Sitting All Weekend…

Yup. That weekend was short. I need more time. I need a day off. I did work all weekend, whether I was grading or sitting at a craft show (or both…at the same time). Pro: I finished grading that hellacious assignment. I talked to a lot of people who liked my art. It was fun, although long. Con: I got nothing else done. At all. Well, we grocery shopped last night. I think I’m ready to teach today…mostly. I need sub plans for Friday’s literacy training. I didn’t actually DO any ceramics on Friday or Saturday like I normally do. If I hadn’t had the grading, I might have considered it…but I really needed to get that assignment done. So I can do the next one, really. Sigh. For Winter Break, I’m somehow managing to give myself a pile of packets and two academic assignments to grade. Stupid. Oh well. I should’ve finished these over Thanksgiving, but I was sick the whole week. So there we are. Speaking of sick, I did telehealth on Friday (fuck that sub doc for saying wait a week or two…I was definitely going downhill again…dizzy, fatigued, ugh.). And this doc gave me more meds, told me to call again if I wasn’t better by Monday. I am getting better…again! Sigh.

So Friday, I came home from work, packed up ceramics, and made a price list (insane really). Then drove over to the studio and set up. Came back and made dinner, then ironed. In exhaustion.

I was still trying to catch up with all the stuff that is on or part of the body that is NOT the flesh colors. There’s a series of hands on her leg with scenarios. So I worked on those.

Then Saturday, I was at the ceramics studio from 9-4. Yes, mine is the tie-dyed table.

Honestly, I didn’t have much stuff…I was more doing this as a test, maybe an experiment. I thought it would be more like showing my work than trying to sell it. I didn’t sell anything and I’m OK with that. This planter that might have been a mug…almost everyone picked it up.

It’s got over 10 hours in it. It’s handbuilt and then sgraffito. Probably could have used more glaze in the skin-colored area, but I don’t mind it. Anyway. I didn’t expect to sell anything and I didn’t. I did grade both days (Sunday I was only there from about 1-4). This was my view…

The whole weekend. It was fine. It was more entertaining than sitting at home. I might have been more efficient at home, because I was always talking to people, but it was nice to get the kudos.

Quite a few people came through…probably a hundred on Saturday. Not sure how many on Sunday. And we were the furthest location out on the map, so that’s not bad. Anyway, I don’t know that I would do it again, but I’m definitely going to try to put some of my more sculptural stuff in art shows.

I need more time to do all the things I want to do.

So I ironed Saturday night…

I ironed a cat. And some other stuff…finishing up all the stuff on the leg, I think. Can’t remember.

Then last night, I spent most of the time ironing flowers…

There are so many different fabrics in this thing now. I definitely finished the 700 and 800s…or close to finished the 700s…and some of the 900s were flesh, so they’re already done. The brain too. So I think I’m in the mid-930s. More than half, but a solid 650 pieces to go. The brain/visual stuff, not sure how I’m going to go on those. I see some very specific colors in real life. We’ll see what I decide. Soon. Maybe tonight? We’ll see. I’m already exhausted. Someone was barking at 4:30 AM. Not a fan.

That would have been nice. Really, the more I grade now, the less I have to do over break.

Their grammar as well. Ah well. Can’t expect people to read after high school, right?

Sigh. So here’s to holiday prep (I have not done nearly enough), spending all weekend doing something you hadn’t really planned on (as usual), and finishing stuff so it doesn’t hang over us for weeks (like this last project). Yup. That. Teaching magnets this week. I think I can handle that. Ironing at night…unless I’m doing other things. I think I thought I’d be done ironing this thing by the middle of last week? No, this week. That’s not happening. I’m aiming for the weekend. It’s all good. I appreciate the hole I can dive into at 9:30 every night, the hole of fabric-choosing. It’s a good hole. Apparently I’ve spent over 16 hours ironing so far. All those fussy little details…makes sense. Probably got another 7 to go. One a night? Yeah.

Excuse Me As I Run…

My photo app is currently updating. I think it’s stalled, much like my brain…hopefully it’s just slow internet and not holiday/school panic like my brain. Hard to say. Sleep has been difficult this week, and I’m really feeling it…plus the sinus infection, feeling that. Definitely worse again. I may call today and see if I can get a telehealth appointment instead of waiting another 3 days to a week, like the sub doc wanted me to. Sigh. Also coyotes, could you be quieter at night? My little dog can’t handle the singing. He has to join in. And then growl under his breath for the next 20 minutes because you offended his sensibilities…whatever those are.

So yeah, I signed up for the SD Pottery Tour and I wasn’t really sure what that meant and the pro is that I got my act in gear and finally drilled out the four holes I’d been avoiding for the last oh IDK 5 months? And figured out a way to hang the quilts in these two pieces. Not sure how I feel about them, but they’re done. And I figured out hours and prices (oh my, no one will ever be able to afford my ceramics…sorry…I take way too much time).

I love how FREE is huge and red.

