Special People

So, after my self-defined "people-drawing-fail" of the past little while, I decided to work on my person-skills.
I rather think it worked.

I thought of choosing someone from a magazine. I've done that before with some degree of success. But if I am going to spend time drawing something... it want it to mean something. If I am going to spend a few hours drawing people... I'm going to choose some really special people.
So I broke out some old family photos.

This is baby Eliza and "almost-6-year-old" Aria. Aren't they cute and lovey! (that is now a word.)

And here is what I did from that photo. I worked on it an hour before church and... maybe two hours after church. I did this with a number two pencil, which inspired me... to buy a pack of art pencils

It looks better in real life. 

A slightly different angle... maybe?

Anyway. My faith in my people drawing ability is restored. And it is actually the first time* I've drawn a family member. And that's it.





* I did draw a self portrait that was pretty good.... but then I painted over it and ruined it.

Parasailing

My father is a wonderful man.
He also has a bunch of crazy ideas. Ideas that shouldn't be possible in real life.

 He once suggested that the scouts have a camp-out in the backyard by floating in the pool on air-mattresses, Parent Trap style.

We vetoed that one. But we couldn't talk him out of this one.

Dad needed to test-drive the para-sails, to make sure they flew right. He couldn't be talked out of it. 

So, as we walked out the door, we joked about stuff like "writing eulogies," and "giving speeches at funerals," but I was actually full of trepidation.  

Mom and I had very incredulous faces (as you can see) but we were the faithful family members , leading another family member into a possibly dangerous situation.

 In the end, I was only there to help mom stay awake, and take documentation. But I did pretty well at that.

Big rope, lots of help.

In the beginning. 

Testing the wind. Apparently, it is important to know which way it is going.

And... it's a wrap. Everyone survived! (Applause!)

My Dad is FULL of crazy ideas. But we can't talk him out of them because, most of the time...
they work.

Cheating.

This is cheating. 

This is the sketch of the person that was then in my painting "Gaze Upward." I jazzed it up, and I'm counting it. Maybe I'll color it and count it for next week too. Not.

I'm busy, so this is all I've got. It pales in comparison with last week... but everything would.

Soul Sister.

I like to listen to the radio when I am in my room, getting ready for the day. Today was an in-service, so I got up slightly earlier than usual. I turned off the radio as I walked down the stairs to eat breakfast. I heard the song "Soul Sister" coming from my brothers room. I really like that song, so I turned it on downstairs.

As soon as the song was over, they went into a brief description of what happened at the Midnight premier of "The Dark Night Rises." I was shocked. One of the radio hosts had a friend who was there. She gave a little interview about it, what happened, and how she got out with her group of friends escaped. One girl in their group was shot, and they had to leave her. They don't know if she is dead or alive. They have been giving interviews and statements, and talking to Police Officers for almost 6 hours. She was half hysterical. My heart went out to her.
The radio station awkwardly moved on to give out free tickets to stuff.
Then I went to work.
I had a split shift, so I went to the Gym with mom (courtesy of Aria's membership which she hasn't used for forever) for an hour and a half.
Information about the shooting was spread across the hundred or so television screens hanging from the ceiling and attached to the exercise equipment. I watched the whole Aurora debriefing. I felt really connected. I had heard it in extraneous circumstances, and I kept up on it from early on. In the debriefing I learned everything anyone could possibly ever want to know about the shooting.
Here is what I remember.
The suspect is James Eagan Holmes. He was a neuroscience major, grew up in San Diego, and was born in 1987.  
It took place in a Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colorado. There were four guns used. Two glock something-or-others, a shotgun like thing... and another one.
He threw two canisters of tear-gas-like-stuff about 39 minutes into the movie in theater nine.There were a lot of sold out showings, and there were 4 or 5 theaters. People were confused when the shots were fired. Authorities don't know how many shots were fired, but there were ten dead on the scene and two that died in local hospitals. The Police arrived on the scene within a few minutes (2?) and soon apprehended Holmes (not Sherlock) in the parking lot behind his car. He apparently didn't have the common mass-murderer courtesy of killing himself, I later concluded. He was dressed in all black and even wore a gas-mask/ ski-mask (conflicting stories). He told the authorities that he had booby trapped his apartment, and apparently it was real. The youngest of the victims was 6 years old, the oldest was 45. A three -month-old baby was there. There were 4 army personal in the theater. Someone in an adjoining theater was shot as well. There were about 200 police personal, and after detaining Holmes they ferried the 59 injured people to 6 different local hospitals. The nearby local High School became a center for the victims. 71 people were shot. Everyone wants to say something nice. Even some of the political ads were postponed to allow for more of the news to get through. People asked a lot of questions, but didn't get very good answers. They still aren't releasing the names of the victims. 
I learned a lot more. I also stayed on the walking machine for a good deal longer than usual. 
I went back to work. No one said much about anything until near the end of my shift when suddenly it was time to depress everyone with news of the shoot-out, a teenage mom who killed her baby and hid her in a dumpster, road rage gone wrong.... etc. depressing.
The world suddenly seems like a terrible place. 
I came home, and got ready to take a shower. 
I heard David's radio on my way down the hall.
It was playing the song "Soul Sister."
I've come full circle. It has been a long day.

