my daughter’s two black cats
who i collectively call ‘the nathans’
waited until her halloween display was up
deciding to become the stars
sitting centerstage in the tableau.
—
“in a cat’s eye, all things belong to cats.”
-joseph wood krutch
Oct20
Author Archives: beth
Oct19
across the universe.
my grandson stargazing in a night field
—
i met my ex-husband many years ago
a man with a brilliant mind
who taught me myriad things
among them
oceanography, astronomy, photography
astrophotography
my grandson
never met his (now late) grandfather
yet all these years later
he put together one of his old telescopes
taking it upon himself
to learn astrophotography
he has become a stargazer
two generations later
his grandfather
would have been thrilled and so proud of him
proving once again that
everything in the universe is truly connected
most in ways we cannot even begin to imagine.
—
“Science is the one human activity that is truly progressive.
The body of positive knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation.”
― Edwin Powell Hubble, The Realm of the Nebulae
Oct18
my message is love.
Refugee Who Paints With a Toothbrush Nominated for Prestigious Art Prize: “My Message Is Love”
For artist Mostafa “Moz” Azimitabar, no paintbrush is as special as the humble toothbrush
Facing persecution in his birth country of Iran, the Kurdish artist and musician fled to Australia in 2013. Once there, he was entered into the immigration system and would spend the next eight years in detention centers. At his first stop, an offshore camp on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, Azimitabar turned to art to cope with his emotions.
“I asked one of the officers on Manus: ‘Can I have some paint?’… I would like to do some artwork because I don’t want to give up’,” he recalled. The guard refused his request, citing safety concerns. Azimitabar returned to his shared room, frustrated, but refusing to let it go. The reality of his situation forced him to get even more creative. He decided to work with what he had — in this case, coffee and a toothbrush.
“I don’t know what happened … that moment was so special for me. I grabbed the toothbrush and I put it in the coffee and I just dragged it (on some paper),” he said, calling it a “moment of victory.” He continued to experiment with the technique throughout his detainment. “Art and painting helped me to be strong, to continue. Because when I paint, I don’t feel any trauma.”
Then, another moment of victory came over a year after his release in 2021: He was named a finalist for the Archibald Prize, one of Australia’s most prestigious art awards, worth over $70,000. His painting, one of 52 chosen from over 800 submissions, was created using a toothbrush, coffee, and acrylics on canvas. It’s titled “KNS088,” the number the Australian government issued him during his years in detention.
“The message of my painting is love. We are all one family, connected by our humanity.”
-Mostafa Azimitabar
—
credits: Rebekah Brandes, Saeed Kahn/AFP, NSW
Oct17
feeling the beat.
on the very next day
after i punched an aggressive clown in a haunted house
and my heartbeat had resumed its normal pace
i found this heart on a sidewalk
made of old gum weathered with time
yet the message was still clear.
—
“i would rather live with a tender heart, because that it the key to feeling the beat of all other hearts.”
-jenny slate
Oct16
horror.
at the haunted house
while waiting to enter
the performances began
fire dancers
monsters
pumpkin head
evil clowns
lasers, smoke
even a bad dj – (‘diablo -international dj’)
like being caught up
in a campy carnie rave party
and then
we went in
for a long stretch of terror
adrenaline pumping
my startle response at full tilt
a creepy clown jumped out of the dark near me
my reflex reaction was a quick punch to its face
(the clown bent over in pain, and i felt so bad i hugged it!)
the man behind me said
‘i thank you for that, now i feel safe’
we continued on
through a creepy water illusion room with an uneven floor
a tight fabric tunnel we had to push our way through
spider webs sticking to our faces
monsters crawling on the floor
mirrors, doors, ramps, screaming, darkness, banging, running
quite a wild ride
but we made it out intact
and my heart is beginning to calm a bit.
“where there is no imagination, there is no horror.”
-sir arthur conan doyle
Oct15
words of wisdom.
kinder do hands-on research
writing their observations and making conclusions in their notes
“words of wisdom are spoken by children at least as often as scientists.”
-james newman
Oct14
sprinkle magic.
a tribe not my own, but with the same kind of spirit
—
“surround yourself with people who add value to your life.
who challenge you to be greater than you were yesterday.
who sprinkle magic into your existence,
just like you do to theirs.
life isn’t meant to be done alone.
find your tribe, and journey freely and loyalty together.”
-alex elle
Oct13
cheetle.
Giant roadside Cheeto
The Cheetos brand erected the statue of a hand holding a massive Cheeto, immortalizing the sticky orange residue that Cheetos leave on your fingertips, in Cheadle, Alberta. The community was chosen because of its name’s similarity to “cheetle,” the company’s official name for Cheeto dust.
“Cheetos fans have always known that the delicious, cheesy dust on their fingertips is an unmistakably delicious part of the Cheetos experience, but now it officially has a name: Cheetle,” said Lisa Allie, the senior marketing director at PepsiCo Foods Canada, which distributes Cheetos in the country.
“We’re excited to be celebrating Cheetle and Canadians’ cheesy, Cheetle-dusted fingertips on such a grand scale, (17-feet tall), and in such a uniquely mischievous way.”
The unique piece of art won’t stay in Cheadle forever, however, according to Cheetos’ news release. Cheadle residents and visitors can check out the big, cheesy fingers until Nov. 4. Then, the monument will embark on a tour of other locations in Canada.
Cheadle is a hamlet located in Alberta’s Wheatland County. Its population is tiny: Just 83 people lived there in 2021, according to the Canadian census.
*note – as a huge fan of ‘flamin’ hot cheetos,’ i fully endorse this artistic endeavor
—
“I love Cheetos, those hot, spicy kind. And chocolate.
Every time I’m in the airport I’m buying Cheetos and eating them on the airplane.”
-Alessandra Amrbrosio
credits: zoe sottile, cnn, cheetos
Oct12
stamped.
a notice recently arrived
telling me the stamps i’d ordered online
from the post office this past summer
were finally arriving in my mailbox
it had been so long
i’d forgotten about them
told me what day they’d be delivered
then they weren’t there
even though
they were marked as ‘delivered’ online.
they were not there all week
went to the post office
i have the nicest mailman in the world
but wanted to see if they could find them
woman at the desk
said i had to request a refund on their website
after navigating through
using the tracking code
filling in all the blanks
it responded
“not eligible for refund as it was not insured.”
read it a couple of times
wait, wasn’t it coming from them to me?
weren’t they the post office, the ones who i was buying them from?
weren’t they supposed to deliver them to me?
wasn’t that their one job?
my mailman said he’ll check all the boxes nearby
but i fear they are lost in the abyss.
next time i’ll ask them to please insure their own product before trying to send it to me using their services.
—
“and then she had to fill out so many forms she forgot why she had come and what she had left behind.”
-amy tan
Oct11
book month is on.
(someone in a squirrel costume pretending to be me coming home from the ilbrary/bookstore)
it is national book month after all –
—
“with freedom, flowers, books and the moon, who could not be perfectly happy?”
-oscar wilde
