After the Pain

Sometimes cute can hurt. The house I live in is a very cute little cottage style house but it has sloping ceilings and weird angles. The upstairs bathroom has an angled ceiling that I have to be really careful of. I had a small slip and cracked my head on the slope Thursday morning and I am just now getting over the severe headache that it caused. I changed pillows and used a real soft one last night and that cushioned the head enough to let me sleep. I wish I could find soft solutions to life's other problems.

I'm going to go back to doing something else I have always loved and that is sewing. I got my machine out of storage and found some of my material. I'm going to make a couple of outfits for myself to get back in the swing of things before I tackle my niece's wedding dress. I haven't sewed in a few years and I need to get use to my sewing machine again. For me sewing is an art form where I can take a straight piece of material and turn it in to something beautiful to wear.

I left work yesterday very frustrated. The job is overwhelming and we are short staffed but no one seems to think that things need to be changed in order to fix problems. I feel like I work in pure chaos most of the time. I try to leave the work there come Friday evening but sometimes I have to force myself to think of other things.

One of the things that calmed me down last night after a particularly rotten day at work was reading the quote of the day in my Oriental Wisdom calendar. It said: "God is in the water of the lake; he is also in the cracked bed of the lake when the lake has dried up." Mansur al-Hallaj. I find it comforting that in good times and bad that God is there for us. Knowing that there is a higher power that cares for me is one of the things that allows me to maintain a perspective in my life. I know there a rough times coming because Mom's heart is so bad that her time on this earth is limited. It will be hard to lose her but as it did when I lost Dad my faith will help me get through.

The picture is called "Lucky Escape" and the explosion was my head Thursday morning.

 

Over Coming

It seems that at those times when I have the least faith in myself something happens that renews my self esteem. I started a picture on Saturday having no idea what I really wanted to do. The end results were spectacular. In addition to the picture a short story came to mind that is telling a powerful story. This has dispelled my doubts that I will continue to be creative. God has answered one of my prayers with a very big yes. Yes I am still a writer and artist.

My mother is having heart problems again but she is doing better. She was off work yesterday and today is her regular day off so the rest is doing her good. I was praying that she would be cancelled yesterday so that she could spend the day resting after Monday's chest pains. Again God has answered my prayer.

Sometime during the night I feel as if a burden has been lifted. I know I am doing the best I can and that is all I can reasonably expect of myself. I don't have a pair of Superman tights and should allow myself to be human. I can't solve all the problems. I can only do what I can and trust in the Lord that he will guide me along the way.

The picture is called "Hero's Lament" and will be the cover art for the story I am writing of the same name.

 

A Man Called Happy

When I was a very young child there was a man in my life who was very important to me. His name was Hiram Hughes and he was my Grandfather. My mother was his baby girl and I was the baby girl of his baby girl. It was a special relationship.

My Grandfather had to quit school when he was in the fourth grade. He worked hard all his life. He saw his drunken father gamble away the farm that was supposed to be the inheritance for him and his brothers. My Grandmother was a hot tempered woman who was never really contented about anything. I loved her but then she had mellowed a little by the time grandchildren came along.

My Grandfather's nickname was "Happy" because he was almost always in a good mood. He was an optimist and saw the good in life. He had his share of sorrows. He lost his mother when he was very young. He had the heartache of burying infant children. Nothing kept him down for long though.

My memories of him are from a distance of time. I was eight when he died. I remember the feel of whiskers on my face when he hugged me. I remember the overalls he always wore. Most of all I remember sitting on his lap as we rocked back and forth on the porch swing. He made me feel safe and happy.

When Grandfather died there was a huge crowd at his funeral because he was loved by so many people. Grandfather had the gift of touching people lives and making the world better because he was in it. He brought joy into people's lives.

I miss my Grandfather's sweetness but I am comforted by the fact that when it comes my time to go I will meet up with him again. That is one of the comforts that faith in a higher power brings. If you believe in God and Heaven then you believe that you will see your love ones again in the next life. I'm looking forward to that.

 

Doubt

The Gospel that was read on Sunday was about Thomas who doubted that Christ had risen until he actually saw him. I think doubt is something that everyone struggles with now and then. I know I have and still do at times.

