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So I always brush my teeth in the shower. My shower does not count as complete unless i also brush my teeth. Some people think it's weird. Maybe. I also brush my teeth outside of the shower, of course, a few times a day. But even if I just brushed my teeth a few minutes before, I will still brush them once I am in the shower. Go figure.

Sometimes I have nightmares about my teeth falling out.

< censored >

Tomorrow I have to get up at 6:00 am. I have to get up at 6:00 am for the next 52 days. 52 school days. The school where I student teaching art is very nice. Some famous people went there. Famous people who i love. The head of the History dept. there is my very own teacher who I had when I was in High School. It was a total surprise, but a surprise indeed. She was there, at the very beginning, before I even had her a teacher, working summers as the Director of my summer camp, and at 15 I was her most trusty CIT. That's why she hired me the following summer as the youngest junior counselor, and, possibly, she is one of the biggest reasons why I actually decided to become a teacher. She was very serious about teaching; I would even say quite passionate about it: she knows every one of her former students who became a teacher, where and what they are teaching, and always delighted to be in touch. We had lunch on friday, spent an hour gossiping about this and that, she offered me a job, I sent her a FB request, in other words, we had great, lovely times.

Today I was hanging out at the COOP with my peeps, sipping hot cocoas and reading picture books and I heard the salesgirls there discussing Satan's new abomination - I am not sure I can write about this without vomiting, but I will try - a book based on Burton's Alice. And it is actually called Alice In Wonderland, and sold on the bookshelf along with the real Alice. I can't fucking belive this shit. I just wish I had some money so I could just buy them all up and burn them in a giant festive bonfire, and dance around like a happy nazi indian.

Oh - and one last thing: Desmond Morris wrote a fantastic new book about OWLs. I highly recommend it to all you owl lovers out there. It's all about owls and owls in art - which makes sense, Desmond Morris being an artist and a famous zoologist. Get your copy today!

Well, that's all for now, friends.
i am going to sleep, see you all tomorrow.
much love,
alisa ivanovna
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. The last death of a great writer who had a profound effect on my life was Vonnegut's in 2007. I cried and pulled all of his books off the shelf and looked for comfort from like minded lovers of his books. Salinger's books I love infinitely more, or maybe I should say "on a completely different level" - I think like everyone else, I feel like they are really all about "me" while other writers' books are about fictional characters. I don't really have any feelings for the man himself, but I am completely and passionately in love with Holden and Franny and Zooey and the others. I just read in the article that this is the unique thing about Salinger's writing: he wrote about his characters as though he deelply and passionately loved them; that made a lot of sense to me, and I think this is right. That is why we as readers love them so much too - because through this incredible love we relate to these people and they become totally real through us, in a way that makes us, the readers, feel more real and more connected to the world as well.
In a way I am glad that Salinger died because we get to find out if there is more. I am OK being totally selfish about this one; he was a genius, one of the most profound thinkers in history, but whether or not he had a right to keep this magic he created to himself, is a question I would be willing to debate.

2. Today was my second day of student teaching. I am loving the school I am at. First of all the art teacher I am working with is totally amazing and beautiful and talented and generous and kind, and second of all the kids are awesome. Today I met a kid who hacked into the school's grading system - how cool is that???!!! He one of those brilliant genius types who is too brilliant to be motivated, and too nice to be demanding - and is dropping out in a few days. That's pretty tragic, but I think he'll be OK in life. Things don't have to be all OK at seventeen to be OK later on. His name is Jacob, and his best friend's name is Rachel. Jacob and Rachel. :)
Also, this is probably my favorite part: I learned that my very own high school social studies teacher is the chair of the history department at the school I am at. She is somebody who I always loved very very much. Apart from being my 9th grade government teacher, and my summer camp director, I was also friends with both of her kids during high school years, who are my age, and participated in all the clubs and activities she ran and advised, and in allkinds of ways was inspired to become a teacher by her. I was little nervous that she would not recognize me, but she was so happy to see me!!!It was so wonderful! I was reminded who she was so famous for her hugs, but I also realized how much of her style I have been using in my own teaching. We have a plan to get together on Monday and catch up and gossip - I so can't wait!

