Strange days indeed ...

Odd things happen to me. Some nice, some not so nice. And then there are the just plain odd. Saturday's thing falls somewhere between the nice and plain odd. It's just the way my life goes. I'm kind of used to it.

Here's the story. The vacationing husband is kicked back on the sofa watching a movie. I'm in the kitchen fixing Manicotti for dinner. Phone rings. I answer.

Male voice says, "Is this Carol?"

"Uh, yes, it is." I reply.

"Used to be Carol Snedeker?" as yet unidentified male voice asks.

Now I'm feeling a little hesitant, but curious. Who is this? Where's this going? I say, "Well, yes. Who are you?" Only fair he identify himself.

"Graylin." he says.

Okay. I'm certainly surprised by that. I know only one Graylin. I ask for clarification. "As in Martin?"

He laughs, sounding sort of uncomfortable. "Yeah."

We're both silent for a moment. Like we both need to let this sink in.

Graylin Martin was my high school sweetheart. Almost three years together. I worked hard to get him and in the end couldn't get rid of him fast enough. Long story, complicated and I won't go into details. Not a great ending, I might add. I confess, I still harbor some resentments.

"What do you want?" I ask as politely as I can. Lots of ideas running through my head. Is this a joke? How did he get my phone number? Has someone died? Is he insane and stopped taking his medication?

Pause. "Uh, are you still married?" he questions.

"I am." I reply. "Why?"

Another laugh. Another pause. "Well, I was hoping you weren't and I was going to ask you out."

What the Hell???

I almost dropped the phone. Could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather. This guy is married, too, to the girl he dated before me - and had an affair with while he and I were dating. It was my turn to laugh. "Now that is certainly not something I expected, from you no less. Why in the world did you call me for that?"

Amazingly, what followed as about a 30+/- minute conversation. He told me he and his wife, Vickie, had separated around eight months ago. Apparently he, though he didn't elaborate on the details, screwed up somehow and she said, "Had enough and I'm outta' here." He's now feeling the need to look for someone to start dating. Companionship and all that.

He thought of me.

Go figure.

He took a big chance when he dialed my number.

Suddenly, I didn't feel angry with him anymore. After all these years. It wasn't that I was flattered he had thought of me, I really wasn't. Truthfully, I was kinda' weirded out by that part. But I felt sorry for him. Here is this guy, at the holidays, alone and lonely. His 20+ year marriage is kaput. His children are taking his wife's side and not having much to do with him. He doesn't have any friends because he's focused all these years on just his family. And he's lonely enough to take a big flying leap into the abyss of the unknown and call me. Brave. And really pitiful.

Of course, even if I weren't married, it is not within the realm of possibilities on this plain of existence or any other that I would have agreed to go out with him. Not going down that path again. Oh no. There's a definite unpleasant history with this guy. I might forgive, but I don't forget. Yet I can't bring myself to be cruel or unkind to him. I simply can't summon up the old hostilities enough to do that. I would at least talk to him on the phone. I would be nice. Empathetic and understanding of another person's pain.

So, the conversation ended on a easy and relaxed tone. I think we were both still rather surprised to even be talking to each other after all these years. Just the same, I'm pretty sure I won't be hearing from him again. At least I gained a little peace with that part of my past. A lesson in compassion. That's always a good thing. An odd occurrence to be sure, but nice gift to me, for me at the holidays.

Namaste y'all ...

Vicks DayQuil, you are my friend ...

It doesn't escape my notice that Vicks DayQuil very courteously supplies you with your own "shot glass" for knocking back a nice dosage of medication. Between my morning shot of drugs, a strong pot of coffee and some Reiki, I'm actually managing to function somewhat normally today. I'm not dancing a jig around the studio by any means, but I'm at least sitting upright and not curled in a sad, whimpering little puddle in the middle of the bed. That's progress.

While I'm waiting for some paint to dry I dabbled around in Photoshop and created a new masthead for my blog. I like it. It fits me. I am a continual work in progress with my art, with my whole existence for that matter. I've come far but still have farther to go. I'm okay with that. Better forward than backward, ya' know?

But back to the masthead. I like the lighter colors, the softer feel. I think it will go well with my website yet stand on it's own as a blog page. The two are integrated, but separate. I think they need different looks, different names, a different tone to each. I'm even considering changing the name of my website as well. I'm not sure what it will be. "Art Magic" worked for me in the beginning but as the focus of my art changes, the direction of my life changes - which is reflected in my art - the current name just doesn't seem to fit anymore. I don't like it.

