Zazazu

And above all watch, with glittering eyes the whole
world around you because the greatest secrets are
always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those
who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
~ Roald Dahl ~

Need some tips on how to be more interesting?  Lost your edge?  Just need to lift your game a bit?  This list comes straight from my new friend over at Paint Floats.  Cool blog… cool list too.  The list, I think, came from the Etsy forums.

Which of these suggestions will you use?  What are some that you would add?

• be secretive
• get a hobby…even if it is collecting erasers
• wear an eyecatching hat
• throw your tv away
• wear your hair really big
• say goodbye in different languages
• read
• dress mysteriously
• wear a cape
• learn magic tricks
• get a weird tattoo or piercing
• say “good morning all” day long
• wear one color only. (bonus if it’s not black.)
• learn to tap dance
• be passionate about something
• wear funny pants… every day
• read books about the economy
• travel
• wear clown shoes
• become a good cook
• wear mismatched plaid pants and shirt
• sing in another language while at the Post Office
• call everyone “Cap’n”
• carry bacon in your pocket
• be a good listener
• try new foods
• do random mime things on the street
• sell everything you own and move to another country…a faraway one
• carry around a frog
• sit down cross-legged in the elevator
• learn sign language
• teach your dog to talk
• pull your underwear up to your chest
• get a pet monkey
• carry a sock puppet with you wherever you go and speak entirely through it
• wear a fake mustache
• dye your hair pink
• learn to play the banjo
• drive a car painted like a holstein cow
• wear your underwear on the outside of your clothes
• finish every sentence with the phrase “the end”
• sing everything you say
• carry a puppy, people will flock to you
• find a new and bizarre word every day to add to your vocabulary
• exaggerate
• mutter to yourself then laugh
• skip everywhere
• wear a top hat
• tell everyone you are working on a novel (and have it be true)
• wear a t-shirt with a picture of yourself
• buy lots of art
• wear glittery pants

Okay, be creative… What are your suggestions for how to be more interesting?  Let’s hear ‘em!

If you are anything like me, you have just experienced aimer à première vue (aka. love at first sight.

Most of you know that I love anything to do with France and that I also love beautiful photographs found on Etsy. Well, never have I found the two combined more beautifully than when I recently ran across Cherie Lester’s work. The beautiful photos above are just a few examples of her work. Stunning, aren’t they?

Upon first glance, if you are like me, you won’t be able to tell if Cherie’s photos are new or old, photos or paintings. They are actually hand-tinted photos and the result, as you can see, is just amazing.

Here is what Cherie says about herself and her art:

I’ve been a photographer for about 15 years, living and working in my studio here in Washington, DC. I went to a small fine arts college in Atlanta, GA. which is where I studied photography and fell in love with the art of handtinting. I love the effects: the vintage postcard-like feeling, the light, the texture, the softness and overall dreamlike quality. I’ve been doing it ever since!

Travel, depicting places that I love, has been an important part of my work. A few years ago, I decided what I wanted most was to spend a month in Paris, France – photographing the city and getting to know it. It turned out to be one of the best experiences I’ve had. All of the Paris images you see in my Etsy Shop are from that trip, taken in the winter – one of my favorite times to shoot.

The majority of the photos are archival pigment prints of my originals. I’ve used a photographic emulsion to print the image onto watercolor paper, then tinted it entirely with photo oils and pencils. The other process involves b/w film, darkroom printing, and then again handtinting the entire image with photo oils and pencils. Images come unmatted, matted or framed – depending on preference.

Check out Cherie’s work through any of her links:

www.cherielester.com
www.cherielester.etsy.com
http://cherielester.blogspot.com

or by email at cherielester@prodigy.net

I don’t normally “feature” Etsy artists here on my blog but this particular artist combines so many of the things I love into one amazing product that I couldn’t help myself. So, check out her store and drop her a line. She is relatively new to Etsy so I’m sure she’d love to hear from any of you out there.

Share the Etsy love!

Au revoir!

I believe that…

imagination is stronger than knowledge ~

myth is more potent than history ~

dreams are more powerful than facts ~

hope always triumphs over experience ~

laughter is the cure for grief ~

LOVE is stronger than death.

