Thoughts in My Head

This is the journal entry I did for today. Lots of thoughts in my head. Many of them about letting go of the ego-voice in my head, and reconnecting to the energy web of life that we are all apart of. Of rediscovering myself, my passion for art.

Plans for this weekend aren't working out. B is busy with work and may not be able to go to the Renaissance fair with me. Tonight... not sure what to do. There is something in me that feels this need to *Do* something, rather than just be. I should go see a movie, or invite a friend over. But on the other hand it may be nice to just kick back with some Dr. Who and BSG and a pizza.

Saturday I will take another "me" day. A day to dream, do art, re-energize. Next weekend will be busy, draining. I have a teen slumber party to henna at on Friday night, and then henna-ing all day at the Kirkwood festival on Saturday the 17th. Come by and say hello if you're in the area.

Today should be a good one. Kindergarten will walk to the park and spend the whole day there. I'm looking forward to it.

Henna for the Prom

This is the back piece I did yesterday afternoon. The gal has prom on Saturday, and wanted a design that incorporated her favorite flower, the clematis, with a hummingbird. She sent me photos that I worked up a sketch from that became this. I'm VERY not-happy with the forward wing of the hummingbird. Something about it to my critical eye makes it look hard and flat, not as a wing, like the other one. I used thick lines on the back, since it'll help it to show up better. When we were done, I showed her this photo, and she really liked the design. I dried and sealed the design, then wrapped it in adhesive gauze for her drive home. The brown lines on the sides mark where her prom dress hits her.

Friday is almost here. The kindergarten classes will walk to the park nearby for the day. A day of playing with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, hula hoops, footballs, and swingsets. A day of picnic lunches and watermelon seed spitting contests. A day of water balloon games. It shall be good.

I applied for the Cadre yesterday. I decided to because I want to take an active role in my learning and growing as a professional. I want a new experience, and this is one way to do so.

Yesterday I doodled in a notebook while at work. My goal is to eventually have faerie designs I can henna. On 2 of these, I was just trying to "go with the flow" and see what came out. One started as a faerie but ended more like a mermaid:



One ended up being a curvaceous fairy that I like a lot... dunno about the wings though.

And then there was the one where I was going for a "flowered skirt" look
I talked with a friend last night about why I do certain things. Things that aren't great for my health. Over eat, over drink, etc. I told him it's partly because I think too much, and it's a way to get my brain to shut off for a while. The other is that it's because I'm not doing what I really want to do, who I really want to be. He asked what it was I wanted, and I said it was to be an artist.

Things that make you go Hmmm

My API (Assistant Principal of Instruction) told me today she'd like me to apply for the Kindergarten Cadre Team program. Basically it's a lot of work, but the focus is one that's been central to me lately. It's about being able to meet the GA Performance Standards (GPS = curriculum) in Kindergarten through hands on projects in conjunction with the basal reading series, and the chosen math series.

Basically, "how do I do what I'm supposed to do without using all the ditto masters that came with this unit?"

I hate dittos. Back when I started teaching, we it was frowned on for a "kindergarten" teacher to use dittos.

But here's the quandry. We're still required to give unit tests (ditto'd of course) every 6 weeks in Reading and Math. We have to, because the scores are needed by our APIs because someone above them says they want them. So... where to find the balance? When you're dealing with kindergarten, a lil bit of what we do is teaching how to take a test, and getting them used to what to do on a test (circle the answer, finish the pattern, etc). Sometimes, it takes practice sheets so the students know what the format looks like, and it doesn't throw them off the first time they see it.

It would be a LOT of work for me. I would have to:

attend quarterly meetings

train Kindergarten establishing a standards based classroom

train and support teachers in the implementation of the standards based report card

train and support teachers in the implementation of the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills

open up my classroom as a model classroom for the implementation of DCSS adopting curriculum

In some ways, that may feel like being under a microscope. So I'm not sure how I feel. Part of me wants to be the one that gets inspired, not "have to" inspire others. But if I take part in this, perhaps, as teachers, we can all inspire each other.

