the best laid plans...

I'm sitting in my office at work on pins and needles. This morning I will teach an ancient art class at the university where I normally work (I'm holding office hours for my ancient art students right now), and this afternoon I will be teaching a Renaissance course at a university located a few hours away, nestled in the mountains. (Yes, I have a full-time job teaching at the university near my house, but due to a series of events I wound up teaching this other class at another school.)

Anyhow, I sure hope that I make it to this new school tonight - which is why I am on pins and needles. I woke up extra early this morning and made sure I prepared everything before I left. But as I drove to my local school, I noticed a warning light turn on for my tire pressure. And upon arriving at my local university to teach this morning's class, I noticed that one tire was really low. Not flat, but low. I'm not sure if the tire has a slow leak or if something punctured the tire. [Deep sigh.] I also have no idea what the tire condition will be after I emerge from my ancient art class at noon. Completely flat? Driveable? Hopefully I'll be able to drive far enough to a gas station (to put in some air), and then rush home and exchange cars so that I can be at the far-away university before my class begins this afternoon.

What an ironic twist of fate - especially since today is the first day of class for my Renaissance students. Everything depends on that silly tire.

birthday dad

Unless J checks my blog while riding the bus home from work (which I doubt), he'll be surprised to see this when he walks in the door:

This is the surprise party which Sam and I have orchestrated. We went to the grocery store and picked out these items. Can you tell which contributions were made by me and which ones were by Sam? You might be surprised:

• "Happy Birthday" banner: Me

• Party hats: Sam

• Red rose: Sam (All week he has been fixated on buying J a "special red flower" for his birthday. I think Sam has seen someone give me red roses before, and he now associates them as gifts for a special occasion. I think it's very darling. I don't think I've ever given J a red rose before, and I'm glad Sam had the idea instead.)

• Birthday balloon in the shape of a cake: Sam

• Spiderman "blowout" party favors: Sam
  

• "You are Special" red plate: Me (This isn't something that Sam and I bought expressly for today - it's a plate that we use on special occasions.)

• Homemade lasagna: Me
  

Here is my other contribution:

A pie inspired by Gene Davis! (J requested pie, which is a good thing, because I don't know if I could bake a Gene-Davis-esque cake)

We love J so much and are so lucky to have him in our lives. He makes me and Sam very happy.

P.S. We've moved to a new place! Can you tell? I promise to post photos soon, but I can't bring myself to take photos until we have mounted all of our pictures on the wall.

sam's take on art

Sam knows that I teach my students about art. Lately, he's been wanting to have pretend school sessions, and I am often designated as the teacher. Sam lines up his stuffed animals (his fellow classmates) and we have discussions about sundry topics. We often talk about upcoming holidays, different types of weather, letters in the alphabet, or numbers. And we'll usually end up talking about art for at least a few minutes during each school session, which is fun.

As a result, Sam has shared a few of his own opinions about art. The other week I asked Sam what was his favorite type of art, and he immediately replied, "Mummies." I had to laugh, especially because he was so sure in his response. A few months ago we were looking at one of my survey art textbooks, and he noticed images of King Tut's sarcophagus (including the mummy mask shown on the right).

Sam has also informed me last week that statues can't be lots of colors. They are "just white." I guess he really is a part of Western culture, if he already realizes that marble is preeminent around here!

Today in "school" we talked about where people can display art. He quickly agreed that art can be displayed in a house and in a museum. (He gets most excited to talk about art being in museums, since we take him to the local art museum fairly regularly. His favorite place to go is the African art section, since he likes to look at the masks of animals.)

Anyhow, after a little bit of discussion today, Sam finally agreed that art also can be displayed in a park. But he said, "Yeah, art can be in a park. [Pause.] [Grimace.] But it will get a little bit dirty." Ha! Either he was born with (or has been taught) my aversion to uncleanliness, or perhaps we have a future curator/conservator in our midst.