I really wish there was a way to force the body to sleep better. Last night was a disaster. 2/10. Do not recommend. So many reasons: temperature, beasts sharing the bed (of all types), weird cramp in the left thigh, BRAIN (ok, most that). Plus I worked on the day job all weekend. Made it through two major assignments, thank goodness (because there are two more at school like them). Fuck. It’s fine. Really. Maybe.
I drew Friday and Sunday…Saturday was another thing. Friday night…
And Sunday…where I decided that two bathtubs was enough and I didn’t need (or want) three.
I’m still not entirely sure it’s done (it’s not), but it’s close.
Otherwise, all I did was grade. Seriously.
Nice. Thanks kid.
Judgy dog.
Same judgy dog, just at night.
And smaller? Not sure.
Here’s a judgy squirrel.
I apologize to him now for the fact that the eucalyptus are getting trimmed on Wednesday. I feel bad. That said, there are other trees in the yard. I hope it isn’t squirrel baby season.
This was Saturday night…
Lots of black light.
This was the whole week, honestly. Really bad.
I’m hoping this week is better, but I have a parent meeting this morning and she doesn’t speak English and I don’t have a translator yet because mom didn’t tell me she was coming until well after school on Friday. Sigh. Thanks mom. We might be using Google Translate.
This swear word from the future?
Perfect for now.
And this…I’m still waiting to hear about the girlfriend of one of the founders of Antifa.
I can’t believe they’re still saying this is an actual group that exists, like Indivisible or the Proud Boys. What fucking idiots.
So true. It seems that all I have to show for the weekend is memes.
Which makes sense, considering all I did was grade and take occasional breaks to pee, eat, or scroll social media.
I did a little reading too. Which is where I got that great swear phrase.
Well, at least I currently have fewer meetings on the table for this week (knock on wood). I’m not going on Thursday. I won’t get up early for a wasted 45 minutes. I’m up early today for this mom and the meeting because the kid has been absent 18 days and has a low GPA and doesn’t talk. Mom and I went back and forth in Spanish (ah, Google Translate, you are a blessing) and I asked her to tell me when she could come in and I didn’t realize she wouldn’t tell me until the last minute. Ah well. Watch. She won’t show up. Anyway, two staff meetings after school, then clay. I’m glazing more. Then reading. Probably grading more. Then drawing? Or numbering. Hard to say. I did wake up in the middle of the night and type something into the notes app that needs to go in the drawing…like you do. And hopefully the rest of the week will be low key, no stress, just the normal stuff and not a hot mess of burning school oatmeal. One can hope.
I’ve been ready for Friday for three days now. There were entirely too many meetings this week. I think (knock on wood) that today is the only day without one. Glory be. Yesterday’s meeting for school was pointless. Love those. The rest have had meaning, maybe too much of it. And I haven’t been to pilates all week, due to camping and not being able to get into a class. I think I will be in one tomorrow though, and I already have a class Sunday. My body needs it. Not that I don’t get exercise at school…between building roller coasters and testing kids on said coasters, all I do is walk walk walk stand stand walk.
So they have to be taken apart every day, which is fun.
We had four days of exploring and building, and that was my max. You didn’t finish in four days? Oh my. Well it sucks to be you. You were absent? We recorded ALL of them and posted them for you to watch. Sigh. It’s hard work but it’s totally worth it. They really get into it and maybe understand it. I mean, the high-level kids do, and even the kids who are struggling with English and Science and School in General, this is something they get…how to make it get through the loop, how energy works to do that. That’s the pro to teaching physics…so much of it is real-life experience…they just need to learn how to explain it.
We have one day left of assessment on it, and then I am only two academic assignments behind and two packets behind. Yes, I might lose my mind soon. It’s fine. I know that I will spend huge chunks of the next three weekends grading. Especially if I have meeting after meeting after meeting before and after school.
In other news, my ceramic piece, the upper torso, made it out of the kiln without exploding. I’m hoping to go see it today, to start the glazing process…iron oxide wash and some other stuff. It’ll take a while, but it’s a real relief to have a piece I worked on for nine months finally get to a stage of survival. It’s a fucking miracle actually. Yes, it still has to survive the glaze fire. Knock on wood.
I’ve been inking the drawing, expanding the original. This is very similar to the one I did while camping, except 2.5 times or so larger.
