Half a Sheep, Reporting

Hello! 1/2 here!

The Rabbit Room is Rockin'! Motown! Painting! Writing!!

Since everyone is kind of busy, I asked if I could report today.

I've been wanting to say some stuff anyhow

For one thing, I've been blaming everything on the boogie, but, Dad says we can learn another lesson from Motown star, Yvonne Elliman, about using double negatives. He told me that in her one song, the line "If I can't have you, I don't want nobody, baby," actually means "If I can't have you, I want someone else."

He said that's called a double negative, and that that Yvonne Elliman is one tricky so-and-so, making people think she means one thing, when she really means something else.

People think sheep are dumb. But, my Dad says we're just tricky, too.

(Does anyone know what a so-and-so is? Dad won't tell me.)

My Dad also says there are 2 Sheep in this so-called Rabbit Room and only 1 Rabbit. We wonder why no one calls it the Sheep Room?

Oh, wait. My Dad wants to say something.

[Stock Photo]

"75, here."

"What my son, 1/2, is trying to say is, well, I mean, we're cute, too. Sure, we don't have long flowing ears like Some Animals, and OK, maybe we don't move at all. And maybe because we don't move we're not great on camera. And maybe we do need plastic Hello Kitty heads underneath us to prop us up, but does that mean we don't deserve the same rights and liberties of Certain Other Animals?"

"OK, son. Back to you."

[Actual Photo]

Fanks, Dad.

"Son, take your hoof out of your mouth"

But, Dad, there's thomething thtuck in my brathes.

"Just take your hoof out of your mouth, 1/2. Do as I say."

OK, OK! Geez! The orthodontist said I'll have to wear these braces forever. That really bummed me out.

Well, I guess I'm at the end of my time. I didn't really get to my report, but maybe next time!

This has been 1/2 a Sheep reporting to you from the Shee--er--well, the Rabbit Room.

Editorial Comment From Miss Zoe:

"I would like to submit this photo of myself to the discussion. This is why it's called the Rabbit Room. Does it get any cuter than a Rabbit in a barrette? Seriously?

"Sheep are going to have to crank it up a notch, if they want the Room. They can bring it. I'll be waiting...."

Flip Friday

Can it possibly be Friday again? Already??

Miss Zoe said that besides it being Friday, she is also hot.

(I'm not sure what those two things have to do with one another. Do you?)

That is actually a bit of drama on her part. She WAS hot. Now, she's the coolest Animal in the house.

While the cats and the Blisschick spent their day dripping off the furniture, barely able to stay in solid form due to the humidity, Miss Zoe kicked back comfy in her air conditioned Rabbit Room.

Rabbits, you know. They like Comfort. They like things to be...well...a Certain Way.

And They are Rabbits. So they get things how They want them.

I always think that the cats will run right up to the Rabbit Room once the window AC unit is turned on.

But, no. Apparently, they prefer the molten lava approach.

"OK. Fine. Those cats can melt all over the couch for all I care," Miss Zoe says as she meticulously trims her toenails. "I just don't want to hear any meow, meow, meowing about the heat is all."

(Don't let Miss Zoe fool you. She loves her cats! She's just mad that they think it's too hot to come upstairs for a visit.)

I know-- you FEEL Miss Zoe's pain, don't you? You FEEL her dinstinct lack of cats?

So, here's a couple videos to help ease your pain a little.

In the first movie, we see Miss Zoe, telling anyone who cares to watch, that, as you can see, her dish is EMPTY!!!




In this second movie, a sequel if you will, you see Miss Zoe feeling pleased that her dish has, indeed, been filled.



And, it is Good.

She's hoping this helped you to feel better.

If she's helped even one of you, it was well worth her time.

Don't you think?

Blame it on the What???

First off, I'd like to say that there's some sort of Animal in my Writing Room.

It's staring at me.

Look at it. See?

Please, save me from this Animal!!

Please!! Someone help me!!

What is this intense stare about, you ask? Well, that's a good question. And, one I'm prepared to answer.

As I mentioned on Monday, since I had my

"I LOVE LOVING THINGS!!"

revelation on Saturday, Miss Zoe and I have been painting and listening to...well... Motown.