3. I have a picture in a show at a big investment firm in Charlestown. It's a juried show of MassArt students (the opening was yesterday. The art there is for sale -and I priced my picture at 3000 dollars. Yes, I realize that's pretty high, but I thought there would be an auction which would start at half my asking price, but I got wrong information. The point is that someone wants to buy it! But they offered me 850. The lady from the office called me today to make the offer. I said to tell them 1500, because that was the least I was expecting to make off of it. I don't know if I am being foolish, and I should just be happy to make a sale, or whether the money actually makes a difference here. The thing is that this a large piece, something I am very fond of, and I am not even sure I want to sell it unless I am made an offer I can't refuse. In any case, I am going to wait to wait and see what they say, but one day it will be worth fifty thousand, but I'll be dead already, so it won't really matter.

4. I thing that's all the thoughts I have at the moment. I am going to go to sleep now, because the brilliant people who invented high schols expect teachers to be there at an hour too obscene to be put in writing. So long, friends.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007
http://alisa-ivanovna.livejournal.com/2007/01/28/

2008
http://alisa-ivanovna.livejournal.com/131011.html

2009
http://alisa-ivanovna.livejournal.com/2009/01/31/

2010
What can say? If there is a good thing that just keeps getting better, you gotta keep going with it. I have amazing, incredible, loving and generous friends. If there is one thing in life that truly deserves to be celebrated, it is love. Love is an art medium, it is so easy and lovely, and it lasts forever.

On Passover, we say Next year in Jerusalem.

Now we can also say, "next year in:
From WAMLCPARTY2010


:)
 
 
 
 
 
 
From January2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
I took a required class over winter semester called Concepts and Processes. It involved choosing a theme and making art in a different media every day based on that theme. Dry media, wet media, printmaking, collage/assemblage, digital, sculpture, installation. Considering that the best day of the year is only a few days away, it was kind of hard for me to pick another theme, so Great Birthdays it was.

I made a few things, none very exciting, except something called a Peep Show box - don't worry, it's nothing vulgar, they used to have them in the good old days before moving pictures. There's a beautiful scene and sometimes things move and change colors; mine doesn't, but it does play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star if you turn a little handle, which does make sense even though Mozart did not write it, because he did write about ten variations on the theme, and we all know where Twinkle-twinkle little Bat comes from, don't we.

Anyway, this is what it looks like:
From January2010


and this is sort of what a part of it looks like when you look inside (I am pretty amazed that the camera managed to capture this much, but you actually need an eyeball to see everything):
From January2010


and the totally cool thing is that when my lovely children upstairs saw it they immediately began making their own! How cool is that? Check this out:
From January2010

From January2010


we're almost done too. spend like three hours on this today.

it's a good thing Pearl decided to have a 60% off sale due to the coming of the apocalypse because now I can make a big installation like the magic box, for the party!
It will also involve these:
From January2010


but you'll just have to come and see what they look like.
I am very tired, a little discombobulated, have WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY too many things to do, but generally content at the moment.
 
 
 
 
 
 
From fall 2009


...and delicious!
 
 
 
 
 
 
In other news, I wanted to say that THIS is a really cool book:



The holiday spirit dropped one down our pretend chimney, and I've been pretty excited about every page. Get one for the geek in your bed.

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Codes-Understanding-Hidden-Messages/dp/0520260139
 
 
 
 
 
 
farewell 2009, a year in the historical record of life on earth,
according to Pope Gregory.
You were a good year.
you brought me, as promised
winter
spring
summer
and
autumn
you brought me
sadness and loneliness
but after that
you brought me more happiness that I ever dreamt was possible
not that you'll ever convince me
that
delayed gratification is
anithing other than
a dirty word
but I will agree
that the best things in life
are worth waiting for.

