I Could Be Reading…

So state testing has started. Some years, it’s easy, the kids are into it, it’s chill. Some years, it’s not. This year? Not. Fun times. Today will be worse…it’s the performance task. Some kids will just skate through it. Some will pretend and then hit submit after writing one sentence. Some kids will just repeatedly lose their minds that they’re being asked to test at all, to sit still, to be quiet, not disrupt those around them, not bang on the table or pile up all their snacks and drinks (that did really happen yesterday. All of it.). So by the time 12:15 comes around, all my patience for the day (and possibly three or four days afterwards) is gone. Not great, because we’re testing again today. And I still have to teach for days until the end of the year. One kid was already like, why do I still have to do work? Because they know they’re promoting (probably) or not and they think we’re done. We have 29 days left, dude. Don’t stop now. Sigh. My stress levels are high…my face is breaking out…my blood sugar is a mess. And today is my 500th pilates class! Not sure it matters. It’s not like I’m stopping now.

OK, artwise, I’m in a weird place. I did finish the book piece. I managed to construct it properly…

The first two pages are shoved into that envelope of the last two pages. There’s certainly a few things I would have done differently, but it’s done now.

I need official photographs so I can enter the show, but I’ll do those when I’m home in daylight.

Eventually, I’ll have my photographer take photos, but I don’t have time for the thing it’s being entered into, which has a tight deadline. If it gets in, it’ll be in the downtown library for 5 months. I’ll let you know.

So what next? Well, I don’t have my head around the next big quilt, although I know there will be one over the summer. I was thinking of doing something smaller just to keep me mentally going through the last weeks of the school year. I haven’t figured out what that is yet, though, because I’m trying to finish my friend’s mom’s quilt. I was diligently working on it in January and February and then a random deadline popped up and I got sidetracked. I mean, I did purposely put this one away to finish the other thing. So I’m finishing this…I’m almost done anyway. Well, for some definition of ‘almost’.

Her mom made the quilt and sandwiched it, but unfortunately was unable to quilt it before she died. So it’s here and I’m quilting it. I’m in the outer border at the moment, with the rest done. I think. Honestly can’t remember if I finished the center panel. I think I did.

I did. So I finished outlining the symbols in the blue border and will overall quilt that starting tonight. Then I need to outline the reddish brown and black borders. Some things have happened to this quilt over a long time (fabric replaced, not by me, possibly already partially quilted? I just don’t know). And then I’ll put the binding on. And hand it over. And then, like I keep saying, not offer to help ever again (which is really not in my nature…sometimes I say no and then go back and say yes; please don’t take advantage of that). So when I’m done with this, I’ll start something new. Or maybe in between. We’ll see.

Clay is going. I made most of a priest and 3 handmaidens on Monday…

I was thinking when I went in next, I could start underglazing, but no. I still need to give him a cross and a head. Most definitely a cross. Head? Hmmm.

We watched the first episode of Season 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale last night…made us both cry. Good times. So Friday, I’ll go in and try to make a head. And a cross. And THEN I can start underglazing.

The bees left yesterday. I figured they would. I came home and washed the composter lid and side, then sprayed it with citronella, hoping it will cut the bee pheromones. They keep coming back. Not sure what to do about that. I have a bee-friendly yard…maybe a bit TOO friendly. And no, I haven’t fixed the damn sprinklers. I think I need two solenoids now. I don’t know. Maybe I need a new controller.

I had two cats on my lap in rapid succession last night. Luckily the chonk here didn’t stay long.

He’s a year old now and solid. Sometimes sweet, sometimes not. Like all calicos. I have a hole in my right hand from his morning whack. He’s harassing the old lady, who basically needs to be carried into the litter tray and food multiple times a day. She can get there, but he attacks.

OK. Testing. Afternoon is science planning. I’ve managed to grade quite a bit so far, so that’s good. I had to get a loaner computer Monday after school because my screen just went black when I was at lunch. Fun times. So Monday was stressful. I guess the good news is the eye with the vitreous humor detachment is fine (as fine as anything with a big blob rolling around in it is), but she thinks the other one will detach too. Except the right one has always been worse, more nearsighted, with an astigmatism. The left isn’t as bad. So let’s hope it doesn’t. She does think the blog will wander south with time and only show up when I first get up in the morning. Sounds good. Somehow I found the energy to go to ceramics after all the running to the IT department (not at school) and getting a new computer. After school, I have a telehealth appointment with my doctor where she will tell me I need to get my numbers down and I will ask her how to do that and she won’t have an answer. So there’s that. Then my 500th pilates class and book club. And someone else is cooking dinner. I’m already exhausted because I didn’t sleep well, so I’ll be quilting after that and going to bed. Oh! Also trying to finish my book before the library sucks it back from me. I went to the gym last night to help me finish it, but I’m at 86%, less than 100 pages. I’m up early to go to the meeting my principal just canceled. I could be reading. I should be reading.

Will They Want Mine…

It’s kind of amazing how much I think and dream and talk about sleep when you consider how bad I am at it. 1 AM, 2 AM, and 4:44 AM. All good. 4:44 was something scrabbling on the roof though…so that was a dog response and that woke me up. Not sure what the others were but I don’t appreciate them; don’t appreciate starting the work week on low energy. Not that I slept much this weekend either. It was a busy weekend; I need another day to just relax. And finish my book club book. Ha! That’s gonna be a miracle if it happens. Miracles do happen though.

