Archive for June, 2008

Faux Tuesday

Published
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robayre
on June 30, 2008
in Uncategorized
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Bishop 6.28.08, originally uploaded by robayre.

I woke up this morning all stressed and anxious. There was no reason other than: It’s Monday, AND our perfect kitty who had been sleeping on the floor and leaving us alone at night has become a restless kitty who can only sleep when he is lying on top of me. I’m a super light sleeper who tosses and turns often through the night, so having a small kitten on the bed that must sleep on me makes me worried all night that I am going to roll over on him. At one point last night I woke up without the kitten on me and figured he must be on or next to matt so I rolled over only to have Bishop squirming from underneath me. Yep, I already rolled over on top of him.
So, as I was saying, all of this made me awake feeling unrested, on edge and a stomach full of acid. I tell myself it is ridiculous to let something so insignificant get to me. I need stress management. Actually, I know what I need, and when I get to feeling stressed like this it is usually an indication that I am not getting enough exercise, which is absolutely true.
Fast forward a few hours and I’ve managed to destress. I played this song a few times and it has helped.

(I’ll have to come back and embed this file properly later when I have a moment)
I just discovered it, but it must have been a free itunes download, from who knows how long ago. Note to self; check out Brett Dennen.
Another thing that helped is realizing that this Friday is the Fourth of July and so it will be a short workweek and a longer weekend. I shouldn’t shed my case of the Mondays, hallelujah, it’s actually Faux Tuesday!
One last thing I’d like to share and that is that this weekend when I was semi catching up on all my neglected blogreading I found this list for Truly Living on Cris Carr’s blog ( http://crazysexycancer.blogspot.com/2008/06/goodbye-friend-child-teacher.html)
It just seemed appropriate after watching The Bucket List last week.

1. Telling people you love them even though there is so much poison that you think you hate them. Once you say it you burst open with white joy and then you miss the time lost in the negative.

2. Doing things that make you really scared but really exhilarated.

3. Muting the voice in your head that is always worried, always tentative, always keeping you in the land of stuck. “Fuck it”. “Just do it”. GO.

4. Saying no to people who only take.

5. Saying yes to people who give you as much as you give them.

6. Opening your heart so wide that you touch a space that is unknown, uncomfortable and exposed. Staying in that space. Holding it. Holding it. Ahhhh.

7. Turning addictions into accomplishments. Nothing has you in it’s grips. You are the grips.

8. Service to God/Goddess. Everything else will fall into place.

9. Sacred sweat, lots of it. Dance till you bleed. Laughing so loud someone complains.

10. Forgiving the world and then making it better.

flickr game

Published
by
robayre
on June 29, 2008
in Uncategorized
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Inspired by Cosy’s game.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Robyn
2. What is your favorite food? Sammich :)
3. What high school did you go to? DeKalb High School
4. What is your favorite color? Greens
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Paul Schneider
6. Favorite drink? Water
7. Dream vacation? Hammock in the yard
8. Favorite dessert? Slurpee
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Artist
10. What do you love most in life? Creating
11. One Word to describe you. Smilie
12. Your flickr name. Robayre

If you play along, come back and leave a link, I’d leave to see your results

summer time

Published
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robayre
on June 25, 2008
in General Updates
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I saw my first firefly of the season tonight.

That’s all.

Not much going on here.

Found Art in Door County

Published
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robayre
on June 24, 2008
in Art, Found Art, General Updates and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment



I’m back from my mini vacation in Door County. I had a great time, and saw a lot of beautiful places. Check out the pictures Matt posted to his flickr, he has a picture of one of the eagles we saw circling over us at the Potawatomi State Park tower.
I’m glad that I got to see so many things that I wanted to see but If I do it again, I’d like to stay longer and have a less packed schedule because we did a lot of exploring, but not so much relaxing.