OK, so you have to understand. I've not ever listened to Motown. I grew up listening to a lot of things (as I've mentioned in the past).

We listened to show tunes.

We listened to Hawaiian music.

We listened to our share of Herb Alpert.

We listened to classical, jazz, 40's and 50's tunes, Johnny Cash, and on and on.

My sister, almost 5 years my senior, listened pretty exclusively to Classic Rock. (In fact, one of my first concerts was going to see The Who with her and her friends. We ended up sitting next to a very friendly, giggly, and relaxed group of people with a giant bag of "oregano.")

When I was in junior high school, I discovered punk and alternative (or "college music" as it was called by Billboard). And that was sort of where I stopped until the last few years.

Never Motown. Nope. Skipped it.

Well, my Motown Era has come. And, I LOVE IT!!

(Blisschick here: Frog has completely opened up MY music horizons. I was a little...limited when I met her. BUT I must take credit for the Motown! I have love love loved it for a LONG time. Her first real sampling came about a year ago when I showed her the video for Don't Stop Til You Get Enough.)

That's what the staring was about. Miss Zoe also loves her some Motown. We've begun to call it Rabbit Music.

It's so happy!! It's so fun!! It makes you want to dance!!

Zoe and I have our Pandora Radio application on our iPod tuned into Jackson 5. (That means we also get a little 80's Michael Jackson, and I have to say that Miss Zoe was a little distressed that we had to endure Man in the Mirror yesterday. But, hey, it's only like 4 minutes of her life, right?)

You may wonder, "Well it all sounds good-- all the fun, happy dancing. But what can you learn from it?"

So, let me share a few things I've gleaned:

1. Gotta lay that 9 to 5 up on the shelf.

2. Smokey Robinson's songs all seem to center around clowns. The Blisschick has assured me that it's only because there were a lot of songs about clowns during that time. Hmmm...

3. You shouldn't blame it on the sunshine. You shouldn't blame it on the moonlight. You shouldn't blame it on the good times. You should blame it on the boogie.

4. You should make an effort to shake your booty down to the ground.

I can see myself using #3 at work. Can you picture it? Someone's at the library circulation desk complaining about her fines and saying, "What is wrong with you people that you just can't check things in right?"

I would look directly into her flashing angry eyes and respond: "Must be the boogie."

Well, maybe not. But maybe...

For now, Miss Zoe and I will just say these things to each other. And to the cats and the Blisschick, of course. :)

In closing, I'm posting a couple of pictures from the Rabbit Room walls. The first is a picture of the wall above my easel. You can see the picture of Baby Audrey in the lower left hand corner.

The second picture is a detail of the Baby Audrey section.

Zoe the Rabbit!!

Detail of the Baby Audrey section.
She's boogie-ing on to Sparkle Pond!

OK, well, I'd better get the Motown going. Goodness knows what will happen if I don't.

I mean, you saw that face, didn't you?

You'd put on the Motown pretty darn fast, too. Trust me on that.

Happy Summer

Happy Summer!!

A Bumblebee in the Great Asparagus Forest

After the last two weeks we've had, we here at the Lilypad are ready for some fun!

And on that topic, I thought I'd share a realization I had over the weekend.

Let me start by saying that I haven't painted in awhile. I shared a couple of weeks ago that I simply realized that I needed to focus on writing, and that fact hasn't really changed. But sometimes, it's good not to follow Rules. Even Rules you've made up yourself.

Maybe especially those Rules.

I got home from work on Friday, and we had a funeral for Baby Audrey Rabbit. We said a few words, wrapped her in her cloth where she had lovingly snuggled her cute and tiny self during her stay in our home, and we committed her body to the ground underneath our crab apple tree. We buried her with a fresh, ripe strawberry picked from our own, little strawberry plants. A bit of something for her trip to Sparkle Pond.

Afterward, I went up to see Zoe, and she, as usual, had a few words for me: "Paint that little rabbit," she encouraged me as we were laying on the Rabbit Room Floor hugging. "Go on," she said. "Get up and do it."

It's Very Important to listen to one's Rabbit. I know this well. I listened.

