I've decided to go on a three month sugar fast, starting this Friday, February 1st. Not to be overly dramatic but it will probably be one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.







I just don't have the patience to do a slow detox. It's going to be fruit only until May 1st.

After I sat here and scarfed down six whole Godiva dark chocolate truffles (that were supposed to be a gift for someone!!), I told myself yet again that I really need to do something about my chocolate/sugar addiction. I found this detox plan and I think I'm going to try it. This is just ridiculous, especially when I know what a number this shit does on my complexion. And my waistline.

I submitted a few images to Gawker Artists in the hopes of being accepted as a revolving artist. What turned out to be fun was taking two of my pieces and cutting them up into the requested sizes, 300 x 250 pixels and 160 x 600 pixels. I really like the resulting images and I think I'll use one of the long ones in my new blog design.









Last night we went over to our friend Daniela's house and had the most delicious hamburgers ever, made of deer meat that her husband had killed and processed himself this past fall. I have a whole new outlook on hunting since I've become so conscious of the hormone and antibiotic laden, corn-overfed meat that is produced by inhumanely raised farm animals in this country. I am actually attracted to the idea of taking up hunting in order to feed my family healthy meat from grass-fed wild animals. Imagine that! Do I have what it takes?

I just dyed my hair with Clairol Natural Instincts in Egyptian Plum. It's beautiful and it's temporary. And I did it myself! For $10! My grey is gone for now and good riddance. I'm thinking about getting my hair cut super short, kind of like:



It seems like it might be the only way for Justin to get over his obsession with grabbing and chewing my hair. It's really a last resort though because it's taken me so long to get it this length and I'm just starting to have fun with color. I'd really like to go black but the husbandly resistance around here is already being severely tested by plum. Most guys are so touchy about what their women do with their hair. I'm not even going to psychoanalyze it but it begs investigation.

I read another book that profoundly moved me, The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve. Poetic, amazing, stunning, enchanting. One of those books that makes me think I want to be a writer but then know that I could never come close to the sheer perfection of a book like this. And she gets at the heart of everything:

And Vincent never said, Don't write these words about another man (or even later, about himself), thus freeing her from the most potent censorship there is, the fear of hurting others.

I haven't been blogging lately because we are the midst of crazy home updates. I painted the walls in the great room and kitchen nook the two most beautiful shades of dark greyish brown and greige. We got a component of our wall unit from IKEA and installed it. Andy and his dad are finishing up the laminate...the master bedroom, boys' bedrooms, and dining room are done and all that's left is the master closet. In a few years we will replace the remaining carpet in the common areas with a new tile, and create mosaic transitions where it meets the existing green tile in the foyer, guest bathroom, and kitchen.

And as we've gone along we've moved and reorganized furniture and things so that's giving a fresh look to the house as well.

I'm in the process of applying to be a substitute teacher at the high schools here. Andy's parents are moving down here permanently so I will have a frequent babysitter.

Next month we've arranged our first home exchange. We're swapping with another family in Columbia, Maryland for a week. I hope Merritt gets to see snow. I hope our exchange partners like our house and have fun. It's going to be interesting...we were also contacted by a family in Bordeaux, France that want to do a month long swap this summer. I can't imagine that would actually happen for a myriad of reasons. But I can dream.

Merritt and Justin continue to shock me with how smart and perceptive they are. I just wish they were a little more manageable. It's insanity most of the time up in here.

Andy is going mad from the stupid Barack Obama email that's going around right now. Here is his standard Reply to All and I think it's quite eloquent:

Hi,
I think it is important that people take a minute to investigate this sort of racist propaganda before forwarding it on. This kind of misinformation is dangerous to democracy - people cannot make informed decisions when basing them on lies and ridiculous statements.

Barack Obama is a Christian, was NOT sworn in on the Koran, and does NOT have a problem reciting the pledge of allegiance. In fact, he was sworn in to the Senate by Dick Cheney on a Bible in January 2005. If any of this were true, the Democrats would certainly not be pouring millions of dollars into his campaign. His father, who he had virtually no contact with thoughout his life, was in fact a Muslim.

Ironically, these false claims about Obama are currently ranked the #1 urban legend on www.snopes.com even though the email below states "We checked this out on " snopes.com". It is factual. Check for yourself." If you really want to check it out for yourself, click here:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.asp

Here is a link about his swearing in ceremony:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/238/

Even more frightening about this email, in my opinion, is the attempt to demonize all Muslims as if they were all evil people involved in a giant conspiracy. Extremist terrorists try to use Islam to justify their actions, but they do not represent the vast majority of peaceful Muslims, just as Hitler made many references to Christianity in Mein Kampf to attempt to justify his insane beliefs, but certainly does not represent most Christians.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and lets hope we can all make an informed and rational decision in November.
A.Rice

I started my big painting. Working title is Beautiful Chaos. It's only charcoal drawing now.

My monarch butterfly caterpillar butterdish has been by far my most popular painted object so far:



I've had more than one person say I should make more and sell them. Ideally I'd do a whole series of different larvae in butterdish form.

I did my first mosaic ever and I'm hooked on that craft as well. A mirror using bits of broken tile and plate, and blue glass stones:



Right now I'm reading one of my favorite books ever, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin. It's thoroughly satisfying my love of all things French. And it's a welcome respite after that horrific memoir, Running With Scissors, which I found totally appalling and not at all amusing. I'm in the minority, I know.

Richard Matheson's classic story, I Am Legend, in no way resembles the Will Smith film. We saw it last night and while I will admit it was pretty good, Hollywood ending and implausabilities notwithstanding, I see absolutely no reason why it couldn't have been entitled something else (Dark Seekers?). It just doesn't seem right to rip off the title and a very few basic story elements in order to create a Will Smith vehicle. It's basically the same thing they did with I Robot. Anyway, that's how I spent my New Years Eve with my husband and it was wonderful. We finished off a bottle of champagne in the parking lot before the movie.



I am wishing a lovely delightful 2008 to my old friends and new friends, pink friends and blue friends, lost friends and true friends...