So Friday, I went and spent over an hour putting shit back together that slipped/broke/fell on Tuesday when I was putting it back on the shelf. I felt some things go but I needed to get out of there.

I added another burnt out building and part of the head. Not sure what’s gonna happen with that. Just know that the head can’t bump into stuff on the shoulders, so I’m trying to figure out what that looks like. The base came out of the kiln. There’s a crack in the bottom that will be hidden. I’m trying to decide what to do next. The gray is stronger than I thought it would be…so I might do another layer? And oxide it? That’s not a verb.

Need to think about it.

I managed to cut out all the page pieces…with a little doggie help.

It didn’t take long to finish the last two pages.

There were a lot of things I should have done over the weekend. I did pick up a quilt from the photographer. Haven’t dealt with that yet. Plus went to one of two meetings I was supposed to go to (too late for the second one), but it was also SD Book Crawl, so Saturday afternoon, I went to four bookstores and Sunday, I went to one. Here’s the baby haul…

I say baby haul because my coteacher did this as well, but made it to all 14 stores and has a real haul. I tried to pick books I hadn’t heard of, although the bottom one is the second in the 3-body problem series and I have read the first. It was fun, but it does take a chunk of time to drive around and park and wait in lines. I thought it was well-managed though. I’d do it again…that said, it’s always this 4th weekend in April, when I have two other meetings. Ah well.

Last night, I ironed the cover page together…

And then ironed it onto a background.

Seems relevant. They did say politics was OK, but IDK if they’ll want mine. We’ll see. I’ll turn it into a comic strip if it doesn’t get into the show. Like four panels in a row. In my spare time. Yeah. Right now, I’m kind of at a push to get this done. Wish me luck. Maybe I’ll blow off grading for a week and a half.

I’m hoping to get a page done a night, maybe more. This one took an hour. The others are more complicated. Although the next one has fewer pieces, so maybe it’s not more complicated. Hard to say. Then stitchdown Thursday, all of it, sandwich and quilt Friday…oh wait, the Man has a show Friday night. Fuck. Um. So Saturday/Sunday? Yikes. Deadline looms. I got this. Here’s the ex’s dog, complicating the couch…

Today though…today, I teach three classes…they’re finishing one thing and starting another. Hopefully. Then the other two classes are a mini-assembly about sex trafficking. Fun times. Then two staff meetings. More fun. Come home, finish reading book club book. Yup. Then iron. Maybe sleep. Big maybe on that one. The last 7 weeks of school are always a challenge. Nothing new this year.

On the Next Step…

January is flying by. It always does. So does February with its built-in shortness and double holiday whammy (for us anyway). Then March lasts for 3 months. It’s weird that way. Having a Monday off is nice; it gives me some extra rest/relaxation time, although I mostly suck at that, unless you count reading, which I do. And making art, which I totally do. I’m progressing on all art fronts, although slowly…which is fine. If I don’t hit deadlines, and I probably won’t…let’s be realistic…it’s not the end of the world. So…I’m still working on my friend’s mom’s quilt…I’m more than halfway, but there’s still a good chunk to do. I’m going to have to pull it off the machine tonight though so I can piece the backing for the final iron down, and then stitchdown after. I’ll do another 30 minutes on the background before I do that though.

The art quilt I’m working on is getting there…I ironed half the tree parts Monday night…

The tree goes from winter to spring to summer to fall (right to left)…so last night, I ironed summer and fall…

And then the last two little bits…the spaceship…

And a catronaut.

Castronaut? sounds painful. Anyway, on the dark background, she’ll show up just fine. Although she has kind of some disco tendencies too. I think. Tonight, I’ll piece the background and iron the whole thing down. Hopefully.

I have a piece in a show at Road to California in Ontario, CA, this weekend. It’s part of the SAQA SoCA/NV chapter’s New Pieces.

It is apparently at waist height. Hmmm. I apologize now for you having to bend over to see the details. I don’t enter Road any more because the lighting and hanging aren’t great, but this was my group and I wanted to be supportive. I feel like they need to accept fewer pieces and hang them with space between and not double hang. But I didn’t hang the show…so there we are. Also, there’s boobs and a uterus, so that will make some people clutch their pearls. I’m OK with that. I’m not going to make it up there…I have two art meetings already this weekend. It’s messy.

I went to clay on Monday and got more details put on the upper torso and started arms.

Still not entirely sure how I will dry/fire arms, but it’s in progress.

I do like the heart and lungs though. So far.

Side view, she’s leaning a little further forward than I’d like. I have to store the two pieces separately due to the size of shelves. The bottom is mostly drying and the top is mostly mushy still, so it’s a challenge. I haven’t even figured out the head yet. I need more clay and the boss has been away at a conference. I don’t actually have anywhere to store the clay, although someone in my shelves is storing it all on the ground. Which they told me was not OK, fire marshally stuff, also I can’t reach my shelf due to all the crap on the ground. Minor issue. I’ll be back there on Friday and hopefully get more clay. Or? Not sure. I was expecting her to be there Monday unfortunately. That does mean I’ve used almost 20 pounds of clay in this so far, minus a few things the girlchild and I made. Fun times.