I got up right then and there and painted that Little Baby Bunny on the Rabbit Room wall.

It was the right thing to do.

Then Saturday started out not so well. I woke up feeling sad. Worn out. Tired. Not like myself.

We did a few things in the morning, and sometime in the late morning, I got this comment from Carla:

Several years ago, a friend of mine lost her mother to cancer. After her burial, we all went to her house, and she sat down on the floor to do shiva (mourning)with her father. Needless to say, it was very devastating. She was an only child and extremely close to her mother ... All the windows were opened, it was a beautiful day .. as she sat there in tears, a little bird flew in, and perched itself on her head; it was surreal. People tried to catch the little creature, but with no luck. The Rabbi urged them to stop but with no explanation why... he simply said to let the bird be, and when it would be ready to go, it would. Well, the bird flew to my friends room, and that's where it stayed, perched on a shelf, for several days. My friend left her window opened, and it finally left after several days ... The Rabbi then explained, that many times when a person dies and leaves his or her body, it will inhabit an animal's so it can be around and comfort the ones they left behind.

Maybe , someone was doing the same thing for you :0)

What?? WOW!!!

This comment changed my whole perspective. Maybe Baby Audrey wasn't supposed to add to our sadness. DUH!!! Maybe she was sent here to help comfort us after our recent losses.

It changed my day. Amazing, how that can happen.

Soon after, the Blisschick said to me, "Frog (as she calls me), I think you need to have some fun. You need to do some painting."

It is Very Important, also, to listen to one's Blisschick. I know this. I listened.

So all day, I painted and we danced and giggled and listened to Motown. And I thought about the comfort Baby Audrey's short presence here could give me if only I would just let it.

And then, late in the day, I found myself yelling down the stairs to the Blisschick, who was sitting in her chair reading:

"I love loving things!!"

And that, Dear Reader, was my realization.

Things can be hard. People and Animals we Love come and go.

But the Loving of them? Always worth it.

Always.

Sadness

A wee note to let you all know that Baby Audrey was not made for this world. We feel honored to have had any time with her, and we hope we made her short life as sweet as possible.

We had a small funeral for her, and she is now resting under the crab apple at the bottom of the yard.

We know she is already having fun at Sparkle Pond with Jobie and Ernie and all sort of special, sparkle animals.

Flip Friday

As I sit here this morning at my writing desk, I am surrounded by something new.

Well, not surrounded, maybe.

But there is something new.

What, you ask? What, you wonder?

Then, you hear Miss Zoe over in the corner. She's munching hay, but she manages to burp out "Baby food. It's baby rabbit formula. Sigh."

Baby rabbit formula, you think? WHAT?

That's right. Don't worry, though-- no one is going to take over Zoe's spot as Rabbit of the House.

You see, we are only the temporary foster parents of... someone new.

It's a Baby Rabbit. (Did you already guess that?)

We call her Baby Audrey. Though she may be Baby Felix. We're not sure.

Neighbor Bill's dog, Pilot, found Baby Audrey and brought her to us, unharmed, in his mouth. We searched for a nest that would contain Baby Audrey's relations, but we had no luck. So, the Blisschick got a box and we brought her inside (safe from the stray cat posse he have in the yard lately) and started researching.

We found out that we shouldn't touch her too much (seems obvious-- she's a WILD bunny!), so we are trying VERY HARD not to, though, as you can imagine it's not easy. But, it's for her own good.

[In the video you will see in a moment, I am holding her in my hand, but it's only while she eats. That was my Rabbit Touching Disclaimer.]

Baby Audrey eats Kitten Milk Replacer. So far, she seems to like it well enough.

Today is day 3. She has eaten and... ahem... eliminated, so it seems as though all systems are go. She is resting comfortably in a heated rabbit condo as I write. Today, I will call a wildlife rehabilitation center called Tamarack, which is near us. As much as we enjoy having Baby Audrey in the house, we want her to survive. We want to eventually re-release her to the Great Outdoors. When she's ready.

And, as Miss Zoe would point out, we are in NO WAY Rabbit Professionals.

And so... INTRODUCING (drum roll, please!).... BABY AUDREY!!!



