Reality Check

Hey it’s a Monday. The last Monday before I officially go back to work, although I am in fact going to go lesson plan today with my coteacher. Because that’s what teachers do, y’all. On summer. When we don’t get paid. Why do I do it? Because my later-August self will be so happy that I didn’t leave everything to the last minute. I’ll be exhausted because school started, but things will be mostly planned, because the planning days they give us will get eaten up by stupid meetings. They always do. So. That’s what we do. This will be the third 4-hour session this summer for us. We’ve done more in previous years; we’ve done less. Luckily (or biologically), as of Friday, I started feeling much better, able to stand and iron things, and I tested negative for COVID yesterday. The Man is still paranoid as shit (he started a new job this morning after 18 months of unemployment due to a work injury that has still not been solved), so he does not want to get sick. I agreed to giving him the 10 days of ‘stay away from me’ and even wore a mask in the car with him. It’s fine. He would get much sicker than me anyway. Although this is the third time I’ve gotten COVID (that I know of), and he gave it to me the first two times, including the first day of school a few years back. Fun times. Strangely, I was not sick at all last time (18 months ago) and was definitely sick the first and third times.

So, ironing!! Oh bliss, oh wondrousness. It’s funny. Often I put it off, OMG, it’s gonna be so hard, especially this time, because Kitten is now living in the studio with me (it’s not very big) and so I have her on a rolling office chair, her food and water is in here, with the damn litter tray, and the ironing board and another rolling office chair for my butt, plus the 17 tables that live in here. I finally just up and moved a bunch of stuff into the girlchild’s room (needs to be managed anyway…although now that school is starting, ha!). It’s crowded, and I can’t reach some of the fabric because Kitten is in the way. She gets freaked out if I move too much around or over her, and rolling the chair out of the way is problematic too. So it means I am limited to the fabric I can reach.

I started ironing before I went to San Francisco…got about 2 1/2 hours in, but hardly any pieces. This thing is complicated. Lots of little things. Friday night, I did about 90 minutes, I think…nah, almost 2 hours.

Definitely did some flesh in there, although there’s way more to come. Not much in the way of color yet.

Saturday, I felt FINE. And I had nothing else to do, so I got about 5 hours done.

Yeah…moved the pieces into a bigger box (had to find one that wasn’t being used). Lots of little people in this…still not very far into the pieces though. I was trying to keep track of what flesh colors I used for which arm (this thing has a lot of arms)…

Then yesterday, I went over two hours, no, almost three, and got the main figure ironed…

Still lots of brown and earth colors. But another Statue of Liberty. So far, I’m in the 700s, but I haven’t done all the 600s, and I’ve ironed for 12 1/2 hours. So almost halfway? It would be nice to get all these ironed down by Friday (the day we go back). We’ll see. I have all day tomorrow. I have some time on the other days. I had to move the dentist and the eye doctor to this week. Plus you know, all the stuff I was going to do all summer? Well, I never get it all done and so I should finish it all this week. Ha! Not happening. Never does. I know I need the down time, and I did so many fun art things this summer. I am worried about my ceramics. Don’t know if I can get there today though. We’ll see. The animals are going to have a shocking day with no one home. They’re already freaked out. Ah well.

I like this.

Especially as a public school teacher. But boss, the president told me to! New boss this year. Ugh.

I definitely need one of these, but I would just ignore it. I have a nonfiction book I’m trying to finish (so much harder than fiction), and I tell myself to read a chapter a day, but every chapter is LONG. Like 30 minutes or longer. Yes, I am spoiled by short fiction chapters. Remember reading real books (I’m reading one right now) and you would have to flip forward to see how many more pages until the chapter was over?

Well now it tells me how long it will take to read it, so I can read one more before I go to bed. Or work. Or whatever.

In reality, I just keep reading. OK, I need to take meds, find my work stuff (it’s all in the bag I shoved it in the last time we met, in the beginning of July), and get out of here for a few hours. Reality check. Not the fun kind. Wait, is there ever a fun kind of reality check? Huh. Then run errands and come back and find time to iron a bunch of things on the main figure, before I iron the ICE swamp. Second quilt ever with a swamp in it. Same president. Same fucking swamp. Enjoying the last four days before the next school year starts. Deep breaths.

Still Down With It

OK. So I’ve been sick with COVID since Sunday night, apparently (sorry to my plane mates…I didn’t know). Yeah, I should have been masked, although I’m not sure where the girlchild and I both got sick. Hoping today is fever free. I am better…the first few days were very low energy and sleepy. I’m definitely increasing in energy, but was still running fevers yesterday on and off. I’ve canceled/rescheduled the dentist, exercise, lunch, not sure what else. I was planning on getting a booster shot this week, before going back to school. Oh well. Interestingly, the last time I tested positive, I had almost no symptoms. Not so much this time. Lots of sleeping and reading going on, and when I felt more energetic, I started appliqueing wool bits down to the borders of Sue Spargo’s Homegrown.

It’s mindboggling how long this takes.

Once I had tested for COVID, I moved into the girlchild’s room and my office, trying to limit the other people in the house from exposure. Hoping I wasn’t too late. It didn’t even cross my mind when I first started feeling sick. Silly really. The Man starts his new job on Monday and we’re hoping he doesn’t come down with it.

