Wild things are coming! Spirits... bad and good. Full moons and harvest fires. All around us our visual world morphs and explodes in images dancing like flames. Flames that warm and flames that burn.

We're closing out the last stretch of 2010 and there will be celebrations. Wine will pour and its smooth numbness will wrap us like a lover's soft hands. But remember, as only artists do... that it was a year not to forget. It was a year that should have started a revolution. The gulf still drowns in a secretive disaster, known only in places where people never go, dark and deep down under. Politics change and slither uneasily like the nervousness of a coiled snake. Evil hides in canyons ready to take down an Eiffel Tower.

Artists won't let us turn away. All they see now... are dark shores.

Linda's latest "Dark Shore" ... Dedicated to the ongoing tragedy of the Gulf Oil Spill. Thank you, Linda, for knowing that art IS our only reality.

Upcoming Events in Linda's World!

        -->Check out some of Linda's products on this new site:

• The Etsy Shop
  

    -->Meet Linda at The Crystal Fox on December 4, 1-3 pm!!.

  "Bring your camera and have a few minutes to talk cause once i get started u cant shut me up! We will have all sorts of my goodies - the sweet and the SASSY.... so keep an eye out on the website for updates so u know what new stuff we will have k!"

• The Crystal Fox
  

   -->Remember Faerecon on November 12 -14. Linda will be a special guest!
  

• Faerecon in Hunt Valley, Maryland
  

   -->Urbanite Magazine posted an article on my world!

• Urbanite magazine

   

  As always...

                         LOVE and PEACE      
  

  Please come back later this summer for our fall entry. Linda and I currently are lost to the sultry heat of midsummer... or perhaps just to a few margarittas on our decks.

So there"ll be lots of news when the first frost looms!  Until then....

"The White Buffalo Woman then spoke to the women, telling them that it was the work of their hands and the fruit of their bodies which kept the people alive. 'You are from the mother earth,' she told them. 'What you do is as important as what the warriors do."'

Crow Dog, Brule Sioux

FROM HER HANDS...

This latest work-in-process was inspired by Linda's dear friend, Dianne Lynch. From Linda..."A little background so you know why...she has been my Fairie Godmother since I started this business back in 1999. She friended me and made sure people took notice of the beautiful Fairie website that she ran--all about Faeries. Now she does parrot rescue."

Linda's shows are coming up!

•  Spoutwood Fairy Festival  April 30, May 1-2
  

•  Maryland Fairie Festival  May 15 and 16
  

• Gunpowder River ARTFEST  June 12.
  

 and Linda in print...

• May Issue of "ZONE" Magazine, Hereford

  May issue of Juxtapoz Magazine - an advertisement

 Commentary... 

I sat out on my hill yesterday at sunset. It was the first warm day of spring. I brought along a cigar...which I never do, but I had an urge to smoke. I miss the days of meditating on the glowing end of a Marlboro, when smoking was a legitimate pause. I listened and watched the clouds of tobacco drift and pull apart, like butterfly ghosts. I listened to crickets and frogs and night birds. Over by my office window, I could hear my CD playing. It was Debussy's "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair." I read once where in his youth, Debussy played his piano to sound like whatever he heard at the moment... people yelling in the street, two lovers chatting... a child giggling. It really pissed off his instructor. But Debussy could never have played what I heard yesterday evening. It was way too intense, way too beautiful...

ENJOY!

Looking for Something

Fun to do?

Then follow me...  

Because I know...

Exactly what you're...

THINKING... (tisk tisk)

 CALLING ALL FAIRIES! 

 INTRODUCING DAVID RICHE'S NEWEST BOOK!

I have to say, having been in the book biz for over 20 years, that this is one HOT! product. Well done Watson-Guptill! David's book will teach you to draw cool fairies using Photshop or Paintshop. It comes with a CD of templates and accessories and wild colors, clip art elements, tons of stuff. I personally think this is PERFECT for a person wanting to explore a design program for the first time and actually have fun! Plus, the book is simply beautiful. Of course -- this is David Riche, Myrea Pettit, and Yisham Li. Say no more!

