So Out of It…

Well hello. I don’t know what day it is. Don’t ask me. I know my art residency is coming up soon and I should be maybe panicking more about packing for that. Although I’ve been collecting shit in piles for days. There needs to be more though. Really. Really? Welcome to my brain.

The Man says I can’t call this a waste of a day. Even though really nothing is getting done, it’s a day when a thing needed to happen, which is why I am currently strapped up in three Ace bandages with an ice pack on my boob. Fun times. I got less than four hours of sleep last night and then had a needle stabbed from the left side of my left breast all the way across to my cleavage. Also, I’m fascinated by the word ‘lavage’. It has such a nice sound for what it actually is. And I had an official ‘boob holder’ nurse who kept pressure on the bleeding hole while I walked across and through a waiting area and a hallway and another desk area to a lying-down place (it had a name), where she continued to squeeze my boob as we talked about school and art and her kids. I wish I could tell you I remember her name, but I don’t. The bleeding did stop. Eventually. I don’t remember the last biopsy being this annoying…it also wasn’t over 90 degrees out and I probably had more sleep. I slept on the couch through the middle of the day and then all of a sudden, it was 4:30 PM. Girlchild is coming tonight. I need to deal with her room, the compostable trash, and dinner. It’s fine. I’m fine. I’m annoyed by the compression bandage (who wouldn’t be?)…it’s uncomfortable and hot and itchy. That said, they found a thing they didn’t like and now they have sampled it and hopefully it is nothing and if it is something, then that boob will get a second scar, and it’s a good thing I didn’t get around to tattooing the first one, because they will be dueling scars. SIGH. Fucking huge sigh. Science is good. Really. Also, I found the acetaminophen (yeah, I knew I spelled that wrong, flipped the a and the o)…so pain relief! Well, no, because honestly, aceta…fuck…Tylenol doesn’t do much for me. Tomorrow! I can remove the 17 Ace bandages and take real meds.

So. Art. I have two openings this weekend, which is awesome. I posted about Infinite Rivers down in San Ysidro before; I will be at that opening (5-7 PM), and I know I’ve mentioned the Lubeznik show, Women to the Front: Artworks from the Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell Collection, but they sent installation pictures…so here’s those.

There’s my piece The Way Out in the center. And there it is again.

This is an amazing show.

Lots of cool people in there.

More installation photos…

Another one…

Another one…

And another…

More…

Looks like an awesome show. Wish I could check it out. Couldn’t figure out how to get there and see it without spending a million bucks, plus I had the residency and the other opening.

I finally finished tracing…

It was 17 1/2 hours total…

Bowie is so not helpful…it’s 4 yards…

Time to trim. Obviously not getting to the ironing before I go on the residency.

I finished making this a solid rectangle.

I’m not sure how I feel about it…I think I will be embroidering it. Words I think. It needs a good solid ironing too. Maybe tonight.

Maybe something about this idiot.

Maybe I’m confused by why you would need to advertise the baby, put the baby in a vehicle that has so many recalls, drive such an ugly stupid vehicle and then put this ugly stupid sticker on it? Ah well, they probably feel the same about my bird-poop-covered car with its National Park stickers.

This is too real. I have a piece of wall in the hallway that’s needed to be painted for over a year. I thought I had bought a roller for it but can’t find it…so I bought another one.

Sigh. But haven’t painted it yet (just bought the new roller yesterday though).

This is mind-boggling…

My Medicaid household member has a workers’ comp back injury. How is that gonna work? Are they going to drive him to wherever he needs to work? Are there farmers near here for that? Are they going to house the babies, children, and elderly who will be doing that work? The disabled? Absolutely so insensitive and idiotic.

Luna has toe beans to show you…

The heat takes it out of the animals too…

Poor Simba. His boy is gone again. No long-term fires yet though. Knock on wood. There was one down here, heard all the helicopters and sirens and got all the warnings on multiple phone apps. It’s under control now…stopped forward progress. It was heading for one of our local hiking spots. Gotta stop it (also houses, so there’s that).

OK. I usually would now tell you all the things I’m going to do today. I am feeling more human finally, although ready to rip these Ace bandages off…ugh. I might get some fabric pulls together for next week. I might read my book some more. I might drink more tea. Feed the dog, deal with trash, make dinner, go get girlchild. Oh shit, finish cleaning up her room. Gonna go do that now. So out of it…

Get My Act in Gear…

Hello Monday. I am, as always, not prepared for your existence. And yet, you arrive. With emails. And a to-do list. I finally managed to cross one thing off my to-do list that has been on there for probably 6 months. Impressive. I’m going to do a few more today. Maybe. Because sometimes I only get one thing done. And the quick start I wanted for the morning did not happen. Ah well. Typical.

It was a slow weekend. I mean, not really…but in terms of a diary of what I did, I got a scratch on the back of my leg from a stabby pot and a scratch/divot on my finger from IDK what plant did that. And bites…buggy/spidery/skeetery bites. I got those. I spent too much time watching flood stuff in Texas. We all did, right? Horrifying. Not preventable, but certainly we could be doing more than we are right now…increasing climate crap plus warning systems. I’m boggled by where the blame goes. I’m boggled by a lot lately. Humans don’t do what’s in their best interests.

The Man had a show on Saturday night downtown. I rode the trolley down and read my book the whole way, as the soccer fans filled up the trolley, and then all got off at the stadium. The band is trialing with a new singer, who actually sings for another band.

