Cunniforms to Blinking Cursors

Day 10 of this challenge, I just picked up this pinecone that sits amongst my collection of stones in a round basket on my coffee table. Then I drew for an hour or so. Yes, there are days I think to myself “WHY?” and I answer myself with “Because it’s a pandemic, and it’s winter and there is nothing else better to do with your time. Oh, okay.” So I draw.

Day 11 had me drawing from a photo of a frog sitting on a mushroom that I had downloaded from a Facebook group. I actually had fun drawing the mushrooms, something I had never drawn before.

Day 12 I scrolled through my photos on my phone and tried drawing Annie from a photo I had taken on one of our walks at Rolling Hills. Ugh! Objects I do well with but living beings . . .I need a lot more practice.

As you can see with my Day 13 poor attempt at a self portrait (actually scary attempt). I need a lot more practice drawing faces: eyes, nose, and mouths!

So I pulled out another drawing book, yes I have a whole bookshelf of them. This one is The Ultimate Book of Drawing: Essential Skills, Techniques & Inspiration For Artists by Barrington Barber. I turned to the chapter on Portraits and began to read and highlight as I read. I have had this book for a while. I think I got it while I was working at Edwards Brothers Book & Journal Manufacturing, I’ve been retired for ten years, so yes it has sat on the shelf for quite a while.

I started with the young girl for Day 14 then moved to the male Day 15 and finally decided I needed to practice the eyes, the nose, and the mouth a whole lot more Day 16. I should probably practice drawing them everyday before doing any other drawings.

Day 17 My eclectic interests got the better of me and led me to drawing a skull!

Day 18 After posting a photo of Annie with static electric hair on Facebook and Instagram, my granddaughter suggested I draw Annie. She had been outside in the snow and I had her laying on a towel to dry off. She kept rolling around and when she popped up this is what she looked like. I just laughed and laughed after taking the photo. So, I drew her this morning. I call it Annie’s Bad Hair Day.

I’m glad I challenged myself to this 100 days of drawing, it’s almost as demanding as taking a class except I have to come up with all of the assignments or ideas.

In the past I have drawn a series of the same thing, like two years ago was the Petoskey stone series and five years ago it was clementine sections and peels. I have probably a hundred photos of all different angles. I usually eat a clementine a day and I unpeel them in one continuous ribbon then separate the sections so it looks like a flower. A clementine flower. I almost drew one this morning, but I kept hearing Ceci’s suggestion in my head so I had to draw static electric Annie.

Maybe for Day 19 I will draw a clementine flower, who knows.

I’m currently reading four different books, two on my iPad and two paperbacks. I started Ibram X. Kendi’s How To Be An Antiracist on my iPad last summer after reading Stamped: Racism, Antiracism & You by Jason Reynolds & Kendi. I think every family should have a copy of Reynold’s book. I seriously thought about giving a copy as an Xmas gift to everyone. Since I’m not teaching this semester, I’m reading Cultivating Genius by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad with EMU WAC group. It’s important to me to learn new ways to teach. For fun I’m reading Troubled Blood book 5 of the Cormoran Strike series by Galbraith/Rowling. I enjoy reading a series, you get to know the characters. I recently finished the Khorasan Archives by Asma Khan, Bloodprint is the first book. I loved learning about a middle eastern culture and a new type of magic, yes it’s a fantasy with two strong female main characters. I’m also reading To Kill A Mockingbird again with my youngest granddaughter. While downloading the image below, I found out there is a graphic version, so I ordered a used copy. For Xmas I gave myself the graphic version of the Handmaid’s Tale to add to my collection.

I only read a chapter at a time of How To Be An Antiracist because it is difficult and frustrating to learn all the ways you have been a racist over the years. I need to digest it. I just finished chapter 5 about ethnic racism. I think back to when I was younger and realize I’ve been an ethnic racist because of comments I heard growing up from adults I thought were good people. It makes me sick to my stomach. Of course I have learned over time to think in terms of individuals not ethnic groups. Kendi helps us understand how ethnic racism works, how all racism works.