I’ve stitched down all the stuff on the top and bottom borders; I’m doing the side borders now.

Five flowers a side. Big ones. Time-consuming. Not hard though, which is good, because my brain is mostly nonfunctional. Amusingly, I’m also doing my district/state-mandated online trainings today, with about half my brain. Seriously, I’ve experienced over 20 years of integrated pest management and bloodborne pathogen trainings. The assessments are often stupid, making you memorize things that are not useful, like how big an opening a mouse needs to get in a building (all of them were small; you literally had to memorize which small thing they had mentioned in 28 minutes). I’m not saying we don’t need to know these things…it’s just a lot of minutiae.

Back to the stitching…there’s about 85 pieces that need to be appliqued down on the two side borders, and I probably have spent 8 hours so far. Not all of it this week…

Last night, I had Simba on the bed (past his bedtime) and Bowie coming to visit.

I kicked Bowie out later because he keeps climbing on shit and knocking things over.

Sleepy boy.

So I still have a ton of those to stitch down if I need more down time, which I probably do. I’d like to be energetic and well enough to stand in here (I’m in the office right now) and iron things to fabric…the thing I started before I went to San Francisco. I’d also like to have enough energy to go to ceramics, because it’s been a while and I’m worried about my piece. Not much I can do about it at the moment. I’ve had to move a bunch of stuff to next week that was supposed to happen this week, so it’s all of a sudden more full than I like. It is what it is, I guess. It’s now officially August and I have to think about school. Total mindset flip.

Meanwhile, the cats are all exhausted.

And hot…

Kind of with them.

There’s this…

No hubs but…and this is a joke, but I’d rather spend time making art, thanks.

OK, back to mandated reporter videos. I would like to thank them for making up a new complicated story for each year. Just watching this set of videos is traumatic. And having reported more than once, it’s too bad that humans can’t be better across the board. I have one anonymous card that I’ve kept for three years now. I do often wonder about that child and how they’re doing (multiple reports, police were involved, they sent the kid home with parents). Ah yes. And watching this training while thinking about the current government and the Epstein files? WTF. There’s a gap there that cannot be explained.

Sigh. Hopefully no fever today so I can be a little more active…starting tomorrow, I can be out of the house if I have no fever, although I need to track down a mask. Pretty sure there’s one in a purse or bag somewhere, or maybe in the car. I have a million at school…ironically. My gym bag? I’m glad I had enough books and brainless stitching lying around to entertain me, and furry beasts to provide sighs, boofs, and love. And someone to go out and buy more meds and food. Not that food is very exciting at the moment. I’m doing a lot of revising what I eat to get blood sugar to behave (hard when you’re sick). The CGM has been really helpful and I’m glad I finally agreed to it. Insurance is covering it completely, and if I keep up how I’ve been doing, my A1C will be coming down in the next three months. All good. Art. Health. Balance.

Refill the Cup

I really hate my ironing board. I would like a new one, one that doesn’t have sharp metal feet that grab my toes. One that is stable and doesn’t threaten to fall over. That said, when I’ve tried to find ironing boards in the past, they’re even more tippy and unstable than this one…this one was my grandmother’s, I think. It’s ancient. I put a heavy board on top that I use for ironing quilts together, because I need a larger space. At the moment, I have to move it around a lot because I’ve been trying to clean up in here and it’s problematic…I can’t put fabric on one shelf where it used to be, because one of two cats keeps peeing on it. I’m pretty sure it’s the old lady, but it might be the teenaged boy…they regularly are vying over the space. Probably the old lady. I even had piled some towels up that I was using to cover the fabric bins there, and then she peed on those. So. Yeah. I’m having to store bins on the floor and this room is not very big anyway…with two desks, a table, three bookshelves, a computer, a sewing machine, and all my fabric (well, not really ALL my fabric…that’s funny), it’s just crowded. The ironing board is always open and I move it around for what/where I need to use it. And every time I search for a new one, I get sidetracked by options and reviews and can’t make a decision. Because there isn’t an ironing board store I can go to and look at them (OMG I am old), so I have to do it all online, and the thought of trying to return an ironing board makes me break out in hives. So there’s that. But we might be there.

So the stupid stuff, eh? Overwhelming. But I could focus on the big fat ugly bill or Alligator Alcatraz and why we think it’s OK to treat HUMANS that way or the campers missing in Texas after the floods (look! God took the white Christian girls! See, it’s not any better, is it? It doesn’t matter what the kids look like or where they come from…it’s not OK.). Sigh. Certainly didn’t do much celebrating yesterday. My country is broken. OK, it always was broken. Now it’s just more in your face about it. So I’m trying to live my tiny life in the middle of all that. Plus this week, the Man will hear about a job (yes please) and I have a biopsy (ugh) and the girlchild is coming to visit (yay) and I need to pack for my residency (yikes). It’s not the chillest week in the world. My response to that is to read more books. And try to clean and fix more things. With the help of the Ex, the sprinklers are now back up and running. I tried but there needed to be more things fixed than the one I did (it was a valve). The two sprinklers that really weren’t working were totally corroded inside (ah, hard water)…so replacing those (and blowing all the dirt through the system) helped immensely.

