Cinderella's Challenge

At the start of the school year, I feel like Cinderella

Yesterday, I actually had homework in all of my daughter's high school classes

I had to read and sign and date all kinds of forms

Forms that indicated that:

I have read the school rules

I am aware my daughter has read the school rules

I know my daughter must follow the school rules

 Don't be late to class

Respect other students

Turn in homework on time

What is this?

She's in High School

NOT KINDERGARTEN!

She can read and sign all this herself

Why am I signing to let her teachers know I know what she is doing?

I am assuming that YES, they DO get that many complaints and excuses from parents

GOOOOOOOD GRIEEEEEEEF

I even had to help my daughter fill out a questionnaire about what it means to have self-respect, have respect for others, and for a teacher to respect students

SERIOUSLY?

WHY???

I do NOT remember my parents having to fill out such forms for me.

I get the medical forms, in case of emergency forms, and requests for volunteers

But I do NOT get this!

I felt like Cinderella all afternoon, writing notes about when the kids would be absent due to religious reasons this fall (without pre-authorization, they may not be able to make up missed work), writing to the P.E. department to let the teachers know what my daughter can and cannot do with her scoliosis body brace (why can't she just tell them - are they seriously going to mark her grade down because she has no flexibility in her spine?), checking homework, getting supplies at Staples (where, I may add the checkout line reached from the front of the store all the way to very back of the store), cooking dinner, cleaning, laundry, etc.

CINDERELLA!!!!

Now WHEN can I go to the DANCE?

Cinderella's Challenge Giclee Print is On SALE all weekend

for Labor Day

Get it?

GO GET IT!

 

Toodles,

Binky

Laugh

I'm still laughing

at Ventura County Community College's

HR Department

Oh they are a riot!

My saga with the VCCCD continues....

When asked what kind of science biochemistry is, 

since the Board of Governors has determined that 

Biochemistry not a biological science or derivative thereof, 

Michael Arnoldus, in the VCCCD HR Department said "I don't know"

Ah - the Brilliance!!!

Sheer and Utter Brilliance!

 

The VCCCD reputation is definitely going to getting bruised a bit by my campaign against ignorance

I've sent email to

Dennis Prager

Anderson Cooper

Ellen Degeneres

The White House (Barak Obama and I were at Harvard at the same time)

The Acorn and Ventura County Star Newspapers

Harvard

The Chancellor of the VCCCD

and a few others...

The VCCCD Chancellor said she would look into it

Harvard was amused by the entire email exchange,

likening it to dealing to dealing with poor customer service from a cable or cell phone company.

I think that's an insult to the cable and cell phone companies !!

The Harvard response went on to offer their support and then stated: 

"It is very frustrating and often depressing to see such an abysmally ignorant and clearly lazy exchange in writing"

I'll keep you posted on any other reponses

So laugh a bit with this card - it's on sale today for $1.00

If X=Y

LOGIC!

Does it Even Exist Anymore?

 

A few months ago I applied for a position as part-time instructor in Biological Sciences

at the local community college

Ventura County Community College District (VCCCD)

Given that I have a PhD in Biochemistry

my thesis dealt with mechanisms of resistance to anti-cancer drugs

I've taught biochemistry sections at Harvard

I've designed and taught biochemistry labs at Harvard

I am a math and science tutor

and

I have been a Patent Agent writing and prosecuting biotechnical, and biomedical patents for the past 14 years

One would think I'm qualified to teach biology at a community college

Ha!

That would imply the VCCCD was logical

They posting for this position indicated that they wanted a person 

with at least a Master's Degree in Biological Science, or a derivative thereof

 

After many rounds of email, 

The HR Department determined that biochemistry is not a biological science or derivative thereof

AND

it's not quite clear they understand a PhD is a more advanced than a Master's Degree

Go figure.

If X=Y

not at the community college level!

