What I did in Houston for Christmas

I had an amazing time, I shopped, I saw a Bears game live, I went to the amazing exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, I watched grandchildren open Christmas Presents and I indulged my taste buds at restaurants.

BUT, we also had the full effect of Murphy’s Law each and every day. When I arrived we barely could get the two suitcases and laptop into the PT Cruiser along with me, the girls, John and Misti. Seems things were destined for lots of oops…

We got back to the house and unloaded the thousands of items from the car and then it was on to shopping. We went to Wal-Mart, our first stop for the RC, Coffee Maker and other essentials. The first oops was Misti unpacking the coffee pot. I watched her and saw the disaster coming she had opened the box upside down and the coffee pot slipped out and crashed to the floor. Then to Paw Paw’s to get an air mattress and clothes for everyone because this was the first time the kids were going to be back in their home since the Hurricane. The furniture was due the next day or at least the beds so we made pallets on the floor for the night. We would make a return trip to Wal-Mart to get a replacement pot of course this pot was white trim and we had a black coffee maker, but we also managed to buy the present I wanted to give them. I purchased the WII version of Guitar Hero Legends and the yarn for the crochet lesson I promised Lily. So back to the house and a late night of pretend music which was fun and exhausting.

The next day was more shopping and waiting. The beds were due to come, but nothing came as scheduled. We also had to run to every appliance store to find a refrigerator, washer and dryer that was in stock and able to be delivered. We ended up at Lowe’s and were able to get all the equipment with the appropriate discount that would be delivered the next day. We did a few more last minute shopping trips to find gifts and outfits for the girls, but in the mean time we had to relinquish Lily to her father, which was sad because Layla would be alone.

Another night on the floor because nothing came as scheduled, so our next day was waiting, and waiting. I watched a lot of Sponge Bob and waited. It was about midnight before the final piece of furniture came in and we could get to sleep after another round of Hero and John pulling out his Fender for the REAL Crazy Train. Of course he had to solder his amp to actually hear it and Layla hit her head on the corner of a speaker while twirling and dancing.

Christmas Eve brought a busy day of shopping and planning. Since the refrigerator was now working and available and clean up done for the 20 millionth times we were ready for the adult duties of Santa’s helpers. After Layla finally went to bed, we wrapped and wrapped and wrapped some more, and the final duty was to make the Birthday Cake that Layla requested from Santa. Unfortunately, that was nearly a total disaster, because Misti mixed it in a plastic bowl and John had preheated the oven and because they then had to go pick up Lily, they forgot about the cake and put the plastic bowl in the oven. It did melt some, but the cake was able to be made and iced after the aroma of burnt plastic subsided.

Christmas morning was exciting, they opened present after present and ate birthday cake. Then it was hurry up and go to Misti’s mom and dads to open more presents and eat breakfast. Then back to the house to unpack and pack the car to go to Misti’s grandmothers to have another meal and open more gifts. The girls had a great day with lot of presents and the most wonderful pleasant day, weather accommodated inside and outside time. In the midst of our morning activities, the Insurance Adjuster made a visit to the house to do an inspection. I was quite amazed that they would come out on that day, but it has been so long trying to get the house back in order since Ike.

After a night of more Guitar Hero and having to let Lily go back with her dad I slept exhausted on the trundle bed. We had worked to clean up the debris from packages and set more bags out for the garbage man which was scheduled to resume the next day. John would have to be at work again and that meant Misti, Layla and I could shop in the morning, but we would go to the Houston Museum of Natural Science in the afternoon.

The museum was awesome, here is the best description taken from their website: View the earliest known manuscript containing the story of Christ's birth in the oldest known copy of the New Testament Book of Luke. Examine other ancient manuscripts including the prophetic Old Testament Book of Isaiah - one of the original Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran. Witness history first hand and be among the first to view a host of other authentic artifacts from this fascinating time and place, which to this day remains one of the world's most important and influential cultural intersections. http://www.hmns.org/exhibits/special_exhibits/birth_of_christianity/BoC_walk_through.asp

One of the speakers during the exhibit of the city mentioned what was meant by the Bible passage, it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of the needle. What it meant was there was a Gate; called the Eye of the Needle to enter Jerusalem and a camel almost had to crawl through to enter, so a rich man to enter heaven would have to exhibit great humility.
Layla loved the Dinosaurs, but only if we went up to the second level and looked down on them, she was not enthusiastic at seeing the Dinosaurs or animals up close and personal. She loved the buttons on the renewable energy exhibit and we hit them all several times.

