Sunday Surf for Sept. 5
To start the morning off (okay – afternoon… it’s been a long and busy week and I am playing catch-up in a major way!!), I thought we could take a moment to share a song from the Atheist’s Hymnal with Steve Martin.
From there, I thought we could visit with Madeline Bea Photography’s Sunday Creative prompt. Since I’ve been kid-free this weekend (the boys have been at my parent’s house all weekend, and are out with my Loverly Husband for a visit to his grandmother), I thought it might be nice to see if something she’s posted lately provides some creative inspiration.
I also really enjoyed ‘The Gift of Time’ at Homeschooling With Attitude.
TX Parks and Wildlife’s Be an Outdoor Kid site has fun stuff for the kiddies that encourages outdoor play and exploration.
Kids.gov is a site we’ve been on frequently in the past week. We’ve been working on a lapbook for the Constitution, and it’s come in quite handy.
Moms Rising is an activist site that has a form letter that can be customized and sent to your senator to urge them to co-sponsor S.593 – the Ban Poisonous Additives Act of 2009 – and support amending it to the Senate Food Safety Modernization Act. Since we just talked about BPA in the water bottles we’re putting in the field trip boxes, I thought this was an apt addition to today’s post! Moms Rising is a great site anyway, with tons of articles dealing with making America more ‘family friendly’. Mothers Acting Up is another cool mommy activism site.
I’ve found Sister Dottie S. Dixon to be quite entertaining… as the proud mother of a gay son, Mormon Mom Dottie is (in her own words) ‘Plum full of dicey opinions, wisdoms and sage advice’. Her YouTube vids are… enlightening, to say the least.
I know this is short today, so apologies… other than my blog and Facebook, I really haven’t been doing much blogsurfing this week. Hopefully, some of the other SS participants will have some cool stuff to click. Be sure to check them out : Breastfeeding Moms Unite, Domesticated Women, This Adventure Life, Maman A Droit, Hobo Mama and Baby Dust Diaries.
Warmly,
~h
A Couple of Updates…
It occurs to me that over the past few months, I’ve made mention of things that I never followed up on. One such item was the ‘bring your bags’ reminder sticker from Conserving Now. I got mine in; this is what it looks like:
Another was the free water testing kit:
(we have soft water - the test strip was green, but the kids were playing with it before I snagged a picture and the pad got torn. Underneath it was the odd pink color – wonder what makes that happen?) I was unimpressed with this little kit – I was expecting something more… grand, I suppose. Something to test lead levels or toxins or something more impressive than ‘is your water too hard?’. Oh, well – the kit was free and the kids had fun ‘testing’ it so it was worth it in the end I suppose.
Something else I made mention of frequently in the past was the Creativity Boot Camp. {sigh} I am such a quitter. I didn’t finish it. I got through the weekend on it and just… lost interest. I think it was my medium. I think my expectation was (unconsciously) that the workshop was going to improve my skills in whatever medium I chose. That was unrealistic and I see in retrospect that the point of the workshop was to inspire, not necessarily hone skills one does not inherently possess. I chose drawing (pencil/charcoal) as my medium, and the bottom line is that I really suck at drawing. I am disappointed with myself for not finishing it, but that’s not going to motivate me to finish the workshop in that medium (if I’m being honest, which I am). I DO want to try again with a different medium – photography or writing, maybe.
I actually went today to a new writing group’s discussion meeting this afternoon, which is probably the first thing all summer that I’ve done exclusively for ME that required appropriating childcare. I am not really sure what I was expecting, but it was nice to talk with other people who are interested in writing as more than strictly a hobby. I started my first novel (an epic historical romance) when I was 16. I still have the manuscript. It’s gone from hand-written to digitalized – even bought software once upon a time to help me keep the massive family trees straight. I have since created many, many outlines and story concepts, but have completed very few of them. I have fantasies about being interviewed and talking about how it took ’20 years to write this book’, lol. Silly, I know – but fun to think about anyway.
School was supposed to start this week – M5, week 1. We’re… still on vacation, I think. We’ve been goinggoinggoing all summer long and it is really taking a toll on me. Trying to get desk-work and workbooks in for the last couple of weeks has been challenging, so we’re dropping all that for now with plans to pick it back up in a couple of weeks. This week though, I think we’re just vegging a little more. I may have to adjust my school year calendar for next year to allow a bit more of a mid-year break to keep from burning out. Maybe 2 weeks between mods during the summer? We shall see.