Go check out this painting at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

To see more paintings by Darlene Graeser, visit www.darlenegraeser.com

 

Was It Good For You?

It was NOT good for me!

I just stood in lines (many) to register my daughter for her high school classes, 

get locker locks, 

get the actual locker assignment,

get P.E. clothes, 

get a mandatory reference book,

a reminder schedule notebooks, 

her class schedule, 

and accomplish a variety of other paperwork chores for the school.

What a Zoo!

And, for Public School,

it sure cost me a lot of money!

I had to buy pictures,

P.E. clothes

two locks for the lockers; one for P.E., one for books

"voluntary" donation in order to get a school directory

and several others which I can no longer recall

I spent over $300

for my daughter's FREE public education

How is that possible?

I know - I know - because the government doesn't have money....

Where does my tax money go?

Just pondering.....

and pondering....

Oh - and not to mention for all this money - they cut out an entire period of classes for her.

Despite paying $600 for summer school so she could have an extra class during the school year,

they are no longer offering that class

And the other class she wanted was over-filled by one student, so she didn't even get into that.

Really hard to understand.

Therefore, this "Was It Good For You" painting is on sale.

A RARE event to have an original canvas painting, tryptic on sale

10% off this weekend

Because I feel screwed and it was not good for me!

Toodles,

Binky

50 Minutes

Today is all about the 50-Minute Poster

It is the most highly viewed poster of our online store

Is it the colors?

Is it the subject?

Is it the lines?

What is it that makes this poster so popular?

We welcome comments

To buy a poster for yourself if you don't already have one

(I do - hung in my home office - black poster frame- gorgeous!)

You can buy one at

Unconscious On Canvas: 50 Minute Poster

They are on sale for only $10 for the next 3 days

Hurry and get one before the weekend.

If you mention "Binky's Blog" we'll include Free Shipping!

Toodles,

Binky

Spread Angel

Today's Topic:

The Body

My daughter has scoliosis

She has had scoliosis since she was 5 1/2 years old

She is now 14 years old

She has worn a TLSO 18-23 hours a day, every single day

A TLSO is a Thoracic-Lumbar Scoliosis Orthotic

Basically, a body brace

She has achieved amazing correction 

and has thus far avoided surgery

She has had about 12 different body braces in her lifetime so far

 Stop and Think About This

Can you imagine being in a body brace for 9 years of your life?

From kindergarten through high school

Don't take your straight spine for granted!

This Mosaic Spread Angel adorns Darlene Graeser's Master Bathroom

She's straight

But made of broken mosaic tile pieces

But she's an angel in high heels

Is that how my daughter is? 

Comments always welcome.

To see more mosaic artwork, visit www.darlenegraeser.com

or the online store at

www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

Commission a Broken Mosaic Tile artwork for yourself at:

Commissioned Broken Mosaic Tile Art

Luv Seat

The Luv Seat

What does this mean?

I like to cuddle on the couch with my kids

One of my kids loves it

The other absolutely detests it

The one that loves it also like to jump on the couch

The other one likes to sleep on it

I would think that the one who likes to cuddle would also like to sleep

but, no

The one who likes to cuddles likes to leap, jump, run, and run amok

The one who hates to cuddle

likes to sleep in, sit quietly, read, rest, relax, and generally not move

Why is that?

In any case, this is Darlene Graeser's Luv Seat

It's fabulous!

To see a larger picture of this couch, and to see more of her painted furniture, visit:

www.darlenegraeser.com

I didn't really link this to the Deal of the Day at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

but you should take a look at the Deal of the Day
as we put our most popular poster on sale!  Get it at this really low price - last time I put it on sale was back in December of 2011!

Toodles,

Binky

Stay Put

Don't Move

My mom had hair like this

I can actually conjure up the smell of the Aqua Net

There were cans of Aqua Net on my grandmother's dressing table as well.