It was different. They opened for another band. There weren’t as many people there as usual (day after a major holiday). We ended up having to stay really late to get back. It was fine; I read a lot of my book before and after they played. Not sure what it all means for the future of the band.

I traced for about 3 hours on Saturday and another 90 minutes last night. Those are hot cats on Saturday afternoon…

And Bowie not helping last night…

He stabbed the planet Jupiter (the drawing) and then tried to eat the corner. He’s not the first cat to do so. Nova ate a piece out of a drawing a few years back. I do cover things up when I’m not tracing, because they are excited by paper and want to destroy it.

I have filled two yards of Wonder Under and started on a third.

I’m in the low 900s, so about 450 pieces to go. I’ve been tracing for 11 1/2 hours. Yikes. It’s been slow. I’m hoping to do a goodly chunk today and tomorrow. It’s supposed to get a lot warmer in a few days. Don’t want to be sitting in the window/hottest part of the house then. Although trimming will just be on the couch.

It’s a busy week. Need to clean up the girlchild’s room because she’s coming to visit. I’ve been collecting materials for next week’s residency. I have another breast biopsy on Wednesday…hoping to have negative results before the weekend (they were fast before), but no guarantees. I need to shop for food and do food prep before the residency. I have an art opening on Saturday night. I’d like to get to the gym; I have two pilates classes scheduled, but I’m waitlisted on both. OK, it doesn’t sound busy, but that biopsy will eat up time and energy. Mentally and physically.

Trying to read nonfiction from Rebecca Solnit in between fiction, which is where my brain prefers to be…

And this is what will get me through all the stupid shit my country is continuing to do. And it’s why I make art. Well, that and my sanity.

Here’s the owl hanging out on the pole under the box…

This is dad. There are two babies I can hear. They’re loud this year. And we haven’t even gotten to the part where they come out and practice flying. It’s all good. Just glad to have them back.

Today. Finish strapping the three sprinklers to rebar (fun times). Create a wet box for ceramic stuff. TAKE A DAMN SHOWER (I do that every day, but sometimes it’s hot enough that I need two). Go to ceramics and attach that damn hand again. Sew up the boychild’s pants (they just went in the washer). Trace for a few hours. Read a few books. Go try to find my deodorant at a different store (the only one I’m not allergic to at the moment, knock on wood). There’s probably more things on the to-do list that aren’t here, but many of them are overwhelming so I just do a bit at a time. Which is fine. Pretty much need to get my act in gear though. Like now.

Refill the Cup

I really hate my ironing board. I would like a new one, one that doesn’t have sharp metal feet that grab my toes. One that is stable and doesn’t threaten to fall over. That said, when I’ve tried to find ironing boards in the past, they’re even more tippy and unstable than this one…this one was my grandmother’s, I think. It’s ancient. I put a heavy board on top that I use for ironing quilts together, because I need a larger space. At the moment, I have to move it around a lot because I’ve been trying to clean up in here and it’s problematic…I can’t put fabric on one shelf where it used to be, because one of two cats keeps peeing on it. I’m pretty sure it’s the old lady, but it might be the teenaged boy…they regularly are vying over the space. Probably the old lady. I even had piled some towels up that I was using to cover the fabric bins there, and then she peed on those. So. Yeah. I’m having to store bins on the floor and this room is not very big anyway…with two desks, a table, three bookshelves, a computer, a sewing machine, and all my fabric (well, not really ALL my fabric…that’s funny), it’s just crowded. The ironing board is always open and I move it around for what/where I need to use it. And every time I search for a new one, I get sidetracked by options and reviews and can’t make a decision. Because there isn’t an ironing board store I can go to and look at them (OMG I am old), so I have to do it all online, and the thought of trying to return an ironing board makes me break out in hives. So there’s that. But we might be there.

So the stupid stuff, eh? Overwhelming. But I could focus on the big fat ugly bill or Alligator Alcatraz and why we think it’s OK to treat HUMANS that way or the campers missing in Texas after the floods (look! God took the white Christian girls! See, it’s not any better, is it? It doesn’t matter what the kids look like or where they come from…it’s not OK.). Sigh. Certainly didn’t do much celebrating yesterday. My country is broken. OK, it always was broken. Now it’s just more in your face about it. So I’m trying to live my tiny life in the middle of all that. Plus this week, the Man will hear about a job (yes please) and I have a biopsy (ugh) and the girlchild is coming to visit (yay) and I need to pack for my residency (yikes). It’s not the chillest week in the world. My response to that is to read more books. And try to clean and fix more things. With the help of the Ex, the sprinklers are now back up and running. I tried but there needed to be more things fixed than the one I did (it was a valve). The two sprinklers that really weren’t working were totally corroded inside (ah, hard water)…so replacing those (and blowing all the dirt through the system) helped immensely.

This was a big achievement. I’ve had this on my list for months. I replaced one thing and then nothing worked. Sigh. I tried to patch the gap on the deck too, but I couldn’t get the caulk to move. Might just be too old? Frustrating though. So I think I’m going to Home Depot later. Fun times. I ran some errands on Thursday (waited until rush hour like an idiot) and ran into a former student, a not-pleasant reminder of him. I had totally blocked him and his entitlement and his annoying parents (mom mostly) from my mind, and now I need to reblock him. It’s OK. He’s a kid. Even as an adult, I won’t need to deal with him…and maybe he’ll get a clue by then. He’s smart, just spoiled.