Bowie is very curious about what’s happening here.
Totally not helpful. And last night, I added the second bathtub, with a body bag in it.
There are more details to come, obviously. And a third bathtub. Not sure what’s happening with that one yet. Gotta think on it.
The boychild is back and brought Simba a present.
Legit title for his barky self.
Cute pup.
And this. Why can’t I be like a billionaire and not pay taxes?
If all you use my money for is terrorizing people, I’m not OK with that. And blaming circumcision for autism? That’s fucking insane. My goodness, if only a brain worm weren’t running the Department of Health and Human Services.
Anyway. I have to get to school earlyish (not for a meeting! Oh wait, it kind of is a meeting. But there’s treats!) and then try to get all these kids through the rest of the test today and then go to ceramics and come home and collapse and cook dinner and grade shit and draw. Then sleep like the dead and spend most of tomorrow grading and maybe doing some art stuff (need to enter a show or two) and shit, I need to ship a piece, do I need a box? I’ll check before I leave and maybe go buy a box too in there somewhere. Aaugh. Things have NOT slowed down, they have NOT calmed down, I do NOT feel in control of the day job…or the night job…or the afternoon job. Although there is some relief that the ceramic torso is finally fired. Whoo. OK, I got this. Whatever this is.
OK, maybe just the US. Maybe the rest of you are okey dokey. If so, send snacks…and help.
I don ‘t feel ready for the day. It’s too early. There are too many meetings. I wrote 7 emails in Spanish yesterday. I talked to a kid using Google Translate. Imma do that today with another kid, if she actually shows up. Sigh. When I care more about a kid promoting to high school than their parents do…then I know their parents have way more on their plates than I do, and that’s saying something. School is a challenge. It’s always a challenge. It’s hard because we’re redoing a unit for the fourth time (for me), and we’re using ChatGPT, but (1) it uses natural resources, which bugs me, and (2) it’s not particularly smart or helpful sometimes.
Sigh. I know it. And I guess I’m not using it to write this (as if you couldn’t tell…I ramble worse than a baby lamb). My school district is really pushing it. At some point, maybe with a different government in place, there will be limits…but not for a while. Not until the damage is done.
Time is difficult too. I had a meeting before and after school yesterday, and before I went to the afterschool one, I drove out into this…
Which could have been way worse (I was on the freeway that isn’t all yellow and red). And after that, I went to an opening at Hyde Gallery, which was cool. More about that later this week. Pro: the quilt is being photographed and I did the other things. I even came back (and collapsed for about 30 minutes) and got work done. I sort of set up a worksheet I need for next Tuesday (sheesh) and then started grading stuff. Always behind on that. Significantly so at the moment. That said, building roller coasters has been relatively good, except for some minor stupidity (ah, middle-school boys…operating without a frontal lobe). I got a little grading done even, which rarely happens (and won’t today, I suspect).
Ceramics update: I went on Monday, despite the two-hour staff meeting before it, and amazingly, the woman in charge was there and all the kilns were empty, and the upper torso had NOTHING BROKEN (OMG, this never happens), so it must have been fate, so we loaded it in.
I also refired the base because it needed some refinement on the underglazes. Understand that it’s probably $75 of firing fees right there, but I don’t feel bad, because I haven’t fired anything since like March. I’ve been working on the upper torso since fucking January 8. It’s about time I fired the fucker. And it survived! IDK if there are cracks, but it came out of the kiln last night; I saw it in the video. So I might go see it tonight. Maybe. Then I have to make decisions about glazing it. I’m conflicted on that. So many of the underglazes go super dark, so I’d have to put something on them. But I might want to do some iron oxide as well? Not sure. Might have to sit on that decision for a while.
Meanwhile, the head is done and drying…
And in photos…
In case your video is annoying.
I did go a little weird on the head. And yes, I had to make a base and will fire it in the base. And then throw the base away. It’s OK; it’s reclaimed clay.
And then I worked on the very top bit, the tree on the top…
I wrapped it up with like 20 paper towels, hoping it would hold up as it dried, and not dry too fast.
Pain in the ass. Seriously. Why do I build this crazy shit? So this comes out the top of the head. Wish me luck.
In between that and packing up two quilts for the photographer, and driving all over town, I managed to tape two big pieces of paper together on Monday night and start drawing last night. The taping and drawing was complicated by this standoff.
