January 26 Challenge: Choose Your Own Adventure

Jana had little idea what to expect when she entered the Peculiarium on that strange Portland side street.  The nine foot Sasquatch that greeted her and enveloped her intrepid companion in a Yettie embrace seemed like a fortuitous start.  She hadn't know an hour earlier when she asked for a :Big Old Cup of Black Black Tea that it would arrive as requested and require two hands to quaff it.  It was a surprise when the glass gallery featured extruded predators birds of prey, Strange Young Girls with heads of lambs and rabbits, and hyperbolic planes knit out of glass; and when the ladies in the back of the labyrinth Cargo store laughed when she asked if they might have any wish lanterns, because they had just finished pricing and tagging two thousand of them. By the time her "salad" arrived smash round and vertical she was getting less surprised, so it was no surprise at all when the waiter wrote a haiku in her journal.

Make today mysterious.  Go seek tiny adventures.  Look for clues.  Ask lots of questions.  Make friendly eye contact in foreign ports (even if it's that weird gas station you never go to).  Travel far and wide to a strange land (Scio?  Brownsville?  Valley of the Giants?) and take your recording devices:  camera, watercolors, reporter's notebook, a tape recorder.  Gather evidence to add to those of fellow detectives, and we will see what alchemical product we can assemble.

This quest requires a sense of bravery, whimsey, non-judgment and perhaps a mindset borrowed from a foreign stranger.  Collect souvenirs and report back.

You know that you know what to do.

January 24th Challenge: Poetry Thursday

First things first:  it's GLOBAL BELLY LAUGH DAY!  Don't forget to laugh at 1:24 p.m. (local time).  We could make that the whole day's challenge, but since that was used for last Friday's post, let it be a bonus.
http://bellylaughday.com/
 
Today's challenge is to engage with poetry.  As always, you have choices; as always, let me suggest you take two or three if you've time.

I feel vaguely obligated to tell you all the reasons why poetry is Really Good for Your Mental Health, but not so much that I'm willing to delay bedtime any longer.  You'll have to trust me.

tonight's moon:  a ready muse

Visit your library, your bookshelf, a bookstore or the web and look for a poem that speaks to you.  Then you can:

• mail it to a friend
• tuck it into a menu at a restaraunt or 
• print it out and post it somewhere
• put it in a pretty envelope addressed "for you"and leave it in a public place
• post it on Facebook
• read it to someone you like
• share it here in the comments section

Sit down with a piece of paper, a deli napkin, a journal and write some of your own.  You can try a haiku, a limerick, a sonnet.  Don't be afraid to write a BAD poem.  Sometimes that's the best way to get the juices flowing.  If it's bad enough, maybe you can get it published.  Visit last January's creativity challenges for some ideas.  You too can translate Icelandic poetry, or turn a headline into a poem!

Find more inspiration, including poetry generators, at languageisavirus.com

Poem of the day:

You Reading This, Be Ready

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life -

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

~ William Stafford ~

See you Friday-- now go poet!

Jana

Today's vid is Shakespeare's sonnet 130,  read by the luscious-voiced Alan Rickman, with kinetic typography by Gideon Burton. 

 

Creating Community: Maker's Space

getting the art on

Imagine a group of people with little in common except a desire to be together and be creative.  Add some free vegan cupcakes, art supplies and cheap drinks and you have Maker's Space:  "Culture as adventure, and we're all Indiana Jones".

i ain't scared of art

Under the encouraging eyes of Corvallis's new Art Center director David Huff and Drawing Board art supply shop owner Mike Wiener, a few dozen locals quaffed and created small works that were promptly displayed on clip hangers in the window of the Majestic Theater.  Curator Josie Zarkovich wasn't on hand for the evening's festivities, but her energy was evident.  There is now something way more compelling than reality TV on the first Tuesday of every month. No pressure and lots of friendly folks in sweet surroundings-- it can't be easier to get artsy.

If you're local, join in on supporting the invigoration of Corvallis creativity and community.  Show up and art on with us at the next Drink and Draw April  3rd. And think about throwing some money into two great organizations that support what heals us:  the local Arts Center, and what promises to be a better than ever venue for music and the arts, our own very Majestic Theater.

a couple of the night's creations

While you're spending,  support a new local business.  Mike Wiener's Drawing Board has recently expanded from a 10X10 foot kiosk at the Starbucks plaza into a new storefront at the same location.  Here six months from Palm Desert, CA, Mike grew up at his parent's art supply store there.  A victim of a poor economy, it closed after 21 years and he relocated here, but was sad to see there was no similar place for good supplies.  He's ready for business, and since he pays for shipping and buys wholesale, you can get your art on for the same or less than from some anonymous mail order place.  He's the guy who provided the free supplies for a great night of local fun. Let's keep him in business.

