Analytical journey

La Rosa caravan site photo

I am well aware that the main reason I like the idea of a bus house, horse drawn house, is so I can get the hell out of anywhere quickly. I know this is rooted in my childhood desire to run away from the horrid life I lived as a youngin'. In this time of Christmas cheer let me share with you the pitiful Christmas one of my brothers and I experienced. (we are the two youngest and everyone else had left the house)
My newly divorced and sober father, although one wonders if he actually was sober, was apparently not aware that Santa does not actually exist, as on the morning of Christmas my brother and I came down stairs and the stockings were as empty as the night before and the Christmas tree was bare beneath it's branches. We looked at each other, didn't say a word and began to collect things around the house and wrap them. When my father came down and we began to open presents, my brother and I opened the presents, thanked each other and my father and pretended this was completely normal. When all was over, we silently put the items back where we had found them and called our friends to see if we could play.
And so, it's a hard time of year and I find myself dreaming of a kind of normalcy I'll never know and a way to run away, but still be comfortable!! :)

The best part is the caravan pictured above is the latrine!! Gotta love that!

Fueled by grass-now that is 'green'!

Library bus

In Guatemala.

Don't read this if you are having a good day!

Totally off subject, bitch session:
Public health care option-- listen assholes, you don't want to pay for abortions, I don't want to pay for your problems due to a lazy life of Doritos and sitting on your ass but I'm going to have to and you are going to have to do stuff you don't want. This is what being a community is....
What amazes me is when I hear people saying they don't want to pay for education because their kids are out of school age now....okay, and I don't want to pay for your Social Security and Medicare cuz I'm not old yet. Does that make any sense? Besides the fact that great education could create a great country of good decision makers??? ugh. Looking out for others you may not even know is so hard for some people, it ruins my faith in humanity!
I don't want to fund a war that's been going on since the Crusades. Where is the box to check so your taxes don't fund that public option?
It also disgusts me to no end when people applaud after or during an execution. After humans killed off all our predators, we became predators upon ourselves. Do we have to have the prey instinct activated to feel alive?
Here is a picture just so I'm still slightly within my basic plan of only having nomadic experiences on this here blog.

Wheel Estate

One of many awesome homes on wheels on www.htnz.co.nz
It looks to me to be a cargo container on a truck...good idea!

size is relative

i don't know where people get the moneys they use to make all these cool things for Burning Man, but it's nice to know that creation is happening. It's the heat and mass of people that keeps me away, you will not find me at the Playa!! Here is the story of the extra large VW van....
and then there is this....If you really like small spaces, then Volkswagen Short Bus flickr pages are for you.

Who knows small? Japanese know small.

But, big on fun!

http://dornob.com/convertible-camper-diy-japanese-style-mobile-home/

Oh dear, poor poor gypsy Kate, can't even afford clothes for the cold English winter.

Love the gas can for a horse drawn wagon!

Another bus family

Organic Tribe.
Here are photos of their bus conversion. I feel like I should post photos of ours....wonder where they are???

Wanderlust- it's genetic

Turns out scientists found the wanderlust gene, in a fish.....
Instead of changing to it's environment, it moves on.

photo curtsey of Nicks Blog

Inspiration often comes when you look for it!

Hey- found these guys just when I was feeling trapped by the daily grind of school.... instead of worrying about what is wrong with me to have such a HUGE wanderlust, I am trying to accept that is the way I am, some people are and it's fine. I don't need to try to be a roots kind of gal, I'm a seed, traveling in the wind (well, in my mind anyway) Right now, I'm a weed, or a rhizome.

back on wagon tracks....

photos found at Verhext.com

Seems most humans have wanderlust in one way or another, hence the attraction of the gypsy wagon caravan....dreams are important, hopes and thoughts.

The sameness and the differentness

It's amazing how similar all humans are. There seem to be an finite amount of face shapes, voices, and body shapes. Not to mention ideas. Its so bizarre how when you have an idea and begin to research it, you realize that many others have had similar ideas and they are all the same but different. Perhaps it is a thought cloud, sign of the times kind of thing.