So artwise, I’ve been sort of efficient. I’ve made it to the ceramics studio more times than usual, which is good.

A bunch of stuff fell/broke (I think it gets bumped on the shelf) and I had to fix a lot, but I got the greens done. Went back yesterday and reattached and reglazed stuff that broke, but that damn hand broke off again.

I’m close though. Almost there. Honestly, it’s glazed except for the flagpole and reglazing all the broken stuff.

I just need to finish it and get it in the kiln. Like this week. Hopefully.

I pinbasted my Sue Spargo Folk Tails, which has been done since 2020? I think? Seriously.

Mostly I hadn’t done it yet because I wanted to finish the bird one first (the bigger one) before stashing a bunch of safety pins in something that would just sit in a pile for a while. It’s a challenge to quilt this…mostly because I need to go AROUND everything. Not hard, just a pain. So it’s next on my list to finish this summer. But before I do that, I’m trying to piece together the improv piece I did on Zoom with Irene Roderick…

It’s all these random shapes that need to fit together, and then I need to make it into a rectangle shape. So I worked on that yesterday. I have it all in three pieces at the moment, with a freaking Y seam (not the first). Almost there. This is so not my style, and I realized at Quilt National that all the Irene people’s quilts look similar, so I’m deciding how to make it mine. I’m trying to finish this so I can take the design board on my residency next week. Whatever gets it done, right? I could probably finish putting the top together today.

Then I cut out all the wool/cotton bits for the side borders of Homegrown (another Spargo…yeah, I enjoy making them), pinned them on, and am slowly stitching them all down. I won’t get this one done in 2025. Bet.

The embroidery will take forever and then I’ll put it in a pile for a year or two before deciding to quilt it. Let’s be real. It’s not about the finished product; it’s totally about the making.

In art quilt news, I’m still tracing Wonder Under…

The dirt was a lot of big pieces, and then I had a bunch of little pieces that fit in between all those big pieces.

I tried a bund of people and then started tracing gravestones. Right when those dumbasses passed a bill kicking a ton of real live people off Medicare. Including one I live with…yeah, it won’t take effect until after the November elections, and hopefully he’ll have a job by then, but there’s a lot of people who can’t work or can’t find work. So we aren’t taking care of people any more unless they’re so rich they don’t really need to worry about it.

Last night, I made it into the low 600s…of 1366.

Not even halfway. I was hoping to be done with tracing today, but I would have had to be way more focused than I have been for that to happen. So maybe that’s the other thing I’m doing today. I’m still only on the second yard of Wonder Under…lots of small pieces to drive me nuts later.

My little quilt made it to my SIL for her birthday.

I love the location.

I lost the dog in the ferns…he likes to pee in there.

Really, this is yet another part of the yard I need to control. Ha! This yard is beyond my ability. I’d need a gardener and even then…

I found these guys (screamed a little because a bunch were on my shirt) while trimming shit.

They become some kind of beetle. But for now, they are in the greenery trash can.

I saw this…and yes, I feel like I need that but also, no I’m not doing that.

I’m putting it here for when I’m really old and retired and maybe bored (will I ever be bored?). That dissociative state is looking nice.

Although honestly, making art helps with that. And it’s too hot for sweatpants, but the other night, I found myself tracing Wonder Under with shorts and a tank top on, but also fuzzy socks, because my feet were cold. Love old body. It’s so inconsistent.

This.

So frustrating. Incredibly.

Simba after three hours of fireworks on THURSDAY night (not even the 4th, y’all). He barked the entire time. And I was tracing stuff, so I wasn’t making him feel safe.

Last night, he was better…only a little. Mostly because the boychild was back. For how long? We never know. His sister is coming to visit, so if previous years are anything to go by, he’ll be sent to some fire this week.

This is amazing. This is Liberty Bleeds by Niki McQueen.

I wish I had enough wall space for her work (it’s available as posters to benefit the ACLU)…it reminds me of my own stuff, the cutting open part.

I think Nova is the big softie that both Luna and Bowie turn to for love and safety.

Luna is so paranoid. And it’s hot, so it’s funny when they curl up together, because I’m like, don’t fucking touch me, it’s hot. And yet there’s always a cat or a dog (or both) next to me.

This is always true.

So yeah. I think I already decided I’m piecing things and tracing things today. The Man has a show tonight downtown, so I’m probably riding the trolley down and then getting a ride back. Their regular lead singer has ‘quit’ (we hope not permanently), so they’re borrowing a singer from another band. Should be interesting. Luckily they are the opening band, so it’s not a midnight thing. I’m too old for that stuff? That’s a lie; I happily stay up past midnight doing art things. I just don’t like mornings. My goal for the week? Be chill. Stay chill. Make the things. Find the supplies for next week. So excited for next week. Meal planning now. And making sure I have materials. I don’t want to get up there and realize I need one chemical I left at home. Inevitably I will forget something though. Truth. 33 days until school. I can’t find a countdown timer that works with the iphone widget or whatever they’re calling it now. Frustrating. That and the ironing board problem are an issue for another day though. Right now, I need to eat, shower, and do some stuff that refills the cup. Or something. Finds the spoons.

