Because I like to know the people who are privy to my day to day life, please comment if you wish to be added. Only kind and friendly people need apply! :)

1. Have you ever had an addiction?
Nope.

2. Are you afraid of the dark?
No, I love the dark.

3. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Tin Roof Sundae or coffee flavour.

4. Have you ever been to the circus?
The Shrine circus many, many times-my Gramps was a Shriner so the circus was a yearly event.

5. What do you think of North Korea testing nuclear weapons?
It freaks the hell out of me. It's turned into one big pissing contest. Somebody's not going to be happy till they get us all killed.

I did some spring cleaning of my flist. If I removed you, please don't take it personally. I just need to pare down my reading time-it was getting overwhelming.

I wish you well!!

Small shadow settles
on broken buddhas
and family crosses,
Incense of roses
crowns the death.
Her history difficult,
hard hours,
little suicides.
The string of stars,
these white wing birds
gifts of the heavens
are with you.


Thanks Melissa-that was cool!

Javier Grillo-Marxuach (chaodai, writer and supervising producer of LOST, and all-around excellent person) will donate $5.00 to the American Red Cross Katrina relief efforts for every person who links to his post.

Just link to him, then comment in his post that you linked:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/chaodai/30592.html.

Name your favorite....

1. Soothing sound: A good storm

2. Comfort food: Turkey dinner

3. Relaxing music: Indigo Girls

4. Gentle voice: My dh or spike21

5. Calming smell: fresh baked bread or a campfire burning

This is for all my pals who live locally.

I am going to be collecting necessities for the people who were left homeless by Katrina that have fled to zinecat's area of Lousiana. If you want to know more, just hop on over to her LJ to read about her experiences trying to help them.

I am collecting the following things:
-deoderant
-toothpaste
-toothbrushes
-kleenex
-gum
-bug spray
-travel size shampoo and conditioner
-hand lotion
-socks & undies (man, woman or children's) **New only
-soap
-wet wipes
-stationary (so they can send mail)
-pens
-hard candy
-combs
-face cloths
-bandaids
-clippers
-sewing kits (travel size) homemade ones are fine!
-q-tips
-tampons
-cards and letters to let them know we care!

And any other small items that you can think of. I will be shipping these directly to Zinecat in shoe boxes as they get filled. Every little bit will help and it will help NOW, when people need it the most.

Please do not donate food other than what's on the list-gum and hard candies-since it will cause the boxes to be hung up in customs and we don't want that to happen!

If you have items to donate and need me to pick them up, just holler! This project is effective immediately and will be ongoing. My goal is to do as much as we can with what we have.

Thank you!

Dear LJ Friends,

Today, I became part of an unprecedented global call to action to end poverty: Make Poverty History

Right now, there is active campaigning in over 50 countries around the three core demands: More and Better Aid, Make Trade Fair, and Cancel the Debt. In Canada, we're also campaigning to End Child Poverty in Canada.

You've just got to be a part of this campaign.

Go to the Canadian site and sign on to the campaign yourself. If you are in the US, click here.

There is no time to lose. It doesn't matter who or where you are, your voice is critical to the success of this campaign. This is a rare chance to join me and thousands of others across the planet to once and for all make poverty history.

What are you waiting for? Join me and click in!

Canadians, what you can do right now:

Sign on to the campaign

Tell Paul Martin to commit to a timeline for 0.7%

Click others into action - forward this message to your networks.

"If everyone who wants to see an end to poverty, hunger and suffering speaks out, then the noise will be deafening. Politicians will have to listen."
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

It's just a matter of clicking your mouse and I KNOW you can do that!! Don't just sit there, DO something!! Thanks everyone! :)

1. What is your favorite action movie? Currently it's probably Sahara or Hidalgo.

2. What is the worst movie you've ever seen? Spaceballs and any of the Police Acadamy movies. (An ex-boyfriend had no taste.)

3. Do you prefer comedy or drama? Drama but I like comedy as long as it's not slapstick.

4. Recommend a good tear jerker: Pay It Foreward

5. What movie are you looking forward to seeing soon? The Da Vinci Code coming out sometime in the next year or so with Tom Hanks.

Anyone who has not already joined the art sisters community and sent me the questionnarie, has till Friday to sign up. Look back to one of the first posts for the questions and email me yours to elusivetuna at yahoo dot ca (Not .com-I am in Canada) **Please put "Art Sisters" in the subject line.**

If you know someone who didn't join the community that wanted to participate, please remind them to join!

If you are joining or have joined the art sisters swap, please go here to join the community I set up for it. Thanks!

