I've been a busy little ant... working so hard on my mail art call--I did 4 pieces yesterday of 4 of my favorite friends who have chromatophore cells. I've also done some research on the cells, the animals and marine biologists who study them. Fascinating. Working hard at homeschooling too--hoping this is not one of those rights that Obama is going to take away. Not lol. We went to the USGS open house this week--it was a BLAST. I guess that officially makes me a nerd. We got new posters to decorate the homeschool room/dining room. Fabulous. Perhaps I'll take a photo to show you all--all of my faithful readers...

Let me tell you how wonderful it is to have a 10 year old. He made me eggs for breakfast and hot chocolate--with lowfat milk. (ovaltine with warm milk). GOtta love HIM! I guess I thought this day would never come. I'll blink and we'll be sending him to college!

Don' t forget to check out www.jenniferzoe.blogspot to see my other two mail art pieces...

Superman ice cream

Why do the kids always want "superman" ice cream. It's bright blue, red, and yellow and makes them mostly blue all over. I'm not a fan of food coloring. Yet I hate to always be the stick in the mud. And when it's just me and the kids... I don't let them order that. But, hubster Ted does. I grin and bear it and hope Lulu doesn't drip on her new Oilily shirt. (It might possibly be the last Oilily shirt I buy her--at least new--it was on deep clearance for $15 this summer... I think that was 80 % off) Normal ice cream doesn't stain so bad.

Today we went to MOSI where... we got a dose of HEALTH class. We covered quite a lot in the "Amazing You." We saw a couple of births, some fertilization, a preemie baby that actually looked like it was breathing and the heart was beating--it was doll of course, dna, rna, stds, effects of drugs, smoking, alcohol, improper nutrition on the unborn, hearing test, eye test, how the brain works, why not to have sex... really it was quite overwhelming. I wasn't sure if I was comfy with wanting the kids to see a baby crowning... but then I thought the more honest and open we can be about natural human events--the better. Living and dying... shall we fear them?
If you don't want to see the birth videos--normal, c-section, twins, the placenta, etc... you don't have to go into the little side room and push the play button. So it's not in your face... so to speak. One of my favorite parts was how babies have those windows of learning--and once they close they are GONE FOREVER. That's how the brain works--it told viewers (readers) that every hug or holding counts--every experience you give to a baby or child COUNTS. Also learned that many brain doors are closed around age 10. So the key ages are 1, 3, 10. I find that utterly amazing. The amazing you! When Tommy was a baby we lived in Little Rock. We lived downtown near the zoo. I took him to the zoo once a week until he was 18 months old and we moved to FL . We read him the same book every night--for the first year of his life... (Miss Spider's Tea Party--David Kirk, a counting book). Perhaps I should of been reading him Calculus... but it's amazing what you can do if you try--with your children. I've always believed that children understand everything from a VERY early age. They might not remember it but they know what's going on. This is opposite of what some people think-," they are kids, what do they know?" I guess I've felt this way because I have memories of being a small child and I remember how I felt at the time. Hubster and I have raised our kids--thus far--with the idea that experiences are key to brain development. So it's thrilling to go to MOSI and have that idea backed up with scientific data. So unplug that wii, tv, puter or whatever electrical device that is consuming your time... (I should talk, eh?) Get outside and DO something!

Have a happy weekend!

www.zazzle.com

http://www.zazzle.com/chromatophore_postage-172711942574787854

I designed a stamp for the mail art show! If you are really special you'll get one in your mail box... when I receive them! HOW FUN is that? These stamps are real U.S. Postage. Of course I can make an artistamp myself... but haven't figured out how to perf the edges... to my liking!

Mail art from Kathryn Condon:Acceptance in all situations is happiness

TEST TOWER strikes again!!

Lest i forget the A side to the B side. 1313

Ko De Jonge's Reply!

Here is the reply that I received from Ko De Jonge about the mini art book that I painted.

Some Neat Mail art that I rec'd!

Here is some neat mail art that I have recently received. I did start a new blog to chronicle the mail art I receive for the new mail art show. You can see it all @ www.jenniferzoe.blogspot.com . So check it out and mail a piece of art for the next show!

Top piece is by Adamandia Kapsalis, Then two "bugs" by David Berube and then a piece by Test Tower!! I thought that I'd post them so you could enjoy them too!!!!

Some Panama City Beach Memories!

