Daniel's Winter Concert

I took a few (hundred) photos at Daniel's winter concert last night:

Daniel and his friend Candice.

Altering the Art, Changing the Inner Dialogue

Altering the Art, Changing the Inner Dialogue
a guest post by Holly Jahangiri

My sister in law brought her scrapbooks to share with us, and I immediately felt inspired to run out and buy all kinds of supplies: papers, pens, glue, acid-free paper, markers, metal fixings – you name it, I had a little voice in the back of my head urging me on, telling me, “That would be SO cool!”

What that little voice didn’t know was, scrapbooking isn’t that different from writing. Writing isn’t that different from any other creative outlet. As soon as the inner critic rears its ugly head to say, “You’re mediocre, at best,” you’re done for. Among writers, this is known as writer’s block. Among scrappers, it’s scrapper’s block. Digital Scrapbook Place had a nice article that covered some of the most common causes – they vary widely, apparently, and include boredom, a sense of disconnectedness from the scrapbooking community, loss of focus, and being overwhelmed. For me, it all comes down to feelings of inadequacy, coupled with the dreadful taint of perfectionism.

Nothing I did in scrapbooking came out looking the way it had in my head. I perused layout after layout online; each was more professional looking and intimidating than the last. Even the other voice, the one that said, “Who are you doing this for, anyway, and why do you care?” wasn’t drowning out the nagging critic who said, “Your work is amateurish, at best. Just stick those photos in a nice album and be done with it.”

Fortunately for me, I rebelled against the horrid creature that lurks inside the caves of the mind.

The only cure for inadequacy is to hone the skills that are lacking, or to learn new ones and shine at those. I was trying to turn my scrapbooks into glossy, magazine layouts – slick, professional, and ultimately, impersonal. And it wasn’t ringing true to me, so the inner critic was rearing its ugly head and smacking me down. Just as I was about to give up, I asked myself: “Which is worse? Messing up all these beautiful papers and embellishments or letting them sit in a container unused?”

And I went out and bought a cardboard box, some tissue paper, a jar of Mod Podge, some paintbrushes – and gave myself permission to mess everything up. About two days later, I had an interestingly artistic box for holding stationery and pens that later sold for about $50 at auction during a writing conference. Talk about a shot of confidence…

Next, I tackled “altered books.” I had no idea what I was doing. However, given my success with the box and my desire to remain enthusiastically unintimidated by those with greater artistic skills and talents, I decided not to look at examples of others’ work, not to study technique – in short, to wing it.

I ended up with this:

Basically, it’s a really cool book with interesting memories and experimental art tucked between its pages. It’s also a book I can barely get closed! I learned something: When you make an altered art book, cut out some of the pages, because your artwork – even if it’s just tissue or paint – will gradually increase the thickness of the book beyond what its bindings are designed to hold. You could also glue the pages together and cut out a rectangular section in the middle to create a container for small treasures.

I also learned that the end result of this was actually better as I relinquished control and approached the project like a child might – unafraid to roll up my sleeves, dig in, and make a mess. I tried papers of various textures and thicknesses; I tried various sealants. I used copies of photos – not originals – and gave myself permission, almost a mandate, to ruin things.

In the process, I rediscovered what every child instinctively knows: Creativity and art should be fun – not painful, awkward, embarrassing, or competitive. Art should bring joy. It doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks, but it’s when you let go and stop worrying so much that you produce things others like and find intriguing, anyway!

Interesting Perspective on Goals

A friend of mine, Holly Jahangiri, is in a blogging contest.  She's made some very interesting posts including this one, titled Good Goals Gone Bad.

She's a very smart lady and a true google search goddess!

Variations Necklace plus

When I was in California, I took a class at my favorite beadstore, Beadology, with Leslie Frumin, to make her wonderful Variations necklace.  I chose to do my project in sea greens and blues, and made some earrings, a ring and medic alert bracelet.

my collection

Variations Necklace

Frolicking Dolphin Earrings

Seashell Earrings

Under Sea Ring

matching medic alert bracelet

New Med Alert Bracelet

To match my Blue Funk necklace and earrings, I put together a bracelet to hold my medical alert charm.

Eeeep!

Crafty Weekend

I made a bunch of jewelry over the past couple of days, using bits and pieces from Industrial Chic.  I had a great deal of fun playing with washers and nuts and stuff.  I made four necklaces, three bracelets, a pair of mismatched earrings, a thingie for my medic alert, and a ring.

The mini handcuffs and the bead chain with license plate and key came from an antique shop, but everything else is Industrial Chic.

I'm Back!!

I've spent the last two months in Hartford, CT, commuting home on weekends while I completed the ARC I teacher certification program.  I've never worked so hard in my entire life.  It was exhausting and exhilarating.

I've spent the last couple of days enjoying things I've missed - like being with my family, and sleeping in my own bed (and sleeping in general!)

More from Holly!

If you want people to find your website, you need to know about SEO:

http://weblogbetter.com/2011/05/09/search-engine-optimization-seo-what/

Check Out My Friend Holly!

Holly's a fabulous writer and really knows her social networking stuff.

http://weblogbetter.com/2011/05/17/why-you-need-a-social-media-plan/

CT High School Musical Theater Awards

Wow!  That was some show.  Those kids are absolutely incredible.

The "kids" on Glee have got nothing on these guys.  They sang their hearts out with no electronic sweetening, and did a fantastic job.

And to see my Daniel up on the Palace Theater stage - wow!  But I swear he looked taller than he did when I left home last night!

Back to School!

