We are moving

Baking cookies is what I've been busy doing these past couple of days. The Toot and I delivered our cookies to family this morning. 

Next week will be the last week we'll be spending here in our apartment. It's time for a new chapter in our lives and we are ready. It will be nice when we are finally out of here. There are a lot of good memories and some bad which are not worth mentioning. 

I've managed to put up some lights on our living room window to get into the spirit of christmas. We're keeping it simple and it's been less stressful for all of us. 

Between packing, cooking and decluttering I'm making time to read and play games with my Toot. She's growing fast and I don't want to think back and regret that I didn't slow down to spend time with her. I'm also turning off the television to spend more time to listen and talk to my girl. It's too easy to turn on the tv when I need to clean or cook and I've promised myself to not do that anymore. I've realized that when I turn it off that she can keep herself occupied with her toys and books. Having her move around and using her imagination is encouraged. I look forward to having a backyard for us to play and garden in. 

We are getting close to our move out day (Dec 27th ) and I may not get a chance to post again until the new year. We will be busy packing, unpacking and settling into our new environment....our home. I may be disconnected for a couple of days. We'll see. It may be a smooth transition if AT&T does their business right...and for a charge of $47.50.

Great day for a stroll at the zoo

These goats were loving the sun. They were probably meditating and getting ready for the mob of school children heading their way in a few minutes. 

.....OM......

I relaxed after being in their space of calm. 

It set the pace for us as we continued our trek through the park.

A day at the zoo was our gift to Melissa for her 23rd Birthday. 

Happy Birthday Melissa!

I was impressed with all the new exhibits at the zoo. This is under construction. 

The day was cloudy and cool.....fantastic!

 

I'm obviously not wasting my free time stuck in malls and parking lots for Christmas. I've come to realize that I can choose to do what really makes me happy. Being outdoors in Nature and with my family is a much more memorable and pleasant way to spend my time. Every year it gets easier to not get caught up in the commercialism and consumerism of the holidays. I'm not at all interested in getting presents and I don't have any money to waste on gifts that I do not know if the receiver will even appreciate. Most likely "not" because they won't be expensive or the latest name tag or logo.  It's all so boring and I'm not going to play the game. I've had enough of commercials and advertisers (and relatives) telling me what I should have. I am grateful for what I've got and that is enough. 

Really! 

Sharyll Burroughs-Chung : A friend of mine is having a show...

Here's a write-up from MorYork Gallery:

"MORYORK GALLERY is pleased to present the debut exhibition of
Los Angeles-based artist Sharyll Burroughs-Chung.

ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE: Buddhas, Nigras & Other Favorite Things
comprises works in mixed media including wood, metal, cloth, paper and
more. In addition to these, Burroughs-Chung uses concepts of banality,
high kitsch and spirituality as tools to examine the ocean of racial
assumptions in which Americans seem to be drowning. Text is integral
to the artist's exploration of these themes, including liberal use of
that infamous word "which must not be named."

"I feel these are the best instruments I can use to poke at
people for being so rigid about what race really means in this
country," she explained. "And `nigger' typifies not so
much the ways we discuss race, but the ways we DON'T discuss race.

More than 50 works never before displayed in public will be unveiled
in Sharyll's debut at the MorYork Gallery from 2 pm – 10 pm on
Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008, with an opening reception beginning at 7 pm
during the NELAart "Second Saturday" tour.

Born in rural Georgia, Burroughs-Chung attended the Santa Monica
College of Design, Art and Architecture, studying with faculty such as
George Herms, Deborah Sussman and Betye Saar. She resides in Echo Park
with her husband and two sons."

I had the fortunate opportunity to see her work in her studio and I couldn't stop smiling for days. Sharyll left me thinking about so many things and I like that. Her work makes people stop to question themselves and society. People who are sensitive to the word "Nigger" should come take a look, if you dare. Come see what she has to say. See also here for more.

