Worry, worry, toil and Struggle...

Worry is the darkroom in which negatives are developed.

- Church billboard in Colorado



Is your worrying holding you back?

Once film negatives are exposed to the light of day, they're ruined. In the same way, once you see your worries for what they are--self-inflicted doubts--their power disappears. If you give your doubts and fears too much development time, they'll take hold and start to color all of your thinking in a negative light. Pessimists have more health problems, are less productive, and are generally unhappier than optimists. People that don't worry as much spend more time coping with the realities of life and less time occupied with would-be problems. To get rid of worry, think more confidently. Know that you can handle anything that comes along. Know that with loss comes opportunity. Know that things generally have a way of working out. Stay out of that dark room and picture something better.

Come Along with Me....

There are those days that come along when you think that others will think like you, be like you or see like you only to find out that it 'taint necessarily so. And the resistance may not always come from a vantage point of your idea, action or belief is wrong ( or right) for that matter, it just may simply mean they have to go another way.

You may have to do it alone or not at all but still need to do something.

Its a weird time for me and has been weird for a couple of years, but this weird is somewhat different. I've known there is something I am suppose to do but the way has not been clear yet for me to see. I do know however, whenever I get to a new stage both personally & professionally, it is preceded with a lot of weirdness.

So this must be HUMONGOUS, ginormous.

All I can do do is continue to prep myself, do what I can do and try to keep the fear or the trepidation at a minimum, turn a deaf ear to naysayers or eye-rollers (Y'all know who you are).

I feel like I am champing at the bit,, wanting to rock and roll, to do SOMETHING, but so many rocky blocks keep showing up. It can be discouraging, but not defeating. I have to quote from the Color Purple what Celie said to Nettie when Nettie told her that she had to fight back, not to let people run over you, not to let them have the upper hand. Celie's comment was "I don't know how to fight back.. I only know how to stay alive". And sometimes that is all one can do for the time being.


Last night was one of those troubling nights that I could not sleep so I got up at 1 am to clean out my closet, not that there was much to do as I am pretty organize. But what I did do was remove some items that were dated, never used or did not fit my pre-surgery body. I also got rid of some "old lady shoes" that I've never worn.

Mind you, I do not have a problem with aging. In fact, I am so looking forward to entering my 6th decade late summer. What I do have a problem with is people's perception of what getting older is all about.

I suspect some of my struggle & the weirdness I am feeling right now is in my gut, in the very marrow of my being something big is going to happen and it ties in with this new decade will be for me.

Not unlike Grandma Moses, Georgia O'Keefe,Dr. Maya Angelou and a host of other mighty warrior women who really hit their mark upon entering 60. Not that any of these women both the famous, the not so famous and ones known for their infamy were chopped liver before hand, but they really hit their stride at the big 6-OH.

So if people want to come along with me they are welcomed, but I am enough to go at it alone. Whatever it will be, I will be grand at it...

I just wish it would hurry up...

When in Doubt...

Buttercups in the Lower 9th Ward

Photo courtesy of Paulette Madison


One man's creativity is another's brain damage.

- Roland Fischer



Thinking for yourself in the face of doubt

If you accept someone else's idea of reality and personal limits, you'll have no control over your own destiny. You can only go as far as that view will let you. Do you normally accept things as they are, or do you ask "why" and "what if"? Being an individual and thinking for yourself--even while others are calling you crazy--takes courage. For many, trying a new perspective is scary. But if we always stick to the familiar, the known, we never grow and learn. Don't be afraid to go against the grain. Ask the tough questions that everyone else is afraid to ask. Try a new way to do the same thing just to see what happens. We guarantee you that the world won't end. You'll see solutions that nobody else would see if they're all looking at a problem the same way. Practice new ways to combine unrelated objects. After all, somebody had to try peanut butter and jelly for the first time.

Wandering thoughts...

Oh Sweet Peas you've you've done for me

On my Uptown stroll t'day.

And to see

Pucker up buttercups on a sunny day be so bold

In spite it all...

Sharing its loveliness for those to see as they wander
And wonder...

The Lower 9th Ward...

Clinging on for dear life on a rusty Shed
I was visually fed

And then I notice a wonderful vine round the pole

Tis what what I need for my soul

To see or not to see.

Will not be questioned.

Last But not Least...

Thrown Rocks Images

Thrown Rocks... Building Castles exhibition to close May 7th,2010

These are images of some of my collages and photographs in the show.