We've been researching the Abyss, the deep sea, in home school. After watching Blue Planet Deep Sea while crocheting J's new fingerless mittens, I thought-how cool would it be if I crocheted the deep sea animals and showed the whole thing under black light to give a feeling of being in the dark dark ocean where no sunlight reaches, and very few humans will ever reach??? It was combined with the fact that it's almost Halloween and this would have been a really cool spooky but not actually scary thing, to walk through for kids, and adults, combined with just getting back from Barter Fair and thinking it really needed some art instead of commerce.

I had no idea I had missed this way cool Coral Project and Hyperbolic Coral Reef Where I found Helle Jorgesen, crochet extraordinaire...who does very close to what I had been imagining. However, I was only going to do Deep Sea creatures, not coral reefs. I also found the Daily Tentacle, someone else who loves/is obsessed with tentacle cephlapods. The internet provides so massive much amount of information, sometimes I'm overwhelmed to the point of inaction.

the fine line between madness and creativity....

The fine line between madness and creativity attests to how our dark individuality can be exalted by giving it a creative expression that can move those who come in contact with it through the provision of a channel of compassion, validation and transcendence.

Jill Badonsky

your shadow, your soul

The story goes: this man has an offer from none other than the devil himself- trade his shadow for a never empty bag of gold. The man is excited by the chance. As he lies on the gold pieces within his hotel room he feels an emptiness over come him. Desperately he tries to find the devil, who is dancing with his shadow, never having one of his own. He throws the bag into the abyss of the sea and leaps in after, his shadow follows him. He dies whole.

the Release of Indifference

Just thought that was a great title....be back with content in a bit.

great art

Alfredo Arreguin is fairly well known, but I hadn't heard of him until yesterday.

Image from Linda Hodges Gallery.

July 11th, 2009

Great wedding Sam!! So real, romantic, genuine, soulful, fun, hilarious, joyful, true and plenty of dancing!! Strange happenings I muse over in my mind were fueled by alcohol but none the less hilarious and young. My neck hurts from Black Sabbath, my eyes hurt from staying up late and my mouth hurts from laughing...thanks for sharing.

Bi-Pole-rrrr

Half of me wants to get the hell away, the other half just wants to sit and do nothing, enjoy the garden, have a fire with friends.
I feel like a circle peg in a square hole, but truthfully, I get the feeling most people feel that way. The trick is to not let it bother you.

Photo off of www.htnz.co.nz House Trucks New Zealand.

Black sheep, we are. Of course we are so fuzzy and cute though...

Everyone wants to have the fantasy illusion that they are from a socially adjusted, normal family. Well, all illusions are off now.

My new life title is officially The Journey With No Destination. I was thinking album title but I have no band.....I'm imagining trumpets, brass, tubas and drums. I want bonfire dancing too.

Photo from Daughter of the Sun

Pinhole not pinhead

This here fellow, Wayne Martin Belger, makes some fabulously bizarre pinhole cameras. I would love to have one. I have an awesome digital pinhole but it looks rather mundane.
Here are two of my images from my boring looking but awesome camera.

tiny motherload

I hit the jackpot today in my internet wanderings. I added many more tiny house links in my voyeur spots and found this guy!! Tiny Texas Houses...dream fodder for sure!!! Love the artistic details, the romance, the ....everything. Tumbleweed Homes seem so sterile and gay New Yorker after seeing these houses.... I'm in love and I want one for my 40 acres and a garden in the mountains that I share with 3 friends.

Erica Steiner-focus on the positive

Trying to stay on a positive track when all I feel is discontent for the world of blogs. I may never post again except this lady's art is so ultra awesome-and I found her on another blog.

Super Heroic reading frenzie

Okay, I don't feel like sharing anything much so I'll at least tell you the books I've been thumbing through:
*Forestwife by Theresa Tomlinson--liked it
*Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen--loved it
*Flying Changes by Sara Gruen--not so good
*Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman--pretty good
*Hero by Perry Moore--okay
*Fablehaven by Brandon Mull--scared me so I couldn't sleep
*Borgel by Daniel Pinkwater--funny good as usual
*Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier--currently reading
*Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip--getting to it
*Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley--next

If you have time, love wacky, basement Super Heroes, check out Dr. Horrible!!

