This Coronavirus thing just keeps getting scarier and scarier. There is no doubt that it has affected all of us in some way or another.

But within all the bad energy floating around there has to be some pockets of fresh air and bling. So here are a few of the things that I ~personally~ have noticed.

More positive posts on social media.  While there are plenty of warnings still being passed around on Facebook, Twitter, and others, there has been more funny videos, pictures, and statements to lighten up our load. Dreams of dancing once the epidemic is over, cats getting tired of their humans being around all the time, and dogs exhausted from taking 10 walks a day, all put a smile on those of us quarantined at home.

More inventive socialization.  People in Italy singing to each other from their balconies. Apartment complexes flashing their lights at different times for the emergency workers getting off shift. People standing in their driveways and waving to passers-by. Anything to get out of the house and reconnected to the world around us.

More men watching interesting TV shows. There is no football. No soccer. No basketball. No baseball. What is a healthy male supposed to watch on Sunday afternoons?  I walked into the living room the other day and my husband pointed to the TV, saying, “Look at that recipe! And see how she cut that zucchini? We could make that!” I’ve heard other tales of men binging  on Downton Abbey and Gordon Ramsay, too. 

Kids being bored. What child doesn’t love staying home from school? Except when sick, hooky is a rite of passage for every boy and girl. By now, though, half the kids are sick of their brothers and sisters, TV shows, and doing schoolwork at the kitchen table. Plus somehow, amazingly, mom’s art projects suddenly look lame compared with their art teacher’s ideas. 

More people are downloading and reading books. And I don’t mean just the latest sensations. More people are publishing e-books and more people are desperate for escapism. I imagine the numbers of classics downloaded these past weeks has increased as well. Heck — I downloaded “Anna Karenina ” by Leo Tolstoy the other day. I’d seen the movie with Vivian Leigh, and was curious to see how a man wrote about female infidelity in 1878.

More kindness and religious posts. Whether we are praying/thanking God or spreading hearts and kindness, people are putting a positive spin on what is hurting us. People are leaving painted stone hearts at fire stations and hospital doors, passing on thank yous in the most imaginative ways.

Less people are posting, though. Although there are a number of people I follow who haven’t posted in quite some time, I am noticing the chatty ones are slowing down as well. I suppose it’s hard to be witty and clever and say something significant when there is death and illness popping up all over the place. I know ~I~ have slipped into more art gallery posts and less chit chat.

Houses are cleaner than they’ve ever been. I am no exception to this observation. I have cleaned drawers and closets and hidden spaces I never knew existed since I’ve been home. I’ve set out plastic chairs and empty planters on my deck like I was going to be in House Beautiful. I have put my videos in alphabetical order and gone through toy boxes and recycled items that should have been recycled out years ago. It’s amazing what I and my friends have accomplished these past few weeks.

I am not making fun of the pandemic; I am merely reflecting how people are coping with it. It will run its course sooner or later, and we can all go back to being screaming-at-the-TV-football fans or getting that haircut we desperately need.

But we can smile, too. That’s something no one can take away from us.

Have you seen anything interesting these days?

https://kurtwenner.com/

Kurt Wenner was my first Sunday Evening Art Gallery blog back in August, 2014. His amazing ability to create 3-D art on sidewalks and pavement got me hooked into the world of amazing, unique art.

His art gallery has expanded since then. Be sure to check him out! You will be amazed!

More at Sunday Evening Art Gallery – Kurt Wenner

Born on May 14, 1933, in Canton, China, Ken H. Leung moved to Hong Kong in 1949 to become involved in the city’s vital young artistic community.

Largely self-taught, his first oil paintings went on display in a Hong Kong gallery in 1960.

Within a year, Leung’s fishing villages and coastal community scenes were a sensation in art circles, and the leading art gallery of Hong Kong started to represent his art.

Over the years, H. Leung exhibited his oil paintings across several countries, and he received numerous honors and distinctions along the way.

His choice of colors is bold, his strokes smooth, bringing his love of his home country through in every painting.

Today, H. Leung is recognized as one of the premiere neo-impressionism artists. 

Leung is a master of the enchanted landscape, dreamy moods, and magic reflections of light and color.

More of Ken H. Leung‘s incredible landscape paintings can be found at http://leungstudio.com/.

Depending on what country you live in, most of us are on (voluntary) shut down. So what are you doing with your free time?

Our last few days have been filled with — cleaning. Yes. What time to start spring cleaning than on the first day of spring. Because I’ve been going through a stuffed-house situation in another state, I am now tending to get rid of too much in my own abode. 

Like you, I’ve kept way too much for way too long. Clothes that don’t fit, nic-nacs that don’t fit my current way of life, baby toys for grandkids who are not babies anymore. 

Now with this new state of mind, I’m able to let go of things that will never fit, blend, mix, or make it to the junk drawer. 

It feels good.

I’ve been saying I want to take advantage of my time home to get more creative. Writing, of course, is my top priority. But it’s not flowing as I had hoped, so on to the next project. I’ve got an idea (and supplies) for wind sparklers (I don’t know what to call them yet), so I should be starting this craft in a day or two.

I’ve finished reading an e-book I’ve been hitting for a few weeks, and am all ready for the next one. I also have a dozen hard covers waiting to be read (or reread, as the case may be), so I am certain to be hitting them during the coming days.  

I’m learning to cook again. I’ve always known how to put hot dogs and beans together, but since my husband and I have more time together, I’ve decided to try things like Parmesan Lemon Chicken and Lasagna Roll Ups.

My dog is not used to me being home and inside day after day too. So needless to say, there are more fetchy days, more treats, and more pets. 

I have also started binge watching series I never would have time to watch. You know me — Chinese/Japanese/Korean period pieces with English subtitles are always high on my list. (Ever watch The Ming Dynasty? That’s where i am now.) Downton Abbey and The Sopranos are also good candidates.

Of course, I’ve watched more stupid movies than I usually do. I’m not a B movie watcher by trade, but there has been time to slip in a dumb zombie or punk love movie now and then. I know — many of you will say you’d rather turn the TV off and sit in silence than waste time on junk. Agreed. But with a glass of wine and the Internet on my lap, you may be able to stay inside and away from the virus and have a laugh or two, too.

There is a lot of scary information crossing the airwaves these days. I myself have never seen such a pandemic during my lifetime. And you can only keep up with so much information. Every one says it won’t happen to them. I certainly hope this virus doesn’t introduce itself to any of my readers, that’s for sure. 

But you never know. So be smart. Stay inside and away from group play for a while. Find a way to improve your own living quarters, and expand your own mind. Explore worlds you haven’t had time to explore before.

What are you doing these days? Share Share Share! Give us some ideas!

Most of us at one time or another have owned and loved a pet.

Whether it’s a fluffy puppy, fat cat, or skinny weenie dog, we all have fallen in love with their big eyes, sassy attitude, and faithful friendship.

At the end, we take care of them as best we can. Circumstances are different, but we try and hold their paws as long as we can. They are our confidants, our companions, and our entertainment. And we are theirs.

Currently we have four four-legged friends sharing our house: the lab (formerly my son’s, too big and wild back then for the babies); the crestepoo (my brother-in-law’s dog while he is convalescing), fat cat (my gray  10-year-old from the shelter), and my 12+/14+ year old tuxedo (who hand-picked my husband at the same shelter).

My tuxedo has been teetering on the edge of the rainbow bridge for a while now. He has lost a lot of weight in the last six months, and has trouble breathing. He’s got asthma, and often doesn’t have an appetite. He has rallied in the past few months as I’ve changed his food and added meds to his daily intake.

What makes me feel good in this sea of potential sadness is seeing him lay next to one dog or another throughout the day. Our pets have never been close buddies, so to see him curled up inside the legs of our big lab at night or side-by-side with the little dog makes me happy we have more than one pet.

My lap can’t always be available, and he’s not always comfortable stretched out on my lap for an extended period of time. He sneaks a cuddle next to me when I’m sitting still, but he has found comfort in the company of an opposite species, too. They may not “hang” together, but they know they are all part of the same family.

We all can learn something from my old tomcat. You don’t have to be exactly the same to care about each other. That we can feel solace with others of different ages and life styles. A hug is a hug. Pets are pets. It doesn’t make a difference where they come from. What matters is that we get them AND give them. Often if possible.

We don’t know how long we have on this Earth. If we can make someone else’s life easier, we should. Take the time to reach out. To talk to someone in pain, in confusion, someone old or someone young.