I’m reading Swordheart by T. Kingfisher…I find it amusing.

Sometimes I chortle out loud even…

Lizards sounds painful.

I grew two bell peppers this summer. I waited too long to harvest them, of course.

I don’t mind feeding the animals…

This is the new government by the way…

So first of all, I’ve never heard of large and small cells to define egg and sperm. I’m not sure why they didn’t use those words (because they are scary???). Second of all, they are idiots. If only it were that simple. But it’s not. I have a 3-hour sex-ed curriculum meeting tomorrow at the district and a prep-time meeting tomorrow. Sigh. I’m tired of being in charge of things, but I honestly can’t trust the world to be smart about this stuff. I’m still off the regular social media. Still trying not to watch the crazy-making shit. Except I saw a conversation between teachers about what to do when ICE shows up on school campuses. Sigh. And our Newcomer population is growing crazily, mostly I think because they’re desperately trying to get here before they’re not allowed to. Such a hateful government. Really disappointing.

With that, I’m low-fi teaching today…just means I’m not directly teaching. It’s review. And finish the things. Tomorrow is an academic assignment. I’m really trying to be mostly hands off this week. Last week was all on, and it was tiring. OK, not gonna lie, but yesterday was also tiring. Ah well. Last night, I had a hard time falling asleep and then once I was finally there, kaboom! Cat fight under the bed. Fun times. Loud. Someone was pissed off. And then the little cat (who is not so little anymore) was up and about before my alarm went off. Squirrely bastard. Pilates after school (already tired)…then quilting, ironing the whole thing down, and hopefully starting stitchdown. We’ll see how that goes. Good to be onto the next step.

Incognito Year…

I’m running on crazy time now, y’all. I was going to write on Monday, but oops, stomach flu or food poisoning…and then this morning, the rescheduled appointment from early Monday morning, and now it’s almost 10 PM. But hell, it’s still Wednesday. When I get off schedule, I get really off apparently. So yeah, how are things going? Ha! Can’t get the bees out of the owl box…all the bee peeps are on Winter Break. Can’t get the house or yard done because I spent Monday completely out of it with the remains of the whatever-the-hell-it-was, Tuesday much of the same. Today I’ve been better (food helped), but felt like I had to do EVERYTHING and that everything took FOREVER to get done. Not really of course, but days seem to go much faster over break than they do in real life. Which starts Monday. With a vengeance. A possibility of an 11-hour day. Fun times, y’all…fun times.

So Friday night, I ironed…I think that was the first leg. Nah. I straight up have no idea what I ironed, but my app says I did? No photos either. I also did a little clay, underglazing mostly. And put this this together with all the requisite borders.

No, it’s not done. There’s 16 big embellished flowers for the borders. Bowie thinks he might climb it. This is Sue Spargo’s Homegrown, a block of the month I started in March 2020. No joke. Last night, I pinned some things down to it, also with Bowie interest.

Back to the other quilt. Who the fuck knows what I did on it Friday night. On Saturday, I did nothing on it, because the Man’s band played the House of Blues and I was there from 7-11 PM.

Sunday night, I ironed the lower half of the other leg…

Monday night, I was half dead, and last night, I did the other half of the leg…

It remains to be seen whether I’ll get any of it done tonight. I’m knackered. Not sleeping well, worried about the bees and the world and fires and going back to school. Not halfway yet. And I start three days of Zoomie art classes tomorrow, so that’ll fuck with my ability to get art done. Plus my bro is in town again. So family stuff. It’s all good. It’ll get done eventually.

I did finish the binding and sleeves on the bird wool quilt today. I’ll have to take a better photo sometime and post it. That’s the 12-year finish.

Clay stuff…been glazing some small things, then working on the second level of the crazy sculpture I’m making…

I made boobs today. Although they need some forming. I needed them to solidify slightly before I started banging on them.

Also, just like in real life, they are top-heavy. So it does fine here with 12-15 pounds of clay holding it up, but on its own, that piece just falls over. Right now, it has a roll of paper towels holding it up. Hoping to get back to this on Friday or Saturday. Need to pack up four quilts first, plus take classes each day.

Here’s the day I was sick. I got up, thinking I could make it to the doc appointment, even took a shower. Crazy. Not going anywhere. Slept until noon, when I tried to drink Gatorade…

Not sure it went uphill from there. I think I managed 3 bites of rice at dinner. Anyway. I’m mostly recovered now, but my stomach still wants me to remember. So small bites and not very much of anything. But better.

These two enjoyed three weeks together, but now she is gone again and he is bereft.

Oh wait, no he’s not. He has the boychild.

This old lady has had a hard week. No one medicated her when I was sick, and her body doesn’t do well without her meds unfortunately.

She seems better today.

She does like a sunny chair. Might be a fight for it tomorrow.

Woke up after Monday with questions, lots of questions.

I don’t think that’s changing all year. In fact, I’d like to set up an incognito window for me for the entire year. Maybe I can just watch from the sidelines and pretend I don’t have a horse in the game? I realize that’s totally and completely not possible. I have thousands of horses in the game, dammit.

