Heat

Feels like Hades here…and yes, I know Arizona is hotter and so are parts of the Middle East, but I choose not to live there. And yes, this happens every freakin’ September, sometimes August, sometimes October, but it never feels good when it happens. I am glad to be working because there is A/C at work, so at least I get a little respite from the heat, but then it’s crazy there, so there’s that. Actually, mostly the labs and kids have been doing OK…there’s just been some outbursts (like literally sound coming out of mouths in ways I did not need to deal with)…although my co-teacher had broken glass. Oh wait, I had that too. We’re down a radiometer. Again. Every year. I need a plastic one. Or a sturdy childproof one. Yes, these are 13-year-olds. No, they are not gentle with things. Or people. Plus it’s hot. Did I mention that? I haven’t been able to get a lot of schoolwork done at home with the heat. I suspect I will need to just take my computer somewhere airconditioned tomorrow to grade. The library? Somewhere that serves caffeine…good caffeine. Will have to think that through.

I finished ironing the piece down to the background…a light one for once.

I do like me a dark background, but there were enough dark things in this that I didn’t think it would work. Last night, I stitched the whole thing down…

Yes, I stayed up a little too late to do it.

Now she’s ready to sandwich, pinbaste, and quilt. Which I could also probably do in a night, except I need to do some embroidery too. I might do that before I sandwich it. I don’t know. I’ll decide sometime today.

The plan is to (1) survive labs today (no outbursts or demands to be reseated or to go to the bathroom when you haven’t done any work). (2) Set up classroom for next week. (3) Go to ceramics. It’s OK…it was supposed to be 105 degrees and now it will only be 102. It’ll probably be 90-something in the studio, but if no one else is there (and why the fuck would they be on such a hot day), I can find all the fans and point them at me. Then the Man and I are going out to dinner, because he has a wedding to play at tomorrow (no fucking way am I going to a wedding), so he’ll be gone from 10:30 AM to probably 1 in the morning, maybe later. I, however, have to pick up some art from Liberty Station, get my brain and neck scanned (2nd brain scan in 6 months…fun times), and go to two art openings…that part is cool except they are miles away. It’ll be fine. It will ALL be fine. I’m hoping to have an hour or two between the MRIs and the art openings to grade stuff. Because I didn’t do it yesterday or today or the day before because it was too hot and I mentally couldn’t. But realistically, I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull that off. I’m also keeping an eyeball on my old kitty and this heat. She’s not a fan. She also HAS a fan…in my office, that I am keeping on at this point to try to cool this room off. She’s cranky as shit, keeps trying to bite me, but doesn’t have it in her. Because old. And hot. Poor thing. So we’ll see.

Wednesday night’s book club, I did a little stitching.

Still doing the inner borders of Homegrown. It’s not difficult, but it’s not fast. And I haven’t been doing a lot of it because school. Sucks up time.

OK. So yeah. Hot today but mostly gonna be inside. With kids who wear sweatshirts and sweatpants when it’s over 100 degrees out. Some of these kids are funny and kind and amusing and a little weird. As always. I feel like we have more of those this year, and I appreciate that. Some of them are not those things. And some suck up a lot of my energy. That was yesterday. So hopefully today is better. One can only hope. And then be pleased or disappointed. Or accepting. Because it’s like this every year, right? I also have to do some fluency/literacy thing. I recorded the kids reading, but I’m supposed to mark this form in some weird archaic way that makes sense if you were trained to teach kids to read, which I wasn’t. So it’s just more work for me. And kind of silly, really. But whatever. Looking forward to some art time and reading time (I wish I could read during an MRI…I wonder if they can put in my audiobook?). And just not being at school for a few days…although it is airconditioned. Hmmm.

It Just Looks Easy

Hey. Short school week. But let’s shove a bunch of meetings and trainings in there and do labs every day and put kids outside for one station when it’s 95+ degrees outside. Fun times. Still don’t have a routine here. I’ll get there. By the end of September…that’s how long it usually takes.

Artwise, I ironed more on Monday…

About 100 pieces…and then I finished last night…

Stayed up a little late. Tonight I can iron it to the background, which is not dark, for once. I made a video of the first stage…

It may or may not be easier to see. Long and skinny is never easy to photograph. All the pieces in this show are supposed to be the same size though. Anyway…I’ll iron it down tonight and start stitchdown. Hopefully.

In ceramics, I worked on the mug…here’s the video so far…

And because sometimes the video is stupid…here’s some photos…

I underglazed the background…

Trying to carve on a bumpy, curved surface is a challenge…

I watch people doing it in videos and it looks so easy.