The Chicago Bears vs Houston Texans started out great, but as an old Bears fan they did exactly what was expected, lost in an array of penalties that kept them from tying the game. There were quite a few Bears fans at the game and John and I were not completely ostracized. The stadium was huge, but the dome had been stuck open from the last ice storm and it rained on us and was really quite cold. I should have grabbed that little mermaid blanket from the car, but we were in a hurry to get in and start our fan worship. Our seats were great and we did have an enjoyable experience.

We couldn’t go to the IMAX because the girls had already seen those movies so we made a return engagement to Incredible Pizza and had fun eating and playing games. On the morning of my departure we were sitting eating breakfast and Layla finally revealed the purpose of having Birthday Cake for Christmas. She had decided that even though she was still 3, her birthday was now in December, not October.

What a wonderful time, even with all the little oops that happened each day. We were able to enjoy getting back into their house, playing games, eating and viewing the greatest things that Houston had to offer.

Being Thankful

This Thanksgiving I’m going to do something different, I’m going to give thanks for not only the people in my life, but those that shaped my life and were a part of it, no matter how short.

In some circles I am known as the Grief Lady, the one to speak to and find out if you’re really normal and not just slipping away somehow, the lady that will not judge and empathize with your pain. I would gladly trade that title with anyone most of the time, but then I wouldn’t have known how to deal with so many deaths and may have missed meeting new people. You see after so much loss, something changes and it’s usually you. You become a new person, someone different from the person that was the granddaughter, daughter, cousin, wife, or close friend, you are now. You become the person that is left to find how to be someone without that person you loved.

One thing is certain, you never, ever “get over it”. Every holiday brings renewed pain and looking at that new person in the mirror can be frightening. You long for what was, and for the love that is no longer a phone call away. Tears well up and you just know they will never stop and fear the pain will be as sharp as the day of the funeral. Your fears trap you for a time and you retreat to that unknowing fog that was the only comfort for a while. You watch others plan their holidays with anger in your heart that you have been robbed that same warmth they share with their family. Then, by chance, you find something to make you smile, something that you can remember with a little smile and can move forward again. You can make plans that may seem odd to others, but logical to you to celebrate.

So this year I am doing that, I am remembering those special people, and taking a little time to let you remember them too. Here is my list and feel free to add to the list some of the wonderful people that you wish to thank.

Grandmother & Grandfather – Barbara and John Mikula, Leona and Fred Wilck and Grandfather Henry VonEngeln
Mother & Father – Delores and John Mikula, Charles Rauh Sr.
Aunts and Uncles – Henry & Loraine Brandt, Larry Wilck, Whitey Mikula, Lou Mikula
Cousins – Connie Brandt
Husband – Charles Rauh Jr.
Friends – Judy and Mike Housler, Rich Zwierchowski, Judy Divers, Trip, Gigi, Rose
And finally, my beloved animals, each one unique and giving me something to love and share the many tears. – Scooter, Tina, Sandy, Skipper, Tap, Dieter, Nicky, Daisy, Earl, Susie, Peach, Pumpkin, and Emale.

Crossing the Line

My art history class has given me another great question to blog about, here it is:

Nudity in art—when does it become pornographic? The human nude, especially female, as we have seen, is a time honored subject in art. Many devoutly Christian artists view the human body as God’s most supreme creation (in the Bible, it is written that man is made in the image of God). Some artists have centered their whole careers around the nude. In art school, students are still required to draw the nude from life. Surprisingly, some viewers still object to nudity in art. When does nudity cease to be beauty; why do people object to nudity, feeling that the viewing of it prurient? What is the difference between “nude” and “naked”?

This is a difficult question. Naked is meant to be prurient, Nude is meant to be artistic. Both still mean that the people have no clothes. But why do we not notice that the nude in art is also meant to be provocative, enticing and all art is to stir emotion, is this not what pornography does? We then go back to what is unhealthy for us as a people. A recent episode of Mad Men had used what was considered pornographic covers of magazines but they looked amazingly wholesome by today’s standard. The Vargas girls were definitely enticing depictions of women and were created for Playboy Magazine, yet the view of them as art is overwhelming. French postcards in the 1920’s, showing women scantily clothed, were considered pornographic, but are mild again by today’s standard. Acrobatic movements by women in silent films were considered pornographic in nature.

