Art!

Yes, folks. Finally. The rest of my "art"

This first one was posted a while ago but I finally finished with the lines and dots. I call it "Duality of Light". Yeah, over-reaching but who cares?

The following is one of six required paintings. I only have three to post. One was the molecule I posted earlier (stencil), one was a collaboration (partner took it), and one I didn't finish (oops). This one is my, um, "self-portrait". Baahahahahahaha!!! My rendering skills for people, is, a, lacking.

This next one is my "still-life". Clearly the rendering skills did not improve...

This one I was actually happy with. It's my take on "cubism".

This one was suppose to represent the path of life. Originally it had two other canvases attached to it but they wouldn't stay on correctly so I decided to just remove them. So now it is more or less my version of Pollock. Sorry to offend anyone who is a fan of his...

Last, and most importantly, this was my final project. I was completely happy with how it turned out. It is really striking in person - the digital camera in the house with bad lighting just doesn't do it justice. I took the idea from the "Duality of Light". Everyone thought it was so great before I added the particles and waves that I thought maybe a bigger canvas with multiple circle fades would be really cool. And it is!

Busy, busy, busy

I keep meaning to take pictures of my latest art work and it just doesn't happen. I have had the time. I always forget. So, sorry there are no new pictures of striking works of art by chemgoddess for you to set your eyes upon.

Speaking of art work, I recently painted a ceramic utensil holder and I was actually quite happy with the results! Normally, I think my work looks clearly amateur. Maybe it was the use of stencils... but it looks great! Another thing I need to take a picture of.... hmmm.

The reason I found myself painting ceramics is that I had an entire afternoon off during a conference I was attending. They scheduled it that way! But this conference was at the YMCA in the Ozarks and so the amenities were, um, lacking. No phone in the room. No TV in the room! The idea is that if you are vacationing there with your family that the family members will actually spend time with each other rather than with electronics and such. A great idea but this was the "meeting center". We are working professionals staying at the lodge alone. The no TV thing seriously sucked for us. So, during the afternoons when we always had a two-hour break I went sailing, biking, hiking, mini-golfing and to the arts&crafts pavilion. I was going to go shooting but I didn't have time.

The a&c pavilion had a whole whack of painting stuff (ceramics and acrylics), scrapbooking (which I am avoiding like the plague), candle making, jewelery making, tie-dye, and some other daily choices. I settled in for a five hour paint-a-thon on the afternoon off. It was uncomfortably hot out and I was tired. The idea of major physical exertion but not particularly appealing at that point. Really, I should have tried to take a nap. But no, I went and painted.

The funny thing is that I started a new project during my paint-a-thon and didn't finish it. This required me to go after the conference ENDED on Sat. and sit there for another four hours finishing. I am sometimes, I must admit, an idiot. The project turned out pretty good and I am sending it to my mom for a late b-day gift. I hope she doesn't think it looks like a 4th grader painted it. I was a little pressed for time.

The conference itself was for college educators. It was very touchy-feely but I really enjoyed some of it. By the end, I was done. In fact, I was done after day three. The thing is five days long. It's just too much. And it ate up too much of my time off between semesters...

I think that across the board educators, particularly college level, are underpaid. I mean, there is just something wrong with the fact that I made (significantly) more seven years ago as a B.S. in industry than I do now with a Ph.D. However, I love, LOVE being on an academic calendar. It is sooooo nice to have time off when everyone completely expects to not see you.

The only downside is getting back in the swing of things after the break. Oh man was I hurting this past week. I went home every evening and took a nap. Not on purpose, mind you. Nope. I didn't change into jammies and pull down the covers. No, these were the sort of naps where you sit on the ground to pet your cats and the next thing you know you are lying down drooling and it's an hour later. The summer session I am teaching is brutal. My class only runs in June. This means we pack 15 weeks of class into 4! Five hours of class, four days a week. I'm beat. I don't know why any student signs up for this sort of personal hell. The class is popular though, only one student shy of full. Crazy.