Bowie wanted to play and Nova decidedly did not. But eventually they left, and I started with one of the campfire sketches (I’m changing it a bit as I go)…
There’s a little pencil on there, just to make sure stuff isn’t a stupid size. I can’t make it too complicated or I won’t be able to finish it in time. Bathtubs (yes, there will be more than one) and politics. Perfect mix. I’ll be doing this for a while. Hopefully not more than a week, but you never know.
From the book I just finished…which was eh.
But I liked some of her sentences. Like that one.
This is probably relevant to my quilts…because people sometimes say that to me about my work.
Make the world a better place and I’ll make prettier quilts. Also this…Goodall didn’t mention me at all. And I’m OK with that.
So the barn owl is still here, shitting all over the entryway steps and shrieking occasionally. I accept that as part of the wonder of having barn owls. I also accept the dead gopher they dropped in the driveway. But now we have romantic Great Horned owls…this is one of the males.
Horrible picture, at night, with a flashlight aimed at its horny self.
Not that the video is any better. At least they’re quieter than baby barn owls. But the female…holy crap, the most scary noise you’ve heard. I don’t have video of that. So there are two males and the one female, and the other night, they would not shut the fuck up. IDK how gentle hoots can keep me awake, but I guess it says something about me.
Last meme…
I blame my feeligs on the US actually. Well, and Russia and Israel and a few others. And billionaires. And people with no empathy. So there’s that. Earth does seem to be in retrograde though.
Meeting this morning, another after school. Last day to build roller coasters, so lots of yelling and ‘get on with it’ and recording videos of successful runs. Then two days to shut up and get the rest of it done. Ha! While I try to catch up on grading AND plan the next unit with my coteacher. Fun times. Long day. No pilates; couldn’t get into the class. Sigh. Ah well. Maybe on the weekend. Things my body appreciates…exercise, reading, peace and quiet, nature. Some of that.
Heyo. It’s Monday. And a week of school and art and whatever else I can fit in begins. I had a great weekend camping up in the mountains, although it was definitely chillier than I thought it would be the first night, thanks to a wind advisory. 50-mph gusts took it down to the low 40s, with a real feel in the 30s. Definitely colder than I had planned, although I brought all the long underwear, thank goodness. The second night had no wind and was quite nice…still chilly, which is a nice change, but not so cold you can’t feel your hands and feet. We were lucky to be in a part of the campground with no small children, mostly quiet dogs, and no partiers, for once. It was delightfully quiet.
It was a nice campsite, plenty of shade; in fact, on Saturday, after our hike, it was a little chilly in the shade. I kept moving my chair so I could doze in the sun, which is unlike me.
We did a 4-mile hike north on the PCT from the campground.
At some point, you get a hazy view of the desert below.
It was actually kind of warm, except under the trees. Four miles seemed about the right amount. I’ve been hiking 3 miles every weekend, but the Man hasn’t, so this was more than my normal and way more than his.
It’s a beautiful place to hike though…lots of trees and blue skies and fresh air…a few people, but not a lot. So peaceful.
That golfball thing on the Man’s head (well, it looks like it anyway) is the Air Force Radar Station. I looked it up. No, we didn’t visit. Probably not allowed. I wonder why it’s white, though. It could blend in more and be less obnoxious.
I drew both nights by the campfire…it’s kind of a tradition of mine. Staring into the flames, headlamp on, seems to help me just draw these days.
So many days at home, I’m only drawing for a specific piece or purpose, instead of just drawing for the sake of it. I used to have time for that, even with the day job. Now, it just doesn’t happen.
This will turn into something else. It was a solid start.
Still working in the bathtub range.
Less political. Which I suspect the new quilt will not be…less political, I mean. I have three bathtub quilts I’ve made over the years, and they’ve been more personal than political. I find it hard to make anything these days that isn’t political. The number of insane acts and policies and pronouncements makes it impossible. The loss of freedom for so many people can’t be ignored. I don’t have solutions that don’t involve coups or alien invasions unfortunately, and since Antifa doesn’t actually exist, I have to draw what I want for the world and make it into art. Draw what is and what should be. So these were prep for the next piece. The bathtub quilts will be in Virginia at the Virginia Quilt Museum starting the end of January. I’ll be there in March for the closing ceremonies.
