Dream House

So, my "home" situation has been in flux for awhile, but I am finally settling into a routine and am finally feeling like I have a "home" again.  Home is important.  It's a place where you can truly be yourself, and it's important to decorate and furnish your home in a way that makes you feel relaxed and recharged while you are there. 

My home, although I love it completely, is not in the geographical location that I would prefer.  It's in a dry, hot desert.  Ugh.  The changes I'm making to it are changes that will make it more reflective of me, but because of its location, it's never going to be precisely what my heart desires.  That's where my "dream house" comes in.

Last night I dreamt of my dream house.  It's a house I've dreamt of many times, and I can see it perfectly in my mind's eye.  In this dream of it, I'm driving along a two lane highway next to a river, and I look up, and there it is, off the side of the road, with a "For Sale" sign in front.  Holy Cow!  I pull over and go right up to the double wooden doors and knock on the gothic brass knocker.  An older lady with white hair answers and welcomes me in to look around.  I pretend like I haven't been there before (hey, it's a dream).  She shows me around all the rooms that are already so familiar to me.  We go out the back door to look at the pool and gardens.  Then, we go upstairs to look at the master suite.  This is my favorite part.  The circular bed is in an alcove separate from the main area of the suite, and is surrounded by floor to ceiling windows that look out onto the most beautiful expanse of mountains and valleys imaginable.  I start crying.  The lady is concerned and asks what is wrong.  I say it's just that it's so beautiful and I can't believe that the house is finally for sale and I have the opportunity to buy it.  She is touched that "her old house" seems so special to me.  I ask her how much the house is.  She tells me and I offer her $80k OVER that price for it, in hopes of insuring that I be the one she picks to sell it to.  I'm sure there will be other offers. 

The dream ends as I attend the open house, along with many well-off snooty looking people that are interested in the house.  And, I wonder if the owner is going to pick me and my offer as the one that wins.  But, I wake up before she states her decision. 

Does this house exist?  Here is an approximation...

Imagination

Love this...

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.

If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

- Albert Einstein

If only...

I was lucky enough to see Billy Idol perform recently.  I’ve always loved him and it was a great show.  Plus, he’s almost 60 years old (I’m guessing) and he looks AMAZING!  I mean, he is in SHAPE.  But, I don’t want to blog about that.  What I want to blog about is the mindset about the relationship between being in shape, and being rich.

See, as I was excitedly telling a friend about the show, I also mentioned that he was still in incredible shape.  Her reaction? “Well, that’s what money can buy for you.”  Ummm, I had to pause at that and change the subject.   There is something so wrong with that statement, in my opinion.  Money cannot buy health (or happiness for that matter).  On the same note, being poor doesn’t make you unhealthy.  I realize these are general statements, but for the sake of this blog I’m going to pretend that we’re only talking about people living in the United States.

Being healthy is a choice!  It’s a mindset.  There are no magic pills that melt fat (yet).  I’m willing to bet that even if you are on a limited income, you can eat healthy.  Eating healthy is cheaper than eating poorly.  You could even grow your own produce from scraps.   And, as far as working out…running, squats, pushups, sit ups, dancing, walking, all of these activities are free and easy to do wherever you are.   Drink lots of water!

My point is that being healthy and fit has very little to do with your income.  I have known “rich” people that are unhealthy and poor people that are healthy and happy.   It is a mindset based on self discipline. 

No doubt Billy works hard on his abs.  Money can’t buy someone else to work his abs for him.  They’re his!  I can’t help but wonder what he would say to someone who said that his body looked the way it does because of his money.  Would he be offended?  Nah, not Billy!  He would probably curl his lips up into his signature sneer, nod his head, then turn and walk away. 

Defining Art

Art is subjective, in its many forms, whether it be painting, sculpture, drawing, dance, theatre, writing, or any other form of creative expression.  Therefore narrowing down a specific definition is just as subjective, but I am going to refer to an article entitled “A Naturalist Definition of Art” by Denis Dutton that appeared in the summer 2006 issue of The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.  In the article he says “characteristic features found cross-culturally can be reduced to a list of core items”.  He went on to describe twelve key items, or characteristic features, that should be present within the questioned work for it to be considered a work of art.  These characteristic features are summarized here:

·         Direct Pleasure – the work should be a source of immediate, experimental pleasure for the viewer.

·         Skill or Virtuosity – specialized skills were required or necessary to create the work.

·         Style – a recognizable style can be easily discerned that sets the work apart from similar works.

·         Novelty and Creativity – the work stands alone as a unique creation or idea even if based on existing ideas or similar creations.

·         Criticism – critique of the work should be elaborate and detailed, the critique is required to compare and contrast the work against similar works in a sophisticated fashion.

·         Representation – a clear, concise idea is represented.

·         “Special” focus – the work should seem “bracketed off” from the ordinary, and will demand unique attention.

·         Expressive Individuality – the work should reflect and be representative of its creator’s unique style and discernible as such.

·         Emotional Saturation – the work should invoke varying degrees of emotion to the viewer.

·         Intellectual Challenge – the work should present a mystery or puzzle to draw in the viewer.

·         Art Traditions and Institutions – the work should be recognized as having value by institutions such as museums, galleries, and the artist’s peers.

·         Imaginative Experience – the work should stand as a “presentation” of the imagination of the viewer.

 

It's a Little Stuffy in Here

Without going into an elaborate explanation of why this technically is or isn’t true, I’ll just say that I’m an only child and an only grandchild.  I’ll also say that I have no cousins.  All of this has changed within the last 4 years, but for simplicity, we’ll leave it at that.
 

With the above being stated, there comes the avalanche of “stuff”.  By “stuff” I mean, the various things that end up being passed down when someone of the older generations passes away.  “Stuff” flows downward.  Sometimes its good stuff, sometimes its weird stuff, but most of the time, it is “stuff”.  The question is what to do with this stuff?

I’m a great organizer.  I sometimes have trouble sleeping at night thinking about how to organize stuff (my stuff, your stuff, her stuff, his stuff, their stuff, etc.)  I also tend to play Sudoku and Search-a-words in my head, but that’s another topic entirely. 

As the only child, and only grandchild, and having no cousins, all the family “stuff” is in a continuous flowing motion toward me.  I’m kind of like a water detention basin.  Add my only son into the mix, and I realize that the stuff will eventually flow to him. 

I want to spare him the avalanche.

So begins the process of sorting the stuff.  Sorting involves tossing and/or donating lots of stuff (hey, I can’t keep every ceramic swan, can I?).  Thus enters the GUILT.  Guilt, guilt, guilt!  So, I pick some stuff to keep, and put into a box to look at once a year. 

Ahhhh!

So, what to do?  Seriously.  If it’s not the ceramic swans, wood carved ducks, novice paintings, then its jars and jars of buttons.  I have to get rid of the stuff.  I can’t keep it all, can I?