CONTEST DEADLINE

Just a reminder that the photo/art contest ends in Three Days, the 28th of August! Get any entries in before then!

PHOTO AND ART CONTEST!

Deadline is August 28th

If you are reading this right now, and you don’t join in the fun, go eat dirt. Just so you know.

Attention: all readers, followers, bloggers, and friends! This is the second contest ever hosted by my blog!

Be artsy! Enter creative photos and videos or photos showing your best art projects – drawings, paintings, origami, papier-mâché, weaving, knitting, murals, hats, sculptures, woodworking, graphic design, anything. [Send all entries to theamiableamy (at gmail)]

Entries will be judged on: both quality and creativity.

Who wins?
I will choose my five top favorites, and you, the readers, comment voting for your favorite! Whoever has the greatest number of votes places first, and whoever has the second greatest places second. There are only two places, but I may award some honorable mentions if I feel they are due.

Can I get any prizes?
If you receive first place you will be sent three sets (three in a set) of charming handmade cards in the color schemes you choose, plus a handwritten note of congratulations. Your entry will be posted, along with a first place caption and a link to your blog (assuming you have one).

If you receive second place, you will be sent one set of cards, in one color scheme or a mix (your choice) with a congratulatory note. Your entry will also be posted with your second place caption.

But what if I’m a guy, and I don’t want that stupid prize?
Well, you have many options:
a) Don’t enter this contest
b) Don’t win
c) If you have a blog, I will go comment on it to boost your self-esteem
d) If you know me and live nearby, I can cook you some food
e) I can just send you the congratulatory note
f) You can send me a prize
g) Go eat dirt, who needs a prize?

As with any contest I host:
Nobody is required to post about this in order to enter, and you will not receive bonus points for doing so. But if you decide to link to me out of pure nicety, I’ll love you forever!

Are there regulations?
You may enter 1 photo or fewer. If you enter more than one photo, you will be disqualified.

You may vote for yourself, but obviously not multiple times. And nobody is allowed to accuse others of voting dishonestly.

Can I link to it and get all my friends to vote for me?
Absolutely, I don’t care.

Is there any sort of recognition for the worst photo?
If someone enters a really wretched photo, I might post it. There won’t be any prize, but I figure my readers probably like to laugh as much as I do.

Is there any good winning strategy I should know?
Just make sure your photo or project is much muchier than the others.

Many thanks to all participants!!

a book review

divine nobodies: shedding religion to find God [and the unlikely people who help you]
by jim palmer

Divine Nobodies commences with two must-read introductions (with grim warnings to anyone who would skip them). In introducing us to himself, the author is revealed to be an ordinary, if somewhat quirky, guy. His life hasn’t been ideal, and neither has he. With good humor – but sincerity, he catches the interest of the reader. The rest of the book follows some of his journey from formal Christianity and religion to discovering God for himself. He describes his battle with depression, failings, and confusion about faith – and his ultimate acceptance of the truth that we can’t be good enough. Many failures of the church and professing Christians are exposed by their lack of ability to help the hurting and imperfect people of the world. This book is a challenge to step out of your comfort zone when it comes to helping others. It is also a challenge to stop confining a radical faith to formal religion and your own perception.

I don’t agree with everything the author advocates, and I certainly don’t view the book as absolute truth. At the same time, the author hits many points very accurately, and causes the reader to think. It should be enjoyable for anyone ready to be offended, change, and pursue a faith not caught up in religion or the status quo.

This book is written straightforwardly, and is interesting all the way through. It isn’t simply a set of ideas – it is a set of personal experiences. Anyone who starts it will find it compulsively readable.

Ogden Nash

Of Ogden Nash

The top flight modern satirist…the man who dislikes all the things that most of us dislike but manages to be hilariously articulate about them. – Boston Herald

I discovered the poet Ogden Nash in a literature book, and subsequently found a book of his at our local library. Some of my favorites of his are the short verses on animals.

To quote a few here:

THE RHINOCEROUS
The rhino is a homely beast,
For human eyes he’s not a feast.
Farwell, farewell, you old rhinoceros,
I’ll stare at something less prepocerous

THE FIREFLY
The firefly’s flame
Is something for which science has no name.
I can think of nothing eerier
Than flying around with an unidentified glow on a person’s posteerier.

THE TERMITE
Some primal termite knocked on wood
And tasted it, and found it good,
And that is why your Cousin May
Fell through the parlor floor today.

THE PORCUPINE
Any hound a porcupine nudges
Can’t be blamed for harboring grudges.
I know one hound that laughed all winter
At a porcupine that sat on a splinter.

Roses and Dragonflies

I've never before been successful in capturing dragonflies, as they seem to me exceptionally elusive. But there it is. I succeeded today.

This rose is yellow, but looks white here...

These are my favorites. They're burgundy, and they smell fabulous.

These were marketed as "blue girl" roses...but they look more lavender. They are wonderful when they've first begun opening.

The Magnificent Scarf

This is the scarf Justin commissioned me to make after winning my long-ago contest. Needless to say, with sport weight yarn and small needles, I spent all winter making these tiny stitches that ended up in an eight-foot scarf. And it's actually patterned after a scarf from an old British science fiction television show I've never seen. Yeah. (A note on length: Justin is like, over six feet tall.)

The (somewhat quirky) pictures are courtesy of Bonnie.

about that old contest...

I am actually knitting a striped scarf for Justin (it's currently at 8 ft.), and it may be completed by the time it is too warm to sanely consider wearing. I will certainly post photos in the event that it is finished.