I’m reading Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy with the WAC book group to better my pedagogy. We just had the first dialogue workshop last Friday to discuss chapters 1 & 2. There were 39 participants. In breakout rooms we were asked to choose a sentence, phrase or word that caught our attention in chapter 2. I chose the phrase “Identities are multilayered” (49) from a Gee quote Muhammad used, ‘Identities are multilayered and shaped by the social and cultural environment as well as by literacy practices.” This struck me as being significant because the first writing project I have students do has to do with their own identity. In their final reflection essays the majority will say this was their favorite assignment. I want to make this assignment speak to their multilayered identities even more than it does now.

For fun and relaxation I’m reading the fifth book in the Cormoran Strike series Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith a.k.a. Rowling. I love reading a series and this detective mystery stories have a female character who grows as a person and a detective throughout the series. I usually read this at night before falling asleep.

The fourth book, To Kill a Mockingbird, I’m reading with my youngest granddaughter. We’ve only discussed the first two chapters so far. We both agreed that Scout, the precocious six year old, is an awesome character.

This semester, reading, reading, reading is my entertainment besides trying to rewatch all of the DVDs I own. So, next time I may write about my favorite DVDs. Blessings!

Day 309 of the COVID-19 Pandemic January 18, 2021

Uncertainty hangs in the air. I’m not teaching this semester and it feels like I’m forgetting to do something. I am a writing consultant for the University Writing Center but that is all virtual and only ten hours a week. So, to get a little more organized, I’ve been creating a list of all of my passwords. Ugh! It is incredible how many I have. Some passwords I use regularly everyday but others it depends, maybe once a week or once a month or maybe once a year. Take this blog post for instance, I had to create a new password to login and I’m not totally sure where it’s going to show up, so I clicked on publish.

Well, it only took me 30 minutes to figure out how to edit this post! Maybe I will try to write once a week in this blog. I write in a couple journals each day. I have a leather case that holds my morning journal that sits on the small round oak table in my kitchen. I write in it while drinking my morning coffee and eating my yogurt and cherry oatmeal. This journal is more personal. I write my thoughts for the morning, how I’m feeling, what may need to be done that day. This morning I needed to contact the vet to have Annie’s prescription refilled for her allergy medicine. I will sometimes add to the day before if I didn’t finish the page. I try to write a full page for each day.

I write in another journal that sits on my desk next to the laptop in my litle office studio. This journal is for note taking during Zoom meetings and workshops. I will also make lists of what needs to be done that day for either teaching or consulting and I will write down ideas or suggestions about teaching. I’m not teaching this semester, so I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with all of my extra time. Two years ago I took an art class during the winter semester, and last year I worked on a revision of my children’s book and planned to send it to a publisher, however, that hasn’t happened. Maybe that should go on the to-do list for this winter. Anyway, putting away my sewing stuff I ran across a knitting project I started over ten years ago. It’s a navy blue cardigan sweater.

I think I started it in 2008 or 9, I only finished the back that winter. Then a few years later I knit the right front. But it is only 99 percent finished. The problem is it has a complicated cable pattern, so each time I pick it up to knit I have to study and keep track of every row of the ten row pattern. Ugh! The notes from the last time I worked on it did not make sense, so I set the right front aside and started the left front. I created a grid to keep track of the rows. I’ve now finished the bottom 3″ ribbing and two full rounds of the ten-row cable pattern. It needs to be about 23″ before I shape the neck. Shaping the neck is where I stopped working on the right front. I need to figure out where I stopped. So I will do that when I get to that point with the left front.

Many years ago I knit a whole sweater in one winter. I’ve knit scarves, hats, mittens and socks. I don’t know why this sweater has taken so long. I’ve always thought of myself as that person who is a “Jill of all trades but a master on none” because of all my interests. Of course I had to Google this quote because I couldn’t remember the beginning and I learned something new. The original quote said “A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes is better than a master of one.” Well that makes me feel better. However, I still need to finish the sweater project!

