Red Queen Day

2010-06-10T13:36:00.001-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Maintaining Motivation.

2010-06-08T10:28:00.003-05:00

hello world.
(and other ways of starting over)

I thought that was going to be it. Just a brief comment (a tweet really) to let someone and myself know I am still here. I am still here, but I'm not sure I know where here is. Temporally, according to a GPS, it's June and I'm in New Hampshire.
I'm trying to clean my house before my sister visits. I don't feel bad, but I don't feel great (OK, so I must be somewhere on the spectrum of good, or at least grateful).
I'm looking for some structure, a job, a plan, a project, that I don't have yet. On the edge, on the verge, on the brink? What do I want to do when I grow up? What do I want to do in the meantime?

2010-03-08T11:00:00.002-06:00

Take care of sounds /pounds and the sense /pense will take care of itself.

Check this out:
Algebra in Wonderland

Op-Ed Contributor - Algebra in Wonderland - NYTimes.com

excerpt:
By MELANIE BAYLEY

Oxford, England

SINCE “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was published, in 1865, scholars have noted how its characters are based on real people in the life of its author, Charles Dodgson, who wrote under the name Lewis Carroll. Alice is Alice Pleasance Liddell, the daughter of an Oxford dean; the Lory and Eaglet are Alice’s sisters Lorina and Edith; Dodgson himself, a stutterer, is the Dodo (“Do-Do-Dodgson”).

But Alice’s adventures with the Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and so on have often been assumed to be based purely on wild imagination....

Yet Dodgson most likely had real models for the strange happenings in Wonderland, too. He was a tutor in mathematics at Christ Church, Oxford, and Alice’s search for a beautiful garden can be neatly interpreted as a mishmash of satire directed at the advances taking place in Dodgson’s field.

In the mid-19th century, mathematics was rapidly blossoming into what it is today: a finely honed language for describing the conceptual relations between things. Dodgson found the radical new math illogical and lacking in intellectual rigor. In “Alice,” he attacked some of the new ideas as nonsense — using a technique familiar from Euclid’s proofs, reductio ad absurdum, where the validity of an idea is tested by taking its premises to their logical extreme.

2010-03-02T17:10:00.003-06:00

Happy (belated) year of the Tiger.

2010-01-25T20:34:00.002-06:00

sometimes it takes all the running you can do, the right drugs and good friends to stay in the same place.
Or maybe the neighborhood is changing.

The Art of the Day is: Being Amused

2009-10-28T09:29:00.002-05:00

yes, I know. no one is here.
It's fall, again
raining. heat coming through the vents.
Let me get out of my own way.

The art of the day is: overcoming resistance

2009-02-08T12:50:00.002-06:00

Hey ho. I'm feeling like I should be writing again, but don't really have anything specific I want to write about. Curiouser and curiouser.

2009-02-05T11:20:00.001-06:00

Happy Year of the OX
(thank you, Joseph Wu)

2008-12-28T08:59:00.002-06:00

Between Christmas and New Years.
The week of most regrets. The week where everything you meant to get done is too overwhelming to get done.
Where did that extra month between December and January go?
I have a friend who starts his New Years resolutions on Groundhog Day and revisits them every month on 3/3, 4/4, 5/5, etc. This is his attempt to be more effective.
I think I need to remember that December is the last month between last year and the new year and plan December as if it were that extra month, starting right after Thanksgiving.

2008-12-09T09:02:00.002-06:00

Good morning, good day.
I am working very hard to ward off a headache. I have great doubts about the efficacy of this approach. Sigh.
I am moving forward s l o w l y.
If I do everything I need to do today, I have much more time to crash tomorrow.

2008-11-26T17:02:00.002-06:00

OK. It is erev (the night before) Thanksgiving. I am cooking potatoes. It's been an interesting couple of months. I've been managing. I've been forming a new relationship with Isabella (a four year old Himalayan cat), who everyone thinks is gorgeous.
I've been listening to the news, and getting investment statements, and not freaking out.
Steady on.

There is no Art for the Day, but there is grace.

2008-11-20T17:41:00.001-06:00

Ha, ha! I'm back.
Life is beginning to get a little more interesting, so I'll have more to share.
Last night I went to a play reading of "You can't take it with you". published in 1937.
So that's what people did in the Depression. Hell, I can do that!

2008-10-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Feng Shui

In with the good, out with the bad.
In breathing and in most things.