I think night time is the hardest time for me when I'm down. It seems in the early hours of the morning is when my self doubt is the strongest. Those times when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep are the times when I wonder the most about what I have done and am attempting to do with my life.

Right now my biggest worry is my Mom. I came out here to take care of her yet I wonder if I am doing all I can. I have taken a lot of worry off of her but still she is stressed. I don't know what else I can do to ease the stress because every time she stresses her heart acts up. I try to make sure that I don't cause her any problems but I can't stop her worrying about my brothers. I try but I can't seem to get through to them that they have to keep the stress level down for Mom. I don't know what else to do and it frustrates me.

Mom worries about two of the four boys so much and I know she wants me to take care of them after she goes but I worry that if I do that I will never have my own life back. There are still so many things I want to accomplish in my life. I have always felt that this was just a temporary break and that I could go back to my own life after Mom goes. I doubt that I would have the patience to deal with these two after she passes on.

Sometimes I doubt that I am charitable enough. I know it would ease her mind if Mom thought I would keep everybody together and take care of my brothers but I just don't think I can do it the way she wants. I feel so torn up inside sometimes that I just want to cry.

The picture is called "Guardian of the Night." Maybe I should just leave things in God and my guardian angel's hands and let them guide me to do what is right.

 

 

Sweet and Cool

"Who has never tasted what is bitter does not know what is sweet." Chinese Proverb

"Live lightly on the Earth." Tsunesaburo Makiguchi

The quotes from yesterday and today from my Oriental Wisdom Calendar really resonate with me. Like many my life has had its highs and lows. I have known happiness and sorrow. It is when we experience the bad in life that we come to appreciate the good. I don't think it is possible for life to be just happiness. We would all love to have a life that is pure joy but life isn't like that.

I watch the lives of the rich and famous and have to wonder are they really happy? You read about so many celebrities that use drugs and alcohol in an effort to escape from their lives. They can't be happy. Wealth can buy toys but it can't buy happiness. Happiness comes from within.

Happiness is a contentment with life. It is the emotion that makes you feel that life is worth living. Material possessions can bring a momentary sense of satisfaction but they can't bring about an emotional pleasure. The joy of life is in the living. It is in the pleasure of a child's smile. It is in the hugging of a frail mother. It is in the excitement of using your talent to create. It is in making others happy and bringing joy to your own life as you share that happiness.

One of the major lessons I learned from my marriage is that money can't buy happiness. My ex was always accumulating things. He made a good salary but it all went into buying possessions. He was not a happy man. He never learned how to give what was truly wanted. If you only buy things for others and never give of yourself you aren't truly giving. You are only passing on possessions which will deteriorate in time. If you give of the heart it will last forever.

It is in knowing the bitter in life that you learn to appreciate the good. If you know hurt and pain then when love and happiness come around you are so much more appreciative of it and you strive to keep happiness with you and pass it onto others.

One of the things that I love and gives me joy is the beauty of the world around me. Today is Earth Day and the focus is on this fragile little planet we live on. Earth is going through some traumatic times lately with the weather going crazy. Last season's hurricanes may be repeated again this year. South Dakota got five feet of snow dumped on it the other day. The tornados have already started and cost lives and property. Mother Nature is not a happy camper.

This is the only home we have and today you will find stories on how you can help maintain this fragile little ball of clay that we live on. With gas prices at an exorbitant high we are forced to see if there are ways that we can use alternate transportation. We need to conserve energy if we are to continue to afford to live in our homes. Today is a good day to find out how to appease Mother Nature by taking better care of her home.

The picture is called "Guardian of the Mountains."

 

Tolerance

It seems that lately my tolerance level is decreasing and things are starting to bug me. Two of my brothers have messed up and Mom has to bail them out again. This not only puts her out money but it takes a toll on her heart because she worries so much about what will happen to them after she is gone. They may actually have to learn to grow up and take control of their own lives. In reality they will probably turn to me to try and fix things. Sigh.

