A Little Tangle Here

Wow!  I see it has been almost a year since I have opened these pages.  Not sure I remember all of the steps, but it should prove interesting.

January 21, it's been almost a month since the world was scheduled to end according to the Mayan Calendar. At some point during this final year of my life on earth I felt it was important to do what I want, learn what I can, and geek out the way I have never geeked before.  I have learned there is life beyond my family and there are people throughout the world very wonderful to know.

I have learned that Doctor Who is actually a way of life, how to look at things (we are much smaller that I ever imagined), how to treat people (we are much more important that we ever realized), and that The Doctor is worth waiting for.  lol  I have decided there is much more to life than sitting in the living room with my mother in the evening doesn't really mean quality time.  She needs attention too.  Companionship isn't a partner to watch all of the most recent Law and Order.

A lot of the last several months has been me trying to determine who I am.  I have always been the responsible one (not that others in the family weren't responsible) -- meaning acknowledging what is mine to maintain and put my energy and love into.  But I have made time trying to learn what it is that appeals to me as well.  There is a difference between doing what you are supposed to do and taking responsibility for what I should do.  I guess that is pretty vague.  But perhaps it is time to focus on this blog as a tool to show me who I am.

Ah, it has always been watercolor (hence the name of my blog), writing and creating with a circle of people like-minded.  It has always been family and work.  My playtime, though, has never been structured...until this past year.  I have learned to tangle. I have learned to watercolor my tangles. I have learned that the tangles I draw appeal to a variety of people for a variety of reasons.

TANGLED HUMMINGBIRD

DELICATE ARCH -- WHAT FUN!

So, this first blog of the new year is dedicated to displaying what I have learned to create.  We'll see where I go from here.

Actor Tribute - Who Can It Be?

For reasons that may become apparent as I write I have decided it is time for another tribute to an actor blog.  But lets change it up and see how many clues it takes to discover the one I am talking about.  So, this is a quiz.....your honesty is appreciated, cheaters may be challenged.

Years ago Andrew and I started watching the 007 movies from the beginning so he could see the development of special effects, story line and other theatrical advancements.  While I enjoyed it (the first movies almost felt like comedies) by the time we got toward the end I was bored with the project.
I say this because I would get bored if I saw everything in which my chosen actor has performed. And, no, this actor has never been James Bond.

I can't say I have seen all of his movies, or ever will.  My favorite types of movies don't include all that he has done.  But he likes variety.  He has been known to refuse jobs because he has already explored the character in other roles -- this may be the biggest clue for anyone familiar with  the work he has done.  As an 'all around' normal person he considers himself a regular guy who rides a motorcycle and shows up every now and then for a movie shoot.  (If you got the answer with this clue you get 10 points)

We have watched him as a scientist, an athlete, a police officer, a gamer, a killer and an alien.  He has been a gentle veteran and a very haughty Englishman.  His acting career has spanned more than 20 years, and I am sure he will continue another 20.  Names of his characters are fairly common - Paul, Kevin, Eddie, John, Jack.  Know who he is yet?  (7 points here)

More clues?  Let's talk about his co-stars:  Charleze Theron, Shia LaBeouf, Rachel Weisz, Cate Blanchett, Anthony Quinn, Sandra Bullock, Al Pachino -- these are just a few of the extremely well known  co-stars.  (5 points.....)

I have to assume that the majority of us movie buffs know who he is with what I have given as clues.  Before I give it away, let me revert back to my original premise which was the reason I have decided to write this tribute.  On my last blog the need for knitted together acreage to support the family so we can all live together came up in what I wrote and in the responses I got.  One of this actor's roles in his early to mid acting career has him on a vineyard, family all around, support and love with all actions and gestures. It frequently comes to my mind when I feel the desire for a family oasis. This is what we want, to be close enough visiting would just be a walk across the courtyard....but it doesn't have to include the vineyard -- just the wine.  (Not a great clue, but a clue, nonetheless -- 3 points)  The movie I am referring to here is spelled out with bold letters in this paragraph.....kind of an obscure movie, but I liked it anyhow.

This actor has never personally won the little golden man award.  But I think he deserves it.  And if you haven't figured out who I mean --- zero points, I just have one more word to say:
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                                                          Neo

All images are courtesy of Google Image search. 

Thank you for playing my silly game.  Who got it?