2008-09-07T16:27:00.002-05:00

The Art of the Day is: The Art of the week is: The Art of the Month is: Scheduling

I wound up working in Philadelphia for two weeks, with a week in Rindge, NH in between.
I had my Aunt Harriet come to visit for a week after that, and my sister is coming in from overseas next week.
They closed down the pool I have been going to (aw) and I have to go to another pool further away if I want to swim, so I do, and I am.
People have started back to school this past week, and I feel pretty miserable about not having work to do, but not missing the traveling and the pressure of the old job.
This has also been a week of anniversaries.
I feel like my Prius, it's too quiet and you can't tell if you've stalled. But it hasn't stalled yet, so it's running on batteries. Maybe I am too.

2008-08-03T08:59:00.002-05:00

The art of the day is: Adventure

Well, I'm heading off to a new adventure. Short term. Amongst friends. New city.
I know something is cooking in my brain, because I had a series of weirdish dreams last night (I have my weirdest dreams when I sleep in a new place. Evidently hotel rooms don't count, as they are too familiar to me now). No real coherent stories to tell, just the knowledge of mental movement. Dreaming as problem solving.

2008-08-01T17:46:00.002-05:00

The art of the day is: Change, at any rate.

Today I've listed my niece's blog on my blog. It's a good solution, and I'm glad to do it, but I wanted to figure out a way to get her slideshow to show up here, and that was too tricky for me to figure out (in the time I'm willing to give to it). So please check out her rants and raves,travels and adventures, and scroll down the right side column and check out the slides.

2008-07-07T16:43:00.002-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Persistence

It does take all the running you can do to stay in the same place. And if you are out of shape and get winded when you run, or just choose not to run, you may find yourself in a different or unexpected place. So, here I am in a different place, and I find myself planning, and moving, and generally enjoying the scenery.
The art of the day, persistence, is because things keep coming up, again and again. The cat may disappear, but the smile remains.

2008-06-26T12:31:00.002-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Patience

I have a cat staying with me. She has only come out of hiding in the basement twice. Once last night and once this morning. If I go and look for her, she won't come. If I wait for her to come to me, she might. I don't know if this is the kind of patience I have. I do know that there are different kinds of patience. I can wait on line, as long as I see progress, and not loose my cool. I am less patient when on the phone, or especially on some automated phone messaging system where you have to wait for all the cues before making a selection. I can be patient with children and elders, but was not at all too patient with my husband, or other friends and family of whom I have greater expectations. I am sometimes patient with myself, sometimes not, and it often seems a measure of fatigue. I am less patient when I'm tired.

2008-06-21T11:12:00.002-05:00

Yes, oh yes, it's been way too long since I posted anything. But that should change now that I have more time!?!

I have sorely missed not living each day as if it were an art, and hereby reinstate the Art of the Day
The Art of the Day is: being happy in your own skin.

2008-02-07T21:34:00.000-06:00

My Nephew was inducted into the army this week, the Israeli Army.

Mixed feelings? You bet.

The Art of the Day is: War? Working well in Groups? Growing up?

He's just a kid. He's always been off on his own. He's a piece of clay, he will be molded by this experience.
He's in a dangerous place, or maybe in the best place he can be.
I'll give it some thought, and write some more.

2008-01-31T20:47:00.001-06:00

Happy almost Chinese New Year

2007-12-21T19:13:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: holiday shopping

It is of course an art for amateurs. True shoppers have done their holiday shopping months ago, or at least on line, and wouldn't go near box stores or malls any more than they would consciously seek out Christmas music. There is an element of Humbug here. Being Jewish will do that to you, but it is especially fierce this year. I'm guessing it has something to do with Chanukah being over (that Nationalistic little holiday that people assume or try to convince themselves is like Christmas), that Christians, who have heard the inclusive Chanukah song in their children's school recitals, feel free to just take over. Maybe we'll all feel better when Kwanza starts, and hey, isn't it an Islamic holiday too?
Yes, Virginia, this really was a blog about Holiday shopping.

2007-12-18T11:15:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Ennui

Floating, not sharply through bright thoughts and sad thoughts. Neither happy or unhappy. Waiting for something to move me one way or another. Not quite. I'm looking to move, but buoyant enough not to go under, not to go anywhere dangerous. Exciting, maybe, dangerous, no.
Self preservation intact, looking forward.

2007-11-23T11:30:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is Apologies

It has been almost exactly 2 months since my last blog entry. The difference between Summer and Winter here in New England. I'm not promising I'll be any better about writing, but I am seriously trying to get more art back into my life. The two other people who follow this blog were beginning to wonder what was up? Nothing much. Being a responsible adult (for the most part), and hitting my marks. Not bad, just nothing exceptionally good. Today I resume my active search for the good.

