Tag Archives: object

What’s Your Object? SOL24 Day 18

Writing everyday means looking for an idea for writing every day. I get a number of email newsletters about assorted topics that pique my interest. Today, it was the Art of Noticing newsletter that I was drawn to as I read the subject line, Objects Quarterly. To be honest I haven’t really read through it yet, just skimmed over the topics such as A History of Women in 101 Objects (which is book that I have not read). But as I skimmed that I started thinking about the role of objects in a teacher’s life.

I’m one of those teachers who still uses a traditional paper plan book. You know, the ones with plain brown or blue covers that has each week laid out with the spiral binding in the middle. For many years my plan books were just that, plain, unassuming…sometimes I wrote the year across the front (often once the year was over). Then at some point, my teaching partner and I started to put a sticker on each year that included the year, our names, and an image that indicated the overarching theme of our year. But recently, I started putting stickers on my plan book. Not just one here or there, but wall to wall stickers both front and back.

Where do I get these stickers, you might ask? And what significance do they have? Those are great questions. Some of the stickers are USvsHate stickers, student messaging about equity and inclusion. I’ve received them as a teacher who has submitted student messaging to the USvsHate contest. I’ve even had students whose messaging was selected as winning. And my son–the one who is an artist–designs and produces stickers as “swag” that he sends out with products he ships (he also sends his mom some stickers–and those are featured prominently). Now, I collect stickers from wherever I can. Sometimes the stickers are promotional, like the ones I got from the Rainbow sandals store. Some are from environmental organizations… The list goes on.

I love these stickers on my plan book. When I open it each morning my eyes skim over the images and it makes me smile. When my student gave me (and all her classmates) stickers last week, I carefully found a place for them on my plan book. One of my students noticed the plan book cover and said–hey, where did you get that sticker book? And so I had to show off the covers. (They never see the cover since I keep it opened to the week on a table most days.)

There was a time when my plan book mostly stayed at school, but since the pandemic I find myself taking it back and forth with me from school to home each day. Honestly, it is more of a security blanket since there are many days when I change almost everything that is written in it. But maybe that is what objects are all about–symbols of thinking and planning and preparation with my stickers reminding me of the value of creativity, social justice, nature, and whimsy.

If you were to write about an object in your professional life, what would it be? What is its significance? How do you personalize it?

Utility Pole: Day 13

Objectify

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The word #object has come up a few times in the last week or so. First I heard about composing with things…and started thinking about how “things”…particularly photographs help me with my writing. And then Annelise Wunderlich at KQED offered a Do Now focused on selecting an ordinary object, experience, or material to represent or inspire you. (You can join in by posting yours on Twitter, Google+, Instagram, or Facebook using the #donowobject and #clmooc tags)

A number of ideas came to mind when I fhought about how I might objectify myself. Dandelions and other weeds come to mind…I love the way they thrive wherever they find themselves, rather than being dependent on others for ideal growth conditions.

But I think glass is the object I will pick. Geoff and I have been looking for beach glass on all of our beach walks over the last year. This glass on the beach is pretty rare–probably due to the ban on glass on the beach over the last decade. But we do find it–and that search for treasure on the shore has helped me to pay close attention the the interesting qualities of the glass.

Beach glass is not transparent. Unlike a window, it is not easy to look inside or through. Time and tumbling have created an opaque quality, no longer shiny and clear but instead the surface suggests a history hidden in the sanded surface.

My favorite pieces of beach glass are smooth to the touch and feel good in your hand. They are worn and rounded rather than sharp and angular. We often categorize the pieces of glass as we pick them up…some are young and sharp, juveniles in the glass world. But it’s the pieces worn smooth that are prizes in the glass game.

And beach glass plays well with others. It mingles with rocks and shells, sea creatures and seaweed. It hides in the sand, gets tossed in the tide, and reveals itself only when you take time to look.

Beach glass is my choice as an object of inspiration and representation.

Clouds and Rain: Objects of Fascination

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It seems that we always yearn for what we don’t have. Around Christmas time I was fascinated by snow…I longed to try my hand at capturing a macro photo of a single snowflake. But I live in a place where it never snows…I didn’t see snow fall from the sky until I was well into adulthood and I have never had a white Christmas.

This last week some of my fellow photographers at the iAnthology have been posting pictures of snow and ice in response to the prompt, Playing with Light. One particular photo of an icicle lingers in my mind and I find myself wishing for an opportunity to photograph ice…and the play of light…for myself. And then my teaching partner emailed me a link to some photos created by a man on snowshoes…intricate, gorgeous designs…made by his intentional walk on snow. Oh…I know a trip to somewhere cold is in my future!

But I live in Southern CA…in a place where we are having a drought and unseasonably warm winter temperatures. More people are wearing shorts and flip flops than sweatshirts and Uggs…and umbrellas have been stashed or lost or are coated in the dust and grime caused by lack of use.

The last couple of days have teased us with hopes of rain. The air is moist and fog has been rolling in along the coast in the mornings and evenings. And yesterday we had some hints of rain…that misty mess that muddies the windshield but doesn’t produce any measurable precipitation.

I awoke this morning wondering if it had rained overnight. The app on my phone said no…and gave no suggestion of rain for the day. But as I was dressing for no rain, planning to wear the kind of shoes you wouldn’t choose on a rainy day, my husband came upstairs to announce that it was, in fact, raining!

I rethought my wardrobe for the day, choosing my boots instead of my Toms, and headed out the door. For those of you who live where rain is common, you would probably laugh that we were considering this rain at all. But the first objects that caught my eye as I walked out the door were the poinsettias near the front door. They were glistening with drops of rain. I immediately pulled out my phone and began to photograph the droplets glistening on the bracts.

I love the way the black and white photo draws attention to the precious drops–something we see so rarely these days.

Honestly, this “rainy day” turned out to be not so rainy after all. I would be surprised if we even measure a quarter inch of rainfall in the county. But as I left work today, I found myself drawn to the clouds. In some directions the clouds were white and wispy, sitting in a backdrop of blue. In others, they gathered in tall white towers…and in others, gray and black framed the edges.

I was compelled to drive towards the clouds on my way home…and pulled off to the side of the road to attempt to capture the complexity of the clouds with my phone’s camera. The clouds became the object of my fascination and I took shot after shot, trying different angles to take advantage of the varieties of light available.

I don’t think I am done with clouds yet. And I hope the clouds are not done with us yet either. We desperately need some rain, although the forecast doesn’t look promising.

What is the object of fascination for you right now? Is it something within reach…or are you yearning for something you don’t have? I’d love to know more about your object!