A New Love in My Life

I have fallen in love with a place and believe it or not, it's here in Klamath Falls. There is this wonderful, non-profit outlet that is amazing. It's called the Contemporary Arts Kitchen. It is a beautiful establishment dedicated to making the world an amazing place through art.

Now most people when they think of art they think of painting or drawing or something like that. The Contemporary Arts Kitchen sees the art in many different things. They see it in music and writing and fire and so many other things.

For me, several things have come out from my small amount of time with the C.A.K. as I am just getting started there. First is my obsession with some sort of fire art. I was first introduced to Poi during my first trip to Burning Man. I actually have LED poi and after a year of practice with it, I still can not go over 2 minutes without smacking myself somewhere on my body. Needless to say, that limits me on any fire spinning potential because honestly, I do not want to set my hair on fire. So I set out to explore what I might be able to do in the fire arts with my lack of coordination. I try to spin staff. I'm not horrible at it, but I am far from great. At least I don't hit myself in the head with it. Still, it just didn't feel like a good fit. I then came across fire fingers. Think Wolverine with flames. Here is an example: Fire Fingers.

I have known the very basics to belly dance since I was three years old. To this day I can still balance a seven foot Shepard's cane on my head and do the basic hip figure eight. It's not that hard to add moves to it. I have instructions and space to practice so it would be something very easy for me to improve upon and be using fire by December. At least that is my goal.

My second obsession that I have been talking about for a year is also coming into play. I am now officially a member of the Rollerbetties. Yes, it's roller derby in Klamath Falls. It's a small group trying to get on it's feet but you get to skate and get ready for that first bout. I went to my first practice last night in my old school white and hot pink Roller Derby skates, that were a hit by the way, and tried to remind myself of the fundamentals of skating. It was exhilarating! I compounded it by watching Blood on the Flat Track: The Rise of the Rat City Roller Girls

I AM IN LOVE!

It will quickly become my new therapy.

I am also going to start working on inventory for my Etsy business. I still have some sorting through our personal stuff in the basement to get done to be able to do so and get my sewing machine up but it will happen and I will post links. Trust me, in my opinion $160 is NOT a viable option for a Steam Punk skirt. That price really shouldn't even be considered unless it is floor length and made out of silk. Anyone that would be buying a Steam Punk skirt really wouldn't want it made out of that material anyway. You want it durable. I am going to making unusual things that people would hopefully like at more affordable prices. It's going to be for those that don't know how to sew a straight stitch, use a glue gun or just flat out don't have time but like something they saw. You get the idea.

The world feels completely wide open for me to make of it what I want and that is exactly what I am going to do.

HELLO KLAMATH FALLS!

We followed the winds of change and apparently it was temporary. We are back in Klamath Falls of all places. I never really expected to come back here. Even more so, I never expected to be so happy to come back here. It's amazing to me how much a few months away can change your perspective of something or some place. We owe a big fat thank you to Dave and Terra for letting us come back here and giving us shelter and such a warm energy to live in. We are also back here for a minimum of four years. Thunder Monkey starts his freshman year in September and he will graduate from the school he starts at. It isn't exactly a bad thing either.

It helps that we are in a completely different situation. I'm not working at a job that is killing me and I have proof to back that statement that it was killing me. I am being encouraged and nourished to try and flow with my creativity to turn it into earning a living. We are surrounded by so much positive energy it is amazing what it can do to your thinking and soul. I am definitely looking at pursuing one of my ideas for earning a living. Now the hard part is which one I want to start with! I have so many ideas running through my head and trying to pick the best one to start with can be difficult! I am determined though which ever one I chose will be a success.

Gordon is going to be starting school in September as well after plenty of encouragement and the offer of at least four tutors. He feels confident enough to go for it. I am so proud of him. I might go back to school but I really want to try to get my own little side business off the grou

Winds of Change

What do you do when signs start popping up massively and kicking you in the face with a steel cleat golf shoe? Do you ignore them? Especially if they involve a major life change? What if they don't let you ignore them? What if they lead you where you don't expect it. One of the least likely places you expected. Do you follow their commands? Especially if you asked whatever spiritual guidance you prefer for them. This is the quandary my family and I are in right now. I use to not be afraid. I'd get signs and I just went for it. Oh, it's that little thing is called responsibility! That's it! Well, I am seriously beginning to believe that responsibility is WAY overrated! When I was growing up, everyone talked about becoming responsible. If I knew what it entailed, I would've never gone for it. Now I'm stuck trying to make a difficult decision and the signs are pulling me opposite of where I thought they would go. It's scary. I'm not use to being unnerved at all. So do I ignore the signs because I am kind of scared or do I follow my instincts and the signs and do what I think is right? What would you do?

What do they teach these days in school?

I posted before on how I feel the education system is lacking now due to things my son says. Like he learned the term "pork sword" from watching Juno in the sixth grade. Now don't get me wrong. I love that movie. I think Diablo Cody is amazing! My thing is the school could've at least told me that they were going to be watching that movie so if I objected, I could have found something else for him to do. (Even though I wouldn't have objected but that is beside the point.) Last night at dinner, we were talking and he started going off about how Martin Luther King freed the slaves. I looked at him completely dumb founded and asked "Where did you learn that?" He was like "I dunno". He then asked me who did free the slaves and I had to give him a crash course in American History 101 about the Civil War. I asked him what they are learning in history class and he said "Lewis & Clark" Lewis & Clark? He's in eighth grade! I learned that in the third grade! He should at least be into the civil liberties movement and Vietnam by now! I'm not dogging the need to know the history of Lewis & Clark and it's importance but it's not affecting him now and having the impact that the latter mentioned are.

Oh, what I found even more absured is that he is reading Shakespear and I have to sign a permission slip for him to watch A Mid-Summer's Night's Dream and he's in the eighth grade but I didn't have to sign one for him to watch Juno in the sixth. Can someone please explain that to me? Is there something extremely wrong with that or is it just me? I'm really beginning to wonder just how necessary school is when teachers have their hands tied by bureaucratic red tape and aren't allowed to teach anymore. No Child Left Behind needs to be repealed, red pens need to be used for grades and we need to quit being so lovey dovey with our kids. The real world doesn't allow for easily bruised ego's and feelings and unfortunately that is where our kids are heading and they are not going to know how to cope with the real world.

What Can I say?

Recently, I have found myself to be quite down and out trying to take care of everyone except myself and I now realize that maybe that isn't such a good thing. It's ended up with an eternal prescription of Prozac and Xanax at my finger tips. What amazes me is the list of side affects.

Here are Prozac's: Side Effects

And Xanax: Side Effects

Prozac has a side affect of insomnia? Great thing to give to an insomniac! It can cause anxiety and suicidal thoughts? I thought it was suppose to get rid of both those symptoms.

With Xanax it can cause weight gain. Great for a chubby girl with Type 2 Diabetes just what I need! It also makes you uncoordinated, irritable and drool. All things that I definitely don't need help with I do just fine on my own! I took half of the minimum dose at 4:30pm on a Monday due to panic attacks. I didn't get over the loopy feeling until Wednesday afternoon. This is not an answer. It's just numbing the problem instead of dealing with it.

You may be wondering what in the world I'm getting at. Well, why is that I can get a hold of two drugs that are such heavy hitters that in my opinion they should be considered pretty heavy duty narcotics so easily yet I can't get my hands on prescription marijuana which I think is way less harmful? I know people that have scripts for medicinal pot for anxiety and when they have a panic attack, one tiny hit, they are affected for about one to two hours, panic attack gone and they are completely functional again. Not 48 hours later? It's not right. It's because the government couldn't figure out how to make money off of it. Well, if they follow after California, they could. You noticed Cali hasn't been complaining about their budget so much since they implemented the medicinal marijuana cafe's? Yeah, you get the picture. Why don't they just solve the problems and give easy access and a choice? I'm not even or ever have been a stoner. It's just that if someone that is in chemo can eat food after hitting a pipe instead of vomiting non-stop and being in so much pain, I'm all for it. What do you say?