Puzzling Day

Sunday was a puzzling day. I spent a good portion of my afternoon looking mostly for the piece with the yellow flowers and blue edge. As far as puzzle pieces go this one was elusive. I still haven’t found it. I know it’s in the box. It’s there. It will show itself eventually, it has no choice. This brings me to admit that this puzzle seems to be a pretty good analogy for my life. All the pieces are there. Right now, I don’t know where they all fit, I just know they will. When I stir up the pieces in the box some pieces look familiar, some don’t, some are face down, some rise to the surface repeatedly.

I had it in my mind to find this one puzzle piece with the yellow flowers and the blue edge. I started by moving all the pieces in the box to one end and slowly, one by one, sifting through the pieces looking for yellow flowers and for blue edges. I found the legs on the flying bug and was able to pop that into place right away. Then I found the crescent edges of the moon – three pieces that fit wonderfully and allowed the tops of the trees to come together in a string of puzzle pieces leading further into the center of my puzzle. As I looked for that particular piece to my puzzle (not to forget the yellow flowers with the blue edge), I found all these other wonderful pieces that I recognized, that fit, that make up this intriguing picture.

It’s not just a puzzle. I found myself wondering about all the pieces of my life – what I’ve done, what I’ve not done, what yellow flowers I have planted, what deep blue nights I have witnessed. It is nice to call to mind that all the puzzle pieces are here. Just because I can’t see where they fit, doesn’t mean they won’t. In fact, all the puzzle pieces will fit – it’s just a really, really big puzzle. I am not to forget that while I look for one particular puzzle piece there are plenty right in front of me that fit right now.

Weather Report

My balcony

Bike riding weather today!! Excellent, excellent excellent morning. I cannot believe that it has been a year since I've been on my bike. I lived on my bike last year - went everywhere. I cleaned the bike up and put it away last year in October; oiled the chain, took off gadgets for holding things, wiped it all down pretty and tucked into the back corner of the garage where the salt wouldn't get to it.

And then the great re-location of 2009 swept in and pulled the bike out of the corner and tossed it into the back of a pretend pick-up truck. Poor bike was hoping it would go for a ride, it went for a ride alright. Spent a week in the back of the pretend pick-up with ever changing snow and 70 mile an hour winds with an ironing board for company for god's sake, where's the dignity in that? To be thrown into the back of a truck with no cover, no care; whipping, biting winds, sun all day then cold, burning cold all night. The front rim warped. Or had something set on it - possibly the cooler. It never recovered.

I finally got the new rim two weekends ago. I dunno, it just didn't make the top of my to-do list like somethings do. And then it took me two weeks to pull the bike away from the balcony wall and pop the new rim on there. Just in time for the end of the season. Today is sunny and dry. I rode for an hour an a half, is all. Stuck to intra-city trails too. If it's dry tomorrow I'll kick it up a knotch. Especially as my tennis partner is MIA these days. When she wants a break from living her life and wants to come out to play, well she knows my number. I'm ribbing her and she knows it. There's only so many dry days left (I've been told).

To continue with the weather report, then...how many ways are there to say "rain"? Although from what I've witnessed - it seems I should be learning all the cloud formations instead. We may be coming on rainy season, but there seem far more cloudy days than rainy days.

Let's see:

Rain

Showers

Drizzle

uhhhh.....(I'll work on it)

The answer is...

The answer is, I value a sense of humor. "Humor is the sunshine of the soul." When times are good a genuine smile, a chuckle, simple laughter for me is a matter of releasing all that feels good. And why wouldn't I want to share that? To engage others with me in that is a communion. When times are not so good a genuine smile, a pun, even a poor joke, all of it can lighten the load. I cannot imagine not valuing a sense of humor.

"Nothing is as bad as you want it to be." is a bit of advise that was handed to me as I fretted and worried myself into a disconnected state many, many years ago. I've held to this saying. My brain may want to tell me otherwise. But, this bit reminds me that my brain is not what is actually happening. This bit reminds me there is always a bigger picture to look at. This bit reminds me that stories are just that, stories. Very few are non-fiction. Fiction is the "What if" stories, the "What did he/she mean?" stories, the "Why me?" stories. If my life is going to be filled with fiction then I'm going to write it as a comedy (in the comedy/tragedy diametric). If the story is looking bleak and dreary a quick re-write of the next act is pretty easy - it's all in pencil ,at best, anyway. Deus ex machina is always available - coincidence works great for starters. I repeatedly see coincidences and de ja vu is a regular happening in my life anymore.

