Peg Kerr's Journal

2025 52 Card Project: Week 12: Blocked Creativity

2025-03-28T22:58:47Z

This collage holds the record for being the one most difficult to put together of all the collages I have done over the past five years.

I struggled with coming up with an idea in the first place (another boring week) and then struggled to put any ideas into images. This is the fifth draft. This is EXTREMELY unusual. I’d say 95% of the time I do one draft, and 5% I do two. I usually finish a collage within 1-2 hours. I worked on coming up with a concept for this one and putting the concept into images for six and a half hours. Gah.

Finally, in a temper, I decided to make a collage about my failure in coming up with ideas.

Sleep has been not great lately. The writing on the book has slowed to almost nothing.

I am exhausted and don't have anything in me to explain the image further. Deal with it.

Ironically, this fifth draft took only twenty minutes. Go figure.

Image description: background: a desert. Upper center: a flat tire. Center: Peg's face, overlaid with a dead tree. Bottom center: a dry well

Blocked Creativity

Click on the links to see the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

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2024 52 Card Project: Week 11: Brave

2024-03-22T23:34:10Z

Last week was--unexpectedly good. I had more fun events than usual:

On Friday, minnehaha invited me, along with a few other friends, to a church basement Lenten Fish Fry. That was a definite experience: 1,131 people in all sat down to have dinner in that church basement, in a succession of waves. The setting was at times loud enough to set teeth on edge, but the food was certainly tasty enough.

On Saturday, I went to my sister's house, where the family gathered to celebrate both her seventieth birthday and her son's (my nephew's) 40th birthday.

He has just gotten engaged, too, which made the celebration that much more joyous.

On Sunday, I went to a St. Patrick's Day open house, and I enjoyed a delicious corned beef and vegetable feast and conversation with friends--at least until I was forced to retreat due to a flare of cat allergies.

But what particularly pleased me was that I did several things last week that I considered rather brave.

One I'm not in a position to speak of yet.

On another front, I have started doing some free lance work for Patricia C. Wrede, who saw these collages and thought some occasional graphics would be a welcome addition to her blog on writing.

And I also plucked up my courage to reach out to an audiobook narrator I truly admire to explore the possibility of turning The Wild Swans into an audiobook. His initial response was positive, although there is much that would have to be hammered out before it becomes something real.

It felt good to tap into a courage within myself rooted in faith in my own creative capabilities.

Image description: The figure of a woman holding a sword stands on a rock, silhouetted against a sunset sea. A microphone is set before her mouth. Upper left corner are the words 'Be Brave.'

Brave

Click on the links to see the 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

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Found a childhood treasure

2020-09-09T22:41:41Z

I grew up reading books voraciously, naturally, and one of my favorites was a retelling of The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen. I loved it and re-read it many times. Of course, you know where this is going. Sometimes, a tale told in childhood can imprint itself on a child's imagination in a way that echoes for years, and it obviously did for me. I drew upon my vivid memory of that story when I was writing my own retelling, which was published the year I turned 40.

But I didn't have THE BOOK. That special, special book that had fired my imagination all those years ago.

Bits of my memory of the illustrations wove itself into the story I wrote. I remembered a picture of Eliza sitting on the ground, peering up at the sun through a hole in a leaf. I remembered the wicked queen spilling the toads into the bath. I remembered Eliza meeting the fairy in the woods, flying through the air in a woven net held by swans, and huddling with her brothers on the rock in the middle of the ocean. I remembered her visiting the room the king had set aside for her with the shirt he'd found her making in the woods--Eliza wore her hair in a snood, which absolutely fascinated me. I remembered her in her prison cell, looking up with longing at her brother's wing, glimpsed through the grated window. I remembered the scene of chaos when the brothers were being changed back into men, the wild look in Eliza's eyes.

My parents sold their house after I left for college and downsized accordingly. Perhaps they'd gotten rid of the book even before that--probably they did, as there were four of us kids growing up, and we didn't have enough storage to keep forever every treasured keepsake.

I knew that the story was by Hans Christian Andersen. But...how could I find it again?

