Are Cats Psychic?

"Cats are kindly masters, just so long as you remember your place."- Paul Gray.

Jazzmine knows I'm leaving for the day. Don't know how, but cats seem to have that sixth sense.  I can pass the front door a dozen times a day to place things in my outgoing stack and she does nothing.

But today is Wednesday – Mom’s day out.  We go out all day: we shop, talk, lunch, shop, talk, happy hour, shop.

Jazzmine seems to know, so today my many trips to the front door are watched with considerable interest.  The little cupboard by the door is my staging area for things to take with me when I leave the apt. The top shelf holds keys, change, hats, outgoing mail (there’s less every year in this digital age); the closed second shelf holds 3 purses, business cards, kitty treats; the open third shelf holds books for the library; large jar for mom to decant some canned peppers, umbrella and the bottom shelf is shoes (I usually take them off when I get home).

This morning, each time I pass the front door, she nearly trips me then jumps up on the coffee table and speaks to remind me that I'm not allowed to leave until she is handed at least 4 treats.  I made the mistake of giving them to her early once, but 30 minutes later when I was actually ready to walk out the door, she demanded more.

Treats doled out, and I’m out the door.  One stop to make on the way - Sneaky Pete's.  One of Mom’s favorite breakfasts (and mine) is a Sneaky Pete's hotdog and a beer for breakfast before heading out for our Wednesday adventure.  Sort of kicks the day off the day as a celebration.

Today, we’ll head straight to the Summit and work our way back to Hoover from there.

Later y’all and cheers.

Change. More Certain than Death and Taxes?

End of era – for me at least.  I will not be renewing my P.O. Box, and I feel as if I’m losing a friend.  Actually, In a way I am.  The people who work there are a friendly helpful crew.  I’ll probably still take them my annual gift of 3-4 tins of cookies as I have for the past 25 years, but alas, it will be the last.

The post office has always been open 24-7 for those of us who have office hours of our own and need access in the wee hours of morning or night.  Now, because of the unwashed who use it as a nighttime squat, leaving their trash and on occasion vomit, the Post Office has announced office hours of its own and the rest of the day the doors will be locked. 

I’m not sure how those who have jobs outside the home will make it work.  Fortunately I work from home and it doesn’t affect me except in principle.  I loved stopping by and picking up my mail after an evening out or on my early morning walkabout (rain, shine, or snow), but they won’t unlock the doors now til 7:30, and I’m home from my walk way before that. Worse still they'll close early on Saturday and totally close on Sunday.

I’ve had a post office box on Southside since 1990.  It’s always been staffed by a terrific bunch of people that I’ve enjoyed doing business with.  It’s up for renewal and at $33 for six months, it’s a bargain for the security they’ve given me over the years. 

My first 2 apartments on Southside, the one on 15th Avenue (10 years) and then the one on 14th Avenue that burned in 2011 (also10 years), had exposed and unsecure mail boxes easily accessible from the street.  The day I moved in on 14th  in 1990, my neighbor came home to find his mail and an empty box of CD’s rifled and strewn across his front steps. 

I immediately went to the Southside Post Office right next to the Golden Temple and got a box, and I’ve used it for 25 years.  My neighbor did, too.  I considered it a business address, but now I wonder if it’s necessary. 

I live in a more secure 4-plex now; the boxes are inside; the mailman climbs the stairs to deliver packages to my door; I only have one magazine subscription that’s print; all my bills, bank and credit card statements, etc., are digital; payments from Amazon and other places that owe me money go thru PayPal or digitally credit my a special credit union account set up for such payments - separate from my house account at another bank.

Sad to say, but my PO Box is no longer necessary. I might of kept it just because it's been part of my routine for so long.  I picked up change of address forms, but opted to do the deed online instead. Later I’ll order new business cards from VistaPrint and probably omit a physical address and opt just for email, as that's pretty much how people contact me these days.

I waited until the last possible pay by moment, November 10, to let the box go.  I stopped by to say goodbye to the crew. 

