Monkey Love

Our hearts were heavy when we first found out that Natasha's tiny groundhog, Phil, had been kidnapped from her cubicle. Phil was a member of the MUD family, and I looked forward to seeing his little tuxedo clad body every day. I didn't even hold it against him that he chose to keep the Beanie Baby tag on at all times. He was a lovable little plush. I started to blame myself. Maybe if I had let the staff have that stuffed animal daycare center, this wouldn't have happened. Posters were hung. Candlelight vigils were planned.

And then a miracle happened. Phil sent us all a letter, letting us know he'd staged his own abduction. Seems he'd fallen for Alyssa's white monkey in the cubicle across the way. Phil feared we'd judge him--interplushal relationships are still frowned upon by some backward folk--and when he found she was carrying his monkhog, the two eloped. They were married in Vegas and have now embarked upon a journey together. He promises updates periodically.

Hurry home Phil and Monkey Girl. We miss you.

1000 bottles of beer on the wall...

Dear Friends and Family who have not heard from me in lo these many days....

We have 1024 mugs due in two weeks for PARADE. We have 400 mugs due in three weeks for Blue Tulip. Then there are samples to be made for Nordstrom, Uncommon Goods, and a proposal for Combined Talents. I don't even like beer, by the way, but I am a sucker for a catchy tune.

It is a bit STRESSFUL at the moment. All we do is work, work, work; as hopefully the picture I will now attempt to post will clearly illustrate. Have patience with this blog. And for gosh sakes, talk amongst yourself while I'm busy! I'll be back soon, discuss.

Go here tonight 3/27

Since I can't get a babysitter, please go in my place:

SHIMMERPLANET TONIGHT AT STARLIGHT…..


9PM


AVE A BETWEEN 10TH AND 11TH ST…..


NO COVER


LOTS OF MUSIC ….

This is Carolyn's band~you'll have a great time. More about Shimmerplanet to come.

TAKE THIS TEST

Was sent this by Denica, and found it really fun. Enjoy.

Take your time with this test and you will be amazed.

The Dalai Lama suggests you read it to see if it works for you. Very Interesting. Just 4 questions and the answers will surprise you. Be honest and do not cheat by looking up the answers. The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is opened. This is fun to do, but you have to follow the instructions very closely. Do not cheat.

MAKE A WISH BEFORE BEGINNING THE TEST!

A warning!
Answer the questions as you go along. There are only 4 questions and if you see them all before finishing, you will not have honest results.

Go down slowly, and complete each exercise as you scroll down.
Don't look ahead. Get pencil and paper to write your answers as you go along. You will need it at the end. This is an honest questionnaire which will tell you a lot about your true self. Give an answer for each item. The first thing that comes to mind is usually your best answer. Remember - no one sees this but you.

(1) Put the following 5 animals in the order of your preference:

Cow, Tiger, Sheep, Horse, Pig

(2) Write one word that describes each one of the following: Dog, Cat, Rat, Coffee, Sea.


(3) Think of someone, who also knows you and is important to you, which you an relate them to the following colors. Do not repeat your answer twice.
Name just one person for each color:
Yellow, Orange , Red, White, Green.


(4) Finally, write down your favorite number, and your favorite day of the week.

FINISHED? Please be sure that your answers are what you REALLY WANT.

Look at the interpretations below: But first before continuing, REPEAT your wish.


ANSWERS :

(1) This will define your priorities in your life.

Cow Signifies CAREER
Tiger Signifies PRIDE
Sheep Signifies LOVE
Horse Signifies FAMILY
Pig Signifies MONEY


(2) Your description of dog implies your own personality.

Your description of cat implies the personality of your partner.

Your description of rat implies the personality of your enemies.

Your description of coffee is how you interpret sex.

Your description of the sea implies your own life.

(3) Yellow: Someone you will never forget
Orange: Someone you consider your true friend
Red: Someone that you really love
White: Your twin soul
Green: Someone that you will remember for the rest of your life


4) You have to send this message to as many persons as your favorite number and your wish will come true on the day that you recorded.

This is what the Dalai Lama has said about the Millennium - just take a few seconds to read it and think.
The Dalai Lama's Peace Process
A group recently spent five days visiting with the Dalai Lama focusing upon what they believe are the five most important questions to be considered as we move into the millennium. The questions centered around (1) addressing the widening gap between rich and poor, (2) protecting the earth, (3) educating our children, (4) Helping oppressed countries and peoples of the world, and (5) bringing spirituality (deep caring for one another) through all disciplines of life. The Dalai Lama said that if we have true compassion in our hearts, our children will be educated wisely, we will care for the earth, those who "have not" will be cared for. He shared a simple practice that will increase love and compassion in the world.
1. Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and to be loved) and that we are all connected to one another.
2. Spend 5 minutes breathing in cherishing yourself, and breathing out cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway.
3. During the day extend the attitude of cherishing to everyone you meet. Practice cherishing the "simplest" person (clerks, attendants, etc.) as well as the "important" people in your life, cherish the people you love and the people you dislike.
4. Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you. These thoughts are very simple, inspiring and helpful. The practice of cherishing can be taken very deep if done wordlessly, allowing yourself to feel the love and appreciation that already exists in your heart.
Do not put away this message, the mantra will come out from your hands in the next 96 hours. You will have a very pleasant surprise. Please do this. It is fascinating.

SEND THIS E- MAIL MANTRA TO AT LEAST FIVE PERSONS AND YOUR LIFE WILL IMPROVE.
0-4 persons: Your life will improve slightly
5-9 persons: Your life will improve to your liking
9-14 persons: You will have at least 5 surprises in the next three weeks
15 or more persons: Your life will improve drastically and all that you wish will come true


BTW_ my wish was that I could master putting a pic on this blog. If so, My Man Dalai will be first.

and here's the lovely uma

UMA

Hopefully, an actual photograph of the delightful Uma will appear on the next post: we are experiencing some technical difficulties, as in, I have no idea how to work a computer. Feel free to post instructions in the comment section below.

Anyhow, as promised, I am back to celebrating various MUDDERS. Uma works for us in Accounts Receivable. Soft spoken and gentle, I have no idea how she behaves when she asks people for money, but between her and Alyssa, that department can manage to get blood from stones fairly often, so she must have a biatch side to her that I've never seen.

I don't know Uma that well, so I am going to make up half of this blog about her. You will have to decide which half.

Uma has purple hair and wears clothes made out of hemp. She is from Southern California and is getting her Masters in Forensic Psychology so she can dig up dead people and stuff. She loves penguins and cats. Penguins and cats love her right back. She's young and thin, pretty and petite, and has a lovely shade to her skin that looks like she has been recently kissed by the sun.

Uma is a gentle breeze before rain starts. She is a whisper in your left ear. At least she is this way at work. Maybe afterwards, she's the one dancing on the bar,and doing belly shots - I don't know. Her name backwards is Amu.


Everyone likes Uma. Kind of like Oprah. You know; Oprah, Uma; Uma, Oprah. We like Uma. I'm sure Uma hates that joke and probably hears it way too much. We're glad she works for us. She, like others, is an important piece of this big old machine; a shiny cog that plays a crucial part in the big operation. We like when she comes over here and gets the mail. The cats like that too.

Uma is really, really smart. Like freekishly smart. My guess is she could even figure out how to put a picture on this blog.

If we could, we'd figure out how to box her up and sell her...... (please see picture that I HOPE will follow)

My Day With Annie

I promise I will go back to lauding staffers soon, but today has been a trying day, so I'd rather re-visit my weekend with The Banana.

When she wakes,she calls for me to pick her up from the crib. When I lift her, still warm with sleep, she lays her cheek against mine, and puts her tiny arms around my neck. She calls me "Momma."

She likes to assist with breakfast, even if in pouring a mound of Honey Nut Cheerios, most end up on the floor. It gets tricky when she tries to pour the milk. She likes everything served in a pink "hello kitty" bowl. She likes to breakfast in pajamas with a napkin tucked under her chin, in front of an episode of either Elmo or Dora. She prefers not to be spoken to at length until she has had her morning orange juice. She is my daughter in so many ways.

