Hello you crazy kids! I’m just here taking pictures of the lunar eclipse and all the usual business that I get up to at the end of most Augusts.
My latest and largest decluttering task has been to go through nearly 20 years of DFLA posts and take the scissors to irrelevant material no longer worthy of being archived. So far 427 posts have hit the cutting room floor. That sounds like a lot, but it’s only 20% of the original amount. In the later years 2020-2016, I only posted a fraction of what I used to, so those years were easy. But in the early years I was posting up a storm. I’m trying to preserve material that still feels alive to me. If it doesn’t, or it’s repetitive, I get rid of it. Not dissimilar to the way I declutter around Moss Cottage.
A glitch in the matrix caused some of the old posts to zip out across the wires and post themselves to subscribers’ inboxes, and for that I apologize.
The blogosphere has rearranged itself and changed in many ways since 2007. It’s been a pleasure to comb through the old posts and see what was I was writing about way back when. The comments have also been a poignant treasure trove. I found this video I posted in 2011 when I got a new computer and had 1500 Photo Booth photos on the old machine I didn’t want to toss. I made them into a stop-motion video. This was before smartphones. My sister and I kept in touch through a constant stream of photos – things I wanted to show her, outfits I modeled, mail art, cocktails, and whatever else caught my eye. I loved finding my friend Bobi who died in 2023 in this video along with a comment from her. Made me so happy to see that!
I hope you’re good. My insatiable curiosity hasn’t dimmed in the last 20 years, so you’ll be expected to do your part and let me know your whereabouts and whatabouts. 
Periodically I offer old classes from the archives for FREE for a limited time. This month (until Sept. 28) you can register for SKETCHBOOKERY. Enjoy! The only caveat is that access is entirely self-service. I no longer offer support for registration, lost passwords, login issues, or technical questions. It’s a firm boundary and comes from my desire to keep my days completely free of online class administration.
Discover more from Dispatch from LA
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
WOW, WOW, WOW, did I forget to say wow?! Your video was AMAZING and the music so purrfect — it really got me choked up watching it. Not to sound morbid, but I’m glad this is not a funeral cuz I’d be bawling and everyone would turn around irritated and stare at me … In the end, I imagine this is how we’d see our years of life flashing before us in minutes. Your life is grand, darling… thanks for sharing it with us. XOXO
I’ve taken a couple of your classes, but mostly consider myself to be a lurker enjoying your posts from Arizona. Since this format does not allow me to simply CLICK a heart and share that I’ve enjoyed this post (with its introspection), I shall take the time to comment. :::returning to lurk mode:::
Oh I need to do this so badly! I’m trying to cull files and photos from my iCloud as well. It keeps telling me I’m almost full. Which is so annoying! I have an audio recording of my mother answering their phone. It’s a treasure. And SO MANY other things. I’m painting pictures as I do. I’m trying to buy fabric to make a tablecloth, but the prices are nuts. And I can’t stomach spending that much. I’ll figure a way to make do. Thanks for the update.
thanks for the update Karen. I’m imagining some good tablecloth fabric finding its way to you xo
Do we need a password for Sketchbookery, Miss Mary Ann? I’d love to go through that class again!
no, just register over at the site. hope you’re good xo
Hi, Mary Ann – Decluttering must be in the air these days as I too have been at it in my craft area. Today is my last day of freedom until next June. The countdown to teacher’s retirement is officially beginning tomorrow — whoo hoo!
I did a fair amount of traveling on the east coast this summer. Maine, Cape Cod, and Providence, RI were my adventure zones.
I have very much enjoyed your posts over the years. Many thanks for Sketchbookery! Your classes have always been my favorites.
Happy fall to you!
oh Kristi I am so so so happy for you and I know exactly what you’re feeling in this your final year. or I think I do. retirement is a dream that keeps expanding. all the difficult years with dumbass directors and admin hacks have faded away. you’ll be here soon.