So, have a great day and I will keep you posted on how this winter 2021 proceeds.

From journal entry May 30, 2020 – Day 78 of “Stay Home Stay Safe”

As I was sanding my new deck coffee table it accorded to me that designing, creating/building, and finishing this project was similar to the writing process I teach my First-Year Writing students. First, you to have an idea, a theme, or a subject you want to or need to write about. Second, you have to do some research, planning, and thinking about the project. Third, you have to write a rough draft, or as Anne Lamott say’s, a “shitty first draft.” Finally or fourth, you have to revise, reorganize, and polish the piece. In writing we use the the three terms High Order Concerns, Middle Order Concerns and Later Order concerns that help students understand it is a process.

My table project started while being confined to my home during the COVID 19 pandemic “Stay Home, Stay Safe”. I began thinking about making a coffee table for my deck to go with the wicker rocker I bought from the At Home store after receiving my pandemic stimulus check. I did a curbside pick up wearing my mask on April 30th. I had thought about buying a wicker coffee table to match it but decided I didn’t want to spend anymore money. The rest of the check went into the savings account. So, I surveyed the materials I had on hand. I had a piece of formica-topped shelving from a kitchen cabinet that I thought might make a good table top. I also had four ceramic tiles left over from the little dwarf house (that’s another story). I laid all the pieces out on the floor of my basement workshop for a visual of size and possibility. I even drew a sketch of how it might look (See image at right).

But after a week of thinking about this design, I decided it would end up being too heavy with the extra layer of wood to put all the pieces on. So I looked at other options. I had three pieces of deck wood from the side porch steps that had been removed when it was redesigned last summer. I laid them side by side on the floor of my workshop. they looked like they would be a good length. I went back to the website to see what the actual dimensions were for the wicker table I almost bought and realized the step boards would be a perfect length for the top. The wicker table was 38″ long by 18″ wide and 17-1/2″ high. So I drew a second sketch (see below) using the three step boards that were 36-1/4″ long for the top, along with the four 4″x4″x12″ legs, and the two 2″x6″x18″ boards to attach the legs to. At this point I realized the legs needed to be taller. I researched banister post tops. I found them on the Home Depot website. There were several styles to choose from and I really liked the octagon ones for only $5 each. I added the four 4″x3-1/2″ post tops to my sketch as feet for the legs. I liked how it looked, so I ordered them.

This part of the table project process is similar to the first phase of the writing process. A lot of thinking, planning, and researching has to happen before the actual writing can begin.

Once I had my final design, I took all the pieces I had and laid them out on the floor in my basement workshop. The post tops I ordered would not arrive for five days. Sometimes when writing you need more information so you do more research. And sometimes that research has to come from another library or you need to buy another book. Any project process takes time, waiting and patience are just as much a part of that process as the actual building or writing. From the time I first thought about making a coffee table for my deck until I actually had all the pieces to assemble on May 28th, almost a month had passed. As an instructor I try to give students this all important thinking, planning, researching time before their first draft is due.

Even writing about this project has taken several weeks as you see from my journal entry above, I began on May 30th. I wrote “Even as I sit here in my new wicker rocker writing about designing, building/creating, and finishing the coffee table, I’m considering what to write, why I’m writing, and how to explain each process.”

The next phase, phase II is making sure I have all the right size pieces, the lag bolts and the flathead wood screws needed to put it all together. I had only two 4″x4″x12″ pieces for the legs and I needed four. I needed to saw two more pieces from a longer piece. To do that I realized I needed to buy a new saw blade for my circular saw because the one I had was very dull. I bought the new blade when I picked up the four post tops on the 28th. That was an eye opening experience. Home Depot had a huge sign on the door saying everyone is required to wear a mask and practice social distancing, six feet apart. However, when I entered the tool section to get the saw blade there were at least six or seven men talking, standing right next to each other and not one had a mask on. I freaked! I quickly found what I needed, paid at the self checkout, and left the store. Fear of being exposed to the virus is very real, especially when you are 73!

