Rowena tagged me for six random things. Her art is beautiful and she's cool too. Go see for yourself. Her tag is well-timed since I'm storied out. So, here is a random photograph, and six random things. Make of them what you will--as if I could stop you. 1. When I was 6, my neighbor's …
Author: mapelba
I'm a writer, artist, teacher, mother, wife, daughter, friend, coffee addict... What else? A success, a failure, a mess, a fan, a hater of housework, a lover of dogs, a liberal, an obsessive, and a bunch of other things that probably would never occur to me. I reveal myself in more ways in my writings and art than in any list of adjectives. And whoever you are, I hope most of all that you are a reader.
Opinion Polls and Other Measures
Since I'm jumping in over my head I might as well have as many witnesses as possible. I'm going to apply to the Art City Austin festival (and here I was thinking I wasn't having a midlife crisis. ha.). So, I've got to choose 4 photographs/scans of my work to submit. There are a ton …
How to get across a room.
"People was treat you like you have money," I said. I was walking with my grandmother to her car in the library parking lot. I was 14. "What do you mean?" she asked, unlocking her red Chevrolet hatchback. I waited for her to buckle her seat belt. "They treat you better than they treat some …
When you don’t know you’re destination,…
Simple things can keep you from going where you want to go whether you know where you're going or not. The price of the ticket. A map read upside down. A cranky ticket conductor. A missed bus. An upset stomach. What sorts of things have derailed you from wherever it was you thought you were …
How to work magic?
You wouldn't expect a witch to go straight to college after finishing first grade, would you? Even if the witch is talented--which is by no means agreed upon in all quarters--the experience gap between her and her classmates would be vast. Unbridgeable you might say. So my first art show was a success (by my …
Halloween is creeping in…
I've been invited to a party and this blog is my costume. When you're invited to play dress up, what do you wear? In my corner of this party, I'm reading Tarot cards. I have six decks for six different moods. (Still looking for decks to cover all the others.) Truth be confessed though, there …
art, coffee, and birthdays
Only a hot-air balloon ride could've made turning forty better. Well, an acceptance letter from an agent would've been nice, but at least today's rejection didn't sting. So for this post I will go no further back in time than yesterday. Hanging art in a coffee shop and having to work around the people with …
What to do when nervous…
You are The High Priestess Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education. The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate …
The Center of Attention and Other Sins
Experienced momentary blindness this evening. I took my first acting class, and unlike guy who told the class how he loved being the center of attention, I don't know what to do when people are watching me. Well, other than teach. Hey, people are looking I should probably explain something! We did a little improv. …
Been Caught Reading
My dad paid no attention to what I read. He said things like, "I sure am glad you like to read." Pause. "Do you have to keep every book though?" Mom had no rules. I could read what I pleased. Grandmother often repeated how when my mother was a teenager, she was always taking other …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 