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Lovely mornings now with a bit of fog settling in. BUT. The day also starts with the awareness of how stupid we have become because of a belief that what we have come to rely on, is now not so reliable.  And I am not talking about the 30% population of my fellow countrymen who are all beginning to look like Stephen Miller, but the tech giants as well.

For many, many years I have used the easily available and understandable program called Publisher that came with my Microsoft package. This past year they have been letting us know that that program will no longer be supported after October 2026. Now they are claiming it will simply be non existent and we should save all Publisher files to something else.  For me that would be saving in a PDF format. Fine. I can do that. But there is no guarantee that Microsoft will be able to interpret the PDFs as I have laid them out. Some people are facing having to change thousands of Publisher files to something else. This does not appear to matter to Microsoft. Evidently it does not pay enough for them to continue offering their Publisher program. And no one else in tech has shown an interest in doing so, except the grifters we have grown used to here in the States who are always looking for the gullible ones willing to purchase a questionable substitute.

All of my books, cards, brochures, etc., anything requiring a layout of text with image, have been using Publisher. Now I am stuck with going through every single folder looking for anything with the Publisher logo so I can also save it in a PDF file format. All must be changed before October.

Today I took to making a change on my Iphone. From now on I will use Mapquest instead of Google Maps. Like most people with the slightest ounce of sense, I am not accepting Gulf of America OR Lake America. How amazingly stupid and fearful those companies must be to go along with such arrogance and ignorance. How stupid we are showing the world we are by being the only country in the UN that refuses to accept an accurate map of the world.

If you are looking to hire employees from the United States, rethink that option because we are fast becoming the dumbest choice you can make.

It is a holiday weekend here. So I have the rest of today and all day tomorrow to work on my files.

Now a smoothie for lunch made from a banana about to cross over. Then maybe a bit of poetry writing before falling into a nice Manhattan.

Til later….

I tried a couple social excursions this week. One was a neighborhood ladies luncheon. I went to it only ask for a hug from one woman who gives exceptional hugs. She obliged, said she and her husband (both Magas) wondered if I would consider coming to their house for a drink some time. I said sure to that and now will wait and see if that comes. I sat across from other Magas and never mentioned politics (why bother). Most of the ones I meet here come from a local gated community where they must feel safe from “others”. Anyway, I don’t have to go to another luncheon for quite awhile. The other outing was to a new neighbors for an early dinner. I behaved fairly well, had food I did not have to cook, and was in bed by 7:30.

Speaking of food. here is this morning’s breakfast. French toast with sour cream and maple syrup. Very good but a couple times a year is quite enough.

And a Negroni cocktail that seems perfect for dinner with a few salty somethings.

Other than eating, drinking and keeping my “social” face on, I have been finishing the drawings and poems for the Concertina Book. It is so easy to just lose myself in these.

Warrior Chief     S. Webster

 

His name is Arkov, this warrior chief

who follows the rules of his own belief.

No one knows how he became so strong

nor how his bravery’s stayed so long.

 

Rounding up his men twenty times a year,

he’ll put on his helmet, pick up his spear.

And off they go out through the gate

stand at attention to watch and wait.

 

His tiny advisor close at hand,

Arkov scans the hills across his land.

For half an hour he looks side to side,

then triumphantly orders them back inside.

 

Frog       S. Webster

 

A frog, one morning put things in a pack.

An apple, a crown, and lunch in a sack.

 

He climbed on his camel to take a ride

across the desert in search of a bride.

 

All he needed was just one princess

taking a chance, and giving a kiss.

 

Regardless of how he looked to another,

he believed he was special, believed his mother.

 

Frog urged his camel across the sand

toward a castle rising from rich green land.

 

He arrived in time to hear gasps for breath

from a drowning princess out of her depth.

 

Frog dove in before she could sink

Just as the camel knelt for a drink.

 

When he swam across and lifted his head,

Frog saw she had kissed the camel instead!

 

So that is my week. And when I read it over in the blog’s review, I appear to be a slightly off old woman. An old woman who likes to be by herself so she can be herself. Just a nice hug once in awhile, not too many, something to drink, food not eaten over the kitchen sink, and the occasional nap.

I will try to be more exciting next week…but no guarantees. It is too humid, hot and energy sapping for much more this week.

Til later.

 

 

 

 

Someone told me a couple of weeks ago that I was “gifted” as she looked through my children’s books. I said, no, I just always drew things. Of course this led to other discussions with even the idea because my mother liked to draw, it might be an inherited “gift”. So I looked it up. No, anyone can draw, and draw well if they are willing to keep at it. It always fascinated me how it was possible to put an image of an object onto a flat page. And if I could get the most simple of objects drawn, then I could move on to more complex things. When I was quite young, I thought Walt Disney would call me and offer employment because I was so good at drawing the dogs from Lady and the Tramp. He never called and to be honest the line drawings of his characters were really quite simple…no shading necessary, just lines surrounding the space it took to suggest a couple of happy dogs ready to bounce around on the screen. Easy stuff. And I could understand how my fame for drawing never went beyond my mother’s interest….”that’s nice, dear.” She never even suggested I try drawing a flower or my own shoe. As long as I was amusing myself, that was good enough.

