Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots

Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a Rock-’em Sock-’em Robots tournament! This is my husband, Mike, and his brother, Tony, who have had numerous robot battles throughout the years. Tony’s wife found a brand new set and it was the most popular toy around during our visit to their house Christmas Eve.

Tony is off to Afghanistan in February and we’re all worried sick about him. His training appears to have something to do with minesweeping. Of course, any mission over there is going to be dangerous, but minesweeping is not at the top of my list of jobs that I would want for him to be doing. Hopefully, he’ll be in one of those ginormous tanks that allows soldiers to clear out a whole minefield while remaining safely inside.

His deployment is for 400 days, but with the recent happenings in Pakistan, I’m really concerned that this whole thing is about to get blown wide open. I put myself on a self-mandated news fast because it’s all freaking me out. For now, I’m just going to enjoy this photo and laugh about these two big kids at Christmas.

Red and Green

Meh… a little overexposed, but oh well.

The visitors have all gone home and we’ve done all the traveling we’re going to do (for the most part) over the holidays, and how we’re home again. It’s been a whirlwind of a Christmas, but it’s been a good one. We had a great time, the kids are happily playing their new Wii (that thing is SO COOL!) and the cat is happy to have us home again. Most importantly, we got to spend time with our family, and my heart goes out to all those who are missing someone at Christmas.

I have some home projects to tackle while I’m off, so I’m still crazy busy but I am so glad to be home again.

Nativity Creativity

Hey, check it out! Our packing tape Nativity installation made the Gazette!

This was part of the December Artwalk, and my students put on an exhibit of not only the packing tape Nativity scene, but also a variety of pieces done throughout the first semester. It was a huge success– we had a lot of visitors and people seemed to enjoy the art. They had a lot of great things to say about the other venues, as well! I didn’t get to check them out, but I know that there are always lots of great things to see during Artwalk.

Maybe we’ll do another artwalk in February — remember, it’s always the 3rd Thursday of each month, unless otherwise noted on the website. There will be no artwalk in January.

Mango

We go through a lot of mangoes at Casa de Chaos. My family usually won’t eat anything “weird” but I have gotten them to try and like my mango salsa.

Enginescape

So, Mr. Burch has been building an engine in the garage for… oh… a really long time. It’s a major undertaking he’s doing for side work, for a friend. I have no clue what any of this stuff is (except for the spark plug wire, and only because it’s labeled.) I just know that you push the pedal and the engine goes “vroom, vroom!” and the car goes forward. Occasionally, these nutheads hook them up to nitrous and take them to the track and the cars go forward really, really fast.

But it is pretty, this thing, with all the chrome and shiny nuts and bolts and wires and oddly-shaped components. It’s almost finished, and is just about ready for its new home inside a ‘66 Mercury Comet. I shot a series of enginescapes that I might post from time to time when I don’t have anything else to post. I like how this one turned out.

I’ve been rounded up!!!

Well, hello, all you people from Crooks and Liars! Apparently I’ve been featured in Mike’s Blog Round-up, which is a compliment despite the fact that I am not a crook or a liar (well, unless you count stealing all the Reese’s cups out of my kids’ Halloween candy, in which case I am guilty as charged. They’re too young to fully appreciate the awesomeness of the peanut butter and chocolate combination, anyway.) Maybe I’m just an outlaw, or a renegade. Eitherway, howdy to you all. Kick your shoes off and stay for a while. Look around, and don’t forget to stop by again sometime.

Cookie Dough!!!!

One of the best things about Christmas are the simple joys.

Another ghost sign … and a pigeon

Red Sky At Night

I caught this sunset a couple evenings ago, on the way home. I was running late and wanted to hurry home and get dinner started, so I didn’t get to really get out and take a lot of pictures.

No pretty sunsets or sunrises lately, though. It’s just drab and grey and soggy. There has been a lot of flooding in Roane and Jackson counties, and water was right up to the road in places on my way home. Yuck.

Pieta

This is the Pieta sculpture at Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in Charleston, WV. I am not Catholic, but I work at the High School associated with this church and attend student masses there, so I feel very comfortable in this church. I stopped by a couple days ago to say a prayer and light a candle for my Grandma who is isn’t doing so well, and was so captivated by the color in this shot that I had to snap a photo.

I know that a lot of people find religious imagery to be divisive, but when I see this sculpture, I think about the way this type of art can communicate the most fundimental ways we are all alike. We all suffer losses. We all grieve. We all love someone so much that losing them is like dying, ourselves. Whether we worship God or not, we are connected by the human condition.

I think too often we find ourselves bickering over our religous differences and refuse to acknowledge that we’re really all pretty much the same. Who can’t look at this sculpture and not identify with Mary (or anyone else who is suffering) on some level, regardless of religious beliefs? Empathy doesn’t require a religious conversion.