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Blog

"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."

liz lamoreux

i am up way too late for many reasons. life reasons i suppose.

but, because i am and because i happened to have the tv on, even though it was muted, but because i happened to have it on CBS, i was given the gift of a little segment about tom snyder on the late late show as it signed off tonight.

i used to watch him in college when i lived alone in my little apartment. i would stay up way too late and study or read or talk on the phone, and then i would curl up on the couch with daniel the cat and watch tom snyder interview someone in his smart and funny way. i loved how it was just him and the guest and the audience consisting of the crew and the producer. when someone said something funny, you would sometimes hear the cameraman crack up.

even though i might have been one of the only 20 year olds watching him, tom snyder invited me to feel just a little less lonely in the middle of the night.

i think it was because he would talk right to the screen, right to the audience through the television during the first few minutes of the show. just like mr. rogers. yes, i think that must have been why i felt such a kinship with him. he was my college-years version of mr. rogers.

he died sunday.

many blessings to him and those he left behind.

a photo, a tag

liz lamoreux

Andrea issued a photography challenge today: Photograph someone in a glass of water.

Well, Millie does not like it when things block my face - like a glass or the camera - but I finally captured her here:

millie in a glass

(And, in case you need a reminder of how super cute she is when she isn't behind glass, click here to see another photo I snapped of her today.)

A couple of weeks ago, Pepek tagged me with the "eight random things" tag and then Kelly Rae tagged me with the same one earlier this month, so I am finally getting around to sharing some answers:

1) I really love the Little House on the Prairie era in books and movies. When I was in grade school, I read all of Janette Oak's Love Comes Softly series and I still read them all every five years or so. I also loved the Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea movies that were on PBS when I was younger. I used to pretend I lived in the "olden days" when I would bake cookies and wear aprons and my long prairie skirts. I spent a lot of time alone and I pretended this for a long time…until I was older than I care to admit. I started thinking about this again because I stumbled upon a huge stash of calico and floral prints at our local thrift shop and bought all of it for $15. There is a lot, I mean a lot, of fabric in this stash. I have been thinking about making some Anne of Green Gables/Little House on the Prairie inspired aprons.

2) I tend to stay in my pajamas for most of the day. I suppose I have mentioned this several times before, but I love that I can do this. You see, I used to say that my ideal job would be one where I didn't have to ever wear a suit or dress shoes or nylons and I could wear pajamas. I even dreamed of opening up a store that sells pajamas, called pj bottoms (and tops), where all the employees would be required to wear pajamas. How great would that be? Well, I pretty much get to wear pajamas all the time. It is fantastic.

3) Often when I am leading one of my yoga classes in meditation, I begin to feel as though I am just my voice and my body is no longer there.

4) When I was eleven or so, I thought that Joe Fredrick, a Notre Dame basketball player, was going to see me in the crowd after a game and find me so beautiful that he would wait for me to get older so we could date. Yep. When my girlfriends at the time were in love with the boys on the cover of Tiger Beat, I was obsessed with the boys of the Notre Dame basketball team. I knew all their birthdays and middle names and heights and on and on. The funny thing is that later when I was much older (aka, a teenager), I would roll my eyes at myself and my obsession with someone so much older than me, and little did I know when I was rolling those eyes that I would marry someone the same age as Joe Fredrick.

5) I don't miss much about Indiana (where I lived for most of my life until we moved out here). When people ask me what I miss, I have a really hard time coming up with something. I don't think is because there is anything wrong with Indiana. The people are wonderful there. I think it is more because I love living out here in the Pacific Northwest. It is home. (I do miss driving past the ever-growing corn fields in the summer. Yes. I miss that gorgeous green color.)

6) Sometimes looking at all the amazing craftsy+artsy blogs out there invites me to feel overwhelmed as though I could suffocate in all that I am lacking. I am learning to let go of the need to compare (learning being the key word here).

7) I was never really much a dog person. I liked dogs but tended to be overwhelmed by some of them. A little over six years ago, there was a golden retriever lost on campus when I worked at the boarding school, and I took it home in the hopes of finding its owners. I fell in love with that dog. A few days later, his owners did find him, and I was heartbroken. At that moment, I decided I wanted to rescue a golden and within a few weeks, I was off to Tennessee to rescue Traveler. Now, I can't imagine our house without the little patter of puppy toes (and by puppy, I mean "adult housetrained overall mellow dog"). Jon and I are pretty much dog people and when we are out and about, we are often on "pooch patrol" as we look for dogs who are out with their people.

