thelmasmith

When a dear friend was in the process of moving the inevitable down sizing occurred.  Things were going up on Craig’s list.  I got a note saying, oh, I think the overhead projector is priced too low. I’m also worrying about the space for the easel.

So, last Monday I trucked on up to the edge of Oro Valley.  Or maybe it’s technically in the town of Marana.  I don’t know.

Anyway, look what came home with me.  I’ve learned something about manifesting abundance.  I have always known that first you notify the universe and then you get to work.  That has now been technologically enhanced.

I use Firefox  as a web browser.  It gives me the ability to open innumerable tabs and my macbook remembers them from one day to the next.

I had been researching easels.  I must have had every style and every manufacturer and every retailer of easels in my tabs.  At the end of getting my web work done I would browse through all the easel tabs.  Finally I deleted them.  That’s when I got the note from my good friend.

Yes, the universe does work in interesting ways.

a national women’s art exhibition – deadline August 1
Sponsored by the Oakland Community College Womencenter, Farmington Hills, Mi., From Our Perspective is accepting digital entries, with a deadline of August 1st. This juried exhibit will feature women artists and will include two- and three-dimensional works of art.  The Juror, Susan Goethel Cambell, lives and works in Detroit, Mi. and has work in many public and private collections, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The New York Public Library, The Detroit Institute of Arts, The Toledo Museum of Art and The University of Michigan Special Collections Library. Fee: $25 for up to 3 works. Awards: Best of Show $800.00, President’s Award $250.00 and a Purchase Prize of $250.00 (for smaller pieces).  To view full prospectus, and to upload images online, go to www.oaklandcc.edu/womencenter/artshow.htm.  Exhibit runs Sept. 18-Oct. 10 2008.  Please contact Arlene Frank with any questions at womenart@oaklandcc.edu

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has issued an RFP for this substantial grants program. Grants of $200,000 to $600,000 will support programs that “utilize the arts to engage civil society - particularly youth and diverse and underserved populations - and that foster linkages and build partnerships between U.S. and overseas nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and local communities.” Project themes are limited to: 1) Mixed Visual Artistic Mediums: Cultural Exchange between American Indigenous and Minority Artists and Indigenous and Afro-Latino Artists from Latin and Central America; and 2) Mixed Visual Artistic Mediums: Cultural Exchange between American Women Artists and Women Artists from Africa and/or the Middle East. Applications, due May 22, must be made through nonprofit organizations or institutions of higher education. www.communityarts.net/apinews/archivefiles/2008/04/grants_for_arts.php

I’ve been quiet lately. I’ve been overwhelmed by life. That is slowly changing.

One of the things I’ve been up to is reading. Articles from the New York Times are taking some of my time.

The one linked above is good reading. It is about the issues of climate change and the touting of green everything from cars to light bulbs.  This article discusses all sorts of legal, political, bureaucratic, and individual actions.  I find it disconcerting.

I’m one of those people who grew up on a farm.  Self sufficiency seems to be in my genes.  I can build a fire or build a house.  I can read and think and look at all sorts of ideas from an analytical and critical thinking perspective.  This article, while covering all the bases, neglects the idea that most people are of good intent while being frantically busy.

One quite simple solution to all of this is to spend an afternoon - only one afternoon - and plant a tree.  You have contributed to photosynthesis.  You spent a lovely day in the spring.  You do not have to pull weeds.  Granted, you have done nothing directly to feed yourself.  But is that true?  You have planted a tree that will return oxygen to you!

Regardless of the part of the world, the culture, the economy, or the bureaucrats there are plenty of places that can benefit from the gentle gift of oxygen and shade.  Public places, private places, it matters not.  It’s something to think about.  That said as someone who has lived in both the tropics and the desert.  The lack of shade is the true poverty in these areas.

Someday I’ll tell you all about the Lady’s Aide. Today I’m just going to boast about my mechanical prowess.

My macbook now has 2 GB of memory. Thanks mostly to my set of lady’s micro tools that are kept in the bottom of my desk drawer.

Here’s the strangely wonky image from the macbook screen. It shows I got it right the first time.