Wisely Crazy Spirit Medicine

Images for integration...

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In this passage from *Still Life with
Woodpecker,* Tom Robbins provides a hot tip you should keep in mind.
"There are essential and inessential insanities. Inessential insanities are a
brittle amalgamation of ambition, aggression, and pre-adolescent anxiety -
- garbage that should have been dumped long ago. Essential insanities
are those impulses one instinctively senses are virtuous and correct, even
though peers may regard them as coo-coo." I'll add this, Scorpio: Be
crazily wise and wisely crazy in the coming weeks. It will be healthy for
you. Honor the wild ideas that bring you joy and the odd desires that
remind you of your core truths.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I don't think you will need literal
medicine this week. Your physical vigor should be good. But I'm hoping
you will seek out some spirit medicine -- healing agents that fortify the
secret and subtle parts of your psyche. Where do you find spirit
medicine? Well, the search itself will provide the initial dose. Here are
some further ideas: Expose yourself to stirring art and music and films;
have conversations with empathic friends and the spirits of dead loved
ones; spend time in the presence of a natural wonder; fantasize about a
thrilling adventure you will have one day; and imagine who you want to be
three years from now.

Two Links...

Free Public Domain Images - compiled by Coby at dotgovwatch:

http://www.dotgovwatch.com/?/archives/8-The-Best-Copyright-Free-Photo-Libraries.html

Distressed look for use in Photoshop from Stuart at Vacord:

http://www.vacord.com/blog/?p=87

still here, still working

oh man, it's been a while.

but i've still been working on my "creative recovery" - have i ever - to great success.

being Art Coordinator on an indie feature film's got me busy right now. it's a good time, the people are great and i enjoy most aspects of my job.

we'll be vending at Trans Health and opening our P&D etsy shop shortly after!

other things in the works:

- glazing the downstairs apartment walls
- staining/hanging our screen door (to keep stray cats out and our cat in)
- shortening/hanging bedroom curtains
- fashioning some sort of diy movie screen with Sara Zia
- Twittering my heart out
- entering 'Seeking Strumpet' in festivals (it won Best Animation at Diamond Fest this year)
- making new friends
- seeing old friends
- growing things! namely: larkspur, gladiolas, sunflowers, and a wildflower assortment (snapdragons didn't work out again this year)
- watching birds enjoy our birdfeeder (including cardinals! who knew Nicetown had cardinals?)
- working on my short doc about Nicetown


and spending time with the girl and the pets, of course. we spent three weeks on a "staycation" in Wayne at her parents house.

2009, My Year

At least, it is for today.

In not so long, I'll be typing from the most beastly hulk around (okay, the most beastly hulk I can afford) - a Mac Pro (don't confuse that with a MacBook Pro, oh no) and a 20-inch ACD. And I hope to add another.

And then we'll see magic happen.

Eat Ice Cream, If You Feel Like It

I've started typing simple To Do lists in Word with a little table - one column for the Stuff, and one column for the response once I've done it. I print them and write notes once I've completed something. Today I put the sheets (two, so far) in a notebook, which is going to be my To Do Central for now.

I like the idea of being able to look back on what I put on my lists, and whether things got done or not, and have a record of where my life is going. My lists have included the mundane (milk, eggs, toilet paper) and the fantastic ("get rich quick"). On Thursday, my list included "Eat ice cream, if you feel like it." And I did. Check.

I'm pretty famous for making lists. I do it all the time. I buy little notepads and miniature notebooks just for my lists - I recently threw out a "Little Fatty" notebook that was entirely full of lists. And once they're expired, whether everything on them was done/gotten or not, I put a slash through the whole thing and start a new page. It's very satisfying.

Tomorrow, my list will include "Play the harmonica." Tess gave me a nice one for Christmas, along with a book and CD, and I played on Christmas Day until my mom said "Give it up already!" The only other time I played it, Tess informed me that she doesn't appreciate my noodling around (which I call learning), so I intend to play when she's out of the house and I can enjoy myself. I'll tell you what though, Gia seems to like the sound of the harmonica very much - her ears perk up if she's near and she listens intently, or she comes from wherever she is to see about the sound. It doesn't appear to torture HER.

Monkey Rolls

Monkey Rolls

4 tubes Buttermilk Biscuits
Cut each biscuit in 1/4
Shake in a bag of 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon

Melt 1/2 cup of sugar
+ 1/2 cup butter
+ 1/2 cup of Vanilla ice cream

Pour over biscuits
9x13 pan, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (?)
Turn over on wax paper

Creation Station

In the past week, I've been busy doing some more creating:

- I created an animated version of the evolution of my rabbit symbol for my Digital Animation class.

- I started a hat for Chelsea's new baby.