The most relaxing time was probably when I got to work on this artwork and I’m so glad that I made the time for it. Whenever I go away anywhere I wish I had some artwork to leave, so I am proud and feel productive for being able to contribute to Found Art Tuesday this week. I made this painting from the RV that we stayed in, and it is filled with significant parts of Door County: The countryside, portrayed in the lower left (which I painted from the view of our RV), the forested parks, portrayed by the fern, and the beaches, portrayed by matts feet on the sand in the top right.


I left the piece at a geographical marker in Door County, which I later discovered is a halfway mark between the equator and the north pole. There is a parking lot and rest stop there, with a map which I taped the found art to. No word yet, on if anyone picked it up.

When we got back, we couldn’t pick up the kitten quick enough. People, I’m telling you, this is the most amazing kitten ever. Immediately releasing him out into our home he plopped down, belly exposed and so trusting. Did I mention before that his name is Bishop, like the chess piece. He is not skittish in the least, but absolutely friendly and gentle. We’ve been “shopping around” for a kitten for months, never wanting to settle for anything less than the perfect pet, and we are so glad we did. Now, if only everyone in our household thought he was a perfect addition. We did a quick introduction, placing the kitten near Theo’s (my rabbit) closed cage. She immediately was on alert, then in 1 second turned towards the oblivious kitten as if she’d charge it, started thumping, and then just went ballistic, running circles in her cage at about 150 miles per hour. I wouldn’t even say it was “running” but more like a violent swirling, because she was all up on the sides of the cage and everything. Fortunately I had read to keep the rabbit in the cage when you introduce them. I really regret that I didn’t socialize her more when she was little, now I am paying the price. It’s not that Theo is mean, or unfriendly, it’s just that she doesn’t like strangers. Even when people come over sometimes she’ll stomp if their voices get too loud. The entire introduction time, the kitten acted absolutely oblivious to the rabbit’s existence. It’s just kind of funny because you’d think in most rabbit-cat relationships the rabbit would be the prey, but I’m pretty in this situation, roles are reversed. We’ve decided to keep them separate for a few more days before we again try and very slowly introduce them again. I’ve read all advice I can find in all my rabbit and cat books, as well as suggestions online. If anyone has any tips, I’d be glad to hear them.

One for the memory book

Published
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robayre
on June 21, 2008
in General Updates and Uncategorized
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flat tire, originally uploaded by robayre.

Ahh, remember the time we were in the middle of nowhere and got a flat tire? The car was on sand so the jack couldn’t lift the car. The screws holding the tire on must have been put on with a power tool and even our own body weight could barely budge them loose. Oh, then there was the fact that we were surrounded by forest and the worst mosquitos I’ve ever seen. Fortunately I had packed 2 raincoats which partially protected us. Unfortunately the screw to remove the spare tire was stripped and wouldn’t come out. Fortunately it was partially made of plastic and we were able to break parts enough to fit a screw driver and a wrench in and unscrew it. Finally I had the brilliant idea to place the board, and plastic carpeting that hides the spare tire, under the jack, and we were able to lift the car. While Matt did the heavy hard parts I fanned him with big sheets to keep the mosquitos off, still his head, feet and fingers are covered with bites. Poor guy. If it weren’t for the raincoats, I’m afraid we’d both need to be hospitalized for all the bites. No joke.


Other than that, things are gong great. And honestly, we were both so glad and realize it could have been a lot worse.
We’ve seen so many breath taking places. Matt took the above picture on the left. We waded out in the most tranquil, clear, perfect water, climbed a tall lookout point and erin and I spent several hours painting pottery. So yeah. Good vacation, even if just bit itchy and scratchy.

Door County trip day one

Published
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robayre
on June 21, 2008
in Uncategorized
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fortune, originally uploaded by robayre.