Ted and I, my folks, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville... Happy Feast of Tabernacles one and all!

hello friends!

http://www.nyva.ca/TEN%20mail%20art%20gallery.htm

hello! I've been gone for a couple of weeks and glad to be back. Although I loved Panama City Beach, FL. Thank you for all the mail art I rec'd while I was gone! I will be scanning and posting. I think I'm going to start a new blog that will directly tie into the new mail art show for 2009. That way I can post the address, theme, and all the mail art I recieve and still have this site for all the nonsense that I call life. I'll write more later... busy, busy, busy.

HATE THAT CAT by Sharon Creech

Love the book HATE THAT CAT,
Oh, yes, I love the book HATE THAT CAT,
Love to read it to the crumbcakes,
Love to see their eyes as they sat,
Listening to HATE THAT CAT...

lol.

Yes, I began to cry twice in the book... while I'm trying to read aloud. I'm a mess. It was page 108 and then again... page 122-125. I didn't let any tears roll, they welled up... were suppressed, the voice got little crackly... pushed through. Buy this book, read it with your kids or to them... it's the kind of book that later they'll remember and hopefully be thankful that you shared with them. If you haven't read... LOVE THAT DOG. You have to read it first. HAVE TO. It'll all make much more sense that way.

Also Sharon Creech has a lovely picture book called, "Fishing in the Air." Another feel good -sharing--book. Share a moment with your child.

ART START... a mini book to be mailed back to Ko De Jonge of Holland

I finished my mini art book. Tomorrow I shall mail it to Art Start in Holland. It was a fun project and I hope it is well rec'd upon it's arrival.

Hate That Cat

I started reading the book, "HATE THAT CAT" by Sharon Creech to the crumbcakes tonight. Saturday night Ben and I were in the Barnes and Noble... and there it was in a red dust jacket just waiting to be bought by me. I loved the book, "Love that dog." Really, could anything top it? I cried like a baby while reading it. I'm a sucker for crying books... Where the Red Fern grows, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway, the Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo... there were times when I was reading to my kids where I could barely get the words out I was crying so hard. Especially when I read==The Scarlet Ibis to them last year. I'm sure my boys were pretty freaked out. I can be so full of emotions. I can say that Tommy cried at Where the Red Fern Grows... how can you not?

I read half of HATE THAT CAT tonight and have to say that for a sequel-- it is good. I'll let you know the full report when we're done...

There are so many things that I wish I could be good at... I was thinking about words and authors and how horrible I am at writing. Still blogging though. It's all an attempt to express those emotions inside of me. I am who I am, I do what I do. None of it is fantastic but yet, it's all mine. In a perfect world I would paint every day, I would know how to write a poem--the words would come to me, and I would be fabulous--at least at one thing.

BERUBE-BUGS MAILART CALL: JENNIFER ZOELLNER / St. Petersburg, FLORIDA U.S.A.

BERUBE-BUGS MAILART CALL: JENNIFER ZOELLNER / St. Petersburg, FLORIDA U.S.A.

octopus video take deux

Here is another octopus video. I should of done the other video this way... I'm learning.

Science class fun!

Awake at 4 AM

I was awoken by a random nightmare. I dreamed I was going shopping with 3 car loads of friends and family. But then one friend got in a fight with another and then... it was a brawl. Sickening...not so terribly disturbing that I need to loose sleep over it. UGH.

It reminded me of an event that happened when I was in elementary school. Even before the dream I was reminded of this event when I rec'd the first installment of the mail art zine from Tt. I was walking home from the bus stop when the blonde-5th-grade-bully started picking on Todd... resident nerd and irritant. She took his glasses right off of his face, broke them in two and threw them into the woods. I think I retrieved them...anyway--Jennifer--defender of the defenseless--knew that braking someones prescription glasses was not cool. My sister wears glasses and I knew how upset parents get when glasses go missing or are broken. So I took on the blond 5th grader and told her that I was going to tell on her... It ended rather badly with my holly hobbie lunch box thrown across the asphalt and then she pushed me down on my face. She scarred the metal lunch box and my chin had a lovely bloody scrape. It turns out that I had my school class picture the next day. I had a giant red scab on my chin. I remember my dad going into the school the next day to take up the whole bully issue--my chin, Todd's glasses. I don't think Todd ever thanked me--but he was an annoying little boy. And the bully girl... don't know what happened to her. She lived in the trailer park near my neighborhood. I imagine, looking back on things... she probably was treated the way that she treated everyone else. And me, I'm fine. Still bummed about the lunch box. (Really, bought one just like it on ebay a few years ago... it houses all my cookie decorating supplies.)

Red alert... octopus!

