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I wrote this back in 2016, and ended up reading it again today. I'm lucky to have a boss who understands creatives, and a work situation where I am in a creativity-nurturing environment. :)

on creativity and art A good friend of mine, Christopher Gronlund, is a writer, hominidae podcast genius, and juggler (which fits, given his penchant for “balls in the air” quick wit and thinking). A recent …

A powerful read.

I'm glad Madonna is still kicking against the pricks. This is her magnificent speech while accepting Billboard Woman Of The Year. ..............
"I stand before you as a doormat. Oh, I mean, as a female entertainer," Madonna said. "Thank you for acknowledging my ability to continue my career for 34 years in the face of blatant sexism and misogyny and constant bullying and relentless abuse."

Recalling her life as a teenager when she first moved to New York:

"People were dying of AIDS everywhere. It wasn’t safe to be gay, it wasn’t cool to be associated with the gay community," Madonna recalled. "It was 1979 and New York was a very scary place. In the first year I was held at gunpoint, r***d on a rooftop with a knife digging into my throat and I had my apartment broken into and robbed so many times I stopped locking the door. In the years that followed, I lost almost every friend I had to AIDS or drugs or gunshots."

"In life there is no real safety except for self-belief."
"I was of course inspired by Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde and Aretha Franklin, but my real muse was David Bowie. He embodied male and female spirit and that suited me just fine. He made me think there were no rules. But I was wrong. There are no rules -- if you're a boy. There are rules if you're a girl,"
"If you're a girl, you have to play the game. You're allowed to be pretty and cute and sexy. But don’t act too smart. Don’t have an opinion that's out of line with the status quo. You are allowed to be objectified by men and dress like a slut, but don’t own your sluttiness. And do not, I repeat do not, share your own sexual fantasies with the world. Be what men want you to be, but more importantly, be what women feel comfortable with you being around other men. And finally, do not age. Because to age is a sin. You will be criticized and vilified and definitely not played on the radio."
Madonna also opened up about the time in her life when she felt "like the most hated person on the planet," she said, as she became emotional..
"Eventually I was left alone because I married Sean Penn, and not only would he would bust a cap in your ass, but I was off the market. For a while I was not considered a threat. Years later, divorced and single -- sorry Sean -- I made my Erotica album and my S*x book was released. I remember being the headline of every newspaper and magazine. Everything I read about myself was damning. I was called a w***e and a witch. One headline compared me to Satan. I said, 'Wait a minute, isn't Prince running around with fishnets and high heels and lipstick with his butt hanging out?' Yes, he was. But he was a man.
"This was the first time I truly understood women do not have the same freedom as men,"
"I remember wishing I had a female peer I could look to for support. Camille Paglia, the famous feminist writer, said I set women back by objectifying myself sexually. So I thought, 'oh, if you're a feminist, you don't have sexuality, you deny it.' So I said 'f**k it. I'm a different kind of feminist. I'm a bad feminist.'"
"I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around. Michael is gone. Tupac is gone. Prince is gone. Whitney is gone. Amy Winehouse is gone. David Bowie is gone. But I'm still standing. I'm one of the lucky ones and every day I count my blessings."
"What I would like to say to all women here today is this: Women have been so oppressed for so long they believe what men have to say about them. They believe they have to back a man to get the job done. And there are some very good men worth backing, but not because they're men -- because they're worthy. As women, we have to start appreciating our own worth and each other's worth. Seek out strong women to befriend, to align yourself with, to learn from, to collaborate with, to be inspired by, to support, and enlightened by," she urged.
"It's not so much about receiving this award as it is having this opportunity to stand before you and say thank you,"
"Not only to the people who have loved and supported me along the way, you have no idea...you have no idea how much your support means," she said, tearing up for the second time. "But to the doubters and naysayers and everyone who gave me hell and said I could not, that I would not or I must not -- your resistance made me stronger, made me push harder, made me the fighter that I am today. It made me the woman that I am today. So thank you."

A few calendars are available of The Possum, my handsome kitty! Let him grace your wall for 2022. :)

The Possum: 2022 Cat Calendar | Etsy My cat, The Possum, has been adorning the walls of family, friends, and even co-workers since 2015. For 2022 five calendars are available for sale: this spiral-bound wall calendar is approximately 11x17 inches when opened. Full-colour photos adorn each month. The Possum started his life as a stray

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https://streetartutopia.com/2019/11/20/street-art-by-creative-genius-tom-bob-33-photos/

Street Art by creative genius Tom Bob (33 Photos) | STREET ART UTOPIA With his vivid imagination the New Yorker Street artist Tom Bob conquers the streets with his crazy creations. He transforms the most unusual items, mainly urban furniture into art. Tom Bob refuses to simply live in the world. He’s reshaping it.

I love the simple, mousy joys of this artist. :)

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/08/anonymouse-miniatures/

AnonyMouse Wedges Miniature Shops and Restaurants Built For Mice into Busy City Streets In cities across Sweden, France, and the Isle of Man lies a parallel universe fit only for a mouse. Miniature restaurants, record shops, and apothecaries squeeze into ground-level windows on the street next to their human-sized equivalents. The adorable universe is a project from a collective aptly