Now, I was able to saw the other two leg pieces and the new blade cut through the 4×4 like it was butter. Once I had all four leg pieces I could to attach them to the two 18″ 2″x6s that the three step boards would be screwed onto to make the top. This phase is similar to taking notes, making a list of information you want to include, or writing an outline for that writing project.

Phase III is assembling all the pieces. I decided to attach the 4″x4s to the two 2x6s with two lag bolts for each leg. Lag bolts are screwed in with a socket wrench that has an attachment that fits the top of the lag bolt, depending on the size. I was using 1/4″x3″ lag bolts so I needed a 7/16″ socket. The socket wrench ratchets the lag bolt into the wood. The ratchet part is the lag bolt turning clockwise while the socket ratchets counterclockwise so that it is a continuous motion of screwing the lag bolt into the wood. This tool makes it easier to bolt things together no matter your hand strength. I have arthritis so this makes it doable for me (See socket wrench at the right).

I used two lag bolts for each leg and two legs attached to each 18″ 2×6. Once I had all four legs attached to the two 2x6s I was able to set the three step boards on top to see how it would look. I used four 2″ flathead wood screws at each end of the step boards to attach them to the leg pieces. I marked the boards with an x where each screw should go then drilled the holes and screwed the boards down. Once I had these pieces assembled I turned the table over so the legs were sticking in the air so I could attach the post-top feet to the bottom of each leg. The post tops came with a screw in the center so all I had to do was drill a hole in the center of the leg and screw them into each leg. I also used wood glue attaching the post-top feet to the legs. Once everything was assembled I took the photo you see below. I love building things with my hands, it’s therapeutic for me and after not seeing any family for over two months during “Stay Home, Stay Safe,” I needed this physical activity!

Phase III of my table project is similar to writing the first or rough draft of your paper. Pouring out all of that information onto the page or screen. Lamott calls it “the child’s draft.” My table was now together but there is still a lot of work to be done before it’s finished. And when writing this is also true. Now you move into the fourth or final phase where you revise, reorganize, edit and polish your writing just as I had to sand, make adjustments, and apply a finish to my table.

Phase IV of my table project starts with sanding, a lot of sanding. It took a couple of days. As I was sanding I was thinking about how I would finish the table. I had several options, staining and varnishing, or just sealing the wood or shou sugi ban. I had used the Japanese shou sugi ban technique on the arbor I built last year. I needed to think about it. It took me several days to sand the whole table (see below).

During phase IV sanding, I discovered one leg was not ratcheted tight enough to the 2×6. So I had to unscrew three screws and loosen the fourth of the outside top board so that I could get at the lag bolts underneath and tighten them down.

Every project has it ups and downs and starts and stops. After writing that rough draft you will almost always have to rearrange information, delete parts, and add new parts to make the piece readable that’s why this phase is called “Later Order Concerns.” I have now worked on this piece of writing for several days and many hours, reading out loud to myself, revising sentences, and adding my thoughts to make it more fun to read for you the reader.

Once I finished tightening the bolts and putting the top board screws back I decided I would finish the table using the Japanese wood burning technique of shou sugi ban to seal and finish the wood. I took the table to the back patio.

I watched a couple YouTube videos to refresh my memory on the technique. I used a small hand held blow torch that attaches to a canister of propane gas like that used on a camping stove. It’s actually quite easy, it just takes patience to evenly move the torch back and forth to burn the wood evenly. This took a couple hours. After I had the whole table burned it needed to be sanded again. I took the table back to the basement workshop and used the electric sander. I needed to wear a mask because the dust is actually soot. Yes! It is a very dirty, messy part of the process.

Once the table was all sanded again I brought it back to the deck and I sanded that table with a finer sandpaper, whipped it off with a soft rag, and then applied linseed oil. I rubbed linseed oil into the wood with a clean rag. I let it dry for several days. Then I rubbed the table with steel wool, whipped it with a clean rag, and brushed another coat of linseed oil all over it. This finishing technique is supposed to last 10 to 15 years.

