So I’m in Virginia, currently sitting in the kitchen of the Virginia Quilt Museum. We have demonstrations happening this afternoon, and my co-conspirator in fabric is interviewing the director of the museum.
We both arrived Wednesday and were ensconced in an old guesthouse filled with antiques. Definitely a cat theme.
Cats…
Thursday we toured the museum and saw all the exhibits…looking forward to meeting Holly Cole tomorrow. Her animals are amazing.
Such a creative use of materials…
Three-dimensional designs fascinate me; I can’t get my head around them. I’m impressed by those who can.
Here’s Lena Meszaros, the other artist in the Fantastic Stories exhibit here.
Her work is very different than mine, but definitely works with them. She’s more of a collage quilter and works with a wide range of materials.
I’ll get some closeups today. I’m here all day.
Here’s a video of my six pieces in the show.
We also visited one of the top 10 quilt stores in the US, Patchwork Plus. Lots of fabric, patterns, notions, and Jamie. No explanation for that.
We went for a random walk in the afternoon, no sidewalks, out in farmland mostly.
This building was fascinating…
I don’t know how it wasn’t falling down. Lots of Virginia smells like cow so far (limited to where we’ve been so far).
I talk to the animals.
I’ve drawn a bit, read a lot, probably not slept enough (when do I ever?).
Ok. So today, I demonstrate fusing bugs, probably start a new book, maybe draw or stitch a little. Tomorrow is an artists’ talk…so we’ll be here all day again, I think. Oh, and I forgot that thing in my room…
Hey. It’s Spring Break. I’m exhausted, overwhelmed, buried, and woke up sick this morning. That squirrel is back on the fence, running along…he hasn’t figured out how to get to the bird feeder yet (the Man moved it). I’m waiting for the Mark Rober adjustments to the feeder if he does figure it out (if you’ve never watched Rober design systems to foil squirrels, it’s definitely a squirrel hole to fall down some day.). I leave early Wednesday morning for Virginia, and every time I turn around, something else gets added to the to-do list. The oil light came on in my car yesterday after driving to Long Beach and back for an art meeting (hardly any traffic, luckily). Hoping I don’t get all those people sick. But I felt fine yesterday…just tired. And I’m always tired. Here’s to hoping my middle-school-teacher immune system kicks in (and my flu shot) to make this thing go away quickly. I don’t have time to be sick. I don’t want to be sick on a plane either. Sigh. OK. Need to buy/find masks now.
Did I finish my taxes on Saturday? Nope. Not even. I packed and shipped a quilt that will be at the New England Quilt Museum as part of the Soul Stories exhibit opening there around April 14. It will travel to Birmingham, UK, and then to International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, in November. I can’t go to any of those shows, I think. Ah well. The quilts travel more than I do…always.
I have the closing reception for the Fantastic Stories exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum this coming weekend. We’re doing demos on Friday and then an artist talk on Saturday. If I had a car and more time, I’d then drive up to the Art Quilt Elements opening at the Wayne Art Center; I have a piece in that show as well. The opening is from 3-5 PM. It’s about a 4-hour drive from where I am in Virginia, I don’t have a car, and I’m planning on going to museums in DC on Monday. I’m not making it to the opening. I couldn’t do the 8-hour roundtrip drive plus rent the car. Money is tight. I’m appreciating the museum finding us a place to stay while we’re in Virginia and transporting us around. Saves me a bit of money I don’t actually have.
But this is the artist’s life…I could never afford to be a fulltime artist and feed my kids. The paychecks are not regular (or honestly big) enough. One quilt selling from this show would cover my expenses easily, but my stuff does not sell easily unfortunately. I probably don’t market well either. In my spare time! Anyway, if you are in Dayton, come see the show. If you miss it this week (it comes down Saturday night), I’ll have a piece in the No Boundaries exhibit that opens right afterward, on March 31.