The problem was that while I certainly remembered the illustrations, I couldn't remember the edition itself. I didn't think it was just "The Wild Swans" alone...whatever it was that I read included several of Andersen's tales. But not the entire collection. When I was going to the University of Minnesota for graduate school, I stopped by the Kerlan Collection of Children's Literature, hoping to find my childhood book. But the Kerlan's stacks were closed. "Just check the catalog and write your request on this slip and we'll retrieve it from the stacks," the librarian encouragingly.

Do you know how many HUNDREDS of editions of Hans Christian Andersen's tales there are, especially in a collection devoted to children's literature? It seemed absolutely hopeless.

And then last night, I was thinking with longing of that treasured book from my childhood again, and it suddenly occurred to me to do what I should have done years ago. I actually smacked myself on the side of the head because I felt so stupid.

What I remembered was the illustrations. So obviously, I should do an image search of illustrations for "The Wild Swans."

I found it in five minutes flat. What's more, I found a copy of the edition for sale for around $20, including shipping. It's on its way to me now. The illustrator was Libico Maraja, and the pictures were published in an edition of several of the tales retold by Shirley Goulden. The edition was published in 1966.

Here (page 1) and here (page 2) are the illustrations that drifted, ghostlike through my imagination in my retelling all those years later. It gives me such joy to be able to put at peace that restless, searching part of myself that had longed to see those pictures for so many years.

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Happy birthday, Elise!

2020-08-22T13:07:00Z

My dear long-time friend Elise Matthesen (elisem) is having a special birthday today and turning 60! In honor of the occasion, I pulled out my soulcollage materials for the first time in a long time and made her a gift in her honor: her very own soulcollage card.

Elise Matthesen - Community Suit
I am the One who is a generous soul, loving and wise mentor, savvy manuscript critic, gifted artist, educator, and poet, hilarious Alternity teammate, and kind friend.

Elise has just won the 2020 Hugo for Best Fan Artist (see her Etsy shop here--she is having a birthday month sale!) She has served as a mentor for Delia for years, teaching her to make beautiful jewelry as Elise does. We spent years in a Shakespeare reading group together that met every couple of weeks. Elise, a gifted poet, was in my novel-writing group and was an extremely helpful beta reader for The Wild Swans. I convinced her to join Alternity, and she wrote Linus and Megan (see their icons at Elise's elbows). Linus, especially, a rather nitwitted Ravenclaw who considered himself a poetical rake, was one of my favorite characters in the whole game, screamingly funny.

The card includes pieces of art the Elise has made, including a wandering wire necklace and two pairs of earrings that I bought from her. Elise is famous for her haiku parties at conventions, where a person can pick out a pair of earrings, and if they write a haiku poem inspired by them, Elise will give away the earrings for free). Elise loves to name her necklaces evocative names (one of my necklaces is called "'Betrayed,' the Rose Queen cried, and her hand flew to her throat"). An anthology of short stories has been published based on the names of Elise's jewelry.

You can see wandering wire sculpture that makes up the semi-transparent background in her Etsy shop.

The ring pictured is one that Elise gave to me that I am wearing right now: she said that the birds on either side of the central stones reminded her of swans, and so I was obviously meant to have it.

The lengths of necklace that frame the card are images of the necklace ("Down All Those Glittering Halls" that Elise extravagantly gave away to me for free to encourage me to write, when I was writing the Ice Palace book (alas, I never finished the book and so I still feel a little guilty about having the necklace, but Elise, generous as always, insisted that it was all right, and I didn't need to give it back.)

Elise definitely deserves a card for her special day!

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Artwork by Delia for Sale

2013-12-15T02:16:11Z

Delia has been learning jewelry-making from elisem for the past six years. Elise is having an on-line sale, and for the first time, some of Delia's work is being offered, too. Delia's pieces will be available for only one week, so take a look and if you see something you like, grab it now! Delia would be thrilled to make a sale, so I hope you will stop by to check it out. At the very least, she would love comments on her work. Thanks!

See here.

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Amusing craft

2012-11-30T02:33:39Z

Make your own (Harry Potter) Howler.

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This one's for Delia, my budding artist

2012-11-22T15:49:56Z

There's a story in The Atlantic here that's very heartwarming that I want to draw to your attention. It's about a young man whose life was saved by art, and specifically, by the well-timed of compassionate adults, especially an author/illustrator who visited his classroom, looked at his drawing, and said, 'Nice cat.'

