<p>Fammom, Redbug, greenwitch, Switters and all the moms:
I really wish this thread can be alive until our D or S graduate … That will be SO Fun to read all of them at that time!
Share what I learned from BAndD, I feel funny:
My Question to BAndD:
how can you tell which gallery is top one?
BAndD’s anwser:
When we walk in, if they pretending not see you at all, that mean they are “GOOD” and don’t even want to bother to talk to you.</p>
<p>well my kid is doing mostly ok. He is not on loveblue Ds schedule. So a typical week for him is Sunday afternoon/night doing drawing assignment for Monday, Monday class, go back to dorm to sleep for a little while, dinner and then either paper for humanities classes on Tuesday, or starting some of the studio work for wednesday’s class. As the week progresses, the nights get longer. He is up most of the night wednesday, usually all night thursday, finds some mischief for Friday, sleeps much of saturday, some studio work saturday night and back to sunday. I am very slowly noticing some changes, like he is getting some things done in advance to make room for other things. Also, he has often been in school situations that required a lot of effort, but I used to freak out about his time management, now he is the one freaking out about his time management. I am definitely feeling like this year is quite a grind. He spent most of last weekend playing with out of town friends, and now is regretting how things pile up. Today when I spoke to him, I asked how he was and he said freaked out, “but not more than usual”. Art is hard.</p>
<p>I hear “freaking out” from D2 quite regularly too. It’s hard to keep up, much less get ahead of what is immediately due next.</p>
<p>I’m getting more texts that say “Busy now, TTLY”. I used to worry about her time management too, but realize at this point I can’t do it anymore. When her midterm project was due, I kept asking when it was due, and to be sure and save her 2 empty pens, blah blah blah. Then she kept sending me updated pics of her drawing, so I knew she was OK. But then I think, what if she went to class the day it was due and forgot it… Some habits are hard to break!</p>
<p>Thanks for the finger concern. I have learned not to bring things up, as she is a drama queen. The less said about it, the better her ailment/injury seems to get!</p>
<p>redbug, can you explain the two empty pen thing? </p>
<p>About the time management, I fully expected my S to go to school and say “none of your business” if I asked about assignments. But he keeps telling me just enough to keep me anxious. So, like I know he spent the whole last weekend having a lot of fun with an out of town friend, and I also unfortunately know he has a big paper due with the scariest liberal arts teacher. I know it has to be foot notes, and I know he doesnt have good word processing on his MAC. So in my can’t help myself way, I amazon.comed him a copy of microsoft word for mac, just so I wouldnt have to think about him trying to last minute format it minutes before it was due in the computer lab. I texted first to see if he would like the program, and use it, and interestingly, rather than get a mind-your-own business, I got a sure, thank you very much…</p>
<p>funny what you said about the forgetting assignments. I think this must be an art kid thing. We seem to get a lot of this theme on this thread. I actually remember once in high school watching my son stay up all night to finish a math assignment, then he lost it in his backpack, came home having not turned it in, and me telling him to look in his back pack again. Of course it was there. A big theme in our lives was me being torn between protecting him from his forgetful self and wanting him to just grow up and stop forgetting. I remember once saying to him something like "I cant stand it that you do this beautiful work and then dont turn it in. If you dont turn this assigment in I am driving up to the d@mn school and turning it in for you. It seems outrageous, now.</p>
<p>OK…I am outed…I just returned from Pittsburgh…a pitiful call yesterday evening…pain, not able to work,walk.get to the hospital…I arranged for someone to take my daughter after the game and started driving…S was horrified but I said if he made it to the hospital by 10pm I would turn around and return…no taxi would take him he said and the campus police said it wasnt an emergency. </p>
<p>When I finally got him to the old hospital that takes our insurance the nurse assured me it was true and cabbies won’t go there at night. The hospital is due to close soon (extremely dingy–made Ecuadorean hospital look good) so he was the only patient so in and out pretty quickly–perfectly capable and pleasant doctors–who confirmed double bad sprain, no break and gave him some cool splint-like things to keep his ankles from turning. He gets around on crutches and a wheel chair borrowed from some kid recently recovered from broken leg, which, on our return to the dorm, was being used for fun and games by the residents who all were awake and rowdy at 2am on a Tuesday night. S apart from teh bad legs looks terrible–greasy and exhausted. Skinnier with acne from eating poorly. I couldn’t get a hotel in town (some convention) so drove to small town and cheap hotel and made it back for a most of a day of work, pick daughter up from fh practice and now H will arrive at airport in a little while.</p>
