Rants, Books, Dolls and Ceramic Indians

Well, I'm going to start today's rant with a subject that's very near and dear to me, books. I love books, I love the feel of them, I love the smell of the paper, especially the old books, I love the print and most of all, I love reading them. Yesterday I saw "Fahrenheit 451." It's a wonderful movie from 1966, directed by the famous director, Francois Truffaut, written by Ray Bradbury. I read the book back when and it made me very nervous, just as Orwell's, "1984," and "Animal Farm," and Huskley's "Brave New World." Yea, I was a super nerd in high school, but a pretty one!! LOL

In "Fahrenheit 451," (in case any of you don't understand the title, that's the temperature paper burns at when ignited. Now I'm not being condescending, I didn't get it either till college, the first time around back in the 70's) it was illegal to own or read books and if you were caught, you were arrested and your books would be burned...very scary! There was a scene that particularly held me bound to my couch; the "firemen" had found this blind woman who owned many book, hidden away in every nook and cranny of her home then they discovered a hidden library...OMG!! As the chief was picking out books, he explained to Montag, played by Oskar Werner, how ludicrous books were, a joke, they introduced too many feelings and ideas dangerous to the masses. Anyway, I won't go into the whole movie, but please read the book or rent the movie, it's well worth it because we're beginning to see such things now.

I refuse to go digital when it comes to books or newspapers, I will not in any way, shape or form, conform to those gadgets to make your reading pleasure easier without the clutter of books...very scary! We are told we need to be young, thin (anorexic), and beautiful with big boobs or pecks and a six pack. I don't know about you, but I've been using Ponds moisturizer for years on my face, my hair is graying at a very fast rate, especially with what I've been dealing with lately but I decided years ago, back in my 40's to go gray but that's my choice and that's what's important to me, that I have a choice and nobody will tell me otherwise.

Now for something completely different (alla Monty Python), my mother bought a ceramic Indian woman last year for her yard. Minihaha, as she named her, (a character from Disney's "Peter Pan.")needed some major work last year, but she was just happy to get such an interesting statue (in Russia maybe) at such a good price..$20. So Ms. Minihaha was displayed with a huge metal rod up her "dress," to avoid her falling over during our big winds we have around here. Well, our West Texas summers can be brutal especially to a $20 ceramic statue that was made in Mexico with crappy clay ( I know my clays) that leached all kinds of stuff during her summer in mom's backyard. Fast forward to March of this year: Mom:Honey, do you think she needs some restoration? Georgina: Yes mom, it's called the dump! Mom: Oh, I don't think she's quite ready for that, but can she have a little face lift or something like that? Georgina:Mom, she needs major restoration and it will cost more than the stupid statue!!, Mom:Well, what does she need? Stupid Georgina: She'll need to be sanded then have several coats of enamel paint in brighter colours than she has now and some detailing then sprayed with industrial type polyurethane that causes cancer, miscarriages, brain tumors, etc. Mom:Oh good, that's right up your alley. I didn't send you to school and get your degree in art to just make funny little dolls. Defeated and Stupid Georgina:Ok, mom, let's hit Walmart...I just love Walmart!!!

So here our some before and after pics of Ms. Minihaha. I will probably continue to restore her every year from now on until she's nothing more than an eroded blob!






I forgot to mention that while I was working on this marvel of crappy terra cotta clay, my CD part of my little studio stereo gave up the ghost. I can't work without music and I sure didn't want to have to listen to our local radio stations...they suck!! But then it occurred to me I still had some cassette tapes in my office closet and the tape section of the stereo still worked. Well, talking about going back memory lane. I forgot I had 2 cassettes of Harry Chapin...oh wow, I love that guy and miss his music...all his story telling songs. Of course there was "Cat in the Cradle," "Taxi," "Circle," that brought tears to my eyes because I sang that song to my older kids when they were babies, "30,000 Lbs. of Bananas," and one of my all time favorites, "Mr. Tanner." Steve Windwood's, "Back in the High Life Again" tape, Basia, George Michael's "Faith," Julia Fordham, Lou Graham, Pat Methany, Rickie Lee Jones, Tuck and Patti and many more old friends. I know I can get these now on CD or download them onto my MP3 player, but I think I'll just hang on to the tapes for a while! Have been enjoying listening to all these wonderful artists that have taken me back to many good memories and some sad. Oh well, that's life.

