasn't there - then was
Arching over my hood
Like some desperate ballet dancer
First one
Then three more
All at once
Over and around me
Then gone
like ghosts
over the drifts
of the Canyon snow
I had to pull over- my hands shaking
Seeing my breath
measuring the cold moments