The other day I posted three more of what I endearingly call “My Masterpieces,” a winter’s art project. I am not a professional artist — I’m actually not a professional “anything.” But I love to play.

One of my friend/followers, Maddie Cochere at Breezy Books  wrote a comment that really rang my bells: I love these! You’ve put so much detail into them. And colorful! Don’t they make you happy every time you look at them – they’re so vibrant! That quilt effect is fantastic! 4 exclamation points from me. 🙂.

I found myself thinking of a short thank you, and found myself writing:

You know, everyone likes praise now and then for feats accomplished. Sometimes it’s tough with those around you.. maybe they’re used to your efforts or don’t quite understand the point of why you do extracurricular things. I have written a number of novels and short stories and no one in my family and friends circle have ever asked to read them. Same with Art. So an outsider saying something nice in a particular way makes me feel amazing. Thank you.

After I hit “send” and moved along to reading other blogs, my answer began to haunt me. In a good haunting way, of course. Yet I thought about how much a little compliment means to me. To others.

And I wondered — do we all consciously or unconsciously seek praise for our accomplishments?

Even if it’s something small like cooking a great dinner or cleaning out a closet or teaching your kids how to chop parsley, we all like to hear an atta’ boy now and then.

I mentioned I’ve written a number of things through the past 30 years. Novels I thought were top notch, short stories that were on the mark, poetry that was clever. Yet not one of my circle has ever asked to read anything. 

Not that they don’t love me — not that they don’t appreciate me. It’s more like they’re not aware of my writings. Or I don’t talk about my Creativity enough. Or I haven’t printed something out and requested them to read it. You can’t say something nice about something you’ve never seen.

Yet I do love a good atta’ boy just as much as the next person.

That’s why I always try to throw out compliments to strangers when I can. Nice outfit, great t-shirt, great blog. The complements are genuine, the moment genuine. And a mere sharing of that appreciation at that nano-second can make someone’s day.

And their reaction can make yours.

This isn’t a blog about fishing for compliments. This is a blog about appreciating all kinds of gestures and moments and choices and sharing that appreciation. Getting and giving. 

I don’t think that’s narcistic at all.

That — is human nature.

Having fun looking backwards at my Days of Future Art, seeing what was a hit and what was a miss. I can definitely tell which were experimental and which were a definite plan. Sometimes any sort of art can do that to you — start out with one idea and wind up with something different. Writing did that alot to me, too.

All in all, it was a fun experiment. I plan on hanging these over my work table downstairs.

Until the next Art Experiment ….

Wherever there are birds, there is hope.

~Mehnet Murat Ildan

Every once in a while one needs to be weird and out there on a Saturday morning  (although I’m weird and out there more often than not…)

So here are 15 wild and weird facts to stimulated your already over stimulated mind this morning …

Flamingos bend their legs at the ankle, not the knee. They essentially stand on tip-toe. Their knees are closer to the body and are covered by feathers.

There is an uninhabited island in the Bahamas known as Pig Beach, which is populated entirely by swimming pigs.

Before toilet paper was invented, Americans used to use corn cobs. Alternatively, they’d use periodicals like the Farmers Almanac, which was designed with a hole so it could hang in outhouses.

The fear of vegetables is called Lachanophobia.

A flock of ravens is called an “unkindness”. They’re also known as a “conspiracy.”

The world’s smallest wasp is smaller than an amoeba. The Megaphragma mymaripenne wasp has the same body parts as any other bug (brain, wings, eyes, and more) but is a fifth of a millimeter long, making it smaller than most amoebas, which are made of just one cell.

Apples, peaches, and raspberries are all members of the rose family.

Jousting is the official sport in the state of Maryland.

Humans cannot walk in a straight line without a visual point. When blindfolded, we will gradually walk in a circle.

It is physically impossible for you to lick your elbow.

Ketchup leaves the bottle at a measured speed. It leaves the bottle at a rate of 25 miles per year.

A jiffy is an actual measure of time. It is calculated as 1/100th of a second. This is 10 milliseconds.

A kiss stimulates 29 muscles and chemicals. This causes the person to relax. Women are found to like light and gentle kisses, while men are found to enjoy more intense ones.

Hope I helped pack more nebulous nonsense into your head this morning!

I just wrote — and published — a Monday Blog — on a Tuesday.

A major faux pas.

So to cover up my embarrassment, let me share some cute fuzzy pictures….

Today (Saturday) I spent quite a bit of time going through the blogs I follow,  reading them, liking them,  commenting on  them.

Tonight there is a teeny tiny lump in my chest, reflections of an over-reactive reaction to some of the blogs. Nothing overwhelming — just writers writing. Sharing their thoughts.

There were blogs about heroes and their counterparts:  Day 4406: Bullies and Heroes; an outrageous law: Global outrage as Iraq lowers marriage age for girls to NINE…; melancholy memories: A Sweet Aroma & Memories; even a painting touched by the California fires: Blustery. 

Of course, there were many blogs that brought a smile to my face too: a beautiful homemade quilt: Friday Finish : Here Be Dragons; a painting: Some Semblance of Morning Fog;  a haiku: Can’t Wait for Spring (a haiku);  and photography:  My Trip to the Desert.

There should be a balance of feelings in your life. Hitting deep both from highs and lows.

But I am also thinking that some of the most powerful writing comes at this time of the year. The time of cloudy skies and snow and cold temperatures. Of isolation and politics. People can’t get out and around and disappear in the woods or on the beach like they can in summer.

Yet, truth is, many of you live in warm climates and countries and write emotional things just as much as the winterites.

I’m glad I’ve got you all in my life. You keep me on my toes!

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

~Stephen King

Mama always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.'”

~ Forrest Gump

Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by English author James Hilton.

Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains.

Set in the troubled years before World War Two, the book tells of a community in a lamasery (a monastery for Tibetan lamas), in the lost Tibetan valley of Shangri-La, cut off from the world and from time.

All the wisdom of the human race is contained in this place, in the cultural treasures stored, and in the minds of the people who have gathered here in the face of an imminent catastrophe.

Hilton visited the Hunza Valley, located in Gilgit−Baltistan, close to the China–Pakistan border, a few years before Lost Horizon was published.

Being an isolated green valley surrounded by mountains, enclosed on the western end of the Himalayas, it closely matches the description in the novel, and is believed to have inspired Hilton’s physical description of Shangri-La.

Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia – an enduringly happy land, isolated from the world.

It is obvious that Shangi-La did not exist as an inspiration to past Masters until 1933, but there are modern artists that share the dream of the mystical world through their work.

On a beautiful (if not freezing here in the Midwest) Friday, I thought what better way to visit with you than to share some past Sunday Evening Art Gallery posts. I chose a few artists you may not remember, but whose art is wonderfully different. Drop by any time and spend some time wandering the endless galleries!

Who knows — you just might find me wandering around too!

Jacek Yerka

Ray Villafane

Thomas Joynes

Aline Campbell

Fence Murals

Druzy Stones

William Utermohlen

Matthew Grabelsky