To all we are thankful for today, let us now add the blessing of art and the magic of the human imagination. Let us now be thankful for the expression of gratitude itself, by someone who has chosen to give back to his community after receiving so much from it. And let's be thankful for all those among us who refuse to allow their pasts or their presents to dictate their futures.

Below is a presentation given last month at Hampshire College by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, an author and illustrator of children's books. Take the time to watch it, especially with your children and grandchildren if you are lucky enough to have them close by. It's such a sweet story, such an American story, with such a profound lesson about the need to cultivate and defend the creativity in ourselves and in our nation's schools.

Follow up to Caine's Arcade

2012-09-13T22:06:55Z

Nirvan makes another heartwarming movie to reveal the plans for the one year anniversary to the flash mob that turned Caine's Arcade into an internet hit.

To learn more, visit cardboardchallenge.com.

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Serendipity

2012-07-16T15:43:38Z

There was an article in the local paper on that art project I mentioned, covering the electric utility boxes with art. More examples at the link here.

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Noticing Art

2012-07-14T23:01:37Z

I went to pick up Delia from her summer job at a print-making center this afternoon. She was very tired, leaning against the window of the car as I drove as we chatted. My route home took me past a local neighborhood mural, and I pointed it out to her; I liked how the artist has set a mosiac of tiny mirror tiles to pick out the shape of a snowflake.

"Yeah, I really like that mural," she said.

"We have a lot of nice murals in south Minneapolis," I agreed. "I've been noticing them lately."

"Yeah. And the electric boxes."

I looked blank. "Electric boxes? What are you talking about?"

"Oh. I mean the electric utility boxes they have at the street corners where there are street lights. Lately I've been noticing that they've been covering them in art."

A minute later we drove by this one, and I saw what she meant. I had never really noticed these utilitarian structures before, but there they were:

"There's one further down that is covered with red and yellow tomatoes. I love that one." We passed it a moment later and I saw what she meant. I loved it, too. [picture found online].

So I came home and did a little Googling and I found this: a call for artists to submit works to put on the electric utility boxes. It's apparently a joint project between several of the neighborhood associations and the power company. Here's another article about the intiative with another neighborhood association. These utility boxes are a frequent target for graffiti taggers, and often gang symbols are used, starting a sort of artistic tug of war between rival gang factions. The art is installed around the boxes using a wrap that cleans off easily. So the purpose is twofold: to decrease graffiti and to add another artistic canvas to the neighborhood.

I did a little more googling. Apparently, this is an initiative which is springing up in other cities as well. I'm a little ashamed that I had never even noticed, yet I drive by these utility boxes every day.

Thanks to Delia, I'll take the trouble to notice them from now on.

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Birthday wisdom

2012-06-25T13:48:00Z

Delia sent an email message to some of her loved ones that read in part:

So, I've been thinking a lot about my birthday, what it means to me, and what I want. This year however, I don't really want the expensive camera, or the latest apple product or the newest cricut machine. I don't think I want material things this year.

Could you find some way to send me wisdom? I respect and admire each and every one of you, and I would love just a little piece of the wisdom that you all have. You are all such great people who have loved me no matter what, even when I made mistakes or I didn't believe you when you would say "I love you".

I know that this is a really different request from my past birthday wishes but I have some ideas in case you're stumped. Just know however that I want to know even more than what I ask here. Tell me and teach me things that I haven't even thought of.

...

These are just some of the things I think about when I'm wondering how you're doing and how you have lived such great inspiring lives. Your lives may not have been easy to start off with, and they may not be easy now, but you are satisfied with them. That is what I'm most envious of, your pure spirit, loving nature and wisdom that has let you all be satisfied with your lives, even at the worst of times.

Even though this might be confusing, I hope you understand somehow or someway. If you send me some wisdom in the mail, could you have it on it's own piece of paper? I want to collect these from all of my heros and inspirations and keep them together, for me to look at when I feel lost in life or simply miss you guys. Oh, and don't be afraid to decorate it!

I love you all!

