"Before you've finished your breakfast this morning, you'll have relied on half the world"
- Martin Luther King

I'm trying to learn more about fair trade and become more involved.

Please check out Make Fair Trade for information on this and how to get involved. E-mail me if you come up with any good ideas!

Moon Illusion

Have you ever wondered why the moon looks so humungous at times and then within 10 minutes it's back to its normal little self high in the sky?
I finally looked into this and it's actually an illusion. That's why this "phenomenon" can't be captured in photos or film.
Crazy, huh?!
Info from NASA on the Moon Illusion is here.

I Heart Books

Currently reading:
Deepsix by Jack McDevitt

I am from

I came across this and thought it was a great idea. Figured I'd give it a shot.
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I am from magic markers, from Crayola and wax.

I am from the yellow sunlight streaming through the kitchen window
as the breeze gently blows the shades.

I am from the daffodils that brighten it all, the dandelions for salad and wine.
From the weeds that are a paradox and the dirt that lies under my feet year after year.

I am from long birthday songs and mothering hips, from Grandpa Joe's silence and Aunt Lori's tears. From mom's eighteen laughs and dad's lengthy snores.

I am from the wonderfully thoughtful, amazing birthday gifts that come a month and a year late and the belly laughs and squeals that turn to tears.

From "milk helps you digest" and "no cap'n crunch or soda".

I am from church on days of funerals and weddings, and belief in something higher. From respecting everyone around you but not reading and prayers. From color blindness and money blindness and statues of the buddha.

I'm from the little hospital in Suffern, New York and the walls of Germany; from the fogs of Ireland to the cities of Poland. I am from chicken frickasee and the most disgustingly delicious brownies smothered in brown sugar and butter. From the crepes we call "French Pancakes" which require the special pans, passed down from Nana who turned 100 years old on a day when I was young. "Plate no fork" and a pound of butter and don't forget to refill the sugar.

From the day Marly broke her arm....at the funeral, the car on Logan's foot, the Friendly's lunches with Grandpa B, and camping in the water gap.

I am from the boxes in attics and closets which hold it all in print, from the tapes of singing and talking and the memories we share.

Word for the day

My daily calendar tells me to learn a new word today, so here it is:

apposite • \AP-uh-zit\ • adjective
highly pertinent or appropriate: apt

Example sentence:
"It is a lucid work, written in simple English and amply illustrated by apposite examples. . . ."

And, check out the visual thesaurus by the way because it's pretty darn cool! I used to use it quite often when brainstorming...

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Saw a great movie last night - The Jacket with Adrien Brody and Keira Knightly. Definitely recommend it! Rent it. It's like Jacob's Ladder meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest meets Memento. Or something like that. Adrien Brody was brilliant as always. Get ready for a play on your mind.

Faith

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
~J. R. R. Tolkien

50 Things I Want to Do

1. Jump out of an airplane
2. Have a show of my art at a gallery
3. Own a business
4. Get married on the beach
5. Live in an old stone house lots of land and maybe a barn
6. Have a nice studio with lots of windows
7. Write a short story
8. Have something published
9. Get my MFA
10. Go to Tahiti
11. Dive into the deep end
12. Spend time in the jungle
13. Take a dangerously exciting vacation
14. Go to Africa
15. Donate my time and knowledge
16. Have a child
17. Go whitewater rafting
18. Create a huge work of art
19. Learn to garden
20. Let go
21. Visit Alaska
22. Live in another country, even if only for a few months
23. Visit each of the 50 states
24. Take a solo vacation
25. Go on a yoga retreat
26. Teach a class or seminar (not sure on what yet!)
27. Dazzle
28. Publish a book (I mean, my own)
29. Become a better photographer and get in the darkroom again even though it’s a dying practice
30. Sing in front of an audience
31. Learn to play guitar OR relearn the piano
32. Experience zero gravity and/or visit space
33. Take a dance class
34. Learn more
35. Volunteer on a Native American reservation or spend time there helping in some way
36. Immerse myself in a culture other than my own for a period of time
37. Participate in a walk or run for charity
38. Climb a mountain
39. Backpack in the woods/mountains for at least a week (not sure where yet)
40. Live on the seashore
41. Throw a fabulous Succulent Wild Women party
42. Get back to my magazine project
43. Make a (positive) difference in someone’s life
44. Be an inspiration
45. Be a grandparent
46. Hold hands with D and feel that love when we are old and gray
47. Surf
48. Learn to cook amazing chicken
49. Have a table at a flea market
50. Make wine