I am safely ensconced in a hotel in Hartford.  Tomorrow, I start my classes.  The alarm clock is ready to go.  I have to write a short paper and then I can go to bed, although I don’t expect to sleep well tonight.

The town where Daniel’s gala is tomorrow night is actually closer than home, so I’ll see my guys tomorrow night in Waterbury.  The kids are performing 2 numbers from Fiddler, and the cast is up for 9 awards.  I’m so excited to be able to go!

As we loaded up the car, Dumbledore ran down to the garage and tried to get in the car.  He was certain he was going with me (after all he always has before!).  I felt really bad for the little guy, he doesn’t understand.

Excited About The Challenge

Thursday night was the orientation for the program I'll be doing this summer.  It was a long evening, but I came away very pumped and excited about it.  The work is starting already, with a ton of reading and some projects due by the time we get started in June.  I awoke this morning, not just undaunted by all the work, but excited to get started.

I'm hoping to find somewhere inexpensive to stay over in the Hartford area during the week, because Momma needs her sleep and you know the one hour drive each way will be done at the expense of at least two hours of sleep every day.  It's also two hours a day more I could be working on school work.  Each day long lecture is going to be an entire college course worth of information condensed and I'll be plenty busy!

We're also probably talking a tank of gas every other day if I go home every night- yikes!

A Puppy's Dreams

Inspired by this crazy quilt at Piecemakers, my aunt and I have been working on this square - since last Spring!  (I didn't much feel like crafting while I was dealing with breast cancer, but my mood's been looking up lately and I've been crafting again!)

I called it A Puppy's Dreams because the Yorkie in the corner has been wandering in a misty garden and watching the spider and butterfly going about heir business.

Here are some detail shots:

The puppy.

The spider.

The butterfly.

Our signatures.

The puppy and his trail of footprints in the dew.

The bottom right corner of the square where nothing much is happening.

I'm loving my Singer embroidery machine!

Veering in Another Direction Yet Again

I'm not sure if this is plan D or E or what, but I've been accepted into Connecticut's ARC program.  For 9 weeks this summer, full time, I'll be taking classes and student teaching, and when I'm done I'll be certified to teach math in middle and high school.

I no longer enjoy programming the way I used to, and my sanity can't take living apart from my guys any more.  I'm looking forward to the new challenges.

Blue Funk Necklace and Earrings

My aunt gave me a broken shard of flow blue pottery, and I've been playing with it for months.  Mostly I designed it by changing stitches when I got bored!

Fiddler

Dan played a merchant in Fiddler on the Roof at his high school this past weekend.  We're so proud of him for just trying out, and besides ourselves that our freshman was in all the big ensemble numbers and even scored a few lines!

Here he is selling bagels (wait for the transition from the previous scene):

And amongst "the sons" in "Tradition":

A couple more photos:

Meeting The "Obamas"

Me, Blair and Daniel at Madame Tussaud's in NYC, 12/29/10.

The Next Phase

Today I had my follow up appointment with the oncologist.  He started me on tamoxifen.  (He also wants me to start taking baby aspirin to counter balance the increased risk of clotting from the tamoxifen.)  I'm to come back in a month if I'm experiencing side effects.  

I also spoke to the gal who was supposed to set me up with PT for my shoulder and a personal trainer.  She made an appointment for me for tonight.  The cancer center has an arrangement with an assisted living facility (that coincidentally Blair used to work at) to use their fitness center two nights a week.  The trainer showed me how to use the machines and I tried them all and used the recumbent bike and a recumbent stepper.  I can go Monday and Friday afternoons.  And I can do yoga Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings.  That seems like a good start.

It's also time to stop eating like I'm bulking up for an endless winter.  I decided not to worry about it too much while I was in treatment, but it's time to get serious.

Happy Anniversary!

To my parents - 50 years today! We're all meeting up in the Bronx for dinner (but Mom doesn't know), and my youngest sister came through by letting Dad know that an eternity band would go over well. They couldn't afford a diamond when they got married (she 19, he 23).

Photos! clockwise from top left: My Mom and her mother; dad and mom;
dad and his mother; mom's mom and dad's dad - they were soooo young!!

And here they are at their party 50 years later!

And she was thrilled and overwhelmed with her ring. We went back to my brother's for dessert and he gave it to her there. She was surprised and loved it. She kept watching it sparkle all night. Dad did good.

Wish Me Luck!

I just finished my application for CT's ARC program this summer.  Hopefully I can start next fall as a High School Math teacher.



The program runs for 8 or 9 weeks this summer in Hartford including student teaching. It runs all day each week.
It's about an hour or so drive from here and I don't know whether to suck up the drive or stay up there during the week.

Typical Teenager

A friend's teen "liked" this on Facebook:


> I'm just a typical teenager?
> I have a messy room.
> I'm moody.
> I get up late.
> I swear.
> I complain most of the time.
> I spend most of my time on my pc.
> I have private things on my phone.
> I go to bed late.
> So mom and dad .. Deal with it.

So I came up with:

I'm just the parent of a typical teenager?
I know a messy room can make it hard to concentrate (not to mention it being unsanitary).
I'd prefer you didn't take your mood out on the rest of us.
It makes the rest of us late when you get up late.
I'd like you to swear only when it's appropriate to the situation and audience.
Instead of complaining, pitch in and fix it.
Take some breaks from the computer to rest your eyes and exercise your body.
Until you're 18, privacy is a privilege and not a right - earn it. And until you are paying your own phone bill, your phone is really mine.
You can go to bed when you want to, as long as you wake up on time and in a good mood..
So teenager .. Deal with it.