Red Queen Day

The Art of the Day is: pacing

This is related to staying in gear, being mindful, Goldilocks logic: not too fast, not too slow, just right. It's the winding down without winding down   t  o  o  
m  u   c   h.

posted by the other Joan @ 8:16 AM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Improvisation

So if I don't know exactly what or how I'm doing something, I can make substitutions, make inquiries, make other plans. Flexibility. (and if all else fails, give 'em a song and dance!)

posted by the other Joan @ 10:26 AM 0 comments

The Art for the day is: Playing nicely with others

posted by the other Joan @ 2:05 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Entrances and Exits

Coming and Goings
Arrivals and Departures
Greetings and Farewells
Showing up and Leaving
Starting and Stopping
Beginning and Ending
Here and Gone.

posted by the other Joan @ 7:51 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Appreciating Family

As you know by now, I believe every problem has a family. It is interesting to parse out these behaviors, watch them, participate despite your best efforts not to get involved, and perpetuate them. Another cliche: what goes around comes around.

Happy Birthday Maxx.
Today you are a fountain pen,
tomorrow a mouse.

posted by the other Joan @ 4:13 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Endurance

posted by the other Joan @ 10:44 PM 0 comments

The Art for today is: describing yourself

This is an exercise I started with someone.
Come up with a few words to describe yourself, or qualities that you have or are important to you.
Then try to come up with someone you know who has that quality.
No prizes, no right or wrong answers, just an interesting way to think about yourself and relationships.

I'll start.

Integrity (I share this with my sister)
Engaging (I share this with my brother)
Receptive (the other Joan)
Hospitable (My mom, my cousin)
Inquisitive (my dad)
Playfulness, kindness (Jimmy)

posted by the other Joan @ 2:37 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Self Defining

posted by the other Joan @ 1:45 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Being selectively superstitious

While I don't think of myself as being particularly superstitious, there are some superstitions I buy into for the sake of tradition. Not using peacock feathers on a stage, not mentioning that Scottish play, and not watching shooting stars by myself. So, tonight, when the Leonid meteor showers come through, I won't watch them by myself, and I'll feel a little sad, and I'll wonder if I asked someone to go see them with me because of the skyroof and the heated seats in his car, or if I was projecting feelings again. The upshot of it all is it looks like it will be too cloudy to see anything, anyway.

posted by the other Joan @ 9:03 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Collaborative Writing



Love is like spice

Love is like spice. You want to savor it, you want to vary it, you want to use it judiciously, sometimes.
You miss it if it isn't there.

Love is like garlic. Pungent. Stays on your breath, and sometimes in your pores. Delicious, if you are hungry, annoying when you are not. Fills a room. Can be sweet, can be stale, can be overpowering.

Love is like cinnamon. Exotic. Comforting. Conjures up memories of cozy days, or red hot like candies, like flushing, blushing, rouged up faces.

Love is like rosemary. Serious, overwhelming, somewhat formal, or ritualized.

Love is like curry, all mixed up. A little of this and a little of that. Fragrant. Mild, hot or too hot.

Love is like salt. It changes the flavors around it. It’s ubiquitous. It’s in everything.

Love is like saffron, delicate and dear, not to be stumbled upon, but planned for.

Love is like basil, it evokes memories of other places, sunlight, summer, freshness.

Love is like cayenne, it slaps you to grab your attention. It’s hot and dangerous.

Please feel free, feel encouraged, to add to the list.

posted by the other Joan @ 3:05 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Projecting

The Art of the Catapult: Build Greek Ballistae, Roman Onagers, English Trebuchets, and More Ancient Artillery by William Gurstelle

posted by the other Joan @ 4:24 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Experiencing Insecurity

This has been a month of transitions. Without “changing jobs” I’ve changed employers, and it has not brought out the best in me.
I am skeptical about what people say they will do.
I am worried that I will be judged.
I am concerned that I am making enough/too much noise.
I am marshalling my resources.
I am trying to make a good impression.
I am doubting my own proficiency.

It takes a lot of energy, energy that I had reserved for other projects.
So I’m mildly miffed, but wary of being miffed because I want to be a team player.

It’s like wearing a girdle. You know you look better with it on, it’s appropriate to wear it under this kind of dress, but you are looking forward to getting home and taking it off.

I am ripe for conspiracy theorists. I immediately think the worst of people’s actions (like, I’m going to be screwed, like I’m going to be indebted). It seems very old and familiar, like some caution my father would say, like seeing prejudice where none was intended.
I thought that I had worked through that. I thought I was no longer depressed, no longer interested in awfulizing.
The good news is I’m uncomfortable sooner. The good news is I don’t want to stay in this mood, in this mindset.

I want to believe that “Despite everything,…. people are really good at heart."
Anne Frank

That people honor their promises, that I will not be left out.

I am experiencing less insecurity, the turmoil has calmed down somewhat, but I’m still amazed at how ingrained old behaviors can be, how my mind has elastic memory. It springs back into its original shape. Like a good underwire bra. I don’t know where these analogies come from.

posted by the other Joan @ 4:12 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Changing Appearance



I'm not talking Cheshire Cat here. I'm not talking disguise.
It goes back to conceal and reveal. Maybe I'm having some sort of revelation.

posted by the other Joan @ 10:16 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Doing things together

Maybe precise things like synchronized swimming, or singing in harmony, or maybe less precise things like being on the same page, singing from the same hymnal, being part of the team.
To one extent or the other we are all in this together.

posted by the other Joan @ 7:56 AM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Color Poetry

As I'm driving by stands of trees on the highway, it was curious to notice that the leaves that were left on the trees were the same color as the brick buildings revealed behind the leafless trees.

posted by the other Joan @ 10:56 AM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Implications

whoo-oo-ooo.

posted by the other Joan @ 11:28 AM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Outsmarting the Cat

My cat is getting old.
The guy who lives next door is worried, because he hears the cat screaming when I'm not there.
The cat is not in pain, or want, he's just losing his hearing, and evidently can't hear himself so he turns up the volume. This is not a major problem.
The major problem is he's taken to overshooting the litter box.
I put the litter box inside of another plastic container (a storage box with low sides, that's longer on both ends,) but he's begun to go over the other(short) side.
I guess I'm open for suggestions.
At this point the cat is outsmarting me.

posted by the other Joan @ 4:59 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Somewhere between constancy and consistency

Which of course relates back to the art of following through, that I posted yesterday.
Constancy is like loyalty, or as a college advisor once said,"like pregnancy. You either are or you aren't, you can't be just a little bit pregnant/constant/loyal". Consistency is more of a goal, stir things around until they are thoroughly mixed, you strive towards consistency. Or maybe you don't. Maybe each of us is more like a stew than a melting pot. Some of us like to bump into things along the way and try to figure out what they are. Constantly inconsistent? That may have been cool at seventeen, but not any more. Consistently Constant. Dependable to get you out of life's lumps and bumps.

posted by the other Joan @ 3:25 PM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: Following Through

I've been on a run of sports metaphors, and I don't know quite why. Moving and doing, I'm guessing. Learning new rules. It is hard to keep your eye on your own plate when it feels like you have several plates spinning over your head.

posted by the other Joan @ 9:11 AM 0 comments

The Art of the Day is: The Art of Finding Creative Solutions

By which I mean, there's got to be a better way than this!

posted by the other Joan @ 3:20 PM 0 comments