Archives for February 2011

1. Singing bus drivers
2. The way British people pronounce the word Yogurt
3. Red Vines. Not Twizzlers. Red Vines.
4. Clerks and servers who offer honest answers when you ask How’s it going?
5. Anything reminiscent of Sophia Lauren
6. Ivory dish soap
7. Diet Coke, in a can, softly frosted from the back of my fridge
8. The beaded pencil cup on my desk
9. Men with different colored beards and mustaches
10. The way Lola squishes her whiskers together when she yawns

Ten things that irritate me more than they should

1. The crud that forms around the rim of ketchup bottles
2. Cab drivers who play Sade
3. My inability to properly cook rice
4. The word custard
5. Dictators who wear hats (Note for the voting booth: hats are always a bad sign)
6. The color of uncooked chicken
7. The sight of broken branches
8. People who knock on doors as they simultaneously open the door
9. Non-absorbent hand lotion
10. Applesauce

Almost March

o-o-o-o-o

Today is the last day of February.

I cannot recall the last time I have been so happy to see March. Cold, wet, rainy March. It’s truly an ugly month around here but it marks the end of particularly rough winter.

I am elated.

Irrational, and elated.

If you have followed the blog for a while you may have picked up on my recent lack of creative brain juices (pardon the technical term). It’s a February thing. In September they run like a  bathtub faucet, but in the dulldrums of freezing cold February, I struggle to produce a trickle. The paint brushes go away and the yoga pants come out.

January is worst, but February is exhausting.

Did I mention how happy I am that March is almost here?

I know I’m not the only one who struggles through this, and I know I am not the only one who sometimes feels like I am going crazy. Not Overlook Hotel Kind of Crazy as Holly put it, but just jumbled and drowning. It’s like I can’t drive my own brain.

There was a while in college when I toyed with the idea of becoming an art therapist. It didn’t work out for me but I put enough textbook time to pick up a few lessons on how to use art as my own personal coping mechanism when things get rough. And when art is not sufficient, and yoga pants are no longer a comfort, I learned how to use observation.

Observation is a powerful thing. The ability to recognize and appreciate one’s surroundings is an art all by itself.

I don’t recall the textbook, but I remember reading a series of accounts of post-traumatic-stress (PTSD) patients, mostly recent combat solders who were isolated and bed-ridden. They were not ready to speak about their experiences but the hospital staff needed ways to keep them from shutting down completely.

Among other things, the soldiers were asked to write down everyday experiences that brought them unexpected happiness or sadness….likes vs dislikes, appreciation vs anger, good vs bad.

The sound of the wheels on the meal cart = good
The smell of changing bandages = bad
The way the doctor washed his hands = appreciation
The lack of television stations = anger
…so on and so on.

Certainly not enough to properly address genuine PTSD, but enough to keep their senses alive and aware of their surroundings, at least long enough to make it through weeks laying flat in a foreign hospital with scarce resources. Sometimes discussing their observations with staff and other patients would raise all kinds of emotions and issues. Things that had been buried long before they ever landed in the hospital.

It’s funny how the mind squirrels away stuff, only to be nibbled on in the depths of winter.

This winter has been particularly rough and I have been keeping observation lists as a way to cope and make it through February. And while I am certainly not struggling through PTSD, I find these lists extremely helpful when it comes to keeping my senses stimulated. These lists keep me from shutting down and hibernating.

I have heard of people using these sorts of observation lists in non-art-therapy contexts, almost as a way to loosen their senses and stir up creativity, ease writers block, etc.

I’m not sure if anyone will get anything out of it, but I would encourage you to try making a list of your own sometime. Don’t sit down and write it down, let it come to you naturally over the course of a day or a week…even an entire month. Write them down on scraps or receipts or jot notes in your cell phone. At the end of a set period of time, type them up. Share them with others. Notice any patterns? It gets your brain turning. You might even conger a cartwheel or two. Imagine that? Mental cartwheels in the dead of February!

Make a habit of it and take a way a whole new appreciation for your surroundings. I don’t know if it will help anyone, but it certainly can’t hurt 🙂

….And here is the good news: put away the yoga pants y’all, MARCH IS HERE!

