The school year and IB testing season are simultaneously coming to a close, and this means I'm starting to give myself permission to think about the project again, well as much as one can when 140 research papers will be turned in for grading tomorrow, one's house is coated in a thin layer of dust and snack crumbs, and the two-year-old sitting next to one keeps breaking the Hungry Hungry Hippos game then asking one to repair it. She just won't play when only three of the four hippos are operative.
Before the project, though, a digression. I like to follow the little wormholes to see where they take me, and during some parts of the year I'm just to "in it" to see any patterns at all. Mostly, April is a whole month of being "in it." But now I know I'm coming "out of it." I know this because 1: I was actually IN my office for an hour today. Granted, during that hour two alumni came to visit, one student brought his research paper by for a writing conference, two colleagues called for information, and another colleague came to hear the follow-up from yesterday's meeting, but all of these were pleasures of the job and I was IN MY OFFICE FOR A WHOLE HOUR! And 2: Yesterday I saw a wormhole and followed it.
Here's what I mean: The night before last, I (and here's another sign that the schedule is relaxing) read...part...of...a...bookandgotthrough30pagesbeforeIfellasleep! It was a book about physics. I've been reading about physics off and on for a few years now, trying to give it the attention I just couldn't spare for Mr. Tappan's 10th grade simple harmonic motion lessons, even when he started walking around with his foot in the trash can just to get our attention. Soooo...(and I'm going to change tense here, but don't tell the students who are at this moment writing those tense-consistent research papers for tomorrow)...here I am reading my physics book, learning about quantum physics, specifically, and the idea that the simple act of observation can change the outcome of something else in an entirely different location. And I think to myself, "Huh, wouldn't it be interesting if science and religion would just get together and talk about this? Now, there's a group I'd like to discuss some things with." And then I update my Facebook status and promptly go to sleep. And get up in the morning to fall back into being "in it" for another day. And I see the little physics pattern emerging in the day, little thoughts, little mentions, and come home to pick up the Oprah magazine I'd thrown on the couch the day before. And open it up to a story and start reading and the story is about creating vision boards, visualizing what we want to happen, forgetting about it, and experiencing the serendipity when it actually comes to be. I know I'm sounding really Fruit-Loopy here, but bear with me. In the story, the author actually talks about quantum physics and that new "board game" that allows you to move a little ball with your mind (I'm not making this up). And then and then and then, my mom calls and mentions the website meetup.com, which allows one to meet up with people with like interests who live nearby. Her cousin told her about it, and I wondered what kinds of groups were meeting in my area (not that I have any time while "in it" to go to any group meetings of any sort). But there is a group on meetup.com within 5 miles of my house that...wait for it...is dedicated to exploring the links between physics and religion. So I realize that a: I have just gone through the visualizing process in the article with some success (1. visualize that a group about religion and physics should exist. 2. forget about it. 3. Watch as it magically appears) and b: in some wacko hippie-dippie sort of way, well, PROVEN quantum physics? Thoughts?
Okay, now that the crazy cosmos lesson is over, I can update about the project. There's a lot to say. (If someone writes a really long blog entry and no one reads the whole thing, does it make a sound? Does it matter?)
1. The workshop is pretty much finished. It looks good.
2. I put my camera on the strap incorrectly and it fell off. Now the shutter catches for a millisecond after I take a picture. Ugh. I am going to have to send it in for a repair. I hope I can afford this.
3. I have begun a sketchbook with pages devoted to the birds and plants that might just make it into the final show. Next to them, I've begun writing memories which involve them. Some of these memories I turned into poems and submitted to the Indiana Writers Conference as two series: Dendrology and Ornithology.
4. Shrinky dinks are fun and I have missed them. Munchkin 1 and I had fun dabbling with them last week, and I am going to include Shrinky Dink as an official "medium" in the show. Heh.
5. I've been experimenting with stamping silver. I'm disappointed that the letter set I bought has two Os and no E. Back to the store it shall go. (Munchkin 2 is now playing with my iPhone. I apologize if she's calling you.)
6. I've convinced the 3D art teacher to give me some mini-lessons in pottery before the class at the Art Center starts.
7. The Broad Ripple Art Fair provided some inspiration and whatnot.
8. Child care is arranged! Thanks to G's mom for agreeing to watch the girls while I'm at the writers conference and two days a week during the summer so I can work on the wheel, etc.
9. B and I learned yesterday that both of us scored SCHOLARSHIPS to the writers conference, so it will cost less than expected.
10. Tennessee. I plan to do some more creative writing about this for the show, but I'll include a bit about it here. When I was little and spent every summer in Sharps Chapel, it seemed wild and removed to me, and I thought of the wooded areas as untouched and untamed. Going back, though, I realized that the pastures have been pastures for hundreds of years, and B's comment that it reminded her of Ireland sent me towards some epiphany that's not quite ready for articulation. We climbed up the hill to the barn, took a turn toward the pasture, drank from a spring, encountered terrapins and wild turkeys, braved a few storms, ate at the Tomato Head and wandered the Puccini festival in Knoxville, and met the woman who lives on top of the mountain where my grandmother grew up. She invited us up and gave us wine made from the plants that have grown there for generations. Munchkin 2 came down with strep throat, and everyone slept poorly. I collected wood from the decaying treehouse my brother built in the early 80s. I'll make frames of it. I'm pleased as can be that a few dear friends came along, brought food, carried and played with my children, failed to complain about the lack of sleep and bad weather, and listened to my stories. Even broken, the camera took lots of nice pictures. I need to figure out how to post them on this blog. And I need to remember to go to Tennessee sometimes. Especially when it's Dogwood Festival time in Knoxville. (Munchkin 2 keeps putting Altoids in my mouth while I write this. I am not paying enough attention--there were three in my mouth before I realized. Bleck.)
Well, I suppose that's about enough for today. Some follow-up items to document...
1. I need to clear some shelf space for ceramics, so I might have to find a cheap, small storage unit for the totes that are currently taking up that space. Or I need to build some shelves.
2. Still need to paint the workbenches.
3. Still need to build the wedging board.
4. After that, I think I'm ready for some full-time art.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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