Thursday, May 23, 2013

Happy full moon!

Hello Taibi Timers,

Tonight is a full moon, and here's a photo I took of it last night, when it was *almost* full:




So, I love nature, and the universe, blah blah blah, but I don't know much about it all as I'm a city kid and I'm generally too trapped by cement and too busy to explore, question, learn, and wonder. But - I really want to know more about the moon and I thought tonight would be a good opportunity to start on that!

Here are a couple links  I found online with information about full moons:
 
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/native-american-full-moon-names.html 


http://astrology.about.com/od/foundations/p/FullMoon.htm

This is just a start. If I did an art series about the moon I would learn a LOT - that's how I learn best, by researching for the purpose of creating. But until then, I hope you enjoy what I have dug up. What does the full moon mean to you?

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Treasures


This morning was my first shift at the food co-op, which me and Liam just joined. I prepped produce for the soup kitchen that they donate to, separating the usable from the non-usable. Don't worry, waste-haters, the non-usable gets composted! How great is that?! So it was really great to work with so many edible plants, just a great reminder of how wonderful it is to live on the earth and be able to receive its gifts. It was especially nice for me to work with veggies this week, as my fridge and freezer are broken and I am awaiting a replacement! It's been muffin and canned soup city in my house, which is kind of fun and easy but leaves me feeling a little like a muffin. I did run on Sunday though, and then again today so I am feeling alright enough about my nutrition and fitness levels. I take health pretty seriously! Did you know that I plan on living until at least 100 and wearing my high school prom dress at my 100th birthday party? It's a wacky silver dress from the 80's, tons of fun. I'll have to post a picture of that one day. Anyway, seeing as how my fridge is shot I could only purchase non-perishables from the co-op. Above is a photo of the loot I came away with. All those goodies cost me a total of $11.68!If you are reading this and you do not live in New York you may not be impressed, but my fellow Brooklynites will be excited by that figure.


Above is a photo of the treasures that my sweet Liam brought home for me yesterday from the farmer's market at Union Square. The boy knows that I like maple! He told me that they were for Kitty Mother's Day, which is the day after regular Mother's Day. How cute is that?! He is a fantastic cat dad, and I'm sure that he'll be a fantastic human dad one day :) 




That's some of what's going on with Taibi Mastelse. On the Taibi Time front, I have just listed lots of new books in my shop that I'm really excited about. Here are pictures of just a few of them. You can see all of the vintage books that I have in stock here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TaibiTime?section_id=10635788. I am currently in the midst of a studio clear-out project, and when my studio is cleared out enough to make some new work, I will start on a series for a show I am doing this summer at a coffee shop in Bedstuy, Brooklyn. I'm thinking of working with the theme of mermaids, but we'll see what happens. I should post pics of how my de-cluttering of the rest of my house went. It went pretty well, I think. My studio is just one of those spots that's like a clutter magnet, sort of like this one chair in our living room which I have taken to calling "the crazy chair." Everyone's got some equivalent of my crazy chair, right?

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Where did April go?

April was a whirlwind of a month, and March seems to be off to an equally heavy start, but we'll see where things go. It feels like this past month was riddled with death, illness, and misfortune - but at the same time I was shown more of the beauty of life and more of the good in people than I am usually able to see. Classic yin and yang. Through it all, I have tried to practice thankfulness. I have very much to be thankful for.

With all that's been going on, and I won't go into specifics, I feel like I have fallen behind in the little things that I usually try to stay on top of - taking away from rather than adding to the clutter in my studio, going to the gym, cooking during my weekend to have food ready for my work week, listing new items in my shop, etc. I am hoping to soon come to a point where I feel caught up, and I think that that time is coming sooner rather than later. Until then, I will try keep my head above water in this sea of "to do's."

What can those little things matter, you might wonder? So what if weeks worth of dirty laundry are piling up? So what if my level of physical fitness is declining? So what if I can't save a penny? Clearly, there are more important things to tend to!  Well, yes - but also - it is important to "listen" to when you feel overwhelmed. You can't take care of other people to the best of your ability if you aren't taking care of yourself. Easier said than done. 

For me, the challenge is in having down time when I am AWAKE. I know how to be awake and working and productive. I know how to be deep asleep. I have in fact, mastered both of these modes, and in switching between the two at the drop of a hat. Where I fail is in resting while conscious. To practice relaxing while awake, I have started reading in bed before going to sleep, before both literally and figuratively flipping a switch. And on that note, I'm off to read. Or crash. Whichever.