SOME ART, SOME WRITING, & SOME FEAR FOR THE PANTS OF THE FUTURE!

As promised by the title of this post:
SOME ART:
1) The above painting by Misty Mawn just arrived! Yay! I purchased it by phone from the gallery in Pennsylvania that hosted her recent show. I'm thrilled to have an original piece of hers and hope to have more in the future. As you see, it is just gorgeous. Currently it is living on an orange wall in my studio, and I think the painting is whispering to me that we need a bigger house so we can buy more original art!
2) Vampires! Jim just finished an assignment he was doing for White Wolf Publishing -- 5 vampire paintings -- and to celebrate we went to see Nightwatch, the vampire movie that is taking Russia by storm. I highly recommend it to lovers of the supernatural. Cool story, cool visuals, dark and spooky but not overly gorey. Right up my alley.

SOME WRITING:
You might have read about Sunday Scribblings on Meg's blog. Well, if you're a writer who might be interested in some short community writing exercises, we may have just the thing for you! I tend to get deeply involved in my big projects and forget to make time for fun exercises, but when I DO remember to have some writing fun, I think it really loosens my mind up, kind of lets some light and fresh air in, so that's why this appeals to me. Stay tuned -- we'll have more for you soon!

SOME FEAR FOR THE PANTS OF THE FUTURE:
There's a terrible horrible rumor circulating in the media. I've heard it twice now, insidious little whispers, like the voices of devils hiding under manhole covers and taunting me... The faint of heart should stop reading right here. I don't know if I can even make myself write it, it'll be like helping the evil rumor spread... But I must WARN YOU!
Here it is...
High-waisted pants are coming back in stylel
(picture me gibbering in fear, sobbing, shrieking "WHY? WHHHYYYYY????? WWWWHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY??????")
Okay, but really, I'm only sort of joking. This is the worst fashion rumor since "they" started predicting the comeback of the 80's. My lord! I am convinced if I had come up in a friendlier fashion decade I would have had more fun in highschool. As it is, I only barely remember those years and I think that may be because I spent most of them scurrying around with my eyes fixed on the ground, clutching my books to my chest and trying to avoid seeing my reflection in those horrible clothes. Okay, it is POSSIBLE I am exaggerating, but please, fellow women with legs of average length, commiserate with me over jeans shopping in 1987! If low-rider, extra-long bootcut jeans and platform shoes had been the thing in 1987... well, I would still have had Orange County 1980's hair horrors to contend with, but I would have had bad hair and long legs and that would have made all the difference.

Okay. Now think of the older sister in That 70s Show and those high-waisted jeans she wears. The fashion world is trying to take us there. Ah yes, if I were a willowy 6-foot model, I would have no fear in my heart. But I am not. Now, I don't read fashion magazines and I'm not talking about wearing them because all the cool girls are wearing them. I'm talking about the fear of not being able to find good pants in stores! It happened a few springs ago when flat shoes were "in". I couldn't give a twitch if they're "in" -- but I couldn't find high sandals for love or money. Someone was trying to make me act my actual height, and man, I resented that. High shoes are just about my one and only fashion rule -- Jim found me 5 1/2-inch heeled cowboy boots for Christmas!! -- and I think they have been largely responsible for rescuing my self-esteem from the 80's.

So, I'm warning you all: stock pile your low-rider pants now while you still can, then we can sit back and cackle like witches when the rest of the country is forced to wear high-waisted jeans!