Check it out: Fairies Art Studio

Linda's News...

Ahhh... my thoughts are lost in warm waterfalls...

...filling the empty inlets of my mind.

 Introducing...

   Pandora's Fjord

Appearing on Linda's site soon.

  * LINDA'S SPRING SCHEDULE*

* March 20 (Saturday)

L&M Crafts/Magick's Mystic Blessings, 12 noon to 2 PM at 8301 Philadelphia Road, Rosedale, MD 21237.

* April 30, May1-2    -- Spoutwood FairieFestival

Spoutwood Farm, 4255 Pierceville Road, Glen Rock, PA.

*May 15th and 16th -- Maryland Fairie Festival

10 am to 6 pm, Patuxent 4H Center, 18405 Queen Anne Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774.

*June 12 -- Gunpowder River ARTFEST

11 am to 8 pm, 1901 Monkton Road.  Part of proceeds go to help local Hereford area art students!!! (p.s. - this will be a unique and fun event)

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 Commentary...

 I sense winter fading and though I love spring,  I'll also miss what winter brings. Snow and crazy weather have a way of re-affirming those close to me. In the winter we move closer, cheered by conversation in a neighborhood pub, or a coffee shop on a snowy day.... or together in the studio of a good friend. 

So when that sun does shine again, raise your wine glass to those friends who pulled you through. Because when summer does come, I'm sure we'll...   "...laugh until we think we'll die, barefoot on a summer night   Nothin' new is sweeter then with you... "                   (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros)

 peace -- emerson

A woman's dark eye, a man's of crystal blue. This is the season where fantasy swoons in our drowsy minds, while we lie naked and warm, buried in layers of wool and netted bedding, under faint dancing patterns of firelight. Humans aren't much different than animals. By the final months of winter, we're full to bursting with thoughts of....

PANDORA'S PARADOX!

Check out Linda's newest fairy (in process). This one says a lot about what gets locked in the minds of mortal souls on cold castle nights. Could she be the seducer of wandering knights(?), or ultima ratio regum... the final argument of kings!

Thank you, Denise Cherubini , for totally hitting the mark with choosing the name "Pandora's Paradox." Absolutely perfect!

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Linda's News...

Watch for an ad posted in the February issue of Gothic Beauty Magazine. We here at Zouck totally dig this magazine, and the people who run it. They're big fans of Linda's, and that - of course - endears them to us.  But they've also captured Goth culture. The whole experience of reading their magazine is a page by page indulgence in pure ART. Keep rockin' it Gothic Mag!!

When Spring Arrives - you'll want to fly!

Check out the beautiful wings at http://www.Fairy-wings.com/

 Angel Ponte's work at On Gossamir Wings is so worth the visit.

 ...........AND COME SEE LINDA!

Don't forget to come visit Linda at the Hereford Business Expo on February 13. She'll be a lone fairy in a new type of EXPO land.. maybe even a stranger in her own land, but always her own sincere, wonderful self.

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So now the castle halls are quiet. And the winds across the steep parapets blow wisps of snow and ice against the thick chamber windows. And as he lies there, breathing softly... a breeze  gently pushes the netting to the side, while the fire swirls upwards in a rushing column from the center of its coals. A stream of warm air settles on his exposed neck like a warm kiss. Could this be the spirit of winter come for him?

The paradox of a castle night is that dreams which seem so beyond the scope of even nocturnal reality, could perhaps... not be dreams at all. --emerson

 ----------------------------------------------------------

And remember that if you need inspiration to follow your own dream, no matter how paradoxical your idea may seem... Linda's book is your perfect companion...

  Available at Amazon.com...

 http://www.amazon.com/shops/A1T5IV2CXRM6U4

P.S. - Remember to email comments at    ejprobst@gwzouck.com . Our comments section on this blog was taken over by spammers

PEACE

PEACE

LOVE

FRIENDS and

DANCING

TO THE GRATEFUL DEAD

Okay, had to start with this image because I went to a Dead show in New Jersey last week. It was a holiday miracle. I danced like no 40-something has a right to! It renewed my spirit in this crazy ride we're all on (Thanks Doug Bader!).