21st Century Family

In this day and age I am reminded of how much family needs each other.  The blogs I read are interesting and fun to follow.  Of course, like anyone else I love to have comments on my blogs.  For the most part it is family that comments.  I have several readers, but like me, they don't comment all that often.  So I was thinking about what lengths our family goes through to help each other out.

The common family dynamic is no longer two parents, two kids, one dog.  This would be an aberration.

Check this out:  for years Gramma Brown lived in a mother-in-law home next to Aunt Karen.  Now that Gramma is gone cousin Julie occupies that address, hopefully helping Aunt Karen out as she cares for her infirm husband, our Uncle Don.  Aunt Karen has been my ultimate example of selflessness....but even though she may growl about it now and then; it doesn't take away from her commitment as she in turn, took care of Gramma, Uncle Don as well as Julie.

Then there is my address, courtesy of Mom and Dad....I moved in several years ago and stayed so I would be available as they aged and needed more help.  Dad, of course, is gone now but Mom and I are going through the same scenario.  It has been a life saving location for me.

Or Dawn and Yo, who's house is definately a 'yours, mine, and our' locale, their main extention is Laura, a full time nurse who needs assistance raising her three kids, courtesy of Dawn and Yo.  At a point in time my son  also called their house home.  Dawn and Yo are like that.  If Darcie or Andrew had a say in it, they too would have been raised in that house by them.  Knowing this doesn't take away the love or the closeness Andrew, Darcie and I have.  If I had a choice I would be living with Dawn, too.

Which brings me to another example: Darcie with her little family is currently dwelling with her mother-in-law Angie.  In this case it is a mutual admiration society.  Darcie and Angie love each other and would be close friends even without Mondo or the kids in common.

Point is, our family never stops being our life.  We reach in deep and we make room for whatever is needed.  Lane and Jean do this with their kids....mostly against their will, I think, but they do it because they love their kids even when they don't like them.  In the last 10 years I think that at least 3 of their kids lived with them.  Help goes both ways in that situation.

People can seldom afford to live alone, at least in our family we would be happy with 10 acres and the agreement for everyone to dwell within.  Must focus on that, as I am not sure what my fate will be when Mom has gone.  In the meantime, I have my family.

Inspiration

I steal inspiration wherever I can...for my writing it may be incidental conversations I have with my customers; I tend to write down ideas that spring from these talks on my computer notepad.  I actually have a doodle notepad set up to copy and paste selected items.  This has a steady stream of things I have been pasting into it since I got this computer.  There are blogs I want to visit, articles I want to read,  web addresses containing information I pull for my blogging, or a list of things I don't want to forget.  But I seldom open it unless it is to add another item.  So as I read it some things amuse me, some things don't tickle anything in my memory.  Sometimes it is obvious what the point was.  Here is a short example of a section in my notepad:

check on 934 Whittier for aliens.....
concierge   keeper of the candles
oldest known animal was quahog  (clam)  405 yrs old; scientists had to kill it to determine its age.  freaking ironic!



With my painting I snip puzzles,  grab photos with beautiful scenes.  I study them.  Sometimes my very talented daughter will photo shop one of her images she snaps with her phone.  I use those as backgrounds on my computer;  this is an easy location for pulling inspiration.  But I wind up with so many folders to keep all of these because I am unorganized.  The clutter on my computer may be a reflection of my brain, echoing the way I live.  Here is a terrific example of her creativity, and it would make a marvelous painting:

What is lacking in this formula for creativity?  I know that it is me.  So many years of thinking about these things have carried over and all I do is think.  At times I believe I use other people to validate me, forgetting that the validations should come from within.  Painting is fun when I have someone else to paint with.  Otherwise I feel like I should be doing something else. Other times it really is my life getting in my way -- sadly nothing fun or exciting.  I haven't gone the the movies with my son in months;  my routine is work, store, home, watch the birds, sit with mom.  I don't even take care of home business.  My niece has created a routine of coming over and doing the heavy cleaning.  I allow guilt to creep in.  When that is there nothing is done.

So now that it is March 3 -- the days are ticking away -- I am going to teach this old dog a new trick.  I am going to commit to creativity, add some beauty to my life.  After all, the name of my blog was created to reflect painting water colors; the intention of the blog was to share to paintings I create.  So it is time to create, damn it!

Inventions, an American Passtime

 I am extremely messy in many areas of my life.  If anyone has been in my bedroom you know my boast is founded on reality. I am also good at allowing my drinks slip onto the floor of the car and spill all over.  Not a big deal, after all it's mom's car not mine.  But for convenience sake I have been considering inventing something which will stop car spillage and make me boo-koo bucks.  As an added bonus I may even manage to make some of the clothes I wear actually make it through a drive. But I  can't go into detail here, after all, I don't need anyone to jump claim on my patent.