Photo Friday - Blue Trail

Illustration Friday - Black & White

Threes - Borrowed from Ker

3 names I go (or have gone) by:
Kyra, K, Kiki

3 Screen-names I've had: Kyradk, crouchingGirl, fumblingGirl

3 physical things I like about myself: My lips, my strength when I do lots of yoga and weights (which I’m lacking a bit right now but I’ll get it back), my torso

3 physical things I dislike about myself: My butt, my chin, my natural weakness that comes with being a girl

3 things I am wearing right now: lotion, my favorite shoes, an outfit I dig

3 favorite bands / musical artists: The Beatles, Alanis Morissette, Rusted Root

3 (of many) favorite songs: Let it Be (Beatles), Tear in Your Hand (Tori Amos), Summertime Rolls (Jane’s Addiction)

3 things I want in a relationship: Curiosity about each other and life (stole it from Ker), companionship (best friendness) and sharing and doing things together, trust/honesty

3 physical things about the preferred sex that appeal to me: Tall, thin, nice, expressive eyes

3 of my favorite hobbies/pastimes: Camping, creating (now that I am getting better at it), reading (and watching movies too!! Sorry, it’s 4)

3 things I want to do really badly right now: Lay on a hammock in the sun and relax, read, chat; travel – adventure travel; let go

3 careers you have considered or are considering: business owner, artist, writer (which is also artist but I’m separating the visual and the written word)

3 things that scare me: being abandoned, never feeling part of things, not living my dreams

3 of my everyday essentials: lip balm, creativity (in some form – although some days it doesn’t happen L), sun

3 places you want to go on vacation: Tahiti, Spain, Belize (but that is only first 3 that come to mind – out of tons!)

3 kids' names you like: Sage, Life, Petra

3 things you want to do before you die: Jump out of an airplane (sky dive), write a book, stop searching

3 ways I am stereotypically a boy: I eat a lot and drink a lot

3 ways I am stereotypically a girl: Umm, I am emotional and moody, I take forever to figure out what to wear, I love romance

3 celeb crushes: That’s easy – Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt (before the two of them became Angelina and Brad), Scarlet Johansen (don’t know how to spell her name)

3 emotionally stirring movies: My Girl, Steel Magnolias, Moonlight Mile

Currently....
Listening to: Liz Phair
Reading: Stephen Hawking "Brief History of Time" - tough reading! I keep falling asleep; Also still reading "Call of the Wild" by Jack London
Recommending: Love Song for Bobby Long with John Travolta and Scarlet Johansen

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Summertime

Beach, handstands, blue skies, warm weather. Summer time rocks! (Even though I can't do a handstand).

Orange

I peel back the tough skin
to reveal an exquisite texture inside,
coupled with a most delicate yet vibrant hue.
Dropping a slice on my tongue
I can feel the sweet beads
mingling with cool, wet juice.
It dances in my mouth in a
luscious summer celebration.

Joy of Creating

“I will experience the sheer joy of creating something.” ~ from my Just for today calendar on my desk

Coincidence? It’s how I feel today. Filled with desire to create something. I am just having a tough time finding my focus. I have so many ideas, and can’t seem to sit down and listen to one of them. I feel like I need to sit and hang out with it, maybe just with a pencil and paper at first to see where it leads. And I forgot to bring my Focus Fuze drink. Hehe.

