I’m a Big Girl…

Hey. It’s Friday. I say this once a week. I saw three squirrels cavorting on the slope this morning. I’ve only ever seen two at a time, mostly one. This was definitely three. Fun times. I definitely have the trees for it. And the one I’m watching right now? Definitely a young one. Not super tiny, but not an adult. Cool morning focus…on nature (even destructive nature) rather than the shitshow that is school right now. Behaviors have ramped up in all the classes, and I don’t think teaching sex ed early is helping. The baby squirrel went up one of the trees and is now coming down another one. Adorable little beast. Unlike boys during sex ed. I shouldn’t say ALL boys, because it’s not. But it’s a healthy number of them. Speaking of not all boys but way too many of them…

I mean, I guess I’m alternately shocked and not surprised at all that a ton of men checked into an online rape academy. Certainly I’m holding other men responsible for shutting that shit down if they ever get a hint of someone they know visiting that, but also, why is it allowed to exist? I’d love to have all those men outed. Names published. Fired from jobs. As we teach sex ed and little boys write on the question cards, “how many holes on a girl can I put my dick into?” Seriously disturbing sometimes. Also there has been a huge thing on consent, with parents monitoring kids’ phones and the kids saying they don’t have their consent, (and my laughing my ass off, because who pays for your damn phones and phone bills, you sweet dingbats), and then I explain how you can’t give consent under 18. And you know, it’s always the boys yelling, Bill touched me without my consent; can I hit him? Can I sue him? And the girls are sitting quietly in their chairs. I do mostly clump boys together on one side, girls on the other. Kids get to choose one person to sit with and there are some boy/girl combos. One set is dating and I warned him; usually I don’t let them sit together, but I think this pair is OK. The other pairs are friends and that is their support system. But one (annoying) boy noticed yesterday (on Day 4) and yelled out about it (because apparently we have to yell everything out), and one of the girls answered, “Maybe we just wanted to sit with our friends so we don’t have to listen to you,” and I’m with her on that. I’m kind of done with it, and we’re not even halfway through. My voice is shot; my patience is heading for the basement level. Deep breaths. It’s Friday. I can do it. I’m teaching pregnancy today. That should shut them up.

Artwise, I’m still embroidering. I have a lot done (it doesn’t look like a lot though)…

I finished that blue-green color and the lighter purple, and started the bright pink.

Then I need to find a proper purple; then sequins and beads. Another week? I may pause and do bug legs for a few days. I was too tired for them. They require thought and I’ve been doing yardwork every night and then grading and barely starting embroidery at 9:30 PM and hardly getting an hour in. Ugh.

I did go to ceramics last night because I have physical therapy for my knee after school today and then a show tonight (UGH).

She’s got two arms now and roughouts for hands. I’m trying to do hands differently…put something in them and then carve the fingers, because the fingers are always breaking. We’ll see how that goes. I have to make sure it doesn’t dry out too much so I can’t carve it, and my original plan for the arms changed mid-arm and then I still don’t have enough shelf space available to dry this or start the head and originally there was going to be a barn owl on the head/shoulders and I’m not sure how to pull that off. SO. Yeah. I’m rethinking.

She looks like she’s doing a low row in pilates. ANYWAY. I’ll get there. I don’t plan much in ceramics. That’s the point for me. Brain loosey goosey.

Speaking of loosey goosey, here’s Scribble.

She’s a sweetheart. But still kitteny.

Hey so I finished my taxes a week or so ago and I’m still pissed off that I’m paying for a war. And ICE. And those dumbass goons in the government who quote random shit and say even more random shit. Also my right eye started twitching today and I blame all of this: school and world.

Unfortunately, the monkeys are mine. Every day. In class.

Another photo of my piece at the No Boundaries exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum.

And my Stitchpunk piece at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. I always forget that they’re traveling around, although hopefully I’ll see this one in Oregon this summer. Or is that Fierce Planets? I can’t remember.

Woman 3.0. Hopefully dealing with fewer stupid men online.

Leaving you with Simba AFTER I stopped rubbing his belly.

No judgement in that face. I did rub his belly for a long time (not long enough, lady).

OK. Teaching pregnancy today. No videos of women giving birth, unfortunately. The school board thinks that’s too much. I think it scares them and it’s useful. Plus it gives me a break from talking. I talk NONSTOP for this unit with the new curriculum. Yesterday a boy yelled out, “Pregnancy, Why the fuck do we need to learn about that?!”. I calmly said, “well, I guess you never want to have sex with a woman then.” Fun times, y’all, fun times. After teaching that all day (it’s OK, the one class that got to the anatomy review yesterday shut up SO FAST…it was joyful), I will get my knee poked and prodded again, then remember to pick up my insulin (if I forget, it’s OK; I’ll be back tomorrow for the boob squeeze, version 1). Then the Man said I should NAP for the show tonight. Four hours long. But there’s a taco truck. But the three songs he’s in are the last of 43? So holy crap, bring my book and go read in a corner? We’ll see how I feel. Currently I feel like crawling into a pillow fort, but that’s not an option. I’m a big girl and I need to do all the things.

Art Will Be at the End of It…

It seems to be Monday again. Some cruel joke. We start sex ed today, a full 6 weeks early, and I am so not ready. I have 32 kids opted out (I think…something like that)…I have one class that only has 6 girls left (girls opt out more than boys). I clustered them in a little pod, like wagons circled together for protection. Occasionally a girl wants to sit with a boy. Some make total sense, and one this year is a couple…I don’t think they realize how awkward it will get when we start talking about how pregnancy happens and STIs present. I don’t usually let the couples sit together, but we’ll see how this works. Big class. Not a lot of places to put him.

So there’s that. I’m totally behind in grading because I did not have any time this weekend for it (or motivation; let’s be real). I’ll need to be a little more on top of it this week. Somehow. Ugh. I’m too tired for all this shit.

So what did I do this weekend? I picked up quilts and went to an art group meeting and went to dinner at my parents because my brother is here visiting and that’s really it. I was out of it for most of Saturday, even though I did things. Stitching-wise, I worked on everything. I finished the edges of the 5 bugs…

Now they all need legs…well, except the ladybug. She’s got them already.

Pink or green legs? I’m thinking lime green.

This one looks really weird without the rest of its leg parts.

Some of them also need antennae. Maybe that’s tonight’s project.

Then Saturday, at the artist meeting, where I saw an artist’s studio that would be lovely, yes thank you, I would like that much room…I worked on this…

I took an improv quilt class last January? Or the year before? Finished the top and went, eh, I’m not really an improv quilter, what am I going to do with this? So I started stitching on it last summer, put it down after that residency, but picked it up for this meeting and did some more stitching. Because my brain is all over the map at the moment. Proof of that: last night, I was working on the pink head again…

Scribble is not so helpful. But I did pull out all the beads and found the sequins. I’m still doing thread stuff right now though. It takes forever.

The ceramic piece got more stuff on the front…

As I watched this…

Which was awesome and awe-inspiring and all that good stuff. Unlike the rest of everything.

Ok. I am really tired still. Blood sugar has been crashing at night, so I’m reducing my insulin to see if that helps. It’s exhausting to deal with. I didn’t get any yard work done this weekend, so hopefully I will later this week. I’ve got some ceramics time built in. I’m going to need to grade stuff. I need legs for the bugs and more embroidery all over the place. This week is less busy than last week…well, at least at the moment, so that should help. Today is just the intro to sex ed, so it’s mostly my telling them how all the things work and how not to piss me off while I’m teaching it (fun times, y’all…some of the boys lose their freakin’ minds). There are a couple of kids I won’t mind not seeing for two weeks, honestly, so that’s a plus. Anyway…art will be at the end of it and that’s always a good thing, even if I’m jumping all over the place with projects. There’s a reason for the jumping and I’ll get all these little projects done eventually and get onto a big quilt…hopefully by June. Which is a long way away unfortunately. Sigh.

Supposed to Do…

Hello all. It’s Wednesday, although my brain is convinced it has survived more than two work days this week. It’s wrong…well, unless you count the weekend, when I also worked. As always. I finally finished all the bindings on the dye paintings…with everyone’s help. Here’s Nova…

Who headbutts things and then drools on you.

I started embroidery (finally!) on this one last night…

Probably take forever. I was going to do more applique on it, but that would have meant getting off the couch and I was well past that. I will still DO the applique, but I need to prep for it earlier in the evening. Probably not tonight. Today is a mess. We’re going on a field trip to the Midway (big military boat; my favorite thing really…ha), then we’re back in our rooms for two periods and I still don’t have air conditioning (it was 97 degrees outside yesterday). Then pilates and cooking dinner. Ugh. I’ll be half dead by the end of it. And I’m grading like crazy to hopefully limit what I have to get done over break.

I went to the ceramics studio last night and took this half-assed photo of the bowl ready for glaze fire.

It took me almost an hour to do the glazing. I’m hoping it turns out well.

The Forbidden Words Project quilt is done…I have three words/phrases in it.

