Where Everything is Everything.

This vintage illustration available from TheFancyLamb via Etsy.

I really liked my horoscope this week from Free Will Astrology:

"You are usually conscientious about attending to the details. It's one of your specialties to take care of little necessities. You often know what to do in order to fix mistakes and messes caused by the imprecision of other people. For now, though, I encourage you to take a break from all that. In my opinion, you need to regenerate and replenish yourself, and a good way to accomplish that is to let your mind go blissfully blank. At least consider it, please. Give yourself permission to space out about the intricacies. Steep yourself in the primordial ooze where everything is everything."

I have had an anxious, exciting few days...in a boring sort of way. I started teaching, and am looking forward to a good, exhausting semester. I'll have early early mornings, (which feels great when I get used to it, and a sunrise improves the commute...) and I'm teaching three printmaking classes, back-to-back-to-back. The good news is they are of a good, better, reasonable size, and I have a lot of excited returning students. hoopla!

So, that's that. On my first day of the semester, after meeting all my students and talking a mile a minute for hours, I went out to my car feeling satisfied with my 'performance'....and my car battery was dead. very dead. I got a jump start from the University police, and headed straight over to pep boys, holding my breath the whole way. Got a new battery and an oil change, which took an astoundingly long time. So much for beating traffic.

Then I headed home, starving and sleepy. And of course there was an accident on the 5 freeway. Of course!

Finally made it home, ate dinner and went to sleep. Early. Ah....

My smoke alarm went off at 4:30 am. LOUDLY. I woke up, fell out of bed and waved my pillow at it, like you would if an alarm went off while cooking. But wait, I was sleeping, not cooking. And there was no smoke. Then it stopped.... Then it went off again. I heard my upstairs neighbors get up out of bed. I have very tall ceilings, so I had to move a damn dresser to stand on, to take the thing down. which made it go off again. And I took the battery out. And it went off again...

Egads. So it just needed a new battery, but is not the kind that 'chirps' subtly for a few days before. No, it just threw a damn tantrum.

I finally did go back to sleep, uneasily, on the couch. I dreamed my neighbors came down and yelled at me, then the ceiling broke open and flooded my studio. What? And bad dreams about Doctor Who monsters. et cetera.

I made an Etsy treasury the other day. Take a look:


In addition to teaching, I am working on a big new crop of books, printing a lot, and working on opportunity-hunting. hunting-and-gathering. Last night I was struck with an impulse to make some simple valentines out of scraps. Some of them may end up on Etsy in the next few days. And why not.

Honestly?

I've mentioned how I'm reorganizing the universe. I recently came upon these huge pieces of matboard, under the couch, under the dust, and under a box of paper and old art. They are from my undergrad days, circa 2002. Cut up, covered in tea stains and cryptic notes, sketches and manifesto snippets. I am getting rid of them, but only after documenting the bits that are why I held on to them for so long.

I walked down the sidewalk today kicking a pine-cone, arguably one of life's most satisfying pursuits. I believe it was fun for the pine-cone as well.

I've been busy and productive since returning to Los Angeles: visiting with family and a few friends, continuing organizing the universe, letting things go, watching Doctor Who while making books, (or making books while watching Doctor Who...) drawing pictures, taking note of deadlines, then forgetting about deadlines, enjoying consciously as well as sleeping soundly thorough 1960s Disney science shows like this, writing many letters (on the computer and in my head), working on a website, and planning plans.

Or at least daydreaming daydreams.

I suppose things are good in Los Angeles. I start teaching again at CSUN very soon.

I have been posting some things in my Etsy shop this evening, including some more little books. Please take a look!



Thank you for reading!