PS. My brother really does like me, he made the two things I asked for for Thanksgiving, corn pudding and corn bread. I as usual brought brussels sprouts on the stalk.

2007-09-24T12:59:00.000-05:00

The art of the day is: Hurry up and wait.

I just need to be here long enough to see two or three people, and then I can move on to the next leg of this trip. I'm not anxious to leave. Waiting gives me the opportunity to write, and to think about what I have not been writing, right? I am sort of tethered to this spot, because I'm working alone, and I've already succeeded in doing the one thing I had to do while I was here, so if I wasn't waiting, I could leave. The weather is still nice enough to be bothered by the fact that there isn't even a window to the outside where I'm set up. I'm not kvetching, more just observing that this sort of thing is important to me. Surprise myself by the need for natural light.

2007-09-15T09:43:00.000-05:00

The art of the day is: Cleaning out the attic

Physically and metaphysically.

2007-09-10T16:38:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: pacing

I've been feeling particularly tired lately, and yet I'm falling into an exercise routine and am thoroughly enjoying the newly discovered muscles on my forearm (easy to see). So I'm learning something about pacing from trying to spend a certain amount of time on certain machines. I've been resensitized to pacing while driving (well something good has to come of a speeding ticket), and back to school/work full time so I'm back to schedules. Housework, socializing, and projects which require thought are eluding me. I'll wait and see.

2007-08-29T16:52:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Decongesting

Well, I almost made it through the whole summer without getting a summer cold. Almost, but not quite. So I've dosed myself with OTC cold medicine and switched from iced mint tea to hot tea with lemon (I only drink tea with lemon when I'm sick, I guess I'm sick). I am sure that I will survive, but I certainly feel pretty miserable in the midst of it. Hurry up and wait.

2007-08-23T19:44:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Movement

I've been doing more physical activities: swimming, Nautilus, water aerobics, and today I was just itching to get going. To move around. Surprises me that I'm getting into it. Well, maybe. But I'm going to be optimistically enthusiastic. Movement moves me.

2007-08-19T08:12:00.000-05:00

Sleeping in.

OK, The Art of Sleeping In.

I think I may have just arrived on the other side of really enjoying sleeping in, or maybe one can only truly sleep in in one's own bed.
I am in a house full of sleepy young adults and tired old adults, and I am wide awake because the longer I tried to sleep the worse my dreams got. I went from dreams about incompetence (mine) to dreams about dishonesty to dreams about thievery and getting caught red handed. What's up with that?
I want to add that if you tried to sleep in here five or ten years ago you would have awakened to the sound of children running around, generally causing a ruckus. I miss those kids, but I love these people.

2007-08-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

My niece and I (not the niece who thinks Nice is nice, but her sister) went to the Peabody Essex Museum to see the Joseph Cornell exhibit before it closed.
I wanted to go because I remember his work as being reliquary-like. The exhibit we saw was more about his collage work, and the shadowboxes where lighter than I remembered, and more theatrical. Much of his work looked very modern (he died in 1972), because of the repetitive images, and the juxtaposing of images which all seem very easy to produce in photoshop, but of course were produced pre-photoshop.
The Art of the Day is: Collage

2007-08-17T08:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a back to work, back to school day. I'm not surprised that my life runs on semesters. I'm one of those folks who always liked school (hence 12 plus years in academia), but it always sort of amazes me that other people's lives run on semesters; if not their own, then their kid's.
It is late enough in the summer that the back to school ads which were making me crazy in July, are no problem now. I'm even interested in some of the stuff I've seen at Staples.
Even the weather is cooperating.
The Art of the Day is: Shifting Perspectives

2007-08-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

Oh, it's just been forever. It has been an artless summer. But now things are starting up again, and so will I.
The art of the day is: Continuity

2007-07-24T11:38:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Surprising yourself

So, when it comes to meeting with people in authority, why do I always assume the worst? Why am I surprised when I get a God Damn, Joanie! (meaning I've pulled something off) as opposed to a Good Joan (which means I've screwed up in a new and interesting way). I don't think this is totally wrong thinking, it's good to check to see if your slip is showing before your entrance, but there ought to be some middle ground between checking your slip and thinking you've forgotten to put on your pants (to torture the dressing analogy).
I was talking to someone recently about knee jerk reactions, and the impulse to be a rescuer. It's just that I'm really enjoying riding my new white horse.

2007-07-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

A thought on 7/7/07

"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

The Art of the Day is: Irony

2007-06-24T08:27:00.000-05:00

Well, you might ask, have I been living my days without art? It's been a while since I've posted anything, and the last two posts were close to being laments about not posting.
Spring has turned into Summer, and things are generally going well, but not passionately. I am grateful for the relative calm and the lack of drama.