I’m at Get Centered Clay in La Mesa…with a bunch of people who have a lot more to sell than I do, probably at much more reasonable prices. The reality is, the stuff I choose to do is incredibly time-consuming (I know this shocks you), and that’s just the way it is. I’m not expecting to sell anything at all, but I will be there on Saturday, grading in the background (because that’s what I needed to do on Saturday anyway), and Sunday, I’ll be there at some point in the afternoon, because my Sundays are nuts.

So drilling glaze that dripped into holes takes much longer than you’d think it would.

In case that’s something you needed to know. Sewed baby quilts to wire, used wire to hang from holes inside clay pieces.

Need better pictures with natural light, but that’s 11 PM for ya. Not totally sold on this one, but it’s all a living experiment, right?

Learning from the mess you make. I have some pots and a bowl and IDK if I’m taking the $500 mug, because that’s nuts, and one sculpture that’s kind of crazy. Plus figuring out how to provide prices and a tablecloth and how to set it all up, because it’s on a table and not hanging on a wall. And I don’t do sales like this for my quilts ever, because they’re weird, so yeah. Out of my wheelhouse…and down the block really.

Yup. This was not on my list for the next three days. But I’m doing it! So there.

Meanwhile, I did iron on Wednesday night. I decided all the innards would be rainbow colored.

Yes, that’s officially where I’m at right now. I didn’t get to the uterus. It will predictably be pink and purple.

Hopefully I will be ironing tonight because I will have figured out all the other shit and will have set up for the show. I will not be getting enough sleep this weekend to make up for what I missed this week. Just a heads up.

Yup. The dumpster is on fire and I’m sitting in it. Also don’t ask me about Christmas gifts or decorating for the holidays. The White Elephant thing for school made me hyperventilate. And it’s optional.

I finished reading Babel. Loved it. Here’s this from the Epilogue…

Holding that going into 2025. Hearing about what men are saying to women about when the big dumb orange lump is inducted in January. Speak up, y’all. When hinky shit is happening in front of you, speak the fuck up.

OK, magnets today, should be good, although yesterday was a braindead cluster in 3/5 classes, so that doesn’t help. Still down two teachers on my team. Down half a brain at least. Trying to mentally do too many things. Oh yeah! It’s my 10-year anniversary of meeting the Man. I’m sure he’s thrilled I’ll be spending this evening at ceramics, although we didn’t have anything planned and I think I’m cooking, so there’s that. Excuse me as I run screaming into the rising sun.

Some Possibility for Yelling…

Ugh. So the last three nights of not sleeping well are starting to hit now. It’s not something I choose to happen…it’s just either my brain overthinking shit or the Man and the cats and the dog taking up space in many ways. I’m sure I’ll hit exhaustion level again soon and be able to sleep through cats leaping over me at 3 AM and dogs rearranging themselves perpendicularly to me in the middle of the night so there’s nowhere for my legs to go. Not quite there yet. The morning meetings don’t help; having to lose that last 30 minutes…that’s hard. Ah well…no more of those until next Thursday…knock on wood. Definitely feeling it this morning though. Yesterday, I could still bully through. Today? Ugh. No. Would like to go back to bed. Still fighting the sinus stuff…my doc is out this week, so the sub doc (who may or may not have reviewed my file…wanna take bets?) said to use Flonase and Sudafed. Um. Yeah. For like weeks now. It’s fine. It’s better…just exacerbated by talking all day. Just like my knees are aching from walking all day. We’ll all adjust.

Cool art news…My Body. My Choice. got into Form not Function. Over 350 submissions and only 20 got in. Glad it was her.

She has traveled well. Maybe she continue. She’ll be at the Floyd County Carnegie Library Cultural Arts Center in New Albany, Indiana, from January 16-April 12. May that go well.

The ironing stage of this quilt has been slow. I mean, I’m doing an hour every night, but I’m not very fast about what gets done in that hour. This was poison oak and brain parts, I think. Oh, and a string of Christmas lights…

Last night was the esophagus, arteries, the heart minus the flower bouquet inside it…

And the cloud parts on the leg, but not all the stuff inside them. I still have stuff in the 300, 400, 700, and 900 boxes that hasn’t been ironed. Plus all the innards where the belly is cut open. I have one intestinal fabric chosen, but the rest is still an unknown. You can see the colors are piling up…the cardiovascular reds. That green/yellow mix is what I picked for the esophagus…I’ll try to repeat some of that down in the digestive system. Reality is not really where I roll. So I’m not halfway done…still. Getting there? Slowly. Tonight will be a challenge…there’s a lot going on. There’s a pottery tour this weekend and I’m hoping to put a couple of ceramic pieces in. We’ll see if that happens.

I’m still slogging (happily) away on this one…

The clay (and I) were being slow and sluggish last night. I basically did the ribs and another fish on the foot on the right. I need to do the other leg, add a few more details, and then figure out the top half. Or third. I might have to do this in three pieces…not sure the head will fit otherwise. I can’t get up to the highest drying shelves (not tall enough), so I’m trying to figure out how to make it in pieces again. Like the last two, but bigger. And odds are, I’ll use underglazes on this as well, so that will be time. I can move it to the drying rack for that though. I only have a smallish space for storing stuff. The racks are really full right now (pre-holiday rush?).

