January 2019 – Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Crafting inspiration

At any given time, I probably have half a dozen craft projects in progress across various “crafts” – sewing, painting, crocheting, writing music – yes, I’m counting it… it flexes my creative muscles. The hard part isn’t finding ideas… the real challenge is finding time to finish them. Though sometimes it’s finding time to start them too.

All of the fabric for a TARDIS dress before sewing begins — A TARDIS in the making

For example, I’ve been saying for a couple years now that I was going to make myself a TARDIS dress. But it wasn’t until we decided to have a Dorkstock Halloween party that I actually started looking at patterns and fabrics. (Because, of course, John Kovalic has drawn the big blue box before.) After picking a pattern – and buying it just after New Year’s, when patterns typically go on sale at the craft store – I struggled with the fabric choices at the store and ended up buying fabric online instead. As of last Saturday, I was at the Ikea level for the dress… I had all of the parts ready and just needed to begin assembly. It’s not done yet, but it’s past the initial Ikea phase, and I’m gradually working in tidbits that will transform the dress from a black and blue dress to a TARDIS dress.

Intricately carved wooden wheel with somewhat Aztec designs — Carved face at a restaurant

Watercolor rendition of a face from the carved wheel — Painted Face

Sometimes inspiration jumps out at you. We were at a restaurant in the fall and I noticed this awesome carving on the wall across from me. I took a couple photos. I knew I wanted to do something with it, though I wasn’t sure what. I focused in on a face near the bottom of the wheel and drew that onto a canvas, then picked a small selection of colors that I wanted to use for the painting. I have to say, this was a fun painting to do.

More recently, when my Dad passed away, Cassandra was inspired to write a poem, linking the nearby erupting volcano to our family’s sadness. Volcanoes are stunningly beautiful and dangerous parts of our world, particularly for those living near them. If you want to see the stunning beauty of Fuego during an eruption, Google it… the photographs show far more than I can in a painting. But this was another one I felt I had to paint, my version of Fuego’s Lament.

Watercolor rendition of the volcano Fuego erupting — Fuego’s Lament

Inspiration is all around us, and there’s no real limit on the crafts you can choose to express yourself.

Making the most of winter

It can be difficult finding the urge to go outside when it’s cold, and it’s certainly hard to stay out there for an extended period. Here are some of the reasons (other than karate) that I’ve gotten off the couch so far this winter.

Mooseheart holiday lights, a drive through display

Mooseheart holiday lights with the word "JOY", a drive through display — Mooseheart holiday lights, a drive through display

Holiday lights – tons of places do special light displays approaching the holidays, including various zoos in the Chicagoland area, and as of this year, Six Flags Great America. I didn’t make it to those. I did make it to the nearby Mooseheart campus holiday lights, which runs from Black Friday through New Year’s Eve every year. This is a driving route, rather than walking, though it includes an option to stop for hot chocolate and a visit with Santa.

Fabyan Japanese Gardens 2018 Winter Solstice celebration, with luminaries lighting the path and lights strung along the bridge — Fabyan Japanese Gardens 2018 Winter Solstice celebration

Winter Solstice celebration – my first visit to the nearby Fabyan Japanese Garden was for their first Winter Solstice celebration. They’re usually only open from May to October, so this seemed like a prime opportunity to explore. The event took place after dark – which made parking in a minimally lit parking area interesting – with a mix of lights and luminaries outlining the paths and architectural elements of the garden. The bridges were decorated, but off limits because of the risk of slipping with the combination of darkness and cold temperatures.

Two snow leopards lounging at Brookfield Zoo — Snow leopards lounging at Brookfield Zoo

Close-up of a sea lion that was playing with visitors through the glass — Sea lion playing with visitors

Brookfield Zoo – While we missed the zoo lights this winter, we did make it to Brookfield Zoo in January. The indoor creatures aren’t exposed to the temperature change, which makes visiting them a good spot to warm up, in between seeing the animals that were clearly enjoying the cooler weather. On that particular morning, some of the aquatic creatures were remarkably active, even interacting with visitors through the glass. Sadly, there wasn’t snow on the ground at the time; snow adds a layer of beauty to the zoo.

How do you get up and moving when it’s cold outside?

Road trip for literary heroines

Just after Christmas, I realized that there was an exhibit at the Putnam Museum titled Literary Heroines: Their Times, Their Fashions. The museum had been on my radar for the past few months; it’s just across the border in Davenport, Iowa, about a two hours drive, and neither of us had been to Iowa before. It was the next to last weekend of the exhibit, so our last chance to see it.

The Putnam website described the exhibit as “Strong and influential female protagonists spring from the pages of some of literature’s most iconic books with the Putnam’s the newest exhibit, Literary Heroines: Their Times, Their Fashions — open NOW!”

The exhibit featured “the apparel and interests of exciting and memorable characters, as they come to life through vignettes,” with a range of heroines form Hermione Granger (Harry Potter, of course), Laura Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie), and Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird). I can only imagine how hard it was to narrow the list down to these twenty titles. Every exhibit included information about the book and the heroine, along with a mannequin outfitted appropriately.

I came out of it with a reading list; while I’m familiar with most of the titles, I think I’ve only read three of them. This is the list of books represented:

The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton)

Putnam Museum: Literary Heroines exhibit
The Atomic City Girls (Janet Beard)
The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash)
The Forest Lover (Susan Vreeland)
Harry Potter series (JK Rowling)
The Help (Kathryn Stockett)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Like Water for Chocolate (Laura Esquivel)
Little House series (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
Miss Fisher Mysteries (Kerry Greenwood)
Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker (Jennifer Chiaverini)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah)
The Plague of Doves (Louise Erdrich)
Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Wonder Woman comic books

The rest of the museum was entertaining, with many hands on activities for children of all ages (including those of us who are children with jobs, aka “adults”). We took the time to watch a 3-D movie about Oceans; it was one of three choices in the time we were there. And we played a bit… infrared pictures are fun.

Putnam Museum: infrared picture of two people — Putnam Museum: infrared picture

New year, old me.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. The concept, at least as presented in our culture, tends to be too abstract – take a look at Wikipedia’s list of popular resolutions. They also list the results of a small (3,000 people) study: 88% of the people who study participants who set New Year’s resolutions failed to accomplish their resolutions.

Instead, I set goals, both for the year and on a weekly basis. These are both achievable and measurable; I can definitively say when I’ve completed each one. Of the eleven goals I set for myself last year (I didn’t post all of them here), I completed nine. Of the two I didn’t complete, one carried over for this year and the other has been removed from the list. Starting this year, I’ve added categories to the goals – those include personal, professional, fitness, house, and garden, among others – which I include on both the weekly and annual goals. I have a Google Doc listing the annual goals with a spot for a completion date, and a separate one for the weekly goals.

Here are some of my 2019 goals:

Test for my hapkido black belt – this is my carryover from last year.
Develop a garden plan for the year – the plan is different each year, as I look at what seeds I have (leftovers or harvested from last year’s vegetables) and determine how the crops should rotate.
Add a new garden bed – this is already a work in progress; I have mulch and leaves down in the appropriate area and will add dirt as we get closer to spring. I suspect there will be strawberries planted there.
Complete my next project management course – also already in progress.
Organizing around the house – I actually have three different goals around organizing at home.

Do you approach the new year with goals or resolutions?