Here I was, posting along, knowing that I was approaching a milestone... and I miscounted. This was supposed to be the 100th post on this blog. 100th posts are a time for reflection and nostalgia, for look how far I've come, and look how long I've been doing this, and such. But then I just blew right past post #100, to arrive here at post number #101. So, no reflection. Instead I give you a parable (entirely true!) in which you may find some enlightenment. Kirpe and the Hundred Beans In fourth grade, we were tasked with bringing 100 of something to class. It could be anything: thumbtacks, beads, grains of rice, pennies, scraps of paper. We simply had to bring in exactly 100, and the items should be small enough to fit in a sandwich bag. I don't remember what we eventually did with our 100 somethings, but it was probably related to 4th grade level math in some way. My classmate, Kirpe, was "that kid" in many ways. Some of the funniest moments of 4th grade involved Kirpe. For the assignment, Kirpe brought 100 black beans to class. Just before we were going to use our 100 somethings, our teacher told us to count and make sure we had exactly 100. Kirpe counted his beans, and discovered that he had 101. One too many! Kirpe did not want to be caught with the wrong number of somethings! He couldn't believe he had miscounted at home and was now suffering the consequences. Kirpe quickly swallowed one of his beans - he didn't do something rational like simply putting one of the beans in his pocket - he swallowed it. Then, just to be sure, Kirpe counted his beans again. He now had... 99. He counted again. Still 99. It seems that the only time Kirpe had erroneously counted his beans had been the time he had discovered he had 101 of them. The moral of this story is: double check, before you do something drastic. Romeo would agree. Not that missing the 100th blog post is anything to worry about, but it's good advice nonetheless.
The high-rise buildings that have sprouted up in the South Waterfront area have always seemed a bit out of place to me. The tall steel and glass structures don't seem to match what springs to mind when I think of places people might live in Portland.
I mean sure, it's green, but it's just so tall and glassy and modern... And yet, these last few weeks as I pass by the development on my commute, I find that the collection of buildings, together with the tram are, in their own way, beautiful. It doesn't seem like they fit with the landscape, until you realize that the landscape isn't what they're supposed to fit. They fit in with the sky and the river. Even on the greyest of days, in the least interesting mid-day light, the glass buildings make shimmers from the river reach up toward the sky, as silver light from above trickles down toward the water. Each building is different, and each alone might be an ugly tower, but collectively and from nearly any angle, they form a cohesive work of art. And when it's not the greyest of days. When it's, say, near sunset, and I find myself in slowing traffic as I exit I-5 to navigate the maze of turns that form the approach to the Ross Island Bridge, those tall glassy modern buildings reflect simultaneously silver and the hues of the darkening sky. Today's traffic was slow enough that I was able to take these shots out my driver's side window, occasionally taking my foot off the brake to inch forward in line for the bridge. Conflict, 7th Grade: Part of the artful learning model includes experiencing a masterwork (or several). The 7th grade students will study a few pieces by Know Hope. The art of Know Hope emphasizes images of both hope and conflict in unlikely contexts, and fits with the project's theme of the results of two opposing forces occupying the same space. The students will choose an image they have encountered in their research, and trace it onto translucent paper. The image will then be superimposed onto a page of text, giving it depth, and occupying the same space with two ideas. All Culture and Conflict posts can be found under the topic heading: Diversion Audit. Conflict, 7th Grade: To make the 2 chess boards on the chess table for the auction, we will be creating a tile mosaic. Each of the squares will be designed by a different student (each student will choose two to design). One chess board will have glossy cobalt blue squares alternating with textured lighter blue squares, and the other will have glossy black and matte artichoke squares. The school had some tiles available for our use, but it proved to be a bit of a hunt to find coordinating tiles that would work with the colors we had. We were pointed toward American Olean by a parent, and they had a stunning selection of colors and textures. I highly recommend them if you are thinking of tiling something in your home. Smashing the tiles with a hammer in preparation for the mosaic is quite satisfying. All Culture and Conflict posts can be found under the topic heading: Diversion Audit.
via NPR: The phrase raining cats and dogs isn't quite right when you talk about hurricanes. This hurricane season, we throw an average one onto a cloud scientist's scale to see just how much water these monster weather machines carry through the sky. NPR's Robert Krulwich and Odd Todd explain how much a hurricane weighs.
