roses

i have some photos of my birthday roses posted. they are lovely roses. enjoy looking at them. dont steal them tho.

  

See more of these roses on
my website.

subjects for watercolor

I think about writing stuff on my blog periodically when i am not near my computer! its terrible.

thinking of subjects for a watercolor painting.

i wish i had a door. to close.
push every distraction out.
leave me alone i want to think and write!

do you ever have ideas? and it is a small space in your mind that becomes more distinct the more you are aware of it. i am thinking about painting some pond turtles like red sliders and koi. maybe pond ducks/geese later. under water on water. reflections (sky or duck reflections - while the duck is above the water of course). thinking how to create transparency and depth.

koi forms. turtle forms. and i am working on my full sheet painiting i started a while back.



since this photo i put in top one-third background a kind of sky texture. light blue.

i am adding some freeway forms that i am really noticing as i drive around town. there are some amazing forms so i am adding those in and will finish the background after i paint those in the lower two-thirds.

cheese. ah hem, i mean cheers!

new day

happy monday. happy painting.
I have new photos on my website.
plants in jars.
and kent's tri andys race photos.
here.

Also...here are my two new watercolor paintings.

hummingbird photos

I now have hummingbird photos! See more of these on
my website!

letter from my senator

I just got a letter from my senator. Kay Bailey sends her love. AND she
thanked me for contacting her regarding "the situation in iraq". and she welcomes my thoughts and comments on this issue. AND she appreciates hearing from me and hopes I will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to me!

WOW!

The problem with my senator is that a wax figure would do just as good a job representing me in congress. She just regurgitates the GOP line. and nothing she says makes any sense to me.

In her letter of July 20th she says:
"I understand the tremedous sacrifices out soldiers and their families endure. I had the opportunity to travel to Iraq to visit our troops and assess the situation first-hand."

She never got out of the airport during her visit to Iraq.

The letter continues with this:
"Even though Saddam Hussein's regime has been removed from power, ruthless killers still strive to hinder development of a democratic Iraq. The Iraqi people deserve the opportunity to craft their own destiny, and America is committed to helping them in this process."

So. If we are there to help, why did we drop thousands of bombs on Bagdad? Why did we level Falluja flat? The Iraqis deserve the opportunity to craft their own destiny? Then why didn't we let them overthrow Saddam themselves?

What if we instead called the the opposition fighters that Kay Bailey calls "ruthless killers", opposing the US troops' invasion of Iraq, freedom fighters? Isn't it just a matter of linguistic gymnastics? Don't those fighting in opposition to the American occupation forces want freedom too.

Then her letter says:
KB: "More than eight million Iraqi citizens turned out to vote in historic elections held on January 30, 2005, and the newly-seated Parliament continues to make progress setting up a representative government."

[eight million voted, what is the population of Iraq? possibly over 24 million]
While the Iraq elections are a good thing. That was 6 months ago. Things there have not improved for our troops they are still the target of attacks every day. It is good that a government is being set up - too bad they didn't plan that before they started bombing.


KB: "As this new government takes hold, our uniformed men and women are working to defeat a brutal insurgency that routinely targets innocent Iraqis. Their mission includes training Iraq's own police and military forces who are increasingly assuming responsibility for their country's security. "

While the insurgency -is- brutal and seems to be growing in strength, the fact that Bush's plan did not include the scenario that US troops would not be welcomed as liberators is a failure in planning. Why should our troops pay with their lives and limbs for a failure of the government to plan- this is not a noble cause.

Also, the rate of gain in number of Iraqi police and military forces who are trained and ready is too slow. This is because those who work with us are then targets for the violent attacks by those who oppose the occupation. The only way for Iraqis to make dramatic gains is for us to leave. Take away the catalyst leave space for those who wish to be police and soldiers to own their country. True, they may have a small civil war but that is far better than this thing that we cannot win. It is logically impossible to win this. Freedom is something that it is just impossible for us to *give* to them. They get freedom exactly by us leaving.


KB: "Setting an arbitrary timeline for withdrawal of our forces would embolden the enemy and jeopardize all the progress made in Iraq thus far."

I dont want an arbitrary timeline. I want our troops out now. There has been no progress in Iraq. Unless you want to look at Falluja where some people are returing to rebuild their homes that we liberated them from.


KB: "A stable, democratic Iraq will make America safer and be a major victory in the war on terrorism."

This is still the worst fallacy. Iraq as a state was not a terrorist base before we went there and made the weapons inspectors leave so we could start bombing. If my senator thinks this is the war on terrorism then she is not competent to serve and should resign immediately.


KB: "You may be certain I will monitor this situation closely and keep your views in mind."

right.

wake me up when september ends

Today is the midnight bike ride benefit for Montgomery County (Texas) food bank. Yahoo. We have a bunch of family and friends going. Good time and good cause.

