Off Duty

Does a Mom Ever Get

"Off Duty"

OK, so this isn't a picture of a "mom" per se

but

it is a picture of two angels that appear to be "off duty"

I don't think angels really ever go "off duty"

at least I hope not!

I thought I'd share a "hole" poem today

which may or may not have something to do with being off duty

You decide

Here it is:

There Is a Hole in My Sidewalk
Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
By Portia Nelson

Chapter One
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep whole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit…but,
My eyes are open
I know where I am
It is my fault.
I get out immediately,

Chapter Four
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter Five
I walk down another street. 

Thank you Chanon Block for sharing this with us on Rosh Hashana

Check out the original painting of Off Duty at

www.darlenegraeser.com

or other selected works of Darlene Graeser for sale at

www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

Toodles,

Binky

Two's Company

13 is more than 2

Here is my question for the day...

Who is reading this blog?

I watch the statistics of this blog, linked to Webring, linked to Unconscious on Canvas, and linked to Darlene Graeser's Art Gallery and I can tell how MANY people read it, and where they clicked to it from, but I don't know WHO reads it.

I rarely get comments.

Though I do get a lot of readers.

I need to incentivize my readers to tell me something about them.

How to do that?

I'm offering a contest

If you leave me a comment explaining how to incentivize my readers to leave comments, 

I'll send you a poster of your choice from the selection available at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com for $1.00 (limit 1)

If this leads to a 10-fold increase in comments, I'll let you have two posters for $1.00

If your comment suggests how to increase sales, I'll also give you a poster for $1.00

If I implement your idea, 

and we actually increase sales by $1000 (gross) over a 1-month period 

(starting from the time I implement your idea), 

I will give you $100.

That's my idea - anybody got anything else?

Toodles,

Binky

Tank God

Really Interesting Rosh Hashana!

The dichotomy of people at our Rosh Hashana Services on Monday was astounding!

There was a woman who has survived a horrible bout with mouth cancer this year

She came with her husband and two young daughters

Grateful to be alive

She sponsored the Kiddush luncheon afterwards and began to make a lovely speech....

Which was interrupted by another woman who came to services

she had lost her father two days prior 

This woman's obvious grief manifested itself in quite a different way.

She made a huge spectacle of herself

She appeared quite drunk

During services she cried loudly, laid on the floor, tried to climb the divider between the men's and women's section, and then went on the men's side and hugged a man

I realize I am judging how the two women handled their challenges quite differently

but what got me the most 

was the difference - not so much outwardly but inwardly

 

One woman's grief led her to share graciousness and thankfulness with the community

the other woman's grief caused her to turn inward, 

when interrupting someone else's speech, she blatently indicated that her grief was more important than anyone else's.

Both had come to share their sadness

but one was a message of hope and thankfulness

the other was extreme self-centeredness

I hope, with all my heart, that I can be as gracious as the first woman, 

when and if I feel like the second one.

Cumina's Gift

It's Rosh Hashana

The Jewish New Year

The Head of the Year

 

Traditionally, one is supposed to eat the head of something, typically a fish

 

I'm not so fond of that tradition

 

Oh even writing about it conjures up those awful light-blue cataract eyes

just lying on a plate

 

Not for me

 

Instead, I'll put this poster depicting a fish head up for sale

 

Get it for the New Year

 

It could bring you lots of luck!!!

 

Have a healthy and happy New Year!

From

Unconscious On Canvas

 

Darlene Graeser and her assistant, Binky

 

And please do support Britany Christian - clearly not a Jewish last name - 

but a fabulous singer nonetheless.  

She's really close to her goal!

More on Threesies

And another thing....

To continue my comment on this painting from yesterday.....

trust yourself to accomplish something

Look at your angst at accomplishing something

Does it really match the situation?

Trust Yourself

You CAN do it!

I still can't exercise, but I still go every morning.

When my trainer was recently on vacation, I promised I would jump rope in my backyard 

She even gave me the jump rope

So I did

At a ridiculous time every morning for the past week and a half.

On Tuesday morning, I thought it was 4:30am, 

but due to a tragic event with my bedside clock the night before, 

which I would not discover for another hour

it was really 3:45am

The day after the Drug Bust at the house next door

Only I didn't know it was that early.

Wearing only a sports bra and shorty pajama pants, I started to jump rope

I thought I was alone at this early morning hour

Until I heard voices

Not the ones in my head usually asking me WHY I am exercising

but voices in my neighbor's driveway.

I grew anxious and went inside to peer out the front window

I saw more police

I saw people

I decided it probably was not a good idea to be half-dressed outside jumping rope

I didn't want to exercise anyway

Threesies are just too much for me.

And I paid for that decision this morning at the gym - my work-out was way too hard!

Update on our neighbor:

Son is still in custody, with a $1 million bail

His "girlfriend" is also still in custody

Guns were booked as evidence.  He will not get them back.