The Art of the Day is: Floating

2007-06-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

OH, my ears and whiskers!

Time flies when you're having fun.
Have I been having fun?
Some fun, some spinning wheels, some lovely naps.
Some driving and exploring, some values clarifications, introspection, cleaning out cobwebs, both mental and physical. Fun? Good for me, more like broccoli than ice cream, but it's better than lima beans.

The Art of the Day is: Working with what's at hand.

2007-05-28T18:34:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Negotiating Transitions

2007-05-25T13:35:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: dressing for summer

No more blacks and browns. It's too bloody hot. Nothing synthetic or clingy.
Skirts and tees and sandals. Pile my hair up in a bun. Fabrics that catch a breeze. Sunglasses.
Shimmer and Float.

2007-05-24T10:37:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Scheduling and Dreaming

I've had time to think about what I want to do this Summer, and I've come up with too many ideas. I had already double booked myself for this weekend, triple booked if you count a mistaken date, and am fast approaching finding myself in the same situation next week. This is some sort of set up I do to myself. I have too many things to do, and none of them get done. Well, not this time.
If I have to make out a Summer Schedule so be it. I will remember to include some of the dream parts, and try not to overschedule.

2007-05-23T13:19:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Sharing Trivia

It has always bemused me that it takes more than one second to say "one second" in Czech.

2007-05-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Simplicity

Want it more than I have it.

P.S. My niece introduced me to fiddleheads on pizza, and rice pancakes.

2007-05-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

Fiddleheads, Revisited

So, I walk into my local New England grocery store, and what do I find:

Fiddlehead ferns.

Last year I told you how I was introduced to fiddleheads as harbingers of warm weather, and a tasty, green New England treat. This year I went online to find a new way to prepare them, only to find out that I pretty much already knew what to do with them.

Fiddleheads must first be cleaned of any dirt, deadish material and brown leaves. Then they can be prepared in several different ways: steamed, roasted, stir fried or pickled (this does not appeal to me, I’m not sure why). Basically they can be used like any leafy or woody green vegetable. Substitute them for broccoli or asparagus in soups or quiches. Use them like spinach in pasta dishes. Blanche them and use them instead of green beans or asparagus in salads.

Here's a link to some of the better recipes I found:
Fooddownunder

But remember, you already have favorite recipes that can become fiddlehead recipes by merely substituting the ferns for other veggies.

The art of the day is: Finding new recipes from old.

2007-05-19T08:10:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Poetic Thinking

"Life is impossibly lyrical,
Is it me?
No it's you."

(I think it's a quote from Gigi, the movie "No, She's not Thinkng of Me", any verifiers?)

I've been thinking about the blue moon this month, and the song:

"Blue moon, you left me standing alone,
without a dream in my heart,
without a love of my own."

I suppose living your life from a song lyric is the same as living your life from a Shakespeare quote, although that has always been sort of stressful. My favorite quotes seem to come from the Tragedies... "Make thick my blood", "If it were done, twas best be done quickly", "Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt".
This relates to the whole Ally McBeal thing of having a personal theme or anthem. Surprising myself, as a minimalist (who likes living in high Victorian clutter), I've boiled it down to a line.

Which brings me back to the art of the day.
I've been thinking in poetry. Things seem more intense, more dramatic, more "Ah, me". Is it that Spring thing? The weather is softer, the trees are intensely green. The lilacs are in bloom.
We come out of our nests and want to socialize.
Ah, me.

2007-05-17T11:01:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Showing up

AKA: Coming to the party
Being attentive, being in attendance.
Putting yourself out there.
little c "commitment".
Entering.
Engaging.
Trying.

OK, I'm here. Now what?

2007-05-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: continuity

I'm actually finishing up projects in the real world. This feels good. There are still a lot of items on my list, so, I'm off to continue with the finishing tasks.

2007-05-04T18:06:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Journaling

It's come up twice in the past two days, so it must be something I'm needing to do. Don't know if this is the right venue. It is just an ongoing process: organizing things, collecting my thoughts.

2007-05-01T17:13:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Humility

2007-04-29T13:15:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Making choices (buying a car).

This is what has been consuming my thoughts, time and energy. I've had disturbing dreams, but no dreams about cars.

I still have doubts and am second guessing myself... did I look up everything I could? Did I test drive enough cars? Did I let a salesman talk me into something. It's OK. I've come to a decision and I feel relieved. Friends reminded me that my car is not only transportation, but practically my office. This will work.

