The Dark Before the Light

Despite my moaning, groaning, and general whining, the project-from-heck is coming along.  I got it into a presentable form to submit to the jury Tuesday night, accompanied by a note explaining that it isn't finished, but I would like their feedback.  Sort of like a note-from-mom-saying-that-the-dog-ate-my-homework.  Believe it or not, the jury accepted the project for the show!  There have been some very dark moments during this process, and may still be more to come, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (play on words, since the exhibit's theme is "Light."  Clever, huh?)

Notice how I'm not telling you what it is?  You'll have to come see it at the Exhibit (see info below).  So now i guess I have to finish it, right?  Ack!

But today I decided to take a break from all that light, and do some work on my Chair Affair project.  Again, I'm not sure it will be ready on time, since they moved up the deadline.  But I'll do what I can.  It's a worthy cause, and a fun event.  And the little dollhouse chair I bought to decorate is sooo cute! Plus, there's no yellow involved, which at this point is very appealing !

I hope a lot of people come to both of these events.  Sorry, no dogs allowed.


"Light" Exhibit, featuring 20 ORA artists & associates
March 4 -14, 2010
(First Thursday reception March 4th at 5:30 pm)
 Elements Gallery and Hot Shop
 1979 NW Vaughn St
  503.228.0575


The Chair Affair, a benefit auction for Portland Community Warehouse
Thursday, April 8, 2020
5:30 - 9:00 pm
The Bison Building
419 NE Tenth St.
503.206.5244  or  linda@communitywarehouse.org  for information

Flipping Out

We're getting down to the wire... jury date is Tuesday night... time to put this baby together!  My stomach hurts. I spent some stressful time this morning, figuring out how to piece together the pieces I've made, and where they'll sit on the glass globe. Well, guess what? They didn't all fit!  I actually had to leave one out, and also had to construct one more piece to fit into an empty spot.  Sigh...

But I came up with this cool piece, starting with a semi-circle I had already done (you can see it in the previous post), and adding the reverse flips to fill the space.  What do you call this shape?  It reminds me of that 1964 haircut... the "flip."  With a tiara.

So, back to the construction. Trying to fit them together is crazy, because I have to attach them temporarily to the globe. But how?  I tried 2-sided tape, then clamps.  Hmmm, I didn't try rubber bands.  But I ended up just scotch-taping each piece roughly into place.  It looks ridiculous. But slowly slowly, I'm getting the pieces sewn to each other. Once they're all attached, I can try my plan for anchoring them to the top of the glass, and I hope to have time to add some more embellishment.

I'm really regretting how the timing worked out, because it will not look like I envisioned it.  But at this point, I can only do what I can do, and hope it looks nice enough for the jury.  I'm trying not to flip out.

Balance

I've been working for several weeks in yellows, golds, white, with a touch of orange.  Gotta tell you, i am developing a very strong urge to do something in black and purple!!  Expect that to follow this project.  Don't know what it will be, but it will be DARK!!

After all, a person's got to have some balance in life.  You can't just eat carrots... you need chocolate too, right?  Right!

Shell Beads

Today a market research person asked me what I would do if stranded on a desert island.  I said that after seeking food and water, I would probably collect shells and make them into beads.  This, of course, is a little warped.  But I'm feeling pretty warped right now, working round-the-clock on a beading project, I have beads on the brain.

I'm working on this massive project for our "Light" exhibit at Elements Glass next month. The jury is in a week, and I don't know if the project will be ready in time.  Also, our ORA meeting is tonight, and I'm not sure I'll have enough of a structure to bother showing it to the group.  I'll have to make that decision later today, but over the weekend I finally made peace with myself about the jury next week.  I gave myself permission not to submit it.  If I'm not done in time, so be it.  I have a few other pieces to submit anyway, so that might be all there is.  I'm not going to be stressed about it anymore, because it is not constructive.  And now that I'm feeling more stoic about it, it's moving along faster, and will probably (I hope) be done in time.

I do, however, need to learn from this experience.  How did I get into this last-minute position? Again?  It's mostly that "can't say no" thing, which eats up a lot of my time.  I really have to pick my volunteer commitments more carefully.  And then there's the old time management thing, which is tied with losing weight and quitting smoking for the number-one most common vice that people strive every year to control.  At this age, am I ever really going to lose weight?  Or manage my time better?  It seems less and less likely each year, but I have to hang onto hope, no matter how dim it may be, and keep trying to improve.  Find little shells, search for a way to make them into beads.... keep trying....

The Nuisance of The Wild

I am an animal lover, and I love most of them.  But I don't like coyotes. I do not find them cute or beautiful or romantic or regal. They scare me for real.  Especially because I have a small dog, and coyotes have invaded our neighborhood big-time. 