I’m currently hooked up to the internet on a campground in Door County Wisconsin, all because I have the bestest boyfriend ever that enables my internet addictions. That’s okay because it is a symbiotic relationship, he keeps me around as mosquito bait and I already have a half dozen bites to prove it.
Yesterday was the first day of my mini vacation and it started off quite rocky.
Instead of being jazzed to be on vacation I woke up sick to my stomach with nerves and a pounding headache. I had so much stuff on my mind and so many things to do before we could actually leave, but because of the nerves I felt like I couldn’t get anything done. I’ve discovered that when I get really edgy and worry a lot exercise is one of the best reliefs. So instead of packing I hopped on my bike and went for a long cruise.
I was feeling much better upon my return and I decided to make a call I’d been putting off for quite sometime. I’d had this weird feeling about
our reservations in Door County and so I just wanted to call and confirm that things were still going to plan. This is when all hell broke loose.
Turns out my fears were not unfounded. The reservations I made months ago for a cabin somehow were switched for an RV and all the cabins had been booked up. I had a complete meltdown
at this point. I kid you not. At one point I just felt I couldn’t take it anymore and laid down on the ground to just cry.
Fortunately Matt was very supportive, didn’t point out my ludicrous behavior and comforted me until I realized that I need to stop acting like a big baby.
I just decided to stuff my disappointment down, finish packing and get on the road.
On the five hour trip up we drove through a crazy storm with hail. Rain was coming down so hard that drivers were pulling over to the side of the road and motorcyclists were all taking refuge under the overpasses. Afterwards there was a beautiful rainbow. I saw a deer about 15 feet away from my window. Numerous large birds, including hawks and what might have been a falcon and also a possible turkey buzzard. I also saw something that made me incredibly sad. We drove by one of the many dairy farms and matt said “cheese cows” and I said “milk cows” and immediately after the cows there were all these structures that looked like tall but skinny kennels with tall doors, and inside each door, from the highway, I could plainly see
baby dairy cows. I thought that was weird, why would they keep baby cows in such tight quarters. And then Bam, it hit me, but I thought
“it can’t be true, those were dairy cows, and why would people use dairy cows for veal”. Matt looked it up quickly, using google on his phone and as it turns out, Veal comes from baby dairy cows. You’d think it would come from meat cows, but nope. Sad but true. Now, the question is, why would that farmer, with the stigma that veal has, advertise the abuse of baby cows for everyone to see from this major highway. He could have simply had the openings of the kennels turned away from the highway and no one would have known what was inside. Okay, I’m not a vegetarian, so really I have no room talking, but it just made me sad.
Anyway, so we made it up to Door and today we will explore and have fun.
One last thing: before we left town we bought a kitten! I’m so excited, and he is exactly what we’ve been searching for in a kitten for weeks.
We had very rigid requirements. Must be multicolored (that was my requirement), male, long-haired, and super affectionate, including loving to be held (matts requirement).
And we found exactly that, and matt has named him Bishop, after the chess piece.

Over the hump

Published
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robayre
on June 18, 2008
in General Updates and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

chicago theatre swell season, originally uploaded by robayre.

Today I can proudly say, I stretched beyond my comfort zone. I represented myself as an artist publicly at a local event. The results were positive and I am proud of how I was able to discuss my work with confidence. I look back just a few years ago, when I was still pretty fresh out of college, and I see a huge difference. I have grown so much as an artist just by taking similar baby steps.
Last night we had a great time at the Chicago Theatre seeing The Swell Season. Honestly, it was such a great show. From my experiences going to Ireland and numerous Irish festivals, it is so like an irish musician to tell plenty of stories between songs and Glen Hansard’s stories were especially memorable and meaningful. If ever I’ve been to a show and wish I could later buy it on DVD, it would definitely be this show.

You really had to be there to understand a lot of these things, but I’d like to remember the folowing:

-His analogies that songs are like soccer balls and children and you hope that they go out into the world and become successful, make you proud and hopefully bring you back a lot of money ;) and that after that success you are 99% thrilled and 1% just wishing you had your soccer ball back.
-Sometimes to get what you most desire, you must turn away from it and go in the opposite direction before you can reach it. Imagine you are on a globe and the only thing that separates you from your goal is a wall which you can not climb or dig below. If you turn away from the wall and walk in the opposite direction eventually you will reach the opposite side of the wall and your goal.
-They performed a song called Happiness and asked the people to sing along, but only if they truly felt and meant the lyrics which were about letting go of someone with only the most positive and unselfish motivations at heart.
- Glen shared a story about a friend with connections to the spirit world. The part of the story that inspired a song was that two lost souls saw two specks of light. When they traveled towards it they discovered those lights were behind someone’s eyes, looking out.
-This little boy happened to be in the audience and was called to the stage to perform this song for all of us.

button, button, whose got the button?

