The Yoga High

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I. love. yoga. I am jumping right on that bandwagon and drinking all of its kool-aid.

I've been practicing it fairly regularly for about a month now and feel so good! When I was younger, I did a lot of dancing and stretching and active type things, so I was somewhat limber when I started. But now I can do all sorts of things! Almost immediately when I walk into the yoga room at school my body gets excited.

Child's pose!
Full wheel!
Plough pose!
Bow pose!
Crow pose!
Wait. Maybe not crow pose. Not there yet.

I like that stuff. The more I practice it, the better my body feels. My back even feels stronger? Imma keep this up.

Important Napping Information

Click to enlrage!

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A Heads Up

Hairs; January 2011

Dear Josh,

I was cleaning my bathroom the other night and realized something. I have a lot of hair. With this en masse hair situation comes a lot of accessories. And also, did you know that part of getting married is getting to be roomies? Are you ready for that? I just wanted to give you a heads up that there will always be hair on the floor. There could also be, in any combination, bobbie pins, ponytail holders, and headbands on the floor. There may also be hair clogging the sink up. (I don't know how that even gets there!)

Love,
Jules

Confession #50

Oak Alley Plantation, ©Julien Pons, 2008

In my quest to plan a wedding, I have become quite familiar with the East Texas venue selections for weddings. Most of them are in that weird Texas-y theme, and are not in my taste. The venue we ended up picking is pretty cool, but really it would be cool to have the wedding in South Louisiana. Home of the plantation houses! Bad history, I know, but you can't blame the houses for what their builders did. Is the house pictured above not the most dreamiest wedding location you have ever seen? *mini swoon* On the plus side, at the venue we selected, we don't have to worry about: 1. LSU fans 2. West Nile mosquitoes 3. rain as much. Cool beans.

Art History Wednesday!

Warrior Taking Leave of his Wife; 400 BC

This lekythos/vessel is cool, because it is different from most of the typical Greek vessels you see. The Greeks only wanted to be depicted with their most serious of faces on. Even when a sculpture is of a person who just took an arrow to the lung, he has a perfectly calm face on.

This vessel shows a warrior saying goodbye to his wife, as he is leaving for battle. The unique thing is his wife is not looking at him. That subtle sign of emotion is really rare in Greek art. Knowing full well that at this time Greek warriors were dying in droves, she did not want to look up at her husband, because she knew that he was more than likely not coming back. She didn't want to say goodbye.

Apparently, he didn't make it back, because this type of vessel was used for funerary rituals. It would have been filled with wine or olive oil, then be used as a grave marker.

On a happier note, this is also one of the first demonstrations of using light color washes to build up a color when painting. It also shows a light figure drawing of the woman's figure under the light washes of paint. That is interesting in this context, because nude women were not drawn/painted/sculpted at this point in time.

Friday Night at 1 am

Middle School JCM; June 2001

It's raining outside- a steady rain with thunder in the distance and some lightning for good measure. The rain softly beats on the roof , while the dryer gently tumbles its load. I'm organizing my new dresser that I bought myself for my birthday. Going through my vast sock collection, which contains socks I have definitely had since the sixth grade. With the socks and the rain, I am completely overcome with memories. What a wonderful, blessed life I have been given.

One of my clearest memories from living in Louisiana was a summer afternoon. I'd spent the morning at Linnie Leavines' birthday party at the LSU practice pools. We swam, ate cake, and probably did some giggling. As it usually was in Louisiana, it was raining that afternoon. After the party, Mom drove us back home. Mom loves rain, so when we got back to the house, she opened the kitchen windows  by the table to let in the sound and the smell.

I decided to do some drawing at the kitchen table. I sat there quietly, coloring and listening to the sound of my colored pencils making their way across the printer paper and the sheets of rain running across the roof. I paused to look out of the window, just as a bright green gecko scurried across the window screen. I remember feeling peaceful in that moment.

Mom was probably talking to Granny on the phone. Dad was probably watching something on PBS. Emily was definitely taking a nap. Peaceful and secure.