After a phase in which she fought valiantly, she has recently decided that she will agree to wear clothing. Yesterday she wore a ballerina skirt, with an old t shirt of her brother's. I had to draw the line at sandals. We settled on rain boots as a compromise.

She rode her tricycle to the park while I walked along beside her. Every 5 feet she would ring her bell and call out "Look out everybody! Look out everybody!" to people who were more than half way down the block. She wore a pink knit hat with ear flaps and purple mittens, and most people smiled as she tore past them, chubby little feet pumping, singing snatches of the theme from Sesame Street.

Every small child she sees, even some that might be slightly older, she refers to excitedly as a "baby." "Look Mama, a baby!" she cries swinging next to a girl who is most likely two, like herself. She unabashedly presses her face against the plastic sheeting covering a stroller; "Where's the baby? Where's the baby?" She walks up to children in the park, puts her nose close to them and calls out "Hellllo bay-ay-bee." Sometimes she will lay a small hand on the side of their cheek.

Annie is all mother at the age of two. She takes care of five or six different dolls at home, dressing them, feeding them, and having long conversations about important things with them. When she tires of the unresponsiveness of plastic dollies, she'll take the smaller cat around its middle and plunk her in the doll carriage for a ride. Yesterday, she attempted to diaper the larger of the cats. After she received a swat with a paw, she gave the cat a time out. She later told Kip that the cat had apologized to her, and all was right with the world.

When Jesse cries, it is Annie who says "Don't worry, everything will be alright." She is quick and generous with hugs and kisses. She will trace the outline of a slight injury on Kip's extremities and cover it with an entire box of bandaids. So that is why, even after what for me would be a not-so-great-day, I know that in a few minutes things can improve. I will soon have a Banana wrapped around my knees asking me to come play. How lucky can you get?

THE DALAI LAMA

The Dalai Lama does NOT work for Our Name is Mud, just FYI. To our knowledge he has not even once responded to our clever ads on Craig's List. If he did work here at the studio, my guess is he would be considerate enough to change the toilet paper rolls when they run out unlike CERTAIN PEOPLE who I have not yet blogged about. I also wonder if his alarm clock would mysteriously malfunction as often as CERTAIN PEOPLE who I may or may not have already blogged about. And finally, I wonder if he would forgive me if I continually called him the Deli Lama.

A friend sent me a chain E-mail. The kind that promises great things will happen in your life if you annoy other people with it; and says that if you don't, you and your loved ones are basically doomed. Haven't gotten one of those lately? Post your E-mail in the comments section-I have some influential people in Nigeria I'd like you to meet.

Anyhow, I decided to pass on the good words she sent me via this blog, which I figure should be good for at least winning the lottery next week.

HOW TO HAVE GOOD KARMA By The Dalai Lama
(Comments in parenthesis by yours truly)

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risks.
(But use protection anyway.)
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
(But saying the dog ate it is never an excuse for not having your life lesson)
3. Follow the three R's: respect for self, respect for others, and responsibility for your actions. (Also Ritz crackers and red wine.)
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
(Sometimes I get tired of being so damn lucky all the time.)
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
(Better yet, write the rules yourself and then ignore them.)
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
(But remember that real friends aren't fragile-and if it's accurate criticism it is not criticism; it's just the truth.)
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
(Hit "unsend.")
8. Spend some time alone every day
(Preferably not only in the bathroom while a two year old hammers on the door, crying "but I haf to go pwotty...")
9. Open arms to change, but don't let go of your values
(Change is good. Bills are better.)
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
("Yes, wife o' mine", is always an even better answer)
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
(But if you drink enough, you might forget some of the bad parts.)
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
(don't put anything in the pipes that doesn't belong there.)
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
(Unless you are the wife. Then it is your job to make sure they never forget.)
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
(Does that mean I'm not going to die because I blog?)
15. Be gentle with the earth.
(It's hard not to walk all over her though)
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
(Especially if it is a sandy beach you have never seen before)
17. Remember that the best relationship is one which your love for each other exceeds your need for eachother.
(This is me and food in a nutshell.)
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
(I have always thought sleep was over rated anyway)
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon
(On average, one time per week.)