Somehow, it still surprises me that I have to make adjustments. I don’t know why that it, but it always manages to catch me by surprise. Part of it is fear of failure, I think. When things don’t work out how I envisioned them, I automatically file it under ‘fail’. I’m working on creating a new filing system – one that doesn’t affect me so negatively. I know I’ve talked about my youngest as being this deep well of negativity, and I know where he gets it from so I can’t really complain about it. I’m working on improving my own outlook so I can help my kiddo. Being a mom is a complex and often humbling job and it seems that they forget to include that in most manuals. Recognizing your own faults staring back at you from the innocent face of your child… that’s not an easy mirror to look into.
Enough waxing on the joys of motherhood, eh?
If you haven’t checked out Postcrossing, then this is yet another PSA from me to do so immediately! We’ve gotten cards from all over – Taiwan, Brazil and several US states, and have sent cards to all over as well. It’s so much fun getting mail! REAL mail – not bills or advertising for stuff you didn’t ask for that you don’t need and wouldn’t want.
So that’s a quick update on what’s been happening at mi casa. How ’bout you? Anything interesting popping up on your radar?
Warmly,
~h
CBC Day 5 and 6
Forgive me for not making this post more interesting. I have a couple of drafts I’m working on for ‘real’ blog posts, but I wanted to get my CBC work posted tonight. If you’re following, I’m working on Madeline Bea’s Creativity Boot Camp. She started it this past Sunday, and it’s a really interesting course. Harder than I had anticipated, but I’m enjoying being a part of it.
Day 5′s theme is GROW – nothing says “grow” more to me than a round belly full of baby.
I’ve drawn this image before, in pastels. There are some differences. My previous incarnation of this picture had long black hair that swirled around her shoulders and belly. The figure was leaner and taller – both are not ‘realistic’ (which is fine with me). I’m not adept at drawing breasts, apparently. How hard could it be – cavemen can do it, right? Well, it’s harder than it seems, I’ll tell ya. I will say that I like the pastel picture better than this one. It’s in color and that makes it seem more lifelike, or ‘lighter’ somehow. This seems really depressing to me.
Part of what makes this particular image meaningful for me now is that June marks one year since I lost my last baby. He or she would have been born in December. That was my first miscarriage – a learning experience that I so wish that I had not had the opportunity to have. It’s painful to think that right now, possibly right this minute, I should be nursing an almost 6 month old baby. Add to that the fact that we’ve been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for nearly a year now and for whatever reason have instead been ‘blessed’ with secondary infertility… it’s not a pleasant place to be. But we’re managing.
On the brighter side (not that there is really a ‘brighter side’ to that kind of hell – but you carry on, because there really isn’t another option), if I was mothering a new baby, I most likely wouldn’t be going through this boot camp course.
I am not as pleased with my work (myself?) during this course as I had hoped I would be. I’m used to being ‘teacher’s pet’ (weird since I haven’t been in class since I was, what… 16??) and having my work be really… something. Perhaps it’s the medium? I wanted to choose something that is challenging – drawing is obviously not one of my strengths. I do much better with abstract painting/drawing/imaging than trying to depict real scenes. I’m definitely challenged. I am looking forward to doing this class again with another medium – one that is perhaps easier for me. I’m thinking photography, and then again with writing. I am working on stories already, so that will have to go into my journal as well.
Moving on…
Day 6 was FLUID.
This was sitting on my desk upside down and my husband came in and said, “Volcano?” o_O Not realizing that the picture was turned in the wrong direction, I was surprised, as that was definitely not what I had in mind. I was kinda worried that my skills were even less than I had imagined – then he turned the paper rightways and said, “Oh. Water droplet. Gotcha.” Thank goodness. Then I looked at it upside down and realized that since it looks nothing like a volcano, even upside down, maybe my husband’s perception is off.
Back to the picture… this didn’t turn out like I wanted. I really should have used pastels – in fact, I could have, since the assignment was to do something ‘different’. I may do it over again later on with pastels. I can see a lot of blue and white and black in this piece that just doesn’t come through in black and white.
So there you have it – my contributions for the last 2 days to the continued development of my inner artiste. We have a crazy-busy day planned for tomorrow (which you’ll get to read all about when I blog it with pictures) so I am hoping that our lovely Boot Camp instructor posts tomorrow’s assignment at midnight so I can start contemplating how to put that concept on paper.
Goodnight all!
