email forwards

winter is coming, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

I liked this one. Random : )

USING ONLY ONE WORD

Not as easy as you might think! Now copy or forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to use only one word answers. Be sure to send back to the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? tote
2. Your significant other? NA
3. Your hair? itchy
4. Your mother? wacky
5. Your father? Dad
6. Your favorite thing? Saturday
7. Your dream last night? bleached
8. Your favorite drink? latte
9. Your dream/goal? journey
10. What Room you are in? cozy
11. Your hobby? lifegiving
12. Your fear? loneliness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? open
14. Where were you last night? couch
15. Something that you aren't: godzilla
16. Muffins? almond
17. Wish list item?
18. Where you grew up? Vermont
19. Last thing you did? read
20. What are you wearing? velour
21. Your TV? February
22. Your pets? Iowa
23. Friends? forever
24. Your life? progress
25. Your mood? allergies
26. Missing someone? Mallory
27. Your car? Nellie
28. Something you're not wearing? frown
29. Your favorite store? craft
32. Your favorite color? purple
33. When is the last time you laughed? minutes
34. Last time you cried? five
35. Who will resend this? Wendi
36. One place that I go to over and over: ruminations
37. One person who emails me regularly: Facebook
38. My favorite place to eat: Tiny Thai
39. One place I would like to go right now: New Jersey
40. One person I think will respond: Wendi

decoupaged car

decoupaged car, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

Remembering the kiddos who are missing their brother today. It's been one year.

Also celebrating dear Gary Mawe's birthday. He is one of my favorite people on the planet.

Thar she is.

ordinary days

party hats

party hats, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

The party hats came out better than I imagined. I used lots of crafty stuff that I purchased at Michael's, though, which is atypical for me. Aside from making the paper, I like to make everything from scratch. Sometimes I even make the paper!

So I told my sis that I'm going to IA for Christmas instead of NJ. It was hard to do. I will really miss her and the kiddos and her family on Christmas. But it's been a while since I spent it with my mum and Dad, and that's always a little sad, too. So there you have it.

I watched "Dalai Lama Renaissance" last night. It was very good. I was cringing at our human nature, pride and idolatry, and our beautiful spirit to desire to improve, our resilency. I love Tenzin. Someone suggested that he rule the world, and he said "No, I will remain a simple Buddhist monk." His "right action" is a model. He will not rule the world, but he will rule himself, and all his interactions. How will you live?

I just started learning the ukulele on Sunday night. Mostly just chords for now. My repertoire currently includes:
-Mary Had a Little Lamb (traditional)
-Let it Be (Beatles)
-When the Saints Go Marching In (traditional)
-Edelweiss (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
-Faith (George Michael)

Happy Wednesday. Class tonight, and that is good.

gnomes et al.

gnomes et al., originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

Connected with an old friend last night. She is a very private (thus, this framed shot), very pregnant, and very loving person.

If you can see her boots, these are the only things she could fit her feet into last night for our walk, and she wore flip-flops to supper. The three things she misses most during her pregnancy: sushi, good beer, and hair dye!

Her little one was active after supper, and she showed me where to put my hand on her belly. That baby packs a punch!

She is also mom to these two cuties. We all took a walk together, and they scrambled through the 5-foot tall grasses. It was like a scene from E.T.

I'm excited for the weekend. Sushi has been very strangely a recurrent topic of discussion over the past two weeks, and I have a sushi-and-steak double birthday party extravaganza to go to tomorrow night. The universe speaks. We eat fish and rice. And that works well for me.

Happy Birthday to my Dad!

Iowa Wind Power, originally uploaded by Don3rdSE.

Dearest Dad,

Happy birthday to you! I bet you cannot wait to get home to play with your new camera. The work you've been doing is amazing. You are so talented, interest-ed and interesting--so multi-faceted.

You're fascinating! : )

I'm glad you're my Dad and I hope you have the best birthday ever.

Love,

Emmy

tiina & alef

tiina & alef, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

I zazzed up the pic a little.

Update: 9/16/08 - This looks way better on a Mac.

a good match

tiina & alef, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

Tiina is Finnish and went to US for high school, then to Japan to teach English at University. Alef was born in Iran and grew up in Holland, and made a life in Japan as an importer. Both ended up in Tokyo in a sushi bar one night where they met....

It is a pleasure and a blessing to be a witness to a good match, and they are that. Solid.

Thank you Alef and Tiina for such a wonder-filled Sunday!!

Minx and I are getting to know one another. It was AWESOME to be covered in horse poop. My muscles stretched in ways they remember and love. I drove a John Deere something-or-other for the first time. I loved it. Nina is an angel to bring me to that experience. I'm hungry for more.

