National Day of something or other

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:54:57 -0700

A friend sent out a mass email this morning about tomorrow being the National Day of Prayer and how important it is to pray. And my initial reaction was strong and negative. It was “What good is prayer when hearts and minds of the people are already made up and God has been stuffed in a tiny little church shaped box, sealed with a kiss and put on the upper shelf in the closet?”

Uh…

yeah!

Surprised me too!

And this is exactly what pastor preached about Sunday. He talked about how we quit praying when we get disillusioned about how ineffective our prayers sometimes feel. And I watched a beautiful couple come forward and pray again for children. And since I’ve been there I about lost it. I was playing piano and could clearly see the pain in their prayer. It was horrible in a really risky vulnerable beautiful sort of way. Lots of tears and in that little clump of praying faithful ones.

So… I’m trying to wriggle my way out of my unbelief and fatalism and try on something a little more like hope and faith… Yeah, let’s pray for our nation tomorrow. Not because it’s the National Day of Prayer (which means little to me.) But because God is big enough to change hearts and minds, and prayer is still the avenue he chooses to use to bring about that change. We need Him. I need Him. I have friends who need Him. My children need Him. Yeah, but most of all I need Him.

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Why do the Democrats eat their own? (Or Why Rev Jeremiah Wright gets it Wrong.)

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:51:46 -0700

I have followed the Rev Jeremiah Wright story a little bit. I don’t watch much in the way of network news so I’ve missed *some* of the flurry of sound bytes. I spent some time on YouTube watching some of Rev Wright’s speeches in full. Not just the ten second bytes. I am no expert on this man but I have felt very sympathetic toward him, thrust as he has been, into a spotlight he didn’t ask for. Well, he doesn’t seem to mind it really, now does he?!

I’ve heard his recent comments quoted on NPR. A few interesting tidbits include references to the tragic Tuskegee Syphilis Study. And something about AIDS being caused by the US government. And a few other things that I’ve also heard from economically challenged members of the black community. Considered opinions as to the injustice of the US government toward her own people. Are these opinions widely held? It would seem so. And I sympathize. When something is widely perceived as truth, the actual truth is of little consequence. But when these things are said in the light of day with a white audience, people get a little shocked. And perhaps rightly so. I’ve been very surprised the whole time this story ran, wondering how it ever got to the air waves.

Here’s the thing I find most unsettling. Obama has denounced Rev Wright in the strongest possible terms. Yet the good Rev has only articulated what many Afro-American’s believe. And here is a charming black pastor, who seems to be saying in effect “Come on Obama, fess up! We all know you agree with me.” It’s almost as if Rev Wright is defining what it means to be a Black, Christian, and Democrat in America. It’s as if Obama has crossed the line and there is the good Reverend calling him back into the fold. No thanks! I didn’t like it when the Republicans told us what it meant to be White and Christian (backed by Reverands Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell) and I don’t like it now. (There is more to leadership than being AGAINST some things.)

The good Rev Wright is Wrong. If there is a possibility that a good man, who happens to be Christian and Democrat can make a difference in the future of this country and begin to be a positive change against that injustice that angers those with a conscience… If someone could take the power in Washington out of the hands of the wealthy few and put it into the hands of the people… If decency and compassion could be seen as signs of integrity rather than weakness… If the blood-letting of the Iraq war could come to a close… If one man has the audacity to hope, and more than a million contributors share this audacity... If any of these things could be seen on the horizon in American politics, wouldn’t it just be time to take your wounded pride, sit down and shut up?!

No, this is the land of free speech. We don’t keep silence here. Hate speech, inappropriate speech, stupid speech, lewd language, not to mention propaganda and spin. Our speech may be free but amongst all the babble the truth is increasingly difficult to find.

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I've been Framed!

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:07:44 -0700

JoY framed

ooOOOpppsy! I've been FRAMING... silly me!

CAT framed

I am hoping to have my alphabet photography juried into a local gallery and so I’ve framed up some words to give them a feel for how they look so they can pass judgment.

DOG framed

It really is fun to see this sort of thing come together. So take a look and let me know what you think.

Hope 2

It would have been easiest to make all the letters available unframed and people can find their own frames at Target or Michael’s or wherever, then they don’t have to worry about transporting glass (or shipping glass which can be a real nightmare) and such.

LOVE framed

But it’s also great for people to see how nicely they frame up and how the word really begins to show up rather than just a few quirky photographs stuck together. I must be easy to please, but this really has been fun!

Peace 2

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Here's what Brown did for me!

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:08:45 -0700

I adore my UPS man! Three (yes, count em) boxes came this afternoon. I don’t get to see my UPS guy very often since I closed my gallery so now it is a real treat to see Mr Brown lookin all strong and efficient!

I’ve taken special interest in seeing exactly how fast I can blow through my Virginia State Tax return. I’m pretty good at this, believe me!

The first box was from QVC (don’t judge me.) I took advantage of a “today’s special value” offer on Philosophy products. Cause I’m a philosophy girl and I love everything they make that I’ve ever tried! Which is why I am 39 1/2 but can pass for not a day over 39 1/4! *giggle!*

The second box was full of thirty pounds of white powder, some of which had leaked and it looked like the plastic bags inside were broken. Turns out it is three bags and they aren’t actually broken, though they are a royal white powdery mess. One has sodium bicarbonate, the other corn starch and the third bag is ten pounds of citric acid. Now if I were to dump all that in a bathtub of water right now, it would probably blow the bathroom off my house. And while I ponder the various delightful aspects of that idea, I had to remind myself of why such an obscenely heavy box ever made it to my studio to begin with. Because I’ve paid $2 for a tiny little container of citric acid and by comparison this huge box was a steal. So I’ve got enough “spa soak” for all of Vox to have delightful fizzy baths every day for a week! Oy!