This was a big achievement. I’ve had this on my list for months. I replaced one thing and then nothing worked. Sigh. I tried to patch the gap on the deck too, but I couldn’t get the caulk to move. Might just be too old? Frustrating though. So I think I’m going to Home Depot later. Fun times. I ran some errands on Thursday (waited until rush hour like an idiot) and ran into a former student, a not-pleasant reminder of him. I had totally blocked him and his entitlement and his annoying parents (mom mostly) from my mind, and now I need to reblock him. It’s OK. He’s a kid. Even as an adult, I won’t need to deal with him…and maybe he’ll get a clue by then. He’s smart, just spoiled.

So artwise, I’ve been sort of efficient. I’ve made it to the ceramics studio more times than usual, which is good.

A bunch of stuff fell/broke (I think it gets bumped on the shelf) and I had to fix a lot, but I got the greens done. Went back yesterday and reattached and reglazed stuff that broke, but that damn hand broke off again.

I’m close though. Almost there. Honestly, it’s glazed except for the flagpole and reglazing all the broken stuff.

I just need to finish it and get it in the kiln. Like this week. Hopefully.

I pinbasted my Sue Spargo Folk Tails, which has been done since 2020? I think? Seriously.

Mostly I hadn’t done it yet because I wanted to finish the bird one first (the bigger one) before stashing a bunch of safety pins in something that would just sit in a pile for a while. It’s a challenge to quilt this…mostly because I need to go AROUND everything. Not hard, just a pain. So it’s next on my list to finish this summer. But before I do that, I’m trying to piece together the improv piece I did on Zoom with Irene Roderick…

It’s all these random shapes that need to fit together, and then I need to make it into a rectangle shape. So I worked on that yesterday. I have it all in three pieces at the moment, with a freaking Y seam (not the first). Almost there. This is so not my style, and I realized at Quilt National that all the Irene people’s quilts look similar, so I’m deciding how to make it mine. I’m trying to finish this so I can take the design board on my residency next week. Whatever gets it done, right? I could probably finish putting the top together today.

Then I cut out all the wool/cotton bits for the side borders of Homegrown (another Spargo…yeah, I enjoy making them), pinned them on, and am slowly stitching them all down. I won’t get this one done in 2025. Bet.

The embroidery will take forever and then I’ll put it in a pile for a year or two before deciding to quilt it. Let’s be real. It’s not about the finished product; it’s totally about the making.

In art quilt news, I’m still tracing Wonder Under…

The dirt was a lot of big pieces, and then I had a bunch of little pieces that fit in between all those big pieces.

I tried a bund of people and then started tracing gravestones. Right when those dumbasses passed a bill kicking a ton of real live people off Medicare. Including one I live with…yeah, it won’t take effect until after the November elections, and hopefully he’ll have a job by then, but there’s a lot of people who can’t work or can’t find work. So we aren’t taking care of people any more unless they’re so rich they don’t really need to worry about it.

Last night, I made it into the low 600s…of 1366.

Not even halfway. I was hoping to be done with tracing today, but I would have had to be way more focused than I have been for that to happen. So maybe that’s the other thing I’m doing today. I’m still only on the second yard of Wonder Under…lots of small pieces to drive me nuts later.

My little quilt made it to my SIL for her birthday.

I love the location.

I lost the dog in the ferns…he likes to pee in there.

Really, this is yet another part of the yard I need to control. Ha! This yard is beyond my ability. I’d need a gardener and even then…

I found these guys (screamed a little because a bunch were on my shirt) while trimming shit.

They become some kind of beetle. But for now, they are in the greenery trash can.

I saw this…and yes, I feel like I need that but also, no I’m not doing that.

I’m putting it here for when I’m really old and retired and maybe bored (will I ever be bored?). That dissociative state is looking nice.

Although honestly, making art helps with that. And it’s too hot for sweatpants, but the other night, I found myself tracing Wonder Under with shorts and a tank top on, but also fuzzy socks, because my feet were cold. Love old body. It’s so inconsistent.

This.

So frustrating. Incredibly.

Simba after three hours of fireworks on THURSDAY night (not even the 4th, y’all). He barked the entire time. And I was tracing stuff, so I wasn’t making him feel safe.

Last night, he was better…only a little. Mostly because the boychild was back. For how long? We never know. His sister is coming to visit, so if previous years are anything to go by, he’ll be sent to some fire this week.

This is amazing. This is Liberty Bleeds by Niki McQueen.

I wish I had enough wall space for her work (it’s available as posters to benefit the ACLU)…it reminds me of my own stuff, the cutting open part.

I think Nova is the big softie that both Luna and Bowie turn to for love and safety.

Luna is so paranoid. And it’s hot, so it’s funny when they curl up together, because I’m like, don’t fucking touch me, it’s hot. And yet there’s always a cat or a dog (or both) next to me.

This is always true.

