Day 75 of Week 11 March 2024

Bachelor Button Sprouts*

Internet wise, if you pause your blog, then your rating on searches and such decreases. Posting a photograph with comments turned off is a way of not losing your blog's Internet ranking. I'm not sure how or what search engine rules are concerning ranking though. 

Posting will might resume in April 2024.

*Using organic potting soil in jiffy planters, seeds sprouted in 4 days.

When Less Is More

Upstate New York in the Fall

The above color sketch is from a photograph as well as a memory of either Eagle or Paradox Lake, Upstate New York. I was on a foliage tour in late October when many trees had shed their foliage already. Not driving, I had a chance to take more pictures. The reflections in the water with the stone outcrop caught my attention.

What surprises me about the watercolor is that despite least amount of detail or notes for when and where,  I remember the location, driving west on Route 74, it is on the right. 

We went into Schroon Lake before turning around to go east on Route 74 back to Ticonderoga, and back to Vermont. I know on the drive we pass both lakes. I don't recall which lake the scene is from.

The artwork got me to thinking about less is more. Creating art should be relaxing. Yet, many of us, I feel, try so hard to fulfill our ideal artist image that Earth flattens and we fall over the edge. 

Ideal. Not bad to have an ideal image of something. Not good to strive to achieve an ideal when in reality, we are unique, not necessarily an ideal. We might fit a person's ideal image, but that is their opinion. Thinking more, I ponder how to relax and just be myself without struggling.

To relax better. Quiet. No Internet, TV,  phone, music. Just quiet surroundings with normal noises. Then I thought, why not take a day to go offline? Less Internet in order to gain creative control.

The orange nasturtium exercise this week on day 2, I almost forgot to look at it. There is sunshine this morning. I slept well. Now, I have a new plan to add...being offline during daylight hours from sunrise to sunset. This week offline will not be Wednesday because there are PBS shows I like to watch. I have too much to do on Thursday. Friday is busy as well. Ah, maybe trying out a block of hours to start is better, say from 1 PM to 7 PM.

Have you tried a whole day being offline? 

Did you feel more relaxed?

A Sleep Pattern

Apple Leaf on silver tray
About ten years ago I was fascinated by a leaf 
attached to an apple I bought. I took several photos 
on various surfaces in different light.

There is no telling what might fascinate a person. There are more photographs like that in my Blogger folder. I 'm awake with the time to scroll through them. 

There are days, sometimes many, when I will not want to sleep at night. The definition of insomnia doesn't quite fit. I've experienced trouble getting to sleep and/or staying asleep. This is different. During bouts of want to stay awake, after 3  or 4 AM, I usually turn off the light (or not), and fall asleep just like that, snooze city. 

I've read many headlines, (and a few paragraphs in), that getting enough sleep is very important to one's health. I haven't been a 6 hour  or more sleeper since I was a teenager. A 3 to 5 hour night is the rule. If I'm really tired or have been very active that day, I might reach 6 hours. If I make it to 7 hours, then I wake up feeling like aliens kidnapped me. Seriously.

What do I do?

Internet. YouTube videos. Scroll through photo folders. Paint. Think. Write. Read. Watch PBS streaming. Play Wordle after midnight. (This week, I had Wordle on 2 to make my life time total 3, maybe 4 times.) After 3 AM  I do online jigsaw puzzles.  

I go through marathons of shows on YouTube for archaeology, history, furniture, building, travel, collecting, art, and hygge. 

It is now 1:31 AM EDT. I finished watching the news on YouTube. Wordle today I got in 5 tries. I checked the weather and recent earthquakes. Now I am typing this blog post.

And I'm hungry. But no a yawn to be had.

How are your sleep patterns?

Fan blowing on a tee shirt
I wanted pictures to sketch from showing
how a tee shirt looks when it moves.
It was for a painting. 

 P.S.

Leaving comments on other blogs has a glitch. When using Chrome, the pop up says comment failed, try again later.

On the Edge browser, I have no problem leaving comments.

Also when using Chrome, Clicking on the profile pumpkin, the  pop up doesn't load for me to select an option. I have to go into Gmail, and then the pumpkin icon pop up shows the options. 

Glitches like that can be glitches or somebody fooling around with your website, your blog, your account. Based on my experience, the browser, the website will never tell you if somebody hacked your account unless major news outlets have the story of a major browser breach.

In other words, if you comment at places that are controversial, then glitches might be a consequence.

 

Post Hiatus

The Middlebury River
Acrylic on canvas 2022
M.Flannery

Post hiatus (hi ay tus). Projects are lined up along with canvases. I feel refreshed. I am especially pleased the comments to my political post are positive. 

Art. Remember the painting series posted last year for the artwork in the photograph above? Well, I will be starting another series from a different photo as yet to be taken. Once again, the series is for an impressionism landscape. 

Internet. In my travels, checking this blog's name on Google, I learned a website that promoted blogs for free, (send in email and URL), has changed to a free plus paid service. It is good to have a plan to promote your blog if you are in business or want to increase traffic to your website for advertising income. That is beyond my small blog world, but other's might consider such a plan.

I believe it is a good idea to Google  your name as well as your blog's name on a regular basis. You never know what might be out there. 

Cereal. Instead of sugary snacks, I treated myself to a box of Special K Blueberry cereal. Breaking up the monotony of oatmeal feels great. Besides, I sometimes like to have cereal for dinner. 

October. Starting this month felt to me like walking into a twilight zone. October 7 actual date. My brain date, September 30th. It is a good thing I had to grocery shop or else I would have missed the oranges of the distant mountains. The trees nearby are just beginning to turn color. When they are at peak foliage, the mountains are past peak foliage.

Over the long weekend, on Route 7, Saturday morning I saw long lines of vehicles traveling south where the foliage and mountains are poplar drives. There was also a quilt show in Middlebury that day. My mask and I stayed home.

Shots. The senior flu shot, done deal, I got it. Arm was sore going in from wrestling with an Ocean Spray juice bottle. (Even after cutting the plastic connectors to the cap, I struggled to get the bottle open.) My arm is tender two hours after the shot. When I lift my arm, I feel the injection site. No redness or swelling. An ice bag later will help keep it that way.

Please read the CDC, and other sources about covid, flu, RSV shots and decide for yourself to get injected.

Remember, being healthy decreases the burden on the health care system as well as your income.