It’s been a long time since I have posted to this blog, just haven’t felt like writing much. Life has been going on and some of it sucks and other of it is good. I know I am considerably luckier than most people, not only because of my family but also because of my friends. I feel I have a great support group all around, even if I am too bummed to notice it. On April 20th the divorce was final. Sort of funny that it happened on such a stoner day. Actually, it happened at 2pm exactly. What took about 12 years to build took about 6 months to end. It would have been 8 years of marriage in May. I am still trying to sell the house. Got a contract but the buyer backed out for no reason given. Inspection hadn’t even happened yet. I love my home…and there is a small (very small) part of me that hopes it doesn’t sell. But I need to move on and hopefully soon it will go to a good family. I think I am just nervous about the changes that will happen when I sell it. Not looking forward to renting again.
I thought I was doing better about everything. But lately students and coworkers have been asking why I look so sad. One student told me that she never sees me smile anymore. Another told me to cheer up. I don’t mean to look unhappy, I didn’t even realize I was looking so glum. I thought I was taking steps to feel better, but it must not be kicking in yet.
Currently, my life is filled with Derby, Danskin, Drawing and Work. If I haven’t mentioned it, I am on the Texas Rollergirls Recreational Derby League. It’s not the pros, but we train twice a week and have scrimmages. My derby name is OMG!na. I love and hate the name (my closest friends know why!). I feel I am very slowly progressing, I feel sorry for my teammates…I feel like I hold them back at times (and that’s because we change teams often!). But I do like it and I know if I keep at it, I’ll get better. I was never a sporty person, never have trained or been “coached” either. It’s all so new and weird to me…actually I have never been very competitive. I leave that up to my twin sister. I like to play and have fun, she likes to win. On the rec league we have a range of women, from the “hey, let’s learn and grow” ladies to the “Gosh, why aren’t you faster!” ones. Overall, most fall in the 1st group, and that’s why I like it.
While practicing roller derby twice a week, I am also training 3 times a week for the Danskin triathlon. I guess with the divorce and all I felt I should do it. Not sure what got into me but I thought now is as good a time as any! I want to feel victorious, not sad at what I thought my life should have been. Women have told me about the Danskin here in Austin and how awesome it was to do it. I’ve heard so many cool stories about it and I said why not! The tri consists of 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. I actually am starting to enjoy the running and biking (we’ll see how I feel on Tuesday when we do a BRICK – a bike/run together!). Everyone warned me about the swimming portion and I believed them. I know how to not drown, but not how to swim for real! I took a swimming class in February to start learning how to freestyle. It was hard but I felt more confident, at least I got the idea down. Fast forward now to 1 month before the event and I am having a hard time. I don’t know how people do it! Swim nonstop for such a long period of time! You know when you are running and you pant…imagine doing that in water…you can’t! There is no “catching your breath”, no “let me rest for a sec”, you can’t! We had been training at the YMCA pool…you know, where the water is clear and you can touch the bottom (or side of the pool) if necessary…and is hard but doable. On Saturday we went out to Pflugerville lake at 7am to get into 68 degree water. I thought the cold would be a problem, nope it was the solid green water. Once again I was warned, and I believed them, oh I knew it would be scary and I was scared. But I had my coach right there with a flotation device ready, I tried to mentally prepare. I did a couple of rounds around the first buoy (there were 4, this one was from the shore to the 1st buoy). I was okay, had to stop several times, but I could do it. Afterwords I tried swimming from the 1st to the 2nd buoy. I got to the second and I felt really dizzy, so I turned over on my back and that’s when I panicked. I couldn’t touch the ground to steady myself and staring at the sky made it worse. I started screaming and freaking out and the coach came to me and I think I may have yelled to get out but she grabbed me and had me stare at her and take deep breathes. I was crying. Took a minute or two but I finally calmed down. It was the worst feeling. If you have never swam in open water then imagine this, close your eyes (okay, imagine, since you can’t read this with eyes closed). Close your eyes, and block your ears about 80% and now imagine doing this in the middle of the ocean with waves and a current. WTF right! Sensory deprivation is what they said freaks people out and it does! You can’t see your own hand in front of your face underwater, and when you try to take a breathe people are swimming by so you may get a big gulp of water instead of air. And in open water, there is no “edge” or shallow section (besides the shore). Thankfully there are “swim angels” at the Danskin, I think that is the only saving grace that is letting my mind continue to think I can do this. Without them, I don’t know if I could manage.
Even though I freaked out, I did swim back to the 1st buoy and back to shore. Oh and just FYI, going around all 4 buoys and back is about an 1/8th of a mile…I couldn’t even get past #2!). I pretty much cried all the way home, why was I crying, I have no idea, it just felt good to let it out. Maybe I was crying since I feel like i have so much to learn in 1 month, maybe I was crying because I don’t understand why I am doing this or maybe I was crying because it just sucked. Wow, I just realized that this all happened yesterday morning. It feels like forever ago!
I know I need to really focus on my swimming, today I went to the YMCA closest to my house and swam 900 meters (800 is 1/2 mile). I had to stop at every 25 to catch my breath…but I need to build my endurance. I can tell when I am doing well, moving through the water easily, but I can also tell when I feel like I am not getting enough air and start to freak. I need to do this pretty much daily. There is no excuse. It took me 45 min to do it, which is way too long, too much wasted energy, especially when you have a bike and run waiting for you. I need to bring it down to 30 min and no stopping. I also tried a few times to close my eyes, to recreate the murky water and try to not get dizzy. I know it will pay off if I just keep doing it. If not, I will keep those swim angels busy on race day!
As for the drawing portion of my life, I am taking Dr. Honoria Starbuck’s Drawing and Anatomy class. For 4 hours I get to draw from a model and get some direction. Sadly, I have been putting the least amount of effort to this endeavor. I am supposed to be doing homework to learn the muscles and bones of our bodies, but I have not. I only use the 4 hours to draw and that’s about it. I do really enjoy it and I want to focus on it more, but with Danskin and Derby, 4 hours is all I can give. I want creativity in my life, but why am I always putting it in the backseat?
Work is work. I try and do my job to the best of my ability and go home. I used to pour a lot of extra hours into it, and still do if I have to, but with my limited time, I like to keep the free time I have.