The first night was already cold, so we were already starting the fire at like 5:30 PM. It was still daylight, so I was stitching on this little tree. It is a tree. Can’t remember what kind…obviously Sue Spargo and very stylized.
Here it is the second day…
The Man was napping…I did a little of that and some reading too. I appreciate the time to just sit and be with the things I want to do. I did bring grading with me; I don’t usually, but I’m in panic mode. I graded one week’s worth of homework in the car on the way up and finished it Saturday afternoon. I then came home Sunday and did a ton more. And no, I’m not done. I’m buried. Sigh.
This was the cold cloudy windy night…
The moon was very bright both nights, which was nice.
This was the beginning of the book I was reading.
Too true. I did all those things this weekend. Except commit felony homicide and move a body. And here’s a quote from the book itself.
I wish I really loved the book (I don’t…it’s OK, but not really my thing). I did love some of the phraseology and ideas. I have another book by the same author…this was a book club book. I’ll read the other one and decide if she’s just too cozy for me. I don’t mind SOME cozy stuff, but this was a bit too much. I’m not even done with it and I’m really done with it.
Here’s my level of cozy at the moment. Gotta love some Richard Scarry.
And Ruben Bolling did it well.
OK. We’re still in roller coaster design today. Hopefully the next three days won’t be hellacious. Thursday was a bit much, but I have hopes that once they start actually taping stuff together and testing it, it will be very focused and I can get some grading done. We’ll see how that goes. Then a 2-hour staff meeting that could possibly be an email. And ceramics? Hopefully. I’m delivering my quilt to the photographer tomorrow and when it comes back, shipping it off to the new owner. Which is good, because I have bills to pay. Sigh. Money stuff is stressful. What’s new, right? And then hopefully, I’ll start drawing the new piece. It’s going to be big, but it has to be finished in December, so it can’t be huge. Keep that in mind, Kathryn.
Yean, school was hard. Yeah, I’m buried in grading. Yes, yes, I’m tired. YES, I even got a rejection notice this week, but hey, ya ya, I got into a residency I really wanted and I finished (and sold) a quilt. It feels good.
Video of me trying to get Nova off the quilt last night so I could finish stitching the sleeves on…
The actual quilt finished (not the official photos…gotta get it to the photographer for that).
Feels good. Looks good. Needs a title. I’m camping this weekend, so I’ll have brain space to figure that out. Plus a statement. It was hard to make. This kind of quilt always is, but I put space and the planets in there for headspace (ha!) plus protecting all the peoples. Keep doing that. All of us.
What’s next? I need to make a larger piece for a dual show in Virginia opening in January. It’s bathtubs. Don’t ask. You’ll see. It will still have politics. How can it not at the moment?
I also finished my book this morning…20 minutes left.
Fuck Greg seriously. I started another one. I’m supposed to be packing for camping (I’ve been doing that in between all the other shit). We leave after lunch. Aack. I have so much to do, I’m having a hard time breathing. It’s fine.
Aargh. And this.
White boys. They don’t listen. Some do. Lots don’t.
If you don’t understand the 6-7 reference, consider yourself lucky (and not a teacher at the moment.
The boychild is taking amazing nature photos…he’s in Montana at the moment. This is gorgeous…
Glacier National Park. One more thing on my list of places to go.
OK, but right now, I need to pick up something and then come back and cook chicken for tonight’s dinner and pack all the things and then get in the car and head to nature. And draw some more! And bask in the not-here-ness (because so many things need to be done here). And enjoy the great art stuff.
“This week isn’t so bad,” she says, as she prepares to start going and not stop until bedtime. Today is a little nuts. At least I don’t have a morning meeting, so I got to pretend to sleep in until 6:30 AM. If only the dog, the sun, and my brain would allow the sleeping in part. Meanwhile, the government is shut down but everyone still does their jobs…well, unless you aren’t getting paid for it? Nah, most of those people are still working; and there’s all those people who ‘chose’ to leave the government…or were forced out. Sending positive thoughts out for them; not sure how the job market is going at the moment…and certainly, if you’re not a white male in the military, I’m hoping your bosses are smarter than their bosses, after listening to some of the crazy shit those two white boys said yesterday to all those generals. There’s something seriously wrong with an administration who threatens its own people with military force. That’s not a democracy. At all.