- I worked on an elaborate black ink design on parchment paper.

- I took photos of our neighborhood (with Tess) for our Philadelphia Neighborhoods class.

- I designed a flyer for Cooking Con Community as part of my internship at Asian Arts Initiative.

Tomorrow we are going to look for deeds to houses, and then for snow pants. For on Saturday we shall be going snowtubing with a bunch of gays. Later we will go to a performance of two 90210 episodes in drag.

So Much To Do, What Else Is New...

The new semester has started, and it's gonna be a good one.

Even though there are a BILLION things on my To Do list, I think the past week we've been home has gone pretty well. I feel less uptight, since our space is slowly coming together. And I've been well able to prioritize certain things because life isn't so frantic.

I have lots of meetings and socializing to do in the next week, which I'm enthusiastic about. I'm going to a Creative Professionals event, trying to set up my internship, getting involved in some sort of performance. And any number of other creative and crafty endeavors.

And hell yes, I got the Lew Klein Scholarship. So look at me go. That's called a SIGN, people.

Also, I now have all the necessary elements to complete my binding spell (the more complicated version) and intend to pull that off in the near future.

Take It As A Sign

The Bear and I have something big in the creative works. Big. It's a huge undertaking, but I think we can do it. It's a year-long plan, and it's gonna be tricky, but if we really sit down and make a plan it can happen. Expect an unveiling around January 1st...

In other news, last Friday I was walking across the street leaving Annenberg, and Tricia was driving the opposite way. She had to wait for me to finish crossing before she could drive on.

I take it as a sign.

Winter Work

I showed a movie at Asian Arts Initiative on Friday - it went over big despite being a work in progress.

I'm workin', workin'.

And I won't be stopped. Because I'm a good person doing good work.

PGW Flashback...

there's a PGW truck outside, it's engine is constantly running. i don't know what they're doing out there, but they've been on our street since 11am, alternately jackhammering and sitting in their truck watching movies on a tiny tv. (i spied from the downstairs window as credits were rolling on some movie.)

the constancy of the engine is sort of soothing, even though i'm concerned about the gas they're burning. and on edge about when they'll strike up the jackhammer again.

this isn't the first time PGW has been outside my house in the middle of the night. only last time i didn't find it at all soothing, and had a presentation the next morning - and no heat or hot water. i took pictures because i didn't think my professor would believe what had happened.

here i am, almost EXACTLY three years ago, at EXACTLY this time of night, going through the same thing. it's interesting to look back on...

"Annoyed at 2AM" November 3rd, 2005

CHEDDER DOG Days

Set a meeting with Justin Wineburgh today, and that's all I'll say about that on the interwebs.
Life is piece by piece becoming less stressful in certain areas.

Also had a flash of inspiration for a 52 Films idea...a movie for each week of the year. An ambitious project, but not impossible considering they're primarily meant to be between 30 seconds and 5 minutes. Still hashing out what type of endeavor that would be, whether it would be themed or random, what/who would be subjects. I just feel the need to work, create some new movies and get some exercise on that front.

In other news, I have a new phone - a Blackberry (or a Crackberry as it is popularly known). I really don't get it, and it is definitely a business person's phone. But I hope to have some time some day to poke around on the internets for applications and all that to make my phone more mine. For now, it takes some really rad photos, see here:

"CHEDDER DOG"...this sign was weirdly up the entire time we were pumping gas on our weekend trip to Rehoboth Beach...curious.

An Initiator Where The Grass Seems Greener...

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the coming week, you can generate a lot
of good karma for yourself by being an initiator. That's why I advise you
to never sit back passively and merely watch what's unfolding, but rather
formulate a vision of what you'd like to see happen, set your intention to
make it happen, and then plunge into action with brisk aplomb. Halloween
costume suggestions: fire-starter, seed-planter, fertility god or goddess.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Medical insurance is out of reach for 46
million of my fellow Americans. Our country is at war in Afghanistan and
Iraq as well as with a ghostly omnipresent foe known as terrorism. Our
national debt is stupendous, our stock market has plunged, and many
companies once thought to be towers of strength have failed. Meanwhile,
right next door, Canada has universal healthcare and a budget surplus. Its
banks are solvent and it's embroiled in zero wars. Am I jealous? Of course.
Am I planning to emigrate? No. I'm going to stay here and keep agitating
for goodness and justice and beauty. After evaluating your astrological
omens, Sagittarius, I suggest that you do the equivalent in your own life:
Stand your ground as you work to fix the flawed situation you've been
given; don't flee to where the grass seems greener. Halloween costume
suggestions: an elder statesman, wise crone, or charismatic teacher.

Summon Your Dormant Courage

This month's horoscopes, also eerily spot on...