We’re doing electricity in school right now. I was trying to demonstrate static electricity with the balloon sticking to the wall…it only worked 2/5 times though.

Frustrating…last year, it worked every class. My exhausted self…this one bright kid…what are we supposed to write if it didn’t work? Well here’s why it didn’t…something is not neutral or not enough electrons transferred to make it work. It’s all invisible, so I have to figure out why it didn’t work when it should have. The wonder of science. Maybe he’s not cut out to be a scientist? The current academic thing I’m grading…I can get through 11 assignments in an hour. I have 128 kids. The easiest ones to grade are the kids who didn’t do any of the academic parts (but almost all of them did something because they started in groups) or the kids who totally got it (2 so far). It’s interesting that the things we teachers think should be easy, the kids flail on. Makes us feel like bad teachers sometimes. Although we know WHY they fail…and it’s usually a combo of laziness (just wanting to copy things) or a lack of problem-solving or reading instructions. The average reading level at our school is 2nd grade. So everything has to be so obvious. So far no one is failing, but there are a lot of beginning-level answers. I’d rewrite it for next year, but I won’t be teaching 8th grade next year. I won’t be back to 8th grade until I do the combo year again in 2027. Hopefully the other teacher will have made it awesome by then!

To continue on Monday’s commentary about the 10 commandments. That wall is there for a reason…

Sigh. No news from my district about teaching sex ed this year. Who the fuck knows what that will look like. I expected to hear from the committee people about how we were going to meet again, yadda yadda. Nothing. Radio silence.

This amuses me.

Too real. Also I need to get my act together on the gift stuff. Ha! Not sure when.

I love this…

It’s my angry self…the part that just wants to finish my book this morning. Not happening. Gonna go sit in a meeting instead. Not cutting heads off with swords…yet.

OK. Meeting. Then teach…static electricity labs today. Some possibility for yelling there. Depends on the ability to listen to instructions. Confetti and salt are involved. Plus balloons. Then pilates. Home briefly, to ceramics meeting, home again for dinner. I would say grading? But I don’t think there will be brain power for that after all that. So let’s just say ironing will happen? Hopefully. Get those damn intestines done.

Anywhere Close to Well…

First day back to school after 9 days off. Nine days where I was mostly sick. Am I well? Nah, the sinus stuff is still there, lingering, after 7 days of antibiotics…the second round. Fun times. It’s OK, we have 3 weeks of school (which feels like some sort of psychotic carnival ride usually) and then another 3 weeks off. It feels survivable. Although I never did finish grading. I did a bunch, but not enough. Ah well. Looking at the calendar…sigh. It’s fine. I woke up this morning to my blood sugar randomly crashing too, so that’s always a great shaky start to the week. I’ve got food in me now and managed to shower after 10 skittles. Weird, I know, but it works. All the other things…the glucose tabs, the juice…they don’t work as well. Or as fast. I don’t have an hour to waste in the morning before school. I should take some juice to school, though, because I’m still off. Frustrating.

So our Thanksgiving on Friday went well…food was good…

Girlchild did well…

The turkey turned out good…so I’ll be eating turkey sandwiches for a while. I freeze it and this is how I survive the 3 weeks of school. I even remembered family pictures…

Kind of a miracle. Yes, Dad commented that we were doing this in case one of them were gone next year.

Damn straight old man. Damn straight.

Friday night, I spent 90 minutes finding a lot of the flesh pieces…but not all of them.

It was midnight when I stopped…Saturday night, I found the rest and ironed them all down…

It’s pieces from the 200s to the 900s, but not all of them.

Last night, I started going through the rest of the pieces that are ON the flesh…the eye, the nipples, the toenails. That kind of stuff. I didn’t finish…this is still left…

But I am in the color now! Oh there was a snake in there too…

And there are a bunch of other pieces in the 300-900 boxes that I haven’t ironed down. Actually, I think all of the 800s are? Or the 500s. Something like that. So less than half, no matter what. A LOT? But not a lot really. I did make a decision about what color to make my brain. PINK! Not my favorite color, although I use it a lot in my quilts. It will pop. That will be good.

So expect me to be ironing for days.

I made it to the ceramics studio late on Sunday for a while…worked on the leg things.

Interesting to translate from fabric to clay. It takes a long time in both, that’s for sure.

Pills, pill bottle, syringe…

Fish, dying coral, sea waves on the other side.

Some lovely fungus in my yard. I put wood logs on either side of the sprinkler so workers wouldn’t break it and now it’s all fungusy.

Pretty stuff.

I’ll be teaching the science of rainbows in January.

I will not ever teach the 10 commandments…although there are some bits of it I wish politicians would follow.

Ah well. Whatever. Gonna take some meds, make a turkey sandwich, find a juice box for school, maybe two, then head off to whatever I’m teaching today. Tonight, I have book club and then more ironing, after a bunch of staff meeting stuff. Maybe I’ll grade something. I really should. Sigh. We’re back. Short break. Totally needed it to get anywhere close to well.

