I'm distracted, unable to focus. Many deadlines this week, but I don't feel like writing. Odd...I only have a couple of things left to write today but I'm stuck in the mud.

Some days, I wonder what I would like to be when I grow up.

Other days, I see that I'm doing exactly what I like.

And come to think of it, not many jobs offer the freedom and space to be stuck, and to wonder, beagle on lap and no commute.

Blah blah blah, who cares?

Okay, perspective check complete. I think I'll go work now ;-).

In my voracious (and distracting-from-work) reading about all things sketchy and brushy lately, I caught what sounds like a cool hint:

Draw something upside down.

No, don't flip over, pencil in hand.

Turn a photo or drawing you want to sketch upside down, and draw what you see. The idea is that you will see the forms that are really there -- the way you used to see as a child, before logic muddied things up. It's drawing without assuming the forms add up to anything you've learned to recognize.

I think I will try this this weekend.

Did you know it took DaVinci 10 years to paint her lips? and she is missing a feature on her face. Can you see what it is?

It's very cold outside.

My fat little beagle is warm and likes to cuddle. Under a blanket.

My laptop fascinates her.

My notebook fits just so in between the couch cushions.

And so it goes on a snowy winter night.

I sketched this more or less from one of my favorite photos, which a friend took during a tropical storm on the Gulf Coast. My rays are too pronounced, the proportions are all off, and the fact that the photo evokes strong emotion for me shows blatantly...but you get the idea. This exercise reminds me that 1) subtlety was never my strong point in anything; and 2) knowing when to stop -- knowing when I'm "done" -- is very, very difficult.


[the photo]

Something to try in the spring?














more dirty car art

In no particular order -- except for #1, which is, well, #1:

1. Live, someday, on or very near a beach, and grow geraniums in pots on my beachside deck.
   
2. Learn to like running -- and get really addicted to it.
3. Visit all the U.S. coasts (except Alaska's). I've seen the mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, the Gulf Coast. Still to see: the Pacific Northwest, the West, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hawaii.
4. Become a neat freak.
5. Learn to draw and paint.
6. Write a book...maybe.
7. Get more involved with volunteer opportunities.
8. Do at least one good deed without fail every single day.
9. Learn more about working with databases, XML, Flash and other Web technologies.
10. Take up kayaking.
11. Make wine.
12. Get up the guts to let my hair go silver and keep it long.
13. Own and run an online business selling...what?
14. Trace my genealogy.
15. Visit Greece and Sicily, if I can get past the flying part.
    

Okay, wait. Now that I've gotten started, I see that I have a lot more to list and to do. And ever-less time to do it.

So what's on your list?

So here are six weird things about me:

1) My favorite place is on or near the water. But I came as close as humanly possible to drowning in an Oneida Lake boathouse when I was a little girl.
2) I love people, but I hate the phone. Despise it. I don't know why, and I wish it were different.
3) I love mornings but I hate to get up early. "So go to bed sooner," you say. But I love the nighttime!
4) I wanted to be a nun when I was growing up. Now, I am not religious in the traditional sense, but spirituality is very important to me.
5) Thunderstorms terrified me as a kid. Now I love them. They completely intrigue me. And they still terrify me.
6) I love liver, onions and bacon.
7) There are a lot more weird things about me, and I never know when to stop writing.

About this post
I was tagged for this "six weird things about me" post by Lisa. Each person who gets tagged then posts their own six weird things and clearly states how this works. And after posting, the person "tags" other people.

When you tag someone, don't forget leave a comment in his or her 's blog that says "you're tagged" -- and tell your friend to read your blog for information as to what it means.

I'm not sure yet who I will tag...not many of my friends have blogs. But most of them are delightfully weird.

Meet beautiful Ms. Agnes, whose photo in a local nursing home's calendar inspired my very first attempt at drawing a person. She is as pretty and sparkling as June -- the month she's featured -- and capturing the memories in her face and the twinkle in her eye proved very very difficult. I don't know her, but I think I'd like to.