This is what I wrote and included with her birthday card:

For Delia, on the occasion of your sixteenth birthday
With love, from Mom and Dad

1. You don't have to have everything figured out all at once.
You have a lifetime to discover who you are. We have no doubt that who you are becoming will be a wonderful person, but some parts may take years to figure out, whether it's what you want to do for your career, or who you want to love, or what you believe about God, or politics, or ethics, or all the other big life questions. Be patient with the process, because no one is keeping score. The journey is part of the process.

2. Be kind to yourself.
You are worthy of being loved. You are worthy of respect, even if you screw up and make mistakes. And you WILL make mistakes, because you are human. Frankly, if you DIDN'T make mistakes, you'd be kind of insufferable. Love your own body, show it respect, and treat it well.

3. Be kind to others.
Or if you can't be kind (because you just don't click with someone, or your values don't mesh with them, or they've hurt you), be wary and put your energy into protecting your boundaries, rather than being needlessly cruel.

4. Make sure that others are kind to you.
Don't let others treat you badly. Remember the rule we raised you with: when you say, 'Please stop' the other person has to stop. If they don't, you don't need them in your life. You have the right to expect that respect.

5. Be open to experience.
Be brave, without being reckless. Try new things. Be open to new people. We think that your inner creativity will probably make you a natural at this, but remember to keep renewing your commitment to this as you grow older. It's natural to fall into patterns and to go with what's easy. Strive to keep from falling into ruts.

6. Ask for help if you need it.
You will acquire mentors throughout your life. You have already shown your wisdom by asking for wisdom for your birthday. Keep doing that. Keep an eye out for people whose lives you admire and pick their brains. People are usually delighted to be asked for their expertise. If you realize that you are in a situation where you are over your head, or you feel trapped or you're being abused, and you need help ask for it. Don't let pride stop you.

7. Be open to love.
Love can hurt, but it is also the source of some of life's greatest joys. Sometimes it takes work, and that can be kind of a pain, but it's worth putting in the work. It won't be perfect. No one can effortlessly intuit what you need, and sometimes you have to tell them. Sometimes loving someone else doesn't mean feeling love, but it's an act of will. Your mommy and daddy come down strongly on the side of, 'Love is worth it.' You are worth it. Never doubt it.

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Lego Machines

2012-04-20T16:43:12Z

This link is fun: ten absolutely incredible Lego machines. And they ARE impressive.

Star Wars LEGO organ
This amazing LEGO creation is built from more than 20,000 bricks and was part of a German promotional campaign for "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 3-D." Two professional LEGO builders constructed miniature scenes from the movie around the drum, positioned in such a way that they play out the Star Wars theme on a keyboard as the drum rotates. The only way this could be any more awesome is if the drum was housed inside a giant player piano (shaped like a TIE fighter) that was also made out of LEGO.

LEGO 3-D milling machine
In this video, Arthur Sacek's LEGO milling machine prints a 3-D face from a block of foam. It proves that the things that you can create with LEGO are truly limitless. Perhaps one day the ultimate goal can be reached — creating an advanced LEGO milling machine that produces more LEGO bricks.

But this one has to be my favorite, billing itself as "The World's Most Useless Lego Machine." Turn it on and it responds by...turning itself off!

See more at the link up at the top.

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Follow up on the Caine's Arcade story

2012-04-16T21:08:13Z

How has Caine Monroy's life changed in the last week since the film came out about Caine's Arcade?

A lot.

Besides raising over $150,000 on the internet for his college education, he's been given a matching grant for $165,000 from the Goldhirsh Foundation to start the Caine's Arcade Foundation to support more kids in careers involving creativity and entrepreneurship.

Catching up With Caine from Eddie Rivera on Vimeo.

Latest tweet from cainesarcade:

"After school today (and after his dentist appointment) Caine has appointments with the NY Times and TIME Kids."

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Caine's Arcade

2012-04-13T14:41:46Z

This is a GREAT story. Watch this: it'll be the best ten minutes you'll spend today.

A 9-year-old boy spent the summer building a cardboard arcade in his dad’s small auto parts store in East L.A.

His first and only customer, who happened to be a filmmaker, decided to bring some more people to play.

9 year old Caine Monroy is about to have the best day of his life.