WSI

I'm a WSI.
I teach kids how to swim. I work for "The City."
There are six lessons in a session, and I taught six classes. That equals... a lot of classes.
The last class (or at least, the first round of "the end"), was today.
Bittersweet. These kids are SO cute. They like to show off, and once a few of them learned my name it was "Miss Alayna, watch this!" and "Miss Alayna I'm going to try a trick!" over and over again.
It gets VERY annoying... and is somewhat endearing.

So now. I will log in my day. Be warned. My mind will wander.
First I spent a few hours of a Lifeguard. It's kind of hard to continue a conversation with another Lifeguard when you switch stands every 15 minutes, and only chat for the time it takes to switch. And keep in mind that these tiny snippets of conversation happen while one person is on the stand, so you can't even hear what is said half of the time. But when someone makes the effort to keep up a conversation.... it really means something.
So I kept it up
And he asked me if I was going to the dance this Saturday. I never go to the dances, and he knows that.
But he still asked.
And I think I would... but I kind-of promised to Lifeguard for a swim party.

Pity.

Moving on. (And I'm not saying who "he" is. Not over the internet.)

Being a WSI is not fun. 

There have been times when my lesson plans have gone down the drain. Literally. Some kid was playing with the laminated paper and it fell down the large drain. There has been a bloody nose. The water has been so cold that even the most adventurous of kids wants to go home early. Kids wander around the entire pool and they almost never ALL pay attention ALL at the same time. We get in the water more than anyone else, and have a LOT of names to memorize. It's a lot of responsibility to decide weather or not a kid passes on to the next level. AND for the first time ever, all 6 of my 4 year-olds showed up TODAY.

Being a WSI is fun. 

Kids trust you. They try to show off for you. They try to out-do each other to impress you. Life-jacket day is fun. All of the classes get together, hold hands in a circle, and play "ring around the rosies." This means that I can hold hands with him... and no one will ever know (including him, but there you go.). It is fun to be a WSI when you get a glowing report from a mother of your private lesson saying that "After one lesson with Alayna, he looked forward to every lesson!" It's fun when kids look disappointed when they find out they might not have you as their teacher next time. It's fun when they stop and wave at you through the guard shack window because they recognize you. It's fun when you get to play games. It's fun for a lot of reasons. 

My FAVORITE kid didn't show up for his last lesson today. So I did my time-card instead. It just so happens, that last time I did my time-card, was the only other time I had a lesson no-show.

Kind of convenient.

I stayed a little bit after work today to watch a much-anticipated race between a co-worker (who had bragged about his speed) and the boyfriend of another co-worker. Even our supervisors came out to watch. The boyfriend won. By a lot. 

 It was fun. Now I have a lot of paperwork to turn in.

Gaze Upward

What I want it to be.
It isn't.
It never is.

Pre-person stage.