I did finish the smallest of the dye paintings last night. On Friday, I finished all the embroidery so far and was considering threads for the hair.
Then Saturday night, I started working on the hair…
This is the smallest of the pieces I’m working on…
This one is about 20″ square…smaller than I usually do. And last night, I finished up the purple in the hair…
And sewed the sleeves down on the bottom edge (I waited to make sure the embroidery didn’t catch in the sleeves).
I don’t usually make pieces this small…trying to see if this is faster than the other way I make quilts. For something this size, it’s not.
Official photos will have to follow. I have a piece about this size that I did last year, in my normal technique, and it’s about the same number of hours. Interesting. It’s still a worthwhile process though, for a different type of image. I’m not giving up on it. Certainly, I make more work by adding the embroidery, but that was part of what I wanted to do. Moving on to the next one tonight. Might be some bedazzly stuff going on with that one.
I really wish they’d pay TSA. Getting on a plane and going to DC is somewhat nerve-wracking, now helped by long lines and ICE agents.
Such a frustrating system we have at the moment.
This was not surprising, unfortunately. Men in power. Strength and love to Dolores Huerta.
But true. I don’t want anyone in the Epstein Files to be in power anywhere. Don’t care who they are. That’s the difference.
Going back to the Dark Ages, y’all.
This is how men control the story. Take the meds away…I don’t see anyone removing Viagra or its equivalents. Of course not. Not making men responsible for their bodies and what they do with them. Birth control is mostly hormones…interestingly, hormones men have as well.
This is what I always feel like at the beginning of Spring Break. Except when I’m sick.
But it does feel like a good morning despite the headache and sore throat. I’ll try to stand outside in the sun for a bit. Just stand. Then go back to prepping for this trip, trying to grade stuff, trying to finish taxes, trying to keep up with all the stupid stuff I’m supposed to be doing in the next two days. I’d like to get to ceramics today too…maybe later. Brain is very fuzzy. Spring Break fuzzy? Sick fuzzy? General old age fuzzy? It probably doesn’t matter…accept the fuzz.
Hello all. It’s Wednesday, although my brain is convinced it has survived more than two work days this week. It’s wrong…well, unless you count the weekend, when I also worked. As always. I finally finished all the bindings on the dye paintings…with everyone’s help. Here’s Nova…
Who headbutts things and then drools on you.
I started embroidery (finally!) on this one last night…
Probably take forever. I was going to do more applique on it, but that would have meant getting off the couch and I was well past that. I will still DO the applique, but I need to prep for it earlier in the evening. Probably not tonight. Today is a mess. We’re going on a field trip to the Midway (big military boat; my favorite thing really…ha), then we’re back in our rooms for two periods and I still don’t have air conditioning (it was 97 degrees outside yesterday). Then pilates and cooking dinner. Ugh. I’ll be half dead by the end of it. And I’m grading like crazy to hopefully limit what I have to get done over break.
I went to the ceramics studio last night and took this half-assed photo of the bowl ready for glaze fire.
It took me almost an hour to do the glazing. I’m hoping it turns out well.
The Forbidden Words Project quilt is done…I have three words/phrases in it.
Let’s see if I can find them…
The girlchild might make it to the opening where this will debut up in San Francisco. It’ll travel…hopefully I’ll see it at some point.
Yesterday was crazy hat day AND tattoo a teacher (fundraiser)…
What’s funny is that I went to the ceramics studio after and forgot I had the tattoos and got some weird looks until I remembered.
Good times. Getting them off was a bit more challenging, but I think we’re good.
This is where we’re headed. Again.
I’d like to bring up the guy who said my comments about the Repugs/MAGA need to throw women back to the 1900s were a conspiracy theory. After I bring him up, I’d like him to explain what’s happening now and how I was wrong. (not happening; it’s fine. It’s not like I wanted to be right.)
And this. Sigh.
Keep voting y’all. And caring about all the people. It’s what we’re supposed to do.
