Captive Ball

Captive Ball

captive ball

A pinball trapped within a small area of the playfield. The captive ball never leaves this area, and the free ball can never enter it. However, the free ball can knock into the captive ball, which in turn can knock into targets in its area.

I was searching for a term to describe the last week, and nothing seemed to fit. I felt like a pinball, bounced randomly back and forth between bumpers that someone else was working. That feeling does not have a name (or at least not one that I can find), but the definition above was close and interesting.

Health update

I spent the week working, calling doctors, and surviving. That may not sound exciting, but frankly, it was as much as I could handle. While I still have (at least) one more test to do, I am delighted to report that SOMETHING seems to have worked and I am breathing pretty well and feeling MUCH better. The working theory is that I have had something causing sinus drainage for the last few months, which gunked up my lungs. That, in turn, made everything work harder. My heart responded by trying to beat more (and more…) which is actually not an efficient thing for the heart. Thus, my body was not getting the appropriate amount of oxygen, causing me to try even harder to breathe and generally starting the whole process over again.

I am on a diuretic (removes water) which seems to be helping my heart. I am also on something that makes my mucus thinner, which makes it easier to cough up; the result, is that I am coughing less, which seems to make everything better.  Again, I need to do this test, and I have an appointment with the allergist and the heart doctor, but for the first time in weeks, I can report feeling borderline okay.

Long term, I DESPERATELY need to loose weight. I am working very hard to use my WW app and I am investigating some other accountability ideas. I read an interesting book, The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin, which pointed out that as an Obliger, external accountability is important for me. Thus, I am working on making those.

The Rest of Life

Feeling healthier, I have begun (trying) reassemble something called life. The dog has gotten pretty squirrely on his reduced exercise regime, so I have been giving him as much walking time as I can. Most days now we are hitting 8000 steps, which is down from 10,000+, but up from 2500 a few weeks ago.

Key: “Where can I find ripe blackberries to eat… Something to roll in… A mouse to chase…”

Also this weekend, I did some deep cleaning. I think I MAY need to do this more often; the kittens (who turned 1 year old this week!) looked startled by my actions. Between this unprecedented housekeeping, errands, food prep, and continuing to work on editing my book, I may not have a lot to show, but I actually have a good list of accomplishments.

Painting

But, we all know that you tune in for painting. And, for the first time since I went on my trip, I am thrilled to be able to show off some things!

  1. I am waiting for results for the WSO, NWWS, and the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society show (entered on a whim.)
  2. I hope you have marked the calendar for the Westminster Presbyterian Church Festival of Fine Art, happening October 7-11. Five of my paintings will be there!
  3. My painting, Measuring Infinity, will ship off to Michigan for the ISEA show this week. Finally!

    “Measuring Infinity” – watercolor on Yupo (2021)
  4. I put the final touches on these two paintings and ordered the mats they will need. I will be turning them into ODFW Stamp Contest. I do not expect anything, because my style is not as detailed as most of the paintings that win. But I enjoyed the process! A few of you might notice that I added a background to the horned lark. It took me six months to make that decision! I don’t know when (or if) there will be an exhibition of entries this year, but I’ll keep you posted.
  5. I am just showing off the following two paintings. I am not sure when I did them (after vacation) and I don’t think they are done. But… I did something…
  6. I am taking a step back from this large, half-sheet piece. I’m not sure what it needs.

    For You Are Crunchy
  7. Finally, I used all the extra paint from the horned lark and dragon to make this. I already have an idea about where this new abstract is headed! It’s a full sheet; we’ll see if it stays that way!

I truly believe that is all the news that’s fit to print around here. I am hoping that some shows and conventions and other things will be restarting, but with the delta variant on the surge, I am starting to see things being cancelled again. Fingers crossed that the WSO Convention goes on. I signed up and the breakouts looks great. I am particularly excited that my friend, Sandra Pearce, is doing a session on creating depth in paintings. I know she’ll rock it!