Do You Believe in What You Feel*

Today is all sunny and bright, well, it was, but now it’s getting a little cloudy, and I’m realizing it’s not as warm as I thought it was. Still winter, eh?

Christmas is over, lots of good food done in (well, there’s a goodly amount of it in my fridge still) and gifting over. Today is a recovery day, a reflective day, trying to figure out how to spend the rest of this week. The art is calling very loudly, but I’m realizing I didn’t grade anything for two days (oh ’twas blissful) and I can’t keep blowing that off. I’ll try. I will. But even louder is the Wonder Under, because I’m almost done with the tracing and it’s oh so very hard to even stop to eat lunch, finish a book that’s due at the library later today, sit down to write this post, even shower. That voice. So loud. So pissed off. Drawings keep dropping in, waiting to make it out on paper. Some more patiently waiting than others.

So the best part of yesterday was the 4 1/2 hours of tracing. OK, family was good too, but I finally felt like I was on the better side of getting the tracing done. Even as I realized I’d missed numbering an entire pelvic girdle and uterus. Whoops.

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So I numbered that and got to 1353, but I already had about 20 pieces that were misnumbered or unnumbered…and today, I found a bunch more.

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So I think we’re even if we just say this beast has almost 1400 pieces in it. Still not as scary as those that go over 2000 pieces. For some reason. It’s still a lot…

Fire in the fireplace, TV on until family showed up (at this point, the cheese plate is being created, so I’m waiting on that before ending the TV background noise)…kept tracing.

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Eventually I joined the crowd…two dogs on the couch, by the way. Always an issue in our house…

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Table extended for extra people, mismatched chairs and placemats. Found 6 napkins that matched and ironed them. Made a centerpiece from things around the house. Still too much crap on that shelf in front of the window, but at least three of the boxes are supposed to go to school with materials we ordered just before break.

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Girlchild took over the kitchen…

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She cooked everything but the meat…

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That was my job. Even the plates mismatched and somewhat too large for the space. Those mashed potatoes? To die for…seriously.

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And all the broccoli got eaten. We didn’t even make the Brussels sprouts…we’ll do those for tonight with leftovers. Good stuff…even for the vegetarians…

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Two desserts as well. All good. Tired and full. Puppy…well, he had a lot of things to run around and attend to, so he conked out.

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And then barked most of the night at the local coyotes…Ugh. My brain is feeling that this morning. Not enough sleep.

So the plan? Finish tracing today…start cutting out pieces. That will take a while. Tomorrow has some stuff I’ve gotta do. I also need to grade something today before I even go back in to the tracing. I spent an hour on it this morning, maybe more. I’m in the 1100s, so maybe 200 to go? So close. Cut them out, start ironing down to fabric. I also need to fit in some other stuff this week. But art, mostly art. I wanna make art. Draw too. It’s supposed to get warmer and warmer this week…so some time sat in the sun on the deck? Drawing? Hoping for that.

But right now, right now I’m going to grade something. Actually, first, I’m going to put socks on, because I’m cold. And then grade. And then trace. Trying not to think about yardwork. Ugh. Don’t wanna. Later. See how artbrain wins? It’s so easy…

*Zero 7, In the Waiting Line

Hang Some Hope on 2017

Someone in the kitchen is singing “When I’m drunk in the morning”…and it’s not me. I’m also not cooking anything…yet…I’m the designated carnivore cooker for later. I made an English muffin with cheese and tomato on it earlier, just for sustenance. That might be the only time I’m allowed in the kitchen (this is OK by me). Happy holidays to all those who celebrate something. We’re pretty pagan here, and not even officially, so all are welcome.

Yesterday, in between holiday events and cleaning house for tonight’s official holiday dinner, I did manage to get some tracing done. I’m going back to do more as soon as I finish writing this.

These were my companions as I traced…

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It was raining on and off, pretty cold, a little bit of hail. One kept watch so I knew when the last Christmas present arrived. The other just slept. I didn’t get much sleep the night before, so I kinda wish I was a dog.

Simba was trying to figure out why I spend so much time hunched over this thing…862 pieces in, some 9 1/2 hours.

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I swore a lot at the skeleton yesterday, as I traced all the overlapping bones. Who designed this? Some asshole? Oh yeah. Me.

The cats don’t care about the laser pointer…Simba is fascinated with it. Although here, he is clearly debating the excitement of chasing the light versus the danger of the big dog. Eventually excitement won out…but his little brain seemed overwhelmed with the decision.

