After the launch

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1921

<p>yeah bears!!! success</p>

<p>I am about to attempt a last minute costume for S2 inspired by the artist Nick Cave.
It will be a modified/simplified version of these ideas:
<a href=“http://hilaryinspired.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2010/09/nick-cave-via-the-nwe-york-times.jpg[/url]”>http://hilaryinspired.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2010/09/nick-cave-via-the-nwe-york-times.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
[Nick</a> Cave, the creator of the Sound Suit | Artistic Things](<a href=“http://artisticthings.com/nick-cave/]Nick”>http://artisticthings.com/nick-cave/)
I went to Goodwill today and bought a bunch of old sweaters and blankets in crazy patterns. We will use a basket tray as a mask face (like the abacus in the link). It’s a good thing we will have a winter day tomorrow. It will keep me in and working. I am excited!</p>

<p>As for kids slumping, my S is working hard and this past week he had two days where he got only 2 hours sleep. That is not good. I am tempted to tell him to let go of his work study but I don’t think he will want to hear it. I wonder if he is going to hit a wall. </p>

<p>S2 is feeling the weight of 11th grade and somehow has gotten wind of the concept of a gap year and is all for it. So am I (somewhat selfishly). If he takes off a year after HS while S1 finishes his last year of RISD we won’t have to pay two tuitions at once!</p>

<p>glutenmom…is it a real fox hunt? with dogs and all? What happens when they find the foxes? foxi? fox?</p>

1922

<p>drae- very cool costume ideas, please send more photos. You too bears, it sounds great! We’re not so interesting around here. I’m glad I haven’t put up my Halloween decorations yet since we’re also expecting snow. That is a first! I love Halloween night and do my best to wow all the neighborhood kids but I usually do it without wearing a costume. </p>

<p>gmom- the therapist’s web site says she uses psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and something psychodynamic. A Freudian??? I can PM you the link if you’re interested. Strange that I never thought to ask or check before. Since D2 was very happy with her from the beginning, and she can also prescribe drugs if needed, and was close by, well, I was happy too.</p>

<p>fammom- I think her courses have something to do with it too. She is wishing she had some formal drawing class. Of course, you can draw for any class, but focusing on it is different. Learning to use an acetylene torch and something called a “plasma cutter” is interesting, but it must be hard to start as a beginner again. Sigh… I’ll just keep cheerfully doing my best to support her. She was really happy to return to school and not be a freshman this time around! I guess the bloom is off that rose for now.</p>

1923

<p>bears- I want to hear about your first Costco experience! I went with D2 to one near Baltimore, in Glen Burnie I believe, and our GPS took us on a wonderful odyssey through an industrial area that has that kind of beauty that art students everywhere find irresistible. Then, all of a sudden, we’re at Costco. It made it more surreal than it usually was. Also, it was actually easy to find a parking spot at this Costco. </p>

<p>I forgot to check if they had the pneumatic tube network connecting the cashiers and the central office. I love that, it’s so 1940’s. Paris had a city-wide pneumatic tube network that I think they shut down in the 1980’s. Too bad…</p>

1924

<p>So apparently mother nature had other plans for us this weekend… somehow the whole weekend at the barn evaporated and I was told that next weekend Aspie girl will have to do morning feed on both Saturday and Sunday and she will go fox hunting next week. But… that pony club halloween party that I got roped into organizing (and I figured, why not, I have to be at the barn anyway…) is STILL on… so actually we have to go up to the barn for a halloween party that if I hadn’t been stupid and opened my mouth we could have avoided entirely.</p>

<p>Today has been spent dodging bullets. The grocery store was a madhouse or a zoo or a mad zoo or something crazy. We have huge tree limbs coming down right and left (remember we’ve been trying to get tree work done since the hurricane non-event – but it still hasn’t happened) the trees… it feels like Dorothy and company when they’re in the woods and the trees start throwing apples at them… our trees are throwing tennis ball sized wallops of snow at us if we go outdoors… so between the snow clumps and the falling branches… it’s hazardous. We ended up parking all the cars out on the street because the driveway seems particularly perilous. The wind is starting to pick up quite a bit now too. But we still have power… I have to make corn bread and chili for the party tomorrow so I firmly believe that when I get the cornbread into the oven the power will fail. I know that’s how it works. DH took manga girl off to manga class while I was fighting the crowds at the grocery store. I had to call him and and tell him to come back – the snow was coming down like crazy. I hope this isn’t a harbinger of the winter to come… (ha, finally got to use that word…)</p>