After thinking about, designing, building, and finishing the table I felt like I needed to sign it. I got out my wood burning tool and wrote “Pandemic 2020 Pam” on the inside of one of the legs. When I posted a picture of my table on Facebook, my sister-in-law replied I should call it the the “Pamdemic Table”. I laughed.

The finished table at right and above my signature.

Today is June 17th, day 95 of the 2020 pandemic. Michigan is in phase III of reopening. I’m doing fine. Designing, building, and finishing this table is proof. And now I have finished writing about the process for my blog.

Hope you enjoyed reading about my process!

This is the first time in ten years I will not be teaching a class at EMU. I have a consulting position in the University Writing Center and I’m a volunteer writing consultant for YpsiWrites at the Whittaker library. I only need to be on campus two days a week so that leaves me plenty of time to do some writing and some drawing! It’s strange to not be revising my syllabus, project assignments, and reading schedules. BUT also, quit invigorating to be writing for me, myself, my own interests.

I’ve started revising my children’s book that started my teaching career over twenty years ago. That’s correct, I wrote a little story for my niece and nephew in 1990 for Easter. That story turned into a chapter book I finished during an independent study with a children’s literature professor at Eastern Michigan University. I submitted that story to about 15 different publishers. Rejection letters are hard to read. Through suggestions from my creative writing professor and my independent study professor, I pursued my master’s degree in Children’s Literature than a master’s degree in Written Communication with an emphasis in the Teaching of Writing.

So, here I am at my laptop, writing on my blog about writing. I pondered what to do with this spare time and many ideas have been sent out to the universe. Should I try to find another teaching position, no. Should I get a part-time job to fill in the money gap, still thinking about that. Should I finish writing the several projects I’ve started over the past ten plus years and submit them for publication, yes. Should I do more drawing that I know I can do after taking a class last winter and passing with flying colors, yes. However, writing and drawing and sending it out for possible acceptance is absolutely terrifying! Yes, the fear of success is real, the fear of rejection is real, the fear of not being good enough is very real. I just googled “fear of success” and it seems to be a female issue that society has built into us, whereas men have “fear of failure’ issues. These are my thoughts about what to do in 2020.

I’ve also revisited my book I started five years ago. A memoir of sorts that tells the story of my transformation from insecure young female to more confident adult woman. This project includes some of my poetry I’ve written about my childhood and my life. I need to be brave, confident, and persistent to survive the coming winter insecurities. That’s it. I also have to draw and not be afraid. One of the pieces I drew last winter, is a triptych of my Petosky stone. I need to frame it so that I can submit it for exhibition. I have not submitted any art in the last twenty years.

I must write every day!

I must draw every day!

As I stare at the clementine peel, laying next to my laptop, it reminds me of the series of photographs and drawings I have done over the last five years on this subject. Why does this particular item peek my creativity so much? It’s just an ordinary orange clementine peel. I don’t know. However, last winter I turned this item into a fictional beast in one of my fantasy drawings. Maybe there’s a story there as well.

So, I begin another trip around the sun, whatever the outcome only time will tell . . .

In 1972 I was an art student taking drawing classes in Sherzer Hall at Eastern Michigan University, last week I returned to Sherzer Hall for a drawing class at the age of 72. It took me seventeen years to get my bachelor of fine arts degree than two masters degrees in my sixties and now, having taught at EMU for eight years, I’m returning to the thing that started it all those years ago, drawing.

When I applied for admission to the art school I was interviewed by Kingsley Calkins, department head at the time. I took in my little portfolio of the few things I’d drawn and painted, one was a watercolor of a fall landscape (8 x 10). I varnished it, framed it and it hung on the wall of our home for many years. I might still have it tucked away in one of my folders of old work. I also still have my original acceptance letter, it is a signpost of my life, one of those moments when you really feel good about yourself, something you have accomplished all on your own. Even though I’ve accomplished pretty much everything I’ve set out to do, this one moment, this one letter was the beginning.