Things that make you go hmmm....

This was my view yesterday at the dogpark. My lower back has been aching somewhat, so I lay down on the picnic table bench and saw this glorious scene. How many days had I been coming to this park, sat under this tree, and NEVER saw this sight? When I was a kid, I was always looking at trees, climbing trees, and being connected with the life force in them. Being grown up I lost that. Yesterday though I was able to reconnect, relax, and enjoy.



This is for Vickie :) She posted the quote on my blog and I loved it so much I wanted to put it into an art journal. It reads, "We cannot help the birds of sadness from flying over our heads, but we need not let them nest in our hair."

Renewal

I've had a renewal in my love and passion for henna. YAY!

What triggered it? Honestly, it was the festival yesterday I was at. I was volunteering my time and skills there, and was able to relax and just enjoy what I was doing. Designs are by Lezard, here are some photos:


The gold is a gilding paste I started using recently. I really enjoyed it once I got the hang of it. It's made me investigate other gilding pastes and I hope to have it in many more colors for the Kirkwood Festival on the 17th.

I had a great weekend. Friday night I attended a friend's wedding at our church. It was combined Jewish and Pagan traditions, and was beautiful as well as simple. The reception had lovely food, and I stayed to help cleanup.

About 9:45 I bolted out of there though. I had just 15 minutes to make it over to the theatre to see Iron Man. Wooo talk about a rockin' movie! I loved it, and will most likely go see it again. Stay past the credits, there's one more scene. This has more to do with the comic lore than the movie itself.

My hand still aches from the festival yesterday, but the sense of renewed enthusiasm is worth it. I think this is a note to myself to volunteer occasionally to keep the sense of wonder of the art fresh. I got several nice compliments. The one that made me laugh though, was from a Hindi teen who was watching me work, and saw the designs on my own hands. I asked him what he thought and he said "That's tight!"

Cool.

New Henna, the Dog Park, and a Joy

Here's the stain from Monday's henna. The color isn't exactly right. For instance, the fingernails should be hot pink hehe. I guess I need to use the camera with flash, instead of my phone.
Edited to add: I did go back and try to take a photo with my regular camera, but the flash wouldn't work. Perhaps it's given up the ghost.

I got a really cool compliment last night. I went to pick up some Indian food at Cafe Bombay. The guy behind the counter, a good-looking Indo-Pak in his 30s, commented on my henna. He asked if I'd been to a wedding. I said no, that I did henna. He said really? I commented, "Yea I know, weird white girl that does henna." He kept staring at it, and commented "That's some skill. How long you been doing it?" I said 2 years, and gave him my card.

That's some skill! I felt awesome all the way home.


This is the design I did last night on the palm of my right hand. I am naturally right-handed, so to do this left handed took a while. It's also by Kiran Sahib and "goes with" the design on the outer left hand.


The dog park was really fun yesterday. The photo above shows Rose tugging on a stick that her favorite playmate, Sophie, has in her mouth. The Sheltie, named Blitzen, looks on, imagining himself to be Rose.

Blitzen is about 5 or 6 months old. When she first came to the dog park she was so very timid of other dogs. She wouldn't come out from under the picnic table except to greet humans. Today she showed how far she'd come. She was not only wanting to play with other dogs, she tried to engage Rose! Of course, she'd run away when Rose came after her.

Rose and Sophie play very rough. Grabbing jowls and ears and necks in their jaws. Tussling each other to the ground and so on. Don and I keep a watch on them when they "wrestle".

Rose and Blitzen did have a moment of play today too, under the picnic table. Rose was remarkably gentle with Blitz in comparison. Like she knows what each dog can take, and dishes out only that accordingly.

I had a moment of joy in school yesterday. We were talking about "things we do in the morning". One boy said, "Like when Mom tells me to make my bed cause you messed it up."

I laughed. "I messed it up huh?" I can see it now, "Son, go make your bed, Ms. Spears has been jumping on it again." The class and I giggled over that one.


I leave you with your moment of doggie zen: