i can get lost in the desert sky.
i imagine the darkest places on earth, a black sky brimming with stars.
sometimes i go HERE and thing about going on a dark sky roadtrip to find the darkest places in the west.
think about what the sky must’ve looked like before electricity!
until my time machine is ready for its first passenger (me!) i guess i’ll have to keep wondering.
i’m on the hunt for a good story. i started with the woman in cabin 10. so far so good.
mary morris’s nothing to declare, which i mentioned in my last book post, turned out to be a disappointment.
what are you reading right now? have you read any that are in my sample’s list? if so, i’ll need to know what you thought.
I think you would be entertained by I’ll Sell You a Dog by Juan Pablo Villalobos…very funny! I also love the Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. Also Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel; there is even a movie after you’ve read it.
Laura also wrote a fascinating book call The Law of Love that I loved even more than Like Water…has something for everyone, romance, time travel, reincarnation, war, history and includes art and music so you can tap into all of your senses…well, except for smell maybe unless you count the smell of pages…check it out!
“I like to imagine the night sky before there was electricity” might be my favorite of all the journal pages you have ever done. and that’s saying a lot.
A few weeks ago I finished I Let You Go, author’s name escapes me, Clare Something. Read 300+ pages in two sittings. Parts had me go back and re-read and say: Wait a second, what did I just read? Twists, unexpected ending. Worth reading, IMHO. Middle part lags a bit, but otherwise would give a 4+ rating,
Stargazing: Best place according to night sky watchers: Tonopah, NV, the wide spot in the road that’s the halfway point between Las Vegas & Reno, Smack dab in the middle of the Big Empty. My son lives there and concurs that it’s great for Stargazing.
Hi Pumpkin Pie! Your art journal pages are just delectable! Yum! Yum! Yes…stars. I consider myself quite blessed to live in a place where the skies are very dark, and that makes for wonderful stargazing. In August my oldest offspring and youngest grandangel sat out and watched a rather impressive meteor shower. I prefer to call them shooting stars because it just sounds so much more romantic. For some reason, though, my granddaughter was afraid of the whole affair, so we only saw a few, but they were impressive, nonetheless.
Books. I recently became made aware that the used bookstore in town had a once monthly book club, and the book for his month is The Little Paris Bookshop. Now, I got the book several weeks ago and still have not finished it. Usually that means I am not really into the book, and so it is the case here. I have to finish it by tomorrow evening, so I can partake in the conversation. Or not. I always hesitate to too harshly review books, because just because it isn’t my thing, doesn’t mean that someone could find it truly gripping. I dunno. Kinda bleh about it. I could give more details, but I don’t want to. Hah! But before that I read All The Light We Cannot See, which was a best seller about a year ago. I am always a little slow on the uptake, so just now read it. I LOVED it and could not put it down. Also, because I am a little weird. I am reading a nonfiction and very serious book. Last night I watched two specials on Anne Frank, and remembered that I had a gigantic book that I ordered about a year ago. The book is, The Righteous Among The Nations, and it is about regular, ordinary people who hid Jews and other people from the Germans during WW2. It is about 600 really large pages long, so might take me awhile to tackle it. I always wonder about myself…and how I would handle certain situations. Would I have the strength of character to lay my life on the line for total strangers? I want to think I am that noble and brave! My heart would want to do it, but would my self preservation fail me? I think I would do it. I wouldn’t be able to face myself otherwise. So, you see, very serious stuff. Oh and the book All The Light We Cannot See is also during WW2. Remember…you did ask what books we are reading, so it is your fault really,that I am bloviating on and on. 🙂
I was too late to order things for your classroom, because apparently others move at faster than snails pace and beat me to it. I am so delighted you and the class were inundated with so much! So, I wondered…are there any art materials the children and their FANTASTIC teacher would like? I would still love to contribute.
Have a lovely rest of the week. You are loved.
Read the Nest- good but not terrific. However, I loved “everyone brave is forgiven” by Chris Cleave. Wartime Britain, great funny dialogue along with the poignant.
You took the words right out of my head! Dark skies are my very favorite thing about road tripping. So far the best I’ve seen have been in central Nevada. There is so much nothing there — teeny tiny empty mining towns and thats it — that the stars are mind boggling. During the day there are also herds of wild mustangs and “fingers” of mountains cutting through otherwise endless roads… it’s got a lot of nothing in a beautiful way.
Love the book pages! So pretty ♥
Hello Mary Ann, In September I finished THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL ANGRY PLANET by Becky Chambers. This is predominantly a character focused/driven novel, and I absolutely loved it. It will be in my top 5 reads for 2016. I almost never read sci-fi novels, but this one is an absolute gem!! And… it will take you to those dark dark skies. 🙂 Goodreads reviews and blogger reviews and recommendations are what led me to this book. A few nights ago, I finished AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir (YA Fantasy Adventure). This author grew up in her family’s 18 room hotel in the Mojave Desert. And yes, it will probably be in my top 5 reads as well. I loved it so much that I started the second novel in the series/trilogy (?).