January 28 Challenge: Design a Restaurant (and prep for Sunday challenge)

Canned biscuit  et al special:
If this is on the menu, I won't be there.

Here's a free-ranging way to exercise your imagination this weekend:  design your fantasy eatery.  It can be anything from a coffee-shop to a five-star, and you can go as far with it as you want.  What's the name?  The menu?  The decor and the vibe?  What will it be known for and who will be a loyalist customer?

ALSO:  HEAD'S UP FOR SUNDAY'S CHALLENGE, which requires a little advance planning.  We'll be doing 10en20s-- ten poems in twenty minutes.  Sounds like pressure, but in a way, it's not at all-- because if you get one you like out of it, gravy!  A good poem in 20 minutes.  And if you hate them all, you've just exorcised ten bad poems and wasted very little time in the offing.  The poems are meant to be short, three or four lines.  But we're not sticklers for rules, as long as you're honest about the time limit.    Submit your titles in the comment section below or e me through the contact link.
My title:  Bad Food.  

We need nine more.  If they aren't on by noonish Sunday, I'll supplement.

January 26th-- Exhuming that Obscure Object of Desire

new game.  fun with friends but virtual will do.  from A Book Of Surrealist Games, and I encourage you to support our tenuous economy and dirthery of poetry by purchasing one for all those you love.

someone, name an object.
ok-- not that i don't trust you but for expediancy,
i will name the object, by looking about this room.

the object is:

candle-less silver candlestick

now, in 15 minutes or less, answer the following questions:

1. what is the weather of the object?

2. what religion does it follow?

3. what language does the object speak?

4. what is the secret desire of the object?

5. what is the recurring nightmare of the object?

6. where should the object be placed on the woman, sleeping?

7. describe the temperament of the object on tuesdays.

herrings and accordions, indeed

8. how has the object failed?

9. how does the object instruct us in living?

10. who despises the object?

11. who provides steady companionship?

12. why is the object afraid?

13. with whom is the object competing?

14. what is the object's favorite treat?

15. who pleads the case for the object?

16. what laws are broken by the object?

17. what is the sin of the object?

18. how does the heart of the object get restless?

19. how does one befriend the object?

20. how does one kill the object?

January 25 Challenge: Create Your Character for Our Play

Surprise:
We're writing a play, plot to be announced as it thickens.

Your job:  create a character and give a brief but clear description.  Then write 3-5 lines of dialogue for your character, with stage directions as appropriate.

1 week left to get your January challenges in!

January 24th Challenge: Be a Vague Scientist

...and proud.

 Did I mention (like, 300 times now) that I am an info junkie?  Thanks to the web, I think my periodicals are currently down to less than 2 dozen subscriptions.

One of my favorites is the UK's New Scientist-- the weekly "People"-type magazine for geeks, full of byte-size articles one can peruse in those 5 minutes, say,  between appointments.  New Scientist was recently lovingly (!) parodied by cartoonist Stephen Collins in London's  Guardian newspaper.  I am sure they will let me know if I am violating any fair use by showing you the fab strip here:

Did you know Starfish are the chief source of global warming?

To be on the safe side, at least visit Collin's or the Guardian website and heck, subscribe or patronize their advertisers or something.

Right, the challenge.
In Vague Scientist Style, list a few sketchy headlines, give an abstract for an ersatz study, explain some phenomena ala Dr. Science (He Knows More Than You Do!),  etc.  You get the vague drift, eh?

And while you are at it, how about joining me in a PR blitz to bring New Scientist production editor Mick O'Hare to this part of the pond?  He's got lots of books to sell full of fascinating scientific odditiy ponderings (see list below), and he's a really good guy and I owe him a present which I can't seem to get together to mail to the UK.  So bring him here, and maybe while he's at it, he can explain to me exactly why those Kardashian woman are so famous. Now THERE's a mystery.

Titles worth perusal, edited by ex-rugby turned science reporter O'Hare, cut and pasted from that font of truthiness Wikepedia.  These make great Groundhog day gifts.

