undisciplined

undisciplined, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I was too restless to sleep, so I cracked out the pen and paper and wrote down a line from a song I was listening to, and thought I'd draw something related to it. But I didn't.
Instead I started a mandala, but soon lost any semblance of order as the lines started to escape the original pattern. Following life, I now realize.

Now that I look at it again, though, maybe it's not so much lack of discipline, but an irresistible force - after all, it's spring.

back on campus

great horned, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

on my "must get out of the lab or lose my mind" walk today, I found that the great horned owls had returned to their nests on campus. The light was really harsh this evening - I'll probably try to get better pictures later this week.

Here's how they looked last year - pretty much the same.

Light in the West

west window, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I had an "eep"! moment when I saw that the  Quo Vadis blog sent out a tweet (tweeted? twitted?) mentioning a couple of folks, including myself, who have contributed to the Exaclair and Art Flickr page. I immediately felt the kick in the butt I needed to scan in some older sketches.

I've mentioned elsewhere that I draw in church (and have also lost many drawing pens there - I've looked under the pews, no luck) but hesitate a bit to post those sketches, lest they be perceived to have gratuitous Catholic content. But it's part of my day, and this one isn't too much in your face.

Anyway, here's something more secular: a rough map of my work environs and the fastest route to relevant locations such as my supervisor's office and coffee. 

Drawn at the end of last month, as one of Daisy Yellow's March Creative Experiments.

Pioneer Woman picks a horse

pysanky horse, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I was quite excited this morning to find that my Pysanky picture was picked by Ree (Pioneer Woman) for group 4 of the current photo assignment, Macro photography. Given the incredible number of entries and talented photographers that contribute to her PW photography assignment pool, I am quite stunned.

I don't take pictures, post or submit them, for the purpose of getting attention, but for this group in particular, I like to participate in the spirit of sharing  images that catch our eye, and have personal meaning for us. I love looking at the pool and seeing what other people see. It's fascinating and inspiring.

Getting picked is just gravy - good, drippy, beefy gravy, to be sure (probably on top of home-cut fries) - but the process of seeing, creating and contributing is really the main purpose: the joy of sharing our individual and collective visions of the world around us.

(Although, I admit I keep going back and looking at the group page to make sure I didn't just dream it)

Snowmaggedon

A late spring storm that started as wind and rain turned to snow, and overnight, a blizzard which effectively shut down most of the city. Even before I knew that, though, I looked out my window and watched  my neighbours struggling to get out of their driveways, eventually abandoning cars and minivans and catching rides with truck-driving neighbours. So I'd already called snow day for the kids before we turned on the radio and realized that they had closed schools and were sending kids home, and that much of the other side of town had lost power.

Thus the kids and I spent the day at home. I had every intention of making them do useful chores, and to get some work done at home myself. We were off to a good start, before finding out that we had been asked to minimize water use and power consumption - thus, no laundry, washing dishes, or vacuuming. But come on. We figured we should at least cook, and I reasoned that turning on the oven would also help warm up the house (I use this rationale a lot in the winter).

So I finally had the chance to test drive the new Kitchen-Aid and  make french bread, while the girl made tiny cupcakes with ganache frosting.





I tidied up and decluttered the reading space in my bedroom so I could do some actual school work. But really I was too curious and interested in what was going on outside the house, and spent an inordinate amount of time checking the twitter feeds for Lethbridge to see how things were progressing and whether it would be safe to take a bath without feeling guilty.  My powers of concentration were not at their peak.



Everything began to melt with gratifying speed by late afternoon, and the neighborhood kids were out in force doing snow removal, but more importantly making sure there was a clear channel through the slush to the grate in front of our house, since it drains the entire street. There was great glee in this task.



We realize that we were incredibly lucky not to have lost power, as did the other side of town, and I don't think it's been fully restored yet. I could probably write something deeply philosophical about how dependent we are on electricity, clean water, and communication. But I'll refrain from pontificating, and just close out the day grateful for the safety of my family, for warmth, and shelter.

(This is my day in five pictures, by the way - one of Tammy's creative experiments for April)

Honest Scrap: ten things

I fully admit that I am a sucker for memes and will fill out questionnaires at a drop of the hat, even satisfaction surveys from my internet provider. So how can I resist, when Tammy of Daisy Yellow tagged me with  this Honest Scrap? These are so fun, and I love reading the things other people come up with!