We went to the beach tonight for the sunset.  The kids decided it would be a good thing to bring their snorkeling equipment.  Tommy found a shell and brought it back to me and put it in our shell container.  I'm sitting quietly sketching when a little octopus emerges from the shell.  I guess he was wondering where all that water went.  He was sweet and cute and totally reminded me of a similar time when I was at the beach with my dad and he found a tiny octopus living in a shell.  I still remember the feeling of holding it with each suction opening and closing on my fingers.  I called to the whole family, "Come quick!!" They probably thought that was really weird but I yelled, "You caught an octopus." And they all came running.  Including everyone else standing around on the beach.  I'm sure that's the most attention that a Stony Field farms yogurt container has had in a long time.  Everyone was so excited to see this tiny part of God's great creation.  I was thrilled myself.  I posted one video of Lulu holding it.  (Don't know why they make you post all those other videos too...)  We looked at him and then let him crawl back into his shell and we hand delivered him to a safe spot back at home in the Gulf of Mexico.  We sure had a lot to talk about on the way home. 

Dale Chihuly Ground breaking today!

Hi! Today we had the joy of seeing Dale Chihuly at the groundbreaking for the new museum in St. Petersburg, FL.  How cool is that?  I wish I could of met him and shook his hand but it wasn't that kind of event.  Still it's cool to be in the presence of a great artist.  That doesn't happen everyday.  

So are we tripping into economic oblivion?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7635327.stm

Here is an article about how the French are surviving the credit crunch. This bank thing is a worldwide problem. Frugal living and not living above your means and not spending money that you don't have, not using credit cards, and here is a novel thought... saving money. We all could use a few lessons from the French. (Did I just say that? Yes, I did.)

"PORTRAIT" MailArt Call: JENNIFER ZOELLNER / St. Pete, FLORIDA U.S.A.

"PORTRAIT" MailArt Call: JENNIFER ZOELLNER / St. Pete, FLORIDA U.S.A.

Sunset on Lake Maggorie

Today was unusually fally for a September day. Breezes so breezy that I had to open all the windows in the house and turn off the beast. Ahh, back to days of low monthly electric bills. Perhaps at least until the next hot front creeps from the South. Damn that global warming. The equator should be covered in snow this time of year. This lake is infested with alligators so please don't walk your small dogs near it. Seriously.

Cancer and Cobb salad

I made our favorite dinner--cobb salad. It's an easy meal and healthy if you leave out the bacon. I always use turkey bacon since I don't eat the other white meat! This weekend was crazy for me. I didn't know weather to go to IL to visit my aunt or stay home. I ended up staying home and then felt really bad when I heard that she was asking for me. She is at the end of her cancer journey. I so hate cancer. So hate it. Today she seems to be doing better but I don't know if it's really better or just cancer's sick little joke. Two things make me happy these days--creating art--and going to the beach for the sunset. Both are one-of-a-kind events in my life. Today I rec'd a letter from Richard Canard. I think he's a pretty cool mail artist. He said i was a "breath of fresh air." I don't know exactly what that means. If you like fresh air--i guess it's good. If you are a dorito breath liker--then probably not. ha ha. I don't eat doritos. I don't eat at McDonalds. I don't smoke, do drugs. I'm trying to be healthy cause I've got the cancer gene. Did you know there was one? I don't even have to have the test--I know i have the cancer gene. I don't want to fear cancer. I want to fight it. I want to make as much art as possible now. I want to leave something behind--even if it's just a letter in a mail box.
Here are more photos of Saturday night... enjoying a free concert at Gulfport!

Toula, Rebecca, ME!

OH what a night!

Had a lovely evening at the Gulfport art walk. Usually we go for the visual art but tonight we went for the music! Rebecca Zapen played a delightful array of mostly her own tunes! She is fabulous! Check her out at: www.zapen.com You can also look her up on myspace and utube. We brought all three of our crumb cakes and two extra morsels! So that's five kids enjoying the music from the porch! I met some other delightful ladies tonight--Goody of www.mellowmelodies.com who does her own i-net radio show and Toula Bonie who is a violinist for the Florida Orchestra. I won't mention that Toula used to babysit Rebecca! IT's a small world isn't it? A small and sometimes absolutely Delightful world. Thank you lovely ladies for gracing our evening!

Hi: here are some websites that have my mail art!

http://christinetarantino.blogspot.com/search?q=jennifer+zoellner

www.mailartmartha.org.uk click--Last show, click--Jennifer Zoellner

www.visualinfluence.blogspot.com do a search, "Jennifer Zoellner"

Perhaps there are others out there who have posted my work via the i-net. I haven't done a full search. lol. Still it's neat to see your work on the i-net.

