Forgotten All the Things…

OK well that was a lot. I think I graded for 9 hours yesterday and didn’t finish. Need to adjust something. Might be me. Not sure how though. OK, so what art did I do? I finished tracing pieces on Wonder Under…

Well, I traced Friday night and almost finished…and then traced Saturday night and finished…

It took almost 13 hours to do about 4 1/3 yards of Wonder Under.

Then last night, I started trimming it and didn’t even finish a yard.

Also, that’s just under an hour, because that’s all I’ve been able to pull off the last week or month or eon. And this week, I think I have to be at school early 3 days, so I really should go to bed early the nights before, but I never do. Sleep is so HARD y’all. I just am not very good at it. I finish meditating, I’m all chill and relaxed and ready for sleep and then my brain yells “HIGHLIGHTERS! THE KIDS WILL NEED HIGHLIGHTERS TOMORROW!” and I’m like, Brain, you could have told me that tomorrow morning and it would have been fine, but no, “HIGHLIGHTERS!”. Ugh. Anyway, I will be trimming most of the week. I did get my quilt photos for the last one back from the photographer yesterday, but was too busy grading and cooking dinner to look at them. I’ll do that tonight and pack up the quilt and ship it to the new owner, which is exciting in itself.

In other cool quilt news, Kathy Ford was nice enough to photograph my quilt Portrait of One Self at Quilts=Art=Quilts this weekend.

Apparently it is right up front at the entrance, which is cool.

I wish I could have been there, but I also greatly appreciate the photos. Sometimes my work goes to shows and I never see it in the exhibit and I wonder if it’s actually there. Of course it is, but it doesn’t seem real if I don’t see it. So there it is!

I also went to the ceramics studio on Friday and did a copper wash, mostly wiped off, on the base and the upper torso, and then a light clear satin over that, and then put it in the pile of stuff to be fired. I also put the head in for a bisque fire, and fixed the tree again. Hey, compared to all the fixes on the upper torso, this is nothing.

Remind me to work on something smaller next time. Way smaller. Yeah, I know, it’s not in my nature.

I also went to the dentist on Saturday, where they did this weird 3D scan of my teeth.

Creepy shit.

And then I graded for a million hours.

Fun times. We’re having to go back and reteach some stuff, like the difference between evidence and inference, and where explanation goes (not in your claim), so they can write about science without making it sound like a narrative of their lives (tough one that). One of the more frustrating parts about teaching 8th grade is the obsession with getting Principal’s Honor Roll so they can sit on the stage for promotion. Except they’re learning new skills and it’s really hard to get an A on a new skill in the first month of doing that skill. And they’re so obsessed with the A that they can’t focus on what they need to do to get there. Anyway. It’s a challenge for them (and me) to get them there. Hence 6 emails from one kid and then one from his mom, all on Saturday, until I sent one back about hey, school is about learning. If he already knew everything, he wouldn’t need to come here. And some more stuff. Parental pressure like that is also not helpful. But also, it’s only going to get harder from here on out and I’m not sure he has the A in him. We’ll see. But that’s the point, right? That they grow and progress? Not that they are an A straight off the bat. Sigh.

So I graded in the car as a lovely person drove me to Huntington Beach for a meeting that I also graded through (I contributed to the meeting, so don’t think I blew that off…it was a lot of discussion of how to meet and get members moving forward, which was necessary but not fun), and then graded on the way back. I think I finally quit in Oceanside on the way back…so from 9 AM (I left my house at 8:30) to probably 3:30, and then I picked up my quilt and went home and graded some more. So yeah, at least 9 hours just on Sunday. Another 3 or 4 on Saturday. And an hour or two on Friday. I’m not done with that assignment either, although I didn’t do that in the car/at the meeting mostly. I did all the other things that needed grading. So three homework assignments, all their warmups for the week, plus essays, probably about 100 of them. I have 18 left…that’s probably 2 hours. Seriously. Ugh. I took one picture at the person’s house of this really cool piece of art…

I meant to ask if it was the same person who made the piece I saw at Sebastopol over the summer. I’ll email her and ask.