Except that now I have to quickly think of ten arbitrarily interesting things about myself, and even more quickly, seven interesting bloggers to tag. The latter can be challenging - there's always an element of "quick, tag her before someone else does".

Anyway.

1. My current ambition is to be a homeschooling expatriate. I'm not sure how to actually accomplish this.

2. I'm an immigrant - sort of. I came to Canada when I was two, and so grew up fully assimilated, but with the indelible marks (read: quirks) of my parent's culture.

3. I've gained about 5 kilos since beginning graduate work in exercise science, and am probably at the poorest fitness level I've been in about five years. I find that deeply and painfully ironic.

4. I've practiced yoga for almost 15 years and taught for 8. I sincerely believe that everyone can find some form of healing through yoga.

5. I grew up in the '70s with a feminist sensibility and thought I'd never, ever marry. But my husband is the funniest and smartest man I've ever known, so I couldn't help marrying him.

6. I love to run, and I love being outside. I become really hard to live with when I've gone too long without one or the other.

7.  I'm the oldest of five siblings. My closest male friends have (almost) always been the youngest of three or more children. Weird birth order stuff, eh?

8.  Everyone in my family of origin is obsessed with cameras, flashlights, luggage, and saucepans. It sounds like I'm joking. I'm not.

9.  Now that my son has a drum kit and my daughter's playing the piano, I think I'll dust off my gee-tar and see if we can't become the next Partridge Family.

10. If there was one food I could miraculously eat without it making me fat, it would be fried chicken. Sorry.

Passin' it on!
Though I don't know if they will actually have time to answer, I will nevertheless tag:

A Small Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens - she'll make you more thoughtful yet
Writing ....or Typing? of amusement and obsessions diverse
Lianne Raymond (of the near-legendary free eBook, What is Dying to be Born)
Daybooks,  even if she is unlikely to answer - go look at her sketches anyway
Spiritual Evolution of the Bean - what this woman can do with ink and paper boggles my mind
A Penchant for Paper - her drawings have a freshness I really enjoy
Em2a Cartoon,  because I just never know what she's going to say next.

Thanks for the tag, Tammy - this was fun!

garden shed

garden shed, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

the only green thing in the garden right now. Except maybe the first blades of lilys (sp?) and chives.

Also, an experiment in free lensing, which doesn't even look like a real word, but which means holding the lens in front of your camera body without mounting it. Thus the strange blurry effect. But for the moment, I am filing this under "stupid camera tricks".

picture test

I know it looks like it's a kitchen gadget, but it's really a test: is a picture marked as private on Flickr visible on Blogger? Yep, looks like it. But it should not be clickable to the Flickr photo page. Let me know if you discover otherwise.

The March Experiments at Daisy Yellow

As I've done in the last few months, I've been using Tammy's fabulous prompts at Daisy Yellow.  Some of this dovetailed a bit with Stories,  the March theme for  Leah's Creative Every Day Challenge.

Tammy's full list for March is here, and the ones I chose for myself are below:

♥ Create art focused on a square (the concept of a square, something square, the shape)
♥ Skim 2 non-fiction books and jot down ideas
♥ Finish an unfinished art journal page
♥ Write a page of thoughts on 2 days
♥ Use colors you don't typically use in an art or craft
♥ Explore a new-to-you aisle at an art supply store or a non-fiction aisle at a book store
♥ Listen to a creative podcast (I like The Creative Mom Podcast, CraftyPod, CraftSanity)
♥ Send a handwritten note to thank someone for doing something
♥ Sketch, write, play a musical instrument in a public place
♥ In line at the grocery store, take note of a person in line; write a character description for this person.
♥ Draw a rough map of a place in your life - a favorite vacation spot, your house, school, the grocery store

Not too bad - though I squeaked in under the wire with the "square" and "map" prompts - both sketched within the last two days of March. I really need to do some scanning. In the meantime, here's some squares:



I've given myself quite a bit of liberty in defining "art journal page". Although I had some fun playing with acrylics and photo transfers earlier in the year, this is very much something I need quite a bit of time, and a clean countertop to work on. Those are few and far between in my life these days, which is probably the main reason that I keep coming back to quick sketches in my notebook, and photography. Both, for me, take up less room in the house, and less room on a physical desktop. I really enjoyed playing with those other mediums though, especially acrylic, and will probably do it again - not this month, though. So my definition of "finish an art journal page" is to complete or add color/commentary to a sketch I started on the spot - usually in church or while waiting for the kids.

