How Terrible

John Albert just e-mailed me from Connecticut to tell me that the apartment building that the elders live in in Norwich, CT was consumed in flames over the weekend. I don't know how the elders are or if anyone died, but it looks like everyone lost everything in the fire. It happened in the middle of the night and the fire spread quickly. 

It's strange to see a building that you knew now destroyed...We used to meet the elders in the parking lot and follow them places on P-day. I have photos of this building in the background. Now it is no more. 

I feel bad for the elders and for the Norwich ward...the ward has had a lot of difficulties over the years and didn't need this. Please pray for the people affected by this fire. Thank you.

Click here to see a news article about the fire. I hope to find out more.

Farewell, Mr. Porcupine

A well-loved Hatchtown Road native critter, Mr. Porcupine, was struck and killed by a hit and run driver early Sunday morning.

Three scenarios could explain Mr. Porcupine's demise: 1) the individual was speeding (I was going a bit fast myself the other night but was still able to stop in time for Mr. Porcupine so shame on them) 2) the individual was drunk (we do live in a hick town) or 3) the individual ran Mr. Porcupine over on purpose. We will never know what fully happened.

Adding to this case is the fact that porcupines don't run from cars the way most animals do. They amble along, taking their sweet time. Wouldn't you if you were armed to the teeth?

I wonder if this is the same porcupine that used to eat the ceiling of our mobile's front porch (It's true! The ceiling! We then put a baffle on the post he used to climb up and problem solved).

I also can't help but wonder, Mr. Porcupine, if you caused significant tire damage to the vehicle that struck you. I hope you did. You will be missed.

Ms. Mom

My parents are driving to Kentucky this weekend for a Chaney family reunion, Laura and I are holding down the fort for approximately a week. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but it will be nice to have a breather. This is also well timed, as I have a bunch of stuff going on for school this week and it's kind of nice to have them out of the way. So I get to be Ms. Mom...making sure Laura is ok and fixing us dinner and stuff. It'll be an interesting week, I'm sure my grandma will call every 5 minutes like last time we held down the fort. Last August Laura and I were home alone (insert Maculay Culkin impression here) here for awhile while my parents were back in WA finishing up things with the sale of our property. During that time, our cat got a big abcess on her neck, we had to find a vet when we hadn't lived here but a few weeks. Crazy.

You know, there really isn't a good title for me. I'm starting to dislike being called "Miss" (I am not thirteen anymore), "Ms." makes me think of a bitter divorced woman in her 40's and I'm not married...I do not have my Mrs degree! I need a title for me! Yes, I enjoy being random!

Generic Face

Now that I'm fatter, I totally have a generic face! There are a lot of people who look like me! Case in point: Today I'm checking e-mail in the lab, some guy sat next to me (he was not hitting on me, I swear), said hello and then asked how I was, all as if he knew me! I think he thought I was someone he knew. I answered politely, all the time thinking "Who is this guy?". I think he then realized his mistake and blew it off by saying he'd had too much caffeine.

In all, it was pretty funny and one more on a long list of examples. I get "recognized" a lot. Someone is always telling me that I look like their [fill in the blank]. An elderly lady in my branch swears I look like her grandaughter (I don't!). I had lots of customers at BB&B who thought they knew me from somewhere (they didn't).

I'm really good at recognizing people, I remember them when they have no idea who I am! So I knew I didn't know this guy. I only know a few people on campus, so I know those faces well.

Laura's and my looks are from opposite sides of the family...I take after my mother's side and Laura takes after Dad's side. Everything is totally opposite, I swear. But when the neighbors met us, they said we looked alike! I was like, no we don't! The only reason we look alike is because we are both chubby!

So be careful who you talk to...it could be my evil twin!

Don't Mess With My Sister!

