Secret Handshakes

Hey people, last week someone sent me this:

A SPIRITUAL CONSPIRACY

On the surface of the world right now there is
war and violence and things seem dark.
But calmly and quietly, at the same time,
something else is happening underground
An inner revolution is taking place
and certain individuals are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution.
From the inside out. From the ground up.
This is a Global operation.
A Spiritual Conspiracy.
There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet.

You won't see us on the T.V.
You won't read about us in the newspaper
You won't hear about us on the radio
We don't seek any glory
We don't wear any uniform
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles

Most of us work anonymously
We are quietly working behind the scenes
in every country and culture of the world
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys,
in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands
You could pass by one of us on the street
and not even notice

We go undercover
We remain behind the scenes
It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done
Occasionally we spot each other in the street
We give a quiet nod and continue on our way

During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs
But behind the false storefront at night
is where the real work takes a place
Some call us the Conscious Army
We are slowly creating a new world
with the power of our minds and hearts

We follow, with passion and joy
Our orders come from the Central Spiritual Intelligence
We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking
Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Movies ~ Kind words ~
Smiles ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Social activism ~ Websites
Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness...

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways
with our own unique gifts and talents
Be the change you want to see in the world
That is the motto that fills our hearts
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place
We know that quietly and humbly we have the
power of all the oceans combined
Our work is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains
It is not even visible at first glance
And yet with it entire tectonic plates
shall be moved in the centuries to come

Love is the new religion of the 21st century
You don't have to be a highly educated person
Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it
It comes from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings
Be the change you want to see in the world
Nobody else can do it for you
We are now recruiting
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.
All are welcome
The door is open

- author unknown

I added some spaces to break up the text but it is otherwise exactly as I first saw it. Isn't that awesome? I definitely believe in trying to spread awesome vibes, that putting good energy out there does affect things in the world. The only thing is, I was a little disappointed that this is an INNER revolution. There is still a big part of me that wishes it involved some kind of ninja wear, sneaking around in the dark of night, and, possibly... pranks.

I've never been a joiner. Organized, official groups have never worked for me, but I still long for a tribe. They're out there. I've met enough of them to know that. But we're scattered. When I started getting more into mountain biking someone sent me a little friendly message saying "Welcome to the club of misfits" and I got all excited and was like "REALLY?!!!"-- but, alas, still no ninja-wear or pranking or even hanging out planning illicit hijinks was actually involved. It wasn't really a club. (pouts)

I have my own little pretend secret clubs, like the writers I hang out online with, the assorted art peeps I hang out in RL with, and yes, even the mountain bikers I observe like a field biologist (or jealous sister) (because they are dudes and way more darey than me, and therefore I'll never really be all the way in their club-- which is okay. :) ) Occasionally someone else crops up who is funny and an oddball and edgy but a good egg and I secretly induct them into my scattered tribe too.

I like this idea that there is now this wider circle of positive vibe spreaders out there I'm part of too. Have you guys heard of this? Who's in your tribe?

Good vibz- ride it girl!

Hey people. Welcome to Fav Music Friday again. Today I have a double dose of Jason Mraz for you. First up- a cool mountain biking clip I found of this girl riding. She doesn't pull off any amazing stunts, is just riding and having fun. I thought it would be good to show you why I've fallen so hard for mountain biking. Looks fun huh? (I don't have a cool helmet like hers though. In my case it would be complete overkill.)



Woot her! The trail she's riding looks comparable to Hillside- where I ride, but I'm not as comfortable as she appears to be just yet. (Getting there though- added a new section to my repertoire this week!) What's not to like about zooming through the woods though right? If you like the song check out the full version below. More Hawaii, more surfing and cliff jumping, plus some cool skateboarding in an empty pool.

Jason Mraz - New Music - More Music Videos

Now that you undoubtedly have a good vibes smile plastered on your face go forth and spread the awesomeness people. Have a good day and a great weekend. Remember- if you're not lovin' it and having fun- you're doing it wrong!

It's just basic hygiene people- relax.

Hey people. It's weird Wed again, and a super busy week for me. I'm a little light on creepy dolls and things made out of human hair so you're stuck with a mere observation or two. I think it's kind of weird how most commercials for men's hygiene products mimic action flicks.

