Dream a little dream...

I love dreaming. Dreams come in many forms. They come in day dreams. Waking dreams. They come in passing thoughts. Fleeting images, stimulated by sometimes totally unconnected events. They come when we sleep, sometimes to be remembered, sometimes not. Dreams feed us. They feed our spirit, our soul. Dreams can lead to great folly, or to great deeds. Dreams move us, one way or another. When we block our dreams, we become stagnant, unmoving, or moving very slowly collecting dust.

I just finished reading a book by Neil Gaiman, called Stardust. Yes, it is the same as the movie, however, it must be said that while the movie is very good, it is extremely different from the book. This comes as no surprise I am sure. I imagine the movie likened to an alternative reality, another possible way that the story could have happened, but in the end, I still prefer the book (although I saw the movie first and surely I will watch it again with great joy).

Having quite a feisty passion for old folk lore, mythologies, legends and modern spins working with the old into the new; I can say that this book certainly stirs up my dreams. This book has fed me, such as food does for our bodies, it has reminded me of my own inner light and the light that is within all that is part of this world.

I think what inspires me most about this book, is not in the story itself, but in Neil's gratitude, which also reminds me of a little paper book I found in my couch cushions while finishing up reading the book. But first I must share Neil's gratitude.

"Acknowledgements."
Neil writes, to us, the readers: "First and foremost, my thanks to Charles Vess. He is the nearest thing we have today to the great Victorian fairy painters, and without his art as an inspiration, none of these words would exist. Every time I finished a chapter, I phoned him up and read it to him, and he listened patiently and he chuckled in all the right places."

I know who Charles Vess is and truly his art is inspiring. But really what touched me so much about this statement is the idea of inspiring someone so much that that person should share each leg of the journey as it occurs in the creative process. The creative process can be such a vulnerable and private process. Such an honor is that. It leaves me with a feeling of awe that a great story teller should draw his inspirations, finding his dreams stimulated from the many images produced by the artist.

After reading this book, which I have not been able to put down for days, I am already feeling the build up of energy, the inspirations, my inner muse, waking up, and dreaming, preparing to use this new fuel to help push along my own creations. I always find the creations of others as well as the gratitude expressed from one person to another, helps push me to push myself to try my best to produce my best and see where I can go next within my own creations. I love the experience, the journey that it takes to hone my own skills. My goal is to wake up inspirations in others, such as Neil Gaiman has woken in me on account of what Charles Vess woke in Neil.

Interesting, isn't it? The process that is...
Where would we all be without each other?
I have such gratitude that you exist.
Whom do I speak?
Why you! The reader!
Because as I said, where would we all be without each other?
I have such gratitude for the process, the journey, and I can't wait to see what happens next in this adventure we call life.



Magic Words

"In the earliest time,

when both people and animals lived on the earth,

a person could become an animal if he wanted to

and an animal could become a human being.

Sometimes they were people

and sometimes animals

and there was no difference.

All spoke the same language.

That was the time when words were like magic.

The human mind had mysterious powers.

A word spoken by chance

might have strange consequences.

It would suddenly come alive

and what people wanted to happen could happen--

all you had to do was to say it.

Nobody can explain this:

That's the way it was."

- - after Nalugiaq

Edward Field, 'Songs and Stories of the Netsilik Eskimos
Quoted from Green Man Press

Totally hilarious....

Ok. So recently, I have come to recognize exactly how geeky I am. I guess I should have known since I am dating a computer programmer and that sort of says it all. What tipped me off is how every so often, in the middle of the night, I get totally hooked to the DVDs my boyfriend brings home such as Doctor Who. At first, I was really anti-doctor but then, it sucked me in, like the vortex it is. This could be said about a few shows. I have always been a fantasy buff, with a leaning towards sci-fi, but usually more in the novel format (I adore reading) and often movies. Of course, I am totally obsessed with an on again off again ongoing research that I do of old faerie lore and world mythologies; very inspiring for my own creations.

What I am leading up to is "The Guild". I totally love this bizarre and quirky internet mini-show. I also relate to it. I went through an obsessive gaming phase as a teenager and into my early twenties. This is proven by the fact that I once failed a university course due to this obsession. I guess maybe it was a bit of an adiction. Failing the university course was a really good reality check. But something valuable I learned from going through that gaming phase is that I realized at a certain point that everything I learned in game, if I were to apply it to life, I would probably find life alot more interesting and alot more engaging. So I swore off gaming because I did not seem to be able to find the middle ground with it all. What I learned from gaming was perseverance, stamina and how to successfully face my challenges in life.


Today, while I can appreciate it, I have no interest in participating in gaming because I just have way too many career related and other activities that absorb all the time I have. I love how productive I am with my time, now that I don't play video games. However, my boyfriend is still a gamer and one night I caught him watching "The Guild" and quickly found myself adoring it. It's totally freaking funny and reminds me of a few people I know.

Having a voice to speak with....

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

Having a voice to speak with, I choose often to first sit in silence and watch, to learn and to try to observe how I can best assist in creating positivity. Ideally, when I speak, I don't want to waste my energy, so when I speak, I speak with the intention of being aware of the needs of my listener, I try to speak when I will be received, when I will be heard.

I don't know if I will be heard, but right now I choose to speak. I hope that in speaking, I will contribute to a domino affect of positive and healing change.

A few months ago during a midnight research session, I became aware of an upcoming documentary that aired tonight. I was privileged to have a promo-ticket to see the premier of The Cove. I believe everyone should see this film. It's so tragic but very important that we be aware of what is happening and to do all we can to create change for the better.



This film really struck a chord for me, maybe it's because of the graphic nature of the film footage, but truly, I could not stop crying through out most of the film. I was so upset when I left the theatre, that I accidentally twisted my ankle in a hole in the sidewalk I did not see. I knew these things were happening but to see the footage, it's very devastating. It's horrifying to think that this isn't just happening in Japan, it's happening everywhere pretty much to all species, including ourselves.

We all know this song and dance; why do we just keep falling into the same cycle of harmful actions as a human race?

Before and After....

I have been doing more and more photo editing and graphic design for myself and friends. I use GIMP instead of photoshop; I used to use photoshop but then due to my boyfriends ethics and my sense of privacy, I decided to go onto a linux system on my computer along with all free software.

It was at first difficult to adjust from photo shop to GIMP, and the only thing that GIMP doesn't do is CMYK, but that easily rectified by going to see a friend with a legal copy of photo shop.

What I like about GIMP is that it's co-created software by computer programmers who believe that software should be free and easily accessible for everyone. Free software is a constant evolution created by volunteer programmers on their spare time outside of their day jobs.

The photograph you see is a sample of my most current editing work in GIMP. The clothing is designed by Advika Clothing on 100% organic fabric.

Artist's Life

By Kern, Kite, Bandit & Lisa 12-06-07 drowtales.com

Artist's Life:

Monday Night, 5am
"We have to start going to sleep earlier."
"mmhhmmm"

Tuesday Night, 6am
"We really have to start going to sleep earlier."
"mmmmhhm"

Wednesday Night, 7am
"We REALLY, really have to start going to sleep earlier."
"mmhmmm *snore*"

I borrowed this comic strip from another website called Drowtales: Moonless Age, it's a fantasy comic that has recently peeked my interest. At the end of each chapter they have cutsie humorous parodies. Hence where "Artists's Life" came from.

When I saw this comic and what it is depicting, I was just laughing and shaking my head because this was such a typical day for me. Oh the artist life!