Little Drummer Boy

It's true...

...everyone really does like Coca-Cola!!

My sister took this picture a few days ago in Thailand.

Final Project

Here's my final project: Theatrical Irony. Many bumps in the road to get it completed, but I'm pretty pleased with the end result.

Kudos to everyone in The Theatre Group...it was great working with you!

Thank You Theatre Group!!

I wanted to say thank you to the Theatre Group...you guys were a lot of fun to work with. I made a little thank you note...it's totally dorky...so dorky that I considered not even posting it...but it was good practice for the final project so I hope you'll forgive me!

My Video Disappeared

This is NOT something that is a part of my everyday. But I thought it was funny so I took a picture.



Then the baby saw the dog in his seat and tried to get him out. That was even funnier. I took more pictures.


Then I thought I should take a video, so I did. I thought I'd put some different sounds to it to make another audio project. But when I tried to find the video that I'd uploaded to my computer I couldn't find it. Did I save it somewhere I can't find it? Did I delete by mistake? Who knows...but it is frustrating.

That IS something that is part of my everyday!

Doesn't it just figure...

So this is just how my day has gone today. I pulled out my son's CD player so that I wouldn't forget to bring it to school tomorrow, since we need it for our group presentation. Luckily I tested it to make sure it worked...which it didn't. So I thought I'd just run to Fred Meyer and pick up a cheap one. Since I said I'd bring it I didn't want to disappoint the group. I get to the store and put the baby in the cart. The seat belt is broken. So I put him in the next cart. That seat belt is broken. Take three...that seat belt works and off we go to do our shopping. As I'm standing in line waiting to pay I realize that I don't have my keys. And then I remember that I had put them in the seat of one of the original shopping carts...and left them there!

The ladies at the customer service desk were really nice and made announcements over the PA to have everyone check their carts. That didn't work, so one of the employees went outside and checked all the carts in the parking lot. It was dark and rainy...but he found them!!!! I was so relieved.

After a long day, when all sorts of other irritating events had happened, I was ready to go home, do some homework, put the baby down, and go to bed myself. But as I was putting my stuff in the car, a young man approached me, saying that he had a family and all the shelters were full and could I spare some change so he could get a room for his family for the night. It made me stop and remember that there are much worse problems out there than lost keys. I'm a single mom and a student so I'm not rolling in dough, but at least I have a roof over my head.

I gave him five dollars.

How Times Have Changed!

I just received some family artifacts from my dad. My dad's side of the family tree is intensely complicated, so I won't go into that here. Although in a very weird coincidence, by studying this page I've realized for the first time that both of my grandfathers had the same birthday. And now my niece has that birthday, too!

But this page is fascinating in many ways. From 1904, it lists the births in Haverford Township in Pennsylvania. My paternal grandfather is number 13. The interesting thing is that of the 19 babies that can be seen, 3 were "colored." And only the fathers' occupations are listed...the women having a job just wasn't even a possibility.

How far we have come in just a little over 100 years, but how far we still have to go.

An Everyday Object...

...in an everyday place (just not the usual one).

I saw this on my way to work the other day (the cup is mine...I put it there while I took the picture).

At the end of the Underground Tour, there is a little museum. And in that museum is an antique commode. The funny thing...it's really pretty. It's white porcelain with a very fancy blue decorative pattern all over...inside and out...to make it a very attractive fixture.

So why don't we make pretty toilets anymore? And I don't just mean the "fashion colors" to go with the decor. The toilet in the museum was decorated. I think a toilet is very much an everyday object. And if we have to use something everyday, why not use one that's aesthetically pleasing? Are we too embarrassed by our bodies now to make pretty toilets? Apparently the early Seattle-ites weren't...they were fine with putting the sewer system above ground for all to enjoy. But we shouldn't be embarrassed, because as the current literature tells us...

In May 2003, Mayor Martin J. Chávez was joined in the field by the City of Albuquerque's duly praised Graffiti Removal Team to report on the division's success and to officially reveal the team's newly designed logo. As of this date, the City has successfully prosecuted and collected restitution from many graffiti vandals and has been nationally recognized as a best practice among cities for addressing community nuisances, such as graffiti. Mayor Chávez then participated in the painting of the "tagged" sites near Central and Old Coors. The mayor urges Albuquerque citizens to help out this summer in his effort to rid our community of graffiti by reporting it. If you see graffiti in your neighborhood, please call 311. A crew will be dispatched within 24 hours.

I thought the graffiti project, and the discussions in class about graffiti and the Splasher were pretty interesting. I spent much of my growing-up years in Albuquerque, and the graffiti connotation there is definitely different than, say, NYC, or even downtown Seattle. When I was living there it was almost always gang-related, and the graffiti was more of a tagging exercise than an artistic one. But it looks like Albuquerque is cleaning up its act. I think it's interesting that the "graffiti technician" takes pictures of some of the graffiti before he removes it, and recognizes the artistic value. It reminds of both the spoof on graffiti removal we watched in class, and the graffiti projects.

Another Impossible Project

OMG! Piece
Have children.
Get a job.
Become a student.

Do all your homework.
Get enough sleep.

-autumn 2008

A Mini Movie for Mark