Leather Jacket

Circa 1984.  Apparently my sister, D, kept this when I tossed it out.  That was years ago.  She says that she wore it a few times, too.  Then during a recent move, she packed it up and sent it back to me.  I wasn't looking for it but it has been a fun surprise. One surprised is that it still fit. I was so small back then.

Anyway, in order to get the full nostalgic effect, imagine a head of super big, curly, messy 80s hair, lots of thick black eye-liner, painted-on jeans and black slouchy boots with buckles.  Oh, and lose the glasses.  Then put me behind the wheel of a convertible or on the back of a motorcycle.  Or walking in the park. Probably smoking a cigarette.

I wore it to the movies the other night and felt like I was in costume when no one else was.

Sustain

We have a non-fiction movie in the works.

It's about sound.

Who gets me?

Psychologists built a site for guessing personalities.  Click on the "Who gets me?" title to test it out.  So far CB and TP totally get me.  Of course.  I knew that already.  That is probably why I sent it to them first... And it is mutual.

Shallow Breathing

wtf was I thinking? 300 level course. meets 3 hours once a week.  too much time is now not enough time. contemporary art.  and criticism.  freaking hell.  

One week it is great, my plan works and I see light bulbs flashing in my students heads and I get a huge charge out of it. Another week it is painful and flat. Either way it is draining.  I am a novice performing dental work.  And I know it.  

I'm told that this is all normal.  It's my first time teaching it and it's all new course prep.  Ok.  Damn it that sucks.  And it is so different from other courses that I have taught - I LIKE THIS COURSE.  But ultimately, I can't tell if I care too much or not enough to do this sort of thing. Well.  Do it and be good at it.  

Do you feel the anxiety attack I am living?  When I plan a day's class.  When I grade an assignment.  When I sit alone in my office which is totally bazaaro.

Today I made a pizza with garlic and tomatillos from my garden.  I used dough from a local bakery.  It grounded me. Tasty, fresh and comforting.  It feels good to cook. It put the anxiety attack at bay for a few seconds.  

Enough on that - off the Holland Lake for the weekend for A/D's wedding.  Cheers!!!

Catsup

That is code for catching up.  My Mom used it, somehow, when I was a kid, but don't ask me to explain it.  But that is what I am doing.

The Burbank trip was successful for the TBG Project.  We shot a lot and all of the coordinating and event planning went off without a hitch.  I even got a touching Thank-you phone call from the main subject when I got home.  A lot of good stuff there.

The Art Crit class went super last week but was just plain work last night.  Ick. More on that later, I guess.

Details aside, the bottom line is that I am beat.  Spent.  So, now I am taking time to renew myself.

Last night, after class, instead of grading or paying bills or whatever, I made a white chili recipe that I jotted down on the back of a receipt in a Dr.'s office a week or so ago. I just got the skeleton of the recipe, which has chicken and cannellini beans and is pretty simple, which are always the recipes I love the most.  It turned out phenomenal - tasty and satisfying to make. I love to fill my house with the smell of cooked onions.  It represents a savory start. Simple. Healthy. Just plain good.   

  

Voting for Gender

Just a quick post about the 'women's vote.' You have probably already seen it, but click 'Voting for Gender' to see a video.  

P.S. Thank you Tina and Amy.

Button Up

I just ordered Obama buttons. You can get them for free at MoveOn.  Click "Button Up" to get yours.

piano and pears

This is just how the package looked when I opened it, under some bubble wrap tossed on top.  Dick & Mabel send many packages like this.  Often with less packaging.  And the precious cargo - often perishables - always makes it.

Anyway, the pears and apples are off of a tree they call mine. They are gorgeous, perfect and delicious.  But why the VHS tapes, you ask?  Those are for B from Mom.  She gave away her piano a few years ago, and in giving it up she gave up her own dream to play the piano. So when B said that he believes he has a brilliant pianist inside of him, just waiting to be revealed, it was all over for her.  All of her children gave up the musical instruments that she pushed at them. (Mine was the piano as well as the flute, incidentally.)  But now she might have found at least a willing compadre to place some of her aspirations. She wants to know if she should also send him her sheet music - only a few select pieces, of course. I suggested maybe she hold off until he has a piano...

Hi-Line

We took a road trip along the Montana Hi-line.  So now I have been to Malta.  Eastern Montana is very different from Western Montana.  It feels turbulent and more severe, with a reputation for strong winds and harsh, cold winters.  Our last two days we drove in a lot of rain but it is still gorgeous and austere.  I liked it.  I also liked driving away without a laptop and just moving through space.  Reminding ourselves we are free, I guess.  And that feels absolutely true when on the road in that landscape. No internet & no-think-y. Sitting a spell to watch prairie dogs pop up and down from their holes.

P.S.

A question that comes up on these MT road trips: Why are there so many Mint Bars?  They almost all have a Stockman's Bar, too, but that I get since these are mostly small ranch towns.  But Mint? So then there is the probability of minting coins here with a long history of the mining of gold and silver in MT.  So, that is the theory I have at the moment.