“A mop went to a party. But he was shy, so he just went home and cleaned up the house.” My wide-eyed 6-yr-old shared this with me a few days ago. He’d been tasked to create a story at school.  “That is a terrific story!” I said, charmed and full with love for my little Tolstoy. I am impressed by his literary effort for several reasons: It is short, sweet and utterly complete. It is random and unexpected. I haven’t heard too many mop stories recently. It has a clear protagoni

Stop waiting to see who watches No one watches At least not for long Everyone’s far too busy Looking in mirrors of their own ~ image courtesy of Black Country Museums ~ Vanity is tricky. I loathe it yet, as an artist, it is the fuel that stokes the flames of self-relection which, in turn, morph into paintings and poems and songs and Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim. Vanity’s blade cuts deep. Festering self-absorption and neediness. My children salved my wounds. And proved to m