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

Yo, Watch the Way I Navigate*

Conflicting music in the AM. Chaos everywhere. The cookie dough is made and in the freezer, so I can make cookies for the big huge gigantic family party tomorrow. I ate breakfast and showered. I have to drop Amazon book rentals at the UPS store. I’m not done Christmas shopping. At all. I’m now waiting for the call to go Pokemon. A load of laundry is in so I have something to wear tomorrow. Drawing? Geez. Maybe. I was exhausted last night. Crashed. Today is blue skies, everything still damp. (I just ran out of here to turn the sprinklers off for the next week…saving water…and the water bill.) Both kids home, one getting the other into their school library, trying to find some article or book for her essay due Monday. So she’s focused mostly on that, and I’m not allowed to talk about how crazy it makes her. She’ll really be here on the 20th…or sometime the night of the 19th. We’re not sure which.

This time of year is always a little difficult for artmaking…a lot of family obligations jump in the way. I have to learn to take a deep breath and let that happen. Know that I will find time for art somewhere, somewhen.

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Dogs trying to get along. They’re not great at it. Puppy is highly energetic again, back to his normal self, bouncing all over the place and trying to eat everything.

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Calli is an old lady and has limited patience.

My tree has lights and three ornaments on it. My daughter has taken over the couch. The dogs get the other one.

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That’s what essay-writing looks like. My light table is right next to her…that’s where the drawing is. Ugh. Well, it’s not like I know how to finish it right now anyway.

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Essay writing takes place everywhere. Puppies are distracting, but appreciated.

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Even when they help with the unpacking. The animals love all the attention…

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Anyway, today does not belong to me. Neither do Sunday or Monday. I’ll do my best to get some art done, but the reality is that family comes first. I can even ignore the 8 grading assignments I brought home for a few days.

Hope you find time for art in all the other stuff. And if you don’t have family hogging your time, I send you hugs. If you want them.

*Gorillaz, Feel Good Inc.

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

Getting Nothing but Static*

I swear yesterday felt like a Friday. Yeast lab was a disaster in 2nd period, but eventually we got it working (I think we say that for every lab involving yeast…you’d think we’d figure that shit out)…I spent most of the day teaching empathy and appropriate behavior more than cellular respiration and the effect of changing the reactants on the product. I’ll be reteaching both today, for sure.

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Certainly, I’ll be doing dishes at school today…and generally straightening stuff up…and trying to figure out why Splenda has more product than Sweet & Low. It was an exhausting day, followed by a long union meeting.

That said, I’m currently listening to the B-52s and it’s helping me wake up and find the energy to get through this day. In bed around 1 AM (I was drawing) and up at 6:30 (girlchild texting…plus that’s when I usually get up)…not enough sleep. Plus exposure to strep throat, so now I’m gonna be paranoid about any throat pain for the next 4 days. I’m basically laughing hysterically and throwing a big Fuck You to the universe mentally at the moment.

In other news, Simba seems better. His back is definitely bugging him, because he’s scared to jump off the couch, but he gave boychild a proper puppy greeting.

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Yes, one kid is home. The next one comes home today, as long as the plane takes off. She’s never been cancelled, like the boychild has. So it was kind of amazing that all his flights took off within an hour of the appointed time. I don’t remember the last time that happened.

My brain wasn’t ready to sleep last night, so I drew after boychild went to bed. I had this skeleton pop into my head yesterday morning, so I wanted to start that.

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I’m not sure if I’m going to continue all of it…I’m still debating that. I’m debating a lot of things on this drawing. Maybe tonight I’ll get to the head…I really should do that before I put the skull in there. I think.

I got the photos back on the quilt I just finished…totally forgot about that. This is Give Me Time

Kathy Nida fiber artist

She’s the 11th piece of art this year for me, and probably the last big quilt of 2016. I have one smaller one to do, but the next big one probably won’t get done until early 2017. It’s 38″w x 70″ h…I seem to be doing more of these long skinny pieces lately.

Here’s the bird and sun that had to flip sides. In the original drawing, they are on opposite sides.

Kathy Nida fiber artist

It’s a quilt about time and how it affects us, all the ways time and increasing age weigh us down…mostly how bodies change and bad stuff that starts happening.

Kathy Nida fiber artist

I do most of my work from a fairly personal perspective, if not what’s actually going on with me, then what I’m worried about for myself or another person.

Kathy Nida fiber artist

Snakes show up pretty often in my work. Because they’re easy to draw. No, not really. I just like how they fit into spaces and have all these crazy colors. Plus they’re biologically interesting. We’re terrified of them, but they’re fascinating. They imply some tension between good and evil. All these things attributed to this long skinny worm thing.

Kathy Nida fiber artist

Plus they’re pretty damn efficient…unlike how I feel at the moment.

Anyway. I’ll have to write up a full statement at some point. Not there yet. I did finish it in time for the entry I needed it for…with a day or two to spare. Something to note…I was way more efficient in working on it when I was teaching than when I wasn’t. I should keep that in mind for the next three weeks. Try to be efficient when I can.

Which probably starts by going to school today and getting shit cleaned up for the break, since they’ll be doing our floors…so everything has to be cleaned and put away. Yeah. That’s funny.

*The B-52s, Channel Z

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