Highlight

Last week's special moment.... A student who stopped talking to me for two days because he hated digital so much said there were some cool things that could be done in Photoshop.  Once he gave it a go, he liked what he saw.  Yay!!!

Then it was a rotten Thursday.  I am meticulous when I prep the work for Art Show.  I cut each matte to size for the individual photo.  Then I pile them paired with their mattes so when I assign students to tape the work into the matte, they just grab a set and tape.  Some(one) did not do that, grabbed willy nilly form the pile and messed the whole shebang up.   UGH.  Then I hit the worst traffic on the way home from picking up the cameras.  I despise driving in this area and that commute made it so bad.  I woke up the next morning, showered and just did not feel right.  I have been feeling wildly exhausted to the point of feeling dizzy.  So I called out.  Badly needed.

Then I spent the next two days working like crazy in the garden.  I have so many little weeds to pull from the grass before hubby mows the lawn.  I don't want the tops just lopped off.  I want to pull the weed.  They are those little tree sprouty thingys.  My arthritic finger is so swollen and sore today.  But, damn, the garden is looking good!  I am hoping my seeds are in the mail today.  Must get those babies started in the basement.  Still too cold to plant outside.

Adjusting

I am not doing a good job of adjusting to being back in the states.  We went to Paris for Easter break.  We spent the week traipsing from museum to museum and I did my usual church hunting.  I managed to see the major ones I missed the other times - Saint Eustache, Saint Sulpice, Saint Germain des Pres, and others.  I walking in on a service at a Polish church and made my escape when everyone knelt.  (Hey, at least I didn't get myself locked into one this time.  That was Prague.)  I finally saw the epic organ at Saint Eustache.  I saw bone relics, candle wax stained walls, one of the few intact rood screens left in France, and oh so many other great things.  I did not make it to any of the cemeteries but I did see tombstones at the Musee de Moyen Age.  I was in Middle Ages heaven!  Unicorn tapestries, original sculptures and stained glass from various cathedrals, daily objects, devotional items, and illuminated manuscripts.The third time at the Louvre and I am still nowhere near done getting through that place.  I meant to find the Nike of Samothrace and the Code of Hammurabi, but ran out of steam. But man, there are so many Medieval objects there too.  We went to the Musee d'Orsay and saw a super Gustav Dore show and a Vincent van Gogh/Antonin Artaud exhibit.  Sooooo many Art Nouveau items there too.  Then there were the photography exhibits.  One was just utter crap.  This guy thought he was going to be the next David Bowie in the glam era.  He was just a legend in his own mind.  At lease hubby and I were not the only ones chuckling.  Then there were some amazing ones.  A few were commentary on contemporary issues.  One was this phenomenal body of work.  The man and the documentation do not specify his alternative process other than the fact that it involves brushing the light sensitive medium onto papers.  So many ideas for work.

We went to parks galore - everything was in bloom.  I love when I travel abroad and see that much of what I grow is grown in Europe.  I can't stand seeing the same garbage in every garden here - Stella d'Oro daylilies, Russian sage, blah, blah, blah.  I was super excited to see a preponderance of irises just like the purple ones I have.  The same beards, coloring, and lack of ruffles.  And many other things.  All the bulbs were in bloom - just the daffodils and hyacinths were past.  The Luxembourg Gardens, Jardin des Plantes (with a peek at the just re-opened zoo and some wallabies), the medicinal gardens at the Musee de Moyen Age, and their version of the High Line.  This was so nice.  More enclosed and intimate and runs past all these amazing 1800's apartment buildings.  Yes, we tried to peek into apartments.  How could we not?

We made it to the catacombs.  Tip:  get in line at 9.00 am for the 10.00 am opening or you will be in line for over 3 hours.  We had the best apple pastry I have ever had in my life.  Flakey, light, warm.  Then the excitement.  Over six million people are down there.  This is not the result of killings and dumpings.  This was done methodically and with reverence for the dead.  The burial grounds they came from are noted with stone plaques.  There is a rustic chapel down there.  They say it is a 45 minute visit.  Only if you don't care where you are.  We took an hour and forty-five minutes.  And that could have been extended if we weren't getting hungry.