Hey!

I updated my photos on ericksonsoftware today.
Check out the new photos in 2005 - June and 2005 - July.
Also see some of my art from drawing class in 2005 - May - cats in ink. Also in 2005-May there are some stunning flower photos from Mercer. The red poppies are really breathtaking. And in yet another folder in 2005-May I am featuring the series of serene photos i took of gardenias and trumpet vine flowers in a blue ceramic pot. I am planning to print those in greeting cards. ...one day.


Today is a day for working on my website. I am also doing Oprah's boot camp (though i lasted only one week without bread, pasta and cereal). I continue the boot camp workouts and modified diet (i added cereal for breakfast - trying for something healthy and whole grain like granola or oatmeal). So I am supposed to lift and run today. I decided the Oprah boot camp was similar to tri training for a sprint triathlon so my goal is to prep for and finish a late season race somewhere in TX fall 2005. oh, and to lose weight, look younger and be healthier and all that.

pondering a running mind

a running mind without a blog is a thing to waste.

options running out for idealism. when your options run out you may take the first job that comes along and leave that idealism behind. after all you need the money and this one pays well. how can you at this point say - oof! i hate those abusers of global market domninance! i wont work on microsoft platform i'm too idealistic to take money and work in this niche. i suppose you can still hang on the the last shred of idealism and protest global market dominance and *not* spend that hard earned money at wal-mart.

thats about as far as it goes. you are still in technology and you still need a job in a hot market (hiring & paying fair wages) in order to get money to buy food even if you live in a solar powered yurt. whatever.

so i guess it could be the same (going back to pondering - why would any journalist work at fox news?) if you were a kid out-a college and wanted a journalism job and there was work at fox and you needed money. well you'd take the job. or maybe not. when should ideals win over needing work?

i have waited tables. it is not a career but it used to put gas in my orange 1974 volvo running on 2 cylinders.

Sheehan outside the Bush ranch in Texas

I want to send words of support to Cindy Sheehan, the mom who lost her son in Iraq who is protesting outside Mr. Bush's ranch. I wish I could go there in person and meet her. She is amazing and I thank her for taking a public stand against the illegal war and asking for answers. I am grateful for her very loud voice for peace and immediate troop withdrawal.

busy, busy

During my run today I had a jumble of thoughts and I wanted to post what I can remember.

I'm wondering if anyone ever has the feeling "Whose culture is this, does anybody know?"

If you are like me and you do, where are you when you have this feeling? For me, it happens when I am at a theme park. Recently I visited the new Market Street shopping area in the Woodlands, TX (a pine forest where a community was built beginning 30 years ago, 35 miles north of Downtown Houston, Texas). Market Street is a high density shopping area - not a mall exactly because you have to walk around outside. It has faux old-looking buildings like a historic downtown might with 2 or 3 story old brick buildings. It has the trendiest restaurants with highest end shops, and a theater (which is another subject for later). There is piped-out music to the sidewalk everywhere you go. Reminded me of Seaworld in San Antonio and SixFlags/Astroworld where there is music coming out of fake rocks. I thought- what does my shopping experience gain from this ambient music? I guess the antidote to theme park music is an ipod or ipod equivalent. ha.

BTW the music where I shop 4 food is horrible, i feel ill and shudder while i shop. sometimes the music is soooo awful when i hear it i am so offended to have to listen to it - i feel angry and have violent thoughts. Antidote - cd player & headphones. I'll have to make a food shopping mix. Hmmm.

OK. What else do i find myself thinking - whose culture is this? OK. When I am at the quick jiffy lube place getting my oil changed and Mr. Bush started bombing Iraq that day, they had on Faux News on TV in the waiting area. It was so weird cause I don't watch it but people sitting there were sort of cheering! yay! The bombing starting and I was really appalled - watching bombs dropping on Baghdad. What a Horror! Who are these people who can be happy about bombing a large city with people in it?

I have looked at Fox News channel a few times trying to figure it out and i cant even figure out who those people are who would *work* there. How could working there be a positive career move for a journalist? I cant figure it out. Whose culture is this anyway?

I told you it was a jumble.

Waggle! it is it! my first post on blogspot!

I am so happy right now to post my first post on blogspot. What i have to say now has no impact. I hope to share many of my rare thoughts with anyone who reads. Mostly i see it as a waste of time. Many of the words of squidlady will be blather - what the a-hay. Should be fun and fun is good.

I saw Wedding Crashers. giving it low marks but it was entertainment. so well done. and it was relaxing.

Started oprah's boot camp about 1 week ago. i feel pretty fit as my workouts are going well. and the obc idea is inspiration and that helps me. I think i am in a manic phase right now. started a bunch of things - but as i said before - having fun and fun is good.