It seems they can't shave or put on deodorant without some kind of brush with death or without narrowly avoiding a sexual encounter. My, their lives appear to be a 24-7 adventureland!


I think axe body spray is kind of like Love's Baby Soft for dudes. I suppose they need to beef that concept up a bit.



Ads for women's products usually are along the lines of, "You need some kind of deodorant, so why not use this stuff that doesn't get white crap all over your clothes- hmmm?"

Other things that seem weird:

We drive on the parkway, and park on the driveway.

Donald Duck never wears pants, but puts a towel around his waist when he gets out of the shower...

Watermelons with seeds in them. We now have seedless ones. What is the point of the others?

Brazilian wax jobs.

Folding underwear-- it's not like anyone can tell if it's wrinkled or whatever.

OK-- your turn. What's weird people? You tell me.

So far my birthday is aweome sauce!

Hey people. So this is what it looks like--my version of the official mid-forties. I scaled back my original overly-bold birthday goal of flying off a big jump, but did make good on learning how to do a modest wheelie.

Here I'm getting all "ready". Yes- I'd be one of those people who swing their arms a bunch of times before jumping off a cliff etc. I need to feel all ready before I perform darey stunts. This could be a rationalization, but I kind of think I should get some kind of extra credit, because although I have the whirring flywheel/ relentlessly spinning clockwork thing inside that makes me always want (need) to find adventure, I'm kind of a chicken too. So I basically do stuff in spite of the fact I'm scared, not because I'm fearless.

Yesterday I took Dan over to the trail with a bike for the first time. In typical Dan style he WAY out-dared me, and in his typical sickening fashion took to it like a duck to water, riding even harder parts for the first time as if it was no biggie at all.

We wound up going from the trail to the bike store and getting him his own mountain bike for his birthday, which is in a week. I'd attribute this to my amazing Svengalli-like vibes, but mountain biking is pretty fun, and- not to brag, but I'm pretty fun to hang out with, and this gives us another thing to do together. So it was kind of a no-brainer once he tried it.

Oh, of course he out-wheelied me too-- even though I have been practicing for weeks and he hasn't done one since he was, like, 10. He sucks. No, he's awesome. (pouts, but is proud of him.)

But check out my daring wheelieness people! Come on! Woo Hoo!

I've decided I'm going to live well into my 120's. I figure by the time I get super old, medical science will have cured a whole bunch of stuff, plus I'm going to continue doing all the active stuff I enjoy, so should be in pretty good health. That means my actual middle age would be more like 55 to 75. Right? RIGHT???

Ok, yeah, it's all relative. To anyone under 35 I'm "old" now, but hey-- to dudes like Mick Jagger I'm still young hot stuff and hopelessly out of their league!

Seriously though, I've been a lot of different ways in my life. Sometimes when I'd leave one phase for another I'd think the "old me" had to be kind of killed off. That nakedly naive vulnerable girl who wound-up attracting predators? -- She had to go. That super tough girl who replaced her-- She had to go too. Workaholic-- scratch. Adict-- scratch.

I spent most of my thirties looking, almost frantically, for the cool side of the pillow. I'd evolved. I'd followed my bliss-- become an artist, shed my destructive vices, and had a good marriage. Wasn't I supposed to be all zen and shit now? Why did I still have all that restless pent-up energy? And still go through black moods that almost crushed me at times?

Now I think i get it. In the last couple years I'm learning to just roll with it all a little better. All those old selves-- the joking around kid, the super raw, honest, unarmored girl, the tough chick, the rocker, the creative, the nutball-- they're all me. I guess I'm just getting more and more me all the time. More paradoxical even.

And, uh, yeah, more and more older. :) But that's OK. I'm not done yet.

Come to my comment section party if you want. Already today has been so cool! My amazing niece called to say happy birthday and my grandma too-- who is 94! Many of my super cool friends (I am so lucky you guys) have checked in, and my sis of course. My neighbor even gave me this cool card she made with a weird doll on it, and a plant. :) I am FULL of awesome vibes. (hugs self) Thanks everyone!

Today I went mountain biking first thing and went down a hill I've been too scared to ride until today (woot me). Later I'm going for a picnic with both of my parents, and even later, hooking up with the ever Trusty good pal Pam for a nice run.

