Six words

Melissa tagged me to write a 6 word memoir. I looked at a few of the others... they all had such great ideas! Whaaaa whaaa whaaa. Then I got inspired ( another word for compulsive/obsessive) and wrote about fourteen before I came to my senses.

I'll just give you the first one (or three):

Live, love, laugh... or die trying.
No guts, no glory. (Often gory.)
It's all the same to me.

Rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir;
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like;
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere;
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links; and
5. Don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I was tagged by Melissa. I'm tagging Pat, Jules, Natty, alto artist, and my daughter-in-law. Yes, I know Melissa already tagged her, but she's a born over-achiever so she should get to do two if she wants to. besides, she's MY daughter-in-law.

gag... tagged

Oh what the heck. I made no New Years resolutions about memes this year (although I may give them up for Lent). So my daughter-in-law tagged me to list either: seven famous or infamous people I have met, or seven weird things about myself. Now I have seen some famous people (from a distance) but I am too polite to harass/meet them, and the infamous ones are best left to worry whether I'll actually tell the tale on my blog using their real names.

So that sticks me with the weird things... now weird, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. So I'm going to classify unusual as weird... surely I can come up with seven. It's a very holy number, after all. How's this?

Seven Weird Jobs I Have Had:

1. Beginning at the beginning: my first job at age 15 was elf. That's correct. I worked in Santa's toyshop (store that sold toys) as an elf at Santa's Village in Jefferson, NH. I wore red tights, a little green dress with a mini-skirt and a huge pointy collar and pointy-toed bootlets that we ordered special from the shoe store. I worked there five summers before moving on to my next weird job.
   
   
2. I am a Vietnam vet. I was a U. S. Navy photographer. I lived in fear of ever having to go out and actually shoot anything important. (Not shoot as with a gun... shoot as photograph.) I used a speed graphic (heavy as hell) with real flash bulbs. Most of my Navy career was spent in the color lab at NAS Jax processing slides and print film... anyone ever heard of E3? My last experience with slide processing was E6. For all I know they are up to E12 by now.
   
   
3. I worked as a sandwich maker for one day in the Navy Exchange. You had to lay the bread slices out ten across and five deep. They stacked up like this: one slice, tuna, two slices, tuna, one slice. They were cut on the diagonal and boxed so you didn't actually get the whole sandwich; you got two halves of two different sandwiches. I was too slow and got fired the same day.
   
   
4. I worked for an audio visual production company producing multi-image slide presentations. (Twenty-one projectors was my personal best.) Long hours. Lots of all-nighters. Low pay. Fun road trips.
   
   
5. I was a nationally certified motorcycle instructor. I taught young punks how to avoid killing themselves on their motorcycles. I was very good at that job.
   
   
6. I danced in a go-go bar (once). I was not employed there, I was with a date. The pole dancer beckoned me to join her onstage and I was drunk enough to do it. I earned a dollar. (Decided to keep my day job.)
   
   
7. I'm a nun. Not sure I can call this a job since I don't earn an income. But I definitely work.

Craft Meme

Pat tagged me. She was so polite about it, emailing me first to ask permission. I swore off memes for 2007, but it's almost over and I fudged once or twice before anyway... so here you go:

1. When did you start and make craft?
Probably in first grade. My teacher had a whole clay village set up for us to play with, once we'd completed our "desk work" and were waiting for others to finish. I remember liking the smell of the modeling clay, and enjoyed making little people to populate the town. Oddly enough, when I grew older I had no talent for pottery or ceramics, or anything else three-dimensional. (That was a bummer because I had tons of ideas.)

2. Why did you start creating?
It was fun. I was good at it. (And I was worthless at sports.)

3. Why do you create?
Because it's fun. And I'm good at it.
Seriously, when I go into creative mode, I tap into an energy and an engagement (with the project) that is exciting and satisfying. One spark of inspiration becomes a catalyst for more creative ideas and some kind of chain reaction happens. I have the ability to harness it, but not control it. I usually have more ideas than the skill to execute them. When I can add skill I can add product (if you will), but I'm also undisciplined and get bored if the skill is too hard to master.

4. What do you create?
sacred artwork (manipulated digital imagery)
greeting cards
logos, newsletters, business cards, brochures, marketing materials
a blog
cartoons
food that is attractive and tastes good
the occasional poem

5. How has this changed since you began crafting?
I started out with arts and crafts, forever the love of my life. I've dabbled in most of the classic artsy-craftsy stuff: batik, macrame, ceramics, basket weaving... but all those activities require supplies, the money to buy them and the space to store them. I've cut back on anything that takes up a lot of room. I have a laptop and a decent printer and only keep enough paper stock on hand for current projects. I also have a spiral binding machine, so I can make little books out of my cartoons and artwork... it all comes back to arts and crafts.

I think I'm supposed to tag someone. Tag. You're it!