<p>So yes, I admit it, I am the ultimate helicopter mom (no H in the country to stop me) and feel much better. I had to see for myself what the scar looked like (literally H Potter…little squiggle in the middle of forehead) and just see him. All the time at the hospital and in the car and chatting with boys in dorm showed me he is actually quite happy but tremendously stressed. A lot like switters said…constantly falling behind but thriving on the pressure. He showed me a hunk of metal proudly as one of his starter sculptures and offered it to me…he didn’t take it too badly when I said “sure, a little rustoleum paint and it can go in the garden as an ornament”…he decided that he should keep it for documentation (I think the rustoleum paint scared him)…I said nothing about the appalling mess in the room…yuck! but I did tell him 4-5 times that he needed to shower. Now he really needs a girlfriend to motivate better hygiene.</p>
<p>^^^Wow, I don’t blame you for the rescue trip. Maybe he can get one (or two) of those boot things that you can pump up and release to adjust pressure for ankle and foot support. They were a life saver for D2 with her breaks and sprains and they get you off crutches much sooner. We got them at the orthopedist’s office. It might be a lot for him to orchestrate (ortho appt.) but they are quite helpful. </p>
<p>When I brought D2 back to MICA after break I returned with two of her sculptures. She insists that they have to hang freely in space. From where??? We have no space for that but then she has even less in her tiny room! </p>
<p>Does your son get a decent Thanksgiving break? He can come home, eat, clean up and elevate his feet for a few days?</p>
<p>fineartsmom, I have to say that reading your account of the trip to Pittsburgh just reminds me of how far my own daughter is. I often wonder what I would do and how I would handle an injury to her with me 750 miles away.</p>
<p>She’s a sophomore now, and we’ve been to Savannah a couple of times. In those trips we’ve developed a friendship with the concierge of the hotel we normally stay at as well as a particular cab driver there in the city. The concierge has told our daughter directly that if she finds herself in need of assistance, for ANYTHING including medical care, she should contact him at the hotel and he will help her. In addition, the cab driver provided us with his business card (which she carries faithfully) with the promise that if she ever needs transportation she should call him regardless of the money. He said we could send him the fare afterwards.</p>
<p>Others at the hotel have vouched for this cabbie’s reputation, and having met him and used his services on a few occasions we sense that he is a good person. </p>
<p>It gives me a lot of comfort knowing she has those resources there in town to help her in an emergency when it will take me hours to get there.</p>
<p>Ok, FAM that was not helicoptering. That was necessary. I dont understand why an RA or some other student or some adult or teacher didnt say they would take him to emergency. Frankly Ive been fuming about it all day. I mean, I think I would have driven a perfect stranger to emergency if I had come across someone like that. </p>
<p>Call me if something like this happens again. I have a lot of relatives in Pburgh. My H was actually there last weekend visiting his folks. </p>
<p>About the mess and the hygiene. Little Swits deathly afraid of acne, so he tends to spend a lot of time bathing, but based on FB photo I recently saw, not to much time shaving. Room is apparently horrendous. I am trying to decide at what point in my nagging career I am going to mention that if he cant keep a dorm/suite clean, then I cant come up with first and last months rent/security deposit/co-sign any lease for an apartment that I wont be around to make sure doesnt get trashed. I dont feel like nagging. Im sad because all our conversations are naggy, but last night he got on the phone w his dad and dad got all sorts of fun details. Dad kept saying, well I guess I should let you go, and S kept on chatting. Of course, Dad has sense not to bug him every other minute.</p>
<p>Great story, msmom. That’s called networking, and it is what truly makes the world go around.</p>
<p>fineartsmom: Your story is lively and I am glad your S is all right.
I am crossing my finger wishing my D can be just fine. She did tell me she got sick and have to go to her class with fever since she don’t know how to find a doctor and get a doctor permission to skip class …
I feel sad since I didn’t do my part right to get a doctor for her … Will fix this soon.