Practice, I know. I also think their pieces are more leather hard.

So I’m just messing around because I’ve never really done this before. So no, I don’t know what I’m doing. But I’m doing it. That might be the key. People always ask me “how did you get so good at…” and the answer is always practice. Keep doing it. Until it looks easy…which is usually like 20 years later. And even then, it’s still not necessarily easy…it just LOOKS easy. I’ll be good at ceramics in my late 70s. Maybe.

I underglazed this too, but I think it needs more coats on the outside.

But I ran out of time.

I’m going to carve it too. Somehow. My plans erupt when I sit down at the end of the day with the clay. Luckily Monday, I had off, so it was the middle of the afternoon…but my brain doesn’t always have a plan until I start working on the piece. Which is fine. These aren’t high art. They’re fucking around.

I just finished reading a difficult book, Know My Name, by Chanel Miller. It wasn’t difficult because of the writing…it’s very well written. It’s the topic. Miller is the woman Brock Turner sexually assaulted…the entitled Stanford swimmer…and the judge let go on a less-than minimal sentence. A friend asked, why are you reading it if it’s hard? Because her story deserves to be read. I knew so much about him and how it ruined his life (um…read the last bit here)…

She talks about Stanford’s lack of appropriate response, the court’s lack of care for the victim, society’s blame of victims, and how it all affects the victim. It’s her personal story of getting through the aftermath, as much as anyone ever gets through it. It also has her victim statement, which is difficult to read, but the book ends like this…

She deserves to be heard. Some nonfiction is a chore to read…and this was not. It was difficult because of the topic, and at times, I would close the book and go water some plants instead, but I’m glad I read it. We shouldn’t be hiding the victim’s experience…it should be known, respected, and heard.

Anyway, on that light note, I have a meeting in 39 minutes, I need to move my lab stations before that, I have labs all day…need to have a discussion about appropriate and kind behavior in lab groups apparently…then pilates (I was waitlisted, but got in!) and book club! for a book I just finished yesterday. Didn’t like that one as much. Oh well. It’s a long day. And it’s supposed to be close to 100 degrees…not liking that bit, but it is Southern California summer…it had to get hot sometime.

Relaxing for Me Is…

I love a good day off. A three-day weekend. We’re only three weeks in, but it’s appreciated. And my crazy school board has added two more three-day weekends to the fall. Why? I don’t really know. The board claims parents requested it for travel with their kids…and yet, I have four independent study contracts in the works for September, three for parents who are traveling with their kids…possible a fifth one coming up. I think it’ll be a pain when we get to June and have to add those extra weekend days on, but I don’t think anyone asked the teachers. We also know that the week after a 3-day weekend, it takes twice as long to get kids back on task, and by the time we do, the week is almost over. But I…I still appreciate the extra day. It gives me time to not stress about school. Today I’m going to make some scones for breakfasts for the next couple of weeks, I’m going to go to the ceramics studio (I would have done that anyway on a Monday), I’m going to read my book, and I’m going to rip the tape off all of the painted hallway. Oh yeah, I also need more paint from Home Depot. Ah well. I knew that might happen. I did finish painting the hallway…mostly. There’s some texture stuff I still need to do in the new drywall area, but otherwise, we’re good. I should touch up the ceiling, and I definitely need to sand and paint all the doors, but that’s not happening right now. Right now, I’m putting the art back up. One step closer to putting away all the crap that got spread out by the summer carpet extravaganza. I rolled two coats yesterday and used up every drop of paint. It’s good.

I sort of realized I needed to have this little piece shipped to arrive by October 1, so I spent some time with it this weekend. Friday night, I was still cutting things out. It felt like a lot.

Saturday night, I finished it, so it must not have really been a lot…and then I sorted it all, because I knew it would only take like 20 minutes or so, but half the time, I was trying to keep Bowie (the kitten) from knocking all of them over…no picture, because of that. Cut…

and sorted…

Remember this piece is small…less than 400 pieces. All small pieces too…then last night, I started ironing them down.

Got it more than halfway done. That’s over 2 1/2 hours of ironing. Little pieces are not always easier to iron than big ones. My goal is to finish tonight? Maybe? Stitchdown this week…I don’t have a ton of nighttime stuff this week. Get the damn thing quilted by the following weekend? Then decide what I’m doing next. I have lots of thoughts.

