I hate when school breaks are halfway over already

Just another little update; my February break is halfway over so I'm trying really hard to enjoy it and use it to be creative. I've been working on dollhouses and wind-chimes. Yesterday I was at Salvation Army and I found a little wooden Bambi ornament. I knew immediately I needed it for Pee Wee's house because he has a Bambi rug in his room:

I put the ornament on his wall since I doubt I'll ever find a 1:12 scale Bambi carpet for his room. It's difficult sometimes to make a dollhouse exactly the way we hope, but I'm always satisfied with the accomplishing the same kind of look, or an homage to one.

I also brought in the gigantic, hand-made dolhouse that Judi gifted me, and started looking at he wallpaper patterns I have. I also knocked out the bathroom walls, because Orchard house wouldn't have had a bathroom in the 1860's. I need to figure out how to re-do the floors and cover up the 'tile' but I like how much more open that hallway area is.

I worked some more on my Library Valentine chandelier (not really a windchime, because there are no chimes on it). I added some more ribbons, and I love how colorful it is:

Other than working on dollhouses and windchimes, I've also been working on my final project for my current grad school course. It's a very long, and very detailed Three Year Strategic Plan for Library Advocacy, so it's a big undertaking. I've been carving out a few hours everyday this week, and I think I'll be finishing it today. It HAS to be finished today, because it's due tomorrow, and we're leaving on a little trip tomorrow morning.

I was working on my project just now when Victor the bunny jumped up on the couch next to me. I thought he was coming to snuggle, but he just wanted to eat my book instead. I didn't appreciate that very much, and Bella also did not appreciate him disturbing her nap:

Well, I better get back to work on this project so I can enjoy the rest my day.

D&D

I've been meaning to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons for a couple years now. I never really had any friend that were into it, but then I found out my friend Adi is also learning, so she was nice enough to come over last night and get me oriented to the game.

The game is so much more complex than I realized. She explained about the races and classes and alignments, so first we created our characters. I really wanted to buy into the fantasy of the game, and create someone totally unlike myself, but some of the descriptions appealed to me more than others, so my character actually is kind of like me.

His name is Hubert.

He is a half-elf warlock. Warlocks are driven by an "insatiable need for knowledge" (and meanwhile I'm in graduate school for the third time). There was also something about a patron that I work for/with (librarians are used to that). He has a chaotic good alignment, which means he always acts on his conscience, regardless of what other people think (something I strive to do).

So, he's practically my twin:

We skipped over and abbreviated alot of the details because we wanted to get a sense of what a campaign is like to play. So our Dungeon Master concocted a scenario in which Hubert and Wisage (Eric's character) come upon a castle in which demon rats are terrorizing the cook and the lady of the house.

Hubert is definitely NOT a fighter- when he tried to strike or spear the rats, he missed every time. Fortunately, he is able to cast a fireball spell, so he was able to incinerate the rats, one by one.

It was a fun evening, and I can definitely see the appeal of the game. I like the idea of creating a character, and sending him on different adventures and really developing a whole story for him.

Monday Fun Day

I visited my old school today. I wanted to say hello to a few people, and I also had to return an old computer cord. It's always nice when you feel welcomed at a place that is part of your past. I delivered cookies to one of the paraeducators, and I got hugs from some former students. One of them showed me all the graphic novels she recommends I buy for my new school, and one of the boys showed me the Minecraft game he created on Scratch, and told me about the coding club he founded.

I miss my co-workers, and the kids alot, but I am genuinely glad to see how well everyone is doing.

When I got back, we went out to lunch at Revolution Taproom. We also checked out the comic book store because I've been looking for a Batgirl poster to hang in the library. I didn't have any luck there, but we went over to Skeletone Records, and I picked up Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual album on vinyl for just $6.

We watched The Goonies the other night, so I've been in the mood for Cyndi Lauper. It was John's first viewing of it, and he liked it alot. He keeps asking to watch the "booby haps show" again.

Tonight I'm going to start learning how to play Dungeons and Dragons, so I guess I'm just gonna leave off with this 80's treasure:

Not wasting any time!

I couldn't wait to get started on my February break! On Friday night, we indulged in some Thai food and watched "Coneheads."

On Saturday, Eric went to get our taxes done, so I spent some quality time with Johnny. I bought him a doughnut and strawberry milk for breakfast:

Then he helped me pick out some craft supplies at Hobby Lobby. We stopped into the pet store to say hi to all the animals. We ended up at the library in Rochester, and made a castle with their blocks.

It was a pretty impressive castle; according to John, it had knights, two dragons in it, with signs saying "Don't feed the dragons" and a big Christmas tree in the middle. I love watching his imagination grow, and I hope as he gets older, he will use it in creative ways.

As for my own creativity, I didn't waste any time. I made a new windchime, using a metal wreath form I found at Goodwill Buy the Pound last week. I also added some things to some other windchimes that are in progress.

 

And the dollhouses got some attention. I made a few accessories for the gypsy tent, like a Ouija board. I also put down a nice floor in Pee Wee Herman's bedroom, and made a kitchen sink for him. I also finally got around to painting his house:

                                           Before                                                  Now!

The actual house in Pee Wee's Big Adventure

I also learned how to make these cute teddy bears, using just pipe cleaners:

I also finished the ghost story I was reading, but I will write about that in a future post.

YAY for February Break!!!!!!

Checkpoint: February Break

The afternoon that we let out for February break, the Related Arts sponsored a school-wide tournament. During the week, the students competed in all the arts classes, earning points, and then there were relay races in the gym as a culminating event.

The theme of the event was Road Trip, with each homeroom being assigned a state. The teachers educated their class about the state, and the students dressed in the colors of the state flag, and made their own flags to cheer on their teammates in the races.