We are building a nice network! BAndD told me in case of emergency, I can ask help from her. Since I am in Iowa and my D is in NYC.</p>
<p>Hey…thanks for all the well wishes. I am now out of town myself in sunny Florida to celebrate my own Dad’s 70th and plan for my parents’ upcoming 50th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe that I am so smothering of my 19 year old in Pittsburgh when my Dad at the same age was soon to be married with a baby on the way. S says that grandpa gave him the “talk” this summer about being ‘responsible’ in college saying that while he has no regrets it is no fun being an undergraduate student and “changing nappies” every night (my Dad is English). The funny thing is when I asked my Dad if I was overdoing it…he said, go and take care of him and miss the birthday if necessary. Apparently, my father has become a helicopter grandparent too! Luckily, the trip was pretty simple and I was able to get on the plane this morning. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the words of comfort. I could have called the RA or my son could have been much more proactive and gone during the daytime when campus police were happy to shuttle him to the hospital–but he literally has less than an hour between classes except Fridays. I also think that a little bit of him wanted me to take him, deal with the paperwork, shuttle him door to door, etc. We have some contacts in Pittsburgh also, and I won’t be shy to ask for help in an emergency. I probably should have called on someone, but the visit was as much for me as for him. Basically, the accidents came along with the realization that I have never, in 19 years, been away from him for such a long time. Although I am still left with the impression of a very messy, potentially malnourished kid, I am actually in a better place than I have been since August. It was just so satisfying to be a mother again for just a few hours. Thanksgiving break is short (just Wed-Sunday) but I have already made an appointment with our family orthopedist (lots of breaks and fractures and bone issues in the family) and will insist on a haircut before he is allowed to see his grandparents. On a very positive note, he says the splints/braces that the hospital gave him have already made a big difference–less pain and much more stable when he does put weight on his feet.</p>
<p>Switters - the 2 empty pen thing was a project they had in foundation drawing, I think it was her midterm. They had to do a pen and ink drawing where they were required to use 2 full pens worth of ink, draining them dry. They had to turn the pens in with the drawing. Asked her yesterday if Midterms were over and she said kinda. Asked her what’s left and she said art history, media and I don’t know what else. Typical. Thought she had art history already, but she said no, that was just one of 3 tests.</p>
<p>FAMMoM, thank goodness the kid turned out to be okay. Things like this are so nerve-wracking. I would have gone too.</p>
<p>MICA-girl was home for the Fall break. She took the Bolt bus from Baltimore to NYC – what a bargain – less than $20 one way. It’s a much better price than Amtrak, and more convenient too. I tried to convince her to make her way to Grand Central Terminal and take a Metro-north train home to Westchester, but she said it was too much for her to figure out on her ‘first’ trip, so I went down to the city on my lunch ‘hour’ to go pick her up and bring her to the office. Then DH took his lunch hour to pick her up from my office and take her home and then go back to work. I was really, really surprised at how much was the same. She slept and slept some more. Then slept more. She did watch a movie with us and she wanted to go horseback riding with her sisters, so she tagged along and did a lesson – was unhappy that it was raining so they rode indoors and no jumps were up so no jumping. She was happy to see her dog. She even had the presence of mind to bring dirty laundry home to do for ‘free’. We went to the mall one evening and she bought herself some pants. Dh and I have been really pleased that she has been so careful with money. I sure hope that it continues. So we all had a congenial visit. No yelling, pulling hair, or cat fights with sisters. I asked her what she wanted to eat when she was home and got a response of ‘meat’, lol. So we had steaks one night and I got ambitious and breaded some shrimp with gluten free breading and deep fried them another night. I made a lot and froze some individual servings for her to take back to MICA with her. DH and I both took a half day off on Tuesday to share driving duties and take her back to Baltimore. We left around 1pm. Got to Baltimore and went to a restaurant rumored to have gluten free pasta for dinner (they did have gf penne), took her for a quick stop at Safeway for some fresh food items and trooped into her dorm room. Her non-celiac room mate was there and said she hoped we weren’t bringing more food. This is kind of funny because this is the girl who is taking MICA girl’s gf cookie dough and baking herself cookies all the time. We told her we just had a ‘little’. </p>
