L is for...

Leora, that's me! Named for my grandmother, an old family name that goes back to Helen (Light), and a very popular girls name in Israel, meaning approximately "my light"
Libraries, favorite places to "be" for me, all my life
Lima beans, I love baby green limas, and butter beans... and my lima bean soup is wonderful
Lemur, aren't their eyes fascinating?
Leo, my sun sign is in 3 degrees of Leo, with Libra rising, moon in Gemini
Languages fascinate me, and I had a little Latin, German, some more Spanish, and French in school, and enjoyed the windows into other cultures that brought
Lyre is a type of harp, always looked so pretty and interesting
Lists, I'm a sucker for lists, can't you tell?
Lotus, so much beauty and fragrance coming up out of darkness and muck
Lint, what I've got in MY pocketses, precious!
Llama, an obscure Monty Python reference that I couldn't resist adding (also, the Larch!)
Lunar for the Moon, a big influence for all women
Lorien, the name of my baby daughter who lived one day, but was a big influence on my life
Licking, that would be my dog's worst habit, she likes to sneak up on me and lick my face to make me giggle
Limitations are so hard for me, I keep pushing my limits because I somehow feel like if I just keep going I can do anything I have to... but that's not always the BEST thing to do
Landing - on my feet, like a cat!
Links to friends, to community, to learning from the past to make a better future
Llewellyn - lot's of "L"s! and fun to say
Laura, a song, a movie, and what people wanted to call me in school, because my name was "different" and Laura was more familiar (or Leona, sometimes!)
Light is what I try to capture in my watercolors, and use to say something special
Legionnaires, I used to want to run away and joing the Foreign Legion... why do they wear those funny hats? and, do all camels spit? maybe I won't join, after all.
Little details can make all the difference
Latin, I studied one year of it in high school, and really enjoyed it, especially the times the teacher let me go off to the park by the Rogue River, to read a book
Lowlands and Highlands, someday I want to see Scotland
Lancre is a really interesting Terry Pratchett place I often visit
the Lottery - a short story that really affected me in school, helped me to understand people better than I did
Lyrics of songs are poetry, and I love to sing a song with beautiful lyrics
Lentil bean soup - my soups are slightly famous
Larkspur - a flower for July, my birth month
Loser is a label I don't really understand... nobody "wins" all the time, and when you win, what does that really mean? I'd rather be a consistent "B+" than an "A" in only one area
Lime tree in my front yard has beautiful ripe fruit right now, so wonderful to cook with
Lemonade especially Pink, is a favorite for Summertime!
Limberness, something I've always taken for granted, which is slowly deserting me. I do stretches to try to keep it (hatha yoga style).
Long Beach, CA is one of the closest beaches to where I live, and I enjoy going there
Love, that's the big one, all we need is Love, right?

So many L's so much time... I guess I should break down and post this, right? B*B, Ysabeau

Back to School!

Today was the first day of classes, and I know I'm going to enjoy them. My watercolor class is short a few students, but the teacher is trying really hard to fill it, and we are all asking friends if they are interested, so I hope it will work out. I felt so excited about art class starting, I swear that I felt like I was in grade school again, in a good way. I hauled my stuff around in my new purple bag, which really helped me, but it was a little hard to get it in and out of the car, so I need to stay aware of the weight of anything I put in there. Lockers will be available Wednesday and that will help because I can put the heavier things in there so I don't have to bring them back and forth.

I got all carried away and started painting like mad, but it was really fun. I finished a small seascape, did a beginning layer of a woman's head and shoulders, wax resist and background on some pale flowers, and first layer of a balancing figure with ocean behind... just felt very free with color and layers. I like watercolor a lot, and I hope acrylics and oils turn out to be as interesting.

I've been making some other things, but I haven't been painting much this Summer, so it's very nice to have time set aside to paint again. It's not that I have so much talent, there are so many more talented people in the world, it's more that I just get a special kind of satisfaction from watching the colors move around on my paper, blending and feathering, and making something that is a unique expression - even if it's true that the picture I'm doing isn't very good, just ultimately going to be just a step towards improving, it's still something special to me.

So, I'm tired, and achy, and happy. B*B, Ysabeau

Progress not Perfection

I have a long list of things I want to get done, and a short list of energy, and physical strength to do it with. The frustration is that I know how to do a task, my mind is ready and willing to do it, but my body just can't keep up right now. I'm not sure if it ever really kept up, but I'm much more aware of it than I used to be. I try to break tasks down so I can do them a little bit at a time. I try to be patient with myself, but patience is not, and has never been, easy for me. I also have trouble being organized, and tend to get sidetracked, or do too much and hurt myself.

K is for...

