Some things to smile about (or…having a rich varied thought life:)

Some things that make me smile in no particular order: Planning and partaking in art projects. Generating a love for the arts and for reading. Learning new things. Reading an engaging book. Receiving feedback about my book. I received a book of cows doing yoga for Christmas from my middle son and I was dreading […]

Washed Ashore Refuse, Art in Unusual Ways

I saw this prettily mosaiced seal at the aquarium yesterday. I wish in retrospect I had noted the artist. These other two pictures (shoes and a bathtub) were on display as part of an authentic Titanic display. These items were found in the wreck site. How weird to touch these artifacts. I’m not sure why […]

Cats and That’s That

Mister Po as a baby: Mister Po now. Resident cats. I remember yearly trips to “the caves” in upstate New York. I don’t mean Howe’s -although I’ve been there numerous times with the kids and spouse (before his illness of course). I’m talking about a cave system accessed by an elevator located at the […]

Crows To Roses

“The power of morality is not something that is talked about much these days, especially among contemporary people. But when we look at it from the point of view of commitments as a form of morality, and when we SEE how the Buddhists treat making and keeping commitments as a form of morality, then we can come to a better understanding of Ghandi’s work and how it continues to reverberate with us.”

A Visual Blog, Some Favorite Pictures, From Ants To Mimes

About seven years ago I walked into a friend’s kitchen and saw a surprising sight. Ants were marching- swarming really– the butter dish, the corners of the counter top, the dish sponge. Ew!. What to do? We tried an ant killer called Revenge which promised that it’s “weather resistant granules attracts and kills both sweet and […]

St. Patrick’s Day Pondering

I was getting ready to leave for the funeral parlor and make “arrangements” when I felt compelled to spend my newly widowed status crawling around on my hands and knees in the backyard. My mother in law watched from the living room window, mouthing the words to her daughter: What is she doing out there? You see, I was looking for yet more four-leafed clovers…

Christmas and Stuff

I’ve always lived 2 and a 1/2 hours from Massachusetts; even as a child. I was born there but my parents were living in Connecticut at the time of my birth. When I was growing up, there weren’t as many safety laws in place. When my adoption in Mass. was finalized, I was about 3 […]

URNS Dilemma

URNS Check this out: These are on display in the corner of my cellar. The four of them, (two pets, two people) have been on display for some time now. I know it’s a bit of a macabre theme but go with it. Think of this as a pre-Halloween blog or something. It’s become a dilemma, […]

I will always see W’s on Bulldogs now

“She has double-u’s all over her,” said my two and a 1/2 year old granddaughter. “What? Minnie the dog has ‘W’s” all over her? Really?” I replied to her, laughing. At first I thought that this was a form of Onomatopeia (which is Greek for making up words to explain noise; but in […]

Bait Shop Sexism

I’ve been meaning to vent about something. A few months ago, I was determined to resume fishing as a Spring/Summer ‘hobby.’ Mind you, my father took me all the time when I was growing up. “Gender-specific activities” were not imposed upon my child self. It was the same to everyone if I wanted to squat […]

Thou Art Inspiring

My grandson said recently: “Grandma enjoys stress. It gives her something to do.” This is my bathroom shower curtain. The curtain was purchased at Walmart.As you can see, it’s an oceanic world, an underwater scene of fish and coral. Every week I buy stickers and when my grandson sleeps over, he puts them into the scene. […]

Emotions With No Name

Where can you find the remains of a giraffe, an upright dining table, a claw hand and silver bars worth millions (all in the same place)? Underwater, in NYC, that’s where. Weird finds in New York’s waterways are the inspiration for fictional stories on a “digital journal” called Underwater New York. But I’m more interested […]

BRAIN PLUMAGE

“You see yourself descending From the building to the ground And you watch the sky receding And you spin to see the traffic Rising up and it’s so quiet Then you wake”–Adam Duritz I went to an IMax theater in Boston last week and saw a docu-film in 3-D about South Pacific sea life. […]

It Rains Diamonds on Uranus; Happy Mother’s Day Carol

…I was thinking that sometimes inspiration isn’t so bold that it’s wearing a velour jumpsuit. Sometimes it’s as simple as a cartwheeling spider or a rainbow tree. Noticing (and seeking out) beautiful eccentricities enhance my life. But I’m getting ahead of myself… So, picture this: A young black man is scheduled as keynote speaker to […]

Passions Pursued, HONY, Pandora and Unicorns

“They were expecting it to be nothing but unicorns shitting rainbows…” Ever browse Humans Of New York (HONY)? Think this: a photographer named Brandon who admits to, at some point being obsessed with things like aquariums, piano, baritone, New York City, etc. His current passion brings us pictures of New Yorkers, taken in a purposely […]

Work ethic, Dr. Suess and if I was a Tree

I ‘met’ someone recently who used to work in retail and I did my share of that too so I was reminiscing about my years ‘working with the public.’ I told him that I did my best. That’s all anyone can do. I found lots of expired merchandise in my “Health […]

