Well. Last night was skit nite. Mom brought all her wigs and costumes. We promptly dressed the men in anything frilly and then came the fashion show. I've only got Peter and Doug's performance photos here - others are soon to follow. Enjoy these lovely shots. You can applaud, shudder or vomit ? !

Doug and I went on a very romantic nature walk last night just before dark.

Here we are up in Stowe, visiting the Ben and Jerry's factory. Anton fell asleep before we could get him his first taste of ice cream, so that'll have to wait. But this picture was pretty darn cute, no?

~S O • L O N G • F A R E W E L L:~

Tomorrow morning Doug, Anton and I will leave for Stowe, Vermont for a week long DuseyMooreDusey family reunion. We are staying at a charming place called the Winding Brook Lodge. Up the hill in Stowe is the Von Trapp Family Lodge. The Sound Of Music was my all time favorite film growing up and it's still one of those movies I have to see at least once a year. This lovely picture of Christopher Plummer playing the dashing Captain Von Trapp still makes my heart melt. The illustrated movie poster of him holding a riding crop with a stern look on his face is even dashinger. Is that a word?

So I'll be meeting up with my cousins and Aunts and Uncles from Dad's side of the family tomorrow. The last reunion was a beeelast~ We stayed at a ranch in texas.

So if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know why. I'll be staying up all night with my beloved cousins, catching up, telling stories, playing pranks and of course, sharing Anton!

"Mom taught Creative Strokes at PC and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."
Package the 7 deadly sins was the assignment. Yuri decided to screen print the sins under the brand "Cardinal" onto t-shirts. So I gave him a couple of Anton's white onesies and here's one of em. Lovey, no? I'll post the second version, Envy, soon. Thanks for the treat, Yuri!

~: F A T H E R ' S • D A Y:~
This year's Father's Day was a blast - being Doug's first and the fact that Peter and Mia made a surprise weekend visit to Atlanta. Peter helped Doug put up the last gate on the fence - so the construction is officially finished. Yay! We missed Glo, though - who is in France right now, but will join us in Stowe, VT next week for the Dusey-Moore-Dusey family reunion. Expect another flurry of photos within the next couple of weeks.

Want to see more Father's Day photos? Go here: http://web.mac.com/annedavnes/iWeb/Anne%20Pages%20Photos/Father%27s%20Day.html

Happy Father's Day, DougieFresh. You're scrumptious.

~:T E L L • M E • A • R E A L • S T O R Y:~

Last night I had the opportunity to critique Hank's Design History class. I saw my first set of chair projects. The stories came alive as people spoke about their journeys of enlightenment. It was beautiful to behold. Inspiring and humbling. We ended somewhere between 10:30 and 11:00 and though I was tired, I was wired by the time I reached the bed and therefore stayed up until 2:00, wondering what my own chair would look like had I been in that class.

The students at PC are like no other. They are asked to stretch open in more ways possible and then to stretch further. The PC program is unlike any other I know of. It was just awesome to sit there and absorb the insides of people. I felt enriched afterwards. Inspired. Enhanced as a person, as a designer. I was reminded about how important the story is. Hank always talks about storytelling. the projects that don't make it are the ones that don't have a story. The shallow ones without a point of view are the ones that sit on lonely shelves collecting dust. The projects that work are the ones that took work to get themselves there. They beg to be picked up and held. Touched. Asked about. These pieces require the viewer to consider their own stories.

All good art does that. Only the things that are real are worth sharing. Not that all your pieces have to be blatantly autobiographical. They don't. But in some way, they must reveal your personal experience, which requires one to pay attention to the world around them, react honestly to what they see or what they think their perceptions are, find the deeper truth, the real story, remain vulnerable, play and above all, gather your thoughts enough to share them with others.

I wanted to sit in just about every chair I saw last night. I wanted to cross all the bridges I saw. It all made me want to work.

When I took Design History from Hank, instead of chairs, we designed razors. My movement was Surrealism, which I didn't really appreciate until I began to explore it. After a quarter's worth of work, I produced what you see above. The sexually charged and ambiguous statement about femininity. I made a lot of students uncomfortable with that piece. Boy, did I have fun presenting it. "You have issues" one student said while shaking his head. But back to last night....

How lucky we are to have each other. Every piece we create is a gift. I can't think of anything finer than to be part of a community of workers who all want to do that one thing and to share the experience, that journey with me.