Let’s see if I can find them…

The girlchild might make it to the opening where this will debut up in San Francisco. It’ll travel…hopefully I’ll see it at some point.

Yesterday was crazy hat day AND tattoo a teacher (fundraiser)…

What’s funny is that I went to the ceramics studio after and forgot I had the tattoos and got some weird looks until I remembered.

Good times. Getting them off was a bit more challenging, but I think we’re good.

This is where we’re headed. Again.

I’d like to bring up the guy who said my comments about the Repugs/MAGA need to throw women back to the 1900s were a conspiracy theory. After I bring him up, I’d like him to explain what’s happening now and how I was wrong. (not happening; it’s fine. It’s not like I wanted to be right.)

And this. Sigh.

Keep voting y’all. And caring about all the people. It’s what we’re supposed to do.

What Happened to Your Face?!

Hey yo. I’m not sure I can feel this tired in the morning forever. I feel like my body should be adjusting. I’m going to bed at the appropriate time for the time shift, so I’m getting the ‘right’ amount of sleep (or the amount of sleep I normally get anyway, which is probably nowhere near enough)…but I feel like a truck hit me every time I get up. I’m sure this happens every year and I feel like shit like this every year, and every year, I mentally block it out and think it will never happen again. And then it does. Good times.

Quilt progress…I finally got binding and sleeves on all four quilts…OK, this isn’t a picture of that. I think I finished quilting this one? I don’t even know.

I just pick up the next one on the pile and figure out what to do with it next.

I used the same purple binding on two of them because the fabric store I was at is apparently phasing out the fabric parts and there were very few fabrics that would work and I didn’t have time to drive to the next fabric store, the better one, before it closed. So I got what worked.

They have different sleeve fabrics, which doesn’t matter at all. To me anyway. Don’t look at my backs. They’re not meant to be pretty. Some people do that; I don’t.

So tonight, I’ll start all the handsewing of the bindings…I think I’ll leave at least some of the sleeves loose so they don’t get in the way of any embroidery I might be doing.

Monday, I cut a hole in her chest.

I needed it to be sturdy enough for that. And then I started adding things…

That took a long time…and it’s not done. Fun though.

My bowl made it through the bisque fire.

It has one tiny crack on the edge that will either fade away or turn into something horrible in the glaze fire. That’s how it goes. I have no room on my shelf for it and I didn’t bring my glazes on Monday, so I’ll have to remember on Friday to do that. Clear glaze on the outside, something on the inside. I don’t have a lot of choices for the inside.

I have two pieces in this show that opens this weekend. I should be at the opening in the first hour.

It’s usually a pretty cool venue/gathering of quilts.

I finished a book yesterday. This is a quote…I used to know how to screenshot stuff with my iPad, but apparently I forgot and resorted to taking a blurry picture with my phone.

I agree.

And this too.

OK. My mouth is still sore. My face is still bruised but better. I’ve had a billion students yell, “What happened to your face?!” at me in the last two days, even though I explained it. Shows you how much they listen. I’m exhausted. I still have six stitches in my gum, which will come out Friday. I’m running out of pain meds, but will be fine…really…I think some of the pain is the weather seesawing between chilly and rain to Santa Ana winds and hot weather. They fixed my air conditioning at school before it hits 93 degrees tomorrow. I’m behind on EVERYTHING. In case you were wondering. Today, I am continuing to teach Punnett squares and then going to a union meeting. Then coming home and grading and handstitching. And OMG sleep. Ugh. So I can be up even earlier tomorrow morning. There’s 8 days of school before Spring Break. And one assembly. And a field trip. And and and. Ugh.

It’s All Rainbows?

I’m working on some new pieces that are supposed to be for a show in a conservative part of Southern California. I figured these dye paintings would be quicker than trying to draw and make a whole new quilt that fits their ‘no nudity’ rules, plus it gets me to finally start thinking about these pieces and what I can do with them. I’m in the brainless, just-quilt-it phase, which is probably a good thing, because my brain keeps trying to figure out how to make these more political…I mean, we’re in a stupid war, spending crazy stupid money, probably illegally, and I’m trying to make art that won’t offend anyone…I don’t really set out to offend people, but I don’t usually regulate what I do either, so it’s a challenge. I’ve made a few pieces for places that didn’t allow nudity before…it just seems harder to control the need to put the word ‘fuck’ all over everything at the moment.

So yes, I’m quilting rainbow batiks at the moment…

I had to pack a quilt Monday night, so I had limited quilting time. I have another I have to pack sometime soon…same deal. But I finished quilting. I think. I might do more in the background? Or maybe just hand stitch. I don’t know yet.