Get Out of the Dirt…

Well I just finished womanhandling a raw turkey into a trussed-up state of now-you-will-be-cooked-you-bastard. Yeah, I know most people did this yesterday. It shouldn’t surprise you that I’m doing it today instead. The plus to doing Tday on the Friday (or the Wednesday; we’ve done both) is that the stores are open for when you forget the damn one ingredient you need. I’ll be going out again after this. I’m lucky…I only have two things to make. The girlchild is doing the rest, or at least most of it. Yesterday, we went to the Man’s fam’s turkey day. They have more vegetables (and more people). It was nice, but I didn’t feel fully well. Right this second? Right now (as I start coughing again), my sinuses are actually mostly clear and I feel OK. Not great…just not about to collapse on the couch. All good. Getting there. That said, there’s only three more days of antibiotics…I’m hoping this kicks it so I can be well for December. This many days (weeks) of sick is just yuck. Done with it. I can get stuff done, but not at the rate I wanted to. Ah well. Shit happens. You gotta roll with it.

So I did get the office/studio clean and started ironing Wednesday night. This is the fun part.

That’s all dirt at the bottom of the quilt. Last night, after Tday dinner, I did more dirt, but mostly the stuff IN the dirt.

I didn’t quite finish: a fox, some missiles or bullets (either works), some body bags. Got a human skull and some bunnies next. Then out of the dirt and into the main figure. Which is me, by the way. Lots of the human figures I do aren’t me, but this one is…although there’s not enough chub on her and I’m probably not that tall and I do actually have hair. Not important though.

Girlchild has calmed the wild beast we call Bowie.

Honestly, he loves everyone, but young women seem to scare him at first. He loved Grandma right off. So this was cool.

I’m reading Babel…good book. If words are your thing (with a side of fantasy and magic), I recommend it. I haven’t finished it yet, though, so maybe the last half sucks.

It’s set in the 1830s or so…

But I appreciate many of the sentiments. The author is R. F. Kuang…young (my kids’ age) and female and Asian. Born in China and raised in Dallas, Texas…she has a history background, which definitely shows up in this book. So historical fantasy fiction about words? Sounds lovely. I’m enjoying it. It’s the third(?) book I’ve started over break. I read an entire (short) book yesterday. It was weird: Hurricane Girl. Don’t recommend. If you want to read it, tell me quickly before I donate it to the library. Even ignoring the head injury, that woman needed a major assist. Not a fan.

Mine is in the oven…

Thank you, dinos.

This is us with our students on the regular.

But also, the rest of the dumbasses who think they know all the things…I don’t know all the things, fully admit it constantly, and I teach science. Doesn’t make me a fucking expert.

Absolutely…watching the bird flu do its thing and wondering about our future.

And we joke about this…

But why are we nominating people with zero experience in that field to make major decisions? Why do we not ALL see that as a controlling power asshole move? Godlike behavior does not a god make. Sigh. I just read a really good article about book banning too…that’s the next piece I need to make, need to start thinking about (I have an image in my head…it’s just the details and the ‘how’ that’s throwing me at the moment). Realistically, I’ll be working on this big one for the next month…and I’m OK with that. It’ll take me a good 20 hours to iron to fabric, so that’s probably next weekend. Then 10 hours or more to trim all the pieces…so that’s into the last week of school. Start ironing together, but Christmas is in there too, so maybe it’s ironed together just after? Stitchdown and pinbaste and quilting and binding. I’d be surprised if it’s done in 2024. Early 2025. Then the book ban piece.

I actually love a big project that is all-encompassing like this. I also love book series like that. Quick bites are just that…quick and a relief sometimes, but I like to hunker down. Don’t ask me about grading right now though. It’s been a rough week. I’ve been doing the easy stuff. Not the hard stuff. It’ll happen. Sometime. Not sure when.

OK. The turkey is in the oven. I need a shower and some breakfast. Someone bought the swiss cheese and an orange for me; presumably, they’ll be delivered later. The Man wants to mattress shop today (I’m not saying we don’t need one…I’m just not a fan of Black Friday shit). Then dinner later this afternoon at the ex’s house with my family. I will try to photograph people. I’ve been trying to remember to always photograph people. And read. I want to read a bit. And iron some more…get out of the dirt.

Freedoms…

‘Tis Veterans Day. Thanks to those who protected our freedoms. Hopefully you’ll keep doing that, even against homegrown incursions. It’s ironic. But not funny. It’s a day off for teachers, also appreciated. I needed an extra day to decompress…aka read another book, do some gardening, get to the ceramics studio. Hopefully get healthy. I think the cough is wandering (very slowly) off and the sinus crap might not be far behind. Although still not well well, better.

Friday night, all I had in me was reading. So I did that. With Nova…

And then Simba…

I was cold, I felt like crap, I was tired. It worked. The Man was still on soft food, so I ate leftovers. And then I sewed a handheld tornado together.

Like you do. I spent a lot of time looking at memes and cat videos. Also like you do when you are trying to get over all the things. Friday…was a lot of things…I had to sub my prep (Math! Anathema) and then stay after school with my co-teacher because we hadn’t figured next week out, and I needed to get my head around it.