Be the old cat that curls into the body of the young dog. Or the fat cat that sleeps smashed up against someone’s back every night. Don’t let your differences make you miss out on the best feelings you’ll ever have.

Life’s too short not to cuddle.

When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. ~ John Muir

Okay. It’s Monday. Weekend over. Playtime suspended until you get home from work. Unless home IS work. And even if you’re retired, you’ve got things to do. Places to go. Responsibilities to carry out.

I believe keeping busy with mundane, practical, necessary tasks is important, even if you are retired. You still need to feel that need to “escape” the drudgery, even if that drudgery is filling the dishwasher or fixing a broken table. 

My work days are broken up into chunks. A chunk of computer checks and coffee, a chunk of folding laundry and cooking meals, a chunk of working outside. It beats sitting behind a desk, of course, but I often wonder how I got anything done when I worked 9-5. (Hint: I didn’t.)

This morning I tried to get back into writing. I still am holding on to this Senior-Goes-To-Paris-And-Sees-Hemingway kind of thing, and failing miserably. There is just too much research to do. I change my story line every other day. My locations every day. 

Nothing seems to “click”.

Do you have days and weeks where you find you’re trying to push that car-sized boulder up the hill? Do you have ideas for a creative endeavor that sound really cool on paper but are just overwhelming in one way or another?

I suppose that’s why I blog. To vent, to speculate. To take a break from the reality of getting my writing $hit together and do something that’s actually easy for me.

I used to sail into writing books and short stories and poetry. That was when I didn’t have time to spare. Now that the time gap has widened, I’m having a hard time settling down. I can’t tell if I have too much creativity waiting to explode or not enough that’s worth the effort.

Maybe it’s the “senior” version of the Monday Blues. You’re feeling good, the day is starting out good, but you wonder when your energy burst will come. So you busy yourself with little projects hoping your subconscious will work out that glitch in your graphic design or help you figure out the right shape for your sculpture or help you find a word that rhymes with “justice.”  

Or maybe you will give up rhyming all together. 

So as I go to make myself a sandwich and change the music station to something more “poppy”, tell me — what are you working on today?

Saturday Evening.

What are you up to? Going out dancing? To dinner? Going to try and catch a movie? Going over to your kid’s house?

Every other Saturday my husband works, so every other Saturday it’s a party on my computer.

Of course, I am online every day. I’m doing my best to organize, clarify, research, and other noble gestures that should make my future on the computer smoother and more simplified. 

Telling a pretzel logic person to become streamlined is like trying to change the flow of the river.

A friend of mine recently asked what a pretzel logic person — or pretzel person — is. She researched it online and found a lot of references to sex and sexual positions. 

I wouldn’t know about that.

As I explained to my friend,  a pretzel logic person gets to the same place a linear person does, but takes a lot of side roads and mountains and side trips to get there.

Sometimes I think I take the long way just to go to the bathroom.

I do lose patience with myself at times, especially when I’m on track to do something specific. But every room I walk through provides a half dozen distractions that need my attention as much as my final destination.

I hate being distracted all the time.

But then again, I know that’s who I am so I am never surprised if I start cleaning out my jewelry box and wind up making split pea soup. 

Hats off to you that are fairly logical. I married a logical man. He takes care of the important things. Paying bills, driving, saving money. He is an alpha male in a world of alpha males, and does his best to keep me going in the right direction. I am thankful for that.

But when he is gone three or four evenings a week, I feel like a teenager who has the house to themselves while the parents are out for the night. I do the things he thinks are …. different … like switching between slasher movies and Chinese movies with English subtitles, looking for artists for the Gallery, putting tags on posts I posted with out them, peeking at Downton Abbey, making pea soup at the same time as blueberry bread, texting family, petting the cat, eating orange sherbet from the container — you know. Normal pretzelly things.

Thank you for following my blog where it may take you. Thanks for sharing my Art Gallery artists — they are all so marvelous in their own way. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and writing YOUR way on your blog. 

The world is richer for all of us — pretzel and straight alike.

I am having a hard time being retired.

First off, I don’t care for the old-timer word. Retired is for old doctors and ancient teachers. Active, fun, pretzel women (and men) don’t “retire.” We merely switch gears.

