Go Lo-Tech. Connect.

Radio instead of TV. Board games instead of video games. See movies in the theater. Check my time on my watch and not my phone. Call instead of text. Less Facebook and other garbage internet. Finish the books I begin reading.



Be Healthy. Look Well.

Juice again. Less dairy. Less sugar. No bacon. No fast food. Fewer grains. No beer. Attend to digestion. Keep my bowels clear. Yoga when I can afford it. Shower and groom daily. Dress well. Be confident.



Maintain a Healthy Emotional State.

Manage anger and frustrations. Disconnect from triggering situations. Resist one-upping or pettiness. Be less fragile. Avoid painful situations. Don't obsess over difficult things that have happened. Keep learning to let go.



Focus on the friends and things I love, not the friends and things I don't have.



Simple Charities to Make My Life Simpler.

Volunteer with the Humane Society at least once. Pet all the cats.

Donate my ill-fitting and old clothes. Even some I think I'll wear again someday. I know how that always goes.



Be Ambitious in My Work Product.

Be diligent in getting my resume out there. Promote myself as a strong candidate for positions I apply to. In any job, work hard so my value is recognized. Continue to educate myself about the areas of law I would like to know. Contract. Copyright. Intellectual Property. Patent. Moral Rights. Arts and Entertainment.



Be Self Reliant.

Carry heavy things. Learn how to maintain my car. Take care of my own shit. Know that I can.



Reinvigorate Creativity.

Write again. Even if it's just LJ. Create a new body of work. Paintings. Drawings. Inspirations: Acanthamoeba. Cryptozoology. Paranormal. Tiger Blood.



Improve Living Space.

Get out of the shop. Keep the living area clean and interesting. Collect more art. Collect more taxidermy.



Laugh.

Laughter is good for your health

Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

(http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm)

the national science foundation has an artists and writers grant program that allows folks to go to ANTARCTICA to create. learning this last night has snowballed into the thought of: nothing will stop me.

i was sitting here on my couch in this dark cave of a life staring at ice on tv thinking "i'll never see that." but then the why thought came. why should i never go there? WHY NOT. i'd never wanted to. perhaps because it seemed so remote. so off limits. so painfully cold and inconvenient. but all those things telling me i couldn't go sparked in me this want. i want something again. for myself! i want something again.

i was just saying how i missed travel. it seemed impossible. now, i'm not going to stop until all my fingers have snapped off from frozen and i'll be typing with my teeth. what a way to escape the isolation i'm feeling in this hometown! propel myself into deeper dangerous isolation. go only where snow is the most frightening silence i've ever heard and within lie my deepest fears to confront.

i think i'll be a fine candidate because i strongly straddle the art and writing fence. (and how)

god, these are the kind of goals that motivated the person i used to be to continue to breathe. i can almost feel the exhale, the inhale, the exha.... there is joy in the mission.

I AM GOING TO GO TO FUCKING ANTARCTICA. this will be my greatest solo performance.

i will learn to live.

it's possible that with looking from another face of the same whole, with concepts and images cultured this American way, i will come to a unique understanding of the overall gestalt of a thought. or perhaps this thought is the same creature, with different alchemy: with ice.

golly, i miss my bed.

i had to evict crazypants from my house. she's dirtied every dish and her cat has compromised the condition of my couch. man, i hate that fuckin' girl. she's done everything short of burn down the house and ask me if it'll come out with water. she's finally finally out today. her body is. but her stuff isn't. i'm taking her tv as an idiot tax. a fucking idiot tax.

i miss my house too. santa cruz this weekend. flight back to seattle saturday. make up the class i miss today and attend next week's class. which is on my birthday. then fly to nashville to take care of my left behinds.

my husband guy and i just bought our first home. it's a log cabin in east nashville and pretty much the coolest place ever. ...on the outside. we're (i'm) slowly redecorating molding the inside to fit our taste and styles. when we first moved in he suggested we mold it to be dark southern-gothic inspired by a band called the pine box boys. (it was covered with country bumpkin floral prints and underneath that wall paper was a hideous turquoise on all the walls.)

so, here is the start of the process transforming the bedroom into... ours.



( welcomeCollapse )

Yes, Michelle. Please tell me what it is that so intrigues you about visual artists who use writing as a critical part of their practice? Can you concretely name the artists you will consider? Also give me a biblio of writings, videos, etc. of these artists. Also concretely--not tentatively--tell me what the products/outcomes will be--paper, you producing art, extended annotation of relative works, etc., some combination of the previous...Keep in mind that this is a kind of contract, albeit a contract with some flexibility.

( first proposalCollapse )

i need salad bar.

been cleaning my house. i smudged it again throughout the lower level.

smells better.

max is coming back, one night only.
meeting me at the bar.

imma make my bed.

i really want to see the tennessee mountains. i miss mountains. what i truly miss is the pacific.

10 9 8 7 6 5 and so on.

ackkkk.

salad bar OR brie and ham sandwich.

October 21 @ 7 PM

http://www.scarrittbennett.org/giftshop/galleryf.aspx
"The New Dress Code: Seven Women Explore Feminine Values In Art" with Kristi Hargrove, Jodi Hays, Michelle Sciumbato, Barbara Yontz, Mandy Sauer, Erika Wollam Nichols

Join this unique group of artists as they discuss their work which includes conceptual art, photographic, print making, painting, drawing, video, installation, and object art. Following the theme of feminine values, their work connects the technical aspect of art with philosophy, literature, psychology, politics, and spirituality.