Warmly,
~h
CBC 3-4 and Summer Reading Club
Day 3 of the CBC was all about ‘creative buzz kills’ and de-motivators – those things, both internal and external that stifle or immobilize your creativity. As I said in my journal, for me, the buzz kill is not so much a lack of creativity (as in ‘coming up with the idea’), but a true lack of talent. It’s the inability to bring what I see in my head to life on the page. I would LOVE to have the innate talent to be able to draw what I picture exactly as I see it, but without years of hard work under me, that’s probably not going to happen. If I was dead-set on being and ‘artist-e’, then that would really bum me out. As it is, I’m content to piddle with drawing and create in other ways.
The prompt for Day 3 was MULTILAYERED. The first thing that came to mind was a group shot of my two boys with my niece (who is staying with us during the week while my sister is at works this summer) all scrunched up together with smiles and hugs… similar to this, only standing and with better editing, lol:
When I do my ‘phase II’ of the CBC, I’ll try to set that shot up. For Phase I though, here’s what ultimately came out:
Yeah, ‘The Princess and the Pea’. All those mattresses. It’s more ‘cartoon-y’ than realistic, but I’m pleased with it. I’m more pleased with the floor and the window than I am with the hand – I just can NOT draw lifelike people-features for anything. Oh, well – the theme wasn’t about realism, so giant-cartoon-hand notwithstanding, I don’t think it’s all that bad – never going to hang in a museum – but not horrible.
Day 4 was about ‘inspiration’ for creative works and the theme was HEAVY METAL. Now, the first thing that came to mind for heavy metal was some punk-rock headbanger kid. Alas, I know no one who fits that bill, so I was left to ponder that topic while we went about our day.
With the arrival of summer break comes the “Reading Express” – our library system’s Summer Reading Club. They feature activities and classes all summer at the local library branches, so today we ventured out to a library across town for an art class sponsored by our local Art Museum. The kids were instructed to make a collage depicting the “Reading Express”.
Since the topic for today’s lesson was ‘heavy metal’, I thought that the train went well with it. While they were crafting, I was really itching to get my hands on some paper to draw this:
Okay, well not ‘exactly’ that – it looks much better and more realistic in my head. And more menacing, I should point out. This is quite childish in my opinion and not really what I had in mind, overall. The thing that stood out most in my mind was the big iron cattle pusher, so that’s what I wanted the piece to focus on, and I think I did that, therefore I am pleased with it. When I do Phase II, I want to try to find someone who looks the part (or dress a kid up) for this one.
We also got to have a history lesson ‘on the go’ today – again with the library’s summer program. A woman who calls herself ‘The Pioneer Lady’ came and talked to the kids about her grandmother, who came to Texas in a covered wagon. She brought all kinds of nifty things for the kids to experiment with and told quite a few stories that her grandmother told her as a girl. She’s a good story-teller and the kids had a really good time listening and participating in the things she brought for them to try.
The kids are well on their way to completing the 20 books assigned as part of the program. They can also log their time over the summer and turn it in to the Mayor’s office to get a certificate and if they’re among the ones who’ve read the most, they may win a prize.
I have been so looking forward to the time when my kids were old enough to participate in this kind of thing. Once they stared school, they were old enough (mostly), but by the time summer arrived, I was so tired of schedules and having to be somewhere with a deadline that we didn’t really feel up to participating. Now, it seems like I’m more able to put energy into this kind of thing. I’m so looking forward to our busy summer!
Warmly,
~h
Creativity Boot Camp Begins!
So, as I mentioned, I’m doing the Creativity Boot Camp with Madeline Bea over at Blogspot. She’s doing a 2 week course to help boost creativity and I was thinking, ‘I could use some of that’ and jumped on the bandwagon (which is more now like a bus; there are so many people doing it).
There’s a flicker pool that some of the participants are sharing their work that you can check out. There are some seriously creative and talented people there! It’s such a neat concept and I’m so glad I found it!
Day 1′s theme was IVORY. Originally, my thought was to draw (did I mention that I decided to work with pencil/charcoal and paper? Well, that’s what I’m using) an arm and hand, zombie-fied with the lovely ivory bones showing through. Unfortunately, I am so not anywhere near talented enough to bring flesh to life on paper and so my vision on that goes unrealized. I had to do something though, so I just doodled. It’s not great, but it is (sorta) what I had in mind when I started.
The first thing that came to mind was bones, which led to tusks and elephants. Then fangs and teeth, fingernails (which aren’t ivory, but in that same family in my mind) and piano keys. I did manage to get a zombie reaching from his grave, which is probably my favorite part of the picture, lol. I really wish I could draw more realistic images though.
