April 23, 2005

"Fragile"
3:03am

I awoke after going to bed early, after a big meal of hot open faced turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes, and found Julia still awake, playing with her astrology figures. I don't quite understand what she's doing, but it vaguely has to do with dividing the sky into precise portions of astrological relevance.

I've had many thoughts recently. An interview on the Bob and Sheri show with the author of Fat Girl made me curious enough to check out its reviews at Amazon. People seemed to have a variety of reactions, some finding the author rather filled with self loathing. Indeed, I sensed much sadness within the author's voice when I heard the interview. I remember myself as a very ordinary teenager, not heavy at all, feeling 'fat' because I couldn't measure up to the standard of the long legged models. There is so much needless misery over such matters. The only solution is to fully embrace ourselves as we are. In this deep self love, we will be more inclined to make healthy choices, naturally, without guilt. When we can find comfort within ourselves, through our own self love, we will be more secure, and food takes its place as fuel, and not as 'comfort'. Using food as 'comfort' is example of an 'external' source that leads away from the Self that is the center. I try not to do that, but I still take as much sensuous pleasure in that 'fuel' as possible. (My turkey dinner was delicious, moist and flavorful, and I savored each bite.)

Yesterday was 'Earth Day' and I read the following: "On the first Earth Day, 20 million Americans called for a cleaner, healthier environment. Their activism helped secure the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Now, 35 years later, with the Senate's recent vote to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, that activism is needed to counter a growing threat to all hard-won environmental protections."

So says the 'Care2' website. I'm sure those thoughts entered into my mind as this automatic drawing resulted:

Man warily observes the fragile balance of nature and cities in co-operation.

While I was sleeping last night, Julia felt in the mood to play with the camera. I particularly like the result she got here:

The filagree bloom looks so fragile, but it is safe in Julia's gentle hands.

Now I shall return to bed and sleep as late as I want, for it is the weekend.

2:50pm

Julia has continued her picture taking efforts and managed to capture a couple of hummingbirds at our feeders:

8:27pm

I decided early what movie to watch this weekend:
Movie review snippet:

"The Interpreter — One of the best films of the year, salutes openness and respect for life as antidotes to the use of violence to deal with the uncertainty and insecurity of our times."

Based on that, it could be a refreshing movie, exciting and with a good ending. A good antidote for that wretched 'Sin City'. It received 61% on the 'Tomatometer' And besides Nicole Kidman is fascinating to watch.

Just as we got ready to leave the house for the movie, the sky had turned itself nicely gray for me, like it was obliging the 'vampyre'. I parked the car, leaving the window open just a slit. I wondered if it could rain, but didn't think a slit would result in a wet inner car.

The movie began, and we saw just a little bit of it, and poof! Blackness! I thought, "What? This is a brand new theater. The projector can't be breaking down!" Then the lights came on. We were told it was standby lighting only. The storm was to blame. Storm? This was so freaking weird! It had only been cloudy earlier. Later on, they told us the line supplying power to the theater had a problem. I opened the exit door of the theatre just to have a peak. The heavens really let loose upon us. I didn't mind waiting until the power was back online, but I was thirsty, thirsty, thirsty. Alas, I couldn't buy water, not even with cash. So to pass the time, using that new sketchbook, I drew Julia. Yes, I finally broke in the fancy archival quality paper. However, her portrait came out kind of weird:

Julia was so sweet about it. She didn't say, "What? Do you think I look like THAT?"

The power was off for about an hour. As soon as it came back on, I rushed out to buy water and pretzels, and came back just in time. The movie was worth the wait. Excellent, suspenseful, twists and turns like crazy, unexpected ending, really quite good. Excellent!

Afterwards, they gave us coupons for free movie passes next time. That was decent. It turned out all of Yuma was without power. The computer, which was on when I left, was off when I got in. Julia had to reset that modem-that-is-not-a-modem as its lights were flashing erratically when we came in.

I checked the weather report. "Chance of Rain" was all it gave as an indication. You know, we Yumans never listen to that! How often it says that, and no rain results. This was hurricane quality type rain.

So this is how it is. Our fragile electrical lines are so easily knocked out by the great power of a storm. Awesome, just awesome.

April 26, 2005

"Cogs of the World"
10:11pm

While reading FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, and knowing that creating art is one way I achieve that sense of 'flow' author Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi describes, I had to put the book down and create a mandala:

It looks like cogs and nuts and bolts and screws of the world, for some reason. Perhaps considering the mechanics of the FLOW experience inclined me to a mechanical frame of mind.

April 28, 2005

"Daring to Reach For It"
9:00pm

The problem with the car is a busted fan motor and a loose belt, 800$ worth. The freon is okay.

While waiting early today at the car shop, I had the chance to read this story:

http://magazine.audubon.org/features0505/solutions.html
Tucson develops a plan to manage its growth in the least environmentally injurious way possible.

Having lived in Tucson for nine years (1987-1996), learning what this city has done is a joy. I remember reading in 1997 about the plight of the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, its population reduced to only a dozen. It had just received federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Construction on a high school to be built on one of the bird's few remaining nesting grounds was temporarily halted after a pygmy owl was spotted in the vicinity. Everyone was nearly up in arms after that. Since then, they have come up with the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, which "sets out a course of management, monitoring, and vital habitat acquisition for 54 native plant and animal species, including the lowland leopard frog, the Gila chub, and the federally endangered pygmy owl.

To this end the plan steers future development away from ecologically important areas—perennial streams, for instance, and groves of paloverde, saguaro, and ironwood—and toward existing urban cores.

‘There is no other plan in the country that has done anything on this scale or with such integration.'"

So this is good news. Perhaps other cities will use a similar plan as a model for steering their own growth.

And now for an abrupt change of topic:

Rather late in the Illustration week, I did a quick automatic sketch for the Friday Illo theme of 'daring'. The legs, hunched atop a dead limb, of someone reaching for a tasty apple came first. It's rather appropriate, for my main index page is called Out On A Limb

Daring to reach for it...