Life Advice: Surviving with Two Pairs of Workout Pants

Dear People of the World Who Are in Search of My Wisdom,

This might be weird. But I do not care. I need to share this with you: I only have two pairs of workout pants. Whew. I know. Actually, to be honest, I think I have more than two, but I have been separated from the American half of my wardrobe for several months now and I forget if I have more.

But the main thing I want to address is How to Workout Almost Every Day With Only Two Pairs of Designated Workout Pants. I have a special trick: I shower in my clothes after my workout. Is that weird? Yes? Gross? Sorry, World.

When I come back from my run I:
1. Get into the shower fully clothed and pretend that I am just doing a normal shower time. I use body wash or soap (bar soap saves money! WooHoo! There's some more life advice for you all...) to clean off just the way I would normally.

2. I then take off my soaking workout clothes (you will know from past wet-clothes-experiences that this is hard), wring them out and finish up my shower.

3. When I get out I put the clothes up to dry on our heated towel rack (is this Euro thing?) or on the line outside, or in a pinch, I randomly lay them out on a some surface.

4. By the next day my clothes are dry and I can wear them to run again. Are they spotlessly clean and completely orderless? Not entirely, but they are not repulsive and will survive another day before I do my full laundry load.

Well, Pals, this has been a helpful tip by Lucy Rose. Come back next week when I talk about Surviving in One Pair of Socks for an Entire Month.

You are welcome,
Lucy Rose

Sketching Tips: Part V

Dear People,

Today I have one last post in my series on sketching. Pretty soon I will be leaving for England and writing about that!

Here is my last tip:

Be around people who sketch.

Do it together or as we like to say at Wheaton "in community". I have to admit that I do not do this as proactively as I should. But it is seriously helpful to be around people who are being creative. It always makes me want to be creative too, even if I have had a dry streak.

For instance every time I set foot in Sheldon's art studio during this past year I would get a creativity boost. I wanted to go out and create because I was excited by the things that he was working on. He had quotes taped to his wall. He had pinecones and bits of twisted metal he had found by the railroad tracks sitting on the table. Over his window he had taped a piece of paper with holes in it, which made everything you saw through the window seem like a stop-motion video. In one corner of the table were cups that held pencils, chopsticks and a quill feather. Here is a link for you to view Sheldon's art work.

Here are some ideas for finding those people who can inspire you:

1. Ask Your Friends: Who do you know that creates stuff? Do you know someone who is constantly crafting? My friend Lisa is always working on a new project when I visit her home. She sews and makes cards. Being around her makes me itch to get out a needle and start working! Do you know someone who has a job in the design field? Ask if you could hang out and sketch together. Ask to visit their studio space.

2. The Library: Go to the oversized books section of the library and just browse art books. Pick out whatever attracts you whether it be as serious as a compilation of Degas sketches or a children's picture book telling you how to draw trucks (this is one of my personal favourites). I like to browse my library's graphic novel section and look for new authors (here is my latest discovery, it's not for kids though). If you have a stinky library (basically if you live in my hometown!) this step is tricky. In this case I would move on to my next tip...

3. The Internet: There are so many creative people here on the internet. It can be daunting to find the good people, however. Here is a site I newly discovered, which allows you to view a LOT of creative work from good artists and then you can follow a link to their websites.

These tips are pretty basic and you probably thought of them yourselves! I just want to stress the whole community thing. It a principle which applies to so many other aspects of life, but one which we may not think of in terms of drawing - It's easier to work out with a buddy or to go on a diet with a friend or to go to study for a test together.

I hope this is encouraging.

Love,
Lucy Rose

Sketching Tips: Part IV

Dear Bloggies (It's been a while since I called you that! Isn't annoying?!),

Today I want to share some sketches that I have made in the last couple of days. They were all made on Sunday during church. Shhh! Don't tell! Just kidding, I think everyone in my church of 40 people knows that I am drawing the whole time. 

Enjoy!

Love,

LR 

1. This is a strange series of tiny sketches all arranged together like thumbnails on the computer. I used two colours and a black pen to draw tiny snippets of the objects in the room where our church congregates. For instance I drew the top of the microphone stand, the pages of someone's Bible and a portion of a chair. This was fun and it caused me to look at the room I was in more closely. Usually I would say that there is nothing really interesting to draw in such a space. But with this exercise I was forced to find points of potential visual interest. 

