I was in a car wreck on Wednesday. The last couple days have been a blur of Xrays and CAT scans... I've gone to the ER twice, but it looks like nothing is seriously wrong. I'm sore and it'll be a while until I'm totally back to my normal self. I am really lucky that I have some good friends who were willing and able to help me deal with all the crap around the wreck. I had people to stay with me and help when I've been in hospital and drive me around etc. People have cooked for me and fetched things for me and all the good things one wants when injured.

I hate having to miss class, but I can accept that sometimes that's just the way it is. I'm lucky my boss is understanding and kind as well.

I just try to look at it as another adventure in an unpredictable universe
Onward and upward

Life has been full of adventures lately. Since the art show on August 1st, I've been swamped with excellent networking opportunities that have kept me away from my computer. One good thing that has come of it has been an inspiration to redo the oceanstarr.com site again. I didn't like the way the navigation worked in the painting section. The new design is much improved I think. If you happen to stop by and check it out, let me know - especially if you know how it was before. I hope it works more better lol

I don't like to call today my birthday.
I think of it as my personal New Years Day.
I'm not doing anything particularly special today... kind of the same thing I do all the time except I am going to meet a good friend for dinner and drinks tonight.
In celebration of my New Years Day, I've posted a couple recently finished embroidery pieces and a new painting which is pretty different from my past work. The embroidery explosion is all preparation for an embroidery show I'm going to be having at Unarmed Merchants in downtown Knoxville on August first. This is the first time I've shown all embroidery which is framed to hang on the wall. I've learned quite a bit about framing and woodworking in the last year and I'm very happy with the quality of the framing that I've learned to do. Of course there are always things an artist can criticize in the work, but I'm very happy with what I'm presenting in this show. I am a little amazed that I've gotten this amount of work prepared for the show considering the labor intensive nature of the embroidery... Each piece generally takes about 40-80 hours. I've been working toward this show for many months and I'll be very proud to present this body of work publicly!
I hope you enjoy it

Life is good.
Animals are happy.
There's plenty of work to do and very little boredom.
Major art show on August first so I'm sewing my little fingers to the bone.

which is just how I like it.

I have been very lucky lately. The universe is really taking good care of me! I've had lots of fun the last couple days! I went to a concert Thursday night. The Presidents of the United States of America played a free show at Sundown in the City which ROCKED!!! The crowd was HUGE! I've been making a special effort to do things that are uncomfortable and unusual for me lately to try to break down some of my old hangups that aren't helping me anymore so I made myself DANCE! I've never been a dancing type person so it was a really big deal for me. I walked up to some random guy who was wearing a beautiful skirt and dancing in the crowd and just joined him in a happy random dance. It was really cool and fun and very different for me.
Later in the evening, my friend invited me to go to Six Flags over Georgia. I don't have much cash at the moment, but he wanted some company and all his other friends had to work so he was willing to pay my way so he would have some company on his adventure. My father taught me that when someone wants to do something nice for you and it will make them happy to do it, you just better smile, say thank you and enjoy it as much as possible so that's what I did. I swallowed my pride and just went and had an INCREDIBLE time at the amusement park! My friend actually thanked me for coming several times so I know I did the right thing by accepting his generosity. It was really very cathartic to get on all those rollercoasters and scream my guts out with my friend and all those strangers. It was a great adventure and a great reminder not to let the inconveniences of life get me down. Even if you're broke and feel stuck in the mud spinning your wheels, there is still so much to celebrate just in being alive. The universe will provide for those who believe in joy and love and miracles if you just keep your eyes open and try to be the one who is generous and thankful first - before the miracles show up.

♥