Also, want to show off some more of my Can-Do series of dolls. They are mixed media pieces made with tuna cans or olive cans. Tell me what ya think and peace out.

Blogger

I had a lot I wanted to say today, but blogger is giving you all a break from my rantings. I'm having mucho probs with it; I left some comments on some of your blogs and I kept getting on error page...pinchi blogger!! Sooo, I will resume with my rants tomorrow or some time this week or maybe this afternoon, assuming the problem has been reconciled....oh yea, never assume!! Now to see if this blog will be posted at all! Peace out.

New Day

Good morning, blog buds. Hope you're looking forward to a beautiful weekend, full of sunshine, blue skies, blossoms everything, walks on the beach, cuddling...oh dear, I'm sounding like Match.com, not that I go there!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, before I get carried away, hoping you all do have a nice weekend.

Things are improving around here, not great, but at least I slept last night for the first time in weeks and my dreams returned. Maybe I should get into the dream about the Piranha People or the one where a took a history test and didn't answer the last 4 questions on the last page because I was distracted by a bunch of kindergartners that had to go to the bathroom...wha????? I don't think it had anything to do with what I ate for dinner or the 3 glasses of water I drank last night...I'm surprised I dreamed at all...sleep was seriously interrupted!! I'm making chilaquiles and frijoles de la olla tonight, so I can only imagine what my dreams will be tonight!! BTW, chilaquiles is essentially an enchilada casserole and frijoles de la olla are just a pot of pinto beans, spiced up of course, but none-the-less, beans. It all sounds so exotic, but it's not really.


I've been making some of my little Can-Do dolls, well, when the mood has stricken me and lately, it hasn't happened too often. But when I get them complete this weekend, I'll post pics of those cuties.

My mother is having her bedroom renovated and when it's complete, she's going to have a Bedroom Party. Isn't that a hoot??? I can see a few of my mother's pals, sprawled out on her brand new quilted bedspread, eating pasta salad with blueberry muffins and a fruit compote for dessert (I'm all for chocolate brownies, mine!) and imbibing on wine spritzers. Now imagine women from 80-87..picture it!! Well, if you can't I'll make sure I take lots of pics...I love my mom's friends, I call them the Q-Tips!! This ought to be a great party, even though I'm not invited, but I will be the photographer!!

Well, my bloggy amigas/amigos, need to go put the beans in the pot and start cooking them so they'll be ready this evening. Also, going into the studio and try to finish those Can-Do dolls. Peace out.

Children

Is it possible for a mother to dislike her children? After all, they're people too and suppose they grow up to be the kind of people she would not necessarily associate with on a normal basis. What prompts a mother to feel like this after years of love, affection, devotion and sacrifice, that's what mother's do anyway, right? At least many of the mothers that have crossed my path are like that. I'm sure there a few that probably should have raised lemurs but had those little darlings anyway.

What causes a mother to feel nothing except for occasional feelings of contempt, disappointment and disgust? What happens when that blessed, unexplainable bond of unconditional love, is nothing but a void, a limbo? What happens is that this mother has finally reached her point of no return. She has been brutally, bullishly,and mean-fully abused and betrayed by that child.

This mother wonders where she went wrong, what element in her personality or in her parental skills were lacking. She cries much, she laments the loss of love, not only from that child, but the nothingness she feels for that child. She prays that someday there will be resolution. And if that ever happens, the relationship will be very different; the mother will be extremely guarded.

