A few months back a colleague of mine make a facebook page dedicated to Baltimore City art teachers. So I joined. I was skeptical. I wasn't sure I'd use it all that much. But, like the addictive personality that I have....I spend entirely too much time on it. It does seem to be better then other sites in that I really feel like I'm able to keep in touch with people easier. If you're on there too, you should be my friend. Well, that is, if you are my actual friend...which I'm pretty sure you are :)

http://www.facebook.com/amarchewka

I'm getting ready to start teaching summer school next week to all the little darlings all over the city that failed art the first time around. So far I have two classes of 3 students/ea. Yes....3 students. This is why I like teaching summer school, sometimes I feel like I'm getting away with something for almost nothing.

We're getting excited about coming out to Oregon in August, but also getting nervous about the 8 hour plane ride with a 2 year old. God, I hope he sleeps. I really don't want the entire plane glaring at me.

The tickets are bought - Michael, Ashton and I are heading to Oregon in August! There may, just may, be a chance for those interested parties to meet this little munchkin...



Do you dare?

And I changed the address for my new blog - some of the work stuff I've been writing is rather 'sensative'..... http://paintingclea.blogspot.com

It's been a crazy year at school. It's been a crazy year in general. I miss writing in LJ sometimes, but I do still read everybody elses posts when I can. Eventually I'll get into the habit of copying and pasting what I write in my other blog here - but there's always the LJ picture issue. It's such a pain in the a** to upload pictures (I'm not a paid account). I've been good about posting pictures of my paintings in progress there - which keeps motivating me to paint more :) I just posted a couple of underpaintings today, in fact - and one of Ashton drawing his little heart out.

Here it is: http://amarchewka.blogspot.com/

I'm still crossing my fingers that we can save enough money to come out to Oregon before the years end. I'm getting very, very homesick recently. It's been 3 years now since I've been back. Too long.

I decided to start a new blog. A place where I can focus on my art and hopefully keep motivating myself to keep it up when school starts (tomorrow!). Livejournal is just a pain for posting pictures - so I had to move elsewhere - since I'm not willing to *pay* to make it easier. I'll probably try to write more about teaching too - I've always wished I had done that more. Plus, my bestest artist friend Lea has a blog in the same place so it'll be easier for us to keep in touch artsy-stuff wise :) But I thought I'd pass on the new URL for anyones who's interested...you'll probably see me writing there much more often. I still plan on coming back to LJ to read everyone elses journals though :) 'Cause I'm nosey like dat....ha, ha.

Ladies and Gentlemen: http://amarchewka.blogspot.com/

Summer is over in 12 hours when I must wake up and go to real work once again.

This is quite possibly the weirdest kids show ever (Yo Gabba Gabba).... watching this is almost as amusing as reading peoples comments about it on you tube...

This show IS strangely addictive however....it's like I keep watching it just to see HOW weird and stupid it will get.

Today would've been my dads 58th birthday. I still miss him every single day. I still wonder what really happened in his head. And I still wonder what kind of grandfather he would have been. Here is a picture of us when I graduated with my Masters. A very proud day. Happy Birthday Dad.



Turning a corner...I am so happy to have a little 'art corner' set up in the basement:



As I said before, I've been working on a Vermeer copy: (not finished!)



And I did an underpainting today for a new painting: (VERY not finished)



I just wanted to share - this is the first time I've really gotten back into painting for YEARS, and it feels really good.

Ashton is a sick little guy, he's been running a fever all day. Of course the doctors aren't that concerned unless he's throwing up or over 105 degrees. He's miserable though. If he doesn't get better overnight well be taking him to urgent care anyway...that's for sure. Michael capture a great 'sick baby' picture this afternoon...



In other news (if you would indeed call it news) I have been painting more - at least a couple times a week. I'm not working on my own stuff, but taking the time to copy and learn the techniques from the Masters. Namely Vermeer. I am trying to learn how he captured light so alluringly. I'm currently working on two of his paintings. I may even be brave enough to take pictures and show my progress if anyone so desires ;) Ultimately I am hoping to carry some of the techniques I learn into my own work. I am finding this process to be very inspiring and worth while! I would encourage it actually - not nessesarily from the Masters but from an artwork that inspires you that you admire. Very eye-opening.

I'm still teaching summer school - which ends next week. Money troubles are burying me alive, and I am actually considering filing for Chapter 13 banckruptcy....it's THAT bad. I have an appointment to speak with a credit counselor in a week about my situation and what they think I should do. I hope to have a 5 year plan to get this incredible debt taken care of...and believe me....it will NEVER happen again. I will always remember this terribly helpless feeling that I have right now.

