Sita Sings the Blues

So, I'm 5669 words into my novel, but I decided rather than completely let the blog go this month, I'll post links to websites or videos that I really like. The first one is an animated movie called Sita Sings the Blues. You can watch the entire thing online. It's made by a self-taught animator who combines the story of the Ramayana with a bit of autobiography. It runs about an hour and twenty minutes so pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy!

It's NaNoWriMo!

I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year! So, you probably won't hear much from me for the next month--except for the occasional brief update. So far I have nearly 4000 words written. I'm cheating a bit because I actually started this novel a couple years ago. Still, if I can write 2000 words every day this month I'll have a very rough first draft of my very first novel. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday To Me

I know I said I was taking a break but today is my birthday and I need to tell you what I got. Brace yourselves, it's ugly. Psoriasis. That's right. It's just a tiny little thing on my scalp, but it's a reminder that I am not immune to aging or other human ailments and that really sucks. Guess what else I got? A bad hip. Yep, I told the doctor what happened after we got off the plane from Paris (you know, not being able to walk and having to hire ride a wheelchair through the airport while my loving husband laughed at me from one gate to another) and she said it's a precursor to hip problems! In addition to that, I got my driver's license renewed and now there's a notation on my license that says I have to wear my glasses when I'm driving! Could I be any more aged and decrepit? Don't answer that. But the worst thing is, and I cannot figure out what I was thinking, I told the truth about my weight on my license renewal!! I've never told the truth about my weight on my license. Ever! Even when I was a mere 107, my license said 105. But yesterday the woman at the DMV looked at my old license information and said are you still 115? And I said "No, I'm probably closer to 125." How could I!? I meant to say 120. Because, you know, I like to round to the lowest 5 where weight is concerned and sometimes I do weigh in at 124.5. So really it should be 120. But she didn't know about my special way of rounding down so she just typed in 125. What was I thinking!?

Ah well. There's nothing I can do about it now. Anyway, my real birthday present from Warren and Jerry is very exciting. They're buying me a table saw! It's the gift that keeps on giving. See, what I really want is a potting bench. But if I buy a potting bench all I get out of it is, well, a potting bench. But if I get a saw and make it myself (using one of the many old doors we have lying around our yard) then I get a potting bench and whatever else I decide to make. So, any recommendations on what to look for in a table saw would be appreciated.

The other thing I'm pretty sure we're getting is a semi-permanent houseguest. My husband's friend is having a hard time (divorce, disability, that kind of thing) and he needs a place to stay so he's probably going to stay with us for a while. In addition to that, a friend of mine from college might be getting a job in L.A. and he may end up crashing on our couch a few nights a week so he doesn't have to drive all the way back to Orange County. We may have a very full house in the next few months.

So, there you are. That's what's happening. I'm getting old and our house is getting crowded, but it's all good.

Blogging Break

Just letting you know I'm taking a short break. I'll be back in a week or two!

Weekend Fun

We had such a great weekend. Warren managed to get off work on Saturday so we could go to the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Ventura. The weather was perfect and as soon as we arrived we ran into some friends from our Santa Monica unschooler park day. It was a real treat since we didn't even know they'd be there. I made a little video of the day to share with you all (or you three).



On the way home we stopped at a pumpkin patch where Jerry and Warren made their way through a maze.

Sunday we didn't have any plans. I got out of bed early to stop our cats from killing each other. Since I was up, I took my book and a blanket out on the deck with a cup of tea and read for a while. It was heavenly. Later in the day my sister-in-law called to see if she could drop her kids off for a couple hours so we had some surprise guests and it turned into an all day affair with pumpkin carving and dinner.


At the end of the day Warren, Jerry and I each did our own thing. I watch the 4th installment of the Python documentary, Warren did some laundry and Jerry watched a One Piece movie on his PC. Before I went to bed Jerry and I had a nice long talk (we've had quite a few late night chats in the last few weeks) and then I went to bed while Jerry went back upstairs to watch some late night television. All in all it was a fabulous weekend!

Enough

You know what's funny? Whenever I start to worry about Jerry (and I've probably said this before because it keeps happening) and how he spends his time, the very next day he does something completely different. I don't know why it always surprises me. And you know what else? I was getting all worried about "am I doing enough?" and all, but I also had a migraine so I wasn't feeling too good. And I think that had a lot to do with my worry--not that I don't worry when I'm feeling well. But now that I think about it, I really don't worry that much anymore. I'm bordering on being one very confident unschooling parent. Wow. How did that happen? With all my angst and worry in the beginning it felt like I'd never get to this place. I guess part of what's happened is that since I've stopped voicing my concerns to Jerry I find that he tends to take care of those concerns on his own. It's not always exactly the way I wish he would do it--but then he's not me. So he has his own way of doing things.