It was CLOSE, at least. I REALLY liked the idea of it, and I REALLY liked the first part of it. Little Melissa kind of depressed me when she tried to guess what it was (She thought it was snowing... and that the person was watering the ground...), so I'll tell you. This is a painting of a girl in a forest, letting her flashlight hang limp in her hand as she is lost in pondering the stars.  My "inspiration" came at Girls Camp, as I stared at the stars... a lot. (I am slightly obsessed with the stars and moon, as you now know.) I call it "Gaze Upward." (One of the daily Camp themes)

 I took a great deal of care with the next part of the painting. I even incorporated 3 real constellations. (If you can't see them, don't tell me.)

This is with the flash., and with the "Completed." It shows the trees better.

This is without the flash. It is almost what I wanted it to be. There is just one problem....

I'm no good at painting people. The landscapes I do have a chance at looking good or even realistic... but not my people. 

I'm not good at painting people. Though, to be fair... I've only ever painted three of them.
One was a self portrait that looks NOTHING like me.

I struggled with this, working on it for weeks (in a painting class) without finding the right skin color. Then, I found it.... and was almost done within an hour.

This is number two.

I think I can compliment myself on the dress, which looks "realistic," but the girl looks as pasty as Snow White and as flat in complexion as a sub-average cartoon.

...Which leads us to this, my third and last painted person. (Not counting silhouettes... those don't count.)

 

The hands and face.... no detail, no realism... it kind of ruins the painting.


 

My excuses. 1) This is the first time I have done a major project with this kind of Acrylic paint. It is called "Heavy Body" and a little goes... nowhere.
 2) It was pretty ambitious, as this is one of the very few paintings that I have done without a reference of any kind.
3) Painting light is hard, and there is a lot to consider. This painting includes both a flood of light (from the flashlight), and a lack of light (just the stars), which makes it even harder.

I spent a LOT of time on this, and I'm proud of that. It wasn't the usual "oh no! I forgot to do a Work of the Week, and will now sit down and do something late Sunday night" kind of thing.
I did layers, I took time with trees, I looked up constellations to include, I watched the hours fly by. I used a wooden model for the person, and sketched it. My family members checked in periodically. When I told mom that I wanted to make the person a child instead of a teenager, she advised me against it because--and I quote-- "Children shouldn't be in the forest alone in the middle of the night."
I love my Mom. It kind of reminded me of this one part in the 2010 Emma, where Mr. Woodhouse said, "Shouldn't she be wearing a more substantial shawl?"

I'll show it to you one more time.
.


... I think I'm proud of it anyway.

Lawyer Jokes

*Disclaimer* I know a lot of people who are Lawyers/ are related to Lawyers.
I know that there are exceptions to every rule. I still like to tell Lawyer jokes. They are my favorites! If you are offended by this post... I'm sorry. But it's my blog. I can say whatever I want.


For my Birthday, I got this game, where you piece together words to make a Newspaper headline, and try to rack up the most points. In this game, Lawyers are worth NOTHING!!!...
...just like in the real world.

Here are some fun comparisons.

For those of you who didn't know, a "Urologist" is a specialist that focuses on people's urinary tracts,  a Lawyer just dishes out "bull crap."

Go psychics!

Well, it isn't much, but there you go.

Awesome.

Even a politician- --pardon my French-- is worth more than a lawyer.
Which totally goes against one of my favorite sayings. If your kid grows up to be a doctor, it's from your side of the family. If he grows up to be a Lawyer, it's from the other side of the family. If he grows up to be a politician, he was switched at the hospital. 

Even Hollywood has SOME worth.

Mans best friend is NOT his lawyer. 

Even a "by proxy politician" is worth WAY more than a lawyer.

Courtroom prejudice.

Ohh... only 5 points for the wife... 

This makes sense too.

Finally, and equal match.