2007-04-18T12:57:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: How to report bad news

I've been watching some of the coverage of the UVT shootings, and I've been hearing about car bombings in Baghdad taking out 80+ people at one time, and I've recently learned of a friend's losing the grandmother she has been actively taking care of, and I don't know. My sympathy is stretched. My sympathy is elastic. Bounce it off me. I can take it. I can't get my head around it, but I know that it needs telling, and that's something I can do.

2007-04-17T12:20:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Taking exquisite care of yourself

Last night on my local PBS channel there was a series of programs on women's health. I also got a message from a cousin, about another cousin who is having serious consequences from diabetes.
This was more scary than helpful, but there was one woman in one of the programs who talked about taking better care of herself, of cutting back on stress, and approaching exercise in baby steps. It reminded me of a friend who used to tell me to take exquisite care of myself, and treat myself like I was own best friend.
Taking exquisite care of oneself means not overdoing it. Choosing the best (food, activity, people to hang out with). Sleeping well, eating well, dressing well, moving well. Taking the time it takes, or maybe some extra time to do things for my own good, in my own best interest.
In this overlong winter, with too many late storms and grey cold days, it is good to think about being good to yourself.

2007-04-16T18:58:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Meteorology

Lots of weather.

2007-04-13T14:41:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Schmoozing

I am at a job fair. I am one of the "vendors". I have no jobs available, so I am selling them a course.
I am schmoozing, chit-chatting, putting on the charm, such as it is. Once again, my theatre training comes in useful. I am "playing the part of an executive recruiter". Smile. Nod.
I am hiding behind my laptop. Behind the scenes, not really. There is a recruiter here from the State Police. You can tell he's trained to stand "at ease", but his "at ease" is very formal, and he's eagle eyeing everybody. There are at least two styles of salesfolk here. The ones who stand, at meet people at eye level, and the ones who sit and look up at people. This is a very interesting gathering for watching body language. I am amused. It makes it easier to smile. And nod.

2007-04-10T12:05:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Patience

I'm waiting for work to get busy. It's not, and it's requiring a great deal of patience just to stay put and wait. I have patience for some things and not for others, which means some people perceive me as quite patient, and other's perceive me as impatient, based on their own levels and types of patience.
I probably can credit my theatre training for the ability to "hurry up and wait". It comes in handy now and then.

2007-04-09T11:37:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Values Clarification

Over the weekend I got involved in a conversation about what makes home home. Place identity and community and family. I feel fortunate to have had all three. It grounds me. What hangs me up is feeling like I'm disconnected now, that I could be more connected, more involved, more grounded. That I miss people. That there are changes to be made, and resistance to be overcome. That things can be both sad and sweet.

2007-04-07T10:56:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Keeping Passover

Matzoh. Matzoh. Matzoh. Matzoh.
Actually it would be better if I didn't like matzoh. I like it with jam, with butter, with cream cheese and apple butter, with tuna salad, with homemade bruchetta, with melted cheese, in matzoh brie. It's been interesting to see how to eat out on the road and keep Pesadich. It's also been nice to come home and cook things that I only eat this time of year, and even though it's been unusually snowy and cold, so many of them are spring dishes that it makes a real difference. It is a new season.

2007-04-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Making Pesach

I've been at my brother's house making matzoh balls and chicken soup, and going through boxes of stuff we've collected over the years. We have an assortment of private and published Haggadot, picture books, recipe books, song sheets and props. There are dishes that come out especially for Passover, and sets of chairs that come up from the basement. We rearrange furniture to accommodate everyone who needs a seat at the table. We argue about the best recipes for Harroset and brisket, and the salinity of the salt water. We have lots of personal family traditions. Our Seders are pretty lively and multi-media, and yet have an order, like any Seder, that gets a little refinement every year as songs and shtick get set in place. Passover is work, but Passover is fun, and memories built on memories.
This is the Jewish holiday that feels the most like Christmas must feel like to Christians.

2007-03-31T13:32:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Storytelling

I spent last night with a bunch of storytellers, at the annual Share the Fire conference, which happens to be in Nashua this year.
Storytellers are a very interesting sub-group. They are the bright dressers at Art Fairs and Renn-fests. They thrive and revel in their individuality. They wink and nod a lot. They run the gamut from "off the grid" to "prim librarian" in their personal style and grooming, and they almost all seem to like very comfortable shoes. Now, I realize that this is a New England sub-group of a sub-group, so there may be some regional bias. It is a very good place to hear New England regional accents. If you listen you can tell the difference between Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, along with British, Scottish, Irish, Southern, and New Yawk.
These are people who are propelled toward a punchline.
The most interesting thing is that if you are there, you are accepted as one of them. Makes you want to spin a joke into a tale.