I subscribe to a couple of newsgroup in topics that interest me. I blew up at a bully in one of them yesterday. I am tired of him following one person around and posting obscene posts at him. I have a good idea who the poster is in real life. He is an arrogant person who refuses to concede that he was in the wrong as much as the person he is persecuting. He refuses to forgive and let the wounds of their battle that took place months ago heal.

Six years of marriage to a person who refused to forgive or forget what he considered slights to him has decreased my tolerance for these type of people. To be human is to err. If we were perfect we would be God. We aren't. We are flawed human beings. To keep churning up anger and hatred towards others destroys the hater. Little by little this hatred is eating away at their humanity and turning the hater into a pathetic shadow of a human. It leaves a shell that is filled with hatred because all good and decent emotions and feelings are driven out to make room for the ever growing hatred. To see a human destroy themselves like that is really sad. It is such a waste of the life that you have been given.

I was thinking of this hatred that destroys when I did the latest Guardian picture. This is “Guardian of Fire.” Fire when it gets out of control will leave a blackened hulk with nothing inside but ashes. Hatred does the same thing.

 

Air

There are a lot of phrases using the word air. When things are uncertain they are "up in the air." One of my favorite songs is the Hollies "The Air That I Breathe." When someone is blustering they are "full of hot air."

Air is something that you normally don't think about. It is just there. You inhale and exhale. It is something that is done automatically. It is invisible and taken for granted.

However the quality of the air we breathe makes a difference in our lives. If the air is polluted it can damage our health. Scientists are studying the effect of pollution on our ozone layer. That is the barrier that keeps us alive. Without that barrier between us and space all of Earth would die and everything on it.

I am aware of air because I have C.O.P.D. in the form of severe asthma. There are times when I can not breathe. I always have to have my emergency inhaler with me. The simple act of inhaling and exhaling becomes very difficult when you are in the throes of an asthma attack. It can become quite scary when you can't breathe right.

I am reading about more and more children that are suffering from asthma. When I lived in Denver for a couple of years I was noticing a lot of people who are on oxygen because of the thin air that high up and because they are suffering from C.O.P.D. Many of them developed it because they smoked for years. Mine came not from smoking but because of severe allergies. Sometimes I feel that if you name it I'm probably allergic to it.

What can we do about the air that we breathe? One thing is stop smoking. It is not only bad for you but bad for others breathing second hand smoke. Another is to keep abreast of the scientists studies on pollution and to support the recommendations to try and clean up our air. I have a brother who works for the Environmental Protection Agency. Let your congressmen know that you want the agency supported in cleaning up our air.

As someone who has been in the throes of a severe asthma attack I can attest that not being able to do something as simple as breathe is very scary. This something we have to do to keep alive deserves the cleanest air we can put into out lungs.

The picture is the latest in the Guardian series and is called "Guardian of the Air."

 

Air

There are a lot of phrases using the word air. When things are uncertain they are "up in the air." One of my favorite songs is the Hollies "The Air That I Breathe." When someone is blustering they are "full of hot air."

Air is something that you normally don't think about. It is just there. You inhale and exhale. It is something that is done automatically. It is invisible and taken for granted.

However the quality of the air we breathe makes a difference in our lives. If the air is polluted it can damage our health. Scientists are studying the effect of pollution on our ozone layer. That is the barrier that keeps us alive and without that barrier between us and space all of Earth would die and everything on it.

I am aware of air because I have C.O.P.D. in the form of severe asthma. There are times when I can not breathe. I always have to have my emergency inhaler with me. The simple act of inhaling and exhaling becomes very difficult when you are in the throes of an asthma attack. It can become quite scary when you can't breathe right.

I am reading about more and more children who are suffering from asthma. When I lived in Denver for a couple of years I was noticing a lot of people who are on oxygen because of the thin air that high up and because they are suffering from C.O.P.D. Many of them developed it because they smoked for years. Mine came not from smoking but because of severe allergies. Sometimes I feel that if you name it I'm probably allergic to it.

What can we do about the air that we breathe? One thing is stop smoking. It is not only bad for you but bad for others breathing second hand smoke. Another is to keep abreast of the scientist's studies on pollution and to support the recommendations to try and clean up our air. I have a brother who works for the Environmental Protection Agency. Let your congressmen know that you want the agency supported in cleaning up our air.

