Flattery or Sincerity??

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I understand this concept, but when I see a copycat it also makes me want to smack somebody and ask them if they've ever had an original idea of their own. Probably not. This season's line-up of movie remakes is proof of that.

 I, too, am guilty of being a copycat because some folks just come up with great ideas and I can't really improve on them. I can customize, but not improve. I can complain about the parts I don't like, but that probably wouldn't result in an improvement for anyone but me.

And when folks think you've done a good thing but you think it's G-R-E-A-T!! then what?? You want to shout it from a rooftop but everyone is just going to stare at you and tell you to get down from there before you hurt yourself. Personally, I like the rarefied atmosphere at high altitudes :)

I put a lot of thought, effort - blood, sweat and tears - into some of my creations. Others are effortless and seem to come into existence full grown. No matter how, they all give me a sense of satisfaction, of a job well done, a sense of completeness and accomplishment. (Yes, please ignore the bald spots. The doctor said my hair will grow back if I quit pulling it out!!)

It is this feeling I should strive to keep in the forefront of my thoughts as I share the things that make me so happy. It's too bad I can't attach this bubbly sense of euphoria that others can't see or feel --  it might make you light-headed anyway.  The baldness is not contagious  :)

So, I have had a harsh lesson. No matter how grand your accomplishment might be in your own brain, others just aren't going to see it that way, no matter how loud you crow, nor how high the roof-top nor how bald your head. They are still gonna tell you to get down from there before you hurt yourself.

Okay. I'm down. Now, please tell you have more to say than 'cute'. Cute is for babies and puppies and kittehs. Cute is not what I want to hear after I've spent weeks  ....WEEKS.... creating something I'm very proud of.

My daughter tells me this is the most I can hope for. Cute is THE ultimate compliment -- especially when partnered with an exclamation point. I don't own a cell phone and she informed me that giving an exclamation point took more effort than just a typed comment. After this discussion (yes -- she is still dragging me into the 21st century and I am still kicking and screaming) I came to the conclusion that getting anything more than a heart or a fisted thumb was probably equivalent to shouting from a rooftop.

Which brings me to think about what this generation is truly missing. Eight track tapes, typewriter ribbons, and imagination. When was the last time you made mud pies or built a playhouse from boards and cinder-blocks?? Even hide-and-seek is losing popularity these days. And a puppet show?? Do you know how to make a sock puppet??

I do. And I don't really mind if your form of flattery is imitation or if the most accomplished review you can make is to say "Cute" .. just don't forget the exclamation point. And don't expect me to come down from the roof any time soon.

I like the view from here!!   Exclamation Point!!!!!!!

Bubbly Euphoria

A Tale of Fern Village

Good morning all.....

I love sayin' that knowin' that I'm mostly talkin' to myself here. Ah, well, ya know sometimes the written word can help us put our thoughts in order.

I've been a bit AWOL (true to form, ya know) but I have been busy. Doing what?? you ask.

Growing roots to my computer chair. Apparently this is necessary if one wants to have an online presence. It's no wonder our younger generation has the phone attached to themselves somehow. It's all just a bit much for me. I come from the generation of 'party lines' that did not involve a political candidate and computers a big as houses that had to have holey/holy/wholly???  cards to work. I always wondered about the folks who had to make those cards. Bet they stood in line a long time to get that job.

That's right on par with the little fellows who have to put the stickers on fruit and stamp the em's on M&M's. :) There are harder jobs in the world than trying to sell your own imagination.

But, in case some random stranger happens this way or in case one of you would actually like to go have a look, I have posted a photo book of my latest imaginations on Shutterfly and you can go have a 'look-see'.

https://singingswancreations.shutterfly.com/

The Shutterfly site is easy enough to navigate, especially for those of you who know what you're doing  ... but all you have to do is find the words 'photo book' and click. Then you can view the book in all it glory.

But can I just tell you how blond I felt when the first person to look at this pointed out to me that I didn't put my name on it anywhere. I sign my art always, even silly doodles, but I totally forgot, in the excitement of getting this project finished, to sign my name on it --- anywhere. How foolish is that??? But, I have crowed loud enough and patted my own back long enough that ya'll ought to have it figured out by now that Gracie and Peabody live in my braincase. Mine!!

And sometimes the racket those folks in Fern Village make can be overwhelming. And Grace will NOT be quiet sometimes until the story is written. Bossy cat.

On Aging.... Again

There's a reason old folks get dementia --- it's so we don't have to learn anything else in this lifetime.

I graduated from my schoolin' years ago and it makes me mad that every time I want to do something with a computer or on-line ... I have to study and learn something new.

Now, there are those that would tell you that this is a good thing and keeps the brain cells sharp and cognitive and all, but let me tell ya, it doesn't do a thing for your hairstyle. But!! It could be the reason that "bed-hair" and "fresh-out-of-the-shower" hairstyles are so popular these days. And it does get me out of having to comb my hair every day - just whip it up into a tangled knot with a clippie and nobody knows I have been in tears from the frustration of learning code or how to navigate a dashboard page. I look normal and not dememted.

Well, that crazy look in the eye might give it away ... and the pacing and cursing about odd subjects in a foreign language. And the bald spots on my head a clippie can't cure. But when you see me walking past with a little cloud of  &^%)(&%?>^%$%^&  and  #***@@***##  floating over my head you'll know not to approach without a cup of coffee in hand or a net. Chair and a whip is a little drastic, but depending on how demented and frustrated the study session has left me today, you might wanna keep them handy.