• Does Anything Eat Wasps? and 101 Other Questions, translated into German language
• How to Fossilise Your Hamster: And Other Amazing Experiments for the Armchair Scientist
• Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?: And 114 Other Questions
• The Last Word: Vol 1, Mick O'Hare, illustrated by Spike Gerrell
• The Last Word: More Questions and Answers on Everyday Science Vol 2, Mick O'Hare, illustrated by Spike Gerrell
• Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? And 101 Other Intriguing Science Questions
• How to Make a Tornado: The strange and wonderful things that happen when scientists break free
• Why Can't Elephants Jump? And 113 More Science Questions Answered

PR nudges could be sent to:  The Person In Charge of Mick And His Schedule, c/o info@profilebooks.co.uk

I lost at pinball tonight.  Hey, all that shrieky lackering was very distracting.  Cheer me up with some entries in the comment section, will ya?
Off to the salt mills,
Jana

January 19th Challenge: Create A New Fortune Telling System

Admittedly, this fish is apropos of nothing at all.

Huh.  Forgot to post my rules.  These are oft repeated in my office, and when I follow them, I am a happier gal.  

1)  Don't Suffer In Advance.  If what you dread doesn't happen, you suffered for nothing. If it does, you suffered twice.

2)  Putting off what you dread means hell to pay-- with interest.

3)  Neither indulge nor deny.When in doubt, take door number two:  the middle path.  

4)  These things are good-- make sure to get enough:  sleep, nature, play, sunshine, connection.

5)  Kindness counts.

On with the games!

There's a sucker born every minute, and here's your chance to cash in.  Develop a new method for divination based on whatever you like-- foot shape, month-plus-day of birth number, dog breed ownership.  Describe at least two of the variants.

For example:

Did you know you can tell a lot about a person by their apple preference?  

art thou vexing these  goodly rotten apples?

Red Delicious lovers are conservative by nature if not by vote.  They tend to collect their pennies, have overstuffed sofas, and prefer novels with tidy endings. They are better at geometry than algebra, and are attracted to persons with shiny, fluffy hair.  They are both extroverted and anxious in crowds, and may suffer frequent dyspepsia.  

Granny smith lovers enjoy a good jigsaw puzzle but get way too much thrill from the crime news.  Flat feet and high dental arches are common.  They are very quick at assessing trustworthiness in others, and like to pay off their credit cards monthly.  Common magazine subscriptions are Sunset and Consumer's Digest.

Go have some fun now, Friday we're starting a day late and a dollar short on an international quest to deliver notes of encouragement throughout the world..  Apparently the grand universal send out was yesterday, but as creativy deeds exist outside of ordinary time/space vortex, we'll do just fine,  We're perfectly capable of starting our own happy revolution of encouraging surprises, gentle anarchy style.
But wait, there's more!  We've got ten en twenties, sound poems, ephemeral sculptures, object games, thank you notes, and self-portraits just around the corner.  The Grand Prize box is BURSTING at the seams to come to your house,  And each day a precious few minutes less on the dark side-- give it creative due in encouragement.   Stayed turned for details.
Not comments section following RIGHT BELOW so you can add on your Creator swag and be emulated and encourage others.
x0x
jls

 




keeo your dial turned to the middle path for details.

Jana

January 18th Challenge: Bad Country Jukebox

Nice bunch of rules-- don't quit now.  You can continue to add to the posts all month long by clicking on the "comment" link below each.
Wednesday's challenge:   Bad County Western Song Titles.  Bonus points for writing a verse or more to go with them.
Here's a few real song titles to get you in the mood:
"Her Teeth Were Stained, But Her Love Was Real"
"She's Got Freckles On Her But (t-- I Love Her)"
"How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?"
"You Can't Have Your Kate (and Edith Too)
"How Could You Believe Me When I Told You That I Loved You (When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life)"
"I Changed Her Oil, She Changed My Life"
"Drop-Kick Me, Jesus, Through The Goal Posts of Life"
"If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?"
"The Last Word in 'Lonesome' is 'ME'  "

And as a token for your muse:

January 16th Challenge: Facilitate A (Postcard) Writer

Talk to the Hand.. today's Goodwill find

The Challenge:  Find or make a postcard.  Stamp it and address it to  Art at Large, PO Box 1313, Lawrence KS 66044.  Keep the writing part blank except for a tiny note that says "Please complete in any way you choose, then mail" or something to that effect.  Alternately you can write the instructions on a sticky note and attach.  Now find somewhere wonderful for the card to rest until it meets its maker-- perhaps on a table in a coffeeshop, an active bulletin board, or tucked into an interesting library book.  With any luck, the finder will send it on its merry way.  I'll keep you posted on the results.  Can't part with the inspiring card?  Write and send your own.  But seed some, too.
----------------------------------
Still hoping to see some Poet Challenging (yesterday's game).
It was sweet to see snow falling on the firs last night.  Spent a warm evening catching up on poet games with friends in the Coastal mountains.  We'd been invited and looking forward to a weekend at Seaside, some three hours north, but the wintry weather kept us closer to home.  We missed our friends but enjoyed the games .