Otherwise, my weekend was a bunch of memes when I would take a break from grading…

It’s weird. And this really bugs me.

And harassing people who are following the law to be here. Or were BORN here. That’s fun. I totally want my money going to that when you can’t fund special education any more. Or rural schools.

I would love a Schoolhouse Rock song for this…

Someone will do it.

Yeah. That.

And lastly, though I’m going to BREATHE in instead of BREATH in…I think this is how my week is gonna go.

It’s been like that since the beginning of the school year.

Today, my coteacher is out, so I’m not sure whether I can copy the things I need to copy. We couldn’t meet Friday because she had to sub our prep period, because teachers called out without any warning and we couldn’t get subs. I get emergencies, but also, leave sub plans. Have emergency sub plans. I do. I also need to grade those 18 essays, but get kids through a review of what the fuck a CER is, because they’ve forgotten all the things. Next year, we’ll do this earlier for goodness’ sake. We will NOT assume they were taught things last year. Even if we’re the ones that put all those things into the 7th-grade calendar. It’s fine. Really. I love reteaching when I have a shit ton of content to get through before the state test. Then staff meetings about a debrief of something we didn’t do because they never opened the list of sign ups for us to be observed doing it. So yeah, that’ll be a fun, “hey y’all dropped the ball yet again”, in fact I don’t even know if you know where the ball is. Then ceramics today? Or tomorrow? I can’t decide, so I’ll take my stuff with me…I think it needs to be tomorrow though. Yeah, it does. I forgot about book club. I don’t even know what book I was supposed to have read, so hopefully some other part of my brain took care of that and already read it. Yes, that’s where we’re at right now. It’s not great and it’s not particularly enjoyable, but at least I’ll be doing art stuff at the end of the day to make up for all that crazy nutso fuckedupedness.

Say Yay?

I’d say yay Friday but I have such a huge pile of things that has to be graded this weekend that I’m not really looking forward to it. I’m not even sure how I’m going to pull it off honestly. It seems impossible. But grades are due in a short time and I have to give these kids a chance to fix their mistakes, although I was significantly frustrated with the last batch of redoes. I don’t know how many times I can explain evidence vs inference. ALL the times, actually. With some people, it just straight up doesn’t seem to matter. So I’m a little frustrated, because I have kids who want Principal’s Honor Roll so they need all As but they don’t always do A work. Or be quiet, which is the citizenship part of it. Sigh.

This school year is a lot. I’m thinking they’re all a lot right now. That might be saying something right there.

Artwise, I’m struggling to keep the hour a night…still. Usually by October, I’ve got this, but October is almost over. So I’m tracing every night, but I think last night was the first time I managed an actual hour. And it’s because I stayed up late. And made myself stop working at 9:30 PM even though I wasn’t done with that class. My brain keeps screaming about balance.

So tracing…Wednesday night…

Which looks a lot like Thursday night (except I obviously made it out of the 600s and into the 700s).

The bathtubs are done; the figures are done. That snake is next and then all the bits around the bathtubs, minus the two rugs that are already done. I think there’s about 250 pieces left. So I could finish it this weekend…but also, there’s grading. Frustrating. Really really frustrating.

I’m there, y’all. Also here…

‘Tis witchy season.

From Interpretations…Betty Busby’s Subterranean…

So much handwork.

How does she get it all done? I love this type of stitching and want to do more of it.

Also Claire Passmore’s Anchored is fascinating…

The construction…the thought process behind it…

So cool.

We had to trim the eucalyptus trees. It makes me sad. The birds! The shade…

Poor things. The neighbor’s roof now visible. Bleck.

Owl pellets so far from the entryway.

I’m going to put them in a ziplock baggie for my neighbor’s kid when he comes trick-or-treating (he wants them…I’m not being a mean neighbor).

And here’s where I’m at.

My inner raccoon, more like it. But possums are also cool.