Oh, and by the way – if you go to the Caine’s Arcade site they put together, you’ll see that people have chipped in over $137,000+ for him to go to college. There's also a Facebook page.

This decreased worksuck in a major way. Kudos to the loving dad. George Monroy, who found a way to foster his son's creativity while running his business. Here's an interview done by the local NBC affiliate, which includes a short interview with the dad, and it's hilarious: "We're in a junkyard and this is the front office. So he started taking up half the office. And then he had three-quarters of the office, and I just kept moving over and over as he kept building. He kept using bigger boxes. Then he tried to make a ticket thing with a leaf blower. He made me go buy a leaf blower so he could blow tickets around inside the box. So we bought a leaf blower, we plugged it in and tickets were flying everywhere."

Kudos also to filmaker Nirvan Mullick, who took the trouble to NOTICE.

A short film by Nirvan, produced by Interconnected.

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288,000 Jelly Beans Used To Create Stop Motion Music Video

2011-11-06T05:13:17Z

Sometimes it takes an incredible, meticulous, endless, mind-boggling amount of work to get noticed, but that’s exactly what Kina Grannis and those behind her latest music video have done. Using 288,000 jelly beans, 30 people, 1,357 hours and 22 months, a production team created an awesome stop-motion video for her song “In Your Arms”. Check it out after the break.

And here's how it was done, which is quite fascinating:

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An intriguing question about public art crossed with books

2011-02-24T15:23:05Z

I regularly read a blog by Gretchen Rubins entitled The Happiness Project. Here's an excerpt from a post today:

I have a friend who is a working artist. She told me, “When I was starting out, I made money by working as a receptionist at a gallery. When my art career advanced enough so that I could quit that job, another artist friend told me, ‘Now you’ll be working all the time.’”

“What exactly does that mean?” I asked.

“He meant – I have to be looking, thinking, all the time. I have to notice and consider my reactions to everything. Why do I love this display of Christmas lights? What makes this restaurant so ugly?”

I’ve noticed a similar thing happen to me, with happiness. Now, whenever I feel a surge or drop in my happiness, I think: What’s happening, what triggered that? If I’m feeling happier, how can I ramp it up? Why do I suddenly feel blue? I’m trying to be more mindful about my fleeting reactions to thoughts and experiences, and I’m often surprised by what I notice.

For example, I found myself thinking about a famous piece of public art -- a luggage trolley apparently halfway through a brick wall at London's King's Cross station.

If you’re not a Harry Potter fan, the trolley is a reference to the fact that when magical children leave London to go to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they take a special train, the Hogwarts Express, which boards from Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross. One of the first things Harry Potter does as part of the magical world is to run through a brick wall to get to the platform hidden between 9 and 10.

This public sculpture doesn’t just make me mildly happy. I love it; I get choked up thinking about it. It gives me a feeling of elevation – one of the most delicate pleasures the world offers. So, I ask: why does it make me feel this way?

First, it’s a celebration of something I particularly love, children’s literature. Second, it’s an acknowledgment that the love for Harry Potter is so ubiquitous that this artifact makes sense. We all love Harry Potter! And I love the collision of literature and real life. And this trolley sculpture is so funny, so playful.

How could I dwell on this happiness? One of my resolutions is to Find an area of refuge, and I’ve spent quite a lot of mental energy, in the last few days, fantasizing about what delightful surprises I would plant around New York City, in the manner of the Kings Cross trolley.

All my examples comes from beloved classics of children’s literature; it would be just as fun to have examples from adult fiction, but I couldn’t think of any.

This is what I would install:
From Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, in Central Park: a giant peach pit, with a door and a nameplate reading “James Henry Trotter.” I’m actually surprised this doesn’t already exist.

From E. L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: a book bag tucked behind a drape behind a statue from the Middle Ages. And also in the Met…

From Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman’s You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum: a yellow helium balloon tied to the outside stair railing. This would be so inexpensive and fun!

From Sydney Taylor’s All-of-a-Kind Family in the Children’s Room at a branch of the New York Public Library in the Lower East Side: a copy of Peter and Polly in Winter, placed in the “Returns” section.
In a similar project, a few years ago, I made a long list of children’s books and where they take place in New York City. In many cases, a reader can locate the character exactly, like Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy who spies on 84th and East End, and Peter Hatcher, from Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, who lives at 25 W. 68th Street.

