lyrics today from Siouxsie and the Banshees [kiss them for me]

The Artist’s Way this week bade me to list five favourite films, so here I go:

• Harold and Maude
• Pretty In Pink
• Fallen Angels [aka Duo luo tian shi]
• Chungking Express [aka Chung Hing sam lam]
• Camille Claudel

What common denominators do these films all hold?

• love
• loss
• figuring out one’s place in life

Also, they all have songs in their soundtracks that I feel strongly about. That’s not really a surprise, though!

I used to write songs for The Violet Dawning that I described as songs of love and loss. Coincidence? I think not.

Hello from the floor!

Originally uploaded by xiane threeravens

Squeegee and I just wanted to say hi! [look at how lazy we are!]

I’ve had a few people wonder where I found the name for our Artist’s Way creative cluster, “i plant the seeds.” It was actually from a quote from the writer of our guide, Julia Cameron - and worth sharing here:

“When I listen to love, I am listening to my true nature. When I express love, I am expressing my true nature. All of us love. All of us do it more and more perfectly. The past has brought us both ashes and diamonds. In the present we find the flowers of what we’ve planted and the seeds of what we are becoming. I plant the seeds of love in my heart. I plant the seeds of love in the hearts of others.”

This past week has been difficult for me; these words are comforting. Loving myself is probably the hardest thing for me to do.

This is Week Seven: Recovering A Sense of Connection. This week we will turn to the practice of right attitudes for creativity. Our emphasis will be on our receptive as well as active skills from Monday June 21st to Sunday July 27th 2008.

Tasks:

* Finish this sentence: “If I didn’t have to do it perfectly, I would try…” [do this as much as you like!]

* Jealousy map: make three columns. In the first, name those whom you are jealous of. Next to each name write why - be as specific and accurate as you can. In the third column, list one action you can take to move toward creativity and out of jealousy.

* Answer the Archeology Exercise questions.

* Watercolour, calligraph, or crayon the mantra “Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong.” Hang it somewhere that you will see it daily.

* Take the time to listen to one side of an album, just for joy. [yes, this is rather dated - perhaps half a CD if you wish, or just a group of songs off your playlist.] Perhaps you’ll want to doodle while doing so.

* Take yourself to a sacred space - a church, synagogue, library, grove of trees - and allow yourself to savour the silence and healing solitude.

* Create one wonderful smell in your house - with soup, incense, fir branches, candles - whatever.

* Wear your favourite item of clothing for no special occasion.

* Buy yourself one wonderful pair of socks or gloves or something else that is comforting and self-loving.

* Collage: collect a stack of at least ten magazines. Set a twenty minute limit for yourself, and literally tear through the magazines, collecting images that reflect your life or interests. Keep pulling until you have at least twenty images, then collage them to paper in a way that pleases you.

* Quickly list five favourite films. Note any common denominators among them. Do you see traces of your cinematic themes in your collage?

* Name your favourite topics to read about - are these topics in your collage?

* Give your collage a place of honour.

Don’t forget your Morning Pages and Artist’s Date! Did you experience any synchronicity? Any other issues?

… I feel like a ghost.

Sick all day, on and off nausea. Tired, listless. Feeling low because I missed a craft show meeting, but I hardly ever miss anything, why am I beating myself up when I already feel bad?

Yep, that’s me, asking the penetrating questions.

Today was a fantastic day!

I’ve been hanging out with my pal Helen Mosher all weekend, as she’s in the area for a visit - and we decided that Saturday was obviously “go to Asheville and see the sights” day. I know I was just there last week with Melissa and Bo, but there’s never enough Asheville to be had!
One of many great things about spending time with Helen is that she’s as laid back as I am when it comes to just getting in the car and going somewhere. We like just wandering around and having adventures, and true to form, the day yielded some lovely treasures and sights!

Here I am, ready to get into trouble!

The drive up was as pleasant as it usually is, with majestic and breathtaking views as well as verdant expanses that always make me smile so wide. Helen and I talked about a million facinating things and yet managed to not only not get lost, but to perfectly find our way to downtown Asheville perfectly easily. Hurrah!

Asheville was hoppin’ - it seems that there was some sort of art/craft thing going on, although I never did quite suss out what that was all about. I’m sure it wasn’t the little crafty vendor thing we found in the middle of town. No worries for us, though, as we parked in the same lot that Melissa and Bo showed me on last week’s trip… I love how centrally placed the lot is, and I can’t complain about having to walk by Malaprop’s at least twice [coming out then back to the lot] as it means that I can look longingly, then come back to buy books-wonderful-books before getting back to the car.

It was somehow appropriate, seeing that Helen runs Knitster.org and that I blog there, that the first place we should stop would be Earth Guild.

I don’t have photos of it yet, but I bought four skeins of the most AMAZING purple/red sock yarn, so that I can attempt my first pair of socks with delectable, inspirational yarn. [toe up, using a pattern that I found in Interweave Knits. I'll post photos to document, I promise!]

We talked to one of the proprietors for quite a bit, the same lady who was so helpful with my romney fiber purchase last time I was in town. I would be in SO MUCH trouble if I lived near there, oh my! Helen and I chatted and wandered and fiber-fondled and talked about project ideas and just absorbed the atmosphere until hunger made us move on. Before we made it to eat, we were sidetracked by the aforementioned little arts/crafts vendor booths that were set up in the little triangle between College and Haywood Streets. The mosaic at the top of this entry was just one of the lovely items displayed there.

