its that time again...

time for another week of girls camp. it may seem strange, but i love it. it takes me back to the days when everything was right with the world. can i please return to those days? the days when a snipe hunt was the epitome of a great night out. when your big sister snunk into your tent and covered you head to toe in toilet paper. when your best friend would walk with you to the bathrooms in the middle of the night even though she was more scared than you. when your leaders had all the answers and you knew the name of every star. ahh...now i get to see Maddy enjoy it which brings another level of appreciation for me. but i can't help wishing i was 13 again, and that i was rehearsing a skit and song and making dutch oven dinners. and walking through the woods wondering when my real life would begin.

wondering why...

by the shoe tree.

sometimes there is no answer.

sometimes there seems to be.

rainbows are created by the refracted light...yada yada yada.

i prefer to look at them and not try to understand why they are so amazing.

they just are.

moments of brilliance, moments of absurdity, art and profundity.

life is like that.

fleeting, amazing and then gone.

unless you're like the shoe tree which keeps getting bigger every year.

open your eyes and enjoy something amazing today.

Monday, May 11, 2009
get your kicks...
Tandem with Kate
Random found object art in Prescott with one cool chick!
Russel Johnson's environmental art piece
Yucca AZ. Isn't this where they tested the bomb? Is that related to the belief in aliens? I'm just sayin...
Embedding myself in the art...can you feel the love
No Explanation needed.

Trip to Prescott...drive 3 hours. Sleep in Fresno (or "the burg") at Grandma Marlene's posh B and B. Wake up .... drive 9 hours. Drop stuff at The Motor Lodge..."hip, chic and comfortable!" Eat, sleep, play, learn, eat, sleep, play, learn. Tough stuff.

I was so much more laid back about the colloquia (a conference, actually, but someone likes fancy scholarly words) this time. In Feb. I stressed about the schedule, the people, the process. Of course that is how it is when its your "first time." Now, you would have thought I was an old timer. I've got the thing down, seriously. I like my friends, the place I'm staying, the environment, and also the fact that Kate, Mom, Patty and Lynn were there. That was cool. I really enjoy the connections that are made and the new ideas, information and processes I am learning. It informs the way I look at the world. Only 6 more to go!
Fun experiences: Tandem bike riding with Kate, 108 degrees in Needles, eating constantly, walking down Montezuma with Mom, Patty and Kate, Lemon Lavendar cookies from the Crossroads Cafe, having lots of bonding time with Kate in the car
Best class I went to all weekend: I actually went to a Thesis Presentation about Popular Songs and Disasters where the artist performed songs about floods, fires, train wrecks, blimp wrecks, Hurricane Katrina and the San Francisco Earthquake. He was so nervous, he kept drinking out of an empty coffee cup. Poor guy...but he did have mad guitar skills. Where else but at Prescott College? :-)
Other best class: Environmental Art. My favorite artist (period) is Andy Goldsworthy (check him out if you don't know him). A discussion/survey of history of said discipline and then headed outside to make some art of our own in the creek behind the school. Loved it. Seriously, I'm a complete lunatic and love having a community of learners that supports my lunacy.

Trip to Newcastle...drive 9 hours, sleep in Fresno wake up....drive 3 hours. Home sweet home.

Get your kicks...

on a roadtrip along historic Rounte 66. Fun was had by all in Prescott, Arizona. Unfortunately for me, I actually was there to do some work (much of which was left undone thanks to my child and family). I am still happy I am a grad student at Prescott College, although sufficiently out of the honeymoon phase.

the flying girl

is me. go figure(yeah chagall!) the first time i saw this, i thought...there we are! i'm off, and brook is letting me fly, just not fly away. i appreciate him for that. really, he is the foundation of our happy life. and i get to have all my adventures with a safe place to land. i think he is amused by it, flights of fancy and all. this week, off to prescott az with kate for conference weekend. time to fly away!

my hero

...he is the al jarreau to my neko case. 18 years--i'm the luckiest woman on the planet!

Just stop...

growing up so fast! Maddy has blossomed (isn't that just an embarrasing mom word?) into a beautiful young woman, inside and out. I admire her quiet confidence, intelligence and compassion. She is a loyal friend, sister and daughter. She loves to read and discover new things...and is trying hard not to be a typical 'teenager'. Every once in a while, the urge to sulk hits, but she is so wonderful I have to cut her lots of slack. She starts Placer High School in August...amazing! I love you Madz!