Most items on the list came fairly naturally - for instance, I had long been planning to make some notes on Kelly McGonigal's excellent Yoga for Pain Relief while prepping to teach a stress management workshop, and as for a page of thoughts on two days I probably shouldn't really even have included this one as a challenge, since I do it regularly (perhaps even obsessively).  I used the character sketch to frame a story - however, this is the sort of thing I find utterly unpost-able. Maybe another time.

And I also caught up with one of the January items: play a board game with your kids - sequence and Clue.  My daughter kept reminding  me till I did.

I have no reason for not writing a handwritten note! I am AGAIN carrying that one forward. And despite having many art-y podcasts saved on my iPod, I totally forgot about them, even while stuck on a 6 hour bus trip with my kids and their judo teammates. This month.

Thanks again Tammy! and now, onto the prompts for April - looking forward to them.

bitter green

O! beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.
~Iago, Act III, scene 3

in happier times

on guard for thee

in need of story

When I was in university, I had a best friend.

I think we noticed each other because no matter how busy school became, in between classes we would sit in the Aggie lounge and dig paperback novels out of the depths of our packs. Actually, we became friends before we knew this about one another, but once discovered, it was one more thing that bound us, this need for a story: someone else’s and eventually, our own. We had a sense of living within a story, and then, projecting where that story would go next. And by this, I don’t mean planning what we were going to do next summer or what courses we were taking next year: I mean, trying to see the trajectory our lives would take, once we’d finished school – the arc of the story.

We had separate stories -  lives and plans that did not include each other. But for that period of time, we were alternately teller and listener, and at times, Muse for one another. Even now, more than twenty-five years later, I sometimes feel I am telling episodes of my life to him. Sometimes I even remember to send them, as we did abundantly and often after we graduated and parted ways.

That period of university, and immediately after, was most fertile for me in drawing and writing. In between lab reports and assignments, late at night, I wrote bad, but cathartic poetry. After leaving home, I wrote stories about my new province, the people I met driving the far reaches of this dry, barren loneliness of prairie. I imagined their pasts and their futures, as well as my own.

Lately, story has played less of a role in my life. Certainly, I have read, told, drawn, and invented plenty for my children. But that sort of febrile, uncensored flow of imagination – no. I have not, in the last several years, seemed to have need of it.

Through both work and school, I’ve learned to write lab reports, methods, literature reviews, critiques, abstracts. The focus has been on keeping a firm reign on the flow of ideas; disciplined, logical, concise. This type of distillation and synthesis does, indeed, have a satisfaction of its own. And in its own way, it is a kind of storytelling. In its own tight, technical form, scientific writing is itself  a highly evolved art: the compilation of complex ideas, taut descriptions of lengthy processes, persuasive interpretation and conclusions. And right now, I am a mere apprentice to that art.

All the same, I am awakened to an old need – to write the way my friend and I once did: in letters, stories and poems, drenched in sun, memory, cloudbank and rainshadow. To write dreamfully and extravagantly, with a freedom of invention I have not felt in a very long time. To write, with or without purpose, simply to revel in what those words might eventually reveal. And to let those words lead onward, to whatever path lies waiting to be lived.

photo: 1983( or 4, or so) by David Nunuk

Bare pair

Bare pair, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I am deeply envious of anyone that can take pictures of foliage at this time of year.

Though it's still a long way from spring, we are getting some breaks in the weather - enough to give a sense of premature spring fever before the next snowstorm slaps us back into reality.

Meantime: writing stories, as per Leah's Creative Every Day theme for March. I had forgotten that this was something that was important to me. More later.

February creative prompts from Daisy Yellow

I really love Tammy's prompts to help stay fresh, and I actually kept a list of them on my iTouch and the notebook I carry with me to remember what to do. Like January, February was a little hit and miss. But I really liked having a list to help me re-focus when I needed a prompt for something to try next.

The real list is actually longer than this, but these are the ones I wanted to work on:

♣ Practice drawing letters or numbers (ideas at Line Practice)
♣ Watch an art tutorial on YouTube
♣ Create an art journal page using a prompt at Kick-Start Your Art Journal #6
♣ Send a handwritten note to someone to thank them for doing something
♣ Create art or write about a circle, the concept of a circle, or something circular
♣ Go for a leisurely walk with your camera, photographing whatever interests you
♣ Develop a creative/ingenious way to solve a problem  (maybe, see below)
♣ Do art|craft together with a child
♣ Experiment with a new material for your favorite art (i.e. if you knit - try a new type of yarn, if you draw - try square paper, if you paint - try transparent watercolors, if you draw - try charcoal or india ink)
♣ Write a poem or haiku

Wow, not so good. Can I use the Winter Olympics and madly knitting on my Canadian Komi mittens as my defense?