I learned a thing ot two
about grown up things
like
painful decisions, executive functioning, department of education, planning for the future, how truama affects children, pedagogical theory, selfishness and stupidity

and a three things or four
about eternally young things
like
true love
friendship
cooperation with like minded humans, and in particular the pleasure of working together towards a common goal,
my wonderful family
miracles
and sunshine.

In particular I learned a lot about sunshine,
dear year
because for some reason
you sent me my own sun
that follows me everywhere I go
similar to the raincloud that follows a sad person
except mine is the opposite of that

And I get to be the moon
reflecting warm glorious light

and playing with the stars.

This year a dog died
and will be missed a dogfull for ech one of her sweet spots

and babies were born to people I love
so I suppose I love them too since according to pictures they have the same gloriously blue eyes and slightly insane smiles I happen to know and adore

and some, had Sadness visit them for a long time time
lingering around,
walking back and forth in its house slippers
eating the last chocolate cupcake in the fridge
and grumbling about the economy and being normal
and how having wings takes too much maintenance
but she will soon be on her way

but it is now time to go, the celebration is starting, everyone is wearing a shiny silver dress and cape of stardust

The world is on its way: it will pause
for a split second
glance in the mirror
adjust its fancy party hat
and be off to the celebration that is life
and where things are wonderful, real, finite, yes, but possible.

From fall 2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
As it is customary among my people, I spent the day of the birth of Their Lord at the movie theater, taking my friends the Bad Children to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squequeal. However, being twenty minutes late because everyone and their fat mother had the idea to do to the movies today, and the fat mothers take up between 2-5 seats each (I think they actually had to close down the Registry of Motor Vehicles to get all those bitches to go out into the world and ruin everyone's holiday), and not being able to get seats anywhere other than on the staircase, the children and I decided that movie theater should suffer some losses for having inadequate seating arrangements and a profound lack of armed guards for the more colorful specimens among their patrons, so after seeing Alvin we snuck into another another door and saw most of Avatar as well. We couldn't get any special glasses so we saw it in a slightly blurry form but it was fine enough.

I liked the Chipmunks movie better. It was funnier, more believable, less moralizing, and there was WAY more sexual tension between the Chipmunks and the Chipettes than between the blue man/woman group.

I checked with the kids as we were going home what they thought. They were ambivalent. I asked if they think the movie Avatar had a moral, or a lesson. They said that it was fiction, so there is nothing it has to teach us about this world. They disagreed when I suggested that it was made to make people care more about planet Earth. They said there was nothing to learn from it.

I think the kids are right. The movie will appeal to people only as far as they understand those things anyway. It can be perceived on any level - as a myth, as a warning, as a piece of art, as a video game, as mindless entertainment, or as a powerful political or ecological statement. Whichever one it is - it will pass like a fart in a bath tub. After encountering this movie, people who see it will stay exactly the same. And that is why is is crap.

This thinking made me kind of angry about movies as a whole. I wondered if it really is a bullshit waste of time to make and watch movies. I don't really know, but there were certainly movies that changed my life. And books too. But things that really changed my life were time, and other people. Relationships with other people are the things that make us who we are - that's what shapes our brains and makes us into better people. Books and movies are no substitutes for other humans. Even really good ones.

