Hearts

I found hearts on my walk yesterday! I like heart shapes and I decided these must be a sign. I just don't know what they are a sign of! The first one I found was on the sidewalk and looks like it was meant for a particular person. The second was hanging in a tree. I know I've walked past this house before and didn't see the heart so I think they must have put it up recently. I really liked the tree one. It looked metal but I wasn't sure. And last, when I was taking pictures of the morning glories I realized they have heart-shaped leaves! I've decided to look for more hearts on my walks!

Musical Monday

I was trying to find a Johnny Cash song that I hadn't posted before. I searched my blog and this didn't come up so I think I'm safe! Not that there aren't a lot to choose from, it's just that I have certain favorite songs & tend to post those!

People can be odd about money. I've known people who had a lot and it mattered a lot to them. I've known people who had a lot and it didn't matter at all to them. And I've known people with very little who didn't care because they were doing what they wanted.  I think that's what matters - living your life the way you want, the way you know you have to and being happy about it. If you have money, great and if you don't, well you get by the best you can. Being true to yourself is what matters. Johnny Cash didn't start out rich and while he may have ended up that way (I actually don't know how "well off" he was), it took a long time and a lot of sacrifice. But he was doing what mattered to him, what he had to do and that's important, not the money.

Silent Sunday

I was walking one day and saw the leaf shape on the sidewalk. I couldn't get a great picture because of the shadows but I thought it looked kind of nice.

A few thoughts for a lazy Saturday morning

Jennifer Louden writes some great women's comfort books about doing retreats and other ways of taking care of yourself. I read a couple of her books years ago and recently came across The Women's Retreat Book again. I visited her website and signed up for an email series about self-trust inspiration. Yesterday's email was about making promises to yourself, being clear about them and noticing when you've followed through. I make promises to myself all the time. Sometimes I follow through and sometimes I don't but I realized I never give myself credit when I do.

One of the promises I've made recently is to not do things or be around people who make me feel bad and erode my commitment to what I want. It ain't easy though. I have the following excerpt from Transcendental Etude by Adrienne Rich posted in a couple of places in my apartment. It reminds me of what I want and that it isn't going to be easy.

But there come times –perhaps this is one of them—
when we have to take ourselves more seriously or die;
when we have to pull back from the incantations,
rhythms we’ve moved to thoughtlessly,
and disenthrall ourselves, bestow
ourselves to silence, or a severer listening, cleansed
of oratory, formulas, choruses, laments, static
crowding the wires. We cut the wires,
find ourselves in free-fall, as if
our true home were the undimensional
solitudes, the rift
in the Great Nebula.
No one who survives to speak
new language, has avoided this:
the cutting-away of an old force that held her
rooted to an old ground
the pitch of utter loneliness
where she herself and all creation
seem equally dispersed, weightless, her being a cry
to which no echo comes or can ever come.

I was looking for the complete text of Transcendental Etude to link to but didn't find it. I did find this video which I really liked and wanted to share though!

Another painting

I was going to do a longer post but I'm tired so for now I'll just share another picture that I really like. This picture is at the Crocker Art Museum, which is one of my favorite places. It's called So Fleet the Works and was painted by Edwin Deakin in 1895. I think it has something of a romanticized sad, lonely feeling to it. When I visit the museum I stand and look at it for a long time and I feel sometimes like I'm waiting for someone to walk down the steps. Probably a beautiful woman in a long, white dress mourning a lost lover. Then again, I may be reading too much into it!

Every day in September!

I signed up for September on the NaBloPoMo site. This means I'm going to post every day in September. I've only been posting sporadically lately and I want to get back in the habit so I thought this would give me a push.

The theme for September is Art - posting about art that inspires you and how you bring art into your life. I thought I'd share a picture that I came across recently and really liked. It's called Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea by James Whistler. It's very peaceful feeling and I really like the soft colors in it. When I find pictures I like online I usually save them to my picture file so I can use them as wallpaper or in screensavers. It's a free, easy way to enjoy art that I could never afford!

Cat Brain

I found this on the Way of Cats blog. It's a pretty good diagram of a cat's brain I think although my cats are structured somewhat differently. The short circuit section is huge in Mellifera. One second she's sweet and purring, the next she's biting me. Pippin's largest section is the can opener sonar with a twist - if there's any chicken or turkey involved in a meal he moves so fast you can't see him! They both have the adoration of one spot on the bed - it's either where the other cat is or where I am. And they both have an overwhelming vacuum cleaner fear. What they don't seem to have is a hatred of dogs. My neighbor has a little dog and when he takes it out for a walk they stand at the screen door and stare at it. They have no idea what a dog is!

Anyway I thought this was cute. If you have cats you can decide which parts of its brain are most active!