Ordered Chaos

Every year Groom and I have a tradition involving the Holidays, which officially begins on June 25th. When I turn to that page in the calendar, I announce, “only six months until Christmas.” He groans, I giggle and we start our gift account. We save our sheckles, occasionally selecting what we think is the “perfect thing” for somebody along the way, but mostly we wait until December to do our shopping proper.

This is because of Thanksgiving. After the turkey has been ravaged, but before dessert, we all pull out our gimmee lists and distribute them among relations. Lest you think us greedy, we all receive the “Do you have your lists ready?” email, reminding us to have them in hand along with the deviled eggs and the relish tray. I don’t think anyone is allowed at the table without The List.

Now that we are in possession of the Master List, that is, what everybody is bugging Santa for, we have been granted permission to finally unleash our pent up energy and engage in some old-fashioned retail therapy.

Finally the day has arrived and it is TODAY! I woke up at 5am, too excited to sleep, and rolled over and whispered to Groom, “Wanna go shopping?” Now it’s his turn to giggle. I’ve been whispering that to him in the dark once a year for over a decade and a half. Our shopping day cannot commence unless we wake up too early for sense and I speak softly those magic words.

Our friend, Goat Mama, has been shopping with us most of those years and today is no exception. She’s in her car en route, driving the three hours so we can stimulate the economy together.

The iPod weather report this morning was 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Single digit temperatures. A bit later, it dipped to 8. There’s ice on our windows. On the inside!

But before I can go shopping, I must honor my commitment and write this week’s entry. My parents suggested that I begin each week by reminding you to enlarge the photos by clicking on them and then hitting the back button to return easily to the blog.

I wish you could see the photos the way we do in our preview. They tell a story from start to finish, one leading to the next, according to color, pattern, shape or content, but by the time the program squishes them together, they don’t flow as smoothly as we’d like. It’s tempting to pout, but really, what good would that do? To compensate, I simply request that you enlarge them. Big feminine sigh…. Now I’m fluttering my eyelashes. Is it working?

Unable to sleep, the idea for this week came to me while cozy in bed. The idea was fractals in nature and man-made lines and how the two harmonize. I shan’t pretend to know the official definition of a fractal, so I will make it up. In my world, a fractal is ordered chaos. The word sounds too much like fractured for it not to share the root, so if I had to guess, a fractal would be the way leaves fall from trees and land in a comforting pattern on the ground. The leaves, once attached to the big picture and forming a complete whole, are now fractured, disconnected, but still form a reflection, a mini-portrait.

They do not fall in straight lines the way an orchard is planted, or the way the yellow stripey line is painted on the road, but they float to the ground randomly and arrange themselves harmonically. Fractals are nature’s repeating geometric patterns, the smaller part (ooh, a fraction?) looking like the whole.

They are not mirror images, perfectly round, straight or triangular, yet they form completeness by the very nature of their broken pieces. Think lightning bolts etched across the sky, mountain ranges varying by angular degrees, and the limitless design of snowflakes.

Wait. I think I just stumbled upon something profound, perhaps the reason this idea presented itself to me in the first place. Yet they form completeness by the very nature of their broken pieces. Yowza! I’m verklempt. A medieval scholar presented herself at our booth recently and shared a tidbit with me which now seems entirely relevant.

She studied mosaics, which are designs made up of little pieces of glass or stone, and she told me that instead of the shards being set flush, they are embedded into the surface at various angles. This is so they will catch and throw light.

How many of us feel broken, or at least as though we have broken shards? I struggle with this and yet fractals, things that are fractured, or mosaics comprised of little pieces to reflect light, are made complete by the very nature of their brokenness? Eeee, I wonder if coastlines doubt themselves because they are jagged or if a flower becomes depressed because it has an odd number of petals?

Fractals offer tranquility, a peaceful mindscape. By comparison, man has an obsessive-compulsive need to create things with straight lines, perfect curves and lots and lots of order. Natural fractals and human arrangement have their own beauty, and the combination of the two can be breathtaking.

Our photos on this, our high shopping day, represent some of each. Since it was a balmy 8 degrees out this morning, we begin our tale with a lone tree, silent in the winter sky, its bare branches looking like that lightning I mentioned earlier.

The spectacular bridge in Portland is an example of linear art placed against a backdrop of fractalicious clouds and what I call “heart-breaking blue.” Groom calls it “drunk on blue.” Do you have a personalized blue?

After the bridge comes the ice du jour. I see an owl with a scarf, or maybe it’s a kitten, in one of the clusters, do you see any creatures, people or funny shapes?

Transitioning from the frozen ice (what other kind is there? Diamonds, of course), we get the man-made kind. Oooh, pretty. Jewels are often referred to as “rocks,” so that leads us to the calming arrangement of the pebbles. It’s easy to see how nature composes them, and then what man does with them.

From circles in nature to circles in industry, on they go… Swirls, grids, curves, ridges, pleats, sprouts, criss-crossing, interlocking, overlapping, undulating. The pattern of nature combined with geometry engineered is co-creation at its best.