OK. I really am just surviving day by day and looking for the moments that sustain me. Yesterday was a bit much at school. I could do without it. The teaching was fine. The other stuff. Ugh. Make it stahhhp. So today is supposed to be an independent assignment so I can grade shit. We’ll see how that goes. Based on previous experiences? Yeah. Not so much. We keep trying though. Then after school, I finally got my wash for the ceramics pieces. I remembered gloves and brushes…there were no gloves last time. I’m going to do the washes and consider glazing. Then home for dinner and grading and tracing. I can stay up a little late tonight, but had to shuffle pilates, dentist, and groceries to tomorrow because Sunday is a meeting up in the OC. All day for that. Plus trying to grade. I’m not driving this time, so that should help. But one assignment has to be done on computer AND paper. So is my phone a hotspot for that? Or do I just take all the paper stuff. SIGH fucking SIGH. I did get an email from a coteacher last night who saw my banned book piece at the library. That was cool. I don’t know her very well, so it was a nice connection.

Anyway, send good thoughts into the air for your teacher friends. It’s a week from Halloween and the staff drama is just as good as the kid drama. Plus I can’t find last year’s costume and I don’t have the time or money for a new one…so there’s that.

Buggin’…

So hi. Coupla things that are bugging me this morning. 1. Tearing down part of a historic landmark (historic or historical? I argue both) without permission. That is truly shitting upon the American people. 2. The people who don’t understand the idea of No Kings. Um. Really? See previous remark. Or any of the other laws broken so far. The president has a specific job and rules and if you don’t follow them, you are not a rebel, a rogue; you are breaking the laws you swore to uphold. Like a king. 3. Not swearing in a representative that was voted in by her constituents, even though you swore in others (who supported your agenda). Not trying to control things at all, are we? Reeks of some crazy shit to me. (Release the Epstein Files; I’m OK if Democrats are included. I want EVERYONE revealed.) 4. Not to mention dragging away people who are going through the legal immigration process, following all the rules, contributing to the community, paying taxes, and have committed no crimes, or minor crimes so LONG ago, that if we held some of our white males accountable in the same way, I think the entire government might no longer exist. Which does seem to be what they are aiming for. 5. My school board’s idiotic decision to vote against the sex ed curriculum, which might now affect every 8th-grade science teacher and their students in the district in a very negative way. Because they wanted to push forth their political agenda…not do what’s best for the staff and students. It’s so frustrating at the moment. There was more. There’s always more.

Deep breaths. Moving on. Am I moving on? Well no, because my art is political at the moment and that makes it frustrating to make, even though I would be more frustrated NOT to be making it, not to be voicing my opinions, not to be putting it out there. I’m tracing. I’m close to an hour a night, but can’t quite get there (cough cough day job cough). Here’s Monday night…

I actually forgot to take a picture, because honestly, this part is fairly boring to look at. It’s very relaxing to DO, to stand there and just trace around things that are already drawn. The most stressful part is when I’m doing the water because the pieces are weird-ass, complicated shapes and I have to remember what overlaps what. So it’s a pain to not be able to get it all done in one go. But that just isn’t happening right now.

Here’s last night…

I almost made it to the 600s. I stopped with that leg in the middle because it was a good place to stop and it was already past my bedtime, because I did pilates last night because I have to deliver a quilt to a show this afternoon, and then I packed up that quilt and did some email stuff and some organization stuff for school and graded all the tests and wrote them down and decided against inputting them and then decided how I’m dealing with the kids who were absent yesterday and then I traced. So I got 50 minutes. That said, that’s better than nothing. I’ve been tracing for over 8 hours so far and I have another 400 pieces to go. I’m gonna push for a whole hour tonight, but then it gets complicated, right? I need to grade stuff too. I forgot the pile of papers I’m supposed to be working on; I left it at school. Aargh. Considered going back to get them but decided that was crazy (it was 7 PM by then).

A lot of what I do seems crazy sometimes.

The owl left us another pellet.