Friday after school, I went to the ceramics studio for a couple of hours. I forgot my glazes, so I couldn’t work on the mug…but I am trying to use up the last bits of the 25-pound bag I bought and the part of a bag that was a freebie. So I made a random bowl that I will sgraffito, and I again tried to slab build a mug. And again, it was way too big. IDK why I keep doing this. I did want to try to round the bottom with darts, and that worked pretty well.

But I’m thinking it’s going to be another plant pot. Which is fine. Everything else is drying…seriously, I have four things drying? I’m going in today and will remember the underglazes. Hopefully. I still have a little bit left of the clay on the right…I was saving some for a handle…for the teacup. Tea tureen? It’s huge. It doesn’t need handles. It might need a lid. No. Maybe I will make a little picture frame. I don’t know. Sometimes with clay, I have a plan. Right now, I’m trying to finish the plans I have and make a decision about what clay to buy next, but I don’t actually have room for any clay in my cubby until everything is on the drying rack. So there’s that. I’ll be carving for a bit, I think.

I finished a drawing at dinner on Saturday…I’d barely started it the previous Saturday when they brought the food, uber fast.

This place was slower. Good? Bad? It was busier. Eh.

We have a new friend to make Simba bark like a maniac.

There is no shortage of wildlife in the yard. Which is a good thing. Speaking of wildlife…

Cats in weird positions for the win.

OK. It’s nice to summarize when I don’t have to go to work. I need to shower, make scones (maybe not in that order), prep the crockpot (not sure there’s room for that in the fridge…could be problematic), do a little bit of school stuff so I’m ready for tomorrow, fold my laundry, go to ceramics and play around, iron some more, check art entries, pull some tape, hang some art. See, it’s a day off and I’m still busy! But some of it is stuff I really want to do and most of the rest is stuff I’d have to do around work if I were going today…which is why I’m writing this at 10 AM and not 7. It’s all good. Also go for a hike today. That’s important. OK. Gotta go start the process. I think I really am more about being able to check things off a list than sitting by a pool all day. I will sit and read, don’t get me wrong, but relaxing for me is the making art part…so if I get to do that for a few hours during the day, it’s all good.

Collapse?

I was sure yesterday was Friday again. Apparently my brain is prepared for 4-day weeks, not 5-day weeks, which means next week will feel fine. Three-day weekends are lovely. Except the kids come back kind of out of it. Me too really. At least I know what I’m teaching next week. I have three kids on independent study contracts and I haven’t been able to plan that far out, and we don’t have an alternative curriculum for this first unit…although I’m pretty sure I had to do this last year for some kid. I just need to find whatever I did. I had 40 minutes after school yesterday and was going to grade an assignment, but then got two new ISCs and had to try to find stuff for the next three weeks for them to do. Annoying…because I don’t have a textbook. Minor issue. That said, they are on labs for today and next week, so hopefully they’ll behave and slow down and read before doing (had a few issues yesterday).

Rolling into the weekend tired though. With about 17 thousand things on the to-do list. Not as bad as next Saturday though…it’s full and includes a brain scan. My EEG came back normal…so I’m not having seizures. Good to know. I suspect after all this they will just say, we don’t know what it is…live with it. And it’s not horrible…it’s annoying, especially at night…but I can still see and read and draw and all that. That niggling idea that it’s a symptom of something larger is hard to push away though. Thanks, anxious brain. Appreciate it. Suspect the next quilt will be about the brain thing. Maybe. I don’t know. I have to make a piece for a show in May…and NOT about that…plenty of time.

So I’m still struggling to get an hour a night of art, although last night included picking up three quilts from the photographer, organizing the pictures, and entering one show. So that was quite a bit of time. It’s just art business, which I don’t count in that hour.

Wednesday night, I finished ironing to fabrics…

It took a whopping 7 hours to iron these to fabric…lots of tiny details. And there are 77 fabrics in this little thing.

I started cutting things out last night…

That is 48 minutes of cutting. Doesn’t look like much, does it. Well there will be more of that tonight, after teaching labs all day and going to ceramics and coming back and watering and I’m not sure what’s for dinner because it was supposed to be leftovers and I don’t have any. Minor issue. I suspect the Man has leftovers.

OK. Here’s Seeking the Crone’s Protection…

52″w x 78″h…will post it in the Recent Work tab later this weekend…along with the other two. I need to go to work. I’m tired and need a ton more caffeine, but I still need to work. Really.

Oh yeah, Google Classroom (our main learning management system) went down during Period 3 yesterday…I tracked the crash and then it coming back by Period 4 (we couldn’t get the digital stuff done in Period 3…so we’ll have to do it today).

Fun times.