So yeah. I think I already decided I’m piecing things and tracing things today. The Man has a show tonight downtown, so I’m probably riding the trolley down and then getting a ride back. Their regular lead singer has ‘quit’ (we hope not permanently), so they’re borrowing a singer from another band. Should be interesting. Luckily they are the opening band, so it’s not a midnight thing. I’m too old for that stuff? That’s a lie; I happily stay up past midnight doing art things. I just don’t like mornings. My goal for the week? Be chill. Stay chill. Make the things. Find the supplies for next week. So excited for next week. Meal planning now. And making sure I have materials. I don’t want to get up there and realize I need one chemical I left at home. Inevitably I will forget something though. Truth. 33 days until school. I can’t find a countdown timer that works with the iphone widget or whatever they’re calling it now. Frustrating. That and the ironing board problem are an issue for another day though. Right now, I need to eat, shower, and do some stuff that refills the cup. Or something. Finds the spoons.

It Should Be OK…

Sitting here waiting for health insurance chat to answer. So much wait time with health stuff. That’s not going to get better. And I’m glad to have insurance. Health stuff is stressful. Time-consuming. Expensive. Crucial. It’s so easy for some people to say, well get a job, then you’ll get healthcare…not always true, not always possible. My household includes someone who’s been trying to get a job with physical restrictions for over a year, and it’s not as easy as J.D. Vance and his compatriots think it is. People with disabilities who may need support at work; they just don’t get interviews, or they get one and then get ghosted. It’s stressful for all of us to see that and live with it. But hey, we’re not rich, so we don’t matter. We’re gonna die anyway. The politicians…sigh…I mean, at least Lisa Murkowski was honest about doing what’s best for Alaskans, but in doing so, fucked the rest of us. The rest of those who voted for that bill? What is wrong with them? Some complain and then vote for it anyway? And now the government is refusing to send all the education money that Congress allocated. As someone in a Title I school, where kids live in a variety of not-great situations, I’m worried; no that’s not a big enough word for what they’re doing to kids, to families who struggle, to anyone of color. I don’t get it. I’m scared by it. Worried is not a big enough word.

So in all that, I make art. And try to get control of my diabetes. And worry about the things growing in my boob. And worry about my cat…she’s old and not doing well, especially with the heat. Worry about my job. New boss. The damn sprinklers. How to paint the shed when one wall is right against a chainlink fence. Obviously need to make more art, exercise more.

Finished numbering.

Did you guess? I guessed 1500 based on where I was and how much was left. I was wrong…it’s 1366…

Give or take a few, because I always miss something or double number something. Not a ton, but a lot. A goodly amount. I could have filled the sky in and got more, but I kind of didn’t want to. So I didn’t.

Last night, I started tracing…

I’ll be there for a while. Like 12 more hours probably. Which is fine. I’d like to get myself to a place where I’m tracing for more than an hour a day, but so far, there’s been too much other stuff to do. I spent the last two days planning with my science partner, about 8 hours total. It looked a lot like this…

Well, and there was other stuff, but this is the only picture I took, and I took it because I realized when I moved all the files, I wouldn’t be able to find them in all the other files because most of them had illogical names. I can delete this picture now. THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE IT WILL EXIST.

Anyway, I’d like to say that my 8 hours (it was more than that; I did some at home too) of unpaid work was all I needed to do for school this summer, but that’s not true. We’re meeting again in August. We did well, but my late August/September self will be happier if I do a bit more specific shit. But not today. Today, I need to go to the ceramics studio and underglaze. I know I broke something on Friday. I felt it. Like every fucking time, I’m breaking shit. Sigh. And there will probably be a bunch of people there, but I couldn’t handle going the last two afternoons…I was so braindead after working, so I didn’t go. Oops. Oh well.

That political shit again.

And the amount they want to spend on ICE? Just terrorizing people who are actually trying to be legal and paying taxes and all that shit? Who aren’t committing crimes? So fucked up.

Attempting to ignore the political crap is impossible. I can hide in art, but my art is also political, so it’s not always hiding in a non-stressful way. Ah well. I can try to eat better and make art and clean the house and take care of the cat and paint the shed. I mean, that might be all I really can do at the moment. And I know that should be OK, but it’s not. Not for the planet or the country. OK. Going to ceramics…soon. Then I’ll just do what I can.

It Seems Like Enough…

I know, I know, I’m writing super late. I worked this morning. And afternoon. And I didn’t want to get up super early, so I got the photos resized for the post and that was it. And then I did more work when I got home. So here I am, remembering I was supposed to write today. Which pretty much sums up Summer Break for a teacher. Yes, I did teacher stuff today. My co-teacher and I usually try to plan during the summer, just to get a handle on things we want to change for next year. Sometimes we get paid, but we aren’t this year. I think. Who knows? New principal. No one has a clue what’s going on. We’re backwards planning to make sure we have time to teach natural selection and evolution, the last unit, and then revising the first two units…three units. Well, we’re not gonna get all that done in two 4-hour sessions, for sure. But we’ll have a pretty good start.

So the weekend…I worked on the drawing…finishing up the bottom part on Friday night.

Mostly anyway. Then Saturday evening, I put some planets in the sky…

Bowie was absolutely no help.

Last night, I finished up some stuff around the planets and called it done, although I may change my mind about that tonight.

