found this guy hiding in a cabinet. He was in a common kitchen area in
my office, behind some plastic utensils; only now he's my Bughouse (or
whatever I call it) avatar.
5 Songs I Like to Play Around Thanksgiving
21 hours ago
Monday, September 28, 2009
A confirmation from the universe
found this guy hiding in a cabinet. He was in a common kitchen area in
my office, behind some plastic utensils; only now he's my Bughouse (or
whatever I call it) avatar.
New ideas: Bughouse
Just putting this down in a place that's not only somewhere I'll look at later but is public (& therefore holds me accountable), my blog.
I had a dream/vision last night that I was at a craft fair selling my work (jewelry & plush) with a line that was entirely insect-based. The banner I had was labeled "The Bughouse" (a dream-reference to HAJ's private blog?). I specific item I held in my hands was a black/gold bee necklace strung on black ribbon with gold threads running through it. This looked nothing like anything I've ever made.
I've been considering little pieces of this, but my dream had it on a much larger scale. I'm planning to pursue this—does Heather mind if I use that shop name? I'm sure I can come up with another, but it fits well!
A recent book purchase, "Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art " just came in the mail on Saturday and I started reading it—one of the earlier tips on trying to find time for your art in the book is that when you are considering ideas throughout your day, epiphanies may come in your dreams.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
My fabulous friend Staci is on TV!
[embedded video]
Staci is a certified instructor for Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) and that's her son Donovan swimming in her teaching pool! According to ISR's website,
"...a truly comprehensive infant swimming education and self-rescue skill instruction method that is well established in the fields of health care, psychology/behavioral sciences, anatomy and physiology. Since 1966, ISR has safely delivered over 7 million lessons to teach water self-rescue skills to more than 177,224 babies and has educated parents and medical experts nationwide on water safety techniques and proven instruction methods. To date, ISR has 788 documented cases of children using ISR techniques to save themselves from drowning. Please remember that there is no substitute for adult supervision.
She helps babies learn basic swim skills to keep themselves from drowning. I love her.
Staci's daughter, Margaret, is Rosie's BFF at school, and when Dash & Donovan, (Staci's son) both start Kindergarten next year they might be classmates as well. Whenever we had a break this past summer, I'd take the kids over to play with Margaret & Donovan and no matter what, we'd all end up in the pool. Rosie is still not much of a swimmer and neither is Dash, but with Staci's help, they ought to be soon enough.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Work-friends ≠ going-out-friends
There's a lovely person that I work with, almost a "work spouse" if you will, that I share projects with, take coffee breaks with, and generally feel a little empty if they don't make it in that day. Honestly, though, we don't have much in common outside work. We were chatting about our weekend exploits and she mentioned that her friend took her to some awful bar downtown that she'd never go to again. I go to a lot of awful bars downtown, so I asked her to give details.
Location? "Oh, off 14th, near some letter streets, but not in Dupont Circle."
Type of bar? "All ages, and really scuzzy."
Music? "It was supposed to be an 80s music dance night, but it was awful alternative stuff, nothing I recognized at all. I think of Journey when I think of 80s, you know?"
People? "It was full of all the worst, ugly, nerdy losers that never got picked in gym class! They actually called out a guy who'd been coming there every night for eight years and was celebrating his birthday that night. Who goes to the same bar every night? What a LOSER!"
It dawned on me: she was talking about my favorite, scuzzy, dance venue, all-ages bar off of 14th Street. Black Cat. I know most of the bartenders there by name and used to be a regular when we lived a few blocks from it.
I just celebrated my birthday there.
Location? "Oh, off 14th, near some letter streets, but not in Dupont Circle."
Type of bar? "All ages, and really scuzzy."
Music? "It was supposed to be an 80s music dance night, but it was awful alternative stuff, nothing I recognized at all. I think of Journey when I think of 80s, you know?"
People? "It was full of all the worst, ugly, nerdy losers that never got picked in gym class! They actually called out a guy who'd been coming there every night for eight years and was celebrating his birthday that night. Who goes to the same bar every night? What a LOSER!"
It dawned on me: she was talking about my favorite, scuzzy, dance venue, all-ages bar off of 14th Street. Black Cat. I know most of the bartenders there by name and used to be a regular when we lived a few blocks from it.
I just celebrated my birthday there.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Dash's Halloween Costume?
BWAhahaha-haha! Can you see it?My apologies to Neil Patrick Harris.
Dash wants to be a superhero scientist for Halloween, like the science-lab guys who fight monsters on Inframan. Will Dr. Horrible be acceptable? Maybe!
Monkeyrotica suggests Buckaroo Banzai (but that's not much of a costume, eh? put a skinny tie and parachute pants on and yr done.), and other players might be Dr. Two-Brains or any other evil science mastermind. Who do you recommend?
Monday, September 14, 2009
Resolving for Fall: picking up loose ends
Maybe now that summer is over, I can consider getting back into blogging more often. It almost seems like I took summer off, doesn't it?
SCHOOL!
Rosie just finished her first week of First Grade and I think this year will ROCK!! Her kindergarten year was a roller coaster of getting called out for behavior issues. With her new teacher, though, I think things will run more smoothly in 1st. Mrs. C already told us that her teaching style is a polar opposite from Miss M, and even her classroom is set up in a more relaxed, creative way. There's a relaxation area with couches and activity areas set up with much more opportunity for collaborations between classmates. They already have art projects up on the walls and Rosie is excited about math problems (Yay!).
DANCE!