Up there with the certainty of death and taxes there is change.  Death comes and you're no longer here to know it on this plane; taxes are a constant and expected, but change, oh change. Of the three, I think change is the more difficult.

Do I Paint or Do I Write? Both!

Well NanoWrimo (National Novel Writing Month) is here and I rose early to get my wordcount done (1773 done).  I could write more and will probably do so later in the day, but I've been sidetracked.  

What is it about me, that I've barely touched a paintbrush, pencil or pen to draw or paint all summer long. I blame my ennui on the sweltering summer heat.  But now on this cool rainy Sunday with the Nano challenge of writing 50,000 words before me I'm working on unfinished paintings.

Madness to dilute my time in one of the socially busiest months of my year. What can I say. Here are 4 that are finally ready to post to Etsy unless they disappear via Blog. Acryllic, pencil and/or pen on rescued (I gather wood from construction sites and upcycle it and lessen the burden on our burgeoning waste)

Psykhe (9x11-1/2)

Meowling at the Moon 1

Sundrenched Village (3"X9-1/2)"

Meow Amour (3-1/2"x16")

Runabout Saturday

Forget walkabout, today was all runabout. 

PepperPlace Farmers market (goat cheese and Kale); Western Market (last 2marked down pkgs of drumsticks); corner of 11th n 19th on Southside/ checked PO Box (bills, party invites -  no checks - sigh), scored a cozy mystery i series I'm reading, Rachel Rays new cookbook and 2 mini snickers from trick or treat bowl, returned one overdue book and paid  fine across street at library, picked up mint at Golden Temple on other corner to go w parsley n mint from my potted garden for tonight's tabouli salad to go w leftover kibbee dinner(courtesy of mom); Kangaroo and CVS for weekend's cheap beer n wine. 

Whe Then home to cozy corner of couch with balcony door open behind me and new fleece throw and Jazzmine  across my lap against the chill. I will sip and read and pat cat until time to put dinner in oven w side of tabouli. 

Tonight @ midnight 01  I'll begin my 2015 nanowrimo novel. Later y'all. 

Can You Write a Novel in 30 Days?

It’s that time again – National Novel Writing Month. Every year thousands of the aspiring sign up for the challenge - write a novel of at least 50,000 words in the 30 days of November.

Begun in 1999:

“The very first NaNoWriMo took place in July 1999, in the San Francisco Bay Area. That first year there were 21 of us, and our July noveling binge had little to do with any ambitions we might have harbored on the literary front. Nor did it reflect any hopes we had about tapping more fully into our creative selves. No, we wanted to write novels for the same dumb reasons twenty-somethings start bands. Because we wanted to make noise. Because we didn’t have anything better to do. And because we thought that, as novelists, we would have an easier time getting dates than we did as non-novelists.” -Chris Baty - NanoWriMo.org

In 2014, over 350,000 signed up for NanoWriMo.  I’ve been doing it since 2004, and although I’ve written the requisite words, I’ve never pursued the arduous task of editing a final marketable draft.  I had the excuse of a full-time job and life, but as I retired from Dilbertville early in 2013 I could not use that excuse that year or last. 

Now, it’s 2015 and I’ve signed up yet again.  I’m still painting, but I’m determined to get my daily word count in before I pick up a brush.  I may have to do what I did the first time – leave the house and write at a coffee shop, the corner bar and anywhere that’s not my studio.  The library is far too quiet for me.  I need noise.  Noise makes me focus harder on what I’m doing. 

The hardest part is all the parties and family functions that are strewn throughout the month of November.  I’ll be trying to exceed the daily 1667 words per day so I can bank enough to make up for those days, that just don’t make the mark. 

We had our kick-off for the Birmingham Region last night.  Big shout out and thanks to The Homewood Public Library for hosting us along with weekly write-ins and our Municipal Liaison, Jared “Tycho Brahe" Millet.  Anyone looking for me on Nano, my handle is perlesrose – my close friends will know it’s shorthand for perle(alias)rose.

