For the past two days I have been on a sketching roll. Yesterday I mentioned one technique that I use when sketching in nature, which I call a sketching "shorthand". I do not know if this is an official term, but that is what I use to describe a way of indicating certain objects without drawing every single element. You can suggest a huge clump of leaves by using a short hand rather than by drawing each leaf.
So I wanted to give you a visual idea of what I meant by that. Below I have jotted down a couple of the shorthands I use when drawing nature. Of course when I am focusing on something I would add more detail. But these are helpful for creating the illusion of effluviant foliage (Yes, I purposefully used that word to impress you all.)
I hope this is helpful!
Love,
Your Certified Sketching Trainer Expert Who Has Large Bug Bites on Her Bottom From Sitting in the Nature
PS
Bad News. I just double checked the definition of the word "effluviant". It does not mean what I thought it meant. I thought it meant bountiful. This is what it actually means: "Of or pertaining to effluviam." Effluvia apparently means: "A gaseous or vaporous emission, especially a foul-smelling one." Oops. Sorry about that, Guys! (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/effluvium)
This evening Joanna and I planned a meal and cooked it together. It is one of those things that we have always said we wanted to do together, but it is just another thing for which we never have time at school.
Here's a short list of some of those things:
- Cook Together (Check!) - Watch Episodes of Miranda Hart's Show - Go Hiking - Make Macaroons - Take a Martial Arts Class - Go For a Joy Ride While Blasting Music
Yesterday Joanna got out her big Julia Child cookbooks and a couple others. She sat down in a big chair and began to map out our plans for our dinner. We decided on this menu:
I am currently digesting this gourmet meal and Joanna just slipped away to change into a looser fitting garment in order to accommodate the recentness expansion of her waistline. She toiled for four hours on this meal. I helped a lot, but she really did the bulk of the work. We shared it with two of her six sisters, her mother and a special family friend.
It was like Babette's Feast, in the amount of work it took to prepare, the artistry and in the special fellowship of friends it provided. That film is actually the first one Sheldon and I ever watched together. I even think it was before we were officially dating.
I wanted to remember some of my favourite memories of my mother today.
Here they are:
1. Reading to Me at Great Harvest Bread
My mom was very thrifty to be living off of a private school teacher's budget in one of the most wealthy neighbourhoods in the Chicago area. She had all sorts of tricks for saving money and still having fun with her kids. One of my favourites was when we would visit a bakery which gave free sample slices of bread. They also had a great big window seat and many picture books. we would spend an hour or so reading there.
2. The Grumpy Dulcimer Face
My mother is very musical. She taught herself to play the lap dulcimer and the hammer dulcimer when she was a teenager. She would play a lot when we were kids. We were always very scared of her when she played because she wore a very serious knit-brow expression. We thought she was very angry. Turns out she was just concentrating.
3. Hair Brushing Sessions
Ug. These were rough. My hair was extremely curly and thick. It got so tangly and it would take a very long time to brush out. It was torture for my mother to clamp me between her knees and brush down.
4. Hours of Jillian Michaels Workouts
My mom is my work-out buddy. She got me into doing workout videos with her a few years ago. Even though it's kind of cheesy, they have actually changed my body from being skinny and weak to being strong. I miss getting to work out with her.
5. Keeping Necco Wafers in Your Purse
I don't think these are your favourite candy any more, but you always used to have them in your purse. You would dispense them to us every once in a while. It was great. My least favourite were the brown chocolate ones and the black liquorice ones. My favourites were the white mint ones and the pink ones.
6. The Nose Ring
This is a random and old memory. One time our church had a carnival day where everyone dressed up like characters from the Bible. You and Dad dressed like Isaac and Rebecca. You wore the ring from a Mrs. Potato Head in your nose just like Rebecca's. I think you dressed me as a tree.
The Student Government decided that another way to reduce waste was for people to stop ordering their food from The Stupe (the campus's burger restaurant) in styrofoam containers. Instead of wasting styrofoam with the take-out containers students are encouraged to "Just Say Basket!"
Before I do my Teacher's Aid Log I will share my Weekly Record Cartoon. Somebody recently commented on a cartoon of mine, "I don't get it...But I like it!" I am actually OK with that!
How are you? Well? Sick? Tired? Ready for Spring? Me too. Don't worry. It'll be here soon.
I have spent the last week here at my grandparent's house in Texas. It has been very relaxing and sweet. I love being with my grandparents. I want to share some of my Texas obsessions. They are things that I think are very specific to Texas, or at least this part of it and they are emblematic of this visit.