2007-03-29T10:29:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Having a good cry

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, you wake up or lie down and start to think about stuff, and end up bringing yourself to tears. You may be feeling sorry for yourself, or somebody else, or be trying to decide whether or not to say something, and the feelings just well up. Part of you is mad to have old feelings hanging around, and part of you is glad to express your feelings. At the very least it's a "what's up?" moment to yourself, and at it's best it's an "aha!" moment, when something clicks into place.
Some good cries seem seasonal or cyclical. Aha! what do you still need to learn, do about that, or is it just about honoring the memories? Someone reminded me that all of us are historians, especially once we've reached a certain age. At the very least we've formed an opinion.

2007-03-27T11:54:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Ambiguity

"AMBIGUITY (Fr. ambiguit y , med. Lat. ambiguitas, from Lat. ambiguus, doubtful; ambi, both ways, agere, to drive), doubtfulness or uncertainty. In law an ambiguity can be patent or latent,
Patent ambiguity is that ambiguity which is apparent on the face of an instrument to any one perusing it, even if he be unacquainted with the circumstances of the parties.
Latent ambiguity is where the wording of an instrument is on the face of it clear and intelligible, but may, at the same time, apply equally to two different things or subject matters."- Encyclopedia Britannica 1911.
When asked if I was being ambiguent on purpose, intentionally and obviously trying to obscure or confuse, or just confused and unclear, I fear my answer must be ambiguous. I don't know if I know, or I know I don't know.

2007-03-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Foiling the weather

Just because it's gray and dreary, cloudy, cold and raining doesn't mean I have to be down and dreary. This is the whole idea behind yellow rain slickers, and red boots. OK, yellow rain slickers are so someone can see you in a storm, but red boots are just for fun.
Cheerfully,
The Red Queen

2007-03-25T15:21:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Getting it.

As in "Eureka, I get it" "All of a sudden, this makes sense to me!" "Epiphany!!!" "Some cog in the wheel of the world fell into place and I saw it, and I appreciate it."

Just don't ask me what "it" is.

2007-03-22T09:23:00.001-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Cleaning out the car

Sometimes art is a necessity, or am I lowering my standards as to what is an art?
I think not, because the car is another place I tend to collect things, and by sorting out the collections I'm making choices, and evaluating objects for their value and potential. Art is all about making choices.

2007-03-21T08:19:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Juggling

Lots of stuff to do, most of them unrelated.
Definitely a Red Queen Day.

Today is Bach's Birthday.

2007-03-19T15:21:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Useful Mondays

Monday should be an art unto itself. Depending on how Monday goes, the whole rest of the week could follow, or I suppose if it is really crummy it can serve as a foil to the rest of the week (another art: the art of giving yourself an out).
So far my Monday has been less than stellar, but not quite do-over. The key as far as I can tell, is to keep positive. I positively refuse to get angry with that silly old woman who almost made me hit that Jeep in order to avoid her.

Happy Birthday to the Twins.

2007-03-16T15:57:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Validation

Giving it, and getting it.

Atta boy!

You got it!

Have I told you today how much I appreciate you?
Well, I do.

You were here, let me stamp that ticket for you.

You've arrived.

Ain't life grand.

2007-03-15T11:54:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Orientating

from One Look Dictionary

adjective: positioning with respect to a reference system or determining your bearings physically or intellectually

2007-03-14T15:37:00.000-05:00

The Art of the Day is: Punny, Very Punny

OK, I was out of town. I was in Florida, doing major family visiting, chauffering, hanging out with Aunts and an Uncle and listening to stories. I also visited my friends Lynne and Harvey, and Harvey cannot resist a good pun. Today I'm also working with a punster. They are all arround me!

2007-03-08T09:19:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Getting from here to there

2007-03-06T21:35:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Matching colors

2007-03-05T11:33:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Moving right along

I drove through some snow squalls today. Short, intense and miserable little snow storms. Cloudbursts, really. And then they are done.
I went through some emotional stuff last month. Short, intense and miserable. Outbursts, really. And then they are done.

2007-03-04T09:09:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Merry making. Making merry?

Today is the Jewish holiday of Purim, a cross between Mardi Gras, April Fools Day, Halloween, and maybe Boxing Day. People dress up in costume, act in ways they normally wouldn't, send each other treats and overdo things. In the calendar year it turns the corner between winter and the promise of spring (although in Poland they used to "burn" snowman effigies, not a lot of spring there).
It's a kid friendly, ritual rich, not terribly religious (not Biblical in origin) celebratory event.
I intend to go with the flow.