Summer's Late and I Can Wait

Sunday and it’s the last day of May.  I pulled the kitchen calendar from the wall and sat down at the kitchen table to flip the page to June and add dates from my iPhone calendar.  The back door is wide open, kitty gate in place.  Jazzmine preens and watches every moving creature in the back yard, but her kitten days are long gone. She never attempts to leap out.  Not sure she could at her age and weight even if she wanted to.

I am amazed that this old place is still so cool inside when I know it’s a very warm 80-something outside when I took the trash to the alley just now. (if this is global warming, i'll take it)

Perhaps the daily rain storm is a contributing factor, but I also know that old buildings built before there was air conditioning were designed for air flow.  I have windows open in the back bedroom and the dining room and the kitchen door, which all face west.  I have the door and windows to the screened in balcony open wide as well.  That, the ceiling fans and a few strategic box fans have been keeping it very comfortable in here.  The minute I open the kitchen door in the morning, the air moves through the place at an event quicker and cooler pace. 

I love living on the second floor – I can keep windows and balcony open year round.  The only thing I do close when night falls or I head out to run errands is the kitchen door.  

However many days I can delay cranking up the central air, I’ll cherish.  I hate shutting myself off from nature and the outside world – the trains passing through in the wee hours; the birdsong and chattering squirrels that wake me in the morning; reading on the balcony loveseat; sitting at my small bistro tablejournaling, sipping and watching the life ebb and flow on the street below.

How to Build a Walking Habit - Easy as 1, 2, 3

I manage to go walkabout almost every morning of the week rain or shine, although a really bad storm might keep me in on the stationary bike.  Walking is one of the single best habits you can build into your life, and it will serve you for a lifetime.  It’s a habit I acquired by a very simple method – preparation. 

1. Get clothes ready the day before. Shoes, socks, shorts, undies, t-shirt are right there in a neat stack by my bedroom door.  I started putting them in a vintage hat box, because of Jazzmine. Typically curious cat that she is, she is wont to relocate a shoe or sock, or use the clothes as her napping spot. The hatbox solves that and looks more aesthetic as well.
2. Fold laundry in workout sets. When I do laundry, I fold my work out clothes in similar stacks then put them in the drawer. The following day as I toss the dirty clothes into the hamper, I simply put out a new stack in the hatbox.
3. Put other essentials by the door. Keys (of course), a small pad w/pen (seems I always get great ideas while walking and a tablet comes in handy), my iPhone to take pix of things that strike my fancy and for safety should I need help (never know), and a hat (baseball in good weather, boggan in winter). Hats are necessary (keeps the sun out of your eyes, and bird poop out of your hair). 

I started this habit in my 20’s, as I would have to be up at 5a.m. to get my 5 miles in, come home, shower, change, make breakfast and get to work by or before 8a.m. 

Now that I work from home, I still walk early (5 or 6a.m.).  There are a variety of reasons for this, two of which have to do with living urban.

1. The air is fresher early in the morning before the morning commute picks up.
2. The distant surf of cars has not risen so loud that it drowns out the sounds of nature.
3. The early walk raises my metabolism and primes my me and my body for the rest of the day.  

I Love Sunday; That's My Funday

The moment calendar days can be seen on next month's page, I impatiently fast-forward to that page.

I'm inking in all the things I've planned for April. 

Yes, I have an online calendar - but I still put everything on my kitchen calendar.  It's on the small sliver of wall space next to the counter that holds the coffee pot.  I like seeing my month at a glance as, I pour my first cup of dark brew.  Mom says my coffee is more espresso-esque. 

Last year's calendar was doors as incentive to open new ones. This year I chose butterflies which symbolize metamorphosis as incentive to...

Bacon is in the oven, as I'm too lazy to nurse it on the stovetop. Jazzmine is purring loudly in the chair across from me as the aroma fills the kitchen.  She's hoping for a taste or two. I'm sipping my third cup of coffee, just poured my first glass of champagne and watching CBS Sunday Morning on the tiny TV in the corner of the

kitchen.