My mom has an old upright grand piano with actual ivory keys (she didn’t buy it that way; it’s been in our family for generations and is old and decrepit now). I am considering doing a ‘Phase II’ of this program with photography and going to take some pictures of it for that. If I do, I’ll add them.
Today was Day 2, and the theme was PICNIC. Ants was absolutely the first thing that popped into my head; when I was little, my nightmare monster was a giant (bed-sized) black ant. It lived under my bed and would come out when my parents turned off the kitchen light, when it would climb out from under my bed, walk on the walls and then onto my bed. I swear I could feel the bed move when it stepped on it, and the covers would pull a bit where it’s feet were at. I remember screaming my head off because of that damn insect! So I drew it.
Again, I am planning a Phase II of this, and I have yet to decide if I want to use a picture I have already or take new ones. We picnic frequently so if I do need new pics, then they shouldn’t be that hard to come by.
So… that’s my contribution to the continued development of the creativity that I believe I possess (in small quantities). I may be wrong, lol, but I’m trying. I will say that I am being quite literal. I think I need to think outside the box more and take more time to fully realize the concept being presented.
We’ll see what tomorrow, and Day 3, brings.
Warmly,
~h
P.S. Hey – if you’re doing the CBC, comment and lmk where you’re posting your work so I can see!
Cultivating Creative Genius
You know, I used to be a really talented and creative person… before I had kids. With their birth came a sort of hyper-focus on being the best mom I could be, and in that (like lots of women) I seem to have lost some of the inherent sparkle that made me me.
I am and always have been quite undisciplined when it comes to crafting. I dabble; I’m a dabbler. I have yet to perfect any crafty-type hobby that I’ve taken an interest in, and I’ve taken an interest in a lot of hobbies. Over the years, I’ve learned to crochet and knit, embroider, work a sewing machine, quilt, scrapbook, journal, paint (watercolor, oils and acrylics) draw, screen print fabrics, batik fabrics (with wax and with other cheating-type resists), decoupage, burn wood, attempt writing (non fiction and fiction), make jewelery and… you get the idea. And I have supplies packed away for all of those hobbies, though admittedly, some have been used more recently than others.
Unfortunately, many of those supplies have gone unused for far too long. I’ve been meaning to get myself more involved in things I used to enjoy, and I have to a degree. Since the boys are home and we’re doing crafts for school, I’ve had more time that I can dedicate to crafting (though more often than not, the craft is kid-centered more than me-centered). Plus, in checking out That Artist Woman’s Blog for kid crafts, I’ve been inspired to work on my own crafts more. I’ve actually started already – I got out my pastels and came up with a couple of pictures (none of which I am confident enough to share) that I ended up liking (and several that were absolutely horrid).
So… all this is a long preamble just to say that I am going to participate in this:
I am not sure what medium I’m going to use. I have a couple of short stories that I need to work on, but I am really itching to work with paints again… then again, pastels and pencils always appeal. I think you’re supposed to stick with one medium for the entire exercise, but I know me and I am not sure I can commit to that, so I may just do the exercise with whatever medium appeals at the time. It starts tomorrow, so I supposed I’d better pick something, huh?
I also came across Terrance Zdunich’s Lesson Plans at The Molting Comic Blog. If you’ve seen REPO! The Genetic Opera (not to be confused with the less operatic and more cookie-cutter Hollywood bore-fest that is Repo Men), then you’ll recognize the incomparable Mr. Zdunich as the Graverobber and part of the (possibly evil) genius behind the concept of a dystopian future in which your designer and/or medically necessary replacement internal organs may be repossessed for lack of payment by scary men with big bloody saws. Chilling, no? Check it out – you’ll not be disappointed. And if you’re a parent, then you’ll also recognize Alexa Vega from Spy Kids fame all grown up as Shilo. It’s almost as disturbing as realizing that Jacob from Twilight (coughvampiresdontsparklecough) is Shark Boy. o_O
Anyway – while I likely won’t be submitting my compliant videos for judgement and evaluation, I am nonetheless interested to see where that little project goes over the next few weeks. If I decide to participate in that experiment, I’ll just take pictures and log my progress here.
I do like that both projects are going on simultaneously. I have several ideas that I have yet to out to paper, but I’m inspired, and I think that’s the point of both endeavors, yes? So if you’re feeling less than vibrantly colored, or feeling that your creative genius is underdeveloped, then you should try is, too.
Warmly,
~h