D helped me out a lot this past weekend. More than I realized and more than he probably did. While camping, we sat and talked about drawing and I had a sketchbook out and we just drew together. I felt so intimidated at first, but then I realized that he wasn’t going to judge me based on what I drew on that piece of paper and I felt this freedom. It felt so freeing to feel comfortable drawing with someone, specifically him, watching. I just felt so at ease with him and with my talents, that, though they may not be where I would like them to be, are at least growing. I was also so impressed with his teaching. It was so easy and helpful. Great little moment there. I think it will stick with me.

So, back to the present. My itching and yearning to create something. I want to create something BIG but I feel like I don’t have the space or the means. So what should I do? Still figure that out. I guess for now, I should just let go and create what comes to me, though that will probably be a work-related project right now, but hopefully it will come out wonderful.

For this summer, some things I want to do…

-Camp as much as possible
-Spend as much time as possible outside
-Have a Succulent Wild Women party where we paint, talk, listen to music and drink yummy drinks and eat luscious food and spend the entire day soaking in the sun and each other
-Go to Montana
-Apply to schools and not look back
-Kayak more
-Spend a chunk of time on the beach
-Play
-Run
-Hike a lot
-Eat healthier
-Enjoy the silence and notice the natural sounds within that silence, like the wind whispering, crickets discussing, birds flirting, creek crying
-Go on picnics
-Lie on a blanket and stargaze
-Have more amazing conversations that blow me away and that I feel changed, if only at that moment, by
-Throw things out – simplify
-Have patience
-Keep in better touch with friends
-Make some jewelry
-Volunteer!
-Rock climb
-Read this Stephen Hawking book that seems so interesting and exciting but that keeps putting me to sleep
-Paint/collage/draw/ink on a huge piece of canvas (where???)
-Do the above and also write more and take more photos
-Read more
-Let go

Last thing is to not beat myself up if all of these things don’t happen.

Thanks to a “RedClay”, a girl whose blog I came across on the internet for inspiring me to write today.

~K

Change the world

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
~Margaret Mead

Slackerdom

So, a certain someone said "I thought you were going to post every day". I guess I haven't succeeded in that department. It's the slacker procrastinator in me that I have such a love/hate relationship with.

On another note....how can we sometimes be so separated from reality and pass over the line from reality onto the side of living in a complicated, emotional, and chaotic place in our head? Oh, we go about our lives as if we are living with our feet firmly planted on the ground, but meanwhile we are creating a fantasy world in our minds filled with melodrama and doubt, pain and paranoia.

Reading: Jack London Call of the Wild
Listening to: Emer Kenny
Want to see: Lords of Dogtowm

PHOTO FRIDAY - Rare

This is a photo I took when I was visiting Berkeley. Wish I was there now. Oh, how I love California!

Digital V2 

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Digital

I decided to take a different approach to the digital topic.
Since I'm constantly immersed in the digital world of computers and electronics, I decided to opt for defining digital as relating to digits...fingers... Ahhhh... the reality of touch.

According to several dictionaries:
Defintion 1. Of, relating to, or resembling a digit, especially a finger.

SOLACE

The day closes in around her.
Licking her wounds,
she glances from side to side, half expecting to see a sign.
Glancing back down, she rubs her cool hands together
and considers what she should do next.
Pushing aside the essentials that she knows won't disappear,
she concentrates on everything else.
Drawing, writing, scribbling, typing,
eyes closed and soul half open,
she wanders through thoughts and images like long tangents
made of clay.
The farther out she ventures, the more she finds.
Her heart leaps when she notices the time and she returns to solid ground.
A solitary tear collects in the corner of her eye
but she holds it back
knowing that there's always tomorrow
and that nighttime has its solace.



solace

1. Comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or distress; consolation.
2. A source of comfort or consolation.