I've been doing some renovations

I added three tabs so I can link all my blogs together to this one -- and anyone interested can take a look at them from here if they like.  There's a tab for Shooters, the weekly photography challenge site, one for my new recipe site (where I will steal good recipes anywhere I can find them and share them with you after I test them out), and one where I'll upload some of my artwork as well as links to free collage materials and art ideas I find on other blogs.  I didn't want to mix them all into this Quinceberry site because I realize not everyone who visits here is interested in all of these things -- but some of you are interested in some of them.

That's a picture of my cat, Kris, up top - sitting on my lap. He's halfway to 17 years old now; I took him in two years ago after my dad died, reluctantly at first because I didn't like cats, but I've fallen in love with him.  I thought I'd share that bit of my life with you today, as I so enjoy seeing glimpses of yours when I visit your blogs.

Alice in Wonderingland

"Who is your favorite character in Alice in Wonderland?"

This question came up recently in my art journaling group. I realize I am perhaps the only person in the Universe (yes I might be exaggerating, she says with a sigh) who has neither read nor seen any version of Alice, et al, so I am looking forward to seeing the movie. I've been told that I "should read the book first" and etc., but if I see the movie first I won't have that nasty problem of being disappointed that the limitations of film can't match the boundless flights of my imagination -- which usually happens when I read first, watch next.

So.

I know there is a cat. I think i might like a cat, done well. (Unless he is sneaky and predatory. Then he's out.) I know there is a rabbit. He looks a bit scary, as if he is about to gnaw on my nose, but could be friendly and funny.

The rest of the characters are a blur to me right now - something about Queens and two large humpty-dumpty fellows who seem goofy and unlikely to become my favorites. If you asked me the same question about, say, Winnie the Pooh characters, I'd have a ready answer. But thinking about Alice in Wonderland just serves to remind me that I have missed this entire cultural phenomenon. Or maybe the whole story just seems so darned confusing and nightmarish that I've been resisting it. Not sure.

Time out of Time

Today my computer clock and my wristwatch had a disagreement. The problem was me, of course.   I have been in a cave and missed the usual fuss that precedes the changing of the clocks for daylight savings.

I guess we really are saving daylight;  up and awake when we could be sleeping.  But my life activities aren’t sunshine-dependent, especially here in New York City where the lights shine 24 hours a day.  I’ll do all the same things I would normally do, so it doesn’t matter much to me. (Though for God’s sake, would it hurt so much for the rain to stop and the sun to come out for just a little while?) 

But what if I really got some extra hours?  Not particularly of sunshine or darkness but a secret compartment of two sacred hours – time out of time every day to do anything I wanted.  What would I really do, honestly, and what does that really say about me?  Would I do the same things I do now when I think I don't have enough time? Would I work more?  Sleep?  Paint? Read?  Would I do something I don’t normally do or do more of what I usually do?   

I'd like to think that I would be very protective of those two hours and that I would use them judiciously.  Monday's two hours are for art.  Tuesday's are for reading. Wednesday's are for catching up with friends or extended family. Thursdays? hmmm...long hot baths.  I'll leave Friday open for serendipity.  Saturday for extra time with my husband. And Sunday will be my two hours of spiritual enrichment.

That's what I'd like to think. And maybe I would. For a while.

And you?

Trains

When my kids were five and seven, we took a train ride as an excursion. I wanted them to know what it was like.


Now that I live in Manhattan, I ride on trains all the time. Subway trains are my preferred method of transport, (taxis literally make me sick) and above-ground trains are the way I get from state to state to visit my family.


I've become a conoisseur of trains. The cheapest ones -- $2 for a subway ride all around Manhattan -- are also the ones that come with the stinky smell of someone eating an everything bagel or a guy panhandling or a woman selling Jesus by the pound. The moderately-priced trains are the in-state or interstate locals that are sometimes surprisingly good but could feature the man behind you making a loud phone call to his cousin Vinny or his broker in Philly. You just don't know. The best (and most expensive) are the Acela business class trains - and I especially LOVE the quiet cars. They are roomy and have an outlet so you can keep your laptop or phone charge throughout the trip. There are curtains on the windows  and the seats surround you like a cocoon. You barely know you are on a
train. Often they are non-stop, or minimally you have a very few stops to your destination.

When I was in Italy last year we took trains around the country and loved the experience. I felt like I was in a foreign film, really. Pippi Longstalking goes Orient Express.  It's a bit like flying, as your specific seat is reserved and the train attendant comes around and serves food and beverages rather than having to go to the food car to get some burnt coffee and bagels. The first class cars are separated into little seating sections where you can face each other and actually--it's a pretty great way to travel.

Are you a train person?