Cheers and ta, we’re off to go shopping!

Try This Word Quiz!

Says Heidi on Project Runway, “As you know in fashion, one day you’re in, and the next day… you’re out.” This fickle axiom also applies to words; one day they’re in, and the next day, they’re out of style. I experienced this firsthand after using the word “thongs” to point out a cute pair of poolside sandals. “What?” screeched the sassy lassie, “those are flip-flops, not underwear.” When did those flimsy summer sandals morph into skimpy panties? Fie! It was unpretty getting dressed down by a cheeky youngster and yet I find myself remembering to call them by their new name.

It’s not exactly a new name, but a friend gave me a new word to describe my approach to the world: Equipoise. As I’m both visual and word-oriented, it’s the perfect characterization of my 50-50 split on most everything.

We make our living using illustrations and words, and our Photoblog is comprised of both images and text. Knowing this, a kindred spirit brought a book of unusual words to me at the booth last Saturday. What a great present. I was about to show it to my Holiday Market neighbor, when he popped his head in our doorway and said, “Here’s a book I thought you might enjoy flipping through.” It was all about the history behind some of our common phrases, such as keeping a stiff upper lip (has to do with maintaining facial control so one’s mustache whiskers don’t betray a quivering lip). We laughed realizing each was holding a book about words the other might like. He suggested inventing a new word to mean what just happened and devised “lexo-telephathy.”

In love with words, images and history, I am a candidate for time-travel. Until I can teleport myself back in time to various cultures, I must satisfy my curiosity by taking magic carpet rides around the globe through books and television epics. Currently immersed in the medieval world created by Ken Follett in Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, and Showtime’s The Tudors, I am learning how many of the ideas we take for granted were inspired. Lest I suffer from a mild case of limbeck, it was serendipitous that the seed for this week’s blog germinated from outdated, archaic and not oft-used words. Limbeck describes that pesky condition of wearing yourself out trying to come up with new ideas.

While obambulating (wandering around), we shot some photos that we think are ostrobogulous (bizarre, unusual or interesting). To make things more ostrobogulous, I invite you to take our word quiz. Throughout the next few paragraphs, I will introduce a few new old words and attempt to work them into a sentence describing the photographs.

In spite of my best efforts, some of you will be surprised to learn that yes, the text and pictures have a relationship. We try to tell a story with the photos alone, arranging them according to subject, color, texture or pattern, yet we also take the time to write something that incorporates the images. Must I spell it out? The photos and words go together. Equipoise, remember? (Here is the perfect place to insert my weekly rant. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them and then using the back arrow to return to the blog.)

After reading the clues to these old-fangled words, you’ll find the definitions at the bottom of the page. They will not be in any order, in fact, I have mixed them up and placed them willy-nilly so as not to give the answers away.

Giving myself mogigraphia (writer’s cramp) trying to figure a way to work myomancy into this quiz, unfortunately neither of us have taken any photos illustrating divination by the movement of mice. Oh well.

Ready? The first photo contains a gleed. On a hot day, the H2O dispenser in the second frame would come in handy for all you aquabibs. Because of the graffiti, I’m throwing this word in for free. Did you know that Frankenfood is food that contains genetically altered ingredients? Forsooth!

With no particular locution in mind for #3, I couldn’t ignore the chance to show a matching hydrating source with its companion stencil. When I googled “why did Johnny cash go to prison,” online resources stated that he never did, except for an overnight stay at a jail here and there. Apparently “the man in black” just had a bad boy image, which segues nicely into #4. Don’t you think the footpad in the orange ski mask looks like he’s about to barla-fumble?

Speaking of masks, the boy-man in #5 has infucated quite effectively to create his own.

Number 6 is a portrait of an abnormous gamp while 7 is quite flosculous. Photo 8 symbolizes meliturgy and 9 is a bit icterical. 10 and 12 are studies in bloncket and in 11, Groom caught a flaffer in mid-act. Last but not least, lucky number 13 is simply titled Velleity.

Here are the definitions, so have fun matching them to the photos.

A. refers to birds, to flutter around

B. a mere wish

C. an outlaw who preys on pedestrians

D. flower or flowery

E. honey making or bee keeping

F. misshapen

G. tinged with yellow



H. refers to a color that’s gray or bluish-gray

I. a beam of light

J. call for a time-out while playing

K. to drink water

L. umbrella

M. to use make-up to paint your face

52

Ah, the Thanksgiving blog. It’s tempting to wax poetic about Pilgrims, pumpkin pies and Project Runway, or to make fun of those daring dolts who deep fat fry their turkeys in spite of newsworthy hazard warnings. Seriously, after numerous explosions involving boiling oil, trips to the E.R. - if not the morgue - and house calls from the fire department, year after year, dinglehoofers still insist on dropping 20lb birds into vats of bubbling lard? God Bless America.