Coyotes have been sighted on our own street for the last few weeks.  My son even had a near-collision with one on his way home to our driveway.  On Tuesday my husband was walking the dog and heard howling very nearby. Luckily our son happened to come by in the car, so Gary sent him ahead to look for the source of the howl.  Sure enough, it was a coyote, not 100 feet away.  Joel chased him away with the car, and went back to DRIVE Gary and the dog back home. Personally, I don't walk the dog on our street at all.  I drive him somewhere safer, and walk with him there.  This is crazy!

Yes, I understand this is all because their habitat is being destroyed. But this particular neighborhood was built almost 40 years ago, so why are they appearing here now?  Well, I've been puzzled about that, but last night I think I figured it out.  There are a lot of new homes being built fairly nearby.  Not so close that I consider them in our neighborhood, but it's happening in so many nearby areas that I think the coyotes end up wandering over here, where there are no bulldozers, and plenty of small dogs & cats.

So at the moment we live in a state of siege.  I don't know what can be done about it, or how long it will last, but we live in fear.

Angst Relieved

Okay, I got over it.  I decided to keep going a bit further before evaluating.  And if I need to add more white behind the yellows or more golds in front, duh, I can just add them afterward.  The beauty of free-form beading is you can add anything anywhere you want, right?  So, just go with the flow!

Also, I had some help from looking through Margie Deeb's latest book, The Beader's Color Palette.  Mostly it confirmed that I'm on the right track.  But also, it was comforting, and stimulating, and put me in a better mental state.  Pretty pictures and color palettes will do that!

Angst in Living Color

Okay, we've got the base figured out, and hubby has the light bulb & cord almost all set, and I've finalized my choice of the globe. I even made a little sampler of colors so I can see how they each look with the light shining through.  So now there are no more obstacles... time to bead! Right? Well, kind of.

I figured out the beads I want to start with, and I started. But before I got very far, I was beset with doubts.  Beset, I tell you!  Me! About the colors!   This almost never happens to me... if there's one thing I don't generally agonize about, it's the colors.  But here I am, having an existential crisis about the colors! 

I thought it would be mostly yellows and golds, with accents of orange and red, kind of like the sun. Seems pretty straightforward. But the more I think about it (which I probably shouldn't do), the more I think that it won't look right that way... the light shining from behind the beads looks very different from light shining ON them. So maybe there should be a base layer of whites, with yellow etc over that.  Most of my Yizkor candles have had a primarily white background, which has worked well.  And THEN, I start thinking, what would go with the alabaster base? More towards the gold/tan family? And then.....

Aaaarrrrrrghghghghhhhhh!!! I can't steady my mind.  Do other artists go through this a lot?  I'm not used to it.  Maybe it's just my recent flu,  playing head games with me. Or maybe it's that unfamiliar "jury" concept. But my mind is a quivering mess of uncertainty at this moment.  I think I need to set the whole thing aside until tomorrow. Perhaps things will become magically clear. Or white, or yellow, or gold, or.....

Light and Chocolate

I don't really like working on art with an assigned theme.  I find it stressful, especially because it usually implies a specific exhibit with a specific deadline.  And yet, something really good always comes from the challenge.  Right now, our ORA members are working with the self-inflicted theme of  "Light," which seemed a logical choice, since that's what our name means, and because the exhibit will be in a glass gallery.  But then I got to thinking I should do something with an actual light source shining through the beadwork.  Of course this leads to all sorts of challenges, and surprises too. Of course, in the end, it's going to be a gorgeous project, and I'll be really proud of it, but during the process I feel stressed and nervous.

I know that some people enjoy that nervous feeling, stepping out of the comfort zone.  But personally, it makes me want chocolate.  A lot of chocolate.  Hmmmmm... now THAT would be an interesting theme.....







Our exhibit "Light"  will be held at:
Elements Glass Studio/Gallery/School
1979 NW Vaughn St.
Portland, OR 97209
503.228.0575
 
It will open with a First-Thursday reception on March 4, 2010.  Music, food, wine, artists. The whole nine yards.  Yikes!  I hope there will be chocolate....

Mittens With Strings

When I was 5, my mom attached a long string to my mittens, and strung them through the sleeves of my snow coat to prevent my losing them. It was a little uncomfortable, but she had good reason, based on her experience with me losing EVERYTHING.  When i was 9, my grandmother bought me a beautiful Snow White wristwatch, and I lost it. I was mortified, but she kindly bought me another.  I LOST IT TOO.

As I got older, the trend was refined a little.  Losing things is mostly based on FORGETTING them somewhere.  I lost my treasured Staff Jacket when I forgot it in a lecture hall at UCLA.  I knew exactly where I left it, but it just wasn't there anymore when I realized it.  I forgot keys, drivers license, purse, books, you name it.  Now I knew where I left them, but still they weren't with ME.

