Planning Summer Plans

This morning I printed my latest Holey Bear linoleum carving:
Fog City, named for the macaroni salad I first had in Duluth (foggy port city on Lake Superior):

Because of the green and orange of the halo's macaroni-salad ingredients--green peas and cubed Cheddar cheese--I thought about making this a color print, but I am not up for that yet...

Soon I will be!
Yesterday I signed up for a relief print making class – – six Tuesday evenings, starting July 9 at a nearby printmaking studio.

I want help learning techniques, but I could learn them on youTube. I'm taking a class in-person because I don’t do well with long stretches of time alone--especially in hot and humid weather. I actually got the last place in class--there will be nine other students. Nice!

The class cost $350, not cheap, but cheaper than the art college's offerings... And the supplies are not expensive.
A class will encourage me to keep working at home--that's one of the best things about lino printing--you can do it entirely at home, and it's pretty cheap.

The carving on Fog City is skritch-scratchy, but I am pleased with this print.
How tidy would I be if I knew how to carve "correctly"?
I don't know. I do want that option, but I am never a very tidy maker-of-things.

I remember my Auntie Vi learning to spin wool---her beginner's yarn was beautifully irregular. You could call it lumpy, but it was much more attractive than that.
She said some experienced spinners told her they wished they could still spin that way, but they'd become so technically proficient, they couldn't create random irregularities like that.

I am in no danger of becoming too proficient!

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Things I am doing this summer

I'm not primarily looking for entertainment--not even educational entertainment (like interesting talks).
I'm looking for air conditioned places where I can do something meaningful--my work, of sorts.
And places to be around other people--"third places", as they call them.

What I have already set up:

1. Once-a-week mending in public with Julia--various locations--mostly outside, weather permitting. 

2. Volunteering at the thrift store--up to six days a week, if I want/need. (Closed Sundays, and only open till 5:30, so it doesn't take care of hot EVENING hours...)

3. 6 Tuesday evenings printmaking class.
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Other Ideas to Explore (especially for evenings)

1. The art institute, Mia, is open Thursdays till 9.
So maybe plan on doing something there every Thursday?
There's a café in their nice atrium, where you can sit for hours-- meet up with a friend, or sit and read, write, or draw.
* * * Make zines!

Or, heck--I could look at art... LOL---I almost never do.
I'd like to create a Sensory Tour for the autistic students I work with--like we went on at the Walker modern art museum. Mia doesn't offer such a thing (I checked)--but it wouldn't be hard to create one.  (Though museum restrictions on activities in the galleries might be an issue...)

Oh--they're having every Thursday Meet at Mia events.
Hm. Mostly outdoors though--that's fine if it's not too hot.

2. The public libraries have evening hours too.
Sometimes they have classes--in the evenings? Will look into that, but again, they afford a place to work---or mend in public too!

Oh--also, there's a Needlework meet-up twice a month at a nearby library.

3. Church? Not for evenings, but I've thought about going to a different church every Sunday, just to check them out.
Would love a spiritual community, but I'm pretty prickly...

4. Moviemaking.
I did this years ago, with a video camera. Very involving! I always thought once I got an iPhone I'd make more movies, but I haven't. This summer???
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The Butterfly Effect 

This is NOT another summer-plan idea. I want to record something at school that set me reeling a bit...

A coworker mentioned yesterday--during free time in the one class we share-- that one of our autistic students (one of my favorites) doesn't like him.
I said, "Oh, surely not."

"Watch," he said.
He walked over to the student, who was on the computer, and said, "Hey [Student's name], what are you looking at?"

And the student literally recoiled, curling his upper lip at my coworker, for all the world like a frightened dog, threatening to bite.
[This student is not one who has problems regulating their anger. (A few do.)]

The coworker said something anodyne, and when he came back, I said, "Oh, wow--yeah."

I hadn't realized the situation, but it's not hard to see why--the coworker is very controlling, and the student is like a butterfly. A lovely human butterfly!
It is insane that the coworker is not particularly concerned about his effect as he tries to pin the butterfly in place.

I don't want to make my workplace sound like a total horror show-- many coworkers are brilliant at working with the students, meeting them where they are. I look and learn from them---but it's instructive to see what NOT to do, too.