My favorite birthday card

Perhaps only a parent can know you so well. This is a scan of a birthday card I received from my father some 25 years ago. It says so much about who I am and why I am here. I was so struck that he found this poster and thought of me and kept it to give to me on my birthday. There are six kids in our family so I am impressed that with such a crowd my Dad had the insight to get me so well. Here is what he wrote on the back:

Happy Birthday Kim -
This poster reminded me of you. You are such a strong individual person, but you are constantly caught up in the machine. Keep fighting it, Kim you will eventually do what you want to do. And remember, like this poster, the finger print (you) has a beautiful variation of line, it has color, texture and rhythm - just the opposite of the computer code, which is straight, static, lifeless, colorless and predictable.

I love you Kim,

Dad

Yes, that says it all for me.
Thank you Dad for knowing me so well and loving me so much.

The Photographic Art of Shadi Ghadirian

I stumbled upon the photo gallery site of Shadi Ghadirian and was so impressed I had to share it with you. I wrote to her and asked if I could share her work with my readers and she was kind enough to agree. I hope you will visit her site and view each of her photos. She makes some great observations about women in Iran but I think relevant to women everywhere. As it is most of the time, we all seem to have more in common than our differences, at least that is the feeling I get when I look through these photos. I may see them from a different vantage point as in the Qajar Gallery. I feel "where is my history?" But I think many women can totally identify with "Like Everyday" Gallery. Go visit I think you will love it!


"I am a woman and I live in Iran. I am a photographer and this is the only thing I know how to do." "It does not make a difference to me what place the Iranian woman has in the world because I am sure no one knows much about it." - Shadi Ghadirian

Beingness...

I was barely watching Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer the other night and thumbing through a few books on the bedside table, Wayne Dyer's "The Power of Intention" and Geneen Roth's "Women, Food and God". The latter because I must now lose the weight I have put back on from inability to exercise over the previous months of injury, surgery and recovery. I must be honest here, during recovery it was not uncommon for me to come downstairs and enquire "Who will be going to In & Out Burgers today?" So it was not entirely for lack of ability to exercise that caused all the weight gain. Just clearing that up...

The TV was on as background noise, I thought I was present and ready for soul searching. As I picked up these latest self help books it came to mind that there is a point of recognition that takes over my desire to change or cure myself. Oh sure I need to shed a few pounds but I see myself clearly and I like what I see. Certainly I laugh a little too loud. and I always love too hard. I feel way too much for my own good and there never seems to be any dessert that is really too rich for me. But do I really need to "fix" all this?

It was about this time that Cesar began talking to me. Well, he was talking to some dog owners about their dog problems. I like Cesar - even though I am a cat person - he is easy on the eyes if you get what I am saying. Anyway, Cesar was making some great points here.

Master the Walk - set aside time and engage the proper frame of mind, position matters, be the pack leader and define exploration time.

Achieving Balance - Calm assertive leadership not emotional arguments or outbursts. What are the needs, take responsibility for the state of mind.

Energy as Communication - Energy is what Cesar calls Beingness; it is who and what you are in every moment.

I LOVE THIS GUY!

So perhaps I am not some wild overgrown puppy tearing up the furniture or dragging my owner down the street on our walk but I do get out of hand from time to time. I forget my Beingness, I forget how to Master the Walk and then I need to work on Achieving Balance again. I don't need to fix everything in life as there is no thing that is wrong; rather recognition of my Beingness and re-setting the right frame of mind is all I really need right now.

Road Trip & Recovery

We're headed to Santa Barbra this weekend. Matt and I are taking a little get a way to unwind and relax before my surgery.

Don't worry, if you place orders on the shop they will still ship. Nina our administrative goddess will come to the rescue and ship all orders in a timely manner.

If you have read this blog then you know that entrusting Matt with post surgical care is a tricky endeavor. If not read here. But I am assured by friends and family that all will go smoothly. Matt's history of devil-may-care medical mishaps have branded him as one who can not monitor his spouses recovery alone. He loves me deeply but I just can't explain what comes over him at these times, really.

Trust me we are prepared this time. We have the Polar Care 300 a super sonic ice therapy machine that I get hooked up to that will freeze my shoulder to an appropriate temperature that will help with swelling, recovery and surely any hot flashes that might come up! I have a multitude of fetching sweatshirts and loose tops to pop over the shoulder dressing that I will be bundled in for God knows how long. I have books, movies and both my kids will be around me so I am sure that all will be well.







Though the it may not be this sunny this weekend I am sure we will have a great time! Talk to you soon...

A little travel log - Cedros Design District - Solana Beach, CA

We got out and did some shopping just up the coast the other day. If you are in the San Diego area then you have got to check out Solana Beach. It is a sleeply little beach village between Encinitas and Del Mar. If you are going by train - it has it's own stop right there across the street from the Cedros Design District. THE place to shop for all things Cool!

One of my favorite places is SoLo, a very nice warehouse with lost of sophisitcated merchants selling everything from vintage religious iconic stuff to mid-century modern pieces and sprinkled with asian antiques and topped with hip childrens goodies. Pictured above is a sweet little bowl of ceramic blue birds - a total must have!

Religious iconic goodness - I would like to get more of that going at Soul of the Rose.

Mixture of vintage silver, asian statuary and bits of whatever!

We always stop at Bon Bon too. These pictures don't do it justice. Imagine Shabby Chic meets a "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane".

They manage to take a sometimes too sweet decor and set it just on it's edge where you think "That's a little spooky"

We finished up with a great lunch out and then went home for a nap....

Tales from the couch...

So when I am sick – and I am still sick if you can believe that, I end up doing a lot of couch time. I have had more than my share of daytime TV. Here is what I can report on daytime TV: Americans most be having some serious problems with acne and erectile dysfunction because Proactive acne skin care, Viagra and Enzite ads run continuously like a video loop 24-7! Also, as it has been winter, there are lots of Snugie ads, a ridiculous product in my opinion! My other profound observation is that we as a people must be taking a lot of medications that produce unbelievable side affects. Some of the medication ads - I don’t even know what they are for - but the side effects may cause unbelievably horrible conditions that I think you may be better off just not taking that medication and suffer with your ailment. And why is America all of a sudden having such a love affair with Probiotics? Could it be all the cheeseburgers piling up?? Well as you can see I have had waaaay to much TV time.

The good news is that in between coughing, nausea, hacking and snorting I managed to work on quite a few craft projects and I will be starting to take photos and preparing to upload them on to the site this weekend. I have wanted to create more original hand-made items and, well, you can only lie around the couch for so long as you recuperate. So be sure to check back soon I will post some pictures of the new goodies very soon. Stay healthy!

Whatever you do, do not get this cold flu thing…

I have been away for all sorts of reasons lately – just busy I guess wearing myself down so that when the virus came along I was rightly acceptable to it. All I can tell you is wash your hands a lot. Take your vitamins and get the required amount of rest.

I am sure I picked this up at the wonderful Indian wedding we attended with some 500 people in attendance this last weekend. I think that is a good guess because my husband has it too. The wedding was really beautiful and the first Indian wedding I had ever been to. I really loved all the beautiful saris that were so colorful! The food was wonderful and everyone was happy and warm and inviting. However we shook hands with everyone just about so there you have it!

So I am going home to bed because my fingernails hurt and the hair on my head hurts. Why or why when you get a virus do these strange aches and pains come on? Who knew that my left forearm could hurt so much for absolutely no good reason? Well, that is about all the complaining form me for one day.

Stay healthy!