I've always liked to read obituaries. Why? Well, because I'm interested in knowing about people's lives, and an obituary is an accounting of a life. I realise that I read blogs for exactly the same reason. I can read about the daily life and thoughts of someone -- anyone. I used to like walking past houses at dusk -- when the lights were on but the curtains were not yet drawn, as it was a little slice of someone's life -- the furniture chosen, and how it was arranged. The objects displayed, the art on the walls. When I painted I did a series of paintings about bushes -- houses with bushes planted too close because the bush was tiny when it was planted 25 years before... I've always looked for clues so I could try to understand this world I live in...

Email to Rayne:
Elizabeth is Down's Syndrome, and is smart, makes very funny comments(on purpose to be funny), and generally is a person that others like to be around. She's also extremely stubborn, independent, and goes into an avoidance mode when she's in trouble. When she was small she was well served by the first two traits. She WOULD tie her shoes herself and NO ONE was going to help her -- and maybe it would take 15 minutes but just GET OVER IT. She "stubbornly" persisted in learning and overcoming obstacles -- but she's not as smart as she thinks she is, or as independent as she'd like to be. Right now I'm dealing with your basic shitstorm (an every-once-in-a-while thing) -- she didn't go to work for 5 days, answer her telephone, or obey her job coach who came to her apartment to take her to work -- and her apt. manager called me this morning to say there've been complaints about loud TV and music. AND I bought her a computer desk for Christmas that UPS has been trying to deliver for over a week -- but because she's in avoidance mode she didn't tell me they had left notices (and hadn't answered her door apparently). AND she missed a dr. appt when I asked her last week to check the date because I knew it was coming up -- but she didn't until yesterday (after I dragged her to work so she was trying to make it up to me by doing something I'd asked) by which time it was too late. Elizabeth could be a full time job. Elizabeth's website (I have been trying to find her an email buddy) is here
When I started my blog it was to think about the way things might be improved -- in general -- such as identifying basic needs and thinking about the way our society might look if we honored those needs. I haven't got very far. Well -- I HAVE thought about it myself, but my blog degenerated into a doom-fest. So now I'm trying consciously to keep my blog on the nicer side. I told my friend Lucia (MacArthur award-winning poet!) that I might have to have a shadow blog to vent my spleen into. However, this year might well be better than last year (both my parents died last year), so maybe I'll perk up and won't need a shadow blog!