And then I started numbering, but I didn’t finish.

I knew I had to get up in the morning, so staying up until 2 AM writing numbers would be a bad plan, right? Don’t ask Summer Brain…they’re like all in with Art Brain and don’t give a shit that I can’t sleep in. So I was going to finish numbering this afternoon and totally that hasn’t happened. But maybe after I finish this.

I also finished the binding and sleeves on this during my local SAQA Zoom meeting…

Shitty picture, I know. Ah well. Need a place to hang it up now.

On Saturday, I also finished a present for my SIL…in October or so last year, to test the new Wonder Under, I made a small flying heart. She saw in online and asked for it for Christmas, but like finished, you know. A thing. So I said yes and then promptly lost it. I didn’t really lose it. I hung it up in my studio/office and then hung a drawing up in front of it, so I couldn’t see it and forgot it was there. For like three months. I found it in January when I took the drawing down…not right away though…it took me a few weeks before I saw it. Then I figured, oh, I’ll give it to her for her July birthday, so instead of making something out of it like right then (like a sane person), I procrastinated until Saturday and then finished it.

I mailed it today. It’ll be late. Ah well.

Saturday was also the wedding of a coworker to one of my former students. Weird, huh? Here’s all the teachers…

The bride is younger than my daughter. I’m laughing because Stace is grabbing my ass. She’s smirking in the back. We did not all plan to wear blue and green. Seriously.

And here’s one of my former 7th graders, now a nice young man who cried during the ceremony, making him one of my favorite guys forever.

Seriously…raise your boys to be able to cry at emotional events.

I did some ceramics stuff on Friday…more painting.

I keep breaking things off dammit. So I’m trying to get it all underglazed before more breaks. Not sure when I’m going in again. Tomorrow? Hopefully…if I’m not as braindead as I was today after lesson planning for four hours.

That’s too true.

I love this.

There’s so much negative shit out there right now. I love the little bits of fuck off I see happening. Because I just got my measles booster because of that idiot.

OK, normally this is where I’d say what I’m doing for the rest of the day, but it’s 6 PM and I just fed the dog. I might go do some yardwork because it’s cooled off a little. I did some digging (against the gophers) yesterday. Need more gravel to fix what they did. Sigh. Should probably water first. I’ll be numbering shit tonight and then hopefully starting to trace. It would be nice if I was done with tracing and trimming by Monday, and then ironed to fabric by the time I leave for my residency. Taking stuff to trim is always a good thing. I can’t think beyond that. I want to finish my book? Probably not happening tonight. But soon. Oh I entered a residency for next summer…hopeful?! I think that’s it. It seems like enough, doesn’t it?

Roll Into the Hole…

I really didn’t want to wake up this morning. It’s silly, because there’s no NOT waking up. There’s animals (one is barking his head off right now for no reason…OK, it’s probably something, but really…wait, that was his happy yip so the Man must be back from the dentist), there’s neighbors, there’s neighborhood noise (damn neighbor with his saw…you’d think he’d sawed all the things, but no…there are more things to saw). Really, I should go to bed at a regular time and get up at dawn and work then. Except that’s not how my brain works, especially for the first week or two after I get out of school (it hasn’t even been a WEEK)…I’m a night owl through and through. This morning shit is not fun (yes, I’m aware it’s barely morning at this point…I’ve been up for hours). I didn’t want to wake up because I started cleaning the office/studio yesterday and it’s in that stage when it looks like it will never be done and you will never find a home for all the things you’ve unearthed. I did, however, find the book I’ve been searching for since Thursday (it wasn’t in here, by the way…it was in the girlchild’s room, of course), but I have not found the frames I feel like I have somewhere. Maybe I don’t. Maybe I bought a set of 4 and will need to buy another set? Sigh.

So yes, I am still in the braindead flailing part of Summer Break, where I stare at AI-generated videos of cats diving into swimming pools and wonder why people like war so much. Like if we’re really gonna worry about nuclear capability and bomb people over it, why are we picking on the bottom rung of the ladder…

This is from a video comparing nuclear stashes, and Iran isn’t even on the list. Now, it would be stupid as hell to bomb Russia…and I don’t want to bomb anyone, but seriously, how lame is it to go after a country that was under control until the current president backed out of a deal that was keeping them under control. Idiots. Absolute idiots. But if we’re looking at this, we’re not looking at the protests and ICE and breaking laws left and right and stupid ugly bills, are we.

It’s a lot.

So I had started my next quilt drawing and began inking on Friday night…

You can’t quite see it, but in pencil, on the left, there’s a hand stopping a missile. I inked that Saturday night, after the bombs dropped on Iran.

Added an American flag to it, because it’s ours. The Statue of Liberty was already penciled in. Last night, I inked the ICE swamp…

Because that’s what it is…a swamp of people wearing masks and maybe being legal sometimes? But mostly racial profiling and who knows if some of the people out there are actually ICE or not? They apparently don’t have to tell us. Need to add some swamp trees. Decide what’s happening under the arm underneath them. Oh yeah, added a bomb and an explosion. This drawing is evolving with the current situation. Not sure where I’m going next. Into space? Seems reasonable.