Published
by
robayre
on June 17, 2008
in General Updates, Uncategorized and cool links
. 0 Comments

originally uploaded by robayre.

Last night after watching a tutorial, (or was it just craft night?) I was inspired to break out my button maker and make some buttons. I was really stumped what should be on them until I remembered this page from my page a day book that I really loved.

Tonight my sister, sister-in-law and I are going to go see The Swell Season at the Chicago Theatre. You know the Swell Season, they’re the couple from Once. If you haven’t seen the film yet, get thee swiftly to the video rental store.

Happy Saturday

Published
by
robayre
on June 14, 2008
in General Updates, Projects and Games and cool links
. 2 Comments

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend is heading off to a great start. The weather has taken a bit of a summer break and cooled down enough to open up the windows again.

Let me open my email and extract the rest of the good links that I’ve been holding to share:

Designsponge shared this post featuring a project embellishing stairs with design. I think it is absolutely fabulous and wish I had stairs of my own to do this to. Someday.

Racheal Anilyse contributed to Found Art Tuesday with these postcards which are lovely and perfectly capture the spirit of Found Art Tuesday with their uplifting message. On the back of the postcard is a modified version of the poem Sonno Mama: As Is.

A new-to-me artist that I have flipped-fallen in love with is Heather Smith Jones, which was featured on Creature Comforts yesterday. Here is a link to her flickr.

Decor8 shared this link to a company who will print up to 5 yards of your designwork onto fabric. Very cool. Actually, that reminds me, last week I printed out a pattern I designed onto some iron on transfer and afixed it to some fabric. It was pretty stiff so I plan on putting it through the washer and dryer a few times to soften it up.

For those who enjoy workingfortheman.com, here is a link to a site with potential, here is Start Procrastinating.

Last night at my artgroup meeting, we started talking about how energy is harnessed. There was lots of talk about the sun, coal, gas and generators. Well, as the headline on their blog states: this next site is not about those kind of generators. Onegoodbumblebee shared a link to the Generatorblog which just keeps us all up to date on the latest internet generators.
A few good ones from a quick browse through the site: What’s Your Problem, apparently my problem is that “I’m a bullying crankypants who don’t take no crap from nobody”. It’s especially fitting because I do use the term crankypants with some frequency. Here’s a generator for making cool worm paintings. And lastly, a little known and possibly embarrassing fact is  that when I was in early college and had late morning classes, I would watch the smurfs on Cartoon Network and started keeping a list every the names of every smurf ever mentioned. So in honor of that, I present you with the smurf name generator.

Smurf on Everyone!

Page A Day

Published
by
robayre
on June 12, 2008
in Art, General Updates, Projects and Games and Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

Page A Day, originally uploaded by robayre.

I just got off the phone with my dad, and I’m not saying for sure that he did, but it surely sounded like he ended the conversation with “ky-doke”. Note: not Okey-doke, just ky-doke, like KEY-doke. I just thought it was really funny and made me think about how hilarious I find it when people shorten things that really don’t need to be shortened. Like: “The heck?” not “What the heck?” just “The heck”.
Anyway, I’ve been really “laxed”, getting behind on my posts. Whenever I think of something I want to share here, I usually email myself to remind myself later, and I currently have about 6 emails from myself in my inbox.

I wanted to share this really cool project that mim shared on her blog. The site has viewer submitted pictures of 1. a vintage picture of yourself and 2. a current re-enactment of the vintage picture. There are some truly classic ones in the bunch.

Ooops, that’s all I can share right now because I’m about to head out for a family dinner.  The above picture of the last few posts are more scans of my Page A Day pages. You can see more here.

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