Thursday, October 07, 2010

Friday Fragments - Mundanity & Artistic Brilliance

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Mommy's Idea

Don't forget to check out the home of glorious Fragments( Mrs. 4444)
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Yes, that was me, the insane woman who had her tan minivan windows wide open, radio blaring, as she swatted at a dozen Drosophilidae, trying madly to get them to fly OUT through the window. I was feeling particularly charitable by not automatically squashing them. I hadn't even yet had my coffee.

Such safe driving. Stupid flies. Made it look like I was waving my hands like I just didn't care.

Another gratuitous opportunity to post another danceable tune:



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Have I ever told you that I can't draw a straight line if my life depended on it? Unlike the rest of my family (Dad, sister, brother, and now I found out my Mom as well, since she started taking watercolour classes)... I don't have an artistic bone in my body. The one time I accompanied my sister to her interior design studio during an all nighter way back in our university days, to try to help? She asked me to cut a straight line. Fail. She sent me home.

I do, however, love original art. So what's a girl to do? Thank her lucky stars that she has a friend who is an artist.

Yes, I guess my cool factor shot up a bit. My good friend, super guy, fantastic father to two cutey-patootie (sp?) kids - who also happens to be married to someone with her own cool cred in the entertainment industry...is a true artist - Jonathan Dunkelman.

We had dinner at his place last weekend, and he shared his studio/man cave with us - the place where all the genius happens.

A number of years ago, we commissioned some portraits from Jonathan. We treasure these pieces, as they capture the essence of our kids at such a wonderful age, when they were really just starting to discover the world around them. Both kids were about 18 months old at the time of the paintings:

Jonathan has created some even more wonderful masterpieces since that time - I particularly love his landscapes. You can even see some of his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, for sale or for rent. Be sure to check out his gallery.

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Both kids were off sick from school this week. Back to school viruses - not out of the ordinary. So I worked from home. After picking up some files from the office, I stopped at Costco to get some cough syrup for the boy. The moms with coffee in hand, wearing trendy yoga pants, while pushing the carts full of Christmas decorations, groceries, fidgety children, whatever they could fit in there... and I realized that I had popped back into my former world. Just for those 15 minutes.

What a strange feeling it was. It wasn't that long ago that THAT mom -was me.

Amazing.

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You know your kids have totally taken over when you end up spending $25 on elastic bands.



But they are pretty cute and kinda cool.

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I'm going to Europe for work again - traveling on Sunday, yes, Thanksgiving weekend. So that's not so nice.

I've got a couple of presentations to work on and present while I'm there. And strangely, I'm not nervous.

That in itself, is pretty amazing too.

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Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. Fantastic weekend to everyone.



(There's been a paucity of good material here of late. I've found a blog wave that I will have to join - 30 Days of Truth which I stumbled on at my friend Nancy's. Who linked to Adam's and Terra's. And so on, and so on... and I can't wait to get into "real" blogging again. Stay tuned.)

12 comments:

Kat said...

Wow. Those portraits are awesome. I always wanted to get my kiddos portraits like that. Very cool.

Hope the kiddos feel better!

Kamis Khlopchyk said...

Not nervous for presentations? I cannotn process that.... But super glad you aren't.

Have a good Thanksgiving before you jet off to Europe!

:)

The Crazy Coxes said...

Thats a lot of awesomeness packed in one post!

Love the artwork - and I am NOT artistic at all!
My youngest is 15 and we have a zillion of those bands - but not the spongebob ones. We NEED those.

Have fun on your European business trip - even though it starts on a weekend!

Cherry said...

Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry you have to travel... boo!

So are those the Silly Bandz that I hear mom's talk about on Twitter? They are pretty cute.

jmt said...

You are such a big wig with so many mommy duties too. I love that you can balance and juggle it all. :)

And that song? Yeah, didn't know it. But my six year old started singing along to it. He claimed not to know it, but he somehow was singing? Hm.

I hope the kiddos feel better by now!

Empty Nester said...

A straight line? What's that? LOL Safe travels!

Mrs4444 said...

Omigosh! Tell me they don't cost $25 for three?!

I love Jonathan's portraits best! Very nice work!

Here's to a healthy week for all of you! :)

The Littons said...

Where in Europe?

BusyDad said...

Anthology movies are awesome because I like to follow shorter stories connected to one theme. Which is why I like these Fragment posts of yours. They fill my need for catching up and work with my short attention span. Also, I love business travel. Lucky you! (Hey, anytime you can collapse in a hotel room at the end of the day and not have to worry about whether your kid ate all his vegetables is a WIN).

Claudya Martinez said...

I hope the kids are feeling better.

Kick butt on the presentations!

Jen said...

we have the same taste in music! lol
I am doing 30 days of truth.

Anonymous said...

Was the author very convincing, or did he miss a few points? Care to share?
I mean, how hard can it be to just be spontaneous. It is. And sometimes you just can't post random shit like this.
I'm not happy about my life, what can I do to be happy?
I'm a little bit eccentric, and sometimes my comments get removed. I just want to add some spark.

For people who like peace and quiet: a phoneless cord.

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