aqua fortis

Monday, January 26, 2009

Revisiting Resolutions

Today, as I folded the laundry about a week later than I would have liked, I realized that I've fallen off the wagon as far as my 2008 New Year's resolutions are concerned. One of those was to get out of the habit of leaving the baskets of clean laundry to languish in the living room until I needed the baskets for the dirty laundry the following week. I actually did really well on this resolution until a couple of months ago. Then somehow I stopped being able to find the time to do on-time folding of laundry. Granted, this is not a particularly huge problem. Housework only takes priority insofar as routine maintenance needs to be performed (i.e., dishes, laundry, occasional vacuuming and tidying) and is generally of the keeping-the-house-from-being-a-complete-shithole nature, not the anal-retentive, must-keep-surfaces-immaculate nature.

However, as you can see from the images, one resolution from this year that I'm so far managing to keep is practicing my figure drawing. These are from the second session we attended, and they're somewhat better than the ones I produced in the first session (which I've deemed not good enough for public viewing). The drawings up top are one-minute gesture poses using graphite, and the ones just above are 30-minute poses, the large one charcoal and the smaller one graphite on toned paper. I still need practice, though, so I'll be going to Rob's figure drawing class from time to time. I'm realizing that the figure drawing class I took way back when was less technical in terms of learning bones, muscles, etc. and more focused on using various media, which is fine, but also means I don't have as much knowledge of anatomy as some artists. Rob is teaching that to his students, so I'll probably absorb some by proxy.

Re: my other resolutions for this year, so far--well, I thought I was halfway to my goal of losing 5 pounds, but evidently it was all negated this weekend when I was visiting my parents. My dad routinely tries to get me to eat more, MORE! and has the added quirk of possibly not knowing what a vegetable is. Meanwhile, my mom is strangely fond of breakfast/brunch, so when I'm at her house, I end up eating a lot more in the morning than I normally do, as someone who generally only has coffee and toast or fruit first thing.

The morning meal often also consists of unwanted personal conversation with a cafe waitress, since my mom is one of those people who will start conversations with just about anyone. This means that the waitstaff at her favorite haunts will know far more about me than I would normally divulge to random people. There's also a lot more talking than I usually want to do in the morning, as someone whose preferred method of communication pre-coffee is mainly caveman-like grunts and pained moans.

Anyway, I did go to the gym for an hour today, though, so I'm still holding out hope for the pounds going away again. The meditation resolution has yet to materialize (or immaterialize, as the case may be). I have a meditation CD that my therapist, Dr. Yoda (not his real name), kindly gave me, and I keep meaning to listen to it. Haven't yet. It's been a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get to it before our appointment this week so I don't seem like a complete slacker. Wish me luck.

9 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

Dude, can you be a slacker on meditation!?

David T. Macknet said...

I'm thinking: you don't have to see Yoda every week? May, what has the Jedi Training Program come to!

Sarah Stevenson said...

I actually DO see Dr. Yoda every week, so the Jedi Training Program is still a respectable endeavor. :) I've just had the CD for a few weeks without listening to it yet.

Anonymous said...

I never make resolutions. I don't like the stress.

David T. Macknet said...

So ... you're saying that you like being stressed? ;)

Ethel Rohan said...

Wow! I love, love, love your sketches, brava!

As for the 5 lbs!!!! Why fix what's not broken, you're beautiful! We're all way too hard on ourselves.

Unknown said...

Dave here from NaNoWriMo. Thought I'd swing by your blog and check it out and found this bit about figure drawing very intriguing. Do you mind if I ask where the sessions are held and how one goes about attending them. MJC?

Sarah Stevenson said...

Hi David! These are held at the Chartreuse Muse gallery in downtown Modesto. They happen every Tuesday evening, 7 - 10 pm and cost $10. I don't always have a chance to go, but I've been a few times.

My husband is also teaching figure drawing at MJC this semester, but the class is full.

Mary Witzl said...

I admire your figure drawing -- especially the foreshortened legs. I used to love figure drawing, but haven't done it for ages. And graphite and charcoal were my favorite mediums.

I start my resolutions during the year, now, instead of at the end of the year. I think they're easier to keep if you sneak them into your schedule. And if you've got to keep just one, I'd say forget about the laundry. No one ever died from not having clean clothes.