You're Either On the Bus or You're Off It, said local hero Ken Kesey

A flight of Swifties:
"I prefer Brut," she said, dryly.
"I love R.E.M," she said dreamily.
"Watch out for what happens after the third one," he said forewarningly.

Bovine Powered Tilling:  "Little" the Cow.
Stay on her Good Side

"My bed's upstairs", she said loftily.

Too many titles:

Irritable Vowel Syndrome:  Why Americans Won't Learn Icelandic
Finding Your Porpoise:  Aquatic Mammal Spirit Guides
Till--The Cows Come Home:  Bovine-Powered Field Work
Days of Whine and Poses:  Hipsters I Have Known
On With The Bloody Show:  Cockney Guide to Labor
The Contraction Attraction:  Why I Became A Midwife
As a Matter of Fact, You ARE Full of S***:  Roughage Deficiencies in the American Diet

A mail in from Carolyn brings us to the Science Section for
"Splendor in the Mass"
and onward to Gardening with:
Bin Here, Dug That
Musings on the Bounty
Dygmamion

Beet Here Now

-----------and we loaded the most crowded shelf at the title store (sampling only----
You've Got Ale:  The Beer-Lover's Guide to Oregon
You've Got Trail:  Hiking in Corvallis
You've Got Grail:  Collecting Holy Icons
You've Got Bail:  How to Manipulate Loved Ones into Getting You Out of the Slammer
You've Got Quayle:  Mistakes We May or May Not Have Made in the Present or the Future
You've Got Yale:  How to Get Admitted to Ivy League Schools
You've Got Pale:  Fighting Vitamin D Deficiency in the Northwest
You've Got Shale:  Oil Refining on a Shoestring
You've Got Rail:  Hoboing 101
You've Got Kale:  Low Maintenance Winter Gardening

There were also translations, first letter and bad and recipe poems, lots of new superstitions and proverbs.  Someday we will hand-bind these into a handsome volume for prosperity.  For now, it would be good to plump there numbers.  We're half way over the hump now!   Keep those cards and letters coming.

Jana
PS Don' forget to honor the Good Reverand Dr. Martin Luther King today-- make the world a better place in whatever loving and tiny way you can.

January 14 Challenge: Turn a Headline into a Poem

Now that you've sharpened your teeth a little, take a bite out of this challenge:
Find a headline that intrigues you, and turn it into a poem.  You've got a whole leisurely Saturday to do it.

I hear the commenting section is buggy.  If you can't use it, e it to me on the contact link or via my facebook page and I'll post it for you.  Make sure to let me know it's ok to post it.

Boog pre-empted  us during haiku day by shear serendipity.  He's always been ahead of the curve.

The bishop busted
Six hundred naughty pix and
A handheld device

Source:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/world/americas/canada-judge-frees-jailed-bishop.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22handheld+device%22+priest&st=cse

Mine's old, from a Gazette Times Headline:

Trapper seeks cougar that killed llama

 It starts out innocently enough. 

The llama had been seeking the field mint

It knew grew sweetly on the south hillside,

The mint had been seeking a bit of shade there,

Near the edge where the forest bled into the

Pasture.  The cougar had been seeking deer,

Having no geographic or recent genetic reason,

Before such animals bled from one land to another,

To want for the taste of llama.  The trapper

Was after nutria, another import wreaking havoc.

But a job’s a job, and the llama owner, taking all

Of this much too personally, is after revenge.

We are all seeking one thing or another.  We have

Lost track of our edges, we want to pretend we can

Move outside where we belong, and no one will

Notice; nothing will end up bleeding.  This is the

Misfortune of poorly directed hungers. 

January 13 challenge: Create Your Own Superstitions (and PRIZES!)

 EASY PEASY FRIDAY CHALLENGE

the scary fine print

this could be yours!

