Graduation

My son and daughter are graduating from high school this year. I find myself being very excited for them and perhaps even a little jealous. They will be attending college in downtown Chicago – right across from Grant Park and Navy Pier with a view of Lake Michigan. One thing that I never did was live in the city after college. I guess I can live a little vicariously through my children. They are following creative pursuits -music management and comtemporary music, and photography and graphic design.  They are both very talented artists. The interesting thing is how many people want to tear their dreams down before they’ve even started or tell them that they can’t ‘make a living’ as an artist or to be ‘realistic’.  Is it that these people have thwarted dreams of their own? I even know of a young lady who dreams of being a baker whose mother told her that she can either major in business or education, not culinary arts. Why would you want to subject your child to life in a cubicle? And last time I checked, teaching jobs were pretty hard to come by. I find that very sad. I told her to take cooking classes as electives and learn about the business of owning her own bakery!

I’m not a very nostalgic person, and while I am sad that my children will be leaving home soon and will miss them and all of their friends and all the positive energy that they bring, I am really so excited for the adventure they are about to embark on. Frankly, I’m also a little excited about the adventures that I am about to embark on, because, now its gonna be all about me!

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~ Howard Thurman

“Find your passion and then you will have found your purpose.” ~ Bishop T.D. Jakes

World Book Night

Here I am picking up my books from Big Hat Books and Arts in Broad Ripple for World Book Night! I am going to use the books to host a book group this summer at the Westminister Neighborhood Ministries children’s summer camp. We’ll be reading “Because of Winn Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo.  I think I’m more excited than the the kids! If we finish “Because of Winn Dixie” then I will have them read “Indian Summer.”

Thursday I did an author talk at the Canterbury School Book Fair for third graders. Very fun! One of the other authors brought her dog, Martha, who was fabulously well behaved and sweet. Of course the kids loved her! Its hard to compete with a dog.

 Then on Friday I went to the Christamore House Author Luncheon, a benefit with five authors speaking and selling their books to fund the Christamore House children’s programs. Books, Books, Books ~all to benefit kids! Yeah!

March Madness

While Indiana is consumed with the March Madness of the college basketball tournament – go IU Hoosiers!, another March madness is quietly taking place…80 degree temperatures!

First daffodils

               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super Bowl Village Indianapolis

Friday night we ventured downtown to see the Hoosier Hospitality we’ve been hearing about at the Super Bowl Village in downtown Indianapolis. The weather has been perfect – 50′s and above and no snow. Downtown Indy is perfect for this event because everything is within walking distance including the stadium. It was PACKED, but everyone was in good spirits and having fun. We saw the much talked about zip-line and many street performers. The areas around the concert stage for LMFAO was too crowded to get awaywhere near, but we had fun just people watching. Its nice for the rest of the world to see what a great city Indianapolis is! These pics were taken with my iPhone, so the quality isn’t great, but you get the idea.

Sunday night I’ll be watching the game and rooting for Eli Manning and the Giants to beat the Patriots!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zip Line tower and Lucas Oil Stadium

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crowds of people

Art and Science

I was listening to a show on our local NPR station “The Art of the Matter” on Saturday and they mentioned a new program called . It is aimed at young adults who are a little old for the ‘Children’s Museum’, but still need a cool place to hang out and experience art and science. The director of the program referenced Leonardo daVinci (obviously) and Michealangelo as examples of artists whose work was informed by science. This really resonates with me as I didn’t start off as a writer (although if you read my last post – Projects – you’ll see that I’ve always been interested in art.) I worked summers in college in the mirobiology lab of Evanston Hospital and have a B.S. in Biology from IU. I still love science even though my career path took a different route. I’ve always felt that my mathmatical/scientific mind helped me to see patterns and shapes, relationships and colors in my art and that understanding science (or perhaps making new discoveries) requires a considerable measure of creativity. My sister-in-law once gave me a terrific complement by saying that I was one of the few people she knew who is both left and right brained. I was flattered, but I wonder, is that really true, or do we all have equal measures of both? I find that my writing incorporates my science background as well. My next novel-in-progress, a YA titled THE FIELD, deals with alternative energy sources (wind, solar, and so-called clean coal) and The Universal Energy Field or Zero Point Field that some scientists postulate permeates every inch of space in the Universe. It takes a bit of creativity to imagine it and a lot of scientific work to discover it. I’ll post a new excerpt to THE FIELD soon!