Not much else is new. I went to a pajama party last night. Of course, only about four people showed up in pajamas. I took regular clothes and when I saw that of the eight people outside smoking, seven were in street clothes, I changed. It was interesting. The guy throwing the party is a maintenance guy at the school. It was for his 40th birthday. It was at a hall, he had food, and hired a DJ. Really a fairly involved to-do. It was an opportunity for me to be reminded that, oh yes, I am a big snob! His family and friends are not the sort I normally happen upon in my day-to-day. And the skeevy old men staring at us while we were dancing was a little unsettling. Actually, I had quite a bit of fun but that's because I like dancing.

Oh, and apparently, even in caucasian bible-belt hell, I am still vastly appealing to black men. Why is this??? I have nothing against non-caucasians. But I think it is odd that in a town where 16000 people are white and 2000 are minority that over 50% of the men that ask me out are not caucasian. Although this is including the token mexican (I think - could be puerto rican). What is that?

Not that it matters, none of the men that have asked me out are appealing to me anyway. Regardless of race. On that topic, let's revisit the "I am a snob" statement. I really have only a few basic requirements that need to be met for me to go out with someone on a first date (then the list gets extensive). One, you must have all of your teeth or denture/cap/replacement of some sort if you have lost any. Two, you must be able to form a complete sentence without a swearword or non-word. Three, you must pronounce Missouri with an "e" sound at the end (like Hawaii), not a short "a". Four, you must not be a religious crazy. Five, you must not be the primary care-giver to a child under 15 years of age. And I might even waive number five. Unfortunately, none of the men were able to meet the first four requirements. Scary really.

Let's see, what else is new....

They are putting in a BW's!!!! We have a recently constructed strip mall thing (within the last year) and a Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck (or whatever it is now - they kept changing the name back a couple years ago) is opening in one of the stores. Yeay!! It's like I might not live at the end of the earth after all. Between that and the San Fransisco Bread Co. with wifi, it's almost like a livable place.

Oh, and I found a place that has sushi! It's basic but it's on the menu. I am, frankly, a little frightened. We aren't close to an ocean, nor are we close to a major airport. How is this stuff safe? I have not ordered any yet.

My sister, who recently got engaged, took a job in AZ. I was planning to go out with her and help her settle in. Now it looks like her fiance is going to go with her rather than staying behind for a semester to finish up his student teaching. I'm sort of bummed. I thought it might be a fun trip with her and I am curious to see where she will be living. I'm sure there will be other opportunities and, really, I need the time to be painting my home's exterior but still... a little bummed. On the upside, this means that my friend from MI will definitely be coming down to St. Louis for a weekend and we can tramp around the place. I've decided that I am kind of fond of St. Louis. I don't love it but it has a lot of great things to offer.

I cannot wait for the family cruise! It will be such a great trip, particularly after this hella-semester. We are going to Bermuda on a five day cruise. My dad and ALL SIX of his kids (with significant others/family). It was quite the accomplishment getting it organized. We are all on such different life paths, as it were. I see the sis and bro on the east coast once every five to ten years. I've never even met my nephew! The trip should be a lot of fun. I mean, how can a cruise not be? Endless sun, endless food, and basically endless activities and amusements. Only the disembarking at the end totally sucks. Man, being forced to sit in a crowded room for hours and then put in a line for hours, and then get bused to the airport where you get to do it again, just in reverse - lines and then sitting... sucks. Good thing the trip totally makes it worth it!

Allstate bites the big one. I'm not going to get into it. But they do.

I suppose that's really all that there is worth saying about life at my end of things. I'm all about getting through the next three weeks without failing 50% of my students. Maybe finally deciding on an exterior paint color and, ahahaha, buying it! Oh, and upping my gym time from three days a week to more like four or five. I really need to stop being such a pussy about the gym. I like working out. I really need to stop avoiding it for no good reason. And the fact that the dancing last night made my legs sore is not a good sign. I mean, I wasn't getting that freaky on the dance floor.

Hope y'all (embracing the backwoods environment in which I live) are having a great summer so far!