And, of course, no Flip Friday would be complete without an appearance from Miss Zoe. She'll be glad when the Wild Bunny is out of her room! Though, she has to admit, Baby Audrey is kind of cute.

Miss Zoe will now show off her own cuteness in this video:



Enjoy your weekend! Come back next week! Same Rabbit Time! Same Rabbit Channel!

Interrupting Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

Blisschick here.

Marcy -- or "Frog" as we call her here in the Lilypad -- has had a couple of Tiring Days. First, she had to go to the pre-funeral viewing for her dear friend and colleague, Susan, and then she had to speak at the funeral.

Now she did an amazing job, of course, but she used up Many Words to say What Needed to Be Said, and so she finds her Word Bank is precariously close to empty.

I figured, No Problem! I'll just ask Miss Zoe. She always has so much to say! But when I went to ask her, this was the response I got:

I, apparently, do not have the Rabbit Magic that our Frog has.

I thought, okay, I don't have the Rabbit Magic, but I certainly have the Lilly the Cat Magic!


"You want me to do WHAT?"

"I said, could you write some witty and funny things for Frog's blog for Wednesday? Miss Zoe doesn't seem up to it."

"And what made you think I was the Animal to ask? Do I look like I have time for blogging? Do you see how busy I am?"

I left it at that. I don't want to make Lilly-the-Bird-Who-is-Really-a-Cat angry. Have you ever seen the size of her thumbs?! All FOUR of them!?

Frog, and presumably Miss Zoe, will return to regularly scheduled programming on Friday with Flip Friday, of course.

Simple Gifts

This blog is supposed to be about Art and Mammals.

And, usually, I leave the Deep Thoughts to the Blisschick.

But lately, as anyone who reads either this blog or Blisschick's already knows, we have had some Major Things going on that have made my Art, at least, come to a temporary halt. Instead of writing or even painting, I have had to do some... Thinking.

Sigh. I'm not that good at Thinking.

As for the Mammals, well, they are usually in a state of halting. They call it "conserving energy." Otherwise known as laying around, resting, or lounging.

Please observe Exhibit A:


And for further evidence, Exhibit B:

Over the past week, Death has Kindly stopped, as Emily Dickinson would say, for two of our friends. They were in pain and exhausted by their diseases, and so Death was truly Kind in Stopping.

But, it leaves the rest of us here with some emptiness. We are left with trying to Understand the Big Picture of it all.

Earlier in the week, I was at work and I emailed the Blisschick to say this:

I was given the opportunity to spend an evening with Ken (along with the Blisschick, our friend, Miss Kitty, and Ken's wife, Debbie) that was perhaps his last good meal. His last good day where he felt like socializing. Where he felt like Himself.

In addition to that, I was given an opportunity to spend an hour with Susan while she was in the hospital. It, too, was perhaps her last time of feeling good. A time when she asked about others and we laughed and talked as if everything were Normal even though her liver had turned into an alien tumor.

And so I said to the Blisschick, "Why was I given these experiences? What is the Universe trying to teach me?"

She responded by saying the following: "Consider the possibility that the Universe is bestowing an Amazing Gift upon you. Perhaps you should stop thinking about it, and just accept that Gift."

Easier said than done.

But I'm trying.

Perhaps the Universe is trying to tell me to accept. Accept Everything as a Gift.

Life.

Death.

Time.

"And, of course," Miss Zoe piped in while I was Thinking, "Art and Mammals. We are Gifts." Then, she added, "Especially Rabbits. Really, Rabbits are the Best Gift."

What Simple Gifts are you Appreciating today? (And don't forget to put "rabbits" at the top of the list, or someone may.....well.... do something...)

Flip Friday

It's weeks like these that make you extra glad to have Animal Companions in the House.

If you have them.

Which, of course, we do.

It's weeks like these that make you extra glad to be Happy with your Life.

If you are.

Which, of course, we strive to get better at every single day.

At the beginning of the week, our friend Ken passed away, or as we say in this House, he got his Sparkle Suit.

Now, at the end of the week, we are waiting for news of our friend, Susan, who is in the process right this moment of picking out the most Perfect Sparkle Suit she can find.

It's sad, but it's also peaceful in many ways to see suffering end.