(I only forgot to pick up my kids once.)

Now that menopause has reared its ugly and demented head, forgetting things has been raised to the level of an art.  Sort of.  The ugly, in-your-face kind of art.  They write funny plays about it, but in one's real life, it's not funny at all.  I forgot my purse twice in one night this past weekend, and therefore ended up driving to and from a friend's house three times in one evening.  Twice to the synagogue in the last 20 hours because I forgot something there.... you get the picture.

So I try to figure out how I can reduce the frequency of forgetting things.  One way is not to carry a purse.  I do that a lot, but then when i need to use one, I'm unaccustomed to it, and forget it everywhere.  I guess I could get those "clapper" keys.  But sometimes I wonder if I could just tie strings to everything I take anywhere, and attach them to my clothes or my fingers.  Paints a really attractive picture, doesn't it???

Sigh.  Aging isn't for the faint of heart.....

A Most Unusual Day

Today my Father-in-law became a Bar Mitzvah. It was a most unusual day.

Sam is 83 years old, and never had a proper Bar Mitzvah as a boy, so he elected to do it now.  Instead of handing the Torah down through the generations, today's ceremony started with handing the Torah UP, from the grandchildren, to the children, to the Bar Mitzvah.  When i heard the plan, it sounded a little corny, but when it actually took place, and my silver-haired husband handed the Torah over to his elderly father, I have to admit it brought tears to my eyes.

All of Sam's children and grandchildren were involved in the service in one way or another. And the members of this Los Angeles congregation did a wonderful job of planning the whole thing, bringing food, coordinating musicians, etc. Our friend from Portland even led folk-dancing, since he happened to be in L.A. at just the right time.

But there was one moment that just cracked me up, because it was so twilight-zone.  The after-meal "benching" was led by well-known radio celebrity Dennis Praeger, who is an active member of the congregation.  It was pretty interesting, because it was almost like a Las Vegas lounge act, with actual applause at the end!  Let me tell you, this guy never met a microphone he didn't like.  So then, I sent a text message to my brother to tell him Praeger was leading benching.  Let's see... can you picture this...  I'm sending a text message on my cell phone (on Shabbes) to say that Dennis Praeger is leading benching at the Bar Mitzvah of my 83-year-old Father-in-law.  What could be unusual about any of that???

Messiah Coming Soon?

Well, Michael's was very disappointing. Didn't really find anything I was looking for. Of course, that doesn't mean I left empty-handed, but you know.... now i still need to hit a proper art supply store.                                                                

But here's the big news.  As soon as i finished drawing the Owl for our class homework, I took a deep breath and..... I drew my dog!!!  This has been itching at the back of my mind for a few weeks.... that I could probably do it, somehow.  And once the teacher presented the Owl, I felt that I could probably do Nacho.  It wasn't easy, but I did it, and it actually looks like him!  So I'm pretty excited.  A mere two months ago I could never have considered drawing something real.  And now... well, maybe the Messiah is near !

 
    

Colorful Ancient Memories

Tomorrow I'm going to  Michael's for a few things, including some kind of watercolor paints for our class homework.  Tonight I was googling 'watercolor paints' and it brought back a memory that I haven't thought of in over 40 years!  When I was a small child, maybe 5 years old, my parents bought me this metal tin of watercolor paints, but it was a really big set, with a LOT of colors. I don't remember how many, but it seemed like a HUNDRED!  Each one was a small square of color, and eventually some of the colors got used up before others, which was frustrating.  But all in all, I really LOVED that paint set!  Can't remember anything I painted with it, but I have a distinct memory of the FEELING of it, the smell, and the excitement.  Man, I love colors!  Hmmmm.... I'm gonna have to exercise some self-control at the store tomorrow.  Then again, sometimes self-control is overrated!

Paintbox photo from Shutterstock.com

New Toys!

Who knew there were such cool toys?  Last week I missed our drawing class, so I missed out on the electric eraser, but this week we were introduced to a water-brush, and watercolor pencils!  These are very clever inventions, and way too much fun!  You can fill the water brush with water and then take it with you, along with your watercolor paints, and paint anywhere without making (much of) a mess.

And then there's the watercolor pencils, which seem like regular colored pencils, except they're water soluble, so when you run your nifty-spiffy water brush over the drawing, the color dissolves into watercolor paint.  I may be the only person in North America who didn't know about their existence, but it's news to me, and fun news at that!


The teacher also introduced us to the idea of  less-is-more with regard to watercolor paints. But anyone who knows me knows this is a tough sell. Still, I tried NOT to color in the entire picture.


We actually had a fun class tonight, because only a few people showed up, so it was more casual and intimate than usual, and I think this served the teacher well.  I drew a pretty good copy of a picture of a covered bridge.  It's not done yet, but I'll post it when I'm finished.  I got a great compliment when Gershon came home:  he looked at the drawing and said "wait, I thought you couldn't draw!"  Heh-heh...

