Be Careful Who You Show Your Crazy To?

    For me, the above title is not an option! I share it all. So just jump on this pony and ride.
    Crazy is an overused word, I prefer to call my unbridled joy, " Just Me"
 
     Just yesterday, I hobbled to the deli for breakfast with my girl, E, and intended to hop along and do a little shopping. I was going to wait for Bill to meet me for a movie, and had timed everything so perfectly, but....what to do when the stores are not open, and you have finished eating, plus your broken foot is worthless for walking. I decided the sun was shinning, we would just sit for two hours and watch people and little kids ice skate, we would do that in Paris! but in Georgia, not so much.
    I combed my purse for some Advil, to buy me some time, and watched Bill eat the rest of my breakfast for his lunch. We were all on different schedules, crazyville. Finally I asked ( OK I told him) to go inside the movie and just sit in a nice chair for the remainder of our hot mess adventure. So we did, 45 minutes before the movie, we reclined in our chairs. Bill went to sleep, I think because I was sharing my crazy! Us being the only people in the movie theater,  I said, " This reminds me of rich people who rent out entire places to view films." Bill mumbled, " They do?" ( He was not listening, but that has never stopped me from talking!) Me, " Of course they do, Elvis use to do it all the time, he could not go anywhere." Now this is where, I think most people may have stopped talking or thinking? Me, " I feel so bad for Elvis, he was high on uppers and lowers, and surrounded by simple minded people. I think they took advantage of him." " Just like Whitney!" " I just feel terrible about their problems, and short lives." Bill is starting to semi-snore, I know he is doing it on purpose, how can a person go to sleep so fast! So I continue, " We are like Hollywood people, minus the booze, drugs and loser wanta-be people! Bill is stirring, " and all this has to do with what?" I knew he was awake, sort of. me, " It has to do with thinking Mr. Princeton Scientist person.You did not even know Elvis rented out places to view films, and had a hard life." We both laughed, and I think at that time I realized the coffee was talking. ( Note this deli has a walk up coffee window also, genius!)
 We watched The Imitation Game, which was divine. On the way home, I knew Bill would do his research and find out that the main character went to Princeton and worked a little at Bell Labs, which made him proud. He also noticed that Mr. Alan Turing, got his PHD at Princeton when he was 26 ( he is the main character) Bill was happy to tell me, he received his at 25.I, on the other hand, went to the dermatologist this morn and said, " I want that main characters lips in The Imitation Game, they were perfect! ( I did not get lip injections, but I thought about it!)
  My crazy is simple, find the small joys that make you whole. AND don't be afraid to share!
 
  Look at these lips!! perfect!!!

A Calamity of Missed Steps!