It’s funny how certain words stick with us all our lives. Good ones, like awesome and bama-lam. But other words, negative words, follow us all our lives, too. Retired. Old. Fat. Stupid. Words that have no business being in the English language at all.

We are taught to believe what others say. Not to listen to our inner selves, our inner clock. That somehow what someone else thinks is more important than what we think.

Human beings believe in themselves until they are taught not to.

Some outside opinions make sense. Eat three meals a day. Get some exercise. Put on a heavy coat when the temperatures drop. You don’t look well.

And we need to grow. We need to expand our memory, our capacity for learning. We always can use a little more polishing as we turn from child to adult. But while progress is an important part of life, we can move forward without the negative words.

We don’t need to downgrade someone else to make ourselves feel better.

I don’t understand why the world can’t be filled with positive words all the time. Smart. Healthy. Inquisitive. Simpleton notation, I realize. But it sure beats putting a shadow before every step.

Back to the point of this blog. Being retired.

Merriam-Webster defines retired as, “withdrawn from one’s position or occupation: having concluded one’s working or professional career.”

Does one ever stop working? Does anyone ever stop trying to be “professional” in their creativity or social life?  Professional is described as “characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession.” 

I conform to the ethical standards of being a granny, a writer, a blogger, a cook, and a dozen other careers every day. I aim for the highest standards in writing when I choose the right word to write, or in manners when I teach my grandbaby to say thank you.

I also work every day. Perhaps not behind a desk or counter, but life IS work.

So don’t call me retired. That’s a word that I’m crossing off my list, along with fat, stupid, mental, lazy, and others I have yet to write down.

Cross those words off your list, too.

Be who you are and appreciate who you are. Strive to improve every day, but understand and appreciate where you are today. 

Use one positive word a day to describe yourself and others. See how it makes you feel.

I see that little smile…..

There are always so many thoughts tied to getting older. Besides the obvious ones of usefulness, energy, experience and discovery, are the suppositions of what you would do if you had gone a different way.

I don’t mean the maudlin ones like if you should have done “A” instead of “B”. You’ve chosen what you’ve chosen. Blah blah.

What I enjoy listening to are the career and emotional highs and lows of the next generation. How they’ve changed their world — and ours. How they do what they do. How they know what they know.

A family member is in management, something as far away from my career choices as Tibet. But I love listening to his stories. How he moves up the ladder, how he encourages those that work under him. How he works as a team member yet keeps his individuality.

I love another’s stories about how they work around and through setbacks. Illnesses, family crises, healthcare and paperwork. How they work with others to get them on their feet again. How to work with bureaucracy and the steps to keeping one aspect of one’s life while letting go of another.

These days I am more of an observer than a participant. I can take care of myself and help support those going through changes. But I can’t really guide someone else up the corporate ladder or through the intricacies of Medicaid.

I do love listening to those who can, though.

You probably know more than you admit. More than you think. And there is always someone out there who could use your encouragement. Your stories.

I don’t mean you have to give away free legal advice or pull strings to move someone ahead.

But sharing stories of how you worked through things or turned adversity into a positive experience encourages others to take charge of their lives too.

Many of us can’t see the forest for the trees.  All we need is for someone to show us the path. We can find the way around and out ourselves.

I enjoy listening to these people because there is heart with their brains. They know what they want and how to get there. And their stories include the emotional beliefs behind their logic.

I have lots of heart but not as much brains. Not in the pragmatic sense. But I do believe in offering guidance when and where I can.

You can’t take your knowledge with you. So why not share it now?

You will be amazed at those who enjoy listening to you.

Sometimes it’s not the people who change, it’s the mask that falls off.
~ Haruki Murakami

Tonight I watched a couple episodes of a TV series called The Outsiders. It’s a story about  “a family of outsiders who’ve lived off the land in the Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky for as long as anyone can remember.” (per IMDB). It’s about mountain men and mountain women and fighting for the land and each other.

I know it’s made for TV and all, but it gave me a glimpse of yet another group outside of society that make their own rules and laws. Almost as if they live on another planet. In another galaxy.

It makes me realize how sheltered a life I’ve led. Not only are there all kinds of societies and tribes and ways of life so different from my own, but thousands of stories in the history of the world behind me.

We learn about the Civil War in school; we learn about Napoleon Bonaparte and Julius Caesar and the World Wars. Which we should.

