Summertime gladness

We are not traveling anywhere this summer. This was the plan even before Mike found out that he was going to be one of the two deans at his school and therefore not really free to make such plans in the first place. He dislikes his new role btw, because as he put it, his job is essentially to fix other people's mistakes, including those of upper management and prior deans. On top of which, he also has to be the de facto chair of two departments because the university decided to eliminate all chair positions. I am increasingly of the opinion that the role of middle management is to serve as a buffer between upper management and employees (aka taking shit from both sides).

Back to my plans this summer—absolutely nothing, and that's how I want it. Its not that I don't have the itch to travel, but I haven't lost even a single pound since returning from our sabbatical travels and I gained quite a bit of weight over that period. So, I hope I can get back in shape a little more. Otherwise, I take it one day at a time. 

I recently finished a 4-day printmaking class which was conveniently located in the art alley two minutes from my apartment. It was nice to be a student again, and it was nice to mingle with people—a good vibes only graphic designer who does freelance projects for Converse, an older lady who is very much involved with the local art community in organizing events/projects, but is only beginning to explore her own artistic side, an art therapist with a quiet, calm and gentle manner whose immaculate print revealed an ability to grasp new methods quickly and execute it with amazing attention to detail, a shy, computer programmer of a dad who looks too young to have a 15-year old son and the instructor who generously shared her daily hurdles with kids, hubby and the rest of the flock, in a frank, I am figuring my shit out, smile and wink way. 

I used one of my old fox illustrations to make my print and they all said how sweet my print looked, like something out of a children's book illustration and on the last day, people were borrowing the colors I mixed, because they thought it looked so pretty and the graphic design girl said I have a really good instinct for color, which made me happy, I mean, she is a graphic designer after all!

Then yesterday, Mike's friend, lets call him Wineman (because he sells wine and is from France), stopped by for half an hour to give us two bottles of free wine and catch up a bit. He is one of Mike's Binghamton friends whom I like, not only because (but significantly so :P) he gets excited about my paintings, but because I think he is a sensitive gent and a good father—he genuinely seems to think that the days he gets to spend with his daughter are his fun days, though of course, even he has to choose some real downtime over going for yet another show of Frozen with his kid. Wineman is also probably a good husband, he certainly takes on more domestic responsibilities than any man I have met, and he is doing so because his wife's hand are tied with the new business she is running. He is also blessed with a pleasant temperament which helps him stay chipper even with the stresses of family life (both his father and father-in-law got diagnosed with early-stage cancer recently), finances (50% tariffs on European imports) and extreme work schedule (after stopping by our place, he was immediately off for a work appointment and had been on a no-break work marathon for 10 days). I am always in awe of people who can take on so much of life's challenges (like my mom), in a way that seems to give them meaning and purpose (so not the mindless ones who just keep on keeping on cos they don't know how to think for themselves) and so I am on team Wineman, hoping everything comes up spades for him and his family.

And that's been my summer so far, the company of good people and the pleasure of small, but new experiences.