tidbits: back-to-school edition

This time of year always makes me nostalgic for the return to school. Yes, I was one of those uber-geeky kids who loved school so much that I begged to go to summer school. I was a little sad to learn that my elementary school is in the process of being torn down. It was built in the forties and just two blocks from the house I grew up in. They’re replacing it with one large elementary school that will serve the entire town. Kind of a weird concept for me to wrap my head around, as someone who walked to school most of her life.

So, anyway, back to school. I have the urge to buy new pens and notebooks and other supplies. Which I did this past week, stocking up on my beloved multicolored Uni-Ball Vision Elite Micros and my new favorite, Sasquatch Ideal Books. I broke down and bought a new laser printer to replace my rapidly failing HP LaserJet 1200; it’s supposed to be here next week. I was briefly tempted to splurge on a color laser or one that would automatically duplex, but I just couldn’t justify the extra $250 or more. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 2010 Moleskine Weekly Notebooks (my calendar of choice) at the bookstore. Yes, I am one of those uber-geeky adults who is already scheduling stuff into 2010.

I still indulge my love for school with taking classes and workshops. Sunday I’ll be taking a class in stone drilling, something I’ve been wanting to learn for a long time. I just heard that Keith Lo Bue will be teaching here in Cleveland sometime next year, so I asked to be added to the info list for that so I can sign up when it’s officially announced. I’m stalking the Bead Paradise site, waiting for their fall class listings, and I’m still on the search for enameling classes.

What are you looking forward to learning?

miscellany

The weekly entertainment update I get via e-mail from the New York Times featured Mamma Mia today. I am ambivalent about Abba — it’s pretty much just fifth-grade nostalgia background music for me — but now I have “Dancing Queen” stuck in my head. It’s not good.

I have been nose to the grindstone in an avalanche of freelance projects. A few were running late from the publishers, one was running early, and one was a peach of a rush project that I couldn’t turn down, so I started out the month with eight projects in various states of completion. I’m still trying to figure out if that was a good or a bad thing, but the paychecks will be nice once they start to come in. I slugged through it and managed to return everything on time, and even a couple of them a day or two early. It was a good feeling. I’m on the last one now, then I’ll have a bit of a breather before the next slate is due to arrive on my desk. The break will be welcome, since I have a couple of upcoming shows and classes to prepare for.

My biggest show of the year and my favorite to do is the Avon Lake Summer Market, which is coming up next Saturday, July 26. Erin and Kristen do a fabulous job of putting together a beautiful show with a wide variety of vendors. The setting couldn’t be more lovely, and they do a nice job of publicizing it. It’s a fundraiser for restoration of the Thomas Folger Home. I hope to see some of you there.

My August show will be the North Olmsted Juried Arts & Crafts Show on Sunday, August 10. This will be the second year for this show. They do a really terrible job of promoting it, but I stick with it because I think it has a lot of potential. I wrote a long feedback letter last year giving them some pointers for promotion, but so far they have not taken them to heart.

This year I started teaching some classes, too. I’m teaching bead classes at Grand River Beads. The May and June classes were bracelet variations on a kit design using large borosilicate beads. On July 31, I’ll be teaching a necklace version, then I’ll be retiring that class for a while. For August, I’m working on an original design using furnace glass and crystals. I’m also teaching etching classes at Bead Q in North Olmsted (8/17) and Chagrin Falls (8/4).

always something new to learn

Word of the day: usufruct. 1. the legal right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging to another. 2. the right to use or enjoy something. (MW 11)

Obvious once you break it down, no?

One of the things I love best about being an editor is the constant exposure to new ideas, and, believe it or not, to new jargon and new ways of using common words. Between fighting the that vs. which battle and putting “only” where it really belongs in the sentence, I reach for the dictionary at least per chapter/article. Sometimes I’m just confirming what I already know, but many times I’m looking up something new to me. You’d think that would become less common over time, but after sixteen (!) years as a professional editor, it has become even more frequent. Granted, the majority of my work is for academic books and journals, which lend themselves to having to look things up. So many words, so little time.