One thing that had been happening the last few months was that Jerry was staying up until about 2 a.m. and getting up around 11. I didn't say anything about it. But when he had a few bad days I suggested that coming to bed when Warren and I go to bed (around 11 or 12) might help. I did a little cajoling but not much. Besides, since he was staying up later than me, we couldn't read together and we've always liked to read aloud before bed. So I suggested starting a new book. He went for it and for a few weeks was going to bed at the same time as his dad and me (but sleeping much later) and then a couple nights ago he was up until 2 again. And last night he told me that he doesn't feel good when he stays up that late. It makes him feel negative and grouchy (I'm paraphrasing but that was the gist). So he came to the conclusion himself. Which is the whole point of radical unschooling, really.

Anyway, I know I'm not being very clear or concise. I just wanted to get that out of my head and into the blogosphere but I don't have time to write a really great post about it. I have to pick up Warren's car at the mechanics, we need to get to Jerry's dog walking job, and then we're going to see Astro Boy with one of the girls from the Santa Monica unschooler park day and her mom and then we're going to park day, and then we have the long traffic-jammed ride home from Santa Monica, which I'm actually looking forward to because we'll be listening to Leviathan the whole way!

Can someone just smack me next time I say we don't do enough?

Am I Doing Enough?

That's what I was asking myself yesterday. As an unschooling parent I spend a lot of time looking for things that will interest Jerry. I scan the internet. I use Google Alerts to notify me when something he's interested in shows up online. I'm always sending him links to things I think he'll enjoy reading about. But I can't always find what I'm looking for and even when I do find something (like the internship at the museum) Jerry isn't always interested. I was hoping to find someone who reads Make magazine and is into hacking and DIY electronics and that kind of thing to provide some mentoring for Jerry, but so far that hasn't panned out. I wanted to get an electronics class together, but couldn't get the 8 kids required. I found an awesome electronics space that offers classes all the time, but it's in Brooklyn. The list goes on...

One thing that has been helpful as I ponder my strategy for getting out of this slump of mine is something I discovered online called "Recordkeeping for Unschoolers." I got it a while back so I don't recall the website that posted it. But the idea is that pretty much everything is worthwhile. I've added to the list and I plan to keep adding to it. I'm going to print it and post it in my kitchen. I figure it will give me ideas when I need them and it will also remind me that we really are doing something--even when it feels like nothing.

Record-keeping for Unschoolers

Reading

Books, magazines, newspapers, websites, fiction, biography, nonfiction, poetry, drama, manga, video game guides, travel guides, essays, articles …

Doing

Cooking, swimming, dog walking, babysitting, volunteering, working, singing, acting, playing music, calculating, gardening, helping, sports ...

Creating

Arts & crafts, building, sewing, weaving, beadwork, legos, computer graphics, game design, electronics, movie making, photography …

Writing

Journaling, stories, poetry, letters, website, e-mail, articles …

Watching

TV, movies, documentaries, cartoons, YouTube, live theater, demonstrations, wildlife …

Listening

Audiobooks, podcasts, radio, music, stories, lectures ...

Talking

Speech, discussion, explaining, instructing, debating …

Visiting

Museums, zoos, field trips, people, park day…

Thinking

Planning, analyzing, imagining, plotting, wondering …

So that should help. My other plan is to become more active. I need to stop doing so much planning and searching and just take the few ideas that are more within my control and build on those. I've been thinking of doing some electronics stuff with a group of kids at our house and I guess I just need to stop thinking and do it.

And maybe I'll post on Unschooling Basics to find out what other people do when they aren't sure they're doing enough. Do more would be the obvious answer, but at a certain point I think you just have to let things be, right? I mean, I can only do so much. Jerry is going to do what he likes to do and as long as I'm watching for clues as to what those things are and offering suggestions I'm doing the right thing....right? Is that all I'm supposed to do?

I just feel like there are untapped resources out there and I'm not finding them and it's driving me crazy. But Jerry has to want to tap into those resources, too. And his reaction to the ideas I share is definitely not within my control. Sorry, I'm rambling.

So, what do you guys think? As an unschooling parent how do you know if you're doing enough?