I did some clay glazing on Friday. Very peaceful.

I did the red.

And some flesh.

I keep breaking the left hand off. Frustrating. It’s a level issue…it’s lower than the rest of it. I might need to make a base for firing. Hoping to be back today or tomorrow. We’ll see.

Saturday was the opening of In the Land of… at the downtown library. It’s on the first floor.

It’s super hard to photograph things in glass cases. Here’s the front of mine with part of Jennifer Spencer’s piece…

And here’s the back…

There will hopefully be a video of me talking about the piece and maybe a video of the whole show. I’ll post if I see them.

I’ve also been trying to applique all the flowers on the borders of the Homegrown quilt…

It’s time consuming. But I’m almost done with the top and bottom ones, so then I can do the side flowers. Until then…

Plus doing a lot of escapist cleaning and reading to try to manage my brain. I have a biopsy set up in 2 1/2 weeks. There were two things they found in the MRI that didn’t show up in a mammogram. Better safe than sorry, but it did ramp my anxiety up. Also, the last biopsy wound hurt for a good 6 months. So it’s fun when they say oh no, it doesn’t hurt. Such bullshit. Then last time, when I called after three weeks, they admitted, oh yeah, it might hurt for a while. But it isn’t the pain I worry about, of course.

OK, today. Finish cleaning this disaster of a room. Getting my hair cut (it’s way too long). Trying to find a dress for a wedding Saturday. I had one ordered, but it was too small in the boobage, and I don’t think the replacement will get here in time. Ugh. I hate shopping for clothes. Oh well. Whatever. Then do some drawing, maybe finally get the binding on that other wool quilt, pack up two quilts for delivery for another show coming up in San Ysidro area. Yardwork of course. Try not to roll into the hole of nuclear bombs and children dying and people being deported who came here and followed the rules.

Maybe Not Starting Today

UGH. OK, I know it’s the first day of Summer Break and I should be all woo hoo and all that, but I’m just exhausted beyond belief. The dog was boofing this morning, the cat was scratching, it was not a sleepfest like I wanted. It’s fine. I’ve got 51 days off. It’s not two months (the kids were like, don’t we get two months? I’m like, well, not quite, and that is the theme for the rest of your life.). Also I have three appointments today for vet and doctor, so that’s not fun. But my brain is already trying to make a to-do list 17 miles long, so nothing has changed there, and last night, I was a blob. So yeah.

I will get to art. I don’t know when. But I will. Hopefully today.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing wool Sue Spargo things. They’re easy because I don’t have to think too hard…although quilting this requires a little thought.

I looked at the quilting someone did on Sue’s original piece (this is Chirp, by the way, in case you want to make your own, because no, I’m not selling you mine, are you nuts?) and kind of tried to emulate it. Lots of leaves and flowers and swirls and pebbles.

It’s fun. Also I need a thread for the borders that works with the two colors of green. Maybe I can get that before or after pilates? We’ll see. I should finish quilting the inside today easily. But I also want to start drawing the new art quilt, plus I have some ideas for experimenting with stuff that I want to try out…prep some stuff for the week away from here.

Also, honestly, I need to lie around, read books, and nap.

Monday was promotion practice for most of the morning, then one period in the classroom where I put on a movie and turned out the lights and tried to put away all the science stuff that showed up in my classroom in the morning. I love that. When the other science teachers are cleaning stuff out and dump stuff on me at the last minute when I don’t actually have much time in my classroom to put it away. But I did it. So the practice was all outside and we had a heat advisory. Which just means it was in the low 90s, high 80s. It will be hotter later this year. After that, we did t-shirt signing and a BBQ thing and then a color run, where the kids run around and we throw powder at them.

Obviously, they would throw it at us too, thinking we’d get all upset, but no, we just don’t care.

Bring it.

Had duty after school like that, then went to the staff meeting like that, then went home and showered for the first time…I think there’s still blue in my right ear. The powder goes through one layer of clothing, in case you wondered.

I washed my hat, my clothes, my backpack, and my flipflops. I’m so glad I didn’t wear my regular work shoes. It washed out in the washing machine…the hat needs more help. It might need to go in the machine…not sure if it can.

Yesterday was promotion, still freaking hot as hell, but shorter. We then went to get frozen yogurt as a team (minus two members)…

Because why not? Went back to our rooms, my coteacher and I managed to get checked out (booya!), then went to the afterschool party, had some snacks and a couple of drinks, then went to the last-minute asshole emergency school board meeting (seriously? 3 PM on the last day of school? Y’all are assholes) that the two Project 2025 assholes didn’t even show up for??? My goodness. They just wanna fuck with us. Not a fan. Then home. On the couch. Read. Drank an entire large bottle of water. Fell asleep. Read some more. Made dinner. Spaced out. Sewed some wool bits down. That’s all I had. Tried to go to bed early, but dog…tried to sleep in, but dog…

Saw this fire pop up (on the apps, then in real life)…

The boychild was sent out to it yesterday, but released last night. The fire decided to stop being a big asshole. It’s still out there and the sky is hazy, smells a bit of fire spirit, but they’re getting a handle on it.