Then we spent Easter day with family.  That is a large part of the problem we are having in adjusting.  It is one thing to visit a place and get an idea of what life is like by observing and reading locals stuff.  But going to someone's house and talking to the people who live there - of multiple generations - is eye-opening.  I met a host of cousins I had never met before.  My mom's cousin was as hospitable as ever.  He drove us around the towns, told us stuff.  And he does not speak English.  Hubby said I did very well with my French.  I vow to do better.  Much better.  We learned a great deal over the course of the day, from Biagio, his two adult kids, and their kids.

One example:  no one took out a cell phone at the table during dinner or dessert.  No one.  The five kids there were teenagers up through nineteen years old.  We had also noticed a lack of cell phones out at tables in restaurants over the course of the week.  Biagio bemoans the growing lack of respect in France.  If he came here, he would be disgusted.  The children and parents seemed to get along differently.  I have had no patience for the cell phone crap in school at all this past week.  I have mentioned the lack of respect to almost every class.  I did get through to one person.  He called me over on Friday to apologize for his behavior this week.

In the museums, we saw people of all types - old, young, artsy, frumpy - taking in the art.  No whining children who hated being in a place of culture.  One very young kid was working on a beautiful sketch.  People took their time adoring, studying, reading, sketching....  People were in the museums and clearly loved and appreciated what they were looking at, not looking to check off another item from their "bucket list."  I was told there is a respect for the history.  I had a hunch, but this time it was confirmed.

And here I am trying to get my students to appreciate what we teachers are passing on to them, trying to drive to and from work without being terrorized by some frustrated middle aged man in a testosterone-fueled gas guzzling vehicle who thinks I should be driving over 65 in the right lane because it's his right as an American to speed and ride my butt.  But why is this even necessary?  Why don't people respect each other?  When a car overtakes my dad while driving in Italy, there was no malicious intent.  It was just "I want to go faster, so I will pass you."  No aggression, no anger.  Why can't a kid (and the parent for that matter) understand that when we are in a classroom together, that is time for us to pay 100% attention to each other, not some wireless device?

I'm done ranting.  I'll just keep dreaming of a better life filled with courtesy and respect.  Someday, I will find it.  But not here, sadly.

Break

I don't know how we did it, but we (teachers and students) made it to Spring vacation without ripping each other's hair out.  I ranted about the non-education field people moaning about "another vacation"  for the teachers on facebook, so I won't here.  I would like to thank the kids for toughing it out with us.  We bickered a bit, but I think we will all be back to normal when we return.

I have almost finished packing.  Mom has a gift for me to bring to her cousin.  Hubby and I am going to Paris.  Mom has some cousins who live there and I am meeting up with one of them.  I was going to maybe meet up with another one, but nixed that.  Too much to pack in to the week.  My French is no better than it was two months ago.  Sigh....  I can read a French magazine but speaking?  Ugh.

I am also dying my hair right now.  Two inches of grey roots would not cut it for me anymore.  I think I should be able to claim the hair dye as a work expense.  Oh, and the damaged clothes from all the chemical stains.

Yesterday was amazing weather.  I was outside shredding leaves like a beast.  The yard looks great.  I have to order some seeds and might get more medicinal herbs too.  So sick of the medicine that only exacerbates other issues.  My hips hurt and now I seem to have massive arthritis in my right pointer finger.  It's stiff, swollen and cracks like crazy.  This has been about a year.  And it is a major weed pulling finger.  When I garden, I use the tool in my left hand and my right hand does the dirty work.  Maybe I can find a good natural treatment in Paris.  The best poison ivy/plant allergy cream we ever found was at Boots in the UK, so why the heck not?

Packed cameras:  Canon DSLR, Yashica covert 35mm for shooting on the fly, & the Holga.
Film:  Kodak Portra 120mm in 160 and 400 ISO, Ilford HP5 35mm, and random Kodak and Fuji 35mm expired rolls from sister.
Sketch book for random ideas
Hell yeah, I am ready.