 

And yesterday I did something I swore I would NEVER do

It was picture day for my son's school, and

 

in an effort to attempt to make sure his sticky-uppy hair stayed in place 

 

for just for the 15 minutes or so it took to get to school and have the photo taken,

 

I decided to just use a "little bit" of hairspray.

 

Sadly, I accidentally sprayed some on his face

I swore when my mother did that to me for my school pictures 

I would NEVER do that to my children

His eyes were closed, but still...I totally know the feeling of sticky face after hairspray overload

ugh

I felt bad

I don't think it smells like Aqua Net used to smell

But nevertheless, it's that horrible sticky-skin, crinkling when you attempt to talk and smile

I don't think I got it on his eyelashes though

That would have been much worse

I remember blinking excessively for hours before they felt soft and natural again.

Actually, he probably would have liked that part.

Here's to Hair Spray!

It did do the job

but I felt bad.

Check out these and other retro-feeling paintings of Darlene Graeser

at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

or 

www.darlenegraeser.com

Join us on Webring, pin a favorite of hers on Pinterest, send a comment

Enjoy your weekend!

Toodles,

Binky

The Girl Who Broke My Heart

Actually There Were Two Mean Girls Who Broke My Heart

 

Let's take a trip back to high school

Ugh

Like many people, I experienced the brunt of a couple of 

Mean Girl antics

They were really cruel, actually.

 These weren't the typical loser girls

They were actually quite smart

One became an international lawyer

the other has argued cases in front of the supreme court

But they were mean

Excruciatingly mean to me

Granted, I was a bit too serious

and I was a bit too anal at the time

but I was also quite vulnerable and naive 

and they took advantage of this

I only remember the two of them being mean.

 

The rest of the people in high school were mostly nice or at least neutral towards me

Interestingly, since graduating 20 some odd years ago

I've received two apologies from two different classmates

Neither of whom were these two Mean Girls

I was not ever expecting an apology from these two girls

That would mean they were self-aware enough

to know how mean they were

which they aren't

But,

I was not expecting apologies out of the blue

from people I didn't think treated me "so" badly

Several years ago, when Classmates.com was more popular than Facebook

I received a long apology note from a classmate

whom I barely remembered

She said the way she had treated me had bothered her for years

and was happy to have found me online

so that she could apologize

I assured her that I did not recall her being mean

and that it was nice of her to remember me.

Yesterday, 

I received another email from someone who said he was surprised I reconnected through Linked In

after the way he treated me kind of poorly in high school

In reality,

I remember him as being quite nice.

I am thinking that the  two Mean Girls were just so awful

I blotted out all memories of others being slightly mean to me

or

people are apologizing for no reason

It kind of makes me feel odd, actually.

Was I really treated so badly in high school that I've now blocked out the memories?

That's just sad.

Anyway - I'll definitely post here first if I ever hear from those two Mean Girls

Sadly, even thinking about them and what they did the last week of high school to me STILL makes me sad and angry

I do forgive them - but I am also hoping they have changed and at some point realize what they did and how that action affected another person's life for years.

I am sure this painting is about a girl who broke some boy's heart

Enjoy it at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

 or buy a giclee to keep at home

However, the painting reminds me of me

(only because the two Mean Girls were blond and I'm not)

and the title just makes me think how they broke my heart at the time

As always, comments welcome!

Toodles,

Binky

How Time Flies

Time Flies

Today's time is flying by

I have very little time to post today

I'm just going to say a quick "hi"

And then I'll be on my way

I have the lovely task ahead of me

To clean out my garage full of stuff

I have boxes and boxes that I see

All of it memories, none of it fluff

I'm hoping against hope that my kids will help

With no complaints, no whines, no sighs

I'm also hoping against hope, that they don't yelp

And that this garage cleaning time totally flies

Bad poetry - but poetry nonetheless

in under 30 seconds!

Does speed poetry count for anything in this world????

Check out this painting at

www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

or 

www.darlenegraser.com

And you can now pin her with your pinterest account as well!