OK. School. Labs. Organize shit. Clay. Collapse? Maybe.

One Way or Another

Still trying to find a balance. It’s way too easy to fall into the habits of previous years, where work follows you home. I did work last night…and the night before…and the day before that. I’m not getting enough done at school; we’re setting up labs during prep and trying to figure out what we’re teaching next. There’s adjustments…plus not everyone has computers, so we still need stuff on paper, and then our building’s copier is broken (again), so we have to compete for a copier. And I’m trying to grade one academic thing because I know there’s another one coming today. It’s not hard; it’s all just time-consuming. Plus we had to meet yesterday to explain (justify?) the way we grade in science. And the teacher making the complaint didn’t even show up to the meeting. Love that. Well it’s done. And realistically, we never really hit a balance until the end of September. It’s not even the end of August. Yikes!

Art is slow too. Just getting the time and energy at the end of the day is hard. I’m almost done with this one…Monday night…ironed the main figure…

Last night, ironed a bunch of bits and pieces…

The two side heads, the eyeballs, etc. This is all I have left to do…

Some buildings, a bird, some hair, lips. I’ll be done tonight finally. Then cutting them out.

I did make it to clay yesterday…checked the boot…

I could underglaze it Friday…if I remember to bring the underglazes. I didn’t yesterday. The bag is also drying…but it will have glaze after bisque. Need to buy that glaze.

I worked on the mug…

Apparently I’m trying to make it as lumpy/bumpy and bulky as possible.

Seems that way…

It keeps me occupied at least.

Today. At least I don’t have to be at school early. Although it is unknown if the other teacher expects us to have prepped all her labs for today (I didn’t finish yesterday…we don’t start until tomorrow). I need to go fight for the copier because of the kids with no computers. I have one loaner and an iPad that I can’t figure out how to make it connect to the kids’ accounts. And more than one kid without a computer in more than one class. I have pilates after school. And I’m cooking dinner. So there are three more classes of that academic thing that need grading, and I’m not going to get to it at school today probably. Which is unfortunate. Not gonna think about that right now. Right now, I’m going to finish this cup of tea, wash my dishes, make more tea, take my meds, and head for school. The rest will figure itself out, one way or another.

There’s Always More…

OK, we’re back to feeling like nothing got done over the weekend. I remember this feeling. It’s frustrating. I crossed off some things, but more magically appeared. Or I made more just by existing. This morning, in the shower, I remembered things for school that I should have done Friday. Oops. Oh well. It’s either happening this morning once I get there or it’s possibly not happening.

I did do some art this weekend. That’s the plus, I guess, is that I push and shove to make time for that. I ironed all three nights, although not more than an hour each night, really. Friday night (with exhaustion)…

I had labeled the original pencil drawing with the flag colors and country names, and then photographed it, because I erased all of it to do the final drawing. I printed those photos Friday night to help me remember what I’d drawn in June.

Here’s ironing all the flesh of the minor characters…the warring factions.

Russia and the Ukraine, the US (embarrassed), Palestine, Israel, and Hamas. I’d like my country to stop providing weapons to wars…it’s complicated, though, because the Ukraine needed it to protect their country from Russia taking over. It made sense to help them. But Israel? Not so much. But not Hamas either. That whole conflagration…we should just be providing medicine and food and persuasion to knock it off and be peaceful. Not helping Israel kick Palestinians out of their homes…and killing innocent people. It’s a fine line, maybe. Anyway. This piece is about war…and how to stop it. Read Lysistrata.

What I finished Saturday night…

More than an hour. It was nice. Last night? Not even an hour…but a lot of little things got ironed down…

And I picked the fabrics for the central main figure…I just didn’t iron them down. I’ve done all the 0-100s and the 300s and some of the rest. I don’t think I have a lot left. On a small piece like this, it’s easy to bounce around and do all the missiles and bombs, then all the fires, etc. I suspect I’ll be done tonight or tomorrow night.

I wanted to do ceramics Friday after school, but I staying 90 minutes to set up for today and also to do seating charts. And then I was way too tired, so I went to the studio on Saturday instead.

I cleaned up the girlchild’s boot vase and forgot to take a picture of it again. It’s basically drying slowly. I then cleaned up the not-paper bag…

It had a cracking issue in the base, so I fixed that, but it’s also probably ready to dry. Then I worked on my mug…

I’m going to do a combination of relief and sgraffito, I think. We’ll see.

Normally I’d go in today to work in there, but there’s a 2-hour staff meeting and then book club at 7, so I don’t have time. No worries; I’ll go tomorrow. Maybe I’ll remember the glazes too.