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Then this morning was Christmas with all the opening of gifts and consuming of food…with only two of the three dogs present. Grandpa has two hands…that’s plenty.

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Eventually the little guy tired himself out.

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How to make Grandma happy? Give her Beats.

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Girlchild took a break from donut-hole making to cuddle puppy.

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Who was happy to sample his own gifts…

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While Calli collected all of the rest of them…these are MINE.

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Eventually Simba conked out…it’s like having a toddler in the house…

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I came back to my place, quiet, tree barely decorated (it has lights and some ornaments…I’m fine with that). Kitten had obviously had fun while I was gone. All the Wonder Under and the pencil were on the floor, along with a lone card of embroidery floss. I have no idea where she found it, but it was just sitting there, in the middle of the living room floor. And she had this look on her face.

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Yeah. I think I need to give her some attention today. But first? First I go back to the tracing…need to get a chunk of time in before people arrive for dinner, and I’ve mostly finished my chores. Floors are clean (ish…my vacuum sucks…badly…at the moment), the table is ready (ish). I need a break. Tracing helps.

Hope your day(s) are good, family is a plus (or not), and y’all take some time to relax, and then make art. Or look at art. Or read a book. Or listen to or make some music. Enjoy the weather, whatever it is. Pet a dog or a cat or hold a baby. Whatever floats your boat. Reflect on 2016…but only briefly, because holy crap. And then hang some hope on 2017. It needs it.

Curves the Words, Spins the Verbs*

I’d like to say I’m ready for the Christmas event, but I’m not. I’ve put a few more ornaments on the tree, but no way am I doing all of it. The grocery shopping was mostly done yesterday, but a bunch of stuff is now on the other parent’s plate. Presents are mostly done (there’s a lot of MOSTLY going on at the moment), but few are wrapped. I am just now printing the Xmas letter, but I have no stamps to send them. I should deal with that today. The house is mostly clean. I don’t even know if dinner is here or not. I can’t get a decision on that. I’m keeping up with my goal of grading one thing a day. Except I haven’t done that yet today. It’s not a broken goal until midnight. I’m trying to make art too…although it’s not as easy to fit it in as it is during the school year, ironically. During school, I come home and do stuff like walk dogs, go to the gym, cook dinner, grade an assignment, and then I stop doing all that to make art. That’s not working right now. I feel like I should be able to do 6 or 7 hours of art a day, to replace the hours (more than that) spent at work. But no. It’s not happening yet. It will…but not yet.

I did a pre-drawing for something I need to have done in a week or so. It’s OK…

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It’s a start. I’ll try again. It’s hard to draw what I need to though when thoughts of nuclear bombs are in my head. I was seriously traumatized by the bomb drills we had in the 80s in school, like hiding under the damn desks was going to protect us from a nuclear explosion. I guess those will end up (again) in my quilts. I guess they never left (look two quilts back). I’m boggled sometimes by what people think makes sense in terms of dealing with other people. I want peace; I want that worldwide. I want people to have somewhere warm to stay, to have food in their bellies. I want torture and war and bombing to stop. I guess that is something some people do not want. I spend so much time shaking my head right now, wondering what kind of crazy is in our genetic makeup.

I try to block some of that thinking sometimes, just to get through the day.

And I wonder if I should just get a tree for inside the house, because the cats really really like sitting under it. Like they’re hiding from prey. Except they eat the pine needles and gack them up. That’s not good.

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So yeah, I traced…for a few hours…

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The one on the left is mostly smaller pieces…the one on the right is all big pieces of the stove. Those take longer to trace.

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I’m up in the 400s somewhere. I wanted to be further. Oh well. It is what it is. More today. When I get my act together.

Sleepy cats…

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It rained all day yesterday…it would have been nicer to sit and commune with the animals, but I was not that organized. It’s not happening today either. If I have any time, I’m tracing stuff. But first, finish some Christmas stuff, buy some stamps, maybe find my brain. Yardwork I think…there’s a few branches that need to be cut up, and I’d rather do it today than Christmas Day (which is a possibility). Those are all on the list.

Anyway, if you’re waiting for the annual card/letter, it’s coming. Really. But you already know everything from hanging out here. Peace to all of you…let’s hope what’s his face shuts up for a few days, acts presidential, stops trying to kill us all or send us back to wherever we came from…that would be a plus.