AND it's the perfect lead in to a quick and simple blog (since Linda and I know you're all really busy). Linda just got these shirts in and we totally love 'em. We're hoping lots of young and young at heart dancers will flaunt their fairy pride in 2010. Plus, GW Zouck will give a portion of its proceeds to "My Neighbors Foundation", a group around where we live that supports kids who are having a hard time getting what they need to build their own stage to the world!

Go Green this year with Linda Biggs Fairy Ts!!!

 100% cotton shirts are just $19.95 and come in small, medium, large, and XL. For now, since I don't have my Paypal link set up on the GW Zouck site, just email me and set up mailing and paypal payment. Linda will also have them on her site soon. For anyone local, you should get them by the holiday if you order this weekend.

Send message to: ejprobst@gwzouck.com

______________________________________

Commentary...

In the passion of life’s days, it’s hard to find time to meditate on the symbolic light rising quietly in the cold northern sky. But the human touch spreads that message of love much more readily, one person at a time. So go out and plant a big hug on someone this holiday. And hug 'em like you mean it.  There is no greater human power than touch.

 _______________________________________________________________

From Linda and me, thank you to everyone for a wonderful year! 

And to all...  PEACE

White is the fairy's wing floating up and down,

White is the feeling of being all alone.

White is the air as it floats through the wind.

White is the world as it spins.

White is the snowflake hanging on the limb,

White is the dolphin swimming in the sea,

White is the sky when clouds are passing by,

White is the fairy tale that will never end.

by Heather - Ms. Van de Graafs 3rd grade, Orchard Elementary School, Burlington, Vermont

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 We are all innocent!

Thank you Our Lady Peace. But hey, it's true. This blog is all about standing up and being true to ourselves. Don't let anyone tell you you're crazy, different, stupid, ugly, dumb, fat, skinny, or wimpy as a toothless, wet guinea pig. Because you know what... I've been around long enough to know that happiness sneaks up on all of us who hang in there and stay true to ourselves. If you're sincere, friends will seek you out like the Three Kings and you'll have a pot of hot chili and cold 30-pack ready when they get there! Just keep the fire warm.

It's like my man Hunter S. Thompson said,  "The person who doesn't scatter the morning dew will not comb gray hairs."

I honestly have no idea what that quote means, but it sounds good. 

*********************************************************************************************

Now onward gonzo warriors, into the mist of dawn to kick some dragon butt!

What's New With Linda...

What an awesome picture! Truly a portrait of friendship at Faerecon earlier this month. Linda told me these are some of her dearest friends and it shows! Left is Linda Ravenscroft and center is Jane Starr Weils. For anyone who  hasn't checked out the art produced by these two woman (which is hard to believe), pleeeease Google them.

Also, for anyone who hasn't seen Linda's newest nudie fairy... still  unnamed (I think) -- check her out on Linda's site.

 ************************************************************************************************************

And finally, I have to plug Linda's book (Her Rainbow World) since holiday buying is soon to begin. Remember, it's a great gift for anyone needing a lift in spirits...pure inspiration for expressing yourself in any way you want. And better, we're offering a reduced price of $17.95 from now to the New Year, but only if you go through the GW Zouck site for now.

 A New Featured Artist!

 Charles R. Bristow

We met Charles at Faerecon and thought this artist had something going! Plus, he's a really nice guy. Charles was recently published in Artscene International Magazine (June, 2009). And is committed to appear in artist Sherrie Spencer's upcoming Fantastical Enchantments Magazine. You can check him out at Myspace.com/captfrogger.

 Commentary...

(Will the Circle be Unbroken)

At Faerecon I saw so many  people reaching for a simple experience caressed by innocence, purity, sincerity. I didn’t receive a single dispassionate hug. Smiles were opening preludes to new friendships, and people blissfully exposed their inner, and sometimes outer, self to the world …a celebratory act!