But what about all the rest of the world and their ways and their styles? What do people outside of modern society do with their time? Their days and nights? What are their beliefs, their rituals?

These “hillbillies” on this show are only a few steps removed from everyday life. They come to town to get supplies, steal things like guns and beer, and get notices from the government to vacate their land.

But what do they do that’s totally different from what we we are familiar with? How do they court and dance and work the land? What do they believe?

The library, the internet, provides all the information you need to take a trip in time to other worlds right here on your own planet.

Explore other cultures, other beliefs, other societies. Read books and articles from people who have either experienced or inherited this lore. Think of the insight they could provide.

Learning about other cultures, other histories, other ways can open your mind in ways you never thought. And that kind of knowledge is powerful.

It is fun to wonder where we could have gone if we had taken the left path instead of the right. Climbed down the mountain instead of walked around it. Our lives could have been so different.

We could all have been hillbillies.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Twilight – a time of pause when nature changes her guard. All living things would fade and die from too much light or too much dark, if twilight were not.

~Howard Thurman

I have an interesting tale to share about the state of the world — and of the soul — this evening.

Through the many years I have been online I have made very few new friends — friends in the sense that I share my name and address with. I learned early in the active life of the Internet that people are not always who they seemed. 

Why they weren’t I couldn’t understand. Talk about being a simpleton. I trusted what others shared. You are a 24 year old college student? Okay. You are a lonely man looking for friendship? Sure. You were a mom with two kids? I believe you.

How did I know that behind that 24 year old stammer could be a 50 year old pedophile? How would I know that that lonely man was really a psycho from prison?

None of my tales wound up that drastic. But I was so easily fooled. And then, of course, the Internet matured, and, fortunately, so did I. I ran around alot for a while under an assumed name. But I didn’t like that, because it wasn’t truthful.

And I always found myself wanting to tell the truth.

I started my Humoring the Goddess blog April 18, 2011 under my own name. I didn’t — and still don’t — offer many personal details in my comings and goings here. I pay attention to the stories of crazies trying to pick up young girls and schemers taking advantage of older people. I believe in the goodness of everyone but am smart enough to know that now and then that goodness is buried beneath stacks of evil.

So yesterday I get an email from a fellow blogger, someone whose blog I love and comment on and she on mine. She wanted to send me something in the mail.

Instantly I slammed that gate and locked it, peeking through the steel bars that pretend to protect me. I explained my fears, and she understood. 

Then she told me what she wanted to send me.

It was not the kind of explanation a gorilla would send so they could come over to my house and rob me and take my money and life. It was a little gift that connected instantly with my dreams and thoughts. 

And I thought again about sharing something so dreadfully personal as my address.

I know you have to trust somebody in this world. There are so many good, wonderful somebodies around — you can’t be afraid of all of them. You have to use your common sense, and even your sixth sense, and once in a while take a chance with your truth. 

Today’s generation is probably much more open to meeting up with online connections. They take precautions not even thought of in my time.  Most of those connections pan out, too. I just don’t know if I would have the same luck.

So I took a chance and shared my address. If a gorilla shows up one bright day looking for my unicorn stash it wasn’t as if I didn’t warn myself.  

I will still keep the gate locked, though, and watch the world race around madly through the bars at a safe distance.

Do you share your personal personals with others online?

I just have to tell you that I received a lot of positive comments to my last blog about commenting. Thank you thank you.

It seems we all have the best intentions, but ultimately run out of time to do all the things we want/need to do.

Want/need is relative, of course.

Choice has a lot to do with how we spend every 24 hours. Under the umbrella of choice falls necessities, wishlists, responsibilities, unexpected opportunities, and more.

Life is all about choice. We can always choose not to pay our mortgage or not to go grocery shopping. But the consequences to those choices are brutal.

So let’s go to the less serious choices we make in life. Do we go to the soccer game or stay home and work on the car? Do we call the doctor or stop at the store for cold medicine?

As you can see, writing and commenting on blogs are not high on most priority lists. We/I have more important things to worry about. They fall more under an umbrella called “personal gratifications.”

But those are important too.

Life cannot always be all about physical survival. I mean, it is, but it’s not. It’s also about soul building. Finding time to do the things that give our heart and soul satisfaction.

