Fencing...

'Midterm' went ok, I think. I hope. Just a bunch of common sense art definitions.

The martial arts performance exam took all of two minutes, I think I passed... our instructor didn't tell me or my partner. He didn't even open up his notebook except to find our names. Just told us to have a nice holiday, and remember to bring paper to the next class to take notes for the final. I guess in this case no news is good news? I know I messed up a little, but I think overall I did *ok*... I've enjoyed the class. It's self-defense, but using Jeet Kune Do, which is basically fencing without the sword. I may be starting to get the hang of it after several months, which is good, because...

I'm taking fencing lessons this summer. Actually, my entire family is taking fencing lessons. I guess after my parents saw all four of us kids running around the house in heavy winter jackets, stabbing at each other with wooden dowels and plastic curtain wands, they decided some lessons would be in order. That way at least we know how to attack each other correctly, right? Hah.

On that note, here are some pics of me and J at the Renaissance Faire fencing. That's pretty much when the obsession started. J is good, too; the first time we each won a match, the second time we went she beat me 5 to 3. And let me tell you, fencing in dresses is no picnic. (I'm the one in brown and green, J's in blue)








Fun, fun fun :) Apparently, though, I am not afraid enough of the foil (sword). I ran into it a few times while we were fencing, gave J some extra points. I need to work on that...

Here are some other photos I took when we went there.



I really liked this one, I'm currently painting it (minus the fence, of course ;)

And this one is just epic - I like it a lot :) Looks like it's from a movie or somthin.


... and that's about it.

:)

And so it goes.

Weeeellll

Got the results from the photo contest :) We were at our local 'Avocado Festival' that our city puts on every year, and they had the results there.

I got first place, and J got second! Sweet! Here are our entries again -


Mine - Ginger (a quarter horse mare). Taken while riding... bareback ;)


J's - taken near Murphy Ranch park

So that was pretty cool! Since mine got first place, it will be the cover for our next city journal/newsletter.

That's all for now, I keep procratinating. I still have to write a report, write a short story, study for an art midterm (I really don't know why we have a midterm now, but apparently we do as of last week...), and study for a martial arts performance exam (YIKES).

So I'd better go.

Bye.

MAY!

I entered a photo contest.

Oh yes.

Our city is having a photo contest with prize money, first place will be featured on the cover of the monthly newsletter/journal. I entered two photos, my sister entered one too.

Here's one - http://forgotten-one-photos.deviantart.com/art/Ginger-colored-version-74594732

Here's the other - http://forgotten-one-photos.deviantart.com/art/Vantage-Point-109313064

So we'll see how that goes. J's was pretty awesome, too, though. In the past it seems that there hasn't been much competition, but things change...

So, classes are in full swing now. I'm keeping my head above water in most of them, though the two most frustrating are sculpture and fiction writing. ARGH. Sculpture is incredibly slow and tedious - I wouldn't care except that our teacher is often... elsewhere, so we can't really do anything but sit in class and wait for her to get around to us, which can take - quite literally - hours. I know; we timed her once.

Here's one of my final pieces, though, which I'm fairly happy with except for the fact that the head is too small... oh well. It's done, I got a good grade, I learned something. The process went something like this;

1. Model an original out of clay (~15 hours)
2. make a mold from clay original (~20+ hours) - there were 17 stinkin' pieces for mine, because I chose a complicated piece.
3. Make a cast from the mold

In the process, my plaster cast broke off its hoof, ear, and head. I fixed them up *fairly* well, though the ear still looks pretty retarded. I never want to work with plaster again. Man alive.





I like the views from the back best. One side of the face looks more realistic than the other, though since it's a sculpture it's really hard to photograph it at an angle that shows it off. The photos from the back work better.

So, I've got to go work on my story more and garden after that. Busy day ahead of me ;) And we're going to the Reniassance Faire again tomorrow! We're going with some friends and dressing up again, should be fun (and HOT, too bad...).

Tagged

Got tagged :) By http://thebeautyofthelord.blogspot.com/

What is my current obsession? Hmm... obsessions... heh... let's see. Candy. Sleeping would definitely be one... and perhaps, procrastination.