Based on the recommendation that our Earth Guild friend gave, and after the first recommendation from a friend of Helen’s didn’t pan out for us [Tupelo Honey Cafe, which I'll have to try at some other point], we ended up at Laughing Seed Cafe - which also happens to be a place that Melissa and Bo told me that I might like when we were last there. Synchronicity!

OMG. I can’t tell you what a joy it is to get to have REAL veg*n food in a restaurant without begging for things to be omitted or settling for a salad! We were starved, so even if the food had been mediocre I’m sure it would have seemed a feast, but the food was certainly NOT mediocre at all - it was absolutely delicious and completely filling without being overloading. I dined on shiitake/corn/potato cakes with a “cream” made with cumin and cilantro and nestled on a bed of greens, plus a refreshingly thin - not thick and creamy - butternut squash soup. Helen got a ginormous salad with all sorts of veggies, nuts, seeds, sprouts, and avocado, plus she got a pleasingly different artichoke dip for us to share. I would go back there a million times with no complaint, let me tell you. HIGHLY recommended.

We had a bunch of other adventures, but I really need to point you over to Helen’s blog for the next thing I just have to share. Helen captured some video of a really great bluegrass band busking on Haywood Street, after going up and introducing herself and telling them about her blog and her interest in bringing their music to her readers. Please take a moment to go there and watch the video that she took, and read a bit more about Bear Down Easy - if you like authentic street music, especially bluegrass, you won’t be disappointed!

Every good trip to my favourite city in North Carolina needs to end with a stop in Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe. We needed icy drinks to refresh us after a hike up a huge hill, and the coffee bar obliged happily… then we wandered around and of *course* I left with a book - this time a book about fermented foods for MrWhite to enjoy [and myself as well, of course!] - I managed not to go TOO crazy, at least.

The drive back home was just as good as the drive there. Helen’s so very much fun to be around, and we get along so well, that I joked that all road trips should be with her. What a great day!

Here’s an interesting blog post with 15 widespread creativity myths, from LifeDev.

http://lifedev.net/2008/07/creativity-myths/

I thought that all my friends interested in working on their creative output might find this list insightful.

“…You know it looks so good tonight…” - lyrics from Iggy Pop [the passenger]

I’m tired. My hands are quivering.

I’ve been missing the easy flow of words into poetry, a skill that I used to have like a mother tongue, an instinctive language. Right now I think I might be just too tired to spin a poem from these twitchy fingers… but soon, soon it will have to come.

Why are so many songs either about sadness, or about love/lust? What about unadulterated joy, or an amazing success?

Spent some time yesterday afternoon drawing, something I’ve been doing a little of lately, more than I have in years and years. My perspective’s all off, but that’s okay. I can still draw most anything with the basic body configuration of a horse, without looking at a photo for reference. That makes me happy. I drew my soy mocha, some horses, a dragon - nothing ground breaking for the art world, but I didn’t draw it for them, I drew it for me. In XianeLand, they’re masterpieces.

Sleep’s in order now, but I’m hopeful that the beautiful words will come to me then and spill across the screen later, for me to share with you.

lyrics from Ego Likeness [the map is not the territory]

This week’s already been a little tough. I started feeling not-quite-right on Sunday while Melissa, Bo, and I were in Asheville - up in the mountains, so my sinuses were acting up, and I came home with a headache. Yesterday, I also had a headache, but I cut it off fairly quickly with an application of Advil, some food, and a soy mocha. It didn’t come back for the rest of the day… but today? Migraine city, baby.

I hve been struggling all day to get the migraine under control. I started with nausea and auras, managed to push back the nausea finally with some starchy food… I’ve taken four Advil today and the pressure/pain comes and goes. I’m not sure why it’s continued to be a problem, but I’m ready for it to go away. My poor head!

Because of the migraine, I didn’t get much done today at ALL. I’m also frustrated by that, although I’m trying to take it in stride. I *did* get my Mountain Rose Herbs order today, with a seriously needed package of henna as well as a pound of lavender and a bunch of other important herbs for things like my dream pillows. I have been kicking around some new ideas for how I want to list my dream pillows, eye pillows, and some new products that I’ve been kicking around in my head. One of the things that I’ve been thinking about would use organic fabrics, if I can find a reliable and affordable resource for them… if you have suggestions, my inbox is open!

It’s funny, because I hadn’t been so inclined to sew for a while, but the bug’s upon me lately. I need to make some more dream pillows, and I have some ideas to change the design slightly - both to make it less labour intensive and to improve the overall look. My brainpan’s pained but still functional, yay!

I’ve also been debating moving my Threeravens.net page/blog over to WordPress. I could make the website and the blog more integrated, as well as blending it a bit more fluidly with what I do here… and I’m feeling that the look I can achieve with WP is much more professional than what blogspot offers. Not to mention, I’d be more inclined to update that blog if it wasn’t yet another something that I need to log into, as silly as that sounds. Again, I’m taking thoughts about this. What do you think?

I do believe that my friend Helen will be in town to see me and hang out here for a few days, which is pretty exciting! If these plans pan out, I forsee lots of knitting, photography, talking, and cooking/eating in our future. How exciting that someone might come to town just to see little ol’ me! This could be a good reason to go check out the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, perhaps. Definitely there’s yarn shops and coffee in the future! Living in the boonies makes visits from friends quite the to-do, you know.

I think I need to confirm and map out some ideas for fun, yay!