It Should Be OK…

Sitting here waiting for health insurance chat to answer. So much wait time with health stuff. That’s not going to get better. And I’m glad to have insurance. Health stuff is stressful. Time-consuming. Expensive. Crucial. It’s so easy for some people to say, well get a job, then you’ll get healthcare…not always true, not always possible. My household includes someone who’s been trying to get a job with physical restrictions for over a year, and it’s not as easy as J.D. Vance and his compatriots think it is. People with disabilities who may need support at work; they just don’t get interviews, or they get one and then get ghosted. It’s stressful for all of us to see that and live with it. But hey, we’re not rich, so we don’t matter. We’re gonna die anyway. The politicians…sigh…I mean, at least Lisa Murkowski was honest about doing what’s best for Alaskans, but in doing so, fucked the rest of us. The rest of those who voted for that bill? What is wrong with them? Some complain and then vote for it anyway? And now the government is refusing to send all the education money that Congress allocated. As someone in a Title I school, where kids live in a variety of not-great situations, I’m worried; no that’s not a big enough word for what they’re doing to kids, to families who struggle, to anyone of color. I don’t get it. I’m scared by it. Worried is not a big enough word.

So in all that, I make art. And try to get control of my diabetes. And worry about the things growing in my boob. And worry about my cat…she’s old and not doing well, especially with the heat. Worry about my job. New boss. The damn sprinklers. How to paint the shed when one wall is right against a chainlink fence. Obviously need to make more art, exercise more.

Finished numbering.

Did you guess? I guessed 1500 based on where I was and how much was left. I was wrong…it’s 1366…

Give or take a few, because I always miss something or double number something. Not a ton, but a lot. A goodly amount. I could have filled the sky in and got more, but I kind of didn’t want to. So I didn’t.

Last night, I started tracing…

I’ll be there for a while. Like 12 more hours probably. Which is fine. I’d like to get myself to a place where I’m tracing for more than an hour a day, but so far, there’s been too much other stuff to do. I spent the last two days planning with my science partner, about 8 hours total. It looked a lot like this…

Well, and there was other stuff, but this is the only picture I took, and I took it because I realized when I moved all the files, I wouldn’t be able to find them in all the other files because most of them had illogical names. I can delete this picture now. THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE IT WILL EXIST.

Anyway, I’d like to say that my 8 hours (it was more than that; I did some at home too) of unpaid work was all I needed to do for school this summer, but that’s not true. We’re meeting again in August. We did well, but my late August/September self will be happier if I do a bit more specific shit. But not today. Today, I need to go to the ceramics studio and underglaze. I know I broke something on Friday. I felt it. Like every fucking time, I’m breaking shit. Sigh. And there will probably be a bunch of people there, but I couldn’t handle going the last two afternoons…I was so braindead after working, so I didn’t go. Oops. Oh well.

That political shit again.

And the amount they want to spend on ICE? Just terrorizing people who are actually trying to be legal and paying taxes and all that shit? Who aren’t committing crimes? So fucked up.

Attempting to ignore the political crap is impossible. I can hide in art, but my art is also political, so it’s not always hiding in a non-stressful way. Ah well. I can try to eat better and make art and clean the house and take care of the cat and paint the shed. I mean, that might be all I really can do at the moment. And I know that should be OK, but it’s not. Not for the planet or the country. OK. Going to ceramics…soon. Then I’ll just do what I can.

It Seems Like Enough…

I know, I know, I’m writing super late. I worked this morning. And afternoon. And I didn’t want to get up super early, so I got the photos resized for the post and that was it. And then I did more work when I got home. So here I am, remembering I was supposed to write today. Which pretty much sums up Summer Break for a teacher. Yes, I did teacher stuff today. My co-teacher and I usually try to plan during the summer, just to get a handle on things we want to change for next year. Sometimes we get paid, but we aren’t this year. I think. Who knows? New principal. No one has a clue what’s going on. We’re backwards planning to make sure we have time to teach natural selection and evolution, the last unit, and then revising the first two units…three units. Well, we’re not gonna get all that done in two 4-hour sessions, for sure. But we’ll have a pretty good start.

So the weekend…I worked on the drawing…finishing up the bottom part on Friday night.

Mostly anyway. Then Saturday evening, I put some planets in the sky…

Bowie was absolutely no help.

Last night, I finished up some stuff around the planets and called it done, although I may change my mind about that tonight.

And then I started numbering, but I didn’t finish.

I knew I had to get up in the morning, so staying up until 2 AM writing numbers would be a bad plan, right? Don’t ask Summer Brain…they’re like all in with Art Brain and don’t give a shit that I can’t sleep in. So I was going to finish numbering this afternoon and totally that hasn’t happened. But maybe after I finish this.

I also finished the binding and sleeves on this during my local SAQA Zoom meeting…

Shitty picture, I know. Ah well. Need a place to hang it up now.

On Saturday, I also finished a present for my SIL…in October or so last year, to test the new Wonder Under, I made a small flying heart. She saw in online and asked for it for Christmas, but like finished, you know. A thing. So I said yes and then promptly lost it. I didn’t really lose it. I hung it up in my studio/office and then hung a drawing up in front of it, so I couldn’t see it and forgot it was there. For like three months. I found it in January when I took the drawing down…not right away though…it took me a few weeks before I saw it. Then I figured, oh, I’ll give it to her for her July birthday, so instead of making something out of it like right then (like a sane person), I procrastinated until Saturday and then finished it.

I mailed it today. It’ll be late. Ah well.

Saturday was also the wedding of a coworker to one of my former students. Weird, huh? Here’s all the teachers…

The bride is younger than my daughter. I’m laughing because Stace is grabbing my ass. She’s smirking in the back. We did not all plan to wear blue and green. Seriously.