“Hedgehog in Fog” cartoon was produced in 1975 by Yuri Norstein (director), Francheska Yarbuzova (production designer), Serhy Kozlov (script writer).

In the year 2003, basing on results of a survey of 140 cinema critics and animators from different countries, “Hedgehog in Fog” was declared the best cartoon in the history of animation.” -article

It’s perfect.

Progress on the painting I started last night. Obviously I still need some work!
I can’t remember how big this is. 6×6? I should measure it. It’s a little canvas…one of those little crappy ones with the artists name and space for a grade! Or something like that…too lazy to go pick it up and look. Hm, maybe I should invest in nicer ones. Eh, I am still trying to get the whole painting thing down, once I grow I can get the fancy smancy stuff. I went through Little Earthquakes, Choirgirl Hotel, and Boys for Pele…I’m telling you, I need more records! I do have MJ’s Thriller!

After my class today I went to Star Co. Coffee in Round Rock and checked out the Photography clubs exhibit. It was really cool! It’s neat to see some of my very own students with work up. I don’t teach photography but I do teach digital imaging, which those students have to take. I wish I could have a web design exhibit…a lot of the WDIM students are amazing artists. Too bad we can’t have a virtual exhibit

Danny picked up his fish tank. The house is quiet…no running water from the aquarium filter. There’s a big empty hole in the living room…
And I will fill it with a Christmas Tree! Oh wait, a mini-bar!!!! Screw “mini”, a bar!

I think I have completed this angel painting tonight. It’s done in acrylics on canvas with some gold leaf liquid stuff to make the halo. The halo is sort of bothering me, we’ll see if I go back to it. I am supposed to give this up for the Student Art Show at Ai, but I kinda doubt it will sell anyway, so I’ll probably keep it (or perhaps a Christmas gift?).
I started the little one to the right, tonight after the other was done. I have this awesome little record player, I turn on some Tori and just paint. It’s nice, but now I need more records…or perhaps I just need to use my ipod (but the player sounds so good). I need to do this every night, I do enjoy it and feel so much more zen after wards.

These last couple of months have been really tough. Actually, I guess I could say, life changing. At times I am completely fine, knowing that this is probably for the best. At other times I am freaking out, crying, angry, depressed and pretty much starting to understand that “trust” is a 4 letter word. Okay, I know it’s actually 5, but whatever! You get the idea. I will get through it, I will be independent and I don’t need anyone (except friends and family).

Lately I’ve been thinking about personal goals. Not little goals, but big ones, like things you’ve always wanted to do or accomplish. I was lucky enough to learn a little bass and play in a band. I was on the same stages as some of my favorite bands (including Prince! when we played in Indiana). But I would really love to learn piano. I have had one for years (although it’s at my parents house). I have just wanted to learn how to play for so long. I have a little keyboard here in Austin, but it’s not the same. I know basics, some chords, which key is which, how to read some music, etc. but not how to just sit and play. Who knows, maybe it will be really tough to sink into my melon, but what the heck, I got the time. So my immediate goal is to save up funds for a piano (upright, tuned and ready to go).