<p>bouncing out…</p>

1925

<p>Oh, Hi Drae
Fox hunting is ‘real’ fox hunting with hounds… it is so interesting to see how well behaved a pack of thirty dogs can be – I would put the pack of hounds up against a class of kindergartners anytime and bet the hounds would come out on top in terms of staying in place and not fidgeting! They all jump out of a truck when commanded and then they all sit when the hound master commands and they don’t move a muscle, even with all the horses and riders and strange scents and excitement in the air. There is a whole lot of etiquette and peculiar habits that have to be adhered to… and there are certain ranks and you have to stay with your assigned rank. The horses have to be all spiffy clean with stuff on their hooves to make them shiny and their manes and tails brushed out with ‘show shine’ and no little wood chips left in them, no dandruff on the horses – you have to use baby wipes on them and listerine to get them all clean… then there’s the clothes… tall boots, polished properly, dark wool riding coat, tan or white riding britches, white shirt, ‘rat catcher’ or stock tie with pin, hair net… the list goes on and on. Plus the saddle and bridle have to be perfectly clean, along with the breast plate and the saddle pad. I get tired thinking about it.</p>

<p>But like most people you’re probably most concerned about the fox. Most often they will spot a coyote. Either way, the dogs run around sniffing until they find a trail and then the horses and riders get to gallop after them – there is a contingent of support people with radios that go and stop traffic on roads so the hunt can go by safely. The dogs are all radio collared so they don’t lose any of the dogs. They are not actually too interested in catching the fox (the humans aren’t, the dogs, of course, would love it). Mainly it’s an excuse to gallop through the country side after a pack of dogs. The hunt master calls the hunt off if they actually get too close to the fox. Some ‘hunts’ use scent dragging over a preset course. Mostly the hunts Aspie girl rides with don’t do that. It is, like most things, somewhat dangerous. They call hunts off if it’s too windy or muddy or rainy-- they don’t want horses or humans to get hurt. They also have to be mindful of the land they’re riding over… mostly private farms… they want to keep the good will of the land owners so they have to be careful to close gates and if they knock down a fence, fix it. It’s very family oriented (not our family) and you see grandparents, parents, and kids all participating together in a sporting activity – something you don’t see too often. At the end of the season there is the ‘hunt ball’ which is a formal affair and they have various awards for this and that and the other thing. You can earn your ‘red’ coat, for example and be able to ride farther up in the ranks… usually there’s three ranks, first flight, second flight, and hill toppers. The hunt master is pretty much the boss and everyone has to stay where they’re put or they won’t be allowed to hunt again. There’s all sorts of etiquette with the horses… horses that kick have to wear ribbons in their tails… its kind of an interesting microcosm of society…<br>
But the bottom line is that it’s something that you can go out and do with your horse that is a lot more fun than riding circles or figure eights in a ring.</p>

1926

<p>Where is this taking place Gmom, how far from where I am or, heck, drae or you?
I had worked for a family kids rode but jumping over thing and going around stuff in Dutchess county.
Maybe I did not know that was happening or out of season?</p>

<p>does manga girl know of this classic?
Candy Candy, manga
<a href=“http://www.google.com/search?q=candy+candy+manga&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1680&bih=823&sei=%20d5SsTtCGLcLfsQLn69XdDg[/url]”>http://www.google.com/search?q=candy+candy+manga&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1680&bih=823&sei=%20d5SsTtCGLcLfsQLn69XdDg&lt;/a&gt;
the tomboy girl with freckles (named Candice White, dah) is the heroine, who is an orphan adapted into wealthy Scottish American(?) family and get to be loved by the hottest blond boy (seen with the bagpipes in mid row, name’s Anthony) but the boy dies in accident during fox hunt.
his last words to the girl before he rode off was
“I’ve found your fur scarf! I am gonna get it for you!” (supposedly in nice aristocrat Scotts-y way)
so I and fellow 5th graders in nowhere Japan surrounded by rice paddies and ditches fantasized about fox hunting=scarf getting hot boyfriend who met untimely death, which prolonged series and added pile of more drama! drama!! to already drama-filled dear Candy’s life.</p>

<p>innocence or ignorance, whichever that was, we had it good back then.</p>

1927

<p>[The</a> Rombout Jr. Hunt today | Facebook](<a href=“http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150347057659231.367213.45230494230&type=1]The”>http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150347057659231.367213.45230494230&type=1)</p>

<p>Rombout hunt restarted this year and Old Chatham seems to crash Internet Explorer… not sure what’s with that. But Millbrook has a big contingent of fox hunters and breeders of fox hounds.</p>

