Why, yes, it *is* rocket science

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, in what seems a prior life, I worked on this, the RS-68 engine.

The last few times we've driven by the Discovery Science Center (the one with the cube) in Santa Ana on the way down to Balboa Island, I'd see the banner for the Boeing Rocket Lab and think, "Oooooooooo". 

Note: I'm not a rocket geek. I can't recite rocket history and power rating numbers. Nope, sorry. I don't play with Estes rockets. I do, however, have a great sense of affection for my old rocket pals, support the idea of manned spaceflight, and really like all that fire and steam.

J had to go on a field trip and decided to check out the Discover Science Center. We dutifully checked out the exhibits on Grossology (The Impolite Science of the Human Body), the geology and earthquake exhibits (timely, as there had been one a few days before), the science of hockey, the TinkerToys, the dinosaurs.

"Gah!", I thought, as I got jostled by another little kid running around, "When are we going to get to the rocket engine part?!?"

There, in the cube ...
So, what's the deal with the cube? I had no idea. They didn't explain what the deal was with the cubeness of the cube, even, right there at the Science Center. You'd think they'd make a bigger deal of explaining about the cube, considering that it's SO BIG and it's what you see as you're zipping by on the freeway. And everybody identifies that science center as the one in Santa Ana with the cube. Or maybe I completely missed that placard. I finally checked online and uncovered that the cube is a solar Cube and produces energy for the Science Center.

Me: "Ohhhh".

From the Discovery Science Center website:
"There are three perfect 3D geometric shapes in nature: the sphere, the pyramid and the cube. [Me: and I've had to teach students to draw and shade them all]

Architecturally, the sphere has been built at Disneyworld and the pyramid has been built at the Louvre, the Luxor in Las Vegas and the California State University, Long Beach basketball arena.

The Cube has not been built before.

[I got to this point and thought, "Ever?! What about, oh, the Borg?! That's right, the Borg! Oh, that's in the future. Okay, never mind."]

Thus, Discovery Science Center architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica thought that The Cube would be the perfect icon for Orange County’s science center. The Board of Directors concurred and it was incorporated into the center’s plans."

We got to the cube and noticed it was leaking. They had caution cones around it: Mind your step. J says, "I wonder if it always leaks".

I peered through the perforated metal and went, "OOoooh, the rocket stuff is inside the cube". Hence the leakage.

The water-pressure propelled mini rocket display was cool and all, but it pales in comparison to the real thing as well as memories of real life-size Space Shuttle Main Engine tests.

Did you know the Space Shuttle program is coming to a close soon? Only two more Shuttle launches, and then, what's next for U.S. manned spaceflight? What's next for all those rocket people?
:( When I was at Boeing, I remember them saying that the Shuttle program would end around 2010, and it seemed like a long ways off. Sort of how the year 2000 seemed like a long way off when I was in first grade. I could barely do the math; that was like 30 years away. Who could imagine? And yet, it happened. All of it happened, and here we are.

What's next up for U.S. manned spaceflight? If I were a real rocket geek, I'd know, huh? Thank goodness for the internet. J responded to my visible concern (he takes these things in stride - that I'd know about the end of the Shuttle program and was so concerned about manned spaceflight): "The U.S. would never stand for the idea of other countries launching astronauts while we weren't".

You think?

So there it was, that big ol' RS-68 engine. Wow. So cool.
J asks, "So, what kind of power do they get out of that?"

And all I could say was, "Gazillions, baby. Ga-zillions."

= = = Happy weekend, all! = = =

Another thing

20100714_MoneyTree Click to see this photo's flickr page
... that made it's way home with me based on its clear potential as an interesting and challenging drawing subject.

I was told by this plant's previous owner, a former student of mine, that it's a Money Plant. So, naturally, we remain hopeful that it's a bit of a good luck charm. I discovered that there's more to this little guy than one would expect.

That's photo and a story for another day ...

Twisty thoughts

20100707_BreadTab Click to see this photo's flickr page
I was toasting my toast, uh, bread the other morning, squinting at the bread bag tab. As with many things in life, I thought, "Ooh, I should save this and draw it".

Yes, this explains the many random things collected around here.

I figured I'd be drawing a nice, small, flat squarish tab: easy peasy. And then, squinting even more, I went, "Hey! What's with all these contortions?! All these extra little teeth! What?!".

When was the last time you looked at a bread bag tab, up close? When did closing up and securing a bag of bread become so serious and complex a task?

I've discovered that in matters of bread bag closing, when we get down to the last 4 or so pieces of bread, the tag disappears. Either it breaks, I'm guessing, or it flies off and disappears into the gap between the stove and the countertop, or someone else [ahem] is too impatient to twist the bag tightly enough to fit the bag through the hole of the tab. It's quite an art, holding the bag at its end with one hand, then giving the bread a good healthy twirl and watching the bag spin itself tightly enough so that you can wedge it all back into the little plastic tab. There are small flourishes in every day life, and for me, watching that bread bag twirling is one of them. 

So, after having to correct my drawing so that it more accurately reflects what I'm seeing and pondering it all, I'm guessing the tabs on the outsides are part of some continuous manufacturing. They seem like the little nubs left and right would fit and lock into place, side by side. I can imagine these being stamped out or being injection molded, by the gazillions. Ka-chung, ka-chung, ka-chung.

But those extra teeth in the actual cinching hole?