But there was also an illusive pang of hard reality around this festival of free spirits…an anxiety that all was not perfect in the kingdom of fantasy. Yes, I couldn’t hide from it, even in the whirl of a dance I saw through the corner of my eye the nuances of business politics, subtle acts that reminded me that there was still ego and cunning seeping along the aisles. It was present behind some of the smiles; behind clipboards and checklists. After all, the fairy world is more than a world of wishful dreams, it’s also a marketplace. Someone has to be in charge.

So to regain my happy spirit I grasped for symbols of the things that were real and noble around me—away from the cold steel of business. My mind wondered as I looked around…the white rose some girl was holding in her gentle hands meant innocence and purity. Or maybe the clear white crystals on the table across the hall really could push energy into me, like a cosmic Starbucks double latte. Objects do have power! This much I knew!

Then a woman walked up and asked me to sign her “Book of Gods and Goddesses” I realized that we create our own symbols, and we also smith our own armor, link by link and bolt by iron bolt. What she did melted all the iron away. What she had in her hands was the true purity of the Faerecon experience. Friendships forged on terms not obligatory, but based on the knowledge that because we both enjoy the same experience, we can become friends, and act in accordance to that ideal. By signing her book, I had signed a contract with the universe. Now if only the business world operated that same way. What a better world it would be.

Peace until next time, 

Emerson 

And now, before we go...

      the vision of...

            a beautiful white fairy...

   One of Linda's long time Faerecon friends...

NOTE: Big thanks to Nena-Pauline Aviles for sharing her "Book of Gods and Goddesses" and for being one of the thousands who put the true spirit into Faerecon. And to Tami Rausch for coming all the way from Utah and dreaming big! (Get that book manuscript going, Tami!)

                    Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

We'll talk about new artists and new friends in the fairy realm, Linda's world since Faerecon, and whatever else comes up!

Until then...as Bob Dylan once said, "I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours."

Welcome to the All Hallow's Eve post. It's a post about what you want, but cannot touch. It's a post about the temptations that close in on all of us, making us account for our life...and those spirits on the far edge of a dream that lead us from light to darkness. The sky will be full of these spirits and you just might find yourself asking some curvey swath of ghostly vapor--"What sort of spirit are you, anyway?"

 And he or she might look at you and simply reply..."Come along and see."

 Linda's newest.

This brown eyed fairy has a secret she's not going to tell. But she's not shy, and soon.. you'll know why!

Keep checking Linda's site for this one. She's a beauty who says..."Come away with me, because I cannot take you there myself." When you see the painting, you'll understand. I myself, want nothing more than to undo those ties that bind. Come see her at Faeriecon.

The News...

Faeriecon!!! --> November 6-7-8, This will be a party!http://www.faeriecon.com/

Linda on the WJZ Channel 13 Morning Show in Baltimore -- 6.45 a.m. on Monday, November 2nd!!!  GW Zouck thanks Marty Bass and Don Scott -- you guys rock!!!

Rocker of the week...

Deb Callahan can sing the blues like no one's business. Check out her song "Food on the Table" - it plays on her website. Guys have tagged that line in blues songs for way too long! 'bout time for a change. Deb plays a lot of local shows up and down the East Coast so check her out if you can.

Commentary...

The Minister's Black Veil... or (Sermon from the Dead)

Take my hand and watch the spirits rise, half in and half out of the blackened morgue. They rise effortless and float forward, rotted and putridly wrapped in the mold of decaying gowns. Look around you while you still have time…

Be mindful, my children, when you see the living dead. Do not so readily judge them. For we all wear a mask; and the one you wear now will become permanent. So why not love as you want to love? Why must you bind yourself in veils; soft chains of unfulfilled passion? Like hungry souls you roam the earth, moaning like the Buddhist dead. Why must you hide your true longings in life, and then cling to the walls of your grave!

Tonight these spirits will come for you. They come because you did not go to her, alive and standing by an open door; one moment a longing glance, the next she was gone forever. You have made it that all the spirits roaming tonight, scream unfulfilled through the walls of eternity. Witches, wizards, brahmans and gods…all pour forth their chants and incantations; all their silly, flailing prostrations—nothing they or you do can stop them!