Which item of clothing do you wear most often? Jeans and a tank top or shorts and big t-shirts... I like comfy :) I love jeans, too.

What's for dinner? Well, dinner was hamburgers, salad, and strawberries. Good stuff.

What are you listening to? Hah, random music on my youtube music picks... I think at the moment it's "I Never Loved a Man", Alicia Keys, and Frou Frou. Soon, though, it will be soundtracks... I love those more.

Say something about the one that tagged you. :) Friend and fellow Christian

Guilty Pleasure? Um. Anything sweet. Lately it's been Funfetti cake and ice cream.

Favorite vacation spots? Arizona! Also, the cabins in Seven Oaks - great times.

What am I reading right now? My bible, a poetry book, a book of short stories, a religions book (for philosophy), War and Peace, Band of Sisters... see, this is why I never get anything done. Argh!

Four words to describe myself. Procrastinator. Content. Knowledge-hungry. Saved.

First Spring thing to do? Well, I guess it's a bit late... but some of the things I wanted to do were plant a garden, clean my room really well, and clean the caviary really well... my room is still a disaster zone, but the other two are taken care of. Pretty sad when the 'pig pen' is actually a lot cleaner than my room... ha ha.

What do I look forward to? Sleep, most of the time - can't seem to get enough of it between my poetry/fiction writing/philosophy/sculpture/political science/self-defense classes, teaching 4-H meetings, taking care of my guinea pigs/cat/fish (and soon two quail and perhaps some chickens), gardening, sewing, making jewelry, drawing, painting, writing, web designing, t-shirt designing, and chores... aye yi yi. I used to look forward to the summer, but actually I get very unproductive when there is no school.

I will have to decide who to tag... hmm...

Garden

Yes. A garden.

Finally.

We don't have any more sheep (gave them away a while ago). We have no more chickens (last one got eaten by an owl several months back). So, we had the pen in the back pretty much empty. A good two or three years' worth of sheep, chicken, rabbit, and guinea pig poos/bedding = super duper soil. I've started a few gardens before, but they were a lot smaller and pretty much got demolished immediately by gophers/ground squirrels etc. Somehow I managed to recruit my two younger sisters to help me... heh heh. One just doesn't have much interest in plants but enjoys it now, the other is certain she has a 'black thumb' because everything she grows dies. Ah well, we are gonna give it a good try!

Here it is March 19, right before we started working on it. It's pretty much covered in shavings (pine shavings from guinea pig cages - yes, there's a lot...)


Here it is once we got a portion of it turned under and our pathways marked out. It took a good several hours' work with the three of us. We found a volunteer tomato plant and put it in a new spot. We'll have to wait and see what kind it is!


Since then we've put in a lot of new things, though most are still pretty small. We planted a lot of seeds, but we were using old seeds and a lot of them never grew. So, we bought some seedlings and newer seeds and got to work. As of today (May 2) this is what our garden looks like;


I planted
- Tomatoes (1 mystery volunteer plant, 1 'Sweet 100', 4 'Brandywine' beefsteak, 4 plum)
- Radishes (they're black instead of red)
- Spaghetti squash
- Zuchinni
- Yellow wax beans
- stringless Green beans
- Onions (hah, actually, one onion...)
- Anaheim chili peppers
- Leeks (kind of random, yes.)
- Pumpkins
- Honeydew
- Corn (28 seedlings so far)
- Carrots (just planted)
- Cucumbers
I still have more spaghetti squash, radishes, beans, and basil to plant, and anything else that comes up.

J planted;
- Arugula
- Spicy salad mix
- Spinach
Some of the stuff grew, but it's really bitter. The roly polies keep eating it, and J's rabbit loves it, so at least something eats it... she has been waiting for eggplants, too, and just bought some seedlings today to plant. She also bought a mix of fancy sweet pepper seeds to try.

R planted;
- giant sunflowers (edible seeds)
- watermelon
- cucumbers
- snapdragons
She wanted to start out with only these things, quite an interesting combination. The cucumbers are flowering already, baby cucumbers EVERYWHERE. She planted some canteloupe seeds, but, um... forgot to water them. So, she might buy some seedlings a little later on. Being able to actually see a plant helps you remember to water it.

Here are some of the plants