~ Robert Fulghum

::: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY ::: 

We kicked off The Artist’s Way program on Sunday and it is already turning into a big success. We have such great participation on the first post and a lot of good discussion. I’m really geeked up about the cool group of people who have signed on to participate in this program with us. I can already tell that we are going to get such good from it, whether we love our daily morning pages or not. Ha!

After seeing Oprah the other day, I decided to revisit my vision board and see what I could change on it. Let it be known that I’m not a huge Oprah fan but I do like to tune in when she features anything about The Secret. I’ve read TS and watched the DVD and really think that the Law of Attraction is powerful. Not only that but I’ve seen it work in my life (only in small ways so far) and in the lives of close friends (in big ways for some) so I have proof that it can work.

At any rate, after seeing the show, I was pretty motivated to drag out my vision board and see what I might be able to do to make it work better for me. I saw right off the bat that my old VB wasn’t very specific at all. I had many generalized things on it, things that I wasn’t even sure what I meant by, things I knew weren’t clear enough at all. So, I set about to specify it, to really clean it up, hone it down and get specific with some things I wanted. I went from a great big one to a pretty petite one. I’m much happier and have more confidence in the new one.

This was the old one:

This is the new one:

I’ve also been looking over my 101/1001 list again after having neglected it for a long time (too long) and have realized that some of the items on it aren’t things that I’m dedicated to long-term. Unlike my first vision board, some of the things I put on my 101/1001 list were too specific. I need to tweak it a bit, I think. So, I’m going to work on that this week. I will post the new list up here when I get it done. It won’t be a complete overhaul but it will be a bit more doable, something I can dedicate to and actually complete. Any item suggestions? For a really cool list, check out my friend Pogo Yoga’s list. She has just posted hers and has some great items planned! Go Pogo Yoga!

That’s what’s going on in my world. What’s going on in yours?

My good friend and constant source of support and inspiration Rebecca directed me to a very cool site today. The site is called Zen Habits and is actually a blog that you can subscribe to. Very cool, very information and VERY inspirational. Check it out! So many wonderful articles there to read!In still other news, The Artist’s Way group will begin in just a short while – on Valentine’s Day. We are still welcoming people to join us so hop on over and check it out. We would love to have you participate in the journey with us.

Seems like there was something else I was going to mention but I can’t remember what. Oh well…

The Super Bowl is on as I type.  I think the Giants are ahead.  Wahoo!  I’ve watched a bit, yelped a few “hoorahs!”, asked a few questions, and asked more than several times why they couldn’t have gotten someone better than Tom Petty to play half-time but I can really only take so much of a fairly brutal game that I don’t comprehend.  So, I’m back upstairs in my little sanctuary, with my cat and my computer, waiting for Jane Austen Regrets to begin on PBS.  That is more my style of pleasurable TV viewing.

In addition to this being Super Bowl Sunday, it is also World Yoga Day.   I’m announcing it very late but it is definitely still worth a mention anyway.  WYD is a day and time to donate our thoughts and energy to human rights issues around the world.

It has been awhile since I’ve really posted anything about yoga so, with the mention of WYD, now would be a perfect time.  I’ve not been on the mat much lately at all and my body – especially my shoulders – and my mind and my spirit all feel it keenly.  I plan to find myself on the mat again in the morning and plan to use the WoYoPracMo challenge to help me a bit in February.   Sarah first told me about this and, upon mentioning it to me again today, I checked it out and realized that it might really help me to get back to it.   This month’s theme is “Deepening YOUR Practice” and can really take on whatever meaning or interpretation you need or want it to take.  This is a cool challenge to be a part of as you can meet great people who are also interested in enhancing their yoga practices by creating your own page to keep track of your progress and to encourage one another.  If you need yoga motivation, check it out.  Thanks, Sarah!

In other exciting news, I’m one sale away from Sale No. 200 over at my Etsy store.  Not a huge milestone but an exciting one anyway.  Hopefully I will hit it soon… fingers crossed!

I hate it when I ramble all willy-nilly and don’t have a tidy ending for a post.  But, it seems that I’ve found myself in just that place tonight.  So, I will leave it here and wish you all a happy week.

Namaste.