Being an only child, I never had the privilege – and frustration – of having a sister with whom I grew up. I used to think this was an advantage: nobody in close enough proximity to wear my clothes, take my stuff, flirt with my boyfriend, or publicly embarrass me. Continue reading
Invasion from Inner Space
On the scale of fact versus fiction, where do you tend to linger? Before you automatically jump to the superiority of scientific based thought (Oh and I’m with you on that), consider that it also takes a leap of imagination to invent, to discover, to progress at all. The great milestones of change occurred because somebody was able to transform What Is to What Could Be. Continue reading
Dirty Back Roads
Even though these pseudo stories are primarily inspired by my mother’s drawings, this one is unabashedly about me. But not just about me; it is about you too. Really, it is about all of us, where we come from, how we respond to events, and how we got to this point. Continue reading
The Cactus is Always Greener
Elizabeth and her sister Suzanne used to take some crazy cross-country road trips. They took one particular adventure specifically for the purpose of gathering photos from which Elizabeth could recreate the scenery in her favorite pen-and-ink format. They traveled to the East Coast and back, had some fun and took tons of pictures. On the final trek they took a detour in the desert to go to Las Vegas before heading home. Continue reading
Hold Your Stick High
As most leadership and military academies will teach, there are many sources and kinds of power. Some sources are legitimate, some just perceived; sometimes it is used productively in motivating a team to reach goals, getting important things done, and effecting transformational change. Other times people do not wear power well and either abuse it or give it away. While I understand how power corrupts, I personally become frustrated watching someone give their power away, essentially falling victim to the world, succumbing to a life of martyrdom and blaming others for their misery. For me, Elizabeth’s Scepter is a symbol of power that is worn proudly and used with gracious benevolence, and no one did that better than Elizabeth. Continue reading
God and Santa
More than any other time of the year, Christmastime always seems to bring out those religious conversations, the kind that we are not normally faced with so blatantly during the other months. As controversial a topic as it is, perhaps the spirit of the season also allows us to be more charitable and tolerant toward others than we would normally be, giving way to disclosure usually only spoken in discreet code. Continue reading
Becoming the Center of the Universe
This begins my humble attempts to write about my mother’s drawings. I must disclose that my initial drafts were all about me, my perspectives, my thoughts…and really it was all I could do to keep from tearing my teeth out from the wretched boredom this generated.So then, I tried writing from what I imagined must have been Elizabeth’s intent, and while conjecture is often self-satisfying, my interpretation would most likely cause her spirit to dismiss me with an imperial wave of the hand. Off with her head, and all that. Continue reading