Dust to Dust

I just had the sad responsibility of telling my Mom that Louise Hefter passed away.  Louise was one of "the moms" when we were growing up.  And she and Gerry were founding members of Israel Academy, loyal supporters of my Dad's, and true friends of our family.  The news was very hard for my Mom to hear, and hard for me as well.

Louise was such a special, wonderful person.  Always smiling, even in the craziest, nastiest times.  People always say that kind of thing about a person, how special they were. But Louise really was something else.  She always made people feel so comfortable and loved.  And everyone loved her.  It's hard to find the words to describe her old-fashioned supportiveness.

Funny what comes to mind at this moment.  When my father died, there was bedlam in our house, and among our large community of friends.  The funeral was huge, the crowd at the meal afterward was enormous.  But in the middle of it all, Louise took the time to make her famous eggplant parmesan just for us.  Now that I know how time-consuming it is to make, I really appreciate her dedication in the middle of all the craziness that week, to make us that dish simply because I asked for it. There might have been more important ways for her to allot her time at that moment, but maybe not.  I will remember that meal forever, the comfort of the food and the love that went into it.

Louise is the first of "the moms" to pass away.  Of course, several of the dads are gone, but this is a new hurt. It feels scary as well as sad. Time keeps moving, and we just have to use it as well as we can.

Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet.

.

I'm a dot-com!

Okay, I finally did it.  I decided a long time ago to register my own domain name and pay for commercial hosting. But I never did it, mainly because I couldn't decide on the domain name.  With Yahoo closing down Geocities later this month, my existing website is going to disappear, so now the pressure was on.  This indecision's killin' me.... so I asked some friends their opinions:  EstherBeads  or CrownJewels?  Can you guess what the results of this little poll were?  You guessed it -- a tie!

What to do? What to do?  Did a little more research today, and found that the Crown Jewels thing is a little sticky, although I think I could have CrownJewels.net.  Made an executive decision to go with EstherBeads.com and I registered the domain name and ordered hosting service.  Yay!  So now I'm all grown-up, just like the big kids.  All I have to do now is get the website established, and then upload all those ridiculous pages.  I should start over from scratch, but I just don't have the time right now, and I want to have something there when people come home from the 10/25 show with my card in their hands.

Slowly, slowly, I'm getting there.  After the first of the year, I'm going to get serious about re-doing the pages, and getting shopping carts for myself and for the ORA site.  Dream big, little girl!

Respect the Flow

Okay, we have stopped procrastinating, and hired a contractor to work on the flooding problem. They are excavating along the front length of the house, and will seal the whole foundation with a series of super-duper high-tech materials to prevent future flooding.

But you have to also address the fundamental problem, and it's fascinating to see what previous attempts are revealed as the excavation goes deeper into the ground. (See how I'm making this sound like a positive experience?)  There was some kind of tar applied to the house, but either it wasn't very well done, or it just disintegrated over the years.  There is also a long French Drain, which is a good idea, but was incorrectly done. (See my earlier comment on incompetence.) There are holes in the foundation itself, apparently from bolts which rusted over the years.

You have to respect the flow.  The water is not going away. The rains will not stop. And the house will (we hope) continue to sit on the side of a hill.  So you have to plan for those things, and accomodate as well as you can.  We will replace the French Drain with a properly built one, possibly expanded to cover more area.  That seems to be the best way to spread the water around over a larger, deeper area. And the series of insulations they're applying should protect the foundation from the inevitable moisture.  And the trees which had to be removed will be replaced with more appropriate bushes, placed a little further away from the house.

The cost of respect?  Pretty much the same as the cost of disrespect: astronomical.  And rising each day.  Sigh....

(Painting:  "The Sound of Many Waters" by J.E. Millais)

Grapes and Mangos

I started my drawing class, and the teacher insists that everyone can actually draw. We'll see about that. First assignment was to copy this picture of grapes. Most people's grapes looked more like mangos to me, and some looked like bowling balls! I guess we're not quite there yet, but it was better than I expected.

Incompetence Everywhere

Can there really be that many incompetent fools in our world? How does the world continue to function? Sigh....


.

Time Flies

Wow, strange year! I haven't written anything for my blog, mainly because I'm busy trying to keep the ORA blog current. I'm not cut out for two blogs. Oh well, no one reads this one anyway.

So let's see, what happened since my last entry on January 28?
Oh yeah: Facebook! This thing has been incredible! I'm up to around 200 "friends," including a wonderful number of old Solel friends. It's been so fun to catch up with people I haven't seen in 35 years! And new connections too... people you know vaguely become real "friends" when you read each other's musings on FB. I find it fascinating, and gratifying.

