52 Pieces: Art by Maui Girl Renee Coates

One of my dear friends from way back (say, age 10), Renee Coates is a talented artist with an ingenious blog called 52 Pieces. Each week, people can bid on new painting. Soon, we will also be able to do the same with high-quality prints of those gorgeous originals. I can't wait, since I am still mourning those originals I missed out on but now plan to write Santa for copies of. I know how hard it can be to write a single blog in one week--Renee pulls of posting a blog--and doing an original painting. Each. Week.

Her art covers all of my personal favorites--flowers, fish, fruit, cattle, beautiful faces. Those things that are ubiquitous and taken for granted while in the Hawaiian Islands. I especially appreciate seeing her art on my walls while residing in the mainland--it's like having a piece of home with me. Plus, if she was a talented artist in middle school you should see her now. My friends really make me proud.

May '08: Larissa from The Larissa Monologues, Katy Renee from 52 Pieces and me

Anyway, Katy--err Renee (childhood nicknames are hard habits to break) and her clever blog are being featured on blogs.com. And Renee has picked Emily October as one of her top ten favorite blogs! I am seriously flattered that my humble little hideout on the blogosphere is listed here. In my paranoia I haven't let any of many people in on this blog, nor have I made it searchable in search engines, and I have yet to comment on a single stranger's blog (called delurking right?). I think it is time I get over my stranger=danger phobia and become a more neighborly blogger. A writer is supposed to want an audience, right?