All you can do is wait, my child… and listen for their whispering moan. For they come to taunt you for your weakness. They want you to become… just like them.

Parson Hooper 1804-1864

"Now line up for drinks, ye drunken ghosts of Zouck Tavern... What have ye to say!"

"Huzza for Wild Goose! Best beer in Maryland!"

The editor at this establishment suggests the Oatmeal Stout... or to celebrate the season, try their seasonal "Pumpkin Patch Ale"

Now fly, my children, but before you go I ask you this one simple question... just what type of spirit are you...anyway?

PEACE

p.s. - Parson Hooper is the main character in Nathanial Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil". Rev. Hooper didn't actually write that commentary. N.H. is my mentor writer... a shout out to Nat! If you really want a deep short story, try "Young Goodman Brown". It about says it all when it comes to the veil behind all we see.

New Blog Coming on Oct. 29. Please check in and see what the spirits conjure up this time.

"The edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over." 

  Hunter S. Thompson

PEACE

Welcome to the new moon of October! A time when all free spirits come alive. A time when passions flow in the cool night air...it's the build up to All Hallow's Eve. So true to the spirit of Linda's blog, we want to inspire you to be your beautiful self...and dance by the light of the moon.

New in Linda's Rainbow World

Check out Linda's newest fairy! She's giving away a free print during October with any purchase of the Rainbow World book...  and Pitiful Polly makes her framed debut. There's a ton of meaning in this work. You can see it in Linda's eyes.

Some faces in the moonlight...

If you want to explore deep down into the fairy realm, check out Tami Ruesch's "The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry" http://Fairiefabels.com/  Tami is passionate about the realm beyond the mist and a genuine and soulful person. Also great Halloween links on her current site. Check it out.

Okay, I totally rocked out this week to Brandi Carlisle's "Folsom County Blues" while driving down some country road. This woman has passion! Hell, yeah. She's playing October 8th at the Rams Head in Bmore!  http://www.brandicarlile.com/

What's new at Zouck?

Zouck's newest author, Eve Rizzo, read at the Quail Ridge Bookstore in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her book, Clarrie Hancock, is about a young girl in the slums of Depression-era England who wants more for her life than what society tells her she is destined to. This book is a testament to strong woman everywhere, of any age. Stay true to yourself, and never let the bastards get you down! Check out a first chapter sample on the Zouck website.

And don't forget about Faeriecon on November 6-8 in Hunt Valley, Maryland. I'll be there with Linda... a little nervous and new to it all! I'd love to meet everyone and talk about the books you like, love...want more of!

   Commentary

         Art Expressed as Us

Passionate people engage in the art of the human body. Artistic images become part of us, tattooed in our flesh and waved like a freak flag, freeing us to better define ourselves. Our passion for expression entices us to dye our hair red, pierce our lip…or open up a publishing house in an age where practicality trumps dreams. Yes, sometimes our actions are impulsive; sometimes courageous, sometimes foolish, but always towards movement and expression. And this tendency towards action is what I’ve come to define as beautiful; as sexual and perfect in its ideal. This stands true of anyone, of any age or condition.

This week I lunched with a beautiful woman with cerebral palsy who teaches others how to live and wants to tell her story to the world. I watched my young niece take on the media at the G20 demonstrations in Pittsburgh. I watched my daughters pour over books, dreaming of worlds waiting to be changed. And I had coffee with Linda, where we plotted greatness and taunted those who crave their puffy couches, themselves becoming puffy as their vitality gets hijacked by Real World faux famers and corny Jay Leno skits. They become collectors of Fox News images and weeds grow up and around them.

So the trick to it all, I think, is to keep the mind and body moving. Express yourself. Write that book, even when the world says you’re too old or that no one reads anymore. People will always read… just like people will always take walks in the park, holding hands with someone they love. There isn’t a Wii in the world that can top that experience! And collect the right kind of images. Because when we look back, it’ll all be a dream. And our minds will only see spirit faces, waving back and fading softly into moonlight.