Also this year: L.A. in January, Safam concert at CNS, RACC computer class, the crazy shit surrounding Robby's Bar Mitzvah, Pesach at the Conroys' (dining with Duke), Maimouna, trip to Oakland (sick as a dog), all the heartache around CNS releasing Cantor Shivers, the farewell dinner and Robby-Solomon-Shabbat, Dana and Craig came to visit, Gus Hanawalt's Hawaiian wedding, Micah's UofO graduation, Sonia and I went up to visit Lucille, Lucille visited here, Jonah's Bar Mitzvah in Boston, Judith Berdichevsky passed away, Micah got a real job, Joel screwed up in schoool, Nacho's seizures, my continuing efforts with Mary Lou to find a suitable med, Marty Berger's Bar Mitzvah, our 35th anniversary trip to Vancouver and Seattle, Kim and Paris visited here last week, plus lots of Mah Jongg, many books read, and lots of ORA meetings.

Well! No wonder I haven't written... I've been kind of busy! Still, it's hard to believe that this calendar year is 3/4 finished, and we just concluded RH and Yom Kippur 5770!

And now our big ORA show is only 4 weeks away! Am I ready? Not even close! I was thinking of writing about the Bead Fest show this past weekend, but I think I should go do some beading instead.

Paying It Forward

Les Sarnoff is blogging about his fight with cancer. His voice has been part of Oregonians' lives for so long, we feel he's family. Well, today he's writing about the importance of helping others, and the concept of "paying it forward." And it reminded me that I never shared this wonderful true story with you.

Last summer, some friends of ours downsized to a condo, and gave us a spare T.V. We were delighted, and wanted to thank them, so we decided to get them some sort of gift certificate. There's a coffee place they like, so I went there to get a gift card. The young woman at the cash register attempted to process the purchase, but she was clearly perturbed. The machine showed that the purchase was paid, but I hadn't actually paid yet. She pressed a LOT of buttons, cocked her head a lot, then tested the card, and concluded that there was no reason, not even any WAY for me to actually pay! I begged her to take my phone number, because the till would likely come up short at the end of the day, but she insisted "no, it's our problem."

So I walked out thinking "This is my lucky day. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket!" And then I thought "No, I need to donate this money that I just saved, to some worthwhile cause." As i walked to my car, I considered many possible charities. But when I got in the car and turned on the ignition, the radio was already on, and the KINK disc jockey was saying ".... and they're accepting donations right now."

It was a real Twilight Zone moment! I listened carefully to hear which charity they were discussing, went straight home to check the website, and immediately made a donation online.

This became the ultimate "pay it forward." We got a free tv, our friends got free coffee, the charity got a cash donation, and Oregon's schools & students benefit. How cool is that??

A Tragic Loss

This past Yom Kippur, I ventured out of my little world, and attended services at Portland's Renewal congregation, P'nai Or. It was an amazing experience, full of music and meaning and heartfelt confessions. And they did this amazing thing with Unetaneh Tokef, intertwined with Leonard Cohen's song, "Who By Fire."

Of course, the heart of this congregation has been their Rabbi, Aryeh Hirschfield. His spirit and music and passion were irresistable, and inspiring. His charisma & strong sense of ethics reminded me of my departed father. The congregation loved him, and it was easy to see why.

So, today I was more than stunned by the news of Rabbi Aryeh's untimely drowning death yesterday. Like so many in our community, I am striving unsuccessfully to make sense of this tragedy. And the words of Unetaneh Tokef just keep running through my mind.... who shall perish by water....

Everybody ever touched by Rabbi Aryeh is grieving tonight. It is unbearably sad. But there is also a certain magnificence in the power of love that binds us together in our grief. May his righteous memory be for a blessing... zecher tzadik livracha.

Grateful

Micah's home for the weekend, so I have all my "critters" in the house. Even though I don't actually SEE them that much, the house just FEELS more complete. I'm thankful for my family.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Happy Birthday Nacho!

Today is Nacho's 6th birthday. This year I made peanut butter cookies suitable for dogs or humans. I have a bone-shaped cookie cutter, but when I looked to find a Pug-shaped cutter, I had no luck. So I got a generic dog-shaped cutter, and developed a system of "alterations" to create Pug cookies. Here's how:

1. Cut off the upright ear, flip it over, and re-attach.
2. Cut off a little dough to shorten the snout.
3. Gently work the tail to make it longer and thinner, so you can curl it.

Voila! It's a Pug!


Happy happy birthday, Nacho!!

Love, Mommy

It's Finished!

This is the finished product, "Yizkor Shoah."

The beads at the bottom are actually more purple than the picture shows, but otherwise, you get the idea.

Phew!

A Fight to the Finish!

