Life is like a bowl of...

It's really true. Picking wild blackberries with Lochlan this morning, i thought about how similar berry picking is to the process of life. Telling Lochlan to pick only the dark, ripe berries - like accepting and appreciating the juiciness life has to offer right now, and having faith that there is much more to come. Fortunately, admitting that i have an addiction to berry picking is't so bad. Who doesn't appreciate that feeling of suddenly spotting the perfect object - waiting just for you...your mind races with all the things you could do with it (berry pie? berry cobbler? berry scones?).
Yesterday we went to Watertown, and before we left, i happened to spot a bunch of black and white t-shirts on a display table. Now i should mention that cheap, black and white, v-neck t-shirts have been "my thing" lately - so it was just meant to be that these shirts were there waiting, with their $2.99 price tags. Yes, i'm thanking the universe for these gifts, along with all of the really big gifts in my life ;) ...which reminds me, Isobel and Troy will be home in about an hour!

T-shirts

Maybe I'm hopelessly addicted to t-shirts. I've certainly had a number of untoward comments this week when I wore a t-shirt, and--god-forbid--a baseball cap. Two people remarked that I looked unprofessorial. Isobel had a sleepover at a friends house last week and left her Nintendo--when I went to pick it up, her friend's stepfather thought I was her brother. Apparently wearing a baseball cap subtracts 20 years--I'll have to remember this!

So with the extra free time I've had now that Isobel and Troy are on their trip, I decided to make a Sister Mars t-shirt, based on a still from last weekend's video shoot. So here it is:



A bit reminiscent of Gorey. My first version was a little less cartoonish, but Nico said I made her look too old, so I scrapped it for this one. Can't wait for our trip to Michael's tomorrow for t-shirt transfers!

Only four - it's like a vacation!

Amidst our week without Isobel and Troy (off visiting NYC with Grandpa Noble and Maryon), I've had the occasion to appreciate some of the finer things in life... One of the things I've grown to love about Norwood, is neighborly banter - in all it's blatant honesty. Sometimes people share info. that is truly stunning to the unsuspecting populace. You have to love it though - there's something so endearing about just letting it out - saying what you have to say without pretense. Thomas Moore's advice to look at life and our stories as poetry really helps me appreciate others, and even recognize humor where I truly least expected it.
Yesterday I had my first real berry picking excursion in our yard...now my appetite is whetted, and I'm anxious to find a u-pick farm and go wild!
Well, I wouldn't want anyone thinking that there's no work to be done in the Sweeney household, so I'm off to clean something - oops! Guess we'll be driving Sterling and Nico in to their summer program at the beach. How did it get to be 10:00?

World Premiere, Sister Mars Atrocity's "Translucent"

So, here it is, the first video from the album "Nocturne." Nico was very cooperative, even if the weather was not particularly good for shooting. This is the compressed version of the video, so it isn't quite as crisp as I'd like it, but the next size up is slightly over the limit for the blog.

Short post tonight, preparing Isobel and Troy for their trip to the city and finishing grades.
Enjoy.

Songs in the Key of Dark

Wow, it's been a busy week! Ginger's been keeping the blog fires burning while I've been working on finishing up a couple of projects. This has been the last week of my summer term class, and I just have to do the last couple of grades. I've also had to get one of my fall online classes ready for review, which took forever.

There is also a new Sister Mars Atrocity album, coming out this Tuesday. I'll be selling it on my artfire site: studiomacsuibhne.artfire.com. The album is called Nocturne, and it is definitely a nighttime album, inspired largely by David Lynch, the Cure, the Twilight Series, Concrete Blonde, Massive Attack, and Roxy Music. I think it sounds dark, moody, and dreamlike. I'm putting together a promo video for one of the songs, Translucent, which is probably my favorite song I've ever made. I'll be posting the video here as soon as I complete it.

Other highlights of the week: taking Isobel and Troy to see Harry Potter (the most amazing clouds I've ever seen in a film), starting a little campaign to get local organizations to use local photography studios for things like school pictures and team pictures, and last but not least, celebrating Troy's ninth birthday. Here he is at cake time:

Does anybody really know what time it is?

