My creative energy seems to come in ebbs and flows. All my energy seems to ebb and flow, for that matter. Right now, I’m at a peak and I’m practically exploding with ideas. Anyone who reads my blog regularly can attest to that. I worry that continuing at this pace will result in burn out. Then again, I’m afraid curbing my enthusiasm will destroy my momentum.

For now, I’m going to ride the wave. I’ve always felt my best when I’m busy, while stagnation only leads to more stagnation. I do believe we all need to take time to slow down and smell the roses. However, I also believe that roses aren’t the only things in the garden worth enjoying.

I just had an epiphany. Those who rise to the top of their fields are not necessarily the best at what they do. To me, this is… well, HUGE.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve believed that I didn’t have enough talent to succeed. I’m not the best. I think it’s this belief that’s held me back from really pursuing anything seriously. There was always someone I felt was better, and thus, more deserving. But, when I look around at successful artists (actors, musicians, writers, artists) I see many examples of people who are mediocre. Perhaps I need to re-examine my goals. Certainly, I strive for a lot more than mediocrity. But knowing I am not the best shouldn’t keep me from my pursuit.

Now if I can just get the idea to stick in my head, I’ll be okay.

We moved my office/studio to the basement. I’m still not sure how I feel about it (good news: more room, bad news: I’m in the basement.) But the newness has inspired me to try another new blog design. I’ve been working on it for the past few days, and I’m getting ready to install it as we speak. It’s my first time building a blog from scratch, so I have my fingers crossed that things will work correctly. Expect some minor glitches and adjustments over the next week or so.

The spoon is finished. Mostly. I realized on the second day that the quality of the wood wasn’t very good. I would never want to use the spoon on food, so I finished the project without doing a final sanding and oiling. This is the finished project.

(Read more…)

Today, I decided to make a spoon. I have zero experience carving wood, and I don’t really know what tools I should use, but I figured I could wing it. I started by choosing an old log from our pile of fire wood. I think it’s oak. I dug through our tool chest and found some tools that looked like they’d be useful. Once I chose a log that looked like it could be a spoon and found a tool that looked like it could make a spoon, I began chiseling it into what I felt would be a more manageable shape.

(Read more…)

Now that I’ve mostly recovered from what felt like an abysmal failure in my ceramics class last semester, I’m feeling slightly creative again. But as usual, I’m not sure where to direct this energy. I think I feel like knitting. I’ve been wanting to tackle knitting a pair of socks for a while now. If I started now, I could have them finished by winter.

I really want to give handmade gifts for Christmas this year. The idea has always appealed to me, but somehow I never find enough ideas for everyone. Maybe knitted socks is a good place to start. I think even my dad (the world’s most difficult person to buy for) could appreciate socks. Our family in Florida might not have much use for socks though.

I’ve never tried carving wood. I would love to make myself a set of wooden spoons. I think a set of handcrafted wooden spoons would be a great gift. I’m not sure everyone in my family would agree. I suppose I should figure out how to make them before I settle on spoons as a gift idea.

I’ve also been wanting to work with polymer clay. I just don’t have a specific project. I think that’s the problem with most of my ideas. I know the medium I want to try, but I rarely have a specific project in mind. But right now, I’m thinking spoons and socks. Yep.

Four kids birthday parties in four weeks. That brings us up to five for the year. A new record for us. And my boys are homeschooled.

Let’s talk about child abuse, shall we? One of my favorite homeschooling blogs I read regularly featured a story about a woman who was considering reporting a family to social services for the way they homeschool. She believes “this is a form of child abuse.”

If someone disagrees with the way I homeschool my kids and believes it is a form of child abuse, I suggest there are numerous other things that should be examined for child abuse. (I want to be very clear. This list is for the sake of argument only and should not be taken as my definition of child abuse.)

Child Abuse?
- Soda pop.
- Trans fat.
- White flour and sugar.
- Fast food.
- Too much television.
- Living in an unsafe city.
- Two-income families.
- Divorce and single parenting.
- Certain religious beliefs.
- Owning a gun.
- Second hand smoke.
- Daycare.
- Infant formula.
- Fertility treatments.
- The Ferber method.
- Sun exposure.

Ridiculous, isn’t it?

My decision to homeschool my kids was not made for my benefit. It is neither financially beneficial nor convenient for our family. We sacrifice many luxuries for the benefit of our kids. We do what we do because we genuinely believe we are giving them the highest quality education possible. How is that child abuse?

My list, however, is filled with choices parents make that are not made for the sole benefit of their kids. If my right to educate my kids the way I feel is best is being called into question, perhaps some of your parenting choices will be questioned next.

(The original article was from the “Dear Ellie” section of the Chicago Sun-Times.)

Janice and I met during my freshman year of high school. She was a year ahead of me, so we had no classes together. Our only connection was through the drama club. I don’t recall exactly how we became friends, but I guess it was through a series of events in which we found ourselves constantly in each other’s company. We just sort of hit it off right away.

It’s hard for me to believe we were only friends for about three years or so. Those three years were so memorable and filled with so much laughter and fun. We had one of those relationships where we always knew what the other person was thinking, and we could finish each other’s sentences. Spending time with Janice was some of the best fun I’ve ever had. But then she graduated and I was left alone for my senior year. During that summer, I messed things up. In what I like to think was a rare moment of teenage brattiness on my part, I picked a fight with her and we fell out of touch.

Nineteen years later, we’re talking again. And already I’ve learned we still have so much in common.

We’ve had our cow share for two weeks, and already we’ve had to purchase a second share. I’m curious how long we’ll last on two gallons of milk per week. I made two loaves of whole wheat bread today, and a small amount of homemade butter. Yummy! Tomorrow, I’m going to attempt to make yogurt. I haven’t gotten ambitious enough to try to make cheese yet.

I’ve been taking the cream from the top of our milk and using it for ice cream, butter, and to flavor our coffee. It works well, but it leaves us with less milk to drink. The farm has recently started offering individual containers of cream. It’s thick, like paste. I may try a pint of it just to see what kind of results I get with my butter.