Peace until next time - Em

Footnote: For a tasteful blog about sexuality and art, check out http://sexualityinart.wordpress.com/  This isn't a site for the kiddies, but what I like about it is that the author centers on respect and kindness. It's also intelligent stuff, so you'd better have your brain game on.

A Final Note...

Keep checking in with Linda over the next couple of weeks. She's going to be pushing the edges on her next painting; taking that full moon passion to some hot new places. Something tells me there'll be plenty to buzz about at Faeriecon!

And another Final Note...

If anyone wants to send me thoughts or suggestions for future posts, without going through the "comment" section on this site, please send emails to me at emerson@gwzouck.com

I just had to open this entry with this photo. There isn't anything more complimentary than to embellish one's beautiful body with someone's art.  

Words ain't nuthin' compared to this!

 Linda's News:

 New Studio!

Ahhh.. yes... there will be a burst of creativity coming forth this fall. Linda just finished a total remake of her studio and now she can truly EXPLORE her rainbow world.

Our goal at Zouck will be to film some of that action at Linda's new digs. We want to see the real essence of the quote from her book that, if I remember correctly, went something like this.... "...she'd get lost lost for hours in the total indulgence of her deepest thoughts; her body reacting with her fantasy as she painted."

Shooo weee, that studio better have a big, thick lock on the door!

 Sense the sultry fairie spirit dancing all alone...

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      Also in the news...

Linda will be giving away a free print of "Organic Panic" with every purchase this September. A cupcake fairy can't do nothing but make you feel better. And we could all use a little caressing. Linda always says that art has a great way of lifting us through this occasional mess called life. Or as my man Dylan once sang... "the sky too is folding under you, cause it's all over now..baby blue."

On that note --> For Zouck's other book "Clarrie Hancock" -- stills from the filming of a book promo...

AND - The Zouck cronies are heading down to Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend to film the author speaking at the prestigous Quail Bookstore. Lot's of writer-types to attend... be watching for the YouTube link of her reading on my next entry.

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Emerson's Commentary

Stand in the Place that You Are (stolen from REM)

Today I sat in a park and watched the world with my subtle Zen eye. There were the middle-aged men with button-down shirts, enunciating loudly their tales of spurned woman and roads not taken. There was the office worker, hunched alone on her lunch break, pouring over a novel; probably a novel about a place a zillion miles from Baltimore, a place where all men are bare breasted and woman tiptoe in dark castle hallways.

Then meandering up from the garden, comes the expensively suited gentlemen topped with a nifty straw hat, like a southern lawyer, only this one holding up the tanned back of a trophy blonde and not a case of wrinkly papers, meant to set ol’ Boo Radley free. And over to the courthouse steps, like a vision moving in perfect—joyously jiggling rhythm, comes a dark-haired woman in tight pinstriped slacks and two-inch heels. Ten thousand slaves built the mighty pyramids, all for the hope of one glance of Cleopatra’s backside. Some things are eternal truth. Some things never change….

Suddenly I was overcome with the image that we are all one tribe, complete with our collective insecurities; our pride, our sex, our want of sex, our dreams, our joy—especially our joy. And looking out over that park was like looking at a mirror of all that is this human drama, our one-time shot at it all. And I went on to think that maybe God, or the magical souls of nature spirits, are just mirrors unconditionally reflecting everything, but taking in the emotional stuff—like sadness, anger, happiness, lust, and churning it all around, not making any judgment, just shooting it right back at us. The more love we send out, the more love we get. The more pain we send out…well, you get the gist.

When I finally got up and started walking back to the office, still feeling the warm sun on my skin, I couldn’t stop thinking that seeing and wanting to be seen are really good things. I know it’s corny, and it’s said a million times a day…but smile at the world and the world smiles back. So make yourself seen… no matter what you’re about. Bless that girl in the pin-stripped slacks, and all those boasting middle-aged men, and the hunched over reclusive reader-dreamer girl. Like Linda’s art… wear it on your sleeve, for each unique expression we make, feeds the spirits who feed the world.

