We gave this self publishing kit to Christina for her 10th birthday. She loved the idea of it so much that she was afraid to use it in case she messed it up. She wrote a bunch of stories, but none of them seemed good enough to publish. In the end, she decided to use a series of stories she wrote a few years earlier: The Collections of My Friend Zombia. She literally spent more than a year transcribing the stories onto the provided pages and then illustrating them. She finally finished it about a month ago, long after I’d given up hope that it’d ever be finished. Somehow she’d managed to hold on to all the paperwork that went along with the kit and we managed to get it sent off. It arrived today and it is really the work of a true artist. I say that as the artist’s mother, knowing full well that I am biased, but I love it. It’s a story about a girl and her zombie friend, and another friend who can’t handle the idea of being friends with a zombie, so she blows herself up at the mall in front of both of them. And they live happily ever after. Well, some of them do.
Tag: drawing
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April 16
It is so annoying dealing with the pharmacy. I’m going on three days without a medication after being told for days, “It’ll be ready by 11.” I can barely function right now. I’m glad this medication works, but it is ALWAYS a pain in the ass to refill. I go through this every month and I’m getting tired of it. And also just tired.
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October 5
It was a busy day. Gym, then coffee, then back to the gym with the girls for their certification to use the equipment alone, then fall festival at school (which was disappointing since almost all the vendors were selling the same thing and it was raining and none of the kids’ friends were there), then dinner at European Street with Rosina and Dion. Oh, and the Yankees won game one against the Royals!
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May 3
I finished knitting my bunny. Now to stuff it and make its clothes. We’ve also been eating dinners outside, which makes me so happy. I can see flowers and grass, which was exactly my dream when I lived in the city. And we even had time for Billy to kick everyone’s ass at Ticket to Ride. All in all not a bad day.
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April 14
I think I had a pretty good parenting day today. The phone situation with Robin is getting to a boiling point because she has retreated so far into it that she won’t go out with friends or even come out of her room, where she closes her blackout blinds and literally lives in darkness. I won’t tolerate it and I won’t give extra time for any reason, which made her extremely angry. She sulked through food shopping without a word, even when asked direct questions. Finally I compromised and told her she could have the time on two conditions: She could only use it to find drawings to copy, and she had to draw outside, with me, in sunlight. She actually agreed and even smiled. She perked up almost immediately. And then we made pretzel animals, which she also loved and came out of her room for. Those were Christina’s favorite parts of the day, and mine too. I keep hearing in my head that no matter how hard it gets, I have to stick to my guns with the phone limits and working Robin out of her personal cavern. I feel like her life depends on it. And it IS hard. I just want to see her smile. Limiting phone time and pushing her out of her comfort zone doesn’t do that. But I think it will do it in the (maybe very) long term. Anyway, I’m glad we had a good day.
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February 14
I’m always moderately surprised when one of my ideas actually works out as I’d planned it. These valentines seemed to be a hit for the girls and I had fun making them. Now that I’m done crafting for Valentine’s Day, maybe I’ll have time to do some writing again. Maybe?
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November 29
I’ve been doing more writing, trying to pursue a dream I’ve been neglecting, and it’s taking me into my parents’ childhood. I know so little about them, really, and I am making a lot of it up based on the little shreds of details I do know. It’s a strange feeling, constructing a life that you know was real, but knowing your construction really isn’t. Whatever happens after we die, I hope my parents understand my exploration and where it takes me, even if I deviate entirely from the truth. I’m hoping there’s enough there that’s right to do them justice.
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November 18
Robin keeps going through these drawing spurts and I am trying to take advantage of as many of them as I can. We went to Bob Evans for breakfast while Christina was at dance and we did some drawing. There are some proportions off in this one, but it’s one of the few drawings I’ve done of Robin where you might actually be able to tell it’s Robin. My interests are all over the place, but if Robin and I can draw together, that might actually turn out to be pretty cool. We’ll see. Teenagers are not known for consistency.
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September 14
Robin is showing interest in drawing, and I’m trying to inspire her without discouraging her. She tried to copy a photo of Albert Einstein, which actually came out pretty well, given how much actual drawing she’s done. My genuine favorite, though, is the hand she drew, which is in the lower center of the photo. It looks nothing like a hand, but I can see that she drew it as she saw it, not as she thought it should be. And that is one of the key fundamentals of good drawing. I hope she sticks with it. It’s a good outlet.
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August 28
Taking pictures is just not top of mind for me lately. There are too many other things taking up space. I need to start making more time for it, though, and more time for myself.
Year in Photos 