What did your parents get for Christmas?

Dear world,
Okay, this has little to nothing to do with art but, what the heck, be generous with me:
So much to think about, so little time to post - and no computer of my own from which to post - boo-hoo! The closest thing I have to a laptop is a vintage etch-a-sketch. They work so much better than the new ones.
BUT
I digress.....
Back to the title of this missive to the populus.
Did you ever ask your parents what kind of stuff they got for Christmas. I'm guessing it was simpler fare than that on the letters to Santa in this day and age:
Today: an Apple (not the fruit, the laptop)
Yesterday: an orange (yeah, just the fruit)
I guess what I'm thinking is: if you asked your folks what their hopes and dreams were around the holidays, they wouldn't have expected what kids do today - and yeah, I know, they also used to hike 10 miles to school and back in a blizzard backwards with no shoes while carrying their younger siblings...
...and had to chip the ice off their slates to take their notes in class.
Before you laugh the folks off and snuggle into your electric-heated house with your laptop and/or your ipod and your full belly and yawn with the boredom of it all,
take a moment.
Remember that it wasn't always this easy - even in your own family - and that it still isn't easy at all for the majority of the world's population.
Be grateful for what you have and maybe consider asking for something really simple for Christmas
OR really think about how far that orange came that you're eating and who picked it.
Use your imagination. Be thoughtful. Interact with someone ...without a keyboard - you know, face to face, on the street.
Draw someone a Christmas card and tell them your life would be less rich without them.
Play a game.
Use your imagination.
of course - DRAW!
I'm going outside....
Happy holidays and a huge hug to all the people that made sure I was still standing after the hard, hard year gone by.
Love to you all!
G.

Just for the Joy

Well, Gumby gets around - that's for sure.

He and Pokey have been with me to Salt Lake City to study the Mormon phenomenon.
They've travelled with me to Hawaii and all over British Columbia.
Next year, I expect to photograph them in Europe.
It's a quirky hobby but it makes people smile.

"I Wish I Had a River..."

Those of you familiar with Joni Mitchell's music or art or both will likely reocgnize the title of this post. It's one of my favourite songs by her. In listening to the song, you are given to feel the bite of winter, both in its icy solitude and in its hope for warmth and comfort. Myself, I move closer to the holidays with both a sense of excitement and trepidation. Such a delightful time of twinkly fairy lights and warm, cozy scenes set against a juxtaposition of madcap overspending and commercialization. It seems with every passing year I tell myself, "I will not buy in, I will not buy in!" ....but I do. I wish I could move the earth for the people I love if that's what they need and want but the fact is, my friends, all I have to offer you during the festive season is the same thing that's coming at you every other day of the year: My love for you, my support, and my wish that we all can create peace and joy for ourselves and our fellow planetary inhabitants. I wish you gentleness and thought for others and yourselves and I offer my self to you to the best of my ability. I also wish that in 2006, everyone tries to create something from their soul without worrying that it isn't good enough.
Peace,
Gillian