This video reminds me of the book, Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? by Robert E. Wells in which whales are packed into jars like so many pickles, and then those jars are stacked (as tiny little elephants look on) until a ludicrously large stack of whale-jars accumulates... but it would still be eensy-weensy compared to Mount Everest.
Culture, 6th Grade: The 6th graders are creating a series of prayer flags to be hung around a garden space at the school. Throughout their studies of various cultures, they have reflected on the importance of place in how cultures develop. Their individual prayer flag will be an abstract representation of something personal about their own culture. It must be indicative in some way of how they live and where they live, and each student should be able to articulate how their piece fulfills these requirements. The image itself is cut from card stock with an X-acto knife, and the resulting stencil is used to silk-screen the image onto the flag. While the stencil is still stuck to the screen, each student has enough time to also make a t-shirt to take home. Surplus t-shirts at the end of the project will be printed with student designs and sold to raise more money to fund future artful learning projects. All Culture and Conflict posts can be found under the topic heading: Diversion Audit. Conflict, 7th grade: These interdisciplinary artful learning projects are funded in part by an annual auction. The 7th graders will be creating a 2-board chess table with chess pieces to raise funds for future projects at the auction. Students stayed after school with me yesterday to begin creation of the clay chess pieces. The chess table is quite large, with 3 inch squares, so the chess pieces had to match in scale. Some students were quite productive in their creative endeavors, and some took advantage of the opportunity to socialize and be silly with their peers in an unstructured, after-school setting while getting a feel for the medium. All participants enjoyed the process, and with some diligence late into the evening and a little bit the next morning, we were able to finish both complete sets. The pieces are drying in preparation for their trip to the kiln Wednesday morning. Shown below are the pawns, knights, and bishops for each set. All Culture and Conflict posts can be found under the topic heading: Diversion Audit.
As I was getting directions to a dinner party last week, I noticed that I would be in the hills on a street called "Vista." Seems like there's only one reason it would be named such a thing; I threw my camera and tripod in the car just in case. On the way there, I noticed the glorious view, and was particularly enchanted by the blue‐green lights of the convention center.
The dinner party was lovely, and as we drove home, I forced my roommates to stand with me in the cold midnight air so I could take a few photos. Unfortunately, the lights at the convention center were no longer aglow, but everything else was a lovely purple hue. Just today, my prints arrived (and I had just been thinking to myself, "someday, my prints will come!") and I eagerly opened them to see how they turned out. I showed my roommates. I loved the responses. "We live there?" "That doesn't look like Portland. That looks like Las Vegas." "Wait, I was standing next to you when you took that photograph? I don't remember seeing that." They still don't have titles, but they will be available for purchase soon. Once again, I am going to middle school. As an "artist in residence," I will be guiding students (Four classes this time!) through art projects of epic proportions as enhancements to interdisciplinary units. The themes this year are culture and conflict. Culture: The 6th grade classes are answering the question, "How does where you live affect how you live?" These classes will study how various other cultures meet their needs of food, shelter, education, religion, government, material possessions, clothing, family. Geographic luck plays an important role in basic survival needs such as what types of food will grow in a particular climate, or what building materials are available. These factors form the basis for the rest of the society. Conflict: The 7th grade classes I will be working with are exploring the nature of conflict. Each student will be researching a significant conflict in history, and discussing the conflict through the lens of a game of chess. Students will explore points of view, strategy, power, balance, black vs. white (in the metaphorical sense), and stalemate. The overarching theme in both chess and conflict is that two objects (or ideas) cannot occupy the same space at the same time. More on the art for each theme later. There were a couple of changes to policy for me working in the school this year (or stricter enforcement of existing policy). As a contracted district employee, I needed to be fingerprinted, background checked and photgraphed for an ID badge, to be worn at all times in the school. I have already been fingerprinted and background checked in connection to working with these very students through other programs, but apparently it needed to be done again. Not that I mind; it's a hoop I think everyone everywhere who works with other people's children should have to jump through. My favorite part of my new ID badge: the title under my picture is "Artist." All Culture and Conflict posts can be found under the topic heading: Diversion Audit.
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