Posts Tagged ‘history’

Unexpected colors – from my coloring book experiments

A load of lessons this year – big, small, in-between – physical, emotional, business, art, political. It’s always interesting to me to reflect on what I’ve learned in times of turmoil.

1. I will stand up against hate.
2. Knee surgery is a pain, literally, but necessary. Physical therapy is necessary. I am blessed with a great doctor, fabulous physical therapist, and a hospital that helps with financial assistance.
3. Losing weight over 60 (…over 40…) is tough, but thanks to The Gabriel Method I might just be able to do it this year. No chocolate in over two weeks, n0 hunger pangs, no snacking – all because of visualization.
4. Vermont pushes too many pills – finally found an integrative health doctor, rather than getting a prescription for anything that ails me without even looking at symptoms.
5. Survived major surgery with hubby on his aneurysm repair last winter. Great doctor, learned a huge amount – he’s good to go.
6. Walking still is my best form of exercise. So glad I can do more walking, much more comfortably, with the new knee.
7. I like myself a lot more. Been years in the making, learning to deal with what I can’t change in the past.
8. Still madly in love with hubby of 40 years. We always find something new to talk about.
9. My mother was a full-blown narcissist, and I lived in fear of her most of my life. I have forgiven her and have moved on. She appears every now and then in dreams, and I find I can tell her off when she shows up – something I couldn’t do in real life. I’m moving on.
10. I need to plan for art business this year. We had a great year last year, and my goal for this year is to sell a lot more art and make some good money.
11. Newsletter each month for the marbling, more teaching opportunities, retirement sale of older works.
12. Continue taking online classes for the pure enjoyment/learning something new. Work on color sense.
13. I wrote a teaching manual – all 35,000 words – essentially in five months. It’s a template for teacher manuals, as it works with standards and ways of integrating new curriculum ideas for teachers. Thinking about a mathematics manual for algebra.
14. I WILL publish my political novel this year. I am planning a Kickstarter campaign – or something similar. I have to do it in the light of current politics, and I need to get back to book 2.
15. Made a lot of art last year. I want to make even more art this year, including a couple of large pieces. I’m keeping track of the process of taking my Pele piece apart and modernizing it with my new skills in free motion quilting.
16. Three years ago I realized I only had 200 more b;og posts to do to hit 1000. Then I seemed to take long breaks from blogging. I’m still trying to hit 1000 – 920 and counting…I should be able to get 80 posts done this year……(PS – 921…)
17. Politically it’s been a very difficult year for me. As a history/political science major I see trends before they are trends. I’ve been worried the last two years. It is time this year to write, speak out, demonstrate, listen, reach out.
18. Be kind and listen, regardless of your own opinion. All of us need kindness and understanding.
19. I will be out in nature more, travel more, worry less about finances.
20. I will stand up against hate.

Marbled Satin

Most of my work on line these days seems to be research for book 2 of my Secession Wars series (website coming soon….). So the suggestions today might be a little more somber, but thought-provoking none-the-less.

An interesting look at the battle with Hasbro and Mattel over Disney princesses. I always found Barbie incredibly boring – she didn’t do anything – I’d rather read the Hardy Boys (Nancy Drew was too predictable and safe). But I gather marketing in this day and age is all about the brand. Interesting look at Princesses and young girls.

Bloomberg Business

I am a huge fan of the Zinn Education Project – all those stories and facts we never learned in US history, especially appropo in today’s world. Today is yet another anniversary – of Wounded Knee – not one of the U.S.’ finest moments. More resources here.

Zinn Education

Wounded Knee

More on Wounded Knee from the Smithsonian….

Wounded Knee

A friend of a friend of a friend…don’t ya just love those connections? When we visited Northern California, we stayed at a gorgeous cabin above Monterrey Bay and had a fabulous time with the guys overseeing the digs. Met Greg’s sister Randi  in a round-about way, and she’s just published a novel. The Story: Deviation.  As I look into self-publishing myself, it’s great to hear someone else’s story. Check her out!

Randi Janelle

Is it a fad or not? There’s much to-do about gluten. I’ve discovered that I am sensitive to gluten, so I try to keep it out of my diet, not always successfully. Here’s a take on famous paintings if the gluten were removed…….

With gluten

Without gluten….

Five Questions to Ask before Partnering with a Service Dog – interested in any readers who have had experience with service dogs for visually impaired.

Service dogs

Wonderful rant on Facebook today about making art. Seeing as I have just begun with my “adult” coloring book, I was interested in her thoughts about “correct” ways of making art, and how the various art police seem to rush in and take over. From Elizabeth Metz, via Tristan Robin Blakeman. LOVE her thoughts.

