Wow. I am really sucking at this whole blogging thing.  My baby boy turned 13!  on Feb. 1st without nary a mention. I mean really, I am a mother of a teenager now! That is some wicked bad lack of blog motivation. So, let’s catch up with young master Kyle shall we?

1. Yes, Kyle is officially a smelly teenager. But he’s had that crap teenage attitude for ages now – he’s gifted ya know?
2. For his birthday I set him up with a Facebook account. Now I can embarrass him in front of his friends from the comforts of my own chair.
3. Kyle and I did light painting photos on the beach one night and then made solar prints in Santa Cruz last month. Very fun.
4. Kyle starting having behavior problems again at school. Detentions have been bumped up to Referrals.
5. Baby got his first suspension. So. not. cool.
6. Behavior has now improved but his grades are in the toilet.
7. Kyle made the 7th grade Boys Volleyball team.
8. Of course he’s benched until he gets those grades up.
9. I was invited to participate in the Bent Twig Art Show at Vox this month and chose Kyle as my “twig” (an established artist is joined by an upcoming/new artist).
10. Kyle made 2 mixed media tiles for the show, while I showed 3 Holga diptychs.
11. Kyle sold one of his tiles!!!  my baby had his first gallery sale at 13 – that rawks!
12. Even at the ripe old age of 13, Kyle stills screams like a girl.
13. I love the boy.

Hmm. I should probably explain that last post. But I’m busy trying to save this screwed up weekend by working on my website. I’ve almost got it done. I’m building the gallery pages now.  Once those are finished and properly linked up, I just need to write the About page. Joy. Almost as painful to do as an Artist Statement.

Almost as painful as the disappointment of this weekend. I should be on my way home from Santa Cruz right now. I should be basking in the glory of spending last Friday with Joe McNally and 699 other photographers! But no. None of that happened because Erin won’t sleep in a hotel room. Ugh. And the worst part is – you can’t be mad at a baby. Only sad, depressed, and punch-drunk tired.

So, to recap: birthday wasted packing for nothing, missed the Lighting Workshop that was my birthday present, no cake with the ubers, and the sad realization that there will be no vacations with Erin in the near future. Sorry folks who’ll be in Vegas next week,  we’re not coming. I can’t pull those all-nighters like I used to. Officially too old. Happy flippin’ birthday to me.

I have not read my horoscope in a paper (or online for that matter) in I don’t know how long. It’s just not something I bother checking out. But, since we’ve been grabbing local papers of late, I’ve run across these gems for the past two weeks.

Week of 6/25/09

Leo – What scares you or perturbs you in the coming week could, by August, become what fuels you. What makes you feel unsettled and out of sorts could turn out to be good medicine. But of course you’re under no obligation to submit yourself to this experimental sequence, Leo. The fact is, you could probably run away from the discomfort and get immediate relief. Unfortunately, taking that approach would deprive you of the benefits that will almost certainly come from enduring the discomfort for a while. My preference is that you be brave and farseeing.

Week of 7/01/09

Leo – Nietzsche’s dictum might be useful for you to keep in mind right now, Leo: “If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger.” Since I’m very sure that the turbulent waters through which you’re navigating will not kill you, I’m looking forward to all the ways this journey will upgrade your confidence and enhance your power. But there’s more to be gained, beyond what Nietzsche formulated. It’s also true that if it doesn’t kill you (which it won’t), it will make you wilder and kinder and smarter and more beautiful.

Oooh, how strangely fitting. I pretty sure they are referring to the parent/toddler swim classes Erin and I start tomorrow.

But this does remind me that I do have something to look forward to – my birthday is in 24 days! However, I’ll again be older than I’ve ever been, so maybe that’s not so great. Hmm, apparently I’m still not yet back to thinking in “glass half full” terms. I’m not being “half empty” though, more like “yeah, there’s some water in there…” which I’m going to choose to think of as embracing the Buddha’s Middle Way.

There. I feel better about that. Still not at peace with those swim lessons.

