Seven Quick Takes

:: 1 :: 

I've been feeling a bit uncertain about how we're doing our artist study, so I've been reading about how others do it. I think the broad strokes are good; it's the details that I want to bring into better focus. One suggestion was to put the artist into the Book of Centuries, and that's a fantastic idea that I think we'll do, maybe even later this week. Hero is big enough now that the Book of Centuries is ready for a come-back. And I want to get mine out as well, and add to it again. But another suggestion, from Master Amabilis,  was to give each child their own copy, and then to create a binder of both their copies, and also of works they do in imitation of the artist under study. I like that idea, and I think we may just try it. That blog also had some good ideas that can improve our observation and discussion of these works, I'm thinking.



:: 2 ::

I'm having a blast putting together a planner thing for the next year. Really, it's going to be an art journal/commonplace book/planner/scrapbook thing and I am so excited. I've had something similar for this year, but I'm making some changes for the next year. Notably, I purchased planner pages, and the whole thing is in a 3-ring binder, so I can move any blank pages around or remove them. My planner pages will start October 1st, so I've got until then to get things ready to go. I need to add some empty cardstock pages, so that I can have a place for the art journal part, but it's getting closer!

:: 3 ::

I've accidentally discovered a wonderful way to get my bread to rise perfectly: put it in a cast iron pan that's been heated for just a minute or two. My kids inform me that it is awesome. I'm delighted to have a consistent way to get the stuff to rise!

:: 4 ::

The other day it rained in Tokyo (shocking, right?). I follow some random people from Tokyo on Twitter because it gives me a chance to try my hand at reading real Japanese from real Japanese people, the way it's really used. But in very small pieces. And almost all the profiles that morning said some version of, "Hey guys, it's raining. Take care of your health, ok?" I grabbed those sentences and added them to my collection of phrases that I'm studying, and I am looking forward to the next time it rains, to see if it happens again.

:: 5 ::

This week, we had what may be the most awesome blanky fort the kids have built to date. So much so that I got them a snack to eat while they were in there, and put off some of our book work for a while. Sometimes, you just have to make room for the magic as it happens.

:: 6 ::

I listened to a delightful podcast from the CiRCE Institute this afternoon, an interview with Andrew Pudewa of the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I learned a couple of things. One, he's a violinist - and a pretty serious one: he went to Japan and studied with Dr. Suzuki. Our violin teacher just took the Suzuki training, and so far it's pretty awesome. Anyway, he told this story about a new student that joined them in Dr. Suzuki's classes, and how he was told to go practice a particular bow exercise 10,000 times. The student thought this was hyperbole... but it wasn't. Mr. Pudewa talked about the differences in Eastern and Western thought on the matter of repetition, how a Japanese student likely would have taken that seriously, gone home, figured out how long it would take, and started working. But the student in question thought it was hyperbole, and was shocked the next week when he was expected to have it done, or at least well underway. The story has me pondering the implications for my own martial arts study -- and my kids' work on math facts.

:: 7 ::

I'm making jalapeno honey. To eat on cornbread. And my mouth is very excited.