The current book I’m reading briefly mentions the town I lived in for a year…

Found that amusing. It was in the boonies, that’s for sure.

OK. So. I’m tired. I have lots going on tomorrow…and the next day and the next day. I do want to iron, though. Tough call. Also classes will be in here, in my studio, so stuff has to be cleared up enough for that to happen. Hmmm. There’s also some chance class will be rescheduled. Our teacher is not in a fire zone, but the wind has caused internet and electrical outages. The fires in Los Angeles, by the way…my goodness holy crapitude. I remember seeing fires up in the hills above where we lived when I grew up south of Pasadena. I know Eaton Canyon, hiked it and other areas up there. It’s hard to watch all of it burn. Damn wind. Climate change. WTF is Trump saying about letting the clean water run? Man is on crack. Maybe he needs the incognito window more than I do.

What Day Is This…

Yo. What day is it? Yeah. We’re solidly in Winter Break then. My goal of finishing grades on Christmas Eve? Fucked. Well, I didn’t grade much on Christmas Eve because I realized people were coming over on Christmas and I hadn’t cleaned anything. In months. Welcome to teacher life. And the tree was still outside. I never got lights up outside. I found them. They are on the floor in the entryway. I put one whole ornament on the tree.

That tree needs to be planted after I’m done enjoying the cats playing with it in the house. It’s outgrown its pot. It was a volunteer I found in the yard years ago and I just kept upsizing its pot until it was big enough to be the Christmas tree. Not sure what I’ll do next year. I have 5 volunteer trees in pots but they won’t be big enough by next year to do anything. I’ll worry about that next year.

So I graded a tiny bit on Christmas Eve and a tiny bit on Christmas night, and then yesterday was going to be the finish day! Then I spent 3 hours with the neuro ophthalmologist so she could tell me again that they don’t know if the visual disturbance is in my brain or my retinas (because it would be in both). Did all the tests. Everything looks happily normal. Unlike me in general. So they’re going to try another migraine med to see if that solves it. It’s only really irritating at night, especially when driving. And sometimes I freak out because I don’t know what’s causing it. Aliens probably. Even the doc nodded her head at that possibility. So it’s mostly benign and not changing. She’ll see me in a year. Woo hoo. She’s nice and I like her, so it’s all good. She’s also thorough as hell; hence the 3 hours. I did finish an entire book in between all the tests and waiting. I guess that’s a good thing. The point being, my grades still aren’t done. I finished the packets (yay) last night. I have three more classes of an academic question, a pile of homework papers that need grading, and the late work and redoes. It’s probably 4 hours. Will I finish today? Maybe. I have other things I need to do, including replacing a crown. Ugh. No fun there.

I’m still making time to cut stuff out at night…which is good, because it feels like it’s taking forever. Because it is. This is Christmas Eve after the Man’s family party…

Then Wednesday night after my family’s Christmas dinner, which the boychild cooked.

My sole Xmas photo of my mom and the ex’s dog…

Then last night’s cutting…

I’m getting there. I still don’t see the bottom of the box of pieces. So maybe two more nights? Maybe three? Not sure. Same pile with Devil cat guarding.

There was some cat action last night as I was getting ready for bed. Also side view shows there’s quite a bit more in the to-be-cut box. Sigh. I need some consolidated time and I’m not getting it.

I did spend time on Christmas day finding the broken sprinkler…

I was hoping it was the riser, because that’s an easy fix. It wasn’t. It’s down in the ground. I need to trim more crap around it so I can get in there and dig further down to try to figure out how to fix it. Meanwhile, the owl box has bees, so I have to deal with that issue too…we’re supposed to be dropping the box and cleaning it out. Bees make that more complicated.

Bowie is still the most energetic living thing in the house…

Not like that’s hard. We’re all kinda tired. I want to hike, but I apparently mentally need to get past grading to get there. It doesn’t help that it’s cold and cloudy. Although yesterday was sunny and I didn’t feel it then either. This is probably why…

Maybe if I had enough caffeine? Also protein and less sugar would probably help…the post-holiday food has been a little lacking in healthy habit.

I’ve been doing some retirement stuff…mostly downloading crap and then sending it to my brother so he can tell me how fucked I am.

Although getting rid of the Windfall Elimination thingamabobby will help. I’ll actually get the social security I earned before becoming a teacher. What a concept.

I set a goal for reading last year of 95 books and I’ve read 108…with 4 days left, I should get at least 1 more done.

I’ve had some years where I hardly read at all…school just fucked me over completely (2020, I’m talking to you). But the last two years, I just didn’t let it stop me. I read in so many more places now. It makes me happy. So yeah, what goal do I set for this year?

From the most recent book, The Twisted Ones, which I really enjoyed (you gotta like horror though)…

The main character is a copyeditor, although it’s not a main part of the story…

So that part amused me. But also there’s a dog…and one of my rules is that the dog needs to survive dammit…and this one does.

Simba thinks the same thing. Throw in the pool guy.