When grandchildren are part of this departure from that child's affection, the pain is heart-breaking. The grandmother has a history with these children, she was present at their births, she aided in their upbringing, she was so very much part of their lives. The grandmother is now responsible for what ever evil she allegedly befell on their family.

So back to the initial question, can a mother really dislike her children? Peace out.

Dreams

I don't know how many of you take your dreams seriously. I know the difference between a visitation dream of a deceased loved one and a dream with them in it. I've always hoped I would have a visitation type dream from my dad, but he's just part of my dreams, he and my mother, however, my mother is still very much around. Then there are those "creative" dreams where you get some really great ideas and try to remember them when you wake up...many of those dreams are lost in my little gray cells somewhere in my brain, because I'm just too lazy to keep a journal or sketch pad by my bed...I prefer to just keep on sleeping and keep on dreaming. Then there are just those dreams where you wake up and think, "What the heck was that all about???" Ok, I get those a lot and I can't say what lead me to dream that stuff and why.

Lately, however, I've been dreaming about myself, but yet, it's not me. I'm either younger or older, but it's not my face, my body (which can work to my advantage) my hair, it just NOT ME. It's as if I escape into someone else's physical body, but the person within is me, my personality, my sensibilities (or lack of), in other words, it's me, but in disguise.

I've been dealing with some rather serious issues right now and I'm wondering if that isn't why these strangers appear in my dreams as me. Perhaps in my dreams, I'm escaping my physical reality by being someone else. I have no idea, I'm not a dream interpreter, but the dreamer. Last night or rather early this morning (that's when I have my most intense dreams, around 6-7:30am.)I dreamed I was this young woman who fell in love with this sweet young man, we became engaged and it turned out he was a vampire. Now I'm not into the New Moon series nor do I watch vampire shows on the CW, I'm not saying I'm not into vampires, I love vampires, just not the recent young, sexy type, unless many of you remember Frank Langella playing Dracula many years ago when he was a young, sexy stud...I was soooo in love!!! Even Robin Williams was in the dream playing a stalking vampire. Ok, by now you all are saying, "Wow, G, you've lost your cucumbers," but I'm telling you what I remember. Now here's where reality begins to seep in, we had 2 children, male and female. The male was very negative and judgmental, and so on and so forth. He wanted to quit school and learn how to play the trumpet. I told him I would allow it, but at the end of the year, he had to play Carnegie Hall!! Now is that too much for a vampire mother to ask of her little blood sucker??? Then there was the daughter who was always bringing up the past, I kept telling her that she needed to move on and quit living there, get her head out of the past, but she just kept on with, "I remember...", blah, blah, blah. She was a royal complainer and whiner. That's about all I remember of these vampire kids. I also enjoyed the part where my vampire honey and I would mess with the maid and open up the dishwasher and put the dishes away...telepathically!!!

Can you imagine remembering all these little details in a dream that probably lasted just a couple of minutes...it's mind boggling!! So what do you all think. Am I escaping through my dreams (and let's not forget the Housewives of NYC and Orange County) or is this just the norm for now. If it were, I guess I wouldn't be writing a blog about it, so dear readers, whatcha think??

Now onto another subject. My sister told me of a gift she found for me after she gave me my birthday gift. My sis is a procrastinator, but a really sweet one. I can recall Christmas' in July because she never got around to mailing them in Dec. Birthdays in...July come to think of it...she just clumped it all together in July!! She's gotten much better, however, since her life is very different from all those years ago, thank God!! She emailed last week telling me she had finally sent the little thing out and I would be getting it Monday. What a hu-eg surprise I got from the UPS guy, she sent me an Ed Hardy handbag!! Little??? Nope, wonderfully big!! She knows my love of skeletons, who doesn't???? LOL







I love it and I intend to wear it right away. Such a great surprise and gift. Well, my dear readers, time for me to get my morning started and move on down the road. I think I'll play in my studio today and see what things I can accomplish in there, cleaning and organizing are not in the plans right now, though!!! Peace out.