I have a few questions about making and traveling with my own custom made set of pan watercolors using tubes. I want to travel with them on Friday, and I just set up the palette last night. Can I pop them in the fridge for a few hours or so to speed them along in setting up/hardening/drying for travel?
Have you had any TSA issues with your own made watercolor palettes when flying? I’m using Maria’s (Expeditionary Art) pocket palettes for my watercolors, and was thinking of putting them in my carry on with my journal and pens and pencils. Any thoughts about this?
Thanks lots in advance.
This So-Cal girl is flying into Fresno this Friday, then taking a road trip to Northern Cali with my BFF Auntie. 🙂
it will be dry by friday no worries! leave it open to dry. DO NOT POP IN FRIDGE. you need heat not cold to dry the paint.
you can carry on the plane no probs. i always do! def keep them with journal and other supplies. i always hand-carry these things as i would be devastated to lose them en transit
have a lovely time in northern cali…so jealous!!!
xo
Thank you and thank you! I feel more at ease about bringing my art supplies in my carry on; this will be the first time I’ve ever done that. They are NOT in the fridge. I have them open and drying; looks like they are either setting up, one looks dry, and a few are still somewhat shiny and wet looking.
Have a wonderful rest of the week! 🙂
The Island at the Bottom of the Sea- Isabel Allende( About the origins of Haiti) and the Japanese Lover by Allende- reading now- Both are Wonderful!
Hi Mary Ann, I have been following your blog for some time & hope to be able to take your workshops soon. In the meantime I have a question that seems obvious, but the answer puzzles me: I love making journals/booklets of my travels – I collect what I call the flotsam & jetsam & then arrange & document when I return home. But I would much rather write & draw on the road, as you do. What keeps me from doing it this way is that I’m not sure what size notebook to bring with me. So my question is how do you plan the number of pages in your travel journals? A number of pages per day? Or just what feels right, & then if you have extra pages??? Thanks for your feedback – & inspiration. Catherine.
scroll through some travel journal posts – the part where i’m making the journals for the trip – and you’ll get a good handle of my process. you can either use the search function, categories, or look at a specific travel journal.
I simply love anything by William Boyd, British novelist who was recently appointed (!) to write the new James Bond book, Solo. His novel, Any Human Heart was incredible and was made into a BBC short series. I just finished his most recent, Sweet Caress about a female photographer and her life from start to finish. Marvelous.
I also loved Paris Wife which, with your love of Paris, you must read if you haven’t. Also, Art Lover, Peggy Guggenheim’s biography. Fantastical! SO many more but that’s a start!
Not sure what I think about The Nest, which I suppose is not a ringing endorsement! It’s essentially a story of sibling relationships and the inevitable golden one who seems to always come out on top. It held my attention as I rambled about walking my dog. I always love the Longmire series and a new one is out. I enjoyed Doc by Mary Doria Russell. In my stack is Enchanted Islands which I’m excited about – history of the Galapagos and WWII and secrets. Have you ever read the History of Love by Nicole Krauss?
Finished, Without Reservations recently. Next in the line up is Rare Objects . May read This Too Shall Pass first , as it is rather short. I am current with Joyce Maynard. I enjoy her. Have Cabin 10 on the list in my mind, I like Ruth Ware. Wasn’t wild about The Nest. Also enjoyed a first book , Bonjour Kale . Leau , you may like her and want to give it a read.
I just finished Cooking for Picasso and really enjoyed it.
I’ve started reading Ruth Reichl’s novels and Delicious is truly Delicious! Such great stories woven together in a mystery that you can’t wait to find out to find out how it ends…she is an amazing word stringer. I’ve read her autobiographies as well and they are well done but oh those novels!
I’ve started reading Ruth Reichl’s novels and Delicious is truly Delicious! Such great stories woven together in a mystery that you can’t wait to find out to find out how it ends…she is an amazing word stringer. I’ve read her autobiographies as well and they are well done but oh those novels!
And you should check out the Magdalena Ridge Observatory…http://www.mro.nmt.edu/
they have star parties and it is the darkest place ever and the starts are beyond amazing!
Just finished Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth – I’d give it a 3. Found it disjoint, characters kinda unsympathetic and the plot non intriguing. I have liked her previous writing so much that this was a disappointment. Did get a kick out of Backman’s My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell She’s Sorry – and I did finish the four Elena Ferrante Neopolitan novels – an interestingly honest portrayal of female friendship.
Tana French – The Likeness -just out. Or any of her novels>