When good people like Ken and Susan walk the Earth for however long, it is as Important to remember to Celebrate their lives as it is to mourn the loss of them.

And so, we continue on, Living Life as they would want us to: having fun, finding joy in the simple things, and enjoying Everything We Can.

It is in that Spirit that I offer up today's Flip Friday offerings.

The first of Miss Lilly, enjoying pure, unadulterated Playfulness:



And the second, of Miss Zoe enjoying some hard-earned crunchies.

Actually, they weren't hard-earned. They were given freely solely due to her presence and her X-treme cuteness.

But , I guess that's sort of the same thing.



In any case, enjoy the weekend.

And when I say that, I mean it. ENJOY it thoroughly.

Is there a Dream Interpreter in the House?

Did you ever have one of those dreams?

You know the ones I mean. Disjointed. Weird.

At first when you wake up, you think, "Wow! That was so, like, meaningful!"

When I have these dreams, I wake up convinced that they make sense.

Like the dream I had about the cat sitting totally enraptured by the different kinds of coffee in the coffee aisle at the grocery store. That makes sense, right?

Or, the dream I had about the Elephant Panda Dog. You know, the one in the kick line that looked right at me and winked. Now that was profound. Wasn't it?

Elephant Panda Dog this!

So, the other night, I had one of those dreams.

In my dream a couple of events took place.

The first thing was that I woke and walked down the hallway to feed Zoe. So far, so good, right?

Mmmmm.... not quite. The gate to her room was open and Zoe was nowhere to be found. There were a few other other rabbits in her room, lined up neatly in their own little Willow Chalets, resting. Also, Zoe's room was not Zoe's actual, current room-- it was my bedroom from when I was little in the house I grew up in.

In lieu of herself and inside her empty Chalet, Miss Zoe had left a handwritten note, a list of sorts for my perusal. The list was labeled at the top: "HOUSEHOLD ENERGY POLICIES," and it continued on to outline the things she did not like. I woke the Blisschick to show her the list. Her response? "Oh, that RABBIT!" (Miss Zoe's handwriting, I am Proud to say, was very neat.)

"And, why shouldn't I be concerned with
Household Energy Policies?"

Then, there was a knock at the door. We went downstairs and opened the door to find Spider-Man standing there in strange, large, thick, squarish glasses. The Blisschick responded to this sight by saying, "Oh, it's YOU!" and promptly shut the door on him.

This is SO the face of someone who would slam the door on Spidey!

Again, the door we opened and closed on Spider-Man was in the kitchen of the house I grew up in, not in our current kitchen.

I must say, Spider-Man looked quite forlorn as the door swung closed in his bespectacled face. Poor Spidey. He kind of made a pouty lip. Not that attractive on a Superhero, I have to say.

And, so I ask: Is there a Dream Interpreter out there? Someone who can tell me why the phrase Household Energy Policies would show up in my dream, when, to me those are not really words? I mean, I would never venture to say those words in real life.

As for Spider-Man? Come on-- help me out here.

I have to say, Blisschick and I had a good laugh about it all. The things she said "Oh, that Rabbit!" and "Oh, it's you!" seem like pretty typical Blisschick statements, actually, which added to the funny.

But seriously, if this dream is supposed to mean something deep about my subconscious, I'm kind of curious as to what.

In the meantime, Miss Zoe is simply hoping that if the Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus show up outside her window, that Spider-Man remembers it was Blisschick and not her who slammed the door on him.

I'm pretty sure he'll remember.

For Ken

Today, we both celebrate a life and say farewell to our good friend, Ken Honard.

My tribute will pale in comparison with Blisschick's.

Nevertheless, I made a video in Honor of Ken.

He loved to cook and eat wonderful food.

He loved to drink delicious wines.

He loved to travel and especially loved Florence, Italy. Who doesn't?

He loved color and art and music.

He loved reading and culture.

He loved laughter and life.

He also loved rabbits.

And it is for that reason that I am posting a video of Zoe in his honor.

This video in honor of our good friend, Ken, is a reminder to grab life by the radish greens.

In other words, to live life to the fullest. To enjoy everything with the joy and abandon of a rabbit eating her fresh, rain-kissed salad from the yard.

