on the draw

While talking to Mom, I mentioned that I've started doodling/drawing again, probably as a by-product of being a student again. It's the restless pen syndrome - I don't actually need to start doing anything productive with my hands, particularly, but the pen wants to move around.

In addition, I'm limping along with a variety of injuries - I hurt my knee in judo in mid-March, and just before finals landed on my tailbone while rushing around in the morning trying to get ready for school. In my morbid curiousity, I feel the need to draw my injury sites. Behold!
(These are all pretty tiny - so click on them if you want to see larger size)

and my tailbone, looking like an alien symbiont:

I said to Mom that I'd like to practice drawing a bit more, because really I still draw exactly the same way I did twenty-five years ago. For instance, if I rummaged through old notes (probably moldy in Mom and Dad's basement) I'd find this exact same imaginary guy:

Speaking of being a student - the sentiments in April tend to be the same:

I'm really trying to get past my childhood/young adult habits, though, so I'm practicing the exercises in the book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and The Natural Way to Draw.  They seem sort of helpful. Anyway, it doesn't matter if I get any better or not. It's fun to do, and an excuse to buy more colored pencils. I always did love school supplies.

Vesna 2007

Last night was the yearly Ukrainian spring celebration, Vesna, and the kid's final dance performance. You can't really take pictures during the performance till the final bow, but here they are:

My favorite new dance was the Devyatka, a Poltavan quartette with four young couples, including Theo and Stasha.  They managed to get over their natural aversion to having to dance together and did  a pretty good job. And at least they didn't make horrible faces like the little black haired girl who wa absolutely horrified at having to hold hands with BOYS to dance. We had to draw anti-boy-cootie  x's on her hands to keep her from making faces of disgust during the final bow. Apologies in advance for the crappy video. We weren't supposed to be taking pictures or filming video during the performance, so this was done guiltily and furtively.



Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


And a reprise of the Poltavan boy's dance, the Kozatski. The story behind this is that when young Ukrainians served as Cossacks on frontier outposts, they fended for themselves, training, fighting, and incorporating their martial arts into dance as a form of friendly competition. Then the guys with the best dance moves got the prettiest girls when they got back to their village. Um, okay. Anyway, this version includes two new Russian boys who just emigrated to Canada last September, and they're quite fab.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

More judo news

and, Vesna is around the corner!

First, the results of last weekends Katsuta Kup judo tournament in Raymond, Alberta:

This was Stasha' first tournament, and she won silver, admittedly out of only three girls in her category. The gold medal winner was 10 years old and in her 12th tournament, so Stasha was pretty happy with the outcome, all in all. Best of all, she then spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside with her new friend.  You have to like a sport where even when you lose, you get a new friend.

Theo took bronze again, behind his heavier and more experienced teammates, the exact same outcome as at the Provincial Championships. It gives him something to work at.

And finally, we're looking forward to the Vesna, the big Ukrainian dance performance celebrating spring. This years theme is, unbelievably, "A Celebration of Psyanky". Uh, OK.
The kids have some new costumes, which make them both look like Easter Eggs. That's not necessarily the intention, but it's certainly the result.

Spring fever

it hasn't quite hit yet. We did have warm enough weather to start pulling out the capris and sandals, but in typical Cruel Alberta Spring fashion, we're again looking at snow and freezing rain. How to stay amused, meantime?

it was warm enough a few weeks ago to have a few beer on the back porch, and to teach Theo the important life skill of how to open mom's beer with his new camping knife. We are very proud parents, as you can see.

the boy's First Knife was a birthday present, acquired in the unlikely location of the West Edmonton Mall, where we spent his birthday weekend due to a judo tournament. It was my first bus trip in decades. Within the first 15 minutes of pulling out of the dojo parking lot, I remembered why.

The kids enjoyed it quite a bit, though, well armed with electronic gadgets. The parents and other adults similarly came well arrayed with technologica, from iPods to DVD players to cameras. I'm sure there was a good $15,000 worth of electronic equipment on that bus! I'm not sure whether to bemoan or celebrate the lack of singing. Isn't that what we used to do on bus trips? Yet there was no-one there to lead us in a round of "The Quartermaster Store" or "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall". Do kids even know the words to those songs anymore?

The raison d'etre for our trip:

Silver medal for the boy! Out of eight in his category, that's pretty good. The tournament as a big one, and drew competitors in the senior categories from Wales, England, Japan, etc. The downside is that it was held at the West Edmonton Mall. Such horror!  Compared to the dronelike crowds of shoppers the most peaceful place to hang out was the ice palace where the tournament was being held, and once we'd acquired a few birthday presents for the boy and made a few dashes to the food fair, we retreated to the refuge of the tournament, which relatively speaking, was the shiny happy place to be.

Recognition award, Theo's turn

Theo got a recognition award this week, this time  "for his wonderful sense of humour in his cartoons".

I'm sort of surprised it isn't "for his wonderful sense of medieval weaponry, chaos, dragons and mayhem in his cartoons", but whatever.

Here, the children again demonstrate their inability to look natural in front of the camera:

Is it sumo? or just a really bad wedgie?

Sumo madness. I have no idea where Theo got this idea.  We do not wish to encourage it.

Always good advice

Always good advice
Originally uploaded by GeorgeCurious.

I love stick figures in peril. And some days, this advice seems particularly apt.