No apologies….I love those surprise posts….I didn’t notice the dates on the first couple if you can imagine. LOL
Sister! Decluttering. Who knew it could feel so good. Loved watching the time warp video. I am in my pajamas a lot. AND what happened to that GREAT lime sweater of yours I used to wear when I was there?
I think it was stolen from my car by the same kid on the skateboard that got the fingerless gloves you made. he had good taste. hah!
Yes, at our age decluttering anything is probably a good thing, art and writing included, so good for you! I have a friend who just threw out about 30 years of written journals. She said most of it was so ridiculously mundane it held no value for her anymore — comments from a different woman from a different time, on things that meant surprisingly little when held up to the lens of time. That made sense. I am well and happy up here on the Central Coast, enjoying late summer except for the terrible smoke from the fires in Big Sur. But this too shall pass. In the meantime I’m volunteering at a cat rescue facility and house hunting. All good things!
oooooo I await your move and to hear news from the central coast. sorry about the smoke and fires. keep me posted. xo
Oh, and that video! Woman, you had me in tears. Oh my heart. Buck Moss and the cat posse. The orange chair. Pinwheel phase. Sewing, sewing, sewing on paper cloth and whatever else you felt like. So many journals, so many pages, all that gluing and pasting and cutting and slicing and dicing and adventures with Carol and Dottie too. Oh. I had no idea that when I discovered DFLA that my life would be nudged, because you are the one who through the magic of ROTD I began making and creating my own journals, all these years later and I am still doing it and making them in all different sorts of ways. So thank you. Thank you!
Susie you’ve been with me here on my blogging journey from the get go. thanks for your support over the long years. how good it always is to hear how you are up there in the land of 1000000000 lakes. and if I remember correctly we share a birthday don’t we?
Ha. I was wondering about a few posts that came through my inbox that I was sure I’d seen previously. Now I know why. Mystery solved! Tho to be honest, the way things that are out there, whizing and banging around through the wires, the cloud (that I’ve never quite figured out) tho pretty sure it’s not in a cloud but sitting on a hard drive somewhere in a biulding with no name and someone occasionally walking through it to make sure every ‘wire’ is properly plugged in; I don’t waste time trying to understand things in the online world anymore, at 67 I’m quite happy and content leaving that to the machines that now apprentantly, have minds of their own and will do whatever they want so….. I also got to see the eclipse, and it was a pure delight. At least some things will always be wild and remain untamable; at least in my lifetime anyway. You had so many good adventures, Mary Ann. It was such a pleasure to read and enjoy your travels, and escapades with the kids, vicariously. I’m just over here waving and sending smoke signals back to you from Minnesota. Friends with Canada. Lake Ontario forever. Just threw that in for fun. doing a slow flyover with my extra large wings.
The video… brilliant way to compile loads of photos to great effect!
I too have spent August decluttering by way of my garden. Shrubs that over grew their space, plants that struggled, those that didn’t but I ruthlessly shovel pruned anyway. This time of year is like a second spring in my garden… the weak and wobbly are removed, and fresh ideas for what the garden might be come together.
Thanks for offering another of your videos… Sketchbookery and Oh My Gouache are two of my favorites. You can’t get rid of those, they’re still fun with plenty to enjoy!
What can say..thank you so very much for the sketchbookery. I am so excited, actually no, I am thrilled to get going with it., It’s just what I need right now. Summer is changing to quickly to fall where I am.
I’m just going to keep painting warm things. Thank you again for your words and inspiration and generosity! XO
I went over to your photo booth stop motion and had such an emotional reaction! Thank you for linking it and resharing because wow, it really made me stop and think about life and how fast it goes by and how even in the turmoil and turbulence of the this era we’re in with Trump as a shit head, lol — pardon my French, there is still a lot of lovely things worth doing and celebrating and documenting.
XO
Please send access to Sketchbookery
I’ve enjoyed so many of your posts, photos, videos and classes over many years. I love the option to revisit that you generously provide and look forward to Sketchbookery.
Many thanks for sharing your talents with us all
I adore that video!