It was much larger but kind of falling apart. I feel like the established owls leave more solid owl pellets? I’m not sure how that works. But I’m up to 6? Maybe 7 I’ve collected (teachers everywhere just screamed…and if you don’t get it, be thankful).

More art from Interpretations! This is so appropriate: this is Helen Geglio’s Mind Map: Overthinking.

Her stuff is fascinating.

I’m jealous of her being able to sit down and stitch. I have such a hard time with that right now. Also, I’ve been mispronouncing her name in my head all these years, so I will now correct that.

And this…by Lena Meszaros, True Haven.

This piece will be hanging with mine in Virginia starting in January, which is cool. I think it will go well with mine.

More on Friday! I have to get to work. We’re wearing red so the school district can see that we’re pissed about the lame offer they gave us for the next contract. Reminds me of the other thing that was bugging me: How expensive all the things are now: food, electricity, goods. All my expenses are going up and my salary will be going backwards if the district has any say in it. A $28 million surplus is apparently not enough. I know what I’d do with that surplus, and it’s not ‘send it to Argentina’. I have to take photos of all the people in red PLUS copy tests for the absent kids so they can’t cheat with AI. Then teaching vocab and Newton’s First Law today (ah, inertia, if only I knew you). Then drop off a quilt, come back, and grade like the wind. Or not like the wind, because it would just throw things around like a middle schooler having a tantrum. Then tracing some more water. Like a king. No. Like an artist who has no desire to be king.

Another Dimension

It was a busy weekend, even though I canceled/missed three things. The next two weekends seem to be just as bad…lots of meetings, driving, going to things, getting things done. I feel proud of the 20 minutes of yardwork I managed yesterday. I can’t keep up, for real.

So let’s do the tracing stuff first. Still doing it. Thought putting that yellow post-it on the drawing marking where I’d last been, writing the next number to trace on there, that’s smarter than I have been in the past.

Mostly I would just document the number and approximate location of the next piece in my phone and then spend 2-5 minutes the next day trying to find that on the drawing, which might be a reflection on my late-night ability to describe positions of things.

You would think like “left bathtub” would be enough, but is that left when it’s right sides up or upside down, how I trace it? I just never know. So the post-it seemed awesome…until I lost it last night as I flipped the drawing.

Super problematic since I hadn’t documented the last number I traced in my phone, so I had to stare at it for 5 minutes, trying to figure that out. I still couldn’t find the post-it. It flipped somewhere into another dimension. Fact is, I managed to get to piece 500 last night, so I’m almost halfway through. I’ve been finding it hard to even get an hour a night, which might still be a problem this week. I have a ton of grading to do…still…always…and this week does not bode well for big chunks of grading time unfortunately. So much of what I need to grade is deep-thought grading. I actually have to be mentally present to get it done. And it’s time-consuming. Of course. Anyway. Day job.

I had a moment Friday night about the No Kings protest…and made a last-minute decision to march…canceled myself out of two other things and made a plan to make it to the last thing that involved parking two miles away from the march, walking in, doing the march, and walking out. So it was over 6 miles in the long run.

Pro: I felt good about the march; it’s a plus to see so many like-minded people with a goal, when the news is so hell bent on the shit show (literally, if you pay attention to our president wannabe king). Also, I got plenty of exercise. It was all uphill on the way back though. I did go by myself, but you’re never really by yourself in a crowd of 80,000 people.

Yeah, I love my country and I don’t want it ruined by racists and people who say they’re Christian but don’t behave very Christian. And they are ruining it right now. In so many ways.

The Man and I went to a new place for dinner. It was fancy. You know how you know? I took a picture of my plate…

Yeah, if I did that every week, you’d see a lot of standard burger plates. But this was pretty.

Speaking of pretty and cool and fascinating, I went to the Visions Interpretations artist talks after the march. I was hoping to see a friend, but thanks to the military and Vance and probably the Republican party, they closed the freeway so they could shoot things over it, and many people had to leave early to miss that. Thanks to the government. They dropped shrapnel on a CHP vehicle. I find that amusing only because no one was inside and no one was injured. Maybe don’t do that again dumbasses. I’m sure that expenditure was warranted. Like the ballroom. And the parade.

