In my months between being a student and finding a teaching job, I have stumbled on this little side industry. I've been selling around Iowa City and have branched out a little. Please visit my store.
For those of you voting tomorrow - I don't need to tell you anything. Good for you. For those of you who are not sure if they are voting tomorrow - please vote.
mls and I are talking about "redecorating" our living room. I use "redecorate" loosely because right now things are not exactly "decorated."
We have a desk, a leather chair & automan, a futon (that the dog likes to lay on) a marble top coffee table and a strange antique dresser with mirror in there right now.
This is the first room you see when you walk in, but it gets the least use.
So, today I'm free of the kid for a little while. I figure I'll do some of the things I rarely get a chance to do. Gilbert St. Interiors is a little place off the strip that I have passed a million times and thought how much fun it would be to stop in there - so today I finally did.
OMG! $119 for a 12" embroidered silk throw pillow (one) $375 for a silver(tone) table lamp with silk shade [expensive lamp, but f#ckin' gorgeous! The shade was chocolate brown on the outside and brilliant aqua blue on the inside. The lamp base was silvery and hammered. When it was lit the aqua reflected on the lamp base.]
I was so out of my league. I wanted to scurry away, but I just couldn't... I had started talking to the sales girl - nicey nice - and then I couldn't get away! It was horrible. I had to ask her about the beautiful lamp that I couldn't afford, and then she had to show me the catalog and explain their "custom services." EEEEEK! Somebody save me!
Sunday afternoon the family went to Coralville pool to splash around a bit. We like to sit in the very shallow area and play in the water. I swear to you the water was the temperature of piss. There were a million little kids and their parents at the pool and the water temperature was not "refreshing" at all.
Teagan is certainly my little water baby. She loves any activity involving water. She will drink the bath/pool water - which I discourage, but sometimes I am unable to prevent it. This evening, in 98 degrees F, we ran through the sprinkler and splashed in the kiddie pool on our deck. I dread the day we have to put the kiddie pool away for winter... there will be tears.
I am so dead tired... I was just going to check my friends page and go to bed. Sad really. I find all of your lives more interesting than anything I could watch on TV/cable. Then I discovered an old friend is a new LJ friend. wombee Hooray!
I have been editioning an intaglio print for one of my professors in her private studio. The woman is nearly 80 and she can print circles around me. Anyway... I am exhausted. More tomorrow.
For those of you who are interested or those who have not already seen them, Baby Pictures are on mls's site. (Ultrasound)
There is a lot of acrobatics going on inside my belly these days. So much so, that I wonder about the women who claim they didn't know/realize that they were pregnant. How could you NOT NOTICE when something, where your stomach should be located, does a back-flip and then cuddles up to one of your kidneys? Anyway... I have a regular round belly now. There is no mistaking the fact that I'm pregnant. A friend recently described me as an "Earth Mama," saying that I was carrying this pregnancy well.
My doctor has scheduled me for a Level 2 ultrasound exam. Because of the baby's placement the first time, we had trouble getting a clear picture of the four chambers that make up the heart. This is an important feature to be born with, so my Doc would like to try again, just to be sure. She is cool that way. This also gives us another chance at discovering the gender of our little tyke. YAY!
...meet the University of Iowa's School of Art and Art History's top graduate candidate in Printmaking! (Fanfare, Ta-Da's and Cheering) I just wanted to share with you part of my next adventure that has worked itself out. I worked really hard to get my portfolios, slides and statements ready to send off. Now they've been gone a while and I got a telephone call from the head of the printmaking department at Iowa (my top choice of school). He wanted to tell me personally that I was accepted and that I was his top candidate and if there was money to be passed out that I would have first consideration according to him. So kids, I'm goin' to Iowa. I'm taking my husband with me this time, in case any of you were thnking of consoling my sweet, sexy pudge-bunny. (he-he)
Technically I will be working to achieve my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in printmaking. That is a three year course of study. The center for the book is also located on the same campus, so I could tack on a year and become certified in Book Arts (binding, type setting, font design, etc.) I am going to be an old lady by the time this is all done. God! please let me find a rewarding tenure position out of all of this!
