DONT $%#^@*&! JUDGE ME!
It has been a very long while. Blogging regularly is difficult, to say the least.
I thought that having some kind of structure (ie, the cupcakes) would give me some edge, and that I woudl have some constant motivsation. It totally worked for a while. But I digress.
TONS has happened since last year.
There are things that I will discuss in detail in specific posts to follow, but let's just pretend you are caught up now, okay? THE HUNGER GAMES! Sharon Needles won Drag Race (HORRAAAY!) Trey and I got engaged in December (super wooot!) I taught a class at LSMSA and it was AWESOME! I judged a preliminary Miss Louisiana pageant, a few art competitions, and even had my own exhibition! And a few other things. But I assure you, the entire time, I have been baking, painting, working, and sewing! See, look!
I have a lot of announcements to uh...announce soon, but I really felt the need to catch up with you all in order to get this blog jump started once again.
I'm immersed in a lot of things right now, so I will go in order as I remember what they are!
1. Jem and the Holograms.
I got Trey to start watching this with me once I realized it was on Netflix (the God inside the little box called Apple TV!) I mean seriously. It is one of the most amazingly awfully animated things ever in existence...and we get a LOT of laughs out of it. They BETTER make a live action film SOON. My casting picks? Ke$ha as Pizazz and definitely Nicki Minaj as one of the Misfits. Whatever.
2. HOB's True Blood, Season 5.
Alcide.
3. ABC's Once Upon A Time.
I loves this shows first season. Yeah, some of the graphics were a little cheesy and "cheap." Some of the writing was a little shaky as well. BUt for the most part, the concept and cast of this show really won me over. I could watch Ginnifer Goodwin in ANYTHING. She could be taking her daily multivitamin at the bathroom sink and I'd be like "She's so ethereal..." It is written by some of the writers of Lost, but you can only tell some of the time. I am hopeful for a more dynamic and bigger budget second season!
4. Lost (The Complete Series re-watch).
I got Trey to watch ALL of Lost. Which meant I have watched it all again, in order. Even better the second time around!
5. Kishi Bashi, Ishi, Sara Bareilles' "Kaleidoscope Heart" and Norah Jones' "Little Broken Hearts".
These musicians/albums are absolutely incredible. You must get them all.
Tracks to look for? Kishi Bashi-"Machester", Ishi -"Exhale", Norah Jones-"Travelin' On", Sara Bareilles-"Breathe Again".
ANYWAY...Lot's of junk going on.
I will tell you though, a lot of life has been going on. Between being creative and searching for the inspiration one needs in order to be creative, I have never been happier about what is happening and what is coming next in this life.
I'm currently making some graham crackers for NSU Art Camp (making s'mores tomorrow!) and I am following
this recipe if you are interested. We will see how they come out.
My bugaboo is sitting on the couch making some crazy thing with that plastic gimp, and I am putting the finishing touches on this beauty:
Tired...sore...and full of awesome love for life. More to come very soon!
I have lived in Natchitoches for 10 years.
This university, the people I have met and love, and the time I have spent here have shaped who I am as an artist, a teacher, a person -- the last ten years of my life have impacted every facet of who I am and who I thought I was, but more importantly, they has shaped who I want to become. Nothing could ever replace my time here. But.
We are moving to Ohio.
I cannot tell you about all of the tiny details that have lead up to this decision for the both of us, but I can tell you that this is the second biggest and most life changing decision I have ever made. We have made this decision with an incredible amount of confidence and hopefulness, and of course, sadness.
We will certainly miss a lot of things.
People, places, experiences, and I will definitely miss my university. Good times or bad times, I will always be an NSU Demon at heart. I came here as a band geek (color guard!!) my junior year of high school. I met my soul mate that summer. My best friend from high school accompanied me to NSU, and we studied theatre together. This was one of the most memorable periods of my life. I met people with personalities that still stay with me to this day...I tried new things, I messed things up, I met more incredible people as I began to study art at NSU, and I met yet ANOTHER person who showed me that family had nothing to do with blood. And then things really picked up. I grew into my 20's, I dated, I learned to drive (finally!) and I tried to make a difference in some kind of way. I think that I did. I don't think that I would still be here otherwise. I don't think that I would have so much love for this place.
Then came graduation after graduation. My Natchitoches family continued to grow. My Natchitoches family spread out. I started teaching in the very department that helped shape me. I met the love of my life. Now he is here with me, and about to take this giant leap with me. I cannot express what that means to me. All I know is that I have never loved anyone with greater clarity than I do him.
So, what is happening exactly?
I was accepted into the Visual Communication Design MFA program at Kent State University this summer. After an incredible visit earlier this year, it was an easy decision to apply. Trey is entering the BFA program for Crafts in the School of Art at Kent. He will have the opportunity to further his studies in textiles and crafts in a way that I know he is really ecstatic about. I am really excited for him. He about dyed (LOL!) when he saw the textiles lab at Kent. We will be leaving the state to relocate in late July. That may seem sudden, but so many things have lined up in order for this to be the right decision, that it's unignorable. Like fate, or divine planning, or luck, or...things just being right.
Though I am extremely excited for what is next in our lives, I know that my friends--my family here in this part of the country will be rooting for us and sad to see us go, but our love for all of you is greater than space and time! This certainly isn't goodbye. This place is our home. We have family in Leesville, Baton Rouge, and of course, Natchitoches. Soon, we will have family at Kent.