See you next time... peace - em

Walt Whitman wrote that we should “habit ourselves to the dazzle of the light and every moment of our lives”. What is it to be “dazzled” by light? It would seem a mixture of wonderment and surprise…no, that’s too simple. To me, being dazzled has a burst of bewilderment backed with the flooding warmth of human joy, topped finally with an intuitive sense of knowing—of realizing how unique and wonderful the moment is.

To take it further, it’s an instant flash when you know a piece of your soul is being formed; you see through the veneer of the day-to-day and for a moment, time stops. Perhaps in the end, that moment will swirl within the thousands that pass your mind’s eye in your final seconds of breath. And to my beliefs anyway, they’ll carry on beyond.

To further explore the point, give something a try. Divide your life into segments…maybe periods of your marriage, or school life, or simply decades. In your mind, move along through these periods and allow visions to arise that are associated with those times. Don’t stop and think or dwell, just follow it along like a trailer in a movie. These instances you’re seeing in your head – most of them happy, I hope – are the “dazzles of light” Whitman was talking about.

I bring this all up because I had one of these instances this last weekend. Linda and I were at our booksigning and I caught myself in the moment, struck by how powerful and wonderful it is to have great friends, and to have so many representing the whole span of my life. There were neighbors from when I was twelve; former school teachers, former lovers.

I emailed Linda afterwards and we talked about how important that day was for us. We were both so excited we could hardly sleep. The booksigning gave us such a sense of validation. But beyond that, it brought back one of my dazzles of light from when I was 16, seeing Linda running across the school parking lot in her cheerleader outfit, probably rushing to meet someone a thousand years from the crowd I hung out with. But still, of a million high school images, that stuck with me. 

It took thirty years before we talked, and we’ve now become great friends. Yes… Walt was right. Habit yourself with the dazzle of light. In that light is where the power is. In that light might be your future. -- Emerson

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The booksigning!!! THANK YOU... (Next one in the Fall)

 Stay tuned!

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In a few weeks I'll have my first conversation with Linda about her next piece of art. Be sure to check in then, sometime in later August.

Until then, this'll be me in the Adirondacks (painting by Chloe Probst)-

See you next time and check in on Linda's website to see what she's up to... and spread the word -- Linda's fairies are going to rock the world!

The world is full to brimming with words. Some good and some bad, but all of them painfully chiseled from someone’s soul, or the soul they once had. Reading is an intimate experience in a world seeking touch…the one on one—the real stuff.

But does literary honesty trump the stimulation of movies, “real TV” and talk radio?  I crave modern media. I crave the senseless chatter because it makes my world bigger. I lose myself in it, like a wine buzz on a Friday night. But somewhere deep inside…loneliness creeps in. Where’s the honesty? Where’s the real connection?

So it came to me that this ongoing collection of words thrown into the great virtual heap should simply explore the relationship of two friends, a man and a woman. Each week we’ll talk and I’ll pull from Linda some insight about living the creative life, and I’ll give this to you wrapped in my euphoric, always romantic, and always personal way. This is all I can give, something honest and real to fill the space.

Because I’ve come to believe that we can’t go wrong if we fill our minds with the right words. Of this there can never be enough. And through this we can never be lonely. Just full to brimming. The best way to be! -- Emerson

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New In Linda's World!

Check Linda's work in progress (Organic Panic) - available soon! Check out her site link for a bigger picture, complete with cupcake. This is just a close up, which works well enough for me!

And don't forget to come to Linda's booksigning at Greetings and Readings in Hunt Valley from 12-2 this Saturday, July 25.

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Come back in a few weeks after Linda and I have a chance to meet again.  We'll talk about Organic Panic, or the Cupcake fairy, and we'll see what in Linda's mind lead to fairies rolling around on top of pastries. I have some thoughts about this myself...

Send a comment or email to ejprobst@gwzouck.com and ask to be put on our blog alert list. (since I only write when I'm in the mood)

Peace until next time.. and see ya Saturday!