*Chet Faker, No Diggity

Never Want to Come Down*

Ok. So apparently having a lot of “free” time (it’s not really free, is it? I have a ton to do in said free time) means I can’t blog because my schedule is less routine and more chaos and I just plain old forget about it. And another day is gone. I’m not even sure where it went.

It’s all good. So right now, it’s raining raining raining, and I know we need the water, but the people driving and traveling around in it are kind of lame. I’d like to just hunker down here and stay put, but that doesn’t seem to be possible. I would also like for all the tasks that must be done to just be done, so I don’t have to think about them either. Not happening. Today is a clusterfuck of errands, plus I have this goal of grading one assignment a day, trying to get them out of my hair early. I was successful yesterday. Today, I haven’t even started. I’m getting there.

And the art…yes, it’s happening. I’m doing it. I need more hours, but I’m doing it.

Tuesday night, I managed to number the whole drawing…it was difficult, until I persuaded Kitten to move…

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“I would like to lie on all the things please.” Except cats never say please.

So I numbered it for over 2 hours…I was on the phone with my SIL for a goodly portion of it, which does slow me down, and there were a few mistakes…actually, I keep finding more mistakes, so yes, I counted 1323 pieces (which was well under what I thought it would be, hallelujah), but there are more than that, because of the double use of some numbers. My brain is like a number sieve sometimes. So there’s some a’s and b’s in there.

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Yesterday, we walked the dogs in between stormy bits…it started pouring as soon as we got home, basically. Good timing.

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Boychild doesn’t like his photo taken. So he uses animals to block photos. There’s three in that photo.

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See? Proof of rain…it may never stop…

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So then I started tracing pieces last night, after grading one assignment. I got through about 260 pieces…not bad. Made sure the drawing was upside down for correct orientation like 700 times. Don’t wanna make the mistake that was the last quilt.

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So only 1000-plus pieces to go! Well, so I need to grade something today, and there are still some errands left on the list, but I should get some tracing in today as well. That’s the plus to rainy weather…makes you want to stay home. Same with the crowds. It never fails that I NEED to make a Costco trip this week. That’s crazy talk. And the line at the doctor this morning was not for labs…it was for X-rays, which I didn’t need, so that was good. Anyway, odds are I’m not going to be done tracing by the weekend…but I’m going to try anyway. I figure it’s about 14 hours total tracing time, maybe a little more…and I have three in…so I could do 11 hours today and tomorrow, but my hand might give out.

We’ll see. Holiday plans…making art. Seriously, look back through the years…either Christmas Eve or Day, I’m always working on something.

*Depeche Mode, Never Let Me Down Again

This Way Is a Waterslide Away from Me*

Late post for me. I started it earlier with finding and resizing photos, until we got the call to head out for miniature golf. Never got it written. Until now. Busy days.

So yesterday was a trip to the Wild Animal Park, which isn’t called that any more. Damn. What is it called? The San Diego Zoo Safari Park. You can see why I might need to look it up. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve been there.

This guy was cute…

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And rhinos are inordinately fascinating.

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Not nearly as fascinating as the freaks I’m related to, however, as you can clearly see.

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After dinner, I headed over to the drawing, again. Still. Although last night, I was pretty sure it was done…I’m not sure if it is or not right now, but I’m going to go spend 2 hours at the gym with my book and my out-of-shape muscles and see how I feel after that.

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She’s big. 49″ w by 84″ h. Or so. So I should get my act in gear and start numbering tonight…and then tracing my ass off. I’ve also done zero grading since school got out. So I need to get going on that. Maybe not starting tonight. Tomorrow? I still have errands to run, clean up to do around here, Christmas stuff to finish.

I did change out the fetus. He was too lumpy. The new one is much better. I just cut the other one out, inserted a piece of paper, and drew a new one.

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It happens. Little fetal reject there.

Anyway, the bro’s family is gone tonight, so there’s just mine to deal with from here on out. I can just about handle that, although I think it’s time to whip up a chore list. I need help. Always, eh? Yeah.

Y’all should make a mental guess on how many pieces are in this thing. I have one. I’m hoping I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be right. Ish. Do it. Write it down somewhere. I’ll report tomorrow on the reality of my crazy. And remember, I did try to keep it simple. I did. Really. Well, as much as I ever do.

Finish numbering and start tracing tonight. Finish tracing by the weekend? Might happen. We’ll see.