It was nice to end the week on a high note, and send the students home with exciting news to share with their families.

It was also nice to do something as a team.

It's difficult sometimes for librarians (and other specialist teachers) to feel included among their co-workers because our jobs are different, and there's often only one person in the school with that job.

We got matching t-shirts and even though I hate having my picture taken, I might as well post it here, like a scrapbook of my first year as a Library Media Specialist:

Three Film Versions of Jane Eyre

I started with the 1983 BBC mini-series. I remember watching it when I was fairly young: either in middle-school or highschool. I believe it was watching this version that I fell in love with the story.

Re-watching it now, I can see how artificial the sets look: they don't look like the interior of an English mansion, they look like sets. I also noticed the flat colors and the poor production quality. The mini-series is lengthy, broken up into eleven episodes, but it's the most faithful the storyline.

I also think it's most faithful to my imagining of what Jane Eyre looks like. Jane is not supposed to be pretty, nor is she meant to be ugly. She is described as 'plain', and Zelah Clarke has an innocent face that is young, but not overly girlish:

Timothy Dalton's Mr. Rochester looks a little too polished and handsome, but he does evoke the classic Byronic hero with his dark features, penetrating gaze and powerful presence:

After I finished watching the 1983 BBC mini-series (which took an entire day!) I switched over to the 2006 BBC mini-series. This adaptation was much more abbreviated than its predecessor, with the entire novel being compressed into four episodes.

Toby Stephens incarnation of Rochester seems truer to Bronte's characterization. Just as Jane is not beautiful, Rochester is not handsome. He is older than she is, with a craggy face and a moody temperament; Stephens kind of resembles Orson Welles, who portrayed Rochester in the 1943 version.  Ruth Wilson's sparkling blue eyes and dark hair give a Snow White-esque appearance, and although her performance was fine, her striking features did not ring true to Jane Eyre:

Lastly, I watched the 2011 feature film version. I've always had difficulty with this one because the chronology of it is not true to the text. It begins as Jane is leaving Thornfield, and the story is told in flashbacks. I don't like Michael Fassbender as Rochester because his proper demeanor and slight build reminds me of Leslie Howard's Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind.

Mia Wasikowska stars as Jane, and although she looks more demure than Ruth Wilson, her ginger-tinted hair and English rose complexion make her look more like a Marc Jacobs run way model:

I also own the 1934 film, but I think I'm going to hold off, because I'd rather compare/contrast that one with the 1943 one.

Color and Space in the Library

We've been hard at work in the library lately. I finally managed to get ALL the VHS tapes withdrawn, and we have also been rearranging some of the areas and genres. Earlier this year, I made sure all the fairy tale books were together with a cute sign on the shelf that said Fairy Tales, instead of 398.2. But I started thinking recently about the amount of books that are inspired and influenced by classic fairy tales, so I started pulling those books, and made a bigger section called Fairy Tale Fiction. 

The picture books are on the bottom shelves (for small children to easily reach) and the chapter books, like ones by Gail Carson Levine or published by Disney, are on the upper shelves, so that older students can see that our fascination with fairy tales begins early.

I put the big, pink chair next to it, and I hope to get some fairy tale inspired decorations to put in the shelves, too.

Many of the students have signed the rocking chair, and my co-worker ordered this cute Alice in Wonderland pillow sham that says "Welcome to the Mad House- We're all mad here".

I moved the YA collection to a more noticeable place because I wanted to encourage the 7th and 8th graders to look at the collection more.

My crowning achievement this week was relocating the Graphic Novels. I took down the magazine racks and put the back issues into a compact cabinet, because they rarely get checked out. Then I used the extra space to spread the graphic novels out and display them more, and hung up some posters. It's our most popular section, so it deserves  a nice layout, and it will need room to grow.

One more day until February break begins!

Don't Take It Personal

I'm home today, using a personal day. John's daycare is closed for Presidents Day, but Eric's school and mine are both open, so one of us had to stay home with him. I was glad to take one though; this year has been busy and stressful and exhausting, so I don't feel like I've been spending alot of quality time with him lately. Today, we're going to relax, watch a movie together, bake some cookies, and go out to lunch.

I've gotten very bogged down with some report card stuff and my online graduate school course, so I was very happy this weekend that we trekked up to Goodwill Buy the Pound. I'm not usually looking for anything in particular when we go there, but I love finding odd things that inspire me.

I found this 'antique' radio. It's not really old, it's just meant to look like it. On its own, I would have thought it looked cool, but probably wouldn't have picked it up. However, it was missing the back panel, and the space inside is perfect for a little scene:

I wanted to cover up all the innards (and sharp things) so I cut some cardboard to size and covered the walls with 'wood' contact paper from Dollar Tree. I think it's going to become another mouse mouse because I think Millie, the little mouse who lives in the 'books' and has an impressive wine collection, needs a neighbor:

At Goodwill BTP, I also spotted a large Christmas music box decoration. It already looks like a dollhouse:

 

It had really cheap looking, resin figures inside that would move with the music. I ripped them out (you can see in the photo on the right that they left behind some plastic knobby bits) and made some new floors, utilizing the cardboard and 'wood' contact paper method again:

I know that some people would prefer real wood floors, but those are expensive and time-consuming. And honestly, once I fill the house up with furniture and accessories, the floors won't show very much anyways. 

I like to make my dollhouses as child-friendly as possible so that I can display them at school, libraries and other exhibitions. I wouldn't be comfortable doing that if I had to spend alot of money on this hobby, and what's the point of building dollhouses if you're not going to share them with the little people they're meant to inspire?