1. What's the last concert you attended? Tracy Chapman-she was so great!

2. Who is the best live performer you've ever seen? Melissa Etheridge or Tracy Chapman-they both give great concerts.

3. You can invite 2 artists to your house, but they must sing together. Who are they and what one song will they sing? The Indigo Girls & Melissa Etheridge singing Tuesday Morning.

4. Pick one to see: ABBA, Jimmy Buffet or Kenny Chesney?
ABBA! I am a child of the 70's!

5. Friday Freebie: Tell us anything you want about music! Best musical I have ever seen was Mama Mia! I would see it again in a heartbeat.

Okay I have set up a seperate LJ for Art Sisters, just to make things easier. (I was trying to email people the questionnarie and things were bouncing back at an alarming rate!)

I set it up so you will have to get approved to join only because I want to be sure people joining this project are sincere. (Not to be mean to anyone, I assure you!) You can find it here. If you are participating, please come join! All future communication will be there. If you are on my flist, this journal right here, will remain my day to day stuff only.

The response has been amazing! I now have 10 people on the list for this. As soon as I write the questionnaire, I will post it here and everyone can c&p it to their email and then send it back to my email so I can organize it. YAY! Looking forward to getting this going. :)

I am setting up an Art Sisters program. The idea would be that each participant would be assigned a sister and would send them some artsy love via the mail once a month. This could be in the form of some goodies like some small art supplies, something handmade, some goodies to munch while working on art, a mixed CD to listen to while creating, etc. Use your imagination! The idea is just to make your Art Sister feel special, not to spend a ton of money and also to get to know our artsy friends on LJ a bit better.

I will be posting themes/ideas of goddies you may like to send, at cinasage's suggestion. for example, one theme might be "Group 5" which would be 5 things-one new, one handmade, one bought, etc. THis will be a fun twist to your packages!

If you are interested, I will be taking sign ups till May 31st. You can post your email here and I will send you an email with a short questionnaire about the things you like, just so your art sister will have some ideas. **Please only sign up if you are willing to follow through-I want this to be fun! The commitment will be from June 1st-August 31st-3 months. (I had originally said 6 months, but the ladies have indicated they would like to mix it up a bit so they could get to know more artsy people and spread the love.) It would also be nice if you could acknowledge any goodies you receive from your art sister by posting a thank you on your LJ. It's always nice to know that thangs arrived safely and were appreciated.

So..that said, come one, come all! The more, the merrier!

1. If you could be famous for 15 minutes, what would the headline read? Local artist hosts fabulous art retreat. (Oh I am *SO* imaginitive this morning.)

2. Do you think fame would change you? Nope. I would hope that I would remain down to earth.

3. Has your name ever appeared in the newspaper? ..what for? Yes several times. Mainly as promos for agency stuff and also my poetry was published in a whole article by a staff writer. Also an article on 9/11.

4. Would you like to be famous for *more* than 15 minutes? I would rather have the money that comes with fame than the noteriety, so I guess no. People knowing my name is not really important to me. (And it always looks like so much work being famous-you spend you life hoping people will notice you and then once they do, you spend the rest of it trying not to be noticed.)

5. If you could perform one act of Good while you were famous, what would it be? Empower people to make a difference in their own communities.

Name your favorite brands for the following products:

1. Cola: Pepsi (Diet, caffeine free!)

2. Sneakers: (Runners) Cheapo ones from Payless-I don't do fancy ones.

3. Hair care: Pears

4. Small electronics: Sony (I love them-they make good stuff and stand behind it.)

5. Automobile: Crysler? I haven't really given it much thought. Dh loves Ford-I really don't care as long as it gets me from a to b safely.

1. How many locations (dwellings) have you lived in? At least a dozen. Which totally astounds me, but yeah, about 12.

2. If you could place your dream home in any location, where would it be? In the center of 50 acres of mountain property in the interior or on the island. (Of BC)

3. In terms of the act of moving: are you a packer or a box mover?
Totally a packer-I want to be able to find things at the other end. I a festidious about packing things neatly and labeling the boxes.

4. What one item do you own that you absolutely hate to move?
Couches-they are heavy, expensive and I worry that they will get damaged.

5. What's worse: the act of moving or a routine cleaning at the dentist? Oh the dentist hands down!

Jan Smiley will be teaching classes in Arizona in early May. Jan is the author of
The Art of Fabric Books: Innovative ways to use fabric in scrapbooks, altered books and more

Altered Board Book Basics and Beyond: For creative scrapbooks, altered books, and artful journals

Jan will be teaching
Altered Board Books at The Creative Quest
Playing with a Full Deck and Making Fabric Books at Ink It!

If you're interested in more information, please feel free to contact Jan directly, or go to the store's websites to contact them for particulars. The class descriptions and samples are on her website.

The Creative Quest

Ink It!