And I did keep amusing myself. Took art classes in school when offered. Tried different mediums. But always came back to the pencil with that wonderful ability to disappear under the pressure of an eraser.

When I was in Australia in 2005, Adele Outteridge challenged me to do a drawing a day for the following year. Here is how I did it to keep it simple, doable and fun.

A wide-spined concertina flag book filled with small tags in both directions of things around the house. 365 pages in total with the last on the inside back cover. This book is so much fun to open as it explodes between my hands when pulled apart.

Seven rows of fifty-two pages! And I never put a day off till the next. I didn’t want to let myself down by slacking off. And I loved it! Every day finding something I could fit on a tag…and then dating it.

Sketchbooks filled with drawings that became more complex over the years. This one is from a book I added stitched pieces to while adjusting to my husband be committed to a care center for those suffering dementia.

A couple of weeks ago at the library where we “Shut Up and Write”, I tried describing in a prose poem how to draw. Here is that piece that just came as natural as drawing itself.

Drawing     S. Webster

I need to find something to draw. That is the first step. Next, lay a piece of paper at an angle, top edge leaning down on the left. Place a kneaded eraser nearby and pick up the mechanical pencil. I’ve chosen a wine bottle opener, turn it in my hand to see how it should look on the page. There. Flat on is always easier than the demands of perspective. I never get things right if looking at it from the foot or head. Lay it directly under my gaze and there it is. Now put that on the paper. Start drawing the left side first. Get all that perfect before moving a little to the right to get the next part. No sides of the palm smearing over fresh loose graphite. If it happens, shape the kneaded eraser to fit the parts needing to be removed. Continue drawing to the right and down. Decide where it needs to be darker, where the shading needs enhanced. Remind yourself that this might easily end up as a wadded-up ball in the bin. I could start over. But I won’t. Feelings of failure take over. Maybe try again tomorrow. Pour a glass of wine. Think about how much easier it would be to draw a glass of wine.

I used this past week’s time at the library to write the poem to go with the warrior chief drawing. This week I will try again since I am not that happy with the effort made. But I have gone back to the frog hauling his crown around while looking for the princess who will take a chance and give him a kiss.

Maybe a couple castles in the background. Wish there was a way to show him riding on a camel as he travels the land…….+ there is only so much space on the page. But I can describe it in the rhyming poem that goes behind the picture. I think a camel is the perfect way for a frog to set off in search of a princess, don’t you?

Anyway, it is getting time for lunch. I am thinking a creative Bloody Mary to go with a savoury scone I baked yesterday.

And a parting thought for those of you who wished they knew how to draw. Get to practicing. It’s either that or fall back on the excuse that your are simply not “gifted”.

Til later….

Taking an early walk before heading out to have coffee with the boys at the senior center. It is our new meeting place for now and is where I take my chair yoga classes once a week. The weather is way too hot and humid to walk later in the day.

I am still going to the library to write on Tuesday afternoons. This week the time was devoted to finding the words in rhyme for the Down the Rabbit Hole book. Then yesterday I reworked those words to go with the order of illustrations. Some more tweaking and I think I have it.

So then it was back to the concertina book of illustrations and stories. The Warrior Chief is finished and I think I will write his story poem while at the library this week. Something with bravery and his little muse that rides along on his shoulder whenever he heads off into battle.

The next page of leaf prints was just begging to have something drawn…..so I decided a frog would be good. He has a backpack where he keeps his crown while traveling in search of a princess willing to lay a kiss on him. Needless to say, I stopped myself before I got too far because I could tell I was getting too caught up in his optimistic anxiety. I need to go back to drawing leaves or baskets.

Actually I could draw according to my written bit on how to draw something from one of my Tuesday sessions. I will add it here because this is a short post. A friend from poetry is bringing her granddaughter over to talk Australia. The said granddaughter just returned from her stay there working for a clothing design company and fell in love with the country. I will enjoy sharing stories with her.

Here is the drawing lesson.

Drawing     S. Webster

I need to find something to draw. That is the first step. Next, lay a piece of paper at an angle, top edge leaning down on the left. Place a kneaded eraser nearby and pick up the mechanical pencil. I’ve chosen a wine bottle opener, turn it in my hand to see how it should look on the page. There. Flat on is always easier than the demands of perspective. I never get things right if looking at it from the foot or head. Lay it directly under my gaze and there it is. Now put that on the paper. Start drawing the left side first. Get all that perfect before moving a little to the right to get the next part. No sides of the palm smearing over fresh loose graphite. If it happens, shape the kneaded eraser to fit the parts needing to be removed. Continue drawing to the right and down. Decide where it needs to be darker, where the shading needs enhanced. Remind yourself that this might easily end up as a wadded-up ball in the bin. I could start over. But I won’t. Feelings of failure take over. Maybe try again tomorrow. Pour a glass of wine. Think about how much easier it would be to draw a glass of wine.

Better go…

Til later…