Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," saying so long to friends on this first day of summer!
Three more foster kittens have come and gone. We had them about six weeks. They were rowdy. I took them back to the shelter this afternoon.
Today's sermon, however, is about Big Purple Bear.
You know how you get something, and it just becomes part of life, and you never think of taking a picture of it? Big Purple Bear was like that.
About three years ago, Heir, Spare, and I were going to the local supermarket when we passed one of those big bins for donated clothes. Sitting in front of the bin was Big Purple Bear. He was one of those enormous stuffed animals that take up half a double bed when you prop them on it.
Spare has a queen sized bed that she inherited from Mr. Johnson and me, so we brought Big Purple Bear home. For three years he kept Spare company on her bed. Then she turned 16 and decided she didn't need him on her bed anymore.
Trouble is, the dude was huge. Where do you keep a Big Purple Bear? We tried him in my home office, but he took over.
So we paid him forward.
We took Big Purple Bear back where we found him in the first place -- the used clothing bin at the supermarket. We left him sitting in front of the bin, just where we found him.
This afternoon, while driving home from school (yes, I am still teaching school ... after Solstice!), I had a nasty shock. I saw three boys, middle school age, lugging Big Purple Bear up the street. Well, I had paid him forward, but, but, but, three middle school boys? Visions of stuffed bearicide flooded my brain. What possible use could a trio of pubescent boys have for a huge stuffed bear, other than to torture it?
I pulled over to the side, and I rolled down my window. I said to the boys, "I left that bear in the grocery store parking lot. I paid him forward. You take care of him. You pay him forward just like you found him."
They looked at me like I was nuts and kept dragging Big Purple Bear up the street.
When fostering kittens and stuffed animals, one must be an optimist. I've had more than 60 kittens come and go through Chateau Johnson. Most certainly some of them have not found good homes. I can only act on my faith in the shelter where I volunteer, my friendship with the people there, and my trust that they are careful when they send animals out for adoption.
The same sort of optimism must now animate me with Big Purple Bear. Perhaps one of those young chaps has a little sister. Or maybe they're just going to sit Big Purple Bear in some space they share. At any rate, Big Purple Bear, and three kittens named Ariel, Cinderella, and Princess (not my names) have gone out into the world. Luck be with them on this new summer's eve.
Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored Here in the Northern Hemisphere!"
I don't know about you, but I feel very blue on Summer Solstice. The light has reached its peak and now will dwindle again. First we must endure a long, hot summer. I'm 51, and I can tell you -- summer was not this hot in the 1970s.
My only consolation is that the sunshine returns to my friends in Australia and South Africa. They've been waiting for it. Friends, here She comes!
I don't know about you, but I feel very blue on Summer Solstice. The light has reached its peak and now will dwindle again. First we must endure a long, hot summer. I'm 51, and I can tell you -- summer was not this hot in the 1970s.
My only consolation is that the sunshine returns to my friends in Australia and South Africa. They've been waiting for it. Friends, here She comes!
|
Velkommen til Readers gallery.
Vi gleder oss til å få vise frem kort som våre lesere har laget,
med inspirasjon fra våre artikler.
Welcome to the Readers gallery.
We are looking forward to Showcase cards our readers have made with
inspiration from our articles here at StampARTic.
Denne måneden har vi mottatt flotte bidrag som
vi gleder oss til å vise til dere.
vi gleder oss til å vise til dere.
This month we have received great contributions that we are looking forward to show to you.
Dorte er blitt inspirert av den nydelige sko tutorialen til Terri,
som Rikke presenterte for noen uker siden.
Dorte har laget noen tøffe svarte sko med matchende kort til.
Dorte has been inspired by the beautiful shoes tutorial to Terri
as Rikke presented a few weeks ago.
Dorte has made some tough black shoes with matching card.
Vi har flere som har blitt inspirert av sko tutorialen til Terri.
We have several who have been inspired by shoes tutorial to Terri
Minna har lagd flere nydelige sko som hun har dekorert
med blomster, blonder og bling.
Minna has made several beautiful shoes that she has decorated
with flowers, lace and bling
Husk å sende oss en e-mail eller legg igjen en kommentar her hos oss, hvis du har
latt deg inspirere av en av våre artikler.Vi gleder oss til å vise frem akkurat ditt kort eller prosjekt!
Remember to e-mail us or leave a comment, if you have been inspired
by any of our articles.
We are looking forward to show of your project in our magazine!
Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," Father's Day Edition 2010!