Interesting, Nina, how you are bringing people (and animals) together these days. You are a connector, a conduit, a creator/ healer in a way.

Sweet potato, green apple, red onion salad is very yummy!

rainbow, rainbow, rainbow

swiss chard, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

"You make swiss chard look like an edible rainbow." Jen Whitley

Once I yelled out "Rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!" when I saw a rainbow outside my window, and my friend said, "Is that what you say to make a rainbow appear?"

This weekend, I get to:

-not drive anywhere for the first time...in three weeks.
-see Tiina in person for the first time since...2002?
-ride a horse for the first time...since sophomore year of high school.
-make stuff using acrylic resin for the first time...ever!

I'm really excited.

And you have no idea how excited I am about riding. It's been a long time. The horse's name is Minx and she is a little bit of my destiny.

I hope you have a super weekend, too.

yes, please

yes, please, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

Sometimes I wish I had a button like this--for my life, for my body, for my brain...for the world!

Lately, when I feel this way, I try to ask my self: So what will I do, now? Just asking that question changes my brain. An audible "click" is followed by action.

And then there is the advice of Free Will Astrology's Rob Brezsny. People either love or hate this guy. I think he's funny!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): After studying the astrological omens, I had a psychic vision of you jumping up and down, screaming with joy as if you’d won the lottery. That doesn’t necessarily mean you will actually win the lottery, though. My visions are usually symbolic, not literal. So what does it mean? It could prophesy the imminent arrival of a good surprise. It may signify that your physical vitality will be exceptional, or maybe you will be visited by an exhilarating revelation about the future. To get yourself in the proper spirit, why not jump up and down and scream for joy right now? Then keep doing it at least twice a day until the breakthrough actually occurs. (http://www.7dvt.com/2008free-will-astrology-15)

Feels like Fall, folks.

I'm off to jump up and down and scream for joy.

Happy Wednesday!

goldie & scarlett

goldie & scarlett, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

Just a few of the things I did to enjoy Troy:

-hung out with dear friends
-pet purring kittehs
-enjoyed facebook updates
-drank wine in the courtyard
-left CJ a "you are beautiful" note
-walked in the rain
-admired the Troy architecture
-made new friends, including Tanto, Spartacus, and The Teabags
-ate a lot of cheese
-saw mastodons and a long house
-cheered on the rick-and-rollers at karaoke
-shopped River Street
-saw the Egg
-went to CN9 studio and taped a reel

Good friends, good times.

enjoy troy

, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

The low-down on Emmy:

I'm going to visit Debra (the person attached to these feet) and Jen-knee in Troy, NY this weekend. Yay!

Two nights ago, class began. I love it. I love it. Even though the room smells like a gym sock, I love it.

Last night, Abbey and I saw the movie "Henry Poole is Here." Skewed messages, effusive execution, and I do not recommend it. But Luke Wilson is a doll!

Next weekend I get to see Tiina. Can you believe it? I haven't seen Tiina in years and years and years. She will make a rare visit from Japan and I get to see her!

I wish you a Very Happy Friday. And with love.

Mansfield Grove, CT

cairn diptych, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

In the three days that I was visiting my sister's family at the shore, I:

-used a lot of sunscreen.
-accrued many freckles.
-played, played, played.
-wore the same clothes, alternating with my bathing suit.
-ate yummy food.
-had many lovely conversations.
-kayaked, yoga-ed on the beach, swam.
-tasted salt water and sun.
-yodeled.
-made a cairn.
-drew spirals in the sand
-laughed. A lot.
-felt healthy.
-was free.

what's inside you?

what's inside you?, originally uploaded by Witty Screen Name.

I know the photo above is not the type Mark Doty is describing in the poem below. But I love this poem.

A Green Crab's Shell
by Mark Doty

Not, exactly, green:
closer to bronze
preserved in kind brine,

something retrieved
from a Greco-Roman wreck,
patinated and oddly

muscular. We cannot
know what his fantastic
legs were like--

though evidence
suggests eight
complexly folded

scuttling works
of armament, crowned
by the foreclaws'

gesture of menace
and power. A gull's
gobbled the center,

leaving this chamber
--size of a demitasse--
open to reveal

a shocking, Giotto blue.
Though it smells
of seaweed and ruin,

this little traveling case
comes with such lavish lining!
Imagine breathing

surrounded by
the brilliant rinse
of summer's firmament.

What color is
the underside of skin?
Not so bad, to die,

if we could be opened
into this--
if the smallest chambers

of ourselves,
similarly,
revealed some sky.

From Atlantis, published by HarperCollins. Copyright © 1995 by Mark Doty. All rights reserved. From Poets.org.