Now where did I put that handbasket?

Jesse is Five Years Old Today

This morning, my two year old, Annie, crawled into bed beside her brother, Jesse, and sang Happy Birthday softly into his ear while he lay sleeping. Then she covered his face in kisses. To my great surprise, he woke with a smile and did not punch her. Ah, what a start to a day...

Five years ago Jesse George Veasey was born. With a C-section scheduled for 6:30 a.m, Kip and I stayed up until 3:00 a.m. working at the studio, making sure I could take a brief maternity leave. We did this because we thought that I would be "resting" in the hospital after giving birth and could catch up on needed rest then. If I had known I would not sleep again for the next five years, I might have done things differently.

The first year with Jesse was all about tremendous change. He was a colicky baby who demanded constant attention and who never slept. It amazed us how someone so small could carve out such huge spaces in our lives: and then fill them with emotions we'd never felt before. Every aspect of our lives became forever different: the hours we worked, what we did at home, the company we kept; all priorities shifting dramatically. The only constant was our love for eachother.

Year one crawled by, mostly because we moved in some type of shocked slow motion--fearful of simple things like washing his face properly. In his second year we rediscovered our own sense of humor, and when Kip leaned over the changing table to retrieve a fallen diaper while Jesse was in the throws of suffering from a gastrointestinal bug, and pooped right on TOP of Kip's bent head: we were able to laugh about it. Ok, I was able to laugh about it. Kip was able to forgive me for laughing.

Years three through five passed in the blink of an eye. Now accustomed to weathering the winds of change, we found more joy than fear in the birth of Annie, the starting of school, the significant passages and milestones as he grew from toddler to boy. We have tried to be present; knowing those moments will never come again.

And now he is five. He believes that as of today his shirts will no longer fit properly and he should give them to his little sister. He has decided he will perform all bathroom duties by himself and in private, but that he will still require the presence of either Kip or myself to fall asleep. In the middle of the night, awakened by a bad dream, he asks that one of us hold his hand softly til he falls back asleep. He still calls me "Mama" and runs to me when I appear. He still holds my hand to cross the street. I can still almost fit him across my lap and hug him tight, although gangly legs and arms now stick out in every direction. He has signed up for Tball, and recently began pretend shaving with bath foam each day.

His biggest fear used to involve clowns~which Kip and I both found rationale and understandable. Now, he is afraid of balloons. He had asked me in passing what happened to balloons that children accidentally lost or let go of. Without really thinking, I told him that they flew up to Heaven and became presents for the loved ones we had up there. I don't know why this disturbed him as greatly as it did, but he now refuses to have anything at all to do with balloons for fear of losing them; and cannot look at an errant one trapped against a ceiling or in a tree without great distress. He remains complicated. Kip says he resembles his mother in this way.

He likes superheros and Ancient Egypt. He makes amazing drawings and tells outlandish stories. He's working on the letters and numbers; but excelling in drama and will make his debut as Pig #1 in the Three Little Pigs soon. He surprises us daily with flashes of deep empathy. I say he resembles his father in this way.

I could go on forever talking about my bear, my sweet sweet boy. But we will be taking the day off for mini golf and bowling-and it is much more important to get out of here and to be with him. Happy Birthday Jesse. You are so very loved.

DENITZA

So I wrote five paragraphs about Denitza and they were lost when our internet went down, so here goes again....Just know that the first blog was like, really extra funny and well written.

Anyhooo, I call Denitza: Den-i-ca, which I think is totally incorrect,and not even close to her name, but she has humored me for all these years. I think she would have let me call her Fred if it was all I could pronounce. Anyhow, she's from Bulgaria. Born on the coast of the Black Sea. She was raised on meatballs and beer. (Actually, she didn't say that. I just added it in. She talks like she was raised on the kind of meatballs they have at Ikea.)