My sister Laura raises guide dog puppies, currently we're raising Cody who is a brat of a collie. Yesterday she and my mom went to Wal-Mart, Laura took Cody outside because he was being a pill and not paying attention. My sister needed to correct him (and you do so by jerking on their collar) and in doing so Cody fell over on his side because he was not paying attention. He was fine. It was not abuse. Some woman (whom Laura had just met last week at the library's first book club meeting) saw this happen and came up to Laura and told my sister that if she ever saw my sister treat Cody like that again she was going to call the cops! My poor sister had to deal with all of that by herself, she cried later.

That woman is really lucky I was not there or that my mother was not there...I don't know how I would have reacted towards her! I would have been really tempted to yell. And keep in mind that it takes a lot to make me mad! There have been several times over the years that I have had to defend Laura- people like to pick on her because she is "different". Memo to the world: Don't mess with my sister!

Clearly abuse has no place in society, but please be sure of the facts before you accuse!

Aerial View

In a perfect world, I would have started this blog at the same time that I moved to Pennsylvania, but that didn't happen, so I may go backwards at times and talk about older things and pictures you haven't seen. I scanned a copy of an aerial photo that was given to us by the people who used to own this place, I labeled it. If you click on it, it should become larger to see. The barn does not exhist anymore, it burnt down in August of 2006 while my parents were in the middle of purchasing this place. We were pretty bummed, but I think we'll build my dad a shop in a better location and put a picnic area where the barn was right next to the large pond. The two large fields grow alfalfa, men come and bale it in the summer.

We also own a rather nice mobile home on the back corner of the property- the people before us sold off several acres to a man who put a mobile on it and used it when he hunted. The mobile is fairly new and is in really good shape. We use it for storage and it will make a nice guesthouse. I'm organizing a crafting area in there as well! I'm excited to have a space for all my scrapping stuff out of the way! We also inherited a bunch of furniture with it (we already had plenty!) including an aluminum interrogation chair (the man was a cop). So, if you ever watch a cop show and notice the metal chairs they sit on in the questioning room, we've got one!

There's my little house, it's 900 square feet, not much bigger than what we used to live in. We're trying to live civilized and not junk it up too bad. Laura and I still share a room, but it's a little bigger than the 8' by 10' room we had before. I get a bookcase! I never had a bookcase to myself before! The kitchen, dining room and living room are all basically one room with a vaulted ceiling, then there's two bedrooms and a bathroom off of the living room. I really wished we could have had a little bigger house (two bathrooms would be nice!) but I can see why my dad fell in love with this property. It's the best out of what he looked at, and he and my mom looked at a LOT of houses!

The other picture is of the "Liz" pond...the stream feeds it and it feeds the slightly smaller pond named after my sister Laura. We have fun naming things, we're trying to figure out a good name for the long road that goes from our house to the mobile.

I took the pictures of the house and pond in October 2007, we had a beautiful fall.

Being Green

Happy Earth Day, everyone. Please take care of our earth- it's our only one! And don't even get me started on people calling themselves "green" when they don't do anything different than before! My family and I have been "green" well before it was cool...we've recycled as long as I can remember and still take the time to recycle even though we don't have curbside service anymore. We try not to waste things, like gas or water. And we re-purpose items so we don't have to buy replacements. We donate usable items to Goodwill instead of throwing them out.

My scrapbook magazine had tips for "green" scrapbooking...what a joke! No matter what you do, scrapbooking entails 1) paper (you're killing trees) and 2) embellishments packaged in plastic! They suggested using junk mail in your scrapbooks, but it looked bad and it's not acid-free! I think that if you do things right in the first place (acid-free everything, timeless designs) then you won't have to create waste and re-do it later. My mom bought all these magnetic albums in the 80's and they have to be thrown out cause they're not good for anything- they're NOT archival! That was a lot of wasted time and money and energy on her part back then. I'm trying to do things the right way in the first place.

The earth has been in trouble for a long time...how come it's only popular NOW to be "green"?

I was appalled at a fellow YSA girl who had the opinion that since the earth will one day burn and turn into paradise, that it doesn't matter how we treat it now. I'm like, yes it does!