I did meet an artist, Eden Quispe, whom I’d only known online. Our work has been in shows together but I’d never seen it (or her) in person. So that was cool. Here’s her piece, Grandma Pearl, made from linens from her grandmother.

She has a truly fascinating process.

I want to be more freeform in my work, but I never really get there. Maybe when I retire.

I took about 3000 pictures of Diane Nunez’s piece Multifaceted…

I took a lot of pictures because it was fascinating.

Also because I couldn’t take pictures of some of the stuff I wanted to because people were standing in front of them.

That is one of the issues with artist talks…too many people.

Although I do enjoy hearing the artists talk about their work.

Unfortunately, I’m running out of time this morning; I’ll have to post the other photos I took later this week. I’ll leave you with this sweet baby…

Ah Nova.

And this almost daily donation of an owl pellet on my front steps…

And this life truth.

Although the new system does not work the same…I actually have to think ahead about what I might want to read next, and that is truly annoying. I cannot make more decisions than I already am.

OK. School. Reviewing net forces and then sending them off to do the things without my help. Ha! Like that’s gonna work. And then dinner out with a book club group that I rarely see in person anymore. Then grading (well, grading before and after) and tracing. Then hopefully more sleep than last night (ha! more funnies) and do it again, slightly differently.

There Needs to Be Balance.

When the texts came in at 11:30 PM and continued at 6:30 AM and somewhere in there, your new diabetes sensor decided your blood sugar was low even though it really wasn’t because it takes it a while sometimes to behave appropriately (much like oh so many people I can think of at the moment), so it kept buzzing until you put it on the floor, and then you know you have a difficult meeting in the morning, and one of those texts told you something that explains a lot of the bullshit at school and now you’re PISSED, ffs, why why why. Well it’s not the best way to start a Friday. But it IS a Friday. My weekend is too full and I have feels about the No Kings protest and I’m in a place in my head where protest is legit and so is self care and promises I made to people and I’m trying to do all of the things and probably semi-failing at quite a few of them. So I’m processing all that and potentially editing the weekend to-do list to manage that.

How can I be the best American this weekend? Still working on that.

I’ve been tracing every night…well for the last three. Big time.

Not. I’m still in the 100s, although I’ve traced some of the 200s. Probably a mistake that. Might end up with an extra traced bug somewhere. But the bug parts are small and it’s easier if I trace them and cut them all in one space so they don’t get lost. Makes sense to me anyway. And the big pieces of water are a pain to trace. I remember now from the last bathtub quilts. I like how it looks but it’s a pain to make.

Ah yes, so if you don’t know, I think this is the fourth bathtub quilt, definitely a series. It’s actually the 6th drawn bathtub. I was looking at Frida Kahlo’s bathtub painting and then George Bush Jr did one and I don’t know, it hit me as a way to document a life. Or in the case of this quilt, a life and an unalive. All four bathtub quilts will be at the Virginia Quilt Museum January through March, along with a few others. I will be there the last weekend in March too, along with the other artist in the show, Lena Meszaros. Should be interesting.

Yesterday, I underglazed the tree, which miraculously did not break again.

It took an hour.

Which is crazy. This is going on top of the head that hasn’t been glazed yet. I also signed up for a handbuilding/slab sculpture class in November. It looked interesting and I need more tips on building stuff. I always feel like I’m doing it by the seat of my pants…because I am.

Um I should probably send this to someone in particular. But it’s true! We need to vent. Especially if your job is a whirlwind of crazy all day. Because that shit festers.

Our trees were trimmed this week and the guys somehow broke like 6 pots and full on disappeared some with plants and I’m upset but I get it. I moved the ones I thought they’d hit and they full on hit others instead. So I’m also sad. It’s OK; the tree guy is paying to replace pots but there was this adorable little succulent that had just bloomed and it’s just gone and I’m sad about it. I’m also sad about my kitty being gone, even though it’s been two months. Bowie keeps coming in here looking for her, and I’m like SAME dude, I keep looking for her too.