Definitely doing something all up in her hair, and maybe her skin. Not sure.

I didn’t have actual rainbow thread. I have limited thread sources locally. Well, I was going to go to one place and they aren’t apparently open on Sundays, so I didn’t. But I had a thread from quilting a friend’s baby quilt that was light green through blue and purple and that was close enough.

Although maybe rainbow thread is something I will keep an eye out for, in my vast thread-shopping trips (ha. not happening).

So then I moved on to the next one…

I mostly only did the black outline around the head…need to figure out what I’m doing in the face area. Odds of my having pink thread anywhere is pretty low. I’m heavy on the dark blues. But more of that tonight. At some point, I’ll have to make real decisions on these pieces, but low-key is where I’m at right now. I’m panicking about grades being due Monday or Tuesday and not wanting to grade all weekend and also shipping stuff out and getting taxes done and school is overwhelming and adults are annoying and sometimes kids are too, but at least they have an excuse of still growing and developing.

I did some clay on Monday…adding the second arm and tried to make it fit where I wanted it.

Learning from my mistakes on the last one hopefully. I’m going to cut a big hole in the chest soon. But I want to add a bunch of stuff too. So that’s my brain for you. My brain that last night got totally sidetracked by a long email chain that a parent kept going and I kept having to answer and all I’m really thinking about is how much work I have to do and burying my brain in this…

It’s like they’re doing everything they can to distract from how crazy all the rest of their decisions are. Wars are good for the economy, right? Isn’t that what they say? I feel like this one is gonna tank the economy. Gas prices sky high? Children dying? And this…

That’s why my brain keeps leaning toward making stuff political. Because it is.

This was the weekend.

That thing is still continuing though.

Gemma’s got my anxiety mapped out. Oh yeah, and dental surgery tomorrow. Fun times. Sub plans PLUS possibly yanking a tooth (hopefully not).

I do like this concept though.

The whole caterpillar to butterfly thing is so weird and fascinating.

I actually get frustrated even with kids’ books these days, but I do agree.

That’s why I read fantasy and science fiction probably. And murder mysteries to satisfy my need to stab people.

This is absolutely true. That and Dr. Suess. The world is a disappointment against those two exemplars.

Monday, I drove the ex’s dog to doggy daycare.

She was really confused. So was I, because I had to drive past work to do it. And then drive back. She was a good girl.

OK. Whoa. Today. Meeting this morning (ugh). Then fire drill, and we’re not sure where we’re evacuating to, because last time, they moved our room numbers and then left my coteacher’s room number off and we’re not sure why they moved the numbers and why they didn’t even TELL us, so we’re wandering around the quad with our kids trying to find the numbers and I’m thinking, this is what this school year is like…wandering aimlessly because no one in charge thought it through or told us anything. My coteacher is gonna go find our numbers before school because I’m in a meeting, and then I’m teaching genetic traits, which is kinda fun…the kids get into it. Then pilates and book club (haven’t finished the book) and grading and quilting. SLEEP. Maybe. That’s an issue some days. GRADING. And setting up Friday’s activity, which required 250 pages of laminating and then cutting them all apart. So Much Work and I’m still not done. The two boys who helped yesterday were way more efficient than our TA, who is getting fired…second one this year we’ve gotten rid of. Never done that before. So weird. But art at the end. Be thankful for that.

Weird Week…

This week is messy. Mentally. Not really. I had a training thing on Monday, which lasted 12 minutes and then we spent the rest of the day planning the next three weeks before Spring Break, so we wouldn’t lose our minds (good plan) and starting a plan for after break. Then I gave a test Tuesday. Then I took today off to deal with my knee evaluation for physical therapy (we have a plan! Finally!) and to do an art group Zoom. I also graded half the day, which catches me up somewhat for the end of trimester, which is coming fast. It is ironic that I have to take time off work in order to get caught up with work. Is that ironic or just stupid? Hard to say. Anyway, all that to say that I am totally off on writing today. It’s nighttime. I write in the morning. But I had to be at school this morning for a meeting (and then race back home for the Zoom).

Sigh. Anyway. I’m still working on the dye paintings, trying to get them all bordered and then sandwiched to start. I finished the second one…but I had been trying to get the wrinkles out and cut the borders but then decided to rewash it and see if the wrinkles would come out (they did). Oh wait, first I sandwiched and pinbasted this one.

Then I cut borders…

Then the next night, I sewed them on…

And pinbasted it…

That’s three so far, one to go (tonight). It’s the smallest.