<p>I guess they’re wanting to play board games now, gotta go!</p>

1928

<p>Laundry day today, need to get school uniforms washed. Manga girl says “oh, by the way, I got white oil paint on the back of my sweater (dark blue) – can you get it out?” um… no. I’m not the laundry fairy. Her khaki skirts are splattered with oil paint that I’ve never gotten out – the same was true with her sister, when d1 was in HS – and she’s the one that got the idea into manga girl’s head that you ‘wear your paint with pride’ when you’re an art student. However, apparently the paint on the back of the sweater is ‘awkward’ – go figure. Plus manga girl still has another year to go - maybe I’m going to be hearing from the school about the unacceptable condition of her uniform… I don’t know.</p>

<p>Any ideas on getting the oil paint out of the sweater after it has dried and set?</p>

1929

<p>[Video:</a> How to Remove Oil Paint Stain From Clothes | eHow.com](<a href=“http://www.ehow.com/video_4982657_remove-oil-paint-stain-from.html]Video:”>http://www.ehow.com/video_4982657_remove-oil-paint-stain-from.html)
I can’t see it but this guy must know what he is doing.
I never done it myself, I am wearing with pride my kid’s old clothes with paint stains, since I am an artist cough cough.
It was one best thing that I have not had a girl.
then again
yesterday, I helped friend’s D wanting to be Isabella Rosellini in the Blue Velvet for Halloween.
sew up the robe quick and crudely as I do these things, but man, the girl herself is a such knock-out and with that robe fitted and trimmed… sigh… awwww… </p>

<p>I might start side business of sort, “last minuets Halloween”
such joy and fulfillment to see satisfied customers.</p>

1930

<p>Oh bears…some day we will come so you can do the last minute halloween costume for my D…she suddenly wanted to go to a party and needed an outfit…I found a statue of liberty headgear made out of green foam from Verizon (why?how did we get this?) and suggested that and an artfully draped sheet…eye rolling commences…finally after much texting she comes out in her very tight short black skirt, my work blouse, my reading glasses, my pearls, my work pumps…she is a teacher…like any teacher would look like that …originally she was putting in fake diamond studs but I pointed out that no teacher earns enough for diamonds. Now she says she wants to go trick or treating tomorrow after being a ball girl for the semi final regional games. Hmmm…as a teacher in pumps…she won’t make it far. She should have one great costume one more time…perhaps trip to new york next year can coincide with the weekend before halloween…what I do understand that halloween costumes need to be sexy and cute…without slipping into the murky land of tacky.</p>

<p>I am so glad the costume worked out. Drae! impressive. I just cant imagine doing something like that! All of you sound pretty into the holiday.<br>
I wont turn out the lights and deny having candy but no decorations for me this year. </p>

<p>Instead, I got a jump start on cooking for my “day of the dead” dinner party for Wednesday. Also, pot of chili done for the game tomorrow. </p>

<p>H arrived home safe from his travels with very beautiful “baby alpaca” scarf for me from Peru…will wear with pride tomorrow since still cold and still have dusting of snow on the deck. Im impressed with all you yankees dealing with real snow…(and fleas)…it makes me tired to think of it. Hopefully we wont be shoveling until January or February and the fleas wont come indoors with this unusual cold.</p>

1931

<p>so you did lost the game… darn.
as an immigrant US history time-line moron, hearing word “yankee” and “snow” my visual turned into this
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware_by_Emanuel_Leutze,_MMA-NYC,_1851.jpg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware_by_Emanuel_Leutze,_MMA-NYC,_1851.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
I know something is amiss, but what is it? who is the original yankee doodle? what macaroni?
Here is the answer!!
[Yankee</a> Doodle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Doodle]Yankee”>Yankee Doodle - Wikipedia)
anyhow I am wondering how smarty is coping up there…
I am cozy, warm, studied parental habit of CC all day in and out. I see that there is certain etiquette you out to follow, and same rules won’t apply to certain people no matter how senior/newbee/ clever/stupid/ nice/ obnoxious the poster is.
I am getting hang of greater US of A.
thanks P3T (fairy art moderator)if you are watching over. I can feel your presence…</p>

1932

<p>phone rang.</p>

<p>just waiting, doing laundry, the party was the best. at some house. donno, just someone live there, all shows are done there. EVERYONE loved it, said the best costume. they all knew that you made it, 'cus I have to answer every time who made it. It was real good. there was this dead deer in the dumpster, they chop the head off and used it for the decoration and there was this white puppy in the house and like, tugging on the head. we danced, **** gotten so drunk, no I didn’t drink, I know I know I know. yeah, like whack, so I am coming home. yep, I will be there.</p>

