i don't even want to look at my last entry date...probably two months old.

so i have been busy, yes. we moved to a new place, at some point this summer, there were 6 residents at the Clay Studio, and the only reason i have a chance to write at this point is that i am in portland, oregon.

yep, i am heading back to california. just for a visit. remember, at least another full year of montana life...i am giving winter another chance. it should be easier since i will actually LIKE where i am living. the house is way too cool. i still can't get over it. and we get freshly laid eggs to boot.

so for those of you who have the chance, come check out my show at cricket engine (www.cricketengine.org). it will be good to have a show there when all the work had to be done not just of the day of the show. when packing the stuff up, i felt like i did not do enough the past year, then i had to remember the things i was lucky enough to sell, plus the other things that are still dispersed out into the universe, and i didn't feel as crummy and unaccomplished.

i did have regrets about leaving. i am starting to get on a roll again, and things have quieted down, and summer is always a treat in Montana. plus it isn't smoky this year. clear blue skies, the majority of days in the high 80's. it makes me forget the bizarro snowfall mid-june (i am not lying).

so i am a dork and brought my underglazes and bisqueware, so we shall see how much i do. it will feel natural to hang out on the stoop of cricket engine and paint things while listening to the neighborhood gossip. just like old times.

i have not seen my husband in a month. he flies down to oakland in order to see me. ah, sounds like the jet-setting lifestyle...

yeah, no-so-much....

should be a fun roadtrip back. this is the first time i have taken the oregon route. we usually stick to the freeways and take to 80 to the 15, and if i have to do that again, i fear i will poke my eyes out with the closest sharp object. it was nice to cruise aside the columbia river on the 84. got to witness a nice roadside fire on the way in too.

So it turns out that pretty much exactly a year ago, we landed in Missoula with the giant truckload of our crap.

This, I find, is astounding.

I should be doing something noteworthy on this entry, such as summarizing the past year, analyzing it all, making some sort of point, or coming to a poignant revelation. hmmmm....you know what, I don't think I am ready for that yet. Ask me in another year.

It really does not feel like it has been that long. If I were to wake up in the morning, and be in bed at 215 Athol in Oakland, it wouldn't be shocking. But this is not saying it is horrible here, for it isn't. When I began to think the never-ending winter would truly never end, spring actually began, and I fell in love with Montana again. How easy it is to forget winter when things bloom with such force!

So I guess we are in the "rainy" season now. The rivers are insanely full, and gushing with snow melt and debris. "Real" seasons are far more dramatic than what I am accustomed to.

I do have new and exciting updates. For this past year, we have been living in this very small place, with the intention that we were to find something else this very summer. Looking for rentals is always a dismal task, for there are so many gross places out there that people seem to deem suitable for living in. I happened to gripe to the right person about the tedious task of looking for housing, and he happened to have a house that is going to be available in the next month. Immense amount of space, centrally located, a yard, and I once again will have wood floors! Carpet is an evil thing, and I had forgotten how much I hated it. And we will have a bathtub. How I have missed baths! And we will have ample room for visitors, and can actually once again fit more than two people at a time in our place. This didn't really matter a year ago seeing that I primarily had this place to myself until mid-Oct and barely knew anyone. But now, we are more than ready for this change. I feel so fortunate, that I think at times I am imagining such an ideal place fell into our laps. But perhaps the "Missoula Magic" worked. I wish I could just move in tomorrow! Can’t wait until July 1!

I think living in the current place we have during the past winter did help put a damper on my spirits.  Now this means all my buddies will HAVE to come visit and check out our new killer pad (hint!).

I am finishing up works for a show that contains all wall pieces. We just finished our major annual fundraiser at the Clay Studio, and the Ceretana show is coming to a close, so those are now over with. I have some other things to send my bits and pieces off to, but no pressing major deadlines for a few months. I have some ideas that I want to take some time to develop for the fall onslaught of shows. My Cricket Engine gig in August will be more so of a review of various works from this year and some affordable functional works and whatnot so I can pimp them out for gas money (happy to have a Honda civic, but if gas is only $5/gal  in CA in August, I will be lucky).

I just did a workshop and artist lecture at Spokane Fall CC for a couple of days. I did really enjoy it. I find it really bizarre that I am so comfortable doing those things now. I don't get anxious about them at all, which seems really odd to me, but I guess I have gotten quite comfortable in my own skin as far as these things are concerned. Guess I finally got myself a bit of confidence from the years of teaching...now if I could only apply that to other aspects of my life!

So a really neat thing happened the other day...someone stumbled across my site and asked if she could do an interview with me on her blog. I was very, very flattered. It's a great site, and has tons of artist interviews. Here's the link to mine, and be sure to check out other stuff on there too!

http://www.roadsidescholar.com/2008/05/23/shalene-valenzuela-ceramics-lets-chat

Egad. Another exciting Saturday night...baking cookies and writing a blog entry. Time for sleep.

I am in Deadlineland right now. Shipping a piece out next week, plus installing a show. Eek!

So yes, I have not had so much time to reflect on anything, Just chugging along.