A couple were harder than I expected, or at least I wasn't quite sure how to approach them. The problem solving one, for instance. I feel like I spend most of my work day problem solving and trouble shooting, along with my supervisor. It's an inherent part of the research process, and I've argued before that I believe that the process of science demands creativity and sideways thinking as much as it demands linearity and logic.  So I'm not sure I can make a distinction between creative problem solving and....well, any other type.

As far as the leisurely walk with my camera - well, I did walk with my camera. But I didn't do the two walks I specifically planned on: I have two locations I really want to photograph and I never did make it to either of those places. And I still want to do it, so I'm going to carry this item over.

For a new material, I dug out a set of colored chalk pencils that I tried once and put away because I just couldn't get the hang of them. I still can't get the hang of them. They're Stabilo Carbothello pencils, and the they can be blended dry or painted wet. But they're just.....weird, and I have to admit I still don't get how to use them. Still, it was fun to pull them out and play with something different.

I also realized that the time for doing arts and crafts with my children is really over. Not because they don't do it anymore, rather, they are now entirely self-directed and have developed their very own clear preferences, and other than "can I borrow these paints, mom?" I can't honestly say I do art with them any longer. They have their own path now, and I'm fine with that.

Now, on to the March challenges! (although, if I keep carrying items forward, I can see this list getting longer and longer....)
And a big thank you as always to Tammy at Daisy Yellow for the ongoing inspiration!

Canadian Komi Mittens on closing day

On the last day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, I've finished the Komi mittens that were begun on the opening weekend. I bound off before the puck dropped on the gold medal match between Canada and US in men’s hockey. I knew there was no way I could focus on colorwork while the game was actually on.

The Ravelympics mittens cheer on Canada during the Gold Medal match. They were very nervous. Team USA is very strong and showed their ability to beat Team Canada just last Sunday.


The mittens are starting to wilt under pressure as the US narrows the lead.


THE MITTENS CELEBRATE!


the mittens nearly became unravelled at the stunning US goal in the last 25 seconds that forced the game into overtime. If the mittens could have hidden behind mittens, they would have, because TeamUSA had such great momentum it looked like it would sweep them to a win. Then Canada scored and the mittens are head over heels with joy and relief!
The mittens felt bad that there could be only one winner. It was an absolutely phenomenal game and could have gone either way.

The mittens relaxing happily:


So relaxed, they don't mind showing their backside:



If one looks more white or red than the other, that's because I experimented with which colour was held in front. For me, the colour carried in front is more prominent. There were a few modifications: I shortened both the hand and thumb by just a few rows, and used a half-wick decrease instead because I prefer the appearance. Otherwise, knit just as written.
I love these mittens and will be making more. For now, though, they're a memory of the best Winter Olympics I have ever seen, even more exciting since it took place in my hometown and home province.

Deets:
Knit for Ravelympics2010 between Feb 14-28 2010.
Pattern: #18 from Charlene Schurch's Mostly Mittens from the Komi tradition
Yarn: red and white Tove
needles: 2.25mm Clover Bamboo dpn's

Ravelry project page

warmer on the home front

Really, if I had to wake up to one more cold, grey morning I was going to scream, and the magical wonder of ice fog and hoarfrost was getting really, really old. But as tired as I am of the winter monotony, I am even more tired of whining about it. So I took a little time downtown with my camera while the kids were at piano lessons.



Like most towns, Lethbridge has its share of abandoned buildings: this is the old Dominion Fruit warehouse which, in the 23 years I've lived here, hasn't shown a sign of life. Which makes me wonder: who keeps that mailbox so shiny and white? Is stuff actually being delivered to that mailbox? And since we know that nothing really comes to mailboxes anymore but bills, who's paying them? That is almost a short story waiting to be written.



The incredibly decrepit old loading docks of the same warehouse. (hmm, I didn't realize till now that I composed the last two pictures in almost the exact same way. I will try for more originality next time).