Elizabeth Metz

Yet another item I am checking out on the road to self-publishing – Smashwords. Anyone with experience with this?

 Beautiful Earth Porn – how can anyone object to the title? Gorgeous eye candy…..

Earth Porn

Have a great week!

With all the traveling, I missed a significant anniversary – the end of World War 2 in Europe. As a history person, I read up on lots of events, and for this I found an absolutely incredible video showing the human cost of war. I consider this a “must watch,” especially for those of us who advocate for peace.

This Video Illustration Showing the Scale of Human Loss From World War II Is Devastating

Other posts on World War II:

D-Day – Operation Overlord

Remembrance – Every Year

Memorial Monday

World Peace Day

A good friend from Vermont, who winters here every year and has experienced the insanity that is Arizona, asked a couple of days ago…Can you explain so I can understand what it is about this state? Keep in mind this friend’s senator is Bernie Sanders, one of the last voices of reason in this country. Well, those of us who live in Arizona (and remember Bernie fondly) don’t understand it ourselves. The latest bit of insanity is changing the recall process, since the state head republican lost a recall challenge, so let’s change the recall process so only republicans can participate, not ALL the people this person is supposed to represent.

We do not learn anything from what we’ve done in the past. And a new bill in Arizona is aiming to make sure students learn even less. Teachers could be fired for presenting partisan information. Now, to my mind, if you have a teacher who is outright encouraging students to vote for a particular person or party, then that should be an internal issue within the school. A true professional will keep his or her opinion out of the discussion, but require students to look at all candidates, all issues, and help them make informed decisions. This is a very fine line to walk. I can remember several students who had different views and weren’t willing to look at evidence. I had to bite my tongue. My job was to get them to think critically, whether they wanted to or not.

So much of this attitude is not limited any longer to Arizona. You are seeing more and more the results of a lack of history education in this country, along with an extreme lack of critical thinking to determine what is true and what isn’t, within the media. Part is monetary (there’s a shock…) – certain news (like what’s really happening around the world) doesn’t sell. Nothing sensational about it, and nothing that really focuses you to think.

Over the years I’ve chosen other news sources. Recent reports of the differences in Time magazine covers around the world points this out. Americans get sanitized news. When I checked my Google Reader this morning, these were just a few of the headlines from Al-Jazeera (OMG…..Arab papers….can you hear the history police now?):

How much of these will you see or hear about on your local – and national news? As much as I love Whitney Houston’s music, there are other important things happening in the world that we should have an idea about. Depressing? Yes, on so many levels. It is hard to watch the news when you can see historically that we are headed down so many paths that are destructive. But then you also have a responsibility to be informed and to speak up.

I have a feeling if I used Al Jazeera as a source of news to investigate and vet for truth in an Arizona classroom, I would be on my way to jail if this new bill passes. Never thought in my lifetime I would  see restrictions on my freedom of speech.

Looks to be a good week – feeling good, making progress, actually working on some sewing projects…life is good! And…lots of good stuff on line. Enjoy!

I guess it was a great week over at the folks at Best Article – here’s Top 10 Facebook pages for businesses.

The history major in me found this editorial interesting. A reflection on September 11. Do you recognize the photo?

From Cool Hunting, an interesting exhibit at the Palace de Versailles.

Alyson Stanfield has some good info, as usual, on her ArtBiz blog, all about setting up Fan pages on Facebook.

The Denver Post photo blog has fabulous stuff! These are photos captured from 1939 to 1943. These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.

This river in South America is amazing – all the colors!!!

And…how about Dirty Car Art?

This next is paper sculpture. Look at the intricacies of this amazing work.

Cedar Canyon Textiles has LOADS of goodies for creativity and unleashing your ideas. I love the stencils!

And finally, Amazing Quilts by Grace, a quilt artist I’ve just discovered – some amazing work here.

Enjoy! Let m eknow what you’ve found this week……

When I travel the country, I am amazed once again at its size and at the incredible endeavor it was to settle this land. In driving through New Mexico, you can’t help but think about the wagon trains making their way west across such rugged terrain. In Oklahoma you ca’t help think about the land rush that took away land from the native Americans, as well as the Chisholm Trail and the cattle drives. Looking at all the green trees in Missouri, you think about the diversity of biologic species, and this trip, I was thinking about how much greener the state seemed from 30 years ago. New trees that had been planted are now tall and majestic – I was thinking about Johnny Appleseed and his legendary planting of apple trees as I looked at all the amazing shades of green, after living in the desert for so long.