His parents have changed the locks on their house (the locksmith was there all day yesterday)

No other information is being given out, as this is a "sensitive case"

Trust Yourself

Don't do Drugs

Go Exercise

just not in a sports bra and shorty pajama shorts next door to a drug bust at 3:45am!

Toodles,

Binky

Visit www.unconsciousoncanvas.com or www.darlenegraeser.com for more artwork by Darlene Graeser

Threesies

Do you see the guy behind the bars?

Do you sometimes thing you just can't accomplish the next level of anything?

Do you feel trapped?

Does it seem so ridiculous you can't trust in yourself?

Enjoy Darlene Graeser's new painting!

Interested in a giclee of it?

Contact us at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

View our post on webring

Check it out on www.darlenegraeser.com

Comment here

Enjoy!

Love,

Binky

We Shot The Cherubs

What is Going On???

I could not make this up, even if I tried

Yesterday

my shower would not shut off

 

I called the plumber from work

 

We scheduled to meet at my hous

 

As I rounded the corner, I came face-to-face with

no less than 7 police cars

I live on a small 8-house cul-de-sac

We know all our neighbors

My original thought was that the plumber accidentally tripped my alarm

My thought before that, 

as I saw two police cars on the street before my house

was to slow down

I didn't want to get a ticket just so I could meet the plumber on time

My thought after that was,

Oh My Gosh

Why the Flip are there so many police?

Only I didn't think "Gosh" and I didn't think "Flip"

 

We live in a quiet, very nice, very "safe" neighborhood

 

Turns out

Our neighbor had drugs and weapons at his house

 

Someone heard a scream

Called the police

They found stuff

 

Not feeling so safe right now.

 

But my shower is fixed!

And the plumber was awesome!

 

If you need plumbing help

call: E &D Plumbing

Newbury Park, CA

 

FABULOUS HONEST PLUMBING BUSINESS!

 

Anyway - a shout-out to the Sheriffs - I'm putting these little Sheriff's on sale for the rest of the week

 

Enjoy!

 

Toodles,

Binky

 

Mother May I?

Mother, May I?

I'm not sure if this painting depicts what I'm about to say,

but it's the "Mother" in the title that speaks to me...

We went to Costco the other day and bought two large containers of mustard

I asked him to put the mustard in the cabinet when we got home.

I went to get the mustard this morning for his school lunch.

No mustard in the cabinet.

So I checked the car.

No mustard in the car.

I re-checked the cabinet.

No mustard.

Where is the mustard?

These two containers are not small - they have to be somewhere...

I waited until my son woke up, and asked him, "Where is the mustard?".

He simply said, "They're in the cabinet".

"OK, go get them"

I followed him to the cabinet.

He showed me the mustard.  

Where was it?

Apparently, yesterday, when he put the mustard in the cabinet, 

the mustard fell into the big cardboard tub of oatmeal in the cabinet.

He knew they fell in there.

Nobody else knew it.

Nobody could know it.

He thought it was fine because he figured I would ask him to get the mustard for him when I needed it, and not ever get it myself.

Really?

Visit www.unconsciousoncanvas.com and www.darlenegraeser.com to see more inspiring artwork

Toodles,

Binky

Eat Chicken Soup

My Son Wants Chicken Soup

It's the beginning of September in Southern California

IT'S HOT!!!

I'm NOT making chicken soup

But he wants it anyway

I'm going to make him wait

He says he'll eat canned soup

REALLY?

Oh that would totally depress me.

Canned Chicken Soup is like a Hug from a Banana

NOT RIGHT!

As soon as the temperature goes lower than 90 - I will make it for him

In the meantime, speaking of hot, check out
Brittany Christian's
Kickstarter Project

As I said yesterday, I personally guarantee that if you donate a minimum of $10 to her cause

you will receive a SIGNED CD of her beautiful music

Just use "Unconscious On Canvas" in your message to her or comment on this page.

Tell your friends!

All supporters receive 10% off every item on our website until October 2

Use Coupon Code Britney during checkout

We will continue posting about her until October 2nd or until she reaches her goal!

Check Out This Fabulous New Artist!

 

Britney Christian

Please Support This Amazing Artist

Listen to her music 

The sounds and lyrics resonate

She touches your soul

We at Unconscious On Canvas Support Her

She helped raise funds for a kid with cancer this past weekend

That's a rare type of beauty in this industry

Check out her Kickstarter Project

 

I personally guarantee that if you donate a minimum of $10 to her cause

you will receive a SIGNED CD of her beautiful music

 

Just use "Unconscious On Canvas" in your message to her or comment on this page.

Tell your friends!

 

All supporters receive 10% off every item on our website until October 2

 

Use Coupon Code Britney during checkout

Toodles,

Binky