Thursday was my first modern dance class of the season, and there are a few new dancers enrolled. Four new teenagers signed up, while three of the dancers from last year have moved on. I resolve this year to keep better track of the choreography. I am very guilty of going to class, dancing my heart out, leaving, and then not thinking about it until the following week. By the time next Thursday comes around, I am banging my head against the wall, trying to recall dance steps. This time, I actually wrote them down before bed the same night. Starting off well!
ART!
Friday evening, M. Monkey, the kids and I went to see our dear friends Lauren & David at his art show opening. David's artwork is phenomenal——at first glance, beautifully crafted and attractive, but once the purposes of the wearable art sink in, an energizing sensation of discomfort and desire to participate sink in (I don't have claustrophobia and am comfortable in small spaces, so I'm always intrigued). Someday, I will wear one of his pieces; there has always been a line at the shows when he was allowing volunteers. It was lovely to see them and we all kissed, hugged, and promised to not let so much time pass between our visits. We have known them for over 12 years, but have not seen them as much while our children have been in the larval stage. Now that Rosie and Dash are more interesting little people (and we have reliable babysitters), I foresee renewing our friendship.
AMUSEMENT!
Saturday, we spent most of the day at Six Flags amusement park for my company's annual picnic. Despite arriving at 10:30 a.m. and leaving at 2 p.m., I only rode on two rides? Rosie and Dash both rode on five, and Monkeyrotica only rode one, I think. Maybe when they are older, they can run free and Monkey and I will be able to ride together once again. As it is, we spent all of our time in the kiddie "Looney Tunes" section. We went with our friends Bill & Beth, who we have also known for ages (since HS for Monkey, and sixteen years for me). We all enjoyed the lovely weather (overcast and cool is perfect for an outdoor activity!) and talked about how we needed to do more together as well. Common topic? Beth mentioned that after many friends and family have had kids, they stopped thinking of inviting them along for parties and outings, even though they like kids. We'll do better, I swear. It's so easy to make plans for friends with kids so that the wee ones can entertain each other, without realizing that other pals are being left out. We parted after a long day of it and by the time I got home, I passed out from the exhaustion of marching around, keeping track of everyone all day.
WINDING DOWN.
Two playdates for Sunday! Rosie and Dash wanted to see THEIR friends on Sunday, so we had back-to-back playdates with Ava and Brian (matched ages) in the morning, and Fiona in the afternoon. With Fiona over at our house, all the children were so well-occupied, that I was able to clean the house without being pulled away to fix this, play this game with me, show me how to use the computer, etc.
I hope to see you more often as well. There's a lot that I put aside this summer and I want to pick it all up again.
SCHOOL!
Rosie just finished her first week of First Grade and I think this year will ROCK!! Her kindergarten year was a roller coaster of getting called out for behavior issues. With her new teacher, though, I think things will run more smoothly in 1st. Mrs. C already told us that her teaching style is a polar opposite from Miss M, and even her classroom is set up in a more relaxed, creative way. There's a relaxation area with couches and activity areas set up with much more opportunity for collaborations between classmates. They already have art projects up on the walls and Rosie is excited about math problems (Yay!).
DANCE!
Thursday was my first modern dance class of the season, and there are a few new dancers enrolled. Four new teenagers signed up, while three of the dancers from last year have moved on. I resolve this year to keep better track of the choreography. I am very guilty of going to class, dancing my heart out, leaving, and then not thinking about it until the following week. By the time next Thursday comes around, I am banging my head against the wall, trying to recall dance steps. This time, I actually wrote them down before bed the same night. Starting off well!
ART!
Friday evening, M. Monkey, the kids and I went to see our dear friends Lauren & David at his art show opening. David's artwork is phenomenal——at first glance, beautifully crafted and attractive, but once the purposes of the wearable art sink in, an energizing sensation of discomfort and desire to participate sink in (I don't have claustrophobia and am comfortable in small spaces, so I'm always intrigued). Someday, I will wear one of his pieces; there has always been a line at the shows when he was allowing volunteers. It was lovely to see them and we all kissed, hugged, and promised to not let so much time pass between our visits. We have known them for over 12 years, but have not seen them as much while our children have been in the larval stage. Now that Rosie and Dash are more interesting little people (and we have reliable babysitters), I foresee renewing our friendship.
AMUSEMENT!
Saturday, we spent most of the day at Six Flags amusement park for my company's annual picnic. Despite arriving at 10:30 a.m. and leaving at 2 p.m., I only rode on two rides? Rosie and Dash both rode on five, and Monkeyrotica only rode one, I think. Maybe when they are older, they can run free and Monkey and I will be able to ride together once again. As it is, we spent all of our time in the kiddie "Looney Tunes" section. We went with our friends Bill & Beth, who we have also known for ages (since HS for Monkey, and sixteen years for me). We all enjoyed the lovely weather (overcast and cool is perfect for an outdoor activity!) and talked about how we needed to do more together as well. Common topic? Beth mentioned that after many friends and family have had kids, they stopped thinking of inviting them along for parties and outings, even though they like kids. We'll do better, I swear. It's so easy to make plans for friends with kids so that the wee ones can entertain each other, without realizing that other pals are being left out. We parted after a long day of it and by the time I got home, I passed out from the exhaustion of marching around, keeping track of everyone all day.
WINDING DOWN.
Two playdates for Sunday! Rosie and Dash wanted to see THEIR friends on Sunday, so we had back-to-back playdates with Ava and Brian (matched ages) in the morning, and Fiona in the afternoon. With Fiona over at our house, all the children were so well-occupied, that I was able to clean the house without being pulled away to fix this, play this game with me, show me how to use the computer, etc.
I hope to see you more often as well. There's a lot that I put aside this summer and I want to pick it all up again.
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