A Tale of Two Coffee Makers: Wait for it

Your driving a car, thinking everything is just dandy, then you look at the speedometer and see that you are driving much faster than you should be. Speed sneaks up. We go with the flow around us and pretty soon everything is moving way too fast.
   This is an age of immediate results, lightning speed communication, high expectation. (check out this YouTube clip of Louis C.K.). SO all this brings me to my new coffee maker. It's a Keurig, and since I'm the only coffee drinker in the house, it's little "one cup under a minute" function is really cool, especially in the morning when it's a little harder to not spill coffee grounds all over the counter, pour water on myself, and then, heaven forbid, WAIT for a cup of coffee to brew. Ask anyone I know: they will tell you I love my new coffee maker. I also got a new french press coffee maker, which I also love. But why would I use that one if it takes at least 10 minutes total to get a cup of coffee?
    ... because sometimes the wait is just what is needed, whether we are aware of it or not. I once spent a weekend with some friends. As i sat sleepy-eyed at the kitchen table, wishing for some coffee, I see that my hostess with the mostest is hand grinding the coffee beans, boiling water on the stove, and then we will wait some more for it to brew in the coffee press. There was a part of me that didn't understand this. Why would you do all that work and then have to wait for the coffee? I have to say, the "child" part of me wanted my coffee and wanted it soon! But there was another part of me that always trusts that everything truly is in its place, and that part of me waited with that conscious trust. What happened when I got to taste that coffee? It was a heightened sense of gratitude, not to mention an appreciation for all that had gone into this cup of coffee.. I could actually TASTE the love and attention. One of the best cups of coffee I ever had.
    What my coffee makers (both the people kind and the machine kind!) have to teach me: sometimes it's efficient to have a quick cup of coffee, but sometimes it's in the waiting that we get to really experience the moment at hand. My new little Keurig will brew tea, too. But I don't think that will happen. For me, an afternoon tea break is just that: a break from activity, a waiting for the steep, a savoring of the flavor, and a mood of the moment.
   Take a minute to savor whatever you are doing. Drive a little slower, sip a little more, tangle a little more deliberately. When you wait for it, mmmmmmmmmm.

As the days get brighter...

Ring-a-ling

A little holiday love...

2012 Tangle-a-Day Calendar!

I'm happy to announce that the 2012 Tangle-a-Day Calendars are almost off the press!  I'm expecting them by sometime next week (fingers crossed, maybe earlier?).

This calendar was designed as a daily journal for those who love to practice the art of  Zentangle®! The 2102 version is much different than last. It's 146 pages, each page is 8 inches wide, 5 inches deep. The calendar has a coil binding (on the 5" side), making it easier to take this little tangle journal with you wherever you go. Each day of the month has a block (about 2.5"x2.5") to fill with whatever you like. It also has a few tangled spaces to jump start your tangled mind. The paper has the same feel as last year, which I love, and my Sakura pen did too! The other difference is, I'm selling them through the Greyden Press online bookstore. Place the order online and they will ship them directly to you. I am also offering a bulk price for 5 or more shipped to the same address. If you have any questions, feel free to email me directly. Happy tangling everyone!!

The Unstoppable Fife

I missed last week's "Biggify" Diva Challenge, dang it. Instead of busy holidays, I have relaxing ones. I tend to do all the fun things I don't get to do when I'm busy with my graphics work. So my routine (as loose as it may be!) gets turned around. I usually do the challenge on Tuesday mornings. I go to breakfast with a friend and do some chatting and tangling. Even if my friend can't make it, I go anyway, enjoying a little time that I set aside just to relax with the Zentangle process. Last week, I devoted that time to a new project that needed a big focus. I took the same focused intent I use for Zentangle, and applied it to the new project: I processed my thoughts and notes just like a Zentangle-- starting with a 'string' foundation, and letting everything else flow from there. It was great fun and as I shuffled my pages of notes to find a good order, I felt like I was turning my tile to see what was there. Awesome fun.
   This past Tuesday, I had breakfast with my friend, but there was much to talk about, so we didn't touch the Zentangles. BUT... that same day I had to get my car serviced and had to wait a good bit for it to be finished. I always carry my Zentangle stuff with me (see this post), and so I had plenty of fun while I waited. I played with this week's challenge, using the new tangle Fife, and could not stop. I kept adding the little shapes behind, then behind again, finding all the corners I could connect long after I thought I would be finished. FUN FUN!! Then to shade it was even more delicious. Finding all the little 'behinds' is like finding little treasures as I move around the tile, feeling each little mark as a world on its own.
  Thank you, Laura, Molly, Jann, and thanks to the guys at the car service place for taking longer than was scheduled... It gave me an opportunity to see Fife in an unstoppable way. Hmmm. Now I am wondering if that has anything to do with the other project I'm working on...

Threading the Red

I'm not prone to use color in a Zentangle®. Something about the black and white satisfies my little soul, so I don't often venture far from that until I am asked to. Or, in this case, challenged to! That is one of the reasons I like Laura Harm's challenges. I like to challenge myself, but it's even more fun for me when someone else lays down the gauntlet. 

   This week the Diva presented guest challenger, Cris Letourneau CZT. Cris presented a challenge to support The Red Thread Promise organization. So here comes the color part: We were to create a traditional black and white tangle tile with a single red "thread" running through it. We were also invited to send our actual tiles to be auctioned to help raise money for the organization. 

   I used red pen for my string, and moved on with the black. The red pen I had was a very bright one, which really shook me up!! Just kind of kidding, although it definitely wasn't the most comfortable color for me to use, I bucked up and had a lot of fun. (As is so often the case when peeking out of the 'box'.)

  Thanks, Cris and Laura, for a fun challenge. And my tiles are headed your way, Cris!

TriShapes to Monotangle

This week's Diva Challenge is brought to us by Sue Clark, a CZT from Loveland Colorado. Sue's idea is to use three shapes (circle, square, triangle) to create the string. The other element of the challenge was to "tri" tangles that we had never used before. That part was easy, as there are so many tangles popping up, one can hardly keep track. Enter: tanglepatterns.com! I visited this site, went to the beginning (A), and started down the list, adding tangles that I hadn't tried yet. This was fun, as I didn't have to think, just pick in the order they appeared. I love doing this! It gives me a sort of permission to not care so much about what I want the tile to look like, or what I think might go together. Not that those things are bad, but one can often get over-focused on presentation and outcome.
   My string had many sections! So I used many tangles! (Antidots, Arc Flower, Archer, Asian Fans, Basketweave, Bateek, Bilt... with a little 'Nzeppel and Paradox thrown in, just because I love them!) This was a fun process: to just let go and fill each section without the worry of what the outcome would be. I started to feel very busy, and so did my tile. I liked how it felt, but I knew I had to do another tile to balance myself out a little!

During the first tile, I paid attention to which of the tangles I was enjoying most while doing it. Which rhythm suited me at the time? I settled on Archer, a tangle created by Chris Gerstner. I decided to do a monotangle tile: just using one tangle in all the sections created by the string. I used the three shapes again to make the string and filled them with Archer. Even though this tangle appears to be a "border" tangle, I mirrored it and then let it stretch out and attach itself to the Archers in other sections of the tile, connecting the ends of the lines to whatever was around it. Shading was lots of fun, as lots of shapes appeared that I hadn't seen when I just tangling the lines. And where did the string go? Hard telling, but it's in there!

Thanks to Sue and Laura for a fun challenge this week, and Chris Gerstner for a fun tangle. And thanks to tanglepatterns.com and all who contribute to it!