How Do You Do, World?

Life used to be so hard - back when I was an innocent motherless child awash in the universe.  Well, I got education – a B.A. in English literature and composition from Beloit College – plus a whole bunch of writing courses like the Squaw Valley Community of Writers program in Lake Tahoe, CA and summer classes at the University of Iowa.  Found romance – my wildly creative husband David Lundahl. Got more love – my Burmese cat Pandora, Tippy Thomson the Maine Coon Cat I adopted when my elderly friend couldn’t care for her anymore, and Davey’s tuxedo boy Li’l Dink. We don’t have children. We have the three cats and, as David used to say, a great deal of art.

Yes, I am an artist’s wife.  Partner.  Mate.  Help-Meet as Chaucer would have put it.  Before I met David my interest in art went to the 19^th Century Impressionists and the Pre-Raphaelites. While living in London with the super fantastic Tate Gallery available for free visits, I would not even walk into the Modern Art exhibits. For shame. 

But what an avid student David met in me.  “Can you name 10 sculptors of the 20^th Century?” he would quiz.  Now I can!  He and I first set eyes on each other at a farm auction in the Midwestern countryside near the small city where we had each gone to college, unbeknownst to one another. 

At the auction, both of us had our eyes on the antique toys that were being offered in the estate of the man alternately known during his lifetime as Fats or Tiny. I won the bid on a tin pedal car from the 1920s. And Davey won my heart.

Later I became an Auctioneer myself.  Yes, I can still chant with the best of them.  I have auctioneered in front of thousands.  I even participated in the International Bid Calling Championship the year it took place in Madison, Wisconsin.  I didn’t win but the experience proved enchanting. 

I have penned many articles for the print media.  Stories on antiques and auctioneering predominate. There have also been a fair amount of features on visiting celebs and places of local interest.  One of my short stories won nominations for Best American Short Stories and the O. Henry Prize. And my novel manuscript made it to the final round of the Hemingway First Novel Contest. I am a former copy editor and reporter for a daily newspaper.

Art, artists, antiques, astrology, auctions, cats, creative cooking, disabilities, inventions, living creatively, living well in this economy - these topics are all of special interest to me. 

Did I happen to mention that my twin sister who lives in Colorado with her husband Dave is a psychic medium?  Twins, ghost hunting and psychic mediumship are also right up my alley – figuratively speaking. No longer awash with misery, I am spilling over with creative energy.

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