My Created Life

First of all, I’m okay.  You don’t need to worry.  I’ve just got a lot of stuff going on (some good, some not so good, but nothing life-threatening) and it’s taking up a lot of time.  Add in the fact that it’s the dead of winter and that my nap quota has increased dramatically, and you get the picture.

I hope to post something “real” in the next day or two.  In the meantime, be well!  I hope your little corner of the world is  a bright, happy place!

Forty-five days ’til Spring!

Remember that papier mache box I gessoed a while back?

Well, it sat on my desk for the longest time while I decided what to do with it.  Finally I decided it would be the home of my Toonie Project.

A little explanation is necessary for the non-Canadian readers:  First of all, the Canadian one-dollar coin features a picture of a native bird called a loon.  Over time, the coin was given the nickname of “loonie.”  Well, when the two-dollar coin came out, there was much speculation on what sort of name it would be given (it features a polar bear, in case you’re curious).  Eventually it became known as a “toonie”, which is short for “two loonies.”  (Yeah, I know — it sounds like we’re all “loonie” up here.)

Anyway, around the dawn of 2010 I decided that I wanted to make a rule for myself this year.  I would not spend my toonies.  Instead, I would put them in a sealed container that I could not just randomly dip into, and then when I thought I’d amassed a nice little amount, I would take the toonies and go buy rughooking supplies with them.

So I was sitting at my desk looking at the little papier mache box with its rough white surface just begging to be decorated and all at once I knew its destiny.  I asked Hubby to cut a coin slot in the lid (because he had a sharp knife handy and I didn’t), and then I covered it in purple Lumiere paint.  (I love the unexpected coppery sheen when the light hits it just right.)  I was pleased with how it was coming along, but after I’d glued it shut, I decided it needed a little something more.  So I put some aqua Lumiere on a dictionary page and then took a folk heart paper punch and made some cute little shapes.  A few coats of Diamond Glaze, and TA DA!  A Toonie Project Box!

Yikes!  I’m at the university and it’s nearly time to pack up and go to class.  Catch you later!

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I solved the Mars problem the night before last.  Triumphant, I walked into class yesterday to show my professor the bottom line.  “It certainly looks like the right answer,” he said with a grin.

And it did — until he started going through the problem on the board.  His solution looked nothing like mine and, to further compound my distress, I couldn’t follow a thing he was doing.

In my years of teaching, I’ve come across a number of students who have difficulty in processing language, particularly in reading.  Well, I’ve long suspected I have a similar “wiring issue” in my brain that makes manipulation of numbers difficult for me.  It’s like things in my brain start going in circles and I can’t grab ahold of any of it.  It turns into a swirling mess in my mind and I simply can’t think.  Everything shuts off.

So I left class yesterday confused and worried.  My end numbers were off, but only by a little bit, which could be a rounding error somewhere along the way.  But why did my solution look nothing like the professor’s?  And why couldn’t I follow what he did?

Well, I just paid my professor a visit and we went through my solution, and I realized, watching the expression on his face as he looked at what I’d done, that we were speaking two different languages.  He speaks the language of symbols (which I couldn’t follow yesterday), and I use words (which bogged him down in his search for symbols).

So my Mars problem solution was right, in the end, and after talking with my professor today, yesterday’s class (and its symbols) are more clear.

My agenda for the weekend involves many things, but not physics problems!  I think maybe I’ll give that part of my brain a chance to rest!  Instead, I’ll  curl up with a good book.  A few weeks ago, I picked up Buzz Aldrin’s memoirs, Magnificent Desolation.  While waiting for the astronomy professor, I began reading it, and, as of page 5, I’m already hooked.  In every interview I’ve seen, Buzz has always struck me as humble and grateful, and someone I would genuinely like in real life, so I’m really looking forward to learning more about him.

From where I’m sitting, in a gallery/hallway at the university’s science building, the sky looks very full, as if it’s about to do something.  Perhaps I should go home before it starts.  No point in getting wet if I don’t have to, right?

… and back-dating this post, but no.  My post-every-day streak has been broken.

Blame Mars.

After class yesterday (and learning that some of my classmates had solved the puzzle), I hunkered down with my books and spent hours trying to figure it out.  I finally came home feeling utterly defeated, for which the only cure is playing God (The Sims 2) for several hours.

Part of this is me being stubborn.  But part of it is also fear.  Inside of me, a little voice is speaking up, saying, “You’ve never been able to do math.  What if you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?”  And so I’m desperate to drown her out.

The worst part is, the moment I’m told how to do it, it’s going to be one of those forehead-slapping “DUH!” moments.  I can feel it in my bones.  And then I’m really going to feel dumb.

How appropriate that I’m doing battle with a planet named after the god of war.

And three to a new episode of Grey’s Anatomy!

After working all weekend, today was kind of a reflective day.  I started some laundry (which is still in progress), took a nap, did some schoolwork, did some financial stuff, listened to Michael Bublé and made an ATC.