This is a portrait of my father in his younger years. Honestly, can you believe this is my relative? I mean, do I ever behave this way?
Apple. (points at self) Tree. (points at picture)
Most of the time when people think of Druids, they think of holy leaders. In fact, so far as I have been able to read and research, "Druid" was a class of people within the ancient Celts. If you were a teacher, a poet, a lawyer, a healer -- basically working middle class -- you were a "Druid."
Only after he waltzed away with the faeries did I realize that my dad was a Druid.
I always knew he was an Alchemist. (See his wizardry, below.) I never gave much thought to his philosophies until after he passed and I didn't hear them anymore.
Being a scientist, Dad felt pretty strongly that life ends with death and that nothing -- no soul, no spirit -- survives. And yet he spent almost every Sunday of his life at church, teaching Sunday School and singing in the choir. He was profoundly ambivalent about Christianity. You see, being a Sunday School teacher, he actually read the whole Bible. He found a lot of it unsettling -- and that includes swaths of the New Testament that most Christians lap up with fervor.
Uninspired by visions of eternal life in Heaven, Dad pursued a philosophy of self-sacrifice and moral courage. He was what you would call an "upstanding man." I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who knew he didn't believe the Bible, didn't buy into Christianity's salvation agenda, and yet embraced the portion of the religion that encouraged people to do the right thing even at pain of death.
When my father married my mother, he was warned that she was "high strung." He witnessed it himself. Nevertheless, he wed a woman with a near-fatal case of bipolar disorder and spent his life caring for her, even though, day after day, she abused him verbally and sometimes physically for his efforts. Without his support, my mother would have become institutionalized. Instead she was able to keep her place in society. (Admittedly, most people avoided her company if they could.)
Once I asked my father why he didn't divorce my mother before I was born. He said, "When I married your mom, I made a vow. A vow is just that. A promise. I wasn't going to break my promise."
Well well. A college-educated science teacher and avowed atheist Promise Keeper. This puzzle piece, my dad, does not fit easily into any tableau unless you consider "Druid" to mean a class of person and not simply a religious leader.
Taking Druidism as a caste system, my dad's piece fits. He was a scientist. A singer. A teacher. A parent whose favorite way to spend an afternoon was hiking in the woods with his daughter and showing her all the mountain's secrets, so that she would never fear that which needn't be feared. My dad knew justice, loved justice, and found divinity in all existences. Like both his brothers and his own dad, he was interested in everything. I never saw him bored, ever.
No wonder Peter Pan came for him, called to him, and led him to the Summerlands! My dad, my friend, my inspiration in weirdness. My first Druid.
Eternal youth be yours, Dad. Now, go take your beaker and blow up the whole doggone pirate ship!
Below, one of my favorite episodes of "Principles of Combustion." That is my dad, Daniel Johnson Jr.
This is a portrait of my father in his younger years. Honestly, can you believe this is my relative? I mean, do I ever behave this way?
Apple. (points at self) Tree. (points at picture)
Most of the time when people think of Druids, they think of holy leaders. In fact, so far as I have been able to read and research, "Druid" was a class of people within the ancient Celts. If you were a teacher, a poet, a lawyer, a healer -- basically working middle class -- you were a "Druid."
Only after he waltzed away with the faeries did I realize that my dad was a Druid.
I always knew he was an Alchemist. (See his wizardry, below.) I never gave much thought to his philosophies until after he passed and I didn't hear them anymore.
Being a scientist, Dad felt pretty strongly that life ends with death and that nothing -- no soul, no spirit -- survives. And yet he spent almost every Sunday of his life at church, teaching Sunday School and singing in the choir. He was profoundly ambivalent about Christianity. You see, being a Sunday School teacher, he actually read the whole Bible. He found a lot of it unsettling -- and that includes swaths of the New Testament that most Christians lap up with fervor.
Uninspired by visions of eternal life in Heaven, Dad pursued a philosophy of self-sacrifice and moral courage. He was what you would call an "upstanding man." I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who knew he didn't believe the Bible, didn't buy into Christianity's salvation agenda, and yet embraced the portion of the religion that encouraged people to do the right thing even at pain of death.
When my father married my mother, he was warned that she was "high strung." He witnessed it himself. Nevertheless, he wed a woman with a near-fatal case of bipolar disorder and spent his life caring for her, even though, day after day, she abused him verbally and sometimes physically for his efforts. Without his support, my mother would have become institutionalized. Instead she was able to keep her place in society. (Admittedly, most people avoided her company if they could.)