I copied stuff for Tuesday and then was too tired to go to ceramics…in the dark.

So I did that Saturday afternoon instead. In the morning, I lounged, I entered two art shows, I did some accounting-type shit.

It’s good I didn’t go earlier, because they had a class in the morning and it would have been crowded. I’m loving this new clay, B-mix…it holds up much better than half and half. I built up…

And it held! This was fun.

We’ll see how much it held up when I go in today, yeah? It seemed pretty stable. I only have an inch or two before it’s taller than my shelf space though. Again. There is going to be a top half. But now I need to decide how I’m handling the rest of it. She needs legs. And for me to decide if the inside is going to be fabric. I think it is.

Saturday also included a dinner drawing (the Man ate solid food!)…

Plus I sewed some clouds…

My machine kept pausing to tell me there was too much fabric under the needle and I just kept telling it to forget about it, keep sewing, it’ll all be OK.

I also built a tiny house out of balsa wood. I need at least two more of these.

They are a rancid pain. I sewed cars on a cloud too…trying to decide if they need painting. I think they do. But they are already sewn on. Ah well.

That Fuentes idiot and everyone who follows him…

I’m loving hearing about the 4B movement in South Korea by the way. Reminds me of the play Lysistrata and the movie Chiraq, both inspiration for the We Got the Power exhibit I’m in that’s currently showing in Florida. The timing of all this.

I’m honestly confused by the majority of married white women. Is it really easier to give up your power? I don’t get it.

I get that too.

Sunday…went by too fast. All of a sudden, it was late in the afternoon. In an attempt to save (remove from house) a large gecko, I had moved a bunch of stuff off a bookcase…two days later, I actually found the gecko and rehomed him outside. But I had to clean off all these books and tins and find homes for them, and I found this.

There was no disk inside. I kept the tin because, remember when you could cover them and then put a magnetic thing inside and it would be a needleholder? Yeah that. That was what I’d saved it for. It’s OK…I’m sure my mom has 10 of them. I tossed it. I also got rid of some books. And threw out a file folder filled with recipes I’d cut from magazines that I will never ever look at again. It was good.

I’m actually fairly reality-bound, unfortunately.

The other good thing was that the Wonder Under I’d ordered a week ago showed up. It’s still not the same as the old stuff, but it’s not as heavy as the stuff I had in my stash. I was still worried about the heaviness of the paper and the plasticky feel of the fusible, so I decided to test it out on something small before I committed to using it on the quilt I’d already started tracing with the old stuff. I was so freaked out about the change…they’ve changed the formulation before, but not so drastically.

Good news…it actually seems easier to use. The fusible is less bumpy, so it’s easier to trace over. The heavier paper probably helps with that too.

And it peeled right off…usually I have to wait at least 24 hours to peel, but this was immediate and worked well.

Done. Only issue is that the bolts are half the size they used to be and I can’t find them locally, so I have to ship. I also have two full bolts of the thicker stuff…don’t know what I’ll do with those. I bought them quite a while ago. Not sure why they’re so different, but they have a slightly different code on them.

But it means I can start tracing again. Ahhhh. Such a relief. Video of Annie greeting me when I went to pick up Simba…

This dog is a freak. A loving freak, but a freak nonetheless.

OK. Today. More yardwork (watering mostly…it’s been very dry, warm too)…maybe some digging and removing plant matter if I have the energy. Totally going back to ceramics today. Also grading more stuff. I’m almost done with the Unit 2 packets and I need to input some grades at some point. I’m trying to get caught up so Thanksgiving Break is not all grades. I did some lesson planning last night and got stuff made for every day but Friday. Friday is started at least. I need to copy stuff tomorrow. I need to build a couple more balsawood houses and paint them and the cars. I need to figure out what I’m doing with the wings and test drill some ceramics so I can get some stuff attached. I need to read my book. I need to write a blogpost for one of my art groups. I sat down to do this one and it’s taken forever. Not sure why. And then I’m going to trace Wonder Under. Happily. Short week of school, brother will be in town, hopefully continuing to get over this sinus infection and bronchitis. Trying to come to terms with half the country. I’m not sure why voting for someone who only has rich people in his sights ever makes sense if you want things to be cheaper. But it’s what we have. No shortage of artmaking ideas for the next four years…I guess that’s the plus. Retirement plans? Aaugh. Try not to think too hard about that. I’d like to hike, but I’m not sure I have it in me. We’ll see.

Off…by a Day

I’m often off. This is just writing though. The district has given us these two weird 3-day weekends. I’d say thanks, but they just tacked those two days on to the end of the year. So I’m not sure how useful they really are. I do know that I’m not used to having Fridays off (most 3-day weekends give us a Monday), so I was totally discombobulated. That’s not why I’m writing late…that’s because I had to get a fasting blood test yesterday and I couldn’t get in very early, so my blood sugar was a mess, and by the time I did that and got two vaccines and smogged my car, I came back and took a nap on the couch. Not a short nap. I just zonked. I barely got my glasses off (I put them on my knee, apparently). Around 4:30, I stood up and thought, ugh, I’m out of it. Also some combo of all that made me nauseous (not eating often does), so then I only had a sandwich after the blood tests (a desperation sandwich) and that was it. I tried eating other things, but no. Uh uh. Eventually appetite returned in time for dinner, but every time I do a fasting thing, it just messes with me. I have to do one later this month where I eat lunch during prep so I can fast for 6 hours before the test. Anyway, I was going to go to ceramics yesterday and I totally didn’t. I slept and read instead. Hopefully I’ll get to ceramics today.