I enjoy a good comedy, both the long playing ones and the comedies for the moment. A running joke in a show gets richer with the repeating. A running joke in a schtick is the connecting device in a lot of stand-up comedy. Not that my life is a running joke, merely that the running jokes in my life have woven in so richly that to smile as they recur is natural anymore.

Nothing is perfect. I'm not looking for perfection. Perfection is boring. There's no ribbing in perfection, there's nothing to rib or joke about there. As this big picture (my life, this time around) unfolds for me I treasure the fun, the smiles, the laughter. After every major upheaval there's relief and lightness to take the place of the stress and worry. I suppose I am open to releasing this stress and worry and simply allow the laughter and smiles that space to hang out. It seems a decent trade-off.

Crazy Synchronicity

Cake Wrecks - one of my favorite blogs to follow, recently changed their format, got a little more "official" and published a book of some of the better cake wrecks. You must, absolutely must, check these guys out. I know from reading their posts the author is out on a book tour at this time. Things are very busy, keeping up with posts, book signings, yadda, yadda, etc.

Coming home from the museum today I stopped in at the drugstore to pick up non-essentials. I climbed the stairs to the commons area of Third Place Books - the shortcut to my car - and who should be taking the stage?(I didn't know they had a stage...) Why yes, none other than my favorite blog authors, Jen and John of Cake Wrecks! Hey, they are real! And again (as this happens repeatedly for my way of thinking) I am amazed at the things people stumble into that make them happy AND pay the bills. Jen and John mention they are a little surprised too. What Jen actually said was, she had no idea, she posted the cake screw-up just for her. It was funny, she posted it.

I was dumbfounded to have almost literally stumbled into this presentation. Earlier in the day I had goofed off in the downtown Nordstroms to kill time. I waited 37 minutes for the bus as I was getting out of downtown (great people watching, btw). I had walked up and down aisles in the neighborhood drugstore because I was in no particular hurry to be anywhere. And here now I am leaned up against a post with my shopping bag of hairspray, box of knuckle bandages, pink nail polish, moleskin, epson salts and peanut M&M's watching these two tell a packed house all about the worst cakes to ever try to be sold - and many of these cake appear to have actually sold. I dunno.

As the question section began to wind down I headed over to the bookstore proper. The book, Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong is lovely - and fatter than I thought it would be for only two years of ceaseless, all consuming toil (and fun, it sounds like). The line was forming and quickly, as Jen and John were saying goodnight from the stage. I got out of the way. Of all the book signings to stumble onto - and I have wanted to go to quite a few at this bookstore - I picked the right one. I've been reading this stuff already. Next time I might even stand in line for the signed copy.

Nightmares in the Museum

Thought provoking, stunning, and monsterous creations of the tricks ones mind can play.

Mann und Maus

Katharina Fritsch

Some/One

Do-Ho Suh

This "coat of arms" is made up entirely of dog tags. Each tag individually stamped. I thank the universe this in not made of "expired" dog tags. It's was startling enough as it was.

All in all, (and of course in my humble opinion) Milwaukee Art Museum has more and more variety. Even Milwaukee knows to have amazing Chihuly; and not just a couple of pieces. SAM displays One Monet and one Manet...no Degas, no Gauguin (Okay, so I like my Impressionists). I had expected a larger or more comprehensive oriental arts installation. Nope - pretty sparse. Imogen Cunningham was much too small an exhibit, merely a hallway (albeit a long one...I may change my mind once I return - some excellent pieces are on display from her). Amazing things she did with silver process and photography - hell, she did amazing things.

I will go back. There is a Calder Exhibit and a Michelangelo Exhibit coming in October through April. Somehow I had expected so much more. I'll change my thought process and return, pleased to return. I am pleased this trip was a freebie. I'll be ready to put my money down and know what I'm getting into next time. I think I was just surprised.