Anyway. I need to go do some grading now. I really really really want to be done, so I don’t have to even THINK about school. So I’ll be working on that today, then reading another book while they work on my tooth (there’s so much down time when they’re waiting). And cutting more stuff out tonight. It looks the same every night…pro: it’s totally relaxing to just sit and cut while bingewatching TV. I do need to work on two quilts though…probably before I start ironing things together. But not until grading is done. I have one Spargo quilt that I started quilting two Christmases ago and I just need to finish it. And then a friend’s quilt, which was supposed to get done over Thanksgiving and then I was sick the whole time. So those will get peppered in. Plus hikes, dammit. I need more exercise. I need the outdoors. Plus that damn sprinkler and the owl/bee box and a whole host of other household and yard things that need to happen. Plus email this person about one thing and that person about another thing. Or grab the book and go hermit on the couch…tempting. January self needs me to get some shit done now though. So I’m respecting that. And I want to be drawing some too, and that hasn’t happened at all.

Get Out of the Dirt…

Well I just finished womanhandling a raw turkey into a trussed-up state of now-you-will-be-cooked-you-bastard. Yeah, I know most people did this yesterday. It shouldn’t surprise you that I’m doing it today instead. The plus to doing Tday on the Friday (or the Wednesday; we’ve done both) is that the stores are open for when you forget the damn one ingredient you need. I’ll be going out again after this. I’m lucky…I only have two things to make. The girlchild is doing the rest, or at least most of it. Yesterday, we went to the Man’s fam’s turkey day. They have more vegetables (and more people). It was nice, but I didn’t feel fully well. Right this second? Right now (as I start coughing again), my sinuses are actually mostly clear and I feel OK. Not great…just not about to collapse on the couch. All good. Getting there. That said, there’s only three more days of antibiotics…I’m hoping this kicks it so I can be well for December. This many days (weeks) of sick is just yuck. Done with it. I can get stuff done, but not at the rate I wanted to. Ah well. Shit happens. You gotta roll with it.

So I did get the office/studio clean and started ironing Wednesday night. This is the fun part.

That’s all dirt at the bottom of the quilt. Last night, after Tday dinner, I did more dirt, but mostly the stuff IN the dirt.

I didn’t quite finish: a fox, some missiles or bullets (either works), some body bags. Got a human skull and some bunnies next. Then out of the dirt and into the main figure. Which is me, by the way. Lots of the human figures I do aren’t me, but this one is…although there’s not enough chub on her and I’m probably not that tall and I do actually have hair. Not important though.

Girlchild has calmed the wild beast we call Bowie.

Honestly, he loves everyone, but young women seem to scare him at first. He loved Grandma right off. So this was cool.

I’m reading Babel…good book. If words are your thing (with a side of fantasy and magic), I recommend it. I haven’t finished it yet, though, so maybe the last half sucks.

It’s set in the 1830s or so…

But I appreciate many of the sentiments. The author is R. F. Kuang…young (my kids’ age) and female and Asian. Born in China and raised in Dallas, Texas…she has a history background, which definitely shows up in this book. So historical fantasy fiction about words? Sounds lovely. I’m enjoying it. It’s the third(?) book I’ve started over break. I read an entire (short) book yesterday. It was weird: Hurricane Girl. Don’t recommend. If you want to read it, tell me quickly before I donate it to the library. Even ignoring the head injury, that woman needed a major assist. Not a fan.

Mine is in the oven…

Thank you, dinos.

This is us with our students on the regular.

But also, the rest of the dumbasses who think they know all the things…I don’t know all the things, fully admit it constantly, and I teach science. Doesn’t make me a fucking expert.

Absolutely…watching the bird flu do its thing and wondering about our future.

And we joke about this…

But why are we nominating people with zero experience in that field to make major decisions? Why do we not ALL see that as a controlling power asshole move? Godlike behavior does not a god make. Sigh. I just read a really good article about book banning too…that’s the next piece I need to make, need to start thinking about (I have an image in my head…it’s just the details and the ‘how’ that’s throwing me at the moment). Realistically, I’ll be working on this big one for the next month…and I’m OK with that. It’ll take me a good 20 hours to iron to fabric, so that’s probably next weekend. Then 10 hours or more to trim all the pieces…so that’s into the last week of school. Start ironing together, but Christmas is in there too, so maybe it’s ironed together just after? Stitchdown and pinbaste and quilting and binding. I’d be surprised if it’s done in 2024. Early 2025. Then the book ban piece.

I actually love a big project that is all-encompassing like this. I also love book series like that. Quick bites are just that…quick and a relief sometimes, but I like to hunker down. Don’t ask me about grading right now though. It’s been a rough week. I’ve been doing the easy stuff. Not the hard stuff. It’ll happen. Sometime. Not sure when.

OK. The turkey is in the oven. I need a shower and some breakfast. Someone bought the swiss cheese and an orange for me; presumably, they’ll be delivered later. The Man wants to mattress shop today (I’m not saying we don’t need one…I’m just not a fan of Black Friday shit). Then dinner later this afternoon at the ex’s house with my family. I will try to photograph people. I’ve been trying to remember to always photograph people. And read. I want to read a bit. And iron some more…get out of the dirt.