that's all.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Now that the craze for Burton's Alice coming soon to a theater near you is gathering more force than one can escape, I will share with you all what I think. I think Burton is a great guy, finny, imaginative, and undoubtedly talented in his own special way. Just because I personally don't care a tiny bit for any of his movies, does not mean they are bad or tasteless, or over-the-top, or based on predictable and repetitive algorithms, shrill voices, sudden close-ups and twisted camera angles, a formulaic color palette of blacks, grays, and really bright colors shining through the thick and mysterious smoke. But why does he need to start fucking with Alice? Alice In Wonderland is a book that belongs to a very sacred and exclusive family of books that do not need to made into movies. Master and Margarita is a book like that, Catcher In The Rye, and many others I don't feel like listing here. As far as Alice, I am even pretty adamant that it should not be illustrated by anyone other than Sir. John Tenniel who did the original illustrations approved by Carroll, based on Carroll's own sketches. The pictures and the text go together in a kind of symbiotic way that makes it obvious to anyone with half a brain that if you are going to illustrate, no matter how good you are, find something else to do. You can spend years making the most gorgeous illustrations for Alice, and in ten years no one is going to care, because they will be an extra set, and they will not be needed, re-printed, or looked at. This upcoming movie, judging from the trailer, is kind of like that: a shiny illustration to the "best bits of Alice taken out of context and inserted into a stupid Disney movie". The movie takes place some years after the actual story (which means that none of Carroll's structure or logic of the book is maintained or adhered to, and even worse, it seems like a completely banal conflict of good vs. evil is the central force of the movie with some direct quotes stolen from the book and strategically scattered through the different characters in Disneyfied attire to keep the interest of the viewers enough from falling asleep, or, going mad.
The magic of Carroll's Wonderland of conveyed through the words of the book, not through the wild and crazy, or zany or loud, or exuberant or polished. The wit and wisdom of the book is quiet, it takes a while to settle, it moves in different directions, it needs time to make itself comfortable in one's imagination. If Burton wants to make a zany movie with wacky characters it doesn't matter where he sets his movie, or what the movie is about, or what it is based on, because all loyal Burton fans will go see it anyway, and get a kick out of it, but the poor Mad Hatter will not be raped in twenty different ways to conform to the twists of the movie plot and the Red Queen can wish people's heads off in her own special way, not in aging and heavily made-up Helena Bonham Carter way, with all due respect.
Now of course you can ask me why don't I feel this way about the Russian record of Alice which I, like all the other kids who grew up on it, adore and still listen to regularly, more even than in my childhood. Yes, you could say that Vysotsky can be compared to Burton, that his songs add an alien feature to the story, that all the moralizing and subliminal political commentary has no place in the story - but I would disagree. I think the Russian record, other than being extremely true to the plot and meaning of the original even though it is in a different language, is extraordinarily respectful of Carroll and of his book. It is completely non-pretentious, it is appropriately subtle, and it was made in a place and at a time when it was an outlet for professionally repressed geniuses who understood, lived, and conveyed the original work, not, as in Burton's case, made it into a vehicle for his own special creative (dare I say commercial?) agenda.
One other movie based on Alice, is of course, Jan Svankmajer's Alice. I really can't say that is is a movie I would watch very often, though it had a definite effect on me the first time I saw it. In general I think Svankmajer would have been better off sticking to original pieces rather than illustrating other people's work, but I am not very angry at him over Alice. I consider it a "response" to the book, rather than a way to use the book for his own commercial benefit, though clearly he uses it for his own creative benefit, which I am not too happy about. But like Carroll and Vysotsky, and unlike Burton, Svankmajer is an artist, who, in my opinion operates within a different creative realm. But it was he who benefited from using Alice as a basis for his movie, not Alice who benefited from having yet another movie made about her.
I believe that the effects on the book Alice in Wonderland will be devastating following the release of Burton's movie. For people who are lovers of Carroll and the book, it will put big stain on their relationship of the book because they will be surrounded by people who have seen the movie and thus presume to know something about teh original story. For People who will be introduced to the book for the first time through this movie, the book will be represented in a completely misguided and vandalized way, and if some people do decide to buy and read the book they will not be attuned and sensitive to the subtle complexities of the humor and the plot, but will look for the quotes of sentences that were stolen for the movie. In any case, I think the whole idea is a disaster, and I hope that it flops terribly.
 
 
 
 
 
 
and in other exciting news, I'll be teaching a Fiber Arts class for little girls for a week in the summer through Community Ed. How exciting! we are going to do sewing and felting, and embroidering, and all those exciting things! Hooray!