Because that was so terribly depressing, I am going to end with a pic of Ashton from a few days ago that shows a much happier Ash!

I don't remember the first time I heard or watched George Carlin. My dad was always a big fan. In some ways I feel like I grew up with George Carlin. He read his books and subscribed to HBO just so he could see Carlin specials. He even took my brother and I to see him live (when we were older of course). He was an amazing comedian and speaker and will be missed by many including myself.


The 10 Commandments

Today was my last day at school....well for the school year. I'm going back in a week or so to teach summer school - but that will be only 1/2 days (thank god).

I hope I can get back into my own art in one form or another. I really feel like I've lost some of what makes me *me* - being a mom and a teacher 98% of the time. I'm hoping I can set up a part of the basement as an acutal 'studio' where I can leave all my art stuff out (so I don't have to lug it out and put it away every time I feel the urge to paint). That's such a killer right there. It takes so much time to just to set up and clean up that if I have only an hour to spare - it's not enough time to really accomplish anything - so - I just don't do it. But if I had a space with my paints, easel, canvas ect., I think I would use my rare 'free time' more wisely.

I write all this for public consumption because I hope by verbalizing it I will find more motivation to DO IT :)

Tonight I'm going to the 'Big Art Show' with some friends. It's a traveling 'event' where any artist can hang thier work and bands play. It should be fun and inspirational - make me want to come home and paint! It's three floors of art! If that doesn't inspire me, perhaps nothing will. It's not in the best area of town though, and I'm hoping that tomarrow you won't see a post about me getting mugged or my car getting jacked. But then again Baltimore HAS gone down in the crime ratings from #2 most violent in the country to #3....so I should have some faith, right? Ha, ha.

Why do I not want to talk about myself? I don't know. Perhaps it's that I find random things more interesting most times.....that's sad really.Perhaps by sharing random things I feel like I'm having a conversation rather than a monologue, which it feels like most the time. Who knows.

But I thought I would share another wonderful essay posted as a myspace bulletin by one of my former students.....enjoy!


OK I HAVE A QUESTION 4 MY BITCHEZ AN NIGZ....................... OK IF YALL DONT KNO I DONT FUCK WIT PETE NE MORE I DROPED DAT SOMETIME B4 HE CAME HOME OK HE HOME NOW!!!

YO TALK 2 MY FUCKIN BLOOD COUSIN AN IM NOT JUS TALKIN MYSPACE IM TALKIN BOUT ON THE PHONE AN HE TRYNA C HER WTF????

BY BLOOD BEING THICKER THAN WATER IT SEEMZ WATER GOTTA STRONG ASS HOLD CUZ IF U BEEN WIT A NIG AN HE DEN TURNS 2 YA COUSIN THE SHIT IZ FUCKIN CRUDDY AN 4 UR COUSIN 2 ENGAGE IN THE CONVO WITH HIM AN B ON THE PHONE COMMUNICATIN BACK AN FORTH THE SHIT MAKEZ IT EVEN MORE CRUDDIER.............

WHAT I SAY FUCK IT IM DOIN ME BEEN DOIN ME AN IF BLOOD STOOP DAT LOW U AINT NO FAM OF MINE

NIGGAS BEEN NOT SHIT SO NEVA COULD I TRUST THEM

SO THE QUESTION IS IS IT OK 4 UR OWN COUSIN 2 TALK 2 UR X WHO U WAZ TALK 2 4 2 YEARZ????? I SAY ITZ NOT

AN YEA IF IT AINT NUFFIN GOIN ON Y THE FUCK SHE THE 1ST BITCH AN #4 ON HIS TOP TELL ME DAT SHIT AINT NUFFIN LMMFAOOOOOOOOOO


~BABY DEE~
STILL I RISE THE FAKEZ LAY BELOW ME!!

You are a Social Liberal (76% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (18% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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I have run into Microsoft Virtual Earth, and have found it a highly entertaining and wonderful waste of time. Here's a shot of a neighborhood near the school I teach at.... I know...the pillar of beauty, eh?

I am stealing this little survey from my awesomely wonderful friend Lea :)

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was a sophomore at Portland State, majoring in Drawing/Painting/Printmaking ...which I've always thought was a ridiculous name for a degree. I always feel like it takes me five minutes just to say it! I think at that point I was enganged and living with Gary in a little apartment off of Clay Street downtown, on the 4th floor (with no elevator, mind you) God I hated that place.