Due to circumstances most unfortunate, our friend Cynthia recently moved to Santa Cruz. Crapitola to be exact. Just down the road from the uber-in-laws*. How convenient. Again, the reasons for her move sucked but the end result is win/win for everyone! She has returned to the town that she loves and I now have a local friend when we go down for weekends. I’ll probably see more of her now than when she lived in Sacramento or Auburn! Coolio. Not only is Cynthia a fab painter, she recently got a Canon Rebel of her own, so camera-buddy!** She’s got Lightroom up and running and I’m looking forward to seeing her photos. (hint hint. hello?)

Speaking of painting and returning to the mother-ship… I got another two days of painting under my belt this past weekend. I’m pleased as punch with how the painting is coming along! So, the question I have for you, gentle reader, is this: do you want to see the progress photos I’m taking after each days work? Or would you rather just wait and see the finished painting? And since you people seem to be so damn reluctant to leave comments, I’m trying something new, fun, and easy – a poll! Vote now and change the world!

* And let’s not forget what today is… Happy BEarthday P! I couldn’t imagine a better mum-in-law. I left a present for you on my flickr account. Enjoy!

** Chris – don’t even begin to think this is letting you off the hook, the van is still the ultimate drive-by vehicle!

I was going through some photos in Lightroom and I realized that I never followed up with how that Mather Golf Course Second Saturday event went… probably because not much came of it. The morning was cold and windy, there wasn’t much foot traffic besides the other vendors, and I only sold one print- a framed 5×7 I pulled off my office wall to use as an example piece on the table. Speaking of my table, here’s how it turned out:

and here is a shot with my fancy new canvas print rack full of all the prints I made.

Pretty slick eh? Well, I’ll be ready if I ever decide to do that again. In the meantime, I’ve got a lot of prints for sale. Call me!

Moving on…

Did you hear that little birdie* announce that I’ve started painting again? It’s true. 2 weekends ago I finally started a new canvas. It has been around 2 years since I’ve painted! And I know you are going to jump to the easy assumption that I blame the baby**, but I don’t. That was all Chris’s fault!** ok ok it wasn’t really Chris’s fault. The painting muse was on an extented vacation, but now she’s back!

Day One – put a wash on the canvas and started sketching in all those damn limbs!

Day Two – blocking in the color.

Kyle thinks it’s done. Silly rabbit – not even close! I missed working on it last weekend as we were in Santa Cruz for Easter and birthdays! There was Chris’s b-day on the 2nd to celebrate and Erin’s on the 13th. Yep, the baby is now 2! I just got the pics off my camera. I’ll post those photos “soon”. I’ve got a couple other things to finish up first. Remember, patience is a virtue!

* Twitter baby. Keep up.

** The running joke around here is that I’m just too damn happy to paint. Tortured artist and all that…

So, did anyone make it through the whole 81 minutes of that Library of Congress webcast? Yeah, me neither. I barely made it through that lady’s introduction. Man, she was putting me to sleep. But I’m going to make it up to you right now, with an even better way to spend your valuable time – Utata has published its big annual project!

Yay! Photo essays from my favorite Flickr group. I submitted a personal essay singing the praises of drive-by shooting in Santa Cruz – and then didn’t shoot at all while we were there this past weekend. But that is no reason not to go and check out everyone else’s entries. (helpful tip of the day – that banner is a link, click it!) I haven’t had a chance to read many of the essays yet (still folding laundry thank you very much) but between kid-wranglin’ and homework I might have 5-7 minutes free this evening. Wait… Kyle has baseball practice tonight – did I wash his uniform?

Well, I would love to tell you more about our weekend and the CIA, but I’ve got to call and sing Happy Birthday to the lovely Julie T’s answering machine.

So, today is my birthday. With everything that’s been going on this past month, I’ve had a hard time even remembering my birthday this year, which is very atypical behavior for a Leo. In the past I’ve been border-line obnoxious starting July 1st. But this year? Nothing. I think I mentioned it once in one line a couple weeks ago. Strange days indeed.

But here I am. Older than I’ve ever been. Again. And I kinda feel whatever about the whole thing. Is ambivalence a symptom of old age? I over-slept this morning; do you think that’s a sign?