Sent by a friend

Life Is Too Short,
Break The Rules, Forgive Quickly,
Kiss Slowly, Love Truly,
Laugh Uncontrollably,
And Never Regret Anything
That Made You Smile.
Life May Not Be The Party
We Hoped For,
But While We're Here, We Should Dance...

Rambling Rose....

The sky has been so crisp lately. We ran to the top of Chadwick Hill the other morning and could see all the way to Mt. Rainier. It is said before the Europeans came and brought car pollution and more masses to create fire pollution etc, you could see all the way to Mt. Hood from here! The Olympics were peaking out of the cloud bank which rose off the ocean, the tops all covered in powdery white. The foothills of Mt. Baker were rolling indigo jaggs, mimicking the ocean waters.

I've seen the golden crescent moon rising in the Eastern sky, above the forest trees, while the ground is crystal white with frost in the morning. I've noticed the muted hues of winter so clearly lately. Quite stillness in the air, crisp stalks of grass, silent clouds and sea.

Dave Fisher

An amazing man died on Wednesday. He was a flame, not a spark. He poured love and life, always doing something. His kids are confident, beautiful inside and knew he loved them. He loved his wife, and she knew it. They were always working towards a dream, but living on the way. There aren't enough great words to describe how you felt in his presence. He was funny and good looking too.
We sent his soul on yesterday. He's on a great journey now. I hope he is reborn near Karen, cause they had a such a passionate love. I'm so sad but so enlightened by the ceremony, the strength, the sorrow, expressed.

Art Attack

Claudia Wornum Title: Daisylirion Wheeleri
Pinhole C Print (featured artist Sept. 08)

Crap booking

There is one thing I just can not stand-and that is Scrap Booking!!! I am not totally sure why it bothers me so much....it's really quite lovely, in theory.

My newest, greatest, crass idea is a Scrap Book Porno Book. Imagine the stamps, the glue ons, the borders, the shaped photos, the titles--all about pornographic images. It makes me laugh to visualize. It' probably my toxic sarcastic teen-age rebellious self....but I smile every time I imagine it in the book store and some Laura Ashley taxi mom picking it up to get an idea for her latest family album of their last picnic in the local park and seeing her eyes widen at the images....or maybe she wouldn't even really comprehend the photos and only see the borders, puffy letters and over used motifs? I'm laughing even now.......oh how horrible am I?

Let Down Your Hair

I joined this thing called Literary Salon. It's like a book club for people who have no friends and can't agree on anything...or at least it is for me. Everyone just shares the books they have been reading with the group. It's pretty interesting to hear about other people's passions, humor and choices. But, to my sadness, I have learned that I am ADD with books. I can not focus on one book for long enough to finish it in a timely manner. I get distracted with other books, Netflix, projects, sleep, picking my toes, crochet, day dreaming....just about anything will keep me from finishing a book in a normal amount of time. I finally found one that held my attention long enough to finish. Half of this was because it wasn't very long! The other half is because it's for teenagers. It is called Zel, it's by Donna Jo Napoli. It's a retelling of Rapunzel, which is why I chose it. I've been telling the kids fairy tales and Rapunzel is one of Nigel's favorites. He even retold it for the Winter Solstice Story Telling at the Public Library in front of the crowd (he had been invited to) So, anyway. I've kicked up my interest in fairy tales, I've always loved them. Now I'm trying to be a little more adult and read like the underlying crap. But I also enjoy all the retellings as well as the classic versions. I have found a quad-trillion retold revamped versions of fairy tales on good ol' Amazon.com. I barely know where to start....I figured I'd try to read every Rapunzel version first, just as a starting point. But, as usual, I got distracted with all the other choices and stories and and and.... so, I'll just go to my library and see what they have on hand and start there.
I think it's interesting how about 10 years ago it was really en vogue to tell the withches/wolf's side of the story in fairy tales, and now it's really cool to tell the dark and sexy side. I am wondering what this all points to in our society since fairy tales are the common morality stories of a culture.....

Visual by www.ellynlusis.com

Something a little more modern...

Is it monday again?

