a pieced and quilted life

rituals.

i don't like endings.

the older i get the more i hate "interruption of same"... interruption of whatever's become everday, everyweek, or even every month or year.

let me give you some examples. 

i like for thanksgiving to be the same meal every year. and me cooking everything the day of. i like calling granma, mama, and auntie patty and asking, "what i put in it again?" even though i already know. i still want to ask, you know. 

i like that every year on the 4th, we pile up in the cr-v and head down to park in the same place to watch the city's fireworks show. every year we wait till the last 10 minutes to head on down (usually because i've just taken the apple pie out the oven) and navigate through all the cars heading to the same place, and end up at our favorite spot with a minute or less to spare. 

i like seeing e off in the morning...i try to wake up so that i can tell him the same thing every morning, "i luv you...drive safely" and if i don't wake up (like this morning) i instruct him to kiss me even still, even though he hates to wake me when i'm sleeping. still, i tell him, "kiss me, so that i won't wake up and call your name when i don't see you." 

its ritual. that's what it is. getting into the habit of something means establishing rituals. 

i love rituals. i think rituals ground us and gives our lives rhythm and beat...they give us a tiny, little semblance of beat and rhythm in the syncopation of life. 

life is like jazz music...when you add rituals to it you learn to dance in between the syncopation. 

endings sometimes mean the end of rituals. 

short rituals. 

like going out in the summer and picking tomatoes for sauce to put up, and zucchinis for weekly zucchini bread.

like me and the kids watching "the price is right" every morning during the summer while eating breakfast.

like making tamales at christmas.

like going to the same class weekly for a semester or quarter.

like sitting down every night to knit a little more, or quilt a little more on a work in progress.

these are little rituals that play into our days...and add some sort of stillness to the constant movement of life...time.

i think sometimes i hoard them. i do.

i hoard experiences and beg for them not to end. quietly i ask them to stay around for just a little longer so i can get ready for newness...or lack of sameness.

though i may be polite, they don't oblige me and quickly time/season/life changes and its on to the next.

but, its okay...because soon enough i find myself immersed into the ritual of a new season.

like now its:

schooling the kids, taking more writing classes, and preparing for the holidays.

its funny...i was sitting here moping about the ending of a writing class with two amazing professors...and i started pulling out handouts from the class, going over feedback i'd gotten throughout the semester and i sat and thought.

i thought, how much i was going to miss their weekly feedback, their exercises that broadened my writing mind...and writing and interacting with this class.

its then that i started to write this post in my mind...like so many writers do...write stories in their minds.

and then...it hit me.

i'm a writer...and maybe that's why i hoard experiences like i do.

whoever you are...lean into it.

peace and luv,

ki

printing class...a wrap-up

the jazz of hope, linocut on arches paper

so the end of the semester came last saturday. and with all end of semesters i was busy...doing what i can't quite remember.

i never got around to sharing much from my printmaking class, mostly because i didn't get much done in all honesty. my grandma got sick and passed away right after the first assignment...doing assignments 2 & 3. luckily my instructor carlton was extrememely understanding and allowed me to go and spend all the saturdays i could with my grandma before she passed..all without fear of my grade.

i did mangage to do half or so of the rest of the assignments...but i don't know.. the results were always pretty mixed up...so i'd take a picture here and there...but nothing really too big to brag about. this semester was pretty much about learning and exploring...

i explored monotype on fabric and intalgio on fabric...both had there respective pros and cons...and all and all i found this to be another way of exploring textile arts.

here are a few pictures

monoype:

a series of three...my favorite number

orginal print of three birds..

ghost print of the orginal print ^above of the three birds

this has a series of ghost prints of the birds...and the leaves

all these fabrics were originally dyed/painted last summer. i then cut them to size and monoprinted them with a baron. i used fabric paints also.

copper etchings

the process i found most interresting was copper etchings or intaglio. i really loved this process and when i realized that i could *possibly print on fabric i was stoked.

some plates i etched

i did mess around and print these...but for some odd reason i can't find a pic, maybe because i got terribly frustrated with trying to print these that day. i think i left the plates in the acid bath too long, and i was trying to print these with the fabric paint, which was not working....at all. once i tried the etching oil paint, i got a fairly decent print, but i was already packing up and heading out...class was already over. i was borrowing someone's ink...just to try.

i do have a pic of an etching carlton did...and the results on fabric...amazing!

the print...abe lincoln with a "quilt" behind him

the lincoln copper plate

kick butt, huh?

as you can see the intaglio prints look amazing on fabric. i spoke with carlton during saturday's class and came up with a plan for next semester (if i take it again). if i take it i am going to work on a series of intaglio prints on fabric though the semester for one final big quilt piece...or something like that.

i haven't really set my mind yet if i want to take it or not...i do but i don't. i know an oxymoron. i'm still wanting to take a ceramics class...and i don't know if i want to give up my saturdays again. we'll have to see how i feel at the end of the summer. if i can gather a plan or a subject matter to work on for the series than it'll be a go.

i think i may have something in mind...i finished reading the secret life of bees saturday...and fell in love with bees...so maybe...just maybe...more about that book and summer reading later (in another post).

other than that...class has ended...printmaking that is. it was good...and i learned a lot just like i did in my jazz class.

one other thing i learned:

warm vegan ding dongs...

when you leave class mid way to go make cupcakes...don't plan on decorating them to extensively as they will not be able to cool enough for you to spread the warm ganache and expect for it to set...and to boot the warm ganache that won't set will make your buttercream squigglies melt down...which will slide all over the cupcakes while you speed back to class to make it before everybody bails out for the summer. however, they still will be good and warm and gooey...