Figure Sketches for Fun

"Crown"

Forensics in my Kitchen

Melanoma

 Bone Marrow

Dry Skin

Ode to My Mind:

There is so much to observe. 

Every little detail is a whole new world. 

Sometimes I look too hard and I forget to stand back to look at the big picture. 

This is a cold case.

We're going to the dentist tomorrow morning.....an unexpected and overdue appointment.  A hump on the road and we will get through this. This=I do know.  

Update: Everything is good in the teeth department for my Toot. No cavities! Hurray! She just needed a little cleaning. I can breath now. 

30 Day Notice and Disneyland

We gave our notice to the landlord today and we are so glad to be moving out. We've been here for seven years and it is definitely time for us to move on and start a new chapter in our lives. My Gorilla handed in the notice this morning and afterwards we walked to our local farmer's market. It was nice to see The Gorilla with a smile. He's usually so serious. 

Later in the day he took us to Disneyland to show us the beautiful light display on The Castle and It's a Small World. 

The photos below are my impressions of the carrousel and my Toot's point of view. 

She loved it!

We all loved it!

Thank you Daddy!

Brussel Sprouts for Thanksgiving

Isn't this a gorgeous head of brussel sprouts. This is one of the reasons I love shopping for produce at my local farmer's market. We've got a small refrigerator and I had to seriously make room for this lovely green vegetable. I was told that I could also use the leaves for a soup. I had no idea that brussel sprouts came like this. My local supermarket charges an outrageous amount for a third of these and not as fun to look at. 

I'm looking forward to making my brussel sprouts mixed with water chestnuts.

Pigeon Dude

More can be done, but I will stop here for now. It's taken me a long time to get to this point. I'll think about this one before I decide to do more. It's late and I'm going to bed.

Did it myself: Furniture Repair

I've been procrastinating to do this repair. I knew I could repair our chairs, but I kept telling myself I needed to buy a strap for holding the joints tight while the glue dried. So instead of forking out 15 dollars for a strap at Home Depot I decided to make a strap with two belts. Leather worked best. 

I could have gone and bought a better glue, but this Elmer's Wood Glue will work fine. Now we don't need to buy a new dinning room set of chairs. It felt great to make this repair and I didn't have to spend a cent. 

When we move to our new place I'm going to get out my tool box and do some more simple wood projects. I love the feeling of working with wood. Especially fixing something and saving it from the dumpster. These chairs are in perfect condition except for the glue on the joints wearing out. It's nice to know that I have this skill and can use it for everyday living. 

Electricity would be a nice thing to learn how to do. It would be great to learn how to repair electrical sockets and lamp fixtures. Solar! Green energy! The old nuts and bolts in this head are starting to move again. 

Pigeons Wait

While she sleeps I draw. This is only a start and I will continue tonight. The tapping of the keys is making her stir. My little monstrita. Whaaaaaaaa!

Joselito - Abuelita

I dedicate this video to Manglor and our Mom.

I'm a big crier when it comes to music that reminds me of my mother. This reminded me of the bond my mother and my nephew always had. He probably doesn't like hearing it, but he did have a striking resemblance to Joselito.

I've already had my good cry while I watched this video.


I get a little bluesy when the holidays come. My mother always got the whole family together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She cooked and cooked for days because she loved cooking. She fed everyone and anyone who didn't have a place to go for the holidays. Every year I helped her with the cooking and cleaning of our home to welcome everyone. I didn't realize back then how much she was giving me. Today I can't seem to enjoy the holidays as much as I did when my mother was alive. I wish I had the room in our home to continue her gift for everyone. I have many good memories of her and I'll never forget what love is.

I love you Mom.

Finished - She's Serious

This portrait reminds me of a good friend I had when I went to art school. This is Holly. I think of her often and I hope she is well and happy. Holly is someone who left an impression in my life and I will always remember her fondly.