As someone who has been in the throes of a severe asthma attack I can attest that not being able to do something as simple as breathe is very scary. This something we have to do to keep alive deserves the cleanest air we can put into our lungs.

The picture is the latest in the Guardian series and is called "Guardian of the Air."

 

Happy Easter

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. Today is the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. It is a day of hope and renewal. I feel sorry for the people who have shoved God out of their lives or refuse to believe in him/her. They will miss the joy that today brings. For today God shows us that he has the power over death and that we will be reunited with him/her when we leave this world. What a wonderful thing to know. It takes away the fear of death to know that we have eternal life waiting for us in God's embrace.

The picture is called "Guardian of Light." My faith in God is the light in my life. He is the light in the story series I write. He is all that is good in this world.

 

 

Easter Thoughts

The quote for the weekend in my Oriental Wisdom calendar is by Ibn al-'Arabi and says, "The Universe is God's own Shadow." What a beautiful thought for this Easter Season. Many religions are in the midst of holy seasons. The Jews are observing Passover and the Christians are in the midst of observing the death and resurrection of Christ. Yesterday we observed his death, today we are in the midst of reflecting on his terrible sacrifice for us, and tomorrow we observe his glorious resurrection.

I finished another picture last night called "Guardian of the Earth." It has me thinking about this fragile little ball hurtling in space that we live on. Christ walked on this planet of ours. God loved this little planet enough to give us his only son.

This world of ours is unstable in so many ways. We are prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, and other natural disasters. Man threatens this planet as much as nature with our wars and hatred. The president of Iran is calling for the destruction of Israel. The various factions in Iraq are killing each other at an alarming rate. The politics of this world are the politics of hatred.

In this period of quiet reflection on Christ's death and the hope of resurrection we should turn our thoughts towards what we can do to honor his sacrifice by making this a better world for all. God so loved the world that he gave us his only son. We should learn to love each other and build bridges to peace and not hatred. That is how we can thank God whose shadow is this universe of ours.

 

Restless

Another thunder storm at 2 a.m. and another interrupted night of sleep. I'm feeling increasingly restless lately not just because of the storms. I can't put my finger on it. It feels like something is about to happen but not something that feels bad. It is just a restless feeling like something is going to happen that will cause a major change in my life. It may be one of those Irish moods. It may be that today's Oriental Wisdom calendar quote is significant. "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problem." Mahatma Gandhi. Maybe I'm about to find out what I am capable of doing.

At least tonight I get to watch Doctor Who and they are bringing back my favorite villains the Daleks. Geek time. ;-)

 

Dawn

I rarely wake up to the sound of the alarm clock. I am almost always awake before then. I've noticed that I don't need as much sleep as I used to and it is hard to sleep in. It is in those early hours before I get up that I most tend to wonder about my life.

I know that I have accomplished many things in my life that I am proud of. I have met and worked with some truly great people. All in all I can say I've enjoyed my life.

As in all lives there are things that I wish I had accomplished or done. There are things that are still waiting for me to do. At the moment though I feel sort of in limbo. My life is on hold while I care for my mother.

I have vague plans for life after mother goes. I know it is only a matter of time since her heart is so bad. I know that I'll probably head back towards Chicago because I really don't care for small town life. Other then that every thing is up in the air.

This is the latest picture in the Guardian series. It is called "Guardian of the Dawn."

 

Working Off Frustration

I have decided that AOL stands for "Angry Obscene Language" because that is what you have a tendency to use if you are on this stupid system. How someone this big can constantly mess everything up I don't know. It gets real frustrating trying to keep the Journal and web site up because the system constantly crashes.

It has been crazy at work. I am so swamped that I could scream. Every time I turn around they are dumping more work on my desk. I don't think anyone realizes how time consuming these "projects" are and they wonder why we can't collect money. We don't have time to call and try and make payment arrangements because we are on the phone to insurance companies, filling out forms, trying to get paperwork completed, etc. I try to leave the job at work when I come home but unfortunately I usually come home with a pounding headache.