Kwan Yin, Kwanin, Quan Yin - my favorite goddess of mercy, compassion, and generosity
Kids are so much fun, but such a challenge to keep a balance with them. I like to borrow them, then give them back, all spoiled, at this point in my life
Karma is a wonderful concept, as long as it isn't used to punish people who are already being hurt by life
Kkkkaty ... an old song
King me - used to play checkers very seriously with my grandpa Claude when I was a kid
King Kong - only the original classic for me, thankyouverymuch
Kismet - oh, the lavish Hollywood musicals! Bad Costuming, bad Dialog, but wonderful singing!
Klutz Kits - a fun way to try something new and a little weird, that's how I learned to do a little bit of macrame
Kiddy Karz - I loved them, thought I was really truly driving when I was six
Kiss me Kate - another chauvinistic script, but I keep being drawn in by the staging and classic style
Katherine Hepburn - a personal favorite, and a real class act
Kudzu - would you believe that the local city PLANTED IT all over the freeway walls, and WATERED IT?!!!!! It is self seeding and migrating all over the area, eating trees and yards as it goes, but they planted it because it's easy care.... oh, my.
Kathereen Mock - a dear old friend of mine from Canada, I miss her sweet face
Knee - mine hurt
Knead - fun to knead bread, but what to do, I can't eat it any more!
Krab (not Crab) imitation fake seafood that sneaks into my food
Kangaroo - what has it got in it's pocketses, precious? I think they are really fascinating, but I have no urge to get one for a pet!
Kilamanjaro just sounds so exotic and foreign, someplace I'll never be going, like Kalamazoo
Keen, neato, swell - acceptable exclamations when I was a kid
Kansas (I don't think we're in Kansas any more, Toto!)
BB King plays the blues on Lucille, says why should he retire, when he's having fun!
Knitting, I've just learned the very basic stitch, but so far I prefer to crochet, but once in a while I try it again.

I'm slow, but having fun with this wordplay list - B*B, Ysabeau

J is for...

Jazz music is great to listen to especially live. I've done a little singing in that genre, and had a great time with it, but prefer the vocal type of Jazz (and Blues) as a rule. From Ella to Billie, Al Jarreau, Joe Williams, Etta James, Willie Nelson (yes, he's done Jazz and Blues... and Reggae!) it's gooood stuff.

Jasper is a stone that comes in many colors and shines up beautifully. I love to work with it because it is inexpensive for the lovely quality you can get, and it is so durable, as well as being so colorful to make designs with

Jets, (Benny and the) was a hit song when I was in college, along with Rocket Man and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and I'd hear it played over and over while I studied in the Student Union (at University of Oregon)

Janette is the name of my next younger sister who is about 9 years younger than I am. My, she was a bald little baby, but she has glorious blonde hair now. She grew up to be an artist, a writer, and an English teacher in an inner city school... why would anyone have five Masters degrees?

the court Jester - Danny Kaye plays a wonderfully silly role, it's one of my very favorite movies to watch, it always cheers me up when I worry too much or lose my sense of the ridiculous. I like all the Danny Kaye movies, but this one is hard to beat, with costumes from all over history, and the Pellet with the Poison is in the Chalice from the Palace.

Jingle Bells is Not my favorite Yuletide song, but it can get stuck in my mind because you just can't avoid hearing it, and then you can't get rid of it!

Joy - I love to use symbols for joy in my home, rainbows from crystals, hummingbird feeders to attract the flying jewels along with flowers that they like, which happily come in joyful colors and scents that I can enjoy, too.

Journey - every day - one foot in front of the other on a path towards the future. "The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began..."JRRTolkein

Junk can be treasure, it just depends on your viewpoint, and what you end up doing with it. A little paint, a little sandpaper, and Voila! ready to use once again

Juror - I love the movie "12 Angry Men", and I think it should be REQUIRED viewing in our schools because it teaches a lot about jumping to conclusions and human errors

Judge - "...I'll be Judge, I'll be Jury, said cunning old Fury, I'll try the whole case and condemn him to death..." L. Carrol - So important not to judge too quickly or too harshly, yourself or others, because it's often not your best choice

Jenga is a fascinating game of balance and steadiness of hand and mind

Jasmine grows as a perennial in this climate, and I have some star jasmine vines as ground cover, and trained up on supports so you can really see the white star shaped flowers with their rich scent on warm evenings. It's really tough, but looks delicate.

Jewelry design has been a semipro/hobby of mine for over twenty years, now, and while I was very burnt out for a while after producing large quantities of one-of-a-kind designs for several "one woman art shows" of my designs, which seemed to involve repairing everyone's broken jewelry as well, I'm enjoying it again as long as I don't fall into the trap of trying to do too much at once, or letting someone tell me what to design.

Jealousy is something I've seen destroy people. There's all kinds of jealousy, but whatever the cause it's like an acid, destroying friendships, relationships, and setting barriers between people for no good reason.

Justice is important in daily life, being fair to oneself and others, but Not Revenge! Justice.

Jerusalem has been desired by many people, and caused wars to be fought over it for religious beliefs, with crusades, deaths, and ruin. Maybe it could be set up as an area that NObody owns, and the wars could cease, like an International Park/site? I don't know, just seems like there should be some compromise that would work and stop all the nonsense.

Jar - a good tool that I've used in the past is a "fun jar", with outings and fun projects written on pieces of paper, and then you draw one to do when you have a free day! Great for motivating groups, kids, and adults who can't decide what to do first.

I think that's all the "J"s I need... B*B, Ysabeau