I also got this one out of the bisque fire…

The top part is still drying. Color is pretty true to vision at the moment.

I haven’t decided how I’m going to handle this…whether I’m going to leave it bisque? I think so.

This one got glaze fired…some interesting things happened with the skin color.

Needed another coat? I don’t dislike it, but it wasn’t expected.

The back seems to have been glazed, even though I didn’t glaze it. It stuck a little to the ceramic cookie. Doesn’t really matter…this is meant to go on a garden stake. Interesting to try anyway.

We hiked 3 miles Saturday. It was cooler and nice.

We really have flailed on hiking this summer. Too much to do, too hot. Working on remedying that. Although the Man has so many music shows, it might just be me doing this.

This one…still up way too early in the morning, claws out.

Ugh. Sweet but psychotic. OK, I need to go to school, make more ice, figure the rest of Friday out, copy stuff, figure the rest of grading out, grade a thing, input grades, sit through that 2-hour meeting. I’m teaching energy today, ironically on a Monday when I don’t really have any. It’s OK…it’s not that kind of energy. And maybe the tea will kick in. Got some work done yesterday…finally caved and spent a few hours so this week won’t totally suck. Really trying to limit it though. Walked away with more to do. There’s always more to do though.

NOW It’s Friday…

OK. NOW it’s Friday. Yesterday was NOT Friday, despite my brain repeatedly trying to make it so. It’s fine. I’m tired. We’re all tired. We’re all already behind on school stuff. Very little that is supposed to be done by today is actually done. I stayed an hour at work yesterday to finally type my rosters up. Sure, I could use the school ones, but they drive me bonkers, and I add stuff like nicknames and tutorial teachers for the special ed kids so I know who to bug about missing work. Makes MY life easier. Once it’s done. I have to start grading things today. Fun times. I also need to find the demo stuff for today when I get to school, plus lock everything up because the district is doing this mock Williams Act thing where they inspect our classrooms and make sure every kid is assigned a book, except science doesn’t have books, so we have to show them digitally, but not every kid had a computer until yesterday afternoon (and some STILL don’t), so there was no point in going through the process until everyone had one. So they come today and we are explaining today. PLUS, we get a school board member touring today…stay the fuck out of my classroom. Yay!

Anyway, we’ll get to a routine. The kids are starting to test the boundaries with gum, food, games, phones, airpods, and dress code…fun times. Oh yeah, and throwing things. I might need to stay after school more than an hour today to get seating charts done.

So I’ve been short on art time most nights. I cooked late Wednesday because of pilates and getting all the trash ready for pickup and IDK what else I did. So I finished cleaning up the studio finally and picked the fabric for the background of this one, and laid out the first 100 pieces.

Not much…cleaning took a long time…a few hours. I swept the floor even…didn’t mop though.

Last night, I started late because I ate late because I had my stitching Zoom…but I got a few pieces ironed.

Honestly this piece isn’t very big…hopefully it’ll be done sometime in the next few days.

At my stitching Zoom (during the Zoom? At the couch?), I worked on embellishing the flowers around the edges.

Not quick. But I finished one…that I started during dinner TV hour sometime this week…

They’re not hard, unless you’re tired, and then reading instructions is hard. Stitching is not hard. Progress.

Nova has taken to hiding in the hammock because the kitten can’t reach her.

His neutering is maybe scheduled. He was sleeping with me last night, and then he wasn’t (he bit my knee at some point), and then he was again, and then he wasn’t. I get it, Nova. I’d sleep in a hammock too if I could.

Bowie trying to figure out how to attack Luna from below. Luna contemplating landing on Bowie.

I don’t think I fell asleep until 1 AM because of the cats and dog moving around and making noise (barking at whatever was on the roof…nice, Simba). Not a lot of sleep all week.

Apparently the Man’s car resembles enough of a naturescape that this praying mantis was hanging out.

OK. Go to school, lock up all the cabinets so they think we don’t have chemicals in a science classroom, then find the demo stuff. Wait. Find the demo stuff, THEN lock everything up. Teach kids how to access a digital curriculum we never wanted and will probably never use, then teach about energy…while we have none…ironically. Get through the whole day, work some more after school, and then go to ceramics and try to figure out what I’m doing next. All good. It’s Friday.