The above picture is one I took of the Niagara River, which feeds Niagara Falls.

Big Move

My dad owns enormously huge, heavy items. He's a diesel mechanic. I'm posting this pic in an attempt to show how logistically difficult our move to Pennsylvania was. My dad had to have all kinds of big heavy machinery forklifted onto the moving truck. It then went into storage until this week where my dad had to coordinate the delivery truck from the warehouse and other people who had a forklift to then get it off of the truck and into a large container on our property (the container is like what you see a semi truck haul, we're renting several of these containers til we build a shop. The containers have mostly my dad's stuff in them, but I have stuff buried in them too- I go "container diving" when I have time). I took this photo from my bedroom window, it's not the greatest. But you can see the crates of tools and other machinery that my dad owns.

These items are so heavy that the forklift nearly toppled over...the guys who had the forklift had to jump on the back as a counterbalance so it wouldn't tip over while loaded!

This is just the tip of the iceberg...there was so much other heavy stuff that we moved as well. Everything my dad owns is heavy...shop manuals, books, tools, parts, a 16 ft long I beam, several jet engines, and so much more...then last summer he had the audacity to complain that the 4 boxes of magazines of mine that he shifted around were heavy!!! He has shaft couplings (that weigh 80 lbs apiece!) that my mom and I moved!!! And tons more! The nerve! Gee, I wonder why my back bothers me!

In the photo above, the person on the right in the grey sweatshirt is my Dad. He aquired a lot of this stuff when he was young and could heft it then no problem, now he's an old man with a bad knee!

Blessed

A few minutes ago I was sitting on the bench in the hallway of my Psychology building and a young man in a motorized wheelchair came up to me and asked me if I would assist him with the elevator- he couldn't push the buttons. So I walked with him around the corner and pushed the up button as well as the button inside the elevator for him. He thanked me and went on his way. I just got a huge lesson in not feeling sorry for yourself, as it's so easy to do. Can you imagine living in a world where you can't even push an elevator button? We're all so blessed, more than we realize.

Nativity Set

Here is a pic of my third (out of four) project for my Beginning Casting class (aka Jewelry class). It took a lot of time to sculpt these figures out of wax, cast them and do clean up AND build a habitat for them! I wound up having to re-do the shepherd and a wise man that did not turn out (I think the bronze got blocked in the mold while casting, all I got was half a shepherd! He looked like the wicked witch of the west melting!) so there was even more work than what appears. I also soldered together some sheet metal to create a star.

My mom and I collect Nativity Sets (and I designed a paper-doll style one a few years ago) so I thought it would be great to make one out of bronze while I am in this class...originally I was going to do this on the side but it wound up being one of my projects!

I really love this class and and am sad that it's ending...I really like my teacher and classmates, too. If it was a perfect world I'd be able to take all the Metals classes....if I have room in my schedule later on I'll take Beginning Fabrication, where you learn beginning metal techniques (hammering, rivets, soldering, bezel setting, etc).

Song Lyrics

So I had to find song lyrics for my final art project that I'm in the planning stage on...I decided to use one of my favorite songs, "Birdhouse in Your Soul" by They Might Be Giants. I think I can create something cool based off of these lyrics:

I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little glowing friend
But really I'm not actually your friend
But I am

CHORUS:

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

I have a secret to tell
From my electrical well
It's a simple message and I'm leaving out
The whistles and bells
So the room must listen to me
Filibuster vigilantly
My name is blue canary one-word
Spelled l-i-t-e
My story's infinite
Like the Longines Symphonette
It doesn't rest

CHORUS

I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little glowing friend
But really I'm not actually your friend
But I am

There's a picture opposite me
Of my primitive ancestry
Which stood on rocky shores and
Kept the beaches shipwreck free
Though I respect that a lot
I'd be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off and
Countless screaming Argonauts
Bluebird of friendliness
Like guardian angels its
Always near

CHORUS

(And while you're at it
Leave the nite lite on inside the
Birdhouse in your soul)

So Jealous!