This makes me want to work on tapestry #2 so badly...ugh. back to stupid papers...:(
 
 
 
 
 
 
So I as much as I detest hysterical, self-righteous rants directed at various aspects of the service industry so much of LJ is made of, I do have to say that if dear old UPS followed instructions I left for them taped to the door, I would be dancing around in the soon-to-be-here snowstorm in a pair of lovely warm boots, instead of sadly contemplating their journey back to Colorado, and mine, back into three pairs of socks and thus too tight shoes. Is it just me, or do feet get colder with age?

Also, the heat. Inside. for warmth. What's up with my nose bleeding all the time? Or just once? Everyone has their own special remedy for a bloody nose. Mine is to let it flow until it is done. If you don't freak out, it just stops after a few minutes even if you blow the bloody snot out with all your might. really. It can be a fun family activity to do with children.

I have a very large TO DO list for my very short vacation. Assuming I actually finish my school assignments before the 22nd, I need to make a wedding invitation for friends, do a grown up art project for some serious grown ups I know, put together a children's book I wrote (that means draw all the pictures and make it into a book, because all I have now is the idea), work on illustrations for another book that has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year - a book of children's poems - (though now I have a REALLY great idea for what to do with that one, but it might take another year or so), finish my new map, plan for Mozart's and Lewis Carroll's birthday (will somebody rich and nice get me a big box of Mirabell Mozart Candy??) - which is getting more, rather than less exuberant, work with my delightful children, oh yeah, feed S. and R.'s cats for three weeks, and last but not least spend quality time with my most wonderful beloved who got up at six am every morning of my semester to make me breakfast and lunch, and make sure I have all my stuff, and a cup of warm tea, and enough money for the bus, and hats and scarves and mittens and a kiss out the door that was warmer than all of the woolen objects combined, and got me through my semester with the kind of care that I never even knew was possible to experience in my whole life, and if there is one important think I learned about life this semester, it was that I am the luckiest girl in the world. So if nothing but the last thing on my to do list gets done during the vacation, I'll be plenty ok with things, because everyone else can wait.
 
 
 
 
 
 
I needed quarters for a meter so I went to the MassArt bookstore to get them but they said no.
I had to buy something.
What is the cheapest thing I can buy?
Thumbtacks! They are only 10 cents!
The flat ones, that break your mails when you pull them out.
OK, I'll get them.
Better than a 30 dollar ticket.
When they rung them in - only 1 cent! 1 penny!
I never got anything for a penny before.
I gave them a $20.00 and $.01, and they gave me a box of 50 thumbtacks, a dollar in quarters, and 19 dollars in green papers.

Then I went to a meeting with my adviser during which I provided many brilliant ideas on how they should change the program I am in and make it better.
He said they'll get on it at once.

I still don't have a student teaching position lined up for next semester. very frustrating.

I did, however, write a brand new book about bunnies.
Tomorrow I'll scan it in and share.

My favorite professor brought three rubber band balls to class.
Who wants one?
MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
(It's a good thins I practice saying that a lot: I was SO ready!)
Now I have it my pocket and I love it. IT BOUNCES!

Hmmmmm...what else? Oh yes, don't even think about coming over to our house to poop, because our toilet in rebellion mode. How long will that last, I wonder? The plumber lost all hope too. ber plum.

Sunday night at Home Depot is couple's night. We too went there to purchase weapons for the great toilet flood of 09. It was very romantic.

Sunday morning at Home Depot is a singles event. I went there with a friend this summer, and experienced a whole new level of sexual harassment. Now only couples night. Who do they this I am??? jerks...
 
 
 
 
 
 
Read more... )
 
 
 
 
 
 
where have I been?
no one knows!