I'm worried about Mom today. This was supposed to be her day off and they called her in to work from 11 a.m to 11 p.m. This woman is almost 80 years old. She shouldn't be working a 12 hour day like this. It is poor planning on their part plus letting an employee get away with calling in any time she feels like it. Needless to say I won't be able to sleep tonight until I know she is okay and hasn't over done things.

I'm going to work on art work tonight now that I have the Easter cards finished for Mom and my taxes done and e-filed. Love computers they make tax time easy. Now I just need to sit my brother down and get his taxes done sometime before Tuesday.

I need to find a nice weekend without thunderstorms so I can go through my storage shed and get some things out plus I need to go get material and make my nieces wedding dress. In addition she has asked me to be in the wedding party so I will need to go and find the bridesmaid's gown. So much to do but I need to make sure she has made up her mind completely before I make the dress and floral pieces.

The picture is called "Chaos" which is how my life feels right now.

 

Guardian of Knowledge

Here is the picture to Knowledge. AOL won't let me add it back to my post. Grrrrr!!!!!

Good Grief

I swear the letters in AOL stand for annoying, onerous, and lousy! First they double post my last entry and when I try to take the duplicate off they foul up the picture so I can't get it on the remaining post. Sigh!

This is the latest in the Guardian series called "Guardian of the Night."

 

Knowledge

The Guardian series is coming out great! This one is "Guardian of Knowledge."

I have always been one of those brainy people who enjoyed school for the learning. I was never into sports and the whole rah-rah experience. The only club I was a member of was the speech club. I had a great time in the inter-school debates. To this day I can remember our topic: resolved the federal government should institute a program of compulsory arbitration in labor management disputes in basic industries. Wow what a mouthful!

I was reading an article the other day where American children are losing in the ability to keep up with other children scholastically. I find that a very sad thing. I know teachers who have quit because they can't teach. They have to spend all of their time being policemen. I've known teachers who have quit because special interest groups want to force pseudo science on them and take away their ability to teach real science. Creationism and Intelligent Design belong in theology classes not science. I bugs me that people try to limit God's creative ability to a document that was written for people who had no science and had to be instructed in the ways that they could understand.

The world and universe is a very fascinating place and we need to explore and discover the wonders that await us. We are getting beautiful color pictures of Mars coming in now. It is exciting to see actual pictures of another world.

God gave us brains and expects us to use them for something other then keeping our ears apart. I am constantly learning new things. I want to continue to explore the world around me. I want to know how things work. I want to know about new discoveries in medicine. I want to read writers exploring the way we live now and speculating about how we will live in the future. Knowledge. What a great word. The ability to think is a God given gift. We owe it to ourselves and him/her to continue to learn and explore and use this gift to its fullest.

 

Something New

I am working on a new series of art pictures. I am calling it the "Guardian" series. The elements that will tie the pictures together are semi-transparent dragons and a rainbow sky. I am excited by this series since I have never done anything quite like this before. The concept came to me the other day when I did "Guardian of the Flame." All of a sudden I could see a multitude of images in my head.

I had a weird experience last night when I was playing around on the computer waiting for Turbo Tax to finish down loading. I came across an e-bay auction of my artwork. I remember selling these prints to a man from a store in Southern California. I knew he was reselling them. He was quite complimentary towards my work in his description of the art. Still it was strange to see my art up for sale like that.

My art has changed over the years as I have learned to use the computer programs that create the art for me. As my confidence grows in my abilities my art work continues to improve. I am doing more complicated art now then I did when I first started. A few years ago I would not have been able to come up with the Guardian series.

So far my greatest worry regarding my art and writing has not come to pass. I have this fear that the ideas will dry up and I won't continue to be able to create new things. That is one reason why I try and leave myself open to new ideas all the time. You never know what may inspire a picture or a story.

The picture is called "Guardian of the Water."

 

 

Lull Between the Storms

My Oriental Wisdom calendar for today is a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh: "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."  I'm a person who smiles a lot. I share those smiles. Sometimes a smile can brighten someone's day. There are times I feel like telling certain people that the muscles that make them frown all the time work in reverse and make a smile. Try it sometime folks it really works.

