At the Mall 1

I've always referred to my hubby as Mr Big, what with our earlier, rocky years and all, which made it all the more disappointing when he said it would be weird for me to wear it with him. I thought it was cute! Steve & Barry, less then $9!

Oh what fun!

Since summer is here my schedule has opened tremendously! Yay for being a teacher! I had the pleasure of watching my niece for the day and because her long awaited play date with her bff was canceled at the last minute, I had to get creative! So after a quick lunch, we made our way down to one of the local museums in my hometown. I was able to see a couple of great exhibits in addition to the newly renovated children's portion of the museum where it's all about fun AND education. Loves it.

The first exhibit I saw was that of Native American artist, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith. I loved her layers, collaging and drippings. It gave me a lot to look at and study. My favorite piece was an oversized painting of the United States with the labeling of the many tribes that once existed. It was amazing to see what we so foolishly lost. I love obscure little surprises in art work, so finding quirky but meaningful portions like the one below made me want to return to better pay attention. I had a certain seven year old with me that wouldn't allow it!



Click here to learn more about Jaune and to see more of her work! Pay special attention to the lithographs, they're great.

The next exhibit I saw was one full of emotion. Photographer Dan Burkholder visited New Orleans after the Katrina tragedy to create "The Color of Loss" series. At first the photographs are easily mistaken for an etching or a highly detailed painting. Burkholder uses a technique where the details, shadows and lights are super intensified. This High Dynamic Range technique is almost like the Blue Ray or HD version for photography, It truly captured the intensity of the Hurricane Katrina on the homes.




Click here for more of his work on this series.

After being pulled away from the grown up exhibits it was time for fun with the midget. Do I have a condensed version of the story?? Of course. Glad you asked.
There were displays about the human body, how tornados are formed, and an incredible sound wall that was made of multiple pieces of wood that each made a unique sound when rubbed. There. There's the scoop.







Afterwards I took her to a place to paint some pottery. It wasn't what I expected so much, but inspired me to invest in some art classes for my niece, The shop owner took my niece in as her own little apprentice and taught her how to dry brush a piece as well as highlight and darken.




At the end of the day, all my niece could talk about was the museum and painting pots! I was thrilled to have given her an experience that will keep her interested in things other than video games and television. I was quite impressed, with her interest and the things this little West Texas town had to offer.

Stinky Bears and Traffic Cops

So my dog Romo has this bear originally named "Farting Bear." We were given this remote controlled, flatulating bear as a gag gift for Christmas. Well, when Romo met him, it was love at first hump. Needless to say months of playing, chewing, and, er, loving, this thing as developed quite the stench. We've thrown him in the wash..but it didn't matter, give Romo 5 minutes of chew time and the slobbery residue began to stink so bad that we avoided his puppy kisses because they smelled worse then rotting beans! I knew it was time for more drastic measures, so I washed "Farting Bear" turned "Stinky Bear." It seems I got the evil spirit of stink outta him and we're all happy. Romo has his friend back, and hubby and I can begin to enjoy his puppy kisses once again.


Now, on a different and brief subject; why do traffic cops always seem pissed off? I mean, I know this isn't the highlight of their job (monitoring traffic, go, stop, go, stop in the middle of an intersection...) but why do I always feel so pressured?!? It's like the fate of the world lies in you making that turn as fast as possible while the cop frantically waves his hand back and forth giving you the signal to go like he's been waiting on you all day. Ironically, if there's a cop there, most people like myself, make an extra effort to be careful, and not speed...meanwhile we've got a director in the midst of the intersection telling us to hurry the heck up. Am I the only one that's noticed this?

Beautiful Mother Nature

I love storm clouds.


Especially when I view them on the road HOME.



Unless I think I'm going to get caught in the storm.

Pat Green

Since I was already in Abilene this weekend to visit my grandmother (update soon) I made a big effort to catch a show I've been wanting to see for awhile. I became interested in Pat Green and Texas country in general while in college. I've see him play a few times since, and have been hurting for live music lately, and his music, in particular. The show wasn't the ideal setting...outdoors, lots of non-fans just talking and getting drunk, sweating etc., but c'mon, we're talking about West Texas here and anything that's "bring your own cooler" is very much respected.



Of course, there was quite a mess afterwards.


We had a good time and I was stoked to be able to hear a lot of his older stuff like, "Poetry," "Wave on Wave," and my personal favorite "Three Days." It took me back really, and I enjoyed being able to sit back, listen to some good music, and just be in Texas.

Yay! Yay! Yay!

I found my camera.

It was in Romo's bag.

I was so excited I had to take a pic right away...even if my hair was wrapped up in a towel!

Smile!

I was messing with my computer and took this by accident...right before deleting it I realized this was the perfect picture to show how I feel in class 80% of the time. The kids give me heck from time to time, but overall, it's the most fun I've had in a long time. I'll miss them dearly over the summer...