So there’s that. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to get all the day job work done (ha! So far behind right now). I’m behind because I prioritize my art time, by the way. In case you were wondering. So Monday night, I had book club, where I loved the book and no one else did (it’s OK…) and I’m even reading another book by that author to see if it was a one-off. I was in the mood for whatever that was? Who knows. I did stitch binding, but you know, it all looks the same. I forgot to take a picture Monday night. Yesterday, I went to ceramics. I have the last bits of glazing done on the head, and I finally got to talk to the kiln person about trying to fire bits next week. No photos…it looks just like it did Sunday. Well, not exactly. I cleaned up stuff and added a little. And I graded a bit and then made dinner, which was tasty, but a pain, and frustrating, because it didn’t do what it was supposed to. Girlchild to the rescue with suggestions. For next time. Finally got to the stitching…
It’s been an insane balance, trying to get an hour to stitch and still get to bed at a reasonable hour. I’m failing on both. I stopped grading because I realized I had 18 left to grade and that was another hour, and I wasn’t grading past 9:30. But I had other stuff to do…I had to fill out an acceptance form because I got into an art/science residency in Oregon next summer, out in the Oregon Outback (east side, super remote). Totally excited. Will post more later. On the binding, I’m 3/4 of the way around and I still need to sew the sleeves on, and no, I still haven’t pulled out the thimble pads. Because I’m stubborn? I don’t know. I start stitching and I feel like it’s more work and time to find them and put them on, and the next morning, my finger is all sore from the stabbing. Not very bright.
Anyway, I’m not sure today is going to be much better for time management. The Man said something about my time management (and yes, I almost punched him), and really it’s just that there are too many things to reasonably do in the time I have. And that sucks and it’s super stressful.
It might even be fucktangular.
Today I’m taking my sewing machine in to be cleaned, I’m teaching the second part of a skate park simulation, but I don’t think it’ll take all period, but I don’t know what else they’re gonna do because that was on my list to figure out last night, and instead, I was texting my science team and emailing my principal about a possible new hire. So I might lose part of my prep period to that conversation, instead of relieving my anxiety about not being planned far enough out, which I realize is kinda driving me bonkers. After school, I have to drive to drop off the machine, and then go to pilates (that’s kind of a time crunch, but I can do it), then come home and take the trash out and probably deal with the gutter people and grade things and holy god, there’s another book club Zoom. Yeah. Plus grading and stitching binding. SLEEP! Maybe. Because I’m not very good at that. I’m not sure tomorrow is any better? We’ll see. Pro: camping this weekend. (Con: man oh man I’m already behind in lesson planning and grading.) It’s fine. It will all be fine. Deep breath in? Breathe out. It’s October now.
No matter what I do, I’m always sitting on the couch on Sunday night, wondering why I didn’t get more done over the weekend. Like I shouldn’t have gone to ceramics yesterday, despite not being able to get there all week, because I should have graded more. I should have finished that one assignment (I have a class and a half left to grade…at least an hour, probably closer to two). I should have finished grading the homework from two weeks ago (I have two classes left, maybe three? Can’t remember). I’m two weeks behind in grading advisory assignments. Ah well. And I’m going camping this coming weekend, so I won’t be grading then. Unless I can get the Man to drive (then I might get sick…hmmm) so I can grade homework on the way up. Meanwhile, I’m trying to not waste my ceramics studio membership by not going, I haven’t made it to the gym in weeks, and I have a quilt I’m trying to finish so I can start the one that has to be done by mid-December. Minor panic. I did manage to pick a binding from the three and get it sewn on…
Although Friday night, all I did was trim it. It was all I could handle. I graded a lot Friday night. On Saturday, I had more mental energy…so I got the binding sewn on and pinned down, and found a cat to sit on it.
Thank you, Nova. Then last night, I started the stitching and ritual poking a hole in my finger until I give in and find the sticky thimble things.
So I’ll be here a few more nights, then contact the photographer, and start the next one, which has been simmering on the Art Brain stove for a few weeks.