And here’s one of my former 7th graders, now a nice young man who cried during the ceremony, making him one of my favorite guys forever.

Seriously…raise your boys to be able to cry at emotional events.

I did some ceramics stuff on Friday…more painting.

I keep breaking things off dammit. So I’m trying to get it all underglazed before more breaks. Not sure when I’m going in again. Tomorrow? Hopefully…if I’m not as braindead as I was today after lesson planning for four hours.

That’s too true.

I love this.

There’s so much negative shit out there right now. I love the little bits of fuck off I see happening. Because I just got my measles booster because of that idiot.

OK, normally this is where I’d say what I’m doing for the rest of the day, but it’s 6 PM and I just fed the dog. I might go do some yardwork because it’s cooled off a little. I did some digging (against the gophers) yesterday. Need more gravel to fix what they did. Sigh. Should probably water first. I’ll be numbering shit tonight and then hopefully starting to trace. It would be nice if I was done with tracing and trimming by Monday, and then ironed to fabric by the time I leave for my residency. Taking stuff to trim is always a good thing. I can’t think beyond that. I want to finish my book? Probably not happening tonight. But soon. Oh I entered a residency for next summer…hopeful?! I think that’s it. It seems like enough, doesn’t it?

A Lot of Pieces

Ooof. Well I am starting to function. Maybe. I was at ceramics yesterday and it was busy and I had forgotten my headphones, so I couldn’t completely dissociate, plus whenever there are people there, they always want to talk about my piece, which is taking FOREVER. I’m getting closer to done with the upper torso piece though. Lots of underglazing, because everything has to be painted three times for good coverage. It takes forever. And I’m not that great a painter, so I have to clean up a lot of the fussy little stuff.

Yesterday, I started with all the things that I thought would be white, moved into gray, then blue, then had to touch up red because of all that. Today, I think I’ll finish those two guys on the right arm and maybe move onto green? We’ll see.

And I broke the hand off again, then two fingers. It’s just very fragile at the moment.

I’ve been drawing every night, trying to get this thing to where I want it. Which I don’t know where that is, so that’s part of the problem. I’ve been penciling stuff in most of the time, because of overlaps and not being sure how things will fit together.

That flag has some tiny pieces in it. There’s some inking or embroidery that’s going to need to happen.

Definitely put the ICE agents in a swamp of their own making. Added some stuff up above.

The sky and the dirt are my current hold ups.

Although less dirt now.

Getting closer. So many pieces though. It wouldn’t be a summer quilt if it didn’t have a lot of pieces.

I’m still cleaning the office, sorting through stuff, trying to finish things. I’m trying to get all the flowers appliqued onto the outer borders…

Not even halfway. But closer than I was. It’s just time-consuming, but not in a bad way. I pretty much only work on it when I’m on a Zoom call or when I’m done with dinner and watching one show with the Man. Hence the slow. I am close to needing to trace and cut out the two side borders worth of flowers. That’s progress.

Bowie keeps coming in the office to harass the old lady, but also to sit in the window.

He’s alternately a sweetheart and a teenaged terror.

There is a constant fight for the space on my left thigh…

It’s popular. Nova left (fear!) and Simba took over.

OK. Today is Friday. I will be back at ceramics this afternoon. I finally found the busy time schedule (there’s times when the lower cost level of member can come in…and it’s more busy because of that), so I’ll be avoiding those days/times if I can. I’m hoping to get this glazing done in the next week so I can get it fired. I might need to build it a base though, and then that would have to dry too. Hmmm. Should have asked for more clay yesterday. Oh well. I’m also applying for a real cohort-based residency for next summer. I was a little wiffly waffly about it until I watched the video of their application process and heard more about the space and the insights from the people who have gone…and now I really want to go, but it’s complicated. It’s not close and the timing is hard with school, which is always the issue. But I’m applying today. I am. So that means writing well-thought-out answers to questions. Ha! Maybe shouldn’t do that? Sigh. I entered a show yesterday and messed up the file names, so I have an email in for that. Sigh. Stupid. Didn’t read the fine print. Ah well, it’s a pretty easy fix, so there’s that. And the boychild is home…didn’t get sent to a big fire somewhere…yet. I’m sure it’s coming. Let Simba appreciate him for a few days more. It’s all good.

My Version of Late…

Hey. It’s summer and the weather is still nice, not oppressive. I’m still exhausted. Doesn’t help that I had to be up early today to take the dog in for his teeth cleaning. I keep trying to sleep in. Doesn’t work. I managed to get most of the office cleaned up, packed up and delivered two quilts to San Ysidro for a show opening July 12 (you should come…yeah, I know it’s a long way, but you should come anyway). I still have fabric that doesn’t have a home in the office. Maybe I should focus on that? I’ve scheduled 70,000 things, talked to a diabetes nurse about why my blood sugar is an asshole, and read way too many books. Is there such a thing as too many? I’m still pretty braindead, despite being out of school for a week now. I’ll get there. I’m just NOT there yet.

I haven’t been able to draw anything the last couple of nights…mostly getting dinner late and then it’s 10:30 and then it’s midnight, and I don’t even know what happened (see note about braindead). I did put the bindings on Sue Spargo’s Chirp quilt.

