photo by Elaine A. Russell

Words interest me. I am not a writer by any stretch (as you may have guessed).... but I do love to read (hence the rather large "books I've recently read" list on my sidebar). I will be the first to admit that grammar and punctuation are not exactly my strong suites... although I do try.

So... it was interesting to note this article today on a Google search I did----

According to this site: http://blog.tamar.com/2009/12/top-words-and-phrases-of-2009-provide-insight-into-global-psyche/..... the top 5 words of the year 2009 are:

1. Twitter
2. Obama
3. H1N1
4. Stimulus
5. Vampire

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the top 5 listings.

Twitter, Facebook, Kindles, Nooks, etc... as well as Ipods and Iphones are all the rage..... ObamaMania has been a HUGE topic for the past year....and of course.. who doesn't know someone attacked with the H1N1 virus?

Stimulus.. the economy... business rises and fails... all a worry ... and Vampires!!! Whodathunk? Having never read the "Twilight" series.... I cannot say first hand... but I know many people who have raved over it.... and just as many who haven't. But it is certainly a topic of discussion....

So-- here's to some good reading... and (hopefully) good writing in the year 2010.

Check this out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNcex6I7qls

And this one:

on Gold Ave...

Court Lurie Fine Art

Ping Irvin

Kevin Eslinger

St. Clair Winery

*all photos by Elaine A. Russell

this past weekend there was sooooooooooo much we could have done. It was the last weekend of the State Fair, the Go Arts Festival was going on downtown, Globalquerque! was at the Hispanic Cultural Center on Saturday, and the Aki Matsuri (Japanese Fall Festival) was on Sunday.....

In the end, we decided to go to the Go Arts Festival, because we had never been before. It was in the heart of downtown... off of Gold Ave. About 150 artists from all over New Mexico... and a few from Texas, Arizona, and Colorado... set up camp and basked in all the best that is NM. The weather was perfect, the music was great... and there was wine from St. Clair !

Strolling around, I was overwhelmed with all the great art. Everything from paintings, sculptures, wood carvings, glasswork, jewelry, leather arts, metal lamps, furniture, marbles and more !

As a bonus: I got the chance to meet Brandon Maldonado... one of my fav painters. He did the murals for Masks Y Mas on Central, and has published a book that I just adore. He has been featured on the cover of the Alibi... and several other publications. Total coolness.