Author: Lisa Marie

Blizzard

Today we are locked inside by a blizzard. There has only been a couple of inches of snow fall, but the wind is really high which makes it a bigger storm. Part of our flagpole snapped off and broke. The wind is blowing so hard that the snowflakes can hardly fall to the ground because they keep being pushed sideways across the land. Angelica’s occupational therapy was canceled because the clinic was shut. She did her speech therapy in a video chat. I had an appointment up near Denver and I had to cancel it.

Craig is sleeping because he works a mid tonight. I’m trying to make the most of this day being shut-in. Truthfully I’m really grateful. I feel like I’ve been on the go so much and I’ve just gotten tired of it. There’s always an appointment or something to go to. Sometimes that’s nice, like earlier in the week I got to get the first massage I’ve had in ages. It was absolutely phenomenal. My body felt so good. I’m going to start going more regularly. Other times the speech therapy, tutoring, occupational therapy, psychiatrist, therapist, and all the other appointments really add up. I just want to recharge at home and have a clear schedule.

Earlier this afternoon I set up an art space on the dining room table for Angelica. She used acrylic ink, her watercolors, and alcohol ink to create some art. I think she had fun and it was good to get her using her creativity. Right now I have a TV show on for her. We lost power for a little bit, and now I’m afraid that the power could go out again at any time. I’m running appliances as much as I can. Laundry and dishes are running. I’ve been charging up my phone and charging up my Kindle, since if the power goes out again light will just get dimmer and dimmer and my Kindle will be the only thing I can read from. And then in between charging my phone and my Kindle I am recharging the charger that charges them. Charge. I just had to say that word one more time.

Anyways, I’m just trying to enjoy electricity as much as possible in case we don’t have it again. That probably won’t be an issue, but I want to make sure that everything chargeable is charged just in case, and that I’ve gotten as much housework as I can finished. That’s why I’m letting Angelica watch TV now. Usually I let her watch a little bit in the evening after a day of playing or making art. However, since it’s a possibility we might be sitting in a dark house later I’ve decided to put it on now.

My little artist!

Photo Editing Programs

I am toying with the notion of learning how to work with multiple layers when I edit photographs. It would be nice to make some collages and other art that way. I have signed up for a Photoshop free trial. I can’t seem to get it to actually work, but I guess I’ll see what happens.

When I was looking around at photo programs I found out that there is one that is trying to compete with Adobe Photoshop now. It’s called Affinity Photo. I’m starting to watch videos to learn some things about it and I’m going to ask around if I can and get some opinions from people. It’s definitely a better price. Photoshop has always been expensive, but once upon a time you could buy the software and then that was it. You owned it. Now you don’t have to front hundreds of dollars straight off the bat, but you never actually own the software. You have to pay for it every month and the first month that you can’t or don’t pay, that software can no longer be used. Whether you have already given them a hundred bucks or you’ve already given them a couple of thousand. It’s a subscription-based service. I really don’t like that. Number one that becomes very expensive. Number two, I like to own things. With this other photo program the initial cost is around $50 from what I’m reading. Maybe it’s gone up. That really isn’t a bad price anyway, and once you put the money up the software is yours.

First I need to find out if Affinity Photo is as powerful as Photoshop. And if it is not as powerful as Photoshop, does it matter for the things I want to do? Then I will need to learn to use a new program if I decide to go with Affinity. It’s been several years since I have really used Photoshop and so I have lost most of the knowledge I had as it is. But this would be a completely different program so I would really be starting from scratch.

New Color Project

My obsession with color is a fundamental part of me. I used to operate a blog where I would post a square of color with a poetic name typed on it.

I think now I will do something a little different. I have been downloading free textures online, and tinting them with rich, solid color. Instead of typing a short name on each one, I will write fragments of poems (or full length poems) for each one. Each color with its corresponding poem will be given a post.

At this point I am just really enjoying tinting all these different textures. I do not know how long I will carry on with this project. Regardless of whether it lasts for one week or one year, I think that it will add to my creativity. It will also give me more pleasure in my life. Color stitches my being together.

From the Morning

In the creamy morning light,

fat snow lounges on the mountaintop.

My new day has no confidence.

My shoes wait by the door,

made of bone china

And stained with my used blood.

Secondhand fire bounces

off the receding moon.

Numbers await me,

my house and my mind

Filled with them.

Math cuts me.

The subtraction demanded

of me is too much.

I shove my feet in my shoes.

Outside the morning is frosting

on my world.

I have nothing but

the robbery of my body.