Denica has more talent in her little finger than I have in my whole post-babies body. She is a gifted painter and artist and you can view her work at www.denitza-nyc.com

The story goes that she applied with us 3-4 times before we relented and hired her in 2000. We stuck her at a back table replicating city buildings all day long, and lo and behold if the girl didn't tweak and improve the design and make it what it is today. Before Denica arrived on the scene, the city buildings looked like they were drawn by a five year old~now just take a look at them! It's like when Tom Ford arrived at Gucci. She is amazing. I can sketch a really rough doodle on piece and tell her "I want a thingy here and a whatchamacallit here" and she does it. She can draw a bicycle in perspective, or a horse with its legs crossed eating a hotdog. Did I already say she is amazing?

And if that weren't enough to be so gifted, the girl eats chocolate EVERY DAY. I mean EVERY DAY, and NEVER GAINS A POUND. Damn her.

Anyway, she is a much loved and respected mudder. Despite the fact that she can fit in skinny jeans.

If you are an art lover with big bucks, or a gallery owner looking for the next hot artist, please post your contact info here.

DAN

So I finally figured it out! If writing about myself is what makes creating this blog so difficult: I WON'T DO IT! (Thank you to my two year old, Annie banana for teaching me the importance of just saying NO. It's even more effective when you can throw your little body onto the floor and kick and scream a bit.) Anyhoooo, so I have decided to write about other people in the world of MUD,starting with one of our favorites: DAN.

Dan joined OUR NAME IS MUD waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day (around '97.) He started as the Assistant Manager of a store, and worked his way up to Manager, and then headed up our website, which he still does to this day. His is the sultry voice that answers 1-877-MUD-STOR except at 4:55, which is when he stops answering at all.

Dan is a young guy, single, and our female cat, Boots, has taken a special liking to him. He is a very good looking guy despite the fact that he refuses to take my advice about cutting his hair. His favorite color is green (because quote "geniuses like green" endquote) and he likes Indian cuisine. His favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption and he likes small children (he didn't say that, I just added it in. Did I mention he is single?)

Check out myspace.com/danweb for some great stuff. Dan is an awesome singer and guitar player and has a blood relative called Virus. I love his black and blue stuff which really shows off his great voice and writing abilities.

He also has another band called BULLY which the young 'uns seem to really enjoy. (Dan does not agree with my taste in music and has not yet seen the pure genius in Matchbox 20 for some reason.) Anyway, check out www.Bullynyc.com to hear some great music.

Dan takes all the pictures that are on this website, and is happy to answer any digital photography questions you have about photographing your work. (Actually, he didn't say that, I just added it in. Did I write that he is not dating anyone at the moment?)

Anyhow, we're lucky to have a great guy like Dan as part of MUD. He probably has no idea how much we love and appreciate him, because frankly we're usually busy treating him like a kid brother. I would give him noogies if I could. But just so you all know, he is one of the many people here who have been wind beneath our wings. He's a great guy (he should however, get a haircut.)

p.s. are you a beautiful girl in your twenties or early thirties, independently wealthy, with an interest in dating aspiring rock stars? You must like cats and Indian Cuisine. Please post contact info here.

Suggest blog topics here

Help me out here people.

I'm in the Garden

We are stardust, we are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the ga-a-a-rden.....

Why have I not been blogging? You mean beside the fact that I feel writing these entries is a bit pretentious? I have been working on GARDEN PRODUCTS.

Benches, tables, windchimes, planters, bells, finials, birdhouses, sundials...the list goes on and on. We have been contacted by a company that is interested in licensing my designs for these items. Great opportunity; and aren't MUD and the GARDEN a good match?

Ah, but here's the thing: I'm a chicca from New York City. Last garden I had was outside of an apartment on 81st street: it was a 4 x 4 patio of cement. I believe I still was able to kill the few weeds that popped up back there. My most important garden accessory at that time (this is a while ago folks) was a big old glass ashtray.

