Pedalling Uphill

This is no scientific study, but I have to put this forward in case it has merit and can help someone whose dog is having epileptic seizures. 

I’ve had two dogs with epilepsy - one before the internet exisited and when it started happening last year to my beloved little Chester, I went on line to see if I could find out anything that would help.  He started with a seizure every few months and progressed into once a week. (I took him to the Vets, but didn’t want to put him on personality altering medication before I explored other avenues)  I found a small item about changing foods.  For years I had been feeding my dogs a brand commonly found in grocery stores that looks like ground beef (and seems to have lots of red [unnecessary] coloring).  They really liked it and I thought all pet foods were relatively equal.  However, the item said that this person had had success by changing to a more natural dog food without very many additives. 

So I went to a pet food store (NOT a Pet Shop!) and they recommended a natural food brand and amazingly his seizures have stopped.  He did have one minor one about 2 weeks into the new food, but it’s been over a year now and he has not had one (knock on wood).   It’s certainly something to think about.

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If you’re not one of those people who like shoot ‘em up bang bang films, but crave something a little more ‘meaty’, try renting “Rabbit Proof Fence” or “The Snow Walker”.  Both are excellent films and really give pause to think.   No ‘big name’ ‘big smile’ Hollywood celebs usually equals good movie.

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3 Wool Rugs - a Childhood Memory by Grace Woods

Once upon a long time ago, when I was about 12, my sister Gael about 10 and my brother Robert 7, my mother asked my father to take us to the Laundromat to wash 3 thick twisted wool rugs (they weren’t really wool, but not being much of a material maven, wool will have to suffice).  My father didn’t usually participate in household chores (or interact too much with us either for that matter) so the idea of going to the Laundromat with him was kind of an adventure for us.

It was winter – the old fashioned  kind of winter where the snow was often up to your ‘wa-zoo’…big drifts of the stuff and high snow banks on either side of the plowed street.  The Laundromat was about 7 city blocks and down a hill away…just a short car ride from our house.  So Stewart drove up and parked (I’ve always called my father by his first name) and we each grabbed a rug which just happened to be in small, medium and large sizes.  After we carted them inside, dear old dad turned to my 7 year old brother, who always seemed to be adrift in his own world somewhere else and handing him 3 dimes, said “go get me three soaps”.  While we were loading these long wooly things into the machines, little brother returns proudly holding up 3 cokes.  My father  (whose middle name was not Patience) stood there looking at him incredulously and my sister and I stood gazing at him as if spellbound by this turn of events.  Before we could blink however, dad started yelling at Rob    “COKES!!!… You brought COKES!!!!  I said SOAPS!!!  Not COKES!!!…at which point my sister and I went into spasms of muffled laughter turning our faces so as not to be the next ones in line for his wrath.

I must interject here to state that we were never physically abused by our father, but he did have a short fuse and he was rather high strung and nervous, so it didn’t take much to push his buttons – and there were many buttons!

Well, we got the soap, loaded the rugs and sat down to wait until the cycle was over.  At around this time, we noticed Stewart started to get a ‘little antsy’ and even though he didn’t say anything, from experience we knew that it was time for a little ‘drinky poo’.  Ten fidgety minutes later he came over to me and handed me 3 quarters for the dryers and said “Put the rugs in the dryers and when they’re dry you can carry them home.  It’s only a short distance”.  By car yes, by foot, not so short!

Even in those days, a quarter didn’t go as far as he thought.  After an hour in the dryer, the carpets were still soaking wet….and heavy!  However, having no more money and no way home other than by foot, we rang them out as best we could and I loaded the small one onto my brother’s shoulders like a shawl, the medium one onto my sister’s shoulders and threw the large one around my neck and out into the snow we trudged.

That was one loooong and cold walk home!  The fibers all froze to our necks and hair and the frozen twisted wool ends were making a jangling, clacking sound the last 3 blocks.  I remember the snow on the sidewalk seemed to come up to my calves and over my boots and I thought I would never make that last block.  We were all but starting to stagger, and then we noticed our mother looking out the window and somehow that and the thought of the warm house gave us just the extra motivation we needed to speed ourselves up.  As we came through the door we could hear her mumbling she was going to give him ‘what for’ when he got home.

He came home much, much later, she didn’t give him ‘what for’, at least not that we heard and we survived.  And you know what they say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. It’s amazing though how much funnier things seem to be in hindsight.
 

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Yawn a thon….2 hours and 47 minutes?  I thought we were there at least 5 hours!  BOR-RING!!…Abe had a good snooze and it was all I could do to contain myself from screaming at the screen “Say something!!!”  Waaaay too many pregnant pauses - I can just picture Matt Damon reading his script…’Matt:  No dialogue, just stare ahead for 10 minutes and let the audience imagine what you’re thinking.’  Next line  ‘Matt: No dialogue, just stare ahead for 10 minutes and let the audience think you’re having real deep thoughts’.  ‘Matt:  Well, you get it - on and on ad naseaum.  Certainly cuts the overhead not having to pay a script writer.

And as for Angelina Jolie being cast as Matt’s wife…typical Hollywood production.  Give the part to a star even if they are miscast.  Pu-lease…anybody as beautiful as she is wouldn’t be left sitting around waiting for ‘Mr. Personality’ to return after 7 years away.  And really,  what’s the point of another spy movie.  We all know people that deal in secretive government agencies have the emotional depth of a snake and very little conscience and this just reconfirmed our suspiciions.

What I really find interesting are ‘boy’s clubs’ for adult men like ‘The Skull and Crossbones’…grow up already!

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“Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead.  It is going on all the time.  We are in it now.”  Charlotte P. Gilman

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”  John Milton

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace”.  Jimi Hendrix…when you read such a profound quote, it’s makes you really think it’s sad that he wasted his life on drugs.  Or was his soul so sensitive and painfilled that he couldn’t stand to live?

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If you are working from a photograph and having trouble deciding whether or not your drawing is accurate, try looking at it in a mirror.  You’ll immediately see any flaws.

And better than that, try working on your drawing or painting upside down - looking at your photograph upside down as well.  It really helps the brain to let go of the stereotypical images we so often associate with everyday items or body parts.

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if you’re buying my prints off the internet and not directly from the artist or an authorized dealer, you might not be very pleased with the product you receive.  It’s come to our attention that some sites are offering my prints, but the images have been taken (read: stolen) from my site and are of extremely poor quality. Best to always check with the artist to see if you are buying from a legitimate vendor.

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“Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds us that you have one” ~   Stella Adler

“Painting is silent poetry” ~ author unknown

“Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression” ~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

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“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep” ~   Scott Adams

“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home” ~   Twyla Tharp

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If you’re always wondering what you’re going to do for your next painting, start keeping a ’swipe’ file.  Label a folder ‘Swipe’ and the next time you see an interesting picture or anything that stimulates your creative juices, rip it out (hopefully it’s your own magazine) and drop it in your file.  Or do a quick thumbnail sketch with notes to remind you of why you found that particular subject exciting.  Then when you’re having a case of ‘painter’s block’, you can refer to all these images.  Generally I only have to open a file - I keep about 10 with different subject titles…Scenery, hockey, backgrounds, particular color combos etc. - to bring back that excitment and then I’m on my way!

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