Are we there yet?

I just finished reading a book that I guess was a memoir. Or skimming, I should say, because I skipped over many sections..

It was not as advertized. The book lurched about from past to present to far past and around again. Snippets of biography were mixed with out of context conversations, reminiscences and philosophical ramblings. I think it might have been more interesting if I was a fan of his. But even still, I didn't get much of him out of it.

One thing he said that made sense to me was about people that are always pining to be elsewhere. He said he felt like they were always looking over his shoulder expecting to see something more important. I have known those people. I try to avoid them now. They never pay attention because they are seeking something. A something that maybe even they aren't aware of.

A lot of the book concerned insecurity and trying to be famous, but also trying to define what he wanted so he would know when he arrived.

I've heard people say that art can be done for it's own sake and doesn't need an audience, but I disagree. Art - in the generic encompassing theatre and art and writing, etc - is communication. It is a way someone says "Stop and look". What is the point of doing that for yourself? Sometimes art is created because you really need to put it on paper, or sing it or carve it, but keeping it in the closet is pointless. It needs to be shared.

I think the level of sharing needs to be defined before you can judge if you have reached your goal. As an artist, do you need a gallery to carry your work? As a writer, do you need a traditional publisher? As a musician, do you need a national tour? And it seems as an actor, the author of the memoir never defined what his goal was because he didn't know what was possible. He was always scrabbling for the next job to make ends meet or get a toehold on the next rung up on the ladder to fame.

When I was trying to make a living by selling my paintings, I started reading an art business magazine. It opened my eyes. Sales, of any kind, is a business. Whether you're selling a book, a vacuum cleaner or a performance. You need to know the industry. Once you do you can decide what level will satisfy you. And it is your responsibility to create a plan to achieve it. Not easy for us creative types but it is possible.

Rampant Squash!

Here is a lovely winter squash climbing into the butterfly bush. You can just barely see the 3' fence I put up for it...ha, ha, ha. To the left are Welsh Onions blooming. A lovely, fall blooming chive sort of thing. Very tasty and if you don't cut the heads you'll have it all over the yard. The spiky bits in the foreground are some gladiolas that I keep digging up and they keep coming back anyway.

Since conquering the butterfly bush doesn't seem like enough, the squash has also scaled the azaleas. You can see the rain barrel in the far left. The azaleas are 5-6' tall.

Here's one of the squashes forming. It's called Sweet Mama. It had been resting on the azalea, but I guess it got too heavy. Now it nestles in the chives.

Finding all the squashes in the fall can almost be as much fun as digging potatoes. You don't know how many or where you'll find them.

More Artwork

Today I finally got around to adding a few more pictures of artwork.

Today I listened.

I found this lovely picture on clipart. It doesn't look like my neighborhood, but it does look like a place I'd want to be.

It rained last night so the garden was wet and chilly. By break time this morning, the sun was shining. I felt the need for a walk and stepped out into a clear, cool morning. It was a bit of a surprise.

As I walked up the street I listened.

I feel very lucky to have such a quiet neighborhood. There was the random bark from a dog here or there, a robin, blue jay and on the way back, crows. I heard a motorcycle, and the sounds of construction - saws and drills, but faintly. Other than that it was quiet enough to hear the wind in the trees.

The sky was a cloudless blue, the sun felt good - it was only 66 degrees when I left the house. I could smell the change of season in the air - dried leaves and damp earth.

All in all an excellent walk.

Processing the harvest.

We spent most of Sunday dealing with garden products. I peeled and cored apples from our tree to dry. Also there were tomatoes to dry. And I threw in any fruit leftover from last week - a few cherries and some grapes. Homemade raisins are really amazing.

I am juicing the gnarliest apples. After cutting out the icky bits, of course. My first try at juicing wasn't that good. I don't think the apples were ripe enough. This time I juiced up a pitcher full then boiled it down for cider jelly. Amazing. I didn't achieve jelly, but I have a powerfully flavorful juice to work with. This time around, I think I will try agar. It will be a refrigerator jelly - or rather something I will gobble up in no time flat.

August usually is the start of my garden ennui. I'm overwhelmed by weeds and produce and I end up doing very little. Maybe some allergies come in to play also. This year is different. I've been trying very hard to keep on top of the allergies. Having more energy is a lovely side effect of that. And my produce has been very accommodating in arriving at reasonable intervals.

So, all in all, I've very pleased with where things stand right now.

Tea from the garden!

This is a picture from July of last year.

I finally got around to drying some herbs for tea. This is something I have wanted to do for years and somehow didn't get to.

It started because the spearmint decided to overrun the compost space. I had to rip out a lot. But as I started to put it in the compost, I had an idea! Maybe it was the overwhelming aroma of spearmint that woke up my brain. I could dry it for tea!

Chamomile and spearmint is a favorite combination of mine. So I tied it up and left it. When it was dry, I put some in a teapot and made tea. And it was yummy!

That sent me off to check the yard for other possibilities. I picked some of the chocolate peppermint. A very powerful mint! Then I picked some lemon basil. WOW. That really holds it's lemony flavor when dried. Makes a fabulous tea. The lemon balm I picked was pale in comparison. I dried some pineapple sage, but haven't tried it yet.

I am making a new list of herbs for next spring's Herb Festival!

When good writers go bad.

I'm not going to name names.

I picked up the latest book in a long series and in a couple of chapters gave up on it. I loved the earlier books. This was about #12, I think. It's a big name author with a big name publisher. The writing was spectacularly bad.

Since I've been in a critique group I have found myself reading much more critically. Awkward sentences and typos stop me flat. And I don't think that's really a good thing, but there you are.

This unnamed novel had all of the newbie mistakes that have critics raving about self published dreck. In one paragraph every sentence started with 'she'. She was, she had, she felt...

Then there was the insanely repetitious description - I'm paraphrasing here: The lamp was on the table. The lamp had a small flame. The flame was too small to light the far corners of the room which were dark.

YAAAHH! I get it! The room was poorly lit. Sheesh. Just get on with it!

And then the dialog.  Ouch. Not only was it horribly awkward, it made the major mistake of summarizing the previous action. So people are telling each other what just happened when they, AND THE READER, already know.

There was a conversation at cross purposes that just about had me tearing my hair out. It didn't further the plot, the characters or the situation. And the repetition made me nuts.
Something like:

"I just arrested the murderer."

"You arrested the murderer?"

"Yes, I found the murderer and arrested him."

"How could you have arrested him?"

"I tracked him down and arrested him."

"But I saw him die."

"No, he's in jail."

You get the jist. The point is that there are 2. And this conversation went on for waaay too long. Which made the characters seem more like Abbott and Costello than the serious characters they should be.

So my question is - how did this get past all those publishing gatekeepers that are supposed to be so astute?