My dad left today for a two-day business trip in NYC and...Groton, CT! Groton in where the stake center is when you serve in Colchester, FYI to those who don't know. I spent a good amount of time in that area on P-day! 

I'm so very jealous! My dad likes to be a brat and rub it in, too. He might have to go back in June and I'm really hoping that he does cause then school would be out and I could be a stowaway! I have not been to CT since 2004...I'm definitely due! One perk about moving here is that CT is a road trip away! I miss the people/sights so much and I look forward to showing my family around sometime in the future.

Final Projects

The semester is winding down fast, there's only about three weeks left! My art and jewelry final projects will be due soon. My final art project is a doozy:

Select poem or song that has interesting visual imagery.
Illustrate song or poem in a large piece that has ambiguous space (it's not realistic) using some or all of the following methods:

Ground/figure reversal (the background draws your eye more than the foreground)
Multiple Perspectives
Multiple Panels and Insets
Floating or Transparent Imagery

You must use a polychromatic (multiple color schemes) color scheme, having one color scheme be dominant.

After you have created your piece, you must analyze it thoroughly, submitting your analysis to the teacher. This analysis is most of your grade for this project.

So all of this is so calculated so that you have a good analysis- I don't know where to start!

Jewelry: Make a piece using a found object (leaves, bugs, plastic toys, goldfish crackers, etc). If your object does not burn away, you must make a mold to then create a wax model and then put THAT model in another mold to do lost wax casting. I still haven't decided what to do here either!

Two Exhibitions

I submitted proposals to have an exhibition in the student gallery and both of my proposals were accepted! Next fall, I will have an exhibition called Cross Culture, exploring our similarities and differences, in September and another exhibition in October that will celebrate Fall. For both I plan on having a call for entries so that there is more items than just mine and all types of media will be allowed and displayed.

I had a solo exhibition in the Enumclaw City Hall, but this will be nice because I will have control over the entire space in the student gallery. It's a good opportunity and is nice padding to my resume. I'll admit I didn't have a whole lot of competition, but I'm excited. Each exhibition is for a week.

Fall is booking up fast!

Surrealism

Here is my Surrealism assignment that I pondered about below in a previous post. Surrealism deals with your unconcious, I decided to go in a little different direction. This piece is about what makes me who I am. Symbols:
Trees: The conifer tree represents Washington, the deciduous tree represents Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania tree is starting to blossom, signifying opportunities that I have here.
The Figure: The invisible person is based off of one of my more well known photos. The butterfly shape is a mask. All of this explores the masks we wear and who we really are.
The Dove: (up in the corner) represents peace, faith, the good things of this world
The Box: It has a P on it- like Pandora's Box. It represents all the evils, sickness, etc that we deal with.
The Anvil, Stirrup, Hammer: Those are the names of the bones in your ear (and the tiniest bones in your body). Since I have had hearing problems since the age of 9, I thought it was interesting symbolism.

We had critique and my teacher was a bit harsh in my opinion. I realize that the objects are tiny and may not have been the best placed, but it was certainly better than a lot of the stuff that was there! We'll see what my grade is.
Here is a detail shot:

Here is the photo behind the image- I did a series of these clear back in 2001! All trick photography-no digital enhancement!

Ladybug Ring

I finally got my ring back from the display case- here's my latest finished creation. It's a ladybug (of course) on a leaf. The leaf looks a lot like a surfboard, I know, but I didn't have any wider wax to make my model from. I antiqued it so you can see the details a bit better. On Tuesday my next project is due- I have a bunch of cleanup work to do!

I really love this class- I've been wanting to learn how to cast metal since I was in high school! I was never able to take it then. My grandfather used to do this kind of stuff as well and has all the equipment in his garage...hmmmm....

I didn't make all butterfly jewelry, aren't you proud of me?