Racing into Monday. A full weekend. But I got nothing done. Fun times.
Quilt stuff…OK, I got bindings done, but not quilts and not sleeves, because I’m leaving the sleeves unstitched until I finish the embroidery on these. Finished this one Friday night…
Got embroidery ideas for it. Then I started another one, with Scribble’s help.
Although she is definitely tracking a bug. A flying bug. In case that isn’t clear.
Saturday night, I kept working on that binding, with Scribble’s help.
Looks the same. Scribble likes it when I sit still.
I finished that one Saturday night…
Then Sunday night, I finished the small one…
One more to go and then I start embroidery. Or applique on that last one…got the fabric I needed for the speech bubble. Apparently profanity is out for this show as well as nudity. Ugh.
And then my local SAQA group had an opening of their new exhibit, Beyond the Canvas, at the Poway Performing Arts Center. I have two pieces in the show…
Lost in the Trees…
I was apparently done with smiling…Nowhere Else to Go. The show is up for a while…
OK, not a super long while…through April 5. Check it out. I have more pictures, but don’t have time to resize or post anything this morning. Morning meetings for 3 out of the 5 days this week, plus some demanding school issues.
I did make time to hike on Saturday…and I took Simba this time.
I can’t hike as far with him because he is an old man now…
He may argue against that.
But he can’t do 4+ miles anymore. It was warm but not horrible, unlike the rest of the week.
Here’s where I’m at politically…
And on the daily…
OK. Today is a test. Fun times for the kids who were absent last week. They won’t have a clue what to do. Oh well. I will have to figure that out for them. Meeting this morning, meeting this afternoon, then ceramics hopefully. Then grading (always) and the last binding. Then I have to start thinking about embroidery. OK, realistically, I’ve been thinking about it for at least a month, but now it will be real and I’ll have to make decisions. Possibly a bad choice right before Spring Break. Limited brain power. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully well.
If you’re a teacher, this is my day: it is Friday the 13th, a week before Spring Break, we have an assembly, and it’s supposed to be 94 degrees. And my air conditioning in the classroom is still not working. It worked for one day and then turned off again. Managed to keep it under 74 degrees yesterday with the use of a fan and opening and closing doors to other people’s A/C. But really not sustainable. So fix that shit! At least there’s no full moon though. Pro: short classes. Con: trying to get a thing done with short classes. All the kids who were absent yesterday when I explained how to do the project are on their own; I made a video of the explanation. I have to check every kid’s paper today before they can go to the next stage (this is the fun part). I’ve have no chance to grade the packets all week. I think I have half of one class done. HALF. Fuck me. I need that done before break.
In other news, I’m still working on four quilts at one time. I got the bindings pinned on Wednesday night…
Except for one, because I forgot to zigzag the edges of the seam. Yes, I do that. Crazy sewing training. Then last night, I started the handsewing of the binding.
Simba did not help. I did not finish even one quilt. I got about 3/4s of the way around. On most of them, maybe all of them, I’ll wait to sew the bindings down until the embroidery is done. I don’t want to embroider through the sleeves…that would make them nonfunctional and be very silly. Some people are probably wondering why I did the binding before the embroidery. Because I don’t have the creative brainpower at the moment to decide what and how to embroider. Hopeful that shows up soon, but currently in exhaustion mode. Wish me luck with that.
Last night was my monthly stitching-in-person meeting and I managed more of the raccoon.
Cute; not hard, but fun.
I had Nova next to me and Scribble decided to be on my lap and then bite Nova’s neck.
I swear, Nova is the most submissive cat sometimes. She just sat there, like “this is my fate”. So weird.
This is true.
And I know what I’m gonna do with it.