Wow. So a busy couple of days with no art at all. Not true. I entered a complicated art show, rewrote my resume and artist statement for that. Also sent bio and wall text to another show that opens July 12 down in San Ysidro…two pieces in that one. And sent more work off for a proposal for the Oceanside Museum of Art at some unknown time. So not NO art…just no actual hands-on stuff. Just the business of art. Which happens too.

Today? Vet for dog so he can get his teeth cleaned in the future. Then measles shot (because I had that one-shot version back in 1967 and it’s not enough) and boob MRI. Appreciating that…not. Then pilates. I’m so tired, y’all. Really tired. I know that’s normal. I know it happens every year. This year feels more tiring. Not sure why. It’s not age, because I’m not the only one. It’s possible all the crazy politics and worry about wars (like please stop threatening Iran you dumbass) makes it worse. Who knows. I’ve got 51 days to try to reset myself…and my house! Because it’s a crazy mess. But maybe not starting today.

Hot and Sweaty

Last Monday of the 2024/2025 school year. Also supposed to be 90 degrees and we’re outside for most of it. There was some claim of low clouds for the morning, but there is no sign of that here, 2.74 miles away from school. I have sunscreen, a hat, a change of shoes (color run), water…but I lose my prep period, so when will I eat my snack and pee? No one is clear on that one. The things that count, though…

So. Cool things. I was followed by this art center I’d never heard of and kind of looked at it and went, huh. Why? And didn’t follow back (probably a mistake). Then saw that someone who had bought one of my pieces was having a show of her collection at said art center…go look at it and notice who else’s work is in the show…with mine. Wow. That’s kinda cool. Here’s the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City, Indiana, only an hour out from Chicago (I looked). And the show is Women to the Front (great title)…and here’s the artist list.

Oh yeah. OK. Impressive. Wish I could figure out how to get to that show, but it’s summer and I’ve already spent all my travel funds. Note to self: follow art centers back. Don’t question it.

Did some underglazing on Friday.

Still taking forever. Fun times. I did all the black things. Next? I think red. There also might be more gray (gun, I’m looking at you).

I marched on Saturday…

It was a lot of people.

Apparently over 60,000. All peaceful.

It was a long day…took the trolley in (read my book both directions).

The Man came too…probably a lot more people than he’s been around for a while. But it was good to see that and feel that. The total number of protesters all over the US has been all over the map, from 5-12 million. Still a lot. Maybe someone should listen to that.

We came home and I read to Bowie…

Little cross-eyed bastard. Put him to sleep…

Depositing hair everywhere.

I did a little wool stitchdown.

Nova really wanted to be on my lap, but wool AND cat when it’s hot? Ugh.

I sandwiched and pinbasted Chirp, the next finished Sue Spargo I had lying around.

Might as well finish some things while my brain is processing. I did finally manage to start a drawing…twice…and this isn’t the final for sure, but it’s processing…

I know what I’m aiming for finally. So that’ll be this week.

Yeah this…

And he did say who he was. So much incompetence in government officials right now…and I’m not talking about Padilla.

Astrology stuff always cracks me up. Both the Man and I are different water signs, and incredibly different people. Shockingly.

I think most of those are mine, not his. And barely accurate. Ah well.

OK. School is weird today. Promotion practice, which usually takes a few hours and a few tries. It’s gonna be hot and sunny. I lose my prep period. Then I probably have kids in Period 4? Admin seemed to think Period 3 too? OK. Never happened in the last two years, so not sure I believe you. But whatever. Three years? How many years have I been 8th grade now? Fuck. Can’t remember. So that. Showing videos if we’re back in class. Not doing anything else. Then lunch, then the last few hours are helping to manage kids with Tshirt signing, BBQ, and color run. Then duty (outside in the heat again) and a staff meeting (UGH). Hopefully I will have the energy for clay afterwards, but it won’t surprise me if I don’t. I sense sweat and sunburn in my future. But we’re almost out! Tomorrow is promotion and my room is almost cleared out, so I won’t have to come back on Wednesday. Woohoo! Summer break, I am ready. To sleep for a couple of weeks (it never happens…there’s too much noise and light for me to sleep).

Boggled

I had to leave for school yesterday with only 9% of my book to be read. I think it said 18 minutes. Good book; wanted to know how it ended. Day job. It’s fine, I read during my prep period and then continued cleaning things and putting them away. I have a giant paper cut from all that, which I don’t appreciate. And a few bruises of unknown origin. Always fun. But yesterday was that great day when you get to the end, walk next door to your coteacher, and say, wait…what do we do with ourselves? Grades are done. Everything is set up for the next three days (well, besides whatever clusterfuck we don’t know about yet). I’m supposed to be at an awards breakfast in 25 minutes (ugh…that’s just for setup). But school is mostly done, besides the surviving part. And cleaning. It’s amazing. I’ve almost survived it. I don’t have to go home and prep, plan, or grade. A joy. Almost a joy. Still teaching today.

I still haven’t started a new art piece. I need to start drawing, and to do that, I need to not be exhausted at the end of the day. Haven’t gotten there yet. Wednesday night, I finished the Tinsel quilt for my mom…

It needs hanging stuff and I need to handsew the label.