I also made it to ceramics on Monday…spent two hours finishing the upper torso and doing one shoulder and one arm.

I’m going to cut a hole in the chest once everything is a little dryer and more solid.

Not entirely sure how I’m handling the rest of the arms. I’ll figure that out as I go. It’s already almost too tall for my shelf, but all the bigger shelves are full, so IDK what my plan is. Head separate? Owl definitely separate. Although both will have issues for standing up in the kiln then. Sigh. I meant for this to be smaller. Apparently I don’t do small.

I have two pieces in this show and will be at the opening on March 15.

Come check it out. Looks to be a fun show.

I love these quotes…

There really is a feeling of oh well, this is what I have, although trying to make all the parts work better is definitely always a goal. But not what it looks like. Just how it works. Here’s another side to that.

I guess I never really conformed. And I don’t really consider beauty something to aim for…but being comfortable with oneself is a nice place to be. And when I’m not comfortable, being self aware enough to do something about it, whether it’s physical or mental.

But the world we live in now doesn’t really want us to think that…especially if we are young and could have babies.

It is exhausting. I suspect this would help.

But hey, gas is cheap and so is food? Wait, no it’s not. And we’re not going to have durable medical equipment suppliers? WTF. I’m just so done with the inability of others to make sense. Across the board.

This is what stared at me from the bed this morning when I was trying to find the landscape fabric (don’t you keep yours in the bedroom? I do. Long story.).

And if I rotated left…

Obviously I interrupted their daily meeting. Whoops. Sorry. Leaving now.

I did take some time today to read a little (good book), plus move some stuff on the deck (plants) and to where the veggie planter is going, plus move the tarp that was covering the septic pumpouts when it rained like crazy. Put that tarp away. Recycled some papers from Christmas and threw away two pens that didn’t work. That felt like a lot. It wasn’t.

Every few days, I see these two, together, in exactly this place. If I go out the door to get a better picture, they leave.

So this is through the screen in the kitchen. It’s such a weird place to regularly hang out. They must be friends, right? Do geckos have mates they stay with? I don’t even know. Also, do Podocarpus trees have males and females? And if so, which one has more of the seed pods? I know, I could Google those things, but I need to put another dye-painted quilt together so I can start quilting them and then handsewing stuff on them. Soon.

Tomorrow is more eyeball stuff and Friday we dissect eyeballs. Fun times. It’s supposed to be like 90 degrees on Friday; meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to wear in Virginia if it’s still in the 20s at night when I go. Freaky stuff.

Light Waves…

I know, I forgot to write on Monday. It was a holiday, the septic tank guy showed up early, I graded almost all day, there was no realization of what I normally do on Mondays. So I did all this stuff Friday and Saturday that isn’t going to get on here today. Maybe later. Ha! If I remember.

So the quilt is almost done though. I quilted Saturday…

I finished quilting on Sunday…broke a foot.

This is a cheap, badly designed foot. I tried to get an official spring bouncy open toe foot like that for the machine, but it was not available, so I don’t think these are really designed for this machine, even though they say they are. They are also cheap. So that arm eventually gives way. I buy like four at a time. They last about 8 months, depending on how much I’m sewing…and honestly, how fast.

This was almost 10 hours of quilting.

I trimmed on Monday…had to move the boychild’s fire equipment and four pairs of boots out of the way. He went back to work this week.

There is a Scribble kitten in this photo. She’s playing with boot laces, but also spent some time sitting in the middle of the quilt, staring at me. I got the binding sewn on too…

And Monday night, started the handsewing.

Last night, Scribble kept flicking her tail into what I was sewing.

Almost sewed her tail into the binding about 5 times. She took off for a while and then came back…

Not the easiest sewing angle, but we made it work. Seconds before, she was reaching out to the needle with her paw. No sense of safety. I’ve made it around 2 1/2 sides. Got 1 1/2 to go, plus two sleeves. Photographer is getting it Saturday. Ready to ship to Massachusetts in March, then to Birmingham, England, then Houston.

I also made it to ceramics on Monday, in between rain bursts. Definitely heard those on the metal roof. I did some shaping on these…

And then added to them.

I was trying to make something that would fit on my shelf. Ha! Not happening. I am going to need to consider how to attach the owl, when I get to that point. I also put the bowl in for bisque fire. Finally! Can’t remember when I started it. Ah well. That’s what apps are for. I started the bowl December 8 and it has 10 hours of work in it. TEN HOURS. Can’t sell that for the time it took. And it will still need glaze after this. I haven’t decided what glaze yet. Something smooth on the inside. Hope there’s no cracks. I’m finding it hard to get to ceramics…the timing sucks right now. I’d normally go this Friday, but have to do a union thing. If it’s quick and I’m not exhausted, I’ll go over there, but I don’t think it’ll be quick, based on the last one.

