Saying yes...

There's always room for Jell-O

Explorations in reflections continues... Notes to self for next time: Need stiffer Jell-O... need different lighting. If my hazy memory recalls, stiffer jello can be made by adding some Knox to the Jell-O mix.

Slaying the dragon...

Or killing two birds with one stone, or slaying two dragons with one bird... whatever. All I know is, this past weekend, I surmounted two mental/physical challenges all at the same time.

The first one?? I started over on a painting I had wanted to do nearly 2 years ago, but SUCKED at... You can revisit the suckage here, however there will be no photographic proof of the suckage as I'd be ashamed to show it, even if the level of suckage is funny. I'm happy to say, this one is going much better and is almost finished. I need to do a few things including tweak the fork. I wonder if Urban Dictionary has a definition for tweaking the fork, and if so... what would it be?

The second one?? I ventured into the world of water miscible oil paints. I have resisted... they weren't "real", they weren't legit. Also, I was worried they'd handle like shit. I'd seen a couple of people use them and struggle with them, but then realized the people were new to painting and probably would have struggled with regular oils. Also, since I had someone in class who was using them, I figured it would be good for me to know how they handled so I could better help her. Anyhow, I received some during the holidays and finally broke them out to give them a try.

The verdict?? They're funky in ways, but otherwise, not bad... The big bonus is my sinuses and lungs don't hate me for trying to poison them. I'll use them... especially when the house is closed up and I can't vent as well as I should.

 

Observation of the day...

Sometimes creativity feels like a slow dance, and other times, it feels like a mosh pit...

I was never that fond of these...

Until I made one... and no, I'm not talking about children.

Voila... my paperweight. :)

Is it still brain-drain if you're aware it's happening?

I got back into town late Saturday afternoon. I was relieved to be back amongst my own family unit and was happy to feel like a grown-up again instead of the youngest. It doesn't matter how old you are, when in certain settings, you fall into line with your birth order. I'm surprised I didn't break out with acne while gone.

Anyhow, I got back and was pretty much a waste product. I was looking forward to doing nothing but the the crossword puzzle on Sunday when I remembered that Grizzled had signed us up for a glass class. Working with glass was always something that called to him, and a number of months back, he convinced me to go to a class with him. It was not something I ever felt the need to do, but hey... he was asking, and I wanted him to do it. I'm so glad we went.

It was just Grizzled, me and a very wonderful, knowlegable instructor. Since we were working with ovens that were cranking out 2400 degree heat and were going to be carrying around rods with molten glass, we had to focus. We had to really focus. There was no time for imaginary scenarios going around in your head... no time for judgment, no time for anything other than making sure you kept that rod spinning in your hand and doing what you needed to do to that molten blob of glass... at some point after my "second gather", while fusing my colored glass in what was called the "glory hole" (our instructor made the jokes, filthbot did not need to), I realized my mind was completely silent. I had experienced brain-drain, and I felt peace. Even though my mind acknowledged this, it couldn't stay on it for too long as I had to move to the next station, had to keep moving and doing, intensly focusing on the task at hand...

We pick up our paperweights sometime at the end of the week... they spend a fair amount of time in the annealing oven and then have to have their bases polished. They were so hot when we last saw them, I'm not even sure how they'll look. I don't even care. The process would have been worth it had we gotten nothing to take home. The brain-drain was definitely worth it.

When we left, the instructor asked if we'd be interested in doing more. He said it was addictive. Oh, I'm sure it is. I could already tell it was one of those things where once you got the feel, you had to go back to see if you could do it again, and then try this and try that. I'm not sure I need to do glass though. I kind of hope Grizzled does, but I know I need to do something that's hard... well, maybe not hard, but truly challenging... not something you know you'll be good at if you just give it a whirl, but something completely new... something that takes all of your focus and is also a little bit scary. I think the part that was most addictive for me was the brain-drain.

Schoolhouse Rock: 21st Century Version

 

 

h/t EL

 

Photography challenge for thundra...

1) Something biomorphically and geometrically pleasing.

2) Something autobiographical.

3) Something hopeful.

4) Something WEIRD!

5) Something enigmatic.

6) Something under-appreciated.

7) Something nostalgic.

8) Something swirly, curly, lurly-lurly...

9) Something gagtastically artistic.

10) Something humorous.

11) Something delicious (not food).

12) Something softer than it looks (no kit-TENS).

13) Something with amazing balance yet asymmetrical.

14) Something revealing (no moobs).

15) Something discreet.

16) Something unexpected.

17) Something where the feeling when you took the photo jumps off the page and makes us feel like we experienced it as well.

That's all! :)

Busy week... nonexistent blogging...

The internet makes the world even smaller... and explaining... even more awkward

It's another busy week and I'm not in the mood for blogging (it seems so 1992), but this draft was burning a hole in my post cache:

The other night, in my evening painting class, I had a moment of my real life meeting up with my internet life, which in many areas, has also become my real life...

A semi-retired gentleman who is taking my class mentioned that he had attended a boring lecture the other day. I happened to know that a certain blogger was in the area giving a talk, although I doubted it was boring... still, I had to ask.

Me: "So, was it about blah, blah, blah??"

Him: "No... it was about feral cat colonies, but I did have a colleague who attended the talk you mentioned. How did you know about it??"

Me: "A friend of mine was giving one of the talks."

Him: "Really?? Does he know so and so??"

Me: "I'm not sure, I'll text him."

Me: "Yes, he does. He had dinner with him."

Him: "Wow! Now how do you know this person again?"

Me: "He's a friend."

Him: "I know... you said that, but how do you know him? Where did you meet?"

This is the point I dread in almost any conversation I have where I KNOW someone in REAL LIFE, but then have to explain that I met them online... and somehow, it takes a turn for creepy.

I told the gentleman in my class that this person and I belonged to the same creative blogging group... a group that was set up so people could share writing, art, thoughts, etc, in an area outside of work. I didn't tell him that meeting most of these people was totally random. I made it sound like there was some rhyme or reason to it...

It seemed to appease him. Or he sensed that maybe it was better not to ask anymore. Sensing he sensed this, I told him that my ENTIRE family(including dogs) had socialized with this person and some of his kids. That seemed to make it better.

I then thought of times when I've had to explain something else that's been going on in my life... a project I've been working on with someone... someone I never thought I'd have any interaction with, but am so thankful I do. The few times it has come up in conversation, and this person's name comes up, I get the inevitable question... "How did you meet this person?? What brought you together??"

I then get to decide of I tell the truth, that I met this person as a cupcake, or do I tell them, we met through friends... :) Personally, I like the first answer.

What is this??

 I've always wanted to do this. When I look at this thing, I've always felt it needed eyes. :)