2007-03-02T23:30:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Turn around being fair play.

Well, it took them the better part of the day to get to looking at the car, and the upshot was that I had not done any serious damage, nor broken any belts, but did manage to "pick up some debris" which they cleaned off for me. I got to spend the better part of the day taking over my cousin's dining room table and doing paperwork for work. I ended up getting home at about the same time I would have had I gone to Vermont.
Both my cousin and I get a headache when a storm front is moving in. Both my sister and I needed to replace our ovens this year. "Think what you have gathered from coincidence".

2007-03-01T11:49:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Flexible scheduling

An example: You are driving to Vermont, and you hear your car's engine change pitch, going from a higher whirring noise to a lower one. You pull off the highway and check the tires. You turn the car on and off (you try to look under the hood, but you can't get the inner latch to release). You remember there is a service station off the next exit. As you are pulling off you see a dealership for your car, even better. You explain the problem, and sign a form for them to check it out.
Then you get to wait to find out what's wrong.
Then you get to wait to find out what's wrong.
Then you get to wait to find out what's wrong.
(to be continued).

2007-02-28T12:50:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: coping with artless days

I've been out of sorts. I've been distracted. I've been unmotivated. I've had excuses. I've had other things on my mind.
But I feel badly about all that.
Every day should be lived like an art, and I will try to post more regularly. A day without art is like a rudderless boat.

2007-02-26T16:13:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Perseverance

Getting through, keeping on, persisting, plodding, making slow forward movement. Trudging forth.
Doing adult things like going to the dentist when you don't have a toothache.

2007-02-23T07:53:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Catching up

On the one hand, I may be having a Red Queen Day, where it takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place. Then again, I may be remarkably productive, and get lots done. Either way it's a day to be "in gear", "in high gear". Gotta go.

2007-02-21T14:22:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Being (behaving like) a grown up.

After yesterday's ode to toys, I find myself thinking of where I am in the scheme of things.
Too old to be naive.
Too independent to be truly settled down.
Too fond of food and things, and comfort and security (oh, that is oldish).
Responsible. Adult.
Sensible, for the most part.
Conserving my parents Liberal beliefs.
A little rusty.
A little wiser.
For now.

2007-02-20T13:01:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Dealing with Left Overs

Not just the stuff in the refrigerator, but the stuff that defies fitting into basic categories. The junk drawers and miscellaneous files. Other.
The food stuff is actually the easiest. Things can become other things, soups and sauces, fillings, or history. I have thrown out food before.
When things are sitting in a drawer or a box with no particular place to go, my instinct is to make smaller boxes. Some of my most singular "treasures" are small. Toy sized. Toy like. Well, that's their function isn't it? Some people are more toy prone than others. I guess I'm one of those folks. I generally like things, and see things as potential other things. And I think that is a good thing.
Every once and a while I need to clean out the fridge, I need to sort through the miscellaneous boxes. I need to decide what to throw out and what's worth keeping, but I don't have to throw out all my toys. I intend to remain playful.

Happy Year of the Pig

2007-02-18T10:05:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: showing up

2007-02-17T12:39:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Being Reasonable

2007-02-16T08:25:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Making Methodology

David Seah's article for today is about something he's calling Scientific Creative Methods. It's interesting as a stand alone article, and it's interesting how he continues to explore his process.
My process is still more like Neko the Cat, who bumps into the edge of his screen, and is forced to make course corrections. I always think I design within a box, a script, a parameter, and use those edges as containers for content.

2007-02-15T12:44:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: random acts of kindness

This is a karma builder, but only if you don't boast about it, so I may be loosing points here, or I may be causing other random acts to occur, which could be in my favor, whatever, which ever.

I don't know when I began doing these sorts of things, I know I don't do it often enough to be a habit, or seldom enough to be a rare occurrence. I do know that it is something I've done more lately than in the past, that I started doing it way after the bumperstickers came out (and I didn't "get it" when they first came out), and that I'm delighted with the idea of delighting someone else.
The art of it come from the randomness, the serendipity (such a nice word), the using your sneaky tendencies in imaginative ways. It makes me smile. I recommend it.

2007-02-14T10:34:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Storm Watching

It was about a year ago I wrote a longish piece on watching a storm move in. Today I'm doing it again, watching a storm move in, and it is important, because it causes us to stop and think; about the weather, about our place in the scheme of things, about our powerlessness in the face of natural phenomena, about the silence of snow falling, about the shape and direction of each snowflake, about being inside watching outside. About snow days when we were home from school, about winters past. Cold and warm, wet and dry, alone or together. So many thoughts, and some space and place to think about them.
Storm watching is an art, the roots of poetry.