Ceramics has been frustrating lately; I can’t get there (I don’t have the energy or the time) and then when I get there, someone has bumped the big piece shoving stuff next to it, and it’s broken again. This is the head, though…and it’s almost underglazed…
Still some work to do on the hair…
And I think I did the teeth too? Maybe? I can’t remember when I took the photo. The mid-torso piece is hopefully ready to bisque fire, but that takes coordination with the person in charge of the kilns, and I haven’t been able to show up during her work time for weeks. I could just text her, I guess. I’m hesitant to commit to putting it into the kiln. I’m afraid it’s all going to fall apart, honestly, and if it does, I’m gluing it all together. There is a piece that goes on top of this, and the base needs to be bisque fired again, so there’s a lot going on…I just haven’t been able to get there enough.
When we go out on Saturdays, I draw until they bring us the food. I don’t always get much time (some places are super fast).
But it helps my drawing hand remember the things.
And sometimes people comment…this one got some random guy telling me it was good. Thanks random guy.
This one was two restaurants, two date nights.
The first one served way too fast.
This one too.
But it seemed mostly finished.
And yet, here is what I get from students…
I could just about read his writing. There were a couple that I really couldn’t read. This is the con to putting stuff on paper. The pro is that they can’t copy and paste from Google. The con is my brain explodes. This is what I didn’t finish. It’s not hard to grade, really…just time-consuming. What is that, you say? A person falling out of a moving car. If you stare at it long enough, you might see it. I only know that because the horrendously mostly illegible writing to the right explained it.
So more of that.
While I was grading, I was watching stuff, as you do…and this amused me. ALMOST?
So you have 26 pairs? Or you have part of a pair? Also, yeah, so do I, at least.
This after a conversation on Thursday with two staff members who admitted to originally being afraid of me.
It’s OK. This was found on Saturday’s hike before dinner…
Also the sun is going down earlier. I forgot that would happen.
Same cat (Nova) on another quilt.
It must be fall, the cat-sitting-on-quilt season.
This after the Man went out with man friends. Although they did actually ask some questions this time.
I ask stuff when he gets back, and he’s like, “We didn’t talk about that” over and over again until I’m like, WTF did you talk about?! I’m not invited anymore (it’s all just guy stuff, no gaming mostly), and I just wanna know how everyone is doing. And I can’t ask them.
Let’s finish up with my favorite disappeared female aviator…
Go Amelia!
OK. It’s a short week because our school board has set these idiotic 3-day weekends (the next one isn’t even a 3-day…it’s entirely stupid) because they say parents want them. It’s true that a bunch of our kids are absent on Fridays or Mondays…but it makes it harder to teach. I’ll take this one though…we’re going camping up in the local mountains. It’s a full week though…three Zoom calls at night (none are work-related), plus at least three meetings? Four? Not sure. I give up on keeping track. Teaching something today…ah, reviewing potential and kinetic energy for roller coasters, which they’ll start designing on Thursday. Fun times. Then two meetings or three, not sure (principal says one thing then says something different in the weekly email that comes whenever he feels like it…I miss the principal that scheduled them for the same time every week). Then I’m either going to ceramics or coming home and grading, because I have book club tonight. Good book for that one. And then stitching a hole in my finger. NO! Finding the sticky thimble pad, so I DON’T stitch a hole in my finger. That’s the plan.
Hey. Such weird dreams last night. Are all your dreams of you running running running always running up and down stairs and hallways with a million doors and jumping over things while running and did I mention running? No?! Like WTF then. Why do I have to do that? Might be some kind of metaphor for my life. It’s OK…we can slow the fuck down now…it’s almost October. Right? Please? This week has been nuts and I have no clue what I’m teaching Monday. Minor issue. Really. I mean. It’s Friday. I don’t have to know, right? Ha! This morning is yet another kinda last-minute, holy shit meeting. Could do without those. It’ll be fine. Really. Ugh. It’s Friday at least, right? I know I am planning on going to ceramics tonight (got pre-empted all week) and I have leftover tacos for dinner and a good book that I am 69% of the way through (for book club on Monday) and some binding to put on, because yes!!! I finally finished quilting. No quilting Tuesday for Billy Idol, and none Wednesday because I had to label and pack a quilt to ship it to a show. Good news there. But last night, I sat down and got the last little bits quilted and that damn thread didn’t break once. I think it was tension on the last bits of the last spool and old, dry thread at the beginning of the new spool. And as soon as I finish getting the binding on, I’m calling the sewing machine place (oooh, maybe call today) and setting up a cleaning.