2. Here I was practicing a graphic novel-y look and drawing some scenes from the room. I feel like the purple of the basket is such and artificial colour that it contributes to the comic book nature. I was also going very 2D here. 

3. Here I did a very quick figure sketch of my pastor and his mother. I used a #4 pencil (very soft!). I did a little finger-smudging on the chair, which I slightly regret. My art teacher in elementary school encouraged us to use this technique, but in art school it was frowned upon. I tend to frown upon it these days, because in my eyes it can create an artificial softness which did not come from the pencil itself. The drawing also got smeared because the pencil was so soft. 

I was happy with the mother in this sketch. I sometimes feel like if you don't grasp a figure's position in the first few strokes it is very hard to go back and capture it correctly. 

Sketching Tips: Part III

Darling Readers,

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)

It reminds me of a scene from Princess Bride:

Sketching Tips: Part II

Dear Friends,

Yesterday I posted some tips for sketching on the fly (scroll down to see those). Today my Travel Writing class went on a field trip to a place called Kline Creek Farms. It is a beautiful farm which has been preserved in true 1890's style. There is a house, an old smithy and sheep. It reminded me of Almanzo Wilder's home from Farmer Boy. I knew I had to do some drawing and as I was sketching I thought of several more tips for becoming a prolific sketcher.

Here are some more of my sketchy thoughts:

1. Always Carry Your Sketchbook: This seems obvious and I apologise it it seems rather simplistic. But the truth is some people don't carry their tools around! Some of the girls from the Travel Writing class asked our professor at the beginning of our field trip if they should take their notebooks or not. I rolled my eyes (inwardly). What a ridiculous question! The professor thought it was pretty silly as well, although he was more gracious. I carry my sketchbook everywhere - the library, the restaurant, the mall, Target etc.

2. Beware of Laziness: Today I knew that I technically wanted to sketch at the farm, but when we actually got there I just felt lazy. I didn't want to take the time to sit down in one spot and record what I was seeing. I felt tired and warm from the sun. I took a couple of half hearted sketches of the smithy, but when they turned out poorly I felt like giving up and wandering around like everyone else. I finally made a compromise. I took photos of some of the things that I thought looked like good drawings and then I wandered away from the group and found a great creek bank. After I was in the quiet I could focus and do a sketch that I actually liked.

3. Develop a Shorthand: This is a tip which I have discovered after years of trial and error drawing nature. Nature can seem very daunting to draw. This was me: "All those leaves! How do I draw every single one?! AHHHH!!! How do I draw all he blades of grass?!" I have discovered that the key is finding shortcuts. Experiment with finding some easy marking patterns which can stand in for certain types of nature. Clumps of "U"s can be leaves. Patches of "I"s can be grass. Stippling can be tiny flowers. Little circles can be pebbles.

4. Don't Draw Every Branch of the Tree: This one sort of echoes the above tip. Sometimes you can get daunted when you draw from life, especially in nature. We think that we have to be ultra true-to-life. This is not a bad thing, but you can definitely take it overboard. When drawing trees, for instance, focus on the trunk and some main branches, but don't burden yourself with thinking that you have to draw every curve of every branch. Sketch the general idea of the tree and go back and adjust it.

I hope these have been helpful, Guys! I hope they don't sound too condescending. May they instead compel you to sketch.

Love,
Lucy Rose

What did you think of this post?

Sketching Tips: Part I

Dear Friends,

I have always been an In-Class-Sketcher or Doodler. It just helps me to focus. I can't sit and only listen.Yesterday I was struggling to stay awake as our Jane Austen class discussed the film Bride and Prejudice until 10 PM. So I sketched some of my fellow classmates from behind. Is that creepy?

I thought I would share some of the things I have learned about sketching form life in class or another public setting. First I'll show you yesterday's work and then I'll give you my tips.

Here they are my sketches:

Here are some tips for sketching in class or on the train:

1. Be Quick: If you are sketching people you have to be speedy, because they are always moving. It is very frustrating, but just don't be afraid to make mistakes or draw over a line if they shift positions. 

2. Don't Be a Perfectionist: If you are too picky about the way your drawing looks, then you will not be able to sketch. Try to loosen up your expectations from a sketch. As you can seek from mine they are not perfect. They are pretty well, sketchy!