1) This is a plant that I have seen in all the trees here in San Marcos. My grandpa says that it is called "Ball Moss" or "Tilandsia recurvata". Apparently it feeds off the air and does no harm to plants, but merely roosts in them and lives. I like them because they have these delicate tendrils sprouting out of them. They are a tangle of light green sprouts which sometimes fall in a clump onto the sidewalk. I think they are lovely and bizarre like aliens.
2) The next thing that defines this area of Texas for me are the street gutters. I think they are crazy. They are about five feet long and one foot high. Rather than being a grate embedded in the side of the curb it is a big gaping hole. Any small person could slip right down into the hole. I imagine tiny children accidentally slipping through. That also made me think that anything could also crawl out of the holes. Shudder.
3) The last thing that I now associate with this trip to Texas is beans. Pinto beans to be exact. The first night I was here (it feels like months ago) I ordered a side of pinto beans with chunks of ham. I had just got off the plane and my stomach was still settling. When the beans arrived they turned out to be a tiny bowl with about 10 beans and 1 piece of ham mixed in. It was the measliest bowl of beans ever. When the waiter brought my grandparents full chef's salads and me the tiny bowl of beans I tried to keep a straight face as if to say "I totally meant to only order these three beans in this teeny bowl and nothing else." The three of us laughed about it after the waiter left and they shared some of their salad with me. That incident began my love of beans. On this trip I have eaten them whenever the occasion has arisen.
I told my grandparents that I would be back before dark and I headed out onto the streets of San Marcos. I headed for a series trails about a mile and half away from the house. I found them and looked at the map. I figured that the area called Purgatory Trails could't be that big. I ran on Dante Path for a mile or so before turning onto Beatrice Trail. It started to get dark and I began to get a little worried. We all know what happens to young women who run about on dark trails with no one around.
I started to panic and run faster. I was hoping to meet up with the road again at any turn. I didn't. Paradiso Way kept winding round and round, but I still wasn't finding the road. The sunset was beautiful but I couldn't enjoy it because I knew that my life was in danger. I felt like was on Inferno Lane rather than Paradiso.
Finally, I saw some houses above a rocky ridge. I felt this was my only option to get onto a road that my phone GPS would recognise. I scrambled down from the trail and into a dry creekbed that was overgrown with weeds and thistles. I waded through the brush. On the other side I started to climb the rock face. At the top I found myself in behind the backyards of some mansions. I had to traipse through the tall crabgrass and more thistles to get to the freshly manicured lawns. I crept along the backyard to the driveway. There was a man in his pyjamas taking out the trash. I knew that I would startle him as I snuck up behind him covered in mud in my dark clothes. He did start but I tried to reassure him that I was just a lost runner. HE seemed calmed and I limped off to find the road.
I finally found it. My GPS found me. And I kept running. It was getting darker. Deer began to congregate in the yards of the mansions I was running past. I met an old couple walking together. I ran faster.
Im the end I had to call my grandfather to come and pick me up. I would have had to run along a dark highway with no sidewalks in order to get home. My grandpa was goodnatured about coming to get me.
That was my adventure. I ended up running for about 7 miles, which is a lot for me.
I just had a really hard midterm in Seventeenth Century Literature. It is all over now. Sigh.
Today I would like to tell you about some things that I have been obsessed with lately. I have been turning to these things in spare moments and they make me happy. Probably too happy.
This is a program that is meant to boost your mental processes like Flexibility, Speed, Attention, Problem Solving and Memory. Basically it is a series of games that you can play on your phone. I play them on my phone in the bathroom all the time. I have the free version so I can't unlock all their games, but there is no way I am paying money for this. To conclude, I do not know if I am smarter. I hope so, but I do not care that much. If you ever hang out with me and get worried because I have been in the bathroom for a long time...you will know why.
I have been taking a leaf out of my father's book.
This is his morning ritual: 5:30 AM - Pray 6:00 AM - Make breakfast while listening to NPR 6:30 AM - Wake up Paul Hugh and Isaac 7:10 AM - Walk to school
I have taken to using his routine because of my teacher aid position. I have to be at school at 7:50 AM so it helps to get an early start. NPR has been my companion. I like to stay on top of the news, but do not have a ton of extra reading time. That is why I love the radio. I have an app on my phone or I use the FM radio on my iPod. I always feel a little more confident when I know what's going on in the world.
Like I mentioned, I have been very into radio lately. I came across this program because one of my favourite bloggers mentioned it. It is a gripping show about a real-life murder case. It is hosted my an investigative journalist who actually goes through the process of re-opening a murder case because someone contacted her and thinks the man may have been wrongly convicted. It features actual interviews with suspects and witnesses. It is super well done and extremely fascinating. Check it out!