Also on the horizon is more roller derby. I completed the primer for the recreational league. I am really excited about this. I have my derby gear, including some Reidell skates, helmet, knee and elbow pads, wrist guards, and a mouth piece. Am I ready for full contact? No!! Eeks, I am nervous, but I figure the rec team will know when I am ready and throw me in the fire. It’s actually been pretty amazing. Lots of tough (and not so tough) ladies skating and having fun. I need a roller derby name though. There have been some thoughts on “Whorchata”, but so many people don’t even know what that is. Hm…we’ll see. Any ideas?

I downloaded the album “19″ by Adele. I liked her “Chasing Pavements” song, I mean, it’s okay. But the other night on a TV show I heard “Hometown Glory” and I loved it. I found out who it was and hey, it’s Adele! Turn it up and listen…I’m impressed.

1981 broadcast on KRON San Francisco…reading newspapers online (with the exception of pictures, ads, and comics?

“it takes over 2 hours to receive the entire text of the newspaper over the phone and with an hourly use charge of $5 the new tele-paper won’t be much competition to the .20 cent street edition”

Networking and the internet (a network of computers) has been around a long time, but it wasn’t until around 1990 when Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web (yeah, notice it does not say Al Gore?). This guy could have been a ka-bajillionaire but instead insisted on non-proprietary and free. That’s how the web began, open source and available to all. Now with ads and special costly software, etc…the web isn’t so free…but everything is cyclical. People like to collaborate and share, opensource is awesome and what the web was meant to be. You can see the big push for open and free has always been there in the background, buzzing, even while people became millionaires with crappy browsers and software. Wordpress is an excellent example of the open and free web that Tim had a mind.
His idea started with his own lack of memory and too many notes.

he devised a piece of software that could, as he put it, keep “track of all the random associations one comes across in real life and brains are supposed to be so good at remembering but sometimes mine wouldn’t.” -TIME

Wow, from there to creating HTML, URLs, and the rules of http…don’t forget the first browser and server! Way to go Tim! From 1990 to 2009, in less than 19 years we’ve come a long way. I have students who were born after 1990, and have only known the world with the internet in it. Information at their fingertips is all they have known… I think Tim Berners-Lee is my web hero. Right next to the person who created bejeweled (j/k).
It’s interesting to see how far we have come. “Random associations”, that’s so interesting to me. In grad school I studied learning theory and there are so many ideas about how people learn. Ideas of the brain as a black box was big for a while. Information goes in and we don’t really know what happens then, hence a black box. Some say we build schemas, while we may not know everything, we have a these scaffolds that we build upon as our experience grows. Also, there is the idea of a rhizome. Knowledge is intertwined with everything you do, see and here in your life. Like a root, creeping and intertwining with anything in it’s path, sometimes you can’t even separate two plants because their roots are so intertwined. This rhizome idea brings me back to “random associations”. The “world wide web” lingo was used to show connections, like a spider web (or how properly networked of computers can look), but I see fault in that language. A spider web usually stands alone, lots of interconnections of course, but on it’s own. A rhizome on the other hand is interconnected with everything. Think of the root system of a large tree, interconnected and almost inseparable from the plants, grasses, and other trees around it.
Okay so the world wide rhizome (wwr?) doesn’t quite have the same ring to it but I like it. I’ll have to ponder this more later when I have more time…

Do you think you’re a problogger? Check out this site: Problogger.net
It’s a site created by Darren Rowse which is:

…dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of blogging, share their own experiences and promote the blogging medium.”

But what I find really interesting, besides the great blogging tips, is the sites job section. Here you can find a job as a blog writer!

Like this one: NatureMade Sam-e Blogger! The value for 6 months of blogging? $5000 a month and a free laptop!
Or this one: Non-fiction Article Writers for Suite101.com. Looks like you could write about…well, anything!

Looking at several of these jobs, the pay ranges from $3.50 an article to, well $5000. You can make some nice spending cash or supplement your income pretty well.

A colleague and I were recently talking about English majors and wondering how the blogging (web) world has changed things. While I don’t think English as a major is going away, it is interesting to see that anyone who can write pretty well, and has some personal experience on a subject, can be a “writer” or “bwriter?”. Of course, writing a book and writing a blog are two different things, but I have seen some pretty savvy bloggers making a heck of a lot of money for not having a degree in Literature, English, or even in the field they are writing about. What it comes down to is that people want to know more about a subject and want to read about it in layman’s terms. The down and dirty, rather than the historical relevance and proper terminology (although blogging sites range from the bullet point methods, to videos, to everything you wanted to know about a subject). Think of it this way, the last time you wanted to know more about something, did you check out a book or did you do a quick google search and find the answer in 5 seconds?
Go, blog, share your experiences and knowledge, and hopefully, make some money!!