I’m still doing bugs. I’m not doing a lot at the moment, I admit. I aim for an hour a night and I’m lucky to get 45 minutes in. Wednesday night, I stitched this bug to a canvas…

This is one of my favorites.

Then Thursday night, I tried to iron this other rainbow bug but the legs were cranky and kept shredding. So I cut another set and left them for 24 hours. That was the smart thing. I think I also did the stitchdown on the other 4 bugs. Then last night, the bug legs released from the paper just fine, I ironed it down, and stitched it down…

This one might be my favorite now. And then I sandwiched and quilted all 5 of them.

The Man has a wedding all day and night today, so I’ll probably trim and finish these, and paint the canvases so they’re ready to stitch down to those. I also need to do some quilting on a friend’s mom’s quilt. So that’s on the list. Plus a quilt guild meeting. I was going to an art meeting too, but they changed the time and I can’t do two things at once. Well, I can…I just can’t do THOSE two things at once.

Progress on the home front: I fired the totally annoying pool company I’ve had for three years now and hired the old one back (there must have been a noncompete agreement for a while, because I tried to hire the old one back at some point…I did not choose to leave them). My dad’s garden guy, who is apparently retired, came over and attacked the bush that hangs over the pool. He was very judgmental and quit because of safety issues (I’m OK with that). I’m starting to think I should just spend the $150 and buy the thing he uses to cut bushes, because my problem is the time it takes, and he just shaved everything and shoved things in trashcans. Unfortunately, the bush is still too tall and one area, I would have cut it back more, but the guy was cranky and I wasn’t going to argue with him. If he wanted the work, he would have stayed. Whatever. That’s the hardest part about keeping this house up and finding people to help. Dad has a plan for the shed roof, though, so that’ll hopefully get fixed too.

Wednesday night, we had Annie for a bit.

She ate two toys and pretended to gack the rest of the evening. Plus scratched the shit out of my arm. Still love her. Bowie or Luna got me last night, some sort of desperation leap out of the bed (cat, not me)…totally bloody scratches this morning on my arm. Fun times.

Here’s one of the possible culprits, curled up next to me as I read for hours yesterday because I couldn’t do anything else.

Well I hauled a bunch of trashcans full of shit around. So did the Man. It’s hot here too…not too bad right now, but in the 90s later. It’s fucking October…can I have Fall please? Just a little? I guess this is Fall, Southern California style.

Dude, I don’t even know what I want to be for Halloween this year. Maybe an otter.

OK, so I have to shower and get ready for a meeting in a few hours. I did some schoolwork yesterday so I could avoid it today. I just need to grade one class of homework and then post everything for next week. I’m sort of caught up for once (knock on wood…it won’t last long). I probably should grade all the loose papers in my notebook too. I forgot about those. I did a predrawing for the next big quilt, but didn’t photograph it. One leg is distinctly wrong. But my hands were still shaky at night from the physical crap (vaccines and fasting, even though I wasn’t fasting any more). I need to water today, plus walk the dog (and me), plus make my own dinner, work on quilty stuff, and go to ceramics. All good. I think I have to sew a bunch of bug antennae…I could do that at my quilt guild meeting if I felt that organized. Do I feel that organized? I’m not sure. Not at the moment. Maybe later.

A Me Thing

Hello? I’m sorry…95 degrees today? 97 on Monday? It’s freakin’ October? Some people are wearing sweaters this week in other parts of the country. No thank you. Too hot. Not a fan. NEED a fan.

Speaking of weather, the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene to the southeast…distinctly awful. I’ve seen too many art studios that flood waters kamikazed through, and that’s not even dealing with lost lives and homes. We have a friend who was supposed to be moving to Johnson City this fall, but they had delayed the decisionmaking. I’m not sure what you do. I mean, I remember when I was living abroad, people would always shake their heads at living in California, with “all the earthquakes”…that was before we were Wildfire Central. There’s certainly no escaping the crazy weather patterns caused by climate change at this point…there’s just mitigation, remediation, and plain old survival…if you’re lucky. I’m going to donate to somewhere…just haven’t decided where yet.

That same weather has delayed one of my quilts from arriving, which is not a huge deal compared to what actual people are dealing with…I see it made it to Jacksonville…if I’d known a hurricane was arriving…who am I kidding? I shipped it the first day I could, based on grades being due etc. It’ll get there when it gets there. The gallery probably has a bunch of pieces they’re waiting on. We’ll all survive the delay.