Only 2 1/2 years. I thought it was less. Oh well.

Last night was my monthly stitching meeting with friends, so I worked on the June Rooted block.

Progress. This one has a lot of fussy little things in it. I’ll be here a while. This stuff is very relaxing though. I came home and kept stitching on the bits and pieces of the Homegrown borders, which have been sitting around and waiting for a good long while.

These are all Sue Spargo blocks of the month. I find them relaxing and fun to work on in between other stuff. I’ve got two of them to quilt as well, so I might do some of that in between other things this summer. We’ll see. At the moment, I can’t see past today, so there’s that.

Too true.

Dragging the Man out to a protest march tomorrow. I’m boggled by the crazy out there…not the protesters…the government. The lack of forethought for their behaviors. Yes, if you arrest all the farm workers, there will be no food, you idiots. One of my coworkers said they were only arresting criminals. You know who doesn’t go to immigration interviews? Criminals. People who are following the rules do. There’s no due process here, no checking to see if people have legal status. Hell, they keep throwing congresspeople to the floor. No questions! It’s terrifying. Mindboggling. Anyway. So I get to go to school today, sit through one promotion lineup, dump my kids off to turn in their Chromebooks, teach the rest of the day about goal setting (something no one is doing right now), handing back time capsules, then hopefully going to ceramics. Protest tomorrow. Two more days of school next week, mostly outside in the sun. Which reminds me, I need sunscreen for today. That’s important.

When AM I Reading Today?

I love that I said I’d be cleaning my classroom this week, because that hasn’t happened. At all. And it’s not likely to any time soon. I’m teaching, talking all the time, for the next three days, then we have a day of practice and crazy antics, then actual promotion. By the end of the day, hell, by prep period, I’m out of it. Today. Today I will use prep period wisely. I will. I swear. My coteacher and I will go get all the stupid signatures we need to check out. That’s my plan. The last of the to-be-graded assignments are due at 3:30 today. I have a union meeting after school, and then I’m grading. I came home yesterday and graded while on Zoom with my stupid school board meeting. Fun times. I had pilates (finally, I got in…I need the exercise and the time to concentrate on something besides school, something that’s good for me), so I didn’t go to the board meeting, but my stalwart coworkers stayed past 8 PM. It’s never an hour with this board…it’s always three or more. No efficiency there. We went to Belmont Park with the whole promoting class yesterday…my coteacher and I rode the roller coaster early (it gets chaotic after that).

Look! Real smiles! Seriously love me a good roller coaster. I didn’t go last year for some stupid reason. It does make for a long, exhausting day though. We combined our classes for the last two periods and watched Into the Spiderverse. We didn’t even start it over for the last period; just kept watching. For the last 30 minutes, there was a big ice cream celebration for most of our kids. We kept 7 and sat in the dark air conditioning. I don’t really know how I managed to stay functional during grading for an hour or so and then pilates, but I did.

The pro is that I’ve had some time to stitch in the evenings. I’ve been trying to get the flowers on the Sue Spargo Homegrown borders finally. It’s a lot of little pieces on a giant thing. During book club on Monday, I worked on her Rooted quilt…

Here’s the June block on top of her Tinsel quilt, which I’m finishing for my mom. It’s taking forever…

Teeny tiny binding requires tinier stitches. I’m finally on the sleeves, so hopefully, I’ll finish tonight. I have two more Spargo quilts to finish up. I did have a drawing pop into my head during pilates last night (don’t ask…it’s how Art Brain works…I’m trying not to fall over and it’s creating shit). I’m not saying I won’t start some art thing before finishing the two Spargo quilts…I haven’t made any decisions, because I literally don’t have the brain power for that.

Monday was ceramics…I painted the torso for the fourth time…this time, I actually covered everything, but I had to reattach that damn hand again.

I saved some of the mix of underglaze to patch the hand…smarter than usual. Friday, I’m hoping to start glazing more of the other bits, which will take forever. At least.

The base has been bisqued, but the colors were a bit much, so I finally decided to underglaze over them. I also want to do a wash over it all, but I can’t wipe that away without wiping the glaze away, so I’m going to have to fire it again. Expensive. That said, this piece has so many freaking hours in it, I’ll never be able to sell it. At this point, I just want to be able to finish it.

The crazy stuff I do for fun.

Here’s a sampling of kid stuff about sex ed…

Made me laugh.

A lot.

Sigh. That one. Literally they had a chart to help them fill this out. I mean, he’s not entirely wrong.

Anyway. I’m putzing along with all the things. I have a lot of things unfortunately. I did book my flight up to San Francisco to see the girlchild and all the art that’s up there, including my piece at Sebastopol. So my two summer things are planned. The rest of the summer is managing all the shit at home and getting things cleaned up and gotten rid of and painted and fixed and trimmed and planted. And sleeping and reading and making art. Maybe not in that order. Maybe sleeping first. For a week or two. Not that the living things (or my body) let me sleep for long. I would rather be reading my book today than teaching about sexually transmitted infections, but that’s not an option. Union meeting after school. Then grades. Then stitching of some sort. Wait. When AM I reading today (most important question ever)? Good question. Always.