BEEN TO OHIO, BUT FIRST A WORD ABOUT MY MANZANITA...

This is for my seester who is my muse when I am in Ohio and who makes me think I can somehow create art. I cannot. But she causes me to look at nature through her artist's eye. I have been collecting manzanita wood for sometime now. I sneak up on the side of the Santa Rosa Mountains as I travel to Emily's house and I snatch a few limbs and branches here and there. I never cut it off of a live shrub or bush...I don't have a comfort level doing that but I do pick it up beautiful pieces off the ground. So, I have quite a bit that I want to use to construct a grid or arbor to put morning glories on outside my bedroom window, as that has become a rather sacred spot to me since I've been home and having something pretty out my window is important...and the fact that it would be portable is very important as I would be able to take it with me.

So, Stephanie, my muse, I am inserting pics of manzanita wood. It is beautiful. It is mahogany red and wavy. I am copying the following text from Wikipedia. Enjoy *hug*

"Manzanita branches are popular as decoration, due to their unique shape, color, and strength when dried.

Manzanita bark: The wood is notoriously hard to cure, mostly due to cracking against the grain, giving it few uses as timber. The slow growth rate and many branchings further decrease the sizes available. Some furniture and art employ whole round branches, which reduces cracking and preserves the deep red color.

The dead wood decays slowly and can last for many years, on and off the plant. Sunlight smooths and bleaches manzanita to light grey or white, rendering it superficially akin to animal bones. Because of this and the stunted growth of many species, manzanita is often collected in its more unusual shapes, giving it the nickname mountain driftwood.

Manzanita wood is also used as perches for parrots and other large pet birds. The branches of the larger species are extremely long-lasting for this purpose."

MY DREAM HOUSE....AND A CAT NAMED VINCENT

Your home is a Philanthropic Muse's Mansion Your kitchen is someplace you never go, because you "have people for that." There's a Chocolatessen, which is rapidly becoming your favorite room of the house. Having one is also becoming a trend among your wealthy neighbors. Your master bedroom has a bedside table with a pad for writing down late-night inspirations. Your study has hardback editions of every classic ever written, plus a special edition of Rich Dad, Poor Dad with the parts you ghost-authored highlighted. One of your garages holds your collection of ferraris, and is measured in acreage. Your home also includes a gallery of your favorite works -- the originals, of course. Your guests enjoy your animatronic replica of the cantina at Mos Eisley. Outside is your hedge maze and gardens, meticulously tended by a team of world-class botanists. And, you have a pet -- a cat named "Vincent". Below is a snippet of the blueprints:

Find YOUR Dream Home!

A meme stolen from Eric...with love...

MEMEMEMEMEMEMMEMEMEMEMEME


1. If I were a doll, the accessories packaged with me would be:
A WAND, VOLUMINOUS TULLE SKIRTS AND BILLOWY BLOUSES, GLASSES, BOOKS, AND OF COURSE, A ROCKING CHAIR WITH WINGS ON IT, HA!!!...THE DEBBIE ACTION FIGURE.

2. I have an irrational fear of:
HOMOPHOBES, FUNDAMENTALIST ANYTHINGS, WITCH HUNTS, NAZIS, SUPERIVISORS.

3. What type of food do you eat at your grandparents house?
MY GRANDMAS HOUSE ALWAYS SMELLED LIKE BEANS AND COFFEE...THOSE SMELLS WILL ALWAYS TAKE ME BACK.
4. What weight were you when you were born?
10lbs, 7 1/2 ounces... BUT I DIDN'T SWEAT MUCH FOR A FAT GIRL

5. What would you do if you were stranded on an island with the person you hate?
MAKE FRIENDS OR LEARN HOW TO SWIM

6. What would you do if you found out you had been cheated on?
CRY, SCREAM, BLAME, BEAT, CRY, SCREAM, PRAY, REPENT, CRY, BEAT, PRAY, REPENT, FORGIVE, CRY, BEAT, FORGIVE, CRY, FORGIVE, FORGIVE FORGIVE.

7. Do you stalk anyone on myspace?
NO, I DO ALL MY STALKING ON FACEBOOK

8. I find the thought of childbirth:
RIDICULOUS AT MY AGE

9. Next door to my house is:
ARE OTHER NONDESCRIPT LITTLE METAL MODULAR OVEN/HOMES THAT BAKE OTHER LITTLE WHITE HAIRED WOMEN LIKE MYSELF. WE SHOULD BE "DONE" BY THE END OF OCTOBER.

