Ug Oh Its Friday the 13th

I’m just getting back from the gym and I’m about to have a little something to eat- some oatmeal with honey, flaxseed, and blueberries.

Other than writing, I have lots to accomplish today on Friday 13th. Number 13 is my lucky number, but today, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. I must finish my “In the News” piece for the day. (It’s featuring the new Monster High Dolls from Mattel). I must work on finishing up odds and ends for my art show next weekend at The Collective for Sunset Junction. I just finished printing up my photo for the day; it’s my latest project. I will work on it for 30 continuous days. I must get a commissioned piece onto the canvas. I must drop off more ‘stuff’ at The Goodwill. And lastly, I must enjoy the process. ☺ I realize it’s not how much I do, but how I do it.

Rather than write a list of the Top Ten Books that have had the greatest impact on my life, I have decided, that for the next 10 days, I will post one at a time, as they each have a story behind them.

#10) Stranger in the Mirror by Sidney Sheldon. The book belonged to my older sister Chela; I found it on the living room couch (we had red and yellow curtains to match). It was the early 80’s and on this summer day, at 16 years of age, I fell in love with reading.

I was home alone with nothing to do, I remember thinking, “I’m bored!” I had a few 'safe' hours to do wahtever I wanted. I had already checked off everything on the “What I Would Do If I Was Home Alone List.” Out of curiosity, here are some of those embarrassing things on the list. Now remember, it was the 80’s and I didn’t know I was gay- in no particular order.

1) Write poems, inspired by The Smiths, on wanting to die and having no friends.
2) Play a game of Monopoly with my invisible friends and of course I didn’t cheat.
3) Masturbate to the ‘dirty’ magazines I had found in the back of the riverbed, of course looking mostly at the men.
4) Clean every room of the house; it was one of my favorite things to do, only when I was alone.
5) Snoop through all the drawers, including my parents.
6) Dance around the house completely naked and looking in the mirror while doing so.
7) Cutting the grass and trimming the bushes; it was relaxing, but I hated doing this when my dad was around.
8) Watching anything on TV in any room of the house. We had 4 TV’s.
9) Drawing “Gothic” things because I thought it was ‘so cool.’ Siouxsie and the Banshees was my favorite group.
10) And my personal favorite was putting on my little sisters clothes, shoes and make-up and walking around the house like I owned it.

So now back to reading, on this day I fell in love with books, I didn’t want to do any of these things. I picked up the book from the couch and I was hooked. The character's name was Toby and there was drama, comedy and most importantly, there was sex, lots of sex. In a couple of days, I was at the Sante Fe Springs Library looking for more books by Sidney Sheldon.

The piece here is from my Evolution series and it’s titled “Disguise #3." I choose this piece today in honor of remembering those days when I first put on my sisters shoes.

And now, I’m off to the races.

Happy Friday The 13th!