In the era of A.I., I am leading with Sticks.

I. Book-Alike 

Shock of the Antropocene: The Earth, History, and Us, 2016
Artificial Intelligence (Time-Life Understanding Computers) 1986

Thirty years apart, the cover pictures are alike--
clouds on top, horizon line, something odd in the foreground:

II. My friend Gregg, from art-college library days always said, 

All you need to make art is a stick in the dirt.

I was thinking about that, making God's eyes.
It takes me quite a while just to prepare the sticks. 
I picked up a new batch on a walk at the lake, brought them home and de-barked the ones with loose bark (most of them)--the exposed wood is nice--snapped them down to size.
I have enough for twenty more eyes.

This morning I'm binding them together--black wool yarn, for the pupil. 
I never thought about it before:
pupils look black because they're a hole in your eye!

"The pupil looks black because light usually stays inside your eye. 
One of the few times that you see light coming back out of your eye is in a photograph: you might see red-looking eyes-- this is light reflecting off the blood vessels in your eyes."  [via]

The pile of bright eyes next to the girlette are from Ms Choclolate. To help me get up to one-hundred by Sept. 27, she made and sent me thirty-eight--a surprise! 

I was so pleased when I opened the box from her yesterday: 
I was going to have to make five a day, and I don't work that fast. 
I thought I'd come up with a formula and crank them out, but so far I am faffing around with each one, and they're all different. 

This is one of my favorites--the colors!
 I don't time them, but it took me quite a while, mostly in choosing the yarn. Sometimes I even unwind a color and start over.
I will add some baubles too (holy medal or broken window glass, and I've also got some beads and tiny brass bells now).

I've asked some yarn-ish friends if they'd like to contribute bits and bobs of leftover yarn--it seems all textile artists have a stash.

This Friday I'm having coffee with a writer friend who knits, John Shk. I'm bringing sticks, and he's bringing yarn. 
Maybe he'll want to make an eye...

I'm NOT trying to make this a community project:
I do not want to coordinate such a thing. Eeek!
But it's natural and easy to ask a few pals for help. 
I've invited a few people to help me hang them on the fence too--as long as it doesn't rain!

III. Fishy Leadership

I've been thinking about leadership---its absence at work has been more evident lately. Our managers barely manage (coordinate the physical processes), much less lead.

Big Boss is a leader: he's charismatic and has a vision. 
But he's a bad manager, especially since now he's E.D. of the whole charitable society (including church parish groups--what a mess), he's rarely at our store; yet he won't let go of control there. 
Not good.

I've written about this over and over in my 7+ years there.

I continue to find my way... unwinding when I've made a mess of my thread, trying again...
I sense I'm some sort of leader---I have a vision---but what sort? 
I'm not a charismatic top-dog, like BB.
I fly under the radar.

I googled it, and there's a lot of kinds of leaders:
I didn't expect this, but they list exactly the sort of things I do--taking food to a sick coworker, getting birthday cards signed, being encouraging (I'd texted a coworker yesterday to let him know someone had praised him)--
as a kind of leadership:
"Servant Leadership".

"Servant" sounds subservient though.
 I'd call it Pisces style:
 I'll swim along with you and give you treats, but I won't lead from the front, nor sheepdog from the rear.

It's not a policy I chose, it's a reflection of who/how I am.

Servant Leadership Qualities:
Listening, Empathy, Healing, 
Awareness, Persuasion, Conceptualization, 
Foresight, Stewardship, Commitment to the growth of people, Building Community.

I ALSO AM...
Cranky, impatient, judgmental,
easily frustrated, slightly anxious, 
often apologizing for blowing off steam...

Yesterday I was so frustrated with a custoner taking a shopping cart to the parking lot, though I'd told her not to--she said she'd return it--
 I fumed to the cashier, 
"If that customer doesn't return our cart, I am quitting!"

I was joking, and she did return it, but often people don't, and our carts get stolen by people who use them to carry their entire worldly possessions in. In the winter, we were down to THREE.

Soon after, a customer approached me, looking worried.
"Did I hear you say you're quitting?"

I explained, and she laughed and said, "Oh, good!"

I didn't even know this customer, but she knew me. What a good reminder:

Your sheep know you!

And you know the shepherd. At work, we are often like sheep wandering on our own.
Oops, there goes another one...