A few weeks ago, Montana was democratic campaign central. I ended up going with folks to the Obama rally/speech over at the university. It was kind of nutty how many people were there lined up to get in at such an early hour. It sort of had a rock concert feel to it, but with tighter security than one would see at the airport. People were pretty jazzed about being there, and he's a very engaging person, so overall, a rather positive experience...and we were REALLY close. It was surreal watching an 11 year old kid panic when he was almost not able go get up to shake his hand. Reminded me of footage from Duran Duran concerts where 12 year old girls are sobbing and shaking. Actually, that was sorta freaky.

Speaking of freaky kids, I was teaching some kids at the museum the other day, and one hyped up boy was making a sloppy large pinchpot. He said he was making a coffee cup, and I asked if it was for his parents. He replied "no, for me, I love coffee. I have it every day!"...this kid was 10. And he wasn't lying. Seems like he'd be better off being raised by wolves. Completely reminded me of that kid "Tweak" in South Park.  This was the real Tweak.

A couple of weekends ago, we had crazy nice weather. That Sunday, it was around 80F, sunny, and we went on a hike and had ice cream. A week later, it was 55 degrees colder. Ugh. Definitely NOT fun. It is not warming up again. This time, I hope for good. Hell, isn't it almost May?!?! I have been avoiding California weather reports, for I fear it will throw me into a jealous rage of those experiencing less crappy weather. I had been intending on going to the Clay Conference in Davis this weekend, but that lack of steady income thing sort of got in the way of all of that.

Gotta start playing the lottery. Sad when it seems that you are more likely to win the lottery than getting a decent steady job in your field of interest.

Okay, good news is that I got over the evil illness that occupied my body for a good part of March. After two weeks of oscillating between almost feeling better, then feeling like crap, I had to go on antibiotics to get rid of this thing. So many people seem to have gotten it. Really irritating illness. I blame flu shots for the evolution of this powerful strain - which apparently, shots were not effective against this anyhow.

So as I was finally feeling better, I departed on my journey to Pittsburgh for NCECA. I crammed alot into the few days I was there- of course, the most sleep I got in one night was 6 hours, the least was none (insomnia is not the most enjoyable of things - my friend Alex Kraft managed to share this experience with me, so we both suffered greatly the next day). I was thrilled to have seen so many familiar faces, and got to meet a ton of people on top of it all. For the most part, I was happy with many of the shows I got to see. Oh yes, and did make it out to Oakland, PA...so weird being in another Oakland.

Speaking of which Pittsburgh does remind me of Oakland in many ways. A large, diverse urban area, with it's very nice neighborhoods, and no so nice areas, and a place where it may be not immediately obvious as to what the attraction is, but there are many hidden gems. Seems to be some good gallery spaces and excitement in the arts community there. Artist Image Resource was where the show I was in was located, and Paul Wandless organized a superb show. And I am not just saying that in being a biased artist...it was an honor to be included in it.

After those sleep deprived full days, I jetted off to Chicago. A journey that far east warrants more than one destination. I got to hang out with my friend John who is in grad school in the design program at the Art Institute. Amazingly enough, I managed not only to get some sleep, but saw a fair amount of sights in during the 48 hours I was there. After a night of drinks, a man selling tamales went through the bar, and not only was I very excited to speak spanish with him, I shoveled three tamales into my gullet in rapid succession. They were soooo good. I miss the great mexican food that I always assumed would be around.

I made a point of making a journey over to the "bean" (pictured above) in Chicago...a easy journey since it is pretty much a block from the art institute museum. Locals of 5th Ave in Oakland will know that his was fabricated right in our very neighborhood, so some years back, as I sat on the Cricket Engine stoop, the good folks over in the big hangar (Performance Structures) were diligently working away at fabricating the parts for this crazy thing. I have to say that it's pretty darn cool to look at in person on-site.

Now I have been back for over a week. Still waiting for all that green stuff people have raved about. Now the locals are complaining that winter has gone on way too long, so I don't feel so self conscious about griping. I am sooooooooooooo ready for summer.

I am possibly making a journey back to the Bay Area in August. Unfortunately, I think no sooner than that. But I am busy, so that is a good reason.

I have been sick for soooo friggin long. Very uncool. I am on antibiotics now. Not a big fan of them, but I am willing to take desperate measures to exorcise this thing from my body.

The Evil Ick started out as a fever and sore throat, the as suddenly as it had appeared, it seemed to go away. Then a day or two after, I became completely congested, then seemed to be improving last weekend. Then I felt terrible again Monday, then better Tuesday, then managed to lose my voice late Wednesday, and now it's Saturday and still raspy in that 2+ pack a day sort of way. And the congestion. Again. Bleh. Of course, I am still riding my bike, trying to fool myself into being healthy. Yoga seems to help too, but perhaps all that inner heat building up during the practice just helps drain the head.

I was at a party exactly two weeks ago, and have learned that several people who were there became terribly ill within a few days after. Hmmm...and I was about to blame it on the fact I work with 5th graders 2-3 times a week.

On Wednesday, I am off to lovely Pittsburgh PA for NCECA - for those non clay folks, it's the National ceramics conference that is held in a different exotic location every year. I am in a show there, which is exciting. I have just 2.5 days to see so many exhibits, attend lectures and catch up with all my clay buddies that have been strewn across the nation. So much to do in so little time. Good thing that I will not be distracted by sunshine and warmth!

After that, off to Chicago. Another location where I will not be sunning myself.

Then back here, back to work. A flurry of shows in the Spring, and I really need to get on the ball and make oodles of stuff.