Projects

I love this time of year. I know I am in the minority, but I’m not alone. I grew up in Chicago where it got cold in December and stayed cold until April. We had outdoor skating rinks and skiied all winter. Winters in Indianapolis are wimpy. It was 60 degrees today! There is no such thing as winter sports here. Someone from Michigan once told me the reason people in Indianapolis don’t like winter is that it doesn’t stay cold long enough for them to enjoy it. Interesting fact – Indianapolis is on the latitude with the most freeze/thaw cylcles. It snows, but it doesn’t stay for more that a few days. Not like in Chicago where I can remember coasting onto my ice covered driveway for two months because it hadn’t gotten warm enough for it to melt.

But the real reason that I love this time of year is that there is nothing else going on so I can do projects! In the Spring you have gardening, spring break, and graduations. Summer needs no explanation. In the Fall everyone gets busy with work and school until the ‘Holiday Season’ which basically starts before Halloween and goes until New Year’s Day. But in January, February and March we only have MLK Day, President’s Day, Valentine’s Day and St. Patty’s Day. Not much preparation required except buying a card, making dinner reservations and maybe a shamrock or two. Lot’s of time for me to MAKE THINGS! I am a crafter, though some people would call me crafty, and what I really consider myself is a Fiber Artist, since most things that I create are with fabric or yarn. In the 70′s I was into macrame and I made a table that hung from the ceiling with a plexiglass cirlce suspened by a metal ring. It was quite a conversation piece in my dorm room in college. When my children leave for college next fall, I am going to start calling myself a Fiber Artist (and author, of course!) I am also planning to reclaim the basement from my son who has turned it into a recording studio and band practice space. I am coveting a work table from the Martha Stewart Collection – call me Martha!

For Christmas presents this year I made mittens and scarves out of wool sweaters that I felted (basically shrunk in hot water in the wash). Pics below. I have to say I think they turned out cute! Then I made bags and pajamas and pillows! I am even making myself a jacket. I haven’t made clothes for myself in years, but I went to a new, high end fabric store (The French Seam) and found myself leaving with three yards of gorgeous watermelon colored wool. Bookstores, fabric stores and yarn stores are dangerous places for me. Did I also mention that I am making curtains and pillows for my family room? I’ve taken over the living room and dining room and since I like to have my projects out in the open until they are finished, and I have multiple projects going on at once (just like you readers who have multiple books on the nightstand) it’s a bit of a mess. My office is the same way. I’m a pile filer. I don’t agree with the people who say that if you haven’t completed a project within a year to discard it. I have at least three knitting projects waiting in the wings that I may not get to until next Fall, but I will get to them. To me its like when you finish a book and you’re at loose ends until you find your next book. One must always have a project ready to start.

So for those of you who love this time of year for the cold and the luxury of time to create, pour yourself a cup of tea or hot  chocolate and get crafting!

Felted Flower Pins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Matching' mittens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scarf and Mittens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woolen Mittens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pillow with Felted Flowrs

Coincidences – Part II

I had to share the next episode in the Winnetka, IL coincidence saga. At the Indy Author’s Fair I talked with Margaret McMullan, winner of the National Author Award. We had met before and I went to a workshop where she talked about her novels. One of her novels for adults, “In My Mother’s House”, really intrigued me, so I got it and started to read. It turns out that the family in the book moves to Winnetka, IL!!  That really got my attention. Why all these Winnetka references? Stay tuned to as the story unfolds….