I love Sundays. Cheers y'all 

People Tools that Apply to Real Life (Book Review)

The book, People Tools by Alan C. Fox, was very well written and I liked the format of the numbered Tools. Each begins with a vignette of personal experience broken down to its teachable moment components. Here’s how it went, here’s the result, here’s how it could go better using the appropriate people tool.

These are truly people tools that actually apply to real life.

Example: I particularly liked People Tool 15 – Sunk Cost. This resonated with me, as I meet so many people that hang on to the past in relationships, jobs, hurts, etc., because they’ve invested so much money or years of their lives, that they can’t let go and invest in a better future.

“Sunk Cost The dilemma is a company with a new machine that cost $1M and the salesman wants to sell them a better machine for another $1M.  Sunk Cost Theory says, The cost of the old machine is entirely irrelevant. It’s a sunk cost. The money is spent. It’s gone… You only have to consider the future” 

Good advice, if you’re stuck in a job you hate, a relationship going nowhere, in a money pit – you get the gist.

“If your past investment isn’t working for you, find a better alternative for the future. In business, the salesperson may call on you. In your life you have to be the salesman for yourself. (Buy a Ticket.)”

Good Advice for many stuck in a rut.

As for me. I’m applying the following to my day-to-day writing and painting - People Tool 16 Get Past Perfect.

Angels At The Gate (a book review)

In Angels At The Gate, another nameless woman from the bible comes to life under T.K. Thorne’s deft hand.  An amazing storyteller, Thorne takes us back in time to 1748 BCE.  It is the time of Abraham, of Lot, of men believed to be angels and messengers of God, and it is the time of the infamous Sodom and Gomorrah.

As she did in Noah’s Wife, Thorne gives us a brilliantly imagined alternate history. She gives a face, a name, a life to another faceless, nameless woman of the bible. Here it is Lot’s wife - Adira.

We follow the fortunes of this young woman.  Called Adir, a male’s name, Adira is raised as a boy.  As member of her stern but loving father’s caravan, she is schooled in the art of trade negotiations, the languages of the people in the lands they traverse, and duty.  Under the sterner hand of the caravan’s cook, Chiram, she learns the meaning of hard work, loss and loyalty.

She observes and appreciates the freedom allowed her male persona, which the females around her will never know.  The woman in her stirs; however, every time the tall blue-eyed stranger comes near. Though the man and his brother are thought to be messengers of god, she cannot help the feelings and the fervent wish, at least for him, to reveal the woman she is.

Adira’s father sees his daughter coming to an age where her womanhood becomes obvious.  It is a dangerous thing among the tribes, this deception.  A woman would be put to death for daring such.  He tells Adira she must go live with women relatives, but Adira balks and gets her way to stay one more time.

The reprieve is cut short all too soon, and her cherished childhood comes to an abrupt end.  The life she knew and people she loved are ripped away.  With only her faithful and much loved dog, Nami, she embarks on a path in pursuit of the messengers of god.  The winding path takes her through trials and triumphs, and eventually to Lot’s house and Sodom.  To tell you more would require a ‘spoiler alert’ and I will not do that.

Thorne’s agile imagination and extensive research, give Adira a believable history - a name, a life and a story worthy of writing and reading about.  Here we have the story of the woman who would be Lot’s wife, Adira, imagined as it could have been, and who can say Thorne didn’t channel it as it really was.

The Edge of Dreams (a book review)

Book Review
The Edge of Dreams,by Rhys Bowen

Rhys Bowen’s latest book in her Molly Murphy mystery series, The Edge of Dreams, has a serial murderer on the loose in New York City. The murderer is taunting the police with letters directed to Molly’s police captain husband, Daniel Sullivan. Much to Daniel’s chagrin Molly is brimming with ideas and champing at the bit to get involved.