Hope for the Best

OK. I can do 5 days. You can do 5 days. The kids can’t do 5 days. Even if they know they have 9 days off after 5 days, they still can’t. Well, some of them can. Next year, the school board is giving us the Friday of the week before Thanksgiving Break off, which I think is idiotic. We already have a week. It’s already hard on both sides of that week. But whatever. Just because you’re voted in to a school board position doesn’t mean you know shit about how to teach kids. In fact, these days, it kinda guarantees that you know nothing. Am I looking forward to the 9 days off? Yes. But my to-do list is a little nuts. It always is. There’s family and food and doctor appointments you couldn’t fit anywhere else. And fixing cars and cleaning and yardwork and whatever else you haven’t had time for since August 9, when we started back to school. Kinda nuts. But you still have to plan and grade so December isn’t hell on wheels. So I spent a large part of my Saturday banging through one academic assignment. I have another one for this week, but odds are, I won’t get far. This week is already a little nuts. Plus I’d like to have all of December planned before going on break, and I’m not sure we’ll get that. I’m gonna try anyway. I’ve taught this stuff before…no need to reinvent the wheel completely.

Artwise, I did a bunch of tracing and a little bit of ceramics.

I’m still aiming for an hour a night and mostly falling short.

Grading until 9:30 PM and then starting…I don’t always start on time. I did get some extra time in on Saturday afternoon, once I’d finished grading. My brother was in town and I went out to dinner with him and then took him to see the Man’s band play. No photos. I’m lame. So I traced before all that. Good plan, because I was too tired after. And last night, I graded during a Zoom meeting, so then I started tracing around 8:45…so I got further, up into the 1000s (only barely).

Definitely more than halfway. I’m tracing all the weird shit I see when I close my eyes. That weird thing they still haven’t identified. Fun times. I’m on the 5th yard of Wonder Under. Why does that matter? They used to sell 20-yard bolts…now they are 10 yards, so I can see one big quilt basically taking almost all of a bolt. Annoying. Because they’re about the same price that the 20-yard bolts were. And harder to get…mine came from Florida and took a week. Nothing available locally. I just need to plan ahead. Ha! I try so hard to do that. And I suck at it.

I meant to go to clay on Friday, but had to stay for a bunch of stuff after school, and then we were going to dinner at the parents (again, forgot to take photos), so I wasn’t going to have time. Then I thought, Saturday? But grading it all was a priority. So I went Sunday at 4 PM, after finishing stuff. It was easier because I didn’t need to cook last night. So there’s no pressure to come home and do that.

I had a partner this time…

Bartholomew is a semi-feral cat they’ve been feeding. He came in with me and I fed him. He was loud for a while, hung out with me for a while, and then wanted back outside.

I added the other foot and shaped some things…added more to make the top mostly level. I have ideas for what to do next, but we’ll see how it goes. It’s big. Takes up most of my shelf. I can’t go much higher, so I’m back to needing to figure out how to stack parts. It needs carving and details added. And a decision about the inside. Which I think will be fabric. Making in clay and making in fabric are two very different things.

I also underglazed a small pot I made, and I forgot to take a picture of this bisqued before I put the clear glaze on…

It looked good. Hopefully will also look good in the end after the glaze fire.

I think I’m going back today after school. The rest of the week might be messy.

My piece Heart-Shaped Box was at a special SAQA exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Contemporary Craft Show this weekend.

It looks like it had a pretty good location in their booth.

Nice to see it in video anyway. I have two pieces in another show right now, and probably three videos have been published and my two pieces are not in any of them. It’s always a little frustrating to not be able to see your stuff when you can’t travel to the show.

Nova love…she was drooling at some point.

And Bowie being a dork.

Some political leanings…

One of the reasons I made that Supreme Court quilt last year. Although they left out Alito.

From the book I just finished reading, The Dictionary of Lost Words…

Which I really enjoyed.

OK. Today. Is a lab day. Demos and stations. I’ll be demonstrating ripples all day. I haven’t really thought through how that’s gonna work? Because we made three stations and IDK how they’re going to move through them. Because it was a little chaotic last week. Hoping for less chaos this week. Today’s staff meeting is now shorter than it was supposed to be (hallelujah) and then hopefully clay afterwards. Although I have to cook tonight. And grade. Because class will be 100% on all day. Yikes! Tomorrow is a little easier, although we need to make some things during prep today. Double yikes! OK. Deep breaths. Go to school. Do the things. Make some art (and some dinner). Hope for the best.

Buggy…

I finally updated my website to include all the bugs I made. You can see them here. At least for now. They might move. One has sold (that I know of)…it’s OK, it was the mutant first one I did before I figured out how to more easily (and quickly) finish them. Four of them are at VMOTA for now. The rest are here with me. They don’t have to be.

There’s one of them.

It’s the time of year when I’m scrambling and ducking and weaving and running. I could do with some down time, y’all. I did have a meeting canceled last night, and though I was looking forward to some stitching time with friends, I also enjoyed sitting on the couch with a variety of animals and reading my book for once. Well, I did a bunch of that last weekend too. Still sick, so balancing that with doing way too much. There is no balance. WTF am I talking about.

I’ve been doing about an hour of tracing a night, if I’m lucky…just short of an hour really. So I’m not getting far.

And it looks pretty much the same from one day to the next. I did start another yard of Wonder Under…

I’m in the mid to high 600s. Not even halfway. Ah well. Progress is slow. I did want to be ironing next week. Hopefully I will be at some point.