We are sexual by nature and when we are naked we expose ourselves and become vulnerable to each other. We are also judgmental, tending to have intense opinions on every subject. Something that has always been said about the internet is that we all sit “nekkid “behind the keyboard. We are faceless and left to a person’s imagination, but we allow ourselves to be vulnerable at that point and often use little or no judgment on each other. This is also the philosophical question about “What is Beauty?” To know beauty do we need to know ugly? Our young girls starve themselves to become what they consider beautiful and our children are unhealthy weights being fed the conditioning of a free society. America has not yet left its puritanical age, where all things must be pure in the mind or we fall short of the grace of God. During the Reformation even the Catholic Church painted fig leaves over the nudity of the bodies in the Sistine Chapel in response to the judgment of the people. Other cultures do not take this position and are not ashamed of the body making all viewing of the unclothed body profane as we do here.

In art, the study of the human form was always meant to glorify ourselves and keep the record of what we considered beauty. The curving line of a woman’s back along her thigh is a sensual line that can be seen abstractly as much as the phallic symbol of an obelisk. We still talk in code that has sexual innuendo placed on words that never before had that connotation. What does the word “gay” mean today? Our fantasy creatures today in video have the same strong sexual lines that those of the ancients did when depicted in sculpture or painting. It appears our strongest emotion is sexual. Today whether or not you clothe the body you still convey the sexual tension by gesture or proximity. When does it cross the line and become pornographic and not art? When the judgment of the viewer crosses the value line they have set for themselves and can see or feel an emotion that the artist may or may not have been trying to evoke.

Complicated

Complicated

What if life was complicated by much simpler things?
A loose thread on a button or maybe a little static cling.

Would your mind be less prone to wander among a forest of cares and woes?
Could you take the time to wonder just how the flowers grow?

Would there be time to live each day more fully,
Walking with friends or conversations with your family?

Would you talk with God about your dreams, hopes and fears?
Could you give him your heart and trust him with your tears?

Treasure the simple things that sometimes complicate a day
Live your faith in your heart, in your work and in your play.


Randi RauhTyler©

Back In The Day

My favorite saying, referring to the fact that everything was "back in the olden days" which I have become a part of. My children and grandchildren marvel at "back in the day" statements that means a story is coming about what they have that I didn't have. My students marvel that "back in the day" means a story about a time when I was probably their age or younger and how different it was to create something then and how I learned to do it now.
When my grandchildren enter college I wonder what the phrase will be to refer to "back in the day" and if they will have to refer to when something was done in my day is now done a new way.
Change and creativity go hand in hand, we reinvent ourselves every day by creating change. What will be simple at one time becomes complicated in another. How did I eat before microwaves? How long will I live with new health care treatments? Will I be cloned and live over and over again? Will I have new ideas with each age but remember all of my past? You are what you learned, and some lessons are harder to unlearn. Did I pass on the lessons that I wanted and unlearn the ones that were not good? Will my children feel that I have passed on to them the lessons that were good?
Always questions, very few answers. Philosophers have delved into the same questions and have continued to come up with a new answer for each age, but it is always based on the same Back in the Day questions. The more complicated we think we are the more simple we become because we all carry a back in the day lesson and philosophy that has been passed on to us that we pass on to others. So let us not remain "back in the day" but have new knowledge and creativity to share.


This is from the discussion we are having after the Noble Savage one in Art History:
In our last discussion the phrase "the simple life" came up, and this idea ties in with this week's discussion, as well. With Chapter 30, we begin the Industrial Age. There were a lot of changes going on during this period... when I prepared this discussion, I was listening to a song called "Heavy Horses" about how farmers traded in their draft horses for tractors. The singer was lamenting this: when they adopted the tractor, the farmers exchanged the friendship and partnership with their animals for efficiency. It still amazes me how much the world has changed in a short time: both my maternal and my paternal grandfathers arrived in Oklahoma in covered wagons. The world is still changing quickly today. Is it possible that we are living "the simple life" right now? What kinds of things do you think you will be telling your grandchildren about when you describe the them what the world was like when you were young?