...

New York City did rise to occasion of the release of the movie of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, with a sign at Union Station.

I love New York City, and I love Harry Potter. It makes me so very, very happy to see something like this.

And now I’m off to try to think of more additions to my list. Any suggestions?

This is an intriguing idea. Here in Minneapolis, of course, I always think of War for the Oaks at a lot of locations. Can you think of any public art you would install, in honor of one of your favorite books?

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Pocket notebooks

2010-09-17T14:04:24Z

I've started carrying a miniature Moleskine notebook in my purse. They're fun for jotting down random things. Here is a fascinating article, with abundant illustrations about twenty famous men (including Ben Franklin, Leonardo Da Vinci and Mark Twain), and the things they put down in their pocket notebooks.

(Would be curious to see an equivilent article about women and their pocket notebooks.)

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Powderhorn art fair

2010-08-08T00:58:55Z

The girls and I went to the Powderhorn Art Fair today. It was warm and bright, and I was in just the right mood to wander through by all the booths, soaking up the artistic ambiance. Fiona bought a new cloth purse to replace the one she lost when she was mugged. I got a henna design put on my hand. (Doesn't last as long as a tattoo, but cheaper and no needles involved.) We had delicious food sold by the food vendors: chicken gyros, lemonade, and a whole mango, peeled in quick ruthless strokes, sliced open like a flower, and jammed on a stick. I had hoped that this jeweler would be there again this year, so that I could get earrings to match the heart necklace in my icon. But alas, they didn't show up. Instead, my favorite artist this year was this one, who made the most amazing beaded necklaces. The very loveliest ones aren't even on her website. They looked like naturalistic displays of twigs, flowers, fruit. Stunning. There was a delicate spring-themed necklace of flowers, and another of autumn tones. I desperately wanted to commission a necklace from her, The Holy Tree.

Alas, her prices were out of my league. Oh, well. I shrugged and walked away from her booth. It would have been nice, and I would have enjoyed wearing such a piece. But I do have enough jewelry, really. It's nice to have more pretties, of course, but I don't need them. Or perhaps, with Delia's help, I might be able to make such a necklace as I have in mind myself.

I was thinking along those lines when I was driving to work earlier this week, when I was listening to that song I mentioned earlier, "Breathe," and a line jumped out at me: Let the life that you live be all that you need. Well, I do need a car. It's probably dangerous to drive the one I have as it has no airbags (Fiona needs to learn to drive and I won't let her learn in a car without them). I'd like to travel, but that might come (I hope) when I retire. Rob's not inclined/interested in international travel the way am, and if necessary, I'll go on my own, dammit.

But other than that, I'm really largely satisfied with my life. I have been feeling so much better since I started taking the fish oil capsules. Several months, now. Yes, I still do have a bad day now and again. But on the whole right now, I'm experiencing what it's like to live without depression. Wow. I'm starting to track my calories again, and I'm going down again in weight. I feel pretty good. My knee isn't really giving me trouble in karate. I hope to get my black belt within the year.

I have two beautiful daughters who have their ups and downs. But I am very proud of both of them and love them very much. My husband needs a job, and our marriage has its ups and downs, too. I wish he wasn't such a packrat. But I've worked hard at my marriage, and right now I feel that the hard work is being rewarded.

Life feels pretty good right now.

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Jane Austen's fight club again

2010-08-02T14:02:08Z

A short interview with the creator of the video I linked to earlier, here.

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Six Items or Less

2010-07-27T21:30:33Z

Interesting. A New York Times article (here) caught my eye about this project. Reminds me of the Uniform Project.

Six Items Or Less
A global experiment examining the power of what we don't wear

The Experiment

What do our clothes say about us? Why do spend so much time on what we wear? What happens when we don't?

Starting Monday, June 21st 2010, a group of people from California to Dubai are going to take part in a little experiment: each participant gets to choose six (and only six) items of clothing and pledge to wear only these six items of clothing for a month. They'll share their experiences here at sixitemsorless.com

There are exceptions that don't count towards the six: undergarments, swim wear, work-out clothes, work uniforms, outer jackets (rain slicker, outdoor jacket), shoes and accessories. You can get multiples of the same item for laundry purposes, but different colors count as separate items. Or you can tell us to stuff it and make your own rules.