The video is accompanied by the Pink Martini song, Sympathique, which for whatever reason, is a song I associate with Ken. We, the Blisschick, our friend Miss Kitty, Ken and his wife Debbie and a few others and I went to see Pink Martini twice together.

Whenever I listen to Pink Martini, I think of Ken.

I guess that's enough explanation.



I would like to thank the Universe for Ken.

He loved and was loved.

Flip Friday

Miss Zoe can't believe it's Friday again!

I told her, "Look, we need some footage of you doing something. Anything. You're so cute that it doesn't even matter what you do. We just need a movie to post."

She bounced away. Turned her back to me.

I followed her, petted her tail and added, "Think of your fans, you know? They expect it."

This last part perked her up a bit. She turned to look at me.

But here's the thing: Zoe's in the midst of her Summer Preparatory Molt. She's working on growing out the softest and lightest of her seasonal coats.

(For those of you in the crowd who are, shall we say "Rabbit Challenged," every few months, bunnies go through a molting process. Zoe, being a mini rex bunny-- and I've read is the case with all mini rexes-- loses GIANT CHUNKS of hair during her molts.)

During a big molt like this, we lay on the floor together, and I scratch her little rabbit body and pull chunks of hair from her coat. She seems to really dig it. That loose hair probably gets itchy.

Strangely, she does not dig being brushed. I think it tickles.

In this picture, you can see tiny evidence of the molt-- see the ridgey, shadowy looking line near her left eye? We call such spots her "hair craters."

Also, when her body molts, the orange spots on her sides molt differently than the white hair of which she is chiefly comprised.

The way she molts differently for different colors of hair leads to what we call her "crop circles."

Well. That is what they look like.

The point of all of this story of crop circle molting and such is to tell you that Miss Zoe is a little self-conscious about her appearance right now.

She doesn't want her public to think that she is unkempt. Or, that she's depressed because her movie star boyfriend just broke up with her. Or, that she's been abducted by aliens. Or, that... well, she had a million things in mind that others might think.

I told her, "Zoe, this isn't the Star or the Enquirer, you know. No one's even going to notice that your fur isn't perfectly smooth. Now, eat this radish green and show me some cute rabbit lip action!"

Rabbits! So fastidious.

But, she did answer the call.

And so, here is what miss Zoe has for you this week.

First, Miss Zoe in "Radish Greens."

Pay close attention to the way the chlorophyll from the very fresh (straight-from-the-neighbor's-garden-fresh) radish green stains her lips in a way that makes her look as though she's wearing green lip gloss.



And, because you've been so good, here's a special treat. A movie with no soundtrack, so you, too, can hear the beauty of her little, crunching mouth.

Here's Miss Zoe in "(An Almost) Silent Movie:"




ENJOY!!

Decisions, decisions

One of the things I find most difficult in life is making decisions.

I am usually pretty OK with whatever happens in my world.

That's probably a good thing when you live with these two monsters:

MONSTERS!!

OK, I guess they're not really monsters.

They are actually pretty sweet...

...as long as you keep them fed.
And, you don't poke them!

Having two creative Animals in one house, plus five other (rather nappy) Animals, who expect constant entertainment from the first two, can be a lot.

Blisschick and I are, of course, both writers. Blisschick is working on various fiction and non-fiction projects, her blog, and her poetry. I am concentrating on writing novels and my blog. We meet weekly with our writing group. We are expected to produce.

In addition, I also fancy myself a visual artist, concentrating effort on painting Animals. I absolutely love to paint and draw. Especially Animals.

Besides that, I still have my full time job at the Library, and the Blisschick has her own full time job at home, taking care of all of our business ventures, as well as doing all the mundane tasks like running to the post office and the Food Co-Op, or doing the laundry to name just a few.

Meanwhile...

Mr. Scottie naps.

Miss Rosie basks.

Miss Lilly snores.

Miss Emmie crouches.

And, together, they form sleepy nests that emit
sleep inducing Cat Breath Traps in to our lovely home.

Of course, Miss Zoe spends her time
convincing herself that those cats are not real.