10. My feet are:
ALWAYS BARE

11. Are the Tigers going to make it to the playoffs this year?
LET ME ASK SOMEONE WHO CARES...

12. Why is your #1 your #1?
BECAUSE WE'RE "CELESTIALIZING" EACH OTHER.

13. Do you know how to cook?
I'M RE-LEARNING...IT'S A JOURNEY

14. I am annoyed with:
MY FACE'S CONSTANTLY LOSING BATTLE WITH MEAN MR. GRAVITY

15. What is the worst way you were dumped?
THERE'S A "WORST"???....OH PLEASE SPARE ME

16. What child-related smell do you like?
TOBACCO AND WHISKEY...MY DAD

17. What sea creature scares you?
I DON'T WANT TO GET MY TOES PINCHED BY A CRAB IN THE SAND...OUCHY.

18. What forest creature scares you?
BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR BEAR

19. What object have you broken most recently?
IT'S NOT THAT I BREAK THEM ACTIVELY...THEY BREAK "OFF" ME OR "AROUND" ME...MY FAVORITE BRACELET JUST FELL OFF MY WRIST IN A HUNDRED PIECES....SO WEIRD.
20. Name one of the Spice Girls?
OLD
21. What was the last thing to make you cry?
OH. SATURDAY NIGHT, THE HUBBY AND I WENT TO THE TEMPLE AND ON THE WAY HOME WE GRABBED A BITE TO EAT AND HE WAS SO WONDERFUL...MAN!...SO, TEARS OF GRATITUDE COUNT RIGHT?..OH, AND AN ONION.

22. What are the stems on wine glasses for:
ERIC SAID "PRETENTIOUSNESS", WHICH IS A FUNNY ANSWER AND I LIKE IT VERY MUCH

23. My favorite shoes are:
NOT ON MY FEET BUT THEY ARE VERY VERY HIGH HEELS AND MAKE MY LEGS LOOK REALLY GOOD.

24. Can you use chopsticks?
YEA, I CAN USE THEM TO STAB PEOPLE WITH...TOO VIOLENT?...

25. Do you prefer beaches or forests?
FORESTS FORESTS FORESTS FORESTS FORESTS

26. What serial killer do you find most disturbing?
REALLY?...THERE'S A "LESS" DISTURBING SERIAL KILLER OVER ANOTHER?..AN "ACCEPTABLE" SERIAL KILLER?...ONE I WOULD TAKE TO LUNCH OVER ANOTHER?..THERE'S A SCENARIO WHERE ME AND KILLER ONE WOULD GO TO LUNCH AND GOSSIP AND SNICKER ABOUT KILLER TWO...HMMMM...IF THE WORD "KILLER" IS IN THE NAME, I'LL PROBABLY HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THE PROFESSION..PERIOD..WAIT, WHAT ABOUT SERIAL KILLERS THAT JUST KILL SERIAL KILLERS...I'LL HAVE TO THINK.

27. Who knows a secret or two about you?
UM....I'M A CONVERT....I'LL TAKE THE FIFTH ON THIS

29. Who is probably talking a load of crap about you right now?
ICK...HOPEFULLY NO ONE.

30. Who is your hero(s)?
I'LL PICK A SHEROE....SUSAN B ANTHONY AND ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, THE LADIES WHO TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES TO BEGIN THE SUFFRAGETTE MOVEMENT...DESPITE THE ODDS, THE HORRIBLE TREATMENT, IMPRISONMENT, ETC. THEY WERE POLAR OPPOSITES AND BEST FRIENDS.

39. Where is your sister right now?
WITH OUR MOM IN C-BUS KEEPING THE FLOCK TOGETHER AND DOING HER OUTRAGEOUSLY COOL POTTERY. THE OTHER IS IN THE BRONX/MANHATTEN AREA OR INDIA OR JAPAN OR WHEREVER PFIZER IS SENDING HER. WHERE IS SHE STEPH? CURING CANCER WHILE WE'RE BURNING COOKIES?

40. Do you believe in things that last forever?
ONLY RELATIONSHIPS.

43. Are you married?
YES, BUT ONLY FOR ETERNITY.

44. Does anyone regularly tell you they love you?
THAT'S A BIG Y-E-S

45. What's the most confusing to you?
HUMAN BEHAVIOR

46. Do you have any bad habits?
WELL, MAYBE THEY'RE NOT "BAD" HABITS AS SUCH...PERHAPS THEY'RE JUST "MISUNDERSTOOD" HABITS....

47. Have you ever wanted to be a teacher?
OH SNAP!!!! ON THE WAY!!!

48. What is one thing you've learned about life?
REALITY IS OFTEN KINDER THAN THE STORIES WE TELL ABOUT IT.

49. Whats your favorite color?
DRAWN TO THE COLOR GREEN AS OF LATE BUT IT'S NOT STATIC, THIS WILL CHANGE, AS IT OFTEN DOES. I GO IN CYCLES...YEA, EVERYONE WANTED TO KNOW THAT I'M CERTAIN.

50. Ever been stuck in an elevator?
ONLY BRIEFLY...BUT THE ELEVATOR SAW IT DIFFERENTLY

51. What does your dad call you?
IT WAS "DEBBIE DOLL"

52. Has anyone told you that they like you more than a friend?
I DON'T THINK ANYONE EVER SAID THAT TO ME

53. What are you looking forward to?
EVERYTHING

54. How are you today?
DOING WELL....GOT FOUR NEW TIRES AND I'M LISTENING TO PINK AND CHRISTINA SO THAT'S GOOD, RIGHT?

"How do ya like them apples?"