People have asked what the philosophy is behind the experiment and most assume it's a statement about consumerism. In reality, we haven’t dictated a driving thought. Rather it’s about putting a challenge out there and seeing what people bring to it, do with it and talk about.

Check back daily – people are posting all the time. or follow us sixitemsorless. questions? sixitemsorless@gmail.com

It should be an interesting month.

I'm already wearing the Uniform Dress on Fridays. That's been fun. I might think about doing this, too.

Maybe.

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My lost Hermione bookmark

2010-07-26T19:26:54Z

Back when mon_starling was over on Livejournal, she made a set of Harry Potter bookmarks, which were posted on line somewhere. I printed out several copies of one, showing Hermione curled up in an armchair, reading Hogwarts: A History and had them laminated. I kept them on my bedside table, and there has been barely a book I've read in the past...what, five years? eight years? without my Hermione bookmark.

I lost my last one, and I feel lost without it. She's deleted and purged both her livejournal and her deviant art page. I managed to find her on Facebook and I sent her a query.

Does anyone on my friends list have a copy of that bookmark, by any chance? (hey, it's worth a try). She did a whole series of them. I still have some of the others (Draco, Harry, Ron, Cho and Cedric, but the one I really want is Hermione.)

Tell me about a little something, maybe sentimental or artistic, that you use regularly. Maybe it doesn't have much intrinsic value, but you would miss it dreadfully if you didn't have it.

Edited to add: kerrikins found it! She rules teh Interwebz and her Google-fu rocks! The Hermione bookmark is here and all the other bookmarks in that same series (Draco, Harry, Ginny, Ron, etc.) are here. Thank you, kerrikins, I am so grateful! (Isn't it cute?)

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One Million Giraffes

2010-06-11T02:15:49Z

People get up to all sorts of things on the Internet. Heard about this from rivka:

A guy in Norway is collecting giraffes. He's trying to get people to send him a million giraffe images by Jan 1, 2011. Which sounds ridiculous, right, except that he's been at it for about a year and has already collected 850,000. He might actually make it.

It's really neat to see the diversity of images people have sent in. A stunning and subtle watercolor painting is a few clicks away from a crude giraffe sculpture constructed from office supplies. I am particularly struck by this one, which may be the most artistic thing ever constructed from an old banana peel. I love this adorable knitted one too. But there are quilted giraffes and giraffes made from guitars and giraffes made from sports equipment and mosaic giraffes and scultped giraffes and edible giraffes and drawing after drawing, from people all over the world. I love the internet.

The statistics page is also kind of fun to look at. Why so many giraffes from Lithuania? What on earth happened the day he got 30,000 giraffes?

He's also on Twitter: 1000000giraffes.

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Iris Apfel

2010-05-17T19:21:46Z

I'd never heard of Iris Apfel before running across this video today. I don't think our tastes exactly coincide, but I sure hope I'll be this confident and having this much fun if I also reach the age of 88.

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Poetry at Forty

2010-05-08T21:01:55Z

I found this poem in a stack of old papers as I'm trying to extricate the contents of my old office and put it in storage so that it can become Fiona's bedroom. I wrote it, apparently, ten years ago. My efforts to dabble with poetry have been very few, sporadic, and certainly not very good.

How may I begin writing poetry at forty?

At forty you expect competence
rough edges smoothed
not clumsiness or false starts
You know how to make a risotto
spot clean the carpet
change the oil
but poetry--

The maiden, ah now the budding maiden
may catch the jagged words
and learn to fit them together
so that they mesh, flex and move in sinuous pattern
and if their crystalline shapes cut her fingers
her skin is young enough to heal

The crone's withered hands move
sure, confident with long practice
slipping thought into intricate rhymes that surge,
storm with echoing ancient power

But the mother who has never written poetry hesitates
poised over the page
until the awakening baby's cry
shatters the iridescent wisp of airy nothingness
uncaught
and now ever unsung

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Well, here's an extremely creative use of an everyday object

2010-03-27T04:34:08Z

See more cardboard tube art here. Hat tip to linwesingollo for the link.

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