And sleeves. I found some fabric that had been in a plastic bin on the desk I use as a sewing table since the girlchild was in high school…it’s faded in a few spots, and it had a bunch of cat hair embedded in it, from when Midnight lived on it…or Babygirl? Not sure which cat lived in that box. But I washed it and the other stuff in there, recycled bits, stashed the rest. Got rid of the damn bin! There’s a lot of stuff in the sewing room/office/studio (it gets called all those things) that I literally do not know with what to do. Random shapes of cutting rulers. I don’t piece. I really only need the two I use all the time. I tossed some stuff. I had gone shopping for thread, now that Joann is gone (the store, not some woman), and I found three large spools of thread I can use in the bobbin for the next three years, if I can figure out how to set up the stand for them. Mooommmm!

So I need to do all the handsewing of the binding. I got about halfway through it last night. This is not a large quilt. I do have one more wool quilt that needs quilting. It’s bigger and way more complicated. I’m not there yet.

Last night, I spent 2+ hours at a school board meeting…this is the third they’ve held on the same issue, and they tabled it again. I get why, but jesus. I stitched through most of it.

This is a complicated block. Part of Rooted. Fun trees. It’s very portable, unlike Homegrown, which is the whole quilt at the moment. Sewing wool in summer is not ideal. But it works for braindead…and school board meetings.

No ceramics since Monday…maybe tomorrow. I’m worried about the pup at the moment. He had some weird bloodwork come back and then they called me and asked if he could have been exposed to rodenticide (um no?). So I’ll just feel better when he’s home in a few hours. This was the look on his face when he realized I really wasn’t giving him breakfast this morning.

Sorry!

I also put away like 10 quilts or more in the girlchild’s room and my own. Had to find one of the quilts to deliver today, which meant unrolling one giant roll, putting another quilt in it, and manhandling it all back together. Then a bunch of smaller ones went in three other rolls. I still have four (?) on her bed…three don’t have an official home yet. I’m waiting on one to see if it gets into a show. One of them is supposed to go in a roll that’s up in my closet. I figured after asking the Man (who is injured) to lift up and down two other rolls, I wasn’t going to do the third. I’ll do that today maybe. I figure once I get them all put away, I’ll get into something and need to pull stuff out…but I think that would happen after the girlchild visits, so we’ll be OK. She’ll be here in two weeks. Looking forward to it…figure the boychild will be gone on a fire strike team by then. He keeps getting called out and canceled to local fires. Which is good! We don’t want big fires that need strike teams. Well, I don’t. Fire crews get bored apparently.

OK. So put away the last four quilts, which means pulling that roll down. Eat lunch. Read my book. Draw some. Pick up the dog. Go to pilates. Totally not in that order. Stitch some binding. Doesn’t sound hard. Oh yeah, need to finish filling two greenery trashcans so I can put them out tonight. They’re both mostly full, so just some more sweeping and trimming and then manhandling those damn cans out to the front. See, I have a plan! Even though I’m running late on everything. My version of late anyway.

Roll Into the Hole…

I really didn’t want to wake up this morning. It’s silly, because there’s no NOT waking up. There’s animals (one is barking his head off right now for no reason…OK, it’s probably something, but really…wait, that was his happy yip so the Man must be back from the dentist), there’s neighbors, there’s neighborhood noise (damn neighbor with his saw…you’d think he’d sawed all the things, but no…there are more things to saw). Really, I should go to bed at a regular time and get up at dawn and work then. Except that’s not how my brain works, especially for the first week or two after I get out of school (it hasn’t even been a WEEK)…I’m a night owl through and through. This morning shit is not fun (yes, I’m aware it’s barely morning at this point…I’ve been up for hours). I didn’t want to wake up because I started cleaning the office/studio yesterday and it’s in that stage when it looks like it will never be done and you will never find a home for all the things you’ve unearthed. I did, however, find the book I’ve been searching for since Thursday (it wasn’t in here, by the way…it was in the girlchild’s room, of course), but I have not found the frames I feel like I have somewhere. Maybe I don’t. Maybe I bought a set of 4 and will need to buy another set? Sigh.

So yes, I am still in the braindead flailing part of Summer Break, where I stare at AI-generated videos of cats diving into swimming pools and wonder why people like war so much. Like if we’re really gonna worry about nuclear capability and bomb people over it, why are we picking on the bottom rung of the ladder…

This is from a video comparing nuclear stashes, and Iran isn’t even on the list. Now, it would be stupid as hell to bomb Russia…and I don’t want to bomb anyone, but seriously, how lame is it to go after a country that was under control until the current president backed out of a deal that was keeping them under control. Idiots. Absolute idiots. But if we’re looking at this, we’re not looking at the protests and ICE and breaking laws left and right and stupid ugly bills, are we.

It’s a lot.

So I had started my next quilt drawing and began inking on Friday night…

You can’t quite see it, but in pencil, on the left, there’s a hand stopping a missile. I inked that Saturday night, after the bombs dropped on Iran.

Added an American flag to it, because it’s ours. The Statue of Liberty was already penciled in. Last night, I inked the ICE swamp…

Because that’s what it is…a swamp of people wearing masks and maybe being legal sometimes? But mostly racial profiling and who knows if some of the people out there are actually ICE or not? They apparently don’t have to tell us. Need to add some swamp trees. Decide what’s happening under the arm underneath them. Oh yeah, added a bomb and an explosion. This drawing is evolving with the current situation. Not sure where I’m going next. Into space? Seems reasonable.

I did some clay glazing on Friday. Very peaceful.

I did the red.