My Namesake

Why do I like ladybugs? Why did I name my email and my blog Ladybuglizzy? Well sit right down and I'll tell you a story Sister Gray style. [Insert Brooklyn accent here] Once Upon a Time there was a little girl named Elizabeth. And when she was like, three, she LOVED Strawberry Shortcake. And what did (old school) Strawberry Shortcake always seem to have with her? A ladybug! Elizabeth had a cartoon ladybug on her wall as a kid that came from Strawberry Shortcake. Add to that Elizabeth's love of Sesame Street and with it the Ladybug Picnic cartoon, and a love was born.

Later when Elizabeth was about 15, this love resurfaced. Years later when faced with what to call herself online, only ladybuglizzy would do. Ladybug and Lizzy together are a great aliteration, and an email moniker was born. And years later, a blog.

I now have several hundred (mostly small) ladybug items in my collection, it's quite jazzy. Ladybugs always cheer me up and are quite nostalgic (see above).

Ladybugs follow me around, as a missionary I had many little "friends" on doorsteps and on my side of the car. Here in PA, they congregate in my room and only my room! It's quite funny.

Above is a ladybug I rescued and put back outside the other day.

Our Silly Cat

So our silly cat Spice (who is the oldest of our cats, being at least 15) decided it was a good idea to climb the tree and then jump onto the birdfeeder, which is 8 feet off of the ground. We laughed when we saw her up there- and then wondered, "How is she going to get down??"

You see, it's too hard to jump back onto the tree, and it's too far down to jump off of the birdfeeder. It's too high up for us to stand and reach her. It was so funny when she figured it out that she had gotten in a pickle- she started meowing so pathetically! We finally put a ladder next to the feeder for her to climb down and she figured it out- only to use the ladder to climb down to the bottom level of the bird feeder! She then figured it out that that wouldn't work either and used the ladder the rest of the way down.




Here's Mom with Spice after the big rescue- we didn't have to call the fire department!

I don't have kids, so you get posts about critters!

Accepted!

One of my photographs was accepted into the Erie Art Museum's Spring show...the red pagoda photo shown below in a past post. I found out yesterday and I'm really happy that at least one made it! Dave Hickey (mentioned below) was the juror for the show, so a big thank you to him! I get to go to an artist's reception later this month. No hot date, I'll probably bring my parents.

I'm hoping that my print sells cause I could always use the $!

Dave Hickey

Yesterday was a day off from school (phew! I needed it!) but I still went to school in the evening to hear Dave Hickey, a famous art critic. He spoke about the art market, how it began from competition to do artwork for the Catholic church and evolved into what we have today. He also spoke about how it's hard to put a price on objects that have emotional, not useful, value. He was a bit full of himself, of course, but he did have some good points:

-Art fills in what society and culture do not give us (colorful art in black & white 1950's, and minimalism in the 1970's, etc)

-Is it art if no one likes it? No!

-Is it art if no one sees it? No!

He encouraged us to make work that is memorable to others. No one really cares about you, the artist, until you are really famous. They only care about what you make.

I probably should have tried to turn in more "memorable" work in the two shows instead of being so concerned with what people would like. It's good advice for the future.

Venting

Sorry all of you in TV (computer?) land, I just have to vent on this subject. I hate it when people register improperly for their weddings!!! We just got invited to a wedding shower for a girl we've met twice. Spoken to once. But we know her family in our branch, so we got invited. I printed off her 2 registries (one at Bed Bath & Beyond, the other at Target) and they were as thick as a phone book! And there were many duplicate items, some occurring between the two registries and some on the same registry! After reviewing items, (most of which were expensive) I had some questions for the happy couple:

Do you realize that all this stuff will NOT fit in your tiny "just married" apartment?

Do you realize that you look greedy, no matter if you are or not?

Do you really want two toasters or was this an oversight?

Are you leaving it up to the fates which toaster you get?