OK. Seriously, today is not a trivial day. Plus two meetings and trying to wrangle the sex-ed packets between grade levels. Last night’s parent info meeting was also not trivial. More parents than we’ve had in years, maybe ever. Long. Thanks to the translators. After school, I have to book out of there to get to the dentist to get my stitches out…finally. They’re driving me bonkers. Then hopefully I’ll feel OK enough to go to ceramics. More bindings tonight (handsewing…sitting on the couch, staring at the TV in between stitches), and sleep, beautiful sleep. Although the dog hasn’t been letting us sleep in past 7:20 AM. Ugh. Hopeful. I am ever hopeful for that extra hour.
Fridays. Fridays mean the weekend. This weekend? Time to catch up on grading; Trimester 2 ends today and there’s lot to get done. I’m almost there. I graded for a while yesterday (after dental surgery). Then I need to grade the stuff they turned in this week, which was an entire packet full of stuff. I’m kind of done with all of it…mentally…because you’re not done until that last week of school.
I’m still fussing along on the dye paintings. The background thread was being cranky on this one…
It’s thicker, so fussier. I didn’t finish it last night either, because I was in a stitching Zoom and trying to pay attention, and dealing with fussy thread wasn’t in my mindset at the time. I’ll hopefully be there tonight. I was trying to find some earth fabric for one of them, after getting profanity shot down for that upcoming show (sigh). I found something that might work online. So I trimmed that quilt and then another one. Couldn’t find enough of anything appropriate for a binding for the smaller one, but I did for the larger one, so I put a binding and sleeves on it.
No handwork yet. Might leave the sleeves loose for now. Not sure if the bouncing around between four projects is a pro or a con for me. It’s not how I usually work. But I have limited brainpower right now for anything. This would be a perfect time to trace Wonder Under or cut things out. Low-key, meditative, not hard but takes up brain space. The deadline on these moved back to early June, so I have some time. A chance to build mental space maybe. 11 school days to Spring Break. Not that my break is really chill…I’ll be gone for 7 days. Catching up on grading, yardwork, and housework will have to happen around all that. Spring Break is always a little like that…we usually do a camping trip in spring, but have moved it to summer to coincide with my residency starting. Different. Different can be good.
I had this picture that was supposedly of the Iranian girls’ school funeral, but it was AI. I still say our country needs to answer to that. 165 girls killed to our…6? Are we still at 6? I didn’t check yesterday. Meanwhile, Melania Trump was at some meeting about the safety of children in war zones. Yo, babe, it’s your man. Make him stop. Sigh. This is not making the world a better, safer place. Using your brain more than your penis probably would.
I had dental surgery yesterday. We were hoping to fix/save the tooth, but it was not salvageable. Unfortunately. More money, more stitches. Yes, I’m at school today. It’s not horrible. I have pain meds and I’m generally OK. I needed to do a hands-on activity today and that’s not something you leave for a sub. When I got home, I sat on the couch and finished the second book of the day (I had two nearing the end)…with these guys.
Nice. I graded a bunch there until the stitching Zoom. Then I graded some more after and stitched some more after that. Not a bad end to a day with 6 stitches in your mouth.
Today. Early meeting. Need to give test corrections at lunch. Work on grading stuff, preparing for next week. Duty after school. I had to panic-put together two independent study contracts for kids who are gone until Spring Break, or one, the week after break as well (like I have that shit planned out WTF). With 24 hours’ notice. Thanks parents. Appreciate that. So I lost yesterday’s prep to that. I have yet another long email from the parent who started last Friday. I’ve spent over an hour already on emails to him; luckily he included my team this time, so I have backup. Hopefully I will feel up to ceramics after school. My bowl was off the bisque shelf, so I assumed it was in a kiln, but I haven’t see it come out yet. I’m also hoping there’s room on the drying shelves for my current piece, because it is swiftly outgrowing my shelf. That said, I can add some stuff to the torso now. Then home to grade grade grade and hopefully do some art stuff and some yard stuff and not feel like I’m just a worker bunny.
Also, if I can not go to school and look around the room and think what it would be like if someone bombed our school and there were bodies everywhere. It’s hard not to think about that when you consider what our country is doing right now. It’s hard to drive to work in the sunshine and not think about what people are doing where it’s not so removed from the violence.
