Crayons

I didn't think I would like using water soluble crayons as much as I do. Now I wish I hadn't been so conservative and only got the box of 10! They are so fun, and I half wonder if I'll ever take out my watercolors again. My four week "Vivid Journaling" class is over and it led me to make pictures unlike what I usually make. And write more than I usually write. I think this is a good thing, but I still like to look closely at the little things I come across. I saw a ladybug on the sidewalk last Friday...very close to where I saw the katydid last year. Those bugs sure like Charles Street, even if there isn't a lawn in sight. I think a crayon is too thick to color a ladybug, so I suppose I'll still be friends with my watercolors too.

What did you find on the sidewalk today?

Experimenting

I'm experiment with making collages and experimenting with not concerning myself too much about how they turn out. But I cheat a bit on the second half of the experiment. I actually do try to make it come out in a way that I will like - but I am truly trying not to try so hard that it keeps me from doing anything at all. For now, I am happy to have found something to do with the pictures I am drawn to, and save, but never know what do with them.

What could you do if you let go of worrying about how right you get it?

Mopping up my thoughts

I started my Vivid Journaling class on Tuesday. It's technically a writing class, but I am making it into a drawing class as much as I can! My mop drawing came from the first 30 minutes of class. Today the sun is so bright and the temperature so warm it's hard to imagine that just a few days ago we felt like the rain would never stop and each day was an exercise in wresting with the wet.

I told my class instructor I finally decided to sign up for his class because I was intrigued by his name: Kendall Dudley. I figured he could go one of two ways with a name like that: grow up to drink fine wines and own a boat and wear sun bleached Nantucket red shorts, or join the Peace Corps and grow up to wear turquoise rings, stay curious, and teach interesting classes about exploring with writing and color.

What I want to know: do they still make those blue mops? A mop that was bright blue figures prominently in my childhood memories. Does anyone else remember those? Was it a Fuller Brush thing? Does Fuller Brush still exist? Mom?

What did you say?

This week at work I was struck by how much time is taken up just communicating information to other people - and then re-communicating about that same information to whomever didn't comprehend it the first time, or to whomever received the mistranslated version from the non-comprehender. Even though the people with whom I work most closely all speak English as their native language, it's amazing how hard it is for everyone to understand everyone else and for each person to take away the same impression from the same conversation. I had a meeting on Thursday where I thought someone had said, "let's do x, y, and z,"...which seemed a little excessive to me (and this is coming from me, little Miss Triple-check) and so I thought I must have misunderstood. So I said, "did you just say "let's do x, y, and z? Because I think just doing x and z would be enough." And the other person said, in a way that was hard to follow, "no, I am saying we should just do x and z." So I said, "okay, that's good. Let's do that." Then, the next day, I get an email from that person laying out the workplan that says "We are going to do x, y, and z." What?!

I am going to let it go, even if it'll take days more to complete the project which has already dragged on beyond belief.

So, I was finally on my way home on Friday evening, tiredly waiting for the train at the Downtown Crossing subway station. And there, singing on the platform, was a musician who always caused me to deflate whenever I realize she's there and I'll have to listen to her until the train comes. She's kind of trapped in 1972 and is always singing depressing social justice songs from that era - in a painful monotone voice and with an expressionless face. The word "joyless" comes to mind. Last night she was singing the Oasis song "Wonderwall", but still managed to make it sound like a song you would hear in a church basement during a Catholic folk Mass. Both the voice and the volume, bouncing around all the hard surfaces of the subway station, were painful. So I sat on the bench with my hands over my ears. I could see two people were walking down the platform, so I looked up at them as they were passing. When I looked up, I saw the man was looking at me, so I looked back at him. He smiled at me. I smiled back. I knew why he was smiling at me, and he knew I knew why he was smiling at me. Easy. Total comprehension, no words. Why can't it always be like that?

At least I'm consistent

It's true. I really do like stripes.

Blue skies

I'll take the warm days and blue, sunny skies we had this weekend over the 10-inches of rain we got last weekend.

Other than that, I'm a little sad because I just found out that my all time favorite radio show host, Ray Smith, has died at the age of 87. He hosted Jazz Decades every Sunday night for the past 38 years and I have been listening to it for 15 years at least. Maybe even 20. A lot of interesting knowledge of tiny bits of jazz history died along with him. And, he had that particular Boston accent you don't hear so much anymore...unless you are talking to my dad! That accent is even better than the one you hear from the Car Talk guys. You can learn more about Ray's life and his show here. Thanks for introducing me to so much great music Ray.

Portrait Party!

I finally held my first portrait party yesterday and it was a lot of fun. All day the rain was pouring and the wind was blowing. Staying inside to draw and drink was the perfect thing to do.

This is Stacy's drawing of Peter B. Of all of our drawings of Peter, this one is the most unmistakably him. I can even tell what he's thinking! (but maybe I have an unfair advantage because he's my brother.)

This is Pete Y's drawing of me. I think he really captured my inner Muppet! :-)

Here's my drawings of Jessica. Her face completely changed from the 2-minute pose to the 15-minute pose. It was very interesting to see that happen and try to capture it.

This is Stacy, drawn by Jessica. I love how this picture captures Stacy's regal essence!

Here's Pete Y. drawn by Peter B. I like how he rendered Pete's glasses. Can you believe he's taken a 10-year break from drawing? Welcome back to the pencil, Peter!

If you want to know what a portrait party is, you can learn more about it at Rama Hughes' site. Try it, you'll like it!