I did walk on Saturday. I was going to hike, but the ex came over to help find the second lid on the septic (I didn’t realize/remember a second lid, but found the original drawing). So I had limited time before sunset. I drove down my hill, so I wouldn’t have to walk the scary busy road with no sidewalk in the dark, and took off from there, neighborhood hike.

I did this daily during COVID, and was always fascinated by all the different plants my neighbors had.

Valentine’s Day kitties…Luna and Scribble. Not quite curled up together.

I saw this. And then started Googling. And this is what everyone needs to do these days. Because if he said it, it’s not documented anywhere.

Also, the comment amuses me. Yeah, I’m not sure the bodycam footage would show you what you want to see…and I don’t really see the purpose unless it’s to show the parents of THOSE children what their sweethearts are really like in the classroom. Fun times. Research, people. Don’t assume the stuff is correct.

That said, that damn SAVE Act is totally fucked up.

Poll tax anyone? But only for married women. And trans folx. And a few others? People who changed their names to escape abuse? Yeah, it seems fair. WTF it does not. Seriously. What assholes in the House voted for this? ID? Sure. Fine. Make them free and easy to get. Or we’re back to where this country was in the early days, when only rich white guys could vote. I guess that’s what they want? Fucking assholes. The Man says the Senate won’t pass it. Sigh. It never should have been considered at all. So prejudiced. So misogynist. So unAmerican.

OK. Sigh. Where we at today? Ah yes, the effects of light waves on materials. Lab and simulation that takes two days to get through with my full-on support. Then pilates. Then handsewing binding. I can look forward to that for sure.

Went to a Show…

I have three things already on my to-do list for before school starts, and none of them is write this blog, take my insulin, take my meds, or drive to school. They are all things that happened after 7 PM last night that need to be dealt with today (or things that happened during the day that I only remembered after 7 PM and then didn’t deal with…actually one was a midnight rememory…annoying). And somehow I have a bug bite more than 36 hours after being outside doing yardwork and a paper cut that I don’t remember getting at all but is on the verge of infection. My left inner elbow is itching like crazy and my right pointer finger just hurts. And I’m trying to concentrate. It’s obviously not working.

Quilt. Start there. I’m quilting. This is Sunday night, lots of tiny corporate climate-destroying details.

Last night, it was freeway interchanges, an arm, and the face…

Oh, and an owl.

I’m actually almost done with the outlining; I’ve got about 20-30 minutes left of an arm and some smoke clouds. Then into the background. I’d really like to get it done and to the photographer in the next week. We’ll see how that goes. I did already buy the binding…thought ahead for once.

I did not make it to ceramics last night or the night before. Finally got my car back and there was nothing. The metallic screech that sent it in was no longer there once they got all the wheels off and brakes checked. Which is good…but annoying. Ah well. Moving on. I might try to go to the studio after the union meeting tonight; we’ll see what my energy is like. Bringing the equipment just in case.

I did go to the Viewpoints exhibit at the Hyde Gallery at Grossmont College last night. Some very cool stuff there.

My Dad’s Gun Collection (2023 Excerpt), Susan Graham. Yup, that’s clay. Crazy, eh?

Screaming in Silence – Rabbit, Candi Blox. The title certainly is interesting, but also the texture. Plus its cute little screaming face.

Body Prison: Womb, Leena Janmohamed. Beautiful piece, lovely glaze.

City, Gail Schneider. I’m always fascinated by the bricks she makes.

Levee and Gush, Joseph Heffernan. Love the colors with the shapes on these pieces. Nothing I glaze ever turns out this perfect.

Everything But the Executive Function, Lindsay Lauters Miller. OK, this is exactly where my brain is right now. Love this tiny thing with the head right there in the middle of the chaos. Honestly, I took this picture for my coteacher.

I totally didn’t get a title or artist for this…I was surrounded by people and just trying to focus on the FINGERS at the ends of the braids. WAIT. I found it. Unsettling, Sarah Garcia.

And unsettling it is.

These were in the outside window part of the gallery, so they’re taken through a window.

Volcano, Lee Puffer. It’s possible the neon attracted me.

Hysterectomy, also Lee Puffer. Shiny and glowing, as a hysterectomy should be.

And Saraswati, by Cheryl Tall. I do always love her pieces. This is a good show to go check out. Open for a month? Maybe longer. I am a font of information. I’m trying to get done so I can get to school and bang through that stupid to-do list.

