Can I Borrow the Khakis?

I just came across a key that was given us on the day we bought that house 14 years ago. My son identified it as the one he kept, based on the key ring it was attached to and has added it to his current one, It was a happier time for him, before he went to live with his dad and then his grandfather.
He has become a fine young man through it all. It is what we wish for our children: to grow up and be their own adults.
You can have the key to success and then, the key to the city.
You can hold the key to someone's heart.
You can sing songs in the Key of Life, according to Stevie Wonder.
Our DNA holds the keys to our lives (and this story tells of how getting rid of some can prolong life!)
You can be entrusted with a house key at a fairly young age and when you reach one of life's milestones, you ask your parents for the keys, to borrow the car that they taught you to drive. (I taught my son to drive, and that was quite an experience, considering he worked for a company that repaired vintage race cars. My daughter taught herself to drive and boy, was I surprised to find out she did!)
Which in a very round-about kind of way brings me to:

Khakis

If you live in Boston, like I did for twenty years, if you ask for the kah kees, you may or may not get the keys to the "cah," you may just get a pair of pants! Notice the subtle differences in pronunciation.(I still do not know what they do with all those extra "R's" they don't use!)
Additionally, khakis are a specific fabric, fit and color. They are NOT black, brown or green. They ONLY have FOUR pockets. They can be pleated and cuffed but never riveted.
Think school uniforms, that's what khakis are. But kah kees will not get you into my car like this will:

I love my car, I love to drive it and it has loved me for 160 of its 213 thousand miles. We have taken it places that Lexus just THINKS it can go. I hope to get 350 out of it and when I do I'll get another one just like it (just with fewer miles). Meanwhile, I'm going to hang up my car keys so i'm not digging through my khakis later to try and find them.

Let's All Sing Together, Shall We?

I was very excited to see "Lumberjack" as the word at EIM this week. We have been watching the Monty Python show DVDs and we're up to, I think, the third "ton," which includes the notorious skit. My partner in crime has been singing the song for a week now and I hope we can get past that soon.
I was thinking I'd make something with tea and scones or even pressed flowers, but I really want to move along from the song.
Arizona has three major universities: ASU, Arizona State Sun Devils

That's HOT!

UofA, University of Arizona Wildcats

And NAU, Northern Arizona LUMBERJACKS!

I don't know WHY any self-respecting lumberjack would wear yellow, but that and blue are the team colors. When I think lumberjack, he has to be wearing red buffalo plaid. (and I'm not being sexist, but women should know better than to freeze their buns while wielding chainsaws. I'll stay inside where it's warm). Also, they've changed their mascot to something more menacing. I don't like that, either.

I put together this little collage for the EIM including a pinecone because Flagstaff, home of the 'Jacks, hosts a pinecone drop for New Year's eve. It's similar to the ball drop in Times Square, just different. 

The theme for the TwobyTwo is "HOT," so I got into the SPIRIT of things with this macabre item:

For those of you who may have been wondering what "xeritas" could possibly mean, I offer this: "xeri-" is a Greek prefix that addresses hot and arid; "-itas" was a Roman superlative that the ruling class used. Thus it would have been Augustus Cesearitas to show he was better than everyone else. He was emperor, after all.

So, Xeritas is a word I made up that loosely means, "hotter is better." And, now you know!

I'm going to poke around the internet a bit thinking warm thoughts. It's 70 and raining today (thirty degrees colder than this time last week!). We're going to need our pellet stove ASAP and it's needing repairs.
I'll leave you with this. We just returned from the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. The weather was not the best for flying, so this is an image of my favorite photographed by Andi Wolfe:

So, should pigs fly and hell freezes over....

Can YOU say, "System Restore?"

I know you can.
That's what I'm up to.
YIPPEE!

Meanwhile, I worked on a concept for "hotel," the EIM word of the week

Because that's how I feel!

No one can hear you SCREAM!

Creepy.

Let Them eat Cake!

It's birthday week! Or, it's an excuse to do a lot of fun stuff. Either way, we both win! Last night I was treated to a trip to the gun range to improve my rusty skills and then dinner at our favorite Italian place. What fun!
I don't know what the rest of the week may bring, but I'm working  on my take on "CAKE!"
I've never shied away from having just cake for dinner, or breakfast, for that matter. Is anyone else amused by the women's magazines that advertise how to lose five-ten-fifteen pounds THIS WEEK plus a recipe for an awesome chocolate cake that weighs in at over 600 calories per slice? That's more than I normally consume for dinner, so why not skip the meat and potatoes and go straight to dessert?
We can always be good tomorrow. Or, the next day!