Oh my. So sucky meeting in the morning, teaching net force all day with a simulation; let’s see if the day chaos can NOT. Then errands woo hoo love errands ugh no I do not. Then dinner and grading and tracing and deciding what I can deal with this weekend. There are things I WANT to do and things I NEED to do and things I HAVE to do and there needs to be a balance. And I don’t know what it is right now. Peace and love to the protestors and the marches across the country. Because this shit is crazy and needs to stop and yes, it’s easy to say that and as always, I struggle with the how to make the crazy shit stop and/or make sense (that’s not happening). We need a Day of Remembrance for our democracy, for empathy, for American values, because this ain’t it.

Today the Oatmeal Exploded.

Monday was burning oatmeal. Today was exploding oatmeal, all over the side of the bowl, where it will stick like concrete. Fun times. And yesterday kinda felt like that. Or maybe Monday. Or both. The workload is a challenge. Too many parts to it. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to have some literacy thing done by the 27th but they haven’t provided a calendar for it, so it’s just not gonna happen. Or they’ll tell us on the 20th that it has to be done by the 27th (‘it’ being something where you schedule admin to come watch you do it), and that’ll be the end of me.

Teaching-wise, the content is fine, the kids are OK (except for the dingbat who couldn’t shut up yesterday about all the reasons she didn’t want to sit where she was put). I just can’t get far enough ahead to not feel like I can’t breathe. Might be a me problem.

Monday, I made it to ceramics, where both pieces were out of the bisque fire. I tentatively put them together (it’s a little wobbly, hence my hand)…

I go back and forth about what to do next. I know these colors won’t survive a glaze fire, so the plan is to iron oxide, darken it all up in the crevices, and then use a satin matte glaze on some areas for color. Or all areas. I don’t know.

The only crack in the upper torso is where that finger attaches to the breast. And the crack in the bottom piece got smaller in the second bisque firing.

I fixed this, which will hopefully go on top of the head. Scary to get to the point where I have to put it all together.

Not sure where to store all the parts at the moment. I don’t have enough shelf space for any of it at the moment. I could move the head out, but there probably still wouldn’t be enough room for more than the base. I’m hoping to go Thursday to underglaze the tree and maybe put the head in the bisque fire.

Meanwhile, at home, I finished drawing the big piece…added that target and a few other things.

Numbered it Monday and Tuesday night…it’s a little over a thousand pieces. Not bad for trying to keep it simple (ha!).

And then last night, I started tracing…

I didn’t get far. But that’s OK. I’ve got fewer meetings at night this week. Should help. Although I’m trying to catch up on grading still. Always.

We got a chunk of rain yesterday…my app had been saying 0.04″ so I wasn’t really prepared for being sopping wet after school…just walking to the car.

And at home, checking all the new gutters (one had an issue) and digging a trench…in the rain. Fun times. Then pajamas on and finally finishing the book I had left in the morning, under duress.

So many uses for this.

I stayed late at school yesterday to document all the behaviors from the beginning of the month on our digital system and to call two parents, one of which didn’t answer and his voicemail was full, so I texted, used our parent communication app, and sent it to the translator, so there’s no question of their understanding the issue. The other one tried to say “you know he’s ADHD” as an excuse. Ah ma’am…I raised one of those, and you better stop enabling that shit right now. I always counter with, oh yeah, I raised one of those.

I love Gemma Correll’s drawings…

And they feel very real at the moment.

Especially that…I’m thinking of some specific buildings. Empty of humans of course.

I feel like I post this every year. And it’s true every year.

OK, trees are being trimmed today (stress!) plus I think I have to come up with something for the kids to do for the last half of the period, because I’m ahead of my co-teacher. Or not. Just have them finish their cover pages. There we go. Simple. Then pilates and grading and tracing. And reading. All good.

A Hot Mess of Burning School Oatmeal.

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.

Whatever This Is…

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.

Earth Is in Retrograde

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.

Drawing in Campgrounds

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.