Interview With a Fellow Aspergian

This blog is in honor of both “National Library Week” (April 13th to 19th) and “Asperger Awareness Month” (April); although designated weeks and months are hardly reasons to blog about e-mails received quite “out of the blue” from interesting people who’ve actually read ALL of my blogs. I assure you readers, […]

Some of Crows’ and Ravens’ Roles in Fairy Tales and myth and Literature

I think of ravens and crows interchangeably. I can’t help it; I just do. Ravens are bigger in size although there are other differences too; like their voices. Supposedly the crow can say ‘uh-huh’, ‘caw’, ‘eh-aw’, ‘kow’, ‘aww’, and sound real nasal, whereas the raven is harsher and says things like ‘kraa’, or it makes […]

weather patterns, Donna Williams, fruit salad, Buddha

Donna Williams says (in a brilliant analogy) that autism is a fruit salad, which I infer to mean, that everyone’s fruit bowl looks a bit different. Mine has Aspergers bananas in it, with selective mutism lemons, sensory processing dysfunction prickly pears, and dysthymic mangos. There are other fruits in there too. Like anxious horned melon […]

Here Be Dragons…When Pipes Are Not Pipes

Stephen King once wrote a short story about the heyday of youth with all it’s freshness and trials. He called youth: Pony days. We all have a brief time as ponies. There were two times during my pony years that I was given horses and both times my father said no, absolutely not, she can […]

Resistance to Change and Toilet Tissue and Birds and Stuff

I was thinking about adaptations, about how “equipped” living organisms are to survive within given environments. And also, I was thinking about how ill-equipped I often ‘feel.’ Some birds that are incapable of flight—– like Penguins and Ostriches (because they do not fly), have eggs that are round as opposed […]

Animal Menagerie…Animal Rescuing

I have always been a rescuer. When I was 13, I had this cat named Theresa (tree-sa) (named because I’d climbed a tree to rescue her while out for a bike ride on dirt back-roads). I had way too many animals and knew my mother would say no, so I hid Theresa, her black and […]

Stroll Through Vermont (in my head)

Cloud collecting mountains surround. Unpaved roads ramble. Roadside produce stands are unmanned by vendors. A locked metal box with a slit in the top is seen amongst the piles of tomatoes, squash and ears of corn with a handwritten note beside it: HONOR SYSTEM- Set your price and leave money in box No views on […]

My kitty and my view: satisfied

I am satisfied enough with my lot in life. In this particular grey house, I have lived for almost 22 years. I didn’t intend to stay this long. It was ‘temporary’; yet here I am, two children nudged from the nest to find living space elsewhere. One daughter remains. So for years I’ve had the […]

Contemplation on Dead Greyhounds and Women’s Rights; Ultimately Life Lessons

Some people are surely meant to be in our lives, but not necessarily to be in them for a lifetime. I think of course of those people in my own life who came and went on in death before I would’ve liked. My spouse left three children whose ages were 23, 14 and 9. I […]

The True Unelaborated Non-hallucinogenic Story of Rudolph

(who took this photo? Pls contact me so I can give credit) Once upon a time I stumbled quite fortuitously upon a wizened crow who disclosed to me; (in exchange for the promise of a hot dog that had fallen into the dirt)- how to identify gnomes. She said they disguise themselves cleverly when people […]

Bacteria: Who’s in Charge?

“Happiness and bacteria have one thing in common; they multiply by dividing!” ― Rutvik Oza “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” ― Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who! Does that apply to microbes, pray tell? 90% of the cells within us are not ours; they’re microbes.’ Demodex mites frolic amongst our eyelashes, peacefully eating dead […]

The Elephant Keeper, a quick overview of a stunning book

I rarely write a book review but The Elephant Keeper screams to be understood, and to be read. If you do read it, you may come away from it stuck in your head but not able to really understand what just happened. Doesn’t that have the makings of a good read? One that makes you […]

Dog Walking As an Exercise In Art Appreciation

The sidewalk I stand on is most common: pitted, crumbling around the edges, cracked, with the common faced weeds of suburban blight sprouting between those cracks. Between a “rock and a hard place,” yeah. Empty lots, exhaust-bathed roadsides and overpass embankments are breeding grounds for “weeds,” which are defined as undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially […]

A Dog smile, Eleanor, and Anxiety

Today it’s like my recharge light is blinking. I need to plug in somewhere and re-energize. Today I’m weary emotionally. Ever get weary of the whole wide world? Perhaps I have been weary a long time. It so happens we went to the airport to drop off a houseguest who stayed with […]

Oil Slick Harbingers and Colorblind Crooner

Years ago, before my husband’s diagnosis of ALS, there were subtle signs; harbingers if you will, that times were going to be changing. We were at a grocery store. I live close to the eastern coastline and department store parking lots are often filled with seagulls that scavenge for french fries. They’re drawn in by […]

Category: animals