I couldn't have done it without her "help".

        

 Well, I'm older. It's bound to happen, and here it is. Birthdays always seem like a time for reflection and goal making. I am filled with mixed feelings today. Generally, I suppose I should be a bit dissatisfied with my life. I definitely am going through a phase where I have it so un-together. I haven't been this uprooted in a long, long time. I'm still living out of boxes and I turned my back on financial security. I need to make some major changes, and I'm still completely baffled as to what I should do. I long to feel settled.
 Now despite all this blah, I am completely worked up and exhilarated. Crazy, right? I have this idea. Which I am currently apprehensive to share. It still feels like a fragile little baby that I need to keep bundled up. Soon enough I will share it with all of you, but for now, I need to nurture it privately. The part that I do want to share, is the excitement. I haven't  been this creatively inspired in years! It is so much fun. My head is so filled with ideas that it overflows into my dreams. I need to keep a notebook by my bed just to catch everything that appears during the night. It's like that excited, all consuming, falling in love feeling. It just seems to make sense. All those life experience that seemed so disjointed, they seem like preparation for this next step.   
 So, this birthday is a mixed bag of chaos and clear direction. I thought the image above pretty much sums it up. Kind of dark and gloomy with signs of life beginning to grow. If I'm allowed a birthday wish, I ask for support, and lot's of it, because I'm going to need it. It's time to live one of my favorite quotes "Leap, and the net will appear". Here I go, I'm leaping, I hope the saying is right, or this could be a mess, but I don't think so. In any case, it's certain to be an interesting adventure.
 Thanks for being out there.  

        

I started assembling the security envelopes into a journal. I don't think I will bind them all together until I complete the pages so that I can easily incorporate more sewing, and  I can press the pages flat. They want to get a bit wavy when I paint them. Here is a view of a couple of the pages. I'm enjoying the process, and I think the journal will be very interesting when it's completed. I'm still amazed that all that wonderfulness hides inside envelopes that we all throw away. 

 

        

OK, it is possible that I spent a little too much time watching the Academy Awards last night. Maybe I can blame it on the fact that I lived in, or near, Hollywood for so many years, but I do like to see all the pageantry. I'm not absolutely positive that this recipe deserves the award, it has stiff competition from the udon noodles, but it is quite good, and would know how to work-it on the red carpet. Well, maybe not, but let's pretend. This one is dedicated to my sister Meg, and all the people that made this recipe possible... you get the idea. And the award goes to... 



Bulghur Wheat Pilaf

2 Tbsp vegan margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup bulghur wheat
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups vegetable broth
5 dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated in hot water, then sliced
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground pepper
handful of pine nuts (optional)

In a medium saucepan sauté the onion, in the margarine, until it's tender and slightly browned. Add the bulghur and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the pine nuts, and bring to a boil. Cook on medium high heat for a few minutes allowing the bulghur to soften-up. Remove from the heat and allow it to sit and absorb the remaining moisture. At the last minute toss in the pine nuts.   

        

As I recently mentioned, I am currently obsessed with lens flare. It can add a little sparkle of magic to an otherwise ordinary photograph. I learned to love it, and wish for it to happen, when I started taking pictures with my little LOMO cameras. Their funky plastic bodies regularly allow light to seep in, creating undependable, but sometimes lovely results.
Here are a few of my favorites, where lens flare helped out in a big way.












And here is a video (that I had nothing to do with) that makes great use of the romantic, and vintage, quality that lens flare imparts.

When I found out I could take a blah, uninspired photo and add a fake-O lens flare in Photoshop I felt a little guilty, but I was excited. 

Before - OK, but a bit blah
 

After - with fake-O flare.

Much better, right?
I'm still going to seek out legitimate lens flare, resist the urge to go faux, feel guilty when I fake it, and I always love the little LOMO's,  but the fake stuff is pretty darn fun too. Sorry.

        

        

I'm enchanted by this stop motion video called Lost Things. Maybe it's her red hair, or my current obsession with sun flare (more on that later), I just don't know. 

And this one makes me giggle uncontrollably.

        

I'm working hard to figure out Photoshop. I recently had a major breakthrough and a whole world of possibilities opened up. It is such an amazing tool! It is capable of so much when placed in educated hands. I feel like I'm only just beginning to tap into the possibilities, but I'm having fun. It's like learning how to paint all over again, but this time I don't have paint all over myself.

Here are some the elements that were layered to create this piece.












I also played around with the colors, saturation, and a lot doodles that imported into the program. What do you think? I think it's kind of interesting to look at the pieces and see how they all came together.

        

I stopped the other day to snap some pictures of a gaggle of geese, and a duck, or two. I have to say those geese had a very bad attitude!