A Little Analysis

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like. Analyze your writing!

This is an interesting little test.  I have never read him, but I hope this means I'm not too bad.  

Shameless Sister Promotion

Since half of the people who actually read this blog are my family members, it should come as no shock that I have a sister.  My sister writes.  And she writes well.  I would like to think I have an unbiased opinion in this, but she is my sister, after all.  A few months ago, she shuttled off to another state to get her second masters, an MFA in Poetry.
I really don't know how to say this in a elegant way, but I'm proud of her.   I'm an introvert, who grew up in an introverted family, and my sister is an introvert to match all introverts.   I feel like maybe I've written this before.  If I haven't, it means I should have long ago.  If I have, it needs repeating.   She's halfway across the country, in a strange midwestern state.  She teaches a couple of freshman english classes.  Stands, in front of pimply 18 year olds, and teaches.  She needs to publish 3 poems while she's there as well.  And she is an introvert.  An unmedicated introvert.  I don't really know how she does it.  And I know it's hard for her.  This is a girl who doesn't like to call and make appointments or order pizza.  But she's there, far from home, teaching and writing, putting herself out there, pursuing her dream.  And I'm here.  Close to home, in a city I love, medicated to the max on my zoloft, and I don't even know what my dream is.  I'm jealous of her.  I'm jealous for her.  And maybe one day, I can be as brave as she is.

One of her poems is available on this website:
http://www.asenseofplacewa.com/pages/Anthology/anthology.html

"Naches Peak Loop: 5900 Feet"
by Seanse Ducken

I have stopped using my voice in poems
because I lose my focus.  But I think of trails
and what to say about mountains and how I'd
like to say it myself.

Here at the top of Chinook Pass I can pause,
take my breath firmly in hand and measure
the seconds in terms of wildflowers and stalks
of hardy alpine trees.

I yelled at my friends once for leaving the trail
and going off into the meadows.  Mostly because the sign
at my feet said "fragile," and I shouted about short growing
seasons and ecosystems, but truly I was jealous.

As if they dove into the magnetic pull of the Pacific
without me, and I was left on the beach pondering
the undertow.  The meadows must feel like swimming,
smooth and cold.

When I am done here, fine, silt-like dust covers
my boots, and I think, it is enough, to leave
the lupine the bear grass the trillium untouched, exotic
creatures in the deep deep kingdom of migratory peace.  

Yuletide Time!

It's that time of year again!  The time when I revisit all the things I loved as a child and all the movies I have watched season after season.  With that, here's one of the best excerpts from A Claymation Christmas.  "Angels We Have Heard on High" with ice skating walrus'.  

Post Scrpt

Of course, I'll be waiting for the day when we learn to paint these in class!

http://www.lostateminor.com/2013/01/10/traditional-chinese-brush-painting-of-aliens/

Art Endeavors

I have always enjoyed making art in all it's different mediums.  So when I moved to the city I naturally thought, this is my opportunity to take classes and learn things I wouldn't have otherwise.  Of course, I decided to take a class in, possibly, one of the hardest art forms to conquer: Chinese brush painting.  

Me trying to figure out how to paint grapes properly.

Why is this technique so hard, you might ask?   Well, as watercolorists know, unlike oil or acrylic painting, you can't paint over your mistakes.   Unlike western watercolor, Chinese brush painting is rather strict on how you paint.  For example, the first item I learned to paint was the grape.  A grape is supposed to take only two brush strokes and the brush must be held vertically in order to achieve the right effect with the water and the paint.

See the mohawk on the bird?  Yeah, that's not supposed to happen.

To make things even more difficult for a westerner, the chances that you haven't learned Chinese calligraphy are pretty high.  This means that you haven't learned to control the water in the brush and that leads to a lot of spreading.  

And this is the class I've chosen to take, for three quarters.  So far.  But Master Yang, my teacher, says I'm doing well.  I'll have to take his word for it.  And it never seems to get easier.  

My grapes came out eventually

Last quarter, we students put up three pieces, that had been passed by Master Yang, in an oil and vinegar shop near Pike's Place.  They stay up for two months and come down December 2nd.  

Those are my peaches in the middle

While it's pretty neat to have your own "artwork" on display somewhere, I still cringe when I look at it next to everyone else's.  

See how better my bird looks without the mohawk? 

But as Master Yang says, who must be in his 80's and has been painting for over 70 years, we shouldn't expect to be as good as he is right now.  After all, you must learn to crawl before you walk.  

Good thing cats are cute no matter how many mistakes you make.  

I will leave you with our latest, and my favorite, subject.  Kitties!  Or in Chinese, mao.  

With a Little Madness from my Friends

I have a friend up here who is, it being Seattle, a musician.  I think he's pretty fantastic, and you should too!  I will shamelessly plug him now.  Please take a couple minutes to listen and like his song: You Drive Me to Madness - Belgian Fog
And/Or read a brief blog about him here:  Ladywood

You Drive Me to Madness - Belgian Fog

Once More, with Feeling

Well, here I am again.  Another attempt at trying to make this blog thing a regular activity.  In my defense, things have been a little nutty here the last couple of months.  I'm finally at full time hours with my job.  Around the same time I started working my 40-hour weeks, my sister moved to Illinois and, as a result, I moved to another apartment.  To make matters worse, I have had the worst luck with the internet.  I've been in the new apartment for roughly six weeks and this is the first time I've had steady internet.  It has been a trying journey with Comcast.

So this is just a quick post to say "hello" and a warning that there should be more to come.  And in case you've forgotten, I always like to add a little pic to spice things up.  So here's my cat, which I've never shared a picture of on here (shame on me).  She was tired of me taking pictures of her and grabbed my hands.