by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Life |
It’s BLISS day, my sweetums! The day when I share the little things that rocked my world this week. And you can share too, in the comments. Or by clicking on that button over there, the one on the right, and linking up to the Little Bliss List blog party.
So here’s what did it for me this week. Things that put a smile on my face, made my heart go all soft and awwwww…
Number one. Numero Uno. The kids at the local high school (Nevada Union, Grass Valley CA) BLEW ME AWAY with the election of a special needs Home Coming Queen. The election of Rachel Bristol, a senior with Down syndrome was the SECOND time this academic year when a special needs student was elected to the Home Coming court. The first was last fall when Colin Pierce, another Down syndrome student, was elected Home Coming King.
Here’s the link. Unfortunately the local paper is now a paid subscription online. Copying the URL doesn’t work. Never fear, you can read it on my facebook timeline.
I read about this in the classroom where I teach, maybe a ten minute walk to the high school. My students are developmentally disabled adults. Many of them went to that same school. The day before the newspaper ran the story, one of my students, a young woman in her twenties, was talking about how unhappy she’d been in high school. How mean the regular ed kids had been to those in special ed.
And now they’re winning the biggest popularity contest of all…Home Coming.
While I was reading about Rachel Bristol, a young man just a couple of years older than her was dancing in front of an easel a few feet in front of me–and I mean dancing–while he painted on a 3X4 canvas. He’s Downs and there’s NO ONE who paints with the joy that he paints with. He’s relatively new to us and already several pieces of his have been accepted for a show in New York City.
Bliss indeed.
Number two good thing full o’bliss…the decision to launch Random Acts of Art Wednesday (RAAW). You can read all about it here. The response was AMAZING!!! I can’t wait to see what you link up with on Wednesday. Because you WILL be linking up, won’t you? Remember, if you don’t have a blog just send me a photo and I’ll post it. Need to have the photos by the Tuesday before.
Number three…a little hint o’winter. Just a tease from mother nature, considering she’s held off on WEATHER this year. Don’t even know if you can call it snow when the grass is poking through but still, waking up and seeing this was a good moment.
Number four. The arty cathedral in the woods, AKA the future Studio Grande. Mr. Spouse is a good man with a serious building habit. And right now that’s making me a very happy Mrs. Spouse.
And number five? Hours and hours of studio time this week. Music! Layers! Big canvasses!!! A couple of small ones finished. Perhaps next week I’ll have something to show for it.
So that’s my list. Now it’s your turn. Can’t wait to read what turned you on this week.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Life |
And that means BLISS. And the BLISS LIST.
Oh, what a lovely list of bliss this week. It was my birthday, you see, as trillions GAZILLIONS of my not-so-nearest but definitely DEAREST best friends EVER posted greetings on my Facebook wall. Ah, I am still basking in the luuuuuuuuv, my sweetums. Positively glowing. In fact I’m glowing so much we don’t even need the lights on tonight.
Now that’s bliss.
And so is this. Portebella ‘burger’ with roasted red pepper, melted cheese. Brie? Brie? I do not recall but IT WAS DELICIOUS. Beyond delicious. It was BLISS ON A BUN. And the salad dressing was some sort of garlic attack in the most goodly of ways.
And of course there was puppy love. There is always puppy love on my list. Count on it. This week the puppy really is a puppy. Just a baby.
Awwwww…Look at that fat little belly. Soft little puppy hair. PUPPY BREATH! Don’t you just want to pick him up and kiss him! And kiss him! And kiss him!!! And snuggle him against your shoulder and KISS his little head and make silly little sing song noises like a completely besotted fool.
Don’t you?
There is NOTHING that brings your blood pressure down better than a puppy. Especially a sleepy puppy. Nothing.
My co-workers and I are lining up to love on the newest perk at work…BUBBA. Not to be confused with the late, great Bubba mine. Who was the best dog ever, RIP. May baby Bub grow into the next best dog ever.
Speaking of work…ta ta…a collaborative painting by two of my favorite students. Two of my absolute favorite people who just happen to have Down Syndrome. This photograph doesn’t begin to do the painting justice. Layers and layers of jewel tone glazes make the underpainting POP. And it’s for sale. The artists get 60% of the profits. The rest goes towards purchasing new supplies for the Neighborhood Center of the Arts. You can read all about this place here. And if you’re interested let me know.
And if you could see these guys paint…oh man, it’s even better than puppy breath. And how do you top that??? They LOVE to paint. They LIVE to paint. Totally focused, totally into it. No inner critic on their shoulders. They just PAINT. And smile and laugh and sing and dance.
And what would a week be without chocolate? This week’s yummiest bliss is the. most. DECADENT. brownie. EVER!!! It’s baked in the local co-op, in their own little bakery. And oh my, I cannot eat more than a smidgen at a time. It’s that rich. I had about a quarter of it over two days and gave the rest away to three other people. And it’s only maybe three inches square, total.
It’s. That. Rich. Which bears repeating…so I did.
Those are all good things. Happy feeling making things. But the thing that came beyond all that, beyond even puppy breath and chocolate, the thing that sent the Bliss-O-Meter over the top—
ahhh… the absolute KNOWING that this space, this studio-in-the-making, is the right place at the right time of my life.
I’d love to hear from you. What rocked your world this week? What made you smile? Share it in the comments section below. We all want to know.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Life
I got up yesterday, went on-line to check out the local news. The first thing that caught my eye was the story about a boy by the name of Colin Pierce, a seventeen year old with Down Syndrome who was elected homecoming king by the students at Nevada Union, the same high school my kids graduated from.
This was more than just a feel good story for me. For nearly fifteen years I’ve been an art instructor at a center for developmentally disabled adults. I’ve learned to see people for their abilities, not their dis-abilities. Some of my absolute favorite people in this world have Down Syndrome. Or Autism. Or one or more of any combination of DNA screw ups. People either through accident of birth or accident of man are not the same as everyone else.
So for me, this story went beyond Colin. Because Down kids accept themselves just fine. This story spoke volumes about how far we’ve come from a society which not too long ago institutionalized people who are different as a matter of policy. Make no mistake, we still have a long way to go. But this is a start. You can read about Colin here.
And then I read about three year old Davyn Wilkison. He’d wandered away from his home in the mountains not far from here. Wandered away the day before and was still missing. My heart went out to the family as I thought about the child’s odds. Night time temperatures weren’t too cold yet, he’d most likely survive that. But there’s a river, wild and dangerous. Bears. Mountain lions. Coyotes. Mine shafts. I wouldn’t want to be out there alone at night, I couldn’t imagine a child.
My heart went out to the little boy. To his family. But there was nothing I could do besides send up a prayer.
A little while later I was told Davyn is related to a man I know through work. Which meant he wasn’t a stranger to me anymore. He wasn’t just a story that I could walk away from. I sat there after the call ended and let the news sink in. Let myself feel. And then I said to the universe, please–let this child be found safe. And unharmed.
And lo and behold, a short while later, he was. His story is here.
Starting off the morning with good news–no, make that GREAT news set the tone for the day. And then around noon came the icing on the cake. The broken pipe that had left us without water for three days was finally fixed. We were back in the world of indoor plumbing. Showers….Flush toilets….
Good news indeed.