So that’s the Friday mood I guess. I’ll work on it. Go take some more pain meds maybe.
This week is messy. Mentally. Not really. I had a training thing on Monday, which lasted 12 minutes and then we spent the rest of the day planning the next three weeks before Spring Break, so we wouldn’t lose our minds (good plan) and starting a plan for after break. Then I gave a test Tuesday. Then I took today off to deal with my knee evaluation for physical therapy (we have a plan! Finally!) and to do an art group Zoom. I also graded half the day, which catches me up somewhat for the end of trimester, which is coming fast. It is ironic that I have to take time off work in order to get caught up with work. Is that ironic or just stupid? Hard to say. Anyway, all that to say that I am totally off on writing today. It’s nighttime. I write in the morning. But I had to be at school this morning for a meeting (and then race back home for the Zoom).
Sigh. Anyway. I’m still working on the dye paintings, trying to get them all bordered and then sandwiched to start. I finished the second one…but I had been trying to get the wrinkles out and cut the borders but then decided to rewash it and see if the wrinkles would come out (they did). Oh wait, first I sandwiched and pinbasted this one.
Then I cut borders…
Then the next night, I sewed them on…
And pinbasted it…
That’s three so far, one to go (tonight). It’s the smallest.
I also made it to ceramics on Monday…spent two hours finishing the upper torso and doing one shoulder and one arm.
I’m going to cut a hole in the chest once everything is a little dryer and more solid.
Not entirely sure how I’m handling the rest of the arms. I’ll figure that out as I go. It’s already almost too tall for my shelf, but all the bigger shelves are full, so IDK what my plan is. Head separate? Owl definitely separate. Although both will have issues for standing up in the kiln then. Sigh. I meant for this to be smaller. Apparently I don’t do small.
I have two pieces in this show and will be at the opening on March 15.
Come check it out. Looks to be a fun show.
I love these quotes…
There really is a feeling of oh well, this is what I have, although trying to make all the parts work better is definitely always a goal. But not what it looks like. Just how it works. Here’s another side to that.
I guess I never really conformed. And I don’t really consider beauty something to aim for…but being comfortable with oneself is a nice place to be. And when I’m not comfortable, being self aware enough to do something about it, whether it’s physical or mental.
But the world we live in now doesn’t really want us to think that…especially if we are young and could have babies.
It is exhausting. I suspect this would help.
But hey, gas is cheap and so is food? Wait, no it’s not. And we’re not going to have durable medical equipment suppliers? WTF. I’m just so done with the inability of others to make sense. Across the board.
This is what stared at me from the bed this morning when I was trying to find the landscape fabric (don’t you keep yours in the bedroom? I do. Long story.).
And if I rotated left…
Obviously I interrupted their daily meeting. Whoops. Sorry. Leaving now.
I did take some time today to read a little (good book), plus move some stuff on the deck (plants) and to where the veggie planter is going, plus move the tarp that was covering the septic pumpouts when it rained like crazy. Put that tarp away. Recycled some papers from Christmas and threw away two pens that didn’t work. That felt like a lot. It wasn’t.
Every few days, I see these two, together, in exactly this place. If I go out the door to get a better picture, they leave.
So this is through the screen in the kitchen. It’s such a weird place to regularly hang out. They must be friends, right? Do geckos have mates they stay with? I don’t even know. Also, do Podocarpus trees have males and females? And if so, which one has more of the seed pods? I know, I could Google those things, but I need to put another dye-painted quilt together so I can start quilting them and then handsewing stuff on them. Soon.
Tomorrow is more eyeball stuff and Friday we dissect eyeballs. Fun times. It’s supposed to be like 90 degrees on Friday; meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to wear in Virginia if it’s still in the 20s at night when I go. Freaky stuff.