3. Don't Be Shy: People will look over your shoulder as you sketch. It is inevitable. Don't let them derail the work you are doing. If they make suggestions for how to sketch that can be irritating. Ignore it and smile and nod. Basically, just give short answers to any questions and be pleasant, but don't stop working. When they see you are intent on your work they will quiet down. But you need to expect that you can't sketch anywhere in public without getting comments or curiosity. Everyone will want to see what you are making!

4. Don't Be Afraid of Your Sketchbook: Your sketchbook is a tool. It is not "The Perfect Diary of Every Amazing Drawing Lucy Rose Has Made". It is there so that you can experiment and scratch things out and draw over things. If a sketch is discouraging you and you want to quit: turn the page! It's OK to have flub sketches in your sketchbook. They don't poison all the good ones. 

5. Keep On: It can get discouraging. You may get annoying comments, you may beat yourself up about being a stinky artist. But please keep trying. The only way you will get better is by practice. It really is a muscle which you can train, just like a sport or a musical instrument. I can attest to the fact that it takes me about 3-4 sketches before I feel "warmed up". I can also attest to the fact that it took me a long time to get to a point where I was speedy. 

Ok. All of this advice is basically the same, come to think of it. I guess that is because I have met a lot of people who have issues concerning fear when it comes to drawing. Don't let that fear stop you from a practice which is so great for building you up as an artist and as an observant and thoughtful person. 

Love,
Lucy Rose

Arkansas Adventure Day Seven Part I

Dear Friends,

I have been in Arkansas for a week now. I brought a big suitcase along. I will be going to England for six weeks soon and I consider Arkansas to be my packing trial-run. I don't want to bring anything excess to England, so I need to streamline what I bring and what stays behind. This week I have used some items a lot and other not at all.

I hope this proves helpful for your summer travels!

Love,
Lucy Rose

Some Packing Mistakes

Number One: Too Many Socks
My Friend Joanna was making fun of me for having brought 15 pairs (does anybody out there say "pair" for the plural of Pairs? Sheldon does and for some reason I really don't like it...) of socks for my short stay. She was right. So far I have defy lately not needed this many socks. I love my socks and I don't like to leave any of my lovely heavy duty hiking socks behind, but I think I only need one pair a day. Sometimes I only need one pair for two days! Shhhh...

Number Two: No Jewellery 
I brought a small bag with some jewellery in it. It was just a few pairs of earrings and a bracelet or two, but I have not been motivated to wear any of it. I will not be bringing much jewellery to England. In one of my favourite films called Rear Window, Grace Kelly says that no woman ever travels without all her jewels. Wrong.

Number Three: Not Enough Shirts
I am sitting here writing this in one of Joanna's T-shirts. I did not bring enough tops that I genuinely wanted to wear. You have to be very selective about what clothes to bring on a trip. Some of it you will just plain not want to wear. Only bring what you really like. If you never really wear it at home there is not way you will wear it abroad.

Number Four: No Medium Bag
As you may know from a previous post about travelling, I like to carry a tiny purse when I travel for all my documents and wallet and gum. I also had my suitcase, of course. But I have found that while I have been here I have been using my sketchbook and books a lot. I take them everywhere we go in case there is a free moment for some doodling. But I have to carry them around in an old T.J. Max bag because I didn't bring a purse big wrought for them. I will bring some sort of canvas bag to England. It will be compact and a little cooler than a plastic shopping bag.

Sugar-Free, Make-Up Routines and Unravelled Socks

Dear Friends,

This week I have decided to eat only vegetables, fruits and proteins (nuts, meat, cottage cheese, eggs, plain yogurt). I will have nothing with sugar or honey. I am doing this because I have been researching that sugar can contribute to acne and because I have felt out of shape lately. I want to have more energy. I have also noticed that food has become the thing that I look forward to most in my days and I do not like that.

This is the close of Day One. It has been difficult. One of the hardest moments of the day was gazing across the table at my friend's Rueben sandwich oozing cheese onto the plate. Ruebens are my favourite sandwich.

Because I cannot particularly look forward to food and mealtimes I am trying to focus on other parts of the day to look forward to.

Here are some of the things that I have been planning throughout my day that I can genuinely look forward to:

1. Putting On Makeup
This is kind of a funny one, because it seems like it should be a routine and banal thing to cross off the list for getting ready in the morning. But I have been really enjoying experimenting a little with this. I am a little shy to admit it but I am addicted to certain makeup YouTube channels that are hosted by young women. This addiction started in 2012. I just found them comforting and they inspire me to beauty and experimentation in my personal style.