Enjoy!

Toodles,

Binky

 

Try Flossing

Smelly Breath!

I went to Texas this weekend

Didn't really have a chance to brush with my electric toothbrush like I love

My mouth felt like this all day!

I like my electric toothbrush.

I bought my first one on my 30th birthday

I've had one ever since

I don't really take it on quick trips - too much of a hassle to bring.

And I always regret it

I think my teeth feel so much better

Plus, I use the soothing sound in the morning to wake me up

and at night to calm me down

I know it is totally ridiculous

But for me, that electric toothbrush gets me up and out of bed

It's the first thing I do - I can sit down for 2 minutes and use that time to just slowly wake-up

and sit down at the end of the day and just zone out

and my mouth feels so much better!

 

So enjoy this painting, available in giclee form 

at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

 

Toodles,

Binky

Two Purse or Not Two Purse

Two Purse or Not Two Purse

OK

So, there are two purses.

I like the red purse.

I actually carry a red purse myself.

I'm not a big fan of the purple purse

I don't really like the kind that go more vertical than horizontal

I'm also not a fan of beards

and especially not a goatee

But, I do like a man with no chest hair

That's really all I'm going to say about this painting.

I'd love to hear your comments!

Toodles,

Binky

Presidential Advisers

Politics

I wish this painting would come true

if it thinks what I think it means

The good angel is just telling the politician to shut up.

What happened to debate of real ideologies

not purposely misconstruing your opponent?

Our country has real problems that need real, practical solutions

We don't need extremists on each side trying to shout the loudest

What issues do I care about?

I care about wasteful government spending

What does that mean? 

Have you seen this?

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-20064396.html

if you can't read that full article, you can get the gist in a humorous way at

http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow

(scroll down to the whistleblower video on the left side of the page)

We can debate on who should or should not pay more taxes 

We can debate on social issues

We debate on policies

But only if they are real debates.  

The debates we have now are just sound bites.

Ads are meant to make America "feel" one way or another towards a candidate, 

not help you decide who has ideas that you agree with.

They all say the same thing right now - the other guy is bad, our guy is good

BUT THERE ARE NO CONCRETE REASONS!

If I had a potential or sitting President's ear

I would ask the following questions

Why is it that in our country, if you have never missed a mortgage payment and you have a high credit rating, you have massive trouble refinancing 

while ads abound for helping people who have missed payments get money and negotiate lower rates?

Why is it that when the government needs to cut spending, 

education is ALWAYS on the chopping block?

Why is it that when the government needs to cut spending, 

congressional salaries and benefits are NEVER on the chopping block?

I bet most Americans would like those questions answered

rather than be told the other guy is a loser.

I think both candidates are similar.

Much of what Romney blasts Obama for he implemented with great success in Massachusetts

 The fundamental difference between the candidates is not being shown.

I think it's funny that people make fun of Mitt being elite when that is exactly what Barack was attacked for in 2008

Elevate the speech or shut up.

That's my opinion

Enjoy this painting or any other paintings at

www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

Comment to this post - I is hard to believe I'm the only one who feels this way.

Not Alone

Dedicated to Conspiracy Guy

(You Know Who You Are!)

There is a debate in this office as to whether or not being called a hand puppet is an insult.

I found it rather funny.

I pictured a cute little muppet girl,

laughing and enjoying life,

sweet, high-pitched voice

naive and innocent

Others found it to be insulting,

thinking that the comment meant that someone else controlled my thoughts.

I can assure Conspiracy Guy that NOBODY controls me or my thoughts

You can ask my husband

(don't ask my kids - they still think they can manipulate me!)

Here's a little more about me.

Yes, I am a real person.

I have a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard

I spent some time as a Research Scientist at a gene therapy company in Texas

Now that I have children, I spend my time at home

with 7 part-time jobs, 

just for fun

I blog about Darlene's work as I am her assistant, 

and she calls me Binky because I have helped organize her world!