I used a variegated cotton thread in the background, which is the stuff that was breaking.
Better view? Who knows. I’m not a fancy quilter most of the time. The background just needs to recede.
On Saturday, before I went to LA, I went to my local fabric shop to try to find binding. It’s only open limited hours, which sucks for anyone who works during the day, and I found two that might work, but I wasn’t sold on them. So I got both…knowing I could use the other for sleeves or something else (this is how I end up with way too much fabric)…sometimes I totally know a binding is going to work. Saturday morning, I did not. Then I was looking in the stash last night and saw another that might work. I find it easier to SEE the fabrics as binding if I take a photo…
And I ended up taking two photos because the top and the bottom are very different.
The left one is a no. I’m debating on the other two. I’ll make a decision tonight. Will need to quick clean the floor again and trim the quilt; then I can get the binding on. Lots of handsewing ahead, but I think I can set up photography drop off for next week and start working on the next one! It’s time. It’s been percolating in my head on and off…in between the running running running dreams.
Got to school Wednesday morning and found this sweetheart lying on the ground near my room door.
It’s a sign.
This is absolutely true. I concur.
Which does not bode well for this morning’s meeting. I did actually ask one class the other day about whether they thought I was oldest, middle, or youngest (we were talking about a kid who I had guessed was youngest…he was)…and the majority of them thought I was an oldest. Good guess, y’all.
So this though.
I cannot. I don’t even know. My head hurts. Actually he usually just copies from Google or the question, so it’s probably that? But holy crap. And then every day, he asks to go to the bathroom and gets mad when I won’t let him go because none of his work is done. Exhausting. Today will also be exhausting. They’re turning in a packet and finishing a test and then being quiet (ha…IDK how they will do that). I hate having to find more work for the kids who are done, because some of them actually worked hard to get it done and some of them (like that kid) just rushed through it to be done so they can play games on their computers. Sigh. One kid yesterday asked why we had headphones on the desk if we didn’t use them in class that day. I’m staring at him, sort of confused. I’m like, I’m not taking them off every other day and then putting them back on…they can sit on the desk and you can just not USE them today. Crazy. Absolutely nutsy cuckoo.
Anyway. The plan is set. Hopefully I’ll know what I’m doing Monday at some point today. That’s my goal anyway.
I have this post-it on my desk at home that says “2:07 damn x 2, WTH”. I stared at it for a bit this morning until I realized it was from the recording my co-teacher had two students do for us of the lab stations. I needed to edit out the swearing, best I could (and I did on one; the other one had to be redone for other reasons). IDK what your day job looks like, but that shit is part of mine. I do edit my language at school. In case you were wondering. I did get called out for a student for using the word ‘crap’ the other day (oh my; after being told to shut the fuck up by two different students…fun times). And I had a student years back who didn’t like it when I said “my lord”, which I do all the time. That was a hard one. I get her complaint, but I couldn’t fix that one. I think we settled on the fact that I wasn’t talking about HER lord, but some random British lord. And also some teaching about the fact that not everyone had her beliefs and she needed to relax a bit. I wonder where she is now? I wonder what she’s doing…
OK, so I’m still not done quilting, but it’s not the thread anymore. When I switched to the new spool, it did keep breaking, so I used some of that Sewers Aid stuff on the spool, but also, suspect the outside thread of the spool was more dry than the inside, because it stopped breaking. I would have finished quilting last night, but I went to a concert instead. Can’t say no to Billy Idol, Joan Jett, VIP table, and free tickets, can you? Yeah, it’s a school night, but I didn’t go to bed a whole lot later than normal, and I fell asleep right away for once.
Back to the quilting though…too many variables to know what solved the problem…science teacher should know better, but I was so frustrated that I just needed it to work…and it did.
I’ve made it all the way around three sides. I have half a side left and two little bits in between things, and then I’m done. The two possible binding fabrics were purchased Saturday morning before I went to LA, because the store I like is only open during my work hours, except for Saturdays, which is yes, in fact, totally annoying. But hopefully trimming it Thursday night and getting the binding on, done over the weekend, photographed next week? That’s the goal. And I had an awesome idea for the next one, which needs to go to a show and be done in December. Ha! OK, I know. I can do it.
I finished grades Monday night at 7 PM, so I allowed myself some stitching time…still stitching things down on this.
