Author: Mstldelano

Digital curator, art enthusiast, creator of daily luxurious experiences.
life curation

Welcome December: Looking Forward, Looking Back

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Can you all believe that we are here at the end of another year? This time of year always leaves me in awe: the dates are long but the years are short, as I’ve heard it described. I have written a post for every day this year, so you already know what my year was like. I haven’t been feeling my best over the past few weeks but overall, I’m feeling good about my year.

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The beauty of today, the first of December, is that there are still time to accomplish one (or more!) big goal(s) before the year’s end. Even if you haven’t taken action since before my Finish 2018 on a Strong Note post, there is still time to do something that you’ll be especially proud of. I will be reviewing my last Goal Update post and seeing what I can take care of before the end of the year. Feeling under the weather has slowed me down a bit but it hasn’t stopped me, and I’m determined to make this December count.

Going forward, there are a few things I’m mulling over for 2019. For one thing, I want to bring back my book reviews. I’m reviewing a book this month, and I’ll continue doing one per month until inspiration leads me to something else. I’m also going to be more diligent about creating content for my YouTube channel, since I like the thought of being able to communicate across different platforms.

This is going to be a fantastic month. I’m claiming it right now!

art

A Few More Pictures from “What Remains to Be Seen”

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I have a few more pictures from the exhibit, “What Remains to Be Seen”, featuring the works of Howardena Pindell. I wrote about the exhibit previously, but I returned to see it one more time before it left. Pindell’s work left a huge impression on me, if you couldn’t tell!

I hope you all enjoy these final glimpses of the exhibition. I will treasure the time that I spent learning about Pindell and marveling over her work. Stopping by VMFA one more time before the exhibition left was a wise decision: I’m glad that I did it!

life curation

NaNoWriMo Updates: Tomorrow is the Last Day

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Happy Thursday, y’all! This has been quite a November to remember. . . I’ve been working on a lot of projects, and as a result, my writing suffered this month.

Of all months for my writing to suffer, it happens during NaNoWriMo.

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I didn’t meet the 50k goal for NaNoWriMo 2018. I got to 20k, which is still impressive, but nowhere near what I intended for the month. So I’m frustrated with myself right now. I wish I could have rearranged my affairs so that I could pour more time into my writing, but the truth is, this just wasn’t a good month for it.

One of the things I’ve been actively working on is being gentle with myself. No one is more disappointed in my failings than I am, so if I am going to own my shortcomings, I also have to give myself room for grace. I’m at a point where I’m doing the best that I can with everything that I do but it doesn’t always turn out how I want it to.

And that’s okay.

On the upside, I haven’t given up on this story. I’m still going to reach my 50k words and when I do, I’m going to rejoice! Until then, I’ll keep plugging along.

Enjoy your day, loves! I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.

life curation

The Podcasts That I’m Loving Right Now

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Happy Hump Day, friends! We’ve made it to the middle of the work week- let’s continue to push forward. We can do this!

I’ve been concentrating on my writing for the past few days, so I haven’t been consuming a bunch of media. However, I have been listening to podcasts, since that gives my creative mind a bit of a break. So, I am going to share a few of my podcasting favorites that I’m currently listening to.

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Afford Anything with host Paula Pant is such a treat. Pant’s investigative journalist style lends itself well to her interviews with different financial experts and people who have achieved the financial independence/retire early (FIRE) lifestyle. One of my personal favorites is her interview with Natalie Sisson, who has a successful business that she runs – while living abroad.

The Side Hustle Show with Nick Loper is a treasure trove of business ideas. Start with any of them: you won’t be disappointed. Since I’m interested in becoming a published author. I’ve found the self-publishing episodes particularly helpful.

Abiola Abrams has been in the public eye for many years, but over the past several years, she’s grown a loyal following. She teaches women how to create businesses that are lucrative, serve a higher good, and are aligned with the entrepreneur’s purpose and passion. Her Spiritpreneur (TM) series covers a wide variety of topics and are very insightful. These are worth checking out!

life curation

Take This Course Before 2019

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I know we’re all excited to start 2019 on a strong note, and I’m all for finding (and sharing!) the tools and resources to make this our best year ever. So, I’m going to do a mini-series called the 2019 Toolkit. This is informal, but as I find things that I think will be useful to you all, I’ll share them here and tag them for your convenience.

I’ve come across this particular course multiple times over the past six or so years, and each time I see it, I’m impressed by the high student ratings and continued popularity. Learning How to Learn, a course available through Coursera, is a powerful tool for setting the tone for 2019 successes. The class is 12 hours of study, so 30 minutes a Day is more than enough time to complete the course by the new year.

travel

2019 Travel Plans: Looking Back, Looking Forward

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Well, as 2018 winds down, I can comfortably say that I’m done traveling for the year. I don’t anticipate going anywhere new until next calendar year, but boy, what a fun year this has been!

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From my trip to Kenya, to road trips to Philadelphia and North and South Carolinas, to my cruise last month, I’ve been a busy girl. And 2019 shows no signs of me slowing down!

I’m finalizing a few details on a late winter trip to San Juan, as well as a late spring/early summer trip to Paris. I was toying around with the notion of attending a very pricey and exclusive class next spring, but I’d rather spend my money on transformative or “bucket list” travel. The class can wait!