Now, every time I'm home doing every day things, like organizing socks, and it starts raining, I think of that moment and how lucky I am. It also reminds me how much I have not changed over the years. With all of the moving and big life changes, I still enjoy my socks with the vegetables on them. I often feel guilty about having all that I have.

We, as humans, can do a lot of things for ourselves as far as making ourselves into who we want to be, but mostly God gives us the factors in our lives (family situation, country of origin, health). I struggle to understand why I got it so good/easy. The only thing I know to do is be thankful, and try to become who I'm supposed to be.

There, I Fixed It

What do you do when your new hand-me-down alarm clock is brighter than the north star at night?

Ventilator mask.

 What do you do when your curtain rod can't reach a corner of the window? 

Painter's tape the curtain to the wall.

 Already hemmed your curtains once, and know you will be moving in 6 months?

Hem curtains with safety pins.

Classy, I know.

Exploits in Baking

Trying new things is an important part of life, but I'm not so sure about trying new things in baking.

Cooling Tower Cake; May 2009

Here, we have the cooling tower cake I made for Josh the first summer he was going to work in New Mexico. The party was really being thrown for Jamie, who was going on a summer-long mission trip to New York City. We weren't dating yet, but I felt bad that Josh was going away and we weren't doing anything for him. So naturally, I made him a cake that was supposed to be in the shape of a cooling tower... Funfetti isn't as structurally sound as you would think.

Horse Cake; January 2010

 And then there was the horse cake I made for Nichole's birthday a few years ago. It started off on the right leg (no pun intended), but then Bernoulli got to it. I was sewing something, and Russ was watching tv in the old apartment that Emily and I used to live in. Russ casually said, "Um, Kitty, I think Bernoulli is eating your cake." Sure enough, that little booger had his two front paws up on the counter and had taken out a leg of the horse cake. Most of the cake was salvageable, but Josh and I went ahead and made it a disaster.

Nailed it; February 2012

I don't even know what to say about these cookies. I saw them on Pinterest one day, and stored the directions away, because Josh loves oreos and surely I could do this. Nope. It's the thought that counts, right?

JCM Proudly Presents: Alternative Processes Project #2

In love with cyanotypes now.

Here is how you make them.

Art History Wednesday!

Winged Victory of Samothrace; 190 BC

Coming from the Hellenistic times of ancient Greece, this little lady used to be part of a massive open air theater. No one is really sure how the structure would have looked exactly, but modern archaeologists think it would have been perched upon a great stone ship in an infinity pool in the open air theater in the Samothrace temple complex. She has the "wet t-shirt" style of material sculpting, typical of the Hellenistic Age.

She lives in the Louvre and is their mascot of sorts. I love this sculpture, and must say that it is completely different in person. The photo to the left is from when I got to see it in 2008. My favorite Winged Victory fun fact is that before WWII got started it was moved to Château de Valençay. It lived there for the entirety of the war, along with Venus de Milo (another favorite) and Michelangelo's Slaves. That is why I like the French- they take care of the ancient art of the world.

These Days by Nico

In Which I Do Some Bragging

Josh knows how to do birthdays up right, but this year he really hit it home.

1. He made me cookies with Reese's Pieces in them. REESE'S PIECES.

2. Got me one of my favorite PBS documentaries on dvd- "In the Pursuit of Excellence: Ferrets". I don't particularly like ferrets, but this documentary is excellent. There are several others like this, including cows, cats and chickens.

 3. But this one was really the best- He took a Fist Pump Friday picture and submitted it to one of my favorite blogs, Today's Letters. THE BEST.

Mom has skills

A mushroom captured by Mom; 2011?

My Mom has a reputation in our family of taking some less than flattering pictures of us. Mainly the kind on Sundays after church where she lines us kids up, facing the sun and tells us to smile. Every once in a while she gets a really good one. I taught her how to use the macro setting on her point and shoot, and I think she's got it now. Look at that mushroom! Good job, Mom.

Oh, You Know

A work in progress; February 2012

The picture to the left is part of a series I'm working on for school. In a critique on Monday, one of my classmates asked,
"Are those lips real?"
hehehe.
Yes, thank you. It's a family thing and they aren't that ridiculous.



What are your family's traits?

Art History Wednesday!