It’s Some Day…

Oh hey. It’s some day. In the week. During summer break. Most summer breaks, I take on extra paid work, mostly copyediting, but nothing came up this summer (thank goodness) except the house stuff, which is like another whiny job that never goes away. I stared at the closet for a long time before finally deciding I really should just paint it. And then I stared at it even longer before starting the process. NO, I haven’t painted yet. But it’s cleaned out and washed, and yesterday, I finally made it to Home Depot (procrastinated for a week, y’all) to get what I needed. Today is prime the unprimed/bad paint sections. Maybe paint. Maybe. I hate painting. Really. I do. But I want the closet done so I can put stuff away in it. The house is still a freaking disaster. I put 5 pillows away yesterday. Why are there 5 more pillows? I really don’t know.

I didn’t make it to ceramics on Monday because we puppysat, so I ironed a big chunk instead and managed to finish.

There were a bunch of pieces that were loose on this piece, couldn’t be ironed down until I got to the background.

Then Monday night, I ironed everything down…

There were 5 pieces I never found, so I made new ones.

Usually with a piece this big, I’ll iron it down on the entryway floor so I can see and place the whole thing. There were two major pieces and then a lot of smaller things. But the entryway floor is a fucking disaster (see closet discussion above), so it wasn’t an option. So the pro is I did it on the ironing board. The con is that it’s not straight on the bottom, but I’ll fix that when I sandwich and pinbaste it. Here’s the whole thing, late at night, in the dark…

And then yesterday, I started stitching it down. I looked at how long it took to do the Supreme Court stitchdown (8 1/2 hours about). This is a similar size…it’s about 54″ wide and 80″ high.

My goal is to be finished with stitchdown before I go to San Francisco Friday, so I figured I needed to do at least 3 hours of stitchdown a day. I managed more than that yesterday and got the entire base and I think two whole figures done? I think I’m more than halfway, but I could be wrong. I think the Supremes had more pieces by quite a bit, and that’s kind of what decides how long stitchdown and outline quilting will take.

If I finish today, I’ll try to sandwich and pinbaste tomorrow, although that means clearing space on that damn entryway floor. Ugh.

I also finally finished the handstitching on this one…

So that’s two ready to go to the photographer. There’s Bowie too. He likes quilts. All cats do.

Not going to ceramics on Monday meant my phone told me I needed to go on Tuesday. OK. I’ll go with that.

I finished the glaze on this and put it on the shelf to dry.

It’s all underglaze. And then I went to unwrap the top part of the figure I’ve been working on. I hadn’t been in for a long time, due to my schedule and the classes in over the weekend, and it had dried too fast. Two parts cracked, so I wrapped them while I was finishing up the other piece and then reattached. I’ll go in today and/or tomorrow to check on it and start underglazing it to match the base. There were a ton of people in the last two times I’ve been there. I prefer quiet. Honestly.

This one is kind of refusing to come out to eat. Poor kitty.

There’s her half-toothless face. I try to bribe her with treats. She must be eating something, though, because she’s not super skinny at the moment. It’s warm and she doesn’t like that. I worry about her lots. Leaving her for 5 days…ugh. She won’t take her meds if I’m not here. But she’s fighting taking them now. So there’s that.

In other quilt news, I’m on this poster, as my quilt is in this exhibition, opening this weekend.

Nice to be invited.

Ah yes…

Sharknado? I’m good with it…although I don’t think he can run that fast.

Anyway. Today. I need to think about packing for the trip. I already found a few books and downloaded them, and decided what stitching I’m taking with me. The piece I’ve been traveling with is not in a good stage for that at the moment. And I’m unlikely to have the time to get it into a good stage. However, I had a series of 9 small blocks that are appliqued but not embellished (another Sue Spargo, shockingly), so I grabbed a few of those. It’s unfortunate that the place I’m staying does not have a comfy chair in the room (this type of Airbnb never does…annoyingly), but I’m not really expecting to spend much time in the room. If there’s down time, I’ll go to a coffee shop or something. There’s only about 20 within a short walking distance. Tea, snack, stitching, while watching some videos. Need to remember my headphones. Girlchild is working some of the time I’m there, so I do have some options for down time. Maybe some fabric, maybe some art, maybe a boat ride. Who knows? We might go visit the boychild if he gets stationed far enough south. Right now, he’s about 3 hours north of San Francisco, and that’s without traffic. That would be a long day. ANYWAY. Also today, at least 3 hours of stitchdown. Priming a closet (ooh exciting. not.). Plus maybe ceramics. If not today, tomorrow definitely. Yardwork! I’ve filled 1.5 trashcans and need to fill 1.5 more. Fun times. Bush from hell around the pool. It just takes forever to trim this bush. I would totally pay someone to take this bush down to 6 feet all the way across. OK, IDK how much I would pay them, because yeah, this summer has not been cheap. OK. Eat breakfast, more tea, change into painting clothes and do the first step of getting this closet put back together. That’s a plan.

