not wondering today.

Yeah, I got nothing.  I had a sort of sucky day so I decided to post this picture.

 

I didn't create this but I wish I did.  Booplesnoot! tee hee

Art as inspiration #1

Here's a lovely painting in my living room. (the color of the photo is a bit off)

I don't often get to see scenes like this since I moved to South Florida.  OK, who am I kidding, even when I lived in New York I only went skiing one time and I skied into a building.  To be fair, why was there a building in the middle of the bunny slope?  I digress.  The painting is a pretty landscape.  Do you think the artist was observing and painting on a slope? or an avid skier?  My guess is no...because this painting was made by my grandmother Goldie Goldstein, who did not ski.  Often paintings she made would have a newspaper clipping or magazine picture nearby or glued on back, that showed what inspired the painting. This one doesn't so I don't know where the inspiration came from but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with the Catskills Mountains, which she loved.  Here is what I do know.  This is a great painting! Have you ever tried to paint?  It's HARD!!!!!  I've tried and wow, it is tough.  In this painting, the proportions look right, the strokes of paint make it feel 3-D, the shading gives the illusion of hills and I can almost feel the cold looking at it!  I can remember how snow looks being stuck to the trunk of the tree and how when snow is on the ground, the whole world sounds quieter and more peaceful.
So I can't paint.  I love art though and I think I am good at appreciating it.  I have made random things that I liked afterwards but not to the level of my grandma's paintings.  So, this post is supposed to be about art as inspiration.  Here's my inspiration:  She saw beauty in nature.  She used to talk about finding pretty wild flowers by the side of the road and driftwood at the beach.  She had a little project where she put a piece of foil behind a piece of blue glass, giving the illusion of water moving and then glued seashells on it.  How did she think of that?  She saw beauty and made beauty, observed it, recreated it and found peace in it.  I think of her every Sunday when I watch the "moment of nature" on Sunday Morning.
Sometimes when I feel stressed I sit on my patio and look at the blue sky.  When I want a calming thought, I picture sitting under a giant tree in thick grass with purple wildflowers around me. So I built myself a little zen garden on my balcony so I can see more nature and more colors.  I put some live plants inside my living room and my wonderful husband buys me flowers most Friday nights so I can actually breathe nature in.  I think I breathe the colors in too.  I try to anyway.  I'm being inspired by all of these things: grandma, the art in my DNA, nature and the memories that go into pieces of artwork that can live on and be appreciated forever.

#I don't get twitter

I don't want to sound like I am totally out of it but you know that thing called twitter?  I don't get it.  I joined it but then I didn't add anyone I know because I figured I can already see what they are saying on facebook. So then I added a bunch of news sources-which isn't very helpful since I watch Brian Williams almost religiously (but really get my info. from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert).  Then I added a bunch of "housewives" of various places who basically retweet how much people love them. Actually, their tweets make me like them and their shows less.  I added a bunch of celebrities but although I love Russell Crowe, I am not really interested in his daily exercise routine.  I don't care how many kilometers he walked because I am an American and don't know what a kilometer is.  Every once in a while I tweet something important.  A couple of weeks ago I tweeted to win a reading from the Long Island Medium.  I didn't win.  I thought my twitter feed was so #boring that I joined a whole bunch of anything I can think of.  Then I few people started following me.  I think they wanted me to buy something?  I felt obligated to post something so I retweeted a giant angora bunny picture from George Takai. 
So, what am I missing?  Was I supposed to look for my friends?  Am I supposed to search by hashtags?  Was it always called a hashtag or did twitter invent that?  What happened to "pound sign"?I have to say, that I do feel a bit left out on the # thing.  I kind of want to put them on my facebook updates or in sarcastic conversation. 
The twitterverse is huge and I am missing out!!!  I don't get it! Anyone? #help #missingout #yeahforhashtags #bunniesruledogzdrool #McFlurry #Squirtford #gotthatoutofmysystem #veryannoyingtotypewithnospaces

Pavlov's bunnies?