2007-02-12T12:58:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Using Technology

I had to change my wireless router channel this weekend, because someone with a stronger router was bumping me off, or at least that's what my network guy says.
Now he just says my router must be broken.

2007-02-07T11:38:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Being a Receptor

Kind of like an emotional sponge. Kind of like a psychological barometer. Similar to a contact high, but often a contact low. Passive acquisitive.
These are the people who get very upset listening to bad news, paralized by the evil in the world. Bleeding Heart Liberals. No, that's not me. I'd rather be a transformer. I'm not there yet, but I'm trying to be.

2007-02-04T14:02:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Actively relaxing

2007-02-03T08:43:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Rolling with the Punches

My friend's dog was run over by a car. My neighbor's white cat ran away in the snow.
Rolling with the punches is an active exercise.

2007-02-01T16:12:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Anniversaries

It was a year ago today that I started publishing this blog!
That means I've posted 88% of the days. Not too bad. Not perfect, but that wasn't what I was trying to do. Keeping in mind to live every day as an art. Seeing what topics keep coming up. Being able to look over the month, the season, the year, and see movement, sometimes forward, sometimes backwards, sometimes laterally, sometimes just skewed, that's what this was about. I feel stronger for doing this. More connected with my feelings. Not too bad.

2007-01-31T11:13:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Finishing

In this case, just finishing the list:

There is a list of possible arts I haven't used yet, and a list of arts of the day I kept before I started posting them. I'll save those for another day.

2007-01-30T10:36:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Baptism

As in baptising the new laptop in coffee. As in spilling coffee all over the table, and all the papers on the table, towards the center, not the edge. Oh my God! (hence the baptism).

2007-01-28T12:50:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Irresistible lists

2007-01-27T11:23:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: List making

I've been thinking about the fact that come February 1st, five days from now, I will have been posting this blog for a year, and that's a good point to take some measure/metrics of where I've been, and set some goals for where to go next. I was looking over the list of Arts of the Day, and it's interesting to see what comes up and how often. So, just for fun, I'll publish the first installment of Art's of the Day, in alphabetical order (cause that's how I've saved them) and we'll see what happens:

2007-01-26T14:49:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Directing

or maybe, redirecting
as in:
I've got a habit, trait, quality I'd like to change, put a different spin on, modify.
But will I take direction from myself?
(if I want the play to have a happy ending, I will)

2007-01-25T09:16:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Baroque

Why didn't I think of this earlier?
Baroque Art is late renaissance art, with a highly developed sense of spacial depth and detail.
It is highly theatrical, and that's why it's a personal favorite. It also often tells a story.
The term baroque refers to a large natural asymmetrical pearl. We are all baroque in our own way.

Annibale Carracci,
Venus, Adonis and Cupid,
c.1590-1595,
Prado Museum, Madrid.

2007-01-24T11:06:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Cooperating

Playing well together.
working to everyone's mutual advantage.
team playing
sharing
why not?

2007-01-22T22:42:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: the art of entertaining

I was at a birthday party for my brother's neighbor's brother. Just a very nice social event with some nice folks and some very good food and drink. The neighbor had made blackberry cordial out of blackberries from my brother's yard (not so much a garden as a berry patch). I named it "Berry Herring", after the cherry schnapps my uncle's would drink at a kiddish. Two women from Bosnia and Herzegovina made a kind of savory strudel, one with cheese and one with potato. It was similar to something I saw a Sephardi friend make with pumpkin filling, but I don't know the name of any of them.

2007-01-20T19:15:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Compromise

"You can't always get what you want, but if you try
sometimes
you get what you need."

2007-01-16T14:32:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Making Contacts

Eye contact.
Business contacts.
Social contacts.
electrical contacts.
emotional contacts.
logistical contacts.
formal contact.
physical contact.
metaphysical contact.

2007-01-15T19:10:00.000-06:00

The Art of the Day is: Contrition

I'm sorry it's been so many days, and days in between days since I've posted anything.
It really is hard to call it an "art of the day" if you don't post it daily. In defense I've been away.
In reality, that's no excuse.
I try very hard not to make new year's resolutions, and if I do only resolve to get something done by year's end (so I end up feeling guiltiest in December), but if I did I would resolve to write more, and more consistently.

Sincerely,
The Other Joan, AKA The Red Queen.