Meanwhile, my art here is all bugs, all the time. I have things in my head, but I need to get the bugs done by next weekend for delivery. And sanity. So I got two sewn down to the canvases on Monday night…

The third was fussy. The paint needed to be redone (they all actually needed it…sloppy painting the night before). This one, there was a flake of something shiny in exactly the wrong spot. I think it was the paint off the paintbrush handle. My paintbrushes are all ancient. So I picked that off…should have painted it Monday night, but ran out of time. Painted it last night, and then ironed the ladybug together…

I did two of each bug: one normal bug colors (for that bug) and one NOT normal…tending toward rainbows. I also trimmed the Wonder Under for the last bug. I had bugs in different stages of the project so people could see what it looked like in the demo. So now I have four ready for stitchdown, and hopefully the fifth tonight.

I also went to ceramics on Monday. I had this thing that was supposed to be another mug (ha!), but was way too big (I will never learn), so now it will be a planter. I had painted it with all the leftover underglazes and started carving it.

Or here’s the picture…there were so many people in the studio on Monday. It was too many people for me, really. I prefer a quiet Friday afternoon.

I need to make a decision about buying more clay. I did some touchup on the boot vase and reduced glaze on the paper bag vase…need to touch that one up a bit. I’m worried the glaze is going to run everywhere.

This is the opening between my kitchen and the living area. It’s usually not blocked by a baby gate, but we have an inquisitive kitten who has decided this is where he will climb into the kitchen 17 times a night. So baby gate.

Don’t judge the mess there. I can’t seem to get it under control. It’s totally a me thing. Not a priority. Why would it be when I have bugs to iron?

OK. Wednesday. The last two days, kids have been sleeping in class. Today is a lab. Hopefully that will help. I can’t be amazingly entertaining all the time. It’s exhausting. I couldn’t get into pilates this week (ugh scheduling), so I went to the gym last night (and finished my book! yay!). Tonight is book club. I read the book and three more in the series. It’s light, but enjoyable. Ghosts and dead people light. Not traumatizing. Then hopefully more bug things. I’d like to be done with bugs soon, finish the clay pieces, and then start the next big quilt. I like working on big quilts. I like reading big books. I like coming home to things that I’m already immersed in and can continue to be immersed in, instead of trying to start new things. Also a me thing.

School Breaks…

Rough way to start a week. No, I didn’t finish grading. I’m not even sure I can finish tonight. Two-hour staff meeting plus book club. I have about 20 more of the academic assignment to grade and a pile of redoes on homework. Not a ton, but I have to process it as well. And there’s book club tonight; have I finished the book? Nope. Oh well. I’ll go. I need a break from school. This weekend was not a break from school. My tiny breaks this weekend consisted of allowing myself a chapter here or there of the book, washing the dog’s butt after he pooped on himself, washing the boychild’s bathtub after I realized where the old lady cat had been pooping (I had wondered where she was hiding it), and watering most of the yard. Oh yeah, I had to pick up and reposition a trellis that fell over. I also delivered a quilt and got my blood labs done for the doc; she’s been harassing me, but with a 12-hour fast, I needed to do it on a weekend. That’s about all I got done. I did allow myself most of an hour each night for the little quilts…

Friday night, I cut out all the pieces for both of them.

Saturday, I ironed them together…

They’re super small.

Last night, I did stitchdown…

One…

And then the other…

And then sandwiched and pinbasted them…

I quilted the little one before I needed to go to bed…

I had to be up early this morning to deal with school meetings. I’m exhausted again. Not enough sleep.

I did go to ceramics after school on Friday, spending about 2 hours doing this and that. I did more on the mug…

It might be done now? Not sure…

I had this bowl I made out of leftover clay and it’s been sitting around, underglaze just waiting for a plan. I had one on Friday.

Some more underglazing and a little carving. Although now I’m realizing I didn’t do the inside of that one heart. OK. Need to do that. I can’t go today though…it’ll have to be tomorrow.

The paper bag vase came out of the bisque fire. I was texting girlchild pictures of it and she reminded me of the plan we had for it. But I had wanted to try some underglazing with a wax resist and then glaze over. So I painted a little thing…

I had some leftover underglazes. I hate to waste that stuff. It’s expensive. So I made an underglaze coat on this pot/mug/whatever the fuck it is.

I also picked up the glazed base for the winged woman piece…

I love how the oil spills turned out. I also love how it fits with the rest of the piece…

Next up? Wings and headpiece thingie. Bowie is not so sure about it.

Have to hide the ceramic stuff in bathrooms and the girlchild’s room so he doesn’t knock them over. He’s still a kamikaze parkour cat, despite the neutering. Nova doesn’t necessarily appreciate him.

She’s mostly just shocked at his existence…unless she’s playing with him.

This did actually start out as play. But sometimes she goes places just because he can’t go there with her, like the hammock.

The Man’s band plays a wedding this Friday. The singer made a poster with a GoGos’ image, adding in the guys’ photos…here’s the Man himself…

So goofy.