Q: What's the difference between a female lawyer and a pitbull?
A: Lipstick.
Q: What's the difference between an accountant and a lawyer?
A: Accountants know they're boring.
Q: What's the one thing that never works when it's fixed?
A: A jury.
Q: What's the difference between a vacuum cleaner and a lawyer on a motorcycle?
A: The vacuum cleaner has the dirt bag on the inside.
Q: What' the difference between a lawyer and a boxing referee?
A: A boxing referee doesn't get paid more for a longer fight.
Q: What's the difference between a jellyfish and a lawyer?
A: One's a spineless, poisonous blob. The other is a form of sea life.
Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a leech?
A: After you die, a leech stops sucking your blood.
Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and God?
A: God doesn't think he's a lawyer.
Q: How can a pregnant woman tell that she's carrying a future lawyer?
A: She has an uncontrollable craving for bologna.
Q: What do dinosaurs and decent lawyers have in common?
A: They're both extinct.
Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a liar?
A: The pronunciation.
Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a vulture?
A: The lawyer gets frequent flyer miles.
Q: What's the difference between a mosquito and a lawyer?
A: One is a blood-sucking parasite, the other is an insect.
Q: Why did God make snakes just before lawyers?
A: To practice.
Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a herd of buffalo?
A: The lawyer charges more.
Q: How can you tell when a lawyer is lying?
A: Their lips are moving.
Q: Why did New Jersey get all the toxic waste and California all the lawyers?
A: New Jersey got to pick first.
Q: What's the difference between a dead skunk in the road and a dead lawyer in the road?
A: There are skid marks in front of the skunk.
Q: Why won't sharks attack lawyers?
A: Professional courtesy.
Q: What do have when a lawyer is buried up to his neck in sand?
A: Not enough sand.
Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a bucket of manure?
A: The bucket.
Q: What do you get when you cross the Godfather with a lawyer?
A: An offer you can't understand
Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a vampire?
A: A vampire only sucks blood at night.
Q: Why do they bury lawyers under 20 feet of dirt?
A: Because deep down, they're really good people.



Q: Why is going to a meeting of the Bar Association like going into a bait shop?
A: Because of the abundance of suckers, leeches, maggots and nightcrawlers

Q: Why are there so many lawyers in the U.S.?
A: Because St. Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland.


AND LAST, my new personal favorite...
Q: How many lawyer jokes are there?
A: Only three. The rest are true stories.

A Collection of Scattered Thoughts.

Today, for once, this post is going to be what the blog title suggests it is. Random thoughts and events of the day.

I Woke up. Always later than I originally plan. I always feel like a lot of time is wasted in the morning hours, leading to a rush in the afternoon.
But it's all good fun.

It was Eliza's Birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZA!!
We made banana pancakes, and popped popcorn in preparation for her party-thing tonight. We LOVE popcorn. Peanut-butter popcorn, caramel popcorn, Kool-aid popcorn, marshmallow, peppermint, butter,  Kettle-corn, white-chocolate almond, etc. 
We always make more popcorn than anyone could ever eat... but there you go. 

We went to get Eliza a nice ring for her 15th Birthday (as per our tradition), and she finally made a decision. Then we spent another several minutes chatting with the jeweler, who just so happens to be a childhood friend of my Uncle. Small world. Wherever my mother goes, there are always plenty of things to chat about. We had several watch batteries fixed, so counting the passing minutes was easy.
Limited time. Eliza wanted to go to "Charming Charlies," a SUPER cute accessories place in a fancy place called "Tivoli Village." I was excited as well.
We took our neighbors. They have an ASTOUNDING video collection. It didn't take long to find the one we wanted to watch at the party tonight -and see more to take mental note of others for later viewing.
We went to Charming Charlies, and I had fun (their Orange section is very satisfactory)... but kept checking my watch. Not so much fun when you are always worried about being late. 

It turns out that I was late for work... but not terribly so.
I started lessons. I like teaching... but I was kind-of disillusioned with "The City" and it's employees and... it was kind-of disappointing. Lots of new rules that are rather inconvenient. A whole list.
 We aren't allowed to tell the "patrons/parents" that it is cold. It IS cold... but if we stop admitting it... that will make it better?
We aren't allowed to go in the deep end without clearing it with the coaches first.
Oops... that was me. But when you have a level 5 private lesson with a lesson plan, 89% of which is DIVING... you need the deep end. The "Desert Mermaids" look really cool. And they are ALWAYS there. The Swim Teams are always there too, so the poor private lessons are left to fend for themselves. But the Mermaids only had 10 girls in the pool, doing things in a small circle in the middle.  So I took my kid into a little corner of the deep end, and we had a great lesson.
I don't regret doing it, that kid really deserved it (He is the BEST kid ever). But I guess there are consequences... even if it's a blanket ban.

