Oh Happy Day! Exhibits 1-4

{Great blog, BTW.} Happy Friday, again! Don’t these three chickadees just bubble over with summer happiness? Nothing says “happy day” like white petticoats, ribboned hats and roller skates! The art is an embellished scan from my little “vintage” magazine collection–Ladies Home Journal from May 1933, illustrated by Gertrude Kay.

Just a little bit of Junkie trivia: I enjoy collect vintage magazines for their great ads and illustrations (and the imagined stories their yellowed mailing labels imply). I particularly like mid-20th century versions from the 1930s-1960s. Norman Rockwell is a classic favorite. Freedom from Want hangs above my desk in the dining room. It’s a two-page spread from the 1943 Saturday Evening Post showing Rockwell’s wonderful dinner table and the first page of Carlos Bulosan’s corresponding essay. No, it’s not one of the pristine prints available in abundance. I prefer tearing the pages out of the magazines where they were printed in undigitized four-color process and read for 10¢ or 15¢ from the newstand. I guess it’s the old school commercial artist in me. I suppose I also take a word lover’s pleasure in thumbing through the issues to see three columns of uninterrupted text, not bottom-lined and bullet-pointed for today’s snack-sizes readers. Old advertisements have popped up all over our house, from Crest ads in the bathroom to Ford motorcar ads in the living room. It’s a little obsession that indulges my designer/illustrator tendencies. File that under “rabbit trail.”

Back to girls on skates! Oh happy day! Friday marks the end of the work week and pizza night in a very rewarding writing/blogging week. Happy EyeJunkie. Citizen media often surprises me, and this week has been full of the kind of serendipity that made me sigh, jump, giggle and cry in response.

Happy Exhibit 1

I’ve posted every day this week–sometimes with words, sometimes with pictures, sometimes with both [a graphic designer's dream]. The combination of words and pictures represents two of the creative bents I’ve had since childhood, and I’m wanting to meld them together a little more at EyeJunkie. I think the result will be a much more expressive whole. And could possibly lend itself to silliness as well. [Don't hold me to the posting every day thing :)]

Happy Exhibit 2

One of the editors I work with over at BrightHub.com invited me to write for her new Entrepreneurship “channel.” This topic area will give me the opportunity to write more about marketing for small and start-up businesses, which is what I spend much of my day job doing. I’m very excited about the challenge.

Happy Exhibit 3

After being the subject of MIPOTW last week, Marybeth Hicks, author of Bringing Up Geeks paid me the wonderful compliment of linking to my MeMyBook&Eye starter post on her home page–and sent me a rah rah email about it! That was very encouraging and incredibly kind since I haven’t started really posting about her book yet. It’s always gratifying when someone you admire takes note of one of your hair-brained ideas.  Thank you, Marybeth.
[Stay tuned for the Geek Episode 1 on Monday for MeMyBook&Eye. I promise]

Happiest Exhibit 4

Perhaps the greatest blog blessing this week surrounds my post for “Blogging for LGBT Families Day.” After much soul searching and dodging and mental hopping around, the post practically wrote itself in my head as I was trying to fall asleep on Sunday night. I had all but decided I wasn’t going to open that can of worms, but my internal insomniac editor said “oh, go ahead.” My concern was balancing honesty, questions I still have and the desire not to offend–that and the fear of being blasted by one side of the issue or another. But, my hope to continue a dialog that’s begun was greater than the fear. Frankly, the response has been overwhelming and extremely rewarding. Dana Rudolph, author of Mombian.com and initiator of the 4th annual event amazed me by highlighting my writing as one from the list that made the greatest impression on her personally. [Many thanks, Dana]

For some reason, the post has struck a cord with several people in exposing deep hurts that have been caused by the typical family conservative approach. I have been astounded by the LGBT community’s prevalent impression of how rarely Christians are willing to pause, listen and look. Unfortunately, I can’t say the assumption is unfounded. I have been deeply touched by the communication I’ve received in response to the post, and I invite my conservative friends to take a kind and respectful gander. I’m looking forward to continuing the dialog that has begun.