For today....February 2nd, 2009
I am feeling....sick of the simple woman's journal incomplete sentences!!!
I am looking forward to.....nothing
I am going......to bed
I am sick of.......schedules, breakfast, stomach gurgles, my face, silent shadows and no good books!!
I am thinking....about the high Colorado mountain sunshine, oh John Denver, why did you die an alcoholic in a plane crash? Sunshine on my shoulders has always made me happy too. I love Gramma's feather bed and the country road does take me home.
I have.... a frontal lobe headache, a fat cat, a singing dog, and a world of chores I am ignoring.
Here is a picture I am sharing......

Small Houses on Wheels- an other option

Tumbleweed Houses are great. Expense, but great. This fellow was inspired by his complete loss of home during the Katrina Hurricane Fiasco. Not conveniently mobile, but small, cute and cabinish, and best of all---affordable. (I'd take one.) For the usual down payment on a static house, you could own this one! Imagine, no one to owe money to, no one with any financial interest in your house but your self. And if you have the balls, you can drive it down the road.

Rag tag band of travelers set off into the sunset.....

Simple Woman MonDaybook

For today...January, 26th, 2009
Outside my window...frozen kale is stalk still, crisp like a stick
I am thinking...why are my fingers so tired? They want to be left alone, to fall asleep, to rest.
I am thankful for...life
From the learning rooms...bean bag math, poems, journals, legos, dragons, unicorns, lemurs, recorder, new songs
From the kitchen...bread baking day, fingerling potato/yellow lentil/tomato soup with red peppers (the spicy kind)
I am wearing...nothing exciting
I am creating...superhero gauntlets out of crochet
I am going...to put on socks, toes-y cold
I am reading...Carr, O'Keeffee, Kahlo Places of Their Own by Sharyn Rohlfsen Udall
I am hoping...to fix my shoulder, which has been out of socket for close to 4 weeks now! eegads it hurts, every time it gets fixed it pops back out.
I am hearing...snuggling down of night time
Around the house...Bruce is packing up for his 9 day monthly work venture south
One of my favorite things...chai tea with coffee and hot chocolate in it-0h so good. In a liter glass jar, fill half way with hot water and chai tea bag, let steep. Make drip coffee to fill the rest, add choclate mix, stir, add milk if desired. You will never be able to have plain coffee again!
A few plans for the rest of the week:music class for each kid, valentine's boxes, tumbling, visit Salmonberry school, buy red yarn with glitter in it, basketball game, movie night at Library, wash hair at least once, do some sit-ups, stretch, sleep, fix shoulder/neck etc, make a few playlists that got erased!!, read some, eat a few times, do a quadrillion dishes, find a matching pair of socks, laugh 13 times a day, find a new way to put up my hair, go through the kids clothes and give away the too small things, use my 50/50 choice, go to the beach, visit friends, stare into space at least once, laundry, vacuum, cook/bake/slice/serve, moisturize, attend IA (Insanity Anonymous, if only!!! probably no one would end up coming on the same day), oh yeah, and teach some home schooling--think that will fill the week?
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
Oh right, i'm supposed to tell you/offer you the opportunity, to try your own simple simon daybook....

And today's gyspy picture is....

from the Cardmine

Pea soup dream

I drove sluggishly through the thick fog towards home. The shadows of Great Blue Herons become ghosts in the foggy white air, the bush where the Kingfisher sits watching for a twitching fish tail loams in the dark. I had to inch along because the fog was so thick I couldn't tell when the road turned and twisted except for the fact that I had driven this piece of road so many times it is etched in my eyes. As I edged up what used to be my driveway, the tire ruts disappeared into a mossy trail leading me to the thin light from a camp fire illuminating a circle in the dark. I could see figures squatting around it, absorbing it's small warmth, others strumming guitars which echoed eerily in the foggy night air. I wasn't worried, except that this is where I left my house only hours before and there was no indication it was still there! Instead, the wooden wheels of a gypsy caravan glinted in the dark shadows just outside the circle of the fire. A soft glow escaped the window in the caravan from a candle inside, smoke from the pot-bellied stove within merged with the fog and disappeared except for the smell of burning wood. Haunting music, jingles of metal and soft whinnies of horses bedding down for the night fill the air. The children sleep peacefully in their bunk, fresh air stimulating fantastic dreams. When the fire burns down, the embers giving little heat, the adults will all cozy into their quilted bed cubbies, throw one more log in the stove and close their eyes. I can't see anything as I round the bend and drive up the last feet of the driveway, into the spot I always leave the car. No music greets me, no wood smell or soft light of a candle. But I can always dream.....
You must visit here and see my dream home.