Any suggestions?

I did manage to have some foresight and plan ahead in regard to the site address, keeping it simply my name. I know me well enough to know I like to change stuff around too much. Slapping an "art magic dot com" up there would have left me stuck with that dot com. Couldn't do that to myself. Anyway, someone else already had it.

Since the "internet art theft incident" the redesign of the site has been weighing heavily on my mind. I've got an art project in the works that will be taking up much of my time. An old friend also contacted me yesterday about doing a new logo for her boyfriend's business. More time taken there. A couple of other things on the burner snitch up more time. So the question comes ... How do I work it in? It's a massive undertaking, designing and/or redesigning an entire website.

Even though this would be Version 6 (Ack!) and I'm more experienced with what to do, it would still demand a lot of work, a lot of time at the computer. Other stuff just doesn't get done when I'm off somewhere in Photoshop Land. And at present, I only have a preliminary splash/front page done. There would be hours of creative/design work to be thought out before the site itself would undergo any change at all. It's in playing with Photoshop that I can burn up some serious time ... too many options! This looks good! Oh wait, this looks better! Ah, that would be cool! Maybe a tweak here. Tweak there. Shift the type up a smidge. No, nudge it over there. What about this type style. Maybe that one. I could emboss this. I could use this filter on that. On and on and on and on .......

Fortunately the basics are already there. I won't really have to do much with setting up new pages except for the additional galleries and such I intend to add. But all of the images have to be re-worked and some new images added. New thumbnails and new buttons to be created. Meta tags and page descriptions. New links and old links redone. Etc. Etc. Etc. Then checking and rechecking. And checking again after it all get uploaded and published. Then making corrections. Oy! Makes me squirm just thinking about it. The upside is I can make all these changes and publish the new version all at once. I don't have to worry about the current version of the site being disturbed or "under construction". This is a good thing.

Speaking of good things, if y'all will excuse me, I do believe I have a lunch date with a bowl of chicken soup and a grilled cheese sandwich ...

Namaste y'all ...

The mind is willing - the body says, "Ain't no freakin' way!"

The Common Cold.

Menace to society.

Harbinger of an ill wind wrought with sickness and miserable body aches and pains.

Sneaky. Devious. Insidious.

An uninvited and unwelcome guest to the party of life.

Do ya'll hear the whining? Do y'all hear the pathetic and pointless plea for the good health I was carelessly enjoying just a few short days ago? Oh yes, Mr. Acute Viral Nasopharyngitis has come to call. I feel like I've been hit by a truck, all achy and sore, back of my throat feels like the hide has been scraped off, can only breathe out of one side of my nose. It's not pleasant.

I'm supposed to be in the studio creating art. I want to be creating art. I've got so many ideas for a Can't Elaborate On The Details Of Just Yet project in the works but ...

I'm going have a cup of tea, take some drugs, then have a nice nap.

Namaste y'all ...

Crazy artist triumphs over blog design dementia!

Trials and tribulations. That's been the sum of my days of late here at the computer, trying to design my blog page. I've already got a blog with Yahoo 360 and didn't want to create another through them for my website blog. Why? I wanted to add my own custom header art, etc. In short - I wanted more control than Y360 allowed me.

Okay. I decided to give WordPress a try. Not a good choice, I quickly discovered. I'm not proficient with html, css, ftp's and yadda, yadda, yadda's. I soon found myself swimming around in the deep end of the pool without my water wings on. While some folks might zip through all the tutorials and such, I ended up with a stack of print-outs and a really big headache. When all else fails, drop back and punt ...

I scuttled back to my e-blogger account and Kazam! Bingo! Ta Da! I prevail! All in a matter of a couple of hours I now have a complementary blog page to the rest of my website. Oh Baby! Feelin' the love, I tell ya', feelin' the love for e-blogger right now. *kissy-kissy* Why did I even go with WordPress?, I'm asking myself. Must love to torture my poor brain. Must love stress and anxiety. Must be nuts.

So y'all, here we are. Together at last. I'm looking forward to the bloggin' journey to come and I hope you will hang out with me along the way. My art, my artistic endeavors, my art craziness and my art passion. 'Cause that's what this blog is all about. Art. Gotta' love it!