     My grandchildren live in Boston. I love Boston, and surrounding areas. The only thing is Boston has winter, and that is a big deal breaker. However I venture up several times a year and they haul the babies ( young men ) down south a couple times. When they were little, we were up there all the time, or Boston Barons in Atlanta. Now the boys are young men, and in every activity known to man. School and sports, are there nirvana for the moment, so it seems we don't see them as often. Social media, keeps us connected but there is something lost in translation.
    January is their birthdays, and we try to, despite the cold, go see the loves. This January was planned and I was packed to go. I just needed to go grab some birthday gifts for the boys, who have everything! I picked up my purse ( that I love and weighs twenty pounds) and the recycle bin, and out the back door I went. Then I was laying on top of the recycled materials on the concrete garage floor. My favorite purse, under my car and my cell phone within reach. I had missed a step! One step, that I use daily. and my foot is facing the other direction. This is the same thing that happened four years ago in January, in Boston, missed a step and broke my leg. So, of course, I was out of my mind with fear. The pain was bad, but not nearly as, pounding in my heart. was the fear. I called Hart to come get me, and  laid still. I felt like I could moved my knees, so that was a good sign. I called Hart back, and said, I think I can make it inside, and I will keep you in my pain loop. I crawled inside, sat in the kitchen, and watched my foot turn, black, green, yellow and red. The size had doubled and I knew I was cooked. There would be no trip for me this January to Boston, and for this Uma, that was worse than a broken foot. Bill came home, and took me to the pretend Emergency Room, Urgent Care, I just wanted a quick xray. So they told me, what I knew, it was broken and I needed to see my Orthopedic surgeon. ( The fact that I have one, tells you all you need to know)
    I knew my Bill would want to take care of me, but He had to go see the kids. These things are important for little children and big children too. I had Emma and Hart and Nicole( new Baron soon-to-be) Things would be OK.
  And they were until Emma missed the same step I had, the next day. Now we were two pitiful hurt people, with animals that need attention! We hunkered down with meds and the clicker, crutches and boots all over the den. We laughed until we cried, you can not make this misfortune up. ( Emma was taking out the trash also)
 A few days have passed, and we are marching a little slower, but  our twist of fate, seems to be turning. I hope so.Life is so full of turns, you have to be ready for the good and the bad. Cursing with a delightful attitude, is important.
  Even when you are super careful, there can be a missed step.
  Thank you Boston and New Hampshire Barons for taking care of dad, Adrian and Finn, Uma has something in the mail for you. I love you more then football! Emma, Hart and Nicole, thank you for being sweet ( Hart I do not have bird bones!) and having food and flowers around the clock.
 The sun is shinning, its all good.

Some Doors Are Suppose To Stay Closed

 I take many photographs of doors, doorknobs and windows. They fascinate me, I wonder how many people have opened or closed these doors and windows. Who looked far and long outside the windows, that I have passed. Especially if you ever get to travel, look around, there are doors and windows in each city that I hope will peak your interest also. Never in all my days, have I uttered the words in the title of my blog, "Some doors are suppose to stay closed."
   I heard this phrase this week, in passing by the telly. I do not know if it were a movie, or a commercial, I only know that I stopped in my tracks, to write it down.
   Certainly I have seen closed signs on old buildings, or maybe if someone is cleaning a bathroom and you have to wait. I don't think the doors, have to stay closed.
  Even the doors to your heart, or to your past, or to stories that need to be told.
  I think many doctors offices are filled with people to whom, have kept their doors closed.
  Throw open the shutters, and open the doors, for goodness sakes.

  Another thing I heard last week, was that the most searched terms in 2014 were, Ebola and Banana Bread! Are you kidding me? Ebola, I understand, in fear we search. Panic sets in, after the idiot news people hang on to bad news, and we hear nothing else for weeks on end. Wash your hands, and maybe don't travel to the area that is quarantined. Also send money to Doctors Without Borders, they do good work for all people. They are fearless, wonderful humans who need out support. Stop watching the news, all day and night. Banana Bread, this can not be the truth. Who needs to research this. Every home has a recipe, or a cookbook with several in its pages. I believe you could make up a banana bread recipe and be successful. People use your time wisely, read  and read some more. Talk to your friends and relatives, they have a banana bread recipe for you. I quote my father so many times, he needs a blog of his own. Homer would say, " Bonnie, Do you think we have evolved? Think again, we still may have tails, and have to research banana bread!" ( I appreciate the stories I get out of all this material!)

And the last thing I wrote down before the weekend, was " I'm trying to keep the psychological vampires from sapping my life force!" from an entry on Humans of New York.
 People are the best, their words, fill me up. Life stories feed me, being observant fuels me. Paying attention to things all around you, be it open or closed doors, deserve to be thought about, maybe even painted, or written about.
   These are just a few of my pearls, that made me smile.
   If you smiled also, I have done my job.

The Love of Physics, or The Physics of Love

  Hang onto your hats, I have no plan as of this minute. No idea what to write, just ideas jumping all around.
  I wish for one day, you could dwell in my head, it is an awesome adventure.