*Weezer, Say It Ain’t So

Drive until You Lose the Road*

It’s vacation. Full of family and chaos and bad food…bad for you, not bad-tasting, unfortunately. Or fortunately, depending on whether you have to go to the doctor for a checkup this week (sigh). I’m managing to get some drawing done, though, although sometimes it’s like I’m pulling it out of my brain like a tapeworm. It keeps breaking and I have to stare at the blank spaces on the paper for 17 minutes until I get a piece of it back. Or like last night, just go to bed and after 10 minutes of tossing and turning and can’t get comfortable, all of a sudden it pops into my head and no way am I getting out of the warm bed to go draw that. I type a note to myself on the phone instead. I do still remember it this morning, but the note guarantees I’ll remember it.

So here’s how it went. I was standing around waiting for my brother and his kids to surface on Saturday, so I worked on the skeleton, after making the decision to continue it below her arm. It would have been weird if I didn’t.

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I was really just paranoid about a million rib bones. It turned out OK.

Then I added a tree with hands on the other side. I like trees. They’re in lots of my quilts. They usually have fruit of some kind…this one is a bit strange. I believe those are peaches…and hands.

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Adding feminist symbols throughout.

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Because that’s what should be graffiti on a stove.

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Still need something under that hand. Think it will be a cat. Not sure.

The boys and bro are finally free, so off to Balboa Park for a train museum, climbing, running, wrestling, and Pokemon Go.

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Saturday night was dinner and sleep, blessed sleep. Then Sunday morning, all the way up to the OC for the extended family party. Got my bro, his two boys, and my monsters all in one picture. A miracle.

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Girlchild is still working on the essay that is due today. One cousin is listening as they discuss politics and policymaking.

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Then came home and started to draw again. Winged death in the stove window…makes sense to me.

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Girlchild is still working, with puppy assistance.

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I keep drawing. Probably am going to cut out that baby, draw a new one, and tape it back in there. I think I decided that around 1 AM. Did not get up and DO IT at 1 AM.

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I’m still debating whether the bottom is finished at this point. The right side seems unfinished…

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So I add stuff. Honestly, I need to add one more thing, but I’m not sure what it is yet.

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It’s a cat. I keep thinking that so it must be that.

Finally I head to the…head. It’s been hard to consider the head, but it finally spoke to me (I stared at this space for quite a while).

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At the same time, the skull spoke.

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There they are together. The hair was an issue, but that’s what I went to sleep with…and it slammed into my brain during the toss-and-turn stage. My brain is like a salad. It needs tossing.

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So hopefully sometime tonight I’ll get that done. Girlchild is going a little crazy with the essay-writing…puppy likes pets.

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And another branch down. Sheesh. I can’t even see where it came from in the tree. But it’s a big one. More cleanup.

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Today is more cousin action, once we get out of here (getting there)…but the drawing. I think it will be finished today. I have Christmas stuff to do as well (not today!). I’m panicking slightly, but hopefully that will go away. I have a lot to do over break…I find I do better once all the Christmas stuff is under control. Ha! Whatever that means.

*The Fray, How to Save a Life

There You Go*

Today in a nutshell: rain, assembly, 12-year-olds, quiz, last day of school before break. Yeah. But we will survive it. We always do.

And three glorious three weeks of break with no kids and only 8 assignments to grade. I should have graded more this week. Oh well. (8 assignments, 7 of which will take an average of 2 hours to grade, so that’s 14 hours, plus the unit they’re handing in, which is probably 5 hours total, then inputting grades…guessing somewhere between 22-25 hours of work to do on vacation. OK. That’s unfortunately normal.)

I do have both kids back home, hallelujah, although girlchild’s flight was really late last night. There’s a lot more noise…and puppy is doing much better. He’s medicated and all signs do seem to point to some sort of muscle or back strain from doing too much puppyness. I think he’ll be fine in a few more days. As it is, he’s back to romping a bit, but not quite happy about jumping up and down on couches and such.

Insert cute picture of dogs that I’ve already used, because I don’t have any photos from yesterday.

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My drawing…I drew nothing last night. Too stressed and waiting for flight and exhausted. Even tried to nap for a short time, although that was kind of a failure. I would have liked to have the drawing done before tomorrow, but it’s not going to happen.