<p>MICA-girl is looking decidedly thinner - -and had not made much of a dent in her food stash from late September. I’ve warned her that I will make her go to a dietician (those terms are in her written expectations contract she has with us) if she doesn’t make a little more of an effort to eat properly. Getting her to the dining hall seems to be a completely lost cause.</p>
<p>We got back from Baltimore at about midnight and haven’t heard from her since, though I’m expecting her to call this evening. It seems that she’s handling the work more or less okay. Since she has ADHD, I’m pleased that’s she’s so far been handling things. She still hasn’t put any money into her flex account. She still hasn’t used any of her dining dollars and has a 98 meal balance on her meal plan. She said she’s looking forward to coming home at Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>So that’s about it. I have three weeks of criss-crossing the globe coming up, so I don’t expect to be around much until after the travel ends in mid November. That should be fun… not sure how well Aspie-girl will cope, but Manga-girl has got that covered, I think. She is my pragmatic one.</p>
<p>So…how’s everyone doing? The cold weather has started…leaves are dropping, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. T-Day was never a big deal in our family of immigrants, but I think now we will look forward to it much more since it means being a family of 4 again. </p>
<p>We just finished a major holiday without S and it wasn’t too bad. Today was Day of the Dead and this catholic/latin american holiday and Halloween were always S’s favorite holidays. For years we never had a big birthday party for him, just a Halloween party when we lived abroad. As the representative americans at the British school (or the closest things to Yanks because we all had green cards back then) we would host a huge dress up party with bobbing for apples, a costume parade and pi~natas. Cousins alone accounted for over a dozen kids and with schoolmates we usually had 20-30 kids. Day of the Dead came the next day and, after a visit to the family vault under the church, the family would get together for the strange custom of making bread babies out of dough to eat with a traditional blueberry/blackberry drink (served warm with fruit floating in it). The babies always looked like mummies so I think this tradition has more to do with Incan burial rituals than catholicisim. </p>
<p>So now in the States…ironically as we are now all american citizens…we host an annual bread baby making party for Ecuadoreans and we drink the weird blueberry drink and the kids make the bread babies. S was always the most skilled of the baby makers (art/sculpture interest was evident early in life) but his always were somewhat gruesome, perhaps the spinoff from Halloween. Tonight the older kids sighed remembering what fun it was when S was there to make decapitated dolls, impaled dolls, eviscerated dolls…In his honor they made dolls with swollen ankles and scarred foreheads. The little ones were not interested in mummified eadible voodoo dolls and stuck to flowers and dogs and cat figures. I plan to send him some in a package tomorrow. </p>
<p>So…what is everyone planning for Thanksgiving? It is such a short holiday…are all the launchees coming home?</p>
<p>Thanks fammom for saving the thread/ red carpet for me butting in!!
I had long time reflexting and editing, so at least spelling should be good, hahahah</p>
<p>rewind please to post # 207-211 page 14 and 15 if you care</p>
<p>Trin and I started from here, my first ever CC post in Trin’s first ever art thread! all polite and nice!!!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/443849-help-basics-art-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/443849-help-basics-art-schools.html</a></p>
<p>then later, page155 way down
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/questbridge-programs/713451-national-college-match-2009-2010-a-155.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/questbridge-programs/713451-national-college-match-2009-2010-a-155.html</a></p>
<p>or bit later
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/855759-parents-saving-spots-npd.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/855759-parents-saving-spots-npd.html</a></p>
<p>about same time around, I posted and PMed Trin about SF MOMA’s Luc Tuyman show, telling about free days and offered to send her fund for admission and transportation so her D could go see it on no-free days.
The show only went to SF, Dallas and Chicago in states - in fact, they are the “lucky” ones.</p>
<p>she must have taken either or all of my posts ^^^as harassment or insult - she can say whatever she wants.
Trin started ever so obviously, almost painstakingly to pretend I do not exist.
It was almost funny how she’d chime in to someone else who were replying to me without initiation from the person, as if she is singing “na na na na na na I can’t hear you!!”
she didn’t want to hear but read’em alright when I replied to her posts, otherwise how could she know that “yall did not say anything” ?
I knew what she’s up to, so naturally, I kept right at it. replying to Trin’s posts when I did not agree or wanted to clarify what she really meant - just like I do to any other braggy/annoying posters.
Trin kept singing “nananana” on and on, like, in your face! nanana… sort of pathetic……we are adults here, no?