In other news, I put a few new rughooking items in my Zazzle shop.

The next six weeks are the hardest for me.  That’s why that countdown in my sidebar is so important.  As long as that number keeps going down, I know I’m getting closer to the Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lifting.  That’s the bright side (pardon the pun) of this — I can literally circle a date on the calendar and say, “That’s when I’ll be better.”

But for now I have to remember to open the blinds, sit in front of the window, and not spend all of my free time sleeping.  Lack of sunlight makes me sleep, which in turn blocks me from getting more sunlight.  If I don’t stop and think of what I’m doing, then I spiral downward until I hibernate like a bear!

(And Hubby says I snore like one, too! )

It still needs to be pressed, blocked and have the edges/back done, but I finished hooking the mug rug this afternoon, right before heading out to work.

The plaids around the outside edge and inside the heart are recycled wool shirts and the golden colour and the darker blue are hand-dyed wool (by someone other than me).  I had originally planned to hook the outer plaid all the way in to the yellow, but it was really thready and driving me bonkers.  It’s a shame, because I really liked the way it looked hooked up, but I’ll save the rest of it for something else.

I have a few things in mind regarding my next large hooking project, but first I want to try a little experiment using a punch needle.  I haven’t tried doing very much punch-needle work, but I’d like to get better at it so I can make some miniature rugs.

The reason I’m so excited about the astronomy course is not simply because I’ve been interested in space my entire life, but because I want to understand it — or at least as much as I can without doing a Ph D in astrophysics.

I like to think, and I like to analyze, and I like to put the pieces together.  (Except when it comes to solving geocache puzzles.  That’s an entirely different kettle of fish!  )

On Thursday, Astro-Prof started us on a little puzzle involving Mars and Earth, and figuring out how to mathematically prove something.  Well, I’m sure half the class has just gone to Google and figured it out by now, but I’m not going there.  I want to figure it out on my own — and I’ve been thinking about it on the average of every 90 minutes since class ended on Thursday.  I’m so close — I know I am — but there’s just one little part that hasn’t clicked yet.

Toddling off to ponder a bit more …

Every year my uncle sends me money for Christmas, and when I got the card this year, I decided that I wanted to do something very specific with it — treat myself to something I normally wouldn’t purchase for myself.  So I bought a frame at Michaels with a very specific plan of what I was going to put in it.

I’ve been fascinated by the fish created by Saint John artist Jessica Doyle for a little more than a year now — ever since I first saw them.  Not only do the drawings have so much personality, but the fact that she names them makes me grin.  So I decided that I would pick my three favourites and frame them together.

Please meet, from top to bottom, Emily, Milton, and Annabelle.  (The fact that my grandmother’s name was Emily and that she had a sister named Annabelle probably cemented my choices.)  Because I was having a hard time trying to balance colours and fish, Jessica was kind enough to print Annabelle in reverse for me so that things would balance out.  (Annabelle normally faces left.)  The signature is now reversed, which makes me giggle, but I love the way the three fish look together.  And because my fishies make me so happy, I have placed them so that they are literally the first thing I see when I get out of bed in the morning.

Besides picking up my fishies, I had a delightful visit with Jessica and her cat, Missy.  I had only visited Jessica once before, during her open studio sale before Christmas, but once again I was struck by what a warm and gracious person she is.  It’s always inspiring to talk with another artistic soul, and such a treat to see her current projects and ACEO collection.

Despite my outer self being tired after working and having dealt with a headache all day, this evening my inner self is feeling pampered and very content indeed.

This is the most mesmerizing, beautiful eight-and-a-half minutes you’ll see this year.  I guarantee it.  I have never heard of this art form before, but this is incredible.  Do yourself a favour — take a break and give it your undivided attention. (And make sure you have your sound on.)

I think it’s absolutely astounding what she can do with so little — just some sand and a light table.  It’s so inspiring!

Please — take a moment to share your thoughts in the comments.  I’d love to share this experience with you.

Just got home from the hockey game.  The Saint John Sea Dogs lost 5-3 to the Moncton Wildcats.  It wasn’t the most exciting game I’ve been to this year.  In fact, the most exciting part about the game was that I finally figured out the best setting to use on my camera to take pictures of the action.

Worked all day today, then went to the game, and it’s now past my bedtime.  I’ll just do my ten minutes of rughooking and then go to bed.

Part of the reason I’m so tired tonight is that my crazy brother-in-law Calmen convinced me to go out geocaching at midnight last night!  I’m glad he did because I had a lot of fun, but trying to settle down from all the excitement of dashing through the snow and the dark meant that I couldn’t get to sleep until way past my bedtime!  I was looking at my caching stats and I didn’t have a single find the entire month of December.  Completely unacceptable!

Okay, grabbing my hook, doing my ten minutes, and then going to bed.  After all, I want to be wide awake for astronomy class tomorrow!

Nighters!