Life really has gotten to be quite a challenge, hasn't it, that we need just a little bit more tooth, to keep everything tied together, to protect what we have when there's just a little bit of ourselves left that we're trying to keep tidy, to keep things from falling out or drying up...

It's serious business, this little bread bag tab, and this life.

Zentangles

20100626_Zentangle Click to see this photo's flickr page

When I saw my buddy Karen Blados's zentangle , I was instantly curious *and* inspired! After a quick internet search, this is what I discovered:

The Zentangle® art form and method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

From the website:

"What is Zentangle?

Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being. Zentangle is enjoyed by a wide range of skills and ages and is used in many fields of interest.

We believe that life is an art form and that Zentangle is an elegant metaphor for deliberate artistry in life. Explore our web site and learn how you can use this wonderful and uplifting discovery."

There are lovely examples on their blog as well zentangle.blogspot.com/

I have to admit that I haven't taken a course or gone through the workbook and am just winging it after looking through the website. I love the idea of meditative doodling and it's been a very nice way to start the day. I'm a wee bit tempted to become a Certified Zentangle teacher or attend a Zentangle Master Class. [sigh]
See a few more that I've done at my Zentangle set .

After making it up as I went along, I found a Squidoo lens that explains how to make your own zentangle. Why don't you give it a try? ;-)
www.squidoo.com/how-to-zentangle.

This ...

is what the 'Give It Away' part looks like.

All the colors of the rainbow

So, where was I?

I spent some time over the last few weeks thinking about my art supplies. I enjoy reading other artists' comments about materials, and particularly, the colors they use in their palettes. Since I recently taught a course that included color theory, I thought I'd try simplifying my backpack and carry a paint kit outfitted with just the three primaries. So I did test swatches of my reds, blues and yellows and came up with a combination that I carried with me for a few weeks. I kept a muted set in a smaller Altoids tin (on the left side of the painting below):

20100528_SketchStuff Click to see this photo's flickr page

This is what I learned:
–  I'm too impatient to mix up my greens and purples from these primaries. For the painting above, I didn't mix the greens. Oh, heck, no.
–  I like my colors; I really love the cool and warm and neutral versions of my primaries, and I like the different versions of secondary and tertiary colors too. Why did I ever think I could be happy with just three, muted primary colors?
–  I don't paint with orange. Like, ever.

Another thing I realized is that I don't squeeze enough paint out of the tubes, trying to not waste any of it. I end up having to squeegee out pigment from my barely-loaded brushes onto my pages, or end up with washed out colors after the paint has dried on my notebook pages. Lots of water, but just a little bit of pigment. Ugh.

So after not-too-much thinking, I decided to give those tubes all a good squeeze and go on a 'Use it up' campaign. Paint isn't going to do much good being conserved, languishing and drying out unused in tubes sitting in a bin next to the dryer. Squeeze as much life and color out of what you have!

Sounds good, huh?

I ran into a hiccup in this plan, when I finally realized that my honey-based paints were too goopy for me. I'm messy to begin with, yes?, and although I love how soft and buttery the M Graham watercolor paints are, I started to realize that many of them stayed moist enough to be a bit of a challenge for me just to store. I’d try to squeeze out a sample size from a tube and end up with stringy threads of paint (think: honey) leading from my palette, across my table and smeared on my fingers. The kicker, though, was when I realized that some colors actually absorb moisture from the air in humid environments and then they get even MORE runny. I discovered this over Christmas in Hawaii, a big puddle of cobalt green dripping from my paint kit. Egh.

I read through a few blogs of artists and read carefully the part that would have alerted me to this problem and tried a few more brands.

You're thinking, “Hey! Buying new paints?! How is that 'Using it Up'?!”

[I'm ignoring you]

So, I looked at color charts on my computer for a few more weeks, peered at other artists’ suggestions and loitered in front of the paint rack in the student store as if it were the frozen entrée aisle at the market, and slowly filled in my collection with Daniel Smith and Schmincke tubes that dry nicely in my travel paint kits so I can toss them into my backpack, and they re-wet nicely.

Yeesh, what an ordeal.

The good thing is that I'm set to go and have plenty of paint to go there with.

20100616_palette Click to see this photo's flickr page

I’m going to use up the honey-based paints, and the not-so lightfast paints as well. I was a little concerned about this – paints that will fade unusually quickly. The only nonpermanent expression of art that I could think of that seemed worthwhile was, well, food, but in this case, I figure: What the heck: Use it up.

I have papers and paints and want to go ahead and use them. If you’ve gotten this far, here’s the deal. I was going to post the ‘Use It Up’ (UIU) series and have people let me know if/which ones they wanted and send them (the little paintings, not the people) off to new, good homes. But, lying up late at night, I thought, what if people have stopped reading my blog to the point where no one will be watching for my UIU art? The horror!

[Do I over-think things much? Give me a sec to mull over that.]

So, whatever. This is what I’m going to do: I’m going to make art and send it off to people whose mailing addresses I have, that I owe some art to. And ask for people to let me know if they're interested. If I have a list, I figure I’ll feel more obligated to stick with this whole ‘Use It Up’ campaign, which, in my head, was more like ‘Use It Up, then Give it Away’, anyway. If you (you, in Canada and Scotland and Germany. Yes, you) want to help encourage this, email me your mailing address. wendeedesign [at] yahoo [dot] com.

I’m planning to give life and those tubes a nice healthy squeeze. Anyone game?