8) I love tap dancing. When I see it on TV, I just want to get up and start tapping away. I have been known, if wearing certain shoes and on a certain type of floor, to just suddenly start tap dancing without even noticing I am doing it. I took tap from first to eighth grade. I loved it. And, I think about taking lessons again…or at least buying some tap shoes and tapping away in the garage.

(If you haven't done this tag yet, and want to share some random facts about yourself, please tag yourself and let me know...and I want to know those details!)

your true self. a meditation.

liz lamoreux

backyard buddha

Pause for a moment and take a few deep breaths.
Notice your breath until you feel as though you are only the inhalations and exhalations.

Then, find your center.
Notice it.
Let your next inhalation begin at this center.

As you breathe, describe your center to yourself. Notice where it is and what it feels connected to and from.

Imagine that this center is your true self.

Allow yourself to notice and sit with whatever comes up for you.

*****

My center is in the middle of my chest, at the core of my heart, in between my breasts. As I breathe deeply, I feel like this center connects me to the earth and the sky to all that lives and all that has passed on before me. This center feels like my lifeline to knowledge and truth and hope and grace. My truest self lives here.

It is: My soul's home.

some real-life excitement

liz lamoreux

Blue skies smiling at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see.
—Irving Berlin, "Blue Skies"

This song has been going through my head for the last few days. I went to theatre camp for two summers when I younger. One summer, the camp put on a tribute to Irving Berlin, and this was one of my favorite songs to sing when I was in the chorus. My age group did several songs from Annie Get Your Gun. (Oh the lyrics from that one! My favorite is "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better.") When you weren't on stage, you were singing from the back of the audience in the chorus, so we had to learn everything. I am so glad though as many of these songs became some of my all-time favorites. At the end of that summer, at the age of 12, I even tackled a huge biography of Berlin I was so enamored by him.

I have to admit though, I haven't been singing "Blue Skies" because we had any around here. Nope, we have been having some fall weather with a dash of humidity lately. Gray skies, a bit of rain, then some downpours, but with all this humidity to remind us that it is really summer.

No, no blue skies outside. But, this seems to be the song I turn to, without even noticing, when the skies are turning blue a bit more inward. I have been singing this song because I am super excited about three things.

The first:
portals

I received my copy of Portals (Heather's zine is full of so much color and inspiration) and got to see my article, poem, and artwork in print.

climb up

Oh it just filled me up to see it. (Insert big smile of joy.) Thank you Heather for including me!

The second:
I received word from the ladies of Portland's (wicked cool) Crafty Wonderland that I have been selected to participate in the next Crafty Wonderland on August 12. (Insert little dance with lots of twirling while smiling here.)

The third:
I received word from Teesha Moore that I have been selected to participate in Vendor Night at ArtFiberFest in October. (Insert jumping up and down while smiling and twirling here.)

So in between reading the book this weekend, Jon and I also celebrated these things. He got me a congratulations card and everything.

It is as though I hear the whispers once again…you are on your path.

And in between the whispers there are a few whoops and hollers that seem to confirm it. Sing with me now

Blue skies, smiling at me. Nothin' but blue skies, do I see. Bluebirds singin' a song. Nothin' but bluebirds, all day long.

(some of) the last forty-six hours

liz lamoreux

tea

taking turns reading (but)
being the one to read the last few chapters aloud (because I am)
completing the circle (and, with the last line read,)
feeling like I've said good-bye to dear friends (though now i am)
feeling content (about a weekend spent just the two of us)
drinking many mugs of tea (and)
eating chocolate (because we were)
fighting off dementors and You-Know-Who (and)
discussing what we thought might happen next (and)
deducing horcruxes and whereabouts and allegiances (and)
eating (because you have to do that along with)
sleeping just enough (and)
taking some time to celebrate bits of real-life excitement (and)
remembering (to find ourselves)
living in the joy (because sometimes we forget)