Driving to pick up my car yesterday afternoon…I really want to believe this is an Emo Sewer.

Also says they bought their Tesla before Elon went crazy, but also has a Raiders sticker. Ugh. Intriguing though. OK, I Googled it and it is just ‘awesome’ backwards. Not as interesting. Or interested. Rolling my eyes a bit. Moving on.

Scribble tries to help with the grading.

To be clear, she is not helping at all.

This…is a great Vday card.

And this is a great thing the US should consider…other countries are acting like normal human beings and locking up criminals…why can’t we?

My coteacher sent me this but I had already screenshot it.

I’d love to make my students explain this, but realize only 10% of them could. Which is frustrating.

This is also a good goal for today.

One can dream.

My daughter, who is ADD (which is now all ADHD), says I am also AD(H)D…and this might be the best proof.

That is exactly how my brain works during conversation. EXACTLY. Undiagnosed brain divergence here.

Oh. This is wonderful. And so true. Although my partner could now be amused by it…

Only because I made him watch the South Park 6 7 episode and then tried to explain the stupidity of it all. Hey, in my classes, the drama over 6 7 is almost gone. I think 42 has more staying power, but only with the older geek/nerd/dork population. My dad wouldn’t get that one either.

OK. Gonna go spray the bite with something cool and refreshing. Then take my meds (I did the insulin already) and go to school, where I’m doing a refraction lab today. I also realized…just now…that I need to find and post a simulation we need to walk through. Fuck. See this is how I get to school and am already overwhelmed and freaking out. Sigh. Plus answer two parents, a union exec board person, set up that meeting because none of my other reps take initiative, and then go to a rep meeting after school. MAYBE go to ceramics afterwards? For a short time? And then home for dinner, grading, and quilting. Plus purring cats. And probably a dog. Maybe see if I can persuade the boychild to dig out the lid for the septic tank? Otherwise, I might be doing that in pouring rain this weekend, which seems problematic. Yeah. Good times.

Hot and Crispy

So for the last week, WordPress has been using a tiny ugly font on the posts on MY end, but the posts you see are the same. This seems like a little thing, and it’s strangely happened before, more than once, and then eventually goes back to something bigger than 9-pt type. It’s weird and it bugs me, but it is possible that everything bugs me at the moment. Today, we’ve got what looks like Santa Ana winds (wind advisory, plus it’s going to be 90 degrees…in February), which notoriously messes with my head and my hair and my sinuses. Super dry, too warm, pressure changes in the atmosphere. Makes for a head that doesn’t function normally. For some definition of normal. It’ll be gone by tomorrow (the weird weather, not the general malaise).

Meanwhile, I got the whole image ironed together on Monday night…

Which took a little over 11 hours…and then last night, I ironed it to the background (which I had sewn together the night before).

Note Scribble. She posed with it. Sat right down next to it for the photo opp. Now this is at night, with me standing on the fireplace hearth again (I’m short). There’s a ton of details that will get quilted in and that don’t necessarily show up in a photo like this. I guess, that’s normal for me. I will start stitchdown tonight and hopefully get it sandwiched and quilted this weekend. This will most likely be at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA, in April…and then will travel to a few shows. Which is cool…more about that later, when it’s actually done.

I started a new artsy ceramic piece on Monday. I had a vision (very vague) of what I wanted to do back in December, but was trying to get the bowl done first…there’s only so much room on my shelf for building. And the studio drying shelves were super full; it was hard to find a place to put the bowl last week, so I waited until Monday and found a spot. This is not a very exciting start, but it’s a start…

Hopefully it won’t take a year to finish.

I need to get past some of these quilt deadlines so I can finish the last ceramic piece (which needs a tiny quilt). Not sure when the deadlines will chill the fuck out. The Man will say I need to say NO more often, but that’s hard to do when exhibition opportunities come up. Pros and cons: I love to have my work exhibiting, but it becomes a pressure that sometimes makes it difficult to work on what I want to work on.

Scribble is still adjusting to the nearness of a dog. Simba doesn’t freakin’ care…he wants to be next to me.

I try to come home from work and read for a bit every day. I usually get some sort of fluff to sit with me.

This is Nova while I’m trying to grade.

She was on my leg earlier (when I was reading). She sticks a single claw into my leg over and over again. Makes it difficult to concentrate.