Whoa, now I’m wicked scared.
I just did a search through my archives to link to previous birthday blather and there was not a word about it in 07 either! I had to go back to July 2006 to find this post! Man, I am slipping. I’ll probably break a hip at yoga tonight!*

But what I found interesting is that it was in July of 07 that I posted about reading Overthrow – the beginning of the end of my sanity. And this July I started reading Shock Doctrine, which is the scariest book yet! In a mere year I’ve read enough of this stuff that I’m completely familiar with names, places, and events. Poor Chris. It was on page 58 of Shock Doctrine that I encountered the infamous Dulles boys and I promptly started foaming at the mouth. To which Chris promptly threatened to take the book away from me! I got a stern look when I hissed “United Fruit!” But this book is much more than the horrors of the CIA – it’s the horrors of free-market economics! Good gravy Mabel that’s some messed up shit!

But that isn’t birthday talk now is it. I’ll save that for later. Let the crazy build a bit more…

Birthday talk is my new flash unit – thanks Chris! Mikuni’s for lunch – thanks in advance Boss. (when will that conference call end?) Calls and cards from my peeps. And hopefully a yoga class tonight!

* come back here Friday to hear all about the second-day sore! I haven’t been to a class in almost 2 years and tonight is a vinyasa/flow class. Wish me luck! Fitting into my yoga clothes that is!

Wow, I’ve been out more evenings in the past week than I have in the past year! Crazy.
In the good way.

Finally.

Last Thursday I met the beautiful Kimerloo for sushi, adding Sharon to the mix at the last minute. (Kim is moving to San Diego next month and I’m none too happy about that, but I’ll save my rant about crop circles and conspiracy theories for another time.) Saturday evening was spent at the lovely Rachel’s. And last night Sharon arraigned a surprise birthday dinner for Karen at Leatherby’s (minds out of the gutter people – it’s an ice cream parlor) and I had a blast. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. I’m not even mentioning that Karen moved to Virginia last year. Nope.

Tonight the Sain’t was supposed to drive up for dinner and then leave for Tahoe in the morning to visit his cousin. That has been postponed to Thursday. But still, the point is that my day-timer runneth over. Or something like that.

Tomorrow is Chris and my wedding anniversary. 3 years! And the 3rd year is Leather. WooHoo! Go ahead and enjoy the gutter this time, but I’m thinking shoes. Or a purse. But what I’m really getting is a massage on Thursday. And that’s better!

Saturday is Karen’s official birthday BBQ and that should be fun. But my schedule for next week doesn’t look so hot. So far I’ve got a counseling appt at the college on Tuesday. Wednesday afternoon I take Kyle to the airport for his annual 2 week southern California fun-fest (but please don’t forget what a crappy life he has!), and Thursday I finally have the dentist appointment to get the crown work done for my root canal. Oh doesn’t that sound like a good time.

But my birthday* is in 2 weeks!! What should we do?

*I hear the 42nd year is camera equipment. How fortuitous.

Found this YouTube video on Sweetney’s Linkblog. So very cool!

The Most Important Image Ever Taken

In 2003, the Hubble Space Telescope took the image of a millennium, an image that shows our place in the universe. Anyone who understands what this image represents, is forever changed by it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpkSeVgvA0o]

Meanwhile, on our little speck of dust, Kyle’s first baseball season is winding to an end. The Giants finished the season with a 6-14 record and in 4th place in the standings. The first place team is the Cardinals with a 19-1 record including 3 shutouts! Pretty impressive.

This week is the End of Season Tournament with the final game on Saturday. Last night, the Giants won Game #1 against the Ranger (12-4). Wednesday night they play Game #3 against the Cardinals. And you might think that that will be the end for our Giants. And you might be right, but what about this: Last Saturday in the last game of the regular season, the Giants played the Cardinals and lost 8-9. Yes, they lost. But by 1 point!! That must have been a great game! (Chris and I missed it because we were in Santa Cruz. But Kyle got a base-hit and then scored. Against the Cardinals!) So, hope springs eternal and maybe, just maybe the Giants will go all the way!

And hey, Happy Birthday Uncle Bot!!!