So, today the granbeanie and I are doing a wrap-up of the final tasks for some of the craft booth items we've made. We're varnishing some items, touching up paint on others, completing a few things. Also, as this is a school project, I made her write an essay about the project, using good paragraph structure, complete thoughts, and complex sentences.
As I set her up to write, I gave her my phone, set it to google and showed her how to ask it to spell words she has trouble with. I had to chuckle as she went along because, as a result of missing front teeth, google gave her back nothing but plurals!
Finally, she completed the essay and I was pleased with the result. However, she spelled "figured" as "fingered" and I laughed and said, "That's just creepy!" as I lightly used my fingers to tickle her arms. We then ran around the living room fingering each other until we collapsed - my in laughter, her in hiccups!
I am so fortunate to be able to do this!
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
A way forward
As a way to teach crafts, math, economics and a bit of business to my granbeanie, as I call her, I let her create an end of term project.She chose to make items for a crafts booth. I've made her track costs, estimate time and figure potential profit. We will rent a booth at a local market and sell her item on May 2. I've explained that while we will probably make back our actual costs, we are unlikely to cover all costs. We are not considering the cost of anything I already owned or our time for this purpose. So we need to make $28 to turn a profit for our purposes or $104 to make a full profit.
I was a reluctant homeschooler. The decision was made by my daughter and her husband last year. I said I would help with English and art but when my daughter gave birth to a little boy with a rare genetic disorder last fall, I had to step up and take on more of the homeschooling. It is a lot of work and I have a great deal of respect for those families who willingly take this on. My granddaughter is not homeschooled out of any kind of religious motive. Rather it happened because so much of her time at school was spent waiting for the rest of the class to settle down.
I feel privileged to have this second chance to influence another generation. We get to talk a lot, my granbeanie and I, as we progress through her studies. I have taught her more than crafts: I have taught her how to write, which, in essence, is really how to think. I have taught her to care about craftsmanship and how to do a thing well, not just sufficiently. I have impressed on her how history is presented according to the author and I have encouraged her to view events from all perspectives. And I hope I have presented an empathetic world view and a sense that she can do anything.
My goal with my granbeanie is to make her an aware, competent and kind young woman. If, along the way she can punctuate and spell, do math and throw pots, it's all good.
On Writing
The following was published a short time ago in a writing group to which I belong. I thought it might be helpful to others as well.
So many here have posted various questions about how to start writing, how to get beyond a block, or how to get inspiration, that I thought I would share my experience. I realize that each person has his or her own way of doing things, and I am not trying to change anyone with this, but for those of you who are starting out, I will share my experience.
Let me say at the start that I am 64 and have written and been paid for writing since I was 18. I’ve written for newspapers and magazines. I’ve written for companies and nonprofits. I’ve written speeches and grants. Only in the last decade have I begun to write books. That said, writing is writing and the lessons translate well from genre to genre.
When I was a cub reporter, decades ago, I remember sitting in front of my typewriter in the newsroom with panic. What do I write? How do I start? It occurred to me then that a) I had a deadline I had to meet and b) it was my JOB to write. So I wrote. This was my first lesson in discipline and there has not been a month since that I haven’t said to myself, “It’s your job. Just do it.”
In 2005 I was laid off from a job I loved (writing) and I decided to follow a different path. I have always done pottery, but as a hobby, and my skills were rusty and out-of-date. So I enrolled in a concentrated course of study for pottery. The instructor had all of us - newbie to experienced - throw nothing but small cylinders (the easiest form) for weeks. Many of us grumbled. “We know this. We want the good stuff.” Suffice it to say that perfecting the basics IS the good stuff and makes everything that follows easier. For me, it also taught me that to make pottery I had to sit at my wheel and actually throw something.
Then, a few years ago, I decided to enter National Novel Writing Month - 50,000 words in a month! I already had an idea for a novel and I thought, “How hard can it be?” What I learned in that month was that I had to give up something or more than one something. I did not watch TV. I passed on invitations from friends. I turned down favors people asked of me. I did no pottery. I even took a day of vacation time. But what I really did was sit down and write. Every day. I worked a fulltime job and came home and wrote. I did not edit. I did only a little research. Those things I did after that month. The lesson here was that my writing had to take precedence over the time-eaters in my life.