It's Friday the 13th, a perfect day to make up new superstitions.  Bonus points for convincing someone else they are old ones.  Fake proverbs also encouraged.

with superior cracked paint

"A potato a day keeps the bedbugs away".
"See Prada by noon, it's a bad hair day soon".
"Friend in a Jetta?  You better forget her."

does it go with the sofa?

The weekend's a great time to catch up on the first two weeks of challenges.  Check the sidebar for your prize possibilities.  From a piece of bad art to a random selection from my eclectic book collection-- the possibilities are as varied and frightening as one of my desk drawers.

January 12 Challenge: Book Titles

these clowns want to know why you're not writing

Ok, kiddos.  I can see the translating just wore your muses plumb out. Or maybe you're in the midweek doldrums.  I had a total of two entries to the Jan 10th challenge.  Don't worry:  you can still answer any or all challenges until the Feb. 1st deadline.

To appease your weary brains, I'll narrow the focus.  Give me three to five book titles. You don't even have to write the books.

Try one or more of these categories for inspiration:  Self Help, Memoir/autobiography, Current Events, Science, Cookbook, Crafts, Sociological or Other Academic, Religion, History.  Humor and imagination encouraged.  Posting here encouraged.

I have some tougher challenges in store, so whittle those pencils.
Jana

January 11 Challenge: First Letter Poem

What lovely little muses you have!  There were great submissions to the Jan. 10th challenge, with many sent via private methods.  Wish I could share them all.  Remember to check back in at the end of the game to see the original translation of the Icelandic poem.

I'm tempted to give you a Turkish poem to translate, but I promised a new game a day.  When this blog goes back to Regular Programming, any of you hungry to keep poeting are inviting to join me under a new format.

Today's challenge is to take the letters below and create a poem around them.   You're seeing the first letters of two poems by two authors.  Punctuation is intact, including capitalization.  Try either or both.  Let your muse talk for you.


P
----
W  h. W
w  i  i  i  w

I  w.  O  t.  B  t.


W I M J
---------
O t, l a b d. M
t, f, b i y h.
B m t. A g f b a.
J c, v
d.  S f k, a f
A. E t h m, o t b.
C t l n, t n c
a.  D o, t k
t t g. C i c.
L o. M t y a
a n g.  P y k e
b y c f t.  S t
i l s, m m.

January 10 Challenge: Translate a poem

Gets your pencils out.  You don't need to know Icelandic to play this game-- and if you do, email me and I'll send another in a language you don't speak.

Sound out the words and listen for the poem inside, and write your translation.  I'll post poem and author info in a few days in the comments section.  If you're playing catch up, don't peek til your poem is done.  

Fjord on, brave poets-- hope you made someone smile Monday and took some time to go to that nicest place.

Jana

nótt sítrónunnar

glitrandi 

mistur af hafi 

götuljósin stækkuðu 

eitt ljósker skein í hverjum dropa 

á gleraugunum mínum 

við sátum úti á svölum 

og skárum sítrónur 

köstuðum sneiðunum fram af 

svo þær þöktu götuna 

glitrandi 

augu og augu 

í nóttinni 

  

(sítrónunnar) 

January 5 Challenge: Haiku

Our first poem challenge is a haiku.
Simple format:
5 "on" (a Japanese word meaning a phonetic unit-- but in English we usually translate that to syllables)
7 "on"
5 "on"
---
Haikus traditionally invoke nature imagery. From Wikipedia:  The essence of haiku is 'cutting' (kiru).^[1] This is often represented by the juxtaposition of two images or ideas^[2] and a kireji ('cutting word') between them, a kind of verbal punctuation mark which signals the moment of separation and colors the manner in which the juxtaposed elements are related."


Below is my favorite haiku, by Mizuta Masahide  (late 1600s).  In the English translation, it doesn't follow the sound form.  But the haiku essence of opposition, kiru, and imagery remain.

Barn's burnt down

now

I can see the moon

Try one.  Your haiku needn't be formal, or even serious-- but play with the kiru.
---
Till tomorrow--
Jana

Jan 4 Challenge: TOM SWIFTIES

smiling faces:  more fun-whiz-bang!

The quest continues to limber up your Inner poet.  Today's challenge is to write two or more Tom Swifties:  "adverbial" puns that first appeared in a 1920s comic strip. Here's a few examples (don't moan):
"Love your vintage RayBans", Marge said retrospectively.
"I resent all things apairian", he said begrudgingly.
"I could use a little polishing up my look", he admitted lacklusterly.
"Sure wish I could have won one of those horrific paintings being offered as a prize in the month-long poet games", Chip said artlessly.