  To begin with, ( you have to start somewhere!) My hubs and I just finished cleaning my art room. ( That is never a good idea!) With pastels, there is a huge mess, but......I think art has to be messy. A clean, organized art studio, or in my case, The Basement! needs to look like art is being produced. Paint, pastel, oils, brushes all over the place, paper of all sizes, pictures strewn all over kingdom come.At some point, all artist, (like me!) have to move stuff around, just to see what you have. I love a messy palette, I squeeze out tons of paint, I like the way it looks. I think the process of art, is in itself, art.   
  I have two easels set up, one for watercolors and one for pastels. I have stations!! I am organized, in chaos. However.......we thought the downstairs had flooded, there was brown, rust color all around the edges of the room. I think it was just pastel dust, from two doorknob pictures I had just recently finished, so we cleaned. Moved furniture, ( it is a den, but I clam it) tables, baskets, children toys, out came the mops ( had to find them, haven't been used by me, in twenty years) a bucket for water and soap, and some elbow grease! This was hard cleaning, and it was causing the artist in me, to panic. Too clean and straight is poison. But...its done, and it looks nice, and after a picture or two it will have its creative juices flowing again, and you can be sure I will put a sign at the top of the stairs, " No scientist allowed!"
 Now that my heart rate has slowed, and the panic of a clean art room, has ebbed, my blog was meant to celebrate two other men in my life, that I love.
  Elvis and Stephen Hawking.
  I have always loved a singer and a genius. Music and science, throw in an artist or a writer, I am in your corner.
  Elvis would have turned 80, and in a way, I am glad I get to remember him as young and beautiful.
  I did see him, late in his young life, a couple of years before he died, and it you know me AT ALL, I have blocked that out! He is young and beautiful, and has the voice of ten angels.How lucky I was to see him, and love him from afar. Happy Birthday You Hunk of Burning Love.
  Now the other birthday boy, Stephen Hawking turned 73. I hope by now all people have seen the movie, The Theory of Everything about his life. ( Eddie Redmayne is the star, another love of mine!! Love The Brits!) What a story he has, ALS has not tamed him, nor snuffed out his genius. He is a father, and friend and one of a kind. I saw an interview with Eddie Redmayne about meeting him, and the phrase he used to describe him and the movie, was this, " The love of physics, or the physics of love" that is what Stephen Hawking is about. What a grand thing to have said about your time on earth. I hope he has many more years with us, to teach and to love some more.
 OK, I need an ending...not really..I have no writing rhyme or reason..Its just a blog, a Bonnie good blog!
 Enjoy your day, look for something or someone to make you happy, read as much as you can, listen to good music, or bad ( bad can be good too!) Eat great food, with great people. Call or write someone.
Its the physics of love for me, pass it on!! ( If you love Physics, you will not be allowed in my art studio!)
Warm weather is just around the bend, right!? ( you can lie, the truth is not so great sometimes!)
Now I am finished.......I think......two Elvis pictures is never a bad thing!!!

