All Vacations Must End
Singing whilst whistling summoned brightest thoughts from the lady on her last day of summer vacation. She would remember the day as it was, as it should be, rather than whine that it must end. Undo appropriation of gloomy thoughts would ruin the day, be it rainy or not, she thought wisely. We shan’t do that. No no. We shan’t do that.
French Day at Chateau Shuker
The Blankenships are in Luton, England outside London visiting our good friends the Shukers. We planned to go to Paris one day, but missed the cheap train. In lieu of oui Paris, we celebrated French Day at Chateau Shuker.
Viva la créativité!
Mandy + Grad School = ???
So I’m considering graduate school for fashion design. Having given up the dream of being a university English professor (because I finally realized I hate literary criticism), I returned to the childhood dream of being an artist.
And now, being a “self-employed” artist person, dabbling in mixed-media paper goods and fashion, with the occasional return to photography–a return that will soon, God-willing, be permanent because of a friend’s generous darkroom donation and the purchase of a new computer (one that won’t bark like a rabies-infested dog whenever I attempt to use the internet and iTunes at the same time)–I have the epiphany that FASHION is where I’d like to focus a lot of my attention. But I feel I have reached the ceiling of what I can teach myself.
I want an actual CURRICULUM to study, with a teacher to whom I can ask questions–not the “go-and-find-a-pattern-and-I’ll-help-you-read-it” method of the community college / fabric store here in town. But of course, to be accepted to a graduate program for fashion design, I have to build a portfolio OF my own fashion designs. This is a Catch-22, is it not?
The Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD, in whose graduate program I am interested) has some community education classes I plan to take this fall to build my portfolio. And thank God, Amtrak has a train to Atlanta from a nearby station (because I HATE the drive to Atlanta).
So, dear friends, I’m asking for your advice, insight, and general opinions. What would you do in my situation? And, perhaps more importantly, how would you PAY for it?
How To Get Kids To Help You Do Chores
While friend Meg Wilson swears her son Gardner LIKES to help with the chores, playing pretend never hurts in the cause for a cleaner house. I remember imagining myself as the cloistered Cinderella while dusting or vacuuming per Mom’s directive. My hardship became justified yet romantic.
Dr. Mercola on the Rise of Gluten-Intolerance
If you’ve noticed more people complaining of food allergies in recent years, it’s not just because of mass hypochondriasis. Naturopathic guru Dr. Mercola blames the Standard American Diet. As a person with a significant gluten-intolerance, I can definitely attest to the woes of thoughtlessly eating grain rich foods. It doesn’t just cause digestive trouble, it DESTROYS my immune system.
Post Shredded Wheat Sustainability
If I didn’t have a gluten-intolerance, I would be eating nothing but Shredded Wheat.
Gulf Coast, Florida
This weekend Joshua and I are vacationing in Florida for his 30th birthday. Today we’ve seen friends and his old stomping grounds in Tallahassee, and the rest of the weekend we’ll be near St. George Island. Any suggestions for relaxing activities while in the area?
Texas Bound
Alright, friends. I’m letting you know ahead of time that I’ll be in Texas this weekend. So if posting is sparse, this is why. My guru has just let me know about scheduling posts ahead of time; but we’re about to leave for the airport, so it’s too late for that. Next time. Catch me on Twitter if you want updates. Loves!
Angst at the Digital World
As an artist, I have spent the last 13 years of my life as a photographer. Film, darkrooms, smelly chemicals, stained clothes and all. The aspect of analog photography that has become DEEPLY ingrained in me is the archival nature of the medium (black & white and polaroid, that is). I would go so far as to say that I am obsessed with things being archival––i.e. they will last, in good condition, for 100+ years. I will not wall-paper our home, ever, for this reason.
But digital media is not archival. I can be sitting in the same room with files that I have lovingly saved on a hard drive, but the files are lost forever because the hard drive will mount on no computer. Did I DO anything to lose the files? No. Was there a fire in my house? No. Time happened. Corruption happened. And don’t think that backing everything up on DVDs will save the day, because they can be corrupted too. They won’t tell you they’re about to do it. My only hope is to print out everything I create, which completely defeats the purpose of going digital. So then really, what’s the point??
Mary Poppins Electronica
Happy Monday, friends.
