Underbite

WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.

Happy big fat snow flakes, everyone!  Today, trapped in from our vicious blizzard of a snow storm, I have been buzzing around like a mad woman, drawing, cleaning, educating myself on topics I would like to know more about, and then getting back to drawing... and multitasking all of these betwixt one another!  Being able to devote a day just to art-making is amazing!

Last night, Joey and I sat down to watch the movie Bronson, a film about Michael Gordon Peterson (aka Charles "Charlie" Bronson), a British man who is currently serving a life sentence in prison and has spent ALL but four of those years in solitary confinement!!!  He initially began his life in prison after being convicted, at age 22, of armed robbery (he only got away with 26 some-odd pounds) and was sentenced only to seven years.  Since then, he has furthered his sentence and gained the reputation of being Britain's "most violent prisoner", taking hostages in his cells, fighting groups of prison guards, making threats to kill others, etc.  Needless to say, the guy is a little on the intense side, but nonetheless interesting.  During his stay in prison, he has managed to become an excellent boxer, artist, and has written a book on working out in small spaces.

P.S. - Tom Hardy is a stud.  Not like Joey, though ;)

Anywhoo, whilst we were enjoying the insanity that is Charles Bronson, I decided to pick up my dusty knitting needles, stretch my fingers, and have a movie date with one of my favorite activities that I have recently neglected.  A beautiful reunion it was and I'm very happy with the product... and, it was completed within the time-span of a feature film.  What do you think?  It was super easy with this wrist-band pattern and then me having fun with my button collection.

I'm pretty certain that my brother-in-law is not a frequent reader of Underbite, so I think it's safe to assume that I can show you his birthday present for this year.  I've been slowly working on this piece for about 3 years now I think (it's done a lot of sitting under a pile of papers for the first pencil phase, then on my desk under clutter for the ink phase, and then moved about and around through various other phases until I decided that it was finally finished).  So, for this year, Blake will finally get the finished artwork of Chloe and Bleu that I have been promising him for quite some time now.

Pssst... here's a sneak peek at a detail of my piece I'm working on for the art show.  It's still in pencil, so you'll have to squint...

It's been a while since I've been on!  I haven't meant to be absent, but I've been so busy at school and with various other projects and life in general.  However, life has been good and I hope you have been doing well during the fresh month of January!

To catch you up on what's been going on in the Travis-Carr home, ultimately, Joey and I have been learning and putting into practice our mode of attack to feed more time into our creative endeavors.  That and finally getting the house clean after we (mostly me in that we) tore the place up and neglected our cleaning responsibilities due to a crazy schedule.  Now, however, we're going to be better about that.

From this Tuesday and on (I'm not completely sure when we're going to stop), I'm going to begin giving private art lessons to a 7th grader who is STOKED about lessons with me.  I just hope that I can meet his expectations.  So, I'm going to be trying to do a lot more research on artists that he might find interesting to learn about and inspire both of us.

Also, I've got the C-STEM challenge at school to work on with the students (we're working on a mural and a sea turtle sculpture, pop-up book, and more).  We have to have all of that finished up by April.  And I have my own Graduate Art Show to work on and complete before March, so it's going to be a busy, but Artful semester which will hopefully overflow into the rest of my live-long days.

So, wish us luck!

My pile of links to share with you has become HUGE!  So, bear with me while I sort through them:

Seaweed from Tell No One on Vimeo.

OLEK AND THE CHARGING BULL ON WALL STREET from olek on Vimeo.

... this song came on.  And all day long, on a day that is usually pretty behaviourally tumultuous with my classes, this song was stuck in my head.  I couldn't help but to have an extra dance in my step and day dream about how much I love my husband and how terribly excited I am about our lives together.

Ahhh, the best list-making time of the year!  Lists are so much fun to make and, of course, to slowly mark down and whittle to (hopefully) achievement!

1. Drink lots of water.
2. Always be reading a book.
3. Study and write about, explore, books, movies, art, events, etc., that inspire/"stick" with you.
4. Pick up a little around the house each day.
5. Practice the Ukulele and keep a sketchbook/journal daily.
6. Complete at least 3 items off of my "30 before 30" list.
7. Stay positive.
8. Do at least 1 favor for myself and another person daily.
9. Do some form of healthy, physical activity every day.
10. And, speaking of exercising, my last resolution is to actually exercise my resolutions.

Although I think Juvenile and I are speaking of two different aspects of what mothers give to their daughters, I couldn't get this song off repeat in my head, so I decided to post it as a segue into today's post for my mother.

