My Play Room

A peek from the entrance to my newly redecorated work and play room.

A 1970 talking Cat in the Hat puppet was the last touch on my studio makeover.

I recently impulsively bought this well used and loved talking puppet and I am completely smitten. His perfectly sly smirk, crazy yellow eyes and non working pull string compliment his ratty tatty dirtballness. He sits on top of my desk lamp.

I am so in love with my new studio.

I did an overhaul and made my messy, unorganized, work space into something more inspiring.

Something that reflects my store aesthetic and my creative side.

A place where I can work and be productive.

But also, where I can play.

My studio (which now resembles Pee Wee's Playhouse on crack) is not only where Sweet Love Vintage happens, but it's where my imagination, inner artist, closet geek side, and quirky sense of humor hang out.

My window valance is made up of old game boards and school flash cards.

My wall of books containing mainly art books, reference books, and includes books by some of my favorite artists/authors: Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Edward Gorey, Brian Andreas, Andy Warhol and Marc Johns.

Vintage toys and tiny things used for my photography props line the blue metal shelves. I wallpapered the wall behind them in vintage piano music.

Sweet Love piano music cover sheet is my welcome sign at the door and an old Cricket chalkboard is hung for little reminders.

Near the ceiling I hung white lights and a teal feather boa. I spray painted cheap paper stencils from a local home improvement store and hung them with mini wood clothespins. Sweet Love and Curious are code for my two sons. The huge bulletin board will have an ever changing display of inspiration.

The flash card with the word neat on my bulletin board is rather ironic. I am a complete mess when I work. I usually have several projects going on at once on my desk. I take stuff out and don't put it away, then I take more stuff out. Repeat. It starts to look like a landfill of art supplies, dust, post-its, and vintage paraphernalia. The state my studio is in right now is heavenly. It's so clean and organized I don't even know where to start. And unfortunately, I can't find anything because it's all put away. This is out of my element. When I wander through the door I turn catatonic. I just sit at my desk and look around as I am mesmerized and instantly inspired by all the colors and silliness. I immediately think of things I want to work on, but I'm scared to take stuff out.

I know as soon as I start one thing, just one little creative endeavor, I'm going to fuck it all up with my messy shenanigans. I am, indeed, like the mischievous Cat in the Hat, and will trash this room in an instant.

My desk will never, ever look like this again. Now matter how hard I try, I know myself better than that. I just want it to look this way a tiny bit longer. I might sit in my catatonic state while drooling and blowing spit bubbles a few more times before I start tearing it up.

If only my Cat in the Hat puppet would have come with a couple of blue haired Things and a big, red, noisy cleaning machine.

His Dynamic Industrial Renovating Tractormajigger.

To clean up after my messy shenanigans.

Can you hear me now?

HOMILY FOR THE 23rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, September 5, 2010:


Two priests were fishing on the side of the road one day. They thoughtfully made a sign saying, “The End is Near! Turn around now before it’s too late!” and showed it to each passing car. One driver who drove by didn’t appreciate the sign and shouted at them, “Leave us alone, you religious nuts!” All of a sudden they heard a big splash and looked at each other. Then the one holding the sign said, “Maybe it should just say ‘Bridge Out’?” Sometimes the words we choose can be shocking.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is also using some shocking language to get our attention. He says, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” These are jarring words to our ears. Hate our father and mother? What about the Commandment which call us not to hate, but to “Honor your mother and father?” Well, of course, Jesus is not instructing us to hate our families, rather, He’s trying to get us to wake up; He’s trying to shake us up to listen to the full, radical impact of His message of the Kingdom of God. Jesus wants to get our attention and so he says these shocking words. Are we listening?

Our world is obsessed with wealth, competition; it’s full of violence, war, and so much more. We call this the “real” world. And if someone were to suggest that we can live in radical non-violence, love, compassion, and forgiveness, they would probably be called a religious nut. But, Jesus reminded us that the supposedly “real” world is actually an illusion; it is phony; full of false hopes and promises. He calls us to instead be immersed in the new world that he calls so often the Kingdom of God. His strategy? Spiritual shock therapy. Jesus wants to shake us out of our complacency and into a whole new way of thinking, acting, and being.

When I attended World Youth Day a few years ago, there was a group of young people passing out stickers said, “100% Catholic.” We like that sentiment, but how many of us lead lives that are more like 80% Catholic, 50%, or even less? Jesus wants to remind us that we cannot follow Him half way. Discipleship is an all or nothing deal.

And this is the point of His shocking words to us today. In following Jesus, we have to go with Him the whole way. We can’t stop at the preaching and the miracles and leave Him when it comes to the Cross. We’ll never reach resurrection unless we’re along for the whole journey. We have to accept His way of seeing life totally and then put that into practice in the way we live. There cannot be, as is too often the case, a compromise, trying to have our cake and eat it. Jesus tells us that if it is a choice between even our families and living His ways, we must choose His ways. Jesus and His Gospel message have to be the number one priority in our lives.

Most of us follow a lifestyle dictated by our culture and our goals are the goals of the culture and, somewhere on the side, we try to fit in some aspects of Christian living. Too often, we do not want our Christianity to get in the way of our lifestyle. But this is precisely what Jesus is asking of us.

The only status that counts is our relationship with God and how we relate with other people, irrespective of their status in the world. Our real status is measured not by our rank or occupation but by the level of love and service offered to God through our relationships with those around us. What counts is not how we are looked at by others but the degree of care and compassion with which we look at them.

That is the meaning of the two parables, which Jesus gives as illustration. “Great crowds” were following Jesus with enthusiasm but were they ready? Did they realize what it really meant to follow Him? If not, they are like the king who goes out to war totally unprepared to deal with the opposing side. They are like a man who started out to build a tower and then ran out of funds or material. The become laughing stocks; inauthentic. If we try to walk with Jesus without being ready to commit to it; we too will miss the joy and happiness of the totally fulfilled life that Jesus is offering us.

Jesus tells us today that to be his disciple is to make every other thing in life – family or wealth, prosperity or health, pleasure or fame – second to Him. He means that on the list of our goals and priorities in life, attaining the kingdom of God must come first and then everything else will follow. It is a matter of life and death. He, and only He, is the way, the truth and the life.

Today’s gospel shows us how absolute and how radical the demands of discipleship are. Following Jesus is much harder than we perhaps thought at first. The Good News is that Jesus recognizes our weaknesses; and still invites us on this journey with Him. Does He have our attention? Are we ready to go with Him?

Let us make the simple, powerful words of St. Francis our own: “Jesus, You are enough for me.” Let us be completely His disciples.

May God give you peace.