Attic red-figure hydria, 490-480 BC

People. I am learning big things in my Hellenisitc Art History course. Love it!

Last week, we learned a little about the Greek Hetairai. They were kind of like Japanese Geishas, but they also did other... favors. In the heydays of Greek culture, women did not have any rights, but the Hetairai were very privileged. They were able to study many scholarly topics such as writing and poetry. Men also sought them out to have intelligent conversations, and often formed personal relationships with them. Now, marrying a Hetara was illegal for Athenians to do, so when Pericles fell in love with Aspasia, it was quite the scandal.

They are identified in ancient Greek art quite easily, because Greek women don't appear in ancient art unless they mythological characters or prostitutes. They also were required to have short, cropped hair. That makes them easy to identify, because the other few times Greek women are depicted in art, they have long hair coiled on top of their heads.

Women were not allowed to appear in public places, so they definitely weren't going to be depicted in such places. One of the few examples of "every day life" in ancient Greece shows some ladies at a watering hole. That's about it for them. Poor ladies. The Hetairai were having quite the time with their husbands. It was perfectly respectable for men to have wives and go to symposiums, which were these crazy parties they used to have. Kind of like a frat party, I'm guessing? Also they worked out in public in the nude?

I thought it was interesting that the ancient Greek culture chose to allow only these ladies to be educated. Why not their wives who they should be spending time with? This is strange to me, because I have Christian beliefs, which the ancient Greeks did not. I know that you are supposed to be dedicated to your significant other, and that is what I think.

Confession #49

There is this thing in the Art Department known as the "art bubble". While we are at school/in a semester, we are constantly being exposed to art, making it, looking at the classics, looking at classmates' work, planning projects, etc. It's consuming.

But then that wonderful bubble full of encouragement, ideas and understanding is popped when you go home for the various breaks we get. Just completely popped. Such a bummer. A lot of people don't understand art and the conceptual nature of it. They can't grasp why you need to do these things. Why do you need to take pictures of those things? Why do you want to make that? On top of that, my extended family can't even remember what my major is.

I am scared of my art life after I graduate. Josh is great with understanding art, and my immediate family is supporting of it, but what about all of the other people I encounter. Who else is going to get it? My professors have started to tell my classes that we should enjoy our critiques and having like-minded people around, because there might not be these things outside of school. It depends what you do after graduation and who you surround yourself with.

Man oh man!

Middle Aged and Working

Jimmy Jalapeno, ACC photography teacher; April 2011

Lately, I have noticed a lot of people who are probably middle-aged working at places like Target or Subway. Usually people my age are working at places like that, but in this job market I guess the older group is looking for any kind of work. Even though they probably would like a different type of job, I enjoy seeing older people in these positions. They are usually 10x less grumpy than the kids my age working these jobs. I felt the need for some coffee on the way to church yesterday, so I got some Starbuck's and a really nice lady took my order. She told me to have a wonderful day, and I was quite enchanted by her being nice. All the emo kids who usually there are all moody, and do not tell you to have a nice day. Come on guys, it's not so bad.

Holler At You Boy

Josh, December 2011

Dearest Beyonce (Boyfriend + Fiance),

I miss your face! 

My yoga instructor at school said that there is a couple's yoga class. At first I was all, "That would be fun!" But then I was all "Wait a minute..." 

And did you know that no one noticed my red lipstick I wore the other day?

Did you know that Emily is the only other person who chuckles when I say "grood jorb"?

And no one else has offered to take me on a date in recent times? 

Bring on September!

Love,

Jules

JCM Proudly Presents: Sculpture Project #1

Biggie Smalls

The Fiesta with a friend she made; January 2012

Did you guys know that the Ford Fiesta is the smallest four-door sedan on the U.S. market? Did you guys know that Ford also makes the most gigantic trucks ever? They do. I parked next to this F-250 the other day at school and it made me chuckle a little bit, because two of my Fiesta could fit in there. There are all types of people at school, aren't there?

But really I just wanted to tell you that I really like my Fiesta, and you should probably let me drive you around in it.

It's fun.

And Ford, if you ever need a spokesJulie, I am your girl.