Next falls looks like it may include another family cruise and, if not, I’ll be in London for a few days to attend an event I’ve been eyeing. I’m also looking into some additional travel to the Pacific Rim: I haven’t decided on a country yet, but I feel like this region is calling me, so we’ll see where my hankering takes me.

I have to finish reviewing my cruise travel for you all, but once that’s done, I’ll be laser-focused on my 2019 plans. I’m so excited!!!

I hope you all are having a relaxing Monday and an easy transition into this post-Thanksgiving work week. Take care, and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow!

 

art · culture

Howardena Pindell’s “What Remains to Be Seen” at VMFA

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A few months ago, I went to a special event at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, announcing an upcoming exhibition. That exhibition was a retrospective of the creative career of Howardena Pindell, multimedia artist, activist and professor. “What Remains to be Seen” is an impressive ouevre that showcases Pindell’s evolution as an artist, and is broken down into the different phases of her life and creative journey.

Today (November 25) is the last day to see the works, so I’m heading to the museum shortly so I can enjoy them one last time before they leave. However, I’ve got a few pictures for you all in this post, some additional commentary (of course LOL!) as well as a YouTube video of Pindell’s most famous short, “Free, White and 21”. Enjoy!

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Howardena Pindell

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Pindell’s use of grids and numbers created some of her most riveting work. I love seeing how she turns numbers and otherwise sterile, math-related tools and objects, into art.

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The 3-d grid below is a good example of the blend of art and math. It’s probably one of my favorite works by her.

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The tiny individual circles affixed to many of Pindell’s pieces reveal her love of mathematic perfection reinterpreted. These pieces, attached to the grids she loved to work with, were occasionally numbered individually.

Like many artists, Pindell sought to promote cultural shifts through activism. Her works also featured socio-political themes that were near and dear to her.

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One of my favorite themes explored by Pindell was that of science. Closely related to her mathematics fascination, her interpretation of natural phenomenon and wonders created some of her most aesthetically charming works (though, to be honest, I love all of her work and find it all aesthetically pleasing). I especially loved “Nautilus” and “Night Flight” (pictures are below).

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Finally, here is “Free, White and 21”, Pindell’s video experiment where she aims to repair her memory loss (caused by a serious car accident) by recalling memories from earlier in her life.

life curation

Saturday Vibes

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Happy Saturday, kids! I wish this was a leisurely day for me, since it’s the weekend and I could use some more sleep. Alas, today is a day for work LOL!

Today . . . I’m writing. I’m cleaning. I’m still “making space”. I’m getting all of the “stuff” done that I’ve been neglecting. It’s not my typical relaxing Saturday, but I’m not complaining.  I needed this day of activity so that I could really knock out some things on my to-do list.

I have some good – scratch that, great – blog posts coming but today is a day for work. I recently finished a book that was sent to me by the lovely folks over at TCK Publishing. Oooh, this book is a good one, so I am SO eager to finish up that review and post it! But today’s work comes first. I figure I can be done before 5 PM if I’m focused, so off I go! I’ll talk to you all tomorrow!

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Black Friday Deals and Musings

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Happy Black Friday, friends! If you were able to spend time with your family and friends yesterday (on Thanksgiving), consider yourself very fortunate. I was able to visit one of my good friends, and I think it did us both a lot of good to share some time with one another.

Today, however, is Black Friday, the only day of the year where people are expected to act insane while trying to save a little money. I used to work in retail many years ago, and I worked several Black Fridays in a row (5 years straight, to be exact) and I haven’t physically gone out on Black Friday since then. I really lost my taste for shopping on this day, after I saw how wretched some people acted over “stuff”.

Don’t get me wrong: I like “stuff” as much as the next person. But I always found the Black Friday riots to be degrading and, to be frank, truly asinine. I never wanted my face to be caught up in that foolishness when the media covers the brawls and stampedes happening at big box retailers.

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Instead, I’ll peruse the sales at home and if I see something that I truly want, I’ll purchase it online. As an introvert, buying from home saves me the hassle of forced human interaction but also reduces some of the visual stimuli that can overwhelm me when I’m in disorganized, overcrowded stores. Today, I saw that some of my favorite retailers – White House Black Market, Black Halo, and Macys – are all running some pretty great sales this Black Friday. Even if you (like me) aren’t keen to interact with the crowds, this is a good time to purchase something that has been on your list for a while.

If you find some awesome deals, let me know in the comments below. Or, if you find that you just can’t hang with the Black Friday crowd, I’d love to hear all about it. Enjoy your day, and happy shopping!

life curation

NaNoWriMo Week 3 Updates: When Your Writing Mojo Has Stopped

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Happy Thursday, loves!

I’ve spent the past 7 days doing everything but writing. Yes, you heard me right: I’ve typed ZERO words this week. I feel a little nervous about hitting my goal of 50k words, but I’m respecting my creative cycles and remaining optimistic about reaching my goal before the end of the month.

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So what does that mean? I need to average at least 4500 words a day until November 30th. That’s a LOT of writing, but I’m up to the challenge. I’m determined to get to 50K!

Pray for me, y’all lol! Seriously though, if you can send some creative vibes my way, that would be great. I’ll do my part and type, type, type: even if I don’t have an idea where exactly I want the story to go. I’ll have made some major progress by my next update: I can feel it!