The Summer 2009 quarter at the college wrapped up last week. The quarter flew by and now a new one is upon us! That’s what’s so interesting about Ai, with quarters things go by so fast. I wonder at times what the students can retain in such a quick turnaround…things don’t have time to sink in? I say that, but I look at the walls and am so impressed by what they create and do. We have some awesome students as well as a few not so awesome ones. With portfolio based classes, the focus being less on tests and more on portfolios, most seem to prosper.

Today we had new student orientation and a packed campus. I am happy to say that Web Design & Interactive Media had 8 new students starting! I believe that puts us at about 32 students (my numbers may be off a bit). WDIM is always a small program, which is crazy since it’s the place where money is made right after college. I prefer to think of my students as part of an elite few, we only let the best in! Actually Ai Austin has reached over 800 students! This apparently is amazing in comparison to other new Ai campuses across the US and Canada. Our campus is growing so fast and we are busting at the seams. Wow, now that I think about it, WDIM makes only about less than 5% of that group?! Did I do my math right? Wow, that’s weird to think about. The new students seems eager and ready to go. Two were in the Associate’s program and the rest in the Bachelor’s. The ratio was pretty even between male and female. I like that I have a good group of females, ladies in technology rock!

Next week, classes start. Here is a list of the courses I am teaching:

• Digital Imaging I – 2 sections, I have already taught this class before, so I feel pretty comfortable repeating it, I will be making some changes though. This class revolves around learning image or graphic manipulation using Photoshop. Students from all programs can take it, and usually get a lot out of it.
• Digital Imaging II - 1 section, first time teaching it. I have support from the previous instructor (he moved on to other classes) so I am nervous, but feel confident since I have someone to talk to and answer questions. I feel I have some big shoes to fill since I know students really liked him, hopefully I will measure up with this new crowd. This class will focus on Photoshop technique and more in-depth digital compositing.
• Introduction to Scripting – 1 section, 3rd time teaching, or is it the fourth? Last quarter I felt like things went askew due to time management issues in class, I will need to work on that. This class focuses on learning the basics of XHTML, CSS and JavaScript (although, every quarter we usually don’t get to JS).
• Intermediate Scripting – 1 section, more advanced web design course. Here students use Dreamweaver to create websites and can incorporate their knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash. I bring a client they work with to create a site. You can see last quarters client site here: Adrian and the Sickness (I apologize if this site gets changed, it is currently on a student server and will be on the real band site soon).
• Independent Study Portfolio II – ??? I am unsure if I am the adviser for this student, I guess I’ll find out Monday!
• Independent Study Digital Imaging III – ??? Again, heard it through the grape vine that I would be an adviser…but still unsure if this is true!

As you can see, this quarter I will be super busy! This week we didn’t have classes, so I took the time to work on revising and researching for my new courses. Of course, time flew by and I wish I had another 2 weeks to prepare. I am excited, I really do love teaching!

It’s that time of year again, to go and buy/check out/borrow your favorite banned book(s)! I was at my local Half Priced Books and they had this cool sign (seen to the right) reminding us that Banned Books Awareness Week is September 26th through October 3rd. Okay, so maybe “awareness” does sounds kinda weird, but it’s really interesting how many books have been banned! Ones that I would never think of! If you go to deletecensorship.org you can see the top 100 list. They include:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (series) – J.K. Rowling
Forever, Blubber, Deenie, Tiger Eye, Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret – Judy Blume (she is banned a lot!)
Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
Goosebumps (series) R.L. Stine
A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
A Light in the Attic – Shel Silverstein (I loved this one!)
Carrie – Stephen King
How to Eat Fried Worms – Thomas Rockwell
Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton

Of course, the list is huge, but these are ones that stand out to me. I had not realized how many times Judy Blume has been challenged!