Some blocks down, the weather-beaten sign of one of the downtown restaurants, one of the first that my new friends took me to when I first moved here, and for a long time the place we went after softball and soccer games. Despite many more restaurants opening in town since, it still seems to be holding its own.



and just around the corner, the abandoned Paramount theatre. Pretty much, there are no freestanding theatres here anymore and I suspect that's the same in any town. It's Cineplex or die. I think the last movie we saw here was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and I remember the children being very impressed by the red velvet seats and curtains. I have no idea what's in store for it now.



and something to smile about at the end of the day's errands. I am full of envy. Who doesn't want a dog that can pull a cart?  Who doesn't want dogs that will ride in that cart?

Lost and found

a while back, I tweeted that I had misplaced the little notebook I carry with me, and was a little discomfited to realize I had left it in church. It's not that it's full of anything incriminating, aside from evidence that I draw in church. The most sensitive financial information it contains is how much allowance I owe my children, and the only really personal information therein are phone numbers of my book club and family. It was nice to get it back, though it made me realize that

1) wow, I am boring. My most personal notebook, and I have NO SECRETS. That's kind of sad, in a way. I should have at least felt a thrill of apprehension. The most embarrassing thing a stranger could discover is that I draw crooked.

2) I'm quite attached to my notebooks. I wasn't that upset about this particular volume, because it's fairly new and I haven't done much in it yet. But, as it starts to accumulate more content and reflect what I've been doing, it becomes very much a record of my daily life, boring or not. Probably, I'd be more upset if I lost it today, because I did get a few more things in it yesterday when we headed up to Calgary to apply for passports:





This particular volume is a pocket sized Quo Vadis Habana. This small version has cream colored 64 gm paper, which is beautifully smooth for pen - any kind of pen, from markers to gel pens to fountain pens. However it is very thin, and you can easily see writing not just on the other side of the sheet, but all the way through a sheet; in the passport office sketch you can see both the church drawing and the passport application drawing. That doesn't bother me all the time, but it's certainly a consideration when I'm trying to decide how I want to use a page. I am looking forward to continuing to keep it close and not abandon it again.

On the fast track

The family has been sick this rather grey frosty long weekend, but that meant lots of time to work on these mittens. These are the successors to the now-frogged blue and yellow mitt from the previous post, but from the same book. With the same yarn, on larger needles and a lower stitch count, these are a much better size for me. Of course, now I feel slightly guilty and I will probably start another pair in a flamboyant yellow and royal blue - Ukrainian colours - for one of my children.


I love knitting colorwork. And I love this type of pattern, the kind that comes out looking quite complex but really is not that difficult - there's only two colours, and the pattern is based on stitch counts of 1, 3, and 5 in quite orderly seqeunces. I've finished the thumb gore, so now it's a straight track for a while till I get to the fingertip decreases.

Pattern detail:


I'm glad I got this much done this weekend. Things will slow right down now, as I'm heading back to work and will be having busy evenings as well as days. But I'm glad to have settled into a comfortable pattern that I can easily pick up and work on even just a few rows at a time.


Pattern: Komi mittens #18, from Charlene Schurch's Mostly Mittens
yarn: Sandgarn Tove
needles: size 1 clover bamboo
more deets at Ravelry 

False start

False start, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

I'm knitting a colorwork mitten for Ravelympics2010. This is mitten #8 from my newly arrived "Mostly Mittens" by Charlene Schurch, containing mittens from the Komi tradition. These are "entered" under the Nordic Colorwork Combined  and Mitten Moguls events.

However, even on size 0 needles this is going to be too big. I thought I could get away with sport weight yarn - it's not that far off the fingering weight that the pattern calls for,  but I really can't. I love this yarn - Sandgarn Tove. I've used it for my all-time favorite mittens, Maimu's mitts, and it just has the right "stick" to hold together and felt slightly during wear. 

I could modify the stitch numbers but as it turns out I hate this colour combination anyway. So I'm ripping it out and starting again with new colours and a different mitten with a lower stitch count.

Guilt-free book list

In a recent discussion with my fellow yogalilans,   a few remarked sadly that they were immersed deep in academia and didn't have time to read fiction.  For a little while, I felt a bit guilty because I wasn't saying the same thing - but, I can't help but read fiction, no matter how busy I am. I need it because there's a point where my academic brain just puts down its toys and refuses to play anymore. Or, because its tying itself up in knots and going nowhere fast - I almost need to read fiction, or draw, or knit, or paint, just to break it out of its unproductive pattern. 

I love talking about books, and am fortunate to be part of a wonderful reading group.  We've been together for nine years - long enough to actually see babies grow to be readers themselves. But I love talking about reading, so if anyone else throws out a few questions, like Tammy recently did at Daisy Yellow - well, I'm all over that!