Yes, it's bedtime, but since I'm the adult, I have to wait until the kids go to sleep first. But wait, we have 3 Netflix movies to watch before that's going to happen...I'm just a slave to entertainment. Regarding entertainment, I get a daily e-mail from my "friend" Neale Donald Walsch, and today he was asking me what kind of entertainment I give my attention to. Boy would Neale be shocked. Instead of drowning our brains in mindless television (like we used to), we spend most of our time entertaining ourselves with creative projects and creative ideas. I'm using the term ideas, since it would usually be called conceptual art - in snootier circles. For example, today Chris and I came up with what we would call "Contemporary North Country Lawn Ornaments." Expertly handcrafted of quality chipboard and the blackest black paint, various silhouetted forms would bring a "North Country" feel to any lackluster lawn...Examples would include Dude Trio - three guys with beer guts standing around an ATV, deep in conversation, Large Lady on Lawn Tractor (pretty self-explanatory), and - for a driveway in need of "action," Two Pickups Stopped in the Middle of the Road, Talking. Amazingly, one of our old ideas has been realized by one of Dave Beck's students in Clarkson's digital arts and science program. We thought we were pretty cutting edge with our "Amish Action Figures," and apparently it was floating around in the collective unconscious...
Ahhh, most of the children are upstairs. You know what that means...we get to eat a treat and don't have to share (except with Lochlan, since he never stays upstairs unless he falls asleep right away). Tonight's treat is what I've dubbed English Popcorn. I put Worcestershire flavored pepper in it - voila!

Christmas in July

Really...it's not right to need slippers in July - but apparently, when it's 50 degrees inside, that's all I can think about.
Lochlan is wearing Nico's backpack - he's ready to go to the "summer" rec program with everyone...little does he know we have Bigger Plans! Canton Farmers' Market, here we come! Oh, and maybe a stop at WalMart since I made the mistake of telling the kids that we should get them mosquito netting to cover their beds at night...doubt they'll have it, but there's always hope.
Worked on some jewelry pieces yesterday - I made four bracelets, which is pretty prolific for me! I'll have photos up on my sale site soon (gingeralyce.artfire.com). Speaking of prolific, Chris is making some fantastic music these days. I'm so lucky to be the first one to hear his new stuff...pure genius.
So far, so good, these last few days since attending a mini retreat with Linda Potter on living a succulent summer. Anyone know of a good place to test-drive convertibles? How is it possible that I've always loved them, but have never ridden in one? Guess I can wait till the storms and frigid weather are gone for my other "succulent summer" plans...

Bubblemania!

Here are the pictures of the kids encased in bubbles! They each got two times in the bubble, except for Lochlan, who decided he was done after only one. I was surprised--I would have thought he'd love it.

Monday, Monday

Oh, life is soooo sweet! My two little boys are smiling at each other...Izzy, Troy Boy, Nico Deeco, and Sterly Wirly have all gone to summer rec, and I've been checking e-mail. What to do today? Watch a movie (Fool's Gold, again), read Martha Stewart magazines and plan to make her featured recipes, make some jewelry...? Sometimes I can't believe how easy and lovely life is (usually those times when running away seems like the only sane option - like when the kids fight!).
We had an interesting trek in the woods behind the school yesterday afternoon - there were actually more mosquitoes there than we have in the livingroom - and I doubted that was possible... There's nothing like the serene scent of full-grown evergreens.
I was thinking about the fact that we travel (well, Norwood, Canton, Massena!) a great deal as a family - when we do things, we usually do them together. I'm so grateful that for the most part, we all behave pretty well. There are so many amazing surprises awaiting us all in the great wide world. One recent unexpected joy was our trip to see Bubblemania in Potsdam - it's this guy, trained as a clown (I think?!) who makes all kinds of bubbles with soapwater and wands. My two favorites were his popcorn popper bubble and the disco ball. Who knew beautiful bubbles could be even more beautiful? Oh - of course there were the children in the bubbles - our own! I'll see if I can get Chris to post those pics - fantastic!

Welcome to Beads Beats & Bytes

Hey there and welcome to our blog. Ginger and I have both tried to keep blogs going before, and we both fizzled out after a few posts. But I was thinking today that when we team up we've been known to be a bit, er, prolific, maybe if we put together a joint blog we'd have enough material to keep it going.

So for all the people who've asked how we do it, here you'll get a taste of living in a house with six children ages 3 months-11 years, as well as some glimpses into our creative works in jewelry, photography, and music.

Here's a sample of one of my current projects:





This is part of an ongoing series of filtered photographs inspired by scenes and characters from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. I'm trying for equal parts whimsy and menace. So far Ginger thinks they tip much closer to the menacing side:( This one's called "Mad Tea Party," btw.

And now we're going to take advantage of the brief hiatus in rain to take the kids for a quick hike. Off we go!