My struggle with this beading project continues. First, the thread kept breaking and tangling. Then, one of the beads broke, which meant I had to re-do a whole section of the project. It was tempting to give up at that point. But I've come to realize that this is a challenge to my determination. And I am VERY determined: this project will be completed, and it will be exhibited. So I bit the bullet, and re-did that whole section.

Finally the beadwork was completed, and it was time to fit it over the glass candle holder. Guess what? It didn't fit! The beading was so tight (yes, that's what broke the bead), it actually broke the glass!! I'll tell you... the sight of all that broken glass in my hands was very powerful, since this is a Holocaust Yizkor candle!

So, what does one do at that point? How can it work as a Yizkor candle cover if it won't fit over the glass? Well, first I sulked for a few days. Then I sat down with a whole box of yizkor candle glasses, and tried every single one, till I found one that fits! It turns out that different brands are slightly different sizes, and the weird brand from Israel fits just fine. Heh-heh! Point for Esther.

But this thing doesn't give up! Next thing, it turned out that the glass I chose was cracked. Sigh, back to the box. I found another that would work, but the candle is very firmly melted into the glass, and I'm having a surprisingly hard time getting it out. Fear not, though, I will prevail. The candle will come out, the label will come off, and the candle will go back in properly. And this piece WILL be exhibited at our Art Show on October 12th.

It's a Holocaust piece, it's important, and it's been an amazing challenge. But I am determined to have my artistic voice be heard. After the show, I will post a picture of the finished piece. But I hope everyone will come and see it in person.

Celebration of Art
Sunday, October 12, 2008
10 am - 4 pm
at MJCC
6651 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland

Go With The Flow??

Okay, I think I figured it out. The metaphor, or whatever. The flow of water is mirroring the flow of.... money! There's that expression "the money flowed like water." Well, the money's been leaking/hemorraging, and this water flooding thing isn't gonna help.

Also we've narrowed down the mystery of where the water's coming from. It has something to do with a broken sprinkler. But I fear that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The question is, WHY does a broken sprinkler outside make it flood inside? And why did it happen 2 years ago, and again now, but never in the time between? Stay tuned as Holmes & Poirot continue their zany madcap investigation!

Broken Thread

On a similar note, I'm working on a new piece of beadwork. And the thread keeps breaking, tangling, or getting frayed. I'm not sure if this is because it's a bad spool of thread, or if it's because it's a Holocaust piece which will be a challenge till the very end. Next time I work on it, I think I'll try a different spool of thread, because this is getting ridiculous.

I must say, though, that so far it looks really good. I think it will be incredibly striking when it's done. Stay tuned.

It's Always Something

Just so you don't tempt the Evil Eye, the joy never lasts long. Some new, icky challenge usually emerges to make you forget the revelry. In this case, it's flooding downstairs. Again. Mysterious flooding. Two-professionals-have-come-out-and-neither-can figure-out-where-the-water's-coming-from flooding. No-point-fixing-the-carpet-since-it's-bound-to-happen-again flooding. Heavy sigh.

They say that when bad things keep happening, it often mirrors something going on in your emotional life. Like if you keep having car trouble, or losing your keys, it might point to a problem with the direction of your life. Or if you keep getting sore throats, there's probably a communication problem. Things bursting might mean you're holding something inside that needs to come out. Great, but what does mysterious flooding mean? What does leaking mean? Does it imply... ummm... incontinence? I can't figure this thing out, practically or figuratively. And until someone does figure it out, our home is in limbo. Another heavy sigh...

It's The Law

My son informs me that I shouldn't be so excited about my new kitchen counters, stove, and sink. He says that since I'm a middle-aged suburban woman, having my kitchen re-done is pretty much the law.

I beg to differ. Not everyone gets to do this. And I have been wanting this even longer than I've been middle-aged !!! So, regardless of what he says, I have to quote my old friend Judy: "SQUEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLLLL !!!!" Yes, I'm happy, and not ashamed to say so.

Why am I so happy about it?? Well, just LOOK!!!

.........
Old kitchen with ridiculous mauve .........the ugly, slow, spills-stay-forever.
tiles, insane top-mounted ugly .............stovetop!
sink, AND... ...............................................

.........
..New kitchen with cool granite, no ..............the beautiful, super-fast,
...grout, big, proper under-mounted.........spill-proof, smooth glass stovetop!
sink AND.....

The process isn't entirely over, but we're getting there. And it's such a great feeling every time I walk into the kitchen. I know I'm lucky, and I'm truly grateful.

.

Molly's in the House!!

I grew up with all brothers, then had two sons at once, and now we have a male dog. I've never had any other female in the house, except my Mom. So having a female dog with us for a few weeks is really interesting!

Nacho is a "man's man," and is totally devoted to Daddy. But Molly, our guest, is definitely attached to me. And she has such a different aura than Nacho. I could grow to like this! She's young and energetic, but not so territorial. More curious, and also more excitable. Sound like anyone in your house?