So the plan (because it always helps me to have a plan…damn, the right eyelid is twitching): Finish drawing this weekend. Number the damn thing. Sunday and Monday are pretty much lost days…so realistically, let’s say I’m done with those two tasks sometime Monday night (it could happen). Then tracing. It’s hard to estimate tracing time when you don’t know how many pieces are in it. It’s bigger than the last one. Maybe equivalent to summer’s piece. So about 20-25 hours of tracing. I should be able to have that done by next weekend. Then cutting, ironing to fabric the next week. Trimming and ironing together the following week? Is that possible? I think so. But it means this quilt isn’t even being quilted until school starts. Well. That’s probably gonna be how it goes. We’ll see. At least now I can sorta see the big picture.

Speaking of, I need to go to school now. Yeah. I’m not a praying person…so I’m gonna quick, build a shrine to the Teacher Goddess and offer her a burnt offering of a broken pencil, a homework pass, and a fuzzy peppermint from my pocket. That should do.

*STRFKR, Rawnald Gregory Erickson The Second

I’m Wishing My Days Away*

I’m realizing that the holidays are just around the corner, about to slam into me headlong. One sign? Both kids coming home in the next two days. Am I ready? Well, sort of. One kid’s room is vacuumed. Bedding is washed but not on the bed. Christmas presents are still laid out and not wrapped. Yikes. That might be an issue. Did I think about that last night? Yes. But I also vacuumed and took apart the vacuum because of that burning smell (I’ve never found a vacuum that can actually handle lots of dog hair). Then vacuumed some more. And the table is finally cleared off. That’s impressive. And some of the Christmas stuff is up. So did I grade anything? Fuck no. Yeah. I worked many hours yesterday. I will work even more today and tomorrow. I won’t feel like grading stuff when I get home. That’s kind of one of the problems this year…so much of my prep spent on planning that I can’t get any grading done at school, so it’s eating up a ton of at-home time. I could potentially be going home on Friday with 8 assignments to grade…last year it was 7 and I didn’t finish. So that’s motivation to get some of it done this week. Somehow. Yeah.

That said, this drawing is populating my brain and I’m letting it. All day at school, the empty spaces percolate in my head, so I can come home and fill them on the paper. That said, I had a big space present itself last night and it didn’t take long to fill itself in my head. I had finished drawing the uterus and pelvic girdle, and there was an unusually large area between that and the ribs (it happens). So I stared at for a little while and thought about how this quilt is about breaking out of gender roles, about getting out of what’s expected of you…and these women popped into my head. So I drew them.

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There’s a lot going on in here. I still need to have a focus for the head and decide if I’m doing the whole stove or stopping with the top. And if there will be stuff on the sides. I’m leaning against that. The arms still need details too. But it’s coming.

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I don’t keep track of drawing time in the small version usually, just when I go full size. I’ve spent three hours so far on the full-size drawing. I will mull on the face today.

When I sat down for a little while, Midnight came for love and attention…yes, I wear mismatched flannel at home…the cats don’t care.

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And I did get the tree lights on. I really like the lights part of Christmas. There’s Christmas lights in a few of my quilts, including this one. I should add more of those in there, I think.

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Puppy still doesn’t feel 100%. He’s been quiet. Tummy issues.

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Well, if you wouldn’t eat everything in the world without thinking about it, that probably wouldn’t be an issue.

Puppies don’t listen.

I’m hoping to be tracing onto Wonder Under by the weekend. And next week is off! Although family is in town in the beginning. And Christmas shopping is not done. And there’s yardwork to do. I need some good rainy days so I can’t do anything but stay home and make art (unlikely here in the desert of Southern California). First need to survive school. The kids are seriously pushing all our buttons. I will need to meditate in between classes…maybe. We have a lab tomorrow, so hopefully that will help. The mess? Not so much…but at least they’ll be engaged in doing something.

And I get to come home and draw…

*Police, Walking on the Moon

She Totally Confused All the Passing Piranhas*

You know what’s annoying? Every time we make some sort of laminated card thing for class, where every table gets X number of cards in a bag and then they have to do stuff with them…every single damn time, we end up with cards getting lost. We laminate them because we want to reuse them every year, but middle-schoolers basically guarantee that we will have to first of all, count every damn bag out (this is what a TA is for), then figure out what card or cards are missing from each bag, and then make X number of extra sets to fill in the blanks. I hate that shit. It’s an organizing nightmare, and we don’t have time for it. At all.