I've visited this concept before now:

But I wanted to do a glue and paste collage--this is more correctly termed an assemblage--to add to my collection of fridge magnets:

My Favorite Chinese Fortune

What's your favorite cake? (Mine has to be any that I don't make myself--which is ALL of them as I'm not the baker in the household!)
Check out what the other artists have whipped up for their response to cake, and perhaps join the fun!
I also tackled the EIM for the week, "Myth."
There are endless possibilities there--perhaps the Kokopelli of the ancient Arizona ancestors? You know what I mean--the ubiquitous flute players, the gods of fun and fertility. But to do that properly deserves some photographs. I'll have to revisit that concept another time.
Instead, I chose the Phoenix, the mythical bird that rises from the ashes. I saw a couple memes that suggest that the bird is more beautiful after the fire than before, and a relationship to the Irish adage, "That which does not kill you makes you stronger."

Feenix
Color pencil and marker

No surprise, the symbol appears on the flag of the city. It's a very interesting emblem that deserves reprise. And all the crayons in the box. Have a brilliant day!

Soundtrack of Life

I am truly blessed. The love of my life adores me, his words, not mine. But he holds the line at my singing and for good reason. I cannot carry a tune to save my life.
This does not preclude me from enjoying good music and I truly love to dance (though I've taken no formal training, I just shake my booty).
My man immediately introduced me to flamenco guitar artists...remember Charo? Coochi-coochi? She plays a mean guitar. And he's fond of newer artists like Jesse Cook, Ottmar Leibert and Strunz and Farrar (and we've been able to see them all in concert in fairly intimate venues). Some of their songs are so emotional and passionate, they've become the soundtrack to our love affair.
But there's one song in particular that stands out from all the others: Malagena Salerosa, a classic mariachi song. The rock band Chingon recreated it and we like that rendition. But we really like going to El Encanto in Cave Creek and asking the guitarist to sing it--he can carry those notes for forever.
So I created this digital assemblage of a flamenco dancer and the music:

Malagena Salerosa

The impetus for this was the word of the week at EIM: "rhythm." I started with the Rhythm Room in Phoenix, which is hosting the world's only heavy metal mariachi band on Sunday: Metalachi. I'm not sure if Planet Earth needs more than one, but they have a VERY interesting sound.
In between, I learned that there are minimum requirements for the players in a mariachi band--there are specific numbers of violins, guitars and horns that make up the band. And pity the poor guy who has to lug around the humongous guitarron. He's the unsung leader as it is this instrument that sets the beat.

I leave you with this one.
What's the soundtrack to YOUR life?

The Other Ear

I just had to try another ear; the concept just begs to be heard, doesn't it? HA! Spurred on by yesterdays comments, I had to work through this one. It's a twinchie, not an inchie!

LOGIC is the new SEXY

Zoe, this one's for YOU! Whaddya think?!

And I got busy with some Zentangles and finally scanned in some "stuff." Oh, boy! What a day!
First was the Diva's Challenge to use the new Can T tangle. It vaguely reminds me of a bunch of other choices, but...let's stick to the plan, shall we? [NB: I am what happens when AD meets OC; an alphabet soup of disorders!]

Diva 234
What CanT Can do!

It didn't really do what I was willing it to do, and you know what happens when you even ATTEMPT to make a tangle do your bidding! At least I was willing to show my work, just like I had to in Calculus class. Talk about back to school!
Then it's the String Thing:

IAST 109
It's a Bug's Life

In between, I drew one JUST FOR FUN! Whaddya think about THAT?!

Standing Room Only

And the crowd goes wild!

(If you can't get enough of this, check out the rest of the work I've posted on my Flickr page.)
Thanks for spending some of your very valuable time here with me. It's always appreciated.

I'm ALL Ears!

This week's EIM is "ear." I immediately thought of Van Gogh's ear, which is an intriguing, if not really creepy story; the epitome of the deranged artist.

NO! The OTHER ear!
Portrait de l'artiste

The intense colors, the thick impasto and the rich imagery! I was going to dig out my paints and try something like that, but the to-do list is ridiculous today. (Do NOT mention the word, "pool" to me. Just don't!)
Thus, I went looking for other famous "ears."

"You meet the most eeeeenteresting people..."

I was having a good time, laughing about Gossamer, the monster, but I was getting farther afield and no closer to my goal, when I found:

The Internet is all a twitter over the upcoming Star Wars installment, so it's timely. I haven't seen the "first" three, so I don't know about "VII." (Nothing quite compares with the very first one, in my mind).

I had to create a little more something, so here goes:

A Yoda Meme

There are plenty of Yoda-isms out there, but the Force is strong in this one. Indeed, thus speaks the Lord of the Nerds:

This is the most important lesson I have learned from Master Yoda. Anything that starts out negative will only yield negative results. Do not fight fire with fire. All humans feel fear but we shouldn’t let it control us. We all feel anger towards other people but we must let it pass and never let it turn into hatred because hatred is like drinking a bottle of poison and expecting the other person to die from it.

A decent life lesson.