Looks like quite a lot of you are playing.  It's great to see your additions in the comment section.  If you're behind, find a friend and play catch up.  Remember, you can add your comments anonymously-- but be sure to email me if you want to be in for the prizes.  Challenge continues all month.

--das poetrix

January 3: Let the Games Begin!

2012 vision board, created
by one of our participants.  WOW!

Flex your brain.

To ready for the harder core poet games, let's start with some simple creativity-flexing exercises-- two or three small ones a day.  Try to do them all, but if your brain sticks, don't sweat it.  Something's better than nothing.  We'll begin by working to increase inter-cranial connectivity.

Today:  Sensory blending.  Synethesia (when one sense is interpreted in ways usually associated with another sense) is often correlated with creativity.  Some folks are born that way-- but you can build yours up.

1)  SMELLS:   Research suggests that language and other forms of cognition often trump olfaction.  That's allegedly why most of us have a hard time describing smells in any uniform way.  And during one study, people in a scent filled room being directed on a time-intensive task never noticed they were being blasted with lavender or vanilla.  Our brains like to do one thing well, and make the rest background.

Go smell something,  Now write about it.  A line or two will do.  Describe it as best you are able.  Does it bring up any associations?  Emotions?  What color is the smell?  What is it's texture?

2)  VOICE:  I've always been synethesiac to sounds.  They have heft and texture.  Describe a favorite singer's (or instrument) voice.  Use color, texture, or feel analogies.

3)  FEEL/TOUCH:  find something with a texture.  Any texture.  What personality traits can you associate with the way it feels?  Does a color come to mind when you think of that particular texture?

See you tomorrow...

And don't forget, if you're willing, to post all or some of your responses in the comments.

Jana

Happy New Year! Day One Challenge

let's get jiggy with it, folks.

Hope some of you've had a chance to do our first Challenge of Burning The Old Year.

If you're catching up:  I'll be posting a new creativity-inducing challenge every day during January.  Most will take thirty minutes or (much) less.  Please invite friends to join us!

See how many of the 31 challenges you can complete.   Post your results in the comment section if you're willing to share-- I'd love that.

And this year, I have prizes!  I am creatively reducing my biomass by lovingly recycling some old crap beloved belongings to participants.  JUST FOR PLAYING (one or more efforts posted) you win your choice of a 4X6 pic print from the blog or the collector's version of the One Less A$$hole bumper sticker.

Anyone brave or creative enough to do ten or more will receive something rummaged from my attic a bigger prize. It may be a genuine piece of Bad Art from my carefully curated collection, a book of poems, a strange artifact or found object.  Who knows?  You'll be surprised.  Maybe not pleased, but definitely surprised.

Be the first to do all thirty-one and get thirty one tiny surprises mailed to your door.  

You don't have to do them the day they are posted, but to receive the Grand Prize all challenges should be met before 02/01/12 11:59 pm PST.

Shy but still want to compete?  E your efforts through the contact button, or just say "Done!" in the comments section.
-------------
READY for today's quest?
The Challenge :  You've burned 2011, now invite 2012.  Make a list of what you want to see manifest in 2012.  For super-over-achievers, do a vision board (click for instructions).  Otherwise a simple list is fine.  This ain't for Santa Claus-- focus on positive ways you'd like to expand your potential and what sorts of feelings/awareness/characteristics you want in your life this year.  Peggy's video offers great ideas.  
------------
Let me know if you did it, and if you like, share one or two things from your list.

Hope you had a good start to your new year--
back tomorrow,
Jana

BURN BABY BURN

Ok, this is going to be a little late for most of you-- since it's usually a ritual for before the new year begins.  And yes, tomorrow starts the official 31 Day Challenge.  If you don't get to this one before 2012, see if you can do it in the first week of it.  It's a sweet way to clear the slate for some new beginnings.

Make a list of what you'd like to let go from 2011.  Be specific, general, wildly optimistic, whatever.  These are intentions, not contracts.

Give some loving respect and compassion for all that you are ready to leave behind.  Then burn that sucker up.  You can be as serious or lighthearted as you choose.  Throw it in the fireplace, or torch it in a nice ceramic bowl.  Let it go, let it go.  Get ready to move on to what you need to learn and how you want to grow/

The page turns to a new day.

love,
Jana