Do you really think someone wants to buy you a hairdryer?

Do you really think someone wants to buy you a $30 toilet brush?

Do you really want to open that at a shower?

And I could go on...

I realize that it's fun to create a wish list and you want nice stuff and all, but please think about others as well! I'd rather have a smaller list and get most of it than a huge list and get hardly anything!

I worked at good ol' BB&B for a year and half. During that time I helped thousands of people shop off of registries as well as helped dozens of couples create a registry. I know my stuff, and it drives me crazy when people don't follow proper registry etiquette. I wish I could instruct people on how to do this properly! Don't even get me started on bad weddings/receptions!!!

The photos above are displays that I did at BB&B when I worked there. I don't miss retail except for making displays!

I'm curious to hear if anyone else has difficulties with other people's registries. I'd also love a good (bad?) wedding/reception story if you got one!

Mission Reunion Blues

This weekend is our mission reunion...and I can't go! I have no money and on top of that I'm in the middle of school! I'm very jealous of people who live closer to Utah and can go to these types of things at a moment's notice. I've only been to one and that was back in Oct 2006! It's really hard on me because there are all these people that I love dearly and would so love to spend time with them and see how they are doing now. I submitted these photos to be included in the slideshow at the reunion, so I thought I'd share them here. I hope Elder Oldham will send me a copy of the slideshow itself- I'd love to see it! I'm really hoping to go in the near future.

These were the best I could find at short notice and the only ones digitized...five down, thousands to go! I still have more mission pics I need to find. It's in a box somewhere!

From top:

• Elders Avery, Thomas, Viallpando, Roberts, and Sister Waite and myself- Christmas 2002
• Sister Kunz and myself at Justus Sherwood's pumpkin patch
• Sister Coleman, Sister Mitchell, Sister Sherwood and myself in the MTC
• Sister Heaton, Maudie Herrick (the best person ever!) and myself
• Me in the Connecticut splendor, I believe in the Colchester area

East Meets West

I think my best idea for an exhibition at school would be the theme of "East Meets West/West Meets East". The whole last year has been exploring that theme, since I moved from Washingotn to Pennsylvania and have been experiencing all the differences. I would have my photographs exhibited and also do an open call to other artists and have all types of media for exhibition. Since most of my photos fall in either category (I take a lot of shots in San Francisco and I also did a solo exhibition of scenery from Connecticut), I think I have enough work to include.

I'm interested in not only exploring east vs west in the US, but in the world as well as our different cultures merge.

I'll have to type up a proposal and submit some of my images as well to the committee board.

Questions, questions

I got these questions from Angela...thought they'd be fun to post here.