i had a dentist appt at 8 am before class for a routine cleaning...and i didn't want to let anything sit in the car while i got my grill cleaned (i'm anal about food safety)...neither did i want to make the 7 minute trip back from the dentist to home...and then to class (to retrieve any baked goods) so like a crazy woman...i left class for an hour and a half...whipped up some cupcakes...and came rushing back to deliver them.

yes i'm that crazy...and i love baking that much...that i feel i can just whip it into my day. well sort of.

dreaming of eating some of those cupcakes now...

paz,

ki

getting ready for kindergarten...

i cannot believe it...i'm enrolling my little lady into kindergarten.

don't fret (as if you were) she is still going to be homeschooled...we are just doing it through a public charter school. have you heard of:

k12?

it's a public charter school/virtual academy...i think it provides the perfect answer to our family's schooling/homeschooling situation.

we are passionate about homeschooling, yet we still want there to be some sort of structure to make sure that we are educating the lil ones appropriately. e had a brief stint teaching 4th and 5th grades/bilingual and i taught adult education for a few years. i also was a media technician for san ber'do school district (e's district) where i was directly involved with sending and processing the schools many curriculums. i spent many of hours organizing, and shipping out curriculums to the district's teachers...sometimes i would just sit and go through the material to better know how to categorize it. in addition to that, i worked in the multi-media library and had the opportunity once to go to a conference and help "scout" out materials for out district to purchase. i never knew it then...but those experiences helped prepare me for searching out curiculums for my lil ones' education.

last year i did so much research...and eventually i found cava, california virtual academy; which is the k12 program for california. i cannot begin to tell you how excited i am about undertaking this huge responsibility.

excited even though it took me alllllll day to enroll her in school...and that was online.

when did enrolling in school, kindergarten become so involved? or is it that its always been that way and i've just not had to experience it yet. i'm guessing that is probably the case as i do remember having the "physical" before i went into kindergarten. particularly i remember that darn finger prick...i hated that, and i hated the lame band-aid they slapped on my finger more...it had a happy face drawn in pen on it.

boo finger pricks.

oh, the things we remember.

so, we will be going through physicals, and immunization checks and what nots...getting our little "ya-ya" ready for kindergarten.

i sat with her and we went through the assessment test...and it was so funny because i was sitting there thinking..."is this child a genius?" (doesn't every parent think this at some point?) we were taking the math assessment (her choice she couldn't wait to do math) and she was getting all the questions right...things i wasn't expecting for her to know. i would look at her and ask her to explain her answer (i was thinking she was guessing) but she was on point....

until...

we got to the money. and the clocks. where oh where in my mind did i forget the note to self to teach them how to count money and tell time?

yeah...boo me.

she was able to guess a few answers right...but in essence lil lady doesn't know how to tell time, or what money's worth. i guess we will be getting on that in the near future. she wants to learn about the body and the weather...but i think money and time may have to push its way to the head of our list.

this past week we conquered addition...and we're starting subtraction along with doing some beginning reading.

i'm a bit "un-nerved" about what we are about to venture into...but i'm excited about my new responsibility as a mother...it has been amazing teaching her something as concrete as addition...and seeing her begin to learn to read...i can only imagine how amazing it will be to actually start school.

speaking of school...i got one last assignment to finish for jazz appreciation this week...i was up to 1:30am last night testing and writing what seemed like one too many essays on the history of jazz.

look what i purchased last night: coltrane and ellington i originally was looking to purchase some more music of ellington's for my collection...but i found this and couldn't shake the sound of "my little brown book" from my mind's ears...my favorite song being "in a sentimental mood," (its what i walked down the aisle too) so i was in audio heaven when i found this compilation cd...i entertained the thought of some other coltrane compilations like coltrane and monk and coltrane miles...but i decided to save my few extra dollars for another vegan book...or fabric manipulation book.

bake, sew, read, music...my life in black & white and lots of colors in between.

have a good one...i gots one more assignment to do...and printing class to get ready for tomorrow...

paz,
ki

we're a goofy family

i really should of blogged before tonight, cause now i got to much to say about the past few days...and then this entry will just be a jumble of thoughts etc.

truth is i've been really busy trying to get a bushel of bags ready for my shops...and also class started last week. i must say that i love my saturday printing class...the teacher is really laid back and cool...not to mention a few of my closest friends are in the class. my young friends...who make me feel old at 31. i'm'a be taking my camera with me to class...lots of interesting things, thoughts and happenings to 'graph and blog.

my jazz class is really morphing me...today e.badu's new cd dropped...and instead of copping it, i 'copped more jazz music. i got miles davis' blue moods, in a silent way, and coltrane's love supreme (which i thought i had). i've been listening to jazz non-stop...i'm really finding myself in love with the genre all over again.

tonight 'bout time e came home, i wanted to unwind and locked myself in the downstairs bathroom to take some self portraits (don't ask why)...of course the family found me and it ended up being a family self portrait. nevertheless..it was still fun....the four of us in the bathroom (that never gets used) on the floor making funny faces. my germaphob tendencies didn't even come out...'cept when the little guy put his hands in his mouth (ahhh!)

i thought i'd share the 'graphs.

e cracks me up

i hate the brace-face laugh...so i hide it

noo...don't put ur hands in your mouth!!!

she couldn't quite puff her checks like me...i think she was laughing too hard!

was he making fun of my vogue face?

wanna see more goofball family shots? head to my flickr page...quejimenez

see...i am working...i'm quilting away...and cutting...and marking...and sticking myself...

hopefully next post i'll have a linocut in progress 'graph to share...or some done bags...who knows...stick around though.

i'm off to go eat my 13th chocolate chip cookie of the day...

paz,
ki