NOT! I didn’t stop either, because all the while what I really wanted to remind Trin was to please quit empty bragging and support her D as best as she could. not counting on lottery, miracles, charity money that someone else are paying for them, or burden with so much of debt on D’s back; She is a parent and at least -am I wrong here? let me know- “willing” to let D stay if needed, even after HS - haven’t she hinted doing so when we first met?<br>
I could have said that^ word to word and be done with it, and I sort of did in the end. thou I have learned it won’t work in most cases. People hate to be TOLD. Trin was told these years from other folks in different occasions but never gotten it;
- There is no full-full ride in private artschools for non-academics no major art awardee student/parent with finance in gray area.
In my own evil way of telling Trin, I’d be the bad guy, not herself, if anyone want to think that and I still get to do all my say. only people that care enough (should have been Trin herself) would get my intention, which was all I needed.
If she’d shown any sign that she’d gotten the message, I did not have to bug her. thou I quitted after the lame Buddhism excuse. that was total turn off, there seems no hope.
Trin was still around afterward and seemed fine chatting about area rug or renting car, so it could not have been all my doing that she sort of faded out from art forum.</p>
<p>Trin suggests I stalked her and chased her around in other forums, posted all over wrongly accusing her.
That is not true because
If Trin means it by the certain LAC forum where she holds court, I was interested in the school way long before I started on CC.
While ago, I noted Trin’s post about some international prestige monger inquiring about the school in “chance me” style - she shared the poor kid’s post with her S who goes to said school and they shock their heads in unison – fine, but why did she have to say that in the public to embarrass the kid who just did not know enough what the school stands for?
I don’t understand moms who are mean to supposedly ill-fitted wannabe kids of their pet school; usually where their own kids attend. it happens often.
Say, go pick on someone in your own size- I mean, own age group.
eh, OK, I do pick on young kaelyn and once picked on this HS senior but they have to be the exception; it’s kind of a funny story- you are spared.
anyways, since she is THE expert who knows everything, I never contested Trin’s posts in there and let her boast on how she played the system and kept S’s full-ride.
I’ve only posted recently in there to tell this kid who have been rescinded not to give up, since he sounded as if he’d kill himself. I wrote down the school’s beloved first year seminar reading list to study for reapplying, which have gotten noticed and revised/updated/corrected within millisecond by some other pet-school-defender-parent poster.
folks, it’s scary world out there!!
in other forums, people are ALWAYS WATCHING.
and that’s how I got in the mess– never happened here in art forum.
For alll I could tell, Trin might have freaked out a bit that I showed up in there suddenly with their precious book list just to annoy her, but it wasn’t so.</p>
<p>Other than that, I’ve only posted once regarding anything about Trin this late spring in the essay contest thread with money prize and going to be published as a book.
I was at the forum only because of few summer friends of my kid who do CC posting there, nothing to do with Trin.
She came in there must have smelt free money without knowing it never meant for her to begin with, then started make fuss with poor (literally) kids and clueless OP book editor, so I said,
“- poster above 3
if anyone in the family have already attended college, the kid is not the first in the family, graduating or not doesn’t matter, besides the kid’s sib is more likely to graduate with high honor before the book come out? no, no. it is time you start thinking good honest way to make money like everyone else to help your kid educated.”</p>
<p>I can bet you million dollars which I don’t have, Trin herself would be the only one in that thread this “poster above 3” meant her. I listed comments (good and bad mixed) to posters 1 to 4 in the same reply block. she was not named nor accused singled out.
so if it is true that “several people messaged me privately to ask why this person was constantly trying to make rude comments to and about me”<br>
it must be someone from art forum who either did not care or know our history and wanting to dig dirt. whoever they are, like switters said, should have said in the public then.
like, say, artmommy ( don’t you just adore her?) always do in her fun loving way
“Bears and dogs—“The ART OF THOSE BIKES…wish I hadn’t seen them.” Way to be a pretentious!”
or
Trin herself could have said
" stop referring to my posts, I hate you b***h"
instead of waiting for someone coming for rescue, like, most of the time good folks do to really rude posters. (hello kmazza, keep it up will u? love!!!)
or put it in nice way like good old worried_ did</p>
<p>" I’m not going to sink to your level and enter into a “fight” with you. I will just ignore you from now on and will not bother to respond to your hateful comments"</p>
<p>Then again, she couldn’t resist the “chicken fried steak” (key words! search the art forum!!! )
may I pat my back for actually mellowing worried_ a tiny bit? she hadn’t put down young misguided certain art school BFA wannabe-s these days.
