July 30

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the writing in the background reads...

warm blanket of air

bright eyed curious visitors

hungering desire bumps up against raw fear

skittery energy pauses

visitors approach and flee

motor roars disrupt

focus my ear on the churn of water

tumble bubble babble flow

hummmmmmmmmmmm

harmonize entrain with man's working music

now a roar as activity persists

nuts and seeds win

cheek pouches grow

in lumpy bumpy bulges

bellies and burrows fill

hummmmmmmmmmmm

meditating to motors

vibrations tickle my head

the roof of my mouth

hummmmmmmmmmmm

a change in key and a jet joins in

as the cacophony grows

I continue to

hummmmmmmmmmmm

as the mower moves further

and further

away

suddenly it's off

quiet seems so much more so

instinctively I take a long

deep breath and

hummmmmmmmmmmm

tuning in to the irregular echo

of a hammer in the distance

as a weed whacker whirs

I move inward

alive with sounds I can

hummmmmmmmmmmm

July 29

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Dramatic weather has been frequent this summer -

flash flood warnings, high winds, hail,

thunder and lightening very very frightening

not really, frightening that is. I actually find myself very energized and jazzed

as the storm's elements grow...

those Queen lyrics were playing through my mind

off and on all day today though!

which followed with the thoughts of how the weather could be

perceived as threatening and drama filled,

which followed with thoughts of how it's all perception

so the drama is self made, as are most of the 'storms'

we have in our lives which is why the tornados are coming from a mouth and not the skies.

How do you draw thunder - anyone ever try?!

July 28

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I seem to be going through a book binding phase! I bound a couple more books recently, which I photographed today. One uses another piece of the fabric from Lynne, that I stamped,

which I'll use for drawing.

I filled it with a nice arches paper and made it about 6 inches by 6 inches square.

The other is filled with writing paper, and I made the covers from Tibetan prayer flags.

It's actually a b-day gift for a friend :)

Lastly, I had to give you the update to my

crazy little pepper plant. For those of you unfamiliar with this

story, it all started here,

and now it's giving me pepper number four I think?

and it's ready for picking, with a bunch of new flowers forming,

readying for a new crop!

Yum!!

July 27

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and the winner is...

drum roll please :)

Congratulations to Svasti!!

of Svasti: A Journey from Assault to Wholeness

This little book will be making it's way to Australia -

farther than I've ever traveled!

How cool is that?!

July 25th

Happy Birthday to me - and my journal!!

Thank you all, for the birthday greetings :)

What a journey it's been, these 365 days.

Starting as a simple book from a used book sale at the library,

to a rather ungainly year's worth of work!!

One that represents so much more than words I write here can hold.

Where I do I go from here? There are at least a couple dozen blank pages still to go in this book, which I'm pretty sure I'll fill, because to leave them undone would leave me feeling incomplete. I thought I would have it filled by the one year anniversary, and I really want to be done!

I'm itching to start something new, and after a year of blogging and journaling in the same book it feels like a good time to reevaluate how I would like to move forward, both with my journal and my blog.

Daily pages? Posting more variety? Tutorials?

Do I even need to have a concrete idea? I didn't when I first started here. Like so many, I thought I was just going to be sharing pictures with a few friends and family. I wasn't even much of a blog visitor - who knew I'd be opening myself and my artwork to a world community of amazing kindred spirits? I honestly didn't, but I am so grateful that I have.

So that's my journal's birthday - now about my birthday!!

Ever since I read about Barron Storey on Seth's blog, here on The Altered Page, I've been thinking about how a jaunt into the city to see the exhibition of his journals would be the perfect activity for my birthday! I am so happy to say I was able to do just that today. I must have spent nearly three hours pouring over the pages.

I could say so much about it all, but I am so throughly exhausted, I can hardly focus my brain well enough to write my name! All I can say is I was blown away, so inspired, and know that I will be thinking about the images and colors and lines and designs and lettering and all of it for a very very long time.

Only one other thing I thought you might get a kick out of. I won't look for any hidden messages in both of my parents rather morbid gifts. Instead I'll tell you, these gifts show that they know me well :)

My dad sent these beautifully crafted porcelain skullies by Cleveland, OH artist Mark Yasenchack,

and part of the package my mother sent included this fabulous box of bones - the remains of a possum found under the deck of her home in the panhandle of Florida.

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Okay, I think I've covered all I have the energy to cover! It was a good, full day for which I am extremely grateful!!

I'll see you tomorrow for the drawing of the winner of my anniversary book give away - it won't be early though, I'm sleeping in! xox

July 24

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Just a reminder, to win my hand bound book celebrating my blog anniversary leave a comment at

this post before midnight (New York time) July 25th!

Drawing will be held Sunday, July 26th :)

July 23

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My dear friend Renee and her family, are being torched by the flames of the fires that life can challenge us with, but not often with the intensity they are currently being faced with all at once. Many of you are readers of Renee's amazingly honest, raw, and humor filled blog Circling My Head, and if you are you know of the years she has been facing and battling inflammatory breast cancer, while educating us about this rare form of the disease. In recent days, however, she has shared that her mother has landed in the hospital with a lung infection - possibly swine flu, and both her nephew Sheldon and his mother, Renee's beloved sister Jacquie are facing their own cancer battles. I encourage you, my readers, to go visit Renee and leave her words of support and encouragement. Something about this community of bloggers, the energy created that resonates 'round the world, whether we are known or unknown to each other, does help in these times of crisis.

♥

Last night I escaped into tv land and watched the one performance competition show that I fully indulge in - So You Think You Can Dance. I'm not a fan of American Idol, or the dance show with once supposedly famous people, but this dance show moves me so deeply, week after week, in one way or another. The strength and beauty, the passion of the choreographers and the young dancers, just brings me to tears at least once a week!

This week was no different, when the following dance, about breast cancer, created by Tyce Diorio for a friend who is fighting cancer, was performed...

(I recommend watching in full screen)

manda 8 @ Yahoo! Video

Buried Treasure

I decided to join in with Seth Apter's collaborative blogging project today, by sharing some pages from earlier posts on this blog. Seth shared a fun idea over on his blog, The Altered Page, recently that has engaged many in digging into the past. His thoughts were that he can only get around to visiting so many blogs in a given day, so he knows there are a treasure trove of posts that he's missed over the months, and years, so why not ask his fellow bloggers to dig deep and repost some of their favorite posts of the past - do the digging for him! This is actually round two, since round one was so successful!

With the anniversary of blogging my journal only 2 days away, I thought it was a timely opportunity for me to look back and share some of the early pages of my journal, so here goes, working back through a little of last summer!

AUGUST 18, 2008

AUGUST 17, 2008

AUGUST 13, 2008

AUGUST 3, 2008

JULY 30, 2008

July 29, 2008