It’s the little things that make the bigger things easier to handle. And it’s the little things we need to make time for. Even when the world is passing us by, cutting our feet out from under us.

It was harder to cut out pieces of time just for myself when I was younger. I’d like to think that was because there were more responsibilities back then. 

I’ve come to realize there weren’t more responsibilities — just different ones. 

Now I fall under the umbrella of “life’s too short” and I try and get personally involved with satisfying my own heart’s song. I find myself closing that umbrella and letting everything I want to do fall around me like rain, soaking me until I can’t move. Too many pleasurable things to do, too little time.

So take a break today and pick a new book off the shelf and start reading. Start a new quilt or text someone you haven’t seen in a while. Take the long way home and watch the sunset.

Make somebody’s day. Make my day. Make YOUR day.

Put your umbrella away.

Here in the states it is indeed again Monday. Bright sun, cold temperatures, dogs hanging around me and my sofa in case there’s any stray food to be had.

I spent some time this morning going through blogs I follow (and even a couple that I don’t) reading and commenting and enjoying their written words. And it made me think of our Monday Morning Discussions:

How many blogs do you follow? Do you read everyone you follow? Do you make comments on those you follow? Or is the purpose of your blog more for you to talk than to read?

This is not a scolding or a real survey. It’s just curiosity.

Face it. Almost all of us are here to talk. To share. Whether it’s our poetry, our painting skills, our pottery skills, or our outlook on life, WordPress is the one outlet where we can find like souls to share our passions with.

There are those who just love to read and learn and don’t have websites of their own. But most of WP’s makeup is made of those sharing and wanting to be shared. We have a passion, a gift, a thought, and feel others can benefit from what we have learned.

But do you take time to comment on someone else’s sharing?

Whether or not we agree, understand, or like, we always walk away from another’s blog with an impression. Do you ever share that impression?

Feedback feels good both ways. I know I love interacting with those who take time to share their thoughts. That’s why I try and share something as often as I can when I read other’s offerings.

 I don’t always comment daily on some blogs,such as anthonygrootelaar’s colorful designs blog MYMonkeyMIND,  or purpleraysblog which is full of inspriation, or Ann Koplow’s daily blog-with-lots-of-pictures The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally, or Catherine Arcolio’s very inspirational blog Leaf and Twig because they contribute a lot every day and I don’t always catch their latest offerings. But I do try and read and comment on those who share their thoughts and creativity at least once a week.

Their writings make my own writings better.

Even if you consider yourself merely an observer, it helps both you and the blog you’re connected to to share your thoughts or reactions now and then. It helps you sort and articulate, and it makes the creators of other blogs feel that they’re connected to you in ways not always seen by others.

Know that not every blog you follow is going to follow you back. It’s just human nature. If you followed every blog you’ve “liked” a post on you’d be reading 24/7 and not working on your own creativity. I don’t expect everyone who comments on my blogs to follow me. And sometimes I check out those who have shared their thoughts and found their path to be quite different from mine.

But that doesn’t mean they didn’t make me feel better about myself.

Comment more. Share more. Even if it’s something short and sweet like “Oh! Nice!” Or “Truth.” 

Be an active part of this world. It will make you feel better, too.

Wendy Mould studied at both Ipswich and Norwich Art Schools, specializing in sculpture, along with painting and illustration.

In turn, this has led to a number of related projects including both writing and illustrating the children’s book ‘Ants in my Pants’.More recently, Wendy has been working upon an ongoing series of oil on canvas paintings that draw their inspiration from some of her favorite pieces of music.Furthermore, they have also been chosen to represent a musical year, the months and seasons.The suite of twelve works will include interpretations of ‘The Rite of Spring’ (Stravinsky), ‘The Snow Maiden’ (Tchaikovsky) and ‘The Lark Ascending’ (Vaughn Williams).

Each work has a touch of magic in it, hidden in the beauty of the painting itself.

More of Wendy Mould‘s works can be found at http://www.thereddotgallery.com/Artists/wendy-mould/.

Barcodes are an everyday item in our lives. Insignificant little vertical lines corresponding to numbers 0-9 in a particular order dictate whether you are purchasing a dozen eggs or a color TV. Boring little barcodes. Simple little barcodes.

But the world of art touches us all. Don’t settle for simple — go for the bling!