<p>He is coming home for the holidays!! Tintin movie!! dog/cat/ sitting gigs! minimal wage labor ops!! go get visa for study abroad!! get teeth cleaned!! museums!! samosa!!
thank you thank you Star Wars guy
you sure gave me bonus points!!!</p>

1933

<p>Hi everyone! I feel like I’ve been running for the last month and now will try to catch up again! Just got back from FL, first attended Family Weekend at Ringling and had a great time visiting D, then went to see older D before coming home again. Family Weekend was great! Nice for D to stay in the hotel with me for a change of atmosphere; she brought all her hw so the place looked like a mini studio. I stay at a Hyatt Place and all the rooms are suites, so there’s plenty of room. There were such fun events planned for us, everything is so beautifully done and I’m so glad I went! I went to the parents’ association meeting while D was in class on Friday, then Friday night we both took part in sculpting clay for the Empty Bowls charity, then took her and some friends out for ice cream to an old-fashioned candy/ice cream store. The Empty Bowls event was outside under tents with music and was a lot of fun. Next morning was a nice breakfast with families, president of the college, lots of administration and then we had a choice of classes to attend. We went to a printmaking class and the teacher was just lovely! We visited the galleries and D showed me all the new illustration studios that went up over the summer, and at breakfast the president announced that they are building individual studios for the upperclass illustration students! Aside from the formal activities we just got her re-supplied at Target, art store, got her a haircut, went out to eat, etc. and of course she had boatloads of homework so she worked late into the night and I kept her company. I also carried down the Halloween costume she made this summer which needed a few last minute touches. She said it was a huge hit at the campus party on Saturday night! Friday they decorated 2 dorms for children, one was for the younger kids and then a haunted house for the teens. H’ween is her favorite holiday so it was great for her that the school does so much!</p>

<p>Bears, how wonderful that your son is coming home…for Thaksgiving, Christmas break, or both? I was going to have D stay at college at T’day but just couldn’t wrap my brain around her being alone, so just bought a ticket yesterday. The fares were lower than when I checked a month ago! Very cool about how much he likes the costume you made, and how nice of him to let you know! You’re a good sport for helping out little Isabella, too!</p>

<p>Drae, wow those costumes are awesome! Let us know how it goes. Huge hit for sure!</p>

<p>Famm: ooooh, baby alpaca scarf! Sounds lovely! I am sitting here freezing and that sounds so comfy right now. How thoughtful! </p>

<p>Gmom, you are such a great writer. I can visualize everything you talk about b/c you’re so descriptive! Made me laugh that you were able to use “harbinger”! I keep thinking about that and it makes me smile at random moments. Love the visual of the Oz trees, too!</p>

<p>Greenwitch, is your D taking required courses that aren’t in her major? I missed the first part of the discussion! Last year D took some classes that were very demanding in terms of time. She liked the courses very much and they will help her in the future, one just required lots of time in learning how to use the tools and then completing the projects. The other was a fascinating course but was upper level and she probably would have enjoyed it more in her junior or senior year when she wasn’t a first-semester college student learning the ropes. I learned at Family Weekend that starting this year Ringling has changed its foundation year to be more major-driven. D is glad she got to take the core courses outside her major, but I can see how people would like being more focused on their major from the first semester! Even though, for instance, the interior design majors in her figure class weren’t graded the same as the Ill or CA students, they still hated taking figure! Anyway, all these kids of ours work so hard it isn’t surprising that they hit a slump. Thank goodness they get a long break soon!</p>

<p>OK, gotta run out and get some H’ween candy! I don’t like to buy it early b/c we nibble away at it. We used to get hundreds of kids but last year not so many. Now with the cold and being a school day I’m not sure what to expect! Maybe I should get candy that can become baked goods ingredients later on? LOL! Have a wonderful day, everyone!</p>

1934

<p>School is closed today because the electricity is out in our area! Just as I was finishing the costume the power went down. A message came through on the cell phone saying they will celebrate Halloween at school on Tuesday. The costume is crazy. I didn’t realize how “baby” the palette I chose is. I wore it around yesterday and it is warm! If our power does’t go back on I may have to wear it to deal with my cold house. For now we are camping out at a friend’s office to get some work done.</p>