1. Do you like cheese? Oh my, yes!
2. Have you ever been to the Rockies? Yes, I've seen them while in Utah. Thanks for the reminder, Angela
3. Do you own a gun? No, but my dad has one somewhere. Guns scare me.
4. Your favorite song? So many...can't pick just one...wish my car stereo worked...
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Not really, unless I'm meeting them for the first time or I have to have something scary done.
6. What do you think of when you eat hot dogs? I like hot dogs, so I try not to think about what they're made of. They're made out of angel kisses and blue skies, right?
7. What's your favorite Christmas song? I like the sublime (O Holy Night, Perry Como version) and the campy (Happiest Christmas Tree by Nat King Cole)
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Water with a squirt of lemon. That's what I drink all the time!
9. Can you do push-ups? Not really.
10. Is your bathroom clean? Kind of. It's liveable. The iron in the water makes everything orange, much like the East Hampton apartment!
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I often wear my blue topaz necklace Nancy gave me, or I wear a silver box chain with a charm (one of my faves is my tiny carousel horse!). I also have a rhinestone butterfly necklace/bracelet set for when I feel a little snazzy.
12. Favorite Hobby? Oh, scrapbooking all the way...
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? I'm working on my come hither stare. Just Kidding. I need to stop wearing my Repulsion perfume.
14. Do you have A.D.D.? No, I'm one of the few people in America who still has an attention span!
15. What one trait do you hate about yourself? I tend to procrastinate....
16. Middle Name? Erin! My daddy picked out my name before he ever met my mom.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: 1. I want to go to Disneyworld with Stef! 2. I want my stereo fixed! 3. I miss my friends
18. Name the last 3 things you have bought? 1. Frames and mats for my submissions 2. Martha Stewart frames at Michael's that were only $3 each! Normally $16! 3. something at Walmart, no doubt
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? 1. Water with lemon 2. water on the go 3. a little milk (not too much cause I'm allergic!)
20. Current worry right now? Paying for school and getting ready to register!
23. How did you ring in the NEW YEAR? Playing games and eating REALLY good pizza with the YSA (I miss not having bigger options like the big dance back home!)
24. Where would you like to go? Everywhere!! I really want to tour around PA and NY, especially NYC. And of course CT! Europe is a dream as well.
25. Name three people who will complete this and return? Who knows?
26. How many siblings do you have? ONE younger sister! She's turning 24 in a matter of days! NOOOOO!!!!
27. Do you own slippers? Yes, I have two pairs of blue ones that I alternate, and Tigger ones for when I feel snazzy.
31. Would you like to be a pirate? In a movie, not real life!
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't really sing in the shower
33. Favorite girl's name? Charlotte, Evelyn, Lydia, and other really old traditional names. The middle name Content runs in my mom's side.
34. Favorite boy's names? Caleb, Issac, and I can't think of any others right now.
35. What's in your pockets right now? Chapstick
36. Last thing that made you laugh? Playing games last night at FHE with the YSA
37. Best bed sheets as a Kid? I didn't really have cartoon characters on my sheets...flowers?
38. Worst injury you've ever had? I've sprained my ankles pretty bad several times. I really hate recouping from surgery but I don't know if that counts here as an "injury".
39. Are you addicted to anything? Shopping, scrapbook items, magazines, reading, chocolate, etc
40. How many TVs do you have in your house? One!!! And we don't have real tv, just DVDs! Our house is basically one big room, so you couldn't watch things on different tvs without it interfering with someone else!
41. Who is your loudest (most outspoken) friend? Probably Stef of Rachel Lindsay as well.
42. Who is your most silent friend? Hmmm...I pick loud friends cause I'M the quiet one!
43. Does someone have a crush on you? I don't think so. I'm wearing my Repulsion perfume, rememer?
44. Do you wish on shooting stars? sometimes
45. What is your favorite book? I don't know. I tend not to re-read things.
46. What is your favorite candy? M&M's, anything chocolate
47. What song was played at your wedding? Not married, but I'd play "Unchained Melody" and other timeless songs.
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I once went to a funeral where they played "Turkey in the Straw". My grandma wants "76 Trombones" and other marching band music. I think I just want something nice. I'll plan my funeral soon for ya.
49. What were you doing 12am this morning? Sleeping
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I want to stay in bed!

Palmyra Temple

So I have to brag about my recent trip to Palmyra...on March 22, my mom and I drove there as part of our stake temple trip. I drove up, it takes nearly four hours to get to our temple! I really miss the convenience of the Seattle temple that was a little over an hour away from us in Washington. It has been quite awhile since I have attended the temple, not really my choice. The move was our priority, and then it was crazy trying to get settled in, and then it was winter...finally the time was right and it felt so good to be inside the temple. The Palmyra temple is very small, it was crazy trying to get a dressing room! It was a lot of work to get there- the long drive, etc, but so worth it for that peace.

The temple is of course, beautiful...all the windows are stained glass depicting the sacred grove and it is the only temple to have a window that you can actually see inside...President Hinckley wanted a window to overlook the sacred grove, so there is one that is not obscured.

