“Do you noooo what I’m thaaaank-fuhhhhl for?” Thalia rolls her shoulders. “Pie.” Nia anticipates today’s feast. “Yahhhhs, and,” Thalia mimes the moves of a boxer, “I’m graaaat-fuhl for all the times you wrinkle your nose while peering over your readers.”
The feast has already commenced with a "sausage ball" recipe my husband tried his hand at!
With creating visual art, I find myself challenged by proportion/dimension and patience for detail work. Mostly believing I'm fine with that... and saying, "Here. I made this." 😁 It is through repeated attempts that we improve.
Thank you Gail! :) I hope you had a wonderful day. Oh yes, patience...I'm finding drawing is excellent practice for patience. (well and motherhood too... HA!)
After sharing with you, I watched it again. I have been learning and practicing what he shares. His presentation is engaging, with clarity, simplicity, and humor.
Boxing was mandatory for plebes [freshman] at the Naval Academy. (Just males, back then, 1976 — women were "too frail and delicate" back then. Now, of course, they have women midshipmen boxing in the brigade championships.) I and a like-minded nerd classmate teamed up for each class, and we eventually had the whole thing choreographed to perfection. Not *quite* a waltz, but... dah dah dah dah dum, feint feint, duck punch, dah dah dah dah dum, jab jab, duck duck...
The final was going to be easy! Well, had to be, because failing meant taking the boxing class all over again, on our own time.
And then the coach matched us up with an opponent of his choosing. (In retrospect, our brilliant plan was probably one he saw every year. Drat.)
Two rounds. I had never seen the guy I was up against before then. He took me apart in Round 1. I never even got close to laying a glove on him.
Before Round 2, the coach took me aside and let me know that, unless I started improving A LOT, he was definitely going to fail me.
I'm pretty sure the classmate I was sparing with heard that.
The bell rang, and suddenly I was able to score points! His guard was open, not a lot, but I could get through. And my guard somehow improved to the point that I wasn't getting continually pummeled.
The bell rang. The coach gave me my grade, a "D" — a "D" was passing.
I found the guy I'd boxed at the end of class and thanked him. He shrugged it off — "Hey, that's what classmates do, right?"
What a full day already! Full of paintings, carefully chosen words, and stimulating examples of ones who chose to strive. And kept striving.
Happy Thanksgiving to all who gather at your table today. May those lacking warmth, shelter, and food be blessed with Great Spirit’s mercy, and the lovingkindness of their fellow citizens of this Earth.
I just watched a red squirrel who is using our deck as a treasure chest for its winter black walnut storage. The little red is depositing nuts in the wrought-iron, tabletop lattice work 🤭 There's another deposited at a swivel chair's base, resting on the spacing between deck boards. Somebody should write a poem about that!
Happy day to you. Beth, and the rest of your family!
A note from LoveLetterist:
I'm thinking about wholeness -- yin, yang, good, bad... and disproportionate turkey paintings. 😂
Let
us
feast
on
the
fullness
of
being
alive.
Beautiful Gail! Grateful for connecting with you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
P.S. I had at my first go at turkey drawing yesterday:) LOL...so fun and thank you for leading the way.
Happy Thanksgiving Julie!
The feast has already commenced with a "sausage ball" recipe my husband tried his hand at!
With creating visual art, I find myself challenged by proportion/dimension and patience for detail work. Mostly believing I'm fine with that... and saying, "Here. I made this." 😁 It is through repeated attempts that we improve.
Thank you Gail! :) I hope you had a wonderful day. Oh yes, patience...I'm finding drawing is excellent practice for patience. (well and motherhood too... HA!)
I truly believe the adventure of motherhood has been my greatest teacher!!! There is so much so could say about that! 😂
I agree! Loads of books to write. :) LOL
I know, right? The ideas don’t want to give me a break. 😂
That's a saying to savor, Gail. Hallmark may come calling, I predict. Enjoy all you have to feast on this year!
I've been creating a lot of memes recently.
IIRC, it was you who made a suggestion to do so a few years ago? TY!
I found the app Mematic that makes it possible for me to pair quotes and thoughts with images -- v. awesome.
I keep bumping into the "neuroscience" of visual impact. 🤔
Toss in a song and we have a trifecta! 😂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAZVtj_JsCY
Thanks Karen!
I hope you enjoy a feast today!
I do recall suggesting it! I hadn't heard of the neuroscience of visual impact. Interesting. I hope you'll tell us more one day.
I don’t think this particular talk brings in neuroscience exactly… but it’s a great beginning point!
https://youtu.be/ZqlTSCvP-Z0?si=bp5CtwiGUk9tWqo_
That's a fascinating Youtube. I can see lots of you in it!
I take that as a great compliment! Thank you. 😊
After sharing with you, I watched it again. I have been learning and practicing what he shares. His presentation is engaging, with clarity, simplicity, and humor.
It was intended that way. 😊
I kinda wish I could remember when I first saw it. I'm not sure if it was before or after I picked up pencils and paints. 🤷🏻♀️
Boxing?! <groan>
Boxing was mandatory for plebes [freshman] at the Naval Academy. (Just males, back then, 1976 — women were "too frail and delicate" back then. Now, of course, they have women midshipmen boxing in the brigade championships.) I and a like-minded nerd classmate teamed up for each class, and we eventually had the whole thing choreographed to perfection. Not *quite* a waltz, but... dah dah dah dah dum, feint feint, duck punch, dah dah dah dah dum, jab jab, duck duck...
The final was going to be easy! Well, had to be, because failing meant taking the boxing class all over again, on our own time.
And then the coach matched us up with an opponent of his choosing. (In retrospect, our brilliant plan was probably one he saw every year. Drat.)
Two rounds. I had never seen the guy I was up against before then. He took me apart in Round 1. I never even got close to laying a glove on him.
Before Round 2, the coach took me aside and let me know that, unless I started improving A LOT, he was definitely going to fail me.
I'm pretty sure the classmate I was sparing with heard that.
The bell rang, and suddenly I was able to score points! His guard was open, not a lot, but I could get through. And my guard somehow improved to the point that I wasn't getting continually pummeled.
The bell rang. The coach gave me my grade, a "D" — a "D" was passing.
I found the guy I'd boxed at the end of class and thanked him. He shrugged it off — "Hey, that's what classmates do, right?"
What a story! Last sentence is the best!
I never thought about military schools having A-F grade systems. Or… boxing classes!
What a full day already! Full of paintings, carefully chosen words, and stimulating examples of ones who chose to strive. And kept striving.
Happy Thanksgiving to all who gather at your table today. May those lacking warmth, shelter, and food be blessed with Great Spirit’s mercy, and the lovingkindness of their fellow citizens of this Earth.
I just watched a red squirrel who is using our deck as a treasure chest for its winter black walnut storage. The little red is depositing nuts in the wrought-iron, tabletop lattice work 🤭 There's another deposited at a swivel chair's base, resting on the spacing between deck boards. Somebody should write a poem about that!
Happy day to you. Beth, and the rest of your family!