The final box included thirty pounds of soap. Yeah! They come in gigantic bars that weigh five pounds each. I recently had my soap excepted into a gallery in Harrisonburg so now I have the supplies to get into soap making again. Yay! A while back my house was all about chocolate. Right now it looks like it’s going to be all about soap. There isn’t much difference in working with chocolate and soap actually, except for how often I lick my fingers.

Thank you Mr. Brown, you made my day!

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My Air Handler System Dilema

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:21:06 -0700

Hmmm… I take Zyrtec every day for allergies. And my parents both tried it recently and asked me if it makes me feel really tired and worn out? I do feel that way most of the time but had not given any thought to the possibility that the Zyrtec was the culprit. Hmmm… I skipped my pill this morning and used the nasal spray my doc gave me. I don’t feel nearly as tired and worn out as usual, and I’ve actually gotten some stuff done without beating myself mentally into action. Uh… hmmm… I wonder what this means? (And my head feels like crap from sinus pressure.) I still have a good bit of it in my system and it would take some time to clear out my system. I wonder if I was off of it for a month if I would feel better and exactly how bad the allergies would be? Which is worse? Worn out or constant runny stuffy nose and sinus headaches? And the real kicker is that when I really get a big allergic reaction at a time when my immune system is low – then I invariably end up sick for a week or more. I wonder where God keeps the replacement parts. I could do with a whole new "air handler" system.

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Surprise!

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:00:03 -0700

My Mom called, wanted to know if I was sitting down. I lied and said yes. A friend of my Mom’s gave her a check for $2000 for our adoption fund. She called me crying.

Uh…

Yeah

Stunned

Um…

Wow!

I just kept asking "are you kidding me?!"

Really, are you kidding me?!!

She didn't sound like she was kidding.

Uh...

Thank You Jesus!

Backing up a little bit. This morning I saw our adoption bank account balance which has swelled because our Federal Tax Return was deposited in there. And the checks from the first fund raiser have not been processed yet so that money isn't even in there yet. Can I just say that this is starting to look like one of the wildest rides of my life?

Pardon me, I think I must go cry now.

Jesus, is this real? I'm not dreaming this, right?

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Michael Vick is NOT going to live next door to me!

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:05:49 -0700

I think I’m going to call animal control in the morning just to chat with them a bit about the neighbors. We were in the middle of something and all the sudden we heard dog fighting noises and it just seemed to go on forever even though it really was maybe less than 60 seconds. Animal fighting noises are horrible and I was instantly in fight mode. I totally jumped to make sure both of my girls were inside – though I knew in my head they were. If it had lasted any longer I would have called 911! The neighbors have a rottweiller and a pit bull, who I call Sandy Pit (she lives in a pit created by the fact that she’s been chained in one location so long that she’s formed a pit in the dirt) and Dry Rot. Both are chained and we noticed that Sandy Pit was gone this evening – don’t know what happened to her, poor little girl. Dry Rot was still over there chained to a shed this afternoon. How horrible. And then a coupla other guys showed up with another Rot and what looked like a young Pit. Oh, these poor critters! I think people who fight dogs are a waste of human DNA. And while it may not have been a real dog fight, there is no way that I will EVER sit silently by and let animals get hurt! No way! No Thanks! No Sir! Tomorrow, I talk to animal control!

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Chocolate Choo Choo

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:57:42 -0700

Choo Choo Cake

This was an interesting project. A woman brought in her cake pan from Williams and Sonoma. They make beautiful things, but nothing a bakery would ever touch just because of the impractical nature of the equipment. This was a case in point. The client wanted the end product to look like the photo on the cake pan. Well, it was naked cake with a few candies glued to it. Cute, but hardly practical. Let that baby sit out for an hour and it would be hard and stale and nasty to eat. Cute but nasty. Hardly the reputation a bakery really needs. So we finally settled upon the idea of making them from Chocolate cake and putting on a very thin coat of chocolate ganache to coat them so that they would not dry out. Some of the detail from the pan was lost but not too bad. So I went back in with the icing to bring out the details and the client was very happy with how it turned out. And who wouldn’t love a chocolate cake frosted in chocolate ganache? Yummmmm!

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Baby Shower Cake

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:46:04 -0700

Baby Shower Cake

I made this cute little baby shower cake for a lovely Momma who was tall and blonde and really beautiful with her little baby bump. And they loved how it turned out! I took the designs from the napkin they showed me and made the medallion based on a scrap booking quote. "Little hands and little feet make our life so very sweet."

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I visited with the cute Neurologist today.

nobody@vox.com(Artzy Carmen) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:14:22 -0700

And Mr Handsome Docter dude said I did not have Parkinson’s Disease. Yes, I have a little bitty tremor in my left hand that is always there and a shake in both hands when I’m really tired, but it’s not disease related according to him. It just is. An “essential tremor” he called it. There is drug treatment if I want it. I do not. I am indeed happy to have that horrible word off the table! Thank You Jesus!

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