The pool is cold, there is no getting around it. We have to have the "Doors" (Picture garage doors) open for "air flow." Yes, it is Vegas. Yes, it is hot. But even "Hot wind" chills wet children... and WSIs. Some of the TEACHERS (WSIs) didn't get in the pool until our supervisor came and asked them why they weren't in the water. Busted. It was an awkward situation when they had to explain it later on that day.
I always get in with my kids. I was swimming in an outdoor pool in MARCH, with winds that were so strong, the water would fly horizontally off of your arm in the backstroke. The cold doesn't affect me... much. If the kids can do it, so can I.

The instructors have a huge advantage. We only have two lessons a week, so forgetting a name isn't a big deal. The roster refreshes your memory instantly, and you call the kids by name repeatedly during a lesson. For a kid to remember your name, (especially in a 4 and 5 year old class), it really means something. This one kid, named Mathew, is a REALLY good swimmer. He could have moved up a level, but after the first day with me, decided to stay and take the class with "Miss Alayna." (This pretty much melted my heart.)
Today was muggy and overcast. Before class started, Mathew tried to tell me about the weather. "There's lots of .... con-den-sation out there! It feels like it's going to preci....preci...preci...." he looked to me for help, so I said "Precipitate?"
"Ya." he answered back. He is 5 years old. This kid is awesome.
He is in a Pre-school level 2 class with a handful of other kids. There were 5 of them today and they are really a handful, but each of them is special in their own way. I could go on about each one of them, but I won't. They like to show off. "Miss Alayna, watch this!" they say, showing me a trick I've already seen twice today, "Instructor! Is it like this?" Ava would say (she always calls me "Instructor"). I kind of let them do there thing while I help each kid in turn with a swimming skill. It usually works out just fine.
As I was helping Carolina push off the wall, she used a little more force than I expected, and ran into Mathew who -unbeknownst to me- was swimming around behind her. The collision looked painful, but both parties insisted that they were fine... and then Mathew's nose started to bleed profusely. We were out of the water and on the way to the guard-shack for treatment before the class and most of the parents even realized something had happened. I had a quick idea to ask Mat (another WSI) to keep an eye on my class for a while, but dismissed it as Mathew's nose started pouring out blood. I stooped down and told him how to pinch it, attracting the attention of a parent who then informed Mathew's mom of the problem. That was a life-saver. Mathew's mom came to take care of the bleeding, and told me to return to my class. I did, mentally capturing the moment of the collision for the incident report I expected I would need to fill out. After class, I stopped and talked to Mathew and his Mom, who were waiting at the side of the guard shack, presumably for me. He was fine, they were fine, and he was looking forward to the next lesson. What a trooper!
I walked into the guard shack and said, "I probably need to sign that incident report." I got blank stares as a reply. The Lifeguards had done nothing. "We didn't touch him, so we don't need to do anything." they said. Ok, if a kid scrapes his knee running on the pool deck, and you hand him a band-aid, maybe you don't need an incident report. But if a kid was accidentally injured IN CLASS by another student, some documentation should happen. And I know that at least some blood got on the deck... and no one took care of that.
Lifeguards are lazy and useless.
Sorry, it really bothered me. And in light of everything else that went on that day,-- not to mention the presence of TWO City Supervisors--we should have at least been "keeping up appearances."

The wind proved to be a problem on the bike ride home. I was exerting a LOT more energy than usual.
It wasn't sunny today. Usually, I watch my shadow become distorted by foliage along the side of the road as I bike past the trees and hedges. Instead, I watched a Rainbow that seemed to stay with me all the way home.

This post is a lot longer than I expected it to be!
It was Eliza's Birthday party-ish thing today, She doesn't like attention. She wanted my friends there too, because (short version)... they are awesome people! Eliza and I have had combined Birthday Parties a LOT in the past (even though we are a two years and a MONTH apart). It was totally unplanned, but it turned out to be another combined party; her friends and my friends, presents from both of them to both of us. It was no big deal... which was really cool.
My recently married cousin (Nate) stopped by with his wife, on their way to their Honeymoon. (Flights are cheaper in Vegas.) They brought a present for Eliza, which was REALLY sweet. I like them a lot.
We watched "A Cinderella Story." (I'll skip the back story.) Little Melissa interjected at the weirdest moments, just to remind us that she was there.
It was REALLY good to see my friends again. SO much has happened to all of us since school got out... we need more time together, before it starts again!!!