Thanks for stopping by and reading about the things that are floating my boat lately. I have many more "obsessions" that I will share later on. For now, Good bye!
This is my cartoon for this week's paper. My last one (which you can find here) was rejected for a yet undisclosed reason. Maybe it was too dark. Too weird? Sarcastic? Insensitive? This would not be the first time my cartoons have been rejected on the grounds of insensitivity.
I hope that this cartoon doesn't ruin your day. I also hope that my relationship with the school paper can be restored.
Good night, Dear Readers.
Lucy Rose
PS
In case you are like me and had a bit of a down day here are some funny videos to help you feel a little better.
1. This one is my absolute favourites: Peter Sellers pretending to be Laurence Olivier's Richard the Third.
2. This one by Jenna Marbles is just bizarre, but I love it.
3. This one is also strange. So, so strange. But also beautiful. Thanks to Myra for introducing it to me.
Many of you have been asking how I stay in such good shape. "Lucy Rose, why are you so muscular and well-toned. You are incredibly fit! What do you do?!" Just kidding. No one has asked me.
BUT! Today I worked out with Sheldon in the Sports Centre. We did an intense workout on the indoor track. I led Sheldon in the method that I use in order not go crazy for running around and around a boring track.
Here's how to make your indoor track workout more interesting and more intense. It will work your whole body.
1. Run a few laps around the track. Start slow and speed up gradually. Just get warmed up.
2. Now you will start to incorporate some variations on the basic circuit around the track. Try these variations:
- Run a lap backwards. Watch out for other people!
- Run a lap with your arms completely extended above your head. It looks like surrendering. It looks dumb, but it is great for your shoulder muscles.
- High knees.
- Butt-kicks.
- Side criss-crosses. Run sideways (shoulder facing forward) and opposite leg crossing over the other leg.
- Lunges around the track.
- Do punches in the air as you run. Vary normal jabs with uppercuts and hooks. This also looks dumb. Deal with it. You are fierce. No one can mess with you.
- Run a few laps with weighted backpacks or loaves. (That's what I called this.)
- Holding a weighted ball up to your chest.
Sheldon and I switched off choosing which variation to do. He is very trim and strong, but he does not work out with the regularity and intensity that I do. That is why he was dripping with sweat and exhausted. It was highly satisfying to make him feel the burn.
I am going to get to sleep now.
I hope this helps to make your Winter workouts less monotonous. And just in case you are brave enough to run outside this may help.
Love,
Lucy Rose
PS
I had a great outfit today. I carried my Converse shoes in a canvas bag so that I didn't have to walk in the heels to school. More Teacher Uniforms here and here.
I have not been very faithful to you this week. I have been running around trying to get everything done and get enough sleep. You know the drill.
I have recently been complaining of not having enough time to read. There are so many books that we talk about in my various classes which would be so interesting and helpful, but I feel like I never have time to read them! It hit me the other day that while I do not have time to read I apparently have plenty of time to watch Friends on Netflix. How embarrassing is that!
In order to begin to address this and try to retrain myself to read for pleasure I have forbidden myself to watch any television or film until Spring Break in a week. So far, so good. I even did some reading of The Rebel at lunch! It is still slow going, but at least I am trying instead of clicking the "Keep Watching?" button.
My favourite professor has a wonderful method of reading difficult texts. He had us read extremely difficult writings by Aristotle, St. Augustine, Plate, Rousseau, Horace Mann etc. using this method!
Here's how:
1. Read the text over once without stopping to decipher difficult phrases. Just read the words as fluidly as possible. Don't worry about understanding. Note-taking is forbidden. 2. Go make a sandwich or something and come back in about half an hour. 3. Read it again. This time read carefully and feel free to take notes. If you need to re-read something that is also allowed.
By the time you have read it twice, once quickly and once carefully the text will make so much sense. The problem, of course, is that it takes so much time. But that's your call.
My little brother turned 19 yesterday. He is my dear friend and brings me so much joy and laughter. He can also be serious and deep.
In honour of The Hugh this is one of our (my family's) favourite Paul Hugh anecdotes from a time when he was obsessed with a game of pitting characters against each other and asking who would win.
Dad:Sighs. This is the seven-hundredth time Dad has been asked one of these questions in the last several days. Paul Hugh, I don't think they would even get in a fight. They would probably just sit down together to have tea.
Paul Hugh: What if one of them had rabies?
I love you Paul Hugh!