Then again, maybe she is just getting old and tired like rest of us, or figured out by now 200K BFA is not, well, so much of the prize to guard from every unworthy kids.</p>
<p>I‘m only concerning about well being of “little Trin” -her D in my post #48 page 4.
I never did praise Trin’s D the way I do others; that could have been the cause of her resentment as she have noted,
“- I find repeated comments about “you’re so rich blah blah blah” or “your child is obviously so smart” to be uncouth. Over time, it amounts to a kind of subtle bullying.”
it is because, they (parents) are really far richer than me, kids make fine works or done way better academically than my kid, all true. facts, proven.
whole CC world knows Trin is not rich, I have never seen Trin’s D’s artwork, and Trin told repeatedly in public that her D is not strong in academics.
most of what she said about D is her interpretation of how others “should” perceive the girl, concerning what she had to go thru in the past and how hard they’ve had it since. Trin did not show much affection to other kids nor seemed has interest in other people’s lives or art itself - very different from my fellow parents I gotten to know here. There aren’t much I could have said.
How do I know this?
because It’s almost three years stretch I’ve known Trin and her contradicting posts.
I saw famkid redbugD’s fine works posted, spied Cooper kids, I can visualize MICA gals with my manga brain.
but little Trin, I cannot.
thou wish her luck form all my heart, I would pay her bills if I could - yep, even Trin killed off my kid from the squee list.
Think of poor old Trin sat into late night, copy, pasting the list – ditching my kid with glee, as if to say “in your face, bears!! Take that!”
…… You gotta pitty her.</p>
<p>As for Wheaty,
I would never hold any bad feeling about his D made it to dream school, yet found it weird this dad changed his location in username box according to D’s decision making prossess from LA to D-> USC Roski or UCLA Art, then finally D—> UCLA-Arts. I have seen excited students themselves do that, but a parent?
Must be true heli, real CC tech savvy with so much time in his hands.</p>
<p>I only started replying to him because Wheaty had over loudly praised second or third choice UC of this UCLA reject kid. right after dad done jumped up and down for joy of his D getting in UCLA. I thought it was ironic and rather fake-y, almost cruel because, his D might have just taken this reject’s spot if there was only one left.
he wondered loud why I am upset about his “good encouraging” attitude and ASKed for my explanation.</p>
<p>“- bears and dogs,
Could you please tell me what I’ve done to offend you? You seem intent on picking on me and I have no idea why.
Best,
Wheaty” </p>
<p>I said.
“ - Nothing, dad. I am just this bitter parent with struggling art kid I don’t know what to do with. maybe I don’t explain enough, I am learning how to write better here.
like, your kid won first prize and go to some kid who put up good fight but lost and you telling the kid
" well, I really like what you did, you were great! and your trophy has big star on it, I really like that star, now enjoy it"
then you walk off with the first prize trophy with winning kid in tow.
This is something I had in my head but of course everyone is different and most people are so much nice here, they don’t even think up something like that.
I am sorry if it ruined your day, just ignore me like some posters have done and doing at CC. I am here for just my own selfish merit.”</p>
<p>And what you know, my post above was then followed by Trin’s proud acceptance report, without one word backing up Wheaty which she could have done easily without noting me or anything, since she was already in “nananana” mode and doing it all along. This also prove that Wheaty thing came AFTER she decided to block me, not because of, as she claims. If she so wanted to be saved by others, she could have supported Wheaty, as good fair redbug did then and there (ya, thanx mom for slap on bad bears paw. I love your guts and fairness always being r(or L?)evel headed)
or if based on her theory; silence= tacit support - was Trin agreeing with me on this?</p>
<p>Wheaty never understood my point nor ignored me as I requested.
well, dad, remember the huge ■■■■■ figure you linked and called me a liar, accusing my kid does not exist?
no one said anything, like, “bears really got kid“ “I think she did visit UCLA” etc etc but I would never suspect “tacit support” because, look, people have lives. they don’t need to buy into extra baggage or conflicts.
Why should anyone care about me when I wasn’t exactly an angel but miserable complainer/whiner? Folks ain’gonna waste time for something this obvious.