Our kitchen sink is functioning again, thanks to the Jackson boys!
I sure have eaten a lot of popcorn.
My mom keeps saying how tired she is, and how she is going to sleep, but she is still milling about the kitchen, while I type on.
I guess I should be tired too. I need sleep, I work early tomorrow.

This post is too long because I think about things too much.

La Luna

I have recently become aware that I have an obsession with THE MOON


I watched the Venus Transit, I loved the lunar eclipse. I obsessed about the crescent-shaped shadows that the lunar eclipse created everywhere.

I just like the moon.

This is the Disney-Pixar short from "Brave."


Sometimes I will stop all conversations and point it out to people, saying, "Look at the MOON!"
I will watch, fascinated, as the clouds shift and give the whole spectral a new perspective.

This is a painting of one especially memorable lunar image I saw on Tuesday. I didn't have a camera, so I  committed it to memory and this is the result.

The resolution is crap, but there you go. Do you like the Orange pillow in the background? I thought so.

I remember thinking that it looked like someone had drawn blinds over the surface of the moon.
My family was questioning me every step of the process. There was a collective shudder when I started painting the dark-blue clouds over the moon.

Not everyone is an artist, but everyone is a critic. 

Not Special.

This post is different.
This time, I'm not going to overwhelm you with my astounding lack of humility. I've been thinking about this for a long while, and am finally taking the time to do something with it.

I heard the first snippet of this speech on the radio on my way to EFY. Yes it is long. But it really is worth it. It's poignant, funny, and VERY well worded. 

(Ironic isn't it? I heard it on my way to Especially For Youth.)

So it's this...

I LOVE Mr. Rogers... and his sweater is ALWAYS red in my mind.

 ... and this.

"You are special, you're the only one, you're the only one like YOU! There isn't another in the whole wide-world who can do the things you do, 'cause you are SPECIAL! SPECIAL! Everyone is SPECIAL! Everyone, in his or her own way! Oh you are SPECIAL, SPECIAL! Everyone is SPECIAL! Everyone in his or her own way."
I did that whole song from memory. Wow.

Versus things like this

I secretly REALLY like this picture.

And EVEN in a Disney Movie. (Sorry about the sound/ picture in-balance.)

I recently went to EFY. I made some friends, and had a great experience. But I also learned stuff like this.
It is FAR from unique to be artistic. I'm good. People are better. And better prepared too. 
I have NEVER carried around a sketchbook. Some people don't leave home without one. And their art is AMAZING.
I'm musical. Big deal. I met 10 people in an hour that could out-do anything I could dream of doing.
I'm a good writer. So what? I met a girl who has three novels going, one totaling almost 300 pages.
What have I done with my writing skills? School essays, and journaling. Neither of which are read by anyone. 
I love T-shirts, and have come up with designs. Someone else I met has had his submitted to be produced for the public. My wit will never leave the pages of my idea-book and the scanty-few I've made with a screen-printing kit.
I'm not that smart. People know the same stuff that I do. We ALL go/went to High School. It's a GENERAL EDUCATION.
Other people know random facts, too. They know the same ones, and ones that are more applicable. I always try to point out when I've done something funny. I like to be recognized for it. I'm missing the point.
I'm not even unique in the combinations of my talents. I heard a girl talking about what she was doing in College, and it was like she was living my un-realized dream. She is just like me... only better.



I have lived in my lovely paradigm where I don't have to decide things. If I am a good student, dabble in the arts, participate in a sport, and work hard, colleges will love me and I won't have to worry about choosing.  A perfect College will magically appear, waving a large scholarship, begging me to live my dreams , because I am just the kind of person they are looking for.
But there are a lot of people like me. Just because it happened one way, for one person, doesn't mean it will happen that way to me. In fact, by the laws of Narnia, it means that it can't . "Nothing happens the same way twice." I'll just have to find my future the hard way. Trial and Error.

So. To apply the last part of the Commencement speech, Dear other 7,051,035,426    people on this Earth  (as of 12:40pm)

What can I do for you?