She can’t help herself. Although some years ago she arrived a fresh-off-the boat immigrant, Molly soon found herself apprentice to a private investigator. When he was murdered, Molly successfully ran the business herself. It’s now 1905 and Daniel had hoped marriage and motherhood would keep her safely home as a good wife. He balks at what he considers her meddling, forbids her to get involved and refuses to discuss any part of the case with her, at least at first.

But Molly is too bright and persistent and has more ideas than he or any of his peers to be still for long. She slowly involves herself in the investigation exposing herself to dangers she's only seen on the edge of dreams.

I discovered this series in 2008 when there were seven books in the series. I started with Murphy’s Law when Molly, wanted for questioning for murder, flees the authorities in Ireland. She lands at Ellis Island where a fellow-traveller is murdered. Everyone is detained on the island as suspects, and intrepid Molly, determined to get on with her life in America, is determined to solve it herself. I read the whole series in a month and have eagerly awaited every new adventure.

The characters are well developed and alternate lifestyles are explored with a light touch. Each story is well plotted and includes historical events that give an authenticity to New York City and the country of that era. I like that Bowen gives her own possible solutions to some of history’s unanswered questions of the time.

Although each book can stand alone as complete, it’s always nice to know a person’s history. In case you want to read the entire series as well, below is a list in order of publication.

• Murphy's Law (2001)
• Death of Riley (2002)
• For the Love of Mike (2003)
• In Like Flynn (2005)
• Oh Danny Boy (2006)
• In Dublin's Fair City (2007)
• Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (2008)
• In a Gilded Cage (2009)
• The Last Illusion (2010)
• Bless the Bride (2011)
• Hush Now, Don't You Cry (2012)
• The Family Way (2013)
• City of Darkness and Light (2014)
• The Edge of Dreams (March 2015)

Salute to all the Charlies

The recent horrible events in France highlight how fear of free thought can drive some to violence.  We have 
been fortunate in these United States to have the First Amendment on the books protecting the right to free speech.  Granted, writers have had to take to the courts from time to time to preserve that right, redefine it to meet a modern world, but it still shines its light across America and the world. 

This is not the case in other parts of the world.  The Guardian article reads, “Nine hundred writers around the world were harassed, imprisoned, murdered or “disappeared” last year, according to PEN International…(1)  For a list of Freedom of Speech by Country see the Wikipedia link below. (2)

I believe that fear leads to violence. (3)  Writers often raise what are to some, uncomfortable questions, uncomfortable truths, provoking the uncomfortable truth that a closely held belief is laughable to some, untrue to others.  The unstable and insecure cannot take the hit to their esteem, so they lash out often violently. 

I’ve always believe that old saw, “the pen is mightier than the sword”.  It does not mean there won’t be casualties, but I have to believe that writers the world over will pick up their pens on a daily basis and continue the volley of words, even when faced with guns.

_________
(1) The Guardian, US Edition  http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/10/authors-yann-martel-persecuted-pen-international

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country

(3) Fear begets violence: http://projectlove.me/how-does-fear-create-violence/

Do You Make Resolutions or Intentions?

Although I celebrate New Year’s Eve and toast the New Year, I actually begin my celebration on Solstice – Darkest Night.  

That’s when I light candles in each room and on my small altar.  It is also when I choose my One Word – that one word that will inform my intentions for the year.  My 2015 One Word is: TransForm. Below is my mini poster for fridge, desk and wallet

Solstice is also when I consider and pen my intentions (not resolutions) for the lengthening of days that lead to Spring and earth’s rebirth.  I’m not going to begin them all on day one, but slowing work my way month by month through the 25 items on my 2015 Intention’s ToDo List.

1. I intend to stock my Etsy Store this year.  So when an artist friend in Sacramento challenged me to join in the 30 paintings in 30 days January Challenge,  I’ll finally stock my Etsy on-line store this year.
2. I intend to stick to my morning pages (read Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way). I’ve been diligently doing since Solstice. 
3. I intend to keep up my Blog more consistently than I have this past year.  With this post being my first of 2015, I plan on posting at least 2 if not 3 days a week.

More to come – Happy 2015 y’all.