The Easter celebration is a reminder that we no longer have to fear eternal damnation as long as we believe that Jesus died on the cross to save us.
Deep down I know this but I find at times my fingers grasping chainlink staring at the cross, wondering. Did He really die for me? Why?
There’s nothing special about me, not really-sure I have some talents, I love my family and friends–even the cats who annoy me several times a day.
What makes me special enough to save?
In Jeremiah 1-46 NIV We’re told before we were even formed in the womb God knew us! He knew what He was creating and all the faults we would have and the struggles we’d encounter to do what we are called to do. He knew if we choose to accept Him as Our Savior then we will come home to Him.
I’m letting go of the cold chain link and walking to towards the cross embracing what Jesus did for me. I will step aside from the insecure feelings that I’m not good enough. I am His. That’s the Easter Message I need to remember.
For years my mom has said she’d rather go to the dentist than to the hair salon. This made no sense to me as I love to have someone fuss over me and make my hair do things I can’t.
The discussion about her dislike came up again when I asked, “Mom, when you were little did you have curly hair?”
I wanted this information because I’ve decided to let my hair be what God intended–wavy and I wanted to know if I got it from my mom or dad.
“Oh no! My hair has always been straight. When I was 4 my mother started taking me to get perms. That was terrifying.”
“How could that be scary, mom?”
“There was this big machine that had curlers that dropped down. Electricity ran through the wires into the curlers making my hair into kinky curls.”
I stopped walking willing to let the Fitbit rest while I considered if I should drive to her house to make sure she was okay. “Electricity sent to your hair?”
“Yes, and I’ll never forget it. You go look it up on that machine of yours and you’ll see. It would have been about the mid 1930s. Then call me back.”
I said I would thinking, “Mom has lost it. No way such a thing existed.” So I turned on my ‘machine’ that’s what mom calls the computer and searched for perms in the 1930s.
She’s right it looks terrifying. The girl in the photo looks to be about the age my mom would have been.
So I’ve learned wavy hair doesn’t come easy if you don’t have it. I do and all I had to do was learn how to take care of it. It’s not as easy as it seems. I had to buy a book! This one:
Turns out I was doing everything wrong to get my waves to behave. I had to give up my flat iron and learn to leave conditioner in my hair. Someday I’ll post a photo. Not yet though because my hair hasn’t quite recovered from smashing it between the hot plates of the flat iron.
And just for fun here’s a short clip from a movie where the 1930s Friedrich perm machine is used.
And if you think this looks more like fun than scary I read that it is coming back in the form of a digital perm. Send me a photo if you have one done.
What do you do if the work you produce can’t be sent by email, text or put on a blog? Because my idea of fun is writing I often forget about others who work in creative fields. Like my son, Andrew. He produces amazing art work and it’s often on large wall size canvases.
What if your work is so big it has to be moved from one floor to the next down steep concrete stairs, or by an elevator?
First you have to have a space to create work of that size. For my son that means an older building in the city. The building is ancient and has been used so much that the concrete stairs are worn in the middle much like wooden stairs of the early to mid 1800s.
This weekend we helped our son move his paintings from his studio to the Concrete Ocean Art Gallery in St. Louis. His show is Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 pm if you happen to be in St. Louis stop by and check it out. Here’s a painting by Andrew Brandmeyer that will be available–without the blue MOVING PAINTINGS rectangle –I added that.
Moving paintings require muscle, great care and a truck. We have the truck and trailer, and Mr. Quiet has the muscles. (He’s not going to like this photo…I took it when he wasn’t looking. That’s his thinking face.)
And a cat.
No artist or writer is ever without a cat right?
Don’t touch these!
Andy packed the painting with care into boxes. Lot’s of protection to make sure the frames aren’t scratched or the paint chipped.
I couldn’t help it. I had to play with some of the fun apps I learned about in the iphonography class.
This one fit through the door. After one attempt we realized the bigger paintings couldn’t make the turn at the bottom of the stairs and had to be moved by the old building’s freight elevator.
Every time we left the studio for a few minutes the door gate had to be locked because of where the studio is located.
We followed Andy to the gallery, driving slow, cautious of the cargo we carried. Works of art, creations only one person could do. With a sigh of relief we arrived at the Concrete Ocean Art Gallery and our responsibility ended.
This one is my go to camera now. I get a clear shot because it takes more than one and does some magic thing that makes me look like a better photographer. This guy hates cameras and yet…here he is with a *smile*.
I love it’s simplicity in creating graphics for all the social media sites that I use. Facebook covers, twitter posts, Pinterest and more are quick to design.
I used CANVA to make the blog graphic for this post.
Many of these apps are available for the Droid or there are some like them. So go check out some new apps and see what kind of photos you can create!
Do you read them before you buy a book or a product?
I do write them and it’s not always easy. If I love a book I give it a 5 star it’s the ones that I’m not so sureI love that I struggle with. If it’s a book I don’t leave a three star on Amazon because that’s as bad as a one star, those books I don’t post reviews.
This past week I left a one star on a product. I wanted to leave zero stars but it wasn’t possible.
If I had taken the time to read the reviews on this product I wouldn’t have bought it, but I didn’t think about it.
My cats go outside and I needed some flea protection for them. I was at Wal-Mart and usually I pick up Pet Armour. They were out so I snagged a package of Adam’s Top Spot.
Serious mistake. One of my cats, Wendell had a terrible reaction. He was shaking, staring off into space an his fun came out in chunks! I’m fortunate it wasn’t worse. After posting my review I read through the others on Amazon. Many cats have reacted to this product in even more dangerous ways, seizures and horrific sores.
Wendell is fine now. This is an old shot of him feeling well– on top of the fridge.
He’s not quite back to normal but I’m hoping for a full recovery.
So do you write reviews?
Do you think it makes a difference when you post a negative review? In this case I hope my review protects someone else’s beloved cat.
Part of my job as a writer is to check out what other writers post on their blogs. I ran across Liz Tolsma’s Changing Scenes blog. She had Pam Hillman, author of Claiming Mariah as a guest discussing how photos look different by changing filters on her camera. Read her post Old World Christmas. I have Photoshop Elements 11 and wanted to see what I could do with my Christmas Tree. It’s a very small tree and not all that impressive–unless you are a cat, then it is an amazing playground.
No Filter
It’s very busy, you can see the light switch and part of the lamp and photo behind the tree.
Over at the Coffeshop Blog they offer free actions (filters) for PhotoshopElements 11 and older versions. I used the Autumn Vintage filter on the Christmas tree.
Coffeeshop Autumn Vintage
It’s softer looking but I can still see the problems in this photo.
Much Better! I can still see the unwanted elements but they aren’t as distracting. If I wanted to I could use the healing tool and make them go away.
No more Unwanteds
Oops forgot to remove the photo behind the tree but it’s barely noticeable.
Besides having fun playing with Photoshop 11 have I learned anything else?
Yes. It may seem odd but the more I played with the photos and made the mistakes disappear it reminded me of someone who made my mistakes now and in the future disappear. Jesus is our filter when we stand before God.
I’m settled in my new blog home.
There isn’t a lot of change that as a blog reader you will notice. My header looks much nicer now thanks to my friend, Laird.
Some thing you might find different is where to comment. It’s there, I promise. If there isn’t a big comment box, look for a bubble like you’d see in a comic strip.
I’m also putting my posts into categories. The dropdown box is on the right sidebar. Pick the topic that appeals to you, and those posts will show up for you to read.