Goodnight, My Cherubs.
Love,
Lucy Rose
PS
What do you mean you don't know of the Finnish children's classic Finn Family Moomintroll?! It's like our family's favourite.
Yesterday I shared a terrible drawing and told you about how we celebrated Sheldon's birthday. Yes, he's feeling 22, Taylor. Thanks for asking. Anyway I asked the assembled guests to recount the stories of their first memories of Sheldon. Being seniors when I am a sophomore, they have known him much longer than I. One of the stories made me laugh a lot. One of Sheldon's friends remembers a Post-It-Note that Sheldon had shown them in the early days of their acquaintanceship. Apparently it was a list of the things that Sheldon did NOT want in a wife.
I need to made some things clear. Sheldon has renounced the practice of making lists about his future spouse. Yes, I am the most likely candidate at this rate, but no, I do not have to match up to a number of preselected traits in order to make it to the next level. He wants it to be very clear that this list was made in jest and at a time of considerably less maturity.
Here is the fateful list:
I am glad that Sheldon no longer adheres to this particular list, because as you can see from this photo I strike out on all of these conditions.
I am so sorry that I have left you hanging for the past several days. Life on the interwebs must have been dark and sad for you!
Have no fear, I am back. I was just drowning beneath school work. I am still drowning, but I was able to integrate some blogging with some school-work.
Today I created a Power Point presentation for the seventh graders that I am teacher aiding for. The assignment (given to my by the teacher I am aiding) was to create approximately 5 slides telling them basic information about myself.
When I turned 18 I set myself the goal of reading the entire Bible cover to cover. I will turn 22 on October 2nd and I would like to have finished the Old Testament by that time.
I took an introductory course in Bible and Theology last Fall and the professor, who is an OT scholar, asked the class if anyone read more Old Testament than New Testament in their personal reading. I was the only one who raised my hand, so I looked like a ridiculous OT show-off. I wanted to explain to everyone, "You don't understand, guys! I would read the New Testament if I could! But I am not allowed to yet because I am an insanely slow reader!"
Just me, making some new friends during Freshman year.
This project has been really hard to do because I have been so uninformed about the OT. So many of the things I was reading about like in the books about the prophets were confusing and boring.
You may ask, "Uh, Lucy Rose, why didn't you read some books on the side to help you understand? Why didn't you consult your family's bookshelf devoted to theological studies? And once you got back to America, where they have huge libraries of stuff in English, why didn't you read about it then? Why didn't you ask your parents to help you!? WHY DID YOU PURPOSEFULLY STAY IGNORANT?!"
Well, Folks, I just DID, OK?! I wasn't very smart about it. I also sort of told myself that I just read the Old Testament cold-turkey. I just hopped right in there and the turkey was very cold. Wait a sec…That sounded strange. Sorry.
Back to the topic at hand:
Now I am taking an Old Testament class, because after four years of Old Testament cold-turkey-ing about I will finally understand what the heck Ezekiel was about.
It is kind of like developing a weird friendship over the course of four years with someone who never talks about their family. Then one day you go to their family's house for dinner and you're like, "Oh my gosh! I suddenly understand this person a lot more. That's why they never eat meat!"
That is a weird analogy. But do you get the idea? I am excited to learn about the Old Testament from an academic perspective after having been forming this strange relationship with it for the last four years.
I both love and hate the Old Testament.
Three reasons I love the Old Testament:
1) God constantly reassures His people that He loves them and want them back
2) I love the Psalms
3) There is some really hilarious, weird stuff in it. For instance, God tells the Israelites not to walk on steps up to the altar because he does not want to be mooned by them. (See Exodus 20:5-6 which reads: "And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.") Also take a second look at the book of Jonah. HE WAS SWALLOWED BY A SEA-MONSTER! That is just plain cool. (although if you read Jonah you will see that Jonah has little objective appreciation for the coolness of spending 3 whole days inside a sea-monster) Three reasons I have a hard time with the Old Testament: (the original title of this list was "Three reasons I hate the Old Testament", but that sounded very sinful) 1) It is very long. Like thousands of pages long. 2) There are some very boring parts which I do not understand (I am looking at you, Prophets!) 3) There is a lot of killing which makes it hard to understand God
All of the things on my second list are things that I am getting over thanks to my new class. It is a very hard class for me, but I am learning a lot. Here is a portion of Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah. This piece is exquisitely beautiful and I think it captures the essence of the Old Testament. God is using the entire OT to tell His people that He wants them to seek Him and come to Him. (See Deuteronomy 4:29 "But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.")