No Conspiracy Here

but

You are Not Alone

As this painting shows - you can always cling to your doll, your puppet, your child, whatever

at least that is what it means to me.

 So, just for you Conspiracy Guy, I put this original canvas painting, unframed, on sale for the next couple of days.

Enjoy!

Toodles,

Binky

 

Go Fish

Go Fish

The title of this painting reminds me of my son

He LOVES cards

Although we started with Go Fish many years ago, 

Now, he plays casino, rummy, gin rummy, black jack and poker

He's 11

He loves to learn new magic tricks

He loves to show us new magic tricks

Constantly

One morning a few months ago, I was sick with a very bad cold

I thought I would sleep in.

It was the weekend.

I was exhausted.

My son came bounding up the stairs (he certainly never walks!)

He jumped on my bed (and continued jumping)

I awoke with a start

Was something wrong?

Oh yes!

He absolutely NEEDED to show me his latest magic trick

Isn't that special?

I've played 42 games of casino with him this past week

Was it really 42?

10% off on any purchase at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com this week IF you can tell me why playing 42 games of casino would actually be important to my son

Go Fish!

Toodles,

Binky

Anima

Picture Perfect

Do you ever feel picture perfect?

I think the moments captured on camera

that I remember most

are the ones in which I am most decidedly

NOT

picture perfect

and yet, I attempt perfection every single time anyway

I smile

I pose

I shift my feet so I don't stand looking like a horse

I try to suck in my stomach

I make sure there are no background distractions

 my hair is brushed, curled, and sprayed

I wear lipstick and mascara

And and yet

 the pictures that I love have none of that

my face has no make-up

my hair is askew

But,

I'm exploding with laughter

My kids arms or feet look like they come from my head or stomach

or some liquid is spewing from somewhere

Oh for sure,

I don't like those photos when I first see them

but when I look back at them from the future

I love them

I remember a good time

 Somehow, Anima reminds me of this

She's not perfect

But she looks like she had a good time!

Enjoy this as a giclee or in beautiful pillow form.

Toodles,

Binky

Night Shift

They Always Work

Day and Night

Sometimes in Mysterious Ways

Do you really buy that?

Sometimes I do

Sometimes I do not

But,

the reason I chose this painting today is because lately my household has been going 24 hours

My husband has been working really long, late hours.

I have been working really long, morning hours.

 

Together we make a perfect combination of Angels at Work and Night Shift

 

But,

as always, we look forward to Shabbat (Shabbos) (Sabbath)

where we can just unwind (and we've been wound tight this week!)

relax (maybe with the help of a little Kiddish (wine!)

and a bit more sleep

 

So relax, enjoy, and maybe check out more of Darlene's work

at www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

or 

www.darlenegraeser.com

 

As always, comments welcome

 

Toodles,

Binky

 

A Father's Farewell

Quincineros

A Father's Farewell

Today's Photo is available on a pillow

Check it out at 

www.unconsciousoncanvas.com

I actually made the pillows

Darlene had her painting transferred to fabric and we picked out coordinating fabric and I made the pillow from that.  It was a lot of fun.  We actually made a bunch of them.

I love to sew.

I'm making a really bright, fun pinwheel quilt at the moment.

Well, not at THIS moment.

At THIS moment I'm working at the computer

And the moments later today are all booked

But in my free time (what's that???) I'm working on a quilt

Do any of the readers of this blog quilt?

I'd love to hear from you.

I did not get a chance to go to the Long Beach Quilt Festival this year.

I used to go to the Houston Quilt Festival every year I lived in Texas.

However, as much as I love quilting and the Houston Quilt Festival

I did NOT love living in Texas (sorry Texas fans)

I'm a true California Girl!

Happy to be back.

Anyway - enjoy the art, enjoy the pillow, take it home.

Toodles,

Binky