Must be cold. Dog in couch.

This is feeling real.

And I always appreciate this quote.

Creation is my sanity.

From the book I’m reading…The Dictionary of Lost Words…

Good book. I’d like to read it more.

OK. Ugh. I’m tired. Have not been sleeping well. Mostly in the AM. Still teaching waves…today is transverse and longitudinal. Only sort of know what I’m doing ahead of time, which is a bit nerve-wracking, but whatever. Nothing new there. Hopefully no stressful student crap today. Or adult crap for that matter. Hopefully some ceramics time. Then to the parents for dinner with the bro. Home to trace. Busy. Trying not to think about the idiocy that is my government in process. Dismantling the education department just hurts people. So many people are going to have their lives uprooted by all this…including those who voted for the idiot. Or who didn’t vote at all. You get what you deserve, but you dragged us all down with you. Stressed about all that. Ah well. Carry on. Draw some more. Contain the anger in a pile of fabric pieces…well, it’s not really contained, is it. Off to the mines it is…

It Just Looks Easy

Hey. Short school week. But let’s shove a bunch of meetings and trainings in there and do labs every day and put kids outside for one station when it’s 95+ degrees outside. Fun times. Still don’t have a routine here. I’ll get there. By the end of September…that’s how long it usually takes.

Artwise, I ironed more on Monday…

About 100 pieces…and then I finished last night…

Stayed up a little late. Tonight I can iron it to the background, which is not dark, for once. I made a video of the first stage…

It may or may not be easier to see. Long and skinny is never easy to photograph. All the pieces in this show are supposed to be the same size though. Anyway…I’ll iron it down tonight and start stitchdown. Hopefully.

In ceramics, I worked on the mug…here’s the video so far…

And because sometimes the video is stupid…here’s some photos…

I underglazed the background…

Trying to carve on a bumpy, curved surface is a challenge…

I watch people doing it in videos and it looks so easy.

Practice, I know. I also think their pieces are more leather hard.

So I’m just messing around because I’ve never really done this before. So no, I don’t know what I’m doing. But I’m doing it. That might be the key. People always ask me “how did you get so good at…” and the answer is always practice. Keep doing it. Until it looks easy…which is usually like 20 years later. And even then, it’s still not necessarily easy…it just LOOKS easy. I’ll be good at ceramics in my late 70s. Maybe.

I underglazed this too, but I think it needs more coats on the outside.

But I ran out of time.

I’m going to carve it too. Somehow. My plans erupt when I sit down at the end of the day with the clay. Luckily Monday, I had off, so it was the middle of the afternoon…but my brain doesn’t always have a plan until I start working on the piece. Which is fine. These aren’t high art. They’re fucking around.

I just finished reading a difficult book, Know My Name, by Chanel Miller. It wasn’t difficult because of the writing…it’s very well written. It’s the topic. Miller is the woman Brock Turner sexually assaulted…the entitled Stanford swimmer…and the judge let go on a less-than minimal sentence. A friend asked, why are you reading it if it’s hard? Because her story deserves to be read. I knew so much about him and how it ruined his life (um…read the last bit here)…

She talks about Stanford’s lack of appropriate response, the court’s lack of care for the victim, society’s blame of victims, and how it all affects the victim. It’s her personal story of getting through the aftermath, as much as anyone ever gets through it. It also has her victim statement, which is difficult to read, but the book ends like this…

She deserves to be heard. Some nonfiction is a chore to read…and this was not. It was difficult because of the topic, and at times, I would close the book and go water some plants instead, but I’m glad I read it. We shouldn’t be hiding the victim’s experience…it should be known, respected, and heard.

Anyway, on that light note, I have a meeting in 39 minutes, I need to move my lab stations before that, I have labs all day…need to have a discussion about appropriate and kind behavior in lab groups apparently…then pilates (I was waitlisted, but got in!) and book club! for a book I just finished yesterday. Didn’t like that one as much. Oh well. It’s a long day. And it’s supposed to be close to 100 degrees…not liking that bit, but it is Southern California summer…it had to get hot sometime.

Avoid Monday Feelings…

Oh hey. I’m not sure what day it is again. Pros and cons to that feeling. It’s Monday! Best to avoid Monday feelings. What a crazy weekend, eh? I’ve been saying for months that I’ll vote democrat no matter what, because the alternative is evil Satan (not satin…although satin has some evil qualities). I’m really pro voting for a woman again and for a person of color again. When I look at the small portion of Project 2025 I’ve seen (no, I have not read all 900 pages…yet), I realize that my retirement plan would be sidelined by them…I wouldn’t be able to afford to retire when I want. Insulin costs alone would make it impossible. But it’s not just about me…I heard someone explain the difference between the current Republican party and the Democrats as one party cares about money and power and one cares about people. I wouldn’t be a teacher if I didn’t care about people. I wouldn’t make the art I make if I was in it for the money and power. So I guess it’s always obvious where I roll on that. That said, I’m putting my vote in for Kamala Harris…but if the Democrats nominate another candidate, I’d still put my vote in for them. I won’t vote for rapists and pedophiles. I won’t vote for a party that is so incredibly clueless and careless about anyone who isn’t rich and white and male. I’m hoping voters come out and make it happen. I have friends who don’t vote and I don’t understand it. Anyway. That’s where I’m at right now. Flabbergasted a little, but rallying. Still not voting for the orange asshole, no matter what.

