Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: Ambreen Butt, art, Carroll & Sons, Christmas, Parent, Toyota
Well, I made it through the holidays with my sanity mostly intact. WOO HOOOO!!! Now, I just have to make it through this vacation week until January 2, when school resumes. LORD HAVE MERCY. I’m sure that there are some parents out there with easygoing children. We’re not in that category. I keep trying to remind myself how I’ll miss this age in a year, but this thought doesn’t really help much. I just googled “child anger management.” Yes, we’re at that point. Did I mention that he’s only 5? I have gray hairs already set aside for his teenage years.
It’s kind of ridiculous to be “at that point” when we JUST had Christmas and my son’s 5th birthday. I know. Toys won’t solve childhood angst…even this one:
Yes. It’s hungry hungry hippos. LOVE. IT. Who’s world is not made more complete by this toy???? Apparently my son today at 5pm. I think that’s kind of the bewitching hour for kids anyway…that’s why the world created SpongeBob and Happy Hour.
Did I mention that my son has told me repeatedly that my smooches on his cheek are “irritating his skin”? Did I also mention that he walked into the kitchen the other day with his shoes, coat, and backpack on telling me that he was leaving? I fear that my chances for “Mother Of The Year” are slipping through my fingers. I quit my job as an architect to be a better mom. Is it working????? Based upon my recent parental “feedback”, I’d say “no”. I’m just glad that my son doesn’t know how to dial a phone yet, or else DSS might be at my doorstep any minute now.
In order to cope with my child’s angst and anger, I’m reawakening my drug of choice:
Yes…those are needles…but not the heroin kind. That’s knitting. For those of you that don’t knit…don’t start. It can be horribly addictive, socially isolating, and can create episodes of both euphoria and despair. Don’t even get me started on those crack dens called “knitting stores”. How bad can it really be when the result is a handmade woolly garment, right? Don’t be fooled. Just say “no”. The store employees are TOTAL ENABLERS. This is the kind of stuff they think is a good idea:
Hmm.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Ohhhhkay. NOW, I feel like “Mom Of The Year” in comparison to the parent of this poor child. Yes, that’s a HAT with a KNIT BEARD attached to it. No, I’m not kidding. People make these…many people. (None that you should get to know, though.) No, I’m really not kidding. I think that there should be a law against putting beard/hat combos on anyone who is not physically able to remove it IMMEDIATELY. Poor thing. Talk about irritating the skin…sheesh…I should show this to my son and perhaps he’ll consider himself lucky…
Besides not getting any artwork done, as it’s vacation/circus week here, I did manage (or rather, finagle) my way over to the South End to see the last day of a show at Carroll & Sons. I felt that I deserved to do this, as I had been waiting at the Toyota dealership that morning for my 50K tune up for THREE AND A HALF HOURS. You’d think with all of that time they could have cleaned out the explosion of crumbs on my son’s carseat…but I digress…
The show at Carroll & Sons was the work of Ambreen Butt. The title of the show was, “Beyond the Ideas of Rightness or Wrongness There is a Field; I’ll Meet You There.” I loved all of it, and I was so amazed at the breadth of her skill. Here are some images from the show:
So amazing, right? The radiating reliefs of toes and fingers were AMAZING. So beautiful, yet also a bit disturbing. The row of portraits are a sublime transformation of one person into another…brilliant! The huge collages which look like Persian rugs were astounding. As I managed to see this show on its last day, I can’t suggest that you run out and see it yourself. Take a look at the links to her website…she’s uber talented and I bask in her artistic virtuosity. It seems that she can do anything from beautiful paintings to compelling collages, to phenomenal sculpture…sigh. Super inspiring. Definitely check out her website.
Well, 2012 has been crazy, to say the least. I’m not even going to discuss the chaotic world news that puts me in a tailspin EVERY DAY whilst I masochistically tune in to NPR. The horrors. Next time, while I rock in the fetal position listening one of these harrowing stories, I’ll try to remember to bring my knitting. I hope that over the past year this blog has provided you, dear reader, with moments of levity, artistic inspiration, and an occasional, “WOW! There are REALLY crazy people out there!!!!” (I’ll forgive you if you include me as one of them.)
Happy Upcoming New Year’s Eve! (the holiday liked only by people between the ages of 21 and 25…*YAWN*)
slightly wonky 