Creativity

Looking to be inspired? Inspiration is all around us, I think having kids helps inspire me because they see things in such an original way, they think of things I may have never thought of before, and they say what they think. All great qualities!
I have a Wacom tablet that I use for my Cafepress stores (Creativethoughttshirts.com and Freshgreentees.com), and I just love it. I bought the Intuos 3, 6x8, and it's wonderful!!! I need about a month alone with it so I can learn to use it well! Okay, 6 months, but the point is, there aren't enough hours in a day. I just love Corel Painter (came with the Wacom tablet). It's wonderful, and the official magazine is fabulous...has great tutorials (as does the website). Unfortunately, I don't think you can subscribe to the magazine in the U.S., but I pick one up from my local Borders bookstore. It has lots of helpful tips and tricks, and a lot of good stuff that you may have forgotten from art school. (Or never learned). The latest issue shows how to turn photos into sketches, very cool.
Some of my other favorite inspirational places include:

Chapter19.com/inspiration

The ocean (haven't been there too often, but found it very inspirational).
Used book stores...love to look at the art books, both graphic design and fine art books.
The Artist Network

Deviant art - very cool, check it out!

KT Tunstall site...very cool website, I wish I knew how to make a website like this!

Webby awards...cool websites!
Artocracy

This one I can't explain, it takes a while to load, but it's worth it. Try it!

Alright, I'm getting really tired...I can see I'm going to have to continue this list tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, because inspirational sites are abundant, like my bookmarks...
Goodnight!

Madison Hybridfest

So, check this out. In Madison Wisconsin this weekend they're having "Madison Hybridfest". The best hypermilers from across the country will compete in the 2008 Hybridfest mpg challenge, to see how many miles they can get with their hybrids. Hybridfest is about more than just gas mileage. It's also a place for discussion about air quality, climate change, and the need for sustainable transportation. Environmental groups, Car dealers, and many more groups will be on hand to help make Hybridfest a success.

Be sure to check out Hybridfest the weekend of July 19, 2008 in the Dane County Fair at the Alliant Energy Center, Madison Wisconsin. If you like hypermiling, check out some of these hypermiling shirts and gifts from my store, FreshGreenTees.com. I've got a whole section on hypermiling in my store, these are some of my favorites. If you're not sure what hypermiling is all about, you can find out more information here at hypermiling.com. It's actually super fun to see how many miles you can get per gallon of gas. It also helps to keep you making conscious decisions about your driving. If you'd like more information and links about hypermiling, you can check out my Squidoo lens here. Thanks, and drive slowly and safely!

Drinking... A LOVE Story?

I came across this book by Caroline Knapp, called Drinking, A Love Story I was intrigued by the title...I had to know more. So, I checked the book out from the library and began to read. I couldn't stop reading, the words seemed to jump off the page as if they were written for me and about me. Caroline Knapp went through a painful alcoholic journey, and shared it in this moving memoir. One theme that seems to run through out the book, is a theme of women feeling self loathing or self hatred. This, too resonates with me. I don't know why, but I never feel good enough...as a parent, a wife, a child, a friend, an employee. And drinking was a way to numb myself and not have to deal with these feelings. Although I haven't had any alcohol in six years, the smell of beer or wine still tempts me, and there are times when I have nightmares that someone has sneaked liquor into my soda and tricked me into drinking alcohol, and all I have worked for is lost. I am still not as self aware as I would like to be. My addictions now have gravitated towards food, although the self numbing and self medicating of food doesn't seem as satisfying to me as the buzz on a Friday night, it is still some sort of comfort seeking thing. In my mind, I know this. I know I shouldn't shove four Snickers bars down my throat and then have a bowl of ice cream. I know it will make me sick. But I still do it anyway. Is this any healthier than drinking? I don't know. I thought I was doing so well, but in reading this book, it has made me think about it. I am going to have to do some self analysis on why I dislike myself so much. The vicious cycle of feeling fat and unattractive, so I binge on fattening foods and then feel horrible about myself, is getting pretty old. I'm in my 40's now, you'd think I would have more of a handle on who exactly I am, but I can't seem to find anything concrete. I can't say I have very strong opinions about anything. I don't seem to be able to voice my concerns in a crowd. I can't stand up for myself, because I don't know what I believe in. Is this a spiritual crisis? Would it help if I exercised or meditated on a regular basis? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt. Perhaps meditation or prayer is the answer. Perhaps there isn;t any one answer...but the journey of self discovery that we all must take.
Anyway, I would highly suggest this book to anyone who is an alcoholic, or knows an alcoholic and wonders how they got that way, or what the hell they're thinking as they're killing themselves.
A very sad side note to this is that as I was reading this book, I was so moved by Caroline Knapp, that I wanted to email her and tell me how moved I was by her book. How it really touched me and gave me a lot to think about. So, I googled her to find out more about her, and I found out that she had passed away a few years ago from lung cancer. It made me truly, truly sad.