Avoid Monday Feelings…

Oh hey. I’m not sure what day it is again. Pros and cons to that feeling. It’s Monday! Best to avoid Monday feelings. What a crazy weekend, eh? I’ve been saying for months that I’ll vote democrat no matter what, because the alternative is evil Satan (not satin…although satin has some evil qualities). I’m really pro voting for a woman again and for a person of color again. When I look at the small portion of Project 2025 I’ve seen (no, I have not read all 900 pages…yet), I realize that my retirement plan would be sidelined by them…I wouldn’t be able to afford to retire when I want. Insulin costs alone would make it impossible. But it’s not just about me…I heard someone explain the difference between the current Republican party and the Democrats as one party cares about money and power and one cares about people. I wouldn’t be a teacher if I didn’t care about people. I wouldn’t make the art I make if I was in it for the money and power. So I guess it’s always obvious where I roll on that. That said, I’m putting my vote in for Kamala Harris…but if the Democrats nominate another candidate, I’d still put my vote in for them. I won’t vote for rapists and pedophiles. I won’t vote for a party that is so incredibly clueless and careless about anyone who isn’t rich and white and male. I’m hoping voters come out and make it happen. I have friends who don’t vote and I don’t understand it. Anyway. That’s where I’m at right now. Flabbergasted a little, but rallying. Still not voting for the orange asshole, no matter what.

Artwise, I presented some bug demonstrations at the Oceanside Museum of Art Street Level event on Friday. It was good…not a ton of people, but I was busy explaining and ironing all night.

They set me up right in front of my own quilt, which was cool. I brought some quilts and pinned them to the table (thanks to the Man and some bystanders for helping me with that idea).

And then I spent an hour demonstrating and talking.

It went fast. Yes, that’s my pool noodle. Meant to shove that under the table. Never happened. Oh well.

The Man hung out in a bar until near the end, and then helped with photos and cleanup.

It was an experience. I had overthought it completely in my head (how my anxiety helps me?), and it worked really well. I didn’t do hardly any embroidery, but I did iron three or four bugs down to backgrounds. Everything is still in the box…so I should probably get my act together and figure out how to finish the rest of them. Certainly binding them is really time-consuming and makes them really expensive, so I think I’ll change that up and toss them all on Etsy. The embroidery also makes them expensive, so maybe that’s something I could do by machine as well, but I think it really adds to the piece. We’ll see. It’s not super high on my priority list.

I didn’t iron Friday…Friday was too busy. Saturday, I went to a friends and stitched for a while and then came back and read a book. So braindead. No pictures of that apparently. But I did iron an owl and some bombing planes…

Sunday, I finally got it together again and started ironing for real…

So the crone figure is part of a tree. She’s standing behind the other three figures. She’s missing her head here and a large part of her lower torso, which is behind the figures. But I got most of this part done. Fussy as shit. So what’s left? Her head, a cat (gotta be a cat), and one of her very complicated hands. I’m in the 1400s, but oh no, wait…I’m in the 1500s. So hopefully I finish today, pick a relevant background, and iron her down. I wanted stitchdown to be done before I left for San Francisco. That MIGHT happen? Certainly it will be started.

I got no clay done in the last three days, between my schedule and a class being in the studio. Hoping to get over there today. Yesterday, I measured the pieces I want to add fabric to and made notes in my journal about what I wanted to do. I have plans! I did pick up the winged woman after her final glaze and I am really happy with her, but now she needs fabric and a base.

This is some awesome artistic photography here…barely cleared space for her.

Love that cat…

Definitely some burnout of underglaze that wasn’t covered by the satin clear, but man, those arteries rock. By the way, there is nothing quick or cheap about how I am making ceramics pieces. But I am enjoying the journey, so that’s the plus.

Other crap that happened this weekend? I bought a bunch of milkweed to supplement those in my yard, which were grown from seed two or three years ago. I got some narrow leaf, but also some special kind and some woolypod, which is what grows in our mountains. Two of the plants came with caterpillars…

Butterfly starter kits…

So I got those in the ground yesterday evening. Too hot before that.

I’m having a hard time balancing the stuff that needs to be done (I really need to paint and I really don’t want to) with the stuff I want to do (read, clay, fabric). I’m doing my best.

The boychild got released from one fire and sent further north to another one.

