Things that can't easily be explained, Pt. 2

Last year around this time, I wrote an entry entitled "Things that can't easily be explained". My friend Lydia had died unexpectedly in her sleep on January 29, and a few days later I received a letter from her which she'd written just days before she died. Lydia was an incredibly gifted artist, and she had recently learned of my own artistic endeavors. In her letter she wrote something like, Are you sure that with your artistic talent that you are in the right profession?

Flash forward to 2010:  Two weeks ago I was in Austria saying goodbye to my friends, among them my friend Brigitte who had encouraged my artistic endeavors with art supplies and a painting course. Brigitte herself learned only four years ago that she had awe-inspiring artistic talent. A few days after I said goodbye, Brigitte too died unexpectedly in the night.

Both of these women were a source of love and inspiration to so many people who all gathered this week to remember and celebrate their lives.

I don't know if I'm in the right profession, and I certainly don't know that I will ever have the artistic talents that Brigitte and Lydia had. I do know that I will probably get the chance to reevaluate my career path, because LSU in its infinite wisdom has decided to pink-slip all instructors effective January 2011.

So in addition to updating my resume and seeing if there's a paper or two I can send out for publication, in addition to preparing for my four (count 'em FOUR) Latin classes, I'll be scheduling some creative time this weekend.  Because you never know what the future holds...

P.S.  When I posted this to my Facebook page, the security words were "revalue" and "power".  Life is spooky sometimes!

Inspiration

Last year for my birthday, my friends surprised me with a party and some unexpected gifts.  Most unexpected was a backpack full of art supplies including a gift certificate for a weekend painting course from my friend Brigitte.

The attached photos are the things I created during the painting course.  Note that most of them are drawings.  My teacher, Manfred Lecher, wanted me to show him what I could and could not do before I started painting.  I did a decent pitcher and pinecones (the alarm clock is a little Daliesque, but it demonstrates attention to detail).


When I painted the bottles, however, Manfred said I "wasn't ready" and "used too much water." (I was so proud of them, too! Especially the colors!)


So it was back to drawing with colored pencils, which may (or may not) be my medium. I drew the bottles again. And again. Different shading, different treatments, different techniques.

Then I graduated to apples.

When I proved that I could draw apples and color them correctly, during the last couple of hours that weekend, I was allowed to pick up a paintbrush again. I think they turned out pretty well (for someone who found out 30 years later that she had "artistic talent that should be fostered" in pre-school).

More on Brigitte, inspiration, and coincidences next time!

Joey's Jetlag Breakfast

I arrived home from Europe on Sunday, and the semester began on Tuesday.  This is my recipe for getting over jetlag!

Make your favorite coffee, and make it STRONG.  Pour it in a cup and add milk or cream to taste.  Slowly sip while you prepare the rest of the breakfast.

In a bowl, combine:
1 envelope instant oatmeal
about 20 raisins
2 dates, pitted and sliced into thin rounds
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
a sprinkling of ground cinnamon
a teaspoon of butter
a pinch of salt

Add 1/2 cup boiling water and stir until blended.  Let set two minutes.  It's going to be icky-thick when you stir it and that's when you add the secret ingredient:  a generous splash of your coffee and cream!

Mmmm....caffeinated oatmeal.  Good for your energy.  Good for your digestion.  Good for your heart!!

Moon Tide Press Poet of the Month

My friend, Bryn!  Read her poems here http://www.moontidepress.com/poet_of_the_month.html.

Big Rocks (aka New Year's Resolutions) - Part II

A month in the Enns Valley is just what I needed to gain some perspective.  2009 was a whirlwind of searching out job opportunities and trying to find a way to stay in Austria.  When that didn't work out, I spent the last few months of the year playing catch-up at LSU, teaching four (count 'em FOUR) courses and generally working nine to five.  All my writing projects and plans for getting back to Austria went on hold.

But I've had time in the last few days of 2009 to reconsider my goals.  Here are my "big rocks"

1) Follow-up on job opps in Austria (and search out new opps if current ones fall through)
2) Write something every day
3) Spend less frivolous time on the Internet
4) Be more focused
5) Live a healthier lifestyle

With those resolutions having been set in pixels, I assume that at the stroke of midnight I will become a serene and productive dervish (I'll be the one wearing pistachio!).

For a fascinating article on female dervishes, click the picture!

Christmas Renewal

My first job as a Christmas clerk in a garden center forever changed the way I look at Christmas in the U.S. Instead of the magical childhood memories of handmade sequined stockings hanging by the fireplace, listening to Ludwig Thoma's Heilige Nacht on Christmas Eve and snowy trips to grandma's house, Christmas retail is one of the deepest levels of hell.  From the non-stop electronic Christmas music to selling kittens and puppies of dubious origin, from the unreasonable demands of procrastinating customers to the kitsch, kitsch, kitsch, kitsch!

Christmas in rural Austria is a return to the magic of childhood.  Yes, there is a commercial aspect, but it ends exactly at 2:00 pm on Christmas Eve.  From that time on, Christmas is all about church and family.

Before mass at 5:30 pm, nearly everyone visits the cemetery to light candles on the graves of their loved ones.  Then the entire town proceeds to the church, not one by one, but as a whole community while a brass band plays a processional on the main square.

The (unheated!) church is ablaze with candles, even those decorating the Charlie Brown Christmas tree on the altar.  Christmas carols played by a Styrian trio float down from the balcony.  The air, thick with incense and pine, jingles with offerings well into the Communion liturgy. After being greeted, led in prayer, serenaded, absolved, blessed, and dismissed, the entire congregation meets outside on the street and disperses family by family to their individual Christmas dinners and gift exchanges.

After a hearty meal including all of the Austrian food groups (fried meat, potatoes, rice, and pumpkinseed oil), cherished gifts were given and received.  Then I enjoyed the close harmony of a family singing songs both sacred and profane, accompanied by piano, guitar, Bohemian bagpipes and zither.  When I walked home late that night, I reflected on the many wonderful gifts of God:  good health, dear friends, close family, air travel, music, high mountains, bright stars and the Son.

Big Rocks (aka New Year's Resolutions) - Part I

Do y'all know the Big Rocks parable?   A physics professor walks into class with a bucket full of big rocks.  He asks the students if the bucket is full.  They, of course, answer "yes."  Then he takes a bunch of pebbles, and pours them into the bucket, where the pebbles search out the spaces between the big rocks.  "Now is it full?"  he asks.  The class is a little more skeptical.  He then takes several handfuls of sand, which seek out the spaces between the big rocks and the pebbles.  "Is the bucket full now?" "No!" answers the class.  The professor pours in a gallon or so of water, filling in the spaces between the big rocks, pebbles and sand grains.

He then explained that there's always a way to fit more into a defined space, whether it's a bucket or the hours in a day.  But you can only fit it all in if you start with the big rocks.  If you start with sand and pebbles, the big rocks won't fit in -- no way, no how.

I hope you all have a chance to think about your Big Rocks in the next few days. Stop back here on New Year's Day and let me know what they are!