Happy Weekend, everyone!  The Holidays are upon us and family and friends are slowly trickling into town :)  Lindsey and Gus are home until after Christmas, which guarantees an entire week of family fun (I'll be sure to have my camera on me), and  I know some of my friends are coming in town as well, and I can't wait to see them either!


I was silly to think that my busy time ended after I finished my thesis, because now I have to get started on artwork for the Graduate Art Show.  However, that means I'll be working on artwork and will have work-in-progress to post occasionally; so that's exciting.  Wish me luck on getting done what I need to get done within the next two weeks!  In fact, today I'm making a scheduled to-do list... hmmmm, we shall see how many "do's" get crossed off.

So, what are your plans for the weekend/week?  Joey and I are going to my friend Kelly's Christmas Party tonight, which I'm pretty excited about.  It'll be nice to hang out with friends and relax and enjoy the season.  I'm making more hard cider for the occasion and need to round up some holiday attire for the festivities.

And, since I've been collecting links, but took a hiatus for a bit, here are some fun places to visit from around the Internet:

First off, if you haven't checked it out via links through facebook, then check out my friend Amy's blog, memphisupbeat.com, which is a collaborative effort made by she and a group of wonderful people from within the community who have made it their goal to highlight the positive teachers, students, events, programs, etc. that are happening within Memphis's public education system.  I was lucky enough to have Amy visit one of my classes.  Afterwards, she put up an amazing post about how the lesson unfolded.

This makes me want to get active...

This story had me rolling on the floor!  Thanks, Todd!

Homemade edible gift ideas...

I want to do this with my kids at school.  In fact, I want to do this by myself, as well!

Pretty, pretty!

I'm loving these posters!

Sheesh!!!

And, ladies, for those days when you need a little style inspiration, check this website out!

So, I am hoping that everyone's last month of the year is going well and that your staying warm and cozy.  I'm excited to have more time to work on projects as well as keep you up to date on them via Underbite.  So, with that said, I will see you soon!

To the woman whose soft, warm hands I will miss so much, but with closed eyes, I will always feel -

Thank you for hoarding countless empty bottles of what used to be random assortments of various products... who knew that empty tide, dial, aspirin, hell, I can't even remember which other bottles, could equal hours, excuse me, years, of entertainment to us.
Thank you for teaching us that kitchen utensils, when used properly, are not really used for stirring vegetables into the proper temperature or scraping the last remnants of recipe into the pan, but are instead intended for digging for treasure or for architectural digs in the sand; of course!
Thank you for all of the magical buttons and putt putt tokens (or wherever they came from) that bought me a world beyond the real.
Thank you for making time without objects feel so exciting... counting toes, patty-cake, learning how the farmer rides his horse, and other games that would otherwise seem so childish and silly where never so thrilling as when you performed them.
I freeze my old bread like you did... for the ducks... even if I don't have any actual plans to go feed any ducks, I know that it'll be good for feeding ducks when and if the moment presents itself.
Thank you for giving the world so many giggles, showing everyone around you how a proper giggle should be giggled.
For demonstrating the importance of using both sun-tan lotion as well as washing your face and using lotion afterwards every night.  Your good looks were a testament to this.  I still haven't quite latched on to that habit because of laziness, but it's a habit I know that I would benefit from.
At the moment I can't remember the name of the lotion you used, but I know that, in the future, whenever I suddenly stumble upon it, happiness is guaranteed to wash over me like a tidal wave.  I look forward to that instant when my nose is reunited with that scent.
For your love of Bloody Mary's, a taste that you didn't directly hand down to me, but that I can definitely link as a trait I received from you - thank you, a million times, because for those that don't understand, they have no idea what they're missing!
And for Hoppin' John, and many other meals that were entirely too spicy for any human to ingest...
For all of these things and all that they meant to me - thank you.
My heart celebrates you and your love.
For these gifts and so many more, thank you, and I love you.

For now and for always,
Meg

I apologize about the absence, but I'm going to be taking about a week long break or so.  I'm just about over this humongous hill and it's going to be a hell of a haul getting over this last bit.  A lot's going on and I need to work my butt off to make sure everything that needs to be in order is.  So, wish me luck.  This Tuesday, my professional portfolio is due and then, this Friday, the final copy of my thesis is due to be handed in for printing and binding.  This coming Friday, if all goes well, I will be handing my keys to Joey and throwing down like it's 1999!  So, if you see me Saturday and I'm speaking another language, then just give me a day or so and I'll be back to normal.  Love you all and I hope that your week goes well.