2. Things that I would do if I were a billionaire:

I would buy home on a decent piece of land here in the Towson/Loch Raven area, and a second home in Portland (so I can see my friends and family all the time!) I would have a fund set up immediately for Ashtons' college of choice. I would buy my mom a house of her own. Work wise: I would set up a free after-school and summer arts program for inner-city middle and high school kids here in Baltimore. Oh, and if that's not enough to keep me busy I would start my own no-kill cat shelter which has always been a dream of mine :)

3. Places I have lived:

Wilbur, Oregon (From age 0-13)
Roseburg, Oregon (From age 13-18)
Portland, Oregon (From age 18-23)
Baltimore, Maryland (From age 23 to now!)

4. Random musing #1:

Sometimes I think I would like to be a real estate agent. I’ve always LOVED just seeing and going into houses. I have almost a small obsession with it actually. When I drive by houses I try to imagine the layout of the rooms inside. Sometimes I’ll look up houses online just for fun. I know that now would probably be very bad timing to start into real estate – it’s just something I’ve thought about for the last couple of years.

5. Random musing #2:

I am so exited about getting the new Portishead album I ordered! I didn’t even know they HAD a new album until last week. I have fond memories of their first album, which came out when I was 15. That summer I was doing an internship with an archeologist at the BLM in Roseburg. Once the head archeologist found out that I could draw – he asked me to reillustrate the archived artifacts. SO I spent most of the summer doing scientific illustration of arrowheads, spearheads and bowls and mortars – all while listening to ‘Dummy’ nonstop on my headphones. I always associate stippling and hatching drawing techniques with Portishead now….ha, ha

6. Random musing #3:

I have been so extremely homesick for the last couple of weeks Maybe it was all the news hype talking about the primaries in Oregon coupled with the fact that I haven’t been home in two years. I miss my family and friends, the evergreens and mountains, the beautiful Bandon by the Sea, the plethora of fabulous coffee houses, fries from Dots, the Buffalo Exchange and Red Light, Powells, Shari’s strawberry pie, biscuits and gravy from the Pancake House….I could go on…..

In honor of the HSAs (High School Assessments) that are next week (that the kids HAVE to pass to graduate....I felt like I should share this video.... yes it's a bit cheesy - but oh, so true...

Well, The Cure was amazing, per usual. Although we were in row Z at the TOP of the arena. It was like a mountain climbing adventure every time we had to use the restroom. Ha, ha. But, it was very, very nice to have a baby-free Saturday. We really didn't do much of anything - just slept in and relaxed... watched a movie. We sat around trying to remember what it was we DID before we were parents. All that extra time and money...it's almost like a foggy dream. We picked Ashton up this afternoon from the eastern shore and spent a wonderful afternoon with our little baby bun - it was a beautiful mothers day.

Just for fun - I found this amusing earlier... It was on some random website. Things have been kind of crazy at school lately and I found this to be relevent:

From a brand new teacher...

Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning. Not only that, I'm to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity and behaviorally modify disruptive behavior.

I'm to teach them good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, how and where to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook and how to apply for a job.

I am to check their heads occasionally for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of potential antisocial behavior, offer advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and scholarships, encourage a respect for the cultural diversity of others.

I'm required by my contract to be working on my own time (summers and evenings) and at my own expense towards additional certification, advanced certification and a master's degree.

I am to attend committee and faculty meetings, and participate in staff development training to maintain my current certification and employment status.

I am to be a paragon of virtue larger than life, such that my very presence will awe my students into being obedient and respectful of authority.

I am to purchase supplies, room decorations, bulletin board supplies, supplies for children who can't afford them, and luxury items such as scissors, glue, scotch tape, paper clips, note book paper, red pens, and markers with my own money as there is no money in the budget for these items.

I'm to do all of this with just a piece of chalk, a few books and a bulletin board, and on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps in many states.

...Is that all?

Author Unknown

Yay! Michael and I are going to see the first concert on The Cure's tour tomarrow in Virginia. Michael has never seen them live - so he's super-excited. Ashton is spending the weekend at his Grampas house - so hopefully we'll get some much-needed R & R

I'm having some clothing drama however on what to wear....all of my clothes have seemed to morph in the last couple of years to either mommy-wear or teacher-wear. And on top of that none of my pre-Ashton clothes fit anymore (I went from a size 11 to a 6! - so I've been pretty much starting from scratch buying clothes again.

