DaleDiva - A Video you MUST watch!

This is what Sweet Adelines is all about!  Women of all ages singing, dancing, and having a ball!

You GO DaleDiva! 

Check out "Don't Stop Believing" too.  :)

GirlPower!

Tom Jones Burning Hell Jonathan Ross July 9 2010

Superior!

My thought for today...

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.  

I don't know who first said this, but I share the sentiment 100%.  Boy - do I miss my parents.  August was always a very special month in my life.  That is, until a few years ago. 

My elder sister, Margaretann, was born on August 2nd, my brother, Anthony, was born on August 3rd, and I was born on August 4th - also my parents' anniversary!  My father's youngest sister was born on August 5th.  All different years.  All are now gone. 

Indeed, I miss all of them and think about them on a daily basis.  The great comfort and biggest joy now is I know they're watching over me.

Barbra Streisand - Somewhere

Barbra and Celine

This is sheer bliss!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emHrsJ93Sr0

Twitter Help - Finally!

Things I'm figuring out about Twitter (finally) ~

Twitter is an information network made up of 140-character messages called Tweets. It's a new and easy way to discover the latest news (“what’s happening”) related to subjects you care about.

I love this.  This means your messages have to be short.  Can you handle it?  :)  But, they're subjects and issues YOU care about.  Indeed, it's right up my alley. 

Twitter contains information you will find valuable. Messages from users you choose to follow will show up on your homepage for you to read. It’s like being delivered a newspaper whose headlines you’ll always find interesting – you can discover news as it’s happening, learn more about topics that are important to you, and get the inside scoop in real time.

Sure works for me!  I follow Oprah, Dr. Oz, Deepak Chopra, Jean Chatzky, Barbara Walters, Tory Johnson...to name a few.  I haven't tried to "build a voice" yet, until I understand more about how to navigate the site.  My endeavor is to be careful, wary, and sensitive to others' feelings while keeping my own present, accounted for, and intact.

WOW.  I'm finding meaningful reading in my quest to figure out how to navigate Twitter.  Who knew?  It dives into Javascript and other web-friendly, web-enhancing coding that I have been searching for for a long time.  My web classes in college (and I say, or type, with great affection) didn't cover a lot of this information.

Oprah and her magazine - both great inspirations!

Always an inspiration, here is a quote found on the cover of the September 2010 issue of O Magazine, The Makeover Issue! Oprah has been inspiring me since the onset of her show in the mid-80s. I am grateful to and for her.


"What Wonders Can You Achieve? It's Time to Find Out" -- Oprah

I'm reading James Van Praagh's Talking to Heaven. Here's a quote that rings to my core.

So many experiences had led me to that moment. I simply had to have the courage and self-confidence to take the next step.

Amen.

Question: Why do you paint?

My Answer: I paint to discover the unknown. Every painting is a new mystery that is revealed through its process. Working on solving the mystery is the best part for me. I enjoy it because it isn’t easy (at times). I love the feeling I have inside working with colors and forms and shapes and creating something that I know is unique to me as an artist. I work with flesh tones and portraiture (mostly) because it gives me a certain "order" and peace while doing so. It's the one activity I engage in in which I am able to experience a true sorting out, as opposed to chaos, that I feel is vital in my life and that I haven't felt in recent years.

"The insides of our heads are filled with fabulous wonders not found in the real world. I paint to share the hidden lands of the imagination. From my paintings, you can see that the inside of my head is filled with bright colors, strange creatures, and unlikely situations. It’s a wild and cartoony place, and sometimes it feels good to take a break from looking at an alien reality and really see my own world.
And it’s even nicer to be able to share it." -Colette Bezio (Inkwolf)

I wish I could figure out...

...how to change a Heading from Opportunity and Technology to .....

Activities

Spent several hours this past week creating and organizing another brochure in QuarkXPress 7 – another promo. This is long overdue. Contributing to the delay were my filing systems (both computer and filing cabinets). They have been horribly in need of attention the last several years. My heart and mind have just not been able to reconcile the thought of dealing with all the junk I might find hidden within those metal walls. Pleased to announce that that phase of my life has been engaged in positive change. I’ve had plans simmering in the background for quite some time now and am finally in a good place to follow through on same. I know what I want and I am going after it. I have achieved much since 2001 – even through much adversity – and I’m more than ready to let the past go and reap the rewards of my education. I'm not trying to be vague here. If you read earlier posts, you'll figure out exactly what I mean.

I’ve also been working on another Quark project - an address booklet - that I have maintained annually since 2002. Updates have been made. I’m waiting to verify that the changes are correct, and then need to create a cover to go with. The project has been delayed a bit due to other obligations that cropped up, but I’m working through that.

I'm sorting certain photographs that I want to include in my portfolio and upload to my website to the end of restoration. I love using Photoshop to edit and enhance photos and I love the education I received at WPU in digital imaging. One of the best classes I ever took during the Fall of 2006. Unfortunately, while I was ready to dig in to the "meat" portion of my discipline - graphic arts and design - life had other plans for me. My sister announced she had breast cancer on September 1. I went through that entire semester in a tail spin. She passed away on December 5th that year.

On a lighter note, I’ve also recently selected some of the best photos in my library from my 2000 Alaskan Cruise and uploaded them to my Facebook account. So much fun! So many memories. (btw...the photo above of the aerial view of the glacier was posted unedited)

I’m also working on PHP – teaching myself. I have also been brushing up on my animation background when time permits. Time is so fleeting!

I wanted to paint today, but that didn’t happen. I’m dying to get into the acrylics and work on some portraits. I have a few canvases ready and waiting for my personal touch. Went to a local Star Trek Convention today with my hub instead. He’s known about it for weeks, but decided to let me know this morning about an hour before it started. That was unexpected, but hub is a real fan and I could use the distraction. It was a fun day. Plus afterwards, we did a trial run to an appointment I have this week.

I am now officially exhausted. The painting will have to wait until tomorrow.