It's late and I must go to sleep. I had to finish this tonight and it's very late, but I am glad I've completed this portrait and now I can start something new. I'm on a roll and I'm loving it! I haven't been selling and I also haven't been promoting. I'm having so much fun painting and drawing with the little free time I have. I will think about promoting a little later. The main thing for me is to keep creating because it's what I need to do now. 

Steps 1 and 2 of " She's Serious"

She's not finished. I am working on her a little bit every day.

Since my painting table is temporarily the space for my altar, I have been painting on my computer with "Painter". This started out as a sketch and then an outline in my sketchbook. I then scanned the outline and now I'm coloring it in Painter. It's fun and since I've already done this process with two other pieces - it's getting easier to manage the different applications I need to use so I may post the process in steps. I am pleased with this one so far.

We did it!

Our 44th President, Barack Obama.

Amazing! 

I am so happy to see this day. 

The day is finally here!

Go out and VOTE!

Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!

Update:

I have voted and I took my big sister to vote. No provisional ballots for us! We want our votes to count.

We had a little scene at my sisters polling place because they almost had her fill out a provisional ballot. She should have been directed to the next room for her voting place, but they took the easier (lazy) route by sending her to a table a few steps away to fill out a PB. On our own we found her polling place and she voted (this was in the same building). I couldn't leave until I said something to the people who told her she wasn't registered. It felt great to speak up. I usually don't like to make waves or have all eyes on me, but this time I had to say something. Especially when I saw how unprofessional and unhelpful they were to my sister. I knew there were going to be many more confused people coming in to vote and they don't deserve to be treated this way.

I'm done. I'm off my soapbox.

Dia de los Muertos

An altar for our family and friends who have left us. 

We miss you.

I made this to keep you in our memories. 

St. Martin de Obama

St. Martin de Obama
Originally uploaded by manglor_y_que

This cracked me up. My nephew took a photo of this candle when he was over in San Francisco this weekend. Click on the Manglor Link below to see more of his photography.

We all need our Obama votive candle for this presidential election.

I don't know who the artist is. Did you get the name Manny?

I'm it! I've been tagged!

This is my first time being tagged. I've been tagged by my blogger friend Pura and I want to thank her for including me to play. It took me a while to come up with something to share. Here goes....

HERE ARE THE RULES:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is UP.

HERE ARE SOME NON-IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT ME:

1. I am not a phone person. There was a time when I cringed every time the phone rang. I felt invaded. I'm getting better now....thank goodness for caller id and answering services.

 
2. I was a woodworker for nine years and I loved it. 

 
3. Cloudy days are my favorite kind of days. 

4. I like old trucks. The older and rustier the better.

5. I was once registered as an Independent, but after four years of George Bush I changed to Democrat. Four more years later, I'm still a Democrat and I'm proudly voting for Barack Obama.

6. I don't have a green thumb, but I want to learn how to grow my own herbs and vegetables.

7. I hate shopping and I don't like malls. I do love flea markets!

I'm a small fish in this big pond of internet bloggers. The people I'm adding may not respond or have time to do this. We'll see what happens....

Liz

Jesse

Vanessa

Gene

Melsky

Flea Market Galoshes

Only $2.00!

The bandages are a painful detail that will remind me to keep her in pants when we go to the park.

What's for Dinner Mom?

Golden Curry and White Rice! 

Pork, onion, carrots, potatoes, bell pepper and water.

Put in the (mild) S&B Golden Curry bars and simmer. I know it doesn't look good, but it is so good! 

The ginger on top is the cherry on top. Delicious! This is a favorite dish of mine and I've made it enough times for the Gorilla to like it. The little gorilla has been eating it too. She's like me and can eat the 

ginger by itself. I appreciate and encourage trying different foods.

For desert we have guayavas. I had some amazing guayava ice cream at the County Fair this summer. This too has an unusual flavor and it's a favorite fruit of mine. It's got a unique STRONG scent that makes my mouth water whenever I smell it in the air. Today we were able to buy some at the farmer's market.