Some Like it Hot

The word for the week is HOT. It's all relative. Think Alannah Myles singing "Black Velvet," the line about "Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell." That's hot!

Or, better yet, "Some Like it Hot," with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Racy for 1959. The silver dress!

When we were compiling the word list for 2015 we were really just thinking temperature. Here in Arizona, the summer heat doesn't start to fade until mid-October. Indeed, this year, right this minute, record temperatures and, well, it's a DRY heat. (And for the record, there are no Saguaro cactus near the monoliths of Monument Valley, but it makes for great scenery in our favorite cartoon!)

Don't laugh! We'll take it over a day in mid-July on the East Coast. A hundred and five with single-digit humidity is WAY better than 80 with 99 percent when it's NOT RAINING! Death Valley on the first day of summer, well, THAT took our breath away (and at 121 wasn't the hottest day of summer there!).
We're well adapted to desert living, but sometimes it feels like an inferno. It must be what Dante had in mind.

Limbo
First Circle of Hell
 Petites Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry

Of course, in the Southern Hemisphere, it's the end of winter, right? So, summer's heat is just a mirage. For now.
Meanwhile, we're sticking with our favorite coping mechanism:

From Women's Health Magazine

AHHHHHH! That's better.

Or else creating COOL art in air conditioned comfort. That works, too!

Show us your HOT twinchies!
Send them to:
1xeritas@gmail.com by 2PM Tuesday, October 6, 2015. Share your story/blog link as you so desire.
And spread the word so more can play!

Week 14--Cake

Our inbox has been filled with delightful stories and some very yummy offerings.

Ann in Denmark got her daughter involved--while Ann drew her twinchie, her soon-to-be ten year-old daughter actually baked a cake! She said by the time she finished drawing, the house smelled heavenly. YUM!

Cake
by Ann

Sarah shared this story from Michigan:

This year a very special thing happened while at lunch on my birthday. An older lady was having her birthday at the restaurant with a group of people. She was in her late 70's, and I was turning 38. I waved at her and wished her a happy birthday and said 'me too!' And she smiled. A half hour later one of the older ladies friends brings my Mom and I each a piece of coconut cream cake. 

I will treasure that moment as I said thank you, and the old lady waved and smiled. Definitely the best birthday cake ever. 

Cake
by Sarah

From Arkansas, Freebird sent a slightly off-centered wedding cake:

Cake
by Freebird

Our official response to the challenge is:

Cake
by Cheryl

This weeks offerings made us very hungry! It just happens to be a birthday WEEK in our house, but EVERY day is cause for celebration, isn't it?
Be sure to check out what all of these talented artists are doing--it's typically a LOT! And join in the fun, won't you?
Until next time....Let them eat CAKE!

It's Almost my Birthday!

Gil's fifty-one year-old sister has Down's Syndrome. Her birthday is in June and she'll remind you every single day that it's, "almost June." And every day after her birthday means that it's almost her birthday.

Even if it's 364 days away.

My children are both August babies and then there are just a slew of them in the family one right after another...and then there's mine. After six weeks of cake (and pizza or pizza and cake...), it's time for something different.
Growing up in New Jersey, there was really only one answer: apple pie!

From the foodnetwork.ca
YUM!

Thankfully, Gil is a baker and makes a mean apple pie! Because it's still summer in Phoenix, we're not cranking the oven up until about Thanksgiving. But, it's so good, I can wait!
In the meantime, we can dream of cakes!

(If we did that, we'd burn the house down!)

Or we can draw visions of cake! Or for the tanglers in the bunch, "Cayke, " by Rose Brown. 

The closest I can get to attribution of the art is via tanglepatterns.com, THE repository for Zentangle patterns, and Linda Farmer has done a nice interpretation there. I found this blog post by "Trish," as illustration:

Cayke Walk
by Trish

Hearts and flowers! How sweet!

So...how do you celebrate YOUR birthday? What kind of cake do you like? 

And more importantly, is there vanilla ice cream involved?!

Show us your "Cake" twinchies! Send them to:

1xeritas@gmail.com by 2PM Tuesday, September 22, 2015. 

We'll just have ONE BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Week 13--Treasure

We're always thrilled to see what goodies are dropped into our inbox! It's like a little treasure trove of artful goodness. And the stories that are sent along, just warm our collective hearts!
Zoe sent this message from Australia a couple weeks ago, compelled to tell her story,

My husband is my only treasure, hence the twinchie. I marbled the paper with gold acrylics. Our actual wedding rings are made from surgical steel. We picked them up at a local market a few days after the registry office.  LOL.

This twinchie will  be incorporated into a slightly bigger piece that I will publish the same day (or just after) this twinchie is published.

Treasure
by Zoe

Sarah in Michigan was quite philosophical as well:

My love of faith, God and His Words:

Treasure
by Sarah

Ann in Denmark sent her treasure chest full of goodies (and you can see all her other twinchies on her blog; she's done them all! Yo! Ho! Ho!):

Treasure
by Ann

From Arkansas, Freebird sent us a treasure map made out of little treasure beads, saying,

I decided to make a treasure map, this one shows a ship, forest, housing, water and of course the big red "X"

Treasure
by Freebird

And we were feeling a little philosophical ourselves, She is Wisdom is the desire you seek:

She is Wisdom
by Cheryl

These are all lovely thoughts and great interpretations on the theme, don't you think? We are grateful for the participating artists; please take a moment to check out their work and let them know what you think! Or perhaps join in on the fun...!

Until next time....

X Marks the Spot

Have you ever been Geocaching? Have you ever even heard of it?
If you're not familiar, it's hiking with a destination, a GPS reading that will get you to a "spot."

Treasure Map
Hammer Museum
UCLA

When Gil's sister lived with him, it was a way to get her to get out and get some exercise...because at the "spot," she would find a little can of trinkets, if everything worked to plan. Meleny liked going on these treasure hunts.
Which brings us to this week's art challenge: "Treasure."
One of our favorite "holidays" is coming up: International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19. That alone is cause for celebration, isn't it?

Savage (Pirate) Chickens
By Doug Savage

That's from Doug Savage, savagechickens.com. Everyday he posts a drawing on a yellow sticky note. Hilarious!

When my daughter thinks Pirates, it's everything about Orlando Bloom, with Johnny Depp a sad, far second.

Orlando Bloom
Pirates of the Caribbean

When I think Pirates, I think of the Muppets.
Yes, really. Indulge us sometime and rent, Muppets' "Treasure Island." It's a hoot, if a bit dark for the Muppets. (Our favorite part is the Cabin Fever show).

Muppet's Treasure Island

The objective to all these productions, of course, is the treasure:

This is from Michael Morejon
theologygaming.com

What is the treasure you seek? What have you found in your travels?
Bring us your "treasure" twinchies!
Send them to 1xeritas@gmail.com by 2PM, Tuesday, September 8, 2015. Add a link to your blog, if so desired.
Check out the other pages for The Rules. If you have a question, same email will get you closer to an answer.
We look forward to seeing what you uncover!