I know this post comes a day late, but I wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!  I hope that everyone got to enjoy some time with their loved ones and enjoy a potluck of delicious thanksgiving foods!!!  Also, I hope everyone got at least one food-induced coma.  As gross as it is to think about passing out from all of the food you've just stuffed down, I swear it's the best nap of the year, and if you're going to get that one nap a year, then I say take it... cause it's amazing!

This year I made apple spice cake for our two families, Joey made deviled eggs, and we both made that boilo (Hard Apple Cider) that I was wanting to make a while back.  It was delicious and was perfect for a cold, rainy day.

My favorite food out of the whole Thanksgiving feast has to be the dressing.  Never mind the turkey accompanying the dressing (although that's delicious too), just give me the dressing.  Joey's family has a tradition of making home-made ravioli (this is a serious under-taking!) and serves that as their Thanksgiving feast on his mom's side.  It's delicious and OH HOW I LOVE RAVIOLI!!!  So, how was your Thanksgiving and what's your favorite Thanksgiving food?  If you're having a low-key break this year, then are you doing anything exciting?

I'm upset with myself today.  I've been working hard on my literature review for my thesis, professional portfolio, and carrying out research in the classroom.  I've been video-taping a first, third, and fifth grade class playing different art games, as well as creating a classroom tour.  All of this I'm going to use as research, but also include it into my professional portfolio as a digital dvd with examples of lessons and a tour of the classroom.  This last Monday, the third grade class had the most excellent class EVER and it was SOOOO much fun.  I mean, we had an ABSOLUTE blast.  Literally a perfect class to catch on video.  Then, today, I taped the first grade class, who is usually really awesome, but today decided to act ridiculous... and guess what... I forgot to change tapes and accidentally taped over the awesome class.  I nearly started crying in the middle of my next class when I realized it.  So, for this Wednesday, I'm walking myself into the time-out corner for being an idiot and regressing in my progress. *Insert slap across the head here.

Happy Weekend, everyone!  I hope that you have at least one day planned for relaxation.  Joey and I are both suffering from some kind of funky head cold thing, and I'm really hoping that it doesn't turn into anything more than that.  It's not the most convenient time to be significantly sick, but then again, when is? 

Check it out!  My sister Lindsey, who has always had an aesthetically able eye, has gotten little Gus man's nursery in a color challenge on Ohdeedoh!!!  She has done a fabulous job decorating his room and not only with color choices and accent pieces, but in the arrangement of the room as well.  It's a really small room, so it could easily become crowded and feel claustrophobic, however, Lindsey has flawlessly selected the furniture and decor that give the room a rich personality and filtered out (yes, my sister is a hardcore organizer/cleaner which is awesome, because I'm not) the everyday clutter that threatens to steal the room's aesthetic and character from those living in it.  On top of all of this... it is functional, AND cute as hell for a nursery.  I know the littlest Hill approves.  Gus's Jalapeno Jelly room is so much fun, but it's not Gus's room completely until the little Gusbuster man is in it.

So, go to the link and vote for Gus's room!  It's fun and it'll make you smile!


There are so many awesome house tours and kids rooms tours on apartmenttherapy.com you should definitely check it out.  Lots of visual inspiration for your home, nursery/kids room, kitchen, the technology in your home, and how you can become more environmentally conscious in your own home.

In fact, I've been putting to good use this helpful list (found on Apartment therapy) to easily keeping your home clean and organized each month.  So far, so good as the place is actually looking clean on a consistent basis.

And, for your weekendly browsing pleasures, here are some fun links from around the web:

First off, wh-wh-wh-where DO you find one of THESE!!!

I just can't get enough of recycled appliances/junk turned into functional furniture and home items.

DIY no knit scarf!

Check out Emma Watson's (Hermione) new hair via thesensesfive.com and beautiful holiday hair via a cup of jo!  I love it!

So, that's what I got for links this weekend.  This weekend I'm hoping to be super productive with my thesis, beautify a lamp that's been waiting for a face-lift and a place in our home, and clean up the workroom in our home.  Wish me luck.  And, because I want to send out some love to both of my nephew's and give a shout-out to my best buddy, Joey while he's at work, here's a couple of awesome pictures of Joey and Jeremy on their Boys day here at our house:

I'm loving this series, "Style.Play.Work.Shop" from Compai Blog.  The ladies over there throw out about 5 random items (this week's was ribbon, squash, envelope, jewelry, and bottle) and they and other bloggers or readers who would like to participate arrange these items in a picturesque way and photograph them.  Then, they display some of the best shots on their blog the following week.  Brilliant!  No contest or prize, just a good ole' incentive to go and get creative and make something beautiful.  I would be participating, however, I'm really good at distracting myself, and I don't need to distract myself with this until I'm finished with this semester.  Maybe next year!

So, check it out!