Monday, Monday-Simple Woman's Journal

try it yourself

For today January 19th, 2009....
Outside my window...Jack Frost visits again, crystals glitter in the moonlight, twinkling like the gems they are.
I am thinking...of what is the best place for a child? What constitutes a 'good home'?
I am thankful for...laughter, its magical qualities to change a face, a day and a worry.
From the learning rooms...poems, journals, bean bag math equations, gnomes, music
From the kitchen...rolled out the rest of the previously frozen Christmas sugar cookie dough, cooked and decorated them this evening. Much fun.
I am wearing...pajama bottoms and a sweater!
I am creating...good habits
I am going...to the Community Center tomorrow to watch and listen to Barack Obama be inaugurated in as the 44th president of the United States of America!!! He is a wonderfully inspiring speaker.
I am reading...Scandal of the Season
I am hoping...to add harmony
I am hearing...silence
Around the house...dust bunnies are multiplying, books are filling corners, legos are spilling over and ideas are waiting to be discovered.
One of my favorite things...having my hair brushed.
A few plans for the rest of the week:lots of hair cuts, basketball games, get a new notebook, make some bread and soup, thwart the pirates!!!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

i just can't help myself!!

Waiter-Reality Check please!

I'm trying really hard to live in reality but, it seems so boring. I worry that my astrological chart was right. I do live in dream land so much I'll never find happiness here on Earth!! How do you change your astrological future? I mean, I was already born at a certain time and place right? Can't change that. Phooey, or something stronger!
My high school year book quote was something like, Reality can be the best fantasy of all. Um, was that me? I guess you might say I should work to make my reality into my fantasy, yeah? Well, every time I do that, I change my dream and the whole idea is that the possibility is more exciting than the incarnation of it. So, what do I do about that?

The Simple Woman's Daybook -Must be Monday again

do your own

For today January 5th, 2009....
Outside my window...even the puddles have puddles
I am thinking...of how to get warm
I am thankful for...the life of my loved ones, why are people bombing each other? I am so sad for all the families of the injured, dead or lost. Is this the behavior their God wants?
From the learning rooms...poems, journals, form drawings, recorder, number shapes
From the kitchen...newly covered chairs!! still get a high from their sleek look
I am wearing...pajamas and a hat
I am creating...muscles
I am going...to bed, I'm so tired. Ever since New Year's Eve I can't seem to get un-tired!
I am reading...absolutely nothing
I am hoping...to iron out my heart wrinkles
I am hearing...the heater, thank goodness!! We ran out of propane the other day, and the chill is still in my bones
Around the house...the claws of the cat sound like high heels
One of my favorite things...health
A few plans for the rest of the week:order the seeds for the garden, finish felt calendar I was supposed to have done by the 1st, warm up!!!, make a dent in the laundry, and last but not least: get off this island-yes, folks, I still have not made it!!!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

If You Want to Sing Out-Cat Stevens

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free,
be free
cause theres a million things to be
You know that there are

You can do what you want
The opportunity's on
And if you can find
a new way

You can do it today
You can make it all true
And you can
make it undo
You see ah ah ah
Its easy ah ah ah
You only need to
know

Well if you want to say yes, say yes
And if you want to say
no, say
no cause theres a million ways to go
You know that there are

New Years Nuts

Nut Butter cups recipe inside this here good book.

I decided to make Nut Butter cups for the New Years Dance and Bash at Summer's. I start with ingredients. I use Almond Butter instead of Peanut.

Warm the Nut Butter, butter and crushed graham crackers. Spoon into paper lined muffin tin.

In seperate pan, warm the chocolate chips and milk.
Spoon on top of slightly cooled Nut Butter cups.

Let the whole thing chill while you get ready for Dance!!!

Sequins, vampire secret agents with cell phones and suits are what we wore. What did you wear? Powered by Nut Butter cups and wine, I danced 5 hours and then had a 2 am sauna with good friends. How refreshing and renewing for a New Calendar Year of 2009.

I am trying the attitude, We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.
Buddha
-or-
They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
Andy Warhol
Can't decide which one. Maybe both?