Saying goodbye to the kits and now I am gone

I was hanging out alone on Sunday and packing for my three-week sojourn to Sweden. It was good to have time to think.

[As an aside, I brought the biggest, heaviest suitcase ever on my trip to Sweden. Although I like to think of myself as a light traveller, the real story is that I keep stuffing things in my bag until I cannot fit anything else. There's that image of myself wispily floating through airports free and easy and then there's the real me, struggling conspicuously, burdened, weighty, bogged down by my possessions. It's shameful. Enough of this.]

I took some parting shots of the kitties; I am pretty sure they had a hunch I was leaving. They were sticking by my side and sneaking into my suitcase.

I checked into my hotel and felt was feeling very zombie-like. I hooked up my computer and then got so busy I never even went out.  But I was happy to see Stockholm from my hotel room, I'm on the 10 floor and there is a beautiful view. It's so lovely to be here, seeing this city is like meeting an old friend, a couple of things are different but we still love each other. I can't wait to go out tomorrow!

Arrival at the airport




A view of my night table: Oh the irony of getting two bibles! "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ"



Sunset over the western highway´.

Intricate traffic patterns.



Will they be back?

Only time will tell if Mr. Groundhog and his family will be back this summer to chow down on our grass and hang out underneath our trees. Last summer it was a joy to watch the babies grow up. I hope they come back. And soon!

I also got the moon.

I've seen so many beautiful photos on Facebook of the supermoon that graced the skies this past weekend. I swear I looked for it in early evening when it was to be low in the sky, and I was all set to get out my tripod and make a decent attempt at getting a good shot. But I just didn't see it! Finally a few minutes before I went to bed on Saturday night I spotted it high in the sky. This is the only shot I could get... Lameness.

Some like it hot

I caught Poppy the other day trying to sun herself with my desk lamp. That makes two of us longing for summer!

How to groove on life

or... Why i LOVE Lynda Barry

or... Let's all stop being all fakey

I went this week to see Lynda Barry speak at the Free Library of Philadelphia, which by the way has an excellent author series and many of the them are absolutely free. Many of their events turn into podcasts. (I'll keep my eyes out for this one; if it comes up as a podcast I will post that later.) 

This was the best photo I could take of her, cute piggies!
She spoke for more than an hour and used no notes! 

My friend Beth and I make our way downtown, arriving early to get good seats. Finally, the talk begins, and there she is, standing a few feet away from us, the illustrious Lynda Barry. And what does Lynda wear? Doggonit, she wears pigtails! Woman after my own heart. Lynda, you had me at your pigtails! 

I could write accolades about her, but I guess what I'd most like to do to share with you my favorite Lynda Barry strips. Below are three excerpts from Ernie Pooks Comeek, a syndicated column that ran for almost 30 years. Lynda has also written novels and published many other books about writing and drawing and how to free yourself up and stop holding yourself back from from the person you might really be. Stop editing yourself. 

Each strip has four boxes.

First up is the voice of Marlys, a happy-go-lucky, quite egotistic girl who is blessed with confidence and has a huge heart. She gives her best advice here, in How to Groove on Life. 

Right on, Marlys! Thank you for that, I will never forget that great advice! When I am a very old lady I'll still be enjoying dancing, being kind to animals and fixing everyone's hair up all gorgy. 

The next strip is in the voice of Marlys' far more complex older cousin Arna. Arna breaks my heart. She wants what we all want: love, friends, popularity, acceptance, a boyfriend who likes her, being able to trust people. Why do I suspect she will never get it?

Maybonne is Marly's big sister. This next strip is in her voice, and it's another quite serious one. Oh, it almost makes me cry to read it. 

PS.  I hope Lynda will forgive me if I am breaking copyright laws. She does not seem the type to sic her lawyers upon me. I'll just hope. 

What's cookin?

What's cookin' is that I've been thoroughly delinquent about blogging lately, but that is about to change. What's cookin' is that I'm getting ready to go to Sweden in a couple of weeks. What's cookin' is that winter is almost over. Whew, just barely made it. What's cookin' is that I got a new camera and I'm so excited about it. The photo of Poppy in a pot was taken with my old camera. We were just a little bit tempted to make Poppy soup... but not really.
Peace and Love and I'll be back soon!