Jellyfish and lone sunsets

Tonight I ventured to my favorite beach alone. I did something on the lavish side and got a mint chocolate chip milk shake from my favorite sweet shop. They don't make the best sundaes or milk shakes but they have location, location, location. The kid who works there finally cut his hair. The full mane is down to a marine look. It looks much better. He was getting lost in those curly locks. It's amazing how much more masculine he looks too. Would I look more feminine with longer hair? If I could just get over that in-between stage I would do it--forsake the Aveada teaching salon--which I love so much. At the beach alone. It was nice to be alone--to be happy to be by myself. I sipped and crunched my mcc milkshake. I watched the waves, the gulls, terns, sand pipers, pelicans. I decided to go into the water and I really wanted to swim. I was in about chest high when I saw a weird do-nut shape floating in the water... I swam-walked over to it to see it was a jellyfish and that it was deflated in the middle. I'm guessing it was dead as later I saw them littered all over the beach like unwanted breast implants. I drew a few of them in my sketch book. I did not know if they were the stinging variety. It was one thing to be enjoying life at the beach alone and yet another to be stung by a jellyfish all alone. Really that is not what got me out of the water... it was the something huge that jumped right next to me... it was a huge splash. Perhaps it was just a mullet but I wasn't going to wait and find out. I was out of the water to settle into a little place in the sand to rest my soul. I was actually chilled by the breeze and I wrapped my towel around me. I drew the jellyfish, the gulls, the clouds. I made peace with the setting sun and wondered why. I wish I knew how to tell if a jellyfish was alive. One couple attempted to throw some of them back to sea. I don't know why she thought that throwing a jellyfish 5 feet into the waves would really help it's plight. Still, it's the thought that counts.

Hello. Hello. Hello. Got a really neat piece of Mail art from Test Tower! Thank you so much! I think it's the first piece of mail art that I've received since the mail art show this year. I do love the mail art.

Also befri Karen is having her paintings in a show in Tyler, TX. Way to go Karen. We've known each other since age 8 or so. Hope you check out the blog and see this KAREN!!!

meatloaf and chickens

So what do meatloaf and chickens have in common? Probably not that much... But today we adopted two chickens. Mostly as pets... pets that will give us eggs.

I made a delicious meatloaf today. Earlier this week I made roasted turkey sausage with a myriad of vegetables. (that was a main stay meal when I was on weight watchers and lost 30 pounds!) So I took the left overs of that meal--put them in the food processor, added some oats and a pound of organic beef. I mixed it all together with my fingers--put it in the vintage orange cookware and baked it at 350 degrees for about an hour. Oh, I added ketchup on the top before I baked it. It's a great meal if you want your kids to eat squash, onions, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, etc--oatmeal too... cause they don't realize they are eating all those veges. Love it--the healthy trick. It was a smashing success.

i found a piece of my mail art on the i-net today--www.mailartmartha.org.uk click on "last show" then click on my name, "Jennifer Zoellner." I was jazzed about that! My dad said, "You've gone international!" Hee hee, I've sent some mail art to other countries too--I told him.

BLAH BLAM BLUM

Neil Diamond is going through my head...

Hello again, hello
Just called to say hello
I couldnt sleep at all tonight
And I know its late
But I couldnt wait

Hello, my friend, hello
Just called to let you know
I think about you every night
When Im here alone
And youre there at home
Hello

Maybe its been crazy
And maybe Im to blame
But I put my heart above my head
Weve been thru it all
And you loved me just the same
And when youre not there
I just need to hear

Hello, my friend, hello
Its good to need you so
Its good to love you like I do
And to feel this way
When I hear you say
Hello

Hello, my friend, hello
Just called to let you know
I think about you every night
And I know its late
But I couldnt wait
Hello

ANGST defeated?

For all the crap I gave myself over the last couple of days... everything worked out beautifully. The show at the Arts Center was wonderful. I was so NERVOUS. I hunted around the galleries until I found my piece. There she was in all her glory. I was able to be a fly on the wall... and could hear strangers commenting on it. This in itself was really neat since there were so many people and so many works of art--I was thrilled that people were looking at it. I even heard two girls discussing the painting in a real art critic way. Blows my mind. Yet, do you think I'll have the same nerves next time. Yes, I will because it's the nature of putting yourself "out there." It will always come with nerves and tension. I talked to a former art teacher last night. He's a professional artist. He says he still has that nervous jitter. A friend of mine, Jorge said, "Jennifer Zoellner, I've been hearing good comments about your painting all day!" It was a highlight of my night. I know I'm a small drop of dew in a sea of artists but I'm still happy. (in a sort-of lunatic way...) Photos to come...