OK. Two meetings this morning, before school. Both student-related. Then teaching balanced and unbalanced forces again. I tell you, I’m not sure what’s happening the rest of the week. Prep period is definitely grading. And screenshotting kids’ grades for the new 8th-grade team that goes together on Wednesday. Plus? I lose 10 kids. Con? The work to get them out. I feel for the combo teacher. I’m glad I’m not them, for sure. And none of them know what’s about to happen. I’m losing one kid I really like. Maybe two. The others I can live without. Three I’m quite happy to see leave, maybe four. Then a 2-hour staff meeting about poverty. Hoping it’s useful instead of just “your students and their families are poor”. No duh. I have duty before that, so normally I need to pee, make tea, and find food before coming over…I’ll be late and it’s in the gym, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to do the eating part. I’m going to need to. Blood sugar was low this morning. I’m feeling it. Then finish grades. For real. And book club. On the book I haven’t finished. Can I have a nap in there too? Not sure. Might be a contentious parent meeting with me as a rep (not one of my parents). Fun times. I’ll just be glad to be done with the first round of grades. The second round is due the weekend we’re going camping. I think. Ugh. OK. Going. More tea.

Find Some Zen…

Hey yo. It’s Friday. Before grades are due. So I’m going to roll into grading for 6 hours straight I think, because I can’t get caught up. Ah well. Hopefully I will get better at it throughout the year, because hey, it’s only been like 21 years of it. 22? Something like that. I spent an hour last night writing a series of paragraphs explaining the piece I made for the We Got the Power exhibit that will be in Miami October through December. I had just picked it up from the photographer’s and the due date is Monday…so I made myself do it. I started it once before but then the computer deleted the halfway-done Google form (just like it does to my students), so I had to start over. Ugh.

Here’s the piece that has no name…

It does have a name, actually. It was from the movie Chiraq and I wrote it on a post-it note that I think the ex’s dog ate. Or she ate most of it and it ended up in the recycling and I forgot that that was the only place I had written it down. So I will have to watch the movie again? Or something.

This piece is not huge at 12×24″.

But it does have almost 400 pieces. I drew an Earth Mother trying to protect the women and children from the violence of war (and men). The exhibit is in response to the play Lysistrata, remade in the movie Chiraq (sort of), where a child is killed and women object to the violence of war (gang war in the movie). Their response is to withhold sexual favors from the men until they agree to stop fighting (shooting). And it works! The original play was written by a man, as much as we know.

That man is holding a video game controller. I included Hamas, Israel, Palestine, Russia, the Ukraine, and the US as participants in current wars.

Me? I’m all about how to protect the children…make the world safe for them.

And shooting things up and fighting over territory is never going to do that. It’s a tough one, though. Ukraine gets our hearts because of the way Russia just came in and started to take, but the Gaza violence is so much more complicated. There’s no easy solutions even if we just think of the kids because people have all these ideas of what their kids need (a homeland?). Land rights. Sigh. Peaceful living together. Double sigh. So yeah.

This piece has sold…for when it comes back from the show. So that’s cool.

The two little quilts I’m working on, someone asked, because I called them ‘baby quilts’, are they FOR babies? Um no. They’re just really tiny. I finished the Wonder Under trimming and took two days to iron them to fabric…this is the smaller one.

This one took two nights…

Only because I did the other one first. And I’m running out of time each night.

But I finished last night. Damn that bird is gonna be bright. I need to figure out how to drill through the glaze that dripped into the holes I was going to use to hang these in the clay pieces…diamond bit, for sure. There’s always a risk the clay will break, which would suck. But hoping to cut things out tonight after grading for a million hours. Ugh.

I woke up in the middle of the night to the dog barking, but not in bed with me. I was really confused because there was a furry body next to me, but it was Luna, not Simba. He was brought back by the Man. But he was barky all night, so I kind of feel like a semi rammed through me.

This was after Back-to-School Night on Wednesday…

A Bowie/Nova sandwich. Sweet babies.

I found this nest in the yard the other night…fell out of the tree…

It’s always fascinating to see what they make the nests out of. There’s definitely some human materials in there. I need to go back to throwing thread snips out into the yard for them.

Followed this big truck to work yesterday…

Funny.

OK. I’m teaching balanced/unbalanced forces today. I’m hoping to grade homework from last week at the same time. I have slides to grade…got through one class last night and finally got into a rhythm. So hopefully will finish those tonight? Or tomorrow…let’s be realistic. I’m going to ceramics after school and it’s my turn to cook dinner. Plus it’s Friday and I’m already exhausted. Does not bode well for lots of grading tonight. My team is going through some drama at work…hopefully that will chill out and everyone will find some zen over the weekend. I am hoping to get these two little quilts cut out and ironed together this weekend, maybe even stitched down? That would be nice. And buy a drill bit. Sometime. Not sure when. Oh yeah, pack up a quilt for Quilt Visions and deliver it…that opening is coming up. I’ll be there. Come see it (mid-October). Otherwise, we’re sliding into October, one of my favorite weather months (but schoolwise, usually a long month…but we have two 3-day weekends this year…maybe that will help). It’s certainly been delightfully cloudy and cool all week. That won’t continue much longer, but I’m appreciating it while it does. OK. Gotta go to school for real now…