And some flesh.

I keep breaking the left hand off. Frustrating. It’s a level issue…it’s lower than the rest of it. I might need to make a base for firing. Hoping to be back today or tomorrow. We’ll see.

Saturday was the opening of In the Land of… at the downtown library. It’s on the first floor.

It’s super hard to photograph things in glass cases. Here’s the front of mine with part of Jennifer Spencer’s piece…

And here’s the back…

There will hopefully be a video of me talking about the piece and maybe a video of the whole show. I’ll post if I see them.

I’ve also been trying to applique all the flowers on the borders of the Homegrown quilt…

It’s time consuming. But I’m almost done with the top and bottom ones, so then I can do the side flowers. Until then…

Plus doing a lot of escapist cleaning and reading to try to manage my brain. I have a biopsy set up in 2 1/2 weeks. There were two things they found in the MRI that didn’t show up in a mammogram. Better safe than sorry, but it did ramp my anxiety up. Also, the last biopsy wound hurt for a good 6 months. So it’s fun when they say oh no, it doesn’t hurt. Such bullshit. Then last time, when I called after three weeks, they admitted, oh yeah, it might hurt for a while. But it isn’t the pain I worry about, of course.

OK, today. Finish cleaning this disaster of a room. Getting my hair cut (it’s way too long). Trying to find a dress for a wedding Saturday. I had one ordered, but it was too small in the boobage, and I don’t think the replacement will get here in time. Ugh. I hate shopping for clothes. Oh well. Whatever. Then do some drawing, maybe finally get the binding on that other wool quilt, pack up two quilts for delivery for another show coming up in San Ysidro area. Yardwork of course. Try not to roll into the hole of nuclear bombs and children dying and people being deported who came here and followed the rules.

Nothing Day

I woke up today, after the dog had been boofing on and off for an hour (dude does not know how to sleep in), thinking cool, I have a day with nothing on it. Nothing that has to be done. No place I have to be…what a wondrous thing. What an amazing occasion. I fed the cat and the dog, talked to the boychild who just got home from work and will probably disappear for most of the summer into wildfires. I missed a phone call while I was peeing the dog. Came back in, took a sip of my tea, and there it was…radiology scheduling calling me. WTF. So yeah, another biopsy. Not thrilled. I have a call into the doctor to see if they’re just staring at scar tissue from last year’s surgery or something new. Anxiety level increased…from mostly nothing (except for like government/war/end of planet anxiety) to not nothing…mostly the opposite of that. Not appreciated. So now I’m waiting on the doctor to call, waiting three weeks for the biopsy (guess it’s not an emergency, which is fine, good, except for the anxious part of my brain). I was trying to look back at my medical info from last year, as to what kind of biopsy it was, if it’s the same kind (I think it is)…but the damn app updated in March and the biopsy was in February, so I can’t see any of the records for the appointment. Aargh. Whatever. Distract myself with other stuff, with getting ready for my residency. Making sure I have the materials collected (or honestly, FOUND in this house) to try the things I want to try.

I did manage to finish quilting the Spargo Chirp quilt…

Finished all the birds and then found a green thread in my stash that worked for the borders.

Nice to use up stuff I already have…

So it’s ready to be trimmed and bound. Maybe today. We’ll see. Because I also started drawing the next art quilt.

I did a pen drawing the other day that absolutely sucked. I started in pencil, full size, last night. Still not ready to ink. Still processing. Still trying to decide what parts of what is going on in the world I want to focus on, or will I even be able to focus, because honestly, sometimes my brain goes into overdrive here. I might ink some tonight. Maybe. If I feel ready for it. It’s got a lot of human rights rolling around, but I’m not entirely sure what it looks like yet. Much like my summer. Does it look like art art art? Hopefully.

Here’s three out of four cats on the bed.

I disturbed the boy and he left, but the aunties stayed and napped. My old lady won’t leave the office at this point, mostly because the boy harasses her. Not ideal. She fights back…loudly.

OK. Today is apparently Friday. Tomorrow is a bit chaotic. I want to take a shower, but figure, the second I get in is when the doc calls. Frustrating that they don’t call BEFORE radiology calls. This is not the first time. My last doc had the same issue, but made the point of calling last January, because she heard me complain about a previous time, when I was walking into a staff meeting and they called to set up a redo mammogram with no warning. Meanwhile, doc wants me to reduce stress so blood sugar will behave. WEEELLLLL. OK. I’m trying, but maybe you and my left boob should have a conversation about how to help me with that.

Anyway. I need to pack two quilts to be delivered next week to this show…

Casa Familiar is proud to announce the opening of a new exhibition at The Front Arte y Cultura – “Infinite Rivers”, one that explores artisanal practices, traditions, and crafts that have been passed down through generations.

Join us for an opening reception on July 12th, 5pm-7pm at The FRONT Gallery (147 W San Ysidro Blvd, San Ysidro Ca 92154)

Infinite Rivers will run through September 13, 2025.

Featuring works from indigenous artists from the Kumeyaay community, Chemehuevi, Zapotec, Huichol, Taraumara communities, as well as artists from San Diego-Tijuana, Lebanon, and Colombia. The pieces exhibited share dialogue between the traditional and the contemporary – showing that while some are kept intact, some are constantly evolving.

“Infinite Rivers invites us to appreciate these practices from a caring and culturally conscious approach.” – Francisco Eme, Gallery Director and curator.