We traveled around St. Louis, so I only saw the arch from a distance, but I am reminded of how St. Louis was literally the Gateway to the West. So many families crossed this Mississippi and began a trek to new and foreign lands. While on the one hand, it is an amazing story of discovery and triumph, it is also an ecological and cultural disaster. All that’s left of our Native Americans in the midwest are place names, a few reservations, and come casinos – way more than I thought in both Oklahoma and Missouri.

Each exit near cities large and small reveal the “character” of American towns because of the interstate system. So much sameness where once there was individual character, a local mom-and-pop rather than WalMart, a downtown with viable stores, rather than same-ole same-ole malls. While I am grateful for the chains of motels that make traveling easier, I wonder at what we’ve lost over the years. How many people know – or remember – that the Interstate system was originally designed to move armament and troops in the Cold War easily from one place to another? Now it speeds traffic – and trucks….

There are so many trucks on the road. We truly are a nation dependent on oil – the trucks carry everything, and they consume barrels. Buy locally doesn’t seem to work anymore – and I’m not sure it ever could again.

Just some random musings from the ole history buff that I am….

Even though I haven’t been blogging much lately, and not reading my usual blogs, I have still managed to accumulate some really interesting websites. When I go back through all the bookmarks, I am reminded about what an awesome thing the internet is. You can find just about anything, and then some. While I so enjoy the eye candy from fiber sites, there are still so many things that interest me. Here’s a mere ten for this week. I’m going to try and get back in the habit of doing this once a week.

Cabinet magazine cover

Cabinet Magazine – (from the website) Cabinet is an award-winning quarterly magazine of art and culture that confounds expectations of what is typically meant by the words “art,” “culture,” and sometimes even “magazine.” Like the 17th-century cabinet of curiosities to which its name alludes, Cabinet is as interested in the margins of culture as its center. Presenting wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary content in each issue through the varied formats of regular columns, essays, interviews, and special artist projects, Cabinet‘s hybrid sensibility merges the popular appeal of an arts periodical, the visually engaging style of a design magazine, and the in-depth exploration of a scholarly journal.

Sounds like a potentially great look into today’s art and culture!

Homework shelters

Homework – Hand-Built Shelters – (from the website) features: homes, cabins, cottages, bungalows, homesteads,   sheds, shacks, huts, treehouses, bottle houses, yurts, hogans, tipis, tents, beach shacks, stilt houses, greenhouses, small houses designs, and MORE!

The sheer scope of different types of homes boggles the mind.

A Moment in Time – from the Lens project to document one moment of one day on the earth. As the site says, “make no plans for the rest of the day.” You get to look at photos from around the world, all taken at the same time on the same day – a great look at “us.”

When Graphic Artists Get Bored – a great selection of graphic art. Take a good close look – you won’t be disappointed!

Real World Math – Using Google Earth in the Math Curriculum. Oh, to use this in the classroom – and if this had only been available when I was in school! My ideal job would be a curriculum coordinator for Google Earth. I would never be off the computer!

While I have had my own blog about teaching, I occasionally read others, like this one – A Teacher’s Education. I can so relate, and if you are a teacher and any good in the classroom, you will relate, too.

Urban Homestead

Urban Homestead – since I have become very interested in sustainability and locally grown food, I found this interesting. Path to Freedom – the Original Modern Urban Homestead.

The Scribbler – be prepared to waste lots of time, because after all, you have to get good at this – scribbling, that is…who knew it could be so much fun to just doodle – no, make that scribble, and in color – and you can save them! Here’s info about how it got started. You have been warned…..

Quantum Learning – Visiting Auschwitz –  interesting blog. “Help build a world where everyone is valued irrespective of wealth, origin, colour or beliefs and conflicts are solved peacefully. Here you’ll learn how to do this in day to day life.”

Gray Eagles

And finally, Gray Eagles , a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the stories of World War II pilots. “The Gray Eagles Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping aviation history alive through dynamic audio-visual media created to educate and inspire those from all generations. Specifically, it is our hope that our films will encourage others to share their stories, and by doing so, build family connections, foster community, and nurture a culture of multi-generational understanding and respect.” After all, the past is prologue.

Other Top Ten Website articles:

Thoughts for a Thursday

Sunday Sampler

Top Ten Tuesday – Cool Stuff

Visual Delights

Visual Delights 2

Top Ten Tuesday – July

Top Ten Tuesday – San Diego

Top Ten Tuesday – Getting Here