Four AM this morning saw another thunder storm and a freaked out cat. There are more thunderstorms predicted for this evening and hopefully the storms won't have tornados attached to them this time. My brother in California was saying that they may get some thunderstorms too. Having experienced California thunderstorms I can safely say that they are wimps compared to the Midwest storms. I love California even the storms are laid back. I miss the state and my friends but I just can't afford to live there any more.

My body has finally decided to let me know that it has been dealing with too much stress. My neck and shoulder have been really sore for weeks now and are getting worse. I have some stress tabs that I'm starting back on. Don't tell Tom Cruise. ;-)

One of the ways I deal with stress is through my art. I'm starting a new series called the Guardian series. The computer is chugging its way through a new picture right now. It will take it a day or so to finish because one of the effects is time consuming. In the meantime the first picture is done and is called "Guardian of the Flame." I'm borrowing the dragon to clean my desk off at work.

 

Stormy Weather

We have more storms coming in but hopefully without the tornados. It has really been bad weather wise across the United States. California and Hawaii have been flooded with too much rain. The Midwest is getting slammed with killer tornados. Mother Nature is obviously very angry.

I'm calmer today then I was yesterday. I realize that it is going to be up to me to keep the situation with my younger brother under control. I will find a way to keep it from stressing Mom out. She was having chest pains again last night and I know it is the stress and worrying about him. Whenever she gets upset her heart starts acting up.

One of Mom's day brighteners turned eight yesterday. It doesn't seem possible that Merlin is that old. He still acts like a big baby. He got the lonelys at four in the morning and was rubbing all over me. Oh well maybe my job will look better if I'm half asleep.

As we weather the storms that Mother Nature throws at us I'm sure I can weather the storms in my personal life. I've done it before and I can do it again.

Thoughts from the Coffee Cup

I'm having extra coffee today. It is my late day at work so I have the chance to sit back and relax over a second cup of coffee. One of life's little pleasures.

We had another tornado warning late Sunday night with sirens going off and severe thunder storms overhead. This time it was accompanied by a two hour blackout. This house gets really dark during a power outage. Of course it doesn't help when the matches are so old they don't want to work when you try to light a candle. All in all not a fun night.

What made Sunday so frustrating for me was not the weather, it was my ex sister-in-law. She managed to scare my Mom into believing that my brother has to move out here for his own good. It was the "only thing that could save him." This is the brother who let his diabetes get out of control and who has allowed his weight to drop to anorexia levels, however he still smoke like a chimney. He refuses to do anything for himself and now wants my Mom to take care of him.

Mom's health is rapidly declining and the last thing she needs is to take care of someone else. My brother moves out here and her plan to retire goes out the window because he can't get disability because the only thing his doctor can find wrong with him after extensive testing is diabetes. That means she will have to pay for all of his medicine and everything else. To top it off she expects me to take care of him after she goes.

I am furious. I have willingly put my life on hold to come here and take care of mother in her declining years. My mother has always been there for us and she needs me now. I have no problems in staying here with my things in storage and caring for her. I draw the line however at being expected to give up the rest of my life to support someone who through his own negligence has allowed his health to get out of control. When he was first diagnosed with diabetes all he had to do was watch his diet. He has the diabetic cookbook I put together a few years ago to help diabetic friends do that. He refused to watch his diet, refuses to take his insulin now, and refuses to stop smoking. He doesn't want to do anything but sit around and feel sorry for himself. I had six years of my ex-husband's pity party and people who sit around and feel sorry for themselves drive me up the wall. If there is a problem take control of your life and do something about it. I have COPD and severe arthritis. I could sit around and go oh poor me but I don't. I take my medicine, make sure my inhaler is always with me, exercise and try to eat right. I keep active and refuse to let my health control me. I control it.

I don't mean to sound hard hearted but right now it is taking all of my extra energy to take care of mother. I don't need to have to take care of someone else. He can get well by following his doctor's orders and go out and support himself. Mom's heart is failing and she can only get worse. I have to concentrate on her.