Now, for class this coming Tuesday I’m supposed to find a new artist or new website, some avant-garde example and be ready to share with the class. However, I was curious about the art of Kingsley Calkins, I really didn’t remember what type of art he did. I can see his face and almost hear his voice because for my last class, after taking classes for seventeen years, I took a study abroad class in Paris, with Kingsley Calkins, Sharon Harrison, and Richard Fairfield in May of 1987. So, I did a Google search and found one image and an Oral History Interview with Kingsley Mark Calkins, 1979 June 19 done by the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. I then searched the ARTstore database on the Halle library website and found nothing. That is such a shame since he was department head for many years.

Then I pulled out my journal from the Paris trip that was part of our homework from Kingsley Calkins. I saved the note King and Sharon wrote about my journal, it brought tears to my eyes as I read them because they are both gone now.

I need to get back to the ‘little brown” drawing that is also due Tuesday. I’ll insert it here when it’s done. I also have to finish prepping for my writing classes.

Loved this little trip down memory lane. Blessings!

I haven’t written in my blog since this past July, between the garden, the yard, the house, and then teaching three classes and consulting for the Writing Center at EMU there wasn’t any time left for my blog. It took me twenty minutes to figure out how to even get here with passwords and a new site. As I said in my Holiday letter: this past year has brought about many changes in my life.

First, I bought a small house in January. It is perfect for me, with three bedrooms and a family/dining area off the kitchen with a fireplace. I love having a fire in the evening, it’s very comforting and calming after a long day of teaching and consulting. The smallest room is my office, where I grade, write, and have room to draw, create all kinds of projects. The house also has a full unfinished basement that is great for storage, laundry and my summer furniture along with a few plants.

The second big change, was the passing of Tobias Lorenzo, my little Yorkie of almost sixteen years, on April 9th. I was devastated. He went almost everywhere with me and had almost as many flying miles as I do. He is buried in the backyard in his own little garden next to my tiny barn.

The third biggest change was adopting a rescue puppy. Little Orphan Annie came into my life on May 19^th. She was born in Corpus Cristi, Texas on January 17^th, the same day I bought the house, my mom and dad’s anniversary, and Michelle and Richard’s anniversary. The universe picked her for me! She came to Bottle Babies Rescue and I picked her up at Pet Smart in Dearborn. She is now eleven months old and still in training. Being half Yorkie and half Havanese (we think) she’s stubborn, smart, and a little beasti-girl! It took me about four years to train Toby and it looks like it will take just as long to train this little twelve-pounder.

This year for Thanksgiving we all met at my oldest son’s home in the Kansas City area. It was a special time with my three children and seven of the eight grandkids. The Sunday before Thanksgiving I picked up my granddaughter in Cleveland and she stayed with me until we drove to KC on Wednesday. She talked me into buying matching PJs for the grandkids and me. My sister bought the girls matching socks and the guys matching hats.

As you can see above, it turned out to be a very special moment for the McCombs/Dobson Thanksgiving Sleepover!

We had not all been together for eleven years, at that time the two youngest girls were only two and now they are thirteen! One of them is taller than me, of course, most of my grandchildren are taller than me.

What does 2019 hold? Who knows, I don’t see how it could top 2018.

My Potager! I’ve harvested lettuce, snow peas, green beans and Hungarian peppers. Tomatoes will be soon. I’m sitting on the deck, the robins and other birds singing to me. It’s supposed to be another 88+ degree day. Grateful for the breeze.

Lorrie & I had a relaxing time at Cindy’s Manchester fireworks party last night. Let the fireworks begin, boomers and all the spectacular colorful designs bursting in the night sky!

Summertime and Annie’s training continues , , ,

Five and a half months old and she chews on everything and anything. However, she is the cutest!

This entry is going to be a short one. I’m just trying to get myself writing on this blog more consistantly. So until next time, have a SAFE and FUN 4th of July!