<p>I just read about some haunted houses in NYC…I’m thinking I should take the kids in today to celebrate the holiday and a day off from school but they are a bit pricy:
[Haunted</a> House New York City: Steampunk Haunted House](<a href=“http://steampunkhauntedhouse.com/]Haunted”>http://steampunkhauntedhouse.com/)
<a href=“http://www.hauntedhousenyc.com/[/url]”>http://www.hauntedhousenyc.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The fox hunting description was exciting. I wish I could be a part of it. </p>

<p>congrats Bears. I think there is a market for last minute cool costumes…especially in NYC. How to advertise that?</p>

<p>Welcome back Colcon!</p>

1935

<p>Bears I am so happy for you! S asked if we were expecting him for Thanksgiving? I said check email for e-ticket that I bought IN AUGUST?! do I expect him? how nice that your S is making his plans to come home. I may need to make a halloween costume to get that kind of compliment. Also, per suggestion above, halloween costume can be used for winter wear in these freak october storms. </p>

<p>It is true, however, that airplane prices have actually fallen recently…I delayed forcing my husband to visit my parents this xmas (he hasn’t gone there in over 15 years!) but finally went online and found tickets had dropped by almost $80 each from DC to St. Louis?! American cheaper than southwest?! what is with that? No complaints. Of course with bag fees D will have to figure out how to pack everything for a week in a carry on. I can already hear the protests. </p>

<p>The baby alpaca scarf is very nice but also an inside joke. When I went to Cuzco with H in may we went for a massage after a marathon hike… but when lady was starting on my neck she cracked up at my very fine (also rather sparse) anglo hair particularly at the nape of my neck and said it was “just like baby alpaca”…I had visions of knitting my hair into little scarves – I once heard that some lady did this with her cats’ hair --yuck! still I don’t get to creeped out by angora so what’s the difference really?</p>

1936

<p>I love Alpaca yarn, it is so soft. Other animal fur can seem creepy though, even if it were washed and “carded”. The victorians used to make jewelry out of human hair. Ugh! </p>

<p>Congratulations Bears!</p>

1937

<p>Thanks, Drae! Glad the costume is serving double duty for you! It is so cold here, too. I had my dog dressed up as a sunflower today and he didn’t mind wearing the extra layer at all. The trick-or-treaters get a big kick out of it, too. I loved making my kiddos warm costumes for Halloween. One year D wanted to be Tigger…I think she was in second or third grade. She absolutely refused to wear the really nice costume from the Disney store b/c it had the word “Tigger” across the stomach and she said the real Tigger didn’t have that. So, I made the costume out of orange, white, and black fleece and hand sewed the stripes on until 2 in the morning. Still have that costume! Drae, many times I could have used a H’ween delay to get their costumes finished!</p>

<p>Famm: we must have the same fine hair! Wow, you went to Cuzco?! My older sister is very adventuresome and she went there with a friend. I’m currently reading the Nicholas Sparks book “Three Weeks With My Brother” (very touching book) and he calls Cuzco one of his favorite places on the planet. I have only read a couple of his books but this one puts all the others in a new light and makes me want to read them. I thought they were more fluff or formula books but now I have a new understanding of his writing. Anyway, if I ever get to Cuzco I can pick up an alpaca scarf to match my hair!</p>

1938

<p>Loved the Nick Cave stuff</p>

1939

<p>see, Gmom?
told you how kids love Tigger and serious about their choice.
You could have taken embroidery off or switched stomach part from the store bought, but I am sure homemade one was better hemhemhemhem
Nichoras Sparks is this “that guy posing with his convertible” in the subway poster for his new book? His photo is bigger than the book cover image.
I never read any of them assuming “that kinda book already” but I really really have to open my eyes and learn from scratch, will try anything new. bring it on!!</p>

<p>Is there any known trick to get cheaper ticket besides “buy it on Tue midnite to Wed” " two one ways are better than one round trip" " be open for dates of the week" “no one-stops are created equal” “Delta’s nasty looking free biscotti (with “DELTA” baked into it, yuck) is quite yummy dipping in their sh*itty coffee”
he’ll be home for mid Dec-early Jan. Is it too late for bargain?</p>

1940

<p>Not too late for a bargain. I generally start on orbitz to get a sense of fares because you can see how the fares change depending on the days but they dont include southwest, jetblue, so you have to go to those websites individually. Also, go to the airport web site for the airport closest to your S and see all the different airlines that fly out of there…if it is an “international” airport the international airlines sometimes stop in NY before going over the atlantic so air lingus, for example, may provide hte cheapest domestic fare. Sometimes it is worth having S catch bus to another city…for example if a student is in Madison, catch a bus to Chicago or Milwaukee and save big bucks on airfare.</p>