1.my apartment is filling up with books. not mine! hooray!
2.went apple picking!!!! saw goats! goats are nasty creatures, I can see why people call people they don't like kozyol. The male ones have no manners, harass the girls, stick our their nasty skinny little penises and chase them all around. The little girl I was with watched the goats for a while, and then said: "hmm. goats are a lot like humans".
3. talking about small children who speak the words of the wise, I am getting a new nephew soon. any day now. hurry up there...I am getting impatient.
4.I am a graduate school. I don't go to work everyday. I read books and write papers. Why didn't anyone tell me how unbelievable that is the first time I was a student?
5. I get to teach photography to 11 and 12th graders in Saturday Studios at MassArt. Am I excited? yes, I would say. DARKROOM!!! WHOA!!! I get to use it!!!!! oh, baby!!!!
6.signed up for vegetable delivery. bostonorganics.com. It's 30 bucks a week and I've heard rave reviews about it. we'll see. But I am very excited.
7. Noodler's Ink. I might have to become a convert. it even smells like something dangerous.http://www.noodlersink.com/
8. Taking a class (as if four graduate classes isn't enough) at the Federation for Children with Special Needs. http://fcsn.org/index.php For my own personal amusement.
9. The personal amusement comes from being not so amused by the interaction between a particular school in Cambridge and a family I work with. Cambridge schools suck big time. Newton schools suck too, but not nearly as much, and they are scared. Newton schools are going to implode soon, The whole system is disintegrating. Not the whole system, but definitely everythign and anything having to do with children with special needs. I am going to try to student teach in Brookline. I am sure they suck as much, but at least it will be a new and exciting sucking. Or I can sell out and spend four months at http://waringschool.org/ . Wouldn't that be something...
10. That's it for today. I am off to eat my freshly picked apples with my hunny.

So long!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
У нас дома идёт борьба с мухами. Это немножко ужасно и немножко прекрасно. Мы никак не можем понять откуда они берутся, и причём в таких количествах. Сегодня мы случайно проснулись в восемь утра, вышли на кухню, и оказались в липкой и жужжащей стае злобных летучих насекомых. Алиса Ивановна, как и была в обнаженном виде залезла на стол и перепрыгивая со стола на полку а с полки на холодильник брызгала в гадов водой, и, обезлётив их, прихлопывала мух бумажным полотенцем, и они, с удовлетворительным хрустом, отходили на тот свет. Мой милый при этом бегал по полу, подавал мне свежие полотенца, принимал тела ушедших мух открывал а закрывал дверь, что бы мухи вылетели к корридор а потом на улицу и их не нужно было убивать, включал и выключал свет, и вообще командовал битвой как Наполеон, только без коня. Мухи довольно быстро научились избегать обстрела и новое поколение, не понятно откуда взявшеся к вечеру, расселось по стенам и потолку и оттуда злобно поглядывает на блинного носорога, но он хорошо защищён. Всё таки интересно бы узнать откуда они берутся и что им надо.
 
 
 
 
 
 
From blinchiki
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Read more... )
 
 
 
 
 
 
From july 2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
dear friends,
-
thouse of you who asked - and those who didn;t -
tomorrow will be your last chance to see my works in the Amazing Things Art Center

160 Hollis Street
Framingham

I'll be there 4-6.
 
 
 
 
 
 
there's this idea in the world of asking for too much.
like the fisherman's wife and the goldfish.
in faity tales things end badly for the greedy.
in real life they seem to do just fine.
there are people who spew at those around them that all they asked for
is so little, and the other party couldn't/wouldn;t even do that.
I've said that before.
I have said before that all I asked for was so little and I couldn;t even have that.
maybe I am completely wrong, but I actually do think that I ask for very little.
And not being able to get a single thing for which I have asked
is making me feel
like I don't really want anything anymore.
and it is very sad.
 
 
 
 
 
 
to keep my mind off of violent and permanently terrible things brought about by my highly functional life arrangement, as well as to keep sane in the great flood condenscending upon my attempts to look for a glimpse of sunlight, I decided to make myself feel better by working on my picture of the apocalypse. It's working great!!!!

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