Or I could give culinary advice. If you’re having menu issues, how about serving Turducken? I think that’s a chicken wrapped in a duck stuffed inside a turkey. Yep, an American tradition since 1621. On the other hand, if you don’t like to eat anything with a face, tofurkey is an option. That would be a poultry alternative constructed out of tofu, or curdling soy milk. Yummy.

The other way I could approach this week’s entry is to give a sermonette on giving thanks, but most of us already know we should do that. So instead, Inspiration is the word of the day. And Anniversary. Hey, I’m allowed more than one.

Happy Anniversary to this blog, it is officially one year old today! We have managed to post photos and text for 52 continuous weeks. That makes a year, right? I’m thankful we made a commitment and have followed through regardless of our schedule, travels, triumphs and travails.

We intended to debut our new photoblog, The Language of Light, at the one year mark, but as today rapidly approached, it did not quite happen. Instead of pouting, we are pretending flexibility and just going with it.

Which leads me back to inspiration and gratitude. Question. If a sermonette is a mini-sermon, what is a mini-sermonette called, un poca sermonito? Without fear of repetition, I am advocating, stumping, soapboxing for you to enlarge some of these photos by clicking on them and then hitting the back arrow to return to the blog. I humbly insist you do this at least for the photo of the dew drop on the branch. Amen and gracias.

Now what do these photos have in common with Inspiration and Gratitude? To make sure we’re on the same page, I looked up the definitions in the dictionary and here is the gist: It’s like breathing. Wait a sec, as soon as I typed that I took a pause and looked up the etymology of the word. Inspire comes from the Latin inspirare and means “to breathe.” Ah-hah, I’m on to something.

The pearl is that inspiration is a Divine gift; a breath of life, animation, and ideas pressed upon the mind or soul of man (and by man I mean hu-man). If inspiration is done on the inhale, then gratitude is done on the exhale. It is a continuous cycle: Breathing inspiration, exhaling gratitude. I guess that would be considered, Thanks-Living.

Plucking from the opening sentence, I am returning to the topic of Project Runway, a television show for competing clothing designers to debut their talents. The three contestants still standing by the end of the season are rewarded with a fashion show in New York to announce the winner. Along the way, they are challenged to create outfits within certain parameters such as time, choice of materials, and budget. For instance, the designers could be taken to a hardware store and given 30 minutes to select materials to create with for under $75.00 and provided only 8 hours to finish their look. Crazy fun!

One of my favorite challenges is the “look of inspiration.” The producers of Project Runway might drop the budding designers in the middle of Manhattan, a zoo or a museum and give them a few moments to discover their inspiration. By show’s end, they must reveal the origin of their idea as well as its manifestation and the judges will pronounce whose garment came the closest. It’s exciting.

After watching that particular episode, I realize that I already create that way. I was recently interviewed by the local paper about how I stay true to myself and yet design on trend. I told the journalist that I do not pay particular attention to what others are doing, but continue to design jewelry based on my feelings and my feelings are related to my surroundings.

I fill up my well, so to speak, by taking walks and capturing images wherever I happen to be. Here are some of the images that both inspire and gratitude us.

The first picture is of the Grande Dame, the Black Tartarian Cherry tree located in the Owen Memorial Rose Garden here in Eugene. It is said to be the largest cherry tree in Oregon and is at least 150 years old. I curtsy in her presence. Equally magnificent is the magical world inside the fairy tree at the Buxton Corrie House in Corvallis, Oregon.

Images three and four were taken at Cape Perpetua on the Oregon Coast and in Napflion, Greece. Five and six were snapped in Athens and at Eugene’s First Christian Church. I find the beauty of Oregon equal to the staggering riches of world-wide travel. Gratitude!

Buildings inspire texture as you can see from the ones shot in Eugene and New York. If you paid attention to the poca sermonito and clicked to enlarge, you’ll see a reflection in both the building and the dew drop. Architecture reflects architecture and nature reflects nature and then spin your partner do-si-do. Mirror images everywhere.

To quote Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music, here are a few of my favorite things. I’m grateful for the iconic tower Gustav Eiffel designed for the World’s Exposition of 1889. I’m thrilled with Steampunk fashion (did you notice the relationship between the Eiffel Tower and the man’s funkalicious top hat?). I purr around the friends who belong to these colorful chapeaux, designed by the talented Bo Peep. I’m impressed by the generosity of France and the brilliance of the sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi of Colmar for our symbol of liberty.

I adore letters, both the individual members of the alphabet and the cohesive form they take when written and mailed. They represent communication and friendship and I wholeheartedly appreciate those who make the effort, whether in person, through email, the phone, text messaging or a hand-written note. I love you all.

Birds, nature, the ocean... the list goes on. But like a contestant on Project Runway, I am challenged by space and time and must take leave to get my turduckens in a row. Again, Happy Anniversary, Happy Thanks-Living and I leave you with these words of gratitude.

Thank You, Merci Beaucoup, Muchas Gracias, Domo Arigato, Mahalo, Danke Schon, Grazie, Ta, Asante, Efharisto, Obrigado…