Here's hoping your day is as good as mine. :)

"Or wait before deciding to be friendly..."

Hey people. Today's music find is one of my very favorite songs and I can guarantee two things: You probably have never heard it. And it will make you smile. If it doesn't you get triple your money back, so don't be a weenie-- just play the vid.

I love the part where they crack-up, and where he just can't help himself and has to break into singing again. I'd recommend not watching the whole vid, but just listening. Otherwise you risk wiener dog vertigo.

Here's Etiquette by Daniel Johnston. Take a listen.



Isn't that great? Doesn't it make you in good mood? Cool. Today is a good mood day around here. the show opens today and there's a little party me and buddy & fellow artist Linda are going to. I'm going to girl it up and actually wear a dress. This is some of my stuff set up outside the venue.

It's at this cool hobby farm owned by a former NFL player. the shop is in an old barn and stuffed with cool furniture and antiques, and now, artwork for the weekend anyway. They have a bunch of animals. I couldn't resist the peacock and neither could Linda.

I stuck with the "having fun with it" theme when it came time to tag all my stuff too. yesterday was so nice out I just hung out in my bikini and shorts and made smart-alecky tags and loaded my trailer in the sun.

I seriously hope no one gets smashed by my chairs. They are a cool sitable design- one of the first things I made EVER, from back before I started doing art and was going to design furniture. I had some big guy sit in them and bounce around to test, but they are kind of scary. You never know.

Another piece of advice I can give you is even if it is just really quick and small, it's really never a good idea to weld in a bikini and flip flops. OSHA does not approve. No big damage though. :)

Have a great weekend and come back Monday for my birthday post / comment area party. You're all invited. :)

A Slightly Less Weird Than Usual Wed, Or Not...

I know, I know. You like to get your weird on people. What can I say? It's a very busy week. It's a shortie and I have that show that starts Fri. You'll have to settle for this:

Here, have a chicken. It's kind of a weird one.

Also behold what the latest fridge clean out produced-- twelve year old mustard! Twelve! That means in our last move we actually packed and moved ten year old mustard. This mustard has outlasted a lot of relationships. Scary or touching?-- you decide.

In other SueNews:

I've been in welding mode getting ready for the show. You've seen the flowers I've been working on. I got tired of those and began making gates out of old screens. I like them so far. The first one has some secret bonus welding on it no one will probably notice.

Here's how it came out. I likey. The next one is going to have more details to the outside frame, kind of architectural prairie touches, and more perched birds, a different style/color than these, and maybe a cat.

I'm kind of having fun with getting ready for this show. It was so last minute, I knew I didn't have time to prepare the way I usually do. Plus, sales have been so down I'm going in with super low expectations, so the fun factor is my main motivator.

Here is the bio I provided:

Sue was raised in the Amazon rain forest by a tribe of scantily clad indigenous people who found her, mysteriously, as a baby, in the company of a family of Slow Loris’s completely healthy and unharmed. This was particularly puzzling because Slow Loris’s are normally found in Southeast Asia. Curious no?
After a series of humorous and at times perilous misadventures, she grew up and found herself living in MN creating metal artwork. When not making art she’s usually trying to learn to pop wheelies, looking for other goofball adventurers to hang out with, and coming up with T-shirt slogans.
Her latest brainstorm is, “Art = Fun To Do, Boring To Talk About.”

None of the above is actually true… Okay, some of it is. Maybe.

These things are usually chock full of educational details and list various awards etc, and sometimes go into how the person started doing art or where they get their inspiration. I was going to just write, "Look at my stuff. If you like it, buy it. The end." but decided to amuse myself.

On an unrelated note:
Dan and I have reached a stalemate on the big "do apples suck or not" controversy of 2009. I say suck, he likes. My reasons: When you bite into them it feels like they're going to yank your teeth out. Then juice usually dribbles messily and annoyingly down your chin. And they're kind of sour, so the pay-off just isn't there for me.

Dan said, "but they're great with caramel on them, or brown sugar." I argued almost anything would be. That's like saying brussel sprouts are ok with a bunch of sauce and cheese on them. He said, "You can cut them up." Why would I trouble myself? They're not that good.