Yes, there are only five days of school until Winter Break. I thought I was getting this huge copyediting job this Tuesday, and I knew break was going to be difficult. Hard to find time for art, because I would have to work. And both kids are coming home. But then that job got pushed out…again…I think that’s the third time. And now break is free (well as free as it ever is…still gotta grade). So that’s a bit of a relief. I’m trying not to think about how I’m going to do that copyediting job without any vacation time to focus on it, but whatever. I’ll deal with that when it actually shows up.

Meanwhile, our students are going bonkers because it’s almost break and Christmas and all that. I did remind them that not everyone does Christmas. What?! Their shock was evident. The bonkers kid behavior is not pleasant. Teachers do not enjoy that. I guess the fact that they will have to take home progress reports next week might help, but not based on what I’ve seen in the last week.

My patience is worn thin. I know it, at least, and try to make myself relax as much as I can, both during school and after school. I feel like all I do at school is hug kids and wipe tears some days, and I’m not really the mama bear on campus. So you know they’re desperate. I’m the one you come to for sex ed or weird science questions…

Anyway, so I was motivated last night to get through grades (I still have about 100 emails to deal with), so that took a few hours. I also wanted to get a tree, but last year, I got zero help from the kids in decorating it, and I also knew I didn’t want another big tree, because between having my (not elderly…they’re not…but knee surgeries etc means they shouldn’t be down on the floor trying to make the tree stand straight) parents help and doing it myself, plus the puppy…I’m pretty sure he will just want to take all the ball-shaped ornaments and destroy them…so I knew it needed to be up off the ground and smaller. I can’t put it on my light table, dammit, because I need that. So I have this desk that I’ve wanted to clear off for a while. It has a pile of crap (they always do) and the third computer in the house, one that’s never used. So I unhooked everything and moved it around, clearing the surface.

And like all trees, within about 5 minutes of getting it up there, one cat appeared.

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The next one was not far behind.

It was still not easy to get everything out of the garage…I start thinking about what needs to happen before I get really old (I barely got the Xmas decoration box down without braining myself). My SIL said I should separate out all the kids’ ornaments this year into one box for each kid (she’s already done this, and her kids are 5+ years younger than mine) so that when they do move out, it’s not a pain to figure out what’s what. That would help. Smaller containers too…and not on the top shelf. But all that means trying to clear out the garage, which just terrifies me. It does need help.

Now did I get lights on the tree? Hell no. Too tired. Ate dinner, finished some section of the grading (probably 4 or 5 more hours to go, unfortunately)…and then sat down. Within seconds, I had Simba and Midnight competing for lap space. He used to bite her, but then I started praising his boisterous ear cleaning, which Midnight actually seems to like. So now he does it all the time. Her ears are very clean. Sparkling even.

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But none of this behavior is conducive to my getting anything done. She eventually settled on one side…

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With him on the other. Room for the sketchbook. Awesome.

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At some point, I realized I was too tired to draw, though, so another early night. Trying to stay well and get what I need. It’s a difficult balance. Today especially…going to an educator meeting to prepare for the next four years of attacks. Mind-boggling looking at the people being chosen to lead us, people with no experience in reality. One of my high-school classmates posted some idiotic statement about the new Secretary of Education, that she must be good because the teacher unions were going nuts. Sigh. So yes, I refrained from bitch-slapping him, because I reminded myself that he was ignorant. Many people are. And if you think deVos is a good choice, come spend a week in my classroom and see what it’s really like. I have to deal with enough clueless people at my job (OK, most of them are 12, but not ALL of them). You should educate yourself before you spout nonsense. And the attacks on science annoy me too. No one on any governmental science committee should NOT be a scientist. Fire their asses. They’re incompetent and ignorant. Should be a good meeting.

But here’s where I got last night. I think I’m ready to enlarge this part and add to the top and bottom…well, and sides. Yeah. Which means not sitting on the couch, unfortunately…but whatever. Puppy will miss me.

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Midnight will just try to sit on the drawing. She vomited on the last one. That was nice. Yeah. And I think I have three social things tonight, although one is with total strangers, crashing another company party (actually I think I’m allowed to crash this one). I’m going to take my stitching to the educator meeting to keep me calm and focused.