Oof. It’s Friday, yes, short week, yes, but holy crap, these short weeks have packed a punch. It’s almost a relief to go back to a normal week (except next week is so not normal). What is normal anyway? Not sure. It’s rained on and off all week and been cold (hey it’s Southern California, but it was 40 degrees here when I woke up…yes that’s warm for a lot of the country, but I don’t have the clothing for that…well, I do, but not to leave the house). I busted out my Ugg boots last night. I got home in the rain, pulled the trashcans in, in the rain, got really wet, in the rain, peed the dog, still raining, and totally damp, I wanted to just put my pjs on and curl up on the couch. But no! A friend I haven’t seen in person for 22 years was in town, so I gladly drove through (guess what, the rain) not-so-bad traffic actually (considering the rain) to hang out with her, another friend, and another on Zoom for a few hours. I got some raccoon done…
These are super relaxing to work on.
So is binding. It’s just the same stitch around and around.
I got the binding done on Wednesday night and then both sleeves on last night…
Not really helpful cat.
Great image, yeah? Well it goes to the photographer tomorrow…
Also a great photo. With my hand in it and a pile of trimmed ends of the threads from the stitching. But it’s done! The first quilt of 2026. With the next ones ready to go…a departure from what I normally do, but I’m excited about that. We’ll see how it goes, how long the excitement lasts before I want to do something different. Or the same. It’s hard when I’m teaching to find the brainpower to branch out into different techniques and processes. I spend so much of my creative energy at school trying to plan and solve problems, that sometimes I come home and there isn’t much left. There are things I can do without a lot of conscious thought, like trace, cut things out, even pick fabrics…but the original creation, the drawing, that requires more thought. And these next ones, however many I do (I have four ready to go) will be completely different…well, not the first stages. Those will be rote…stuff I know how to do…but the later stages will be very different from what I’ve been doing. Excitement? And anxiety. Woo! I don’t know that I need more anxiety at the moment, but it’s creation anxiety, and that’s not always a bad thing. I guess watch this space?
Here’s Nova giving me a judgy look because I yelled at her for eating the kitten’s food.
I did call her chonky. Rightly so.
Well no ceramics tonight unfortunately; this is my normal day though. I have a meeting during my prep (silly parents) and then I have a long meeting after school that will require brain power (make more tea) and will probably go for a couple of hours or longer (hopefully not longer). Then clean up that quilt tonight, iron it flat, get all the damn cat hair off of it. If there’s time, I’ll start the next thing, although I may just fix my pants. I’m hoping to go to a bunch of art shows tomorrow…I have three on my list; two while I’m delivering to the photographer (already almost there…might as well keep going) and one in the evening that I will drag the Man to…it’s fine. We’ll do dinner after. Plus I need to grade a million things again. We’re almost at the end of the trimester, which is stressful. And next week is a shitshow ending with eyeball dissections. Woo! But hopefully sleeping in tomorrow a little and doing some fun things to make up for all the work? That would be nice. And I’ll have some grading time on Wednesday and planning time on Monday to make up for the LACK of it at all other times. Yeah. It’s Friday. Let’s do this.
I know, I forgot to write on Monday. It was a holiday, the septic tank guy showed up early, I graded almost all day, there was no realization of what I normally do on Mondays. So I did all this stuff Friday and Saturday that isn’t going to get on here today. Maybe later. Ha! If I remember.
So the quilt is almost done though. I quilted Saturday…
I finished quilting on Sunday…broke a foot.
This is a cheap, badly designed foot. I tried to get an official spring bouncy open toe foot like that for the machine, but it was not available, so I don’t think these are really designed for this machine, even though they say they are. They are also cheap. So that arm eventually gives way. I buy like four at a time. They last about 8 months, depending on how much I’m sewing…and honestly, how fast.
This was almost 10 hours of quilting.
I trimmed on Monday…had to move the boychild’s fire equipment and four pairs of boots out of the way. He went back to work this week.