Thank you Squirtford for stepping in while I had a busy weekend.  That Squirtford, he's a stand up guy.  Keeping up with the Squirt theme, I thought I'd share my scientific findings from my bunnies.  Here is the setting- each morning the bunnies get pellets for breakfast.  The pellets are brown but there are some red pellets mixed in, but not many.  The rabbits LOVE the red ones.  My husband and I wonder how/why the red are so much better.  We don't wonder enough to try them though.  Anyway, I always tell them that they shouldn't eat all the red ones right way.  "Spread it out and save some for later" but they never listen and they pick out all the good ones.  I can't even figure out how they find them.  Their eyes are on the sides of their heads so they can't see in the bowl.  Their little sniffers are that powerful!?!!?!!  When they are gone from the top of the bowl, Squirt sticks his feet in and digs until he finds more.  Many brown pellets fly....  Anyway, that is the routine.
I noticed last week that Squirt wasn't jumping over to eat the pellets right away.  I kept wondering if he was sick or had a toothache but I saw him eat at other points in the day so I was just keeping an eye on him (I also put a nose on him but you know that story already).  I kept wondering why he wasn't hurrying to eat the red ones (and by the way, McFlurry is like a little food vacuum with no mercy.  You snooze you lose!). 
Yesterday I got the missing clues to this case.  I noticed Squirt jumped on the shelf when he heard the pellets.  That's the wrong direction!  How strange.  In the evening I mentioned this to my husband who then told me that whenever he gives them pellets, he picks a few red ones out for Squirtford and feeds them to Squirt, who is sitting on the shelf!!!!  AHA!
Mystery solved.  The sound of pouring pellets makes Squirt jump up to the shelf expecting red pellets!  I didn't know!  He didn't tell me (he could have at least mentioned it on the blog this weekend!).
Well, this morning I felt all cool.  Now I know the drill and all.  So I open the door, take out the bowl and pour the pellets, picking out a few for Squirtford....but Squirt didn't go on the shelf.  He just stood there facing me...staring.....until I gave him his red pellets.  Yikes!!!! Conclusion:  I don't know but give Squirt his pellets!!!!

Guest blogger: Squirtford

Food Dispenser #1 is busy doing whatever it is she does so I decided to step in and blog for the weekend.  First of all:  Hi!  I'm Squirtford.  I'm the boy bunny with the short fur.  My sister McFlurry is rather silly and always wanting to snack or escape.  I am more of the serious type.  I like red pellets (if you read my nose when it goes up and down, it says "pellets, pellets, pellets), morning nose pets, staring at my wall and hiding in towels, paper bags and boxes.  I often jump on top of the box and the Food Dispensers say "yes Squirtford?" Then my nose tells them what snack I want but they don't seem to understand me.  It's a bit frustrating.
Anyway, I have had such a crazy weekend.  You would not believe what they have put me through!  First of all, during the week is when I can relax because the humans are always rushing off to go make hay money so it's nice and quiet.  For some reason though, FD #1 stayed home on Friday.  So this seriously cut into my normal schedule of napping, eating, drinking, pooping, staring at nothing, licking McFlurry, etc.  FD kept talking to me!  Then she said she had a "surprise" for us and showed me some weird glasses.  I decided to ignore all that and ask for red pellets.  All seemed fine until...SATURDAY!
Here's how it happened.  First FD#1 put me on the couch.  Usually she does that when she wants to cuddle and give me snacks.  Well this time, she said she was going to take my picture.  I wasn't prepared for this so I started the grooming process.  Luckily I groom myself every 5-10 minutes so not much needed to be done.

When I was done, she tried to put glasses on me so I tried to attack them.  She wanted me to sit still so she called FD #2 over and he held me down and they took this picture of me!  Can you believe it?

 

Don't I look grumpy?  That's is a very long and ungroomed moustache so I was pretty unhappy.  I'm all about short neat fur so I attacked the glasses like this:

 

They offered me raisins, my favorite snack but I wouldn't eat it.  FD #1 knew I was so mad at her.  I never turn down raisins so she knew she was in big trouble.  I think she felt very very guilty....but not guilty enough to spare McFlurry!  McFlurry never wants to sit still so FD #2 held her down right away.  She didn't care too much.  She's used to unruly long hair so it wasn't much of a stretch for her.

 

She did try to free her nose though.  You can't hold a bunny's nose down!

 

Since she's naughty, she attacked the glasses too but she accepted her snacks.  She's not as serious about principles as I am.
Today however, we got revenge.  When the Food Dispensers weren't looking, I did this!  Take that Pina! I'm a bunny so I don't know how to put the ~ on top of the n.  Whatever, I have put you in the silly glasses and spelled your name wrong! ha!!!

 

  Otherwise, today I was spared of all this craziness but they did vacuum which always puts me in a bad mood.  I forgive them now though and am ready to accept red pellets from them.  Gotta go tell them.  Bye!