Of course all our friends (LJ and others) are invited to visit us in the cornfield captial of the USA. If anyone is up for Crop-Circle creation, this would be the place to do it Iowa City is a tiny town that only exists because of the college. Everything else is CORN.
I was fired from my job on Sunday. I'm still not sure what happened or why.
My next adventure is begining sooner than I thought it would. I suppose that is alright by me.
The last time I was out of work, I made a list of the places I thought I would like to work. Then, I visited those places and found out if they were hiring. Any one who has suggestions for how I should go about looking for work this time, feel free to comment.
Has it been three days? I am in a fog. Tomorrow I have a date with my neighbor to watch his infant daughter tackle strained peas for the first time and play Scrabble. I have been feverishly working to complete my graduate applications also.
Lord & Lady bless my husband who has to share a house with me - poor man! mls At least I showered and got dressed today.
Today is Tuesday. I seriously cannot remember my last day off. Judging by may calendar, it was saturday the 13th. MLS and I shopped that day.
Since it is extremely rare for me to have a day off during the week, without my husband around, this is what I have already done, and a few things I wish to accomplish still. ( What I've done...Collapse )
After doing all of these things, is this really a day off? I mean, I think I work harder on my "days off" than I do at my job. That is not always the case. This is a busy time for retailer-types like myself. I have lost 7 pounds this holiday season, mainly because I run around the store, climb the ladder, run to the basement, etc. all in the name of making a buck.
**Please tell any one and everyone you think would be interested **
Two of my dear friends, Liz and Jim, watched their home go up in flames on the night of Thanksgiving. Everything they had was lost to the fire, including their beloved pets. They are thankful for their health, and the support of friends and family. However, it has been difficult dealing with this loss so close to the holidays.
Please come to a benefit in their honor.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 15th at LAURA'S 1029 BAR on the corner of Broadway and Marshall NE 6 - 10pm
Cash donations will be accepted at the door to help this young couple get back on their feet. Come and enjoy a beer, for a good cause. Hope to see you there!
This past week I have been a bit of a stress case. I have been printing for (what seems like) days in a row in preparation for a print competition. The image I really wanted to enter was not finished until after the deadline - bummer. Then, to make matters worse - the stone I was working off of decided to be a bitch an blow up in my face. (That sounds funny - how does a stone decide to be a bitch? Let's just say I lost the image.) Litho 101 My darling, who was at the shop at the time, spent time questioning why this would happen. He could see that I was not in the mood to try and decode the mysteries of Lithography... so he says "The image looked really good before it started having problems" My reply: "That's like saying, 'You looked really hot, before that horrible disfiguring accident.'" It could not be saved - I have 8 impressions, 2 of which are decent. I have been working on this image, with it's six color plates for the past 5 months. If nothing else... Lithography teaches you to be humble.
Highpoint Center for Printmaking is letting me teach a class! (see bottom of the page) The class starts a week from Tuesday, and I am looking forward to teaching again. Having motivated students is the best part of the whole deal. They come in and they want to be there - cool. If anyone needs me Tuesday nights from now til Christmas - this is where I'll be.
I hate to give out a year in review, so I won't. I will say that a lot has changed since I lived in the hacienda in Albuqerque. All the usual suspects have split up and gone their separate ways. We still keep in touch - of course - but not as intimately as we did when we were all heaped in a dog pile.
Returning to Minnesota, and returning to life in a relationship has taken some getting used to. I am happy to say that Minnesota and the relationship are working out just fine.
mlsand I were married. That was pretty cool. Our wedding was certianly the highlight of 2003.
I am doing a lot of different things now - too many to list, but I promise to keep writing.
My last entry was in early July. It's now early January of 2003. Happy New Year all of you.