I did read an article this morning that says I am not anti-social, I am uber smart and for this reason I am happy in my own skin and don't always need to seek companionship or excitement with friends. The article didn't say anything about how to make others understand that it's my intelligence and not my dementia that makes me wander around with a far-away look on my face and muttering under my breath about Faeries and Little People.  Or how to let them know that I need to be rescued from the characters scurrying through my thoughts. They have some interesting conversations that only I am privy to, but when I try to bring up the same subjects with my human 'right-here-right-now' friends, they aren't interested.

Little do they know. The voices in my head carry on better conversations than they do!!!!!! But--(they don't know code) and  if I'm so darned smart, then why doesn't this stuff just blosssom in my brain?? I could dream it into existence there and it could be a reality here, but life doesn't work that way. Sleeping on the book does not inmpart knowledge to the brain so I suppose sleeping on a laptop will not teach me to write code either. Drat!!!!!!!!

O! M! G! FACEBOOK!!! O! M! GEEEEEEEEE!!

Well, folks, all four o'ya, I've gone and done it.

Gave in. Capitulated. Became a follower, one of the masses.

- - - - -I opened an account with Facebook. - - - - -

I want to convince myself it's for all the right reasons, business mainly; but still, I have this feeling of invasion now, as if I have opened the floodgates for strange people to know odd things about me that they could care less about.

And how will I feel if I never sell the first item? What if I am to be a starving artist all my life?? Does this, in some manner,  grant me noteriety after I'm gone?? Hmph .. worked for some, but I'd rather make a dollar now.

I haven't the first clue about what I'm doing either. Surprise!!

Well, really, it's hard enough to keep up with my keys and my shoes and yet Microsoft and Co. expect me to keep up with a new operating system every other day.  I'm supposed to already know what all these codes and breaks and odd usages of marks like < and * and ^^^ mean. They mean something wierd and cause my confuser to become even more confusing.

Yes, Google is my friend and Mr Bing comes around often aiding in my pursuit of knowledge, but good grief! ! When you have to go all the way back and learn language to express concepts that are full blown in your mind already, it just takes more time than I feel I have. I am getting on in years now and if Mocrosoft would stop STOP!!!!! making changes all the blasted time it sure would make my Golden Years nicer.

And as for Facebook, it looks alrmingly simple when I go to the starting part, but then I read this and I read that and I start to get a brainache and OOOOOhhhhh!! Where did I leave that notebook and pen?? 'cause at this point I have a lot of words I gotta look up. Thank heavens for Webster and his love of words and language. I can't imagine the imagination it took to forsee the need for a dictionary, but I am ever so glad he did!!!

So, between Webster and Crayola and Shapies galore I am preparing to hit the ground running. Gracie and Peabody  have finally settled down for a nap since they feel their future is a little more secure. They have been clamoring for their story to be told and causing a bit of unrest with the rest of the gang. Can't have them clamoring for attention all at once. People look at me funny when I don't answer if they speak to me,  but when I tell them I was listening to the voices in my head, well, folks can get a mite suspicious then. Start thinkin' maybe you be ready for The Home.

Not yet.

What I am ready for is to share with the rest of you folks the stories these characters are telling me all the time, to make them bocome as real and lively to you as they are when they carry on with these escapades within my brain cells. I want Fern Village to become a place you'd like to visit, a place where all the cares and worries of reality can be left behind for the make believe life of Grace and Peabody. There are many residents in Fern Village and I 'll introduce you to them all.

I hope you'll come along for the ride, as soon as I get this horse saddled :) :) :)

Kittens Are My Heroes

I have a cat and I named him Seven. Actually his full name is Bond, Cat Bond 007. About a month ago he, yes HE - - brought home a tiny kitten. I have determined it couldn't have been more than six weeks old. It's little ears were still folded and it was soooooo pitifully malnourished. And I determined it was a boy.

After three days it was finally able to sit up and eat from his dish on his own, and after a month, I have nicknamed him Holy Terror of the Floor. He is becoming an important part of the family and well, we all know there's nothing like having a 'kitteh' around to make you smile.

What made Seven think that bringing him here was the thing to do? I know he had to have carried the little mite here because the kitten was so weak and small it could never have climbed the steps to be where I found it. Seven even marched into my room, which he never does, and demanded my attention that morning. He knew I would care for the baby.

He has become a marvelous 'daddycat' to the little wild critter and is slowly teaching him all the necessary cat things he needs to know. Scientists and people in the know always tell you how most animals are not self-aware, but I would argue vociferously with that belief. My cats and my dog recognize themselves in the mirror, and Seven must be very self-aware and understand that humans care for you or he would never have brought the kitten here, right??

And he must have been aware that the kitten needed help and food. Where better to get that than where the human is? The baby was too small to eat a mouse or a bird, although it was so hungry and thirsty that it might have tried. It didn't even have teeth enough to crunch a kibble, so, eating fresh kill that Seven could have provided for the critter was out of the question.

I just find it amazing the things animals can do and people never give them the full credit for their intelligence that they deserve. Just think about it. If you were grabbed up by HUGE!!  alien life form, taken into a totally different environment than what you were familiar with, accosted with noise noise noise!!! how would you react?? Could you just take it in stride and get on with life the way a kitten does???

 Ripley never cried for his lost mama, he loves when Seven comes to spend time with him and he is even developing a fondness for his human captor. He is almost strong enough to be introduced to climbing a tree and Seven seems more than ready to teach him all the hunting skills he'll need to get on in life.

I can only aspire to be as brave and face life like my kittens do, without fear an an attitude that would make Genghis Khan cringe :)  It can't get any better than that!!