Artwise, I presented some bug demonstrations at the Oceanside Museum of Art Street Level event on Friday. It was good…not a ton of people, but I was busy explaining and ironing all night.

They set me up right in front of my own quilt, which was cool. I brought some quilts and pinned them to the table (thanks to the Man and some bystanders for helping me with that idea).

And then I spent an hour demonstrating and talking.

It went fast. Yes, that’s my pool noodle. Meant to shove that under the table. Never happened. Oh well.

The Man hung out in a bar until near the end, and then helped with photos and cleanup.

It was an experience. I had overthought it completely in my head (how my anxiety helps me?), and it worked really well. I didn’t do hardly any embroidery, but I did iron three or four bugs down to backgrounds. Everything is still in the box…so I should probably get my act together and figure out how to finish the rest of them. Certainly binding them is really time-consuming and makes them really expensive, so I think I’ll change that up and toss them all on Etsy. The embroidery also makes them expensive, so maybe that’s something I could do by machine as well, but I think it really adds to the piece. We’ll see. It’s not super high on my priority list.

I didn’t iron Friday…Friday was too busy. Saturday, I went to a friends and stitched for a while and then came back and read a book. So braindead. No pictures of that apparently. But I did iron an owl and some bombing planes…

Sunday, I finally got it together again and started ironing for real…

So the crone figure is part of a tree. She’s standing behind the other three figures. She’s missing her head here and a large part of her lower torso, which is behind the figures. But I got most of this part done. Fussy as shit. So what’s left? Her head, a cat (gotta be a cat), and one of her very complicated hands. I’m in the 1400s, but oh no, wait…I’m in the 1500s. So hopefully I finish today, pick a relevant background, and iron her down. I wanted stitchdown to be done before I left for San Francisco. That MIGHT happen? Certainly it will be started.

I got no clay done in the last three days, between my schedule and a class being in the studio. Hoping to get over there today. Yesterday, I measured the pieces I want to add fabric to and made notes in my journal about what I wanted to do. I have plans! I did pick up the winged woman after her final glaze and I am really happy with her, but now she needs fabric and a base.

This is some awesome artistic photography here…barely cleared space for her.

Love that cat…

Definitely some burnout of underglaze that wasn’t covered by the satin clear, but man, those arteries rock. By the way, there is nothing quick or cheap about how I am making ceramics pieces. But I am enjoying the journey, so that’s the plus.

Other crap that happened this weekend? I bought a bunch of milkweed to supplement those in my yard, which were grown from seed two or three years ago. I got some narrow leaf, but also some special kind and some woolypod, which is what grows in our mountains. Two of the plants came with caterpillars…

Butterfly starter kits…

So I got those in the ground yesterday evening. Too hot before that.

I’m having a hard time balancing the stuff that needs to be done (I really need to paint and I really don’t want to) with the stuff I want to do (read, clay, fabric). I’m doing my best.

The boychild got released from one fire and sent further north to another one.

23 days gone? 24? Not sure. I need to wash his fridge out (I just put it outside, hoping he would come home soon) and move one of his furniture pieces out of the living room that the cats are just way too interested in…need energy for that though.

This thing wakes us up early though, so I’m tired…

And then he sleeps half the day. Like a kitten.

That’s a yawn, not a yell.

Meanwhile, I’m listening to the mom behind me screaming at her kids. I think she said she would paddle one of them into the next planet if they didn’t get over here right now. She’s fun. I get being frustrated as a mom. I was there. I know. But she is a screamer.

THIS.

Man, even those who didn’t teach for very long, or, and this is key, haven’t taught post-COVID. My lord. Y’all know nothing. And we don’t just have one class…there’s five of them with a four-minute break between…max. I remember my principal saying we needed to be at the door immediately after the last class came out, no shutting the door in between. Dude, sometimes we need a reset…of the classroom, the materials, our BRAINS.

We need a few of these here.

Love that.

And from the book I’m currently reading, A House with Good Bones, which is already good…

This is exactly how my brain works. If you’re wondering how I got from here to there, because you can’t see the path, this is what’s going on inside my head. ALL THE TIME.

OK. So. Monday then. I need food and a shower, possibly in opposite order. Then I’m going to go work on ceramic stuff…I know I’m going to be gone for 5 days, so although I want to start the base for the winged woman, I think it’s better if I wait until next week, when I get back. I have one piece that’s ready to go on the drying rack and another piece that needs a few hours of underglazing. I should focus on that. I love starting new things, but it will just dry out while I’m gone, and I don’t want that. I’m also planning on ironing a lot, and dammit, I’m going to at least wash the closet and prime the two parts that have no paint or wait, three parts, need to be primed so the paint will stick. I’d also like to plant a few more things, but I’m a little concerned about the Man watering while I’m gone. So maybe wait on those. We’ll see. It’s already a lot for the day and I’m losing time just sitting here typing. I’m also still not awake. Not enough tea. Never enough tea. And I have a Zoom call at 1 PM, so I have to work around that. Ugh. Get going.