Now my parents were amazing gardeners. My mother was truly talented; our gardens was full of every kind of flower you can imagine: irises were her favorite. I'm trying to remember what her favorite garden accessories were, but all that comes to mind are white porcelain coffee cups with a half moon of lipstick on the rim, scattered throughout the garden. She would work for hours, leaving a trail of cold coffee in mugs behind her.

So I am sitting in my studio in NYC: horns blare outside, it's about 30 degrees today. I AM STUMPED and I don't mean that in a garden-pun kind of way.

So if you wonder where I've gone; just know I am in the garden. Hoping something will bloom. Hoping inspiration will flower. But most likely, just getting a wet butt from sitting too long in the grass lost in thought.

Typical Get To Know Me Survey

A helpful friend sent this survey for today's blog posting. TWENTY QUESTIONS:


________Favorites________
1. Number: 6 (But never in triplicate, of course)
2: Song: "Night Moves" By Bob Seger. "Woke last night to the sound of thunder, how far off I sat and wondered...."
3. Color: Love them all~although not a HUGE fan of royal blue and orange, especially together.
4. Season: Fall. Spring is a close second. My favorite weather is wind.
5. State: New England. All of 'em.

6.. Do you close your eyes on roller coasters? I'm not a big fan of roller coasters. Nor do I particularly enjoy rides that spin you around fast or lift you up high. Frankly, I go to the amusement parks for the food.
7.Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone? My husband and I are both living for a time when we can sleep without the company of a small human being under the age of 5.
8. Do you believe in ghosts? The studio has its own. Hey~I'll save that for another blog posting.
9. Do you consider yourself creative? I consider myself more lucky than anything else.
10. Have you ever Ice Skated? If you could call it that. More like butt surfing on a hard surface.
11. When was the last time you laughed so hard you were crying? In a recent brainstorming session, someone suggested I make a "binge and purrrrge" mug for the cat lovers. Oh yes, could be a popular item for cat owners who find eating disorders humorous.
12. Do you believe in love at first sight? It's Lust at first sight, Love is at least three glances across the bar later.
13. Do you always wear your seatbelt? Absolutely, except in cabs which drives Kip crazy. It's the one wild thing I do. BTW, I do not know how to drive. Not even which pedal is the gas and which is the brake: unless they are like the ones in bumper cars?
14. What talent do you wish you had? It would be great to sing. Right now Annie, my two year old, requests that i refrain from even joining her in a simple chorus of itsy bitsy spider.
15. Do you like Rap or Rock n Roll? I really enjoy Christmas Music. Could listen to it all year long because it makes me feel, well, jolly.
16. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be? I would have to go with Springsteen as a favor to my husband.
17. Do you know how to play chess? No, but I can sing along to the Andrew Loyd Webber soundtrack when permitted.
18. What food do you find disgusting? Wet cat food. Serving it first thing in the morning, cleaning it up in piles around the house later.
18. Did you ever play, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours"? Yes, I traded a Ring Ding for my first glimpse in the first grade. Afterwards, I realized I woudl have enjoyed the Ring Ding more. It was a valuable life lesson.
19. Have you ever been punched in the face? I'm boxing twice a week now with James trying to shed the baby weight that by rights should now be referred to as toddler weight. He never hits back tho: but he should, THAT would be motivating, huh?
20. Have you ever walked out on a movie at the theater? Once my husband and I went to see Pocahontas wayyyy back when (yes, before children even. I'm a Disney fan what can I say?) The movie starts, and the theatre only has about ten people in it. Three of them are teenage boys who start talking to the screen saying things like "Pocahontas~she's a babe!" So after they don't heed my shooooshes, I go out and get the pimple faced candy guy to come in the theatre. He walks through the dark with a flashlight and the ruffians are well behaved and quiet. But I have to grab the guy and point out the trouble makers, thinking he will eject them from the theatre. Instead: he shines the flashlight at us and tells the gang of hoodlums that WE told him they were making all sorts of trouble, etc... Then he left. Kip and I spent the rest of the movie enduring popcorn thrown at the back of our necks and wondering how we were gonna make it out of there alive....Sorry, long story, should have been another blog entry.