Yes. Minnesota has completely consumed me. My life has changed dramatically since I've arrived here, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I guess not too bad - otherwise I would have changed something by now.
* Matthew and I are getting married. I am excited and relieved that we have finally agreed that our lives together are better than our lives apart from one another. I DO love him and I am honored to have him as my life-partner. He compliments me, as I do him. I am NOT thrilled at the prospect of planning a wedding. I have been through this once already and I am not looking forward to all the political family bullshit that tends to lurk in the perifery of this type of event. We are shooting for May of 2003. * I am working - A LOT. I have been working two jobs, plus teaching, in order to make ends meet. I will be interviewing for a store manager's position this thursday. The funky little gift shop I work for (3 days a week) is opening a new location. They need some one to manage and I need to be salaried, so you see... it's a perfect fit. The HR person really likes me and I think I have a decent shot at it. I refuse to return to corporate U.S.A. if I can help it. I am also working (2-3 days a week) at a printshop, Highpoint Center for Printmaking. Recently, I finished editioning a little lithograph for Highpoint. I was pleased. The master printer was pleased. I have also taught two classes at Highpoint in Lithography. I love teaching adults who are motivated to learn. I am looking forward to teaching there again. Hopefully this summer. I am constantly schemeing for a way to work from home and make a million dollars without having to sell diet pills, vaccum cleaners or "services." The ecconomy sucks. I worry about it often and I am just thankful to have a job. * This doesn't sound like very much to keep me consumed - I know I have been doing other things. Settling in to my house again, creating an art-making space, I was in a group printmakers show, getting reacquainted with my Minnesota girlfriends, stuff like that. We have been to Chicago twice and Colorado once since July. Matthew and I have joined the YWCA, but I haven't been there since Thanksgiving.... Like I said, I've been really busy.
Driving from New Mexico to Minnesota is cause for culture shock. We stopped at a Wendy's (why?)on July 3rd, right around dinner time(WHY?). I sent Matthew in to stand in line and I agreed to take our two dogs on a walk. Just on the other side of the parking lot, in view of the drive-thru, was a patch of green, that I thought the dogs would enjoy peeing on. We wandered over.
We stayed in the short grass for a little while, but the dogs were anxious to explore. I noticed a short fence where the tall grass started, so I walked in that direction, figuring that the dogs would be discouraged by the fence and eventually turn around. As we approached this fence, I noticed it was made of wood posts and wire, the kind you'd use to keep livestock in a pen. We walked along the fence a few paces, and my clever dogs found an opening! That's when I realized...
I stopped in my tracks and looked at what lay before me; a cemetary. The grass was higher than my knees. There was a stump where a tree had been cut down. A few of the grave markers were broken, with their pieces laying on the ground. A splash of color; some plastic flowers that were faded and overgrown by grass. This place had been forgotten. Looking over my shoulder I could easily see the cars waiting in line at the Wendy's Drive-thru. Eight or ten cars all filled with people who were hot, tired and hungry waited in line to speak into the michrophone.
I walked up to one of the headstones, not the largest, but I didn't have to bend down to read what was inscribed there. Isabel Steward, 1832 - 1902 Our Beloved Mother. I greeted her politely, and explained that I ment no disrespect by having my dogs with me. There was Queen Anne's Lace and evidence of Daffodils that bloomed in the spring around her grave. 1902 - Isabel has been dead 100 years. When she was born, Andrew Jackson had just taken office.
Dead one hundred years. Makes you think about your own mortality. She has been dead longer than she was alive, and that eventually is true for all people, isn't it? I coudn't believe that this little sacred space was so insultingly near a fast-food restaurant. It makes you think about capitalism in America, and what will become of your own remains one day. For those of you who own grave plots already, you should ask how long you are allowed occupy them. The space is often recycled after a period of 50 years or so. (Unless you are very rich or somewhat famous.)
tired
optimistic
happy
relaxed
energetic
disappointed
bouncy
drunk
groggy
sad