chipmunk telly

we finally got some rain last night - looks like we'll get more of it this week - i love being the first one up in the morning (even tho the cats are usually up before me) and this morning it's even nicer, all quiet and wet and green after the rainstorm (yesterday there were lots of road-work vehicles beeping and clanging - i'm sure they'll be back, since the road is all chewed up in front of our house but for now it's quite peaceful)

in fact, this summer the cats have been enjoying a fabulous new show, "Chipmunk TV" - they sit in the window and stare at the little critters who cavort along the top of a stone wall on one side of the house - if you squint, you can see him standing up, almost like a meerkat (according to the dictionary, they are small striped american squirrels) here's a couple of shots from the latest episode of "Chippy" - enjoy!

a new look

hey there!

i decided to try one of blogspot's newer background templates - i like the darker screen with the white text (everything else is so hard on the eyes - all that white space) so much easier to read, at least for me - i really like it - more later - with a new photo or two!!

my inner gargoyle

gargoyle/photo by t j googins 2010/all rights reserved

if i were a gargoyle, this is what i'd look like... sitting, thinking, smiling enigmatically...

actually, after i spray him with some thompson's water seal, he's going to live outside and guard my garden - i also have a gazing ball that i bought years ago when i lived in georgia - it's a lovely teal color and needs to go outside - if i ever finish digging up the invasive rose out front i'll put them both there - then i'll take another picture - i'll embellish this post later - just had to post something - much like this gargoyle, i sit and think about blogging but then i never get around to it - so annoying...

math equation for today

so, is it 2/3 perspiration, 1/3 inspiration ~ or vice versa? either way, that's what i need if i'm ever going to make a dent in my "art hoard" upstairs ~ for years, i've kept so many things up there to use for creative purposes, but my output is pitifully lacking ~ so many ideas, so little ambition! still having coffee, so my thought process is still fairly slow ~ but i will be productive and cross some things off my list ~ have you ever had a list of things to do, then done something not on the list? i have ~ here's what i do: i add the missing item to my to-do list just so i can cross it off! makes me feel great! just try it! this post doesn't really "deserve" to have a photo, but let's see if i can show you what i'm talking about... have a great weekend!!

TJ

the merry month of may

so long, April - hello, May!!! my favorite month (December comes in second) it's a month that just sounds like anything is possible: "mother, May i? yes, you certainly May - you know, i just May do that!" you see? all manner of possibilities right there, bursting at the seams!

april was always a busy month for me (lots of birthdays - grandmother, mother, father, boyfriend - also spring and easter) but May was the month when things ended so other things could begin; i suppose it was mostly dictated by school ending and summer vacation beginning - when i was young, i could look forward to going to the beach with friends, riding my horse, pool parties and sleepovers - after leaving home and entering the working world, that cycle ended forever - no more vacations that lasted an entire season, no more lazy days, no more sleeping in (or sleepovers) except maybe on weekends - but i still burned the candle at both ends - working a 40-hour week, play rehearsal after work, sunday brunch with friends... i could squeeze it all in there - these days, although i don't expect to do nearly as much stuff as i used to, i hope to somehow manage to find time to work and play, in addition to doing those things i really must do (bathe, do laundry, clear all the clutter that's holding me back - that's a tough one - create and write) so - here i go again!! i challenge myself (and anyone else) to open a new door into a world of possibility!! let's do it - have a wonderful weekend. teejay

a new blue door/photo by tjgoogins 2010/all rights reserved

what i see when i look down

in my book, Personal Proverbs & Hasty Haiku, i wrote: "The act of creating Art is often difficult. One must do something again & again before it becomes Art."

if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if practice makes perfect, then how do we know if and when what we are creating is beautiful and/or perfect? it seems to me that there are so many beautiful things in this world (i'm not going to address all the ugly and mean things just now) but not too much in the way of perfection - so, imperfection must be the order of the day, indeed sometimes it is all we can aspire to, insomuch as it is in the striving that we suffer and learn and create something worthwhile...

here's what i'm talking about

pink on pavement/photo by tjgoogins 2010/all rights reserved

a far far better thing i do

a woman wears her tears like jewelry...

tis a far far better thing i do than i have ever done before, a far far better place i go to... (ah, close enough) i can still see ronald coleman standing there, wistfully giving that speech at the end of "a tale of two cities" - never read the book, tho....

quotes are great little equalizers - kinda like spouting scripture - it shows you know how to make a point or draw a conclusion - ok enough of that

let's see, i'm posting this on my apple laptop, and i have no images saved to this hard drive, so this will have to be a pictureless post - but i did go to one of my favorite sites tonight, the NASA archives - great images of nebulas and star systems and the moons of saturn (artist-enhanced, most of them, but eye-poppingly gorgeous) and shots of the earth from space and the northern lights - incredible stuff - even google is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the hubble telescope and is hosting a "best photos from hubble" virtual tour (if you download the latest version of google earth, that is) - incredible photos, both there and on the NASA site...

it's after midnight - must be toddling off soon - going to a daffodil potluck to commemorate earth day at a place called hay house farm (not to be confused with louise hay and her hay house biz) i made a 3-bean salsa (black beans, garbanzo & pigeon peas with onion, tomatoes and some vinaigrette, with a little turmeric and mrs dash tossed in for good measure) and i bought some tortilla chips - i really wanted to make this potato tian (kind of like scalloped potatoes or au gratin) with Gruyere cheese - mmmmmm - but i'll make that another time for my next social event

so - another day, another reason to blog!