The Great Pumpkin King

My DeWitt classes are busy trying to prepare a pumpkin for Fall Fest. I selected a fairly large oval shaped pumpkin to let them create something unique and representative of the class. Originally only my Illustration class was going to create the pumpkin, but after the pumpkin went through many persona's it was decided that the Computer Graphics class could also participate.

Some of the persona's that this Pumpkin went through were: Grim Reaper Pumpkin, (looked like a big orange handgranade) Count Pumpkin Vampire, The Crate Pumpkin,(didn't really fit in the crate) and of course the Amish Vampiric Pufferfish Pumpkin (oh that Pufferfish is legendary). They settled on the Great Pumpkin God (presumably of Art) and then made it a Great Pumpkin King. Since they were not going to cut the pumpkin, but paint it, then they had to decide what kind of face this GPK would have. I had my Art History book with me and we looked at the old south pacific type gods and because at this time the Pumpkin was sitting on top of a pillar with a Hawaiian straw hat on and looked like Jimmy Buffet who had been stung by a pufferfish.
This somehow translated into a Tiki type god, and it needed minions to worship it. So many little pumpkins would be sitting at the bottom in veneration of the GPK, but we didn't have many little pumpkins, but we did have pears. Well since we didn't like the pears we let them be the enemy and gave the decoration of the pears to the Computer Graphics class. They would create masks for the pears to wear on the computer and carry little toothpick spears to fight the little pumpkins and overthrow the GPK.
Our legend was complete and I wrote the following for our GPK:
Every year at Harvest time the little known group call the Illustnation elect a new Great Pumpkin King. They enshrine the king and do battle with the Compuartis rivals. Who will win this years battle and will precious juice and pulp be spilled in honor of GPK?
After all this creative thought was complete it was on to painting the GPK. They used bits and pieces of every ones individual designs and everyone took a turn at adding their particular style to the GPK. We lost the hat and did straw and feathers and curly cue pipe cleaners for his headdress. The computer class found awesome pictures to use for their masks and altered them appropriately to be used on their pears.
When the scene is complete we will have pears and pumpkins fighting each other below the GPK in all his splendor. Pictures will be coming then~

The noble savage disscussion

The noble savage disscussion question:
A theme popular with Romantic artists was the idea of the "Noble Savage". The assumption was that people who lived in more "primitive" societies, being closer to the land, were somehow more "pure" or noble than people in Western cultures. Delacroix felt this way about Arabs (there are still Bedouins today living a nomadic lifestyle), and many American artists felt this way about Native Americans. The idea is so popular that Benjamin West even included a Native American in his Death of General Wolfe (even though the Indians fought on the side of the French, not the British). Do you think this sentiment exists still today? Can you give an example of it (in any form of art)? What, if anything, might be problematic with this view? Or do you think that this might be a positive way of thinking?

My reply:
I think this is a psychological viewpoint. Many artists delve deeply into the psychological (including filmmakers) and a purity of non-jaded persona is always considered closer to God or the pure essence of nature. Many of the paintings we have seen are related to that purity or pursuit of nature in one way or the other.
All of the books and movies that deal with the pre-history era (caveman or prehistoric American) make those that delve into the creative those that are set aside from the others as more intelligent and closer to the gods. In Stephen King's novel the stand, those that are by other standards defective (old, deaf, and retarded) are those closest to the "good side". Recently I viewed M. Night Shamalan’s movie "the Happening" and here those that did not interfere with nature were those saved or less susceptible to the neurotransmission.
Since our culture is based on the idea of fertility and closeness to the goddess of the earth, or Earth Mother, we seem drawn to those that do not appear as we do and live a simpler life that is obscure to us as we work harder and harder to have everything instantaneously and have are needs met.
More contemporary artists are always drawn to the human condition and lack of depth in our culture. When we honor wealth, fashion, or lifestyle there is always an artist to show us how transient these items are and the need to return to purity. On the other hand most of those in advertising are determined to feed us our trivial desires and raise them to a cult like worship. When we buy into these new icons we then are met with the desire to return to something simpler in time or circumstance.

Have an opinion?