There is a Scribble kitten in this photo. She’s playing with boot laces, but also spent some time sitting in the middle of the quilt, staring at me. I got the binding sewn on too…
And Monday night, started the handsewing.
Last night, Scribble kept flicking her tail into what I was sewing.
Almost sewed her tail into the binding about 5 times. She took off for a while and then came back…
Not the easiest sewing angle, but we made it work. Seconds before, she was reaching out to the needle with her paw. No sense of safety. I’ve made it around 2 1/2 sides. Got 1 1/2 to go, plus two sleeves. Photographer is getting it Saturday. Ready to ship to Massachusetts in March, then to Birmingham, England, then Houston.
I also made it to ceramics on Monday, in between rain bursts. Definitely heard those on the metal roof. I did some shaping on these…
And then added to them.
I was trying to make something that would fit on my shelf. Ha! Not happening. I am going to need to consider how to attach the owl, when I get to that point. I also put the bowl in for bisque fire. Finally! Can’t remember when I started it. Ah well. That’s what apps are for. I started the bowl December 8 and it has 10 hours of work in it. TEN HOURS. Can’t sell that for the time it took. And it will still need glaze after this. I haven’t decided what glaze yet. Something smooth on the inside. Hope there’s no cracks. I’m finding it hard to get to ceramics…the timing sucks right now. I’d normally go this Friday, but have to do a union thing. If it’s quick and I’m not exhausted, I’ll go over there, but I don’t think it’ll be quick, based on the last one.
I did walk on Saturday. I was going to hike, but the ex came over to help find the second lid on the septic (I didn’t realize/remember a second lid, but found the original drawing). So I had limited time before sunset. I drove down my hill, so I wouldn’t have to walk the scary busy road with no sidewalk in the dark, and took off from there, neighborhood hike.
I did this daily during COVID, and was always fascinated by all the different plants my neighbors had.
Valentine’s Day kitties…Luna and Scribble. Not quite curled up together.
I saw this. And then started Googling. And this is what everyone needs to do these days. Because if he said it, it’s not documented anywhere.
Also, the comment amuses me. Yeah, I’m not sure the bodycam footage would show you what you want to see…and I don’t really see the purpose unless it’s to show the parents of THOSE children what their sweethearts are really like in the classroom. Fun times. Research, people. Don’t assume the stuff is correct.
That said, that damn SAVE Act is totally fucked up.
Poll tax anyone? But only for married women. And trans folx. And a few others? People who changed their names to escape abuse? Yeah, it seems fair. WTF it does not. Seriously. What assholes in the House voted for this? ID? Sure. Fine. Make them free and easy to get. Or we’re back to where this country was in the early days, when only rich white guys could vote. I guess that’s what they want? Fucking assholes. The Man says the Senate won’t pass it. Sigh. It never should have been considered at all. So prejudiced. So misogynist. So unAmerican.
OK. Sigh. Where we at today? Ah yes, the effects of light waves on materials. Lab and simulation that takes two days to get through with my full-on support. Then pilates. Then handsewing binding. I can look forward to that for sure.
I have three things already on my to-do list for before school starts, and none of them is write this blog, take my insulin, take my meds, or drive to school. They are all things that happened after 7 PM last night that need to be dealt with today (or things that happened during the day that I only remembered after 7 PM and then didn’t deal with…actually one was a midnight rememory…annoying). And somehow I have a bug bite more than 36 hours after being outside doing yardwork and a paper cut that I don’t remember getting at all but is on the verge of infection. My left inner elbow is itching like crazy and my right pointer finger just hurts. And I’m trying to concentrate. It’s obviously not working.
Quilt. Start there. I’m quilting. This is Sunday night, lots of tiny corporate climate-destroying details.
Last night, it was freeway interchanges, an arm, and the face…
Oh, and an owl.
I’m actually almost done with the outlining; I’ve got about 20-30 minutes left of an arm and some smoke clouds. Then into the background. I’d really like to get it done and to the photographer in the next week. We’ll see how that goes. I did already buy the binding…thought ahead for once.