I know-- if only we could get them to clean their own litter boxes or mow the lawn or something.

Zoe claims that she hired a team of minion rabbits to help with the lawn, but they don't seem to get too far, usually. Though they have done a pretty good job on keeping the baby chard plants "mowed." Hmmmm... perhaps Zoe gave them faulty instructions?

The point is that, recently, the Blisschick and I had to have a talk. I sometimes feel as though I'm not really getting anywhere. (Of course, I know I really am, since it's the process that's important, blah, blah, blah.)

But that doesn't stop me (or us) from placing expectations on our Arts. We both think to ourselves, "If only I could become FAMOUS!"

Of course, famosity is not our goal. We live a pretty simple and modest life, and would just like to be able to support ourselves with our Art. Whatever that may be-- writing, painting, whatever.

So, in the talk Blisschick had with me, she explained the Importance of Making Decisions.

Because I have a full time job, because I enjoy yard work, because when I am home I want to spend time with all my Mammals having fun, which includes, sometimes, spontaneous trips to the beach or sitting in the sun all day reading and watching birdies, or sometimes laying on the Rabbit Room floor, because of all that... it means I won't have time all the time to do EVERYTHING.

That is a difficult concept for me. I want to do EVERYTHING. But unless I magically become a robot like the character Cameron on Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, I still also need to sleep and eat and stuff.

Hence the can't do EVERYTHING bit.

Here comes the hard part: We had to make some decisions about some things.

What I decided for now, is to try concentrating for awhile on writing. I have some painting projects to finish up, and I will certainly still sketch and draw and paint here and there.

But for now, I'm going to concentrate on trying to find an agent for my first completed novel and work on finishing my second.

I do like to do EVERYTHING. And, eventually, I want to get back to doing at least a little more of EVERYTHING. But, for now, I just need to put my full energy into SOMETHING!!

So, writing it is. At least for the Summer.

Writing and waiting on Miss Zoe, that is.

One can't forget that second part, can one?

Time Out!

Erie, Pennsylvania is a fairly small town. I think we have about 100,000 people who live in the city. Two of them are the Blisschick and me, of course.

But, don't let the small town thing fool you. We still get plenty of excitement here. If you saw my post from Memorial Day weekend, you'll see we went to the Russian Festival, the local brewpub, and many days over the past week, when I had some days off, we went to the beach.

But, wait-- it gets better.

Within a few mile radius of our home (a.k.a. The Lilypad), are two universities within the city limits. One of them, Mercyhurst College, often has AMAZING concerts at their D'Angelo Performing Arts Center.

And this past weekend, their amazing concert was none other than...

THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET!!!

If you're a jazz fan, you're probably already familiar with Dave Brubeck. But, if you're not, check out this video. It will give you an idea of what you've been missing:



Of course, that video is from a few years ago. Now, he's almost 90.

I have loved Dave Brubeck for most of my life. When I told my mom we were going to see him, she said, "How exciting! Your father and I used to listen to him when we were in college." Then, she added to my father: "Who knew he was still alive?"

Well, Mom, hopefully someone did. Preferably himself.

Dave Brubeck has done so much to change the face of jazz. The Blisschick and I were just discussing the other day how we can totally hear his influence on everything from other jazz musicians like Brad Mehldau to alternative groups like Spoon.

It was amazing to watch Dave Brubeck on stage. Though he's been in and out of the hospital-- he said he'd only played one other time in the past two months-- when he sat down at the piano, it was like he was 40 years old.

And the other guys in his quartet were simply AMAZING.

We even got the extra special bonus of hearing Matt Brubeck, Dave's son, play the cello. Yes, the jazz cello, the improvisational jazz cello. What a treat to see father and son on stage. He was so proud of his son. A lot of the time, when his son was playing, he would just sit back and smile. Or clap. Or dance. Cool.

Seeing Dave Brubeck was meeting a lifelong goal. And it was a total accident that it happened. I just happened to come across info about the concert a week and a half before. And, there just happened to still be tickets left.

Well, that's fine with me.

It's like the Universe really wanted us to see Dave Brubeck.

Thanks, Universe.

Too bad Miss Zoe couldn't go. She would have loved it.