OK. Union meeting this morning, finishing up the EM spectrum in class (hopefully all on task and focused, although one class…ugh…there’s always one class). Then pilates…I got in even though I only signed up two nights ago (I had to wait for the 3rd to be allowed to…did I sign up at 1:30 AM? I did.). Then book club…boom…boom…I finished the book last night at the gym. I finally made it back to the gym, where they have new equipment…took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get to the programs. The screens are sliding by; one of them could have instructions. Really. Yes, I’m old. I do read instructions. Gen X thing. Then grading in there somewhere, hopefully also at school; I’m behind again. Then stitching stuff down and going to bed and not having to get up early tomorrow. Inevitably Scribble will start playing with the strings on the blinds at 6 AM anyway. It’s funny how she’s matching Bowie’s kitten energy, the things he did that he grew out of. Poor Bowie…still freaked out about coming out of the room when anyone but his dad is around. Not sure why, but it makes me sad not to see him stomping around the house like normal. Hopefully he’ll come out soon. Weird times. OK, off to school. Hot and crispy day.

At Least It’s Friday…

Today is the shutdown. I’m with you in spirit, but as a public middle-school teacher in a Title I school, I’m going to be at school with my students. Also, Friday subs are the hardest to get for anyone, and we’re doing a lab, so I would have had to make up some filler assignment, because you don’t leave a lab with a sub unless you want no materials at the end of the day. And a friend is performing tonight, opening night, and we’re not blowing that off either. Need to support teachers in their life-affirming activities, like dance and art. But do we need to hit them where it hurts? Yes. Absolutely. Target sent me yet another “we’ll cancel your Target card” letter (the third so far, each with a 2-month deadline, which I ignore). I’m just avoiding them, Amazon as much as I can, anything else that seems dodgy or billionairy. Not a word, I know. But there are small, independently owned businesses going under right now due to tariffs and people just not having as much money (um, the grocery bill is still bad, y’all…it’s not great here), and it’s not OK that the tariffs are singling them out. Just trying to get art quilts to shows here from out of the country or vice versa has gotten so much more complicated.

Sigh. Things aren’t changing in the right direction fast enough.

In quilt news, the ironing is going well…

Well, as long as you don’t mind a kitten climbing on it (I do)…

She also tried to run off with the safety pins, so those are closed up again. I keep this door closed most of the time right now, because I don’t really trust her in here. It’s chaos and thread and pins and tiny pieces and not very cat friendly.

So that was Wednesday’s progress…looks slower because it’s a lot of smaller pieces.

And here’s last night’s progress…

I’m in the low 300s at this point…the body parts are next and that’s complicated. I have a thing tonight so odds are I won’t be ironing until tomorrow, but I’m hoping to spend a few hours tomorrow. The deadline looms.

I also went to ceramics last night and put the last two colors on the bowl, underglaze anyway.

I also did the fingernails and filled in the mouth areas.

That looks better.

Right now, it’s drying so I can put it in the bisque fire. I’ll clear glaze the outside and then find some shiny glaze for the inside. Realistically, I can never make anything in clay to sell…this already has over 10 hours in and it’s not done. It’s a good thing I’m not doing it for the money.

There’s competition some nights for my lap.

Simba was hesitant, but submitted that belly rubs made it OK. Scribble is unsure…

Really unsure.

The crazy shit that comes out of the government’s mouth is sometimes mind-boggling.

That and Kyle Rittenhouse and that crazy fucking couple with the guns. Like it’s a different story every time. And some people are excusing it every time. I’m hoping the reps start to stand up and yell more, prosecute, fire people, refuse to pass bills, demand for change, quite honestly, get that dumbass tested publicly, transparently, because no way he’s competent to be president right now. That said, neither is Couch Vance. I’d love to hear some of the conversations he and his wife of color have about some of the shit he says.

I read this and went, huh. Yeah. Ugh.

And then I read this one.

OMG yes. I guess that’s too much to ask? Certainly it doesn’t make as much money for the already rich.

Sigh. All I do is sigh and try to hide in books these days. Can’t hide unfortunately. My co-teacher and I had a short discussion of what to do if ICE shows up at school if we’re on duty (grab all the kids and throw them behind the gates). We can’t call our local police; they’ve been told by the mayor to support ICE, to help them. Fuck that. You’re not dragging middle-school kids out of here. Or their parents. Not OK. We are not OK.

Today. We’re doing a lab about light, mostly UV to start, just an exploration. Then duty (no ICE hopefully) and going to watch a friend dance with a bunch of people, then probably home to sleep honestly. It’ll be late. Then art tomorrow, and a hike, to try to get this blood sugar under control. It’s still whack and I still don’t know why. Sigh. SIGH. At least it’s Friday and more art time is near. I can do that.