Sometimes people ask me what material I enjoy working with the most. I think they expect me to say sequins or pipe cleaners or coffee filters, but the truth is, my favorite material is corrugated plastic. Unglamorous, I know, but it’s a highly malleable surface and I love it. And, thanks to many of my elected representatives, especially the lazy ones, it is free and ripe for the taking!

In honor of my local election day (tomorrow) I am filling this week with a string of projects devoted to corrugated plastic signs. Stay tuned!

TANGENT -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
 
An Open Letter to Those Seeking to be My Elected Officials

Dear Sir or Madame;

Tomorrow is election day here in Chicago. And while I am delighted to take part in our great nation’s electoral process, I am dismayed at your flippant behavior when it comes to advertising your name. In particular, I take issue with your signs. They are everywhere. They are unauthorized. They are ugly.

Not cool.

I realize you and your supporters have every right to promote your name and platform any which way you like; however, you do not have the right to post these signs anywhere you wish. Private property is one thing. Public land is another.

Furthermore, my tax dollars pay to keep the grass in front of the library/school/ government office/highway ramp/park/hospital clean and trimmed, not so you can show off your intern’s desktop publishing skills. If you are going to print ten thousand of these things and illegally display them, have the decency to hire a professional designer, not some schmuck with a hard on for Gill Sans Ultra Bold.

It would be good of you to remove these signs at once. Alas, since I fear it is an unlikely that you will take action, I’ll do it for you. Moreover, I will encourage everyone I know to do the same. We will go out and find new and creative uses for these signs. I know you paid a great deal of money to print them, and when you inevitably lose, it will be comfort to know that the remnants of your campaign have been recycled into charming, decorative objects for the home or office.

Cheers to democracy!

Peaches, Citizen at Large

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Y’all will have to pardon my rant. These signs litter my neighborhood so frequently (we have a lot of elections around here!) and it can take weeks, sometimes YEARS, before they are removed or blown away with the wind. And since corrugated plastic can be an expensive material, I’m happy to vent my frustrations while finding ways to put it to good use.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Materials

Corrugated plastic is a miraculous material with many, many uses. If you see it in an alley PICK IT UP! If it isn’t election season in your town, you can purchase it by the sheet from many art supply stores. You can also ask any small business owners if they have any extra SALE signs laying around, or if you have a sign maker in your town, ask them for scrap. Someone told me you can buy extra large panels in some roofing supply sections, but you will have to check and see for yourself.

Important clarification: I’m encouraging you to remove political signs from public property only. If someone posts a sign in front of their house or business, leave it alone! That is their opportunity to speak their mind and promote their cause. This is a good thing. Leave those signs alone. But if you see a politician who has decided to plant their signs on public land, you should feel free to remove it. Think about it: if a private business can’t advertise on that land for money, a politician can’t advertise on that land for free. It is against the *law. Government officials rarely enforce these laws because they are usually violators themselves, so let’s be helpful citizens and do it for them. If you are hesitant to grab signs from public property, I suggest you bypass your local election authority and call your waste management office, or just ask your garbage man. They will be well-versed in what is acceptable, and what is not.

*I’m referring to a series of US laws. There are some local community exceptions, and I’m sure some other countries do it different, but really, it’s just common sense. Feel free to pipe up if you claim otherwise. I’m all ears.
 
Tutorial

Y’all know how much I love my bulletin boards. I have this huge one up in my office. Here is how I made it. Whoa there, watch out, it’s complicated.

• Find three corrugated plastic signs of equal size.
• Adhere wrinkled wrapping paper using a thin layer of white glue or spray adhesive (you’ll never get it 100% smooth so embrace the wrinkles from the get-go!)
• Use duct tape to bind the three together.
• Done.

That was easy!

Keep in mind: thumb tacks will be too deep. Insert dressmaker’s pins instead. They are prettier, cheaper, and I find them to be sturdier in the long run.

Question: Anyone know a good source for buying buttons in bulk?

I googled around and found plenty of places that sell by the dozen, but I need somewhere that sells by the pound. Or bushel. Or bucket.

Assorted colors/sizes or plain white would be great. The cheaper the better.

As y’all can see from my little mirror, I love me some buttons. I collect them as I can, but it took ages to save up enough to do this little mirror frame. Now I have my sights on something BIG and need a source for the materials.

I know some seriously resourceful people read this blog so I would welcome any insider tips!