Molly is such a sweet dog. But the poor thing is having a rough summer. First, her family's home burned down, with her inside. Luckily the firefighters were told to look for her, and they found her in time. Then she lived in two new & unfamiliar places. Then they brought her to our home and left her in our care for two weeks. Who knows what she's thinking at this point!?

So, it's no surprise that she's a little jumpy at the sound of every little noise. However, last Monday's thunder storm was no LITTLE noise! Personally, it was the worst I've ever experienced. And Nacho wasn't thrilled either. But poor Molly, she went nuts. She started running around the house at top-speed, barking her head off. I was reminded of the book "Marley and Me." I tried to hold her in my arms, but she didn't know me well enough to take comfort from me. She had only been here 4 days. I felt so bad for her. But then I got her up on the bed, and started rubbing her tummy, and she liked that too much to fight it! So she calmed down, and I think we started bonding. With each new thunderclap, I rubbed her tummy, and after a few, she let me hold her in my arms. Then we just sat through it together, Molly, Nacho and me.

Now we're having a good time. I'm sure she still misses her family, and will be ecstatic when they return, but in the meantime she seems more confident here. Nacho has taught her to use the doggy door, and she loves our big back yard. She gets out there and does the sheepdog-thing, running faster than lightning until she collapses. Nacho has also taught her to keep her nose out of his food bowl. He tries to pretend he doesn't like her, but I think he's getting to like playing with her.

Molly's a funny girl, and she has her own little quirks. I'm having fun experiencing her. I just hope we don't have any more thunder!

Sensory Overload

A 3-hour drive in each direction, a 3-hour class with a famous beading "Diva," an 8-hour class with a math-genius beader, a cheap hotel, and a full-sized bead show with over 50 bead vendors... squeeze all of these into one weekend, and you have serious Sensory Overload!

Of course, I enjoyed every minute of it. But when I got home, I was exhausted for at least a week! All-in-all, I'd say that my weekend at the Puget Sound Bead Festival was a total success. I really loved both of the classes I took, and was pleasantly surprised at how BIG the vendor show has become. Waaaaay more vendors than I (or my wallet) expected.

I'm posting pictures of how my class projects are SUPPOSED to look.... because mine aren't exactly finished... and probably won't look as nice as these. But you get the basic idea of the crazy stuff I was working on.

And of course, every time you take a new class, it's so stimulating. You start getting all sorts of new ideas, and that's what I was hoping for. If you haven't taken a class lately, try it! You'll like it!
"Entangled Cubes".................. "The Curl"
by Judy Walker...................... by Jeanette Cook


.

Emotional Roller Coaster

Well, I was relieved that Micah landed safely in Israel. Then came several days of happy phone calls, hearing that he was having a good time.

Then came the call from the Israeli Consulate, informing us that they consider Micah an Israeli citizen ... oops. We didn't dream that Gary's Israeli birth would affect Micah's citizenship! But apparently he was supposed to have an Israeli passport, and needed to get an exemption from military service! Yikes! He's never even been there! So then we were totally stressed, trying to get a straight answer in the middle of the night, about whether he would be able to come home.

Long story short, he arrived back in New York last night - hooray!! And today he landed in SFO, and plans to sleep for a day before sightseeing. I'll be REALLY glad when he gets back here Monday night.

I think a parent's emotional journey never ends.

The Eagle Has Landed

Okay, he called the next day, when he got his rental phone in Israel. How exciting! Heh-heh, then he called again to ask how to use the converter thingy. Ahh, all is back to normal , give or take 10,000 miles! I'm looking forward to hearing his take on the whole adventure when he returns.

Separation Anxiety

My son is in San Francisco, leaving in a few minutes on a red-eye to New York, where he will catch a flight tomorrow morning to Israel! This is the first time my baby has left North America. And right now is the first time in years that I've been completely out of contact with him. We've been text-messaging today, but now there's no more communication till he gets that rent-a-cell-phone in Israel. I'm very excited for the adventure that he will have, but at this moment I feel very strange and disjointed. I'll feel better when he lands and contacts us. Maybe he'll call from JFK.... nah, not likely. Ah, the emotional journey of parenthood.... Happy Fathers' Day, everyone!

A Bright Idea

I've been waiting to update the home page of our ORA website, until we had our new member roster set in May. I thought we would be adding some new members. But actually, it worked out differently. A few people are taking a leave, and we're putting off new memberships until after the October show. So now there are only 9 full-fledged members. But I have all these cool pages I worked so hard on for the departing members, and I hate to waste them. So I came up with the idea of starting an Alumni page! This way, we still have access to those people's pages.