I did not make it to ceramics last night or the night before. Finally got my car back and there was nothing. The metallic screech that sent it in was no longer there once they got all the wheels off and brakes checked. Which is good…but annoying. Ah well. Moving on. I might try to go to the studio after the union meeting tonight; we’ll see what my energy is like. Bringing the equipment just in case.
I did go to the Viewpoints exhibit at the Hyde Gallery at Grossmont College last night. Some very cool stuff there.
My Dad’s Gun Collection (2023 Excerpt), Susan Graham. Yup, that’s clay. Crazy, eh?
Screaming in Silence – Rabbit, Candi Blox. The title certainly is interesting, but also the texture. Plus its cute little screaming face.
Body Prison: Womb, Leena Janmohamed. Beautiful piece, lovely glaze.
City, Gail Schneider. I’m always fascinated by the bricks she makes.
Levee and Gush, Joseph Heffernan. Love the colors with the shapes on these pieces. Nothing I glaze ever turns out this perfect.
Everything But the Executive Function, Lindsay Lauters Miller. OK, this is exactly where my brain is right now. Love this tiny thing with the head right there in the middle of the chaos. Honestly, I took this picture for my coteacher.
I totally didn’t get a title or artist for this…I was surrounded by people and just trying to focus on the FINGERS at the ends of the braids. WAIT. I found it. Unsettling, Sarah Garcia.
And unsettling it is.
These were in the outside window part of the gallery, so they’re taken through a window.
Volcano, Lee Puffer. It’s possible the neon attracted me.
Hysterectomy, also Lee Puffer. Shiny and glowing, as a hysterectomy should be.
And Saraswati, by Cheryl Tall. I do always love her pieces. This is a good show to go check out. Open for a month? Maybe longer. I am a font of information. I’m trying to get done so I can get to school and bang through that stupid to-do list.
Driving to pick up my car yesterday afternoon…I really want to believe this is an Emo Sewer.
Also says they bought their Tesla before Elon went crazy, but also has a Raiders sticker. Ugh. Intriguing though. OK, I Googled it and it is just ‘awesome’ backwards. Not as interesting. Or interested. Rolling my eyes a bit. Moving on.
Scribble tries to help with the grading.
To be clear, she is not helping at all.
This…is a great Vday card.
And this is a great thing the US should consider…other countries are acting like normal human beings and locking up criminals…why can’t we?
My coteacher sent me this but I had already screenshot it.
I’d love to make my students explain this, but realize only 10% of them could. Which is frustrating.
This is also a good goal for today.
One can dream.
My daughter, who is ADD (which is now all ADHD), says I am also AD(H)D…and this might be the best proof.
That is exactly how my brain works during conversation. EXACTLY. Undiagnosed brain divergence here.
Oh. This is wonderful. And so true. Although my partner could now be amused by it…
Only because I made him watch the South Park 6 7 episode and then tried to explain the stupidity of it all. Hey, in my classes, the drama over 6 7 is almost gone. I think 42 has more staying power, but only with the older geek/nerd/dork population. My dad wouldn’t get that one either.
OK. Gonna go spray the bite with something cool and refreshing. Then take my meds (I did the insulin already) and go to school, where I’m doing a refraction lab today. I also realized…just now…that I need to find and post a simulation we need to walk through. Fuck. See this is how I get to school and am already overwhelmed and freaking out. Sigh. Plus answer two parents, a union exec board person, set up that meeting because none of my other reps take initiative, and then go to a rep meeting after school. MAYBE go to ceramics afterwards? For a short time? And then home for dinner, grading, and quilting. Plus purring cats. And probably a dog. Maybe see if I can persuade the boychild to dig out the lid for the septic tank? Otherwise, I might be doing that in pouring rain this weekend, which seems problematic. Yeah. Good times.
Kathy Nida 