So, my writing friends, especially those of you who have not established a routine that works, those of you who are stuck, my advice is simply this: write. Do what you have to do. But perfect your basics as you go. Just as I had to throw cylinder after cylinder to get uniform walls, a flat floor, a rounded rim, you must use good grammar, proper spelling, and decent punctuation. Don’t sweat the small stuff – the titles, the spacing, the non de plumes, the exact adjective. Just write. As you write one of two things will happen: either you will polish your skills and turn out readable stuff or you won’t. But find out.
Nothing gets done, nothing is created, and nothing is finished until one actually does it. If you want to build a house, you measure, pour a foundation, hammer nails. If you want to write a novel, start with turning off the phone, the iPad, the TV and sitting down and writing. If you are a writer, it is your job. Just do it. And don’t be so sensitive. Your words are just words. They are not your spleen. Let others point out where they are awful as well as where they are good. Take criticism graciously, as the gift it is. In pottery, I make my students cut their precious pots in half, vertically, so they can see their uneven walls and thick floors. It is what my editors did with me as a young writer and I am the better for it. You will be, too. Don’t be afraid to change, to dump passages, to rewrite. Just do it. Write. No one will hold your hand. Writing is a solitary craft. Hone it on your own. Just write. Or don’t.
So many here have posted various questions about how to start writing, how to get beyond a block, or how to get inspiration, that I thought I would share my experience. I realize that each person has his or her own way of doing things, and I am not trying to change anyone with this, but for those of you who are starting out, I will share my experience.
Let me say at the start that I am 64 and have written and been paid for writing since I was 18. I’ve written for newspapers and magazines. I’ve written for companies and nonprofits. I’ve written speeches and grants. Only in the last decade have I begun to write books. That said, writing is writing and the lessons translate well from genre to genre.
When I was a cub reporter, decades ago, I remember sitting in front of my typewriter in the newsroom with panic. What do I write? How do I start? It occurred to me then that a) I had a deadline I had to meet and b) it was my JOB to write. So I wrote. This was my first lesson in discipline and there has not been a month since that I haven’t said to myself, “It’s your job. Just do it.”
In 2005 I was laid off from a job I loved (writing) and I decided to follow a different path. I have always done pottery, but as a hobby, and my skills were rusty and out-of-date. So I enrolled in a concentrated course of study for pottery. The instructor had all of us - newbie to experienced - throw nothing but small cylinders (the easiest form) for weeks. Many of us grumbled. “We know this. We want the good stuff.” Suffice it to say that perfecting the basics IS the good stuff and makes everything that follows easier. For me, it also taught me that to make pottery I had to sit at my wheel and actually throw something.
Then, a few years ago, I decided to enter National Novel Writing Month - 50,000 words in a month! I already had an idea for a novel and I thought, “How hard can it be?” What I learned in that month was that I had to give up something or more than one something. I did not watch TV. I passed on invitations from friends. I turned down favors people asked of me. I did no pottery. I even took a day of vacation time. But what I really did was sit down and write. Every day. I worked a fulltime job and came home and wrote. I did not edit. I did only a little research. Those things I did after that month. The lesson here was that my writing had to take precedence over the time-eaters in my life.
So, my writing friends, especially those of you who have not established a routine that works, those of you who are stuck, my advice is simply this: write. Do what you have to do. But perfect your basics as you go. Just as I had to throw cylinder after cylinder to get uniform walls, a flat floor, a rounded rim, you must use good grammar, proper spelling, and decent punctuation. Don’t sweat the small stuff – the titles, the spacing, the non de plumes, the exact adjective. Just write. As you write one of two things will happen: either you will polish your skills and turn out readable stuff or you won’t. But find out.
Nothing gets done, nothing is created, and nothing is finished until one actually does it. If you want to build a house, you measure, pour a foundation, hammer nails. If you want to write a novel, start with turning off the phone, the iPad, the TV and sitting down and writing. If you are a writer, it is your job. Just do it. And don’t be so sensitive. Your words are just words. They are not your spleen. Let others point out where they are awful as well as where they are good. Take criticism graciously, as the gift it is. In pottery, I make my students cut their precious pots in half, vertically, so they can see their uneven walls and thick floors. It is what my editors did with me as a young writer and I am the better for it. You will be, too. Don’t be afraid to change, to dump passages, to rewrite. Just do it. Write. No one will hold your hand. Writing is a solitary craft. Hone it on your own. Just write. Or don’t.