So I re-did the home page to reflect our current members, and I re-did the "Artists" page, adding a link to a new "Alumni" page. I got lots of compliments right away, so I feel good about it. Soon there will also be a new page for this Fall's guest artists.

Meanwhile, I'm taking a Dreamweaver class this summer, so I should soon be able to generate new web pages in that more contemporary format. Once I have that under my belt, I will feel better equipped to take on website design clients. I'm looking forward to that; I think there's a real need out there for artists and small private businesses.

New Web Page

I get frustrated when things can't be 'just right' or totally complete. So I wrestled with making a new webpage for our recent ORA exhibits.

There were two separate shows, but they had related themes, so some pieces were in both shows. I didn't want that much repetition, so I decided to just do one big page.

But then, I don't have pictures of all the pieces displayed; not even close! So I had to readjust my expectations, and tried to have each artist represented by at least one piece. It's not perfect, but it will do. And the page came out pretty nicely!

Take a look, and tell me what you think:
http://www.northwestjewishartists.org/ExodusMiriam.htmlhttp://www.northwestjewishartists.org/ExodusMiriam.html


.

A Big Step

I finally did it. I summoned the courage to approach a store owner about carrying my work. Not just any store.... Afikomen, the beautiful Jewish gift shop/book store in Berkeley. Gershon and I were going to be in the area for a Bar Mitzvah, so I e-mailed ahead to ask if I could bring some things to show them. And they said yes! So I brought in some work on Friday, and they took a number of kippot and Hamsa pendants on the spot!

I know this seems like such a no-brainer, but for me it's a really big step, and I'm really excited about it. They carry a lot of beautiful Judaica in this shop, and I think they have a good mailing list, so it's an honor to be represented there.

Afikomen Judaica
3042 Claremont Ave
Berkeley, CA 94705
510.655.1977
877.284.2345

I Opened The Windows Today!!

The sun came out today, for real. It's been hinting here and there for a few days, but today it was HERE! If you're in Los Angeles, this means nothing to you. But if you're here in Portland, you're one happy camper!

I actually opened the windows in the living room, kitchen, and bedroom. There's oxygen everywhere! Not sure if I remember how to breathe this stuff, but I'll do my best !

Good job, Big Guy!

Lunar Eclipse

I almost forgot about the lunar eclipse last night! But when I was driving to the JCC around 7 pm, I noticed a lot of people standing on various sidewalks and looking up at the sky. When I arrived, I realized what they were all looking at. And the view from the parking lot was perfect! The moon was almost fully eclipsed at that point, and it was mesmerizing. I had that familiar sci-fi-movie feeling again, almost unable to move, filled with wonder.

The situation was virtually opposite of our last eclipse, but the feeling was similar. Last time, about a year ago, the eclipse ocurred in the wee hours of the morning here on the West Coast. I stayed up for it, and stepped quietly through the sliding glass door to the backyard deck. Standing in the silence, I heard throughout the neighborhood the soft sounds of sliding glass doors! It was so sweet. We couldn't talk to each other, but we all knew the others were there with us, fascinated and thrilled at this amazing occurence.

This time, I was in the midst of the hustle and bustle of people coming and going, but once again everyone was connected by this incredible thing, fascinated and thrilled again.

As I've said before: Good job, Big Guy!

Milestone Project

I'm starting to cogitate about a potential project. This summer will be the 15th anniversary of my "career" in beadwork, and I'd like to create something special to commemorate it. I have no idea yet about what form it will take, but the traditional gift for a 15th anniversary is Crystal. So I figure I have to do something with crystals, right? Funny thing is, after all the crystal I've used throughout these 15 years, nothing is whispering to me.... yet! But I'm sure that the beads will begin to speak... stay tuned.....

Happy Birthday To Me!

Today was a funny birthday. Gershon's still out of town, so I was left to my own devices. When I realized that this was the only night this week that I don't have any outside obligations, I decided that staying home would be a good celebration, and Nacho would appreciate it. So I picked up some dinner and a single-serving treat from the bakery, and partied-hearty with Nacho. Heh-heh, we had fun!

Plus, all day I received birthday greetings from all over the world: from Manila to Colombia, to Boston, to Los Angeles, to Oakland to Eugene... the calls & e-mails kept coming. It was heart-warming... nothing could mean more!

So thank you, everyone, from a really OLD person in Lake Oswego.

Opening Night

People are wonderful! So many people came out to join our opening night reception last night! It was lovely.

This was the first time we've worked with a theme, which was a challenge. But our members rose to the task beautifully. So many of the works are so impressive, and inspiring.

If you haven't seen the exhibit yet, get over there!! It's there until Feb 24th.

"Exodus: Our Journeys"
An exhibit by ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists

February 7 - 24, 2008

Oregon Jewish Museum
310 NW Davis St.
Portland, Oregon