This life is hard. You get the crap beaten out of you at every turn. And it amazes me that we all have the power within us to create good anyway. That we can, through good design, tune out everything that doesn't matter, everything that clouds our vision, all the static and tension that prevents us from really knowing ourselves and really seeing each other - all that soulless crap that distracts us from the truth can be wiped away by one person who makes a chair worth sitting in, whose story is worth hearing.

~:I • S E E • A • G R E Y • R A B B I T:~

Below is an e-mail I sent to friends and family back in 2004, after a painful miscarriage and an epiphanic moment afterwards. I took a picture of our little grey rabbit gently guarding the base of our japanese maple. Above is the rabbit today. And you all know the rest of the story.

9.29.04

Dear Friends and Family,

I've got something to share with all of you. Brew a pot of tea.

Right after the miscarriage, my parents helped us pick out a tree to plant in our yard, in memory of our baby. I also chose a grey stone rabbit to sit under the tree and watch over the baby. We planted a japanese maple in the front yard, and I placed the rabbit at its base. See attached.

Now about 2 months ago, I sent Jean T. a message telling her my grief was over and confidently went on with life thinking the worst part of these past 3 months were behind me. I had done all the tough crying, wailing, gnashing of teeth, spitting and hitting I could. Got it out of my system. Processed it through art. There. Finis.

Well, it wasn't over. I was wrong.

Just after that winning moment came, I got an invitation to be with friends of ours who had their own one-year-old. I lost it. Went to bed screaming in the pillow. I had done just about every task grief required of me. Except one. I hadn't faced God with it. I hadn't faced the church. Not in months.

So off to church I went the next Sunday. There's a portion of the service where God is asked to speak to those who have a need they don't know they need prayer over. After the Prayers of the People, some folks get images or thoughts in their heads and speak out. These images have special meaning to those who need prayer. If you've got a broken finger and someone in the congregation says, "I see a person in pain, low self esteem....etc..." that's a cue to you from God. "Come talk to me."

So I listened closely as these Words of Knowledge were spoken.
"I see a grey rabbit" someone said. It caught Doug's attention. But not mine.

I walked out of church that day saying. "Well, that wasn't so bad" relieved I didn't have to cry in front of anyone.

We drove home and as we approached the house in our driveway, Doug said, "Hey, look! There's the gray rabbit."
It was then that I realized the meaning of it and that it was meant for me.

It was the most amazing moment. To realize that God personalized a message for YOU really makes you listen. He HEARD me. So we sat in that car for a long time and talked and cried. Talked for the first time about not being afraid anymore - about trying to have another baby. Starting over. New life. Together. And without fear.

We got out of the car and watered the tree together. I noticed that a little bunch of clover sprouted by the bunny. That warmed me inside. And as I changed the setting of the hose to mist, I could see a rainbow.

If this story were fiction, it'd be the worst of worst clichés. But it's not. It's real.

And I am so glad.

Love to you all,

~Anne

~:H I G H • S C H O O L:~

These are pictures of my father in High School. Way back in I don't know when. Looking at these is like looking in the mirror. If he was wearing a dress, it'd be me. I swear.

Oh, Tony. I hate you. I love you. I cannot bear the suspense.

~:J A M I E & K E V I N:~

Here are a couple of wonderful pictures of Jamie and Kevin having fun with MilkFace. Jamie babysat Anton the other week while I taught a class at PC and she snapped these pictures of their time together. These guys are engaged to be married this year. How long do you think it will take them to enlarge their little family? A month? Two, maybe?

~:G O O D • B O O K S:~
I just finished taking my second bookmaking class by Michael Goodman at PC. He is such a great teacher and an inspiration. Books are soothing objects to make. I like the little ones I can carry in my purse and write down thoughts, lists and tiny pictures. There's always a book, movie or site I want to know more about and these little hand held pages are the perfect place to put them. I started making expandable pockets in the back of these books to put receipts and business cards, along with an elastic band to slip a pen through. Then I made flaps and snaps, velcro closures and elastic bands to keep the books tightly closed and safe within the cluttered depths of my Harvey's bag.

The first time I took the class, I spent a fortune on handmade papers. Then I got smart and started buying vintage children's books at thrift stores, buying old sheet music, cutting out the pages and using them as decorative paper. Wallpaper samples also make great cover papers. Very unique and sentimental. And CHEAP! Pretty dern sweet.