23 days gone? 24? Not sure. I need to wash his fridge out (I just put it outside, hoping he would come home soon) and move one of his furniture pieces out of the living room that the cats are just way too interested in…need energy for that though.

This thing wakes us up early though, so I’m tired…

And then he sleeps half the day. Like a kitten.

That’s a yawn, not a yell.

Meanwhile, I’m listening to the mom behind me screaming at her kids. I think she said she would paddle one of them into the next planet if they didn’t get over here right now. She’s fun. I get being frustrated as a mom. I was there. I know. But she is a screamer.

THIS.

Man, even those who didn’t teach for very long, or, and this is key, haven’t taught post-COVID. My lord. Y’all know nothing. And we don’t just have one class…there’s five of them with a four-minute break between…max. I remember my principal saying we needed to be at the door immediately after the last class came out, no shutting the door in between. Dude, sometimes we need a reset…of the classroom, the materials, our BRAINS.

We need a few of these here.

Love that.

And from the book I’m currently reading, A House with Good Bones, which is already good…

This is exactly how my brain works. If you’re wondering how I got from here to there, because you can’t see the path, this is what’s going on inside my head. ALL THE TIME.

OK. So. Monday then. I need food and a shower, possibly in opposite order. Then I’m going to go work on ceramic stuff…I know I’m going to be gone for 5 days, so although I want to start the base for the winged woman, I think it’s better if I wait until next week, when I get back. I have one piece that’s ready to go on the drying rack and another piece that needs a few hours of underglazing. I should focus on that. I love starting new things, but it will just dry out while I’m gone, and I don’t want that. I’m also planning on ironing a lot, and dammit, I’m going to at least wash the closet and prime the two parts that have no paint or wait, three parts, need to be primed so the paint will stick. I’d also like to plant a few more things, but I’m a little concerned about the Man watering while I’m gone. So maybe wait on those. We’ll see. It’s already a lot for the day and I’m losing time just sitting here typing. I’m also still not awake. Not enough tea. Never enough tea. And I have a Zoom call at 1 PM, so I have to work around that. Ugh. Get going.

Until I’m Not…

My brain is so discombobulated. It’s not Saturday? It’s Friday, but afternoon. I feel like I need a nap already. OK, so I was up kinda early to take family to a soccer game (my nephew’s in town, playing in a tournament). And there was sitting in the sun and then eating lunch and I’m a little out of it. And I’m going to have to leave in a couple of hours and drive BACK the way I went to the game, through that hellacious traffic we saw going north. Fun times.

I used to have a blog FULL of soccer photos. I don’t miss that.

Where is everyone going this Friday? It’s Pride weekend…so they’re all going to LA? I don’t know. It was crazy traffic, and I don’t think it’s going to get better as the day goes on. So we’re going to leave pretty early, I think, just to be safe. I’m still a little paranoid that I don’t have enough stuff to demonstrate, but then I will have these bugs afterwards that take too much time to make to be able to sell well. I did one with a regular binding…the others may get a satin-stitch binding (half the time). We’ll see. Or I’ll sew them all together into a bug wallhanging unlike anything else I’ve ever made. Who knows?

I am tired though. Kittens have energy. One kitten (Kitten, the almost-16-year-old) started Netflix up this morning and woke everyone up. Usually I’m smart enough to change the tab that’s up on the computer (because yes, she’s done this before…she’s the Queen of Stepping on the Keyboard), but not so last night. Up too late, didn’t fall asleep quickly, up too early. My own fault. Ironing at night is cooler. Like less temperature cooler. So I do that instead of sleeping.

So quiltwise, not gonna be done by tomorrow…here’s Wednesday’s work done, two of the three main figures done.

Last night, I finished the third…

And started on the things in the sky…

That doesn’t look like much. I have about 450-500 pieces left to iron. Not a small amount.

I also made it to the ceramics studio for more coloring on this…

I think it’s done? Ready to dry?

Get it ready to bisque fire?

This is another art technique that takes a ton of time. Ah well. It is what it is.

I also made it to the native plant nursery yesterday and bought some different native milkweed.

Those will go in the ground as soon as this heat wave (minor) fucks off.

Meanwhile, I don’t have a picture of last night’s skunk, but here’s what I caught Luna eyeballing from inside the house.

And I saw this beauty while watering…

From a book I just finished.

Too real right now. Too real.

OK, I’m going to take a quick nap, pack stuff up, panic more about not having enough (it’s one of my common anxieties, often proven wrong), decide what to wear to this thing, and hopefully have a good time tonight. This kind of thing is always stressful, but I think I’m prepared enough for whatever might happen. Until I’m not.