Here are some examples of apples I promised to post for a close friend of mine...Remember, you can draw and customize these on a separate piece of paper, or take a laptap in and a good artist can do them from your specifications.

Are you going to show the seeds (?), are you going to go with the halved apple? the full apple? both? the leaf?

Have fun. Be creative. Go nuts. Be inspired...

I LOVE IRONY

Ahhh, I just love my life. The irony is wonderful and makes me smile...BIG OPEN MOUTH SMILES, a lot!!!.

Here I am taking a gay/lesbian literature course. As I stated previously, it was listed as a LGBT LIT course. I had absolutely no idea what that was; (not that it would have stopped me) however, it was a literature course that gave me 3 credits, which I needed, it met in the evenings, which I needed, and it was literature, which I craved. Poifect! So, I was a little surprised at the content (the BT is bisexual, trans-sexual or transgender).

So, the class meets (way) off campus at Palm Springs High School on Thursday evenings from 6:00 to 9:00. It's a very very small class. All the men are gay. I, of course, was adopted by the two most flaming, Don and Jeffrey. They are companions. Jeffrey is very British and LOVES vampires. Last night when we left and as we're walking through the gorgeous campus that is Palm Springs High School, he pulls me over and says, "Deborah, have you noticed the absolutely obscene number of bats that fly through here" *insert deep evil chuckle*. "And did you know Shelly's wife wrote Frankenstein?". I replied, "Well Jeffrey, apparently, all men are beasts." to which he said, "Oh yes, I'm afraid you're correct, men are rather beastly." I don't think he counted himself in that number. But I digress....

So, at 8:30 or so we take a break and here, on this far off-campus site, at this rather late hour, in this particular part of the this particular campus, I look at the classroom RIGHT NEXT DOOR and a sister from the relief society is teaching an English course...AT THE SAME TIME. And, sadly, it's not like this sister and I are friends. She does NOT like me. She NEVER has. EVER. I don't know what I've ever done to her but I've stopped over-trying, do you know what I mean? Some people just have their own issues and there is nothing one can do to "fix" it except be who you are. Plenty of other people care about me so it's not, apparently, me. But, sure enough, here she is walking past my classroom seeing me clown around with my two new gays and discussing gay literature. Oh, this should be interesting.....and frankly, fun.

JOHN "Paise the Lord" SUMMER BREEZE

Today at Church, there was a man wearing very casual clothes, long white hair with a very long white beard. Very different from our usual suspects. I was immediately intrigued. Since I am a ward missionary and he was new, I asked my husband, the ward mission leader, who he was. Peter, who is extraordinary kind and tactful tried to explain him to me. The fact that Peter attempted to "explain" him to me was enough...I was on top of it. I couldn't get to him quick enough. I walked over to him and threw my hand into his and said, "Hey! My name is Debbie Leighton. What's yours?" Well, the flood gates opened. The preaching commenced. And I was hooked.

We went on a ride that started with Ruben buying horses that they had to ride 30 miles from where they bought them, which is where your back faces the city of fallen angels to the hiils west of there and now he's here, PRAISE THE LORD, and the president of Korea was trying to kill but he's forgiven him, PRAISE THE LORD, and the mark of Venus *insert convoluted astrological and astronomical datum* PRAISE THE LORD, and that's how they're communicating with us, through the vagus nerve, PRAISE THE NERVE. And it just went on and on and it was way too bad that Peter and I had to go to the class we/he have to conduct because I would have just sat and listened to John Summer Breeze all afternoon. I guess I'm in the right field of study because I love people like John Summer Breeze. I love them. Love.

THE "GANG"...

These are Eli's groomsmen at his wedding 3 years ago. This comprises "the gang". There are three sets of brothers, the Bowmans (Eric and Eli), the Gaskills (Ryan and Dar)and the Currens (Dave and Simon), as well as Oliver, Saif, and Bryan. Most of these guys have been best friends since first grade. That is amazing to us, their parents. They have maintained their friendships through childhood, adolescence, and now young adulthood and always, they have loved each other unconditionally. The best stories, to me, are their "bonfire" stories. Ever since they were little boys, they have sat around the bonfire in the Gaskills' backyard and discussed very deep issues. These kids are bright. They are pilots, math wizards, politicians, engineers, logistics business majors, scientists, I think there's a physicist in there somewhere. They stay connected even tho a couple of them are scattered between Boston, LA and Chicago. A couple are married (the girls are called "Gang girls") and one couple is expecting (the babies will be called "ganglets").

This is just a BIG SHOUT OUT to the gang and the power of love and friendship between young men that transcend time, distance, and faiths. All hail the Gang!!!