Questions...

1. What is on your reading list for 2010?  
2. Do you keep track of the books you read? 
3. How many books (fiction + non-fiction) do you read each year?  
4. Has the number of books per year increased or decreased over the last 5 years?  
5. Do you read more than one book at once? 
6. Do you read more fiction or non-fiction? 

I'm slowly working on the books above, except for Quo Vadis.  I had already read an old library copy over the Christmas holidays, but bought a new copy and modern translation for my husband.

Fiction, hard copy:

The Blythes are Quoted, Lucy Maud Montgomery
Whiteoaks of Jalna, Mazo de la Roche
Finch's Fortune, Mazo de la Roche
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon
The Outlander, Gillian Anderson

Fiction, on the Kindle:
note - I'm one of those excited Canadians who jumped on this almost as soon as it became available up here. We really only have two choices, this one and Sony. Would I have still bought it after the Amazon/Macmillan debacle? It's likely, given the current lack of players in the Canadian market.

The Help, Kathryn Stockett
Espresso Tales, Alexander McCall Smith
The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin
Anne of the Island, Lucy Maud Montgomery

Non-fiction:
What it is, Lynda Barry
Yoga for Pain Relief, Kelly McGonigal
Landscape and Memory, Simon Schama

That's a very modest list. But enough for me, and it could well take me into summer.

To answer the rest of Tammy's questions:

2. I sporadically keep a reading journal. I should keep it up. I was trying to explain to someone a while back why I couldn't finish Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl, and had a hard time remembering why. Then I  found my journal, in which I wrote. "...and the idea of the obese, gout-ridden Henry VIII as the love interest was just not doing it for me".  Oh yeah, that's why.

3. I have no idea. I don't always finish what I've started. And as for non-fiction, I almost never read those all the way through - I often use them as references, in which case I read some parts over and over again, and the rest, never.  Also I don't think it counts that I sometimes pick up a well-loved book (eg. Pride and Prejudice) and read bits of it again.

4. Definitely decreased since I went back to university.

5. I'm incapable of reading one book at a time.

6. See #3 :)

Looking back: January Experiments

Looking for inspiration for the Creative Every Day challenge, I turned to some of the experiments suggested by Tammy at Daisy Yellow. As suggested, I noted down the ones I wanted to work on, and kept a list for myself to check off in one of my sketchbooks. From the main list, I chose:

•  Develop a mind map on any topic
•  Play a card or board game with other real people  (on-line doesn't count)
•  Read 1 book just for you, not for school/work
•  Alter a recipe you frequently make
•  Attend a brainstorming group or book club meeting
• Do something creative at a library, book store, cafe or restaurant (i.e. knit, draw, write)
• Write/Update/Make Progress on a 101 Things in 1001 Days List 
• Create one art journal page, from background to journaling 

It actually looks like I did okay managing to cross off a number of items, but in reality, half of them are already regular habits that were fairly easy to continue - reading, going to book club, writing/knitting/drawing while waiting at the library or restaurant. I only had partial success at the ones that were really quite new to me.

It should have been easy to play a real card/board game with my kids, as they often ask to do so, but somehow this one slipped by undone. I also didn't get around to purposely altering a recipe, though I did inadvertently and absentmindedly dump some ketchup instead of chili sauce into the chili. I don't really think that counts and besides it tasted funny.  And although I did the background of an art journal page, it pretty much just stayed a background. On the other hand, there's nothing to stop me from continuing to work on it through February (or March, or....). Also, I enjoyed working on the mind map. I do these once in a while anyway, often when problem solving or preparing to write a paper, and in fact this time around I used it to help start compiling my list of 101 things.

I also found I learned something from the ones I set out to avoid, just by fact of avoiding them:

• Write down a quote and share it with a friend
• Make or update an inspiration board for your home/ studio
• make and send  handmade card
• Gesso a piece of art and start over again

The first three made me realize how reticent I am about sharing anything I do in terms of art and creativity. For instance, I kept trying to visualize myself sharing something inspirational with someone around me - my husband, my lab mate, even one of my girlfriends. Even in my imagination, it still felt like...oversharing. I'm not really sure what that means, but it's something I'll continue to think about for the next while. 

As for the gesso, I still don't really know what that stuff  is! I suppose that leads nicely into one of the February experiments, though: watch an art tutorial on YouTube. That should help.