As far as finishing the drawing, I think it’s going to be a few days at least. I might get time this afternoon, but I doubt it. And I draw better at night for some reason…so if I finish grades, Sunday night? Anyway, maybe I’ll be tracing sometime this week? I hope so. I want this one done by the end of Winter Break. Seriously. That’s crazy, of course, but it’s what I want. Maybe I’ll be uber-efficient on vacation for once. You never know. It could happen.

*The Presidents of the United States of America, Lump

Sometimes It’s About Massages and Brain Size

It’s not in my nature to waste fabric. Well, yes, I take big pieces of fabric and cut them into smaller pieces and then iron and sew them back together. It’s already a strange concept. But I don’t like wasting what I’ve got. It’s my palette. I don’t even like throwing out the tiny scraps left over after I trim the ironed pieces. But I do. Because it would be crazy to keep that stuff (I do keep it until the quilt is done, in case I need a tiny piece of something…because if I’m gonna lose a piece, it’s usually a little one).

So although I finished the newest quilt on Tuesday night, I hadn’t thrown out the scraps yet or put all the other fabric away, because I knew I had the leftover pieces from when I cut the head out backwards. Now I also cut out the bird and the sun/cloud conglomerate backwards, but I ended up using them in the quilt anyway. I couldn’t do that with the head because of the shoulder orientation. It wouldn’t fit right. But I saved those pieces. I had spent time cutting out the Wonder Under, ironing them to fabric, and trimming them. Dammit if I wasn’t gonna use them. (Yes. I am currently channeling my Depression-era grandmother.)

So I did. Here’s the bin. It’s even labeled Backwards. The question was which pieces did I pull from here to finish the other one (answer: cat ears, cat top of head, cat eyes, cat eyeballs, and human eyelid…plus two smaller pieces that seemingly just disappeared)?

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The real problem was ironing on the back of the pattern. I couldn’t see it. So I had to redraw it on the back. Now when I look at this, it’s obvious to me that there’s another problem…flipped letters. I didn’t actually realize that until later though, when I was on the phone with the girlchild and she said I should just leave them backwards (I didn’t…but I do have one quilt where everything is backwards because I traced it all wrong and couldn’t bear to retrace).

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So here it is backwards…in process…you can see the box of scraps there. I had to fill in a few things…small pieces. And I decided to make the words right way round. I didn’t cut new ones. I used what I had.

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Backwards head…

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Regular head…

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Creepy, huh? And honestly, I’m only doing this because I hate to waste stuff. It only took about an hour to iron it together. Not bad.

So yeah, I’ll quilt it etc. and stick it up on Etsy. It’s not tiny, actually, because of the hair. And it’s weird. Then again, everything I do is weird.

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As evidenced by this drawing done during a teacher training yesterday that I was a bit irritated by having to sit through. I hate when the voice in my head is yelling “No DUH!” the entire time.

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So first of all, the statement at the top is not what I think…but what some kids might think (funny, I’m always careful to explain I don’t believe that…that smart people do some really stupid stuff. I could insert names here if I wanted to.). Then the stuff about brain size/weight…I actually wanted to check that out, because I remembered that Einstein’s brain wasn’t particularly large, and I always thought that it was the connections that were more important than size, although even those can be regrown to some extent. And this morning, I found this…confirming that (as we all know) size isn’t everything. And yes, if you haven’t figured it out by now, drawing is my safe space. The Affect not Effect was because the damn program needs an editor. I hate it when apparently educated people can’t edit their stuff. It’s one thing to get it wrong. It’s another to not realize you get stuff wrong and have someone who is better at it check your stuff. We’re teachers, dammit.

I probably scare some people in trainings. Generally I try to sit with people who won’t be scared. In the old days, when we got a paper agenda for staff meetings, people used to try to sit next to me (because it was more fun to watch me draw than listen to the principal). Seriously, though, it entertains the part of my brain that otherwise gets me in trouble. Plus it keeps me awake. And any angry or pissed off or bored parts will have something else on which to focus.

There is a cat currently sitting on my computer mouse. OK. Moved her. Lab day today. Too tired for that. Oh well. It’s not like I get to ignore the tired stuff. I did get my first ever massage yesterday, in an attempt to move the joints in my neck and back that have been semi-frozen about a month. We got all but one of them. But more importantly, holy crap, massages are wondrous. I can’t afford how wondrous they are (seriously, I could get addicted to that). But it was a positive thing. So there we are. You learn something new every day. Sometimes it’s stupid stuff, like how much vomit a Golden Retriever can gack up. But sometimes it’s about massages and brain size.