My birthday post
When The Beatles sang “When I’m 64” I was a child and the very idea that I would ever be 64 years OLD was as foreign to me as any I might have entertained. But today that day has arrived and I thought I’d share all the reasons I am delighted to be 64.
I am happy in a way no one who still has most of life before them could understand. I am satisfied with what I have accomplished in life, even though as I look back, I see how I might have done more, been better, avoided some of the potholes of life. I raised two daughters, mostly on my own. My goal was simply to raise competent women, and that they are, but they are so much more: accomplished, informed, aware, kind, successful. And, they like me! They share their children with me, allowing me that second chance to be better and do more. And though I was unable to give them much materially, they are still grateful to me and have acknowledged my sacrifices for them. What more could a parent want? They are my best work.
As a child I wanted to be a writer and a potter. And I am both. I am satisfied with that and find joy and great satisfaction in making my pots and writing my stories. Somehow, I, too, have become competent. When I recently painted a canvas, my oldest granddaughter gasped and said it was beautiful and I should sell it for $500. Though I am no painter, I was pleased I impressed her and I encouraged her to reach beyond what she is comfortable doing.
I am not, in fact, losing my hair, as Paul intoned but instead have let my grey hair grow longer than at any time in my life - because I can. In my younger years, long hair took too much time from working and parenting. I worried that it would have frizz or dents. Now I catch it up with a clip to work at my wheel or brush it out and tuck it carelessly behind my ears. I no longer lust after new clothes or fashionable shoes. I live in my collection of jeans and men’s shirts. I am comfortable in my own skin.
I have enjoyed great love, friendships that run as deep as family, and the companionship of any number of pets - all strays - that I have saved and who have saved me in return. I have stood on snowy mountain tops and also gazed into the depths of the Grand Canyon. I have lived in big cities and rural towns so small the Fourth of July parade went by twice. I’ve run on beaches on both coasts, drunk wine in vineyards, marched on Washington and camped in the mud at Woodstock. I have lived. There’s more life left and I know now how to get the most out of it.
I am satisfied, comfortable, content. I am 64.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Lots going on
My black bamboo is threatening to take over my yard. I spent about an hour cutting down shoots and trimming up the stand. It looks kinda OK now but it has managed to attract some climbing vine, of course. I sprayed all the vines surrounding my yard with RoundUp. It may not work. These are tough vines.
I cleaned out the pottery studio and have about a ton of dry clay. Must buy more. Must buy a pug mill. I also condensed my glaze recipes into one binder. Good grief, I have a bunch of recipes!
I wrote one grant and handled a bunch of things for work.
I cleaned out the pottery studio and have about a ton of dry clay. Must buy more. Must buy a pug mill. I also condensed my glaze recipes into one binder. Good grief, I have a bunch of recipes!
I wrote one grant and handled a bunch of things for work.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
I'm lovin' it!
So for my first week of semi-retirement I have gotten up at the regular time BUT did not dress in my usual biz attire. Instead I slipped on my jeans and a tee shirt. I put in 5 hours grant writing and am done by 1 p.m.! Then for an hour I head out to my studio. I'm revamping it, getting rid of all the dry blocks of clay and duplicates of my glaze chemicals. I need room! It's a great break from the computer work. Then a visit with the beanies or work on one of my books. I can go to the store when it's empty, make phone calls without having them overheard, and concentrate without someone constantly needing something from me. So I'm loving it.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Turning a new leaf
I'm entering semi-retirement with excitement for the next chapter in my life. I've worked in newspapers and nonprofits for most of my life and for the last year I've done the PR, community relations and grant writing for a local nonprofit that helps veterans. I will continue my work with them on a part time basis, at least for a while.
My plans include pottery, my real passion, and writing, which has already consumed a large part of my life. I also plan to help homeschool my granddaughter in both English and art. I'll work from home, mostly, for my part time work but will probably go into the office once a week or so.
I am SO looking forward to this!
My plans include pottery, my real passion, and writing, which has already consumed a large part of my life. I also plan to help homeschool my granddaughter in both English and art. I'll work from home, mostly, for my part time work but will probably go into the office once a week or so.
I am SO looking forward to this!
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