The Thank You Card

 I am just about ready to write two thank you cards, and knew you would be wondering to whom?
 (I think that this is a lost art, that I choose to keep going)
 One will be sent to President Obama, thanking him for the dream I had about him the other night! Not this time, just thanking him for doing his best. I would vote for him again, with a complete new congress. I just need a minute to say, "Thank You."
 And Number Two will go to Emma's new doctor. She sees about six specialist. Yes she is Special!! but her DNA code is wack a lack! She, being adopted, we know nothing of family history, except a small stroke in utero, that we realized when she had no peripheral vision. ( note with no peripheral vision, she was and remains, a star athlete) Miss Emma has kidney disease, liver disease, Endocrine problems and in the last couple of months, we have had to see a Neurologist and a Breast Care Specialist! Yes, my 26 year old, has a lump in her breast. We just laughed when we heard, and threw up our arms!! The girl has everything wrong, and everything right!! I do not go to all the doctors appointments, she is grown, but these are big things, so I go often. Doctors can be a pain, and Miss Emma knows, I will put a quick stop to that, so she hauls me to these places. ( I tell her how loving her birth mother was, to get her to the ashram, where we could adopt her!!) ( we will not blame her for all these physical calamities!!) ( I think I may still get blamed!!, part of my mother job!)
  This week, I was scared of what was going on in her head. She has lost vision and only saw a letter C stream of light ( light that looked like a C!) So of course my brain goes stroke, or tumor! When they brought me into the office, the doctor is wearing a bright red shirt and gold chains!!! and is loving my bracelet!! So I thought, well......she must not need surgery....he is way too happy. He preceded to tell us it was a full blown migraine and she will be OK!! We had won the lottery, a migraine!!that is great. ( never did I say that, when I had migraines) The doctor brought out a plastic brain and went over the entire brain system. He was kind and gentle. He appeared odd and his office had beautiful artwork. I asked many questions, and Emma was just in a drenched stress sweat! Finally after a long visit, he said to me, " What do you do for a living!" ( I thought OK, here comes the giant bill) I thought, and said, " I am now an artist!" He lit up like Christmas, " I knew it, IT is written all over you!!" I thanked him, and explained that I had two true careers, before my artist self was born, and he said, " No, you have always been an artist." I said, "OK" ( now he is a my own personal shrink) Then we left, and were standing to pay co-pays or get some meds, when he shook our hands and said, " I have had such a pleasure of meeting you both, you are so enjoyable!" We smiled.
 Emma and I made it to the elevator, and laughed. That was an awesome doctor, and we had the best time. Plus you only have migraines, and that is a miracle in our world!! So this sweet man, will get a Thank You card from me today. Taking your time with a mother and daughter who are worn out, and scared was a beautiful thing. AND knowing that I was an artist!!! You have the gift of reading people, and that is an added bonus. ( Emma and I talked on the way home, about maybe my lack of matching clothes and bohemian way of jewelry, or my messy updo bun!! may have led him to say I was artistic?? We just laughed all the way home)
  Now onto the breast place in a couple of weeks, and the nephralogist, or as we call her, The Sponge Kidney Doctor!!! So glad, I received tons of stationery for Christmas !
 January is busy and making us laugh. That is pretty much perfect.

Uncharted Territory

  A New Year, 2015, how grand a sound.
  At some point this week, I was watching The Kennedy Center Honors. Always a show, of amazing humans.
  Smart, creative, wonderful people fascinate me, on so many levels.
  Especially people who work hard, have a dream and seem to reach it.
  I believe we are all to be honored. We are all teachers, nurses, ballerinas, garbage men, artists, preachers, singers and songwriters, we are all of these and more.
  This year, they honored Al Green, ( no one can sound like him!), Lily Tomlin, ( a misfit, who found her nitch), Tom Hanks, ( I hope he is good person! I think he may be!) Sting, ( not all people can rock, the one name!) ( He can do it all!) and a ballerina ( whom I cannot remember her name) However, her grace was magnificent. I will look up her name, hold on....Patricia McBride. ( watch her on point, grace, grace, grace)
  It was magic, I held my hear, tapped my feet and smiled for the hour or longer it was on. When it was over, I looked at Bill and said, " They all started out at the bottom, lower middle class to dirt poor. Look at them, they had a plan and passion!" You need the two P's ! The began in uncharted territory, with many mistakes and failures. Lovely, talented, blessed and blessing us with their very being on this earth.
 I think as the new year begins, we all need to think back and look forward.  We need maps, a plan, blueprints, and passion oozing out of each cell. It never stops, this adventure, this journey, so exciting to live.
Even when we are sick, and broken, lonely or lost, or spilling over with Joy, life is for the living. Each and every morning and night, plan and passion! Good nights sleep, good food, surrounded by smart, funny, good people, animals, books, travel, music, art and a big heap of love.
 Let love be your guide, may your New Year be whatever it is you want and need.
 Uncharted Territory, looking forward to you!