I have known for a long time that there are no original ideas out there.  Great spins on ideas, lots of money flowing into someone's pocket because they took action on something that was floating out in the ether.  

Dad was a great inventor of a lot of gadgets.  None of them made fruition because like any Groves, we love to 'talk' not 'do'.  The one that stands out in my mind was his idea in the early 60's for a nail polish dryer.  You see, he knew that if we were able to polish nails, and then set them into a box of some sort with a heated fan we would have dry nails in no time.  Funny how within 1 to 2 years a device came out on the market that did that very thing.  I am sure we can all recall thinking of something and then within months someone has done it.

I have experienced this personally.  I have had an idea for a novel for many years.  I have even gotten a lot of the ideas down on paper (read: computer) for the book.  The name of the book came to me one night; I was extremely excited, it fit all of the areas of my story.  I was going to call it The Dream Walker.  Nine months later my favorite author wrote a character he called the Dreamwalker into his series.  It has caused me to completely halt my writing and  go back to the drawing board on what I will create as one of the characters in this story I am writing.  I don't want to infringe on what someone else used.  I need a little bit of  originality here.  Plus there is the plagiarism issue.  This just demonstrates to me that the ideas are floating around out there.  

We just need to tune in.  Use our dreams.

But, I digress from my main subject, which is inventions.  One of the local radio stations was advertising a pretty cool invention for those couples who have issues in bed.  I am sure, other than finances or straying, this is the single most cause for divorce.  There, I said it, and you all probably know exactly what I am talking about:  bed farts.  You see, evidently someone decided to utilize the technology used to protect our troops from germ warfare and applied it to blankets. Those bed farts will now be nullified of the power to drive a mate from the room.  Check it out.

Given that this is such a wonderful invention it has led me to research and discover what other unknown inventions are floating out there.  This one is cool:

I think a lot more kids would be willing to mow the lawn if only they had this great gadget.

Or here is a practical one that is probably a derivation of something in use:

I would use this!  Wouldn't you?

Finally, I will leave you with a youtube cartoon of some throwback crazy inventions.  Who doesn't enjoy a little bit of Boo boop ti doo!

PidgApeg: Email Issues...

PidgApeg: Email Issues...

Super Hero

Remember if you will the sound track from what was my favorite cartoon as a child:  Mighty Mouse.  (Here I come to save the day!, best portrayed by Andy Kaufman in his stand up routine. Check it out here.  Enter our modern day hero.

Who, you ask?

Well, let me just say I need a National Will Smith Day.  He has been our most versatile actor for the past 10 years or more. Yeah, I said it.  John Wayne always played himself.  For that matter, so does Bruce Willis.  We have actors that we love to watch no matter what they do, but it is because we love them.  I think Will Smith is different.  I find him more of a character actor than most of the mainstream actors, with a couple of exceptions.  Brad Pitt does an incredible insane man....so does Leo for that matter.

But, Will.  We should just take a day that we are all required (requested, sans penalties) to watch the man save the world over and over and over again.

To celebrate you could start with Men in Black, where he takes care of the socially acceptable aliens, then
onto Independence Day, where he vanquishes the evil ones.

Next, I Robot, and how Will saves the world from Robots running amok.

If you are still up for it, after all of that awesomeness, comes I Am Legend, our hero for curing the zombies who terrorize our dreams (and in this current society, our tv's and laptops).  I am sure this is just a watered down version of the current plague of zombies set to a sound track.

Onto Hancock, a superhero with human frailties along with a great cast to support him.
Can anyone forget his selflessness as he portrays a dying man in Seven Pounds? (was that TMI for those who have not seen it?)

 Throwback to a different style shows Will playing Hitch, the man able to connect true love for his clients; or finally, in the Pursuit of Happyness, we see him as one man able to overcome the odds and salvage himself and become a hero in his son's eyes.

 It seems to me that Will projects an all around hero, able to tackle anything the world needs him for.  We should hope he is planning on a routine drive-by focusing on vampires.

And for those of you who do not necessarily agree on him as the man of the hour, keep in mind my list offers you everything from comedy to drama, fantasy and science fiction.  The renaissance man of film.  Truly.  Mighty mouse, the man.  My hero.