Heart to Heart

Upon waking up the other day, my first thought was how blessed by friendship I have been in my life.

I have friends who listen raptly to my stories. I have friends with ears to hear my woes and worries. I have friends who I only see once a year and we pick up right where we have left off. I have friends who are close by, geographically and some who are farther away.

I have friends I have known for years upon end and some I have only recently met. I have friends who are endlessly captured in my photos. I have friends who love film, books, art, photography, music and writing like me. I have friends who do not like these things. I have friends with children, friends who are married, single friends and divorced friends. I am blessed.

I have friends from my past and friends from my now. I have girl friends and guy friends. I trust some friends with secrets and some I do not. My closest friends know everything about me because they inquire. I have friends who travel and some friends who have never left their hometowns. I have friends who love to eat exotic foods and friends who love comfort foods!

I have a friend for every occasion and I am so lucky to have  a friend in you!

My Girl

Happy 5th birthday to my sweet, over the top, nutty calico, Olive!

big LOVE in a little body! xoxo

I said Who's that cat doin' some Tai Chi?

It's Me! It's Me!

Ward Off...Peng

 

Roll Back...Lu



Elbow...Zhou

Take A Moment, please and thank you!

Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.~ Dostoyevsky

Nicaraguan Fireball

Buena Vista Lagoon light show

Duck Rise, Sunset Maryland

This is the Life, LaJolla California

Sunset aside the 5 South

stormy sky



carlsbad beauty queen

 

Backlit palm



Southern style Night Y'all

  AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH PRETTY PRETTY!

A Man Can't Ride Your Back Unless It's Bent

Up

My knees are skinned

No worse for wear

I am on my way

Out of here

I’ve kicked the cans

In this lonely town

And the only way out from down

Is up

I’ve nosed and slummed

With the best and yet

I’ve scraped and clawed

With sadder sets

My chin has drug upon the floor

I have found I’m wanting more

And the exit out of here

Is up

I am swimming in quicksand

You know the feeling

Pulling downward

Mind is reeling

Got a foothold

On the side

And I am on my way off this crazy ride

And up

Dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. ; a man taken way too soon, a man who was too big for this world!

Love Stories

Everyone can agree that there are great love stories that have been created in our times. The few that come to mind immediately are Romeo and Juliet, An Affair to Remember, An Officer and a Gentleman and Beauty and the Beast.

What of unlikely love stories? These stories that capture you in their tangled webbing and leave you feeling the pangs of a love not fulfilled are the ones that will linger in your mind. The Theory of Flight and Geek Love are two tales that have this effect on me. If you are a person who is unfamiliar with either, I suggest you check them out.

Cinema Paradiso is a love story of sorts, and like Geek Love, it is not a love story between two parties but rather a story about love itself. 

It is the unlikely love story that we probably most identify with. Consider Edward Scissorhands for a mere moment. A person who has scissors in place of digits is pretty unsuitable as a romantic partner but it is his incompatibility that draws you nearer.

What makes unattainable attractive? Is it the challenge? Is it ego? Why do we feel the grass is always greener on the other side? Once conquered, does the novelty of the idea last or wan? Temptation is shiny, in the moment, only to dazzle you.   

10 pairs ..... really?!?

"Nobody should have more than ten pairs of shoes", said the guy who must have been joking!

I am pretty sure I have ten pairs of ...black ones.  I do not spend insane amounts of money on shoes. I have no Jimmy Choo's or Manolo Blahnik's but, I do have well over ten pairs. I have a huge closet and in said closet sits a shoe rack that is filled to capacity. There are shoes lining ever square inch of the bottom of the closet. There are even a couple of pairs sitting on a shelf.

There are black, red, blue, hot pink, leopard, turquoise, brown, mustard snakeskin, alligator, polka dotted, striped, peep toed, strappy, sandals, heels, flats, flip flops, vintage, boots and more. I am certain I have a shoe for any occasion.

I wish I could say that my shoe collecting started when I was made to wear a uniform for work. Our shoes are one of the freedoms we have to accessorize.  I cannot say that because, alas, it started well before.

In my defense, I go through my shoes, every so often, and discard ones I do not wear. I do use all of the ones that I keep in my closet. I take good care of them and I do rotate seasonal ones. I am thankful that I appreciate the unique quality in a vintage shoe because I can usually find an inexpensive original at a secondhand price!

Thank goodness I do not live anywhere near a Kate Spade or Betsey Johnson store! I did see an UGG store was opening right up the road though!

I have a few "collections" in my life:  vintage cameras, books, Alice and Wonderland artwork and shoes. I enjoy these items immensely. The importance of having something to gather and claim as my own is not wasted on me. The irony of the things I collect all leading me away from something is not lost on me either. I do find that quite interesting...hmmmmm.

 My husband has more than ten pairs of shoes and his are all the same Vans tennis shoes, at least I have variety. I guess most people have a few less pairs than my forty-six! All I have to say for myself is...do not mess with my kicks! I also have to say, if I end up on one of those hoarding or clutter shows, you can all say I told you so!

He was a unique artist… an original in an area of imitators~mj

Were Elvis Presley alive today, he would be 76. In honor of this special anniversary, here is a sneak peak at Graceland through my eyes...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has left the building!