Those are pomegranates, so there are little circles going in each of those fruits as well. I will never finish.
So yeah, great show last night. Both singers in their late 60s. Joan rocked it.
She did not throw herself around like a 20-year-old, but she had the voice and the attitude.
And still played guitar.
Impressive.
Billy fucking Idol was good too…
Although seemed to show his age a bit more…for some reason, he reminded me of William Shatner. Not the sexy guy he was in the 80s, but who is? And he had a few musical moments that were questionable. But it was a good rocking show.
Definitely worth going out on a school night.
I was in bed before midnight. But then woken up after midnight. Ugh. It’s fine. He’s more tired than I am this morning, and the dog is just sad that barely anyone talked to him yesterday. Poor pup.
Cute Nova/Luna moment.
And this…not so cute acknowledgement of the current fuckery.
Oh so true. Get the fuck out.
OK. School. Fuck me. I was going to do something low-key chill today, but then I got a bug up my butt and now we are cutting and gluing. Because I’m nuts like that. It’ll be fine. I’m just concerned it won’t take the whole period. I have a couple of periods that literally can’t complete work assigned on previous days…if you give them 10 minutes to finish stuff, they spend it all goofing off and talking. I guess that’s the difference between me at that age and them. I would’ve been finishing everything so I wouldn’t have to do it at home. They just never finish it. After all that, and after torturing my co-teacher into planning for next week, because we literally have NOTHING planned (I’m freaking out), I will have pilates and I will have to take the trash out (with help) and cook dinner (wtf) and THEN quilt. Oh and probably grade shit too. Ugh. It’s fine. I got my grades done. The world is not ending. Yet. I have the next quilt in my head. Deep breaths.
Short weekend? Long drive on Saturday, totally worth it, but wish the driving parts were less heinous. I can never go to LA without it taking 9 hours. It’s like the ER…it’s always 4 hours (except when it’s not). So yeah…the quilting is also going oh so slowly. The thread keeps breaking, even after I did all the things.
It wasn’t breaking Friday night, actually. A little. Then Saturday and Sunday night, it was nonstop.
I was near the end of a spool, so I figured it was that. The thread gets in a weird position. I changed the needle, adjusted tension, cleaned everything out, rethreaded it a million times.
Finally finished the old spool and put the new one on. It breaks again. Aargh. Slowpoking it through the last bit of this. At this rate, not sure when I will finish. I did buy binding fabric Saturday morning…it’s why I didn’t get an earlier start to LA, although I was on the road north at 9:30 AM. Didn’t matter. It was 3+ hours up, an hour up there, then an accident on the way back. Got home at 6:30 PM. Ugh. Blood sugar was a mess the whole time. Fun times.
That said, the Bisa Butler show up there was amazing. Totally worth it, even though I’m exhausted and grades aren’t done.
Just staring at all the glittery things in these pieces…
The tulle, the lace, the fur, and the velvet.
And the vinyl…or whatever it is. Oh my.
These are some seriously touchable quilts.
Her arm had lace and tulle…gorgeous.
Also be impressed by my ability to NOT take a straight photo. I had been in a car for over 3 hours.
This piece glowed in the gallery.
But not so much in the photo.
The feet are in the water…the vinyl water…
I’m sure there was a list of pieces and names somewhere, but I never found it. Probably would have had to talk to the people in the bookstore. Ugh.
Texture.
Her machine probably doesn’t break threads like mine.
Mine does need to go in to be cleaned…oh my, look at the fabrics in that piece.
I need to be a thousand times more ballsy with my fabric choices.
I walked to Jeffrey Deitch’s other gallery, which was a feminist art show.
It drives me a little crazy that they’re not labeled. So IDK who did what.
The show is It Smells Like Girl.
Not sure how I feel about that either.
But there were a few pieces I really liked.
I was raised in LA…
And it feels familiar but not.
So many freeways I don’t recognize.
Anyway, it was a good trip that took too long. I should spend more time next time, or stay overnight, or leave earlier. I don’t know. It’s frustrating, for sure. There’s plenty of art up there I’d like to see. And now my grades aren’t done, which is stressful. So am I making the wrong choices or does my day job just suck up too much time? Speaking of the day job, my co-teacher and I dressed up for Mismatch Day.
Kathy Nida 