Once I asked my father why he didn't divorce my mother before I was born. He said, "When I married your mom, I made a vow. A vow is just that. A promise. I wasn't going to break my promise."
Well well. A college-educated science teacher and avowed atheist Promise Keeper. This puzzle piece, my dad, does not fit easily into any tableau unless you consider "Druid" to mean a class of person and not simply a religious leader.
Taking Druidism as a caste system, my dad's piece fits. He was a scientist. A singer. A teacher. A parent whose favorite way to spend an afternoon was hiking in the woods with his daughter and showing her all the mountain's secrets, so that she would never fear that which needn't be feared. My dad knew justice, loved justice, and found divinity in all existences. Like both his brothers and his own dad, he was interested in everything. I never saw him bored, ever.
No wonder Peter Pan came for him, called to him, and led him to the Summerlands! My dad, my friend, my inspiration in weirdness. My first Druid.
Eternal youth be yours, Dad. Now, go take your beaker and blow up the whole doggone pirate ship!
Below, one of my favorite episodes of "Principles of Combustion." That is my dad, Daniel Johnson Jr.
|
Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored!" This is not your grandfather's Oldsmobile nor his garden. This is faerie, faerie, quite contrary ... how does your garden glow?
This year I decided to plant some flowers. The groundhog kept eating my tomatoes, so what was the point?
My grandmother was the queen of flower gardening and quite proud of her zinnias. With Grandma in mind, I set out to purchase a few zinnias for my brand new flower garden.
Just like everything else, though, these modern, 21st century zinnias have been genetically engineered to have blooms as big as apples and as bright as clown suits. Even the snapdragons I planted are suspiciously vibrant in their hues. Grandma would be astonished by these hyper-plants.
Have you ever read that H.P. Lovecraft story called "The Colour out of Space?" If you have, you will understand my qualms about these plants I just put in the ground. They're too pretty. Too perfect. Too large. Where are the spindly little zinnias of yesteryear?
These flowers don't look real. It's like I've spent my lifetime playing with mutts, and someone just gave me a Great Dane with a big red bow around its neck.
My usual way of dealing with this dilemma would be to let the aggressive flora in the rest of my yard just gnaw into those leafy marvels of enhanced DNA. But it's kind of nice having some neon flowers near the back door. So today I began my Very Marvelous Cheesy Garden Project.
This project will combine flea market ceramic houses, a handful of Rat Finks, and whatever other weird stuff I can find, with the too-perfect blossoms. My quest is to create a miniature village that will turn the sublime into the subliminal.
I don't know about you, but I think this is a swell idea. Why doesn't everyone mix flowers and cheap ceramics? It's all colorful, and at least the ceramics won't need to gorge themselves with Miracle-Gro.
If I get enough weird ceramic stuff, next year I might not buy any flowers at all. Just think! A garden that grows all year long, never needs water, and keeps the neighbors at bay. Perfect!
This year I decided to plant some flowers. The groundhog kept eating my tomatoes, so what was the point?
My grandmother was the queen of flower gardening and quite proud of her zinnias. With Grandma in mind, I set out to purchase a few zinnias for my brand new flower garden.
Just like everything else, though, these modern, 21st century zinnias have been genetically engineered to have blooms as big as apples and as bright as clown suits. Even the snapdragons I planted are suspiciously vibrant in their hues. Grandma would be astonished by these hyper-plants.
Have you ever read that H.P. Lovecraft story called "The Colour out of Space?" If you have, you will understand my qualms about these plants I just put in the ground. They're too pretty. Too perfect. Too large. Where are the spindly little zinnias of yesteryear?
These flowers don't look real. It's like I've spent my lifetime playing with mutts, and someone just gave me a Great Dane with a big red bow around its neck.
My usual way of dealing with this dilemma would be to let the aggressive flora in the rest of my yard just gnaw into those leafy marvels of enhanced DNA. But it's kind of nice having some neon flowers near the back door. So today I began my Very Marvelous Cheesy Garden Project.
This project will combine flea market ceramic houses, a handful of Rat Finks, and whatever other weird stuff I can find, with the too-perfect blossoms. My quest is to create a miniature village that will turn the sublime into the subliminal.
I don't know about you, but I think this is a swell idea. Why doesn't everyone mix flowers and cheap ceramics? It's all colorful, and at least the ceramics won't need to gorge themselves with Miracle-Gro.
