Not Another Homeschool Blog

As I lay in my hotel bed with sore legs and aching feet, I feel very happy and satisfied. I have just spent 3 whole days at BroadwayCon 2017, also known as BroadwayCon #2, the year we didn't get snowed in due to a huge blizzard. It was great, and after the last couple of months, I was due a break from the issues of the world that troubled my mind. It's not like I wasn't aware of the STUFF that has had me so upset, but I was allowed to celebrate, art, and fun, and the artists who create the fun and entertainment that is so worth celebrating. The STUFF was actually a pretty major theme throughout the weekend, but to get to look at it through the lens of artists, deep thinkers, who create and reinterpret the world around us, was a beautiful thing. It was also good to know I was surrounded by people who were pretty much of the same mind. Sure some people didn't agree and a few people left, but in this crowd, it probably less than 1% of the crowd who had a problem with t...

sketch a day #27 - 10 minutes Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou, Elaine Stritch, Casey Kasem, Robin Williams, Geoffrey Holder Joan Rivers, Oscar de la Renta, and many, many other deeply talented people died this year.  Mike Nichols, who died this last night influenced the last Seven decades of televisions and movies. His death had me thinking... who are we replacing these people with? Kim K. West? Miley Cyrus? Justin Beiber?  Basically, we are replacing these talented, talented, icons with people who are just as infamous as they are famous. The media is more full of narcisists, and dysfunctional stars than talented ones. Sure each has something about them that makes people swoon, and some even have staying power, but they attract more idolatry and admiration. That is a problem. As an artistic person, and as a parent of artistic people, I feel like my parents generation did us a disservice that we have to reverse. I distinctly remember my parents telling 13 year old me that black ...

 This past weekend we went to the CITA (Christians in the Theater Arts) High School Festival. It is a competition and college fair for Theater minded Christian Students.  My daughter participated in 3 events and while she did not win in any of them, she got great feedback she can use to try again.  A bunch of her friends from her homeschool program did do very well, so we have a great time celebrating their victories. While the kids were there to show their stuff and get feedback on their acting chops, the parents (in our case anyway) are there to hear from colleges interested in recruiting these talented kids. (This is how we found the college my son will be attending in the fall).  It was interesting to talk to these colleges with strong theater departments and hear then complement her performances and talk about what they had to offer.  It was also great to see my husband come around to accept theater as a real college major... though he still wants to s...

 We returned from North Carolina last night after attending the CITA (Christians in the Theatre Arts) Secondary School Theatre Festival.  Our homeschool program (Artios) and four or five others theater and musical performances of all types.  There was so much talent there, I could hardly contain myself.  All of the kids in our group got excellent or superior ratings in one or more of their performances including my daughter who got excellent ratings in both her musical solo and her group scene.  One girl in our group got a best of her category award.  Of course, I am very proud. My daughter has done performances and been in plays before, but this is the first time she has been up against such as huge number of other talented performers!  I am very proud of her performances.  ...And she is already looking for theater pieces to perform next year.  While the school we visited over the weekend (where the event was held) had a tremendous drama a...