Dirt

Spent a few hours outside today.  It was colder and windier than we expected.  The leaves were hard to control.  My finger nails and finger tips are filthy.  It is fabulous!  I pulled off the carpet of leaves from under and around the grape arbour and under the mulberry tree.  Most of the front is uncovered.  Even with gloves on I had to pull out about a dozen cactus needles form my fingers.  I have an itchy feeling that I am allergic to them now.

The bulbs are coming up beautifully.  I am just dying to be gardening every sunny day.  The deer have eaten some of the tulip leaves behind the pool, but that's ok.  They get hungry.  However, it looks like they carpet bombed the backyard with poop again.  Yikes.

I follow this British gal on facebook.  She's a gardener.  She and all the other Brits are talking about their progress.  All I could contribute was that there was snow in the forecast not too long ago.  I think they pitied me in this zone 6 (yeah, micro climate up here on the hill).

Happy thought for the week:

A Photo II student told me how much she loved the zine assignment.  This was Monday.  She said that when I introduced it, she was confused and lost.  But after getting it, she loves it.  Thank goodness!!!  That is precisely what I was going for.  I wanted to introduce something so new and foreign to them that they would be absolutely perplexed.  Zine culture in itself is so totally unknown at PV.  But through their explorations, they come to understand it and like it.  So the assignment as well as the medium is a cultural exploration.  Hooray for the road trip of discovery!

Zine Update

Oh, the week just got better as it went.  Well, Photo II and III did.  By the end of the week, the P2 class was humming.  Groups were plugging away at their zines:  Masters were drawn, photo shoots done, article ideas discussed, and titles made.  I loved it.  It took a week, but I actually feel success with this.  And the best part - in my mind - is that no one wants to do the layout in Publisher.  They all are opting for traditional cut and paste.  It might seem like such a little thing, but knowing the roots of a method is important.   Like why I value stone lithography even though plate litho is so much easier.  They both have their place.  P3 was doing a beautiful job with a new inkjet transfer project.  I like the experimenting going on.

Foundations...  Well, they think it is the end of the year.  They did not want to listen to me at all on Friday, so I yelled a bit and said they were on their own.  If they needed help, they had to help each other.  If they did not need to listen to me teach, they didn't need my help.  I had to help out the girl who missed three days due to sickness anyway.  Well, what do you know... They helped each other all period.  They worked quietly.  They got things done.  They showed that they have been listening.  But damn, I wish they were more quiet.  At then end of the period I told them I want the same effort next week.

I have way too many relatives and friends who think teachers have it easy.  I say, come into my classroom any March week and try to teach and control the kids.  To clarify, we have no days off from President's Day until Easter break.  The kids get on each others' nerves, we get on their nerves, and they get on our nerves.  We love each other, but we need our space....

Oh, and still trying to increase my abilities to speak French.  Otherwise, hubby and I will not have much to say when I see my cousins.  Ha ha....  No stress at all.

Zines!!!!

I went to a workshop last year.  It was on zine making for your art students.  I was so excited.  I have tried to give a zine making assignment before - when I taught yearbook.  That crowd did not get it at all.  So I decided to try it again with the Photo II classes.  I started the assignment on Thursday.  Most of the kids had that deer in the headlights look.  I played a video that I found that I thought would appeal to them - not dry at all.  One fabulous student was even bopping his foot in time with the music!  He was the only one who got it right away.

Trying to get a group of people who only know mass produced items for ready consumption is hard.  I want them to understand that there is a whole culture that is more self-sustaining, exploratory, interested in things that matter (like local matters, unknown cultures, relevant issues, etc.).  After the end of the periods on Thursday, there were mostly blank looks.  Each day I have brought out my small sample of zines from home.  I let them look, peruse, question.  I liken this to mom and pop stores versus big box stores. They can grasp that because quite a few have family that run or work for small businesses.

We have spent the last couple days mostly sitting and talking.  It might look like nothing when someone walks by, there there was a lot going on.

And so, finally, at the end of seventh period yesterday, I could confidently say that they get it.  Phew...  Trying to get my kids to know and understand about something previously unheard of and not related to their own pop culture is tough.    So far, I am surviving.