Banned Books Week 2009 is the twenty-eighth annual celebration of the freedom to read. This freedom, not only to choose what we read, but also to select from a full array of possibilities, is firmly rooted in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press. – Robert P. Doyle

Here’s another list:
The American Libraries Association’s top ten most challenged books of 2008:

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

2. His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, violence

3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R series by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

4. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, violence

5. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, violence

6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group

7. Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

8. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
Reasons: homosexuality, unsuited to age group

9. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

10. Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper
Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

Hm, so now I am wondering what I should try reading…? I’ve actually read quite a bit of the older banned books, but only one from this updated 2008 top 10 list. Perhaps “Bless Me, Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya? Or, I did keep seeing “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier on several other lists, perhaps I should take a look at that too. Actually, I am reading “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer, someone who is no stranger to the censored list. Okay, so the Twilight series isn’t exactly considered of a high literary standard, but screw it! It’s like candy, and while I read “Chimera” by John Barth, I want to enjoy some easy reading too!

Like I said, go out and read something! Could be a fun read, something naughty, silly or something classic…just read!! Oh and the deletecensorship.org site also has a kids section, you can take an interesting little quiz and and test your Censorship IQ!

If you haven’t heard of the Crafty Chica, you obviously aren’t a crafter (or Latina!). Kathy Cano-Murillo created the Crafty Chica site “to preach the gospel of cool crafts to the masses.” She now dedicates her life to crafting and all that the lifestyle entails; like writing books, talk radio interviews, TV appearances and of course enjoying it all. Did I mention her obsessive fascination with glitter? Kathy takes her pop art and spices it up with Latino inspired themes, splashes on some glitter and creates her own personal styled artwork! She is slowly building her empire, one craft project at a time! What I find extra interesting is that she was able to take a hobby and make it into a career. Crafty Chica now has it’s own product line and books!

The cool thing about Kathy, is that she writes in her own voice. She jokes and laughs in her posts which makes it so much more personal and interesting. I continue to read her blog because she seems like someone I’d love to have a chat with, probably about crafting, business, and well…maybe a story or two about accidentally inhaling too much glitter during a craft project.

I’m not sure how she finds time to do all this but Kathy has just created a new blog, Chica Writer! She was a writer long before she called herself a “crafter”, so her new blog should be pretty interesting! Currently, she is hosting a contest and celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a book giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment on her site of your favorite book and why you loved it. Go and do that now, and add her blogs to your feed!

Recently, The Art Institute had it’s first Carnival! Student Affairs worked hard to create a fun little break for students right before finals week.

The college also invited folks from the community to join in the festivities. I was impressed by the student participation and how many stuck around throughout the evening. It wasn’t a real carnival (with rides) but there were lots of fun things to do.

Like face painting! I was surprised at how many students (and younger kids) wanted their cheeks covered in stars, peace signs, hearts, and arrows (I guess like the Airbender cartoon?). The booth was run by C.H.A.T. (Celebrating Hispanic Arts and Traditions), a club I am an adviser for). I think Alex and Cristina did a great job face painting, and Alex did a great job with the sign. Hm, I must post a picture of it soon…it’s coolio.

Also, they had an awesome bungee run! This was sort of off to the side of the carnival due to space. I bet had it been a bit more visible, students (and instructors) would have been all over it. Did I do it? Nah. But I would have, if I had a good adversary that matched my speed and cat like reflexes. I saw those little kids fly back as they try to reach the goal (they had to stick a flag thingy to the end). It was pretty funny, but at times looked a little painful. Maybe next time.

C.H.A.T. also put on a Jalapeno Eating Contest! At first, no one wanted to sign up, but soon they had about 9 people total. Students had to race to eat the most jalapenos. Okay, so they didn’t know how many would try, so it ended up that whoever ate 8 whole jalapenos first would win. Milk was provided just in case things got too hot. The contest was over in less than a minute! Sadly, I didn’t get to take a photo of the winner. One of my previous students, a female no less, won! These weren’t the small jalapenos, they were big and pickled. Yuck! She, and the runner up, won a free flash drive from the college. I forgot to ask her if she had any “issues” later that night!

Students served up everything from popcorn and cotton candy to snow cones and hot dogs with fortunes (or misfortunes). The Dean opened hers up to find: “A giant spit wad is heading towards Austin right now!”. Don’t worry, the fortunes were in an attached stick thingy and not in the hot dog. The audio production classes provided the sound for the live music. I wanted to mention “Tejanosarous Rex” mainly because I think their band name is so funny. They are still a new band looking for a label and management and fans…but they got the name down alright.

I got to hang with other instructors, like Julie, an audio instructor.

She’s cool and I didn’t notice till we took the photo that we kinda match. I guess she got the memo. In the photo we kinda look alike, except I’m bigger, browner and…..curlier? Why does my head look twice the size of hers?!

I’m glad I didn’t have to teach that night, because I know a lot of students were missing class to chill outside and enjoy the great weather and carnival.