Two businessmen walking

down William toward Wall Street at lunchtime. One to the other:
"I think it's only because I'm...slightly older and less sure of myself now..."
No hint of irony in his voice!

Change is the mother...

of innovation. I believe that the saying is actually "Necessity is the mother of innovation." Or maybe it's "invention." But this is my blog, so I'll mangle quotations to suit my purposes.

Life change has brought out my creativity. Not that I'm writing much. But I'm making stuff--lots of stuff. Here are some more pictures.

Back

I'm back. I'm still kidless, but I'm no longer in suburbia. I'm living in Brooklyn again after almost a decade in CT.

The world outside my bedroom window is always awake. Two bars across the street spill noisy drunk people out into cold night at 3:30am Wednesday through Saturday. It doesn't seem to matter how cold it is. They mill around, screaming and laughing and sometimes, fighting. About six weeks ago an argument bulged out of control and I heard a woman scream, "put that shit away," and I've not been gone so long that I didn't know that she could only be referring to a weapon. So I pulled away from the window and immediately heard the shot. I knew that I should stay away, that people innocently watching TV or knitting by the window are killed by stray bullets, but I crept back nonetheless. I watched the two men wrestling in a sloppy, drunken way that almost looked like making out. Then there were five patrol cars all at once, lights and horns blaring, and I watched as four cops kicked the larger drunk man into submission and then almost politely settle him into the back a police car.

I could have done without that bit of urban theater. I've wanted to call the cops several times because of the noise, but the image of that man curled up on the ground being kicked from all sides stops me. Better to invest in a high-tech sound machine, like the ones psychiatrists use.

But I logged on after so much time not to complain about city life. How could I? I am back from suburbia, back where I belong. For better or for worse.

My apartment is a 15-minute walk from my parents' house. My mom and I have found a neutral zone: crafting. I've discovered that we don't annoy each other or make snarky comments (as often) when we are making things. So I thought that I would use this blog as a place to show off our work. We've been doing decoupage--boxes, tissue box covers. Next week I think it will be napkin rings. I have a new respect for art therapy. Below are some of my mom's tissue box covers. The idea came from not wanting to make anything that would add clutter to her home. There are already hoards of Costco brand square tissue boxes all over the house for my two nieces' ever-flowing noses. So we figured, why not make them pretty?

Returning to the metropolis has made has revived my creativity. I've been drawing with colored pens and pencils on graph paper and reproducing the images for cards and stuff. Here's a picture of the customized card and CD that I made for a friend and mentor at my new job.