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): What do you tend to do when you're
squeezed between the demands of authority and the healthy need to
rebel? How do you respond when the past and future are at odds? What
resources do you draw on when the person you have always been starts
to evolve into an interesting new form that you don't recognize? You've
come to a fork in the road, Scorpio, when you will be asked to deal with
these questions on a larger scale than before. My advice? Study your past
so thoroughly that you'll be able to keep it from repeating itself, and open
your mind to possibilities you've rarely considered.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The world is poised at the threshold of a
great choice: Should we stick with what has worked for us, even though
it's not working any more? Or should we experiment with possibilities that
may work for us in the future, even though they don't have a track
record? You, Sagittarius, can and should be a leader in this epic
adventure. The best way to do that is to summon your dormant courage
as you apply the big questions I just posed to the specific circumstances
of your personal life.

Rise Up and Cash In

Tess sent me these two horoscopes last month and I had meant to post them here (perfectly timed as they were). I'm on the cusp, if you're wondering. The highlights are hers ;)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Robert Downey Jr. is grateful to Burger King
for serving him such gross food. After eating a particularly foul meal there
in 2003, he told *Empire* magazine, he was so disgusted that he drove
to the beach and hurled all of his drugs into the sea. It was the shock he
needed to begin the process of kicking his addiction. In that spirit,
Scorpio, I suggest you seek out a similar epiphany -- whether that
involves an encounter with greasy, fried cow meat or some other
phenomenon that triggers your urge to rise up and purify yourself.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): It's a seller's market for you, Sagittarius.
If I were you, I wouldn't buy a bunch of new stuff or invest in unripe
possibilities. Rather, I'd cash in on the hard work I've been doing for many
months now. I'd quit while I was ahead. I'd liquefy assets that might soon
decline in their value to me but that are still at the height of their value to
other people. In order for you to summon the brisk confidence necessary
to pull this off, you'll have to resist greedy temptations to hold on to
everything a little while longer.

To The Third Floor Tenant:

There are no Thursday appointments for acupuncture! With anyone! :(

But there is trans group.

Gaby is laying across my arm, purring, and she JUST LICKED MY FACE. She's doing it again!






























This cat, I tell you.

I finished my midterm for The Creative Process in six hours today. It consisted of a two page treatment, two pages of casting concepts, a sixteen shot storyboard, a scan of the original note my crazy former neighbor left me, and a CD with "creepy, disturbing chanting choral music." I bet no one would've ever pegged Julie Andrews to fall under that category, but thanks to some podsafe music collection I found somewhere and someone called Qrter, we can all be even more creeped out by her sugary sweetness than we were before.


I will share with you...

i woke up.

about a week ago i dreamt that Tricia apologized to me.

i listened to the apology. it seemed heartfelt.

i kept my footage.

i woke up.

i'm pretty depressed. and feeling dead. i managed to wake up enough to paint walls yesterday (our orange is awesome).

can't even get it together enough to do any more shirts/projects for Outfest. i have a 3-5 page paper due tomorrow, and a midterm worth 40% of my grade due Tuesday, and a bunch of grants research I haven't done.

get me out.

Thanks, Everyone

i feel so amazed that people are being so supportive. it's great. i can't believe it.

thanks, people! you're awesome.

and i'm also really surprised at the amount of experience people have with all of this...good advice has come from some unlikely places. and likely ones too, because some people always seem to have good advice.

in other news, i should have Human Body shirts by THURSDAY!!! it's really amazing, and i'm so happy. Stuart at Vacord has made this the fastest turnaround i've ever had on screenprinting, especially for a small run. if it seems likely that the shirts will be *that* popular, i'll definitely go for a second run.

plus StickerGuy emailed and my first order of stickers should definitely be done in time for Outfest, and the second order is likely to get here in time! i have had nothing but good experiences with StickerGuy, and i totally recommend them.

Good Stuff Coming Up This Week

*exciting secret help meetings (where I get help in areas I need it)
*at least one trip to the gym or pool
*acupuncture
*trans group
*creative meeting of who-knows-what with Bapa
*satisfying painting projects
*possible laundry doing (fun when it's in your own house!!! Did I mention we bought a
portable washer?! SO EXCITING. We named it Astrid.)

And next week...GIA COMES BACK!!! I have missed my little dog soooo much. But I know my parents have been taking great care of her in Seattle, and I'm really happy that she loves the backyard and walks with my dad. My mom even said she'd keep her if it weren't for her fur! They've fallen for my little nutty pup.

NOT ONLY THAT, but she's coming with Sue! Sue will be staying with us for about five days, which is cool and I'm sure there will be all kinds of adventures and craftiness and fun.