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lin52

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Linda is a 57 year old woman from Orlando, Florida, USA

"If we were to abuse our children, Social Services would show up at our doors. If we were to abuse our pets, the Humane Society would come to take us away. But there is no Creativity Patrol or Soul Police to intervene if we insist on starving our own souls."   - Clarissa Pinkola Estes

                   An old soul with an inquisitive mind, sensitive to beauty wherever it manifests and eager to express myself in one fashion or another. Interested in meeting writers; like all kinds of folk. Click here to visit my main text blog the Land of Lin.

  • Created Jan 18 2009 •

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    Doggie Prayers Needed!







    Lacey, 1994-2008, my sweet and gentle sable and white (like a little Lassie) Sheltie, faithful companion through good times and bad. See you on the Rainbow Bridge one day, Sweetie!

    Smokey, my blue merle -that's silver and white- Shetland Sheepdog suffered a life-threatening bout of pancreatitis and liver failure back in March 2007. Now he's on a special diet and no people-food EVER. Please pray he has no recurrence of this illness.



    Pet Food Ingredients Revealed!

  • Created Jan 18 2009 •















    Words As Important Today As They Were in WWII
    "In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."
    Pastor Martin Niemoller, Dachau Survivor


    The Animal Rescue SitePoetryAwardPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketOfficial NaNoWriMo 2006 ParticipantGeo Visitors Map

  • Created Jan 18 2009 •

    Just a Dog





    From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog," or, "that's a lot of money for just a dog." They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a dog."

    Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog." Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog," but I did not once feel slighted.

    Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog," and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.

    If you, too, think it's "just a dog," then you will probably understand phases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise." "Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. "Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.

    Because of "just a dog" I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.

    "Just a dog" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.

    I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a dog" but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a human."

    So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog." just smile, because they "just don't understand."



    Authored by Richard A. Biby

  • Created Oct 10 2008 •

    The mightiest of weapons is truth. And everyone knows you're not permitted to enter a Government building with a weapon.

    -The Covert Comic
    (Thanks Cyberfeet)

  • Created Sep 16 2008 •

    From Point A to Point B- Making Art Again
    Thanks, Lacey!

    I think my recently passed dog Lacey wants to see her Mama doing something she loves. I knew when I heard her ghostly dog tags mysteriously jingling that she was telling me "Get on with things you love- I know you haven't forgotten me".

    It's still lonesome here in my computer room/quasi art studio because she always laid under my desk. Still I feel her presence strongly in here, and it keeps me good company, as my other dog Smokey is as quiet as a church mouse. He's feeling the loss too.

    As far as getting from Point A to Point B, I joined a collage group seven weeks ago and make a collage a week. I also joined a mandala group a few weeks later. How on earth are those two things related? Well, both involve art, and both are ways I've been expressing my creative urges and my emotions. And recent events have brought the emotions to the forefront.

    This week my collage was about art and the spirit it evokes in me, the urge to play. Our animals teach us about this important part of life every day but we often ignore it as silly or childish or foolish. But we really need it. It keeps us balanced and healthy. The animals know it but we forget. So the collage was called "The Point Is Play, Play, Play" and here it is:



    I got some good feedback on it and was pleased with it. I had been playing with some new filters for my graphics program today so when I got a challenge to create a mandala with an Autumn feel to it, remembering Lacey and Smokey's past antics, I decided to play.

    I got out the central image of the collage, the woman in orange, and used a new kaleidescope filter on it that had all kinds of settings to play with. I dialed away, moved sliders and just had fun, till I finally came up with this image.



    I cropped it into a circle, and voila, instant flame medicine wheel. I wanted to do more though. I brought in a second image, a photo I took of some faded yellow Ixoras, seen here.



    I cropped that to get the best bits of the flowers. Then I got brave enough to try making a mask with an alpha channel - my first ever - and was successful. I loaded in the flowers as partially transparent and moved them around to look the best with the medicine wheel, using the mask to get rid of the unwanted parts of the flowers.

    Last I played with the color and added an edge and a drop shadow, as well as a background. One final cropping and I was done. Here it is, Autumn Medicine Wheel:



    You'd never believe one picture would lead to another, would you?


    It just goes to show, we have an innate need to play. So get out there and do it!

  • Created Aug 27 2008 •



    Lacey

    1994-2008


    I lost my sweet, beloved Sheltie Lacey to cancer today. Life had ceased to be a thing of joy and adventure and instead become full of lassitude and pain, so I elected to end her suffering and set her feet onto the Rainbow Bridge. I know she waits for me, happy and whole, and will be wondering what takes me so long.