Our Name Is Mud

Our Name Is Mud

We are sorry to have had to interupt regularly scheduled blogging to bring you these words so that we can be found by search engines everywhere.

I am NOT funny, ok?

I froze up creating these blogs because I felt that what people would expect of me when they read them was that I would be funny.

Sometimes customers who meet me at shows look at my stuff and say things like; "I bet you are HYSTERICAL."

Ok, sometimes I AM hysterical but it is usually because my son has his finger in my daughter's nose while the roast is burning, the phone is ringing, and the cat is throwing up on the rug. (There is little humor in constant cat vomit, BTW, ask my husband.)

So I am aware that because I occasionally paint things on pottery that make people laugh that there is the underlying expectation that any blogging I do would have to include some witty remarks or wry observations. I hope readers will lower their expectations. Lower. Lower. Don't forget: blondes have more puns.

Natasha, our wonderful new PR person explained to me today that anybody reading this blog is interested in who the "real me" is. (We obviously pay Natasha a lot of money to say things like that.) Meanwhile, what I want to know is how do people who write these blog things erase the memory of a brother breaking into your sixth grade diary? And why was the lock on those old diaries so ineffective anyway~when most of the girls in America had them? I mean, we BELIEVED those tiny little keys were actually going to protect our deepest secrets. Meanwhile, your mother, your sister, or, as in my case, your brother, could open them with the flick of a bobby pin. And then before you knew it, the secret crush you had on Mark Gaipa and the ponderings of what french kissing really entailed, is public knowledge and revealed after a fight over whose turn it is to do the dishes. Can you ever really recapture the relationship you had prior to that with that little square latched book with the pages edged in gold?

Post traumatic diary syndrome: the bane of any blogger.

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS

There was a time, wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy back in 1987, when I was almost able to achieve it: single minded focus. I was so intensely immersed in a developing passion for pottery, that I did little else. I woke in the morning, went to my job as a kindergarten teacher, and from 3:30 in the afternoon until sometimes 2-3 a.m., Monday- Friday, I worked in a small studio in Hell's Kitchen. I would fall asleep with pottery books open across my chest and dream of the next day's undertakings. Weekends were spent entirely at the studio; if I went for a late dinner, it was with fellow potters and the subject was always clay and what you could make with it. I ate, slept, bathed in it. It was the beginning of a relationship that has lasted to this day.

Fast forward so many years later, and while my love for clay has not decreased in intensity, my commitment to it has had to change. Building this company, marrying my soul mate, having two amazing children; all of those things have made it necessary to limit the amount of time spent focusing on my craft. An adjustment of priorities certainly necessary to have a full life.

But sometimes I find myself like a horse in a race who has lost the blinders usually placed beside his eyes to keep his vision locked upon the finish line. There is so much that provides a distraction. So many reasons not to work intensely. So much frivolity to chase after.

Focus. Stop answering Emails. Do not join the discussion about what's on HBO. Worry about dinner when 5:00 rolls around, not now. Be present. Fully.

Find the blinders, put them back on, run your best race. Remember, they shoot old horses. Focus focus focus.

GETTING STARTED

Getting started shouldn't be the hardest thing.

When Jesse (my 4 year old) sits down to draw, or sculpt, or do ANYTHING: there is no hesitancy. The reason children don't hesitate before they create is because they are focused only on the act of doing~on the process and not the product. They are not just fearless: they are joyful.

It's only as an adult that we learn to pause before starting on a blank piece of paper, a blank canvas, a blank screen. I think we have a tendency to think ahead to the end results of our efforts and to become concerned with how they will be perceived by others.

Jesse finds the joy in the doing. As he renders his 29th drawing of spiderman with seven fingers on his left hand, he is not thinking about what will eventually become of that picture. It doesn't matter a whole lot if it ends up on the fridge, gifted to a grandparent, framed in gilt, or filed away. For him, the joy was in putting marker to paper.

Getting started shouldn't be the hardest thing.

Hey look, I started.