I think I won don't you people? We still bought three apple trees.
==
And another unrelated item:
I'm getting back to writing. The other day I was minding my own business and suddenly was eavesdropping on an argument a couple of characters were having, so, they're back. Now when I run instead of just thinking "doo dee dumm dee doo" or whatever to the music, or-- one of my favorites-- "what would I do if a creepy perv jumped me right now?" -- where I run through a series of imaginary ass kicking moves that end with me taking the perpetrators wallet--

(Guys don't think this way because they aren't prey animals, but we (girls) do- or should anyway. My sister and I used to play this all the time, talking about how you could crack someone over the head with the toilet tank cover, and keeping a lighter and hairspray can in the bathroom to use as an instant blowtorch.) (Hmmm. I guess this did turn out to be kind of weird after all.)

--I've been thinking about plot twists and my new character and brain injuries. I'm anxious to get back to my story, which is almost done-- except for a ton of revising. I have a couple ideas for art stuff too, which is good because I still have to bring stuff to Door County & Stockholm this season. Better late than never.

Ok-- off to work. Stay weird.

Yay- I have a boyfriend

And he's my husband! "What?!" Let me explain:

Dan and I are known for having this kind of perfect relationship, kind of sickeningly so, as some of you keep telling me. We are on the same page with all the big stuff, and look out for each other, and really are friends too, and we both know we are lucky and appreciate our lives. BUT...

There's been a bit of drifting going on over the last year or so. Drifting we didn't really notice at first.

Dan could care less about my writing-- which, when I'm going full tilt at, is consuming in a way only an addict could probably understand. That's OK. It's my thing. He also isn't into art beyond wanting me to be working at it and asking when another check is coming. That's OK. I'm really not that into injection molding (his job) either, so...

But Dan is a really hard worker, and he loves our place, which we moved to a couple years ago. Any homeowner knows, you never run out of work and projects to do around a house, and Dan seems to kind of dig that. I, on the other hand, am a really hard player. I'm always trying new things and fighting boredom. I plan on living super long, but your time can be up at any moment, and I don't want to have wasted mine doing menial tasks that mean nothing to me. Suddenly without realizing it, we'd quit hanging out together, even though we were living right under the same roof and weren't mad at each other.

Despite having a number of other connections, I felt lonely. I was making a lot of writer buds online to talk about that stuff with. Trusty Pam is willing to do all the darey, boredom fighting stuff with me or else I just go by myself. I'm lucky to have some really good friends who are artists and designers too, so can talk about all that with them (except art etc isn't really that thrilling to talk about so mostly we just screw around and have fun). And Dan was in his own orbit working on all the innumerable projects around the house, mostly by himself.

I've been getting weird vibes from him. I've been asking him if anything is wrong. He's been saying no, no, and no. (You have to ask a bunch of times.) Finally the other night he piped-up. We'd drifted apart and he didn't like it. We'd drifted apart and I didn't like it either.

We stayed up late into the night talking about stuff that bugged him, stuff I could have gotten all defensive about, but I know Dan enough to know if he says anything, it's something important to him, and I need to hear it. Then I told him how I felt. He listened even when I had a hard time explaining myself. He doesn't demand that all my jumbled feelings make total sense. He knows even if I can't speak them they're real and important.

We made an agreement to be more of a unit again and split up the work/play time more evenly and spend more of it together. "Us" is the most important thing in our lives.

So we worked on the roof together most of the weekend, and yesterday when it got nice out he wrapped it up and we went for a paddle on the river. We kayaked as far as we could up river, until there were rapids that were impassible, then floated down for a while, drifting and eating the cookies I brought with.

There is a flywheel inside me that is always spinning. I need to move to get rid of the pent-up energy. It relaxes me. Usually going slow, or just "relaxing" is strangely anxiety producing for me. Dan positioned our kayaks so we were facing each other and we quit paddling and just looked at each other and the beautiful day and let the current carry us downstream. And the flywheel slowed way down. I was calm. I relaxed, leaning back and letting my legs dangle over the side. It was great, like a big sigh just when you need it.

Dan is the only one who affects me like this. He's the SueWhisperer I guess. After, we both felt like we were back, and glad we did the hard work of talking it all through until we were both satisfied.

Relationships are like a little fire you have to keep tending I guess.