    She was my nurse dog, always first on the scene to investigate and treat any owies with a good licking and gentle nudging. For a long time she shared a pillow on my bed, keeping away nightmares, until arthritis made it too difficult to jump that high up. She was my intrepid adventurer, sneaking out of the fence on voyages of exploration, assisted by kind neighbors returning her home when they found my phone number on her collar. And she was my four-legged alarm system, alerting to any suspicious activity in a two-block area like it was her own personal front yard. Then too she would perform her duties as the welcome wagon at the vets as we waited our turn, going around the room to visit with everyone, two-legged or four.

    She taught me patience, unconditional love, and the power of cheese. I will be lost without her. I have her collar in my purse and it will be going up around her picture- it still carries her scent. I got a few strands of her beautiful orange and white fur as a memento as well. But nothing takes the ache away, only time. This poem helps a bit, as well-

    The Loss of a Heart-Dog

    I stood by your bed last night,
    I came to have a peep
    I could see that you were crying,
    you found it hard to sleep

    I whined to you softly as
    you brushed away a tear,
    "it's me, I haven't left,
    I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here"

    I was close to you at breakfast,
    I watched you pour the tea
    You were thinking of the many times,
    your hands reached down to me

    I was with you at the shops today,
    your arms were getting sore
    I longed to take your parcels,
    I wish you could do more

    I was with you at my grave today,
    you tend it with such care
    I want to reassure you,
    that I'm not lying there

    I walked with you towards the house,
    as you fumbled for your key
    I gently put my paw on you,
    I smiled and said "it's me"

    You look so very tired,
    and sank into a chair
    I tried so hard to let you know,
    that I was standing there

    It's possible for me,
    to be so near you everyday
    To say to you with certainty,
    "I never went away"

    You sat there very quietly,
    then smiled, I think you knew
    In the stillness of that evening,
    I was very close to you

    The day is over,
    I smile and watch you yawning
    And say "goodnight, God bless,
    I'll see you in the morning"

    And when the time is right for you
    to cross the brief divide,
    I'll rush across to greet you
    and we'll stand, side by side

    I have so many things to show you,
    there is so much for you to see
    Be patient, live your journey out,
    then come home to be with me.

    - Author Unknown

    That consoles me, that I will see her faithful soul running towards me again up there. It must be a wonderful place. Two things though I hope they got straight: dogs need to live as long as we humans do, and God needs to let dogs sit on the sofa in Heaven. It's much homier that way.



  • lisa1985s favorite web sites - StumbleUpon

    Rated Aug 27 2008 • 14 reviews • stumblers • stumbleupon.com

    Welcome this new Stumbler who is off to a roaring start!

  • Created Aug 05 2008 •



    "A failure a day is success on the way!"
    - Lin Neiswender




    I came up with this meaningful quote yesterday, in a discussion about Redefining Failure at Coach Creative Space. Nick pointed out the vital necessity of frequent failures on the path to success, and that we should be seeking out failures, not running away from them, as they are getting us closer to our goals. That struck me as so profound, and whammo, the quote was born. Thank you for that Nick, and Dan for establishing the discussion.

    I used the motivation from the quote to do my first collage - shown above - for an artists' collage group called Collage Play (info about it here) that I just joined. I was nervous about my virgin effort- what if it was awful? What if my style was nothing like anyone else's? In short, what if I sucked at this? But I did it anyway, printing off things I had made that I thought would go together with the required elements, changing some of the graphics, scaling them and altering the colors, playing.

    And a funny thing happened. I started getting excited about the process, and started having fun. Isn't that what creativity is all about, the process? The fun? So even if the end product had been ugly, it still would have been OK. I would have had great pleasure making it. The piece is called the Queen of the Meadowlark Palace. And, paradoxically, I don't think it is ugly. Whew!

    Well, got to go get busy now and seek out some new failures. Success is calling my name!

  • boo12998s reviews - StumbleUpon

    Rated Jul 30 2008 • 280 reviews • stumblers • stumbleupon.com

    Christine's pages are beautiful and inspirational- delve in and be refreshed!

  • Created Jul 30 2008 •

    Take a Tiny Step Today



    Here's a quote I ran across this afternoon in the lung health group I belong to, where they were talking about outliving their predicted mortality and mentioned this strategy: Do something about it. "If it's to be it's up to me."

    Many times I find myself whining and complaining and then totally failing to take even one baby step to help myself. This makes all the whining and complaining for nothing, and irritates my friends and family to boot! Inertia is easy; it's the status quo, business as usual. It's when I decide to get off my duff and do something about my situation, however small the step, that magical things start to happen. The universe or God or my Higher Power sends things or people I need into my path, where it is then my responsibility to connect with them and or use them to move myself forward. Don't let depression or inertia or despair hold you back any longer. Take that tiny step today! And make your universe a brighter space.