I suppose as life goes on, our roles change and priorities become different. I'm sure I'll figure something out before tomarrow night! Safety pins and creativity have always been my mantra, ha, ha.

I'm finally feeling better after a 6 day stomach virus that I think I recieved from an evil turkey wrap during the faculty dinner on parent night. I was not the only victim however, at least 3 other teachers had the same virus. I've been a little lonely at school becuase my best-teacher-friend has been out due to surgery....just a very strange week overall.

After speaking with my mom and brother, my lil' bro is finally on board with probate. I say this as I cross my fingers tightly. Over the past two years he has changed his mind at least 2 or 3 times. This time he does sound more serious. I want more than ANYTHING to get this all resolved and behind us. I despise my former step-mother more than any other person on earth. Not in two years has she even attempted to contact me or ask how my fathers only grand child is doing. Bitch.

But, enough with the negative, eh? Good stuff : Micheal and I have successfully refinanced our house so that we can replace the windows, refinish the floors, and perhaps a couple other small improvements. I may be able to teach intro to drawing and painting classes next year, which makes me very happy. I've grown very tired of being the only art teacher and teaching the same 'Fundamentals of Art' class the entire time. And....Ashton is running around and getting into things everytime I blink. Gotta love that bun. And....according to an online quiz my students wanted me to take:

Some of you may have heard about this story - a Baltimore HS art teacher getting beat up by a student. My family was calling this morning just to make sure it wasn't me. Well, it wasn't, thank god, but I know the teacher it happened to, and I couldn't have happened to a nicer person. I know people always say that - but honestly, Jolita is an awesome person and I still can't fathom why a student(s) would do something like this to her. And adding insult to injury the administration did NOTHING. NOTHING.

A lot of my fellow teachers are saying - 'Great - another *bad* story coming out of Baltimore to give people a bad impression of city schools' I say that in this case Baltimore City needed a slap in the face to wake up to how violent our kids are in the city and the anger issues that most of them have. Assults like these happen all the time and aren't reported because principals don't want their schools to be labeled 'persistently dangerous'. WTF? So kids can just beat the sh*t out of a teacher and stand there and laugh while she's wheeled out of the building on the way to the hospital? Something is desperately wrong with this generation of kids, and it IS getting out of hand.

Anyway - here is an article/video about what happened for those who didn't see it on the today show this morning..

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24047456/

I am so sick and tired of fighting with students over the n-word. Most of my students say it every other word. My first couple of years teaching I wasn't as tough the word because I was so shocked that they actually said it. So now, whenever a kid says it...here is the dialog that commences...

Student: Yo, dat n-word down the block gots ta chill out.

Me: I don't want you to use that word in this classroom.

Student: But it's not a bad word to us - I/we say it all the time - it's just how I/we talk

Me: Well, I find it a derogatory term and an insulting word.

Student: But it's all about who says it and how it's said (ie n-word with an er at the end vs. n-word with an a on the end)

Me: I think you should find it insulting no matter who says it.

Student: Man! You just don't understand - it's just how I/we talk!

Ahhhhhh! Am I fighting a losing battle? Why do I get so mad about this! I actualy sent two kids to the office on Tuesday because they refused to stop using the word (which is very rare, actualy - not that they use it, but that they won't stop when I ask) Many of the other teachers - as I've heard through word of mouth - aren't nearly as strict as I am about it. I feel it's all about creating a positive learning environment - which is really hard to do with the n-word floating around. But then again, the kids really don't seem to care about it. Why do I so much?

Am I overreacting? In my heart I know I'm not - but I feel this may be a losing battle on my part.

Michael and I watched Stephen Kings' 'The Mist' last night for the first time. I guess I was expecting it to be somewhat cheesy - in the made for TV sort of way. The first half of the movie seemed like your run of the mill horror movie....rather predictable....then the second half came along.....and kicked me in the ass. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it really messes with your head. It goes from being a simple end of the world horror movie to being a psychological mind trip about human nature...and the ending....damn...I'm still a little messed up over it.

I'm not saying it was *the best movie ever* by any stretch of the imagination, but I do admit that it affected me a lot more then I thought it would when I sat down to watch it. I think part of that is being a parent too. Plots that involve a parent/child always have affected me - but now that I am in that parent/child relationship I feel much more involved in the plots. Weird all the things parenthood does to you...