When Mom goes I want to go back to Chicago where they have people who have the same interests that I do. The city has the type of things that I enjoy doing. I'm not cut out to be a small town girl. I need the big city. I want to meet people that I have things in common with and maybe find someone to spend the rest of my life with. If someone really needs my help I'll be there for them but my number one concern has to be Mom. After Mom goes I still have my own life to take care of and I'll be there for my family but I don't think it is too much to ask for them to take control of their own lives. I can't always be Ms. Fix-It for people. I don't think you are doing anyone any favors when you step in and do everything for them. People have to learn how to do things for themselves. At the end of the day you are responsible for you.

The picture is called "Watchtower." As I frequently do I turned to my artwork to try and regain my equanimity.

 

 

You Gotta Laugh

You have to have a sense of humor to get through life. It takes a sense of humor to be on AOL after all. Sorry to the 1463 people who have read this blog but AOL just eliminated you and reset the counter. They were probably doing housekeeping and eliminated you along with some of the pictures that I had to reload.

I love some of the classic British humor such as Monty Python. Others who have tickled my funny bone over the years are Dave Allen, Paul Hogan, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. One of my favorite funny movies is "The Wrong Box" which abounds with subtle humor. I am not a fan of gross out humor. Watching Friday's episode of Doctor Who I think someone should have told the producer that fart jokes really aren't funny and got in the way of what could have been a half way decent episode.

Over in my newsgroup I am finding that our newcomers have a great sense of humor and are not adverse to subtle puncturing of over inflated egos. I am waiting to see if their target has a sophisticated enough sense of humor to laugh or if she is going to go off onto another rant

I find humor occasionally in my art. The wonderful people at Poser have this feature called disembodied body parts. Come Halloween I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one. This picture is called "Lazy Afternoon" and is based on the Prisoner series. After all fellow Irishman Patrick McGoohan did manage to slip in some humor into his thought provoking series. As they say all work and no play makes for a boring day. You gotta laugh. My favorite quote is from Oscar Wilde, "Don't take life too seriously, you aren't getting out of it alive."

After the Storm

We had our first tornado warning of the Spring storm season last night. A storm blew through with 70 mph winds, hail, torrential rain, etc. Fortunately the tornado stayed about 6 miles from the town and didn't touch down and cause any damage. We didn't have to go down into the basement which was flooding anyway. I'm thankful for that because Mom wasn't feeling real good and it would have been tough for her to negotiate those narrow stairs. She is in congestive heart failure and some days she has a great weakness in her legs and last night was one of those days.

The postings over in my newsgroup are still going strong on the topic I had started. Some of the new people are really jumping in with both feet and a lively exchange of ideas is taking place. It is interesting to note that one woman is trying to disrupt the thread with pithy comments. She is also showing herself to be extremely shallow. A rich woman who has never had to worry about money or a bad marriage dispensing advice that shows her ignorance of the real world. She is angry because I started the thread and the newcomers are thanking me. She posted a cheep shot at me only to be shot down by the other posters coming to my defense. Right now she is lashing out at everybody who had the audacity to criticize her. She is really showing her true colors.

It does bring up the whole area of advice being given by someone who doesn't have a clue. I am thinking specifically at the advice given to a person who is trapped in an abusive relationship. It is very easy to sit back and say don't get into those type of relationships. Or just leave him. The reality is that no one willing goes into an abusive relationship. My ex-husband went off of the medicines that kept him under control after we got married. The man I was married to was not the man I knew when we were engaged. You can't always tell what a person is really like until you are in a relationship where you are with them 24/7.

Why do women stay in an abusive relationship? In my case I stayed for six years out of fear. I was warned by a psychiatrist that he would try to kill me if I left him. What people don't realize is that a restraining order is a piece of paper. Unless the person tries to kill you or harm you the police can do nothing. What a dilemma to be in. You have to place yourself in the position of being harmed before you can get police protection. If you have never lived with a fear for your life it is difficult to understand. I had to ensure my safety before I could leave him which meant making arrangements to move half way across the country.

I have survived though and for that I am grateful. I thank those people who came to my defense on my newsgroup. In times of trouble you find out who your friends really are. The picture is called "The Gift."