If I get enough weird ceramic stuff, next year I might not buy any flowers at all. Just think! A garden that grows all year long, never needs water, and keeps the neighbors at bay. Perfect!
I dag har jeg lekt meg med perler.
Mange har vel laget pyntenåler med perler selv, men hvorfor stoppe der?
Det er ikke mange perlene som skal til for a lage de lekreste smykker til kortet ditt. Med perler kan du lage noe unikt og eget, som matcher kortet ditt perfekt. Du trenger slett ikke gå til innkjøp av dyre smykkeperler, her kan alt brukes.
Perlepynten jeg har laget er verken vanskelig eller tidkrevende. Sett av en time eller to, og du vil ha mange smykker og velge blant til kortene dine.
*******
Today I`m playing with pearls.
Many of us have already made our own pearl pins, but why stop there?
You don`t need many pearls to make the most beautiful jewelry for your card. With a few pearls you can make something special and unik that will fit your card perfectly.
No need for expensive jewelry pearls, for your cards you can use whatever you like.
My pearl decorations is not difficult to make, and it doesn`t take a lot of time.
If you spend an hour or two, you will have a lot of jewelry for your cards.
Disse smykkene har jeg laget for å tre bånd gjennom.
*******
These decorations are made for ribbons.
Du trenger en smykke sene, miniperler, noen større perler, og evnt noen små rondeller i metall.
Et tips på veien er alltid å holde begge endene av senen mellom to fingre, da får du god kontroll.
*******
This is what you need to get started: A jewelry string, mini pearls, some bigger pearls and some spacers if you like.
A good tip is to always hold the stings both ends between two fingers, than you will keep control of your work.
De to første smykkene er laget på samme måte, og her har jeg tegnet et mønster som jeg håper det er lett å følge.
*******
My first two decorations are made the same way, and here I have made a pattern that I hope is easy to follow.
Og her er mønster til smykket med fire perler i midten.
*******
This is for the one with four pearls in the middle.
Når du er ferdig lager du en dobbel knute, og trer endene tilbake gjennom de siste perlene, før du klipper av senen.
Her er et kort hvor jeg har brukt smykket til å tre bånd gjennom.
*******
When you are done, you must make a double knob, and then put the ends back in the last pearls before you cut the strings.
Here is a card where I have used one of my new decorations.
_______________________
Her har jeg laget noen perlecharms som f.eks kan henge fra en sløyfe eller en blomst.
*******
Now I have made some pearls charms that will look good hanging down from a bow or a flower.
Her er mønster til det første smykket.
*******
Here is a pattern for the first jewelry.
Og her er det ferdige resultatet.
*******
And here is the result.
Her er det bare å bruke fantasien, og variere som en selv vil.
På dette smykket har jeg tredd på en charms aller først, og så jobbet videre med perlene.
*******
You can be creative and do charms like this in a lot of different ways.
On this one I have started with a charm, and then added the pearls.
Her er et kort hvor jeg har brukt smykkene både til bånd, og som charms.
*******
On this card I have used both kinds of my new jewelries.
Disse er enkle og raske og lage, men ønsker du en ennå enklere utgave, så skal du få det også.
Perler er så vakre i seg selv, at selv det helt enkle blir til lekker pynt til kortet ditt.
Det jeg vil bruke nå er staver, små metallringer, charms, rundeller og små og store perler.
*******
These decorations are quick and easy to make, but if you want it to be even easier, I will show you that too.
Pearls are so beautiful, so even the simplest jewelry will look nice on your card.
For this you need some metal pins, small rings, charms, spacers, small and some bigger pearls.
Jeg trer en charm på ringen, og fester den nederst på staven. Så er det bare å tre på de perlene du ønsker, og bøye enden av staven til en liten ring øverst med en liten tang.
Lekker perlepynt på et øyeblikk.
*******
I use the ring to attach the charm to a pin, and then all you have to do is to add the pearls you like. The end of the pin I make to a ring with a small nipper.
A nice pearl decoration in no time.
Noen eksempler / some examples.
Her er to til, som vil passe godt på julekort.
*******
And two more that will look good on a Christmas card.
Og her ser du et eksempel på hvordan jeg har brukt disse smykkene på kortet mitt.
*******
And here you can see how this looks on my card.
Jeg håper dere fikk litt inspirasjon til å finne frem noen perler, og lage egne smykker til kortene deres.
*******
I hope you now got inspired to find your pearls, and make your own jewelry for your cards.