Here are some of my favourite ladies:

Liz Meghan: She's a sweet girl and I don't even know why I follow her. Her style is totally different from mine. She is a girly-girl. I guess I feel safe when I enter her world of make-up and hairstyles.

Melanie Murphy (BONUS: She has a great Irish accent which is great for practicing!)

Anastasjia Louise She's funny and has a great style. I love her outfit ideas and thrift hauls.

2. Writing a Letter
I love doing this but I never make enough time to do this. I want to write a Birthday Card for my dear friend Barbora.

3. Taking Off Make-up
At the end of the day I love to spend ten minutes pampering my face. It feels so refreshing and clean. Here's my routine:

1) Gently use Sephora face brush to scrub face all over.

2) Use a creamy face wash and makeup remover to clean face, neck and chest. I use this.

3) Rinse.

4) Dry face with clean face towel. I got mine from Walmart. Classy.

5) Splash face with a handful of witch-hazel toner.

6) Air-dry. Use this extra time to floss! Fun! I like to use an unravelled sweater. Just kidding. But that reminds me of the the other day when one of the little boys came home with one-and-a-half socks on his feet. When I asked him what had happened to the top part of his sock he told me that he had systematically unravelled it throughout the day. Wow. School is doing great things for that child.

7) Moisturise with a few drops of this oil. Sorry. I realise this is in Czech. Um. It's called Ylang Ylang oil.

8) Use dabs of this very strong ointment for bad spots of acne. CAREFUL! This stuff is super drying and bleaches fabric. I don't mind if it bleaches my pillow or the old T-Shirts I sleep in, but you might wanna be careful.

I am actually going to hop off and go implement this routine right now.

Goodnight, people!

LR

More Travel Advice

Dearest Folks,

I am in Texas right now visiting my grandparents. I am having a lovely time eating, reading, sleeping and eating.

I travelled here by plane and I thought that I would share some more of my travel advice with you poor inexperienced slobs. Ha! Just kidding! You aren't slobs.

To start with here is what I wore. I take the choice of an airport outfit very seriously. I consider it to be a unique and exciting challenge.

These are the criteria for a killer travel outfit:
1. Classy
Never dress like a slob in the airport. You'll just feel gross.
2. Comfortable
Obvious.
3. Layered
Temperatures in planes and airports are constantly changing.
4. Simple
Belts and metal hardware or shoes that are hard to take on and off.

Here are some more pointers:

This goes along with the "Dress Classy" concept. Traveling means leaving your comfort zone and so it is helpful to feel confident about yourself. 

Often times all seats at the gate that your plane leaves at are full. I often sit at a completely different gate if I have plenty of time. I sit at a nice seat at other people's gate with one eye on my real gate. It's pretty sneaky. People will try to befriend you thinking that you will be their new plane friend. Just act cool and play along. Then sneak off to your real gate when they take a bathroom break. 

There are several things that you really don't need to pack. Things like shampoo and conditioner are things that you can usually find at your destination. If you are going to a hotel they will have those tiny shampoos that one always feels compelled to steal. If you are going to your grandparent's house then you can borrow from your grandmother. You don't need a ton of jewellery, cuz you probably will loose some of it anyway and it will get tangled. You don't actually have to bring all of your pens and pencils. You will be more creative if you only have a few colours anyway. You only need 2 pairs of shoes. Sneakers and a nice pair that goes with everything. You also never need as many pants as you think. Wear them a bajillion times. 

Since you'll be wearing your pants so often bring a ton of fresh undies. Bring your entire sock collection. You will need all of your cords for your computer and MP3 device and phone. Travel breathe sucks. It just adds to the insecurity of getting out of your comfort zone to have the feeling of smelly breath. Never leave home without your swimsuit. I don't care if you are going to the desert. How terrible will you feel if you come to an oasis and everyone else can swim but you?

Have a great night, Friends!

Love,

LR

PS 

Here is more of my travel advice. 

How to Do a Winter Workout

Dear Humans,

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.

How to Read Hard Texts

My Dear Readers,

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.

How to Keep Warm

Hey Guys!

It is about -5 degrees outside today. Here are some helpful tips to surviving the cold. Enjoy!