Also while we were there, my mom and I saw the Hill Cumorah (I'm excited to go to Pagent this summer- never seen it!) and it's so unreal to see places like that that you've heard about your whole life. It was so weird to be able to drive up the backside of the Hill Cumorah! We took photos of the monument at the top. We also saw the Joseph Smith log home and nearby was a frame home (pictured) that they lived in later. It was fun to have a sister missionary as our tour guide and to see these historic places. I had a really nice day with my mom, probably one of the best ever.

My own gallery show

So I have the opportunity to apply for a slot in the student gallery in the fall and have like a one week exhibition. I could do a solo show, or I could have a call for entries and show other people's work as well. What kind of theme should I do? Is it selfish to have my own show? Would anyone come to my "artist's reception"? Do I have enough of one theme to do a show? I could probably fill a room with old decrepit barn photos, but will that be boring? Decepit barns and houses are everywhere here!

I have to think quick and come up with a proposal soon, the deadline is April 12th! I could also sit on the jury panel and help decide who gets in, but since I want to submit as well, it's probably a conflict of interest. It would look good on a resume, though!

April Fool

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone. What stupid thing did you do today? Here's my story...I volunteered last week to come in early today and watch the kilns for jewelry class. We're casting today, and your mold has to be in a 5 hour cycle in the kiln before you cast. First, it hardens your mold, second, it burns the wax model out (we're doing the lost wax method), and third, it keeps your mold hot so your metal will stay hot and flow better when you cast. My teacher couldn't watch the kiln til 10 am, so I volunteered to do the 9am to 9pm shift. Now, keep in mind that normally I don't have to be to school til noon on Tuesdays.

So I got up early and raced over here...only to find a note saying that I didn't need to watch the kiln...all the molds fit in the computerized one that is normally used for the other casting class. So I got up early and raced over here for nothing! Which is why I have the time to blog today! I didn't even think to leave my teacher my phone number, nor did I think to call the classroom phone this morning before I left. I guess I'm the April Fool.

I molded part of a tiny nativity set to cast today...I decided to switch gears from the carousel animals. I'm crossing my fingers that things go well later today! I'll let you know how they turn out.

Rejected!

So Last Friday I ran around like crazy to get my entries ready for the Edinboro Student Show. I had to drive back up to Erie (30 miles roundtrip from school) to exchange the original frames I had bought- they were so shallow that it was physically impossible to get a mat in there AND be able to close the back of the frame! Then I raced back to school where I got my frames ready. I had to borrow a hammer from the jewelry fabricating room to hammer in my hanging harware on the back of my three frames, then race to the gallery and turn them in. I didn't know if I'd get in or not, but it was worth a try.

So yesterday I went to the gallery to see if I'd been accepted...and I was a little surprised to see that NONE of my entries made it! I then had to dig through the pile of rejects to find my submissions. I dn't know why I didn't make it. It all really depends on the juror. I couldn't see everything that made it, but I didn't see many photos in that group. At least my stuff was the better in the "garbage" pile...some of what I saw turned in was really terrible!

So, did I guess wrong in making my submissions? Maybe this is a lesson in turning in what I like, and not worrying so much about what others think. Would I have gotten in if I'd submitted stuff I did in photo classes? Was 2001 my glory days? There's many thoughts running thru my head.

I'm pretty used to rejection by now, don't cry for me. But rejection still stings, whether it's a boy who doesn't like you or being rejected as a missionary or being turned down for a job or being turned down for a show. My jewelry teacher, Cappy (that's really her name!) has been doing metalwork for years and still gets turned down. It's just the nature of the beast.

I cna't help but wonder if this will turn out to be like when I submitted images to the big Puyallup Fair in Washington...I turned in photos that had previously won a big award, only to have them rejected by this fair! And then I was so irritated to see what DID make it in their competition...really awful stuff! I couldn't believe what garbage they had let in! I wasn't the only one with that opinion. So we'll see what made it in when the show opens in a couple of days.

I'll figure out my best ones and turn them in to the Erie Art Museum this Friday. Wish me luck.