Besides, I could totally fend on my own because, Wheaty was pretty much making fool of himself, like the dad below who broke down his own fa</p>
<p>Ah… turkey day…
MICA girl will come home on the Bolt bus. Usually we have gone to visit friends in CT for a 100% gluten free Turkey day - but this year with kids in college and what not, I think we will be staying home. I have adapted my grandmother’s recipes for stuffing and cranberry sauce (well the cranberries were naturally gluten free anyway) and pumpkin pie, so except for the work involved, things should go smoothly. We have never gone to see the Macy’s TDay parade in NYC, so maybe we’ll go do that.
In the mean time, I just got back from the UK and leave for SF tomorrow and then come back home for one night before heading to Barcelona next week – all for work, not much time for play. So I’ve had spotty contact with MICA girl. She did write me a long (for her) email about her classes (and her wish list for gouache paints) so I think she is doing okay. She said that she had made an appointment with a professor to have an extended review done of her work for her illustration class. I was surprised that she was being that pro-active. She did mention that she thinks the professor likes her work, so I suspect that it will be a more positive than negative interaction – given her issues, that will be good for her. She still has 98 meals left on her meal card. sigh. I guess I have to give up on that battle. I will not be getting her a meal plan anymore. She says she still has plenty of food from our big food run at the end of September (and she took a little more back with her when she was home for fall break in Oct) so I’ve stopped worrying about her not eating enough. She has food available to her,she won’t starve.
Manga girl is astonishing. I know she loves her manga, but she had never displayed much interest in any other form of art --but since she is in Sr. Janet’s class she spends every free moment while she’s in school in the art room painting – and stays after school in the art room painting – and she does her drawing homework assignments (at home, naturally) and they are really quite good – and she is faster than MICA girl. Poor Aspie girl feels forlorn because her neurological problems hamper any art aspirations she may have. Her few friends happen to be Sr. Janet’s art students too, so Aspie girl is the single non-art student that is allowed to ‘hang out’ in the art room with the other artsy fartsy kids… even though she feels left out. Actually Aspie kid has a really good sense of color – and I think that she would enjoy sort of abstract painting – but those art classes are all focused on developing drawing skill as a foundation and the poor kid can barely write her name. So it goes.
Bears, I’m glad to see you back!</p>
<p>D originally wanted to come home for Thanksgiving (mostly to see BF I imagine!), but since their semester is over Dec 10, told her I wasn’t shelling out for 2 round trip plane tickets. Flying at Thanksgiving is always pricey anyway. But for Christmas I got her round trip Minn to Orlando for $246 on Southwest, so free baggage as well. Plus it wasn’t the leaving at 5 am or arriving at midnight flights, and I think the price was cheap because it was well before Christmas and they don’t go back til Jan 10. </p>
<p>The art store at the school had a costume contest on Friday nite but she didn’t have a costume yet, so she didn’t go. Saturday, she went over there dressed up, and they asked her if she was in the contest earlier, and she told them she did not have a costume at that point. The guy reached behind the counter and said "Well, since you’re the only one that’s come in here all day dressed up, we have one prize left. They hand her this huge bag with pens, a set of 48 neopastels (which she was REALLY excited about), a linoleum pad used for printmaking, red acrylic paint, set of chartpak markers, bristol board and 2 stacks of really cool greeting-type cards. She went trick or treating with a group of kids in the “lake neighborhood” where people bring out their candy offerings in antique trays instead of plastic bowls and they serve up full size candy bars. They then came back to check their candy and watch a movie in the student lounge. She was teaching Chinese roommate how to check her candy and she asked D if this was a “bad” holiday. D said, no, not necessarily, but there was always rumors of needles in candy bars. I got a text about "what to do with swollen joints, and thought oh no, now what. Sends me pic of her fingers, turns out she forgot her gloves, her fingers were freezing and when she went back inside they swelled up. Told her they would go back to normal by themselves, and to make sure she took gloves and a hat everywhere she went now. She said, ‘yeah, learning to deal with this winter thing’. Yep, October in Minnesota can be cold.</p>
<p>Wait, what??? Wheaty changed his (daughter’s) location to UCLA??? They told me they took Wheaty to live on a farm with his mailman… </p>
<p>Wheaty, please don’t be shy about coming back to the USC forum - we miss you. I insist that you at least return in Feb and March to offer aid and comfort to the status-watchers as they wait. Bring your mailman with you.</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>alamemom</p>