Featured artists:

Anabel Alarcón @anniepock
Andrea Echeverri @andrea_chevere
Cara Romero @cararomerophotography
Daria Mariscal
Diana Benavidez @pinata.jpg
Doris Bittar @doris.bittar
Eva Salazar
Francisco Eme @franciscoeme
Kathy Nida @knida
Laura Estela Huerta @stellamohr
Luvia Lazo @luvialazo
Natalia Toledo @natalia.toledo1
Raymundo de la Rosa
Taller Fango: arte de Barro Negro @fango_artedebarronegro

There’s all the info for you. It was nice to be asked to participate in this exhibit. Hell, it’s always nice to be asked. I entered another exhibition opportunity earlier this week, and have another one coming up. I really just need to make new work, so it makes sense that I’m planning a huge complicated piece instead of a series of smaller pieces. Ah well. It is how my brain works. And maybe some of the stuff that comes out of the week I’m in a residency will turn into some smaller pieces. We’ll see.

Here’s the owl cam capturing another SpaceX launch, one that didn’t blow up or crash.

Kind of cool. Even if the guy in charge is a dick.

So trim a quilt, work on a drawing, do some yard work. Try not to think about the boobage. All good.

Maybe Not Starting Today

UGH. OK, I know it’s the first day of Summer Break and I should be all woo hoo and all that, but I’m just exhausted beyond belief. The dog was boofing this morning, the cat was scratching, it was not a sleepfest like I wanted. It’s fine. I’ve got 51 days off. It’s not two months (the kids were like, don’t we get two months? I’m like, well, not quite, and that is the theme for the rest of your life.). Also I have three appointments today for vet and doctor, so that’s not fun. But my brain is already trying to make a to-do list 17 miles long, so nothing has changed there, and last night, I was a blob. So yeah.

I will get to art. I don’t know when. But I will. Hopefully today.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing wool Sue Spargo things. They’re easy because I don’t have to think too hard…although quilting this requires a little thought.

I looked at the quilting someone did on Sue’s original piece (this is Chirp, by the way, in case you want to make your own, because no, I’m not selling you mine, are you nuts?) and kind of tried to emulate it. Lots of leaves and flowers and swirls and pebbles.

It’s fun. Also I need a thread for the borders that works with the two colors of green. Maybe I can get that before or after pilates? We’ll see. I should finish quilting the inside today easily. But I also want to start drawing the new art quilt, plus I have some ideas for experimenting with stuff that I want to try out…prep some stuff for the week away from here.

Also, honestly, I need to lie around, read books, and nap.

Monday was promotion practice for most of the morning, then one period in the classroom where I put on a movie and turned out the lights and tried to put away all the science stuff that showed up in my classroom in the morning. I love that. When the other science teachers are cleaning stuff out and dump stuff on me at the last minute when I don’t actually have much time in my classroom to put it away. But I did it. So the practice was all outside and we had a heat advisory. Which just means it was in the low 90s, high 80s. It will be hotter later this year. After that, we did t-shirt signing and a BBQ thing and then a color run, where the kids run around and we throw powder at them.

Obviously, they would throw it at us too, thinking we’d get all upset, but no, we just don’t care.

Bring it.

Had duty after school like that, then went to the staff meeting like that, then went home and showered for the first time…I think there’s still blue in my right ear. The powder goes through one layer of clothing, in case you wondered.

I washed my hat, my clothes, my backpack, and my flipflops. I’m so glad I didn’t wear my regular work shoes. It washed out in the washing machine…the hat needs more help. It might need to go in the machine…not sure if it can.

Yesterday was promotion, still freaking hot as hell, but shorter. We then went to get frozen yogurt as a team (minus two members)…

Because why not? Went back to our rooms, my coteacher and I managed to get checked out (booya!), then went to the afterschool party, had some snacks and a couple of drinks, then went to the last-minute asshole emergency school board meeting (seriously? 3 PM on the last day of school? Y’all are assholes) that the two Project 2025 assholes didn’t even show up for??? My goodness. They just wanna fuck with us. Not a fan. Then home. On the couch. Read. Drank an entire large bottle of water. Fell asleep. Read some more. Made dinner. Spaced out. Sewed some wool bits down. That’s all I had. Tried to go to bed early, but dog…tried to sleep in, but dog…

Saw this fire pop up (on the apps, then in real life)…

The boychild was sent out to it yesterday, but released last night. The fire decided to stop being a big asshole. It’s still out there and the sky is hazy, smells a bit of fire spirit, but they’re getting a handle on it.

Wow. So a busy couple of days with no art at all. Not true. I entered a complicated art show, rewrote my resume and artist statement for that. Also sent bio and wall text to another show that opens July 12 down in San Ysidro…two pieces in that one. And sent more work off for a proposal for the Oceanside Museum of Art at some unknown time. So not NO art…just no actual hands-on stuff. Just the business of art. Which happens too.

Today? Vet for dog so he can get his teeth cleaned in the future. Then measles shot (because I had that one-shot version back in 1967 and it’s not enough) and boob MRI. Appreciating that…not. Then pilates. I’m so tired, y’all. Really tired. I know that’s normal. I know it happens every year. This year feels more tiring. Not sure why. It’s not age, because I’m not the only one. It’s possible all the crazy politics and worry about wars (like please stop threatening Iran you dumbass) makes it worse. Who knows. I’ve got 51 days to try to reset myself…and my house! Because it’s a crazy mess. But maybe not starting today.